At Tech4Gamers, I contribute as a Senior News Reporter, combining my skills and gaming enthusiasm to keep our audience updated on the latest developments.
[Press Release] Corsair’s latest mice are tailor-made to meet the needs of all types of gamers. Whether it be hyper-competitive Counter-Strike sessions or relaxing single-player stories, the M55 and its wireless counterpart are ready to improve your gaming experience.
The M55 Series Comes With A Sleek And Minimalist Aesthetic
To appeal to a broader audience, both mice offer a design that can accommodate various grips, including claw, palm, fingertip, and more. Moreover, the M55’s compact size makes it easier to handle, and a textured side grip adds further control for precise gaming.
Weighing just 55g, the M55 makes it easy to keep going through long sessions. Meanwhile, the wireless variant is just a bit heavier at 85g, offering an elegant, clutter-free solution. Both mice also offer smooth strokes on practically all surfaces.
The M55 Wireless can last 185 hours on one AA battery, making it the perfect mouse for your wireless gaming needs. Additionally, it boasts blazing-fast response times with Slipstream Wireless v1.5 technology.
In terms of their sensors, both mice are equipped with precise optical sensors. The M55 supports up to 16K DPI, while the wireless variant can reach up to 24K DPI. Six programmable buttons and iCUE Link support ensure that customization is another strong suit of the M55 lineup.
If you need a new mouse, look no further. Corsair is now selling both versions through its official website and retail distribution network. The M55 lineup is backed by a solid two-year warranty, and you can learn more through this link.
As Tech4Gamers’ Founder and Editor-in-Chief, I bring over 13 years of PC Hardware Reviewing and 8+ years of IT Project Management experience. Certified in Google IT Support , my focus is on providing honest product reviews and analysis and fostering a strong gaming community with 130k+ members in PPG.
Story Highlight
China’s biggest gaming case, Dongyu E-Sports, began to experience losses due to Intel’s instability problems.
Intel representatives flew to the cafe and helped solve the problem with Dongyu E-Sports’ i9 chips.
The company also found other problems, including issues with heat dissipation, power supplies, and more.
Dongyu E-Sports hosts the largest i9-equipped gaming PCs all over China. The company also ranks first among the top internet cafes in China. However, the i9 CPUs that they integrated had a massive effect on the company due to instability issues.
Why it matters: Intel’s chip instability has already caused too many problems for the gaming giant.
Image via mydrivers
Being the largest internet cafe company in China, they could not afford to lose customers.
The issue started in December 2023 and frustrated many of the cafe users. As Dongyu E-Sports is a valuable customer to Intel, they had to go to China specifically to solve the instability issues.
According to reports, the stability problems were so frustrating for the users that they stopped coming to the cafe. To deal with the problem, Dongyu started providing these customers with free drinks and extra online time. The situation was getting worse since most of the i9 started to crash.
When Intel’s team arrived, they found that there were instability issues as well as problems with the power supply, heat dissipation, and CPU voltage. The technicians found the root of the problem.
They said that they had just made a change to “relevant settings.”
Anyhow, Intel was able to solve the problem. With Arrow Lake-S on the way, it is expected that Dongyu E-Sports will make a jump to the new architecture since they are always equipped with the latest and most powerful hardware out there.
The Ryzen Threadripper 9000 series will feature up to 96 cores and 192 threads.
This lineup will support the existing sTR5 socket.
AMD could announce the new Threadripper processors next year.
According to a leak by Olark29, it is now confirmed that the AMD Ryzen Threadripper 9000 CPUs have a configuration of up to 96 cores. These processors, codenamed Shimada Peak, have yet to be officially confirmed.
This top-of-the-line CPU Threadripper 9995WX offers 96 high-performance cores, all Zen 5-based, according to the information. In this sense, only AMD EPYC CPUs will feature a variant built entirely of efficiency or high-performance cores.
Why it matters: AMD’s Threadripper series has always been popular for workstation builds.
Like the Ryzen 9000 lineup, Shimada Peak supports the same socket currently available on the market: the sTR5. For this, AMD is offering two motherboard designs: WRX90 and TRX50.
The AMD Ryzen Threadripper 9000 has not undergone any significant design alterations. The AMD Zen 5 architecture will now support a configuration of up to 96 cores and 192 processing threads.
This is accomplished using a 12-CCD arrangement, each holding 8 cores and 32MB of L3 cache. In addition to the 12 CCDs, we also have the previously established I/O Die for connectivity.
