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

[JEMC]

The second part of the Thursday gaming news:

Ubisoft's new Tencent-backed company is called Vantage Studios, a 'creative house' that will take over development of Assassin's Creed, Far Cry, and Rainbow Six
https://www.pcgamer.com/gaming-industry/ubisofts-new-tencent-backed-company-is-called-vantage-studios-a-creative-house-that-will-take-over-development-of-assassins-creed-far-cry-and-rainbow-six/
The new thing being launched by Ubisoft and Tencent to take control of Ubi's biggest games now has a name: It's called Vantage Studios, and it's a "creative house" that will take responsibility for the future of Ubisoft's Assassin's Creed, Far Cry, and Rainbow Six properties.

'We want to keep experimenting': Silent Hill f won't become the new norm as Konami wants each new Silent Hill game to stand out and have 'its own distinct flavour'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/horror/we-want-to-keep-experimenting-silent-hill-f-wont-become-the-new-norm-as-konami-wants-each-new-silent-hill-game-to-stand-out-and-have-its-own-distinct-flavour/
Silent Hill f may seem like a huge outlier when compared to other games in Konami's psychological horror game series: it's not set in the town of Silent Hill, it takes place during the 1960s, and there's a distinct lack of sexy nurses. But in reality, it has more in common with other Silent Hill games than it's been given credit for.
"The spiritual journey of the protagonist, as she faces her trauma and inner turmoil, is what ultimately makes it Silent Hill-like," series producer Motoi Okamoto says in an interview with IGN Japan at TGS 2025 (via Automaton).

Dune Awakening was 'the biggest release' in Funcom's 32-year history, so you can probably guess what comes next in this rotten world: layoffs
https://www.pcgamer.com/gaming-industry/dune-awakening-was-the-biggest-release-in-funcoms-32-year-history-so-you-can-probably-guess-what-comes-next-in-this-rotten-world-layoffs/
In the latest proof that 'job security' is simply not a thing in the videogame industry, Funcom says the survival MMO Dune: Awakening, which launched to great success earlier this year, is "the biggest release we’ve had in our 32-year long history of making great games." And so now it's laying off employees.

Swery/Suda51 collab Hotel Barcelona sheepishly apologises for AI content, promises 'We are opposed to any professional GenAI use' that kills the planet, steals jobs, or is otherwise 'Unethical'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/roguelike/swery-suda51-collab-hotel-barcelona-sheepishly-apologises-for-ai-content-promises-we-are-opposed-to-any-professional-genai-use-that-kills-the-planet-steals-jobs-or-is-otherwise-unethical/
(...)
So I was pretty interested in Hotel Barcelona, a 2.5D action roguelite that emerged—like Athena from Zeus' skull—from a hot collabo between the two creators. And then I stopped being quite so interested: reviews weren't great—the game currently stands at a 56% Mixed user rating on Steam, and critics weren't in love with it either.
Now, in another blow to my interest Hotel Barcelona has updated its Steam page to feature an AI disclaimer. The disclaimer bashfully admits that "VHS tapes can be found in the late stages of the game that use voice overs from an AI text to speech service" and that "A logo is featured on these tapes that has utilised generative fill AI to complete the image."

Teenager pleads guilty to sending Epic staff death threats: 'I intended for the messages to be viewed as a threat'
https://www.pcgamer.com/gaming-industry/teenager-pleads-guilty-to-sending-epic-staff-death-threats-i-intended-for-the-messages-to-be-viewed-as-a-threat/
A teenager from South Dakota has changed his plea to guilty over threatening messages sent to developers at Epic Games in relation to Fortnite (thanks, Gamespot). Jayden Griffin, who is 19 years of age, was indicted by a grand jury in December 2024 over electronic communications sent to Epic Games staff between October 24, 2024, and November 9, 2024.
Griffin pleaded guilty to "threatening interstate commerce", a charge brought because Epic Games is headquartered in North Carolina, and could be sentenced to a maximum of five years in federal prison, fined up to $250,000, or a combination of the two. Even should he avoid jail or get a minimal sentence, he faces up to three years of supervised release. Those are some potentially life-changing penalties, and should certainly give a certain breed of keyboard warrior pause for thought.

Final Fantasy Tactics - The Ivalice Chronicles director is a big PC gamer, and says he was 'very particular' about making sure they got the new UI just right
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/strategy/final-fantasy-tactics-the-ivalice-chronicles-director-is-a-big-pc-gamer-and-says-he-was-very-particular-about-making-sure-they-got-the-new-ui-just-right/
"They've actually done it: Not only can I finally play Final Fantasy Tactics on my PC, but this timeless classic has been done justice," begins our 91% review of The Ivalice Chronicles, the long, long-awaited remaster of one of the all-time great strategy games. As the developers at Square Enix have recently attested, pulling off the revival for PC and modern consoles has been no easy task, in part because the original source code no longer exists.
In a new interview with PC Gamer at the Tokyo Game Show last week, director Kazutoyo Maehiro went into more detail about the specific challenges of adding a new PC-friendly interface to a game designed for the original PlayStation.

