For the past few generations we’ve seen Ubisoft move away from many legacy franchises, ignoring its classics including the likes of Rayman; Call of Juarez and of course Splinter Cell. Fortunately, the latter seems to be making a slow comeback, starting with the recent release of the animated Netflix show Splinter Cell: Deathwatch. Following its arrival just a couple days ago, Netflix has now confirmed that a second Season is on its way.

Making the announcement during IGN’s Fan Fest event, John Wick creator and Splinter Cell: Deathwatch writer/executive producer ‘Derek Kolstad’ confirmed that a second season of the animated series is in the works, stating:

“We’ve got a season two coming your way,” adding that while they don’t yet have a premiere date for Season 2, the follow-up is currently “fully into pre-production and everyone is super excited about where we go next.”

Seeing as how Splinter Cell: Deathwatch is a Netflix original, it is entirely possible that both Seasons 1 and 2 were being developed concurrently (as has been the case with other animated Netflix shows).

As such, while it is exciting to see a second Season already having been confirmed, the real test for its success will be whether the show winds up getting a 3rd Season.

We will have to wait and see, but regardless it is exciting to see Sam Fisher return – even if not in video game form.

KitGuru says: What did you think of Season 1? Are you looking forward to its follow-up? What are your thoughts on Netflix’s other animated adaptations? Let us know down below.

While MLB: The Show had for the longest time been a PlayStation console exclusive (owing to it being developed by Sony’s San Diego studio), the annual baseball series was finally brought over to Xbox following a renegotiation of the series’ licensing contracts. That said, MLB: The Show has yet to make its way to the PC platform. Fortunately, it appears as though this might be changing soon.

As discovered by ResetEra user ‘Aspect’, Sony San Diego recently published a new job listing for a Senior Graphics PC Programmer, with the description reading as follows:

“Come join San Diego Studio making a AAA PC title. Our focus is on delivering innovative, high quality gaming experiences. We are seeking a Senior PC Graphics Programmer to join our team in advancing the visual and technical quality of a AAA PC title.”

It continues, “You will focus on writing and optimizing our PC engine, debugging performance issues, implementing new graphics features, and ensuring the game takes full advantage of platform specific technologies offered by NVIDIA and AMD.”

Though not yet officially announced, this all-but-confirms that MLB: The Show is planned to come to PCs in the future. Given that Sony San Diego has worked almost exclusively on MLB for the past 20 years, this job listing is unlikely to be referring to anything else.

Sports games in general are console-centric, with the likes of EA’s Sports FC and 2K’s NBA series selling best on console. That said, given that the series has already found its way onto Xbox (and later Switch), it makes sense that Sony would choose to support the PC platform regardless of whether their hand was forced or not.

KitGuru says: What do you think of the job listing? Could it be for anything else other than MLB: The Show? Have you been hoping the series would come to PC following its arrival on Xbox/Switch? Let us know down below.

Sony is currently locked in a legal battle with Tencent due to the latter’s announcement of Light of Motiram – an open world game which looks eerily similar to PlayStation’s Horizon Zero Dawn / Forbidden West franchise. Previous revelations from the lawsuit included the fact that Tencent had previously pitched a Horizon game to Sony – which the console maker rejected. That said, this wasn’t the only potential project, with the two companies at one point planning to work on a new game based on The Last of Us.

As reported by the publication TheGamePost, a recent court filing by Sony revealed that the PlayStation maker and Tencent were at one point planning to collaborate on a Last of Us project, with PlayStation Studios’ Olivier Courtemanche stating:

“With respect to Aurora Studios [the team behind Light of Motiram], we went into the meeting under the impression that they wanted to do a potential collaboration for The Last of Us”. This was in the wake of Sony having already rejected their pitch for a Horizon title (which was codenamed project Z).

That said, according to Courtemanche the meeting took a different turn, with the pitch including “images resembling a potential Horizon collaboration from the ‘Project Z’ concept discussed in March 2024,” adding that “I believe that these images contained assets from the Light of Motiram game. I was confused by the slide given that we had rejected a potential Horizon collaboration and thought we were there to discuss The Last of Us, among other opportunities.”

Given just how close Sony seems to hold The Last of Us to their chest, it is interesting to see that the console maker had rejected a pitch for Horizon, but was willing to work on a new Last of Us with Tencent.

Of course, both deals ultimately fell through, with Tencent then going on to announce Light of Motiram – leading Sony to file this lawsuit…and the rest is history.

