It’s time for the Friday gaming news:

SALES/PLAYER COUNTS & DEALS

Nioh 3 has sold over 1 million copies in two weeks, breaking Team Ninja's record and carrying the series to 10 million sales
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/action/nioh-3-has-sold-over-1-million-copies-in-two-weeks-breaking-team-ninjas-record-and-carrying-the-series-to-10-million-sales/
I'd never touched a Nioh game before Nioh 3, but after how much I enjoyed Team Ninja's latest stance-switching soulslike, I regret not giving the series my attention sooner. Evidently I'm not alone in having Nioh 3 as my entry point, as Koei Tecmo has announced in a short blog post that it's already "surpassed one million units sold worldwide, becoming the fastest-selling entry in the series' history".
For context, Nioh 2 launched in March 2020 and took over a year to sell two million copies across all platforms (not helped by its delayed PC launch almost a year later), so its successor is well on track to beat that milestone too. I'd also be remiss not to point out that Nioh 3 isn't even available on Xbox yet—it's a six-month PS5 console exclusive. Though with the state of Microsoft's console, I'm not sure that quite evens it out.
(...)
Nioh 3 immediately toppled the series's previous peak player record on Steam, a title held by Nioh 2's Complete Edition when it finally launched on PC almost a year after its console counterparts. Nioh 3 continued to grow over the launch weekend until it reached a peak of over 88,000 concurrents on Steam alone.
As a result of Nioh 3's strong launch, Koei Tecmo also revealed that the entire series combined has now sold over 10 million copies globally, which is a pretty impressive number for an unforgiving soulslike with more button combos than I can fit in my brain.

PC sales of High On Life were just behind PlayStation, the 'lead platform,' but Xbox trailed behind despite its 7-month console exclusivity deal
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/pc-sales-of-high-on-life-were-just-behind-playstation-the-lead-platform-but-xbox-trailed-behind-despite-its-7-month-console-exclusivity-deal/
Despite the original High on Life having a seven-month console exclusivity deal with Microsoft, sequel High on Life 2 launched last week across PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X|S simultaneously. It's available at no extra cost on Game Pass, but the decision to put it on PlayStation right off the bat this time around came largely due to Sony's hardware being the "lead platform" for the first game.
In an interview with TechRadar, Squanch Games CEO Mike Fridley says, "Shockingly, even after a delay on the Sony launch—because of an exclusivity clause with the first game that Microsoft had—[PlayStation is] still our lead platform." So, it's no surprise the studio wanted to launch the game on PS5 right away this time.
But, you're reading PC Gamer, not PS5 Gamer, so what does this have to do with us? Well, Fridley says, "our lead platform is Sony, Steam is right behind it as far as units sold." Second place, baby, we take that.

The Humble Store presents its All-Star Bargains Sale, featuring up to 90% discounts during 6 days: https://www.humblebundle.com/store/promo/allstar-bargains/

Fanatical has the new BYO Infinity VR Collection (Feb 2026), with 12 titles to choose from for your bundles of 2+, 3+ or 5+ games. It will last 34 days: https://www.fanatical.com/en/pick-and-mix/build-your-own-infinity-vr-collection

SOFTWARE & DRIVERS

-Nothing-

MODS, EMULATORS & FAN PROJECTS

Super Mario Bros Remastered PC Update 1.1 Released
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/super-mario-bros-remastered-pc-update-1-1-released/
In September 2025, we informed you about Super Mario Bros Remastered for the PC. And a few days ago, its team released a new major update for it. So, let’s take a closer look at it.
For those who did not know, Super Mario Bros. Remastered is a fan remake of the classic NES Mario game for PC. Super Mario Bros. Remastered has been recreated from the ground up. Thus, it has improved physics, audio, and graphics. It also has support for full wide-screen monitors. As such, you will see more of the level now on your PC monitor screens.
Super Mario Bros. Remastered includes The Lost Levels, Super Mario Bros. Special, and an overhauled All Night Nippon: Super Mario Bros. Right now, downloading LSS levels in the game does not work. The team promised to fix it in a future version.
The modders claim that Nintendo will not be able to take it down. They said they took steps to ensure Nintendo won’t be able to shut it down. As such, Super Mario Bros. Remastered will not have any game assets. To work, it will require a ROM of the original NES game. In other words, it will be similar to the N64 recompilation projects. And, since those are still up, we can assume that this fan remake will also be able to avoid Nintendo’s hammer.
Title Update 1.1 brings new editor actions. These new actions are: Undo, Redo, Multi-Area Selections, Cut, Copy, Paste, and Blueprints. All player animations now have a unique “Left” variant. We also get a new Editor toolbar that allows us to change stuff and perform new actions. On top of that, there is support for Level Packs.
Rooms now have a “Enforce Screen Size” setting, which will force all players to use your current aspect ratio, when in that room. We also get Classic Player Physics. There are several sprite updates, as well as custom level loading rewrite. This should provide much faster load times, and more stable FPS.
Turn Blocks now have 2 unique animations. Before, they had none and could only swap textures. Furthermore, Peach and Toad now have 3 animations.
Another cool feature is Object Permanence. This means that collected objects, blocks, and enemies will stay collected or dead when players reload a level.
You can download Patch 1.1 for Super Mario Bros Remastered from here. As the team noted, this is a development build. Therefore, you might encounter some bugs, crashes, or glitches.
>> The article has a 10 minutes video of the mod.

