Players will be able to download the full game and jump in with access to all of the content up through the Stormblood expansion. However, the catch is that you will need a fresh, new account to create a trial character. You won't be able to log in with your pre-existing account with a lapsed subscription and begin the free trial.

If you do create a new account to take advantage of the free trial, you likely won't be disappointed, as it covers a vast amount of content now with two expansions included. Of course, if you are playing on Xbox, you also need to make sure you have Xbox Live to play online. Xbox Live still exists, but it is now part of the Game Pass Core and Ultimate subscriptions.

Final Fantasy 14 will fully launch on Xbox as soon as the beta ends. Then, Xbox gamers will get day-one access to the next expansion for the game, Dawntrail, which is launching later this year.

KitGuru Says: I may have to give this a test as I would like to give Final Fantasy 14 another go at some point. Will any of you be checking out the Xbox beta? 

Gabriel Amatangelo (Game Director), Paweł Sasko (Associate Game Director), Igor Sarzyński (Creative Director), Andrzej Stopa (Cinematic Director), Kacper Niepokólczycki (Environment Art Director), Sarah Grümmer (Acting Lead Quest Designer) and Kacper Kościeński (Engineering Director) are all working on Project Orion right now, after wrapping up work on Cyberpunk 2077 and its Phantom Liberty expansion.

New additions to the team include Dan Hernberg as Executive Producer. He previously worked in management roles at Panic Button and Blizzard, and also worked on projects like Apex Legends and New World. Ryan Barnard will be the Design Director, after previously working at IO Interactive and Ubisoft. Alan Villani will be the engineering director and previously worked on the Mortal Kombat games.

Anna Megill, who's credits include Control (Remedy), Dishonored (Arkane), Fable (Playground Games) and Guild Wars 2 (ArenaNet). She will be the lead writer for the next Cyberpunk game. Joining Anna will be Alexander Freed, who previously wrote on BioWare titles, and also worked at Obsidian, DICE, Wizards of the Coast and FoxNext.

CD Projekt Red is currently hiring for various positions at its new Boston and Vancouver-based studios. The Cyberpunk sequel is still in the early stages, so it will be quite some time before we really get to see it in action.

KitGuru Says: The Cyberpunk sequel is under way. What do you want to see in a new Cyberpunk game? When all is said and done, Cyberpunk 2077 ended up delivering on all fronts to me by the time Phantom Liberty rolled out. However, the life path prologue has always been a sore point. I hope a sequel could truly deliver on the Life Path concept. 

Elden Ring first launched in early 2022 and has remained in gaming discussions ever since. It won many GOTY awards and many are looking forward to returning to the game for the upcoming expansion. Aside from new main game content, an Elden Ring mobile version is reportedly in development, according to Reuters.

According to the report, a small team is currently working on the mobile version and progress is said to have been ‘slow', so it could be a long time before we see this. It is also claimed that Tencent is behind this version of the game and is looking to make it a free to play experience with microtransactions. This essentially flies in the face of what fans have come to respect From Software for. All of the Souls games are praised for being complete, highly replayable experiences. A free to play version with microtransactions has the potential to be very iffy.

We'll have to wait and see where this goes but it is worth noting that Tencent has also abandoned plenty of projects and given that progress on this idea is going slow, it could end up being cancelled before it ever becomes an official thing. However, I think it is also worth noting that perhaps Reuters doesn't have the expertise to frame this properly, as a mobile version of Elden Ring is very different from a new game set in the Elden Ring universe with different characters, story and gameplay.

KitGuru Says: This would have to be a spin-off rather than an attempt to recreate the game for low-power devices, with microtransactions forced in. That is perhaps the only way this could feasibly work but I still don't think it is the best idea. Then again, it might stand a better chance in certain markets. 

Stormgate managed to raise over $2.2 million in crowdfunding last year, making it the most successful gaming Kickstarter of 2023. Unlike many other Kickstarter projects, we're getting a pretty swift turnaround here, with Stormgate launching this year. A demo is currently freely available on Steam as part of Steam Next Fest, and it already features DLSS 2 and DLSS 3 in its demo form and will fully launch with both features in place later this year.

The Inquisitor is a new game, offering a story-driven, dark fantasy adventure, set in an alternate version of reality inspired by the book series of the same name. The game comes out on the 8th of February and will feature DLSS 2.

Aside from that, DLSS 3 and DLSS 2 is available in Call of Duty: Warzone, which enters Season 2 tomorrow. Atomic Heart, another DLSS-supported title, is also getting a new expansion this week.

KitGuru Says: Are any of you planning on trying Stormgate this week now that the demo is available? 

Last month's Game Pass additions were headlined by Resident Evil 2 Remake. This month, we're getting Resident Evil 3 Remake. Beyond that, EA's Madden 24 will now be available through EA Play, which is included with all Game Pass Ultimate and Game Pass for PC subscriptions.

