It’s been a terrible week for Microsoft/Xbox employees, with almost 10,000 developers being let go in the company’s latest round of lay-offs. One of the victims in this latest ‘strategic’ move was Zenimax Online Studios – who had been working on a new MMO for 8 years now. According to a new report, the unannounced title, which was unceremoniously cancelled, had been “going well” prior to its axing.

In a report by IGN following the announcement of project Blackbird’s cancellation, a bunch of new details were revealed regarding Zenimax Online Studio’s unannounced MMO project – beyond the fact that it is no longer happening.

Though the game was in various stages of development for the past 8 years, sources claimed that the project was “going well, and the team was actively ramping up in the hope of moving into full production soon;” with Microsoft approving the progress.

In fact, in a revelation which makes this whole situation even more frustrating and ironic, the developers claimed that Xbox’s Matt Booty stated last year that the closures of Arkane Austin, Tango Gameworks, and Alpha Dog Games were at the time made in service of “justifying increased headcount for other game studios that needed it, including ZeniMax Online Studios.”

With each passing day, it is becoming increasingly clear that what Xbox says it’s doing, and what the company is actually doing, are two entirely different things. I expect we’ll hear more regarding Zenimax and all others affected over the coming weeks.

KitGuru says: What do you think of this revelation? Does Microsoft have a strategy? Or are they simply laying down the train tracks as they approach them? Let us know your thoughts down below.

Well, I haven't reviewed laptops in a while now, especially the type of laptops that are on my desk right now. There's a company in the market called "X-Plus" that offers portable hardware in "very unique" form factors, whether it is handhelds, laptops, or mini-PCs. We have reviewed the company's GSeries1 gaming handheld in the past, which was basically an Intel N100 unit with a massive IPS screen slapped right onto it. This time, the company was kind enough to send their "2-in-1" laptop, called the Piccolo Series81, and upon the first-look, the first thought that came into my mind […]

Read full article at https://wccftech.com/review/here-a-look-at-one-of-the-world-smallest-laptop-the-2-in-1-piccolo-series81/

G.Skill announced a significant milestone in collaboration with the Asus ROG team. Together, they have successfully pushed the boundaries of the new DDR5 CAMM2 form factor, achieving Memtest-stable operation at DDR5-10000 memory speed with a 64GB capacity CAMM2 module.

This groundbreaking feat was accomplished on a modified, custom Asus ROG Maximus Z890 Hero CAMM2 motherboard, powered by an Intel Core Ultra 7 265K desktop processor.

This achievement represents an early but important step in exploring and enabling extreme memory overclocking parameters on future hardware platforms. The demonstration showcases a 64GB CAMM2 module, overclocked to DDR5-10000 with CL52 timings, completing 100% Memtest coverage, proving it was completely stable running at this speed.

The CAMM2 (Compression Attached Memory Module) form factor is designed to potentially replace traditional SO-DIMM and even UDIMM modules in certain applications. It offers advantages in terms of physical footprint, signal integrity, and potentially higher speeds. Its flat, compression-mounted design allows for a thinner profile, which is particularly beneficial for compact computing devices and laptops.

KitGuru says: Do you think the CAMM2 memory modules will be the future memory form factor standard for all types of computers?

While DICE had previously attempted bringing Battle Royale to Battlefield with Battlefield V's Firestorm mode, it didn't quite take off. This time around, EA is adopting an approach that closely resembles Call of Duty Warzone, by spinning off the Battle Royale mode into a free-to-play game. 

Through datamining the early Battlefield 6 files available to testers via Battlefield Labs, Temporyal has been able to report a number of early details about the game. Recently, they uncovered evidence of a new Battle Royale mode for Battlefield 6, which includes a new map based on the US state of California, and a ‘destructive ring' that forces players to move and shrinks the bounds of the map as the match progresses.

According to Insider Gaming, the Battle Royale mode for Battlefield is going to be free-to-play. That would suggest that Battlefield is adopting an approach closer aligned with Call of Duty, with the Battle Royale experience being free and driving sales of the main game for its campaign mode and exclusive competitive multiplayer modes.

