The world of tech just seems to be in a bad place right now. Sony increased the price of its PlayStation 5, Intel and AMD both announced CPU price increases, graphics cards have been in an eternal state of extinction since 2020, DRAM has joined the party with sky-high prices, and even Netflix recently increased prices across all tiers. If you were waiting for some good news on that front, well, today is not that day.

Apparently, YouTube is set to raise prices for YouTube Premium, with most tiers increasing by $2 in the US. Under the new rates, a standard YouTube Premium individual subscription will increase from $13.99 to $15.99 per month. If you are paying an annual subscription fee, the plan now costs $159.99, up from $139.99. You save an extra $4 by going with the annual plan under the new rates, but that feels like a drop in the bucket compared to the $20 price bump.

Users who subscribed through the Apple App Store are set to receive a larger price bump, with the rate for an individual Premium subscription now $20.99. The new pricing doesn't even exempt those with YouTube Premium Lite or the Student subscription. These tiers are also set to receive a $1 price increase, bringing their total to $8.99 per month.

Rockstar Games is hiring four Creator Platform positions, and there's speculation that these new jobs could help establish a UGC framework for GTA 6, possibly a SixM infrastructure or maybe even official user-generated content that's available in the retail build of the game.

A bit ago, Rockstar Games bought Cfx.re, the team behind popular roleplay and creator communities FiveM and RedM. Then the Cfx Marketplace was established, which is a store that sells in-game user-generated content like custom skins and scripts for real money--these creations are compatible with the special role-playing versions of Red Dead Redemption 2 and GTA V on PC.

Cfx is a "community-driven modification framework" that essentially sits on top of the base versions of Rockstar's titles. It's a kind of compatibility layer that enables custom modding, but in a way that Rockstar and Take-Two approve of. The idea here is to create a sanctioned environment that's separate from the official games, including a separate instance of GTA Online, where gamers can engage with custom content and buy it in a digital marketplace, creating a user-generated content economy for Rockstar's GTA V and RDR2. While this strategy still uses UGC, different than something like Roblox, which is entirely built on user-created games. Rockstar's strategy is kind of a side thing that lives and operates alongside their official game servers.

On Thursday, Intel and Google announced a multi-year collaboration to advance AI infrastructure. Under this program, Google will continue to deploy Intel Xeon systems for its AI and cloud infrastructure going forward. Moreover, both companies agreed to work together on the expanded co-development of custom silicon, especially targeted towards AI applications.

According to Intel's announcement, this collaboration is essential for the future of AI infrastructure, as Google and Intel will work together to improve performance and energy efficiency, and to optimize costs for Google's AI and cloud deployments. In simple terms, both tech giants are going to work together to best capitalize on the AI boom.

The outlined program has two major parts: first, Google will continue to use Intel's Xeon processors for its Cloud, AI, inference, and general-purpose workloads. This will include both current Xeon models and future models that will likely be developed with Google's specific needs in mind.

The Redmagic 11 Pro series is among the fastest smartphones in the world right now, featuring liquid cooling and Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 SoC. However, the phone's special "Diablo" performance-enhancing mode has caught the attention of 3DMark and forced the team behind the benchmarking app to ban the Redmagic 11 Pro and Pro+ from its scoreboards due to artificially inflated benchmarking scores.

3DMark tested the Redmagic 11 Pro in two builds of the app, the official version on the Google Play Store, and an internal version not released to the public. It found the phone was outputting Steel Nomad Light benchmarking scores 24% higher in the public build. The test indicates that the phone is programmed to turn on "Diablo" mode in 3DMark automatically by recognizing its name.

"Diablo" mode is a mode that takes the reins off the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 and lets the phone operate at a very high temperature. Redmagic warns against using "Diablo" mode for extended periods of time, as the feature can apparently cause damage to the phone if used constantly. 3DMark recorded surface temperatures of over 50C in some cases, while testing the mode.

After years of hype following its 2024 reveal, Phantom Blade Zero is finally set to launch this year. However, the action-RPG was recently spotted on the list of games supporting NVIDIA's controversial DLSS 5 technology, which has been widely mocked for applying what many call "AI slop filters" to game characters. Seeing the backlash NVIDIA faced, Chinese developer S-Game Studio is now steering clear of the generative AI debate entirely, declaring it won't use any AI in the game.