The full list of games joining Game Pass over the next couple of weeks can be found below:

• Train Sim World 4 (Cloud, Console and PC) – February 7th
• Madden NFL 24 (Console and PC) – February 8th
• Resident Evil 3 (Cloud, Console and PC) – February 13th
• A Little To The Left (Cloud, Console and PC) – February 14th
• Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night (Cloud, Console and PC) – February 14th
• PlateUp! (Cloud, Console and PC) – February 15th
• Return to Grace (Cloud, Console and PC) – February 20th

On the 15th of February, two games will leave Game Pass, including Galactic Civilizations III (PC) and Opus: Echo of Starsong (Cloud, Console and PC).

KitGuru Says: What do you all think of this month's Game Pass additions?

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

If you're in the market for a new white graphics card, you likely have your eye on a number of Gigabyte's Aero models, and the RTX 4070 Ti Super Aero OC in for review today is certainly a looker. You do pay for the privilege, as we've seen it online anywhere from £850 to £920, but it offers a number of attractive features on top of its gaming performance. We test thermals, acoustics, overclocking and more to find out just how good this card is…

First, a quick spec recap. Unlike the RTX 4070 Ti and RTX 4070 Super which are based on AD104 silicon, the new 4070 Ti Super uses a cut-down AD103 die, measuring 379mm². The fundamental building blocks are still the same of course, with the RTX 4070 Ti Super offering a total of 66 Streaming Multiprocessors (SMs), each housing 256 CUDA Cores, for a total of 8448. We also find 66 RT cores, 264 Tensor cores, 264 Texture Units, and 96 ROPs.

TSMC's N4 node has Nvidia cranking up the clock speed significantly this generation, with the RTX 4070 Ti Super sporting the same 2610MHz rated boost clock as the 4070 Ti. Gigabyte has increased this to 2655MHz with the Aero OC, but we would expect GPU Boost to push things further still.

The memory configuration is arguably the biggest upgrade over the other xx70 series SKUs. Moving to AD103 means the 4070 Ti Super comes equipped with a 256-bit memory interface, paired with 16GB GDDR6X running at 21Gbps, putting total memory bandwidth at 672 GB/s. L2 cache remains the same as the RTX 4070 Ti, with 49152KB.

Considering the increased core-count, it's interesting that power draw remains the same as the RTX 4070 Ti, with the new Super model still boasting a 285W TGP, and Gigabyte has not increased this out of the box.

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If you are the type of person that would play through the cinematic Call of Duty campaign each year, you may be disappointed in future releases. According to Insider Gaming, Activision is going to 'embrace' open world COD campaigns moving forward, starting with Black Ops Gulf War.

Apparently, some linear missions will be integrated, so perhaps the developers will look towards something like Halo Infinite, which did have a nice mix of open-world/linear missions through its single-player campaign, although this did also lead to a lot of very similar looking levels, so differentiation will be key.

The report states that the new open world campaign will play out more like a Far Cry game, rather than a typical Call of Duty single-player experience. Players will be able to use vehicles and fast travel to get around the map and you'll have a squad with you, so you won't be wandering the open world completely alone.

We'll no doubt see more leaks on this in the months ahead, with Black Ops Gulf War planned to release in late 2024.

KitGuru Says: We've known that Activision has wanted to stop producing expensive cinematic COD campaigns for a while. It is one of the primary reasons Black Ops 4 was multiplayer-only. Now, I worry we're heading towards a future where the campaign is included as a token addition, and the lack of interest from players will then be used to kill off COD's campaign mode once and for all. 

The previous model, the T700, was released last year and was Crucial's fastest SSD when it launched. It was highly regarded as one of the best M.2 SSDs and received numerous awards, as it was mostly unrivalled by PCIe 4.0 SSDs and because other manufacturers were yet to release their first PCIe 5.0 SSDs. Even so, after other PCIe 5.0 storage drives were released, the T700 maintained its position as a top-performing SSD. However, early indications suggest that the new Crucial T705 and T705 Limited Edition will surpass its predecessor in performance.

Image credit: @momomo_us and Deepblue

Although the datasheet shared by Deepblue for the Crucial T705 does not provide details about the controller, DRAM cache, and endurance, it reveals that the SSD will be available with or without a heatsink and with 1TB, 2TB, or 4TB of storage. The Limited Edition model offers 2TB storage and comes with a white heatsink, as shown by @momomo_us.

The most significant change in the T705 spec sheet is the performance improvement, with data read rates increasing from 12,400 MB/s to 14,500 MB/s, depending on the storage capacity. The sequential write speeds were also improved, with the fastest variants of the T705 going up to 12,700 MB/s. This boost in performance is most likely due to the new controller, which has not been disclosed yet. The cache specs may also contribute to the higher performance, but we can't be sure since the details are unknown.

KitGuru says: Do you already own a PCIe 5.0 SSD? Would you consider getting something like this Crucial T705? 

