Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 is a fantastic game, and I’ll go one further: that’s an understatement. Now, I’m personally not too heavily invested in the Warhammer universe. Unlike my older brother, I just never really got into it; instead, I was a massive Halo fan.

Now, of course, you can absolutely be both, but my brother often reminds me that Master Chief wouldn’t survive in the Warhammer universe, something I completely refuse to believe. I’m not here to settle that debate, though. Instead, I want to highlight an incredible community-made mod by Skykiller, using Halo Reach Sangheili models gained via Draken Warlord, that lets you experience Space Marine 2 from the perspective of one of Halo's most iconic species.

The mod itself, called Sangheili Campaign, adds Halo Reach Elite models to the Space Marine 2 campaign, complete with modified textures, materials, and visual effects to better fit the game's world. In fact, it goes far beyond a simple character swap, replacing nearly every weapon with Halo Reach equivalents, including the Plasma Pistol, Carbine, Needle Rifle, Plasma Repeater, Plasma Rifle, and plenty more. And yes, before you ask, the Energy Sword is there too.

I’d like to say it’s surprising how well this all fits together, but it really isn’t. As a huge Halo fan, and I’m sure many others feel the same, I’ve long believed the franchise has been underutilized. Feel free to disagree with me, but even a former Bungie employee, Niles Sankey shared similar sentiments.

When Halo Wars launched, I was genuinely excited because it felt like the beginning of Halo expanding beyond first-person shooters. Since then, though, we’ve had very little outside of Halo Wars and Halo: Spartan Assault and Spartan Strike. I even loved the look of the canceled Halo Mega Bloks game, and seeing this mod only makes me wish we'd gotten an official Halo game in a similar vein to Space Marine 2. Sadly, we haven't, and I think that's a real shame.

Still, I’d love to hear what you think. Would you want to see Halo branch out into more genres like this, or do you think it should stick to what it knows best? Let me know in the comments, and be sure to take part in our poll above!

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American Truck Simulator's map keeps getting bigger, and one of the next confirmed DLC packs takes things north of the border into Canada.

It's the first time American Truck Simulator has officially left the United States, and the new British Columbia DLC will tag onto the upper-left side of the map.

There's still no confirmed release date, and it's unlikely to be soon since Illinois hasn't even been here a month. But some new information has been released by SCS Software, and it details locations that will be part of British Columbia.

American Truck Simulator: British Columbia cities listed (so far)

I'll admit the only location I expected to see was Vancouver because my geography is awful, and, well, that's not on the list. At least right now, anyway, but it more than likely will be.

Instead, based on the locations we have been given, there's a spread right across the southern part of British Columbia, from Vancouver Island in the west, all the way across close to the border with Alberta.

Here are all of the confirmed cities for American Truck Simulator's British Columbia DLC.

• Grand Forks
• Creston
• Sparwood
• Invermere
• Golden
• Princeton
• Campbell River

SCS teases on its blog post that there's more to come:

"These are just a few of the many cities and communities you'll be able to discover throughout British Columbia. Our teams are working hard to capture the unique character, industries, and landscapes that make this province such an exciting destination for truckers."

The initial selection does give us an idea of the scale, though, and how it'll integrate with the existing map. It looks like routes will be drivable into Washington, Idaho, and Montana.

Following British Columbia, the next two DLCs are already public, with South Dakota and the recently revealed Indiana.

All this comes just days after the first gameplay was shown off for "Project Road Trip," adding regular vehicles into American Truck Simulator.

In the video above you can see the work-in-progress on the Ford F150 pickup, which will be part of the upcoming, but as yet undated, Ford Car Pack DLC.

I'm a recent convert to American Truck Simulator, but right now it's one of my favorite games to play. Nothing beats hitching the trailer and hitting the open road at the end of a long, tiring day in the real world.

I'm just wondering if there will be accurate border controls when the British Columbia DLC drops. I sure hope so.

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Despite decades of people calling for "the year of Linux," fresh data from Steam's Hardware Survey for June 2026 suggests Windows is still firmly the norm. Linux's market share fell by 0.30 percent to 3.69%. Yes, that's a relatively small decline, but considering Linux's smaller gains have often been celebrated, I think it's only fair to mention it. To keep things balanced, though, Linux is still well ahead of where it was this time last year, when it sat at just 2.57%.

Before we jump into what we all actually care about (Windows), macOS also saw a small increase, rising by 0.05 percent to 2.21%, up from 1.76% this time last year. I know rattling off percentages can get a little mind-numbing, but there are actually some genuinely interesting trends hiding in this month's data, so let's get into the Windows side of things, because that's where things get particularly interesting.

Looking at Steam's Hardware Survey for June 2026, Windows 11 climbed by another 0.68 percent, while Windows 10 declined by 0.43 points, showing a continued shift toward Windows 11. The modern OS now accounts for 70.44% of Steam users. It's hardly a dramatic jump, but it does suggest more PC gamers are choosing to move to Windows 11 rather than one of the growing number of Linux distro alternatives.

Is anyone calling it "The year of Windows 11"? That's what I'll be calling it for the foreseeable future — I jest, of course. Windows has its fair share of issues and gets plenty of deserved flak online, but Linux has given me a bad experience every time I've had the displeasure of trying it. Despite my frustrations with Windows, it typically does just work, Copilot shenanigans aside.

I always enjoy looking at these kinds of trends across the industry. There's something interesting about seeing what operating systems, hardware, and configurations people are actually using. Somehow, despite Microsoft seemingly shooting itself in the foot several hundred times over, people are still choosing Windows 11.

But let me know your thoughts. Is this really a sign of satisfaction with Windows 11, or are people simply being forced to upgrade as Windows 10 reaches the end of its life? Share your thoughts in the comments below, and as always, be sure to take part in our poll below:

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It's been a rough week for console gamers. First, Sony announced it's putting an end to physical disc production in 2028, meaning the PlayStation 6 will be strictly digital.

Over on the Xbox side of things, our sources (via Managing Editor Jez Corden) suggest that Microsoft is also leaning away from including a disc drive in its next-gen console.

Sony didn't think gamers were unhappy enough this week, and the company also confirmed that it's shutting down the PS3 and PS Vita digital storefronts as early as August 2026 in some regions. Whatever hasn't been downloaded once the stores disappear is, for all practical purposes, gone.

What's really irking me and countless other gamers is the expected blow to game preservation.

This is exactly the sort of combo knockout that the Video Game History Foundation (VGHF) has been dreading and warning gamers about for years. The VGHF's director, Frank Cifaldi, wrote a lengthy response to the news on Bluesky.

Statement from VGHF director Frank Cifaldi on the discontinuation of physical PlayStation media, and the closure of the PS3 and PSP digital storefronts.

— @gamehistoryorg.bsky.social (@gamehistoryorg.bsky.social.bsky.social) 2026-07-02T13:18:13.377Z

Cifaldi notes that "museums and archives have been preparing for this future for a while," and that console games pressed to discs have long been a poor way to preserve due mainly to day-one patches downloaded from the cloud (which might not always be available).

Cifaldi's frustration isn't exactly directed at Sony, but rather at the gaming industry as a whole, and what it expects comes next for institutions like the VGHF.

If platforms like PlayStation and Xbox are going to retire physical media and kill old storefronts, the least the games industry could do is help find a legal way to preserve old titles.

Instead, groups like the Entertainment Software Association (ESA) have "repeatedly opposed the efforts of cultural heritage institutions to reform digital copy protection laws to make it easier to do this work."

Alongside the Software Preservation Network (SPN), the VGHF has been putting in work in recent years to create some sort of DMCA exemption for historic archives and libraries.

👉 Subscription gaming is inching toward a world where players own nothing at all

In 2024, the US Copyright Office famously shot down an appeal to grant that sort of exemption, with lawyers stating that there was basically no way to have the correct safeguards around that sort of preservation effort. So what's the next step?

No one thinks game preservation is wrong; the disagreement is over who should be trusted to solve the problem, and so far, there's no clear answer.

What's left for game preservation but piracy?

I'm certainly not the only one who thinks that, in the face of blocked legal efforts, piracy is the only real way to preserve video games.

Responding to a post on Bluesky stating that "piracy is the only extant form of media preservation that exists in games right now," Cifaldi said, "This is accurate."

As the director of a historical video game preservation institution, and someone who has dedicated his entire adult life to this cause, this is accurate. We have attempted to work with the industry's trade organization to find a legal path forward, but they refuse to offer a meaningful alternative.

— @frankcifaldi.bsky.social (@frankcifaldi.bsky.social.bsky.social) 2026-07-02T13:18:13.339Z

I can see an obvious contrast here to the platform I imagine most of our Windows Central readers are already thinking about.

PC gaming has long been a digital medium, but the end of discs was more like a retirement after many years of dutiful service rather than an abrupt end as decided by industry giants.

Because of how open PC gaming has always been, it's much easier to preserve games. GOG does a great job of keeping old games alive. There are plenty of storefronts available with different and overlapping titles. Community efforts and modding revive old games all the time, and emulation is only growing.

The PC I built a few months ago can usually run the games I grew up on decades ago. Consoles, increasingly, can't promise the same thing. Nowhere close, especially with how gated everything is.

👉 As Sony revokes digital licenses and Xbox hints at a discless future — I'm saying a sad farewell to physical software, midnight launches, and second-hand game savings

With one of the biggest perks of console gaming gone, what's left? Ease of use? Sure, but PCs are quickly catching up with Windows Xbox Mode and SteamOS. Low cost? Maybe, but next-gen consoles are going to cost a lot more than I think most people can fathom.

Would you rather see older video games disappear than see them pirated? Do you agree that when there's no legal path forward, the only answer is to break the law? Let me know in the comments section below!

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Xbox looks likely to follow PC gaming by doing away with physical media, and Sony is already taking heat for its plans to stop PlayStation disc production by 2028. Whether or not Microsoft's next-gen, PC-like "Project Helix" console ships with some kind of external disc drive option is up for debate, but we know that Xbox executives are rethinking their strategy around production and shipping, mostly thanks to the unending RAM crisis affecting Xbox console prices.

An understandable knee-jerk reaction across social media has been to quiz PC gamers on why they're comfortable with Steam's approach to digital-only game sales and its implied digital rights management, even if the executable DRM wrapper in Steam is apparently optional. Plus, the popular, if runner-up, GOG maintains its stance on DRM-free digital ownership, though it relies on a proactive backup mentality from buyers.

However, regardless of how any retailer pitches itself as supposedly being on the side of consumers, there's no denying that there's a scary implication for the future of gaming, whether that's on Windows PCs or whatever hybrid consoles come next. Sony already plans to close its digital PS3 and PS Vita store, and has withdrawn ownership of digitally purchased movies for UK gamers, due to "content licensing agreements".

The slow, miserable death of ownership

There's understandable pushback from some gamers, who ask whether physical discs serve a purpose in 2026, with many questioning whether their peers have even bought a game outside digital stores in the last few years. However, our own readers say they'll "miss buying physical games", and I'm firmly in the same boat. Still, the status quo is seemingly shifting to digital purchases (or rentable licenses, depending on who you ask), whether we like it or not.

Besides the obvious benefit of allowing a friend or family member to borrow your games with ease — something Sony is also suffering criticism for on social media, given its previous tongue-in-cheek video response to Xbox's stance at the time — other elements of physical media now feel stranger in their absence as time goes on. Midnight launches, quirky in-box booklets, and money-saving second-hand sales are relics of the past.

At the risk of sounding like a budding applicant for a nursing home, midnight launches were a huge part of the hype surrounding games. Sure, they've been irrelevant for a few years already, but the FOMO effect of seeing hundreds of people queuing to buy a game even piqued my interest in some that I previously had no real desire to play, now replaced by refreshing web browsers to pre-order a digital GTA 6 code for $100.

Even today, after picking up a Switch 2, I'm borrowing Switch 1 cartridges from friends to catch up on Nintendo's modern era, spending a grand total of zero dollars on second-hand titles. Now, as the company moves towards Virtual Game Cards, it feels like this will likely be the last generation that lets me borrow games. Sorry to all the younger siblings out there, but you'll need to buy your own copies — no more hand-me-down goldmines.

Frankly, I rarely even spend the full amount on PC games, opting instead for discounted CD keys from Loaded or somewhere similar. I'm so regularly frustrated when I see pre-owned boxed games grow cheaper — depending on their rarity — while some digital copies remain expensive. From now on, we can only hope for sales events and pray the platform owners never shut down and take our licenses away.

Are you concerned with the disappearance of physical game discs, or are you fine with digital ownership — perhaps as long as there's a plan in place to transfer licenses in the future? I'm interested in takes from both sides, and the justifications for anything in between. Let me know in the comments, because it's certainly a turbulent time for gamers, no matter what opinion you hold.

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KING Art has recently provided Warhammer 40,000 fans with an extensive gameplay demonstration of Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War IV, the long-awaited sequel to the classic Dawn of War franchise that hasn't seen a new mainline entry since 2017's Dawn of War III.

This 15-minute-long demonstration video has two of the developers engaging in a 1v1 multiplayer skirmish mode while showing off the game's fast-paced combat and the destructive capabilities of two of the four playable factions: Space Marines and Orks.

For those unaware, Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War is a series of Real-Time Strategy (RTS for short) games based on the iconic tabletop wargame.

What makes this series unique among other games in the genre is that it heavily cuts down on the resource management elements and focuses on purely building armies as fast as possible so you can get to blowing each other in gruesome and explosive grimdark fashion.

As seen in this gameplay deep dive, Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War 4 will be no different. In this game, buildings construct themselves, and gathering resources to build more units for your army is earned by taking and holding Power Nodes on the map.

As for the factions being played, Space Marines are generally a jack-of-all-trades type of army. They have a wide range of units and vehicles that are tough as nails and can hit enemies twice as hard with an array of destructive weapons built for any situation.

Orks, meanwhile, are bloodthirsty berserkers that specialize in melee combat and can't shoot straight to save their lives. Their main strategy is to build as many units as possible and overwhelm their enemies with an unstoppable "WAAAGH" of axe-wielding, grenade-spamming, Squig-riding maniacs.

Windows Central's take

The original Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War from 2004 holds a special place in my heart as it was not only one of my gateways into the Warhammer 40,000 universe, but it's also one of the few RTS games I ever enjoyed playing as a kid.

As a kid, I was bored gathering resources in games like Age of Empires and Warcraft 3, and just wanted to get to the killing parts (which I shamefully admit got me killed more often than not when playing against friends in multiplayer), so Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War was practically made for me.

So, it warms my heart to see the series retain that kind of gameplay mentality with Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War IV. The combat looks insanely fast-paced and gloriously brutal, and the amount of units blasting each other on-screen looks nuts (and worried if my PC can handle such chaos on display).

If this is just for the 1v1 multiplayer skirmish mode, I can't imagine how crazy the single-player campaign modes and other multiplayer modes like 2v2 and 3v3 are going to get.

I may suck at RTS games, but after seeing this gameplay demo, I'm willing to learn how to play them properly so I can relive my nostalgia for the Dawn of War series when Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War launches on September 16, 2026, for PC via Steam.

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I've covered Winhanced quite a few times at this point, most recently when it added achievement support to the launcher UI for Steam, Xbox, and even PlayStation games. If you haven't heard of it, Winhanced is a complete replacement for Xbox Mode on Windows handhelds, acting as a unified launcher for your library across various digital stores, all in one easy-to-navigate interface.

Now, its feature set is expanding once again, bringing with it my most requested addition: a built-in store browser. Honestly, it's something I wasn't even sure was possible, but it's now available in testing for users supporting the project.

The store is still very much a work in progress, so don't expect a perfect experience. At the time of writing it only supports certain currencies, although regional currency support is on the way, but even in its current state it's already incredibly useful. You can browse games, compare prices across multiple storefronts, see if a title is included with Game Pass, and purchase it from whichever store offers the best deal.

So yes, if a game is cheaper on Xbox than Steam, you can simply buy it there instead. It is also worth mentioning that when you purchase games, it opens a web browser where you can complete your purchase; Winhanced does not have access to your payment details.

The launcher also personalizes recommendations, generating suggestions based on what you've been playing, and in my case, after spending plenty of time in Forza Horizon 6, it immediately recommended another racing game. If you'd rather browse for yourself, though, you can search for any game you like or explore categories to discover something new.

Winhanced is also bringing several features out of early access, including back paddle support, SteamGridDB artwork browsing, and RGB controls, meaning they're now considered ready for general use rather than experimental additions.

I've been a big fan of Winhanced for quite some time now. It makes my Xbox Ally X feel much more like a proper console than the Xbox app ever has in Xbox Mode, so if you're interested, I'd definitely recommend checking out the project's Discord and supporting it on Patreon if you can.

