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

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Tuesday gaming news, part two:

It's a ways off, but Elder Scrolls Online will get crossplay and cross-progression 'at the same time'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/mmo/its-a-ways-off-but-elder-scrolls-online-will-get-crossplay-and-cross-progression-at-the-same-time/
As you might have heard, Elder Scrolls Online is getting crossplay after 12 long years. The first murmurings about the feature came in Oct. 2025, when developer ZeniMax Online Studios confirmed to Forbes it was being worked on, and it came up again in a Reddit AMA last week when the studio said that while crossplay is still being developed, it "won't be a 2026 item."
In that same thread, though, executive producer Susan Kath confirmed that cross-progression is coming too: "We will be doing crossplay and cross-prog at the same time," she wrote.

Big Hops is a charming platformer with some great movement and a classic vibe, but most importantly it lets you rotate several bugs for science
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/action/big-hops-is-a-charming-platformer-with-some-great-movement-and-a-classic-vibe-but-most-importantly-it-lets-you-rotate-several-bugs-for-science/
I wouldn't call myself a big platformer buff, per se, but I do like to partake on occasion—I simply cannot resist the allure of kicking back with a controller and collecting something. I've especially become a fan of the wave of indie platformers that've cropped up as a mainstay of PC Gaming: Games like A Hat in Time, which distil the essence of 'do movement tech until you've got a hundred gubbins' until it's basically dopamine moonshine.
From the hour and change I've played Big Hops looks to be joining that proud tradition. Developed by Luckshot Games, Big Hops sees you playing as Hop. Who, contrary to the game's title, is just a little guy—perhaps the littlest guy to have ever done it.

RuneScape details its plans to scrap its 'Treasure Hunter' microtransactions, rework combat, and dole out other 'integrity-focused releases' for its 25th anniversary
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/mmo/runescape-details-its-plans-to-scrap-its-treasure-hunter-microtransactions-rework-combat-and-dole-out-other-integrity-focused-releases-for-its-25th-anniversary/
'Integrity' has been a very big word in the RuneScape sphere this past year—Jagex CEO Jon Bellamy used the word at least six times when justifying some of his bolder decisions in 2025. Among those were his declaration that Jagex would take a sledgehammer to the microtransactions that have "tainted" RuneScape 3, which sounds cool, and his decision to nix RuneScape's in-game Pride events, which sounds bad.
Players were given the opportunity to vote in November as to whether they'd like the widely reviled Treasure Hunter microtransactions removed: Obviously, they said yes, and that's one of the first items on the 2026 roadmap unveiled today. The accompanying blog post states it "represents more than a milestone; it’s a turning point—one that sets RuneScape firmly on course for the future it deserves."

After a surprise last-minute delay, Helldivers 2's Redacted Regiment warbond is set to launch later this week
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/third-person-shooter/after-a-surprise-last-minute-delay-helldivers-2s-redacted-regiment-warbond-is-set-to-launch-later-this-week/
The Helldivers 2 Redacted Regiment warbond that was delayed at the last minute last week has a new release date, and it's actually not too much of an added wait. Instead of arriving on January 20 as originally planned, Arrowhead Game Studios announced today that it will drop on January 22 instead.

Blizzard devs talk about going back to WoW's beloved expansion continent, Northrend, and rebuilding it for The Last Titan: 'We wanna make sure we're doing justice to those memories'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/world-of-warcraft/blizzard-devs-talk-about-going-back-to-wows-beloved-expansion-continent-northrend-and-rebuilding-it-for-the-last-titan-we-wanna-make-sure-were-doing-justice-to-those-memories/
World of Warcraft: Midnight's just around the corner, with the pre-patch releasing this week. But Blizzard's already got eyes on the ball for its next expansion, as part of the three-expansion plan it revealed back in 2023 that we'll soon be coming up on halfway through.
The Last Titan, as it was announced back then, is gonna be taking players back to Northrend—and, per a recent interview by Game Informer, Midnight's reimagining of Silvermoon and the Ghostlands has been part of the process in sticking that landing.

And:

Devs recall 'sweating bullets' at showing The Beatles Rock Band to the actual Beatles, and 'tough customer' Yoko Ono making sure they made John Lennon a 'balls out rock and roll god not giving a f**k'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/devs-recall-sweating-bullets-at-showing-the-beatles-rock-band-to-the-actual-beatles-and-tough-customer-yoko-ono-making-sure-they-made-john-lennon-a-balls-out-rock-and-roll-god-not-giving-a-f-k/