Gaming - Page 203

Blizzard has just unleashed a new tank hero into Overwatch 2 with the introduction of Hazard, which is playable all weekend before joining the game in an official way in Season 14. Check out Hazard below:

Hazard is a new charismatic and contrarian punk rocker who -- in Blizzard's words -- might look a little rough around the edges, but is a fierce defender at heart. Hazard was revealed back at DreamHack: Stockholm, with the developer releasing more details about Hazard's kit, concept, and back story.

The new hyper-mobile dive brawl tank is available to play now running through November 25 in a limited-time trial run before Hazard drops into Overwatch 2 starting with Season 14.

Grand Theft Auto 6 is going to be the biggest release of 2025 by far, with millions and millions of gamers worldwide expected to take the day (or days, or weeks, or even months) off work to play the game.

In a new study by GTA fansite GTA BOOM, we have some statistics on which residents from which states in the US are most anticipating the release of GTA 6. GTA BOOM's research analyzed Google Keyword Planner data, using a bunch of Google search terms linked to the release of Grand Theft Auto 6. Rockstar's new release is expected to see gamers out-of-office at "unprecendented rates".

Florida is the number one place in the United States for GTA 6 it seems, with a monthly volume of 759.2 searches per 100,000 residents for the analyzed GTA 6 terms. Floridians searching at a rate 31% above the nationwide average for GTA 6 is a big deal, even more so that the game is based on a fictional Florida.

Sony's mid-generation PlayStation 5 upgrade, the PlayStation 5 Pro, is now available. The company's upgraded console features a more powerful GPU and proprietary AI-powered upscaling called PSSR. The new and improved GPU also includes brand-new ray-tracing hardware from AMD's upcoming RDNA 4 'Radeon' architecture, which delivers a 2-3X performance increase to real-time ray-tracing.

The console launched with over 55 games with 'PS5 Pro Enhanced' updates, including first-party hits like Marvel's Spider-Man 2 and Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart. Several third-party games, like Alan Wake 2, Call of Duty: Black Ops 6, and Hogwarts Legacy, have also been updated to take advantage of the new hardware.

However, Cyberpunk 2077, a big game that could benefit from the PS5 5 Pro's improved hardware and PSSR upscaling, won't be getting a 'PS5 Pro Enhanced' update or patch anytime soon.

Japanese publisher Capcom is able to consistently generate quarterly profits through its volume-oriented sales structure, which prioritizes strategic, long-term discounts over time.

In a recent Q&A with investors and analysts, Capcom revealed some interesting details about its games business in terms of sales and profits. Company execs say that it takes around 1-1.5 years for a game to recoup development costs and become profitable.

This, of course, is wholly dependant on the game in question--a new Monster Hunter or Resident Evil, for example, would sell better than something like Dragon's Dogma II.

The 42nd annual Golden Joystick Awards just took place, with Black Myth: Wukong earning the Ultimate Game of the Year award. Other big winners of the night include Helldivers 2 and Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, both earning multiple honors. If you're wondering what all this has to do with Grand Theft Auto 6, well, it won the Most Wanted Game award as voted by the public.

"Thank you so much for this incredible award," Rockstar's David Manley said, accepting the award on behalf of the studio. "Also, a massive thank you to all the fans. They're the most important thing for us. They mean a lot to us at Rockstar. There's an incredible amount of people doing amazing things on Grand Theft Auto 6. Absolutely mind-blowing things. So it's a real honor to be able to come up here and accept this award on everyone's behalf."

The hype surrounding the 2025 release of Grand Theft Auto 6 is unprecedented. The game will probably smash all opening weekend sales records when it debuts on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S. "Absolutely mind-blowing things" is vague but makes sense when you consider the incredible level of detail Rockstar puts into its games.

Proton is the compatibility layer for Windows PC games to run on Linux, and Valve is leading its development. Valve's Linux-based SteamOS can be found on the popular Steam Deck gaming handheld and gaming PCs that want the freedom and customization of Linux - and none of that Windows bloat.

