This week's release of the Intel Arc 32.0.101.8509 WHQL driver package has benefited many of the company's in-house graphics product lines. Current and past-generations of hardware are enjoying XeSS 3 with multi-frame generation (MFG) support. Earlier today, PC Games Hardware Germany (PCGH.de) published an in-depth article that covers the new feature on Arc "Battlemage" B580 12 GB and an Arc "Alchemist" A770 16 GB desktop graphics card models. The "XeSS Quality" setting was selected across seven game test scenarios, at 2560 x 1440 (QHD) resolutions—involving: Assassin's Creed Shadows, Battlefield 6, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, Cyberpunk 2077, Dying Light: The Beast, F1 '25, and Hogwarts Legacy.

PCGH.de observed Team Blue's top-end "Alchemist" option doing very well, at least with XeLL (a low latency function) enabled, in particular with the driver overridden MFG three and fours-times modes. Despite launching back in late 2022, their ASRock Arc A770 Phantom OC 16 GB test sample has enjoyed: "something of a second spring thanks to MFG. While the card isn't (yet?) maturing as much as NVIDIA's (GeForce) RTX 2000-series, its usability has been significantly improved overnight. Thanks to 16 GB of memory, there's no need to worry about bottlenecks. The Arc B580 scales even better thanks to the improved hardware, and performs comparably." Despite the pleasing findings, PCGH's reviewer notes that Multi Frame Generation (MFG) is not an all-encompassing property—after all, only a certain selection of titles support XeSS. Due to visual discrepancies being tracked in Battlefield 6 sessions, PCGH preferred the presentation of native frames operation or rival frame generation tech (FSR 4 and DLSS 4.5).

For the last few weeks, Blizzard has been going big. Blizzard Showcase brought together the four key titles—Overwatch, Diablo, World of Warcraft, and Hearthstone—and gave the space to bring their updates, announcements (and some surprises!) in their own ways. It's all a part of the road to BlizzCon 2026: the year of Blizzard's 35th anniversary, not to mention the 30th anniversary of Diablo, and the 10th anniversary of Overwatch. This is the perfect space in time to look back at the universes that have brought us together and look forward to the future.

For Blizzard President, Johanna Faries—speaking on the Official Xbox Podcast—the Showcase has been a combination of careful planning and happy serendipity: "We've been really thoughtful about (giving) our players what they're hoping for, and hopefully delight them and surprise them in some big ways. I think those have landed. And we'll just continue to sort of prime what we hope to be a very, very big year as we continue on here in 2026."

This week, the OldUnreal community project has pushed out the first public update of Unreal Tournament 2004 (UT2004) in two decades. In a bygone era—prior to all things Fornite—Epic Games and Digital Extremes co-produced several popular sci-fi titles based on and named after the widespread Unreal Engine. Throughout the late 1990s and early 2000s, PC gamers enjoyed a good number of single and "arena shooter" multiplayer Unreal titles. In particular, Unreal Tournament 2004 left a lasting impression. Epic ended official support of the now almost 22-year-old first-person shooter classic back in 2022; prompting online community efforts to keep the chaotic (up to) 32-player experience alive. With Epic's blessing, the Unreal Engine v2.5-driven title has been reissued—for free—on modern PC (Windows, Linux) and Mac systems, thanks to the long-running OldUnreal initiative's recent endeavors.

Last December, a preview post described a forthcoming bug fix and QoL-rich "simultaneous" game release and issuing of a community patch. Unfortunately, the present-day download and installation process is a bit convoluted, especially when compared to relatively breezy launcher experiences. Currently, the Old Unreal website provides a link to the full UT2004 game installer. Stijn Volckaert—the project's main overseer—has shared a couple of tidbits regarding the launch of "Preview 9." In a public GitHub post, the Belgian Associate Professor addressed modernized UT2004 landscapes: "hi everyone! Thank you for your patience. This is a preview of our 3374 patch. It has gone through internal testing and is relatively stable. It works in online games, except on servers with AntiTCC. We will release a new, 3374-compatible version of AntiTCC soon to address this issue."

Gather your warriors, a song of swords awaits…Tripwire Presents, the publishing division of Tripwire Interactive, and developer Arctic Hazard today announced the release of their Viking turn-based tactical game set in Dark Age Norway, NORSE: Oath of Blood, on Windows PC via Steam, Epic Games Store, and Good Old Games (GOG). The standard digital edition is available for $34.99 and a Special Edition, including the in-game Kievan War armor set and unique Ulfberht sword, is available for $44.99, with both versions discounted 15% on all storefronts, including as part of the Tripwire Interactive Publisher Sale on Steam, through Tuesday, Feb. 24. The PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S versions remain in development and will launch this Spring.

"I'm thrilled to say, 'The Vikings are here!' Creating NORSE: Oath of blood has been a saga in its own right, one that has brought many challenges, forged new friendships, and highlighted the spirit, dedication, and passion of everyone involved," said Terje Lundberg, CEO and Creative Director at Arctic Hazard. "We will continue to work on and support the game as it makes its way into the world, and we truly hope people enjoy playing it as much as we have enjoyed making it."

Yesterday, a Semi Analysis article predicted the postponement of a forthcoming AMD Instinct MI455X AI mass manufacturing phase. As covered by TechPowerUp this morning, this controversial forecast places Team Red's next-gen design in a precarious position, especially when compared to the apparent rapid progression of NVIDIA's competitive "Vera Rubin" server-grade hardware. This evening, Anush Elangovan has responded to the latest claims—the Corporate Vice President of AMD AI software and solutions issued a curt reply to a tech industry analyst's quoting of Semi Analysis' hit piece: "B.S (bullshit). Right on target for H2 2026."

The high volume rollout of Team Red's first rack scale "Helios" MI455X UALoE72 system has—allegedly—been plagued with engineering sample problems and manufacturing hiccups. In a separate social media post, Elangovan insisted that the finalized MI455X model will not be postponed into the second quarter of 2027: "speed is the moat. MI455X is both fast, and is the fastest I have seen in execution for bring-up of a complex GPU platform. MI455X is right on target for shipments in 2H2026—irrespective of what Semi Analysis says—rev your engines because speed is coming." Technology-wise, AMD's Artificial Intelligence Group (AIG) seems ready to answer NVIDIA's incoming new-gen wave, but it is not clear whether the upcoming "Helios" rack system can compete in terms of sheer factory output numbers.

As the demand for local data management continues to grow among households and small teams, storage devices are no longer just file containers. They are expected to deliver computing capability, scalability, and long-term operational stability. The Acemagic N3A Mini PCNAS combines Mini PC performance with NAS storage in an integrated design, bringing computing power and multi-drive storage into a compact form factor. It enables users to build an efficient and reliable local storage and collaboration environment within limited space.

Stable Performance for Multi-Scenario Applications
Powered by the AMD Ryzen 7 3750H processor, the N3A features a 4-core, 8-thread architecture with boost speeds of up to 4.0 GHz, delivering a balanced combination of performance and power efficiency within a 35 W TDP. Whether handling simultaneous file access from multiple devices, everyday multimedia workloads, or containerized applications such as Docker, the system maintains consistent responsiveness, supporting long-term, stable use for both home users and small teams. Integrated Radeon RX Vega graphics with 4K@60 Hz display output ensures smooth content playback and flexible support for media-centric and display-oriented use cases.

Last week, computer memory industry observers noted the US Government's "very brief" removal of ChangXin Memory Technologies (CXMT) from a trade blacklist. In early 2026, leading North American OEMs were reported as seeking alternative suppliers of consumer-grade DDR5 and DDR4 memory. China's CXMT seems to be an ideal frontrunner for brands that are currently struggling with procurements of more mainstream modules—as produced by Micron, SK hynix, and Samsung. Australia's Hardware Unboxed is in a fortunate geographical position; where CXMT IC-based kits are (kind of) readily available via big box stores. The ongoing "DDR pricing nightmare" has prompted Steve Walton's recent purchase of a cheaper KingBank KFRW DDR5-6000 CL36 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) White RGB kit. The KFRW range seems to be an Aussie market exclusive, derived from KingBank's Soarblade UDIMM product family.

Primarily, Walton compared this less familiar Chinese brand set to a "sweet spot" G.Skill Trident Z5 Neo DDR5-6000 CL30 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) kit. Prior to the present-day crisis, this former price-to-performance champ was available as low as $115 in North America. Fast-forward to February 2026, and the kit's price tag has reached a $490 high. A few weeks ago, Walton managed to pick up one of the cheapest KingBank kits, that happened to feature CXMT's homegrown modules—he did not disclose how much he paid for the review candidate. Today's Hardware Unboxed investigative video notes that KingBank prices have increased this week—Australians have to pay a minimum of AU$649 (~$458 USD) for currently in-stock CMXT-based sticks. Curiously, a screenshot of Mwave store listings shows a KingBank Hynix M-die-based kit being sold for a relatively reasonable AU$599 (~$423 USD). Overall, Walton recommends that locals pick up Chinese-made DRAM, if price tags are reasonable.

Step into the brutal world of Nioh 3 with the GameSir G7 Pro 8K PC, a high-performance controller built for fast reactions, precise inputs, and uncompromising control. Designed to meet the demands of high-intensity action combat, it delivers the speed and accuracy required to survive every clash. In collaboration with Nioh 3, the latest installment in the epic action RPG series, Nioh, this controller draws inspiration from the iconic Living Weapon state. The deep black armor on the grips evokes the awakened battle form, while radiant gold accents capture the surge of spiritual energy.

With an 8000 Hz polling rate over both wired and 2.4G wireless connections, the G7 Pro 8K PC ensures every parry, dodge, and counterattack is registered instantly. In battles where timing defines victory, ultra-low latency gives you the edge you need. Designed for pro-level performance, the G7 Pro 8K PC features second-generation GameSir Mag-Res TMR sticks. Compared to the first generation, the Gen-2 TMR sticks continue to use magnetic technology to eliminate physical contact, delivering long-lasting anti-stick drift reliability. At the same time, with 8K Hz polling, they provide smoother, more linear control and ultra-low power consumption, ensuring precise and responsive control for high-intensity action combat.

Moore Threads has invited developers to contribute and work together to improve the recently launched GPU Compute Driver Bench. This fairly fresh release is described as a: "comprehensive performance evaluation suite focused on assessing GPU compute driver performance from practical development and deployment perspectives. It supports both Moore Threads MUSA drivers and CUDA-compatible GPU drivers, enabling fair and repeatable cross-platform evaluation." The Chinese GPU specialist's open-source toolkit was issued via the GitHub platform, late last week, under the Apache 2.0 license. The self-described domestic GPU innovator could become a world contender, with the advent of a new generation of enterprise and entertainment models. The previous mentioning of industry-leading CUDA support is not a big surprise, considering that Moore Threads is headed by a former NVIDIA China exec—Zhang Jianzhong.

At the tail end of January, the firm released the open-sourced TileLang-MUSA project; advertised as cutting code volume by roughly 90%. When detailing this month's GPU Compute Driver Benching suite, the Moore Threads development team focused on several key features. Starting with "realistic workloads," they expect to cover "diverse compute and memory scenarios closely aligned with real-world usage patterns." The multi-dimensional driver evaluation system will weigh up driver performance, resource management, and (aptly) execution efficiency across multiple dimensions. "Standardized metrics and baselines" will provide a methodical platform for the comparison of hardware and software optimizations. "Granular and Holistic Analysis" will enable both "fine-grained subsystem testing and holistic, end-to-end performance assessment." An automated scoring system will measure performance regression tracking across driver and hardware versions.

