CORSAIR, a world leader in high-performance gear for gamers and content creators, announced the launch of new peripherals that empower you to craft a customized gaming experience like no other.

This launch includes a game-changing new keyboard: The K70 MAX Magnetic-Mechanical Gaming Keyboard. The first keyboard with adjustable CORSAIR MGX magnetic-mechanical switches, the K70 MAX offers an unprecedented level of configurability in every keystroke. Whether for blistering speed or impeccable typing accuracy, the K70 MAX is the ideal device for those who seek maximum keyboard performance.

Following last October's partnership announcement with BMW Group, AirConsole will now be showcasing their casual gaming platform in a vehicle. AirConsole and the BMW Group have announced a joint appearance for the forthcoming Gamescom Event in Cologne, set for August 23-27.

Both companies invite participants to the AirConsole booth where the in-car gaming system can be experienced firsthand inside the new BMW i5. Attendees have the unique opportunity to sit in the i5 and test out the games, engaging in an innovative multiplayer gaming environment. "10 months after expressing our ambitions to become a standard for casual gaming in the automotive world, the AirConsole team is extremely proud to showcase our new in-car gaming product with the BMW Group." remarked Anthony Cliquot, CEO of AirConsole. "With the BMW Group we are looking forward to taking you for an in-car experience you won't forget."

Today, SEGA of America, Inc. and PowerA, a leader in officially licensed gaming accessories, announced a new partnership to create, distribute and sell a line of Sonic the Hedgehog-themed third-party gaming accessories. The initial product-line launches today and includes controllers for Nintendo Switch and Xbox Series X|S, a branded Nintendo Switch Protective Case, as well as a TriFold Game Card Holder for Nintendo Switch cartridges.

"As big fans ourselves, the PowerA team is thrilled to partner with the team at SEGA to bring Sonic the Hedgehog and friends to our controllers and accessories," said Akio Strasser, Senior Global Marketing Director for PowerA. "With more than 30 years of Sonic, and multiple generations of gamers experiencing this franchise, we are so excited to bring these characters to life on our accessories for the first time."

Razer, the leading global lifestyle brand for gamers, already pushes boundaries of mobile gaming, but today unveiled a substantial update to its Razer Nexus app for both iPhone and Android. Nexus 3.0 brings a variety of innovative new features for Android and a polished and upgraded experience for iPhone users. As the main game launcher for Razer Edge & Kishi V2, and driven by Razer's dedication to high-performance gaming, the Razer Nexus 3.0 update embodies innovation, immersion, and intuitive user experiences. The app update is available to users free of charge.

Redefining Game Discovery: The Razer Nexus app becomes the ultimate game concierge, presenting a meticulously curated selection of games for the Razer community. Optional video previews and carefully considered categories minimize the time between discovery and gameplay. This enriched catalog is now live for Android and iPhone users.

HyperX, the gaming peripherals team at HP Inc. and brand leader in gaming and esports, today announced the release of the HyperX Cloud Stinger 2 Gaming Headset for PlayStation and the officially licensed CloudX Stinger 2 Gaming Headset for Xbox, both in white colorways. Offering signature HyperX comfort and durability with soft memory foam and premium leatherette, Cloud Stinger 2 gaming headsets for consoles offer lightweight comfort with impressive audio, ideal for long gaming sessions and chatting with friends.

The Cloud Stinger 2 for PlayStation and CloudX Stinger 2 for Xbox are built on the foundation of the original HyperX Cloud Stinger. The headsets feature large 50 mm drivers for clear audio and rotating earcups for a comfortable fit with easy-access audio controls and a swivel-to-mute microphone for added convenience and clear voice quality.

AMD today announced revenue for the second quarter of 2023 of $5.4 billion, gross margin of 46%, operating loss of $20 million, net income of $27 million and diluted earnings per share of $0.02. On a non-GAAP basis, gross margin was 50%, operating income was $1.1 billion, net income was $948 million and diluted earnings per share was $0.58.

