Action flight sim G-Rebels will get day one PC VR support in early access, and it's launching early next year.

Developed by Reakktor Studios and published by Senatis, G-Rebels is a spiritual successor to 1997's PS1 combat flight sim G-Police by Psygnosis. Originally announced last year as a flatscreen game, the studio exclusively revealed to UploadVR that it's receiving official PC VR support straight away with its upcoming early access launch.

0:00

/1:19

1×

Set in the year 2684, this dystopian open-world combat game takes place across floating megacities covering 12,000 square kilometers, as these cities compete for natural resources. You play as an elite unit in the most powerful city-state, helping to ensure law and order before a secret mission leaves you questioning your loyalties.

In early access, G-Rebels promises 10 main missions that range between collecting bounties, police chases, handling new contractors, and races, also featuring combat missions, outpost battles, mining, and more. Multiple regions will be available to explore and you can customize your ship, while Reakktor Studios also promises dynamic weather and a day-night cycle.

VR mode has a full cockpit view and first-person flight controls, and PC VR support will get further optimizations across early access. A content disclosure also confirms “some of the intercom dialogs are using AI generated/modified voice overs.” The studio also mentions “experimental support” for HOTAS (hands-on throttle-and-stick) and HOSAS (hands-on stick and stick) controllers.

G-Rebels is coming to Steam Early Access in early 2026.

We had a surprise look at gameplay from The Witcher 4 earlier this year, but CD Projekt Red is warning fans ahead of The Game Awards this year that the game will not be making a second appearance.

The Witcher 4 had its cinematic reveal trailer at The Game Awards 2024 and then, our first look at gameplay was shown months later at an Unreal Engine 5-focused event hosted by Epic Games. However, we won't be seeing The Witcher 4 again this year, as confirmed by CDPR's co-CEO, Michał Nowakowski.

Nowakowski shared the following message on social media after seeing fans speculating about a potential new reveal at The Game Awards in early December: “I'm very happy to see The Witcher 4 nominated in the Most Anticipated Game category at The Game Awards. Thanks to everyone who has already voted – your support means a lot to us. We won't be bringing any new content to TGA this year, but we're, as always, excited to watch the show”.

While we did see more of The Witcher 4 at this stage than we expected, other CD Projekt Red executives have previously warned that the game is not close to release. At this point, the game is not expected to release until around 2028.

KitGuru Says: It would have been cool to see more Witcher to cap off the year but with the game still in the middle of production, I feel that it would be best for CDPR to let the game cook for a while longer before showing it again. Fans will quickly get impatient if we keep seeing chunks of the game each year. The next reveal should only take place when the game is much closer to coming out.

The post The Witcher 4 will be a no-show at The Game Awards first appeared on KitGuru.

Black Friday is here, and we've been working overtime to make sure you get the best gaming CPU deals this week. Whether you're building a new PC or upgrading an existing one, these are some of the best processor deals for a modern gaming PC. Before getting too deep into the weeds though, we do want to take a moment to clarify how these

It is officially Black Friday and for the next few days, Asus is offering significant discounts across a range of products – including up to £85 off an AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT graphics card, making now a good time for anyone shopping for an upgrade. 

ASUS is offering multiple price cuts across its line-ups, with some of the biggest discounts coming to AMD Radeon graphic cards.

Leading the charge is the PRIME Radeon RX 9070 XT (16GB), which drops from £660 to £575, a reduction of £85. The standard PRIME RX 9070 16GB sees £100 off, while the TUF variant comes down by £50.

Pro-style gaming peripherals are attractive but often carry premium price tags. If you're in the market for a mouse, keyboard, headset etc – then it might be worth checking ASUS' reductions across several ROG peripherals.

The ROG Azoth NX Red keyboard sees one of the larger cuts, moving from £269.99 to £184.99 (£85 off). The ROG Strix Scope II 96 Wireless – NX Snow is discounted by £60, and the ROG Harpe Ace Aim Lab Edition (White) comes down by £45. Additional savings appear on the ROG Raikiri Pro (£40 off), ROG Keris II Ace (£35 off) and ROG Gladius III Wireless Aimpoint (£35 off).

