March 2025 PCG Article Discussion

[Pifanjr]

'The point is to be generous': This $20 FPS releasing next month is trying something new—giving away a full version of the game

Midnight Murder Club is lights-out deathmatch designed for your Discord friend group.

www.pcgamer.com

I really wonder if this concept will be successful. You'd still need enough people to buy the game for it to grow big enough so people can try out the game for free. And there is a lot of competition in the PvP shooter genre.

But it would be really nice if we could get more successful games that don't include microtransactions.

 

[ZedClampet]

'The point is to be generous': This $20 FPS releasing next month is trying something new—giving away a full version of the game

Midnight Murder Club is lights-out deathmatch designed for your Discord friend group.

www.pcgamer.com

I really wonder if this concept will be successful. You'd still need enough people to buy the game for it to grow big enough so people can try out the game for free. And there is a lot of competition in the PvP shooter genre.

But it would be really nice if we could get more successful games that don't include microtransactions.

I only represent me, obviously, but the game doesn't sound fun to me. There needs to be some compelling reason to wander around a maze when your screen is pitch black and you are playing a battle royale format. He said something about watching other people's scores go up if you camp, but who cares about that if you can be the last one standing? I would absolutely never budge.

Now if the maze was hiding two "one-way flashlights" and if you found one of those, you could use your flashlight and others couldn't see your light, then I would be exploring non-stop. And maybe you automatically get a one-way flashlight if there are only two people left. Now you can both see, but you still won't know when you are close to each other because you can't see the other person's light--you have to actually be in view of each other.

 

[Pifanjr]

I only represent me, obviously, but the game doesn't sound fun to me. There needs to be some compelling reason to wander around a maze when your screen is pitch black and you are playing a battle royale format. He said something about watching other people's scores go up if you camp, but who cares about that if you can be the last one standing? I would absolutely never budge.

Now if the maze was hiding two "one-way flashlights" and if you found one of those, you could use your flashlight and others couldn't see your light, then I would be exploring non-stop. And maybe you automatically get a one-way flashlight if there are only two people left. Now you can both see, but you still won't know when you are close to each other because you can't see the other person's light--you have to actually be in view of each other.

It's not a battle royale, you aren't out of the game if you die. It's just a regular deathmatch with the goal of getting as many kills and as few deaths as possible. Camping in one spot is often not the best strategy for getting the most points.

Also, a one-way flashlight would completely invalidate the gimmick. Might as well just turn the lights back on at that point.

 

[ZedClampet]

It's not a battle royale, you aren't out of the game if you die. It's just a regular deathmatch with the goal of getting as many kills and as few deaths as possible. Camping in one spot is often not the best strategy for getting the most points.

Also, a one-way flashlight would completely invalidate the gimmick. Might as well just turn the lights back on at that point.

No, a one-way flashlight would be practically necessary if it were a battle royale. I just misunderstood what type of game it was. Overall, I hate the idea. This all sounds horrible to me. The sales model may be what saves it, actually.

 

[ZedClampet]

Is Monster Hunter Wilds' borked PC performance because of a spelling error in the game's config files? Probably not

No, a spelling error is not why your Wilds graphics look like a PS2 game or the framerate keeps taking a nosedive.

www.pcgamer.com

If the config file resets every time you launch the game, then it isn't doing anything. It was probably deprecated and just never removed.

Some of the screenshots coming out of this game are hilarious. They have a serious problem. I've never heard of high quality assets just suddenly becoming pre-N64 low poly assets before, but I'm far from an expert. I'm sure it isn't, but it almost seems like a prank a virus would do, but that would be the most sophisticated virus ever made. There's no way they wouldn't have noticed it in the game files.

I'm sure it's just that not all layers aren't being rendered or something like that.

 

[ZedClampet]

Steam just cracked 40 million concurrent users for the first time⁠, meaning Valve's user count was bigger than 80% of the countries in the United Nations

Just a milly behind Canada.

www.pcgamer.com

Apparently over 200 million monthly users by a good bit. By comparison, about 70 million PS5s sold. (note: I've changed this three times now. Hopefully this is correct this time. Google is giving me garbage)

 

[ZedClampet]

Steam just cracked 40 million concurrent users for the first time⁠, meaning Valve's user count was bigger than 80% of the countries in the United Nations

Just a milly behind Canada.

www.pcgamer.com

Apparently over 200 million monthly users by a good bit. By comparison, about 70 million PS5s sold. (note: I've changed this three times now. Hopefully this is correct this time. Google is giving me garbage)

Should be noted that this probably includes everyone who had the app open. They weren't necessarily only counting people in-game. Nevertheless, they have more than tripled the number of active users in short order. You got them right where you want them, Tim Sweeney!

