Latest News - Page 860

There's been another development in the ongoing controversy over whether Intel will have Meteor Lake desktop CPUs coming out.

In recent times, the rumor mill has indicated a pretty firm 'no' on this issue, and that Meteor Lake will be for laptops only, with Raptor Lake Refresh covering the bases for the desktop side of Intel's next-gen processors.

However, Phoronix.com (via Tom's Hardware) has spotted that Intel's engineers are still putting Meteor Lake-S (desktop) code in the Linux kernel.

New testimony in the FTC v Microsoft case reveals that all future ZeniMax games may be made exclusive to the Xbox platform.

Today is the last day in the FTC v Microsoft evidentiary hearing case, and we're already hearing some bombshell reveals. According to emails presented in the hearing between Xbox's GLT (Gaming Leadership Team), it appears that all future ZeniMax titles will be made exclusive to Xbox. This would include all new and future titles from operational units like Bethesda Game Studios, id Software, ZeniMax Online, and apply to games like Fallout 5, The Elder Scrolls VI, new Doom games, the upcoming Indiana Jones game, and much more.

During Stuart's witness examination by the FTC, Commission lawyer James Weingarten dissected key parts of the ZeniMax acquisition (codenamed Atom). Weingarten chronicled a series of email chains that included Jamie Lawver, who oversaw the $7.5 billion ZeniMax integration into Xbox's first-party studios division, Matt Booty, the head of Xbox Game Studios.

When earlier this week, AMD announced that it was Bethesda's exclusive partner on PC for Starfield, millions of online voices suddenly cried out in terror, and most definitely weren't suddenly silenced. In fact, the continued noise around DLSS support has been pretty deafening.

But there's good news, of sorts, for those lamenting the possible lack of DLSS in Starfield - there's a mod on the horizon to fix the situation.

Mind you, before we look at the mod, we should underline the fact that it isn't confirmed that NVIDIA's frame rate boosting tech won't be supported in the space RPG. However, it has been very much presumed this is the case, and that only AMD's FSR will be on-board. In fairness, this seems a likely scenario, but it is not for definite yet.

Advertisements may become a larger part of the Xbox gaming business in the long-term future.

Over the past few months, we've talked a lot about how the Xbox business could evolve. At $16 billion dollar in annual revenue, Microsoft's video games unit is clearly able to make strong earnings...but what about profits? Recent testimony from Microsoft CFO Amy Hood discussed Xbox's profit margins but these values were predictably redacted.

How can Xbox continue to grow when it is 3rd place in the console market, spending big on Game Pass, and also invested in costly and unsuccessful attempts like Project xCloud? The games unit will need to find new ways to monetize its platform of 120 million monthly active users, and advertising revenue could be the next big step.

Graphics card sales are very much flagging for current-gen products, if the latest gossip from the GPU grapevine is to be believed.

Moore's Law is Dead (MLID) provided the inside scoop from various sources in the retail industry - add your own seasoning as ever - as part of the YouTuber's latest video (which focuses primarily on analyzing performance levels of the RTX 4060, though that's not what we're interested in here).

One source at a major retailer outside of the US (presumably in Europe) that MLID spoke to said that NVIDIA's RTX 3060 and RTX 3050 were still selling well at under the $300 (US) mark (the RTX 3050 especially, for those models under $250). And that on AMD's side, the RX 6700 XT and 6600 XT are selling decently.

Sony legal counsel and/or the FTC have accidentally uploaded a poorly-redacted document that reveals key insights on PlayStation's business practices.

Sony and Microsoft are known for their third-party exclusivity deals. Sony's agreements in particular have led to big-budget games like Final Fantasy XVI outright skipping Xbox. These deals offer commercial and operational incentives like upfront payments, direct access to console engineers, and the opportunity to release a game more quickly.

What about subscriptions like Game Pass and PlayStation Plus? Microsoft has already revealed the dynamics of its Game Pass deals, with developers receiving things like an initial payout and earnings based on engagement within the title. Sony, on the other hand, has mostly kept quiet on how it handles its PlayStation plus deals.

The FTC v Microsoft federal case gives more insight into how Microsoft eventually got NVIDIA to get on board with the $68.7 billion Activision merger proposal.

When Microsoft announced it was planning to buy Activision for nearly $70 billion, NVIDIA had originally opposed the deal. In today's evidentiary hearing of the FTC v Microsoft case, NVIDIA's SVP of gaming Jeff Fisher gave insight on how Microsoft allayed NVIDIA's concerns about the merger affecting cloud gaming.

