Gaming - Page 130

EA has yet to officially reveal the new Battlefield game, presumably called Battlefield 6, but as the title continues to go through its public testing phase, details are emerging online.

It was only last week that details about the upcoming Battlefield 6 battle royale map surfaced, with a short video (since removed) of the start of the battle royale map, presumably what players will see right before they start plummeting to the ground with their teammates. Now, details about the Battlefield 6 campaign have leaked online, with reports pointing to the BF1 Telegram group as the source, as well as datamining efforts.

While no specific details have been revealed, information such as objectives, locations, team name, nationalities, weapons, and vehicles has been leaked. The details below were published by mp1st.com, which also stated the development team behind the single-player campaign was headed by a newly formed EA first-party studio, Ridgeline Games, which also had Halo co-creator Marcus Lehto as the studio chief. However, in early 2024, Lehto left EA, and Ridgeline Games was shut down by EA without even releasing a single product.

The Switch 2's GPU power is similar to the Xbox Series S, and this closeness means that developers can theoretically better scale games between the two platforms, one game developer says.

The Switch 2's new Ampere-based GPU brings 4K gaming to the handheld-console hybrid for the first time, offering a significant performance jump over the aging Tegra X1 used in the original Switch. In terms of raw performance, the Switch 2's GPU is likened to that of the Xbox Series S' GPU, which is good news for developers as games can more easily be scaled between the two platforms despite different SDK environments.

We've heard developers talk about the Switch 2's capabilities and overall versatility, with Koei Tecmo saying that the Switch 2's GPU is closer to a Series S than a PlayStation 4.

Deus Ex is akin to the PC gaming world's Blade Runner, a genre-defining release that has gone on to influence designers and developers for decades. Blending cyberpunk role-playing, stealth, and first-person action helped create the 'immersive sim' genre of shooters, which offered a lot more than just simple run-and-gun action.

The first two games in the series were developed by Ion Storm, with creator Warren Spector at the helm. Deus Ex took half a decade from concept to become the game PC gamers love, with it starting as a near-future shooter called Troubleshooter. A game that would blend first-person science fiction and the immersion of role-playing games like Ultima Underworld.

The project was rejected by a couple of studios, which led Warren Spector to try to figure out a way to make his dream game. In fact, according to a new interview with PC Gamer, he got close to signing a contract with Westwood to create a Command & Conquer RPG that he planned to turn into Troubleshooter, or Deus Ex, in the Command & Conquer universe.

Blizzard's Warcraft 3 received its own remaster or remake from the studio in the form of Warcraft 3: Reforged, so you might wonder why a Warcraft 3 campaign remake in StarCraft 2 is worth checking out. Well, as StarCraft 2 came out after Warcraft 3, it features a more advanced engine for 3D RTS action, lending itself to improving some of Warcraft 3's gameplay.

Azeroth Reborn is an impressive fan-made mod for StarCraft 2 that lets you play through the iconic Warcraft 3 campaign, including stuff from the critically acclaimed expansion Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne. Azeroth Reborn benefits from StarCraft 2's advanced engine to improve pathfinding for units, increase the overall speed of the game, and introduce quality-of-life features like the ability to toggle upkeep and track build times.

According to the lead modder, who is working full-time on the project, bringing Warcraft 3's campaigns to StarCraft 2 has taken "a lot of time and effort." Be sure to watch the gameplay trailer above and check out the link below to check it out for yourself.

Virtuous is a prolific studio that has worked on some of the biggest ports, remasters, and franchises since its inception twenty years ago. From Call of Duty to Dark Souls, the studio's most recent claim to fame was leading development on the well-received The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered, which it worked on alongside Bethesda Game Studios.

In a new interview with Eoin O'Grady, technical director at Virtuos, over at Wccftech, the developer opens up about the Nintendo Switch 2 hardware and its capabilities to consoles like the PlayStation 4 and the Xbox Series S, which is the affordable cut-down variant of Microsoft's flagship Xbox Series X.

