Here comes the second part of the gaming news, with the more relevant (to me) articles from PCGamer:
Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 nearly had a San-Andreas-like Fat Henry system that would have let you create Bohemia's chunkiest boy, and forced you to wear clothes that fit to boot
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/kingdom-come-deliverance-2-nearly-had-a-san-andreas-like-fat-henry-system-that-would-have-let-you-create-bohemias-chunkiest-boy-and-forced-you-to-wear-clothes-that-fit-to-boot/
Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 is a very particular game. Where other games strive to be streamlined, KCD2 tries to be arduous. Take its armour system, for example: in any other game, putting your gear on is a matter of selecting it in your inventory and hitting go. In KCD2? You need to layer up properly so all your pointy metal armour bits don't hurt your delicates.
It could have been even more persnickety. In a chat with PC Gamer, Warhorse co-founder and KCD2 executive producer Martin Klima recalled a scrapped system that would have seen Henry gain and lose weight depending on how much you ate, preventing you from wearing certain items of clothing and armour.
League of Legends players worldwide couldn't login for hours because Riot forgot to renew the client's SSL certificate—just like it did 10 years ago
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/moba/league-of-legends-players-worldwide-couldnt-login-for-hours-because-riot-forgot-to-renew-the-clients-ssl-certificate-just-like-it-did-10-years-ago/
The changing of the year can be a time of renewal and reinvigoration, but that renewal isn't always frictionless. The new year might mean wrestling with over-ambitious resolutions, the frustration of writing the previous year whenever you're dating a document, or—in the case of Riot Games—forgetting to renew the encryption certificate for your software and leaving your game unplayable for millions of players worldwide. We've all been there.
A mystery that went unnoticed for 7 years has Red Dead Redemption 2 players working furiously to make the connection between spiderwebs, telegraph poles, guitars, and maybe even Grand Theft Auto 5
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/action/a-mystery-that-went-unnoticed-for-7-years-has-red-dead-redemption-2-players-working-furiously-to-make-the-connection-between-spiderwebs-telegraph-poles-guitars-and-maybe-even-grand-theft-auto-5/
Something very odd is happening in the world of Red Dead Redemption 2, and I don't know what's going on but I do know this: It's got a lot of players very excited about spiderwebs.
The wheels started turning in December, when players discovered a weird spider symbol carved into a pole. Laying that symbol on the RDR2 map led to eight spiderwebs—one for each leg, as you may have already put together—located on different parts of the map.
The last 5 years have all kicked off with a huge co-op hit on Steam, and this sci-fi survival game from the makers of Green Hell might be 2026's ticket
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/survival-crafting/the-last-5-years-have-all-kicked-off-with-a-huge-co-op-hit-on-steam-and-this-sci-fi-survival-game-from-the-makers-of-green-hell-might-be-2026s-ticket/
Build a base with friends on an alien planet.
Is it just me or do we ring in each new gaming year with a smash-hit co-op game, usually one that's pretty reasonably priced?
**trying to explain the theory**
I'm bringing this up because, wouldn't you know it? StarRupture, the co-op sci-fi basebuilder from Creepy Jar, makers of the excellent Green Hell, is out in early access on January 6. And for me, it fits the bill for a potential early-year co-op smash.
Cyberpunk 2 director says there'd be no point in giving players more time with Jackie in Cyberpunk 2077: 'It's like saying we should spend more time on Tatooine with farmer Luke before he got involved with all this Jedi stuff'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/cyberpunk-2-director-says-thered-be-no-point-in-giving-players-more-time-with-jackie-in-cyberpunk-2077-its-like-saying-we-should-spend-more-time-on-tatooine-with-farmer-luke-before-he-got-involved-with-all-this-jedi-stuff/
Jackie Welles, for some gamers, is one of the most beloved videogame companions of all time: A solid dude of hidden depths whose fate was sealed the moment he crossed paths with V. He made enough of an impact that former PC Gamer writer Emma Matthews called him Cyberpunk 2077's best character, and bemoaned the limited amount of time we got with him before, well, you know.
But not everyone agrees that we should've had more time to spend with Jackster—including Cyberpunk 2 creative Igor Sarzynski, who says Jackie might've been a great guy but he wasn't really part of the story.
Arrowhead CCO Johan Pilestedt corrects player who thought he'd griped about Magicka being review bombed, says 'we got so-so reviews' in 2011 because of bugs—also, it was 'released without our knowledge'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/third-person-shooter/arrowhead-cco-johan-pilestedt-corrects-player-who-thought-hed-griped-about-magicka-being-review-bombed-says-we-got-so-so-reviews-in-2011-because-of-bugs-also-it-was-released-without-our-knowledge/
Helldivers 2 is—look, we all know this game is stuck in an eternal 'it's so over/we're so back' patch cycle at this point, and if I say it's going through a rough period one more time, I'm going to lose it. There are problems and bugs again, Arrowhead's dedicated to fixing them again, the game will be good again at some indeterminable point in the future, you get the picture.
To vent some of this steam, Helldivers has—as a lot of Reddit communities do—a discussion sub where harsher, critical takes are encouraged. It goes by the name of HelldiversUnfiltered and, in an impressive display of taking it on the chin, Arrowhead's CCO has been browsing it.
The Splinter Cell-ish game where you're a North Korean soldier guarding a K-Pop star has gone dark: Its YouTube channel is silent and we haven't seen the director since September
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/third-person-shooter/the-splinter-cell-ish-game-where-youre-a-north-korean-soldier-guarding-a-k-pop-star-has-gone-dark-its-youtube-channel-is-silent-and-we-havent-seen-the-director-since-september/
Concerns are mounting for Mudang: Two Hearts—the notionally upcoming Splinter-Cell-esque shooter that ginned up some hype during last year's Xbox Games Showcase. Developer Evr Studio's website has disappeared, its YouTube channel hasn't posted an update in months, and the devs have gone silent on its Discord, leaving only a community moderator to repeatedly inform worried fans that, no, they don't know what's going on either.