Even if we'll have to wait until 2025 for the next game in the series, Capcom intends to commemorate Monster Hunter anniversary. We've already seen a collaboration with MSI for Monster Hunter-themed PC hardware and gaming products. We don't know exactly when the PUMA Monster Hunter collection will drop but we should hear more in March.

「#モンスターハンター」シリーズ20周年記念
「#PUMA x #MONSTERHUNTER」コラボレーションが決定
描きおろしイラストをあしらった商品など多数展開予定！

アイルー x プーマキャット のコラボイラストも公開
2024年シーズン Coming Soon！https://t.co/H4r4eMHUXx@PUMA_JPN #MH20th… pic.twitter.com/MAo4oKTWYT

— 【公式】モンスターハンター20周年 (@MH20th) February 5, 2024

Capcom's collaboration with Puma is undoubtedly the most exciting announcement for the 20th anniversary. Besides Puma, Capcom has already announced other collaborations as a part of the 20th-anniversary celebration, including Exoprimal and RAID: Shadow Legends.

KitGuru says: What kind of products do you expect from this collaboration?

The current Steam Next Fest started just yesterday at 6PM GMT and runs until Monday, February 12th, at the same hour. You'll have around 160 hours to explore and try all the demos you can download and play. Valve has made exploring all the playable demos easier by categorising them on the Steam Next Fest main page. While there, you can also watch developer livestreams that run throughout the week, adding to the excitement.

This year's Steam Next Fest has some intriguing additions, including a demo for Pacific Drive, a unique supernatural survival game where driving is vital to keep yourself alive, and Europa, an extremely pretty Ghibli-inspired open-world adventure. There's also Arco, a “tactical action game” with a lovely pixelated look and a combat system that reminds us of Transistor.

Other games available to try include Stormgate, Lightyear Frontier, Soulmask, Millenia, Dungeonborne, and many more. You can look at all the demos and livestreams of the Steam Next Fest  HERE.

KitGuru says: What games will you try during the Steam Next Fest?

Recent leaks by @momomo_us have provided specifications for the upcoming Xeon W3500 and W2500 series processors, which are part of Intel's Sapphire Rapids refresh. Compared to the previous W3400 processors, the W3500 series will feature at least four more cores and a larger L3 cache. Although the base and boost clock specifications seem to be lowered, none of the models are anticipated to exceed 350W TDP.

Image credit: @momomo_us

One notable omission from the leak is the top-tier SKU, but we have information on the Xeon W9-3595X, which will be Intel's first Xeon High-End Desktop (HEDT) SKU with 60 cores. This SKU will have the same 350W TDP as the W3495X, with lower base and turbo clock speeds.

Interestingly, the latest Xeon W2500 series specifications match those reported in November by YuuKi-AnS. The line-up is consistent regarding SKUs, core configurations, base clock, and L3 cache information. However, the TDP values seem to have been changed. For example, the W3-2525 is now a 175W model rather than a 140W one.

KitGuru says: Although we don't expect a massive performance uplift between the W2400/W3400 and the W2500/W3500, the refresh should hopefully give Intel time to cook something exciting for the HEDT segment.

Skate doesn't have an exact release date yet but EA has announced plans to conduct lots of playtests this year, which fans will be able to sign up to participate in. While this does not confirm a specific release date, it does provide a possible timeline for the game's launch. Fans speculate that the Skate revival may arrive in late 2024 or early 2025 once console testing is complete.

what are you going to play skate. on?
in addition to the platforms already confirmed, we are stoked to announce skate. will be available on Steam for PC players. pic.twitter.com/Ng2zVeBgQp

— skate. (@skate) February 1, 2024

The new Skate game promises to be the most accessible and ambitious entry in the series. Insider Gaming recently stated that Skate would undergo a six-week PC playtest via the EA app starting February 6th. While the playtest is subject to an NDA, leaks may still occur in the following weeks.

There have already been several leaks, including a portfolio of artwork that leaked in July 2023 and a rebuilt version of the entire skate map that leaked in September 2023. Despite these setbacks, the playtests and Steam announcement suggest that the game's launch is still on track.

Discuss on our Facebook page, HERE.

KitGuru says: Are you a fan of the previous Skate titles? Have you been selected for a playtest already?

In recent weeks, there have been whispers about certain Xbox games releasing on other consoles, like the PS5 and Nintendo Switch. At first, it sounded like it would just be the likes of Hi-Fi Rush and Sea of Thieves, opening these games up to a wider player base. It was also claimed that Microsoft would address this strategy shift in the Spring as part of a new set of announcements.

Over the weekend, the scope of this strategy changed significantly. Now, it is being rumoured that even Xbox's biggest franchises will be going multi-platform, with games like Starfield and Indiana Jones to arrive on PS5. As we already know, the biggest Activision Blizzard titles will also remain multi-platform, something that Microsoft announced prior to acquiring the company in late 2023.