Most experienced users will agree that OLED monitors offer a step-up on quality from previous generations of display technology. ASUS has also applied sizeable reductions across its OLED models – a category that normally sees fairly stable pricing across the year.

The PG32UCDMR drops from £1,249 to £799, which is a substantial £450 reduction. Other 32-inch and 27-inch ROG Strix and ROG Swift models see cuts ranging from £150 to £225, including the XG32UCWMG (£225 off), PG32UCDMZ (£200 off), XG32UCDS (£190 off) and PG27AQDP (£150 off).

A smaller, but still useful set of reductions, has been applied to ASUS networking hardware with the ROG Rapture GT-BE19000 (WiFi-7) router down by £57. The BD4 2-pack mesh kit drops £45, while the RT-BE86U, TUF-BE3600 and TUF-BE6500 see reductions between £10 and £28.

You can check out all of the ASUS Black Friday Deals on their special discounts page until 1st December.

KitGuru Says: With several component categories trending upward in Q4, these temporary reductions may suit anyone planning an upgrade or new system. Whether you’re looking at networking gear, gaming peripherals, OLED displays or a new GPU, it’s worth checking these ASUS deals while the pricing remains in place.

The post ASUS Black Friday deals are live, including £85 off a 9070 XT first appeared on KitGuru.

It's Black Friday 2025 and not a moment too soon with the ongoing DRAM and storage supply crisis (especially for DRAM!), but there are still some great SSD deals available for buyers today. Below, we'll list the best options we were able to find across all categories, maximizing price-per-gig without compromising on speed or reliability. Each

Pinball FX VR is adding six new tables next week for Godzilla vs. Kong, Peanuts, and more.

Continuing its stream of post-launch expansions, Zen Studios has revealed that Pinball FX VR is getting six new DLC tables on December 4. Most prominent is the Godzilla vs. Kong pinball pack, adding three tables that bring Kong, Godzilla, and Mechagodzilla into the room. There's also a festive-themed “A Charlie Brown Christmas” table coming, based on the famous comic strip Peanuts.

Elsewhere, Zen Studios is bringing over two Williams and Bally tables into this VR release with the Universal Monsters Pack. First up is the Monster Bash pinball table with familiar names like Frankenstein, the Mummy, and Dracula. That's completed by the Creature from the Black Lagoon table, based on Universal's 1954 monster horror movie.

We've seen no end of DLC collaborations since Pinball FX VR launched, usually adapting existing tables from the flatscreen game. Halloween added two new tables based on horror icon Elvira, alongside various official Williams tables. Other previous crossovers include Tomb Raider, Indiana Jones, Twilight Zone, The Addams Family, and Star Trek: The Next Generation.

Pinball FX VR is out now on the Meta Quest platform, and the six new DLC tables will launch on December 4. DLC prices are currently unconfirmed.

It's a tough time to be a PC gaming or computer enthusiast with price hikes coming in fast and furious. As demand from AI ravages the landscape, prices on memory and storage are shooting up. And as multiple manufacturers have warned, now is the time to buy before costs and lead times go up further. Don't despair, though, because Black Friday

It is no secret that Destiny 2 has been having a bad year. The Edge of Fate expansion didn't land well with long-time players and did very little to bring new players on board. Now, Destiny 2's director has admitted that the expansion failed to deliver.

In a recent interview with IGN, current Destiny 2 director, Tyson Green, admitted that The Edge of Fate failed to meet expectations, both internally and amongst players. Interestingly, he also addressed how the business side of Bungie had different expectations for the game after The Final Shape.

“The Final Shape brought things to a crescendo, where it’s like a fantastic ending that tied off a lot of the threads”, Green said, before acknowledging that a “big” drop in population came immediately after, as players left after being satisfied with the ‘end' of the story in that expansion. However, he then adds that this “wasn't the plan from the business perspective”. Bungie still “want to keep making Destiny” and still has “many stories to tell in this universe”.