Fallout: New Vegas Mod Optimizes Interiors for Better Performance
https://www.dsogaming.com/mods/fallout-new-vegas-mod-optimizes-interiors-for-better-performance/
Modder ‘detra’ has released a must-have mod for Fallout: New Vegas. This mod optimizes around 240 interior cells with room markers and occlusion planes to improve the game’s performance.
Most of the cells the modder has covered didn’t have any optimization at all. Moreover, many that were already optimized could be optimized even further. Plus, in a few rare cases, they fixed vanilla issues, like the portals on Benny’s Floor stretching to the heavens.
On the NexusMods page, the modder shared some before-and-after comparison shots. From what we can see, this mod brings a 30FPS boost in most areas. What’s crucial to note is that this performance increase is without any image quality loss. This is pure optimization.
As I said, this is a must-have mod for pretty much everyone who plans to replay Fallout: New Vegas. Yes, this is an old game. However, it still relies heavily on very few CPU cores/threads. Therefore, you’ll need these optimization mods if you want to hit high framerates.
You can go ahead and download it from this link. Do note that the mod is not compatible with any mod that changes the layout of an interior. On the other hand, mods that only add items to existing areas should be fine.
>> The article has no media.

GAMING NEWS

REPLACED has been delayed until April 14th
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/replaced-has-been-delayed-until-april-14th/
Sad Cat Studios and Thunderful have announced a short delay to their highly-anticipated cyberpunk action platformer, REPLACED. The game will now be releasing on PC on April 14th. The delay will give Sad Cat Studios a few more weeks to add a final layer of polish and deliver a game true to the studio’s vision.

PC is the lead platform for Final Fantasy 7 Remake Part 3
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/pc-is-the-lead-platform-for-final-fantasy-7-remake-part-3/
In an interview with Automaton, director Naoki Hamaguchi has confirmed that PC is the lead platform for Final Fantasy 7 Remake Part 3. This is something that may please PC gamers who have been looking forward to it.

TREMEN is a classic FPS in Unreal Engine 5 that aims to combine modern graphics with old school gameplay
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/tremen-is-a-classic-fps-in-unreal-engine-5-that-aims-to-combine-modern-graphics-with-old-school-gameplay/
Red Meat Entertainment has released a demo for its new indie first-person shooter, TREMEN. TREMEN is using Unreal Engine 5 and aims to combine modern graphics with old-school gameplay. So, let’s take a closer look at it.

The second Friday gaming news post:

League of Legends might be adding public voice chat—and as someone with a combined 2,655 hours in Dota 2 and Deadlock, I can safely say: Oh no
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/moba/league-of-legends-might-be-adding-public-voice-chat-and-as-someone-with-a-combined-2-655-hours-in-dota-2-and-deadlock-i-can-safely-say-oh-no/
MOBAs are interesting videogames—imagine, if you will, a slot machine. Then imagine that slot machine takes forty minutes to do one pull of the arm, and also it's yelling colourful and exciting swearwords at you in a language you don't understand the entire time. That's sort of what playing a MOBA with public voice chat is like.
League of Legends might be joining those hallowed halls of flaming, as suggested by files found on the public build environment (PBE) by SkinSpotlights on X. The files in question include reports for "VOICE COMMS ABUSE", as well as entries for a comms panel that include voice options for party or team.