Valve has recently released a Proton Experimental update that fixes numerous bugs and performance issues while adding support for NVIDIA's DLSS 3 technology, which includes NVIDIA's Optical Flow API that enables DLSS 3 Frame Generation to run on modern GeForce RTX 40 Series graphics cards.

This update doesn't mean Valve will release Steam Deck 2 with an NVIDIA APU, but it certainly paves the way for precisely that. It finally lets GeForce RTX 40 Series owners running Linux enable Frame Generation, if nothing else.

Xbox takes a reputation hit as Flight Simulator 2024 nosedives at launch.

Flight Simulator 2024 is being described as one of the worst game launches in recent memory. The game has been plagued by a myriad of frustrating issues at release, the most notorious of which freezes loading at 97% while another forces players to wait in login queues for an undetermined period of time. People simply can't get into the game they paid money for and they're making it known across multiple corners of the internet.

In a recent video, Asobo Studio, the developer behind Flight Simulator 2024, explains what went wrong. Quite simply, there were more people trying to play FS 2024 than Asobo had anticipated. The game's servers--which stream data from a huge asset database directly to consoles and PCs--were crushed under the collective weight of what could have been millions of people logging in at once.

After rumors of Sony reportedly being in talks to buy the parent company of critically acclaimed video game developer, FromSoftware, a new buyout offer has been confirmed by the parent company's CEO.

Reuters reported a few days ago that Sony was in talks to buy Kadokawa Corporation, the parent company of FromSoftware, the developers behind beloved and critically acclaimed releases such as Elden Ring and the Dark Souls franchise. At the moment Kadokawa owns approximately 70% of FromSoftware, with Sony owning just under 15% of the developer. If Sony acquired Kadokawa, it would become the majority shareholder and, therefore, be able to control the studio.

In a recent statement Kadokawa confirmed it was in talks with Sony about a possible merger, and that a letter of intent has been acquired. However, no final decision has been made "at this time." Essentially where we are at is Sony has put its cards on the table and offered to buy Kadokawa, in legal writing. Kadokawa's board now needs to review the offer and respond.

S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl is one of the most highly anticipated PC game releases of the year, a sequel to one of the most groundbreaking first-person shooters ever made and a game that has been in development for several years over at GSC Game World. In it, you once again take on the role of a lone stalker, exploring the dangerous 64km-squared radioactive zone of post-apocalyptic Chornobyl.

Powered by Unreal Engine 5, the game's photorealistic seamless open world is set to test even the most high-end rigs. With the game launching with DLSS 3 and Reflex support, NVIDIA has provided internal benchmark results for gaming running on various GeForce RTX 40 Series graphics cards - and it looks like this is one game that requires Frame Generation to run with Max Settings.

At 4K, not even the mighty GeForce RTX 4090 can hit a native 60 FPS - it delivers an average frame rate of 52.4 FPS. However, turn on DLSS 3 (or go RTX On), and this number jumps to an impressive 123.9 FPS. Even the popular GeForce RTX 4070 manages to hit a respectable 73.6 FPS at 4K with DLSS 3.

2024 is almost at its end, which means The Game Awards are getting close, and now the organization has officially unveiled the nominees for Game of the Year.

In a new live stream The Game Awards unveiled the contenders to win Game of the Year 2024, which comes after the organization announced it was changing its rules to recognize DLCs, expansion packs, new game seasons, remakes, and remasters across all categories. The recent announcement unveiled six nominees for Game of the Year, which include Black Myth: Wukong, Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree, Final Fantasy 7 Rebirh, Metaphor: ReFantazio, Balatro, and Astro Bot.

The organization unveiled other nominees in its various other categories, such as Game Direction, Best Ongoing Game, Best Art Direction, Best Mobile Game, Best Narrative, Best Performance, Best Score & Music, Best Audio, Best Adaptation, Best Multiplayer, Best Independent Game, Best Role-Playing Game, and many more. Now the voting begins, with a jury set to select which game wins out of the ones that have been nominated, with fans being able to cast their own vote through to December 11.

