Gaming - Page 15

According to analysts, Grand Theft Auto 6 is on track to deliver the biggest gaming and entertainment launch of all time in terms of revenue when it launches on November 19, 2026. And without a PC version on day one, gamers and fans have two options: pick up the game on PlayStation 5 or PlayStation 5 Pro, or buy it for Xbox Series X|S.

Starting from $80 US, pre-orders for the game went live last week. And according to a post from IGN's social media account, per data from its affiliate linking program, PlayStation 5 pre-orders for GTA 6 are outperforming Xbox Series X|S pre-orders by a factor of 8X. Which means for every eight PS5 pre-orders, there's one for Xbox.

Now, when you factor in that there are exponentially more PS5 consoles out there than current-gen Xbox hardware, and that Grand Theft Auto 6's marketing deal with Sony has seen this pre-order announcement paired with "plays best on PlayStation 5" style taglines, it's not unsurprising. However, in a follow-up statement provided to Windows Central, an Xbox representative has said that this 8-to-1 figure "doesn't represent pre-order data."

I stopped playing Valorant a while back, but Riot's Vanguard anti-cheat has been running at boot ever since, whether I play or not. That is finally changing. Riot Games has announced Vanguard On-Demand, an update that stops the Vanguard driver from loading at Windows startup. With Vanguard On-Demand, the anti-cheat runs only when you launch a Riot title like Valorant or League of Legends. Once you close the game, Vanguard shuts down automatically. But there is a catch.

The catch is a security checklist Riot calls Vanguard Pre-Check. To switch to on-demand mode, your PC needs to be running at least Windows 11 25H2 with Secure Boot, TPM 2.0, Virtualization-Based Security, Hypervisor-Protected Code Integrity, and IOMMU all enabled.

What makes On-Demand possible is the work Riot did with Microsoft's Xbox OS Security Team on a Windows feature called Runtime Driver Attestation Report, which keeps a record of every driver loaded since startup. From there, Vanguard can check at launch whether anything suspicious was loaded while it was inactive.

A post in r/steammachine this week flagged what appears to be a white mini PC styled after Valve's Steam Machine, apparently available in China for around 4,680 RMB, or roughly $688. That appears to be an unbelievable value by comparison, since Valve's Gabe-cube starts at $1,049, and that's without a Steam Controller.

The listing claims that the higher-end configuration comes with an AMD Ryzen 5 5500 processor, an RX 6750 GRE 10GB GPU, 16GB of DDR5 memory, a JGINYUE B350I-PLUS motherboard, and a whopping 2TB of M.2 NVMe storage. We inspected the listing further and immediately spotted problems.

First, the Ryzen 5 5500 is an AM4 desktop processor, and AM4 does not support DDR5 memory. That's a basic compatibility error, and it's one of the first things anyone who knows the platform would catch. The B350I-PLUS is also an AM4 board, which only supports DDR4. So the DDR5 claim in the listing is simply wrong.

Hardware insider Kepler_L2, who has a solid track record of leaking GPU architecture details, has posted an updated PlayStation 6 bill-of-materials estimate on NeoGAF. According to the update, the BOM now sits at around $960. In March, he had the figure at $760, with a $699 retail price still on the table, with a reasonable subsidy. That window is looking a lot narrower now.

The BOM (or bill of materials) is simply the cost of components needed to build a single unit. It doesn't include labor, R&D, marketing, or logistics. It is basically the sum total of the hardware cost, and that's not all it takes to build a console. That means $760, or now $960, would just be the starting point for Sony's costs, not the final number.

Sony has almost always sold consoles below cost at launch, making back the margin through game sales and PlayStation Network. That math gets harder as the BOM climbs. Consoles have traditionally been subsidized by only around $100 to $200, which means a $999 launch price is still plausible, but a higher one isn't impossible if costs keep rising before 2027.

With Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced just under two weeks from launch, someone posted the game's full opening half-hour on Chinese video platform Bilibili. The footage surfaced barely 24 hours after Ubisoft sent the game out to creators and media. Video quality is rough, apparently captured off a review build, but it's enough to confirm quite a bit about what Ubisoft has built.

The opening plays out largely as you'd expect, with the remake looking like a faithful reimagining of the 2013 original. That said, a few things have changed. New scenes have been added before the Duncan Walpole boss fight, and viewers who watched the footage noted the extended intro makes Duncan look considerably more incompetent than he did in the original. Whether that's an improvement is going to be subjective, but it's a clear creative choice to flesh out his backstory before Edward deals with him.