Arc Raiders is looking to nerf the Trigger Nade among other items, but we're not sure whether it'll only be weaker against players, not Arcs
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/third-person-shooter/arc-raiders-is-looking-to-nerf-the-trigger-nade-among-other-items-but-were-not-sure-whether-itll-only-be-weaker-against-players-not-arcs/
I'm a good little raider. I go into an Arc Raiders match, collect my loot, kill a couple of arcs, and help anyone who needs it before extracting back to Speranza and Scrappy. But not everyone is, a fact that I have found out the hard way, time and time again.
Whether I get extraction camped or betrayed by some randomer who lied about being friendly, death is never too far away in Arc Raiders, especially when people have Trigger Nades. These little detonated grenades have become something of a menace in Arc Raiders as they are powerful enough to take out a raider in a couple of hits and can be activated from afar, killing unsuspecting players.
()
Needless to say, these weapons are way too lethal against other raiders, and have for some time now created quite the headache in lobbies. But this may all be behind us now. Amid all the community complaining and whining, Embark devs announced on the official Discord that "The team's looking into some nerfs, including trigger nades, keep an eye on game announcements for updates." Praise be.
>> More Arc Raiders news: Maps are heavily based on real world locations (link); the $40 price tag was inspired by the likes of Helldivers 2 (link); and The game isn't about shooting other players (link).
Schedule 1 developer TVGS is 'an actual game studio' now, with an office, desks, and a new guy named Rob: 'By the end of the year, there will likely be 4 people working on Schedule 1'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/life-sim/schedule-1-developer-tvgs-is-an-actual-game-studio-now-with-an-office-desks-and-a-new-guy-named-rob-by-the-end-of-the-year-there-will-likely-be-4-people-working-on-schedule-1/
Schedule 1 was one of the big surprises of 2025, for two reasons. One, it's a lo-fi drug dealing simulator created by a solo developer that blasted to the top of Steam's best-selling games chart when it launched; and two, despite not looking like much, it's actually a really good game, "with engaging systems and well-paced progression," as PC Gamer's Chris Livingston put it.
Now, 10 months later, Schedule 1 creator Tyler says TVGS—the name is an acronym for Tyler's Video Game Studio—has finally become "an actual game studio."
"We've got an office in Sydney, and a new developer, Rob, who has just started," Tyler wrote on Steam. "We're also in the process of recruiting a 3D/technical artist. By the end of the year, there will likely be 4 people working on Schedule 1.
>> News about layoffs happen so often that it feels good to see one that’s the opposite.
Just when you think there's no room for shooters to innovate, here's one where your health is literally your framerate
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/just-when-you-think-theres-no-room-for-shooters-to-innovate-heres-one-where-your-health-is-literally-your-framerate/
Just when you think there are no worlds left for the first-person shooter to conquer, some mad lad goes and makes one where your health is literally your framerate. Spotted by PCGN, FPS Quest is an upcoming FPS that's all about, uh, your FPS. That is to say, it's an FPS where the framerate you experience is directly tied to the damage you take. Peppered with bullet holes? Enjoy a crisp 10 frames-a-second, no matter your monitor and GPU.
Which is all quite amusing, I reckon, but I think the part that most piques my interest is the game's upgrade system. There are new guns that do more damage and churn out more shots per second, sure, but it looks like the meat of the game's upgrades revolve around finding new and exciting ways to break the whole thing.
Final Fantasy 14's NA servers continue to struggle with DDoS attacks, likely due to a service provider's wonky nodes
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/mmo/final-fantasy-14s-na-servers-continue-to-struggle-with-ddos-attacks-likely-due-to-a-service-providers-wonky-nodes/
Final Fantasy 14's North American servers have been hammered by DDoS attacks since the release of Patch 7.4—I'd know, I play on them—which has players starting to grind their teeth in frustration. Especially given the release of the latest Savage (high-difficulty) raid tier, and the race to world first that buoys it.
(...)
So, why's this happening? Well, given some players have had success with rerouting using VPNs, it's likely a faulty node somewhere along FF14's service provider, NTT. In a—oof, three-year-old, 150-page—thread detailing issues with the provider, user HyperiusUltima notes:
"Yep, it's the Sacramento Node Again. I just ran a tracert and the ping jumps up pretty high at times forcing disconnects. They can't call it DDOS anymore if NTT isn't gonna do their damn job. If anything, can SE just think about changing providers in the future? They are literally SE's Cash Cow right now and they're letting it burn."
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33's lead says they messed up a little by putting a ton of great endgame content next to a final boss you can easily outlevel: 'We weren't sure if our game was going to be that good'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/clair-obscur-expedition-33s-lead-says-they-messed-up-a-little-by-putting-a-ton-of-great-endgame-content-next-to-a-final-boss-you-can-easily-outlevel-we-werent-sure-if-our-game-was-going-to-be-that-good/
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is a brilliant RPG with one wrinkle—the endgame scaling its touch skewiff. It's not bad, don't misunderstand me: It's just that if you're a completionist like me, you likely hit Act 3 and roamed around the overworld, ticking off all of your checklists, only to loop back to the final boss and flatten it like an artist with a bottle of turpentine, a paint roller, and a grudge.
The game's lead game designer Michel Nohra confesses that they might've gone a little astray, there, per an interview with Edge magazine for Issue 419 (thanks, Gamesradar): "The only thing I regret is not making it clearer that if you want the intended difficulty for the boss, you have to go beat it now."
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