Samsung is setting an aggressive tone for CES 2026 with a new wave of high‑end monitors that mark several technical firsts for the company. The updated Odyssey lineup introduces a 1040Hz refresh rate, a glasses‑free 6K 3D display option, and broad adoption of DisplayPort 2.1 across its top models, signalling a clear push toward next‑generation bandwidth and visual performance.
Leading the announcement is the Odyssey 3D (G90XH), a 32-inch 6K (6144 x 3456) IPS monitor that aims to succeed where previous 3D efforts failed. By using real-time eye-tracking cameras and a lenticular lens layer, the G90XH delivers a glasses-free 3D experience that adjusts perspective based on the user's head position. While it runs natively at 165Hz, it features a “Dual Mode” that drops the resolution to 3K to enable a 330Hz refresh rate. Some games getting dedicated optimisations for this monitor include Stellar Blade and Lies of P.
For competitive gamers, the Odyssey G6 (G60H) is likely to be the most talked-about display of the year. This 27-inch QHD IPS monitor is the first in the world to break the four-digit refresh rate barrier, reaching 1040Hz in its “Dual Mode” (at HD resolution). Even at its native QHD resolution, the panel maintains a staggering 600Hz refresh rate.
The Odyssey G8 series has also been expanded into a trio of high-resolution displays. The first is the G80H, a 32-inch 6K IPS model that mirrors the resolution of the 3D flagship, offering 6K at 165Hz or 3K at 330Hz. Then there's the G80HF, a 27-inch 5K variant running at 180Hz natively or 360Hz in QHD mode. Lastly, the G80SH is for the OLED enthusiasts, featuring a 32-inch 4K QD-OLED panel. This model stands out by being VESA DisplayHDR TrueBlack 500-certified and supporting DisplayPort 2.1 with UHBR20, providing up to 80Gbps of bandwidth.
All five models support AMD FreeSync Premium Pro and are Nvidia G-Sync Compatible. Samsung also stated that it will be showcased at CES 2026.
KitGuru says: What do you think of Samsung's 2026 Odyssey line-up so far?
AMD's next-generation Zen 6 processor with 3D V-Cache may kick things up in a big way to compete with Intel's upcoming Nova Lake chips. How so? According to a popular leaker on X, AMD will offer single CCD (core complex die) variants with up to 144MB of L3 cache, and dual CCD models with up to a whopping 288MB of L3 cache. To put those capacities
Thermaltake has introduced the MAGCurve 360 Ultra ARGB Sync AIO Liquid Cooler, a display‑driven cooling solution built for high‑performance systems. Available in Black and Snow, it combines a curved screen, AI‑assisted customisation, and a compact but capable thermal design.
The cooler features a 6.67‑inch curved AMOLED panel with a 2240×1080 resolution, offering high contrast and wide viewing angles. The display supports system monitoring, time and weather widgets, video playback, and dynamic visuals. Through TT RGB PLUS 3.0, users can upload images or videos, adjust layouts, fine‑tune colours, and even run split‑screen configurations. The integrated AI Forge tool allows users to generate custom backgrounds from simple text prompts, which can be edited and combined with system data. The TT PlayLink mobile app adds faster customisation with direct photo uploads and real‑time camera or video streaming to the display.
Cooling performance is handled by three TOUGHFAN EX 120 ARGB Sync fans, which include a swappable blade design for switching between standard and reverse airflow without affecting lighting. The fans reach up to 2500RPM, delivering high airflow and static pressure while keeping noise controlled.
Installation is streamlined through MagForce 2.0 magnetic connectors, which use enlarged contact pads for more stable daisy chaining and reduced cable clutter. The radiator uses a slim 27mm design paired with a thickened 20mm copper chamber, supported by a high‑quality pump and precision copper base. The cooler is rated for CPUs up to 365W TDP, ensuring consistent thermal performance under sustained workloads.
KitGuru Says: Are you in the market for a new CPU cooler?
Prior to Grand Theft Auto V, Rockstar had a good stretch where it was releasing a new game every two years or so. As it turns out, during this time, Rockstar had been kicking around the idea of bringing in third-party studios to make Grand Theft Auto games set in other cities around the globe, with the biggest idea being Grand Theft Auto: Tokyo.
