WB Games has lost over $400 million on gaming projects in recent years. We already know that Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League led to a $200 million loss, but it turns out WB has lost a further $200 million on Harry Potter: Quidditch Champions, MultiVersus and an upcoming Wonder Woman game. There is at least a little hope for fans though, as Rocksteady has reportedly been tasked with developing a new single-player Batman game. 

The Batman Arkham series propelled Rocksteady Studios into the spotlight during the late 2000s and 2010s. Unfortunately, a desire to chase trends amongst WB bosses led to Rocksteady ditching its single-player approach for its latest game, Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League. Fans expressed concerns about this long before the game released, but nonetheless, the title was pushed through to release and was ultimately an embarrassing failure both critically and commercially.

Rocksteady may be able to earn its reputation back though. According to Bloomberg's Jason Schreier, Rocksteady is now working on a new single-player Batman game. However, it is still early days, and the game is said to be “years away” from seeing the light of day – much like Monolith Productions upcoming Wonder Woman game, which was recently rebooted after reportedly burning through $100 million.

While a new single-player Batman game from Rocksteady would almost assuredly be a hit, the amount of money WB Games has lost, and the lack of promising titles hitting the market over the next couple of years, it is unclear if WB executives will be willing to continue investing in these projects for what could end up being a five+ year development cycle, which is the rough average for modern AAA single-player games.

KitGuru Says: I do hope that Rocksteady survives the turmoil going on at WB Games. Unfortunately, due to the amount of money lost at this stage, we have to consider the possibility that it is already too late. 

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Monolith Productions, the studio behind the Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor and Shadow of War games, has been hard at work on a Wonder Woman game for years. Unfortunately, we are no closer to seeing the game in action, as the title has reportedly been rebooted. 

The rough times continue for WB Games. The company lost over $200 million on last year's release of Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League. They lost a further $100 million on Harry Potter: Quidditch Champions and MultiVersus, the latter of which will be shutting down in a few months' time.

Now, according to a report from Bloomberg's Jason Schreier, WB Games is facing an awfully thin line-up of games, so there is unlikely to be a financial turnaround in the near future. Part of the reason for this lack of upcoming titles is due to the fact that Monolith Productions has faced challenges with its Wonder Woman game.

The Wonder Woman game, first announced back in 2021, has already burned through $100 million in spending, and to make matters worse, according to sources familiar with development, the project was internally rebooted, scrapping years of work to start from scratch.

The reboot sets the game's release date back quite significantly. The title is said to be “years away” and with it already being $100 million in the hole, and WB's other live service bets also bleeding huge amounts of money, it is unclear if the game will actually make it to release, or if it will be cancelled before we even get a glimpse of it.

KitGuru Says: Given WB Games' current fixation on ‘live service', I doubt many were particularly excited for Wonder Woman, especially after the reception to Suicide Squad. We can only hope that someone over there gets some sense and starts balancing out the workload at studios with a healthy dose of single-player games. 

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Civilization, the legendary strategy game series, has hit a roadblock with its latest iteration. Civilization 7 launched this week to an influx of negative reviews on Steam. Now, Firaxis has responded, promising patches. 

On Steam right now, those who pre-ordered the Advanced Access version of the game are leaving an influx of negative reviews. As a result, the game has a ‘Mixed' review score, just based on those who pre-ordered the Founders or Deluxe Editions of the game. The majority of players will get access on the 11th of February, although the negativity surrounding the state of the game could lead to some pre-order cancellations.

There are a number of issues being called out here. Long-time players are not pleased with the UI, making moment-to-moment gameplay frustrating. Some playing the game in languages like German have called out grammatical translation errors, leading some to believe that AI was used for the game's localisation.

As a result, fans are calling for a visual overhaul of the game and it is largely viewed as a downgrade compared to the likes of Civ 6.

In response, Firaxis has said that it needs “some time to digest” the feedback and will then begin working on fixing things up. The UI interactions, map readability and additional polish are all cited as key areas of focus for future updates. Additionally, the developers have compiled a list of community-requested features to implement, including co-op teams in multiplayer matches, a wider variety of map types, additional customisation options and more.

While Civilization 7 is off to a bit of a rocky start, Firaxis says it will support the game “for years to come”, which has been the case for older titles in the series. Eventually there will no doubt be a series of expansions and DLCs for players to dive into as well. For now though, Firaxis is focused on free updates to get the game into shape.

KitGuru Says: Have any of you picked up Civilization 7 already? How do you feel about the game in its current form? What changes would you like to see? 

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Krafton has been exploring ways to expand the PUBG universe for several years at this point. Following on from the announcement of the mysterious PUBG-linked ‘Project Arc', the publisher has now announced the game officially – PUBG: Blindspot, and a demo for it is dropping later this month. 

