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

[JEMC]

This is the second part of the gaming news:

NetEase pulls the plug on another studio: Former Riot exec's Fantastic Pixel Castle will 'likely close' if a new publisher isn't found soon
https://www.pcgamer.com/gaming-industry/netease-pulls-the-plug-on-another-studio-former-riot-execs-fantastic-pixel-castle-will-likely-close-if-a-new-publisher-isnt-found-soon/
Former Riot Games vice president Greg Street, who left the company in 2023 and launched a new NetEase-backed studio called Fantastic Pixel Castle, says the partnership with NetEase is coming to an end, and that the studio will likely close if a new publisher can't be found.

Holy baloney Batman: Final Fantasy Tactics genius/maniac proves that Chocobos canonically believe in god
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/final-fantasy/holy-baloney-batman-final-fantasy-tactics-genius-maniac-proves-that-chocobos-canonically-believe-in-god/
Who doesn't love a chocobo? Perhaps the most ever-present member of the Final Fantasy cast, these idealised chad chickens have been in the series since Final Fantasy 2, and are the true series icon. And now one enterprising player has proven that there is a chocobo god.

Blizzard is giving everyone a chance to try out World of Warcraft's new player housing for free next week
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/world-of-warcraft/blizzard-is-giving-everyone-a-chance-to-try-out-world-of-warcrafts-new-player-housing-for-free-next-week/
One of the biggest features coming to World of Warcraft will be available to try for free next week. Blizzard will unlock player housing for everyone, whether you've preordered the Midnight expansion or not, to test on the PTR starting October 13.

MachineGames hints at a new game in the works, and everyone has their fingers crossed for the return of Wolfenstein
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/machinegames-hints-at-a-new-game-in-the-works-and-everyone-has-their-fingers-crossed-for-the-return-of-wolfenstein/
It's the 15th anniversary of MachineGames, the Swedish developer that most recently gave us the hit action adventure Indiana Jones and the Great Circle. The studio announced a free New Game+ update for its big Indy game yesterday to celebrate its birthday, but today it hinted at something more interesting for the future.

Update: EA is deploying a fix for the 'missing content' and 'purchase to play' errors locking EA App users out of Battlefield 6
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/eas-own-launcher-is-making-battlefield-6-unplayable-by-telling-users-theyre-missing-content-or-must-purchase-to-play-what-theyve-already-bought/
It's Battlefield 6 day, and virtual warfighters are flocking to the front to dutifully ignore their squadmates' cries for revives and crash the first helicopter they enter. But as all those hundreds of thousands of launch day players arrive, some who purchased the game through the EA app are being denied deployment.
On the Battlefield subreddit, the Steam discussion forums, and on X, users who bought Battlefield 6 from EA's launcher say that after launching the game—and sitting through the launch day login queue—they're unable to play either multiplayer or the campaign. Even after multiple reinstall attempts, Battlefield 6 will insist that those users are "missing" necessary content, or that they must "purchase to play"—seemingly indicating that the EA app isn't correctly recognizing the software license for users who purchased BF6 through EA's own software.
UPDATE (5 pm EDT, 10/10/2025): On the official Battlefield Comms account on X, EA announced that "team is in the process of deploying a resolution for the issue that causes players on the EA App to be unable to start game modes due to missing DLC/content."
EA estimates that the fix's deployment will be complete "within the next hour or so." Players will need to restart Battlefield 6 for the issue to be resolved.
>> The situation was so bad that Vince Zampalla told gamer to just buy the game from Steam (link). In any case, the situation seems to be fixed and EA is giving away free battle passes and XP boots to those affected by it (link).

Remedy issues 'profit warning' after FBC: Firebreak's big overhaul fails to turn things around: 'Despite improved player and sales metrics after the update, sales have not reached Remedy’s internal targets'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/remedy-issues-profit-warning-after-fbc-firebreaks-big-overhaul-fails-to-turn-things-around-despite-improved-player-and-sales-metrics-after-the-update-sales-have-not-reached-remedys-internal-targets/
Just shy of two weeks after launching its 'bold gambit' to save the multiplayer shooter FBC: Firebreak, Remedy says the game is still underperforming, to the point that the studio has issued a "profit warning" for 2025 and says it's going to eat a big loss on the whole thing.

One little bug has broken Hollow Knight: Silksong speedrunning wide open with the ability to fly through the game as an unkillable god
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/action/one-little-bug-has-broken-hollow-knight-silksong-speedrunning-wide-open-with-the-ability-to-fly-through-the-game-as-an-unkillable-god/
Hollow Knight: Silksong continues to get picked apart as players try to find every little secret Team Cherry hid inside of it over the course of its long development. That also includes the things it probably didn't intend to be in there, like glitches.
Recently, a user on the Silksong speedrunning Discord found a glitch so powerful that it might lead to a lot more discoveries in the coming days. And it turns you into a nearly unkillable god as a side effect.

