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

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Thursday news, the second part:

On the prospect of an $80-$90 GTA 6, former PlayStation boss says 'it's an impossible equation' for big-budget studios to keep their prices down
https://www.pcgamer.com/gaming-industry/on-the-prospect-of-an-usd80-usd90-gta-6-former-playstation-boss-says-its-an-impossible-equation-for-big-budget-studios-to-keep-their-prices-down/
There's every chance that GTA 6 will cost around $80—it's not been confirmed, but the wind is certainly shifting that way. That's as per the Xbox website, which told customers some bad news, writing "Some of our new, first-party games will launch at $79.99 beginning this holiday season."
I should note that while Rockstar is owned by Take-Two Interactive, not Microsoft, this still marks a shift in the big-budget industry and, honestly, having seen the absurd graphical fidelity of GTA 6? If any game's gonna cost $80, it'll be that one.
Former PlayStation boss and Sony vet, Shuhei Yoshida, who left the company in 2024 after a whopping 38 years, thinks it was pretty much only a matter of time. "It was going to happen sooner or later," he tells playstationinside. "Maybe not from Nintendo, but it was going to happen eventually."

FTC loses bid to block Microsoft's acquisition of Activision Blizzard, which already happened in 2023
https://www.pcgamer.com/gaming-industry/ftc-loses-bid-to-block-microsofts-acquisition-of-activision-blizzard-which-already-happened-in-2023/
More than a year after Microsoft's $69 billion acquisition of videogame behemoth Activision Blizzard was successfully completed, the US Federal Trade Commission's effort to block it has run aground. A federal appeals court has rejected the FTC's appeal of a ruling that denied its request for a preliminary injunction against the deal, saying the lower court applied the "correct legal standard" and that the FTC has not demonstrated that it was likely to win its case.

EA thinks it got Battlefield right this time, projecting confidence to investors in advance of a summer reveal: 'When we get it right, Battlefield is a giant franchise and often the biggest shooter in the year'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/ea-thinks-it-got-battlefield-right-this-time-projecting-confidence-to-investors-in-advance-of-a-summer-reveal-when-we-get-it-right-battlefield-is-a-giant-franchise-and-often-the-biggest-shooter-in-the-year/
After the unhappy reception for Battlefield 2042, EA went all in on player feedback, methodically addressing complaints and promising that the next Battlefield game will center the opinions of fans from the start, with what EA CEO Andrew Wilson calls "the biggest playtesting initiative in franchise history."
>> And EA feels “very good” after the delay of GTA 6.

Oblivion's gloriously exploitable magic is even more busted in the remaster, letting one player turn into a high-speed leap wizard who can cross Cyrodiil in seconds
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/oblivions-gloriously-exploitable-magic-is-even-more-busted-in-the-remaster-letting-one-player-turn-into-a-high-speed-leap-wizard-who-can-cross-cyrodiil-in-seconds/
Over on Reddit, an Oblivion Remastered player going by the name of purpleturtlehurtler claims to have found the perfect balance of speed and fun. In a 90-second video, their high elven mage (with a custom class called "Master Blaster") leaps from a frozen mountainside, flies through the air to land near the sunny Imperial City, then hops across the water of the Niben without seeming to lose any velocity. It's all done without console commands or mods, or even drinking skooma for that sweet buff to your speed stat.
In the early Elder Scrolls games, being able to craft your own spells and magic items led to some powerfully broken combinations. What purpleturtlehurtler is taking advantage of here is the fact that, while spells that fortify your attributes don't normally stack their bonuses in Oblivion, they do if you craft spells with the same effects but different names.

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 devs to issue its first nerf to an ability that does 2 billion damage: 'We gave it a big damage boost—and clearly overdid it'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/clair-obscur-expedition-33-devs-to-issue-its-first-nerf-to-an-ability-that-does-2-billion-damage-we-gave-it-a-big-damage-boost-and-clearly-overdid-it/
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is getting its first set of hotfixes tomorrow—which'll include a nerf to Stendhal, a skill that's been allowing players to do around 4 billion damage, which, as I observed yesterday, is enough to kill the game's hardest endgame superboss 45 times over.
"We hadn’t planned to make any balance changes this early," Sandfall Interactive writes on X, "just bug fixes, unless something clearly stood out. Well, Stendhal did."

Diablo 4 players aren't happy with the latest $150 Berserk collaboration, accusing it of being boring and overpriced
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/diablo-4-players-arent-happy-with-the-latest-usd150-berserk-collaboration-accusing-it-of-being-boring-and-overpriced/
Diablo 4's recent collab brings Kentaro Miura's Berserk to the bloodied chaos of Estuar. While I'd love to say that anything Berserk is worth it, I think this crossover pushes the boundaries just a little too much, because altogether, it's way too expensive.
Redditor HilltopHood broke down all the prices for the Berserk sets: "Obtaining all Berserk sets will run you 16,500 platinum." But for whatever reason, there are no bundles, discounts or pricing incentives for buying all of them together at once.
The premium cosmetics are for specific classes only, with the Barbarian getting The Berserker Armour (the best cosmetic, obviously), Rogues getting The Hawk of Light and The Struggler, and Necromancers getting The Skull Knight costume. There's also a pet bundle, a mount and mount armour. Individually, each costs 2,500 platinum (2,800 platinum equals $24.99/ £18.76).

Helldivers 2 is finally adding a sword, and while I'm not soiling my breeches over it as Arrowhead's CEO decreed, it does look very cool
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/third-person-shooter/helldivers-2-is-finally-adding-a-sword-and-while-im-not-soiling-my-breeches-over-it-as-arrowheads-ceo-decreed-it-does-look-very-cool/
Helldivers 2 players were very excited today over a Warbond that, per Arrowhead CEO Shams Jorjani, would allegedly make players "shit their pants". That's via an offhanded joke by way of Discord message that has spawned an entire swarm of memes.
(...)
Well, now it's out, are my trousers browned? Not exactly, but it does look stylin' for one simple reason: The Masters of Ceremony war bond finally adds a sword. Not a chainsword, not a stun baton, just a straight-up curved saber.
>> It’s been a while since the last Helldivers aritcle.