Regardless, it appears as though the events leading up to this lawsuit were perhaps even more messy than original thought. It will be curious to see how the lawsuit proceeds – and whether any other secret cancelled projects are brought to light as a result.

KitGuru says: What do you think of the lawsuit in general? Does Sony have a solid case? Would you have preferred Tencent to make a licensed Horizon or Last of Us game? Let us know down below.

It may be convenient, but if you are designing custom VS Code extensions do not code in anything you don't want people to get access to!  There are currently over 500 VS…

It's been three years since the AMD AM5 motherboard platform and the 600-series motherboards launched. Since its launch, the platform has seen the launch of several CPUs in the Ryzen 7000, Ryzen 8000, and Ryzen 9000 families. While the 600-series motherboards provide great features & compatibility with newer Zen 5 CPUs, motherboard makers are always looking to enhance user experiences through the latest technologies, so AMD has introduced a new chipset line called the 800-series. Now, AMD has introduced both X870 and B850 series chipsets for high-end and mainstream AM5 motherboards. Both of these chips provide brand-new designs and brand-new […]

Read full article at https://wccftech.com/review/gigabyte-x870e-aorus-master-ice-x3d-motherboard-review-amd-x3d-keeps-on-getting-faster-aorus-top-class-design/

Quantic Dream has been working away on its own original Star Wars game for years, but very few details have surfaced about it since its announcement in 2021. Now, Quantic Dream has spoken out about the project for the first time in a while. 

In a new blog post, Quantic Dream founder, David Cage, revealed how Quantic Dream has transformed from a single-project studio into a multi-project studio, with multiple games in the works. This includes a first for this studio – a competitive multiplayer game. Typically, Quantic Dream has only produced interactive single-player adventures, so a step into the multiplayer realm is a bold move.

“This new title may surprise our fans as it is very different from what we have done so far. But taking risks, challenging ourselves, exploring new ways of playing and telling stories, and attempting what seems impossible, has always been part of our DNA.”

After quietly announcing this secret new multiplayer game, Cage also added that “development of Star Wars: Eclipse continues”, but there is still no word on when we might see more of the game.

While we know very little about Star Wars Eclipse currently, we do know that the game will be one of the first to explore the High Republic era of the Star Wars timeline. This era is set centuries before the main film saga, showcasing a period of time where the Jedi and Sith were both in their prime.

Discuss on our Facebook page, HERE.

KitGuru Says: Right now might be the worst time in gaming history to be an unproven studio working on a new IP multiplayer project. The market is so dominated by just a handful of free-to-play shooters that breaking into this market as a newcomer seems impossible. 

Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 became one of the highest-rated shooters of 2024 but Focus Entertainment and Saber Interactive are not done with the game just yet. Following on from a massive Anniversary Update this summer, the developers have now made a free demo available across all platforms. 

From today until October 20th, players on Xbox or PlayStation consoles can play the free demo, which will let you try out each of the game's playable modes. On PC, the demo will be available for a bit longer, lasting until October 23rd on Steam.

If the demo scratches an itch, then you will be pleased to know that the full game will also be purchasable at a 50% discount during this same time period and you won't lose any of the progress made during the demo.

Alongside all of this, there is a limited-time Discord quest, so if you link your Discord and Steam accounts, you can claim some extra goodies, including an exclusive Bolt Rifle skin to use in-game.

Discuss on our Facebook page, HERE.

KitGuru Says: Will you be trying out Space Marine 2 while the free demo is available? 

Earlier this week, an analytics firm predicted that Battlefield 6 had sold over seven million copies during its first five days on the market. Now, EA appears to have official numbers in hand, brandishing Battlefield 6 as the biggest launch in series history.

EA has confirmed that Battlefield 6 sold over 7 million copies at launch, with that number split between platforms like Steam, the EA App, Epic Games Store, PS5 and Xbox Series X/S. Aside from the high sales numbers, the game also saw high watch time across various gaming streams, with over 15 million accumulative hours watched.

In a statement, Battlefield general manager, Byron Beede, said: “First and foremost we want to thank our players. Battlefield 6 was built with our fans. From the initial concept through to the implementation of Battlefield Labs and into the record-shattering Open Beta we have been obsessed with player feedback. Together, with our players we've had a singular goal: to craft the best Battlefield ever. And this is just the beginning – our first season of new content is just 12 days away”.

Battlefield 6 will get its first round of post-launch content later this month. On top of that, the game's big Battle Royale mode is also set to debut.

Discuss on our Facebook page, HERE.

KitGuru Says: Have you jumped into Battlefield 6 already? How are you finding the game so far?