Happy Tuesday everyone—I know this day of the week is always better when it comes with a side of games coming soon, games available today, and updates you might have missed for some of your favorites. Let's jump in!

Available Today: Aerial_Knight's DropShot (Cloud, Xbox Series X|S, Handheld, and PC)—February 17
Game Pass Ultimate, PC Game Pass
Available Day One with Xbox Game Pass! Aerial_Knight's Dropshot is a high-speed, stylized FPS / Race where you play as Smoke Wallace. As a kid, he was bitten by a radioactive dragon, turning his skin purple and giving him the power to fire bullets from his fingertips. Race rivals, fight dragons, shoot smart, and look cool when you land.

Kuroutoshikou's GALAKURO gaming graphics card range continues to grow in early 2026—lately, the Japanese PC hardware brand has added three new SKUs to this custom GeForce RTX 50-series lineup. So far, this regional specialist has launched the vast majority of NVIDIA's "Blackwell" era of hardware, barring the flagship GeForce RTX 5090 32 GB model. The latest additions are all GeForce RTX 5060 Ti SKUs, starting with a lone 16 GB special edition. Once more, GALAKURO has partnered up with NCSoft—this collaboration has produced the Lineage II-themed GALAKURO GeForce RTX 5060 Ti Dual Fan OC 16 GB black model. A previous licensing deal resulted in the Blade and Soul NEO Radeon RX 7600 8 GB collab card. As expected, Kuroutoshikou's latest special edition retail packaging features Lineage II artwork, but the actual card is devoid of any fantasy MMORPG sequel-themed prints or stickers.

In fact, Kuroutoshikou has simply rebranded GALAX's Dual Fan 1-Click OC card design—the closest equivalent in TechPowerUp's GPU database is the GeForce RTX 5060 Ti 1-Click OC V2 16 GB model. As covered in the past, the aforementioned Blade and Soul NEO collaboration edition is just a re-stickered plus re-boxed PowerColor Fighter RX 7600 8 GB card. The much newer Kuroutoshikou x NCSoft Collaboration Edition is due to launch later this week (February 20). Buyers will be gifted a free Lineage II in-game "summoning ticket." This promotion starts on release day, and ends on November 30.

AMD is excited to announce Day 0 support for Alibaba's latest generation of Large Language Models, Qwen 3.5, on AMD Instinct MI300X, MI325X, and MI355X GPU accelerators, in close collaboration with Alibaba Qwen team. Leveraging the optimized ROCm software stack, SGLang and vLLM inference serving framework, developers can immediately deploy these state-of-the-art models.

The Strategic Value of Qwen 3.5 on AMD Instinct
Empowering Next-Generation AI Agents—This Day 0 enablement is designed for AI developers, system architects, and DevOps professionals building the next wave of AI agents and enterprise platforms. While previous models required trade-offs between parameter depth and reasoning speed, the Qwen 3.5 family on AMD Instinct GPUs allows teams to deploy massive 256K context windows and complex multimodal workflows with unprecedented efficiency.

The alleged "low-cost" MacBook design could launch later this year, with mid-2025 reports suggesting that the even cheaper Apple notebook product tier will be powered by A-series chipsets. Industry trackers propose a sub-13-inch device that relies on an A18 Pro SoC—this particular chip is found in iPhone 16 Pro and Pro Max (2024) smartphone models. Currently, Apple's entry-level MacBook Air range uses M-series APUs—for example, the 2025 lineup of 13 and 15-inch options are based around the ubiquitous 10-core M4 processor. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman continues to predict the "low-cost MacBook" model's deployment of A18 Pro hardware and a mere 8 GB of unified system memory, likely in a bid to take on Google's Chromebook line. In his latest "Power On" newsletter, the veteran Apple soothsayer believes that the North American giant's engineering design team is exploring a new type of aluminium shell, reserved for the cheaper notebook range.

Leaks from last year described a bright and colorful selection of casing options. Gurman proposes ongoing experiments with light yellow, light green, blue, pink, classic silver, and dark gray schemes. He notes that some colorways are not expected to reach market; possibly as early as next month (within Q1 2026). The budget shell design has reportedly warranted a fresh manufacturing approach; the "Power On" scribe thinks that a swifter and more cost-effective production process has been implemented in recent times. Previously, industry insiders had picked up on whispers regarding an intriguing graphite-clad aluminium substructure—akin to what is used for the iPhone 16 Pro's thermal-wicking internals. A dedicated "Low-cost MacBook" launch event is anticipated; tipsters posit Apple leadership marking a March date on company calendars.

Dive into an unforgettable adventure with Darwin the octopus! Darwin's Paradox!—a brand new story-driven adventure platformer developed in partnership with ZDT Studio—releases April 2. Pre-orders have started! Embark on a grand adventure worthy of a true animated movie with Darwin, an octopus as charming as he is clever, ripped from the ocean and trapped in a massive and mysterious industrial complex. With his extraordinary intelligence and incredible abilities—swimming, camouflage, and many other fascinating skills—help him overcome the most formidable traps and dangers in this captivating platformer, adventure, and puzzle game.

The time for tactical tentacle action has arrived
Play the Darwin's Paradox! Tactical Octopus Action Demo right now. Can you find all the Easter eggs? In the peaceful vastness of the ocean, Darwin, a young octopus, explores the deep sea… until a strange beam of light pierces the abyss and pulls him toward the surface. Thrust out of his aquatic world, he wakes up disoriented in the middle of a gigantic junkyard, backed by a foreboding factory. But something is wrong. Between the threatening machines, strange holding tanks, and the mysterious and dangerous creatures and characters that inhabit the place, Darwin realizes he is in danger.

MSI's "built to be perfect" GeForce RTX 5090 Lightning Z design was heavily showcased at CES 2026, with press material referring to an unusual 2500 W "Extreme Performance OC" (XOC) BIOS. At the time, it was rumored that an official file had been issued exclusively to professional overclockers. Weeks later, said XOC BIOS has seeped out onto the net—as of this afternoon, the TechPowerUp VGA BIOS collection contains this release (also leaked on the Overclock.net forum). As outlined during the January Las Vegas trade event (and since), experts surmised that LN2 (liquid nitron)-based cooling would be essential in tempering the card's supposed extreme modes of operation. TechPowerUp's resident graphics card reviewer, W1zzard, did not delve into world record-breaking activities when evaluating MSI's ultra flagship model. The card's "800 W out of the box" power limit should be sufficient for most mortals who can afford the audaciously official $5090 MSRP. Fresh news reports have tracked wild fluctuations in price; going as high as $14,000.

Jonathan Alva, an Indonesian extreme overclocker and YouTuber, has run several GeForce RTX 5090 Lightning Z experiments. A past weekend video upload mentions a consulting role as part of the MSI Lightning Z model's development. Unfortunately, a recent session—involving the aforementioned 2500 W XOC BIOS—has resulted in the cracking of the first sample's "Blackwell" GB202-300-A1 GPU die. Despite the leveraging of a custom LN2 solution, in collaboration with the ARX (arxidmedia) lab, a probable thermal shock incident ended the GPU's existence. It is suspected that an outdated version of the firmware caused too much voltage to be sent within a short frame of time. Thankfully, Alva can continue his "just an average overclocker" adventures with another prototype board, as well as three finalized retail units.

Hello, in 2025, No Man's Sky Travellers were treated to one of our biggest years yet. Even we struggle to know how we pulled off so many large updates last year—Worlds Part II and Voyagers were both transformational and released in the same year, interspersed with smaller but significant updates in Relics, Beacon and Breach. We're pleased to announce that our first update of 2026, our 10th anniversary year, is already rolling out. It's called Remnant, and it introduces something that we and the community have been aching to introduce to No Man's Sky since the beginning… a fully operational gravity gun! Full patch notes are available here.

The Gravitino Coil is a powerful new anti-gravity module for your multi-tool. It turns No Man's Sky into a physics playground. Allowing you to grab large objects and fling, toss or carefully carry them around the world. Salvage and debris that could always be found on planets can now be collected and recycled for rare and highly prized resources. New trucks, tipping flatbeds and haulers can be constructed, to transport resources back to industrial yards for reclamation. You can work alone or join a salvage crew with friends. It creates this really fun and tactile new loop of searching for wrecks, loading trucks full of cargo and hauling across the alien landscape to industrial yards to gain new loot and rewards.

Over a month ago, ASRock fully presented its brand-new Radeon RX 9070 XT Taichi White OC 16 GB graphics card model. To some surprise, the Taiwanese PC hardware manufacturer has not released a simple pale redecoration of this generation's (RDNA 4) standard gray metallic Taichi SKU. Last week, a sponsored review was published by GDM Japan. So far, only Japanese PC enthusiasts have enjoyed public hands-on experience with the new flagship model. Despite claims of ASRock exhibiting a preview sample at CES 2026, TechPowerUp's ground team did not spot any demo units at the firm's Las Vegas graphics card showcase. The opening section of GDM's write-up mentions several recent domestic promo events, including one held in Tokyo's Akihabara Electric Town. The new model's unique selling point is an integrated 2-inch color LCD screen—officially dubbed "LCD Information Center." As expected, GDM dives deep into this fun feature. They managed to upload custom images and animated content (GIFs) via ASRock's Polychrome SYNC suite. Under normal modes, the small screen can inform users about GPU clocks, fan speeds, and operating temperatures.

The Radeon RX 9070 XT Taichi White OC candidate was hooked up to a test build based on Intel's Core Ultra 9 285K processor and ASRock's "ultra-high-end" Z890 Taichi AQUA motherboard. Performance-wise, the white variant seems to do just as well as its metallic gray sibling. GDM concludes that the latest model only distinguishes itself in terms of aesthetics; mainly through its "striking" white design and integrated screen gimmick. In their analysis of the Taichi White OC's debut review, VideoCardz has highlighted the test subject boosting well beyond the factory-set 3.1 GHz boost clock rating. Months into RDNA 4's lifecycle, only a handful of Team Red board partners had released custom designs overclocked to this level, with only ASRock and Sapphire choosing to implement the controversial 12V-2×6 power connector. Under load, GDM reported the "Navi 48 XTX" GPU boosting up to a maximum of 3296 MHz. Last March, TechPowerUp's W1zzard got his gray Taichi evaluation unit overclocked up to an average of 3213 MHz. We hope that upcoming non-sponsored reviews will provide a clearer picture of the Radeon RX 9070 XT Taichi White OC SKU's capabilities.

Rayman: 30th Anniversary Edition has launched on PS5, Xbox Series X|S, Switch, PC via the Ubisoft Store and Steam, and with a Ubisoft+ subscription. Rediscover the magical world of Rayman as you rescue Electoons and save the world from Mr. Dark by punching and hair-coptering your way through memorable areas like the Dream Forest and the musical chaos of the Band Lands.

Rayman is back again!
To celebrate the 30th anniversary of the initial release, Ubisoft partnered with Atari and Digital Eclipse to bring this timeless classic to current-gen consoles and PC. Many of you may have enjoyed a magical journey to the Glade of Dreams a while back, but this time all of us have worked hard to let you play the experience you might remember.

