Every Thursday, the Epic Games Store gives away a title or two for free to all those with an EGS account. Available from today, Epic is offering the quirky management / simulation game Two Point Hospital.

Available to add to your library from today at 4PM UK time until the 19th of June, Two Point Hospital is a Sims-like management-simulation game in which you “Design stunning hospitals, cure peculiar illnesses and manage troublesome staff as you spread your budding healthcare organisation across Two Point County.”

Developed by Two Point Studios and published by SEGA, Two Point Hospital was the team’s debut title. Inspired by the 1997 ‘Theme Hospital’, it offers a quirky and comedic take on the business simulation genre.

Released back in 2018, Two Point Hospital received a welcome reception, seeing consistent and high scores upon its initial release – with particular praise being given to its faithfulness to old-school simulation titles while offering its own spin on the genre.

Two Point Hospital is available to add to your library for free from 4PM today, and will remain so until the same time next week, at which point it will be replaced by another title.

KitGuru says: What do you think of this week’s offering? Do you enjoy simulation games? What’s your favourite aspect of the Two Point series? Let us know down below.

Intel sent me a handful of budget 65W CPUs from their 14th Gen and Core Ultra 200S ranges, which makes a pleasant change from the usual madness of 200W+ TDP and clock speeds approaching 6GHz. At first glance this looked like a chance to run a few benchmark tests and to have a chat about budget CPUs. That part of the plan worked well enough but things fell to pieces when we took a close look at Intel's pricing strategy which is utterly chaotic and bizarre.

Time stamps
00:00 Start
01:09 The processors and the (weird) pricing
03:52 Testing platforms and Intel’s strategy
06:21 Leo’s thoughts
08:27 A look at the 3 Core Ultra 5 processors
10:03 Cinebench 2024 Multicore
10:48 Cinebench 2024 Single Core
11:10 Cinebench 2024 Multi Core per £ of cost
11:48 CPU Power Consumption
12:16 Cinebench 2024 Multi Core Per Watt
12:48 Far Cry 6 (1080p)
13:46 Far Cry 6 (1440p)
14:20 Avatar: Frontiers Of Pandora (1080p)
15:19 Avatar: Frontiers Of Pandora (1440p)
16:00 Cyberpunk 2077 (1080p)
16:37 Cyberpunk 2077 (1440p)
17:10 So, what to think? What are Intel doing?
18:56 Charts with the Core Ultra 7 265k
20:39 Leo tries to come to a conclusion on a messy situation

We didn't expect Intel to offer us a handful of CPUs to review as the previous launch is a distance behind us while the next launch is some way off in the future. The fact of the matter is that Intel has had troubled times and recent reviews have not been kind. Indeed we did not review their 14th Gen Raptor Lake Refresh CPUs but instead did a round-up HERE, and then had to explain why their Core Ultra 200S CPUs were not ready for review at launch HERE. After a huge amount of remedial work by Intel we were finally able to review Core Ultra 200S HERE and the results were at best mixed.

Our conclusion was that Core Ultra 9 285K was too expensive, Core Ultra 5 245K was a bit weedy and Core Ultra 7 265K was the best of a mediocre bunch. The other problem was that Z890 motherboards and fast DDR5 memory jacked up the cost of a new PC to such an extent that we considered Core Ultra 200s to be a dead duck platform.

To our great surprise Intel sent us a trio of budget CPUs that are each rated at 65W TDP so we figured it best to take a fresh look at the lower end of their product stack.

We were sent the Raptor Lake Core i5-14400F which is a cut-down version of Core i5-14600K and while it has 6 P-cores it only has 4 E-cores. The power rating is slashed from 125W to 65W and as a result the maximum clock speed falls from 5.3GHz to 4.7GHz, however the UK price is a mere £120.

We were also sent two Arrow Lake processors. The Core Ultra 5 235 has the same 6P + 8E core configuration as Core Ultra 245K and here too the power is cut from 125W to 65W, however the clock speed for the P-cores only falls from 5.2GHz to 5.0 GHz. The current UK price for Core Ultra 5 235 is £246 which is very similar to the price of the 245K. Our third CPU is the Core Ultra 5 225F which has a 6P+4E configuration and the same 65W power limit. The current UK price is £215 which is a modest discount from the other models of Core Ultra 5.