The Switch 2 features a custom NVIDIA APU based on the RTX 30 Series' Ampere architecture, as opposed to the custom AMD hardware found in the PS4 and Xbox Series S. When it comes to the CPU side of the equation, O'Grady notes that the Switch 2 is "just a bit more powerful than the PS4." However, things get interesting once DLSS enters the picture.

NVIDIA has just unleashed DLSS 4 upscaling support into Unreal Engine 5.6, allowing game developers to add the latest AI upscaling technology into UE5.6-based titles.

NVIDIA launched its new GeForce RTX 50 series "Blackwell" GPUs earlier this year, which support DLSS 4 upscaling, but before game developers can add DLSS 4 into their games, the company must make an official plugin... and today is that day for Epic Games' Unreal Engine 5.6.

Unreal Engine 5 already supports NVIDIA DLSS 4 upscaling for various versions of the engine in the 5.0 series, but Unreal Engine 5.5 and 5.6 have just received their own DLSS 4 plugin, which has been made available on NVIDIA's website.

The Forza Motorsport franchise is reportedly on ice due to Xbox's recent layoffs.

Microsoft just laid off hundreds of Xbox employees as part of a company-wide restructuring plan. Xbox CEO Phil Spencer says that the cuts were made as a result of Microsoft's new focus on "removing layers of management to increase agility and effectiveness," and that entire parts of the Xbox business will wind down or stop completely.

The layoffs have resulted in cancellations of multiple projects and the shuttering of California-based Xbox studio The Initiative. Reports also indicated that around 50% of Turn 10's employees had been laid off--Turn 10 is a UK studio responsible for the popular Forza racing series. Now it has surfaced that these layoffs at Turn 10 have effectively canceled the Forza Motorsport franchise. It's worth noting that bit of information has not been confirmed by Microsoft, however Xbox Game Studios boss Matt Booty did say in a memo that the team decided to "wind down several unannounced projects across our portfolio," and that the steps represent a "broader effort to adjust priorities and focus resources to set up our teams for greater success within a changing industry landscape."

The Communication Workers of America (CWA) labor union has made a formal statement condemning the recent Xbox layoffs.

Microsoft's recent layoffs have affected 9,000 workers total, with Xbox closing down a studio, cancelling multiple projects, and laying off people across all disciplines. Some of these workers were represented by the CWA labor union, especially those affected by ZeniMax / Bethesda layoffs. In 2024, key members of Bethesda Game Studios voted to unionize, joining alongside a sister union at ZeniMax Workers United.

Now CWA president Claude Cummings Jr. has delivered a press release that responds to the layoffs, saying that the organization will use the company's decision to shed workers as leverage when negotiating new deals with Microsoft.

The UK Royal Navy and its partnership with the British Esports Federation have installed a first-of-its-kind 'Esports Suite' on board an active Navy warship.

The HMS Prince of Wales now has an esports office that features 8 x Alienware PCs that feature high-end GeForce RTX 4080 graphics cards, a console gaming station, and a bunch of LEDs that'll make you feel like you're right at home. The UK Royal Navy has recognized esports as a "military sport" since March 2024, actively encouraging involvement for both seamen and civilians.

There are plenty of active warships with gaming rooms featuring Xbox and PlayStation consoles as well as Nintendo Switch handhelds, but the Prince of Wales is the first UK warship to include an actual esports room with high-end desktop gaming PCs.

Electronic Arts is officially pulling the plug on Anthem in January 2026.

Anthem will go offline on January 12, 2026, BioWare has announced. The servers are shutting down, and the game can no longer be played after this period. "Anthem was designed to be an online-only title so once the servers go offline, the game will no longer be playable," the studio explained in an FAQ.

BioWare has shut off microtransactions in Anthem and gamers can no longer buy in-game currency, but the premium currency can still be spent on content within the game until it's pulled offline.

Arkane Studios' former boss Raphael Colantonio criticizes Xbox Game Pass years after the disastrous launch of Redfall.

