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

[JEMC]

Monday gaming news, part two:

The first ever third-party game to come to Steam probably doesn't get the respect it deserves—mostly because no one remembers it
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fighting/the-first-ever-third-party-game-to-come-to-steam-probably-doesnt-get-the-respect-it-deserves-mostly-because-no-one-remembers-it/
Steam's newly automated monthly top-seller list now lets you go all the way back to 2004, and it's been a fun way to take a trip down memory lane. And as Jody noted, it's shined a light on one particular oddity: Rag Doll Kung Fu.
Chances are you've never heard of it, but this fighting game has the honour of being the first ever third-party game to come to Steam, back in 2005. That's before the release of The Orange Box, even—back then it was basically just a launcher for Half-Life 2. And then it suddenly had martial arts puppet action too.
>> The article has a link to the game, because it’s still on Steam (and it’s very cheap)

Veteran indie dev says success on Steam these days is impossible to predict: 'Why did Balatro take off? You could write a million f***ing essays and none of them will be definitely right'
https://www.pcgamer.com/gaming-industry/veteran-indie-dev-says-success-on-steam-these-days-is-impossible-to-predict-why-did-balatro-take-off-you-could-write-a-million-f-ing-essays-and-none-of-them-will-be-definitely-right/
Size Five Games' Dan Marshall has been making games for around 20 years, and was one of the early indie adopters of Steam when he released the excellent Time Gentlemen, Please! on the platform back in 2009. He's been around the block, then, and he's seen it change dramatically.
Trying to figure out the secret to blowing up on Steam as an indie is an impossible task. There are so many variables you could obsess over, but at the same time it almost seems random. Yes, the game actually needs to be good, but countless good games get completely overlooked on Steam every single day.

World of Warcraft game director on the woeful patch 11.1.5: 'It's not the experience our players are expecting or deserve'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/world-of-warcraft/world-of-warcraft-game-director-on-the-woeful-patch-11-1-5-its-not-the-experience-our-players-are-expecting-or-deserve/
World of Warcraft's latest patch was riddled with bugs and time-gated content, frustrating players and causing some pundits to pan it as a disaster, with even friendlier streamers noting that the patch process is broken and that Blizzard blew it. (See our full report for the details).
I recently interviewed WoW senior game director Ion Hazzikostas, who said that the 11.1.5 launch did not go as planned and that Blizzard needs to do better. He spoke about the bugs surrounding the new in-game Flame's Radiance events, which launched in the patch.
>> At least the player housing feature that will come with the next expansion looks good.

Fortnite added an AI-powered Darth Vader and—surprise—players immediately tricked him into saying slurs
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/battle-royale/fortnite-added-an-ai-powered-darth-vader-and-surprise-players-immediately-tricked-him-into-saying-slurs/
Star Wars is turning May into a month-long cautionary tale about the dangers of associating your brand with generative AI. First, Lucasfilm's Rob Bredow unveiled a near-universally reviled Star Wars-branded short film of AI-generated animal mashups. And today, Fortnite added a Darth Vader NPC that can speak with players using "conversational AI," which has—regrettably—gone exactly as you'd expect.
Update: At 11:19 am EDT, Epic announced that it had pushed a hotfix to address Vader's unfortunate profanity, saying "this shouldn't happen again."

REPO developer teases the game's 'most powerful weapon' yet, a mountable cannon that will 'turn your cart into a battle tank'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/horror/repo-developer-teases-the-games-most-powerful-weapon-yet-a-mountable-cannon-that-will-turn-your-cart-into-a-battle-tank/
REPO's latest community update video made me laugh so hard that the top half of my head almost fully flapped backward, much like the yapping mouths of the game's own pedal bin-shaped robots. This wasn't due to the video's typically goofy opening, though I did crack a slight smile at the introductory silliness. Rather, it's because presenter and semiwork designer Pontus spends the first half of the update talking about balance, then reveals a new weapon so powerful it risks obliterating the concept of balance from reality.

Take-Two CEO reckons Civilization 7's mixed reception is just history repeating itself: 'Every time we've come out with a new platform iteration of Civilization, there's been some consternation on the part of consumers'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/strategy/take-two-ceo-reckons-civilization-7s-mixed-reception-is-just-history-repeating-itself-every-time-weve-come-out-with-a-new-platform-iteration-of-civilization-theres-been-some-consternation-on-the-part-of-consumers/
Civilization 7 has proved one of the more divisive games of 2025 thus far. At present, its Steam rating is split almost precisely down the middle, between players who enjoy its attempt to streamline the experience, and those who believe the changes result in a shallow and predictable turn-based strategy.
It's the most divided response to a new Civilization game that I can personally recall. But according to Strauss Zelnick, boss of Civ 7's publisher Take-Two Interactive, the reaction is nothing new when compared to the great span of the series' history.

You've got to play my dark horse GOTY candidate if you too are a sicko for one of the ultimate RPG gimmicks: a trash level 1 sword that can be forged into a god slayer
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/horror/labyrinth-of-the-demon-king-broken-katana-use/
Labyrinth of the Demon King is a must-play: It's a first-person, survival horror dungeon crawler that feels like an unholy fusion of King's Field, Resident Evil, and Condemned. When you do check it out, though, I've got one big piece of new player advice.

Baldur's Gate 3 has a secret like Diablo's Cow Level I never saw after 460 hours: A magical sheep companion named 'Harvard Willoughby' you summon by killing a comedian and ringing two bells
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/baldurs-gate/baldurs-gate-3-has-a-secret-like-diablos-cow-level-i-never-saw-after-460-hours-a-magical-sheep-companion-named-harvard-willoughby-you-summon-by-killing-a-comedian-and-ringing-two-bells/
In YouTuber SlimX's accounting of Baldur's Gate 3's behind-the-scenes secrets, he hit me with one that sent my jaw through the floor: You can summon a magical sheep who can cast endgame spells by killing a minor NPC and ringing both of Act 3's bell tower bells.
>> There’s also a rare scenario in Act 3 about zombies, and a unique game over.

Mud-and-blood medieval horror game Blight: Survival gets even muddier in the Marshlands biome
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/horror/mud-and-blood-medieval-horror-game-blight-survival-gets-even-muddier-in-the-marshlands-biome/
We've been following the development of co-op action-horror game Blight: Survival for a good long while now, going back to a gameplay reveal trailer in 2022 that showed filthy knights fighting filthier zombies. A recent sign of life in what might have looked like a fungus-encrusted peasant corpse, the Blight: Survival team recently shared a look at the development of the Marshlands biome in a post with an evocative name: Mud, rot and the weight of a dying world.

After raising over $800 million from its community, Star Citizen's developer delays the release of a new ship upgrade as players baulk at having to pay for it
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/sim/after-raising-over-usd800-million-from-its-community-star-citizens-developer-delays-the-release-of-a-new-ship-upgrade-as-players-baulk-at-having-to-pay-for-it/
The only thing more astonishing than Star Citizen's ability to extract funds from its community is the eagerness with which said community has supported it. Across thirteen years, Cloud Imperium Games has raised over $800 million from a convoluted mixture of paid alpha access, subscriptions, merchandising, microtransactions, and selling spaceships that cost hundreds of dollars to players (I suppose you could call these "macrotransactions").
While there have been controversies and backlashes to the game in the past, such as complaints over changes to the roadmap, the community has rarely revolted en masse at the prospect of paying for stuff. But the recent reveal of an upgrade for Star Citizen's ships has finally caused to community to raise a finger and say "hold on a minute…"