AMD's Madhu Rangarajan, corporate VP of Compute and Enterprise AI, says the company never set out to build its Zen 6 EPYC 9006 "Venice" chips around agentic AI, a not-so-subtle dig at NVIDIA and Arm, which both pitch their latest server CPUs as made for that exact job. Rangarajan still called EPYC 9006 the best CPU for agentic workloads during a media session covered by Tom's Hardware. Chief Zen architect Mike Clark said much the same in a separate talk, admitting AMD didn't see agentic computing coming, though he added that the company always expected the CPU to keep a role in AI software. Here's what Rangarajan said:

We think that the EPYC 9006 CPU is the best CPU for the agentic era, and spoiler alert, we didn't magically know four years ago that agentic was going to be a thing and purpose-built something for agentic. The reality is an agentic workflow is a diverse set of tasks… and in order to execute those tasks well, you need compute that is able to handle a diverse set of workloads with a full portfolio.

Assassin's Creed Hexe probably won't be out before 2028. Insider Gaming's Tom Henderson says sources told him as recently as October that the game had run into issues and was pushed back internally by another year. The claim was tucked into a larger report about two unannounced Assassin's Creed projects, including the Ancient Rome game codenamed Mars, though the Hexe bit is arguably the bigger news for anyone who has been waiting since Ubisoft first announced the game back in 2022. Henderson didn't say what the issues are. Up until now, 2027 looked like the target. A leaker pointed to June 2027 earlier this year, and NateTheHate later said Hexe wouldn't launch before the second half of 2027 at the earliest.

Development hasn't exactly been smooth either. Ubisoft Montreal was reportedly reworking the combat deep into production in February, and around 50 developers were reportedly moved off the project a few months later. Ubisoft's latest official word came in its Fall 2026 franchise update at the end of October. The company said Hexe is making steady progress, though there is "still work ahead of us," and promised the next major update in 2027. That isn't a confirmation of anything, though it does leave room for a 2028 launch. Ubisoft hasn't given Hexe any official release window so far, so readers are advised to treat 2028 as an internal target that could still move.

Sony is adding built-in storage to a new PlayStation Portal model for Japan and South Korea, though it hasn't said how much storage it has or what it will be used for. The PlayStation Portal Player Midnight Black goes on sale December 10 for ¥39,980 in Japan and ₩378,000 in South Korea, the same price the current model sells for after this year's price hikes. Preorders open November 13, and each unit ships with one month of PlayStation Plus Premium. Like the Japan-only Midnight Black PS5, both versions are locked to the local language and only work with PlayStation accounts registered in that country. Sony's Japanese post only says the storage is there for future features, with details to follow once those are decided.

Interestingly, the Korean post calls it expanded internal storage instead of new storage, which makes sense since the Portal needs some flash just to run its OS. The "Remote" part of the name is also gone, so the device is now simply the PlayStation Portal Player, as it can stream games from the cloud without a PS5 these days. Everything else carries over, including the 8-inch 1080p 60 FPS LCD, haptic feedback, adaptive triggers, and 3D Audio. That also means no OLED panel, which leaker KeplerL2 claimed back in January would come with a refreshed Portal sometime in 2026. Offline play or local downloads would be the obvious guess for the storage, though Sony hasn't confirmed anything along those lines. There's also no word on a wider release, so buyers elsewhere shouldn't hold out for this model just yet.

ASRock Rack is promising up to 4 TB of DDR5 on a single socket with its DMRD16-2L+, one of the first motherboards built for Intel's upcoming Xeon 7 "Diamond Rapids" processors. The board was shown at the OCP Global Summit 2026 and has since been detailed by ServeTheHome. It has 16 DIMM slots in a one-DIMM-per-channel layout, matching the 16-channel memory setup Intel detailed at HOT CHIPS. Regular RDIMMs top out at 128 GB per module and 8000 MT/s, while MRDIMMs run at up to 12,800 MT/s, with taller 2U MRDIMMs reaching 256 GB each. Populate all 16 slots with those, and you hit 4 TB, along with a theoretical bandwidth of roughly 1.6 TB/s.