In a recent interview with GamesHub, former Rockstar technical director, Obbe Vermeij, talked about plans to supply a Japanese studio with code from GTA in order to create GTA: Tokyo while Rockstar was busy working on the next mainline game in the series. The plan came about after leaders at Rockstar had wanted to produce new GTA games set outside of the USA.
“We had ideas about GTA games in Rio de Janeiro, Moscow, and Istanbul. Tokyo almost actually happened. Another studio in Japan were going to do it, take our code and do GTA: Tokyo. But then that didn’t happen in the end”, he said.
Unfortunately for fans, Vermeij also thinks the ship has sailed on the potential to produce new GTA games set outside of the US. This is largely due to the inflated development times now required to ship a proper AAA game, coupled with the fact that GTA is now primarily known for its small handful of fictional US-based cities.
“It’s just not realistic. I would love it, and if games still took a year to make, then yeah sure, you can have a little fun, but you’re not going to get that when there’s a GTA every 12 years. You’re not going to set it in a new location. You don’t really need to either because the technology changes so much. Nobody is going to say that they’re not going to play GTA VI because they’ve already played Vice City.”
He's not wrong about the long development times – GTA V first released in 2013 and the next game, GTA 6, is finally due to release in November next year. However, at this point GTA is such a massive global success that it is unlikely that Rockstar would ever let a third-party studio near its source code.
KitGuru Says: It would have been cool to see GTA licensed out so we could get a wave of spin-offs like GTA: Tokyo. There is no way that would happen now though, as GTA has risen to become a core pillar in gaming.
IO Interactive snuck out some disappointing news to end the year. The studio's new James Bond game, 007 First Light, has been delayed, taking over Grand Theft Auto 6's original release slot on the 2026 calendar.
In an update shared this week, IO Interactive confirmed that 007 First Light will no longer release in March like originally planned. Now, the game will launch on May 27th 2026. If that date rings a bell, then there is good reason, as Grand Theft Auto 6 was originally scheduled to release on May 26th, before being delayed to November next year.
In its statement, IO Interactive said: “007 First Light is our most ambitious project to date and the team has been fully focused on delivering an unforgettable James Bond experience”, adding that the delay will “ensure the experience meets the level of quality” that fans deserve on day one.
007 First Light has been pitched in the first game in an on-going series, all starring IOI's own version of James Bond, not tied to any previous films, games or novels. We will see more of the game in early 2026 as IO ramps up the marketing ahead of release.
KitGuru Says: Fortunately, the delay is quite short, giving IO Interactive roughly eight extra weeks to polish up the game. Are you looking forward to 007: First Light?
For Day 24 of the KitGuru Advent Calendar, we have teamed up with NVIDIA to give one lucky reader a new graphics card! Today's prize is none other than the RTX 5070 Ti graphics card!
The RTX 5070 Ti is a GPU we are already very familiar with. We've reviewed a bunch of them, each time coming away with positive impressions for performance at 1440p and 4K resolutions. With this graphics card, you'll also have access to all of the latest RTX features, including DLSS 4 with Multi-Frame Generation, so you can multiply your performance in hundreds of games at the press of a button.
How to Enter:
To enter this giveaway, all you have to do is head over to our competition announcement post on Facebook, HERE. In the comments, leave an answer to the following question – What was your favourite game this year?
This competition is open in the UK and EU.
The winner will be picked randomly shortly after 11AM GMT December 25th, and a new competition will be announced for Day 25. The chosen winner has 48 hours to respond, if we do not hear from them, a new winner will be picked.
Terms and Conditions: This competition is open in the UK and EU, starting at 11AM GMT on December 24th and ending at 10:59AM GMT on December 25th. Due to the busy Christmas season, prize deliveries could take longer than usual, and some prizes may not ship until January. In compliance with GDPR, we will not collect or store any personal information as part of this competition. Once the winner has been contacted and their prize received, personal details will be deleted from our email servers. Your details will not be shared, we respect your privacy.
KitGuru Says: Good luck to all who enter, we'll be back tomorrow morning to announce a winner and turn the calendar over to Day 25!
2026 may have a lesson for TV manufacturers, if consumers are willing to make the choice to ensure their next TV is a dumb TV. The proliferation of advertisements being shown in…
Today we’re taking a look at NZXT’s new F-Series X performance fans – the F120X, F240X, and the F360X. NZXT claims these are their most advanced fans yet, with LCP construction, ultra-tight tolerances, and a magnetic-levitation hybrid bearing designed to push serious airflow while keeping noise under control. We break down the design, the performance numbers, and of course whether these premium fans are actually worth the upgrade for your next build. Let’s dive in.