Those stories began with The Edge of Fate, kicking off a new ‘saga' for Destiny focused around The Nine, ethereal, godlike beings in the Destiny universe who essentially pull the strings of time and reality. Unfortunately the transition to this new era of Destiny “was not gracefully managed”.

“I think we’ve been taught a bunch of hard lessons about what our players want, and there are really two kinds of live games – those that listen to the players and respond, and those that don’t. And we don’t want to be a dead live game, we want to keep building Destiny.”

We will start to see Bungie adapting to the player base next week with the launch of the game's next major expansion, Renegades. Initially, players may be put off by the idea of Star Wars in Destiny, but based on what we've seen so far, Bungie's writers have interwoven the two series quite well, using the powers of The Nine as the conduit for this mash-up campaign that will see Guardians donning lightsabers and attempting to stop a superweapon.

KitGuru Says: Destiny 2: Renegades launches on December 2nd but don't expect all the most important changes to come all at once. Bungie has shown in the past that it can be painfully slow to implement certain features. For instance, an in-game Group Finder was announced prior to Lightfall in 2022, but didn't end up in the game until early 2024, just ahead of The Final Shape expansion.

The post Destiny director admits Edge of Fate expansion missed the mark first appeared on KitGuru.

Remedy has been making steady progress on the sequel to its 2019 hit action game, Control. We still don't have a release date or an official title for the sequel yet, but a new leak suggests that a reveal will be happening very soon. 

MP1st has spotted a new trademark filed for something called “Control Resonant”. The trademark is linked to Remedy despite their name not appearing on the filing, as the legal firm used is the same one used by Remedy for all of its previous trademark filings.

Remedy has been working on the sequel to Control for a few years already and is now considered to be in ‘full production'. The trademark filing suggests that a reveal for the game will be happening very soon. Considering that The Game Awards take place in early December, it is likely that the announcement happens there.

While the Control sequel may be announced at The Game Awards, we aren't expecting a 2026 release date/ After all, Alan Wake 2 only came out two years ago and the Control sequel has only been in ‘full production' since earlier this year. We would anticipate a 2027-2028 launch window for this one.

KitGuru Says: As much as I would love to see Control 2 coming out next year, I don't see it happening. Still, it will be exciting to get a teaser for what to expect. 

The post Remedy appears to be gearing up to reveal Control 2 first appeared on KitGuru.

More often than not, game consoles only ship with with a single controller, leaving it up to you whether or not to buy a second one for local co-op play. The problem is, controllers are not cheap accessories these days. However, Black Friday deals take some of the sting out of buying adding another controller or replacing a broken one to the

Alongside the Fenrir Max 8K, G-Wolves also offers the Fenrir Asym 8K, which too is designed for fingertip grip, but is more ergonomically shaped. At a weight of 21 g, the Fenrir Max Asym comes with PixArt's PAW3950 sensor, Huano main button switches, and 8000 Hz wireless polling, configurable through a web driver.

Hackaday noticed, second hand, a new job posting at Alphabet looking for a Senior Product Manager to work on a “new Aluminium, Android-based, operating system.”  There isn't much detail about this…

We are pleased to announce that the KitGuru Advent Calendar is returning for 2025! We have yet another full month of daily giveaways lined up, starting on Monday, December 1st at 11AM GMT. 

This year we have some of our biggest prizes yet, including graphics cards, gaming monitors, peripheral bundles, SSDs and for the very first time in our advent calendar, a full gaming PC. Each day throughout December we will offer a different prize, so keep checking back at 11AM each day to see what we've got.

To enter the competition each day, you will need to visit our Facebook page. Each giveaway will have its own announcement post, asking you to answer a simple question related to the giveaway. A winner will be picked randomly the very next day and the next giveaway will be revealed. As each prize will be shipped directly by the company involved, shipping restrictions will vary each day and are out of our control. Each competition will clearly state which regions are eligible for entry, so be sure to read each competition announcement carefully.