Expansion is unusual, with no standard PCIe slots and no OCP NIC 3.0 connector. All I/O goes through up to 16 MCIO x8 connectors, each rated for PCIe 6.0 or CXL 3.0, for 128 lanes in total. The rest is fairly basic: one PCIe 5.0 x4 M.2 slot, two Intel I350 Gigabit Ethernet ports, an ASPEED AST2700 BMC with a dedicated management port, and VGA output. ASRock Rack fits it all on a 12 x 13-inch EEB PCB, about the size of a large E-ATX board, so it could squeeze into some bigger workstation cases. Pricing and availability have not been shared yet, but that is hardly surprising, since Intel has the Xeon 7 family slated for a 2027 debut on the new LGA9324 socket. The board is aimed at servers, though anyone planning a high-memory workstation for local AI will probably keep an eye on it.

NVIDIA has released NVIDIA App 11.0.9.585, a small update that adds DLSS Override profiles for 19 games and Optimal Settings profiles for six. The list mixes older titles like PUBG: Battlegrounds, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, and Dragon's Dogma 2 with Control Resonant, Silent Hill: Townfall, Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve, Gears of War: E-Day, and Star Wars: Galactic Racer, all of which were scheduled to launch in September or October. Oddly enough, 007 First Light was already listed in the main 11.0.9 release, and Active Matter showed up back in 11.0.8. NVIDIA doesn't explain the repeats, and it doesn't say which overrides each game supports either.

The changelog otherwise only mentions "various stability/security fixes" without any details. This build follows two bigger ones that added significantly more features. The main 11.0.9 release brought DLSS 4.5 Ray Reconstruction and per-game Resizable BAR controls, while 11.0.9.565 added RTX Spark support, a local MCP server for AI agents, and a faster Performance Mode for DLSS Frame Generation. As a refresher, DLSS Override lets GeForce RTX owners use newer DLSS models, or modes like DLAA, that a game may not offer on its own. It sits under Graphics > Program Settings > Driver Settings. Below is the full list of games.

Sony says work on its next-generation PlayStation, presumably the PS6, is still on schedule despite the ongoing memory crunch. During the company's Q2 FY2026 earnings call, CFO Lin Tao said development is "progressing as scheduled," adding that investment in the new platform will ramp up from next fiscal year, which begins in April 2027. On the memory front, Sony says it has offset rising memory prices on the PS5 through pricing, promotions and cost cuts, and has already agreed with suppliers on how much memory it needs for next year's projected hardware sales. Here's what Tao said about the next generation in her prepared remarks:

Although new PS5 unit sales are gradually declining as expected in this stage of the console life cycle, the PS platform continues to expand and grow in a stable manner. Looking ahead to next fiscal year, we aim to continue to enhance user engagement and further strengthen monetization through the release of strong titles and the expansion of our service. We also intend to make solid progress in preparing for the next generation platform.

Later, during the Q&A, she added:

For future growth, we have to attach great importance to our new platform. We have to make the necessary investments for that. But we have to support this soundness of our platform and try to think how rationally we can invest in our platform.

Samsung has reportedly booked the entire planned output of its second fab in Taylor, Texas, and most of it is going to AMD. According to an exclusive from Korea's Maeil Business Newspaper, citing industry sources, Taylor Fab 2 will make HBM base dies for AMD and NVIDIA on a 2 nm process, with AMD's orders making up the bulk of it. Apparently, AMD's volume alone is enough to stretch the fab's capacity. Samsung declined to comment, saying it can't confirm customer-related details.

These aren't AMD's CPUs or GPUs, though. The base die is the logic chip at the bottom of an HBM stack, and Samsung plans to pair the Texas-made dies with DRAM produced in South Korea and ship them as finished HBM. Its current HBM4 and the sampled HBM4E use 4 nm base dies, so 2 nm or smaller seems aimed at later HBM generations. The deal also follows Lisa Su's visit to Samsung in October, where Samsung reportedly wanted foundry orders from AMD in return for the HBM that AMD urgently needs. A March MOU had already made Samsung the primary HBM4 supplier for the Instinct MI455X.