More game developers are starting to speak out against Microsoft's high-margin Xbox Game Pass service, and specifically, how the subscription has affected the industry at large. The service, which can impact game sales through a replacive "cannibalization" effect, is seen as a collective form of subsidization through Microsoft's large coffers. In short, the business model sees Microsoft funding new projects with multi-year deals that could turn out to be risky bets and not deliver proper return on investment.

While Xbox gaming CEO Phil Spencer has said many times now that Game Pass is profitable, game developers are saying that Game Pass causes active harm to the industry, with Arkane founder Colantonio saying Game Pass can only really favorably exist in the industry if it focuses on back catalog games.

Cyberpunk: Edgerunners 2 is on the way, but the new season won't be a sequel continuation.

Cyberpunk: Edgerunners stands as one of the best examples of transmedia success. CD Projekt's anime adaptation sparked widespread popularity and franchise awareness, which led to boosted Cyberpunk 2077 sales. Now the Polish games-maker wants to do it again with a second run.

Edgerunners 2 is currently in the works, CD Projekt has announced. Edgerunners 2 has been signed for a 10-episode run, and the storyline will be standalone--viewers won't need to watch the first Edgerunners to understand what's happening in the second chapter. Trigger, the Japanese animation studio that worked on the first anime, is reprising their role on the project.

MSI's new Claw A8 gaming handheld is now available for pre-order in China, powered by AMD's new Ryzen Z2 Extreme APU.

The new MSI Claw A8 gaming handheld will be officially launched later this month, with Chinese retailers already taking pre-orders, and JD.com has listed its final pricing on the Claw A8 handheld. JD is listing not one but two prices for its Claw A8, with an official price of 6999 RMB and a subsidized price of 5949 RMB.

This pricing works out to around $860 USD without the discount and around $737 USD with the subsidized pricing, while including VAT we're looking at close to $970.

Kojima Productions' latest AAA sequel appears to be a hit among PlayStation faithful, with analysts estimating games sales in excess of 1 million for the sci-fi title.

Death Stranding 2: On the Beach sold 1.4 million copies at launch, analyst firm Ampere Analysis has estimated. The number-crunchers also note that Death Stranding 2's physical boxed sales are somewhat down in Europe compared to its predecessor, but digital sales are on the rise. This development is in line with current trends--the market has changed in the five-plus years since Death Stranding 1 and 2's releases, and Sony's platform skews more digital now than it had before.

Current exact sales for Death Stranding remain unclear, but we do know the first game sold 5 million copies across PS4 and PC between November 2019 and March 2021. Since the game released on Xbox Game Pass, Kojima Productions now mixes both sales and players data together. All told, Death Stranding has achieved more than 20 million players worldwide.

Grand Theft Auto 6 reportedly has a budget that is north of $2 billion, but Rockstar's next-gen Grand Theft Auto 7 should be cheaper to make thanks to AI reducing the man-hours required during development.

In a new interview with former Rockstar Games Technical Lead Obbe Vermeij on KIWI TALKS, who worked on many of the iconic entries in the GTA franchise including Vice City and San Andreas, who talked about the future of the franchise past GTA 6. He said that GTA 7 should be cheaper to make than GTA 6 because much of the development work will be replaced with AI, with things like working on the maps and cutscenes.

No more manual labor and important man-hours would be spent on these tasks, so it's expected that Grand Theft Auto 7 should be cheaper to produce than Grand Theft Auto 6. We shouldn't expect to see GTA 7 on the market for many years to come, but Take-Two has already mentioned GTA 7... so we know it's coming, it's absolutely inevitable no matter how long it takes.

Sony's Aniplex is working alongside Capcom to create a new Resident Evil mobile game...but it won't be third-person horror like the mainline games.