With that said, do let me know in the comments if this new store feature is finally enough to get you interested in giving Winhanced a try, or what other features you'd still like to see added. As always, be sure to take part in our poll below!

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If you’re at all into the Halo modding scene, you'll have likely seen RejectedShotgun on YouTube. They're well known for pulling off what I can only describe as feats of incredible ingenuity, creating mods that many, myself included, thought were impossible.

Before I dive into the details, it's important to mention that this is for Halo 3 on Halo: The Master Chief Collection, and the mod is accessible via Steam Workshop and isn't available on console.

From mods featuring more than 20 vehicles and brand new weapons to Ultimate Forge, which completely reimagines Halo 3's Forge mode with massive sandbox maps, Scarabs, AI spawning, and countless new tools, RejectedShotgun has consistently pushed the limits of what Halo 3 is capable of. Today, though, I'm highlighting their latest project, Permafrost.

Permafrost, to me, feels like a nod to Halo 5's best and only real contribution to the franchise: Warzone. It was a massive objective-based mode that blended Big Team Battle with AI enemies, bosses, and a progression system that made matches feel like they evolved over time.

Thankfully, this is Halo 3, so there are no microtransactions to get in the way. Designed for up to 16 players, Permafrost focuses on large-scale objective gameplay, with each team fighting alongside AI soldiers. It also introduces what creator RejectedShotgun calls a resource economy.

Teams capture plasma batteries scattered across the map to increase their power level, unlocking progressively stronger weapons, equipment, and vehicles as the match unfolds. Players can even call in weapon drop pods and vehicles, giving battles a constant sense of escalation rather than the static sandbox Halo is traditionally known for.

Probably the biggest highlight, though, is just how dynamic every match feels. This isn't a case of loading into a map where the objectives stay the same until someone wins. Teams can capture a teleporter to gain faster access to enemy territory, destroy the opposing team's spire with a MAC strike, and permanently change the battlefield in the process.

Once a spire falls, defenses disappear, objectives move, and the battle shifts into an entirely new phase. Throw in massive vehicles like the Mega Mantis and Pelican, AI battling across the map, and enough explosions to make Michael Bay blush, and it's honestly hard to believe this is all running inside Halo 3.

Now, I love Halo 3. It's my favorite game in the franchise, and I just wanted to highlight what I think is a pretty impressive mod. So, if it looks like something you'd enjoy, be sure to check it out, and as always, do let me know your thoughts in the comments and be sure to take part in our poll below!

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Each day I spend writing about the gaming industry, I find myself thinking, "Surely nothing can surprise me anymore." Yet almost every day, I'm proven wrong. Between soaring prices across the industry and now the Entertainment Software Association (ESA) making me scratch my head during a recent hearing on the Stop Killing Games movement.

For those unfamiliar, Stop Killing Games is a community-led movement that argues publishers shouldn't be able to sell games that later become completely unplayable once their servers are shut down. One recent example is Concord, which became inaccessible after Sony discontinued its online service. Instead, publishers should provide a way for players to continue to access the game, whether via community servers or other means.

During a California State Senate committee hearing on the Protect Our Games Act (AB 1921), Minecraft and Call of Duty were both cited as examples of games that already have community-run servers. The idea is that these servers could help preserve games after official support ends. However, ESA representative Jennifer Gibbons pushed back, arguing that community servers are "illegal" and that the ESA considers them a form of piracy.

Gibbons stated:

"They're illegal, and they are not in any way affiliated with Microsoft... Microsoft for Minecraft has gotten a lot of criticism because of those community servers not employing the same safety standards that Microsoft does on their Minecraft servers."

It's a bizarre point to argue, and I am aware there are safety concerns, but as far as I'm aware, Microsoft has no blanket policy preventing community-run servers. In fact, for games like Minecraft, Mojang itself actually provides official usage guidelines that explain how community servers can operate, including rules around things like monetization and player safety, meaning community-run servers are well within the community's right to host as long as they follow those guidelines.

I also understand that Gibbons said these servers are "not in any way affiliated with Microsoft," which is true, but it still feels like a strange stance given Minecraft's long history of thriving community servers. But is there any substance to this take? Let me know your thoughts in the comments, and don't forget to take part in our poll!

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I, like I'm sure many others were, wanted Valve's Steam Machine to hit the market at a price that shook up the old console space, but at over $1,000 it certainly won’t be doing that.

I'll admit, it's not Valve's fault that it hasn't. Companies like Microsoft and others have contributed to what I can only describe as an absolute f**kery of the memory industry, pushing prices to levels that analysts increasingly believe may never return to normal.

To be fair, though, we're not really here to talk about that. Instead, we're here to discuss the Steam Machine. While Valve initially marketed it as a 4K60 gaming machine, the company has now quietly removed those claims from the product listing page, replacing them with the far softer promise of "Up to 4K gaming with FSR 4.1, thanks to a discrete semi-custom AMD desktop-class CPU and GPU."

Previously the page stated the following:

"4K gaming at 60 FPS with FSR, thanks to a discrete, semi-custom AMD desktop-class CPU and GPU."

I'm actually quite impressed by Valve's Steam Machine, but its 4K60fps claims were certainly short-lived once reviewers got their hands on it. Admittedly, Valve always advertised that 4K60 would be achieved with FSR, so it's not as though the company committed some cardinal sin of false advertising, more so they stretched the truth by a noticeable margin.

Based on hands-on testing from reviewers, the Steam Machine appears to have fallen quite a way short of consistently delivering that 4K60 target, even with FSR enabled.

It is, however, nice to see Valve mention FSR 4.1, which I believe is new? Don't quote me on that though. FSR4 is something I covered recently, as many people, myself included, hoped Valve's reference to it in a backend update meant it would eventually come to devices like the Steam Deck, giving its already aging hardware a little more life.

I won't be getting a Steam Machine, at least not until it reaches a price I think it deserves, around $500. At this rate, that might not happen for another decade, and I'll be pushing 40 by then, which is a slightly depressing thought.

But enough about me. What do you think about Valve quietly dropping its 4K60 claim? Let me know your thoughts in the comments, and don't forget to take part in our poll!

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In a new report from GameFile, it was revealed that Xbox had been funding 1666: Amsterdam, a new game from the lead creator of Assassin's Creed, Patrice Désilets. However, in a story I'm sure we're all too familiar with, Microsoft reportedly pulled funding, similar to reports surrounding John Romero's game, where Xbox had reportedly met with Romero just a day before deciding to cancel funding.

For those out of the loop, 1666: Amsterdam is still coming out, and it's shaping up to be a story-driven, third-person action adventure spanning multiple time periods. You can even play as a cat, which I can imagine my girlfriend being quite into, considering we have three ourselves.

The game also currently has a 30-minute demo available on Steam and the Epic Games Store. From what I could gather, though, reception to the demo has been a bit mixed online. Interestingly, on release, the game is currently only coming to PC, though I assume consoles will come later; whether that includes Xbox or not is a mystery.

It's hard to say whether Xbox funding and publishing this game would've paid off. The game isn't out yet, and Xbox is currently undergoing a plethora of changes since Asha Sharma became CEO. As I'm sure we're all aware, her first 100 days were largely about scoring wins with fans.

However, the 100 days after that seem as though they may be far bleaker, with a major restructuring looming on the horizon. The results of that restructuring are still unknown, but that hasn't stopped negative rumors from swirling around Xbox, with some being disproven rather quickly. However, it feels like the wave of negativity around Xbox is stronger than ever.

Back to 1666: Amsterdam, though. It'll ultimately be a wait-and-see situation as to whether Xbox made the right decision to pull funding. Given the mixed reception to the demo, they may have made the right call, but it's still a shame to see what feels like a genuine passion project lose backing from what is, ultimately, a company worth trillions.

But let me know your thoughts. Are you excited for 1666: Amsterdam? Let me know in the comments, and be sure to take part in our poll!

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Thanks to the rise of AI and its insatiable hunger for all the silicon its manufacturers can get their hands on, the last several months have been very rough for the tech industry and any consumer interested in purchasing new electronics. Ongoing RAM and shortage shortages show no signs of recovery any time soon, with prices continuing to rise and supply continuing to fall.

Gaming is one of many verticals that's been hit hard by the hardware crisis, with Microsoft recently announcing huge Xbox console price hikes that go into effect in August and Valve debuting the Steam Machine with a controversial $1,000+ price tag that was set with current market conditions in mind.

Naturally, many have wondered if PlayStation maker Sony also plans to raise the cost of its PS5 consoles soon — and interestingly, according to an answer from a recent Q&A session within the company, it sounds like a price increase may be in consideration.

"First, we regard hardware as the base for providing the gaming experience, and by offering products such as the PlayStation Portal Remote Player (PS Portal), we aim to provide experiences tailored to users’ play styles beyond the living room, which has traditionally been considered the primary usage environment," Sony replied to a question about hardware prioritization and profitability moving forward.

"As for pricing, it is not realistic for us to absorb all component cost increases, and we have already implemented some price increases outside Japan," the firm continued. "At present, however, sales are proceeding as planned, and we do not believe this has led to a decline in customer demand."

The key takeaway here is that Sony doesn't "intend to sell hardware at significant losses," which suggests that it might follow in Microsoft's and Valve's footsteps by raising the price of PlayStation consoles to offset the ballooning costs of RAM and storage.

"As a principle, we do not intend to sell hardware at significant losses. At the same time, we are carefully monitoring the market and continuing to evaluate our approach," it added. "We believe it is important for us to make every effort to ensure that customers fully understand the value we provide in relation to pricing."

It's worth noting that as Sony mentioned, it's already given the PS5 a price hike once this year, and clearly doesn't want to make them more expensive again. That being said, if component costs continue to become more and more untenable, it may not have a choice if it wants to avoid "significant losses."

All in all, right now is just a bad, bad time for tech hardware, whether you're looking to buy devices or market and sell them to the masses. I don't envy console makers like Microsoft and Sony right now...even if it's not lost on me that these companies have contributed to the problem by helping to fuel the push for AI.

I fear the business has some dark years ahead of it, and that we'll see next-gen consoles like Xbox's Project Helix and the PS6 retail for over $1,000 like the Steam Machine has. I can only hope that won't be true, but according to analyst Joost van Dreunen, "north of a grand is the floor." My hopes aren't exactly high.

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In what I can only assume is one of the first of many similar projects, a 3D-printed Steam Machine clone is making the rounds online. The custom gaming PC comes from Jacob Terkelsen, an AMD AI GPU engineer who recently posted his personal creation on X.

The Terk Box v1.1, as it's known, is a compact mini-ITX build that uses a custom 3D-printed case that you, too, can download and try out if you're so inclined. It's available on Printables alongside a parts list, which was created by a user named 3DCatt.

The custom chassis measures 167mm x 168mm x 225mm (6.5 x 6.6 x 8.8 inches), which puts it very close to the Steam Machine's dimensions. According to the parts list, the custom gaming PC uses a mini-ITX motherboard with a 400W FlexATX power supply unit (PSU).

It's unclear exactly what performance hardware and cooling solution was used for the build, but, as Terkelsen points out, additional ventilation had to be added to the back of the custom PC to keep the RTX 5060 GPU from thermal throttling.

Terkelsen notes that he's working with 3DCatt to improve the design, so it's highly likely that this neat little project will continue to evolve over time.

Considering the Steam Machine's custom AMD GPU with 8GB of VRAM can be lined up with an RTX 3060, the RTX 5060 in the Terk Box represents a rather huge performance uplift. However, it's not all sunny days.

Steam Machine or a custom PC? It might be harder to choose than you think

Since Terkelsen's tweet has been receiving a lot of attention, he returned to add some context about the overall project.

He notes that the cost of this custom Steam Machine is "nowhere close to $1000," which refers to the $1,049 price that Valve set for its new PC. He adds, "People fail to grasp how difficult SFF builds are..."

Terkelsen also clearly states that he recommends "the fully-engineered solution Valve has designed, from the software to the mechanical design."

It's not hard to see why. The Terk Box v1.1 is an interesting project that enthusiasts will get a kick out of, while the Steam Machine is a commercial product that underwent years of revisions and careful tuning. It arrives ready to play, no assembly required.

The worst part, and one that reflects the overall state of the PC component market, is that even a custom build like this costs a lot of money.

One last thing — the Terk Box v1.1 runs on Windows 11 with Xbox Full Screen Experience (FSE). In reply to some comments, Terkelsen says that "Linux is far better these days, and this build would support Bazzite or CachyOS." Let me know in the comments section below if you agree.

Valve's SteamOS so far only works with AMD GPUs, but Valve has publicly stated that it's working with NVIDIA to bring support to RTX GPUs.

It's clear that we're in the early days of Steam Machine knockoffs, and I expect there to be plenty more arriving in the near future.

(via Hackaday)

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If, by some miracle, you've been living on the moon in a soundproof dome for the last six months, you may not have noticed that gaming hardware has grown extremely expensive, making the hobby a mostly miserable affair for all involved. We first called it the RAM crisis, but the sad reality is that it's now spilling over into storage, and experts are predicting a grim future.

It's shredding PC gaming, as Valve's much-anticipated Steam Machine launched at over $1,000 for its cheapest model — a higher price than most might have expected — with its creators explaining that it "reflects the state of the world". Consumers are flanked at every turn, as anyone planning to buy older generations of memory sees that DDR4 and even DDR3 prices are going up.

It's easy to point fingers at Microsoft, given its undeniable, if somewhat retracted, obsession with AI, whether that's Copilot in Windows or an implementation across its Azure cloud stack. And let's be honest, it's not without irony that XBOX CEO Asha Sharma said that "gaming is becoming unaffordable" just before the brand announced a price increase on its consoles.

Sure enough, Xbox's Matthew Ball agrees that "crisis is the right term", and the effects of expensive RAM will undoubtedly be felt in the lead-up to its next-gen Project Helix console — which supposedly behaves more like a gaming PC — and who knows what its launch price might look like (over a thousand dollars?) In fact, hardware pivots are already appearing in Microsoft's PC hardware, as the Surface Laptop returns with 8GB of RAM to keep costs down.

I know, I'm hardly a beacon of good news or hopeful visions of the future, but this AI bubble will presumably break at some point, and it's good to take stock of what options we actually have. The usual midsummer onslaught of sales events brought some relief with retailer discounts, and pre-built gaming PCs maintain a hint of value throughout. Still, prospective buyers will have to brace for an inevitable sting if they plan to grab something later this year (or into 2027).

If you're interested in console gaming, you're looking at a minimum of $749.99 for a digital Xbox Series X — that's the one without a disc drive — or $499.99 for a similarly discless (and less powerful) Xbox Series S. On Sony's side, a PS5 Pro is now $899.99, or at least $599.99 for a digital base PS5. That's without any games, by the way, and Grand Theft Auto VI recently confirmed a $99 price tag for a code of its Ultimate Edition with all in-game content intact.

Gamers at large are already expected to spend close to $1,000 just to get started. The entire situation is absurd and unfair, but it puts the price of handhelds like MSI's $1,799 Claw 8 EX AI+ into perspective; that's just how much this kind of ultra-enthusiast hardware costs now. The whole thing reminds me of a bygone era of crypto mining that drove up GPU prices, but this time, it's bigger and even more insulting.

So, what are you supposed to do? You can penny-pinch your way through buying discounted and second-hand hardware, or you can submit to a future of subscription-based gaming streamed from the cloud. If you don't already own an Xbox, I'd suggest picking one up before the price increase happens in August, but that's about all you can do. Stay strong, gamers.

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In case you didn't notice (I'm joking, because you definitely did), PC gaming has become a painfully expensive hobby. Amazon Prime Day is supposed to help offset that with massive discounts, but does it really count when it brings components back to near-MSRP levels? We take what we can get, I suppose.

Either way, it's difficult to recommend building your own PC from scratch right now. If you've never tried it, the anxiety of handling now-overinflated RAM will surely feel worse than ever — and that's one of the easiest parts to install. On the bright side, iBUYPOWER has some merciful discounts on pre-builts.

A pre-built gaming PC is just easier

Yeah, I might get some pushback from die-hard gaming PC builders, but I don't have any qualms with a pre-built option. I've been there — installing a CPU for the first time, losing my mind about installing thermal paste correctly (just a pea-sized amount, guys), and stressed about RAM profiles alongside other BIOS options. You don't have to do any of it.

Installing and setting up Windows 11 is the same wherever you go, and iBUYPOWER's decision to ship graphics cards (GPUs) separately isn't as intimidating as it looks. They slot in just like an old-school game cartridge and hold in place with a few screws. That's really all there is to it, and each rig comes with clear instructions anyway. I'd know, I tested a Trace X PC earlier this year. Treat yourself, PC gaming is the best.

