Hooded Horse and Slavic Magic are delighted to announce that historical city-building and strategy game Manor Lords is available in early access via digital platforms across the world!

With over 3 million wishlists on Steam alone, this highly anticipated game presents players with a vibrant and detailed world inspired by 14th-century medieval life. Featuring a high degree of historical authenticity and a rags-to-riches setting, players will be tasked with growing a humble village into a powerful feudal city. Manor Lords mixes organic city-building systems with intricate production chains that feed into a real-time tactical combat layer where the workers are also the warriors.

Rain or shine, a new month means new games. GeForce NOW kicks off April with nearly 20 new games, seven of which are available to play this week. GFN Thursday celebrates the 10-year anniversary of ZeniMax Online Studios' Elder Scrolls Online by bringing the award-winning online role-playing game (RPG) to the cloud this week. Plus, the GeForce NOW Ultimate membership comes to gamers in Japan for the first time, with new GeForce RTX 4080 SuperPODs online today.

The Rising Sun Goes Ultimate
GeForce NOW is rolling out the green carpet to gamers in Japan, expanding next-generation cloud gaming worldwide. The Ultimate membership tier is now available to gamers in the region, delivering up to 4K gaming at up to 120 frames per second, all at ultra-low latency - even on devices without the latest hardware. Gamers in Japan can now access from the cloud triple-A titles by some of the world's largest publishers. Capcom's Street Fighter 6 and Resident Evil Village will be coming to GeForce NOW at a later date for members to stream at the highest performance. GeForce NOW will operate in Japan alongside GeForce NOW Alliance partner and telecommunications company KDDI, which currently offers its customers access to GeForce RTX 3080-powered servers, in addition to its mobile benefits. Plus, new GFNA partners in other regions will be announced this year - stay tuned to GFN Thursdays for details.

Microsoft's DirectX department is scheduled to show off several innovations at this month's Game Developers Conference (GDC), although a late February preview has already spilled their DirectSR Super Resolution API's beans. Today, retail support for Shader Model 6.8 and Work Graphs has been introduced with an updated version of the company's Agility Software Development Kit. Program manager, Joshua Tucker, stated that these technologies will be showcased on-stage at GDC 2024—Shader Model 6.8 arrives with a "host of new features for shader developers, including Start Vertex/Instance Location, Wave Size Range, and Expanded Comparison Sampling." A linked supplementary article—D3D12 Work Graphs—provides an in-depth look into the cutting-edge API's underpinnings, best consumed if you have an hour or two to spare.

Tucker summarized the Work Graphs API: "(it) utilizes the full potential of your GPU. It's not just an upgrade to the existing models, but a whole new paradigm that enables more efficient, flexible, and creative game development. With Work Graphs, you can generate and schedule GPU work on the fly, without relying on the host. This means you can achieve higher performance, lower latency, and greater scalability for your games with tasks such as culling, binning, chaining of compute work, and much more." AMD and NVIDIA are offering driver support on day one. Team Red has discussed the launch of "Microsoft DirectX 12 Work Graphs 1.0 API" in a GPUOpen blog—they confirm that "a deep dive" into the API will happen during their Advanced Graphics Summit presentation. NVIDIA's Wessam Bahnassi has also discussed the significance of Work Graphs—check out his "Advancing GPU-driven rendering" article. Graham Wihlidal—of Epic Games—is excited about the latest development: "we have been advocating for something like this for a number of years, and it is very exciting to finally see the release of Work Graphs."

Apple has just been hit with a massive €500 million fine by the European Union over a complaint filed by Spotify over anti-competitive practices. The crux of the complaint is that while Spotify subscriptions purchased on its website are competitive to those of Apple Music, subscriptions purchased on Apple devices via the App Store incur a 30% commission to Apple, which would result in Spotify having to increase its subscription prices, making Spotify lose competitiveness to Apple Music, which comes pre-installed on iOS devices, is deeply integrated with the operating system, and costs less. The Spotify complaint was filed with the European Commission way back in 2019, with the ruling coming out just now. Apple is already facing the EU's heat over barriers to App Store alternatives in the Epic Games case. The company is implementing several platform-level changes with the upcoming iOS 17.4 update scheduled for March 2024, as well as changes to its terms of service. Hopefully Spotify gets its due.