Phantom Blade Zero Game Director Soulframe Liang posted a detailed letter on X about the studio's commitment to human artistry over AI-generated content. "We are fully aware that a profound technological revolution is unfolding around us. However, to this day, every single piece of content in our game has been crafted by the hands of real artists. We will not use AI visual tech that could alter our artists' original creative intent."

According to Soulframe, every part of the game is created from scratch by human artists. Character models use 3D scans of real actors, who performed facial capture. Voice lines were recorded by real talent in both Chinese and English, with full lip-syncing. Developers tested weapons in person and worked with over 20 martial artists, including kung fu and sword experts from Mount Emei. Environments were built from scans of real locations across China, such as ancestral halls and ancient towns.

Two of the most popular hardware monitoring utilities, HWMonitor 1.63 and CPU-Z, were recently found to be infected with malware. The official websites were hacked, and users trying to download the latest version were getting flagged by antivirus software. After roughly six hours of investigation, the developers identified the breach and removed the malware. Both of the monitoring utilities are now safe to download.

The issue first surfaced on Reddit, where users reported that the official download links had been replaced with malware-infected executable files instead of the legitimate installers. User u/DMkiller shared that while updating HWMonitor from version 1.42 to 1.63, the downloaded file was named "HWiNFO_Monitor_Setup.exe" rather than the expected "hwmonitor_1.62."

When he ran the file, Windows Defender flagged it as a virus, and a quick check on VirusTotal returned 32 security flags. Further analysis by u/Hattix under the same post revealed that the official download links on CPUID's website pointed to a Russian domain with the page header "Установка - HWiNFO Monitor, версия 1.63".

As the games industry faces steeper costs, Amazon is making big changes to Luna, its cloud game streaming service.

Amazon's game streaming service is moving towards a subscription-only option with Luna Premium. The idea is to simplify things and reduce costs, and users can still stream a select arrangement of games via the $10/month Luna Premium. At the time of writing, Luna Premium offers 155 games, but most of them are older catalog releases with the exception of titles like FC26, Hogwarts Legacy, and Indiana Jones and the Great Circle.

Luna is somewhat of a confusing service because of its many moving parts. Before today's update, users could buy games directly on Luna and even play games they already own from other storefronts and services, including select games purchased on GOG and via Ubisoft.

Marathon might be a $40 live service game, but the shooter carries a very AAA budget.

New reports from Forbes' Paul Tassi indicate that Bungie and Sony may have spent in excess of $200 million developing and publishing Marathon, the new extraction shooter from the studio. Sources tell Tassi that this figure excludes the new content outlined in Marathon's robust March - August roadmap. It's also believed that Marathon's budget could be closer to $250 million.

Neither Sony nor Bungie has remarked on Marathon's sales performance or reception so far, but the developer has said that they intend to support Marathon with "years of steady improvements to every aspect of the game."

Elden Ring Tarnished Edition on the Nintendo Switch 2 will apparently cost $80 at launch, and the game comes on a Game-key Card instead of shipping the full title on a ROM cartridge.

The cost of doing business for video game companies is rising higher than ever, and that means higher prices for consumers. Nintendo has tried to fight the rising costs of physical media production and distribution with Game-key Cards, which are dummy cartridge authenticators that unlock digital versions of a game. In other words, the game doesn't ship on the cartridge--Game-key Cards only hold your license to download a game, not the actual game itself.

Game-key Cards were theoretically expected to keep prices down for consumers in exchange for the trade-off of no physical ownership. Fans are bristling after Amazon lists the Switch 2 version of Elden Ring for $80, confirming that the game will ship on a Game-key Card instead of being included on a cartridge.

New estimates indicate that Sony could offer three systems as part of its next-gen lineup, including a PS6 lite model similar to the Xbox Series S, a fully-fledged base PS6 model, and a high-powered handheld capable of playing native current- and next-gen games.

New estimates from Moore's Law is Dead attempt to price out Sony's new PlayStation hardware lineup for the 10th console generation. MLID guesses that Sony could release three hardware SKUs with overlapping chips and components, leading to a cheaper and lower-powered PlayStation 6 system.

The range of products could include the PS6 Lite and a PS6 handheld, both of which might leverage the same 3nm Canis SoC from AMD in an attempt to recycle chips between systems and fully utilize all stock of components. The big kahuna of the generation would be the main PlayStation 6 console that's believed to be powered by AMD's semicustom Orion APU.

Microsoft seems to be hard at work trying to (finally) improve Windows 11 for the end user. Granted, the move might be a bit late, and Microsoft seems to have already lost the trust of a large section of its user base, but it is still an appreciable step in the right direction. Microsoft has already laid out a major plan to improve Windows 11, and now it seems like the changes are rolling out slowly.