Battlefield 6 is currently undergoing the franchise's biggest playtests ever, in order to "prevent another disastrous launch" like EA experienced with Battlefield V, and then even worse with the launch of Battlefield 2042.

EA and DICE have a "lot of making up to do" reports Tom Henderson from Insider Gaming, where Henderson goes over the fact that during a chat with IGN earlier this year, EA DICE boss Vince Zampella confirmed earlier reports from Insider Gaming that the Battlefield franchise was going with a "back to its roots approach".

This means the awesome only-in-Battlefield style 64-players, all-out destruction, but in a modern setting this time. As Henderson notes that "all looks promising on paper, yet the scars of the past still burn today with its community, and fans of the franchise are still apprehensive about the future". But this time... EA and DICE seem to be "all-in on ensuring it doesn't happen a third time" and that excites me.

Sony's next-generation PlayStation 6 console will use AMD's next-generation UDNA GPU architecture, mixed with a Zen 4 or (but probably more so) Zen 5 processor when it drops in 2027.

AMD's next-gen RDNA 4 GPU architecture will be the last one named with RDNA before the company moves to the "UDNA" GPU architecture, so the upcoming Radeon RX 8000 series "RDNA 4" graphics cards. In recent leaks, we've heard that AMD's upcoming Instinct MI400 and Radeon RX 9000 series GPUs will use the same UDNA architecture, with the UDNA architecture using an ALU design similar to GCN (Graphics Core Next).

We should expect UDNA-based gaming GPUs sometime in 2026, with the same GPU architecture finding its way into Sony's next-generation PS6 console. We should expect a newer Zen 4 or hopefully Zen 5 CPU inside of the PlayStation 6, as the PS5 and PS5 Pro are both using older-gen Zen 2-based CPUs.

Sony's latest acquisition target could be a big win for the PlayStation brand, with the Japanese games giant reportedly in talks to buy the parent company who currently owns the iconic developer of Dark Souls.

Sources tell Reuters that Sony is discussing plans to purchase Kadokawa Group, a leader in Japanese multimedia. Kadokawa is a nearly 80-year old entertainment group mostly known for distributing generations' worth of manga, operating video streaming service Niconico, and for its presence in video games. And Kadokawa just so happens to own FromSoftware, the developer of some of the most celebrated games on the planet.

The acquisition rationale is a strong one for Sony, who could neatly wrap up dominance in both anime and manga by purchasing Kadokawa. Sony already owns both Crunchyroll and Funimation. Folding Kadokawa's mighty print media arm into Sony's established streaming, film, and music businesses could be a major cross-media boon.

Over the years, many have scrutinized Nintendo for its handling of 'piracy,' emulation of its classic games, and video game preservation. However, the company's latest ROM and emulator-based lawsuit feels like a case where the Big N has acted accordingly.

You see, a streamer by the name of EveryGameGuru was streaming gameplay and content from Nintendo Switch games before they were released. According to Nintendo's lawsuit, they streamed content from Mario & Luigi: Brothership, Super Mario Party Jamboree, and The Legend of Zelda: Echoes days or weeks before their official release.

Nintendo's response was the usual takedown request or 'stop doing that' first response email, with EveryGameGuru opting to keep streaming across various Discord, YouTube, Twitch, and Kick channels. In addition, the streamer apparently sent Nintendo a letter saying they had "a thousand burner channels" and could "do this all day."

The MSI Claw 8 AI+ is the company's second-generation PC gaming handheld and the first to be powered by Intel's new Lunar Lake processor with integrated Intel Arc Battlemage graphics. We got to go hands-on with a pre-release build of the MSI Claw 8 AI+ at PAX Australia and were impressed with how well it handled games like Cyberpunk 2077 and Forza Horizon 5.

With CES 2025 around the corner, the MSI Claw 8 AI+ has earned a '2025 Honoree in Gaming & eSports' award - with a new listing that confirms one aspect that will set it apart from the competition, outside of going Team Blue for the hardware. The listing confirms that the MSI Claw 8 AI+ will have a massive 82WHr battery, essentially double what you can find in Valve's Steam Deck.

