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

[JEMC]

Friday gaming news, part number two:

Just Cause dev Avalanche closes its Liverpool studio, its 3rd in just over a year
https://www.pcgamer.com/gaming-industry/just-cause-dev-avalanche-closes-its-liverpool-studio-its-3rd-in-just-over-a-year/
After its '70s smuggling sim Contraband fell afoul of Microsoft cuts earlier this year, Just Cause dev Avalanche has concluded the process of shuttering its Liverpool studio, laying off 31 staff in the process.

WoW game director steps in to reassure players that its AddOn overhaul is a work in progress, and the temporary death of cosmetic mods is simply 'collateral damage that we are working on repairing'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/world-of-warcraft/wow-game-director-steps-in-to-reassure-players-that-its-addon-overhaul-is-a-work-in-progress-and-the-temporary-death-of-cosmetic-mods-is-simply-collateral-damage-that-we-are-working-on-repairing/
World of Warcraft is currently chipping away at the mammoth task of calling curtains on combat UI mods—called AddOns—to try and wrangle some control of the 21-year-old MMO back. After all, if you can automate just about everything, then you need to build classes, raids, and boss fights around a batch of third-party installs, which, er, isn't good.
(...)
But given the enormity of this change, some players are getting a touch skittish. Cue game director Ion Hazzikostas diving into Reddit once more to soothe their fears, after some kerfuffles with enemy nameplates which, as one player puts it, seem "hastily put together with minimum effort":

Rust developer has 'no plans' for Linux or Proton support, says games that support them are 'not serious about anti-cheat'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/survival-crafting/rust-developer-has-no-plans-for-linux-or-proton-support-says-games-that-support-them-are-not-serious-about-anti-cheat/
Rust has a long, rocky will-they-or-won't-they history when it comes to official support for both Proton and Linux, and with a new Steam Machine on the way it's no surprise to see those conversations popping up again. Valve's cute little cube will run SteamOS and use Proton—a compatibility layer to make Windows games play nice with Linux—but you can't play official Rust using it.
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"There are no plans to support Proton or Linux," said McFarlane. "It's a vector for cheat developers, and one that would be poorly maintained by both us and EAC due to the low user base. When we stopped support for Linux, we saw more cheat users exploiting Linux, than actual legitimate users."

My prayers have been answered: Battlefield 6 Engineers can now spawn with 5 rockets, meaning you can send tanks straight to the scrap yard
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/my-prayers-have-been-answered-battlefield-6-engineers-can-now-spawn-with-5-rockets-meaning-you-can-send-tanks-straight-to-the-scrap-yard/
Life as an Engineer in Battlefield 6 can be unforgiving, especially if you're on defense. Spending all your time, energy, and resources on killing a gaggle of tanks with a whole squad of Engineers behind them can, at times, feel like a worse fate than Sisyphus rolling his boulder up a hill; at least he doesn't get headshot by a sniper from halfway across the map when he's at the top of the mountain.
But life goes on, and you have to make do with what you have, and every so often, it does get better. I had one of these moments recently when I hopped into a Rush match and found that my Anti-Armour field spec perk now spawned me in with five RPG rockets straight away; yes, you heard me, FIVE.

Overwatch 2's first melee damage hero was 'pushed forward' in the release schedule despite fans expecting a new tank: 'It's more about servicing that playstyle that we really didn't have in the roster'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/overwatch-2s-first-melee-damage-hero-was-pushed-forward-in-the-release-schedule-despite-fans-expecting-a-new-tank-its-more-about-servicing-that-playstyle-that-we-really-didnt-have-in-the-roster/
Whenever a new Overwatch hero is on the horizon, everyone tries to guess which of the three roles they'll fit into. There's been a pattern ever since Overwatch 2 came out where Blizzard releases at least one tank, one support, and one damage-dealer every year.
(...)
The hero release pattern isn't a hard rule, Blizzard tells PC Gamer in a recent interview. And that's why its next hero, Vendetta, isn't a tank as many players expected. She'll be the game's first purely melee-based damage hero, a fantasy that the developers couldn't pass up.

Fortnite outdoes itself once again: the next chapter features an unfilmed scene from Kill Bill, announced by Quentin Tarantino
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fortnite-outdoes-itself-once-again-the-next-chapter-features-an-unfilmed-scene-from-kill-bill-announced-by-quentin-tarantino/
The live service path travelled by Fortnite has been unprecedented, dizzying in its ever-increasing scope and capable of springing truly impressive surprises, such as the recent Simpsons crossover. Now Epic has done it again.
The next chapter of Fortnite will feature as its centrepiece an unfilmed scene from the Kill Bill series, with the chapter itself themed around the two films and their upcoming theatrical re-release as Kill Bill: The Whole Bloody Affair.

Inzoi's getting multiplayer after South Korea's president told the director to hop to it: 'It almost felt like I was getting talked to by the company's CEO'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/life-sim/inzois-getting-multiplayer-after-south-koreas-president-told-the-director-to-hop-to-it-it-almost-felt-like-i-was-getting-talked-to-by-the-companys-ceo/
Krafton's life sim Inzoi released in early access this March, since when it's had a slightly troubled time of things: initial sales were impressive, and the game receives regular updates and hotfixes, but something about it hasn't quite landed with the vast audience that still prefers the slightly cosier and odder vibes of The Sims.
Hope springs eternal, however, and now director and producer Hyungjun 'Kjun' Kim has announced that multiplayer functionality is in the works for Inzoi: which, given the popularity of a certain Sims multiplayer mod, may well attract some curious life simmers. What's most surprising, however, is that the suggestion of this functionality came from the very top.

Vampire Survivors is getting a deckbuilding dungeon crawler spin-off that looks purpose built to annihilate your free time
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/roguelike/vampire-survivors-is-getting-a-deckbuilding-dungeon-crawler-spin-off-that-looks-purpose-built-to-annihilate-your-free-time/
In a reveal at Xbox's Partner Preview showcase on Thursday, Vampire Survivors developer Poncle teased what's next for the series with a flashy trailer promising "next-gen graphics, an endless open world, compelling storytelling..." before saying, nah, scratch all that. How about more 2D pixel art, but this time in first person?
>> curl-6 has made a thread about it.

I am going to kill Slim Shady with mom's spaghetti
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/action/i-am-going-to-kill-slim-shady-with-moms-spaghetti/
At today's Xbox Partner Showcase, IO Interactive revealed its next celebrity-themed elusive target for Hitman: World of Assassination. Arriving on December 1, the free, limited-time Eminem vs Slim Shady mission sees the Detroit-based rapper recruiting Agent 47 to assassinate his young alter-ego, which has manifested on the material plane as a separate, homicidal entity.

Another Marathon playtest is coming in December, but this one is restricted to North America and it's still 'strictly under an NDA'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/another-marathon-playtest-is-coming-in-december-but-this-one-is-restricted-to-north-america-and-its-still-strictly-under-an-nda/
Sony said earlier this month that Marathon, Bungie's super-sexy but deeply troubled extraction shooter, is coming out one way or the other in March 2026, and it'll clean up the mess—that is, "make corrections"—as needed once it's out the door. But it's still making corrections before that, too, and interested run-and-gunners will have a chance to check out the latest updates in another round of playtesting set for December.