EA has not yet officially announced its plans for Battlefield 6 but an announcement is expected later this summer. The game is confirmed to be releasing before March 31st 2026.

KitGuru Says: Do you think the Battle Royale mode for the next Battlefield game will go free to play? 

Techland has announced to investors that it has cancelled two unannounced projects. The cancellations follow back-to-back years of financial losses for Techland, despite continued sales of Dying Light and Dying Light 2. 

Techland announced the cancellations in a press release. While they did not reveal specific details about the cancelled games, Insider Gaming reports that one of them was an Action-RPG with a fantasy setting, which began development in 2022. However, there are no details on what the second cancelled game was.

The report also claims that Techland is now working on a Call of Juarez sequel, the first game in the series since 2013, back when Ubisoft held the publishing rights to the series. Techland now owns the publishing rights to the IP, so the new game is expected to be self-published.

It is likely that Techland cancelled these projects due to a few factors. One being a lack of progress and another being financial losses in 2023 and 2024. Techland expects things to turn around with the upcoming release of Dying Light: The Beast, which aims to please fans who preferred the darker themes and gameplay style of the first game.

KitGuru Says: Are you planning on picking up Dying Light: The Beast in August? 

Intel's new CEO, Lip-Bu Tan, is reportedly exploring ceasing marketing its 18A process technology to external foundry customers. Instead, it would focus on the 14A process node.

This potential shift, first reported by Reuters, represents a departure from the previous strategy of focusing on 18A, which saw substantial investment poured into development and promotion. Since taking the helm in March, Tan has actively sought to streamline operations and revitalise the company's financial performance. By June, he had apparently voiced concerns that the 18A process was struggling to attract the anticipated level of new external clients.

Industry analysts suggest these changes could amount to hundreds of millions in losses. Intel reported a net loss of $18.8 billion in 2024, marking its first unprofitable year since 1986, underscoring the urgency of Tan's efforts to find a more efficient path forward.

Intel plans to present these strategic options to its board later this month. However, due to the complexity and financial implications involved, a final decision is unlikely to be reached until autumn. Regardless of any changes to its broader strategy, Intel has affirmed it will honour existing commitments for 18A production. This includes manufacturing limited quantities of chips for confirmed clients like Amazon and Microsoft and producing its own “Panther Lake” laptop CPUs, which are slated for late 2025. Beyond the standard 18A, Intel is also developing two enhanced versions: 18A-P, set for release in 2026, and 18A-PT, expected in 2028.

Intel believes the 14A process will enable it to compete more effectively against TSMC and potentially attract major clients such as Apple and Nvidia, who currently rely on the Taiwanese company for chip fabrication.

KitGuru says: If this proves true, it would mark another major shift in strategy since Gelsinger left. 

Sony has confirmed that its PlayStation 5 Pro console will receive an AMD FSR4-like algorithm in 2026, replacing the current version of the PSSR upscaler.

As noted by Tom's Guide, the upgrade resulted from “Project Amethyst”, a collaborative effort between Sony and AMD that began in late 2023 and launched alongside the PS5 Pro. PlayStation's chief system architect, Mark Cerny, stated that the jointly developed algorithm will be implemented on the PS5 Pro, mirroring the PC counterpart released in March. This means PS5 Pro customers will receive the complete feature set of FSR 4 without any restrictions.

AMD brought Sony into its quality assurance processes and helped establish a dedicated team focused on upscaling performance. Sony plans to deliver the FSR 4 upgrade as a free system update to all PS5 Pro owners in 2026.

Furthermore, AMD will incorporate the lessons learnt from Project Amethyst into its next RDNA 5/UDNA graphics architecture, which is expected to power future GPUs and potentially next-generation consoles like the PlayStation 6 and the next Xbox. The results from this collaboration are not restricted, allowing third-party developers and hardware partners to benefit from the advancements. For current PS5 Pro owners, the upcoming patch is expected to provide a notable boost in visual quality without compromising performance. Upscaling optimisations for future RDNA 5/UDNA GPUs will also be refined based on the work done for the console.

