SteelSeries, one of the world's leading brands for making the best Xbox accessories, has recently unveiled its latest creation – the SteelSeries Aeon Pro Controller.

This device features the world's first QuickSwitch Dock System for Xbox, PC, and Mobile devices (Patent Pending), which allows you to switch the controller's connection between platforms without the need for cables or re-pairing wireless connections.

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The SteelSeries Aeon Pro Controller also includes an Infinite Power System with dual hot-swappable batteries, so you never have to worry about losing power while gaming.

On top of that, the SteelSeries Aeon Pro Controller has fast and precise controls thanks to its first-rate triggers, mechanical switch buttons, and Hall Effect Thumbsticks, all of which can be customized, and their changes saved on user-made profiles using the controller's Onboard OLED Screen.

Its features don't stop there, as the SteelSeries Aeon Pro has a Modular Stick System that lets you swap out thumbsticks (with standard concave, tall concave, and short convex options), extra remappable Contoured Back Buttons, and a Wrap-Around Textured Grip to make it easier to hold.

Finally, this controller is compatible with the SteelSeries GG Software Suite app so you can customize every aspect of it, including its button and trigger inputs, rumble sensitivity, custom GG and Sonar integrations, and power settings on PC.

The SteelSeries Aeon Pro is now available (in black or white) at SteelSeries.com and select retailers worldwide for $259.99 | £229.99 | €259.99.

It's a very sleek Xbox controller rife with features to make your gaming life easier, but does its quality match up to its high listing price? Stay tuned to find out, as we're hoping to review it soon and let you know if the StreelSeries Aeon Pro is actually good and worth your money.

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Microsoft's long-rumored disc-to-digital program for Xbox went live in testing last week, and it has grown to supporting hundreds upon hundreds of games since.

So far, there are well over 1,000 games available as part of Xbox's disc-to-digital testing program, which gives you digital rights for disc-based games.

Simply inserting a compatible disc into an Xbox One or Xbox Series X console gives you the ability to attach it digitally to your account, giving you the ability to play, download, stream from the cloud, and access Xbox Play Anywhere support without the disc. You can also console share the license as well to another player.

The disc doesn't become inert after licensing the digital version either. If you sell the disc or give it away, the next user can grab the digital license from your account. You won't lose your cloud save either, so if you re-acquire the disc or buy it outright digitally later on, you'll be able to continue on as normal.

Some users have been disappointed with the initial roll out, however, as some major publishers have so far not opted in.

Some outlets went with headlines today decrying Ubisoft and others for their apparent decision to boycott the system. Ubisoft has long been the target of game preservationists, given that Ubisoft's shuttering of The Crew and other games led to stronger calls for digital rights. Ubisoft denying access to digital versions from disc-based games already sold would seem a bit like their M.O. in that universe. It seems the anger was premature, though.

Microsoft has always stated that this initial testing phase doesn't represent the full scope of content coming to the disc-to-digital program. Indeed, many publishers are still likely going over the contracts and ensuring that the legalese all matches up before going ahead with it. SEGA, Square Enix, Bandai Namco, and Ubisoft were among those apparently not honoring the program.

Today, it seemed that Ubisoft games have now gone live in the system for Xbox Insider testers in the Alpha and Alpha Skip-Ahead, however.

As you can see in the X (Twitter) thread above, Ubisoft games are now fully available on the disc-to-digital program, with titles like Far Cry Primal, Far Cry 4, Trials Fusion, Assassin's Creed titles, and many more going live.

I received a DM about an hour ago informing me of the change, and it seems other titles are now following suit.

It remains to be seen when (or if) other publishers come on board. Given how aggressively Square Enix has supported forward-facing Xbox initiatives like Xbox Play Anywhere and Xbox Cloud Gaming, it's fairly obvious to me that Square Enix will jump on board pretty soon. I'm told other publishers are just going over the detailing before committing, which is standard practice for any big corporation.

Xbox's disc-to-digital program is one of the most impressive innovations we've seen from Microsoft's gaming efforts in recent years, although it was originally pitched in 2013 as part of the Xbox One. It was pretty poorly presented back then, though, and users in 2026 are far more knowledgeable about the potential benefits of digital gaming. Still, there's more Xbox could potentially do here to sweeten the deal. With PlayStation committing to the phase out of discs entirely by 2028, many are wondering (and hoping) on whether Xbox will continue the disc-based torch with the next-gen Xbox Helix.

What publishers are you hoping to see jump on board? Hit the comments, let us know.

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Microsoft has just announced a set of new Windows 11 preview builds that are packing some notable improvements and changes that are now in testing with Insiders. This week's preview builds come packing an upgraded set of settings for sound and audio devices on Windows, enhanced cross device features that sync with your phone, and new family safety options.

First up, Microsoft has introduced a new design for the volume sliders that appear in the Sound Settings area of Windows Settings. The sliders now also show audio activity for when music or video is playing in the background while you configure your settings, making it easier to dial in exactly where you want your volume.

Microsoft is also porting over more Control Panel sound settings to Windows Settings, including the ability to set default devices, and the ability to allow hardware acceleration for devices that support it.

Here's a list of the new sound settings coming to Windows 11:

• We've updated the design of the volume sliders in Sound Settings so that they display audio activity on the side when audio is playing.
• If your audio device supports hardware acceleration, an option to allow hardware acceleration is now available in the Advanced section of the device's properties.
• You can now configure exclusive mode for an audio device in the Advanced section of the device's properties, so you don't have to go to Control Panel.
• You can now configure adaptive communication sound levels, which reduce the volume of other sounds when communications activity is detected, directly in Settings.
• The option to set an audio device as the default sound device for communication now always appears in Properties. The option is unavailable if the device is already the default instead of being hidden.
• We've updated the text for allowing audio devices to make it clearer.
• We've added a new banner when mono audio is enabled to make it clear that some properties don't take effect while mono audio is active.
• We've updated the All sound devices page:
  • You can now change default devices from this page.
  • We've adjusted the page design so that you can filter whether you're viewing input or output devices.
  • We've added toggles so that you can choose whether to hide or show disabled, disconnected, and unplugged devices.
• We've also updated the input and output audio properties pages in Settings to include jack information for devices that need it.

Another new feature in testing is the ability to quickly download the Windows app for a phone app that appears in the Taskbar via Phone Link. If you use the cross-device sync features that comes with Phone Link, hovering over an open app such as your phone's browser on the Taskbar will now let you quickly pick up where you left off without missing a beat.

In addition to the new sound settings, Microsoft has announced major upgrades to the family safety features in Windows 11. The company says family safety is a top priority for the company, and is addressing key issues and concerns from parents.

Key areas of focus include:

• Parental approvals for offerings like screen-time extensions, app access, and purchases now happen faster, so kids aren’t left waiting and parents stay in control.
• We restored clear visibility into web and app activity so parents can trust what they see in their reports.
• Made spending more transparent, with wallet balances.
• We also gave adults in a family more control over their own experience, making it far easier to add, manage, or leave a family group 

"Each of these improvements came from a real family experience — from issues parents told us mattered most: speed, accuracy, control, transparency, and peace of mind." Microsoft Distinguished Engineer, Rob Mauceri said. "This is the compounding effect of a team that treats every piece of customer feedback as a commitment to do better."

These improvements are welcome to see, and a sign that Microsoft continues to modernize and improve Windows 11 for the masses. These improvements are part of Microsoft's ongoing Windows K2 effort, which is focused on fixing Windows 11's biggest flaws.

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Another record-setting Patch Tuesday is here for Windows 11. The operating system has a massive number of security patches and fixes that are now available to hundreds of millions of PCs.

At the time of publication, we do not have the change log of the latest updates. You can, however, grab the most recent builds through the Microsoft Update Catalog. We will update this piece as more information becomes available.

According to The Verge, this month's Patch Tuesday update includes more than 650 security fixes just for Windows. That's a six-fold increase over what we normally saw in a usual month until recently. But advances in AI have sped up the process of discovering vulnerabilities as well as the need to patch them swiftly.

This is a breaking news story. It will be updated after Microsoft releases the change log for this month's Patch Tuesday updates.

Thanks in large part to AI, it's now common to see hundreds of security patches ship on a Patch Tuesday.

AI is a useful tool for Microsoft's engineers, but it can also be used by malicious actors. We're seeing an AI arms race for discovering and patching vulnerabilities.

In addition to helping discover vulnerabilities, AI can help malicious actors take advantage of vulnerabilities that have been discovered or disclosed. That process has been accelerated greatly by AI, putting pressure on organizations and IT admins to test security patches quickly so they can be rolled out.

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BlizzCon 2026 kicks off in full next weekend, and for the Blizzard faithful, hype is reaching fever pitch already.

Last month, Blizzard President Johanna Faries declared internally that the Warcraft division is now the "top-performing" within Xbox, beating out Bethesda, Call of Duty, and other franchises. It follows a massive year for Blizzard, where Diablo IV's Lord of Hatred expansion landed incredibly well, and a resurgent Overwatch reconnected with its audience and found new players in the process.

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There still exists enormous untapped potential within Blizzard franchises, in my view. World of Warcraft has yet to reclaim the heights of the Wrath of the Lich King days, although I would argue the potential still exists therein. Dormant franchises like StarCraft are waiting in the wings for a big-budget revival, and even classic games like Heroes of the Storm would likely have a new audience with the right business model and investment.

We haven't seen BlizzCon since 2023, as the firm now typically waits for a wider variety of announcements to coalesce before spinning up the event. As such, I'm expecting this year's BlizzCon to be perhaps its biggest and most important yet — in an age where competition for Blizzard's staples is also more aggressive than ever.

RELATED: How to watch BlizzCon 2026

Here are some spoiler-free hopes, dreams, speculations, and information about what to expect from Blizzard Entertainment's big show.

The big one: StarCraft at Blizzcon 2026

StarCraft is coming back this year, after a long period in cryostasis.

StarCraft is Blizzard's flagship sci-fi franchise, although it has been dormant since the conclusion of StarCraft II: Legacy of the Void back in 2015. If we're talking about major tentpole releases, the wait has been even longer.

StarCraft is set in a bleak future where humanity is besieged by futuristic Protoss and Alien-like infesting Zerg. StarCraft and Battle.net were both instrumental in legitimizing esports in general, particularly in Korea, where the game's demanding real-time strategic gameplay won over millions.

In the Activision era, former CEO Bobby Kotick preferred franchises that could reach mass mainstream audiences, and eschewed "niche" genres even if their fans were incredibly engaged. Now under Xbox, which arguably specializes in "niche," there's every chance we could see StarCraft see a bombastic revival.

The big reveal is most likely going to be the StarCraft shooter, first reported on by Bloomberg's Jason Schreier.

Blizzard has been hiring for an "open world shooter" for many years, seeking disciplinary expertise for vehicular gameplay and first- and third-person combat. I've personally seen some early test footage of the project Schreier first reported on, featuring playable Terran marines battling Zerg threats in what appears to be an open-world setting, complete with high-end visuals and cinematic campaign treatment.

It's unclear exactly what the finished product will be like, but I'm expecting and hoping for a full-blown co-op campaign with multiplayer PvE content, akin to Gears of War's new Siege mode, for example, or perhaps something broader like Helldivers 2. Schreier recently said on his podcast not to expect it to be an MMO-lite akin to Destiny, but StarCraft would surely be a ripe option for multiplayer PvE content on the side, or maybe even PvP content, pitting Protoss, human, and Zerg players against each other somehow.

Led by Far Cry alumni Dan Hay, I'm fully expecting StarCraft to lead the biggest announcements at the show, particularly since the StarCraft website mysteriously began "glitching out" recently.

I'm also curious if Blizzard plans to revive some of the StarCraft RTS games as well. Nexon has reportedly pitched to Blizzard to build a game within the StarCraft IP. I've heard rumors that Blackbird Interactive, which was a co-dev on Warcraft Remastered, might also be once again involved in Blizzard's classic RTS efforts — although perhaps that is for Warcraft itself again. Speaking of ...

Warcraft at BlizzCon 2026

Warcraft remains Blizzard's most visible franchise, more than likely, as the industry-leading subscription-based MMORPG enters its third decade.

I'm fully expecting that Blizzard will reveal not only the next major content patch for the current expansion, Midnight, but also give us the full rundown of The Last Titan.

World of Warcraft is in a bit of an odd place in my view, with something of an identity crisis. Warcraft's writing team seems intent on making it more "cozy" and appealing to broader audiences, at the cost of the franchise's historical bite and edge. Horde and Alliance faction war has been edited out of the story, and the game's writing in general has been a lot more "gentle" in recent times.

I've long thought World of Warcraft still has a ton of untapped potential to reach its old-school audience; whether that comes in the form of gameplay or story direction (or a combination of both) remains to be seen, but I'm expecting Blizzard to over-deliver for World of Warcraft in the near future. Why? Blizzard potentially has some serious competition looming on the horizon in the form of the League of Legends MMO, long in development at Riot Games. Final Fantasy 14 has also proven itself to be a viable alternative. Blizzard tends to do best when it has competitors biting at its heels.

Beyond World of Warcraft retail, there are strong rumors of a so-called "Classic+" reveal on the horizon.

Blizzard has been trying to deliver two separate experiences of WoW for some time, with the more RPG-leaning classic rendition of the game re-emerging as a separate experience. Fans of that gameplay style want something more, leading many to think that codename "Camelot" might represent a World of Warcraft Classic "prequel" of sorts, taking place in Azeroth's ancient history.

On top of that, there are also rumors that Blizzard might be exploring Warcraft's RTS roots again. A title, "Warcraft Chronicles," emerged alongside the Camelot codename, and given rumors I've heard about RTS aficionados Blackbird Interactive being on board with Blizzard again, perhaps we could see new expansions for Warcraft 3, or remakes of Warcraft 1 or 2 even.

It does seem like a general industry trend right now to bring new content to older games. Witcher 3 is getting a new expansion, for example, and Microsoft un-canceled expansions for Age of Empires II and III both, as the franchise finds a small but very passionate audience. I think new content for Blizzard's classic RTS games is something I personally highly expect, given what we've heard.

Overwatch, Diablo, and ... Heroes of the Storm?!

Finally, we have Overwatch and Diablo. Overwatch is arguably Blizzard's biggest franchise now, enjoyed by millions across the world. Blizzard's strategy of over-delivering a huge tranche of heroes all at once really helped Overwatch regain popularity, and remains one of the few big service games capable of tapping both Gen-Z and Millennial audiences in equal measure.

I'm expecting Overwatch to continue its upward trajectory with new hero announcements, and perhaps, finally, we'll see some form of transmedia announcement for the franchise. Overwatch's lore and characterization have received a ton of investment in recent months. What better way to top that off than a big-budget Netflix Anime or perhaps even an animated movie?

Speaking of, I'm also expecting Diablo to get the same transmedia treatment. I've been hearing for months that Diablo has a TV show in development. It's unclear whether it's at Netflix or Amazon or whoever else. Perhaps we'll see that revealed in full here at BlizzCon 2026, if it's indeed true.

I expect we'll also hear what's next for Diablo. One thing I've heard is that Blizzard wants the waiting time between tentpole Diablo launches to be shorter, although it's probably still too early for a reveal of Diablo 5 if I had to guess. It's more likely we'll see a big season reveal for Diablo 4, and if we're lucky, maybe more classic content for Diablo 2 like the recent Warlock DLC. This is one area where Blizzard could surprise me, though.

I'm not expecting a new Diablo 4 expansion right now, instead with resources flowing towards Diablo 5. But I could be wrong; I'm excited to find out what they're cooking here.

Beyond that, we'll likely get new content for Hearthstone (perhaps the long-awaited Monk class inclusion?), and I wouldn't be surprised if Blizzard also announces other new mobile game spin-offs from third parties, such as Overwatch Rush.

But what about ... Heroes of the Storm? Blizzard's long-dormant MOBA has been getting an uptick in love recently, with updates filtering through, and it even has some esports tournaments at BlizzCon this year as well. A little birdie has been teasing me that this upcoming weekend could be exciting for Heroes of the Storm fans ... what would it look like if Heroes of the Storm got a similar Overwatch-style multi-hero announcement?! Let me have my hopium ...

What do YOU want to see from BlizzCon 2026?

Blizzard is one of the game industry's most legendary outlets, on par with the likes of Nintendo. Few studios have managed to deliver so consistently for so long, creating so many millions of fans across such a wide variety of genres.

I have my issues with Blizzard's direction at times, particularly with World of Warcraft's writing, and the lack of love for games like StarCraft and Heroes of the Storm. BlizzCon is always an opportunity to see Blizzard addressing feedback, however. And we know that they can do it: Overwatch is proof that awesome games can be revived with the right amount of love and investment. Diablo 4 is proof that Blizzard can still deliver top-shelf story writing, too.

I'd love to see Heroes of the Storm get a console port to Xbox, PlayStation, and even Nintendo Switch. MOBAs absolutely can work on console, and with an eclectic cast of known characters, I think Heroes of the Storm could find a huge new audience, especially if they opened it up to third-party characters. Microsoft-owned characters like The Doom Slayer, Master Chief, and even weirder stuff like Banjo would be a perfect fit for the game in my view, even if some Heroes fans might consider it sacrilegious ... it hardly makes a ton of sense for Tracer to be fighting Deathwing in the first place, no?

Adding new content to Warcraft 3 or remaking classic RTS titles like StarCraft 1 or Warcraft 1 and 2 would also help the genre's resurgence. I'd love to see something surprising and new for Overwatch too, beyond new heroes, and I'm intrigued to see where Blizzard takes Diablo from here.

Either way, there's still so so much potential within Blizzard in my view, despite how big it already is. BlizzCon is becoming an industry event in its own right, now featuring content from third parties like CD Projekt RED for the first time. Could we eventually see it evolve to include even more games and franchises? It's exciting to think about.

Let me know what you want to see from BlizzCon 2026 in the comments. I'll be out there, so say hi if you see me!

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The Bing Wallpaper app is one of the few items under the Bing brand that's praised. The app provides beautiful images that can be set to rotate as your desktop background. But the app is in the headlines for the wrong reasons this week.

Some unlucky users have had their desktop background swapped to a fullscreen ad for a collection of Harry Potter and Fantastic Beasts films.

People have taken to Reddit to complain about the ad-filled wallpaper. A Microsoft Learn post shares similar complaints.

There's often debate about what counts as an ad on Windows 11. For example, prompts to use OneDrive are called ads by some but are viewed simply as optional features by others.

Promotional content isn't entirely new to Bing Wallpaper. The app frequently cycles through images tied to popular movies or Xbox games. Perhaps I'm splitting hairs, but I view the new Harry Potter wallpaper differently than a normal background image.

Bing Wallpaper features a gorgeous clean image of David Corenswet's Superman. It's a well-framed shot with dynamic lighting that captures the hopeful tone of Corenswet's rendition of the character. While the image is from Superman (2025), it is not a promotional poster with text about how to buy the movie.

In contrast, the Harry Potter wallpaper is specifically about the 11-film collection. The lower-right corner of the image says "AVAILABLE NOW" in all caps.

If the image were simply of Hogwarts and the surrounding area, it would be different. People are passionate about Harry Potter and other franchises. It's completely natural to enjoy a wallpaper showing off a favorite character or iconic setting.