We apparently have some movement from Microsoft this week, with Copilot integration being removed from a bunch of Windows apps, such as Notepad, Snipping Tool, Photos, and Widgets. This aligns with Microsoft's earlier promise to scale back unnecessary Copilot integration in its native apps.

The change has been rolled out in the latest Notepad preview for Windows Insiders, version 11.2512.28.0. Users of the preview have noted that the Copilot icon has now been replaced with a new pen icon, labeled "Writing tools". Although earlier builds allowed users to disable the Copilot icon, they disliked its placement and wanted it removed altogether.

Although the current memory crisis and supply issues have led to GPU shortages and price increases in many regions, ASUS's new GeForce RTX 5080 looks set to be the company's most affordable RTX 5080 so far. At a glance, the new ASUS PRIME GeForce RTX 5080 EVO and ASUS PRIME GeForce RTX 5080 EVO OC Edition look identical to previous PRIME RTX 5080 models, except for one notable change.

Based on the product pages, it looks like ASUS has shifted from the original ASUS PRIME GeForce RTX 5080's vapor-chamber cooling to a more traditional approach, while maintaining the same specs and overall physical design. These new EVO variants feature the same SFF-Ready 2.5 slot design with three axial-tech fans and a vented backplate for improved airflow.

Although the vapor chamber is gone, the ASUS PRIME GeForce RTX 5080 EVO OC Edition still maintains the out-of-the-box OC Mode Boost Clock speed of 2685 MHz, a notable but relatively small increase from the reference design's 2617 MHz. This means the overall performance should be virtually identical to that of the non-EVO edition, but the overall operating temperature might be higher.

According to the latest report from the International Data Corporation (IDC), global PC shipments grew year-over-year for the first three months of 2026. Although it was only 2.5%, the PC market delivered positive numbers "despite deteriorating macroeconomic conditions and memory shortage issues."

The report attributes the growth to people buying hardware in anticipation of impending price increases, people finally migrating from Windows 10, and the arrival of new products like Intel's new Panther Lake laptops. The top five PC makers by shipments for Q1 2026 remain largely unchanged from a year ago, with Lenovo leading at 25.2% market share, followed by HP, Dell, Apple, and ASUS.

Interestingly, when you break down global PC shipments by region for the quarter, the Americas saw a 3.3% decline compared to the same time last year, while EMEA (Europe, the Middle East, and Africa) saw a sharp 7.4% increase. However, even though the year has started on a positive note, so to speak, the expectation is that supply chain challenges for components such as memory will affect the rest of the year.

NVIDIA announced DLSS 4.5 back in January at CES, where it launched in beta with DLSS 4.5 Super Resolution, introducing an advanced, powerful new Transformer model for upscaling that offered notable improvements in image fidelity and even detail for all GeForce RTX gamers. This was followed up last week with the arrival of DLSS 4.5 Dynamic Frame Generation and DLSS 4.5 Multi Frame Generation 6X for GeForce RTX 50 Series owners.

The new Dynamic Frame Generation mode represents a big step forward in the technology as it allows users to target a specific frame rate or set it to the maximum refresh rate of their display to get the most out of the motion clarity and smoothness that Multi Frame Generation delivers, with the number of additional AI-generation frames increasing to 6X. This week, NVIDIA has confirmed that with the latest NVIDIA App update, the full DLSS 4.5 suite of technologies has officially launched and exited beta.

And with the configurable DLSS Override feature in the NVIDIA App, DLSS 4.5 technologies are now available to enable in hundreds of PC games. And with that, NVIDIA has announced that DLSS support is now available in some new games, including the action game Samson, which features ray tracing.

With the new Razer Hammerhead V3 HyperSpeed gaming earbuds, Razer has announced its latest gaming audio solution for those seeking an in-ear option rather than a more traditional over-ear headset. To support gaming, the Razer Hammerhead V3 HyperSpeed gaming earbuds feature ultra‑low‑latency 2.4 GHz Razer HyperSpeed Wireless via USB dongle, plus the latest Bluetooth 6.0 for broader compatibility with smartphones, handhelds, and other mobile devices.

One of the more distinctive aspects of the design is that the HyperSpeed Case, which serves as the earbuds' charger, also functions as a USB dongle. When the 2.4 GHz Razer HyperSpeed Wireless is plugged into the case, connect the case to your PC for low-latency wireless audio. This saves you from having to take it out and then plug the dongle directly into a USB port on a PC or laptop.