The Walt Disney Company has announced a new collaborative venture with Epic Games—yesterday's press release outlined the creation of an upcoming "all-new games and entertainment universe that will further expand the reach of beloved Disney stories and experiences." Epic's Fortnite appears to be the first port of call for an expanded roster of Disney-owned characters and locales (perhaps for seasonal and time limited events)—new interactive projects will emerge at later time: "(our) persistent universe will offer a multitude of opportunities for consumers to play, watch, shop and engage with content, characters and stories from Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars, Avatar and more. Players, gamers and fans will be able to create their own stories and experiences, express their fandom in a distinctly Disney way, and share content with each other in ways that they love. This will all be powered by Unreal Engine." Additionally, the press briefing mentions a big money transaction: "Disney will also invest $1.5 billion to acquire an equity stake in Epic Games alongside the multi-year project. The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions, including regulatory approvals."

The Walt Disney Company's Chief Executive Officer—Robert A. Iger—stated: "Our exciting new relationship with Epic Games will bring together Disney's beloved brands and franchises with the hugely popular Fortnite in a transformational new games and entertainment universe. This marks Disney's biggest entry ever into the world of games and offers significant opportunities for growth and expansion. We can't wait for fans to experience the Disney stories and worlds they love in groundbreaking new ways." Tim Sweeney, Epic Games CEO and Founder also chipped in with: "Disney was one of the first companies to believe in the potential of bringing their worlds together with ours in Fortnite, and they use Unreal Engine across their portfolio. Now we're collaborating on something entirely new to build a persistent, open and interoperable ecosystem that will bring together the Disney and Fortnite communities." Disney's introductory piece includes a teaser image that shows an overhead perspective of a Fortnite-esque digital theme park—several circular floating islands are dotted with well known franchise graphics and company logos. A 43-second video montage also presents similar content, with the narrated message: "Discover a place where magic is Epic." Fortnite is listed alongside Marvel, Star Wars, Pixar and Disney IPs.

The Crew Motorfest Season 2 kicked off on December 6, marking the start of the game's partnership with Hoonigan, a brand focused on building custom cars capable of performing difficult and precise driving - and looking cool while doing it. Hoonigan is known for their series of Gymkhana films, which feature rally driver and Hoonigan co-founder Ken Block performing incredible stunts in major cities like San Francisco, Los Angeles, Mexico City, and more. They also created a YouTube series called This vs. That, which pits two customized cars against one another in a best-of-three drag race, and will frequently post new videos highlighting new and upcoming car builds. According to Hoonigan co-founder Brian Scotto, the company's mission statement (other than not to have a mission statement) is to be nimble and have fun, all in service of entertaining their audience (and themselves).

For Season 2, Hoonigan has completely taken over The Crew Motorfest, bringing a new Playlist, Gymkhaha Grid Masters, as well as curated weekly events on the Main Stage, monthly challenges, a car playground just offshore of the main island, and, of course, bespoke Hoonigan cars that can be earned by completing challenges or purchased from the in-game store. Some of the vehicles include Scotto's 1993 Porsche 911 Turbo TWB, Scotto's 1990 Audi Coupé Quattro, the 1965 Ford Hoonicorn Mustang, the 1988 Chevrolet Big Block ZZ632 Camaro, and the Audi S1 E-Tron Quattro Hoonitron 2021, among many others.

Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE) today announced the PlayStation 5 console (PS5) has surpassed 50 million units sold through to consumers, three years since its Nov. 2020 launch. Thanks to the support of PlayStation fans globally, the PS5 console has experienced strong momentum this year, driven by a slate of highly popular games and SIE's continued focus on bringing innovation to the gaming experience, including PS5 game streaming for PlayStation Plus Premium members.

"Achieving this PS5 sales milestone is a testament to the unwavering support of the global PlayStation community and their passion for the incredible experiences created by the talented developers from PlayStation Studios and our partners," said Jim Ryan, President and CEO of Sony Interactive Entertainment. "We're grateful for all of our players who have joined the PS5 journey so far, and we're thrilled that this is the first holiday season since launch that we have a full supply of PS5 consoles—so anyone who wants to get one can get one."

