Gaming - Page 118

The Battlefield 6 beta is right around the corner, and one of the biggest points of criticism is the title's Time-to-Kill (TTK) system, which was quickly pointed out by many following the multiplayer reveal event.

For those who are unfamiliar, a TTK system is a common phrase used in shooter games that refers to how long it takes to eliminate an enemy. For example, Call of Duty has a really short TTK. As with most weapons, it takes less than a second for an enemy to die from the moment the first bullet lands.

A notable contrast is Apex Legends, which has a significantly longer TTK compared to Call of Duty, as players are running around with armor. Which is better? Neither. Short TTKs are typically more punishing for new players as they promote fast, twitch-based gameplay, while longer TTKs result in more tactical engagements that last longer durations.

The beta for the highly anticipated Battlefield 6 is right around the corner, and we have just learned that if the servers are empty, which doesn't seem to be very likely at all, considering 12,000 people are currently waiting in queue at the time of writing, the empty player spots in a match will be filled with AI bots.

Battlefield 6's development team confirmed the news during the Battlefield 6 multiplayer reveal event in Hong Kong, with development director Anna Narrevia saying one of the goals of the upcoming Battlefield 6 is to enable as many players to enjoy the title together at any given moment. However, to achieve that goal, whenever there are empty slots in servers, they will be filled with AI bots. This feature isn't totally new for Battlefield 6, as Battlefield 2042 also took the same approach.

Unfortunately, as an avid 2042 player, I noticed a critical downside of the bots sometimes taking over the servers. What happens is that typically a large portion of bots are placed on one team, and the opposing side steamrolls their opposition to a point where they have taken control over many critical spots on a Conquest map. This means that when real players joined the match, they were joining a losing game as the real-life players had already dug in to the various locations that are great for holding down positions.

The early access beta for Battlefield 6 is just hours away. If you've secured an early access code and want to jump into the action, remember not to run DS4Windows when the beta launches, as it simply won't work.

After seeing users reporting that an error message was popping up when DS4Windows was running and the Battlefield 6 beta was launched, I proceeded to test it myself, and I was presented with the above error message. For those who don't know, DS4Windows is a collection of software utilities that enables the use of a PlayStation DualShock 4 controller with a Windows PC. Gamers typically use this software, which is quite popular, when the game they want to play doesn't come with native support for a PS4 controller.

The software works by emulating an Xbox 360 controller and enables the user to remap buttons and inputs on the controller. However, Battlefield's anti-cheat engine detects the software as malicious and will not allow a user to boot into the game if the PC is running the software when the game is launched, or if DS4Windows is launched after the game is already opened (the game will crash).

NVIDIA has just confirmed that Battlefield 6 will indeed feature DLSS 4 MFG, DLAA, and Reflex support, and it looks like these technologies will be available in the upcoming open beta which goes live in less than 24 hours.

In a new post on X by Jacob Freeman, GeForce Evangelist at NVIDIA, he simply noted: "The Battlefield 6 Open Beta is available for preload now. Supports DLSS 4 MFG, DLAA and Reflex!" When it comes to the game itself, Freeman noted that he's "really loving the look of BF6 so far, cannot wait. BF3 and BF4 were my favorite of the series. Easily hundreds (maybe thousands) of hours in these 2 games".

Battlefield 6 with DLSS 4 support is going to be a huge deal for GeForce RTX 50 series GPU owners, as we've already seen users running gaming PCs with an AMD Ryzen 9 9800X3D + GeForce RTX 5080 combo slicing through the Battlefield 6 beta at 1440p (native) at over 300FPS. That's without DLSS 4, just to be clear, so with DLSS 4 enabled, we should see even better performance.

With the arrival of the latest AMD Software: Adrenalin Edition 25.8.1 driver for Radeon GPUs, the final piece of the puzzle is now in place. Yes, FSR 4 support is finally officially available in Cyberpunk 2077, with developer CD Projekt Red confirming that Radeon RX 9000 Series gamers can now enjoy the improved image quality of the AI-powered FSR 4 in-game.

So if you've got a Radeon RX 9070 XT, RX 9070, or RX 9060 XT GPU, you've now got the option to choose FSR 4 Super Resolution instead of the inferior FSR 3. As noted in our reviews of multiple RDNA 4 GPUs in recent months, FSR 4 presents a massive improvement to image quality, so much so that it's finally a worthy competitor to NVIDIA DLSS.