I'd be just as bothered if the Superman image featured prominent text telling me the movie is available on Amazon. If Microsoft needs to monetize the Bing Wallpaper app, that needs to happen without crowding the images. Clicking to learn more about an image from a movie and being told about the film is fine. A big promo on my desktop is not.

Bing Wallpaper is an optional app, so it's not as if Microsoft is pushing more ads through Windows 11's settings. But as mentioned earlier, Bing Wallpaper is one of the only parts of the Bing brand that's well received. Tarnishing it with ads is penny wise, pound foolish.

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Windows 11 will soon feature a Battery Status widget that you can pin to the Widget Board or your PC's lock screen. The feature is still in the works at the moment, but you don't have to wait for it to be finished. Third-party app "Battery Flyout" already supports a Battery Status widget and is available right now.

Just like Microsoft's widget that's in progress, Battery Flyout's widget shows the battery status of your PC and connected devices. It's a quick way to check if your keyboard, mouse, or other accessories are charged.

The Widget Board has been underutilized since it launched in 2021. There are fewer than 100 widgets available, many of which are tremendously niche. I hope the existence of the Battery Status widget indicates that Microsoft is going to invest the time needed to grow the library of Windows 11 widgets.

Microsoft has made some other improvements to the Widget Board lately, such as turning off the MSN feed by default. I hope this is a turning point for the feature. If not, at least we can rely on third-party developers to use the space.

If you had a previous version of Battery Flyout installed, you may need to update the app before being able to use the widget.

As a built-in feature of Windows 11, the Battery Status widget will be available for free. Battery Flyout costs $3.19 (on sale from $3.99). But some lucky Windows Central readers will be able to get Battery Flyout for free. The app's developer shared a code for a giveaway and I'll run that on the r/windowscentral subreddit. Make sure to subscribe there and keep an eye out.

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Grand Theft Auto 6 will finally launch on November 19, 2026, at midnight in your region. Technically, that means New Zealand gets it earliest, as 00:00 NZDT (New Zealand Daylight Time) aligns with 06:00 EST (Eastern Standard Time) on November 18, while the rest of us wait for our own clocks to tick over. Dedicated fans at GTAVice.net spotted the regional launch plans, but there's a catch.

The timestamps come from Sony's PlayStation Store listings, which is actually better news for Xbox fans. PS5 users can't change their console's region so easily to trick the system, while Xbox Series X|S gamers can still head to their Settings menu and change their Language & location settings to match New Zealand's kickoff of the rolling midnight launch.

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PlayStation 5 owners can put extra effort into making a new account, but that also means finding a way to buy the game in the local NZ$ currency. If you already pre-ordered on Xbox in your own country, switching to a region on the furthest edge of the time zones should be a relatively simple trick for eager Xbox gamers looking to play GTA 6 early.

How to change your region on Xbox Series X|S

1. From your Xbox dashboard, enter Settings (the cogwheel)
2. On the left menu, scroll to System
3. Move to the right side and select Language & location
4. Choose your new region, e.g., New Zealand
5. Select Restart now to apply the changes

Is this trick guaranteed to work for GTA6?

In theory, I can't think of any compelling reasons this shouldn't work on an Xbox Series X|S, as it has in the past for digital games with rolling midnight launches. However, that doesn't mean Rockstar Games and its publisher, Take-Two, don't have a trick up their sleeve to prevent GTA 6 from being playable a day earlier with the same region tweak we used on titles like Call of Duty.

Even though Grand Theft Auto VI doesn't have any multiplayer components planned for its launch, that doesn't mean it's a strictly offline experience. It's reasonable to assume that stat tracking will apply during the single-player campaign, presumably shared among players when their console is connected to the internet.

Otherwise, if the game verifies your previous purchase and confirms your new region is a valid location (and the game doesn't require a day-one patch to launch), we might be able to play the story of GTA 6 entirely offline. Personally, I'm not feeling the same level of excitement as many others, so I'm willing to wait, but I don't see why this wouldn't work for anyone who already pre-ordered in their local currency.

In XBOX's official messaging, the brand warns of regional caveats. For example, any local currency tied to your account will not transfer over, and Microsoft can't help with that. If you were planning to buy any GTA 6 "Ultimate Edition" add-ons, you'll need to do it before changing your region. Still, it's easy to revert your Xbox console to its original region, so it's certainly tempting.

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Last week at IFA 2026, Microsoft announced Project Zenith, the codename of a new class of devices aimed squarely at developers looking to build apps and local AI experiences on top of Windows 11. The announcement came out of the blue, which naturally caused a bit of confusion online.

So, what is it? Well, Zenith is an effort to formalize a baseline for "developer-ready" hardware: devices that meet a minimum bar for performance and are ready out of box to begin coding and compiling. This means the configuration of Windows 11 that ships on these devices is different from normal PCs, with different default settings and pre-installed apps.

To be clear: This isn't a new or different version of Windows 11. Zenith devices will almost definitely still ship with either Windows 11 Home or Pro, depending on the OEM. It's simply how Windows 11 is configured out of box that differentiates these developer-class devices from normal Windows 11 PCs.

There's seemingly also a hardware component at play, too. Microsoft says Zenith devices must ship with at least 64GB of unified memory and be capable of 250GB/s of memory bandwidth if they want to ship with this specially preconfigured version of Windows 11 for developers. All other hardware will ship with the normal configurations of Windows 11.

In recent years, there has been an uptick in developers making the switch from Windows to Mac for a variety of reasons, including OS quality issues or lack of capable hardware in the wake of Apple Silicon. Developers have also complained that it just takes too long to set up a Windows PC for development, sometimes taking hours or even days from the first power-up.

Zenith removes this friction. These devices are certified high-end and ship from the factory in a state that is ready to code, with apps like Visual Studio and GitHub Copilot already installed and ready to go as soon as you reach the desktop. They also ship with Windows 11 in a configuration that already dials back the annoyances that developers have complained about.

Out of box, "File Explorer shows file extensions, hidden files, the full path in the title bar, and the details pane, with long-path support enabled. Recently used files and folders and sync provider tips are turned off for a cleaner workspace. In Search and Start, Command Palette is enabled, while Start menu tips and account notifications are turned off to reduce distractions."

These are small but meaningful changes to the default Windows configuration, one that can save minutes of setup time. If you're managing a fleet of developer devices, this will save you hours of configuration time. The good news is these settings aren't unique to Zenith PCs.

If you don't fancy spending the money on a new Zenith device, you can manually configure your existing Windows 11 PC to match the configuration that comes preloaded on Zenith PCs. Of course, it'll take longer to do, but you'll save yourself the cost of a new PC in the process.

Ultimately, the goal of Zenith is to signal to developers that Microsoft is listening and wants to position Windows as the preferred platform for on-device AI and app development. The first Zenith devices to ship will be ones powered by AMD's Ryzen AI Halo chips, with other chipmakers such as the RTX Spark expected to follow.

No word on which OEMs will build Zenith hardware, or when the first Zenith devices will begin shipping just yet. We'll keep you posted when we know more!

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Over the last few days, Monster Hunter Wilds: Ascendance has released a slew of new weapon trailers showing off the new Boost Bracer mechanic's enhancements for the Hammer, Light Bowgun, Charge Blade, and Sword & Shield weapon types.

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Additionally, these trailers hint that some of these weapon types are receiving balance changes or even new mechanics unique to them (and not tied to this DLC expansion's Boost Bracer gimmick). Here's what we can gather from these trailers for one of my most anticipated Xbox games of 2027.

Hammer

First off, we have a new trailer for the Hammer, a simple yet effective weapon for cracking monsters' skulls open. In Monster Hunter Wilds: Ascendance, the Boost Bracer will allow you to jump across the battlefield or lift off into the air to perform rocket-powered spinning attacks with the Hammer.

Additionally, the Hammer's attacks will become faster and gain new combo paths once the Boost Gauge is activated.

Next up, we have the Light Bowgun, which has been given some drastic enhancements thanks to the Boost Bracer and possibly a balance change to one of its ammo types.

With the Boost Bracer, the Light Bowgun can fire bullets like an automatic machine gun via the Boost Driver attacks and phase through enemy attacks while the Boost Gauge is activated.

Additionally, while your Boost Gauge is active, you can jump on monsters to perform aerial shot attacks, you can side-step much farther after each shot, and even perform an Offset counter where you fire a grenade onto a monster.

On a side note, the trailer hints that we may be getting new Recoil mods for Bowguns. This is because the player is seen using Spread ammo (think of it like Shotgun ammo) at one point, and the recoil on it in Monster Hunter Wilds: Ascendance is very light compared to how it is currently in the base game, where using Spread ammo on bowguns will send you flying backward.

Next trailer on the chopping block is the Charge Blade, a complex weapon type that transforms from a sword and shield into a two-handed battle axe that explodes with every hit.

Charge Blade's main game plan revolves around building Phial energy by hitting enemies in sword and shield mode and unleashing that pent-up energy in axe mode. This normally slow playstyle is getting a massive speed boost in Monster Hunter Wilds: Ascendance, as the new Boost Bracer's attacks will let you build energy for axe mode in mere seconds.

Plus, the Booster Bracer will grant the Charge Blade a new Offset counterattack in axe mode, new combo paths, and an enhanced version of the weapon's ultimate attack, where it discharges all of its Phial energy into one massive yet swift explosion.

Finally, we have today's trailer, which covers the classic Sword & Shield weapon type, and it's the one I'm most excited for. The Sword & Shield is another simple yet effective weapon that slices enemies, blocks attacks with a shield, and bashes monsters' faces in with said shield.

This agile weapon is now even faster thanks to Monster Hunter Wilds: Ascendance's Boost Bracer mechanic. With it, Sword & Shield can dash across the battlefield to smack monsters in the face, open up new combo attack paths, and grapple hook onto a monster's wounds to pop them just like the Clutch Claw mechanic from Monster Hunter World: Iceborne.

However, the most exciting change Sword & Shield is getting isn't related to the Boost Bracer; it's a brand-new attack called "Bladecoating Slash". This attack has you destroy one of your items with the weapon and coat its properties onto the blade to give it unique effects; for example, smashing a healing potion will give Sword & Shield the ability to restore a player's health with every hit.

Windows Central's Take

Out of all the changes I've seen from these trailers, the Sword & Shield trailer has got me the most hyped because its new "Bladecoating Slash" attack marks the return of the Oil Coating mechanic from 2015's Monster Hunter Generations.

It was an exclusive Sword & Shield mechanic where you coat the blade in oils to boost its attack, crit rate, or even grant it the ability to exhaust and stun monsters, kind of like The Witcher series.

It was so well received that fans have been begging Capcom to bring this mechanic back for Sword & Shield for nearly a decade because it was used in 2017's Monster Hunter Generations Ultimate, and now their wish is finally being granted.

Sword & Shield was one of my most used weapons in Monster Hunter Wilds' base game, so I can't wait to see how this new "Bladecoating Slash" will drastically alter its playstyle (like potentially coating my Sword & Shield in Gunpowder to give it explosion attacks with every swing) when Monster Hunter Wilds: Ascendance launches in 2027 for Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, and PC via Steam.

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I've been once again building up my own Xbox 360 games collection of late, no longer limited to those supporting backwards compatibility. I've been introducing my son to the console through the summer break, and it's been a blast.

So I appreciate all the collectors out there. Including the more outrageous ones, like u/youngercolors over on Reddit, who has amassed a breathtaking collection of 400 games.

Only it's not 400 games. It's 400 copies of the same game. Kinect Adventures, to be precise.

There's game preservation, and then there's game preservation. Honestly, I love everything about this. It's not a particularly well-rated game; it's definitely not rare nor particularly valuable.

Yet one person has taken it upon themselves to amass and preserve what has to be the largest private collection of this single game anywhere on the planet. Just because they want to. I doff my cap.

I actually just picked up a copy of Kinect Adventures for my own kids to have a go on (and maybe myself, if I can get off the sofa long enough) for the princely sum of £2.50 from a local charity shop. We haven't played it yet, so I can't comment on it, but, well, I do like the purple cases the Kinect games came in.

Kinect is also something of a hit with the young ones in the house. My Xbox One Kinect has long since gone, mostly because there wasn't really anything to do with it. But the Xbox 360 has a healthy library of dedicated games, with Kinect Star Wars a particular hit in this household.

The Reddit post also highlights what building a game collection should be all about: fun. I've seen a lot of discourse here in the UK about PS3 game prices having gone up sharply on the used market recently, but the focus shouldn't be on what it costs or how rare it is. It should be about collecting kick-ass games and having fun doing it.

The Kinect library of games seems to be plentiful on the used market as well as affordably priced. Naturally, if u/youngercolors ends up acquiring the planet's supply, that could change!

Collecting Xbox is a blast, though, and I'm definitely looking to scoop up the Kinect library. Maybe not 400 copies deep, though.

If you've got any Kinect memories from the Xbox 360 era, I'd love to hear them in the comments below.

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A new Windows app that aims to replicate the Dynamic Island of macOS just got a major update. Notchify now performs better and has new features like a built-in Clipboard history. It's a promising continuation of the app's development.

It's always interesting to pit Windows 11 against macOS. The two operating systems overlap but approach so many challenges in different ways.

While many are passionate defenders of a specific operating system, I think if we're all honest there are features and elements across the aisle worth envying. But it was a bit surprising to see that some Windows 11 users want a macOS-esque notch on the top of their screen.

The notch along the top of certain Macs came out of hardware limitations, not Apple deciding a black cutout of a screen was a brilliant design. But as Apple often does, the company found a way to turn a limitation into a feature that could be marketed. The Dynamic Island is a genuinely useful feature that provides quick access to information, notifications, and quick actions.

Notchify brings that part of the Dynamic Island to Windows 11. You don't need to permanently carve out part of your screen to use it though, which is nice.

Here is the change log for the latest update to Notchify, as shared by the app's developer on Reddit:

Performance and rendering

• Optional GPU (hardware) rendering for much smoother animations
• Large drop in idle CPU and memory use
• Fixed a system-wide keyboard lag some people were hitting
• Better fullscreen detection so it stays out of the way in games
• Selectable frame rate from 60 to 240 Hz, so it can match a high refresh rate monitor

Clipboard and Tray

• Clipboard history built into the island: pin, delete, clear
• Drag items straight out into Discord, WhatsApp, Paint, or Explorer, or click one to copy it
• The file tray now supports drag and drop: drop files in to stash them, drag them out into any app

Notifications

• An in-app notifications panel with swipe to dismiss
• Click a notification to jump straight to the app
• Stacking, like the real thing

New widgets

• To-do and Notes, now with a proper calendar date picker
• Quick System Actions: lock, sleep, mute, dark/light toggle, screenshot, settings
• App Shortcuts: pin apps, folders, or links
• Calendar with your next event

Bluetooth and media

• Connected device card with a battery ring, now including BLE devices
• Media player with scrubbing, shuffle, repeat, and an album-colored visualizer

Quality of life

• Optional hover to reveal: the island appears when your cursor reaches the top edge, even in fullscreen
• Redesigned settings
• 10 languages
• Multi-monitor and high-DPI fixes

Our Editor-in-Chief Daniel Rubino took a closer look at Notchify recently. He used a massive 52-inch Dell Ultrasharp monitor, so he can afford to give up a bit of space for convenience.

"I still don’t love the idea of a notch (it’s not my aesthetic), but I can’t deny how practical it is," said Rubino. "Having a small, centralized hub for quick info saves me from scanning the corners of my display. It’s one of those things that quietly improves workflow without demanding attention."

One of the biggest limitations of Notchify is that it's a third-party app, meaning Windows 11 does not cater to it the way macOS does to the Dynamic Island. Apps do not wrap around Notchify, which can result in content being covered.

Notchify costs $1.99. There is a free trial available, so there's no harm in giving it a try.

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I've probably eaten my entire body weight in chicken nuggets over the course of my life. I'm in my late 30s, so that's a lot of meals to hit that milestone, but I can confidently say that I'm a nugget expert. I've eaten 20-piece boxes since they were limited-time promotions during the summers of my childhood.

It should come as no surprise that I had to try the Halo-inspired Moa McNuggets that are currently available. I'm pretty sure this article makes the order a business expense.

I've reviewed my fair share of Xbox-related fast food items. To this day, Nether Flame Sauce is the best sauce I've ever had from McDonald's. I even reviewed an Xbox doughnut once.

So, how does the latest gaming Xbox-themed snack stack up? I'm sorry to say that the black pepper and garlic nuggets are not my favorite. They're made consistently and I'm sure there are people who like them, including our Richard Devine. But I found there to be too much pepper in each nugget.

The nuggets also felt dryer than standard McNuggets, which surprised me. I ordered them on two different days to see if it was a fluke, but the additional ingredients in the breading dry things out in my experience.

You may be tempted to dip the Moa McNuggets in the Dragon Breath Fiery Buffalo Dip inspired by Azeroth from World of Warcraft, but I'd recommend against it. That buffalo dip is meant to pair with Chicken Selects. Combining it with black pepper and garlic crowds the mouth. The sauce on its own is fine, albeit hotter and more vinegar-filled than Nether sauce.

I wasn't a fan of the Blamco Cheesy Potato Bites either, though basing a food item on a post-apocalyptic game isn't the best idea anyway.

Shifting back to the McNuggets you all are so eager to read about, the black pepper and garlic nuggets have an interesting history that connects them to Japan.

Reusing gaming assets

I found it interesting that the Moa nuggets are not new, just a rebrand. McDonald's in the UK sold the same recipe last year as part of the World Heist menu. Black pepper and garlic nuggets were first sold at McDonald's in Japan and proved popular.

So, why did McDonald's reuse its Japanese McNuggets as part of its Halo promotion? That's hard to say. According to Halo Waypoint, "the taste of Moa meat is barely distinguishable from beef." People joke that everything tastes like chicken, but it seems odd that McDonald's wouldn't make its Moa product from beef.

While I have questions about Moa meat and the lore accuracy of the latest nuggets, there is some consistency when it comes to flavors to pair with the fictional food. The Pringles Wavy Moa Burger crisps that came out in 2021 featured garlic. They also had pepper, though chili and red rather than black. Those crisps (or chips to my American audience) were also supposed to taste like beef, so I still think McDonald's is on thin ice trying to promote chicken as Moa meat.

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Windows 11 will soon be able to provide a "distraction-free" experience with less clutter... as long as you are a developer with an extremely expensive PC. Microsoft just announced Project Zenith, which feels like a mixture of marketing speak and a good idea.

Project Zenith devices will come with pre-enabled settings and pre-installed apps to reduce how much developers need to do to start working. None of the features are exclusive to those devices, however. You could just manually set Windows 11 a certain way and install apps like Visual Studio Code.

Project Zenith devices also need to have at least 64 GB of unified memory and at least 250 GB/s memory bandwidth.

But if you can already buy a PC with those specs and install apps and change settings yourself, what's the point of Project Zenith? That's a fair question, but I think there is a solid idea to build on.

Biggest News of the Week

Windows 11 runs on over a billion devices, ranging from lightweight laptops in classrooms to powerful gaming rigs. There are different SKUs of Windows 11 already, but too many people are tossed into the standard Windows experience out of the box.