We want you to have the happiest of holidays for 2023, so we've put together the most festive sale. It has thousands of discounted games, limitless 33% Epic Coupons, an Epic Rewards boost to 10%, 17 free games, and free cosmetics for everyone. The event runs from today (Dec. 13, 2023) 11 AM ET (4 PM GMT / 5 PM CET), to Jan. 10, 2024 11 AM ET (4 PM GMT / 5 PM CET) Read about the highlights below!

Thousands of titles on sale, limitless 33% Epic Coupons, and an Epic Rewards boost to 10%!
In addition to the thousands of discounted titles, from today (Dec. 13, 2023) 11 AM ET (4 PM GMT / 5 PM CET), to Jan. 10, 2024 11 AM ET (4 PM GMT / 5 PM CET), any eligible transactions at, above, or adding up to $14.99 or higher will have a 33% Epic Coupon automatically applied at checkout (see Terms and Conditions). The Epic Coupon is limitless, so you'll receive one following each eligible transaction completed for the duration of the event. We'll also be boosting our Epic Rewards program to 10% for the duration of Holiday Sale.

Epic Games won a pivotal anti-trust dispute against industry giant Google, with a Jury holding Google Play and its billing service guilty of running an illegal monopoly for the sale of software and digital assets. Epic had sued both Google and Apple of running restrictive, walled-garden marketplaces on their mobile platforms, which forced people to buy, subscribe, or pay for its products only through their marketplaces, namely Google Play and the App Store, after gouging huge revenue shares. Epic had sought to release its own marketplace, the Epic Games Store, on these platforms, so it could sell its wares just the way it does on the PC. With this favorable verdict, Epic stands to save "hundreds of millions or even billions of Dollars" in fees to Google. Meanwhile, Google stated that it is preparing to appeal in a higher court, on the basis that the Play Store isn't the only software/content marketplace, and that it is competing with Apple's App Store (although not on the same devices).

Welcome to Epic Games Store's Black Friday Event 2023! Why launch it on a Tuesday? With the return of the Epic Coupon, delivering 33% off of eligible transactions, and a boost to 10% Epic Rewards, we couldn't wait until Friday to tell you! Save on a range of top games!

From Nov. 21, 2023 at 11 AM ET / 4 PM GMT / 5PM CET until Nov. 28, 11 AM ET / 4 PM GMT / 5 PM CET, any eligible transactions (see the Terms and Conditions), or shopping carts of $14.99 or over will have a 33% discount applied at checkout. And the coupon is limitless, so you'll receive one following each eligible transaction completed for the duration of the event. We'll also be boosting our Epic Rewards program to 10% for the duration of the event. We've crafted a Black Friday Buyer's Guide to help you out. We've gathered some highlights below, listing great titles new and old, but it's just a taste of the range of games that you can buy this Black Friday. Enjoy!

Today, AMD invades PC Building Simulator 2, as the Ryzen and Radeon brands get the star treatment in their very own AMD-themed workshop for the hit game from Epic Games. Available now on the Epic Games Store, you can grow your empire as you learn to repair, build and customize PCs at the next level. Experience deeper simulation, an upgraded career mode, and powerful new customization features. Use realistic parts from 40+ hardware brands to bring your ultimate PC to life.

In today's v1.6 update, developer Spiral House is sharpening up their peripheral options, unpacking some of the latest cases, adding two much anticipated graphics cards, and seeing a knight about a shovel. But even better? In today's update, players can give their workshop a "Red Team" makeover with the all-new AMD Workshop Theme. Check out PC Building Simulator 2 here.

Introducing Epic First Run, our opt-in exclusivity program for third-party developers and publishers on the Epic Games Store. Registration is open through our self-publishing flow in the Epic Developer portal. Additionally, we are kicking off Now On Epic: a new back catalog incentive program for developers and publishers to bring their previously released products to the Epic Games Store. Now On Epic gives participants the opportunity to boost their net revenue from user spending on eligible products from 88% to 100% in their first six months on the store on all payments processed by Epic Games. After this initial six-month run, participating titles will continue to benefit from Epic's industry-leading 88% / 12% revenue split.