It also has a slightly larger capacity battery than what's inside ASUS's ROG Ally X refresh, and it will provide "4+ hours of gameplay for AAA titles."

If you've bought a PlayStation 5 Pro and aren't happy with how the much talked about PSSR upscaling is doing in some games, then you wouldn't be alone - but there's seemingly a reason for this.

Wccftech noticed a post on the ResetERA forums which was in reply to a raft of complaints agreeing with Digital Foundry's findings that Star Wars Jedi: Survivor actually looks worse on PS5 Pro, not better with the bells and whistles from the new variant of Sony's console.

Notably Star Wars Jedi: Survivor reportedly has 'severe' image quality problems including foliage looking terrible when ray tracing effects hit it, causing a nasty strobing effect.

The Game Awards for 2024 is right around the corner and this year it will be different as DLCs, expansion packs, new game seasons, remakes, and remasters will be officially recognized across all categories, meaning a DLC could win Game of the Year.

The Game Awards will be holding its 2024 live event on December 12 and the nominees are only four hours away from being announced, with voting for each of the games in their respective categories expected to be available shortly after the nominees have been unveiled. The nominees, which will be spread across 29 categories, will also include DLCs such as the incredibly popular, and highly rated Shadow of the Erdtree expansion for FromSoftware GOTY 2022 GOTY winner Elden Ring.

It's likely The Game Awards have decided to open up the rules in 2024 because of the three big publishes, Nintendo, Microsoft, and Sony, have had a reasonably light release schedule throughout the year. Additionally, the sheer popularity of Shadow of the Erdtree is hard not to recognize, with it being slated to be nominated across multiple categories.

The team at iFixit has given Sony's new PlayStation 5 Pro console their usual detailed teardown, surprised at the "easily replaceable" CMOS battery, noting that's "the only change from the other PS5 models worth writing home about". Check out iFixit's teardown on the PS5 Pro in the video below:

The biggest repairability news from the PS5 Pro teardown is that you can now change your CMOS battery by removing a single screw, versus previous PlayStation consoles that iFixit noted "changing the battery was a pain". The team noted that just like with the original PS5, Sony introduced an "awesome tool-free panel removal design" that allowed users to remove, and dust out the fan all without a screwdriver.

Sony's new PS5 Pro has the same easily removable panels, while removing four screws and a JST-style connector, the entire fan can be removed out of the console if you wanted to go in for a deep clean.

Valve is celebrating the 20th anniversary of Half-Life 2, one of the most beloved single-player first-person shooters ever made. As part of the celebration, which includes a massive update to the base game that fixes some long-standing bugs and visual upgrades, the company has also released a two-hour documentary chronicling the game's development and the franchise's legacy.

In addition to core developers, writers, and designers who worked on the iconic Half-Life 2 and its Episodic expansions, Valve co-founder Gabe Newell opens up about the canceled Half-Life 2: Episode 3 while hinting at what that means for the franchise's future and the possibility of Valve releasing Half-Life 3 at some point in the future.

With Half-Life 2: Episode 3 set to conclude the game's story and resolve the cliffhanger of Episode 2 (or push it forward), it was ultimately canceled because - as Gabe Newell puts it - it failed to push the genre forward or evolve the gameplay laid out by Half-Life 2 and its first two Episodes.

Half-Life 2: Episode 3 is one of those videogame what-ifs, the unreleased and unfinished closing chapter for one of the greatest single-player first-person shooters ever made. One of the reasons why many gamers continue to hold out hope for Valve to develop and release Half-Life 3 is that Half-Life 2: Episode 2 ended on a cliffhanger.

With Valve celebrating Half-Life 2's 20th anniversary - the game just got a massive update with visual improvements - the company has released a full-length documentary offering insight into the game's development and legacy.

Valve opens up about Half-Life 2: Episode 3, showcasing never-before-seen gameplay from the unreleased game. The gameplay features an arctic setting and introduces a brand-new Ice Gun.