Latest News - Page 44

The future of gaming might see consumers interacting directly with some sort of generative AI that changes gameplay on-the-fly

Take-Two Interactive CEO Strauss Zelnick has an interesting idea about the future of gaming, and how LLMs could be used to power bustling engagement in online games.

In a recent interview with CNBC, Zelnick shares his thoughts, teasing that such experimental tech is actually in the works. It's hard to tell if Zelnick is referring to this tech being used at one of his own studios--maybe Rockstar Games, or 2K Games?--or if he's nodding to EA's new gen AI chatbot revealed to investors in 2024.

AI, generative or otherwise, hasn't really affected the staggeringly-high video game budgets. The CEO of one of the industry's biggest companies explains why.

Take-Two Interactive CEO Strauss Zelnick has a level-headed take on AI as it pertains to game development budgets. It's an understanding rooted in history, with an emphasis on how advancements tend to create more complexities as new opportunities are opened.

In a recent interview with CNBC, Zelnick says that AI hasn't really helped budgets so much--nor does he expect it to. Instead, he expects AI to drive up costs in order to meet consumer demand.

After months of speculation, it looks like Sega is officially reviving the classic Crazy Taxi franchise. The Crazy Taxi X account just dropped a short teaser hinting that the game may be coming back. Just to put it into context, the Crazy Taxi Twitter account had been dormant for nearly seven years, with its last tweet being in 2019.

The teaser itself is quite short and does not provide much detail. We see a taxi sign lighting up against a dark background, which signifies the series coming back to life. The art style is quite different from what we have come to expect from Crazy Taxi, but that might just be a completely separate video unrelated to the game's design.

The new Crazy Taxi was teased at The Game Awards 2023, and we haven't heard much about the game since. However, it looks like the game is nearing completion, given that Sega is confident enough to drop a teaser. Considering the fact that we are close to State of Play and Summer Game Fest, it wouldn't be out of the question to see Crazy Taxi being revealed at one of those events.

During Championship Sunday at the RLCS Paris Major, Epic Games and Psyonix took the stage and dropped what might be the biggest Rocket League announcement in the game's history: it is making the jump to Unreal Engine 6. The announcement landed just before the semifinal clash between Team Vitality and Karmine Corp, and the crowd inside Paris' La Défense Arena absolutely lost it.

What made it even more surprising was the engine that they chose. For years, fans and pros alike had been anticipating a move to Unreal Engine 5, so when UE6 was announced as the destination instead, it genuinely caught people off guard, including players who were right there on-site at the event.

A trailer came with the announcement, giving fans a look at in-game footage running on the new engine, though no release date was shown. From what people saw, the visuals are borderline photorealistic, which is a pretty wild thing to say about a game that still runs on decade-old technology.

Market pressure is finally softening for AMD's flagship RX 9070 XT, as sluggish demand forces retail prices to align more closely with MSRP. This downward shift, largely attributed to lackluster demand, has seen UK retailers list cards at around £600. Select variants in Japan have fallen below the ¥90,000 threshold, according to VideoCardz.

The RX 9070 XT had a rocky debut last year, struggling to meet AMD's $599 MSRP for months. When prices finally stabilized, the ongoing DRAM supply crunch took effect. However, it seems that pricing for a handful of models in several regions is finally cooling down.

As noted by OC3D, several UK retailers, including Overclockers UK, have a selection of triple-fan models from ASUS, XFX, and PowerColor priced at £599.99 ($800). This puts them just 5% shy of AMD's official £569 ($750) MSRP. While these variants are a welcome shift, it's worth noting that they remain the exception. The majority of premium board partner models continue to trade well into the £700 ($950) territory. Note that these prices include the VAT.

We've all been there. Your character suddenly starts moving on its own; you look down at your controller in despair and find the left stick perfectly centered. Stick drift is one of the most common reasons behind a controller upgrade, and it is actually a really complicated problem to solve. Most of the time, you will need to crack open your controller and replace the internals, and even then, the problem often does not fully go away.

However, we may have a solution on our hands that does not involve any hardware tweaks. Controller repair specialist @Modyfikator89 on X (formerly Twitter) just published a new way to calibrate an Xbox controller with stick drift using the free tool DriftGuard. Apparently, you can now use the DriftGuard utility to unlock manual and automatic calibration for any Xbox controller, writing the patch directly onto the controller's memory.

