Square Enix made it clear during its recent financial earnings call that it would be overhauling its development operations, with a bigger focus on multiplatform releases moving forward. As far as actual game releases are concerned, this should have been a huge year thanks to Final Fantasy 16 and Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth. However, it would appear most major releases ‘failed to meet expectations'. 

Square Enix and ‘failure to meet expectations' kind of goes hand-in-hand at this point. This has very little to do with the quality of the games themselves and more to do with Square Enix's own sales targets. Crystal Dynamics, Eidos Montreal and IO Interactive all also struggled to meet Square Enix's expectations, despite excellent games like HITMAN, Deus Ex: Human Revolution and the Tomb Raider reboot trilogy.

As reported by Bloomberg, during Square Enix's most recent call, it confirmed that recent releases like Final Fantasy 16, Foamstars and Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth all failed to meet expected sales targets. Sales of the most recent Final Fantasy titles were hampered in part due to lack of platform availability. Both games are expected to release on PC eventually, with Final Fantasy 16 expected on PC this year. Once both games are more widely available, sales should grow to expected levels.

Foamstars on the other hand is a bit of an odd one. Square Enix made the decision to launch it as a PS+ title. This led to great revenue success in the past for games like Rocket League but the key difference here is that Foamstars is a PlayStation exclusive, while Rocket League was multiplatform. With Foamstars only being available on PlayStation, most interested players would have grabbed it for free via PS+, and any good word of mouth generated won't have helped boost sales across all platforms.

KitGuru Says: While they may not have met sales expectations, both of the most recent Final Fantasy games have been my favourites of the modern era. 

The post Final Fantasy 16 and Final Fantasy 7: Rebirth failed to meet sales expectations first appeared on KitGuru.

After acquiring Activision Blizzard in late 2023, Microsoft made the decision to allow Toys for Bob to go independent. At the time, we did not know what this meant for the studio’s future involvment with IP like Crash Bandicoot and Spyro the Dragon. However, the company’s new logo gives us a pretty good hint.

Toys for Bob has updated its official website with a new teaser logo, depicting a Tiki Mask, pretty much in the same design you see throughout the Crash Bandicoot games. Interestingly, the logo is also purple, which some fans are theorising to be a hint towards Spyro.

Toys for Bob is now an independent company. However, the studio has already confirmed that it is in talks with Microsoft to publish its next game. This project has not been officially announced yet, so we still do not have confirmation that the studio still has license to use the Crash or Spyro IPs. However, given the style of the logo, it seems almost certain that the studio will continue developing Crash Bandicoot titles.

Microsoft is holding the next Xbox Games Showcase in June, during which we will get a wave of updates for previously announced titles, as well as many brand new announcements. Toys for Bob could potentially make an appearance during this showcase.

KitGuru Says: Toys for Bob ran the risk of being turned into a fulltime COD support studio under Activision, so I'm glad to see the company going independent. If the studio can continue to make multiplatform Crash and Spyro games, then that would be the cherry on top. 

The post Toys For Bob seemingly gearing up for new Crash Bandicoot first appeared on KitGuru.

We’re expecting Microsoft to officially reveal Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 for an October launch during its Xbox showcase event in June. This is going to be the first Call of Duty title to get a day-one release on Game Pass, something that apparently had Microsoft executives concerned. As a result, it would appear that a shake-up of the current Game Pass tiers is being planned.

According to industry insiders “Shinobi602” and “eXtas1stv”, “there will be changes” to Xbox Game Pass tiers due to the upcoming addition of Call of Duty. It would seem that a mainline COD each year is enough of a value-add for Microsoft to finally consider increasing the price of Game Pass.

Since the service’s launch, Game Pass subscription prices have remained pretty steady. Here in the UK, a Game Pass Ultimate subscription costs £10.99 per month, while a standard Xbox Game Pass or PC Game Pass subscription is £7.99 per month. Now that Xbox needs to start making back the money it invested in acquiring Activision Blizzard and IP like Call of Duty, we can either expect new tiers for day-one games, or a general price increase to the current tiers.