Don’t worry about missing out, each competition will be announced here on the main website, as well as on our other social channels, including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and even our YouTube Community page. All of our public pages are verified, so if you don't see a verification tick, then there is a chance that someone is trying to trick you. We will only ever contact competition winners through our verified Facebook page, we do not use any secondary accounts, send friend requests, or request that winners click on specific links to claim a prize. If you see an imposter account, please block and report it.

We’ll be back on Monday with the first competition!

KitGuru Says: Good luck to all who participate – mark your calendars for December 1st! 

The post The KitGuru Advent Calendar is back for 2025! first appeared on KitGuru.

Back in 2022, the team at 1047 Games announced that they would be shutting down their popular Halo-like arena shooter SplitGate in order to focus work on a dedicated sequel. After years of waiting, SplitGate 2 was finally unveiled and released earlier this year in June – to a mixed reception. This ultimately led the team to taking down the game in order to focus on improvements, with plans to return in 2026. Though slightly earlier than expected, the team have now confirmed that SplitGate 2 is officially coming back before the end of the year.

Taking to their blog to discuss SplitGate 2’s final playtest, the team at 1047 Games confirmed that the arena shooter is set to make an official return next month, writing: “Since launching the beta in May, this game has majorly transformed. We started with factions and abilities, and we've rebuilt the entire foundation around what makes Splitgate special: portals, movement, and pure gunplay.”

Discussing the changes made in greater detail, the team continued, “We removed factions entirely and reimagined abilities as power-ups. We brought back classic roundless modes like King of the Hill, Domination, and Team Deathmatch. We added Classic Arena, an even-starts mode that captures the spirit of original Splitgate. We've introduced new maps, new weapons, reworked the menus, and refined systems constantly based on your feedback.”

That’s not all however, with 1047 noting: “we've also added portal overloading and EMPs, fundamentally changing how map control works. We've streamlined equipment to improve combat clarity. We've tuned our controller feel. We've fixed critical bugs and made countless optimizations.”

While SplitGate 1 succeeded thanks to its relatively basic yet solid mechanics, the sequel suffered from 1047 Games trying to do too much, from the aforementioned faction abilities to general pacing – and of course the addition of an unwanted Battle Royale mode (alongside ridiculously overpriced cosmetics).

Much of the franchise’s goodwill was burned with the launch of SplitGate 2, and so it will be interesting to see whether this relaunch will come with much fanfare. We won’t have to wait long to find out.

KitGuru says: What did you think of SplitGate 2? How did it compare to the original? Why do you think the sequel failed? Let us know down below.

The post SplitGate 2 is returning next month after being ‘unlaunched’ last July first appeared on KitGuru.

When we think of Sapphire products, we’re almost certainly thinking of good quality AMD-based graphics cards. Sure, we’ve seen some of the company's Embedded and Edge+ solutions at Computex over the years, but we've never looked too closely. The new Edge AI series could change that however, offering a tiny barebones mini PC that packs in AMD's Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 with integrated Radeon 890M graphics, on sale for just £650 here in the UK. Let’s take a closer look…

00:00 Intro
00:57 Pricing and spec details
02:17 Design + first impressions
03:01 Connectivity options
03:46 Sapphire’s party trick for accessing internals
04:38 Key spec refresh + BIOS
05:20 CPU behaviour / power modes
06:08 Noise levels in the different modes
06:46 General system performance
07:03 WiFi speed investigation
08:06 AI performance, iGPU VRAM testing
09:51 Gaming test setup
10:05 Counter Strike 2
10:33 Cyberpunk 2077
10:49 COD: Black Ops 6
11:07 F1 25
11:26 Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2
11:44 Marvel Rivals
12:02 Thermals, thermal imaging camera
12:45 Closing thoughts

Specification:

