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Sony pulling PlayStation Now cards from retail to focus on PlayStation gift cards
by CEES STAPEL
If you click on a link and make a purchase we may receive a small commission. Read our editorial policy. Cards are being pulled from retail globally. Sony is pulling PlayStation Now gift cards from retailers globally. In a statement sent provided to VentureBeat, Sony said it is moving away from PlayStation Now gift cards to focus on the currently available PlayStation gift cards. These cards can be redemmed for PlayStation Now. News of the cards being pulled surfaced yesterd
Tweak these God of War settings for divine performance and visuals
Home Features Action God Of War (Image credit: Future) The one-time Playstation-exclusive, God of War, has finally made its way onto our beloved PCs. With the promise of higher frame rates, better visuals, and depending on your stance, better controls as well, this is the best way of playing the much-loved game. And the good news is that it does indeed play well on a range of hardware and resolutions. Morgan enjoyed a mostly consistent 90fps at 1080p on hi
Arcade1Up steps up its replica arcade cabinets with full-size 'pro' machines
If size was the problem with these previous home arcade machines, there's now a full-grown option. Retro gaming is big business. Be it high-end, high-price retro handhelds or mini arcade cabinets, there's a huge audience and a mint to be made by companies willing to stoke our nostalgia - and one of the market leaders is now taking things to the next level. Announced at this year's Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, replica arcade creator Arcade1Up is giving their range s
Stardew Valley speedrunner starts by blowing up his farm and trashing his tools
Home News Sim Stardew Valley (Image credit: ConcernedApe) The yearly charity speedrunning marathon Awesome Games Done Quick is in progress this week, allowing players from all sorts of games to show off their fast game strats. This year's Stardew Valley speedrun category was completing the town community center with glitches—and oh boy, the hacks sure did flow. Speedrunner Olenoname was the Stardew runner this year, and he rightfully preceded his playthrou
Uncharted video shows off extended look at the cargo plane scene
Watch Nathan try to get back on the plane. Our first look at the Uncharted film's official trailer came back in October. In it, we were given a look at Nathan Drake's fight in the cargo plane, which mirrors the one from Uncharted 3. Today, Sony has provided an extended look at the cargo plane scene, and you can view it below - if you wish to be spoiled. As you can see, as Nathan Drake, Tom Holland is pushed out of a cargo plane and is doing his best to climb back in via a set of
Valve and Geico team up for a Portal-themed insurance ad
Geico is a US-based insurance company famous for its Cockney gecko mascot. Valve is a US-based videogame company that made a pair of puzzle games starring a deranged, malevolent AI. Have you ever wondered what would happen if the two of them came together? Of course you haven't, because why would they, right? Well, they did. Earlier this month, Geico released a new advertisement entitled "The Gecko Visits Portal," and that's exactly what it is: The gecko has somehow wound up in the Aperture Sci
FIFA 22, NBA 2K22 and GTA 5 were the most downloaded titles on the PS Store in 2021
The charts cover both Europe and North America. Sony has announced the PlayStation Store's top downloads for 2021, and two sports titles and an old favorite topped the charts. NBA 2K22 on PlayStation 5 topped the chart in US and Canada, followed by Call of Duty: Vanguard, Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales, Madden NFL 22, and Battlefield 2042. respectively. Over in Europe, FIFA 22 topped the PS5 chart while Call of Duty: Vanguard came in second. In third was FIFA 21 with
Home Features Think of it as a house for all your PC parts. (Image credit: NZXT, Cooler Master) The best PC case won't just house all your PC components; it's a statement piece for your desk, and it says something about you. Your perfect PC case might be a hulking tower of RGB-laden doom, where others will be after a smaller, more subtle aesthetic. From full towers armed with half a dozen fans, or a teeny mini-ITX plastered with LEDs, there are options to go as
Pokemon Go's next Season of Heritage event focuses on rock and steel-type Pokemon
Mountains of Power is part two in the Season of Heritage event series. Mountains of Power is part two of the Seasons of Heritage event in Pokemon Go, and it kicks off on Friday, January 7 and runs through Thursday, January 13. During this time, the Season of Heritage Story continues with Team Leader Spark who believes the mysterious door encountered during part one requires the help of Rock- and Steel-type Pokemon to unlock it. Pokemon from the regions of Johto and Sinnoh will be
Home Features Best wireless gaming keyboard 2022 (Image credit: Future) The best wireless gaming keyboard will restore all that wasted space on you gaming desk that's taken up by wires. It's simply the neater-looking option. More than that, though, it allows you to game from your bedroom or sofa without any hassle, and use your gaming keyboard as a sort-of oversized TV remote for Netflix. Wireless keyboards have improved so drastically over the years, you can ha
Dying Light 2: 5 things you need to know about Techland's massive open world sequel
To celebrate the impending launch of Dying Light 2, we've collected some vital information about Techland's hotly anticipated open world epic. It's been nearly seven years since Dying Light launched on the last generation of consoles, and in that time, this fledgling franchise has already made one hell of a name for itself. Despite stumbling out the gates at launch, the first game has gone on to be something of a cult classic – one that's still supported by its developers
You'll find cheaper 4K gaming monitors out there, but I'm not sure you'll find many with such a feature set that are better value than this. For Affordable 4K 144Hz refresh rate Stunning IPS panel Great for 4K gaming Against Cheap stand Overdrive often overdoes it You'll find cheaper 4K gaming monitors out there, but I'm not sure you'll find many with such a feature set that are better value than this. Pros + Affordable 4K + 144Hz refresh rate + Stunning
Here's Riot's 5-year game plan following its large settlement payout
Nicolo Laurent explains the future goals for Riot Games in the wake of the recent legal settlement. As league of Legends enters its twelfth season, and the rushes forward into 2022, Riot Games CEO Nicolo Laurent has published a blog post titled Calling the Shot: the Next Five Years at Riot Games. In said blog post, he sets out future plans for the company, while addressing the recent settlement the company made with current and former women working at the studio. Early on in the
Apex Legends Dark Depths Event kicks off January 11 and runs through February 1
Will feature a new Arenas map, themed cosmetics, as well as various Flash Events. Respawn Entertainment has unveiled the newest Apex Legends Dark Depths Event which will begin January 11 and run through February 1. Dark Depths will feature a new Arenas map called Habitat, themed cosmetics that turn your Legends into terrors from the deep, and you can also enjoy weekly Flash Events. With the new Habitat map, you will be playing on one of the smallest islands in the New Antillia a
Samsung's AMD RDNA 2-powered Exynos 2200 reveal mysteriously delayed
Home News (Image credit: AMD Samsung) Samsung was set to show off the highly anticipated new Exynos 2200 SoC which is made in collaboration with AMD, using the RDNA2 GPUs. The teaser campaign on social media featured the title and hashtag "Playtime is Over" gearing everyone up for the announcement which was slated for January 11, 2022. But as VideoCardz reports, fans were left high and dry. Rather than blowing everyone away with a huge reveal, the electronic
Genshin Impact's Shenhe gets a chilling new character demo
If you click on a link and make a purchase we may receive a small commission. Read our editorial policy. We've gotten a look at both the gameplay and personality of Genshin Impact's upcoming cryo character It's a great start to the year for Genshin Impact fans, as we've just today gotten a new character demo for the upcoming cyro polearm-user Shenhe! This short video formally introduces us to the icy exorcist, giving us a mix of cinematic and gameplay glimpses which give
Finally, Libre Office adds Klingon language support
Home News (Image credit: Paramount) Libre Office just announced that, from February onwards, the Klingon language will be supported by the free word processing software. Thanks to the dedication of rebel nerds at The Open Document Foundation, founded by some previous Open Office employees, you'll soon be able to use your custom Klingon Keyboard to type out your own works of science fiction, and keep the cult following alive. At least, we assume it's support for
New Nvidia ray tracing filters and DSR updates coming with next driver update
Download and install January 14. A new GeForce Game Ready driver will be available on January 14, ensuring everyone receives the latest experience for God of War, Rainbow Six Extraction, Hitman 3, The Anacrusis, GRIT and Monster Hunter Rise. The driver will also introduce DLDSR (Deep Learning Dynamic Super Resolution), an updated Nvidia Control Panel feature, enhancing Dynamic Super Resolution (DSR) resolution with AI, to improve image quality and accelerate performance. Addition
Battlefield 2042's main subreddit has gotten so toxic it may shutdown
The biggest Battlefield 2042 subreddit's toxicity problem may force it to take a break. It's been a rough couple of months for Battlefield 2042 and its community. Following the game's disappointing launch, the series' most disgruntled fans torn it to shreds. This has, as it tends to do, unfortunately also extended to DICE developers. Since Battlefield 2042's launch in November, some of those who worked on the game have been bombarded with insults and the usual package of abuse
The best gaming headsets in 2022
Home Features Hear every subtle detail with the best gaming headsets. (Image credit: Future) There's a lot to look for in the best gaming headset. You need great sound quality, solid connectivity, good comfort, and an affordable price. Gaming headsets offer a lot of gimmicks, but few of them actually impact how you play games. These are the gaming headsets we've tested that perform exceptionally well. Some of the headsets in this guide excel at one thing—a big
Memetastic Halo Infinite Mister Chief cosmetic DLC out now
If you click on a link and make a purchase we may receive a small commission. Read our editorial policy. The DLC pack contains many cosmetics based on the popular Halo meme. The Halo Twitter account announced the release of a cosmetic pack featuring the Mister Chief meme for Halo Infinite, which includes a gun charm, a new AI skin, and other ways to kit out your character with the power of memes. Truly, we're living in a charmed future where corporations are charging us re
The RTX 3080 12GB is real and listed for more than the launch price of an RTX 3090
Home News (Image credit: Asus) The Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 12GB has officially arrived, and with wildly expensive launch day price tags. Following yesterday's rumour we had some inclination that Nvidia would announce the GeForce RTX 3080 12GB today, a graphics card with some minor upgrades over the pre-existing RTX 3080 10GB. That has since come to pass, though you could hardly call it an announcement on Nvidia's behalf. The company has released new official spe
Despite supply issues, Xbox Series X/S is Microsoft's best-selling hardware generation to date
Microsoft has confirmed that the Xbox Series X/S is its best generation to date in terms of sales , despite on-going issues with availability and stock. The scarcity and hard-to-get-hold-of nature of the Xbox Series X/S and PS5 has become something of a meme over the past year plus. The new generation of hardware makes lofty promises to consumers, but most are having a very simple problem: they just can't get hold of the damn machines. That isn't impacting the sales of the hardwa
12th Gen DRM issues are a thing of the past
Home News (Image credit: Future) If you're a gamer looking to build a high performing rig, you'll probably be considering one of Intel's 12th Gen options. The Core i5 12600k and i9 12900K deliver excellent gaming performance, but early on, there were some issues with digital rights management. This was because some DRM systems treated the hybrid P (performance) cores and E (efficient) cores as two separate computers, preventing the game from running. Thank
Battlefield 2042, Star Renegades, and The Sinking City are free to play with Gold and Game Pass Ultimate
Three games you can play for free this weekend. If you are an Xbox Live Gold member or have an Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscription, you can play three games this weekend for nada. These games are: Battlefield 2042, Star Renegades, and The Sinking City. To see this content please enable targeting cookies. Not only are they free to play this weekend, but two of the titles are also on sale. Battlefield 2042 is on sale for up to 33% off depending on the edition. The Standard
Razer Kraken V3 HyperSense review
An immense headset with an equally incredible feature set. Well-made with crisp audio and some intriguing vibrations, the Kraken V3 Hypersense is well worth a try. For Great audio Solid design Classy looks Against HyperSense a bit of a novelty Regular Kraken V3 offers most of the same package An immense headset with an equally incredible feature set. Well-made with crisp audio and some intriguing vibrations, the Kraken V3 Hypersense is well worth a try. Pros +
HP's new Victus 15L Desktop courts gamers on a budget
Home News (Image credit: HP) HP announced its line of Victus PCs a while back, with the promise of more affordable gaming over the Omen series. At CES we saw HP's new cases with a chamber for cooling, a versatile looking gaming monitor with the HP Omen 27u, and now we're getting a look at HP's first new desktop PC with the gamer on a budget in mind. At least, we hope it is as the Victus by HP 15L Desktop doesn't have any list prices as yet. What we do know is
Sega will not proceed with NFT plan 'if it is perceived as simple money-making'
Home News (Image credit: Sega) In November of 2021, Sega's Q2 results mentioned the publisher planned to team up with Microsoft to develop cloud-powered 'super games'. What these super games might actually be remained nebulous, but apparently "the amount to be spent on them will be in the range of 10.0 to 15.0 billion yen at most." Given that Sega received a business investment of 100 billion yen, which is about $US865,313,900, that left a fair amount for other
Deep Rock Galactic to get new PS5 features ahead of PlayStation Plus launch
If you click on a link and make a purchase we may receive a small commission. Read our editorial policy. The features mainly revolve around the DualSense controller. Deep Rock Galactic will be debuting on PlayStation Plus next month and gracing Sony's consoles for the first time, and with it some exclusive features for PS5 players revolving around the DualSense controller's functionality. Already a success on PC and Xbox, the PS5 version will feature some niceties that
Goldeneye 007 Xbox Achievements appear on website, hinting at new port
If you click on a link and make a purchase we may receive a small commission. Read our editorial policy. The seminal FPS hasn't been seen since its initial N64 release due to licensing issues. Xbox Achievements site TrueAchievements (thanks Wario64) posted a list of achievements for Goldeneye 007, a curious thing since that game doesn't exist on Xbox platforms and indicates a possible leak of an upcoming port of the foundational FPS. This is exciting because we haven't
Alienware's Concept Nyx game server box software to aggregate and stream from all stores
Home News (Image credit: Dell) A week ago Alienware announced and demod its new Concept Nyx gaming server solution. It's a box that's designed to let multiple PC games be streamed to other devices and played at the same time. Currently, we've only seen a few reactions to hands-on demos, and there's almost no information about what's actually in the box. Reaching out to Dell, we had some of our questions about Concept Nyx answered by David Zavelson fr
Asus ROG Maximus Z690 Apex review
The Z690 Apex is a refined and very well engineered board, but unless you wish to extract everything from a 12900K and DDR5-6000+ kit, it doesn't offer enough value to go with its capable design. For Bulletproof build quality and VRM BIOS maturity and fast memory support PCIe 5.0 M.2 card Against Generally unimpressive feature list at this price Simply too expensive Definite overkill for the vast majority of users The Z690 Apex is a refined and very well engine
Mario Kart 9 in active development, will feature a "new twist" - analyst
If you click on a link and make a purchase we may receive a small commission. Read our editorial policy. Nintendo is currently developing a new Mario Kart game, according to an industry analyst. Matter of fact, it's said the House of Mario will tease the game sometime this year. That's according to Dr. Serkan Toto from consultancy firm Kantan Games which focuses on the Japanese industry. Speaking with GI.biz, Dr. Toto said that while Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is still selling very wel
The fastest cars in GTA Online
Home Features Action GTA Online Become a Los Santos kingpin with these GTA 5 guides (Image credit: Rockstar North) GTA 5 cheats : Every cheat code and vehicle spawn GTA 5 money : How to make the big bucks GTA 5 mods : The best visual and gameplay tweaks GTA 5 casino heist : How much can you make? GTA 6 : All the rumours in one place 'What's the fastest car in GTA Online?' is a tricky question. Is it the fastest car in a sho
"Are we breaking Halo?" How 343 Industries found Infinite's balance between old, new, order, and chaos
Halo Infinite is, at its core, a bit of a contradiction. On one hand, it's a back-to-basics for the Halo series, returning pretty much everything to the basic status quo of the first Halo game. After experimenting with various different formats for the series, developer 343 Industries referred heavily back to Bungie's original in attempting to craft a new, definitive Halo experience. Some of these changes are more obvious – like a hand-brake turn away from newer enemies to a new faction
Remedy teams up with Tencent for multiplayer game codenamed Vanguard
If you click on a link and make a purchase we may receive a small commission. Read our editorial policy. The game is a free-to-play cooperative shooter in the games as service model. In an investor announcement (thanks Game Informer), Remedy Games asserted its intention of partnering with Chinese publishing giant Tencent to create a free-to-play cooperative shooter with worldwide appeal. Dubbed Vanguard, the game will be Remedy's IP localized for "select Asian markets"
The 6 most ambitious Fallout mods in development right now
Home Features RPG Fallout 4 (Image credit: Fallout: Miami) The Fallout series has taken players through the post-apocalyptic remains of Washington D.C., Vegas, California, Boston, and the hills of West Virginia, but there are still so many places it hasn't gone. You can't lie on Miami Beach and get a (radioactive) tan, visit the top of Seattle's Space Needle, or enjoy the pre-Bethesda Fallouts in full 3D glory. But modders are working to change that. If
Skull and Bones director departs Ubisoft after 15 years with the company
Ubisoft's pirate romp has seen its share of development troubles, and now, it has lost its associate director. Skull and Bones has lost its associate director, Antoine Henry, who has been with Ubisoft for 15 years. Henry was also the lead game designer on the Ubisoft Singapore project from 2014 to 2017 before becoming its associate director. Henry also co-managed development on Assassin's Creed Valhalla and its Siege of Paris expansion and worked as a senior game designer on a 2
Amazon's Fallout series begins production this year
The Fallout TV series is finally on its way as Amazon Prime Video announces several key roles for the project. Directors, showrunners, and production teams are coming together to finally bring Bethesda's wasteland to life on the small screen. Deadline reports that Jonathan Nolan will be directing the first episode Amazon's adaptation of the Fallout series, which will be produced by Nolan and fellow Westworld co-creator Lisa Joy's Kilter Films. Along with Westworld, Nolan is known for creat
Monster Hunter Rise's PC features are tempting me to put another 100 hours into the game
There's a lot of people out there that would call Metroid Dread the Nintendo Switch Game of the Year for 2021. In fact, many people would probably call it the Game of the Year, full stop. But I don't even think it was the best Switch game of 2021: right back at the start of the year, Capcom surpassed all expectations with Monster Hunter Rise – a slightly more stripped-back, easy-to-play game than its undeniably more dense console sibling, Monster Hunter World. On Switch, I put
The best Genshin Impact characters
Home Features RPG Genshin Impact (Image credit: miHoYo) Looking for some great Genshin Impact characters? Version 2.4 has arrived and with it, more character reruns that any of us could have likely predicted. We've got the five-star demon hunter and Anemo polearm-user, Xiao, in the first half. Then from January 25, to tie in with the returning Lantern Rite event, we've got two of the most popular Genshin Impact characters ever: Ganyu and Zhongli. Explore En
Dying Light 2 will take 500 hours to "fully complete" says Techland
Techland's Twitter account says it'll take "at least 500 hours" to "fully complete" Dying Light 2 Stay Human. Everyone else, just playing the story and sidequests, however, should expect to spend "70-80" hours to do it all. I won't lie, it's kind of a vaguely threatening statement. A followup note says that it's "about 100% completion rate, most of the players who are in for story and side quests will be able to complete the game quicker." That is, I guess, a tease for some kind of collectible
Persona 5 Strikers, Dirt 5 headline PlayStation Plus for January
If you click on a link and make a purchase we may receive a small commission. Read our editorial policy. Deep Rock Galactic also joins the fray. The first few games available in January's PlayStation Plus program have been announced, and they're some pretty good ones to boot. Persona 5 Strikers, Dirt 5, and Deep Rock Galactic will be joining the subscription service in the first part of January. Persona 5 Strikers is essentially a Dynasty Warriors-type game, except with
Nvidia's upgraded AI art tool turned my obscure squiggles into a masterpiece
Home News (Image credit: Nvidia) It's incredible, the things we can do with AI nowadays. For artists looking to integrate artificial intelligence into their workflow, there are ever more advanced tools popping up all over the net. One such tool is Nvidia Canvas, which has just been updated with the more powerful GauGAN2 AI, to replace the original GauGAN model, along with loads of new features. The Nvidia Canvas software is available for free to anyone with an
League of Legends season 12 launches today with vast new changes
With new rank visuals, a new VGU, and season 12 missions - the worlds' biggest MOBA is starting 2022 with a bang League of Legends season 12 is launching today, bringing with it a vast collection of visual changes and new features for summoners to play around with as they head back into ranked. This marks League of Legends' twelfth season since its launch in 2009, as well as the beginning of Riot's first big push into 2022. Players hoping into League's new season may be sh
Usborne's 1980s range of childrens' coding books released as free PDFs
Publishing giant Usborne has been in the computer books business for many, many decades, and its productions were an entry point to the industry for unknowable numbers of coders. As with everything in a technology-led industry these books are very much of their time, but the whole aesthetic of these things is nostalgia catnip for those of a certain age. If you're the type who ever sat down in front of a Spectrum and spent half a day painstakingly copying out code, then the gaudy thrill of the i
New Destiny 2 players are being thrown into dire Dares of Eternity matches
An unintended side-effect of leading players to new content has those just diving in finding themselves in the deep end. A funny story surrounding the recently released Dares of Eternity activity in Destiny 2 has popped up recently. First reported on by Forbes, it appears that new players jumping into Destiny 2 for the first time are being thrust into the mode as soon as they start playing the game, when they are horrendously under-geared and utterly clueless on what is going on.