Modyfikator is calling this a "historic breakthrough," and there may be some truth to that exaggeration. The fix is reported to be unpatchable and permanent because it is written directly into the controller's memory. It looks like all Xbox controllers are supported, including Xbox 360, Xbox One Standard, Xbox One S, Xbox One X, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox Elite V1/V2, and the SCUF Instinct Pro Controllers.

TSMC employees are reportedly pushing back over rumors that the company may cut employee bonuses, even as the chipmaker continues to post record profits driven by the global AI boom. The company's net profit jumped 58% year over year in the first quarter of 2026, making the timing of any potential bonus reduction particularly tone-deaf from an employee perspective.

The frustration has spilled onto social media, with dedicated Facebook communities for TSMC staff reportedly flooded with angry complaints. Employees are venting about working high-stress, exhausting shifts while the company prioritizes investor returns and capital expansion over workforce compensation. Some are now openly discussing tougher action, with ideas of deploying Samsung-style strike tactics gaining rapid traction across the company's ranks in Taiwan.

The Samsung comparison is not accidental. This week, Samsung Electronics narrowly avoided a catastrophic factory shutdown by signing a last-minute deal with its union, creating a record $26.6 billion performance-based bonus pool. The deal prevented a strike that could have cost Samsung upwards of $66 billion and disrupted global memory chip supply chains. TSMC employees appear to be watching that outcome closely and drawing their own conclusions about what organized pressure can achieve.

HP has started listing configurations for its new HyperX Omen 15 gaming laptop, giving us a clearer picture of what to expect when it starts shipping. First announced at CES 2026 in Las Vegas over four months ago, the Omen 15 is a smaller alternative to the Omen 16 and appears to be exclusive to North America for now.

The Intel version of the Omen 15 is now listed with up to the Core Ultra 9 386H, with another configuration using the Core Ultra 7 356H. Both chips belong to Intel's Core Ultra Series 3, known as Panther Lake, and share the same 16-core layout with 4 Performance cores, 8 Efficient cores, and 4 Low Power Efficient cores. The Core Ultra 9 386H boosts up to 4.9GHz while the Core Ultra 7 356H reaches 4.7GHz. Both carry 18 MB of Smart Cache, 25W base power, and up to 80W maximum turbo power.

It is worth noting that the standard 386H and 356H use only 4 Xe3 cores for integrated graphics, unlike the Core Ultra X models, which feature stronger Arc B390 graphics with 12 Xe3 cores. However, the H SKUs are better suited for gaming laptops with discrete GPUs due to their higher PCIe bandwidth, which is exactly how HP is positioning the Omen 15.

Ayaneo has taken the wraps off its next retro gaming handheld, with a design that draws heavily from Nintendo's original Game Boy. Called the Kronkr Pocket Block, the handheld feels like yet another Game Boy-inspired device, but this time Ayaneo is leaning into AI so hard that it's calling it the "world's first AI gaming handheld."

Ayaneo debuted the Kronkr Pocket Block during one of its streaming sessions, where CEO Arthur Zhang showed how much smaller it is compared to previous devices like the Pocket Vert and Pocket DMG. The reveal was light on details, with two color options and a design that blends retro aesthetics with a cyber-inspired look.

On the AI front, Ayaneo states that the Kronkr Pocket Block will provide a smarter, more engaging gaming experience while maintaining the feel of portable gaming. Despite Zhang showing off a working unit, the company offered no specifics on what these AI features actually are or what makes it the world's first AI handheld. Since there is no mention of the actual hardware inside the Pocket Block, it's hard to even guess what those AI features might be related to.

Microsoft Office is finally letting you move the Copilot button after acknowledging that the new floating button was getting in the way of users' workflows in Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. According to Windows Latest, starting in the last week of May 2026, an update will give users the option to move it back to the ribbon where it belongs.

The button, officially called the Dynamic Action Button, has been part of Microsoft Office apps since December 2025. It floats above the bottom right section of spreadsheets and documents, causing problems for users. Excel users were hit hardest, with the button floating directly over spreadsheet cells and blocking data with no easy way to dismiss it.

Once the update rolls out, users can right-click the Copilot icon and move it back to the ribbon. Microsoft already added a docked mode that reduces the space the button takes up, and that option is staying. Users will be able to switch between the floating button, the docked version, and the ribbon placement depending on their preference.

Analysts have lofty estimates for GTA 6 sales, and if they're right, Rockstar's sequel won't just break records--it will define them.