Xbox-focused podcaster, xCloudTimdog, who has relationships with a number of Xbox employees and executives, summarised a lot of this in a recent video, sharing that Xbox missed its hardware sales targets in late 2023, despite holiday season discounts. This in turn has led to the CFO wanting to switch strategies and bring more games to competing consoles. Exactly how this would help Xbox hardware sales is entirely unclear and for now, it sounds like Microsoft does indeed plan to continue selling consoles, even with major games potentially becoming available on other platforms.

Why would you buy an Xbox still if all of their games are available elsewhere? Well, odds are Sony isn't going to allow Game Pass on PlayStation, so that will be Microsoft's big draw. Buy the console with no exclusive games and use Game Pass to play the latest titles at a cheaper cost, versus buying them at £70 a pop on PS5. The other pillar here would be Play Anywhere, allowing games to be played across both Xbox and PC for those who like to switch between devices.

Many Xbox fans have already flooded forums and social media with complaints about this. A poll conducted by WindowsCentral's Jez Corden shows that the majority of fans are no longer confident investing in the Xbox ecosystem given the rumours swirling around over the weekend. The poll has almost 40,000 votes, which is a very significant sample size. The message seems clear, most of the ‘core' gamers would rather own a PS5 if they are going to get to play Xbox games there anyway. This way, you get the best of both worlds, with access to Xbox games, as well as the PlayStation exclusives that launch exclusively on the console. However, as I'll explain further down in this article, I don't think PlayStation consoles as we know them today are going to last forever either.

If Microsoft really is throwing in the towel on exclusives and going multiplatform, then Xbox hardware makes little sense unless it is licensed out. Like the Steam Machines of old, perhaps Microsoft will pursue a licensing model in which partners make their own Xbox systems at different performance/price levels and load it with an OS that boots into a gaming-focused UI that works well with a controller.

With all of these issues in mind, it would seem that Xbox may transform itself in a similar fashion to SEGA. Once upon a time, SEGA was one of the biggest games console makers, but with tough competition from PlayStation and Nintendo, the company decided to ditch hardware entirely, instead opting to focus all of its efforts on creating games for the most popular systems. Nowadays, SEGA is one of the biggest multi-platform publishers around.

Would this be the best move for Microsoft as a whole? Historically, Microsoft has always been a software-focused company and when Satya Nadella took over the company as CEO, he also directed a new focus on services too. This has led to things like Microsoft Azure and Office 365, which have been hugely successful for Microsoft. By dropping hardware from the equation and switching to multi-platform game development and publishing, Microsoft would stand to make a lot of money and would start to reap the rewards pretty swiftly. After all, there are a significant number of customers on PlayStation who have never owned an Xbox and may have never even played Halo or Gears of War.

Going by the PS4's install base, that's well over 100 million new customers to sell games to. Sony will get its platform cut, but Microsoft may be able to negotiate better terms to get it below 30%, as we know some publishers have managed to do exactly that, including Activision Blizzard.

Additionally, this change in strategy could also open the door for Microsoft to acquire more studios in the future without raising red flags at regulators. One of the key arguments used by the FTC against the Microsoft-Activision merger is that Microsoft could leverage IP like Call of Duty to run Sony out of business by making content exclusive. If there is no Xbox and there are no exclusives, then it may be able to get away with even more high-profile studio acquisitions.

However, losing one of the pillars of the console market could also have major downsides. Microsoft has managed to push Sony into offering a better subscription service, and was also instrumental in forcing Sony's hand in allowing features like cross-play and cross-save in games. Without a major third console in the market, Sony would have more market power than it already has. The company has never been shy about throwing its weight around, as we saw with the Sony-led shift towards £70 games on new-gen consoles. While some publishers held out for a while, eventually, everyone began charging Sony's new standard price for games and this has had an effect on PC game pricing too.

Sony could also backtrack on its multi-platform efforts and go back to releasing full exclusives, as there would no longer be a competing Xbox. I think this scenario is unlikely though, as many Xbox gamers may opt to go to PC instead, a sensible move due to concerns around game preservation and continued access to your library.

While the gut reaction to this news is to wonder why, especially given Microsoft's investment in studios over the past several years, I actually think this is a smart move. We are moving towards a future where locked-down console hardware that sells at a loss no longer makes sense.

Creating games is becoming increasingly expensive and when you add on overhead for covering hardware losses, having a PC-focused games market simply makes more sense. Let the likes of AMD, Intel and Nvidia worry about hardware instead and focus on shipping polished software that can be accessed locally on a PC, or on any device via the cloud.

I believe this is where the gaming market is heading. Sony has already realised it needs to get on board with multi-platform releases to reach a wider audience and has been investing in cloud for well over a decade. If Microsoft goes down this path and sees huge gains, Sony will likely follow. There is no reason a PC can't play Xbox or PlayStation games. There's no reason you can't license out that brand name to a company like Corsair and turn the Corsair One mini-PC into a ‘PlayStation' or an ‘Xbox', complete with a special full-screen UI designed for a TV and controller that displays your library and different stores/launchers.