The predecessor’s maximum configuration was up to 96MB of L2 cache alongside 384MB of L3 cache. It will still support the same 128x PCI-Express 5.0 lanes and DDR5 memory configurations.
The AMD Ryzen Threadripper 7000 CPUs feature a maximum frequency of 5.30 GHz and a maximum TDP of 350W. It will be intriguing to observe the difference in performance, especially after seeing the practically zero improvements in the IPC of Zen 5 in the AMD Ryzen 9000 consumer CPUs.
Shimada Peak is not expected to be announced soon. However, some leaks point out that it will be officially revealed on 10 October during an event next year. Other products, like AMD EPYC Turin and its Instinct MIX325X GPU for AI, will be announced at the same event.
At Tech4Gamers, I’m the PC Hardware Specialist, primarily contributing to the “Best-Ofs” section. I provide thoughtful buying advice based on thorough testing and personal expertise. I also review hardware products and games to keep things fresh.
Story Highlight
AMD’s latest announcements and product launches have been misleading, such as the RX 7000 series GPUs that were advertised to be faster than they were.
A few products were delayed after being announced. The most recent delays were for the Ryzen 9000 series processors, and now, the Ryzen 9000X3D CPUs won’t be released until CES 2025.
FSR 3 was announced 11 months before it was launched, and it only supported two games at its launch.
Not every recent launch has been a disaster for AMD, like the Ryzen 7 5800X3D CPU, which delivered the same performance it advertised.
I’ve been following AMD’s launches for the past few years, and while they were going great until the Ryzen 5000 series, the recent ones have been disappointments, one after another. AMD keeps botching its launches, from the RX 7900 XTX and RX 7900 XT to the RX 7700 XT, FSR 3, Anti-Lag marketing, and others. Of course, let’s not forget how the latest Ryzen 9000 series processor launch got delayed. However, not all the launches were devastating. Let’s take a look at a few recent launches.
The Misguided Marketing Strategies
Official announcement of the RX 7900 XTX. (Image credits: AMD)
One of AMD’s biggest strengths over the years has been its marketing strategies. However, recent launches have shown a significant disconnect between its promises and the reality presented later. Let’s take FSR 3, for example. The technology was supposed to answer NVIDIA’s DLSS, but on its initial launch, it was broken and only came with two games: Forspoken and Immortals of Aveum.
Similarly, most of the RX 7000 series GPUs were marketed as competitors for NVIDIA’s top RTX 4000 series graphics cards, but even the RX 7900 XTX was no match for NVIDIA’s top dog. According to the official announcement, the RX 7900 XTX would be 1.7x faster than the RX 6950 XT, but our testing showed otherwise. Here’s a graph to showcase various GPUs compared against one another at 1080p, 1440p, and 4K resolutions.
GPU Rasterization Performance
1 of 3
Average GPU rasterization performance at 1080p. (Image by Tech4Gamers)
Average GPU rasterization performance at 1440p. (Image by Tech4Gamers)
Average GPU rasterization performance at 4K. (Image by Tech4Gamers)
Delays And Impact On Consumer Trust
Another reason AMD keeps botching its launches is the constant delays in product releases. I’ll quote FSR 3’s launch once again. AMD’s first mistake was announcing the technology too early, in November 2022, alongside RDNA3. In reality, FSR 3 launched at the end of September 2023, almost 11 months later. Not only did this crumble the initial hype of the technology, but enthusiasts also got annoyed due to such a long delay.
Similarly, the latest Ryzen 9000 series processors got delayed for 15 days when their initial launch was on July 30, 2024. The processors launched a few days ago, with the Ryzen 7 9700X and Ryzen 5 9600X launching on August 8 and the Ryzen 9 9950X and Ryzen 9 9900X launching on August 15. Moreover, the Ryzen 9000X3D CPUs won’t be released till CES 2025, unlike the previous late 2024 date.
All of these delays and changes in announcements negatively impact AMD when it needs a boost in market share and to compete with its rivals. Honestly, I have learned to take every AMD announcement with a tablespoon of salt because the reality of its words is not guaranteed.
Bright Spots Among The Missteps
While there’s lots to bash AMD on, not every recent launch has been terrible by the company. A recent example has to be the announcement for the Ryzen 7 7800X3D CPU. During the announcement, they announced it was the “ultimate gaming processor” and performed, on average, 15% faster than the Ryzen 7 5800X3D. According to our testing, the CPU performs as advertised and goes head-to-head with Intel’s flagship processors.
