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We are only weeks away from AMD unveiling its next-gen Navi GPU architecture in full, with two new Navi-based graphics cards turning up on 3DMark and Ashes of the Singularity benchmarks. TUM_APISAK found the benchmarks which look like engineering samples, and not finalized Radeon Navi-based graphics card.

The device ID for the first card is '731F:C1' which sees the Navi GPU clocked at just 1GHz and its 8GB of VRAM clocked at 1250MHz -- I'm expecting this to be GDDR6 memory but AMD could be using GDDR5 memory on its lower-end Navi parts. If AMD is using GDDR6 then we should see effective clock speeds of 10Gbps and on a 256-bit memory bus we're looking at 320GB/sec of memory bandwidth, beating out the Radeon RX 590.

The Navi GPU clocked at 1GHz is probably because it's an early sample, so the GPU clocks might be increased for final retail cards or this is a lower-end card with the GPU clocks firmly around 1GHz.

So far all of the games that are using the ReShade ray tracing shader mod by Pascal Gilcher look great, these games include Crysis recently and other ray tracing-style mods like SEUS powering Minecraft. But now one of the best examples of a ray tracing shader mod are here with Grand Theft Auto V.

GTA V is a great looking game with mods applied but with ray tracing shaders it looks out of this world -- the lighting effects are actually bloody impressive. At the 2:00 mark the reflections on the glass table and floor look absolutely incredible, but it is the 2:21 mark when the sunlight is hitting the green Lamborghini and as the sun passes over the cars it lights up the white Lambo next to it with the reflection of green light, with the effect looking super-realistic.

The developer explains his methods: "What I'm doing is ray tracing in screen space, tracing rays against the depth buffer (a data buffer that contains the information how far an object is away, as opposed to the color buffer which tells you what color the object has and what you usually see in any game). When compared to DXR, it has several limitations: anything behind another object does not contribute, anything outside the screen does not contribute, backfaces do not contribute. The benefits of this shader is that it can run on every game and GPU and it's a step up from regular SSAO. I hope this serves as a sneak peek at what DXR ray tracing can do and why everyone in VFX can't wait to get real ray tracing for their games".

NetEase will help Marvel develop new games for Chinese consumers, including mobile games aimed at tapping the $37.9 billion market.

Today Marvel announced a new partnership with NetEase to develop all-new projects based around the superhero brand. The duo will make "games, television series and comic books," the announcement says, which falls perfectly in line with Disney's preference to license games projects rather than making their own.

NetEase is a fantastic choice for Marvel's expansion into the massively lucrative region. The company is well-versed in the Chinese market and knows how to make tremendous revenues from monetized mobile games. According to Newzoo, NetEase raked in $6.2 billion in 2018 thanks to its heavy-hitting titles like Knives Out. Right now it's number #6 in the top 10 biggest games companies on the planet, beating out Nintendo and Electronic Arts.

This year's big Call of Duty game may have a free-to-play multiplayer component to help boost Activision's monetization earnings.

Activision is currently exploring free-to-play avenues for Infinity Ward's upcoming Call of Duty game, sources tell Kotaku's Jason Schreier. Whether or not Call of Duty 2019, which is believed to be Modern Warfare 4, will get a permanent free-to-play mode remains to be seen. The decision would depend on how much money a F2P mode could make, and whether or not it'd interfere with premium game sales.

Activision has only dabbled with F2P in its premium Call of Duty blockbusters. Black Ops 4's Blackout battle royale went F2P for a brief period of time, aligning with advice analyst Michael Pachter gave in 2018.

With its next-gen PlayStation 5 on the way, Sony is accelerating development on its lucrative services to accompany the hardware jump and provide a foundation for long-term earnings. This new service-driven focus will include a merger of some of its biggest strengths, including films and gaming.

Today Sony announced PlayStation Productions, a new in-house branch that will turn its biggest wholly-owned gaming franchises into films and TV shows. Sony is in a unique position to pull this off. Sony Pictures and its subsidiaries are well-versed in production and distribution, and will help the new fledgling studio with its projects.

