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A leak on the Epic Games Store has revealed that the long-awaited Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves Collection is scheduled to arrive on October 18. The store page was quickly taken down and then restored to its original format, minus the launch date and preorder information, but was captured for posterity by Wario64 on Twitter.
"The Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves Collection, remastered and optimized for PC, hits Epic Games Store on Oct. 19, and if you pre-purchase it, you'll get a snazzy new Fortnite glider in the shape of Sully's seaplane," the page said, before it disappeared into the digital ether. "To grab the seaplane, digitally and figuratively, you just need to pre-purchase the wonderful Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves Collection from the Epic Games Store started Sept. XX. You get the glider immediately following your pre-purchase. Or you can wait for the seaplane to hit the Fortnite item shop on Nov. 17."
(Image credit: Epic Games Store)
In case there are doubts, I can attest to the presence of the page, and the October 19 date, having witnessed them with my own two eyes before they were so cruelly snatched away.
The previously PlayStation-exclusive Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves Collection was first confirmed for the PC in September 2021, and was expected to arrive "shortly after" the PlayStation 5 version, which was slated for early 2022. The edition collects Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End and Uncharted: The Lost Legacy.
The PS5 edition launched on January 28 but so far there's been no sign of the PC version. This is actually the second Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves PC release date we've seen from the Epic Games Store: A June launch date appeared in the store's April update of upcoming games in 2022, although obviously that didn't happen.
This new date isn't carved in stone, then, but it does look solid: The Steam page for Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves Collection still lists the release date as just 2022, but a June update visible on SteamDB indicates that the release date has been set for—you guessed it—October 19.
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Well this is just about the last thing I expected to see during a Disney & Marvel game showcase: Bithell Games, makers of Thomas Was Alone and John Wick Hex, are making a new Tron game. Tron: Identity, announced on Friday, is a "visual novel adventure" set in the world of Tron.
It doesn't sound like we'll be seeing Flynn, Tron, or other characters from the Tron films, though. Here's a snippet of background from Tron: Identity's Steam page:
"In a new Grid, forgotten by its creator and left alone to evolve without User intervention, an unprecedented crime has been committed. The Repository stands at the center of this society. In the aftermath of a break-in, the future of this Grid hangs in the balance.
"TRON: Identity is a visual novel adventure following Query, a detective program tasked with uncovering the mystery of what was taken and by whom. Finding yourself in a world built on unstable foundations and filled with whispered knowledge, it’s up to you to question suspects and investigate your surroundings to piece together the truth."
According to the Steam page, your decisions will influence how Identity plays out and lead you to one of multiple possible endings. And it's not all talking: as in many visual novels, there will also be puzzle sections, which here will involve "defragging Identity Discs."
A detective mystery on the Grid sounds pretty cool, though to be honest I'm hopeful that Disney greenlighting a new Tron game means we'll see another film follow Tron: Legacy someday. Maybe now that director Joseph Kosinski has made a billion dollars with Top Gun: Maverick, Disney will let him make that Tron sequel he had planned out back in 2015.
Tron: Identity is coming out sometime next year.
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Valve unveiled its new mascot ahead of the Tokyo Game Show next week. And as someone who loves mascots and closely follows the hijinx of the Phillie Phanatic and Orbit from the Houston Astros, I couldn't be happier.
According to a tweet from the official Japanese Steam Deck account, "Pal" was created specifically for the launch of the Steam Deck in Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, and Hong Kong. As the tweet (Google translated from Japanese) notes, 'Pal' means friend or companion, which is apt because I want Steam Pal to be my best friend.
Steam Pal is an adorable entity with a giant Steam Deck for a head and a little red valve acting as a bow while wearing a stylish kimono with a Steam Deck logo on the back. Considering how prevalent mascots are in Japanese daily life, it makes sense that Valve has one for its Japanese debut.
In early August, the Steam Deck became available for preorder in parts of Asia, with Komodo handling the retail end of things as an authorized reseller for the Deck. Valve even released a book about the Steam Deck and the company to a part of the world that isn't too familiar with The House Gabe Built.
Introducing a special version of our Steam Pal mascot, created for our launch in Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, and Hong Kong! https://t.co/Do1D9QPqfrSeptember 9, 2022
See moreAttendees heading to TGS next week can get hands-on with the Steam Deck before it ships out to users this holiday season. Valve also said that "novelties" featuring Pal will be available, which I'm hoping are adorable plushies.
So if you're walking around the TGS show floor and see Steam Pal taking selfies, let me know ASAP.
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One of the most popular streamers has decided that an exclusivity deal isn't enough. Tyler "Ninja" Blevins has dropped his contract with Twitch and plans to stream on all major platforms at the same time.
After seemingly staging a sudden hiatus last week, Ninja has returned to announce that he won't sign a deal with Twitch or YouTube, but will instead stream simultaneously on both of them, as well as TikTok, Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook.
"When you sign an exclusivity contract, it's usually a big fat check that's tied to it. That's guaranteed money, that's sustainability, that's comfortable. But right now, I'm basically on my own," he said while playing Fortnite on his first multi-stream today.
"Technically, people like Twitch and YouTube and Facebook, they don't want people to stream on another platform, they don't want to lose viewers to another platform. In a perfect world, all three of the companies want you exclusive there," he said.
Last week, after teasing his hiatus and changing his social media profiles to say "User Not Found," Ninja's Twitch partner checkmark disappeared. Now that he's back, presumably he's no longer bound by the "multi-year" contract he signed with the platform in 2020. In order to stream everywhere, he's opted out of allowing subscriptions entirely on the platform as a Twitch affiliate. Twitch released the restrictions on partners streaming to TikTok and Instagram last month, but they're still not allowed to broadcast on YouTube or Facebook—its two biggest rivals. And affiliates aren't allowed to multi-stream at all.
Took a little time off, but now I’m back…and I’ll be live EVERYWHERE tomorrow at 12CST pic.twitter.com/k2nt1BVUuNSeptember 8, 2022
See moreAt the time of this writing, around two hours into his first stream, Ninja has around 13,000 viewers on Twitch, 7,000 on YouTube, 13,400 on TikTok, and 1,000 on Facebook. He's able to read chat from all platforms at once, which a bot in his Twitch chat suggests is via a multi-stream service called Restream.
By opting out of Twitch's particular grind for viewership and going wide, Ninja is one of the first well-known streamers to shed all exclusivity deals to go live on all platforms. According to a leak of Twitch's internal records last year, most Twitch streamers don't make enough money to have that luxury and are stuck searching for ways to grow among the other eight million active channels (according to TwitchTracker). Ninja, however, is big enough on his own, with major publishers reportedly paying him a million dollars to play their game, that he doesn't need to sign any contracts.
Pokimane, another extremely successful Twitch streamer, made a similar decision to stop streaming full-time on Twitch last week. She announced that she will focus on non-gaming content outside of Twitch, citing the constant chase for relevancy on the platform as the reason why. "I feel like other platforms fit into my lifestyle nowadays a little bit better," she said.
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Just over a month after scrapping its hugely unpopular monetization scheme, Second Dinner has announced that the free-to-play digital card battler Marvel Snap will go live on PC and mobile devices on October 8.
A trailer released today showcases all-new gameplay footage from Marvel Snap, which is currently in closed beta on Android devices. The game will include more than 150 cards with original illustrations drawn from throughout Marvel's history at launch, and 80 distinct gameplay locations, each with "challenging, game-changing effects" aimed at helping to ensure "players will never experience the same game twice."
"We’ve spent years making sure that Marvel Snap is the kind of game that everyone, gamer or not, can’t wait to pick up and play," said Ben Brode, formerly the game director on Blizzard's hit CCG Hearthstone and now the chief development officer at Second Dinner. "If you love fast-paced, strategic games and the thrill of throwing down a power move to stop your opponent at the last second to win the big game, you’re going to absolutely love Marvel Snap."
Our own impressions of Marvel Snap were generally positive when we took it for a spin in a July preview. It's "gorgeous to look at and simple to play," and the small deck size and six-turn limit keeps the action flowing. Ironically, the battles themselves felt a bit flat, because defying all reasonable expectations the comic-book heroes and villains never actually throw hands, leaving it feeling a little less like a superhero game than we expected.
One thing bet players definitely did not love about Marvel Snap was its monetization scheme, and specifically the Nexus Events that were widely criticized for being overly aggressive and misrepresenting the likelihood of high-tier rewards dropping. The situation seemed particularly egregious in light of Second Dinner's promise that players would be able to acquire every card in the game "without paying anything," just a couple of months before slapping a mandatory price tag on a powerful new card.
The scheme was eventually walked back and refunds issued, but it wasn't a good look for a game approaching full release and raised questions about how the game would handle monetizing similar in-game events in the future. Second Dinner hasn't revealed any new monetization plans at this point, so we'll definitely be keeping our eyes open for that.
With the October 8 launch date set, players interested in getting in on the action can pre-register at marvelsnap.com.
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The yearly Minecraft mob vote is coming back again, and this time you'll be able to participate even if you miss the Minecraft Live show next month.
The mob vote has been an emotionally charged competition in past years. Mojang typically shows off three choices during Minecraft Live, highlighting each of the potential new mobs to be added to Minecraft—be they animals, enemies, or helper creatures—and then puts the vote to players on Twitter during the two-ish hour long show. Opinions get hot on social media and in the livestream chat as fans and content creators jockey for their favorites until the winner is announced at the end. Typically, the mob chosen in the yearly vote arrives to the game in the following year's major update.
In past years it's been easy to miss the live show and the chance to cast a vote. Or you may just not have a Twitter account. So this year Mojang is giving folks more ways and, crucially, more time to participate in the mob vote.
This year's mob vote will open the day before the Minecraft Live show. "The polls open on October 14, noon EDT which means that you will have a full 24 hours to cast your vote, (and change it as many times as you like!)," Mojang says in its announcement.
Players will be able to vote from the Minecraft launcher, on Minecraft.net, or by playing on a Bedrock server Mojang is setting up for the occasion. Mojang hasn't specifically said so, but I'm taking this to mean that you'll need to be logged in to your Microsoft account in one of these places, rather than just being anyone on Twitter. I don't think I'll choose to vote in-game, but being able to do so right from the launcher before I load up a save file for the evening seems nice and easy.
Last year the item-loving Allay dominated over the Iron Golem and the Glare with 51% of the votes. The year before that, the Glow Squid narrowly edged out the Iceologer and Moobloom with 36% of the votes. Years back in 2017, a mob vote was held at Minecon, which the Phantom wound up winning over some other enemy mobs.
I'm glad that everyone will have a bit more time to mull over the choices this year, but the result is definitely going to be an entire day of Minecraft fans and YouTube personalities battling it out over their preferred pick, whatever our choices may be.
As announced in the quite catchy trailer up top, Minecraft Live will premiere at noon eastern (9 am PT / 5 pm UK) on Saturday, October 15. The mob vote will be available 24 hours beforehand on Friday, October 14. As in past years, the livestream will cover all things Minecraft: the next major update to the main game, Education Edition, Minecraft Dungeons, upcoming Minecraft Legends, and more.
And look at that, the cheek of them making a reference to the beta versions from earlier this year during which frogs were mistakenly eating goats.
(Image credit: Mojang) -
The Multiversus patch that went live yesterday, taking the game to version 1.02, makes a number of big and small changes to the game, and one that's particularly interesting because it's so seemingly odd: Velma, the big brain of the Scooby Gang, will no longer call the police after solving a mystery.
Velma's passive in Multiversus enables her to generate "evidence" when she lands attacks that she can pick up during a fight. Once she's accumulated enough, she can call the police, who will come rolling in and "arrest" the opposing player. It's her ultimate ability, basically, a splashy payoff that can guarantee a kill if an enemy team does nothing. It looks like this:
As of yesterday, however, that's no longer the case. As described in the 1.02 patch notes, "Instead of calling the police, Velma now solves the mystery and calls the Mystery Inc. gang and the Mystery Machine to take the bad guys away."
No reason for the change was given, but it's fair to say that the image of Velma calling the cops on her opponents—under false pretenses, no less, because she tells them it's actually Old Man Jenkins—is at the very least uncomfortable at a time when police abuses and criminality, amidst almost complete iimpunity from consequences, are coming under increasing public scrutiny. This is especially so when she's facing Black men like, say, Lebron James, which bears many similarities to real-world incidents.
It did not go unnoticed by the Multiversus community.
(Image credit: MrJohns0n31 (Reddit))Apart from a different hitbox, Velma's move is functionally identical following the patch, but instead of the police showing up, the Mystery Machine arrives and takes the opponent away. This has sparked some debate, not all entirely serious, about whether extrajudicial kidnappings are actually better or more defensible than police brutality. AntWithNoPants addressed that issue with a brief post on Reddit that as far as I'm concerned puts the matter to bed quite handily.
"The Scooby Gang literally stop rich people from screwing over the poor for funsies," they wrote. "I'd deal with them any day over the cops."
This is what Velma's phone call looks like now, with a side-by-side comparison to the original:
Interestingly, most of the reaction on social media seemed to focus not on the sociopolitical element of the change, but on how it will impact gameplay. Game director Tony Huynh said on Twitter that swapping the police with the Mystery Machine is both a buff and a nerf: The larger size of the Mystery Machine compared to the police car means it's more likely to hit enemies, but also more likely to be hit.
It has a larger hurtbox too so I think nets out about evenSeptember 9, 2022
See moreAn overhaul of Multiversus' hitboxes and hurtboxes aimed at tying them more closely to individual character animations was the real focal point of the update. "This will be a process for us to get there, but this is our first step towards truly accurate hitbox/hurtbox detection and gives us a foundation to permanently fixing issues going forward," developer Player First Games said in the patch notes.
Still, the removal of the police from Multiversus was the clear priority for some players:
I can't help but feel slightly responsible for this...https://t.co/MGfM4fnrl4September 8, 2022
See moreOn Thursday PC Gamer reached out to Warner for comment on the removal of Multiversus' police car but did not receive a reply.
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Hello ETimt,
Welcome to UnityHQ Nolfseries Community. Please feel free to browse around and get to know the others. If you have any questions please don't hesitate to ask.
ETimt joined on the 09/10/2022.
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We're finally in an era of gaming where an affordable 4K monitor and a fast 4K monitor are one and the same. You could still buy a lower resolution panel for a whole lot less, but as the Gigabyte M32UC proves you can get a whole lot of screen for what feels like a fair price.
You can find this monitor going for as low as $600, which is an awfully competitive price tag for a speedy 4K gaming monitor at this size. Gigabyte has figured out a heady blend of features for that sort of money too, with two HDMI 2.1 ports, 1ms MPRT, FreeSync Premium Pro, and even a USB 3.2 hub.
In terms of value for money, Gigabyte has hit the nail on the head.
The M32UC runs at a perfectly reasonable 144Hz out of the box—and you'll need a powerful graphics card to make the most of that at 4K. However, if you hook this monitor up via DisplayPort 1.4 you can also overclock the panel via the OSD. That bumps the refresh rate up to 160Hz, and while that's probably excessive for most, if you're going big with the rest of your rig (or plan to pick up a powerful next-gen GPU sometime in the future) then it's a decent option to have at the ready.
But something to consider with the M32UC's blend of resolution and refresh rate is that even a high-end GPU won't always make the most of it. That's what makes the M32UC's FreeSync capabilities so crucially important. Keeping this panel in sync with your graphics card when it's under the max refresh rate of the screen, as it is likely going to be at times, prevents a whole lot of screen tearing. The M32UC is not officially on Nvidia's G-Sync Compatible monitors list but worked just fine with an Nvidia GPU in our testing nonetheless.
M32UC specs(Image credit: Future)Panel size: 32-inch
Native resolution: 3840 x 2160
Refresh rate: 144Hz (160Hz overclocked)
Response time: 1ms MPRT (2ms GTG)
Panel type: VA
Peak brightness: 350 cd/m² typical
Sync tech: FreeSync Premium Pro
Inputs: 1x DisplayPort 1.4, 2x HDMI 2.1, 1x USB Type-C, 3x USB 3.2 Type-A, 1x USB 3.2 Upstream, 3.5mm
Price: $600Speaking of that 4K resolution, it's stretched across the M32UC's 32-inch panel. That makes for a pixel pitch of 0.181mm. In practical terms, if you're using this screen with a Windows PC, you'll still likely want to enable scaling on the desktop. The larger panel doesn't squish the 4K resolution as some smaller ones might, but it's so much clearer at around 150% its original size.
You could absolutely go bigger than a 32-inch panel to try and minimise this, but I'd say you don't want to push past the 42-inch mark. After that it feels like you're staring wide-eyed into a portal on your desktop. It's just too big for your average PC and desk setup. 32-inches is a happy medium.
It should come as no surprise that the 32-inch panel running at 4K results in a stunningly crisp image while gaming. I've been playing arguably too much Destiny 2 right now and the M32UC is a stunning way to experience the game. Fine details are well preserved and this panel doesn't struggle with saturation, which makes for a luscious and vibrant image.
Image 1 of 4Smart OD (Image credit: Future)Image 2 of 4Balanced (Image credit: Future)Image 3 of 4Picture Quality (Image credit: Future)Image 4 of 4Speed (Image credit: Future)The M32UC is generally excellent on panel performance, too. There's very little ghosting with the 'Smart OD' overdrive setting enabled, and 'Balanced' is also great. The 'Picture Quality' setting works decently well, too, though has more noticeable failings on darker backgrounds. I would recommend against enabling the 'Speed' overdrive setting, however, as it results in a rather spectral image once enabled and delivers a ton of overshoot.
The M32U also offers a DisplayHDR 400 rating on the box, though I wouldn't consider it for its HDR capabilities. It's lacking much of what's required of a true HDR monitor, such as a higher brightness and local dimming. That's not much of a surprise from a 4K monitor at this price, but that DisplayHDR 400 label on the box can be deceiving.
Image 1 of 4(Image credit: Future)Image 2 of 4(Image credit: Future)Image 3 of 4(Image credit: Future)Image 4 of 4(Image credit: Future)Screen queens(Image credit: Future)Best gaming monitor: Pixel-perfect panels for your PC
Best high refresh rate monitor: Screaming quick screens
Best 4K monitor for gaming: When only high-res will do
Best 4K TV for gaming: Big-screen 4K PC gamingYou also have to look past what is otherwise a fairly bland outer shell on the Gigabyte. I don't mind it: I've used flashier panels and much duller looking ones—they all blend into the background when I'm actually busy gaming. And at least Gigabyte has fit a sturdy and sensible stand on this monitor for the price.
