Gaming - Page 46

New information has surfaced on Eidos-Montreal's cancelled games lineup, as per reports from Insider Gaming's Tom Henderson.

Like most of the games industry, Eidos-Montreal has had to adjust to new stark financial realities, culminating in three rounds of layoffs at the studio. New reports say that the recent wave of layoffs also came with the official cancellation of a big-budget AAA project that had been in development for multiple years.

Sources tell Insider Gaming that Eidos-Montreal had spent hundreds of millions of dollars producing an open-world third-person game set in a fantasy world. The game was apparently called Wildlands, but was known internally as P11, so-named because it was the 11th project that the studio had worked on. It was said to be almost complete before its cancellation.

ShiftUp, the devs behind PlayStation hit Stellar Blade, are working directly with horror maven Shinji Mikami on a new game project.

The rumors were true: ShiftUp and Resident Evil creator Shinji Mikami have joined forces. ShiftUp, headquartered in Korea, has acquired Shinji Mikami's Japanese studio Unbound and will help fund and publish new projects, including Mikami's first game.

Mikami says that the new project is a sizable game, but won't offer specifics: "For the first time in a while, I'll be fully involved on-site to work on a fairly large game, and I'm really looking forward to it."

UK-based Analyst firm Ampere Analysis examines how the Switch 2's launch has affected third-party game sales, leading to a substantial +76% increase in software earnings on the Switch ecosystem.

Thanks to unrelenting software exclusivity, consumers typically buy Nintendo first-party games to play on Nintendo consoles. These titles are designed to be must-haves that can't be played anywhere else. Yet the Switch 2's release has catalyzed a mighty push of third-party software--which makes sense, because 3P vastly outnumbers Nintendo's catalog.

According to a new report from Ampere Analysis, the Switch 2's release helped boost third-party software sales by over 75% year-over-year, tacking on an additional $1 billion in revenue over a 9-month period. (Note: these sales are across both the Switch 1 and Switch 2 platform). The firm does a breakdown estimation on how much the top companies earned during the launch blitz, with Warner Bros. leading the charge primarily due to Hogwarts Legacy's success.

Sony has long been rumored to be quietly working on a new handheld gaming device, and now renowned leaker KeplerL2 has shared details on how powerful Sony's upcoming device will be.

KeplerL2 became a voice of authority in the PC gaming community for accurate leaks on GPU architecture, providing SKUs, hardware specifications, and more. Now, Kepler has written in a new post on the NeoGAF forums that the GPU within Sony's PS6-generation handheld is "a bit ahead of XSS in raster (and ofc massively ahead in RT/PT)." Adding, the new handheld will also come with Sony's AI-powered upscaler, which would presumably be a version of PSSR, likely PSSR 3.

Sony is currently calling the PS6 handheld "Project Canis", and leaked specifications indicate that it will be rocking 4x Zen 6c cores, 2x Zen 6 LP cores, 16x RDNA 5 CUs, 192-bit LPDDR5X (24GB), and a 135mm² TSMC 3nm chip. According to Kepler, this device will outperform the Nintendo Switch 2, and depending on the AI upscaling performance, will beat out competing Microsoft handhelds such as the Xbox ROG Ally X. Kepler writes that Sony's new version of PSSR for the handheld will even be better than DLSS 4.5, which NVIDIA only announced at GTC 2026.

With the controversial DLSS 5 set to launch later this year, which leverages AI to transform a game's lighting and visuals to achieve a more photorealistic look, it sounds like this might only be the beginning of a DLSS future focused on advanced neural rendering. According to a new rumor from the known NVIDIA and GeForce RTX insider 'anthony256,' the company plans to debut DLSS 6 with the Rubin-powered GeForce RTX 60 Series.

As for what it will enable game developers to do, well, it's definitely ambitious and controversial. Leveraging the advanced 6th Generation Tensor Cores in the GeForce RTX 60 Series that are currently being tuned and finalized specifically to accelerate neural rendering, DLSS 6 will take a bold leap beyond even Multi Frame Generation and DLSS 5, with a powerful new AI model that can generate "infinite gameplay."

Now, the claim of leveraging AI to generate "infinite gameplay" is a little vague, so let's take a closer look at a couple of DLSS 6 examples that NVIDIA is reportedly showcasing to game developers to get them on board. One includes a form of procedural generation in which DLSS 6 takes an existing open-world Elder Scrolls-style RPG and leverages its visual assets and game data to generate new locations, enemies, and even boss battles in real time. The demo apparently expands the developer-created world as you play, making it larger and packed with more to do.