"We delivered strong results in the second quarter as 4th Gen EPYC and Ryzen 7000 processors ramped significantly," said AMD Chair and CEO Dr. Lisa Su. "Our AI engagements increased by more than seven times in the quarter as multiple customers initiated or expanded programs supporting future deployments of Instinct accelerators at scale. We made strong progress meeting key hardware and software milestones to address the growing customer pull for our data center AI solutions and are on-track to launch and ramp production of MI300 accelerators in the fourth quarter."

Intel's Alchemist engineering team has been working on improving its open-source Vulkan drivers for Linux—recent coverage from Phoronix shows that Team Blue's hard work is paying off, especially in the area of gaming performance. The site's founder, Michael Larabel, approves of the latest Mesa work produced by Intel engineers, and has commended them on their efforts to better the Arc Graphics family. His mid-month testings—on a Linux 6.4-based system running an Intel Arc A770 GPU—demonstrated a "~10% speed-up for the Intel Arc Graphics on Linux." He has benchmarked this system again over the past weekend, following the release of a new set of optimizations for Mesa 23.3-devel: "The latest performance boost for Intel graphics on Linux is by supporting the I915_FORMAT_MOD_4_TILED_DG2_RC_CCS modifier. Indeed it's panning out nicely for furthering the Intel Arc Graphics Vulkan performance."

He apologized for the limited selection of games, due to: "the Intel Linux graphics driver still not having sparse support in place, but at least that will hopefully be here in the coming months when the Intel Xe kernel driver is upstreamed. Another recent promising development for the Intel open-source graphics driver support is fake sparse support to at least help some games and that code will hopefully be merged soon." First up was Counter-Strike: Global Offensive—thanks to the optimized Vulkan drivers it: "enjoyed another nice boost to the performance as a result of this latest code. For CS Linux gamers, it's great seeing the 21% boost just over the past month."

After a slow week of new releases, we're in for an extremely packed week this coming week, as we have no less than two AAA titles and several other big releases. The first AAA title this coming week is a sequel from Gearbox with the second AAA title having been out on the PlayStation consoles for quite some time, but it's been given some new sparkly features on PC. We also have a space game that we know some of you have been looking forward to, as well as a time travel game and a few other little gems.

Remnant II / This Week's First AAA Title / Tuesday 25 July
Remnant II is the sequel to the best-selling game Remnant: From the Ashes that pits survivors of humanity against new deadly creatures and god-like bosses across terrifying worlds. Play solo or co-op with two other friends to explore the depths of the unknown to stop an evil from destroying reality itself. To succeed, players will need to rely on their own skills and those of their team to overcome the toughest challenges and to stave off humanity's extinction.

ROCCAT, the award-winning PC peripherals brand from best-selling gaming headset and accessories maker Turtle Beach Corporation, today announced the new Vulcan II Mini Air and Vulcan II Mechanical Gaming Keyboard are now available.

ROCCAT's first-ever wireless gaming keyboard, the Vulcan II Mini Air packs performance, durability, and functionality into a wireless mini 65% form factor. The compact footprint allows for more desktop space while TITAN II Optical Switches deliver ultra-fast response rates. PC gamers can connect the Mini Air to their favorite devices using ROCCAT's 2.4 GHz Stellar Wireless or via three unique Bluetooth channels. Plus, the Mini Air's built-in proximity sensors detect when gamers are away from their keyboard and works in conjunction with ROCCAT's Swarm software to maximize battery life. Gaming publication MP1st.com reviewed the Vulcan II Mini Air and gave it a perfect 10/10 score, and called it, "The perfect mini keyboard that anyone could dream of."

The latest update for Windows 11 appears to bring good news for gamers, as Microsoft is said to have fixed an issue related to stuttering in games that's related to certain gaming mice. The mice in question are mice that support a "high gaming report rate" which is pretty much all higher-end gaming mice today, regardless of manufacturer. What's worse, we're not talking 8000 Hz mice here, but a polling rate of 1000 Hz was enough to trigger the stuttering in some games.

