Welcome to the second to last full week of 2025 and most likely the last week of any kind of interesting new game releases. This week's major release is a first person MMO set in a post Soviet-era universe. If that's not your ginger bread flavour, how about a top-down mix between a MOBA and an RPG, or a tactics-JRPG from the PS4, since we're apparently blending several different styles of game styles this week. Next up we have a retro FPS, which is followed by a retro 2D platformer remaster and finally we end the week with some pro bowling of all things.

Pioner / This week's major release / Tuesday 16 December
Pioner is an open-world MMO first-person shooter set in a haunting, alternative-reality world where Soviet-era structures lie abandoned on a desolate, post-apocalyptic island. In this immersive environment, the gameplay experience is defined by dynamic PvE and PvP elements, where realism takes priority over traditional health bars or character levels. Steam link

Independent developer and publisher CI Games has revealed the very first look at gameplay of the highly anticipated action-RPG Lords of the Fallen II as part of The Game Awards (TGA). The hard-hitting new trailer, featuring a cover of "It's a Sin" by chart-topping rock band Ghost, illustrates the game's brutal soulslike combat against an array of fearsome, towering creatures amid an expansive world characterized by its trademark dual realms. Built on Unreal Engine 5, Lords of the Fallen II launches in 2026 on the PlayStation 5 system, the Xbox Series X|S console systems, PC via the Epic Games Store, and is available to wishlist now.

Lords of the Fallen II, currently in active development, is a new soulslike action-RPG set in a human realm besieged by eons of malevolent gods, visceral magic, and unflinching defenders. 1,000 years after the fall of the dark god Adyr, a lone kingdom stands against the forces of the dead realm known as Umbral and its eldritch master.

Star Wars: Galactic Racer is prepping its engines for launch, bringing a runs-based, high-stakes reinvention of racing to the Star Wars galaxy in 2026. Launching on PlayStation 5 (PS5), Xbox Series X|S, and PC, Star Wars: Galactic Racer is the debut game from AAA development studio Fuse Games - led by former Criterion Games GM Matt Webster - in collaboration with Lucasfilm Games and publisher Secret Mode.

Star Wars: Galactic Racer introduces players to The Galactic League, an unsanctioned racing circuit born in the lawless Outer Rim, where the galaxy's best pilots battle in dangerous races where only the bold survive. Slam, shunt, and takedown rivals as you pilot different classes of repulsorcraft each with distinct physics and playstyles. Speed across new and iconic Star Wars planets, where branching routes and varied environments ensure no two races play the same.

Capcom Co., Ltd. today announced that sci-fi action-adventure game PRAGMATA, a completely new IP, is scheduled for release on April 24, 2026. PRAGMATA is a new type of sci-fi action-adventure game mixing puzzle and action elements. In the game, which takes place on the moon in a near-future world, the spacesuit-clad Hugh and android girl Diana cooperate while fighting their way back to Earth. By bringing the title to Nintendo Switch 2 in addition to PlayStation 5 system, Xbox Series X|S and PC, Capcom looks to further advance its multi-platform strategy and expand its user base. Moreover, a playable demo of the game will be released first on PC starting today, December 12, to further convey the appeal of the title. The company hopes that players look forward to PRAGMATA, which has already garnered acclaim for its playable demos at global events, including Tokyo Game Show 2025, one of the largest game shows.

Capcom remains firmly committed to satisfying the expectations of all users by leveraging its industry leading game development capabilities in order to create highly entertaining gameplay experiences.

Kioxia Corporation, a world leader in memory solutions, today announced the development of highly stackable oxide-semiconductor channel transistors that will enable the practical implementation of high-density, low-power 3D DRAM. This technology was presented at the IEEE International Electron Devices Meeting (IEDM) held in San Francisco, USA, on December 10, and has the potential to reduce power consumption across a wide range of applications, including AI servers and IoT components.

In the era of AI, there is growing demand for DRAM with larger capacity and lower power consumption that can process large amounts of data. Traditional DRAM technology is reaching the physical limits of memory cell size scaling, prompting research into the 3D stacking of memory cells to provide additional capacity. The use of single-crystal silicon as the channel material for transistors in stacked memory cells, as is the case with conventional DRAM, drives up manufacturing costs, and the power required to refresh the memory cells increases proportionally to the memory capacity.

TrendForce's latest research indicates that the global foundry industry continued to profit in 3Q25, fueled by strong demand for AI in HPC and new consumer-electronics chips and IC peripherals. Revenue was primarily driven by advanced processes at 7 nm and below, with support from high-value wafers. Chinese foundries also expanded their business through supply-chain diversification. As a result, total revenue for the top 10 foundries increased by 8.1% QoQ to nearly US$45.1 billion.

TrendForce notes that expectations for 2026 demand have become cautious amid geopolitical headwinds. Furthermore, DRAM shortages and quarterly price increases since mid-2025 continue to strain downstream production costs. Even though automotive and industrial-control segments are preparing to resume restocking toward the end of 2025, the 4Q25 uptick in foundry utilization will be limited. Consequently, revenue growth among the top 10 is projected to narrow significantly in the fourth quarter.

JEDEC Solid State Technology Association, the global leader in standards development for the microelectronics industry, today announced it is nearing completion of a new standard for Standard Package High Bandwidth Memory (SPHBM4). SPHBM4 devices are similar to the HBM4 devices commonly used in artificial intelligence accelerators, using the same DRAM dies on a new interface base die which can be mounted on standard organic substrates. In contrast, HBM4 is typically mounted on silicon substrates.