The Epic Games Store is home to a global audience with over 230 million players and 68 million monthly active users. Releasing back-catalog content on the Epic Games Store helps reach new, incremental audiences and ensures that the content that our players are looking for can be consistently discovered. Participants can leverage publisher and franchise sale opportunities to maximize this unique opportunity during their participating titles' first six months on the Epic Games Store.

GeForce NOW brings expanded support for PC Game Pass to members this week. Members can stream eight more games from Microsoft's subscription service, including four titles from hit publisher Focus Entertainment.Play A Plague Tale: Requiem, Atomic Heart and more from the GeForce NOW library at up to 4K resolution and 120 frames per second with a GeForce NOW Ultimate membership. Plus, time's almost up to take on the Ultimate KovaaK's Challenge. Get on the leaderboard today - the challenge ends on Thursday, Sept. 21.

Laser-Focused
Four games from Focus Entertainment's PC Game Pass catalog join GeForce NOW this week. Members signed up with Microsoft's subscription service can now stream titles like A Plague Tale: Requiem, Atomic Heart and more titles at stunning quality across their devices - without additional purchases. Embark on a heartrending journey into a brutal, breathtaking world in the critically acclaimed A Plague Tale: Requiem or explore an alternate history of the 1950s Soviet Union in Atomic Heart. Go off road in SnowRunner or salvage among the stars in Hardspace: Shipbreaker. Members can even bring the squad together for military battles in Insurgency: Sandstorm. There's something for everyone. Experience it all with a PC Game Pass subscription, best paired with a GeForce NOW Ultimate membership, which provides up to 4K streaming or up to 240 FPS for the ultimate cloud gaming experience.

Today, we're introducing the Epic First Run program: an opt-in exclusivity program for third-party developers on the Epic Games Store. The new Epic First Run program gives participants the opportunity to boost their net revenue from user spending on eligible products from 88% to 100% in their first six months on the Epic Games Store. After their six-month run, participants will continue to benefit from Epic's 88%/12% revenue split.

The Epic Games Store is home to a huge, rapidly growing global audience with over 230 million players and 68 million monthly active users. Participating products in the Epic First Run program will be presented to those users on-store with new exclusive badging, homepage placements, and dedicated collections. In addition, products will be featured in relevant store campaigns including sales, events, and editorial as applicable. Once a product joins the program, it will benefit from continued exposure throughout its Epic First Run.

NVIDIA joined Pixar, Adobe, Apple and Autodesk today to found the Alliance for OpenUSD, a major leap toward unlocking the next era of 3D graphics, design and simulation. The group will standardize and extend OpenUSD, the open-source Universal Scene Description framework that's the foundation of interoperable 3D applications and projects ranging from visual effects to industrial digital twins.

Several leading companies in the 3D ecosystem already signed on as the alliance's first general members—Cesium, Epic Games, Foundry, Hexagon, IKEA, SideFX and Unity. Standardizing OpenUSD will accelerate its adoption, creating a foundational technology that will help today's 2D internet evolve into a 3D web. Many companies are already working with NVIDIA to pioneer this future.

Yesterday, Epic Games released a preview version of Unreal Engine 5.3—users can now try out the latest batch of improvements, as well as some new features. Epic's blurb Lumen boasts that their software engineers have refined "the workflows and capabilities of core features"—namely Nanite, and Path Tracing. Optimizations have resulted in "more control over performance" and overall better-looking visuals. Epic's own Fortnite, Layers of Fear (Bloober Team) and Remnant 2 (Gunfire Games) are the only currently released games running on Unreal Engine 5. Epic first showcased this technology back in 2020, with plenty of game development studios signing up to use it—but they have been slow in adapting to the feature-rich engine. In Remnant 2's case, Gunfire chose to not implement Lumen at launch.