Microsoft will be announcing its Call of Duty plans for 2024 at the Xbox Games Showcase in June. It is unclear if a new Game Pass structure or pricing scheme will be announced at the same time, or closer to Call of Duty’s launch, around September.

KitGuru Says: It is always a slippery slope when subscription prices rise, as you run the risk of pricing some out. However, with games costing £70 at launch nowadays, Game Pass will remain the vastly cheaper option. 

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We’ve known through leaks for a while now that Call of Duty’s next game will be a return to Black Ops, with Treyarch leading development. The game is expected to be officially revealed at the Xbox Games Showcase in June, but the release date may have leaked ahead of time.

According to sources speaking with The Verge, a site with known links to Microsoft employees, Call of Duty is targeting a late October launch this year, rather than early to mid November. According to Insider Gaming, the release date will more specifically fall on the 25th of October.

This year’s Call of Duty will be the first released after Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard. We’ve already seen the impact Activision’s revenue has brought to the Xbox business as a whole. Microsoft will be banking on this year’s Call of Duty also being a big driver for Game Pass subscriptions, as it will be the first new game in the series to launch day-one on the service.

Microsoft is holding the Xbox Games Showcase on the 9th of June, with a main show filled with game announcements set to be immediately followed by a gameplay deep dive stream for a yet-to-be-announced game. It is believed that this game will be Call of Duty: Black Ops 6.

KitGuru Says: With this year's Call of Duty coming to Game Pass, it opens the door for many lapsed players to re-join and more importantly, get them into the latest version of the game at a lower cost.

The post Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 tipped for October launch first appeared on KitGuru.

Over the past few years, display refresh rates have significantly increased. Currently, the fastest monitor available on the market offers a 540Hz refresh rate, but faster panels are already in the works, namely a 4K panel with a 1000Hz refresh rate from TCL CSOT.

The Asus ROG Swift Pro PG248QP currently holds the title for the highest refresh rate monitor available, featuring a massive 540Hz refresh rate on its 24-inch FullHD display. However, the stakes were raised when TCL unveiled a prototype PC display this week, claiming it almost doubles the refresh rate of the Asus ROG monitor.

4K 1000Hz being shown off at #DisplayWeek2024 by TCL CSOT pic.twitter.com/xc2qsYocxX

— Blur Busters (@BlurBusters) May 15, 2024

According to BlurBusters, who was at the DisplayWeek 2024 in San Jose, California, a TCL subsidiary, TCL CSOT, showcased a prototype monitor with an astounding 1000Hz refresh rate. What's even more impressive is that TCL CSOT stated the display was operating at 4K resolution, defying expectations that a monitor with a 1000Hz refresh rate would debut at a lower resolution.

Although details about this ground-breaking monitor are scarce, Blur Busters' photos show a curved screen with an ultrawide aspect ratio. It was also confirmed in a follow-up post that the monitor featured an LCD panel.

KitGuru says: Have you ever imagined yourself playing a game on a 1000Hz display? Do you think the difference will be very noticeable when changing from 540Hz to 1000Hz?

The post World’s first 1000Hz 4K display revealed at DisplayWeek 2024 first appeared on KitGuru.

The Acer Predator Orion X should already be familiar to our readers, as we presented a showcase of this small form-factor PC at the end of last year. Today we are back with a full review of the system however, and we are assessing the model that is on sale here in the UK. That means it is packing an i9-13900KS CPU, RTX 4080 GPU, 32GB of DDR5 memory and two 1TB SSDs.

Watch the video via our VIMEO Channel (Below) or over on YouTube at 2160p HERE

If you caught our showcase at the end of the year, you will know the sample we were sent was an early prototype with RTX 4090 graphics, so it wasn't fully representative of the system that UK buyers can get their hands on via Currys for £3299 (reduced from £3799). The system we are reviewing today, however, is a final retail model of the Acer Predator Orion X, the exact same if you went and bought one yourself, so we can give it a full technical analysis.

