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

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Tuesday news, part two:

WoW promising 3 expansions with a bunch of roadmap deadlines has, paradoxically, helped its devs slow down and take their time: 'The team is really energized'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/world-of-warcraft/wow-promising-3-expansions-with-a-bunch-of-roadmap-deadlines-has-paradoxically-helped-its-devs-slow-down-and-take-their-time-the-team-is-really-energized/
Unless you've been under a rock somewhere (I wouldn't blame you, mind) you're probably aware that World of Warcraft put on its big boots and announced three expansions in 2023. This is downright unprecedented. Even games that plan big, multi-expansion story arcs like Final Fantasy 14 will keep their next expansion tucked under wraps to help keep the hype machine going.
You might also be aware that Undermine(d), the next big patch for WoW, is going to be arriving later this week—and it's all about the goblins, baby, taking place in the heart of their underground mercantile empire. While at a recent Blizzard event, I had the chance to sit down with game director Ion Hazzikostas and associate design director Maria Hamilton to have a chat about all things green.

'I think it kind of wouldn't make sense anymore': Monster Hunter Wilds is breaking my heart by doing away with its bespoke language voice option, but that doesn't mean it's vanished entirely
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/action/i-think-it-kind-of-wouldnt-make-sense-anymore-monster-hunter-wilds-is-breaking-my-heart-by-doing-away-with-its-bespoke-language-voice-option-but-that-doesnt-mean-its-vanished-entirely/
Something that I have always deeply adored about the Monster Hunter series is the fact that you can play the entire game in its own made up language, sporting the very unornamented name Monster Hunter Language.
Well, you could, anyway. Much to my dismay, as Monster Hunter Wilds executive director Kaname Fujioka revealed to me that the team is doing away with its in-game language voice option, instead only offering up those pesky real-life human languages.

This open world bicycling game from the developer of Nidhogg is so chill that 'you don't really have to do any of the challenges if you don't want to'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/action/this-open-world-bicycling-game-from-the-developer-of-nidhogg-is-so-chill-that-you-dont-really-have-to-do-any-of-the-challenges-if-you-dont-want-to/
For me, open world games like Grand Theft Auto and Red Dead Redemption 2 really only peak when I've fought my way through the missions and completed the main story and there's not much left to do except… doing whatever the heck I want. Sometimes that's making sure I've explored every single inch of the map, sometimes it's completing a few activities to 100%, but often it's just cruising around and taking in the sights.
It's cool to hear the next game from Nidhogg developer Meshoff, open world biking game Wheel World, keeps that wandering, objectiveless spirit in mind for those who don't really wanna do much of anything but ride around and get lost in the world.

'It's like Die Hard but with more comedy': Immersive FPS Skin Deep has talking cats, banana traps, and enemies you can disable by making them sneeze
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/its-like-die-hard-but-with-more-comedy-immersive-fps-skin-deep-has-talking-cats-banana-traps-and-enemies-you-can-disable-by-making-them-sneeze/
Space piracy is a real problem in the future, but luckily there's a new and exciting loss prevention system to meet the needs of cautious space travelers. That's where you come in. In Skin Deep, you're Nina Pasadena, a former assassin turned insurance commando, part of the deluxe insurance package for corporate starships. You're frozen and stuck in a drawer on the ship, to be defrosted and put into action if pirates show up and try to kidnap the crew.
>> It has a demo.

The Katamari Damacy designer is releasing a game about a kid stuck in a T-pose
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/action/the-katamari-damacy-designer-is-releasing-a-game-about-a-kid-stuck-in-a-t-pose/
Before I get into what To a T is, you've gotta play the trailer above, because the song is sublime. It has the same effect on me as a sincere compliment from a stranger.
The premise of To a T, which you might gather from the trailer (or maybe not, there's a kind of lot going on), is that you're a kid whose arms are always sticking out. The T-pose is a default pose in the 3D modeling world, and game characters have been known to get stuck in it due to glitches. In this case, it's just the "extraordinary posture" of the protagonist, a teenager named Teen.

