The head of publishing at Larian, Michael Douse, has fired flak at Elon Musk's suggestion earlier this week that his xAI game studio will release a 'great' AI-generated game.

On X, Musk told us that: "The XAI game studio will release a great AI-generated game before the end of next year." As PC Gamer noticed, though, Douse remains distinctly unconvinced as you can see from the post about Musk's assertion on X (see above).

Douse observes:

Discord confirmed an unauthorized third party gained access to one of its third-party customer service providers, exposing user data, which Discord claimed only affected a small number of users. Now, reports are surfacing that the group is claiming to have stolen 1.5 terabytes worth of age verification images of users, totaling an astounding 2,185,151 images.

The update has been provided by the X account Discord Previews, which writes that it has learned the perpetrators of the attack have secured the age verification images of Discord users, and are now using them to extort Discord.

As for the hack itself, Discord confirmed the breach took place in late September, and the unauthorized third-party managed to gain access to user information such as names, Discord usernames, emails, and other contact information, along with limited billing information, such as payment type, last four digits of credit card numbers, purchase history, IP addresses, messages with customer support agents, and limited corporate data such as training materials and internal presentations.

NVIDIA's CEO Jensen Huang has commented on the recent deal between AMD and OpenAI, where Team Red signed over 10% of the company to provide next-generation AI GPUs to OpenAI to power upcoming artificial intelligence programs.

It was only recently that AMD and OpenAI announced a multibillion-dollar partnership that involved AMD signing over 10% of itself to OpenAI to provide AMD Instinct GPUs, specifically the AMD Instinct MI450 GPUs to OpenAI to provide 6 gigawatts of power for upcoming AI systems. As for 10% of the company, the way the deal is structured is the shares are scheduled to vest when specific milestones are achieved, with the first tranche of the stock set to vest after the initial gigawatt is successfully deployed.

Furthermore, share vesting is also tied to AMD reaching specific share price targets, OpenAI achieving technical and commercial milestones, and OpenAI purchasing waves of AMD GPUs. The deal between AMD and OpenAI comes only a week after OpenAI announced a similar deal with NVIDIA, except NVIDIA didn't sign over any of its shares, and instead of agreeing to provide 6 gigawatts of power with its GPUs, it will be powering 10 gigawatts.

Microsoft has been progressively tightening its grip on the Windows setup process for quite some time now, and in a recent Windows update, Microsoft has further made things more difficult for some users.

In the latest Windows 11 preview build rolled out to beta testers within the Windows Insider Program, numerous changes have been made to the Windows Out Of Box Experience (OOBE), several of which were the removal of methods of bypassing the requirement to sign in to a Microsoft account throughout the setup process. The now-removed methods involved creating local user accounts.

According to Microsoft, this improvement addresses the setup process, as the company believes that many machines weren't fully configured. This is a roundabout way of Microsoft acknowledging that these loopholes in the setup process were being exploited to create local accounts that are separate from a Microsoft account. Now, Microsoft requires a user to fully complete the OOBE and sign in with a Microsoft account with an active internet connection to 100% complete the Windows setup process.

be quiet! The company has launched a pair of new cases, part of its impressive Light Base series, featuring the new Light Base 500 and Light Base 500 LX. The baseline version offers a more minimal look with four preinstalled Pure Wings 3 120mm PWM fans for that zero-RGB look, while the LX variant turns on the lights with four preinstalled Light Wings LX 120mm PWM fans, alongside an ARGB controller button and ARGB fan hub.

The Light Base series, designed for hardware enthusiasts seeking performance and the ability to showcase their hardware through a fully windowed front and side panel, features one of be quiet!'s most modern, stylish, and clean case designs to date. The German manufacturer notes that its pair of new Light Base cases is perfect for "gaming, multimedia, and professional builds."

One of the key design aspects that improves airflow is the slide-out and angled fan frame on the side, which routes air directly to the GPU. This frame can be mounted either horizontally or vertically. By default, the preinstalled fans on the Light Base 500 and Light Base 500 LX cases include three on the side and one on the rear, but there's also the option to install three fans on the lower fan bay alongside a radiator up to 360mm in length on the top.

