Latest News - Page 284

Electronic Arts is officially pulling the plug on Anthem in January 2026.

Anthem will go offline on January 12, 2026, BioWare has announced. The servers are shutting down, and the game can no longer be played after this period. "Anthem was designed to be an online-only title so once the servers go offline, the game will no longer be playable," the studio explained in an FAQ.

BioWare has shut off microtransactions in Anthem and gamers can no longer buy in-game currency, but the premium currency can still be spent on content within the game until it's pulled offline.

AOOSTAR has officially teased its new NEX395 Mini-PC system powered by AMD's new flagship Ryzen AI Max+ 395 "Strix Halo" APU.

The upcoming AOOSTAR NEX395 Mini-PC has quite an interesting design that features a thinner, longer chassis that is more of a compact rectangle than other Mini-PCs powered by the powerful new Strix Halo APU. The company teases that it's using a dual-fan cooling system that should help cool the Ryzen AI Max+ 395 processor inside, but we can't see much of that thermal system from the single image shown.

On the I/O side of things, the new AOOSTAR NEX395 Mini-PC features a single USB-C port on the front, while on the rear we have DisplayPort, an HDMI port, 4 x USB-A 2.0 ports, another USB-C port, and two RJ45 ethernet ports.

Arkane Studios' former boss Raphael Colantonio criticizes Xbox Game Pass years after the disastrous launch of Redfall.

More game developers are starting to speak out against Microsoft's high-margin Xbox Game Pass service, and specifically, how the subscription has affected the industry at large. The service, which can impact game sales through a replacive "cannibalization" effect, is seen as a collective form of subsidization through Microsoft's large coffers. In short, the business model sees Microsoft funding new projects with multi-year deals that could turn out to be risky bets and not deliver proper return on investment.

While Xbox gaming CEO Phil Spencer has said many times now that Game Pass is profitable, game developers are saying that Game Pass causes active harm to the industry, with Arkane founder Colantonio saying Game Pass can only really favorably exist in the industry if it focuses on back catalog games.

Cyberpunk: Edgerunners 2 is on the way, but the new season won't be a sequel continuation.

Cyberpunk: Edgerunners stands as one of the best examples of transmedia success. CD Projekt's anime adaptation sparked widespread popularity and franchise awareness, which led to boosted Cyberpunk 2077 sales. Now the Polish games-maker wants to do it again with a second run.

Edgerunners 2 is currently in the works, CD Projekt has announced. Edgerunners 2 has been signed for a 10-episode run, and the storyline will be standalone--viewers won't need to watch the first Edgerunners to understand what's happening in the second chapter. Trigger, the Japanese animation studio that worked on the first anime, is reprising their role on the project.

Apple's fleet of next-generation MacBook laptops has been leaked, as well as details on its new iMac, Mac mini, MacBook Air, Mac Studio, and Mac Pro systems.

AppleInsider has reported a list of purported identifiers that tease future-gen systems from Apple, including a mysterious A18 Pro-powered MacBook Pro. We have the new M5-powered MacBook Pro laptops that will be unveiled later this year, as well as the previously reported M5 iPad Pro refresh.

The first to be released will be the 14-inch and 16-inch variants of the M5, M5 Pro, and M5 Max-powered MacBook Pro laptops, expected to drop in October or November 2025. We should also be introduced to a new M5 Mac mini and M5 iMac at the reveal event for the new M5-based MacBook Pro laptops.

TSMC is delaying the construction of its second semiconductor fab in Japan, as it continues to pump more funds into quickly expanding its US-based advanced packaging facilities ahead of potential US tariffs by the Trump administration.

The news is coming from the usual "people familiar with the plans", according to The Wall Street Journal, with the revised schedule from TSMC the "latest example of how President Trump's aggressive stance on trade is pulling some investments toward the US at the expense of allies".

TSMC said in early 2024 that it would be building a second semiconductor plant in southern Japan's Kumamoto prefecture, as part of a $20 billion investment plan in Japan that has brought in over $8 billion in promised support from the Japanese government.

A user has created his own SFF system using the Framework modular PC, which is powered by AMD's new Ryzen AI Max+ 395 "Strix Halo" APU, into a 7.5L fanless chassis, check it out:

The custom fanless project was crafted by SFF Network member "TheJiral" who called it the Monochrome 2, who used Framework's new modular Desktop PC, which TheJiral used as the building blocks of his custom SFF system. The Framework Desktop Motherboard is powered by AMD's new flagship Ryzen AI Max+ 395 "Strix Halo" APU, which TheJiral had paired with 64GB of RAM.

This was a personal passion project by TheJiral, who built the 7.5L fanless chassis ahead of time before the Framework Desktop Motherboard even arrived. AMD's new Strix Halo APU features a 120W TDP, but TheJiral made sure to over- compensate with 140W of cooling capacity, ready for the 16C/32T chip to be maxed out at all times, but run fine passively cooled.

MSI's new Claw A8 gaming handheld is now available for pre-order in China, powered by AMD's new Ryzen Z2 Extreme APU.

