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:

Take-Two's big boss Strauss Zelnick says it got the 'perfect result' from slimmed-down mob tale Mafia: The Old Country, so I'd brace for more games like that if I were you
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/action/take-twos-big-boss-strauss-zelnick-says-it-got-the-perfect-result-from-slimmed-down-mob-tale-mafia-the-old-country-so-id-brace-for-more-games-like-that-if-i-were-you/
I didn't love Mafia: The Old Country. Where previous games in the series had compensated for their lows with some truly high highs, I felt like Hangar 13's more linear world and more traditional mob story reduced its Sicilian series entry to a uniform level of predictability and blandness, and said as much in our Mafia: The Old Country review.
But I still consider myself a fan of the Mafia series and, indeed, of Hangar 13 as a studio—it proved it can put out a game I love with Mafia 3 (and an idea I love with Rhapsody, its sadly canned post-Mafia-3 project), and I want to see more from both. So, regardless of my cold feelings toward the game, I'm glad to hear The Old Country did well enough to appease Strauss Zelnick, CEO of 2K's parent company, Take-Two.

Palworld community manager points to a new problem with GTA 6's delay: 'Expect to see many games swerve to avoid the 2027 awards season'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/grand-theft-auto/palworld-community-manager-points-to-a-new-problem-with-gta-6s-delay-expect-to-see-many-games-swerve-to-avoid-the-2027-awards-season/
If you feel like we've been here before, then well done for being perceptive because we have. Rockstar announced yesterday that GTA 6 was getting delayed again, and is now scheduled for November 19, which seems like an eternity away.
(...)
"Interestingly, just a little industry knowledge for all you gamers, a Nov 19 launch puts them outside the nomination window for most game awards in 2026," Palworld's communications director, Bucky, says in a social media post. "Intentional or…? Either way, expect to see many games (especially AAA ones) swerve to avoid the 2027 awards season."
I'm not convinced that the delay has anything to do with falling outside the 2026 game awards schedule, although I wouldn't want to go up against Mewgenics in a fight. But the fact that GTA 6 will now likely fall into the 2027 awards window will likely cause more damage than good.

Marvel 1943: Rise of Hydra has been delayed again, and it no longer has a clear release window: 'The team is working hard to create something truly special'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/action/marvel-1943-rise-of-hydra-has-been-delayed-again-and-it-no-longer-has-a-clear-release-window-the-team-is-working-hard-to-create-something-truly-special/
We haven't seen much of Marvel 1943: Rise of Hydra just yet, but its story trailer was certainly a looker when it popped up at GDC last year. If that got you hyped, well, this won't: the game's been delayed to "beyond early 2026."

World of Warcraft: Legion Remix players discover infinite power farm that's so broken it's lagging the servers
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/world-of-warcraft/world-of-warcraft-legion-remix-players-discover-infinite-power-farm-thats-so-broken-its-lagging-the-servers/
Give power-hungry World of Warcraft: Legion Remix players a way to infinitely spawn enemies and they'll farm it until the servers die.
Blizzard has yet to step in on a newly discovered method of spawning endless numbers of enemies in the latest phase of Legion Remix. Unlike the Gulp Frogs incident in Mists of Pandaria Remix, this farm seems relatively less broken, but it still can net you millions of infinite power, which is used to level up your weapon and increase your character's overall strength. It's been two days since players began capitalizing on it and Blizzard hasn't made any move to kill it.

Mass Effect boss Mike Gamble slips a hidden message into his N7 Day update, asks fans to stop yelling at him for not sharing more info about the new game
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/mass-effect-boss-mike-gamble-slips-a-hidden-message-into-his-n7-day-update-asks-fans-to-stop-yelling-at-him-for-not-sharing-more-info-about-the-new-game/
Between the post-Veilguard massacre and EA's looming acquisition by Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund, the storied studio known as BioWare is having a pretty rough time. It's still kicking, though, and still working on a new Mass Effect game—and executive producer Michael Gamble would really like it if you'd all stop yelling at him about it.
"Like you, we’ve heard the rumors lately," Gamble wrote in his traditional N7 Day blog post. "You’ve made it clear you care deeply about what’s next. So let’s start by setting the record straight: the next Mass Effect game is in development, and EA and BioWare remain committed to telling more stories in this universe.
>> The secret message hints at a future Krogan Civil War.

