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

[JEMC]

The long second part of the Wednesday deals:

'It took a while to get there, but now we feel we're in a good place': Fatshark's design director talks doing years of repair work on Warhammer 40,000: Darktide
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/it-took-a-while-to-get-there-but-now-we-feel-were-in-a-good-place-fatsharks-design-director-talks-doing-years-of-repair-work-on-warhammer-40-000-darktide/
Warhammer 40k: Darktide had a rough launch—not disastrously rough, mind. The game's core systems, and Fatshark's previous pedigree were all enough to hook players in and keep them popping back for some major updates. Still, clunky crafting progression, chugging performance, and a lack of buildcrafting threw a wet blanket over a game that was otherwise very fun to play.
As you might be aware, Fatshark's sorted a lot of it out, starting with a huge class overhaul in October of its launch year, plus a bunch of free updates. As such, Fatshark's kept it chugging along with decently healthy numbers—fluctuating around 10,000 players in a 24-hour period, which is fine for a 3-year-old live service game—and is now confident enough to release a bit of paid DLC: A whole new class.

Phoenix and Blade headline the new Marvel Rivals season, and it starts next week
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/phoenix-and-blade-headline-the-new-marvel-rivals-season-and-it-starts-next-week/
Something Marvel Rivals has over the other hero-based games is that it doesn't have to waste any time trying to make you love its new characters. You already know them from all those movies, comic books, plushies, hoodies, mugs, backpacks, and ill-advised vehicle wraps! So even a guy like me, a lifetime comic geek who only sort of enjoys Marvel Rivals, will throw my hands up and redownload it because it's finally letting me play as Blade.
That's right, a trailer dropped earlier today revealing the next season's newest character additions: Phoenix, a telepathic mutant linked to a fiery manifestation of life itself, and Blade, a sick-ass half-vampire who hunts monsters with a giant sword and Matrix trench coat.

Randy Pitchford asks fans if they'd swallow future Borderlands exclusivity deals, almost 10,000 people say just put your damn games on Steam
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/randy-pitchford-asks-fans-if-theyd-swallow-future-borderlands-exclusivity-deals-almost-10-000-people-say-just-put-your-damn-games-on-steam/
(...)
This time, Pitchford is asking (via GamesRadar) for fan input on the Borderlands 4 pre-order process. In a tweet on June 28, Pitchford—claiming he was relaying a discussion happening among Gearbox "suits"—asked fans if they would "pre-order Borderlands 4 on [your] favorite platform if you knew that would influence exclusivity decisions?" Users could answer "Yes, Steam," "Yes, Epic," "No, Steam," or "No, Epic."
To be clear, Pitchford isn't asking if fans would accept exclusivity for Borderlands 4—that ship's long-since sailed: BL4 is ditching BL3's timed Epic exclusivity and is already available for pre-order on both Steam and the EGS—he's asking if they'd pre-order the game on their platform of choice knowing that it might influence Gearbox bean-counters when it comes to exclusivity deals for future games.

'Give me more of that': Monster Hunter Wilds players have discovered its returning monsters got hands, and they're thrilled to be getting clobbered
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/action/give-me-more-of-that-monster-hunter-wilds-players-have-discovered-its-returning-monsters-got-hands-and-theyre-thrilled-to-be-getting-clobbered/
One of the more charming things about the Monster Hunter fanbase is its generally-held belief that the best way for a monster to make a first impression is by kicking your head in. And after the latest Wilds update, hunters have been reporting with glee that its pair of returning monsters are doling out plenty of punishment.

'It makes me cringe every time': 25 years after Diablo 2 reshaped the RPG landscape, Diablo creator David Brevik still thinks its stamina bar sucks
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/it-makes-me-cringe-every-time-25-years-after-diablo-2-reshaped-the-rpg-landscape-diablo-creator-david-brevik-still-thinks-its-stamina-bar-sucks/
Diablo 2 left an indelible mark on videogame design, formalizing mechanics and systems like skill tree progression, randomized loot affixes, and colored rarity tiers that are now standard in RPGs and beyond. But despite its impact, Diablo creator and Diablo 2 director David Brevik still has gripes with its design 25 years after release.

A new WoW event boosts ultra-rare item drop rates tenfold, which admittedly isn't a huge difference when the starting number is 0.5%
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/world-of-warcraft/a-new-wow-event-boosts-ultra-rare-item-drop-rates-tenfold-which-admittedly-isnt-a-huge-difference-when-the-starting-number-is-0-5-percent/
World of Warcraft is a game where you fight dragons, elementals, demons, that sort of stuff. But the rival I have contended with the most in 18 years of play—the majority of my life, mind you—is the loot table. Player mounts and legendary weapons from old raids, hyper-rare drops that offer no benefit aside from looking dope, are my most coveted prizes.
I'm not alone. An in-game event just kicked off that supercharges these items' drop rates, and players are rushing to run decades-old raids, potentially for the hundredth or thousandth time, to get mounts that only a handful of players have ever added to their collection. But players are also finding that when the odds are less than 1%, you can increase them by 10 times or even 25 times and handily get the same result.

