I very much doubt that Intel will go 3nm in 2022 for CPUs, more likely this is for other chips, like their Optane memory. TSMC already said before that they are not considering Intel as a stable client and thus only get a small wafer allotment at the back of the line. In fact, that all sounds more like an intel investor's wet dream than anything realistic.

Really, the only CPUs I could eventually see TSMC produce for Intel are the Atom line of chips (or chiplets in case of Alder Lake successor), so the successors of Tremont.

Yea we will have to see what happens. Intel's CEO is stepping down and being replaced and their current fabs are clearly not working out for them with delays after delays. So I wouldn't be surprised if they go with TSMC and go Fab less like AMD did a long time ago. I wouldn't take TSMCs statements from last year to stay true forever as a lot of things can change in the tech industry very quickly and Intel certainly has enough money to get allocation from TSMC if they need to.

The one thing is for sure is that Intel can't continue in their current trend forever. Either they need to get their act together with their own fabs or go with a fab that actually does have their act together. Cause it's one thing to get killed in Desktop, but when AMD now has Laptop and Server, they gotta do something drastic.

At this point Intel might as well abandon 10nm and 7nm go straight to 5nm.

*** NEW CONTEST ***

HEXUS EPIC Giveaway Day 31: Win a Scan 3XS System powered by AMD Ryzen: https://hexus.net/tech/features/systems/147177-day-31-win-scan-3xs-system-powered-amd-ryzen/

The winner will get: "an AMD Ryzen-powered Scan 3XS base unit worth £1,500! Outfitted with a Ryzen 5000 Series CPU, the system will come equipped with 16GB of DDR4 memory, a 1TB NVMe SSD and a dedicated graphics card!" The description is as vague as it could be.

This contest is limited to UK ONLY.

Also, this is the last of the Epic Giveaway contests.

The news:

SALES /PLAYER COUNT & DEALS

We're giving away 2,500 beta keys for the zero-G shooter Boundary
https://www.pcgamer.com/were-giving-away-2500-beta-keys-for-the-zero-g-shooter-boundary/
We described the upcoming FPS Boundary in 2019 as "Call of Duty in zero-G," but found that its twist is more than just a gimmick. The lack of weight and three-dimensionality means that anyone can be anywhere, making sightlines of utmost importance, and the complex map layouts and destructible environment put a priority on strategy over reflexes.
(...)
Ahead of that, developer Surgical Scalpels is holding a technical beta test on Steam. It's set to run from January 15-17, from 10 am PT until midnight each day, and we've got a bunch of codes to give away—2,500 of them, in fact. To take a shot at getting one, just drop your email address into the widget below.

GOG has a new sale and a new release:

• The new sale involves the Trine series and features up to 75% discounts for the next 7 days: https://www.gog.com/promo/20210114_trine_sale
• And the game Down in Bermuda launches on the store with a 40% discount until January 21: https://www.gog.com/game/down_in_bermuda

Steam has two new daily deals:

• The first one is Cook, Serve, Delicious! 3?! , 25% off: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1000030/Cook_Serve_Delicious_3/
• The second one is Blood Bowl 2, 80% off: https://store.steampowered.com/app/236690/Blood_Bowl_2/

Fanatical has a new Platinum Collection BYOB, with 22 games to choose your 3, 5 or 7 games bundle: https://www.fanatical.com/en/pick-and-mix/platinum-collection-build-your-own-bundle

SOFTWARE & DRIVERS

Steam had 120 million monthly users in 2020
https://www.pcgamer.com/steam-had-120-million-monthly-users-in-2020/
Valve has published a 2020 Year in Review blogpost about Steam, and what everyone's been doing with it. It begins by acknowledging the unique circumstances we're all living through, and that these have to be factored into last year's exceptional figures.
(...)
The year saw new highs for Steam in every area of user activity: a new high for monthly active users (120.4 million), daily active users (62.6 million), peak concurrent users (24.8 million), first-time purchasers (2.6 million per month), and number of games purchased (21.4 percent increase over 2019).

