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

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The second part of the Monday gaming news:

Marvel Rivals players may soon be able to vote on what heroes they want added: 'We will use them as an important factor in our planning'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/third-person-shooter/marvel-rivals-players-may-soon-be-able-to-vote-on-what-heroes-they-want-added-we-will-use-them-as-an-important-factor-in-our-planning/
Marvel Rivals has a monumental task in front of it after promising players a new hero every month and a half. So far, the devs have made good on their promise with new heroes every half-season, the latest being Phoenix and Blade, with the former arriving in under a week for the start of Season 3.
(...)
Speaking to VideoGamer, game director Guangyun Chen discusses the idea of bringing hero voting to Marvel Rivals: “We continuously pay attention to the community and have noticed that players frequently take the initiative to vote on new heroes they would like to see in the future. We consider these votes to be highly valuable and will use them as an important factor in our planning for upcoming seasons.”

Fortnite hints at making its hottest new mode permanent by asking fans what they want next
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/battle-royale/fortnite-blitz-royale-permanent-mode-hint/
Fortnite’s frantic Blitz Royale has been the game’s most popular attraction since it launched as a time-limited mode two weeks ago—and now Epic is hinting that it might become permanent.

Hideo Kojima's mysterious OD reportedly escapes the cancellation axe at Microsoft
https://www.pcgamer.com/gaming-industry/hideo-kojimas-mysterious-od-reportedly-escapes-the-cancellation-axe-at-microsoft/
Microsoft laid off 9,000 employees earlier this week, cancelling games Everwild, the Perfect Dark reboot, and an unannounced MMO in the works at ZeniMax Online Studios in the process. Romero Games' new shooter fell victim to the massacre too. One game that apparently didn't get cancelled, though, is OD, the new thing from Hideo Kojima, with support from Xbox Studios, that was announced in 2023.

Ratatan, the new rhythm game from the designer of Patapon, delays early access release in response to negative demo feedback
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rhythm/ratatan-the-new-rhythm-game-from-the-designer-of-patapon-delays-early-access-release-in-response-to-negative-demo-feedback/
Ratatan, the spiritual successor to the wonderful PSP rhythm game Patapon, turned up at the PC Gaming Show earlier this year to reveal a new trailer, as well as a demo on Steam and an early access release date of July 25.
But with that date now just a few weeks away, developer TVT Co. has decided to push it back, and for that you can blame—or thank, as the case may be—the demo.

Chaotic destruction sim Teardown breaks cover on its multiplayer update, revealing 8 player team deathmatch and support for modded servers
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/action/chaotic-destruction-sim-teardown-breaks-cover-on-its-multiplayer-update-revealing-8-player-team-deathmatch-and-support-for-modded-servers/
I haven't paid much mind to Teardown since it was released back in 2022, so I was surprised to see what a strong run of post-release support the destruction-focused heist sim has received in the last three years. Over that time, a featured mods menu, a creative mode, new mini-campaigns, and a third-person camera have all been added to the game alongside a range of premium DLC.
The next new feature coming to Teardown is also its most anticipated, multiplayer. Developer Tuxedo Labs revealed it had plans for multiplayer more than two years ago, but held back on specifics at that time. The studio provided more details in March, announcing that its multiplayer update would bring campaign co-op, as well as competitive and sandbox modes.

Runaway city-building success Manor Lords is getting a major overhaul to its systems: 'It's not just a new feature or two. It's a full rework'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/strategy/runaway-city-building-success-manor-lords-is-getting-a-major-overhaul-to-its-systems-its-not-just-a-new-feature-or-two-its-a-full-rework/
City-building smash hit Manor Lords received relatively frequent updates after it launched into early access last year, but the pace of patches has slowed considerably since the start of 2025. While there have been plenty of previews for new features planned by developer Slavic Magic, actual, tangible changes to the game are thin on the ground.
Now, Manor Lords' creator Greg Styczeń has explained why these regular updates haven't been coming, and the answer is the studio is working on a considerably larger, deeper overhaul of how the game functions. "I know you've been waiting a long time, and the reason for the delay is pretty simple. We're overhauling a lot of systems at once" he explained in a Steam update. "It's a full rework of how things like buildings, production chains, and environmental interactions function."

Even the beginner zone in Dune: Awakening isn't safe from sandworm-manipulating griefers anymore
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/survival-crafting/even-the-beginner-zone-in-dune-awakening-isnt-safe-from-sandworm-manipulating-griefers-anymore/
Players new to Dune: Awakening should watch their backs in the Hagga Basin starting area—or risk getting swallowed by a sandworm thanks to griefers.
After the Dune: Awakening devs significantly increased the PVE area in the Deep Desert region last month, rowdy players looking for more unsuspecting targets have relocated to the PVE, beginner-friendly Hagga Basin region, where they've begun abusing game mechanics to kill other players, getting around its PVP prohibition.

Subnautica 2 studio begs rioting fans for benefit of the doubt after leadership axed by owner Krafton: 'The team that has been working on the game day-to-day over the last few years remains completely unchanged'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/survival-crafting/subnautica-2-studio-begs-rioting-fans-for-benefit-of-the-doubt-after-leadership-axed-by-owner-krafton-the-team-that-has-been-working-on-the-game-day-to-day-over-the-last-few-years-remains-completely-unchanged/
Developer Unknown Worlds has shared a letter asking for patience from Subnautica fans after publisher Krafton announced the departure of its senior leadership⁠—including studio co-founder Max McGuire⁠—and the installation of Dead Space producer and Striking Distance (The Callisto Protocol) CEO, Steve Papoutsis, as the new studio head.

Mount & Blade 2's naval expansion will have complex sailing with wind, currents, and respect for a boat's draft
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/strategy/mount-and-blade-2s-naval-expansion-will-have-complex-sailing-with-wind-currents-and-respect-for-a-boats-draft/
This year will see the release of the first major expansion for Mount & Blade 2: Bannerlord, following three years of updates since its 2022 release. (...)
Taleworlds has now given a real look into the features we can expect in the expansion, and it's a hell of a lot more detailed than I'd have expected, especially when it comes to the particulars of life on the waves. The seas will have currents, wind directions, and storms to inconvenience or speed your voyages on the waves—that'll include not just the currents of the bays, but sailing on some of the newly-widened and now navigable rivers. Which will have its own knock-on effects modifying the map and its placement of bridges and such.

Rust's developer is overhauling the survival sim's mission system so it can create in-game quests faster and more easily: 'The process to create new missions internally is quite cumbersome and error prone'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/survival-crafting/rusts-developer-is-overhauling-the-survival-sims-mission-system-so-it-can-create-in-game-quests-faster-and-more-easily-the-process-to-create-new-missions-internally-is-quite-cumbersome-and-error-prone/
Rust's latest patch may not be as dramatic as its recent jungle update, which added a huge rainforest biome to explore, but it nonetheless makes some important changes to Facepunch's survival sim. The headline update is a party system allowing players to join servers as a group. This makes playing with your friends slightly easier, not only from an organisational perspective, but also because it spawns you into a map together, meaning you don't have to track each other down and risk being killed in the process.