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This afternoon Micron exercised its right to call in Intel's interest in the joint IMFT venture. Micron has more than hinted the company would go in this direction and stated clearly it was on the table in October.

Intel has up to one year to vacate its half of the joint venture that centers mainly on the Lehi, Utah HQ of IMFT. Which is where the two companies have co-developed several generations of memory technology. The two companies will spend the remaining time shipping 96-layer TLC memory and 3D XPoint. Both companies began developing next-generation flash products post IMFT, with each choosing to focus on separate technology paths to better suit focused markets.

Second generation 3D XPoint memory development will continue. The only fab manufacturing first generation 3D XPoint is the Lehi, Utah facility.

As a huge PVE-driven live service game with tons riding on it, Anthem needs to hit everything just right. Matchmaking is a big part of this and BioWare says gamers will have access to team-finding systems across every in-game activity.

Matchmaking makes everything easier in grindy online games and fosters a sense of recurring engagement among players. Without these tools, it can be tough to find a competent team for a big raid event, especially when you and your friends' schedules don't always line up (looking at you Destiny). Luckily Anthem will have matchmaking searches for all activities in the game, from the freeform exploration to story missions and the challenging end-level strongholds.

BioWare's Ben Irving recently confirmed the news on Twitter, re-affirming the studio's commitment to Anthem's team-based focus. But this also neatly ties into Anthem's engagement-driven business model that sees playtime and most importantly interactivity as major motivators for the live service revenue cycle.

Nintendo has confirmed its Virtual Console retro gaming storefront will live on as part of the Switch Online service, and now there's evidence that SNES games will join the growing NES game collection.

Direct references to multiple SNES games have been found in code for the Switch Online service, strongly hinting the premium subscription service will soon expand with Super Nintendo titles. Switch hackers like Kapu datamined the service's code to uncover "strings" to 22 SNES games including hits like Super Mario World, Star Fox, Legend of Zelda: Link to the Past, and Super Mario Kart.

It's worth mentioning that a lot of these games are found on the SNES Classic Edition.

Exclusive: AMD surprised the world with the announcement of the Radeon VII during CES 2019 last week, with it being the surprise announcement before its bigger unveiling of Navi towards June/July this year.

The new Radeon VII otherwise known as Radeon 7 is a revamped Vega graphics card, where at the end of the day it's just a Radeon Instinct MI50 accelerator that was released in November last year. We have the same Vega 20 GPU on the fresh new 7nm node, the same 16GB of HBM2 memory, and similar GPU clocks to the new Radeon VII graphics card.

Since the announcement I reached out to some industry contacts who said there will be "less than 5000" made. The same source said AMD is losing money on each card sold as they are, as I said before, just Radeon Instinct MI50 cards that are being re-purposed into 'new' Radeon VII cards.

Antec's new P101 Silent is built specifically for PC enthusiasts who want to match quiet gaming with performance.

The P101 Silent is part of Antec's Performance One series and comes in a mid-tower form factor that features sound dampening panels on the front, side, and top panels to help cut GPU and fan noise in demanding gaming or work sessions. It can fit a full E-ATX motherboard and has enough room for a full-sized GPU up to 450mm in length, while also featuring four built-in fans for cooling (3x 120mm fans in the front and 1x 120mm fan in the back for exhaust).

Antec's latest case also sports ample room for up to 11 drives (8x 3.5" HDDs, 2x 2.5" SSDs, and 1x 5.25" disc drive) and removable front and bottom dust filters ensure easy cleaning and maintenance. The P101's nifty back door allows PSU installation from the rear for easy setup or swap-outs.

Capcom announced last week the Resident Evil 2 Remake demo and even despite the 30 minute timer on the demo more than 1 million players have already attempted it.

Capcom has announced this player achievement by the Resident Evil.net player counter, a website dedicated to showing the location and the amount of players in each country. At the time of writing this, 1,300,287 million players have downloaded and attempted the 1-shot demo. North America leads the pack with 274,173 attempts, Japan comes in second with 271,305 players and followed by the UK with 204,805.