As planned, SPHBM operates at the same aggregate data throughput as HBM4 using fewer pins by operating at a higher frequency. Where the HBM4 interface has 2048 data signals, when published, SPHBM4 will define 512 data signals with 4:1 serialization to achieve the same bandwidth. This change allows the relaxed bump pitch required for connection to organic substrates.

New research from Omdia shows that the semiconductor market delivered a record breaking performance in 3Q25 with industry revenue reaching $216.3bn, up 14.5% quarter-over-quarter (QoQ). This marks the first time the global semiconductor market has exceeded $200bn in a single quarter, following an already strong 2Q25, which saw 8% QoQ growth. At this pace, the industry is on track to exceed $800bn in total revenue for 2025.

3Q25 far exceeds seasonal expectations
Demand for AI and memory products remains strong, with both segments continuing to outpace the wider market. While AI has dominated recent industry narratives, Omdia notes that more segments contributed to growth in 3Q25 than in previous quarters.

Without much fanfare, ASUS has listed the ROG Strix 5K XG27JCG on its ROG website and as the model name alludes, we're looking at a 5K gaming monitor. In this case, 5K equates to 5120 x 2880 pixels, or 2560 x 1440 in dual mode. The 27-inch fast IPS panel is capable of 180 Hz in 5K mode, or 330 Hz in QHD mode and it has a 0.3 ms response time (GTG). The panel also sports VESA DisplayHDR 600, a contrast ratio of 1500:1 and it supports 97 percent of the DCI-P3 colour space. More gaming specific features include ASUS's ELMB 2 technology, ELMB sync, FreeSync Premium Pro and G-SYNC compatible support, plus a host of other ASUS specific gaming features.

Oddly enough, ASUS has only equipped the ROG Strix 5K XG27JCG with a DP 1.4 port, as well as two HDMI 2.1 ports and a USB Type-C port that either does DP Alt mode and 15 W power delivery, or is only for firmware upgrades, depending on where on the product page you look. There's also a 3-port USB 3.2 Gen 1 (5 Gbps) hub with a separate input, as well as a headphone jack. We should also point out that according to ASUS, to use the display at 180 Hz at 5K, an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 50-series card or an AMD Radeon RX7600 or better is needed. According to VideoCardz, the ROG Strix 5K XG27JCG is already listed by Hong Kong retailers for HKD 6,499, which equates to around US$840.

The Standard Performance Evaluation Corporation (SPEC), the trusted global leader in computing benchmarks, today announced the availability of the SPECviewperf 15.0.1 benchmark, an important update to the worldwide standard for measuring graphics performance based on professional applications. This release introduces snx-05, a workload based on Siemens NX 2406, rounding out the benchmark's support for high-end computer-aided design (CAD) applications.

The new snx-05 workload represents the first "snap-in" workload enabled by SPECviewperf 15's modern architecture, which allows for the addition of new workloads without requiring users to re-run existing benchmarks. This workload utilizes the OpenGL graphics API and stresses standard OpenGL features, including vertex and pixel shaders, textures, and multisampled antialiasing.

TrendForce's latest investigations reveal that memory prices are projected to rise sharply again in the first quarter of 2026, exerting significant cost pressure on global end-device manufacturers. Consequently, smartphone and notebook brands are compelled to increase their product prices and reduce specifications. A further downward revision of shipment forecasts now seems unavoidable, with market resources becoming more concentrated among a few leading brands.

TrendForce notes that memory is increasingly accounting for a larger share of the BOM costs in consumer devices like smartphones and PCs. Even for Apple, which has strong profitability, the memory component in the total BOM for iPhones is expected to significantly increase in 1Q26. This development may lead Apple to reevaluate pricing strategies for new models and consider reducing or removing price cuts on older versions.

Fairphone, the global leader in modular and sustainable electronics, introduces the new Fairbuds XL, the next evolution of its award-winning modular, self-repairable headphones. Building on the success of its predecessor, the new Fairbuds XL improves on features that made the original a success, delivering richer sound, greater comfort, and even better sustainability.

Chandler Hatton, Chief Technology Officer at Fairphone: "With the new Fairbuds XL, we set out to build something truly worth keeping. Every improvement we made had to enhance both performance and responsibility. So you get richer sound, a more comfortable fit, and a design you can open, repair, and continue using long after most products are replaced. Better audio, better materials, certified longevity - all working together. This is what technology looks like when modularity, longevity and caring for people and the planet is at the core of the design from the very start."

Ahead of CES 2026, DEEPX, a pioneer in ultra-low-power on-device AI semiconductors, today announced the official launch of the DX-H1 vision neural processing unit (V-NPU), a dedicated video intelligence chipset capable of processing hundreds of AI video channels at just 30 W.

Redefining Video AI Infrastructure
The DX-H1 V-NPU is an all-in-one video intelligence solution combining a multi-channel engine capable of decoding, encoding and transcoding with dedicated NPU architecture. Unlike traditional setups that require parallel configurations of GPU servers and hardware codecs, the DX-H1 V-NPU handles the entire pipeline on a single chip -- from stream input to preprocessing, AI inference, and re-encoding.

As the end of the year draws closer, the release schedule of new games is slowing down, just like it does every year. This week kicks off with a game that was supposed to launch a month ago, but got pushed back the day before it was meant to be released, so you might've seen it mentioned in these updates already. The other releases this week include a trip to the underworld on a skateboard, a trip to the spirit world, the end of the world, a world reborn from the ashes and finally a world full of robots that wants to terminate you.

Unbeatable / This week's major release / Tuesday 9 December
Unbeatable is an anime-juiced rhythm adventure where you (figuratively) destroy on stage while you (literally) destroy on stage. During rhythm gameplay, you only need two buttons: a button for up and a button for down. Simple to understand! The complicated part is doing it. Try not to get destroyed yourself. Steam link