MSI is looking to accelerate AI development with its new mini supercomputer, the MSI EdgeXpert. Available starting this week, the EdgeXpert bridges the gap between desktop performance and portability, with a small desktop system based on the Nvidia DGX Spark platform.

At the heart of the MSI EdgeXpert is the NVIDIA GB10 Grace Blackwell Superchip, combining CPU and GPU architecture to deliver up to 1 petaFLOP of AI Tensor performance within a compact 1.2L form factor. Featuring 128GB of unified LPDDR5X memory and NVLink-C2C interconnect technology, the EdgeXpert ensures lightning-fast data exchange and high-efficiency inference even with the most demanding large language models. Users can fine-tune and deploy models with up to 200 billion parameters locally, or scale to 405 billion parameters with a dual-system configuration powered by NVIDIA ConnectX networking.

Built for on-premise deployment, the EdgeXpert ensures that sensitive data remains local, providing zero-latency operation and full compliance with enterprise-level security standards. Its architecture supports complete AI workflows, from model prototyping and optimisation to real-time inference, without transferring data to external servers.

Running on NVIDIA DGX OS and the NVIDIA AI software stack, the EdgeXpert delivers a unified development platform that supports mainstream AI frameworks and tools. This consistent environment simplifies setup, accelerates research timelines, and enables seamless scaling across multiple devices or NVIDIA DGX Cloud for expanded computational power.

Here is the full spec sheet:

While different specs will be priced differently, SCAN has one version of this system available in the UK, priced at £3,799.

Discuss on our Facebook page, HERE.

KitGuru Says: These systems will be rolling out soon. While they are primarily intended for enterprise environments, an enthusiast with deep pockets should also be able to buy one at a number of retailers across the globe. 

Apple has taken the wraps off its next-generation silicon, the M5. Built on a third-generation 3nm process, the new chip is a major leap forward, with a clear and aggressive focus on GPU and AI performance. The M5 is now available in new versions of the 14-inch MacBook Pro, iPad Pro, and the Apple Vision Pro, with pre-orders live now.

While the CPU sees a respectable generational uplift, the GPU is the clear winner here. The new 10-core GPU architecture from Apple is a radical redesign, now featuring a dedicated Neural Accelerator in each core. Apple claims this new design delivers a massive 4x increase in peak GPU compute performance compared to the M4 and over 6x compared to the M1. This is a huge boon for GPU-based AI workloads, with Apple specifically highlighting faster performance in diffusion models and local LLMs.

Graphics capabilities have also been substantially improved, as the M5 features a third-generation ray tracing engine and an upgraded shader pipeline that, combined, deliver up to 45% faster graphics performance than the M4. For the Apple Vision Pro, this extra horsepower enables a higher 120 Hz refresh rate and a 10% increase in pixel count for a sharper and smoother experience.

On the CPU front, the gains are more modest. The M5 features an up to 10-core CPU with four performance cores and six efficiency cores, delivering up to 15% faster multi-threaded performance than the M4. This is complemented by an enhanced 16-core Neural Engine for on-device AI tasks and Apple Intelligence features. To feed these more powerful components, the M5 also gets a boost in unified memory bandwidth of about 30%, now hitting 153 GB/s. Apple says this, combined with capacities up to 32 GB, allows for larger AI models to run entirely on-device and provides a better multitasking experience in creative suites like Adobe Photoshop.

Discuss on our Facebook page, HERE.

KitGuru says: With the new M5, can Apple convince users from Linux and Windows to jump into its ecosystem?

With its launch just around the corner, developer The Chinese Room has finally pulled back the curtain on the full PC system requirements for Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2. The detailed specs give us a clear picture of the hardware needed to run this Unreal Engine 5 title, from a basic 1080p experience all the way up to high-framerate 4K.

Built on Unreal Engine 5 and utilising its key features like Lumen and Nanite, it's no surprise that you'll need some decent hardware to get the most out of the game's visuals. For those just looking to get in the door, the minimum requirements are pretty forgiving. To hit 1080p at 30 fps on Low settings, you'll need something like an Intel Core i3-8350K or AMD Ryzen 3 3300X, 8 GB of RAM, and an Nvidia GeForce GTX 1060 or AMD Radeon RX 480.

To hit the sweet spot of 1080p at 60fps on High settings, the developers recommend a more modern setup. This calls for a mid-range CPU like an Intel Core i5-12600K or AMD Ryzen 5 5600X, 16 GB of RAM, and a graphics card in the class of an Nvidia RTX 3060 Ti or AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT. Interestingly, the developers note that this same hardware (with the Nvidia GPU) can push 1440p at 60 fps on Ultra settings by enabling DLSS Performance Mode.