In terms of value for money, Gigabyte has hit the nail on the head with the M32UC. If you look around for competition with similar specs at around the same price, you'll often only find other Gigabyte models coming close, including a handful of often discounted Aorus models. That makes the M32UC a great choice if you're planning ahead for a next-gen 4K-capable gaming PC or if you already have a high-end GPU but are not yet making the most of it.
And while you'd expect this size panel at this price to be a stripped-back offering with none of the extras, Gigabyte delivers with a USB hub, plenty of ports, a simple interface, and easy overclocking.
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Strike it big in the Season of Plunder(Image credit: Bungie)
Destiny 2 map fragments: How to get treasure maps
Destiny 2 Delicate Tomb: Grab this fusion rifle exotic
Destiny 2 Cryptic Quatrains: Solve the riddles
Destiny 2 Fortnite Armor: Get it for free
Destiny 2 lost sectors: This season's daily rotationAllied Demand is one of the newest sidearms to arrive in Destiny 2 as part of the Iron Banner's ever-growing array of PvP weapons. This kinetic pistol is fast-firing and has excellent target acquisition, making it a solid sidearm for Crucible and the new Iron Banner Eruption activity. That is, if you get it with some decent perks.
This weapon benefits from the new Season of Plunder perk pool including Gutshot Straight, which lets you deal increased body shot damage for a reduction in aim assistance; a pretty great trade when you're up close and personal. The Skulking Wolf origin trait has also been reworked, and now functions in any PvP activity, making new Iron Banner weapons far more viable. In this Allied Demand god roll guide, I'll walk you through this sidearm's best setups for PvP and PvE.
How to get Allied Demand
(Image credit: Bungie)Since Allied Demand is an Iron Banner weapon, you can unlock it by completing matches of Eruption in the Crucible destination. At rank four you'll be able to claim an Allied Demand from Lord Saladin, which unlocks the weapon for rerolls using Iron Banner engrams.
You'll get these engrams for ranking up with Lord Saladin, but be aware that focusing them into a specific weapon is quite costly, requiring 100 legendary shards. If you just open the engram normally with Master Rahool, you'll still have a chance to get the weapon.
What is the Allied Demand PvP god roll?
Barrel Magazine Column 3 Column 4 Chambered Compensator Tactical Mag Rangefinder Gutshot Straight Corkscrew Rifling Flared Magwell Rapid Hit Multikill Clip Allied Demand is primarily a PvP weapon, since its origin trait Skulking Wolf has an effect that only works in PvP, granting you enhanced radar and radar invisibility when you defeat guardians while at low health. Since Allied Demand is a 300 round per minute sidearm, you're going to want to make the most of quickly spamming shots, and that's where Gutshot Straight comes in. This perk boosts body damage while reducing target acquisition, but since you'll be using the sidearm at close range this doesn't matter so much.
Rangefinder looks to be the next best perk, buffing your range while aiming. It's worth noting, however, that your ability to trade effectively at range will be a little impaired by Gutshot's aiming effectiveness reduction. Allied Demand does have high base aiming effectiveness, but if you're going for this roll, close quarters bouts should still be your ideal. In terms of barrel and magazine, Chambered Compensator and Tactical Mag give a nice boost to stability and reload speed, making it easier to keep shots on target while firing fast, and letting you quickly change your mag during a fight.
Corkscrew Rifling and Flared Magwell are decent alternatives, granting increased stability, handling, and reload speed. Rapid Hit and Multikill Clip are also viable perks if you're going for consistent precision hits and kills, since the first will buff your reload speed and stability when you land consecutive precision hits, and assuming that ends in a kill, you can then reload quickly and get a damage bonus from the second. If you're looking for a full breakdown of all perks, this video by CoolGuy is well worth a watch.
What is the Allied Demand PvE god roll?
Barrel Magazine Column 3 Column 4 Chambered Compensator Tactical mag Subsistence Frenzy Corkscrew Rifling Flared Magwell Rapid Hit Multikill Clip While Allied Demand isn't really a PvE weapon, it has a variety of perks that will work fine against enemies. Subsistence and Frenzy are always a good pairing, since the former partially reloads your magazine when you defeat opponents, and the latter buffs damage if you're in combat for a certain period of time, letting you consistently hit harder and for longer.
Rapid Hit and Multikill Clip are also strong if you are defeating combatants with precision final blows, since you'll get both the reload and stability buff, as well as the damage boost from defeating enemies before reloading. In terms of barrel and magazine choice, if you're using the sidearm at close range as intended, the same perks as above will work, giving you stability, handling, and reload speed for ease of use. That said, it really depends on how you're using it in PvE and what feels good.
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We've got a real grab-bag for you today, folks. Sure, you thought that time we recommended Resident Evil: Village and Regency Solitaire in the same article was a smorgasbord, but you ain't seen nothing yet. Today's pick from the rich crop of deals over at Fanatical takes you from the androids of the French Revolution through Sven-Göran Eriksson. Don't say we never surprise you anymore.
Remember, if you're picking up either Steelrising or Football Manager 2023, you can get an extra price cut if you use the vouchers listed in the headings for each entry (that's STEELRISING26 for Steelrising, and FAN5 for Football Manager). Just put the codes in the coupon box at checkout and you're good to go.
Top Pick: Steelrising—23% off (26% with voucher STEELRISING26)
(Image credit: Spiders)£26.94/$38.49 | Fanatical link
Spiders' latest game is a soulslike that sees you—Marie Antoinette's personal robotic bodyguard—defend the French Revolution from the predations of an android army headed by Louis XVI. So basically just a straight retelling of history. Steelrising lets you spec your android down a variety of paths, whether a hard-hitting tank or a spooky mech-mage, and the addition of a grappling hook adds a dash of Assassin's Creed Unity-style verticality to the game's version of 18th century Paris. Plus, you've gotta imagine there's at least one excellent "infernal machine" joke in there, right?
You'll be engaging in plenty of tête-à-metallic-têtes with historical icons like Maximilien Robespierre and the Marquis de Lafayette and changing the course of history by hitting it a bunch. We rather liked Steelrising in our review, giving it 75% and praising its world and encounter design.
Football Manager 23—25% off (29% with voucher FAN5)
(Image credit: Sega)£33.74/$44.99 | Fanatical link
This one's a pre-order, but judging by how much we liked Football Manager 2022, we've got high hopes for this next edition. If you want to manage a football team and lead them to glory without any of that mucky "actually playing football" part, the Football Manager series was made for you.
Sid Meier's Civilization VI—85% off
(Image credit: Firaxis)£7.49/$8.99 | Fanatical link
A bit like Football Manager except there's the tantalising possibility someone might violate the Geneva Conventions. Civ VI is the brilliant latest entry in the standard-setting 4X series that's only been enhanced by its two big expansions.
Wasteland 3—73% off
(Image credit: inXile entertainment)£8.36/$10.79 | Fanatical link
An isometric CRPG in the vein of the pre-Bethesda Fallouts (for which the first Wasteland was actually the inspiration), Wasteland 3 sees you guide a squad of Rangers across the frozen tundra of post-apocalyptic Colorado. If you're into turn-based tactics and many, many dialogue choices, you'll probably enjoy Wasteland 3 as much as we did.
Blasphemous—77% off
(Image credit: The Game Bakers, Team17)£4.59/$5.74 | Fanatical link
Put on a spiky hat and go to war with God. Blasphemous is a Metroidvania drenched from head to foot in the Catholic aesthetics that its Spanish developers grew up with. It's one of the most visually arresting games I've ever played. A bit of rickety platforming aside, we gave it 70% and praised it for its "doomed and miserable world" (but in a good way).
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I can't say I'm enormously into dating simulators. I reckon they'd either make me sad because I'd realise how lonely I was without a partner or make me feel strange flirting with a PC considering I had an actual partner I could be talking to. But Kaichu was the exception. It's the exception because I don't think I'll ever get the opportunity to date a kaiju in the real world, right?
Kaichu - The Kaiju Dating Sim is a simulator that looks at love at a macro level. Kaiju for the uninitiated refers to the giant monsters popularised by their own genre of Japanese films, TV and animation: the most famous being Godzilla, but there are bajillions. In Kaichu you play Gigachu, a massive pink reptilian kaiju with heart motifs on the search for a new partner. The story isn't too mysterious and it's told from the perspective of two news anchors, Brevity Ormes and Lucky Cole, who are watching your relationships unfold on screen and explaining the romance to viewers.
You pick another kaiju on the world map to go on dates with, and through a series of personality questions work out how compatible you are for one another. It's about working out which of the monsters likes what, and at least in my case, hoping and praying they also like rock. The material, that is, not the music as I thought when I first played.
(Image credit: Squiddershins)Gigachu has several monsters to choose from but the first I picked was a poisonous mushroom alien kaiju called Megaricus. It simply didn't understand most human concepts like romance, so was pretty focused on intellect and exploration, as most aliens would be. And the aforementioned poison meant no physical relationship could happen between Gigachu and Megaricus but hey, that's no problem when we've got poetry to read together.
Though considered an alien monster, Magaricus is referenced as neurodivergent and has very specific barriers (literally and figuratively) for you to work out and respect. Not all monsters are the same and the game is really about respecting what people like about relationships and all the forms it could take. Physical, intellectual, maybe asexual, it's all good baby (as long as you like terrorising humans too).
Oh yeah, how could I forget to explain the way that kaiju flirt! It's by destroying human things like power plants and Big Ben. Your average date consists of questions about your personality and, if you answer correctly, it'll mean your kaiji and their date will batter human architecture more enthusiastically. It's a highly amusing concept and by the end of each date your two monsters might vibe enough to share a smooch as well as destroy the western seaboard.
The vividly coloured artwork and animations are reminiscent of 2010s Cartoon Network animations like Adventure Time or The Amazing World of Gumball. The animations are energetic and fun for conceptually a dark concept of destruction, making this fun juxtaposition between the subject matter and the actual gameplay. The army makes an appearance to stop the smooch-fest between the kaiju and yet the news anchors and world are entirely unfazed by the murderous monsters on a romantic rampage.
Kaichu isn't a deep game by any means, and you'll have seen most of what it has to offer after a few hours. But it's cheap (£6 on Steam), pretty adorable and innocent. The best thing about Kaichu is how it delivers on the hilarious concept, such that you can have as fleeting a relationship as you like with it and still have a good time.
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The best light gaming mouse will glide like an Olympic ice skater would across your desktop. Shaving precious grams does help if you're the type to throw your mouse around for those sick twitch shots. Though generally these lightweight gaming mice come with holes punched out to shave some weight, not all do, and otherwise offer many of the same features we expect of the best gaming mice overall.
Hefty rubber ball mice are no more, it's true, but even the most popular tournament-grade gaming mice of today can be hefty. If you want to cut out that weight, an 'ultra-lightweight' gaming mouse can serve up next-generation sensors and sleeker switches today.
Expect the shells to come perforated for extra weightlessness. Theoretically, a lighter mouse should mean reduced fatigue, the risk of medical injuries and syndromes like RSI and carpal tunnel, and also increase the speed at which you can pull off clip-worthy headshots in shooters or highlight powerful units in hectic RTS battles.
We've tested every lightweight gaming mouse in this list to make sure they're up to our standard and fit for use. And believe me, there were a fair few mice that didn't make the cut.
Best light gaming mouse
Image 1 of 3(Image credit: Steelseries)Image 2 of 3(Image credit: Steelseries)Image 3 of 3(Image credit: Steelseries)1. SteelSeries Aerox 3 Wireless
The best lightweight wireless gaming mouse
Weight: 66g | DPI: 20,000 | Polling Rate: 1,000Hz | Sensor: Optical | Interface: Wireless, USB, Bluetooth 5.0 | Buttons: 6 | Ergonomic: Right handed
Great battery lifeBreathable casingUSB Type-C chargingBluetooth and 2.4GhzSlightly cheap looksNarrow thumb restOne for smaller handsSteelSeries has hit a sweet spot with the Aerox 3 Wireless.
The honeycomb perforations spread further than most, giving even the tops of your fingers a bit of a breeze, and it features a coarse outer shell for those who need the extra grip. The side buttons are held back by a narrow thumb rest, and the otherwise beautiful RGB trim reveals visible circuitry, which, depending on taste, can cheapen the overall look.
Small hands and a claw grip will go a long way here: Large-handed palm grip gamers might find themselves dragging their digits or risking accidental clicks. Even when opting for that slightly slimmer profile, though, the Aerox 3 Wireless managed to provide Bluetooth connectivity on top of its lightning-fast 2.4GHz mode.
There's a degree of flexibility here that other wireless options in its grade can't match.
Paired with a physical DPI button just above the mouse wheel, RGB lighting, a mammoth 200+ battery life (with fast charge and USB Type-C), and an included receiver hub and cable, there's a degree of flexibility here that other wireless options in its grade can't match—and its only 3 grams heavier than the other wireless mouse on this list.
Against something like the Logitech G Pro Wireless, which I've been using daily for the better part of a year, both are lightweight gaming mice that require no cord, but the Aerox is a little lighter 66g to 80g. Its design may be a little dated today and the materials feel a little cheaper, but all the information you could need is front and center and there's more of it to tweak to your liking.
Those after left-handed ergonomics will feel more at home with the G Pro Wireless, however.
Read our full Steelseries Aerox 3 Wireless review.
Image 1 of 3(Image credit: Mountain)Image 2 of 3(Image credit: Mountain)Image 3 of 3(Image credit: Mountain)2. Mountain Makalu 67
A great option for larger hands
Weight: 67g | DPI: 19,000 | Polling Rate: 1,000Hz | Sensor: Optical | Interface: USB | Buttons: 6 | Ergonomic: Right handed
Large but lightweightGorgeous RGB around the wheelPlenty of gripProtruding stem on USB cableThe Mountain Makalu 67 is a stylish piece of kit. It's also the chunkiest option on this list, making it a great choice for the bigger-handed player looking for a great light gaming mouse. Its large stature and heavily curved body should suit palm grips the best, but claw grip players shouldn’t notice any major downsides. Just note that it slopes aggressively on the right side.
In our testing, we found it had a deeply satisfying click from the two well-pronounced thumb buttons on the left. They sit relatively high up the body, giving your thumb plenty of space to work with, with molded ridges aiding further comfort. The cable is loose and light enough to whip around no problem, but the long rubber stem pinning it to the chassis might snag on a mousepad with any raised edge, like from a USB hub.
It would have been nice to see the breathable perforations stretch to the thumb and finger areas as well, but overall, the Mountain Makalu 67 is a solid choice and one that’s far lighter than it looks. It even features handy indentations to make replacing the mouse feet a breeze whenever the time comes.
We noted a super low click latency, and low lift-off distance. That comes along with a CPI that's adjustable by increments of 50, so you can get it just right for your gaming style.
Image 1 of 3(Image credit: Razer)Image 2 of 3(Image credit: Razer)Image 3 of 3(Image credit: Razer)3. Razer Viper 8KHz
A snappy sensor you can count on
Weight: 71g | DPI: 20,000 | Polling Rate: 8,000Hz | Sensor: Optical | Interface: USB | Buttons: 6 | Ergonomic: Right handed
AmbidextrousUnique cyborg designGroundbreaking sensorRazer's software is a little needyQuestions over durabilityRazer slides into the emerging light gaming mouse market this year with the wired Razer Viper 8KHz. Your hardware letting you down is not an option when money is at stake, so increasing the polling rate of your mouse seems like the latest logical step. A mouse that reports its position to your computer a whopping 8,000 times per second is a little ridiculous, however.
Is it really noticeable in-game? I've been using the mouse for around a week, and have seen no improvement over my main gaming mouse, an aging Logitech G402, in Apex Legends or Valorant. But it’s a reassuring claim to fame that should reduce figurative mouse latency to a frankly ludicrous low.
The frighteningly fast Focus+ 20K optical sensor is housed in a solid plastic chassis that’s segmented in a cyborg-esque fashion. And it looks smoother than it actually is. Lay your palm over the low-profile body, and you’ll have a slightly textured grip and curved mouse buttons to keep you in place.
You can install the Chroma software if you care what color the entwined Razer logo is.
With five DPI profiles and 8K polling enabled out of the box, the only real reason to need Razer's own software clogging up your machine is to set a reachable DPI toggle, as it's inconveniently placed underneath.
There are no settings to tweak if you don't want to either, it's simply a case of plugging it in and you're good to go. You can install the Chroma software if you care what color the entwined Razer logo that's generally hidden beneath your palm glows, but it isn't necessary to use the mouse.
As the only ambidextrous mouse on our list, rubber grips beneath the two buttons on either side will aid thumb grip, but the premium touch does open up the question of long-term durability.
The lightness of the Viper 8K Hz, and the materials used, made it feel cheaper than it actually was. At least the mouse wheel has a solid click to it, and the buttons do have a positive click to them. The whole package doesn’t feel quite as high quality as others, but its ambidextrous design makes it the most well-rounded.
Read our full Razer Viper 8KHz review.
Image 1 of 2(Image credit: Logitech G)Image 2 of 2(Image credit: Logitech G)4. Logitech G Pro X Superlight
A good wireless option that can be great
Weight: 63g | DPI: 25,600 | Polling Rate: 1,000Hz | Sensor: Optical | Interface: Wireless, USB | Buttons: 5 | Ergonomic: Right handed
ComfortableStylishStellar sensorUnique charging methodLacks gripSmall side buttonsNo BluetoothLogitech has a long and storied history in the PC peripheral space, so it should come as no surprise to see them enter the light gaming mouse market. By far, the best part of the Logitech G Pro X Superlight is its wireless functionality. Though cords barely add a gram to the equation, the drag and snag potential is there.
Outside of theoretical, the Logitech G Pro X Superlight is about as sleek as stylish as gaming mice come. It looks near-identical to the G Pro Wireless with the exact same hallmarks of the popular and simplistic gaming mouse.
The outer shell is fairly pronounced near the palm, which adds that little extra support compared to sleeker mouse models, and there's the slightest touch of contouring on the primary mouse buttons and beneath where your thumb and pinky sit. All in all, it's a fairly restrained design by modern mouse standards.
