Latest News - Page 272

NVIDIA's upcoming B30 AI GPU will begin shipping in Q4 of this year, with performance expected to be around 10-20% slower than the H20, while being 30-40% cheaper.

In new reports from Taiwanese outlet Ctee, we're hearing that thanks to the US government allowing NVIDIA to resume exporting its H20 AI GPUs into China, the market expects to see shipments in the last 6 months of the year hitting 400,000 units, with the server cooling supply chain to benefit from this.

NVIDIA originally launched the downgraded H20 AI GPU in response to previous US export restrictions, but with those loosening on the tail end of 2024, it saw NVIDIA experience $4.5 billion in lost revenue from China earlier this year.

We reviewed the AVerMedia X'TRA GO (GC515) late last year, earning it an award for its innovative design, which combines docking, charging, and capture in a single device. Compatible with a wide range of gaming handhelds, including the Steam Deck, ROG Ally, and Nintendo Switch, AVerMedia has confirmed that it's fully compatible and optimized for the Nintendo Switch 2.

This is excellent news for those seeking a versatile dock, charger, and capture device for Nintendo's latest gaming console, as its simple plug-and-play design enables direct recording to an SD card. And with the AVerMedia Streaming Center software, you've also got an intuitive and straightforward tool for streaming or broadcasting Switch 2 gameplay.

AVerMedia offers a wide range of capture cards and chargers, and the company has created a dedicated Nintendo Switch 2 compatibility page outlining which products in its lineup are compatible and optimized for the new console. The compatibility list also includes the company's webcams and microphones.

PC Building Simulator 2 is a game where you build, repair, and create custom PCs using real-world components from companies like MSI, Cooler Master, ASRock, and more. From GeForce RTX 50 Series graphics cards to next-gen motherboards, cases, and cooling solutions, it's all here.

With over 40 hardware brands and 1200+ components, you can even tweak things like memory timings and overclock your GPU to boost performance. Yes, it's a game, or a simulation, but PC Building Simulator 2 is all about presenting a realistic building experience right down to adjusting fan speeds and RGB lighting. And the included Career Mode is designed to teach you all about the building and repair process.

The latest addition to PC Building Simulator 2 is an interesting one, as it opens the door to benchmarking with accurate results using the popular 3DMark Speed Way test. 3DMark developer UL Solutions has partnered with PC Building Simulator 2's Spiral House to let you install 3DMark Speed Way on the PCs you build in the game, run the benchmark, and get "accurate 3DMark Speed Way results."

Microsoft has confirmed that vulnerabilities within its SharePoint service are being actively exploited by hackers who are targeting government entities and multinational corporations.

The serious security vulnerability dates back to May 2025 when researchers from Viettel Cyber Security discovered and demonstrated a Microsoft SharePoint exploit in a "ToolShell" attack that is now being actively exploited by hackers around the world.

For those unfamiliar, Microsoft SharePoint is a service used by organizations to store and manage documents, create internal websites, share files, build workflows, and facilitate team collaboration. The security flaws are related to SharePoint servers being hosted by organizations themselves, not cloud-based SharePoint.

Julian LeFay, one of the original designers of The Elder Scrolls series and more recently The Wayward Realms, has revealed a battle with terminal cancer.

Elder Scrolls godfather Julian LeFay has silently been fighting cancer for years now, and the RPG developer has now broken silence to share the news with the community.

"Our technical producer, Julian LeFay, has been fighting a battle with cancer for the last several years. He's fought bravely and strongly, but it seems he doesn't have very much time left," OnceLost Games CEO, and LeFay's close friend, Ted Peterson said in a recent video.

Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot directly responds to Stop Killing Games, a petition that was started due to Ubisoft's business decisions.

In 2024, Ubisoft pulled The Crew 1 from all digital storefronts after nearly 10 years of availability. The Crew is an online-only game, so when the servers were shut off, owners had no way of playing the game they paid for. This sparked a wider discussion on game ownership and a publisher's responsibility to make games available to consumers who purchased them, even after an online game is taken offline. This controversy led to the Stop Killing Games movement, which spawned the Stop Destroying Videogames petition in the EU; at the time of writing, the petition has garnered over 1.4 million signatures and has even gained support from parliament.

Now we have an official response from Ubisoft's CEO Yves Guillemot on Stop Killing Games, as well as an explanation of why The Crew 1 wasn't made available offline. Guillemot was asked about the controversy during a recent Ubisoft general shareholders meeting, and he replied by essentially saying that gamers are forewarned about possible game service discontinuations and that Ubisoft responded to the situation by offering The Crew 2 for just 1 Euro.

Microsoft's decision to continue investing in artificial intelligence has come at the cost of thousands of jobs, sources tell The Verge's Tom Warren.

Microsoft is reportedly restructuring its business around AI. The company has conducted 15,000 layoffs and job eliminations in 2025 alone, with many workers being relocated within the company under new positions. The layoffs are affecting jobs of all types, from sales and marketing to management, as the company reportedly pushes AI tools on its workers.

