Gaming - Page 176

When we got to go hands-on with the GeForce RTX 50 Series during NVIDIA's big reveal event earlier this year, we saw some of the fascinating new RTX technologies, such as RTX Neural Shaders, in action. These cutting-edge technologies, which include RTX Neural Radiance Cache, RTX Skin, and RTX Volumetrics, will be present in the Half-Life 2 RTX demo that will be released next week, giving gamers the chance to experience the future of game visuals in a mod/remaster/remake of one of the best PC games ever made.

RTX Neural Radiance Cache is a real-time neural network that runs on the GPU, analyzing the scene and environment as you play. What it does is, after partially tracing a ray for Path Tracing effects, the AI model then infers an infinite number of bounces, with the result being a more detailed ray-traced image and a performance boost.

During its GDC presentation to the media, NVIDIA announced a new piece of neural rendering developed to improve path-traced visuals and lighting. You will also be able to experience next week's Half-Life 2 RTX demo. RTX Volumetrics is about leveling up fog, smoke, and air effects by accurately simulating how a light source travels through fog or smoke.

At GDC 2025, NVIDIA announced that RTX Remix had exited beta and been officially released. RTX Remix is a toolkit developed by NVIDIA that leverages its expertise in AI and rendering alongside the power of the NVIDIA Omniverse to make it easier to remaster and mod classic games with RTX technologies. Naturally, this means Full Ray Tracing or Path Tracing in iconic titles like Portal, Half-Life 2, and more.

To non-developers, it works like magic. Modders can open compatible titles with fixed-function graphics pipelines (going back to DirectX 8) and then press a hotkey to capture a scene, making everything in there ready for enhancement. RTX Remix allows modders to replace objects, transform materials, replace animation, use AI to upscale textures, and tweak the lighting with cutting-edge modern ray-tracing effects.

A single button then compiles everything into a playable mod with Full Ray Tracing and DLSS 4 technologies including Super Resolution, Ray Reconstruction, and Multi Frame Generation.

"100 games in 1.5 months is the fastest ramp up of new technology we've ever seen," NVIDIA's Jason Paul tells us during a recent media pre-brief. "That's 16X faster than DLSS 3. So with the RTX 50 Series and DLSS 4 both GPU and technology adoption are ramping up super fast."

NVIDIA continues to work hard to bring more GeForce RTX 50 cards to market, and shipments are already ramping up. From a gaming perspective, one of the reasons they're selling out the moment they hit shelves is DLSS 4. With the new transformer AI model for Super Resolution, Ray Reconstruction, and Multi-Frame Generation, DLSS 4 has been a game changer for image quality, smoothness, motion clarity, and performance.

NVIDIA notes that GeForce RTX 50 Series owners (which covers the RTX 5090, RTX 5080, RTX 5070 Ti, and the recently launched RTX 5070) are all in on DLSS 4 and RTX technologies. 92% enable DLSS while gaming, 90% enable ray-tracing where it's available, and 96% enable NVIDIA's fantastic Reflex latency reduction technology.

It's one of the most celebrated and acclaimed PC games ever made, and in 2025, Valve's Half-Life 2 is still a stone-cold classic. Half-Life 2 RTX, from Orbifold Studios, is one of the most ambitious and impressive mod projects for a PC gamer we've ever seen. The 100+ strong team of talented developers at Orbifold are using NVIDIA's groundbreaking RTX Remix toolkit to transform the iconic release. And a playable demo is dropping, next week, on March 18.

RTX Remix, a modding tool that allows older titles to be remastered (or remixed) with new art, models, and full ray-traced visuals, is a game changer for the modding community. The result is Half-Life 2 reimagined with fully ray-traced visuals, groundbreaking RTX Neural Shaders, physically-based textures, new high-poly models of characters, enemies, and objects, and a whole lot more. Technically it's a remaster, but it looks like a built-from-the-ground-up remake.

The demo includes the survival-horror-like Ravenholm chapter from the game alongside the action-packed Nova Prospekt chapter. The build will fully support DLSS 4 with Multi Frame Generation and NVIDIA Reflex, and the GeForce RTX 5090 delivers 265.7 FPS and the GeForce RTX 5080 delivers 163 FPS in 4K with DLSS 4. At 1440p, the GeForce RTX 5070 Ti delivers 200.1 FPS and the GeForce RTX 5070 delivers 154.7 FPS with DLSS 4.