• Model name: SAPPHIRE EDGE AI 370, SAPPHIRE EDGE AI 350, SAPPHIRE EDGE AI 340
• Processor: AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370
• Type: Dual Channel DDR5 SO-DIMM
• Capacity: Supports up to 96 GB
• Interface: Supports M.2 PCIe NVMe SSD slot
• Expansion Slots:
  • 1 x M.2 2280 PCIe slot
  • 1 x M.2 2242 PCIe slot
  • 1 x M.2 2230 PCIe slot (default use for WLAN module; supports Wi-Fi 6e and Bluetooth 5.2)
• Front I/O
  • 1 x Audio jack
  • 2 x USB 3.2 Type-A Gen 2
  • 1 x Power button with LED
• Rear I/O
  • 1 x DC jack
  • 2 x HDMI 2.1
  • 2 x USB Type-C 4.0 (with PD 3.0)
  • 1 x USB 3.2 Type-A Gen 2
  • 1 x USB 2.0 Type-A Gen 2
  • 1 x RJ-45 (2.5G LAN)
• Power:
• Input: 19V, 6.32A
• Adapter: 120W
• Finish: Golden Black
• Supported OS: Windows and Linux
• Size (W x D x H): 117 x 111 x 30 mm
• VESA Mount Compatibility: Yes

We don't yet have a confirmed retail links, but Sapphire told us stock will be landing at OCUK in the next few weeks. Pricing for the different models is as follows:

EDGE AI 340 – £439
EDGE AI 350 – £539
EDGE AI 370 – £649

Pros

• Very compact chassis, under 0.4L volume.
• Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 is a strong all-round CPU.
• Radeon 890M iGPU is capable for 1080p low settings gaming.
• Being a barebones kit offers flexibility.
• Dead easy to removable the magnetic top cover.
• Spare M.2 2242 slot.
• Up to 96GB memory is supported.
• Good set of connectivity options.
• BIOS allows users to adjust the memory available to the iGPU, up to 24GB.
• Well-managed thermals.
• Reasonable noise levels despite the compact chassis.

Cons

• Lacks front USB-C, SD card reader and OcuLink.
• Runs at lower power targets than Geekom's A9 Max.
• DIY memory and storage installation won't be for everyone.
• Plastic construction lacks the premium feel of other all-metal mini PCs.
• WiFi 6E isn't the fastest going.

KitGuru says: If you're in the market for a new barebones mini PC, Sapphire's Edge AI series is well worth a look.

The post Sapphire Edge AI Mini PC Review (Ryzen AI 9 HX 370) first appeared on KitGuru.

The Nintendo Switch 2 has been a bit of a mixed bag when it comes to 3rd party titles. While some ports have gone above and beyond, others are barely even matching the visual quality of generations-old hardware. One publisher which has shown strong support for the Switch 2 so far is Ubisoft – with the company now fully detailing all the optimisations made for the upcoming port of Assassin’s Creed Shadows.

The recent release of 2013’s Tomb Raider reboot on the Nintendo Switch 2 has been met with some controversy, with the tech analysts at Digital Foundry confirming that aside from a locked 60fps, the Switch 2 version of the decade-old game in some ways is inferior to the original release on PS3.

Whether it be as a direct result of this revelation, or simply good timing, Ubisoft have now published a blog post detailing all of the work which they have put in to make the upcoming Switch 2 version of Assassin’s Creed Shadows as close as possible to their PS5/Series X|S counter parts, writing:

“Behind the scenes, bringing such a large and detailed open world – originally developed for current-gen home consoles – to Switch 2 required one of Ubisoft's most ambitious technical undertakings to date. The result is a seamless, high-fidelity experience, whether you're playing in handheld or docked mode.”

Going into specifics, Ubisoft confirmed that the Switch 2 version of Shadows will retain many of the home console features, including “the same cloud and cloth simulation systems,” a slightly lower quality “solid baked Global Illumination” (similar to the Series S version) as well as DLSS – allowing for “a sharper image, with more accurate colors, improved textures, and fewer visual anomalies” while maintaining their target of 30fps.

Of course, there will be a bunch of various nips and tucks made in order to optimise the experience (such as slight adjustments to LODs, draw distance; texture resolution NPC counts and more), but overall it seems as though Ubisoft went through the game with a fine-toothed comb in order to ensure Assassin’s Creed Shadows feels like a comparable experience on Nintendo’s latest handheld. It will be interesting to get a more in-depth comparison when the game launches on Switch 2 in early December.