DLSS 4.5 Dynamic Multi Frame Generation is now available. After going hands-on with NVIDIA's updated Frame Generation technology in recent days, it's safe to say that it not only improves the Multi Frame Generation technology that debuted with DLSS 4, but it's a version of the technology that makes a lot more sense for a lot more games. And this all comes down to the Dynamic part of the technology, which is a game-changer in the making.

Now, it's worth reiterating what DLSS Frame Generation and Multi Frame Generation do, and what they're useful for, alongside their strengths and weaknesses. As most PC gamers who have used the technology know, NVIDIA DLSS Frame Generation and competing technologies leverage AI to generate frames between traditionally rendered or upscaled frames, enhancing motion clarity and smoothness.

Although latency increases when frames are not natively rendered, Frame Generation also leverages NVIDIA Reflex to ensure that a game with Frame Generation enabled still feels as smooth as one running natively at around 60 FPS. Multi Frame Generation takes this one step further by increasing the number of generated frames, leveraging GeForce RTX 50 Series hardware to keep frame pacing and latency in check, delivering the immersion that comes from playing a game running at 200+ FPS.

Microsoft and Playground Games are preparing to launch Forza Horizon 6, Playground Games' next foray into the world of Horizon, and this time it's headed to Japan.

Forza Horizon 6 is launching on May 19, but ahead of the debut, details about a preview have surfaced online, easing some cautious fan concerns. One of the biggest concerns with Playground Games' description of the Forza Horizon 6 world was whether the world would feel hollow, given how big it is. That doesn't seem to be the case, as a YouTuber with an Xbox Series X preview build of the title has described a world with abundant traffic and extremely detailed environments.

Unsurprisingly, the video showcasing the preview has been taken down from the channel, along with subsequent Reddit posts outlining the YouTuber's experience. The early code provided to the YouTuber granted access to one hour of progression, after which the YouTuber entered free roam around Tokyo. Despite takedowns of the content, some Reddit posts have gathered the details into a list.

Crimson Desert, the latest large-scale open-world action-adventure RPG from the developers at Pearl Abyss, has garnered quite a lot of attention since it released on March 20, 2026, and now we are starting to get some sales figures.

A report by South Korea's Yonhap News Agency, citing a shareholders' meeting with the CEO of Pearl Abyss, states that Crimson Desert sold 2 million copies worldwide within the first 24 hours of its launch and, by the end of the first four days, had moved 3 million copies. That number has now increased to 4 million copies sold, as positive word of mouth and healthy reviews keep attracting new players to the latest open-world RPG.

The shareholder meeting also revealed that Pearl Abyss is looking into a Nintendo Switch 2 port for Crimson Desert, but such a port will entail compromises, as the Switch 2 has vastly different hardware specifications than the PlayStation 5 or Xbox Series consoles. At the moment, Crimson Desert has nearly 37,500 reviews on Steam, with the majority giving it a positive score, earning it the "Very Positive" moniker.

Earlier this month, Build a Rocket Boy's CEO, Mark Gerhard, alleged that they had obtained proof that the launch of MindsEye was sabotaged by "external and internal forces". The launch was investigated and yielded sufficient results that Build a Rocket Boy is pursuing legal action.

Now, in a recent interview with GamesBeat, Gerhard has said a mission is coming to MindsEye, and it will be called Blacklist. The mission will feature a female protagonist and some of the evidence of sabotage uncovered during the investigation. Previously, Gerhard told a publication that he would use the names of the people responsible for the sabotage in the new mission, likely as NPCs.

This sabotage has been alleged by Gerhard since MindsEye launched, receiving mostly negative reception, with many citing bugs, unplayable levels, graphical glitches, and numerous other issues related to a lack of polishing. Gerhard has been claiming there was a "concerted effort" to "trash the game and the studio," and that those responsible were paid-off influencers or paid-for spam bots running a smear campaign against Build a Rocket Boy and MindsEye.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 Season 3 is set to arrive on April 2, 2026, and ahead of the official launch, Dave Chappelle has been made available as a new operator within the store.

The season 3 update is quite beefy with new content, as there are new multiplayer maps, modes, Zombies map, a new Warzone Point of Interest (POI), and additional cosmetics. Included in the Season 3 update is the Half-Baked Tracer Pack, which is a reference to the movie of the same name starring Dave Chappelle.

