Thursday gaming news, part two:

Skyrim's version of Radiant AI was developed from a drawing Todd Howard made on a napkin
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/the-elder-scrolls/skyrims-version-of-radiant-ai-was-developed-from-a-drawing-todd-howard-made-on-a-napkin/
With Oblivion Remastered sucking up everyone's time, there's a whole new generation of people getting to enjoy Cyrodiil's weird NPCs—and for us Oblivion vets, it's a chance to reconnect with some old pals. There was so much to love about Bethesda's gargantuan RPG back in 2006, but the vast array of eccentric characters wandering around the world, doing their own thing, really set it apart from the previous Elder Scrolls.
This was down to Radiant AI, which Bethesda has continued to use in all of its RPGs since. And when it came to figuring out how to evolve the system for Skyrim, it all started with a sketch on a napkin.

WoW developers step in to try and calm tensions between themselves and the UI addon community: 'We are embarking on this project with the aim of leveling the playing field'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/world-of-warcraft/wow-developers-step-in-to-try-and-calm-tensions-between-themselves-and-the-ui-addon-community-we-are-embarking-on-this-project-with-the-aim-of-leveling-the-playing-field/
Blizzard is planning on shaking things up—alright, 'shaking things up' might be an understatement. For twenty-odd years now, World of Warcraft has existed with an ecosystem of UI addons that facilitate a bunch of stuff: Profiles for roleplayers, accessibility features for disabled gamers and, obviously, combat addons.
It's the very latter that Blizzard is taking aim at, and while PCG contributor Heather Newman interviewed game director Ion Hazzikostas about the changes, it seems the studio's encountered enough resistance to extend an olive branch to the addon community directly.

CD Projekt Red and Epic claim Witcher 4 development 'ramped up dramatically' Unreal Engine's open world game capabilities
https://www.pcgamer.com/hardware/cd-projekt-red-and-epic-claim-witcher-4-development-ramped-up-dramatically-unreal-engines-open-world-game-capabilities/
We recently sat down with both CD Projekt Red and Epic to find out a little bit more about that, well, epic Witcher 4 tech demo and what the new Unreal Engine 5.6 brings to game development. The main takeaway is that their collaboration won't just make Witcher 4 an incredible open-world experience. It looks like it will help other developers literally up their game when it comes to open-world titles.
>> And they’re taking inspiration from Kingdom Come.

No Man's Sky just got another mondo update and I think it's a management game now?
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/sim/no-mans-sky-just-got-another-mondo-update-and-i-think-its-a-management-game-now/
For as long as mankind has gazed up at the stars, it has been seized by a dream: to journey out there, into the void, to stand eye-to-eye with God, to slip the surly bonds of Earth, venture into space, and establish responsible local government.
No Man's Sky's latest in a frankly unbelievable line of updates is called Beacon, and it promises to let you become Overseer—or space mayor—of "up to four settlements, managing townships on the frontier of multiple worlds—each with their own set of citizens and challenges."

Bungie makes the (correct) decision to roll back Destiny 2's most severe Edge of Fate nerfs before they've even happened
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/bungie-makes-the-correct-decision-to-roll-back-destiny-2s-most-severe-edge-of-fate-nerfs-before-theyve-even-happened/
It's always a privilege speaking to the creative minds behind a game you've spent thousands of hours playing, in no small part because you get the chance to ask them questions about changes you think the community will be concerned about. That was the case a couple of weeks ago when, after playing a preview build of The Edge of Fate expansion, I sat down to talk to game director Tyson Green.
(...)
Suffice to say that when my interview made it to Reddit yesterday, despite Tyson's thoughtful answers about needing to avoid players feeling trapped into picking particular options, the community was, putting it politely, concerned. However, in one of the fastest turnarounds from outrage to official response, the Destiny 2 Team account took to r/DestinyTheGame today to announce that those nerfs would now either no longer be happening or have been watered down.

