First B580 reviews coming in:

It’s Thursday and these are the news:

SALES /PLAYER COUNT & DEALS

The Epic Store has launched its Winter Sale and they’re giving away The Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria during the next 7 days: https://store.epicgames.com/en-US/p/the-lord-of-the-rings-return-to-moria-f01344.
The giveaway for next week is secret.

GOG has launched its Winter Sale! From now until the 2nd of January you’ll find more than 6500 games on sale with up to 90% discounts. And that’s not all because...

• There’s a GIVEAWAY: The Whispered World: Special Edition will be free to get during 70 more hours: https://www.gog.com/en/game/the_whispered_world_special_edition

Steam has three new deals:

• Layers of Fear is going to be 40% off until December 18: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1946700/Layers_of_Fear/
• Fly Corp has a demo and a 50% discount until the 19th of December: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1372530/Fly_Corp/
• Wavetale also has a demo, and gets a 90% deal until the 19th: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1823930/Wavetale/

Humble Bundle has two short bundles:

• tinyBuild IGN Live Showcase Encore has 15 items to get (games, DLCs and a coupon) during 10 more hours: https://www.humblebundle.com/games/tinybuild-ign-live-showcase-encore
• The Devious Deckbuilders Encore Bundle has seven games and will last another 10 hours: https://www.humblebundle.com/games/devious-deckbuilders-encore

Fanatical has two deals:

• They’ve extended the Star Deal, so now we have another 24 hours to get DRAGON BALL Z: KAKAROT Legendary Edition with a 79% deal: https://www.fanatical.com/en/game/dragon-ball-z-kakarot-legendary-edition
• The BYO Best of Infinity VR Collection features 17 titles for your 2+, 3+ or 4+ games bundles: https://www.fanatical.com/en/pick-and-mix/build-your-own-infinity-vr-collection

SOFTWARE & DRIVERS

Microsoft adds nearly 400 games to the Xbox app as it rolls out a 'new Home experience' to all users
https://www.pcgamer.com/software/platforms/microsoft-adds-nearly-400-games-to-the-xbox-app-as-it-rolls-out-a-new-home-experience-to-all-users/
Microsoft has rolled out a big update for the Xbox app on PC that it says will make it faster and easier "to find their favorite games and discover great new titles to play." Alongside the update, nearly 400 games that weren't previously available through the app have been added to its lineup.
Central to the update is the new "Home experience," previously only available to Xbox Insiders, that will help players "stay up to date on game releases, new events, Game Pass content, sales, and more," Xbox general manager of content curation and programs Chris Charla wrote (via The Verge). "There are also new curated collections and recommendations, deals and discounts, and the Jump back in feature, which enables players in Compact Mode to click on any game card and jump right back into gameplay from the game’s hub."
As for the new games added as part of the update, Charla said Microsoft began working with partners in the summer "to bring all PC games with Xbox features into the Xbox app."

MODS, EMULATORS & FAN PROJECTS

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GAMING NEWS

Path of Exile 2 Title Update 0.1.0d Released, Full Patch Notes
https://www.dsogaming.com/patches/path-of-exile-2-title-update-0-1-0d-released-full-patch-notes/
Grinding Gear Games has just released the first update for the Early Access version of Path of Exile 2, and shared its full patch notes. Patch 0.1.0d is 568MB in size on PC, and fixes over 60 issues. So, let’s take a closer look at it.
>> Sadly, the patch has broken some builds.

The release window for Mafia: The Old Country has been leaked
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/the-release-window-for-mafia-the-old-country-has-been-leaked/
It appears that the release window for Mafia: The Old Country has been leaked. According to an ad that appeared on X/Twitter, the game will come out on PC and consoles in the Summer of 2025.
>> Oopsy!

Star Wars: Outlaws Update 1.5.0 Released, Full Patch Notes
https://www.dsogaming.com/patches/star-wars-outlaws-update-1-5-0-released-full-patch-notes/
Ubisoft has just released Title Update 1.5.0 for Star Wars: Outlaws, and shared its full patch notes. So, let’s see what’s in store for all of its fans.

