To enhance user experience, Microsoft has rolled out a significant update to the web version of its Microsoft Store, simplifying the process of downloading and installing applications. This move aims to minimize the number of steps required, making it more convenient for users to access their desired apps. Previously, the process of installing apps from the Microsoft Store website involved multiple steps, including navigating through deep-linked dialogues and mini-window popups before the actual download could commence. While this approach was implemented as a security measure to prevent malicious scripts from executing, it was deemed cumbersome by many users. With the introduction of the "undocked version" of the Microsoft Store, the app installation process has been streamlined. Users can now download an app for their Windows system with just two clicks.

The first click initiates the download of the app package, and the second click launches the application itself. Early feedback from testers and developers has been overwhelmingly positive, with reports indicating a 12% increase in app installations and a remarkable 54% surge in the number of applications launched after installation. This update not only improves the user experience but also holds the potential to boost app adoption and engagement on the Microsoft Store platform. While not all apps currently support this new lightweight installation process, with some still directing users to the dedicated Windows app or requiring additional downloads during installation, Microsoft is committed to expanding the availability of this feature across its app catalog. This update underscores Microsoft's ongoing efforts to enhance the efficiency and user-friendliness of its services.

The kingdom of Stormwind lies in ruins. The greatest strategists of the Alliance and the Horde race towards a terrifying clash as war continues to rage across Azeroth. It's up to you to defend this world and its people…or crush these pitiful weaklings and claim their realm for the Horde! You can now add 1995's Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness and its expansion, Beyond the Dark Portal, to your catalog of games right from the Battle.net Shop. This game took the series' real-time strategy to new heights and added greater tactical depth, expanding your armies with flying and even seafaring units. With bigger maps and more diverse armies, Warcraft II will challenge your strategic and tactical skills. Think fast and act decisively; the fate of your people depends on it!

This release includes:
28 missions across two epic campaigns: Follow the Horde and Alliance campaigns and decide the fate of Azeroth. Visit key historic locations such as Dalaran or Stratholme, and see how they were first introduced.
Even more adventure awaits Beyond the Dark Portal: Once you've beaten the Tides of Darkness campaign, embark on the final chapter of Warcraft II with the Beyond the Dark Portal expansion. Conquer the shattered realm of Outland, and end the orcish threat once and for all!
More maps, more players, more mayhem: Fight against up to seven computer-controlled opponents or other players across an even bigger selection of online multiplayer battlefields. Take to the field as a team or try to seize victory on your own, and prove your worth as a master tactician.
Get creative with the Warcraft II map editor: Use the mapmaking tool to create your own multiplayer maps, then challenge your friends to epic battles on your turf!

Apple today announced changes to iOS, Safari, and the App Store impacting developers' apps in the European Union (EU) to comply with the Digital Markets Act (DMA). The changes include more than 600 new APIs, expanded app analytics, functionality for alternative browser engines, and options for processing app payments and distributing iOS apps. Across every change, Apple is introducing new safeguards that reduce—but don't eliminate—new risks the DMA poses to EU users. With these steps, Apple will continue to deliver the best, most secure experience possible for EU users.

The new options for processing payments and downloading apps on iOS open new avenues for malware, fraud and scams, illicit and harmful content, and other privacy and security threats. That's why Apple is introducing protections—including Notarization for iOS apps, an authorization for marketplace developers, and disclosures on alternative payments—to reduce risks and deliver the best, most secure experience possible for users in the EU. Even with these safeguards in place, many risks remain.

Today, we're introducing the Epic First Run program: an opt-in exclusivity program for third-party developers on the Epic Games Store. The new Epic First Run program gives participants the opportunity to boost their net revenue from user spending on eligible products from 88% to 100% in their first six months on the Epic Games Store. After their six-month run, participants will continue to benefit from Epic's 88%/12% revenue split.

The Epic Games Store is home to a huge, rapidly growing global audience with over 230 million players and 68 million monthly active users. Participating products in the Epic First Run program will be presented to those users on-store with new exclusive badging, homepage placements, and dedicated collections. In addition, products will be featured in relevant store campaigns including sales, events, and editorial as applicable. Once a product joins the program, it will benefit from continued exposure throughout its Epic First Run.

Whether you're a seasoned VR gamer or new to the medium, it can be hard to know where to start when exploring the Meta Quest catalog. Luckily, we're combining curation and convenience to make things a little easier. Now you can browse less and play more with Meta Quest+, your new VR subscription service.

