We've been covering the loot box controversy for a while on TechPowerUp now. Independently of which side of the fence you're on - that loot boxes are akin to gambling and thus unethical in some of their implementations, or just cold to the entire issue - it's likely good news for everyone that these so-called "surprise mechanics", as they've been called, will now see their odds being disclosed by console makers and publishers.

Bethesda revealed that "Wolfenstein Youngblood" will launch a day earlier for the PC platform globally, on July 25. Console platforms PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch get the game on July 26. This prioritization of the PC platform is symbolic and underscores the vast revenue-base the platform constitutes. The PC is already Ubisoft's biggest revenue source.

A separate VentureBeat report reveals that at launch, "Youngblood" won't support real-time ray-traced eye-candy, which would be added at a later date through a patch. "We're working together with NVIDIA on that, but ray tracing won't be available at launch," said executive producer Jerk Gustafsson. "Youngblood" will be one of the first non-DirectX AAA titles to implement RTX. The game uses the Vulkan 3D API, and its RTX feature-set is exclusively NVIDIA's handiwork.

This is an interesting way to go about implementing DRM in the form of Denuvo - include it in one digital store release, but don't use it on another. This is what Bethesda has apparently done with the game, releasing a non-Denuvo enabled version of the game on their Bethesda Store, whilst offering a Denuvo-inclusive version on the Steam Store - without warning users of this feature on the platform.

After considerable outcry from buyers of the game, who weren't made aware of Denuvo's inclusion, Bethesda has promptly removed the DRM suite from the Steam release, meaning that it is now at parity with the version being distributed on the Bethesda Store. Whether the non-inclusion of Denuvo on the Bethesda store was a matter of making the wrong executable available only the company knows, but it's strange to license the DRM for a single store release - and Bethesda sure didn't include it "accidentally" on the Steam version, which makes the act of not listing it a debatable one. Of course, with one version not sporting the DRM, release groups have already started distributing the game in a cracked state, which obviously invalidates any protection Denuvo might provide.

Just in time for the release of Bethesda's open-world first-person shooter Rage 2 (find our performance analysis here), AMD has released their latest installment of the Radeon Adrenalin 2019 edition drivers for their graphics cards to make the most of the game. Indeed, AMD claims an improvement in game performance of up to 16% on the Radeon VII relative to last month's 19.4.3 drivers, and this is in addition to added support for the big Windows 10 May 2019 update and instruction tracing for AMD's GPU Profiler version 1.5.X. There is a plethora of fixed issues listed as well, and the usual list of known bugs, all of which can be seen past the break. We have also hosted the drivers installer for your convenience, which can be found at the link below.DOWNLOAD: AMD Radeon Software Adrenalin 19.5.1

As we draw closer to the release of Rage 2, publisher Bethesda has released the official PC system requirements for the game. The original Rage pushed the boundaries of rendering technology with its Mega Texture technology (which featured some slight streaming issues as available textures were rendered visible according to the scene).

The least of the requirements are set at an Intel Core i5-3570 or an AMD Ryzen 3 1300X CPU, paired with 8 GB of RAM and the long-in-the-tooth GTX 780 3 GB or R9 280 3GB. Recommended configurations will have to pack, at least, an Intel Core i7-4770 or AMD Ryzen 5 1600X CPU with 8 GB of RAM and an Nvidia GTX 1070 8GB or AMD Vega 56 8GB graphics card. The 8 GB of RAM in the recommended settings is a welcome surprise, in that most games have now been requiring 16 GB of system RAM. Unfortunately, Bethesda didn't mention what gameplay experience can be expected from the recommended system configuration. RAGE 2 releases on May 14th.

NZXT and Bethesda Softworks , a ZeniMax Media company, team up again to bring you the fourth entry into NZXT's CRFT series of limited edition licensed gaming gear. Introducing the H500 Vault Boy PC gaming case and optional all-metal cover for the NZXT N7 Z390 motherboard based on the Fallout universe's iconic Vault-Tec mascot. With the H500 Vault Boy, it is even easier to show your Fallout fandom while you and your build weather the apocalypse in the confines of your gaming shelter.

"For our second Fallout entry for CRFT, it was an easy choice to have Vault Boy be the focus," says Johnny Hou, founder, and CEO of NZXT. "He is easily one of gaming's most respected icons and synonymous with the beloved Fallout franchise. This is why it was important we created a case worthy of his legacy and of the hard-earned caps of this dedicated community."