Timestamps:
00:00 Intro
00:52 The latest NZXT fans & pricing
02:10 Tech details on the coolers
02:38 A closer look at the fans
06:50 Do they look good?
07:07 Accessories
08:04 Test System
09:02 Smoke Visualisation Airflow Test
10:15 Thermal and Noise Performance
16:06 James thoughts – Are NZXT onto a winner?
Features:
LCP construction and optimised blade design for strong airflow & pressure — All three fans are equipped with liquid-crystal polymer (LCP) for blades and frame, for improved rigidity at high speed which helps resist flexing and vibration. Minimal blade-to-frame gap (“ultra-tight tip-to-frame clearance”), reduces turbulence and air leakage, resulting in optimal airflow and static pressure.
Custom Hybrid bearing for quiet and durable operation — “Custom Hybrid Bearing” includes magnetic levitation to keep the rotor stable at higher RPM, combined with fluid-dynamic lubrication to help reduce friction and wear. The aim is to provide smooth, long-lasting, quiet rotation.
Advanced 3-phase, 6-pole motor for precise, efficient cooling — The motor design enables more precise speed control for steady and efficient cooling across different speeds for lower noise and consistent performance.
Polished design with subtle RGB and easy install — Featuring brushed-aluminium accents, subtle RGB lighting and a clean aesthetic. You can control fan speeds and lighting via motherboard software or, with NZXT Control Hub and NZXT CAM software. The single-frame models (F240X and F360X) have an all-in-one frame that reduces screws and cables for clean and simple installation.
Specifications (F360X):
Dimensions: 360 x 120 x 30mm
Weight: 750g
Speed (PWM): 3,100 ± 310 RPM
Airflow: 0 CFM per fan
Static Pressure: 53 mmH2O per fan
Noise: 0 dBA per fan
Bearing type: NZXT Magnetic Levitation Stabiliser & Fluid Dynamic Bearing
Motor type: 3-phase, 6-pole
Rate Voltage: 12V (Fan) / 5V (RGB)
Rated Current: 60A (Fan) / 0.52A (RGB)
Input Power: 8W
Connector: 4-pin PWM and 5V ARGB
Material (Blade & Frame): Liquid-crystal polymer (LCP), rubber
Our testing focuses on the thermal performance of each fan under three conditions: 100% PWM, 1400 RPM, and 40 dBA noise-normalised operation. All tests are conducted with a manual CPU overclock, locking the all-core frequency and VCORE to ensure consistent load across runs.
Baseline Measurement:
Ambient temperature is recorded.
The system is left idle for 10 minutes.
CPU and GPU temperatures are logged using HWINFO, while case temperatures are monitored with thermocouples placed at three positions:
T1: Behind the front intake fan
T2: In front of the rear exhaust
T3: Above the AIO exhaust
Load Testing:
A combined CPU/GPU stress test is run for 30 minutes using 3DMark Speed Way stress test and Cinebench simultaneously.
Temperature charts show the average CPU/GPU delta over the final 10 minutes of the test, along with the thermocouple readings at the end of the session.
Noise Testing:
Noise levels are measured with a decibel meter placed 30 cm from the front of the system.
Airflow Visualisation:
Smoke tests are filmed with all fans running at 1400 RPM to illustrate airflow patterns across the case and cooling components.
This methodology ensures a consistent, real-world comparison of each fan’s thermal efficiency, noise performance, and airflow characteristics.
Test Results:
System Noise: 100% PWM
1400RPM Normalised
Case Temperatures: 100% PWM
1400RPM Normalised
40dBA Noise Normalised
CPU & GPU Temperature: 100% PWM
1400RPM Normalised
40dBA Noise Normalised
We found the NZXT F120/240/360X fans listed at Scan. An F120X costs £39.98 while the F360X is priced at £99.98.
Pros:
Solid airflow and cooling, close to competitor performance.
Clean looks with all in one frame and minimal cables.
Very wide PWM speed range with high max speed for extreme cooling.
Cons:
Quite expensive.
Loud at max speed.
Performance drops off a little at lower RPM.