Specification:

At its core, the Acer Predator Orion X is a small-form factor mini PC with a total chassis volume of 15.4L, so while it's not quite as compact as a console, it's a relatively small unit as gaming PCs go. It's using a custom-made dual-chamber case that you can access by lifting the levers on the front panel, and then both side panels pop out and can be lifted away.

The right-hand side (or Zone 1, as Acer calls it) is home to the motherboard, CPU, memory, storage and power supply, while a PCIe riser cable is used to connect to the graphics card on the other side of the case in Zone 2. There is also a third Zone but this only gives access to the top panel and the AIO liquid cooler's screws, so it's not that useful.

Starting in Zone 1 then, Acer has fitted an ITX Z790 motherboard, though that's the only details shared on the spec sheet. It seems to be a custom job designed for the Orion X and has its own custom Acer BIOS, but who the actual manufacturer is, I'm not sure, and it certainly looks fairly basic on first impressions. An i9-13900KS CPU is plugged into the board, which is technically now a last-gen part, but still offers eight Raptor Lake P-cores and sixteen E-cores, though we take a closer look at performance later in the video. That CPU is cooled by a compact 240mm AIO, with the fans set to exhaust out of the roof, so it'll be interesting to see how it deals with the heat of the 13900KS.

Memory also appears to be custom for this system, with 32GB of DDR5, clocked at 5600MT/s, bearing the Predator logo. There's also two internal M.2 slots, but both are occupied by 1TB Micron MTFDKBA1T0TFK-1BC15ABYY PCIe Gen3 SSDs. Just 2TB in a system that costs over three grand feels a little cheap to me, as does the fact these are only Gen3 SSDs when Gen5 drives are now well established. If you want to add more storage however, there is a removable hot-swap enclosure found in the front panel, which users can open and install another M.2 SSD, though it is empty by default – but I think that's a nifty inclusion.

Over in Zone 2, the only component is the graphics card, an RTX 4080 (non-Super) that again looks custom-made for the Predator Orion X. It's a triple-fan and triple-slot unit, though it runs at a stock speed of 2505MHz, so hasn't been factory overclocked. That's all powered by the compact 850W PSU, and again we have no details on it other than the fact that it is an 80 Plus Gold SFX unit, which should be fine for this spec.

Overall port selection is quite basic, too. There's a total of five full-size USB ports on the rear, and one Type-C that's USB 3.2 Gen 2X2, alongside Ethernet and audio jacks, but that's it round the back. On the front panel there's another Type-C USB 3.2 Gen 2X2 and one 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A, alongside audio and mic jacks.

RGB lighting can also be found on the front panel, on the CPU block and with the liquid cooler's fans, and this can all be synchronised using the PredatorSense app that comes pre-installed.

The post Acer Predator Orion X Prebuilt Review (13900KS + 4080) first appeared on KitGuru.

With a surge in interest in post-apocalyptic fiction after the success of the Fallout TV series, no one was surprised to see Epic Games partnering with Microsoft/Bethesda to do a crossover in the Fortnite universe. It seems that Fallout will be one of the major crossover events for Season 3, which is just around the corner. 

Epic Games teased fans with a tweet featuring a Brotherhood of Steel member in iconic Fallout power armour gazing through smoke clouds. The image also hints at a new point of interest, possibly a refinery. 

While we don't know specifics about the type of content and cosmetics this collaboration will bring, it's almost certain that a Brotherhood of Steel skin will be part of it. Another skin that would be a perfect fit for Fortnite would be the blue and yellow Vaultec suit.

Rumours and data leaks have strongly suggested an apocalyptic theme for Season 3, making this Fallout crossover a perfect fit. With Fortnite Season 2 scheduled to conclude on May 24th, Season 3 will likely kick off on the same day. 

KitGuru says: Do you play Fortnite? What do you expect from this collaboration with Fallout?

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Ghost of Tsushima has finally arrived on PC, and as expected, it's a success. With a peak concurrent player count of over 77,000, it's already PlayStation's most successful single-player game to launch on Steam.

