Gaming News - Page 79

All the latest gaming news, with everything related to PlayStation releases (PS4 & PS5), Xbox, PC Games, Nintendo Switch & plenty more - Page 79.

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Microsoft lays out terms of new Ubisoft Divestment Agreement to UK regulators

Derek Strickland | Sep 22, 2023 2:08 PM CDT

UK regulators at the Competition and Markets Authority have published the proposed terms of Microsoft's new merger deal.

Microsoft lays out terms of new Ubisoft Divestment Agreement to UK regulators

Weeks ago, Microsoft and UK anti-trust agency CMA joined forces to defeat a lengthy and costly appeals process. The reason that the trillion-dollar tech giant and the UK regulators wanted to quash the appeal is simple: Microsoft wants to get the merger passed, and the CMA wants to weigh all options.

Microsoft's new proposal changes the original Activision merger terms so substantially that the CMA has opened a new Phase 1 investigation into the deal. This new merger strategy sees Microsoft selling Activision cloud game streaming rights to Ubisoft, a foreign third-party publisher. Microsoft would not have control over Activision games in the cloud--the CMA had originally been concerned that Microsoft would engage in anti-competitive practices in cloud gaming if it held onto streaming rights of big games like Call of Duty.

Continue reading: Microsoft lays out terms of new Ubisoft Divestment Agreement to UK regulators (full post)

Baldur's Gate 3 patch #3 is out - complete with a magic mirror to change your appearance

Darren Allan | Sep 22, 2023 11:50 AM CDT

The third patch for Baldur's Gate 3 has landed, with some big moves including Mac support for the RPG, and a magic mirror that allows players to change the appearance of their adventurer.

Baldur's Gate 3 patch #3 is out - complete with a magic mirror to change your appearance

The Mac release will allow players to enjoy Baldur's Gate 3 on an Apple computer, and there are updated recommended specs for the Mac. Larian says an M1 Pro SoC is recommended with FSR enabled to run the game at high settings on a Retina display.

The dev also notes for Mac players:

"As with the PC release in August, saves made in previous versions of BG3 on Mac will not be compatible with the full release. To prepare your Mac for the full version of Baldur's Gate 3 and minimize potential compatibility issues, we recommend you fully uninstall the game and remove any mods before installing the latest version."

Continue reading: Baldur's Gate 3 patch #3 is out - complete with a magic mirror to change your appearance (full post)

Steam Deck 2 won't be here until 2025 - or 2026 more likely

Darren Allan | Sep 22, 2023 11:19 AM CDT

In the past, Valve has made several comments on when a sequel to the popular Steam Deck might turn up, and the company has made it clear in a new statement that a further iteration won't happen until 2025 at the earliest - and it might be more like 2026.

Steam Deck 2 won't be here until 2025 - or 2026 more likely

Pierre-Loup Griffais, a coder and designer at Valve who works on the Steam Deck and has commented about the sequel before, shared some new and more specific info with The Verge.

Griffais notes that a Steam Deck 2 won't happen until late 2025, or maybe even later than that, because the performance of the hardware will need to be meaningfully pushed forward - but, crucially, while not taking down the battery life.

Continue reading: Steam Deck 2 won't be here until 2025 - or 2026 more likely (full post)

The Division 3 revealed, but The Division 2 isn't going anywhere

Derek Strickland | Sep 21, 2023 12:40 PM CDT

Ubisoft has officially confirmed that The Division 3 is in development, and will be lead by the series' original game director.

The Division 3 revealed, but The Division 2 isn't going anywhere

The Division 3 is on the horizon, but Ubisoft says that the new shooter-looter won't replace The Division 2. Instead, both games will run simultaneously in parallel with one another--a trend we've seen with games like Destiny, Overwatch, and the upcoming Path of Exile 2.

Ubisoft confirms that Julian Gerighty, who acted as game director for the original The Division game, will not only return to the franchise but lead it going forward. "A core focus of Gerighty's is to build a team for Tom Clancy's The Division 3, which will be led by Massive Entertainment, while making sure Tom Clancy's The Division 2 remains well supported," Ubisoft said.

Continue reading: The Division 3 revealed, but The Division 2 isn't going anywhere (full post)

Baldur's Gate 3 massive new patch won't be here today - but will arrive tomorrow we're told

Darren Allan | Sep 21, 2023 8:25 AM CDT

The third big patch for Baldur's Gate 3 was supposed to be arriving today, but that isn't going to happen - it's been subject to a slight delay.

Baldur's Gate 3 massive new patch won't be here today - but will arrive tomorrow we're told

Developer Larian took to X (formerly Twitter) to let us know that patch three wouldn't be coming on September 21 as initially promised, but that it'll be here the following day, on September 22.

As delays go, that's a pretty palatable one, and still means that Baldur's Gate 3 players will get the benefit of the new patch before the weekend rolls around.

Continue reading: Baldur's Gate 3 massive new patch won't be here today - but will arrive tomorrow we're told (full post)

Nintendo Switch trailer for the ugly Mortal Kombat 1 port features a Steam Achievement popup

Kosta Andreadis | Sep 21, 2023 6:31 AM CDT

Mortal Kombat 1 has been receiving rave reviews from several critics. I've been playing it on PC, which has been a lot of fun. Paired with a GeForce RTX 4070 and a Radeon RX 7800 XT (reviewing GPUs means you can play the same game with different hardware), it looks fantastic - and even a little disturbing when the violence is dialed up to 11.

