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Activision-Blizzard games will not appear on any subscription services if the merger with Microsoft does not go through.

In a recent 111-page response letter to UK regulators, Microsoft reveals some rather interesting details about Activision's thoughts on subscriptions. According to Microsoft, who cites internal data and sworn testimony from executives, Activision has no plans to bring its big mainline games to a subscription service if the merger is not approved.

This is particularly interesting because of a pre-existing deal that Activision made with Sony. Some time ago Activision had signed a big multi-year marketing and licensing deal with Sony that offered exclusive content to PlayStation. Part of that contract stipulated that Activision could not release Call of Duty on Game Pass. According to Microsoft's recent statements to the CMA, Activision had no plans to release Call of Duty (or any of its big games) to Game Pass anyway.

Microsoft has suggested that Sony disrupt disrupt a business model that has delivered nearly 10 years of success in order to boost the value of PlayStation Plus.

Right now both Sony and Microsoft are going head-to-head with the Activision merger. Sony is arguing against the deal and says it will "threaten the gaming ecosystem," where as Microsoft argues the deal is great for consumers and competition. One of the main arguments is that Sony's PlayStation Plus will have a hard time competing should Activision games become offered exclusively to Game Pass and not available on PS Plus.

So what is Sony to do? Microsoft says that, at minimum, Sony could offer day-and-date releases of key first-party and third-party games on PlayStation Plus. In other words, Microsoft is advising Sony to essentially break the so-called "virtuous cycle" that has helped sustain the multi-billion dollar PlayStation empire.

Neither Sony nor Microsoft are willing to allow either company's competing services on their respective platforms.

Sony's latest response to the Microsoft-Activision merger reveals interesting new information. Sony tells UK regulatory body the CMA that Microsoft will not allow PlayStation Plus on Xbox, which presumably means the company tried to offer its subscription service on Microsoft's ecosystem.

Microsoft had likewise previously offered to bring Game Pass to Sony's platform, suggesting that PlayStation gamers could still access any content that would theoretically be Game Pass-exclusive and thereby circumventing one of the CMA's theories of harm arguments against the Microsoft-Activision merger.

Microsoft's recent comments about Grand Theft Auto 6's release date are based on rumors, not concrete information.

Microsoft recently made a 111-page response arguing why it should be allowed to merge with Activision. That document, which about as long as a novella by Stephen King, outlines a ton of information regarding the games industry, key metrics, and new releases. One of the games mentioned in Microsoft's response is a potential release year for Rockstar Games' massively anticipated GTA 6.

Microsoft's recent comments about Grand Theft Auto 6's release date are based on rumors, not concrete information.

If Microsoft is allowed to merge with Activision, then Xbox will become a "one stop shop" for shooter video games, Sony has told regulators.

Sony's latest response to the Microsoft-Activision merger has made some new arguments against the deal. Sony's core argument boldly claims the merger would threaten the games industry during a pivotal point, but more specific arguments include Microsoft acquiring a much larger share in the very lucrative shooter genre.

Sony has told the UK's Competition and Markets Authority that Microsoft would essentially hold too many popular FPS franchises following the Activision merger, including Call of Duty, which dominates the premium console shooter space with over $31 billion in revenues generated to date. Other franchises would include Overwatch, which certifiably became a billion-dollar series in 2017, joining other wholly-owned Xbox megahits like Halo.

Sony's latest response letter to UK regulators argues heavily against the Microsoft-Activision merger and uses very expressive language to describe multi-billion franchises like Call of Duty.

Before we delve any deeper, there's something I'd like to make clear in this article: This new document is not Sony's official response to the merger itself, but a direct response to the CMA's Issues Statement that was published on October 14. Sony's response was published on October 28 and is nearly 1 month old. It does not include recent developments or reflect recent statements made by Phil Spencer, e.g. the 10-year Call of Duty offer.

