TechPowerUP NEWS

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AMD has rebranded its most advanced graphics technology—previously known as FidelityFX Super Resolution—to simply "FSR." This change was noted in AMD's official product page, which states that FSR stands for "formerly AMD FidelityFX Super Resolution." However, AMD has not made any formal announcements regarding this rebranding. All of this is happening ahead of the official FSR "Redstone" product demo scheduled for December 10, which will include technical details about FSR Redstone, as well as games that will implement it.

This sudden and unusual change in product naming by AMD is likely intended to make the shorter acronym resonate better with the gaming audience. It's similar to AMD's own name, which some might not realize stands for Advanced Micro Devices. As a reminder, on December 10, we expect to see AMD's latest FRS "Redstone" platform, which builds on the AI and machine learning super resolution introduced with FSR 4 and introduces three key innovations. The first is neural radiance caching, followed by AI and ML-based Ray Regeneration, and AI and ML-based Frame Generation. Neural Radiance Caching uses a machine learning model that continuously learns how light interacts within a scene to predict and store indirect lighting, reducing the performance cost of ray tracing.
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The NVIDIA Blackwell RTX upgrade is nearing the finish line, letting GeForce NOW Ultimate members across the globe experience true next-generation cloud gaming from anywhere. Everyone's talking about Ultimate memberships - including GeForce NOW partner 2K. "With GeForce NOW Ultimate, top-tier streaming truly goes everywhere," said Sean Haran, head of partnerships and licensing at 2K. "Anyone can experience the glory of Borderlands 4, with breathtaking graphics and flawless gameplay powered by GeForce RTX 5080 servers, even without the latest devices. Jump into the cloud and play at high settings, whether you're at home or on the move."

The community has plenty to say about Ultimate, too. The GeForce NOW Community Video Contest invites gamers to share how GeForce NOW has changed the way they play. Participants can earn two Ultimate day passes - one to keep and one to share with a gaming buddy - and a chance to win a one-year Ultimate membership, just for submitting a clip. Plus, the celebration continues with free in-game skins for both Guild Wars II and Borderlands 4. And Capcom's Ace Attorney headlines the lineup of nine new titles joining the cloud this week, alongside even more ways to jump in with the new Chromebook Fast Pass. Stockholm will soon be the final region to get Blackwell RTX power, completing the rollout of GeForce RTX 5080-class performance worldwide. Ultrasmooth streaming, cutting-edge visuals and lightning-fast responsiveness are unlocking new levels of performance for Ultimate members.
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Since Borderlands 4 launched, the game has been plagued by performance and stability issues, and to Gearbox's credit, many of the more egregious problems have at least somewhat been addressed, with a recent content update even boosting performance by up to 20%, depending on the game resolution. However, it seems as though the added development time required to address those game-breaking issues might have caught up to Gearbox. In a recent announcement, 2K Games said that the developer "realized that there was more mayhem than time when it came to getting as much into Bounty Pack 1 as originally planned," which is basically a long-winded way of saying the developer ran out of time to deliver the stacked Bounty Pack 1 that was originally expected.

Fortunately for gamers, this means that the Borderlands 4 Bounty Pack 1: How Rush Saved Mercenary Day is launching as a free DLC available to all Borderlands 4 players as of November 20. According to the announcement, Bounty Pack 1 adds a new quest line tasking players with helping Rush, the leader of the Oubounders, relive his childhood memories and share the spirit of the festive season—it's basically space Christmas. The new update will also add 24 new cosmetics, four new pieces of rollable gear, and a few new hidden collectibles and cosmetics. 2K also announced that owners of Borderlands 4 Deluxe or Super Deluxe Edition or the Bounty Pack Bundle will also get another free Bounty Pack (the fifth one in the game) in 2026.
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Shortly after Valve announced the upcoming Steam Machine gaming mini PC, the gaming giant also showed off a prototype of a Steam Machine with an e-ink panel on the front. Jsaux seems to have taken that idea and run with it—at least it looks as though the company is considering doing it. In a recent post on Reddit, Jsaux asked the community to choose between an e-ink and LCD accessory for th Steam Machine, with text over the preview image reading "coming 2026," suggesting that the brand, known for its Steam Deck accessories is in the early stages of developing at least one of the two options.