In his testimony, Fisher said that a secondary attachment to the main Microsoft-NVIDIA agreement had solved NVIDIA's worries on the merger. The add-on is called the Windows Addendum, and it seems to have significantly lowered the licensing fees that NVIDIA has to pay Microsoft to secure Windows OS licenses (possibly among other things).

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella strongly dislikes video game exclusivity and wants all of Microsoft's software everywhere it can possibly be.

Today Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella gave testimony in the federal FTC v Microsoft court case, and shared his views on one of the most powerful and lucrative business tactics in the interactive entertainment industry: Exclusives.

"If it was up to me I would like to get rid of exclusivity on consoles," Nadella said. "The dominant player has defined market competition using exclusives. I have no love for that world."

During his testimony at the FTC v Microsoft federal hearing, Activision CEO Bobby Kotick says that Activision titles could be made available on content library subscriptions and cloud streaming services if the commercial incentive is large enough.

While Activision currently has no strategy in its long-term plan (which is a 3-year period) to include Activision-Blizzard games like Call of Duty, Diablo, and others on a multi-game content library subscription service like Xbox Game Pass Ultimate or PlayStation Plus Extra/Premium, the executive today indicated that it's not an impossibility.

Microsoft or Sony would just have to make it worth Activision's while and offer up a substantial monetary incentive. In other words, Activision games could show up on subscription services...but the price would be very high.

What smartphone OS does Google's Bard AI vouch for? Well, apparently it's iOS going by a tweet that flagged up a response from the AI indicating this.

Developer Junaid Abdurahman has been playing around with Bard and posed this question, posting on Twitter that the AI said it prefers iOS for a few reasons.

Namely that iOS is easy to use and highly secure, to name a couple of the points put forward by Bard in favor of Apple's mobile operating system.

Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg might be set for a cage fight - or at least some of the gossip from the rumor mill claims - but if you're keen on getting some big-tech-CEO brawling action right now, well, you can simulate the bout in a freshly released browser game.

The freebie Zuck vs Musk 'techbro beatdown' is the brainchild of the designer of Bejeweled, and founder of Blue Wizard, Jason Kapalka (as PC Gamer reports). It's actually a modified spin of an existing Blue Wizard game, WrestleBros, but with Musk and Zuckerberg starring as the wrestlers.

You can partake in a match against the computer, or versus a human opponent (playing against a local player on the same PC, or online), with wins facilitating upgrades.

Rockstar's original Red Dead Redemption has suspiciously been re-rated by Korea's Game Rating and Administrative Committee, hinting at a possible remaster.

It looks like Red Dead Redemption could be getting a remaster. Korea's GRAC ratings board has just published a final decision for Red Dead Redemption, giving it a mature rating. GRAC received the application earlier this month on June 5, 2023, and made a decision on June 16, 2023.

This new rating is separate from the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions of the game. The new rating does not list a platform so it's hard to be sure.

Despite opinions of the contrary, data shows that Activision-Blizzard is a unique video games company. The publisher routinely generates multiple billions of dollars every year principally from three major franchises--Call of Duty, Warcraft, and Candy Crush. In my coverage on the Microsoft-Activision merger, there's been one point that I've reiterated over and over: Activision is an absolutely massive force in the video games industry.

Unfortunately, this is something that the FTC's key witness, the economist Dr. Robin Lee, failed to adequately demonstrate to federal judge Jacqueline Scott Corley. Lee was provided with a valuable opportunity to illustrate the full magnitude of Activision Blizzard King's presence in the industry.

Judge Corley had asked Lee specifically what other Activision games are important--much of the focus of today's hearing was on the $31 billion Call of Duty franchise, and rightfully so because that series is one of the consistently best-earning franchises ever created--but there's a lot more to Activision's billion-dollar portfolio.

Intel has released a new beta driver for its Arc family of graphics card, and it boosts the frame rates of Assassin's Creed Unity (an admittedly very old game) by a colossal amount.

According to Intel's release notes for driver version 31.0.101.4514, Assassin's Creed Unity (which was out in 2014) runs a rather staggering 271% faster at 1080p (on very high graphics settings), and 313% faster at 1440p (on high settings). That's four times as fast - or rather, 'up to' four times, as Intel observes.

Why is there such a huge jump here? Well, Intel has made no secret that it's (obviously) a mammoth task to optimize Arc drivers from scratch for all PC games out there, so it has concentrated on modern titles naturally (and DX12 or Vulkan).

The ongoing battle between Microsoft and the FTC over the company's planned $68.7 billion acquisition of Activision-Blizzard has been making headlines for a while now, with several Xbox, gaming, and even PlayStation revelations as the case is being heard before a judge. Company emails, testimonies, and even internal-only plans are surfacing - one being Windows related.