The other notable change is a fix Ubisoft apparently made after fan feedback. In the original reveal trailer, Edward's leap of faith was performed awkwardly, drawing comparisons to how Eivor handled it in Valhalla before the tutorial. In the final game, it's been corrected. That one quietly slipped through, but players caught it immediately during the showcase months ago, and it seems like Ubisoft has listened.

Rockstar Games has no plans to print or release physical disc copies of GTA 6, sources tell The Hollywood Reporter.

Yesterday, we reported on rumors that GTA 6 could have a disc version ready by Christmas. It was believed that Rockstar would have a physical version of GTA 6 complete on disc to sell in December, a month after the game's initial digital-only launch in November. This apparently is not the case.

New reports from The Hollywood Reporter say that Rockstar will not release a physical disc version of GTA 6 this year, and that the publisher currently does not have any strategies that include producing and selling physical disc copies.

GTA 6's new $80 price tag may introduce a new mainline pricing model for AAA games moving forward, and some of the largest franchises are expected to embrace the higher-cost MSRP.

Games are getting more expensive to make, and developers are now charging more for the biggest titles. Nintendo was the first to raise game prices to $80 with Mario Kart, and now the biggest entertainment release of all time--GTA 6--will also cost $80. Pandora's box has been opened, so to speak, and S&P Global Market Intelligence analyst Neil Barbour believes other big games will be next.

In a recent interview with GamesIndustry.biz, Barbour says that gaming's other annual hits could get hiked to $80 too. This includes games like Call of Duty, NBA 2K, and EA's yearly sports games. These are the same exact titles that collectively raised game prices to $70 at the beginning of the console generation back in 2020.

The Steam Machine has not even launched yet and Valve employees are already talking about future iterations of the console. PC Gamer conducted an interview with Valve engineers Pierre-Loup Griffais and Yazan Aldehayyat, who divulged ideas on the potential release cadence of future Steam Machine iterations.

Griffais reportedly told PC Gamer that the lifecycle of the Steam Machine does not need to be nearly as long as the Steam Deck. (For reference, it has been four years since the Steam Deck's release.) Griffais elaborated that this logic comes from the way Valve views its performance targets for the two devices. Valve reportedly treats the Steam Deck as a console, but treats the Steam Machine more as a gaming PC. Griffais explained that the extreme range of various CPU and GPU hardware configurations in the PC space makes it more appropriate for the Steam Machine to have less stringent performance targets compared to the Deck.

Sadly, the Valve engineers clarified that they are not building a Steam Machine 2 right now, nor is the console's announcement right around the corner. The duo revealed that the RAM crisis and the "natural slowdown" of the gaming PC upgrade cycle will affect the launch window of a future Steam Machine model. Aldehayyat pointed out that the longer upgrade cycle of the modern gaming PC industry will likely extend the longevity of the outgoing Steam Machine, compared to what the console might have achieved if it had launched a decade ago. Aldehayyat also pointed out that the performance demands of PC games in the Steam library are also a contributing factor. "...Like if a bunch of new games come out on Steam that require more performance, that would probably make us wanna upgrade the Steam Machine faster."

When Valve announced the Steam Machine at $1,049 with semi-custom RDNA 3 graphics, the obvious question was: can't you just build something better in the same footprint? AMD engineer Jacob Terkelsen decided to find out, and the answer is a resounding yes.

Terkelsen shared his creation, the Terk Box v1.1, on X on June 24. The build uses a 3D-printed Mini-ITX case designed by 3DCatt, whose print files are now publicly available on Printables for anyone who wants to replicate the project. The chassis is built around a standard Mini-ITX motherboard and a 400W FlexATX PSU, making it a legitimate compact living-room candidate in the same vein as the Steam Machine.

The hardware inside is rather interesting. Terkelsen fitted a low-profile GIGABYTE NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060, an AMD Ryzen 5 5500, 16GB of DDR4-3200 RAM, and a 512GB NVMe SSD. The RTX 5060 alone represents a substantial leap over what Valve ships in the Steam Machine, which packs an RDNA 3 GPU roughly equivalent to a Radeon RX 7600M.

Sony's PlayStation Store listing for GTA 6 indicates that GTA Online will remain separate from the premium-priced story mode.

Rockstar has already confirmed that GTA 6 is a singleplayer experience, and it's clear that the game will launch without GTA Online packed in. The language that Sony is using around the game could mean GTA 6 and GTA Online could stay separated and sold as two different products. Technically, Rockstar already did this in 2022 when it opted to sell GTA V and GTA Online separately for reduced prices, and it looks like this model will be used for this cycle too.