Unlike the Battle Royale version of PUBG that we are all used to, Blindspot will be a tactical shooter. The name PUBG: Blindspot reflects the development philosophy behind the game, as well as the core gameplay elements.

As we can see from the first-look trailer, first released three months ago, PUBG: Blindspot is a top-down tactical shooter, offering vision-based tactical play, with players taking advantage of intricate maps filled with cover. The map design is clearly based around giving players plenty of places to hide, forcing a tactical approach to clearing rooms and checking angles.

The game will offer 5v5 PvP gameplay, with players being able to utilise a range of gadgets to help them on the battlefield. We don't have a final release date for the game yet. However, a demo will be available on Steam between February 21st and March 3rd, giving everyone an opportunity to try out the game and give feedback.

How well the demo is received will likely have an impact on release date plans. If it goes poorly, we can expect a longer development cycle as the developers make changes. If it is well received, then the developers are already on the right track with their vision and can ramp up towards getting the game ready for full release.

It is unclear if Blindspot will be a free to play game, but we expect to hear more in the months ahead.

KitGuru Says: Will you be giving PUBG: Blindspot a try once the demo drops later this month? 

The post Krafton officially reveals PUBG: Blindspot – demo coming to Steam first appeared on KitGuru.

FSP is expanding its CPU cooler line-up with three new air coolers. The new line-up includes the high-efficiency MP7 as well as the powerful NP5, and NE5 models. Optimised for the latest Intel and AMD CPUs, these coolers are compatible with Intel LGA-1851 and AMD AM5 sockets. 

The MP7, NP5, and NE5 cooler series utilise ‘anti-gravity' heat pipe technology, which is supposed to enhance cooling in vertical motherboard configurations. Additionally, the MP7 features a copper base with heat pipe welding, increasing the contact area with the CPU to aid heat dissipation.

The MP7 cooler series is equipped with six 6mm heat pipes, each carefully positioned to improve heat transfer from the CPU, along with a high-density fin design and two 120mm PWM FDB fans with anti-vibration rubber pads. For users who enjoy vibrant lighting effects, the MP7 and NP5 series offer ARGB versions. For those who prefer a more understated look, the all-black versions are available.

The NP5 ARGB will hit the US market at $27.90 while the black version costs a little more at $29.90. The MP7 ARGB and MP7 Black are priced at $47.90 and $49.90 respectively.

KitGuru Says: If you prefer a reliable air cooler over an AIO, the new MP7 and NP5 coolers from FSP look to be quite good for the price tag. 

The post FSP launches trio of CPU coolers for Intel Core Ultra and AMD AM5 CPUs first appeared on KitGuru.

While the Steam Early Access program has been a huge success for many titles, from small indie hits to large AAA games like Baldur's Gate 3, there are plenty of bad actors who have also taken advantage of the program. Steam Early Access has had a problem with abandoned projects since it first launched. Now, Valve is finally looking to tackle this issue head-on. 

Moving forward, Early Access titles on the Steam Store will display a warning, letting buyers know when a game has potentially been abandoned by clearly showing how many months have passed since a game's last update.

As an example, the publisher behind ARK: Survival Evolved, Snail Games, signed on to be the publisher for another massively popular early access MMO, Atlas. The game launched back in 2018 and sold quite well at the time. However, the game has not been updated in over 20 months. As a result, the Atlas page on Steam now states that “the last update made by the developers was over 20 months ago. The information and timeline described by the developers may no longer be up to date”.

Grav, another Early Access title released in 2015 that aimed to cash in on the No Man's Sky hype around that same time period, now has a warning stating that the game has not been updated in a whopping seven years, despite still being sold on the store.

This will hopefully discourage bad actors from abandoning projects, or at the very least, encourage them to remove games from sale on the Steam Store once abandoned, as new customers heading to the page will be immediately warned of a game's abandoned status.

KitGuru Says: It is about time Valve started to do something about the number of abandoned projects in Early Access. My next question is, should Valve allow abandoned early access games to carry a price tag? I feel there is a way to support small solo projects, without allowing blatant cash grabs to remain to gather profit. Perhaps after a two year cut-off without a news update, those games should simply be delisted? 

The post Steam now warns customers when an Early Access game has been abandoned first appeared on KitGuru.

Rainbow Six Siege has had a good run over the past decade, but it seems Ubisoft is now keen on a reset. According to a new report, Ubisoft is planning to reveal Rainbow Six Siege 2 later this month. 

As reported by TGP, Rainbow Six Siege 2 is apparently set to be announced at the Six Invitational 2025 tournament, scheduled to take place between February 14th and 16th.

The game is said to be in development under the codename ‘Siege X' and could release as early as this Summer. The game will not repeat old events from the first game, instead focusing on new ones, although we'll no doubt see some fan-favourite events return eventually, assuming the sequel is a success.