Blizzard's Diablo 4 debuted in 2023, and since its release, the game has received one major expansion alongside multiple seasonal updates that have improved the game, overhauled systems, and limited-time content for players to enjoy. The latest, Season 10, the 'Season of Infernal Chaos', overhauls the game's popular horde mode, alongside introducing Chaos Armor, which has introduced several new viable builds for some of the game's most challenging content.

With Diablo 4 set to get a new expansion next year, Blizzard will be overhauling key aspects of the game, namely crafting and combat, as part of Season 11. Diablo 4's lead community director, Adam Fletcher, took to X to post that the game's Season 11 update features numerous "big" changes, so it will hit the PTR (Public Test Realm) earlier than usual.

A detailed breakdown of what changes are coming will be revealed soon, with Adam teasing changes to Diablo's Masterworking and Tempering crafting systems, as well as updates to combat and the Renown system. The latter has been a part of the game since launch and relates to regional or zone progress and rewards.

The release of Battlefield 6 is only a few days away, and Battlefield Studios has released the official specifications for what you will need to max out the game at the highest graphics settings.

If you want to play Battlefield 6 at the highest possible graphics settings, you will need quite a beastly PC, as the upcoming title will need an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080, paired with an AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D CPU, along with 32GB of RAM at 4800MHz. With that hardware, you will get 4K at 144Hz at High Settings with DLSS On, or 4K at 240Hz at Ultra Settings with DLSS On + Multi Frame Generation.

The official specs page doesn't list what level of Frame Generation will need to be enabled to hit 240FPS, but considering our previous benchmarks of the title, I would assume it would be at least 2x Frame Generation.

Yes, Windows 11 has had a 'Dark Mode' or theme since its debut, building off the dark mode found in Windows 10. If you're one of the many who prefer a dark theme over the bright white burn your eyes default mode, like me, then you've probably noticed that the Windows 11 dark mode doesn't apply to everything - namely, File Explorer's various dialog boxes.

Well, that's finally changing, with Microsoft updating the "dark mode experience in File Explorer" as part of the latest Windows 11 build on the Dev Channel. This means that the various small pop-up dialog boxes and windows for tasks such as copying, deleting, and replacing files will finally be presented using the dark mode theme and overall look.

You can see the end result above; above all, it's surprising that it took Microsoft this long to deliver a proper dark mode experience in Windows 11. There's more to Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26220.6772 (KB5065797) than updating the dark mode for File Explorer, so here's a quick summary of what else is included.

It seems Activision has never been more concerned that Battlefield will steal away a portion of its player base, as the publisher has now announced Black Ops 6 will be completely free to try between the following dates: October 9 to October 16.

In the seven years I have been a gaming industry journalist, and the many years prior to that of being an avid gamer following industry movements, I have never seen Activision more concerned about potentially losing some of the Call of Duty community to EA's Battlefield franchise.

The publisher's recent movements, in my opinion, signal nothing but concern for the upcoming launch of Battlefield 6, as Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 is now offering a free trial period just two days before Battlefield 6's launch.

Although it regularly branches out into other forms of entertainment and cross-promotion, Nintendo is still best known for the games it creates and its custom gaming hardware, such as the Nintendo Switch. And with that, Nintendo's latest surprise drop on its YouTube channel isn't a trailer or deep dive into an upcoming release. Instead, it's an animated short film called 'Close to You' that is reminiscent of classic shorts from Disney's Pixar Animation Studios.

As soon as it appeared online, the reactions to the short film have been one of general confusion from Nintendo fans, as there's no clear indication if Close to You is related to an upcoming game release or even the Super Mario Galaxy Movie. Outside of music that fans say is reminiscent of the Pikmin franchise, and the appearance of what looks to be a red-colored Pikmin in the background of one shot, the animated short film looks to be a standalone thing.

