Hey Xbox Insiders! We have a new Xbox Update Preview releasing to the Alpha Skip-Ahead ring today. It's important we note that some updates made to these preview OS builds include background improvements that ensure a quality and stable build for Xbox consoles. We will continue to post these release notes, even when the noticeable changes to the UI are minimal or behind the scenes, so you're aware when updates are coming to your device. Details can be found below!

New Features and Experiences
We have exciting news! Alpha Skip-Ahead users can expect something new coming to their Xbox Update Preview.

Xbox Cloud Gaming (Beta)
Xbox Insiders can preview Mouse and Keyboard support while playing via cloud gaming on supported browsers (Edge and Chrome) and the Xbox App on Windows PCs for users enrolled in the PC Gaming Preview. Note: Users on browser will need to enable Preview features on their browser to gain access to the feature. This is done by clicking on your profile picture at xbox.com/play and then select Settings and then enable "Preview features."

With Mods (short for modifications), you can tailor your gaming experience to your unique preferences. Uploaded by creators all over the world, you can pick between anything to create the city of your dreams. Along with Beach Properties, the first wave of Cities: Skylines II Modding will be available. The Beta release of Modding will initially support Map and Code mods. With the Map Editor, you can make maps with the Terraforming Tools you're used to, import hightmaps to create highly accurate depictions of your hometown, and upload your creations to Paradox Mods.

With the Code Tools, you can show off your coding skills and create Code Mods to meet your heart's desire! Future updates will improve on these tools and come to include support for Asset Mods. As we've talked about before, there will be updates to these tools that we are currently working on, and we will see some updates before the 1.0 release. We will be taking your opinion into consideration when we continue to work on the editor and are looking forward to seeing the feedback that you might have. If you're curious on what the process of Modding will look like you can already check it out on the Cities: Skylines II Wiki here.

Bandai Namco Entertainment America Inc. is inviting potential CRADLECOFFIN Drifters to participate in the upcoming SYNDUALITY Echo of Ada closed beta test, with registrations now open. The extraction shooter, set in a dystopian futuristic world where humans and AI must cooperate to survive, will have limited slots available for players to be among the first to venture into the ruins of Amasia to fight both environmental threats and human enemies, reap rewards, and escape with all the AO Crystals they can carry.

As a CRADLECOFFIN mech pilot, players will be able to bring their choice of Magus into battle—an AI companion that provides useful combat information including radar locations, resource tracking, combat assistance, and more. They can also select from a wide variety of chassis, arms, and legs, with two weapons as well to optimize their loadout for each sortie. The CBT for SYNDUALITY Echo of Ada will run March 28 through April 1 on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC via Steam.

Bethesda has released what appears to be the biggest beta update yet for the Starfield game, bringing new features and an extensive list of bug fixes for quests, graphics, gameplay, and more. The new Beta update, which is now available in Steam Beta, and should roll out as an official update at a later date, brings several new features, including a whole new photomode, scanner, FOV adjustments when using 3rd person ship view, anisotropic filtering quality slider, new autosave, updated ship UI, and more.

The most important inclusions, graphics-wise, include fixes for NVIDIA DLSS and AMD FSR, various flickering issues, various shadow quality and other performance improvements, as well as some gameplay and quest fixes that were previously noticed in the game.

Hello Citizens, the day has finally come—we are ready to announce the release date of Frostpunk 2! Watch the latest trailer below. Frostpunk 2 is the sequel to the highly acclaimed, BAFTA-nominated society survival game that blended city building, strategy, and management gameplay. Taking place 30 years after the apocalyptic blizzard, Earth is still overwhelmed by the never-ending frost and harsh, icy climate. You play as the leader of a resource-hungry metropolis where expansion and the search for new sources of power is an unavoidable reality.

Frostpunk 2 is coming to PC and through PC Games Pass on July 25, 2024. Pre-orders available now! Get the Digital Deluxe Edition with a 10% discount, which is also available for pre-order starting today and access a seven-day long beta in April that consists of part of the game's sandbox mode, among other things.