What is most interesting though, despite there being now over 1.3 million players, the completion rate for the entire globe only sits at 28%. Meaning that a large majority of players did not see the ending of the demo, maybe this is an indicator the difficulty level we will see in Resident Evil 2 Remake? It should be noted that these statistics have only been gathered by "Players who have enabled RE NET Play Data Settings." This could mean that there is many more players out there but don't want their data tracked. Last week the official data size and PC requirements were released by Capcom, if you are interested in that visit this article here.

Celeste will be getting a brand new free DLC very soon as the creator, Matt Thorson has released some details about when to expect it arriving and what it contains.

The Celeste creator took to his personal Twitter account to reveal the DLC details. Unfortunately the first dot point crushes Celeste fans' hope for the DLC to be released on the games anniversary, January 25th. Thorsons Twitter post also details that the DLC is "all one continuous chapter, no B-Side" and that it is based "after the current hardest levels in difficulty."The DLC will also feature "no strawberries" with "new items/mechanics" and will be completely free across all platforms.

Unfortunately no date was issued by Thorson, but we can expect that since it will not be ready for the games anniversary that it isn't that far off. Hopefully on the Celeste anniversary we will hear more news about the DLC as I can't really think of better time to announce something. Celeste is available on the Xbox One, PS4 and PC.

Square Enix has showcased the console respective keyblades for Sora in the soon to be released Kingdom Hearts III. Players that pre-order a copy on either of the platforms will receive a bonus keyblade.

Three trailers have been released onto the Japanese Square Enix YouTube Channel and show each of the keyblades in some action. We can see from the above trailer the "PlayStation 4 Early Purchase Bonus: "Midnight Blue", this keyblades effect coincides with the color as it increases the damage of all blizzard attacks. It should be noted that these keyblades will only be available as a situation command.

The Xbox keyblade variant has been titled "Phantom Green" and has an effect that increases all of Sora's lightening attacks. Interestingly enough, there is also a Amazon (West) or Seven Net Shopping (Japan): "Dawn Till Dusk" keyblade that can be acquired, this one increases the damage done by fire attacks. If you want to see more of Sora's keyblades, check out the 10 images that was released by Square Enix last week.

In the newest cinematic trailer for Creative Assembly and SEGA's Total War: THREE KINGDOMS we follow a legendary Chinese hero, which path will you take?

In a recent press release that links us to the above video, we are introduced to the legendary Chinese hero Zhuge Liang as he wanders China's lands in search of a master worthy of his devotion. Three Kingdoms is based in the time of China's peak turmoil, power hungry leaders from each of China's kingdoms are fighting for total control of the land.

We can see from the above trailer and described within the press release "lush subtropics, iconic mountains drenched in mist, and tranquil golden rivers serve as the backdrop for the bloodiest period in ancient Chinese history." Zhuge Liang eventually meets a master of his caliber and he is named Liu Bei, together both of these Chinese lords will be fighting to bring peace to China and end this age of turmoil. For more information about Total War: THREE KINGDOMS, visit the official Steam Store listing here.

Since the release of Valve's Steam Direct we have seen massive increases in games coming to Valves platform, now reports have confirmed that Steam now has over 30,000 games.

This number of 30,000 games is not including software that can be found and purchased within Steam library. Why are we seeing such a massive increase in the amount of games coming to Steam? The answer to that question lays within Valve's 'Steam Direct' which gives developers the opportunity to upload their game to the Steam marketplace.

According to Steamspy, in 2018 we saw 9,300 games added to Steams catalog of games, throughout 2017 6,700 games were added to Steam. With both of these numbers combined, we can see that just over the course of these two years that Steam Direct is the main contributor to the plethora of Steam games now available. For more information regarding Steam, check out the website for yourself here.

Investors are scrutinizing key Activision executives with a securities fraud investigation, a new press release confirms.