KitGuru says: Do you have a PS5 Pro? Are you glad the PSSR upscaler is getting a significant upgrade next year?

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Helldivers 2 launched last year as a PlayStation console exclusive, even the PC version of the game is published by PlayStation. With that in mind, it was assumed that the game would never come to Xbox, but as it turns out, it will be, and it will be releasing very soon.

Helldivers 2 for Xbox Series X/S consoles will be available starting on August 26th. Funnily enough, around that same time, Gears of War will be releasing on PlayStation for the first time, so this is almost like a rare trade of exclusives.

Helldivers 2 game director, Mikael Eriksson, expressed excitement to recruit more Helldivers with this release, saying: “We know gamers have been asking for this for some time and we are so excited to bring more Helldivers into our game. We have so much more in store for the future months and years – and the more players we have the more stories we can tell! The fight for Super Earth has only just begun.”

Helldivers 2 and Helldivers 2: Super Citizen Edition will both be available on Xbox Series X/S starting on the 26th of August. The game features crossplay for all platforms, so you'll be able to team up with friends on Xbox, PlayStation and PC.

KitGuru Says: This certainly came as a surprise but more games going multiplatform is always welcome. It would be interesting to see this game on Switch 2 as well, assuming Nintendo's latest console has the power needed to run it. 

The first GeForce Now library update of the month has arrived. There are just a handful of games joining GeForce Now today, but 20 more games will be joining the library over the course of July, like the day-one release of Killing Floor 3, Dreadzone and more. 

This month will see bring 20 more titles to GeForce Now, 12 of which are brand new, day-one releases. That list includes HunterxHunter NenxImpact, Killing Floor 3, Dreadzone, RoboCop: Rogue City Unfinished Business, Wildgate and more. This month will also see the Xbox app version of The Ascent joining GeForce Now, as the game will be joining PC Game Passs on the 8th of July.

Here are the titles joining GeForce Now today:

• Little Nightmares II (New release on Xbox, available on PC Game Pass, July 1)
• Figment (New release on Epic Games Store, Free July 3)
• Clicker Heroes (Steam)
• Fabledom (Steam)
• Rogue: Genesia (Steam)
• Schedule I (Steam)

This is also the last week that you can take advantage of the GeForce Now summer sale, where 6-month Premium tier memberships are half price.

KitGuru Says: Are you looking forward to any of this month's new games? 

After weeks of speculation, Microsoft began a new round of mass layoffs yesterday, with many teams across Xbox studios being impacted. We already learned that Rare had been forced to cut staff and cancel Everwild, now, Rare has also lost one of its longest-tenured creative leaders. 

Gregg Mayles, a game director who has worked at Rare for more than 35 years, has left the studio following the cancellation of Everwild, as reported by VGC. This week as part of a mass layoff effort at Microsoft, Rare was forced to let go of an undisclosed number of employees, and their long in-development adventure game, Everwild, had been cancelled.

Previously, Mayles had worked on Nintendo classics like Banjo-Kazooie and Donkey Kong Country, along with many other Rare classics. In more recent years he had worked on Sea of Thieves and Everwild.

Rare has not been the only studio impacted by Microsoft's layoff spree. A Zenimax Online studio in Europe was also shut down and a new MMO, codenamed Project Blackbird, was cancelled. The studio behind Forza Motorsport, Turn 10, had to let go around half of its team. The Initiative, the studio behind the Perfect Dark reboot, was closed down and Perfect Dark was cancelled.

KitGuru Says: We thought last year was rough with the closure of Arkane Austin and Tango Gameworks but 2025 has been an even bigger bloodbath. 

The scope of the layoffs at Xbox studios continues to astound. Following the closure of The Initiative and several game cancellations, it has come to light that Turn 10 has been forced to fire half of its staff. 