For just $7.99 USD per month or $59.99 USD annually (a savings of over 37%), you'll get access to two hand-picked VR titles every month. And when you sign up now through July 31, you'll get your first month for $1 USD. With a combination of VR's biggest hits, hidden gems, and back-catalog classics, this is the most affordable way to grow your library with killer content.

The Vault is open again, and inside we have … more vaults! Our free game this week is Fallout: New Vegas Ultimate Edition, which is famously full of vaults. You can grab the classic post-apocalyptic RPG from 11 AM May 25, 2023 to 11 AM, June 1.

For this week's giveaway, we have one free month of Discord Nitro, letting you access the awesome app's subscription-only features for a limited time.

Ubisoft is slowly migrating availability of its flagship games over to the Steam store, and gaming fans will be happy to find out about this move. A lot of the French video game publisher's popular titles (on PC) have been locked to their own Connect service and the Epic Games Store. Far Cry-series fans on the PC platform having been shouting and complaining about one particular entry being tied to the pair of e-shops since launching back in October 2021. That timed deal between Ubisoft and Epic Games is soon to expire, and Far Cry 6 will become available via Steam on May 11.

Ubisoft implemented a reversal of releasing games on Steam back in 2019, a decision that attracted almost instant negative feedback from PC Gamers. The Division 2 was announced as being the 2019 headliner for release on Ubisoft Connect and Epic Games Store, and (at the time) other upcoming titles would follow the same path. Murmurs of a possible return to Steam emerged in late 2022, and shortly thereafter Ubisoft proceeded to rollout big franchise titles on that platform, including Assassin's Creed Valhalla and Immortals Fenyx Rising. The latest batch to get the Steam store release day treatment are (the aforementioned) Far Cry 6 on May 11th, Riders Republic on June 8th, Rainbow Six Extraction on June 15th, and finally Monopoly Madness on June 22nd.

AMD has dropped the price on most of its Ryzen 5000-series CPUs on its official web store and some models have been discounted by as much as US$250 over the MSRP. However, the most interesting discount here might be the Ryzen 7 5800X3D, which has been discounted from US$449 to US$329, which makes it a pretty good deal for anyone considering getting what is one of the best CPUs out there for gaming.

Unfortunately, AMD's discounted deal appears to have been very popular and as such the Ryzen 7 5800X3D is currently sold out. It's unclear if AMD will add more stock at the same price point, but what is clear is that the Ryzen 7 5800X3D is a popular CPU, especially at what now appears to be the right price point. As mentioned, AMD has discounted its entire lineup of Ryzen 5000-series CPUs, so if you've been on the fence whether to upgrade or not, now might be a good time to do so. That said, most online retailers appear to be offering the same CPUs at the same, or at least almost the same price, making the Ryzen 7 5800X3D the only real bargain to be had, if it comes back in stock. Unfortunately, AMD hasn't discounted its CPUs in other regions, so if you're outside of the US, you're not going to see any special deals if you visit the AMD web store.

Apple today announced Self Service Repair is now available, providing repair manuals and genuine Apple parts and tools through the Apple Self Service Repair Store. Self Service Repair is available in the US and will expand to additional countries—beginning in Europe—later this year.

The new online store offers more than 200 individual parts and tools, enabling customers who are experienced with the complexities of repairing electronic devices to complete repairs on the iPhone 12 and iPhone 13 lineups and iPhone SE (3rd generation), such as the display, battery, and camera. Later this year the program will also include manuals, parts, and tools to perform repairs on Mac computers with Apple silicon.

Apple today announced Self Service Repair, which will allow customers who are comfortable with completing their own repairs access to Apple genuine parts and tools. Available first for the iPhone 12 and iPhone 13 lineups, and soon to be followed by Mac computers featuring M1 chips, Self Service Repair will be available early next year in the US and expand to additional countries throughout 2022. Customers join more than 5,000 Apple Authorized Service Providers (AASPs) and 2,800 Independent Repair Providers who have access to these parts, tools, and manuals.

The initial phase of the program will focus on the most commonly serviced modules, such as the iPhone display, battery, and camera. The ability for additional repairs will be available later next year.

According to this Reddit thread, multiple AMD customers are reporting that the latest stock update on AMD's web store has left them without a desired product, and anger over the broken functionality. As AMD operates its own web-based storefront with all the latest CPUs and GPUs, users are constantly checking if the store has anything to offer in these times of processor scarcity, where it is impossible to purchase the latest generation of graphics cards or processors. AMD updated the website today with the newest batch of Ryzen processors and Radeon graphics cards, users have been reporting that the website functionality has been broken.

