Thursday gaming news, part number two:
Rockstar co-founder moved to New York to help create GTA, in part, because he got chased by a guy with a machete: 'I thought—this is not good—and I ran off'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/third-person-shooter/rockstar-co-founder-moved-to-new-york-to-help-create-gta-in-part-because-he-got-chased-by-a-guy-with-a-machete-i-thought-this-is-not-good-and-i-ran-off/
Rockstar's co-founder and writer, Dan Houser, has led a… uh, colourful life—moving to New York in 1998, he'd go on to help create what is now one of the biggest game development studios and companies in the entire industry. But it turns out that the impetus for Houser to get his butt to the big apple was, pretty fittingly, something out of a Grand Theft Auto sequence.
>> He also says shared why GTA 4 had such a dark story (link) and that he’s less scared of AI than a lot of people (link)..
Revenge of the Savage Planet director isn't happy with the sequel's revenue, despite it bringing in millions of players on Xbox Game Pass: 'If you give stuff for free, what you've done is told people not to pay for it'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/action/revenge-of-the-savage-planet-director-isnt-happy-with-the-sequels-revenue-despite-it-bringing-in-millions-of-players-on-xbox-game-pass-if-you-give-stuff-for-free-what-youve-done-is-told-people-not-to-pay-for-it/
Revenge of the Savage Planet was generally well-received when it released back in May this year, accruing a Very Positive Steam rating and a respectable score of 81% in our Revenge of the Savage Planet Review. But according to its creative director Alex Hutchinson, the comedic cooperative adventure hasn't made all that much money, despite over a million people playing it across PC, console, and services like Game Pass.
This week, Blizzcon 2026 tickets go on sale almost a year in advance—so what exactly is Blizzard going to bring?
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/this-week-blizzcon-2026-tickets-go-on-sale-almost-a-year-in-advance-so-what-exactly-is-blizzard-going-to-bring/
Speaking as a recovering WoW teen, Blizzcon used to have a sort of mystical promise: It was a sort-of yearly showcase for the fantastical otherworlds where I'd spend hundreds of hours watching the intense interpersonal dramas of people chasing their next pair of oversized pauldrons. This week, tickets will go on sale for Blizzcon's 2026 return after an almost three-year hiatus—the longest in the convention's history.
Counter-Strike 2 has a fancy new feature that makes demo playbacks 'match the player's original experience much more closely'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/counter-strike-2-has-a-fancy-new-feature-that-makes-demo-playbacks-match-the-players-original-experience-much-more-closely/
In Counter-Strike 2, milliseconds matter. The tiniest time-slice can be the difference between virtual life and virtual death, so anything you can do to get bullets into braincases faster is likely to provide you an edge. Hence why CS2 lets players review their performance via demo playbacks.
Yet because of the way the Internet works, what players see in a demo playback may not reflect the game they experienced with complete accuracy. As of Counter-Strike 2's latest update, however, players should find playbacks better representative of live matches.
Veteran game developer Scott Miller explains why it took 3D Realms so long to get PC gaming's most ambitious but ultimately flawed sci-fi FPS game over the line: 'Let's just put all our eggs into the Duke Nukem basket'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/veteran-game-designer-scott-miller-explains-why-it-took-3d-realms-so-long-to-get-pc-gamings-most-ambitious-but-ultimately-flawed-sci-fi-fps-game-over-the-line-lets-just-put-all-our-eggs-into-the-duke-nukem-basket/
Rewind the clock to 2006, and PC gaming was witnessing the launch of one of the most ambitious but ultimately flawed sci-fi FPS games ever—one that had been in development for a whopping 11 years. No, we're not talking about Duke Nukem Forever, the game that would eventually launch after 14 years of development in 2011, but another FPS that has now been largely forgotten in the PC gaming sands of time.
That game was Prey, the now largely forgotten precursor to Arkane's completely non-related 2017 sci-fi FPS of the same name, an FPS that delivered a story about a Native American guy being abducted by aliens and his subsequent fight against them.