A new Arc Raiders update just fixed a bug where an otherwise underwhelming item could glitch you through walls, so I guess it's back to being underwhelming
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/third-person-shooter/a-new-arc-raiders-update-just-fixed-a-bug-where-an-otherwise-underwhelming-item-could-glitch-you-through-walls-so-i-guess-its-back-to-being-underwhelming/
Arc Raiders, the hot new extraction shooter from the team behind The Finals, is off to a roaring start—but like any game, players are finding all sorts of ways to break it. A recent and hilarious example is a bug allowing players to use deployable items such as the barricade to squeeze through locked doors.
Streamer canefis demonstrated the technique in a post on X.
Naturally, this was not an intentional use case, so the bug was fixed Thursday in a small patch. But players are pointing out that without their incidental role as a skeleton key, barricades aren't the most desirable item. As one reply on an X thread discussing the bug from pizzaboneman put it: "Darn it! I thought the barricades were useless so I sold them all. Turns out they were the master key!"
>> There is another bug, and a way to fix it, that causes the sound to drop off (link).

Halo Infinite is entering maintenance mode: 'With multiple Halo titles in development, we'll need our whole team's combined focus'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/halo-infinite-is-entering-maintenance-mode-with-multiple-halo-titles-in-development-well-need-our-whole-teams-combined-focus/
Four years after its release, Halo Infinite is, well, not going to be so infinite after all. Developer Halo Studios (formerly 343 Studios) has announced that it's done updating the game with new stuff as it focuses on other projects, like Halo: Campaign Evolved.

OG Fallout artist Leonard Boyarsky says The Outer Worlds 2 almost had its own 'old school Obsidian' evil ending, but it took too much effort for too little payoff: 'I love making these types of games, but it is very stressful'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/og-fallout-artist-leonard-boyarsky-says-the-outer-worlds-2-almost-had-its-own-old-school-obsidian-evil-ending-but-it-took-too-much-effort-for-too-little-payoff-i-love-making-these-types-of-games-but-it-is-very-stressful/
I really love The Outer Worlds 2⁠—so much so that even after reviewing it, I've already started my second character. One thing that stood out to me, though, is that you can't side with the Arcadia system's resident collectivist surveillance state, the Protectorate⁠—you can't even earn or lose reputation points with them like the other factions, and Protectorate NPCs are almost uniformly hostile.
According to creative director Leonard Boyarsky, it was fairly late in development that Obsidian cut off this path.

Underrated avian action adventure The Falconeer just got a free remaster that overhauls 'literally everything' about it: 'I hope and pray this remaster shows the dedication I have for my games'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/action/underrated-avian-action-adventure-the-falconeer-just-got-a-free-remaster-that-overhauls-literally-everything-about-it-i-hope-and-pray-this-remaster-shows-the-dedication-i-have-for-my-games/
Originally released in 2020, The Falconeer is an aerial combat RPG about piloting enormous predatory birds through the skies of a crumbling oceanic empire. It was warmly received on release, nominated for a BAFTA and earning a respectable score of 78 in our The Falconeer Review.
But developer Tomas Sala wasn't satisfied with the end product, and has spent the last year or so overhauling the game in his spare time from supporting his other game—Bulwark: Falconeer Chronicles. The result released this week, a free update that, according to Sala, reworks "literally everything" about the game.

The roguelike's unstoppable conquest of gaming continues with Age of Empires 4's latest DLC, and players declare the invasion successful: 'It may be my new favourite way to play'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/strategy/the-roguelikes-unstoppable-conquest-of-gaming-continues-with-age-of-empires-4s-latest-dlc-and-players-declare-the-invasion-successful-it-may-be-my-new-favourite-way-to-play/
Every game is a roguelike now. And if it isn't a roguelike, then it's a roguelite. The beat 'em up is a roguelike. The FPS is a roguelike. Poker is a roguelike. Breakout is a roguelike. Even the flippin' city-builder is a roguelike. It's overwhelming. They're all around us, man. They're coming out of the goddamn walls. Then they're coming out of the goddamn walls again, with superior weapons and abilities.
Now, gaming's most virulent progression system has arrived beneath the walls of Age of Empires 4, and the RTS' quivering denizens have thrown open the gates rather than face the unchained wrath of the roguelike's horde. The sequel's latest DLC, Dynasties of the East, introduces The Crucible. This radically reworks the RTS' loop in a fast-paced game of accruing power to fend off increasingly powerful forces.