KitGuru says: What do you think of Ubisoft’s support for Switch 2 so far? Are they the best 3rd party dev in this regard? Let us know down below.

The post Ubisoft details the Switch 2 version of Assassin’s Creed Shadows first appeared on KitGuru.

Ubisoft games typically offer a similar level of post-launch support across the board, with a majority of their titles including a Season Pass with a couple expansions alongside smaller content updates. While the team already shared their year one roadmap for Assassin’s Creed Shadows promising that there will be more to come, it appears as though plans for a year-two expansion have now been cancelled.

In an interview with the RPG-focused YouTuber JorRaptor (transcribed by IGN), Assassin’s Creed Shadows’ associate game director Simon Lemay-Comtois confirmed that September’s Claws of Awaji expansion will be the only one of its kind for AC: Shadows, stating: “As of now, at this moment for Year Two, there is no expansion on the size of Awaji that is planned.”

Explaining this decision, Comtois continued, “We're still working on content for post-launch and supporting it, but it's not a full-on DLC the way a season pass would have had in the previous years,” adding that “we're trying to re-adjust for Year Two a little bit. There's learning from Year One we can apply to Year Two. Any content we want to do in Year Two will probably be more sparse, not a drip-feed… but chunkier updates that shake things up a little more. I'm not announcing anything at this point but our strategy for Year One was to be quick and reactive, so it means smaller drops often, but for Year Two we don't need to put fires out or anything, so it's more what good, chunky little piece of meat… we can drop and have people come back and enjoy it.”

Additional comments on their post-launch mentality with AC: Shadows can be found HERE, including discussions surrounding the game’s engine, dev time and more.

The strategy taken with Assassin’s Creed Shadows has been rather different when compared to other AC entries. Be it due to low pre-orders, series fatigue or whatever other reason, Ubisoft made major alterations to their Season Pass plans, announcing prior to the game’s release that they would be making the aforementioned Claws of Awaji expansion free for all those who pre-ordered.

Whether this is the primary reason for their change in post-release plans is unknown, but it will be interesting to see what this means for year two of Assassin’s Creed Shadows – and whether breaking away from the formula will wind up working in their favour.

KitGuru says: What do you think of AC: Shadows’ post-launch so far? Do you enjoy the typical Season Pass model of prior Assassin’s Creed titles? Let us know down below.

The post Ubisoft confirms Assassin’s Creed Shadows won’t be getting an expansion next year first appeared on KitGuru.

One of Techland’s greatest aspects is the developers’ willingness to update their games for years following their release with both small and major enhancements, features and additions. It appears as though this strategy will not be changing for Dying Light: The Beast, with the game’s first big post-launch patch bringing over 400 improvements – including ray-tracing on PC.

Making the announcement on their Steam page, the team at Techland officially detailed patch 1.4 for Dying Light: The Beast. Described as “our biggest update to date” the patch brings with it a bunch of welcome additions, including but not limited to:

• NewGame+
  • Keep all your gear, weapons and character progression
  • Tougher enemies
  • Higher-tier loot
  • Can be repeated for even better rewards
• Legend Levels
  • Return of the classic Dying Light end-game progression system
  • Grants Legend skill points which can be used for passive upgrades
  • Includes 22 new weapon rewards, a dozen gear pieces and more
• Ray-tracing (PC)
  • RT Shadows
  • RT Global Illumination (lighting)
  • RT Reflections
• 3 new finishers
• Tons of visual, UI and performance fixes

As mentioned, Techland are known for supporting their games for up to a decade, with the original Dying Light from 2015 recently receiving a massive free anniversary remaster and Dying Light 2 getting its big stamina update right before the launch of The Beast.

Assuming the team are planning a similar level of support for their latest game, The Beast could very well wind up being the be(a)st entry in the Dying Light series so far.