No reverse blade versions.
KitGuru says: If your build prioritises aesthetics over absolute thermal performance, then these fans might be a good fit for you. They will still provide solid cooling too, just not chart-topping, but they are very expensive and loud at max speed.
Welcome to the last entry of UploadVR's Best of VR Awards for 2025.
The year's almost over and we're once again celebrating this year's best releases across the VR and wider XR industry, highlighting some exceptional releases across software and hardware alike. Just like we always do, each category features one clear winner and varying numbers of honorable mentions. Excluding our specific early access categories, all of our winners are currently in full release.
Like last year, we've split the awards across multiple rounds. Our first round covered platform favorites for Quest, PC VR, PlayStation VR2, and Apple Vision Pro, joined by our favorite exploratory experience. It's here where we recognized Ghost Town, Roboquest VR, Arken Age, Gears & Goo, and The Clouds Are Two Thousand Meters Up.
Round two is where we focused on achievements across mixed reality, hand tracking, and early access releases. Our winners across these categories were Jigsaw Night, Laser Dance, Forefront, Little Critters, and Figmin XR.
Which leaves us with some of our biggest picks still to come, the moment we've all been waiting for. Here are UploadVR's Best of VR Awards 2025.
Best Virtual Place 2025
A small number of software packages in virtual reality have grown so large and diverse that calling them games doesn't really apply anymore. They are places, vast, with interconnected systems that make spending significant time there a delight for many. VRChat and No Man's Sky come to mind as candidates for this category in future years, and both were considered to inaugurate this award category at UploadVR.
In 2025, Walkabout grew from a game to a place as mini golf became secondary to the best place where people congregate in virtual reality.
The artists at Mighty Coconut entered the year realizing Elvis as a course to play on and ended it with the best physical illustration of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland ever made. In between, Walkabout's creative director and mastermind Lucas Martell took golfers to the seat of the gods at Mount Olympus, face-to-face with dinos at Raptor Cliff's, sneaking into a Mother Goose-inspired theme park at Forgotten Fairyland, and up close with Neko Atsume kitties all over a tiny Tokyo. While Walkabout's courses always had secrets, like hidden balls and skeletons, now they've started adding playable activities like slingshots and chess. Designers continue rooting around the backstage areas as they add the foundations for future activities and new secrets to discover in places players have been hundreds of times.
The design team spent days together in December roughing out courses that will open starting in 2027. From release in 2020 for standalone VR headsets, we see other developers following the precedents set by Walkabout – guest mode for paid add-ons, private rooms by default, and support for a single controller.
Whether you're looking to introduce yourself to virtual reality or get lost in there for days, Walkabout Mini Golf is the right onboarding experience for most people and a great place to be.
Best VR Developer
We've seen some impressive work from VR developers this year. Mighty Coconut keeps releasing regular DLC courses for Walkabout Mini Golf, Flat2VR Studios continues to deliver impressive VR adaptations like Roboquest VR, while nDreams Elevation and Fireproof Games both showed strong VR-focused gameplay design across Reach and Ghost Town respectively.
This time, our Best VR Developer award goes to VitruviusVR for its work on Arken Age. We previously discussed what we loved about Arken Age when giving it our Best PlayStation VR2 Game of the Year award, praising its exemplary approach to VR-first gameplay design. However, it's a testament to the studio's strength that it did so while leveraging the strengths of each platform so effectively. For that reason, we're giving them this year's award.
Best New Hardware
This year saw Meta break its three-year streak of new VR headset releases, Apple upgrade its “spatial computer” with a new chip and strap, Samsung launch the first product running Google's Android XR, and Bigscreen refine its ultralight headset with improved and adjustable lenses.
Bigscreen and Apple deserve mentioning here, even though they aren't our winners.
Beyond 2's lenses fix a crucial flaw of the original to make it a viable optical experience for far more people, but the device still requires SteamVR Tracking base stations, an expensive technology that Valve itself is abandoning.
Meanwhile, the M5 Vision Pro's Dual Knit Band is a truly innovative approach to headset ergonomics, combining the benefits of a comfortable soft strap and counterbalance in one design, plus the ability to tighten both bands with a single dial. But other than this, it's a minimum-effort upgrade.