As you will see in our video we tested these three CPUs and retested Core i5-14600K and Core Ultra 5 245K as direct comparisons. We also used recent data from other CPU testing which included AMD Ryzen 9000 which means we are dealing with three separate families of CPUs and three separate test platforms.

Test Systems:

CPU – Intel Core Ultra 200S
Motherboard – MSI MAG B860 Tomahawk WiFi
Memory – 48GB G.Skill Trident Z5 CK CUDIMM DDR5-8200

CPU – Intel 14th Gen Raptor Lake
Motherboard – Gigabyte Z790 Aorus Master X
Memory – 32GB G.Skill Trident Z5 RGB DR5-6800

CPU – AMD Ryzen 9000
Motherboard – MSI MPG X870E Carbon WiFi
Memory – 32GB G.Skill Trident Z5 Neo DR5-6000

Common components:

Graphics Cards – MSI RTX 4090 Ventus 3X 24GB and Intel Arc B580 12GB
Storage – 1TB Crucial T700 PCIe Gen5 NVMe M.2 SSD
CPU Cooler – Phanteks Glacier One 360D30
Power Supply – Seasonic Focus ATX3.1 GX-1000 Gold
Operating System – Windows 11 24H2

You can see the result of our testing in our video but a brief summary would be this:

• Core i5-14600K is long in the tooth but continues to punch above its weight.
• Core i5-14400F is very cheap but not very appealing to enthusiasts.
• Core Ultra 5 245K does well in some tests but does poorly in many gaming test.
• Core Ultra 235 gives the 245K a good fight while using significantly less power.
• Core Ultra 225F performs slightly better the the i5-14400F but is unimpressive.

The problem, as we show in our video is that Intel shot themselves in the foot in May 2025 when they cut the price of Core Ultra 7 265K and 265KF as you can see HERE with the result that anyone who is considering a Core Ultra 5 245K should instead buy the Core Ultra 7 265K which now costs the same and is better in every department.

KitGuru says: Intel's recent price cut for Core Ultra 7 265K is welcome however it makes Core Ultra 5 completely irrelevant. 

Almost exactly two years ago, Capcom released Street Fighter 6, the long awaited next entry in the publisher’s beloved fighting game series. Ahead of its release, the publisher had announced its hopes to sell 10 million copies by its end-of-life. With plenty of life to go left, Street Fighter 6 is well on its way to said goal – having now surpassed 5 million copies.

Taking to Twitter to make the announcement, the official Street Fighter page shared the following: “Street Fighter 6 has now sold over 5 million copies! What a way to celebrate our 2nd anniversary! Thanks to all our fans out there around the world and to all the prospective fans in the future!”

For some context, Street Fighter 6 managed to sell 1 million copies in its first 3 days on the market back in June 2023 – going on to push to 2 million by the end of its first month. By January of 2024 SF6 had surpassed 3 million copies. Finally, the most recent figures prior to this latest announcement put the game at 4 million copies sold by September of last year.

2 years since launch and Street Fighter 6 is already halfway to its sales goal. With the game now available on Switch 2 (and confirmed to be getting at least another year of content), it might not be too long before SF6 surpasses its predecessor’s 7.8 million copies sold.

KitGuru says: What do you think of Street Fighter 6? How does it compare to its contemporaries? Will SF6 manage to sell 10 million units when all is said and done? Let us know down below.

As part of Sony’s most recent PlayStation State of Play event, the console maker teased some of the upcoming line-up for their PlayStation Plus subscription service. Beyond these however, your regular suite of monthly games have now been announced, with June’s PS Plus Extra/Premium titles being officially revealed.

Taking to the PlayStation Blog to make the announcement, Adam Michel – the Director for Game Services and Content at SIE – detailed June’s upcoming PlayStation Plus Extra and Premium line-ups.