HWiNFO v7.73-5370 Beta was released yesterday—the newly updated version includes a fully integrated On-Screen Display (OSD) feature. In the past, users have had to rely on external tools—for example; RivaTuner Statistics Server (RTSS)—to get vital information displayed on their monitor(s) of choice. Martin, HWiNFO's main author, revealed that this new addition is based on a Team Blue toolset—his February 13 official forum post stated: "(this) feature is based on Intel PresentMon and allows showing any value as a text or graph (with multiple values). Position, text font, size, weight and colors can be individually defined. It should work with any engine like DirectX 11, 12, OpenGL, Vulkan. The OSD is automatically placed over the most graphics intensive application currently running but it can also be manually targeted." Five days later he followed up with further information—HWInfo64's new OSD is "available in HWiNFO64 only," therefore making it incompatible with Windows XP. Similarly, MSI's Afterburner 4.6.6 Beta landed a week and a bit ago, without support for Microsoft's 2001-vintage operating system.

Martin reckons that the change could affect Windows Vista users: "Use legacy HWiNFO32 on these systems. We don't anticipate that these systems will benefit from 64-bit applications, nor require support of latest HWiNFO64 versions. So the impact of this (sad) limitation should be minimal. In case there will be a reasonable demand for new versions of HWiNFO64 on XP64 it's still possible to build such versions (without OSD support), but currently we don't expect to make such extra effort." Additionally, the popular monitoring application's latest upgrade brings enhanced sensor monitoring for ASUS NUC systems, improved health monitoring on a selection of NVMe drives (connected via Intel RST), and enhanced sensor monitoring on the ASUS TUF GAMING Z790-PRO WIFI motherboard model.

We're thrilled to unveil Gigantic: Rampage Edition, the definitive release of the beloved MOBA hero shooter, Gigantic, created by Motiga. Developed by Abstraction Games, this premium edition promises both veteran players and newcomers an exhilarating journey into the world of team-based multiplayer gaming. Set to launch on April 9, 2024, across PC, PlayStation, and Xbox platforms for $19.99, Gigantic: Rampage Edition amplifies the original game's thrills with dynamic gameplay, a diverse hero roster, and exciting new features. With zero microtransactions, players can unlock all content through gameplay or in-game currency.

Closed Beta Testing
Get a taste of Gigantic: Rampage Edition's Rush Mode in a Closed Beta Test on Steam, starting February 22 at 12:00pm PST / 9pm CET. Sign up on the game's Steam page for a chance to join the action-packed playtest. Gear up for Gigantic: Rampage Edition - the ultimate MOBA hero shooter adventure awaits! Stay tuned for more updates and announcements and join the discussion on our Gigantic Discord!

The MSI Afterburner 4.6.6 Beta update was released three days ago—available to download through Guru3D's distribution section—its patch notes tease the exciting addition of "some future NVIDIA GPU PCI DeviceIDs to (our) hardware database." The forward facing nature of this software upgrade brings some unfortunate news for Windows XP operating system users—Beta version 4.6.6's top bullet point provides some reasoning: "Ported to VC++ 2022 compiler. Please take a note that due to this change MSI Afterburner will no longer be able to start under Windows XP. Please stay on the previous versions of the product if you need this OS support." Unwinder's software engineering team has traditionally stuck with the 2008 Visual C++ compiler, hence Afterburner's long history of supporting Windows XP.

The adoption of a more modern compiler has signaled the end for MSI's overclocking and hardware monitoring program on a legacy operating system. Developers largely moved on from XP-supporting endeavors around the mid-2010s—as pointed out by Tom's Hardware: "To get an idea on how late Afterburner is on dropping Windows XP, the last time we reported on any app ending support for the OS was in 2019, when Steam ended support on New Year's Day." Returning to the modern day—4.6.6 Beta's best-of-list mentions that RivaTuner Statistics Server is host to "more than 90 compatibility enhancements and changes"—v7.3.5 rolls out with NVIDIA Reflex and PresentMon integration, as well as programmable conditional layers support. The other headlining feature addition within Afterburner's latest pre-release guise is voltage control for AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT GPUs.