It's unclear if this affected all games, or only some games, but according to Windows Latest, Microsoft has optimised the Windows input stack to be able to handle high report rate mice which is said to have been done by improving "the performance by throttling and coalescing background raw mouse listeners and capping their message rate." As such, the 23H2 update for Windows 11 will become something of a must install for anyone that's gaming on Windows 11, at least if you haven't lowered the polling rate on your mouse.

GIGABYTE TECHNOLOGY Co. Ltd, a leading manufacturer of premium gaming hardware, keep investing a lot of resources in development of gaming peripherals, today launched AORUS M6 lightweight wireless gaming mouse. The AORUS M6 adopts the optimized wireless technology and the enthusiast-grade optical sensor to meet the needs of gamers, allowing gamers to fully express their battle power in the game without worrying about hardware limitations. The symmetrical ergonomic design and classic Omron switches, together with the lightweight and comfortable design, allow gamers not only to use it comfortably, but also to use it for a long time without getting tired.

The AORUS M6 boasts an enthusiast-grade 26,000 DPI optical sensor, capable of 650ips and 50G acceleration, giving gamers the ultimate accuracy for competitive gaming. Adjustability in 50 DPI increments further allows users to make a seamless transition from their old mouse by fine-tuning the level that precisely fits their play style. AORUS M6 is equipped with 1 ms low latency 2.4 GHz wireless technology, which overcomes the interference of environmental noise and transmission delay. It realizes uninterrupted high-speed signal transmission, so that the mouse can operate smoothly. The way of wireless transmission eliminates the cable interference that plagues gamers. The lightweight design of 74 grams, even with a built-in battery module, is lighter than most wired mice, allowing gamers to easily operate for a long time. Due to the lightweight ergonomic design, 50 million Japanese Omron switches, symmetrical design, and a pair of side buttons on the left and right sides, AORUS M6 can be used comfortably by both left and right hands.

MSI, the world's leading PC gaming hardware brand, is excited to announce a strategic partnership with CAPCOM to introduce an exciting game bundle promotion of their highly anticipated sci-fi game - Exoprimal. Now with the purchase of MSI select gaming monitors, users will have the opportunity to redeem an Exoprimal PC game code on MSI's official website and get a special MSI x Exoprimal Decal to enjoy the futuristic adventure in this epic game.

Suit up, adapt, and survive in intense battles against deadly hordes of dinosaurs!
Exoprimal is a team-based action game that pits "humanity's cutting-edge exosuit technology against history's most ferocious beasts". The game is set in the year 2040, offering a visually stunning futuristic world teeming with awe-inspiring landscapes and jaw-dropping dinosaur encounters. With its meticulously crafted environments and seamless gameplay mechanics, EXOPRIMAL immerses players in a high-stakes battle against waves of dinosaurs.

Razer, the leading global lifestyle brand for gamers, in partnership with KRAFTON, Inc., a collective of independent game development studios and the publisher of popular PUBG: BATTLEGROUNDS, announced a highly anticipated collection of PUBG: BATTLEGROUNDS-themed gaming gear.

"Razer is thrilled to partner with KRAFTON on this exciting collection," said Addie Tan, Associate Director of Business Development at Razer. "When you combine our expertise in gaming peripherals with their innovative approach to immersive gaming, you get a cool new collection that resonates with gamers worldwide and captivates gamers and enthusiasts alike."

With this week being the 4th of July in the US, it appears that we don't have too many game releases to look forward to, but we managed to dig out a few new releases regardless. This week's AA title comes from Japan, with all that that entails. The rest of this week's releases include some strategy, some shooting, some tagging, some climbing, some darkness and some fear, so make of that what you want. To our US readers, enjoy your holiday this coming week.

The Legend of Heroes: Trails into Reverie / This week's AA title / Friday 7 July
What destinies await these three fateful figures? Use the Crossroads system to switch between Rean Schwarzer, Lloyd Bannings, and the masked figure "C", and determine the fates of key characters and locations within Zemuria. Dive into refined tactical combat with new features such as United Front, and discover new allies and challenges within the halls of the True Reverie Corridor!