It is a risky time to be launching sequels to live-service shooters. The transition from Overwatch 1 to Overwatch 2 was fraught with backlash from fans, and even Valve saw some pushback for its shutdown of CS:GO in the transition to Counter-Strike 2. With that said, Rainbow Six Siege has been around since 2015 and at this point, the roster of agents is so large that it can be a hinderance for getting new players on board. A fresh reset in the form of a sequel is a good way to get around that.

KitGuru Says: Would you like to see Rainbow Six Siege 2? Or do you think Ubisoft should stick with the original game in its current form? 

The post Rainbow Six Siege 2 might be just around the corner first appeared on KitGuru.

Ever since Final Fantasy 7 Remake was announced as a PS4 exclusive, there have been doubts around the future of mainline Final Fantasy games on Xbox. Final Fantasy 16 also skipped Xbox consoles at launch last year. We've heard rumours about both titles finally heading to Xbox over the past year, and it looks like an announcement is just around the corner. 

According to NateTheHate, someone who regularly shares leaks and rumours on social media, Final Fantasy 16 is going to release on Xbox in the first half of 2025. More specifically, it is scheduled for ‘Spring', which would place the launch anywhere between late March and late June.

As for Final Fantasy 7 Remake, that game is expected to land on Xbox in the second half of 2025, followed by Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth in 2026.

Both Final Fantasy 16 and Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth were deemed as underwhelming sales-wise, in part thanks to the titles being exclusive to the PS5 at launch. Due to these lower-than-expected sales numbers, Square Enix has promised to reinvigorate its relationship with Microsoft and the Xbox team, and is focused on more multiplatform releases moving forward.

KitGuru Says: We can only hope that the third instalment in the Final Fantasy 7 Remake trilogy is in the works for multiple platforms on day-one, particularly for PC. 

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It has been a while since Konami first announced Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater. The remade classic is due to land on PlayStation, Xbox and PC later this year. Now, thanks to an early update to the PS Store, we know exactly when we'll be able to play it. 

The PlayStation Store has been updated with an August 28th release date for the game. The listing also came with a release date trailer, which is now being shared online:

Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater launches August 28th and features the Snake vs Monkey mode from the original.

Watch the release date trailer here: pic.twitter.com/VJht2VLtzl

— Callum Hurley (@MultiCallum) February 6, 2025

Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater is Konami's remake of Metal Gear Solid 3, offering the same gripping story as the original, but with modern graphics and audio technologies to improve the stealth-action experience.

Aside from the main campaign, players will have a fun additional mode to try – Snake vs Monkey, a mode in which players will take control of Snake as he runs around levels capturing escaped apes. It might not be anything major, but could be a fun little addition for fans.

KitGuru Says: Will you be picking up the MGS 3 remake later this year? 

The post Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater launches in August with new game mode first appeared on KitGuru.

The Lian Li Digital Expo returns for 2025. If you are in the market for a new case, and you are looking to go with one of Lian Li's many aesthetically pleasing options, then the digital expo is a great way to preview some new and upcoming hardware.

Some of the highlights from the digital expo include new looks at the Lancool 217 and 207 Digital cases, the Lancool 4, the O11D Mini V2 and new AIO coolers and rotatable power supplies.

​The LANCOOL 217 stands out thanks to its wood accents and comes with five pre-installed fans. This includes two 170mm front fans, two 120mm GPU cooling fans with reversed blades positioned over the PSU shroud, and a 140mm fan located at the back. Its dual PSU mounting options provide added flexibility for cable management. On the other side of the coin we have the Lancool 207 Digital, which is the same case we saw back in October, but ships with an additional 6-inch LCD screen for an extra touch of customisation in your build.

The Lancool 4 is the latest chassis to join the line-up, offering a modular design with interchangeable panels that you can swap out based on the needs of your build. The motherboard is adjustable, the PSU chamber is movable and the case supports a whopping 12 fans for cooling, allowing you to accommodate both air-cooling and liquid-cooling setups.

​The O11D MINI V2 has a redesigned, space-efficient dual chamber that supports ATX motherboards, making it a great option for a compact but high-end PC build. Aside from ATX motherboard support, this case also supports Back Connect motherboards, where the power connectors have been moved to the backside of the board to keep cables out of sight without sacrificing any functionality. The GPU cooling has been improved with a bottom fan bracket angled at 10 degrees. Moreover, the O11D MINI V2 can now fit ATX-size PSUs due to a protruding mesh filter window on the right panel.

Moving on from cases, Lian Li also has some interesting power supplies on the market today. That includes the new RS Series PSU, which features a power port that can rotate towards the side of the PSU. This allows you to install the power supply in a rotated position for enhanced cable management and access without the need for extension cables.