Devoid of RGB, it wouldn't look out of place in the office meeting room. Its egg-like body is perhaps too smooth to the touch with no real grip to speak of, but at a mere 63g, it manages to weigh less than Razer's best lightweight attempt even while packing a 70+ hour battery—10 hours more than the G Pro Wireless even with RGB disabled, so battery life has actually improved between the two units.
It manages to weigh less than Razer's best lightweight attempt even while packing a 70+ hour battery.
Furthermore, between mouse tests, I resort back to the near-identical G Pro Wireless and I can attest to its comfort and longevity for over a year now. Beyond the usual wear and tear, I'm yet to see any real signs of decay on the plastic, which I'm a little surprised about considering the matte black finish.
The side buttons may be a little too small and mushy for some. And there's no CPI switch button on the mouse—that has to be changed in the software or set to one of the two thumb buttons—which must be the first time I've seen one omitted from a gaming mouse in three years.
Still, had it not been for the Steelseries Aerox 3 Wireless, this would be the wireless light gaming mouse option to beat. It's just a shame Bluetooth support may have become a casualty of the war on weight, which leaves its connectivity options lacking compared to its wireless rivals.
Read our full Logitech G Pro X Superlight review.
Image 1 of 3(Image credit: Roccat)Image 2 of 3(Image credit: Roccat)Image 3 of 3(Image credit: Roccat)5. Roccat Kone Pro
Ultra-light clicks for the ergonomically conscious
Weight: 66 g | DPI: 19,000 | Polling Rate: 1,000 Hz | Sensor: Owl-Eye optical | Interface: USB | Buttons: 5 | Ergonomic: Right handed
Wonderfully ergonomicUnique RGB zonesSturdy and consistentDPI/profile switch on undersideThe Roccat Kone Pro is the wired and slightly lighter version of the Roccat Kone Pro Air and comes in at less than two-thirds of the price. It's not the lightest, nor is it the swiftest, nor does it have quite the number of easily accessible buttons we'd have liked, but it makes up for its downfalls with fantastic ergonomics, battery life, and more.
The 2.6oz (75g) of weight is helped greatly by its hollow, aluminum Titan frame, and Bionic shell. Similar to its wireless counterpart, its design is an interesting take on the honeycomb look. Rather than plastering the chassis with holes, Roccat has quite classily nestled the honeycomb design under the thin plastic of the left and right mouse buttons. Not only does it help to reinforce them, but it looks rad illuminated from beneath—it makes you feel a bit like a Jedi.
That feeling extends to the immense battery life of around 137 hours, with RGB and battery saver mode on. That puts it just behind the Logitech G903 Lightspeed's fantastic 140 hours (which was actually measured with the RGB turned off).
When it comes to the Owl Eye sensor, it may not have the highest DPI out there at 19,000, but accuracy is what we crave and those tests came back close enough to the line that I have no complaints. Pixel skipping and input lag are super minimal, and the 1,000Hz polling rate is consistent.
It may be plain, but it's alluring in its soft curvature.
And if being tethered to your PC makes you wince, it doesn't translate to awkward cable battles with the Kone Pro. The braided cable is barely noticeable when shifting around on these swift PTFE feet. And it doesn't come across as clunky-looking, either. It may be plain, but it's alluring in its soft curvature. The almost matte finish and light scoring along the shallow thumb rest make it a pleasure to handle. That also means its lack of rubber grips isn't an issue.
The issue comes mainly in the odd aluminum scroll wheel. There's something about a totally flat and metallic scroll wheel that feels odd to the touch. Also, the DPI button is, for some strange reason, on the underside of the mouse, so there can be no quick profile changes mid-battle.
In attempting to change the DPI with the scrolling feature, however, it proceeded to buffer and flash for about 20 seconds before it realized what it was supposed to be doing. A testament to the Roccat Swarm software needing a bit of TLC perhaps.
It may not be the lightest mouse, nor has it got the highest DPI, but it's a unique, ergonomic, and all-over quality build that's easily one of the most comfortable and gorgeous mice I've used—not to mention it being consistently accurate.
Read our full Roccat Kone Pro review.
Image 1 of 3(Image credit: Cooler Master )Image 2 of 3(Image credit: Cooler Master )Image 3 of 3(Image credit: Cooler Master )6. Cooler Master MM720
The travel-friendly ultra-lightweight option
Weight: 49 g | DPI: 16,000 | Polling Rate: 1,000 Hz | Sensor: Optical | Interface: USB | Buttons: 6 | Ergonomic: Right handed
Tiny footprintAppreciable lightingVery lightComfortable finger restMight be uncomfortable for larger handsMice matters(Image credit: Corsair)Best gaming mouse: the top rodents for gaming
Best wireless gaming mouse: cable-free control
Best light gaming mouse: the lighter the better?The Cooler Master MM720 is by far the smallest of the light gaming mouse bunch here, meaning it’s also the lightest at a mere 49 grams. It features the trendy honeycomb design but swaps a long body for a stubby design you could mistake for a cheap travel mouse you’d find grossly overpriced at an airport tech store.
The design isn't for everyone, but it's comparatively tiny footprint isn’t just a byproduct of Cooler Master aiming for that ultra-lightweight buzzword. It's miniature form-factor in that it’s primarily designed for a claw grip. There’s no reason a palm or hybrid grip won’t work but prepare for your digits to curl over the clickers if that’s the case.
Either way, the rare (and much appreciated) finger rest on the right-hand side should help keep things comfortable.
As for buttons, there are the typical six remappable ones: the left and right buttons, a scroll wheel, two side buttons, along with the DPI button. The latter is on the bottom, similarly to the Roccat Kone Pro, which is a bit impractical if you need to change on the fly. You can remap the DPI switch to another button if that's a priority, though.
Its smooth, plastic finish isn’t the most premium around, but even with the creaks, there’s no way a tense grip will crush it like a can. And despite the perforations, it’s IP58 water-resistant, so dropping a gamer beverage over this thing won’t destine it for the trash heap.
Why should I use a lightweight mouse?
A lightweight mouse is great for competitive gaming. The lighter weight makes it easier to stop, allows for quicker flings and swipes across your mousepad, which is ideal for FPS games. Some players like to lift the mouse as they play, especially if they use a lower in-game sensitivity, and a lighter mouse is easier for those sorts of actions.
What counts as a lightweight mouse?
The general consensus is that, to count as a lightweight gaming mouse, you have to be looking at one that's less than 80g. Most standard gaming mice are over the 100g mark as a rule.
How do we test gaming mice?
We've used enough gaming mice to have a good feel for build quality, button placement, and shape. Our opinions on those aspects of mouse design are naturally subjective, but they're also well-informed. The tricky part of testing gaming mice is analyzing the other part of the equation: tracking performance, jitter, angle snapping, acceleration, and perfect control speed, and determining how each of those issues affects the experience of using a mouse.
For that, applications such as Mouse Tester come in handy. We used this software to see if we could spot any glaring issues with the mice we used. In every gaming mouse we tested, though, angle snapping and acceleration were disabled in the mouse drivers by default (though a mouse can still exhibit acceleration from issues with the sensor itself) and never encountered any glaring performance issues.
Gaming mouse jargon buster
Grip refers to how you hold the mouse. The most common grips are palm, claw, and fingertip. Here's a good example of how each grip works.
CPI stands for counts per inch, or how many times the mouse sensor will read its tracking surface, aka your mousepad, for every inch it’s moved. This is commonly referred to as DPI, but CPI is a more accurate term. The lower the CPI, the further you have to move the mouse to move the cursor on the screen.
Jitter refers to an inaccuracy in a mouse sensor reading the surface it’s tracking. Jitter often occurs at higher mouse movement speeds or higher CPIs. Jitter can make your cursor jump erratically, and even slight jitter could wreck a shot in an FPS or make you misclick on a unit in an RTS.
Angle snapping, also called prediction, takes data from a mouse sensor and modifies the output to create smoother movements. For example, if you try to draw a horizontal line with your mouse, it won’t be perfect—you’ll make some subtle curves in the line, especially at higher sensitivities. Angle snapping smooths out those curves and gives you a straight line instead. This is generally bad because it means your cursor movements won’t match your hand’s movements 1:1, and angle snapping will not be useful in most games. Thankfully, almost all gaming mice have angle snapping disabled by default.
Acceleration is probably the most reviled, most scrutinized issue with gaming mouse sensors. When a mouse sensor exhibits acceleration, your cursor will move faster the faster you move the mouse; this is often considered bad because moving the mouse slowly six inches across a mousepad will move the cursor differently than moving the mouse rapidly same distance. This introduces variability that can be hard to predict.
Perfect control speed, or malfunction rate, refers to the speed at which the mouse can be moved while still tracking accurately. Most gaming mice will track extremely accurately when moved at slow speeds, but low CPI players will often move their mice large distances across the mousepads at very high speeds. At high speeds, especially at high CPIs, not all mouse sensors can retain their tracking accuracy. The point at which the sensors stop tracking accurately will differ between CPI levels.
IPS measures inches per second and the effective maximum tracking speed of any given sensor is rated too. Not to be confused with the gaming monitor panel type by the same name, the higher the IPS of any given mouse, the better it can keep up with high-speed movement and maintain accuracy.
Lift-off distance is still a popular metric in mouse enthusiast circles, though it does not affect most gamers. LOD refers to the height a mouse has to be raised before the sensor stops tracking its surface. Some gamers prefer a mouse with a very low lift-off distance because they play at very low sensitivity and often have to lift their mouse off the pad to "reset" it in a position where they can continue swiping. With a low LOD, the cursor will not be moved erratically when the mouse is lifted.
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More lootin' shootin' Borderlands guides(Image credit: Gearbox Software)
Borderlands 3 - everything we know
Borderlands 3 tips - your guide to conquering the Vault
Borderlands 3 review - our definitive verdict
Borderlands 3 roadmap - the DLC you can expect
Borderlands 3 system requirements - can you run it?
Borderlands 3 best guns - the best boomsticks
Borderlands 3 skill trees - create your builds
Borderlands 3 builds - some effective skill combosLooking for Borderlands 3 shift codes? With every instalment in the series, Shift codes are Gearbox's chosen way to dole out post-launch loot and rewards. On a pretty consistent basis, Gearbox gives away these freebies through chunky 25-digit codes redeemed at shift.gearboxsoftware.com.
Like Tiny Tina's Wonderlands Shift codes, Borderlands 3's Shift rewards revolve around different types of key, which are used at a chest in Sanctuary to unlock shiny new guns. It's quite a bit like loot box systems from other games, except these are free. The main catch is that a good number of these Shift codes expire, and sometimes pretty quick. That's why it's handy to keep a guide like this bookmarked. We're keeping a living log of every Shift code as it comes in, as well as its reported expiration, and the occasional permanent code. There's usually at least a few codes going around that'll work.
First up: The Borderlands 3 Shift codes that you can use right now to get eight Gold Keys right away. Scroll down for the latest Shift codes and a guide to how to register them and use them in-game.
If you're still playing Borderlands 2, head over to our collection of Borderlands 2 Shift Codes.
Permanent Borderlands 3 Shift codes
These Borderlands 3 Shift codes unlock Golden Keys, and should never expire, as far as we know.
- ZFKJ3-TT3BB-JTBJT-T3JJT-JWX9H - 3 Golden Keys
- HXKBT-XJ6FR-WBRKJ-J3TTB-RSBHR - 1 Golden Key
- ZFKJ3-TT6FF-KTFKT-T3JJT-JWX36 - 1 Golden Key
- 9XCBT-WBXFR-5TRWJ-JJJ33-TX53Z - 3 Golden Keys
- ZRWBJ-ST6XR-CBFKT-JT3J3-FRXJ5 - 3 Golden Keys
- Z65B3-JCXX6-5JXW3-3B33J-9SWT6 - 3 Golden Keys
- 5H533-9XT3T-FXWFZ-RJTTB-6FXKJ - 10 Golden Keys, 1 Diamond Key
These Borderlands 3 Shift codes unlock visual head cosmetic options, and also seem to be permanent.
- KSWJJ-J6TTJ-FRCF9-X333J-5Z6KJ - Shrine Saint Head (Amara)
- KSK33-S5T33-XX5FS-R3BTB-WSXRC - Antihero Head and Saurian Skull Trinket
- WSCBT-R5BB3-66KX9-F3JBT-ZW3JK - Pilot Punk Head
- KZKJB-C5BTT-RXW69-XJ33B-5JRBS - Super Mecha Head
- KHWTB-3CBJB-6XWFZ-6B3BB-T5CCJ - Null Value Head
- CZKTB-6BTJ3-R6KRZ-6B3TT-RX5ZH - Gray Matter Head
- CS5JB-CTTBB-FFWXZ-FJ3BT-TC6R3 - Daemon head
- CSWJT-FS9H9-W6KFS-R3TTT-RFCHR - One Diamond Key
- KZKBB-5HZ9S-CFKR9-RJ3T3-JBTK6 - Arachnoir head
- K95BT-B99H9-CX5XH-RTJB3-C6SJX - Skagwave head
- CZ5JT-HFH99-KXKRZ-6BTJJ-BS5WB - Saurian Synth Head
Limited-time Borderlands 3 Shift codes
Most of Borderlands 3's new Shift codes expire within a few days of being posted on Twitter. As of August 19, 2022, there aren't any active limited-time Shift codes for Borderlands 3.
How to find the newest Shift codes before they expire
So far, many of Borderlands 3's Shift codes have expired after only a few hours, and are posted exclusively on Randy Pitchford's Twitter account. Following him is the best way to catch Shift codes that expire within 24 hours. You can usually spot one on Fridays in preparation for the weekend that will expire on Saturday morning.
Alternatively, the fan-run dgShiftCodes Twitter account posts every new Shift code after Randy tweets them out.
Borderlands 3 VIP codes
The Borderlands 3 VIP program officially ended on May 18th, 2020.
Prior to Borderlands 3's launch, Gearbox gave out Vault Insider Program keys that worked similarly to Shift Codes. You earned them by doing things like watching trailers or following its social media.
Now that Borderlands 3 is well past launch, the program has been discontinued. You are no longer able to redeem any of the old codes.
Borderlands 3 Shift codes and Golden Keys: How they work
Borderlands 3 Shift codes come in two forms, although only the Golden Keys above have been dished out so far. Here's the gist:
- Golden Keys will unlock a special chest that is guaranteed to give you an item (usually a gun) of a high rarity. Shift codes often grant a batch of a few golden keys to use. It's sort of like playing a free slot machine, except you're guaranteed to get a rare item—just not necessarily one that you want.
- Cosmetics: Some Shift codes will likely unlock special skins for Borderlands 3's vault hunters. In Borderlands 2, these were often tied to special events, and getting a Shift code was the only way to unlock the skin.
Gearbox may even have more plans for what you unlock with Shift codes in the future, but the redemption process is the same no matter what, and it's pretty straightforward—the easiest way is to use the website Shift.GearboxSoftware.com, after you've linked up your Epic Games Store, Steam or console account.
Here's how to redeem Shift codes:
- In-game through the menu. You'll copy the 25-digit Shift code, tab into your game and paste it in. Voila, guns or cosmetics for you!
- Online via Shift.GearboxSoftware.com. Create an account or login, and make sure you've linked up your Epic account so you can redeem codes for PC. From the menu, click "Rewards" and then paste your Shift code and click "check" to register it. Important note: if you use a multiplatform code and it doesn't work, try redeeming in-game before giving up.
- Or online via the new Borderlands VIP site. Create an account or login with your old Shift account; from the Shift menu, choose "Redeem code" to go to the Shift page. On this page you can paste in a Shift code or a different code type (Borderlands 3 has several others) by clicking the appropriate icon. Important note: Multiplatform Shift codes don't currently work properly on the website, and will tell you they're good for only one platform (e.g. Xbox). But if you redeem them in-game instead, they'll work on PC as well.
How to use your Golden Keys
In-game, your golden keys should be delivered to you via Borderlands mail. But how do you use 'em? That's simple: Head to the big golden chest in Sanctuary, near the fast travel point. Here's where to find it, and what it looks like:
Image 1 of 2(Image credit: Gearbox)Image 2 of 2(Image credit: Gearbox)Pop your key into the chest, cross your fingers, and ask the gun gods for a legendary. Good luck!
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There's a lot to keep you busy in Disney Dreamlight Valley but if you're anything like me, the most pressing issue will be how to upgrade your house. Sure, you can venture into the various realms, complete quests, or collect goodies but you can also redecorate the entire Valley to your liking—and what better place to start than with your own home.
So, if you're ready to get started, here's what you need to know to upgrade your house in Disney Dreamlight Valley, including how many Star Coins it will cost set you back.
Disney Dreamlight Valley: How to upgrade your house
In order to upgrade your house, you'll need to complete a few quests for Scrooge McDuck. He's one of the first characters you'll meet and he'll introduce you to some of the basic systems in the game.
Here are the three quests you'll need to complete to upgrade your house:
- Making Cents of Things
- Scrooge McDuck's Grand Re-Opening
- Dreamlight Valley Economy 101
There are several steps for each of these quests but are fairly simple to complete. The only one you might have trouble with is finding the gems to sell to Goofy in the final quest. These are collected by mining deposits, though the gems themselves aren't a guaranteed drop. To increase your chances of mining gems, hang out with a character who has a level 2 or above friendship rating that you've assigned mining duties to. Then, go ahead and bash the black rocks with your pickaxe, especially the ones that have coloured rocks poking out.
Once Scrooge adds an elevator to your house at the end of the third quest, you can increase the size of the main room. This first upgrade is free but you'll have to pay coins for the subsequent upgrades:
- First paid upgrade: 1,000 Coins
- Second paid upgrade: 2,000 Coins
(Image credit: Gameloft)You can also choose to add additional rooms and expand these too, though these will range in price from 1,000 to 3,000, depending on the size of the room you choose. For exterior upgrades, which will add additional floors to your house, you'll need a whole load more Coins as these don't come cheap. The exterior upgrades are:
- 2,000 Coins: Exterior improvement, increased storage
- 20,000 Coins: Exterior improvement, increased storage, second floor
- 75,000 Coins: Exterior improvement, increased storage, third floor
In short, if you want the biggest and best house in the Valley, you're going to need to start saving.
