Carzy Zarx’s PC Gaming Emporium - Catch Up on All the Latest PC Gaming Related News

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Neither you nor me missed these, but here’s the third part of the news:

CD Projekt Red boss says 'around 100' Witcher 3 designers still work at the company, while the Witcher 4's story director is 'the same person since Witcher 1'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/cd-projekt-red-boss-says-around-100-witcher-3-designers-still-work-at-the-company-while-the-witcher-4s-story-director-is-the-same-person-since-witcher-1/
Much has happened to CD Projekt Red since the Witcher 3 released 10 years ago. Following its launch, CDPR became one of the most respected game studios in the world, before having its reputation destroyed and then redeemed by the disastrous launch of Cyberpunk 2077 and the excellent Phantom Liberty expansion respectively. And it has grown enormously since Geralt embarked on his culminative adventure in 2015, now employing more than 1100 people with studios in Boston and Vancouver as well as Warsaw.
All of which begs the question: to what extent is CD Projekt the company it once was, and what does this mean for upcoming projects like The Witcher 4? Well, an answer of sorts was provided by company CEO Michal Nowakowski, who stated on X that "around 100" of The Witcher 3's designers are still at the studio.

Valve's Steam page currently lists a second mystery game alongside Deadlock, sending Half-Life 3 theorists into another frenzy of speculation
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/valves-steam-page-currently-lists-a-second-mystery-game-alongside-deadlock-sending-half-life-3-theorists-into-another-frenzy-of-speculation/
The Half-Life 3 speculation mill has been running hot over the last few months. G-Man's voice actor Mike Shapiro rang in the new year by posting a video in which he refers to "unexpected surprises" in the staggering voice of Half-Life's dimension-hopping villain. Before that, evidence that Valve was working on a "Project White Sands" was revealed on an actor's website—White Sands referring to an area of New Mexico where Black Mesa was supposedly situated.
Now, Reddit user Relevant_Basis5444 has spotted that Valve's Steam page currently lists two projects beneath its "Upcoming Releases" tag (via Eurogamer). One of these is Deadlock, Valve's third-person MOBA, which is currently in development, and technically unreleased despite thousands of people playing it right now. The other, however, is hidden from view. It's worth noting that Steam developer pages can hide games from view depending on your filter settings. But this mystery game remains obscured even with all filters disabled.

Cruel is a frantic run-and-gun shooter where you boot cultists out of windows in a cursed apartment block that wants you dead
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/cruel-is-a-frantic-run-and-gun-shooter-where-you-boot-cultists-out-of-windows-in-a-cursed-apartment-block-that-wants-you-dead/
Feeding your dog an entire can of soda normally results in a very sick dog. In Cruel, however, filling your pooch with off-brand Dr Pepper gives you roguelike-style upgrades. In my first run of this frantic run-and-gun shooter, I netted a bonus that gave me extra ammo when deflecting bullets with a melee weapon. To this I responded "Hold on, you can deflect bullets?"

Path of Exile 2's first patch of 2025 is coming later this week, with 'more rewarding' endgame mapping and the rollout of respawns when fighting pinnacle bosses
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/mmo/path-of-exile-2s-first-patch-of-2025-is-coming-later-this-week-with-more-rewarding-endgame-mapping-and-the-rollout-of-respawns-when-fighting-pinnacle-bosses/
In an announcement video hosted on the channel of streamer Darth Microtransaction, Grinding Gear Games outlined what to expect from Path of Exile 2's first patch of the new year. Game director Jonathan Rogers characterized it as a quick turnaround update to address common complaints, with more far reaching balance changes planned for when PoE2 gets a new League.
>> By the way, some mad lad has spend 16 days killing rare monsters to prove that a stat works.

Around 66 accounts in Path of Exile 2 were compromised, due to a one-two punch of an old unused Steam account and a backend bug
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/around-66-accounts-in-path-of-exile-2-were-compromised-due-to-a-one-two-punch-of-an-old-unused-steam-account-and-a-backend-bug/
Path of Exile 2 has been carving out a lovely little niche for itself, based on how many hours of monster-smashing my colleagues here at PC Gamer have been pumping into it. But it hasn't come without its roadbumps—like, for example, a recent security breach that saw an estimated 66 (potentially more) accounts compromised.
That's as per a recent interview with streamers Darth Microtransaction and GhazzyTV. When asked whether there was data breach at Grinding Gear Games, game director Jonathan Rogers states that "there has been a situation where someone got access to an admin account," but that the full extent is yet to be seen.

Players are still finding edge-case Baldur's Gate 3 scenes, like one where you play as a kidnapped Astarion even if you made your own player-character
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/baldurs-gate/players-are-still-finding-edge-case-baldurs-gate-3-scenes-like-one-where-you-play-as-a-kidnapped-astarion-even-if-you-made-your-own-player-character/
As our Harvey Randall wrote, we're all still playing Baldur's Gate 3 more than a year after its release because there's so much to find in it. Gale can write a sad resignation letter if you ignore him long enough, and there's a game over just for people who go out of their way to lose a plot-critical item. When I was playing I triggered an ambush by Astarion's vampire-spawn siblings by long-resting repeatedly in the Lower City, something that apparently a lot of other players didn't experience. Even I didn't notice what happens if you let Astarion get vamp-napped, however.
As documented on the Baldur's Gate 3 subreddit by Soft_Stage_446, Astarion gets taken to his master's torture kennel to be punished by a skeletal interrogator called Godey. An entire scene you'd otherwise never see plays out from Astarion's point of view, whether or not you chose to play him as your origin character. And then you've got the opportunity to escape as Astarion, or switch over to the rest of your party and launch a rescue attempt. There's even dialogue for various companions' reaction to Astarion's abduction.

Chris Roberts sallies forth to declare 'we are closer than ever to realizing a dream many have said is impossible' with Star Citizen, but I'm sure I've heard this record before
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/mmo/chris-roberts-sallies-forth-to-declare-we-are-closer-than-ever-to-realizing-a-dream-many-have-said-is-impossible-with-star-citizen-but-im-sure-ive-heard-this-record-before/
It's been 12 years since the announcement of Star Citizen, the ludicrously ambitious and equally ludicrously overfunded space MMO from developer Cloud Imperium Games and designer Chris Roberts. (...)
The New Year has brought forth a new "Letter from the Chairman" to Star Citizen's devotees, in which Chris Roberts hits a few familiar notes before introducing 2025's big theme for the game: Playability. Stop sniggering at the back. We'll get to the actual content that CIG hopes will make a difference soon, but as Roberts acknowledges performance and stability remain sizeable issues for the game