Balatro doesn't have microtransactions for a very good reason: 'It makes me want to put my computer in the dishwasher and set it to pots and pans," LocalThunk says
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/card-games/balatro-doesnt-have-microtransactions-for-a-very-good-reason-it-makes-me-want-to-put-my-computer-in-the-dishwasher-and-set-it-to-pots-and-pans-localthunk-says/
Balatro looks like a game that should be filled with microtransactions: More card backs, weird backgrounds, boosters, whatever—the potential for this stuff is virtually limitless. Yet there are none: No MTX, no season passes, no nothing really, except the Friends of Jimbo "collaboration packs," and they're free. Why not?
"The honest reason I don't have microtransactions/season pass/ads/100 DLCs/etc in Balatro isn't just about the ethics of those practices but because when I play other games that have those things it makes me want to put my computer in the dishwasher and set it to pots and pans," Balatro creator LocalThunk explained very vividly on Bluesky (via GamesRadar).

A 'vast medieval sandbox' with a former Cyberpunk 2077 designer working on it may be revealed at Summer Game Fest, but there's a twist: the studio is really into generative AI
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/raw-power-games-medieval-sandbox-sgf/
While scanning the list of this year's Summer Game Fest partners, I noticed an unfamiliar logo—an 'R' with a lightning bolt—and traced it to a Danish studio I'd never heard of: Raw Power Games, which says it's making a "vast medieval sandbox."

Oh dang, we're getting an all-new Lumines, and this one's got 'over 30 stages of synesthetic sensory wonderlands'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/puzzle/oh-dang-were-getting-an-all-new-lumines-and-this-ones-got-over-30-stages-of-synesthetic-sensory-wonderlands/
At today's State of Play showcase, Sony started the show with what I immediately described as "a Tetris Effect-ass trailer" as a silhouette of a man walked through a shifting, abstract dimension of EDM beats and lyrics about interconnectedness. Well, I was close: courtesy of Tetris Effect creator Tetsuya Mizuguchi, we're getting a new Lumines.

Oh hell yeah, that Final Fantasy Tactics remaster is real, and it's out later this year
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/final-fantasy/oh-hell-yeah-that-final-fantasy-tactics-remaster-is-real-and-its-out-later-this-year/
I've lost track of how many times a Final Fantasy Tactics rumor sent me down a desperate rabbit hole, but those days are no more. During today's PlayStation event, Square Enix revealed Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles, a remaster of the classic RPG that includes two distinct versions.
>> Xxian is the one that has made a thread about this announcement. Oh, and the director has talked about the subtext of the game.

An all-new Thief game was announced during State of Play, but it's a VR game so who cares
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/vr/an-all-new-thief-game-was-announced-during-state-of-play-but-its-a-vr-game-so-who-cares/
I've been waiting more than 10 years since the botched Thief reboot for a new game in the series, and now that it's happening all I can think about is the old "careful what you wish for" adage. Because coming later in 2025 is Thief VR: Legacy of Shadow.
Thief VR is a "reimagined" take on the once-great stealth series, taking players back to the City, "a place of shadows, ruled by the tyrant Lord Ulysses Northcrest."
>> The guys at PCGamer really, really dislike this new game.

And here's the third part of today's gaming news, thankfully short:

If an NPC hates you in this adventure from the makers of Road 96, it's probably because another player was mean to them earlier
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/adventure/if-an-npc-hates-you-in-this-adventure-from-the-makers-of-road-96-its-probably-because-another-player-was-mean-to-them-earlier/
"We should make Road 96 but with boats! Boat 96!" joked the developers at Digixart when planning their follow up to their excellent procedural road trip, Road 96. And their next game does indeed have a lot of boats—but it's also a pretty big departure from their previous game.
Instead of NPCs changing your adventure, this time other players will: in Tides of Tomorrow, you enter an asynchronous multiplayer world where the actions of another player can have an impact on your own story, and your actions may affect them, too.