I understand concerns around game optimisation here, as developers tend to squeeze as much performance as possible out of consoles. However, if there are no consoles and we're all gaming on PC, or a PC in the cloud, then developers will have to focus all efforts on optimisation and scalability to reach the broadest amount of players. To help avoid issues with players buying games they can't feasibly run on the hardware they have, a store page warning can be added to let a player know that their PC might not be able to run a game reliably, before pointing them to the hardware requirements section. Additionally, a cloud streaming option can be offered as part of a continued ‘PlayStation+' or ‘Xbox Game Pass Ultimate' subscription. This cloud streaming option could also pop up if a user runs out of local storage space, or it could be offered once a game starts installing, so you can jump in faster while the game installs locally.

In this scenario, we as consumers would be in greater control of our hardware, we would have greater access to games and the god-forsaken console war would finally come to an end. It would mark a generational shift in how the games market functions but I think it is the shift that makes the most sense.

Discuss on our Facebook page, HERE.

KitGuru Says: A lot of people have been quick to balk at the idea of Xbox games going multi-platform, but the fact is, PlayStation gamers will buy them, as will Nintendo gamers, which would be a win for the Microsoft Gaming business. I doubt Sony wants to keep making locked-down, loss-leading consoles forever either. Let's just get this over with and go back to PC gaming. 

The modder discovered that the new driver has some hidden “TrueHDR” profile options, which enable users to apply RTX HDR to games that do not support it. This makes it a great alternative to Windows Auto-HDR. The tool is compatible with DX9, DX10, DX11, and DX12 games and may also work with OpenGL and Vulkan games.

You can download this utility over at NexusMods. You will need driver 551.23 or later versions and WDDM 3.1 to activate it. However, it is worth noting that this utility only works with RTX GPUs, so AMD users won't be able to use it.

Currently, TrueHDR is not compatible with Nvidia NIS or DSR. Therefore, if you want to use this mod, you must deactivate them.

Discuss on our Facebook page, HERE.

KitGuru says: It would be nice if Nvidia officially launched RTX TrueHDR for various applications and games. As we've seen, the current version can be used on more than just web browsers.

The BIOS update was spotted by hardware enthusiast chi11eddog, who then tested it on his MSI Z790 Carbon Max WIFI motherboard. The beta BIOS version 7D89v1B1 offers support for up to 256GB of DDR5 memory on Intel-based 700 and 600 mainboards, allowing users to use 64GB of memory per slot on 4-DIMM slot boards.

MSI rolls out BIOS for Intel 700/600 mobos, with RAM capacity support up to 256GB. As per a friend in the industry, before this, it needs to disable Above 4G/Resizable BAR/remapping to support 256GB on Intel systems. MSI has fixed this. No need to disable Above 4G/Resizable Bar. pic.twitter.com/8m8En1ZxUo

— chi11eddog (@g01d3nm4ng0) February 1, 2024

According to the post's author, there was an old issue where users had to disable “Above 4G/Resizable BAR” to support 256GB configurations on these boards. However, MSI has now corrected it with the latest update to the BIOS, so there's no need to turn off the option anymore.

ASRock had already introduced a similar BIOS update for its motherboards, allowing them to support 256GB memory as well. With more motherboards starting to support 64GB memory modules, it shouldn't take long to see such modules become available on the market.

Discuss on our Facebook page, HERE.

KitGuru says: Would you max out your PC with 256GB of memory if it was affordable? How much RAM do you have currently? 

Hyper-Threading is a multithreading technique that enables physical cores in Intel CPUs to accomplish two tasks simultaneously, thus serving as two logical cores. The technology was launched over 20 years ago on Xeon HEDT CPUs. Eventually, the technology found its way onto the mainstream market via the Core series. For over 15 years, Intel Core processors have had this technology, but things are about to change with the upcoming Core Ultra Arrow Lake processors.

I spotted a new #ArrowLake-S (CPUID C0660, 24 threads, 3GHz, w/o #AVX512) among the #Intel test machines:https://t.co/xiSjhpEcPP https://t.co/X7iBnRq9gW pic.twitter.com/Dasjo0L6Fp

— InstLatX64 (@InstLatX64) February 1, 2024

According to the Arrow Lake-S CPU spotted by InstLatX64, the upcoming processor series won't feature Hyper-Threading. With 8 P-cores and 16 E-cores, a CPU with Hyper-Threading should have 32 threads, with the 8 P-cores having two threads per core. However, that's not the case, as it shows the chip has 24 threads, making one thread per core and, therefore, no Hyper-Threading.

Moreover, the listing also states that the current engineering prototype operates at 3GHz and does not support AVX512 instructions. Intel Arrow Lake-S processors are expected to be released later this year.