On the cooling side, Lian Li is showcasing the new Hydroshift II LCD AIO cooler. Equipped with a slimmer 360mm radiator, a 60Hz LCD screen on the pump block and ARGB lighting, the AIO certainly looks the part for a high-end build.

To kit out your rig further, you may want to invest in some UNI Fans. The new UNI FAN SL-Infinity Wireless has a redesigned 4-wire receiver that ensures seamless motherboard fan speed control, enabling compatibility with PWM functionality and L-Connect’s MB RPM SYNC mode. The SL-INF Wireless receiver is also backward compatible with SL and TL Wireless models.

The Lian Li 2025 Digital Expo will be live from the 7th of February on the Lian Li YouTube channel, so if you are currently shopping around for new parts for a build or upgrade, be sure to tune in for a closer look at Lian Li's best products.

KitGuru Says: Lian Li makes some of the most aesthetically pleasing cases around. Are any of you thinking about picking up a Lian Li case, cooler or power supply this year?

The post The Lian Li Digital Expo returns for 2025 first appeared on KitGuru.

In recent years, high refresh rate gaming monitors have dropped in price quite dramatically. While we used to have to spend north of £300 for a 144Hz monitor, nowadays, new-generation Fast IPS panels can be found for under £200. This week, AOC is launching its most wallet-friendly gaming monitors yet in the G42 series. 

The new G42 series is perfect for those getting into PC gaming for the first time. Each of the new models offer Fast IPS panel technology, delivering up to 180Hz refresh rates – three times higher than the standard of 60Hz. This results in better motion clarity, as well as a smoother image while gaming.

There are three monitors to choose from here – the 23.8-inch 24G42E, the 24.5-inch 25G42E, and the 27-inch 27G42E. All three offer 1080p resolution and super-fast 1ms GtG response times, or 0.5ms MPRT with Motion Blur Reduction switched on. The panels cover 90 percent of the DCI-P3 colour gamut and 120% of the sRGB colour gamut. Thanks to the IPS panel technology, you'll get all of this on top of wide viewing angles with minimal colour shift when looking at the display from an off angle.

AOC's goal is clear here – to set 180Hz as the new entry level standard for PC gaming. With prices starting at just £114.99 for the 23-inch monitor, going up to just £129.99 for the 27-inch model, these monitors are an easy recommendation for those looking to jump into PC gaming for the first time, or those who simply need a new display that doesn't break the bank.

All three AOC Gaming G42 series monitors will be available starting this month.

KitGuru Says: AOC has been offering some extremely good deals in the gaming monitor market in recent years. The new G42 series should set a new standard for all monitors hitting the market at under £150. 

The post AOC unleashes its best budget gaming monitors yet – 180Hz for under £130 first appeared on KitGuru.

Corsair's Elgato brand is launching the Wave Link 2.0 this week. The latest evolution of Elgato's audio management software brings new features to the table, and a host of quality-of-life improvements to make usage easier for customers.

One of the new features in Wave Link 2.0 is Voice Focus, a tool developed in collaboration with the team at ai|coustics. By leveraging machine learning technology, this tool can remove unwanted background noises, room reverb and echo, isolating the user's voice further for more professional audio presentation. You'll be able to get close to vocal-booth levels of quality without having to decorate your room with acoustic foam panels and corner traps.

To make managing audio sources, inputs and outputs easier, Wave Link 2.0 now has a revamped app routing system, allowing you to assign apps to different audio channels with just a single click. You can also group up a number of apps for routing together, helping you consolidate the process.

To jazz up your streams or videos, Wave Link also offers a range of audio effects. The De-Esser tool will be useful for those looking to use their microphone without an additional pop filter. You can also add compression, adjust EQ or add Reverb. Wave Link also supports third-party plugins to unlock even more effects.

If you are looking to find new digital assets and software tools for your Elgato set-up, the Elgato marketplace is your one-stop shop for everything, from plugins and FX tools to custom digital icons for your Elgato Stream Deck.

KitGuru Says: Are you already using an Elgato audio set-up? What do you think of the Wave Link 2.0 upgrade?

The post Elgato Wave Link 2.0 brings massive improvements first appeared on KitGuru.

Nintendo is about to release a new console, which means it is time for Nintendo executives to start lying to us all about continued support for older hardware. Much like when the Switch launched in 2017 and Nintendo promised to continue supporting the 3DS, Nintendo is now claiming it will continue to support the original Switch console alongside the Switch 2.

Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa has said the company will continue to support the original Nintendo Switch after the launch of Nintendo Switch 2, as long as there is demand from consumers. However, the company's most recent earnings report shows that demand is rapidly waning. Currently, Switch sales have declined by 30 percent year-on-year, and that decline will only increase once Nintendo starts marketing the Switch 2 and the new games heading to the console.