Steam Next Fest is here and we're thrilled to have you join us to play the first-ever public demo of Stormgate! The Steam Next Fest demo includes full access to the current closed beta phase, codenamed "Elephant." (Each Stormgate playtest build is named after a classic RTS unit, in alphabetical order.) Here are some key insights into the current game state and what you can look forward to during the playtest.

How to Play With Friends
While our party system is still under construction, you can easily play with friends by creating custom games, either public or private, and sharing the Lobby ID. Crush that smack-talkin' Major Galt together in our 3P co-op map, WRECK HAVOC!

AMD FSR 3 comes to Starfield in our latest Steam Beta. Those of you playing on Steam can opt into the Beta to see the improvements brought to the game before this update becomes available to all our PC Starfield players. This new feature allows for a combination of upscaling as well as advanced frame generation, boosting your framerate for better performance. While AMD's FSR 3 works for a wide range of video cards, you will want to verify that your system supports it so that you get the best experience. It is also recommended to use FSR 3 with VSync ON and with a VRR monitor for the best experience.

For those participating, you can enable FSR 3 by heading to Display Settings and accessing the Upscaling options. From there you will be able to cycle through the option best suited for your experience. As with any update, we look forward to reading your feedback and seeing you share your experiences. Thank you for your support and see you in Starfield!

Intel today released the latest version of Arc GPU Graphics Drivers. Version 101.5074 Beta adds optimization for "Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora," with an up to 8% performance uplift seen at 1080p with Ultra settings, as measured with an Arc A770 GPU. The drivers fix a handful of game-specific issues. Total War: Pharaoh exhibits display corruption upon changing game resolution on certain displays; which has been fixed. Application crashes with the original "Alan Wake" (DirectX 9) has been fixed. A colorful pixed corruption with "Cyberpunk 2077" has been fixed. Flickering pixels during gameplay with 4x MSAA enabled for "Counter Strike 2" has been fixed. A sporadic application crash with "Gostrunner 2" has been fixed. An application crash with "Far Cry 3" has been fixed.

DOWNLOAD: Intel Arc GPU Graphics Drivers 101.5074 Beta

Starting October 26, 2023, Embark Studios is hosting the first cross-platform Open Beta for THE FINALS, the team-based, free-to-play shooter that pushes environmental dynamism, destruction, and player freedom to the limits. The test will run on Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, and Steam and ends on November 5.

THE FINALS is the ultimate combat entertainment game show where you and your team fight for fame, riches, and the favor of generous seasonal sponsors, in hyper-realistic, fully destructible Virtual Arenas inspired by iconic real-worldlocations. The Open Beta introduces the brand new Skyway Stadium arena to the map
rotation, along with an all-new game mode—Bank-It. Additionally, the beta includes a free BattlePass with 16 exclusive, permanent rewards that players can
unlock and keep for launch. The beta features cross-play and cross-progression between PC and consoles.

Intel has released the latest version of Arc GPU Graphics Drivers, version 101.4900 Beta, which brings Game On Driver support on Intel Arc A-series Graphics for Alan Wake 2, Cities: Skylines 2, WRC, and Ghostrunner 2 games. New drivers do not fix any issues or bugs, so it will still have some issues in games like Starfield.

In terms of performance, and compared to the 101.4887 drivers, these will bring up to a 20 percent average performance uplift at 1080p and high settings and up to a 22 percent average performance increase at 1440p and medium settings in the upcoming Alan Wake 2 game which launches on October 27th. It also increases the average FPS by up to 34 percent at 1080p with high settings and up to 26 percent at 1440p with medium settings in Cities Skylines 2 (DX11), which launches today, October 24th.

DOWNLOAD: Intel Arc GPU Graphics Drivers 101.4900 Beta

Ready to play the MWIII Beta? Here's the full rundown, including Beta timing and download intel, tips on maps and game modes, in-game progression, and the rewards you can earn for use in Modern Warfare III.

Welcome to the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III Beta!
It's time to get your hands on the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III Beta. Whether you're a brand-new player looking for fast-paced, high-octane action or you're a veteran player of the Call of Duty franchise readying up for the return of some classic Multiplayer maps, this article will get you up and running for everything Beta related. The Modern Warfare III Beta will be split into two different weekends, with more maps and game modes scheduled throughout the Beta. The Multiplayer maps will be instantly familiar to anyone who has played Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (2009), featuring the latest technical advancements and modern movement mechanics for a completely refreshed experience. Now, let's get to it!