Going live on the 17th of June, those subscribed to PS Plus Extra can look forward to the following:

• FBC: Firebreak | PS5
• Battlefield 2042 | PS4, PS5
• Five Nights at Freddy's: Help Wanted 2 | PS5
• theHunter: Call of the Wild | PS4
• We Love Katamari Reroll + Royal Reverie | PS4, PS5
• Eiyuden Chronicles: Hundred Heroes | PS4, PS5
• Train Sim World 5 | PS4, PS5
• Endless Dungeon | PS4, PS5

PS Plus Premium meanwhile is getting just one additional classic, namely: Deus Ex: The Conspiracy. As mentioned however, Sony previously announced and released a bunch of bonus titles as part of their Days of Play promotions. In case you missed it, earlier this month Sony added the following titles:

PS Plus Extra

• Another Crab’s Treasure
• Skull and Bones
• Destiny 2: Legacy Collection
• Grand Theft Auto III – The Definitive Edition

PS Plus Premium

• Myst
• Riven

KitGuru Says: What do you think of this month’s offerings? Will you be hopping into FBC Firebreak at launch? What’s your opinion on Battlefield 2042 in 2025? Let us know down below.

Following years of leaks and rumours, Capcom finally announced Resident Evil 9: Requiem during Summer Game Fest. Since then, previews for the upcoming title have been published – revealing that the game will offer both 1st and 3rd person perspective options.

In the decades since the release of its first entry, the Resident Evil series has experimented quite a bit, changing many elements from the game’s core genre, to gameplay styles, pacing and more. Easily one of the biggest changes was in the game’s camera.

Of course, the original trilogy utilised an isometric perspective alongside static cameras. Then, with Resident Evil 4, the series got its first taste of an over-the-shoulder 3rd-person perspective. Of course, famously Resident Evil 7 would then take the series down the 1st-person route.

Since then, Capcom has been going back and forth – with the new games taking a 1st person view and their remakes going for 3rd person.

Ahead of the game’s launch early next year, previews for RE9 have now gone live based on a relatively short 30-minute play session. Easily the biggest revelation from this event was confirmation that Resident Evil Requiem will allow you to switch between first and 3rd person perspective at any point freely.

This could not only have implications for the gameplay, but the overall atmosphere and sense of tension / fear – especially for a horror game. That said, assuming both modes feel good to play, Resident Evil 9 could be one of the most replayable RE games yet thanks to this new addition.

KitGuru says: What do you think of this decision to offer both perspectives? Which mode will you use for your first playthrough? Let us know down below.

Since the Souls series formula has become popular among players, countless games have tried to recapture what makes FromSoftware's hardcore action role-playing games so engaging, but only a few have managed to even get close. Among these is NEOWIZ and Round8 Studio's Lies of P, which still stands, a few years since its release, as the game that got the closest to recapturing the haunting atmosphere of the beloved Bloodborne. Launching almost two years after the base game's release, the Lies of P: Overture DLC promised, before its release, to provide more of the same solid experience players have been […]

Read full article at https://wccftech.com/review/lies-of-p-overture-one-more-lie/

GOG wants to become the go to place for installing major mods, taking the lessons they learned from hosting Fallout: London to make the process easier.  If you haven't installed Fallout: London,…

This should not come as a surprise to anyone, but probably does.  Security researchers have identified 40,000 IoT cameras that can be easily accessed by anyone, with about 14,000 of them…

You may recall the Eazeye which was launched on Indiegogo last year, a uniquely designed display with both a traditional backlight and a new ultra-high reflectivity layer which made it…

Razer is taking a new step into the custom keyboard market by introducing its first-ever barebones keyboard kit, the Razer BlackWidow V4 75% Barebones. This product offers a fully customisable chassis designed for keyboard modders and DIY enthusiasts. Available in both black and white, the BlackWidow V4 75% Barebones provides a premium foundation for users looking to craft their ideal typing and gaming experience.

This barebone kit maintains the same standard of build quality as the original BlackWidow V4 75%, while providing complete freedom for users to integrate their preferred 3-pin or 5-pin mechanical switches and custom keycaps. Dual-layer dampening foam eliminates unwanted reverberation, while factory-lubricated stabilisers ensure smooth keystrokes. An FR4 plate contributes to a deeper, more satisfying sound profile, and pre-applied tape further refines the acoustics by softening high-frequency clacks.