Having a configuration of Windows 11 tailored to developers is a fine idea, and I'd love to see Microsoft explore the concept further. We're seeing that a bit on the gaming side of things with Game Mode and Project Helix.

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The concept of a tailored version of Windows is not new. Microsoft has toyed around with the idea several times over the years. We saw a glimmer of hope with Windows 10X, but that version of Windows never made it out of testing. Windows 10 S mode was another attempt to tweak the OS for certain users.

I'd love to see a dynamic version of Windows with entire components stripped out if they're unneeded. A glorious modern version of Windows that can easily add full legacy support with the flip of a switch. But that doesn't seem realistic.

Instead, Microsoft needs to lean into the idea of tailoring the "full fat" version of Windows 11 to different use cases. For example, a lot of people hate AI but Microsoft appears to be a big fan of it. Microsoft could have Copilot+ PCs come with AI features pre-enabled and Copilot pre-installed. The tech giant could then have a "non-AI" version of Windows 11 that has AI features disabled or not installed at all.

Alternatively, this could be done through the unboxing experience. Microsoft already asks you questions to determine how you plan to use your PC. Having different modes could make that process more impactful. But since your PC is running Windows 11, you could always enable or install what you need later.

Of course, this would require Microsoft to admit that there's a real demand for an AI-free version of Windows 11, and that users shouldn't need an EU mandate just to get a PC without ads.

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Switzerland's federal government wants to move away from any reliance on Microsoft 365, as it begins testing alternatives to replace the American-made software suite. It's a recurring theme of European countries pursuing digital sovereignty, as we saw earlier this year when the French government began dropping Windows 10/11 in favor of Linux-based operating system 'distros'.

Alternatives to Microsoft's long-standing 'Office' mainstays already exist, with 'Euro-Office', for example, advertising itself as a "sovereign solution for collaborative document editing", so finding potential picks presumably wouldn't be too difficult. However, choosing which app replacement to trust with the Swiss government's "most sensitive data" will be the hard part (via It's FOSS).

3,000 Swiss workstations will drop Microsoft 365

For my money, the most interesting part is the data protection reasoning, as Professor Matthias Stürmer at Bern University of Applied Sciences described his concerns about the implied risk of leaks from a system controlled by foreign governments. Stürmer predictably lists rising license costs as a secondary problem, but it's frontloaded by the move away from America's Microsoft.

For now, it's just a trial that could yield unsatisfactory results, ultimately leading the Swiss government to stick with Microsoft 365. Either way, the pilot is apparently expected to move 7% of federal admin staff and their 3,000 workstations to whichever alternative suites are selected, taking private government data with them.

On the other hand, Microsoft's own Sovereign Cloud already focuses on data sovereignty, so it's not as if the company isn't aware of these kinds of concerns. The platform "ensures customer data stays in Europe, under European Law — and encryption is under full control of customers," but that hasn't been enough to convince the governments of Germany, France, and now Switzerland.

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It looks like Microsoft is working on a handy new widget for Windows 11 that will display the status of your device's battery, along with any wireless peripherals connected to your PC. References to such a widget were first discovered on Discord in the latest Windows 11 preview builds, though it doesn't appear to be functional just yet.

The new battery widget will be available in the Windows 11 Widget Board and will also be placeable on the Windows 11 lock screen, too. Although it's not functional just yet, strings and assets are already present in the latest builds, revealing how the widget will function and what it will actually look like.

The widget features light and dark mode themes and will show devices in a vertical list, starting with your PC battery at the top. Each device will include an icon representing the peripheral, along with the name of the device and the battery percentage. The widget will also be able to show when a device is charging, or has energy saver enabled or disabled.

Of course, other platforms have featured a battery widget of some kind of years. Both Android and iOS have battery widgets that show the battery levels of all accessories connected, and now Windows 11 is catching up with the same feature.

The new battery widget will be a nice addition to the Widgets Board, which many might argue has been kind of useless since its debut in 2021. While some apps have taken advantage of it, most apps haven't. Phone Link, OneDrive, and Weather are the only useful widgets I've found on Windows 11, and it would be nice to have some more.

In fact, more system-level widgets wouldn't go amiss. Widgets for checking on current CPU or memory usage would be a nice addition alongside the battery widget, though there's no sign that this is in the works just yet. For now, we just have the battery widget to look forward to, which I'm happy to see is in development.

Now, if only we could convince Microsoft to let us pin widgets to the Start menu or desktop. Perhaps then they'd actually get some use!

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Conversations with children have a terrifying way of making you feel horrendously old. Recently, I showed my teenager a cassette player, only to watch him tilt his head and ask me how to "skip a track."

My youngest is no better; after my last birthday, when he saw the number on the card, he asked if I was “going to die soon," and was completely serious. Of course, these conversations make me feel like I belong in a museum. Or at least, I need to book myself in for some Botox.

Heading into Gamescom to check out Age Twisters, the upcoming two-player co-op narrative adventure from Piccolo Studio, felt strangely poignant. I've tried to play Split Fiction with my youngest son, and unfortunately he lost patience because it was too punishing. We play a lot of other games together like Wobbly Life and Minecraft, but I was hunting for another co-op title to break up our normal routine and present him with something of a narrative. Thankfully, Piccolo Studio, known for emotional narrative hits like Arise: A Simple Story and After Us, is building something designed entirely around shared family fun rather than frustrating mechanics.

Bridging the gap between generations

Age Twisters is penciled in for a 2027 release across Xbox Series X|S, PC, PlayStation 5, and Nintendo Switch 2. The game centers on a universal theme: the generation gap. As the developers explained during our hands-on session, the core concept explores how older generations often view younger generations as lazy and glued to entertainment like TikTok, while younger generations view older generations as grumpy and responsible for ruining the world.

To bring this to life, the game follows a charming pair: a cantankerous grandfather and his rebellious teenage granddaughter, who are searching for traces of her mother. Mum passed away when the granddaughter was a baby (like every good Disney movie, you gotta have a dead parent), leaving the grandfather to raise her while carrying the heavy burden of the past. It is an emotional family mystery, but while it has its moments, it won’t gut-punch too much. So don’t worry if you are playing it with younger kids. It’s definitely fun first and foremost.

Those age-twisting mechanics

The gameplay hook revolves around mysterious bracelets that let the duo shift in real time between four distinct ages: Childhood, Adolescence, Adulthood, and Old Age. Each stage comes it’s own unique capabilities that force you to switch between the generations to solve the cooperative puzzles.

• Childhood: Features fast movement and a sticky tongue/yo-yo tool that allows characters to swap positions with each other, enemies, or objects in the world.
• Adolescence: Introduces rhythm-based abilities that can slow down fast-moving objects, lasers, and enemy bullets.
• Adulthood: Adult forms bring heavy punches capable of destroying environmental obstacles and smashing through barriers.
• Old age: Grants magnetic powers to manipulate metallic objects, solve environmental puzzles, and pull items across the room.

Rather than using a traditional split-screen interface, Age Twisters keeps both players tethered and framed together in the same space. This design choice naturally keeps partners close, ensuring you always know where your teammate is and what they are doing.

Absurd and cheeky humor kids will go nuts for

Beyond the core age-shifting mechanics and puzzle-solving, the game moves at a relentless, comical pace. During our demo, we navigated a cute toy-and-chicken factory where we had to round up livestock by teleporting chickens across the map. Next we had to dodge menacing (but still cute) security bees, and later throw robotic sharks into giant pipes to break our way through to the next section.

I particularly enjoyed the dialogue between the two characters and how it changed depending on your age while navigating the level. Not only that, some ages will hamper you in insultingly realistic ways, such as being unable to jump from a height if you are elderly.

The developers noted that the adventure is constantly moving at pace so little players won’t get bored, introducing wild set pieces like riding an animatronic T-Rex into boss fights, dancing your way into enemy hideouts by matching button prompts, hiding inside suitcases or cactus disguises, and even shooting enemies with age-rays to turn them into babies. The enemies' behavior and dialogue really strongly reminded me of the Minions, so I know my son is going to find it particularly amusing when we play through at home.

Built like playing through a Pixar movie, and won't punish the less skilled player

Piccolo Studio has designed the game in such a way to make sure that no player 2 feels left behind or struggles. Skill disparities never ruin the experience. If one player struggles with a specific mechanic or puzzle, the game avoids making them feel like they are dragging the team down. Roles can be shared or adapted naturally, and the camera is deliberately positioned so that all puzzle elements remain visible in the room, eliminating stressful backtracking. There shouldn’t ever be anything genuinely frustrating in the game, but still satisfying for a pair to complete.

Best of all for budget-conscious parents, the game will feature a Friend's Pass system, a consumer-friendly way to allow a second to join the entire local or online adventure completely free with just a single copy of the game. It’s something you may already be familiar with from Split Fiction, and I’m glad it’s becoming a norm in these family-friendly co-op titles.

Age Twisters has genuine heart and a humor that will appeal to both parents who are constantly reminded of their own mortality and kids who just want to laugh at things being turned into chickens. I had a really fun session playing alongside a complete stranger, and I look forward to it bridging that generational gap between my cheeky and insubordinate kids.

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If someone told you PUBG Studios was making a new entry where you could slice off your own hands and replace them with blades or slither across water like an otter on cocaine, you would probably assume they had lost their minds. Yet, that is exactly what is happening in PUBG: Ded.net.

Led by Creative Director Dave Curd, this upcoming multiplayer FPS is taking the DNA of the game that popularized the battle royale genre (before Fortnite came to steal its lunch) and is reworking it into something completely unique. Set in 1996 Cascadia, a fictional Pacific Northwest region dripping with darknet culture, reality TV horror and uncensored violence, this is not just your average drop in loot and shoot.

A multi-match career journey

When I sat down with the developers at Gamescom fresh after the announcement, I simply asked what makes this different from the original PUBG I played years ago?

The answer is a brand-new concept the team calls the "multi-match journey." Instead of a single standalone match where everything resets when you die, your character embarks on a career-spanning run across multiple matches. You must wage a battle to see whether you can make it through several rounds before running out of career health.

Between matches, players are tempted with game-altering powers and abilities. You might choose to use a car door as a riot shield or pick up the "Peekaboo" skill to track enemy outlines through walls. However, you won’t be some all-powerful being; these benefits always come with a catch, and it’s up to you to decide if it’s worth it. Every power is tied to a debuff or injury, meaning you might gain incredible offensive strength while simultaneously developing a bad cough that gives away your position, or a nervous twitch that causes you to accidentally throw your weapon on a swap.

By the time you reach your sixth or seventh match, you will have molded a completely unique yet heavily flawed fighter, before you inevitably burn out and start fresh.

Splitting a devoted player base

Naturally, taking a massive cultural phenomenon like PUBG: Battlegrounds, which still has its passionate fans, and sending it through a grungy 1990s meat grinder raises a big question: Is this going to cannibalize the audience of the original PUBG?

The developers are entirely upfront that this game is not for everyone, and that this division of their audience is completely intentional.

DED.NET is a deliberate push by Krafton and PUBG Studios to diversify the franchise and reach players looking for a more tailored experience. Expanding a massive battle royale universe is never a sure thing, especially given that past spin-offs like PUBG Blindspot struggled to find a lasting audience. But rather than playing it safe with a middle-of-the-road live-service project, the team built DED.NET to be kinda weird and kooky, with its own stark visual identity.

Some traditional PUBG purists will undoubtedly look at the multi-match game loop, jarring colors, and utterly ridiculous weaponry and opt to stick with the classic experience. But that’s totally fine. The studio is banking on the fact that enough players want something unapologetically niche. Rather than chasing a safe consensus that pleases nobody, they are intentionally hunting for fans who want a completely different flavor of survival.

Nurturing the trolls but not in the way you think

For those of us who have fond and frustrating memories of squadmates blowing up vehicles with grenades just for a laugh, this game will be quite the dedication to our troll buddies.

Ded.net will supports 60-player lobbies structured around three-player trios. Alongside standard survival tactics, there is a dedicated troll-friendly toolset. You can hack payphones used for buybacks to steal competitor money, play dead on the floor, or hide inside lockers to ambush unsuspecting rivals. There is even a snake mode that lets players slither across the terrain at high speeds, quite literally worming your way to victory.

A mighty glow up from PUBG: Battlegrounds

Visually, PUBG: DED.NET is quite the leap forward from the original game. Powered by Unreal Engine's Nanite and Lumen technology, the environment art team has had more room to play and express their vision.

The forests of Cascadia are visibly thicker, the buildings are packed with immersive props, and the overall world detail looks remarkably sharp for an online multiplayer title.

Of course, this is based on the trailers we have seen so far, and it will be interesting how it actually performs in the mass playtests. The game was available to play on the show floor during my time at Gamescom and had a steady queue throughout, so I imagine that when it officially goes online, it will be quite popular (let's just hope it can handle the onslaught)

So when can we play DED.NET?

While pricing and release dates are still TBD (I asked if the game would be free to play, and the team was not ready to discuss this yet), the devs have confirmed that a beta test is on the horizon and encouraged players to sign up at DED.NET.

Whether it converts traditional battle royale purists or alienates them entirely, it's clear PUBG Studios are taking a massive risk by doing something a bit weird, and I am here for it.

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If you're looking for a laptop that's purely for crushing work without frivolous features eating its precious processing power, few are as simple yet effective as the HP OmniBook X Flip 2-in-1 laptop.

It's not going to win any design contests, but it will help you conquer your daily tasks with superb performance, detailed resolutions, and handy AI features, all of which are now 50% off for $699.99 at Best Buy for a limited time before it returns to its steep $1349.99 listing price on September 7, 2026.

Why buy the HP Omnibook X Flip 14"?

The HP OmniBook X Flip 16" 2-in-1 laptop is equipped with handy components like an AMD Ryzen AI 5 430 (2026) CPU, 16GB RAM, and a 512GB SSD.

While some of these components aren't as powerful as the ones found in the 14-inch version of the HP OmniBook X Flip we reviewed some time ago, they're still more than capable of handling daily workflow tasks, whether it's crunching numbers on spreadsheets, typing up long essays via Microsoft Office, researching info on the internet, and more.

It also features an NPU with 50 TOPS to help the laptop perform local AI tasks more efficiently, a 16-inch 2K OLED touchscreen to display images and videos with crisp detail and vibrant colors, and a long-lasting battery life of 30 hours so you can work for a whole day without worrying about it losing power.

Add on top a comfortable-to-use keyboard, a plethora of USB and HDMI ports, and stylus pen compatibility for easier note-taking or digital art sketching, and you've got a laptop that's worth the price of admission, especially now that it's 50% off for Best Buy's Labor Day Sale.

FAQ

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Xbox Cloud Gaming has essentially been put out to pasture, with Microsoft intent on including hourly limits on the service.

From November 2026, Microsoft will impose a 15-hour cap on Xbox Game Pass Ultimate users playing cloud games, as well as a 10-hour cap on Premium, and 5 hours on Essential. It's a huge climbdown from the previous "unlimited" access Xbox Cloud Gaming granted, and an indictment of the business model in general.

Microsoft says that the changes will impact "4%" of Xbox Game Pass subscribers, which in essence still amounts to well over a million players. Microsoft has rolled out Xbox Cloud Gaming to LG, Samsung, and now TCL TVs as of today, which makes for some awkward timing.

The limits have been met with derision both within and without the Xbox fanbase, and have shone a spotlight on where Xbox is falling short here.

NVIDIA GeForce Now will extend its value over Xbox Cloud Gaming

Already the market leader, NVIDIA GeForce Now introduced hourly limits a few months ago in response to some criticism, although the limits GFN offers are far more generous than what Microsoft has proposed here. On GFN's highest tiers, you get 100 hours, with some hours rolling over to the next month too.

Not only that, but NVIDIA GeForce Now also just offers a generally higher-quality experience, with better bitrates, latency, and stability. Xbox Game Pass had it beat before on usability, though, with a more console-like interface and more TV-friendly apps. Game Pass also comes with a larger upfront library of games, whereas NVIDIA GeForce Now, for the most part, is made up of games you've already purchased from Steam.

The issue for me is ... 15 hours just isn't enough to complete the vast majority of decent games these days. Fable is supposedly around 30 hours long for a completionist playthrough. Will Xbox Cloud Gaming users be expected to spread their session across two months to finish the game?

Microsoft is going to offer per-hour passes to boost how much access you have, but we've not really seen the pricing yet. I have a feeling they won't be cheap.

Xbox Remote Play could be a solution ... but it seems to be abandoned

We live in a weird dichotomy right now, driven by the AI component crisis. Microsoft is buying up all the memory for its AI push and leaving Xbox with scraps on the side. That extends to Xbox Cloud Gaming servers too, and while they can be used for AI workloads off-peak, I'm told, they're obviously not specialized for that type of work.

Either way, servers break down and wear out; they need to be replaced regularly. Running servers 24/7 is an expensive business on the component side, even before you start thinking about electricity and water for cooling.

A chap on X (Twitter) sent me a link to an Xbox Player Voice feedback item that laments the quality of Xbox Remote Play.

You can effectively turn a home Xbox Series X|S console into a "personal cloud server" and have it stream your games over a viable Wi-Fi network. The problem is, despite being similar hardware, Xbox Remote Play is inexplicably locked to 1080p. Xbox Cloud Gaming on Xbox Game Pass Ultimate offers 1440p with higher bitrates, too.

There's no real reason why, at least in the case of the Xbox Series X, we shouldn't be able to get a better Xbox Remote Play experience. But that doesn't exactly solve things for users who rely entirely on Xbox Cloud Gaming ...

Cloud-first gamers who bought an Xbox Ally base model or other cloud-first devices like the Logitech G Cloud are pretty much screwed by this change — unless Microsoft does something to improve Xbox Remote Play. That is, of course, presuming they even own an Xbox Series X|S, both of which are now insanely expensive. None of this really makes a lot of sense, does it?

Update: Since writing this piece, it seems Microsoft began testing 1440p on Xbox Remote Play too on the Xbox Insider program's Alpha Ring, which is a huge win. But there's still not a lot of information about whether they're going to respond to the backlash about cloud usage limits. I'll try and get more info later about exactly what we can expect from Xbox Remote Play.

Xbox Cloud Gaming is another victim of the RAMpocalypse

I was recently told by Microsoft figures that, given compute demands for AI, Xbox Cloud Gaming is effectively losing money when used beyond 15 hours per month. When you have Azure server rack space being used for anything other than AI, it seems Microsoft isn't particularly sentimental towards the idea anymore.

Microsoft has been on an economic grind for Xbox over the past few months, "restructuring" the org to ensure that it sends a bigger accountability margin back to the mothership. That's meant mass Xbox layoffs and cancellations of projects, and a more aggressive posture towards easy wins.

Xbox Cloud Gaming clearly isn't an easy win in this new reality. If 15 hours is the cap that prevents the service from being unprofitable ... perhaps the business model was never really viable in the first place.

Xbox Cloud Gaming isn't exactly struggling in a vacuum, though. Other companies that rely entirely on cloud inference seem to be struggling. Whether it's Roblox or Twitch, the era of "cheap cloud" seems to be over — alongside video game consoles themselves, and consumer hardware in general, seemingly.

Either way, I don't see how you can plausibly expect people to use cloud gaming as a primary vehicle with such a strict limit. Microsoft isn't able to get Xbox hardware stock to most of the world either.

