Here come the second part of today’s gaming news:
No more dolphin swimming or flying in Rematch—in a bug fix, Sloclap very seriously explains why levitating soccer players aren't part of its vision for the game
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/sports/no-more-dolphin-swimming-or-flying-in-rematch-in-a-bug-fix-sloclap-very-seriously-explains-why-levitating-soccer-players-arent-part-of-its-vision-for-the-game/
Sloclap has come to players, hat in hand, a grim expression on its face, and stated that—despite trying as hard as it could—it could not keep dolphin-flopping or levitating football players in its game. Alright, maybe I'm being overdramatic here—but I do find it funny that in the latest hotfix for Rematch, the studio's gone to great lengths to explain its reasoning behind patching up some very obvious exploits.
'We are aware': Square Enix president knows golden goose Final Fantasy 14 is losing its lustre
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/final-fantasy/we-are-aware-square-enix-president-knows-golden-goose-final-fantasy-14-is-losing-its-lustre/
It's a well-known fact at this point that Final Fantasy 14 is Square Enix's breadwinner. It's regularly cited as the company's biggest source of income, but I've been getting the feeling that the golden goose is about to go on life support: There's been a noticeable growing weariness during latest expansion Dawntrail, seeing subscription numbers tick down, and a feeling that the MMO—and Square's overreliance on it as a money machine—is teetering on the edge.
It's something that has not gone unnoticed among higher ups at the company, it seems. During a recent shareholder meeting—with snippets shared by investment reporter Yuzz on X—president Takashi Kiryu was questioned as to whether he was aware that the game had "experienced a decline in game quality and a loss of fans" since Dawntrail's release.
Inzoi's biggest problems right now are overwhelmingly the fact it's 'lacking simulation content' and its painfully awkward social interactions, player survey reveals
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/life-sim/inzois-biggest-problems-right-now-are-overwhelmingly-the-fact-its-lacking-simulation-content-and-its-painfully-awkward-social-interactions-player-survey-reveals/
"Inzoi is a good-looking game with a lack of anything meaningful to do" is a sentiment I've shared often. And hey, now I have some numbers to back me up.
Developer Krafton recently held a livestream for a handful of its content creators—headed up by director Hyungjun 'Kjun' Kim—divulging some statistics like most-requested features and things players liked the most and the least. Some of the slides were shared by YouTuber Fantayzia, and they paint an interesting picture of where the game is at right now.
DayZ's biggest map ever is coming next year, where 'Middle Eastern-style cities lie next to Soviet-era military bases'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/survival-crafting/dayzs-biggest-map-ever-is-coming-next-year-where-middle-eastern-style-cities-lie-next-to-soviet-era-military-bases/
Looks like things are heating up in DayZ: a new map has just been announced for the ruthless open world survival game, and it's going to be a hot one.
In contrast to DayZ's last expansion, Frostline, which plunged players into a frigid archipelago called Sakhal, the new Badlands map, coming in 2026, is set in "the sand-swept, war-torn expanse of Nasdara Province" where survival means "battling severe heat and drought."
Helldivers 2 players celebrate victory over Sony as the 'review bomb' cape finally appears in the game: 'We won the biggest and longest running Major Order in the game to date'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/helldivers-2-players-celebrate-victory-over-sony-as-the-review-bomb-cape-finally-appears-in-the-game-we-won-the-biggest-and-longest-running-major-order-in-the-game-to-date/
Helldivers 2 has, generally speaking, been a massive success for Arrowhead Game Studios and publisher Sony. But it did have one early and notable misstep. Shortly after release Sony made a PSN account a requirement to play, and removed Helldivers 2 from sale in 177 countries and territories that didn't have access to PSN: sparking a review bombing campaign that saw the game receive over 200,000 negative Steam reviews.
The then-CEO of Arrowhead, John Pilestedt, managed the PR crisis as best he could but, before Sony eventually backed down in May 2024, the one thing that mollified the community was a dose of gallows humour. Pilestedt shared a fan post that pitched a cape featuring a design based on the Steam review graph, with the lines going down, which swiftly became known as the "review bomb" cape (this accessory is one of the game's customisable cosmetics).
It instantly became a focal point for the Helldivers, and in June last year Arrowhead said it had made the cape, but was just waiting for the right time to release it. Now, the time has come.