While checking over the PlayStation Store, I noticed that GTA 6 is listed as "offline play only" when viewing the game on the PS5's version of the PS Store. That terminology is not used anywhere else in Sony's product materials for GTA 6. Elsewhere, including the browser PS Store and the PlayStation.com splash page, the game is listed as "offline play enabled."

Valve's Steam Machine hasn't even shipped yet, and scalpers are already cashing in. With purchase invitations set to go out the week of June 29, we have spotted resellers listing confirmed reservation spots on eBay at jaw-dropping markups. They are turning what was already an expensive piece of hardware into something far more painful for regular gamers.

We have independently spotted a listing on eBay asking $3,200 for the 512GB Steam Machine with Steam Controller bundle. Then, we ran across some more listings for the same bundle, one at $2,800, another at $2,999, and one as high as $3,500 for the 2TB model. All of these listings are for confirmed reservation spots, meaning the sellers received one of Valve's lottery invitation emails and are now flipping their place in line rather than purchasing the hardware for themselves.

Perhaps most concerning is a listing that has already sold at $2,800. That means someone out there paid real money for a scalper's reservation. Whether that transaction delivers an actual Steam Machine or nothing at all remains to be seen.

Valve has silently updated its marketing for the Steam Machine to drop the 60 FPS nomenclature found in advertising material on the Steam Machine's product page. Steam Hardware Updates on X saw the update, showing that Valve changed one of its text blurbs from "4K gaming at 60 FPS with FSR,..." to "up to 4K gaming with FSR 4.1,...".

Whether or not this change was made due to community backlash remains to be seen. But it is no secret that Valve's newest console is not up to the task of running every single game in the Steam library at 4K at 60 FPS, at least without the help of frame generation. Extensive testing by multiple reviewers has confirmed that the console's combination of a mediocre Zen 4/Zen 4c CPU and RDNA 3 GPU is only good enough for sub-60 FPS gameplay at 4K resolution in the most demanding titles available in the Steam library. For instance, in Digital Foundry's coverage of the Steam Machine, they recorded a benchmark result of just 30 FPS in Cyberpunk 2077 at 1440p (not 4K) using ray tracing, despite using FSR 3 in performance mode and running at graphics settings comparable to the base PS5.

As a reminder, the Steam Machine packs modest specs that represent what an entry-level gaming PC might look like in 2026. The system is armed with a custom Zen 4 chip with two vanilla Zen 4 cores, four Zen 4c cores, and a custom RDNA 3 GPU with 28 CUs and 8GB of GDDR6. For perspective, the GPU in the Steam machine features nearly identical specs to the RX 6600 that launched almost five years ago, save for the fact that the RX 6600 runs on RDNA 2, not RDNA 3. Valve is also pairing some Steam Machine orders with a single stick of DDR5 memory due to memory shortages, further reducing its performance in memory-bound situations.

Some fresh GTA 6 gameplay info has been spilled courtesy of Amazon, including the apparent depth of the integrated social networks feature, which will allow you to "follow influencers" and view viral videos.

The leak, spotted by Vice, comes via the Amazon site in Brazil, where the product page for GTA 6 has gone live for pre-orders complete with said details.

Some of this we already know, but there are some interesting nuggets of info which are new, and some pretty cool stuff therein - assuming all this is genuine, of course (and there's some skepticism about that).

The new Razer Soma Chroma is a wireless RGB gaming chair, and if you're wondering what that is, well, it's pretty straightforward. Basically, you've got Razer Chroma RGB Reactive Game Lighting built into the headrest, which is a pair of RGB lighting strips that synchronize with your PC and react to the on-screen action in over 300 integrated Razer Chroma-supported games.

In addition, Razer Chroma RGB offers a range of presets and is fully customizable through the Razer Synapse app. The Razer Soma Chroma also includes touch controls integrated in the fabric on the top of the headrest, with the built-in Control Panel offering quick access to lighting modes, brightness settings, and switching between PC (2.4 GHz) and mobile (Bluetooth) modes.

Of course, the Razer Soma Chroma is also a premium gaming chair that features a reinforced steel frame and wheelbase for durability, up to 155 degrees of recline for relaxation and productivity, and a built-in ergonomic lumbar arch to support posture and reduce fatigue during long gaming sessions.