At the behest of its investors, Activision is currently being investigated for possible fraudulent activities by Pomerantz LLP, a law firm that specializes in securities fraud and anti-trust cases. The press release wasn't exactly concise and remains vague: "The investigation concerns whether Activision and certain of its officers and/or directors have engaged in securities fraud or other unlawful business practices," it reads.

This move seems to be catalyzed by Activision's recent breakup with Bungie, which saw the billion-dollar publisher relinquish control and publishing rights to the Destiny franchise. The split-up triggered Activision stock to plummet by nearly 10% the next day and shed $4.81 from share prices. This marks the second lowest point the stock has dropped in a 52-week span.

Made by the Dark Souls masters at FromSoftware, Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice is more stylish, fluid and strategic than its gritty medieval-fantasy predecessors.

Checking out Game Informer's new Sekiro gameplay, I was reminded just how much freedom the game offers players. Sekiro has a lot more verticality than other FromSoftware games thanks to the one-armed Wolf's grappling hook, allowing gamers to hook and zoom atop rooftops to plot tactical attacks. There's a kind of easy grace to this mechanic that opens the doors to all kinds of interesting skill-based opportunities, and I have a feeling players will find very creative ways to tackle bosses and enemies throughout sixteenth century Sengoku Japan.

Grappling also helps with exploration and general traversal of the levels, all of which have tons of ledges, rooftops, tree branches, and other latchable objects to cling to. As GameInformer notes, the verticality also dramatically expands the visibility of areas and enemies to give players more foresight in execution. This is opposed to the nasty surprises that the Dark Souls series is well known for. There's a sense of more preparedness with Sekiro and gamers won't have to keep their guard up as much--or at least in the same way as with other FromSoft Soulsborne games.

To celebrate the release of 'Venom' on home video, we have ten Blu-ray copies of the film to give away thanks to our friends at Universal Sony Home Entertainment!

The evolution story of Marvel's most enigmatic, complex and badass character - Venom! Eddie Brock (Tom Hardy) is a broken man after he loses everything including his job and fiancée. Just when his life is at its lowest, he becomes host to an alien symbiote which results in extraordinary superpowers - transforming him into Venom. Will these powers be enough for this new lethal protector to defeat great evil forces, especially against the far stronger and more weaponized symbiote rival, Riot?

To go into the running to win a prize, post this article to your social media profiles, correctly answer the following question and send your postal address to ben at TweakTown dot com before the competition closes on January 18.

BioWare's new service game Anthem is shaping up to be an amazingly strategic shooter with lots of potential for carnage. There's a lot of moving parts in Anthem and a fan has put together a diagram to help break down the mechanics.

The more I look into Anthem the more surprisingly layered it turns out to be. It's built on a deep webwork of intricate systems and synergies: from the wealth of customizable gear, modules, and craftable upgrades to the swappable abilities and combos, the game is the most involved BioWare game ever made. We already know that weapons and secondary items like grenades and knives can prime combos, and that every single Javelin has its own combo detonation effects.

But what about specifics and skills? Which Javelins have which abilities, and how do they affect combat roles? With so many options, how do players create that perfect team-based cohesion and synergy to take on the highest-level dungeons and bosses? This handy diagram from Redditor carpaggio aims to answer some of these questions.

Epic's new digital storefront wants to compete directly with Steam, but that doesn't meant it won't borrow a few things from Valve's playbook.

The Epic Store now has a refund policy that mirrors Steam's. All games bought on the Epic Store launcher are can be refunded for any reason within 14 days of original purchase, but only if the game has less than two hours of play.

The one caveat is refunds are processed via tickets by Epic's customer support which is apparently quite slow--Epic's own local Better Business Bureau rated it an F for its poor customer support. The team is working on a "self-service solution," according to Epic's Sergey Galyonkin.

Ubisoft is keen on making Assassin's Creed: Odyssey even better through new updates, content patches, and bugfixes.