Assassin's Creed Shadows is only a week away and Ubisoft has just confirmed the title will be launching with Steam Deck support.

The announcement has come as quite a surprise to gamers, including myself, as the PC requirements for the title are quite heavy, leading many to believe that handheld support wasn't going to be possible. Contrary to popular belief, Ubisoft has taken to its Assassin's Creed X account to confirm Shadows will launch with Steam Deck support, and it is currently waiting for the level of classification from Valve.

At the time of writing, Valve hasn't released the classification for Assassin's Creed Shadows on the Steam Deck, but with Ubisoft's recent statement, we can assume there will be some optimizations that come with the Steam Deck version. Ubisoft has yet to announce Shadows has gone gold and the game releases in just seven days on March 20. If you are interested in checking out the PC specifications for Asassin's Creed Shadows, they can be found below, or you can visit the official Steam listing for the title here.

A shareholder in Ubisoft is currently attempting to organize a protest out in front of the company's HQ in Paris, as Ubisoft has been accused of failing to disclose talks it has engaged in with Microsoft and Electronic Arts (EA), along with other publishers about acquiring Ubisoft franchises.

Juraj Krúpa, the CEO of AJ Investments, has claimed Ubisoft hasn't been transparent with shareholders about its internal decision-making and, more specifically, has accused the company of deliberately "hiding information" about an Assassin's Creed Mirage DLC partnership it has engaged in with the Saudi investment firm Savvy Group. Krúpa, a shareholder in Ubisoft, claims the company is "horribly mismanaged by current management" and is requesting senior Ubisoft staff provide a "clear roadmap for recovery" in order to address the plummeting value of Ubisoft stock.

The minority shareholder also pointed to a recent article by business investment platform MergerMarket, which claimed Ubisoft engaged in discussion with "Microsoft, EA, and others that are interested in acquiring IPs from Ubisoft." Adding, "Management did not inform public about these steps either," said Krúpa.

The Pokémon franchise has attempted to branch into 3D gaming experiences over the last few years, led by developers Game Freak. However, the results have been shaky, with previous titles like Pokémon Legends: Arceus and Pokémon: Scarlet & Violet criticized for lackluster visuals and uninspired gameplay.

Pokémon Legends: Z-A appears to continue that trend, with the most recent gameplay trailer showcasing visuals that, as fans have pointed out, seem more reminiscent of the GameCube or PS2 era than a 2025 first-party title. Nintendo's former leads aren't impressed either.

As reported by TheGamer, Nintendo's former director of marketing and content, Kit Ellis, commented, "It doesn't look great. It's not high-end, pushing the performance of the Switch." Nintendo's former senior manager of creator relations, Krysta Yang, shared this sentiment, stating, "It looks pretty rough. Environments look pretty rough."

As announced by developers Pocketpair, Palworld's crossplay update will be arriving in late March. While an exact date was not specified, players will be pleased to hear that it's only a few weeks until they can take advantage of the feature.

Crossplay will allow players to play multiplayer across all released platforms, including Steam, Xbox, PS5, and Mac. The update will also allow players to transfer Pals between worlds - another highly requested improvement. A range of additional fixes and improvements will also be deployed, with full patch notes made available upon the update's launch.

The crossplay update comes part of a broader roadmap, which includes the above features, an end-game scenario, and a range of new content additions. Notably, the developers plan to establish collaborations with games like Terraria - presumably in the form of new mechanics, skins or exclusive events.

Rumors regarding the remake of The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion have resurfaced, with reputable leaker NateTheHate suggesting that we might get our hands on the title as soon as May this year.

When asked on X if he had any news regarding the remake, NateTheHate responded, stating that more news will be on the way over the next two months, with a potential release window before June. It's possible we'll see an announcement trailer later this month or in April.

Bethesda has expressed a preference to leave game announcements until close to release, as Todd Howard highlighted when discussing Fallout 4. On that basis, it wouldn't be surprising to see the studio drop a surprise launch a few months out. Ideally, a potential announcement would come with some news about The Elder Scrolls VI, which was first announced back in 2018. However, at this stage, anything would be better than nothing.

