Gaming - Page 60

NVIDIA's DLSS has been the gold standard for PC gaming upscaling for several years, improving performance while maintaining excellent image quality. At CES 2026 in January, NVIDIA announced and released DLSS 4.5, featuring a new, improved DLSS Super Resolution powered by an advanced AI Transformer model. The result is better-than-native image quality with lost detail restored, which was our impression after going hands-on with the new technology.

Although most of the negative sentiment surrounding DLSS is around using AI for Frame Generation and the perception that the performance-enhancing technology has become a crutch for some developers, there are still a lot of PC gamers who refuse to enable any form of upscaling or DLSS-like tech in favor of maintaining a pure, natively rendered image. And with that, German publication ComputerBase decided to conduct a 'Blind Test' with over 1,000 participants.

The goal was to see which gamers preferred for image quality: Native rendering, NVIDIA DLSS 4.5, or AMD FSR Upscaling (ML) or FSR 4. With the test covering six games, the results delivered a clear winner - NVIDIA DLSS 4.5. With an average of 48.2% choosing DLSS, 24.0% choosing native rendering, and 15% choosing FSR 4, it's a strong case for DLSS upscaling as a key component of PC gaming in 2026.

Cyberpunk 2077 has been shown off running at between 720p @ 20-50FPS on a Red Magic 11 Pro smartphone, powered by Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 processor through PC emulation. Check it out:

ETA Prime used the GameSir GameHub as the front end on the Red Magic 11 Pro, running the Windows PC version of Cyberpunk 2077 on the Arm-powered SoC.

The YouTuber tested at 720p output with the lowest in-game visual settings, FSR 2.1 on Balanced, and Frame Generation disabled. The results weren't too bad, with the on-screen FPS counter recording around 30FPS, while dipping to the high 20FPS range during heavier loads in gameplay.

Most of Bethesda Game Studios is currently working on The Elder Scrolls 6, including some outside partners, but the game is still a ways off from release.

Ahead of Bethesda's 40th anniversary, Todd Howard gives a quick status update on TES6's development during a lengthy Kinda Funny Games Q&A livestream.

Howard reveals some surprises, including a next-gen Creation Engine 3 upgrade for Elder Scrolls 6 and other future games like Fallout 5.

Bethesda has spent multiple years upgrading its Creation Engine to ensure The Elder Scrolls 6 uses the studio's best-yet technology.

Todd Howard dropped an interesting surprise during today's Kinda Funny Games livestream, confirming that the next big Elder Scrolls game is being made with next-gen tech. Bethesda quietly built a major new iteration to its RPG toolset and is using the latest version, the Creation Engine 3, to build The Elder Scrolls 6.

"We've spent the last several years bringing Creation Engine 2, which powers Starfield, up to Creation Engine 3, which is going to power Elder Scrolls 6 and beyond," Howard said.

A high-value Tencent subsidiary helped fund contentious live shooter Highguard, sources tell Game File's Stephen Totilo. It's also been revealed that Tencent is on the advisory board of The Game Awards, and fans are questioning a potential conflict of interests regarding Geoff Keighley's decision to air the Highguard trailer at TGA 2024.

The Highguard story has taken a surprise turn. New reports from Game File indicate that Highguard's development was financed by TiMi Studios, a lucrative gaming group owned by Chinese tech giant Tencent. TiMi Studios is a major subsidiary responsible for mobile hits like Arena of Valor and Honor of Kings, both of which have generated over $18 billion in combined player spending.

The news has seemingly cast those involved in a bad light, and gamers are now distrustful of the publisher, the higher-ups at Wildlight who may have known about Tencent's involvement, and even Geoff Keighley, the host of The Game Awards showcase. It was originally believed that Keighley had chosen to showcase Highguard at The Game Awards 2024 out of hype and interest in the game itself, however fans are now second-guessing this sentiment because Tencent is actually part of The Game Awards' advisory board.

Last week, several Steam users began to notice that Valve's Steam Deck was 'out of stock' in several regions. Covering all three models, the Steam Deck 256GB LCD, the Steam Deck 512GB OLED, and the Steam Deck 1TB OLED, many began to wonder if the shortages were due to the current memory and storage crisis causing chaos in the consumer market.

The unprecedented increase in memory pricing and the general unavailability of stock, due to most memory and storage being diverted to AI data centers, have already delayed Valve's planned early 2026 launch of the Steam Machine. Although Valve recently committed to releasing the Steam Machine in the first half of 2026, the current expectation is that it will likely arrive in limited quantities and at an inflated, higher-than-originally-planned price point.

So, yeah, seeing the Steam Deck, Valve's popular PC gaming handheld, suddenly go 'out of stock,' led to some genuine concern. Well, thanks to an update on the official Steam Deck store page, it looks like those concerns were valid, as the "memory and storage shortages" have caused the Steam Deck to become unavailable in several regions.

Sony's next-gen PlayStation 6 console could be delayed through to 2029 according to new reports, and in a fresh leak, we're being told that the PS6 won't have the "full" RDNA 5 feature set.