Discuss on our Facebook page, HERE.

KitGuru says: Dropping Hyper Threading would be a significant change. If true, it will be interesting to see comparisons later in the year. 

Persona 3 Reload released over the weekend to a great deal of anticipation. Being the first mainline title to launch since the series went multiplatform, the remake has unsurprisingly done very well across the board. Thanks to Steam’s more open policies, we now know that P3R has become the biggest ATLUS game on the platform, with 45,002 concurrent players.

Of course, while this is in no way a record-breaking number of players for Steam as a whole, the figure remains impressive – especially for a single-player title.

For comparison’s sake, the second-most-concurrently-played ATLUS title was Persona 5 Royal (with 35,474 concurrents); followed by the aforementioned Persona 4 Golden (29,984 players) – and bringing up the rear are the two spin offs: P5 Strikers (8,730 concurrents) and P4 Arena Ultimax (7,099 players).

While it’s certainly a full-blown remake, it will be interesting to see just how much larger Persona 6 winds up being when it is eventually announced and released.

Discuss on our Facebook page HERE.

KitGuru says: What do you think of the Persona 3 Remake? Is it your favourite way to play the game? Will Persona 6 surpass 100,000 concurrent players? Let us know down below.

Based on previous interviews featuring Neil Druckmann, many fans believed that the team at Naughty Dog have been working on a Last of Us Part III for a while now. According to the man himself however, this is in fact not the case, saying during the documentary (and as transcribed by ResetEra user Mattmo831):

“I did some other interview where someone asked me about The Last of Us, and would there be any more stories or something. I mentioned we have written a story that takes place after Last of Us II that stars Tommy. I hope one day we get to make it. The headlines across the industry were like, ‘Naughty Dog Has Outlined The Last of Us Part III.' And that's actually wrong. It was always a small story, it was never a full title.”

Speaking on this smaller spin-off, Druckmann continued, “At the time, we had higher priorities at Naughty Dog, to fix our pipeline, to fix work-life balance issues. Just based on where we were, I didn't wanna prioritise this story, so that story was shelved. I still believe one day it will see the light of day. I don't know if it'll be a game or a show… TBD.”

All that said, it seems as though a 3rd entry in The Last of Us will happen eventually, with Druckmann revealing that an actual Part III has since been conceptualised, saying:

“I've been thinking about, ‘Is there a concept there?’ And for now years, I haven't been able to find that concept. But recently that's changed. I don't have a story, but I do have that concept, that, to me, is as exciting as I, as exciting as II, is its own thing, yet has this through-line for all 3. So it does feel like there's probably one more chapter to this story.”

The ending of The Last of Us Part II is a bittersweet one, and could certainly serve as the end of the franchise. That said, the best things always come in threes – and so hopefully The Last of Us Part III does eventually come to fruition.

Discuss on our Facebook page HERE.

KitGuru says: What did you think of Part II’s ending? Would you like to see a 3rd game? What would you like it to be about? Let us know down below.

As part of the recently released documentary on the development of The Last of Us Part II, Neil Druckmann of course featured heavily to discuss all aspects of the game’s development. Speaking on the now infamous leaks which undoubtedly affected the Part II’s reception, Druckmann said (as transcribed by ResetEra user ‘Toriko’):

“It was a traumatic experience for myself and many people. The kind of hate we got because of those leaks will stay with me forever. I can't even describe how angry I was. What damage this person did to us. I want them punished in every sort of way. I wanted to be this villain.”

He continued, ‘This person ended up being in their 20s. They lived with their parents and is a fan. And then when we delayed the game indefinitely this is what they said – “I wanted to force Naughty Dog to release the game. I thought if I put all the videos, eventually they will have to put out the game.”’

Fortunately, it seems as though Druckmann and the team have forgiven the leaker, with him concluding by stating that “releasing was never an option for us. I remember sitting there, sitting in my anger, tears flowing down and thought okay… If anybody should take the lessons from Part 2, It should probably be us. Just let it go.”

Plot leaks aren’t fun at the best of times, and this situation with TLOU Part II was far from fun. That said, it is good to see that Neil Druckmann and the team have been able to move past this event. Hopefully Naughty Dog’s future titles do not suffer from a similar situation.

Discuss on our Facebook page HERE.

KitGuru says: What did you think of the leaks? Did you manage to avoid them? If not, how did it affect your opinion of the game? Let us know down below.

As reported by known Resident Evil insider DuskGolem (and shared by Reddit user KekanKok), Capcom is said to be working on a whole host of new Resident Evil titles, with the leaker saying:

“I know of 5 RE games in dev right now including RE9”. For context, DuskGolem previously reported on the status of Resident Evil 9, claiming at the time that it has been in development since 2018 and is planned to release some time in 2025 – not only giving it the longest development time of any RE game, but also the biggest budget.