Bloodstained is back after 6 years with 3D cutscenes that look like they're from a different era of videogames
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/action/bloodstained-is-back-after-6-years-with-3d-cutscenes-that-look-like-theyre-from-a-different-era-of-videogames/
I almost didn't recognize Bloodstained: The Scarlet Engagement as a Bloodstained game, partly because it's been six whole years since the last one and partly because the aesthetic is all over the place. The past six years have also been full of Castlevania-likes that feature a lot of the same gothic imagery and it feels like every five minutes a new soulslike with evil knights and dragons shows up. But when the title finally appeared, it was clear that the OG, Koji Igarashi, was back with a new game.
>> Who has made a thread about this new game? Xxian again!

'When's Marvel?' Next year, as Guilty Gear studio Arc System Works takes the classic superhero tag-team fighter for a ride with a new 4v4 format
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fighting/whens-marvel-next-year-as-guilty-gear-studio-arc-system-works-takes-the-classic-superhero-tag-team-fighter-for-a-ride-with-a-new-4v4-format/
'When's Marvel?' (or Mahvel, if we're being picky) has been a rallying cry among fighting game fans for years now. Part meme, part genuine call for the return of Capcom's classic Marvel vs Capcom series. Well, the good news is that Marvel is coming back, and we even know when—2026! The bad news is that Capcom (and its extensive cast of crossover characters) is out of the picture. But the potentially very good news is that Guilty Gear and Dragon Ball FighterZ (arguably MVC's spiritual successor) studio Arc System Works is taking the next shot at the superhero tag-team fighter format, and raising the stakes.

Fill the Marathon-shaped hole in your life with Supplice, the best prog-heavy boomer shooter you've never heard of
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/fill-the-marathon-shaped-hole-in-your-life-with-supplice-the-best-prog-heavy-boomer-shooter-youve-never-heard-of/
It doesn't take a rampant AI super-intelligence to notice that Sony's State Of Play showcase last night had a conspicuous absence: Bungie's extraction-shooter reboot of classic FPS series Marathon, which recently landed in hot water thanks to much of its striking new aesthetic being directly plagiarized. Those disappointed in Bungie (or just wanting something closer in spirit to the classic Marathon trilogy) shouldn't sleep on Supplice over on Steam—French for 'Torture' and a personal early access favourite—which just rolled out its spicy fourth episode.

@bold Not sure about that - from what I'm seeing on PCGamesHardware.de's GPU Performance Index, 7600XT is 26% faster, and TechPowerUp's Relative Performance is putting 7600XT at 121% of 6600XT. Yeah, that is not 1060 to 2060 level of jump (let alone one from the olden days), but at least it is a jump, unlike shit that nVidia is pulling off with 2060>3060>4060>5060, which is cumulatively less than what you got with 6600XT to 9060XT.

Anyway, congrats on you purchase.

Depends on the game and even settings.
But 4-6% difference was very common in several titles.

https://gamersnexus.net/gpus/amd-radeon-rx-7600-xt-gpu-benchmarks-review-power-efficiency-gaming

Wasn't a generational uplift that enticed me to upgrade that's for sure.

An overclocked 6600XT is pretty much splitting hairs with the 7600XT in majority of titles.

...Not sure a congrats is in order, it's a dog of a GPU that IMHO is overpriced, but that applies to all GPU's currently, GPU's like the Radeon HD 6950 was almost twice the die-size, twice the memory bus, but cost less even when accounting for inflation.

AMD had an opportunity to disrupt the market and steal marketshare and IMHO they dropped the ball... But the 6600XT is just to old now so it was a purchase of convenience.

Finding GPUs at MSRP is going to be the key point here. If both GPUs are at their respectives MSRPs, then I think the 16GB 9060XT is in a better position. Once we get into cards above that, the 5060Ti 16GB becomes more attractive.

It's a similar situatin to the 9070XT and the 5070Ti, with the Nvidia card being faster but the AMD card offering better value at MSRP, but once the price of both gets closer, it's clear that the 5070Ti is the better choice.