Then ... you start wondering why Microsoft is so eager to let a literal billion Windows 11 users burn cash on a pyre for free access to Microsoft Copilot ... but wants to charge out the nose for Xbox Cloud Gaming? It's a pretty clear admission that they don't see much of a future for cloud gaming in general. Or perhaps it's just more AI psychosis.

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I've been following this story for a while, but it seems like Call of Duty fans of at least one of their PC versions have cause to celebrate this week.

Microsoft has been hard at work leveraging its Call of Duty acquisition to boost Xbox's fortunes in recent years, shipping Black Ops 1 and 2 "classic" versions exclusively onto PlayStation to huge fanfare.

Indeed, the "classic" Call of Duty versions have been in the spotlight somewhat lately, as fans clamor for an era of a more grounded, less microtransaction-laden Call of Duty. Modern versions are replete with pop culture bloat and mountains of "features" nobody really asked for, leaving nostalgic millennials and older gen-z players yearning for simpler times.

Of course, you can always play the classic Call of Duty games on PC via Steam or on Xbox Series X|S via backwards compatibility. The downside is that these classic Call of Duty versions are often infested with aimbot hackers at best, and RCE vulnerabilities at worst.

Remote Code Execution (RCE) exploits allow players in multiplayer titles to literally upload malware to your computer. The way some older games work with regard to peer-to-peer networking, if left unpatched, facilitate this malignant type of attack. Modern Warfare 2 on PC has been notorious for these types of vulnerabilities unfortunately, but there may be light at the end of the tunnel.

In a statement to Windows Central, Activision claimed the following: "An update released this week addressed all known vulnerabilities in Modern Warfare 2. The team continues to support our legacy titles, with additional updates coming soon. We encourage anyone aware of additional issues to report them through Activision's Bug Bounty Portal."

There are other reports of aimbots, wall hacks, and even RCE exploits in other classic Call of Duty PC games, but it sounds as though Activision is now actively working through these after realizing the potential goldmine it's sitting on. Indeed, Call of Duty: Black Ops 1 and 2 dominated the PlayStation store over the summer, potentially opening up new revenue streams for the legendary franchise.

What about Call of Duty on Xbox backwards compatibility?

I've also requested for Activision to comment on the Xbox backwards compatible versions of Call of Duty, which are similarly replete with hackers and aimbots and the like.

Xbox backwards compatibility is one of the best features Xbox Series X|S and Xbox One have in my view. It allows hundreds of classic Xbox and Xbox 360 games to carry forward, ensuring that your purchases travel with you.

In the early days, having all of the classic Call of Duty titles in one place is arguably a huge selling point for Xbox as a console ecosystem. However, Microsoft itself offered a huge flaw in the system this summer, when it ported the classic Black Ops 1 and 2 exclusively to PlayStation, complete with modernized security updates and server infrastructure.

Since the classic Call of Duty titles available on Xbox Series X|S today are effectively Xbox 360 versions, the source code of which is likely archived, it seems incredibly unlikely Microsoft and Activision will be willing to patch some of these. The Xbox 360 security layers are easily bypassed these days, with modded consoles opening up old school backwards compatible multiplayer titles to a variety of vulnerabilities.

It's a sad state of affairs for Xbox fans of classic Call of Duty games potentially. Despite Xbox literally owning Call of Duty, Xbox fans are left with the worst experience thanks to the unpatched security vulnerabilities.

I'll update this article if Activision responds to my queries on the topic, but at least for now, PC players of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 should feel a bit safer for the time being. I'll monitor the situation and let you know of any updates as soon as I'm able.

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Microsoft has announced on the Xbox website that it is teaming up with the TV brand TCL to bring the Xbox app to its Smart TVs in the coming months. This makes TCL the latest brand of Smart TVs to feature Xbox Cloud Gaming alongside Samsung, LG, and Hisense.

To use it, you will need to download the Xbox app on a compatible TCL Smart TV, a supported controller, and Xbox Cloud Gaming playtime bought separately or included with Xbox Game Pass (which, as a bonus, will grant you instant access to a huge library of Xbox Cloud games).

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With this, you will be able to play your favorite Xbox titles by streaming directly from the TV without the need for a console.

What's more, it's compatible with Xbox Play Anywhere, meaning your game save data will carry over to other hardware compatible with Xbox's ecosystem, so you can continue your progress on the go.

Windows Central's take

Normally, this would be cause for celebration, as more platforms to play Xbox games on are always good news.

However, enthusiasm for the Xbox App has taken a nosedive recently, as Microsoft has made the controversial decision to limit how long people can play Xbox Cloud Gaming due to rising costs of cloud gaming caused by the RAM crisis.

Xbox Cloud Gaming used to be free, but starting in November 2026, Xbox Game Pass users will have their playtime and library of games restricted depending on which subscription tier they're on.

• Essential - 5 hours per month, 50+ games, max resolution of 1080p
• Premium - 10 hours per month, 200+ games, max resolution of 1080p
• Ultimate - 15 hours per month, 400+ games, max resolution of 1480p

I personally never play games on the cloud, as I'm an old-school kind of guy who prefers playing games offline, but I feel sorry for those affected by this news.

Xbox Cloud Gaming on Smart TVs was a cool and affordable way to play Xbox games for those who couldn't afford to buy the expensive Xbox Series X|S consoles.

But I don't think many people will want to play Xbox Cloud Gaming on any platform now thanks to these restrictions, because being forced to play 5, 10, or 15 hours PER MONTH is just ridiculous.

But what do you think? Are you still willing to play Xbox Cloud Gaming on Smart TVs now that it's coming to TCL, or are the newly imposed playtime curfews making you quit the service altogether?

If you have any thoughts on the matter, please let us know in the comments, poll, or on our Reddit page.

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Gaming continues to improve on Windows 11 PCs powered by Snapdragon X chips. A recent Adreno GPU driver improves stability and quality for several titles, though the exact changes you'll see depend on if your system has a Snapdragon X chip or a Snapdragon X2 chip.

Well-known titles including Halo Infinite and Black Myth: Wukong are among the games that will benefit from the driver update for those with Snapdragon X2 processors. Avowed, Borderlands 4, and Dishonored 2 are among the library of games that will improve when running a Snapdragon X chip.

Windows 11 PCs powered by Snapdragon processors have come a long way. A massive library of apps now run natively on Windows 11 on Arm and emulation has improved to fill remaining gaps.

While there are pieces of enterprise and legacy software that do not work with Windows 11 on Arm, the biggest remaining gap is gaming.

In both our own testing of Snapdragon X gaming support and game compatibility testing by Ghobso Gaming show that games can perform well on Snapdragon X systems. But there are still titles that are not supported or that are poorly optimized. For example, Halo: Campaign Evolved has a major texture bug that basically makes the game unplayable on Windows 11 on Arm.

Easy Anti-Cheat is now supported, as is Logitech G HUB. Many games now perform better on Snapdragon X systems, but I think it's safe to call it a work in progress.

There are two change logs to go through, one for Snapdragon X and one for Snapdragon X2, both of which were shared on Reddit by user "lexcyn":

Snapdragon X Series Platforms: Game Stability/Quality Improvements

• Avowed
• Borderlands 4
• Dishonored 2
• Dishonored: Death of the Outsider
• DREDGE
• Nobody Wants to Die
• RoboCop: Rogue City - Unfinished Business
• Seven Deadly Sins: Origin
• Split Fiction
• Squad

Snapdragon X2 Series Platforms: Game Stability/Quality Improvements

• 007 First Light
• Black Myth: Wukong
• Borderlands 3
• Dishonored 2
• Dishonored: Death of the Outsider
• F1 2022
• Granblue Fantasy: Relink
• Hades 1
• Halo Infinite
• Hollow Knight
• It Takes Two
• Lies of P
• Seven Deadly Sins: Origin
• Split Fiction
• Star Wars Outlaws
• Yakuza Kiwami 3

Qualcomm and Microsoft continue to work on the gaming experience on Snapdragon X systems. A recent update to Snapdragon Control Panel redesigned game library navigation and improved the software experience.

The Snapdragon X2 Elite Extreme and other Snapdragon X2 chips are more powerful, allowing them to better handle modern games.

When announcing those chips, Qualcomm did not mention gaming in its press release, but it's clear that the company has plans to power gaming PCs with its Snapdragon X processors. ASUS took a different approach and listed the Zenbook A16, highlighting its gaming capabilities.

As more games are optimized and supported, gaming on Windows 11 on Arm will trend upward.

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Nobody can accuse Lenovo of lacking imagination.

Over the last several years, the company has become the PC industry's unofficial concept lab, routinely showing off hardware that seems pulled from science fiction. We've seen rollable displays that grow taller, gaming laptops that transform into ultrawide displays, foldable PCs, attachable screens, rotating displays, and enough unusual form factors to make even the most adventurous laptop enthusiast pause for a moment.

Some of those ideas have remained concepts. Others have eventually become real products. The ThinkBook Plus Gen 6 Rollable (yes, they actually ship some of these!) is perhaps the best example, evolving from an eye-catching prototype into an actual shipping device. But even as Lenovo's concepts have become increasingly impressive from an engineering perspective, I've often found myself wondering how many of them actually solve a problem that regular laptop buyers have. Making a display expand is certainly cool. Convincing people they need it is the harder challenge.

That's why Project Swan immediately stood out to me.

Officially, it's another Lenovo proof-of-concept device, but after spending time with it in person, I came away thinking this may be the company's most practical display concept yet. Not because it's the most ambitious, but because it's arguably the least ambitious.

And that's exactly why it works.

Lenovo finally found a sensible use for a rollable display?

The Lenovo ThinkBook Project Swan begins life as a fairly normal-looking 14-inch laptop.

At 17.9mm thick and weighing 1.6kg (3.5lbs), it isn't trying to break weight records or compete with ultra-premium featherweight notebooks (like Lenovo's new AeroBlade concept). Instead, the focus is on creating a laptop that's comfortable to carry throughout the day while offering something extra when users return to their desk, settle into a hotel room, or need more space for serious work.

That "something extra" is a rollable display that expands horizontally into a 17-inch 16:9 workspace.

Unlike Lenovo's previous rollable designs, which generally expanded vertically, Project Swan widens itself by extending the display out to the sides. It's all done with a touch of a button (see my video below), and it only takes a few seconds.

The result feels much more like using a traditional external monitor than using an experimental form factor. You suddenly have enough room for side-by-side documents, large spreadsheets, dashboards, presentations, browser windows, Teams chats, and everything else that tends to compete for space on a 14-inch screen.

The transformation is dramatic enough to get attention, but conservative enough to feel practical. During my hands-on session, that was the first thing that struck me about the device.

Many of Lenovo's earlier concepts felt designed to answer the question, "Can we do this?"

Project Swan feels far more interested in answering the question, "Would people actually want this?"

That's a subtle distinction, but it's an important one.

This feels like the next step in Lenovo's display experiments

Project Swan didn't emerge in a vacuum. In many ways, it feels like the natural evolution of everything Lenovo has been experimenting with over the last few years.

The ThinkBook Plus Gen 6 Rollable demonstrated that expandable OLED displays could successfully transition from concept to commercial product. Lenovo's Legion rollable gaming laptop concept showed how flexible displays could create an ultrawide experience without requiring users to carry an enormous machine. Other projects explored foldable displays, secondary screens, and entirely new ways of interacting with PCs.

As impressive as many of those concepts were, some occasionally felt like technology showcases first and products second.

Project Swan reverses that equation.

Rather than dramatically changing how people interact with a laptop, it simply gives them more screen real estate when they need it and gets out of the way when they don't. That's a much easier benefit for consumers to understand and, perhaps more importantly, a much easier benefit to justify paying for.

After all, most people already know the dilemma.

A 14-inch laptop is ideal for travel. A larger display is ideal for work.

Project Swan attempts to deliver both.

The idea makes sense. The challenges are obvious.

That isn't to say there aren't trade-offs.

The first thing I noticed when using the expanded display was that the system becomes somewhat top-heavy. That's hardly surprising given the additional display hardware housed in the lid, but it was noticeable enough that I'd expect Lenovo's engineers to still be looking at ways to refine the balance.

Pricing is another obvious concern.

Rollable OLED displays aren't cheap (it's $3,499 for the ThinkBook Plus Gen 6 Rollable), and if Project Swan ever becomes a commercial product, it's almost certainly going to carry a premium compared to a traditional clamshell laptop. The value proposition may be easier to understand than some other concept devices, but consumers still need to be convinced that expandable screen space is worth the additional cost.

Then there's the question everyone asks whenever a company unveils a rollable or foldable display.

How durable is it?

Flexible OLED technology has improved dramatically over the last few years, but long-term reliability remains an important consideration. How will the mechanism hold up after years of daily use? What happens after thousands of expansion cycles? Will buyers trust a laptop that contains moving display components?

The technology may be ready, but consumer confidence isn't something that can be engineered overnight.

The bigger question is whether people want these new form factors

That's really the challenge facing every laptop manufacturer right now.

The industry has spent years experimenting with alternatives to the traditional clamshell design. Foldable PCs promised tablet-sized displays that fit inside a laptop footprint. Dual-screen systems like the Lenovo Yoga 9i attempted to replace physical keyboards with additional displays. Rollable devices have explored several different directions entirely.

Some enthusiasts love these ideas, but many consumers remain perfectly happy with the laptops they already own.

That's what makes Project Swan so interesting to me. It isn't asking users to learn a new workflow or completely rethink how they use a PC. Instead, it's enhancing something people already understand: bigger screens are often better, but bigger laptops are harder to carry.

Whether that argument ultimately resonates with buyers remains an open question, but it's certainly the clearest pitch Lenovo has made for a rollable display so far.

Lenovo deserves credit for keeping the experimentation alive

Even if Project Swan never reaches store shelves, I appreciate what Lenovo is doing here.

The PC industry can sometimes become obsessed with processor upgrades, AI features, and specification sheets while overlooking more fundamental questions about how people actually use their devices. Lenovo's concepts consistently ask those questions, even when the answers occasionally seem, well, strange.

What's refreshing about Project Swan is that it feels grounded in reality. The company isn't trying to reinvent personal computing or create an entirely new category. Instead, it's exploring a straightforward idea that almost everyone who has worked on a laptop can relate to.

Sometimes you want a compact machine for travel.

Sometimes you wish that same machine had a much larger screen.

Project Swan is the most convincing attempt I've seen yet to bridge that gap.

I still have concerns about durability, balance, pricing, and whether consumers are truly interested in another alternative laptop design. But after trying it for myself, I'm more optimistic about this concept than many of Lenovo's previous experiments.

Ironically, that's because it feels less ambitious. Rather than trying to change how we work, Project Swan simply gives us a little more room to do it.

And that may be exactly what makes it one of Lenovo's most promising concepts yet.

Let me know in the comments what you think about Project Swan. Should Lenovo continue to push this concept of an expanding display, or focus more on other ideas (and if so, which ones)?

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A "ready-to-code distraction-free Windows experience" is on the way for developers. Microsoft just detailed how Windows 11 will be optimized for people with developer-class devices.

The idea behind Project Zenith is to save developers time by preinstalling apps and having Settings pre-enabled that are optimized for development. For example, File Explorer will show file extensions, hidden files, and the full path in the title bar.

Those options are not new, but they can take a while to set up when you also have to install a bunch of apps and tweak other settings.

We already knew about some of these experiences because of announcements made at Build 2026, but we now know a name for the project and more information about how Windows 11 will be optimized for developer-class devices.

Those devices will be able to run 30B+ parameter models locally and unmetered and use a variety of tools out of the box. Windows Terminal and Visual Studio Code are pinned to the Taskbar by default. GitHub Copilot, PowerToys, WinAppCLI, and Windows Dev Skills will also be preinstalled, according to The Verge.

Project Zenith will launch first on AMD's Ryzen AI Halo devices, but it will make its way to other systems over the coming months.

To classify as a developer-class device, a system will need at least 64 GB of unified memory and at least 250 GB/s memory bandwidth.

The best version of Windows 11

A natural response to Microsoft's blog post is to ask, "don't we all want a distraction-free Windows experience?" I don't know anyone clamoring for more distractions on their PC. But I believe Project Zenith is specific to developers for a good reason.

Many developers have a similar workflow or rely on a set of tools. What would be considered a useful preinstalled app for developers would be viewed as bloat for general users.

Similarly, the enabled settings viewed as useful by developers would make Windows 11 feel crowded for everyday computing.

A better approach would be to tailor Windows 11 to different use cases. We're starting to see that with Xbox Mode on Windows 11 and now Project Zenith for developers.

Of course, Project Zenith devices, PCs running Xbox Mode, and all other Windows 11 devices benefit from the general improvements to Windows 11, such as reducing memory usage and improving Search and File Explorer. Many of those changes can be seen in the latest major update to Windows 11.

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After releasing an epic trailer showing off its story and original monsters, Monster Hunter Wilds: Ascendance has returned to uploading daily trailers showing off how this action-hunting game's 14 weapon types will be enhanced by the new Boost Bracer mechanic.

The third trailer in this series focuses on the improvements for Dual Blades, the fastest melee weapon type in the game, where you rip and tear monsters to shreds with a pair of daggers.

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The Dual Blades is one of the best weapon types in the game as they're extremely, do a lot of damage in short bursts, and can make the player briefly invincible if you dodge enemy attacks at the last second while using the weapon's unique "Demon Mode".

However, when paired with this DLC expansion's Boost Bracer mechanic, Dual Blades can the player into a monster. This is because the Boost Bracer grants Dual Blades, with what we can tell from this trailer:

• A new Boost Driver attack where you spin towards an enemy and knock them off their feet while they're attacking, as it counts as an Offset attack.
• The Boost Driver also fills up your Archdemon Mode gauge.
• Once you fill the Boost Gauge by hitting enemies with Boost Driver attacks, you can activiate it to double the attack speed of Dual Blades, have each strike deal multiple hits with increased range, and unlock new combo attacks that end in a nasty finisher where you hold both blades in one hand to deliver a savage uppercut.
• Additionally, activating the Boost Gauge will allow you to jump in the air during a Perfect Dodge so you can perform aerial attacks when you spin across a monster's body to rip them up with Dual Blades, without needing to use Focus Mode attacks or jumping off ledges and hills.

Windows Central's take

Dual Blades ended up being my main weapon of choice when I tackled the endgame content of Monster Hunter Wilds' base game, as its insane attack speed proved invaluable against tough monsters like Omega and Gogmazios.

After watching this trailer, I think I'm going to stick with Dual Blades in Monster Hunter Wilds: Ascendance because it looks amazing and brutal to use with the Boost Bracer's enhancements.

I like how the Dual Blade's normally graceful movements are replaced with berserker-style claw swipes while the Boost Gauge is activated. It kind of makes you feel like the Marvel superhero Wolverine, which I wouldn't be surprised if that was intentional, considering Capcom spent decades making Marvel fighting games like the Marvel Vs. Capcom series.

Plus, considering we aren't getting Insomniac's Wolverine game on Xbox Series X|S and PC anytime soon, I'll take these newly improved Dual Blades as a suitable substitute when Monster Hunter Wilds: Ascendance launches in 2027 for Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, and PC via Steam.