Sony's messaging has become much more specific and targeted in this brief. While Microsoft's tone with Call of Duty is now much more confident and adamantly against exclusivity, Sony's language makes it clear that the deal should not go through at all. There's some holes in Sony's arguments to be sure, and most of the document is re-asserting the CMA's position on the merger, but the platform-holder is making some stark and bold comments regarding the merger.

CD Projekt RED shows its peers how to do a real next-gen upgrade with The Witcher 3's impressively robust update.

New-gen game upgrades should be a lot more than simple visual upgrades--they should be more like The Witcher 3's upcoming re-release. CD Projekt RED has detailed the massive amount of added value that this upgrade brings to the core Witcher 3 experience, and many of the features actually help evolve and adapt the open-world RPG to a more modern day gaming market.

Apart from the significant visual upgrades on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S, which includes raytraced global illumination, optimized frame rates and FSR 2.0 / DLSS support, there's a bunch of great new additions that will improve gameplay.

Pokemon Scarlet and Violet has broken new sales records and the duo now has the biggest launch in franchise history.

Despite ongoing controversy regarding in-game performance and often-hilarious glitches, the new Pokemon duo on Switch is performing extremely well. The game has broken all previous records for any Pokemon series release with 10 million copies sold digitally and physically in the first 3 days of availability.

Nintendo confirms that Pokemon Scarlet and Violet also achieved the highest worldwide launch sales out of any video game in the history of all Nintendo video games. For comparison's sake, the previous Switch record-holder, Animal Crossing New Horizons, managed to sell 11 million copies in 11 days' time during the height of the coronavirus. The previous best-launched Pokemon game was Arceus, which had sold over 6.5 million copies in 7 days.

Sam Bankman-Fried recently penned a letter to FTX employees apologizing for the collapse of the company. This letter has managed to get out to the media.

Cointelegraph reports that it has read a copy of the letter Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) dated November 22, the former FTX CEO explains what led to the liquidity crunch that resulted in declaring bankruptcy, the accusations about him in the media via leaked text messages, and other factors that have influenced where the exchange is today. According to SBF, one of the main factors that caused the bankruptcy was the market downturn that caused the assets FTX was holding to rapidly decrease in value, which was quickly followed by a "run on the bank".

The former CEO writes that "I never intended this to happen", and that he wasn't aware of the "full extent of the margin position, nor did I realize the magnitude of the risk posed by a hyper-correlated crash." SBF continued and described his personal role in the collapse of the company as a complete failure in oversight, and that he wishes he was "more skeptical of large margin positions". Furthermore, SBF wrote that he should have had procedures in place based on simulated crashes/bank runs similar to what effectively killed the cryptocurrency exchange.

About 1 million Tesla owners are expected to get a significant upgrade to their sound system when the company rolls out a software update that enables Dolby Atmos.

According to an exclusive report from BGR, Tesla is currently working on an upcoming software update that will improve the sound quality of the vehicle's speakers. The publication spoke to an unnamed source that said the company has been working with major record labels for several months to fine-tune the software and make Dolby Atmos available in Tesla cars. Notably, the software update will be rolled out to 1 million Tesla vehicles that are on the road, and all newly manufactured Tesla cars will come with the software already installed.

For those that aren't familiar with Dolby Atmos, the software is a surround sound technology that is developed by Dolby Laboratories. The technology, originally designed for the cinema market, began to be implemented in 25 cinemas worldwide in 2012, and as of 2022, there are more than 10,000 Dolt Atmos-enabled cinemas. The software itself adds height channels that enable sounds to be interpreted as 3D objects, creating a more immersive surround sound experience with more accurate sound.

The collapse of FTX is being felt worldwide by thousands of users, and while the fiasco is far from complete, the sequence of events is already attractive enough for Amazon to want to get involved.

Amazon has confirmed that it has partnered with the Russo Brothers production studio AGBO to create a new TV series based on the collapse of the world's second-largest cryptocurrency exchange. The Russo Brothers, best known for their work with Marvel, directing titles such as Avengers: Infinity War, Captain America: Civil War, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, and Avengers: Endgame. Amazon is pushing for the duo to direct the series, with the studio also confirming that "Hunters" creator David Weil is writing the pilot.

