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

[JEMC]

Friday news, part two:

EA CEO says the magic words 'Apex 2.0': It won't happen until after the next Battlefield, but 'this will not be the final incarnation of Apex'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/ea-ceo-says-the-magic-words-apex-2-0-it-wont-happen-until-after-the-next-battlefield-but-this-will-not-be-the-final-incarnation-of-apex/
EA's latest quarterly financial call saw the execs wearing something of a hairshirt, with CEO Andrew Wilson having to cop to the underwhelming sales of Dragon Age: The Veilguard alongside the "temporary underperformance" of EA Sports FC 25. "Q3 was not the financial performance we wanted or expected," said Wilson, adding that despite "performing in line with expectations," net bookings for Respawn's Apex Legends were down year-over-year.
(…)
In the last earnings call before this one, Wilson himself claimed there were no plans for an Apex 2.0 and pushed back against the idea. Now? It is very much on the cards.

Former Dragon Age developers are not happy with EA CEO's suggestion that The Veilguard should have live service features: 'I'd probably quit'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/former-dragon-age-developers-are-not-happy-with-ea-ceos-suggestion-that-the-veilguard-should-have-live-service-features-id-probably-quit/
EA's CEO, Andrew Wilson, recently voiced some bizarre criticism of Dragon Age: The Veilguard during a quarterly financial call. He suggested that the game struggled because it didn't have any live service components.
EA did announce that The Veilguard underperformed, even if expectations were perhaps set a little too high, but blaming this on the game not being a Fortnite ripoff misses the point entirely. I'm not sure any amount of live service elements could've saved this game from the poor writing, pacing, and lackluster companions. It seems that a few former Dragon Age developers agree with this sentiment that live service is not the right move.

Paradox is the new owner of Jagged Alliance 3 and Surviving Mars developer Haemimont Games
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/strategy/paradox-is-the-new-owner-of-jagged-alliance-3-and-surviving-mars-developer-haemimont-games/
Haemimont Games has spent the last 25 years knocking out an impressive list of strategy and management romps, including corkers like Tropico 3-5, Surviving Mars and Jagged Alliance 3. It's had a pretty great run, and now it's the latest feather in publisher Paradox Interactive's cap, which just snatched the studio up.

The organizers of E3 announce a new event called iicon, but it's not open to the public and you probably don't want to go anyway
https://www.pcgamer.com/gaming-industry/the-organizers-of-e3-announce-a-new-event-called-iicon-but-its-not-open-to-the-public-and-you-probably-dont-want-to-go-anyway/
E3 died in 2023 but the Entertainment Software Association is still around, and it's just unveiled its new idea: "a first-of-its-kind event designed to connect visionaries, thought leaders and innovators from across industries to harness the power of interactive entertainment" called iicon.
Two things right off the start: No, this is not a reborn E3, and no, I didn't spell it wrong. Iicon is a snappy abbreviation for the Interactive Innovation Conference, and its goal is to provide attendees "exclusive access to visionary keynotes, engaging discussions and workshops, and elite networking opportunities with executives shaping the future of entertainment, business and technology." Those executives will come from companies including Amazon Games, Disney, Electronic Arts, Epic Games, Microsoft, Nintendo of America, Sony Interactive Entertainment, Square Enix, Take-Two Interactive, Ubisoft and Warner Bros.
>> Starting the list of companies with Amazon is alphabetically correct, but it feels like a joke to me.

Baldur's Gate 3's Patch 8 is so big, it needed its own patch before it even released, and we're one step closer to a Permanent Booming Blade Economy
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/baldurs-gate/baldurs-gate-3s-patch-8-is-so-big-it-needed-its-own-patch-before-it-even-released-and-were-one-step-closer-to-a-permanent-booming-blade-economy/
Larian has published a blog post detailing an update to the Baldur's Gate 3 Patch 8, which isn't actually out yet and is still in stress testing. The update includes a few tweaks to the balance of new sub classes in addition to the expected bug fixes, but notably absent among them were any significant changes to Booming Blade, a new cantrip that's set to seriously shake up the game's balance and crown a new subclass king⁠.