Thursday news, part two:

Cyberpunk 2077 update promises 'up to 33%' higher frame rates on Arrow Lake and at the very least we gained 8% in the benchmark
https://www.pcgamer.com/hardware/cyberpunk-2077-update-promises-up-to-33-percent-higher-frame-rates-on-arrow-lake-and-at-the-very-least-we-gained-8-percent-in-the-benchmark/
Cyberpunk 2077's 2.2 update could be fantastic for anyone with a machine packing an Intel Arrow Lake chip—all five of you—thanks to announced CPU-threading optimisations for the game. The changes would reportedly put CPUs like the Core Ultra 9 285K up to the same performance figures of Ryzen 7 7800X3D, albeit in one game, but our own tests don't quite show that level of improvement.
>> Fpr those with mods, there’s also a Beta branch, so you can still play with them while you wait until they’re updated.

Cyberpunk 2077's new update secretly added a Balatro-based sidequest, among other unlisted changes
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/action/cyberpunk-2077s-new-update-secretly-added-a-balatro-based-sidequest-among-other-unlisted-changes/
Yesterday, CD Projekt RED released a pretty sizeable update for Cyberpunk 2077 out of nowhere. The 2.2 update came with an improved photo mode, a bunch of new cars to buy from Autofixer, the ability to save and apply your custom car coatings to other vehicles, and ol' Keanu Reeves zapping himself into the passenger seat as you cruise around the city, commenting on your surroundings and flipping off passers-by like the bad boy he is.
There's a bunch of other new tweaks listed in the 2.2 update too, but IGN uncovered something that didn't make it onto the official patchnotes: a whole new sidequest based on this year's roguelike poker-like deckbuilder Balatro.

Detective adventure Strange Antiquities makes me want to be an apprentice thaumaturge, right after I look up what thaumaturge means
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/puzzle/detective-adventure-strange-antiquities-makes-me-want-to-be-an-apprentice-thaumaturge-right-after-i-look-up-what-thaumaturge-means/
As we wind down this year in games, what are you looking forward to most in 2025? Becoming an adventurer in Avowed? A crook in GTA 6? A Norman Reedus in Death Stranding 2? A… civilization, I guess, in Civilization 7?
Me, I want to be a shop owner. Helping customers, petting my cat, and, oh yeah, using detective work to solve a string of baffling mysteries revolving around bizarre occult antiquities. The sequel to 2022's excellent detective game Strange Horticulture is called Strange Antiquities, and developer Bad Viking just gave us our first look at the type of sleuthing you can do in a new gameplay trailer

OG Fallout lead Tim Cain explains just how much thought went into the timeline, and why canned beans were key: 'Post-apocalypse, but not so far post- that everything's collapsed and everyone's dead'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fallout/og-fallout-lead-tim-cain-explains-just-how-much-thought-went-into-the-timeline-and-why-canned-beans-were-key-post-apocalypse-but-not-so-far-post-that-everythings-collapsed-and-everyones-dead/
The original Fallout's lead developer Tim Cain has been sharing his memories about the early games in the series for a while over on his Youtube channel. Cain's had a long and eclectic career (the only sequel he's ever worked on, funnily enough, is Fallout 2) and also seems to have a razor-sharp memory for details and discussions that happened decades ago. His latest video concerns the specific dating of Fallout, which is set in Southern California in 2161, 84 years after a nuclear war between China and the US devastated the globe.

Star Wars: The Old Republic's modernisation update has turned some players' characters into corpses, flattened abs and introduced other quirks: 'Look how they massacred my boy'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/mmo/star-wars-the-old-republics-modernisation-update-has-turned-some-players-characters-into-corpses-flattened-abs-and-introduced-other-quirks-look-how-they-massacred-my-boy/
Yesterday saw Star Wars: The Old Republic developer Broadsword release the first part of its modernisation plan, boosting the fidelity of several planets and tweaking player character models with new textures and ocular specularity (eyeball highlights), as well as lighting and shader improvements. The effect was meant to be subtle, so as to not dramatically change the appearance of characters which some players have been rolling with for over a decade. The reaction has been… mixed.

