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

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Tuesday gaming news, part two:

Tim Cain talks about the challenges facing a Fallout remaster: 'How much are we now changing the original Fallout? Is this a quality of life thing or are you making a new game?'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/tim-cain-talks-about-the-challenges-facing-a-fallout-remaster-how-much-are-we-now-changing-the-original-fallout-is-this-a-quality-of-life-thing-or-are-you-making-a-new-game/
Have you ever thought to yourself, wow, the original Fallout would be the perfect candidate for a remaster? Well, first, you are 100% correct. And second, OG Fallout lead Tim Cain says the process of doing so—if and when someone decides they're going to do it—is a whole lot more complicated than you might think

NetherRealm says it's done releasing major updates for Mortal Kombat 1: 'Our team … needs to shift focus to the next project'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fighting/netherrealm-says-its-done-releasing-major-updates-for-mortal-kombat-1-our-team-needs-to-shift-focus-to-the-next-project/
In the world of fighting games, NetherRealm fighters are an odd duck. Games like Guilty Gear, Street Fighter, and Tekken tend to get souped up with DLC for half a decade or more before the next entry is even announced—but like Mortal Kombat 11 before it, Mortal Kombat 1 is dispensing with further major updates after around two years.

A month after Electronic Arts mashed the brakes, WRC rally racing games are coming back with a 'complete reboot' under a new publisher
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/racing/a-month-after-electronic-arts-mashed-the-brakes-wrc-rally-racing-games-are-coming-back-with-a-complete-reboot-under-a-new-publisher/
Less than a month after the end of its licensing deal with Electronic Arts racing studio Codemasters, the FIA has announced a new deal to bring WRC racing games back in 2027 with an "all-new WRC games series" being developed by Nacon.

After 4 years, Final Fantasy 14 finally has a new exploration zone in the Occult Crescent—and even if I'd have liked one sooner, I can't wait to get stuck in
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/final-fantasy/after-4-years-final-fantasy-14-finally-has-a-new-exploration-zone-in-the-occult-crescent-and-even-if-id-have-liked-one-sooner-i-cant-wait-to-get-stuck-in/
For grumpy old Final Fantasy 14 enjoyers like myself who won't stop banging on about how the game doesn't have midcore content—good news! The game has midcore content now, and we can finally shut up until patch 8.0. Released in Patch 7.25 today, the Occult Crescent, a new Bozja-style exploration zone, is now open to the public.

Dragon Age creator says EA execs thought BioWare fans would eat whatever slop they were given since 'the nerds in the cave would always show up for an RPG, because it was an RPG'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/dragon-age-creator-says-ea-execs-thought-bioware-fans-would-eat-whatever-slop-they-were-given-since-the-nerds-in-the-cave-would-always-show-up-for-an-rpg-because-it-was-an-rpg/
Peter Mandelson, the oleaginous right-hand of Tony Blair's Labour Party in the late '90s, once remarked to a colleague that the party had no need to focus on its traditional voter base, and could safely dedicate itself to chasing more affluent, middle-class, conservative voters. After all, said Mandelson, its base had "nowhere else to go". Don't worry, I promise we'll get to Dragon Age.
14 years of Conservative Party rule later and you might think that kind of reasoning has been proven bankrupt, but only if you underestimate the powerful minds of the world's corporate executive class. It's not quite as consequential as the direction of British politics, but it turns out that EA had its own version of that thought process when it came to running BioWare in the 2010s: a notion that RPG fans would gobble up whatever you chucked their way so long as you could plausibly call it an RPG. Instead, they thought, BioWare should focus on making games that appeal to people who don't usually play RPGs.
So says David Gaider, creator of the Dragon Age setting and BioWare veteran, in a recent chat with GamesRadar. Per Gaider, EA bosses used to refer to RPG stalwarts as living "in the cave." That'd be the nerd cave, you see, where the nerds lived. "You made an RPG and the nerds in the cave would always show up for an RPG, because it was an RPG."

CDPR didn't put harsh themes in Cyberpunk 2077 or The Witcher 3 'for the sake of edginess', but because 'you're probably not making art' if the devs are never challenged
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/the-witcher/cdpr-didnt-put-harsh-themes-in-cyberpunk-2077-or-the-witcher-3-for-the-sake-of-edginess-but-because-youre-probably-not-making-art-if-the-devs-are-never-challenged/
It's not exactly news that Cyberpunk 2077 and The Witcher 3 both grapple with heavy-hitting themes—but there are a few stand-out moments that can really crawl under your skin. For me, just about all of ol' 2077 was a bit of an existential nightmare, though it was one I was thoroughly enthralled by.
Speaking to our friends at GamesRadar about the Bloody Baron and Sinnerman questlines—which cover themes of miscarriage and domestic abuse in The Witcher 3, and crucifixion in Cyberpunk 2077, respectively—senior quest designer Philipp Weber says that no-one in the studio takes grappling with such themes lightly.

Cities: Skylines 2 can't catch a break, as the long-awaited Bridges and Ports expansion is delayed again
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/city-builder/cities-skylines-2-cant-catch-a-break-as-the-long-awaited-bridges-and-ports-expansion-is-delayed-again/
Cities: Skylines 2's had a rough ride since it launched in 2023. There's no denying that Colossal Order has made some substantial improvements to the wonky launch build in the nearly two years since it arrived, but it feels like the team is constantly juggling a variety of issues.
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The first expansion, Bridges & Ports, was expected to appear within a few months of Beach Properties, but that never happened. In September 2024, the team announced that it was delaying the expansion so it could improve the base game. It eventually got a release window of the second quarter of 2025. So around now. Well, that won't be happening either.