Following its debut on Steam on May 16th in its Director's Cut form, Ghost of Tsushima rapidly gained traction and outpaced previous PlayStation PC ports. Despite Helldivers 2 being the most successful PlayStation release on PC, with 458,709 concurrent players at its peak, Ghost of Tsushima managed to outshine all other single-player titles that Sony has published on PC so far.

This past weekend, Ghost of Tsushima peaked at 77,154 concurrent players, surpassing God of War's 73,529 players at its peak and Marvel's Spider-Man's 66,436 high. Other former PlayStation exclusives that came to Steam include Horizon Zero Dawn (peaked at 56,557 players), Horizon Forbidden West (40,462 players), and The Last of Us Part 1 (36,496 players).

At the time of writing, the game has almost 8,600 reviews on Steam, of which 88% are positive.

KitGuru says: Have you already tried Ghost of Tsushima on PC? How has your experience been with the game?

The post Ghost of Tsushima PC launch breaks PlayStation records first appeared on KitGuru.

Despite previous doubts, it seems that Redfall is set to receive one last update before Arkane Austin's closure. Since its launch, Redfall has faced numerous challenges, including lackluster reviews and a struggle to attract a large player base, despite being available on Xbox Game Pass from day one. While post-launch updates attempted to address player feedback, they failed to call in new players.

The studio promised a massive overhaul was in the works. Still, with Microsoft's announcement that it would close the studio, the hope of getting the promised update went underwater. Surprisingly, Arkane Austin announced it still plans to launch one last update to the game.

The developer's official account announced this last Redfall update (Game Update 4) on X. According to the developer, the update will include an overhauled Neighbourhood and Nest systems, a single-player pause, an offline mode, and more. The addition of an offline mode is particularly noteworthy, as it ensures that the game remains playable even if its servers are eventually deactivated.

This update could be a turning point for Redfall, potentially addressing some of its issues at launch. However, it's worth noting that some promised content, such as DLC characters from the Bite Back Edition, may never be released. Microsoft has promised compensation for those who purchased the Bite Back Edition, but details are yet to be disclosed.

KitGuru says: Have you already tried Redfall? Are you planning to revisit it after Arkane Austin launches the new update?

The post Redfall is getting one final update before Arkane Austin closes first appeared on KitGuru.

SteelSeries has recently broadened its Arctis Nova product line with the debut of the Arctis Nova 5 wireless headsets. This new addition is accompanied by the launch of the Nova 5 Companion App, which grants users access to many audio presets. The Nova 5 will be available in three models, offering audio solutions for various gaming platforms, including Xbox, PlayStation, and more.

The Arctis Nova 5 headsets have three notable features to enhance the gaming audio experience. These include a triple connection option featuring Quick Switch Wireless technology, enabling seamless switching between high-speed 2.4GHz wireless and Bluetooth 5.3. Additionally, the headsets are designed for extended gaming sessions with over 60 hours of gameplay on a single charge. Lastly, the Companion App introduces a feature that enables real-time audio adjustments without interrupting gameplay and presents a library of over 100 game-specific audio presets crafted by audio professionals and gaming specialists.

The headsets have Neodymium magnetic drivers to deliver a more realistic audio experience. The Arctis Nova 5 series also incorporates a compact USB-C dongle for quick connectivity to various gaming platforms, including PCs, consoles, and mobile devices. Another standout feature is the redesigned ClearCast 2.X Mic, offering enhanced bandwidth and clarity for communication. This microphone features a high-bandwidth chipset enabling 32KHz/16Bit audio and AI-powered noise reduction capabilities through the Sonar Audio software suite, an equaliser designed for gaming that provides extensive control over sound parameters.

In terms of charging, the headsets support rapid charging, delivering an additional six hours of battery life after just a 15-minute charge. The Arctis Nova 5 Series is now available globally, offering various variants such as the Arctis Nova 5, Nova 5X (Xbox), and Nova 5P (PlayStation) for £129.99/€139.99/$139.99. Furthermore, consumers can download the SteelSeries Sonar Audio software suite for free HERE.

