Gaming - Page 3

AMD has released its financial results for Q2 2026, with the company's second quarter revenue hitting a record $11.5 billion, driven by its Data Center segment. AMD's Data Center revenue reached $6.7 billion, which was more than double the same period last year, with the company citing strong demand for its AMD EPYC processors and AMD Instinct GPUs as the main reason. Translation: AI.

When it comes to the consumer side that most of us know, that is the home of Ryzen and Radeon, AMD's Client and Gaming segment revenue hit an impressive $3.8 billion, which was up 6% year-over-year. And that's impressive because the Gaming slice of this segment saw its revenue drop by 31% compared to the same period last year, to $779 million.

Although it doesn't go into full details on the 31% drop, AMD cites "lower semi-custom revenue" as the main reason. AMD's semi-custom Gaming business covers the chips it makes for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, Steam Deck, Steam Machine, and other gaming devices that combine custom Ryzen and RDNA architecture.

Battlefield 6 has finally rectified its crashing issues on modern NVIDIA RTX graphics cards, which were so bad the game's developers recommended that users with problems downgrade to an older driver revision. According to patch notes for Battlefield 6 update 1.4.1.5, the game has rectified game crashes pertaining to playing matches on maps with large bodies of water, using custom search, and changing attachments on the SOR-300SC carbine.

Issues pertaining to Battlefield 6 crashing on maps with large bodies of water first debuted with Season 4, which re-introduced naval combat to the game for the first time since Battlefield 1. Initially, Battlefield Studios reported that driver crashes were related only to the aforementioned bug pertaining to large bodies of water. The developers also issued a temporary workaround, recommending users with the issue revert to NVIDIA driver version 596.49 (the last driver to come out before the 600 series driver branch).

The driver rollback workaround made it seem as if NVIDIA had a driver issue causing the issue, but apparently that was not the case. The attachment and custom search bugs listed were also unknown until now. This explains why NVIDIA never even addressed the Battlefield 6 crashing bug in the patch notes as a known issue with its driver releases since Battlefield 6 Season 4 was released. The patch also features a plethora of other changes to weapons, vehicles, maps, modes, and more.

Ubisoft is rolling out Title Update 1.0.6 for Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced on August 4, and the big highlight in the notes is a fix a lot of players have been asking for since launch: you can now hide Edward's blowpipe.

The blowpipe sits strapped to Edward's back at all times in the base game, and plenty of players have complained that it clutters up the character model and clashes with certain outfits. Update 1.0.6 adds a Hide Gear option in the outfit menu, letting players tuck the weapon away for a cleaner silhouette. The blowpipe still works exactly the same in combat, so this is purely cosmetic and not a nerf.

The update also fixes something the community has been far less happy about. Title Update 1.0.4 quietly broke the ability to toggle Edward's hood while diving and performing leaps of faith, a small touch that let players pull the hood up or down mid-animation for a more cinematic look. Ubisoft never mentioned removing it, and fans spent weeks asking for it back on Reddit and social media. It's apparently back in working order now, so the hood toggle should function during dives and leaps just like it did at launch.

The gaming industry has been through a brutal few years of layoffs, with the most recent round at Xbox and Bethesda leading to project cancellations and thousands of game developers losing their jobs. To make the situation a little easier for those affected, a group of indie studios decided to do something about it, and the response has been remarkable.

Necrosoft Games director Brandon Sheffield, working alongside the United Videogame Workers union, put together the Game Industry Hardship Fund bundle on itch.io. For a minimum of $10, you get 127 indie games with a combined retail value of over $1,000.

All proceeds, minus itch.io processing fees, go directly to a hardship fund that distributes money to laid-off game developers in the US and Canada, helping cover rent, groceries, healthcare, and other day-to-day expenses. Workers who lost their jobs after January 2024 can apply for support through two tiers: one for requests under $1,000, and a Major Expenses Tier for amounts between $1,000 and $5,000.

Microsoft is bringing Xbox 360 games to PC through the Xbox app. A leaked document obtained by The Verge, sent to developers recently, reveals that Xbox 360 games are heading to PC, handheld devices, and the upcoming next-generation Project Helix console. This follows the company's recently announced plans to bring original Xbox games to PC, with developers now also getting the opportunity to bring their Xbox 360 titles along for the ride.

Game developers will be able to opt their Xbox 360 titles into the program, with control over pricing and whether their game enters Xbox Game Pass. The full launch of the original Xbox program on PC is set for October 2026, which will expand beyond the current four-game lineup. Xbox 360 support follows between 2027 and 2028 across what Microsoft calls next-gen devices, which includes any PC running the Xbox app, handhelds like the ROG Xbox Ally, and Project Helix itself.

