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

[JEMC]

The long part two of the Monday gaming news:

Last year's best climbing game was also a horror game, and it gets a big anniversary update today
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/action/last-years-best-climbing-game-was-also-a-horror-game-and-it-gets-a-big-anniversary-update-today/
I know that, for a lot of you, the obvious best climbing game of 2025 was Peak, the absurd going-up sim from Landfall that took the world by storm. But it's not my choice. Why? I have no friends preferred White Knuckle, the early access horror-climber from Dark Machine that tasked you with climbing out of a grimy, industrial environment really fast.
It's a good time, and I praised it back around when it got its early access release for "mechanics that are complex enough to feel rewarding when you nail it but simple enough that you don't trip over yourself (too much)." Well, we're now one year out from that time, and to celebrate, the game is getting a big honkin' anniversary update, out today.

I know all you pirates are busy with Windrose, but you should drop anchor and check out this new pirate-themed city builder
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/city-builder/i-know-all-you-pirates-are-busy-with-windrose-but-you-should-drop-anchor-and-check-out-this-new-pirate-themed-city-builder/
I'm aware all you pirates are busily scouring the Caribbean for Blackbeard and booty in survival game Windrose this week, but if I could just get your attention for a brief moment, perhaps by shouting something like "Avast!" and then pointing to a nearby island that has just appeared above the glimmering waves.
On that island is maybe the coolest pirate hideout I've ever seen, courtesy of the new pirate-themed city builder, Corsair Cove, announced today by Limbic Entertainment and publisher Hooded Horse. Lift your eyepatch and take a good look at the trailer.

Embark admits 'grinding for monetary value' isn't fun, so future Arc Raiders Expeditions will reward you for smashing bots instead
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/third-person-shooter/embark-admits-grinding-for-monetary-value-isnt-fun-so-future-arc-raiders-expeditions-will-reward-you-for-smashing-bots-instead/
Arc Raiders has many wonderful qualities that make it the most popular extraction shooter around, but its current Expeditions grind isn't one of them. Serving as Arc's take on the season wipe, Expeditions give players the option to reset their progress in exchange for permanent upgrades, like extra stash size and skill points.
Up until now, that process was a major resource grind that involved hoarding mountains of scrap to reach an arbitrary goal. For the next one, Embark is shaking things up.
"For the third Expedition, we're doing things a little differently—the big news being that Skill Points will be earned by dealing damage over the five day window, NOT stash value," the developer said in a blog post published today.

I've always wanted to fire the infinite cannons of a giant anime battleship, and this solo dev's giving me a chance on Steam later this year
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/action/ive-always-wanted-to-fire-the-infinite-cannons-of-a-giant-anime-battleship-and-this-solo-devs-giving-me-a-chance-on-steam-later-this-year/
Videogames have given me more opportunities to blow up titanic scifi battleships than I could ever hope to count. But I've rarely gotten the opportunity to experience the other side of that equation as the guy commanding the fleet's worth of cannons, laser batteries, and missile bays bristling across a single massive floating monolith.
One solo dev, however, is looking to provide us all a taste of scifi navy excess with Dreadnought Tartarus, a "semi-automated strategic simulation game centered around a single, colossal battleship," which is another way of saying "you get to play that part from anime space operas and mecha series where the space cruisers fill the screen with the wildest barrage of weapons fire that the visual arts can imagine."

Last Flag, the debut game from the studio founded by Imagine Dragons' lead singer, becomes the latest multiplayer shooter struggling to find an audience
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/last-flag-the-debut-game-from-the-studio-founded-by-imagine-dragons-lead-singer-becomes-the-latest-multiplayer-shooter-struggling-to-find-an-audience/
If 2026 has taught us anything, it's that convincing people to play your new multiplayer shooter is hard. The ill-fated Highguard came and went within the space of three months after initially strong player counts dropped off a cliff. And while Marathon appears to have more staying power—which is a mercy because it is superb—all signs suggest it hasn't been the roaring success needed to recoup its alleged $200 million budget.
Things are so tough that even being the lead singer of a world famous band can't guarantee your game an audience, as demonstrated by the release of Last Flag. Developed by Night Street Games—an indie studio founded by Dan and Mac Reynolds, the lead singer and manager of Imagine Dragons— Last Flag is a 5v5 multiplayer shooter themed around the classic capture-flag-game mode.

