TCL is showing off a compact 2.5K RGB OLED panel for XR headsets that could be the perfect midpoint between cheap LCD and expensive micro-OLED.

Today, almost every affordable headset uses LCD panels, while premium options use micro-OLED, also known as OLED-on-silicon (OLEDoS).

LCD is cheap, but has poor contrast, forming a relatively washed-out image that compresses the darkest details into a gray haze in place of deep blacks. Meanwhile micro-OLED offers vibrant colors with rich contrast, and can achieve extremely high resolution without increasing the bulk of headsets, but is extremely difficult to manufacture and thus expensive.

Some headsets like Meta Quest Pro, the Pimax Crystal series, and Somnium VR1 use advanced LCD panels with a quantum dot layer to enhance colors and an array of mini backlights to improve contrast compared to regular LCD, but the result is still a far cry from the self-emissive nature of OLED, where every pixel provides its own light, while the extra layers increase weight, heat, and power draw.

Of course, there is another viable display technology for headsets between LCD and micro-OLED, one that also offers many of the latter's benefits: regular OLED, also known as OLED-on-glass.

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OLED-on-glass is what's used in your smartphone, your smartwatch, and perhaps your TV too. For VR, it was the only game in town between 2014 and 2016, used for the Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, and PlayStation VR.

HTC continued to use OLED in Vive Pro, as did Oculus for the original Quest. But LCD soon offered higher density at lower cost, a killer combination for a market looking to scale up, and so investment in new custom OLED panels to keep up with the extreme density demands of VR mostly dried up within just a few years.

The only regular OLED VR headset still on the market today is PlayStation VR2. And one key reason that it's the only headset from a major company with new fresnel lenses is that when it released, there was simply no OLED with high enough density to be compact enough to be suitable for pancake lenses.

That brings us to TCL's new OLED panel, which its China Star Optoelectronics Technology (CSOT) division is showing at the Display Tech-Ecosystem Conference (DTC 2025) this week in China.

The company says it's the highest density RGB OLED-on-glass display in the world, while having the 120Hz refresh rate ideal for VR.

It's almost twice as dense as the OLED in PlayStation VR2, while using a full RGB subpixel arrangement, letting it offer 73% more pixels and 160% more subpixels despite being just over half the size.

Its size makes it ideal for use with pancake lenses, its RGB subpixels mean it shouldn't need a softening diffusion layer, and its resolution is notably higher than the LCDs in Meta Quest 3 and Valve's Steam Frame.

Putting it all together, this means TCL's new OLED panel could power clear and sharp headsets with rich colors, deep contrast, and true blacks – but without the sky-high prices you get with micro-OLED. And this could be key to delivering compelling products that sit somewhere between Meta Quest 3 and Samsung Galaxy XR.

Cheaper Apple Vision Headsets Could Use Regular OLED

A major display supplier reportedly sent Apple samples of regular OLED panels meant for use in future much cheaper Vision headsets.

UploadVRDavid Heaney

This isn't the first time we've heard about the idea of high-density regular OLED as a way to deliver some of the advantages of micro-OLED but in far more affordable headsets.

Over a year ago, South Korean news outlet The Elec reported that Japan's JDI was pitching Apple a 1500 PPI regular OLED for the rumored "Vision Air" headset, and that Samsung was working on a similar display too.

That's notable because it's almost exactly the same density as TCL's new OLED, and may suggest that TCL too is (or was) pitching the panel to Apple.

For now, TCL isn't saying whether it has any customers for the new OLED, but does confirm that it's designed for "XR devices".

A major unanswered question is whether the new panel exhibits the same non-uniform fixed-pattern noise we've seen in many regular OLED headsets like PlayStation VR2, the mura, an issue not present in any micro-OLED we've viewed to date. Overcoming this may be the key to reviving regular OLED as a great option for midrange headsets, so we're incredibly curious to find out whether TCL has done so.

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Marvel's Deadpool VR, the latest Quest 3 and Quest 3S exclusive blockbuster, is out now for $50.