Average CPU gaming performance at 1080p. (Image by Tech4Gamers)
Similarly, the Zen 4 announcement was decent, even though the launch didn’t go as planned due to the higher price points of RAM and motherboards. While some performance numbers were exaggerated, most were accurate, providing gamers with what was marketed. Additionally, the CPUs were adequately priced, providing decent value and performance.
Can AMD Turn It Around?
AMD has been making too many mistakes recently, with poor announcements, sloppy product launches, and a complete disconnect between the company and its customers. Better alignment between the marketing and actual performance of new products is one of the most important things the company needs to consider.
AMD has a loyal fan base; however, if it keeps botching its launches, the company risks losing the market share it has worked so hard for. It’s time for AMD to refocus on its marketing strategies and ensure that its next round of product launches is flawless and exceeds all expectations. Besides, it’s not an overstatement that AMD has provided some fantastic products that have competed and beat its competition over the years.
At Tech4Gamers, I proudly hold the role of a Hardware Reviewer. Here, I leverage my expertise to provide readers with in-depth insights into PC hardware, ensuring they have the information needed to make informed decisions.
Story Highlight
Newer games have ridiculously higher system requirements, making GPUs with less than 12GB VRAM obsolete for higher resolutions.
More VRAM in GPUs is beneficial for productivity tasks as it can help drop render times.
While VRAM is important for high-resolution gaming, GPU performance is equally important. Ideally, you want to strike a balance between both.
I remember the days when I could play almost any game on my old NVIDIA Quadro 2000 GPU. Nowadays, however, newer games are so unoptimized that mid-range GPUs from two to three years ago are becoming obsolete on higher resolutions. Until recently, 8GB VRAM was the minimum if you wanted to play games at 1440p and 4K resolution, but now I don’t recommend GPUs below 12GB VRAM anymore. Don’t understand why? Let’s take a look at the specifics.
Games Are Demanding More And More VRAM
As much as it pains me to say it, new games and applications demand more VRAM than before. Let’s take GTA 5, for example. The game, launched in 2013, is more taxing for the processor but still demands some VRAM to run correctly. Well, I could easily play it on my trusty GTX 1050 Ti at 1080p without any bottlenecks. Mind you, I did have to lower the settings slightly to get a steady 60 FPS, but other than that, I faced no issues.
Moving on to recent game launches, Star Wars Jedi: Survivor is perhaps one of the biggest culprits of using too much VRAM. According to reports, the game demands over 18GB VRAM and is severely CPU bottlenecked at 1440p. Let’s also not forget the latest Black Myth Wukong, which has swept the internet with various negative reviews.
Black Myth Wukong system requirements. (Image by: Steam)
Whether the game is unoptimized or not isn’t the concern, but what is concerning is its VRAM consumption according to the game’s system requirements. You need an RTX 4080 Super with 16GB VRAM to run the game at 4K ultra. 1080p, you need an RTX 2060 with 6GB GDDR6 VRAM, which is more reasonable. The problem is that all these tests were done with DLSS, FSR, and XeSS enabled. So, you’ll require much more power without upscale technology to get the same performance, perhaps up to 12GB VRAM to disallow any stutters at entry-level 1440p.
How More VRAM Enhances Content Creation
Using GPU to lower render times in Adobe Premier Pro. (Image By Tech4Gamers)
VRAM benefits not just gamers but also content creators. Whether you’re editing videos at 4K, rendering 3D models, or working on photo manipulation, having higher VRAM will make a massive difference during renders and while using the software. Having at least 12GB VRAM keeps tasks running smoothly, and your 4K video won’t take days to render.
I periodically need to work on productivity tasks, and besides gaming, 12GB VRAM is currently the sweet spot for both ends of the spectrum without draining my wallet. Before, when I tried to render videos at 4K with my older graphics card, I was always afraid of my PC crashing because of the heavy load, but now it’s much better. Here’s a screenshot of how long it took me to render a ~7-minute video at 4K with my RTX 3060 and Ryzen 5 3600.