Helen Chiang, Xbox's first-ever chief operating officer, has left Microsoft just three months after taking on the role. The news comes from a short internal memo by Microsoft Gaming CEO Asha Sharma, obtained by The Verge, which simply states that Chiang is leaving the company and thanks her for her years of service. No reason was given, and Xbox's VP of communications, Kari Perez, said the company doesn't discuss individual personnel matters. There's no successor yet either, so Chiang's duties will be split among other Xbox leaders for now, with Sharma promising more details on COO leadership once plans are finalized.

Chiang had been at Microsoft for around 21 years, starting in 2005 and moving to Xbox in 2007, where Sharma credits her with helping build Xbox Live. She later led Mojang and became corporate vice president of the Minecraft franchise in 2020. Sharma created the COO position in July as part of her reset of Xbox, and it came with end-to-end profit and loss responsibility across content, hardware, platform, and services. That same reset includes around 3,200 job cuts by the end of fiscal year 2027, with hundreds of jobs already gone. Losing the executive meant to hold the whole business together this early into the reset probably isn't the kind of stability Xbox was hoping for.

Update Oct 25th: A verified source familiar with the situation has told Eurogamer that Helen Chiang was "terminated for policy violations." This claim has not been independently verified.

Update Nov 3rd: Helen Chiang has since denied being "fired for a policy violation" in a recent LinkedIn post. She goes on to clarify more points about her departure. You can read her full post below.

As spotted by Club386, two motherboards based on Intel's Z970 chipset have shown up in the NBD shipping database, which logs Vietnamese customs records. Going by the names, both appear to be from ASRock: the Z970 LiveMixer WiFi and the Z970 Pro-A WiFi. The entries refer to PCBs shipping at the end of September 2026. The Z970 chipset is rumored to support CPU multiplier overclocking, but not the base clock tweaking that Z990 is expected to offer. Leaker Jaykihn has also previously reported that it will replace most of the market the B860 covers today. If that ends up being the case, it would be a big change, since Intel has kept CPU overclocking on its most expensive chipset for years, while AMD allows it on most of its B-series boards.

Intel's Robert Hallock has previously said the goal is more unlocked SKUs over time, and that overclocking shouldn't be reserved for the people paying the most. It looks like that approach could extend to motherboards too. Of course, Intel hasn't announced Z970 or Z990 yet, so this is all unofficial, and we don't know what the prices of either would look like. Moreover, shipments this early don't necessarily mean retail boards are close. Intel has reportedly promised more details at CES in January 2027, which fits the rumored CES 2027 launch window. If Z970 does arrive at B860 prices, it could be the most interesting platform for most builders.

Leaker Kepler_L2 says AMD will bring RDNA 5+ to its Zen 7 "Grimlock" APUs in 2029. He posted on the NeoGAF forum, replying to a user who guessed RDNA 5 would trickle down to regular mobile chips in 2028 or later. His answer was "RDNA5+ in 2029 with Grimlock." He gave no details on how RDNA 5+ differs from RDNA 5, and AMD hasn't confirmed the name or timing. Grimlock is the codename for the Zen 7 Ryzen generation. This update follows Kepler_L2's January claim that AMD is splitting its APU roadmap in two. Products that don't need strong integrated graphics, like office laptops or laptops with a high-end discrete GPU, stay on RDNA 3.5 until 2029, while "premium" parts get RDNA 5. Medusa Halo is expected to be one of those.

The picture is messy, though. We previously reported that Medusa Point should get RDNA 4m, a tweaked RDNA 3.5 with FSR 4 support, and AMD's HIPRT 3.2 release notes list Medusa support for gfx1170, gfx1171 and gfx115E. The gfx115x family is RDNA 3.5, so it looks like at least one Medusa chip could stick with it. If this ends up being true, anyone waiting on a mainstream Ryzen laptop or handheld with RDNA 5 graphics may be waiting a long time. That's a long run for one iGPU architecture, but of course, this is all leak territory until AMD says something concrete.