Since the introduction of Intel's brand-new "Panther Lake-H" mobile processor series, the flagship Arc B390 integrated graphics solution has received the lion's share of media attention. The impressive 12 Xe3-core iGPU is reserved for Core Ultra 300 series X9 and X7 models—likely a sore point for budget-conscious prospective buyers. When considering Team Blue's (roughly) "20% upcharge for a generational leap," customers seek current-gen solace elsewhere (AMD Radeon 890M). Fortunately, the step-down Arc B370 model seems to be relatively performant. The (presumably) much cheaper in-house alternative has been test driven by Notebookcheck. A preview report, published on February 13, provides an initial look at the 10 Xe3-core contender, that was onboard a Core Ultra 5 338H engineering sample. The German publication noted that the 12-core (4P + 8E) processor test subject ran with a "steady power limit of 35 watts." When comparing the Arc B370 to its more capable sibling, Notebookcheck outlined key points of interest: "the maximum GPU clock is also slightly lower at 2.4 vs. 2.5 GHz. Just like models (armed with) the Arc B390 GPU, the Core Ultra 5 338H is only available with soldered RAM (up to 8533 MHz)."

A disappointing Furmark score leaked out late last year, but it is reassuring to see the B370 performing admirably a few months later. Notebookcheck's tester observed this model being: "beaten by the Arc B390 in the synthetic benchmarks, but the power limits also play a role here...The results of the Arc B370 are very promising in general and there is a big advantage over previous iGPUs from Intel (Arc Graphics 140V/140T) as well as AMD (Radeon 890M)." Their 3DMark/Time Spy graphics chart shows the Core Ultra 5 338H engineering sample's Arc B370 iGPU scoring 5933 points. The B390 managed 6679 points, when evaluated on an ASUS ExpertBook Ultra B9406CAA test platform. When analyzing performance at lower TDP values, Notebookcheck noticed that the Arc B370's performance being "virtually identical to the Arc B390 at 20 Watts, while the deficit is just 6 % at 35 Watts." Further comprehensive tests are expected in the coming weeks, as Intel's Core Ultra 5 338H heads to retail in finalized form.

I am thrilled to finally be able to deliver updates on Silent Hill: Townfall, following our announcement back in 2022. Screen Burn may be a small development team, but they have taken their time to craft a game that we can now present with confidence. In the recent State of Play, we (Konami) revealed a new trailer that gives you a glimpse into the world that awaits. Please enjoy. To explain more, I will hand it over to Jon McKellan, Writer and Director at Screen Burn Interactive on Silent Hill: Townfall.

A new chapter
With Silent Hill: Townfall, we at Screen Burn Interactive wanted to both evolve the unique narrative design that we had experimented with in our past games while pushing into ambitious territory, with a new town to explore, horrific enemies to fight and evade, and story-driven puzzles that help deliver a new but distinctly Silent Hill tale of mystery, tragedy and loss. With our first full trailer release, we have shown a slice of what to expect, answered some long lingering questions, and likely raised some new ones too…

In mid-February, Acer is facing multiple challenges in Europe and Asia. This past weekend, news reports outlined a court-ordered cease and desist ruling that prevents PC and laptop sales in Germany. Last Friday (February 13), the company's Japanese office informed the local customer base about forthcoming price tag changes. Since November 2025, tech companies have wrestled with an extremely constrained supply of vital components. The regional branch's social media account described inevitable hikes: "due to rising prices of major components such as memory and SSDs, Acer will revise the prices of PC products on its official online store starting from February 20, 2026. Purchases at the current prices will be available until February 19. We will continue striving to improve our product value. We appreciate your understanding." The same notification was issued by the firm's gaming brand (Acer Predator/PlayMaster) to local customers. The Taiwanese multinational PC hardware manufacturer's Japanese division did hint about current circumstances not affecting a handful of items; their statement alluded to a non-specific selection of products remaining "unchanged" in terms of asking prices. At the time writing, Acer's other regional operations have not released similar warnings.

Of all the action-RPG franchises to make you work for an epic moment, Monster Hunter is up there among the ones that push you hardest, and the Monster Hunter Stories series is no exception to the rule. You take on the lowest rank Monsters, you get pummelled into the dirt until you learn how to beat them, and then you excitedly hurry back home to build a new weapon and a cool set of armor from the creature you've just murked, ready to go through the entire process again with a slightly harder monster. It's a rewarding battle, but a tough one, and Monster Hunter's greatest secrets are often reserved for those that take the time to fully embrace its many systems.

Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection shows you right from the start that things are going to be a little different around here. In the first minute of my hands-on session with the game, my Rider (not a Hunter, but we'll get into that later) is sprinting down a cliff at warp speed before leaping right off the edge, only to be caught mid-air by her pet Rathalos and, together, they soar across a glittering lake, in what may be the most breath-taking introduction to a Monster Hunter game I've seen yet, inviting you, the player, to immediately take the reigns of this majestic creature - who, for once, isn't a foe to be conquered, but a friend. It's a stark contrast to the opening of Monster Hunter Stories 2, in which you carry a Rathalos egg around for hours before it hatches. This introduction feels like the culmination of a spin-off that's ready to step out of the shadow of its mainline series, and show us exactly what it can do.

Earlier last week, more details emerged regarding Intel's rumored top-level 52-core "Nova Lake-S" processor model. According to recent leaks, this flagship Core Ultra Series 4 design is expected to feature a 16 P-core, 32 E-core, and 4 low-power island E-core configuration, paired with big last-level cache (bLLC). An unprecedented 700 W power consumption figure (under full load) was floated by kopite7kimi, with Jaykihn weighing in about the "NVL-S" series' TJMax (Thermal Junction Maximum) not being offset. Also, they mentioned that "thermal throttling cannot be disabled." Days later (on February 13), Jaykihn issued another "preliminary" prediction: "only some (motherboards) will support the full-power 52-core (52C) platform. Other boards will limit the performance and power of the 52C platform." When poring over this information, VideoCardz connected dots between the very best "Core Ultra Series 4" dual-tile options to a speculative and new "Core X" HEDT product lineup.

In theory, the highest level models could bear "Core X9" designations; akin to the recently launched flagship "Panther Lake-H" chip (Core Ultra X9 388H). Normally, Intel's workstation-focused Xeon processor families have occupied the HEDT segment. As a fallback hypothesis, VideoCardz envisions the "X" marking being applied exclusively to bLLC-augmented variants—likely specifying advertising elevated gaming performance; similar to AMD's "X3D" naming scheme. In their past weekend report, the popular online publication has dismissed rumors about Team Blue nixing the single-tile (with bLLC) side of the "Nova Lake-S" series. Instead, VideoCardz envisions two "mainstream" single-tile SKUs arriving—later in the year—pipped to take on equivalents within Team Red's Ryzen 7 and 9 desktop processor tiers. Two larger siblings, in premium dual-time form (with bLLC), are anticipated as forming a new HEDT line.

AMD, a leader in high-performance and AI computing, and Tata Consultancy Services, a global leader in IT services, consulting, and business solutions, have expanded their strategic collaboration. TCS, through its subsidiary HyperVault AI Data Center Limited (HyperVault), and AMD will codevelop a rack-scale AI infrastructure design based on the AMD "Helios" platform in support of India's national AI initiatives.

Powered by GPUs, next-generation AMD EPYC "Venice" CPUs, AMD Pensando Vulcano NICs and the open ROCm software ecosystem, "Helios" is purpose-built to deliver a rack-scale AI platform supporting sovereign AI factories. "Helios," combined with TCS' enterprise expertise and scale, will accelerate deployment and enhance operational efficiencies for enterprises. As part of this strategic collaboration, both companies will offer an AI-ready data center blueprint supporting up to 200 MW of capacity and will work with hyperscalers and AI companies to accelerate data center build-outs in India.

Experience terrifying survival horror with FBI analyst Grace Ashcroft, and dive into pulse-pounding action with legendary agent Leon S. Kennedy. Both of their journeys and unique gameplay styles intertwine into a heart-stopping, emotional experience that will chill you to your core. The clock's ticking as we draw closer and closer to the arrival of Resident Evil Requiem. The latest trailer is packed with details about key characters, the mysterious threats that stand in their way, and new gameplay footage.

The story begins with a string of mysterious deaths throughout the United States with all roads returning to the city of disaster and despair, Raccoon City. As Grace and Leon's paths converge, they must face their pasts and uncover the truth. Watch it if you dare...

Last month, Scythe started to promote two Mugen 6 ASUS TUF ALLIANCE edition models. A handful of social media posts provided an early look at the Japanese PC cooling hardware specialist's slight reworkings of the existing Dual Fan ARGB designs. Throughout mid-to-late January, the staggered release of promotional renders showcased newly co-branded white and black units. Scythe's social media accounts teased the latest Mugen 6 revisions leveraging a few improvements. The powerful proprietary Wonder Tornado 120 mm ARGB fans have been updated with anti-vibration pads, and the main block's aluminium fin-stack sports a different type of coating.

Scythe's Q1 2026 revamp of premium-tier single-tower air coolers has just launched in Taiwan, according to an ITHome news article. Yesterday's report outlines a day one release price tag of NT$1790 (~$57.10 USD). Apart from Scythe's typo-laden online marketing of improved features, the newer SKUs are decorated with familiar military themed TUF Gaming patterns and logos/text. Oddly, there is no actual Scythe branding present on the heatsink or Wonder Tornado fans—we hope that they get a shout-out on the finalized Mugen 6 X ASUS TUF ALLIANCE retail packaging, at least.

It's good to be back! After releasing Kena: Bridge of Spirits, we took some time to figure out what we wanted to create next. We explored ideas that could capture the heart of what made Kena special while building on everything we'd learned along the way. When we began thinking about returning to her world, we were drawn to the idea of Kena as a more experienced Spirit Guide who could use her skills to help the living, not just those who had passed on.

In Kena: Scars of Kosmora, Kena is older and renowned as a Spirit Guide. In hopes of finding answers to the affliction she has endured all her life, Kena travels to the mysterious island of Kosmora. Home to distinct cultures and regions, Kosmora is full of buried secrets from a tragic past. On Kosmora, Kena is confronted by a powerful spirit that fractures her staff. A spirit guide's staff is their identity - their tool to help and commune with spirits. Kena's staff was also keeping her alive. To survive, Kena must accept Kosmora's forgotten form of Spirit Guiding which uses Alchemy to manipulate the power of the elements.

Last May, insiders alleged that the US Government Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) was eyeing up a handful of Chinese tech companies. At the time, ChangXin Memory Technologies (CXMT) was considered for inclusion within an extensive "export blacklist." With the regional exit of more mainstream computer memory manufacturing companies, the likes of CXMT and Yangtze Memory Technologies Corporation (YMTC) are being tracked as the native Chinese industry's leading lights. Earlier today, a revised Pentagon Section 1260H document seemed to no longer feature the aforementioned duo of memory and storage makers. Hours later, industry observers and journalists noticed that the updated list had been removed from public view. A fresh Reuters news article mentions the adding of Alibaba and Baidu to the latest edition of the US administration's trade blacklist. Across the past few years, these gigantic tech players are best known for unprecedented large-scale purchases of AI-crunching hardware, mostly supplied by NVIDIA.

