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

[JEMC]

Now, I don’t know if PCGamer has hired more writers, pays its writers by article or if there’s AI involved, but the amount of articles they publish has skyrocketed this year, even in these holiday days.
So, since I have other work to do (you know, the one I’m actually paid to do), I’ll do what I did after the TGA or the June events: in this post you’ll find articles that I deemed worth sharing as usual, while the others will be on the third post with just the headline and link to it.

Also, depending on how it goes, this may be the new usual way of posting the PCGamer articles. Let me know what you think.

Anyway, here's the second part of the Monday news:

Ark 2 is now set to come out in 2028, and it may not have as much Vin Diesel as we were expecting: After years of delays, his involvement is 'an open question'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/action/ark-2-is-now-set-to-come-out-in-2028-and-it-may-not-have-as-much-vin-diesel-as-we-were-expecting-after-years-of-delays-his-involvement-is-an-open-question/
Ark 2 was revealed almost exactly five years ago—on December 10, 2020—with a lengthy cinematic trailer starring, for reasons I still don't entirely understand, Vin Diesel. It was initially expected to come out in 2023, and then at the end of 2024, but by 2025—the year that's about to end—we were reduced to promises that, yes, it's still happening. The most recent release target we had put Ark 2 in 2027, "if all goes to plan."
All did not go to plan, and Studio Wildcard is now aiming to get Ark 2 out the door sometime in 2028, according to an Epic Games report.

A major overhaul of League of Legends is reportedly coming in 2027: 'Once we're done, it should be the best time ever to get your friends into League'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/moba/a-major-overhaul-of-league-of-legends-is-reportedly-coming-in-2027-once-were-done-it-should-be-the-best-time-ever-to-get-your-friends-into-league/
A new Bloomberg report says Riot Games is currently working on an update to League of Legends, known internally as League Next, that will be the biggest in the game's history. The overhaul of League's "visual aesthetic," as Bloomberg put it, will impact characters, battle arenas, and the interface, and is aimed at making the game more welcoming for new players.

FromSoftware just dropped an absolutely busted item in Elden Ring Nightreign that has completely shifted the meta overnight
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/fromsoftware-just-dropped-an-absolutely-busted-item-in-elden-ring-nightreign-that-has-completely-shifted-the-meta-overnight/
It's become increasingly apparent over the last few weeks that someone at FromSoftware carefully observed all the strategies players were employing before the Forsaken Hollows DLC dropped, and they were taking notes. The new map and bosses are a big middle finger to people who got comfortable with the old meta.

Stalker 2 gets a new zoning permit in its 'Stories Untold' update, adding 8 missions and 7 locations as you explore what's giving Stalkers 'headaches, nosebleeds, and even hallucinations'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/stalker-2-gets-a-new-zoning-permit-in-its-stories-untold-update-adding-8-missions-and-7-locations-as-you-explore-whats-giving-stalkers-headaches-nosebleeds-and-even-hallucinations/
Stalker 2 has already received numerous major updates since releasing in November last year. Up to this point, though, most of those code transfusions have focussed on fixing the sequel's many bugs or elaborating upon its mechanics, such as improving its A-life system or adding dynamic faction wars. But its latest update—Stories Untold—expands the Zone itself, adding new areas and new quests to give veteran Stalkers something extra to do over the holiday season.

Co-op smash hit RV There Yet? gets an 'unplanned content update for an unplanned game' as the comedy vehicle sim surpasses 4.5 million copies sold
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/adventure/co-op-smash-hit-rv-there-yet-gets-an-unplanned-content-update-for-an-unplanned-game-as-the-comedy-vehicle-sim-surpasses-4-5-million-copies-sold/
2025 has been a big year for cooperative shenanigans (shenanifriends?) games, with titles like REPO and Peak providing some of the biggest hits of the year. RV There Yet? is the latest variant of the formula to achieve viral critical mass, taking the basic idea of goofing about with your mates in a virtual space on the verge of collapsing under the weight of its own physics simulation, then applying it to the concept of driving a caravan across the kind of terrain that would give a mountain goat vertigo.
Now, developer Nuggets Entertainment has released the first major update to RV There Yet? sim since launch, which adds a whole new map for players to drive their knockoff Winnebago across. The map is set on and around the fictional slopes of Mt Yurbuttsk, a frigid jumble of ice and rock that your chain-smoking holidaymakers must pass through on their quest to find Route 65.