 

[Kaamos_Llama]

Still pretty big if it was only 9 million 10 years ago. Most people wouldnt have it running if they never used it.

 

[ZedClampet]

Still pretty big if it was only 9 million 10 years ago. Most people wouldnt have it running if they never used it.

Absolutely. I was just trying to head off criticism. That kind of growth is incredible. What wouldn't Sony and Xbox do for that?

 

[Johnway]

Just 2 weeks before the release of its next game, another studio falls victim to the relentless drive to be 'agile'

After 14 years of operation, Studio Fizin's next game will also be its last.

www.pcgamer.com

that sucks. Reignbreaker (from what i played) was pretty good. Shame to see them go.

 

[ZedClampet]

Three women livestreaming on Twitch harassed by man who then goes for them while making repeated death threats: 'This happens off-camera to women all the time'

Popular Twitch streamers Cinna, Valkyrae and Emiru were followed by the individual before things escalated.

www.pcgamer.com

Despite the implication of the article, this is a mental health issue. The US is teaming with dangerous young men who do all sorts of terrible things from stalking women to school shootings, and I don't think anyone knows why this is the case or what to do about it.

 

[ZedClampet]

Just 2 weeks before the release of its next game, another studio falls victim to the relentless drive to be 'agile'

After 14 years of operation, Studio Fizin's next game will also be its last.

www.pcgamer.com

that sucks. Reignbreaker (from what i played) was pretty good. Shame to see them go.

It sounds like many indie studios are going to have to make smaller, less ambitious games going forward.

 

[Pifanjr]

Kingdom Come 2 and Avowed have revealed to me the grand unified theory of game design: A good game is when you can steal back the money you just spent at a shop, a bad game is when you can't

Imagine me descending from Sinai with this on a tablet.

www.pcgamer.com

While I also enjoy immersive sim elements in my games, I do think it's way too easy to steal stuff in pretty much every game. From what I understand the developers of KC: D2 made some effort to make it harder to get away with stealing, but if you can pay the same skill trainer multiple times with the same money it means they haven't done enough. At that point it isn't immersive any more, you're just cheating.

 

[Pifanjr]

It sounds like many indie studios are going to have to make smaller, less ambitious games going forward.

I suspect smaller, less ambitious games are even harder to sell in the current oversaturated market.

 

[ZedClampet]

I suspect smaller, less ambitious games are even harder to sell in the current oversaturated market.

Yeah, I agree. Unfortunately that seems to be the direction some studios are headed. Bossa, for instance, said that after they release Lost Skies they are dividing into 4 teams to work on smaller games.

One problem with this strategy is it puts them in competition with the hobbyist devs, and that space is packed. Even worse, it puts them behind a lot of ambitious solo devs who will just say "thanks" and take all that business.

What they really need to do is a better job of marketing, maybe work together to have their own mini-Next Fest or to have their own sales, etc.

 

[ZedClampet]

It launched upside down and on fire, but busted and brilliant Stalker 2 has attracted 6 million players to the Zone in the last 3 months

Love wins.

www.pcgamer.com

Six million players including Game Pass, but the sales are still good because the average estimate of Steam sales (by 4 different organizations) is 2.5 million. Probably Playstation and Xbox combine for another 2.5 million. If so, 5 million copies sold is pretty great for them.

Meanwhile, Monster Hunter Wilds sold about 8 million in 3 days. Per estimates, about 40 percent was on Steam. I can't be completely sure, but I don't think it launched on Switch even though the first result from Google says that it did. That comes from ScreenRant, though, which is completely unreliable.

Edit: I just went to Capcom's website and it didn't launch on Switch.

 

[Pifanjr]

Steam users react ecstatically to update that lets them access their heaving game notes via the web, also it fixes Monster Hunter Wilds video recording

Take note.

www.pcgamer.com

I don't use the notes feature very often, but I do remember wanting to access and edit my notes outside of a game before. It's nice it's finally possible.