In any case, I checked two stores to see the prices of the 9060XT. Store A has three models, with two of them priced at 374.90€. Store B has 5 models, with three of them at 374.95€. A couple hours later, store A still has the same 3 cards, but the two cheaper ones have jumped to 399.90€ while at store B one of the cheap ones has gone out of stock but the other two are still available at the same price.
For comparison, at Store A the cheapest 5060Ti 16GB is 479.90€ and at Store B is 469.95€. 

Someone has sense of humor. But I'm not sure how long will his job at Nvidia last.

That's messed up. It's true that Nintendo should have protected the screen better than that, but you need to be a special kind of stup*d to stap anything on a box, because things like this one can happen.

That reminds me, it's been a long while since I made a post about current (starting) GPU prices at my favorite store Alternate. So here they are:

NVidia:

• 5090: 2359€
• 5080: technically 1089€, but the first available is 1139€
• 5070Ti: 786€, same price as the most expensive 9070XT and 5070 respectively btw.
• 5070: 562€
• 5060Ti 16GB: Theoretically 442€, but the cheapest of the few available one is 490€
• 5060Ti 8GB: 366€
• 5060: 295€, few mdels available

AMD:

• 9070XT: 717€, dropping quite a bit in the last week when finally more supply came in
• 9070: 619€, few models available. Also started dropping 2 weeks ago when more cards came in.
• 9060XT 16GB: 383€, with more models and better availability than the 8GB version, looks like AIBs are prioritizing the 16GB version
• 9060XT 8GB: 322€, few models available

Intel:

• B570: 270€
• B580: 301€ in theory, 329€ for the cheapest available one.

So yeah, prices are dropping across the board except for Intel and the 5060Ti, and we'll have to see how the 9060XT prices evolve.

Yeah, it will have everything to do with the price - I was comparing $349 9060XT with 5060Ti, which is currently in stock at its MSRP of $429. Personally, I would go that extra for 5060Ti for DLSS and better RT, but I'm guessing if AMD keeps those models at their MSRP, it has a shot at nVidia at that segment.

9060XT, from my perspective, is not that great of a deal compared to how 9070XT, at least at launch, measured against 5070 Ti, though currently difference in price is too small not to go for 5070Ti.

NVIDIA Dominates AIB GPU Market With 92% Share In Q1 2025, AMD Drops To 8% & Intel To 0%

https://wccftech.com/nvidia-dominates-aib-gpu-market-share-in-q1-2025-amd-intel-drop/

Welp, this is as accurate of a market share reading as we get in the gpu space and even with all the fuck ups from Nvidia, their market share continues to be nuts. But keep in mind that 9070/9070 XT launched in March 6th vs 5090/5080 launching in January 30th, 5070 Ti in February 20th and 5070 in March 5th.

Let's hope that the graph changes in the coming quarters, otherwise the message Nvidia will see is that they can do whatever they want and people will still buy their products.

All comes down to price for me, hence the 9060XT ($630) over the 5060Ti 16GB ($800) vs the 7800XT ($750).
I tend to go high-end on the rest of my system and would prefer to buy a mid-range GPU and just upgrade a little more often...

Already seeing the 16GB cards sell out here leaving the more expensive $700 Radeon 9060XT 16GB's, which is still cheaper than the 5060Ti 16GB... But not what I would call budget or mid-range pricing.

I would hazard a guess we might see pricing on the 9060XT 16GB cards creep towards $800 AUD over the coming months, pricing will always be dictated by what the market is willing to pay.

In AMD's defense I haven't really missed out on nVidia's features... I rather turn settings down and hit native resolution than use something like DLSS, FSR or XESS which introduces artifacts and stuff, I feel upscaling is more useful for laptops and handhelds where there could be potential power savings.

RT definitely needs some work still, but the 9000 series is "good enough" that it's at-least usable now.