World of Warcraft: Midnight deep dive reveals a continent-hopping questline as part of its main campaign, a cosy 'Arcantina' hub, and the release date of player housing's early access
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/world-of-warcraft/world-of-warcraft-midnight-deep-dive-reveals-a-continent-hopping-questline-as-part-of-its-main-campaign-a-cosy-arcantina-hub-and-the-release-date-of-player-housings-early-access/
World of Warcraft: Midnight just received a massive deep dive on its official channels. It's mostly an assemblage of information already out there, such as the new Demon Hunter Spec, the game's new zones, the transmog updates, and the upcoming Prey feature—which as a difficulty sicko with precious few mates that have raid-accessible schedules? I'm very excited about.
>> The collector's edition includes the Dark Heart (link).

As World of Warcraft winds down its combat AddOn support, director Ion Hazzikostas is all composure about rule-breakers because 'Frankly, this is far from the first time'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/world-of-warcraft/as-world-of-warcraft-winds-down-its-combat-addon-support-director-ion-hazzikostas-is-all-composure-about-rule-breakers-because-frankly-this-is-far-from-the-first-time/
World of Warcraft: Midnight will be doing something very dramatic—slowly, steadily, but dramatic nonetheless. After 20 years of working in complete concert, Blizzard will be removing most of its AddOn creator's access to its combat API, meaning AddOns like WeakAuras will no longer function.
In place of that, it'll be adding its own increasingly-comprehensive suite of tools, such as a cooldown manager, buff tracker, and a more customisable personal resource bar. But one lingering thought has been rattling around in the back of my head: is Blizzard just swapping out one arms race for another?

The first hotfix for Hades 2 nerfs one jerk miniboss in particular
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/action/the-first-hotfix-for-hades-2-nerfs-one-jerk-miniboss-in-particular/
Hades 2 has been out of early access for a week and I can't stop playing it. I haven't rolled credits yet, but so far it's exactly as enthralling and habit-forming as the first one was. Death to Chronos.
Supergiant's first hotfix for version 1.0 is out now, and it's mostly a lot of minor fixes for issues like "Olympian Keepsake effects not activating again after their Boon is skipped" and "Fated List Prophecies related to Hidden Aspects not clearing in specific circumstances". I suspect some rebalancing will follow these patches, but right now one miniboss has been hit with a super specific nerf and I'm glad of it: "Fixed Phantom (Fields) being able to drain Life from your raised servants".

'We will be looking at everything': Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 devs will be paying close attention to community feedback during the upcoming beta
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/call-of-duty/we-will-be-looking-at-everything-call-of-duty-black-ops-7-devs-will-be-paying-close-attention-to-community-feedback-during-the-upcoming-beta/
Call of Duty: Black Ops 7's beta starts today for those lucky few with early access, while the open beta will begin in a few days on October 5. Expectations may be pretty low—thanks in no small part to Battlefield 6—but even still, the devs over at Treyarch are determined to put their best foot forward.
>> I mean, that’s one of the reasons to make these tests, right?

Fortnite's collaboration with K-Pop Demon Hunters is the most excited I've been since Epic gave Hatsune Miku an AK-47
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/battle-royale/fortnites-collaboration-with-k-pop-demon-hunters-is-the-most-excited-ive-been-since-epic-gave-hatsune-miku-an-ak-47/
I'm nothing if not a total sucker. Pandering? Totally works on me, as evidenced by Fortnite's newest collaboration with K-Pop Demon Hunters. Which is perhaps the most excited I've been for silly videogame skins since Epic let me gun people down as Hatsune Miku.

Fortnite insists it wasn't stitched up by Warner Bros. and the Peacemaker emote, but is modifying it anyway 'to avoid any confusion'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/battle-royale/fortnite-insists-it-wasnt-stitched-up-by-warner-bros-and-the-peacemaker-emote-but-is-modifying-it-anyway-to-avoid-any-confusion/
Last week, Fortnite pulled the Peaceful Hips emote—which recreated a portion of the opening dance in James Gunn's DC show Peacemaker—after the latest episode's bombshell completely changed the context around the movement.
After Epic said it would "inquire into our partner's creative intentions in this collab emote," it's now determined that Warner Bros. most definitely was not trying to stitch the developer up. But, you know, it's changing the emote anyway. Just to be safe.
Warning: spoilers for Peacemaker Season 2 Episode 6 ahead!

World of Warcraft: Midnight's design director wasn't sure players would enjoy Delve bosses jumping you, but 'it turns out people really like that', so now we're getting Prey
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/world-of-warcraft/world-of-warcraft-midnights-design-director-wasnt-sure-players-would-enjoy-delve-bosses-jumping-you-but-it-turns-out-people-really-like-that-so-now-were-getting-prey/
One of the features I'm most excited for in World of Warcraft: Midnight by far is the 'Prey' system. In case you're unfamiliar, Prey is an opt-in PvE system with three difficulty tiers where you'll claim a target, and get targeted in turn—with said enemy being able to ambush you while you're out in the open world and bully you into 1v1 brawls. Eventually, you'll get to hunt them down instead.
It's a really elegant way to add difficulty to world content: Entirely optional, keeps you on your toes, and packed with fun gameplay flavour. I got to speak with associate game director Paul Kubit and design director Maria Hamilton about the upcoming feature.