KitGuru says: If you're looking for a new gaming wireless headset for PC, Xbox Series X|S, or PlayStation 5, the Nova 5 might be worth considering.

The post Steelseries expands the Arctis lineup with the Nova 5 first appeared on KitGuru.

LN2 is commonly used for overclocking Intel and AMD CPUs. However, it's not every day we see someone using this same cooling method on an Apple M-series SoC, as Geekerwan did with the M4.

Geekerwan (via Tom's Hardware) benchmarked the M4 in its 3+6 core configuration (3 performance cores + 6 efficiency cores) but has already acquired the 4+6 model for further testing. Geekerwan inserted a Kingpin Cooling T-Rex Rev 4 CPU LN2 pot at the rear of the iPad Pro, most likely where the M4 processor is housed, and filled it with liquid nitrogen to keep the chip cool while running at 4.41 GHz.

Image credit: Geekerwan 

The LN2-cooled M4 iPad Pro scored 4,001 points in Geekbench 6's single-core test, 28% quicker than the M3 Max in the 16-inch MacBook Pro in the same test. In addition, the M4 outperformed the Mac Studio's M2 Ultra by 44%. Even though it lacks active cooling, the M4 iPad Pro receives a perfect grade. Even in its regular condition, the M4's single-core performance is high, surpassing the 3,000 mark. For the final few yards, the liquid nitrogen assisted the M4 in reaching the finish line.

However, the M4's multi-core performance fell short of expectations. It performed 54% slower than the M3 Max and 57% slower than the M2 Ultra. Geekerwan provided many Geekbench 6 entries, with the highest multi-core score of 14,785 points.

KitGuru says: The lower multi-core score is only expected since the M4 has considerably fewer cores than the M3 Max and M2 Ultra. However, we expect Apple to launch a higher-core count M4 SoC, which should put the M4 chips closer in multi-core performance to the previous generations.

The post Overclocker pushes Apple M4 chip to new heights first appeared on KitGuru.

Hades 2 has got off to a fantastic start, amassing high praise from fans and critics upon the launch of the game's Early Access version. The game is not complete yet and Early Access projects can sometimes take years to reach their ‘final' state. Super Giant has now confirmed its plans for Hades 2, planning to remain in early access until early next year. 

In an interview with PCGamer, Hades 2 Creative Director, Greg Kasavin, confirmed that the game will remain in early access “at least through the end of this year”. That is the long-term plan, but players will have plenty to look forward to in the short-term as well.

Kasavin explained that there will be a couple of “small patches to improve parts of the game” in the weeks ahead to polish up a few bugs and issues players have encountered. From there, they will focus on getting the game's first major update ready, which should be ready in a few months time.

Major updates in Hades 2 will contain new locations, enemies, features and other content, essentially expanding the game incrementally until the game is fully content complete. The original Hades was in early access for around two years but Hades 2 appears to be in a polished state already so hopefully that time will indeed be cut down for Hades 2. So far, that does seem to be the plan.

Discuss on our Facebook page, HERE.

KitGuru Says: Have you picked up Hades 2 already? How are you finding it compared to the first one? 

The post Hades 2 will stay in Early Access until at least early 2025 first appeared on KitGuru.

Creative Assembly is doubling down on Total War once again. According to a new leak, the studio is now hard at work on three new Total War games, one of which is a Star Wars title. 

Total War: Star Wars is apparently in development at Creative Assembly, according to DualShockers. The Star Wars project is said to be the second of three on-going projects at Creative Assembly, as of October 2023. The report appears to imply that the game is probably a couple of years away at least, so it could be a long time before we get real confirmation.

Star Wars games had their roots in the early days of PC gaming, with a few of them being strategy/RTS games. The most famous example is Empire At War and its expansion.