Take-Two Interactive is standing by GTA 6's incoming November 19 launch, and both gamers and investors are watching with anticipation. The game is expected to have an explosive release with megaton sales amounting in the tens of millions of copies, raking in billions in the process--Morgan Stanley in particular believes GTA 6 could become the fastest-selling game of all time.

According to Investor's Business Daily, Morgan Stanley has forecasted GTA 6 to sell 40 million units through FY27: "We continue to believe TTWO remains uniquely well positioned heading into one of the largest entertainment launches in history, with significant operating leverage potential if GTA 6 outperforms our current assumptions of about 40 million units sold in fiscal 2027,"Morgan Stanley analyst Matthew Cost tells investors.

After more than a decade, Bungie is winding down the Destiny franchise...but hopeful fans are nonetheless petitioning Sony to greenlight a sequel.

Fans are calling on Sony to approve Destiny 3 in a rapidly-growing Change.org petition that has reached over 122K signatures at the time of writing. Bungie recently announced that Destiny 2 is going into retirement, and all future expansions have been cancelled. The game will remain online, but new content updates will no longer happen, and Destiny 3 is not in development. Longtime fans are appealing to Sony to allow Bungie to make Destiny 3, as recent reports indicate that Bungie developers are pitching new projects set in the Destiny universe to management, yet none of these projects have yet to be greenlit.

"Our passion and commitment to the Destiny franchise drives us to reach out to Sony and express our collective voice. We believe in the potential of Destiny 3 to inspire new generations of gamers and to keep the fire of the Guardian spirit alive," reads part of the petition, which could very well break over 150K signatures throughout the weekend.

Intel recently expanded its Arrow Lake-HX lineup by quietly launching the Core Ultra 7 251HX. This uniquely-named CPU was first spotted in some gaming laptop listings before Intel made its product page available on ARK. The CPU sits between the Core Ultra 5 245HX and the Ultra 7 255HX, so it is a mid-range Arrow Lake-HX chip for performance-focused mobile devices.

Under the hood, the 251HX packs 18 cores in a 6P+12E configuration, two fewer than its bigger sibling, the 255HX. As far as performance goes, a recent leak showed the Core Ultra 7 251HX going up against the Core i9 14900HX and the Core Ultra 7 255HX in a Cinebench R23 run. The results are rather interesting and require some interpretation.

Per the leak from @realVictor_M on X (formerly Twitter), the Core Ultra 7 251HX delivered nearly 30,000 points in the multi-threaded Cinebench R23 test, almost matching the result of the Core i9-14900HX. The latter is a 24-core CPU with an 8P+16E configuration and hyperthreading, bringing the thread count to 32. The fact that the Core Ultra 7 251HX can match the multi-threaded Cinebench R23 score of the 14900HX while having 6 fewer cores is astonishing.

It looks like OLED monitors are flying off shelves at a pace that would have seemed unthinkable just a couple of years ago. According to the latest research from global market intelligence firm TrendForce, global OLED monitor shipments soared 78% year over year in Q1 2026. That said, shipments dipped 11% on a quarter-over-quarter basis compared to Q4 2025.

That drop is largely seasonal, and part of it is down to the aggressive promotional campaigns at the end of last year that pulled forward a chunk of demand. For context, full-year 2025 OLED monitor shipments already posted a 92% year-over-year increase, with roughly 2.7 million units shipped globally.

So what is actually fueling this kind of growth? A few things have clicked into place at the same time. Burn-in concerns that kept many gamers on the sidelines have largely faded after real-world durability tests have proven modern OLED panels can take a beating. Prices have also come down significantly, and the 27-inch QHD format running at 240Hz is now the sweet spot that checks all the boxes for gaming performance and value.

Intel's new Wildcat Lake laptops might have been designed to combat Apple's budget-friendly MacBook Neo, but they're launching alongside an unexpected fire sale on premium hardware. As manufacturers clear inventory, Lunar Lake laptops are now crashing to $600 in China, creating an overlap between the two options.

Wildcat Lake arrives as a budget sibling to Intel's latest Core Ultra Series 3 Panther Lake architecture. Optimized for cost-efficiency, it features a 6-core hybrid configuration (2P + 4LPE) utilizing Cougar Cove P-cores and Darkmont E-cores. To keep costs down, the integrated GPU is scaled to 2 Xe3 cores, and the memory architecture is restricted to a single-channel configuration. While global availability remains scarce, we're seeing a steady influx of these devices in China at $400-$600.

