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

[JEMC]

Thursday gaming news, part two:

Prince of Persia: The Sand of Time Remake is cancelled as Ubisoft announces major internal restructuring and more layoffs and studio closures on the way
https://www.pcgamer.com/gaming-industry/prince-of-persia-the-sand-of-time-remake-is-cancelled-as-ubisoft-announces-major-internal-restructuring-and-more-layoffs-and-studio-closures-on-the-way/
After years of trying and failing to get it out the door, Ubisoft has finally pulled the plug on Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time Remake. The game is one of six projects, four of them unannounced, that were cancelled as part of a "major reset" of Ubisoft's internal structure that CEO Yves Guillemot says is "built to create the conditions for a return to sustainable growth."
>> curl-6 has made a thread about all this. In other related news: Ubi has also ordered a return to office for all employees while confirming that more studios will be closed (link); Ubisoft’s major union hasn’t liked the news and is thinking about going on strike to remind Guillemot who makes the games (link); and Ubi keeps investing in AI (link);

'Everyone will be able to try Marathon' before launch as Bungie takes a second, sharper stab at reviving the iconic series as an extraction shooter in a post-Arc Raiders world
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/everyone-will-be-able-to-try-marathon-before-launch-as-bungie-takes-a-second-sharper-stab-at-reviving-the-iconic-series-as-an-extraction-shooter-in-a-post-arc-raiders-world/
After a mixed reception to Marathon's first public playtest last year (not helped by the whiplash of Arc Raiders' remarkably positive playtest), Bungie returned to the drawing board to overhaul some of the extraction shooter's features. Now it's back on the menu and almost time for round two, as a second public playtest will happen before the March 5 release date.
>> The creative director wants to “to push the boundaries of what an extraction shooter can do with its story” (link)

Crimson Desert secures a March release date as the ambitious Frankenstein's monster of open world fantasy games goes gold
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/action/crimson-desert-secures-a-march-release-date-as-the-ambitious-frankensteins-monster-of-open-world-fantasy-games-goes-gold/
Five and a half years after its 2020 Game Awards reveal, Crimson Desert has remained something of a mystery. Developer Pearl Abyss has promised a growing collection of mechanics and playstyles so bafflingly dense that it's still hard to picture how exactly it's all meant to fit together. Thanks to a freshly announced release date, however, we now at least know when we'll see the full picture—and launch day is just two months away.

'There is a world beyond Embervale': Enshrouded dev diary paves the way to 1.0 in fall of 2026, says 'development will continue for years to come'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/survival-crafting/enshrouded-2026-roadmap-and-fall-release-window/
It's not a concrete release date yet, but in today's Enshrouded roadmap update, Keen Games announced a new 1.0 release window set for fall 2026. The shift isn't a big departure from the original spring target and not entirely unexpected after last year's Wake of the Water delay.

Blizzard let its UI mods 'go farther than we should have', says game director Ion Hazzikostas, but 'the best time to plant a tree is 20 years ago, the second-best time is today'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/world-of-warcraft/blizzard-let-its-ui-mods-go-farther-than-we-should-have-says-game-director-ion-hazzikostas-but-the-best-time-to-plant-a-tree-is-20-years-ago-the-second-best-time-is-today/
World of Warcraft: Midnight has now officially ripped the bandaid off—as of this week, many UI mods (addons) have been disabled and prevented from functioning, and even non-combat addons are required to update to Midnight's new infrastructure. Thus ends the two-decade reign of interface addons, with many functionalities now replaced by Blizzard's homegrown systems.
(...)
Speaking to PCG contributor Heather Newman, director Ion Hazzikostas admits that it could've been done sooner, but the longer they waited, the more painful it became to uproot everything. "Addons had been such a ubiquitous part of the WoW ecosystem for so long that we just said, 'Okay, I guess this is how it's going to work now.'
>> Meanwhile, the pre-Midnight patch has come and with it have come higher costs for your fashion items (link) and has mde several low-level potions and food items to stop working (link)

Hytale's already adding necromancy, improved mining, and better world generation just over a week after launch
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/survival-crafting/hytale-update-2-patch-notes/
It's been just over a week since launch, and Hytale already has its second major update on the way, uncreatively named Update 2. Unflattering name aside, this is a very hearty patch whipped up less than two weeks after launch, and the team isn't slowing down yet, as Hypixel CEO Simon Collins-Laflamme says, "Update 3 is already in the works".
But let's not get ahead of ourselves: Update 2 is currently available in pre-release testing (enable this via the launcher's settings menu), and if all goes well, it should be in everyone's hands come Friday or Saturday, suggests Collins-Laflamme.

And here are the rest:

In response to Epic CEO Tim Sweeney waging war on Steam, Larian's publishing lead says, 'Giving everyone everything for free might bump numbers but doesn't create a viable storefront'
https://www.pcgamer.com/software/platforms/in-response-to-epic-ceo-tim-sweeney-waging-war-on-steam-larians-publishing-lead-says-giving-everyone-everything-for-free-might-bump-numbers-but-doesnt-create-a-viable-storefront/

Blizzard has teased new Overwatch survey skins, and the usual suspects aren't shy about hogging the concept collections
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/overwatch-survey-skins-january-2026/