The new MSI Claw A8 gaming handheld will be officially launched later this month, with Chinese retailers already taking pre-orders, and JD.com has listed its final pricing on the Claw A8 handheld. JD is listing not one but two prices for its Claw A8, with an official price of 6999 RMB and a subsidized price of 5949 RMB.

This pricing works out to around $860 USD without the discount and around $737 USD with the subsidized pricing, while including VAT we're looking at close to $970.

Kojima Productions' latest AAA sequel appears to be a hit among PlayStation faithful, with analysts estimating games sales in excess of 1 million for the sci-fi title.

Death Stranding 2: On the Beach sold 1.4 million copies at launch, analyst firm Ampere Analysis has estimated. The number-crunchers also note that Death Stranding 2's physical boxed sales are somewhat down in Europe compared to its predecessor, but digital sales are on the rise. This development is in line with current trends--the market has changed in the five-plus years since Death Stranding 1 and 2's releases, and Sony's platform skews more digital now than it had before.

Current exact sales for Death Stranding remain unclear, but we do know the first game sold 5 million copies across PS4 and PC between November 2019 and March 2021. Since the game released on Xbox Game Pass, Kojima Productions now mixes both sales and players data together. All told, Death Stranding has achieved more than 20 million players worldwide.

Grand Theft Auto 6 reportedly has a budget that is north of $2 billion, but Rockstar's next-gen Grand Theft Auto 7 should be cheaper to make thanks to AI reducing the man-hours required during development.

In a new interview with former Rockstar Games Technical Lead Obbe Vermeij on KIWI TALKS, who worked on many of the iconic entries in the GTA franchise including Vice City and San Andreas, who talked about the future of the franchise past GTA 6. He said that GTA 7 should be cheaper to make than GTA 6 because much of the development work will be replaced with AI, with things like working on the maps and cutscenes.

No more manual labor and important man-hours would be spent on these tasks, so it's expected that Grand Theft Auto 7 should be cheaper to produce than Grand Theft Auto 6. We shouldn't expect to see GTA 7 on the market for many years to come, but Take-Two has already mentioned GTA 7... so we know it's coming, it's absolutely inevitable no matter how long it takes.

Sony's Aniplex is working alongside Capcom to create a new Resident Evil mobile game...but it won't be third-person horror like the mainline games.

Capcom recently announced Resident Evil: Survival Unit, a new tactical strategy mobile game. Survival Unit is being developed by JoyCity, the Korean dev team responsible for CrossFire: Warzone, and is being produced in conjunction with Sony's Aniplex division. This branch is lucrative for Sony, with Aniplex's mega-hit mobile game Fate/Grand Order having made over $7 billion in lifetime revenue.

The game is being billed as "survival horror strategy," and the press release asserts that JoyCity is working closely with Capcom to "ensure authenticity and quality." No screenshots or footage have been revealed so far, but Capcom will hold a game premiere on July 10. Capcom has said in the past that it plans to create more mobile games based on key IP in the effort to raise awareness, boost premium game sales, and if possible, collect consistent microtransaction revenues from in-game purchases.

South Korean games publisher Krafton has made a drastic move to oust key members of Subnautica 2's dev team.

Subnautica 2 has been in development for four years and still hasn't released into early access. Krafton, the parent company responsible for the game, responded by replacing key management positions at Subnautica 2 developer Unknown Worlds.

The studio departures are at the highest level, with CEO Ted Gill, co-founder Max McGuire, and Subnautica 2 game director Charlie Cleveland all leaving Unknown Worlds. Krafton has tapped Steve Papoutsis to serve as the new CEO of the Subnautica dev team at Unknown Worlds--Papoutsis previously worked with Callisto Protocol developer Striking Distance Studios.

The new Destiny Rising mobile game is set for a global launch on August 28, 2025 on Android and iOS, NetEase has announced.

Destiny is getting a mobile game, but it's not coming from Bungie. It's called Destiny Rising, and it's the culmination of the $100 million deal that Bungie made with NetEase way back in 2018.

Destiny Rising aims to bring Destiny's action-packed, loot-driven, social multiplayer experience to gaming's most lucrative platform. NetEase has packed in a bunch of content into Destiny Rising, including PVE activities like strikes, campaign missions, and 6v6 PVP modes. There's also a plethora of loot, customization options, and classes/skills straight out of Bungie's shooter (the Titan Sentinel bubble shield is in). Gamers can now pre-register on both Google Play and App Store.

If you're fed up with modern versions of Microsoft's desktop OS, then it might be refreshing to indulge in a bit of nostalgia, with a classic take on Windows that's a combination of old and new.

We should point out upfront that Windows Classic Remastered isn't an actual operating system - it's just a concept video created by a YouTuber (who has done plenty of these sorts of efforts in the past) - but it's intriguing nonetheless.

Check it out in the video clip above (which Betanews discovered) and you'll see that it's along the lines of Windows 95 meets Windows 11 (or 10), featuring a blend of Microsoft's contemporary interface configuration with a classic (read: dated, and it really is) GUI.

PlayStation architect Mark Cerny expected Project Amethyst to take years before bearing fruit, but results started appearing in nine months. This acceleration could be due in part to a team of highly specialized QA testers that studiously evaluated each build.