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For a few years now, rumors have been spreading that Blizzard Entertainment's iconic StarCraft series is being revived with a new shooter action game, and very soon, those rumors may finally turn into reality.

This is because StarCraft's official legacy website has been 'glitching' out recently, with certain bits of the UI warping and turning into static in a very artistic way that doesn't look like real glitches.

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Curious to know what's going on, a Reddit user with the username u/RaiausderDose started digging into the StarCraft website via console commands to figure out what's wrong, and what they found was quite intriguing.

u/RaiausderDose discovered a lot of cryptic messages that resemble medical reports, cargo manifestos, and reports of a group plotting something illegal and nefarious.

Plus, the messages state that they were written in August 2575. Eagle-eyed StarCraft fans have noticed that this date is roughly 69 years after the events of StarCraft II's last expansion, Legacy of the Void, which was released over a decade ago on November 10, 2015.

With BlizzCon 2026 just over a week away, StarCraft's website glitching and hiding secret lore messages cannot be a coincidence. Blizzard Entertainment is definitely planning to announce some StarCraft news at the event.

But what could this announcement be? Is it the aforementioned rumored shooter, a new real-time strategy game, a StarCraft movie, or maybe Blizzard Entertainment is restarting development on the cancelled stealth shooter from the early 2000s, StarCraft: Ghost?

Either way, we won't have to wait much longer to find out when BlizzCon 2026 kicks off on September 12, 2026.

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Not content with just posting daily videos showcasing Monster Hunter Wilds: Ascendance's new Boost Bracer mechanic, Capcom decided to kick things up a notch at the PlayStation State of Play (September 2026) with a new trailer for this DLC expansion.

The trailer gives players a glimpse at some of the locales they will be hunting in, the storyline that will immerse them in the rich setting of the Monster Hunter universe, and the monsters they will be hunting.

Capcom then provided fans with more written details on the storyline and monsters previewed in this trailer through the PlayStation State of Play Blog, and we will recount the most important details for you right now.

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First off, Monster Hunter Wilds: Ascension's story takes place several years after the events of the base game. Our heroes have spent that time building a fortress to prepare for the return of Lao Shan-Lung, a colossal Elder Dragon that almost destroyed them years prior.

As the fortress is nearing completion, the player is tasked with investigating mysterious changes in the Forbidden Land's ecosystem and exploring a new region of floating islands known as the Skybound Eyrie to uncover what is causing it to defy gravity.

As for the monsters the players will encounter, Monster Hunter Wilds: Ascension will have the player go up against Elder Dragons from previous games like Kushala Daora and Lao Shan-Lung, and Monster Hunter Wilds' artificially made Guardian Monsters that are now spreading out across the base game's regions.

Monster Hunter Wilds: Ascension will also have brand new, original monsters to hunt like the Bird Wyvern, Araketa, which can soar through the air like a jet plane, and the serpentine Elder Dragon, Gundoraja, which can control storm clouds.

There's also a mysterious, unnamed new lizard monster feasting on other monsters from the inside out, and able to shapeshift its body into giant, gaping, horrifying mouths to swallow prey whole.

Windows Central's take

The more footage I see of Monster Hunter Wilds: Ascendance, the more my bad memories of its base game's miserable launch in 2025 are being cleansed away with glee.

The new monsters look stunning, the new storyline is actually somewhat intriguing (which is rare for a Monster Hunter game), and the new Skyboard Eyrie hunting locale looks so much fun to get lost in (though that's probably due to my bias love towards floating island locales in video games since 1994's Sonic 3 & Knuckles).

If the DLC expansion can fix the problems I had with the base game of Monster Hunter Wilds and make sure its monsters are tough enough to warrant their Master Rank status, then we're in for one heck of a hunting adventure when Monster Hunter Wilds: Ascendance launches in 2027 for Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, and PC via Steam.

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Jumping into the deep end of a multiplayer survival game can be a recipe for disaster, as I found it in my first-ever taste of the State of Decay series. My last encounter was with State of Decay 2, where I was unceremoniously dropped into a friend's game. It was complete with fully built settlements and swarms of zombies banging down the doors while I was still fumbling with the mechanics. I felt very much out of my depth and never really revisited the game.

Heading into our closed-doors look at State of Decay 3 at Gamescom, I was a little worried I wouldn’t enjoy it and would be going through the motions. I knew I wanted to love it, and I had already planned to play it on release just to support the studio following its ceremonious dumping (aka divesting) by Xbox. In fact, I have implored the Xbox community to buy it, whether it hits Game Pass or not.

As it turns out, not only is the relationship with Xbox not completely severed (it’s now officially confirmed to be launching straight onto Xbox Game Pass alongside its 2027 release window), but the demo proved to be an absolute blast in the time I had with it. The world of State of Decay 3 is pretty fascinating to navigate even amidst incoming waves of the dead.

Alpha playtests are smoothing out the road ahead for closed beta by end of 2026

Before jumping into the demo, the developers shared some roadmap news: the current build is being pulled apart by alpha playtesters, who are providing early technical feedback before us normies jump in. Undead Labs told us that a closed beta will launch by the end of this year, with player access and platform support continuing to ramp up toward the 2027 launch.

When you strip it back, State of Decay 3 remains a community management survival game set deep within the zombie apocalypse. You control a single character at a time in an open-world third-person environment, acting as the caretaker for a fragile community. You are forced to make survival decisions such as where to live, whom to trust, and whether to let newcomers in or grow your own food.

Procedural survivors and evolving traits

One of the unique hallmarks of the franchise is its character generation, and State of Decay 3 takes it further. Survivors are procedurally assembled from a vast pool of names, cultural backgrounds, voice actors, visuals, and traits, meaning you can play for hundreds of hours and never see the same person twice.

Take Pat, for instance, a daredevil with high health and stamina who unfortunately makes a ton of noise. Pat is a rocket scientist with expertise in mechanics and demolition, but he is also easily overwhelmed (same Pat, same). New to State of Decay 3 are evolving traits. If Pat were to kill 100 zombies, that negative trait would evolve into something better, though the developers deliberately retain minor flaws to keep characters nuanced.

Then there is Queenie, a lone wolf with fatigue resistance and sniper training boosting headshot damage, but burdened with a “sketchy vibe” that makes her a bad choice for diplomacy missions. Overall, the trait names were pretty funny and add a much-needed injection of humor into what is a bleak backdrop.

Surviving the plague war

The demo picked up at Green Heart, a newly established northern settlement. The team had recently been chased out of their previous base at the fire training center due to the Plague War, a new territory-control system.

Plague nests act as large-scale dungeons and epicenters for an expanding network of infestations that organically grow and actively surround player settlements. Because the current team had fled in a panic, they had prioritized offensive firepower over food and water and needed to establish a new settlement.

To tackle their food shortage and lack of beds, the developers headed into the nearby town of Carolina to clear an infested hunting store and claim it as a second settlement. This location offered a professional-grade animal press capable of crafting far more effective ammunition than standard scavenged garage setups.

Luckily, State of Decay 3 introduces the ability to manage up to three settlements simultaneously, allowing players to expand their territory as they push back this plague network.

Now, when on the offensive, whether you go straight for the heart of the Plague is up to you, but you can approach more strategically by taking out surrounding weaker infestation sites first.

Make the game as difficult (or as easy) as you like with friends or solo

Combat in State of Decay 3 feels incredibly satisfying, and Undead Labs have worked hard to make guns feel more impactful.

Limb damage is a necessity when trying to slow down the onslaught. You can target specific appendages, blow a zombie's legs off with a shotgun blast, and gleefully watch them topple over. Players can also lean into creative environmental puzzles. The team showed us how to use stealth, or splash fuel across the streets. In one example, they placed a tape deck to attract zombies, luring hordes into a trap before clearing out the weak points of the plague heart.

I was also really happy to hear that even if you play cooperatively with three other players, you can tune sliders for combat, plague aggression, and resource management so the game matches your preferred challenge level. Want to make the higher-level zombies a rarer occurrence or make scavenging supplies a little more rewarding? You can do that and more. I’ll be tuning mine down to scaredy-cat mode, thanks. The true sickos can play on ultra hard lethal mode.

When we asked what constitutes a fail state for your game, it turns out that morale is everything. If your community morale tanks due to poor management, characters will lose faith in you as their caretaker and disband, running off into the hills. Lose enough of your community, and you fail your playthrough.

Looking ahead to 2027

Customization in general has been vastly expanded from the previous franchise entries. Players can transform standard vehicles into heavy, tank-like variants outfitted with specialized gear like gas filters, cargo expansions, extra fuel tanks, or spike wheels.

Whether you are customizing vehicle paint jobs or strapping gas tanks to your ride, State of Decay 3 is shaping up to be quite the evolutionary leap for the series.

Whether you are completely new to State of Decay or jumping in enthusiastically from its predecessor, the developers seem to be doing a great job with balancing system depth with better onboarding for new players. I’m pretty confident this is going to be exactly the multiplayer smash that Xbox needs on Game Pass.

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The end of Final Fantasy VII's Remake trilogy draws near as Square Enix announced on Sony's State of Play (September 2026) that Final Fantasy VII: Revelation will launch on April 8, 2027, for Xbox Series X|S (with Xbox Play Anywhere support), PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch 2, and PC via Steam.

Additionally, Square Enix has released a ten-minute gameplay deep dive showcasing the game's combat and exploration systems, with some quality-of-life features.

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In this deep dive, it shows that the player will now be able to travel across the entire world by riding the massive airship known as the Highwind.

When exploring the open world on land, you will be able to ride a Chocobo mount named Piko, who can help you traverse the environment and aid you in combat, and use a grappling hook to scale tall buildings like the ones in the new town, Wutai.

Speaking of combat, the deep dive also gives a players a closer look at Final Fantasy VII: Revelation FITS system. This system bestows your party members with the abilities of Job classes from previous Final Fantasy games to lay waste to your opponents, as demonstrated by Cid who is using the Knight FIT to protect allies while Vincent is using the Summoner FIT to burn enemies to ashes by summoning the fire demon Ifrit.

Additionally, Final Fantasy VII: Revelation will feature quality of life improvements like being able to choose who is the player-controlled character out of combat and choosing which party members take on certain side quests (which can alter the story outcomes of certain events and scenarios).

Square Enix announces that Final Fantasy VII: Revelation is now available for pre-order across all platforms, with several editions and pre-order bonuses that will net you Summon Materia of Mecha-Chocobo and Moogle up for grabs.

The editions are as follows (as taken from the official Final Fantasy VII: Revelation press release):

• Physical - PlayStation 5, XBOX Series X|S, Nintendo Switch 2
  • Standard ($69.99)
    • Day 1 Editions available at several retailers include Magic: The Gathering—FINAL FANTASY Final Showdown Promo Card*
    • Amazon Day 1 Edition includes folded poster
  • Deluxe ($99.99)
    • Mini-Soundtrack
    • Artbook
    • Day 1 Editions available at several retailers include Magic: The Gathering—FINAL FANTASY Final Showdown Promo Card
    • Steelbook case
  • Collector’s Edition ($349.99) - SQUARE ENIX Store Exclusive
    • All “Deluxe Edition” contents, plus…
      • Premium statue (featuring Cloud, Zack and Sephiroth)
      • Story Expansion Pass**, granting access to two story-centered DLCs planned for later release***
        • Includes in-game accessory Reclaimant Choker
        • Includes Survival Set of useful in-game consumable items
      • In-game equipment Armor: Nymphwing Bracelet
      • In-game equipment Accessory: Risk Taker’s Choker
      • In-game item: Summon Materia: Mecha-Chocobo & Moogle
      • In-game item: Summoning Materia: Polydroid Alexander
  • Digital - PlayStation 5, PC, XBOX Series X|S, Nintendo Switch 2
    • Pre-order incentive (all editions): Summon Materia: Mecha-Chocobo & Moogle
    • Standard ($69.99)
    • Premium ($99.99)
      • Story Expansion Pass*, granting access to two story-centered DLCs planned for later release**
        • Includes in-game item Accessory: Reclaimant Choker
        • Includes Survival Set of useful in-game consumable items
      • Early Access, which allows for access to the game 24 hours before release
    • Premium Plus ($109.99)
      • All “Premium Edition” contents, plus…
        • Digital Mini Soundtrack
        • Digital Artbook
        • Summoning Materia: Polydroid Alexander
        • In-game equipment Armor: Nymphwing Bracelet
        • In-game equipment Accessory: Risk Taker’s Choker

On top of that, players can digitally pre-order the Final Fantasy VII Remake Series Trilogy Edition ($84.99) so they can gain access to all games in the trilogy and the pre-order bonuses.

Lastly, Square Enix has announced that Final Fantasy VII: Revelation will receive two DLC storylines between the Winter of 2027 and the Spring of 2028. The first DLC will focus on Sephiroth, while the second DLC will focus on Vincent and the Turks.

So, if you have been waiting years for the entire Final Fantasy VII Remake series to be completed to marathon it, then April 8, 2028 will be the best time for you to finally give it a go. I know I certainly will.

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It was probably inevitable eventually, but Xbox Cloud Gaming is joining NVIDIA and other platforms in putting hourly limits on its streaming service.

Xbox Cloud Gaming is a platform tied to Xbox Game Pass right now, giving you unlimited access to stream games from Game Pass as well as hundreds upon hundreds of digital games you own. In fact, thanks to Xbox's disc-to-digital program, you can now even play disc-based Xbox games you own if they're included in Xbox Cloud Gaming.

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Many users use Xbox Cloud Gaming on Xbox One to play current-gen Xbox Series X|S games that aren't available natively on older systems. It's also great for running games on laptops, tablets, and other devices that aren't powerful enough to run said titles natively.

Up until now, Xbox Cloud Gaming was unlimited, but Microsoft just announced that it will begin introducing limits.

The new hourly cloud gaming limits via Xbox Game Pass

"We recognize that introducing limits is a meaningful change, particularly for players who regularly spend more time gaming through the cloud," Microsoft said on Xbox Wire. "We expect this upcoming change to impact 4% of Game Pass subscribers. Once subscribers use their included hours, they will be able to purchase additional cloud playtime through the XBOX Store."

I'm told that the "additional cloud playtime" bundles will not have a "use by" expiry window once purchased, although Microsoft hasn't listed exactly how much these passes will cost as of yet.

Indeed, you will not need an Xbox Game Pass subscription to use these cloud playtime hours, which will grant you access to your own library of compatible Xbox Play Anywhere cloud games even if you don't fancy owning the Game Pass subscription.

"We’re introducing this model because the cost of providing cloud gaming grows as more people use it and play for longer," Microsoft explained. "Moving to monthly limits allows us to keep offering the service while continuing to invest in its reliability and performance."

"We understand that for some players the practical result is a higher cost. In November, we’ll provide more information about pricing, purchasing additional hours, eligible games, market availability, and how players can check their remaining time. We’ll listen closely to player feedback before and after the change takes effect and share any adjustments we make."

The RAMpocalypse is coming for cloud gaming, too

Microsoft has been long-rumored to be exploring an ad-based tier for Xbox Cloud Gaming and Xbox Game Pass in general. It's also true that the video ads business is incredibly tough, making me wonder if Microsoft decided to opt for this approach instead of trying to compete with Google / YouTube for video ad slots.

Indeed, many recent reports suggest that Twitch, despite being absolutely rammed with ads, is nowhere near profitable. What prayer would an ad-based Xbox Cloud Gaming tier have, given the monstrous amount of bandwidth required for Xbox Cloud Gaming video encoding?

The RAMpocalypse is impacting consumer electronics prices, but also cloud server prices too. Microsoft has reportedly joined NVIDIA and Google in earmarking 70% of Samsung's total DRAM output through to 2031. Unfortunately, I don't think a significant chunk of that memory is going towards gaming.

One advantage Xbox Cloud Gaming probably does have (at least in terms of Microsoft corporate politics) is that it does help keep cloud inference up — which in turn helps Microsoft justify infrastructure capital expenditure to shareholders. Xbox Cloud Gaming servers, while idle (at night, for example), can be used for training AI models potentially, which helps anchor Xbox's future in a corporation dominated by AI hype.

I suspect that introducing these limits now revolves around a plan to begin marketing Xbox Cloud Gaming more aggressively. If Microsoft ever did manage to find some form of mainstream breakthrough with Xbox Cloud Gaming, creating huge server queues (which we've seen in the past) wouldn't exactly represent a positive first-time experience for new players.

If Microsoft's goal is to form habits around Xbox Cloud Gaming in regions where console availability and affordability are low, ensuring a stable experience is obviously within their interests.

It remains to be seen if Xbox Cloud Gaming will ever be anything more than a niche kind of thing. It's useful for testing out games without installing them, but in most scenarios where you might want to use it, i.e., on a plane, on hotel Wi-Fi, or on a long-distance commute ... you're probably not going to have good enough internet speeds.

The laws of physics and the speed of light preclude Xbox Cloud Gaming from seeing any significant improvements from here, probably, but the upcoming direct-to-Wi-Fi Xbox controllers should offer a meaningful latency boost — if they ever actually come out.

It's a hot topic right now. With Xbox Helix and the PS6 threatening to be the most expensive consoles ever, perhaps even cloud gaming will end up too expensive to be worth it.

I'm tired of this AI stuff, mannnnnnnn.

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Competition for Apple's MacBook Neo is heating up.

Just days after Dell unveiled a new 14-inch laptop designed to take on Apple's latest mainstream notebook, Lenovo is entering the fight with something considerably more interesting: a laptop that lets you express your personality instead of forcing you to settle for silver, gray, or slightly darker gray.

I recently got to see Lenovo's new IdeaPad Vibe lineup in person in New York City, and while the company talked plenty about AI, processors, and battery life, the thing that immediately stood out to me was how different these laptops look compared to almost everything else on the market.

Most PC makers treat color options as an afterthought. Lenovo is making them the product.

The new IdeaPad Vibe will be available in seven Pantone-developed colors, including Chill Blue, Zen Green, Spicy Gold, Radiant Coral, Dreamy Violet, Lowkey Grey, and Moody Blue. Lenovo says the colors were developed alongside the Pantone Color Institute and are designed to reflect different moods, personalities, and lifestyles.

And that's just the beginning.

As shown in Lenovo's custom configurator (below), users will be able to mix and match chassis colors and keyboard colors to create something uniquely theirs. The company is also offering swappable custom keycaps, adding another layer of personalization that is virtually unheard of in the mainstream laptop space.

The configurator demo I saw almost felt like building a custom character in a video game rather than buying a laptop, and reminded me of the XBOX Design Lab for custom controllers.

In fact, my biggest complaint about the IdeaPad Vibe is that there might be too much choice.

That's obviously a good problem to have, but after looking through the various color combinations, shell finishes, and processor options, I could already imagine spending far too much time trying to decide which configuration to order (I know because I tried).

That's not a sentence I ever expected to write about a Windows laptop.

Of course, a laptop can't survive on colors alone, and thankfully Lenovo seems to have put together a genuinely compelling package underneath all that personality.

The IdeaPad Vibe comes in both 14-inch and 15-inch sizes and starts at just 1.3kg (2.87 pounds) for the smaller model. OLED display options are available with up to 100% DCI-P3 color coverage, while IPS models can offer refresh rates up to 120Hz.