Turn 10 is the studio behind the Forza Motorsport games. Despite these games often being highly reviewed and pillars of the Xbox library, Turn 10 was one of the studios hit the hardest by this week's layoffs.

According to Jason Schreier, around half of the Turn 10 team has been let go as part of this week's layoffs. Understandably, those left behind aren't too pleased about the situation, with one source saying it is “unclear where things go from here”, especially in regards to an unannounced game in development.

The Forza Horizon team at Playground Games was not affected.

Discuss on our Facebook page, HERE.

KitGuru Says: It is unclear how many developers Turn 10 had to begin with, but losing half of a workforce is going to lead to delays and heavily impact current plans for projects. 

As part of Microsoft's mass lay-off announcements yesterday, the Xbox team made another shocking decision. First-party studio, The Initiative, is closing immediately and the Perfect Dark reboot has been cancelled.

The Initiative was announced by Microsoft back in 2019. The studio was billed as Microsoft's ‘AAAA' studio, that's right, quadruple A. Things started off promisingly with the hiring of veteran developers from studios like Naughty Dog, Sony Santa Monica, Rockstar and more. Somewhere along the way though, plans changed, and The Initiative was shrunk into a smaller project-management team and Crystal Dynamics was brought in to do the bulk of the development work.

Now, two years on from the announcement of that partnership with Crystal Dynamics, Perfect Dark has been cancelled. The move also comes just one year after we got out first proper trailer for the game. As it turns out, this was essentially a fake trailer, as the game was not taking shape behind the scenes.

Speaking on the closure of The Initiative and cancellation of Perfect Dark, Xbox Studios head, Matt Booty, said:

“These decisions, along with other changes across our teams, reflect a broader effort to adjust priorities and focus resources to set up our teams for greater success within a changing industry landscape. We did not make these choices lightly, as each project and team represent years of effort, imagination, and commitment.”

It is unclear if Microsoft will attempt another revival of Perfect Dark. They have plenty of studios under them that could take the project on, including the original creator of the franchise, Rare Studios, which was also impacted by yesterday's layoffs.

Discuss on our Facebook page, HERE.

KitGuru Says: Over the past two console generations, there have been two Xbox exclusives I've been primarily interested in. For Xbox One, it was Scalebound, and we all know how that turned out. Now, that same thing has happened with Perfect Dark. With Perfect Dark and Deus Ex both being on ice now, fans of spy-themed immersive sims don't have much to look forward to in the near future.

The KitGuru Reader Awards return for 2025. This is where we ask you to tell us which brands you think are doing the best job in the tech space and as a thank you for entering, we are also running a giveaway, with the winner getting their choice of an RTX 5070 Ti or an RX 9070 XT graphics card! 

Voting is now open for the KitGuru Reader Awards 2025, and it takes just a few minutes to have your say.

Whether you're loyal to a specific chassis manufacturer, think a certain monitor brand deserves more love or have been blown away by your latest motherboard purchase, now is the time to make your opinion count.

Why vote?

Not only will your votes shape the KitGuru Reader Awards, but they’ll also feed directly into the European Hardware Association Reader Awards, which will be revealed in Cologne on Monday 19th August – the evening before Gamescom opens. With nine leading tech publications involved across Europe, this is your chance to help decide the biggest pan-European technology community awards of the year.

What’s up for grabs?

To thank you for taking part, we’re giving one lucky voter the chance to win a high-end graphics card worth £850. You’ll be able to choose your prize – for example, between a brand-new RTX 5070 Ti or a Radeon RX 9070 XT – depending on your platform preference.

Entering the draw is easy and you can choose to answer/skip as many categories as you like. If you want a chance to win – please fill in the email box at the end of the survey. Everyone who enters has an equal chance.

