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Thursday gaming news, part two:

Management sim Manifesto is the first game ever without politics: Grind workers into dust under your bootheel in a carefree romp that is 'definitely not about the video game industry… stop reading into things that aren't there'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/sim/management-sim-manifesto-is-the-first-game-ever-without-politics-grind-workers-into-dust-under-your-bootheel-in-a-carefree-romp-that-is-definitely-not-about-the-video-game-industry-stop-reading-into-things-that-arent-there/
A paradox: videogames? They're pretty good. The videogame industry? It's bad. Like, mondo bad. A brutal parade of layoffs and exploitation, where grinning execs make out like bandits and everyone else is grist for the mill. One day, of course, the revolution will come, sweep away bourgeois society like so much dust, and the era of mankind's prehistory will end.
Until then, here's Manifesto, a "management sim about burnout, layoffs, and making shitloads of money." I'm pretty sure that's what most management sims are about, on some level, but Manifesto sure seems keen to remove any gloss from the process.

Overwatch 2 drops the 2 and goes back to being Overwatch as Blizzard launches its biggest update ever next week: 'We want to gain players' confidence, we want them to have trust in the game'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/overwatch-2-drops-the-2-and-goes-back-to-being-overwatch-as-blizzard-launches-its-biggest-update-ever-next-week-we-want-to-gain-players-confidence-we-want-them-to-have-trust-in-the-game/
The last thing I expected Blizzard to do was to change the name of Overwatch 2 back to just "Overwatch" four years after it came out. But as announced during the recent Spotlight video, that is exactly what Blizzard's doing. Most of the sequel's life has been about earning that 2, so why change it now?
The reason, as Blizzard explained to PC Gamer and other press attending an event at its offices in Irvine last week, is all about the development team's confidence in Overwatch's future.
Starting next week, Overwatch is going to look a lot different—literally, with a new UI, five new heroes, and the kick off of a whole new storyline. Its 21st season—coming February 10—will instead be known as season 1 of The Reign of Talon, a year-long narrative that will be told through in-game events, cinematics, short stories, and comics. It's a season that game director Aaron Keller calls "the biggest launch we've ever had in Overwatch's history."
>> Here’s another article focused on the new heroes (link).

Mike Morhaime's Dreamhaven continues to look for a hit, this time with a 'run-based' spin-off of Sunderfolk without the phone controls
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/roguelike/mike-morhaimes-dreamhaven-continues-to-look-for-a-hit-this-time-with-a-run-based-spin-off-of-sunderfolk-without-the-phone-controls/
Dreamhaven, the company unveiled in 2020 by Blizzard co-founder Mike Morhaime, has something new(ish) in the works, a "tactics roguelike game" for 1-4 players called Shadowstone that's set to launch later this year.
Shadowstone is being developed by Secret Door, the team behind the 2025 tactics RPG Sunderfolk, and you may notice a certain similarity between the two games. For a good reason, and this is why I called it "new(ish)": Stonehaven is set in the same game world as Sunderfolk and will feature some heroes from that game, although Dreamhaven says it's "a standalone experience from Sunderfolk that requires no experience with its campaign."

7 years after it was pulled from Steam, Poker Night at the Inventory is coming back in March, and yes, so are the free Team Fortress 2 unlockables
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/card-games/7-years-after-it-was-pulled-from-steam-poker-night-at-the-inventory-is-coming-back-in-march-and-yes-so-are-the-free-team-fortress-2-unlockables/
Poker Night at the Inventory was, for a very brief time, kind of a phenom in the world of videogames. A relatively early Telltale release, it was a poker game starring four big-at-the-videogame characters: Max from Sam and Max, Strong Bad's Homestar Runner, the needs-no-introduction Heavy, and Tycho from the Penny Arcade webcomic.
It was all a bit of a flash in the pan, though: A sequel arrived in 2013, both of them fizzled out fairly quickly, they were delisted from Steam several years ago, and honestly I don't think anyone has even thought about them in ages. I certainly haven't.
That all changed today, though, because today Skunkape Games announced that Poker Night at the Inventory is coming back in a remastered edition that's set to launch in March. Why, you ask? Well, why not, is my reply, because honestly that's all I can come up with.

Just under two weeks from its release date, devil's bargain deckbuilder The Killing Stone announces it will be launching into early access instead
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/card-games/just-under-two-weeks-from-its-release-date-devils-bargain-deckbuilder-the-killing-stone-announces-it-will-be-launching-into-early-access-instead/
"Inscryption-inspired card battler The Killing Stone gets a rad new trailer showing off voice talent from Critical Role and Baldur's Gate 3, and it's out next month," we said in January. All of that remains true, except that when it releases on February 18 The Killing Stone will now be releasing into early access rather than celebrating a full 1.0 launch.

Arc Raiders is cracking down on cheaters by targeting Steam Family Sharing: 'Restrictions or bans will apply across the entire family group tied to that license'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/third-person-shooter/arc-raiders-is-cracking-down-on-cheaters-by-targeting-steam-family-sharing-restrictions-or-bans-will-apply-across-the-entire-family-group-tied-to-that-license/
Arc Raiders, like many other games, have had to deal with its fair share of cheaters. The devs have taken to burning them in locked rooms, dishing out big bans, and handing all the loot lost to these rats back to their rightful owners. And now Embark is cracking down on cheaters even more: by going after their families.
"In our ongoing continuous efforts to make Arc Raiders a more fair experience for all raiders, we have just made changes to how Steam Family Sharing works for suspended accounts," community manager at Embark, Ossen, says in the official Discord. "Up until now, suspended accounts could exploit Steam Family Sharing to avoid account suspensions, making their way back to Speranza to continue their illegitimate play.
"This change prevents that by ensuring that if an account is suspended, all accounts associated with that account through Steam Family Sharing are also, automatically, suspended as well."

'We've never considered adding difficulty settings to the Nioh series', says Nioh 3 game director, who gives players different ways to tackle challenges instead
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/action/weve-never-considered-adding-difficulty-settings-to-the-nioh-series-says-nioh-3-game-director-who-gives-players-different-ways-to-tackle-challenges-instead/
I'm of two minds about difficult games like Nioh 3—one mind thinks that difficulty's a matter of accessibility, that there's really no harm in adding a setting so that someone (for any reason) is able to see a game through. The other half of me thinks that difficulty's often kind of the point, and can be a part of a game itself. I'm also one of those pretentious gits that thinks videogames don't have to be fun to be worth making or playing, though.
Very much in the 'it's the point' camp is game director of Nioh 3 Masaki Fujita, who spoke with Eurogamer on the subject this week. In case you're unfamiliar, Nioh 3 is a soulslike action game with an emphasis on skill expression and difficulty.