If you're just getting started with Disney Dreamlight Valley, be sure to check out our guides on how to unlock Royal Tools, import your avatar and how the Star Path works. If you're working on character quests, here are our guides on how to make crudites and ratatouille, and how to solve the cave puzzles.
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The best FreeSync monitors are easy to find. FreeSync is readily available on many monitors today, and you'll find this screen tearing technology from AMD on budget panels all the way up to high-end mega-super-ultrawides. When you can free yourself from the scourge that is screen tearing, why wouldn't you want FreeSync on your monitor?
Perhaps you're waiting for a recommendation for which one to buy, actually. We've got you there. Below you'll find all the FreeSync monitors we've tested extensively and recommend heartily. These screens are usually G-Sync Compatible, too, so even if you're using an Nvidia GPU you will often reap the benefits. If you prefer a G-Sync monitor, we've also tested a whole bunch of the best G-Sync monitors, too.
The FreeSync standard is split into three grades: FreeSync, FreeSync Premium, and FreeSync Premium Pro.
Basic FreeSync nets you the standard variable refresh rate. It's smoother than standard gaming, but that's about it. Premium ups this with the requirement for 120Hz at FHD, as well as support for low framerate compensation. The top tier is FreeSync Premium Pro, which delivers everything Premium does while also offering HDR support.
Best FreeSync monitors
Image 1 of 5(Image credit: LG )Image 2 of 5(Image credit: LG)Image 3 of 5(Image credit: LG)Image 4 of 5(Image credit: LG)Image 5 of 5(Image credit: LG)1. LG 27GN950-B
The best FreeSync Premium Pro gaming monitor
Screen size: 27-inch | Panel type: Nano IPS | Aspect ratio: 16:9 | Resolution: 3840 x 2160 | Response time: 1ms | Refresh rate: 144Hz | FreeSync tier: FreeSync Premium Pro
Bright vivid colorsFreeSync compatibleExcellent response time for a 4K monitorOversaturated sRGB mode4K gaming is a premium endeavor. You need a colossal amount of rendering power to hit decent frame rates at such a high resolution. But if you're rocking a top-shelf graphics card, like an RTX 3080, RTX 3090, or RX 6800 XT then this dream can be a reality, at last.
The LG UltraGear is the first 4K, Nano IPS, gaming monitor with 1ms response times, that'll properly show off your superpowered GPU. Coming in with Nvidia G-Sync and AMD’s FreeSync adaptive refresh compatibility, this slick slim-bezel design even offers LG’s Sphere Lighting 2.0 RGB visual theatrics.And combined with the crazy-sharp detail that comes with the 4K pixel grid, that buttery smooth 144Hz is pretty special.
The LG UltraGear 27GN950-B bags you a terrific panel with exquisite IPS image quality.
While it does suffer from a little characteristic IPS glow. It appears mostly at the screen extremities when you’re spying on darker game scenes, but isn't an issue most of the time. The HDR is a little disappointing as, frankly, 16 edge-lit local dimming zones do not a true HDR panel make.
What is most impressive, however, is the Nano IPS tech that offers a wider color gamut and stellar viewing angles. And the color fidelity of the NanoIPS panel is outstanding.
The LG UltraGear 27GN950-B bags you a terrific panel with exquisite IPS image quality. Despite the lesser HDR capabilities, it also nets beautiful colors and contrast for your games too. G-Sync offers stable pictures and smoothness, and the speedy refresh rate and response times back this up too.
And while the lack of HDMI 2.1 and USB Type-C is a little limiting, especially looking forward, right now it's one of the best monitors going.
Read our full LG 27GN950 review.
Image 1 of 4(Image credit: GIGABYTE)Image 2 of 4(Image credit: GIGABYTE)Image 3 of 4(Image credit: GIGABYTE)Image 4 of 4(Image credit: Gigabyte)2. Gigabyte G27Q
The best FreeSync Premium gaming monitor
Screen size: 27-inch | Panel type: IPS | Aspect ratio: 16:9 | Resolution: 2560 x 1440 | Response time: 1ms | Refresh rate: 144Hz | FreeSync tier: FreeSync Premium
Fantastic picture qualityExcellent gaming performanceLots of useful utilitiesBland designBasic standThe G27Q proves that you don't need to spend a fortune for a decent IPS 1440p display. At around $330, Gigabyte's 27-incher packs in plenty of sought-after features, but more importantly, it provides rich color and smooth gameplay.
As a flat, 27-inch display with a design that wouldn't stand out in an office environment, it looks pretty pedestrian. But it's actually one of the best gaming monitors I've had the pleasure of using this year. Not only does it have a gorgeous, vibrant IPS panel, with 8-bit color with 92% DCI-P3 coverage, but it's also HDR capable.
As someone who loves visual fidelity, I appreciate this resolution for clarity and performance. Even the humble GTX 1660 Super in my desktop is comfortably driving games at 60FPS at high settings. If you spend all your time playing CS:GO or Valorant, then the 144Hz refresh could hold you back a bit, but that 1ms response time sure helps.
Whether you use it for work or play, the G27Q excels with a sharp, vibrant, and smooth picture.
The Gigabyte G27Q handles gaming with aplomb thanks to adaptive sync via AMD FreeSync Premium. It's also G-SYNC Compatible so whether you are team Green or Red, the G27Q plays nice.
It's a bit of a plain Jane compared to other more pricey options, but it packs plenty of useful features designed to enhance your gaming pleasure.
It gets eye-searingly bright thanks to its VESA Display HDR 400 Certification, but in gaming, sunny skies and other bright spots tend to blow out and lose definition at max brightness. Dark areas also sometimes get crushed.
Movies and videos on Netflix and YouTube fair a lot better though. Sadly, my Xbox One X wouldn't recognize the G27Q as HDR-capable. But even the SDR mode on the G27Q is excellent, so I didn't miss much.
Connection-wise, you're looking at two HDMI 2.0 ports and a DisplayPort 1.2, along with a pair of USB 3.0 Type-A downstream ports and one USB 3.0 Type-B. Oh, and it also comes with a pair of 2W speakers integrated into the monitor.
The OSD on the G27Q opens you up to a ton of profiles and monitor settings. You navigate with the little joystick on the back and I love that you don't need to press the joystick to activate menu options. There's also the OSD Sidekick, a handy Windows app that gives you the same menu access but you navigate with your mouse instead of the joystick, which is neat.
Black Equalization, Aim Assist, Blue Light filtering, and more. The Dashboard feature is one of my favorites. It's a built-in hardware monitor that displays framerates, temps, voltages, and more—all without extraneous software. Perfect for you overclockers.
Whether you use it for work or play, the G27Q excels with a sharp, vibrant, and smooth picture.
Read our full Gigabyte G27Q review.
Image 1 of 4(Image credit: Dell)Image 2 of 4(Image credit: Dell)Image 3 of 4(Image credit: Dell)Image 4 of 4(Image credit: Dell)3. Dell S2722DGM
A great 1440 FreeSync gaming monitor
Screen size: 27-inch | Panel type: VA | Aspect ratio: 16:9 | Resolution: 2560 x 1440 | Response time: 1ms | Refresh rate: 165Hz | FreeSync tier: FreeSync Premium
1440p and 165Hz is a very nice comboStrong inherent contrast from VA panelAffordable for a gaming panel1440p and 165Hz is a very nice comboStrong inherent contrast from VA panelAffordable for a gaming panelMuch like the mystical ways of the Force, PC gaming is all about balance. There's little point weighting your system too heavily in one direction without paying attention to the whole package. Why bother pairing your RTX 3080 Ti with a 60Hz 1080p screen? Likewise why spend big on a 4K monitor when you're only sporting a Radeon RX 6600?
The classic 27-inch Dell S2722DGM marries that screen real estate with a 2560 x 1440 native resolution, which gives you a great pixel pitch for fine detail. At 1440p it's also a decent resolution for getting high frame rates without the GPU demands of a 4K display. It's also capable of delivering that resolution at 165Hz, which is appreciated.
At 2ms grey-to-grey response, it's just a hair behind the 1ms and 0.5ms ratings of the best IPS panels, so you're covered when it comes to speed.
Dell delivers high quality gaming panels, with all the features you need.
As for picture quality, the Dell S2722DGM is a reasonably punchy and vibrant monitor considering it's a pure SDR panel. The strong inherent contrast certainly helps with that, ensuring you don't feel short-changed running games like Cyberpunk 2077, which support HDR, in SDR mode.
We'd steer clear of MPRT mode, which hammers the panel's brightness and vibrancy. 'Extreme' mode, which is rated at 2ms, does suffer from a whiff of overshoot, but that's only just visible in-game, while 'Super fast' resolves the overshoot but allows just a little smearing of darker tones.
USB Type-C connectivity, for instance, doesn't feature. But the dual HDMI and single DisplayPort connections are just fine, even if the HDMI ports top out at 144Hz rather than 165Hz.
This VA panel also means it has a far higher contrast ratio, too, given the technology's inherent strong contrast. It's also a great price. Dell delivers high quality gaming panels, with all the features you need and few extraneous ones to bump up the price. And that makes it one of the best gaming monitors for most PC gamers today.
Read our full Dell S2722DGM review.
Image 1 of 5(Image credit: Alienware)Image 2 of 5(Image credit: Alienware)Image 3 of 5(Image credit: Alienware)Image 4 of 5(Image credit: Future)Image 5 of 5(Image credit: Future)4. Alienware 25 AW2521HF
The best 240Hz FreeSync gaming monitor
Screen size: 25-inch | Panel type: IPS | Aspect ratio: 16:9 | Resolution: 1920 x 1080 | Response time: 1ms | Refresh rate: 240Hz | FreeSync tier: FreeSync Premium
Great viewing anglesFast response timesNo HDRIt may have once been a niche, but 240Hz gaming has become more widespread, and Alienware has set itself ahead of the pack with the gorgeous AW2521HF gaming monitor. While not the cheapest on the market, it has the style and performance to make you want it on your desk.
Here we have a G-Sync compatible FreeSync monitor that really makes for a smooth, stutter-free gaming experience on either Nvidia GeForce or AMD GPUs. Alongside that immense 240Hz refresh rate, the AW2521HF comes packing a lightning-fast 1ms gray-to-gray response time. In games like Valorant and Destiny 2, it chugs along with little to no ghosting or artifacts.
Alienware has set itself ahead of the pack with the gorgeous AW2521HF.
This ones viewing angles are a little iffy with certain colors, but otherwise, there's a strong, balanced color consistency. Rich, natural colors come out not too oversaturated in-game. The static contrast leaves a little to be desired, with blacks not the darkest of the lot, and there's a noticeable IPS bloom toward the bottom and left, depending on the viewing angle.
It's nice and bright, however, and if you work or game in a bright room, the Alienware 25 handles even the most obnoxious glares. More importantly, the AW252HF has some impressive viewing angles regardless if you have it set in the middle of your desk for gaming or off to the side as a second monitor in portrait mode while you work.
Our only real complaints are the lack of HDR support, along with a lack of contrast, but it remains one of the best gaming monitors.
Image 1 of 6(Image credit: Dell)Image 2 of 6(Image credit: Dell)Image 3 of 6(Image credit: Dell)Image 4 of 6(Image credit: Dell)Image 5 of 6(Image credit: Dell)Image 6 of 6(Image credit: Dell)5. Dell S3222DGM
Big screen FreeSync gaming
Screen size: 32-inch | Panel type: VA | Aspect ratio: 16:9 | Resolution: 2560 x 1440 | Response time: 1ms | Refresh rate: 165Hz | FreeSync tier: FreeSync Premium
Awesome value for moneyDecent all-round image qualityReasonably quick and responsive"Only" 1440pNo HDR supportNot terribly punchyWe'd all love to have a thousand bucks burning a hole in our back pockets to blow on a new gaming monitor. But back in the real world, the Dell S3222DGM wants a crack at the kind of budget most of us actually have.
It's a 32-inch beast with a VA panel running at up to 165Hz and delivering 2560 by 1440 pixels. Yup, the tried and tested 1440p resolution, the sweet spot for real-world gaming according to many, the perfect balance between performance and visual detail. The catch is all that normally applies to 27-inch models. 32 inches? That makes for a pretty big panel for 1440p in terms of pixel density.
To put an actual number on it, you're looking at just 93 pixels per inch.
Where the low pixel density hurts most is actually in Windows. If you like crisp fonts and lots of desktop real estate, this isn’t the monitor for you. For everyone else, well, it comes down to the value proposition. There are faster monitors. There are monitors with superior IPS-powered image quality. There are monitors with all kinds of HDR support not found here. And others with far more pixels or more dramatic aspect ratios.
While the Dell S3222DGM isn't all that exciting from a technical point of view, for the money, it's pretty convincing.
This is a gaming-centric monitor without any HDR support but based on VA panel technology. So, the peak brightness is 350 nits, static contrast is about as good as it gets at 3,000:1, and there's official AMD FreeSync Premium certification.
Dell quotes 8ms gray-to-gray in 'fast' mode, 4ms gray-to-gray in 'super fast', 2ms gray-to-gray in 'extreme', and finally, and somewhat confusingly, 1ms gray-to-gray in 'MPRT' mode. The 'MPRT' setting is, for us, a non-starter since it crushes brightness so comprehensively. 'Super fast' it is, then, and the result is good but not absolutely great response with no overshoot. Pretty much what you’d expect given the 4ms rating for 'super fast'.
But add in the 165Hz refresh and you have a pretty convincing monitor for response-critical online shooters. To be sure, if that is your number one priority, you’d be better off with a higher-refresh 1080p IPS monitor with a faster response. But if you want something for a broader remit, the Dell S3222DGM does a decent job at the low latency stuff.
If you want a larger panel like this, 4K isn’t an all-around win. It comes with a huge additional GPU load and that in turn requires mega-investment levels in a good graphics card
It's worth remembering that pricing for this class of display—a 32-inch 165Hz 1440p panel—extends all the way up to $800 in the Corsair Xeneon 32QHD165. So, while the Dell S3222DGM isn't all that exciting from a technical point of view, for the money, it's pretty convincing.
Read our full Dell S3222DGM review.
Image 1 of 4(Image credit: Future)Image 2 of 4(Image credit: Future)Image 3 of 4(Image credit: Future)Image 4 of 4(Image credit: Future)6. Gigabyte M28U
An affordable 4K FreeSync gaming monitor
Screen size: 28-inch | Panel type: IPS | Aspect ratio: 16:9 | Resolution: 3840 x 2160 | Response time: 2ms | Refresh rate: 144Hz | FreeSync tier: FreeSync Premium
Affordable 4K144Hz refresh rateStunning IPS panelGreat for 4K gamingCheap standOverdrive often overdoes itScreen queens(Image credit: Future)Best gaming monitor: pixel-perfect panels for your PC
Best high refresh rate monitor: screaming quick screens
Best 4K monitor for gaming: when only high-res will do
Best 4K TV for gaming: big-screen 4K PC gamingThe M28U ticks all the boxes for both the PC gamer and the Xbox Series X or PlayStation 5 owner looking for an affordable 4K resolution gaming solution.
It features a stunning 28-inch IPS panel, which delivers excellent picture quality and depth of color. However, its 28-inch screen size is a touch smaller than I'd usually recommend to get the most out of the 4K resolution.
You'll want some scaling enabled in Windows or your operating system of choice to get the most out of it, but it's still a superb size for pixel density and detail to shine through without overpowering the desktop—next to my 32-inch monitor it feels far less imposing.
Features like the inclusion of an HDMI 2.1 port mean it's quite multi-faceted for its price.
The big sell for gamers will be the 144Hz (120Hz on console) refresh rate, and 2ms MPRT response time. That's certainly quick enough for our tastes, and to look good while delivering that speed is a huge deal.
This monitor is also rated to DisplayHDR 400, though its brightness is the fairly standard 300 cd/m2. I wouldn't consider its HDR capabilities a big deal either way, and I definitely wouldn't recommend you pick up this monitor specifically for its HDR capabilities.
As for the design, we found the monitor stand to be a little cheap.
It's sturdy but limited in its movement to just height and tilt adjustments. It's also a little bit cheap-looking, and the underside relies on pads that are glued on for grip to the desk. On my review sample, these pads have already started to peel away with the small adjustments I've made over time and may end up having to be replaced just to keep the screen steady.
This is where Gigabyte may have cut corners to make the M28U as inexpensive as it is, however. But features like the inclusion of an HDMI 2.1 port mean it's quite multi-faceted for its price. Gigabyte has made no major sacrifice to tick all the checkboxes with the M28U, and although it's still quite a lot of money to throw down on a monitor alone, other 4K monitors with this sort of feature set are usually found at a much higher price point.
Read our full Gigabyte M28U review.
Best FreeSync gaming monitor FAQ
Should I go for a FreeSync or G-Sync monitor?
In general, FreeSync monitors will be cheaper. It used to be the case that they would only work in combination with an AMD GPU, however. That's not great for widespread appeal as, despite AMD's best efforts, Nvidia still commands the largest market share. The same went for G-Sync monitors and Nvidia GPUs, though these tend to cost a little more with a genuine G-Sync module within each screen.
Nowadays, though, Nvidia has loosened up its frame-synching compatibility on its graphics cards, and it is possible to find G-Sync compatible FreeSync monitors, if you're intent on spending less. Many FreeSync monitors work with Nvidia GPUs today, even many not officially signed off as G-Sync Compatible'. You do want to double check this before purchasing, however.
Jargon buster - gaming monitor terminology
Refresh Rate (Hz)
The speed at which the screen refreshes. For example, 144Hz means the display refreshes 144 times a second. The higher the number, the smoother the screen will appear when you play games.V-Sync
Graphics tech synchronizes a game's framerate with your monitor's refresh rate to help prevent screen tearing by syncing your GPU frame rate to the display's maximum refresh rate. Turn V-Sync on in your games for a smoother experience, but you'll lose information, so turn it off for fast-paced shooters (and live with the tearing). Useful if you have an older model display that can't keep up with a new GPU.