Time taken to render a 4K video in Adobe Premier Pro. (Image By Tech4Gamers)
The Role Of VRAM In High-Resolution Gaming
MSI RX 5700 XT
1 of 3
MSI RX 5700 XT front. (Image By Tech4Gamers)
MSI Radeon RX 5700 XT MECH OC
MSI RX 5700 XT installed. (Image By Tech4Gamers)
MSI Radeon RX 5700 XT MECH OC
MSI RX 5700 XT performance benchmarks in games. (Image By Tech4Gamers)
MSI Radeon RX 5700 XT MECH OC
The work of a GPU can get slightly complex when it comes to games. GPU performance and VRAM play crucial roles, but their importance can vary according to your resolution and the games you’re playing. The GPU’s performance correlates to higher FPS and smoother gameplay. On the other hand, VRAM is essential to store textures and graphical data. Having less VRAM can lead to stutters in your games.
That’s why, while the RTX 3060 sounds like a good option for 12GB VRAM, you’ll succeed more with an RTX 4070 Super at a higher 1440p resolution. In most cases, you won’t require more than 12GB VRAM for now, and you can sit on it for the next year or two. Ideally, you want a balance of GPU performance and VRAM, so choose according to the games you plan to play.
System Requirements Will Keep Increasing
Judging from how game and software requirements keep increasing yearly, it’s not far away that even 12GB VRAM users will start facing slight stutters at 1080p, let alone 1440p. However, if you’re fine playing the latest games with slightly lower graphics, the latest-gen 12GB VRAM GPUs should hold out for a few years.
In any case, I don’t recommend GPUs below 12GB VRAM anymore because they’re not likely to last you a long time and aren’t future-proof. If nothing else, you can opt for the RTX 3060 or the RX 6700 XT for decent 1080p gaming without emptying your wallet. So, even though games and software have become more demanding, we at least have a few graphics cards we can rely on for the next few years.
At Tech4Gamers, I’m a Tech Detective and Guides Writer, unravelling PC hardware complexities. With experience, I bridge the gap between novices and tech aficionados with informative content.
Story Highlight
AMD released plenty of Zen 3 CPUs at much lower MSRP than previous iterations.
Intel’s 14th generation provides marginal gains while costing the same and packing the risk of having multiple issues.
The problems with Intel CPUs are not favorable enough to suggest them instead.
Intel and AMD both release a new generation of processors pretty much every year, which no doubt offers great value and performance gains, especially on the AMD side. Intel has made quite a few moves on their side, too, like increasing the number of cores/threads and providing support for one socket. By support, I mean the refreshes that both companies give to their older or current platforms by bringing new processors for consumers to buy.
However, to see who won the refresh battle of 2024, I have to go through some important points before drawing a conclusion, such as which side offers more value.
Lineup They Launched This Year
First, Intel refreshed its 13th-generation processors with the 14th generation. Why did I say that? Well, it’s because Intel’s 14th generation is basically the same 13th-generation processors, with marginal improvements in terms of performance and specs. All the processors differ in clock speed, and only the Core i7 14700K has a higher number of cores this time around among all its siblings.
Whereas AMD didn’t do such a thing and chose its good old AM4 legacy platform to give a refresh. AMD launched six AM4 socket Ryzen 5000 series processors and APUs, which include Ryzen 7 5700X3D, Ryzen 7 5700, Ryzen 5 5600GT, and Ryzen 5500GT in January 2024. Similarly, the Ryzen 7 5800XT and the Ryzen 9 5900XT this August. That’s quite a big number to release for a legacy platform. This proves that even now, with AM5 being the current platform, AMD still cares for the old one.
Ryzen 5000 New CPUs (Image credit: AMD)
The Upgrade Path & Compatibility
Unfortunately, though, this is as far as both of them are going to go in terms of the upgrade path. This means that if I have to upgrade further, I have no option other than to change the whole platform until AMD or Intel decide to launch some more processors of the same family that offer acceptable performance uplift and value.
As for the compatibility side of things, Intel’s 14th generation does offer compatibility for Gen5 PCIe slots for SSD and GPUs, as well as DDR5 memory and WiFi-7 standards for wireless connectivity. Meanwhile, the Ryzen 5000 series is stuck with PCIe Gen4, DDR4 memory, and WiFi-6E standards. Clearly, Intel seems like a better side here, but the cost is equally far higher for those new features.
The Ongoing Issue with Intel CPUs
We can’t ignore issues if there are any with either side, be it AMD or Intel. Here, Intel seems to be the one that caught the bad luck. The problem is that Intel 13th/14th gen desktop and mobile CPUs are experiencing crashing issues while doing certain tasks due to overvoltage that is being passed to the silicon.
