Gaming - Page 85

Activision has confirmed Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 will require Secure Boot and TPM 2.0 technologies to play, which isn't the case for the currently available Call of Duty titles.

In a new blog post, Activision has explained that Trusted Platform Module 2.0 (TPM 2.0) and Secure Boot will be required to play Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 when it launches on PC on November 11, and that previous Call of Duty titles don't have these new security requirements, but the upcoming Black Ops 7 does.

For those who don't know what these technologies are, TPM 2.0 is a dedicated microchip built onto a motherboard or CPU that provides hardware-level encryption and security functions that verify a system's firmware and operating system haven't been tampered with.

With the recent release of the ROG Xbox Ally gaming handhelds, we got our first look at Windows 11's 'Full Screen Experience' for Xbox and PC gaming. Designed for controllers and PC gaming handhelds, it's designed to offer a "clean, distraction-free interface for handheld gaming." And now, as part of the latest Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26220.7051, the 'Full Screen Experience' is available for MSI Claw handhelds.

The MSI Claw gaming handhelds are available in both Intel and AMD form, offering powerful portable gaming on par with the competition. As Windows 11 devices, access to the 'Full Screen Experience' should not only make it easier to navigate settings, apps, and games, but also improve performance as the mode minimizes and stops non-essential background tasks.

Enabling FSE is straightforward and can be found in Windows 11's 'Settings > Gaming' section, where you can select 'Xbox' from the 'Choose home app' drop-down menu. You can also set your handheld to boot straight into the 'Full Screen Experience' on startup. Although rolling out today on YouTube, the gaming handheld-focused creator ETA PRIME was able to test the full-screen Xbox experience on an Intel-powered MSI Claw 8 AI and found it to be a fantastic update.

Dan Houser officially confirms that Rockstar Games was working on a medieval fantasy game at one point, but the project never actually took off and entered production.

Back in 2019, rumor had it that Grand Theft Auto developer Rockstar could make a huge departure with their next game--a new knight sim that traded Grand Theft Auto's guns for swords and shields. Rockstar had been in the throes of crafting Red Dead Redemption 2 for years, and after that project shipped, the team threw together a few rough concept ideas.

One of these was Project Medieval, a game that had been set in a new IP focused on gleaming armor and knight errantry. Up until now, Project Medieval has always been a somewhat dubious rumor, but Rockstar Games co-founder Dan Houser has officially confirmed that it was in concept phases at one point.

If Rockstar had shipped GTA 5's singleplayer DLC, then there's a possibility that Red Dead Redemption 2 may never have been made.

In a recent interview with Lex Fridman, Rockstar Games co-founder Dan Houser revealed a bunch of interesting details about the studio, canceled content, and what it was like working on some of the most lauded video games in history. One of the more critical decisions is deciding on what Rockstar does and doesn't work on--in this case, GTA 5's singleplayer DLC had to be scrapped to make way for Red Dead Redemption 2.

Houser confirms that the GTA 5 DLC would have starred Trevor had it actually come out, but the content was only about halfway done before it had been canceled altogether so that devs could prioritize RDR2.

Battlefield 6's new Strikepoint mode, which arrived with Season 1 last week, reportedly has a serious glitch which could allow for farming a ton of XP - though some action appears to have been taken to stop this already.

Eurogamer (via TechRadar) brought our attention to the supposed XP exploit (XPloit for short), and the fact that the Battlefield Comms account on X has posted about an issue pertaining to experience gain - and a hotfix of some kind therein.

However, the post on X (see above) doesn't mention an XP farming exploit specifically, just that: "We've identified an issue that was affecting the amount of XP earned in the Strikepoint mode. To maintain fair and consistent progression, we've made some temporary adjustments to XP in this mode while we investigate a longer term solution."

NVIDIA's RTX Remix toolset, which allows modders to remaster and even remake older PC titles with access to modern path-traced lighting and technologies like DLSS, has been used to great effect to breathe new life into classic games. And now we can add Grand Theft Auto IV or GTA 4 to the mix, with a new RTX Remix version of the game showcasing Rockstar's 2008 classic in a new light.