G-Sync
Nvidia's frame synching tech that works with Nvidia GPUs. It basically allows the monitor to sync up with the GPU. It does by showing a new frame as soon as the GPU has one ready.FreeSync
AMD's take on frame synching uses a similar technique as G-Sync, with the biggest difference being that it uses DisplayPort's Adaptive-Sync technology which doesn't cost monitor manufacturers anything.Ghosting
When movement on your display leaves behind a trail of pixels when watching a movie or playing a game, this is often a result of a monitor having slow response times.Response Time
The amount of time it takes a pixel to transition to a new color and back. Often referenced as G2G or Grey-to-Grey. Slow response times can lead to ghosting. A suitable range for a gaming monitor is between 1-4 milliseconds.TN Panels
Twisted-nematic is the most common (and cheapest) gaming panel. TN panels tend to have poorer viewing angles and color reproduction but have higher refresh rates and response times.IPS
In-plane switching, panels offer the best contrast and color despite having weaker blacks. IPS panels tend to be more expensive and have higher response times.VA
Vertical Alignment panels provide good viewing angles and have better contrast than even IPS but are still slower than TN panels. They are often a compromise between a TN and IPS panel.HDR
High Dynamic Range. HDR provides a wider color range than normal SDR panels and offers increased brightness. The result is more vivid colors, deeper blacks, and a brighter picture.Peak Brightness
This refers to the maximum brightness of a monitor or television and is measured in nits.Ultrawide
Shorthand for monitors with aspect wider aspect ratios like 32:9 or 21:9Resolution
The number of pixels that make up a monitor's display, measured by height and width. For example: 1920 x 1080 (aka 1080p), 2560 x 1440 (2K), and 3840 x 2160 (4K). -
GSC Game World, the developer of the upcoming Stalker 2: Shadow of Chornobyl, is one of the many studios that have been seriously affected by Russia's invasion of Ukraine, and the ongoing war in the region. The anticipated sequel was at one point scheduled for release this year but, soon after the invasion, it was confirmed it would be delayed into 2023.
The conditions are awful for GSC Game World. In June the studio shared a video recounting some of its developers' experiences during the first months of the war. In that we see the abandoned shell of what was once GSC's Kyiv office, hear harrowing personal accounts of the war's impact, and see senior staff members discuss signing up to the Ukrainian army.
Now Xbox has begun refunding pre-orders for the game, as first reported by Polish site XGP, with a message accompanying the refunds saying that the game has been postponed until an "unconfirmed date in the future." The Xbox Store has also stopped taking pre-orders for the game entirely. This however is not an indication of anything wider than a Microsoft policy of refunding pre-orders for games without a firm release date: why it's happened now is puzzling, but that is the reason why.
This understandably sparked rumours of another Stalker 2 delay, as GSC Game World is currently in the process of relocating its main office to Prague, while the wider conflict does not yet seem close to a peaceful resolution. But GSC tells us that this is not the case.
"We had to postpone the game to 2023 with no exact release date for now," writes a GSC spokesperson. "We made the announcement at E3 Microsoft Extended show, alongside the Dev Diary and intro cutscene. Microsoft refunds preorders for the games with no exact release date. When we announce the exact release date later on, the preorders will go live again for Xbox. Pre-orders on PC (Steam, EGS, GOG) are not affected by this."
The Steam listing for the game now has something a little firmer: what was once 2023 is now December 2023. The Epic Store, meanwhile, reckons it came out about a month ago.
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Need to know
What is it? A licensed F1 management sim from the Elite devs.
Released August 30, 2022
Expect to pay $55/£45
Developer Frontier Developments
Publisher Frontier Developments
Reviewed on Core i7 9700K, RTX 2080 TI, 16GB RAM
Multiplayer? No
Link Official siteIf last season in Formula One was all about the driving, this year it's about the management. Gone are the days of Lewis and Max fighting bitterly for every inch of tarmac, sending each other off into runoff areas and exchanging the least sincere handshakes in the pre-podium room this side of a Premier League dugout. Instead of a historic, headline-grabbing, on-track duel, 2022 has given us a season of baffling managerial incompetence. Bad news for anybody except Max Verstappen—and Frontier Developments.
Because when you watch the throttle pedal come loose on Leclerc's Ferrari while he's five laps from victory at Austria, or find yourself shouting at Mercedes' tire strategy in a safety car-laden Zandvoort, your natural inclination is to think you can do better. "Stay out, you fools!" You say to no one. "Let them blink first!"
(Image credit: Frontier Developments)Well, now's the chance to find out exactly how our brand of managerial incompetence stacks up against the rest of the grid. In its debut licensed F1 management sim, Frontier Developments conveys both the palm-drenching reactivity of a Sunday in the sport, and the frantic development race happening in between.
As team boss, you're in charge of everything from signing the drivers who'll sit in your car to the design and manufacture of that car's component parts. Pit crews jump into action on race day at your say-so, and even the amount of money sponsors pay you depends on the promises you make to them before each race weekend. Bizarrely, you're even involved in each car's mechanical setup. You wanton megalomaniac.
That makes for a nice cadence. Slow, therapeutic progression through email inboxes and front wing design menus, and then bursts of race day adrenaline as you're wrenched into a 3D engine showing the action on track. Something like Football Manager's menus to match engine transitions, or Civ's ponderous peacetime turning to terrifying wartime strategising. Your grand schemes are wrought in the wind tunnel, in driver contract negotiations and balance sheets. But it's the tarmac where you see them come to fruition. And it's that tick-tock of progress that has you bargaining with yourself in the dead of night: just one more race. I have to see where this new underfloor puts me on the grid.
(Image credit: Frontier Developments)Mercedes are the beneficiary of a new, totally unproven and unqualified team boss in my playthrough. Toto Wolff? Pfff. He's only got seven constructors' titles and a successful investment banking career to his name. Out on his arse. Phil Iwaniuk's in charge of the mouse clicks now, and he's turning this sinking ship around.
I push through aero package updates across the whole car: chassis, front and rear wings, underfloor, sidepods and new suspension designs. At great expense, I rush the design and manufacture of all these components, sacrificing bank balance and XP gain in order to fit new parts on the car and bridge the performance gap to Red Bull and Ferrari as soon as possible. After all, at this point if Lewis Hamilton is sitting in an F1 car and unable to win, that's on the car.
Such an aggressive upgrade strategy is a luxury afforded only to the top three teams. Further into the midfield, budgets are just too tight to throw unnecessary money away on rushed upgrades. And when the parts do come in, they're more likely to offer less performance gain because they're devised and built in lower quality facilities. Compounding that misery, sponsor payouts are much smaller too because the cars are buzzing around off camera most of the time, fighting for P16. So if you're wondering why Williams and Haas don't just make a better car in real life, play a bit of F1 Manager 2022.
(Image credit: Frontier Developments)The satisfaction of righting a perceived wrong in the real sport—a favourite driver not able to win, rampant organisational incompetence costing a team a one-two finish weekend after weekend—is only there if the simulation feels convincing enough. And that's something F1 Manager does really well, through the combination of a well-pitched difficulty level and smart presentation elements like real team radio voice clips. The bubble would burst if the teams and drivers felt like lines of code, or if changing the order of the grid happened too easily. They don't, and it doesn't.
There's a lot of micromanagement to involve yourself in—drivers' pace, fuel burn level, ERS deployment and pit strategy all lay in your hands.
Despite all my hurried aero upgrades for the Silver Arrows, it's more than half a season before we can even think about winning a race or taking pole on sheer pace. In the meantime, our only hopes are weather and safety cars.
It's not a passive experience though, overseeing a race. There's a lot of micromanagement to involve yourself in—drivers' pace, fuel burn level, ERS deployment and pit strategy all lay in your hands. When you're managing all of these manually, corner to corner, it feels not unlike driving the car yourself. You're able to strong-arm your drivers through overtakes using these controls, but you can't brute-force a Williams onto the podium using judicious deployment of fuel and ERS alone. For the real head-turning results, you need a bit of luck from the aforementioned wet weather and crashes.
(Image credit: Frontier Developments)And it's here, in the more unpredictable dimensions of the sport, where F1 Manager 2022 reveals itself to be an inexperienced rookie rather than a wily old competitor. Crashes, safety cars and sudden downpours should be the most spectacular and pivotal moments of an F1 manager's season, chances for decisive strategy calls to prevail over outright performance.
Alas, crashes aren't really depicted in any detail—cars just stop on track, or run off into the gravel trap. The visual spectacle just isn't here yet. And while wet weather rolls in and soaks the track at a believable rate, the AI is usually a bit too hive minded to produce any interesting scenarios as a result. The same goes for safety car and VSC scenarios. Not yet in my time with the game has a driver elected to make an extra unscheduled pit stop in order to get onto fresh soft compounds, as we saw with Red Bull in Zandvoort lately—or, rather more famously, with Red Bull in Abu Dhabi last year.
You can make up a bit of ground in these scenarios, and there's definitely a sense of tension and adrenaline when they happen. But after a while it becomes clear that you're feeling pumped because of what you expect could happen, rather than what generally goes. There's very few instances of renegade or reactive pit stops, and that in turn doesn't force you into making many reactive decisions.
(Image credit: Frontier Developments)Where the AI really lets down this endeavour, though, is in the cockpit. It's hard to imagine that you're watching seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton when he's trailing Valtteri Bottas for 40 laps at Monaco, no matter what you tell him to do with the tires, fuel and ERS. And it's hard to forgive the time you lose passing a back-marker who doesn't seem willing or able to get out of your way. George Russell lost 10 seconds to Latifi once. There's no clever pit strategy to counteract that one.
It's hard to imagine that you're watching seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton when he's trailing Valtteri Bottas for 40 laps at Monaco.
In the next instalment, which will surely come, AI behaviour should be a point of focus for Frontier. Right now it's responsible for breaking the illusion just that bit too often. But even with a grid full of dunces, F1 Manager 2022 produces consistently thrilling races, and seems to deepen my investment in my Mercedes rebuild every hour I spend with it.
Lewis takes his maiden win of the season at Spa, quite late, and George Russell got the first top step of his career in a bizarrely rainy Miami race. But two seasons in and over $50m spent on upgrades, Red Bull still has the outright pace advantage. That's exactly how I'd want it, too. You don't want to score the science victory in Civ before you hit the classical era.
(Image credit: Frontier Developments)Frontier can be proud of its well-judged foundational release in what will certainly become a long-running series. In a perfect world, we'd see cars shatter into carbon fibre splinters when they crashed, and we'd recognise the Verstappens and Ricciardos by their driving styles, not just their liveries. As it is, the fundamentals are all in place, ready to build on.
A foundation, ironically, that's been around for a few years already. This game owes a tremendous debt of gratitude to Playsport Games' 2017 Motorsport Manager, which formed an extremely comprehensive blueprint for how modern racing management sims should play. A blueprint that Frontier has observed almost to the millimetre, right down to the way you refine car setups through free practice sessions. The licence and the high-detail race visuals do enough to discern this new game though, and F1 Manager 2022 wields its shiny official license in all the right areas, building a convincing ecosystem that evolves season to season, and keeps you chasing that perfect car for even longer than Toto has.
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The best gaming projectors deliver a crisp, expansive and vibrant image on a wall or screen. But more than that, they also manage to keep input lag to a minimum and offer a high refresh rate. 'How so?' You ask. Well, projector technology has come on a lot in recent years, but most importantly key technologies are getting quite a bit cheaper—so the standard for projector quality is up across the board.
The top gaming projectors won't have you complaining about lag, and they can even keep up with some of the best gaming monitors. While the best gaming projectors may not be able to match the contrast levels as you would, let's say, an OLED TV, these projectors still provide some great picture quality and a new way to enjoy your favorite games.
A projector is a much smaller target for kids (or adults) who tend to throw controllers at things when they lose, and they're generally much easier to move around to suit your space than a TV. But deciding before purchasing whether you need a long-throw, short-throw, or ultra-short-throw projector (more below) is important. That'll depend on the space you can practically allocate to some great entertainment technology.I've tested a wide range of projectors to see just how practical they are for gaming and cinema experiences and any other media you might want to have blown up on the wall. In addition to that, I tested the projectors against a 144hz gaming monitor to compare the latency. Below are the best ones out of the bunch for different use-cases.
Best gaming projectors
Image 1 of 6(Image credit: Future)Image 2 of 6(Image credit: Future)Image 3 of 6(Image credit: Future)Image 4 of 6(Image credit: Future)Image 5 of 6(Image credit: Benq)Image 6 of 6(Image credit: Benq)1. BenQ X1300I
The best long throw projector
Native Resolution: 1080p | Latency: 8ms | Refresh rate: 120Hz | Throw ratio: 1.3:1.56 | Sound: 2 x 5W Chamber | Brightness: 3,000 ANSI Lumens | Lamp Life: 30,000 hours | Inputs: 2 x HDMI 2.0, 1 x USB Type-A, 3.5 mm audio jack, Android TV dongle with dedicated HDMI port | Weight: 14.1 bs (6.4kg) | Size: 10.7 x 7.8 x 10.2in (27.2 x 20.7 x 25.9cm)
120Hz refresh can match a high FPSNice and brightGood lamp lifeLong throw may not fit your spaceBest mounted on ceilingWith one of the swiftest refresh rates on the list at 120Hz, the BenQ X1300I comes in at the top. That's thanks in no small part to its impressive 8ms response time, meaning you'll be able to get some competitive big screen gaming in without fear of compromising your rank. It may not be as fast as the BenQ TK700STi, but there's more to gaming than speed.
The X1300i is officially a 'console gaming' projector but what is that if not a PC gaming projector too? At its core is 4LED DLP projector technology. That means it has all the benefits of an LED device—a longer lifespan and cooler operation compared to traditional lamp models—while a greater number of LED sources helps to increase brightness over popular 3LED models.
The picture quality while gaming is immense.
A brightness of 3,000 lumens is a plenty respectable rating for a projector in its price range. Sadly, it's only a 1080p projector though. Technically it is listed with 4K 'resolution support', but don't be fooled, that really only nets you the ability to input at 4K and have it downscale to 1080p. For your trouble you will also end up doubling the input latency to 16.67ms, so not something I'd recommend.
The picture quality while gaming is immense, though. The colour reproduction is deep and rich, which I often find distractingly lacking on cheaper projectors, and the detail is preserved in the picture. As a result it doesn't feel like you're gaming through a Chiffon curtain with the X1300i, and feels much more an open window into a game world, even on the uneven and slightly off-white wall I was using it on.
I played Hunt: Showdown on the big screen and it was excellent. There's no major ghosting or blurring, even during high contrast frames—such as a barrel exploding in the dead of night—and the picture quality allows you to pick out details from a great distance.
The built in speakers are surprisingly punchy, and the 30,000 hour lamp life means it'll last a while longer than the speedier BenQ model… provided you don't block the exhausts. As long as you can mount it on the ceiling—where it's best situated—that shouldn't be an issue. Just make sure you do have the space for a long throw projector before you commit to buying.
It's backed by exceptional brightness, so the light of day shouldn't hamper your gaming experience. Though we did find it works best under the cover of darkness, as will any other projector on this list. Coming in with the kind of speeds you'd expect from a tidy gaming monitor, this beamer will see you right.
Read our full BenQ X1300I review.
Image 1 of 2(Image credit: Future)Image 2 of 2(Image credit: Future)2. BenQ TK700STi
The fastest beamer of them all
Native Resolution: 4K | Latency: 4ms | Refresh rate: 240Hz @1080p, 60Hz @ 4K | Throw ratio: 1.08:1 | Sound: 1 x 5W Chamber | Brightness: 3,000 ANSI Lumens | Lamp Life: 15,000 hours | Inputs: 2 x HDMI 2.0, 1x USB 2.0, 3.5 mm audio jack | Weight: 6.8lbs (3.1kg) | Size: 12.2 x 4.3 x 9.6in (31.2 x 11 x 24.6cm)
Incredible 4ms latency at 1080p240Hz refresh rate is supreme at lower resolutions4K upscaling is crispBelow average lamp life and runs HOTWeak mono speakerAwkward keystoneThe BenQ TK700STi gaming projector shows off some exemplary 8ms response times when playing in 1080p at 120Hz, and an exceptional 4ms at 240Hz. Even when you move up to 4K at 60Hz you're looking at 16ms response, which is enough for most non-competitive games, or when you just want to experience movies on the big screen.
240Hz is a spectacular refresh rate for a projector, too. The kind of rate you expect form a top tier gaming monitor, but you'll need some monstrous hardware to make the most of 240Hz at 4K.
This is not technically a native 4K projector, just to be clear. It uses Texas Instrument's XPR (expanded pixel resolution) pixel-switching tech to mimic UHD, but it does so with flair and still manages to look sharp as heck.
Being a short throw projector also means I didn't have to mess around when looking for a place to put it during testing. It works straight from your coffee table so no need to hang it overhead, or tuck it somewhere behind the sofa. Though if you can manage 6.5 foot (2m) distance, you'll be rewarded with just over 100 inches (2.5m) screen space.
Coupled with the 3,000 ANSI lumen brightness, the BenQ TK700STi should give up a great cinematic experience even in broad daylight, although the lamp life leaves something to be desired. It's rated at only 15,000 hours, even on the most eco-friendly setting, and boy does it throw out some heat from the front right corner.
I had a few issues with every day use, such changing volume in the YouTube app being different to how it's done in any other app, which meant I blew my ears off a couple of times. The keystone is a bit of a pain to get right, limited functionality compared to the Xgimi projectors you'll find on this guide.
Sadly, some external speakers are necessary to get a well rounded sound as the speakers are a little weak, but there's a lot of gaming power behind this little projector.
Image 1 of 3(Image credit: Future)Image 2 of 3(Image credit: Future)Image 3 of 3(Image credit: Future)3. Vava Chroma
Brash beams in true 4K
Native Resolution: 4K | Latency: 16 ms | Refresh rate: 60 Hz | Throw ratio: 0.23:1 | Sound: 2 x 60W Harman Kardon | Brightness: 2,500 ANSI Lumens | Lamp Life: 25,000 hours | Inputs: 3 x HDMI 2.0, 1 x USB Type-A 1 x AV 3.5, 1 x USB 2.0, 3.5 mm audio jack | Weight: 24.3 lbs (10 kg) | Size: 21.3 x 14.2 x 4.3 inch (54 x 38 x 11 cm)
Android TV and Alexa built inTrue 4KGood brightness8 point keystone correctionUltra short throw replaces a TV easierUtterly unwieldyA real bank-breakerComing in at the high end is the true 4K Vava Chroma. This projector's super rich colours and resounding pair of 60W Harman Kardon sound units make it one incredible cinematic experience, with excellent gaming capability to boot. The only real drawback is the price, and potentially the 60Hz refresh rate.