Multiple users tried to purchase their desired product, but the AMD website notified them that the queue is paused for about 30 minutes, and seemingly no one was able to purchase anything. People have been reporting that the Captcha used to verify that you are not a robot has failed as well, and adding the product to the cart was impossible, as seen in the image below. As there are multiple such comments posted in the thread, it leads us to write a report on it, wondering what is going on with AMD's storefront operations and what AMD is doing about it. With multiple users trying to purchase an AMD product, they were left with their hands empty, to wonder what is going on.

Epic Games Store, one of the many products of the Epic Games company, is the current number one contender of Steam game store, which used to be Valve's monopoly in the gaming market. Having another contender is nice and competition is always welcome, however, it doesn't seem like running a games store is a cheap venture. In the recent legal dispute between Apple and Epic in California state, we have discovered some interesting details about Epic Games Store (EGS) and its financial background. According to the documents appearing in the court, EGS is not considered profitable until 2027, at least.

Apple has told the court that "Epic lost around $181 million on EGS in 2019. Epic is projected to lose around $273 million on EGS in 2020. Indeed, Epic committed $444 million in minimum guarantees for 2020 alone, while projecting, even with 'significant' growth, only $401 million in revenue for that year. Epic acknowledges that trend will continue in the immediate future: Epic projects to lose around $139 million in 2021." This information shows that Epic has sunk a lot of cash in the store, however, the company expects EGS to become profitable at some point, where the original investment will be returned.

AMD Ryzen 5000 series of processors feature the new Zen 3 core design, which uses many techniques to deliver the best possible performance. One of those techniques is called Predictive Store Forwarding (PSF). According to AMD, "PSF is a hardware-based micro-architectural optimization designed to improve the performance of code execution by predicting dependencies between loads and stores." That means that PSF is another "prediction" feature put in a microprocessor that could be exploited. Just like Spectre, the feature could be exploited and it could result in a vulnerability in the new processors. Speculative execution has been a part of much bigger problems in CPU microarchitecture design, showing that each design choice has its flaws.

AMD's CPU architects have discovered that the software that relies upon isolation aka "sandboxing", is highly at risk. PSF predictions can sometimes miss, and it is exactly these applications that are at risk. It is reported that a mispredicted dependency between load and store can lead to a vulnerability similar to Spectre v4. So what a solution to it would be? You could simply turn it off and be safe. Phoronix conducted a suite of tests on Linux and concluded that turning the feature off is taking between half a percent to one percent hit, which is very low. You can see more of that testing here, and read AMD's whitepaper describing PSF.

According to the latest information coming from The Gamer, Sony is in the process of permanently closing the PlayStation Store support for its older consoles. That includes the PlayStation 3, PlayStation Vita, and PlayStation Portable. According to the source, "PSP's and PS3's [PSN] stores are to be closed on July 2, while the PS Vita store will stay open until August 27. After those dates, you will no longer be able to purchase digital copies of games or DLC for any of the Sony consoles mentioned above". This is marking an end of an era, as those are the consoles that sold in millions and are very well known in the gaming community.

The official announcement is expected to follow after this, however, we still don't know when Sony will address this officially. It shows that the company is now focusing on more modern consoles and that the 9-year-old PS Vita, 13-year-old PS3, and 16-year-old PSP are considered legacy now. The remaining consoles are the PlayStation 4, PlayStation 4 Pro, and the latest PlayStation 5, which are all going to be supported by the PlayStation Store for a while.

In the ongoing turf war between Epic Games and Apple, the game and engine development company has now signed a powerful ally to its side: Microsoft. In an announcement via Twitter, XBOX vice president Phil Spencer announced that Microsoft had filed a statement in support of Epic's lawsuit against Apple - specifically, regarding the maintenance of Unreal Engine resources, tools, and developer credentials in the Apple store. This comes weeks after the battle royale between Apple and Epic begun, and after Epic started a social media and industry-wide call for support among consumers and corporations alike.

While the merits on Epic's initial move and subsequent lawsuit against Apple may be up for debate, and it's likely that any court of law will say that Epic clearly intended to breach contract terms they had already accepted when distributing Fortnite through the Apple Store, this second one has a much higher amount of O2 to breathe. Apple terminating the Unreal Engine affiliation with its store and development capabilities can potentially send a ripple effect throughout the entire games industry, whether in already-shipped games, currently in development ones, or future development intentions. That Microsoft themselves backed Epic on this particular issue goes to show just how wide a net this conflict is escalating towards.