In a statement, the brothers explained that the collapse of FTX and its filed bankruptcy is "one of the most brazen frauds ever committed" and that the story behind it is multidimensional, touching on many aspects across a wide range of different sectors. Furthermore, the Russos said that at the center "of it all sits an extremely mysterious figure with complex and potentially dangerous motivations. We want to understand why."

Amazon's Black Friday deals are continuously getting crazier and crazier leading up to Friday, and now the online retailer has slapped discounts on a range of Bose headphones.

Good audio can sometimes be the most noticeable difference between an average gaming or music-listening experience and a fantastic one. Bose headphones, and in particular the noise canceling headphones, can really add a new level of listening immersion as the noise canceling blocks out any outside noise through the use of tiny microphones around the headphones to listen to the outside sounds and produce opposite signals to cancel them out.

Amazon has decided to slash the prices on the Bose QuietComfort 45 Bluetooth Wireless Noise Cancelling Headphones, which come in four different colors. The online retailer has reduced the price of these headphones by 24%, bringing them down from $329.99 to $249.99. Below is the full list of the deals.

Black Friday sales have arrived early, with many online retailers slashing prices across a range of various items.

Amazon is no stranger to a sale that features ridiculous prices, and 2022s Black Friday-week of sales is no different with the online retailer putting up sweeping discounts on a range of Fitbit products. Amazon have slapped discounts on the Fitbit Charge 5, Versa 2, Charge 5 Advanced, Versa 4, Ace 3, Luxe, Sense and more, with the minimum percentage off being 30% on all available Fitbit products.

If you were thinking about picking up a fitness tracker to complete your exercise fit, or were thinking of getting an early Christmas present sorted for that special someone, now might be the time as its not known how long this 30% off sale will last for. Below are some of the best deals Amazon has listed in no particular order. Happy shopping!

Yesterday a story was published that claimed Elon Musk took an investment of $100 million from FTX co-founder and former CEO Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF), and now Musk has responded to the allegations.

The story was published by Semafor, a publication that SBF has invested in, which claimed that they viewed an undisclosed text message between Elon Musk and SBF regarding the $100 million in Twitter stock that SBF owned. Musk requested that SBF roll the public Twitter stock into the now-private Twitter owned by Musk. Semafor reported that SBF complied with Musk's request, which is the aspect of the story that has seemingly caught Musk's attention.

The SpaceX CEO took to Twitter to clarify that all public holders of Twitter were allowed to roll their stock into Twitter as a private company, and that SBF chose not to. Additionally, Musk went after Semfaor, writing that "your reporting made it falsely sound like he did, when in fact he owns 0%". Musk didn't stop there as the Twitter owner added, "To be direct, the very real concern here is that you have been pushing a completely false SBF ownership of Twitter narrative while effectively being his paid shill."

NASA has taken to its blog to announce that it lost communication with the Orion capsule on November 23, but everything seems to still be in working order.

According to the announcement made on NASA's social media channels as well as its blog on its website, NASA's Mission Control Center located at the agency's Johnson Space Center in Houston lost communication with the Orion capsule for 47 minutes as officials were unable to send or receive data from the spacecraft.

The space agency writes that teams have conducted a reconfiguration of the communication link between the Deep Space Network and Orion, with NASA writing that these repairs were "successful", and that an investigation has been launched into what caused the issue. Additionally, NASA explains that teams are currently sifting through data from the communication outage event to assist in finding the root cause, and add to the overall assessment.

AMD will officially unleash its next-gen RDNA 3-powered Radeon RX 7900 XTX and Radeon RX 7900 XT graphics cards on December 13, but we're hearing some new information on exactly how the launch will play out.