WoW lead says they 'lost something along the way' by building dungeons for sweaty Mythic+ timers instead of 20-boss mazes like the good old days, but Labyrinths could be the solution
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/world-of-warcraft/wow-lead-says-they-lost-something-along-the-way-by-building-dungeons-for-sweaty-mythic-timers-instead-of-20-boss-mazes-like-the-good-old-days-but-labyrinths-could-be-the-solution/
Remember back in the good old days, when MMO dungeons used to be big, sprawling mazes you could spend hours just getting lost in? Now most of them follow a similar formula: Narrow-ish corridors with three to five bosses. Sure, the set dressing varies, but the mechanical template is always bite-sized.
World of Warcraft is an old enough game to have had both, and it might one day have them both again. I recently spoke to associate game director Paul Kubit and lead encounter designer Dylan Barker about Labyrinths, an upcoming feature in World of Warcraft: Midnight. It's still a large work in progress—not releasing on launch, but instead a few patches down the line—but it seems like a huge evolution of The War Within's Delves system.
>> There’s also an article about the Prey system, and how the devs were surprised by players liking it (link)

Highguard website woes are just an administrative thing, developer says, and the studio is in no rush to fix it because 'reputational damage' is already done
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/highguard-website-woes-are-just-an-administrative-thing-developer-says-and-the-studio-is-in-no-rush-to-fix-it-because-reputational-damage-is-already-done/
It sure sounded like nails being driven into a coffin when the Highguard website took a dive late last week. It's still up, but rather than the flashy splash screen and exhortation to 'play now!' it simply says, "Site unavailable," along with an email link—not to Highguard developer Wildlight, but to website builder and host Code32, which I thought was interesting, and yeah, maybe a little alarming.
Anyway, it was surely not a good sign for a struggling game, but it may not be the final horn, either. In a message posted on the Highguard Discord, a developer going by WL_Coronach said it's not a big deal: The problem is mostly a paperwork-type of issue, and Wildlight isn't rushing to do anything about it because it's got bigger things to worry about.

Ubisoft lays off 40 people at its Toronto studio, reassures everyone who remembers the Splinter Cell remake that the Splinter Cell remake is still in happening
https://www.pcgamer.com/gaming-industry/ubisoft-lays-off-40-people-at-its-toronto-studio-reassures-everyone-who-remembers-the-splinter-cell-remake-that-the-splinter-cell-remake-is-still-in-happening/
The cuts at Ubisoft continued today with the layoffs of 40 people from the company's Toronto studio. First reported by MobileSyrup, the layoffs are part of the ongoing restructuring of Ubisoft into "creative houses," announced in January, a process that's also included multiple game cancellations, studio closures, and other layoffs.

XCOM designer Jake Solomon announces surprise closure of his studio alongside a first look at its canceled life sim, 'the game we poured our hearts into'
https://www.pcgamer.com/gaming-industry/xcom-designer-jake-solomon-announces-surprise-closure-of-his-studio-alongside-a-first-look-at-its-canceled-life-sim-the-game-we-poured-our-hearts-into/
Midsummer Studios founder and former Firaxis creative director, Jake Solomon, has announced the abrupt closure of Midsummer through a post on X. Solomon also shared a two-minute gameplay video of its life sim, "Burbank," the first public showcase of the planned Sims competitor. We have reached out to Solomon for comment, and will update this story when we hear back.

Surprise: Slay the Spire 2 is bringing 4-player co-op when it hits early access on March 6
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/card-games/surprise-slay-the-spire-2-is-bringing-4-player-co-op-when-it-hits-early-access-on-march-6/
Did you feel that? The echoing reverberation of thousands of collective hours of roguelike deckbuilding thudding into place ahead of us on the timestream? That's because Slay the Spire 2 just locked in its early access release on March 5, and—surprise—it's bringing four player co-op on launch day.

One of the best puzzle games ever is getting surprise DLC even though its developer kind of closed a while ago
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/puzzle/one-of-the-best-puzzle-games-ever-is-getting-surprise-dlc-even-though-its-developer-kind-of-closed-a-while-ago/
Opus Magnum, a stellar 2017 puzzle game about building alchemical devices, is getting a surprise new DLC campaign.
Opus Magnum: De Re Metallica will release on March 17, and adds three prequel chapters to the game with a total of 17 new puzzles, new cutscenes and music, and new glyphs (machine components). It's "around half the length" of the original campaign, according to developer Zachtronics.
It's a little weird to be citing Zachtronics, never mind talking about a new DLC release from the studio, because it sort of isn't around anymore. But it also sort of is, clearly.