The earbuds also feature Hybrid Active Noise Cancellation that Razer claims offers 50% more noise reduction than previous generations of Hammerhead gaming earbuds, making this new model better suited for travel and noisy environments. They also have on-ear touch controls for audio and switching between wireless modes and devices, and are IPX4 water-resistant.

With power delivery for modern GPUs still a concern with the new 12V-2x6 PCIe power connector, we've seen a wide range of protection measures and cable designs appear in recent years. However, ASUS's new ROG Equalizer might be the most notable, as it's essentially a 12V-2x6 PCIe power cable designed to address load-balancing and thermal performance issues for GPUs drawing up to 600W, like the GeForce RTX 5090.

For example, each wire or pin on the ATX 3.1- and PCIe 5.1-compliant ROG Equalizer cable now supports up to 17 A, compared to 9.2 A on standard 12V-2x6 PCIe power cables. And with improved load balancing and a patented design, the ROG Equalizer cable can withstand some of the most extreme power scenarios.

"Under an extreme test scenario, we removed the middle 4 wires from the +12V cable to simulate potential current imbalance conditions that may occur with a standard 12V-2x6 PCIe cable," ASUS claims. "Even under these conditions, the ROG Equalizer maintained a temperature of approximately 73.4°C. In contrast, a standard 12V-2x6 PCIe cable reached around 146°C - far exceeding safe operating limits."

At a time when the internet is pushing back against AI slop flooding feeds and creeping into game development, YouTube is doubling down on AI features. This time, it is bringing a tool that lets creators build photorealistic AI avatars of themselves for use in Shorts. YouTube is framing the tool as a way to give creators more control over their digital identity and make content creation more flexible. Instead of repeatedly filming themselves, creators can rely on an avatar built using their own face and voice to do the heavy lifting.

Setting up an avatar is a one-time process that can be done through either the YouTube or YouTube Create app. Users capture a live selfie that also records their voice, with the system prompting them to read specific phrases to capture facial expressions and speech patterns. Once done, the system generates a realistic digital version of the user ready for use in short video clips.

From there, creating content is straightforward. Type in a prompt, wait for the AI to generate a clip of up to eight seconds, and stitch multiple clips together to produce a complete Short. YouTube also lets you add your avatar to eligible existing Shorts by tapping "Remix," then "Reimagine" with your avatar selected.

Google has introduced a new Notebooks feature for Gemini that helps you organize research materials. Google describes notebooks as "personal knowledge bases shared across Google products," designed to pull together scattered research, conversations, and documents into a single reusable space.

The feature arrives alongside Google's full integration of NotebookLM, its AI-powered research tool, into the Gemini app. Google launched a standalone NotebookLM app last year and added it as a source within Gemini shortly after, but now you can create and manage notebooks directly inside the chatbot.

Notebooks work similarly to regular Gemini chats but are designed to help you focus on a single topic. They keep all relevant information and resources together, allowing Gemini to reference them throughout your conversation. To get started, select "New notebook" from the side panel of the Gemini app, give it a name, and begin adding sources.

Borderlands Mobile pops up on the App Store as part of a limited-time test.

Borderlands is getting a new free-to-play version for mobile, but the full game isn't out yet. The game was shadow dropped on the iOS App Store today in a kind of public beta test, giving users the opportunity to try the game and share the feedback with the developers.

The project is being worked on by Take-Two Interactive's wholly-owned Zynga unit, under the group's NaturalMotion development studio. Gearbox, the original creators of the Borderlands series, is helping guide the F2P game's process with creative input.

If you find Spotify's videos annoying and just want your music platform to play music, Spotify is finally giving you the option to turn them off. The company is adding new video controls that let you disable all video content in the app, with the update rolling out to all users globally this month.

To access the controls, head to Settings and select "Content and Display" on mobile or "Display" on desktop. Previously, this kind of control was only available as a parental feature for younger users. Now Spotify is extending it to Premium and Basic subscribers across all plans, as well as users on its free tier.

There are three separate toggles to work with. The first is the existing Canvas toggle, which disables the short-looping autoplay videos that play in the background while a track is playing. The second is a brand-new toggle that specifically turns off access to all music videos. The third disables all other video content on the platform, including podcast videos and vertical video clips. Together, the three controls let you dial back Spotify's video presence as much or as little as you like, right down to a fully audio-only experience.