Developed by Meta-owned Twisted Pixel Games in collaboration with Marvel Games, Deadpool VR has a cel-shaded graphics style, and unlike in the movies, Deadpool in VR is voiced by Neil Patrick Harris, not Ryan Reynolds.

The arcade-style action game sees you, as Deadpool, kidnapped by the supervillain Mojo (voiced by John Leguizamo) and forced to compete in and hunt down talent for his galaxy-wide reality TV show. The talent you'll kidnap are iconic villains from across the Marvel universe, including Mephisto, Lady Deathstrike, Omega Red, and Ultimo.

In UploadVR's review of Deadpool VR, Pete Austin described the visuals as paying off "beautifully", with the best implementation of cel-shading that he's seen yet in VR. He also found Neil Patrick Harris' performance to be "easily on par" with Ryan Reynolds in the films, and the "gloriously over-the-top" soundtrack to feel like it was straight out of one too.

However, his feelings on the combat system were more mixed. While it impressed in the early phases of the game, he criticized the fact that it's "disappointingly weightless", with weapons clipping through each other, hands clipping through the environment, and two-handed weapons feeling like they’re made of paper.

"Deadpool VR is a paradox. It captures the antihero's essence perfectly but wraps it around mechanics that just never feel like they completely deliver - great presentation carrying combat that never quite lives up to its potential."

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You should go read Pete's full review, and if it leaves you wanting to, you can buy Deadpool VR on the Meta Horizon Store for Quest 3 and Quest 3S, priced at $50.

Hypixel Studios is making a return after splitting off from Riot Games. Riot had acquired the studio to finish up their game Hytale, but after more than five extra years of work, the game was still no closer to release. Now, Hytale is back in the hands of the original creators, meaning the game is officially ‘uncancelled'. 

Hytale is no longer cancelled. In a new update posted to the game's official website, Hypixel founder, Simon Collins-Laflamme, confirms that he was able to broker a deal with Riot Games to buy back the IP and take back control of the Hypixel studio. Since re-acquiring the game, Hypixel Studios has been on a mission to hire back as many lost developers as possible. Currently, more than 30 former developers are now back on the project.

Speaking on the rare deal, Simon explained that Riot “ultimately wanted what's best for players” and as a result, they agreed to let him take back the studio and IP to start up work on the game once again. Moving forward, Hypixel Studios will be working on a “revised version of the game” as a fully independent studio.

The new version of Hytale will move the game back to the legacy engine, with the goal of fulfilling the original vision for the game, rather than the greatly expanded version of the game that Riot had wanted. Unfortunately, there are no release date plans yet, but Early Access plans are set to be announced “in the coming days”.

KitGuru Says: It is very rare to see a large company part with a potentially valuable IP and it is even rarer to see a game uncancelled after the hammer has dropped. Hopefully when Hytale does launch in early access, it meets fan expectations. 

Take-Two CEO, Strauss Zelnick, is no stranger to making headlines. While the company's biggest studio, Rockstar Games typically focuses on console game development, before bringing its games to PC later, Zelnick reckons the days of the console are numbered, as the industry shifts more and more towards PC as the leading platform. 

In an interview with CNBC this week, Zelnick discussed his views on the future of the videogame industry. During this interview, he said “I think it's moving towards PC and business is moving towards open rather than closed”.

The comments come just days after Valve made a major hardware announcement, bringing back the Steam Machine as a small, console-sized PC with the full capabilities of a PC and a console combined in one package.

Of course, Zelnick doesn't think the idea of sitting in your living room and playing a game on a large TV is going away. Typically, that is the experience that consoles were created for. However, fully locked-down systems and platforms may eventually be replaced by more open console-like systems like the Steam Machine.

Microsoft is also rumoured to be making massive changes to Xbox consoles for its next-generation systems. It is believed that the next-gen Xbox will actually be a Windows-based PC, with access to services beyond the Xbox store and potentially access to the full Windows desktop as well, but with the default option being a big-screen ‘gaming' UI, as seen on recent devices like the ROG Xbox Ally.