There is no doubt in my mind that a Total War Star Wars game would be fantastic, but it doesn't sound like Creative Assembly is going to be ready to talk about this anytime soon, if it even exists. There are many hoaxes around the summer game announcement season.

Discuss on our Facebook page, HERE.

KitGuru Says: Would you like to see a Total War Star Wars game? 

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Aside from Counter-Strike 2, we've known that Valve has been hard at work on another project over the past year. The game formerly known as Neon Prime is seemingly being play tested by hundreds of players, leading to leaked screenshots and other details. 

The game previously codenamed Citadel, which then evolved into Neon Prime, is now officially going to be titled ‘Deadlock'. It is a 6v6 third-person MOBA with fantasy and steam punk inspirations. Maps in this game will be larger than your typical MOBA, there will also reportedly be some tower defence elements, according to Tyler McVicker, who describes the title as a mix between Valorant, Overwatch, Dota 2 and Team Fortress 2.

Since testers started sharing Deadlock screenshots all over the place, here's ones I can verify, featuring one of the heroes called Grey Talon. pic.twitter.com/KdZSRxObSz

— ‎Gabe Follower (@gabefollower) May 17, 2024

In the tweet above from Gabe Follower, a Twitter account that previously leaked accurate details in the lead-up to Counter-Strike 2's announcement last year, Deadlock screenshots can be seen, showcasing one of the game's major characters. Apparently, many Counter Strike developers are currently helping on Deadlock to get the game ready for launch.

Valve is expected to announce Deadlock imminently. It is unclear if the game will launch in Early Access, or if there will be some kind of beta program ahead of a full release.

Discuss on our Facebook page, HERE.

KitGuru Says: It is always an exciting time when Valve is gearing up to release a game. I'm not sure this one will be for me but I'd certainly be up for giving it a go. 

The post Valve gearing up to launch new multiplayer game ‘Deadlock’ first appeared on KitGuru.

While Sarah Bond appeared to confirm this already in an interview earlier in the month, a new report has come out stating that Microsoft has finalised plans to bring Call of Duty to Game Pass this year. 

A previous report had claimed that there had been debate within Microsoft about whether to bring Call of Duty to Game Pass on day one due to potential loss of sales revenue. However, in an interview with Bloomberg recently, Xbox exec, Sarah Bond, reaffirmed the company's commitment to Game Pass, and bringing first party games, like COD, to the service.

Now, The Wall Street Journal reports that Microsoft has made the decision to make Call of Duty a day-one Game Pass title this year. The new game is expected to be announced in June at the Xbox Games Showcase and it is believed that the secret ‘gameplay deep dive' stream scheduled immediately after the showcase will focus on the new Call of Duty.

This year we expect to see Treyarch return to the forefront with a new Black Ops game. As usual, Call of Duty should release between late October and early November, with beta tests taking place a month or so before.

Discuss on our Facebook page, HERE.

KitGuru Says: With Call of Duty coming to Game Pass, I'll at least be checking out this year's game. I skipped Modern Warfare 3 due to the poor reception to the game's campaign, and the usual purchase price is simply too high for the multiplayer alone. 

The post Call of Duty will be heading to Game Pass day-one this year first appeared on KitGuru.

The G.Skill Ripjaws is back. This week, G.Skill unveiled the sleek new Ripjaws M5 RGB DDR5 memory kits, offering matte black or matte white heatspreaders with an RGB lightbar on the top. At 41mm tall, these DDR5 memory modules should be friendly for use with most CPU coolers. 

The Ripjaws M5 RGB series features a minimalist design similar to the Ripjaws S5. The heatspreaders are 41mm tall and can be matte white or matte black. Moreover, they come with built-in customisable RGB lighting, allowing users to match the rest of their system. 

Available in kits of up to 96GB (2x 48GB) with CL32-39-39-102 timings and speeds of up to 6400 MT/s. Regardless of their speeds, capacity, and timings, all the kits support Intel XMP 3.0 memory overclock profiles. This allows users to easily overclock the memory kit by activating XMP in the BIOS, provided they have a compatible motherboard and processor. 