Randy Pitchford makes people mad again by warning that Borderlands 4 will take even longer to get deep discounts than Borderlands 3 did
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/randy-pitchford-makes-people-mad-again-by-warning-that-borderlands-4-will-take-even-longer-to-get-deep-discounts-than-borderland-3-did/
Borderlands 3 is 95% off on Steam right now, dropping it to just $3—its lowest price ever, and one of the best deals in the 2025 Steam Summer Sale. And somehow, that screamingly good price has turned into yet another opportunity for Gearbox boss Randy Pitchford to annoy Borderlands fans on social media.
"Sales like this and Borderlands 3 showing up on console subscription programs took over 5 years from the game's launch to happen," Pitchford wrote on X. "Take advantage when it's here!"
(...)
But he could not help himself, and continued: "And to set expectations, it will be even longer before this kind of thing happens in the next cycle with Borderlands 4."
>> I don’t know. I’m fairly sure that if it sells like crap, big discounts will come rather soon.
Fortnite cheater wins $6,850 in competitive tournaments, gets caught, now owes Epic $175,000
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/battle-royale/fortnite-cheater-wins-usd6-850-in-competitive-tournaments-gets-caught-now-owes-epic-usd175-000/
Despite what we are told as children, cheaters do sometimes prosper—fairly often, in fact. Every now and then, though, cheaters push their luck a little too far and their bad deeds come around to bite them in the ass. Such is the case of Sebastian Araujo, who won more than $6,800 in Fortnite tournaments after evading a ban, and now owes Epic $175,000 as a result.
Diablo 4's old and forgotten dungeons will be renovated into loot-packed marathons that culminate with a duel against a familiar boss in its next season
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/diablo-4s-old-and-forgotten-dungeons-will-be-renovated-into-loot-packed-marathons-that-culminate-with-a-duel-against-a-familiar-boss-in-its-next-season/
Out of all the changes Blizzard has made to Diablo 4 since it was released two years ago, its most basic dungeons have gone largely untouched. A few things have been tweaked here and there, but they've largely taken a back seat to all the new dungeon types introduced after launch.
In Diablo 4's next season, dungeons—specifically Nightmare Dungeons—will have a purpose again. Instead of an activity you do as you're leveling up and then forget about for the next 50 hours, Nightmare Dungeons will be the source of most of the crafting materials in the game, and, of course, they'll also have opportunities for valuable loot.
Dave the Diver In the Jungle DLC is delayed, but the free Godzilla Content Pack is back and Ichiban Kasuga has extended his vacation until the end of 2026
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/adventure/dave-the-diver-in-the-jungle-dlc-is-delayed-but-the-free-godzilla-content-pack-is-back-and-ichiban-kasuga-has-extended-his-vacation-until-the-end-of-2026/
In May 2024, the hit deep sea diving restaurant simulator Dave the Diver got some very big DLC in the form of the Godzilla Content Pack. It was free, with a catch: The DLC would only be available until November 23, after which it would be gone forever thanks to licensing issues, Nexon said.
Apparently "forever" is kind of a pliable term, though, because Godzilla is back, baby. Yes, it's still free, and I'm sorry to say that it's only available for a limited time again. But the good news is that the availability period this time around ends on December 31, 2026—that's not a typo, that's 2026—and may stick around even longer: Developer Mintrocket said in a video that the Godzilla Pack will be available "at least until the end of next year," and the description on Steam sure looks like something that's meant to be easily (maybe even automatically) updated.
(...)
There is one spot of bad news amidst all the good, about the In the Jungle DLC announced in December 2024: Instead of being out in 2025 as planned, the studio has delayed it to early 2026. That sucks—but then the video concluded with members of the Mintrocket team putting on a live performance of music from the Dave the Diver soundtrack, so as far as I'm concerned, all is forgiven.
New Vegas lead Josh Sawyer thinks turn-based combat fell off in the 2000s due to a lack of 'tactical variation': Even Fallout 1 would 'get to the point where you're always doing nut shots and eye shots'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fallout/new-vegas-lead-josh-sawyer-thinks-turn-based-combat-fell-off-in-the-2000s-due-to-a-lack-of-tactical-variation-even-fallout-1-would-get-to-the-point-where-youre-always-doing-nut-shots-and-eye-shots/
Before a recent interview with Obsidian studio design director Josh Sawyer, I was tasked with a crucial mission by a different games industry Josh. PCG news writer Joshua Wolens wanted Josh the Elder's take on the apparent final victory of turn-based combat over real time with pause, as represented by recent hits like Baldur's Gate 3, Metaphor: ReFantazio, and Clair Obscur: Expedition 33.
(...)
