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

[JEMC]

Friday gaming news, part two:

Russia says it won't arrest players after seizing the studio behind the Russian World of Tanks offshoot, accusing it of funnelling funds to Ukraine
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/mmo/russia-assures-world-of-tanks-players-they-wont-end-up-in-prison-as-it-takes-full-control-of-the-studio-in-charge-of-it-domestically-accusing-it-of-funnelling-funds-to-ukraine/
Russia has come down hard on Lesta Games (via Meduza), the domestic company that inherited local rights to World of Tanks (or Mir Tankov, as it's known locally) after its original dev, Wargaming, exited Belarus and Russia in protest of the latter's 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

Goon it yourself with the new editor for pulp-noir immersive sim Fallen Aces, or just visit a '20s nightclub version of Doom's famed first level
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/goon-it-yourself-with-the-new-editor-for-pulp-noir-immersive-sim-fallen-aces-or-just-visit-a-20s-nightclub-version-of-dooms-famed-first-level/
It has been almost a year since Fallen Aces arrived on the early access scene, bringing impeccable Dick Tracy gangster comic vibes to the immersive sim genre. While there's still a little ways to go until the second episode launches, the game was updated just a few days ago with a powerful level editor, Steam Workshop support, and a handful of great example levels set in some familiar places.

Dune: Awakening lives up to MMO tradition with server woes at launch, but with these simple fixes the spice shall flow
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/mmo/dune-awakening-lives-up-to-mmo-tradition-with-server-woes-at-launch-but-with-these-simple-fixes-the-spice-shall-flow/
The Dune: Awakening early access period for owners of the deluxe and ultimate editions of the game is now live, and despite Funcom's confidence that there would be no server problems, there are server problems. The good news is, it seems pretty minor and there's a quick fix.

Surf on a magic sword and kickflip over flying dolphins in Sword of the Sea, hitting Steam in August
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/action/surf-on-a-magic-sword-and-kickflip-over-flying-dolphins-in-sword-of-the-sea-hitting-steam-in-august/
More than two years after its first trailer debuted, magical surfing adventure Sword of the Sea finally has a release date—August 19—announced during Sony's State of Play showcase last night. It'll be the third game from Giant Squid, the small studio behind the award-winning undersea exploration game Abzû and magical parkour archery adventure The Pathless, which our Luke Kemp gave a powerful 85% score.

The only good MOBA celebrates its 10th anniversary, so I booted up Heroes of the Storm again and was so bad one of my teammates called me an NPC
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/the-only-good-moba-celebrates-its-10th-anniversary-so-i-booted-up-heroes-of-the-storm-again-and-was-so-bad-one-of-my-teammates-called-me-an-npc/
Heroes of the Storm has announced that, to celebrate the game's 10th anniversary, all heroes will be free for all players until June 15, there's one new skin, and if you login, you'll get a few little bonuses to boot. It's been five years since HotS got a new hero, and three years since Blizzard officially put the game into "maintenance mode", but as we recently noted it's looking awfully spry for what some call a "dead game."

'The last one wasn't the last one': CD Projekt has cyber punked us again, announcing another surprise update for Cyberpunk 2077
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/the-last-one-wasnt-the-last-one-cd-projekt-has-cyber-punked-us-again-announcing-another-surprise-update-for-cyberpunk-2077/
What do Re-Logic, Eric Barone, and CD Projekt have in common? They won't quit screwing around with (read: improving) their old games: Less than a week after announcing that The Witcher 3 is getting "one more patch" to add cross-platform mod support, the studio revealed today that Cyberpunk 2077 is getting a new update, too.

Path of Exile's 31st expansion follows action RPG tradition and will let you hire mercenaries to fight by your side
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/path-of-exiles-31st-expansion-follows-action-rpg-tradition-and-will-let-you-hire-mercenaries-to-fight-by-your-side/
(...)
Secrets of the Atlas is PoE's 31st free expansion and it comes with a list of new additions to the game, but one of them is something every great action RPG eventually adds: mercenaries. When the update hits on June 13, a new league (PoE's name for seasons) will begin that is all about tracking them down.