ASUS could be the first partner to make an official Xbox-branded PC handheld, sources tell The Verge's Tom Warren.

Microsoft is forging ahead with its bold new multi-platform plan for Xbox. The platform is evolving, and new reports suggest Microsoft will use the nascent handheld PC gaming market to help unify its console and Windows storefronts and UI.

With their lower-end hardware and specifically-scaled chips, handhelds are a kind of missing link between consoles and fully-fledged gaming PCs. Microsoft wants to help innovate this space while also learning and expanding its business. Earlier reports from Windows Central said that Microsoft was teaming up with OEMs to make an official Xbox-branded handheld PC. Now sources have told The Verge that ASUS could be the first OEM partner to release such a device, which is the previously mentioned codenamed Kennan, and the handheld could come in 2025.

Microsoft is teaming up with third-party OEMs to make an Xbox-branded PC gaming handheld that's targeting release in 2025, sources tell Windows Central.

Xbox is everywhere these days, including new form factors like handhelds. Microsoft has already tried to push cloud-only handheld gaming by partnering with Logitech for its G Cloud device, and now reports say that Microsoft will do the same with dedicated PC handhelds.

The new device won't be official Microsoft first-party hardware, though. So the term 'Xbox handheld' is a misnomer--it's more of a handheld with an Xbox button-logo on it, one that likely runs a specific new OS with a UI optimized for handhelds (we know from experience that Windows 11 is not great for these screens). The new handheld is said be part of a hardware project that's codenamed "Kennan".

For the first time ever, Rockstar is rolling out software that will help modders.

Rockstar's Cfx.re team is rolling out a utility that will assist modders in converting old creations to the new GTA V enhanced edition. The news was announced on the forums, and the tool isn't ready just yet.

The new mod-friendly tools are part of Rockstar's approach of working with the modding community, a strategy which arguably started when the GTA-makeracquired the Cfx.re modding and GTA community group in 2023.

The price of Grand Theft Auto 6 is what many gamers want to know because if any game is going to set the new standard price tag for AAA games, it will be this one. So, will it remain at the $70 price point, or launch with a $100 price tag?

According to a Swiss retailer, Grand Theft Auto VI will debut with a $100 price tag, as the retailer recently listed the game on its website with pre-orders available. The store is legitimate, and according to the listing, GTA 6 can be pre-ordered for $99 Swiss francs, which converts to $112.

However, the listing has since been removed, indicating its presence was a mistake made by someone, but, according to Destructoid, the store answered some customer queries on the listing, with one user asking if the price was accurate, to which the website replied it was correct for now.

With Days Gone Remastered releasing next month, players have been eager to get their hands on the new improvements through the game's $10 upgrade. However, most players will be disappointed to find that they'll need to pay full price or buy a disk to jump into it.

When the PS5 released in 2020, the PlayStation Plus Collection allowed subscribers to redeem a base catalogue of titles including Fallout 4, God of War, and Days Gone. The service was discontinued in May 2023, but since then, it's allowed a large proportion of gamers to maintain a PS4 version of Days Gone in their libraries.

However, as outlined on the PlayStation Store "PS4 game redemptions via PlayStation Plus are not eligible for upgrade". Players who have redeemed the collection will be required to either buy the full $49.99 edition of Days Gone Remastered, or purchase a physical copy of the game to be eligible. If you have redeemed the PS Plus version, you'll also be ineligible to purchase discounted copies of the base game.

The National Museum of Play in New York is set to induct three games into the World Video Game Hall of Fame this year, and you can vote on the list of potential inductees. Public voting will be considered alongside the museum's International Selection Advisory Committee, acting as a single member.

The final list of inductees includes some absolute classics and iconic franchises: Age of Empires, Angry Birds, Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, Defender, Frogger, Goldeneye 007, Golden Tee, Harvest Moon, Mattel Football, NBA 2K, Quake, and Tamagotchi.

If you've been gaming for a while, one look at this list will undoubtedly bring back some fond memories. It'll be interesting to see which games are inducted into the World Video Game Hall of Fame. As someone who has been gaming since the days of the original Nintendo Entertainment System, here are my three picks in no particular order.