Intel Core i9-14900K (Image By Tech4Gamers)
Intel has announced a patch fix. However, that’s only going to prevent any more damage and not the one that has already been done to it. So, this mess, even with the fix, has a role in devaluing Team Blue’s refreshed generation. Good thing that this isn’t an issue with AMD, as all the new Ryzen 5000 series processors are stable and high performing.
Also, can’t forget that AMD offers overclocking on all of its processors and motherboards, except for the X3D and A series CPUs & motherboards. But that is about to end with Ryzen 9000 series X3D CPUs.
The Affordability Plays A Major Role Here
Now, this is a crucial one as it plays a major role in making either side win the refresh battle. Without being a value-for-money product and more expensive, the competition is easily going to surpass and be the winner. Now, when I look at the overall affordability of the whole platform, obviously I’m going to side with AMD on this one.
Mainly because it’s been in the market for so long that everything related to is now heavily discounted and available at highly affordable prices. And that includes the new 5000 series processors too. For instance, the Ryzen 7 5700X3D is already available for as low as $209 instead of its $249.99 MSRP via Newegg and Amazon. Therefore, the AM4 platform takes the lead in terms of affordability here.
Ryzen 7 5700X3D Price on Newegg
The Refresh Battle Winner So Far
With the ongoing crashing issues, the higher cost of setting up the complete platform, and the lack of overclocking support on non-K processors and Z-series motherboards. Intel seems to have lost the refresh battle here as the Ryzen 5000 is still going strong with affordable pricing and good compatibility. AMD clearly deserves the crown, as they have outdone themselves with the AM4 socket.
As Tech4Gamers’ Wiki Editor, I dissect gaming products, offering detailed perspectives on a variety of PCMR hardware ranging from the Best Motherboards and CPUs to the Best GPUs, RAM, and PSUs.
Story Highlight
Only four ‘X’ SKUs of the Ryzen 9000 Series CPUs have been launched which focus on productivity workloads and as such, fail to outperform the 7800X3D.
The Ryzen 7 7800X3D is a much cheaper bargain by up to 50%, or more than $300, and is globally available with no supply chain issues.
Courtesy of having a singular CCD, Windows 11 is fully optimised to take advantage of the 7800X3D’s 3D V-Cache architecture.
Ahoy there! It’s 2024, so you might still be hopped up on the Zen 5 train and Ryzen 9000 Series ‘Granite Ridge’ bandwagon.However, there are several reasons you might not be feeling too fond of the Ryzen 9000 CPUs.
You can’t even look towards ‘He Who Must Not Be Named,’ i.e., Intel, as they’re struggling with permanent silicon damage on their high-performance 13th-generation and 14th-generation Processors.
So that leaves you and I with only one sensible choice. The Ryzen 7 7800X3D. Why, you ask? Allow me to answer you in complete detail.
Ryzen 7 7800X3D: Born To Game
You can think of AMD’s 3D V-Cache formula as hopping up the Best Gaming CPU on steroids.
An 8-core/16-thread design based on a 5nm node, 96 MB of L3 cache, Base and Turbo Clock speeds of 4.2 GHz and 5.0 GHz, along with a TDP of 120W means that the Ryzen 7 7800X3D based on its redesigned Zen 4 microarchitecture is one serious contender for the Best Gaming Processor.
How Does 3D V-Cache Work?
As mentioned above, AMD leverages the 2nd Generation of its revolutionary 3D V-Cache technology to ‘stack’ layers of L3 cache on top of one another for a total of 96 MB in the 7800X3D’s case.
But what’s so special about this?
Well, it’s the fact that most games nowadays heavily rely on your L3 cache to optimise and boost your performance output and FPS count.
Such is AMD’s mastery in this department that Intel’s current flagship processor, i.e., the Intel Core i9-14900KS priced at $650 only has 36 MB of L3 cache, unable to fit more into the CPU’s tight enclosure.
Ryzen 7 7800X3D vs Ryzen 9 7950X3D: Beware
It is common sense to assume that the Ryzen 9 7950X3D would be the best gaming processor, courtesy of it being the champion of the ‘X3D’ hierarchy.
Even on paper, the Ryzen 9 7950X3D and even 7900X3D blow the 7800X3D out of the water. 128 MB of L3 cache, Turbo Boost up to 5.7 GHz and a maximum core/thread count of 16/32 means that the Ryzen 9 7950X3D in particular is no joke.