The US Department of War's (DOW) Section 1260H document designates Chinese companies with (alleged) military or communist party connections. Last year's addition of CXMT caused plenty of head scratching—the Hefei, Anhui-based memory chip manufacturer largely specializes in consumer-grade products. Earlier this month, Nikkei Asia divulged inside track information about ASUS, Acer, Dell, and HP's supposed consideration of CXMT DDR5 and DDR4 lines. The apparent lifting of blacklist status could make it easier for Western OEMs to acquire DRAM from CXMT, and NAND from YMTC, although the latter still remains within the US Commerce Department's sights (considered a threat to the region's supply chain). CXMT's recent advancement into mass production of HBM3 will (inevitably) elevate its local profile, but a reported collaboration with Huawei—involving the next-gen Ascend 950 AI accelerator—could attract extra Pentagon scrutiny.

Coordinate or collapse in this new 1-4 player co-op shooter from Crowbar Collective and Team17! Join forces with your friends and fight through intense missions with evolving objectives and map layouts! Squad up and play Rogue Point, now with our 15% OFF Launch Discount running for two weeks!

What is Rogue Point?
From the creators of Black Mesa: Definitive Edition, Rogue Point is a 1-4 player co-operative first-person shooter where teamwork is everything! Fight through a dynamic campaign and master 20+ weapons and 40+ tactical items and attachments. Plan, adapt, and overcome. Your squad's survival depends on it.

Corsair published a low-key blog entry earlier this month (February 2), that described their recent updating of DRAM packaging that is "security and transparency"-focused. As depicted in a lone preview shot, the new container is plastic, but Corsair insists that this change—that ditches signature yellow cardboard boxes—will still retain "environmental responsibility." Interestingly, this move was implemented at the start of the year, so recent customers could be the first to receive revised retail packaging. The company's recycled plastic clamshell-style container, reminiscent of Kingston's present-day efforts, is adorned with a yellow sleeve. A familiar set of minimal text and branding is visible, but Corsair has not included product renders on the new design, at least not printed on front/top sections. The new design offers Electrostatic Discharge (ESD) protection. So far, the North American gaming hardware/accessory firm has implemented a shift from cardboard to plastic for the VENGEANCE DDR5 (non-RGB, RGB and RGB RS) product range, specifically in two module configurations.

The official blog states that the new packaging design: "allows customers to see the actual memory modules before opening the package. Making it easier to confirm the exact product and helping ensure genuine Corsair DRAM is being returned when applicable...To further improve protection, the packaging includes a tamper-evident belly label that tears when opened, making any attempt to reseal the package immediately visible. With the current value of DRAM kits, this added layer of security helps protect customers and retailers from return fraud involving non-genuine modules, or Light Enhancement Kits being passed off as real RAM." Additionally, Corsair's still-in-rotation paper box format is due to receive a small update—the company intends to reintroduce a security label system that aims to provide a higher level of protection. Given the current street value of four module kits, this is a wise decision.

"The REANIMAL experience is a clear reflection of who Tarsier is—a group of individuals with a shared sensibility that feel privileged to have been able to work together on a game like this," said Oliver Merlöv, Managing Director, Tarsier Studios. "We believe the more personal the art, the more attention poured into every detail, the more worthy a game is of player's time. We can't wait for them to play REANIMAL!" And since many of you have asked about friend's pass we will let you know as soon as possible!

The game has already received a strong and positive critical reception worldwide, earning generally favorable reviews across all platforms on Metacritic. Additionally, fans can check out the IGN REANIMAL store for some cool official REANIMAL merchandise! Check out the IGN REANIMAL store here.

Back in January, Congatec briefly outlined a "launch of five new modules featuring the new Intel Core Ultra Series 3" processor series. Over a month later, their "Panther Lake-H"-powered range has appeared online in COM-HPC and COM Express module forms. An introductory YouTube video, with a publication date of January 5, advertises a significant new generation leap for embedded computing and accelerated edge AI workloads. The best of these modules can deliver up to 180 TOPS of AI performance, presumably enabled by Team Blue's flagship Core Ultra X9 388H APU. The credit card-sized (55 x 84 mm/COM Express Type 10) MC1000 model can be configured with a maximum of 32 GB LPDDR5X (up to) 8533 MT/s "soldered down" system memory. A soldered LPDDR5X arrangement is detailed in the HPC/mPTL's spec sheet, up to 96 GB/8533 MT/s, on a SWaP-C optimized framework (95 x 70 mm/COM-HPC mini).

The ruggedized TC1000 and TC1000r models share the same overall dimensions (95 x 95 mm), that conforms to Congatec's COM Express compact format. The TC1000 board design sports dual SODIMM sockets, that can accept up to 64 GB DDR5/7200 MT/s memory modules, with total system capacity reaching 128 GB. The TC1000r's dram spec is described as: "96 GB LPCAMM2 memory based on LPDDR5x with up to 8533 MT/s" transfer rates. The largest "Panther Lake"-based option—HPC/cPTL (95 x 120 mm/COM-HPC Client Size A)—features an LPCAMM2 socket that accepts up to 96 GB of LPDDR5X memory, with max. transfer rates of 7466 MT/s. At the time of writing, Congatec's PR department has not issued a comprehensive PR piece. In the meantime, curious customers can peruse the manufacturer's detailed product pages, select various memory configs, and request quotes.

Prepare to unravel the mysteries of the lost colony of Tau Ceti IV: Marathon is hosting a Server Slam where players worldwide can jump into Marathon and earn rewards for launch. The Bungie team has shared more details about the upcoming open preview weekend, which will run from February 26 to March 2 on PlayStation 5 and other platforms. The weekend will feature an introduction to Marathon's gameplay, with additional maps, factions, contracts, and more to come at launch and during Season 1.

Marathon is the upcoming survival extraction FPS from Bungie, the studio behind Halo and Destiny. In Marathon, you'll scavenge the lost colony of Tau Ceti as a bio-cybernetic Runner. Play with your crew, as a solo Runner, or form uneasy alliances with proximity chat as you take on hostile security forces, rival Runners, and unpredictable environments. Complete contracts, craft new builds, and take on greater challenges—culminating with the derelict Marathon ship in orbit.

Online detectives continue to sift through various Team Blue repositories, in search of any hint of new "Big Battlemage" GPU developments. Late last month, the somewhat mysterious Arc Pro "B70 and B65" workstation cards were rumored as supplanting the "BMG-G31"-based Arc B770 16 GB consumer-grade/gaming model. Mid-way through this week (February 11), Intel released its "Graphics Driver 32.0.101.8314 WHQL (Q4.25) for Intel Arc Pro Series Graphics" generic driver. VideoCardz has pored over the latest update information, and found no utterances next-gen hardware; most notably the "B70." A compatibility list only reaches the upper levels of familiar Arc Pro B60 24 GB and Pro B50 16 GB desktop GPUs—both utilizing the "BMG-G21" GPU die.

The "leaked" Intel Arc Pro "B70 32 GB" model could arrive at retail within the first quarter of this year, so web detectives are anticipating an increase of pre-launch activities in February and March. Members of the Intel Arc subreddit were not discouraged by VideoCardz's slightly disappointing investigation of patch notes—one member, WizardlyBump17, suggested that interested parties check out "the binary for mentions of G31." They themselves had found an official yet accidental "B70 commit" within Team Blue's ai-containers 0.14.1 changelog. Days later, this promising "validation" information was scrubbed and replaced with a cleaned up description. Additionally, WizardlyBump17 observed the non-professional "B770" model being wiped from an official GitHub commit—appropriately, yesterday's modification was titled "Cleanup Unwanted BMG Codenames."

The Illinois Quantum and Microelectronics Park (IQMP) and the Illinois Economic Development Corporation announced that Quantum Machines will establish a flagship hub at the Park. Quantum Machines, the leading provider of hybrid control solutions, will operate a state-of-the-art lab at the IQMP, for research and development on a hardware-control co-design approach to align quantum processors, classical infrastructure, and control software. While the Park is under development, Quantum Machines will be situated at the IQMP's On-Ramp facilities in Chicago. On-Ramp is supported by grant funding from the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity.

"Illinois is building the future of quantum technology, and Quantum Machines' decision to establish a presence at the Illinois Quantum and Microelectronics Park is further proof that our state is the premier destination for next-generation innovation," said Governor JB Pritzker. "Quantum Machines is a global leader in quantum control technology, providing the critical systems that enable quantum computers to operate at scale. They will join a growing roster of companies that will be housed at the IQMP and strengthen Illinois' position as a global leader in this cutting-edge industry."

Lenovo seems to be returning to new-gen ThinkPad Detachable pastures this year, according to a major leak. Windows Latest has managed to acquire a set of promotional renders of the speculative "ThinkPad X13 Detachable Gen 1" model, finished in "Eclipse Black." As implied by the "X13" designation, early conjecture points to a 13-inch display surrounded by thinner bezels—clearly a size/design upgrade over Lenovo's second-gen ThinkPad X12 Detachable SKU. The latter has been surpassed—technologically—by various rival device ranges; namely Microsoft's Surface Pro 11 and 12 lines, in x86 and Arm flavors. When analyzing the watermarked ThinkPad X13 Detachable Gen 1 image set, web sleuths have focused on the presence of USB-C ports labelled with lighting bolt symbols. Thunderbolt 4 capabilities would imply that the unreleased device has some sort of modern Intel APU onboard.

Windows Latest's exclusive report envisions Lenovo's selection of a Core Ultra 3 "Panther Lake-H" mobile processor. Upon launch back in 2024, the ThinkPad X12 Detachable Gen 2's Core Ultra 100U "Meteor Lake" series processors were considered to be underpowered, even with the Core Ultra 7 164U (with vPro)-powered option. It is anticipated that the slightly larger successor will be introduced at next month's Mobile World Congress event, in Barcelona (MWC 2026, March 2 to 5). ThinkPad enthusiasts will be pleased to see the brand's familiar keyboard layout, a TrackPoint nub, physical right and left click buttons, and a circular fingerprint reader. So far, Lenovo's ThinkPad Detachable products have not sacrificed these major fan favorite features; normally reserved for traditional professional laptop/notebook designs.

We are excited to share that a demo of Planet of Lana II is live now! Return to Novo and play as Lana and Mui in this curated preview of their upcoming journey. This demo features atmospheric glimpses across five different points in the game, offering a deep dive into the expanded gameplay and breathtaking world-building, with just a whisper of the story yet to unfold.

Embark on an unforgettable cinematic puzzle journey with Lana and her loyal companion Mui. Whether you're a returning hero or a new adventurer, step into a world where a new, ancient mystery emerges from Novo's hidden depths. But as they scour these depths, a new threat will put their unbreakable bond to the ultimate test, guiding Lana to confront her destiny amidst encroaching shadows. Planet of Lana II: Children of the Leaf is a cinematic puzzle adventure framed by an epic sci-fi saga that stretches across centuries and galaxies. You do not need to have played the first Planet of Lana to enjoy the demo, but the original game is available if you would like to discover where their story began.

Hello to all bikers out there! The wait is finally over: Ride 6 is out tomorrow (February 12), and it's time to rev up and start a new adventure. Over the past two years, we've poured our hearts into creating an experience that celebrates every aspect of motorcycle culture. Today, we're excited to pull back the curtain on one of the pillars of this new chapter: how we brought over 40 tracks to life in the game. As you know, Ride 6 features both real-world and fictional tracks, each crafted with utmost care. Our teams worked hard to recreate iconic locations that have shaped motorcycling history, while also designing completely original tracks that are just as memorable and fun to ride.