The new production company is a direct result of its new investment into PlayStation-driven services, and should offer exclusive shows and films to its entertainment subscriptions. A bit ago I predicted Sony could merge its gaming and film strengths into one cohesive service to create interactive experiences exclusively for the PlayStation 5. It appears this is what Sony is doing, minus the Bandersnatch-style interactivity.

Game of Thrones has truly taken HBO to the next level in terms of viewer ship and since the show is ending, the television network has decided to tease its user base with a new Westworld season.

The new teaser has been uploaded to the official HBO YouTube Channel and is the first trailer for the upcoming season that plans to be returning to our screens sometime throughout 2020. The new trailer shows us Breaking Bad star, Aaron Paul becoming immersed in what seems to be a futuristic metropolis.

While the teaser didn't really show off much else we know that HBO have strategically dropped this trailer to keep users on their streaming service after the finale of Game of Thrones. The timing is more than just a coincidence, and HBO are smart to do so as well since Westworld's previous seasons were also quite popular.

A new Steam sale coming under the title of 'Skulls for the Skull Throne' has taken over the Steam Store, bringing heavy discounts to many Warhammer titles.

Games Workshop has been conducting this same event for the past three years now and just like the previous years many gamers now have the opportunity to grab some great Warhammer titles at some even better prices. Focus Home Interactive and many other studios are taking part in the event. Discounts are ranging from 10% to 80% off and include both downloadable content for games and the initial games themselves.

Some of the titles that are discounted are; Total War: Warhammer 2 with 33% off, Man O' War: Corsair with 60% off, Warhammer: Vermintide 2 with 60% off and Warhammer: Inquistor at 50% off. There is many other titles on sale and numerous other DLC content that is also available at a discounted price. For more information you can visit the official Steam listing for the sale here.

Some new details have surfaced online regarding the coming free DLC for Celeste titled 'Farewell'. Celeste developers have taken to Twitter to release some small bits of information.

Matt Thorson has taken to his personal Twitter to announce that the script for Celeste's Chapter 9 DLC is almost finished. Thorson also mentions that him and his fellow developers were originally not planning on involving a story within this DLC, but plans changed and a DLC is now included.

Not only did Thorson comment on the development of the game, but Lena Raine, the composer for the game also gave some information regarding the DLC's soundtrack. Raine said; "Similarly, I was only planning on writing like ... 4 tracks max for the DLC. And then I ended up writing a lot more". The 9th Chapter will be arriving on all platforms completely free, at the moment there is no known release date planned.

Last week we heard about the new Mortal Kombat movie adaption produced by Aqua Man director James Wan. Recent news has now suggested that we can expect the movie to hit theaters around 2021.

The initial announcement came from South Australia's Premier, Steven Marshall who said that SA would be home to the filming of the new Mortal Kombat movie. Wan commented on the decision of SA being the filming location, saying "I'm really happy and excited to be bringing another show back to Australia with Mortal Kombat, especially after having such a great experience filming Aquaman. Now we get to experience South Australia with its scenic locations and a wealth of artistic talent to work with. It will be perfectly suited for this fantasy-action project."

Wan will be producing the filming and Simon McQuid will be directing it, McQuid also commented on the location saying; "Having lived in Adelaide early in my career, I am thrilled to be back in South Australia to make my directorial debut with Mortal Kombat. We need many different elements for its success and have found them all right here-the uniquely beautiful landscapes, the outstanding world-class stage facilities and VFX houses, and the brilliant artists and technicians from across the film-making community. I'm grateful to the Premier and people of South Australia for having us, we're all very excited to be here."

Pokemon Detective Pikachu starring Ryan Reynolds has remained at the number one spot at the box office for the second week in a row.

Pokemon Detective Pikachu has paved the way for future video game adaption movies becoming a success. Warner Bros. and Legendary Entertainment would be proud to know that Detective Pikachu has remained at the number one spot at the box office for the second week in a row.

Detective Pikachu has almost reached the $200 million mark from overseas markets, more specifically, Variety reports that the title has earned $193.4 million. For the second week in a row, Detective Pikachu has remained at the top for the international box office, pulling in $53.8 million from 72 foreign markets. At the moment, Pokemon Detective Pikachu is sitting on top of a quite impressive $287.4 million worldwide.