With that said, the Switch 2 being backwards compatible could mean that more developers will support both systems for a couple of years. Currently, Nintendo has a few games lined up for the original Switch, including Xenoblade Chronicles X and Pokémon Legends Z-A. We will be learning more about Nintendo's game release line-up for 2025 later this week during a Nintendo Direct stream. We also expect that this stream will bring us some more Switch 2 news.

Nintendo has not yet announced a launch date for the Switch 2, nor has it revealed any exclusive Switch 2 games outside of a quick tease for a new Mario Kart. On top of all of that, we still know very little about the hardware inside.

KitGuru Says: We will no doubt see a few cross-gen games over the next couple of years, but I highly doubt Nintendo is still going to be releasing tentpole games for the original Switch in 2026.

The post Nintendo says it will support Switch 1 ‘if there is demand’ amid massive sales drop first appeared on KitGuru.

Microsoft is bringing even more of its games to PS5. Shortly after the announcement of the next wave of cross-platform titles, Microsoft has now announced plans to bring its two biggest strategy titles. 

In March, PS5 players will be able to pick up the recently released remaster, Age of Mythology: Retold, an excellent reworking of a classic strategy game centred around mythological gods.

For those who prefer something a bit more grounded, my favourite RTS game of all time, Age of Empires 2, is also heading to PS5 this Spring. It is unclear if Microsoft will also bring over the other Definitive Edition Age of Empires titles, or the most recent game in the franchise, Age of Empires IV. Better yet, these games will have full cross-play, so Xbox, PC and PS5 players will be able to battle it out online.

Another major Xbox game, Forza Horizon 5, is also due to release on PS5 later this year. Rumour has it that Indiana Jones and the Great Circle will also make the jump in the coming months.

KitGuru Says: While at one time it seemed impossible to bring an RTS game to consoles, titles like Halo Wars and Halo Wars 2 really paved the way for more traditional RTS games to branch out beyond PC. We've had Age of Empires on Xbox for years at this point, with very good control schemes to replace the keyboard and mouse.

The post Xbox is bringing Age of Empires and Age of Mythology to PS5 first appeared on KitGuru.

A decade ago, Valve attempted to bring PC gaming to the living room with its own ‘console' style mini-ITX PCs known as Steam Machines. Unlike the Steam Deck, Valve opted to pass off Steam Machine development to third-party partners and focused on the software side of things. This ultimately led to Steam Machines being branded as a failure. Now ten years on and armed with more experience in hardware products, Valve looks to be bringing back the Steam Machine. 

According to eXtas1s, who has a reliable track record with leaks, Valve is readying a new Steam console to compete against Xbox and PlayStation. Apparently, this system will continue to use custom AMD hardware, this time based on the RDNA 4 architecture.

While the Steam Machines failed back in 2015, Valve has drastically improved its hardware capabilities since then. At this point, the company has sold millions of Steam Deck handheld systems, and the new version of SteamOS is far beyond what Valve started off with. On top of that, Valve has also been working on new Steam Controller designs, seemingly for a Steam Controller 2 launch. Chances are, a Steam console would ship with one of these new gamepads.

Whether or not a Steam home console could really take market share away from Xbox or PlayStation remains to be seen.

KitGuru Says: Would you like to see the Steam Machine make a return with new and improved hardware, combined with the latest version of SteamOS? Perhaps this is the kick some developers need to support SteamOS. After all, we still have major games like Destiny that don't support the Deck, despite the fact that the game's anti-cheat system can and does work with Proton, the compatibility took Valve uses to make Windows-only games run on SteamOS. 

The post Valve is reportedly planning to bring back the Steam Machine console first appeared on KitGuru.

G.Skill has just announced its latest memory kit. At CES, we saw new low-latency kits for AMD Ryzen based systems. This time, we are focused on Intel Core Ultra, with new large-capacity CL32 kits set to hit the market. 

The new G.Skill CL32 96GB (2x 48GB) and the CL28 32GB kit are hitting the market soon under the Trident Z5, Royal, and Ripjaws series. The key differentiator between these is the heatspreader, with the Trident Z5 offering a sleek RGB lightbar at the top, while the royal version adds a crystalised pattern on the top. The Ripjaws series is G.Skill's standard kit, with a low-profile heatspreader.

CL32-42-42 at up to 96GB (2x48GB). This new specification have been validated on both Intel Z790 and Z890 platforms. Above, you can find the Memtest validation on the ASUS ROG Maximus Z890 Hero motherboard with the Intel Core Ultra 7 265K desktop processor, and the ASUS ROG Maximus Z790 Dark Hero motherboard with the Intel Core i9-14900K desktop processor.

These kits will be hitting the market starting in March.

KitGuru Says: Are you in the market for a new system upgrade? Will you be going with G.Skill RAM? If so, be sure to check out our reviews.

The post G.Skill debuts 96GB DDR5 CL32 and 32GB CL28 memory kits for Intel PCs first appeared on KitGuru.