For real tracks, the process starts on location. We map the entire circuit from above using drones, capturing anywhere from 2,000 to 2,500 photos depending on the size and complexity of the track. Before flying, we set up 20-25 Ground Control Points (GCPs). These are PVC panels marked with an "X," and we record their exact positions with high-precision GPS antennas. Once the photos are taken, we link each GCP to every image it appears in, attaching the corresponding GPS coordinates. This method allows us to generate point clouds with an impressive margin of error of just 2.5 cm.

Late last October, Qualcomm revealed its AI200 and AI250 chip-based accelerator cards, and racks. Oddly, the company's press material mentioned the utilization of Low-Power DRAM (LPDDR) memory rather than in vogue High Bandwidth tech (HBM)—the latter has quickly become the de facto choice for cutting-edge AI-crunching enterprise platforms. Modern types of LPDDR memory are normally found in portable devices powered by Qualcomm chipsets, but the San Diego-headquartered fabless semiconductor firm seems to be exploring the deployment of LPDDR6X modules in server-grade equipment. According to inside track information—published by The Bell South Korea—Samsung Electronics has reportedly sent prototype LPDDR6X samples of to the House of Snapdragon chips.

One of The Bell's anonymous industry sources opined that this move was a little bit out of the ordinary; given that the LPDDR6 (non-X) standard received official JEDEC certification not that long ago (Q3 2025). The still in-progress Samsung LPDDR6X development project has been linked to Qualcomm's 2027 launch of the AI250 inference-focused server platform. The publication's official contact believes that a tight AI200-series release roadmap has prompted the very early supply of LPDDR6X modules. Last month, rumors emerged about the AI200 and AI250 inference accelerators being sized up with SOCAMM2 in mind. In December, the Samsung Memory Product Planning Team divulged forthcoming branches of non-X tech—most notably that "low-power DRAM technologies such as SOCAMM" are being spun-off from "AI-focused module solution(s) leveraging LPDDR6 architecture."

Just few more days until the horrors begin! REANIMAL, the highly anticipated co-op horror game from Tarsier Studios, creators of Little Nightmares and Little Nightmares II, launches this Friday, February 13. Pre-ordering the Deluxe Edition now secures 10% savings and grants access to the REANIMAL Season Pass, which includes all three DLCs in The Expanded World campaign—delivering all-new horrors for players to survive.

There are three upcoming chapters in The Expanded World, the first of which is scheduled to release in summer 2026. The Expanded World will weave a completely original story around new child protagonists, thrusting players into chilling new environments and monstrous horrors across the war-torn REANIMAL island.

Mid-way through the week, computer game hardware observers started to notice the dwindling availability of Valve's Steam Deck OLED handheld. The popular portable gaming PC first launched almost three years ago, first releasing as the LCD screen-based version. The 256 GB LCD model was discontinued last December, leaving the more expensive OLED options—in 512 GB and 1 TB configured forms—in charge of keeping Valve's handheld legacy alive. Unfortunately, prospective buyers—in North America, Japan (via Komodo—Valve's regional distribution partner), Taiwan, South Korea, and Hong Kong—are unable to acquire new OLED stock. Initial reportage has highlighted a "plentiful" supply for UK and Australia-based customers, but several key market territories are seemingly affected by a sudden shortage. At the time of writing, Valve has not commented on this head scratching situation.

A lack of official announcements has driven online community speculation; mainly about possible dry spells of Steam Deck-related component shipments. Presently, the two OLED SKUs utilize 16 GB of unified LPDDR5-6500 RAM, paired with 512 GB or 1 TB NVMe SSDs. The ongoing computer memory and storage crisis has caused plenty of price fluctuation chaos throughout late 2025 and early 2026. Coinciding with troubled times (November 2025), Valve unveiled a new wave of Steam products. As of this month, the Bellevue, Washington-based corporation has remained schtum about the launch MSRP of its Steam Machine. In a worst case scenario, fearful portable and SFF gaming hardware enthusiasts are imagining forthcoming price hikes of Steam Deck OLED hardware, and $1000+ cost of ownership for Valve's second attempt at breaking the mini PC market.

AMD enables Hollywood's most demanding creators as they stretch the boundaries of visual storytelling. On Feb. 9, 2026, the Advanced Imaging Society (AIS) presented AMD with its Production Technology Lumiere Award to recognize the capabilities of its latest generation of "Zen 5"-based EPYC Server and Ryzen Threadripper Pro workstation processors. During the ceremony, the award presenter, Evan Jacobs, Vice Chair of AIS from Marvel Studios, underscored how dramatically computing technology has reshaped filmmaking. "Using a 2005 vintage workstation to render next year's "Toy Story 5," the team at Pixar would need 131 years to get Woody and Buzz Lightyear to the screen." Today, that same level of work can be completed in hours thanks to the newest architecture from AMD.

AMD Current-gen Processors Power a New Era of Filmmaking
AMD processors deliver compute‑dense architecture, exceptional throughput, and leadership energy efficiency. With up to 192 cores on EPYC and up to 96 cores on Threadripper Pro, AMD processors give studios the power to consolidate demanding workloads, accelerate creative iteration, and keep production timelines on track. Studios are increasingly turning to high-density, energy-efficient compute to meet the demands of real-time rendering, complex simulations, and AI-driven workflows. AMD EPYC and Threadripper Pro platforms enable that shift, giving directors and artists the power to hit their creative and production goals without compromise.

This week, South Korean semiconductor industry news outlets have mentioned an imminent unveiling of cutting-edge memory-making equipment at this month's Semicon Korea 2026 exhibition. This important trade event kicked off yesterday (February 11)—soon after start time, a Heraldcorp article appeared online; predicting Hanmi Semiconductor's presenting of a brand-new Wide TC Bonder. A photo of the company's freshly established booth shows printed promotional material that showcases the latest production hardware. Reportedly, the newest tech is being positioned as an "alternative to Hybrid Bonder (HB) for High Bandwidth Memory (HBM) mass manufacturing." Local experts believe that the commercialization of Hybrid Bonders has been delayed numerous times, due to widespread technical difficulties. Apparently, Wide TC Bonder equipment—due for launch within the latter half of 2026—offers many advantages over the older design.

Chosun Biz managed to extract early comments from a Hanmi representative, ahead of a full product introduction—the newer standard: "applies advanced precision (and fluxless) bonding technology that can improve HBM production yield, quality and completeness." These pleasing enhancements can affect incoming lines (e.g. HBM4), but Hanmi foresees Wide TC Bonder factory tech being crucial in the making of futuristic HBM5 and HBM6 products. Last summer, a joint venture presentation theorized further HBM roadmaps—extending into 2038. At the time, KAIST and TERA outlined a journey that will start with HBM4 debut on NVIDIA "Rubin"-based AI accelerators (in 2026). By the end of the 2030s, they predict the arrival of HBM7.

The time has finally come! Are you ready to Forge Your Legend? From the team at MercurySteam and 505 Games comes Blades of Fire, launching May 14th, 2026, on Steam. Play as Aran de Lira, the last warrior able to forge true steel in a world where metal turns to stone. Survival depends on patience, understanding, and commitment to the weapons you choose to create. Combat is deliberate, weighty, and unforgiving. Weapons are forged with intent and permanently shaped by your choices. Progress comes from understanding your enemy and the blade you forged to face them.

DEMO AVAILABLE NOW!
To celebrate today's announcement, our community can jump into Blades of Fire starting today with a dedicated demo. Launching as part of the upcoming Steam Next Fest, our demo offers several hours of gameplay, letting you experience the art of forging your own weapons, our unique combat system, and a face-to-face encounter with a big troll. What's not to love?! What's more, your progress from the demo will carry over to the full game at launch.

NVIDIA continues to gingerly navigate trade restrictions that affect shipments of high-end graphics cards and AI accelerators into China. Over the past couple of years, region-specific "nerfed" GPU specifications and reduced allocations of VRAM have produced a good number of "lesser" gaming and professional components. For example, a November 2025 leak suggested the readying of an appropriately "reduced" RTX 6000D Blackwell model—seemingly based on Team Green's "unpasteurized" Western market variant. Despite recently arriving without a "PRO" designation, Chinese AI companies and well-heeled PC enthusiasts will be receiving a highly capable bit of hardware. The passively-cooled NVIDIA RTX 6000D card carries 84 GB of GDDR7 video memory; representing a slight downgrade over its non-nerfed sibling's provision of 96 GB (on a 512-bit bus). A video teardown—courtesy of the GINNSOD Bilibili channel—shows an incredibly dense module layout on the card's PCB, consisting of 28 individual 3 GB chips.

This clever clamshell layout surrounds a Team Green "GB202-891-KA-A1" GPU die. Aptly, GINNSOD's presenter refers to the TechPowerUp GPU database for key points of interest—notably, the card's 448-bit memory bus, 19968 shader unit count, and 2430 MHz boost clock. The reference board design is listed as having a 600 W TDP rating, but yesterday's presentation shows only a maximum of 419 watts being sipped by the lab's test subject. International observers have noted that the gory teardown shows a PCB design reminiscent of the RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell model's internal setup, though the latter enjoys having all of its VRAM module bays filled up (with thirty-two 3 GB chips). By contrast, the RTX 6000D's board features four unoccupied spaces. As a system integrator, GINNSOD offers aftermarket liquid-cooled modifications/upgrades—the latter half of the teardown vid delves into the fitting of a custom-made solution. VideoCardz noted that the company has listed a ~$26,000 workstation system armed with twin RTX 6000D cards and an AMD Threadripper Pro CPU. Said pre-built computer can be seen at various points in GINNSOD's showcase.

Our favorite time of the year is nearly upon us: the annual (and newly renamed) GDC Festival of Gaming is next month! We're looking forward to seeing old friends, making new ones, and sharing our vision for empowering developers today and into the future. This year, GDC takes place from March 9-13 at the Moscone Convention Center in San Francisco, California. We'll host partner meetings, participate in conference sessions, and sponsor events like the IGF Awards and the ESA Foundation's Nite to Unite. Attendees that come by the Xbox Lounge in Moscone South Lobby can journey through our exhibit featuring key moments across 25 years of Xbox history, meet Xbox Subject Matter Experts, learn what steps they can take to begin building for the future, and sign up for our newsletter to receive a community pin.

At GDC, we'll share how we're giving developers the freedom to create and play on any device, with anyone, anywhere. We want to make it easier for developers to build and ship games, provide more ways to reach players, and offer more freedom to bring their bold creative ideas to life. Our goal is to empower creators of every size by providing cutting‑edge tools, services, and opportunities that accelerate innovation, reduce barriers, and help developers bring their games to players everywhere. This year, for the first time, we are hosting the Xbox Dev Summit, where we'll be presenting six sponsored sessions to help prepare attendees to build for what's next. The Xbox Dev Summit is in West Hall Room 3001/3003 and will be kicking off with Jason Ronald, VP of Next Gen, at 10:10am on Wednesday, March 11.

Last autumn, AMD provided an update regarding developmental progress of its openSIL open-source project. According to Raj Kapoor's presentation at last year's OCP Global Summit, the Red Team intends to publish its sixth-generation "Zen 6"-based EPYC "Venice" CPU openSIL sources at some point in 2026. The company's lead firmware architect reiterated that the newer silicon-initialization stack will eventually replace the familiar legacy AGESA firmware line. As of last summer, only one section of AMD's "Zen 5" family has received openSIL support—the EPYC 9005 "Turin" server processor product range. Earlier this week, a 3mbdeb blog entry detailed a compelling experiment that involved the initial "enabling (of) AMD AM5 'Phoenix' support in Coreboot." In the past, this Polish open-source consulting company has experimented with unusual ports of OpenSIL and Coreboot (via the Dasharo distribution). NLnet Foundation funding provided a secure base to start 3mbdeb's Gigabyte MZ33-AR1 porting project, leading to present-day tinkering with MSI's PRO B850-P consumer-grade mainboard design.