FSR 4 being added to Cyberpunk 2077 is something we've wanted to see for a while now, as the improved ray-tracing performance that you get with RDNA 4 GPUs like the Radeon RX 9070 XT means that owners can now enjoy the title's impressive RT Ultra quality setting at 1440p and 4K with noticeably better image quality.

Sony's next-gen PS6 console will push 4K 120FPS all day long, with a huge 5-10x improvement in ray tracing (RT) performance over the base PS5 console.

We've been hearing more and more details about the next-gen PlayStation 6 console through leaks, with most of them coming from Moore's Law is Dead. MLID just posted his Broken Silicon podcast, providing more details on the PS6, where he said we can expect a whopping 5-10x performance leap in ray tracing over the base PS5.

When it comes to rasterization performance, the next-gen PS6 console has already had leaks that we can expect somewhere between 2-3x the base PS5 performance, putting it at Radeon RX 9070 XT and GeForce RTX 5080 levels of GPU performance.

Sony's next-generation PlayStation 6 console will be radically faster and more technologically equipped than its predecessor, with leaks suggesting the GPU power inside of the PS6 will be around Radeon RX 9070 XT performance.

In a new post on the NeoGAF forums, leaker Kepler_L2 has predictions of RX 9070 XT performance for the PS6, and that the next-gen Xbox will have performance close to NVIDIA's GeForce RTX 5080 graphics card. AMD's new RDNA 5 GPU is being split into two dies: AT0 and AT2, with the next-gen consoles presumably having AT2 dies for their next-gen RDNA 5 portions of the APU.

AMD's upcoming AT2 die was leaked by Moore's Law is Dead, with the RDNA 5 family split into four different parts with the AT0 die used for the flagship RDNA 5 GPU and the purported Radeon RX 10900 XT (placeholder name) that would sport an incredible 154 CUs of RDNA 5 performance.

Reimagining Nintendo 64 classics, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, or The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask in Unreal Engine is something we've seen before. Often, these examples simply focus on recreating classic Zelda characters and locations with realistic lighting and more detailed models, which is why this new example from artist Benoit Bourgerie stands out.

The level of detail and high-quality Lumen-powered lighting is just the icing on the cake, as the real star of the show here is the art direction that pays homage to the Zelda franchise's cartoon and animated film roots. According to the YouTube description, Benoit Bourgerie spent over a year recreating the Clock Town and Termina Field locations from The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask in Unreal Engine 5.

"This is a fan project done for fun, practice, and to pay homage to one of my favourite games ever," he explains. Unfortunately, this isn't a playable game, but merely a tech demo and art project that presents an N64 classic in a new light.

Battlefield 6 has been one of the most leaked games in recent memory, which is hardly surprising since the game was built alongside numerous alpha playtests from the public for its developers to receive vital player feedback.

With public playtests, you will always get leaks, and I think it would be safe to say that EA and the team at Battlefield Labs were aware that would be the case. But I can confirm they aren't thrilled about it, as in some cases where I have reported on leaked Battlefield 6 content, I have received emails from EA demanding the content be taken down. Of course, I complied. However, what EA can't stop is dataminers digging through publicly available files to find anything that hasn't already been officially announced.

It appears that is where the latest leak has come from, as it surfaced right after the pre-load for the open beta scheduled for this upcoming weekend was made available. However, the source hasn't confirmed where the video came from, just that it's a better look at the LA battle royale map for the unannounced battle royale mode in Battlefield 6. The video was shared on 1BF's Telegram account and showcases a wide open, vibrant suburban area that features destroyed buildings and structures.

The open beta for Battlefield 6 is scheduled to take place on the weekend, and ahead of the action, details have emerged regarding the matchmaking process for multiplayer games.

CharlieIntel has revealed in a recent X post that Battlefield 6 will include skill-based matchmaking that will also take into account several other factors, such as ping, player location, server availability, and the game mode. Ultimately, there will be a "skill" factor at play, but it will be a portion of the pie that makes up the matchmaking process.

What isn't known is how much of that "skill" factor makes up the matchmaking pie. CharlieIntel says the news was confirmed to him at the Battlefield 6 multiplayer press briefing, where he was also told that matchmaking will vary on the game mode and player count.