NZXT Capsule USB microphone review
The NZXT Capsule is a great USB mic for beginners and veterans, and it's audio quality brings out the fullness of your voice. It may lack software, but that can also be a bonus, given how easy it is to set up. For Price Great Audio Quality Plug and Play Against One pattern No software The NZXT Capsule is a great USB mic for beginners and veterans, and it's audio quality brings out the fullness of your voice. It may lack software, but that can also be a bonus, given
Bully 2 may have been killed by stretching resources too thin, layoffs – report
Crunching on other projects may have contributed to the Bully 2 studio's downfall. Game Informer's Blake Hester published a detailed report all about the Bully 2 that might have been and what led to the studio developing the sequel's downfall. In short, Rockstar New England was pulled in multiple directions to the point where Bully 2 was no longer the focus of the developers who worked there. Rockstar New England, which was purchased by Rockstar when the former was Mad Doc
CES 2022: everything from the tech show that PC gamers should care about
Home Features (Image credit: Consumer Technology Association) CES 2022 is happening right now, from January 5–7. However, as any excitable festival-goer knows, what happens with these things is you go hard on the first night and the rest is a write-off. In this case, that means all of the biggest gaming announcements from AMD, Nvidia, Intel and the usual menagerie of peripheral and component makers have happened already. Following these announcements, we have
Rainbow Six Extraction will release day one on Game Pass
If you click on a link and make a purchase we may receive a small commission. Read our editorial policy. Ubisoft will release the next entry in the series day one on Xbox Game Pass, PC Game Pass, and Xbox Game Pass Ultimate. Rainbow Six Extraction is out on January 20, and news of the game coming to Game Pass day one was announced today. Coming to PlayStation consoles as well, those with Xbox Game Pass, PC Game Pass, and Xbox Game Pass Ultimate will be able to play it for n
AMD details its next gen AM5 socket
Home News (Image credit: AMD) During its CES 2022 presentation, AMD teased its upcoming Zen 4 CPUs which add PCIe 5.0 and DDR5 support. It also detailed the accompanying AM5 socket. The new platform is due for release in the second half of 2022. Of course, this means the venerable AM4 socket will finally be superseded. (Image credit: AMD) The biggest physical change AM5 brings is the switch to a Land Grid Array CPU socket (LGA) with 1718 pins.
Splitgate PlayStation playerbase has increased in wake of Halo Infinite launch
Via an interview with The Loadout, Ian Proulx discusses Halo's affect on Splitgate, the shooter's popularity in 2021, and future goals. For those out there who may have worried about the longevity of Sci-fi shooter Splitgate in the wake of Halo Infinite's release late last year, worry not! In an interview with The Loadout, 1047 Games co-founder Ian Proulx has revealed that the player count for the game on PlayStation consoles has actually risen since Halo's launch. The interv
2021 was such a bad year for budget hardware, even the LowSpec Gamer gave up on it
Home News Six years ago, a YouTube channel called LowSpec Gamer debuted with a video on how to run Batman: Arkham Origins on a low-end PC. Its host Alex had been born in Venezuela, where top-shelf gaming hardware was unaffordable, and his subsequent videos on how to downgrade games with tweaks to configuration files, mods, and other hacks proved just as useful to a global audience of impoverished students, broke kids, and anyone who couldn't afford a high-end gaming rig. Even cashed-up
What did you play over the holidays?
Home Features RPG (Image credit: Square Enix) Happy New Year! Or at least we fervently hope it'll be a happy one. But before we dive headfirst into the flood of new PC games coming in 2022, let's take a quick look back at what everyone played over the holidays. Did you fall back on some comfy old favorites? Or dip into your backlog of unplayed games to finally give one or two of them a try? Maybe you grabbed a new game that released toward the end of the year,
Rainbow Six Extraction system requirements probably won't force you to upgrade your PC
Home News FPS Rainbow Six Extraction (Image credit: Ubisoft) With Rainbow Six Extraction now just a couple of weeks away, Ubisoft has rolled out the full rundown of the PC hardware you'll need if you want to play. Happily for all, the hardware requirements shouldn't shift your eyebrows much, so any recently updated setup should get you into the action straightaway. That's at the low end of the visual scale, naturally, but that's still running at 1080p, which
Pokemon Go January Community Day stars a fan-favorite - Bulbasaur
Everyone's favorite frog-like Pokemon is the Community Day star in January. Pokemon Go is going classic on Community Day in January with Bulbasaur as the featured Pokemon. On Saturday, January 22 from 2-5pm local time, players will return to the roots of Community Day during the Season of Heritage with the grass/poison-type Pokemon. During this time, Bulbasaur will be appearing more frequently in the wild and you may even catch a shiny version. If you evolve Ivysaur, Bulbasaur�
Mass Effect Legendary Edition, Spelunky 2 and more coming to Xbox Game Pass this month
Ahead of a stealth drop this morning, Xbox Game Pass is set to get even bigger in the next few weeks with some pretty high-level additions. Are you ready to dive head-first into a suicide mission that could save the human race? Are you prepared to sacrifice everything so you can kiss an alien whose face you'll probably never see? Do you want to get irrationally frustrated at the controls of a wimpy little moon buggy? Well, you're in luck: Mass Effect Legendary Edition is coming t
AMD brings serious RDNA 2 graphics power to its new Ryzen 6000 mobile CPUs
Home News (Image credit: AMD) AMD just launched brand new AMD Ryzen 6000 H-series processors for mobile, which look seriously powerful for gaming on-the-go. The new chips incorporate RDNA 2 silicon, the same architecture powering AMD's great RX 6000-series GPUs, alongside an improved Zen 3+ core architecture, with tweaks for performance and battery saving. All sound good? For us gamers it's the RDNA 2 graphics onboard that should have you really excited. AMD say
The best Fortnite Creative codes
Home Features Battle Royale Fortnite (Image credit: Epic Games) Fortnite creative codes lead to so much more then just some cheap Minecraft knock-offs. With new biomes, structures, creative tools, and Fortnite island codes releasing every few days, Creative is a block-filled sandbox with endless hours of potential fun. We have a lot of cool Fortnite Creative codes gathered below, each leading to a builder's masterwork. They're the kinds of creations we onc
Ken Levine's new game may still be years away
Home News (Image credit: Ben Gabbe (Getty)) BioShock creator Ken Levine announced in 2014 that he was winding down Irrational Games, the studio he co-founded in 1997, in order to start a smaller, "more entrepreneurial" project at Take Two Interactive. Levine said at the time that he wanted to be part of "a smaller team with a flatter structure and a more direct relationship with gamers ... a small team making games for the core gaming audience." Despite all the
John Madden, football icon and namesake of the Madden franchise, passes away at age 85
If you click on a link and make a purchase we may receive a small commission. Read our editorial policy. The prolific figure leaves behind a massive legacy. NFL.com brought the grave news that John Madden has died. He was 85, and no cause has been given at this time. In a statement, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell offered condolences to Madden's family and attempted to honor the gigantic impact he had on the game: "Nobody loved football more than Coach. He was football. He
Intel Alder Lake gaming PCs could get a little cheaper with these three new chipsets
Home News (Image credit: Future) Intel Alder Lake won us over in 2021 with its newfangled architecture, gaming performance, and generation-on-generation uplift. Though for all its architectural wins, the 12th Gen CPU equation has been in desperate need of cheaper chipsets and accompanying motherboards—those that will make the fantastic Intel Core i5 12600K really sing on a budget. And those cheaper chipsets are on the way, as Intel has announced the complete
Elden Ring's graphics team felt pressured by the Demon's Souls remake
Elden Ring's greatest competition is apparently its younger sibling, Demon's Souls. The PlayStation 5 remake that launched alongside the new console in 2020 was a lot prettier (and to some, less distinct) than the original Demon's Souls, and the striking makeover put extra pressure on Elden Ring's graphics team, according to creative director Hidetaka Miyazaki, who was recently interviewed by Edge magazine. "I'm pretty sure our graphics-creation staff felt that pressure more than anyone else
Minecraft hits over a trillion views on YouTube
Over the last 12 years, videos related to the blocky phenomenon have added up to over 30,000 years worth of viewing time. It might not surprise you to learn that Minecraft is pretty popular. What may be a shock, however, is that it has now amassed over a trillion views on YouTube. According to a new article published by YouTube, the video platform has confirmed that videos related to Mojang's blocky sensation have been viewed more than a trillion times. Thanks to the game's h
Here's an atmospheric look at gameplay in first-person horror shooter ILL
Home News Horror ILL With a vibe straight out of a horror detective movie, the first gameplay trailer for in-development horror shooter Ill, stylized as ILL, shows off a cluttered, detailed environment and heavy, very physical movement. The heavily ambient background and compositing, by electronic artist Lorn, is frankly flawless, short as it may be. Ill is made with Unreal Engine 5 in partnership with Epic MegaGrants. That really shows in the amount of sheer things showing up in t
Yaoyao gameplay footage revealed in Genshin Impact leak
The final character from the original closed beta leaks has finally been found in-game We've got more leaks coming from Genshin Impact, this time it's a long-awaited character we've been waiting for ever since the first ever closed beta for the game. We're of course talking about Yaoyao, a dendro character who we've finally gotten an in-game look at. For those out of the loop, back in the first closed beta of the game a bunch of characters were leaked - including Thoma, H
Kill bizarre demons and use their blood as paint in mad roguelike Brutal Orchestra
Home News Roguelike Brutal Orchestra (Image credit: Hellbent Games) Okay here's the setup for Brutal Orchestra: You're dead, someone killed you, and you can't do anything about escaping purgatory but you can definitely set yourself up for revenge when they arrive here too. Building a party 20 other weird underworld rejects, you're guided across a purgatory landscape inspired by the bizarre paintings of Hieronymous Bosch and Pieter Bruegel, where demons are
This year, Blaseball became a massively co-operative tactical strategy game
Home Features Sim Blaseball (Image credit: @raevpet) Staff Picks (Image credit: Future) In addition to our main Game of the Year Awards 2021, each member of the PC Gamer team is shining a spotlight on a game they loved this year. We'll post new staff picks, alongside our main awards, throughout the rest of the month. Header image courtesy of @raevpet . Go Pies. Earlier this year, I planned to write about the complexities of Blaseball
Nintendo warns that servers may struggle during Christmas period
If you click on a link and make a purchase we may receive a small commission. Read our editorial policy. The big N advises people to create new Nintendo Accounts before the Christmas weekend. Nintendo is advising fans to create new Nintendo Accounts before this weekend, in order to avoid potential server issues over the Christmas break. Taking to Twitter, the publisher's Japanese customer service account put out a warning ahead of Christmas weekend. Putting it into Google
PC Gamer Hardware Awards: What is the best gaming mouse of 2021?
Home Features (Image credit: Future) Once we find our perfect gaming mouse, we tend to stick with it until the end. I'm talking about that mouse that is a perfect fit for your fingers, that gently rests in your palm, and glides over your mouse mat like Mickey and Minnie on ice. For us lot here at PC Gamer, however, we're never satiated. We always want the next best thing, and while I've loved my time with the Swiftpoint Z and Logitech G Pro Superlight most of al
Game of the Year 2021: Valheim
Home Features Survival Valheim (Image credit: Future) Here it is: PC Gamer's Game of the Year for 2021. To see the full awards, head over to our GOTY 2021 hub . Lauren Morton, Associate Editor: The week Valheim launched, I scoffed. "Do we really need another early access crafting survival game?" Whether or not we needed one, the appetite that my friends and I developed for scarfing down over 100 hours of Viking survival time within a month suggested we
Halo Infinite has completely sold me on the Xbox Elite Controller
Up until this last month, I really thought the Xbox Elite Controller was overrated. I thought it was a silly little novelty that, ultimately, was for people who wanted to splash some cash and have something posh. How wrong I was.I didn't even end up keeping my 'series 1' Xbox Elite Controller. I used it for a while, but ultimately found that I wasn't using the additions and tweaks that made the peripheral special. I gave it away after not using it for months. The paddles
You really need to see three Gregorian Monks belting out the Halo theme
If you click on a link and make a purchase we may receive a small commission. Read our editorial policy. Just when you thought the Halo theme couldn't slap any harder… Ah Christmas. The season of carols, capitalism and a smattering of residual religious messaging. Some would say it's the perfect combo, yet now we know that's simply not true - the true winning combination is three Gregorian monks and the iconic Halo theme song. With Halo Infinite sending millions of 3
Bitburner is an idle game about hacking that teaches real JavaScript
Home News Free To Play Bitburner (Image credit: Fulcrum Games and Hydroflame) Want your time spent noodling around with idle games to actually bear fruit? Bitburner is an incremental-style idler that casts you as a terminal cowboy on the world wide web, hacking, stealing, and scripting your way to the top of the world. Challenging you to learn how its systems work and automate them yourself, Bitburner takes the novel tack of letting you use JavaScript with
Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness, the game that almost killed the series
Home Features Action Tomb Raider VI: The Angel Of Darkness From 2010 to 2014 Richard Cobbett wrote Crapshoot, a column about rolling the dice to bring random obscure games back into the light. This week, Lara Croft faces her darkest hour in the platformer that almost killed its creators and put a legend on life support. But was it really that bad? (Yes.) In the opening minutes of the Tomb Raider reboot, Lara Croft is half-drowned, beaten unconscious, burned, imp
PS Plus subscribers can upgrade Final Fantasy 7 remake to the PS5 version this week
If you click on a link and make a purchase we may receive a small commission. Read our editorial policy. If you downloaded the game back in March with PS Plus, you can net this upgrade right now Great news for all the PlayStation Plus subscribers out there! If you've previously downloaded a free copy of the Final Fantasy 7 Remake through the service, you can acquire an upgrade to the PS5 version of the game starting this Wednesday. This upgrade comes months after the PS5 e
I wish Microsoft had been brave enough not to release Windows 11
Home Features Windows 11 (Image credit: Microsoft) "Windows 10 is the last version of Windows," says Microsoft's Jerry Nixon just ahead of the launch of the then-new operating system. It was a bold statement and now, in the face of the faltering Windows 11 launch, I can't help but wish Microsoft had followed through on that promise instead of giving in to the powerful lure of marketing bull. It's a quote that was widely circulated at the time, continued to be
New World's Winter Convergence event to run through mid-January
If you click on a link and make a purchase we may receive a small commission. Read our editorial policy. The winter-themed event brings winter spirits and Christmas trappings to the MMO. Amazon Games announced the start of New World's Winter Convergence event to coincide with the holiday season, which will run through the middle of January. Winter has arrived in New World, and is marked by snowfall and Northern Lights, but it also brings with it new hazards and challenges.