The document also includes details about Microsoft's rumored disc-to-digital program. The program would grant players a digital license when they insert a physical Xbox One or Series disc into a console with a disc drive. That license would be tied to both the disc and the player's account, traveling with them across Xbox devices. If the disc changes hands, the license transfers to the new owner, meaning physical trading could still work in a meaningful way. The program was originally set for a beta last month with a full launch in August, but has since been delayed.

Embark, the developers behind Arc Raiders, is upgrading its anti-cheat system for The Finals with a new in-house solution that will likely replace the game's existing Denuvo anti-cheat system. Update 11.3.0 for The Finals announced the introduction of Elytra for testing purposes only. The new anti-cheat system is currently being tested with a "small group of selected players" as well as some of its technology partners, including GeForce Now and Microsoft.

Details on Elytra's anti-cheat capabilities remain hidden, but Embark promises to provide more details as Elytra gets closer to full development. Embark also noted that The Finals' 11.6 update will introduce the anti-cheat system to a broader audience through a gradual rollout process. Currently, Elytra is installed for most users playing The Finals and runs in the background for these users. But critically, Elytra is running in a passive state and is not enforcing any anti-cheat protections.

It's no secret that Embark has been struggling with cheaters, as have most game developers who have highly popular AAA shooters. The development studio currently has a semi-complex anti-cheat strategy with Arc Raiders involving the use of Easy Anti-Cheat, Denuvo Anti-Cheat, and a behavioral monitoring AI system simultaneously. Denuvo Anti-Cheat is used as a secondary kernel-level anti-cheat layer that fills in gaps in EAC's anti-cheat capabilities, while both anti-cheat programs are further supported by a machine-learning behavior analysis system called Anybrain AI that monitors player telemetry and tracks inhuman levels of player skill in-game.

Grand Theft Auto 6's next trailer could be about to drop, but while the gaming rumor mill is currently buzzing with that prospect, another nugget of speculation has sneaked out whereby the GTA 6 map could have been spotted (again).

This time around it's an easter egg tucked away in Grand Theft Auto 5, one that was uncovered by a keen-eyed Redditor (see above) as The Gamer reports.

That Redditor discovered a painting hanging in a building in GTA 5 which has a highlighted green blob in the middle of it. At first glance, it just looks like some kind of abstract artwork, but if you examine the shape carefully, it resembles the carefully constructed fan-made map of GTA 6.

It's one of the biggest gaming franchises in the world, and one that began 30 years ago with Pokémon Red and Blue on the original Nintendo Game Boy. With the RPG focusing on players becoming a Pokémon Trainer, catching and battling "pocket monsters," its unique premise paved the way for multiple sequels, spin-offs, an animated series, a movie, trading cards, and more.

In typical Nintendo fashion, if you wanted to play Pokémon Red and Blue on a non-Nintendo handheld or system, you would have to go the emulation route. That's not what this is: Gen1Recomp is a native LÖVE2D recreation of Pokémon Red, Blue, and Yellow, with all code hand-written in Lua, and game data and graphics supplied by a ROM backup of these original Game Boy Pokémon games.

This is par for the course when it comes to playing native PC versions of classic Nintendo games; a ROM needs to be provided, as things like graphics, music, and other assets are copyrighted or protected, whereas decompiling and re-creating the core engine or code is considered open. What makes Gen1Recomp stand out is that it's a faithful port and recreation of these classic games, but with a new 3D voxel presentation that gives these classics the look of a pop-up book or diorama.

Spider-Man: Brand New Day is giving gamers a brand new reason to swing back into New York City. Following the film's record-breaking $927 million opening weekend, Insomniac's PC ports of Marvel's Spider-Man Remastered and Marvel's Spider-Man 2 have both made their way into Steam's Top 10 best sellers, sitting at sixth and ninth, respectively, on the global chart.

Both titles are seeing their highest Steam concurrent player counts in over a year. Searches for Spider-Man games are spiking as well, with terms like "new Spider-Man game" and "Spider-Man Brand New Day game" seeing a 40% increase on Google. Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales has not climbed the charts the same way, which is a shame because it is genuinely as good as either of the other two games, if shorter and more contained.

Even so, all three Spider-Man games are currently on sale across Steam and the Epic Games Store in celebration of the movie, making this a good opportunity for anyone who has been waiting to pick them up. Spider-Man Remastered is down 60% to $23.99, Miles Morales is also 60% off at $19.99, while Spider-Man 2 is available for 33% off at $40.19. Fanatical is offering even lower prices on the first two games, with Steam keys available for $21.59 and $17.99, respectively.