Arc Raiders' next update adds hurricanes, and players think the teaser is hiding a new Arc enemy too
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/third-person-shooter/arc-raiders-next-update-adds-hurricanes-and-players-think-the-teaser-is-hiding-a-new-arc-enemy-too/
I hope you own some heavy boots, because hurricanes are coming to an Arc Raiders map near you. As part of the Shrouded Sky update coming February 24, the new map condition will send thrashing winds and low cloud cover across existing maps.
>> Also: Embark doesn’t throw away the idea of saving blueprints, but it’s looking at alternatives (link); and the wall-breaking exploits took so long to fix because they were 'intrinsic to the way the game is built' (link)

'Art and science and procreation, that's about all life is good for:' Two former freeware developers are still trying to keep it weird in an era when companies 'sell games to people in 5-second clips'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/horror/art-and-science-and-procreation-thats-about-all-life-is-good-for-two-former-freeware-developers-are-still-trying-to-keep-it-weird-in-an-era-when-companies-sell-games-to-people-in-5-second-clips/
Talha & Jack Co⁠—the indie dev duo Jack King-Spooner and Talha Kaya⁠—are on to something special. The pair is currently working on Abide, their third game in as many years, yet nothing they make has any of that insubstantial, game jam feel you might expect from a quick turnaround⁠.

Life is Strange developer Don't Nod adds a dash of Alien: Isolation anxiety to its usual cinematic formula, and I think it works
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/adventure/life-is-strange-developer-dont-nod-adds-a-dash-of-alien-isolation-anxiety-to-its-usual-cinematic-formula-and-i-think-it-works/
Life is Strange developer Don't Nod announced its next third-person cinematic adventure, Aphelion, during last year's Summer Game Fest with an Uncharted-like reveal set in space. And if the sci-fi excursion carries on as planned, Aphelion will launch sometime around or before this summer's next big event.
Aphelion's latest gameplay trailer is a better look at how the studio's new journey takes a few cues from its rock-climbing platformer, Jusant, and marries them with the more story-rich, exposition-heavy games it's known for. In Aphelion, you'll control a pair of European Space Agency (ESA) astronauts on a mission bound for Persephone—a planet at the edge of our solar system—that goes spectacularly wrong.

We're getting even more free lootboxes and a double XP weekend in Overwatch just for playing the game
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/were-getting-even-more-free-lootboxes-and-a-double-xp-weekend-in-overwatch-just-for-playing-the-game/
Overwatch's big Season 1 reimagining, dropping the infamous '2' in its name, adding five new heroes, reworking maps, and overhauling its UI, has given it a new lease on life. So much so that it broke its all-time player count on Steam, a trend which no doubt rippled across other platforms, and it's still holding strong. This glow-up has been a long time in the making, but it's great to see Overwatch back on the map.
To celebrate the occasion, Blizzard has announced "a token of appreciation for keeping the matches rolling", that being double match XP and five free lootboxes all weekend—Friday, 20 February, until Monday, 23 February, to be exact, starting and ending at the reset time in your region, such as 11 am PT / 2 pm ET / 7 pm GMT.

The Future Games Show returns this March with the voices of Lae'zel and Batman as hosts
https://www.pcgamer.com/gaming-industry/events-conferences/the-future-games-show-returns-this-march-with-the-voices-of-laezel-and-batman-as-hosts/
The Future Games Show is shortly to become the right-now games show (metaphorically, various trademark lawyers instruct me to inform you). The event from PC Gamer's publisher, Future, returns on March 12 for its spring showcase of world premieres, trailers, and stealth drops. What's more, it's just revealed its hosts (not me, despite my numerous and vivid emails to our CEO).

And here’s the inevitable third part of the gaming news:

13-year-old Decima engine allows Death Stranding team to 'accomplish many things that would be difficult to achieve elsewhere'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/action/13-year-old-decima-engine-allows-death-stranding-team-to-accomplish-many-things-that-would-be-difficult-to-achieve-elsewhere/

Diablo 2 player discovers the key to immortality on the new warlock class is to use a pet demon as a shield
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/diablo-2-player-discovers-the-key-to-immortality-on-the-new-warlock-class-is-to-use-a-pet-demon-as-a-shield/

Stop Killing Games is launching NGOs in the European Union and the US: 'We're not just going away on this'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/stop-killing-games-is-launching-ngos-in-the-european-union-and-the-us-were-not-just-going-away-on-this/