Hitman 3's VR release arrived in 2022 to mixed reviews, due to being a generally buggy and unrefined mess. IO Interactive haven't given up on VR, however, with the Hitman: World of Assassination coming to PlayStation VR2 March 27.

The game, showcased in 4K HDR, comes with all the best from Hitman 1, Hitman 2, and Hitman 3. Across the 22 unique locations, a range of new VR-specific mechanics have been introduced - such as lock picking and multi-guard knockouts. There's also a whole slew of immersion features, with the ability to dual-wield over 100 weapons, and interact with the environment. The PSVR2 controller's adaptive triggers have also received enhancements.

Players will be able to experience the whole campaign in VR, providing an interesting new lens for both new and returning Hitman players. Fan favorite missions like the Miami racetrack, and the Paris fashion show will undoubtedly be a highlight - and the new additions will provide even more creative ways to take out Agent 47's targets.

Blizzard is bringing back its in-person community event BlizzCon, and it's set to return to the Anaheim Convention Center on the weekend of September 12 to 13 in 2026.

"BlizzCon has been a cornerstone of Blizzard's history since 2005, allowing us to connect with our community and our players directly," Blizzard writes. "For 2026, alongside BlizzCon staples like Opening Ceremony, in-depth panels, the Darkmoon Faire, friendly competition, hands-on gameplay, and more, we aim to meaningfully elevate this iconic celebration and create an unforgettable experience."

BlizzCon has been missing in action for a couple of years. The most recent celebration took place in 2023, when the studio unveiled the first expansion for Diablo IV alongside new expansions for World of Warcraft and more heroes joining the Overwatch line-up. As a Microsoft-owned studio, Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer also took the stage during the keynote marking a new era for the studio.

Rise of the Ronin, the latest PlayStation exclusive title has now released on PC, and unfortunately for PC gamers, the state the game has released in isn't fantastic.

Team Ninja's Rise of the Ronin was originally launched in March 2024 for the PlayStation 5, and while the game was met with above-average reviews for its intuitive combat system and story, the experience PC gamers are getting isn't quite as enjoyable. The PC version of the title arrived on Steam on March 11, 2025, and judging by the few reviews that have been posted to the Steam listing, many early buyers are reporting performance issues such as stuttering, low framerates, and poor graphics.

These early reviews from the public echo the same sentiment from game reviewers that published their thoughts approximately 5 days ago, with many of those reviews also citing optimization problems. I received a copy of Rise of the Ronin late last month, and I can also back up many of these claims, and throughout my testing experience, I found the majority of the problems were related to the 4K at 120FPS mode.

Split Fiction, the latest title from Hazelight Studios, has released and has been greeted by raving reviews and an intense amount of sales in just 48 hours.

Hazelight Studios, the developers behind acclaimed titles such as A Way Out, and It takes Two, have released their latest co-op-focussed adventure Split Fiction and the game is off to a roaring start, pushing as many as 259,000 players on Steam for its all-time peak. At the time of reporting the game currently has 68,000 concurrent players, making it the 17th most-played title on Steam.

According to a Hazelight announcement on BlueSky, the game has already sold over a million copies and has only been out for 48 hours. For those who don't know, Hazelight Studios' previous titles A Way Out and It Takes Two sold extremely well over time, with the first title selling 11 million copies since 2018, and the second pushing 23 million copies since 2021. Split Fiction already running past the 1 million copies sold mark is a fantastic indicator that it will also achieve the same over the same time period.

In a recent discussion with 28 Days Later screenwriter Alex Garland, Neil Druckmann provided more insight into the challenges of breaking through the prevailing conceptions about video games. He highlighted some of the inspirations, doubts, and successes that came along with it.

Garland pointed to BioShock and The Last of Us as examples of games that fully demonstrated the capability of narrative in gaming. Rightfully so - both titles delivered an experience that transcended gameplay mechanics, baking storytelling into every aspect of the game's DNA.

However, prior to these titles, narrative was often viewed as secondary, or even as an obstacle, to the nature of gaming at the time. A view, that according to Druckmann, may have even been held by the legendary Shigeru Miyamoto - the creator of Mario.