After Helldivers 2 stole its thunder, Starship Troopers: Extermination is now cribbing from Arrowhead's worksheet by adding airstrikes in its next update
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/after-helldivers-2-stole-its-thunder-starship-troopers-extermination-is-now-cribbing-from-arrowheads-worksheet-by-adding-airstrikes-in-its-next-update/
Imagine how awkward it would be to end up trapped in a lift with Starship Troopers: Extermination and Helldivers 2, what with the latter taking the themes and ideas behind the former's licence and implementing them in a way that massively stole Extermination's thunder. Sure, Helldivers 2 deserves its success, but Extermination's developer, Offworld, must be a little green watching Arrowhead's bug-blasting, fascist lampooning sci-fi action game gallivant off with all of the money.
Hence, it would only be fair for Offworld to copy Arrowhead's homework a little, which appears to be the case for the cooperative spinoff's latest update. Update 1.8 will primarily introduce a Company progression system to Extermination when it arrives later in November. But I'm more intrigued by its tertiary feature—in-game airstrikes.

The weirdest FPS of the decade just got a free, standalone PvP mode that's a blast if you can keep your lunch down
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/the-weirdest-fps-of-the-decade-just-got-a-free-standalone-pvp-mode-thats-a-blast-if-you-can-keep-your-lunch-down/
2022 wasn't exactly a banner year for first-person shooters, but it did bring us Hyper Demon. Like its predecessor Devil Daggers, Hyper Demon boasted a trippy art-style and emphasised fast-paced, high-challenge shooting, but its emphasis was less about survival and more about being an aggressive killing machine a-la Doom Eternal.
The result utterly entranced Sam Greer, who gave it a whopping score of 95 in her Hyper Demon Review. (...)
One other key difference between Devil Daggers and Hyper Demon is that the latter had a multiplayer mode, though you'd be forgiven for not knowing this since it was left as a secret for players to discover. Now though, developer Sorath has made the multiplayer mode not just public knowledge, but public full stop, releasing it as a free, standalone game on Steam.

NetEase racks up its third studio casualty in one week, kneecapping dev working on a Warhammer MMO: 'Devastated doesn't even begin to cover it'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/mmo/netease-racks-up-its-third-studio-casualty-in-one-week-kneecapping-dev-working-on-a-warhammer-mmo-devastated-doesnt-even-begin-to-cover-it/
It's been a bad week for budding MMO studios. Greg "Ghostcrawler" Street's MMO is now officially kaput after NetEase pulled the plug in October, and now Jackalyptic Games—which was working on a yet-to-be-revealed Warhammer MMO—is the third dev NetEase has left to wither on the vine this week (as well as its sixth Western studio closure this year).

FromSoftware's parent company let it slip that we'll get Elden Ring Nightreign DLC by March at the latest
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/action/fromsoftwares-parent-company-let-it-slip-that-well-get-elden-ring-nightreign-dlc-by-march-at-the-latest/
As reported by GamesRadar, FromSoftware parent company Kadokawa celebrated the continued sales success of Elden Ring, Shadow of the Erdtree, and multiplayer spinoff Nightreign in a second quarter earnings report released on November 6. Buried in the slides is something a little more exciting for Elden Ring fans, though: An indication of when we can expect the release of Nightreign's promised DLC.

Stalker dev GSC Game World DMCA'd a Stalker-inspired indie off Steam⁠, and the devs are crying foul: 'This is an abuse of power against small independent developers by a large corporation'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/survival-crafting/stalker-dev-gsc-game-world-dmcad-a-stalker-inspired-indie-off-steam-and-the-devs-are-crying-foul-this-is-an-abuse-of-power-against-small-independent-developers-by-a-large-corporation/
On Friday, the indie dev behind co-op survival horror shooter Misery uploaded a post to its Steam community hub page with an image of a crying cat as its header. Titled "We are under attack!", the post outlines something you may have noticed if you've played the game or tried to buy it today: it's been delisted from Steam following a DMCA strike initiated by Stalker developer GSC Game World.