Bethesda had concerned a few people last year when they had announced most of their new games would be available on the PC platform only via their own store and launcher, at least initially. People were quick to speculate whether this was Bethesda wanting a bigger share of the pie than Steam would allow, which is hilarious in hindsight with everything Epic Game Store related since then, and also whether this was because they were worried that Fallout 76, the first of these games affected by said decision, would have generate refunds galore on Steam as a result of bugs, bugs, and more bugs. Today Bethesda took to social media to make good on their promise, saying that all their upcoming games will be simultaneously available on both Steam and the Bethesda Store, including Rage 2, Doom Eternal, Wolfenstein: Youngblood, and Wolfenstein: Cyberpilot.

Interestingly, it will still be a while before Fallout 76 will make its way on Steam, which does not help its cause as far as far as having a depreciating player base goes. The move in general also plays into the larger dynamics of PC game stores, with game exclusives suddenly becoming a valid point of consideration as the competition from Epic Games heats up. It is also interesting to see how few complaints there are online of how these games are not available on, say, the Epic Games Store, or Discord, or GoG, and points further to the loyalty-factor of the populace complaining about exclusives on PC game stores in 2019.

Attention to all of you who enjoy your games to be free of charge (and don't we all?). Bethesda has announced that The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind is available for free download, today only. Yes, the game is an old one, but a free game is certainly worth the admission price, whether you've already played it and have your trusty, physical CD edition laying around (it's good for a frisbee nowadays), or just want to get your hands on something Elder Scrolls that you've never touched before.

Like any Bethesda game, there are a number of mods that you can apply here to fix bugs (ah trusty old Bethesda), improve mechanics, game systems, gameplay, and graphics, so you can always dive in a little deeper if that is your wish. You'll have to sign-up for a Bethesda account, and enter the code TES25TH-MORROWIND for the price to become a big, fat, submissive zero.

Bethesda has confirmed that they will be having their own presentation even before the actual E3 (Entertainments and Electronics Expo) kicks-off. Bethesda's presentation, which will be live on June 9th, will, according to Bethesda, offer an "in-depth look at DOOM Eternal plus much, much more." The company also teases that they want to "be together" with the community this year - likely because of one particular interstellar journey that dwells in such a team - perhaps in the form of Starfield?

While Fallout 76 may have (read: has) come out of the gates to generally poor rception, Bethesda Softworks has been hard at work trying to bring the game up to speed to the potential of the Fallout series - at least, as much potential as there is to scrounge for in this shared/world rendition of it. This has worked, according to Bethesda, through a dedication to "(...) improve performance, detect new exploits, and make the experience smoother for everyone. There's still work to do, but we're happy to report that game and server stability has increased over 300% since launch." To celebrate a perceived new state of the nation, Bethesda has just revealed their plans for the game thorugh a roadmap that spans the entirety of 2019.

It seems the game will be following a Seasonal content delivery, as there is a Spring, Summer, Fall, and Winter separation for content - free content, that is. The first content update, dubbed "Wild Appalachia", will be coming out throughout Spring 2019, featuring a series of new quests, features, events, crafting systems and more starting on March 12 and appearing over several weeks. Summer will see the arrival of of the "Nuclear Winter" content update, which seems like a tongue-in-cheek proposition. "Wastelanders", dropping this Fall, will be the single most comprehensive amount of content, according to Bethesda, with "a new main questline, new factions, new events, new features and even more surprises." Check out after the break for the full announced features for the Spring Update, "Wild Appalachia".

Fallout 76 has quickly been deemed one of the gaming failures of 2018, with the world of Fallout falling prey to a multitude of factors. You can count Bethesda's game engine and it's infinite amount of bugs, blatant misinformation in marketing campaigns, and monetization, monetization, monetization.

It would seem that in a bid to win back player's graces, Bethesda will be offering PC, PS4 and Xbox players of Fallout 76 that logged in to play the game during 2018 a copy of their Fallout Classic Collection, which includes Fallout, Fallout Tactics: Brotherhood of Steel, and Fallout 2. It's a holiday gift given in a pleading position, so to speak. An announcement that Bethesda would be developing a new game engine would likely be better received by the community as an apology, though.

It seems many companies just never learn, you would think with Bethesda's various controversies surrounding Fallout 76 that they would have taken a step back and reevaluated their position. You would also think that their first decision would not have been to add more horrendously overpriced downloadable content to their Atom shop. However, instead of making an educated decision Bethesda continues to march straight for the cliff like a group of lemmings.