It's entirely possible that Jsaux won't end up making either version of the Steam Machine display, but the company is known for making some pretty intricate Steam Deck accessories, like docks, custom Steam Deck plates, and cooling fans, so it doesn't seem entirely outside the realm of possibility that a Steam Machine display could become a reality.

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Following a prior announcement from Avalanche Studios that the company was considering layoffs and shuttering its Liverpool studio, Avalanche has done just that. In an announcement on the studio's website, it recently announced that it has closed its Liverpool studio, explaining that the closure has resulted in 31 layoffs. Avalanche says that the studio's priority is to "continue supporting Avalanchers through this transition and to carry on making great games for our player communities."

The announcement comes shortly after Avalanche's upcoming game, Contraband, was cancelled earlier this year. The layoffs and studio closure were justified by executives as a way to ensure the long-term success of the company. The future of Avalanche's Stockholm studio is unclear as well, since that location was also mentioned in the original layoff announcement, but the company was seemingly only going to conduct layoffs at that branch and not close the whole thing.

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Xbox Partner Preview returned today, shining a light on our third-party partners with world premieres, new announcements, DLC reveals and much more. During the 30-minute broadcast, we revealed five brand new games, released three that you can play today, and announced nine new titles that will be playable day one on Game Pass Ultimate -from partners such as IO Interactive, Poncle, THQ Nordic, and Future Friends, alongside other powerhouse developers.

The broadcast kicked off with the world premiere of Armatus, the upcoming third-person action-roguelike from publisher, Fictions, ande wrapped up with the announcement of Raji: Kaliyuga, a surprise sequel to 2020's action-adventure game, Raji. We also showed a world premiere of Vampire Survivors studio, Poncle's new game, Vampire Crawlers. Even better - all three of these titles will be available day one on Xbox Game Pass Ultimate. We also saw new DLC and an Xbox release for Dave the Diver, plus a first look at the wild new Eminem Elusive Target mission heading to Hitman: World of Assassination next week, among many others.
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Aoostar showed off its Nex395 AMD Ryzen AI Max+ 395 mini PC design earlier this year, revealing a somewhat edgy mini PC design at the time. Now, however, thanks to IT Home, we have gotten a good look at the updated design, which is a lot more subdued and professional than the previous renders showed. It is expected that the Aoostar Nex395 will launch internationally, like many of the company's recent devices, however, Aoostar has not yet announced a release window or expected launch pricing. Instead, the teaser says the Nex395 is "coming soon," according to the new teaser.

The internals, however, remain seemingly unchanged. The Aoostar Nex395 mini PC will still launch with the AMD Ryzen AI Max+ 395 SoC and up to 128 GB of LPDDR5X memory. According to IT Home, the upcoming mini PC will have dual USB4 ports and one unspecified USB Type-C interface on the front edge next to the illuminated power button. The material looks like a matte aluminium, but it's unclear if it will be plastic, like the rest of the case appears to be. From the appearance, Aoostar is intending the Nex395 to be an AI workstation instead of the gaming boxes many companies have announced since the launch of Strix Halo. When it launches, the Nex395 will have to contend with a flurry of recent AMD Strix Halo-powered devices from companies like Minisforum and even a few gaming handhelds from the likes of Ayaneo and a gaming tablet from OneXPlayer. The following images depict the new design (left) and the design previously teased by Aoostar (right).

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Today, Swedish indie publisher Raw Fury and French developer Ludogram launched their 'tower-survivor' game Monsters Are Coming! Rock & Road day one on Xbox on PC and Xbox Cloud with Xbox Game Pass, alongside Steam and GOG. The game will be Xbox Handheld Verified and support Xbox Play Anywhere, and will also be Steam Deck Verified. Players can fortify, forage and fight through challenges and try their hand at reaching the Ark today. Following this initial release, Monsters Are Coming! Rock & Road will also launch at a later date on Xbox Series X|S.