Our winner this year is Meta Neural Band included with Meta Ray-Ban Display. Surface electromyography (sEMG) is not a completely new input technology, but Meta Neural Band brings it to a sleek, lightweight, and flexible wristband with all-day battery life and IPX4 water resistance.
Meta Neural Band makes it practical and comfortable to control a smart glasses HUD without needing to constantly use voice commands, wear a giant ring, or wave your hands around. And for this, it wins our Best Hardware Award for 2025.
Best New Multiplayer Game
Social gameplay remains one of VR's most appealing strengths, and this year continued providing strong contenders. While Breachers would have been in contention if it wasn't in early access, plenty of multiplayer games either launched or finally reached full release.
Ultimately, our winner for VR Multiplayer Game of the Year 2025 is Demeo x Dungeons & Dragons: Battlemarked. Resolution Games brought back 2021's hit in style, and we considered it a “mostly natural crossover and a fitting evolution” on Demeo. If you can't commit to a real-life tabletop campaign, this is an excellent option that flatscreen players can also join in on.
And so, we now move onto one of our biggest categories. Our previous awards looked at games for individual platforms across Quest, PC VR, PlayStation VR2, and Apple Vision Pro. This is what we believe stands out as the absolute best of the best across all four.
2025's been another year when the releases seemingly never end, and that's been especially true these last few months. Hotel Infinity, Roboquest VR, Marvel’s Deadpool VR, Demeo x D&D, Ghost Town, Reach, Arken Age, Lumines Arise, there's a lot to choose from, but we can ultimately only crown one title.
Same as our best PlayStation VR2 game, our winner for VR Game of the Year 2025 is Arken Age. Ghost Town and Roboquest VR have their own individual strengths on Quest and PC VR, yet Arken Age graced each of its platforms with some of the best VR focused design we've seen in 2025.
“Arken Age delivers clever VR-first gameplay design for a great sci-fi adventure,” we said at the time, praising its vibrant presentation and rewarding combat. As mentioned before, our appreciation for VitruviusVR's action-adventure has only grown since launch, and it's a strong choice no matter your headset.
So then, what's next? 2025's brought a strong line-up across Quest, PC VR, and PS VR2, and we've seen plenty of promising VR and MR games on the way in 2026.
Our Most Anticipated Game of 2026 goes to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Empire City, an action-adventure that supports single-player and up to four-player co-op. We've already had a brief look at what's to come, and we can't wait to see how Cortopia Studios adapts the iconic series on Quest 3 and PC VR.
MR Clean could be the PowerWash Simulator of mixed reality, and it's heading to Quest 3/3S next year.
Developed by PotamWorks (Smash Drums), MR Clean is a roomscale mixed reality cleaning game designed around hand tracking controls, where you clear virtual dirt off your walls, floors, and furniture. This also comes with a 'Virtual Objects Mode' where you clean detailed 3D models piece by piece, alongside a two-player 'Party Mode' you can play locally.
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It's originally inspired by a mixed reality experiment created in Smash Drums, where you can splatter your room with virtual paint.
“While the painting mechanic became a natural fit for Smash Drums, and one of its more iconic environments, the cleaning phase ultimately didn’t align with a game built around chaos and rock ’n’ roll,” states PotamWorks, who revived the idea for the Meta Horizon Start Developer Competition 2025.
Collaborative content and themed challenges are also planned for the upcoming game. Crossovers have already been confirmed with Red Matter 2, Ancient Dungeon, Deisim, Smash Drums, “and over 15 other fan-favorite experiences.” Finally, PotamWorks states MR Clean will also be compatible with the Quest's Travel Mode.
Our second round of UploadVR's Best of 2025 awards is now live.
We kicked things off earlier today with our favorite games this year across individual platforms: Quest, PC VR, PlayStation VR2, and Apple Vision Pro. This also discussed our top immersive entertainment titles outside of gaming, looking to more film-adjacent experiences.
Now, we're focusing on mixed reality apps and games as developers continue to embrace this approach. We're also diving into the best uses of hand tracking across the year, alongside dedicated early access categories for both mixed reality and VR games. While most of our categories are only applicable for full releases, Best Hand Tracking also factors in early access launches.
So then, onto round two. Here are our favorite hand tracking, mixed reality, and early access experiences in 2025.