Newly introduced experimental features include an upgraded particle rendering system—users are granted access to tool that can "create volumetrics such as smoke and fire directly inside Unreal." Epic's notes also mention that a Skeletal Editor has been added, for in-engine character weight and skinning work. Preview version 5.3 grants full support for Orthographic Rendering—useful in the fields of "architecture plus manufacturing visualizations, and stylistic games projects." Users will also see improvements in the Panel Cloth Editor and ML Cloth simulation system.

Get ready for Gunfire Games and Gearbox Publishing's highly anticipated Remnant II, available for members to stream on GeForce NOW at launch. It leads eight new games coming to the cloud gaming platform. Ultimate and Priority members, make sure to grab the Guild Wars 2 rewards, available now through Thursday, Aug. 31. Visit the GeForce NOW Rewards portal and opt in to rewards.

Kick off the weekend with one of the hottest new games in the cloud. Remnant II from Gunfire Games and Gearbox Publishing, sequel to the hit game Remnant: From the Ashes, is newly launched in the cloud for members to stream. Go head to head against new deadly creatures and god-like bosses while exploring terrifying new worlds with different types of creatures, weapons and items. With various stories woven throughout, each playthrough will be different from the last, making each experience unique for endless replayability.

Apple and Epic Games have been locked in a bitter legal feud for two years, relating to an antitrust case started by the latter company. The iPhone and Mac computer giant has made an appeal to the US Supreme Court—as demonstrated in a court filing that was released to the public on Monday (June 3). They request that justices take up its appeal of a ruling for tomorrow (June 7) by the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court (of Appeals). A 2021 verdict determined that Apple had to cease anti-steering practices. Apparently game developers were restricted to certain payment practices (imposing of fees) within the iOS App store. Epic Games sued Apple for anti-competitive practices back in 2020, with the US district court of California rejecting nine of out Epic's ten claims the following year—only the aforementioned anti-steering case was allowed to proceed.

The Ninth Circuit rejected petitions from Apple and Epic late last week—both companies urged that the court reconsider an April 2023 decision about the Californian law violation. Epic thinks that certain legal decisions have been made in Apple's favor, and the latter continues to rile against the App Store order. It argues that Epic was the sole "non-representative" plaintiff, yet the injunction applies to all iOS developers and US states outside of California. Apple believes that the ruling "raises far-reaching and important questions" about the federal court's limited authority to issue injunctions that apply to organizations not directly involved in the case.

Remedy Entertainment announced last month, via a FAQ, that it plans to keep Alan Wake 2 exclusive to digital platforms for an October 17 (this year) release, with no consideration given to customers demanding physical copies. Eurogamer questioned the game's creative director Sam Lake, and director Kyle Rowley at Summer Games Fest (earlier this month)—the site's reporter demanded a more detailed explanation regarding the long-anticipated sequel's eschewing of physical media. Lake responded first: "Yeah, it is digital only, and kind of coming to this idea, both from Remedy and Epic's perspective, that's our current thinking. It just felt it makes sense for this, and the timing felt right." His colleague, Rowley added further insight: "As creatives obviously, by going digital-only it does allow us more time to polish the game. Like, a significant number of weeks actually. Because otherwise, the game that goes on the disc, obviously it has to be playable without a patch. We didn't want to release something that we weren't proud of basically, and that we didn't want players to play. So hopefully this way we can give you a better version of the game."

The gaming community has debated at length about the temporary nature of digital releases—termination of online services and changes in ownership rights have resulted in certain titles becoming completely inaccessible to players/fans. Preservationists have fought hard for the continued release of physical media, but some publishers have resorted to bundling a download code in a disc-less retail box. Remedy Entertainment's FAQ proposes that digital platforms provide a more cost effective option for customers: "There are many reasons for this. For one, a large number of players have shifted to digital only. You can buy a Sony PlayStation 5 without a disc drive and Microsoft's Xbox Series S is a digital only console. It is not uncommon to release modern games as digital-only...Secondly, not releasing a disc helps keep the price of the game at $59.99 / €59.99 and the PC version at $49.99 / €49.99...Finally, we did not want to ship a disc product and have it require a download for the game - we do not think this would make for a great experience either."