The new pack features the Dave Chappelle operator and two skins inspired by his character in the movie. Additionally, the pack features new blueprints, weapon charms, and a new finishing move called "Fish Food".

Rumors began circulating yesterday about a new big Lord of the Rings game being in development by a studio under the Embracer Group, the owners of the Lord of the Rings game rights. That studio was supposedly Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 developer Warhorse Studios, but new information has surfaced suggesting otherwise.

A new report from Insider Gaming claims that the new Lord of the Rings game, backed by the Abu Dhabi Investment Office (ADIO) for a whopping $100 million, isn't being developed by Warhorse Studios but by Crystal Dynamics, the studio behind the Tomb Raider games. According to sources close to the game's development, Crystal Dynamics is working on this new Lord of the Rings game alongside Tomb Raider: Legacy of Atlantis and Tomb Raider: Catalyst.

Previous rumors indicated that this new Lord of the Rings game would be very similar to Hogwarts Legacy in terms of design, with the studio aiming to create a large, open-world action experience. Embracer was asked for comment on the recent rumors, and it responded that it doesn't comment on rumors or speculation. Crystal Dynamics was also asked to comment, but declined the offer.

Fans of retro gaming, specifically the 1980s and early 1990s era of PCs, arcades, and consoles, probably know all about Evercade. Essentially, it's a series of dedicated hardware and licensed game cartridges that let retro gaming fans play classic games and build a physical library. With everything from Pac-Man to Space Invaders, Tomb Raider, and Duke Nukem covered, it's an impressive line-up that continues to grow.

This week, Evercade creators Blaze Entertainment have announced a brand-new retro gaming handheld compatible with all Evercade game cartridges, called the Evercade Nexus. Sporting a 5.89-inch, 840 x 512-resolution IPS display with a 500+ nit brightness rating and a modern controller setup, the Evercade Nexus is set to launch in October 2026 with an affordable price tag of $199.99 USD.

With pre-orders now open, one of the coolest features of the Evercade Nexus is that it's launching with a brand-new cartridge courtesy of the company's collaboration with the Xbox studio Rare. The Banjo-Kazooie double-pack includes enhanced and official recreations of two N64 classics, Banjo-Kazooie and Banjo-Tooie. And with that, a special limited-edition N64-themed Evercade Nexus 64 Edition is also available to pre-order via retailer Funstock for $229.99.

With the release of DLSS 4.5 Dynamic Frame Generation with up to 6X Multi Frame Generation, the latest NVIDIA App update is also introducing the new Auto Shader Compilation feature, designed to reduce load times and in-game stuttering. Available in Beta, NVIDIA Auto Shader Compilation (ASC) rebuilds DirectX 12 shaders while your PC is idle after a driver update.

Anyone who has been playing alongside a steady stream of PC gamers in recent years will be all too familiar with the "Compiling Shaders" process, which can take several minutes. This un-skippable step runs before you can start playing and is all about leveraging your CPU to convert generic shader (i.e., graphics) code into an optimized format for your specific GPU model.

This compilation process often needs to be rerun after a GPU driver update to minimize stuttering and other performance issues. That moment when a PC game's status briefly freezes while a new visual effect is rendered is referred to as "shader stutter." With Auto Shader Compilation (ASC), NVIDIA is looking to minimize this and the need to sit through shader compilation.

When NVIDIA debuted DLSS 4.5 earlier this year, it released only the first half of the update: the new DLSS 4.5 Super Resolution, which introduced a powerful transformer-based upscaling model that delivered a notable improvement in image quality. The upgraded DLSS 4.5 Super Resolution offers its biggest benefit when playing games at 1440p or 4K using the Performance preset, delivering native-like results with a significant performance boost.

Today, the second half of the DLSS 4.5 update arrives for GeForce RTX 50 Series owners, featuring DLSS 4.5 Dynamic Multi Frame Generation with up to 6X Multi Frame Generation. Now, even though the latter might look like NVIDIA simply adding more AI-generated frames to boost smoothness and perceived performance, it's the DLSS 4.5 Dynamic Multi Frame Generation that's the most interesting.

Multi Frame Generation was built for the GeForce RTX 50 Series to take advantage of modern high-refresh-rate displays, with 4K 240 Hz and 1440p 360 Hz monitors becoming increasingly popular options. DLSS 4.5 Dynamic Multi Frame Generation is the natural evolution of Frame Generation technology, as it allows users to set a target frame rate that represents the maximum refresh rate and resolution of their display, and then let Dynamic Multi Frame Generation do the rest.