Coming from experienced modder xoxor4d, this project is a little different than some of the others we've seen because it required some reverse engineering of the game's code and how it handled DirectX to be compatible with RTX Remix. Currently playable for xoxor4d's Patreon subscribers, the mod is on track for a full free release once completed.

For those wondering how it looks, even without updated assets like higher-resolution textures and new models, the path-traced lighting enhances GTA 4's distinct look. As expected, path tracing in the open-world GTA 4 requires powerful GeForce RTX 50 Series hardware to run, but part of this is due to the game itself.

In a recent interview with The Escapist, Jay Klaitz, the actor who played Lester Crest in Grand Theft Auto 5, said that considering the amount of money that has been poured into the development of Grand Theft Auto 6, Rockstar would be correct in pricing the title at $100 for the standard edition.

Klaitz said that Grand Theft Auto 5 was "heavy on the mocap," and that he assumes Grand Theft Auto 6 will be no different. Additionally, the actor mentioned how many years it takes to develop a new Grand Theft Auto title, with Klaitz saying that after the release of Grand Theft Auto 5, Rockstar immediately began work on GTA 6. For those who don't know, GTA 5 released in 2013, making the development for GTA 6 thirteen years in the making by the time it releases in May 2026.

The actor also points to the additional content players will be getting once the game releases, including the content aspect. "You're almost buying multiple games when you buy the one". With that being said, Klaitz does recognize the sentiment of making GTA 6 as cheap as possible to make it accessible to more fans, saying, "maybe there's a way to split the difference." However, Klaitz said that he lands in the camp of the $100 price tag, "this game warrants that price tag."

After rumors that Activision was going to release Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 earlier than the initial November release date, a known Call of Duty insider has confirmed there has been no change to the release date.

The rumors of an early release for Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 came from another Call of Duty leaker, "TheGhostofHope," who wrote on X at the end of last month that some evidence had been brought to their attention that suggested Black Ops 7 was going to release a week before the original November 14 release date. That rumor was squashed by Activision when the publisher put out an X post that reiterated Black Ops 7 was releasing on November 14.

To further squash the rumors of an unexpected shift in the Black Ops 7 release date, known Call of Duty insider CharlieIntel shared an X post and wrote, "Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 launches on Friday, November 14. There is no early access. There is no change to the release date, an Activision rep has confirmed to us." So, for those who were holding out for an early release for Black Ops 7, it appears that won't be happening unless Activision surprises everyone with a shadow drop.

Embark Studios has a great way to deal with instances of cheating: Ban the offenders and give the victims their items back. Fans have taken notice, and they're justifiably ecstatic about the policy.

Arc Raiders is gaming's latest hit, attracting over 328,000 peak players on Steam in the last 24 hours. An anti-cheat policy has fostered some strong goodwill with fans--extraction shooters like Arc are filled with tension-heavy skirmishes because if you die, your gear drops and can be taken by your assailant. But if a cheater kills you in Arc Raiders, it's likely that Embark Studios will find out and give you back all the items that you lost. That's what happened to one player, and many others are chiming in to say they've also had their items returned when killed by in-game cheaters.

"Your items were lost due to unfair play, but we managed to get them back for you! They're now available for you to claim and take with you on your next journey Topside. We're committed to building an environment where gameplay is about skill, teamwork, and fun, not unfair advantages. Thank you for being a part of this mission! Together, we're building Arc Raiders into a fair and fun experience for everyone," reads the in-game message from Embark Studios to affected players.

Nexon's latest extraction shooter Arc Raiders is a huge success on Steam, and is gaining momentum on PlayStation 5.

Arc Raiders looks to be gaming's latest multiplayer hit. The PvPvE shooter is making good on its 7-year creation cycle by sparking sales, adoption, and widespread play. Shortly after its debut on October 30, Arc Raiders is currently the #1 top-selling game on Steam, beating out other high-profile games and dethroning Battlefield 6 in the process.

SteamDB figures reveal Arc Raiders had over 264,000 peak players on Steam on launch day, with 250,000 players logging in the next day. At the time of writing, Arc Raiders has over 141,000 players on Steam.

Helldivers 2 game director Mikael Eriksson reiterates plans to release less actual content and focus more on the backend of the game.