It may be a hefty 24.3 pounds (10kg) but there's a lot of power behind that bulk, and there's no need for awkward screwing to the ceiling either. Thanks to the ultra-short-throw nature of the Vava Chroma, we found in testing that it's simple enough as placing this projector against the wall on your TV stand and calling it a day. You get 100 inches of UHD goodness to marvel at, though there are options to rotate the display when needed, and even eight keystone points to play with.
When it comes to gaming, the VAVA Chroma caps out at 60Hz with around a 16-20ms response time. For the price, it would have been nice to get a higher refresh rate and a lower response, but the major draw for the Vava Chroma is the exceptional 4K picture quality and colour reproduction.
You'll need one of the best graphics cards to handle it. And should you feel the need to delve into the magical world of retro consoles, there's AV input for your nostalgic convenience.
The Vava Chroma is an absolute joy to use daily. It doesn't throw out too much heat, and sits neatly right where your TV would usually go. Navigating the menus is a breeze, and the eight-point keystone correction is comprehensive to say the least.
That wealth of premium features comes at a premium price, however, but that's backed by a two year warranty and 25,000 hours of lamp life. That's around 11 hours a day, every day, for six years. So it should last you a while.
Image 1 of 2(Image credit: Future)Image 2 of 2(Image credit: Future)4. Xgimi Elfin
Little yet lofty beams for less
Native Resolution: 1080p | Latency: 26.5ms | Refresh rate: 60Hz | Throw ratio: 1.2:1 | Sound: 2 x 3W Harman Kardon | Brightness: 800 ANSI Lumens | Lamp Life: 30,000 hours | Inputs: 1 x HDMI 2.0, 1x USB 2.0, 3.5 mm audio jack, Bluetooth 5.0 | Weight: 2lbs (900g) | Size: 7.5 x 7.6 x 1.9in (19.2 x 19.4 x 4.8cm)
Fantastic auto obstacle avoidance and keystone correctionGorgeous, compact designNice and portableSlight lag in response timeNoticeable dithering in large dark areasNot the beefiest sound systemNo Netflix allowedThe Xgimi Elfin projector is one of the smallest projectors we've tested for this guide, and that makes it pretty darn portable. While it doesn't include a battery for untethered theatre experiences like the Xgimi Halo does, it's easy enough to slip into a bag and take to a friend's house for events that require an excessive image size.
As long as they have a large enough wall, the Elfin can show an image that's 120 inches (3 meters) across from just 10.5 foot (3.2 meters) away. Keep in mind this is only a 1080p image, however, so 120 inches might be a little overkill. Still, that makes it a heck of a lot cheaper than forking out for a 4K projector.
Besides, you don't need as powerful components in you PC, and it means you can run games at a higher framerate. And while we found it to be no slouch in gaming mode with a more than acceptable response time for non-competitive gaming, the 60Hz refresh does add a cap to how many frames per second you can appreciate.
Xgimi makes up for this not only with exceptional portability, but also its incredible ability to automatically focus and correct the keystone position, avoiding obstacles on the projected surface such as photo frames or light switches—it just makes the setup super speedy and straightforward.
It's a fantastic little machine with a super modern look, that also doubles as a Bluetooth speaker, and even has Chromecast built in for when you're on a YouTube binge with your friends after the party's wound down.
All that is backed with an exemplary 30,000 hours of lamp life, or 10 hours a day, every day, for about eight years. Though that'll be dependent on how you use it, of course, but it's a rugged little thing that doesn't take up too much space.
Image 1 of 3(Image credit: Future)Image 2 of 3(Image credit: Future)Image 3 of 3(Image credit: Future)5. Xgimi Halo
Best portable projector
Native Resolution: 1080p | Latency: 40ms | Refresh rate: 60Hz | Throw ratio: 1.2:1 | Sound: 2 x 5W Harman Kardon | Brightness: 800 ANSI Lumens | Battery life: 2-3 hours (standard mode) | Lamp Life: 30,000 hours | Inputs: 1 x HDMI 2.0, 1 x USB 2.0, 3.5 mm audio jack, Bluetooth 5.0 | Weight: 3.5lbs (1.6kg) | Size: 4.4 x 5.7 x 6.7in (11.2 x 14.5 x 17cm)
Supremely portable with great battery lifeDoubles as Bluetooth speakerImmense lamp lifePunchy audioNo keystone correction in gaming modeSluggish response timesNo NetflixScreen queens(Image credit: Future)Best gaming monitor: pixel-perfect panels for your PC
Best high refresh rate monitor: screaming quick screens
Best 4K monitor for gaming: when only high-res will do
Best 4K TV for gaming: big-screen 4K PC gamingFor a little more money than the Xgimi Elfin, the Halo adds even more portability to the list of great features. This one comes with a solid battery that'll keep you going for a good three hours, at least in standard mode, and it can also be used as a portable Bluetooth speaker.
The Halo's got a good obelisk style to it, and the shape actually is the first we've seen that lends itself to ceiling projection. It does block the exhausts if you lay it down, but it's a fun option to have if you're laying in bed or wanting to project onto the roof of your blanket fort.
When it comes to gaming mode, the Xgimi Halo comes in with a higher latency than most on this list, but I didn't find it to be too much of an issue with RPG titles, and you have to remember response time isn't everything. As long as you have it in gaming mode it's just fine, but serious competitive gamers may find issue with it.
Still, the fact it's a supremely portable smart Android device that boots up quickly, and doesn't need to be yards from the wall in order to get a good size screen going is great. It's worth noting that the Halo should be projecting square-on if you want to utilise gaming mode though as it prevents keystone correction from working.
I also found I had a slight issue with the auto focus trying to refocus whenever I jogged the stand it was sitting on, which had me concerned there was something wrong with my eyes a few times. But it's easy enough to switch it to manual focus, via a physical toggle on the bottom of the controller, you can then use the volume keys to adjust. Though, that does mean you have to choose between manual focus, or the ability to change volume.
All in all it's my top pick because of how small and practical it is, but then I don't play competitive games, so the high latency doesn't bother me. It's still well within the realms being unnoticeable to most humans, however.
Read our full Xgimi Halo review.
Best gaming projectors FAQ
How do I choose a gaming projector?
If you're looking to do online competitive gaming, look for a gaming projector with a high refresh rate and low latency. That way the information you need can reach your eyes faster, and it wont feel like your character's moving through sludge when you try to react.
If competitive games aren't your thing, you can settle for a higher latency—it's generally only perceptible above 60ms for your average gamer. A higher refresh only becomes relevant if your hardware can pump out more than 60fps, otherwise a 60Hz projector is fine.
The gaming projectors on our list achieve 40ms or lower. Many gaming projectors are backed by impressive sound systems, a vibrant colour range, high resolution, and long lamp life—all of which should be considered carefully when choosing a gaming projector, depending on which features matter most to you.
You should also make sure you have space for your projector where it'll need to go. If you want it behind you, or overhead, a long throw projector will be best. If you're looking for one to pop on the coffee table, a short throw projector will work great. Of, if you want to put it up against a wall, you're going to want an ultra short throw projector.
Are projectors worth it for gaming?
Nowadays, yes. There are plenty of gaming projectors with speedy refresh rates, and low latency, even 4K projectors so you can really get up close and inspect the fine details. If you want to play your games on a larger screen size than you could ever dream of, a projector is a perfect solution. Of course, consider your space and what features matter to you before you dump your TV and replace it with a gaming projector.
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The chess world is currently embroiled in the biggest cheating scandal it's seen in years, even though there's no hard evidence of cheating. The story focuses on a tournament called the Sinquefield Cup, part of the Grand Chess Tour of major tournaments, which the young American player Hans Niemann had a wild card entry for. Niemann is a highly rated player but far from a household name even within the chess world, and this was a chance to face off against the world's greatest players over the board.
Also at the tournament was world champion Magnus Carlsen, who in the first round dispatched one of his closest rivals, Ian Nepomniachtchi. Niemann faced Levon Aronian and secured an impressive draw against one of the chess world's brightest prospects. Niemann would go on to win his next game before, in round three, facing Carlsen.
The usually unflappable Carlsen, playing white, had a bit of a nightmare. It seemed clear fairly early on that he'd either messed up or underestimated Niemann badly. Carlsen was still in a position that should have led to a draw, and you'd expect the world champion to convert that, but instead he made a very bad move and lost. The 19 year-old Niemann had, unbelievably, beaten the best in the world.
The win raised eyebrows, but chess is after all a game where history can be made by fantastical upsets. What happened next, however, has thrown the chess world into a spasm of accusation and counter-accusation.
Carlsen withdrew from the tournament. As is his wont, he posted about it on twitter, along with a short clip of football coach Jose Mourinho, regularly used as a meme, in which the oft-petulant Portuguese coach says "I prefer really not to speak. If I speak I am in big trouble... in big trouble! And I don't want to be in big trouble."
I've withdrawn from the tournament. I've always enjoyed playing in the @STLChessClub, and hope to be back in the future https://t.co/YFSpl8er3uSeptember 5, 2022
See moreWhile Carlsen didn't expand on his reasons, the tweet and particularly the Mourinho clip was taken as implying foul play, and an abundance of fuel was soon poured on the fire by streamer Hikaru Nakamura—who is a chess grandmaster and probably the most famous face in the contemporary game outside of Carlsen—and a friend of the world champion.
Nakamura did everything but accuse Niemann of cheating. In his video, which can be seen at the top of this article, Nakamura brought up Niemann having cheated in the past (which is true, and I'll come to it), Niemann's post-game analysis supposedly not reflecting the standard of his play, Niemann's unusual choice of opening line (and how quickly he played one key move in particular), Niemann being removed from an event series called Fight Chess due to suspicions of cheating and, bizarrely, the player's accent.
Attention from Nakamura begat more attention and, while the streamer was careful not to outright accuse Niemann of cheating, his stance on the matter seemed pretty clear: naturally, the internet wasn't so shy about throwing accusations around.
Niemann addressed the controversy two days later, admitting that he had twice been banned on Chess.com for cheating: once when he was 12 years old, and once when he was 16. Niemann says he remains embarrassed about these incidents but, having confessed, was determined to redeem himself with over-the-board play.
"I have never ever in my life cheated in an over-the-board game," Niemann says above. "I do not want any misrepresentation. I am proud of myself that I learned from that mistake and now have given everything to chess. I have sacrificed everything for chess and I do everything I can to improve."
Niemann goes on to say "I've lived in a suitcase for two years" and trained 12 hours a day trying to prove himself. Following the accusations, however, Niemann has been removed from Chess.com's Global Chess Championship, and his account on the world's largest chess site has been suspended.
"They have the best cheat detection in the world," says Niemann. "They know I am not a cheater. I have given everything to chess. I work so hard and I have sacrificed everything for chess. But now Chess.com has hopped on Magnus and Nakamura’s accusations."
"I believe this is completely unfair. But I am not afraid to tell the world that I cheated as a 12-year-old and in some random games as a 16-year-old, because I know who I am."
Not all of the chess world lined up to take shots at Niemann, with a notable defender being the British grandmaster Nigel Short.
M, Carlsen - W, So, Kolkata 2019. This is a g3 Nimzo, by transposition. The fact that Hans Niemann could not recall whether this game was played in London, Kolkata or Ouagadougou, is proof of absolutely nothing to my mind. Playing the World Champion is not a a geography quiz. pic.twitter.com/dsKAbMvli9September 6, 2022
See moreNakamura, for his part, has posted a further response, in which he goes back-and-forth on some of what Niemann said, and denies ever saying the player cheated.
There is no evidence against Niemann cheating in this match, at the time of writing. There is the historical fact of his having cheated in the past, but this has to be placed in the context of his honesty about it and willingness to confront the accusations head-on. This is someone who made bad decisions when they were a child being condemned for them as an adult.
Carlsen has arguably acted in a manner unbecoming of the chess world champion. He has made an ambiguous accusation that has resulted in enormous consequences for another player, and made no further comment. If you're going to call someone a cheat and put that taint on their reputation, in this writer's opinion, you should do so clearly and present your proof.
Finally: Carlsen played badly. This game wasn't a case of Niemann blowing the world champion away with perfect move after perfect move so much as Carlsen mucking up his opening and then making a straightforward blunder that gifted black the game. Even then, machine analysis shows that Niemann also made a few questionable moves that could have allowed Carlsen back in.
The truth may never out in this case, but the two sides are deadlocked. This game should have been the highlight of Niemann's career. Now, it risks destroying it.
"You know you spend your entire life looking up to someone and then you meet them and then you know my dream came true," says Niemann. "I lived my dream for a day beating Magnus, and then all this happened."
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Snapping cat pics of Nibbles is probably one of the funnest additions in the Cyberpunk 2077 1.6 update, even among all the fancy new weapons, and the vast array of in-game improvements. After all, who doesn't love a good pet pic? The recent update lets you add Nibbles as a character during photo mode, posing her alongside V anywhere in Night City.
However, if you want to capture your perfect folio of feline screenshots, you're first going to have to unlock Nibbles in-game first. She lives pretty close to home, but if you spent most of the game out and about in Night City, you may have missed her. Here's how to get Nibbles in Cyberpunk 2077 and add her to photo mode.
How to get Nibbles in Cyberpunk 2077
Image 1 of 2You can find Nibble's bowl by a trash can near V's apartment (Image credit: CD Projekt)Image 2 of 2Once you grab Nibbles, she'll appear in a basket in V's apartment (Image credit: CD Projekt)Before you can snap pics of your cat friend, you're first going to have to go out into the world to find her. Luckily, she lives close to home. Head out of your apartment in Megabuilding H10, turn left, walk down the corridor, then turn right at the end. You'll find a trash can with a datashard inside called "FEED TEH CAT", which will tell you about a neighbourhood feline who has a particular taste for chicken.
In order to get Nibbles to appear, you're going to need to get some cat food. You can buy this from food vendors throughout the city, or you can get it from a few guaranteed locations, such as the Arasaka Industrial Estate warehouse, or in Randy's trailer in The Hunt gig with River Ward. Once you've got the food, head back to the trash can and put it in Nibble's bowl.
Go to your apartment, skip time, and Nibbles will appear by the bowl. Now all you have to do is pick the cat up and she'll become a permanent resident of your apartment.
How to make Nibbles appear in Photo Mode
(Image credit: CD Projekt)Now you've got Nibbles, you can add her as an extra while taking screens anywhere in Night City. Open photo mode by pressing N, and then cycle across to 'Pose'. Change the character to 'Nibbles' and cycle 'Character Visible' to on. This will make the kitty appear and give you the option to change her pose and positioning so you can snap your ideal screen.
If you want both V and Nibbles in the photo, you should probably pose V first, then add Nibbles after.
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After years of speculation and rumors, Blizzard finally revealed Diablo 4 during BlizzCon 2019. It wasn't a surprise: Diablo 4 had been an open secret for some time. But it made a splash with a gory cinematic trailer, and Blizzard gave us a few tidbits about some familiar returning character classes. And then... we waited.
At BlizzCon 2021 we finally got to see a whole lot more Diablo 4, but Blizzard said Diablo 4 still wasn't coming soon. Not even "Blizzard soon." And it wasn't joking around. While it seemed like Diablo 4 may have been planned for a 2022 release, we now know it's coming in 2023.
Diablo 4 is still a ways off, but that doesn't mean we won't see more of the action-RPG in the meantime. Blizzard has continued with quarterly updates, gave a pretty packed gameplay rundown in June 2022, and we'll be updating this page with everything new we learn.
What's the latest news?
- Diablo 4 will have 'an army of developers' working on years of seasonal updates
- Blizzard promises Diablo 4 won't be monetized like Diablo Immortal
- There might be a friends-and-family Diablo 4 closed alpha underway
- A big Diablo 4 gameplay trailer and Necromancer reveal
- Closed beta pre-registration is now open
What's Diablo 4's release date?
Diablo 4 will release in 2023. While an announcement from Activision-Blizzard confirmed that Diablo 4 wouldn't arrive in 2022, we weren't given a window for when we could expect its release. Now, we can hope to see it sometime in 2023.
Since its reveal, Diablo 4's development has coincided—and likely owes its delays to—major changes at Blizzard in the wake of workplace harassment and discrimination allegations, as well as Microsoft's acquisition of Activision-Blizzard as a whole.
Pre-registration for the Diablo 4 closed beta is open
As of June 2022, players can now opt-in for a chance at a slot in Diablo 4's eventual closed beta test. To do so, head to the Diablo 4 website, login with a Battle.net account, and click the big, red "Pre-Register" button. No dates for the closed beta have been announced, and it's worth noting that pre-registering doesn't guarantee entry, if past Blizzard closed betas are any indication.
Blizzard is giving beta keys to fans who get Diablo tattoos
Great news If you want to get into the Diablo 4 beta badly enough that you're willing to offer a small span of flesh. Blizzard is currently running a "Diablo Hell's Ink Tattoo Shop Takeover" campaign, where getting a Diablo-themed tattoo at participating tattoo shops worldwide—on specific dates, mind you—will earn you a beta key. There are only a few remaining tattoo shops in the campaign, the chance to win a booking for a custom tattoo has passed, but Diablo-inspired flash tattoos will be available for fans who arrive without appointment on a first-come, first-serve basis.
It's an option, I guess, provided you don't mind being permanently branded with, well, branding.Are there Diablo 4 trailers?
Here's the latest Diablo 4 gameplay showcase
This June 2022 Diablo 4 gameplay highlights some of the systems and mechanics players will interact with in the game's open world, like public events that task you with battling massive demonic foes alongside whatever other players are in the area. We also get a glimpse of how PvP will work, and what we can expect from endgame progression.
Watch the dramatic Diablo 4 cinematic trailer
(Image credit: Blizzard)This was one hell of a way to announce Diablo 4. The cinematic is gorgeous and morbid, exactly as Diablo should be. Imagine how much better off the world would be without treasure hunters accidentally resurrecting the ultimate evil.
What classes are in Diablo 4?