February is set to be a big month for Game Pass. We already know that Obsidian's new fantasy RPG, Avowed, will be a day-one title for Game Pass Ultimate subscribers. Now, we know the full list of games joining the service over the next two weeks. 

As Avowed is a new first-party game, it won't be available to Game Pass standard subscribers. However, like Starfield, it should join the Game Pass Standard library eventually. If you want to play it on February 18th via Game Pass, you'll need a Game Pass Ultimate or a Game Pass PC subscription. As Microsoft is still actively trying to grow Game Pass for PC, that version of the service still gets day-one first party games.

For a look at the timeline Game Pass Standard subscribers can expect, we can see that Starfield, which first launched in September 2023, is now available through Game Pass Standard, meaning it joined the library almost a year and a half after launch. With that in mind, we can expect Avowed to join the Game Pass Standard library sometime in 2026.

Below is the full list of Game Pass titles announced for February 2025, including platforms and release dates:

• Far Cry New Dawn (Cloud, Console and PC) – February 4th.
• Another Crab's Treasure (Console) – February 5th.
• Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes (Console) – February 5th.
• Starfield (Xbox Series X/S) – February 5th.
• Madden NFL 25 (Cloud, Console and PC) – February 6th.
• Kingdom Two Crowns (Cloud and Console) – February 13th.
• Avowed (Cloud, PC, Xbox Series X/S) – February 18th.

As for games leaving the library, on February 15th, Game Pass subscribers will lose access to Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night, EA Sports UFC 3, Indivisible, Merge and Blade, Return to Grace, A Little to the Left and Tales of Arise.

KitGuru Says: What do you think of this month's Game Pass line-up? Will you be jumping into Avowed when it drops? 

The post Avowed and six more titles join Xbox Game Pass and PC Game Pass first appeared on KitGuru.

Everyone likes a big screen for watching content but often, 100+-inch TVs are prohibitively expensive, and projectors can be too bulky to set up properly in a lot of spaces. Acer looks to solve this issue with the Acer PD1520Us, a compact LED projector that weighs less than 1kg. 

This is a short-throw projector, meaning it is designed to be placed close to the surface. With this design, you can get 100-inches of screen space while placing the projector just centimetres away from the wall or screen, making it an ideal solution for businesses and schools, where conditions can be a bit more crowded.

The bulb inside the projector has a 30,000 hour life span, so you'll get plenty of use out of it before you start to see any brightness drop-off and need to replace the bulb. The projector has its own built-in speakers for convenient audio, and support for 1080p and 4K sources. The projector has plenty of connectivity options too, with dual HDMI 2.0 ports, WiFi and Bluetooth connectivity, and options for screen mirroring.

For those concerned about setup, the projector comes with auto focus so you won't need to manually turn the focus ring to get things looking sharp. Additionally, 2D Keystone Correction can fix up distorted images for maximum clarity out of the box. For those looking to take things on the go, a 5200mAh battery pack is also available, which will allow you to run the projector for up to two hours. As part of the Acer UST projector series, the PD1520U also has an integrated smart platform, allowing you to install apps to access streaming services.

The Acer PD1520Us projector will be available in EMEA starting in March, priced at €699. The additional battery pack is sold separately, priced at €99.

KitGuru Says: Would you replace your TV with a projector for a cheaper solution to a bigger screen? 

The post Acer’s latest compact projector can create a 100-inch screen with just centimetres of space first appeared on KitGuru.

EA has launched a number of community playtest programs over the years, seeking feedback for projects still in development. Typically, we see these for smaller games, like Skate, while games like Battlefield are kept under wraps until the public beta tests that take place just weeks before release. This blew up in EA's face with Battlefield 2042, as the game launched with a huge number of bugs and issues. To avoid this next time around, DICE is launching Battlefield Labs. 

Battlefield Labs is the new community testing program for the Battlefield franchise. EA and DICE claim it is “the most ambitious community testing program in franchise history”. Respawn and EA Studios GM, Vince Zampella, explained that Battlefield Labs will be used to “test the experiences our teams have been building for the upcoming launch”.

From the sounds of it, fans will be able to sign up and then test out early, experimental builds of different modes being planned for the final game. The first phase of Battlefield Labs testing will go live in the coming weeks and sign-ups are already live on the Battlefield Labs page. 

To start off with, playtests will be held in the US and European countries, before expanding to other territories. DICE says that this program will play “a significant role” in the development of future Battlefield games, not just the next mainline entry to the series.

KitGuru Says: DICE has struggled to really figure out how best to differentiate Battlefield from Call of Duty and how to please fans with each new entry. Even Battlefield 4, which many fans look back on fondly, launched with a myriad of bugs and issues that took months to fix. This cycle has consistently repeated with each game. Hopefully once Battlefield Labs gets off the ground, DICE can finally put those struggles behind them. 