There's one game, though, that stands out in 2025 – Jigsaw Night. You can grab the pieces whether they are close or far away and easily hand them to friends. At any time you can also pick up a controller and use it for more precise grabbing of faraway objects. This robust support, alongside other features like LIV integration, colocation, and puzzling with your own photos, means that solo developer Steve Lukas' project is an absolute delight to spend time in and a strong reason to bring just your headset with you.
Best Early Access Mixed Reality Game
We've seen some intriguing first looks at mixed reality games in early access this year. Pocket Lands has been a recent favorite where you create Minecraft-esque worlds, while Loop One: Done is an MR automation game where you record loops with drones and robots. We'd also note Super RC, Jigsaw Night, Galactic Traffic Control, and Healer.
This time around, Laser Dance takes our award for the Best Early Access Mixed Reality Game of 2025. Thomas Van Bouwel delivered what we called “the first essential mixed reality game” and a go-to party game in our review. Offering an instantly relatable premise that feels ripped out of a spy film, it's one of the first experiences anyone should try when putting on a headset.
Whether it's to gather community feedback or bring in crucial funding, more developers continue choosing early access launches across Quest and Steam, and 2025 has plenty of picks.
For 2025, Forefront is UploadVR's Best Early Access VR Game of the Year. Triangle Factory's latest game following Breachers provides a 32-player shooter comparable to EA's Battlefield series. “Combat is exciting and tense, its VR gunplay is tactile and satisfying, and its environments are dynamic and engaging,” we said at the time, and we'll continue watching its next moves.
As mixed reality continues to find its footing, we're continuing to see intriguing projects emerge from across the board. What we're seeing today feels like an early look at what we can expect in the years ahead. We're focused on games where mixed reality is the clear focus, and not an optional extra in otherwise fully immersive games.
This year, our winner for Best Mixed Reality Game is Little Critters by Purple Yonder. Following the studio's work on Little Cities, we found an innovative take on the tower defense genre that puts you front and center in the fight. Its compelling gameplay has real impact, there's great strategic depth, and Little Critters keeps us coming back for more.
Apps like Pencil continue to show promise building out from innovative ideas – you can learn to draw Walkabout Mini Golf characters with a good old-fashioned pencil in hand and a headset on your head, and that's pretty cool.
Our award for best mixed reality app of 2025, though, goes to the gradually improving spatial playground Figmin XR. The app won last year too, and this year solo developer Javier Davalos essentially brought Tilt Brush to iPhone with the launch of Figmin XR there. Last year, we were able to get a pretty impressive colocation experience going in Figmin XR from Quest to Vision Pro.
This year, I single-handedly logged in with iPhone to the same virtual room as my headset. I could hold a digital object with my finger pressed to the iPhone and carry it around without even looking at it. Capturing mixed reality videos of Figmin playgrounds from iPhone could be a big use of this integration, or to let a friend or family member see into a spatial creation when they aren't in a headset.
Maingear, a well-respected boutique PC builder, has taken note of the ongoing RAM crisis and is attempting to offer a potential solution, beyond simply raising prices. Its solution is a new "BYO RAM", or "Bring Your Own RAM" program, which accepts a user's shipment of DDR5 RAM with an order of a custom PC. Maingear will take the RAM, install
GamesIndustry.biz does a yearly analyst roundtable, gathering predictions for what the next year will bring to the industry. This year's post paints a picture of an industry stuck in cautious recovery mode, with growth returning slowly, platform boundaries continuing to blur, and a handful of massive releases and technologies threatening to
One of the most influential names in the FPS genre, Vince Zampella, passed away at the age of 55 on Sunday, December 21st, in a tragic car accident with one other unidentified person. Vince Zampella worked on the Medal of Honor series, which spawned Call of Duty, which spawned Battlefield and eventually Respawn's own Titanfall. Between corporate
There was some significant controversy this summer when some customers complained of Gigabyte's GeForce RTX 50 series GPUs leaking the "server-grade thermal gel" that the board vendor touts on its product pages. Gigabyte acknowledged that some early-run cards used too much goop and that the quantity was adjusted on later models, but now it
The Glorious Model O3 Wireless debuts a swappable battery system, allowing for no charging downtime at all. It also feature the latest BAMF 3.0 sensor, an ambidextrous design, optical main button switches, 8000 Hz wireless polling, and rich RGB lighting.