The keyboard incorporates Razer's 8000 Hz HyperPolling technology, enabling it to respond eight times faster than conventional keyboards. Visually, the BlackWidow V4 75% Barebones shines with per-key RGB lighting and a two-sided underglow, all powered by Razer Chroma RGB. This extensive lighting system supports over 300 integrated games and applications, delivering synchronised illumination across your entire setup.

The Razer BlackWidow V4 75% Barebones is available now exclusively on Razer.com and at RazerStores. The Black Edition is priced at £139.99/$139.99/€149.99, while the White Edition comes in at £149.99/$149.99/€159.99.

KitGuru says: Have you ever built a keyboard using a barebone kit? Would you consider getting one of these as your first? Which colour option of this barebone kit do you prefer?

Earlier in the year when rumours of a Gears of War remake first surfaced, it was claimed that the game would feature no multiplayer. That turned out to be not true, with Gears of War: Reloaded set to include all the content and modes from the original game. Now, a multiplayer beta is set to kick off this weekend. 

Gears of War multiplayer holds a special place in the hearts of many Xbox 360 owners. You can experience it all once again in Gears of War: Reloaded, which launches for PC, Xbox and PS5 later this year. The full game launches in August, but you can try the multiplayer ahead of time by taking part in the upcoming beta.

The beta test is set to begin on June 13th for Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass members. The beta will also be available to anyone who owns Gears of War: Ultimate Edition on Xbox and PC, as well as those who pre-order Gears of War: Reloaded on any available platform.

Gears of War: Reloaded is a repackaged version of the 2015 remaster, Gears of War: Ultimate Edition. The game will re-launch under its new title on August 26th and it will also be the very first Gears game to be made available on PlayStation.

KitGuru Says: This release is a confusing one as while this is being marketed as a new release, it is a decade old for Xbox and PC fans. If you are thinking about getting this, you should go back and double check you didn't already buy the Ultimate Edition back in 2015. 

Fans were excited for the return of Dragon Age last year. Unfortunately, Dragon Age: The Veilguard had stripped away much of what made the previous games great. It turns out the majority of those issues stemmed from a 2017 decision from EA executives, forcing BioWare to tap into the multiplayer market. 

In a new report, Bloomberg's Jason Schreier shares the complete behind-the-scenes story of Dragon Age: The Veilguard's development. Work on the next Dragon Age game began in 2017, but a mandate from EA to make the next game multiplayer pushed studio heads like Casey Hudson and Mark Darrah out of the company.

In the years that followed, BioWare began building a more light-hearted BioWare game, doing away with the high-stakes events and serious tone that fans knew from previous games in the series. The changes were supposed to improve the ‘mass appeal' of the game for a wider market of multiplayer gamers. Later down the line, playtesters specifically pointed to the ‘tone' of the game as one of its weak points, a sentiment later shared in reviews for the final game.

BioWare was able to convince EA to change its mind eventually. After the pandemic, Dragon Age: The Veilguard shifted back into being a single-player game, but EA would not provide more resources or time to allow BioWare to make the major changes the game needed. As a result, much of the game's original story had to remain in place. Some rewrites attempted to make the game more serious and some pivotal ‘player choice' moments were shoehorned in, but without the extra time to go back and undo past mistakes, Dragon Age: The Veilguard ended up suffering from inconsistencies.

Ultimately, Dragon Age: The Veilguard was not considered a sales success by EA and it is claimed that employees are concerned about the future of the studio. BioWare has had three sales flops in a row, starting with Mass Effect Andromeda and Anthem in 2017 and 2019, followed by Dragon Age in 2024. At this point in time, a team of less than 50 BioWare devs are working on the next Mass Effect game.

KitGuru Says: After Veilguard, I doubt we'll be seeing Dragon Age again, even if BioWare does survive long enough to release Mass Effect 5. 

Many of Sony's internal studios have been mismanaged in recent years, with many single-player focused studios being pushed into live-service projects. One such studio was Days Gone creator, Bend Studio, which has just had its next game cancelled. 