ASRock has posted vBIOS updates for ten of its Radeon RX 7000 series graphics cards, joining Sapphire and GIGABYTE. The new firmware, version 1.0.5, went up on ASRock's support pages on October 29 and covers the RX 7600 XT Challenger and Steel Legend, RX 7700 XT Challenger, RX 7800 XT Challenger and Steel Legend, RX 7900 XT Phantom Gaming (including the White version), and the RX 7900 XTX Phantom Gaming and Taichi, along with the Taichi White. The files are flashed through ASRock's ASRVBFlash tool on Windows. Owners of these ASRock cards are advised to check the vBIOS section of their specific model's support page before flashing.

ASRock doesn't say what the update actually changes, as the description field only lists the flash utility version. However, the timing points to the same RDNA 3 security fix that Sapphire began offering in early October. GIGABYTE later tied its own files to the AMD-SN-6023 identifier, and AMD confirmed the updates address potential security vulnerabilities, adding that it has no reports of them being exploited. AMD still hasn't published the bulletin itself, so the details remain unknown. Interestingly, ASRock's own download page still carries its standard warning that it does not recommend updating the vBIOS if the card is already running normally, which reads a little odd next to AMD's advice to update as soon as firmware is available.

Intel is moving some manufacturing capacity away from consumer chips to keep up with demand for its Xeon server processors. During its Q3 2026 earnings call, the company said it will convert some Intel 18A resources at its Oregon facilities to Intel 3, the node behind Xeon 6 "Granite Rapids." According to CFO Dave Zinsner, those 18A wafers "are generally going to build Panther Lake products." Zinsner also indicated that weaker PC demand gives Intel room to make the switch, as the company expects the PC slowdown to last at least through the first half of next year. CEO Lip-Bu Tan said the added Intel 3 capacity should be in production in the second half of 2027.

Intel CEO Lip-Bu TanThe industry continues to navigate one of the most significant supply shortages in the history, driven by the unprecedented demand for Super Intelligence. Against this backdrop, I am pleased by the progress we made growing our server supply in Q3. I'm mindful about the ongoing challenges we face in the future quarters to keep pace with the server demand.

Samsung Foundry will present 8LPU+, the second generation of its 8LPU platform, at IEDM 2026 on December 14, and Nintendo Patents Watch has already pegged it as a possible fit for a Switch 2 Lite. It's speculation for now. Nintendo hasn't announced a Switch 2 Lite, and Samsung's material doesn't mention Nintendo or NVIDIA. The link exists because the Switch 2's NVIDIA T239 SoC is built on Samsung's 8 nm node, so a refined version of that process is an obvious candidate for a cheaper handheld-only model.

Samsung's IEDM abstract lists 12% higher performance, 15% lower power, and an 8% area shrink over 8LPU, along with roughly 10% smaller I/O area and lower standby leakage. It's a DUV-only node, and Samsung pitches it at automotive, robotics and edge AI chips. Korea's Electronic Times reports the platform should arrive before year's end, and quoted an industry official who named existing 8 nm customers as likely candidates. Of course, these are process-level figures, so they don't directly translate into a future Switch 2 Lite that runs 12% faster or lasts 15% longer per charge. We also don't know how closely NVIDIA's custom 8N variant maps onto 8LPU+.

Warhorse Studios, the Czech developer behind Kingdom Come: Deliverance II, has confirmed that it was hit by a cyberattack. In an official statement on its website, the studio says the attack involved unauthorized access to company systems and company data. Warhorse is working with cybersecurity experts to secure its systems and assess the full impact, and says it is coordinating with the relevant authorities, though it didn't name them. A much shorter message also went up on the studio's X account on October 27, telling players it was sorry to share the news and thanking them for standing with the studio.

CEO Martin Frývaldský called it "a serious incident for Warhorse Studios and everyone affected," adding that the priority is to secure systems, establish the full extent of the breach, and protect employees, partners, and the community. Other details are thin, however. Warhorse hasn't said when the attack happened, who is behind it, what kind of data was accessed, or whether anything was actually taken, and it isn't giving interviews or further comments while the investigation is ongoing.