Capcom recently announced Resident Evil: Survival Unit, a new tactical strategy mobile game. Survival Unit is being developed by JoyCity, the Korean dev team responsible for CrossFire: Warzone, and is being produced in conjunction with Sony's Aniplex division. This branch is lucrative for Sony, with Aniplex's mega-hit mobile game Fate/Grand Order having made over $7 billion in lifetime revenue.

The game is being billed as "survival horror strategy," and the press release asserts that JoyCity is working closely with Capcom to "ensure authenticity and quality." No screenshots or footage have been revealed so far, but Capcom will hold a game premiere on July 10. Capcom has said in the past that it plans to create more mobile games based on key IP in the effort to raise awareness, boost premium game sales, and if possible, collect consistent microtransaction revenues from in-game purchases.

South Korean games publisher Krafton has made a drastic move to oust key members of Subnautica 2's dev team.

Subnautica 2 has been in development for four years and still hasn't released into early access. Krafton, the parent company responsible for the game, responded by replacing key management positions at Subnautica 2 developer Unknown Worlds.

The studio departures are at the highest level, with CEO Ted Gill, co-founder Max McGuire, and Subnautica 2 game director Charlie Cleveland all leaving Unknown Worlds. Krafton has tapped Steve Papoutsis to serve as the new CEO of the Subnautica dev team at Unknown Worlds--Papoutsis previously worked with Callisto Protocol developer Striking Distance Studios.

The new Destiny Rising mobile game is set for a global launch on August 28, 2025 on Android and iOS, NetEase has announced.

Destiny is getting a mobile game, but it's not coming from Bungie. It's called Destiny Rising, and it's the culmination of the $100 million deal that Bungie made with NetEase way back in 2018.

Destiny Rising aims to bring Destiny's action-packed, loot-driven, social multiplayer experience to gaming's most lucrative platform. NetEase has packed in a bunch of content into Destiny Rising, including PVE activities like strikes, campaign missions, and 6v6 PVP modes. There's also a plethora of loot, customization options, and classes/skills straight out of Bungie's shooter (the Titan Sentinel bubble shield is in). Gamers can now pre-register on both Google Play and App Store.

PlayStation architect Mark Cerny expected Project Amethyst to take years before bearing fruit, but results started appearing in nine months. This acceleration could be due in part to a team of highly specialized QA testers that studiously evaluated each build.

Sony and AMD have partnered to lead the next generation of console chip technology through Project Amethyst, a multi-year initiative aimed at optimizing AI integration into games tech. Both companies are using machine learning (ML) upscaling algorithms in similar ways, with the same general end goal: to squeeze out more in-game performance without degrading graphics and visuals. AMD is building its FSR upscaling technology (now up to FSR 4), and Sony has PlayStation Spectral Super Resolution (PSSR).

Project Amethyst is going so well that Sony is implementing its console-ready FSR 4 analog--a souped-up version of PSSR--onto the PS5 Pro in 2026. The quick turnaround was apparently influenced by AMD, who, as per Tom's Guide, prompted Sony to create a custom quality assurance (QA) team to analyze the output of each new PSSR algorithm. This team would determine whether or not the image quality generated by the successive PSSR iterations actually looked better than its predecessor.

It's no secret that Windows is the dominant platform for PC gaming, especially when it comes to Valve's Steam platform. According to the Steam Hardware & Software Survey Results for June 2025, 95.6% of PC gamers are gaming on a Windows-based desktop, laptop, or portable handheld gaming system, with 59.8% of PC gamers using Windows 11.

Although the transition from Windows 10 to Windows 11 has been a relatively slow uptick in the broader consumer and enterprise PC market, as gamers gravitate toward the latest hardware and software, Windows 11 has been the dominant operating system there for some time.

That said, in recent months, Valve has slowly expanded access to its custom Linux-based SteamOS operating system, as first seen on the Steam Deck gaming handheld and more recently with the Lenovo Legion Go S. And with several reports indicating the games run notably faster on SteamOS versus Windows with the same hardware, there's a lot of hype surrounding additional SteamOS handhelds and dedicated gaming PCs.