First, AMD will launch its reference model Radeon RX 7900 XTX and Radeon RX 7900 XT graphics cards on December 13, but the custom AIB models from partners like ASUS, MSI, SAPPHIRE, and others will launch 1-2 weeks later according to the latest from BoardChannel news.

We've already heard and seen teases from ASUS, PowerColor, and SAPPHIRE for their custom Radeon RX 7900 series graphics cards, but it seems that we'll see the custom designs in the weeks after December 13... perfect timing for Christmas.

SAPPHIRE has just officially teased its next-gen Radeon RX 7900 series NITRO graphics cards, with a post on Twitter teasing the card and showing off the new design.

Just like with previous AIB partners teasing their custom Radeon RX 7900 series graphics cards, SAPPHIRE isn't clear on which model they're showing off here -- the flagship Radeon RX 7900 XTX or the slightly cut-down Radeon RX 7900 XT -- but I would dare expect this is the SAPPHIRE Radeon RX 7900 XTX NITRO graphics card.

SAPPHIRE is rolling out with a redesigned look and new cooler, with a gray shroud that looks like it's flat and rocks three axial fans that are spinning in opposite directions. It's a far cry from the slick design of SAPPHIRE's Radeon RX 6000 series NITRO graphics cards, but we need to get some hands-on and eyes-on with SAPPHIRE's new Radeon RX 7900 series NITRO graphics cards before a final judgment is made on the look and style of the card. From the quick video, I'm digging the style so far.

Intel is now hiding features of its new data center CPUs behind a paywall, with the introduction of its new "On Demand" service, effectively a pay-as-you-go service for CPUs that unlocks features as you go (and costing you money).

The new "On Demand" service from Intel will be for their data center customers for now, but I'm sure this is going to shift into consumer CPUs as the years go by, and in some cases it'll be alright -- a data center CPU can get upgraded with new features without a full CPU upgrade -- but it starts a dark path.

Intel has two different models on offer with its new On Demand program: the "Consumption Model" and "Activation Model". The Consumption Model is metered, with flexible consumption to scale performance while the Activation Model is licensed with a one-time feature and software activation.

Sabrent has just kicked off its huge Black Friday sales with some discounts across its range of storage products, from their flagship Rocket 4 Plus-G SSDs down to a new SD card if you need it.

The wicked-fast and super-styled Sabrent Rocket 4 Plus-G SSDs are discounted: the 500GB variant is down from $170 to $130, the 1TB variant is down from $300 to $230, while the 2TB variant is down from $700 to $600. Under the G models, the Sabrent Rocket 4 Plus SSDs are also discounted: the 1TB variant is down from $90 to $72, the 2TB variant down from $150 to $100, and the 4TB variant drops from $300 to $200.

If you've just built yourself a new Intel 13th Gen Core "Raptor Lake" or AMD Ryzen 7000 series "Zen 4" system, then Sabrent has its Rocket DDR5 memory also on special: the Sabrent Rocket DDR5-4800 in single 16GB DIMM form is down from $180 to $100, while the 32GB DIMM drops from $300 to $150 (50% off!). 64GB of Sabrent Rocket DDR5-4800 for $300 is a steal, especially if you've just got yourself a new Intel Core i9-13900K or AMD Ryzen 9 7950X or Ryzen 9 7900X processor.

Sony has revealed when it plans to launch its new next-gen PS6, but when will Microsoft's next Xbox launch?

Microsoft has already confirmed it is working on a new next-gen Xbox console, and now we have some basic idea when the system will launch. In a lengthy 111-page response to UK regulators on the proposed Activision merger, Microsoft has outlined some interesting tidbits about the future of the console market.

According to Microsoft, the next console generation is expected to start in 2028. This would give the current Xbox Series X/S and PS5 generation an eight-year lifecycle that aligns with previous generations. Gen 8, which includes the Xbox One and PS4, has marginally wound down throughout 2021. Gen 9 is expected to last from 2020 - 2028, and give way to Gen 10 in 2028 and beyond.