Mid-way through their post, they detail a handful of problems, including: "some issues may arise when parsing combo images for AM5 desktop platforms. The desktop images are more complex than server ones. A single PSP (Platform Security Processor) directory may support multiple CPU families, whereas on servers, each CPU family required separate PSP directory. This adds complexity, a need to distinguish PSP directories from each other, and determine the supported CPUs by given directory." So far, the MSI B850-P Pro-based tests have reached a phase of development that is "just enough to (achieve) boot." When outlining a next major milestone, 3mbdeb intends to: "add basic support for desktop AM5 'Phoenix' platform to distinguish mobile CPUs from desktop CPUs in Coreboot. This will serve as a base to cover the differences between the mobile and desktop Phoenix SoCs/APUs." They stress that their 'Phoenix' OpenSIL project is still in a "Proof of Concept" stage, so "not intended for production use." In summary, 3mbdeb's firmware engineer (Michał Żygowski) recommends that external testers wait for the arrival of "exciting" future releases.

The GeForce NOW sixth-anniversary festivities roll on this February, continuing a monthlong celebration of NVIDIA's cloud gaming service. This week brings even more reasons to join the party, as GeForce NOW launches on a new platform with support for Amazon Fire TV devices, and eight new games to keep the streaming going strong. The new app brings GeForce NOW directly to select Amazon Fire TV devices, so members can jump into their PC game libraries on the biggest screen in the house using a compatible controller.

The Cloud Turns Up the Heat
GeForce NOW continues to expand access across devices, supporting multiple platforms with the latest additions of Linux. From PCs and Macs to smartphones, browsers and smart TVs, the cloud delivers high-performance gaming to nearly any screen, on more devices than ever. Members tap into GeForce RTX power on the screens they already own, extending the value of their membership without extra hardware or complexity. That reach expands again with the launch of the GeForce NOW app on Amazon Fire TV. GeForce NOW is powering up the living room with the launch of the GeForce NOW app on Amazon Fire TV streaming sticks, leveling up big-screen gaming with PC-quality performance.

After a short period of teasing a Crimson Desert collaboration product, Sapphire recently revealed a fantasy adventure themed spin-off of its RDNA 4 flagship NITRO+ Radeon RX 9070 XT 16 GB custom graphics card. The sudden appearance of this special edition model roughly coincided with the launch of an AMD Ryzen/Radeon hardware + Pearl Abyss software promotional campaign. So far, Sapphire's marketing campaign—of the NITRO+ RX 9070 XT OC Crimson Desert Edition SKU—has not set a firm release date or confirmed day one pricing, although a (February 10) VideoCardz report proposed a "within February" window. The freshly-introduced card's EAN code (4895106297623) and manufacturing number (11348-10-20G) turned up online not long ago, and web searches—as of today—involving this info leads to several fresh e-tail listings in Germany and Austria.

Surprisingly, a couple of these shops state that they have Sapphire's latest top-end product "in stock," although the remainder outline about a week's worth of lead time. According to a regional price aggregator, Alternate.de offers the best deal—€919.99 (including VAT and delivery), which converts to ~$1093 USD. The additional Crimson Desert livery—consisting of an elaborate backplate print and distinctive fan stickers—seems to demand a significant premium, when compared to the vanilla Nitro+ design. For reference, Alternate has the standard SKU stocked for a total of €842.99 (~$1002 USD). The least appealing Crimson Desert Edition price tag comes in at €1109.40, via Kaufland.de's marketplace. Alternate GmbH's eBay store advertises stock at €773.10 (per unit), but this initial figure is deceptive—VAT gets added on in the checkout process, aligning with the aforementioned "best" €919.99 price point.

Hey everyone! We—at Sad Cat Studios and Thunderful Publishing—are beyond excited to share that the REPLACED demo is now officially out. It's been a long journey to get here, and we're so incredibly grateful for the support you've shown us - it means the world to us. This is the first time we're putting the game into your hands, and we are so excited to hear what you think—although a little nervous, of course! Thanks for sticking with us. Hope you enjoy your first trip into this world.

In the demo, you will play as R.E.A.C.H., an artificial intelligence trapped in a human body. In an alternate 1980s America reshaped by nuclear catastrophe, Phoenix-City has become one of the Corporation's strongholds - a haven for corruption where outlaws thrive, and human life is traded like currency. Expose the Corporation's hidden agenda and the truth behind your own creation in a journey that blends action-packed rebellion with an intimate exploration of what defines us as humans.

SilverStone has quietly expanded its comprehensive range of CPU cooling solutions with a myriad of brand-new designs, across both air and liquid cooling lines. A pair of 2U small form factor server/workstation CPU cooling solutions have gained the most media attention. As expected, the Taiwanese manufacturer has not issued any press material for this pair of freshly introduced AMD-oriented products. The SST-XE02-AM5B cooler's naming scheme clearly states that it is intended for deployment on Team Red's AM5 socket, although SilverStone's specification sheet mentions compatibility with the older AM4 platform. The SST-XE02-TR5B SKU's credentials list support of AMD's sTR5, SP6, TR4, and SP3 socket types.

The newest AM5B and TR5B models share similar traits; mainly a provision of five 6 mm heat-pipes combined with aluminium fins—marketed as offering "excellent heat conducting efficiency"—and a centrally-positioned 60 mm PWM dual ball bearing fan. This fan model's specification sheet lists an RPM range of 2000 to 14,000, a 72.8 CFM maximum airflow rating, and max. air pressure of 47.18 mmH2O. Mean Time To Failure (MTTF) is estimated at 70,000 operational hours. Despite featuring the same fan, the two low-profile SST-XE02 models deviate in terms of CPU TDP ratings—the AM5/AM4 compatible cooler is rated up to 170 W, while the ever so slightly larger/heavier sibling (sTR5/SP6/TR4/SP3) is capable of tempering up to 350 W. Naturally, the more capable unit is tasked with handling (for example) EPYC 8004 and Ryzen Threadripper 7000 processors.

Hello everyone! The twenty-something devs at Vermila Studios would like to thank you very much for your interest in Crisol: Theater of Idols. Today is an incredible day because, after more than five years under development, we can see everyone experiencing the game. Do not hesitate to leave a review, they are very encouraging and help us improve the game within our abilities. We hope Tormentosa surprises and terrifies you equally, and that your blood will protect you from all evil. Go for it, good luck!

Crisol: Theater of Idols is a first-person horror/action game set in Hispania, a twisted version of Spain. Play as Gabriel, a soldier who uses blood as both weapon and lifeline. Explore the cursed island of Tormentosa, uncover dark secrets, and battle horrifying enemies. Will you survive? Crisol is developed by Vermila Studios, and published by Blumhouse Games.

According to fresh news reports ChangXin Memory Technologies (CXMT) has just announced the initiation of HBM3 module mass manufacturing activities. The Chinese computer memory maker is slowly catching up with more mainstream international rivals—most notably, South Korean companies started full production of fourth-generation high-bandwidth memory (HBM3) products back in 2023. Over the past year, CXMT has demonstrated improved capabilities across a promising range of (mostly) commercial lines—for example, their proprietary DDR5 and LPDDR5X designs were showcased in preview form, last November. By early February (2026), the likes of ASUS, Acer, Dell, and HP were reportedly weighing up the sourcing of CXMT consumer-grade memory products.

The first signs of CXMT's diversification into the development of "homegrown" HBM3 modules were divulged by industry insiders, last May. By early autumn, a joint venture—involving YMTC—seemed to pave the way for an acceleration of the Chinese industry's overall HBM manufacturing footprint. Huawei's newest/futuristic Ascend AI accelerator relies on "in-house" HBM tech, due to global sanctions preventing the supply of cutting-edge Micron, Samsung, SK Hynix components to Chinese firms. An MK South Korea reports cites recent information disclosed by an anonymous source, regarding a secret partnership: "Huawei, which is leading the development of AI semiconductors in China, is developing HBM together with CXMT. It is expected to enter mass production despite (talk of) low yield(s)." Further inside track info posits that CXMT is planning a per month output of 60,000 wafers for "HBM3 production." This impressive guesstimate allegedly accounts for about 20% of the memory maker's total manufacturing capacity of 300,000 wafers per month, at least for 2026.

Carbice, a leader in vertically-aligned carbon nanotubes and manufacturing assembly solutions for advanced computing and power systems, today announced a strategic partnership with DarkNX, a global digital infrastructure company building next-generation AI data centers optimized for high-density workloads. Through the partnership, Carbice becomes a system-level solutions expert in data center design, with interface assembly and material expertise, and long-term performance validation to support next-generation AI infrastructure at scale.

Under the partnership, Carbice will support DarkNX and its customers' data center development projects with expertise and data collection through the Carbice Lab, a recognized center of thought leadership in thermal interface reliability. Carbice will work alongside other partners whose technology was selected as a core element of DarkNX's recently announced 300MW data center campus in Ontario, Canada. Together, DarkNX, Carbice, and others will support performance and reliability from chip-level cooling through critical thermal, mechanical, and electrical interfaces that impact long-term uptime and hardware life, and lower the cost to OEMs of building servers.

ChintzyPC, a new member of the TechPowerUp community, has kindly shared their experience of picking up an unreleased "Ampere" generation engineering sample. Their forum debut appeared in the form a very in-depth exploration of NVIDIA's very rare GeForce RTX 3080 Ti 20 GB model. Late last year a scruffy yet fairly official-looking ASUS ROG Strix non-Ti variant turned up via the Chinese second-hand market. Fortuntely, ChintzyPC has acquired a comparatively pristine example of Team Green's Founders Edition design. GA102 GPU-based GeForce RTX 3080 Ti and 3080 (non-Ti) 20 GB cards are unusual prospects, given that NVIDIA has not officially disclosed the existence of these past-gen models. TechPowerUp's GPU database lists the former, with a release date of January 2022 and a $1199 (USD) MSRP, but the GeForce RTX 3080 (non-Ti) 20 GB SKU remains unregistered.

ChintzyPC recounted an acquaintance's purchasing of two "3080 Ti 20 GB Engineering Samples" via a local seller, to the tune of $200 per unit. Surprisingly, the cards turned up in formal packaging, complete with a sticker that bears model codes, serial numbers, and barcodes. They note that not much confidence was inspired when the vendor disappeared soon after processing their friend's orders. ChintzyPC's write-up details a "mix of teardown notes, benching results, and general observations, while figuring out what exactly this thing is and how it behaves." After initial tinkering sessions, ChintzyPC concluded that their latest curio is an: "unreleased (GeForce) RTX 3080 Ti 20 GB engineering sample with GA102-250 on a hybrid (RTX) 3090-style PCB. 320-bit bus, requires patched driver. Gaming performance sits around a GeForce RTX 3080 (non-Ti) 12 GB. Compute workloads crash. Overclocks normally but firmware is heavily locked down. Very strange card, (but) a fun one to dig into...In case anyone wonders (whether) there is an uploaded version of this VGA BIOS, (it is available) here (through TPU's collection)." A commenter (Dr. Do) and VideoCardz reckon that only a limited batch of retail-grade MSI GeForce RTX 3080 Ti 20 GB cards seeped out via back channel avenues in 2021—only within Russian territories.