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A couple of days ago, I wrote an article about how researchers discovered an "AI stigma" affecting Steam games that disclose the use of AI during development. For me, the most shocking piece of data revealed that established studios with a positive track record see a "catastrophic" 40% to 60% drop in sales when they use AI.

This stat, as well as others proposed in the research by Ross Burton at Game Oracle, raised a big question that our readers have been discussing in the original post's comment section: Is the perceived AI stigma warranted?

Now, Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney, who has never been shy about targeting competing PC games storefront Steam, has waded into the same debate.

In a recent interview with PC Gamer, Sweeney offered his opinion about Valve's AI disclosure policy. As Sweeney sees it, these disclosures are a "Scarlet Letter" that results in a "hater community trying to kill the game."

It's a rather harsh comparison, but I'm finding it hard to disagree.

Epic's CEO makes some good points about Steam's AI disclosure policy

Let me preface this: Epic Games does not have a strict AI disclosure policy on games that it sells.

As Sweeney explains, his specific grievance with Steam's AI disclosure policy is that developers who want maximum visibility for their game are essentially required to list it on Steam, such is the power and visibility of Valve's storefront.

When that game is listed on Steam, any AI used during development must be disclosed and displayed on the game's Steam page. As noted, Sweeney sees this as something that can lead to sabotage by those opposed to AI.

Sweeney explains that this method is "irresponsible of Valve" and that "it makes it much, much harder for a game developer to have a chance of success." Developers are essentially stuck in between two poor choices: not using tools that speed up productivity or using tools that result is a stigma against your product.

The choice that Sweeney highlights here is exactly what the Game Oracle research piece set out to uncover. Sweeney isn't defending AI just because he likes AI. He's defending its use by smaller studios that wouldn't otherwise be able to survive.

The Fortnite example explains a lot

Sweeney unsurprisingly understands that some games fail just because they're junk. Like the Game Oracle study, he posits that it's becoming ever more difficult for developers to compete with massive studios that have seemingly unending budgets.

AI tools are perceived as a "great equalizer" in this case, and without them, Sweeney predicts a future where those smaller studios simply die off without receiving aid from AI. "There will always be the exceptions," says Sweeney, but it's the economics of the gaming market that are driving his thoughts.

Oversimplification of how AI is used isn't helping developers

Sweeney definitely knows how games get made, and he notes that a lot of what developers do all day can be considered "drudge work." He notes that at Epic Games, the most useful implementation of AI is to offload those types of tasks, leaving time for more important software and creative development.

This is where there's a noticeable gap between developers and gamers. Sweeney acknowledges that there's some legitimate anger about AI stemming from bad practices early on.

Larian, the studio behind Baldur's Gate 3, is used as an example of how this situation can play out.

Larian was using AI to eliminate drudge work and to create early concepts, but gamers largely didn't accept the nuance. They saw AI, they cried foul, and Larian immediately backtracked.

Do I care if a studio creating games as good as Larian does uses AI to speed up productivity in the early stages of development? Not really. Let me know in the comments below if you disagree.

Epic's CEO has his own stake in AI development

I think Sweeney gets a lot right in this interview, especially surrounding the economic asymmetry that many studios have to overcome by using AI. I'm also on board with the idea that AI disclosure often harms the studios that can least afford a failure.

It's well worth noting that there's some background tension regarding Sweeney and AI. Unreal Engine, which is an Epic product, is used by countless studios. Unreal Engine 6, the latest version, includes deep AI integration, and those AI tools are being pitched to any developer who will listen.

Bottom line? The more accepted AI is in game development, the better off Sweeney's UE6 will do.

My final thoughts on AI use in game development

I honestly can't say if Steam's forced AI disclosures are the correct way forward. I value transparency, and in the current climate, I can imagine a ton of AI witch hunts happening if there wasn't a place where you could reliably check if AI was used.

Sweeney makes good points about AI's reputation problem and how AI disclosures mark certain games for failure, and I wonder if clearer information about how AI is used would help at all.

Let me know what you think about the AI disclosure situation. Is it hurting games that would otherwise be a huge success? Is it rightfully causing pushback against games? Sound off in the comments section below!

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On Thursday morning, bad news that many were fearing unfortunately came to pass, with Destiny 2 and Marathon developer Bungie hit by major layoffs from PlayStation maker Sony, its publisher.

The cuts have affected "a significant number of employees, including most of the Destiny team and some Marathon team members." Additionally, it's been confirmed that some Sony workers that assist Bungie have been impacted by the workforce reductions as well.

Though the layoffs were, sadly, somewhat expected — Bungie announced the end of Destiny 2's live-service development last month, and it was recently reported that the developer would soon be struck with "significant" cuts — they're no less devastating for the studio's staff, and represent a large cutback of its resources from Sony.

Notably, separate from Sony CEO Hermen Hulst's memo to his employees on the matter, Bungie itself has also publicly shared a letter about the news to its fans and staff members, both former and current. I've embedded the post below, and the text of the letter has been included below that:

With great sadness, we are announcing a reduction in force as we reorganize Bungie.

As the leaders of Bungie, past and present, we recognize Destiny 2 fell short of expectations these past several years. Following our final content update to Destiny 2, and with our future projects still in early incubation, we unfortunately could not continue operating at our previous size.

We know this decision has a profound impact on the people affected, their families, friends, and teammates. While these changes are necessary to best position the studio now and for the future, that does not lessen the difficulty of this moment or the impact it has on those affected.

Later, we will share more about that future with you all but today is not that day.

Today, we wish to extend our gratitude and compassion to every member of the Bungie team who has been impacted and to those who remain.

We hope you will do the same.

— Bungie

This is the third and largest wave of layoffs that Bungie has faced after being acquired by Sony in 2022, with the studio also hit in October 2023 as well as in July 2024. At the time, 155 employees were shifted from the developer's workforce to Sony's as well.

The letter directly references Destiny 2's gradual decline throughout the last several years, which is all but assured to be the primary reason for the cuts we've seen. It's worth noting that recently, former Bungie and Destiny 2 community manager Liana Ruppert asserted that "A lot of money didn't go into Destiny" due to leadership "greed," leading to a lack of valuable resources for the game's development.

She then reported the lack of adequate funding became so severe that the merger between Bungie and Sony was done as an "emergency acquisition," and that if the PlayStation publisher hadn't absorbed the studio, it would have been "very close to shutting its doors."

We may never know the exact truth of what's happened at Bungie, but one thing is clear: the studio's last few years have been quite tumultuous, and sadly, its employees have suffered as a consequence.

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Original article: Just over a week after it was reported that Bungie — the developer of the 2017 live-service shooter Destiny 2 and this year's extraction shooter Marathon — would soon face "significant" layoffs, major cuts at the studio have now come, having been announced by Sony CEO Hermen Hulst.

Hulst revealed the news in a letter to Sony employees that was also published publicly, writing that the layoffs have impacted "a significant number of employees, including most of the Destiny team and some Marathon team members." Sony teams tasked with supporting Bungie have also been affected.

He went on to explain that "This decision was made only after extensive discussion and careful consideration," and that Sony worked with Bungie's leadership to evaluate its long-term plans, resource demands, and place within the PlayStation portfolio "before concluding that a reduction was necessary to align the studio’s resources with its current priorities and long-term goals."

"What Bungie has accomplished with Destiny over the past decade has been truly remarkable," Hulst wrote, of the space fantasy looter shooter's legacy. "The franchise has left a lasting mark on players and the industry, and everyone who contributed to its success should be proud of what they helped create."

He also made a point of mentioning that "Marathon remains an important part of our portfolio, and we will continue to support the team as they build on the strong foundation established in Season 1 and 2, and as they work on incubation efforts for future projects." Though the sci-fi extraction shooter reboot hasn't been a massive hit for Bungie and PlayStation, it does have a passionate and dedicated community of players.

"Our immediate priority is supporting affected employees through this transition. We are providing transition support and, where possible, working to identify opportunities across SIE and our global network of studios," Hulst continued.

"I want to sincerely thank every affected employee for their hard work, creativity, and contributions to Bungie, SIE, and the broader gaming community," he added. "I know today’s news is deeply difficult not only for those leaving, but for those colleagues and friends that remain. Please take the time you need to process this news and support one another."

These cuts come a month after Bungie announced the end of Destiny 2 development would come with its final Monument of Triumph content update on June 9, capping the title's nine-year lifespan. Though fans passionately rallied to try and save the game and get a Destiny 3 greenlit, there's been no sign that they've influenced Sony's plans.

In the weeks that followed, ex-Bungie community manager Liana Ruppert took to social media to claim that "A lot of money didn't go into Destiny" due to leadership "greed," leading to funding issues for the game. It also came to light that Sony's $3.6 billion merger with Bungie in 2022 was also reportedly an "emergency acquisition" that was necessary to keep the studio afloat.

Ultimately, after everything that's happened and come out in the last several weeks, I had a bad feeling that these steep layoffs were inevitable — and now that they've come down, I can't help but be very worried about Bungie's future as a developer. I also want to extend my best wishes to everyone affected at Sony and Bungie. I hope you're able to find new success in the industry or elsewhere as soon as you can.

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One of this week's bigger stories in the world of Xbox was the platform's new CEO Asha Sharma stating that "gaming is unaffordable in many cases" in a recent interview with Entertainment Weekly.

Though it was hardly the main focus of the interview — most of it was centered around Microsoft's current and upcoming multimedia projects like the Fallout TV show, Netflix's work-in-progress Gears of War series, and a newly announced Sea of Thieves movie — the comment does stick out at a time when the cost of gaming is rapidly becoming a hotter and hotter topic.

We were curious to hear how you, our readers, feel on the matter, and so when we reported on Sharma's statement, we included a poll about it in our article in which many of you voted to voice your opinion. It remains ongoing, and I'll embed it below, but even now, the way our community feels has been made clear by the votes we've tallied up thus far.

At the time of writing, of the 228 of you that have participated in the poll, a whopping 151 gamers — 66% — believe that the cost of gaming is getting out of control. 28% of you, a count of 63, think it's a growing problem but that affordable options still exist, while the remaining minority think gaming isn't unreasonably expensive.

It's clear that the vast majority of you feel that gaming has become partially or completely unaffordable, and honestly? I'm not surprised.

In fact, I'm right there with you; between the ongoing RAM and storage crisis brought on by the tech industry going all in on AI and rising development costs leading to higher game prices (GTA 6 is $80, by the way), the cost of both new games and the hardware to play them on is becoming untenable.

Just look at the Steam Machine and the Steam Deck; the former costs over $1,000 no matter which version of it you want, and the latter got a brutal price hike last month that's made it a significantly less attractive option for portable gaming.

Sharma made a good point that memory shortages aren't the only culprit, and that "the attention economy and competing subscriptions" in other entertainment mediums like film and TV have made it harder for many to afford games and gaming devices too.

With that said, though, it's undeniable that the AI-driven hardware crisis is largely responsible for what we're seeing, which is why Sharma considers navigating it Xbox's next big "challenge and opportunity." In your responses to Sharma's comments over on our subreddit, though, many of you have rightfully pointed out that Microsoft itself has massively contributed to this problem with its own push for AI.

"Wonder who's fault that is? 🤔," wrote one reader, reacting to Sharma's statement about the price of gaming in 2026. "Well, of course gaming is becoming unaffordable at the moment. No s***, Sherlock. The call is coming from inside the house," said another.

"'Gaming is becoming unaffordable' says CEO of a company making gaming unaffordable," added another, hammering home the point as another of you did: "Yeah. Maybe she should talk to her boss about that."

Like many of you, I too believe that Microsoft has effectively stepped on a rake as it continues to invest in AI through initiatives like its partnership with OpenAI, sabotaging the game and tech industry alongside other big-name AI developers even as its AI products fail to move the needle and AI in general still lacks a clear road to any kind of stable profitability.

Put simply, gaming has become unaffordable — and quite a bit of the blame for that frustrating truth lies on Microsoft's shoulders.

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The Steam Machine is getting a fair amount of heat due to its $1,049 price, but no matter how you look at it, Valve's new device is a particularly powerful mini PC.

Here's the rub. Not everyone needs that much power or wants to pay that much, which is where the Windows mini PC market comes into play.

• Shop all Amazon Prime Day deals

Amazon Prime Day has knocked prices down considerably on a bunch of our favorite mini PCs, and while they won't match the Steam Machine's discrete graphics, they're still fully capable of running a wide range of games AND Windows 11, no extra effort necessary. Just plug in an HDMI cord, hook it up to your TV, and start gaming.

Prime Day wraps up today, June 26, and most of these mini PC deals are expected to expire before the weekend. I'm in fact already seeing some retailers run out of stock. Translation? If you see something you can use, you should grab it before it's gone.

How do these discounted mini PCs compare to the Steam Machine's performance?

The Steam Machine is causing a ruckus in the tech world, namely due to its price-to-performance ratio now that reviews have gone out into the wild. It's true that you can build a full-size gaming PC or buy a pre-built gaming PC for less money and with superior power, but what about a mini PC that's a closer match to the form factor?

👉I found these pre‑built gaming PCs that beat Valve’s Steam Machine on price and performance, and it’s not even close

Well, that's where the real genius of Valve's device comes into play. It is indeed capable of delivering quite a bit of gaming performance in a super compact form factor, something that most of the mini PCs on the market for a similar or lower price simply aren't capable of doing.

The Steam Machine's discrete custom AMD Radeon GPU with 8GB of VRAM is fairly close to a desktop-class AMD Radeon RX 7600 card, which the integrated graphics in most mini PCs can't touch.

Regardless, at $1,049, the Steam Machine isn't for everyone. There are plenty of PC users who just want a compact, capable PC that runs Windows 11 without breaking a sweat, while at the same time having capabilities to handle lighter games. That's where these great mini PCs excel.

The mini PCs I've highlighted in this roundup all have an integrated AMD Radeon 780M GPU or a comparable Intel Arc integrated GPU. I can't stress enough that these GPUs will not match the Steam Machine's gaming power.

However, the Radeon 780M will still do a bang-up job of gaming, and for a lot less money in a significantly smaller package, often with more RAM and storage.

Just how powerful is the integrated GPU? It will effortlessly run esports games like League of Legends, Counter-Strike 2, Valorant, and DOTA 2 at 1080p, hitting somewhere between 60 and 90 FPS with medium to high settings. Games like Fortnite, Minecraft, and Roblox are in the same boat.

👉 Geekom's mini PCs enjoy massive savings during Prime Day — I handpicked the 7 top deals up to 15% off for a limited time

I'd venture to say that the Radeon 780M is an indie game superstar, and those who prefer roguelikes, platformers, deck builders, puzzle games, and simulators will have no issues.

Those hoping to play demanding AAA titles like Cyberpunk 2077, Hogwarts Legacy, Baldur's Gate 3, and others will find that the Radeon 780M can get the job done at 1080p, albeit with lower frame rates and with AMD's FSR enabled. If you're going to mainly focus on AAA games, I'd recommend checking out pre-built desktop PCs with discrete graphics.

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I'm a huge fan of many "Soulslike" action RPGs that draw heavy inspiration from FromSoftware hits like Elden Ring and the Dark Souls series, though ultimately, I feel many of them lack the refinement and polish of the studio's work.

With that said, there are titles such as Lies of P and Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty that compare, and notably, both of them are available on Xbox Game Pass. Another Game Pass Soulslike that quickly became a favorite of mine is the 2023 Lords of the Fallen reboot, and I've very much been looking forward to its sequel that was announced in 2024.

Lords of the Fallen 2 was originally scheduled to launch in 2026, but developer CI Games has just announced that it's delaying the dark fantasy ARPG into Q1 2027. Given how excited I am for the game, I was quite disappointed to see this at first, but after reading the studio's reasoning, I actually don't mind the extra wait at all.

"Lords of the Fallen II is now set for a Q1 2027 release window. As development progresses, we have worked closely with the Gameplay Feedback Team, a dedicated group of seasoned Souls-like veterans within our Launch Creative Team," writes CI Games CEO Marek Tyminski. "Their valuable ongoing input, combined with the team’s vision, has identified meaningful opportunities to further refine and strengthen the overall experience."

"These enhancements will benefit from additional integration, iteration, and polishing time, enabling the team to deliver the highest possible quality at launch," he added.

Tyminski then went on to note that moving the release date back also gives Lords of the Fallen some breathing room, as plenty of big games are set to come out on the tail end of 2026. One that will no doubt come to mind for pretty much everyone is GTA 6, which is expected to have a launch so massive that the entire industry is shifting release schedules around it.

"This updated release window also strategically positions Lords of the Fallen II outside of a highly competitive holiday period, ensuring the game receives the dedicated attention it deserves," he said.