KitGuru says: What do you think of Techland’s post-launch support? Would you prefer they tweak the game less over time? Will you be hopping into NewGame+? Let us know down below.

The post Dying Light: The Beast update adds ray-tracing, NG+ and more first appeared on KitGuru.

One of the recurring frustrations for PC builders is the frequency of socket changes, which often renders expensive cooling hardware obsolete or requires the sourcing of new mounting brackets. However, Noctua has quietly confirmed that owners of its current air coolers can breathe a sigh of relief regarding Intel's future platforms.

Spotted by @momomo_us (via VideoCardz), an update to the official Noctua support FAQ explicitly states that all of its CPU coolers currently compatible with LGA1700 and LGA1851 will also be compatible with Intel's upcoming LGA1954 socket. The Austrian cooling company clarified that no additional mounting components are required, as the installation process will remain identical to the existing mechanism used for the last few generations.

Remember that the LGA1954 socket is claimed to be used by Intel's “Nova Lake-S” desktop processors, which are currently expected to be released in late 2026 at the earliest.

This is welcome news, particularly given the reportedly short lifespan of the current LGA1851 socket. While that platform only recently launched with Arrow Lake, and is expected to see a refresh announced at CES in January, Intel is already working on its successor. For those who have invested in premium Noctua hardware, this confirmation ensures their coolers will remain viable well into the Nova Lake era. Hopefully, other brands will follow suit.

KitGuru says: Are you running a Noctua cooler? Do you plan to upgrade and retain the cooler you're currently using?

The post Noctua confirms current coolers will support upcoming Intel LGA1954 socket first appeared on KitGuru.

Splash Damage has had a rough time in recent years. The company had joined Tencent as part of the Chinese conglomerate's push into the western videogame market. After Splash Damage's promising Transformers game was cancelled earlier this year, the company took steps to split off from Tencent but unfortunately, the company's financials are still in rough shape, so further redundancies are expected.

Splash Damage is a UK-based games studio, best known for games like Brink, Dirty Bomb, Gears Tactics and more. After the cancellation of Transformers: Reactivate back in January, the company moved to split off from Tencent with the help of unnamed private equity firms. Unfortunately, with new major cash injection on the horizon from a new game release, Splash Damage is now being forced to undertake more cost-cutting measures.

As noted by Eurogamer, the last game that Splash Damage successfully shipped was Outcasters, which was an exclusive to the now defunct Google Stadia cloud gaming platform. Staff were informed of company-wide layoffs at the studio earlier this week and now, Splash Damage has released its public statement, saying:

“This was a difficult step for us to take, but we believe it is necessary so Splash Damage can remain agile and adaptable in what has been a very challenging market”.

While there will be redundancies, the company says it is “exploring every option to retain talent and making sure those affected have meaningful support throughout”.

KitGuru Says: It is a real shame that Transformers: Reactivate got cancelled. The game looked promising and likely would have been shipping in the next year or so after extensive development.

The post Splash Damage to undergo more layoffs following split from Tencent first appeared on KitGuru.

Acer has rolled out more Black Friday deals ahead of tomorrow's big day, slashing prices by up to £200. The new deals focus on gaming monitors, as well as fully built desktop PCs.

The Nitro N20 desktop, equipped with an Intel Core i5 processor and 16GB of RAM, is now available at AO for £799.99, reduced from £999.99. This system brings RTX 5060 graphics into a more accessible price bracket, offering ray-traced gaming and accelerated performance for creative workloads. Amazon is listing an enhanced version of the Nitro N20 with a larger 1TB SSD at £849.99, down from £1,049.99.

Currys is offering the Acer Aspire XC101 at £449.99, down from £549.99. This compact desktop tower is designed for essential home-office and family tasks, with an Intel Core i5 processor and 512GB SSD. You will only have integrated graphics to rely on here, so it isn't a ‘gaming class' machine, but it should be good for everyday essentials like browsing, typing up homework and storing photos. The Aspire C24 is another good option for these kind of tasks, packing a Core i5 CPU, 16GB of RAM and a 512GB SSD into a sleek all-in-one system for £499.