KitGuru Says: I wrote a big article about the console wars coming to an end last year. In that, I came to the same conclusion – PC is the ultimate platform and the industry at large is finally starting to realise it. 

Healer is a mixed reality roguelite where you save the universe one encounter at a time, and it's coming to Quest 3 and 3S next month.

Developed by ROTU Entertainment (Eolia), Healer sees players become planetary defenders, wielding their wits and helpful hand cannons against a joy-devouring evil called the Entropic Virus. From a gameplay perspective, this means shooting at undulating orbs, solving 3D puzzles, and fighting off alien creatures to earn high scores. You can check out gameplay below:

Among the bubble popping, you can also find crystalline creatures called Cosmic Critters that apply upgrades to your runs. The trailer shows a blue critter called 'Reanu Keeves' that affects enemy movement speed, a purple critter called 'Enna Jortega' that increases the fire rate on dark weapons, and more. As you seek them out, you'll also unlock Set Bonuses to further bolster your arsenal.

Beyond Healer's main story, competitive players can seek additional glory by competing on the game's global leaderboard. When you complete an 'encounter,' your successes will add up to a high score that you can post. Hand tracking and controllers are both supported too.

Healer is launching on December 11 exclusively on Quest 3/3S.

EA Sports will release a paid 2026 season expansion to F1 25 instead of a new title, with a “reimagined” game to follow in 2027.

Since F1 22, EA Sports and Codemasters have continued supporting PC VR in its officially licensed series of Formula 1 racing games. While each real-life season is normally reflected through a new game, it's now skipping the usual annual release cycle by instead releasing a paid expansion to F1 25, one that reflects the upcoming 2026 season.

“The premium content update will bring players closer to the sport’s major changes for 2026 that include new cars, sporting regulations, teams, and drivers,” states EA Sports in a new blog.

While the 2026 season officially kicks off with the Australian Grand Prix on March 8, there's no indication this will also be the expansion's release date. New entries since 2021 have arrived between May and July, and pricing is also unconfirmed.

With the next entry, EA Sports confirmed that F1 27 is a new game “that looks, feels, and plays differently, delivering more gameplay choices.” Little else is currently known, and in a prepared statement, Codemasters' Senior Creative Director Lee Mather states this “reimagines the F1 experience” for 2027.

Considering this is being touted as a larger overhaul, it's unclear whether PC VR support will continue beyond F1 25 and next year's expansion with future entries. We'll keep an eye out for further updates as they come through.

PlayStation VR2 will be just $300 on Black Friday, $100 off, in a sale that will last for an unspecified "limited time".

Originally priced at $550, Sony officially cut the price of the headset to $400 earlier this year, just over two years after it launched.

Now, for Black Friday 2025 PlayStation VR2 will be temporarily sold for just $300, its lowest price ever.

The closest we've seen was $350, a price the headset has gone on sale for three times: in summer 2024, the 2024 holiday period, and for the Days Of Play 2025 event. During that summer 2024 discount, sales reportedly skyrocketed, with one retailer selling more units in one day than had been previously sold all year so far.

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If you're a PC gamer, you'll be able to pick up the headset, Sony's PC adapter, and (if required) a DisplayPort cable and Bluetooth adapter for less than $400 all-in.

And with PSVR2Toolkit and PimaxMagic4All, if you have a GTX 16 series or RTX graphics card, you can even leverage eye-tracked foveated rendering in a wide range of SteamVR titles.

With its 2K OLED displays, PlayStation VR2 offers a more vibrant image with far greater contrast than any other affordable PC VR headset, though with the tradeoff that the image is softer and has some fixed-pattern noise over it.

Sony Increases PS5 Console Prices In The US

From tomorrow, the Digital Edition will be $500, the version with a disc drive $550, and the PS5 Pro $750.

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The PS5 and PS5 Pro will also be on sale from Friday, with the same $100 discount. The Black Friday deals come three months after Sony increased the price of the consoles.