He then promised fans that "The team remains fully energized by the strong response to our recent reveals and is deeply focused on delivering a standout dark fantasy action RPG and a worthy successor to the Lords of the Fallen franchise."

"We are grateful for the continued passion, feedback, and support from our community, and we look forward to sharing more updates in the coming months," Tyminski added.

So, ultimately, Lords of the Fallen 2 is being pushed back for continued gameplay refinements and to give it a better chance to perform well — both of which will hopefully result in a more enjoyable and successful experience. For that, I hardly mind waiting a few more months, though after seeing how good the game looks in trailers like the one I embedded above, I'd be lying if I said I didn't wish I could get my hands on it sooner.

What are your thoughts on how Lords of the Fallen 2 is looking? Let me know in the comments, and in our poll.

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Sim games are getting more mainstream, and I'm happy to see it. Euro Truck Simulator 2 is one of the most (surprisingly) addictive games I've played in recent memory, and Amazon Prime Day sales are making it easier for me to recommend, alongside its American Truck Simulator sibling. It's a PC-only title for now, but Xbox and PlayStation releases have been teased for a while.

So, if you wanted to drive a virtual truck around a representation of your home state or your favorite European country, what exactly do you need to get started? Well, you can play either game with a mouse and keyboard, but any kind of controller makes it a better experience. Here's what I recommend for a basic steering wheel setup, with optional extras and higher-end alternatives.

The absolute basics: A wheel and pedals

Optional: A realistic truck-style setup

Critical: Steam keys for either game on PC

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I recently got into playing Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024, and I get it. I really do. There's a massive dedicated community around this Microsoft franchise, and even as a beginner I see why. The sky is the limit, and yes, pun intended.

You can quite happily get along and have a great time playing on PC, Xbox or PS5 with just a controller, but I guarantee the bug will catch and catch quickly. Before long you'll want to up the ante and make the experience more realistic. I'm not saying you'll build a full cockpit, not right away at least! But you'll probably be yearning for a flight stick, yoke, maybe even some rudder pedals.

If you're looking for a game to really sink some time into, this is one of the best decisions you could make, even if you've never thought it would be for you. While Amazon Prime Day is going on, it is also a perfect time to jump in with both feet and get yourself some good hardware to get started with or upgrade an existing setup.

Flight stick FAQ

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One of this year's biggest new games for Microsoft and Xbox is Halo: Campaign Evolved — a full-fledged remake of the first game, 2001's Halo: Combat Evolved, that features new gameplay additions, expanded replayability, and an Unreal Engine 5-powered graphical makeover.

It's headed to Xbox Series X|S, Windows PC, and PS5 late next month, with Xbox confirming its long-rumored release date of July 28 during the Xbox Games Showcase. Notably, you can jump in on July 23, five days early, if you purchase the Premium Edition; I imagine that's incentivized many players to preorder, leading to the game climbing the Steam sales chart.

Now that the Halo remake is just over a month away from its full launch, something PC players in particular have been wanting to know is what the game's system requirements and recommended specs are.

Thankfully, they've now been announced by Xbox and developer Halo Studios, and I've included them in the below image and table for your convenience:

All in all, for an Unreal Engine 5 title that's aiming to deliver peak visual fidelity, Halo: Campaign Evolved's CPU, GPU, and VRAM requirements aren't too bad at all. Targeting a 1440p / 4K resolution with 60 FPS and Medium or High settings can be done with hardware that's five to six years old, which is likely what many gaming rigs are equipped with.

The memory and storage requirements, though, are a bit harsher. Demanding 16GB of memory for the lower quality levels at 1080p and 1440p is fine — most players have that much — but the requirement for 32GB if you want to push higher is a little debilitating, especially during the ongoing RAM crisis.

Campaign Evolved requires a steep 100GB of SSD space, too, which is quite a lot for a campaign-only FPS game. You'll need to uninstall a game or two if your gaming hard drive doesn't have triple-digit room available.

Something worth noting is that it's unclear if these requirements were determined with or without performance-enhancing technologies like Super Resolution and Frame Generation factored in. What we do know, though, is that Campaign Evolved supports their use, alongside things like NVIDIA Reflex and other anti-latency tools. These will make taking advantage of the game's uncapped framerate easier.

Ultimately, the 100GB requirement aside? I'd say it sounds like the Halo remake has been optimized fairly well, and should run well on most PCs with optimal settings chosen. I can't say that for sure until the game is out, though.

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Microsoft and Xbox have experienced some high highs and low lows with its video game adaptations over the years, with Bethesda and Amazon's Fallout TV show and 2025's Minecraft movie proving to be huge hits while the live-action Halo TV series and Halo: Nightfall before it left most viewers extremely disappointed.

Overall, though, multimedia projects that draw from Xbox's gaming IPs have enjoyed more of a positive reception in recent years — and according to comments from Xbox CEO Asha Sharma and other executives in a new interview with Entertainment Weekly, there's "more appetite to work with us on titles than ever before."

"You won't see us try to become the biggest linear provider in the world or anything like that, but I think great games are culture, and culture is entertainment," Sharma explained. "If you think about it, we've got the number two show of all time on Amazon [Fallout], Minecraft was top 5 in 2025, Call of Duty is bigger than the Marvel Cinematic Universe. So it all measures. [There's] more appetite to work with us on titles than ever before."

The claim that the Call of Duty series is larger than Disney and Marvel's massive cinematic universe is a bold one, but from what I can tell, the math does actually check out; reported box office numbers put the MCU's lifetime revenue at about $32 billion, while all signs point to Call of Duty making over $35 billion across 500 million lifetime sales.

Now, you can certainly make the argument that the MCU is bigger in terms of cultural impact, but at least from a fiscal perspective, it does seem like Call of Duty has inched itself ahead of the film franchise that kicked off a renaissance of superheroes on the big screen.

That Sharma is confident enough to state so as fact speaks to Xbox's overall confidence in its video game IPs, and how viable they are as franchises to be adapted into other forms of media. Indeed, there is a Call of Duty movie from Paramount on the way, with the film recently getting its June 2028 release date confirmed.

In this very same interview, Xbox also confirmed that there's a live-action Sea of Thieves movie in the works, provided more details about the upcoming Gears of War Netflix series, and even seemed to express interest in taking another swing at a Halo adaptation.

We know a Wolfenstein show is coming to Amazon, that a Minecraft one is in the works with Netflix, and that a Fallout Shelter-inspired reality competition series is filming as well.

Microsoft's plans for multimedia Xbox projects beyond these are a mystery right now, but one thing is quite clear: the company is very interested in continuing to adapt its big-name gaming franchises to other entertainment mediums, and I have no doubts that we'll see additional shows and movies get announced and made in the coming years.

What are some of the Xbox properties you'd like to see Microsoft try and adapt to TV and film? Let me know in the comments below.

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It's come to light that Obsidian Entertainment — the storied, legendary developer known for creating Fallout: New Vegas, The Outer Worlds, and Grounded, Pentiment, Avowed, and The Outer Worlds 2 under Xbox Game Studios — is currently facing a class action lawsuit after allegedly "violating state wage and hour laws."

The case — first opened in October last year, and followed by an amended complaint that was filed in January by plaintiff Victoria Turner, who has a name matching that of a QA lead that worked on Obsidian's 2025 RPG The Outer Worlds 2 — accuses the Xbox studio of engaging in "a systematic pattern of wage and hour violations under the California Labor Code and Industrial Welfare Commission (IWC) Wage Orders."

Specifically, it's alleged that the developer failed "to pay all wages (including minimum wages and overtime wages)," didn't "provide lawful meal periods or compensation in lieu thereof," and didn't "authorize or permit lawful rest breaks or provide compensation in lieu thereof."

It's also been claimed that Obsidian failed to "reimburse necessary business-related costs," "provide accurate itemized wage statements," "pay wages timely during employment," and "pay all wages due upon separation of employment."

The lawsuit "seeks monetary relief" for Turner and "all others similarly situated in California" where Obsidian is headquartered, with the ultimate goal being "to recover, among other things, unpaid wages, unreimbursed business expenses, benefits, interest, attorneys' fees, costs and expenses, and penalties."

Notably, the case covers "all persons currently or formerly employed by any or all Defendants as nonexempt employees in the State of California at any time between October 9, 2021 and the date of class certification." The plaintiff also seeks to include "All members of the Class who separated their employment with any or all Defendants at any time between October 9, 2022 and the date of class certification."

Obsidian's first response to the lawsuit came in early March, with the studio stating that it "denies, generally and specifically, each and every allegation in the FAC [First Amended Complaint]." It also denied "that Plaintiff and/or any putative class members she purports to represent have suffered any injury or been damaged in any sum whatsoever by reason of any act or omission" from the developer or its staff.

Obsidian then argued Turner's case "fails to state facts sufficient to constitute valid claims," and added that "Plaintiff and any putative class member and/or other allegedly aggrieved employees consented to and/or acquiesced in the alleged conduct by Defendant of which Plaintiff now complains."

Essentially, what the studio is saying here is that Turner hasn't provided adequate proof to support the lawsuit's claims, and that the workers it represents voluntarily gave up lunch and rest breaks. The case hasn't progressed since that response, but I and the rest of Team Windows Central will keep an eye on it and report on new developments.

All of this comes amid Obsidian's efforts to restructure itself within Xbox, with the developer enacting plans to shorten development cycles, more frequently work with partner studios, and reuse technology and solutions from previous projects as it builds new ones.

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Valve's Steam Machine has finally made its way into the hands of testers, and the resulting reviews have been less than inspiring. Whether it's the high $1,049 starting price caused by a global RAM and storage crisis or the underwhelming performance, I know that a lot of PC gamers are now looking for a quality alternative.

These are the 5 best pre-built gaming PCs I could find during Prime Day that will leave you with some cash left over for new games. Only one is priced high enough to match the Steam Machine's introductory price, but in this case, you get 32GB of RAM and a 1TB SSD.

• Shop all Amazon Prime Day deals

The rest? Well, they cost significantly less than Valve's device. See for yourself, and happy gaming!

What's in the Steam Machine, and how does performance compare to these discounted gaming PCs?

Valve's Steam Machine runs on a custom AMD Zen 4 CPU with 6 cores, 12 threads, and a 30W TDP. Attached are integrated custom AMD RDNA 3 graphics, with 8GB of VRAM and 28 compute units.

All Steam Machine models come with 16GB of DDR5 system memory, and the introductory models start with a 512GB SSD (upgradeable to 2TB for those with deeper pockets).

Circling back to the custom graphics, testing by our friends at Tom's Hardware revealed that it fails to pull ahead of the AMD Radeon RX 7600 discrete GPU while coming out just ahead of the AMD Radeon RX 6600.

How does that performance compare to the GPUs in the pre-built gaming PCs I've rounded up here? Well, the RTX 5060 easily beats the AMD GPU in raw performance and ray tracing abilities.

If you're interested in a pre-built gaming PC with an Intel Arc GPU, the B570 is a closer match to the RX 7600 and the Steam Machine's custom graphics. However, it should better handle ray tracing, and it should also deliver a better experience if you're gaming at 1440p.

If it's the Arc B580 in the $999 ABS Cyclone Aqua you're looking at, know that it beats AMD's GPU in practically all metrics.

As for the CPU, it seems like the Intel Core i5-14400F is the chip of choice for the pre-builts I've selected here. Good news! Despite its relative age, it should absolutely crush the Steam Machine's custom AMD chip.

My advice? Skip the Steam Machine and go for a real gaming PC instead.

Valve's Steam Machine was knocked off course by no fault of its own, and you can point the finger at the global RAM and SSD shortage caused by AI.

At its starting $1,049.99 price, it's simply outclassed by affordable pre-built gaming PCs with true discrete graphics. It's a shame, because the Steam Machine is a great-looking device.

Unless you're absolutely beholden to the compact form factor and close ties to Steam's storefront, one of these gaming PCs I selected should be a much better value.

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During 2026's Warhammer Skulls event, Warhammer 40,000: Darktide announced its 3rd DLC expansion, where players could play as the new tech-based Skitarii class.

I'm not too familiar with the Skitarii myself, so I was curious to see how they would stand out from the rest of the classes, especially when the developers, Fatshark, mentioned they would have more customizable freedom in their skill trees compared to the other classes.

My curiosity would be quickly satiated as Fatshark invited me to attend a sneak preview presentation of the Skitarii class, as well as provided me with a Steam code to try it out myself.

After getting hands-on with the Skitarii, it may just be my favorite class in the whole game and one that may convince me to play it more often and finally strive for its endgame content.

This preview was made possible thanks to a Steam code, Preview presentation, and B-Roll footage screenshots provided by Fatshark. The company had no input nor saw the contents of this preview before publication.

What are the Skitarii?

The Skitarii are a unique military force that fights for the tech-worshipping Adeptus Mechanicus faction. They are heavily augmented cyborg hunters that specialize in plasma and lightning-based weaponry, multi-purpose gadgets, and other technologically advanced ways to purge heretics, aliens, and mutants.

They usually act in groups, but in Warhammer 40,000: Darktide, you play as an upgraded Alpha Skitarii, who can act as a solo operative.

My preview of this class began with their character customization, which is probably one of the most disturbing yet cool character creators I've ever seen in a game.

You get to customize how royally horrifying your Skitarii look underneath their robes with all their cybernetics, what kind of robotic limbs they have, and even adjust the distortion and pitch of their modulated voices.

Once I finished creating my Skitarii (which took a long while because I wanted to recreate the iconic voice of Soundwave from Transformers), I was off to the training room to learn about their abilities.

How do the Skitarii play?

What sets Skitarii apart from all the classes in Warhammer 40,000: Darktide is that their skill tree, which looks like the Sphere Grid from Final Fantasy 10, rather than a linear line like the others.

This means you can spend points to adjust the Skitarii's playstyle however you want, rather than being restricted to a certain playstyle like the other classes due to their more open-ended skill tree, and the Skitarii have A LOT of playstyles to experiment with.

You can create a support-focused Skitarii that focuses on using Servo-Skull drones to crowd-control enemies while reviving downed teammates or operating terminals to save players from having to do it themselves.

You can make a long-range sniper Skitarii that's all about destroying elite enemies using a special ability that augments the ammo of their weapons, like the iconic Galvanic Rifle or Arc Rifle, to auto-track targets without aiming.

Heck, you can even make a melee-focused Skitarii that uses a special forcefield that blocks incoming ranged attacks that explodes once depleted, and rushes enemies down with melee attacks using electrified maces or dual blades before ripping out their heart with a giant, gnarly robotic claw.

Plus, thanks to the Skitarii's open-ended skill tree, you can mix up the various abilities of these playstyles together and create your own custom build that sort of functions as a jack of all trades.

Now, all this sounds cool on paper, but it won't mean much if it doesn't come together during real combat scenarios. So, after deciding to adapt a melee-focused build with the anti-ranged shield, I decided to take my new Skitarii class into live combat to see how it would fare.

Now I'm not the best Darktide player in the world, as I've casually played here and there, getting my shiny metal butt kicked plenty of times. But that didn't stop me from enjoying the Skitarii class because it was so fun to play as.

There's just something so empowering about being able to strut up to an enemy screaming in terror that his bullets aren't penetrating your shield and then snuffing out his Nurgle-worshipping, heretical existence by ripping off his head with a giant claw.

Also, I enjoyed the utility of the Skitarii's Servo-Skulls for how surprisingly useful they were. Commanding it to hack terminals instead of having to deal with the annoying image-match mini-game yourself and using it to revive teams so you don't leave yourself wide open to enemy attacks is so convenient and gives your team a better, and less frustrating, chance at survival when things go south.

I can't wait to zap heretics to ash in the name of the Omnissiah

Overall, I was impressed with the Skitarii class by what I saw and played. Its tech-based weapons and abilities are fun to play with, and the personalities you can assign to your Skitarii are a joy to listen to during moments when player characters talk to each other,

Also, I LOVE the idea of having a voice modulator when designing your character's voice to give it a robotic feel, which I hope to see more often in games in general and not just Warhammer 40,000 games featuring the Adeptus Mechanicus.

If the Arbites were the class that convinced me to play Darktide, then the Skitarii may be the class that will motivate me to play at a higher level beyond the occasional casual weekend romp with friends and check out its endgame content.

Bottom line, the Skitarii are awesome, and I can't wait to play more of them alongside everyone else as the Warhammer 40,000: Darktide's Skitarii DLC expansion launches on June 23, 2026, for Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, and PC via Steam, which happens to be today.

🗨️ Over to you

What do you think of Warhammer 40,000: Darktide's new Skitarii class? Do you think it will be your main class, or are you waiting for a different kind of servant of the Imperium to become playable, like one of the Sisters of Battle, for example?