Riot Games settles gender discrimination lawsuit for $100 million
If you click on a link and make a purchase we may receive a small commission. Read our editorial policy. The new settlement secures $80 million for the women of Riot and contractors. Game Developer reports that Riot Games has agreed on a settlement of the class-action lawsuit against the company to the tune of $100 million, a massive increase from the $10 million settlement attempt previously made that was rejected for letting Riot off too easily. The class-action lawsuit ca
Valheim is my new Minecraft
Home Features Survival Valheim (Image credit: Iron Gate Studio) I'll be honest—I've never set foot in the Nether. Minecraft is a game I'll mess around with for a few evenings at a time, building bases or exploring biomes. It's always been something I'll fire up if I'm at a loose end or I've had a particularly stressful day. I can go months without playing, but it's a game I always return to. Or it was until February when Iron Gate Studio's Valheim hit Stea
Nintendo reveals the top-selling indie games on Switch for 2021
Bigger names mingle with new upstarts in Nintendo's end-of-year report. Nintendo's Indie World recently put out a video summing up the best-selling indie games for 2021 (thanks Kotaku), and it's got some real gems in it. Though we don't know ranking for sure, the video featured both familiar faces and new challengers. The complete list in order of appearance is as follows: Cyber Shadow Unpacking Tetris Effect: Connected Stick Fight: The Game Curse of the Dead Gods Ender
Red Dead Online didn't die in 2021, but it's surviving on rations for 2022
Home Features Action Red Dead Redemption 2 (Image credit: Rockstar Games) By the time it launched on PC, Red Dead Redemption 2 had been out for a year on consoles. Despite all the good I'd heard about the singleplayer story, and the memories I had of enjoying the first Red Dead Redemption years before, the only thing on my mind was saddling up for Red Dead Online. Several friends and I spent months engrossed in the nightly routine of hunting, digging for tre
Pyschonauts 2 developer working on 'multiple new projects'
If you click on a link and make a purchase we may receive a small commission. Read our editorial policy. Double Fine reveals in exciting new blog post that it's exploring new 'ideas' and 'visual styles' Double Fine, developer behind the critically acclaimed Psychonauts 2, has revealed it is now working on 'multiple new projects'. Taking to its crowdfunding platforms, the developer stated in a https://www.fig.co/campaigns/psychonauts-2/updates/1498 post that it
PC Gamer Hardware Awards: What is the best gaming headset of 2021?
Home Features (Image credit: Future) Quality audio is an underrated commodity in PC gaming, yet it's so fundamental to a great gaming experience. Take Hunt: Showdown, for example, probably the most competitive game I play. If you don't have your audio game turned up to 11, you'll probably miss an all-important audio cue and by blasted to smithereens before long. It's pretty cutthroat like that, and all the more reason to get yourself a pair of quality cans. The
Extreme disc sport sequel Windjammers 2 launching in January
The follow up to the cult classic Neo Geo game is developed by Dotemu. Dotemu, the developer and publisher of beloved 2D revivals of retro franchises such as Streets of Rage and Wonder Boy, announced the release date for its latest revival project, beach sport sequel Windjammers 2, for January 20, bringing a bit of summer fun to get us through the cold winter. Following in the footsteps of Windjammers, the cult classic Data East game for the Neo Geo, Windjammers 2 showcases a uni
Save nearly £70 on Blue's excellent Blackout Spark microphone
If you click on a link and make a purchase we may receive a small commission. Read our editorial policy. This capable, feature-rich microphone is great for podcasters and streamers. One thing almost everyone immediately needs with their computer is a decent microphone. Very few laptops have passable built-in mics and desktops don't ship with any extras. Whether it's for recording a podcast with a friend, streaming your latest Halo Infinite antics, or even video calls with lo
Try out the Cold War tactics of Regiments in its free playtest
Home News Strategy Regiments (Image credit: Bird's Eye Games and MicroProse) How about a big fat single player campaign RTS about your classic cold war Germany conflict scenario? Regiments is going to be just that when it releases in 2022, with a dynamic campaign about wide-scale warfare in the East-West German border region in 1989. It's a pretty large scale game, intended to let you control platoons rather than individual squads or units, putting you in th
Here's a free visual novel about Communist Poland
Home News Visual Novel Martial Law Want a nice, sort-of-depressing visual novel about Communist Poland to round out the year? Do you want it to be free? Of course you do. In Martial Law, you play a lower class man who's left behind by the government of Warsaw Pact Poland. Trying your best to take care of your daughter, he wants to try and have a better lift. It's a classic visual novel setup, with plenty of endings to find and issues to solve and/or not. I called it depressing earl
AMD's FidelityFX Super Resolution is getting a lot of support
It took a lot of time for AMD to release its FidelityFX Super Resolution (FSR). But now that it's upscaling tech is well established in the hands of developers, AMD is taking the opportunity to proudly announce that there are now 71 supporting games either already released, or under development. AMD goes as far as to state that FSR has become "the fastest adopted software gaming tech in AMD history." Tips and advice (Image credit: Future) How to buy a graphics card :
Tragic news for Genshin Impact players, Ayato Kamisato is not a horse
Following a joke from Genshin Impact leakers, a portion of the community believes a horse will be a future character. That's not the case. If you've been watching Genshin Impact twitter, you may have caught word of an upcoming character - specifically Ayato - being a horse. Seriously.I mean, in a fantasy world with oni, talking birds, dragons, and Paimon, it certainly wouldn't be too weird right? We're sorry to inform you that this leak is totally fake, a joke blown up way
The latest Trek to Yomi trailer shows off striking black-and-white samurai action
Yomi is the latest game from Leonard Menchari. Devolver Digital released the latest trailer for feudal Japan-themed samurai game Trek to Yomi, a cinematic action game with a striking art style and perspective. The trailer clearly shows off what is supposed to be a style meant to mimic old black-and-white samurai cinema like that of famed filmmaker Akira Kurosawa but done in a 2.5-dimensional perspective. The action revolves around swordplay, but there's also other weapons featu
This is what happened in PC gaming hardware in 2021
Home Features (Image credit: Dan Whittaker) Has 2021 been a good year for PC gaming? Yes and no. Mostly no, at least for those of us gaming on an older graphics card in dire need of an update. But I'd like to take a moment to appreciate that it's not all been bad, and there have been some inventive and exciting new products released across these past twelve months—the tech that snuck out between the drama of empty shelves. You've got to take the bad with the g
Modder adds a metro system to Cyberpunk 2077 for those who want to take it slow
If you click on a link and make a purchase we may receive a small commission. Read our editorial policy. Because a city isn't complete without public transit. In a medium full of games that fully embraced the concept of fast travel, it's easy to forget what's lost in the exchange. All those miles you saved in Skyrim when you instantly travelled between towns are convenient, but you miss out on taking things in, really absorbing the landscape. That's what modder keanu
2021: The year PC gaming left the desktop PC
Home Features (Image credit: Valve) Like an embattled tabloid columnist, the desktop tower PC has been enduring threats to its life for years. No—decades. Sony's Phil Harrison was ringing its death knell all the way back in 2006, telling Spiegel that the "PlayStation 3 is a computer. We don't need the PC." And even though we probably didn't, the PC endured anyway. The case changed from beige to black. Disk drives disappeared. We spent less time browsing th
Call of Duty: Vanguard gets six days of free multiplayer, starting today
If you click on a link and make a purchase we may receive a small commission. Read our editorial policy. Players who don't already own the game can hop on to Vanguard's multiplayer until December 21. Christmas is the season of giving, and what better way to celebrate than fragging strangers over the internet? Disgraced publisher Activision is doing its bit to drum up a bit of positive PR, letting players who don't own Call of Duty: Vanguard play the game's multiplaye
India's $10B USD investment in chip manufacturing has Intel's attention
Home News (Image credit: Intel) In the midst of the semiconductor chip shortage, it's not just companies, but also countries fighting to ramp up silicon production. Earlier this month, India's Cabinet approved an incentive scheme for semiconductor development. Tips and advice (Image credit: Future) How to buy a graphics card : tips on buying a graphics card in the barren silicon landscape that is 2021 The move will include setting up
Square Enix announces Bravely Default 2 sells a million
If you click on a link and make a purchase we may receive a small commission. Read our editorial policy. It seems the popular JRPG franchise is still popular. RPG Site reports that Square Enix announced via its website that Bravely Default 2 has surpassed one million units sold across all platforms. We already knew that the game sold 950,000 on the Switch alone, but its recent Steam release has pushed the game past the million milestone, an impressive number for a genre tha
Battlefield 2042 already has its first free weekend on Steam, and a big sale
It's been less than month since the release of Battlefield 2042, and the game has kicked off its first ever free trial. It's been an unusually busy post-launch for Battlefield 2042. The game released in a very rough state, even by series standards. Technical problems, connection issues, performance woes, confusing design decisions, questionable balance, and a giant list of missing features have all soured many players' first impressions. In the weeks since, DICE released four p
2021's biggest game launches and why people were mad about them
Home Features RPG Battlefield 2042 (Image credit: 343 Industries) What pisses off PC gamers changes year to year. If you'd run a poll in 2017, loot boxes probably would've been the biggest gripe. Fury over Epic Games Store exclusives dominated 2019's discourse. For a while, the idea that multiplayer was being jammed into every game was a leading grievance. So, what were PC gamers mad about in 2021? It wasn't loot boxes. They're still around in a few places
Incredibly satisfying video turns a lamp, hoover and toaster into hilarious FPS reload animations
If you click on a link and make a purchase we may receive a small commission. Read our editorial policy. We really, really want to reload that lamp. There's something about animations in video games that make them endlessly satisfying. It's no wonder then, that we often wish life was a little more like a video game – minus the never-ending violence. Well, wonder no more fellow gam3rz, as one Twitter and Tik Tok user has decided to make the mundane infinitely more excit
The Matrix Resurrections is one of the best critiques of videogame culture ever
Home Features (Image credit: Warner Bros) I love the idea of crafting a hugely influential media franchise and letting it linger in total dormancy for nearly 20 years before returning to the scene with an ax to grind. There are spoilers ahead, so if you have not yet seen The Matrix Resurrections, then I strongly urge you to make better use of the holidays. I imagine that you will fall in love with this movie at precisely the same time I did: the 20 minute mark,
A Halo Infinite glitch is erasing save files and ruining multiplayer
If you click on a link and make a purchase we may receive a small commission. Read our editorial policy. Players report having their campaign progress completely erased on the penultimate mission. After waiting patiently for Halo Infinite for the last six years, Master Chief is back and better than ever. Yet despite its glowing reviews and the countless players enthralled by Infinite's multiplayer, a new save corrupting glitch has started to ruin the fun. Reported by playe
Welcome to your new PC gaming obsession: artisan keycaps
Home Features (Image credit: Clackeys) If you aren't already a convert to the wonderful world of artisan keycaps, I promise you will be. There's nothing PC gamers love more than personalising their setups—except maybe one-shotting me in Hunt: Showdown—and honing in on a particular piece of hardware or peripheral to see how it could be made your own is as much a part of the hobby for many as playing games. Artisan keycaps are far from your usual hunk of squar
Best FPS 2021: Halo Infinite
Home Features FPS Halo Infinite (Image credit: Future) Halo Infinite earns our Best FPS award. To see our other winners so far, head to our GOTY 2021 hub —updating throughout the rest of the month. Nat Clayton, Features Producer: I have my problems with Halo Infinite. Its story is a hasty sweeping up of two decades of lore, its open world is largely redundant, and it's broadly lacking in the visual spectacle that makes Halo feel like Halo. But bloo
The Best Christmas Video Games to play over the holiday season
It's the most wonderful time of the year, which can only mean one thing: over in the land of movies, people spend ages engaging themselves in the completely shite patter about if Die Hard is a Christmas movie or not. (It's not, but it's a great movie, set at Christmas - so feel free to watch at Christmas. Okay?) But what's the video game equivalent? We started thinking about this and couldn't stop, because we love thinking about utterly stupid, pointless things. So, as we head into t
Aliens, conspiracy theories, and a forged diary inspired one of the weirdest games of the '90s
Home Features Adventure (Image credit: Williams/Graham) We often hear about things being ahead of their time, but '90s cult point-and-click adventure Drowned God: Conspiracy of the Ages is unexpectedly prescient in the neurotic world of 2021. "I would have loved to publish Drowned God now," says Algy Williams, who produced the 1996 Inscape game that tapped into planetwide conspiracies and longstanding cultural myths. "You'd have a social media department as bi
The World Ends With You producer says more games are dependent on fan demand
If you click on a link and make a purchase we may receive a small commission. Read our editorial policy. Neo: The World Ends With You sold disappointingly, says Square Enix. After revealing that Square Enix felt that Neo: The World Ends With You sold disappointingly, Nintendo Life now reports that the producer wants fans to show their support if they want to see more games in the series. Speaking with Nintendo Life, producer Tomohiko Hirano says that nothing has been decided
New Horizon: Forbidden West trailer shows off the machines of the West
If you click on a link and make a purchase we may receive a small commission. Read our editorial policy. New machines headline the anticipated sequel's latest trailer. Sony released the latest teaser trailer for the hotly anticipated Horizon: Forbidden West, showing off the machines of the game's new setting and hinting that they might be controlled by less-than-savory forces. Titled "Machines of the West", the trailer opens up with a sweeping view of the vistas, inc
PC Gamer Hardware Awards: What is the best gaming laptop of 2021?
Home Features (Image credit: Future) Luscious, high-end gaming laptops have been on each and every techies mind this year. Aside from a buying a prebuilt gaming PC, bagging a gaming laptop has been one of the only ways to get your hands on a current-gen GPU in this time of woeful silicon shortages, and subsequent GPU stock deficits. Frankly, it's been a PC builder's worst nightmare. In light of this calamity, laptops have become a stalwart salvation for us gamer
2021 is the year I learned to love gaming with friends
Home Features (Image credit: Square Enix) I've spent a considerable amount of my gaming life enjoying the hobby alone. Sure, I spent a few years of my childhood playing Toontown Online, exploring obscure online rhythm games, and being way too young to hang around on social sim IMVU. But when I think of young Mollie gaming, I picture her huddled alone in her Mum's conservatory—tiny space heater glaring, a glass of elderflower cordial and lemonade on the floor,
Resident Evil Village, Metroid Dread are the most finished games of 2021
At least, according to the data from HowLongToBeat. Resident Evil Village may just be the most completed game of the year if game time tracking website HowLongToBeat is accurate. As reported by Axios (via Kotaku), the site listed off the most completed games of the year, with Village leading the list, followed closely by Metroid Dread. Rounding out the top 5 are Ratchet Clank: Rift Apart, It Takes Two, and Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury. Also interesting is the most "r
Halo Infinite's new Spartan cat ears are making players go purrrrr
Halo Infinite is a very good multiplayer shooter, but it's had a rough ride from players for a number of different reasons, not least of them the overabundance of microtransactions. But it looks like 343 Industries has figured out how to change people's minds on the matter: not by reducing the number or price of in-game items, mind, but by adding feline auris externa—cat ears. Purrfect Audio, as the new helmet attachment is called, is available in a four-part "Cat Lovers" bundle that also in
Gran Turismo 7 will feature over 90 tracks and 420 cars
If you click on a link and make a purchase we may receive a small commission. Read our editorial policy. Japanese retailer shines a light on the mysterious racer almost ten years in the making. To say there's been a 'long wait' for the new Gran Turismo would be like saying the world's been a bit flu-y recently. With predecessor Gran Turismo 6 launching on the PS3 back in 2013, PlayStation racing fans have been left enviously watching their Xbox peers enjoy multiple ite
Farming Simulator 22: I never thought I'd say this, but beets are exciting
Home Features Sim Farming Simulator 22 (Image credit: Giants Software) Staff Picks (Image credit: Future) In addition to our main Game of the Year Awards 2021, each member of the PC Gamer team is shining a spotlight on a game they loved this year. We'll post new staff picks, alongside our main awards, throughout the rest of the month. I've been curious about the Farming Simulator series for ages, but I always pulled up short of actually p
Krampus is causing havoc in Warzone, and the community is torn.