Microsoft has agreed to the demands set forth by Raven Software, a video game studio and subsidiary under Activision Blizzard, which is owned by Microsoft. The years-long debate between the developers and Microsoft has ended in a unanimous vote to ratify the first union contract between members of the studio's union and Microsoft.

The discussions between the two parties have been taking place over the past three years and have now resulted in Communication Workers of America (CWA) testers receiving a guaranteed 10% wage increase over two years, with other benefits such as a seven-day notice before any mandatory overtime is implemented, disability protection, a fair promotion process, and, probably most importantly considering the current climate at Microsoft, layoff protections.

Notably, Raven Software's quality assurance testers will be receiving these benefits, and for those who don't know, Raven Software assisted in the development of Call of Duty: Warzone, along with multiple single-player campaigns for Call of Duty, such as Black Ops 6 and the upcoming Black Ops 7. These new protections for employees come after Microsoft decided to layoff thousands of employees across its various companies under its extensive umbrella, with many of those companies impacted by the layoffs being under its Microsoft Gaming arm, and by extension, Activision Blizzard.

Grand Theft Auto 6 won't just be the biggest gaming release of 2026, but the biggest piece of anything in entertainment history, with a launch price of $100, says an analyst.

In a new interview with The Telegraph, Wedbush Securities analyst Michael Patcher said: "I expect a $100 price point for the game. The game will be immensely profitable. It will likely generate $10bn lifetime and another $500m annually from GTA Online".

GTA 6 generating $10 billion over its lifetime and $500 million per year from GTA Online will sound like music to Rockstar's ears, but I'm sure it'll make even more than that.

Bloodborne is currently available to play on PC, and it doesn't need a seriously high-end graphics card to achieve a stable 60FPS.

That performance is thanks to the PS4 emulator shadPS4, which is renowned as the best PS4 emulator for PC. Bloodborne is one of many PS4 games supported by the emulator, and before recent updates, players were reporting VRAM leak issues with Bloodborne on PC. However, those are now fixed, and with the help of some mods, players are now reporting a stable 60FPS in-game with an AMD Radeon RX 580, which was released in 2017.

These results were demonstrated by the YouTuber ProteinGaming, who shows in the above video that he is able to achieve a solid 60FPS on just a 4GB VRAM graphics card. In this case, it was an RX 580. Notably, the mods used were as follows: FPS boost mod, Downscale texture mod, and No cloth physics mod. Moreover, the game is running at a very low resolution of 768p, but considering the stable framerate and the VRAM usage, and the fact that it's being run through an emulator, this is still extremely impressive.

Battlefield 6 is set to launch into its first open beta on August 7 for those who have obtained an early access key, and ahead of the title getting into the hands of the public, a producer for the game has revealed which previous Battlefield title inspired Battlefield 6.

DICE's lead multiplayer producer Jeremy Chubb revealed in a recent interview with PC Gamer that Battlefield Bad Company 2 was the entry in the series that developers aimed to recapture the essence of in Battlefield 6. The producer explained that when DICE looks back on the legacy of the developer, at its core is Bad Company 2, with its "intimate destructive experience". Chubb goes on to say that the team recognized those qualities were lacking from the last entry in the series, and that "we really wanted to go back to that."

As for what to expect out of Battlefield 6, the developers recently held a multiplayer event where significant portions of the game were revealed to the public in an awesome action-packed trailer and a streamer event. The streamer event featured over a hundred livestreamers, each playing various game modes and streaming to their individual audiences. The footage revealed quite a lot for what excited players can expect from the game. If you are interested in checking that footage, visit the video linked below.

As a brand-new sci-fi RPG from the studio behind The Elder Scrolls and the modern-day Fallout series, there was a lot of hype surrounding the launch of Bethesda's Starfield in 2023. With strong initial sales and mostly favorable reviews, the overall response to Starfield quickly shifted to a more mixed reaction from RPG and Bethesda fans alike, with many criticizing the game's overall archaic design, procedural exploration, and presentation.

Since launch, player numbers for Starfield, at least on Steam, have dropped off faster than any previous Bethesda Game Studios release. Even the release of the Shattered Space expansion in late 2024 did little to renew interest in the game, where currently Bethesda RPGs like Skyrim and Fallout 4 consistently draw in more players.

With Microsoft and Xbox's exclusivity strategy changing rapidly since Starfield's debut, whether or not Starfield will make its way to PS5 has become more of a question of when rather than if. According to a new report at MP1ST, which cites sources close to the development team, Starfield's PlayStation 5 debut is on track for a Spring 2026 release - which will coincide with the launch of the game's second major expansion.

