Latest News - Page 303

It was only last week we heard rumors that Red Dead Redemption 2 would be arriving on the Nintendo Switch 2 much sooner than expected, and that along with the release of the Switch 2 version of the game would be the unveiling of the enhanced versions for current-gen consoles.

These rumors came from industry insider Nate the Hate, who cited "sources close to Rockstar" that informed him Red Dead Redemption 2 was headed to the Nintendo Switch 2 "this year," and that it would be joining the selection of third-party open-world RPG titles such as Elden Ring and Cyberpunk 2077. Not only is there a rumored release for RDR2 on the Nintendo Switch 2, but also a next-gen update for current-gen consoles. Presumably, this update would increase the maximum framerate for RDR2 on current-gen consoles from 30 FPS to 60 FPS.

Now, we have a new teaser from Rob Wiethoff, the voice of John Marston in both Red Dead Redemption games, who said during a recent livestream that he "got such exciting news" and that he "won't be the only one sharing it, I cannot wait for you to know what's going on. And that's all I can say." At the very least, it appears Rockstar Games is cooking something up Red Dead Redemption-related behind the scenes, and that an announcement in some regard is on the horizon.

One of the biggest features of the Nintendo Switch 2, at least from Nintendo's perspective, is the new C button, which enables GameChat.

For those who don't know, GameChat is Nintendo's answer to the gaming landscape, which relies on services such as Discord for gamers to communicate with each other. GameChat is such a prominent feature in Nintendo's eyes that the Switch 2 has a built-in microphone for communication throughout a GameChat room, which players can join, talk, and share screens of their gameplay. However, GameChat is locked behind a Nintendo Switch Online membership, meaning if you aren't subscribed, the button is useless to you.

But, you can remap it. Nintendo has provided the software within the settings of Switch 2 to allow owners to remap the C button to pretty much whatever functionality button on the JoyCon. Users are able to make the C button their screenshot button, home button, or even an A button if they so choose. Below are the steps on how to make that change.

CD Projekt Red and Epic Games have sat down for an interview to discuss the recent Witcher 4 tech demo showcased an Unreal Fest, and how that translates to what gamers can expect with full release of The Witcher 4.

The interview conducted by the tech experts at Digital Foundry delved into many aspects of the extremely impressive tech demo, with the interview revealing CDPR's and Epic Games' goal with the tech demo and what it wanted to show the world with its release.

According to the developers, they wanted to show it was possible to run The Witcher 4 engine on base PS5 hardware with all of the impressive graphical technologies at 60FPS. CDPR confirmed during the interview that it will have 60FPS on base console as its north star for the whole Witcher 4 game, but it's too early in development to confirm if it will release at that framerate.

CD Projekt Red and Epic Games have sat down with the tech experts at Digital Foundry to discuss the recent Witcher 4 tech demo that was showcased at Unreal Fest, and how that tech demo relates to what will be the playable version of The Witcher 4.

Digital Foundry asked CDRP and Epic Games about their decision to run the tech demo on a base PS5, considering the developer has in the past decided to run demos for their upcoming games on PCs. CDPR stated that at the beginning of its collaboration with Epic Games, it set the ambition to target 60FPS on console, instead of choosing PC and then having to scale down the game to console. This decision was made due to past struggles of choosing PC first, which is undoubtedly a reference to the tragic release of Cyberpunk 2077 on console.

As to whether The Witcher 4 will actually run at 60FPS when it releases, well, that is another question entirely. CDPR explained that it is very aware that the tech demo isn't exactly representative of what players will experience within The Witcher 4, as setting the same goal of 60FPS in an open-world far mightier goal than aiming for 60FPS in a tech demo. Despite the goal being mightier, CDPR is still standing by the ambition it set for the tech demo, 60FPS on console.

Apple only recently unveiled its new Liquid Glass design headed to its iOS devices in a coming update, and while the design does aesthetically look good, it does come with some noticeable downsides, which earlier adopters of the updated OS have promptly pointed out.

Now, Windows has decided to jump on the "poke fun at Apple" bandwagon, as Microsoft has taken to the official Windows Instagram page to share an image of one of its old operating systems. See if you can guess it before I tell you the answer. Firstly, the new Liquid Glass design by Apple marks the company's first UI design overhaul in more than 10 years, illustrating this is a major moment for the company, and the new design will be used by Apple products going forward.

