Latest News - Page 119

Sony's stable of first-party studios continues to shrink as the company tries to wrangle growing operating costs and content risk portfolios.

Sony has made the decision to shutter and close another first-party studio as the games industry continues moving away from high spending on unproven titles. Sources tell Bloomberg's Jason Schreier that Dark Outlaw Games has been nixed:

"More layoffs today: PlayStation is closing Dark Outlaw Games, a studio formed last year by former Call of Duty lead Jason Blundell (his previous studio, Deviation, was shut down in 2024)," Schreier said on BlueSky.

Arm products have been ubiquitous in consumer electronics for quite some time now, but the company never actually produced the silicon itself. Over its 35-year history, the business model has been based on IP licensing rather than production. However, on March 24th, 2026, during the Arm Everywhere keynote, Arm made history by announcing its first-ever production silicon chip, the Arm AGI CPU.

There have been rumblings in the industry over the past year or so about Arm finally entering the merchant silicon market, but nothing really came of it until now. Arm has collaborated with Meta on this project, and the partnership aims to optimize Arm's AGI infrastructure for Meta's extensive family of apps. Moreover, the two will collaborate on future generations of the AGI CPU, according to Arm.

The Arm AGI processor is the first product of a new data center focused silicon lineup. It can have up to 136 Neoverse V3 cores running at up to 3.7GHz, with dedicated 2MB L2 cache per core. The CPU has been manufactured using TSMC's 3nm process and has a 300-watt TDP. The cores use a dual-chiplet design with 96 lanes of PCIe Gen6 as well. This is serious hardware, hyper-focused on AI applications.

UPDATE: Nintendo has issued a statement saying that the price of physical games will not increase.

Original story is as follows:

Blizzard's WoW Classic has done incredibly well, and now EverQuest is getting the same kind of treatment with EverQuest Legends, a new game that recreates the original experience from 1999.

Following the forced closure of The Heroes' Journey mod, Daybreak Games is now leaning on the community to help capitalize on classic EverQuest. Daybreak has teamed up with the creators of popular EverQuest mod Project 1999 to make an officially sanctioned, standalone product called EverQuest Legends (EQL).

EQL essentially incorporates the main selling point of THJ, which was its emphasis on solo play and multiclassing, with the classic visuals, sensibilities, and refinements found in Project 1999. EQL can also be played in groups of 4 players, as well as 8-player raids, featuring content from the old-school game while also unlocking all of the game's playable races--Iksar, Frogloks, and Kerran will be playable at launch.

Aggressive investor group Oasis Management now has a 10% stake in Kadokawa Corp, the parent company of famed game developer FromSoftware.

Oasis Management, a Chinese activist investment firm known for creating highly scrutinizing briefs that put lots of pressure on companies, has now upped its investment in Kadokawa Corp. Oasis became infamous among gamers for advising Nintendo to charge money for each individual jump in mobile game Super Mario Run.

According to industry analyst Dr. Serkan Toto, who is based in Japan, Oasis currently has a 10% stake in Kadokawa, the parent company of beloved game developer and hit-maker FromSoftware. Sony is currently the largest shareholder with 10.09%.

Geekbench has announced it will display a temporary warning on all benchmark results generated by CPUs supporting Intel's new Binary Optimization Tool (iBOT). The move comes amid growing concerns that the utility modifies instruction sequences in ways that are currently undocumented, preventing a fair apples-to-apples comparison between hardware manufacturers.

Most software is compiled to run on a variety of hardware. Intel argues that this often leaves performance on the table since the code isn't tailored to its specific architecture. Intel Binary Optimization Utility, or iBOT, is a user-mode performance enhancement utility launched by Intel for Core Ultra 200S Plus (Arrow Lake Refresh) and select 300 series (Panther Lake) CPUs to alleviate this problem.