DuskGolem also offered a small tease on one of the games in development, stating that “I got a…big update on a Resident Evil project literally yesterday, and I’m really excited for it. But it won’t be releasing until late 2026 or early 2027 most likely. So to just hold my tongue for now.”

Based on the fact that RE9 is supposedly coming out in 2025, it is unlikely to be the mysterious project that DuskGoldem is referring to. That said, with Capcom claiming that they plan to develop more remakes of their RE titles, the possibilities are nearly endless.

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KitGuru says: What do you think of this leak? What game do you think DuskGolem is referring to? What RE title would you like to see get a remake next? Let us know down below.

In honour of the Chinese new year, S-GAME – the developers behind Phantom Blade Zero – released a brand new trailer, with the studio’s founder ‘Soulframe Liang’ saying:

“Here it is, a little something to kick start the Year of the Dragon. At the end of the trailer you will find new footage of Phantom Blade Zero—running on PlayStation 5. Yep, you read it right. The game is R-E-A-L real and we are actively working on it! Expect more reveals as well as a playable demo as we plunge deeper into 2024! May you all have the grace and power of the dragon!”

While the trailer itself does feature some gameplay, its focus was on showing off an atmospheric 2D animated scene, giving excited players a look at the tone of the game.

Of course, as mentioned, those who wish to see more from Phantom Blade Zero itself will be able to do so at some point this year, as a demo is planned ahead of release. Hopefully we hear more from it soon – and that the game matches its promises.

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KitGuru says: What do you think of the trailer? Will it be able to match the hype? Have you played the previous Phantom Blade games? Let us know down below.

Last summer, AMD announced that it would be the exclusive PC partner for Starfield, a deal that led to the game launching with support for FSR 2 upscaling. This was somewhat odd at the time as AMD had already launched FSR 3 prior to Starfield's release. Fortunately, the updated feature is finally on the way.

We're excited to share that @AMD FSR 3 is coming to @StarfieldGame's Steam Beta next week!#FSR 3 will be available to all PC players later this month ahead of our next scheduled update. pic.twitter.com/LQ1pA8TU78

— Bethesda Game Studios (@BethesdaStudios) February 2, 2024

FSR 3 is planned to be introduced to the PC Game Pass version before the end of this month, ahead of the next scheduled update, which should happen sometime in mid-March.

In Starfield, players can, technically, already experience AMD's frame generation technology via HYPR-RX (RSR with frame generation). This allows the use of frame generation (in this case, AMD Fluid Motion Frames) without the need for FSR 3 integration. However, this method only works if you have an AMD GPU and the experience will likely be improved with official FSR 3 support.

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KitGuru says: Will you be trying out AMD FSR 3 on Starfield?

Metro: Awakening is an origin story, putting players in the shoes of Serdar, a doctor in the Metro tunnels, searching for medication to treat his wife's illness. The search begins in the tunnels beneath Moscow, with players having to be careful to avoid or fight through mutants. Something that will jump out to fans of the books and games is the fact that author Dmitry Glukhovsky penned the narrative for Metro: Awakening, so it won't feel like an out-of-place spin-off and should be a meaningful single-player Metro adventure.

While the game was first announced as part of a Sony State of Play stream, Metro: Awakening will not be exclusive to the PlayStation VR2 platform, it will be playable across Steam VR, the Meta Quest platform, as well as PlayStation VR2.

The game doesn't have a final release date yet but it is due to come out later this year. The game is being developed by Vertigo Games, the studio that also produced Arizona Sunshine.

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KitGuru Says: Metro seems like a perfect fit for a VR game. I'm expecting the playthrough to be very tense, similarly to Half-Life: Alyx. Will any of you be picking up Metro: Awakening when it drops later this year?

The big news here is that Blizzard games are now joining GeForce Now, in keeping with Microsoft's agreement to bring Activision Blizzard titles to competing game streaming services. We're kicking things off with Diablo 4 and Overwatch 2, but other titles should eventually make it over. We'll still have to wait and see if a game as massive as World of Warcraft ever makes it over. Perhaps we'll see something around that later in the year as Blizzard gears up for the next expansion, which will kick off a multi-year story arc for WoW players.

The games joining GeForce Now this week include:

• Bang-On Balls: Chronicles
• Diablo IV
• Overwatch 2
• RAGE 2

Later in the month, players can expect to see Skull and Bones, Terminator: Dark Fate – Defiance, Star Wars: Dark Forces Remastered, Tales of Arise, The Walking Dead: The Telltale Definitive Series and more.

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KitGuru Says: What do you all think of Nvidia's latest GeForce Now additions? What other Blizzard games would you like to see join the library?

The Tempest GP2711 arrives at the top of the list, with a £429.99 price tag. For that money, you get a 27-inch Mini LED display with 1440p resolution, a 165Hz refresh rate and impressive colour accuracy of 99% sRGB and 95% DCI-P3.