The digital edition PS5 will be on sale for $400, while the PS5 Pro will be offered at $650.

That means you'll be able to grab a PS5 and PlayStation VR2 together for $700, or a PS5 Pro and PS VR2 for $950, delivering a full consolized high-end VR experience for less than $1000.

Of course, next year Valve too will offer a consolized high-end VR experience with Steam Frame and Steam Machine. That combination will have the significant benefit of being wireless, but will also likely cost at least twice as much, making Sony's Black Friday proposition still a good deal.

A new report has surfaced claiming AMD is warning its AIB partners of an impending second price increase for its GPUs, this time driven by rapidly rising memory procurement costs.

As pointed out by VideoCardz, the memory market is being squeezed by the AI sector's insatiable demand for HBM and server-grade DDR5. As foundries shift capacity to meet that demand, prices for other components are increasing. Recent reports show DRAM contract prices rising sharply, with GDDR6 seeing an increase of around 30%.

This unconfirmed report comes at a particularly frustrating time for gamers, as prices for certain GPUs had only just begun to normalise after months of inflation. If this report is proven to be true, that price trend will likely revert.

AMD has made no public statement on this and if there are indeed price rises on the way, it could take weeks or months to filter down to the retail market.

KitGuru says: PC gamers only just got through the rough cryptomining years, which led to huge supply/demand issues. Now, it looks like we may have to contend with AI companies driving up prices instead. 

Epomaker has announced the TH33, a new compact keypad that packs a numpad, arrow keys, and a function row into a single 33-key unit. The new device features an unconventional southpaw layout, placing the numeric keypad on the left of the arrow keys and the function cluster.

The TH33 is built with a full suite of enthusiast-grade features. Internally, it uses a gasket-mount structure with multiple layers of sound-dampening foam to tune its acoustics. The hot-swappable PCB supports 3-pin and 5-pin switches, and the board features south-facing RGB LEDs to prevent keycap interference.

Out of the box, the TH33 comes equipped with factory-lubed Wisteria linear switches, OEM-profile PBT keycaps, and a premium-feeling aluminum alloy multimedia knob for volume and media control. For power users, the keypad offers QMK and VIA compatibility for key remapping and macro programming. Connectivity is handled via tri-mode support (wired USB-C, wireless 2.4 GHz, and Bluetooth 5.0), all powered by a 2000 mAh battery. The 2.4GHz and wired modes support a 1000Hz polling rate for a responsive, low-latency connection.

The Epomaker TH33 is now available for $42.99 (with a 15% launch discount) or €45.95.

KitGuru says: Are you using a numpad-less keyboard? Have you ever felt the need for a numpad?

NetEase's new open-world RPG, Where Winds Meet, has had a massive launch, pulling in over 2 million players on its first day. The free-to-play title also peaked at over 193,000 concurrent players on Steam alone. However, given that the game is also available on PlayStation 5, the total player count is significantly higher.

This launch continues the trend of Chinese-developed, mythology-based games finding a major audience in the West, following the success of titles like last year's Black Myth: Wukong and Wuchang: Fallen Feathers. On the first day, as per the developer,  the game peaked at over 170,000 players on Steam, but the number increased to 193,000 the day after, according to SteamDB.

On Steam, Where Winds Meet is holding a ‘Very Positive' rating from almost 15,000 reviews (at the time of writing). Players are widely praising the high production value of its open world, noting that it feels more like a premium product than a free-to-play game. The single-player campaign's story and deep, complex systems have also been highlighted as strengths, though some new players find the game's depth daunting at first.

However, one specific feature is proving highly divisive. Where Winds Meet uses AI-powered chatbots for some of its NPCs, a design choice some players are not a fan of. Although the game clearly identifies which NPCs are AI-driven, many players feel that this feature detracts from the game's realism and breaks immersion.

KitGuru says: Have you already tried Where Winds Meet? How do you feel about the AI-powered NPCs?