(Image credit: Activision Blizzard)Druid
The shapeshifting Druid class was one of the first to be announced for Diablo 4. They're able to use powers based on the earth and wind or transform into animal forms like the wolf or bear. Game Informer posted 20 minutes of hands on gameplay with Diablo 4's Druid class shortly after the game's announcement in 2019.Barbarian
The Barbarians are back with their massive strength and arsenal of weapons. Here's a bit of the Barbarian in action.Sorceress
For the traditional elemental spellcasters, there's the Sorceress class who can hurl lightning, ice, and fire at enemies from afar. You can see all of that in this Sorceress gameplay video.Rogue
At BlizzCon 2021, Blizzard added a fourth class to the mix, the Rogue, who hasn't appeared by that name since the original Diablo. We've got some details on the Rogue's abilities here, and you can see the class in action in this reveal trailer.
Necromancer
With a spooky cinematic reveal trailer at the 2022 Xbox & Bethesda showcase, Blizzard revealed the Necromancer as Diablo 4's fifth and final class. The Necromancer will be bringing along their expected retinue of skeletons of every variety, and plenty of bone and blood magic besides.What's Diablo 4's gameplay like?
Here's 10 minutes of Diablo 4 gameplay from BlizzCon 2021
Diablo 4 is making big changes to items
Blizzard says that its ideals when it comes to itemisation are strengthening class identities, supporting deeper customisation and giving players a level of depth that sits somewhere between Diablo 2 and 3. "We aim to provide years of things to discover and countless ways to build a class," former game director Luis Barriga wrote in a development update.
Specific changes include the addition of weapon speed and other inherent physical characteristics that you'll find across all item types. Every shield, for instance, will have a block attribute on top of whatever other prosperities they have.
Item qualities and affixes have also been in the crosshairs. Blizzard says it wants to give players more flexibility and doesn't want them to feel like they should just ignore everything that isn't a legendary-tier item. "We’re increasing the potential power of individual affixes on Magic items," said Barriga. "We're increasing the maximum number of affixes on Rare and better items in the endgame. Legendary affixes now roll randomly (Yes, really!) on Legendary Items. And Unique items will replace Mythics."
Say goodbye to inventory Tetris
Yup, you heard right. No more shuffling various shapes around your limited inventory space trying to bring back just one more bit of loot. Blizzard says it wants to "avoid interrupting gameplay with pockets of inventory management." Fair.
Ancient items are being replaced
In Diablo 4, ancient items are no more. Instead, Blizzard is opting for a system that will hopefully encourage more unique play styles. Players will earn a consumable that allows them to attach a Legendary affix to non-Legendary weapons, essentially creating your own ancient items.
"Our newest proposal hits a couple different feedback points: addressing the usefulness of Rare (Yellow) items as well as increasing the depth and complexity of player gear choices in the endgame," lead systems designer David Kim said in a blog post at the end of 2019.
Exactly how this system will work is still being iterated on, though. The quarterly update in autumn of 2020 says that player feedback from BlizzCon indicated there were changes yet to be made.
"In order to gain specific, minor bonuses, players would most likely have to carry around several extra pieces of gear, each with different amounts of Ancestral/Demonic/Angelic Power on them. You would then need to constantly calculate each of the power levels of those items and compare with their overall power. It felt like an excessive amount of bookkeeping for the player," Blizzard say.
"However, one thing we really liked about the system was the gameplay of managing stats in meaningful ways to hit certain bonus thresholds that then make your items better suited for the playstyle you are going for. We need some more time for iteration/rework here and look forward to sharing more on itemization in our next quarterly blog."
Diablo 4 has three new stats
Blizzard is adding three new stats to Diablo 4: Angelic Power, Demonic Power, and Ancestral Power. Each has its own effect, but they'll also be used as prerequisites for item affixes.
- Angelic Power: increases the duration of all beneficial effects (like self-buffs or healing)
- Demonic Power: increases the duration of all negative effects (like debuffs or damage over time)
- Ancestral Power: increases the chance of on-hit effects (aka increased proc chance)
Here's Diablo 4's skill tree
(Image credit: Blizzard, Activision Blizzard)In its quarterly update for September 2020, Blizzard talks about Diablo 4's new skill tree. The branches of the tree are where you'll spend experience earned while leveling to unlock new active skills, enhancements for those skills, and Passive Points. Passive Points are spent in the roots of the tree where you unlock additional effects.
Blizzard says that it currently aims for players to unlock around 30-40% of the nodes on the skill tree by the endgame, meaning players will have quite different builds even within the same class.
In the same update, Blizzard details the Enchantment System available to Sorceresses. After unlocking a Sorceress skill, it can be placed in an active skill slot that works the way other classes' active skills work. It can also be placed in an Enchantment slot that removes your ability to use it as an active skill but grants a different secondary effect instead. As an example, Blizzard explains the current implementation for the Meteor skill (which is subject to change, it notes) "Meteor allows you to call a fiery chunk of rock from the sky. If you choose to slot it as an Enchantment, you won’t be able to control your Meteors, but they’ll fall onto enemies periodically."
Diablo 4 monsters are classified as "families"
(Image credit: Blizzard, Activision Blizzard)Diablo 4's baddie classification will be a bit different from Diablo 3's. In D4, monsters will be part of "families" that share a fighting style. So far Blizzard has talked about Cultists, Drowned, and Cannibal families.
In the first quarterly update, senior encounter designer Candace Thomas talked through the Cannibals. They're intentionally designed with several melee type monsters but no ranged.
"Instead, they spring at the player with supernatural swiftness. Some may close the gap by leaping over obstacles and would-be competitors, while others will swiftly and deftly maneuver through other monsters to get first blood. This provides a very different experience and gives the player less time to make thoughtful positioning decisions, thus making combat with these flesh-eaters feel frenetic."
Diablo 4 will support controllers for PC
Blizzard talked in its first quarterly update about how it's designing the user interface with lots of player types in mind. Here's some UI/controller-specific stuff you can do in Diablo 4 according to lead UI designer Angela Del Priore:
- Switch between mouse/keyboard and controller without "throwing people completely off kilter"
- Choose to have the action bar in the middle center or bottom left of the screen
- Open UI screens independently in couch co-op mode
- Rebind your primary attack to something other than left mouse click
Get to know the five regions of the open world
Diablo 4's open world contains five regions that can be explored in any order. "Each region is fraught with dangers of their own kind," said lead environment artist Matt McDaid in 2022's first quarterly update. "Many routes, and hidden corners to uncover. How you chose to make your way through this vast world is up to you. The Art and Design teams have constructed a contiguous world where you can roam from coast to coast, or high up into the glacial ridges. For the Environment Art team, we want to ensure each handcrafted location is distinct and immersive."
Get to know these perilous regions a bit better by directing your eyes towards the videos below, spotlighting some of the locations contained within them
Scosglen Coast
Orbei Monastery
Kyovashad
Forgotten Places
Wretched Caves
Flooded Depths
How does endgame work?
The Paragon system returns
Diablo 4 has its own Paragon system, and it doesn't quite work in the same way as it did in Diablo 3.
Once players hit level 50 in Diablo 4 they'll gain access to the Paragon Board, which uses digital tiles to enable very specific power boosts and character customization. The process begins at the center of the board and radiates outward across normal, magic, rare, and legendary tiles. Each one earned will give your character a boost of some sort, from the very basic to the extremely powerful. Some tiles are sockets for glyphs found throughout the game that confer different benefits when inserted into the board. Glyphs can also be leveled up, enabling them to become even more powerful.
Image 1 of 3(Image credit: Blizzard)Image 2 of 3(Image credit: Blizzard)Image 3 of 3(Image credit: Blizzard)Eventually, you'll reach the edge of the Paragon Board, but that's not the end of the process. Instead you'll find a gate tile, a special kind of tile that unlocks and connects to other Paragon Boards, each with a unique layout and new magical, rare, and legendary tiles.
"Once your hero reaches a gate tile, you’ll choose which new paragon board you would like to attach to at that location," Blizzard said in the 2021 end of year update. "The desired outcome is a personalized set of bonuses that will empower your hero and honor your dedication to their progression, that will remain fun to tweak and adjust over many playthroughs."
What's the multiplayer like?
How do the online features work?
BlizzCon attendees were able to get their hands on the game, and our first impression was that it's a game whose stark and desolate look is in contrast with its always-online elements, which guarantee that other players will be running past as you explore it: "There's no queuing or anything like that, but seeing players who are clearly on the same quest, but aren't a permanent part of my world, reminds me that this isn't just my adventure."
If you'd like to know more about how Diablo 4's shared world works, here's our breakdown of that. The main takeaways are that dungeons will be instanced for solo or partied players, and in the overworld you'll see more players in towns and safe areas—though there's no option to turn them off altogether, even if you're solo. World events will draw players together, and you'll be able to ride mounts to cross great distances (these will be horses, and yes, you'll be able to buy horse armor for them). Difficulty can be set when you enter a dungeon, while above ground it will be scaled to your level (though there is a permadeath mode).
You will not be able to play offline.
Here are some more facts about how Diablo 4's online world works:
- Enemy levels scale so that friends can always play together
- Dungeons are private for solo or partied players. It's only in the open world where you'll encounter the public.
- When entering a dungeon, you can select difficulty options "with great granularity."
- World events will call players together to fight as a group
- There is no option to disable seeing other players or an offline mode, but you can solo the whole game if you never feel like grouping up.
PvP will take place in Fields of Hatred
At BlizzCon 2021, Blizzard reveled how Diablo 4's open world PvP will work. You can find the full details here, but the gist is that PvP will be contained to areas called Fields of Hatred. Enter one, and you're fair game.
Inside a Field, you'll collect Shards of Hatred by fighting monsters, opening chests, killing other players, and completing other tasks. Hold onto your Shards long enough to cleanse them at an altar, and you'll be able to spend them on items from special merchants. If you're killed while holding uncleansed Shards, though, you'll drop them, and whoever took your life will get to grab them.
What other information is there?
What will the Microsoft purchase mean for Diablo 4?
If you somehow missed it, Microsoft announced it's buying Activision Blizzard in the latest mega-deal to drag us towards the inevitable corporate cyberpunk future. This of course will shake up the Etch A Sketch at least a bit on everything Blizzard has in the tank, including Diablo 4. However, it's really too early to tell what's going to happen, since the next Diablo is quite far out. We probably won't hear anything concrete about plans until the deal is finalized and the ink is dry.
Diablo 4 has actual character customization
(Image credit: Blizzard Entertainment)Diablo 4's character customization system will allow players to outfit their characters with hundreds of unique armor pieces as well as detailed facial and body characteristics. An expanded dye system will also let players customize individual pieces of armor, or entire outfits, "in a range of colors that still feel grounded and realistic in the world we’re building."
It's not just armor though. Diablo 4 will let you change the facial features of your character, a new feature for the series. Blizzard says that your characters will get more close-up time than every before in the series, appearing in lots of different menus, but also in cinematic sequences.
Here are all the details Blizzard mentions in its June 2021 development update:
"You will be able to change the face of your character, the hairstyle, the facial hair (beards and eyebrows), and add jewelry (nose piercing or earrings), makeup, and body markings such as tattoos or body paint. You will also be able to change the color values of your character’s skin, eyes, hair/facial hair, and body markings. Some elements will be class specific, to support the classes’ unique backgrounds, but many will be shared between classes allowing more possibilities to mix and match."
Diablo 4 has a new game director
Following the harassment and discrimination lawsuit against Activision Blizzard by the state of California, the company confirmed that Diablo 4's game director Louis Barriga was no longer with the company. Blizzard has now introduced senior game designer Joe Shely as the new game director. Shely has been on the Diablo 4 team since 2017, previously working as a designer on multiple World of Warcraft expansions before becoming a senior game designer on Diablo 3.
"Like many of you, our team has been reflecting upon recent events," Shely wrote in the Diablo 4 quarterly development blog from October 2021. "A lot has happened since our last blog and the hard work of practicing the values we aspire to must continue. In parallel with that important work, development of Diablo 4 continues too."
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The best gaming earbuds have long been a staple of mobile gaming enthusiasts. Jam some sound isolating buds into your ears and you can crush them candies or clash your clans with impunity. But it's only recently that it's made sense in the PC gaming realm. With the best gaming laptops finally offering genuine performance away from the plug and the Steam Deck delivering on the promise of mobile PCs, a discreet set of earbuds is now a worthwhile part of your gaming toolkit.
A traditional, over-ear gaming headset is a fine thing when you're sat at your desktop, chasing the peak aural quality that can only come from encircling your ear drums with the finest audio drivers. But when you're sat in a cafe working on that screenplay, novel, crusading like a king on your gaming laptop, or have finally managed to bag yourself that longed-for Steam Deck, a good set of wireless earbuds is what you covet.
They're easier to carry around, can vanish into a pocket without issue, and will offer better noise cancelling than most circumaural headsets. The main things to look for are, audio quality, sound isolation, battery life, and an effective gaming mode. They're mostly going to sport Bluetooth connections, so you want to make sure to eliminate as much audio lag as possible.
But audio quality still has to be a key part of the debate, and with many years of professional listening experience (I've also had ears all my life and can back that up with a lot of hearing at an amateur level) I've put all of these sets to the task of delivering in terms of both gaming and music-listening. These have all been tested on the Steam Deck, and using MQA high-res audio playback on Tidal, to get a real feel for how they perform in the right situations.
Best wireless gaming earbuds
Image 1 of 5(Image credit: Future)Image 2 of 5(Image credit: Future)Image 3 of 5(Image credit: Future)Image 4 of 5(Image credit: Future)Image 5 of 5(Image credit: Future)1. JBL Quantum TWS
Simply the best wireless earbuds for gaming.
Drivers: 10mm | Frequency response: 20Hz - 20,000Hz | Weight: 0.4 oz | 11 g | Connection: Bluetooth 5.2 | 2.4GHz wireless | Battery life: 5 hours (ANC on) | +16 from case
Good priceDual-connectionSolid noise cancellingEasy touch controlsNot the most stunning audioDon't have the longest battery lifeThe JBL Quantums are your classic wireless fare; aping the long-stemmed look of Apple's AirPods, but with a black finish. They come in a magnetic charging case, which helps extend the battery life of the buds themselves, and this case also holds the USB Type-C dongle which allows you to connect to other devices, such as a gaming laptop.
That's one of the features which propels the JBL Quantums ahead of the pack; the fact that it has both Bluetooth 5.2 connectivity and 2.4GHz wireless via a Type-C dongle. And the switching is fast and the connection robust.
The noise cancelling is decent, too, even if it does inevitably cut down the battery life from eight to five hours. Using the JBL phone app you can tune them to your ear canal, to further enhance the ANC as well. I would say, the Creative Outlier Pro buds do have the edge when it comes to completely blocking the outside world, but the Quantum buds are still impressively effective.
The fact you can jam the Type-C dongle into your laptop or Steam Deck and play without delay makes the Quantums incredibly versatile.
But what about the audio quality? I've said they're not the best-sounding buds I've tested, but the sound quality is still really good. I would steer clear of the QuantumSURROUND feature if you're running them from the USB dongle on your desktop PC, though—I almost blew out my eardrums with the unreasonable bass thuds in Red Dead Redemption 2 from just a short gallop through the desert cacti.
With that off the bass tones are more subtle. And, in fact, I did bump the EQ to Bass over the Bluetooth connection in order to squeeze a little more feeling out of The War on Drugs, but in general they sound better with a flat EQ. The JBL app will also allow you to enable game mode, which helps sync game and video audio, but the fact you can jam the Type-C dongle into your laptop or Steam Deck and play without delay makes the Quantums incredibly versatile.
And they're affordable, too. Considering that the Audeze Euclids—easily the best-sounding earbuds I've ever used—are $1,200, that the JBLs are more usable on a day-to-day basis and a tenth of the price is pretty astounding.
Read our full JBL Quantum TWS review.
Image 1 of 5(Image credit: Future)Image 2 of 5(Image credit: Future)Image 3 of 5(Image credit: Future)Image 4 of 5(Image credit: Future)Image 5 of 5(Image credit: Future)2. Creative Outlier Pro
Infuriatingly almost awesome.
Drivers: 10mm | Frequency response: 20Hz - 20,000Hz | Weight: 0.24 oz | 7 g | Connection: Bluetooth 5.2 | Battery life: 10 hours (ANC on) | +60 from case
Great ANCExcellent battery lifeImpressive audioSpeedy connectionAwkward touch controlsFrustrating day-to-day experienceThe Creative Outlier Pro buds are almost the perfect wireless gaming earbuds. They're cheaper than the JBL Quantums, lighter, last longer, and the ANC is stronger... and even now I'm writing that I'm questioning myself for picking the JBLs over them. But those objectively positive features of the Outlier Pro are just one part of the wireless bud puzzle, it's the more ephemeral, subjective experience of actually using them on a day-to-day basis that has them falling just short.
It's the basic controls that have really rubbed me the wrong way. Touch controls are not my favourite things on headphones or earbuds; I don't care about the aesthetics of a protruding physical button as I know exactly where the controls are because I can feel them through my fingers. But touch controls on an unseeable device jammed in your ear can be a bit of a lottery.
There's a very specific area to hit on the flat outward facing surface of the buds, and that's not always super easy to nail when you're not able to see them. Then you have to double tap for play and pause, which is just crazy as it's the single most common control you'll ever use. And then there's volume control, which is split between left and right buds for up and down.
The actual experience of listening and gaming through the Outlier Pro earbuds is almost enough to completely offset those ergonomic issues.
These are the ergonomic frustrations that meant I struggled with the day-to-day use of the Creative earbuds. But, while they are definite annoyances, they're the sort of issue that you'll internalise over a relatively short period of time when you're actually using them. Because the actual audio, the actual experience of listening and gaming through the Outlier Pro earbuds is almost enough to completely offset those ergonomic issues.
The 10mm drivers are strong and deliver an excellent, detailed sound. And that active noise cancelling is the best I've experienced on any headset. The bass is well delivered, too, offering enough oomph so you know it's there without crashing into the mid or high tones and muddying the overall sound.
The standard, flat EQ allows for your gaming soundscape and musical experience to be clear, but is still punchy.
The battery life is outstanding as well. It can deliver double the ANC-on time that the JBL Quantum TWS is able to, and the charging case will go on for days.
And, so long as the last time you used the buds via the app you enabled the low latency gaming mode, it will remain on when you then plumb your buds straight into a laptop or Steam Deck. Maybe the Type-C dongle of the JBL Quantum TWS is a touch tighter on latency, but not enough so you'd really notice without listening to them side-by-side.
