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This week, a US court officially made its decision on Microsoft's proposed acquisition of Activision Blizzard, denying the FTC's request to block the merger. This leaves the UK's CMA as the final hurdle against the deal closing and within an hour of the US court decision going public, Microsoft and the CMA announced a plan to pause their appeal battle to renegotiate. At the rate things are going, Microsoft could officially own Activision Blizzard as soon as next week. 

Earlier this month we learned that AMD was the 'official PC partner' for Starfield. This means the game will support Radeon technologies like FSR and day-one optimisations for RX 7000 series GPUs. Now, the next step in this partnership has been revealed, with AMD bundling free copies of Starfield with its CPUs and GPUs. 

During the RTX 4060 Ti launch a few weeks ago, Nvidia also announced plans to launch a 16GB version of the graphics card. Now, it would seem we know exactly when to expect this high VRAM version, with launch tipped for the 18th of July. 

As part of the ongoing Microsoft FTC hearings, Sony is of course involved due to their vested interest in not wanting the Activision Blizzard acquisition to go through. Over the past week a boat load of documents, internal memos and more have been submitted, revealing previously-unknown details regarding these companies’ inner workings. Thanks to yet another legal document from Microsoft, we now know that a PlayStation 5 Slim could very well be releasing this year.

For years now it has seemed as though Nintendo is mere months away from officially announcing a successor to its highly-popular Nintendo Switch system. While the console manufacturer has remained entirely mute on the matter, a Spanish games studio has reportedly received development kits for the Switch 2.

Assassin’s Creed is by far one of Ubisoft’s biggest franchises, with the publisher having released a total of 12 mainline titles, 17 spin-offs and a bunch of other transmedia titles since the series’ inception back in 2007. Ubisoft has already announced 6 AC games which are currently in development – but according to reports there are in fact 11 titles in the works.

We are a month on from the launch of Diablo 4, with the initial honeymoon period now over and with the first season looming, it is time to take a look back at the game’s launch and it’s future.

We weren't expecting an AMD CPU launch today and yet, one has appeared out of thin air. Today, the Ryzen 5 5600X3D CPU has been officially announced and will be extremely rare, with only one production run planned. 

With each new generation we have seen the development cost of video games rise. Whether it be due to studio ambitions or player expectations, there’s no denying that video games have become more expensive to make. Thanks to some badly redacted documents, we know just how much some of Sony’s recent first-party games have cost to develop.

Intel has been making big strides with its graphics drivers this year. Earlier in 2023, we saw a major update that greatly improved DirectX gaming performance on Intel Arc graphics cards. The latest driver is now rolling out, with some particularly impressive performance improvements, including a 300% performance improvement in Assassin's Creed Unity. 

Today, AMD has unveiled itself as the "exclusive PC partner" for Bethesda's next big RPG, Starfield. Like previous AMD-sponsored PC games, this means we'll see Starfield launch with support for AMD features, like FSR 2. 

During the hearing between the FTC and Microsoft last week, we learned new details about the events that preceded Microsoft's decision to acquire both Activision and Bethesda. Sony was in talks with Bethesda to make Starfield a PS5 exclusive, which prompted Microsoft's acquisition of Bethesda. A very similar situation almost occurred with Activision pulling Call of Duty. 

The Division: Heartland is set to launch its closed beta on June 27th, allowing players to experience an early version of the game. Registration for the closed beta is open to everyone, but this particular test will only be available to PC players in the US, Canada, and Mexico...

In a relatively short number of years the video games medium has transformed from a niche hobby to a multi-billion Dollar industry whose influence is being felt across all other mediums. In a new report, it has now been revealed that the video games industry is bigger than both films and music combined.

Intel has announced that it will no longer be shipping the Arc A770 Limited Edition graphics card. This decision solely impacts the Intel-branded "Limited Edition" GPUs and specifically the A770 SKU, so custom A770 graphics cards from partners will continue to be available, as will the Arc A750 Limited Edition, for the time being at least. 

DLSS is now supported in over 300 games and apps - Nvidia is looking to boost that number further with the release of the DLSS plugin for Unreal Engine 5.2.

Steam Next Fest has returned today, offering up hundreds of playable demos for new and upcoming PC games, with a focus on interesting indie titles over big blockbuster releases.

At Computex a few weeks ago we saw a number of motherboard makers showcasing new 'stealth' designs, with the power connectors moved to hide cables. Graphics card makers may begin trying something similar soon. This week, Inno3D unveiled its new stealth GPU design, moving the power connector to the back of the PCB.

Last week following Starfield Direct, Bethesda opened up pre-orders for the game and announced its various editions. One of the more expensive editions revealed something interesting - a Starfield story expansion is already planned. 

In the wake of the Xbox Games Showcase, Xbox Game Studios chief Matt Booty took part in an interview where all manner of topics were discussed – from Redfall to Halo to Activision Blizzard and more. One of the more interesting tidbits from the interview saw Booty confirm that Microsoft are no longer developing any games for the last-gen Xbox One...

Back in June of 2020 Star Citizen made headlines when it was revealed that the game had surpassed $300 million in funding, making the multiplayer space trading and combat simulator the most expensive game of all time. Star Citizen has since continued to outdo itself however, with the ever-growing title now surpassing the total budget of GTA V, Red Dead Redemption 2 and Cyberpunk 2077 combined.

With Starfield going up for pre-order on Steam, the game's PC system requirements have also been revealed. In a first for Bethesda, you will need an SSD.

We have seen plenty of console titles offering a wide range of graphics and performance options, allowing games to run at 40fps, 60fps, 120fps and even arbitrary framerates thanks to VRR. Unfortunately, the upcoming Xbox exclusive Starfield will offer just one mode: 30fps...

With Final Fantasy XVI so close to release, no one expected Square Enix to show off Final Fantasy VII Rebirth anytime soon. It therefore came as a massive surprise when not only was the game shown off at Summer Game Fest, but it received a release window too.

Early pre-order listings hint at imminent Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty reveal - Summer Game Fest goes live in just a few hours.

AMD's Game On sale is back this year, slashing prices across a range of CPUs and graphics cards. If you've been shopping around for your next upgrade, we've picked out a few of the best deals you might be interested in. 

We spent all of last week in Taipei exploring the halls of Computex and bringing news and close-up showcases of new hardware. In our final Computex video of the year, we go back over all the best bits from the event!

Apple has made some big announcements at WWDC. One of the most important should be the addition of the M2 Ultra, which is set to power the updated Mac Studio and brand-new Mac Pro systems. With this release, Apple completes its transition away from Intel's CPUs, solidifying its commitment to in-house silicon.

AnimeCon is coming up and CyberPower will be there armed with the Cyber Bus, decked out with custom gaming PCs. To celebrate the occasion, there are free tickets up for grabs, but you'll need to be quick to be in for a chance to win. 

With one week until the Xbox and Bethesda showcase, the rumour mill has started to turn. We have had some teases from Microsoft in the past, but the console manufacturer has now answered many of the fans’ most pertinent questions – promising a bigger and better show compared to 2022.