Intel profiles select applications at its labs at the microarchitectural level to find where the compiled code is not performing optimally. If it finds instruction sequences that are not optimized, it reorganizes them post-link to better employ Intel's unique caches, branch predictors, and execution units. Notably, the developer does not have to get involved, and Intel explicitly says no work or instructions are skipped; just reorganized.

Gearbox has outlined the performance boost that Borderlands 4 will get from tomorrow's big patch - and PC gamers are in for a major frame rate uplift.

While the FPS boost will obviously vary depending on your PC's exact hardware, the takeaway is that you can expect around a 20% boost in the average frame rate. That's the conclusion of Gearbox's own testing (highlighted by VideoCardz) with the v1.5 patch (out on March 26) versus Borderlands 4 at launch (v1.0.2).

So, for example, at 1440p resolution (native, no upscaling) and high details, with a rig that hits the recommended spec (Core i7-12700K with RTX 3080) you used to get 45 FPS, but you'll now get 56 FPS. That represents an uplift of almost 25%, getting close to the magic 60 FPS mark.

A Neuralink patient who has spent more than 100 days with his brain-computer interface (BCI) has said he can run around Azeroth in World of Warcraft with just his brain, and after 100 days, it feels completely normal.

British Army veteran Jon Noble took to X to share a lengthy paragraph about his experience with the BCI, specifically the Neuralink N1 implant. According to Noble, the surgery on Day 0 was "surprisingly easy," with practitioners providing Noble with a general anaesthetic, which was followed by a small incision and then the insertion of the N1 implant. The implant was placed into Noble's motor cortex, with each of the 1,024 ultra-thin threads inserted by the "robotic system".

Noble woke up from the surgery and was able to go home the next day, and by Day 3 he was "feeling a lot better," and by Day 7 the little scar on his head was already beginning to fade. According to Noble, "the real fun started in Week 2" when Noble paired the Neuralink with his MacBook. After calibration was complete, Noble was able to move the cursor just by thinking where he wanted it to go. Noble writes that by Week 3, moving the cursor became "second nature".

Elon Musk's brain chip company, Neuralink, has announced that its second patient, who received a Brain Computer Interface (BCI), is now speaking with his mind.

For those who don't know, Neuralink is an American neurotechnology company founded by Elon Musk in 2016. The company intends to develop implantable BCIs, which at first will be designed to solve some of the worst medical afflictions in humans, such as paralysis and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).

In a new video posted to the Neuralink YouTube channel, it's revealed that Kenneth Shock, an ALS patient, adopted Neuralink's N1 implant earlier this year, and this specific BCI is designed to convert brain activity into audible words, which are reproduced in Shock's voice before ALS impacted the sound of his voice.

Glass panels offering panoramic views of PC hardware are a relatively new thing for PC cases. Still, it's an overall design choice that has become increasingly popular over the past couple of years. The reasons for the "fishbowl" like design are simple: to showcase modern hardware and amplify the aesthetics of a build, which makes sense in the era of sleek component design and customizable lighting.

The new ATLAS M5 Series of mid-tower cases from GAMDIAS falls into the panoramic-view category of PC cases, adopting the brand's 2026 vision of delivering "immersive" designs alongside high-quality engineering. With two models available, the big difference is that the ATLAS M5 CG includes a single L-shaped curved tempered glass panel covering the front and side of the case. At the same time, the ATLAS M5 takes a more traditional approach with two tempered glass panels on the front and sides.

In either configuration, you don't have any visible obstructions that would block a full view of the internal components, including the GPU, CPU Cooler, motherboard, memory, and system fans. Both cases also ship with three pre-installed high-performance NOTUS M1 ARGB PWM fans to kickstart the panoramic process. On the RGB front, there's also a subtle and stylish ARGB light strip running along the base of the tempered glass.

It's no secret that investment in data centers and AI infrastructure has been straining energy resources, and that the biggest players in the industry are looking for a clean solution to meet the energy needs of the AI factories of the future. One of those solutions is nuclear power, with Microsoft's Darryl Willis, the Corporate Vice President of the company's Worldwide Energy and Resources Industry, calling it "the essential backbone for this future."