If you have any thoughts on the matter, please let us know through the poll below, the comments section, or our Reddit page.

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The Razer Wolverine V3 Pro 8K PC has been my go-to controller since I first opened its box. Prior to this, I'd been using the regular Wolverine V3 Pro, which also has Xbox compatibility, but the 8K version is something else. The best performance you can get.

But its price was always a sticking point. After all, $200 is a lot of money for a controller. But in swoops Prime Day to knock that down by $50, so you can now (and should) buy one from Amazon for just $149.99.

I've played about 600 hours of Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 with this controller (feel free to tell me how much of my life I've wasted in the comments), and I wouldn't use anything else.

For one, it's laid out like an Xbox controller, which I still find the most comfortable. I've tried using the Razer Raiju V3 Pro with the PS5 layout, which is also an excellent controller, but I come back to the Wolverine V3 Pro 8K every time.

It ticks all the boxes. It has TMR thumbsticks; it has delightfully clicky mouse switch buttons and rear paddles, and crucially, it doesn't lose performance when you use it wirelessly versus wired.

8,000Hz is the fastest you can buy on any controller right now out of the box without having to use third-party tools to overclock. For competitive games such as Call of Duty, Apex Legends, and Battlefield 6, the faster the better. It's hard to quantify, but I can feel a difference if I go back to the regular Wolverine V3 Pro at only 1,000Hz.

To get the maximum speed, you do need a beefy CPU, and you need fast enough USB ports. It's not a big drag on the CPU, but the higher the polling rate, the more work it needs to do, so you do need to ensure you have the headroom not to affect your games.

But this is still my favorite controller, and sure, it's PC only. But now it's down to $150 I can't see any good reason not to recommend you pick one up. It's that good. Prime Day only lasts the rest of this week, so take advantage of this new lowest ever price while you can.

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AI and gaming are becoming an inseparable match. Whether it's AI used in modern graphics rendering or AI used in actual game development, I've stated several times that I don't think they'll be separated anytime soon.

The rise of AI has been causing hiccups for global PC game markets like Steam from the very start. In January 2024, Steam owner Valve announced that its storefront would now contain AI disclosures from developers. If AI were used in development, you'd be able to clearly see it on the game's page.

Since then, you've probably noticed a whole lot of Steam pages sporting that little AI blurb describing how exactly AI was used during development. The phenomenon, of course, begs the question: Is the use of AI in game development hurting sales?

According to research performed by Ross Burton, PhD, Head of Product and Data at Game Oracle (via PCGamer), the use of AI does harm sales and, beyond cold hard cash, it also hurts a game's reputation.

Burton discovered that approximately 21% of games released on Steam in 2025 (pre-November) contained a disclosure for some sort of AI use. I can't help but assume that number has only gone up since then.

Steam's recent Next Fest event, showcasing countless new games set to arrive in the near future, was rife with games clearly created using AI, some less innocuous than others.

Deciphering Steam's numbers tell an important story

Steam doesn't disclose how many copies specific games sell; that's up to the developer to know, and to share only if they like. However, Steam sales can be approximated by the number of reviews a title receives, and as Game Oracle points out, it's a proxy method that's used across the industry.

Game Oracle's initial research, even at a surface level, is eye-opening. It studied almost 10,000 Steam releases between January and October 2025, discovering that games disclosing AI use averaged just 4 reviews in the first post-launch month compared to 7 reviews for games without AI.

Almost 20% of games with AI disclosure received no reviews, compared to 15% for non-AI games. Scores were also biased in titles with at least 100 reviews, with AI games hitting an average score of 84.6% compared to 88.3% for non-AI games.

AI games don't receive as much attention as non-AI games

Game Oracle built a causal statistical model to control for elements like a specific developer's prior experience, publisher backing (if any), genre, and release date. Games that fell into similar groupings were then compared to each other to prevent outside factors from interfering.

In this scenario, games that disclosed the use of AI received about 53% fewer reviews than non-AI games. So, if two games were released around the same time, from developers with similar levels of experience, with similar backing, and of a similar genre, non-AI games would theoretically receive 100 reviews while an AI game would receive 47.

That's a huge gap, and one that isn't easy to discredit.

Established studios are being punished harder for using AI in game development

There is, of course, some nuance to the study's findings. Game Oracle performed a sensitivity analysis to account for unmeasured factors like marketing costs, raw talent, and pure luck.

It was discovered that inexperienced developers with no marketing budget, who likely turned to AI simply because of a lack of other resources, saw hardly any negative impact on sales despite the AI disclosure. These games were almost certainly going to struggle even without the use of AI.

It's a different story for the more established studios with an existing following and previous titles. Game Oracle found that the use of AI by these studios resulted in a significant 40% to 60% drop in sales.

👉 Crimson Desert developers apologize for the use of generative AI

That's a huge difference. AI stigma seems to hit competent developers with a lot to lose the hardest, and I'm not sure that game studios are ready to accept it.

What the AI stigma means for gamers

I don't think that gamers are actively boycotting AI games. If I had to guess, I'd say that the majority of Steam users don't ever check for AI disclosures and instead direct their disposable income towards positive reviews.

Games like The Finals and Suck Up! are mentioned in the study as examples of successes that used AI. Those successes are counterbalanced by Black Ops 7 and Jurassic World Evolution 3 as examples of brands that were harmed by the use of AI.

The research comes to a point with Burton stating that he doesn't know exactly what is causing the negative impact on AI games.

One interesting line that stands out to me is that AI is often "correlated with other decisions that lead to a poorly crafted game." Burton suggests that the penalty for using AI might be as much about how it's used as how much it's used.

Burton wraps up the research with a reminder that AI isn't something to be avoided: "Approach AI with caution. Use it gracefully. It is not a replacement for hard work, it's just there to lighten the load."

Do you agree? Let me know in the comments section below!

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It's been nearly a year since Xbox and developer Obsidian Entertainment released Grounded 2 — a sequel to the studio's original co-op survival game that shrinks you down to the size of a bug and transforms everyday suburban environments into vast open worlds — in Early Access on Xbox, PC, and Xbox Game Pass.

Since then, Obsidian (with co-development support from Eidos-Montréal) has delivered three major updates for the game, with a fourth — Into the Abyss, a water-themed patch adding the Pond area — scheduled to release on August 11. At the same time, Grounded 2 will also come to PS5, inviting a brand new network of players to join the game's community.

It's worth noting that the first Grounded, by contrast, didn't get a PS5 release until 2024, which came two years after the title left Early Access and launched in full with its 1.0 update in 2022.

Indeed, it's no exaggeration to say that Obsidian has been quite busy building on Grounded 2's foundations to refine it into a bigger, deeper experience, and I found a recent interview with game director Chris Parker in which he discusses its development, journey to PS5, and Into the Abyss to be quite interesting.

"Every time that we think we're done we can take a breath — just one breath, that's all you get, and then we keep going. At the same time, we're constantly processing all the community feedback, and trying with love to figure out how we do as much of it as we can, while recognizing that we can't possibly do all of it," Parker told GamesRadar+. "And now we're on the cusp of releasing the largest content update that we've done. It's bigger than Garden [The Toxic Tangle update], and to be launching on PlayStation 5 effectively makes this our second launch, right? We had the early access launch before, but this is like doing it all over again this summer."

Parker noted that Obsidian and Eidos originally "had some struggles" when first working together on Grounded 2, but would "ultimately figure out what the best solution for the game would be and move on."

"Those things occur less and less often now. What's far more likely to happen is that Eidos comes and pitches something to us, like the story for the pond, and I will just plus-one that with them. Then I'll suggest something and they get excited and plus-one that," he added.

In regards to the game coming to PS5, Parker commented that "there are other people above my pay grade that might have other opinions about what needs to happen with all that," referencing Xbox's new push for and return to exclusives that's begun with Clockwork Revolution and Gears of War: E-Day. "As a game developer, what I want is for the most amount of players to love my game on their platform, whatever that might be."

He added that "we have ideas for the future" of Grounded 2's roadmap, but made it clear that the Into the Abyss update shipping alongside PS5 availability is Obsidian's priority right now. "It's a huge content update with multiple biomes in it, there's a new buggy joining the group, we're bringing back swimming as a gameplay experience, and we're offering some other things that you can do while you're underwater too. We'll be talking about all that later."

Debates about exclusivity aside, I think it's great to see that Grounded 2's game director is excited to welcome a new community of players to the open-world survival game, and that Obsidian and Eidos have coalesced as co-developers to collaborate on the title both passionately and efficiently. That has me all the more interested in checking out Into the Abyss later this summer.

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Eight months after first revealing the compact console-like Steam Machine gaming PC to the world last year, its architect Valve has finally announced the device's price and details about its release. If you were holding out hope that it would be fairly affordable and widely available, well...I have bad news.

The cheapest model of the living room-friendly gaming PC — one that doesn't come with Valve's new Steam Controller and only has 512GB of storage instead of 2TB — is a whopping $1,049, with more expensive options climbing to $1,128, $1,349, and $1,428 price points.

Cost isn't the only debilitating complication to contend with if you're interested in a Steam Machine, however. Supply is also a huge issue, as Valve has been forced to implement signups for a reservation queue due to very limited stock. And with Steam Controller reservations extending into 2027, it's hard to imagine fresh batches of Steam Machines will come much faster, if at all.

What's going on here — why is the Steam Machine so prohibitively expensive, and why does Valve have such a limited stock of the systems? If you've followed tech even loosely in recent months, I'm sure your assumption is that ongoing AI-driven RAM shortages are to blame. And you're right.

Valve addressed the situation in the blog post it revealed the Steam Machine's pricing and availability in, explaining that "The price at which we sell our hardware is a direct result of the cost of" the components it needs to make it, and that "our original goal for the price of Steam Machine is no longer viable" due to the scarcity and skyrocketing cost of memory and storage.

"We felt like we had a good understanding of how those costs might change over time when we first started sourcing them for Steam Machine back in 2023. That understanding was born from the many years of data we all have about the evolution of PC hardware prices — primarily, that it tends to get cheaper over time as new technology arrives," the manufacturer wrote.

"Over the past year or so, that has changed quickly and significantly, most visibly for RAM and storage components," it continued. "The overall effect is that our original goal for the price of Steam Machine is no longer viable. So the prices we're sharing today reflect the state of the world for manufacturing; or, more accurately, it reflects the price of the components as we've secured them over the past 6 months."

Valve added that "Price wasn't the only thing impacted by all of this: availability was as well. There were periods where we found we couldn't source some of our components at all, at any price." This, it says, "has impacted the number of units we've been able to produce for launch."

In the end, I feel that both Valve and customers are in a total no-win situation here, as the former can't afford to lower prices without making selling the Steam Machine untenable, and many of the latter are unable to afford the device due to its heightened cost. I hate to say it, but the Steam Machine just seems like an awesome device that came out at the worst time possible.

Are you considering getting a Steam Machine despite how expensive it is and how hard it will be to secure an order for one? I'm curious to hear from you, so let me know in the comments and vote in our poll.

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Since Valve first announced its console-like, living room-friendly gaming PC the Steam Machine last November, the wait to find out how much it will cost and when exactly it will come out has been a long one. Before now, the manufacturer only confirmed that its launch for Summer 2026 was still planned, with the ongoing RAM crisis caused by heavy AI investment significantly complicating Valve's supply and pricing process.

At long last, however, the firm has finally announced how much the device will cost and when it will manage to start shipping it out to customers. In a new blog post, Valve revealed that there are two different Steam Machine SKUs — a 512GB unit and one with 2TB of storage — you'll be able to purchase, with each also offered in a bundle that includes the new $99 Steam Controller gamepad.

That means you have four options total, all of which I've listed below with their prices:

• Steam Machine 512GB: $1,049 USD /  1,509 CAD /  1,039 EUR /  879 GBP / 1,609 AUD /  4,389 PLN
• Steam Machine 512GB + Steam Controller: $1,128 USD / 1,628 CAD / 1,108 EUR / 938 GBP / 1,728 AUD / 4,698 PLN
• Steam Machine 2TB: $1,349 USD / 1,919 CAD /  1,359 EUR /  1,149 GBP /  2,109 AUD /  5,739 PLN
• Steam Machine 2TB + Steam Controller: $1,428 USD / 2,038 CAD / 1,428 EUR / 1,208 GBP / 2,228 AUD / 6,048 PLN

Note that in addition to the standard black faceplate, you also have the option of getting a red fabric or a solid walnut front cover for the 2TB version of the Steam Machine.

Due to memory and storage shortages severely impacting component supply, Valve won't have as many Steam Machines available for gamers to purchase as it would like to. Therefore, it's implementing a reservation system similar to the one it's using for the Steam Controller, though it's going to work a bit differently.

From now until Thursday, June 25th at 10 a.m. PT, you can sign up for the reservation list of the model you want on the Steam Machine's official store page. Then, Valve will close the list and randomize it to determine the reservation queue order.

Once the order has been finalized, you'll receive an email that either confirms you're in the reservation queue and will be emailed when there's a Steam Machine available for you to order, or that you're on the waitlist and will be notified when you're added to the queue and more units become available.

Valve says the first Steam Machine orders will begin to ship out on Monday, June 29, which is precisely one week away from the time of writing.

Some final things to note: trying to reserve a Steam Machine requires having a Steam account in good standing as well as a Steam purchase in your account history before April 27. Also, you can't change the model you reserved after signing up, though you can sign up for multiple different versions and bundles of the Steam Machine.

If you're aiming to try and get your hands on the device, good luck — I have no doubt that you're going to need it!

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The MSI Claw 8 EX AI+ is the new gaming handheld that I'd use as an example of how far these devices have come since the Steam Deck launched in 2022. It's a shame, then, that MSI's new device is far too expensive to reasonably recommend to most of my PC gaming pals.

Coming in at $1,799, MSI's new handheld is indeed priced out of the hands of many gamers. It's not MSI's fault, or at least not entirely. Whether it's the AI boom making components drastically more expensive, premium build quality and features, or the new Intel Arc G3 chips, $1,799 is a far cry from the Steam Deck's original $399 baseline price.

Last week, I wrote about how a gamer could buy an Xbox Series X, a PlayStation 5, and a Nintendo Switch 2 instead of an MSI Claw 8 EX AI+ and still have $50 left over to spend.

The article kicked off a lively debate in the comments section and in our subreddit, with hundreds of replies aimed directly at me and at other commenters. Here's what the Windows Central community is saying about the rising cost of gaming handhelds.

Was Nintendo already leaving PC handhelds behind?

Nintendo fans are everywhere, and by far the broadest discussion about PC gaming handhelds revolves around a Switch-related comment from u/locked-in-place in our subreddit.

It's true that the Switch and Switch 2 have sold incredibly well. According to official Nintendo numbers, nearly 156 million Switch units have been shipped, with another 19.86 million Switch 2 units adding to the momentum.

Although Steam hasn't offered public Steam Deck sales numbers, it's believed that somewhere around 4 million units have been sold. That's a massive difference, and even if I add in other popular handhelds like the Xbox ROG Ally/Ally X, Lenovo Legion Go family, MSI Claw 8 AI+, and practically any others with a PC flavor, Nintendo is still far in the lead.

Many of the replies to the OP suggest that the Steam Deck and the overall PC handheld market were never meant to disrupt Nintendo's sales, which are themselves being disrupted by their own price hikes.

Just before the Switch 2 went up in price in Japan on May 25, sales skyrocketed. Right after? They plummeted. A comparable price hike is notably coming to the US, Canada, and Europe on September 1.

Comment from r/windowscentral

A good point is made here by u/First-Junket124, who suggests that the Steam Deck was never meant to compete with Nintendo and was instead an alternative route for PC gamers.

Another comment by u/UberShrew says what I've always thought: that the Steam Deck is an "enthusiast device to play your PC games on the go," whereas the Switch is first-party hardware that's the only way to play the latest Nintendo games.

Switch and Switch 2 are indeed intended for a different market than something like MSI's Claw 8 EX AI+. MSI sees its device as made for on-the-go PC enthusiasts who want top-tier performance and a device that can also act as a mini PC via Thunderbolt 4 connectivity. It's like comparing a four-cylinder sedan to a heavy-duty truck.

Comment from r/windowscentral

Lord_pizzabird's comment above seems oddly prescient. The Steam Deck and the PC gaming handhelds that followed it disrupted the market, but that disruption is now struggling (albeit due to circumstances out of its control).

I can see the PC gaming handheld market retreating at least until memory and storage prices return to normal. Unfortunately, no one can say for sure when that will happen.

The PC gaming handheld market isn't over ... it's just hibernating

Pulling myself out of the Nintendo weeds, there are some other comments well worth highlighting. Many of them are suggesting that the PC gaming handheld market is "over" and won't return, just as I mentioned in the original article's title.