After plenty of rumors, Epic Games has finally made it official: One Piece is coming to Fortnite. The official Fortnite account on X posted three straw hat emojis on October 24, along with a short teaser showing the Going Merry, the Straw Hat Pirates' first ship, sailing out of the fog before a joint Fortnite and One Piece logo appears. The collaboration is tied to Treasure Hunters, a pirate-themed mini-season that kicks off on November 1 and closes out Chapter 7 before Chapter 8 arrives. The same account also posted "The greatest adventure of all! 11.1" that day to tease the start date.

It looks like that's about all Epic has shared so far. There's no word on which characters will show up as skins, what's coming to the Item Shop, or whether the content goes live on day one or later in the season. People were quick to point out that the ship in the teaser looks like the anime version, not the one from Netflix's live-action series, so the collab will probably lean on the anime, though Epic hasn't said so. Treasure Hunters also looks set to bring Pirate Miku and Kasane Teto, based on teasers from their official accounts. Of course, this isn't the first time the Straw Hats have touched Fortnite. Netflix and Enthusiast Gaming put out a One Piece Creative map back in 2023 to promote the live-action show, though it had no skins. Players can expect more details as November 1 gets closer.

A fan petition asking EA to keep Mass Effect alive has picked up close to 180,000 signatures in just a few days. The #SaveMassEffect petition went up on Change.org on October 21, the same day EA shut down BioWare and ended early development on the next Mass Effect game. It asks EA to commit to continued development of the series with proper funding, staffing and time, or, if that's off the table, to license the Mass Effect IP to another studio that wants to carry it forward. The count is still climbing, and EA hasn't responded so far.

The petition grew out of a rough week for BioWare fans. EA is cutting around 400 jobs, roughly 50 of them tied to the canceled game, which a leaked trailer showed was going to be called Mass Effect: Universe. A content creator who says he saw the project during development has also shared what he claims are details about its story and setting. The licensing ask isn't entirely far-fetched, either. Former BioWare executive producer Mark Darrah has pointed out that EA owns all of BioWare's IPs, and that with nobody left working on them, EA might sell them off, or just bury them in the vault.

A day after the trailer for BioWare's canceled Mass Effect game leaked, Australian YouTuber Dantics has shared what he claims are details about the project, which he calls Mass Effect Universe. Dantics says he was part of a private "Mass Effect Council" of content creators who saw the game and gave feedback during development, and that BioWare closing its doors means he can finally talk about it. According to his post on X, the game was set more than 600 years after the Reaper War, with players taking on the role of a customizable N7 agent, which he likens to a cross between John Wick and James Bond. Apparently, the galaxy was split into three factions (humanity, the Krogan and Batarians in one bloc, the Council races in another, and the Geth as a third superpower), locked in a galactic Cold War instead of another Reaper-style invasion.

Dantics also lists experimental implants that let players see through walls and remotely trigger hazards, handcrafted missions with Hitman-style freedom, brutal close-range executions, squadmates who clash, and Liara returning as a powerful Asari Matriarch. In a separate video, he says the game was being built to accommodate all three Mass Effect 3 endings. His council role hasn't been independently confirmed, though BioWare has credited community councils in past games, and project lead Michael Gamble follows him on X. EA hasn't commented on any of it, and since the game was still in early development when EA cut around 400 jobs, roughly 50 of them at BioWare, it's hard to say how much of this would have made it to launch.

Microsoft has started selling Xbox Cloud Gaming time to people who don't pay for Game Pass. Starting today, Xbox Insiders without an active subscription can buy prepaid playtime and stream games on supported devices, with a broader rollout planned for November. There are three packs at what Microsoft calls introductory launch pricing: 10 hours for $3.99, 25 hours for $7.99, and 50 hours for $11.99. The packs are ad-free and come with shorter wait times, and the purchased hours don't expire until they are used up. Insiders can also keep using the free, ad-supported option Microsoft began testing in July. These pay-as-you-go plans arrive right before the monthly hour limits Microsoft announced in September kick in.