As Civilization 7 languishes with a 'mixed' rating on Steam, Firaxis says improving the game's wildly unpopular UI is 'our top priority'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/strategy/as-civilization-7-languishes-with-a-mixed-rating-on-steam-developers-say-theyre-looking-into-feedback-about-its-wildly-unpopular-ui/
Civilization 7 doesn't fully launch until next Tuesday, February 11, but it's playable now for people who sprung for the Founders Edition, and so far the response isn't what Firaxis or 2K Games had to be hoping for. There's a range of complaints, as there always is, but most widespread is criticism of the UI, which has grown to the point that developers have now said they're "looking into" it.

Ubisoft's grudging crawlback to Steam continues with achievements for Watch Dogs 2 added a mere 9 years after release
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/action/ubisofts-grudging-crawlback-to-steam-continues-with-achievements-for-watch-dogs-2-added-a-mere-9-years-after-release/
Ubisoft is currently engaged in what we Brits would call a reverse-ferret: After years of releasing its games exclusively on the Epic Store, the publisher has returned to distributing them on Steam. (...)
This is all because Ubisoft has realised it can't afford to ignore Steam, but would really much rather prefer you bought games directly on its own platform. Such grudging reticence may lie behind another oddity of the publisher's gradual return: Ubisoft is slowly going through its back catalogue and adding Steam achievements, in most cases several years after release.
The latest is Watch Dogs 2, and yes I'll wear Adrian's iconic grey cap before calling it Watch_Dogs 2. Fully nine years after release Ubisoft has just added achievements, so now you too can get a pop-up for *checks notes* petting 10 dogs, buying a pair of pants, or taking a picture of someone vomiting. Really.

Harrison Ford points to Troy Baker's Indiana Jones for why he's not worried about AI actors: 'You don't need artificial intelligence to steal my soul'
https://www.pcgamer.com/gaming-industry/harrison-ford-points-to-troy-bakers-indiana-jones-for-why-hes-not-worried-about-ai-actors-you-dont-need-artificial-intelligence-to-steal-my-soul/
In a recent interview with the Wall Street Journal, legendary actor Harrison Ford again took the time to praise Troy Baker's performance as Indiana Jones in MachineGames' The Great Circle. Ford offered Baker's performance as a counterpoint to interest in AI-generated digital actors trained on human artists' past performances.
"You don’t need artificial intelligence to steal my soul. You can already do it for nickels and dimes with good ideas and talent," Ford said in response to a question about digital likeness rights, alluding to Indiana Jones and the Great Circle and Troy Baker's performance. "He did a brilliant job, and it didn’t take AI to do it."

Rust goes medieval with the Primitive update: siege weapons, swords and shields, and maybe a few jewel-encrusted assault rifles
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/survival-crafting/rust-goes-medieval-with-the-primitive-update-siege-weapons-swords-and-shields-and-maybe-a-few-jewel-encrusted-assault-rifles/
It's a great week for going medieval. Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 crashed through Steam's gates on Tuesday, and now here comes survival sandbox Rust with its Primitive update. It's got swords, shields, bows and arrows, siege weapons, and a few mild anachronisms like jewel-encrusted assault rifles and electricity-powered autocrossbows.

The Monster Hunter Wilds beta is now live
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/action/monster-hunter-wilds-steam-pc-beta-download-live/
Fire off those SOS flares, hunters: the Monster Hunter Wilds beta test is now live on Steam.
Anyone and everyone with a PC (or PS5, or Xbox) can join the second Wilds open beta, which began at 7 pm Pacific on February 6th and runs until the same time on Sunday, February 9th. If that timing tragically doesn't work for you, you'll have a second crack at it: Capcom's running a repeat from February 13th to 16th, also beginning at 7 pm Pacific time.