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

[JEMC]

Friday news, part two:

Among Us 3D will make the VR version playable without a headset, and it's coming 'soon'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/action/among-us-3d-will-make-the-vr-version-playable-without-a-headset/
A new version of Among Us is coming: Among Us 3D will bring the existing VR version to flatspace, allowing players who don't have or want to use a VR headset to play the first-person version of the original 2D social deduction game.

Sony shares examples of 'sexually charged' texts from former Destiny 2 director who claims Bungie fired him unfairly to avoid paying millions
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/sony-shares-examples-of-sexually-charged-texts-from-former-destiny-2-director-who-claims-bungie-fired-him-unfairly-to-avoid-paying-millions/
Sony has responded to a wrongful dismissal lawsuit filed in December 2024 by former Destiny 2 and Marathon game director Christopher Barrett, saying Barrett's termination in 2024 was "justified," and that his lawsuit is "meritless." To back up its claim, Sony included multiple examples of written communications between Barrett and female subordinates in its reply, which it claims "reveal his pattern of misconduct."

'A wizard is never late, nor is he early, he arrives precisely when he means to,' but it's a different story for hobbits because Tales of the Shire is delayed again
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/life-sim/a-wizard-is-never-late-nor-is-he-early-he-arrives-precisely-when-he-means-to-but-its-a-different-story-for-hobbits-because-tales-of-the-shire-is-delayed-again/
Just over a month before it was due to launch, the cozy hobbit life sim Tales of the Shire has been delayed, and is now set to come out on July 29.
Tales of the Shire, for those not in the know, is essentially "Stardew Valley but with happy little hobbits," except that it's 3D rather than 2D and focuses more on cooking than farming, which seems appropriate. Villagers in the game's little town of Bywater wander around doing their things, while you embark on various quests and just live your life in a quiet corner of the world "painted in pastel earth tones, with a lovely art style that balances impression and detail."

Overwatch 2 achieves the improbable, clawing back a 'Mixed' rating in recent Steam reviews after a well-received perks update
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/overwatch-2-achieves-the-improbable-clawing-back-a-mixed-rating-in-recent-steam-reviews-after-a-well-received-perks-update/
In terms of ratings, Overwatch 2 could not have released at a worse time on Steam. The hero shooter's online reputation was in the toilet after Blizzard spent years talking up all the cool PvE and campaign missions the sequel would have, only to deliver a fraction of them extremely late and eventually cancel the rest. So when the free-to-play game finally came to Steam in August 2023, it was summarily dunked on with tens of thousands of negative reviews. In 2025, Overwatch 2 rests at an "Overwhelmingly negative" Steam rating with over 300,000 reviews.
Here's some good news: For the first time since its Steam debut, its "Recent reviews" rating, which only tracks reviews in the last 30 days, is at "Mixed." That's thanks to an influx of good vibes after this week's Season 15 update, which brought the biggest shakeup to Overwatch 2 since 5v5 with hero perks.

2XKO fans despair for a 2025 release as Riot pushes back a planned 'larger-scale global playtest' in favor of a 'much smaller one'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fighting/2xko-fans-despair-for-a-2025-release-as-riot-pushes-back-a-planned-larger-scale-global-playtest-in-favor-of-a-much-smaller-one/
We still haven't really had a proper look at 2XKO, Riot's League of Legends-based 2v2 fighting game, and it sounds like that's a state of affairs that's going to continue for a while yet. In a message posted on Reddit, 2XKO game director Shaun Rivera said plans for a global playtest in March have been pushed back, and instead it's going for something "much smaller" as developers continue to work on the game.

Dune: Awakening's sandworms will be their own masters: 'You won't be able to summon them at will'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/survival-crafting/dune-awakenings-sandworms-will-be-their-own-masters-you-wont-be-able-to-summon-them-at-will/
Funcom recently announced that Dune: Awakening will release on May 20, and alongside that news, the publisher wants you to know that sandworms are independent annelids that obey their own rules and don't need you to decide when and where they go places or what they do when they get there.
>> The game also has a benchmark tool.

Sure seems like the new Call of Duty map is teasing a Tony Hawk's Pro Skater game
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/sports/sure-seems-like-the-new-call-of-duty-map-is-teasing-a-tony-hawks-pro-skater-game/
The latest update for Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 added an expensive crossover with the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, but that's not the only '90s reference in the update. (Yes, I know the original comic is from the '80s, but the CoD versions are clearly based on the movies/cartoon, work with me here.) As spotted by CharlieIntel, hidden in the skater-themed Grind map (a remaster of a map from Black Ops 2) is a poster with a Tony Hawk's Pro Skater logo and the date March 4, 2025.