For those wanting to jump to 4K, you'll need to bring some serious firepower. To achieve native 4K at 60 fps on High settings, the recommended spec jumps up to a high-end CPU like an Intel Core i7-13700K or AMD's Ryzen 7 5800X3D, paired with a top-tier graphics card like an Nvidia RTX 4080 or AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX. Lastly, the developers have outlined what it will take to hit 4K on Ultra settings with high frame rates. This top-tier spec requires the same i7-13700K or 5800X3D, but calls for an Nvidia RTX 5080. With this setup, and by leveraging DLSS 4 in Performance Mode with Multi-Frame Generation, players can reportedly hit 240 fps.

Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 is set to launch on October 21st.

Discuss on our Facebook page, HERE.

KitGuru says: Are you planning to get Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2? Is your PC ready for it?

Sharkoon has become a relatively well-known brand in the low to mid-tier of PC gaming peripherals and components. The company's product pricing is typically highly competitive, and that’s not changing with their SGM35 and SGM50W gaming mice. Both share the same core design but the SGM50W is wireless and comes with a magnetic charging dock for just £40. The SGM35 forgoes the wireless connectivity but lowers the price to just £20 for its wired connection. Do you get what you pay for, or is this a bargain you need to know about?

Timestamps:

00:00 Intro
00:53 Pricing and availability
01:24 Design first impressions
02:53 Primary buttons + RGB
04:06 A charging dock comes included?!
04:51 Mat’s thoughts on build quality
05:53 Specs and switches
07:42 Real-world performance
09:02 Closing thoughts

Specifications

SGM35

• Max. DPI/CPI: 6,400
• Min. DPI/CPI: 400
• Sensor: Optical
• Chip: ATG4090
• Onboard Memory for Game Profiles: ✓
• Capacity of Onboard Memory: 8 kB
• Illumination: RGB
• Max. Polling Rate: 1,000 Hz
• Lift-Off Distance: 1–2 mm
• Frames Per Second: 6,000
• Inches Per Second: 100
• Max. Acceleration: 20 g
• Mouse Feet: 5, 100 % PTFE
• Weight without Cable: 80 g
• Dimensions (L x W x H): 125 x 72 x 42 mm
• Supported Operating Systems: Windows

SGM50W

• Type: Dual Mode
• Wireless Communication: 2.4 GHz
• Max. Wireless Range: 10 m
• Frequency Range: 2.405 – 2.475 GHz
• EIRP Transmit Power: < 0 dBm
• Operating Temperature: 0 to +40 °C
• Max. DPI/CPI: 6,400
• Min. DPI/CPI: 400
• Sensor: Optical
• Chip: ATG4090
• Onboard Memory for Game Profiles: ✓
• Capacity of Onboard Memory: 512 kB
• Illumination: RGB
• Max. Polling Rate: 1,000 Hz
• Lift-Off Distance: 1–2 mm
• Frames Per Second: 6,000
• Inches Per Second: 100
• Max. Acceleration: 20 g
• Mouse Feet: 6, 100 % PTFE
• Weight without Cable: 95 + 60 g (Charging Dock)
• Dimensions (L x W x H): 125 x 72 x 42 mm
• Supported Operating Systems: Windows
• Battery:
  • Type: Lithium-Ion
  • Capacity: 930 mAh
  • Battery Life: Max. 70 Hours
  • Recharge Options: Wired (USB)

You can buy both the SGM35 and SGM50W on Amazon UK, but delivered by Amazon EU, for roughly £20 and £40 respectively: SGM35 – SGM50W.

SGM35

Pros:

• Affordable pricing.
• Included replacement skates.
• PBT main button material improves grip and comfort.
• Decent build quality for the price.

Cons:

• Lack of customisation options.
• Preset DPI levels that cannot be changed.
• Dated sensor specifications.

SGM50W

Pros:

• Affordable pricing, especially considering it's wireless.
• Included replacement skates.
• Comes with a charging dock.
• PBT main button material improves grip and comfort.
• Decent build quality for the price.

Cons:

• Lack of customisation options.
• Preset DPI levels that cannot be changed.
• Dated sensor specifications.

KitGuru says: The SGM35 and SGM50W both offer great value for money and would be a great option for anyone shopping on a tight budget. However, they come up short against more premium mice with more customisation options.