Arrowhead wants to fix Helldivers 2, and is putting performance and stability ahead of profits. The recent Into the Unjust expansion introduced a ton of new bugs and fans are taking notice, necessitating a response from Arrowhead. Now the team is back to explain what's actually going to happen--Helldivers 2 will spend "a few months" in this repair state as the devs focus on stability and in-game performance.

In a recent YouTube Q&A video, game director Mikael Eriksson highlights what gamers can expect--no dramatic improvements to FPS or performance in the short to midterm, but less crashes and bugs. On the topic of optimization, Eriksson says that it took a "considerable effort" from the team just to squeeze out an extra 2FPS on all platforms.

Companies in the billion-dollar video games industry carefully kept prices in check, but in recent years publishers finally bumped the price. After all, as Gestalt media, video games are expensive to make...so why weren't price hikes more common throughout the years?

Video game prices only recently went to $70 (and thanks to Nintendo, some games are $80). For decades and multiple console generations from the NES to the PS4, games cost a flat $59.99 and the prices didn't rise with inflation. Why not? Fallout creator Tim Cain believes he has the answer--it all comes down to digital distribution.

In a recent YouTube video, Cain made a simple and compelling explanation: "Digital probably is the reason games have resisted matching inflation. I've said this before, I bought games for $59 in the '90s. That would have been a really expensive game these days. And these were standard games Super Nintendo. But those cost savings weren't passed down to consumers. They could have."

Nintendo adds a splash of virtual console nostalgia to its modern Animal Crossing game.

Animal Crossing New Horizons is getting a big new update that adds some surprising features. New Horizon's update 3.0 will add playable retro games that can be booted up right within Animal Crossing. The selection is limited, but the ROMs are apparently complete titles and not demos. The games that were shown are Ice Climbers (NES/FamiCom), Clu Clu Land (NES/FamiCom), and Dr. Mario (Game Boy) but the full lineup hasn't been revealed.

The announcement video confirms multiple consoles are coming: the FamiCom, NES, FamiCom Disk System, Game Boy, and Super Famicom. This is Nintendo, after all, so you'll also need an active Switch Online subscription to even play these games--layered monetization makes sense, as Nintendo is carefully protective over its older games. After doing various activities, players can start purchasing Nintendo-branded items like the consoles in the new Hotel souvenir shop.

UPDATE: Netflix has agreed to buy Warner Bros. in an $82 billion deal.

Three years after the merger, Warner Bros. Discovery is back up for sale, and Netflix is said to be preparing an offer to buy the company's studios business.

Key parts of WB Discovery may soon be sold to the highest bidder, including the company's billion-dollar video games IP. Sources tell Reuters that content streamer Netflix is interested in securing WB Discovery assets, and has hired investment bank Moelis & Co to look over the potential offer.

Capcom's new Resident Evil Generation Pack is the latest Switch 2 release to ship on Game-key Cards, and it may have something to do with the console's slower ROM cartridges.

Capcom is a company that prioritizes bulk volume sales--the publisher wants to eventually sell 100 million games a year. The latest Resident Evil trilogy pack reflects this model by including three mainline titles in one bundle: RE7, RE Village, and the upcoming Resident Evil Requiem. The goal is to get players caught up on the Resident Evil series while collecting a Requiem pre-order, netting an extra $20 for the catalog RE games (which is typically what they can cost on sale anyway). It's a great deal for Switch 2 players that have yet to play the modern Resident Evil games.

There are just two catches with the RE Generation Pack: All three games ship on Game-key cards and not as full games on ROM carts, and the other caveat is that the deal is limited and time-sensitive. Capcom confirms that the bundle will be discontinued when its fiscal year ends on March 31, 2026.

Microsoft officially severed ties with Windows 10 earlier this month, leaving hundreds of millions of PCs around the world to decide whether to upgrade to Windows 11 or pay Microsoft for continued security updates on Windows 10.

For those looking to make the jump over to Windows 11, that might require some hardware upgrades, as Windows 11 has higher hardware requirements than its predecessor operating system. Notably, some users hesitant to make the jump to Windows 11 are wary of the increasing difficulty to get into the operating system without a Microsoft Account and an internet connection, along with the myriad of additional Microsoft software commonly referred to as Windows Bloat.