Nintendo Switch trailer for the ugly Mortal Kombat 1 port features a Steam Achievement popup

Playing it on Nintendo Switch, though, and it's an entirely different experience. Over the past week, the Switch version of the game has gained quite the notoriety due to the visual disparity between it and the PS5 version, with characters looking ugly and weird and the overall detail looking like something from the PS2 era.

Many believe that charging the same price for a visually inferior version of the game that performs worse is a bad move by publisher Warner Bros. Games. To make matters worse, the Nintendo Switch trailer for the game showcased higher-quality visuals than the retail release and even included a Steam Achievement popup.

Continue reading: Nintendo Switch trailer for the ugly Mortal Kombat 1 port features a Steam Achievement popup (full post)

Xbox profits revealed in new FTC leak

Derek Strickland | Sep 20, 2023 3:53 PM CDT

Newly leaked documents reveal our first real look at Xbox's profits.

Xbox profits revealed in new FTC leak

Microsoft is very selective in what data it releases on its various divisions. This includes gaming, which is now Microsoft's fourth best-earning business in terms of revenue with $15.4 billion earned in FY23. Every quarter, Microsoft will report three metrics on the Xbox business: content & services earnings, hardware revenues, and a finalized Xbox gaming number. Sometimes Microsoft will also release a new Xbox Game Pass figure, but they haven't done that for some time.

This is a big departure from Nintendo and Sony, both of which reveal revenue and profit numbers for their games businesses. Microsoft, however, has never discussed Xbox's profits. Now thanks to a series of documents and files that were accidentally leaked as part of the FTC v Microsoft federal trial, we have an idea of how healthy Xbox actually is.

Continue reading: Xbox profits revealed in new FTC leak (full post)

Bethesda confirms Starfield is the biggest launch for the developer with a new player milestone

Jak Connor | Sep 20, 2023 11:36 AM CDT

Bethesda has taken to its social channels to announce Starfield reaching a new player milestone that has made the company reach its own milestone.

Bethesda confirms Starfield is the biggest launch for the developer with a new player milestone

Bethesda Games took to its X account to announce that Starfield has reached a staggering 10 million players across all platforms. This monumental achievement that took place just after two weeks of the title being out, as Bethesda released the highly anticipated title on September 19, with players that ordered the Premium Edition getting access on September 1. It was only after two days of being released Bethesda announced that more than 6 million people were playing the game.

The release of Starfield has gained it the title of the fastest-selling new IP of 2023, along with the biggest Xbox launch of this generation in Europe. At the moment its unclear what the split is in terms of platforms player count, and that is information we will likely never find as Microsoft stopped reporting its numbers quite some time ago.

Continue reading: Bethesda confirms Starfield is the biggest launch for the developer with a new player milestone (full post)

Leaked Nintendo Switch 2 specs reveal how powerful the next-gen console may be

Jak Connor | Sep 20, 2023 9:31 AM CDT

Nintendo Switch 2 rumors are swirling following the leak that developers were shown the next-generation console at Gamescom 2023, and now we are starting to hear more that back up previous predictions.

Leaked Nintendo Switch 2 specs reveal how powerful the next-gen console may be

Rumors started after select developers were shown The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild running near 4K at 60FPS on the next-generation console. The rumors indicated the Nintendo Switch 2 will be adopting an NVIDIA SoC that will bolster an Ampere-based GPU that will enable DLSS and make the Nintendo Switch 2 a much more powerful console compared to Microsoft and Sony's consoles. Leaked emails between Activision and Nintendo backed these theories up, as they stated the performance of the next-generation Switch would be closer to the PS4 / Xbox One.

Now, RedGamingTech has acquired exclusive information about the Nintendo Switch 2 specifications, and according to the YouTuber, Nintendo's next console will feature an Ampere-Lovelace hybrid chip that will be able to reach near Xbox Series S speeds (when docked). This leap in performance can be attributed to NVIDIA's DLSS, and when enabled, the Nintendo Switch 2 will come within 15% of the Xbox Series X performance. As for handheld mode, the console is expected to have performance similar to an ASUS ROG Ally handheld.

Continue reading: Leaked Nintendo Switch 2 specs reveal how powerful the next-gen console may be (full post)

Nintendo job listing confirms that the Switch 2 will feature custom NVIDIA DLSS support

Kosta Andreadis | Sep 19, 2023 7:56 PM CDT

It's been a very busy couple of weeks regarding the still-to-be-announced Nintendo Switch 2 gaming console, with rumors pointing to a 2024 release for Nintendo's next-generation hardware. First, several sources revealed that Nintendo showcased the new hardware at Gamescom to select developers with 4K DLSS-powered demos of The Legend of Zelda and Unreal Engine 5.

Nintendo job listing confirms that the Switch 2 will feature custom NVIDIA DLSS support

After that, we looked at the potential NVIDIA chip that will power the Switch 2, based on the company's Ampere architecture and advanced Samsung 8nm process - with hardware-accelerated ray-tracing and AI-powered DLSS rendering. From there, to temper expectations and remind us that Nintendo will always be Nintendo, leaks from Activision confirm that the performance target sits in the PS4 and Xbox One range - not the PS5 and Xbox Series generation.

But, with technology like DLSS (something that isn't possible on the current aging Switch hardware), the console can punch well above its weight class. And a new job listing at Nintendo America confirms DLSS is coming - and it could be a custom version.

Continue reading: Nintendo job listing confirms that the Switch 2 will feature custom NVIDIA DLSS support (full post)