Monitor deals include the Nitro XF240YM3biiph, a 24-inch Full HD display with a 180Hz refresh rate, available at AO for £74, reduced from £129.99. Its compact size and lightweight design make it a budget-friendly choice for smooth gaming or as a secondary display.

Argos is selling the Nitro KG241Y X1bmiipx, a 23.8-inch esports-focused monitor with a 200Hz refresh rate, for £69.99, down from £119.99. Targeted at competitive players, it delivers fast response times and fluid motion ideal for titles such as Fortnite, Valorant and Rocket League.

Finally, AO has discounted the Nitro XF270M3biiph, a 27-inch Full HD monitor, to £94.99 from £159.99. This one is for those who want a larger display, but don't have the horsepower to drive games at 180Hz in QHD or 4K resolutions.

Discuss on our Facebook page, HERE.

KitGuru Says: Are you planning on picking anything up during the Black Friday sales this week?

The post Acer slashes prices across desktop PCs and gaming monitors for Black Friday first appeared on KitGuru.

Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 didn't exactly land well with fans of the original game. Now, publisher Paradox Interactive is taking responsibility after reporting weak sales numbers. 

As part of its latest quarterly earnings report, Paradox CEO, Fredrik Wester, addressed the situation with Bloodlines 2, saying that while they had “high expectations” for the game, ultimately the sales didn't match the company's projections. Wester says they are “pleased with the developers' work on the game” and that “the responsibility fully lies with us”.

Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 was first announced in 2019 and was supposed to release in 2020. However, the game had an extremely troubled development cycle, which led to the original studio in charge of it being booted of the project. The Chinese Room took over development in the end and did the best they could with a bad hand, but even they felt that the game they were making wasn't truly ‘Bloodlines 2‘.

While the game has been disappointing both commercially and critically, IGN notes that Paradox remains committed to the two expansions announced and sold as part of the game's Premium Edition. If a Bloodlines 3 ever happens, it is likely to be given to another developer with more RPG expertise under a licensing agreement, rather than developed in-house.

Discuss on our Facebook page, HERE.

KitGuru Says: Paradox is primarily known for its strategy games nowadays, so Bloodlines 2 landing with them always felt like an odd choice. Hopefully future updates and expansions can improve the game a bit, but fans hoping for a true follow-up to the cult classic Bloodlines RPG will have to wait and hope that someone else steps up for a third game. 

The post Paradox takes the blame for disappointing Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 first appeared on KitGuru.

Grasshopper Manufacture has confirmed it will broadcast its third ‘Grasshopper Direct' next week, with the presentation set to focus primarily on its upcoming action title, Romeo Is a Dead Man.

The broadcast is scheduled to air on the studio’s official YouTube channel on Friday, December 5th, at 10 AM JST (1 AM BST). According to the press release, the showcase will provide a behind-the-scenes look at development and reveal new gameplay.

The title, which was first teased during a State of Play earlier this year, is described as a hyperviolent sci-fi action game. Grasshopper Manufacture is marketing it as their “bloodiest action game yet”, featuring a combat system that blends firearms and swordplay.

The narrative premise follows the protagonist, Romeo, who is recruited as an interdimensional special agent after a near-death experience coincides with a rupture in the space-time continuum. As an agent, players will be tasked with hunting down wanted criminals across these fractured dimensions. Romeo Is a Dead Man is currently targeting a 2026 release window and is confirmed for launch on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC via Steam.

KitGuru says: Are you curious about Romeo is a Dead Man? Will you be watching the showcase?

The post Grasshopper Manufacture announces showcase event focusing on ‘Romeo Is a Dead Man’ first appeared on KitGuru.

The Lenovo Yoga 9i 2-in-1 Aura Edition (14, Gen 10) is one of the best 2-in-1 machines on the market right now. It features a jaw-dropping OLED with vivid colors, great comfort even during max CPU loads, impressive iGPU performance, superb processor efficiency, and capable input devices.