Greetings, Lord Captain! A grand voidship is ready to pierce the depths of space. Your companions await your orders. Dangers and adventures, terrors and treasures lie ahead. And now you finally know when you will take the first step on your glorious path. Your journey starts on December 7, 2023. Made in a close partnership with Games Workshop, Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader is a story-rich classical RPG from Owlcat Games, developers of the critically acclaimed game, Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous.

Plan your actions carefully
Slaughter the enemies of Mankind in a fully-fledged isometric turn-based tactical combat. Take advantage of cover, the environment, and careful positioning to overpower your enemies. When that is not enough - use your companions' powerful abilities to turn the tide of battle and achieve victory even in the direst of situations. Our video game adaption of the classic Rogue Trader ruleset allows an enormous number of possibilities for you to explore.

Hello! We're now at a stage of Train Simulator Classic's development process where we are ready to invite you to take part in Beta Testing the new improvements to the core builds. Your feedback from the last phase of development work was clear in that you wanted to be able to opt into the updates and leave yourself with a fallback option. So, this is how we'll proceed moving forward. You'll therefore need to opt into the Beta to try out the new features/bug fixes, etc. We provide full instructions further into this article - see the section on Opting in and Opting Out.

The Beta is planned to be what we call a "Rolling Beta". This means that the Beta will continue over a period of a year or more with the new features and fixes coming to the Beta first, and after receiving your feedback and any fixes applied, will then get rolled out to the Live Public branch. This process will continue throughout the Public Beta with builds coming in regularly depending on the work being done.

Anyone up for another beta? You guessed it, this weekend we'll run another technical beta of Payday 3. This time it will be OPEN for you to push our servers to the limit. Payday 3 is the much anticipated sequel to one of the most popular co-op shooters ever. Since its release, Payday-players have been reveling in the thrill of a perfectly planned and executed heist. That's what makes Payday a high-octane, co-op FPS experience without equal.

Second BETA
As you might've heard already, we're doing a second Technical BETA - in other words, a server stress test. Same build as last time—so no new UI or heists for now. We want to ensure that we have as few issues as possible ahead of our very imminent launch, so this test is meant to do just that. Between September 8th and 11th we're running an open BETA, just go to our store page, download the build and play.

Intel Graphics has released the latest version of the Intel Arc GPU Graphics drivers, version 101.4672 Beta. Although a bit late to the party, the new drivers brings optimizations for Bethesda's Starfield game, with reduced game load duration, instability and visual artifacts fixes, as well as Game On support for NExT Studios' SYNCED game.

The new 101.4672 Beta drivers do not appear to bring any further improvements or fixes and appear mostly focused on supporting the Starfield game. There are still plenty of issues with Starfield but Intel notes that further fixes are coming in future driver updates.

DOWNLOAD: Intel Arc GPU Graphics Drivers 101.4672 Beta

We break down the recently revealed Campaign footage from Operation 627. Also, details on this year's Call of Duty Next on October 5, and the MW III Multiplayer Beta. Developed by Sledgehammer Games in partnership with Infinity Ward, the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III Campaign is the direct sequel to the events of Modern Warfare II.

As mentioned in the full game's Announcement, this Campaign features a seamless integration of missions built around Call of Duty's signature, cinematic moments that have defined two decades of the franchise's action-packed, narrative-driven, single-player experiences, and brand-new Open Combat Missions designed to give the player freedom to approach the action in a variety of different ways. The full Campaign, of course, is available up to one week prior to the game's official launch on November 10, and is available through Campaign Early Access, included in all digital pre-order editions of Modern Warfare III. One week based on estimated access; actual play time subject to possible outages and applicable time zone differences.