In Monsters are Coming! Rock & Road, players act as a dispensable, multi-tasking hero who must protect an ever-moving city from ancient horrors that approach from all sides, intending to destroy it. Players will need to gather resources and level up their abilities, as well as discover hidden secrets to give them an edge, all while building and upgrading their city to turn it into a rolling fortress of destruction. Players must reach the Ark and defeat one of several daunting bosses that protect it to find safety and move on to the next thrilling biome.
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KBDcraft is known for its LEGO-inspired mechanical keyboards, like the 60% Adam keyboard or the split ortholinear Israfel. Now, KBDcraft is bringing that mod-friendly design philosophy to a mouse with the reveal of the Shamshel. KBDcraft's Shamshel is a modular mouse designed to fit into a LEGO-style enclosure, with compatibility for original LEGO bricks allowing users to create and customize their mouse or even design a new case from scratch fairly easily. Pricing has not been revealed just yet, although a teaser on KBDcraft's Instagram page reveals that there will be a Kickstarter reward that includes two of the new mice for $39.99. It looks as though the two-for-one deal will include two different PCBs and one case, with the two PCBs using different switches.

Except for the PCB and the switches, the Shamshel is completely constructed from LEGO-style bricks. Even the scroll wheel and hinge mechanisms for the main left and right click buttons are made from bricks, meaning you can conceivably customize things like switch height and weight by implementing a different lever design. It doesn't seem like the mouse is wireless or as if it's made for esports or fast-paced gaming, although official specifications have yet to be announced. However, it's clear from the promotional imagery that the mouse will be available with either hot-swappable mechanical keyboard switches or regular mouse micro switches—this is part of the justification for the aforementioned two-mouse bundle deal. You can follow the project's Kickstarter page or check out the official KBDfans product page for future updates.
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Samsung is reportedly preparing a major shift in its memory production strategy as DRAM demand continues to surge on the back of global AI infrastructure growth. According to Korean industry reports cited by SE Daily, the company plans to convert parts of its NAND flash lines in Pyeongtaek and Hwaseong into DRAM production, and will also run its upcoming Pyeongtaek Fab 4 (P4) as a DRAM-only line using Samsung's latest 1c process. Industry sources say Samsung has become cautious about the NAND market, while demand for standard DRAM has jumped sharply. Prices are rising fast, and some server customers are said to be offering as much as 70% higher prices for 96 GB and 128 GB DDR5 modules but still can't secure enough supply. Big tech firms reportedly expect shortages to run for years and are already negotiating DRAM allocations for 2027.

Samsung currently produces both DRAM and NAND across Pyeongtaek Fab 1, Pyeongtaek Fab 3, and its Hwaseong campus. The hybrid lines at P1 and Hwaseong will shift further toward DRAM as NAND equipment is removed. Fab 4, now in final construction, will start up next year as a dedicated 1c DRAM line, and Samsung is also considering using a second zone of P4, originally planned for foundry production, for DRAM as well. Once the changes are in place, Samsung's DRAM output from P1 (Hwaseong) and Fab 4 (P4) is expected to climb significantly in the first half of next year. Reduced Korean NAND production will reportedly be offset by higher output from Samsung's Xi'an plant in China.

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Additional confirmations regarding the launch of "Arrow Lake Refresh" have emerged, as Intel has updated its processor SKU support matrix for DDR5 technologies. The "Arrow Lake Refresh" processors will support faster DDR5 memory. Intel confirms that ARLR will ship with native support for DDR5 memory speeds reaching 7200 MT/s on CUDIMM modules. This enhanced speed rating applies only to DDR5 modules equipped with integrated clock driver circuits, commonly known as CUDIMMs, which improve signal integrity at higher frequencies. Standard UDIMMs and CSODIMMs will continue to operate within their existing specifications at 5600 MT/s and 6400 MT/s, respectively.