Samsung Electronics today announced that it plans to open Samsung Game Portal, an online store specializing in gaming, on Samsung.com in more than 30 countries around the world, starting with the U.S., the U.K., Germany, France, Italy, Spain and Brazil in late June. The Game Portal is a one-stop online store for gamers designed to significantly increase the convenience of browsing and purchasing products such as smartphones, TVs, gaming monitors and high-performance SSDs. It also provides customers with a variety of gaming-related content in one place, fine-tuned to their preferences and experiences.

In 2021, Accenture, a leading global professional services company, published an illuminating gaming-related study. The study found that half of the gaming population are cross-platform gamers who use more than one device to play, spending an average of 16 hours a week gaming, as well as eight hours a week watching gaming-related video content and six hours a week participating in gaming-related communities. In response to these customer trends, Samsung has designed the Game Portal to provide an impressive variety of content, such as gaming product information, domestic and international expert reviews, product purchase benefits and offers, product utilization ideas that help users enjoy games more and game-related news.

Razer, the leading global lifestyle brand for gamers, today elevates the gaming mouse domain with the introduction of the innovative Razer Cobra line. In a seamless blend of form and function, this new mouse line incorporates the prime features of Razer's immersive mice range into a symmetrical form factor. Built with customizability, connectivity and cutting-edge technology at the forefront, the Razer Cobra Pro invites gamers to a kaleidoscopic gaming experience brimming with freedom and immersion.

"There was a clear gap in the market for a mouse that offered a well-balanced, immersive gaming experience. Driven by that realization, we created the all-new Cobra line," said Barrie Ooi, Head of Razer's PC Gaming Division. "The Cobra Pro stands unrivaled as the most immersive, feature-rich wireless and symmetrical mouse available today, and we can't wait for our community to try it out for themselves."

As we enter the last week of June. we're looking at AA title as this week's big release and it involves scantily clad men and women in a ring. The rest of this coming week's releases involve farming on alien planets, feuds with friends, oldtimers, tricky ghosts and a pair of turn-based games.

AEW Fight Forever / This week's AA title / Thursday 29 June
Developed by YUKE's, AEW: Fight Forever combines nostalgic arcade-wrestling with All Elite Wrestling finishers and moves. Featuring a big roster of AEW talent, multiple match types, robust career mode, tons of customization options, more than 40 weapons, and so much more!

NVIDIA's H100 Hopper GPU is a device designed for pure AI and other compute workloads, with the least amount of consideration for gaming workloads that involve graphics processing. However, it is still interesting to see how this 30,000 USD GPU fairs in comparison to other gaming GPUs and whether it is even possible to run games on it. It turns out that it is technically feasible but not making much sense, as the Chinese YouTube channel Geekerwan notes. Based on the GH100 GPU SKU with 14,592 CUDA, the H100 PCIe version tested here can achieve 204.9 TeraFLOPS at FP16, 51.22 TeraFLOPS at FP32, and 25.61 TeraFLOPS at FP64, with its natural power laying in accelerating AI workloads.

However, how does it fare in gaming benchmarks? Not very well, as the testing shows. It scored 2681 points in 3DMark Time Spy, which is lower than AMD's integrated Radeon 680M, which managed to score 2710 points. Interestingly, the GH100 has only 24 ROPs (render output units), while the gaming-oriented GA102 (highest-end gaming GPU SKU) has 112 ROPs. This is self-explanatory and provides a clear picture as to why the H100 GPU is used for computing only. Since it doesn't have any display outputs, the system needed another regular GPU to provide the picture, while the computation happened on the H100 GPU.