Abiotic Factor's 1.2 update invites you to explore the 'Holiday Cryosphere', a festive interdimensional snowglobe where everything's on fire for some reason
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/survival-crafting/abiotic-factors-1-2-update-invites-you-to-explore-the-holiday-cryosphere-a-festive-interdimensional-snowglobe-where-everythings-on-fire-for-some-reason/
Abiotic Factor is the best survival game I played this year for many reasons, but one of those is how stupefyingly extra Deep Field Games' Half-Life-inspired adventure is. Its Black Mesa-esque research facility is so much larger and stranger than it needs to be, and that's before you get all the strange pocket dimensions you explore on the course of your adventure.
Hence, it probably shouldn't come as a surprise that its seasonal update goes the extra mile too, adding a whole new dimension that's positively aglow with lethal levels of Christmas spirit. The 1.2 patch introduces the holiday cryosphere, a gigantic snow globe that contains a frosted pine forest and a chocolate-box village. It even has its own version of the Polar Express, complete with the vaguely sinister undertones of Robert Zemeckis' CGI schmaltz-fest.

This dystopian free-running sim is set in a brutalist megacity is being codeveloped by one of the designers of last year's best FPS
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/this-dystopian-free-running-sim-is-set-in-a-brutalist-megacity-is-being-codeveloped-by-one-of-the-designers-of-last-years-best-fps/
Anything involving the creators of Straftat is going to be on my radar. The lo-fi 1v1 shooter was crowned the best FPS of 2024, brilliantly condensing '90s style deathmatch into hyper-quick rounds across dozens of creatively designed maps. But Straftat is also one of the best shooters of 2025, too, thanks to the immense amount of support the Lemaitre brothers have poured into, essentially doubling the map count since launch.
Now, one half of Straftat's developers, Léonard Lemaitre, has announced a new game called Vholume, a Mirror's Edge style first-person platformer set in a vast, dystopian city.

Warhammer 40,000: Dark Heresy shows off equal helpings of sleuthing and smashing in its new trailer, as its first playable alpha test goes live
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/warhammer-40-000-dark-heresy-shows-off-equal-helpings-of-sleuthing-and-smashing-in-its-new-trailer-as-its-first-playable-alpha-test-goes-live/
I'd somehow completely forgotten that Owlcat Games is making another Warhammer 40,000 RPG, assuming that the developer was all-in on Mass Effect style action-roleplayer The Expanse: Osiris Reborn. But not only does the studio have another string to its bow in Warhammer 40,000: Dark Heresy, its follow-up to 2023's Rogue Trader is already heavily into development, with Owlcat dropping a brand new trailer and a playable alpha test this week.

There's a Transformers XCOM-like on Steam, and it's on sale for 90% off before it gets delisted
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/strategy/theres-a-transformers-xcom-like-on-steam-and-its-on-sale-for-90-percent-off-before-it-gets-delisted/
The latest game to announce that it's being delisted from Steam is Transformers: Battlegrounds, which is the victim of a licensing agreement coming to an end. To soften the blow, it's on sale for 90% off until it gets removed at the end of the month.
>> Rhonin likely already shared the news, but this one could serve as a reminder.

Fortnite has quickly pulled its latest accolades trailer after letting a saucy foreplay reference slip through the cracks
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/battle-royale/fortnite-has-quickly-pulled-its-latest-accolades-trailer-after-letting-a-saucy-foreplay-reference-slip-through-the-cracks/
Less than an hour ago I lived in a world where I did not know what frotting was. It was not too long ago that Epic was also living in that same world, if its most recently pulled trailer is any indication.
As reported by TheGamer, the developer has pulled an accolades trailer for Fortnite Chapter 7 after fans pointed out that one unassuming word had slipped through the rest of its attempt to be edgy with censored quotes pulled from social media. It featured fake joke quotes like "**** the Dark Voyager" from "the bus driver" (understandable, since the Dark Voyager attacked and was presumed to have killed the bus driver at the beginning of the chapter) and less fake quotes such as "Like a ******* fever dream" from X account FN Posting.
Then, the post in question. Its message in keeping with the trailers tone: "The best ******* game ever man". Its issue, however, lies within the one saying it: Jonesy Frotting over on X.