Sources tell The Verge that Microsoft had a choice between spending on AI or cutting jobs, and it ultimately chose the latter. We've seen the effects of this decision ripple through all parts of Microsoft, including the Xbox games division, where multiple games were cancelled, workers laid off, and studios shut down.

Swedish video games developer MachineGames publishes its full-year financials, showing how much sales revenue and profit the Wolfenstein developer makes.

As Microsoft dangles a Sword of Damocles above its workers, creatives at the Xbox are fearful of layoffs--Microsoft has let go of 15,000 workers this year alone, with hundreds of layoffs affecting the games division. This led to game cancellations and studio closures. Margins seemingly matter more than ever, especially when products like interactive entertainment can command budgets of $100 million or more.

While we don't know the total performance of Xbox, we can glean some info by way of Xbox's European subsidiaries. Every year, companies in the European Union will publish their financial reports. The latest round of financials gives a closer look at how much money that Indiana Jones developer MachineGames may generate per year.

Ubisoft is known for having microtransactions even in its single-player games, which is a decision that many gamers aren't very fond of at all, as it reads as a money-grab tactic that, in some cases, can feature pay-to-win elements.

In Ubisoft's annual financial report, we got an insight into the mentality the company has when implementing "monetization strategies" into its premium games, which would be its mainline titles, such as Assassin's Creed. The report states that Ubisoft has a "golden rule" when developing premium games, and that is to enable players to enjoy the game in full without having to spend more money on it.

Additionally, Ubisoft says, "Our monetization offer within premium games makes the player experience more fun by allowing them to personalize their avatars or progress more quickly". Adding, "however, this is always optional." The second to last point is certainly the most contentious, "or progress more quickly." This would be a pay-to-win mechanic that is typically built into all of Ubisoft's premium games, even its single-player titles.

Apple has reportedly been working on a foldable smartphone for quite some time, and it was only recently that estimated specifications surfaced outlining all of the juicy components within the new device. However, one spec was left out, the battery.

The battery of a foldable device naturally poses a difficult engineering challenge as smartphone manufacturers want the device to be as thin as possible, but have a battery that is capable of running three displays for an appropriate length of time.

Samsung's Galaxy Z Fold 7 has recently been released, and that has leveled up the design of foldable smartphones as the device measures at just 4.2mm thick unfolded, and features a 4,400mAh battery. Notably, the Z Fold 7 features an 8-inch inner screen and a 6.5-inch cover screen, while Apple's rumored device is pegged to have a 7.8-inch inner screen and a 5.5-inch cover screen.

New developments in the 2021 PlayStation antitrust case show that both Sony and the defendants are eager to settle the case, but a district judge denies a motion to settle, saying that more information is needed.

In 2021, Sony was sued in a class-action lawsuit that alleged Sony was conducting monopolistic business practices. The plaintiffs, which include more than 4 million people, allege that Sony's decision to stop selling PlayStation game download codes in alternative stores was in violation of antitrust law.

Years later, the parties are ready to settle, but District Judge Araceli Martínez-Olguín recently denied a motion for settlement. The initial settlement proposal would see Sony doling out $7.8 million in PlayStation Store credits. With 4.4 million people affected, that means each person would get around $1.77 in credits.

Assassin's Creed Shadows cost more than €100 million to develop, produce, market, and distribute, Ubisoft has officially confirmed.

Video game budgets are soaring higher and higher these days, with some games like Concord commanding $400 million in costs. Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot attaches a loose figure to one of its biggest games, saying that AC Shadows had a sizable budget like other AAA hits.

"We don't disclose production costs, it did cost over 100 million euros, we'll say that. We don't give any final costs. We also invested heavily in the engine," Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot said in a recent shareholders meeting.

AMD's next-generation GPU architecture is either going to be called UDNA or RDNA 5, with leaks suggesting the highest-end next-gen GPU from AMD will feature up to 96 CUs on the flagship GPU, a huge 50% increase in GPU cores over the biggest RDNA 4 chip on the market.

We've been hearing rumbles about AMD's next-generation GPU architecture after RDNA 4, which will either be RDNA 5 in some form, or the introduction of UDNA. The latest rumors on the next-gen Radeon GPU is that AMD is rumored to debut a high-end "multi-chiplet" GPU that could debut with UDNA, but the very latest rumor is from leaker "Kepler_L2" who suggests the next-gen Radeon GPU lineup.

Kepler_L2 explained: "yeah, my guess is the lineup will go from 64CU / 256-bit + 32 CU / 128-bit to 96 CU / 384-bit + 64 CU + 256-bit + 32 CU + 128-bit".

Astronomer CEO Andy Byron has officially resigned from his position as company CEO after a video of him cuddling the chief people officer of the same company at a Coldplay concert went extremely viral.