Back And Front (Image By Tech4Gamers)
As if that wasn’t enough, AMD has also armed both the Ryzen 9 7950X3D and 7900X3D with a second CCD (Core Chiplet Die) to come up with that ungodly L3 cache figure of 128 MB while still sustaining some freakishly fast Turbo Clock speeds.
Unfortunately, this is where the problem starts. Windows 11 and even Windows 10 aren’t properly configured to appropriately utilize these two CCDs simultaneously.
According to our testing, equating this flaw to real-world performance, the Ryzen 9 7950X3D ends up being almost the same in performance as the Ryzen 7 7800X3D.
Adding insult to injury, the Ryzen 9 7950X3D still costs at least $150 more than the Ryzen 7 7800X3D, even after a $250 discount.
Ryzen 7 7800X3D vs Core i9-14900KS: Loadshedding
All Intel 13th Generation Raptor Lake and 14th Generation Raptor Lake Refresh Processors requiring TDPs of 65W or more have been globally reported to be inflicting self-harm thanks to some faulty microcode encouraging excess voltage delivery, which ultimately damages the CPUs’ silicon in a permanent manner and causes severe system crashes of a random nature.
But let’s suppose this crashing issue never existed. Instead, let’s talk money. The Intel Core i9-14900K and i9-14900KS are currently going for approximately $550 and $650.
In contrast, you can buy a Ryzen 7 7800X3D for less than $310 right now. That’s about $250-350 bucks you can spend on your GPU, RAM, monitor, or gaming peripherals to upgrade them. Do you see what I’m talking about?
The average gaming performance of the Ryzen 7 7800X3D pitted against its competition.
Oh, and as far as performance is concerned, you’ll be very pleased to know that the Ryzen 7 7800X3D actually outshines the Core i9-14900K by a marginal factor of 2%.
Ryzen 7 7800X3D: Best Gaming CPU In 2024
Guys, it’s seriously a no-brainer. It doesn’t matter if it’s the Ryzen 9 7950X3D, the brand new Ryzen 9000 Series Processors, or Intel’s flagship offerings.
The Ryzen 7 7800X3D in the flesh. (Image by Tech4Gamers)
You just can’t beat the Ryzen 7 7800X3D when it comes to collective gaming performance, especially when the conversation tilts towards the price-to-performance calculation.
On that note, I’m happy to announce that the Ryzen 7 7800X3D retains its crown as the Best CPU for Gaming in 2024. Godspeed, AMD.
At Tech4Gamers, I mainly cover new gaming news, leaks, and rumours. Aside from that, I love to write features about my favourite games while inserting my opinion about their different aspects.
Story Highlight
Indiana Jones and The Great Circle has finally been announced for PlayStation.
The game’s developers are thrilled by this decision, as it means more players will be able to experience their work.
The developer also confirms that it always hoped to see a PlayStation release.
Xbox has become a subscription-based business since the gaming giant is focusing on growing Game Pass. It is no longer prioritizing the console market like the competition, making exclusives less relevant to the business.
Recently, Xbox announced that Indiana Jones and The Great Circle would be heading to PlayStation. Many fans were furious, but the PlayStation fans were delighted. It seems like they aren’t the only ones happy, as the developers are also thrilled about the announcement.
Why it matters: Exclusivity is typically not a great deal for developers since they hope to bring games to as many people as possible.
Indiana Jones and the Great Circle Looks Promising So Far
Eurogamer recently interviewed the game’s creative director, Axel Torvenius, and design director, Jens Andersson. According to the interview, this announcement brings no downsides for MachineGames. The studio also showed its excitement over the new announcement.
From MachineGames’ point of view, we are super thrilled and excited over the fact we will be able to be on PlayStation next year as well.
-MachineGames
What’s also interesting is that the team confirmed that it always wanted a PlayStation release. While the studio did not have anything to say about Xbox’s deal, the developers are thrilled with how things turned out.
Overall, the situation is a win for MachineGames and Indiana Jones fans worldwide.
We have already seen how a single console can limit a game’s sales. Final Fantasy 16 and Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth are the latest examples. If a major game is released on PC and other consoles, it will have much more potential to perform well from the beginning.
Xbox is also giving players a chance to play Indiana Jones through Game Pass, effectively appealing to both audiences. This may be the standard approach for the gaming giant’s first-party releases moving forward.