An extremely distracting horse forced Koei Tecmo to crop a game's box art before release, artist says: 'People's eyes were drawn to the horse rather than the character'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/an-extremely-distracting-horse-forced-koei-tecmo-to-crop-a-games-box-art-before-release-artist-says-peoples-eyes-were-drawn-to-the-horse-rather-than-the-character/
For the professional artist, sacrifice is a constant companion. Their work—however beautiful—has to fit a client's needs or a project's scope. Concept art of an octopus boss might not make it in-game if it's too expensive to animate. The sickest knight design you've ever seen might get tossed because the creative director decided to move in a more sci-fi direction.
Or, in the case of Japanese light novel illustrator and character designer Mel Kishida, the horses you draw might just be too mesmerizing.
6 years after the original, Planet Zoo 2 is finally happening and may be out next year
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/sim/6-years-after-the-original-planet-zoo-2-is-finally-happening-and-may-be-out-next-year/
The zookeeping sim Planet Zoo launched six years ago today, and it was pretty good: "Another strong (yet stressful) management sim from Frontier Developments," PC Gamer's number one menagerie manager Chris Livingston declared in a 75% review. The studio released a six-year anniversary video to celebrate the birthday, which is usually the sort of thing we don't pay much attention to around here, but I'm making an exception in this case because there is a very strong hint at the end suggesting that a sequel is on the way.
Sorry, Fallout fans, but Obsidian isn't really interested in making New Vegas 2: After years of working on other people's games, the studio is finding 'joy' in doing its own thing
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/sorry-fallout-fans-but-obsidian-isnt-really-interested-in-making-new-vegas-2-after-years-of-working-on-other-peoples-games-the-studio-is-finding-joy-in-doing-its-own-thing/
2025 was a very big year for Obsidian, which released not just one but two major RPGs, Avowed and The Outer Worlds 2, plus the backyard survival adventure Grounded 2 in early access. An awful lot of fans are eager for something else, though, and it's no secret what that is: Alpha Protocol 2.
And, I suppose, some of you might also have your fingers crossed for Fallout: New Vegas 2.
You probably shouldn't hold your breath waiting for it to happen, though. In an interview with The Game Business, Obsidian vice president of operations Marcus Morgan and vice president of development Justin Britch said they know lots of people want followups to the studio's greatest hits, but the developers who work there are more interested in doing other things.
>> Makes sense.
'You can have the loot. My reward is justice': Arc Raiders players are appointing themselves Topside Sheriffs to dispense vigilante vengeance on raiders who don't play nice
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/third-person-shooter/you-can-have-the-loot-my-reward-is-justice-arc-raiders-players-are-appointing-themselves-topside-sheriffs-to-dispense-vigilante-vengeance-on-raiders-who-dont-play-nice/
For a permanently PvP-enabled zone, the Topside in Arc Raiders is surprisingly peaceful. Since launch, players—especially those in the solo queue—have been opting for nonaggression with respectable reliability, with our Morgan Park reporting that his first 20 hours of Arc Raiding consisted of more makeshift truces than wasteland murders.
Yet there are still, inevitably, those who would prey upon this tenuous peace. Arc Raiders' would-be highwaymen might soon find themselves with more of a fight than they bargained for, however, as some players are making it their mission to punish anyone bringing the fight to their fellow man instead of the robot foe.
>> Another two articles: how Mobility skills actually work (link) and how much items you need to reset your skill tree (link).
Plants vs. Zombies: Replanted patch brings back the dynamic audio so many players were missing from the original game
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/strategy/plants-vs-zombies-replanted-patch-brings-back-the-dynamic-audio-so-many-players-were-missing-from-the-original-game/
Plants vs. Zombies: Replanted rolled out in October, and I thought it was pretty good: Really just a higher-resolution (and more expensive) version of the original PvZ phenomenon, sure, but fine overall, and of particular benefit for people who want to play the game on a Steam Deck. Serious fans were unhappy, though, for a number of reasons, foremost among them the music.
(...)
The uproar did not go unnoticed by EA, and now it's responded. The newly released 1.3.0 patch brings back "the classic and plantastic Dynamic Audio" that was inexplicably cut, along with a small number of other fixes and adjustments. I've tried it and it works—it still feels like a fairly minor thing to me, but based on the comments posted in response to the patch announcement, players are very happy about the change, although there are still plenty of complaints about problems with achievements, the lack of online co-op play, and a slew of other, more granular issues.