The answer is Windows Vista. Microsoft has mocked Apple's Liquid Glass design by sharing an image of Vista's glass-like "Aero" aesthetic, which was released in 2007. For those who didn't use Vista, the aesthetic made UI elements partially transparent, similar to Liquid Glass, but not as intuitive. Microsoft eventually moved away from the Aero aesthetic for its current design language.

In a new blog post, Bethesda has confirmed a Fallout game has been downloaded 230 million times since it was released 10 years ago.

That game is Fallout Shelter, which debuted on iOS in June 2015, and since then, it has been downloaded more than 230 million times across all platforms it's available on. During that 10 year timeframe, the game was also relaunched on new platforms such as Android, PC, consoles and more.

Shelter has easily become the most popular Fallout game ever released by Bethesda, behind iconic titles such as Fallout 4, which has gained between 25 - 30 million downloads since it was released in November 2025.

The first expansion scheduled for Assassin's Creed Shadows has just had its release date leaked, judging by an internal screenshot that has been posted to social media.

The image posted to the Assassin's Creed News X account reveals what appears to be an image captured from an internal presentation of the Claws of Awaji DLC, and below the title, the following date reads: 10/06/2025. For those who don't know, the new DLC will include approximately 10+ hours of additional gameplay, a new region to explore, new weapons, side activities, gear, and skills. Moreover, Ubisoft has teased that players will be "hunted" throughout the DLC, and have the opportunity to reclaim lost treasure while mastering a new weapon type called the Bō staff.

As for the leaked release date, it doesn't appear that this date is final and was just for an internal event, as Insider Gaming's Tom Henderson has said on X that the Claws of Awaji DLC is actually going to be released in September, and not October. There is a very good reason for the month delay, as the spiritual successor to the immensely popular Ghost of Tsushima, Ghost of Yotei, releases in October, meaning Assassin's Creed Shadows' DLC would be competing with that for attention.

Sony Interactive Entertainment could release a native PS4 handheld so that the 8th console generation lives on alongside the PS5 and even the PS6.

Note: The following is opinion based on informed speculation and is not meant to be taken as factual news.

Sony's latest business strategy meeting got me thinking: What if Sony made PS Vita 2, only instead of being its own separate platform, it was a handheld PS4?

Xbox Game Pass may be getting a price hike commensurate with Microsoft's new $80 video games policy.

Microsoft recently made the unpopular announcement that it will raise prices of its consoles, games, and accessories. New Xbox games will cost $80, and the first one was revealed to be Obsidian's The Outer Worlds 2, which is a smaller-scale game compared to AAA RPG megaliths like Skyrim. The Xbox Series X 2TB console costs $729, which is more than Sony's $699 PS5 Pro. There was just one thing missing from Microsoft's reveal: an Xbox Game Pass price hike.

Now it looks like we may have evidence that Xbox Game Pass is getting another price increase in accordance with Microsoft's new inflation-adjusted cost models. A new string referring to a subscription price increase was purportedly spotted in the Xbox Cloud Gaming website's source code by Twitter user redphx, but we were unable to verify independenty through a quick right click -> view source lookup on Chrome.

The Nintendo Switch 2 has already made its way into the hands of now what will be more than 3.5 million people, and according to new data, the Switch 2 is now much more than the "fastest-selling Nintendo hardware."

Data provided by Mat Piscatella, Executive Director and video Game Industry Analyst at Circana (NPD), shows that the Switch 2 sold more than 1.1 million units in the US within its first three days of availability, marking a new all-time launch week sales record for the most video game hardware sales in the US. The record was previously held by the PlayStation 4.

Piscatella added that the sales projection for the week ending June 7, 2025, excluding sales from the My Nintendo Store, is around 1.3 to 1.35 million units. A more accurate figure is expected to be published in the coming weeks.

During its big Xbox Games Showcase last week, Microsoft announced the new ROG Xbox Ally and ROG Xbox Ally X gaming handhelds, which will be coming later this year. Developed in collaboration with ASUS, this new generation of PC gaming handhelds will feature a new optimized version of Windows 11 that will immediately launch into an overhauled Xbox App to allow gamers to play without any unnecessary background tasks or Windows bloat impacting performance or battery life.