It should also be noted that it was never officially claimed that this game would not come to PS5, but some Xbox fans were still upset after the announcement. According to Phil Spencer, this decision was a business drive move, so fans should expect similar moves from the company in the future.
At Tech4Gamers, I hold the role of a News Reporter, where I merge my passion for gaming with my knack for storytelling. This unique blend allows me to bring you the latest updates, reviews, previews, and features from the gaming world.
Story Highlight
Black Myth: Wukong launched last week, but it continues to dominate sales across all platforms.
Looking at both Steam and PlayStation, the game is at the top of the best-sellers list.
China’s major AAA production remains unmatched despite new releases like Concord and Star Wars Outlaws.
Everyone saw the excitement created by Black Myth: Wukong, which made new records and was eventually hailed as the most-played single-player release on Steam. A full week later, much of this excitement is still visible.
While many single-player releases quickly run out of fumes after the first week, Black Myth: Wukong is still making a name for itself on all platforms.
Why it matters: Game Science chose a busy part of the year to launch its first AAA production. However, this seems to have had little to no impact on its success.
Black Myth: Wukong Performance On Steam And PlayStation
1 of 2
PlayStation Top Sellers
Black Myth Wukong
Steam Top Sellers
Black Myth Wukong
Looking at Steam and PlayStation, the action RPG is still the top-selling game on both platforms.
The action RPG is even outpacing a huge free-to-play title like Counter-Strike 2 on Steam. What’s interesting is that this is in spite of major releases like Star Wars Outlaws coming up soon.
Concord was also released last week, but this hero shooter ended up being a complete disaster. Elsewhere, even a huge release like Black Ops 6 has been unable to dethrone Black Myth: Wukong.
Following yesterday’s multiplayer trailer, Black Ops 6 has generated more excitement than before. Activision is also set to reveal more gameplay later today, but the title has not been able to top the best-sellers list yet.
Overall, it seems that none of these events has been able to match the buzz around Game Science’s latest release.
Star Wars Outlaws Arrives Later This Week
The action RPG has already sold 10 million copies, but we would not be shocked to learn that this figure has increased by a few million. If the current charts are any indication, people are still actively buying the game.
Black Myth: Wukong also continues to show impressive player counts on Steam. At the time of writing, it hit another peak of more than 2 million players in the last 24 hours, showing that fans are actively engaged in the experience.
At Tech4Gamers, I hold the role of a News Reporter, where I merge my passion for gaming with my knack for storytelling. This unique blend allows me to bring you the latest updates, reviews, previews, and features from the gaming world.
Story Highlight
Star Wars Outlaws is extremely demanding on PC.
According to our testing, the game takes up as much as 21GB of VRAM at 4K resolution.
When using 3440×1440 ultrawide resolution, this open-world title still takes up over 15GB of VRAM.
Ubisoft is finally gearing up to release Massive Entertainment’s Star Wars Outlaws on August 30. Reviews for the game, including our own, also went live yesterday, highlighting its many strengths and weaknesses.
While these reviews praised the visuals, it seems the performance and technical problems stuck out for nearly everyone. Our testing also shows that VRAM consumption is as high as 20GB at 4K resolution.
Why it matters: Even when playing Star Wars Outlaws at 1080p High settings, the game can easily consume more than 8GB of VRAM.
Star Wars Outlaws VRAM Consumption
1 of 2
VRAM Consumption at 3440x1440
VRAM Consumption 4K
Overall, the reviews for Star Wars Outlaws have been mostly positive, but many critics have discussed its demanding nature on PC.
Following the announcement of the system requirements, there were doubts about how the game would run on PC. We tested Star Wars Outlaws with the following specs and noticed interesting results.
As the images show, the game consumed over 15GB of VRAM when playing at High settings with the default 3440×1440 ultrawide resolution. These numbers came from AIDA64, so Massive Entertainment’s latest release seems more VRAM-hungry than anticipated.
When the resolution was changed to 4K using Nvidia DSR to mimic the requirements at 4K, this VRAM consumption jumped to 21GB. Since the RTX 4090 comes with 24GB of memory, this was still playable, but it led to questions about the game’s optimization.
Testing Star Wars Outlaws On The Aforementioned PC | Image via Tech4Gamers
This VRAM consumption is a problem for Nvidia users, particularly since most of the gaming giant’s mid-range cards offer 8GB of memory. As mentioned, the title can easily consume more memory at 1080p High settings. Nvidia also sponsors Star Wars Outlaws, making the results even more interesting.