Today, Epic Games has decided to file a lawsuit against both Apple and Google after both companies removed Fortnite form their platform app stores (Google Play and Apple App Store). Firstly, Apple has decided to remove the Fortnite app to form its App Store because the game violated the company's policy that all in-game payments must go through the Apple App Store system, instead of them being processed directly. That means that Apple can also apply its 30% cut on all the payments made in-game. After Apple has revoked the Fortnite app, Epic Games has decided to file a lawsuit that aims to fight the company's monopoly and make the iOS platform more developer-friendly. Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney said that Epic will not seek or accept any special deal that Apple may offer, but rather wants to fight for all developers.

Just hours after Apple decided to pull the Fortnite game from its App Store, Google has also removed the game from its Google Play Store. Google's Play Store policy about in-app payments says that all games must use Google Play in-app billing if they want to process payments, so Fortnite was pulled from it as well. In light of that move, Epic Games has also filed a lawsuit against Google on the same terms. The company wants to fight both Apple and Google in court and make them be more developer-friendly, especially Apple. We have to wait and see how the case progresses. Being that Apple is almost a $2 trillion company, it can surely afford lots of good lawyers, just as Google will. We want to express our support for Epic Games for going in the right direction, as we do need more open ecosystems.

We've recently enabled the ability to self-refund qualifying purchases online by yourself. When you sign into your account on the Epic Games website, click the "Account" dropdown in the top right corner of the webpage, go to the "Transactions" tab and click the game title. If the game is eligible for a self-service refund, please click the "Refund" option to initiate the refund process.

All games are eligible for a refund within 14 days of purchase for any reason. However, you must not have played more than 2 hours.You will not be eligible for games from which you have been banned or for which you have otherwise violated the terms of service. In addition, you may not be eligible for refunds if Epic determines that you are abusing the refund policy.

AMD today updated its Product Change Advisory with notes that its StoreMI software won't be available for download anymore. "AMD has decided to end-of-life the current version of the StoreMI technology, and effective March 31, 2020, AMD will no longer make this technology available for download on AMD.com. End users who download the current version of the StoreMI technology prior to March 31, 2020 may continue to use it thereafter (i.e. it will not be deactivated) but AMD will no longer provide any technical or end user support. Instead, AMD will focus its internal development resources on a replacement solution with a rearchitected feature set and a planned release window of 2Q20." - says the AMD Product Change Advisory website.

AMD's StoreMI technology offered users an option to combine up to 256 GB of SSD memory with a slower HDD, to provide "SSD like speeds with HDD like capacity", and it was supported from the second generation Ryzen processors until the current third generation, Ryzen 3000 series CPUs. Given that AMD is working on a replacement solution that is coming out in Q2, we expect that the new solution will be a better and more usable one, so we will report on it as soon as there is more information.

Cut from the digital storefront cloth as you will, the EPIC Games Store has come to stay. EPIC has just announce that its digital distribution platform has achieved over 100 M subscribed users (which is different from active users, so mind the gap). That is still a success by any metric, since the digital games storefront was such a one-sided market before EPIC entered the fray - you'd be forgiven for describing the PC games distribution platform network as being composed of "Steam and the others".

Through platform exclusivity deals for new PC launches, a more enticing profit split between developers and games that are available through its store (with its headline and exclusive-grabbing 88-12 percent revenue split), monthly game giveaways and the power of Fortnite, EPIC has said that the EPIC Games Store alone generated $680 million in revenue thus far. Of that amount, Epic says $251 million represents sales of third-party games. part of that revenue has been channeled back at gamers - $23 million has been distributed in coupons and discounts toward game sales. According to EPIC, the nine most successful games in its platform are World War Z, Borderlands 3, Untitled Goose Game, Metro Exodus, Control, The Outer Worlds, The Division 2, Dauntless, and Satisfactory.

Halo: Reach for PC is going live today, as per confirmations from game developer 343 Industries. The game is supposed to go live tonight at 10 AM PST / 1 PM EST when it will be released on PC and Xbox One. The PC port is going to be available for purchase on three platforms: Game Pass, Steam, and the Windows Store. The PC port currently contains some bugs, however, 343 Industries is working to iron them out before the game launches. Features like uncapped FPS will be mostly unstable during the launch period and might cause the game to crash, so it's better to turn it off for now. Latency issues could also be present in the beginning but 343i is working hard to remove it before the game drops tonight. For all Steam users, you can pre-purchase the game here.