Sony and AMD have partnered to lead the next generation of console chip technology through Project Amethyst, a multi-year initiative aimed at optimizing AI integration into games tech. Both companies are using machine learning (ML) upscaling algorithms in similar ways, with the same general end goal: to squeeze out more in-game performance without degrading graphics and visuals. AMD is building its FSR upscaling technology (now up to FSR 4), and Sony has PlayStation Spectral Super Resolution (PSSR).

Project Amethyst is going so well that Sony is implementing its console-ready FSR 4 analog--a souped-up version of PSSR--onto the PS5 Pro in 2026. The quick turnaround was apparently influenced by AMD, who, as per Tom's Guide, prompted Sony to create a custom quality assurance (QA) team to analyze the output of each new PSSR algorithm. This team would determine whether or not the image quality generated by the successive PSSR iterations actually looked better than its predecessor.

Microsoft has fixed a nasty bug with OneDrive, though you may need to perform the age-old tech trick of 'switch it off and on again' to restore full functionality to the cloud service on your device.

You may recall that the bug, which popped up in June, meant that some users - across all platforms except Mac (so that includes mobile and the web) - had search broken for them in OneDrive.

Whatever they searched for in the cloud storage locker wouldn't show up in the results presented (even though the files still existed - it was just that search wasn't registering them). Or worse still, the search result would just be entirely blank.

It's no secret that Windows is the dominant platform for PC gaming, especially when it comes to Valve's Steam platform. According to the Steam Hardware & Software Survey Results for June 2025, 95.6% of PC gamers are gaming on a Windows-based desktop, laptop, or portable handheld gaming system, with 59.8% of PC gamers using Windows 11.

Although the transition from Windows 10 to Windows 11 has been a relatively slow uptick in the broader consumer and enterprise PC market, as gamers gravitate toward the latest hardware and software, Windows 11 has been the dominant operating system there for some time.

That said, in recent months, Valve has slowly expanded access to its custom Linux-based SteamOS operating system, as first seen on the Steam Deck gaming handheld and more recently with the Lenovo Legion Go S. And with several reports indicating the games run notably faster on SteamOS versus Windows with the same hardware, there's a lot of hype surrounding additional SteamOS handhelds and dedicated gaming PCs.

The Steam Hardware Survey results for June 2025 are in, and they show that NVIDIA's full line-up of GeForce RTX 50 Series GPUs is quickly gaining market share. The most popular model is the GeForce RTX 5070, which has cracked the Top 25 discrete GPUs among PC gamers.

The RTX 5070 is NVIDIA's latest mid-range offering, succeeding the popular GeForce RTX 4070. Although the RTX 5070 made significant gains in June, the new GeForce RTX 5060 and GeForce RTX 5060 Laptop GPUs are both storming up the charts, making their debut after launching in late May - an impressive achievement.

Following the GeForce RTX 5070, the second most popular GPU in the 50 Series, so far, is the GeForce RTX 5080, followed by the GeForce RTX 5070 Ti in third place. In fact, with the RTX 5060, RTX 5060 Ti, and the flagship RTX 5090 also in the list, the entire lineup is accounted for - barring the brand-new GeForce RTX 5050, which launched this week.

The launch of the desktop GeForce RTX 5050, starting from $249, is the latest NVIDIA launch where review samples were not sent to the media and press ahead of time. At TweakTown, we're in the process of arranging a sample; however, the first RTX 5050 review has already appeared online, courtesy of the Korean outlet Quasar Zone.

The review covers the custom COLORFUL GeForce RTX 5050 ULTRA OC White model, paired with an AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D processor and 32GB of DDR5 memory. With 15 games tested at 1080p, the review compares the RTX 5050's performance to a wide range of entry-level and mainstream GPUs.

Across the 15 titles, the GeForce RTX 5050's performance is within 6.2% of the RTX 4060, while it falls short (2.6%) of the similarly priced Intel Arc B580 'Battlemage' GPU. It's worth highlighting that the Intel Arc B580, although slightly faster than the RTX 5050, also ships with 50% more VRAM, featuring 12GB of faster GDDR6 memory.

Apple's new iPhone 17 Pro Max will be released later this year, with a new rumor suggesting the flagship handset will feature the biggest battery in an iPhone yet.

In a new post from Weibo leaker "Instant Digital", we're hearing that Apple's new flagship iPhone 17 Pro Max smartphone will reportedly feature a 5000mAh battery, up from the 4676mAh battery inside the iPhone 16 Pro Max. If we rewind back to the iPhone 11 Pro Max which had a 3969mAh battery, Apple has slowly been squeezing in more and more battery life into its iPhones over the years.

Apple says that its current-gen iPhone 16 Pro Max has up to 33 hours of battery life, up from the 29 hours of battery life on the iPhone 14 Pro Max, so we should expect the new iPhone 17 Pro Max to feature over 35 to 36 hours of battery life. The increased battery life won't just come from the bigger internal battery, but from improvements and increased efficiency squeezed out of Apple's new in-house A19 Pro chip, and the use of Qualcomm's latest Snapdragon X80 5G modem.