According to sources speaking with Jason Schreier, Bend Studio had been working on a live-service game in recent years. Like many other live-service projects at PlayStation Studios, Bend's game was cancelled and now, roughly 30% of the studio's workforce is being let go.

We do not know the finer details of the cancelled game, outside of the fact that it was going to be live-service. Bend Studio has been working on something else since the cancellation, but there are no details on that either. Presumably, Bend Studio will be free to make a game it can feel confident in, rather than attempting to compete with the likes of Fortnite.

Sony has since confirmed that the lay-offs are indeed taking place at Bend Studio, but did not comment on the game cancellation.

KitGuru Says: The last two years have been quite dry for Sony's first-party game output and many fans are pointing to the massive internal push towards live-service games as the main cause. 

Frontier has officially released the PC system requirements for Jurassic World Evolution 3, giving prospective park managers a clear idea of what hardware they'll need to build their prehistoric theme parks. 

Jurassic World Evolution 3 is set to feature over 80 ancient species, 75 of which are fully breedable and raisable through various life stages. Players will witness these creatures evolve from newborns to adults, each with distinct appearances for males, females, and juveniles. Park visitors will be treated to dynamic interactions between the dinosaurs and their environment, and managers will need to cater to their social needs while observing new behaviours, such as swimming dinosaurs plunging into deep waters and flying species gracefully walking on land.

The game's campaign mode will see players collaborating with Jurassic Park characters, including Dr. Ian Malcolm, once again voiced by Jeff Goldblum. The narrative will unfold across a vast world map, allowing players to chart their course through familiar territories like the Montana Badlands and new regions like Japan. Each setting will present unique challenges to manage dinosaur parks and ensure the well-being of humans and their prehistoric creatures.

After the announcement of the game, Frontier shared the system requirements for the latest entry to the Jurassic World Evolution series, which can be found below:

MINIMUM:

• OS: Windows 10 64-bit (min. version 22H2)
• Processor: Intel i5-6600K / AMD Ryzen 5 2600
• Memory: 16 GB RAM
• Graphics: Nvidia GeForce GTX 1060 (6GB VRAM) / AMD Radeon RX 5600XT (6GB VRAM) / Intel Arc A750 (8GB VRAM)
• DirectX: Version 12
• Storage: 25 GB available space

RECOMMENDED:

• OS: Windows 10/11 64-bit
• Processor: Intel i7-10700K / AMD Ryzen 7 5800
• Memory: 16 GB RAM
• Graphics: Nvidia GeForce RTX 2070 Super (8GB VRAM) / AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT (12GB VRAM) / Intel Arc B580 (12GB VRAM)
• DirectX: Version 12
• Storage: 25 GB available space

Frontier is set to unleash Jurassic World Evolution 3 on October 21st, 2025.

KitGuru says: Have you played the previous Jurassic World Evolution games? Are you interested in the new one?

Nintendo has officially unveiled Splatoon Raiders, the first-ever spin-off title in the popular Splatoon franchise, confirmed as a Nintendo Switch 2 exclusive. 

Splatoon Raiders will transport players to the enigmatic “Spirhalite Islands”, where they will assume the role of a mechanic. While the teaser offered a glimpse of gameplay, a specific release date for Splatoon Raiders was not provided. In an accompanying blog post, Nintendo stated that “in the role of a mechanic, players will go on an adventure in the mysterious Spirhalite Islands alongside the splat-tacular Deep Cut trio”, promising more details on the game in the future.

Meanwhile, Splatoon 3 is slated to receive a free update, Version 10.0.0, on June 12th. This update will be available for the original Nintendo Switch and the new Switch 2. For Switch 2 users, the update will bring noticeable graphical and performance enhancements in specific areas, including Splatsville and the Grand Festival Grounds. Moreover, Nintendo has confirmed that Splatoon 3 will support cross-play functionality between the two Switch console generations.