Fallout 76's former project lead says it's still his favourite game he worked on, but the initial reception was demoralising: 'I got yelled at in an Apple Store, I'll never forget'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fallout/fallout-76s-former-project-lead-says-its-still-his-favourite-game-he-worked-on-but-the-initial-reception-was-demoralising-i-got-yelled-at-in-an-apple-store-ill-never-forget/
Fallout 76 has become another feather in Bethesda's cap, assisted by the fact that it's the game best-positioned to take advantage of the popularity of Amazon's fantastic Fallout TV show, and thanks to the cavalcade of transformative free updates. But it wasn't always like this. At launch, the reception was rough. An online-only Fallout game with zero NPCs? Yeah, that was never going to fly.
"Working on a live service game comes with a lot of stress, because it just doesn't go away," says Jeff Gardiner, who spent 15 years producing The Elder Scrolls and Fallout, and served as Fallout 76's project lead until he left in 2021. It wasn't like he could just move on after players expressed their disappointment. And that even followed him when he was out shopping. "I got yelled at in an Apple Store, I'll never forget."
(...)
Wastelanders launched in 2020, and let Gardiner go out on a high note. "It’s a very unique game. It still is. People always ask, ‘What's your favorite game you’ve worked on?’ Because 76 was such a difficult game and then it turned around to a successful game, it's actually probably my favourite."

There's a simple way to enable FSR 3 frame gen in Avowed and it more than doubled my frame rate, but it makes waterfalls look ugly as sin
https://www.pcgamer.com/hardware/theres-a-simple-way-to-enable-fsr-3-frame-gen-in-avowed-and-it-more-than-doubled-my-frame-rate-but-it-makes-waterfalls-look-ugly-as-sin/
I've only spent a brief few hours with Obsidian's RPG/fish-person-friend simulator Avowed so far, but I'm enjoying my time with it. What I haven't been enjoying is the occasional frame rate dip, along with a general twitchiness our Nick highlighted in his performance analysis.
However, it turns out there's actually a simple tweak that enables FSR 3 frame generation, and it's more than doubled my frame rate—but it does come with one major caveat.

'A massive, massive moment of wow.' Microsoft CEO predicts AI-generated games are a 'CGI moment' for the industry
https://www.pcgamer.com/software/ai/a-massive-massive-moment-of-wow-microsoft-ceo-predicts-ai-generated-games-are-a-cgi-moment-for-the-industry/
Microsoft's new AI-powered game generation platform Muse is akin to the impact that CGI had on the film industry. So, says CEO Satya Nadella in a wide ranging interview covering everything from AI and quantum computing, to the future of economic growth, while slightly ignoring the fact that Microsoft's AI-generated games are only running at a resolution of 300 by 180 pixels. Hold that thought.

And here are the weekend deals at GOG and Steam:

+GOG

• The Git Gud Promo has games up to 90% off during 7 days: https://www.gog.com/en/promo/20250221_git_gud_promo
• The PostApo Promo also has up to 90% discounts during 7 days: https://www.gog.com/en/promo/20250221_postapo_promo
• The Psychological Games Promo also has games up to 90% off during the same 7 days: https://www.gog.com/en/promo/20250221_psychological_promo
• The Violent & Fast Paced Promo also features up to 90% discounts, and also during 7 days: https://www.gog.com/en/promo/20250221_gore_violence_promo
• And the last one is the Role-Playing Games Promo, with games up to 90% off once again, but this one will last 9 days: https://www.gog.com/en/promo/20250221_rpg_promo

+Steam

• With a new game coming soon, the Atelier franchise is on sale with up to 70% discounts until the 24th of February: https://store.steampowered.com/publisher/KOEITECMO/sale/atelier25
• Noita is going to be 60% off until the 27th: https://store.steampowered.com/app/881100/Noita/
• TROUBLESHOOTER: Abandoned Children will have a 70% discount until next Thursday: https://store.steampowered.com/app/470310/TROUBLESHOOTER_Abandoned_Children/
• The Sonic franchise sale has games (not all) up to 75% off until February 27: https://store.steampowered.com/sale/SonicFranchiseSale2025
• Publisher Neon Doctrine puts its games on sale with up to 80% discounts until Thursday, the 27th: https://store.steampowered.com/sale/neondoctrinepublishersale
• The Wargaming Publisher Sale has games and DLCs up to 89% off until the 27th of February: https://store.steampowered.com/sale/wargaming2025
• Slayers X: Terminal Aftermath: Vengance of the Slayer, that has a demo, also has a 50% discount until the 2nd of March: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1931020/Slayers_X_Terminal_Aftermath_Vengance_of_the_Slayer/
• Pax Dei. Still in Early Access, will be 50% off until the 3rd of March: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1995520/Pax_Dei/
• And the last one, The Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria™, will have a 40% discount until March, the 6th: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2933130/The_Lord_of_the_Rings_Return_to_Moria/

And that’s it. Until the next time, I wish you a happy and gaming weekend.