What did they do this time you ask? Well, they decided to offer more absurdly priced bits of cosmetic gear. First up was their Holiday Emote bundle for 1200 Atoms which is 50% off the regular 2400 Atoms. Next is the Mr. and Mrs. Claus outfits listed for 2000 Atoms, down from 3000. Finally theres the Red Rocket Mega Sign for 1400 Atoms. All told buying those three featured items from the Atom Shop would run you about 4600 Atoms or $40 which is coincidently the highest price the game sells for currently. It would appear Bethesda really wants to earn back their development costs on this one.

After what seemed to be a series of never ending bad news concerning Bethesda's latest game, Fallout 76 received a major patch today that aims to improve the gaming experience in more ways than one. For PC users, a welcome addition comes in the form of the much-needed FOV (field of view) slider that has already helped tackle some complaints as seen online after launch. This comes along with a depth of field slider to allow further customization of the in-game view, which should also have a graphics performance effect depending on your hardware and DOF setting.

More importantly, Bethesda Game Studios has finally conceded that their current C.A.M.P system was far too broken. In particular, users were noticing their camp was lost entirely in between online sessions if someone else occupied the same space/location. This meant that a lot of resources were suddenly lost, and brought the online, multiplayer-only aspect of the game to be more similar to, say, State of Decay wherein players had to treat individual game sessions as possibly not having a point of resumption anymore. It added unnecessary frustration on top of what is frankly a bad video game by all records, and this is before we even get to the various bugs and monetary mishaps the game has seen since. Today's patch is a positive step, however, and hopefully this is one of many, many more that are needed before the game gets any real traction on the PC or console platforms alike. A full list of changes can be seen in the source linked in the full post.

With the release of Fallout 76 a week ago, Bethesda continues the tradition of releasing buggy games that are full of glitches and issues. These problems are always expected to come from Bethesda; typically the game is still fun however unlike previous titles, Fallout 76 is has been universally panned by gamers and critics alike. At this point, some of the bugs, exploits, and problems are just hilariously bad. Tools such as Nukacrypt are already available online, using only a partial code it can decrypt the in-game nuclear launch codes drastically speeding up the overall process. Keeping with nuke theme, players working together were able to crash a Bethesda server by launching three nukes simultaneously. There are more glaring examples but when you add them to the laundry list of problems its begins to look pretty bad even for Bethesda.

Then there is Brogadyn on Reddit, who for a week now has been stuck in a semi-god mode. Usually that would be something to rejoice about but in this case, has caused many issues with the game's mechanics as the player is seen to have 0 HP. Worse yet, Bethesda has been dragging their feet when it comes to looking into the problem with Brogadyn speculating that they could reproduce the issue based on the circumstances in which the issue occurred. When you consider all this along with the general bugs, glitches, and problems that are typically a minor annoyance, you end up with a game that likely should have stayed in beta.

Bethesda Softworks has been betting hard on its Creation Engine to take them through multiple installments in some of the biggest AAA game releases players usually see, in the form of The Elder Scrolls and Fallout. And even as the company has announced their intention to explore another new universe in the still mysterious Starfield, it seems the company only knows of one way to do so: their Creation engine. The Creation engine is in itself a heavily upgraded and revised version of Bethesda's own Gamebryo engine, which was deployed in The Elder Scrolls III - Morrowind... back in 2002. It has since been heavily upgraded, but it's looking slightly long in the tooth, at least from a visual perspective.

In what is sure to become a controversial response to player feedback, Bethesda has gone out to clarify some questions users might have regarding particular features in the release of Fallout 76. For one, it seems that the FOV will be limited to the anemic, defaulty 80º - a decision that simply can't be understood in the wake of recent game releases and ultrawide screen support existence. Even if one does not consider that, 80º FOV still remains a very limited view ratio for a good percentage of users.

The other, definitely more... debatable.. decision is the "Always On" feature for voice chat. Instead of the much more private "Push to Talk" option - which allows anyone with a good sense of privacy to not talk to the entire world while using their nose hair trimmer, or eating Pringles, or listening to (insert your favorite kind of music here) - Bethesda says that in order for the world to feel really "alive", an always-on chat will definitely nudge people towards communicating. We'll see how hard that one decision turns out for the game world. It'll be a great immersion experience, I'm sure. You can read the entire Bethesda blog response after the break.