Comment from r/windowscentral

There's an important distinction to make that doesn't fit in a title. While I do think the handheld market is frozen by the ever-increasing cost of components and the general PC sentiment that new models have to be faster and better (leading to higher costs no matter component prices), I don't think it's frozen for good.

For those who have had a chance to test the new MSI Claw 8 EX AI+ with Intel Arc G3 chips, you know what I'm talking about. I thought AMD's Ryzen AI Z2 Extreme hardware was good, and it is, but Intel worked some magic here.

If these Arc chips were going out in handhelds not hampered by inflated component prices, we'd be having an entirely different conversation.

Comment from r/windowscentral

A market thaw will undoubtedly happen at some point, and when it does happen, I think there will be a resurgence of interest. There are still plenty of people out there waiting for the right price and the right specs.

In the meantime, I won't be surprised if MSI's new Claw 8 EX AI+ does sell out at launch. There are still plenty of PC gamers with deep pockets who don't care about prices and just want the latest and greatest device.

The real shame is that handheld PC gaming really has no chance of going mainstream under the current market conditions, a blow that's double as hardware and design hit new heights.

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Some people, myself included until I saw this news, may not have known that AMD seemingly revealed FSR4 for older Radeon graphics cards last month. Now, just a month later, it appears Valve appears to be adding a version of AMD's FSR4 technology to Steam and Proton, which could theoretically allow Steam Machine and potentially Steam Deck users to effectively upgrade FSR3-supported games to FSR4.

For those unfamiliar, FSR is AMD's answer to Nvidia's DLSS. It's an upscaling technology that allows games to be rendered at a lower resolution, such as 720p, before being upscaled to a higher resolution like 1080p. The goal is to deliver a sharper image while reducing the workload on the GPU.

It's not just about image quality, either. Because the game is being rendered at a lower internal resolution, FSR can also improve frame rates, making demanding games run more smoothly without requiring more powerful hardware.

What's particularly exciting about the prospect of FSR4 coming to Steam Machine and, hopefully, Steam Deck is that it could address some of the most common complaints surrounding FSR3, including ghosting, shimmering, and visual artifacts, while still delivering the performance benefits that make upscaling technologies so appealing in the first place.

Additionally, according to Brad Lynch on X (formerly Twitter), this version of FSR4 has been tweaked by Valve and differs from AMD's own implementation. What exactly Valve has changed remains a mystery for now, at least until users can get their hands on it and start digging through the details themselves.

I have to admit, I've always been a little wary of the industry's growing reliance on upscaling technologies. Ideally, I'd prefer games to be optimized well enough to run smoothly on weaker hardware straight out of the box. That said, the reality is that modern games are becoming increasingly demanding, and tools like FSR can provide a meaningful boost to both image quality and performance.

Of all the ways AI is being integrated into gaming, upscaling is probably one of the easiest for me to get behind. If this implementation really can bring FSR4 improvements to a wider range of hardware, that's a win for players. Hopefully, it also finds its way to Steam Deck and isn't reserved solely for Valve's upcoming Steam Machine.

As always, let me know what you think in the comments below, and don't forget to take part in our poll!

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Before we begin, there's an important asterisk attached to all of this. Yes, according to Alinea Analytics, PlayStation has generated nearly double the revenue from PC ports than Xbox has from bringing its games to PS5. However, it's worth noting that Sony's PC strategy began in 2020, while Microsoft's push onto PlayStation only really started in 2024.

There's also a difference in scale. Sony has published roughly 20 PlayStation games on PC, compared to around 13 Xbox games currently available on PS5. So, while I fully acknowledge this isn't an apples-to-apples comparison, it's still interesting to dig into the numbers, look at the differences between the two approaches, and perhaps explore why Sony's PC strategy may not have taken off quite as strongly as it initially hoped.

First off, let's look at the numbers. According to Alinea Analytics, Sony had generated around $1.2 billion in revenue from its PC ports as of November 2025. A significant portion of that success came from Helldivers 2, which alone accounted for more than 12 million copies sold on Steam and roughly $400 million in gross revenue.

It's also fair to point out that Sony actually generated $1.5 billion in revenue, but due to Valve's 30% cut, Sony's takeaway was $1.2 billion.

Over in the Xbox camp, the picture isn't entirely dissimilar. Microsoft's PS5 ports have reportedly generated around $667 million in revenue, but much of that has been driven by Forza Horizon 5.

Despite arriving on PlayStation more than three years after its original launch, the racing game has sold 5.8 million copies on PS5 and generated roughly $323 million in revenue on its own, accounting for nearly half of Xbox's total PlayStation earnings. Again, fair to point out, but this data also includes Sony's cut from sales, which is 30%.

When you put it into perspective like that, it's hard not to question whether the potential brand dilution is worth the extra sales for Xbox. Then again, a similar argument could be made about PlayStation's now-defunct PC strategy, albeit to a much lesser extent given that PC isn't a competing console platform.

Perhaps most surprising is just how quickly Xbox has reached half of Sony's. Sony's PC strategy had been running for roughly five years by the time these numbers were recorded, whereas Microsoft's PlayStation strategy was still relatively new.

As for why Sony's PC strategy may not have performed better, there are a few possible explanations. Several PlayStation games launched on PC with technical issues, while the PlayStation account requirement controversy also created significant backlash. PSN is officially available in around 70 countries, compared to Steam's presence in roughly 190, which became a major talking point due to Helldivers 2. Sony was also restricting game sales of certain PC titles in regions where PSN wasn't supported, though they did walk this back after backlash.

It's an interesting time for both companies. Xbox appears to be stepping back from its recent push to bring more games to PlayStation, while Sony seems to be slowing the pace of its PC efforts as it shifts focus toward AI and makes it a much larger part of its overall business strategy.

Regardless of where either company ultimately ends up, one thing is clear: there are still plenty of great games heading to both platforms. Despite all the turbulence in the industry lately, and yes, AI certainly hasn't helped as rising costs continue to plague the industry. Still, I'm sure we can all agree there's still a lot for games to be excited about.

As always, I'd love to hear your thoughts. Do you think Sony's PC strategy has been more successful than Xbox's PlayStation strategy, or is the comparison more complicated than the headline numbers suggest? Let me know in the comments, and be sure to take part in our poll!

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As a lifelong PC gamer, I know well the woes that Denuvo and other Digital Rights Management (DRM) platforms can cause for even the most law-abiding consumers.

Whether it's a noticeable performance impact, a roadblock to modding, or annoying online check-ins, DRM has become something despised by those in the games industry. And I'm talking about those who design games and those who buy them.

Unfortunately, what is likely the leading alternative to DRM tools like Denuvo doesn't make me very happy, either. Nor should it make you excited for the future of gaming.

DRM has been getting less effective over time as popular game crackers become more effective. I can easily imagine a time when no DRM is effective anymore. The leading alternative that I think will replace it?

Subscription-based game "ownership", where you own nothing and are happy just to be able to play at all. Let me explain.

Video game popularity goes nuclear and piracy begins

The mainstream video game industry got its start in the '70s, with home consoles like the Magnavox Odyssey, running (in retrospect) rudimentary games like Pong.

Countless consoles were launched at consumers over the next couple of decades, with the vast majority featuring embedded games (like the Magnavox Odyssey) or physical media (like the original Nintendo Entertainment System).

It wasn't until the '90s that a perfect mixture of hardware advancements for personal computers and groundbreaking games like DOOM fueled a huge PC gaming boom.

Let me be clear: video game piracy has been happening basically since the start of video games.

Savvy users were duplicating games sold on magnetic tapes in the '70s and '80s, and once the internet came about, the rise of the Warez subculture saw countless cracked games being shared in online forums.

I'm old enough to fondly recall visiting computer stores to buy physical PC games, but the CDs used to ship games were rather easy to rip and reburn to a new disc. That is, if the games weren't just being sent to share online.

Steam, the wildly popular digital games distribution hub, began to gain popularity in the '00s. It provided gamers with an extremely convenient way to buy games, but again, the digital copies were easy to share after being "cracked."

The PC gaming industry soon realized it had a real problem. Gamers were downloading titles via torrent hubs like Napster and LimeWire at a frantic pace, robbing developers and publishers of revenue.

The response to game piracy was two-fold. On one side, Steam (and its parent company, Valve) realized it could make buying games more convenient than stealing them. And to make that strategy work, games had to be harder to steal via DRM efforts.

DRM was effective at stopping game piracy ... until it wasn't

A peer-reviewed 2024 study published in the Entertainment Computing journal is one of the best resources that proves the effectiveness of DRM. The study tracked 86 games launched on Steam between 2014 and 2022.

The highlights? Games that had cracked versions hit the internet in the first week after their initial launch saw roughly 20% decreased revenue. When those cracks were delayed by DRM by at least six weeks, revenue only dropped by 5%.

If a game's DRM managed to hold out against cracks for at least three months, there was no noticeable loss of revenue.

This study shows that DRM indeed did exactly what it was supposed to do. If it could slow down free versions of a game from being uploaded to the web, studios and publishers stood to make a lot more money.

As DRM improved, however, so did the individuals and groups dedicated to cracking it. Whereas something like Denuvo was frequently able to hold out for long periods of time, Denuvo today is often being cracked mere hours after launch.

Such was the case with LEGO Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight, which showed up online in cracked form shortly after launch. Speaking of recent games, 007: First Light was also notably cracked in less than two weeks.

You won't own your games, and you'll be happy to play them

It's becoming clear that there's really no foolproof way to stop someone from cracking a game that they have full access to, and I fear that the answer to Denuvo's demise is contractual rather than technological.

I'm talking about subscription-based gaming that lets you "rent" a game that's then streamed to your device from a cloud server instance. With live authentication handshakes at every step and no real access to a game's files and no actual downloads, piracy potential is basically nonexistent.

This logic is, of course, already being applied in some ways. Xbox's PC Game Pass, a service to which I've been a longtime subscriber, grants access to countless games for one price. Of course, I'm still downloading those games to my PC to play. Xbox Cloud Gaming takes the downloading part out of the equation, delivering games straight to your devices from the cloud.

The convenience these types of services afford, as well as Steam's frequent and deep sales, helped curb piracy. But piracy is far from dead, especially as game (and hardware) prices continue to rise.

A bargain that no gamer asked for

Because AI has caused RAM and storage (and other component) prices to skyrocket, there are valid concerns that a majority of gamers soon won't be able to afford the hardware on which games run.

The leading solution that doesn't involve payment plans and interest-free financing? Again, it's cloud gaming, where you don't actually own any hardware and instead pay a modest monthly subscription fee to rent a GPU and CPU sitting in a data center somewhere nearby.

What I find particularly troubling about this trajectory is that gamers are the ones being shafted. As usual. Sure, a subscription-based model would remove piracy almost entirely, but the idea of not actually owning any games is frightening.

Imagine if, like Netflix, the gaming service to which you subscribed decided to remove a selection of games from its library. Where would you turn then? A new subscription? You'd better hope the rights to those games are purchased by someone else.

Will the final boss of piracy indeed be a complete lack of game ownership? I can't say for sure, but it certainly feels like we're headed in that direction.

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On June 18, 2026, Blizzard Entertainment unveiled the next major content update for World of Warcraft: Midnight, titled "Curse of Ula’tek", which will be dropping on July 7, 2026.

This update will take players to the Coiled Isles to help the Troll Zul’jarra retrieve her kin (including her Zul'jan) while battling hordes of giant snake-like monsters in a collection of new Raids, Dungeons, and Delves, and other forms of battle content.

Here's what you can expect from the Curse of Ula'Tek update.

First off, the update will feature a new zone called The Coiled Isle, where players will explore ancient ruins and partake in several outdoor activities.

These include exploring the Vaults of Atal'Ulek, mastering a new custom talent tree to help you survive this land's venomous traps, and killing Elite Enemies spawned at Curse Surges to unlock Cursed fishing locations to earn with a tortollan sea captain, named Tokka.

The main course of this update will be its new Eight-Boss Raid called "The Venomous Abyss", where you fight eight poison-themed snake bosses culminating in a final battle with the five-headed snake monster, Ula'tek.

In addition, this update will feature a new three-boss dungeon called the Altar of Fangs, a new Lairs system where 15-25-players can challenge World Bosses that scale up to Mythic difficulty, and several new Delve Dungeons with a new Venomfalls Deep Nemesis Delve boss to fight.

The Curse of Ula'tek update will also bring a new rotation of Mythic+ dungeons, Prey targets to slay, new Arcantina Quests, and a new Players Vs. Bots feature in its Arena PvP mode.

This content patch doesn't just include new battle and outdoor content. It's also bringing user interface improvements for the Cooldown Manager and Ping System, updates for Player Housing that will allow players to save, export, and import their house Blueprints, new Neighbourhood Endeavours, and finally giving players the ability to welcome pets into their homes.

Of course, the update will introduce a slew of balance changes for all the game's classes, and a metric ton of new gear, mounts, and cosmetic rewards up for grabs.

🗨️ Over to you

What do you think of this content update for World of Warcraft: Midnight? Does it sound cool enough to make you want to come back for another season of raids, or are you holding off on playing World of Warcraft for a while?

If you have any thoughts on the matter, please let us know through the poll below, the comments section, or our Reddit page.

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Thanks to the rise of AI and its insatiable hunger for every piece of spare silicon that the tech industry can throw at it, the price of just about every electronic device and accessory on the market has skyrocketed — both to make and to buy, in the era of the RAM and storage crisis.

Many companies are struggling to secure the components needed for their products as a result, and one that's had a particularly difficult time doing so is Valve. The Steam maker is in the midst of preparing to attempt to launch the console-like Steam Machine gaming PC this summer while also doing its best to keep the Steam Deck and its new $99 Steam Controller in stock.

It's a task that's stretched Valve's supply quite thin, leading to a controversial Steam Deck price hike and the implementation of a reservation queue for Steam Controller orders. And now, in a new update, the manufacturer has announced some Steam Controller reservations may not be fulfilled until 2027.

Specifically, Valve is now organizing Steam Controller reservations into three estimated order windows "to keep it simple" — all of which have been listed below:

• By September 2026
• By December 2026
• In 2027 (with additional information on specific timing to come)

Valve notes that you'll see which order window your reservation is in when visiting the Steam Controller page. If you had a reservation placed before today, your order may come in September or December later this year. Those who make reservations after this update will have their order fulfilled in 2027, according to current estimates.

It also says once your place in the queue comes up, you'll be emailed the option to purchase a Steam Controller and will have 72 hours to do so. If you don't finish your order before three days pass, you'll lose your chance.

"We have no plans to stop making Steam Controller," the company wrote. "But as we look at the current demand compared to how many we know we can make by the end of the year, we want to manage expectations as much as we can with regards to when folks can expect to receive their order."

It's unfortunate that the Steam Controller is proving so difficult to get your hands on, but the good news is that it's reviewing well, which means it will be worth the time, effort, and money for many.

We gave it a 4.5/5 score in our review, writing that "It's a feature-rich joypad that justifies its price point, with the charging puck being both a genuine convenience and a unique quirk." Its other highlights include gyro aiming, haptic touchpads, and TMR sticks, with the only major downside being incompatibility with Xbox on PC without third-party workarounds.

How are you feeling about Valve's new Steam Controller? Do you plan on engaging with the reservation system to try and get one despite the long wait into 2027? I'm curious, so please let me know in the comments and in the poll below.

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Ahead of the scheduled The Kortz Center Heist update for Grand Theft Auto Online in July as well as the upcoming long-awaited release of Grand Theft Auto 6 (GTA 6) on November 19 (preorders go live next week), developer Rockstar Games has made players a sweet new offer for its predecessor GTA 5.

In a recent blog post, the studio announced that from today onwards, those who own the Xbox One, PS4, or "Legacy" (PC) version of GTA 5 will be able to upgrade to the next-gen Xbox Series X|S, PS5, and "Enhanced" (PC) editions for free by downloading them from their platform's storefront. The upgrade includes the full package, meaning access to both GTA 5 Story Mode as well as GTA Online.

The native Xbox Series X|S and PS5 versions — and GTA 5 Enhanced on PC — sport "vast technical improvements, easy migration of your Story Mode and Online progress, and new features including Hao’s Special Works high-performance vehicles and upgrades, Career Progress rewards, and much more."

Essentially, existing GTA 5 owners will get a new version of both Story Mode and Online with better visuals and performance along with some nifty gameplay upgrades, with full support for profile and progress migration on consoles and PC. However, for Xbox players specifically, I have bad news: there's a big catch.

While folks who own a physical PS4 copy of GTA 5 can download the next-gen PS5 version free-of-charge as long as they have the disc in their console, the same option isn't available to disc owners that play on Xbox. If you have a physical Xbox version of the game, it won't allow you to download the Xbox Series X|S edition of GTA 5 for free.