With each PlayStation 5 system software release, we've introduced new features designed to enhance the many ways you can access your favorite content, navigate your console, or create new gaming memories with friends. Today, we're thrilled to roll out a new PS5 system software beta that introduces new accessibility features as well as audio options that allow 3D Audio powered by Tempest 3D AudioTech to be enjoyed on compatible Dolby Atmos-enabled HDMI devices such as sound bars, TVs, or home theater systems. The beta also includes more options to quickly find games and console tips, new ways to connect with other players and customize your multiplayer sessions, and support for larger-capacity M.2 SSDs (up to 8 TB).

While beta access will be limited to invited participants in select countries*, we plan to release the update globally later this year. If you're selected to participate in the beta, you'll receive an email invitation today when it's available to download. Some features available during the beta phase may not make it into the final version or may see significant changes. Without further ado, here are some of the highlights from the beta release...

Heisters! We are thrilled to announce that PAYDAY 3 is hosting a technical Closed Beta from August 2nd to August 7th. Players can sign-up for a chance to play the game on Steam and Xbox Series S|X. We have prepared a FAQ regarding the Closed BETA (see below).

PAYDAY 3 is the much anticipated sequel to one of the most popular co-op shooters ever. Since its release, PAYDAY-players have been reveling in the thrill of a perfectly planned and executed heist. That's what makes PAYDAY a high-octane, co-op FPS experience without equal.

The Walking Dead: Betrayal is a third-person action game of cooperation and deception for up to 8 players. Out of resources, with a herd of walkers fast approaching, players must work together to complete objectives and make their escape. They'll need to work fast, as walkers aren't the only threat.

Incognito "traitors" lurk among them, plotting to do everything in their power to delay repairs and prevent anyone from leaving. With so many creative ways to sabotage the team, the walkers are the most predictable threat. As evidence of their sabotage becomes apparent, paranoia and accusations threaten to tear the survivors apart as they desperately work towards escaping. Can you make it out alive?

When The Crew Motorfest launches on September 14, players will get free rein to explore the Hawaiian island of O'ahu from behind the wheel of more than 600 vehicles, including a broad array of licensed cars, jeeps, buggies, motorcycles, boats, and planes. Featuring a huge open world filled with activities and freestyle stunt opportunities, The Crew Motorfest's main attractions are its Playlists, a series of self-contained, themed campaigns that each include six to 10 events focused on a specific brand, car type, or aspect of car culture, like drift racing, classic cars, or even sightseeing.

Playlists provide you with loaner vehicles appropriate to each of their events, and completing all of a playlist's events unlocks an exclusive car for you to add to your garage. Playlist events sometimes carry special victory conditions or modifiers - in the 911 Legacy: A Porsche Story Playlist, for example, you'll earn bonuses for driving clean and keeping your car free of damage. Vintage Garage turns off your GPS minimap while you drive its classic cars, and the laid-back Hawaii Scenic Tour doesn't even require you to place in its events, only to complete them.

Gearbox Publishing and Brazil-based developer Rogue Snail are inviting players to gear up for a limited time Closed Beta of Relic Hunters Legend, an upcoming top-down looter-shooter for PC and available via Steam. Players worldwide can sign up for access and be among the first to get a glimpse of this epic adventure starting Thursday, July 20 at 9:00 AM CST and ending Monday, July 24 at 9:00 AM CST.

Relic Hunters Legend is an in-development top-down looter-shooter featuring exciting, fast-paced gameplay, a variety of powerful equipment and weapons with tons of customizable options, and a diverse cast of rowdy Rebels with different skills and abilities that you can fine tune to match any playstyle! Watch the new gameplay trailer below. Find more details in the blog post here. Players can sign up for access to the Closed Beta on Steam here.

Hello everyone! Today I'm happy to announce that we're putting the next update for Age of Wonders 4 into Open Beta! This previews some of the improvements that are part of the Watcher update, due later this summer. This coming update focuses on what we feel are the issues which are most important to you, and we'd love to get your feedback on what we've managed to do so far.

It's important to remember that this is a work in progress patch. This means that it may be unstable or imbalanced, and that the features we've added may not work entirely as we want them to. It also means that we may revert certain changes later if we feel that they aren't achieving what we want them to or if we're inspired to replace them with something better! Instructions, Patch Notes and F.A.Q. are provided below...