Beyond performance improvements for the Switch 2, the Version 10.0.0 update for Splatoon 3 will introduce the “Splatlands collection”, an extensive addition featuring 30 new weapon kits from the Barazushi and Emberz brands. These new weapons will feature new designs, complete with various sub and special weaponry. The update will also reintroduce the beloved Urchin Underpass area, a fan-favourite map from the original Wii U version of the game. Further enhancements include increasing all weapon freshness caps, new in-game badges, a new weapon stat, and a corresponding matchmaking mechanism designed to pair players of comparable abilities.

KitGuru says: Are you a fan of the Splatoon franchise? What do you expect from Splatoon Raiders?

One of the more interesting aspects of the PlayStation 5 is the fact that its DualSense controller is able to receive updates, improving everything from connection stability to the accuracy of its haptics and more. In an update arriving later this year, the DualSense will soon be able to pair with multiple devices simultaneously.

Making the surprise announcement via Twitter, the official PlayStation page wrote: “Want to pair your DualSense controller to multiple devices at once? An update planned for later this year enhances pairing functionality. Stay tuned for more details.”

While a relatively minor addition, being able to pair your controller to a handful of devices takes away the unnecessary steps of re-pairing the controller anytime you want to switch from your PS5 to a PC / phone or vice-versa.

Considering the fact that PlayStation is increasingly entrenching itself into the PC market (and even smartphones), enhancing the DualSense to be more universal makes a great deal of sense.

KitGuru says: What do you think of multi-point pairing? Is it a must-have for Bluetooth devices? What other features would you like to see the controller receive via an update? Let us know down below.

Regular readers will likely recall the stories we published earlier this year, based around a raft of emails we received from unhappy customers who purchased RTX 5090 cards from Dutch etailer uwgamespecialist. Unfortunately these issues appear to be still ongoing based on communications we have received from various readers in the last few weeks. Time for quick recap, for the record.

The uwgamespecialist.nl story started in March this year when we noticed some comments on our RTX 5090 YouTube videos from Dutch enthusiast users. These comments followed a similar consensus – Dutch etailer uwgamespecialist (LINK) had store listings for various RTX 5090 partner cards, and despite showing as ‘in stock' they were not being sent to customers. I subsequently spoke to some of our Dutch readers directly. These customers were continually chasing their expensive 3k+ euros purchases to be told that MSI had ‘recalled' their RTX 5090 cards. When I spoke with our contacts in MSI they were unaware of any of this, and I ended up in a call with Nvidia as well at the time explaining the situation and what had unfolded.

uwgamespecialist.nl told one customer, Ben, at the time that “Nvidia has recalled a large number of video cards due to various safety issues. We currently have five units of this model in stock, but they all have to be returned due to an increased fire hazard. In this situation, we do not give priority to anyone; all customers are treated equally based on the ranking when pre-ordering or ordering the video cards.” (ORIGINAL STORY HERE).

I then got in touch with  Jeroen Vukkink, CEO of the retail outlet. When I detailed the email that Ben had received from customer service representative Robbe detailing a ‘fire hazard recall', it appeared that the CEO was not aware of this email and he said the email ‘could not be found in our system'.

Reader Ben sent us the original email at the time that he received from uwgamespecialist.nl and also details of the payment to the company for the graphics card, as shown above, so I knew for sure the facts were right.

CEO Jeroen at this stage did confirm that Ben was in fact a customer who did purchase an MSI GeForce RTX 5090 32G Suprim SOC for 3,399.00 euros on the 30th of January 2025. After a little back and forth in email Jeroen claimed that it ‘is correct that the customer purchased this MSI RTX 5090, and there are no issues with the card. We will further investigate the emails and see what we can find. However, these emails are private, and at this stage, it appears to be a miscommunication.' Jeroen ended the email chain stating they would be thoroughly investigating this matter and apologised for the situation.

uwgamespecialist.nl subsequently issued a retraction on the ‘recall claim' (HERE).

