The gaming news, the long sequel:
Escape from Tarkov begins to quietly U-turn after last week's hardcore wipe left players penniless and bored to tears with the grind
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/escape-from-tarkov-begins-to-quietly-u-turn-after-last-weeks-hardcore-wipe-left-players-penniless-and-bored-to-tears-with-the-grind/
Last week Escape From Tarkov released a sweeping patch and what it calls a "Hardcore Wipe"—resetting progress for all players, upending how the game's economy works, altering the progression system, and even changing the game's structure and disabling existing maps.
Naturally, players reacted in a calm and rational manner. Only kidding: (...)
Two particular bugbears have now been addressed by Battlestate Games, which says it's continuing to monitor feedback on the wipe. The biggest issue was only two of Tarkov's 11 maps being available to raid, with the others only accessible via in-game transit points: this has been abandoned and "all locations are now available for selection."
Second, the guaranteed boss spawns have become less guaranteed. The initial hardcore wipe made the chances of a boss spawn 100%, which spiked the difficulty for solo players but was rather a boon for well-drilled teams that could farm them for loot. The game's now "reduced [the] spawn chance of bosses to 70%", which doesn't seem like a massive change but we'll see how it plays out in practice.
Guild Wars 2's sixth expansion is taking players to an island paradise this October, with beachside player housing and a major addition to buildcrafting
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/mmo/guild-wars-2s-sixth-expansion-is-taking-players-to-an-island-paradise-this-october-with-beachside-player-housing-and-a-major-addition-to-buildcrafting/
A few weeks ago, ArenaNet started teasing the next Guild Wars 2 expansion with a daily drop of mysterious icons. For the community the implication was immediately obvious: New elite specializations are being added for each character class.
(...)
Today's announcement for Visions of Eternity, the MMO's sixth expansion, alas won't fully end that speculation, but it does give us a handful of screenshots hinting at what we'll get to play. Mesmers are getting some instrumental flair, Rangers are commanding birds, and Guardians have adopted a spooky affect. And in the expansion's trailer, we see that the Elementalist has adopted a fiery fox spirit.
Microsoft's 200 laid-off King devs are reportedly being replaced by AI they helped build, while its 'absolute 's***show' HR department looks away and whistles
https://www.pcgamer.com/gaming-industry/microsofts-200-laid-off-king-devs-are-reportedly-being-replaced-by-ai-they-helped-build-while-its-absolute-s-show-hr-department-looks-away-and-whistles/
If you needed further evidence we live in a dystopia an editor would chuck out for being too on-the-nose, try this: per sources spoken to by MobileGamer.biz, laid-off staff at social-game dev King (as in Activision Blizzard King) are being replaced by AI. The AI they helped build, in fact.
>> Disgusting.
Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 + 4 developer is trying to figure out who put the edgy Guitar Hero gag in the game it made, promises to remove it in the next update even though players want it to stay
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/sports/tony-hawks-pro-skater-3-4-developer-is-trying-to-figure-out-who-put-the-edgy-guitar-hero-gag-in-the-game-it-made-promises-to-remove-it-in-the-next-update-even-though-players-want-it-to-stay/
Iron Galaxy, the studio that made the Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 + 4 remake, says it is investigating how an amusing, some might say slightly edgy, reference to Guitar Hero and developer Neversoft ended up in the game. It also committed to removing the image in question, even though players are now asking the studio to just leave it alone.
Minecraft says to hell with it, adds in-game version of Lava Chicken song, which you get by beating a chicken jockey
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/survival-crafting/minecraft-says-to-hell-with-it-adds-in-game-version-of-lava-chicken-song-which-you-get-by-beating-a-chicken-jockey/
All parents of Minecraft-obsessed children have learned a new song by heart this year. "LA-LA-LA-LAVA CHI-CHI-CHI-CHICKEN" booms Jack Black from the treacherous Alexa for the thirtieth time that day, and I quietly put my head in my hands and weep.
The 34-second earworm Lava Chicken is the shortest song ever to crack the Billboard top 100, and now it's been adapted into the game itself. Minecraft's 1.21.94 update adds the music disc Lava Chicken by Hyper Potions (spotted by Dexerto), a remixed version of the track that brings it in-line with the game's audio style.
'We could have, at that point, put out a s*** game': Former Deep Silver comms boss says Dead Island 2 released 8 years late because an earlier version 'would have killed the franchise' if it wasn't binned
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/we-could-have-at-that-point-put-out-a-s-game-former-deep-silver-comms-boss-says-dead-island-2-released-8-years-late-because-an-earlier-version-would-have-killed-the-franchise-if-it-wasnt-binned/
Sometimes all you can do is take a struggling project back to the drawing board. Unfortunately for Dead Island 2 publisher Deep Silver, that's a decision that meant adding eight years and millions of dollars to the sequel's development time (via GamesIndustry.biz).
In a talk at British game dev conference Develop:Brighton, former Deep Silver head of comms Martin Wein says the call to delay and overhaul Dead Island 2 was the right one, because releasing the version of the game that had been developed for its original 2015 release date would have flushed the whole series down the toilet.
Treasonous Helldivers 2 players are weaponizing the Super Earth flag to crash the game for everyone but them
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/third-person-shooter/treasonous-helldivers-2-players-are-weaponizing-the-super-earth-flag-to-crash-the-game-for-everyone-but-them/
Helldivers with a flair for the dramatic (or psychotic) got good news yesterday when Arrowhead announced that, "thanks to some groundbreaking military research into pointier flag tips," the CQC-1 One True Flag melee weapon in Helldivers 2 "can now be proudly planted directly into enemies—dead or alive." Arrowhead described the heraldric upgrade as "absolute democracy" and I certainly can't argue with that, but there is one small problem: Players are reporting that planting the flag now crashes the game.
