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

[JEMC]

The third and final gaming news post. At least for today:

Dwarf Fortress' Siege Update is out now, renewing Bay 12 Games' quest to create a simulation more complex than life itself
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/strategy/dwarf-fortress-siege-update-is-out-now-renewing-bay-12-games-quest-to-create-a-simulation-more-complex-than-life-itself/
Dwarf Fortress' Siege Update has finally arrived, representing the first major evolution of Bay 12 Games' inimitable management sim since its triumphant arrival on Steam. Up until February this year, the focus of brothers Tarn and Zach Adams was on catching up with the ASCII version features-wise, culminating with the launch of Adventure Mode. Now that's done, the duo are wholly focussed on doing what they do best—embellishing their already preposterously detailed simulation to make it more involved than life itself.

Stellar Blade studio swears it wasn't doing anti-small-penis 'hate speech' in art that had men in a tizz, and promises it won't ever 'tolerate' it in future
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/action/stellar-blade-studio-swears-it-wasnt-doing-anti-small-penis-hate-speech-in-art-that-had-men-in-a-tizz-and-promises-it-wont-ever-tolerate-it-in-future/
You know, sometimes I feel like I've seen and heard it all in my three decades of living. Then a developer comes crashing in with an apology over a piece of official art where a small group of gamers have convinced themselves that it's some kind of radical feminist propaganda.
That's what's happened in the case of South Korean developer ShiftUp, anyhow. As reported by Automaton, the studio behind Stellar Blade and Nikke: Goddess of Victory found itself in hot water back in August over the latter game when it shared a piece of art commemorating the gacha's 1,000th day since launching in November 2022.

EA pinky promises to 'maintain creative control' in its post-buyout era, but the list of 'cultural values' it plans to keep doesn't mean much at all
https://www.pcgamer.com/gaming-industry/ea-pinky-promises-to-maintain-creative-control-in-its-post-buyout-era-but-the-list-of-cultural-values-it-plans-to-keep-doesnt-mean-much-at-all/
The $55 billion buyout of EA—the largest leveraged buyout in private equity history—has plunged the future of the corporation into uncertainty. It's gotta find some way to deal with the $20 billion of debt its buyers have lumbered it with, and some fear that its new owners—featuring Saudi Arabia's Public Investment fund and Jared Kushner's Affinity Partners—might put the kibosh on diversity and representation in games like The Sims (which would, per one of the series' original leads, be something of a death knell for it).
Well, EA is trying to allay some of those fears (via Polygon). In a new FAQ for employees from October 30, the company promised that it was still "in a strong financial position" despite the small matter of $20 billion in debt and that it will "maintain creative control" over its projects even in its new era of private ownership. It also promises to maintain "a thoughtful, steady approach to AI," after stories circulated about the new owners planning to make heavy use of the tech. What does that mean in practice? Your guess is as good as mine.

'Gamers deserve clarity': UK Parliament debates videogame ownership while also beating the dead horse named Concord
https://www.pcgamer.com/gaming-industry/gamers-deserve-clarity-uk-parliament-debates-videogame-ownership-while-also-beating-the-dead-horse-named-concord/
Yesterday, the UK Parliament conducted a small debate on an e-petition that had been raised by concerned constituents about consumer law and videogames. In layman's terms, it was all about how frustrating it is when players don't have ownership over their games and get left hung out to dry by big studios, unceremoniously ending support for live service games.

Arc Raiders gives free money to everyone to say sorry for the weekend server struggles
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/third-person-shooter/arc-raiders-gives-free-money-to-everyone-to-say-sorry-for-the-weekend-server-struggles/
For Embark Studios, it was a classic 'good news, bad news' weekend. Arc Raiders hit a new high in concurrent Steam players on Sunday, falling just shy of 355,000 people playing all at the same time. That's very good indeed—what's less good is that 355,000 people playing all at the same time put a little extra strain on the game's servers, and there was, as Embark put it, a wobble.
(...)
"We are overwhelmed by how many of you joined the fight against the ARC. Your bravery and resilience are truly inspiring," the studio wrote on Discord. "Our team is working with determination to get you into those shuttles in a timely manner and we thank you for your patience while we're fine-tuning the system. To show our appreciation, we're sending you 500 Raider Tokens to use as you see fit."
>> But wait! Because there are a few more articles about the game, like:

• A ladder you shouldn’t climb (link)
• How healing actually works (link)
• The studio returning loot to players that got hosed by cheaters (link)
• How chill the community is (link)
• And the merge stack button to save space in inventory (link)