Lenovo is also packing in practical features including dual SSD slots, Wi-Fi 7, USB-A and USB-C ports, HDMI, a MicroSD card reader, and a 5MP IR webcam with a privacy shutter.

AMD, Qualcomm or Intel (eventually)

Then there's the processor selection.

For launch, buyers can choose between AMD Ryzen AI 400 series configurations and Qualcomm Snapdragon X models (we're not clear on exactly which Snapdragon X chip, or even if it's X2), while Intel-based versions will arrive later. AMD models support up to 32GB of upgradeable memory and up to 1TB of SSD storage, while Snapdragon versions offer up to 24GB of memory and the same dual-slot storage flexibility.

Personally, I'd go Qualcomm.

We've reached a point where Snapdragon X PCs consistently deliver excellent everyday performance while also offering some of the best battery life available in the Windows ecosystem. The combination of a lightweight chassis, Copilot+ PC capabilities on supported configurations, and Qualcomm's efficiency makes the Snapdragon version particularly appealing to me.

That isn't to say AMD isn't tempting. AMD's advantage here is flexibility. The Ryzen AI configurations support memory upgrades up to 32GB and offer optional 50Wh or 65Wh battery configurations, making them attractive for enthusiasts who want more control over their hardware.

What impressed me most during my hands-on time wasn't any single specification. It was how cohesive the overall package felt.

The laptops looked premium, felt solid in the hand, and didn't come across as budget systems despite their surprisingly aggressive pricing. That's important because Lenovo isn't positioning the IdeaPad Vibe as a niche fashion accessory. This is meant to be a mainstream Windows laptop that happens to have far more personality than its competitors.

And right now, that may be enough to help it stand out.

Final thoughts

Apple's MacBook Neo has clearly encouraged PC makers to rethink the mainstream laptop category. Dell has already responded with its own fresh take on the formula with its just-announced Dell 14S, and now Lenovo is bringing something completely different to the table: customization.

Instead of asking buyers which shade of gray they prefer, Lenovo is asking what their "vibe" is.

That's a much more interesting question, even if a bit on the nose and a tad cringey.

The Lenovo IdeaPad Vibe with AMD processors launches in October 2026 starting at $699.99, while Qualcomm Snapdragon X models will follow in November 2026 with the same $699.99 starting price. Intel is only listed as coming later.

And after seeing them in person, I think Lenovo may have stumbled onto something other PC makers have forgotten: technology can be personal, but it can also be fun.

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I've seen a lot of concept PCs over the years.

Most are fascinating engineering exercises that are never destined for store shelves. They're designed to spark conversation, generate headlines, and give us a glimpse into what might be possible someday. Some do come to market, like rollable display PCs.

Lenovo's new Project AeroBlade concept feels different.

Officially, it's one of the company's latest proof-of-concept devices, unveiled as part of its annual wave of experimental hardware at IFA 2026. Unofficially? I think there's a very good chance we're looking at Lenovo's next big premium laptop platform.

After getting hands-on with AeroBlade, I walked away convinced this isn't some far-future moonshot. If you told me a shipping version appears within the next year, I wouldn't be surprised in the slightest.

And it can't happen soon enough.

Project AeroBlade is a 14-inch laptop that measures under 10 mm thin and weighs less than 830 grams (1.8lbs). That's lighter than many tablets with keyboard covers attached, yet Lenovo claims performance remains comparable to today's ThinkPad X1 Carbon class of Intel-powered laptops. According to Lenovo, the system achieves this through a completely reimagined thermal design built around its Active Flow cooling architecture developed alongside Frore Systems.

Those numbers don't really hit you until you pick it up.

The first thing that struck me wasn't the thickness. It was the weight. Or rather, the lack of it.

The AeroBlade almost feels unfinished when you lift it because your brain expects more mass. Premium laptops have gotten thinner over the last decade, but reducing weight has become increasingly difficult without introducing compromises. AeroBlade somehow manages to feel substantial and premium while remaining almost shockingly light.

Lenovo says the chassis uses a magnesium-aluminum construction paired with a high screen-to-body OLED display, Thunderbolt 4 connectivity, and Wi-Fi 7. On paper, it sounds like a modern flagship ultrabook. In person, it feels like somebody accidentally removed half the laptop. That's a compliment.

What makes AeroBlade truly interesting, however, isn't how thin it is; it's how Lenovo got there.

The fan is dead. Long live AirJet.

For decades, laptop cooling has largely followed the same formula.

A processor generates heat. Heat pipes move that heat toward a heatsink. One or more fans blow air through the system and out of vents.

The design has evolved, but the fundamentals haven't changed much.

Frore Systems wants to change that.

AirJet is a solid-state active cooling solution that replaces traditional laptop fans with tiny cooling chips that use vibrating membranes to generate airflow. Instead of spinning fan blades, AirJet creates high-velocity pulsating air jets that remove heat while operating at extremely low noise levels. Frore describes it as the world's first solid-state active cooling chip.

One AirJet Mini Slim module is only 2.65mm thick, consumes up to 1 watt of power, removes up to 5.25 watts of heat, and generates significantly higher back pressure than traditional fans. The technology was specifically designed for ultra-thin devices where conventional cooling becomes difficult or impossible.

The clever part is that these modules don't need the large internal spaces required by traditional fans.

Instead of designing a laptop around cooling hardware, manufacturers can distribute AirJet modules throughout the chassis in different locations.

That flexibility is both the technology's greatest strength and its biggest challenge.

During conversations at the event, it became clear why we've seen AirJet demonstrations for a few years but haven't yet seen a flood of mainstream laptops using it.

This isn't a simple parts swap.

OEMs have spent decades designing motherboards, thermal layouts, and internal structures around conventional fans. AirJet requires engineers to rethink much of that architecture. The cooling solution may be smaller, but integrating it properly involves substantial redesign work throughout the entire system.

That's a lot of engineering investment.

But judging by AeroBlade, the payoff might be worth it.

A laptop with almost no compromises

The most impressive thing about AeroBlade is that Lenovo doesn't appear to be treating fanless computing as a compromise.

Traditionally, when manufacturers build ultra-thin fanless systems, performance becomes the sacrifice. The device is quiet and portable, but sustained workloads eventually cause thermal throttling.

Lenovo's pitch is essentially the opposite.

The company believes Active Flow can deliver sustained AI and productivity performance without the compromises typically associated with fanless PCs. The only noise I noticed during my brief hands-on came under heavier workloads, where there was a faint whooshing sound from moving air. It was subtle enough that I had to actively listen for it.

What I didn't notice were intake vents covering the bottom of the chassis. Hooray!

That's because the cooling system works differently than traditional laptop designs. Air management has largely been pushed toward the rear of the system, creating a cleaner and more minimalist design.

The result is a device that feels almost impossibly refined, and that's why I think AeroBlade is a big deal.

Most laptop innovation over the last few years has focused on AI accelerators, NPUs, display tech, and silicon improvements. Those things are important, but they're largely invisible to users (well, maybe not displays, but still).

Cooling isn't.

Cooling defines thickness, weight, acoustics, sustained performance, battery behavior, and overall design flexibility.

In many ways, cooling technology determines what kind of laptop manufacturers can build.

Lenovo could make impossibly thin and light (compared to what we are used to), or use that extra space for a larger battery for absurd laptop longevity. It opens a bunch of engineering doors and options.

The concept that doesn't feel like a concept

Lenovo loves showing proof-of-concept devices, and many never become products.

But the company's track record also shows that some of its most interesting concepts eventually make the jump to production after enough refinement (I'm hoping Lenovo's Legion handheld foldable concept is one of those).

AeroBlade feels like one of those projects. Indeed, this was my first question to Lenovo, as proof-of-concept is often wacky designs, rolling displays, dual displays ... things that look weird but could be useful.

Super thin and light laptop with no vents? Who wouldn't want this? I don't think we really need a focus group to see if it's a good idea!

The hardware already looks polished. The underlying technology exists. The user benefits are immediately obvious. And perhaps most importantly, the industry is constantly searching for ways to make laptops thinner, lighter, quieter, and more efficient.

AirJet checks every one of those boxes.

Will this technology replace fans in gaming laptops with RTX-class graphics anytime soon? Probably not.

But for premium ultraportables, enterprise notebooks, all-in-one desktops, handheld gaming PCs, and productivity-focused systems, I think we're looking at one of the most significant advances in PC design we've seen in years. (We've already openly wondered about Aerojet in a Steam Deck 2).

So, yeah, ironically, the biggest innovation at Lenovo's event wasn't AI.

It was airflow.

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NVIDIA has confirmed new details and availability info about its upcoming RTX Spark SoC for Windows 11 devices. At IFA 2026, the company announced that it expects the first RTX Spark laptops to begin shipping as soon as next month, sometime in October depending on the OEM. Additionally, two new devices are joining the launch lineup; the Lenovo Yoga 9n laptop and Acer SFF desktop PC.

Alongside availability news, NVIDIA has also confirmed configuration details for the upcoming RTX Spark chips. There will be two different configurations of the RTX Spark N1X, with configurable RAM and storage based on what OEMs wish to offer. The high-end RTX Spark will be targeted at desktops and laptops, with support for up to 128GB unified memory, 20 CPU cores, and 6144 Blackwell RTX cores.

There will also be a less powerful RTX Spark configuration exclusively for laptops, which can only be configured with 24GB or 32GB unified memory, a 5120-Core Blackwell RTX GPU, and an 18-core CPU. While still a high-end chip, this should allow RTX Spark to ship in laptops that cost closer to $2,000, significantly lower priced than the high-end SoC.

NVIDIA is touting RTX Spark as the best SoC for AI development on Windows. It supports NVIDIAs full AI stack, as well as the Windows Agent Framework and 120B parameter agents. It also supports hardware accelerated 4:2:2 video for video editing professionals.

It's also good for gaming, with expected 100 frames per second in many games at 1440p with RT and DLSS. In fact, NVIDIA has announced that many popular and mainstream gaming developers have committed to supporting RTX Spark with native games and frameworks so that there are no compatibility issues with the RTX Spark's Arm architecture.

While the first RTX Spark devices are expected to begin shipping in October, it's not yet clear which OEMs will be first out the gate. All major Windows hardware makers, including Dell, Lenovo, HP, ASUS, and Microsoft have all announced RTX Spark devices that are expected to ship by the end of this year. Devices like the Surface Laptop Ultra have not yet been given a release date, though Microsoft typically does aim to ship new Surface PCs in October.

We'll be sure to keep you updated on all the RTX Spark device availability as more information is revealed by OEMs. In the meantime, are you considering an RTX Spark device as your next Windows PC? Let us know in the comments!

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If you're not a keen follower of the AI space, then the name Hugging Face may not mean anything to you. But the company has just been acquired by NVIDIA, which continues to reinforce its new identity as an AI company.

Announced today by NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang, Hugging Face will be joining the company in an acquisition priced at just under $13 billion.

Hugging Face is an open platform that has been likened to GitHub, except for local, open AI models that anyone can use. NVIDIA's plans are to keep Hugging Face the same as it is today but to scale. Because if you're not scaling AI these days, what are you even doing?

"Hugging Face will remain an open platform for the entire AI ecosystem. Developers will choose the models they want, the frameworks they want, the clouds and inference service providers they want and the computing platforms they want. NVIDIA compute will not be required to build on or deploy through Hugging Face.

Hugging Face will continue to support open source and open weight models from across the ecosystem, from every model builder. It will continue to support multi-cloud and multi-accelerator development and deployment, so builders can use the hardware and infrastructure that best fit their work."

Keeping personal opinions about AI aside, I'm certainly more in favor of real people being able to use AI models without having to rely on massive, un-evironmentally friendly data centers from the likes of Microsoft and OpenAI.

AI is very much here to stay, whether we choose to embrace it or not. But I'm definitely on the side of being able to use it however you want to use it and without feeding all your data to companies that don't necessarily deserve it.

NVIDIA is very much AI-first these days, though. Gone are the days we'd all look at its shiny new GPUs, and our only thoughts would be about gaming. It does make you ponder what the future holds for gamers, though.

I've got an RTX 5090, for example, and it's still overkill for gaming. But with 32GB of VRAM and a ton of compute horsepower, it's pretty damn good for local AI use. But is this where future products will be aligned first? Everything's getting more expensive, and AI is definitely to blame for a good chunk of it.

Alas, here we are. If you use Hugging Face currently, it doesn't sound like anything's going to change. But if you're a gaming customer of the company, as I am, I am starting to wonder how important we're going to be in the future.

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The road to Tokyo Game Show 2026 begins in earnest as Sony kicks it off with a massive State of Play livestream showcasing many trailers for several upcoming PlayStation games that are also making their way to Xbox and PC platforms.

To save you time determining what's not a PlayStation 5-exclusive, we've rounded up all Xbox and PC games showcased during this livestream for your perusal.

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Monster Hunter Wilds: Ascendance

First off, we have a new trailer for Monster Hunter Wilds: Ascendance, a large-scale DLC for the latest entry in Capcom's action-hunting Monster Hunter series, Monster Hunter Wilds.

This trailer features a glimpse at the new locales players will explore, the new weapon moves granted by the Boost Bracer, and several new monsters and returning monsters to hunt, like Kushala Daora and Lao Shan-Lung.

Monster Hunter Wilds: Ascendance launches in 2027 for Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, and PC via Steam.

Metro 2039

Next up, we have the world's first look at the gameplay of Metro 2039, an upcoming First-Person Shooter where you are struggling to survive in a post-apocalyptic version of Moscow, Russia, to save the soul of Metro.

Metro 2039 is set to launch on February 4, 2027, for Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, and PC via Steam.

Maneater 2

Maneater 2 is a sequel to the cult, open-world action-RPG from 2020 where you wreak havoc as a man-eating shark. This time you will be terrorizing the holiday-goers of a seaside theme park while battling mutated predators looking to make you their next meal.

Maneater is set to launch in 2027 for Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch 2, and PC via Steam and the Epic Games Store.

Crimson Desert: Charting the Unknown

The popular open-world action-adventure game, Crimson Desert, is getting a DLC expansion called Crimson Desert: Charting the Unknown. This expansion will let you explore new locales on land and sea, master powerful new moves, and take on gigantic boss monsters to earn sweet rewards.

Crimson Desert: Charting the Unknown is set to launch on October 15, 2026, for Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, and PC via Steam and the Epic Games Store.

Final Fantasy Resonance

Final Fantasy Resonance, the first HD-2D entry in the iconic Final Fantasy series, has announced through its latest gameplay trailer that it's releasing a playable demo today ahead of its October 22, 2026 launch on Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch 1/2, and PC via Steam.

Additionally, the trailer confirms that one of the bosses you'll face in this game is Final Fantasy VII's legendary villain, Sephiroth.

Gundam Rogue Orbit

Gundam Rogue Orbit is an upcoming single-player action game with an original take on the iconic anime mecha franchise, Gundam.

In this game, you will pilot the customizable Gundam Helix to wage war against hordes of enemies and towering bosses, master over-the-top weapons and techniques, and experience an epic campaign with drama, action, and tragedy that will serve as the perfect entry for newcomers while paying tribute to longtime fans.

Gundam Rogue Orbit is set to launch on March 5, 2027, for Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, and PC via Steam.

Rhapsody in Scarlet

Rhapsody in Scarlet is a brand new action game by Konami coming soon to Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, and PC via Steam.

In this game set in 1920's New York City, you play as Ellie Myers, a magus moonlighting as a lounge singer. Your goal is to save the world from invading demonic creatures by wielding powerful magic and summoning hordes of elemental beasts to do your bidding.

Final Fantasy VII: Revelation

The main event closes out with a new trailer and an extended gameplay deep dive for Final Fantasy VII: Revelation, the final chapter of Square Enix's action-RPG remake series of Final Fantasy VII.

The trailer shows off footage of its combat, cinematic story, and, most importantly, a release date. It confirms that Final Fantasy VII: Revelation will launch on April 8, 2027, for Xbox Series X|S, Xbox on PC, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch 2, and PC via Steam.

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Monster Hunter Wilds: Ascendance, the upcoming DLC expansion to the latest entry in Capcom's action-hunting Monster Hunter series, has released its second trailer showcasing how its new 'Boost Bracer' mechanic will change every weapon type.

This trailer focuses on the Boost Bracer's changes to Bow, the classic ranged weapon type where you pierce enemies with a rain of arrows tipped with poisons or, in this DLC expansion, explosives.

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From what we can tell in this trailer, the Bow will gain a new Boost Driver that lets the user perform an Offset counterattack, firing explosive arrows at enemies to knock them over while flying backwards.

The Bow's Boost Driver attack can be charged for extra damage and transition into other special attacks like the Dragon Piercer (which fires a super-fast rocket-powered arrow) or the Thousand Dragons technique (which fires a bunch of arrows in a single burst at close range).

The Boost Driver attack also fills up the Boost gauge, which, when filled, can be activated to enhance the Bow's attacks and unlock new attacks.

These boosted features include making your arrows fire faster with explosive damage and allowing you to perform enhanced evasive jump maneuvers to avoid attacks while staying on the offensive.

Windows Central's take

I'm not much of a ranged user in Monster Hunter games, as I prefer getting up and close with melee weapons. Although I do make exceptions whenever ranged weapons with explosive ammo builds are viable enough to use because I love blowing monsters up.

So it's kinda cool to see Bow essentially turn into an explosive shotgun thanks to the Boost Bracer's enhancements, and I'm willing to give it a go in the DLC expansion because of it.

However, the most interesting part of the trailer for me is the gear the player is using, as it's a reward for hunting Lao Shan-Lung.

For newer players who never heard of it, Lao Shan-Lung is a colossal Elder Dragon from the original Monster Hunter game back in 2004. It's appeared in a few other games like Monster Hunter Dos, the Monster Hunter Freedom sub-series, and Monster Hunter Generations Ultimate (which is where I fought it), and now it's coming back in Monster Hunter Wilds: Ascendance, as confirmed in its reveal trailer.

I'm personally dreading fighting Lao Shan-Lung again, not because it's difficult but because it's notoriously one of the most boring boss fights in the entire franchise. This is because Lao Shan-Lung is a glorified punching bag that takes forever to kill, and it spends its time VERY SLOWLY running away from the players rather than actively fighting them.

So I'm really hoping this game will make Lao Shan-Lung actually interesting to fight this time (or at least make it actually fight the player instead of being a coward) so farming for its classic gear will be worth the time and effort because it has some slick-looking gear in

We will have to wait to find out when Monster Hunter Wilds: Ascendance launches in 2027 for Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, and PC via Steam.

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Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 is fast approaching now that the traditional yearly beta test is out of the way. Included for the first time this year was a look at the next iteration of Call of Duty: Warzone, the free-to-play battle royale that ties in with a current year's game.

It's bittersweet for folks still on an Xbox One or a PS4, though, because they weren't able to try out the new Zodiac map, and they're never going to, either.

Modern Warfare 4 will be the first Call of Duty title to drop support for Xbox One and PS4, and along with it, Warzone. The announcement was made back in June, but for now, the game is still playable.

That's going to change fairly soon, though. Here's what's already happened, what's going to happen, and crucially, when we think the final shutdown will happen.

Why is Call of Duty: Warzone on Xbox One and PS4 being shut down?