Rockstar has addressed this in a FAQ for the offered upgrade, stating that "Physical disc owners cannot upgrade to a digital version due to limitations of the platform." No details were provided beyond that, though, so I'm not sure what those limitations are, and ultimately, it's unclear right now.

I've reached out to Microsoft and Xbox for comment, and will update this article if I glean more information about whatever's preventing owners of physical GTA 5 Xbox copies from accessing the digital next-gen version of the title.

Ultimately, it's a frustrating situation for many Xbox gamers, as there's undoubtedly a significant portion of the community that owns a physical copy of GTA 5 and would like to be able to get the next-gen version digitally without having to spend money on it. It also displays the value of Microsoft's Smart Delivery system for automatic cross-gen Xbox game upgrades — and highlights how irksome it is when developers and games don't support it.

In the end, I hope Microsoft and Rockstar are able to work something out here so that those who own physical Xbox copies of GTA 5 aren't left behind with these free upgrades. I'm not exactly holding my breath, though.

Would you be willing to pay for GTA 5 on Xbox again in order to access the next-gen Xbox Series X|S version? Let me know in the comments, and in our poll.

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There is something entertaining about a company deciding to build a product simply because it can. Most keyboards exist to hit a price point or fill a slot in a lineup. The new Huntsman Signature Edition ($499) exists because someone at Razer clearly said, “What if we made the most overbuilt Huntsman possible?” and nobody in the room stopped them.

The result is a limited-edition showpiece that feels more like a celebration of the Huntsman platform than a normal retail product. It is expensive, shiny, and completely unnecessary for most people, which also makes it a lot of fun to test.

Update: As this review went live, the first drop of this keyboard sold out in just minutes. You can be notified of the next drop at Razer.com.

Razer had no input, nor did it see the contents of this review, prior to publication.

What it is (and why)

Razer has a habit of letting its engineers run wild on small, high‑end projects that exist mostly to prove what the company is capable of. The $279 Viper Mini Signature Edition was the most recent example. It was a magnesium alloy mouse that felt like a science experiment that somehow escaped the lab. The Huntsman Signature Edition follows the same spirit. It is not meant to replace the Huntsman V3 Pro TKL 8K. It is meant to celebrate how far the Huntsman platform has come and what it can be when the usual limits are removed.

At its core, this is still a Huntsman. You get the same Gen 2 Analog Optical Switches, Rapid Trigger, Snap Tap, adjustable actuation from 0.1 to 4.0 mm, and full 8,000 Hz polling. The Signature Edition takes that foundation and builds a luxury object around it. It is a showcase piece that highlights the engineering behind the Huntsman line and the attention to detail that usually never makes it into a mainstream product.

This is Razer asking a simple question: what happens if we build the ultimate Huntsman with no shortcuts.

What is different about it

The Signature Edition looks and feels like a completely different class of keyboard. The chassis is CNC milled from 6063 aluminum alloy, which gives it a heavier and more substantial feel than the Huntsman Pro TKL 8K.

How heavy? I'm glad you asked, as I weighed it myself. Just the keyboard by itself weighs 3.05 lbs (1.38 kg)! Most premium boards fall between 2.0 and 2.8 lbs. Something like the GMMK Pro is heavier at 3.3 lbs, but that's with a brass plate, for goodness ' sake. And Razer's own Huntsman V3 Pro TKL 8K, which this is based on, is ~1.8 lbs (0.8 kg).

The bottom case and accent pieces go through a physical vapor deposition process and are then polished by hand. Razer says the polishing takes around 50 hours. The result is a mirror finish that looks closer to high‑end watchmaking than gaming hardware. It immediately reminded me of Seiko’s Zaratsu polishing, where artisans spend days creating distortion‑free reflective surfaces. The Signature Edition has that same sense of precision and craft.

The packaging reinforces the idea that this is a special project. The keyboard arrives in a large presentation case with a vegan leather sound dampening mat, a PVD polished triple-headed snake keycap, a cleaning cloth, a keycap puller, magnetic rubber feet, and a Speedflex USB-C cable. It feels more like unboxing a collector’s item than a gaming keyboard.

Inside the chassis, Razer uses a full stack of acoustic materials. There is EPDM foam, EVA foam, an FR4 plate, and a silicone rubber sheet. The switches are individually lubricated and factory calibrated for true 0.1 mm precision. The reviewer’s guide highlights this directly:

The result is a deeper and more controlled sound profile. The Signature Edition has a full, rounded tone that feels closer to a premium custom board than a mass produced gaming keyboard.

How it compares to the Huntsman Pro TKL 8K

The Huntsman Pro TKL 8K is already one of the fastest gaming keyboards available. It uses the same switches and the same 8K polling. It has Rapid Trigger and Snap Tap. It is a performance monster. The Signature Edition does not change the fundamentals. What it changes is the experience around those fundamentals.

The Pro TKL 8K has an aluminum top plate, but the Signature Edition is a full aluminum chassis with hand-polished PVD metal. It is heavier, larger, stiffer, and more refined. The Pro TKL 8K has a sharper, higher-pitched sound. The Signature Edition is deeper and more consistent thanks to the internal foam layers and lubrication. The Pro TKL 8K feels fast and responsive. The Signature Edition feels smooth and controlled.

The Pro TKL 8K arrives in a standard retail box. The Signature Edition arrives in a display case with accessories that feel curated rather than bundled.

Both keyboards deliver the same competitive performance. The Signature Edition simply wraps that performance in craftsmanship and materials that belong in a different category.

tl:dr This isn't the same Huntsman Pro TKL 8K, but in metal. It's completely rebuilt from the ground up, but uses the same design principles and components.

Who should buy it

This is a 499 dollar keyboard. That alone tells you who it is for. It is for enthusiasts who appreciate materials and finishing work. It is for collectors who enjoy limited production hardware. It is for people who want the best version of the Huntsman platform and are willing to pay for it.

It is also worth noting that this is still 100 dollars cheaper than the new ASUS ROG Azoth Extreme 20th Anniversary Edition, which puts the price into perspective. Razer is selling the Signature Edition in limited drops on Razer.com, and only 1,337 units will be made. If you want one, you will need to move quickly.

This is not a keyboard for everyone. It is a keyboard for people who enjoy the idea of owning something rare and overbuilt.

Should you buy it?

You should buy it if ...

✅ You always wanted Razer's best keyboard, but at 3lbs, $499, limited edition, and with polished metal.

✅ You're a hardcore gamer, or someone who only wants the best.

You should not buy this if ...

❌ You don't clean your keyboard.

❌ You have to think about that $499.

If you want the best performance for the money, the Huntsman Pro TKL 8K is still the smarter choice. It gives you nearly everything the Signature Edition offers at a much lower price (or see my recent Razer Huntsman V3 TKL 8K review for even more affordability).

The Signature Edition is not about value. It is about craftsmanship, exclusivity, and the satisfaction of using something that feels special.

If that appeals to you, the Signature Edition delivers. If not, the Pro TKL 8K remains the practical pick.

But hey, there's something special here, and I'm glad Razer does stuff like this. For one, it's fun, and two, it often learns from these projects, and from them, that tech could trickle down into its normal projects.

And yeah, it's awesome to just use it for work for typing on, too! It's so solid, stable, and consistent it's like the world's most precise keys built into a rock.

Finally, I should also mention that, for $499, you are getting a 5-year warranty on the Razer Huntsman Signature Edition, compared to the 2-year warranty of its standard keyboards. This is the longest warranty Razer offers on any keyboard and is meant to reflect the premium materials and the limited‑edition nature of the product.

In summary, you can practically hear the moment Razer’s engineers snapped and decided to build a keyboard for the gods, and I think they nailed it.

I'm not a naysayer of VR; I've used it plenty over the years and had a lot of enjoyment. But one of the issues I've always had is fatigue, purely from hanging these things off my head for extended periods.

Be it the Meta Quest lineup or the last PC VR headset I owned, the now-defunct Lenovo Explorer (RIP Windows Mixed Reality), the form factor and the weight ultimately turned me off.

At the recent Sim Racing Expo in Charlotte, I had my first chance to try out the Pimax Dream Air, a high-end, PC VR headset that's smaller and lighter than anything I've ever worn before. All while preserving the quality of the image inside the headset, which is easily up there with the best I've ever seen.

It's not cheap. Not at all. If you're looking for budget-friendly VR, you'll still want to look at a Meta Quest 3S.

But for more serious VR players, specifically here looking towards Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 or sim racers in titles such as iRacing, aka experiences where you'll be inside VR for much longer, I think this could be a winner.

Lightness makes a huge difference (to me) for VR

The Pimax Dream Air isn't the lightest headset out there; there's still one from Bigscreen that has it beaten there. But compared to the likes of the well-known kings of the space, like the Meta Quest 3, it's night and day.

The Pimax Dream Air is around 170g for the headset, compared to the 515g of the Meta Quest 3 (and a hair lighter than this for the Meta Quest 3S). You could wear three of the Pimax headsets and still be under the weight of a single Meta Quest 3. That's significant.

Of course, as it's a PC VR headset, it doesn't have all the computer bits inside that a Meta Quest 3 does, which certainly helps. But the form factor combined with this lack of weight means it's extremely comfortable.

The bulk of my previous iRacing career was done using VR, partly for immersion, but more so because I don't have space for massive screens. But with the Lenovo Explorer, which at the time was one of the lightest headsets around, I couldn't race for more than an hour because I just started to feel uncomfortable. This meant I couldn't really take on longer races.

I'm not saying the same wouldn't eventually happen with this VR headset, but given how little it weighs, it'd certainly be longer before it did. That's where I think this could be a killer piece of hardware.

Sim racers and Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 pilots will really feel the benefit during those longer sessions.

High-end hardware if you have the budget

There's no getting away from the fact that both the Pimax Dream Air and Dream Air SE are expensive VR headsets. The Dream Air SE drops a huge chunk off the price by 'only' featuring 5K resolution, and it's also the lightest of the two.

The full-fat Dream Air has an 8K resolution, and it's this one I tried out. Simply put, the visuals are mindblowing. It's by far the best VR display I've ever tried, with deep blacks, glorious colors, and razor-sharp images.

Eye tracking and Dynamic Foveated Rendering also helps preserve system performance, rendering only the sharpest images where your eyes are focusing.

With titles such as Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 in mind, the resolution available to replicate the detail both in and out of the cockpit would be insane. All from a tiny headset.

The full specs of each version are broken down in the table below.

The Dream Air and Dream Air SE both have the option of SLAM (inside-out tracking) or saving $300 and going with a Lighthouse system.

It's also worth highlighting you don't need a monster rig to run either of them. Pimax says the minimum requirement is an RTX 2070, while the recommendation is an RTX 3080. You can run it off a laptop, too, so long as you have a good enough GPU and its outputs to either a miniDP port or USB-C.

But if you're in the market for a high-end VR headset, you probably already have a PC that's capable of running it.

It's been a while since I've really been impressed with VR, but the Pimax Dream Air certainly ticks that box. The experience is astonishing, and with its small form factor and lack of weight, I could happily lose hours flying or racing in one of these.

The only real issue seems to be when you can actually get one. Both headsets are available to preorder on the Pimax website, but there's no indication of when shipping is expected. Hopefully they start landing soon.

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MSI revealed its new Claw 8 EX AI+ gaming handheld at Computex, and unfortunately, the price has been all that most gamers can focus on.

For good reason. A gamer can buy an Xbox Series X, a PlayStation 5, and a Nintendo Switch 2 for less money than the new MSI Claw 8 EX AI+.

MSI introduced its new handheld with a $1,500 price tag, but that quickly climbed to $1,799 when it was listed on the official MSI website. It's now the same $1,799 price at Best Buy after appearing first at $1,699, and only Newegg is still showing $1,699. I expect Newegg's pricing to catch up any time now.

Here's what I'm really struggling to wrap my head around. For the same $1,799, you can buy an Xbox Series X with 1TB storage and a controller ($649.99), a PlayStation 5 Slim with 1TB storage and a controller ($649.99), and a Nintendo Switch 2 ($449.99).

The trio of modern consoles comes out to $1,750, leaving you $50 to buy a few games for whatever console you set up first. That covers three different rooms in your house (or one mega setup in your gaming room), three different gaming ecosystems, and three exclusive libraries of games.

Giving the MSI Claw 8 EX AI+ the kudos it deserves

I want to be as fair as possible towards the new MSI Claw 8 EX AI+. I got to test it out first-hand at Computex, so I have a bit of extra insight.

What I was most impressed with was the performance. Intel's new Arc G-series chips are making their debut in the new Claw 8 EX AI+, and from what I saw, they're going to change gaming handhelds in a major way.

Intel likens these chips to a GPU with an integrated CPU. A GPU with super resolution, ray tracing, multi-frame generation, and newfound efficiency. A GPU that was keeping Hogwarts Legacy and LEGO Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight at a smooth 120 FPS while I played.

The Claw 8 EX AI+ made the current offering of gaming handhelds seem outdated, which is exactly what you want from a new device.

From a hardware standpoint, I didn't really have any qualms, either. Its 8-inch touch display with 1920x1200 resolution and 120Hz refresh rate looked great with plenty of brightness, the device was comfortable to hold, and inputs were snappy and responsive. The only odd omission on a device at this price is a lack of an OLED display.

With up to 42% better performance at 1080p compared to the ROG Xbox Ally X with AMD Z2 Extreme, MSI's CLaw 8 EX AI+ is the real deal, at least on paper.

Why is MSI's new Claw 8 EX AI+ so expensive?

I highly doubt that MSI set a $1,799 price for its new gaming handheld just so it could make a few quick bucks off of those who still have a big PC gaming budget. The original MSI Claw 8 AI+ that launched in 2025 had an $899 price tag attached, nearly half that of the new EX AI+ version arriving officially on June 23.

The massive jump in price has a small part to do with upgraded hardware and new performance chips, but it has a massive part to do with RAM and storage costs. AI data centers are eating through the world's supply of these components, and practically all tech costs more than it did just a year ago.

The trio of consoles I mentioned earlier receives generous subsidies from their parent companies in order to keep prices down, but even they have become more expensive in the fallout of the RAM shortage.

MSI doesn't have a closed loop of games it can sell to make back the money it would theoretically spend on subsidies, so consumers are getting the full force of the price increases.

Who is buying the new MSI Claw 8 EX AI+?

A $1,799 gaming handheld is a hard sell anytime, never mind in our current economy. At this price point, it's competing with full gaming laptops with discrete GPUs and, as mentioned, a bundle of consoles.

Yes, the MSI Claw 8 EX AI+ is far more portable than anything else with the same level of performance, but I don't doubt that a lot of gamers will be happy to sit at a desk and play after saving hundreds of dollars.

👉 Gaming handhelds are the new netbooks — will they suffer the same tragic fate?

The average gamer is going to have a hard time coming to terms with such a high cost for one device when you can get an Xbox Series X for the living room, a PS5 for the gaming den, and a Switch 2 for portable gaming, all for the same price.

I agree that it's great to be a PC gamer, but whether or not the new flagship mobile device from MSI is worth more than three modern consoles is something you'll have to answer for yourself.

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Steam's Workshop feature, a community-driven platform for sharing custom-made game content across thousands of games and apps, was reportedly hijacked by attackers and may still be used to spread malware to PC gamers.

According to cybersecurity firm Kaspersky, Wallpaper Engine had been specifically targeted, as live background wallpaper packages infected with harmful code can lead to "a stolen Steam account or leave the victim’s system infected with backdoors or crypto miners."

Thankfully, Kaspersky states that Steam's tech team has "already scrubbed the identified malicious wallpapers and links from the platform", but warns that the platform may still inadvertently share similar examples in the future, recommending that you keep an active antivirus service (via Tech Radar).

Kaspersky has been investigating this malware and has discovered that this activity has been occurring since at least December 2025. What's more, most of the targets appear to be based in China and Russia, and malware-infected wallpapers have been downloaded tens of thousands of times.

Wallpaper Engine remains one of the most popular and long-standing apps on Steam, with an active Workshop community, and it maintains "Overwhelmingly Positive" reviews and tens of thousands of active users. It allows users to create and share custom, animated wallpapers for their PCs. As long as you only install items from users you trust and maintain healthy antivirus practices, you should be fine.

Do you use Wallpaper Engine? Have you, or has anyone you know, been a victim of these malware attacks? Let me know through the poll below, the comments section, or our Reddit community.

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It's been a difficult few weeks for fans of Bungie's long-running live-service looter shooter Destiny 2 like myself, with the studio announcing last month that development on the nearly decade-old title would end with its final content update, Monument of Triumph, that released on June 9.