With remake rumours swirling, Persona 4 fans are ecstatic while P1 and 2 fans have crossed the horizon of despair
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/with-remake-rumours-swirling-persona-4-fans-are-ecstatic-while-p1-and-2-fans-have-crossed-the-horizon-of-despair/
As sure as night follows day, remakes that people buy will be followed by more remakes of games in the same series. So it's perhaps not too surprising that, following the success of Persona 3 Reload, the Persona community is currently hyper-sensitive to anything that could be perceived as a flicker of an ember of a hint that Atlus has got a Persona 4 remake cooking.
Today it's an Instagram post by Shihoko Hirata, the voice on P4 soundtrack bangers like Reach Out To The Truth; Time To Make History; and Heartbeat, Heartbreak (which has been looping in some corner of my brain for about 15 years now). Over on the 'gram, Hirata posted a photo of a recording booth that fans (via Rudiger__tw) clocked as the very same one used for a whole bunch of Persona games. Hirata didn't say which game she was recording for, only that it was "new," and then liked a bunch of comments on the post referencing P4.

Bossa says 'disruption' in the game industry 'is not a phase, it's a fundamental transformation' of how games will be made in the future as it lays off more employees
https://www.pcgamer.com/gaming-industry/bossa-says-disruption-in-the-game-industry-is-not-a-phase-its-a-fundamental-transformation-of-how-games-will-be-made-in-the-future-as-it-lays-off-more-employees/
Bossa Games, the developer of Surgeon Simulator, I am Bread, and I am Fish, is laying off an undisclosed number of employees as it moves to "scale back" its development efforts in order to focus on the upcoming release of the open world co-op adventure Lost Skies.
Bossa co-founder and co-CEO Henrique Olifiers acknowledged the "significant amount of disruption" that's wracked the videogame industry over the past few years in a message posted on LinkedIn. He doesn't believe it's a "phase" the business is going through, but rather "a fundamental transformation of the games industry, a reshape of how games are made and by what kinds of teams."

The Unpacking developer's next game finally has a release date, but if you can't wait until then, you can check out the free demo now
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/puzzle/the-unpacking-developers-next-game-finally-has-a-release-date-but-if-you-cant-wait-until-then-you-can-check-out-the-free-demo-now/
One of my favourite puzzle games of all time is Unpacking. I love it for its chill nature, cosy vibes, and incredibly satisfying organisation puzzles. With that in mind, I was pretty excited to hear that the developer, Witch Beam, is working on yet another puzzle game, which now has a release date right round the corner.
Witch Beam announced that Tempopo will release on April 17, 2025, on PC, Nintendo Switch, and Xbox. This is only a couple of months away, but if you want to check the game out beforehand, then you can give its demo a try.

BioWare co-founder Greg Zeschuk considered taking over EA 'from the inside', but he was thwarted by an MMO
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/bioware-co-founder-greg-zeschuk-considered-taking-over-ea-from-the-inside-but-he-was-thwarted-by-an-mmo/
There's a parallel universe where BioWare's co-founders staged a coup on the back of a Star Wars MMO launch and took over EA, changing it from the inside. At least, that was a dream harboured by Greg Zeschuk, before he left the company with fellow founder Ray Muzyka in 2012.
Chatting with Simon Parkin on his My Perfect Console podcast (cheers, Time Extension), Zeschuk discussed his final days at the company he founded, which had been acquired by EA four years prior. The last game to be released under Zeschuk and Muzyka's reign was Star Wars: The Old Republic—and Zeschuk had high hopes for it.

Physical copies of Assassin's Creed Shadows leak nearly a month ahead of its release date
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/action/physical-copies-of-assassins-creed-shadows-leak-nearly-a-month-ahead-of-its-release-date/
Nearly a month ahead of its scheduled release, physical copies of Assassin's Creed Shadows have reportedly leaked, and people on social media are sharing images, gameplay clips, and other details about the game.