The flagship ROG Xbox Ally X is set to be something of a beast. It will be powered by the new AMD Ryzen AI Z2 Extreme Processor with integrated RDNA 3.5 graphics, 24GB of fast LPDDR5X-8000 memory, 1TB of SSD storage, and a full-HD 1080p 120 Hz display that supports VRR. The same display is featured in the lower-powered baseline ROG Xbox Ally that is also on the way, which sports an AMD Ryzen Z2 A Processor with integrated RDNA 2 graphics.

Many wonder why the flagship premium ROG Xbox Ally X handheld doesn't feature an OLED display, a technology widely considered the gold standard for gaming across all platforms. Well, ASUS has answered this question, and the reason is simple.

NVIDIA Reflex is a technology designed to reduce PC latency for competitive games like Fortnite, Apex Legends, and others, improving responsiveness. Basically, with NVIDIA Reflex enabled, the time it takes from the moment you fire off a shot with your mouse to the action being rendered on-screen is significantly reduced. Reflex is available for all GeForce RTX gamers and is currently available in nine of the top ten competitive shooters.

Since its debut in 2020, Reflex technology has continued to improve. NVIDIA announced earlier this year that Reflex 2 is set to introduce a fascinating new technology called Frame Warp, which will further cut latency in half by predicting the camera movements from mouse input and intelligently shifting or warping the frame.

NVIDIA Reflex is also a key technology used for NVIDIA's DLSS Frame Generation and the new DLSS 4 Frame Generation, as it allows for the smoother perceived performance you get from an AI-generated frame to feel responsive and on par with the improved frame rate. And with that, this week, NVIDIA Reflex has passed an important milestone: It's now available in over 150 games.

AMD announced its new Instinct MI350 series AI accelerators during its huge Advancing AI event, also teasing its next-gen Instinct MI400 and next-next-gen Instinct MI500 series AI GPUs.

On the financial side, AMD is poised to make somewhere between $10 billion and $12 billion of revenue from its AI GPU department in 2026 according to some Wall Street analysts. Cantor Fitzgerald analyst, C.J. Muse, sees AMD making $6 billion in AI revenues for the second half of 2025, after AMD launches its new Instinct MI350 series in Q3 2025.

The analyst noted: "if AMD is able to scale its system-level solutions on time and without issues, like those seen at NVIDIA, we believe there could be considerable upside to our CY26 estimates for Data Center GPU (we currently model $8B but see upside potential for $10-12B)".

Ocypus has just announced the launch of its new Gamma C60 series chassis, including the new Gamma C60 and Gamma C60 ARGB, acting as the latest additions to its PC case family.

The new Ocypus Gamma C60 series cases continue building on the brand's signature minimalist design language, combining sleek aesthetics, advanced cooling architecture, and uncompromising compatibility, ready for any and all PC builders and PC hardware.

The new Gamma C60 cases have 6 x fan mounts and an intelligently optimized airflow path that generates a positive pressure environment, dynamically enhancing internal air circulation, efficiently dissipating heat, and maintaining consistent system cooling over time, explains Ocypus. The new Gamma C60 ARGB comes with 4 x 120mm ARGB fans on the front and rear.

Rockstar is reportedly working on a pretty big feature for Grand Theft Auto 6, which would allow music artists to upload their music directly into GTA 6.

Grammy-winning music producer Jermaine Dupri revealed during a chat in the New Rory and Mal show that artists would be able to upload their music directly into an unspecified GTA title... we shouldn't expect this to be GTA V as the release of Rockstar's next-gen GTA 6 is cooking in the ovens of the developer for 2026.

Dupri said that rapper Drake would have his own radio station in the game, and that the rapper himself could upload music to the game that's not available anywhere else... meaning GTA 6 could turn into a music streaming giant of the likes of Spotify, especially if said music isn't available anywhere else (like YouTube Music, Tidal, etc).

AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT graphics cards ship with 16GB of GDDR6 memory made by either Samsung or SK hynix, but you might want to check which VRAM manufacturer has its GDDR6 inside, as Samsung GDDR6-powered RX 9070 XT cards are slightly slower than those using GDDR6 memory made by SK hynix.