The clip has been shared around on social media, and due to the slow response from the company and Byron, many phony statements were published online, along with conspiracy theories and accounts impersonating the CEO. One viral piece of misinformation was that the company's HR officer was in attendance at the concert.

Astronomer released an official statement on Friday where it stated the company's Board of Directors had launched an official investigation into the matter and that it would be sharing details soon. That statement was followed up by another on the same day that revealed cofounder and Chief Product Officer Pete DeJoy was "currently serving as interim CEO given Andy Byron has been placed on leave."

Grand Theft Auto 6 is reportedly running at a buttery smooth 60FPS on the PlayStation 5 Pro, while continuing to be optimized on the beefier PS5 Pro console with "multiple graphics settings" according to new rumors.

In a new post on X by insider @DetectiveSeeds, we're hearing that PlayStation engineers are also helping with the optimization due to "new tech" that's being implemented and rolled out with a current target date of May 2026. The PS engineers are also assisting on "several other Rockstar titles" that are "rolling out in the near future".

As of right now, 60FPS is being achieved on the PS5 Pro only (but this could change before the release of GTA 6) and it's anticipated that GTA 6 will have multiple graphical options on the PS5 Pro at release. The leaker also notes that the Rockstar / PlayStation marketing deal is what's allowing and encouraging this collaboration on optimization, it is anticipated that we should see multiple GTA 6 + PlayStation 5 bundles in the next marketing push.

The Battlefield 6 hype train has officially left the station as content creators are now confirming EA has invited them to a 3-day event where the new Battlefield game will be revealed.

It was only yesterday that a content creator shared a now-deleted image of a promotional care package they received from EA, which confirmed the name of the next Battlefield game, Battlefield 6, along with several game modes that will be playable within the title. Now, a content creator has stated they have received an invitation from EA to participate in a 3-day event starting on July 29, where the new Battlefield 6 will be revealed. The event will also feature interviews with developers, and the game will be featured with content creators.

As Insider Gaming points out, the event is being referred to as an "EV Event," and not a "Battlefield Event," which may mean Battlefield 6 isn't the only game EA is planning on revealing. However, given that a promotional package was just sent out to creators and now we are hearing about an event scheduled for the end of this month, I think it's entirely possible the promotional package contained the invitation to the event, and at the very least, the next Battlefield title will be featured. Moreover, shortly after the event, the open beta is rumored to be launching.

The reveal for the highly anticipated Battlefield 6 appears to be just a few weeks/days away from being officially announced, as the team behind it is now sending out promotional care packages for the title.

A now-deleted post from the X user @DooM49 revealed a large promotional package sent to the user from EA. The package has "Battlefield 6" written across the front of the package, with straps around it that feature the writing, "Conquest," "Breakthrough," "Rush," and finally, "PTFO," which stands for "Play the F***** Objective." Presumably, Rush, Conquest, and Breakthrough will be available as playable game modes within Battlefield 6.

As for the package itself, this promotional material from EA and care packages such as this are usually indicators that an official announcement for the title is right around the corner, as the package is intended to hype up the content creator just before the big public reveal to get them to pay attention to it.

Valve has launched Trade Protection on Steam, a new feature that will safeguard swappable cosmetic skins, items, and other content in the Steam inventory.

Steam's new Trade Protection program is a new per-game initiative that gives players more insurance over unlocked items, including skins. It allows users to reverse a trade within 7 days, and Trade Protection also gives both users instant access to traded goods.

Trade Protection is on by default for Counter-Strike 2, and are denoted by a small yellow shield on the item: "This is a per-game option, which means all Counter-Strike 2 items are Trade Protected for 7 days after being received in trade."

BioShock creator and ex-Irrational Games boss Ken Levine loves singleplayer games, and probably for the same reasons as you.

It's been over 12 years since Ken Levine last shipped a game. His latest shooter, Judas, is seen as a spiritual successor to BioShock thanks to its emphasis on story-driven immersion.

In other words, Levine wants to take players on another personal journey, which is a big reason why he still makes singleplayer games. In a recent interview, Levine shares his frank and rather candid take on singleplayer games, giving a brief history lesson on how these worlds affected him as someone with social anxiety, and the nostalgia he still feels for them. Plus, the game isn't a person, so it "will never leave you," Levine says.

Ken Levine has a simple plan for his new game Judas: Buy the game, play it, and then you're done. No prolonged live service multiplayer mode or microtransactions.

Judas, the new first-person shooter from BioShock creator Ken Levine, is a traditional singleplayer game through and through. The project has been in development for years, and it's been over a decade since Levine's last game, BioShock Infinite. Despite this long production cycle, Take-Two Interactive hasn't pressured Levine to bake in things like microtransactions into Judas in an effort to maximize return on investment.

In a recent interview with Nightdive Studios of all places, Levine shares his thought process on Judas while also clearly saying he doesn't have a problem with live service games, and doesn't fault developers who make them. The father of BioShock says that he grew up when microtransactions simply didn't exist, yet service games have grown to a €120 billion market.