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

[JEMC]

Tuesday news, part two:

Stellaris' new Biogenesis expansion lets you be a sapient planet or home-grow your own cosmic leviathan
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/strategy/stellaris-new-biogenesis-expansion-lets-you-be-a-sapient-planet-or-home-grow-your-own-cosmic-leviathan/
Sci-fi sandbox strategy sim Stellaris will probably continue expanding until either the heat-death of the universe, or it encompasses every single notable genre trope in existence. Today, it grew a meaty little chunk of new content with the Biogenesis expansion, part of its ninth season of DLC.

The first big REPO update is available to test
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/horror/the-first-big-repo-update-is-available-to-test/
REPO's much-anticipated update is coming... soon... but it's also coming right now because, since everyone's very excited about it, the developers at Semiwork have decided to run it as an open beta.

After 2 decades of snacking, a new World of Warcraft spell renders vendor food partly obsolete
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/world-of-warcraft/after-two-decades-of-snacking-world-of-warcraft-is-doing-away-with-vendor-food/
As World of Warcraft preps for patch 11.1.7, Wowhead has spotted an interesting feature on the public test servers: a new spell in the general tab for all characters, called recuperate, that lets you light a little campfire, cook, and get your health (but not mana) back over 30 seconds. It costs you nothing.

This dreary low-poly delivery game pairs Animal Crossing villagers with soul-crushing gig work and I can't wait to play it
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/sim/this-dreary-low-poly-delivery-game-pairs-animal-crossing-villagers-with-soul-crushing-gig-work-and-i-cant-wait-to-play-it/
I spent six years as a delivery guy in a profoundly depressed area, so I'm receptive when a game like Easy Delivery Co. appeals to the universal human yearning to drive packages around in a place that sucks. It's a driving game with PS1-esque graphics, a soundtrack of laidback beats, and a bleak mountainside setting populated by eerie Animal Crossing villagers—and after an hour with the demo, it's easily one of my most anticipated games of 2025.

There's now a free 'shareware' version of horde-battling RTS Diplomacy is Not an Option
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/strategy/theres-now-a-free-shareware-version-of-horde-battling-rts-diplomacy-is-not-an-option/
The base-building, horde vaporizing Diplomacy is Not an Option left early access last year to a pretty warm reception by those who'd followed its development. In it you build up little medieval town-fortresses and use that economic engine to defend them from copious hordes of attacking fantasy invaders.
You also vaporize the invaders with laser beam magic from the sky, if that's your thing.
Now, to celebrate the release and success, developer Door 407 has made a free "shareware" version of the game that's basically a standalone demo with stuff to do that's only in it.

'I am about to cry my eyes out': 2000s toys-to-life phenom Webkinz, which I may or may not still have a shelf full of plushes from, is somehow back 5 years after the death of Flash
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/life-sim/i-am-about-to-cry-my-eyes-out-2000s-toys-to-life-phenom-webkinz-which-i-may-or-may-not-still-have-a-shelf-full-of-plushes-from-is-somehow-back-5-years-after-the-death-of-flash/
Put down the frog: There's no need to do anything rash.
That'll apply to you, reader of a very specific age, if you were thinking of throwing out your old Webkinz—the toys-to-life plushie that was springing into browsers circa 2005—because the classic version of the game hasn't been playable on browsers in ages. Last week, Webkinz developer and toy company Ganz announced that the game is slated for a return to browsers later this year.
>> I don’t know if news like this one are worth posting. What do you think?

An 8,500-hour countdown clock is ticking down to an Ecco the Dolphin remaster and sequel reveal
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/an-8-500-hour-countdown-clock-is-ticking-down-to-an-ecco-the-dolphin-remaster-and-sequel-reveal/
A new Ecco the Dolphin game is in the works, and a countdown website is now ticking down to what I can only assume will be an official reveal when it hits the zero mark—which will happen in a little over 8,500 hours.

Everyone is a boat in this 'MOBA meets Vampire Survivors' game inspired by a Warcraft 3 mod
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/moba/everyone-is-a-boat-in-this-moba-meets-vampire-survivors-game-inspired-by-a-warcraft-3-mod/
All these years later, the Warcraft 3 modding scene is still producing fully fledged games.
The mod Battleships is sort of like a take on DOTA, but instead of RPG-style heroes, players pilot upgradable warships afloat in watery labyrinths. The big shakeup is that your weapons fire themselves, so any harassment and creep farming will take care of itself while you steer the ship and manage cooldowns.
Sirocco, which launched into early access on Steam last Friday, is an evolution of the mod with sleeker visuals and finer controls. The core is very much the same, and the game bills itself as a MOBA where players can "ditch the roles, hard counters and last hits."

'It is very touching and very stupid': Katamari Damacy creator can't wait for us to experience the final scene of his new game
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/adventure/it-is-very-touching-and-very-stupid-katamari-damacy-creator-cant-wait-for-us-to-experience-the-final-scene-of-his-new-game/
The next game from Katamari Damacy creator Keita Takahashi is about a teenager who's permanently stuck in a T-pose, a default 3D modeling pose you'll sometimes see glitched-out videogame characters revert to.
In To a T, you'll help Teen—the kid is actually named "Teenager"—navigate life with their immovable outstretched arms, which in Takahashi's own words results in "stupid" scenes.

The Month of Meh event is underway in Hello Kitty Island Adventure, finally letting you take photos with a strange man dressed as an egg
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/life-sim/the-month-of-meh-event-is-underway-in-hello-kitty-island-adventure-finally-letting-you-take-photos-with-a-strange-man-dressed-as-an-egg/
Any time there's an opportunity to run a quirky seasonal event, Hello Kitty Island Adventure is happy to oblige. So, it's not surprising that a month-long celebration for all things eggs, the Month of Meh, is the current one underway.