ROCCAT, the award-winning PC peripherals brand from best-selling gaming headset and accessories maker Turtle Beach Corporation (Nasdaq: HEAR), today announced it's taken its top-rated keyboard series wireless with the new Vulcan II Mini Air. The Mini Air is the wireless version of the acclaimed Vulcan II Mini. It is ROCCAT's first-ever wireless gaming keyboard, packing performance, durability, and functionality into a mini 65% form factor. The compact footprint allows for more desktop space, while factory pre-lubricated TITAN II Optical Switches deliver buttery smooth, light speed response rates. PC gamers can connect the Mini Air to their favorite devices using ROCCAT's 2.4 GHz Stellar Wireless or via three unique Bluetooth channels. Plus, the Mini Air is the first optical keyboard with built-in proximity sensors that detect when gamers step away from their desk, which works in conjunction with ROCCAT's Swarm software to maximize battery life.

The Vulcan II Mini Air retains the series' signature sleek, low-profile ID, premium aluminium top plate, and beautiful AIMO RGB lighting powered by ROCCAT's Swarm software. It also includes key features like ROCCAT's Easy-Shift[+] button duplicator technology, full NKRO (n-key rollover), and anti-ghosting technology to ensure every keystroke and combination of key presses register as intended. The Vulcan II Mini Air launches July 19, 2023, and is available for pre-order now at www.roccat.com and participating retailers in select territories. The Vulcan II Mini Air has a $179.99 MSRP (€179.99).

Thermaltake, the leading PC DIY premium brand for Case, Power, Cooling, Gaming peripherals, and enthusiast Memory solutions, is excited to release DAMYSUS RGB Ergonomic Gaming Mouse and DAMYSUS WIRELESS RGB Ergonomic Gaming Mouse. These ergonomic gaming mice feature a lightweight design, PIXART optical engine, and 60 million click OMRON engineered switches, providing gaming enthusiasts an effortlessly fast, precise tracking, and long-lasting gameplay experience. Through Thermaltake's iTAKE engine software, you can customize macros, game profiles, and even the RGB lighting of DAMYSUS RGB and DAMYSUS WIRELESS RGB to perfectly fit your battle!

To move precisely, the DAMYSUS RGB comes with a powerful PIXART PMW-3389 optical engine, allowing the DPI to be tuned in increments of 100 DPI at a time and up to 16000 DPI, or you can easily select the default DPI (800, 1200, 1600, 3200, 6400, 16000) on the gaming software. In contrast, DAMYSUS WIRELESS RGB is equipped with a high-performance PIXART PMW-3370 optical sensor with up to 19000 DPI that delivers superior tracking and response. Additionally, the DAMYSUS RGB and DAMYSUS WIRELESS RGB both feature 60 million clicks and an ARM 32 Bit microcontroller (with 64Kb flash memory and 512Kb flash memory respectively) to meet the needs of hardcore gamers. Moreover, to level up your gaming experience, you can set the macros and quickly launch custom game profiles on the iTAKE engine software.

11 bit studios have released brand new trailers today for Frostpunk 2—the highly-anticipated society survival sequel—and The Invincible—an adventure based on the sci-fi novel by Stanislaw Lem of the same name and developed by Starward Industries—as part of today's PC Gaming Show. Accompanied by mercifully rhythmic strokes of the hammer, 11 bit studios is thrilled to announce that Frostpunk 2, the sequel to award-winning, bestselling city-builder, Frostpunk, will launch on PC in 2024.

Thirty years have passed since the vicious storm that concluded the first chapter of humankind's survival story in Frostpunk. The City, settled around the Generator and its life-giving warmth, grew and progressed as the years ticked on. Years of whiteouts have changed the world, giving it a clean slate with which to write a new post-apocalyptic part of its story. Despite the noose of oppression again starting to tighten on a society that is struggling for life-preserving supplies—and increasingly bothered by inner squabbles after recent events—the world is once again facing an era of possibly prolific expansion.

Epomaker is thrilled to announce the newly launched MACHENIKE G5 Pro Controller. With an upgraded and innovative design, G5 Pro will be the best choice for gamers.