Gigabyte has introduced the product page for its GeForce RTX 5070 Ti Windforce OC V2, a revision to the original GeForce RTX 5070 Ti Windforce OC that apparently doesn't use the “server-grade thermal conductive gel” that has been criticised by many users for leaking. This marks a departure from the cooling strategy the company heavily promoted at the start of the year.
The saga began earlier in 2025 when early adopters of the Gigabyte GeForce RTX 50 and Radeon RX 9000 series cards reported a viscous material oozing from beneath their heatsinks. This phenomenon was particularly prevalent in systems with vertical GPU mounts, where gravity caused the non-solid gel to drip away from the components, such as VRAM and MOSFETs. At the time, Gigabyte issued a formal statement defending the choice, claiming the leakage was a purely cosmetic result of over-application during early production runs. The manufacturer maintained that the substance could withstand temperatures up to 150°C and would not impact the reliability or longevity of the hardware.
Despite that, the release of the RTX 5070 Ti Windforce OC V2 suggests a rethink behind the scenes. As spotted by Uniko's Hardware (via VideoCardz), the updated specifications and product imagery reveal that standard thermal pads have replaced the thermal gel. Gigabyte has not provided a formal reason for the swap, but given the reports, most would assume the gel would be the leading cause.
However, the thermal interface isn't the only aspect of the card to see a refresh in this second iteration. The Windforce OC V2 features a significantly altered physical footprint compared to the original SFF-focused design it replaces. The new shroud is approximately 43mm shorter, using a triple-fan array of smaller 80mm fans. Moreover, the PCB layout appears to have been modified, with relocated screw positions and the removal of the dual-BIOS switch found on the first generation. The backplate has also been redesigned with new visuals.
KitGuru says: There is more to this revision than the replacement of thermal materials, but that is the big one. New buyers will no longer have to worry about potential leakage.
Square Enix has announced that the Octopath Traveler franchise has officially surpassed the six-million-unit sales milestone globally. This figure represents a significant jump from the five million units recorded in December 2024, suggesting that the series’s expansion to new platforms and the recent launch of a new entry have boosted its commercial momentum.
The original Octopath Traveler, which first debuted on the Nintendo Switch in 2018 before migrating to PC, Xbox, and eventually PlayStation 4 and 5, remains the primary driver of these figures. To date, the first game has sold over 3 million units. Its sequel, Octopath Traveler II, has contributed over one million units since its early 2023 launch.
The most recent growth in the series’ figures can be attributed to the release of Octopath Traveler 0 on December 4th. Serving as a prequel to the original and a clean version (no microtransactions) of the mobile title Champions of the Continent, this latest entry launched on day one across nearly all current hardware, including the Nintendo Switch 2, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC.
With the series now established across almost every modern ecosystem, Square Enix is celebrating the milestone with various digital storefront discounts (up to 60%) on the first two titles.
KitGuru says: Did you play any Octopath Traveler games? Do you think Square Enix should keep investing in this series?
Games industry veteran and Respawn Entertainment founder, Vince Zampella, has passed away. Zampella had been a leader at Infinity Ward before forming his new studio, Respawn Entertainment, and then joining EA.
According to NBC Los Angeles, authorities have confirmed that Zampella's vehicle had been involved in a crash in the San Gabriel Mountains on Sunday afternoon. A Ferrari struck a concrete barrier and then burst into flames.
As a co-founder of Infinity Ward, Zampella was one of the minds behind the Medal of Honor and Call of Duty franchises. Following a high-profile departure from Activision, Zampella co-founded Respawn Entertainment, where he continued to innovate with the release of Titanfall and its sequel.
Beyond shooters, Zampella’s leadership at Respawn oversaw the development of the critically acclaimed Star Wars Jedi games. Most recently, he had also been aiding the direction of the Battlefield series, including Battlefield 6.
Hogwarts Legacy was the bestselling game of 2023 and it is still charting even today. Given that success, it should come as no surprise that a sequel is being developed, but while the first game was purely single-player focused, Hogwarts Legacy 2 could lean towards multiplayer.
As spotted by Game Rant, Avalanche Studios is now hiring for a Senior Software Engineer. Specifically, the studio is seeking candidates with “online multiplayer RPG” experience, giving us a hint at the direction they are going in with Hogwarts Legacy 2.
It is unclear if they are thinking MMO-style gameplay, where you'll see other human players in all corners of the game, or if they are thinking co-op gameplay, where up to four player characters are roaming the world together, but outside of that, you won't run into other players.
