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

[JEMC]

Thursday gaming news, part two:

CCP Games is no more: EVE Online studio changes its name as it goes independent and enters an AI research partnership with Google DeepMind
https://www.pcgamer.com/gaming-industry/ccp-games-is-no-more-eve-online-studio-changes-its-name-as-it-goes-independent-and-enters-an-ai-research-partnership-with-google-deepmind/
Some big changes out of EVE Online developer CCP Games today, including that it is no longer called CCP Games: The studio has parted ways with Crimson Desert maker Pearl Abyss, entered into an AI research partnership with Google DeepMind, and ditched its nearly 30-year-old name, rebranding itself as Fenris Creations.

Far Cry 2 and Assassin's Creed Hexe creative director launches a new studio, a few months after surprise exit from Ubisoft
https://www.pcgamer.com/gaming-industry/far-cry-2-and-assassins-creed-hexe-creative-director-launches-a-new-studio-a-few-months-after-surprise-exit-from-ubisoft/
Just a few months after his surprise departure from Ubisoft, where he'd been serving as the creative director on the mysterious Assassin's Creed Hexe, veteran developer Clint Hocking has founded a game studio called Build Machine Games.

Civ 7 is getting 'by far the most-requested addition' later this month, but I'm more interested in whether it'll finally feel fully baked
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/strategy/civ-7-is-getting-by-far-the-most-requested-addition-later-this-month-but-im-more-interested-in-whether-itll-finally-feel-fully-baked/
Late last year, Firaxis announced that Civ 7 would be getting the ability to play a single civilization across an entire game, addressing one of the major complaints from players who weren't thrilled with the latest entry's ambitious experimentation with the Civilization format. After promising in February that Civ's traditional playstyle would return sometime this spring in an expansion-sized update, Firaxis has confirmed we don't have much longer to wait.
In a Steam news post, Firaxis has announced that Civ 7's massive Test of Time update will arrive on May 19, bringing the ability to play a full campaign as one civilization—"by far the most-requested addition," Firaxis says—as well as other major overhauls.
>> Despite the game messing its launch with a feature no one asked and that they’ve now made optional, the game is profitable (link).

My most-anticipated but frequently delayed Zelda-like is finally releasing later this month after 6 years in development
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/adventure/my-most-anticipated-but-frequently-delayed-zelda-like-is-finally-releasing-later-this-month-after-6-years-in-development/
Mina the Hollower was announced in 2022 and originally slated to launch the following year. It's a top-down adventure in the style of older Zelda games, and as far as I can tell there's no grand twist: it's a very orthodox take on the genre, just as Shovel Knight was for the NES-era platformer. The same developer, Yacht Club Games, is responsible for both.
The star attraction is the pixel art, which wends very closely to 8-bit orthodoxy, but does so with modern smoothness and fluency. When it hit Kickstarter in 2022, Bloodborne was mentioned as an inspiration, and it's definitely true that Mina the Hollower looks more Castlevania than it does Link's Awakening. Whatever the case, I'm excited to play it.

Atari just bought the rights to the big daddy of PC RPGs, and a reissue campaign is afoot
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/atari-just-bought-the-rights-to-the-big-daddy-of-pc-rpgs-and-a-reissue-campaign-is-afoot/
Released in 1981, Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord was the first grid-based first-person RPG—what we nowadays call blobbers—and it proved enormously influential. Its art was rudimentary: the monochrome dungeon halls were a series of white lines carefully placed to simulate the feeling of moving through a three-dimensional environment. Leaving the ruggedness of its "3D" world exploration aside, it was an unprecedentedly complex and immersive take on the CRPG, and the American-developed series sold loads—especially in Japan.
The earliest Wizardry games varied a lot depending on the platform: DOS and Commodore 64 versions were as described, but the Nintendo ports were graphically much more vivid, with evocative fantasy pixel art. What unites the first five Wizardry games, no matter the platform, is that they're mostly unavailable to play in 2026, save a remake of Proving Grounds handled by Digital Eclipse and released in 2024.
But it looks like that's about to change: Atari has announced it's acquired "the complete and exclusive rights" to the first five Wizardry games and their "underlying IP". That's pretty big news for CRPG enthusiasts, especially since Atari seems pretty eager to get them back on the market. The announcement cites the possibility of "remasters, collections and new releases" as well as a bunch of other non-game stuff like merch, cards, board games, books, comics, TV and film projects.

Old School RuneScape needs 'to do a bunch of work to stop the game exploding soon', as a problem from 2018 rears its ugly head
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/mmo/old-school-runescape-needs-to-do-a-bunch-of-work-to-stop-the-game-exploding-soon-as-a-problem-from-2018-rears-its-ugly-head/
Old School RuneScape is one of the old guard—with the original version of the game being released way back in 2004. This is where I'd usually tell you about the good old days, but I was nine years old at the time. Sorry.
Anyway, that means it has some legacy code issues that need wrangling with—which, per some developer comments on the 2007scape subreddit (thanks, GamesRadar+) will make the game explode if not dealt with. Well—"explode" is a bit dramatic. It just wouldn't allow any more scenery to be added to the game if not fixed. Lest it explode.
(...)
In this thread, which shares a fake screenshot from Mod Ash claiming the doom of RuneScape, Jagex mod Nin actually chimes in and writes: "You joke, but we are imminently going to run out of IDs to assign to models and scenery so we need to do a bunch of work to stop the game exploding soon."