According to an internal Microsoft document outlining the company's immediate and long-term plans, it's planning to shift Windows to become a cloud-based operating system that can stream to any device. Similar to the current Windows 365 service exclusive to Microsoft's commercial customers, except for all Windows users with an eye towards Chromebook-like devices.

The information comes from a June 2022 presentation slide about the state of the company's business under the heading "Move Windows 11 increasingly to the Cloud" as a long-term opportunity. It states that the cloud and client will "enable improved AI services and full roaming of people's digital experience."

Razer's latest gaming audio product might look like earbuds, but the new Razer Moray headphones represent the company's first in-ear-monitors (IEM). What's the difference between these and, say, Bluetooth earbuds? Well, for one, anytime you hear the word 'monitors' when it comes to speakers or headphones, expect a focus on balanced, high-quality audio designed for creators and enthusiasts.

And here's the thing: Bluetooth or wireless audio is fine for most people, but the audio quality isn't great - hence why the Razer Moray in-ear monitors are wired. Razer is tapping into a market usually associated with more niche brands, the in-ear monitoring or wired earbud space, with the Moray design following many of the principles seen there, including things like high-quality braided cables and connections.

Designed with the "unique demands of gamers and marathon streamers" in mind, the Razer Moray buds can be used for pretty much anything, thanks to the focus on premium audio quality - bolstered here by THX Certification.

According to a new report at Seeking Alpha, the per-wafer cost of TSMC's upcoming 2nm process technology will be USD 24,570 when production begins in 2025. This represents a 25% increase over 3nm wafer costs, the current cutting-edge node at TSMC. Wafer costs for 3nm already increased by up to 40% over 5nm, so we're getting a clear picture that more advanced chipsets will also advance in cost.

With the price of consumer-focused enthusiast CPUs and GPUs for gaming and other tasks increasing in recent times, not to mention the unprecedented price increases for consoles like the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X, we could see the next few generations of gaming hardware cost more than we're used to.

When it comes to GPUs for PC gaming, which feature TSMC process technology, if AMD or NVIDIA choose to use 3nm or 2nm process nodes - then it could see the price of flagship GPUs from both companies dramatically increase. This is wild to think about when the GeForce RTX 4090's MSRP is already an eye-watering USD 1,599.

As part of an AI training demonstration showcasing the prowess of NVIDIA's H100 hardware, which saw a whopping 3,584 Hopper GPUs train a GPT-3 AI model in 11 minutes, the company also revealed a roadmap for its upcoming products - including what will eventually become the GeForce RTX 50 Series.

The roadmap refers to the technology as "Ada Lovelace Next" alongside "Hopper Next" and "Grace Next," so there are no clues as to what architecture will be called. It highlights a 2025 release, so we might have to wait longer than usual before seeing the GeForce RTX 5080 and GeForce RTX 5090.

Traditionally new GeForce hardware and architecture arrived every two years, give or take a few months. The Pascal-based GeForce GTX 10 Series arrived in 2016, the Turing-based GeForce RTX 20 Series in 2018, the Ampere-based GeForce RTX 30 Series in 2020, and the Ada Lovelace-powered GeForce RTX 40 Series in 2022.

"AMD is proud to announce that we are Bethesda's exclusive PC partner for the next-generation role-playing game, Starfield," reads the announcement. As one of the biggest PC releases of the year (or decade), the 25-years-in-the-making sci-fi RPG epic from the studio behind Skyrim is out in September.

AMD notes that it has worked closely with the team at Bethesda Game Studios on the release of Starfield across the PC and Xbox versions. This makes sense, as Xbox features AMD hardware for its CPU and GPU.

AMD highlights that optimizations have been made for multi-threaded processing for both PC and Xbox, with added support on PC for the new Ryzen 7000 series of processors and the new Radeon RX 7000 series graphics cards. FSR 2 upscaling will be available in the game across PC and Xbox Series X|S hardware.

Sony Interactive Entertainment CEO Jim Ryan tells federal courts that he believes Activision CEO Bobby Kotick wanted to make a separate side deal to ensure Activision games, including Call of Duty, would continue shipping on PlayStation if the $68.7 billion merger with Microsoft fell through.

In 2022, the bosses of some of the most powerful forces in gaming came together in Brussels to share their opinions of the Microsoft-Activision merger with the European Commission. Among them was PlayStation CEO Jim Ryan and Activision CEO Bobby Kotick, two men that have enjoyed a prolonged business relationship that has spiraled upward into a multi-billion dollar arrangement.

In private, Ryan allegedly told Kotick:"I don't want a new Call of Duty deal. I just want to block your merger." Now in today's recent evidentiary hearing in the FTC v Microsoft federal case, Ryan clarifies on what led up to that eye-opening statement.