In short, a mother and a small baby or toddler are playing in a room before a knock on the front door interrupts them, leaving the baby alone while the mother goes off to answer the door. From there, the baby's rattler and pacifier begin to move on their own, floating in the air.

AMD has announced a new line of Zen5 CPUs, the Ryzen Embedded 9000 Series processors, designed for "industrial PCs, automation systems, and machine vision applications." AMD notes that its embedded lineup is designed to meet the "performance, energy efficiency, and long-term reliability" requirements of industrial computing applications. The new Ryzen Embedded 9000 Series ships with "seven years of product availability and reliability."

As for the lineup, it mirrors the specs and configuration of the desktop Ryzen 9000 Series, including X3D models that utilize the company's 3D V-Cache technology. The full lineup, which can be found below, includes the entry-level 6-core AMD Ryzen Embedded 9600X processor, featuring a maximum frequency of 5.4 GHz and a TDP rating of 65W, and the flagship 16-core AMD Ryzen Embedded 9950X3D processor, boasting a maximum frequency of 5.7 GHz and a TDP rating of 170W.

Like the desktop series, these Embedded variants are all built using the company's latest Zen 5 architecture, with support for PCIe Gen5, DDR5 memory, and are also based on the AM5 socket. It's unclear what separates these new CPUs from the non-Embedded counterparts, other than AMD confirming that they're designed for long-term use and reliability for at least seven years.

The latest GeForce RTX 50 Series game bundle is here, with NVIDIA offering a free Deluxe Edition copy of the highly anticipated multiplayer extraction shooter ARC Raiders with eligible purchases of desktop GeForce RTX 50 Series GPUs and laptops with the latest GeForce RTX 50 Series Laptop GPUs.

ARC Raiders is set to launch on October 30 for PC and consoles, and looks to expand on the extraction shooter genre popularized by Escape from Tarkov and Hunt: Showdown by blending exploration and other elements from the adventure genre. It's set in a future where Earth has been overrun by deadly machines, with human Raiders (i.e., other players) also presenting a threat.

The PC version of the game is optimized to run on GeForce RTX hardware, with day-one support for DLSS 4 with Multi Frame Generation, NVIDIA Reflex, and cutting-edge ray-traced global illumination lighting effects. NVIDIA's DLSS 4 trailer for ARC Raiders shows performance hitting an impressive 400+ FPS in 4K, presumably running on a GeForce RTX 5090.

It's official: The OG survivors-like is getting online co-op support for up to four players for maximum carnage.

Ultra-addictive bullet hell indie Vampire Survivors is getting a big update soon, and with it comes online co-op action. Poncle has confirmed that up to 4 players can play online with one another, giving much more player freedom--right now, Vampire Survivors only supports 2-player local co-op.

The developers plan to roll out online co-op alongside four other features/updates/enhancements included in Vampire Survivors' title v1.14 update. It's also possible that a new playable character is revealed. No exact release date has been revealed for v1.14 and the devs just give an "Autumn" window for the content.

The pricing for Bungie's new extraction shooter Marathon has reportedly leaked, and it happened right before another closed technical playtest for the game.

Marathon's monetization structure has apparently been leaked ahead of schedule. New reports from Destiny datamine collective Deakstiny indicate that Marathon's pricing scheme will apparently follow Helldivers 2, with Sony opting for a $40 baseline price for the game.

Bungie will offer a deluxe edition of Marathon for $60, the report says, and there will be two versions of the season pass: the base $10 version and a $30 deluxe version that comes packed with in-game currency. It's also been revealed that the season pass is 100% cosmetic only. Marathon has pre-order bonuses that will unlock various things in Destiny, including a ship, ghost, and sparrow vehicle, as well as in-game cosmetics for Marathon.

Executives within EA including Glu Mobile CEO Nick Earl believe the $55 billion leveraged buyout is great for creative freedom.