I was involved in calls with Nvidia and MSI about this (supposed) ‘recall' around the same time and MSI were quick to act – issuing a press release on March 7th (HERE) and clarifying: “We had the unpleasant surprise of learning on 03/06/2025, through an article on the Kitguru website, that a Dutch retailer—UW GAME SPECIALIST [https://uwgamespecialist.nl/]—allegedly informed a customer that they were unable to fulfil their order because 5 Geforce RTX 5090 32G Suprim SOC from our brand had supposedly been recalled due to a fire hazard. With this statement, we would like to make it clear that these allegations are absolutely false, that no recall program is in progress, and that our products present no such risk. Furthermore, we would like to specify that this retailer is not one of MSI’s partners, and we do not work with them. We reserve the right to initiate legal proceedings against those responsible for these highly defamatory allegations, which harm our brand’s reputation, as well as against anyone contributing to their dissemination”.

MSI also shared a list of authorised MSI resellers offering GPUs throughout the Benelux region, and uwgamespecialist.nl were not on that list (see the official MSI list HERE).

Shortly after all this happened Ben got his card. Other customers at the time emailed me saying they were in a similar situation after seeing our story. The customers also explained that the cards they bought seemed to be ‘in stock' at uwgamespecialist.nl (March time frame) and were selling online for 200-300 euros more than they originally paid back in January.

By this stage I was talking with several other uwgamespecialist.nl customers who showed me that the cards they paid 3399.00 euros for were being listed on the uwgamespecialist.nl at 3999.00. The customers did not receive the cards they paid for. At this stage it looked like a price hike scam and I published the story over here on March 7th (HERE).

Would a retailer really be taking people's money and then months later be trying to sell their cards to make more profit? It certainly would seem that way – and on a fairly regular basis too.

One of our latest examples came from Dutch reader Justin who said he was also awaiting delivery of his RTX 5090 and he has multiple emails from uwgamespecialist.nl claiming his card will be sent on different dates. He also said at this stage he has reported them to ACM. He also pointed out that uwgamespecialist.nl Trustpilot reviews seem heavily populated with 5 star reviews, most of which follow a very similar 2 line ‘posting pattern'.

Above, a handful of almost identical ‘two line' trustpilot 5 star reviews for uwgamespecialist.nl. (LINK HERE). This is giving them an 82% of ‘5 star positive reviews'. However if you filter by 1 star review (LINK HERE) – you can see the feedback certainly mirrors what our readers are telling us. (If you can't speak Dutch, Chrome can translate to English on the links above).

Reader Justin said ‘You cannot tell me these perfectly formatted 2 sentence reviews from a perfectly formatted name + surname with 1 review ever @ 5 stars are organic:'. It is hard to argue. Google reviews also seem to show a similar story unfortunately.

So as you can see above, if you look past the 82% of 5 star comments that all follow an almost identical structure on trustpilot, you can see that the 1 star reviews are less than flattering for this company. I have not reached out again to Nvidia about a follow up comment on this etailer, and they are unlikely to comment as it is not how they operate, but MSI have been quick to distance themselves from uwgamespecialist.nl saying that their customers should deal with authorised MSI etailers in their area (a list of which they provided HERE).

KitGuru is based in the United Kingdom so it is difficult for us to get into this on a much deeper level, however my own feelings are that people should definitely avoid buying their hardware from uwgamespecialist.nl , and I have passed over all these details to some of our colleagues in that part of Europe to perhaps look into this to a greater extent. I have tried calling uwgamespecialist.nl but have had no chance to talk directly with them. When Nvidia got involved behind the scenes with us, uwgamespecialist.nl CEO Jeroen Vukkink was quick to reply to us. Right now it seems that nothing has changed since earlier this year and uwgamespecialist.nl seem to be dealing with customers in the same off hand, disinterested manner that has clearly earned them a raft of 1 star negative reviews, which might be hard to find behind the array of suspiciously similar 5 star reviews on Trustpilot.

I would say that if you are in that region and are looking to buy new PC hardware that you look at other options before trusting your hard earned money to uwgamespecialist.nl – they clearly need to be under some kind of investigation. If you experienced the same issues, then report them to ACM in that region. Perhaps if enough people do that, action will be taken. We have already had over 10 different people in that region contact us with emails, screenshots and bank statements around this company. Do not let yourself get potentially scammed and play it safe by going to a brand with a much better reputation.

If you are currently having a problem not getting hardware you bought from uwgamespecialist.nl then do reach out and send me an email allan(at)kitguru.net subject line ‘uwgamespecialist.nl'.