Get into your favorite games faster by linking GeForce NOW to Steam, Epic Games Store and Ubisoft accounts. And get a peek at more games coming to GeForce NOW later this year by tuning in to Ubisoft Forward on Monday, June 12, when the game publisher will reveal its latest news and announcements. Plus, two new games are available to stream from the cloud this week, as well as the newest season for Tom Clancy's The Division 2 from Ubisoft. GeForce NOW makes gaming convenient and easy for members by enabling them to link their accounts from Steam, Epic and, most recently, Ubisoft, directly to the service. Instead of signing into their accounts for each play session, members can be automatically signed in across their devices after linking them up just once.

Starting today, launching Ubisoft Connect games requires members to link their Ubisoft accounts in the app. Once that's completed, members can effortlessly play hit Ubisoft games, including Rainbow Six Siege, Far Cry 6 and The Division 2. Members also have the benefit of library account syncing, which automatically syncs supported GeForce NOW games from Ubisoft Connect and Steam libraries - helping members find their Ubisoft games instantly. For an even more streamlined experience, upgrade to an Ultimate or Priority membership to skip the waiting lines over free members and get into gaming faster.

The doors of The Vault have ker-chunked open once again, revealing Epic MEGA Sale's week three highlights. Inside, you'll find asymmetrical multiplayer spook hunting game Midnight Ghost Hunt desperate to escape into your games library, and a fancy, free Fall Guys' Costume to look good in the Blunderdome.

This is also the first week you can start redeeming your Epic Rewards, and we've highlighted some brand-new games you can spend them on. Spend lots and prosper.

The Vault is open again, and inside we have … more vaults! Our free game this week is Fallout: New Vegas Ultimate Edition, which is famously full of vaults. You can grab the classic post-apocalyptic RPG from 11 AM May 25, 2023 to 11 AM, June 1.

For this week's giveaway, we have one free month of Discord Nitro, letting you access the awesome app's subscription-only features for a limited time.

Yesterday, at The PlayStation Showcase event, Remedy Entertainment and Epic Games unveiled a brand new gameplay trailer and announced that Alan Wake 2, the long-awaited and highly anticipated sequel to the studio's award-winning psychological thriller will launch on October 17. Alan Wake 2 will be available digitally for PC on the Epic Games Store, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S. Pre-orders for Alan Wake 2 are now available.

The trailer introduces Saga Anderson (played by Melanie Liburd), an accomplished FBI agent with a reputation for solving impossible cases, who arrives to investigate murders in the small town community of Bright Falls in the Pacific Northwest. Anderson's case spirals into a nightmare when she discovers pages of a horror story that starts to come true and questions how it may be connected to missing writer Alan Wake, whose own dark story eerily mirrors her own.

It's time! The Vault is open, and the Epic MEGA Sale 2023 starts…. Now! There are more opportunities to save than ever in one of the biggest sales we've ever had. We have enormous discounts of up to 75% off select titles. The Epic Coupon returns, with additional savings of 25% on eligible games. And we just launched a brand new Epic Rewards program that lets you earn 5% of your purchase back to spend on your next eligible Epic Game Store transaction.

There's more! Over the next four weeks, four free games and four giveaways will be up for grabs during the sale. Check in every Thursday, between May 18, 2023 (11 AM ET) to June 15, 2023 (11 AM ET), to see what's new. If you're reading this, the sale has already begun. It's live from May 18, 2023 (11 AM ET) to June 15, 2023 (11 AM ET). Go, go, go!

We're excited to announce that Unreal Engine 5.2 is now available. With this release, we've further expanded UE5's groundbreaking toolset as it continues to deliver on the promise of making Unreal Engine the most open and advanced real-time 3D creation tool in the world. Alongside feature refinements and stability improvements, Unreal Engine 5.2 pushes the boundaries of what creators can expect out of the box, delivering innovative new functionality.

Procedural Content Generation framework
Unreal Engine 5.2 offers an early look at a Procedural Content Generation framework (PCG) that can be used directly inside Unreal Engine without relying on external packages. The framework includes both in-editor tools and a runtime component. The PCG tools enable you to define rules and parameters to populate large scenes with Unreal Engine assets of your choice, making the process of creating large worlds fast and efficient.