The simple answer is that Warzone is shutting down on Xbox One and PS4 because Modern Warfare 4 will not be on those platforms.

Despite Warzone being free-to-play without any requirement to own the latest Call of Duty game, crucially, it integrates with each year's new game.

As Modern Warfare 4 will be taking over from Black Ops 7, and it won't be supported on the last-gen consoles, Warzone will no longer be playable.

When do we think Call of Duty: Warzone is shutting down on Xbox One and PS4?

The official documentation states:

"Call of Duty: Warzone on PlayStation 4 and XBOX One will be available to play through the end of Season 06 for Call of Duty: Black Ops 7."

Activision hasn't given an exact date yet, but we can make an educated guess based on how the new games have rolled out in previous years.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 will release on Friday, October 23, 2026. The assumption may be that this is when the Warzone shutdown will happen, but it's not that straightforward.

Traditionally, the Warzone integration doesn't go live when the new game launches. It follows on when Season 1 of said new game begins.

In the case of Black Ops 6 and Black Ops 7, Season 1 began 20 days post-launch of the game, and this is when Warzone was updated with the new game's integration. In the case of Modern Warfare III, it was actually almost a week longer.

We expect Season 06 to begin on September 17, given it's both a Thursday and the date the Season 05 battle pass expires. Unlike the jump from Black Ops 6 to Black Ops 7, where there was a month without a seasonal update, it looks like this year's transition will leave us with content right to the very end.

This year isn't an in-house transition like the past two Treyarch releases. Given how long the seasons in Black Ops 7 usually are, we could be looking at Season 06 ending after Modern Warfare 4 launches.

This means Xbox One and PS4 players could have until around November 12 to keep playing Warzone. But we'll know for sure once Season 06 begins when we can expect it to end.

But it wouldn't be crazy to assume that Black Ops 7, the Season 06 content, Battle Pass, and Warzone that is linked to it all could remain live this long. It would be about 20 days after the Modern Warfare 4 launch, too.

Can I still get Call of Duty: Warzone on Xbox One and PS4?

For now, you can only play Warzone on Xbox One or PS4 if you have previously added it to your library.

No new downloads are being offered on either console, but if you're a past player, you can still reinstall it and play until the shutdown date.

The store is also disabled now, despite showing up in the launcher. You're unable to spend anymore money or redeem COD Points.

What happens to all the stuff I've bought in Call of Duty: Warzone on Xbox One and PS4?

The in-game store has been closed for a while now, preventing players from spending real money via the Xbox One and PS4 versions.

But your purchases aren't disappearing. Because you have an Activision ID in order to play, all those purchases are tied to your account.

As such, if you log in on another platform at any time, you'll have everything there waiting for you.

I don't have an Xbox Series X|S, PS5, or gaming PC, so how can I keep playing Call of Duty: Warzone?

If you don't have more current hardware to move to or don't want to upgrade, you're all but out of options.

You do, however, have the ability to play Warzone via the cloud, either through Xbox Cloud Gaming or NVIDIA GeForce Now. The former, you can use on your Xbox One.

Is it the same experience? Not totally. The visuals and frame rate will certainly be an upgrade (especially on GeForce Now) but you do have to consider that you will have some additional latency concerns.

The game will be playing on a piece of hardware that's in someone else's building. While server latency in the game won't be too bad, you then have to stream the game to your own device. Cloud gaming has come a long way, though, and unless you're the absolute most competitive player, it might well be good enough.

The downside is that you're going to have to pay, even though NVIDIA does have a free tier. This one is limited to an hour's play, and you have no priority access, so if the servers are full, you'll be in a longer queue. And who wants to be chucked out in the final circle?

Likewise, you can't play Warzone via the cloud for free with Xbox Cloud Gaming, either. Ultimate gets you the best quality stream, but you can play via the cheaper Xbox Game Pass tiers, too.

So, that's where we're at. While Warzone has indeed been playable on Xbox One, it's hardly been the best experience. The Xbox One X still does OK, but being attached to the Xbox One generation it has to say goodbye, too.

But there's still probably a couple of months at least left to play from the time of writing this, so enjoy.

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Today is the day Dragon's Dogma 2 fans have been waiting years for, as Capcom has finally rolled out Title Update 3.2 on Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, and PC.

This update features the long-requested performance patch to fix its originally subpar framerates, and tons of gameplay changes to its character vocations, save system, Dragonsplague mechanic, and more.

Additionally, Capcom dropped a new trailer for Dragon's Dogma 2's upcoming Dark Arisen DLC expansion, which reveals how its new Relic loot system will work to provide players with a satisfying gameplay loop to keep them engaged beyond fighting monsters and experiencing its epic story.

Here's everything you need to know about this massive update.

Dragon's Dogma 2 — Title Update 3.2 performance and gameplay changes

First off, let's cover Dragon's Dogma 2's Title Update 3.2 since that's the biggest announcement here. It is a gigantic patch worth 67GB that completely changes nearly facet of the game beyond simply boosting its framerates.

In fact, it's so big that Capcom had to change the PC version's spec requirements, which you can see below via Dragon's Dogma 2's official X account. ⬇️

The official post also reveals the updated framerate settings for the Xbox Series X|S versions. It shows that Dragon's Dogma 2 can now reach 60fps max with the FSR Upscaler on the Xbox Series X, while the game can only reach 45fps max with the FSR Upscaler.

Details regarding the performance of the Nintendo Switch 2 version will be revealed at a later date.

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As for its gameplay changes, there is a dragon's hoard worth talking about. The major highlights include multiple save files being added, multiple new weapon skill slots, balance changes for every character class Vocation, a new item to cure Dragonsplague from Pawns, and many adjustments for Pawns to make them more useful.

Here are the full patch notes for Dragon's Dogma 2's Title Update 3.2 for its console and PC versions, as confirmed on the Dragon's Dogma 2 website.

Added Features and Adjustments for all platforms

• Save System Adjustments
  • Expanded the number of save slots where adventure data can be saved for each Arisen from one to three.
  • Each save slot now holds three different types of saved data: Autosave, Interim Save, and Last Inn Rest Save.
  • Loading from your last inn rest will no longer delete your autosave or interim save.
  • The date and time of your last save will now be shown on the save screen.
• Dragonsplague Adjustments
  • Added an item to cure Dragonsplague: Dragonsbaulk Draught.
    *Added pawn dialogue related to Dragonsbaulk Draught.
• UI Adjustments
  • Added equipment filters.
  • In Equipment Enhancement, you can now check the required materials for future steps in the process.
  • Added an icon that will display when you can grab hold of an enemy.
    *Also added the option to toggle this on/off.
  • Added an option to favorite equipment.
  • Added an option to prevent meat items used at campsites to be consumed via item shortcuts.
  • Changed the max amount of an item that can be given to a pawn when dismissing them to 99 (some special items excluded).
  • Added the number of times the Eternal Ferrystone was used to the Adventure Logbook.
  • Improved the Button Mapping screen layout.
  • Added a control type for keyboards that allows weapon skills to be activated with a single button.
  • Added a control type for keyboards that allows weapon skills to be switched with a single button.
  • Added functions so that when changing equipment as a Warfarer, you can now unequip weapons, change weapon order, and swap/compare equipped weapons from the list of equipped weapons.
  • If only a shield is equipped, shield stats will now be shown when changing the order of equipment as a Warfarer.
  • Added the ability to cancel and redo item selection on the item delivery selection screen when turning in an item for a quest.
• Added a function to skip the opening part of the story when replaying the game.
• Pawn Adjustments
  • Added the pawn command Explore that can be used by holding the Go command button.
    *Also added the option to toggle this on/off.
  • Added the pawn command "High Five!" that can be used by holding the "To Me!" command button.
    *Also added the option to toggle this on/off.
  • Pawns can now grapple enemies and draw their attention.
  • Pawns can now interfere with enemy attacks when the Arisen is downed.
  • Pawns can now protect the Arisen when they are unable to move.
  • Pawns can now suggest using large boulders when enemies are grouped together.
  • Pawns can now lure enemies to areas where the environment can be used.
  • Pawns can now perform follow-up attacks on enemies knocked back by the Arisen.
  • While grappling a large enemy, pawns can now pull the Arisen up and make them jump higher.
  • Pawns are now more likely to prioritize enemies targeting the Arisen when the player is using a ranged vocation.
  • When carrying an incapacitated pawn, pawns will now act based on the situation, such as putting down the pawn being carried if they are in danger.
  • Pawns will now act more quickly to attack or provide support.
  • Pawns will now avoid or guard against attacks more effectively.
  • Pawns are now temporarily invincible when being revived by the Arisen.
  • Pawns will now have a shorter hitstop when landing a charged attack as a Warrior.
  • Pawns will now more easily catch the Arisen after they have fallen from a great height during battle.
  • Pawns afflicted with Dragonsplague will now be able to stun large enemies by attacking their legs.
  • Pawns afflicted with Dragonsplague will now be able to attack smaller enemies without consuming stamina for a limited time.
  • Pawns afflicted with Dragonsplague will now be able to make enemies more susceptible to being thrown off balance by attacking them while they are already stunned.
  • Pawns afflicted with Dragonsplague will now accumulate the loss gauge at a slower rate.
  • When a tome to learn a specialization has been used or discarded, it will now be available at the Scrap Store.
  • Your main pawn will now bring back items dropped by enemies they defeated while in another world.
• Text/Tutorial Display Adjustments
  • Added a tutorial for save system changes.
  • Added a tutorial for item screen filters.
  • Added a tutorial for Dragonsbaulk Draught.
  • Added a tutorial for expanded pawn commands.
  • Changed the explanations for skills that have been adjusted.
• 【Archer】
  • Changed the explanation for Front Kick.
• 【Mage/Sorcerer】
  • Added a tutorial for magick barrier.
• 【Warrior】
  • Added an explanation for how to knock back enemies.
• 【Trickster】
  • Added an explanation for Buoyant Brume.
• Other Adjustments
  • Improved NPC behavior when they use a ballista alone.
  • Improved camera behavior when the Arisen interacts with a ballista.
  • Adjusted the party position and camera angle after warping to a Portcrystal making it easier to find one's bearings.
• ◆ Action Adjustments
• Expanded the number of assignable weapon skills from four to six.
• You will now be less likely to flinch for a period of time after having flinched from being attacked.
• Enemies are now less likely to target you if you are crawling.
• Being attacked while downed will now cause you to get up right away.
• The effects of a stamina recovery item used while exhausted will now be instantaneous.
• Extended the period of invincibility when being revived with a wakestone.
• Vocation Adjustments
• 【Fighter】
  • Adjusted the behavior of Deflect when used against ranged attacks.
  • Made it easier for Blink Strike to hit enemies.
  • Adjusted the timing window for Tusk Toss so it's less likely to fail to cast if the charge is complete.
  • Adjusted the timing for some attack skills to connect more smoothly with Tusk Toss.
  • Adjusted Counter Slash to prioritize the enemy that just deflected the attack.
  • If other enemies are close by when using Riotous Fury, the direction of the attack can now be adjusted on the fly with the control stick.
  • Adjusted the final upward strike of Riotous Fury to slightly lift enemies up into the air.
  • Increased the distance of the first attack of Riotous Fury to make it easier to connect.
  • Enemy attacks are less likely to cause the target to flinch.
• 【Archer】
  • Increased the speed to nock an arrow when using Exploding Shot, Drenching Shot, Tarring Shot, or Blighting Shot.
  • Increased the damage of Dire Arrow.
  • Changed Front Kick and Leaping Punt so that the user is launched backwards even when performed on the ground.
  • Changed Front Kick and Leaping Punt so that the user is launched backwards by performing a button input.
  • Changed so that when the Arisen touches the ground after using Front Kick or Leaping Punt, they will face the enemy they kicked off of if no controller stick input is given.
• 【Thief】
  • Increased the stamina consumed when using Formless Feint.
  • Pressing the Vocation Action button during Formless Feint will throw off the balance of the attacking enemy.
    *Throwing the enemy off balance with good timing will temporarily disable continuous stamina consumption. Perfect timing will reduce stamina consumption for weapon skills.
• 【Mage/Sorcerer】
  • Added the core skill Magick Barrier.
    *Pressing the Vocation Action button will erect a magickal barrier shielding you from enemy attacks. Stamina consumption varies depending on the weapon.
  • Increased the maximum movement speed of the camera when casting Flagration.
• 【Mage】
  • While Anodyne is active, you can now cancel the motion by button input.
• 【Sorcerer】
  • Extended the incantation speed for Prescient Flare.
  • Extended the grace period for Prescient Flare's magickal orbs to explode, while also reducing the time to explode once the orbs have reached their maximum state. (A different sound effect was added for when the orbs explode at their maximum state, making it easier to tell the difference.)
  • Increased the value required to amplify Prescient Flare's magickal orbs and extended the time until the orbs fade if not attacked.
  • Prescient Flare's magickal orbs will no longer amplify if hit with another cast of Prescient Flare.
  • Adjusted the camera direction when casting Seism.
• 【Warrior】
  • The charged state of Mighty Sweep can now be maintained when using Barge.
  • Forward movement when using an airborne Stonesplitter has been reduced, making it easier for attacks to connect.
  • The light attack input timing for Chain of Blows as been made more consistent, making it easier to use.
  • The forward reach of Mighty Sweep and Stonesplitter attacks has been increased.
  • Increased the speed of light attacks when clinging to a foe.
  • Adjusted the hitstop for strong attacks when clinging to a foe to increase the feeling of satisfaction.
  • Changed the motion for powerful successive strikes against large enemies.
  • Adjusted the timing for damage reduction while charging Skyward Sunder, Rending Sweep and Knoll Breaker to be more consistent across the skills.
  • Adjusted the knockback distance and height for attacks that knock enemies into the air, making them easier to connect with other attacks.
  • Increased the damage of Savage Lash.
  • Adjusted the window for counterattacks for Tidal Fury, making it possible sooner.
  • Reduced the recovery time after a counterattack fails when using Tidal Fury.
  • The forward reach of charged Mighty Sweep, Skyward Sunder, Rending Sweep, and Savage Lash attacks has been increased.
• 【Mystic Spearhand】
  • Adjusted the timing window for Redouted Bolt so it's less likely to fail to cast if the charge is complete.
  • Increased the button input window for Scatering Bolt → Quik Fot, making it easier to use in combos like Forbeding Bolt → Scatering Bolt, Forbeding Bolt → Quik Fot and Forbeding Bolt → Scatering Bolt → Quik Fot.
  • Increased the damage of Magike Cut, Seching Blade, and Magike Sperepelote when used against enemies bound by Forbeding Bolt or Scatering Bolt.
  • Increased the damage of Skiedragoun's Fangtooth.
  • Adjusted the targeting of Wild Furie to prioritize nearby enemies after the first attack.
  • Adjusted Magike Sperepelote so that the camera's center point doesn't shift during attacks.
  • "Changed Mirour Vesture so that it can now be charged and cast.
    If it is not charged the magickal barrier will only affect the Arisen. If it is charged, it will affect the Arisen and party members. A charged cast will also perform an attack that causes nearby enemies to flinch."
  • Added durability to the magickal barrier of Mirour Vesture, the barrier will dissipate when it reaches zero.
  • Greatly increased the time the magickal barrier of Mirour Vesture is active. However, it will quickly dissipate when not in combat.
  • Increased the range in which the magickal barrier of Mirour Vesture can be applied to pawns.
  • Increased the stamina consumed by Mirour Vesture, decreased the natural stamina recovery rate while the magickal barrier is active.
• 【Magick Archer】
  • Adjusted so that when you consecutively use offensive weapon skills without aiming, you will continue targeting the first enemy targeted as long as they are within a certain distance.
  • Adjusted so that when you aim and use a weapon skill, the input for the skill activation button will be accepted from the moment you start aiming.
  • Reduced the range of magick arrows when not locked on to a pawn when using Vimtaking Arrow.
  • Reduced the damage of magick arrows when not locked on to a pawn when using Vimtaking Arrow.
• 【Trickster】
  • Added the core skill Buoyant Brume.
    *When jumping, press the jump button again to float for a period of time.
  • When using Effigial Incense, the simulacrum's Health reduction when it strays too far from the caster has been decreased.
  • When using Fickle Floor, wolf-type enemies (excluding some, like Garms) that enter the illusion will now flinch.
  • When using Dragon's Delusion, Golems will now flinch.
  • Archer, Mage, and Sorcerer pawns can now attack enemies through the illusory walls created by Delusory Screen.
  • Adjusted the camera direction when casting Dragon's Delusion.
• 【Fighter/Thief/Warrior/Mystic Spearhand】
  • When using some skills that can be used mid-air, you can now adjust your position in the air with the control stick.
• 【Fighter/Thief/Warrior/Mystic Spearhand/Unarmed Combat】
  • Adjusted the camera direction when performing powerful successive strikes.
• 【Fighter/Warrior/Unarmed Combat】
  • Adjusted the blowback of enemies when using Gouging Skewer as a Fighter or when performing powerful successive strikes as a Warrior or in unarmed combat.
• Other Adjustments
  • Added Dash Attack and Charge Attack to unarmed combat.
  • The timing until you can grab an enemy again after jumping and releasing the grab has been shortened.
  • Reduced the recovery time for unarmed weak attacks while clinging to or pinning down an enemy.
  • Made it easier to draw attention from a large enemy when grabbing them.
• Enemy Adjustments
  • Adjusted the accumulation value of the blighted debilitation caused by enemy attacks.
• 【Goblin/Hobgoblin/Chopper/Knacker/Saurian/Asp/Serpent】
  • Improved the quality of jump actions.
• 【Goblin/Hobgoblin/Chopper/Knacker/Saurian/Asp/Rattler/Magma Scale/Serpent】
  • Adjusted the tracking of some attacks to make them easier to avoid.
• 【Goblin/Hobgoblin/Chopper/Knacker/Saurian/Asp/Rattler/Magma Scale/Serpent/Skeleton】
  • Changed the way the Arisen reacts when hit by attacks, as some attacks caused situations that were difficult to recover from.
• 【Saurian/Asp/Rattler/Magma Scale/Serpent】
  • Made it easier for attacks to hit the tail.
• 【Slime/Ooze/Sludge】
  • Adjusted pawns so that they attack from a position suitable for their vocation.
  • Attacks are now more likely to hit.
• 【Skeleton/Stout Undead/Phantom/Phantasm/Specter】
  • Increased the damage of holy attacks.
• 【Minotaur/Goreminotaur】
  • Added expressions to make it clearer when the enemy hits an obstacle while dashing.
• 【Drake】
  • Adjusted the frequency of using specific attacks when health is low, as it led to a situation where recovery was difficult.
  • Changed the targeting so that it's easier to aim for parts other than the heart when the heart isn't exposed.
• ◆ Bug Fixes
• Vocations
• 【Archer】
  • Fixed a bug where using Dire Arrow when mid-sized or larger enemies were downed would result in the enemies jumping back up as soon as the arrow was released.
• 【Thief】
  • Fixed a bug where using Twin Fangs in midair would cause the player to teleport instantaneously to enemy locations within a certain distance.
• 【Warrior】
  • Fixed a bug where damage was not dealt when using Goring Lunge on small enemies against a wall.
  • Fixed a bug where the opponent was not blown back when attacked with powerful successive strikes.
  • Fixed a bug where the camera would clip into the ground when using a powerful successive strike while mounted on an enemy.
• 【Mystic Spearhand】
  • Fixed a bug where enemies hit by Forbeding Bolt while airborne would gradually move rather than remain stationary.
• 【Magick Archer】
  • Fixed a bug where Bartizan's counterattack would cause enemies to fall down instead of being knocked back.
  • Fixed a bug where an enemy's appearance would become unnatural after Sagittate Downpour hit.
• 【Trickster】
  • Fixed a bug where using Espial Incense on an oxcart while keeping the simulacrum stationary would cause crude polygons and the ground below to appear.
• Pawns
  • Fixed a bug where the main pawn would not respond to a support pawn's question, resulting in the end of conversation.
  • Fixed a bug where a pawn's gaze would point in extreme directions, causing their eyes to turn white or their pupils to appear to pierce through their eyelids.
  • Fixed a bug where a pawn would not gain quest knowledge after completing the quest Tensions on the Highroad.
  • Fixed a bug where pawns would not help when using a ballista against dragons.
• Enemies
• 【Harpy/Venin Harpy/Gore Harpy/Succubus】
  • Fixed a bug where facial expressions were not moving.
• UI
  • Fixed a bug where stat boosts from rings equipped by support pawns were not reflected on the status details screen.
  • Fixed several inaccuracies in the in-game descriptions displayed within the pause menu.
  • Fixed a bug where the map location of the Portcrystal in Harve differed from its actual location.
• Quests
  • Fixed a bug in the quest Mercy among Thieves where Hugo's movements and the camera's timing were out of sync.
  • Fixed a bug in the quest Mercy among Thieves where the NPC Thor sometimes remained at the entrance to the hideout after the quest was completed.
  • Fixed a bug in the quest Monster Culling where dialogue from Harve Village soldiers fighting in the cave would sometimes play while the player is above ground.
  • Fixed a bug in the quest Every Rose Has Its Thorn where the interact button would display even when peeking through the peephole in the wall will not progress the quest.
  • Fixed a bug in the quest Dreams Apart where the quest log did not accurately reflect quest progress when conditions preventing progress were met.
• Text
  • Fixed an issue where the direction of double quotation marks was incorrect in some text.
• Other
  • Fixed a bug where Threshing Blaze caused lower than expected damage when used by characters with low magick.
  • Fixed several visual glitches that occurred when equipping the Intrepid Scalecoat.
  • Fixed a bug where equipping the Burgundy Coat would cause the waist to bulge.
  • Fixed a bug where equipping the Blessed Waistcloth or Spellweaver's Waistcloth would cause the base of the body armor to bend.
  • Increased the quantity of Lantern Oil obtained by combining Rotten Tideswimmer and Oily Slime from one to three.
  • Fixed a bug where oxcarts would repeatedly move forward and backward.
  • Fixed a bug where performing certain actions on an oxcart would cause the player to float and sit in mid-air.
  • Fixed a bug where loading your last inn rest save after resting at the lodgings at the Borderwatch Outpost would cause the NPC Warrick to be on high alert.
  • Fixed a bug where some floors were being recognized as cliffs inside buildings.
  • Fixed a bug in the character creation screen where selecting a beastren and changing the eye height and eye width would cause the surface of the eyeball to look unnatural.
  • Fixed a bug where Portcrystals could be placed in some restricted areas.
  • Fixed a bug where Seeker's Tokens placed in Vernworth or around a griffin's nest would, under certain conditions, float in mid-air and become unobtainable.
  • Fixed a bug where certain shaved hairstyles would not render properly depending on the viewing angle.
  • Fixed a bug where Brant would sometimes return to his room and sit down in a chair after the first time meeting him.
  • Fixed a bug where the pose of the Arisen or pawns would become unnatural immediately after being thrown by a large enemy.
  • Fixed a bug where the toenails of beastren characters would sometimes stop displaying after unequipping certain leg armor.
  • Fixed a bug where shields carried on the back could clip through cloaks.
  • [PlayStation 5 / XBOX Series X|S Exclusive changes]
  • ◆ Added Features and Adjustments
  • UI Adjustments
    • Added Resource-Intense Effects Quality to the Graphics section of the Options menu.