Find and photograph cryptids in 2D adventure Lone Pine
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/adventure/find-and-photograph-cryptids-in-2d-adventure-lone-pine/
You can keep "jump", the best verb in videogames is "examine". When an adventure game like Lone Pine lets me examine a campfire and also a bin, then has the protagonist comment on them in a way that says something about her as well as about the object she's looking at, I know I'm in good hands.
Lone Pine is an adventure game about exploring a national park with only your wits and a backpack you can fill with items that might then be combined with each other to solve puzzles. Oh, and a camera for taking photos of cryptids with.

Renegade graphics warlock makes Half-Life look like Half-Life 2, then runs it on an ancient laptop, raising a middle finger to poorly optimised PC games
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/renegade-graphics-warlock-makes-half-life-look-like-half-life-2-then-runs-it-on-an-ancient-laptop-raising-a-middle-finger-to-poorly-optimised-pc-games/
We're in another grim period for poorly optimised PC games, with the last couple of years bringing us a string of power-hungry virtual slideshows such as 2023's Star Wars Jedi: Survivor and, more recently, Borderlands 4. Corpos like Randy Pitchford think we should stop moaning and fork out for a better PC, as playing the best-looking games simply demands a rig capable of lighting a small town.
But perhaps there's another way, one where good design and technical ingenuity can remove some of the sting from system requirements. In a roundabout way, this was recently demonstrated by modder, YouTuber, and mapper Goonya's Animations, who took a map he was making for Half-Life 2 and somehow made it run in Half-Life 1's GoldSrc engine with minimal visual difference.

A sequel to Aliens: Fireteam Elite is almost certainly in development, having briefly burst onto the ESRB's website
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/action/a-sequel-to-aliens-fireteam-elite-is-almost-certainly-in-development-having-briefly-burst-onto-the-esrbs-website/
It sure looks like Aliens: Fireteam Elite 2 is in development, and it could be set for a surprise launch before the end of the year. While this apparent sequel to Cold Iron Studios' 2021 blaster hasn't been officially announced yet, it has seemingly been rated by the ESRB.

You'll need to be careful moving around the forests of Hell Let Loose: Vietnam, as its trees will help players identify potential threats: 'It can be very hard to understand where you're dying from'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/youll-need-to-be-careful-moving-around-the-forests-of-hell-let-loose-vietnam-as-its-trees-will-help-players-identify-potential-threats-it-can-be-very-hard-to-understand-where-youre-dying-from/
Realism is serious business for the Hell Let Loose series, and that applies equally to the military simulator's upcoming instalment Hell Let Loose: Vietnam. But that commitment to authenticity has posed a significant challenge for developer Expression Games for this iteration, one that was equally a problem for the soldiers who actually fought in the war.

Prepare to have your brain fried by this electric shoot 'em up from an ex-Housemarque designer when it launches next month
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/action/prepare-to-have-your-brain-fried-by-this-electric-shoot-em-up-from-an-ex-housemarque-designer-when-it-launches-next-month/
For a very brief period before becoming PC Gamer's weekend newshound, I wrote a newsletter dedicated to rounding up the best Steam demos of any given week. By far and away the best demo I played during those days was for a little game called Sektori.

Deadlock just shuffled everyone into new ranked leagues overnight, but players suspect matchmaking won't feel any different: 'If you were miserable before, you'll still be miserable now'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/moba/deadlock-just-shuffled-everyone-into-new-ranked-leagues-overnight-but-players-suspect-matchmaking-wont-feel-any-different-if-you-were-miserable-before-youll-still-be-miserable-now/
I've never played an invite-only beta test with such a fully-formed ranking system as Deadlock's, but I guess when everyone gets unlimited plus-ones, the audience is big enough to warrant it. Besides, the game's beta status didn't stop me lamenting my place in Arcanist IV—below average, assuming ranks fall into normal distribution—but a patch dropped yesterday that majorly shook up everyone's ranked placements, leaving me three full leagues ahead of where I was and terrified for my next solo queue.

User-created games are coming to Genshin Impact in a new mode that couldn't be more Roblox if it tried
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/action/user-created-games-are-coming-to-genshin-impact-in-a-new-mode-that-couldnt-be-more-roblox-if-it-tried/
MiHoYo's version of Roblox was inevitable⁠—Genshin Impact is huge, but it's not Roblox huge. In pursuit of greater horizons to conquer, the anime action game is going to get its own mode where user-created stuff is king.

Borderlands 4 post-launch roadmap includes seasonal event, paid DLC, and its first raid boss
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/borderlands-4-post-launch-roadmap-includes-seasonal-event-paid-dlc-and-its-first-raid-boss/
Members of the Gearbox team came to PAX Australia so Randy Pitchford could do some magic tricks we'll gloss over, and to reveal more about the post-launch plans for Borderlands 4. First up is a Halloween-themed "seasonal mini-event" called Horrors of Kairos that will run from October 23 to November 6, adding "blood rain" to world bosses, new legendary loot, and a pumpkin-head cosmetic for everyone available via Shift code.