Destiny 2 just got weird: Launch trailer leans hard into time travel and looks more like a Control crossover
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/destiny-2-just-got-weird-launch-trailer-leans-hard-into-time-travel-and-looks-more-like-a-control-crossover/
Earlier today, Bungie broadcast its final showcase ahead of the July 15 release of Destiny 2's Edge of Fate expansion. Largely it was the expected run though of new features like World Tiers and The Portal, the latter being a revamped homescreen that groups together the most relevant activities in the game and enables players to tweak their difficulty (and therefore loot).

Subnautica studio leadership gutted by Krafton, which outright says that Subnautica 2 needs 'renewed energy and momentum'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/subnautica-studio-leadership-gutted-by-krafton-which-outright-says-that-subnautica-2-needs-renewed-energy-and-momentum/
Krafton has announced a major leadership exodus from Subnautica developer Unknown Worlds, in a move that casts fresh doubt on the prospects of Subnautica 2: which was scheduled to launch in early access this year, but is nowhere to be seen.

Minecraft is bringing back the copper golem from the mob vote graveyard, igniting my hopes for a Moobloom comeback
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/survival-crafting/minecraft-is-bringing-back-the-copper-golem-from-the-mob-vote-graveyard-igniting-my-hopes-for-a-moobloom-comeback/
I remember it well. Four years ago my friends and I were gearing up for the annual Minecraft Live broadcast, excited to see what the big update theme would be this year, but primarily concerned with one thing: The Minecraft mob vote.
Back in 2021, the vote was between three mobs, the allay, the copper golem, and the glare. Each was predictably charming in its own way, but the one that my friends and I had our sights set on was the littlest guy, the copper golem.
(...)
Fast forward four years and the Minecraft Mob vote is no more as a Minecraft spokesperson explained: "We understand players’ frustrations with having to choose among multiple fun options. After last year we began thinking about new ways to set the game up for success while giving the community more of what they want. We ultimately reached the decision to go in a new direction." But that doesn't mean we have to wave goodbye to past contenders.

Introducing the PC Gaming Show Tokyo Direct— coming from the Tokyo Game Show
https://www.pcgamer.com/gaming-industry/events-conferences/introducing-the-pc-gaming-show-tokyo-direct-coming-from-the-tokyo-game-show/
The PC Gaming Show loves showing off PC games. You knew that already. But did you know the PC Gaming Show loves showing off PC games so much that we’re now showing up to a whole other show to show off even more PC games? Introducing the PC Gaming Show Tokyo Direct, coming to you from this year’s Tokyo Game Show.

The game that would become Deus Ex was originally called Troubleshooter and starred Jake Shooter, supercop
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/the-game-that-would-become-deus-ex-was-originally-called-troubleshooter-and-starred-jake-shooter-supercop/
Deux Ex is the PC classic we all love to bang on about: the FPS that arguably created the immersive sim, releasing players from the shackles of linear corridors and mindless baddies into a world where freedom of approach was the secret sauce. Its plot and stylings were also sophisticated for the time, with the player a blank slate in a world full of grey areas and ethically dubious choices.
Knowing that this is where Deus Ex ends up makes its starting point all the funnier. Before Deus Ex designer Warren Spector joined Ion Storm in 1997, which would ultimately develop the game, he was pitching it to his then-studio Origin Systems as "Troubleshooter."

Human spirit triumphs as the Croc devs announce they want to remaster Buck Bumble and the greatest main menu theme song of all time
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/action/human-spirit-triumphs-as-the-croc-devs-announce-they-want-to-remaster-buck-bumble-and-the-greatest-main-menu-theme-song-of-all-time/
Reports are coming in that right about now it's time to rock with the biggity Buck Bumble. PC Gamer sources add that "Bum to the bum to the bum to the bass to the bum to the boom to the Bumble," and that "Bum to the boo to the boo to the boo boo bum to the bass."
Startling stuff. In other words, the studio that just got done remastering Croc: Legend of the Gobbos (which is a cool videogame and not, as some of my colleagues might allege, a "Croc of shite") has a new dream. In a chat with MCV Develop (via VGC), Argonaut honchos Jez San and Mike Arkin said they would like, some day, to remaster Argonaut's N64 banger Buck Bumble.

Persona 5: The Phantom X has blessed the community with a new sh**posting mascot so corny it eclipses the nuance around the real-world issues he represents
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/persona-5-the-phantom-x-has-blessed-the-community-with-a-new-sh-posting-mascot-so-corny-it-eclipses-the-nuance-around-the-real-world-issues-he-represents/
There's a new Persona shitposting mascot in town, and it's a shoulder-barging menace who serves as a terrible example of a very real problem.
The series' bad guys have always erred more on the side of caricature, and nobody exemplifies that more than Persona 5: The Phantom X's first villain—former baseball prodigy turned salaryman Takeyuki Kiuchi, who saunters around Shibuya Station referring to himself as the Subway Slammer.