Marvel Rivals director says Concord 'didn't bring any unique value' that would convince players to give it a shot, but admits that no one can really predict what will or won't succeed
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/marvel-rivals-director-says-concord-didnt-bring-any-unique-value-that-would-convince-players-to-give-it-a-shot-but-admits-that-no-one-can-really-predict-what-will-or-wont-succeed/
Marvel Rivals and Concord are both hero shooters, but they couldn't be more different in the one way that really matters: Concord was one of the most notorious flops in videogame history, while Marvel Rivals—at least in the early going—is a big hit. Marvel Rivals game director Thaddeus Sasser has some thoughts as to why: Speaking in a new VideoGamer podcast (via Eurogamer), he said Concord "didn’t bring any unique value" that would convince people to give it a shot.

Build a floating neighborhood with your friends in this vibrant MMO life sim that crowdfunded over $1.2 million
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/mmo/build-a-floating-neighborhood-with-your-friends-in-this-vibrant-mmo-life-sim-that-crowdfunded-over-usd1-2-million/
Spending hours passing the time in a colorful life sim by farming, crafting, decorating, and exploring is great—but it's even better with some friends along for the ride. In upcoming cozy MMO Loftia, that's just what you'll do: build a house on a floating island in the sky and connect it up with your friends' cozy homes. Then build, craft, farm, and explore the world together.

Assassin's Creed Shadows will have a 'Canon Mode' that will make all the correct RPG decisions for you
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/action/assassins-creed-shadows-will-have-a-canon-mode-that-will-make-all-the-correct-rpg-decisions-for-you/
It's a little embarrassing to admit but I am sometimes paralyzed by choices in RPGs. In fact, I am currently in the midst of a Very Big Situation in Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty (if you've played it, you'll know what I mean, and if you haven't I'm not going to spoil it), and it is absolutely killing me. Which isn't to say that I don't appreciate the freedom to choose my own destiny, but sometimes it's nice to just lie back and let the currents take you where they may.
People who share that feeling as they're forced to choose this guy over that guy may appreciate a clever new addition Ubisoft has cooked up for Assassin's Creed Shadows called "canon mode," that literally takes the choices out of your hands.

'Destiny has a long history of reinventing itself in response to feedback': Assistant director teases a Metroidvania-inspired future, talks weapon crafting and vault space, but fails to address the shocking number of bugs
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/destiny-has-a-long-history-of-reinventing-itself-in-response-to-feedback-assistant-director-teases-a-metroidvania-inspired-future-talks-weapon-crafting-and-vault-space-but-fails-to-address-the-shocking-number-of-bugs/
For Destiny 2, the afterglow following The Final Shape, last summer's saga-capping expansion, has long faded. Those players who have stuck around (like me) for the next phase now have a shopping list of complaints about the episodic format that has followed, exacerbated by how buggy the game has become in the wake of the mass layoffs conducted by Bungie in July.
Into that atmosphere it's important to strike the right balance between contrition over mistakes and the optimism necessary to convince players that the good times are coming again. In today's end of year communique from assistant game director Robbie Stevens, he largely gets the tone right, acknowledging that since The Final Shape "some changes have been well received by the community…" while "others have had a rocky start."
Recent updates
Global community lead at Bungie, Dylan Gafner, has addressed widespread criticism of Destiny 2's The Dawning seasonal event, admitting that it "didn't kick off on the high note that we intended it to," and that Bungie is "fully aware of the general conversation around bugs and quality". Gafner notes that "we [Bungie] have work on our plate to reinvigorate the desire to play Destiny. We'll need to re-earn your trust, not just for our future, but our studio as a whole."