Valve's Steam Frame headset might be shaping up to be an even tougher sell than we thought. According to Valve insider Tyler McVicker, speaking on a recent livestream, the standalone VR headset could launch at a jaw-dropping $1,500.

McVicker had previously pegged the Steam Frame closer to $1,100, but he now says that number looks too optimistic. Apparently, the Qualcomm price hike we covered a couple weeks ago is playing a bigger role than expected. Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 powers the Steam Frame, and the chipmaker's double-digit price increase, set to kick in September 1, lands right as Valve is finalizing retail pricing.

For anyone who hasn't been following it closely, the Steam Frame is Valve's return to VR hardware after shelving the Valve Index. It's a streaming-first headset built around dual 2160 x 2160 LCD panels, 16GB of LPDDR5X memory, and a bundled 6GHz wireless adapter meant to eliminate lag when streaming PC VR games. It also runs SteamOS natively, meaning it can play a chunk of the Steam library standalone.

Although the current memory and storage crisis has greatly impacted the portable PC gaming handheld market, AYANEO's new KONKR Pocket Advance is all about capturing and creating a retro gaming experience that harkens back to a different era. The KONKR Pocket Advance is a part of a new REMAKE series, and taking one look at the design, it's not hard to see that it aims to recreate the iconic 32-bit Game Boy Advance handheld from 2001.

Naturally, AYANEO's post on the handheld's unveiling doesn't mention Nintendo's handheld at all, but everything from the shape to the button layout to the orange and purple colorways is reminiscent of the first Game Boy Advance handhelds that hit the market 25 years ago.

"The KONKR Pocket Advance is not a simple replica of the past, but rather, while preserving the essence of the classic spirit, it integrates modern product concepts and manufacturing techniques to breathe new life into retro aesthetics," AYANEO writes. And with that, the compact device has a larger but still relatively small modern 3.5-inch LCD.

It looks like owning the disc isn't quite the safety net gamers assume it is. A new study from Does It Play, cited by Ars Technica, tested hundreds of physical releases across PS5, Xbox Series X, and Switch 2, and found a sizable chunk can't be played as intended straight off the disc.

The study tested how many physical games needed additional downloads to work properly, or to add missing content. The Xbox Series X came out worst. Only half of the 78 tested titles were complete and playable without any download. Another 12% could be finished but were buggy or missing content, leaving 38% that needed a patch just to work properly.

Its competitor, the PS5, fared better, though not by much. Out of 792 tested games, 34% needed a download to fix game-breaking issues or unlock content missing from the disc itself. Switch 2 held up best at 75% fully playable offline, though its sample size was much smaller at 48 titles.

Xbox just got a lot more expensive in Europe, and the new numbers are quite rough. Microsoft has raised Xbox Series X/S prices across the UK and Europe by as much as 40 percent, and the German Microsoft Store confirms it. A 1TB disc-based Xbox Series X now lists at €799.99, up from €599.99, while the 512GB Xbox Series S has jumped from €349.99 to €499.99.

That last figure is the one that really puts these price hikes into perspective. At €499.99, it is exactly what an Xbox Series X cost when it launched back in 2020. The Series S was supposed to be the budget option, and now it costs as much as the flagship console did on day one, for a machine with a fraction of the power.

Microsoft flagged this back in June, warning that prices would rise worldwide starting August 1, though it kept quiet on exactly how steep the European increase would be until stores updated overnight. It's not even the first hike this generation has seen. US pricing already went up once before, so this is at minimum the second or third round of increases depending on the region.

A man in Nova Scotia spent 18 months in prison for a crime he did not commit, and the reason ultimately came down to a single underscore in a Skyrim-inspired username on a messaging app. Brandon Klayme was arrested in 2020, convicted in 2023, and served his full sentence before his legal team finally spotted the mistake while preparing his appeal earlier this year.

The case began in 2018 when Wisconsin authorities started investigating a man on the messaging platform Kik who had been soliciting images from a 12-year-old girl. The suspect's username was "fus__ro_dah," a reference to the Unrelenting Force dragon shout from The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. When police submitted a court order to Kik to identify the account, they accidentally included a different username in the document ("fus_ro_dah"), with one underscore instead of two. Kik returned the email address and IP address associated with that account, which led investigators to Klayme.