Hey readers, ever hear the story of the FBI Space-Time Police Special Agent Romeo, who takes down space-time criminals in search of his lost girlfriend? No? Well, you'll be able to find out with the arrival of Romeo is a Dead Man! We've uploaded one final trailer for you all today, featuring some brand-new music that'll be in the game. Seeing is believing as they say, so take a good hard look.

As you can see we're getting some pretty serious artists to contribute to the game's soundtrack, further reinforcing Romeo is a Dead Man as a dead-serious action-adventure game. How serious exactly? Well, we asked Grasshopper Manufacture CEO, director, and scenario writer Goichi Suda (pictured left) and co-director and scenario writer Ren Yamazaki (pictured right) to find out.

Samsung is readying its Exynos 2600 application processor (AP) for a late February debut in next-gen Galaxy S26 smartphone models. Recent promotional fanfare has focused on the South Korean semiconductor giant's 2 nm GAA process (SF2), but early 2026 leaks have suggested work continuing on two futuristic fronts—a more advanced manufacturing process (SF2P), and the mysterious Exynos 2700 mobile processor design. Earlier today, Park Yu-ak of Kiwoom Securities made a bold prediction about Samsung's next-gen AP design: "the Exynos 2700 will enter full-scale mass production in the second half of this year using Samsung Foundry's SF2P process and will record a market share of around 50% in the Galaxy S27."

Currently, smartphone industry experts believe that Exynos 2600 chipsets will only deploy in 25% of the soon-to-be-launched Galaxy S26 series. The remaining share will be powered by Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 "for Galaxy" SoC. Samsung leadership is very likely pursuing a more favorable spread of in-house technologies, as future Exynos designs become more competitive in a bustling market. Mixed rumors of 2 nm GAA node production yields have somewhat dampened expectations of the South Korean megacorp's foundry business, but the latest Kiwoom Securities forecast outlines a cool operating profit of 1.8 trillion won by 2027 for Samsung Electronic's non-memory division. Within the past month or two, industry insiders have whispered about potential SF2 and SF2P deals being signed in the same sentence as AMD, Qualcomm, and Tesla.

Forza Horizon 6 is coming to Xbox Series X|S and PC on May 19! Just a few weeks ago, we introduced you to some of the incredible new features and experiences you can look forward to discovering in Japan. Whether you're only catching up with the news now, or you just want a refresher on some of the coolest details we revealed at Developer_Direct, this blog is for you!

#1 World Famous Japanese Landmarks
As you already know, Forza Horizon 6 takes the Horizon Festival to the breathtaking landscapes of Japan! Tokyo City's iconic downtown area is home to iconic landmarks like Shibuya Crossing, Ginko Avenue and Tokyo Tower. You'll also get to drive on roads inspired by the C1 loop, as well as iconic mountain passes like Mt. Haruna and Bandai Azuma.

Last November, ASUS launched its GeForce RTX 5090 ROG MATRIX Platinum 30th anniversary 32 GB graphics card model. This strictly limited edition release—at the time, only 1000 units were produced—demanded a whopping $3999 (per unit) price tag. Unique selling points (USPs) included an unusual overall design, 3 oz copper PCB layers, a dual-power input involving the 16-pin 12V-2x6 connector and BTF-supplied power delivery, as well as the integration of a tiny Bosch Sensortec BMI323 inertial measurement unit (IMU). By early December, it was not clear whether initial quality issues had caused an official(?) recall of extremely overengineered MATRIX custom flagships. Months later, a Chinese market variant has hit the pre-order stage—over the weekend, ITHome reported on the pre-release status of this sanction-conforming model.

Despite featuring downgraded specifications, the customized GeForce RTX 5090 D V2 24 GB version still demands a hefty cost of entry—a main JD.com listing advertises a price tag of 29,999 yuan (~$4341 USD). Last month, Tony Yu—the manager of ASUS China—showcased a MATRIX GeForce RTX 5090 D V2 sample achieving a 3DMark Time Spy Extreme score of 28,638 points. This impressive tally was enabled via an 800 W operation mode, ITHome noted that this figure: "even surpasses NVIDIA's RTX PRO 6000 (21,760 cores vs. 24,064 cores), which is closer to (utilizing) the 'full-blooded' GB202 (GPU die's max. count of 24,576 units)." The older GeForce RTX 5090 D "V1" 32 GB card was no slouch in gaming and AI performance departments, but global tensions led to an eventual cut-off of supplies into China. Oddly, ITHome tracked the 25,999 yuan (~$3762 USD) listing of an MSI GeForce RTX 5090 D Gaming Trio 32 GB SKU on the JD.com e-tail platform, earlier on in 2026. In any case, local hardcore PC enthusiasts and AI companies can access top-tier "Blackwell" GPU hardware, whether in V2 or V1 guises. Black market options, including "truly banned" models are also (reportedly) available.

Today (February 9) marks the day where every single story event and encounter is now fully playable. A lot of polishing awaits us and don't get me wrong—it's a ton of work! But it's all more predictable. No new content will be added, no new sections. Just bug fixing and making things look pretty or play/read better. QOL improvements, optimization, editing, localization. Like I said, it's a ton, just more predictable. If everything goes well we'll divulge a release date in a couple of months. Stay tuned!

This is definitely my favorite part of development, and I'm getting that feeling I had when we were about wrap up VA-11 Hall-A's production; with a combination of good and bad anxiety. The only difference is that we're self-publishing this time, so a ton more is falling on our shoulders. We're betting on ourselves, and we have no clue if it's gonna be worth it by the end of it. This current stage implies more grind than problem-solving, so don't expect me to talk much from here unless catastrophic things happen that make us rewrite systems or something. Or funny anecdotes. Let's hope for funny anecdotes! Wish us luck, too.

This season's AMD Rewards campaign started going live this morning, across several regions. Officially, this promotional period started today (February 10), at 9:00 a.m. ET, and is due to end on April 25. Participants have until May 23 (11:59:59 p.m. ET) to get/redeem "Crimson Desert with select AMD products." Hints of a Pearl Abyss—the game's South Korean development team—and Team Red collaboration appeared online last week; eventually leading to the reveal of Sapphire's Nitro+ Radeon RX 9070 XT OC Crimson Desert Edition graphics card model. In terms of qualifying desktop processor products, AMD has narrowed its selection down to current-gen 3D V-Cache-augmented gaming models, including the 16-core Ryzen 9 9950X3D, 12-core Ryzen 9 9900X3D, and 8-core Ryzen 7 9800X3D. The semi-recently launched Ryzen 7 9850X3D SKU gets some special treatment—according to the latest reward scheme's small print: "purchases of this product prior to the Campaign Period are eligible to receive a Coupon Code."

The Crimson Desert promotion also encompasses RDNA 4 generation graphics cards, although the Red Team has only deemed its upper echelon options worthy of this Pearl Abyss sponsorship. The Radeon RX 9070 XT and Radeon RX 9070 (both 16 GB models) are qualifiers in this category. Oddly, cheaper Radeon RX 9060 XT (16 GB and 8 GB) cards are not listed in freshly published material. Also absent is the Chinese market exclusive Radeon RX 9070 GRE 12 GB or 16 GB models. The less potent Radeon RX 9000-series products are very likely capable of running the Black Desert Online prequel to a satisfying degree—as noted by VideoCardz, Crimson Desert's minimum PC specification requirements hark back to pre-2020s processor and GPU hardware.

Tune in live this Thursday for 60+ minutes of news, gameplay updates, and announcements from game studios across the globe. February's State of Play will spotlight eye-catching third-party and indie games headed to PS5, along with the latest from teams at PlayStation Studios. State of Play broadcasts live February 12 at 2pm PT / 5pm ET / 11pm CEST | February 13 at 7am JST on YouTube and Twitch, and will be broadcast in English with Japanese subtitles also available. We'll see you then!

Regarding co-streaming and video-on-demand (VOD)
Please note that this broadcast may include copyrighted content (e.g. licensed music) that PlayStation does not control. We welcome and celebrate our amazing co-streamers and creators, but licensing agreements outside our control could interfere with co-streams or VOD archives of this broadcast. If you're planning to save this broadcast as a VOD to create recap videos, or to repost clips or segments from the show, we advise omitting any copyrighted music.

Blizzard Entertainment's ongoing early 2026 showcase—and 35th anniversary celebration—has not produced many big surprises, although Overwatch 2's recent absorption into the larger/overall "Overwatch" brand has raised an eyebrow or three. Looking further ahead, new IP announcements could be made during September's BlizzCon 2026 event. Naturally, the North American company's dormant StarCraft franchise will be the topic of renewed online speculation. A 2017 remaster of Blizzard Entertainment's original title (1998) was not deemed substantial or good enough for a lot of the sci-fi RTS IP's fan base. The final tranche of StarCraft II DLC arrived back in late 2016; as the "Nova Covert Ops" single-player mission pack. According to a dnews report from a week ago, Blizzard and Nexon are co-operating on a "reimagination" of StarCraft as a "shooter experience." The South Korean news publication believes that "full-scale development" has commenced on a "new game utilizing the StarCraft IP (intellectual property)."

Going into further inside track detail, Nexon has allegedly completed preliminary preparations (aka a pre-production phase) in the recent past. According to an unnamed industry insider, a content development agreement was given the thumbs up by Blizzard leadership, last year. This "cooperation contract" could lead to the creation of—as phrased by the dnews article—a "megaton project capable of shaking the global gaming market." Nexon has reportedly assigned this highly important undertaking to their internal "Shooter Division" studio. Arc Raiders (2025) is a notable hit for the South Korean/Japanese video game developer and publisher, although Sweden's Embark Studios was responsible for the development of this popular PvPvE extraction shooter.

Bandai Namco Entertainment America Inc. has launched MY HERO ACADEMIA: All's Justice, the super-powered 3D arena fighter based on the global anime phenomenon My Hero Academia. The game features multiple modes where players are thrust into unforgettable battles set in the My Hero Academia universe, including an explosive Story Mode set during the climactic Final War arc. Players experience "ONE LAST SMASH" through iconic battles, exclusive new stories and missions, and action-packed PvP that showcase the series' legendary Heroes and Villains in their final and most powerful forms. MY HERO ACADEMIA: All's Justice is available now on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC via Steam in Standard, Deluxe, and Ultimate Editions.

As the news cycle approached Christmas (2025), rumors emerged of other smartphone chip manufacturers considering an adoption of Samsung's intriguing "Heat Path Block" (HPB) technology. By the middle of January, the Fixed-focus digital cameras Weibo account surmised HPB being picked up by "many chip manufacturers that commonly use Android chips." Earlier today, a leaked "SM8975" packaging set of schematics seem to show Qualcomm's integration of a Samsung-designed Heat Path Block into a next-gen Snapdragon mobile chipset. The latest finding—again, courtesy of Fixed-focus digital cameras—indicates the speculative Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 Pro model borrowing a key piece of heatsink technology from Samsung's soon-to-be-launched Exynos 2600 SoC.

By the end of last week, multiple news articles claimed that Qualcomm was borrowing the HPB design from an arch-rival. The San Diego, California-headquartered fabless semiconductor specialist's recent flagship processors have enjoyed high placements in terms of benchmark results, but these cutting-edge chips have seemingly hit thermal limit barriers—even when combined with expensive vapor chamber-based cooling solutions. Samsung Foundry's HPB is placed over and in contact with the chipset die, without any blockage (unwantingly) enabled by a layer of DRAM. Instead, the latter aspect is moved to the side (refer to the fourth image below). Reports from late last year mentioned Qualcomm and Apple being the two main (external) frontrunners of HPB adoption, outside of Samsung pioneering the way with its 2-nanometer Exynos 2600 application processor.