Elsewhere, the game is said to support 60FPS gameplay on consoles. Therefore, seeing how the PS5 and Xbox Series S|X handle this demanding open-world experience will be interesting.
Fortunately, Star Wars Outlaws features a high degree of customization. Graphical settings can be tuned extensively, making the open world’s intensive nature more bearable.
At Tech4Gamers, I contribute as a Senior News Reporter, combining my skills and gaming enthusiasm to keep our audience updated on the latest developments.
Story Highlight
Black Myth: Wukong has received more than 700 negative reviews on Metacritic.
Many of these reviews cite political reasons for low scores, like 0/10.
The average user score is down to just 7.5/10 on the platform because of such ratings.
Black Myth: Wukong has been the biggest surprise this year. While this action RPG always showed glimpses of a brilliant AAA production from China, nobody saw its success coming.
Whether it be critical reception, commercial performance, or user opinions, the game has been surrounded by positivity all around. However, it seems not everyone is happy with this success. Over on Metacritic, the title is being harshly review-bombed.
Why it matters: Highly praised releases like Final Fantasy 16 and Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom have faced similar backlash on the platform before.
While the action RPG still has a generally favorable user score on the platform, there is a noticeable gap in the critic and user reviews. The user opinions are also more favorable on platforms like Steam, indicating review bombing on Metacritic.
Inspecting the situation closely, Black Myth: Wukong has accumulated a whopping 736 negative reviews on this platform. These negative reviews show scores like 0/10 and 1/10, highlighting another case of Metacritic’s prevalent review-bombing problem.
As pointed out on Reddit, it seems the game was mass review-bombed for political reasons. Shortly after its release, the action RPG saw criticism for its lack of inclusivity and diversity.
Looking at the more recent negative reviews, the users seem to bring up valid criticisms, like limited exploration and technical problems. However, the review scores themselves seem to ignore all the positive elements of Black Myth: Wukong.
Game Science Seems To Be Receiving Unnecessary Hate
Many overly negative reviews are also written in Chinese, though it remains to be seen whether these come from actual Chinese users. This seems unlikely since the title has been such a hit in the country.
Nonetheless, Black Myth: Wukong has been an undeniable success. These reviews will do little to harm the game since it has already become the biggest title of 2024, even beating out the likes of Elden Ring and Cyberpunk 2077 when comparing the first week of sales.
At Tech4Gamers, I mainly cover new gaming news, leaks, and rumours. Aside from that, I love to write features about my favourite games while inserting my opinion about their different aspects.
Story Highlight
Concord has seen a devastating release, as the peak player count didn’t even reach 1,000 users.
Most people are not happy, and player counts have dropped further in just a few days.
The situation is so bad that most people cannot find full lobbies for matchmaking.
Concord was recently released, and it has failed to meet expectations in every way possible. The game launched to ten times fewer players than Redfall on Steam, which already says a lot.
However, the situation has become even worse in the last few days. A former developer previously clashed with fans on social media, and this created a major controversy. This was the last thing Concord needed.
The game has also been review-bombed, and its player counts have dropped further in the last few days.
Why it matters: It was clear that this hero shooter would not find the success that PlayStation had wanted. However, at this rate, the game is on track to becoming one of PlayStation’s biggest failures to date.
Because Concord’s player count is so low, players are reporting problems with matchmaking. Wickie09 mentioned on Reddit that they couldn’t find a match in Concord yesterday.
The user waited for 8 minutes just to get timed out. This is not ideal at all, and no one has enough time on their hands to wait for up to 10 minutes in order to play a single multiplayer match.
The game currently has only 116 players on Steam, and the PS5 population likely tells a similar tale of an all-but-abandoned multiplayer shooter. Also, this is just the first week, so things will only change for the worse.
Perhaps the smartest move here would be to adopt a free-to-play model as quickly as possible to make the best of a terrible situation.
Concord is The Most Disappointing Release of 2024 So Far
Valve recently released a playtest of its upcoming shooter Deadlock, which reached almost 90K players yesterday. This is the sign of a promising shooter. On the other hand, both Concord betas were underwhelming, and the actual release was even worse.
Despite requiring eight years of development and a lot of resources from PlayStation, Concord has been unable to bring results. At this point, it’s only a matter of time before player counts drop to double-digit figures, so the gaming giant must act fast to salvage the remains of this hero shooter.