"I think that the success of real time with pause, back when I started [in the late 1990s], was due to the prevalence of the RTS genre," Sawyer told me. "Also turn-based games, at that time, there wasn't a huge amount of tactical variation in them. Like, I love Fallout and the combat is super satisfying, but it does kind of get to a point where you're always doing nut shots and eye shots, and you're trying to get 3x armor-bypassing criticals.
This new 'roguelike deckbuilding typing game' is like Mavis Beacon Teaches Balatro, and I'm here for it
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/action/this-new-roguelike-deckbuilding-typing-game-is-like-mavis-beacon-teaches-balatro-and-im-here-for-it/
Unlike the creator of Balatro, I haven't 100% completed Balatro, but I'm still kinda done playing Balatro for the time being—at least until the creator of Balatro delivers Balatro 1.1, which will infuse Balatro with more Balatro.
In the meantime, I'm on the hunt for some new roguelikes to wile away my life with—as long as those roguelikes have a heavy dose of Balatro in them, of course.
There have been a bunch already: Balatro but it's Mahjong, Balatro but it's plinko, Balatro but it's stock trading, and even Balatro but it's breakfast, just to name a handful. And today I dutifully tried Balatro but it's typing, and even though I'm a pretty sloppy typist, I'm still kinda into it.
Hellblade 2 is getting an enhanced edition that brings back the fake permadeath system from the first game, but there's every chance it's real this time
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/action/hellblade-2-is-getting-an-enhanced-edition-that-brings-back-the-fake-permadeath-system-from-the-first-game-but-theres-every-chance-its-real-this-time/
Angsty Icelandic hiking simulator Senua's Saga: Hellblade 2 will get an enhanced edition in August, adding yet more graphics to Ninja Theory's visually stunning, mechanically wanting sequel. But it also brings back one of the more controversial features from the first game, namely, the icky black rot that crawled up Senua's arm each time she died.
Atari's reboot of Mad Max-style racer Fatal Run is coming later this year, and its new trailer shows a hefty dose of Burnout in its irradiated DNA
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/racing/ataris-reboot-of-mad-max-style-racer-fatal-run-is-coming-later-this-year-and-its-new-trailer-shows-a-hefty-dose-of-burnout-in-its-irradiated-dna/
I missed Atari's announcement that it's bringing back Fatal Run, a post-apocalyptic racer released when Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome was still a relatively new film. Not that I was eagerly anticipating it—Fatal Run was only released in Europe during the death throes of the Atari 2600, so it isn't exactly a world-renowned phenomenon. According to Fatal Run's Wikipedia, Retro Gamer reflected upon it back in 2016. They claimed the best of the game was the cutscenes, which is damning with faint praise.
But the latest trailer for Atari's revival, titled Fatal Run 2089, caught my eye because it appears to seed its death races with a big dollop of inspiration from Burnout. Developed by MNSTR Studio, Fatal Run 2089 frames its vehicular action around a cross country adventure much like the original, though this time you're tasked with delivering a clean energy solution known as ARCs, rather than an anti-radiation vaccine. As is so often the case in post-apocalyptic wastelands, between you and your destination are an array of petrolhead marauders hellbent on stopping you.
Two Point Museum's first DLC adds a fantasy flourish to your exhibitions, letting you display mimic chests, a giant d20, and a chicken statue that turns people into poultry
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/strategy/two-point-museums-first-dlc-adds-a-fantasy-flourish-to-your-exhibitions-letting-you-display-mimic-chests-a-giant-d20-and-a-chicken-statue-that-turns-people-into-poultry/
Two Point Museum is already one of the most enjoyable management sims I've played, spinning its theme down some wonderfully silly avenues that let you curate exhibitions of ghosts and giant carnivorous plants. Now, publisher SEGA has announced an expansion that will add another range of bizarre artifacts to discover and display, this time with the theme of swords, sorcery, dragons and quite possibly dungeons too.
Dying Light continues celebrating its 10th anniversary with a big graphical facelift, but don't you dare call it a remaster
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/dying-light-continues-celebrating-its-10th-anniversary-with-a-big-graphical-facelift-but-dont-you-dare-call-it-a-remaster/
Free-running zombie survival extravaganza Dying Light is 10 years old this year, a fact that my rapidly rotting brain simply refuses to accept. Developer Techland is determined to hammer the news home though, dedicating an entire year to anniversary celebrations. Back in January, the developer gave away its first DLC for the game in four years. Now, it has given the game a big lick of graphical paint in what it's calling the "Retouched" update.