While financial analysts call EA's new $55 billion privatization deal a "head scratcher," some within EA believe the mega-acquisition is great news for the company's commercial and creative autonomy. New remarks from Glu Mobile's CEO highlight a positive outlook for the deal, with company boss Nick Earl saying that EA will no longer be on the hook to deliver consistent growth every quarter (instead, EA will now be on the hook for $20 billion in debt apparently funded via a "risky" loan). EA purchased Glu Mobile in 2021 for $2.1 billion.

In a recent interview with CBS News, Glu Mobile CEO Nick Earl gave some positives of the buyout and says he believes it's a "win" for creatives and gamers. "Being private just takes a lot of pressure off the company," he said.

Microsoft has rearranged the value of Game Pass through a new, very unpopular price hike, eliminating key features in the process.

Microsoft has now confirmed that it has removed the 10% discount for all DLC content from its Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscription tier, including the ultra-lucrative billion-dollar Call of Duty Points premium currency. Full video games are still discounted by up to 20%.

In its place, Microsoft is instead making users do a little work to get a discount. The Xbox Rewards scheme has been revamped to give Ultimate subscribers more bang for their buck, but this does require active participation--and an active subscription--in order to maximize your returns. Essentially, Microsoft has game-ified its rewards program, likely due to massive participation from Xbox console users.

Xbox Game Pass isn't increasing in price for everyone, and Microsoft officially confirms that some countries will still retain the original cheaper price for Ultimate.

Last night, Game Pass subscribers across the globe received strange emails: Apparently, their Game Pass subscriptions had been grandfathered at the original rate and wouldn't be affected by the recent controversial Game Pass price hike. As long as the users kept recurring billing on, the emails said, their Game Pass Ultimate subscriptions would stay at the current rate and not increase to the new rate.

Apple's next MacBook Pro packing an M5 chip could be about to arrive according to the most recent chatter on the grapevine.

This comes from renowned Apple leaker Mark Gurman who posted on X (hat tip to TechRadar) observing that the supply of the MacBook Pro 14-inch entry-level M4 models (the vanilla CPU, not Pro or Max) are seeing 'constrained' supply levels at Apple's retail outlets.

Gurman noticed that custom configurations of the base MacBook Pro 14-inch models on Apple's online store are "constrained till the end of October".

Activision is doing what it can to soak up as much of the hype as it possibly can for the release of Battlefield 6, as the publisher has just announced an extension for the Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 multiplayer beta.

Battlefield 6 is scheduled to launch on October 11, and in an effort to draw as many players as it possibly can away from its direct competitor, Activision and Call of Duty Black Ops 7 developer, Treyarch, have announced an extension for the Black Ops 7 open beta. The new date for the end is now October 9, making it just two days away from the release of Battlefield 6.

In addition to the announcement for the extension of the open beta, Treyarch has said there will also be an extension on XP and Weapon XP, specifically 2XP and 2X Weapon XP. The extension on the double XP will enable players to reach higher levels, which will unlock more weapons and attachments for them to hopefully enjoy. The strategy here is that if players unlock more weapons and attachments, they will find something they like and hopefully pre-order Black Ops 7, perhaps even over buying Battlefield 6 - quite smart by Activision/Treyarch.

There are only a few days until the release of Battlefield 6, and EA, along with developer Battlefield Studios, has recognized the outcry from fans for the inclusion of naval warfare by saying they have been heard, and that there is much to look forward to following the launch of the title on October 11.

The confirmation was revealed in the latest Community Update blog post on the Battlefield website, where the developers outlined what they learned from the numerous invite-only playtests and the extremely successful open beta weekend. Furthermore, the Community Update confirmed the changes made to Battlefield 6 following what was learned during the open beta, and that a day-one update will be implemented for the title upon release, incorporating these changes.

However, near the bottom of the post Battlefield Studios discusses what players can expect following the official launch of Battlefield 6, writing, "There is much more to look forward to beyond our Seasons as our team continues reviewing Battlefield Labs data, player feedback, and ideating on completely new ideas for the future, starting with an exciting new Battlefield take on Battle Royale."