G.Skill Ripjaws M5 RGB DDR5 memory kits are set to be available starting in May 2024.

Discuss on our Facebook page, HERE.

KitGuru says: Do you prefer the aesthetics of the Ripjaws M5 over previous versions?

The post G.Skill introduces new Ripjaws M5 RGB DDR5 memory series first appeared on KitGuru.

Microsoft has recently unveiled the Proteus controller, a customisable video game controller kit designed with accessibility in mind. Developed by ByoWave as part of the Designed for Xbox program, the wireless controller consists of modular cubes with interchangeable faceplates featuring controller buttons, a directional pad, and analogue sticks.

All of the controller's components are “snap and play”, meaning you connect them to the socket you wish to use, and you're done. These components can be combined in over 100 different configurations, empowering one-handed gamers and others with impairments to tailor the controller to their specific needs. The buttons are also remappable through an accompanying app for further customisation.

Upon its release, the Proteus Controller will be compatible with the Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, and Windows 10 and 11. ByoWave has stated that it will not initially support the PlayStation 5 or Nintendo Switch, although collaboration with these platforms is possible.

Available for pre-order at a discounted price of $255 on ByoWave's website, the controller package includes a USB-C charging connection, a Bluetooth dongle, and additional components such as left and right grips for a standard gamepad and two large one-button controllers. Without the discount, the controller is priced at $299.

In addition to the Proteus Controller, Microsoft is updating the Xbox adaptive controller to enable gamers to create personalised gaming setups. The updated controller will support additional attachments, with each USB port accommodating up to 12 buttons, a second stick, and a hat switch. The firmware upgrade will be rolled out to Xbox Insiders in the next few weeks before being made available to the public.

Discuss on our Facebook page, HERE.

KitGuru says: Byowave's Proteus controller looks exceptionally well designed. However, it is also a very high-end piece of kit. 

The post Microsoft launches new ‘Proteus’ accessible controller with modular design first appeared on KitGuru.

After the Geekbench benchmark of the AMD Engineering Sample 100-000000994-38 (supposedly a 12-core Ryzen AI CPU), this same sample has now been found on the Blender Open Data database, where you will see it performed similarly to an AMD Ryzen Threadripper Pro 5955WX.

HXL was the first to share the AMD Engineering Sample 100-000000994-38 median score on Blender. With 270.92 points, it's set between the AMD Ryzen Threadripper Pro 5955WX (272.56 points) and the Ryzen 7 7700X (269.02 points). The leaker also added that this processor uses a 12-core configuration, of which four are Zen 5 and eight are Zen 5c. As such, this could well be the flagship series processor.

STX 4+8 ES

Blender Benchmark V4.1https://t.co/b2e7i9XSbi pic.twitter.com/vIgKlCK6E8

— HXL (@9550pro) May 16, 2024

The upcoming CPU is poised to deliver a substantial upgrade to AMD's mobile APU lineup. While there's little information on the integrated GPU's performance, it's said to feature up to 16 CUs. The new series will also introduce an enhanced NPU chip (XDNA 2), promising three times more AI performance than the Hawk Point APUs.

The official announcement is expected to occur at Computex 2024 during AMD's opening keynote, which is scheduled for June 3rd at 17:30.

Discuss on our Facebook page, HERE.

KitGuru says: Were are you expecting this level of performance from a 12-core Strix Point APU?

The post AMD Ryzen Strix Point CPU with 12 cores shows similar performance to Ryzen 7 7700X in Blender first appeared on KitGuru.

After numerous delays, Ubisoft's promising multiplayer shooter, XDefiant, is finally coming out in just a few days time. Ahead of the launch, Ubisoft has now revealed the PC system requirements, with recommended specs for playing the game at 1080p, 1440p and 4K. 