However, there are tools to get around this when setting up a PC for the first time, and technology channel CyberCPU Tech has demonstrated how users making the leap to Windows 11 can set up the operating system without an internet connection or a Microsoft Account. However, that channel has now been targeted by YouTube, with the video being taken down.

Valve is reportedly closer than ever to the announcement of Half-Life 3, with insider Tyler McVicker saying HLX development could've reached a new stage, and that Half-Life 3 would be announced with a simple tweet.

In his latest video, McVicker deep dives into the latest Source 2 engine inside of the Counter-Strike 2 October 15 update, where he says there are new systems and features that are in it, that aren't being used in any other game that Valve has powered by the Source engine.

The latest update is filled with optimizations and polishing, with Valve introducing an automated process that cleans system resources, changes to the sound simulation and liquid simulation systems, and more. The biggest tease is that McVicker shoots down any rumors that suggest Valve will make the big Half-Life 3 announcement at The Game Awards on December 11, and that the huge Half-Life 3 reveal would happen from Valve, in a single tweet.

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella has commented on future Xbox consoles, and how the upcoming console will be innovative and a revisit of the "conventional wisdom" of Xbox.

Nadella gave these remarks to TBPN, where the Microsoft CEO mentioned Steam as a direct competitor to Xbox and how Microsoft is the largest publisher following its acquisition of Activision-Blizzard. Following that statement, Nadella said that Microsoft is now striving to become a "fantastic" publisher that puts its titles "everywhere" and in "every platform."

As for the next Xbox console, Nadella said that Microsoft "wanted to do innovative work in the system side on the console and on the PC." Adding, that he thinks it's "funny" how people consider console and PC to be "two different things," and then went to mention that Microsoft originally built the Xbox with the intention of creating a PC that is purpose built for gaming. Nadella finished up by saying, "I kind of want to revisit some of that conventional wisdom."

It was only recently that Halo Studios unveiled Halo: Campaign Evolved, a remake of the classic Halo title "Halo: Combat Evolved," and now we are hearing that the first Halo game isn't the only one to be getting the remake treatment, as Halo 2 and Halo 3 are also teed up for remakes.

The rumor comes from the X account "Halo Leaks," which wrote in a recent post that it has learned "Halo 2 & Halo 3 are being remade". Additionally, the X account said both titles will also have sprint mechanics, as does Halo: Campaign Evolved, and neither title will feature any multiplayer aspect, as Halo Studios, Xbox, and Microsoft are saving that for the upcoming Halo 7.

Halo Leaks wrote in a follow-up post that there currently isn't an estimated time of arrival for when both of these titles will be announced, and that the same source that informed them about the Campaign Evolved development told them about Halo 2 and 3. Furthermore, Halo Leaks wrote that it's possible Halo Studios is using the announcement of Halo Campaign Evolved as a tester to gauge audience reaction before going ahead with the remakes of Halo 2 and 3, albeit the leaker says "but this is just guessing".

Embark Studios has a definite hit on its hands, with its brand-new extraction shooter ARC Raiders, reaching a peak concurrent player count of 264,673 on Steam in its first day. This figure will likely be eclipsed over the weekend, but either way, it's a good sign, as the game also boasts a 'Very Positive' user review rating.

On PC, the game is a visual showcase, thanks to the fantastic art direction and Embark Studios' impressive tech, which includes NVIDIA's RTXGI for ray-traced global illumination. Now, when it comes to ray-tracing and multiplayer games with shooting, it's a combination that doesn't normally work due to the performance hit that comes from cinematic and immersive RT.

But, with DLSS 4 Super Resolution, Multi Frame Generation, and NVIDIA Reflex, GeForce RTX 50 Series gamers can experience impressive performance for what looks to be a well-optimized PC launch. For high-refresh-rate esports 1080p displays, the GeForce RTX 5070 achieves an impressive 406 FPS, while the flagship GeForce RTX 5090 reaches a staggering 611 FPS, according to NVIDIA's benchmarks.