We've known for a while now from leakers like Moore's Law is Dead what would be inside of the PS6 console, a new semi-custom SoC with AMD Zen 6 CPU cores and RDNA 5 GPU cores, but it won't be the "full feature set" of RDNA 5, some of that will be left for special sauce for the RDNA 5-powered Radeon RX graphics cards.

In leaks over that time we've also come to learn that the next-gen Xbox would be faster than the next-gen PS6, with the new Xbox featuring a larger 64 CUs of RDNA 5 with GDDR7 memory, while the PS6 is touted with 52-54 CUs of RDNA 5.

Unity is a versatile cross-platform game engine that has been around since 2005, supporting console, PC, and mobile. Some of the more notable Unity-developed games released in 2025 span a wide range of genres and include Hollow Knight: Silksong, Megabonk, Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor, and Blue Prince.

During the company's recent earnings call, Unity CEO Matt Bromberg discussed its new, upgraded Unity AI technology, which will be unveiled at the Game Developers Conference (GDC) next month. According to Matt Bromberg, this technology will help democratize game development for millions by removing the need to code or understand coding. That means the ability to create entire games using prompts and natural language with no formal game development experience required.

"At the Game Developer Conference in March, we'll be unveiling a beta of the new upgraded Unity AI, which will enable developers to prompt full casual games into existence with natural language only, native to our platform," Matt Bromberg said. "So it's simple to move from prototype to finished product."

Nintendo may punctuate the anniversary of its newly-released Switch 2 console with a price hike--a rare occurrence that characterizes the volatility of the tech market.

More evidence has surfaced that reinforces a Switch 2 price hike in 2026. Sources close to Nintendo's business plans tell Bloomberg that the games-maker is mulling over a Switch 2 price adjustment. It's unclear whether or not the price hike would be global or targeted, and if prices would be affected in the Americas, a region that represents over 40% of Nintendo's quarterly earnings.

Specifics on what the new prices might look like were not provided, however analyst firm Niko Partners also predicts that Nintendo could bump up the Switch 2's price tag throughout 2026. The firm expects the Switch 2 could now retail for $499 in countries like the United States.

AI could be the reason that the PlayStation 6 is delayed until 2029, sources tell Bloomberg.

AI continues to accelerate faster and faster, and companies are struggling to feed teeming datacenters. AI has driven up the prices of consumer electronics to all-time highs, as critical chips like RAM, flash storage, and GPU/CPUs are being diverted to lucrative AI contracts. As a result, entertainment companies like Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo may now have to pay more to produce their unreleased next-gen gaming systems--and possibly even raise prices again in the meantime.

New reports from Bloomberg indicate that Sony may push back the release of its next-gen PlayStation 6 console by multiple years due to market conditions. Sony could release the PS6 in 2028 or even 2029 because of the AI chip squeeze.

Valve's Steam Deck is widely considered one of the best handheld gaming PCs on the market, with the SteamOS interface and rock-solid user experience that make it feel more like a console than a desktop PC. With the Steam Deck currently sold via the Steam platform in countries like the US and Australia and through partners like Komodo in Asia, late last week, gamers began to notice an 'Out of stock' message in several regions where the handheld is sold.

The 'Out of stock' can be seen on the Steam Deck's official store page in the U.S., covering all three available models: the Steam Deck 256GB LCD, the Steam Deck 512GB OLED, and the Steam Deck 1TB OLED. With all three models unavailable for purchase, the only option for prospective buyers is to add the handheld to their wishlist.

However, since Valve no longer produces the 256GB LCD model of the Steam Deck, only the two OLED models are expected to be sold once stock becomes available. And on that note, there's no indication of when this might be, which is causing many to wonder if the Steam Deck is the latest bit of PC gaming hardware to be affected by the memory crisis brought on by the AI boom.

If you are anywhere near Norway and planning on having a baby in the next 9 months or so, then Norwegian retailer Komplett will give you a FREE copy of Grand Theft Auto 6 if your baby is born on launch day: November 19, 2026.

In a new promotional run on Instagram and in-store ads, Komplett said (translated) that: "Life hack: Lie together today, get GTA 6 free from us in 9 months", adding "this is actually not [a joke], GTA 6 is released in 9 months, and if you have a baby on the launch date, we'll give you the game for free". The retailer honoring this promotion would have to accept a birth certificate (we guess) in order to validate a customer's claim that their baby was born on GTA 6 launch day.

I can't imagine a couple talking to each other and discussing this deal, thinking that they would have a child (right now) and hopefully time it perfectly to have a baby on November 19... just to get a free copy of Grand Theft Auto 6. Stranger things have happened, but imagine being that child and going to school in the future "yeah I was born because my parents wanted a free copy of GTA 6".

Diablo 2's new Warlock class has been broken to deliver one of the most ridiculously overpowered builds ever made.

Diablo 2 recently got its first new playable class in 25 years as part of the new Reign of the Warlock expansion. The new class, the titular Warlock, can convert demons to his side and has some nifty eldritch attacks that copy his equipped weapon. And yes, the Warlock has already been broken to an absurd degree.