The next wave of titles for Game Pass has been announced. Following on from this month's release of Call of Duty: Black Ops 7, nine more games are also set to join the library, including day-one releases like Moonlighter 2: The Endless Vault and Marvel Cosmic Invasion.

Marvel Cosmic Invasion is a retro-inspired beat em' up, where players will take control of their favourite Marvel superhero and progress through a series of levels. It arrives following a recent resurgence for this genre, thanks to titles like TMNT: Shredder's Revenge and Streets of Rage 4.

Here is the full list of titles joining Game Pass over the next two weeks, including supported platforms and dates:

• Moonlighter 2: The Endless Vault (PC, Game Preview) – November 19
• Kulebra and the Souls of Limbo (Cloud, Console, PC) – November 19
• Revenge of the Savage Planet (Cloud, PC, Xbox Series X|S) – November 19
• Monsters are Coming! Rock & Road (Handheld, PC) – November 20
• The Crew Motorfest (Cloud, Console, PC) – November 20
• Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden (Cloud, PC, Xbox Series X|S) – November 25
• Kill It With Fire! 2 (Cloud, Console, PC) – November 25
• Marvel Cosmic Invasion (Cloud, Console, Handheld, PC) – December 1
• Lost Records: Bloom & Rage (Cloud, PC, Xbox Series X|S) – December 2

As always, there will also be a handful of games leaving the Game Pass library. At the end of this month, two of my favourites will be leaving the library – Octopath Traveler 1 & 2. The other three games leaving the service include Lords of the Fallen, Barbie Project Friendship and Steamworld Build.

KitGuru Says: Will you be installing any of this month's new Game Pass titles?

InWin has announced the launch of the Dlite, a new ATX chassis that borrows design cues from its existing Dubili line but aims for a more lightweight footprint. Available in Mocha Bronze and Lilac Silver colourways, the case features a distinctive wave-pattern front panel accented by a brushed aluminum strip.

The Dlite is built to accommodate modern build standards, featuring support for back-connect ATX motherboards. This allows for cleaner cable management by hiding connectors behind the motherboard tray. The chassis offers substantial clearance for high-end hardware, supporting graphics cards up to 380mm in length across its eight expansion slots.

The case can house up to ten fans in total and ships with four pre-installed XM120 fans, a model currently exclusive to this chassis. For liquid cooling enthusiasts, there is room for a 360mm radiator at the front and another 360mm or 280mm radiator at the top. As for air cooling, there's space for a CPU tower up to 165mm tall.

To assist with the build process, InWin has included a pre-installed fan hub capable of managing four sets of PWM and ARGB connections. The front panel also features a dedicated LED control button that cycles through 17 lighting presets. Moreover, there are a couple of magnetic dust filters to prevent dust from getting into the system. The InWin Dlite is available immediately in Europe through the company's eStore, priced at €129.

KitGuru says: What do you make of these latest PC cases from InWin? Have you ever used an InWin case before? 

Yoko Taro made a name for himself thanks to the highly-successful release of NieR: Automata back in 2017. While the director has since gone on to work on a number of projects, none have been as ambitious as the PlatinumGames-developed genre-bending action-adventure title. It appears as though this wasn't for lack of trying however, with Taro revealing that “a lot of projects I was involved in” ultimately wound up being cancelled.

Taking part in a discussion panel at the Korean video game convention ‘G-CON 2025’, NieR creator Yoko Taro was asked about their current work and upcoming projects. According to the director (as transcribed by 4Gamer and translated by the publication Automaton):

“I often get told stuff like ‘Why aren’t you making a new sequel to NieR’ or ‘Yoko Taro isn’t doing anything,’ but that’s because recently, a lot of projects I was involved in got discontinued midway through development.”

He continued, “I’ve actually been working on some stuff, it’s just that it never ended up seeing the light of day. I got paid for it, so I personally have no issues with that, but people seem to think that I haven’t been doing anything just because none of the work I’ve done is being released. I don’t view that as a negative thing. I believe that if I’m going to release something  weird, I’d be better off not releasing anything at all.”

