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

[JEMC]

The second part of the Tuesday gaming news:

Marvel Rivals has upset players yet again with some peculiar balances that buff some of the strongest heroes
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/third-person-shooter/marvel-rivals-has-upset-players-yet-again-with-some-peculiar-balances-that-buff-some-of-the-strongest-heroes/
It took all of one day for Marvel Rivals to enrage players after the release of season 9 with a new, unasked for, and slightly confusing patch. It buffed tons of heroes some of which in no way needed a helping hand.

The GoldenEye homage that left us 'shaken and stirred' in 2022 is finally launching in August
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/the-goldeneye-homage-that-left-us-shaken-and-stirred-in-2022-is-finally-launching-in-august/
Agent 64: Spies Never Die, a lovingly-crafted homage to the classic Nintendo 64 James Bond game GoldenEye, made quite an impression when it turned up at the PC Gaming Show in 2022, but all hasn't gone quite according to plan since then. An early access release expected later that year didn't come together, and updates on Steam have been few and far-between since then.
But today we got the update we've been waiting for—developer Replicant D6 announced that Agent 64: Spies Never Die is set to launch on August 11.

One week after going independent in the Xbox bloodbath, South of Midnight developer Compulsion Games is looking for work
https://www.pcgamer.com/gaming-industry/one-week-after-going-independent-in-the-xbox-bloodbath-south-of-midnight-developer-compulsion-games-is-looking-for-work/
Just a week after South of Midnight developer Compulsion Games returned to independence amidst the latest round of sweeping layoffs at Xbox, the studio is looking for work. In a message posted on LinkedIn, Compulsion said it is "expanding opportunities to collaborate with studios across the games and entertainment industry."

'The company has turned its back on us': Black Flag Resynced developers at Ubisoft Barcelona are being laid off instead of celebrating the series' latest hit
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/assassins-creed/the-company-has-turned-its-back-on-us-black-flag-resynced-developers-at-ubisoft-barcelona-are-being-laid-off-instead-of-celebrating-the-series-latest-hit/
Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced has been a massive success for Ubisoft, having sold two million copies in a day and breaking the series' concurrent player records on Steam by nearly 40,000. Despite this good news, the company is planning to lay off 51 developers at Ubisoft Barcelona. These layoffs were announced last month, alongside reductions at Ubisoft's teams in Winnipeg and Belgrade.
Ubisoft Barcelona has a long history of supporting the publisher's larger studios, including Assassin's Creed, The Crew, Ghost Recon, and Immortals: Fenyx Rising. Of course, its latest efforts have been on Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced, where it was responsible for all the underwater sections. Those beautiful (terrifying) diving bell sites? Brought to life by Ubisoft Barcelona.

WoW devs are 'looking into' an annoying grappling hook that takes a spot on your action bar, despite only being used in one zone
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/world-of-warcraft/wow-devs-are-looking-into-an-annoying-grappling-hook-that-takes-a-spot-on-your-action-bar-despite-only-being-used-in-one-zone/
I'm pretty neutral on World of Warcraft's current in-between patch content—this sort of thing isn't necessarily Blizzard's strong suit, and you get losers and winners. I'm already deeply ambivalent to the Omnium Folio, but I've been having an acceptable time in its void invasion zones. Sometimes it's nice to just turn your brain off for a few quests and scrape some hyper-specific currency together.
Well, except for one feature—the Lighthook Grapple. Being an MMO, my action bars are already flooded with mounts, transmog outfits, potions, and my actual abilities. So imagine my surprise when I zone out of Naigtal, and the big, obstructive "put this on your action bar" button for the Lighthook Grapple is still staring at me.
If you put it on your action bar, the button vanishes. If you dare remove it from your action bar, however, it returns like a scorned spectre from beyond the grave. This is the first time I've ever felt "Just Monika"-'d by a user interface.
(...)
And yet, it insists—as has Blizzard on the game's forums, with one developer writing: "After investigation by the development team, this is apparently and technically working as intended, and we do not plan on changing how this works at the moment."

The designer of cult classic King of Dragon Pass says his upcoming hellish heist game is pushing the boundaries of a concept he invented in 1999: 'There's really nothing else quite like it'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/the-designer-of-cult-classic-king-of-dragon-pass-says-his-upcoming-hellish-heist-game-is-pushing-the-boundaries-of-a-concept-he-invented-in-1999-theres-really-nothing-else-quite-like-it/
In 1999, designer David Dunham and his studio A Sharp released King of Dragon Pass. Part mythic fantasy RPG, part cattle management sim, King of Dragon Pass was initially a commercial failure—but it gradually amassed a cult following, and is remembered today by those with excellent taste as one of the finest narrative experiences in videogames.
Later this year, Dunham and A Sharp are launching a new twist on their narrative expertise with Thousand Hells: The Underworld Heists, a surreal, replayable set of afterlife adventures that denies easy classification. Its publisher, Kitfox Games, calls it "a systemic storybook experience;" its Steam tags say it's a strategy RPG. Dunham, who considers it a "tactical narrative game," said in an interview with PC Gamer that there's a good reason for the ambiguity: Thousand Hells is the first of its kind.