In a new test by hardware channel 51972 on Bilibili, which ran a full suite of tests on virtually every single Radeon RX 9070 XT graphics card that's available in China -- an entire 22 different RX 9070 XT cards -- each of the RX 9070 XT cards powered by Samsung GDDR6 memory were around 1-2% slower in 3DMark's Speed Way benchmark run, than their SK hynix GDDR6-powered counterparts.

Even when using the fastest Samsung GDDR6 memory chips on the Radeon RX 9070 XT graphics cards resulted in lower scores than even the slowest SK hynix GDDR6 memory, with 51972 confirming that they corroborated these findings by testing the VRAM specifically using the Clamchowder cache benchmark tool, which showed generally improved results and lower latency on SK hynix GDDR6 memory compared to Samsung GDDR6 chips.

The Nintendo Switch 2 has become the fastest-selling console in history, and with the latest piece of Nintendo hardware now in the hands of millions of owners, some have noticed the company has failed to fix one of the more infamous problems with the original Switch.

Despite the numerous problems with the original Switch, the handheld device sold incredibly well and forged what is now an extremely lucrative and evolving handheld market. One of the bigger problems of the previous console, and something widely reported on, was stick drift.

This issue resurfaced when the Switch 2 hardware was first detailed by Nintendo, with officials confirming they didn't adopt Hall Effect sticks for the Joy-Con 2 joysticks, which are significantly better at reducing the likelihood of stick drift occurring. We are now seeing the first reports of stick drift on the new Joy-Cons.

Microsoft has been pushing its first-party games onto PlayStation for quite some time, but this might be an industry first for the green team - PlayStation is exclusively getting physical discs of Xbox games, while the Xbox physical versions come with a digital game code.

The three Xbox games now under the spotlight are Ninja Gaiden 4, The Outer Worlds 2, and Gears of War: Reloaded. Per Amazon listings, which are currently still live at the time of writing, Ninja Gaiden 4 Deluxe Edition is available to pre-order on PlayStation 5 for $89.99 and it comes with a physical disc, while the same Deluxe Edition on Xbox comes with a "Digital Game Code" that owners redeem to begin the download of the game. The same thing has been spotted for The Outer Worlds 2, as seen in the image below.

To add even more fuel to the fire, it appears Gears of War: Reloaded won't even be getting an Xbox physical release; it will just be a digital download from the Microsoft Store / Game Pass. However, there will be a physical version of Gears of War: Reloaded for PlayStation 5 owners.

Intel has announced it is discontinuing its Arc Alchemist GPUs, which were launched in 2022. Their lifetime is less than three years.

According to a new Product Change Notification posted to Intel's website, the Alchemist line-up, which was the company's foray into discrete GPUs, will say goodbye to the Arc A750 and Arc A770 this year. The A750 will be discontinued first, with its death date being set for June 27, 2025, as that will be the last time the product is ordered. The last shipment date for the Arc A770 will be on September 26, 2025. The Arc A770 will be discontinued on the 18th of November, and its last shipment is scheduled for May 20, 2026.

What does this mean? Add In Board (AIB) partners will only have a few months to place an order on the A770, but can sell the card for the first half of 2026. Intel's discrete GPUs aren't the only models being discontinued, with multiple mobile Arc Alchemist GPUs also being on the chopping block. According to another Product Change Notification the following mobile Arc Alchemist GPUs are now discontinued: A530M, A350M, A730M, A770M, A570M, and A370M.

Sony corporate signals that PlayStation Plus subscription price hikes could be on the horizon as the company adds more value, features, and content to the service.

While Sony has yet to raise the price of the PlayStation 5 console in the United States, the PlayStation Plus service is a different story. Sony has raised PS Plus prices twice now, once globally in 2023, and then a second time this year in select regions (US remains unaffected).

Yet gamers are still subscribing to the more expensive tiers. Sony's data shows that 38% of total PlayStation Plus users are subscribed to the Extra ($135/year) and Premium ($160/year) plans. This does mean, of course, that the vast majority (62%) of users are opting for the cheaper PS Plus Essential plan ($80/year). It's also worth mentioning that Sony discounts these plans to drive up adoption, especially during the State of Play sale where PS Plus Premium dropped to $107/year.