The post Battlefield Labs is live with first playtest scheduled for February first appeared on KitGuru.

Midnight Society has been an interesting studio to follow. The company, founded by streamer Dr Disrespect, was working on its own extraction shooter, with a Counter-Strike style skin system that would see players owning their own skins with the ability to trade or sell. The studio faced financial struggles months ago after cutting ties with Dr Disrespect and now, the studio is shutting down for good. 

In an announcement, Midnight Society confirmed that it will be closing its doors after three years in the game development business. The company was working on Deadrop, which had around 10,000 players in the early alpha stages of development. However, now that the company is shutting down, Deadrop will no longer be pushed through to a full release.

In the meantime, Midnight Society, which employed just over 50 game developers, is now actively searching for job openings at other studios to help workers get back on their feet.

Just a few months ago after laying off half of the Deadrop team, Midnight Society stated that it was still on track to launch the game in 2025. At the time, I struggled with this idea, as losing half of your development team certainly isn't going to result in work getting done faster. Now just one month into the new year, we can see that this timeline was unrealistic.

KitGuru Says: Deadrop will no longer launch and all of those who spent money on expensive NFTs to gain access are unlikely to get any of their money back. 

The post Former Dr Disrespect studio ‘Midnight Society’ closes and cancels Deadrop first appeared on KitGuru.

After a six month beta, a six month hiatus and a year of ‘official' release, Warner Bros is now pulling the plug on MultiVersus. The game officially released in 2024 and is now shutting down alongside another 2024 flop, Suicide Squad. 

WB Games did not have a very good time in 2024. The company had high hopes for two of its ‘live service' games, MultiVersus, and Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League. A few weeks ago, Warner Bros announced plans to shut down Suicide Squad, leaving players with an offline version of the game to play. Now, the same thing is happening with the Smash Bros. style cross-over fighting game.

In an announcement this week, WB and Player First Games confirmed that MultiVersus Season 5 would be the game's final update. The season runs from February 4th until the 30th of May. After that, the online multiplayer servers will shut down.

Fortunately, players won't lose access to the game entirely. While official online services are closing in a few months, the Season 5 update will also generate a local save file for the game. From there, you will be able to continue to access the game modes and your purchased content offline, in single-player battles vs AI or in private matches with friends locally.

Microtransactions from the in-game store have already been removed. However, you can still unlock new characters by playing the game, including the two latest additions to the roster, Aquaman and Lola Bunny.

KitGuru Says: MultiVersus seemed like a cool idea when it was first announced, but taking the game offline for so long and then re-launching it in a crowded 2024 was a bad idea. We'll no doubt see some of these characters appearing in Fortnite in the future instead, as presumably, WB is going to pump the brakes on its own expensive live-service projects. 

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While Battlefield 2042 was hyped up prior to release, a series of launch-day issues hampered the game's long-term performance. As a result, EA has made some changes behind the scenes and is now preparing for the next Battlefield game. We'll get our first look at what's in the works later today with the reveal of the Community Test Program. 

To avoid another launch riddled with problems, DICE and EA have announced plans for a Battlefield Community Test program, similar to the alpha and beta test programs EA has been running for other projects like Skate.

At 5PM CET today, EA and DICE will be revealing the details behind this test program, which will give fans an opportunity to play early builds of the next Battlefield months ahead of release.

Currently, it is unclear when the next Battlefield game will launch. However, we do know that EA has set up a campaign team to work on a single-player mode, while DICE will handle the game's main multiplayer modes. Other studios around EA, like Respawn Entertainment, will also assist in development.

KitGuru Says: It has felt like Battlefield has been on a downward spiral since Battlefield 4. Hopefully with this next game, DICE can deliver a quality product on day-one, rather than months after launch. 

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Obsidian has an extremely busy year ahead with Avowed due to launch this month, followed by The Outer Worlds 2 later this year. In the middle of this, Obsidian is also preparing for its next major game, and it has brought back the lead writer behind Fallout New Vegas to work on it. 

Since acquiring both Obsidian Entertainment and Bethesda, there have been rumours that Microsoft could put Obsidian back onto the Fallout series. Many fans have New Vegas as their favourite game in the franchise and plenty of developers at Obsidian still have interest in the Fallout IP. However, while there have been rumours around a New Vegas 2, the re-hiring of the first game's lead writer is apparently not a hint at a sequel being in development.

John Gonzalez left Obsidian 14 years ago after shipping New Vegas and working on other projects. After leaving Obsidian, Gonzalez joined Guerrilla Games and worked on the Horizon Zero Dawn IP. Now, Gonzalez is returning to Obsidian, he has revealed on LinkedIn. However, in an effort to get out ahead of rumours, he did also state that the project he is working on is “not Fallout: New Vegas 2”.