All of which makes the Creative Outlier Pro buds a great set for gaming, but with certain ergonomic caveats.
Read our full Creative Outlier Pro review.
Image 1 of 5(Image credit: Future)Image 2 of 5(Image credit: Future)Image 3 of 5(Image credit: Future)Image 4 of 5(Image credit: Future)Image 5 of 5(Image credit: Future)3. Audeze Euclid
Seriously, how much?!
Drivers: 18mm panar magnetic | Frequency response: 10Hz - 50,000Hz | Weight: 0.53 oz | 15 g | Connection: Wired | Bluetooth 5 w/ adapter | Battery life: 8 hours
Excellent audioFast wireless gaming responseBrutal pricingExpensive wireless adapterAlmost too-sharp audioPersonal comfort issuesIf it was all about the sound I would be tripping over myself to recommend you stick Audeze's Euclid earbuds into your soundholes. The sound is delicious. Because when you're trying to describe audio quality it's important to keep using different adjectives, and because whenever I stick some high-res audio files through the Euclid buds I always end up going 'Nom, nom, nom, nom.'
But how do you, in all good faith, recommend someone spend $1,300 on a set of earbuds? I'll wait for you to crank your jaw up off the deck… yes, the Audeze Euclid buds really do cost that much. And if you want to go down the wireless Bluetooth 5.0 route then you need a $130 adapter wrapped around your neck.
Which makes them suitable only for the most miniscule of audiophile niches, if I'm being honest. Generally, if you want that high-end audio experience you spend big on a pair of over-ear audiophile headphones.
The Euclids, even ignoring the pricey elephant in the room, have too many real-world sticking points.
Despite initial concerns the Bluetooth 5.0 implementation wouldn't have the speed of connection to live with the lag-free wireless audio you really need for twitch gaming, the Euclid Bluetooth adapter is lightning fast.
Which all makes them actually an excellent set of earbuds for gaming. But you don't need a set of buds at this price level to get a very close approximation of this audio quality from a particular game. The Creative Outlier Pro buds deliver an impressive aural experience for a fraction of the price, and the JBL Quantum TWS have the ease of use to make them both an easy Steam Deck accessory you barely have to think about.
The Euclid's on the other hand, even ignoring the pricey elephant in the room, have too many real-world sticking points to make them a reasonable recommendation.
The eight hour battery life of the Bluetooth adapter is an issue, though you could, of course, quickly switch to a wired connection when you run out of power. But, even if the power thing isn't an issue, you're still having to deal with the adapter cabling between the two buds which I found either weighed down too much if worn around the front of your neck, or tangled with any collars on my clothing, putting pressure on the buds' fitting if worn around the back.
And I struggled with that fitting in general anyways. None of the other wireless buds I've tested were much of a struggle to comfortably sit in my, admittedly small, ears, but I found with the Euclids—even with three different silicone tips, and a pair of premium Comply foam tips—long term comfort was difficult to find.
Read our full Audeze Euclid review.
Image 1 of 5(Image credit: Future)Image 2 of 5(Image credit: Future)Image 3 of 5(Image credit: Future)Image 4 of 5(Image credit: Future)Image 5 of 5(Image credit: Future)4. Tronsmart Onyx Ace Pro
The budget earbud choice.
Drivers: 13mm | Frequency response: 20Hz - 20,000Hz | Weight: 0.14 oz | 4g | Connection: Bluetooth 5.2 | Battery life: 6.5 hours | +27 from case
Great price with regular discountGood battery lifeResponsive game modeWeak audioNo sound isolationI will admit I wasn't expecting a lot from the most budget of wireless gaming earbuds that I've tested recently, but honestly they're not bad. At full price I would absolutely recommend spending that little bit extra on the Creative Outlier Pro, but if you're willing to ship from Tronsmart via its AliExpress storefront you're looking at almost half the $60 sticker price.
And at that level these are some great budget wireless buds. They have a decent battery life, solid Bluetooth 5.2 connection, and come with a dedicated gaming mode accessible directly through the headphones rather than enabled via a separate app.
And that gaming mode is actually pretty impressive, too. It perfectly matches the gunshots in Hitman 3 via Bluetooth on the Steam Deck or a gaming laptop, and makes for a great, super portable gaming experience. Tronsmart recommends disabling gaming mode for music as it won't offer the best audio experience, but I noticed nowhere near the same strange aural artefacts as with the Gravastar Sirius Pro buds.
Leaky as a colander that's been sieving shotgun pellets direct from the muzzle.
Generally speaking, the audio is good. Not great, but it's only really a lack of direct oomph in the low ends that marks the sound out. I don't love an overly bass-heavy tuning anyway, but the Onyx Ace Pro buds do still feel lightweight on that front. The highs and mids are crisp, however, and the audio nicely detailed despite that slight bass tone failing.
These things are leaky as a colander that's been sieving shotgun pellets direct from the muzzle, however. You can hear everything. If you're concerned about being oblivious to traffic when you're crossing the road, fine, but if you want to use the Onyx Ace Pro buds to game on the go you're going to suffer.
And that's a problem, because most of the situations where I want to be using a set of wireless earbuds for gaming will find me on some sort of transport or in a public place. And generally not sat in a quiet room with a level of noise that isn't going to aurally intrude upon my play time.
If you're after a good budget set of AirPod-a-likes for your Steam Deck, however, the Tronsmart Onyx Ace Pro will make for a solid purchase. So long as you pick it up with that AliExpress discount, that is.
Read our full Tronsmart Onyx Ace Pro review.
Image 1 of 6(Image credit: Future)Image 2 of 6(Image credit: Future)Image 3 of 6(Image credit: Future)Image 4 of 6(Image credit: Future)Image 5 of 6(Image credit: Future)Image 6 of 6(Image credit: Future)5. Asus ROG Cetra True Wireless
Drivers: 10mm | Frequency response: 20Hz - 20,000Hz | Weight: 0.21 oz | 6 g | Connection: Bluetooth 5.0 | Battery life: 4.8 hours (ANC on) | +17 from case
Good all-round feature setSimple controlsEasy game modeLimp audio qualityWhether connected to your PC, laptop, Steam Deck, or phone, the ROG Cetra TWS buds deliver an okay audio experience. It does though have a broad feature set which rivals the best on the market. With one minor, though missed, exception. I love the auto cut-out feature the JBL Quantum and Creative Outlier Pros offer, which saves battery and means you can just pull the buds out of your ears and they'll immediately pause. Then automatically resume when you jam them back in your earholes.
But the ROG Cetra TWS is still a good set of earphones… but notably not a great one.
For me it's the actual audio quality where the Cetra earphones fall down, because everything else is right up there. The ANC is good, the connection robust and quick to hook into whichever device they've been set up for, and the gaming mode can be enabled with a quick touch, and is as quick and reliable as you'd want from some wireless buds.
Sadly, the audio quality is kinda limp.
I'm into the wee charging case, too. It adds another 17 hours (21+ if you've got ANC disabled) and it's a smooth little box which is easy to palm and would slip into a pocket without being too obtrusive. The same cannot necessarily be said of the buds themselves; they've rather ROG.
That angular design is, at least, effective. I've struggled with touch controls on earbuds for a while, preferring the reassuring feel of a physical button when you can't actually see what you're trying to hit. You know where you are when you actually have something to press. But with the sharper edges of the Cetra it creates an obvious flat plane for the touch-sensitive surface which makes it easier to find with digit alone.
Which in turn makes activating game mode, or cycling through noise cancelling levels, or even just hitting the one-touch play/pause command, a mercifully simple task. That's not something you can say of all the earbuds I've tested recently.
Sadly, the audio quality is kinda limp.
There just isn't much depth to the sound, which is a shame either when you're playing a game or listening to music. And, in the end, it's that weak audio which makes the ROG Cetra TWS just a fine set of wireless earbuds rather than a world-beater.
Read our full Asus ROG Cetra True Wireless review.
Image 1 of 5(Image credit: Future)Image 2 of 5(Image credit: Future)Image 3 of 5(Image credit: Future)Image 4 of 5(Image credit: Future)Image 5 of 5(Image credit: Future)6. Gravastar Sirius Pro
Very much the 'gamer' earbuds.
Drivers: 7.2mm | Frequency response: 20Hz - 20,000Hz | Weight: 0.21 oz | 6 g | Connection: Bluetooth 5.2 | Battery life: 4 hours (ANC on) | +12 from case
Strong gamer aestheticDoubles as a bottle openerBass-heavy audioWeak battery lifeLow latency mode sacrifices sound qualityAesthetically, the Sirius Pro buds are the most 'gamer' of all the wireless headphones I've tested recently. The case isn't so much a case as a cage. Attached to a battery pack of a bottle opener. Really. Yeah, there is maybe a feeling that Gravastar is maybe trying a little too hard to hit a particular niche of a user.
But hey, it's a crowded market, so why not do something to make yourself stand out? The thing is, you need to be able to also deliver on the fundamentals so that the thing which makes you stand out isn't the only thing you have going for you.
And that's arguably where the Sirius Pro buds fall down.
Battery life is one place where the Gravaster buds struggle. The 4 hour battery in the buds themselves is so weak you'd only want to use them on your shortest journeys. For most commutes I guess it's fine, but if you're going transatlantic it's a definite no. The fact the pseudo-futuristic charging cage can deliver another 12 hours of charge doesn't really help when the charging time is, at a minimum, 90 minutes.
There is some strange, almost electronic distortion going on.
But it's the audio quality where I really struggle with them, especially at this price. The Sirius Pro earbuds seem to have been too heavily tuned towards the bass. While that doesn't necessarily muddy the rest of the audio, as I initially thought it might, it just becomes too overpowering after a short time.
That's only in music mode, however, as when you switch to the low latency gaming mode the bass bias disappears. That seems to be in order to cut the lag, which it does to great effect when I've been hitting men in Hitman 3 on the Steam Deck, but it does add a certain artificial quality to the aural experience.
There is some strange, almost electronic distortion going on, and the drop in audio quality is rather plain to hear. Still, you do get used to it; the human brain is very adroit at normalising poor audio over time. And the audio latency is low enough that the trade-off is almost acceptable.
Or would be if other buds didn't deal with it far better. The Creative Outlier Pro's Bluetooth connection is speedy enough, when the specific low latency mode remains enabled, and the JBL Quantum TWS has a Type-C dongle that makes it indistinguishable from a wired connection. The Gravastar seems to just lower the audio quality to tighten up the latency issue.
When there are better sounding, longer lasting, and more affordable options on offer, even if I loved the more 'gamer' aesthetic of the Gravastar Sirius Pro, I would still recommend you spend your money elsewhere.
Read our full Gravastar Sirius Pro review.
Wireless gaming headset FAQ
How do you test wireless gaming earbuds?
More than a standard wireless gaming headset you have to test earbuds for a longer time. Comfort and general ergonomics are key to a set of buds that you're likely to use every time you leave the house, whether tethered to your phone for music or podcasts, or connected to your gaming laptop or Steam Deck for mobile fun times.
We will use a set of buds for an extended period of time, testing with mobile gaming in mind, plugged into the Steam Deck, and using high-resolution audio to get a bead on the overall sound quality.
Latency is also of vital importance when we're talking about wireless earbuds, so being able to turn on game mode, and it being seamless when gaming, is a necessary part of testing, too.
Can wireless earbuds be used for gaming?
There are certain things to look for when chasing a wireless set of earbuds for gaming. They need to at least have Bluetooth 5.0 to deliver a low latency connection, but it's also worth looking for a dedicated gaming mode, which drives latency down even lower.
This ideally should be enabled via the buds themselves, and not from an app, to make them easily compatible with a gaming laptop or handheld gaming PC such as the Steam Deck.
There are buds with 2.4GHz wireless dongles, which will cut latency down to an almost invisible level, which is also worth considering.
Are wireless gaming earbuds more expensive?
The sad fact is that you are likely to be paying a premium for a wireless version of any product. You have to factor in the extra design, the extra connectivity peripherals (the wireless dongle, etc.), and the fact you now have to have a battery.
Are wireless gaming headsets heavier than wired ones?
Generally, because of that added battery, you will find that a wireless version of a gaming headset will weigh slightly more than its wired equivalent.
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At some point I reached an age where people more successful and talented than me started being younger than me too. It was all well and good when I was 20 years old and almost everyone younger than me was basically a child, but now the lead actors of phenomenally successful TV shows don't even remember the credit crunch. And now I have to come to terms with the fact that Yoyoka, the drummer on those hardcore Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster tracks, was around 11 years old when she performed them.
Yoyoka, whose full name is Yoyoka Soma, is a drumming prodigy from Ishikari, Japan, who you might already know from four years ago, when she went viral for crushing a performance of Led Zeppelin's Good Times Bad Times. When she was, oh no, 8 years old
It appears that performance (among many others you can find on her YouTube channel) caught the attention of the devs at Square Enix, because the company brought her on during the game's development to contribute to 18 tracks across the remasters of Final Fantasy 1, 3, 4, 5, and 6.
Yoyoka posted about her involvement in the FF remasters a while ago, but it only came to my attention after an enterprising Resetera user dug up her video showcasing the tracks she contributed to. It's a little bit surprising that Square Enix didn't make more noise about hiring a memetic child prodigy to pep up its soundtracks for the remasters. I suppose that's a testament to her talent: she was enlisted for her abilities, rather than to gild a marketing campaign.
The remasters of the first six Final Fantasy games have, for the most part, gone down pretty well, even if they do make a few of the same stumbles that earlier, ill-fated touch-up attempts have made. Most of the complaints I've read have pertained to the fonts, though; I'm pretty sure the music has been a solid hit.
In other FF news, Final Fantasy 16 is shaping up to be a medieval-themed political drama where you play the bodyguard of a prince named Joshua. The game's first trailer mentioned a PC version, but since then Square Enix have been laser-focused on only discussing the game as a "PS5 exclusive". We'll probably get it eventually, but we might be waiting a while: Final Fantasy 15 took two years to land on our shores after it came to console. In the meantime, why not wax nostalgic about the hairstyles of FF past?
I'm hooked on Disney Dreamlight Valley, but I wish I could evict Goofy
in Gaming News
Posted
As Lauren wrote yesterday, Disney Dreamlight Valley is easy to get hooked on. The game's building tools, art style, and seemingly endless quests and activities really does make it feel like it's the Animal Crossing on PC we've been waiting for.
I'm not a Disney fan and I never played Animal Crossing, yet here I am, pouring hours into Disney Dreamlight Valley. Last night I glanced at the clock around 1 am and I realized I was fighting to stay awake simply because I desperately needed to show Wall-E how to give a carrot to a squirrel. I am an adult who hasn't watched a Disney animated film in years, and wasn't even into them as a kid, and somehow showing a trash robot how to feed a rodent was more important to me than sleep.
I'm not saying I hate Disney, I just don't have any sort of personal or emotional attachment to its films or characters. Growing up my main interest was Star Wars (which, naturally, Disney now owns), so meeting Han Solo or Luke Skywalker would have been my wish, not hanging out with Donald Duck or Buzz Lightyear. But I'm still probably going to spend the entire weekend making sure Maui likes the house I just built for him and keeping Scrooge McDuck swimming in coins like a befeathered Jeff Bezos.
While I enjoy some of the characters in Dreamlight Valley, like Moana, and I can tolerate Mickey and Merlin and that rat chef long enough to complete tasks for them or raise their friendship levels, I have slowly come to realize I have an intense dislike for Goofy. The first hour or so of Dreamlight Valley is heavily frontloaded with Goofy, since he teaches you how to fish and runs the seed stand where you can sell your collected crap for coins. Every time I interact with Goofy I like him a little bit less, and even when I'm not specifically dealing with him he still manages to annoy me.
Look, I get it, he's a friendly dope, but he's just got so much energy it feels like he's draining mine. Yes, Goofy, I just bought some carrot seeds from you, but it's not an event that requires you to flail your arms around and grin excitedly in my face from a distance of three millimeters. You don't have to start dancing just because I sold you 14 hunks of dirt that were taking up space in my inventory. Chill, dude.
My dislike goes beyond his personality. Even when I can't see him, his presence can be felt in Dreamlight Valley at almost all times. He's often noisily fishing, making constant off-screen hyucks and yullps and other assorted straining noises as he attempts to land a catch. By the way, I've stood there watching him fish and the dude never catches anything, which somehow makes his noisy efforts even more annoying.
Worse still, when I'm doing some fishing he'll sprint over to watch, typically standing in just the right spot to block my view of the fishing meter so I have to move the camera. When I catch something, he'll celebrate by cavorting roughly one inch in front of my face. Everyone in Stardew Valley cavorts, but take it down a notch, bruv. And due to what I suspect is an early access glitch, Goofy is constantly remarking that it's raining when it's not raining, and in the hour I played last night where it was literally pouring he didn't say word one about it. Get your 'frack' together, Goofy.
And I feel this needs to be asked: is Goofy really a big enough celebrity for a major Disney videogame? Disney owns so much of pop-culture now that surely there were some better choices. I'm not saying Goofy isn't famous, just that his star is long past fading. He's had two feature films, the last one being "An Extremely Goofy Movie" way back in 2000. Following that, all I see as star vehicles on his CV are a six-minute film from 2007 called "How to Hook Up Your Home Theater"—wow, that sounds great—and then some shorts about Goofy staying home during the pandemic. Yikes. How fast did Mickey pass on those projects? Elsa would fire her agent for even pitching them. Goofy is not the first name on anyone's call sheet these days.
So why am I having to suffer his ceaseless cavorting? Why can't I cross the peaceful, idyllic meadow without hearing his guttural, straining grunts as he tries and fails to pull a fish from the pond? Captain Hook could have taught me to fish. Eeyore could be running the seed stand. But no, I'm stuck with a humanoid dog that has the personality of an automobile dealership's air dancer balloon.
I never played Animal Crossing but I understand it's possible to kick a character off your island, apparently by hitting them repeatedly with a butterfly net. As irritating as I find him, Goofy is a good-natured fellow and I honestly don't want to hit him with anything. But if I could escort him to Moana's canoe, gently nudge it into the sea with my foot, and watch him slowly drift over the horizon, his hyyuks and yullps growing fainter and fainter, I'd be perfectly happy with that. I might even briefly cavort.
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