Browser-based gaming has come a long way, especially in enabling access to classic games that were once standalone desktop or console experiences. For example, DOS Zone is a repository of classic PC games from the MS-DOS era, and it's a browser-based, ad-free way to play classics like Duke Nukem 3D, Sim City 2000, and Prince of Persia. And now we can add Valve's iconic Half-Life 2 to the list of classic games that are fully playable in a browser tab.

Developed by Slqnt and 98006, this web-based port of the game reportedly took three months to develop, but it offers the complete game to play with only a few graphical issues. The most notable one is that the character's eyes aren't rendered with irises or pupils, so they kind of look like zombies. Still, it's an impressive feat to get one of the most impressive games from the 2000s to run in a browser with all of the gameplay intact.

And it's also a testament to just how far we've come, both hardware and internet-wise, where cutting-edge games from back in the day can be played in a browser without having to wait an hour or several hours for a game to download and install.

This week, developer Rockstar Games and publisher Take-Two opened up Pre-Orders for what is shaping up to be the biggest game release of all time, Grand Theft Auto VI. Launching on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S on November 19, the $80 USD standard edition includes 'One Month of GTA+.'

Like previous entries in the series, it's expected that GTA 6 will once again push the envelope regarding mature and controversial content. And even though the ESRB in North America hasn't given the game an official rating, GTA 5 was rated M (Mature, 17+); it's already looking like Grand Theft Auto VI might be banned in some countries. Or, at the very least the eventual next-gen GTA Online mode that will accompany the game at some point in the future.

As Sony is the key hardware and marketing partner for the game, the company is seemingly taking the lead for pre-orders. And it seems that because there's a free month of GTA+, the monthly premium subscription for Grand Theft Auto Online, Grand Theft Auto VI (or this one component) won't be available for purchase in the following countries.

The Steam Summer Sale for 2026 has begun, and with thousands of games on sale, there are so many great deals that it's hard to keep track of them all. And if you're one of the many PC gamers out there who has uttered the phrase, "I'll wait for the Steam sale," then you're in luck because some of the biggest and most acclaimed releases from the last couple of years have been given their first major discount.

Kingdom Come: Deliverance II, the historically accurate and award-winning story-driven action RPG from last year, is 60% off, bringing its price down from $59.99 to $23.99. Also released last year, DOOM: The Dark Ages is 67% off and available for only $23.09. And if you've been sitting on the fence when it comes to Battlefield 6, EA's latest entry in the popular series is 50% off, bringing the price down to $34.99, just in time for Season 3's last big update.

And if you're one of the millions that have been glued to their screens watching all of the World Cup action, EA's premier soccer/football game, EA SPORTS FC 26, is currently 80% off and available for $13.99. And if you're looking for deep discounts like this, with games that are 90% off and available for under $10, you've come to the right place. Here are some of the best Steam Summer Sale 2026 deals for under $5 and $10.

Sony has confirmed layoffs at Bungie, and reports say that half of the studio--some 400 people--could be let go.

Disaster strikes at Bungie today with major layoffs affecting its development teams. PlayStation studios head Hermen Hulst released a memo that revealed the extent of the layoffs. Most of the Destiny team is being let go, as well as groups at SIE that are technically outside of Bungie but assist with Destiny and Marathon. Even some of the Marathon group will be let go as Sony and Bungie drastically downsize the workforce.

"We have made the decision to reduce Bungie's workforce, affecting a significant number of employees, including most of the Destiny team and some Marathon team members. There are also reductions across SIE teams that support Bungie's operations," Hulst said.

UPDATE: Sources tell The Hollywood Reporter, a largely credible magazine, that Rockstar currently has no plans to release GTA 6 on disc any time soon--especially not for the holidays.

New reports say GTA 6 will have a disc version after all...but this true physical SKU may not be available until a full month after launch.

GTA 6 is digital-only at launch, but it might not stay that way forever. New reports say that Rockstar could release a proper physical version of GTA 6 sometime in December. This version would of course come with a disc in the box, not just a download code, and may even have extras like a map and manual.

Xbox consoles are getting another price hike, Microsoft today announced.

Gaming is getting more expensive. GTA 6 will cost $80, but most people are buying the $100 version. Valve's new Steam Machine will launch at $1,049, and consoles are more expensive than they've ever been. Now gaming hardware is getting more expensive, at least at Microsoft.

Xbox today announced another price hike to its hardware lineup that affects all variants. The 2TB Series X Galaxy Black is also being taken out of production. "Effective August 1, 2026, we will be updating prices worldwide. The price of XBOX consoles will increase by US$100 for 512 GB models and US$150 for 1 TB models. We will also be sunsetting our 2 TB model."