The vicious hunter haunting Call of Duty this Christmas is bringing out mixed opinions from his victims If you've jumped into Call of Duty Vanguard or Warzone in the past few days, you'll inevitably have run into Krampus. This winter terror has been causing mayem across multiplayer game modes in both games, chasing down players and beating them to a pulp until they're either dead, or the player manages to whittle down Krampus' health. Obviously this is just a fun addition t
DDR5 shortages are expected to continue well into 2022
If you've been on the hunt for a shiny new set of DDR5 RAM to suit your 12th Gen build, the chances are you haven't had a lot of success. In fact, in some markets, DDR5 has been all but unavailable. We've talked with some vendors who claim the situation will improve from January onwards and that gave us some optimism, but according to Micron, constrained supplies of critical components mean that DDR5 will remain scarce until the second half of 2022. Ouch. The comments came during a Micron
Age of Empires 4 design director departs Relic after 24 years
If you click on a link and make a purchase we may receive a small commission. Read our editorial policy. Quinn Duffy was a vital part of the RTS developer's identity for over two decades. Aroged (via GamesIndustry.biz) reported that Quinn Duffy, design director at Age of Empires 4 developer Relic Entertainment, announced his departure from the studio via a post on LinkedIn. He was at the company for almost 24 years. "At Relic, I had a passion for both history and the real
Save up to $220 on a mini PC this Christmas
While I have a lot of time for big bulky gaming PCs—you know, the type that light up like a Christmas tree and hum with the sweet sound of whirring fans—there is room in my life for other types of PC as well. Not much room to be fair, but room all the same. Which is why this Christmas sale of tiny PCs on Minisforum piqued my interest. Saving up to $220 while picking up a compact system is a good deal in my book, especially where there's a surprising amount of power on offer. Head over to th
GTA Online is getting a new radio station with The Contract
New music is coming soon to GTA Online's hip hop stations. We've got some exciting GTA Online news for music heads out there. Ahead of The Contract's December 15 launch, it has been announced that a brand new radio station will be added to the game, so players will have a whole host of new tunes to take them through the streets of Los Santos. This new station, going by the name of MOTOMAMI Los Santos, will be hosted by Spanish singer and songwriter ROSALIA alongside venezuela
Square Enix updates the low-poly grapes from Final Fantasy 14, saddening millions
If you click on a link and make a purchase we may receive a small commission. Read our editorial policy. The meme-worthy grape crystals were a necessary balm for the soul during massive queue times. IGN reported that the latest patch notes for Final Fantasy 14 included a technical improvement that will make many very sad. In Patch 6.01, many quality-of-life improvements were made, but the most noteworthy one is in changing the infamous low-poly grapes found in expansion Endw
The Halo campaigns, ranked from worst to best
Home Features FPS Halo Infinite PC Gamer Ranked are our ridiculously comprehensive lists of the best, worst, and everything in-between from every corner of PC gaming. Halo is no longer bound by numbers, but that hasn't stopped us from counting them up and ranking them. With Halo Infinite there are now eight campaigns, and the arrival of the first open-world Halo made us reconsider our favorite and least favorite Spartan adventures. The Halo completioni
Long-awaited 60 FPS patch may be on the way for Assassin's Creed Origins
If true, it will put the game on par with newer entries Odyssey and Valhalla. During what Ubisoft calls Assassin's Creed Day on Twitter, the official account announced the possible intent of adding the ability to play Assassin's Creed Origins in 60 FPS, a feature that fans have been requesting for a while now. It's unlikely that this would apply to last-gen consoles given how they work, meaning players would need a PS5 or an Xbox Series X/S to really benefit from it. Still,
Titanfall 2 gets fan-made custom servers on PC
After months of struggling with hacks and DDoS attacks that at times rendered the game virtually unplayable, Titanfall 2 is getting a second lease on life by way of a new mod called Northstar that enables players on PC to set up their own custom servers. The Northstar mod enables Titanfall 2 players "to host their own Titanfall 2 servers using custom scripts and assets to create custom content, as well as being able to host vanilla content." Importantly, it also greatly reduces the risk of debi
Best of 2021: The Forgotten City, and James' other GOTY picks
The *correct* Game of the Year choices, thank you very much I don't know about you, but people keep saying to me there weren't any great games this year. I'll admit, there weren't any generation-defining classics from the likes of Popstar, BadDog, or CD Projekt Red Dead Redemption 6. But genuinely, how could there be when Covid measures have contributed to more delays than even the merest hint of snow does to all UK public services? On top of that, it's very easy t
The best weapons in Final Fantasy 7 Remake
If you're looking for the best FF7R weapons and how to get them, you're in the right place. Now the remake of the classic PlayStation-era RPG has finally arrived on PC, almost two years after it was first released on PS4, it's essential you know which weapons you should be wielding. If you played the original, you're in for a surprise—the combat has had a complete rework. Materia still exists, but instead of being the turn-based system you may be expecting, it's similar to the combat found
January Xbox Live games with Gold Lineup leaks early
If you click on a link and make a purchase we may receive a small commission. Read our editorial policy. A report suggests we'll be getting NeuroVoider, Aground, Silvergun and Space Invaders Infinity Gene. It seems like there's a bit of a plumbing problem in the games industry at the moment, as leaks are springing up left, right and centre. Following the leaks of December's Xbox Live Gold games and Epic Game's 15 days of Christmas giveaways, covert games revealer, Bill
Assassin's Creed Valhalla expansion Dawn of Ragnarok leaks ahead of reveal
If you click on a link and make a purchase we may receive a small commission. Read our editorial policy. Odin looks set to take centre stage in this ambitious Norse mythology themed DLC. Assassin's Creed Valhalla's 2022 expansion appears to have leaked ahead of today's big reveal. Taking to social media yesterday, Ubisoft teased a new expansion for the Norse-set Creed adventure, with more content due to be announced today. Thanks to a Chinese storefront, however, the
Valheim speedrunner becomes the vegan viking king
Youtuber NickRawcliffe loves a Valheim challenge—this is the man who did the world-first takedown of all bosses in reverse order, as well as managing to kill all five bosses in 90 minutes. So he decided to really challenge himself, by trying to beat the game using a vegan ruleset. "So no animal food products but also no using or crafting and items that use hide etc. so basically no weapons plus no boats portals etc," writes Rawcliffe. In Valheim terms this is about as big as challenges get: T
Overwatch is free-to-play over the festive period
If you somehow still haven't gotten round to giving Overwatch a try, now's the perfect time to do so. The game's currently free-to-play until January 2, letting you dip your toe into the hero shooter waters. The free trial is unrestricted—you can access the full roster of characters and modes, play, level up and collect loot boxes like everyone else. If you get hooked and decide to buy the game, any progress you've made will carry over from the trial as long as you're using the same Blizzard
Best of 2021: Halo Infinite, and Alex's other GOTY picks
With Metroid Dread, Deathloop, Hitman 3, and Nier Replicant as noteworthy runner-ups! If you'd asked me the status of my Halo fandom at the start of 2021, I'd have described myself as a 'lapsed' Halo fan. Ask me again now, at the end of the year, and I'm like that guy from that old viral video where he's singing the Halo theme to some random woman in a parking lot. "You're a monk!" she exclaims. And yes. I am a monk of killing, precise with a Battle Rifle. M
Tiny MMO Book of Travels developer lays off staff but promises development will continue
Home News Indie Book Of Travels (Image credit: Might and Delight) Book of Travels is one of the more genuinely original and intriguing games released in 2021. Announced in 2019 as a TMO—tiny multiplayer online game—it's an online game in which you don't have to be the hero. It has some traditional RPG elements, and even battles to take part in, but the focus is on exploration and companionship, with no overarching goal or even a real beginning or end. I
I really hope Resurrections leads to a Matrix video game revival
The Matrix Resurrections had better be good. There's a lot riding on it - including our chance for another Matrix universe video game. The existence of a fourth Matrix movie has awakened something in me. I always knew I liked those movies - yes, even Reloaded and Revolutions, though to a lesser extent than the first - but I never really realized quite how much they meant to me. As somebody who was in their early teens when the sequels released, the Matrix was just about the coo
New River City Girls 2 trailer shows off sweet moves, Summer 2022 release date
The trailer also shows off the killer soundtrack by Megan McDuffee. WayForward released a new trailer for upcoming beat-em-up River City Girls 2 at the latest Indie World direct showcasing what's made a return, what's new in the game, and also narrowing down the release for Summer 2022. Before the trailer, director Bannon Rudis and producer Colleen Fannin talked about their experiences with the River City series and their excitement at getting to work on this new game. "I�
The Razer Iskur gaming chair is ready for deployment
There's a good chance you're reading this from the modest comfort of a regular office chair at home (or if you're less lucky, a home-office setup comprised of a dining chair and improvised desk made by removing the drawers from a chest). There's also a good chance that you're a gamer, whose dedicated gaming space has increasingly merged with a workspace over these past couple of years. The Razer Iskur is the latest gaming chair from the renowned games hardware and accessory veterans. Whether yo
Star Citizen alpha 3.16 launches today with Return to Jumptown event
A revamp of a fan-favourite Jumptown event is going live today, as well as several other significant additions Starting today, Star Citizen is going live with the Alpha 3.16 Return to Jumptown update - which is bringing back one of the game's most popular PvP game modes alongside several other significant additions to the game. Jumptown 2.0 is inspired by a previous mode of the name name, which has a team of criminals fight law enforcement over illegal substances in giant PvP b
Henry Cavill wants to star in a Red Dead Redemption movie now
Hunky Henry Cavill has been doing the rounds to promote The Witcher season two, and seems to be on something of a quest to put his name down for every gaming adaptation under the sun. Geralt? Never heard of him: hey, what about Mass Effect? His love for Warhammer 40K leads to constant outpourings of affection for the hobby, and he'll even politely correct hosts confusing it with Warcraft. All this and looks too, but Cavill's not done. The Witcher season two had a red carpet premiere in Madrid
Steam Deck now works with 80 of Steam's top 100 games
If you click on a link and make a purchase we may receive a small commission. Read our editorial policy. It's almost all hands on deck for Steam's hotly anticipated new handheld. Valve's anticipated 'PC in your pocket' Steam Deck is now compatible with 80 of Steam's 100 most popular games. In a new analysis by fansite ProtonDB, the community who spends their time testing Linux gaming compatibility, 80% of Steam's top 100 titles reportedly run on the system with min
The best materia in Final Fantasy 7 Remake
Wondering what's the best materia in Final Fantasy 7 Remake? Once you're over the initial nostalgia of jumping back into Midgar, you might be wondering where to start with the revamped battle system. The new action-inspired combat is a far cry from the original's turn-based combat, but thankfully, there's at least one familiar aspect to it. If you played the original JRPG, you should be familiar with the basics of materia and how it works when you slot it into your gear. The remake has overhaul
NVIDIA creates Minecraft Winter Wonderland to raise money for children's hospital
If you click on a link and make a purchase we may receive a small commission. Read our editorial policy. This free, 30 million block map spreads Christmas cheer and helps a very worthy cause. It's the season of giving, and with Christmas around the corner, NVIDIA and Minecraft have created a fun, festive Minecraft experience for charity. Comprised of over 30 million blocks, this grin-inducing winter wonderland is a free-to-download custom Minecraft map, aimed at raising fu
Intel once again warns of chip shortage continuing until 2023
As the Omicron variant spreads rapidly around the globe and hopes of a quick end to the pandemic fade into the rearview mirror, so too does our hope for a quick end to widespread chip supply shortages. Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger, in an interview with Nikkei Asia, stated that he doesn't expect the ongoing chip shortage to ease before 2023. Those plans for a new gaming rig might have to be delayed a little longer. Gelsinger's comments came during his South East Asia business trip, where Intel an
Massive Back 4 Blood patch brings offline progression, rebalances all three difficulties and more
You can now make solo progression while playing Back 4 Blood offline, and enjoy more even difficulties. Today, Back 4 Blood's last update of the year rolls out across all platforms. This is a major patch, promised back in November, and it comes with a number of player-requested features, as well as an overhaul to the game's difficulties. The December update will go live today at 10am PT, 1pm ET, 6pm UK on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S. The biggest new addition is th
Here's your first look at Homeworld 3 gameplay, coming in 2022
Out sometime during Q4 next year. Homeworld 3 is the latest upcoming standalone game in the Homeworld series, and it continues the story generations after the events of Homeworld 2. The unique strategic gameplay of the Homeworld series also returns, but at a larger scale, where players will engage in epic battles fought across open space. They will also fight within the 3D terrain of space derelicts called megaliths which are the crumbling remains of an ancient civilization. Her
In a fraught year, Outer Wilds: Echoes of the Eye reminds you what matters most
Home Features Outer Wilds (Image credit: Mobius Digital) Staff Picks (Image credit: Future) In addition to our main Game of the Year Awards 2021, each member of the PC Gamer team is shining a spotlight on a game they loved this year. We'll post new staff picks, alongside our main awards, throughout the rest of the month. It's frustrating that nobody will let you spoil Outer Wilds. I'm desperately waiting for the moment where we all agree th
See these stunning, iconic sci-fi-inspired Chorus posters
The sci-fi movie poster-inspired project features six artists offering their take on Chorus. Deep Silver announced a partnership with PosterSpy to create six unique poster-inspired artworks for its latest game, the space shooter Chorus. Each of the six pieces is created by a different artist, and each features protagonist Nara prominently. Artists were inspired by the long, rich history of sci-fi imagery in each of their creations, and every one of them looks wonderfully distinct
The sexy FMV mess that was Riana Rouge
From 2010 to 2014 Richard Cobbett wrote Crapshoot, a column about rolling the dice to bring random obscure games back into the light. This week, enter the porny—but mostly just silly—world of Riana Rouge, where life makes little sense, and the censor bars roam free and wild. Yep, it's time for a special video episode! You know what to click. ADDITIONAL NOTES: Wow, I repeat words in consecutive sentences a lot in consecutive sentences. Must stop that. Anyway, hope you
Microsoft needed to use Xbox Series X dev kits for the Halo Championship Series
If you click on a link and make a purchase we may receive a small commission. Read our editorial policy. The console maker couldn't secure enough retail consoles for the event due to the chip shortage. IGN reported that Microsoft needed to resort to using some Xbox Series X dev kits for the Halo Infinite Halo Championship Series tournament, showing that even the company that makes the console has trouble getting its hands on it due to the ongoing chip shortage. In a tweet
GTA 6: What we know about Rockstar's next crime adventure
Want some news about GTA 6? The highly-anticipated sequel to one of most successful games of all time has a lot to live up to. GTA 5 sold nearly 110 million copies and crashed the Epic Game Store when it was given out as a weekly freebie, but there's still no official news as to what exactly the sequel is and when we can get it. Fans of the series have had to subsist on rumors until now and tide themselves over playing the recent GTA Remastered Trilogy, even if it did turn out to be a bit of a
Beautiful management sim Spiritfarer sells a million units
If you click on a link and make a purchase we may receive a small commission. Read our editorial policy. A definitive Farewell Edition is also now available. Thunder Lotus announced that their gorgeous 2D management simulator Spiritfarer sold a million copies, making the indie game an undeniable success. They also marked the occasion to coincide with the launch of the Farewell Edition, closing the book on Spiritfarer for good. The game whose developer describes it as a "co
New Nintendo Indie World showcase coming tomorrow
If you click on a link and make a purchase we may receive a small commission. Read our editorial policy. Expect 20 minutes of indie game goodness coming soon to Nintendo Switch. Nintendo announced today that it's hosting another Indie World showcase tomorrow, December 15, where it would show off 20 minutes of footage for upcoming indie games coming to the Switch console. Given that this showcase is indie focused, we're probably not going to hear about anything from Nin
Dead Cells' next DLC adds a Metroid Dread-style biome and throwable shark
Developers Motion Twin and Evil Empire has announced a substantial new expansion for Dead Cells, The Queen and the Sea, which will be arriving on January 6. The DLC is apparently "finishing off the path that we started years ago with The Bad Seed and Fatal Falls [the previous major DLC offerings]. Ending a trilogy needs some special touches and we believe we've put quite a few in this DLC." This is late-game content that offers an alternative to the 'normal' ending path, and features a rotting
Sony shows commitment to accessibility with new PlayStation website
If you click on a link and make a purchase we may receive a small commission. Read our editorial policy. PlayStation's new information portal shows the platform holder taking accessibility in games seriously. When it comes to accessibility, PlayStation has long been behind its peers. With Microsoft leading the way with custom controllers tailor-made for people with disabilities, Sony's silence on the matter has slowly become a disappointment to many of the differently ab
Halo Infinite skull locations guide
Home Features MMO Halo Infinite (Image credit: 343 Industries) Searching for Halo Infinite skull locations? After the initial multiplayer release not so long ago, the campaign has finally arrived, and though co-op isn't coming until mid-2022, there's still lots of fun to be had wandering around the open ring world—see our Halo Infinite review for more details. Halo Infinite skulls are one of the ways that you can tweak your campaign. Just like previous H
Here's what Battlefield 2042's scoreboard could look like
There is currently no way in Battlefield 2042 to see how well you're doing against the rest of the server, but there could be. DICE elected not to bring back a number of classic features when developing Battlefield 2042. One of those is the standard scoreboard, which typically shows your place amongst your team, as well as enemy players. Battlefield 2042's version of that only really tracks your own performance, and offers general guidance on how the rest of the squads on your te
How to get every Witcher 3 ending
Home Features RPG The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt (Image credit: CD Projekt RED) Looking to get the right Witcher 3 ending for you? It's been a fair few years now since Blood and Wine launched, and we bade farewell to the monster-slaying RPG, but as ever, Geralt is still on our minds with the release of The Witcher Season 2— it may not be another game, but we'll take what we can get. Perhaps The Witcher TV show has got you itching for a read-through of the books,
Final Fantasy 14 suspends all sales and new free trials to combat congestion
Maybe there's such a thing as too popular. Naoki Yoshida, director and producer for Final Fantasy 14, took to the game's official blog to announce that the company is suspending all sales and new free trials of the wildly popular MMO until Square Enix has a better handle on the server situation. Ever since the launch of Endwalker, the latest expansion to the game, it's been plagued by monstrously long queues to even get into the game, with servers always filled to the brim.