YouTube and Diablo 2 expert Coooley has broken the Warlock class, leading to a build that can dish out 79K damage while fully equipped, slaughtering even the hardest enemies in D2R's Terror Zones. It gets crazier, though: The build still works even if you don't have any gear equipped other than a main-hand weapon.

Xbox is paring down features that players don't use as Microsoft continues iterating on its conjunctive next-gen Xbox-Windows hybrid.

Microsoft has announced that Social Clubs on the Xbox platform will be removed in April 2026. The feature was originally introduced all the way back in 2016 as Clubs on Xbox LIVE, and transformed into Social Clubs, which are basically user-created and user-moderated mini-forums where people can gather together.

It turns out not enough people used the feature, so Microsoft is nixing it. "This update is part of ongoing platform updates to focus on the social experiences players use most today," an Xbox support post explains. The Official Clubs for individual games will remain intact.

Savvy Games Group, the interactive entertainment division owned by Saudi Arabia, is ready to make another billion-dollar gaming acquisition.

Sources tell Reuters that ByteDance is ready to sell its Moonton Technology division, and that a deal with Saudi-owned Savvy Games Group is in advanced discussions. Both companies are said to have agreed to preliminary deal proposals.

Moonton has a multi-billion dollar valuation thanks to the success of its top mobile hit, Mobile Legends: Bang Bang. The acquisition is said to be worth between $5 - 7 billion. With over 1.5 billion downloads and 110 million active players logging on every month, Mobile Legends: Bang Bang is among the leading smartphone games on the market today.

Xbox fans, rejoice: Metal Gear Solid 4 will finally break its decades-long exclusivity to the PlayStation 3 and release on an Xbox platform.

Konami has officially announced Metal Gear Solid Master Collection vol. 2, and predictably, the new bundle comes with Metal Gear Solid 4, the next mainline game in the series. This is noteworthy news because from 2008 until 2026, MGS4 Guns of the Patriots was exclusive to the PlayStation 3. Now it'll be available to other PlayStation consoles, and to Xbox for the first time.

The second volume will cost $50 and comes with three games: MGS4 Guns of the Patriots released on the PS3 in 2008, MGS Peace Walker which was originally launched on the PSP in 2010, and Metal Gear: Ghost Babel, an old title that Konami released on the Game Boy back in 2000.

In an announcement coming out of nowhere during the February 2026 State of Play event, Saber Interactive revealed a new AAA John Wick game, starring titular hero Keanu Reeves, and made in collaboration with Chad Stahelski, who was the director and visionary behind the four John Wick movies. Check out the teaser trailer:

We knew that Lionsgate was working on a new AAA tier John Wick game, and now it is a reality... Lionsgate has Saber Interactive working on the new John Wick game, and having both Keanu Reeves and Chad Stahelski is a huge, huge deal.

John Wick game director Jesus Iglesias said on a PlayStation Blog post: "We are working closely with Chad Stahelski (John Wick director and franchise visionary), Keanu Reeves, and Lionsgate to produce a highly anticipated, adrenaline-fueled experience that fits into the world of John Wick. This game takes place during a specific period within the John Wick timeline and contributes to the expansive and rich lore of the franchise".

Announced and shadow-dropped during Sony's recent State of Play broadcast, God of War: Sons of Sparta from Mega Cat Studios and Santa Monica Studio is a new 2D action platformer that serves as an origin story for series protagonist Kratos. Set during his youth, the story will present a tale of "duty, honor, and brotherhood," narrated by original voice actor TC Carson, as Kratos finds his place among the Spartans.

With an old-school, pixelated art style, detailed environments, and impressive animation, the game also features Kratos' brother, Deimos. As this is a 2D side-scroller set in the God of War universe, the game will be as much about combat as it will be exploration and platforming. Kratos wields a spear and shield in the game and can also wield the Gifts of Olympus while encountering enemies, mythical creatures, and bosses.

A 2D God of War spin-off has been rumored for a while, with Sony choosing to go the surprise shadow-drop route for its release, making it available now on PS5 for $29.99 USD. Unfortunately, there's no PC version. Sony didn't stop there as it had another major God of War-related announcement to make during its recent State of Play broadcast.

Konami has announced a new official 2D Castlevania game that continues decades after the events of Castlevania III Dracula's Curse.

Dead Cells developer Motion Twin is helming the development of a new Castlevania sidescroller. It's called Belmont's Curse, and it takes place 20+ years after Dracula's Curse, the old-school NES classic.

"Set 23 years after Castlevania Dracula's Curse - follow a young Belmont's journey in an all new 2D Action-Exploration title from KONAMI, Evil Empire and Motion Twin, will be released in 2026!"

Bungie has announced an open stress test for Marathon that begins later this month, allowing the devs to gauge critical data and feedback before official release.

Marathon is launching on March 5, and to prep for the big day, Bungie is holding open server tests for the game across PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC. The test will be open to everyone, however you'll still need to have an active online subscription in order to play--multiplayer access isn't free for all platforms.

"Marathon's Server Slam, our open preview weekend*, runs from February 26 at 10 AM PT to March 2 at 10 AM PT," Bungie said in the announcement.