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

[JEMC]

The second part of the gaming news:

Stormgate, the StarCraft-like RTS that launched last summer, is losing online multiplayer support because its server partner was bought by an AI company
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rts/stormgate-the-starcraft-like-rts-that-launched-last-summer-is-losing-online-multiplayer-support-because-its-server-partner-was-bought-by-an-ai-company/
Stormgate, the StarCraft-like RTS that launched into early access in 2024 and hit 1.0 a year later, is ending support for online play at the end of April because Hathora, which provides server functionality for the game, has been purchased by an AI company. There's a chance that online play could be restored at some point in the future, but for now developer Frost Giant Studios says it will patch Stormgate so it can be played offline.

Marathon has made everyone's favourite loot spot harder to access but even more rewarding, and it's got solo players raising pitchforks
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/marathon-has-made-everyones-favourite-loot-spot-harder-to-access-but-even-more-rewarding-and-its-got-solo-players-raising-pitchforks/
Marathon's Outpost map is an extraction masterclass, in large part due to how the central Pinwheel location lulled players in with the promise of loot. However, it wasn't without its issues: the Destroyed Wing entrance had to be disabled shortly after it launched, and it was overall too easy to break in once players had figured out the steps.
Bungie's given the map a thorough pass in the latest Marathon patch notes (1.0.5.2), and made some very interesting, totally not controversial changes. Content creator True Vanguard said the changes "genuinely suck for solo play" before returning five hours later after more successful runs to say "Holy frick, okay I lied".

Shinji Mikami's next game was just stealth-announced in a YouTube video and it sure looks like the creator of survival horror is back doing what he does best
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/horror/shinji-mikamis-next-game-was-just-stealth-announced-in-a-youtube-video-and-it-sure-looks-like-the-creator-of-survival-horror-is-back-doing-what-he-does-best/
On leaving Tango Gameworks in 2023 industry legend Shinji Mikami started up a new development studio called Unbound. (…) Unbound was recently in the news thanks to the appearance of a website with the scantest of details about its first project, and it hasn't taken long for a major publisher to step in and start throwing money at Mikami. The Korean publisher Shift Up, best-known in the West for Stellar Blade, has announced in a press release that it has acquired Unbound outright through purchasing all of the studio's shares. (...) The announcement comes with a video, which is worth a look for Mikami obsessives because it shows various elements of what Unbound is working on, including an office environment with weird tree-tendrils and various accessories that span the gamut from Egyptian to gothic aesthetics. And spider-like things: lots of those. Yep, sure looks like some sort of horror game.

April Fool's Day is upon us, and you know what that means: Bubsy feet pics
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/april-fools-day-is-upon-us-and-you-know-what-that-means-bubsy-feet-pics/
April Fool's Day is back again, offering a slate of jokes, gags, knee-slappers, and occasional bouts of confusion as those of us who have to wrangle this stuff are forced to expend way too much mental energy debating whether an announcement is real, or just not very funny. It's rough out there, folks.
Each year on this day we round up the best (of whatever lands in our inbox), and this year is no different. What is different in 2026, possibly, is the vibe: April Fool's Day is always a fairly big deal in this business, as companies large and small rush to promote themselves and their products with carefully crafted lighthearted fun™. But this year feels quieter and more reserved, and I can't help thinking that the absolute state of it all is responsible.
>> But it turns out that one of them isn’t just a joke...

Black Ops 7's April Fools' joke is very much real: the smallest Call of Duty map in history
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/black-ops-7s-april-fools-joke-is-very-much-real-the-smallest-call-of-duty-map-in-history/
The only way to make a decent April Fools' joke these days is pretend you're making something totally ridiculous and then actually make that thing. That's the route Treyarch took with its seasonal goof in Black Ops 7, which it unveiled today with an X post depicting a map no larger than a single room.