Intel attributes the speed boost to a refined integrated memory controller and subtle platform-level optimizations for LGA-1851 motherboards, not a new chipset. Core platform constraints, including the two-DIMMs-per-channel limit, remain unchanged, meaning the improvement simply provides additional headroom for compatible memory. Beyond memory improvements, select middle-class SKUs will gain extra efficiency cores or modest clock speed increases. Combined with the CUDIMM support, these changes should deliver measurable gains in specific workloads, though they will not dramatically shift Intel's competitive position. Overclocking enthusiasts can still exceed official speeds through manual tuning. Scheduled to debut in early 2026, just a few months before "Nova Lake," the update is primarily a refinement of Intel's existing technology rather than a completely new architecture. The fully new architecture is reserved for "Nova Lake-S."

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Aside from having to fight Nintendo in an ongoing legal battle, Pocketpair, the developer of Palworld, is seemingly forging ahead with its ambitious plans. The game studio recently shipped its Tides of Terraria collaboration update and announced its upcoming cozy game, Palfarm, and now it is moving onto the next collaboration, this time with indie hit Ultrakill. The Ultrakill collaboration was previously announced, but now Pocketpair has officially announced the launch date for the collaboration, which is slated to launch on December 17.

In the Palworld Ultrakill collaboration, at least on Palworld's side, players will get access to some of the iconic Ultrakill robots and weapons from the hyper-violent shooter. A brief teaser at the end of the Home Sweet Home trailer that revealed the crossover release date also teased the full 1.0 release for Palworld, confirming that Palworld will launch out of Early Access in 2026.
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The end of 2025 has been a busy time for gaming, with massive game launches, like Arc Raiders, Battlefield 6, and Hollow Knight: Silksong taking much of the spotlight, however, some sales charts, like those provided by Alinea Insight, seem to tell a different story. According to the report, ARC Raiders, from Embark Studios, has once again taken the top spot for sales in the prior week. The new extraction shooter has apparently surpassed 4 million sales on Steam and is rapidly approaching 7 million sales across all platforms. The runner-up in the week leading up to the report was co-op indie platformer, PEAK, which is estimated by the analyst to have sold 316,000 copies in the week between November 16 and 23 alone, bringing it up to nearly 15 million copies sold since launch.

The other top-sellers on Steam for the same week were similarly unexpected, including RV There Yet? at 312,000 copies, the Risk of Rain 2 Alloyed Collective DLC, with 216,000 copies sold for the week, and Dispatch, another indie hit, with 214,000 copies sold during the same period. The success of RV There Yet? and PEAK are attributed to the mandatory co-op mechanics, although price is likely an important metric to consider as well. It's worth noting that these statistics are mostly based on Steam sales data and daily active user information, which not all games share equally. It also doesn't take into account the wealth of console gamers whose purchases basically cannot be tracked by third parties.

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Roblox has long had faced complaints and legal issues over child safety issues, and the gaming platform's latest attempt to quell those complaints was to add AI-powered facial age estimation to match users in chat with those of a similar age. In a recent interview with The New York Times to discuss these new safety features, Roblox CEO, David Baszucki, addressed questions about the future of the UGC gaming platform. Much of the early conversation revolved around the new safety features and how they would affect the users of Roblox, especially minors, but when asked about potentially adding features like microtransactions, lootboxes, and "kid gambling" to Roblox in the future, Baszucki explained that he thinks "we would have to do that."

After a bit of push back from the journalist conducting the interview, Baszucki continues to say that he thinks it's "a brilliant idea if it can be done in an educational way that's legal," without trying to get children financially involved in gambling, but still mimicking the actual mechanics. There is research to indicate that gambling mechanics in video games are linked to addiction in adulthood, especially when elements of real gambling situations—casino sounds or visuals, for example—are employed. That said, most video game loot box systems that have been the focus of research contain a monetary element as well. Aside from the addictive aspects of loot boxes in gaming, microtransactions themselves are often seen as manipulative and potentially predatory.

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