A long-lost Duke Nukem prototype resurfaces after 24 years
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/action/a-long-lost-duke-nukem-prototype-resurfaces-after-24-years/
It's strange to think that once upon a time, Duke Nukem—Johnny Bravo's sleazier cousin and poster child for videogame violence—was a cornerstone of gaming culture. No matter how inappropriate, he could be found on any and all platforms, from the original monochrome Game Boy to N64 and beyond.
Time-travel misadventure Duke Nukem: D-Day (alternatively 'Man of Valor') was going to be the big man's first outing on PlayStation 2, developed by now-defunct studio n-Space, makers of two PS1 games in the series. Despite being reportedly close to finished, the game got canned and never saw the light of day. Until now, as a 2001 prototype build featuring 12 playable levels leaked onto the Internet Archive today.

Elden Ring Nightreign servers shut down this morning 'to improve expedition matchmaking' but it's royally screwed some unprepared players
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/elden-ring-nightreign-servers-shut-down-this-morning-to-improve-expedition-matchmaking-but-its-royally-screwed-some-unprepared-players/
(...)
Last night FromSoftware announced that Nightreign servers will be closing for maintenance: "Servers will undergo maintenance on June 6, 2025, to improve expedition matchmaking with an active Remembrance." The only problem is that not everyone got the message.
>> I hope there was also an in-game message, otherwise I can see why people missed the notice if it’s just a post on Twitter. On another note, players have figured out how to be at max level before fighting a Nightlord.

All Genshin Impact 5.7 livestream codes
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/genshin-impact-codes-5-7-livestream/
The Genshin Impact 5.7 codes are here, giving you a little Primogem bonus you can add to your hoard when pulling for new characters and reruns. If you're new to miHoYo's livestreams, it runs one for each of its games every six weeks, showing off what's coming in terms of new quests, events, regions, and most importantly, characters.

And now, let’s check the weekend deals at GOG and Steam

+GOG

• Only one new deal at GOG: the Action Games Promo, with up to 95% discounts during 10 days: https://www.gog.com/en/promo/20250606_action_promo

+Steam

• Atomfall will be 20% off until the 12th of June: https://store.steampowered.com/app/801800/Atomfall/
• Hello Kitty Island Adventure also gets a 20% discount until the 12th: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2495100/Hello_Kitty_Island_Adventure/
• Satisfactory is going to be 30% off until June 12: : https://store.steampowered.com/app/526870/Satisfactory/
• Crypto Miner Tycoon Simulator will have a 50% discount until June, the 12th: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1859290/Crypto_Miner_Tycoon_Simulator/
• Lies of P will also be 50% off until next Thursday: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1627720/Lies_of_P/
• Cultist Simulator can be yours thanks to its 75% discount that will last until … you guessed it, the 12th of June: https://store.steampowered.com/app/718670/Cultist_Simulator/
• Turmoil is going to be 80% off until, once again, Thursday, June 12th: https://store.steampowered.com/app/361280/Turmoil/
• The Watch_Dogs Bundle is on sale with an 84% discount. The individual games are also on sale until not the 12th, but the 19th of June: https://store.steampowered.com/bundle/3785/Watch_Dogs_Bundle/
• And these are the Sales/events:
  • Publisher room6 presents the room6day Sale 2025 with lots of upcoming games to discover and two titles on sale, 40% off until June 11: https://store.steampowered.com/curator/42841345/sale/room6DaySale
  • Publisher Snail Games puts its games up to 80% off until the 12th of June: https://store.steampowered.com/sale/Snail2025
  • The WDC World Ocean Day Charity Sale is here with up to 90% discounts on games of all kinds. Most deals will end on the 12th of June, but not all: https://store.steampowered.com/sale/worldoceanday2025
  • The Dying Light franchise is on sale with up to 80% discounts until the 19th of June: https://store.steampowered.com/sale/dyinglightfranchisesale2025
  • The Capcom Publisher Sale brings games up to 87% off until the 19th: https://store.steampowered.com/sale/CapcomPubSale
  • The Borderlands franchise is on sale (which explains the free BL2), and has its games on sale with up to 95% discounts until June, the 19th: https://store.steampowered.com/sale/BLFranchiseSale

And that’s all the gamin news for this week.

I don’t know if I’ll make the gaming news next Monday for a couple of reasons: 1.- It’s a local festive; And 2.- There’ll be an onslaught of news from all the stuff that will take place this weekend, and if I can avoid making the less-than-ideal posts with only headlines and links, the better for all.

Whatever happens, just know that I wish you all a happy and gaming weekend.