Since joining Microsoft, Obsidian has worked on numerous new IP. The studio has shipped Grounded, Pentiment, and The Outer Worlds. The Outer Worlds was created as a spiritual successor to Obsidian's work on the Fallout series, while Avowed is due to be Obsidian's way of expanding its fantasy universe from Pillars of Eternity, the crowdfunded project that saved Obsidian from bankruptcy a decade ago.

KitGuru Says: Bethesda is likely so far off from releasing Fallout 5, that it makes perfect sense to have the speed demons at Obsidian to develop a new spin-off game to bridge the gap between Fallout 4 and Fallout 5. For now though, despite moves like this, Obsidian is apparently not working on anything Fallout-related. 

The post Fallout: New Vegas writer returns to Obsidian for new game first appeared on KitGuru.

The last 18 months have seen a lot of talk in the market about AI, especially at trade shows. However, outside the data centre, there have been few products that offer any kind of practical solution to users wanting a local solution on their desktop. The reason is simple: Every one has been waiting for the ‘killer app'. The thing that can run on a PC you can build yourself – and which has the potential to deliver significant benefits for little investment. On 20th January , a software package was made available free online and on Thursday 24th January – history was made.

On 20th January 2025, Chinese AI start-up DeepSeek released a powerful AI package that could be downloaded and run locally, offering high-performance capabilities without reliance on cloud-based infrastructure.

This breakthrough rAIsed concerns that demand for Nvidia's high-end AI chips could decline, triggering a significant sell-off in tech stocks. By the time the markets closed on 24th January, Nvidia's market capitalisation value had plummeted by around $589 billion (more than the annual GDP of Sweden) – representing the largest single-day loss in history. The rapid adoption of DeepSeek’s technology, amplified by social media, fuelled fears of a shift in AI dominance away from the data centre/the USA.

While the long-term implications won't be known for a long time, a new market appears to have been created overnight: Powerful, affordable, local AI that will run on desktop PCs and workstations.

At Computex 2024, we saw a lot of companies pushing a very strong AI message, but with no clear target in terms of application. One of those was Silverstone. They told us that they were in the process of a revolution inside the company, with a shift in focus from the DIY/PC market toward AI driven tasks. For Silverstone, that meant using the skills and knowledge acquired over the last 21 years in the enthusiast sector, to create products for both the data centre and the desktop.

One such product is the ALTA D1, a mega-tower workstation chassis designed for system builds that are focused on 3D rendering and AI/machine learning. At first glance, you might be forgiven for thinking that it looks a lot like a regular (albeit large) system chassis, but the ALTA D1 is all about modularity – supporting SSI-EEB motherboards (Service System Infrastructure – Compact Electronics Bay specification). That means pro-motherboards that are 12″ by 13″ or even 15.12″ by 13.2″ will fit. One look at the back and you can see differences start to appear, with space for 11 PCI expansion slots. Clearance for graphic cards is 407mm – way longer than the 304mmm you see with the RTX 5090 Founders Edition and 348mm in the ASUS TUF Gaming variant. As a case designed for important tasks, it has a pair of PSU bays – either to safeguard stability or help boost available wattage. It comes with two 180mm intake fans and a 140mm rear exhaust. The final configuration is down to the specialist building the AI system.

A dual-CPU, multi-GPU system can easily be built into such a chassis, but the flexibility doesn't stop with processing hardware. There are also modular cages for storage drives, radiators and PSU brackets etc – which allows users the freedom to redefine system component locations – depending on where you need your workload to be focused/supported.

What might the chassis criteria be for a powerful/local AI system?

With GPUs now pulling close to 600 watts each, you need to think about high airflow, robust power delivery and ample space for E-ATX/SSI-EEB motherboards. With a ‘9000' refresh of AMD's Threadripper expected in 2025, you'll want ample space for cooling as well – with easy mounting for multiple radiators.

These are the kind of challenges that companies producing chassis etc for serious gamers, have been looking at for years. Now it seems that all of that learning/knowledge will be needed in the local AI system space. So will DeepSeek be the ‘killer app' that's needed to drive the high-end, professional hardware market forward in 2025/26?

One thing is for sure: Nvidia's loss looks likely to be a blip in the grand scheme of things. As KitGuru's recent testing of the latest RTX 50 series shows, even on the desktop level, Nvidia continues to have a huge lead in AI processing tasks. How big a lead? Well it was scoring almost 4x higher than the fastest Radeon card in our latest Image Generation benchmarks.

KitGuru says: It will be interesting to see if this interest in DeepSeek creates new markets – and how much growth there will be in the high-end chassis/PSU sectors as a result. One thing the last two Bitcoin surges taught us, if that if money can be made from GPUs, then gamers end up queuing for a long time if they want the latest cards.

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