Cyberpunk 2077's delayed 2.3 update will be revealed tomorrow and could go live later this week
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/cyberpunk-2077s-delayed-2-3-update-will-be-revealed-tomorrow-and-could-go-live-later-this-week/
A few weeks after delaying the unexpected Cyberpunk 2077 2.3 update out of its planned June 26 launch, it looks like a release is getting closer—and could be very close indeed, as some sites are reporting the patch will drop on July 17.
At the very least, we'll find out tomorrow—July 16—what's coming in the 2.3 update, which was announced in early June with absolutely zero details. It sounds like something automotive might be on the way: "We’re driving into Patch 2.3 of Cyberpunk 2077 to check what’s under the hood of the newest update," CD Projekt said today on Bluesky. "Our passengers will be Paweł Sasko, Associate Game Director of Cyberpunk 2, and Adrien Jouannet, Lead Designer at Virtuos."
Our favorite 1v1 FPS just became our favorite 2v2 FPS, and you can still play it for the low price of free
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/our-favorite-1v1-fps-just-became-our-favorite-2v2-fps-and-you-can-still-play-it-for-the-low-price-of-free/
If Straftat ever has no fans, that means PC Gamer is dead. We named the throwback arena shooter the best FPS of 2024, and its lump-faced, cigarette-smoking combatants have only risen in our estimation with every return we've made to its countless brutalist combat dreamscapes. Today, Straftat ascends to an even higher tier of peerlessness, adding 2v2 and free-for-all game modes for all players.
Bungie says it's 'actively re-recording' some voice lines for Destiny 2: The Edge of Fate after fans notice one of the game's best-known heroes suddenly sounds like one of its most notorious villains
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/bungie-says-its-actively-re-recording-some-voice-lines-for-destiny-2-the-edge-of-fate-after-fans-notice-one-of-the-games-best-known-heroes-suddenly-sounds-like-one-of-its-most-notorious-villains/
Destiny 2: The Edge of Fate is out today and, while there are a few "emergent issues" on Bungie's radar, so far it seems to be going pretty well, which is nice. Some players were surprised by one seeming change, though: The voice of Ikora Rey, the Warlock Vanguard, seemed a little off. There's a reason for that, as it turns out, and it'll be changed back soon enough anyway.
Avowed update basically reinvents the fighter and ranger classes, while also adding new weapons and better Steam Deck optimization
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/avowed-update-basically-reinvents-the-fighter-and-ranger-classes-while-also-adding-new-weapons-and-better-steam-deck-optimization/
Avowed just received a major update addressing one of the most obvious imbalances in the release version: pure ranger and fighter builds had far fewer exciting ways to specialise compared to a wizard. Thanks to spellbooks with a vast range of different elemental attacks, plus some powerful active and passive abilities, wizards enjoyed much more versatility compared to their less-magical counterparts (though I reckon it's more fun playing a blend anyway).
Obsidian has addressed this by rolling out a bunch of new active and passive skills to both rangers and fighters, and some of the abilities are quite radical. Take the ranger's Shadow Step ability, for instance, which lets you warp behind an enemy all the better to smite them stealthily. Players of Pillars of Eternity will recognise this move: it's a great way to kick off prickly encounters, and it can be upgraded so that a killing blow will reset the ability's cooldown. Au revoir, moving with your feet.
A game I can only describe as 'gooner Fortnite' has an upcoming closed beta test where you can see your own melons for the ultimate immersion
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/a-game-i-can-only-describe-as-gooner-fortnite-has-an-upcoming-closed-beta-test-where-you-can-see-your-own-melons-for-the-ultimate-immersion/
In 1998, Trespasser: Jurassic Park: The Lost World revolutionised gaming forever by slapping a health bar tattoo on the protagonist's boobs, forcing you to stare down at her cleavage in order to discern how close to death you were.
Videogames have been too cowardly to ascend to such heights since—limiting their powers to some visible hands or feet in first-person, if you're lucky—but no longer. Saroasis Studios is here with Fate Trigger, a waifu shooter brave enough to ask the question: 'What if your view was obscured by some massive honkers?'
>> I have sacrificed myself for you and checked the video in the article, and let me tell you: they’re exagerating. But feel free to check it out by yourselves.
73-year-old takes the crown in Japan's old-folks-only Tekken 8 tournament, beating out a 93-year-old vet and a sprightly up and comer of 63 years
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fighting/73-year-old-takes-the-crown-in-japans-old-folks-only-tekken-8-tournament-beating-out-a-93-year-old-vet-and-a-sprightly-up-and-comer-of-63-years/
I've watched a lot of Tekken 8 tournaments this year—EVO Japan, CEO, Combo Breaker, the ones that run at my locals every other week—and none have captured my heart like this one which recently took place across a multitude of Japanese retirement homes.
As reported by Dexerto, the tournament was put together by Care Esports. It hosts two events a year, giving elderly residents in care homes across three prefectures in Japan the opportunity to participate in a game, complete with commentary and all the other gubbins you would expect from a primo esports tourney.
>> The article has a well over 2 hours video, in case you’re curious to check the skills of the players.