Early benchmarks show that Wildcat Lake is highly competitive against Apple's MacBook Neo. While laptop designs vary by manufacturer, Wildcat Lake laptops can offer more memory, storage, and active cooling at lower costs than the Neo. Despite the current DRAM crisis, Wildcat Lake is a welcome relief for the masses, with Intel's Project Firefly vowing to introduce affordable laptops based on a thin-and-light reference design.

Valve's new Steam Controller has been a massive success, with largely positive customer feedback. In fact, demand has been so high that the company launched a reservation system to prevent scalpers from buying up new stock. Now the controller has found itself in the spotlight again, but this time for a design flaw that could be life-threatening in the worst circumstances.

The controller ships with a Puck that acts as a 2.4GHz wireless receiver and magnetic charging dock. It is a vital part of the Steam Controller package, but a Reddit post claims the accessory nearly caused a fire after coming into contact with a metallic smartwatch strap.

As reported on r/SteamController, user u/Toikka shared that they were charging a Pixel Watch 4 near the Steam Controller when the watch band touched the exposed contacts. Their watch strap heated up and started "sizzling". Thankfully, they were nearby and separated the devices before a fire started. The Reddit user reported that both the Steam Puck and the Pixel Watch 4 sustained only cosmetic damage.

Chinese display maker Tianma Microelectronics has become the first company to unveil a display optimized for Intel's next-generation Razor Lake processors. Razor Lake isn't coming anytime soon, with Nova Lake being Team Blue's immediate priority, but this is the first time we are seeing a display manufacturer already getting Razor Lake-ready products in the pipeline.

During Intel's Client Ecosystem Symposium and Edge Solution Summit 2026 in Shanghai, Tianma announced two laptop-focused display panels, including one already optimized for Intel's next-generation architecture. The two panels are a 16-inch WQ display supporting variable refresh rates from 1Hz to 120Hz and a 14-inch 2.8K in-cell touch panel.

The headline product is the 14-inch 2.8K in-cell touch display with a 30Hz to 120Hz refresh rate, "deeply" optimized for the Razor Lake platform. The panel supports Intel's ITST function, which manages the refresh rate and touch module together. In static workloads, the panel drops to 30Hz and intelligently disables touch functionality to reduce power consumption.

NVIDIA introduced its Vera CPU back in March at GTC 2026, billing it as the world's first processor purpose-built for agentic AI workloads. The chip is an ARM-based, 88-core design that can be sold standalone or paired with the Rubin GPU inside NVIDIA's NVL72 systems, and the company has already hand-delivered its first Vera units to partners including Anthropic, OpenAI, SpaceX, and Oracle.

Now, the revenue projections attached to Vera are turning heads in a big way. During NVIDIA's recent earnings call, CFO Colette Kress stated that the company expects its Grace and Vera CPU lineup to bring in around $20 billion in revenue this fiscal year alone. CEO Jensen Huang framed the broader opportunity as a brand-new $200 billion total addressable market (TAM), one that NVIDIA says it has never previously addressed.

To put that $20 billion figure in perspective, Intel's Data Center and AI division pulled in $16.8 billion across all of last year, while AMD's data center segment brought in $16.63 billion in 2025. However, one can argue that the AI boom will lead to higher revenue for these companies as we move through 2026 and towards 2027.

Take-Two's latest earnings results give an update on total Grand Theft Auto franchise revenues, with the series nearing $10.6 billion earned since 2013.

According to Take-Two's latest earnings report, Grand Theft Auto earned $825 million throughout the FY26 financial year, representing around 12.4% of the company's total yearly net revenues.

The results show GTA is actually up +14% from last year's $709 million earned in FY25, likely due to a mix of game sales--GTA V shipped 20 million copies again this year--as well as a healthy influx of new GTA+ subscribers and GTA Online spending. Rockstar also benefited from multiple subscription deals throughout the year, as GTA V appeared on both PS Plus and Xbox Game Pass.

Red Dead Redemption 2 has officially beaten Wii Sports to become the third best-selling video game ever made, and Rockstar has 2 out of the top 5 games on the list.

Rockstar's wild west outlaw opus Red Dead Redemption 2 is now the third best-selling video game of all time by shipments. According to Take-Two's latest FY26 earnings report, the game has shipped more than 85 million units worldwide on consoles and PC combined, beating out the previous third spot-holder, Wii Sports at 82.9 million.

Sales trends show that Arthur Morgan's adventure typically ships anywhere from 2-3 million copies per quarter, including both digital and physical units.