Well, I suppose we were warned about bugs in the Fallout 76 Beta in advance but no one could have predicted it would be this.. freeing. So much so that a not insignificant fraction of participants in the Fallout 76 beta found their storage drives to be free of all 50 GB of downloaded files without notice. It got to a point where the Bethesda support account on Twitter put out a spectacular tweet saying "PC #Fallout76 B.E.T.A. players: We are aware of an issue with the client and are investigating. Do not click any buttons on the client for the time being." which has since been deleted. There were understandably upset people, including those on a metered or slow internet plan to whom downloading 50 GB again is a lot to ask for- even assuming they could do so and play again before the original beta period ended.

It must be noted that a beta test is for identifying issues such as this to begin with, and this is not the full game that one has paid for either. Although this bug not being caught until a public beta is still worrying, the public outcry to this bug has been a touch overblown and this is coming from the guy who gave Bethesda some unpleasant news and then some over their treatment of the latest addition to the Fallout game IP. To their credit, Bethesda have extended the beta session, as noted in the image below, to allow for a patch to the launcher client and that should hopefully fix this issue as well. Whether or not they did the right thing by not using Steam as a client is a matter for another discussion, relevant as it is now, and you are welcome to carry it out in the comments section.

Bethesda has revealed the official minimum and recommended specs for gamers looking to dive once again into a post-apocalyptic game setting with Fallout 76. Interestingly, the system requirements call for at least an Intel Core i5-6600K or an AMD Ryzen 3 1300X CPU, both of which are four-core, four-thread processors from yesteryear, paired with 8 GB of system RAM. On the graphics side of the equation, an NVIDIA GTX 780 3GB or an AMD Radeon R9 285 2GB are enough. Storage space continues to be hefty as with most games coming out recently, with this asking for 60 GB on your PC.

The recommended specs are more in-line with what one would expect, even though this game certainly won't be a resource hog by any definition: the 8 GB of of system RAM remain in the recommended specs, but both listed CPUs see an upgrade to an 8-thread part in the form of the Intel Core i7-4790 and the AMD Ryzen 5 1500X. Graphics cards for the recommended experience are being defined as either an Nvidia GTX 970 4GB or an AMD R9 290X 4 GB. It seems the 8 GB system RAM has come here to stay in AAA gaming, folks, and number of required CPU threads has been steadily increasing. Now if only there aren't as many game-breaking bugs as is traditional in a Bethesda game... Especially not cazadors.

Okay, let it all out right now: "A Bethesda game with bugs? Color me shocked!". With that preemptively mentioned, the context here is a little different and worth mentioning. Bethesda took to Twitter via a letter to their fans earlier today, a letter that is trying to keep expectations low when trying out the Fallout 76 early access program, which they call the Break it Early Test Application (B.E.T.A, get it?). The letter goes on to bring up examples of other large games with massive in-game worlds, with Bethesda's own Elder Scrolls and Fallout series brought up as examples. To be more specific, the letter mentions "Given what we're doing with 76, we know we're opening everyone up to all new spectacular issues none of us have encountered. Some we're aware of, such as areas where performance needs to improve with lots of players. Others, we surely don't. We need your help finding them, and advice on what's important to fix."

There is a whole other discussion to be had on how private and public beta programs are now becoming glorified unpaid quality assurance work in the so-called AAA game industry today, and Bethesda in this venture does not do anything particular egregious either. But combined with all the other negative press Fallout 76 has been getting thanks to questionable choices made by the publisher, and also noting that only those who pre-ordered the game get to try out the beta beginning in a short while today, things are looking bleak for the participation numbers in said beta program. If you happened to be one of those participating, please do share your experiences in the comments section on this story.

Bethesda sure is testing their fan base in more ways than one with the upcoming Fallout 76 game. First, we learnt that it was an online experience with no single-player campaign. Then came the news of an exclusive (at least at launch) use of the Bethesda.net launcher rather than Steam for the PC platform. Interest in the game was mediocre at best, if online gaming communities are anything to go by, and today we got to know about the Fallout 76 Platinum Edition that costs a whopping $115 USD but does not even include the actual game!

That's right, Bethesda in their infinite wisdom are selling this alongside the standard $60 edition, a $80 Tricentennial Edition, and an even more expensive $200 Power Armor Edition. The other editions all include the game, because why not, but this $115 edition is sold as a gear and comes with goodies galore for the hardcore Fallout fan. If you wanted to shell out the cash for a guide to the game universe, a collector's case, a numbered art print, mini journals, postcards, maps and more, you can find the link in the source. For everyone else, hold on to your horses and see how the game is received by the media before even deciding if the base game itself is worth it. Bethesda is setting a dangerous precedence here with physical goodies for pre-order based off an online game that is not even out yet, and all we can do with vote with our wallets by keeping them shut.