KitGuru says: We advise all readers to exercise caution when dealing with uwgamespecialist.nl.

IO Interactive has made the most of the success of its recent Hitman trilogy, with the series being collated into one big title – alongside the addition of free updates, new modes and much more. In keeping Hitman: World of Assassination alive, IOI announced a new co-op mode coming to the game.

Making the announcement during the publisher’s recent showcase, IOI CCO Christian Elverdam took to the stage, saying:

“Speaking of playing Hitman with friends…we want you to team up with a friend and enjoy Hitman in co-op. So two new playable characters, Stone and Knight, return from their appearance in our sniper co-op mode to a full-blown Hitman co-op experience.”

They continued, “We invite you to play a set of exciting missions across our World of Assassination [and] challenge you to re-think your approach now that you're going to play as a duo.”

Little else was shared regarding this mode, including its release date, but based on the wording it seems as though this new mode is still a bit of a ways away.

It’s been interesting to see the way in which IOI have managed to take the Hitman trilogy and turn it into a long-running live-service type of experience. Considering how mechanically solid the game is at this point, it makes sense for IOI to simply continue to add to and build upon the game as a platform.

KitGuru says: What do you think of the teased co-op mode? Would you like to see IOI move away from live-service? Was the collating of the trilogy into one package a good or bad thing? Let us know your thoughts down below.

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 launched back in April to a flurry of strong praise, with the hybrid turn-based RPG becoming the highest-rated game of the year so far and going on to sell over 3.3 million copies in its first 33 days. Despite the game’s universal acclaim, no title is perfect, and as such, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 has now gotten its most notable patch yet.

Making the announcement via their Steam page, the team at Sandfall Interactive officially detailed patch 1.3. First thing’s first, for those who enjoy using Steam’s points shop, a number of items have been made available to redeem.

In terms of the update itself however, some of the most notable changes/additions include:

• Story Mode Balancing with increased dodge windows and damage reduction
• At flag checkpoints, players can now:
  • Limit max player damage to 99,999 or 999,999
  • Multiply enemy HP by x2, x5, x10, x20, x50, or x100
• General polish across collisions, terrain, and scripting
• Cutscenes scale properly on ultrawide and non-standard resolutions
• Fixed performance drops from repeated resting on certain levels
• Fixed stability issues after extended play sessions

The biggest change is easily the adjustment to the parry windows on the game’s easy (story) mode – with an increase of 40%. Given the relatively unique style of gameplay of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, it makes sense that the team might need to make adjustments to its core mechanics. Of course, those who want more of a challenge can pick from the other difficulty modes.

With the game blowing up in the way that it did, it is encouraging to see that the team are willing to listen to community feedback and make adjustments which allow for increased accessibility.

KitGuru says: What do you think of the latest patch? Did you struggle with the parry windows? What else would you like to see in future updates? Let us know down below.

Ever since Microsoft began to bring its library of Xbox titles over to the PlayStation, we’ve seen two of the console’s ‘Big Three’ added – those being Forza Horizon 5 and the upcoming Gears of War: E-Day. It appears as though the 3rd pillar of the Xbox brand is set to branch out, with datamined APIs suggesting that Halo is coming to PlayStation “very soon.”

As reported by known dataminer grunt.api, it seems as though an entry in the Halo series could be gearing to release on PlayStation, taking to Twitter to say:

“I honestly didn't expect to come across this today… But I can now OFFICIALLY CONFIRM: A Halo game is coming (very soon) to #PlayStation. As of now, there's no sign of a version for the #NintendoSwitch (2). Digging…”

What game exactly this could be is currently unknown. What is known however is the fact that it is said to not be Halo The Master Chief Collection nor Halo Infinite. The only other bit of information gleaned so far is the fact that this game will seemingly offer crossplay with Xbox and PC.

Though there is no ETA for this title currently, the notion that it will be released ‘very soon’ seems to suggest that it is unlikely to be the rumoured Halo 1 remake. Perhaps one of the MCC games brought over as a standalone release? We will have to wait and see.

KitGuru says: What game do you think is being ported? Which game would make the most sense? Let us know down below.