As a child, Game Pass on Christmas Day would have felt unbelievable
A lot has changed in the world of video games since I started playing. You're 12 years old. Video games are a luxury, and rightly so. They're expensive and you are happy for what you get - maybe two new games over a year. Think hard about what you're going to choose as you'll be playing it many, many times. You might get to play a handful more by doing the odd rental or if your friends didn't also go for the big hitters like you did. Most games are experienced via the pages of v
CD Projekt will settle Cyberpunk 2077 class action lawsuit for $1.85M
Home News RPG Cyberpunk 2077 (Image credit: CDPR) CD Projekt said last week that proceedings in the class action lawsuit filed against it in December 2020 over the sorry state of Cyberpunk 2077's launch had been suspended because an out-of-court settlement was being hammered out. Today, it announced that an agreement has been reached, and assuming the court agrees, the whole thing will go away for $1.85 million. Under the terms of the settlement, all members
Dungeons & Dead-Ends: How mixed messaging starts fantasy wars
Home Features RPG Dungeons Dragons (Image credit: Douglas Sacha via Getty Images) Dungeons Dragons is an institution that will soon enough be celebrating 50 years as indisputably one of the most influential and successful games ever created. Those decades have seen the game change constantly, with various rulesets and permutations spurring an endless back-and-forth among fans about when it's "best" or what represents the "true" DD experience. The answer on a
Shin Megami Tensei 5 on sale for a very generous $35
If you click on a link and make a purchase we may receive a small commission. Read our editorial policy. I'm just saying, Shin Megami Tensei 5 would never take advantage of our innate gullibility Shin Megami Tensei 5 is on sale at select retailers for $35, even though it just released last month. It's a critically acclaimed AAA game and role playing GOTY nominee, which makes it even more impressive that it's on sale for over 40% less than its original price. Shin Megam
There are some pretty fantastic discounts on the Epic Games Store right now
The Epic Games Store Holiday Sale once again features endless $10 off coupons for its duration. Combined with the sale's price cuts, there are some deals here that raised my eyebrows. Take Chivalry 2, my favorite game of the year: It's $16.79 right now. Spooky card game Inscryption is $5.99. Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy is $38.99. Battlefield 2042, a game with very negative user reviews that I nevertheless enjoy, is $29.59 with the discount and coupon. (It's also free for the weekend on Ste
Elden Ring story trailer is here to make you even more depressed
From Software's latest trailer introduces you to the demi-gods who rule The Lands Between, and shows you why everything is doomed. Publisher Bandai Namco and developer FromSoftware have released a new story trailer for Elden Ring that gives us a little more insight into just how bloody screwed the universe really is. Before the trailer debuted at this year's Game Awards showcase, an actual anamatronic Pot Boy appeared – for some reason – to give the Doritos Pope himself, Geof
Steam might not like NFTs, but it laid the groundwork for them
Home Features (Image credit: Deviantart user Deniszizen) Tragically, NFTs don't look like they're going away anytime soon. What started as a (very flawed) pitch to help digital artists sell and protect their work has now become a mess of hideous apes, Elon Musk memes, beloved artists reanimated from beyond the grave ( twice! ) and climate catastrophe, all wrapped in a dangerously speculative market where high prices are driven largely by a small group of peop
Ricochet anti-cheat arrives in Call of Duty: Warzone... in some parts of the world
Activision Blizzard's kernel-level anti-cheat tech is out for some areas of the world, but others are coming later. There's quite a lot going on in Call of Duty world this week; whether you're jazzed about that huge Warzone Pacific update that brings a big new map, the wealth of weapons that are being added to the battle royale, or the new battle pass, you've certainly got something to get your teeth into. And on top of all that, there's the arrival of much-anticipated Ricochet a
Destiny 2: How to guarantee the infinite heavy ammo buff in Dares of Eternity
Home Features FPS Destiny 2 (Image credit: Bungie) For my glimmer, Dares of Eternity is the best matchmade six-player activity added to Destiny 2 since The Menagerie. Styled as a paracausal games show, DoE (as I shall hereafter call it), is hosted by Xur, Destiny's tentacle-faced exotic vendor. He is assisted by a celestial horse that whinnies its approval as you slay out. Why doesn't matter. What does is loot, most notably the new Halo-inspired weapons, including
Annoyed about Skyrim's constant re-releases? Don't be, the alternative is much worse
Game preservation and emulation are important issues the industry needs to address. It is now possible to play every mainline Bethesda Studios RPG from this century on the very latest generation of Xbox consoles, and most of them in a pristine 4K60 presentation with HDR enabled. This is, unequivocally, a Good Thing. Skyrim, of course, has enjoyed the most frequent and thorough refreshing, arriving in a souped-up form in the 2016 Special Edition, and more recently in its next-n
Best AIO cooler for CPUs
Home Features (Image credit: Cooler Master, EKWB) All-in-one coolers have come a long way since they were introduced and now the best AIO coolers are a great way to keep your CPU cool, and often top the lists of the best CPU coolers. A good quality AIO cooler not only keeps your rig cool and quiet but can also directly impact the performance of your system thanks to the way the turbo modes of modern CPUs work. But there are hundreds of coolers to choose from. Wh
Bungie CEO issues public apology over report exposing crunch, racism, sexism, and toxic team leads
"I'm heartened by the progress we have made, but it is not enough, and it has taken too long." Bungie CEO Pete Parsons has apologized for transgressions at the company after a report surfaced citing instances of crunch, discrimination, racism, and sexism. In the report, IGN spoke with 26 current and former Bungie employees who revealed instances of the aforementioned iniquities occurring as early as this year, and as far back as far as 2011. The narrative team at the studio, wh
Get these free Battlefield 2042 skins with Amazon Prime
Amazon Prime Gaming has dropped its first ever Battlefield 2042 bundle. Members of Prime Gaming - one of the benefits that come with an Amazon Prime subscription - should already be familiar with the free monthly releases featuring cosmetic items in a wide range of games. Well, Battlefield 2042 has joined in on the fun in what looks like it's going to be an exhaustive stream of content. The first drop, available now for Prime Gaming members, consists of the Disaster Response char
Ubisoft's NFT scheme criticized as 'useless, costly, ecologically mortifying' by French trade union
Home News (Image credit: Frederic J. Brown / Contributor) Ubisoft's dive into the cold, murky waters of NFTs did not go over well with fans, who very quickly expressed overwhelming dislike for the idea. They're not the only ones: The French trade union Solidaires Informatique, which represents some workers at Ubisoft Paris, criticized the decision in a statement calling blockchain technology "a useless, costly, ecologically mortifying technology." "Ubisoft has r
Sony patents Death Stranding-like path-building system
If you click on a link and make a purchase we may receive a small commission. Read our editorial policy. With this move, Sony effectively locks down a gameplay mechanic. Sony patented a strikingly similar collaborative path-building mechanic found in Sony exclusive Death Stranding, seemingly taking one of the most intriguing aspects of a decidedly different game and making it Sony exclusive. The patent itself, which is titled "Terrain radar and gradual building of a route
Someone mixed Scrabble with battle royale, and by god it works
Home News Puzzle (Image credit: Everybody House Games) I've just spent a surprisingly tense several minutes playing Babble Royale , a free multiplayer word game that mixes Scrabble and PUBG and leaves you spelling for your life. Look below, it's me creating the word ANY and then connecting that Y to another player's W with an E. Yes, I just totally fragged someone by spelling YEW. Get rEkt! That's how Babble Royale works. Up to 16 players airdrop onto the b
Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League gets gameplay trailer, coming in 2022
If you click on a link and make a purchase we may receive a small commission. Read our editorial policy. Warner Bros. Games and DC released a new trailer for Rocksteady's Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League at The Game Awards. Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League was originally announced for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X at DC FanDome 2020 – but we've not heard too much information about the game since it was initially debuted. Today, at The Game Awards, we finally got
Diablo-like Lost Ark officially launches February 11 in the West
After a few delays, and a couple of beta tests, Lost Ark is almost ready for public release. Lost Ark is finally, actually landing in much of the West - you'll just have to wait a little longer to get your hands on it. As part of tonight's The Game Awards 2021 ceremony, Smilegate and Amazon announced the official release date for Lost Ark, the free-to-play Diablo-like ARPG-MMO hybrid. The game has been available in Korea, parts of Asia, and later Russia for years - but it's
Where to get the new weapons in GTA: The Contract
Home Features Action GTA Online (Image credit: Rockstar Games) There are three new GTA Online weapons, and you may be wondering how to get your hands on them. If you've been saving in preparation to pick up one—or more—of the new cars , it's even more important to figure out how much money you'll need so you don't leave yourself short. You'll also need to purchase one of the new agency properties. And as these run upwards of the $2 million mark, you'r
A new Sonic the Hedgehog game has been revealed at The Game Awards 2021, following teases earlier in the week. Get those chili dogs out your mouth, make sure you've got your rings polished, and strap those sneakers on – we've got more Sonic The Hedgehog coming to you soon. After we reported that Sega was about to announce a new Sonic game earlier in the week, it's finally happened: the newest game featuring the blue blur and friends has been debuted to the world. This new game
It's a miracle - the Epic Games Store has a shopping cart now
If you click on a link and make a purchase we may receive a small commission. Read our editorial policy. I couldn't believe it either. It's a legendary day in the world of video game news. If you can believe it, the Epic Games Store now has a shopping cart feature. This much-desired addition to one the biggest video game platforms on PC comes only three years after the initial release of the Epic Games Store. For those of you unaware, the shopping cart feature allows you t
Warframe's The New War update is an epic years in the making
Home Features MMO Warframe (Image credit: Digital Extremes) This preview was originally published in PC Gamer UK magazine, issue 365, which is on sale now . It feels like only yesterday Warframe was just that odd little free to play game with the space ninjas. Now it's a sprawling sci-fi epic that contains everything from open world mech battles to ship-to-ship space combat. Tomorrow's Warframe update, The New War, isn't simply a burst of more content,
Warframe The New War: Everything coming in The New War update
A new quest, new Warframes, and cosmetics headed your way with The New War Warframe's latest update, The New War, is nearly with us! Years of narrative threads are coming together with the arrival of Erra, the Sentient Invasion, and a fated confrontation between us the players and our old ally The Lotus. But that begs the question, what exactly can we expect from The New War? Last week, we were invited to an early look at Warframe's upcoming update alongside other members of
The Analogue Pocket is the best gaming hardware I've used in years
The modern-retro maestros at Analogue are back. Their latest system, a tribute to handheld gaming, is their best yet. We are entering a golden age of retro gaming. Modern video games are also pretty good right now, of course, but if you have a love of the old stuff, this is an unprecedented time. Technology, fan interest, and the right clever brains behind-the-scenes are lining up in just the right way to make playing old games as hassle-free as it is nostalgic, and as era-accur
EVGA releases a vBIOS that improves RTX 3080 Ti mining performance
Home News (Image credit: Nvidia) If you're on the hunt for an RTX 3080 Ti, your search is likely to become a bit harder. EVGA has released a firmware update that appears to drastically increase the mining hash rate of its RTX 3080 Ti's. Sadly, you can probably infer what that means. EVGA 3080 Ti's are suddenly more appealing to miners, and more cards in the hands of miners means less in the hands of gamers. The graphics card market has become its own mem
Tiny Tina's Wonderland has gotten a brand new trailer
Shown off at The Game Awards, the trailer gives us another look at Gearbox's Fantasy Looter Shooter. Tiny TIna's Wonderlands, the fantasy looter shooter spinoff from Gearbox Software, got a new trailer shown off during last night's Game Awards. The trailer shows off more gameplay from the game, as well as an introduction to the game's major antagonist. The game's presence has TIny TIna, a major character in Gearbox Software's popular Borderlands series, running a fanta
Best CPU coolers in 2021
Home Features (Image credit: Noctua, DeepCool) The best CPU cooler is the chip chiller that will do the job you ask of it with minimal fuss. And by fuss we generally mean noise and/or the throttling of your high-end PC components because the cooler is not quite up to the job. That doesn't automatically mean an all-in-one (AIO) liquid CPU cooler is your only option; there are some fantastic air coolers that are just as capable and as quiet. There's plenty of spac
Warframe New War Interview - the long, Covid hit road to release
Warframe, the sci-fi action game from Canadian developer Digital Extremes, is getting a huge new Quest update later this month. The New War update has been in the works for a while now, first revealed all the way back in 2018 to the game's community. However, that was certainly a while ago, and The New War has warped and shifted quite a bit since we first heard about the dramatic conclusion of the Warframe story as we know it. To find out exactly what has changed I sat down with Rebecca For
Castle Knatterfels: Curse of the Zombie Krauts was Wolfenstein with boobs and a terrible FPS
Home Features FPS From 2010 to 2014 Richard Cobbett wrote Crapshoot, a column about rolling the dice to bring random obscure games back into the light. This week, Nazi zombies once again run amok in a spooky German castle full of mad necroscience... but it sure as hell ain't Wolfenstein this time around. Castle Knatterfels (Knatterfels being German for "Worst Shooter Ever") is a game that really makes you think. "I think my clicking finger is falling off," for i
Battlefield 2042: forget C5 drones, C5 shields is where it's at
The sticking-C5-to-things meta in Battlefield 2042 has taken an unexpected turn. Battlefield players are no strangers to sticking remote explosives to things and creating a makeshift, explosive battering ram of sorts. The circumstances, specifics, and objects may change - but someone will always find a way to deliver explosives in a fast and efficient manner. Battlefield 2042, too, lets you do this. Since its release, players have been bringing back the classic C5 (C4) jeep tric
Xbox says the way it dealt with Lionhead Studios was 'one of the biggest missteps' it made
Microsoft has admitted that its handling of the defunct Lionhead Studios was "one of the biggest missteps" the company made. The comments came during a new six-part documentary series called Power On: The Story of Xbox. The sixth episode covers the tumultuous Xbox One launch and the gradual path the company took to prioritise gaming again, aided by its numerous studio acquisitions (thanks, IGN). When looking back at how it initially dealt with acquired studios, head of game creator experiences
Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 announced for PC and consoles
The cult classic Space Marine is getting a sequel after a decade. The Game Awards 2021 ceremony was full of surprise reveals, but a sequel to Space Marine has to rank amongst the top. Publisher Focus Home Interactive, and developer Saber Interactive revealed Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2. To see this content please enable targeting cookies. Space Marine 2 is a sequel to Sega, and Relic's cult classic third-person action shooter. Though neither of the two return for the seq
The Witcher season 2 review: It's all about dads
Home Features The Witcher (Image credit: Netflix) There's a certain joy to watching a sarcastic, buff, and altogether quite terrifying man transform into a caring and devoted father figure. The first season of Netflix's The Witcher focused heavily on transformations and mutations, and while Season 2's pace is slower, change is still a central theme: Geralt and Ciri have found each other, Yennefer's fiery gambit has sent her in a new direction, and the northern
Android games on Windows will let you seamlessly swap from mobile to PC
Home News Mobile (Image credit: Getty) Soon you'll be able to play a game on your Android device and then pick up where you left off on your PC. Google announced that it will bring a Google Play app to Windows 10 and 11 devices next year, allowing you to play both emulated and natively-designed Android games on your PC for the first time. The service won't stream games through the cloud or a Wi-Fi connection. Instead, it'll let you access Google's own app st
Halo Infinite update to add new playlists, make adjustments to challenges
If you click on a link and make a purchase we may receive a small commission. Read our editorial policy. Coming via a services update on Tuesday. An update to Halo Infinite coming next week will add new playlists and make some adjustments to some of the more frustrating mode-specific challenges. As promised last week, 343 Industries will add additional multiplayer playlists to the game on Tuesday, December 14. There will be four in total and are Slayer, Fiesta, FFA, and Tac
The Game Awards 2021 winners: It Takes Two walks off with Game of The Year
If you click on a link and make a purchase we may receive a small commission. Read our editorial policy. Plenty of awards were handed out last night. Here are the winners. The Game Awards 2021 took place yesterday evening, and along with plenty of reveals, news, and trailers, awards were handed out. This year's Game of the Year nominees were Deathloop, It Takes Two, Metroid Dread, Psychonauts 2, Ratchet Clank: Rift Apart, and Resident Evil Village. Deathloop, Ratchet Clank
The best builds for Gorou in Genshin Impact
Home Features RPG Genshin Impact (Image credit: miHoYo) Want a decent Genshin Impact Gorou build for his release? This general of the Watatsumi Island resistance has been around since version 2.0, but is only just arriving in-game as a playable character. He's a pretty strong Geo support, and it's likely that long-term, he'll be the most widely used character from the Genshin Impact 2.3 update—please don't hit me, Itto. More top Genshin Impact builds Whi
You can pre-load The Matrix Awakens Unreal tech demo on PS5 and Xbox Series X/S now
If you click on a link and make a purchase we may receive a small commission. Read our editorial policy. A few days back, we heard about a The Matrix Awakens is an Unreal Engine 5 experience – and you pre-load it now. It's official: The Matrix Awakens Unreal Engine 5 tech demo is real – and it's available for you to download now for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S ahead of it's mysterious full reveal later this week. Back on Saturday, we reported on rumours that some s
Microsoft's ID@Xbox Winter Game Fest Demo Event kicks off on December 7
Play all sorts of unreleased games early. Microsoft will once again host its ID@Xbox Winter Game Fest Demo event as part of The Game Awards. Starting December 7 and running through December 21, you'll be able to play over 35 demos of upcoming unreleased games for Xbox Series X/S and Xbox One. Much like the Steam Fest demos, some are early builds as the games have yet to be completed. This means there could be missing features and possibly some unfinished graphics, which means t
Activision Blizzard reacts to unionization talk with anti-unionization talk
Yesterday's report about the ongoing work stoppage at Activision Blizzard also noted that some employees at the publisher appeared to be ramping up efforts to unionize. While it's not clear at this point how widespread or successful those efforts are, it was enough to get the attention of company management: An internal message from Activision Blizzard chief administrative officer Brian Bulatao warns employees that voting for a union could be bad, actually. "As you may have seen yesterday, ther
Nightingale announced at The Game Awards, a shared-world survival game made by ex-Bioware staff