I'm bewitched by this hyper-violent fantasy FPS where you feast upon the brains, eyes, and spleens of your brutalized foes
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/im-bewitched-by-this-hyper-violent-fantasy-fps-where-you-feast-upon-the-brains-eyes-and-spleens-of-your-brutalized-foes/
Fantasy FPS Coven opens with you, a young woman living in the 1600s, being burned at the stake as a supposed witch. As the flames lick higher, your screams of agony ring out over the assembled crowd and through the trees of the surrounding forest. Blackness engulfs you, and your end arrives.
And then, for some reason beyond your ken, you’re crawling your way out of your hastily-dug grave, scrabbling against mud and stone, worms and detritus. You have been reanimated, and now you’re breaking through the ground and into the dark night’s damp air. You have been reborn, part dead, part not, and there’s only one thing left to do: You must end those who sent you to your grave, as well as their masters.

And a short, third part:

Josef Fares is bragging about how good Hazelight's next game is going to be (again): 'A lot of people say I'm cocky, but it's impossible to not be cocky when you have a game like this'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/action/josef-fares-is-bragging-about-how-good-his-next-game-is-going-to-be-again-a-lot-of-people-say-im-cocky-but-its-impossible-to-not-be-cocky-when-you-have-a-game-like-this/
It's been four years since It Takes Two, the phenomenally good dedicated co-op adventure that was Hazelight's last outing. That game has sold an astonishing 20 million copies and is by far the biggest success that EA's Originals label has seen: So no surprise the publisher has signed up the studio's next joint, and the creative lead and founder Josef Fares is now teasing an imminent reveal for all he's worth, and actually dropping a few details.

One of the best party games on PC is getting a sequel
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/one-of-the-best-party-games-on-pc-is-getting-a-sequel/
I'm as guilty as anyone of harbouring games on my hard drive for years on end, telling myself that I'll pick them up again 'any day now', but inevitably leaving them to gather digital dust (LA Noire: 3 years and 78 days). But there are a few games that earn their long-term residency on my rig, because I know it's a few months at most before I bundle enough people over to my place to play them. One of those is Ultimate Chicken Horse.
The delightful 2D platformer is a perfect party game, as you and up to three friends lay down traps and obstacles on a level, then try to outrun and outlast each other on your terrible creation as it becomes increasingly perilous. Now, developer Clever Endeavour Games has announced Ultimate Sheep Raccoon, which ports that whole 'put shit all over a stage to screw your friends while trying not to screw yourself' formula over to bike-racing. 

Humble Bundle's revoked all those Indiana Jones keys it gave away for free (even if it was already in your Steam library)
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/humble-bundles-revoked-all-those-indiana-jones-keys-it-gave-away-for-free-even-if-it-was-already-in-your-steam-library/
If a deal looks too good to be true, it probably is, especially if the item in question is a digital key for a brand-new game that can be swiped away using DRM witchcraft just as swiftly as it can be activated. That's what happened with Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, which Humble Bundle had labelled as 'free' two days ago, prompting a good number of people to pounce on the irresistible bargain. 
Sadly, Humble Bundle has now revoked all those keys, releasing a statement saying that "due to a mistake in the provided pricing for this game, the game was incorrectly marked as 'free.'" In a move that's understandable but also reminds us of the ethereal nature of digital ownership, Humble not only deactivated the Steam keys it had given away, but revoked the game even after it had already been activated in players' Steam libraries. Some disappointed players on Reddit even said they'd started playing the game on Steam, only to log in later and find that it had been pulled from their library. 

Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 developers say the avalanche of weird skins is to 'maximize fun for players', whatever that means
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/call-of-duty/call-of-duty-black-ops-6-developers-say-the-avalanche-of-weird-skins-is-to-maximize-fun-for-players-whatever-that-means/
For the past handful of years, Black Ops has been increasingly—as our own Ted Litchfield put it—suffering from a case of 'Fortnitification'. That is, whatever core aesthetic identity it had is due to vanish into the hole of crossovers and garish skins. While there's been a quiet murmuring of fury from the community over these things, these games' developers must be making an absolute boatload of money, because the cruise liner's still chugging.
In the past year of Call of Duty games we've endured a pay-to-win Groot knockoff, Nicki Minaj, and a Fallout crossover. Black Ops 6, which released at the tail end of October, has been carrying on this new tradition by throwing demons, dragons, flaming skulls, a bong gun, and a catgirl into the mix. I'm actually less upset about that last one.
But why, fans might ask? Because it's fun, reply Black Ops 6's developers. No, really. In a recent interview with Dexerto, Treyarch's associate creative director, Miles Leslie, says it's all about cramming the most 'fun' into the game.
>> Fun? Weird way to say money.