MODS, EMULATORS & FAN PROJECTS

A spot of cel-shading turns Cyberpunk 2077 into a convincing Borderlands sequel
https://www.pcgamer.com/a-spot-of-cel-shading-turns-cyberpunk-2077-into-a-convincing-borderlands-sequel/
Stats-driven RPG shooting? Check. Gun-toting bandits holed up in corrugated iron shacks? Check. When you think about it, Cyberpunk 2077 really isn't that different from Borderlands—and with a new mod that paints Night City in the loudmouthed looter's distinct comic-book style, you'd be hard-pressed to tell the difference between the two at all.
(...)
Created by modder Salmonella123, Borderlandfy2077 is a fairly simple Reshade plugin that adds a thick black outline to most objects in the game. Along with a bit of a saturation boost and other visual tweaks, and even Night City's dingiest basements suddenly look like they were pulled out of a 2000AD comic panel.

GAMING NEWS

Little Nightmares 2 PC demo released, first game available for free in Europe
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/little-nightmares-2-pc-demo-released-first-game-available-for-free-in-europe/
Bandai Namco has announced that a demo for Little Nightmares 2 is currently available for download on Steam. In addition, the first game is available for free to all PC gamers in Europe for a limited time.

Hogwarts Legacy now targets a 2022 release date
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/hogwarts-legacy-now-targets-a-2022-release-date/
Warner Bros has announced that Hogwarts Legacy, its upcoming Harry Potter game, now targets a 2022 release date. According to the publisher, its development team plans to create the best possible experience for fans of the Harry Potter franchise.

Assassin’s Creed Valhalla Update 1.1.1 releases today, full patch notes revealed
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/assassins-creed-valhalla-update-1-1-1-releases-today-full-patch-notes-revealed/
Ubisoft has announced that Update 1.1.1 for Assassin’s Creed Valhalla will be released later today, January 14th. This update will be 6.45GB in size on the PC, and you can find below its full patch notes.

After some lawsuits, CD Projekt RED issues official apology for Cyberpunk 2077’s launch
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/after-some-lawsuits-cd-projekt-red-issues-official-apology-for-cyberpunk-2077s-launch/
After the recent investigation by Poland’s Consumer Protection Agency UOKiK over Cyberpunk 2077’s troubled launch, CDPR has issued an official apology statement. In a short 5 minutes video, CDPR co-founder Marcin Iwinski explains what caused the console launch of this highly anticipated game to not meet up with the requirements and expectations. But unfortunately they didn’t focus on the PC version of this game.

First gameplay trailer for The King of Fighters XV released, showcasing Shun’ei
https://www.dsogaming.com/videotrailer-news/first-gameplay-trailer-for-the-king-of-fighters-xv-released-showcasing-shunei/
SNK has released the first gameplay trailer for The King of Fighters XV, showcasing one of the characters of the game. As the title suggests, this trailer focuses on Shun’ei, and shows some of his moves.

Nioh 2 Complete Edition PC features, PC requirements & first PC screenshots
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/nioh-2-complete-edition-pc-features-pc-requirements-first-pc-screenshots/
KOEI Tecmo and Team Ninja have shared the first official PC features and screenshots for Nioh 2 Complete Edition, as well as its PC requirements. According to the teams, Nioh 2 PC will support 4K resolutions, ultra-widescreen, HDR, and 144hz monitors.

The Medium gets an official live action trailer
https://www.dsogaming.com/videotrailer-news/the-medium-gets-an-official-live-action-trailer/
Bloober Team has released an official live action trailer for The Medium. And, to be honest, it appears that this game would actually make a great horror movie. Now I’m not saying that the game won’t be worth it, however, a movie adaptation would actually make a lot of sense.

The news, part two:

A Fallout 76 'militia' has been banned from Facebook for the second time
https://www.pcgamer.com/a-fallout-76-militia-has-been-banned-from-facebook-for-the-second-time/
The Free States Militia might be able to handle anything the post-apocalyptic West Virginia wasteland can throw at them, but the Fallout 76 roleplayers have once again taken a heavy blow from their greatest foe: Facebook.

Call of Duty: Warzone drops a second, stronger nerf on the dominant DMR 14
https://www.pcgamer.com/call-of-duty-warzone-drops-a-second-stronger-nerf-on-the-dominant-dmr-14/
For the past month, a single gun has dominated every Call of Duty: Warzone match. The DMR 14, a weapon carried over from Black Ops - Cold War, quickly caught fire after releasing in Warzone thanks to its easily-managed recoil, forgiving damage range, and high fire rate. A patch last week aimed at lowering its popularity proved ineffective, but Raven Software is deploying a second DMR 14 nerf today.

