Software & Gaming

While Ubisoft is just finding its feet in punishing hackers, Valve Anti-Cheat (VAC) is often celebrated among players, becoming a staple term for those that get banned both on and off Steam. VAC bans have reached an all-time high last week, with over 90,000 players being hit with the banhammer. …

In the first of our new 'Briony Games' series - reviewer and gaming addict Briony Hannam takes a look at 'PC Building Simulator' - a new title which is designed to let people build their own virtual PC system. It could be used as a way of checking how a rig looks before buying the real, physical components online. Briony had never loaded this simulator before producing this video - it was recorded live as she played about with the software herself at home.

Update (20/07/18): The Rainbow Six Siege community has been ravished from the game recently, as the latest update has seen an alarming increase in the amount of crash to desktop issues without warning. Ubisoft has now acknowledged the problem, stating that it is investigating the bug and wishes for those …

EVO is the king of fighting game tournaments at this point. Over the years, games like Street Fighter and Smash Bros have dominated popularity at the event, but this year things have changed. Back in January, we saw the launch of Dragonball FighterZ and thanks to plenty of post-release updates, …

Guerrilla Games hit it out of the park last year with Horizon Zero Dawn on the PS4. The studio reinvented itself in one swoop, and now, the team would like to capitalise on its success by moving to a larger office with the goal of making new games faster. Guerrilla …

Could this chair be the Hero we need? 

Earlier this year, after several leaks and a full year of rumours, Activision officially announced Spyro: Reignited Trilogy. The remakes of Insomniac's original three Spyro games will be launching on the 21st of September for Xbox One and PS4, but we now seem to have confirmation of a Nintendo Switch …

Capitalising on Fallout 3’s success, Bethesda contracted third-party developer Obsidian to make Fallout: New Vegas while it shifting its own focus towards the very first release of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. Although the spin-off arguably remains one of the most beloved games in the series, Bethesda boss Todd Howard …

A lot of people sunk time into Theme Hospital, the cult classic from Bullfrog. Now, people will be able to get their wacky hospital simulation fix once again as spiritual successor, Two Point Hospital, is releasing next month. Two Point Hospital will be launching on the 30th of August, as …

Prior to Microsoft's E3 conference this year, there were a few rumours floating around suggesting that we may see some new Xbox hardware/accessories. Instead, Microsoft took the opportunity to focus as much on games as possible. Now, it looks like we'll be seeing those hardware launches at Gamescom instead, as …

Back in 2016, a dissatisfied backer of Star Citizen managed to claim full refund of $3,000 from developer Cloud Imperium Games after filing a complaint with the District Attorney of Los Angeles. As much as this was thought to have set a precedent, breaching the 14-day Kickstarter refund period, a …

Just a few days ago, we learned that Xaviant, the studio behind The Culling, was facing some difficult decisions following the launch of The Culling 2. We weren't sure exactly what would happen to the studio, but last night, a plan of action was officially put in place. The Culling …

World of Warcraft has been around 14 years now, and it has kept its subscription model pretty much the same throughout its existence. You buy the base game, and the expansions, and then the monthly subscription. That’s all changed today, as Blizzard has announced that every single player now has …

It’s safe to say that when No Man’s Sky launched, it brought a lot of controversy with it. From a false multiplayer mode to an overhyped and underwhelming end, Hello Games has had its work cut out in making the game what it should have been at launch. As of …

While each Fallout game pits the player in the shoes of a survivor in a post-apocalyptic United States, it’s the introduction of multiplayer in Fallout 76 that truly draws comparisons to the survival genre. Bethesda’s Todd Howard says that this isn’t particularly accurate to what the developer is trying to …

Alongside EA’s Star Wars: Battlefront II, Middle-earth: Shadow of War was one of the main culprits to raise concerns about loot boxes. WB heard concerns back in April, removing loot boxes and assured fans that it would eventually get rid of microtransactions in its entirety. As of the latest patch, …

We all love a good deal when it comes to new games, but recently on Amazon some shoppers noticed that some were too good to be true. It turns out that third-party sellers were managing to get away with re-selling DRM-free versions of games from GOG on Amazon. The Amazon …

For many years, AMD was criticised for its driver support. Back when the Radeon Technologies Group began rolling out Crimson series drivers, AMD had a clean break from the past and doubled down on stability. That hard work now seems to be paying off, with a recent independent audit showing …

Microsoft has taken fans through the ringer when it comes to Crackdown 3. The game was announced too early, the game's cloud gaming features were too ambitious and development has struggled over the years. At this point, we wouldn't be surprised if the game was delayed a fourth time, but …

Nintendo is doing a lot right with the Switch, but it looks like Nintendo UK is letting the team down at the moment. Currently, Switch users are reporting that their consoles are cracking due to heat. While many would consider this to be a design flaw, Nintendo is charging UK …

After months of trailers, teases and various demos, Octopath Traveller has finally arrived for the Nintendo Switch. There was a lot of excitement for this Final Fantasy VI inspired RPG, but it turns out that Square Enix underestimated demand quite significantly, with physical copies selling out over the game's first …

Nightdive Studios hasn’t had the easiest time with the System Shock remake, with the ever-increasing ambition of the project causing the team to go on a short hiatus back in February. This caused concern among backers of its crowdfunding, but it looks like the developer has picked up the pace …

Verizon has never had a particularly good reputation with US customers. The company has consistently managed to land itself in controversy over the years, and it looks like it has happened again. This time around, the personal details of around 14 million Verizon customers were exposed after the information was …

Aliens: Colonial Marines released to a critical drubbing from all corners of the gaming press back in 2013.  The game went on to be one of the poster boys for the ‘downgrade' phenomenon that also affected games like Watch Dogs. Aliens: Colonial Marines looked fantastic in press demos, but when …

Battlefield V looks to be just as intense and enthralling as its predecessor according to closed alpha feedback so far. As with any test phase though, feedback leads to changes, and DICE has disclosed some of the changes that will be made in time for Battlefield V's open beta, which …

We Happy Few has changed quite a bit since its crowdfunding inception, swapping out its procedural survival simulator elements in favour of a more narrative-driven experience. Compulsion Games’ new trailer delves deeper into what we can expect in the final release, introducing the three main protagonists: Arthur Hastings, Sally Boyle …

The team at Treyarch is trying something different for Call of Duty this year. Black Ops 4 will be the first game in the series to ditch the single-player campaign mode, refocussing all efforts on multiplayer. The standard multiplayer and Zombie modes will be returning, alongside a Battle Royale mode …

Last week, the team at Xaviant launched The Culling 2 across PC and consoles, refocussing the game to play out more like a typical H1Z1 or PUBG match with an emphasis on gun fights rather than tactical melee. Players were swift to give the sequel negative reviews on Steam and …

Toxicity is perhaps Rainbow Six: Siege’s biggest problem, second only to the plethora of cheaters that Ubisoft plans to deal with in the next few months. In an effort to subdue hate speech within the game’s chat, the developer has implemented a new auto-banning system that kicks players out for …

Video games have been criticised by politicians and activists for years, especially ones that contain violence. To tackle this, most countries have an age restriction policy in place to make sure that children don't get their hands on something inappropriate. However, it turns out that many parents simply don't pay …