At minimum to play the game, you will need a Core i3-10105F or Ryzen 3 3100 CPU, 8GB of memory and an Intel Arc A380, Nvidia GTX 1050Ti or AMD RX 5500 XT graphics card. However, the recommended requirements call for a slightly better GPU for playing at 1080p, calling for an Arc A750, GTX 1060 (6GB) or RX 5500 XT (8GB) graphics card. The recommended requirements also suggest having 16GB of RAM for optimal performance at 1080p.

The Enthusiast specs target 1440p:

• CPU: Core i5-10400 or Ryzen 5 3600
• RAM: 16GB
• Graphics card: Intel Arc A770, RTX 2060 or RX 5600 XT

Finally, the Ultra system spec, which targets 4K resolution at max settings, includes:

• CPU: Core i7-9700K or Ryzen 7 3700X
• RAM: 16GB
• Graphics card: RTX 3080 or RX 6800 XT

In all cases, you'll need 35GB of SSD space handy to install the game. DX11 and DX12 options are available, you can play with a completely uncapped frame rate and features like Nvidia Reflex are supported to minimise response times.

XDefiant officially launches on the 21st of May for PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X/S.

Discuss on our Facebook page, HERE.

KitGuru Says: Will any of you be playing XDefiant when it drops next week? 

The post XDefiant gets PC system requirements ahead of next week’s launch first appeared on KitGuru.

Take-Two provided a number of updates yesterday as part of its quarterly earnings report. We now have a more solid timeframe for when Grant Theft Auto 6 will be out, and the folks over at 2K Games are preparing to reveal the next game in one of its “biggest and most beloved” franchises. 

2K will hold its big game reveal on Friday the 7th of June as part of Geoff Keighley's Summer Game Gest stream. While 2K is keeping quiet on what game it will be revealing, there are already several immediate candidates that spring to mind.

2K plans to reveal the next iteration in one of 2K's biggest and most beloved franchises at @SummerGameFest on Friday, June 7. pic.twitter.com/1vyFXE2N4z

— Summer Game Fest (@summergamefest) May 16, 2024

For starters, 2K Games has been working on the next BioShock game for over five years at this point. Recent rumours suggested that a reveal would be coming soon, so this is what I'd be putting my money on. However, there are two more, less likely potential games that come to mind as well.

Hangar 13 has begun development on the next Mafia game, as learned through recent job listings as part of a hiring spree for the Mafia 4 team. Additionally, Take-Two recently acquired Gearbox Entertainment, bringing Gearbox and the Borderlands IP back under the 2K Games banner. Gearbox has been working on the next mainline Borderlands too, although it might be too soon for either the next Mafia or Borderlands title to be revealed. Currently, BioShock seems to be the closest to release.

KitGuru Says: It has been over a decade since the last BioShock game and I think there is a lot of pent up demand for a return to that style of game. 

The post 2K Games may officially reveal BioShock 4 in June first appeared on KitGuru.

Take-Two's quarterly earnings call just wrapped up last night and it brought about some unexpected Grand Theft Auto 6 news. Rockstar already announced that the game was planned for 2025 with the reveal trailer, but now the release window has been narrowed down further. 

During Take-Two's quarterly earnings report, the publisher shared some future-looking statements, noting that Grand Theft Auto 6 is planned to release in ‘Fall' 2025, so it could launch anywhere between September and November.

Take-Two is already bracing itself for another massive GTA launch. Grand Theft Auto 5 broke many records upon its release and in the decade following, in large part thanks to the popularity of GTA Online. Grand Theft Auto 6 will be the first new game in the series since 2013, so there is no doubt high demand for a new game and it will more than likely lead to an uptick in console sales, something that Sony and Microsoft are likely banking on at the moment.

Take-Two says it is “highly confident” in GTA 6 and it has “expectations for the commercial impact of the title to continue to increase” over the three years post-launch.

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KitGuru Says: I'm excited for GTA 6 but the likely scenario that the game doesn't come to PC at launch is a bit of a downer. Perhaps Rockstar will surprise us for a change…

The post Take-Two confirms Grand Theft Auto 6 releasing ‘Fall’ 2025 first appeared on KitGuru.