EA is still making Star Wars games, with 'a number of projects' ahead
https://www.pcgamer.com/ea-is-still-making-star-wars-games-with-a-number-of-projects-ahead/
The resurrection of the Lucasfilm Games brand as "the official identity for all gaming titles from Lucasfilm" left us with some questions, not least among them being what it meant for Disney's exclusive Star Wars deal with Electronic Arts. That's not due to expire until 2023, but there was no overlooking the absence of any mention of EA in the announcement.
The question of EA's Star Wars situation was clarified somewhat today—ironically, in the news that Ubisoft is working on a new open-world Star Wars game. The era of exclusivity is obviously over, but Lucasfilm Games vice-president Douglas Reilly told starwars.com that Electronic Arts will continue to make Star Wars games, too.

Bethesda says its Indiana Jones game will not impact Starfield or Elder Scrolls 6
https://www.pcgamer.com/bethesdas-new-indiana-jones-game-will-not-impact-starfield-or-elder-scrolls-6/
Todd Howard is a busy guy. He's the director and/or executive producer on, among other things, The Elder Scrolls 6, the Starfield game we're all so excited about, and the Fallout TV series being developed for Amazon. As of yesterday, he's also the executive producer on the new Indiana Jones game being developed by Wolfenstein studio MachineGames.

Elder Scrolls Online reveal event delayed to avoid clash with presidential inauguration
https://www.pcgamer.com/elder-scrolls-online-reveal-event-delayed-to-avoid-clash-with-presidential-inauguration/
During the Game Awards last year we got to see a teaser of the year-long adventure that will play out across The Elder Scrolls Online in 2021. It's called Gates of Oblivion, and it sure looks like the big angry Daedric Prince called Mehrunes Dagon is up to no good. A global reveal event was announced for January 21, but today Bethesda and ZeniMax Online announced that, "Due to Inauguration Day in the United States falling on Jan. 20, we are moving our Global Reveal Event for Gates of Oblivion from Thursday, Jan. 21 to Tuesday, Jan. 26 at 5PM EST/10PM GMT."

Take-Two gives up its attempted acquisition of Codemasters
https://www.pcgamer.com/take-two-gives-up-its-attempted-acquisition-of-codemasters/
Two months after reportedly reaching an agreement to acquire Codemasters for almost $1 billion, Take-Two Interactive this week announced it no longer plans to follow-through with its bid.
Take-Two looked set to follow through with its acquisition last November, though it seems plans were complicated by EA's surprise bid of $1.2 billion the following month. The Codemasters board took to this bid, withdrawing its recommendation to sell to Take-Two. Now, rather than returning with a counter-offer, the publisher told its investors that it's pulling out of the race entirely.

Blue Fire will release February 4, looks a bit like a 3D Hollow Knight
https://www.pcgamer.com/blue-fire-will-release-february-4-looks-a-biit-like-a-3d-hollow-knight/
One of my favourite things is when indie devs take small nuggets of inspiration from tons of different games to concoct something that simultaneously feels unique while still rooted in its muses.
ROBI Studios' Blue Fire is just that— a smattering of Hollow Knight's spookily adorable aesthetic with some Soulsy combat and a big influence from 3D platformers starring a moustachioed plumber. It's an action-packed, fast-paced platformer and is coming to Steam on February 4.

So Steam is basically almost as big as all consoles combined. Now if you add all the other clients to it it seems PC gaming is indeed bigger than console gaming.

So the ball is in Sony's corner again... they reported 113m MAU in August... it's time for an update.

ASUS announces 4K 144Hz monitors with HDMI 2.1

https://videocardz.com/newz/asus-announces-three-4k-144hz-monitors-with-hdmi-2-1

Personally, if you are gonna get a 43 inch monitor, you may as well choose the 42 inch LG OLED TV and sacrifice the 24 hz for significantly better picture quality.


DisplayPort 2.0 monitors to ‘appear later in 2021’

https://videocardz.com/newz/displayport-2-0-monitors-to-appear-later-in-2021

"The solution is called HDMI 2.1, a new standard that was unveiled back in January 2017. This standard allows a 4K 12-bit resolution of up to 120 frames per second without DSC. The HDMI 2.1 connector has a maximum bandwidth of 48 Gbit/s. In comparison, the DisplayPort 2.0 standard that has not yet been enabled for any graphics card or a gaming console, can offer up to 77.37 Gbit/s (80 Gbit/s total bandwidth). The DisplayPort 2.0 supports up to 8K 85 Hz or 4K 240 Hz."