From there, the investigation moved through Canadian authorities, who traced the IP address to Klayme's home in Halifax, conducted searches, and seized his devices. No prohibited material was found, but that did not stop the case from proceeding to trial. Klayme was later convicted and sentenced to 18 months in prison, followed by 18 months of probation.

The Steam Deck LCD battery saga has a new chapter, and now it comes with a bigger price tag.

A few weeks ago, iFixit confirmed that Valve had quietly discontinued replacement parts for the original 2022 Steam Deck LCD, with the battery being the most crucial hit. That sparked real concern among owners, since a dead battery with no official replacement basically means a bricked handheld. Valve walked it back within days, and iFixit confirmed a fresh batch of batteries was on the way shortly after.

The batteries are back in stock now. However, the price has jumped from $79.99 to $129.99 for the part alone, a gigantic 63% increase. If you grab the Fix Kit, which bundles in the spudger, tweezers, opening picks, and other install tools, the total climbs to $134.99. Currently, iFixit has not given a reason for the increase, and Valve has stayed quiet on it too.

At a time when the memory crisis is squeezing hardware manufacturers across the industry, companies are finding it difficult to reassure buyers and investors. Sony, at least, has confirmed that it has secured enough memory to meet its PS5 sales targets through March 2027. The confirmation came in Sony's Q1 FY26 earnings report, alongside a set of results that paint a complicated picture for PlayStation.

"Regarding the impact of memory market conditions on PlayStation 5 hardware, we have secured the quantity of memory necessary to meet our projected sales volume for FY26, and there is no change to our plan for hardware profitability for FY26 to remain similar to FY25," the company stated.

The wording also suggests that no further PS5 price increases are likely before March 2027. The PS5 has already seen significant price hikes this year, with the base model now sitting at $599.99, a $200 increase over its launch price nearly six years ago. Microsoft is raising Xbox prices again in August, Nintendo is implementing global price increases in September, and NVIDIA GPUs are reportedly facing another hike of up to 30% as AI hardware demand continues to pull memory supply away from consumer products.

We recently covered how Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey sent gamers back to Assassin's Creed Odyssey using Steam numbers alone, and now a new analysis backs that up across every platform.

Games analytics firm Alinea Analytics has published harder numbers on just how big this moment has been, and they go well beyond the movie alone. Combined daily active users for Odyssey across Steam, Xbox, and PlayStation sat around 122,000 on July 17, the day Nolan's film hit cinemas. Ten days later, that number climbed to 233,000, a staggering 90% jump.

Xbox saw the wildest swing, up 134% to 84,000 daily players, while PlayStation nearly doubled to 114,000. Steam, by comparison, only grew 26%, which tracks given Odyssey isn't sitting on a Steam subscription the way it is on Game Pass and PS Plus. That also lines up with our rough Steam concurrent player numbers from earlier.

Sony will not change its mind and reverse its decision to phase out PlayStation game disc production for new software released after January 2028.

Sony management was asked about its controversial decision to start phasing out physical game discs at the company's recent Q1'26 earnings call. Sony CFO Lin Tao confirmed that the group will go forward with its plans "cautiously" while also considering the thoughts and feelings of the PlayStation community.

In the call, Tao makes the point that digital's predominance has been building over time, especially on PlayStation where, on a software revenue basis, physical made just 8.9% of total Q1 SW revenues (when isolating physical, digital, and other software), whereas digital made the remaining 91.1%.

Blizzard has given Diablo 4 players their first look at Season 15, and a lot is coming, including the return of some iconic items from Diablo's past. Called Legacy Uniques, they draw from the original Diablo, Diablo 2, and Diablo 3, with ten new items in total.

With five available to all classes and five available to a mix of classes, Diablo fans will definitely recognize a few of these items and their powers. The Stone of Jordan ring, an iconic item from Diablo 2, is making a return. As is Diablo 3's Leoric's Crown, which will feature a similar power that will enhance the effect of any gem socketed into the helm.

Other iconic items making a return include Messerschmidt's Reaver, a two-handed axe from Diablo 2; The Furnace, which is a powerful two-handed mace from Diablo 3; and Hyperion Spear, another powerful two-hander from Diablo 2. One of the more fun blasts from the past Legacy Uniques coming to Diablo 4 is Nemesis Bracers, gloves that spawn Elites just like they did in Diablo 3.

The future of Xbox will be determined by four C's: Core, content, creation, connection.

With FY26 now closed and the games division seeing a -$1.7 billion drop in revenue and the worst annual console earnings in over a decade, Xbox CEO Asha Sharma has outlined her plans for what's next for the games division.

In a memo acquired by The Verge, Sharma's strategy centers around four key concepts.