Over 30 years since release, this classic PC platformer built with the tech that led to Doom just got a remaster
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/action/over-30-years-since-release-this-classic-pc-platformer-built-with-the-tech-that-led-to-doom-just-got-a-remaster/
It's strange to think that first-person shooters—and arguably the PC's arrival as a major gaming platform—emerged from an attempt to create the PC's equivalent of Super Mario Bros 3. John Carmack's reproduction of the smooth scrolling effect seen in Nintendo's platformer ultimately led to the founding of id Software and the creation of Commander Keen. In turn this led to Wolfenstein 3D, and ultimately to Doom.
Yet as id Software prepared to revolutionise PC gaming, its publisher, Apogee, took the tech id had developed for Commander Keen and made its own take on the 2D platformer. The result was Bio Menace, a platform shooter in which you battle through a city infested with mutants as all-American action hero Snake Logan. Bio Menace was created almost entirely by programmer Jim Norwood, who worked on the Duke Nukem Trilogy and, later, the original Shadow Warrior and its 2013 reboot.
Apogee released Bio Menace as freeware in 2005, and it can be played online in various places. But the original has, understandably, aged quite a bit. Fortunately, a remaster just released on Steam, sprucing up this classic blaster for modern players.
>> It’s interesting that they’ve decided to make this article now when this remaster launched days ago on GOG.

Blue Prince is 'the result of 8 years of development, fuelled my imagination and creativity' not AI says publisher
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/puzzle/blue-prince-is-the-result-of-8-years-of-development-fuelled-my-imagination-and-creativity-not-ai-says-publisher/
2025 has been a rather heated year for genAI and its ever-increasing use in videogames. Most recently, the year's awards darling Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 was disqualified from the Indie Game Awards for making use of generative AI during development and Larian's admission of using genAI "to explore ideas" at the studio has caused ripples of discourse throughout social media.
Among all of this, it seems like Blue Prince—which won the Indie Game Award's Game of the Year and also Best Design in our PC Gamer 2025 Game of the Year Awards—ended up caught in the crossfire. That's thanks to a since-edited article from The Escapist which suggested that generative AI was used in the game and was still present in the final product.
The now-retracted statement had the game's publisher Raw Fury coming out to defend developer Dogubomb by saying one thing loud and clear: it is 100% human-made. "For people that need confirmation: There is no AI used in Blue Prince," an X post from the Raw Fury account read.

I am desperately trying to wrap my head around this upcoming heterosexual omegaverse game
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/visual-novel/i-am-desperately-trying-to-wrap-my-head-around-this-upcoming-heterosexual-omegaverse-game/
Despite being blissfully unaware of what frotting was until earlier today (cheers for that Fortnite), I am more knowledgeable in the ways of the omegaverse—the subgenre of speculative fiction built around the idea of a human dominance hierarchy similar to that often attributed to pack animals like wolves—than I would like.
(***Here’s a paragraph describing what omegaverse is about***)
Its position as mostly homoerotic fiction, then, makes it difficult to envision such a thing told through a more heterosexual lens. But it seems like that's exactly what Idea Factory is trying to do with its upcoming Otomate Verse Project, according to Automaton Media.

An indie dev worried about being seen as a ripoff after discovering a game similar to the one they were making, but then the original dev responded: 'Don't be discouraged'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/an-indie-dev-worried-about-being-seen-as-a-ripoff-after-discovering-a-game-similar-to-the-one-they-were-making-but-then-the-original-dev-responded-dont-be-discouraged/
One of the most amazing things about modern games is that if you can think of a game you want to play, it probably exists somewhere. Yet while this is great for players like me, I can understand why it might be disheartening if you're a developer trying to stand out.
One indie developer recently found themselves in such a moment of crisis, to the point where they considered abandoning their project over its perceived similarity to another game. Fortunately, they were pulled out of the spiral, by none other than the creator of the game they'd worried about in the first place.
This all transpired over on the subreddit r/IndieDev, on which neophyte indie designer Sbibble relayed his concerns in a post titled "The game I've been working on for months is exactly the same as a game I just discovered today. What do I do?"