Starting in November, Game Pass Ultimate ($22.99) includes 15 hours of cloud gaming per month, Premium ($14.99) gets 10 hours, and Essential ($9.99) gets just five. Microsoft expects the caps to affect around 4% of subscribers, and said those who run out will be able to buy extra playtime through the Xbox Store. It seems likely these packs will double as top-ups for subscribers, though Microsoft hasn't confirmed that yet. On paper, $11.99 gets you more than three times the streaming hours Ultimate includes each month. Of course, Ultimate also comes with the Game Pass library, while the packs are meant for streaming eligible games you already own. More details on eligible games and market availability should follow in November. Since the current prices are labeled introductory, they could very well change later.

CD Projekt RED's Cyberpunk 2077 Update 2.5 isn't out until October 22, but most of its content has already leaked. YouTuber WesNemo apparently published a video covering the update too early, and while it has since been pulled, players on r/GamingLeaksAndRumours had already summarized it. According to WesNemo, CD Projekt gave him and other creators early access to the update ahead of its official presentation. The studio itself has only confirmed dual-wielding and cyberware customization so far, so treat the rest as unofficial until the patch notes go live.

Apparently, dual-wielding is limited to pistols and comes through a new "Double Trouble" perk in the Cool skill tree. The leak also lists a new Edgerunners 2 gig called "Clampdown," which reportedly acts as a prequel to the anime that premiered on Netflix on October 20, plus a mystery Night City tour sidequest. Glamdoc shops will let players change the look of arm cyberware like Mantis Blades and Gorilla Arms, and there are five new clothing sets, new hairstyles for both male and female V, Quadra skins through Twitch Drops, and a radio station playing Edgerunners music.

A hacker claiming responsibility for the breach of Denmark's Central Register of Persons (CPR) says it was protected by "123456," a password that has topped most-common-password lists for years. Speaking to Danish newspaper Politiken, the person said at least three accounts at Pays ApS, a two-employee IT company in Odense with authorized access to the register, used that exact password, and one of them was an administrator account. Danish authorities confirmed the breach on October 5, saying the names, addresses, and CPR numbers of around 8.8 million people were exposed, including deceased people and those who have moved abroad. Pays managing director Sophie Laursen confirmed on October 9 that the company's access had been abused, and its website has since gone offline.

Documents obtained by Danish broadcaster TV 2 show the attacker got in on September 10 and ran roughly 14 million automated searches through September 20. Apparently, nobody caught it until October 2, when a ministry staffer spotted an invoice showing unusually high activity from Pays. Some reports also say the initial entry came through a leaked password tied to a former employee, though those details are still murky. The hacker claims they have no plans to sell or leak the data. That may not count for much, since Denmark's Agency for Public Security (Samsik) now says a CPR number can no longer be trusted on its own to verify someone's identity. Readers in Denmark are advised to watch out for phishing messages that use their personal details, and if you're still using the "123456" password anywhere, it's probably time to change it.

The recent Silent Hill franchise revival, which gained momentum with Silent Hill f and more recently Silent Hill Townfall, appears to have been a risk worth taking, and Konami has no plans of stopping or slowing down, according to producer, Motoi Okamoto, in an interview with Famitsu (via Game Observer).

[Editor's note: Our in-depth review of Silent Hill Townfall is now live]

Okamoto explains that the studio is satisfied with the performance of the three Silent Hill releases since the revival's announcement in 2022, which was a "relief," since the studio took some convincing on his part to let him release the first three games—referring here to the Silent Hill 2 remake, Silent Hill Townfall, and Silent Hill f. Now, thanks to the success of what he calls the first wave of Silent Hill games, Konami is already planning both a second and third wave of games, although he declined to give further details on what those games would be, other than that Konami is working on "a number of projects."