Mafia: The Old Country, the latest installment in the long-running cinematic crime saga, is out on August 8, and publisher 2K has released the PC specifications, hardware requirements, and features available so you can "bask in all the beauty of 1900s Sicily's sprawling countryside."

Built with Unreal Engine 5, a GeForce RTX 3080 Ti or Radeon RX 6950 XT is recommended to play the game at 1440p using the 'High' quality preset. However, this is with upscaling enabled using the Quality preset, with the game supporting Unreal's inbuilt TSR, AMD's FSR 4, NVIDIA's DLSS 4, and Intel's XeSS 2.

Yes, this is the latest release where upscaling technologies are recommended, regardless of resolution or graphics settings. The minimum requirements, which cover 1080p, require at least a GeForce RTX 2070 or Radeon RX 5700 XT graphics card with the 'Medium' quality preset and TSR, FSR, DLSS, or XeSS set to 'Balanced.'

Battlefield 6's huge beta begins on August 7 and you can get into the early access beta and earn yourself some rewards on the way, just by watching streamers play through Twitch Drops.

This means you can play the Battlefield 6 Early Access Beta two days early by just watching at least 30 minutes of Battlefield 6 streams on August 7 and 8, unlocking the Early Access Beta. So, if you missed out on getting yourself a code from the Battlefield 6 reveal event, watching 30 minutes of streams lets you get into the Battlefield 6 Early Access Beta a couple of days early.

The first open beta begins this weekend at 1AM PST on August 9, with the Battlefield 6 Open Beta running through until August 11. The second weekend takes place at 1AM PST August 14, running through until August 16.

The next-generation Xbox won't be a traditional console launch where it competes with the PlayStation 6, instead Microsoft seems to be using AMD's next-gen "Magnus" APU for a series of systems that run Xbox, but they're sold as pre-built gaming PCs.

We've had recent leaks regarding AMD's new semi-custom Magnus APU which will be for the next-generation Xbox, with a powerful Zen 6 CPU + RDNA 5 GPU inside the APU made for the next-gen Xbox. However, in leaks from Moore's Law is Dead we get a glance into the different dies that AMD is cooking up, with the AT2 and AT0 dies.

AT2 is the die used inside of the upcoming RDNA 5-powered Radeon RX 10000 series -- not confirmed yet, but placeholder names -- with the AT2 die powering the purported Radeon RX 10700 XT, RX 10700 GRE, and RX 10600 XT graphics cards.

MSI's new Claw A8 and Claw 8 AI+ gaming handhelds are powered by the AMD Strix Point APU and Intel Lunar Lake CPU, respectively, and have undergone some side-by-side benchmarking by Chinese content creator and reviewer Golden Pig Upgrade.

The AMD Ryzen Z2 Extreme APU features a 3+5 configuration for the CPU -- 3 x Zen 5 and 5 x Zen 5c cores -- while the GPU side is the Radeon 890M which is powered by 16 CUs of RDNA 3.5-based GPU. On the Intel side of things, the Core Ultra 7 258V uses a 4+4 configuration of Skymont and Lion Cove cores, with Xe2-LPG graphics containing 8 Xe2 GPU cores.

Golden Pig Upgrade tested both variants of the Intel and AMD chips inside of the MSI Claw gaming handhelds spanning 10 games at 1080p, using 17W and 30W power targets.

Although it hasn't been confirmed, all signs are pointing to Ubisoft releasing an Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag remake sometime soon. With several leaks and sources pointing to the existence of the game, it's currently one of the worst-kept secrets in video games. The original debuted in 2013 as the final mainline Assassin's Creed title to release on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.

Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag was well-received at the time, but over the years, its legacy has grown to the point where fans now refer to it as being one of the series' best entries. Thanks to its blend of third-person action and high-seas piracy, the addition of naval combat, and exploring islands for treasure was an unlikely but fantastic addition to a franchise built on third-person stealth action and parkour.

Recently, voice actor Matt Ryan, who played the game's protagonist Edward Kenway, told a fan at a convention that "you might have to beat it again," hinting that the remake was on the horizon. Adding "There's a reason I say that, but I can't say anything," all but confirmed Black Flag was making a comeback. Well, turns out Ubisoft wasn't too happy with his comments.