Full Hall Effects for Ultimate Gaming Experience
For a gaming controller, performance is always the first priority. MACHENIKE G5 Pro adopts full Hall effects aiming to bring an unparalleled gaming experience to users and gamers. With Hall Effect Analog Sticks and Hall Effect Triggers, the G5 Pro provides an incredible and precise response. Adopting the precise electromagnetic induction technology, the G5 Pro can realize a pixel-level micro-manipulation experience, thus preventing gamers from losing the game due to slippage.

Apple has struggled in the area of offering comprehensive gaming ecosystems - in the personal computer space - over the past few decades with only a handful of studios bothering to port their games over to macOS, but material presented at this week's Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) indicates that the technology giant is getting serious about its silicon becoming a legitimate platform for video games. A lot of the company's presentation focused on the controversial Vision Pro Headset, but some press outlets took notice of a quieter announcement during proceedings. Hideo Kojima (of Metal Gear Solid fame) made an appearance and announced: "I have been a die-hard Apple fan since I bought my first Mac back in 1994—and it has been a dream of mine to see my team's best work come to life on the Mac. Death Stranding Director's Cut on the Mac takes advantage of the latest Apple technologies to provide the best experience to our fans." Several other development outfits have also declared that their games are set for arrival on Mac systems this year. Apple was enthused about this new strategy and let everyone know that: "tens of millions of Macs can run demanding games with outstanding performance, exceptional battery life, and breathtaking visuals."

Susan Prescott, Apple's vice president of Worldwide Developer Relations stated: "A new era for gaming on Mac is here...Developers around the world can harness our powerful tools in Metal 3 to deliver incredibly responsive gameplay with high frame rates to more players than ever before." Their software engineering team has been working on a system that simplifies and accelerates the process of creating Windows-to-Mac game ports. A Proton-esque environment - comparable to Valve's software layer efforts with Steam Deck - is capable of translating and running the latest DirectX 12 Windows titles on macOS. Codeweavers revealed in a blog post that Apple has chosen to base the Game Porting Toolkit on their CrossOver source code.

A set of reports published by Niko Partners has calculated that the games market in China generated $45.5 billion in revenue last year. Native games companies (including Tencent and NetEase) accounted for 47% of worldwide mobile games revenue, along with a 39% revenue share of international PC games sales. Domestic figures show that 66% of China's gaming revenue comes from mobile, 31% from PC and 3% from console titles. The company's analysts posit that China persists as the largest global games market, with upward trends pushing growth to a predicted $57 billion of revenue by the year 2027. The gaming population is expected to expand to around 730 million participants by then.

Lisa Hanson, CEO and founder of Niko Partners included her own observations of the region's dominance: "Chinese game companies are growing internationally, and they are making bold investments at higher rates than ever. PC games revenue generated overseas by Chinese owned companies rose by 22% in 2022 and is expected to grow by a 13.8% CAGR through 2027 - which is higher than the domestic growth rate by a significant margin... China's market can be tough for domestic and foreign companies, but the country remains the number one market globally for games revenue and the number of gamers, and cannot be ignored.

Gamdias has introduced a number of new products for gamers and streamers at Computex 2023. The Pheme M1 is the company's dedicated desktop microphone - it features a supercardioid pickup pattern that precisely detects and captures the user's voice with studio quality recording quality (192 kHz / 24-bit resolution). The microphone's feed can be muted via a single button press, and an ENC mode can also be activated. An in-built 3.5 mm headphone jack provides in-house monitoring so users can precisely dial in their audio stream's mix. A gain control dial grants the ability to adjust out clipping and peaking sound issues. The Pheme M1 sports an integrated RGB lighting system with 12 modes on tap (press the gain control dial to switch between these).

The PHEME M1 is a Full HD 1080p / 60 FPS resolution gaming webcam that can be controlled via a simple single tap system - the camera feed can be turned on and off swiftly for effective privacy protection. The smart system is capable of rapid autofocus and accurate footage capture, it also compatible with a wide variety of leading streaming platforms and software suites. Gamdias boasts that the PHEME M1's Transcendent lens has a less than a 1% distortion rating - which is superior to the normal market rating of 3%.