After 23 years, CCP is about to do the unthinkable: add a non-PvP zone to EVE Online
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/mmo/after-23-years-ccp-is-about-to-do-the-unthinkable-add-a-non-pvp-zone-to-eve-online/
For over two decades, EVE Online has been famous for two things: the astonishing player-driven stories it generates, and the cutthroat universe that acts as a foundation for those stories. PvP is as fundamental a part of EVE's universe as hydrogen is in our own, and whether you're the head of one of its megacorps or a newbie just starting out, buying into the game has been to accept the possibility that someone in the great beyond might make it their personal mission to ruin your day.
Yet modern EVE is not as forbidding as its reputation suggests. The MMO includes numerous "starter systems" where PvP against new players is generally discouraged and "Rookie griefing" outright prohibited. But it seems this esoteric mixture of rules and customs is not definitive enough for developer CCP. As such, EVE's next expansion will do what once seemed unthinkable, add a non PvP zone to the game.

Turtle WoW classic server announces shutdown after Blizzard wins injunction
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/world-of-warcraft/turtle-wow-classic-server-announces-shutdown-after-blizzard-wins-injunction/
Last week, popular World of Warcraft private server Turtle WoW got hit with a cease and desist from Blizzard after a judge ruled in the studio's favor regarding a copyright infringement suit filed last September. Court documents revealed that the two parties reached a settlement that hinged on "certain actions that are required to be taken by certain parties," and today, the other shoe dropped for anyone still playing the modded MMO: a forum post announced a complete shutdown of the project.

Owlcat reveals two new 40K companions, one for Rogue Trader and one for the upcoming Dark Heresy
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/owlcat-reveals-two-new-40k-companions-one-for-rogue-trader-and-one-for-the-upcoming-dark-heresy/
Owlcat's RPGs have a history of launching in a terrible state but improving significantly over time. When I replayed Rogue Trader last year, with the benefit of a bunch of patches and a couple of expansions, I had a much better time than I did when it was brand new and I hit a progress-blocking bug that meant I had to replay all of act one. But even then, when I told people it was finally a good time to jump in, the most vocal response was from people who would rather keep waiting.
And fair enough. Because we knew there would be even more to come, and that's what Owlcat is promoting now, with a character trailer revealing the companion being added in The Infinite Museion DLC. It's Eogann Februs, a tech-priest.
(...)
At the same time, Owlcat's just released a trailer showcasing a companion you can recruit in the playable alpha for Dark Heresy. Haymar Devos is a guardsman from the infamous death world of Catachan, which is basically the jungle from Predator stretched over an entire planet. Every single trooper recruited on Catachan is an '80s action-movie hero, including a Rambo analogue called Sly Marbo. Which is pretty rad.

Marathon's most popular shotgun is getting nerfed a second time, as Bungie worries it is 'eclipsing a lot of the other short range options that exist in the game'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/marathons-most-popular-shotgun-is-getting-nerfed-a-second-time-as-bungie-worries-it-is-eclipsing-a-lot-of-the-other-short-range-options-that-exist-in-the-game/
Since Marathon launched, one gun has dominated both the battlefield and the discourse. No, I don't mean the Biotoxic Disinjector, which while ferociously powerful, is unlikely to appear outside of Cryo Archive due to its rarity. I'm instead referring to the almighty WSTR shotgun, by far the best weapon to carry in your back pocket as you explore Tau Ceti IV
Marathon's double-barrelled delete key is so powerful that it has already been nerfed once, with a dramatic reduction in range making it virtually useless outside of close encounters. But it remains the most effective solution to any encounter where you can see the decals beneath an enemy runner's eyes.
Indeed, the WSTR's dominance of the secondary weapon slot has become a source of concern for Bungie, and as such they're planning to nerf the shotgun a second time. Come Tuesday, WSTR-wielding players will need to work a bit harder against players equipped with strong shields.

