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Blizzard is going to offer its digital PC games outside of its Battle.net launcher for the first time, starting next month with Overwatch 2 – though you’ll still need to sign in through Battle.net to play.
After zhuzhing up Portal with a shiny RTX version last year, Nvidia is at it again. This time, it’s ray-traced the cube-shaped edges of Portal: Prelude, the fan-made mod that serves as a full-length prequel to Valve’s beloved puzzler. You can go and download Portal: Prelude RTX for free now, as long as you’ve got the hardware to run it.
AMD’s top-flight graphics card, the RX 7900 XTX, is down to £869 when you buy it on Tech Next Day while using code TND-10. This is the lowest price we’ve spotted for AMD’s fastest GPU since it launched last year and a great deal for a card that originally retailed for north of £999.
This particular model is the Asus Tuf Gaming OC design, which has been well-rated for its thermal efficiency and performance. However, this is a big card, so it’s worth checking its dimensions (352.9 x 158.2 x 72.6mm) versus your case to ensure that it will fit, especially in smaller Micro ATX or Mini ATX enclosures.
Microsoft and Activision Blizzard have extended the deadline for their $69 billion merger by three months “to work through the final regulatory issues,” according to Microsoft president Brad Smith. The two companies had failed to meet their previous self-imposed deadline of yesterday, July 18th, and Microsoft have now avoided paying a $3 billion fine by renegotiating a new deadline: October 18th.
Neopets, the long-running website that featured virtual pets and Flash games, is under brand new management and they’re planning a nostalgic comeback. Yesterday, the newly established owners, World Of Neopia, published a blog post to unveil what’s next for the ‘00s petsite, after the previous owners saddled the franchise with dumb NFT rubbish and then shut down.
Space survival explorathons can usually be pretty stressful affairs since, y’know, breathable air can be a finite resource in these environments, and being chomped up by an indescribable horror is never off the table. That’s why Astroneer won me over with its more chilled take on the not-so-chill genre. But for those who enjoy the scary parts of space, Astroneer can now be turned into that hardcore survival experience. Or anything else you want. That’s thanks to the expansive Custom Games Mode update which launched last week – I’ve been working in Interstellar’s timezone, sorry!
Lisa: The Painful has been described to me as Undertale before Undertale. Or Earthbound after Earthbound (so, uh, Mother 3?). In other words, Lisa was a bit of a cult classic thanks to its freaky world, absurd humour, and brutal consequences. And when I say brutal consequences, I mean your party members can permanently lose limbs or turn into mounds of saggy flesh. How’s that for a debuff? Its Definitive Edition is out now, though, so maybe its “cult” status will finally blossom into mainstream appeal. Lisa: Definitive Edition bundles in the original game and its expansion, Lisa The Joyful, as well as new enemies, bosses, stories and endings, and an easier “Painless” mode.
Counter-Strike 2 is in closed beta while Valve test its new features, revised maps and upgraded engine. That limited test has just been updated to swap out two maps, Nuke and Office, with two others, Vertigo and a hugely overhauled Overpass, as well as to add the two-on-two Wingman mode.
We’ve just passed the middle of the month (and the year?), which means it’s time for another wave of Game Pass games to come. For starters, we have a tasty indie trio coming to the service today. Then to cap off July, one of the best platformers in recent memory Celeste rejoins the fun, while Marvel’s Avengers waves goodbye.