Street Fighter 2 producer Yoshiki Okamoto now makes gacha games and spends half a million dollars on each 'to make sure the people who spend the most don't end up dissatisfied'
https://www.pcgamer.com/gaming-industry/street-fighter-2-producer-yoshiki-okamoto-now-makes-gacha-games-and-spends-half-a-million-dollars-on-each-to-make-sure-the-people-who-spend-the-most-dont-end-up-dissatisfied/

And these are the weekend deals at GOG and Steam

+GOG

• Weekly Deals come with up to 95% discounts during 7 days: https://www.gog.com/en/promo/20260220_weekly_deals_2_february
• Simulation Games Promo also has games with up to 95% discounts during 7 days: https://www.gog.com/en/promo/20260220_simulation_games_promo
• Adventure Games Promo is full of games up to 95% off and will last 7 days: https://www.gog.com/en/promo/20260220_adventure_promo
• Turn-Based Promo has, yet again, up to 95% discounts and will also last 7 days: https://www.gog.com/en/promo/20260220_turn_based_promo
• Vault of Variety Promo has games up to 95% off during 7 days: https://www.gog.com/en/promo/20260220_vault_of_variaty_promo
• Guess what, the Mystery and Romance Promo also has games on sale with up to 95% discounts and will also las t 7 days: https://www.gog.com/en/promo/20260220_mystery_romance_promo
• Gore and Violence Promo has, once again, games up to 95% off, but this time the deals will last 10 days: https://www.gog.com/en/promo/20260220_gore_violence_promo
• And the RPG Promo has… yes, up to 95% discounts and yes, they’ll also last 10 days: https://www.gog.com/en/promo/20260220_rpg_promo

+Steam

• Bus Flipper: Renovator Simulator will be 35% off until the last day of February: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2174560/Bus_Flipper_Renovator_Simulator/
• Ground of Aces , still in Early Access, will also have a 35% discount, but until the 5th of March: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2308690/Ground_of_Aces/
• SYNTHETIK: Legion Rising is going to be 80% off until the same 5th: https://store.steampowered.com/app/528230/SYNTHETIK_Legion_Rising/
• And here are the new four sales/events:
  • Wargaming puts its many expansion contents for its “World of “ games on sale, up to 84% off until February 26. There’s even a gift pack available until that date: https://store.steampowered.com/sale/WargamingPubSale2026
  • HypeTrain’s First Rays Sale 2026 puts its games up to 90% off. The deals will end between the 3rd and the 5th of March: https://store.steampowered.com/curator/26684285/sale/WinterEndsSale2026
  • The Convergence Games Showcase features lots of upcoming titles, some with demos, and has games on sale with up to 80% discounts. The showcase will last until February 26, but the deals will end between February 23 and March 5: https://store.steampowered.com/sale/convergence-games-showcase-2026_sale
  • SCS Software puts its truk games on sale, up to 75% off until February, the 26th. There is no page for this sale so here’s the link to the publisher profile with the deals: https://store.steampowered.com/publisher/SCSsoftware
  • And the Indie Fan Fest showcases lots of upcoming indie games: https://store.steampowered.com/curator/45746474/sale/IndieFanFest2026

Nothing else to add. Until the next time, I wish you a happy and gaming weekend.

They have enough room.

• Ryzen 9 10950X3D - 24 core
• Ryzen 9 10950X - 24 core
• Ryzen 9 10900X - 20 core
• Ryzen 9 10850X - 16 core
• Ryzen 7 10800X3D - 12 core
• Ryzen 7 10800X - 12 core
• Ryzen 7 10700X - 10 core
• Ryzen 5 10600X3D - 8 core
• Ryzen 5 10600X - 8 core
• Ryzen 3 10500X - 6 core

Of course they'll probably go with some nonsense like...

• Ryzen 9 AI Max+ 595 - 24 core
• Ryzen 9 AI Max+ 595X3D - 24 core
• Ryzen 9 AI Max+ 590 - 20 core
• Ryzen 9 AI Max+ 585 - 16 core
• Ryzen 7 AI Max+ 580X3D - 12 core
• Ryzen 7 AI Max+ 580 - 12 core
• Ryzen 7 AI Max+ 570 - 10 core
• Ryzen 5 AI Max+ 560X3D - 8 core
• Ryzen 5 AI Max+ 560 - 8 core
• Ryzen 3 AI Max+ 550 - 6 core

I hate both of them, which means that both are likely.