Intel Arc B580 “Battlemage” Graphics Cards Review Roundup

https://videocardz.com/191941/intel-arc-b580-graphics-cards-review-roundup#disqus_thread

https://www.techspot.com/review/2935-intel-arc-b580/

I didn't have enough time to watch reviews yet but thus far, looks quite impressive

ASRock Arc B570 GPU is now available for preorder in Germany

https://videocardz.com/newz/asrock-arc-b570-gpu-is-now-available-for-preorder-in-germany

Acer Swift laptop to feature 8-core Ryzen AI 7 350 “AMD Krackan” processor, faster than Ryzen 7 8845HS

https://videocardz.com/newz/acer-swift-laptop-to-feature-8-core-ryzen-ai-7-350-amd-krackan-processor-faster-than-ryzen-7-8845hs

ASUS demonstrates Ryzen 9 9950X passive cooling with Noctua cooler in new ProArt Chassis

https://videocardz.com/newz/asus-demonstrates-ryzen-9-9950x-passive-cooling-with-noctua-cooler-in-new-proart-chassis

Apple Cancels Its Plans To Launch The Most Powerful M4 ‘Extreme’ Chip, Which Would Have Featured Up To A 64-Core CPU And A 160-Core GPU

https://wccftech.com/apple-cancels-its-plans-to-launch-the-most-powerful-m4-extreme-chip-which-would-have-featured-up-to-a-64-core-cpu-and-a-160-core-gpu/

Yeah, really nice performance from it and with enough RAM for current games (seeing 4060 choking even in 1080p medium in some titles is...well, embarrassing), with best frame/$ value.
As someone said "return of $250 GPU".

Let's see what AMD and nVidia do in following months.

You had already thought about it, did you? Because that's impressive.

It's crazy to see Intel bringing back value competition to the GPU market, but here we are.

Let's hope AMD and Nvidia do step up their game with their next cards or Intel may become the go-to option for those without deep pockets but looking for decent cards .

It will be interesting to see how the B770 performs as well, whenever it launches.

This is the type of GPU that can really disrupt the budget gaming market. See what Intel has done here isn't just really good Raster performance and 12GB of vram for a low price. B580 also does Ray Tracing and Ai upscaling very well. So well in fact that this is the type of GPU that Nvidia never wants to see because it nullifies their advantage in virtually every area. Like a 7600 vs 4060, even if the 7600 is cheaper for similar performance, the question was always how much do you value DLSS since they also have the same vram? And the market has spoken with the answer... Quite a lot.

But now with B580...
Cheaper
Faster in Raster
More Vram
Has competitive Ray Tracing
Has Ai upscaler

And the drivers while still needing work, is much improved over last gen. So why would I get a 4060?

So for now, it really is the ultimate budget GPU and it will likely be that at least till RDNA 4/5060. I really hope AMD brings their A game with RDNA 4 because man, this is how you make your competitors sweat. Nvidia... They will likely be like 12? GB? 8GB 128bit bus is enough.

I hate Ubisoft. Have boycotted their games for many many years.

Breaking them up and giving the crumbs to the seagulls will be the best outcome for us gamers.

The issue with the B580 that will prevent it from gaining any marketshare is... Brand.
Hard to beat nVidia when the term "Geforce" is basically synonymous to "GPU" at this point.

Drivers and long term support is potentially Intel's achilles heel at the moment, that haven't built up any good will or a proven track record yet.

Keen to see how the next lot of Radeon and Geforce GPU's stack up though.