Hogwarts Legacy garnered its popularity as a single-player experience, so this sounds like a massively risky change. Still, titles like Baldur's Gate 3 have proven that you can still have deep and meaningful RPG gameplay with multiple players, so maybe it will work out.
KitGuru Says: It sounds like Hogwarts Legacy 2 is being built to capture the imaginations of the shareholders and not the gamers who made the first one such a huge success.
2025 is nearly over, and this year's seen us explore many new locations across VR and mixed reality. Today, we're highlighting some of our favorites.
Like last year, we're splitting the UploadVR editorial team's top picks for 2025's best titles across three articles. This first one looks toward the best games across four platforms: Apple Vision Pro, PC VR, PlayStation VR2, and Meta Quest. We're also discussing our top immersive entertainment experiences beyond gaming, too.
The next article will focus on mixed reality apps and games, alongside a focus on this year's best uses of hand tracking. Because only fully released games normally count, tomorrow will also include our early access categories.
Finally, our last article features our biggest awards for 2025. In line with last year, this includes the Best VR Game Of The Year across any platform, Best VR Hardware, Best Developer, Best Multiplayer, Best Virtual Place, and Most Anticipated VR Game for 2026.
So, let's begin with the first round for our best of 2025 awards.
This year's award goes to The Clouds Are Two Thousand Meters Up, a free-roaming VR experience based on a Taiwanese short story. While you can't influence what happens, most scenes are fully explorable as you witness the narrative unfold. It feels like walking into a movie, going that extra immersive mile while backing that up with a compelling narrative.
Apple developers only started supporting tracked controllers near the end of 2025 as games like Pickle Pro started supporting the input method. Big name title Glassbreakers made its way to Apple Vision Pro in 2025, alongside the winner of Apple's own selection for best of the year, puzzler Porta Nubi.
Gears & Goo from Resolution Games is our winner for Best New Apple Vision Pro Game. Resolution's developers adapted tower defense to Apple's gaze and pinch interface with a challenging multi-hour campaign, and we'd love to see more Gears & Goo in the future.
There can only be one winner, and Ghost Town is 2025's Quest Game of the Year. Fireproof Games delivered what we considered to be an “utterly engrossing supernatural VR adventure” with strong gameplay design and some of the best visuals we've seen yet on Quest 3.
It's a highly worthy follow-up to Fireproof's previous hit, The Room VR: A Dark Matter, and we'd dearly love to see more of this world in the future.
For 2025, Roboquest VR is our PC VR Game of the Year. Flat2VR Studios' exhilarating conversion of RyseUp Studios' 2023 FPS roguelite feels like it was natively designed for the platform, and we called it “an instant classic” in our review.
It's another year when PlayStation VR2 relied on third party publishers - Climate Station aside - and the hits continued coming. 2025 provided a strong library like Hitman, Maestro, Of Lies and Rain, Demeo x D&D, Reach, Lumines Arise, UNDERDOGS, and Roboquest VR. We're also not forgetting Wanderer: The Fragments of Fate, which has gradually improved with updates.
For 2025, Arken Age is our PlayStation VR2 Game of the Year. VitruviusVR delivered a strong sci-fi action-adventure with tactile VR-first gameplay design. While it's also a solid PC VR and Quest 3 game, Arken Age benefits from Sony's headset with strong haptic feedback and PS5 Pro enhancements. Our appreciation's grown since launch and if you love action titles, it's an essential buy.
Two intelligence services from at least two NATO nations have raised alarms over a potential "weapon of fear" currently under development by Russia. This anti-satellite system is reportedly being developed to target Elon Musk’s Starlink constellation, which has become a critical backbone for Ukrainian military communications and battlefield
Are you still shopping for a holiday gift? First and foremost, check out our staff picks of ho-ho-hot tech selections, then have a gander at our roundup of last minute stocking stuffer deals. Of course, it's a bit late in the game with Christmas now just two days away, but if you're shopping for yourself (or are okay with printing a picture
Astronomers have finally captured a black hole twisting the very fabric of spacetime. This phenomenon, known as frame-dragging or Lense-Thirring precession, confirms a cornerstone of Einstein’s general theory of relativity by showing that massive, rotating objects don’t just spin in situ—they drag it along with them like a spoon stirring honey
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