I have another couple of news to share. Some of you may be interested in the first one, but the second one is just for the sake of AI:

My favourite thing about Linux gaming will now automagically apply crucial fan patches to your Metal Gear installs, making it even easier than on Windows
https://www.pcgamer.com/software/linux/my-favourite-thing-about-linux-gaming-will-now-automagically-apply-crucial-fan-patches-to-your-metal-gear-installs-making-it-even-easier-than-on-windows/
There are a lot of things I've enjoyed about switching to Linux, but my second favourite—after the incredible smugness I derive from telling people I've switched to Linux—is Luxtorpeda.

Luxtorpeda is a clever bit of kit that you can set as a compatibility tool for any game you have on Steam. You just install it, head into the Steam settings for whichever game you want to use it with, and switch out Proton for Luxtorpeda. Bish-bash-bosh, done.

What does it do? I was just coming to that, but thanks for asking. Fire up a game Luxtorpeda supports using the tool and, rather than launching into the game, it will pop up a box that lets you easily install an open-source engine reimplementation or popular fan mod(s). It makes it easier to get a fixed-up, modernised version of a lot of old games running than it is on their native Windows.

A redditor claims to have found a horrifying, AI-generated, multi-limbed figure in a rental house listing photo and it's exactly the sort of Phasmophobia-style jump scare I didn't need this morning
https://www.pcgamer.com/software/ai/a-redditor-claims-to-have-found-a-horrifying-ai-generated-multi-limbed-figure-in-a-rental-house-listing-photo-and-its-exactly-the-sort-of-phasmophobia-style-jump-scare-i-didnt-need-this-morning/
Picture the scene: You're scrolling away through rental property photos late at night, trying to sort through the ambitious photography and overly-cheery copy to find somewhere new to live.

This one's too small. This one's too expensive. This one... this one looks pretty good, actually. I wonder if the bathroom's a good size. Yep, full tub, integrated units and... HOLY MOLY.

I fully believe AMD will keep the hexacore as Ryzen 5 unless Intel drastically increases the core count on the Core Ultra 3 - or at least start making one in the first place. Intel hasn't made any Core Ultra 3 yet, just Core 3, and with an N before the number and just e-cores, those Core 3 are just rebranded Atoms now.

Ultra 5/7/9 are the new Core i3/5/7, and AMD made a similar shift upwards. In fact, they pretty much killed everything below the 5; so not just i3/Ultra 3/Ryzen 3, but also the Athlons and Celerons. All while the 5 stayed pretty much at the same price, meaning both Intel and AMD have pretty much killed the budget CPU segment now.

If the top Ryzen 9 SKU is 24 cores, there is no way the Ryzen 5 is only going be 6 cores. With 12 core CCD's, they are going to have a hard time getting a enough failed yields for 8 core chips. They are not going to be enough dies with at least 5 cores in the CCD to ship in volume anywhere close to Zen 6 launch. They aren't going to junk dies that could be used for 8 core or above chips just keep the Ryzen 5's at 6 cores.

I'll rephrase to show you the ranges I had in mind:

Ryzen 9: 24 cores, 20 cores, 16 cores

Ryzen 7: 12 cores, 10 cores

Ryzen 5: 8 cores, 6 cores

I mean, even the 7400 is a Ryzen 5. But it's so cut down it should have been a Ryzen 3 despite having 6 cores, as it has strongly reduced clock speeds (the 7600X has a higher base clock than this thing has turbo; even the mobile Ryzen 3 7440U boosts higher) and just half the L3 cache.

In other words, it's most likely based on the Zen4c and not the full-size Zen 4 cores. So despite the core count is the same, there should be big performance gap between this CPU and the rest of the Ryzen 5

Hence why I think the Ryzen 3 and Ultra 3 are dead and buried: They both rather pass them off as Ryzen/Ultra 5 even if functionally they would be a Ryzen/Ultra 3, if not even an Athlon/Celeron.

One thing I will say about the xbox leadership shake up is while the brand is at its lowest point, I will give credit to Phil from a pc gamer standpoint. Before he took over, xbox felt very anti-pc with many key games skipping pc entirely. Thanks to Phil, not only are xbox games coming to pc, they are coming on release. On top of that, gamepass is also available on pc which while I don't use it, I know a few people that do.

I'd also argue that because xbox was bringing its games to pc, it gave reason for Playstation to bring theirs over as well. I am sure Valve helped in someways too so that Playstation wouldn't have to pay Microsoft by releasing their games onto steam, perhaps at a lower % cut for valve.

So while Xbox didn't really get another life under Phils leadership, I am thankful for all he did with pc gaming. We will see how the new one does things but I am not all that hopeful.