Improbable and Inflexion Games have revealed Nightingale, the studio's first title, during The Game Awards. Tonight at The Game Awards, Improbable and Inflexion Games (the studio formally known as Improbable Canada) revealed Nightingale. The old-fashioned looking game is "a shared-world survival crafting game set within a rich Victorian gaslamp fantasy setting", a combination of words which is certainly a first for us. "Thrown into a labyrinth of fantastical and perilous worlds
EA vet Patrick Soderlund's studio is teasing its first game, Arc Raiders
If you click on a link and make a purchase we may receive a small commission. Read our editorial policy. Looks like the sci-fi co-op shooter will be revealed at The Game Awards. Embark Studios, the new studio set up by former EA executive Patrick Soderlund, is teasing its next game, Arc Raiders. Not much is shown in the tease posted to Twitter, other than some grainy footage, but you can see a bit of shooting in a sci-fi setting. The Twitter tease states Arc Raiders will
The best NZ-41 loadouts for Warzone
Home Features Battle Royale Call Of Duty: Warzone (Image credit: Infinity Ward) The Warzone NZ-41 is a slow-firing assault rifle with a great deal of power behind it. If you enjoy the AMAX and LMGs like the Stoner 63, you'll feel right at home with the NZ-41. Its attachments do a really solid job of making it a damage powerhouse. It's a gun that you'll need to practice with, but when you have it decked out like in the following loadouts, there'll be no stopp
Destiny 2 30th anniversary packs adds Halo-Inspired weapons
If you click on a link and make a purchase we may receive a small commission. Read our editorial policy. Classics like the frag grenade and trusty pistol can be seen in the update's launch trailer A brand new trailer for the Bungie 30th Anniversary Pack update coming to Destiny 2 has been released. It, alongside a new blog post from bungie's official website, have confirmed that new weapons inspired by Bungie's previous games - including Halo - will be available. The tr
Call of Duty: Warzone's Vanguard guns don't shoot straight, but they will eventually
Call of Duty: Warzone guns usually shoot straight. If a bullet doesn't land where your reticle is aiming, that's usually because it's far enough away to be affected by bullet drop. That principle was casually thrown out the window this week as players discovered that many of the 40 Vanguard guns added in the Warzone Pacific update have a tendency to shoot in random directions thanks to built in aim bloom (aka bullet spread). Aim bloom adds a random chance for bullets fired from Vanguard guns to
Battlefield 2042 patch removes Breakthrough rooftop objectives, nerfs proximity sensors and vehicle cannons
The last Battlefield 2042 patch for the year brings some welcome balance changes to carry us into the holidays. As promised, DICE has released one final Battlefield 2042 update before the year is out. Today's patch is small, but full of welcome balance changes and further fixes to hopefully get the game into a better shape ahead of the holidays. The new patch, version 0.3.1, is a companion to last week's massive 0.3.0 update. Available now on all platforms, 3.1 chiefly tweaks the
Where to find all the Halo Infinite Warship Gbraakon collectibles
Home Features FPS Halo Infinite (Image credit: 343 Industries) Looking for all the Halo Infinite Warship Gbraakon collectibles? There's plenty to keep you busy with the new campaign. But if you're after every missable item and not just the Halo Infinite skulls , this guide will point you in the right direction. You can't go back and replay individual missions in Halo Infinite, so if you miss a collectible, you'll have to start the campaign again from scratc
Chorus review-in-progress – what a delightful end-of-year-surprise
Chorus constantly punches above its weight. Fishlabs, the German developer behind space action game Galaxy on Fire, returns with what will prove to be its magnum opus: Chorus. From the first time the team's new space shooter was revealed at an Xbox show, the presentation was immediately attention-grabbing. Questionable title stylising aside, the trailer made me anxious to play it. Chorus launches today, and I have been playing it for a few days now. Though I am not ready to as
Best Christmas gifts for gamers from Switch and Xbox to everything else
Here's our guide to the best consoles, games and accessories that would make awesome gifts for gamers in your life. With Black Friday and Cyber Monday out of the way, you might be thinking retailers are done and dusted with deals for the year. That's definitely not the case, with some items still on sale, and others being discounted in preparation for the Christmas and winter break. Our gift guide collates the best Christmas deals for gamers. You'll find everything for Xbox, Nint
Among Us VR is first-person, and coming to SteamVR and Oculus Quest 2
Home News Stealth Among Us Surprise surprise, Among Us is getting an official VR adaptation. Studio Innersloth announced the project at the Game Awards today, and it's more than a port: Among Us VR is its own first-person experience, though it otherwise stays true to the format of the original. According to the official release, Among Us "is moving from a 2D to a first-person, 3D experience that places players in the heart of the Skeld and retains the core mechanics fans love." A
VG247's Alternate Game Awards 2021
It's that time of year again, where the industry gathers with bated breath to find out who the winners are of the most prestigious, high-budget awards of the year. That's right - it's time for the VG247 Alternate Game Awards yet again. This year has genuinely been a great year for actual video games, even if it's been a pretty rough year in other ways - developers being treated poorly, revelations about terrible people who somehow are still in the industry when they definitely should n
Guillermo Del Toro gently zings Konami at The Game Awards
Home News Horror Silent Hill (Image credit: The Game Awards) Film director and Geoff Keighley pal Guillermo Del Toro turned up at The Game Awards tonight to announce the nominees and winner in the Best Art Direction category. While he was there, he took the opportunity to throw some light ribbing at Konami, the former home of game designer and Guillermo Del Toro pal Hideo Kojima. "You know, one franchise I loved the art direction in? Silent Hill," Del Toro s
Sea of Thieves Season 5 sets sail today
New adventures await on the high seas. Season 5 is now live for Sea of Thieves players and brings with it the new treasure burying option among other fun things such as rowboats equipped with cannons and helpful rats on ships. With the season, you are now able to put your shovels to use by burying treasure rather than unearthing it. After you bury it, you can make a map and either hold on to it or pin it to the Quest Board for others to find. Doing the latter will earn you both r
The best STG44 loadouts for Warzone
Home Features Battle Royale Call Of Duty: Warzone (Image credit: Infinity Ward) The Warzone STG44 was the first Vanguard gun available to play in battle royale, albeit accidentally last October. It's a handy weapon with a huge amount of potential in all aspects of the game, and the perfect accompaniment to your first foray onto Caldera. The STG44, like all Vanguard primary weapons, is unique in its ability to hold ten attachments, rather than the usual 5. So
Warframe's just got a new gorgeous cinematic trailer
Ahead of the December 15 release of The New War Quest, Digital Extremes has dropped a brand new trailer Heads up all you space Ninjas out there, there's a new cinematic trailer for the upcoming Warframe Quest The New War that has dropped alongside a December 15 release date. Revealed during a Warframe dev stream, the cinematic shows a confrontation between a Tenno - the race of warframe piloting space ninjas - confronting the sentients. This includes a seemingly ultimate fight
PlayStation VP fired following a sting by a pedophilia vigilante group
If you click on a link and make a purchase we may receive a small commission. Read our editorial policy. A senior PlayStation executive has been fired from Sony following an amateur sting operation. Content note: This report features mentions of paedophilia, sexual content. A senior PlayStation executive has been fired from Sony after an amateur sting operation has allegedly provided evidene that he was attempting to engage in sexual activity with a 15-year-old boy (via G
$199 off the Razer Iskur voids our main gripe with the snekky gaming chair
Home News (Image credit: Razer) The Razer Iskur gaming chair has been pretty darn expensive in it's time. It was one of the only downsides we could find in our Razer Iskur review. Actually, the three wise camels don't remember a time the XL was less than about $580. The standard size has fluctuated a bit more, but both gaming chairs are right at this moment the cheapest price we've seen them. The extra large model, which usually sells for $599, is down to a supe
Battlefield 2042 is bleeding players as launch issues continue
Battlefield 2042 is losing players much faster than anticipated. Seemingly as a result of Battlefield 2042's countless launch woes, it looks like players are leaving the game in droves. Setting aside all the technical problems, Battlefield 2042 was actually fairly popular at release, reaching the top five most actively played games on Steam, and similar lists on Xbox Live. Today, less than two weeks on from launch, the game has lost over 60% of its active players on Steam. As see
Halo Infinite was wrong to release multiplayer early
Home Features FPS Halo Infinite (Image credit: 343 Industries) On November 8 2021, the 20th anniversary of the original Halo, 343 Industries dropped a bombshell. Halo Infinite's free-to-play multiplayer went live , kicking off season one and letting us jump into the complete online arena a full month before the planned December 8 release. It was probably the best way 343 could have celebrated the series' birthday. But a month on, with the discussion around
Sonic the Hedgehog 2 poster drops ahead of new trailer airing during The Game Awards 2021
If you click on a link and make a purchase we may receive a small commission. Read our editorial policy. Check out the poster in preparation for the trailer. The box office poster for Sonic the Hedgehog 2 has been revealed ahead of the movie's world premiere trailer which drops during The Game Awards 2021 tomorrow night. The poster shows off Sonic riding atop an airplane piloted by Tails. They are both being chased through the sky by none other than Dr. Robotnik, played by J
Nvidia appears to be bumping the RTX 3080 and RTX 3070 Ti's memory specs
Home News (Image credit: Gigabyte) New graphics cards appear to be finally on their way if a new post on the EEC filings is anything to go by. A total of 19 cards from Gigabyte are listed on the site, which covers new memory SKUs of the RTX 3080 and the RTX 3070 Ti as well as the as-yet-unreleased AMD Radeon RX 6500 XT Radeon. The post was highlighted by @momomo_us (via Videocardz) who has good form for unearthing interesting tidbits in the PC hardware market.
Stardew Valley's latest update features some important technical changes for modders
There are some general fixes in the update as well. Eric "ConcernedApe" Barone has released a new update for Stardew Valley on PC, and it contains some important technical changes for modders, quality of life changes, and some bug fixes. For modders, update 1.5.5 contains architectural changes. Basically, the update migrates the games from XNA (.NET 4.5.2) to MonoGame (.NET 5) which will "futureproof" the game allowing mods to access more than 4GB of RAM. Various internal changes
The best microphone for streaming, gaming, and podcasting
Home Features (Image credit: Future) The best microphone for streaming and gaming was once whatever microphone you had on your headset. Not ideal. But now, with prices tumbling, technology improving, and streaming becoming so ubiquitous, a great desktop mic is almost a necessary part of your gaming rig. And, not only will it ensure you sound silky smooth on your stream, you can also net high quality audio over Discord or in your Zoom meeting. Heck, you could eve
Titanfall is being pulled from stores but servers will remain online
If you click on a link and make a purchase we may receive a small commission. Read our editorial policy. So, good news and bad news. Respawn Entertainment has announced the original Titanfall is being pulled from online stores on PC and Xbox today, which means if you have been sitting on the fence when it comes to the 2014 title, you are now out of luck - unless you can find a physical secondhand copy. For current owners worried about what this means for their game, Respawn
The best gaming PC in 2021
Home Features (Image credit: Future) The best gaming PC isn't necessarily one you built yourself. The sad truth is that, though we love DIY PC builds, they're one of the many casualties of the chip supply crisis. System builders simply have a better chance of getting hold of CPUs and GPUs than we do of bagging one at the local Best Buy, however early you get in line. What that means is these prebuilt PCs we've tested below may prove to be your best option for bu
Solar Ash review - burns bright and fizzles out
Do you ever notice when you have a perfect walk? You're going somewhere (taking the kids to school, heading into town, nipping to the local shop) and when you arrive you realise that you had flow. You never stopped moving. You didn't have to stop and wait for traffic in order to cross the road. No kids on bikes forced you into a bush. There was no need to take evasive action from someone who clearly didn't get the memo about Covid. It was a seamless, silky smooth walk. At its best, Solar Ash i
How long is Halo Infinite's campaign?
Home Features FPS Halo Infinite (Image credit: 343 Industries) If you're wondering how long Halo Infinite's campaign is, that's likely down to the fact that Master Chief's latest adventure is an open-world game. Well, for the most part. That means the amount of time you'll spend in this lush section of the Zeta Halo ring will vary depending on how you want to play it. You could just blast through it Needler-blazing, or you could take the time to stop and bas
When is the Warzone End of Verdansk event going live?
Following a small delay to the release of Caldera, we've got the updated date for the Last Hours of Verdansk event. Verdansk! That lushious treeline! Astounding architecture style, great airport connections… You just don't know what you're missing until it's gone! Some of you out there may have booted up Warzone expecting the map's final event, the Last Hours of Verdansk, as its final send off. Weird thing is, the event isn't live today. That's right, it was delayed.
The Matrix Awakens is an Unreal Engine 5 experience coming to PS5, according to leak
If you click on a link and make a purchase we may receive a small commission. Read our editorial policy. Looks like some sort of Unreal Engine 5/The Matrix Resurrections experience is on the way. Some sort of tie-in between The Matrix Resurrections and Unreal Engine 5 is coming to PS5 and it's called The Matrix Awakens. This is according to reddit user the_andshrew who posted the information on the GamingLeaksAndRumours subreddit. The image posted was apparently made availa
Best SSD for gaming in 2021
Home Features (Image credit: Crucial, Western Digital) The best SSD for gaming will help you navigate your PC speedily and get you into your games at lightning speeds. A top SSD will give your entire system a boost, no matter what you do with it. Whether that's putting Windows 11 through its paces or quickly getting you into a massive game like Deathloop in a fraction of the time it took you before. The performance difference between an SSD and a standard hard
Arcane Review - Riot Games smashes their Netflix Debut
If you click on a link and make a purchase we may receive a small commission. Read our editorial policy. Dorrani and Connor talk through their impressions of Arcane, Riot and Fortiche's Netflix original. Arcane, Riot Games' very own Netflix show set in the world of League of Legends, has wrapped up its first season for roughly a week now. Split into three weekly acts, the show follows the adventures of Vi and Powder and has proven to be a monstrous hit. With a second season alrea
Best gaming PC deals ahead of the holidays
Home News (Image credit: ABS) The low prices of Black Friday and Cyber Monday may be over, but that doesn't mean there's no value in buying a gaming PC this side of New Year's Day. If you're in a pickle trying to pick up a PC for someone special, or just looking to treat yourself (hey, you deserve it), these are the best gaming PC deals I could uncover this December. It must be said that the top savings of yestermonth are gone, and I'm seeing prices pretty much
Black Friday 2021 gaming chair deals
Lumbar support. Maybe not the sexiest pair of words ever strung into existence, but boy howdy, is it important - especially if you're going to spend eight hours straight slashing your way through armoured knights, burning medieval monasteries, or web-slinging through New York City. And that's what these best Black Friday gaming chair deals can provide. Where to find the best Black Friday gaming chair deals UK: Herman Miller x Logitech G Embody - buy from Herman Miller for £1,083.75 (o
Survival game Icarus had a bumpy launch but a huge weekend
Home News Survival Icarus (Image credit: RocketWerkz) Survival game Icarus launched on Friday and was gobbled up by survival fans, quickly climbing the Steam charts and drawing over 50,000 concurrent players on Sunday. It wasn't all smooth sailing, though: Icarus currently has a 'Mixed' review score on Steam, and many of the complaints revolve around performance issues, optimization problems, crashes, and bugs. There were also two server outages that knock
Starfield developer diary features some teases of the upcoming RPG
Bethesda has released a developer diary for Starfield called "The Endless Pursuit" which features a small tease of the upcoming sci-fi game. Mainly, the developer diary features game director Todd Howard, studio director Angela Browder, and art director Matt Carofano discussing how Bethesda Game Studios' "ambitions, passions and history" have shaped the studio and how they are looking to the future with Starfield. If you are unfamiliar with the backstory for RPG, it is said to be s
Halo Infinite players are getting Fiesta, SWAT, other multiplayer playlists before the end of the year
343 Industries is working on new multiplayer playlists for Halo Infinite. Halo Infinite players have plenty to look forward to when it comes to multiplayer. According to 343 Industries community manager John Junyszek, there are additional multiplayer playlists in the works for the game including Slayer, SWAT, and Free-For-All. "We've been reading your feedback, and we're working on plans to add Fiesta, Tactical Slayer (SWAT), and Free-For-All playlists as we speak," said Junys
Farming Simulator 22: How to get water to your farm
Home Features Sim Farming Simulator 22 (Image credit: Giants Software) In Farming Simulator 22, water is crucial to the health of your farm, especially if you have livestock like cows or chickens or if you built a greenhouse to grow crops like strawberries and tomatoes. Both animals and greenhouses need lots of water, but it's not immediately obvious how to actually get water and take it where it needs to go. Luckily, once you know what to do it's pretty eas
Battlefield 2042 is the worst-rated mainline entry in series history
Battlefield 2042 is tied with Battlefield Heroes and Battlefield Play4Free as the worst-received game in the series. Battlefield 2042's launch has been off to a rough start in a lot of ways, and it looks like all the game's woes have been reflected in its critical score, setting a new record low for the series. Battlefield games have always had rough launches, and some even suffered from a lack of focus, but nowhere are those problems more prevalent than in Battlefield 2042. DIC
The Halo subreddit got so toxic that mods have closed it for the weekend
Home News FPS Halo Infinite (Image credit: 343 Industries) In case you're not up to date, there's a lot of back-and-forth over the contents and quality of the Halo Infinite multiplayer beta. Indeed, the free-to-play beta has sparked such controversy that the moderators of the Halo subreddit have closed the entire forum for the weekend because people just cannot behave themselves. "Some users on the sub have even been responsible for doxxing and death threats
Fortnite: Receive your next objective in the Joneses and drop off supplies location
Home Features Battle Royale Fortnite (Image credit: Epic Games) Fortnite Chapter 3 is here, and one of your first quests is to "receive your next objective in the Joneses and drop off supplies." Basically, you're a spy for the Foundation and the Seven, who need you to drop off supplies as a cover for snooping around several locations. This will let you figure out where the Joneses' allegiance lies. But this fetch quest can be a pain if you don't know where
Kingdoms of Amalur: Re-Reckoning expansion Fatesworn is out this month
Amalur is once again in need of your aid. As you know, Kingdoms of Amalur: Re-Reckoning is getting an expansion, and today a release date for said expansion was announced. Out on December 14, Fatesworn will see the journey of the Fateless One continue. In it, peace is shattered by a new threat rising in the far west where the icy lands of Mithros are located. Here, Telogrus, the God of Chaos himself has awoken and is gathering followers to throw the world into chaos. Of course,
Pokemon Go Season of Heritage has kicked off - here's what to expect