Important dates:

• Voting opens: Now

• Voting closes: Midnight, Saturday 20th July

• Prize winner announced: Tuesday 23rd July

• KitGuru Award Results published: Monday 12th August

• EHA Reader Awards announced live in Cologne: Monday 19th August

How to vote

Click to go to our Reader Awards 2025 voting form. Remember: You don’t need to vote in every category – so just skip any that don’t apply to you.

KitGuru Says: Whether you're a regular commenter or a quiet observer, this is your moment to shape the narrative. Tell us which brands have earned your trust and admiration in 2025 — and maybe win yourself a serious GPU upgrade while you're at it. Good luck – and thank you for being part of the KitGuru community over the last 16 years!

For those who appreciate mechanical keyboards, you might have noticed the relatively new trend of wood casings. Sharkoon decided to join them and unveiled the Skiller SGK50 Wood Series. Available in three distinct form factors, these keyboards marry wooden casings with PBT keycaps, hot-swap switches, damping materials, and extensive customisation options.

The Skiller SGK50 Wood series effortlessly blends a gorgeous wooden shell with contemporary design elements like RGB lighting and a USB-C coiled cable, creating an attention-grabbing aesthetic. Beneath the PBT keycaps, the Gateron G Pro 3.0 Yellow linear switches come pre-installed. These switches, known for their smoothness and an operating force of 50 (±15g), ensure a satisfying and consistent typing experience right out of the box.

The Skiller SGK50 Wood series keyboards support any 3-pin or 5-pin mechanical switches, allowing enthusiasts to experiment and find their perfect typing feel. Conveniently, all the necessary tools for hot-swapping are included with the keyboard, making customisation a breeze. To ensure the keyboard sounds as good as it looks, Sharkoon has engineered the internal acoustics, incorporating a polycarbonate positioning plate and silicone damping to produce a deep and satisfying sound profile. In addition, the Skiller SGK50 Wood series allows for rapid, on-the-fly adjustments to RGB lighting and macros without additional software, as it's compatible with VIA and QMK.

The new Skiller SGK50 Wood series is available now, with pricing varying by form factor and whether a barebones version is desired. The Skiller SGK50 S4 Gen 2 Wood PBT (60% layout) is priced at €149.90, with a barebones option at €119.90. The Skiller SGK50 S3 Wood PBT (75% layout) comes in at €159.90 or €129.90 for the barebones. For those who prefer a more complete layout, the Skiller SGK50 S2 Wood PBT (96% layout) is available for €169.90, with its barebones counterpart at €139.90.

Discuss on our Facebook page, HERE.

KitGuru says: Would you consider getting a wooden keyboard? Of all the options the Skiller SGK50 Wood keyboard series offers, which do you prefer?

As the news of mass layoffs at Microsoft continues to spread, more details about cancelled games are coming to light. This afternoon, it was reported that Rare's next game, Everwild, has now been cancelled. Now, it looks like the Perfect Dark reboot and a new MMO from Zenimax have also been cancelled.

Jason Schreier, who has been closely covering the layoffs at Xbox for weeks, has learned that Zenimax Online Studios has cancelled a new MMORPG that began development back in 2018. This game, codenamed Project Blackbird, was in development for eight years before being scrapped as part of the most recent cost-cutting measures.

This news closely follows the report that Rare Studios had also suffered a cancellation, with plans for Everwild being scrapped entirely after first announcing the game in 2019.

There is also a rumour going around claiming that the Perfect Dark reboot, a collaborative project between Microsoft studio ‘The Initiative' and Crystal Dynamics, has also been cancelled. However, there has yet to be a reliable source to back this claim up.

The full scope of the layoffs at Xbox is not yet fully understood and Microsoft has still not made any public statements, despite rumours floating around in the press for weeks.

Discuss on our Facebook page, HERE.

KitGuru Says: The cancellations of Everwild and this MMO are disappointing but not entirely unexpected. Everwild was announced in 2019 and was not close to being released. The same goes for this MMO, which was first discovered by fans when Microsoft acquired Zenimax in 2020.  As for Perfect Dark, that appears to just be a rumoured cancellation for now and has very little backing it up.