Following what appears to have been a series of unfortunate events that led to a roadside laptop find resulting in confirmation that Microsoft will be launching a 20-core NVIDIA RTX Spark Surface Laptop, we now appear to have confirmation that Microsoft will also be launching a Surface Laptop Ultra on the other end of the Spark spectrum. According to Windows Central, Microsoft will reveal the full RTX Spark Surface line-up on October 7 at a special event in San Francisco.

Alongside the 20-core variant, the Windows Central report claims that Microsoft will launch a Surface Laptop with NVIDIA's 18-core RTX Spark. It is also claimed that the 18-core SKU will start with 24 GB of unified memory, while the 24-core version will start with 32 GB of memory. There will reportedly be a performance demonstration that shows off how the new Arm SoC delivers the same level of performance on battery life as it does when plugged into the wall.

Staff at Ninja Theory, the Cambridge studio behind Hellblade, have started posting on LinkedIn that they have been laid off or that their jobs are at risk. The posts were first spotted by journalist Chris Kerr, and they come from a technical director, a gameplay programmer, sound designers, and technical artists, among others. Senua, the third Hellblade game, was revealed at the Xbox Games Showcase in June with a 2027 release window on PC, Xbox, and PlayStation 5. Xbox hasn't officially canceled it; however, gameplay programmer Katrin Mair wrote in her post that it was sad knowing "we won't get to finish what we were working on."

Ninja Theory was supposed to survive the 3,200-job Xbox "reset" announced in July. Xbox CEO Asha Sharma said at the time that the studio had entered terms to join new ownership, with funding to finish Senua. That plan fell apart in September, when Xbox chief content officer Matt Booty told staff that "two separate agreements for Ninja Theory fell through" and that a consultation on a proposed closure would begin. He did add that Xbox would keep looking at other options for the studio, though there has been no update on that since. Neither Xbox nor Ninja Theory has said how many people are affected, and the closure itself is still officially a proposal. Xbox has an all-hands town hall scheduled for October 6, so more details may follow.

Micro Center may have started asking some RTX 5090 buyers for ID and a signed declaration form. A Redditor on r/Microcenter says they bought a PowerSpec AI90 prebuilt with an RTX 5090 at the Tustin store, where a manager had them fill out a form and scan their driver's license. Apparently, staff called the process new, starting about two days earlier. The form looks to be an "Advanced Computing Product Purchaser Declaration" that asks for contact and ID details, and it reportedly says "No exports, No exceptions." The form requires buyers to certify that they will not export the hardware, nor will they resell to someone intending to take it outside the country. Micro Center hasn't officially commented on this incident or on the rule in general.

The standard RTX 5090 isn't meant to be sold officially in China under US export rules, and MSI previously said that any units showing up there came through unauthorized parallel imports. That may be why the retailer wants a paper trail, but that's unconfirmed for now. Pricing could also play a role. NVIDIA has hiked RTX 5090 prices multiple times over the past few months, and German listings recently passed €5,000, about 73% above January. AI firms are reportedly buying RTX 5090 cards in bulk, tightening supply for consumers. If other stores follow Micro Center's approach, buying a 5090 in person could come with some paperwork. Regardless, we don't yet know whether this is a new widespread policy or a one-off.

Almost a year ago, to the day, Valve revealed a new Steam Store UI, which cleaned up much of the storefront's UI and presented an overall more cohesive design that is better suited to the variety of PCs, handhelds, and consoles that Valve now caters to. It appears as though Valve's next upcoming update to the Steam Store UI is more subtle, but may have a more meaningful impact on game discovery, for both developers and gamers, alike. This update also comes shortly after Valve overhauled the Steam handheld and Big Picture mode with the optional Big Art mode.

According to a new post in Steamworks news—Valve's developer news feed—Steam will soon lose the curated Discounts & Events section that appears at the top of users' Steam Store Home pages, which currently shows deal and event placements scheduled by developers or directly by Steam. In its place, Valve will introduce "something more dynamic and personalized for each customer," which Valve says will give more sale and game events a chance at being featured on the Store homepage and throughout Steam. Valve says that, in previous tests of this new methodology, it has been able to show games to 10 times more Steam users than using the old model.