And with the newly announced AI collaboration for nuclear power between Microsoft and NVIDIA, both companies are looking to accelerate the construction of new nuclear power plants for AI. With the help of AI. Yes, that means leveraging cutting-edge AI tools for streamlining the permitting process, which can cost "hundreds of millions of dollars." Plus, the creation of Digital Twins and simulations to enable faster iteration.

Microsoft is clear that this collaboration isn't simply about accelerating the process, but also about enabling engineers and regulators to focus on "building a safe, secure, high-capacity, carbon-free power source that's on-time and on-budget." Here's a more detailed snippet from the announcement.

AYANEO has been teasing its flagship 'NEXT 2' PC gaming handheld for a while now, and last month the company unveiled the full specs alongside launching the Indiegogo campaign for the device. With its premium 9.06-inch OLED display, large 115Wh battery, and up to 'Strix Halo' AMD Ryzen AI Max+ 395 processor with Radeon 8060S Graphics and up to 128GB of unified memory, it's poised to become one of the most powerful Windows gaming handhelds on the market.

However, due to rising component costs, specifically storage costs, AYANEO has announced it is suspending preorders for the handheld. "When we launched NEXT 2, storage prices were already at a very high level," AYANEO writes in the update, referring to the AYANEO NEXT 2's starting price of $1,999 USD.

"However, considering that many AYANEO fans had been looking forward to this product for a long time, we still decided to release it as planned and open pre-orders so as not to disappoint our supporters," the company continues. But, with prices now "several times higher" than what they were before the Chinese New Year, "the overall cost of the product has become far higher than our current selling price."

According to a new report from the Taiwanese publication UDN (translated), ASUS plans to raise prices on PCs, including the new Qualcomm-powered Zenbook A16, by 25 to 30% in Taiwan next quarter. Naturally, if you've been following the current memory crisis affecting the industry, this news won't be unsurprising, but it's still alarming.

This news comes from a recent press conference that ASUS held in the region with Qualcomm, and is from Liao Yi-hsiang, General Manager of ASUS United Technology Systems Business. The price increases will reportedly vary by model; however, the report is clear that ASUS is referring only to Taiwan, as it didn't disclose whether these price increases will make their way to other global markets and regions.

Although steep, the price increases are a direct response to the dramatic increases in memory costs. For example, 32GB of memory cost around 3,000 Yuan last year, and it's now around 20,000 Yuan as we head into the second quarter.

NVIDIA has just released GeForce Game Ready Driver 595.97 - WHQL for GeForce RTX gamers, and based on the release notes, it appears to be a minor update. Part of that comes down to the fact that there's no game-specific 'Game Ready' support, with March's biggest releases like Resident Evil Requiem and Crimson Desert already covered in previous driver updates.

However, the statement that it "optimizes your experience in the latest titles featuring DLSS, ray tracing, path tracing, and NVIDIA Reflex" titles does indicate that there is some optimization in the driver. That said, it does fix a couple of bugs, including potential texture corruption in Halo Infinite caused by 595 drivers. It also fixes some stability issues with DLSS Frame Generation when paired with Instant Replay.

As always, GeForce Game Ready Driver 595.97 - WHQL is available via the NVIDIA App or direct download from NVIDIA here. Here's a look at the full release notes.

Razer is expanding its esports lineup with the launch of the new Razer Viper V4 Pro ($159.99 USD) wireless gaming mouse and Razer Gigantus V2 Pro ($49.99 USD) mouse mat. The Razer Viper V4 Pro is the latest evolution of the brand's premier competitive gaming mouse, and the direct result of several years of collaborating with esports professionals like Lee "Faker" Sang-Hyeok and Nikola "NiKo" Kovac, where "milliseconds decide rounds and series."