There's plenty going on this season, and we're here to tell you about it. In case you missed the news, the Season of Heritage has kicked off in Pokemon Go, and there will be all sorts of things to get up to during the long season. For starters, it runs now through March 1, 2022. And each week, and month, there will be plenty of things for players to accomplish and partake in. There will be a different Seasonal Bonus featured every month during the Season of Heritage, and Timed Re
FTC sues Nvidia to stop its takeover of Arm
Home News (Image credit: SOPA Images (Getty)) The US Federal Trade Commission has filed a lawsuit to block Nvidia's acquisition of UK-based chip designer and supplier Arm Limited. Nvidia first announced the acquisition in September 2020, when Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said the merger "will create a company fabulously positioned for the age of AI." But in November 2021 the UK government launched an investigation into the deal over national security and supply chain
Georgian Police, the cop game that makes Police Quest seem normal
Home Features FPS From 2010 to 2014 Richard Cobbett wrote Crapshoot, a column about rolling the dice to bring random obscure games back into the light. This week, is it possible to follow the letter of the law when you don't even recognise the letters? Luckily, turns out everyone speaks 'gun'. Sadly, this is not the Georgian I was hoping for. I really wanted this to be a Police Quest set in the Regency, full of cries of "Cease and desist, you bounder, lest you als
The Razer Seiren X Microphone is 50% off for Cyber Monday 2021
If you click on a link and make a purchase we may receive a small commission. Read our editorial policy. Razer's top streaming microphone is half-price just for today. Grab it now before it expires tomorrow! Razer Black Friday has passed, but Cyber Monday is still in full swing. Discounts cover a range of items from appliances to electronics, including the Razer Seiren X USB Microphone. This limited-time deal cuts the price of Razer's most popular microphone from $99.99 to
The Last Night to 'make a comeback' in 2022, says developer
Home News Platformer The Last Night (Image credit: Odd Tales) The trajectory of cinematic cyberpunk platformer The Last Night has been a sobering lesson to never fall in love with a 'First Look' trailer. The game's debut at E3 2017 was mesmerising; a hypnotic 120-second stroll through a dystopian city drenched in rain and neon, presented through a tasteful layering of pixel art and 3D graphics. The trailer exploded, and The Last Night had the world's attenti
Metroid Dread developer is working on a dark fantasy action RPG for multiple platforms
If you click on a link and make a purchase we may receive a small commission. Read our editorial policy. MercurySteam is working on a third-person action RPG, codenamed Project Iron, that will be published by 505 Games. Like Metroid Dread? You're not alone. The game has seen some remarkable scores since launch, with Samus Aran's latest adventure tipped to be high up on most people's Game of the Year lists. Our own Alex Donaldson adored the first new entry of the 2D Metroid s
Battlefield 2042 console players want mouse and keyboard support
Battlefield 2042 is one of few online shooters that do not support mouse and keyboard controls on consoles. The arrival of cross-play gave rise to another great, often neglected feature of new consoles: their ability to support mouse and keyboard. Battlefield 2042 supports cross-play between PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X/S - but only PC players get the choice of input device. If you're playing on PS5 or Xbox Series X/S, you can only use the consoles' default controllers. On PC, howev
Reminder: Farming Simulator esports are a thing, they're awesome, and the finals are this weekend
Home News Sim Farming Simulator 22 (Image credit: Giants Software) A couple quick reminders for you: Farming Simulator 22 just launched just over a week ago, it's a massively popular series , a top 10 game on Steam, and its dozens of farming vehicles are every bit as cool as sci-fi spaceships . Oh, and Farming Simulator is an esport, too. Farming Simulator League is a real thing and every year since 2018 players have been battling it out in lightning fas
DICE forgot to add collision to some Battlefield 2042 buildings, so players are hiding in them
If you click on a link and make a purchase we may receive a small commission. Read our editorial policy. Battlefield 2042 has some... unusual hiding places for helicopters. Of the many, many bugs and technical problems players have been coming across in Battlefield 2042 since release, one in particular may be more funny than disturbing. Battlefield 2042 maps are massive, much bigger than even the biggest maps in the series up to that point. This was done to support 128 playe
Activision studio lets go of at least 12 Call of Duty QA testers
Home News FPS Call Of Duty: Warzone (Image credit: Activision Blizzard) At least 12 quality assurance contractors at Raven Software, one of the primary Call of Duty development studios, were laid off today. More QA contractors could lose their jobs next week. According to The Washington Post, the testers were previously told by Activision to expect a transfer to a new staffing partner, Volt, which was going to come with added benefits, bonuses, and a $1.50 p
Halo Infinite has a bunch of hidden game modes when you play offline
Home News FPS Halo Infinite (Image credit: Microsoft) When you start a custom game in Halo Infinite, there are 17 default multiplayer modes to choose from. Most of these show up in the online matchmaking: staples like team Oddball, 2-flag CTF and a Big Team Battle variant of Slayer. But if you boot up Halo Infinite with Steam set to offline, it turns out Infinite is hiding 14 more modes created by 343 Industries that aren't normally visible. Redditor WickedS
Halo Infinite's head of design promises progression fixes are 'top of the list'
Halo Infinite's head of design "feels everyone's pain" and will be making sure progression is altered as 343's latest game continues to court controversy. Are you one of the millions of people who picked up Halo Infinite multiplayer since it launched out of the blue a few weeks back? If yes, then you've probably also noticed the frankly glacial pace at which you earn rewards and progress through the game's (now controversial) battle pass. Well, rest assured: developer 343 I
CD Projekt Red begins "exploratory work" on new games, Cyberpunk 2077 and Witcher 3 current-gen coming in 2022
CD Projekt Red has announced that Cyberpunk 2077 for Xbox Series X/S and PS5 is coming Q1 2022, and The Witcher 3's next-gen upgrade arrives in Q2. CD Projekt Red has announced that the current-gen versions of Cyberpunk 2077 and The Witcher 3 will be coming in Q1 and Q2 of 2022. In a press release that primarily looks back at 2021, the developer has announced some vague windows for when we can expect the long-promised current-gen versions of its illustrious RPGs. "We are hard at
US state treasuries are putting pressure on Activision Blizzard now, too
Home News (Image credit: Scott Olson (Getty Images)) The state treasurers of Nevada, Delaware, Illinois, Massachusetts, California, and Oregon are calling on Activision Blizzard to take action to address concerns expressed in November by shareholder group SOC Investment Group, and have requested a meeting with the company's board of directors to discuss the matter further. SOC Investment Group, known for its criticism of the excessive pay being drawn by executiv
Top 7 games releasing in December - Halo Infinite, Solar Ash, and more
We highlight the biggest games coming to consoles and PC in December 2021. December is often a quiet time for new releases, with the Christmas month thought of as being a bit late in the year to unleash blockbuster titles. December 2021 is a bit different as one stonkingly huge game is arriving, having been delayed from its planned release in November 2020. That's right. Halo Infinite finally unleashes its campaign on December 8. Check out the video above for a rundown of the seven games
How to give yourself unlimited money in Farming Simulator 22
Home Features Sim Farming Simulator 22 (Image credit: Giants Software) There's a Farming Simulator 22 money cheat that can instantly give you millions to go wild with. In fact, there are two different methods, it just depends on your preference. I'll cover both ways below. All three difficulty levels in Farming Simulator 22 start you out with a fair amount of money, but considering the price of land, equipment, and livestock, it won't last you very long. And
2021 FPS Showdown: Battlefield 2042 vs Call of Duty: Vanguard vs Halo Infinite
Brace yourselves, Connor, Sherif, and Dorrani sat down and discussed their favourite of the recent big three FPS releases. Fall 2021 is officially FPS season, as we've had major entries from the big three industry shooters all drop in the same short span of time. Call of Duty: Vanguard dropped first, followed by the surprise launch of the Halo: Infinite multiplayer, and the release of Battlefield 2042. However, with all three series' representing big at the tail-end of the year, we h
Deep Rock Galactic Season Two 'will be a bit less ambitious and will come out faster'
Home News FPS Deep Rock Galactic (Image credit: Ghost Ship Games) With over 3 million copies sold and dozens of thousands of active players, co-op shooter-miner Deep Rock Galactic is kind of a big deal. So even if its much-anticipated Season 2 is still a few months away, we'll suck up any new information about it like an interplanetary dwarven miner sucks up alien eggs and gold. And the first new tidbit is that Season Two is expected to go live "sometime bet
Men of War 2 is a follow-up to the classic RTS game, and it's coming in 2022
Men of War 2, the sequel to the cult-hit real-time strategy game from 2009, is coming soon. Get ready to strategize: Men of War 2, a sequel to the original cult RTS Men of War, has been announced. Developed by Ukrainian studio Best Way (who you may know from this series, the Majesty 2 games or Outfront), the RTS follow-up returns to the battlefields of World War II. Specifically, the Western Front and Eastern Front will both have playable story campaigns in which you can play as
You can play the Company of Heroes 3 multiplayer pre-alpha for free from today
A public multiplayer pre-alpha is going live for RTS game Company of Heroes 3 today – and anyone will be able to sign up and play it. Relic Entertainment and Sega have announced a Company of Heroes 3 multiplayer pre-alpha, available to anyone who signs up, will be playable later today. Given that the game isn't due to launch until late 2022, it's a pretty far-in-advance to get a taste for the game's specific brand of RTS action. The amount of content you'll get to try out this
Secretlab announces gaming chair made specially for Lamborghini owners
Home News (Image credit: Secretlab) I'm not sure about you, dear readers, but personally I think gaming chairs haven't gone far enough. Sure they come in bright colours, look like they belong in race cars, and are covered in crystals. Some even give massages and may even be loaded up with sweet gamer RGB. You have to admit, it's all just a bit weak. Why even bother to have a racing car chair if it isn't an actual racing car chair. You know? BMW gave us h
PS5 faceplates could be coming soon according to a Sony patent
If you click on a link and make a purchase we may receive a small commission. Read our editorial policy. A Sony patent for removable PlayStation 5 faceplates has been published, leading many to believe the company will soon make them available for consumers. Sony has published a patent that would allow the platform holder to manufacture and sell faceplates for the PlayStation 5. The patent (via OPAttack) was initially filed back in November 2020 and was finally granted a ye
Ghostrunner DLC will let you play as one of its bosses
Home News Action Ghostrunner In cyberpunk parkour-slasher Ghostrunner, you die in one hit, but so does everybody else—except bosses. Upcoming expansion Project_Hel will let you play as one of those bosses in six new levels, which means you'll only die when you get hit a second time. Luxury! Project_Hel was originally planned to be a smaller DLC, but has now grown into a full expansion. As the name suggests, it will let you play as Hel, Ghostrunner's second boss. Where Jack, the p
Aliens: Fireteam Elite coming to Xbox Game Pass in December
If you click on a link and make a purchase we may receive a small commission. Read our editorial policy. After launching back in August this year, Cold Iron's co-op shooter is heading to Xbox Game Pass in December – just in time for a big update. Aliens: Fireteam Elite – the co-op shooter from Cold Iron that launched earlier this year – is already on its way to Xbox Game Pass. After the title launched back in August this year, we heard from critics that it was OK –
The Witcher season 2 release date, trailer, cast, and everything else we know
Home Features RPG The Witcher (Image credit: Netflix) The Witcher season 2 is almost here: The Netflix show about our favorite monster hunter returns December 17, 2021 for its second season, and will see Geralt and Ciri travel to Witcher keep Kaer Morhen. Other popular Witcher characters, including Vesemir, Eskel, and Lambert, are slated to show up, and from the sounds of it, we might also see a different side to Geralt in season 2. The show is based on An
PlayStation Plus December games are Godfall: Challenger Edition, Mortal Shell, and Lego DC Super-Villains
You knew this already thanks to the leak. Sony has announced the December line-up of PlayStation Plus titles. Obviously, you already know what they are thanks to an earlier leak, but it's nice when things are made official. One of the titles is Godfall: Challenger Edition, which is different from the original release. This one is aimed at beginners, as it allows new players to experience the game's trio of endgame modes, minus the story content of the base game and Fire Darkn
Mass Effect: Legendary Edition could be coming to Xbox Game Pass soon
Mass Effect: Legendary Edition could arrive on Xbox Game Pass soon if a listing from the Polish Microsoft Store is to be believed. Finish those calibrations, have a quick chat to your crew mates and get ready to set off on what could potentially be a suicide mission all over again, because it looks like Mass Effect: Legendary Edition may be coming to Xbox Game Pass soon. Per Polish gaming site, XGP (via VGC), the esteemed sci-fi trilogy of space operas briefly popped up on the Po
The best CPU for gaming in 2021
Home Features Fire up your rig with the best CPU for gaming. More cores, more clocks, more of everything that matters. (Image credit: Future) The best CPU for gaming doesn't need to have the most cores, the fastest clocks, the largest caches, or the most advanced architecture. The best CPU for gaming just needs to offer a great gaming experience at a price that makes sense. Simple really. The good news is that there are plenty of great processors out there at
Xbox evaluating its relationship with Activision Blizzard following Kotick report
If you click on a link and make a purchase we may receive a small commission. Read our editorial policy. Xbox leadership looks to be doing more than just condemning Activision Blizzard's ongoing disaster. Xbox leadership has reacted internally to Activision Blizzard's ongoing problems with sexual harassment, discrimination and the publisher's response in particular to recent revelations about CEO Bobby Kotick. Kotick was the subject of a major Wall Street Journal ex
The best gaming mouse in 2021
Home Features A pair of the best gaming mice on a yellow background (Image credit: Future) The best gaming mouse can genuinely make a difference to your whole PC experience and though Cyber Monday is history, it's still good time to make that new purchase, too. Whether that's because you've levelled up to a more responsive optical sensor and boosted your K/D ratio or you've ditched the wires and gone completely cable free to Mary Kondo your desktop. Whatever the
Sifu gets a February release date
If you click on a link and make a purchase we may receive a small commission. Read our editorial policy. After a delay, Sinfu now has a new release date. Sloclap has announced a new release date for its hand-to-hand combat action game Sifu. Originally slated to release this year, the game was delayed due to restrictions caused by Covid-19 lockdowns which slowed the game's development. So instead of the team crunching to get it out on time, the studio decided instead to relea
Rockstar fixes GTA Trilogy's busted nuts and bad spelling in a new patch
Home News Action Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy (Image credit: Rockstar Games) Rockstar has taken another step toward making the GTA Trilogy less of a hot mess than it was at launch with the release of a new update that promises to improve stability, fix bugs, correct spelling mistakes, and—most importantly—restore sharp angles to Tuff Nuts. There's a lot wrong with the GTA Trilogy, but the misshapen Tuff Nut signage is one of the most immediately notorio
PlayStation sued over alleged gender discrimination and wrongful termination
A former PlayStation employee alleges that she was fired "soon after" reporting gender bias at the company. A lawsuit has been brought against PlayStation parent company and platform owner, Sony, over alleged gender discrimination and wrongful termination. A former PlayStation worker filed a lawsuit on November 22, claiming Sony "wilfully violated" labour laws by "intentionally, knowingly, and/or deliberately paying women less than men for substantially equal or similar work". Th
Take a look at Halo Infinite's live action trailer here
If you click on a link and make a purchase we may receive a small commission. Read our editorial policy. If the Halo Infinite multiplayer has whet your appetite for destruction and left you wanting more from Master Chief and co., wrap your eyes around this. Perhaps you've been smashing skulls in the eclectic Fiesta playlist over the past few days as part of the Fractures: Tenrei event. Perhaps you've simply been grinding out Heroes of Reach and soaking in theits infamously s
Cyber Monday PC gaming deals UK: there are still plenty of deals on PCs, components, and peripherals
Home Features Think it's all over? Not a bit of it. There are definitely Cyber Monday PC gaming deals still on offer even though Black Friday and Cyber Monday have gone the way of international travel and hugging as a form of greeting. Yes it's now Cyber Week. Really. That's what we've come to, because capitalism can't just keep giving different prefixes to every day of the week. So yes, some retailers will keep putting up new bargains throughout the so-called C
Xbox Games with Gold December - The Escapists 2, Tropico 5, more
New games for the Gold folks. Microsoft has announced the Xbox Games with Gold lineup for December. Also available for Game Pass Ultimate members, as usual, there are four games that will be made available for the entire month. One of the games is strategy title The Escapists 2. Available December 1-31, in it, your goal is to break out from the toughest prisons in the world. This time out, you will be faced with the biggest prisons yet, with multiple floors, roofs, vents, and und
This Alienware x15 Gaming Laptop with an RTX 3070 GPU is $718 off for Cyber Monday
There are a lot of Cyber Monday gaming laptop deals out there, from the inexpensive to the extremely expensive. If you're in the market for real power without going overboard on price (which is probably a sweet spot that appeals to most of us), you may find the magic in the fading hours of Cyber Monday. This RTX 3070-equipped Alienware x15 gaming laptop is on for just $1,861.00 at Dell right now, a savings of $718. This sweet little unit is packing an Intel Core i7 11800H CPU, 16GB of DDR4 RAM,
Two new Genshin Impact characters - Shenhe and Yun Jin - have been revealed
Save 35% on a VG247 yearly subscription this Black Friday! If you click on a link and make a purchase we may receive a small commission. Read our editorial policy. Seemingly out of nowhere, MiHoYo dropped art and info for two brand new Genshin Impact characters It's a wild day for Genshin Impact players. After getting the release date for Genshin Impact version 2.3 dropped earlier today, two entirely new characters have been shown off via official Genshin Impact social m
Epic Games Store adds free retro cloud gaming platform Antstream Arcade
Home News (Image credit: AntStream) The Epic Games Store is becoming something of a PC gaming meta-platform, having recently started making discrete gaming platforms available to download from its own storefront. Earlier this year, Itch.io came to Epic Games Store, and now it also plays host to cloud gaming platform Antstream Arcade, which lets you play over 1200 retro games for free on your PC. Antstream has a huge games library, focusing mostly on games from t
Battlefield 2042 players have discovered a solid weapon XP farming spot
If you're looking to unlock attachments for your Battlefield 2042 guns in a stress-free environment, look no further. One of the great new features in Battlefield 2042 is that it allows you to play All-Out Warfare modes entirely solo, or with some friends, against the AI. All of the game's maps are available, and you can even pick from three AI difficulties. DICE recently capped the character progression you can earn per day playing solo/co-op, but the developer did not touch the
Save 35% on a VG247 yearly subscription this Black Friday! If you click on a link and make a purchase we may receive a small commission. Read our editorial policy. Battlefield 2042 is tied with Battlefield Heroes and Battlefield Play4Free as the worst-received game in the series. Battlefield 2042's launch has been off to a rough start in a lot of ways, and it looks like all the game's woes have been reflected in its critical score, setting a new record low for the series.