Assassin's Creed: Odyssey isn't just a singleplayer game anymore. Instead Ubi has wrapped its live service framework into the campaign-driven game, creating a continually-evolving experience that's funded by optional microtransactions and season pass content. This adheres to its engagement-driven monetization strategy used in all Ubisoft's games, which requires steady content to keep gamers coming back into the game. Now we're seeing even more efforts to expand the ancient Greece odyssey with new patches.

A new patch 1.1.2 game update will add lots of new features to Assassin's Creed: Odyssey, including level scaling options (fantastic news) and a new engraving workshop (even better!). Hephaistos' Workshop lets you buy previously unlocked engravings and even ups the engraving buffs to new tiers, but you'll need to complete challenges first.

Capcom issued a challenge with the Resident Evil 2 Remake demo by including a 30 minute countdown timer. If you can't beat it in 30 minutes then you're locked out and don't get to try again. But talented speed runners are obliterating the demo's clock with know-how.

The RE2make's 1-Shot Demo's limited timer is meant to bring thrills and chills to the experience. Knowing their experience is limited, gamers are stressed to make every second count. But speed runner Trance makes those seconds count in a different way and finds an ultra-fast path to beat the demo in 3 minutes and 36 seconds.

Bear in mind speed running isn't about finding every item, uncovering secrets outside of glitches, solving puzzles or killing every enemy. It's simply about finding the quickest avenue to victory. That often means running past key story areas and circumventing baddies in a mad dash to the finish line.

All Bethesda Game Studios games have "cheat rooms," or little slices of the world cordoned off from the main game that have every item in the game. These areas are kind of like the space between worlds, a Twilight Zone of goods, gear, and content that didn't make it into the final game. They exist for developers to test out various scenarios and ensure items act the way they should. Fallout 76 has such a zone, and it's been accessed by players.

Remember the console commands "coc qasmoke" and "coc testqaitems" from Fallout 3 and Fallout 4 that granted you access to a special cheat area? Fallout 76 may be a live game but it's not that different than its predecessors in this respect--it has a QA zone too, but it's not accessible by console commands. Gamers have found a way to jump into the area and have found all sorts of surprises, including a human NPC called Wooby, as well as every item in the game.

Access essentially makes you into a god and removes the need to keep playing outside of leveling up. Everything from the weakest pipe pistols to the most powerful of weapons and gear can be found here, complete with unreleased power armor skins. Recipes and plans all have their own containers, and looking them over shows just how fragmented and grindy Fallout 76 actually is.

Tencent's MOBA continues its juggernaut microtranaction dominance thanks to China's eager playerbase.

Honor of Kings made $1.93 billion in 2018, making it the highest-earning mobile game of the year, analyst firm SensorTower reports. To put this number into perspective, this one mobile game made nearly 20% of Tencent's total 2H revenues of $10.2 billion. The game (known as Arena of Valor outside of Asia) saw a substantial 19.87% rise over last year's earnings.

Strong monetization and adoption in Asia is responsible for this megaton success. Nearly 95% of spending was from iOS users in China, SensorTower says, and less than 1% came from the United States. It's no wonder that every big games-maker from EA to Activision-Blizzard want to bring their games to China.

Verizon is funneling some of its billion-dollar might into gaming endeavors, more specifically the growing trend of cloud game streaming.

Google, Microsoft, Amazon, and now Verizon are all making their own subscriptions to beam games digitally to devices, ushering in a new era of convenience and ease-of-use accessibility to gamers. Sources tell The Verge that the telecom titan's service, Verizon Gaming, is currently being tested in exclusive alpha trials across NVIDIA's Shield set-top console box. Verizon Gaming (dubbed Vzg) is also planned for a rollout on Android mobile phones and other platforms.

The service has 135 games available for play in the testing phase, many of which are popular AAA titles. Yet early results aren't too favorable due to connectivity issues. In fact the service is so new that users can't even save their progress and must restart from the beginning each time. What's interesting is the Vzg store shows console exclusives like Detroit Become Human, God of War, and Red Dead Redemption 2, however Verizon spokespeople confirm these are likely placeholders and the store has yet to be fleshed out.