Capcom apparently doesn't want fans waiting 9+ years in between big Mega Man game releases any more.

Before the Star Force Legacy Collection launched this month, it had been a while since Capcom released a new Mega Man game. The last title, Mega Man 11, was out in 2018. The next game in the series is Mega Man: Dual Override, a full-on mainline sequel, and that's due out in 2027.

This might be just the beginning of the Blue Bomber's resurgence in the public eye, especially with the franchise's 40th anniversary on the near horizon (the first game was released in 1987). In arecent interview with 80lv, Mega Man series lead producer Shingo Izumi says that Capcom hopes to alternate between new games and legacy collections on a more consistent basis.

Pirating games has been around for years, and protecting them has been just as persistent a challenge. A common name in the anti-piracy world is Denuvo, an Irdeto-owned protection software that managed to delay pirated releases long enough for companies to adopt it as their first line of defense. It protected games from being cracked during early release windows, when most sales are generated.

That changed recently when a pirated version of Resident Evil: Requiem, Capcom's latest entry in its zombie-slaying action adventure series, was uploaded just hours after its official release. Turns out, a wave of hypervisor-based (more on this later) Denuvo bypasses were enabling zero-day releases of major titles, including Crimson Desert.

In response, an Irdeto executive confirmed to TorrentFreak that Denuvo is already preparing enhanced security features to tackle these hypervisor exploits. In an interview, Irdeto's head of communications, Daniel Butschek, also assured gamers that the new security measures will not become a performance hazard for DRM-supported titles.

Halo Studios won't try to monetize the new Halo CE remake with an in-game cosmetic store.

Today, Microsoft announced a marketing promo straight out of the 2000s era: Gamers can score exclusive in-game Xbox goodies from specially-marked bottles of Fanta. One of them is an orange-yellow Fanta skin for Master Chief to be worn in the new Halo Campaign Evolved--that game isn't even out yet.

This led users to speculate that the remake would have some sort of store or in-game cosmetic shop similar to Halo Infinite. That way, Halo Studios could potentially make money on selling skins. This plan backfired in Infinite, eventually helping 343 Industries (the former name of Halo Studios) earn the ire of fans for selling overpriced skins, even going so far as to charge money for the color blue.

SEGA's most recent earnings report gives a dour update on the company's performance, but the group hopes to turn things around with advanced new data-tracking capabilities.

Like most of the games market, SEGA isn't doing incredibly well right now. In its latest report, the company told investors that it would be recording a net loss for the FY26 period for the first time in 11 years. SEGA explains that underperforming content was a primary culprit for the loss, as well as delays in its pachislot/pachinko approvals process.

It seems SEGA needs more guidance, and plans to use data-driven analytics to help steer its course. In the Q3 presentation, the company tells investors that it is reviewing plans for a "structural transformation to a data-driven business." To make this happen, SEGA will establish a group to crunch numbers and examine KPIs, or Key Performance Indicators, while also trying to align its studios and content along the way.

Another analyst firm believes Nintendo will raise prices of the Switch 2, this time with TD Cowen analyst Doug Creutz outlining the firm's expectations.

Microsoft raised Xbox prices twice in 2025, and Sony just announced its PS5 price hike, leading to a sticker shock-inducing $900 MSRP for the PS5 Pro. Everyone is now wondering the same thing: When will Nintendo follow suit? Gamers are tentatively waiting for Nintendo to announce a Switch 2 cost increase, but the firm has only decided to price adjust its last-gen Switch 1 lineup. Nintendo even confirmed a cost hike for first-party Switch 2 cartridge games, confirming that digital games will now be cheaper by default.

Analysts expect Nintendo to follow PlayStation's and Xbox's lead with an official Switch 2 price hike. In January, Niko Partners predicted the Switch 2 would be hiked to $499, and sources told Bloomberg that corporate was also mulling over an increase to help offset rising production costs. Experts like Ampere Analysis' Piers Harding-Rolls and Kanto Games' Dr. Serkan Toto also believe Nintendo could raise prices throughout the year.

Sony has filed a trademark for Mimic, an interesting new experimental gun controller that may or may not actually release.

A bit of trademark research on Japanese database Chizai Watch has yielded some interesting results. According to a quick search, Sony Interactive Entertainment has recently filed three trademarks: Flexstrike, Pulse Elevate, and the semi-mysterious Mimic.

Two of these trademarks have manifested into consumer-ready products; the Flexstrike is Sony's new PS5 fighting stick, and the Pulse Elevate are the wireless speakers with built-in mics.