 

[ZedClampet]

Steam users react ecstatically to update that lets them access their heaving game notes via the web, also it fixes Monster Hunter Wilds video recording

Take note.

www.pcgamer.com

I don't use the notes feature very often, but I do remember wanting to access and edit my notes outside of a game before. It's nice it's finally possible.

I used it yesterday. Big Ambitions doesn't tell you anywhere how much you paid for an item, so I went to the wholesaler and calculated how much each one cost me, and there are way too many products for me to remember.

The feature I want is to be able to see your notes without opening the Steam overlay, basically make the notes a widget you can fix on your screen

 

[Pifanjr]

I used it yesterday. Big Ambitions doesn't tell you anywhere how much you paid for an item, so I went to the wholesaler and calculated how much each one cost me, and there are way too many products for me to remember.

The feature I want is to be able to see your notes without opening the Steam overlay, basically make the notes a widget you can fix on your screen

You can already do that. There's a little pin button somewhere on the notes screen that will keep it open when you close the overlay. You can set the opacity as well.

 

[DXCHASE]

Nintendo wins major French piracy case with EU-wide consequences: 'Significant not only for Nintendo, but for the entire games industry'

"Nintendo's message to consumers is not to download pirate copies of Nintendo games."

www.pcgamer.com

Greed, thats all i see.

Why ill never buy Nintendo stuff as much as possible. For sure never buying a nintendo console/game unless it comes through emulation outside of getting somethin as a gift or anything along those lines.

Nintendo will never stop emulation. They can waste millions and put thorns in many peoples sides, but you wont get rid of it. Its like trying to get rid of modding. Nintendo, imo, is one of the worst companies for video gaming. Let Mario and Zelda be FREE

 

[BeardyHat]

I can't say I've purchased a Nintendo game since I last bought something on the 3DS eShop 10 years ago. I have played newer Nintendo games since then, however and I'll continue to do so; speaking of, I've been playing Advance Wars on my modded 3DS. The Switch has always been too expensive software wise and I never saw the benefit of having to rebuy games at inflated prices which I already own on Steam.

Not to mention, I can't say I find Nintendo games terribly interesting. Breath of the Wild was pretty cool, but I still haven't finished it, but every other Zelda, Mario, Metroid, etc, hasn't held my attention since I was a kid. My favorite stuff on the DS and 3DS and the only reason I'd ever have wanted a Switch was the third party stuff.

Brace yourself for Discord to get worse: Reports swirl that the company is in talks with bankers about opening itself up to shareholders

Late capitalism, but make it quirky.

www.pcgamer.com

Discord is nice for jumping in with my friends and playing some games or getting to voice chat with them, but I wouldn't mourn it's death. As the author mentioned, I hate how it's replaced forums and the like; the only reason I ever use it is just to talk to my friends. If it goes away, we'll see something new, we always do; Ventrillo, TeamSpeak, Xfire and that's all just the popular ones I was aware of over the last 30 years.

 

[Zloth]

Replaced forums??

 

[Pifanjr]

I don't care about being able to kill everybody and steal the Mayor's pants in an RPG like Avowed, and I'm tired of pretending it's mandatory

You don't have to be Skyrim to be good.

www.pcgamer.com

I wholly agree with this. I don't need to be able to kill everyone or have advanced stealing mechanics to enjoy a RPG. I don't usually murder random NPCs anyway and while I do usually steal everything, it's mostly because I'm a loot hoarder and I often spend so much time stealing and looting stuff that it messes with the flow of the game. And like I've said before, I don't think being able to steal stuff is all that great for immersion because pretty much all games let you get away with it far too easily.

I think the only thing that would be nice is if the NPCs move around a bit more instead of just standing or sitting in the same place waiting until you talk to them. They don't need a full schedule, but a bit of moving around would make the world feel more alive.

 

[Zloth]

Sniper Elite CEO reckons Swen Vincke is right to snarl at short-sighted publishers: 'You could argue that their business at senior level isn't making games… their business is managing their shareholders' perceptions'

"There are horror stories of people having external producers saying, 'Look, you just need to make fewer bugs'."

www.pcgamer.com

'Look, you just need to make fewer bugs, because then it'll be faster to make.'

I need a custom T-shirt!!