When Bethesda took the stage at E3 this year and announced Wolfenstein: Youngblood, many were dismayed and feared that the lower-than-expected sales for Wolfenstein II, combined with the deep discounts early in the product cycle, may have changed the timeline in more ways than one. Specifically, there was doubt on whether another numbered entry was coming to the main Wolfenstein story which had received a reboot of sorts beginning with the 2014 hit Wolfenstein: The New Order. In an interview with GameCentral, Pete Hines (VP, PR and Marketing for Bethesda) confirmed that Youngblood is to be treated as a standalone title similar to what we saw with Wolfenstein: The Old Blood in 2015, and that MachineGames is absolutely going to develop Wolfenstein III.

Specifically, Pete Hines said and I quote, "Absolutely we're making a Wolfenstein III. They [MachineGames] said on stage that they're taking a break from the larger story to do this thing. But we all have to see how that ends." This was part of a long discussion, that is well worth the read, with insights on the revival of single-player AAA games, Bethesda's continual commitment to story-driven gameplay, and more. As part of said discussion, Pete Hines also helped provide some relief to fans of Arkane Studios' Dishonored series which, as with the recent Wolfenstein series, enjoyed great success with the first entry but then tapered down subsequently when it comes to sales of Dishonored 2 and its standalone DLC. Arkane Studios had recently said that the series is "resting", and in response to this Pete said that he "wouldn't read too much into that" and that Arkane having two studios meant that the situation was similar to how Bethesda Studios themselves went from the Fallout franchise to Starfield before returning to The Elder Scrolls series. Sounds like good news to Dishonored fans, and we will be sure to inform our readers of any updates accordingly.

During its QuakeCon 2018 keynote, Bethesda has announced that Quake Champions is now permanently fixed in a Free to Play model - no more will you have to wait for free-entrance weekends to grab a little time with this game - which is still in Early Access though - don't forget that little tidbit.

Included in the base Free to Play model are Quake Champions Quickplay, Arcade, and Ranked modes, maps, and two Champions (the Ranger and Scalebearer). Bethesda will also keep one extra free Champion on a weekly rotation, but gamers who want to make use of another Champion can purchase access to it through Fervor - earned by completing matches. Of course, if you want to have access to the full Champion package, Bethesda has a promotion going on the Champions Pack, which gives you access to all current and future Champions - usually $40, reduced to $19.79 during QuakeCon, and another sale for $30 until September 4.

Developed by id Software, DOOM Eternal is the direct sequel to the award-winning and best-selling DOOM (2016). Experience the ultimate combination of speed and power as you rip-and-tear your way across dimensions with the next leap in push-forward, first-person combat. Powered by idTech 7 and set to an all-new pulse-pounding soundtrack composed by Mick Gordon, DOOM Eternal puts you in control of the unstoppable DOOM Slayer as you blow apart new and classic demons with powerful weapons in unbelievable and never-before-seen worlds.

Bethesda has taken it to Steam's platform to throw around a sale party that looks to whet appetites for their legendary Quakecon. They're doing this sale on a platform which, by the way, won't be the home for Fallout 76 and possibly other, future titles from the company. But that is neither here nor there; this here is for users to be able to snag an awesome deal on what are definitely some of the better games in the industry.

The discounts range from 25% (for the recently released Prey Mooncrash DLC, for example) all the way to 75% (for games such as Fallout Tactics: Brotherhood of Steel and the original Fallout), but most games are seeing a 50% mark-down from their current pricing. If you have any extra money you weren't counting on and some Bethesda games on your wishlist, now might be the best time to get the ball rolling.

NZXT today announced a partnership with Bethesda Softworks, a ZeniMax Media company, to deliver the first officially licensed Fallout-themed computer case, the H700 Nuka-Cola. The H700 Nuka-Cola serves as the second entry in NZXT's new CRFT line of custom crafted limited edition gaming products.

Released in a limited quantity of 2,000, the custom designed variant of NZXT's popular H series, the H700 Nuka-Cola boasts beautiful design work inspired by the post-apocalyptic world of Fallout and its iconic Nuka-Cola soft drink. Alongside the H700 Nuka-Cola, NZXT also announced an optional Nuka-Cola all-metal cover for their N7 Z370 motherboard to complete the ultimate Fallout-themed build. The Nuka-Cola N7 all-metal cover will be limited to 400 pieces.