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

[JEMC]

The answer is yes!, and here it is:

Bobby Kotick says he'd never have raised World of Warcraft's subscription by even a dollar because 'it's a prickly audience, you don't wanna do too much to agitate them'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/world-of-warcraft/bobby-kotick-says-hed-never-have-raised-world-of-warcrafts-subscription-by-even-a-dollar-because-its-a-prickly-audience-you-dont-wanna-do-too-much-to-agitate-them/
Bobby Kotick, the former CEO of Activision Blizzard, made a recent appearance on the Grit podcast discussing his career in videogames. One of the threads is Blizzard Entertainment, a studio that Kotick clearly feels is capable of best-in-class entertainment but also one that was in some respects mismanaged: This is, of course, from the perspective of a profit-first businessman.
>> It’s very hard to summarize the headline part in one paragraph, so you’ll have to check it out by yourselves.

Obsidian says it won't chase huge profits or grow aggressively, and that's how it's going to last 100 years in the RPG business: 'Are we serious? Yes'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/obsidian-plans-to-make-rpgs-for-100-years-by-not-trying-to-grow-aggressively-expand-our-team-size-or-make-super-profitable-games/
In a talk at this week's D.I.C.E. Summit, an industry conference whose theme this year is sustainability, Obsidian Entertainment VP of operations Marcus Morgan and VP of development Justin Britch said they want the Fallout: New Vegas, Pillars of Eternity, and most recently Avowed studio to make it to its 100th birthday. Obsidian is 22 years old now, so that's 78 to go, and the VPs think it can get there by staying lean, holding onto talent, setting realistic sales expectations, and not going all-in on delivering huge profits.

All Honkai: Star Rail 3.1 livestream codes
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/honkai-star-rail-3-1-livestream-codes/
The Honkai: Star Rail 3.1 livestream codes have arrived. These Stellar Jade bonuses are a great little way to supplement your hoard of currency for pulling new characters in the upcoming update. For those that are new here, every six weeks miHoYo puts on a livestream for each of its games, showing off what new content, characters, and events are on the way.

Despite a 'teamwide oops, guess we made it too hard moment,' Hyper Light Breaker has 'no regrets' about its mixed-response early access launch, and now it's got a roadmap so everyone can 'git gud'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/action/despite-a-teamwide-oops-guess-we-made-it-too-hard-moment-hyper-light-breaker-has-no-regrets-about-its-mixed-response-early-access-launch-and-now-its-got-a-roadmap-so-everyone-can-git-gud/
Although I had an excellent time with Hyper Light Breaker at last year's Summer Game Fest, the game's had a rough go of it since hitting early access a month ago. The game currently sits at a 63% Mixed rating on Steam, with players put off by tech trouble, issues with the controls, and the simple fact the game might just be too dang hard.
But the devs at Heart Machine tell PCG they're undaunted, and despite a "teamwide 'oops, guess we made it too hard' moment" when the game first hit Steam, they've got "No regrets" about releasing in early access. "There is no amount of time you can spend in isolation that will make the game great," says lead producer Michael Clark. "You get the best version of a game by maximizing the amount of feedback-and-iteration loops you can go through, and Early Access is the way to do that for a title like this."

Overwatch 2 players are hoping that the upcoming perks will dissuade the heinous act of counterswapping
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/overwatch-2-players-are-hoping-that-the-upcoming-perks-will-dissuade-the-heinous-act-of-counterswapping/
As part of Overwatch 2's big rework, every hero will be getting a set of perks—unlockable upgrades that can be chosen throughout the game. Every hero has different traits, but there's one throughline that some players hope means an end to counterswapping.

A web3 free-to-play survival game found to be a front for installing malware on your PC has finally been removed from Steam
https://www.pcgamer.com/hardware/a-web3-free-to-play-survival-game-found-to-be-a-front-for-installing-malware-on-your-pc-has-finally-been-removed-from-steam/
Reported to have amassed over 7,000 players, a free-to-play web3 game named PirateFi launched on Steam last week and was subsequently taken down for containing "malicious files". Users reportedly found out about this takedown as Valve took to notifying players that their rigs could be compromised.

Let’s check the weekend deals at Steam, since GOG doesn’t have any new deal:

+Steam

• Pacific Drive will be 40% off until the 20th of February: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1458140/Pacific_Drive/
• Bulwark Evolution: Falconeer Chronicles, that has a demo, gets a 55% discount until the same 20th: https://store.steampowered.com/app/290100/Bulwark_Evolution_Falconeer_Chronicles/
• The Game Over, T1D! Sale has games up to 85% off until February 20, tho some deals will end sooner: https://store.steampowered.com/sale/GameOverT1DSale2025
• Crime Scene Cleaner features a 20% discount until the 27th: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1040200/Crime_Scene_Cleaner/
• The Hits You Missed Sale has games up to 50% off. The length of the deals vary, with some ending tomorrow while others will last until the 27th: https://store.steampowered.com/sale/hitsyoumissed
• Kind Words 2 (lofi city pop) will have a 50% discount until February 27: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2118120/Kind_Words_2_lofi_city_pop/
• And last, but not least, the Crew franchise (Bomber Crew, Space Crew, etc.) will be up to 95% off until the 27th: https://store.steampowered.com/sale/RunnerDuckFranchise2025

That will do it. Until the next time, I wish you a happy and gaming weekend.