So then, what's new and what's been updated from the Razer Viper V3 Pro? Well, it sees the arrival of the Razer HyperSpeed Wireless Gen-2, which delivers true 8,000 Hz (8K) polling. This new wireless interface debuted with the award-winning Razer DeathAdder V4 Pro, with Razer noting that it delivers ultra-low latency of 0.204ms for clicks and 0.36ms for motion, making it 2.5 times faster.

In addition, the Razer Viper V4 Pro is built for efficiency, delivering up to 180 hours of wireless performance in the default 1,000 Hz polling-rate mode. It also sports the new and impressive Razer Focus Pro 50K Optical Sensor Gen-3 with a sensitivity rating of 50,000 DPI, 930 IPS tracking, and 90G acceleration. As far as specs for competitive mice go, it's right up there.

Marathon has sold an estimated 1.2 million copies on PS5, Xbox, and PC combined, Alinea Analytics has predicted.

Bungie's new extraction shooter Marathon may have sold 1.2 million copies in 19 days on the market, numbers which could fall short of Sony's expectations for the game. While Sony hasn't made its sales targets for Marathon known, the company has been quick to react to market trends and consumer whims. Marathon faced steep competition against Arc Raiders, and other new games like Crimson Desert and Slay the Spire 2 are soaking up player time and spending.

According to the estimates from Alinea Analytics, Steam was the biggest platform for Marathon. The game set an all-time peak of 88.3K players on Steam as per SteamDB, and sales-wise, it's currently #27 out of the top 100 best-selling games on Steam. On Sony's home turf, Marathon sits at the #30 best-selling game on the PlayStation Store.

Earlier this week, Chinese manufacturer CHUWI was found to be involved in a mislabeling scandal that involved its CoreBook X and CoreBook Plus laptops. The company advertised these laptops as having the AMD Ryzen 5 7430U CPU, but in reality, they used the older Ryzen 5 5500U CPU.

After Notebookcheck caught CHUWI in the act, CHUWI's Hong Kong distributor, Hornington, issued a product recall and began issuing refunds. AMD also denied any involvement in the scandal and threatened legal action, while CHUWI remained silent until March 23rd.

Now, CHUWI has issued an official statement regarding the matter.

Xbox and Netflix could have some sort of business collaboration in the future, potentially offering bundled subscription options.

Xbox's new CEO Asha Sharma has wasted no time getting busy at Microsoft. New reports from The Information state that Sharma is exploring opportunities with other subscription giants such as Netflix, yet details on how this could work remain scarce.

Netflix co-CEO Greg Peters actually commented on his meetings with Sharma, telling The Information that he "kicked around ideas" with the Xbox leader, and that they "wouldn't eliminate any possibilities." That last part is interesting, particularly because Microsoft has technology that can stream games from the cloud at the ready, however Xbox Cloud Gaming has yet to become natively available on most TVs (this adoption is growing, though).

Epic Games has announced job losses of over 1,000 due to what's described as a downturn in engagement with its juggernaut of a game Fortnite.

The Hollywood Reporter informs us that the news came from the CEO, Tim Sweeney, who said:

Sweeney further observed that some of the challenges Epic is facing aren't unique to the company, but are industry-wide headwinds. That includes more difficult economic conditions across a number of fronts, as well as "games competing for time against other increasingly-engaging forms of entertainment".

Microsoft is reportedly looking at ways to reduce the price of its Xbox Game Pass subscription, including the idea of lower-priced tiers.

Xbox's CEO Asha Sharma has supercharged the brand with new energy, signalling a vitalized era for the entertainment giant. With an enviable stable of talent and a slate of billion-dollar mega-hit franchises, Xbox has all of the IP that it needs to belt out products for decades, but its services, infrastructure, and hardware have to keep up.

The leadership transition at Microsoft has given way to new possible business decisions from Xbox's fresh-faced commander-in-chief. Sharma has already promised a new Xbox console, the hybridized Windows-based Project Helix, and ignited hype among fans. Now it's said that Sharma is seeking to grow Xbox Game Pass, but perhaps not at the cost of the entire Xbox business as it had before when the subscription had been part of Satya Nadella's performance compensation package.