As mentioned, since the release of Automata in 2017 Yoko Taro has not been static, with the director having worked on a number of mobile exclusives including SINoALICE; NieR Reincarnation and Voice of Cards.

That said, with NieR: Automata far exceeding expectations with over 9 million copies sold, here’s to hoping that one of Yoko Taro’s cancelled projects was not the much-requested NieR 3.

Discuss on our Facebook page HERE.

KitGuru says: What did you think of NieR: Automata? Can Yoko Taro capture lightning in a bottle twice? Will we ever get a proper NieR 3? Let us know down below.

Back in 2022, EA officially announced that they were working on the next generation of their ever-green Sims franchise, with the untitled Sims 5 said to be utilising a newly upgraded version of the game’s engine, offering more tools to help players build and decorate with a finer level of detail. Unfortunately the project has since been pivoted, with the publisher confirming that they instead plan to continue supporting the decade-old Sims 4. While a disappointment to be sure, at the very least it appears as though EA is working on a remaster of sorts for Sims 4.

As reported by the dedicated ‘SimsCommunity’ fansite, multiple insiders have claimed that EA’s The Sims 4 will be receiving a remaster of sorts, with leaker ‘thesimmerdan’ telling the publication: “I can tell you that [studio] Maxis is working on a separate base game that will replace The Sims 4. It’s not The Sims 5, but something like The Sims 4 HD.”

Elaborating on this further, they continued, “From what I know, they’re going to improve the lighting and rework all the graphics. They’re using elements from Project Rene and the large-scale update for The Sims 4 that they originally wanted to release – but then realized it would be easier to just make a separate new base game.”

For context, Project Rene was announced by EA back in 2022 as a “next generation Sims game and creative platform”. Seemingly initially intended to be The Sims 5, EA later confirmed that they will instead continue to work on the decade-old Sims 4, claiming “What we’re really working with our community on is this a new era of ‘The Sims.’ We are not going to be working on replacements of previous projects; we’re only going to be adding to our universe.”

While this was certainly disappointing at the time, assuming a Sims 4 remaster is real and will indeed be a solid platform to build upon, then the desire for a Sims 5 will hopefully be alleviated. We will have to wait and see.

Discuss on our Facebook page HERE.

KitGuru says: Are you excited for Project Rene? Would you have preferred a Sims 5 be released, or this rumoured Sims 4 remaster? Let us know down below.

Built as a spiritual successor to the classic SimCity series, Cities: Skylines released back in 2015 to a wave of long-term success, selling more than 12 million copies and spawning a sequel. Unfortunately, Skyline’s successor has struggled from a plethora of issues – with publisher Paradox Interactive revealing that they have now parted ways with the devs at Colossal Order.

Making the surprise announcement on their official forums, Paradox Interactive and Colossal Order released a joined statement confirming the end of their long-running partnership, writing:

“After more than a decade of successful collaboration across numerous titles that we’re both immensely proud of, Paradox Interactive and Colossal Order have mutually decided to pursue independent paths. The decision was made thoughtfully and in the interest of both teams – ensuring the strongest possible future for the Cities: Skylines franchise.”

Moving forward, the Finland-based Iceflake Studios is taking over “all existing and future development for Cities: Skylines II, including free updates for the current version, continuous work on the Editor and console editions, as well as future expansions and content packs.”

As mentioned, Cities: Skylines 2 has not had the best of starts, with the team warning players prior to its release back in 2023 of expected performance issues. This appeared to have been somewhat understated though, with the game arriving on PC in a problematic state and the long-promised console release nowhere in sight.

While it is a shame to see the once-successful partnership between Colossal Order and Paradox Interactive come to an end, hopefully the team at Iceflake Studios are able to right the Cities: Skylines 2 ship in due time. The full statements from Colossal Order, Paradox and Iceflake Studios can be found HERE.

Discuss on our Facebook page HERE.

KitGuru says: Are you surprised by this announcement? What do you think Colossal Order is going to work on next? Can Cities: Skylines 2 be saved? Let us know down below.