Xbox Series X|S and PlayStation 5 exclusive added features and adjustments

• UI Adjustments
  • Added Resource-Intense Effects Quality to the Graphics section of the Options menu.

Steam exclusive added features and adjustments

• UI Adjustments
  • Added Volumetric Fog Resolution to the Graphics section of the Options menu.
  • Added Cloudscape Resolution to the Graphics section of the Options menu.
  • Added Foliage Density to the Graphics section of the Options menu.
  • Added Terrain Quality to the Graphics section of the Options menu.
  • Added Ray Tracing GI Quality to the Graphics section of the Options menu.
  • Added Ray Tracing GI Shading Quality to the Graphics section of the Options menu.
  • Added Effect Reflections to the Graphics section of the Options menu.
  • Added CPU Saving Mode to the Graphics section of the Options menu.
  • Added NPC Culling to the Graphics section of the Options menu.
  • Added Swaying Grass Quality to the Graphics section of the Options menu.
  • Graphics Memory will now be shown in the Graphics section of the Options menu.
• ◆ Bug Fixes
• UI
  • Fixed a bug where a mouse could not be used to select the last party member in a shop's checkout screen.
  • Fixed a bug where the confirmation screen for saving changes did not appear when exiting the options screen after changing key bindings.
  • Fixed a bug where WASD keys could not be assigned to the Trickster's Ascend (as spirit) and Descend (as spirit).
• Other Fixes
  • Fixed a bug where, at high framerates, the wheels of an oxcart would appear to keep spinning and stopping while the oxcart continued to move.
  • Fixed a bug where, at high framerates, the cargo section of an oxcart would slowly rotate while the cart is stationary.
  • Fixed a bug where, at high framerates, the sensitivity of the controller's motion sensor would fluctuate.
  • Fixed a bug where the values for graphics memory usage and processing load included values for disabled features.

Dragon's Dogma 2: Dark Arisen — Relic system

Next up, we have a new gameplay trailer for Dragon's Dogma 2: Dark Arisen, which reveals new details regarding its unique Relic Expedition mechanic.

While exploring the dark caves and snowy fields of this DLC expansion's exclusive Norgan region, you will frequently come across Relics hidden in treasure chests or obtained upon killing dangerous foes like the sasquatch-like Norgan Giants.

You can also employ the services of a Norgandian direwolf named Freki to help you search for these Relics more easily for the price of meat and pets.

Once you find these relics, you can have them appraised by an NPC named Jiera within the Norgandian Settlement, which will then transform them into new weapons or armor pieces.

Your newly appraised gear won't just offer better stats, they can also grant you and your Pawns brand new abilities or refine ones you already have learnt to help you survive better in battle.

Windows Central's take

The new Relic systems sound interesting, but the best news for me is Dragon's Dogma 2's Title Update 3.2 with its much-needed 60fps performance boost to Xbox consoles.

I've tested its performance boost briefly on my Xbox Series X during my lunch break and can confirm Dragon's Dogma 2 now runs at a consistent 30fps or 60fps depending on the newly added graphics settings.

This is a MASSIVE improvement from when I briefly played it back in 2024 to make my Thief Vocation guide, which constantly dropped below 30fps whether I was casually exploring or getting into fights.

Granted, the resolution quality takes a bit of a hit, but it's a sacrifice I'm willing to make if it means I don't have to worry about nauseating framerate drops that caused the game to look like a PowerPoint presentation or having low framerates delay my inputs during fights with trolls and drakes anymore.

Dragon's Dogma 2 now feels so nice to control thanks to this patch. With the addition of this patch, the Title Update 3.1 patch, which made fast-travel less of a headache, and the removal of annoying pay-to-win microtransactions, it's time I give this game a proper playthrough and see why my colleague, Jez Corden, loved Dragon's Dogma 2 so much.

Dragon's Dogma 2's Dark Arisen DLC expansion is set to launch on October 9, 2026, for Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch 2, and PC via Steam.

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Microsoft Teams will soon let you temporarily pause notifications for a set period of time. Teams already has a variety of mute functions, but the new feature should make it easier to quiet down anything from Teams for a bit.

The feature starts rolling out this month and should be available to all users by early October.

The Microsoft 365 Message Center Archive has a record of the change:

"Microsoft Teams will introduce a new capability that allows users to temporarily pause notifications for a selected period of time. This feature gives users greater control over interruptions, helps reduce notification overload, and enables focused work, meetings, and other activities without requiring changes to existing notification settings."

All versions of Teams will have the option to temporarily pause Teams notifications for a set duration. The feature will be accessible through the profile menu in the upper-right corner of Teams.

The new capability in Teams is a bit like "Focus" in Windows 11, though it's specific to Teams. If you're working on a project, you may want to receive notifications through Windows 11 but keep Teams quiet.

Many workers have to use a variety of communication platforms. Pausing Teams notifications for a while could come in handy when presenting on Zoom. Microsoft accidentally shared discussions about other companies during a presentation by having a Teams notification appear. Pausing notifications would have prevented that.

It appears that one of the key differences in using this new feature compared to Do Not Disturb is how you'll appear to your colleagues. Setting Teams to Do Not Disturb is simple and effective, but it changes your public status indicator to red. I believe pausing notifications will leave your status unchanged.

Muting channels in Teams is also an existing feature, but it is done on a per-channel or per-chat basis. Pausing notifications should work across the board.

Neowin first spotted the new feature for Teams, but at the time details were scarce. Microsoft has since detailed how the feature will work and how the option differs from other methods of muting Teams.

It's unclear if pausing notifications will sync across all of your devices or if it is on a per-instance basis. I would hope there is an option to sync the pausing or pick which devices will continue to receive notifications.

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After two months of relative calm, Xbox's live services are once again suffering a major outage as of this writing.

This is confirmed by the official Xbox Status website, which states that Xbox's "Account & Profile" and "Games & Gaming" are currently unavailable.

Xbox Support's X account also confirms through an official announcement post that people are reporting they can't sign into their Xbox profiles, create new accounts, or play games that require a profile login.

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Xbox Support states they are aware of the situation and are currently investigating this issue to find a fix as soon as possible.

We'll keep you posted on the case and let you know when Xbox's online services are fully fixed and operational again.

In the meantime, let's hope this Xbox outage isn't as bad as the last one, which lasted over 15 hours straight and disabled nearly all of Xbox Network's services.

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Dell just announced a new laptop to take on Apple's MacBook Neo. The Dell 14S is a colorful laptop designed for college students and young adults, which helps the PC compete with the MacBook Neo's colorful range.

The Dell 14S should be a budget-friendly PC, though Dell has not released pricing for the laptop yet. The laptop has an aluminum body and a nice selection of ports, including two USB 3.2 Type-C ports, an HDMI port, and a 3.5mm headphone jack.

The Dell 14S and the Dell XPS 13 released earlier this year both compete with the MacBook Neo, but they do so in different ways. The XPS 13 has a better display, Wi-Fi 7, a backlit keyboard, and is a more premium device.

The Dell 14S promises all-day battery life, is available in several colors, and has a 16:10 display.

People who were intrigued by the low price of the MacBook Neo but want the look of a premium laptop running Windows 11 will likely prefer the newest XPS 13. Those who like the colorful tone of the MacBook Neo but want a lightweight and affordable device running Windows 11 will probably lean toward the Dell 14S.

Dell's confusing naming scheme

Dell is still struggling with naming its products. The company abandoned the XPS lineup and got rid of its entire consumer-focused strategy but has since backtracked and brought back XPS. But the company seems confused on what XPS means to customers.

If you head over to Dell's webpage about the New Dell 14S, you'll see a comparison chart that includes the New Dell 14, New Dell 14S, and Dell 14S. Incredibly, they are quite different from each other.

Listing two laptops side-by-side and having one labeled as "new" is fine. It's somewhat similar to how car companies handle naming, though the automotive industry often just attaches a year within parentheses.

Sticking with that analogy, if you look at a 2025 Honda Civic and a 2026 Honda Civic, they should be somewhat similar vehicles. Barring a complete overhaul, a new version of a model should resemble its predecessor.

If there is an overhaul, it's usually a linear progression, such as when Dell shifted from the old-old XPS to the once-new-but-now-old XPS.

If you did not already know which of the below PCs were XPS laptops, could you easily guess which are in that family of devices?

What is an XPS device in 2026? The new XPS 14 is a premium device featuring an Intel Core Ultra 7 processor or more powerful processor. The not-so-new but still great XPS 14 shares a similar design and also has an Intel Core Ultra 7 chip, albeit an older one.

So, XPS laptops are premium machines with high-end processors and a design resembling the XPS laptops from recent years, correct? Nope. The XPS 13 from this year is a budget-focused PC with options powered by an Intel Core Ultra 3 chip.

Other differences stand out, such as the latest XPS 13 having options with 8GB of RAM compared to the 16GB minimum of the new XPS 14.

Please understand, I think the latest XPS 13 and XPS 14 are excellent laptops. I predict the Dell 14S will also be a solid PC. But I don't understand what Dell is doing with its XPS brand. The company seems to have remembered that consumers value the XPS brand and has chosen to etch the XPS logo onto things willy-nilly.

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I love tiny utilities. If I find a useful flyout, widget, or Taskbar tweak, I'm likely to install it right away. A recent update to Battery Flyout brings power management and tracking to the Taskbar, and it even supports a new widget!

Battery Flyout is a third-party app made by Michał Łeptuch. It lets you switch power modes easily and provides charts about your PC's battery usage.

Some of the features in Battery Flyout are already in Windows 11, but they are spread out across the Settings app and other areas. Battery Flyout brings those options together and makes information and shortcuts easily accessible.

Łeptuch develops several apps that improve the overall Windows 11 experience, including Calendar Flyout. I spoke with him about the major update to Battery Flyout ahead of its release. Here's the full change log:

• Migrated the app from UWP to Windows App SDK (WinUI 3) on .NET 10 with Native AOT
• Added a full native ARM64 build
• Switched the app to run in Efficiency mode by default
• Removed third-party dependencies in favor of a custom-built system for handling power and battery events
• Added support for multiple batteries
• Added a more detailed chart style for battery levels
• Added the ability to switch chart colors between the default theme and your system accent color
• Added detailed technical information for each installed battery to the flyout
• Added a view of the apps consuming the most power to the flyout
• Replaced the old battery report with the new Power report, covering battery and system summary, per-battery details, app trends, recommendations, and resource usage
• Added the option to choose the units used in reports, including energy and temperature
• Added a new Actions module to automate tasks triggered by specific battery or power events
• Added a widget for the Windows Widgets board showing battery level and charging status
• Expanded support for Apple and Samsung devices, with more of them now reporting battery status
• Added the option to hide the device list when it's empty
• Updated the Bluetooth device icons shown in the flyout's device list
• Added the option to completely disable Bluetooth device scanning
• Added a keyboard shortcut to open the flyout
• Added the ability to change where the flyout appears on your desktop
• Added automatic flyout and context menu positioning for the taskbar layout options introduced in the Windows 11 August 2026 update
• Added the ability to set notifications for any battery level, for both the device and connected Bluetooth devices
• Added the option to set how long notifications stay on screen
• Added support for the Polish language
• Made various minor visual refinements
• Updated the tray icon font and improved its rendering
• Made general stability and performance improvements

A significant change that will affect all Battery Flyout users is that the app has been migrated from UWP to WinUI 3. That change brings better performance and taps into improvements Microsoft is making to WinUI 3 on Windows 11.

Battery Flyout should also use less battery than before since it now runs in Efficiency mode by default.

Similar to iOS and Android, Battery Flyout now has a dedicated page for viewing which apps are consuming the most power.

Some of the improvements will only affect a subset of users but are welcome additions. Battery Flyout now supports multiple batteries, which is useful for the small group of devices with multiple batteries.

The update also brings some under-the-hood improvements, such as switching away from third-party dependencies.

Perhaps the change aimed at the smallest niche is the addition of a Battery Flyout widget for the Windows 11 Widgets panel. That panel, which is built into every single Windows 11 PC, infamously features far fewer than 100 widgets. Battery Flyout will fit nicely between the barely functional Spotify widget and the Tic-Tac-Toe widget.

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With the 2026 Tokyo Game Show drawing near, Capcom is metaphorically and literally putting on the turbo boost for revealing new gameplay for Monster Hunter Wilds' Ascendence DLC expansion by showing off the new 'Boost Bracer' mechanic.

The Boost Bracer is a special gauntlet designed to give each of the game's fourteen weapon types new, exciting ways to play them.

Here's how the Boost Bracer will function in Monster Hunter Wilds: Ascendance, which is scheduled to launch in 2027 for Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, and PC via Steam.

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From what we can tell from Monster Hunter Wilds: Ascendance's 'Boosted Actions' trailer, the Boost Bracer has a special 'Boost' gauge that needs to be filled up by hitting enemies with 'Boost Drivers', which are new super moves that will be added for every weapon type in the DLC expansion.

Once the gauge is filled up, your weapon will be powered up with new moves, combos, and properties for a limited time before it needs to be filled again with successful Boost Driver attacks, which appear to have cooldown timers similar to the 'Wirebug' mechanic from Monster Hunter Rise.

The Boost Bracer's features shown so far include unlocking new moves and combos, enhancing a weapon's pre-existing moves, boosting a weapon's survivability by improving its guard capabilities or allowing its wielder to run with the weapon unsheathed, and more.

For the next two weeks leading up to Capcom's Tokyo Game Show Showcase on September 17, 2026, the developers will be releasing daily gameplay trailers showcasing how the Boost Bracer will alter each weapon type, starting with the Great Sword.

For the Great Sword, the Boost Bracer will allow the user to chain multiple Offset Attacks, sprint while the weapon is unsheathed to perform running Offset attacks, and perform enhanced versions of its charge slashes (including a super version of the iconic True Charged Slash).

Windows Central's Take

My first impression upon seeing the Boost Bracer in action is that it reminds me HEAVILY of Nero's 'Exceed' mechanic from Capcom's Devil May Cry series, where you rev up the character's 'Red Queen' weapon like a motorcycle to enhance its attacks to absurd degrees that make you feel like a superhero.

I feel somewhat conflicted because, on one hand, I'm afraid that these Boost Bracer attacks are going to make fighting enemies a trivial task even in Master Rank when combined with Monster Hunter Wilds' already overpowered Wounds and Focus Mode mechanics (which, by the way, I hope get nerfed along with other changes I hope Monster Hunter Wilds: Ascension brings to make the base game more challenging).

On the other hand, I can't deny it looks cool and fun to use in motion, and I'm curious to see how it will improve my favorite weapon types in the game, like Gunlance and Sword & Shield.

Plus, it really makes me miss Devil May Cry, as we haven't seen a new game for the series since 2019's Devil May Cry 5, so Monster Hunter Wilds: Ascendance is probably the closest follow-up we're going to get right now.

Stay tuned for more as we keep an eye out for the rest of the Boost Bracer showcase trailers in the lead-up to the 2026 Tokyo Game Show, where Capcom will show off a gameplay demo for Monster Hunter Wilds: Ascendance featuring the new mysterious, unnamed flying wyvern from the debut trailer and the return of a classic Elder Dragon.

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