Diablo 4's 'April Fowl's Day' joke is a big chicken boss who drops a cluckton of unique loot, like the 'Cluckonomicon' and the 'Eggcecutioner'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/diablo-4s-april-fowls-day-joke-is-a-big-chicken-boss-who-drops-a-cluckton-of-unique-loot-like-the-cluckonomicon-and-the-eggcecutioner/
Watch out, Mephisto: A true terror has arrived in Diablo 4 in the form of a giant chicken. It's April Fool's Day (or April Fowl's Day, if you will) and Blizzard has unleashed a new world boss that drops entirely unique, chicken-flavored loot.
I barely missed the window to battle the beast, but players in the official Discord server are posting screenshots of the big chicken boss and the loot it drops. Diablo 4 events are typically just a way to funnel you loads of crafting materials and legendaries as a fun boost to your progression, but this one sidesteps that approach for something far weirder.
>> From the wording of the article, it feels like the event is already over.

Garry's Mod successor s&box finally arrives on Steam on April 28
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/garrys-mod-successor-s-and-box-finally-arrives-on-steam-on-april-28/
20 years after Garry's Mod changed pretty much everything, Facepunch Studios has revealed that the sandbox successor s&box (yes, pronounced "sandbox") will finally launch on Steam on April 28. The news arrived not with a big announcement or flashy marketing push, or any kind of fanfare at all—it just popped up quietly in a Steam page update.

US Patent Office revokes Nintendo's controversial Pokémon battling patent in nonfinal decision
https://www.pcgamer.com/gaming-industry/us-patent-office-revokes-nintendos-controversial-pokemon-battling-patent-in-nonfinal-decision/
Amidst its ongoing Japanese patent lawsuit against Palworld developer Pocketpair, Nintendo thoroughly stirred the legal pot on this side of the Pacific when news broke in September 2025 that the United States Patent and Trademark Office had granted the publisher US patent 12,403,397—a patent describing a system for battling summoned characters.
Despite concerns about how such patents could be weaponized, the USPTO approved the '397 patent with shockingly little pushback, drawing outcry from both players and legal experts—experts like videogame patent lawyer Kirk Sigmon, who called the patent's approval "an embarrassing failure of the US patent system." The USPTO now seems to agree, as it issued a nonfinal decision last week rejecting all of the '397 patent's claims, effectively declaring its intent to revoke the patent (via GamesFray). Nintendo will, however, be able to argue against the decision.

Blizzard is hiring for an 'open-world shooter' using Unreal Engine, which is more evidence that a new Starcraft game could be on its way
https://www.pcgamer.com/gaming-industry/blizzard-is-hiring-for-an-open-world-shooter-using-unreal-engine-which-is-more-evidence-that-a-new-starcraft-game-could-be-on-its-way/
According to a recent job listing, Blizzard is cooking up a new game in an engine and a genre that none of its releases have used before. The studio is looking for a "Lead Designer, Innovation" to run development on a "AAA open-world shooter" without a name.
Right now, every Blizzard game except Hearthstone (made with Unity) were made with in-house engines, but this unnamed shooter will likely use Unreal Engine. The listing says the lead designer will need experience working with the popular engine for prototyping features.

'Any update is a bonus not a right': Peak devs snap back at ungrateful players demanding more updates, 'Neither us or Aggro Crab are live service studios'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/adventure/any-update-is-a-bonus-not-a-right-peak-devs-snap-back-at-ungrateful-players-demanding-more-updates-neither-us-or-aggro-crab-are-live-service-studios/
Peak was one of the surprise successes of last year. (…) "Y'all are mad at Landfall for not releasing a game, I'm mad at Landfall for their lazy dev cycle for Peak when they could be doing so much more with it considering they're ending development of it this year," one player says (via GamesRadar). (...) "Peak has had sooo many updates tho," one of the developers, Landfall replied. "Neither us or Aggro Crab are live service studios, any update is a bonus not a right. We just made a huge update for customising runs, but full customisation is a big ask. However if there are specific suggestions we'd love to hear them. [Redgarding] modding, we have a great connection with the modding community, when asking if we should add [a] workshop etc they didn't want it."
>> Some people are really spoiled brats.