The sequel to flying city-builder Airborne Kingdom just hit 1.0 with a huge update and a 50% discount
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/city-builder/the-sequel-to-flying-city-builder-airborne-kingdom-just-hit-1-0-with-a-huge-update-and-a-50-percent-discount/
Airborne Kingdom was one of the early pioneers of what I've dubbed the "weird city builder" trend, one that takes the genre out of its realistic, SimCity-esque roots and plonks it on the back of a dinosaur or in a world populated by beavers. In Airborne Kingdom's case, the gimmick was building a flying city, and it executed that well enough to receive a score of 80% in our Airborne Kingdom review.
I'd lost track of what developer The Wandering Band had been up to since, because Steam's torrent of new games never ceases. But it turns out what it's been doing is making Airborne Empire, which takes the foundations of Airborne Kingdom and builds it out with a larger world and some light RPG elements. After four years of development and just over a year in Steam early access, Airborne Empire has formally released with a substantial 1.0 update.

I never want to play a Cleric in D&D, but 2026's best RPG stars one for a simple reason: 'I'm sorry to say they are just overpowered'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/i-never-want-to-play-a-cleric-in-d-and-d-but-2026s-best-rpg-stars-one-for-a-simple-reason-im-sorry-to-say-they-are-just-overpowered/
When I spoke to Christoffer Bodegård, developer of the running RPG of the year, Esoteric Ebb (which uses a modified form of D&D 5th Edition rules), I had to ask: Why a Cleric? The ubiquitous fantasy holy healers never feel like protagonist material to me⁠—I'd much rather be a sneaky little Dick-Ass Rogue. There was a pretty straightforward answer: Clerics are OP, they can do a little bit of everything, and Man vs. God will never not make for primo literary fodder.
"They're overpowered," said Bodegård. "I'm sorry to say they are just overpowered." He revealed that even the earliest version of Esoteric Ebb that he had mocked up before Disco Elysium radically changed the game's direction still starred a Cleric and a goblin.

I thought this sci-fi mystery looked cool, but my interest dropped when I realized it's another multiplayer survival-crafting game
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/survival-crafting/i-thought-this-sci-fi-mystery-looked-cool-but-my-interest-dropped-when-i-realized-its-another-multiplayer-survival-crafting-game/
The story teaser for Blind Descent seemed intriguing. It's presented as a log from a scientist on Mars whose communications are being blocked by alien technology. He's discovered a whole lost world under the surface of the planet, finding his way through the red vines that blocked his progress after being infected by a mutation-causing plant.
If you're the kind of person who hates it when a scientist just straight-up touches alien stuff I can see that sending you spare, but otherwise it's an atmospheric intro to a mysterious sci-fi game. And then I went to the store page and found out it's a multiplayer co-op survival game with crafting in it.

At long last, fishing will finally come to RuneScape: Dragonwilds tomorrow, so I'll wave goodbye to my other skills now
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/survival-crafting/at-long-last-fishing-will-finally-come-to-runescape-dragonwilds-tomorrow-so-ill-wave-goodbye-to-my-other-skills-now/
RuneScape doesn't feel like RuneScape without the ability to spend hours of your life fishing. In fact, levelling that essential skill is a quintessential part of the experience, so when RuneScape: Dragonwilds released with no fishing element—I can't lie—I was incredibly disappointed. Fortunately, we don't have much longer to wait, and it has been revealed that fishing will come to Ashenfall on April 21.