The GM2711S is a cheaper alternative, offering a 27-inch IPS panel instead with 180Hz refresh rate for £264.99. At this price, it makes for a solid option for those looking to finally move on from 1080p, or simply need to replace an ageing 1440p monitor. This monitor uses Cooler Master's new Advanced Reflectionless Technology, a unique surface process combined with a multi-layer coating to reduce glare from ambient light.

Finally, we have the new GM340CWQ2, a 34-inch Ultrwide Quantum Dot display with a curved VA panel with 1440p resolution. You'll get a maximum 165Hz refresh rate, making it ideal for gaming, and you'll have plenty of extra screen space for multitasking too when you need to get some work done. This monitor will hit the market with a £379.99 price tag.

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KitGuru Says: What do you think of Cooler Master's new monitors? Are you thinking about picking one up?

The Steam version of Palworld is a few updates ahead of the Xbox version (Microsoft Store version included). Even so, the game already has over 7 million players on Microsoft's gaming platform, with a peak of nearly 3 million daily active users.

PocketPair is refining the experience before a full 1.0 release and actively listening to player input. Cross-play is one of the most popular requests from fans, and the team is working towards making it a reality. Xbox is providing support to Pocketpair to improve the Xbox version of the game, as well as technical assistance in enabling dedicated servers, optimising GPU and RAM usage, and expediting accessibility updates.

Palworld is available via the Game Preview program on the Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, and Windows PC. The game is accessible to Xbox Game Pass and PC Game Pass subscribers, as well as Xbox Cloud Gaming (Beta) users with an Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscription.

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KitGuru says: Have you already tried Palworld? Which version of the game did you play?

The game is a mash-up of adventure, exploration, management, and life simulation components, with you fishing by day and serving sushi at night. However, it also includes several side activities, such as farming, photography, seahorse racing, and card collecting. To improve fighting and fishing on the PlayStation 5, it will feature the DualSense controller's haptic feedback and adjustable triggers.

But there's more. Besides the base game, the developer is also working on a free DLC featuring none other than the King of Monsters, Godzilla. This DLC will be launched in May on all platforms where the game is available, presenting even more dangers hiding in the deep blue.

Dave the Diver is already available on PC, Mac, and Switch. The game sits at a whopping 90 OpenCritic score, with 100% of critics recommending the game.

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KitGuru says: Have you already played Dave the Diver? Do you plan to, or will you wait for the DLC before trying it out?

Nvidia has now launched a new 6GB version of the RTX 3050, coming in at a cheaper price point than the current 8GB model. However, there are some other key differences aside from VRAM capacity. For starters, the memory runs on a narrower 96-bit bus, a step back from the 128-bit bus on the RTX 3050 8GB. This lowers bandwidth to 168 GB/s versus 224 GB/s.

The RTX 3050 6GB also has fewer CUDA cores than the standard RTX 3050 8GB, dropping from 2560 CUDA cores to 2304 cores, clock speeds are also dialled back from a 1777MHz boost speed to 1470MHz. The power limit has also dropped from 130W to 70W, as pointed out by VideoCardz, as the 6GB model does not ship with an additional PCIe power connector.

European retailer, Mindfactory, already has a few RTX 3050 6GB listings live, with prices starting at €185, so we're likely going to see $180/£180 prices in the US and UK.

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KitGuru Says: With the RTX 3050 seemingly continuing to live on, do you think we'll ever see an entry-level RTX 4050 GPU? 

In the event, the Age of Empires team will provide updates on some of the most anticipated releases of the year, including Age of Mythology: Retold and Age of Empires Mobile. And if you're wondering what's next for the games in the series that are already available, new content is also coming to those titles.

TiMi Studios, which is developing Age of Empires Mobile, will give fans a behind-the-scenes look at the upcoming game. In addition to showing gameplay, the developer will also share how it's designing the new mobile game for both new and old fans. Moreover, the team working on Age of Mythology: Retold will give us a new look at the game, including returning legendary monsters.

For Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition, they'll introduce a new campaign-focused expansion and provide an in-depth look at unique gameplay. Then, there's Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition, which will get a new DLC with additional civilizations. Lastly, for Age of Empires IV, the team will announce the upcoming season and a new in-game reward.

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KitGuru says: Are you a fan of the Age of Empires franchise? Which game do you prefer? 

Making the announcement on Twitter, the team behind the Like a Dragon series – RGG Studio – said “Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth 1 Million Units Shipped Globally. We are incredibly grateful to all our friends around the world for their support. Thank you.”

For context, the previous mainline entry in the series – 2020’s Yakuza: Like a Dragon – took almost 3 years to sell 1.8 million copies.

Considering the fact that Infinite Wealth achieved over half of this in just one week suggests that the latest title could wind up being the best-selling entry in the franchise’s nearly two-decade-long history.

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KitGuru says: What do you think of Infinite wealth? Are you one of the 1 million? How long do you think it’ll take to reach 2 million? Let us know down below.