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

[JEMC]

Thursday gaming news, part two:

As NetEase pledges to 'replace' a No Man's Sky model in its survival MMO, Sean Murray says they played themselves because the asset's busted anyway
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/mmo/as-netease-pledges-to-replace-a-no-mans-sky-model-in-its-survival-mmo-sean-murray-says-they-played-themselves-because-the-assets-busted-anyway/
Next time a commenter points out a typo in one of my articles, I'll just say it's to make potential plagiarists look stupid. After No Man's Sky players on Reddit (via GamesRadar) questioned the provenance of an asset in survival MMO Once Human—suggesting it bore a marked resemblance to a similar object in No Man's Sky—Hello Games' boss Sean Murray seemed remarkably at-ease about the possibility he'd been the target of an asset heist.
"Joke's on them," he wrote, because the original No Man's Sky asset is all jacked up anyway.

PlayerUnknown's new survival game already has three DLCs planned, but won't include one fan-favourite idea: 'I think the weather is sufficiently worrying at this stage'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/survival-crafting/playerunknowns-new-survival-game-already-has-three-dlcs-planned-but-wont-include-one-fan-favourite-idea-i-think-the-weather-is-sufficiently-worrying-at-this-stage/
When I first played Prologue: Go Wayback! at the beginning of 2025, my first thought was 'Boy, this would be great if there were a bear or two in these woods'. Don't get me wrong, I liked the survival loop of roaming around, damp and hungry, but I always thought animals would add a little bit of life to the map.
But alas, any hope of getting chased through the woods by a bear has been struck down as PlayerUnknown himself, Brendan Greene, clarified what is and isn't on the table for Prologue's upcoming DLCs.
>> Greene also said that he’s trying to “use early access in the way it was meant to be” (link).

Ron Gilbert canceled his Zelda-inspired RPG, in part because a good publisher is hard to come by these days: 'It's like they have formulas that they apply to games to try to figure out how much money they could make'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/ron-gilbert-canceled-his-zelda-inspired-rpg-in-part-because-a-good-publisher-is-hard-to-come-by-these-days-its-like-they-have-formulas-that-they-apply-to-games-to-try-to-figure-out-how-much-money-they-could-make/
Ron Gilbert is something akin to PC gaming royalty, having worked on all-time greats like The Secret of Monkey Island and Maniac Mansion—he also designed the Mona Lisa of edutainment, Freddi Fish and the Case of the Missing Kelp Seeds, so he's good in my book. You might think such a resplendent back catalog would mean publishers are tripping over each other to offer Gilbert the chance to make whatever he likes, but not so; he had to cancel his last project, a Zelda-inspired open world RPG, in part because he couldn't get the resources he needed.
In an interview with Ars Technica, Gilbert talked about why the project was scrapped: “I just [didn’t] have the money or the time to build a big open-world game like that."

Horses is back on the Humble Store: 'After a full review they determined that while the content is heavy, nothing in the game warrants removal'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/horror/controversial-horror-game-horses-gets-kicked-off-the-humble-store-one-day-after-launch-but-its-also-become-the-best-selling-new-release-on-gog/
The saga of Horses has taken another unexpected twist as the Humble Store, which just a couple days ago affirmed that it would carry the game as a DRM-free download despite its ban on Steam and Epic, has now apparently stopped selling it.
Update: And just like that, Horses is back on the Humble Store. It turns out the whole thing was a mix of cold feet and bad communications.
"In short, their team saw the press coverage and temporarily delisted Horses to reevaluate it," Horses developer Pietro Righi Riva told PC Gamer. "After a full review they determined that while the content is heavy, nothing in the game warrants removal from their store."

Just in case you thought Helldivers 2 was a little too nice, Arrowhead's just added magma planets where everything's on fire, and this is fine
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/third-person-shooter/just-in-case-you-thought-helldivers-2-was-a-little-too-nice-arrowheads-just-added-magma-planets-where-everythings-on-fire-and-this-is-fine/
Helldivers 2 is a harsh game—download it, and you're at risk of being gibbed by chainsaws, torn apart by Voteless, melted by insectoid dragons, or just blown up by friendly fire. Not one to rest on its laurels, Arrowhead has gone: What if we added "boiled alive in magma" to that list? What if, Arrowhead? I say, nervously, sweating.

FF14's Yoshi-P reveals why he's finally lifting glamour restrictions—he's got his own preferences, but it's 'no longer the time to force them on players'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/mmo/ff14s-yoshi-p-reveals-why-hes-finally-lifting-glamour-restrictions-hes-got-his-own-preferences-but-its-no-longer-the-time-to-force-them-on-players/
Final Fantasy 14's making a huge, revolutionary update this month with the release of patch 7.4—it's removing all glamour restrictions. If that doesn't sound revolutionary to you, you must not understand that the true endgame of every MMO is fashion.
(...)
This came as a surprise to players, due to the game director Naoki Yoshida (Yoshi-P)'s past stance on the issue—even in the face of job-agnostic gear that was increasingly allowing players to throw plate armour onto their White Mages. Talking to Famitsu in an interview, Yoshi-P reveals why (note: these quotes have been machine-translated):

Ball X Pit is getting not just one but three free updates in 2026, adding new characters, buildings, evolutions, and of course more balls
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/roguelike/ball-x-pit-is-getting-not-just-one-but-three-free-updates-in-2026-adding-new-characters-buildings-evolutions-and-of-course-more-balls/
Though my love affair with Ball X Pit earlier this year was relatively short, it was intense—I ended up giving it 80% in our review, and I'd definitely count it as one of my most memorable roguelike experiences in a year where I've played the hell out of the genre.
Given the huge success the game has gone on to enjoy, ongoing support seemed inevitable. According to PC Gamer's official data partner, Newzoo, Ball X Pit has accumulated at least 744,000 players (with a majority on Xbox, where the game was available on Game Pass). But even still I'm surprised how much developer Kenny Sun has announced for 2026. Coming soon is not just one update, but three, spread out over the first half of the year.

That's it for today.