Since then, Bungie has continued to patch the game while it prepares to eventually go largely hands off and focus solely on server maintenance so that Destiny 2 remains playable. Sadly, however, I'd say it sounds like any live-service support for the space fantasy FPS beyond that will soon come to an end.

Addressing the community on social media, Destiny 2 comms manager Dylan "dmg04" Gafner explained that Bungie is getting "into our last string of hotfixes," and that the studio is "nearing the final delivery of patch notes" as it works on final adjustments and bug fixes for the game.

"As we get into our last string of hotfixes, the team is trying to squash as many bugs as possible," he wrote. "You’ll see some ability bug fixes next week, and a slew of other things touched in a later update, but we are nearing the final delivery of patch notes."

Gafner then went on to note that "some issues may not be addressed due to 'risk'" or because of "triage" priorities before Bungie steps away from Destiny 2. For example, fixes for issues that may cause further problems, low-priority balance changes, fixes for visual glitches with gear, or PvP playlist adjustments are the kinds of things the studio plans to forego as its support winds down.

Much bigger problems, though — such as a tech with the new portable Titan Ward of Dawn that lets you push raid bosses off the map and other broken strategies across PvE and PvP — are things that Bungie is focusing on taking care of.

He added that after the game's final update (the timing of which is to be determined), any further patches "will be restricted to severe issues like widespread crashes." Should major issues arise after that, Gafner says "we’ll likely lean on disabling items, abilities, or whatever the culprit is for the problem at hand."

"The finality of all this is a bit rough to get into, but wanted to set expectations appropriately. We aren’t going to turn a blind eye to your reports. May be limited with what we can do, but we’ll still try," he continued. "Appreciate you, always. See you out there."

While I'm glad that Bungie will still, in some capacity, tackle large issues that crop up after its full support for Destiny 2 ends, hearing that it will have to be incredibly selective with what it works on is quite sobering.

It hammers home that this is truly the end of a game so many of us have played and loved for years and years now — and based on recent reports about potential layoffs, I fear that it will be the end of Destiny and Bungie as we know it, as well.

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Treyarch — the Call of Duty developer under Xbox and Activision that's created and contributed to many of the franchise's titles over the years — has announced that two of its classic games will soon be ported to PlayStation (presumably meaning 4 and 5).

The news from the studio came on Wednesday afternoon, with Treyarch revealing in a social media post that both 2010's Call of Duty: Black Ops and 2012's Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 will be brought to Sony's platform in July. Both games were originally made by Treyarch, though Iron Galaxy Studios, known for its support work, will handle the process of creating modern PlayStation versions.

Black Ops and Black Ops 2 — titles released for Xbox 360, PC, and PS3 — have been playable on Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S since 2016, soon after Microsoft began the Xbox Backwards Compatibility Program. The PS4 and PS5 are not backwards compatible with PS3 games, however, so until now, the only way to play these Call of Duty titles on modern PlayStation consoles has been to stream them through PlayStation Plus Premium.

At the moment, it's unclear if those who own Black Ops and Black Ops 2 on PS3 will have ways to get the new native PlayStation port for free or transfer their progress. If they exist, they may only be available to those who have a digital copy of the shooter.

It's also presumed that the ports will hook into the games' existing server network and won't use new servers, though this hasn't been confirmed.

It's great to see that PS5 and PS4 owners will finally get access to two of the most popular classic Call of Duty games without having to stream them, and that these ports are coming in just a few short weeks, too.

With that said, though, many Xbox and PC players are frustrated that the ports have been announced without mention of critical fixes for the other versions of the games that they sorely need.

Indeed, there are widespread complaints that both Black Ops and Black Ops 2 are locked to basic 720p resolution when played through Xbox Backwards Compatibility, and that hackers have infested the servers across both games on both platforms for years. Players also aren't happy that the titles aren't on Xbox Game Pass and still have DLC you have to pay for.

"Microsoft and Xbox really hate their own customers," writes one angry fan. "Yes a Xbox 360 version exists. But they are locked at 720p. They are full of hackers. After 2.75 years of the ABK acquisition they still aren't even on Game Pass. The DLCs aren't bundled in. What the f*** man."

This is yet another case of Xbox players feeling less important to the people in charge of their own platform than fans on rival consoles, and I'd argue it's quite a bad look for the brand. At the very least, Xbox, Treyarch, and Iron Galaxy should work to update Black Ops and Black Ops 2 on Xbox and PC so it's on par with the new PlayStation versions. Hopefully we'll see that happen.

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After nearly 10 years of standing tall as one of the industry's biggest and most popular live-service multiplayer games, Bungie's space fantasy looter shooter Destiny 2 is coming to an end. The studio announced development for the title was ending last month, with its final content update Monument of Triumph releasing last week.

Fans have rallied to push Bungie and Sony — which acquired the developer in 2022 — to greenlight the creation of a Destiny 3, with a Change.org petition for a sequel reaching nearly 400,000 signatures and player numbers skyrocketing for Monument of Triumph. Ultimately, though, I can't help but feel that the future for Destiny as a series looks bleak.

For many (myself included), that feeling has only been worsened by recent reports that Bungie will soon face a large wave of layoffs in the wake of Destiny 2's end. The first of these came from journalist Sylvain Trinel on Tuesday, who wrote that "at least 50% of the workforce" — potentially including roughly 400 in-house developers and contractors — will likely be cut this summer.

Paul Tassi, Forbes' Bungie and Destiny expert in contact with sources at the studio, then went on to partially corroborate Trinel's report. Though he doesn't "want to commit to a percent," Tassi says layoffs at Bungie are coming, and that they'll be "significant."

"I don’t want to commit to a percent, but it’s going to be significant. They don’t have a greenlit new project, and they can hardly throw 400 more devs on Marathon," Tassi wrote.

He also noted that he expects some veteran talent and devs in leadership positions to depart next month as they collect cash payouts from Sony: "You will also see some leadership/OGs leave in I believe July, which is when Sony deal cash vests for many of them."

These reports come soon after former Destiny 2 community manager Liana Ruppert provided insight into the game's steady decline in recent years that ultimately led to the conclusion of its development.

Specifically, she asserted that "a lot of money didn't go into Destiny" and that leadership pocketed many of the game's potential funds, stating that Bungie's new extraction shooter Marathon had much less of an impact than many fans assume.

Ruppert also claimed that Sony's merger with Bungie was an "emergency acquisition" agreed to for financial reasons, and that the studio would have been "very close to shutting its doors" if it didn't sell to the PlayStation publisher.

Assuming these reports are accurate — and do keep in mind that Tassi in particular has a track record of reporting on events at Bungie very accurately — the studio and its Destiny IP has some very dark days ahead. Even more game industry layoffs on top of the countless cuts suffered at Bungie and other studios would be devastating, and they'd also dash many hopes for an eventual Destiny 3 made by the talent responsible for so many years of Destiny 2's success.

How do you feel about Bungie, Destiny 2, and the possibility of a massive layoff wave at the studio? Share your thoughts in the comments.

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I remember the first time I tried Bus Simulator 21, with the first thought being "how is this going to be fun?" Turns out it was — mostly —and now there's a new version coming later this year.

Bus Simulator 27 has a free demo available now as part of Steam Next Fest. Since it's been a few years since I got behind the virtual wheel, I thought I'd give it a try. And you can too by grabbing it from Steam before June 22.

What I found was equal parts of relaxation and frustration. After a long day working I hit the buses and at times enjoyed the tranquility and the scenery, and at others I was shouting and bashing the horn.

The important thing to remember is that this is just a demo; the full release isn't scheduled until September. It's also a very small snippet of what the final thing will be like.

But I feel like it's offered enough to both get me interested in playing when it's released and feel there's still some serious work to be done.

Bus Simulator 27 can be super relaxing

One of the things I enjoyed the most about the old Bus Simulator 21 was that it was such a (generally) relaxing game to play once you got into the swing of it.

You're not racing anyone, you're not trying to park trailers and pick up loads, you're not landing a jumbo jet in a crosswind, and you're not generally doing anything stressful at all. You're following your route, the pace is relaxed, and generally all is calm.

The same is true in Bus Simulator 27, and the new setting certainly adds to it. You're running the routes in a fictional location based on Southern Europe, and it feels like it. Any time I've visited the real-life region, I fall for the pace of life, the warm climate, and the beautiful towns.

Bus Simulator 27 looks like it's capturing that vibe superbly, and even in the demo, the map looks quite extensive. The default color palette is warm, and the town streets have a charm to them.

I really like the little electric bus you start out in, too. As I've discovered in reality, an electric vehicle is a relaxing way to travel. Both buses in the demo are really easy to drive, even with a controller.

A special shoutout is deserved for the menu system, too. For controller players (it is launching on console, after all), it's very easy to understand and navigate. You can operate the buttons in the cockpit if you want, or with a couple of button presses, you've done the same from the menu.

Bus Simulator 27 can also be extremely frustrating

For all the nice, chilled-out, fun parts, there are also some that are less so. There's also clearly still work to do.

The performance is pretty rough, for one. The system requirements on the game's Steam page are pretty ridiculous, and I really hope it's not final. Recommended to have 32GB of RAM? In this financial climate?!

Sure, it looks nice, but it's hardly photorealistic, and when you compare to how good Forza Horizon 6 looks with far lower requirements, that screams of not being optimized well.

The demo doesn't have DLSS or FSR, either, and running at 1440p on high settings using an RTX 5090, I'm only seeing 70-80 FPS, with some pretty horrid frame drops at times. But there's still time to work on this in the next few months, of course. And I hope they do.

Perhaps more frustrating is the AI, though. It's just dumb. Plain old dumb. AI traffic will inexplicably just stop in front of you, go far slower than the speed limit, sit in the middle of a junction, or just drive into your bus. And when they drive into you, you'll be the one getting the penalty.

The environment in the demo feels alive, with plenty of traffic. But on the whole it's just so dim-witted. The same goes for pedestrians. I 'ran over' a pedestrian at a bus stop because they weren't getting on my bus, but kept walking into it as I was trying to pull away.

The voice acting as well is quite annoying. There's obviously a 'story' here, but good lord, the AI characters do not stop talking! You'll be cruising along just nicely, and then out of nowhere, some completely useless comment will pop into your ears. No distracting the driver!

You can't properly judge a game from a demo months before the full release. But, while it's clear there is work that can still be done, there's also some promise.

It's not an expensive game, either, at just $30 for the base game, with further purchasable content thereafter if you want it. It feels like a nice game to play, a simulation title without being too nerdy or serious and approachable for more casual players.

But please, I'm begging you, Astragon, do some optimization on it. And tweak the AI traffic, because it'll get old fast otherwise.

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For fans of the cinematic action-adventure game series Hellblade, one of the most exciting announcements from Microsoft's recent Xbox Games Showcase was the reveal of Senua, a third entry in the franchise set to bring "broader gameplay, more combat depth, and an interconnected world" that's scheduled for a 2027 release.

Just over a week after the show, however, it's now come to light that Hellblade developer Ninja Theory, alongside several other Xbox studios, is "at risk of being shuttered" by the brand's publishing division. Reportedly, Ninja Theory, Double Fine (Keeper, Kiln), Compulsion Games (South of Midnight), and others are in "active negotiations" for the fate of their teams.

That revelation came as a complete surprise to Xbox fans, with the news of Ninja Theory's situation the most shocking of all. Why would Microsoft and Xbox announce a new game from the studio that's set to come out next year if it planned to close it in the coming weeks?

Thanks to a new report from Game File that we've confirmed to be accurate with Windows Central's own sources, we have an answer: Microsoft hoped that the trailer for Senua would help "draw investor interest" to the developer.

"By the time that game was revealed, Microsoft had already planned to sunset or split with the studio," writes Game File's Stephen Totilo. "The thinking was that the promise of a newly announced game would help draw investor interest in the studio."

Separately, according to a source in contact with The Verge, the end of Ninja Theory's time as an Xbox studio is all but confirmed, and its employees are "hoping the studio will find a buyer." It's unknown if the developers were aware of Microsoft's plans at the time of Senua's announcement. The fate of Senua itself is also unclear right now.

News of these planned shutdowns and/or separations from Xbox came mere hours after it was reported that Xbox Game Studios head Craig Duncan and chief of staff Louise O'Connor quietly stepped down from their positions.

It also arrived soon after it was recently reported that Xbox would be racked by heavy layoffs in July, with the cuts coming as part of a major reorganization of the brand initiated by its new CEO Asha Sharma. Heading into that "Xbox reset," Sharma and chief content officer Matt Booty have said Xbox has "over-extended" and needs to focus on its largest core franchises.

In line with that goal, Microsoft and Xbox reportedly want to "move faster" with new Halo, Fallout, and The Elder Scrolls games, with a full restructuring of Xbox also "on the table." Options for that are said to include making Xbox a subsidiary of Microsoft, a joint-venture operation with other business partners, or a wholly independent business separate from the larger firm entirely.

Ultimately, it's unclear where Xbox will go from here. My heart goes out to all the developers at Ninja Theory and workers at other affected Xbox studios, however, and I sincerely hope that they find a viable path forward. Whether as independent teams or as developers supported by other publishers, the creative studios leaving Xbox and the devs making their games deserve to go on.

How do you feel about the reported Microsoft and Xbox studio closures? Do you agree with the decision to focus on Xbox's biggest IPs? Let me know in the comments, and in our poll.

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I feel like it's been years since Valve first announced its new Steam Machine; alas, it's only been about 7 months since we first saw the new gaming PC expected to take on living room consoles.

There has been plenty of discourse around the Steam Machine in that time, especially in regard to what pricing will look like, considering how expensive RAM and storage have become since Valve initially unveiled the device.

The latest leak, arriving earlier today via an X post from @Olrak29_ (via Videocardz), involves Geekbench 6 CPU scores for the Steam Machine's custom AMD 1772 processor.

These are actually not the first leaked Geekbench scores to appear online. In August 2025, some numbers showed up with the Steam Machine running on Windows.

What makes these new results particularly interesting is that they come from a system running Linux, presumably Valve's own SteamOS that's set to be the launch OS. As you can see, Valve's custom AMD chip actually performed better in Windows than in Linux, at least in a couple of instances.

If these results, whether in Windows or Linux, seem a bit wimpy, it's because they are.

We immediately injected the new Steam Machine Geekbench results into our CPU performance graph alongside gaming handhelds featuring the likes of AMD's Ryzen Z1/Z2 Extreme, Intel's Core Ultra 7 258V, and the custom AMD chip in the Steam Deck.

As you can see, the Steam Machine's custom AMD 1772 CPU isn't setting any records, falling firmly in the middle of the pack.

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Its best Geekbench 6 CPU results on Linux come out to a 2,334 single-core score and a 7,392 multi-core score. In comparison, the AMD Ryzen AI Z2 Extreme in the Xbox Ally X hit a 2,813 single-core score and a 12,789 multi-core score in our testing.

This is but one synthetic benchmark test, and it's also only covering the CPU side, leaving the custom GPU's performance unknown.

What do the Steam Machine's new Geekbench CPU scores actually mean?

The Steam Machine's CPU is definitely trailing some chips that are already on the market, but context matters a lot in this scenario.

AMD's custom chip for the Steam Machine features 6 cores, 12 threads, and a boost clock up to 4.86GHz. The Z1/Z2 Extreme and Core Ultra 7 chips feature 8 cores running at a higher TDP, which makes a big difference, especially in compact devices.

So, yes, the Steam Machine might not have the strongest CPU power, but that doesn't necessarily mean it's going to perform worse than premium gaming handhelds.

Is the Steam Machine's perceived CPU performance gap a real issue?

The Steam Machine is expected to arrive with an RDNA 3 GPU featuring 8GB of VRAM. Unfortunately, I haven't yet seen any leaks in terms of the Steam Machine's GPU performance, but there are some hard facts to note.

The Steam Machine's GPU is a far cry from the integrated chips in gaming handhelds that share system memory, and it's very likely that the boosted GPU performance will completely annul any CPU deficit.

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Where the CPU performance gap will most likely be felt is in huge open-world games that require a ton of processing and physics calculations. In the same vein, games will be especially hard on the CPU when attempting to hit high frame rates at high resolutions.

Is there any cause for panic regarding the Steam Machine's CPU performance?

I highly doubt that the Steam Machine's leaked CPU benchmark scores are anything to be concerned about.

The performance level could be felt in some edge cases where games are CPU-bound, but otherwise I expect the superior GPU to pull a ton of weight. This is especially true considering the Steam Machine is intended to be a living room device running on common TV resolutions and frame rates.

Valve has confirmed that its Steam Machine is still "shipping this summer" despite supply chain issues and rising hardware prices. There's still no word on pricing.

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