Cyber Monday gaming monitor deals 2021: pixel perfect panels on offer
Home Features Cyber Monday Gaming Monitor deals Don't worry if you didn't get here over the weekend. There are still tons of Cyber Monday gaming monitor deals left after the initial Black Friday shopping spree. Some of the best deals on this list have even gotten additional discounts since Friday. If you're looking for more than just monitors, there are a host of other Cyber Monday deals floating about in our other hubs too. Right now there are plenty of oppor
GTA Online weekly update - bonus rewards, discounts, and prizes
It's a new week in GTA Online, which means there's a whole new selection of bonuses and rewards for you to collect. It's that time once again crooks and criminals, we've got another weekly update bringing all manner of bonuses and discounts to GTA Online! This quick article will take you through everything new and changed starting today thanks to the GTA Online weekly update. This'll include discounted cars, a new podium vehicle and double GTA cash and RP on select mission
Home Features (Image credit: Future) The best gaming PC will put the latest and greatest hardware in your hands faster than if you tried to build a new system, or even update an existing rig, and there are deals to be had this Cyber Monday, too. The sad truth is that, though we love DIY PC builds, they're one of the many casualties of the chip supply crisis. System builders simply have a better chance of getting hold of CPUs and GPUs than we do of bagging one at
Banish the ads with a Black Friday VG247 subscription discount
Save 35% on a VG247 yearly subscription this Black Friday! If you click on a link and make a purchase we may receive a small commission. Read our editorial policy. Browse VG247 ad-free for a year with a 35% off Black Friday offer. Hello, reader. Let's not mince words here. Ads on websites aren't ideal. We're used to them and they are quite essential for web media to exist in a way to cover the wages of staff, but if we could get rid of them, we would. Sorry ad-sales/creati
A massive 4TB NVMe SSD is definitely overkill, but for $250 off I'll consider it
Home News (Image credit: Sabrent) If there's one thing PC gamers love more in their rigs than a fancy graphics card, it's having way more storage than they'll ever really need. The majority of our best Cyber Monday SSD deals clock in around 1-2TB, but if those don't cut it for you, this massive 4TB Sabrent NVMe SSD is worth a look. At $783, this is one of Sabrent's biggest price drops ever. There are plenty of Cyber Monday deals happening already. It just doe
Black Friday gaming headset deals 2021: prices that sound just right
Home Features For years PC gaming headsets delivered criminally poor audio compared to proper headphones. Those days are over, but I still don't think we devote enough attention to the audio side of our systems. Bigger and flashier Black Friday gaming PC deals are great and all, and a luxurious new gaming monitor might be super tempting, but one of the most affordable upgrades you can make to your gaming experience is simply getting a better headset. We ask a lo
Battlefield 2042 experiment shows how broken hit registration gets in crowded areas
Battlefield 2042's hit registration is out of whack, especially when large numbers of players converge on the same spot. Battlefield 2042's combat doesn't feel right. Anyone who played the game for any length of time could easily see that, but it's not always clear why that's the case. Since the game's release, players have been dissecting its various gunplay mechanics to try and understand what's causing gunfights to feel inconsistent. This has lead to the discovery of mismatch
Razer's best wireless gaming mouse has never been as cheap as it is today
Home News (Image credit: Razer) Razer appears pretty serious about discounting its peripherals this Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals season. That includes a hefty discount on the Razer DeathAdder V2 Pro, which is is like the gaming extension of my right arm, and is one of the best wireless gaming mice ever made. The DeathAdder itself is one of Razer's oldest designs and has been through many iterations, but this ultimate cable-free version has never been as c
Save 35% on a VG247 yearly subscription this Black Friday! If you click on a link and make a purchase we may receive a small commission. Read our editorial policy. A Sony patent for removable PlayStation 5 faceplates has been published, leading many to believe the company will soon make them available for consumers. Sony has published a patent that would allow the platform holder to manufacture and sell faceplates for the PlayStation 5. The patent (via OPAttack) was initi
Get this budget gaming monitor for £45 off
Home News (Image credit: BenQ) Given some of the great monitor deals we've seen over these Black Friday sales, it's tricky to recommend one that's just 60Hz. But for many gamers out there, 144Hz or above isn't a requirement or even something they necessarily notice or care about. Dropping those Hz is a decent way to save some serious cash over the higher speed models, and that brings me to this next deal. The BenQ EL2870UE gaming monitor is currently on sa
Xbox boss Phil Spencer is a big proponent of legal game emulation
Save 35% on a VG247 yearly subscription this Black Friday! If you click on a link and make a purchase we may receive a small commission. Read our editorial policy. Spencer hopes the industry starts using emulation to help preserve games. Xbox boss Phil Spencer believes older games should be preserved and feels that "legal emulation" is something the industry needs to get behind. Speaking with Axios, Spencer said that similar to movies, television, and music, the prese
Home Features RPG Genshin Impact (Image credit: miHoYo) Looking for the best Genshin Impact characters? Version 2.3 has finally launched, and so too have the Albedo and Eula banners. The new reruns seem set to become a regular fixture, bringing back two old five-star characters for each new version, with collective Pity, and the same three four-star characters on both, currently: Noelle, Bennett, and Rosaria. If leaks are to be believed, it'll be Xiao and Ga
Save 35% on a VG247 yearly subscription this Black Friday! If you click on a link and make a purchase we may receive a small commission. Read our editorial policy. Mass Effect: Legendary Edition could arrive on Xbox Game Pass soon if a listing from the Polish Microsoft Store is to be believed. Finish those calibrations, have a quick chat to your crew mates and get ready to set off on what could potentially be a suicide mission all over again, because it looks like Mass Eff
Green-fingered Minecraft modder makes all the plants look nicer
Minecraft's aesthetic is always an interesting topic: Simplistic and rudimentary in some ways, arguably even ugly at points, yet capable of producing some of the greatest visual spectacles in gaming. Oft-imitated but never bettered, the flexibility of its style can be almost impressionistic at times, its rudimentary shapes building into truly evocative landscapes. The plants can look a bit crap though. The Minecraft modder Dark Storm clearly thinks along similar lines, as they've been working o
MultiVersus - Warner Bros' Smash, is revealed
A cooperative focused platform fighter in the style of Smash Bros and Brawlhalla, MultiVersus has had its gameplay shown off for the first time. Yes, you've seen right, Warner Bros. has dropped the first reveal trailer for its new free-to-play fighter MultiVersus. This new venture into the platform fighter genre, popularized by games like Smash Bros and Brawlhalla, is releasing in 2022 although you can currently sign up for play tests. In the trailer, co-founder of Player First
Amazon is handing out a nice batch of games with Prime in December
A nice list of titles coming to Prime Members in December. Amazon Prime Gaming titles have been announced for December and there are quite a few games to claim for PC. There's something for everyone on the list too: driving, shooting, action, adventure, you name it. There's Frostpunk, Football Manager 2021, Need for Speed Hot Pursuit Remastered, and more. Here's the full list of what Prime members are getting in December: Football Manager 2021 Frostpunk Journey to the Sav
This Thermaltake Toughair 310 chip chiller is a steal at just $20
Home News (Image credit: Thermaltake) For all the talk about all-in-one coolers, they're pricey and sometimes totally unnecessary unless you're trying to cool something like a 12900K. For more worldly applications, a cooler like the Thermaltake Toughair 310 is perfectly capable, and at $30 at Newegg, or even lower at $20 after a mail in rebate with free shipping, you won't find a better budget cooling option. It' even includes support for the LGA 1700 so
Why do video games make some people feel sick?
It rises to the top of your throat, like timelapse footage of a vine climbing a drainpipe, and sits there lightly - quietly enough that you often don't notice it at first, until your head starts to feel hot and prickly. By that point it's too late - the nausea has you. Whatever game you were hoping to play goes back in the library, perhaps never to be clicked on again. It's a familiar feeling for some - a rarity for others - and one I've wrestled with on and off for years, as a love
Get this RTX 3050 Ti gaming laptop for $435 off
Home Features (Image credit: Dell) Here's another great gaming laptop deal to add to this year's collection of Black Friday sales. This time you can get a laptop with an Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050 Ti for $435 off. This model is a Dell G15 gaming laptop, and gosh haven't we seen a bunch of those around the years. That also means they're a known quantity, so it should be a reliable choice at least. This particular model is boasting that aforementioned RTX 3050 Ti pai
Target Black Friday 2021 deals include buy two get one free games
Target is holding its annual buy two get one free special on video games this year. There are tons of titles to choose from, and you don't have to wait until Black Friday to save some money. Games part of this deal include, but are not limited to: Ghost of Tsushima, Hades, Marvel's Avengers, Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time, Demon's Souls Remake, Marvel Super Heroes 2, The Last of Us: Part 2, Madden NFL 22, MLB The Show 21, GTA 5, Mortal Kombat 11, It Takes Two, Tony Hawk Pro
Computing pioneer Dr Sophie Wilson and how her work inspired Raspberry Pi
Home News Dr Sophie Wilson CBE is one of the most important people in computer history, with a list of achievements as long as your arm. Her influence is such that you are probably this article on a device containing some of it: alongside Steve Furber, she designed the first ARM processor at Acorn, the chips that now run almost every mobile phone and tablet there is. In the above video posted by the Cambridge Computer Lab Dr Wilson talks about her upbringing, what led her into computer
Black Friday GameStop deals 2021
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Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl are faithful, basic remakes - for better and worse
The latest pair of Pokemon Remakes are perhaps the most faithful do-overs in the series yet, keeping things simple and changing little. Over the last few years, Pokemon has taken a few interesting detours. We've seen the series experiment with getting rid of the traditional gym battle structure, with open-world design, and famously with jettisoning some older Pokemon from the current playable Pokedex. Some of these changes fans have loved, some they've understood, and some th
$3.5M Squid Game recreation is about as accurate as you can get without actually shooting anyone
Home News The best part of YouTube star MrBeast's recreation of Squid Game is that, despite having seen the show, one pair of competitors promised they wouldn't betray each other. How do you forget about the marbles? The 2021 Netflix drama, which follows debt-shackled contestants as they compete in deadly versions of children's games, has been the year's biggest pop culture phenomenon, becoming the subject of PC game mods, Halloween costumes, and an SNL music video that barely counts a
Stay inside where it's warm and play some games. The weekend is now in full swing, and for us, it's time to play some games outside of work. This weekend we plan on spending some time with Master Chief, catching Shinx, channeling our inner Commander Shephard, and trying our best to become a rally champion. Alex Donaldson, Assistant Editor - Halo Infinite, Pokemon Shining Pearl It's rare that I can admit this, so here goes: I still have access to the preview build of Halo Inf
How to level up fast in Halo Infinite with challenges and XP boosts
Home Features FPS Halo Infinite (Image credit: 343 Industries) Halo Infinite's multiplayer has been a big hit, and the overwhelming response from our team has been that Halo is good again. The battle pass has been a big point of contention, though. The short version is that the battle pass sucks, with a very slow grind, a lot of lackluster unlocks, and a challenge system that doesn't reward players for simply playing or winning matches. 343 has already made
Volition's chief creative officer, Jim Boone, has issued an update noting that the Saint's Row reboot has been significantly delayed. If you were looking forward to once again taking to the streets and making a name for yourself and your family in the Saints Row reboot early in 2022, we've got some bad news: it's been pushed back. And by quite a long way, too. In a message on Twitter in the little hours of the morning, Volition's chief creative officer, Jim Boone, noted that the
The Razer Blade 15 gaming laptop with an Nvidia RTX 3060 is £300 off
Home News (Image credit: Razer) The Razer Blade 15 is my bae, the yin to my desktop's yang. As someone who needs a portable workhorse that, ideally, can also play a bit of Deathloop when I'm on my travels, it outperforms on every count despite being gorgeous and slim. Sometimes I rub my fingers over the cool CNC-milled aluminium chassis and imagine I'm bonding with my overpowered metal son. This model of the Razer Blade 15 has a chunky £300 off right now, and w
Target Black Friday deals 2021 for TV, audio and video games
This Week at Bungie: Huge Destiny 2 weapon and Trials changes are coming
Via the recent This Week at Bungie blog post, we've seen the first signs of some major changes coming to Destiny 2. Bungie, the development studio behind the popular live service Sci-fi FPS Destiny 2, has announced via a new blog post that a considerable number of balance changes are coming to the title ahead of the studio's 30th anniversary event. Don't fall asleep just yet! There's also a new twist coming to the Trials of Osiris PvP mode. This all is set to come to the ga
Dead Cells update adds Hollow Knight's nail, lets you turn into a chicken
Home News Indie Dead Cells Punishing permadeath platformer Dead Cells (our pick for Best Roguelike back in 2018) just got a new update that adds skins, weapons, and skills from other indie games that have cores of similar hardness. To unlock the outfits you'll need to complete challenges found via a book of clues in the opening area, and the rest can be found in new lore rooms scattered throughout the levels. The additions include the nail from Hollow Knight, which can be used in a
Battlefield 2042 weapon attachments may not always do what they say
You might not be surprised to learn that weapon attachments and their descriptions aren't working as intended in Battlefield 2042. It seems we can't go a day without discovering one feature or mechanic that's not doing what it's supposed to in Battlefield 2042. A few days into the early access launch, we had already come across misaligned hitboxes, excessive random bullet deviation, and PC performance that's far less consistent than expected. To see this content please enable
Walk around your Townscaper creations in first-person, in your browser
Home News Indie Townscaper (Image credit: Oskar Stålberg, Meli Harvey) Townscaper is delightful. But what could be more delightful than dropping from that architectural birds-eye-view to walk down the cobbled streets of your own creations? Thankfully, urban planner Meli Harvey has given us the opportunity to do that with a free browser toy, Threescaper. Earlier this year, Townscaper received an update that let you export your creations as .obj 3D model fil
Black Friday gaming monitor deals UK: punchy panels for tear-free gaming
Home Features Black Friday gaming monitor deals Black Friday cometh. In its wake, a wealth of monitor deals are littering the web. For those looking to upgrade their screen to make the most of the latest games, now is the best time to go bigger, adopt a speedier refresh rate, or grab an HDR display that'll make your games pop. If can you find the trifecta, all the better. As ever, our guide to the best gaming monitors provides a great starting point if you're
Dragon Ball: The Breakers is an eight-person online multiplayer game set in the Dragon Ball Xenoverse universe
Save 35% on a VG247 yearly subscription this Black Friday! If you click on a link and make a purchase we may receive a small commission. Read our editorial policy. A new game in the Dragon Ball series has been announced. Bandai Namco has announced Dragon Ball: The Breakers, an asymmetrical online survival action experience set in the Dragon Ball Xenoverse universe slated for release sometime in 2022. The game is an eight-person online multiplayer that combines both coopera
GTA: The Trilogy - The Definitive Edition back on PC, now with "unintentionally included" files removed
You can play GTA: The Trilogy - The Definitive Edition on PC again now that Rockstar has made some pretty important changes... After taking the game offline and making it unplayable – even for players that had bought it and downloaded it – Rockstar has made the PC version of GTA: The Trilogy - The Definitive Edition available to play again. It's really not been a very smooth experience for Rockstar's latest remaster project since it launched last week – Rockstar Games pulle
Be careful if you're buying a DDR5 motherboard during Black Friday
The 12th-generation Intel Alder Lake CPUs are some impressive silicon. The mid-range i5 12600K has even taken our coveted top spot as the best CPU for gaming available right now. In addition to impressive performance, these new chips are compatible with a range of new and exciting technologies like WiFi 6E, PCIe 5.0, and DDR5 memory. But that last one is a bit of a sticking point. As reported by 12chip.com, every major retailer is fresh out of the stuff, and a quick search of sites like Amazon,
You can use Casper's drone as a mobile healing unit in Battlefield 2042
Save 35% on a VG247 yearly subscription this Black Friday! If you click on a link and make a purchase we may receive a small commission. Read our editorial policy. Battlefield 2042's sandbox elements do exist, even if they're overshadowed. When they're not struggling with bugs and technical issues, Battlefield 2042 players are beginning to unravel the sandbox interplay potential using the different Specialists and their tools. This latest discovery utilises Casper's drone
Save $750 on this Nvidia RTX 3070-powered Razer Blade 15 Advanced
Home News (Image credit: Future) Razer is the king of slapping RGBs on everything in sight, which makes the restraint it shows to its laptops all the more impressive. The fact that this Razer Blade 15 Advanced is a serious slice of laptop gaming but doesn't light up like a demented Christmas tree the moment you turn it on is all the more surprising. Razer, we appreciate your restraint. We also appreciate a great saving on a powerful laptop, which is exactly what
Call of Duty: Warzone - Operation Flashback brings back the greatest hits of Verdansk for a limited time
Save 35% on a VG247 yearly subscription this Black Friday! If you click on a link and make a purchase we may receive a small commission. Read our editorial policy. A celebratory game mode for Call of Duty: Warzone, Operation Flashback takes us back through the history of Verdansk. Verdansk, the Call of Duty: Warzone map we've all grown to love in recent months, is soon to be removed from Warzone, replaced with a shiny new map in December. To help celebrate the history th
According to a report, Bobby Kotick says he'll consider leaving Activision
Home News (Image credit: Patrick T. Fallon/Bloomberg (Getty)) Five days after the Wall Street Journal reported that Bobby Kotick once told an assistant he was going to have her killed, the publication has now reported Activision's CEO told senior managers he'd consider leaving the company if he couldn't fix its culture of misconduct "with speed". According to the WSJ's sources, last week Kotick held meetings with senior staff of both Activision and Blizzard, and
Outriders: New Horizon is a major free expansion that adds four new Expeditions, transmog, and more
Save 35% on a VG247 yearly subscription this Black Friday! If you click on a link and make a purchase we may receive a small commiss