One of the defining traits of the Gothic franchise has always been its living world. A dynamic ecosystem full of creatures, NPCs, and critters that carry out their daily routines, whether the player is watching or not. This self-sustaining environment has long been key to Gothic's unmistakable atmosphere, turning the Valley of Mines into more than just a backdrop; it's a breathing, believable place that feels alive.

In the fifth entry of their ongoing Making Of series, the developers at Alkimia Interactive take players behind the scenes to show how this hallmark feature has been faithfully reimagined for the new generation. Every area, landmark, and character has been rebuilt from the ground up, carefully balancing authenticity with fresh detail and modern technology.

Following a mid-January PlayStation 6 chipset leak, Kepler L2 has predicted memory configurations for Sony's next-gen home console (sometimes codenamed "Orion"), as well as a futuristic handheld system. This past weekend, the experienced tech soothsayer outlined key points of interest via the NeoGAF discussion board. In a thread mostly focused on a "next-gen Xbox," a slight deviation into PlayStation territories produced a notable prediction of "up to 30 GB of GDDR7 memory" for the PS5's rumored successor. When answering queries about this impressive dollop of system RAM, Kepler L2 believes that this maximum provision is achievable through the use of 3 GB GDDR7 memory modules in an unusual clamshell configuration.

Commenters did not think that this would be possible with "only 4 GB (GDDR7) modules on a 160-bit bus." In theory, a total bandwidth of 640 GB/s could be enabled, even with a reduced bus (from 256-bit down to 160-bit)—leading to an 11% higher figure than the PS5 Pro's main transfer credential (576 GB/s). Additionally, Kepler L2 believes that the Sony PlayStation engineering team will be bunging (up to) 24 GB of memory into the speculated "PS6 Portable" (aka "Project Canis") handheld gaming console. Previous leaks have suggested the implementation of premium low-power DRAM (LPDDR5X), an expected selection for manufacturers of high-end mobile devices. This memory spec could place the PS6 handheld within the region of ASUS ROG's Xbox Ally X model. Currently, the main caveat of generous/impressively large pools of system memory boils down to pricing and availability. An ongoing supply crisis has already driven fresh rumors of Sony delaying its next-gen gaming systems beyond a proposed 2027 launch window.

A free trial for Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection lets you get a taste of the game before its March 13, 2026 release. In addition to jumping right into the beginning of the story, you'll be able to customize your character, try out the battle system, and start collecting equipment and Monsties just like in the full version. You can transfer your save data to the full version and continue playing where you left off.

Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection—Trial Version
The trial version has only one save slot (the full version will have three). You can only advance to level 10 in the trial version. You can continue playing upon reaching the level cap, but you will no longer gain any experience points. The amount of Trade Points and Monsties you can accumulate are also capped. In order to carry over your progress to the full version, you must use the same account, with the save data on your PC.

Intel's oft-leaked Core Ultra 200 Plus "Arrow Lake Refresh" processor series is expected to launch in March or April, according to rumors floated just after the conclusion of CES 2026. This past weekend, HXL/9550pro weighed in with a more focused timeframe—they propose that Team Blue will lift an important review embargo on March 23, at a very specific 6 a.m. (PST) morning slot. Evaluations of incoming Core Ultra 7 270K Plus, Ultra 5 250K, and Ultra 5 250KF desktop models are reportedly due for publication on that Monday. Oddly, the latest leak does not allude to an imminent embargo lift affecting "-HX" variants for the laptop/notebook market. Many Intel enthusiasts were looking forward to a major "Arrow Lake Refresh" unveiling at last month's CES trade show, but company leadership decided to go all-in with the introduction of "Panther Lake-H" mobile chips.

Throughout early 2026, Team Blue has kept quiet about forthcoming "Arrow Lake-S Refresh" desktop processors, but an official mid-January announcement—courtesy of the ASUS social media account—indicated a readying of BIOS support updates, in advance of an eventual retail launch. Up until recently, the Core Ultra 5 250K Plus model has been the most mysterious of Intel's "ARL-S Refresh" parts—a sudden increase in pre-release benchmarking activity and premature e-tail listings has occurred in parallel with whispers of a non-arrival of its flagship sibling. Late last week, two anonymous sources—in correspondence with VideoCardz—posited that Intel had removed the 24-core Ultra 9 290K Plus SKU from its near future "Arrow Lake-S Refresh" launch lineup. This past weekend Tom's Hardware (via momomo_us) spotted prematurely published pricing information, regarding the remaining Core Ultra 7 270K Plus, Ultra 5 250K, and Ultra 5 250KF models. An unspecified webstore listed price tags of $357.12, $245.92, and $227.38 (respectively).

Romeo is A Dead Man is coming to Xbox Series X|S, PS5, and PC (Steam/Windows) on February 11, 2026! In this third-person, action adventure, players will assume the role of Romeo Stargazer, a man trapped in the space between life and death created by a mysterious time paradox. In his new role as FBI Space-Time Agent "Dead Man", Romeo will uncover a wild, unpredictable story with intense battles, hunt down some of the universe's most dangerous fugitives, and search for his missing girlfriend, Juliet. There's a lot of weird and wonderful themes at play inside Romeo is A Dead Man, and so, I sat down with Executive Director Goichi Suda (Suda 51) and Director Ren Yamazaki to find how it all came together.

The game is pretty chaotic right off the bat. How'd it end up like that?
Suda Goichi (Suda 51): The opening in particular is full speed ahead, yeah. If we're gonna cause some ruckus right off the bat, we might as well equally get the player in the thick of the action as fast as possible so they don't have to think too long about it. I'm just glad if they can enjoy the action right from the start.

Last Friday, an Overclocking.com article made an extremely bold claim about a new RTX 5000-series graphics card model arriving at some point later on in 2026. The France-based publication cites unnamed sources of inside information; mostly gathered during last month's CES trade show. The rumor-heavy report insists that the mysterious "Blackwell" gaming range-topper exists as a separate entity; distinct from Team Green's supposedly postponed GeForce RTX 50 "SUPER" refresh family. According to Overclocking.com's CES 2026 ground team, three unnamed brand representatives had whispered about "a new RTX card for 2026." Additionally, another OCC staffer heard of similar theories—from a "different set" of company reps—during a recent trip through Asian. After gathering sufficient evidence from industry contacts, Overclocking.com proposes that a "model positioned above" NVIDIA's current "Blackwell" flagship gaming card—the GeForce RTX 5090 32 GB—is on the way. The French site even sent a tip-off to VideoCardz—latterly, the highly-popular graphics card news specialist has not picked up on similar gossip from its own network of board partner moles.

The Overclocking.com news piece posits that Team Green could be working on a "Founders Edition-only" release, marked down for launch during the "Back to School" period (Q3 2026). A current-gen "TITAN-esque" design or a "GeForce RTX 5090 Ti" SKU are listed as possible candidates to dethrone the venerable GB202-300-A1 GPU-based GeForce RTX 5090 model. Over a year ago, ChipHell presented a curious sneak peek of an NVIDIA "GB202-200-A1" ASIC—at the time, this "more capable" GPU was linked to a hypothetical GeForce RTX TITAN "Blackwell" card design. Given present-day component supply problems, bringing a possibly extremely expensive brand-new gaming product to market seems to be a tall task. GeForce RTX 5090 cards are often used for AI tasks, rather than for entertainment purposes. Allegedly, Intel has pivoted away from deploying its largest "Battlemage" GPU in Arc B-series gaming lines; instead favoring upcoming Arc Pro workstation solutions.

Following CES 2026 and the broader conversation around the role of AI in gaming, Razer is sharing more about how we think about AI, how it fits into the future of gaming, and the principles shaping our development efforts. These ideas reflect what Razer CEO and Co-founder Min-Liang Tan discussed during his appearance on The Verge's Decoder podcast.

Razer CEO Dislikes GenAI Slop in Gaming
"As gamers… what we're unhappy with is GenAI slop. When I play a game, I want to be engaged. I want to be immersed. I want to compete. I don't want to see characters with extra fingers or shoddily written storylines." said Min. AI has played a role in gaming for decades, evolving from the predictable patterns of early arcade titles like Pac-Man into the adaptive NPCs and procedural systems of modern open worlds. What has changed recently is the rise of generative AI tools that can create large volumes of content quickly, sometimes at the expense of quality. For Razer, the question has never been whether AI belongs in gaming, but how it should be used to strengthen the craft of making games.

A week ago, Sapphire Technology's social media account started to tease a forthcoming Crimson Desert collaborative product. A few days later, the Hong Kong-based computer hardware specialist unveiled an officially redecorated variant of its current flagship RDNA 4 graphics card—the NITRO+ Radeon RX 9070 XT 16 GB model. In the time gap between Sapphire's two preview posts, web sleuths managed to find early retail listings—pre-release info included the product code (11348-10-20G), GTIN/EAN number (4895106297623), and a full product name—Sapphire Nitro+ Radeon RX 9070 XT OC Crimson Desert. Across a smattering of prematurely published Austrian and German webstore pages, possible placeholder pricing seems to be hovering around €970 - 980. Currently, the PCO Computer Handels GmbH online shop is advertising "in stock" availability.

Surprisingly, Sapphire's recent release of TRIXX v11.0 contained patch notes that mentioned the "Crimson Desert Version" special edition, as well as the PhantomLink spin-off. Crimson Desert, a single-player open-world fantasy action-adventure, is due to launch on multiple platforms next month—specifically March 19. The AMD x Sapphire Nitro+ x Pearl Abyss collaboration could bear fruit in the run-up to the Black Desert Online prequel's international arrival. Sapphire's promotional render shows a fairly typical Nitro+ RX 9070 XT card design that sports Crimson Desert livery; mainly on the backplate. Additionally and subtly, the triple-fan array features a different set of stickers, when compared to the standard model. Semi-recently, TechPowerUp's W1zzard was impressed by the high quality print present on ASRock and Capcom's Radeon RX 9070 XT Monster Hunter Wilds Edition card—a more mid-range-type design. Hopefully, Sapphire has applied a similar—or superior—level of treatment onto its premium-tier creation.

Meet the G7 Pro 8K PC, a wireless esports controller engineered for competitive PC gaming. Featuring ultra-responsive 8K Hz wired and 2.4G wireless polling, every movement and action is captured with lightning-fast precision, delivering a true competitive edge. In collaboration with Aimlabs, the well-known FPS training software, it combines pro-level performance with striking, software-inspired cyan aesthetics, earning its status as an officially licensed Aimlabs accessory.

With an 8000 Hz polling rate over both wired and 2.4G wireless connections, the G7 Pro 8K PC delivers smoother control and instant response, ensuring every input is registered with esports-grade precision. Designed for pro-level performance, the G7 Pro 8K PC features second-generation GameSir Mag-Res TMR sticks. Compared to the first generation, the Gen-2 TMR sticks continue to use magnetic technology to eliminate physical contact, delivering long-lasting anti-stick drift reliability. At the same time, with 8K Hz polling, they provide smoother, more linear control and ultra-low power consumption, ensuring precise and responsive gameplay for competitive gamers.