Razer, the leading global lifestyle brand for gamers, has announced the Grand Opening of RazerStore Las Vegas (LV). This will be Razer's largest global store to date and its second store in the U.S. after San Francisco. Razer's retail expansion into Las Vegas will further electrify the esports and gaming scene in the city best known for sports and entertainment

The RazerStore LV will be located at The LINQ Promenade, 3545 S. Las Vegas Blvd. #L27, Las Vegas, Nevada, 89109. It will open to gamers and the general public on Saturday, Sept. 7, at 12 p.m. PDT. The street-level space at The LINQ Promenade provides the perfect solution for Razer to greet its game-loving guests. With nearly 22 million global visitors annually, the Promenade represents one of the busiest locations just off the Strip.

The annual Steam game sale celebration is here, in the form of the Summer Sale. The now legendary platform for games consumption on the PC ecosystem has announced that from today through July 9th, thousands of games are experiencing price cuts that can go up to 90%. If you're planning to get your game fix, and it isn't an EPIC Games Store Exclusive, you can try and pick it up here at a discounted price - provided you can actually reach the site. Storefront price cuts are Devil May Cry 5 (-34%) and Assassin's Creed: Odyssey (-50%) but you can also grab Ni-oh, for example, at a 60% discount. The new Summer Sale now features a Steam Summer Grand Prix mode, where users can band together in groups to complete milestones (including unlocking quests and achievements) that will grant users games from their wishlist as they achieve "Pit Stops".

As it stands, it seems there have been some connection issue,s with users reporting "502 - Bad gateway" errors. For me, the page simply appears blank, with not even a single error report shown (after I finished writing this piece, I tried the steam store page again, and it seems to be working - at least for now.

The EPIC confrontation with Valve has become a hot topic in recent months, as a veritable Exodus of titles have migrated to the greener, 12%-limited cut that the EPIC Games Store takes from publishers who put their games on the EPIC Games Store digital storefront. Mostly, user reception of EPIC's practice of securing mostly one-year timed exclusivity deals for games that would otherwise also be available through Steam has left a sour taste oin gamers' mouths, as it is seen as a forced way for EPIC to fracture the PC gaming space.

However, a former Valve developer has come forth to say that in his view, Valve's 30% cut was already way behind the times, and was actually "killing PC gaming". The train of thought is that Steam itself changed Valve from a software company to what mostly amounts to a service provider, with Steam serving as a veritable digital money printing machine, that stole focus from games to games publishing, due to higher margins and much lower development costs. It's interesting - and logical - to assume that the reason an Half Life 3 never saw the light of day was because Valve had its revenue stream well secured in Steam. Why invest for a game that could be a flop, when you can just take a 30% cut from other developers' efforts?

Well, that tweet that fans of the Borderlands seriesfeared meant platform exclusivity on PC actually manifested itself. Gearbox today announced that Borderlands 3, the hit sequel to one of the first loot-shooters, will indeed be releasing on September 13th for all platforms - but will be distributed exclusively on the PC digital platform via the EPIC Games Store. Other storefronts will have to wait until April 2020 to sell copies of the game.

The game will also feature optimized performance for AMD's CPU and GPU portfolio, with AMD aiding in performance optimizations for its Ryzen CPUs, current GPUs and, expectedly, next-generation Navi. The announcement trailer and 2K's press release points to a story-driven shooter, that Gearbox CEO Randy Pitchford pitched (ahem) as "a love letter to fans of the series, but also as an ideal entry point for new players to jump-in alone or cooperatively, on or off-line, in the latest and greatest installment of the definitive best-in-class benchmark shooter-looter." The announcement trailer follows.

Randy Pitchford is an interesting character even as game company CEOs go, with a.. checkered history in the last few months that go from funny all the way to controversial at minimum. As the head of Gearbox, he holds a lot of power when it comes to the Borderlands franchise, which itself teased a third numbered entry to be revealed at PAX East later this month. His social media activity has been a prime example of what not to do as a CEO owing to some personal and professional issues alike, which meant that this latest tease not only got people looking at more about the Borderlands franchise, but also his twitter account.

Users dug up an old tweet from December 2018 wherein he claimed he was "excited to support the Epic Games Store", and this was enough to initiate concerns that Borderlands 3 might be an exclusive to the Epic Games Store on the PC platform. Subsequent replies did nothing to quell these concerns, although there was nothing to confirm anything either. This may all be making a mountain out of an imaginary molehill, but it makes sense for Epic Games to go after Borderlands 3 to get more customers on their side- especially knowing that such exclusivity deals could be in the millions of US dollars. We will know more when the game is officially announced, so keep an eye out for that.