Today Intel released its latest Arc GPU graphics drivers, with version 101.6077 beta hitting our servers. This latest version brings game-ready support for titles like Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster, Final Fantasy XVI, Frostpunk 2, and God of War Ragnarok. Besides adding support for latest titles, the 101.6077 beta drivers also fixed issues like corruption on certain reflective surfaces during gameplay of The Last of Us Part I (DX12), and corrupted lines on certain textures during gameplay of Age of Empires IV (DX12). Interestingly, few issues persist like Diablo IV (DX12) intermittently crashing while toggling Ray Tracing settings during gameplay, and Doom Eternal (VK) exhibiting intermittent flickering corruption in the game menu and during gameplay. Few more notes are included in the changelog and known issues, which can be seen below.

DOWNLOAD: Intel Arc GPU Graphics Drivers 101.6077 Beta.

Welcome to the second half of September and what is nothing but a jam packed week of new game releases. The week kicks off with an almost two-year old PlayStation game that has something to do with Norse mythology gets launched on PC, although it does come with the DLC included and it's not capped at 60 FPS. As for the rest of this week's new games, we have a packed week starting with a lot of spell casting, another PlayStation game, but this time we're taking a JRPG of the highest rank, which is followed by a souls-like RPG game. Next up we have Dr Dr, which oddly enough isn't German at all, followed by another highly anticipated game that involves frozen punks. If there's nothing you like this week, you're most likely not a gamer.

God of War Ragnarök / This week's AAA release / Thursday 19 September
The sequel to the critically acclaimed God of War (2018), God of War Ragnarök picks up with Fimbulwinter well underway. Kratos and Atreus must journey to each of the Nine Realms in search of answers as Odin's forces in Asgard prepare for a prophesied battle that will end the world. Along the way, they will explore stunning, mythical landscapes, and face fearsome enemies in the form of Norse gods and monsters. As the threat of Ragnarök grows ever closer, Kratos and Atreus must choose between the safety of their family and the safety of the realms. Steam link

And just like that, we're in the second half of 2024. The first week of July brings with it a major release, at least if you're into futuristic online RPGs. Unfortunately, the rest of this week's new releases are mediocre at best and this seems to be a theme for the summer of 2024, unless you like pointless clicking games that is. At least the week starts with a new strategy game that involves knights, but from there it fizzles out in a DLC, a computer version of a classic family game, a retro version of an Xbox franchise and a creepy game in a pool. Oh and happy 4th of July to our US readers.

The First Descendant / This week's major release / Tuesday 2 July
The First Descendant is a free third-person cooperative action RPG shooter featuring high-quality graphics. Experience the fun of strategic boss fights through 4-player co-op and various unique characters, exciting gunplay, and looting. A variety of equipment is necessary for growth, and you can obtain them through clearing scenario missions within the game or in the World Missions where cooperation is crucial and battles with huge bosses. Steam link

More than 500 games and applications feature RTX technologies, and each week new games integrating NVIDIA DLSS, NVIDIA Reflex and advanced ray-traced effects are released or announced, delivering the definitive PC experience for GeForce RTX players. This week, we've got a ton of DLSS news. Alan Wake 2: Night Springs is out now with full ray tracing and DLSS 3.5, Black Myth: Wukong is launching August 20th with full ray tracing and DLSS 3.5, and there's a new gameplay trailer from Star Wars Outlaws, which launches August 30th with ray tracing and DLSS 3.5. Also, Pax Dei enters Early Access on June 18th with DLSS 3, The First Descendant launches July 2nd with DLSS 3, and a Dragon's Dogma 2 game update has introduced support for DLSS 3. Additionally, the Final Fantasy XIV Online: Dawntrail benchmark, Killer Klowns from Outer Space: The Game, and Soulmask are all available now with day-one DLSS 2 support.

Alan Wake 2: Night Springs Expansion Available Now
Night Springs, a new expansion for Remedy Entertainment's critically acclaimed Alan Wake 2 is now available to download and play. Alan Wake is trying to find a way out of the endless loops of the Dark Place by penning new scripts for a TV show he once wrote for: Night Springs. Play as several characters from the world of Alan Wake and experience the familiar turned strange in multiple self-contained episodes. By playing on a GeForce RTX 40 Series PC, you'll receive the definitive experience in Alan Wake 2 and the new Night Springs expansion. Crank fidelity and immersion to 11 with fully ray-traced visuals, further refined by DLSS Ray Reconstruction. Play at over 80 frames per second at 4K thanks to our AI-powered DLSS Super Resolution and Frame Generation technologies. And maximize responsiveness with NVIDIA Reflex.

When it debuted on the Apple II in 1981, SirTech's Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord was the first game to recreate a pen-and-paper, Dungeons & Dragons-style role-playing game for home computers. As the first party-based RPG, it directly inspired enduring series such as Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest, and Demon's Souls.

SirTech published seven Wizardry sequels over the next two decades. In the years since, the series' popularity has persisted in Japan, with a number of additional sequels and spin-off games released only in that market. As of 2024, the Wizardry franchise encompasses more than forty titles.

It'd be fair to say Final Fantasy VII Rebirth's next-gen makeover of characters, monsters, and more from the 1997 original has been a spectacular glow-up. The modern console era has returned an iconic cast and world to us with a level of realism in gameplay that even pre-rendered cutscenes over 25 years ago couldn't match. We asked Square Enix if they could crunch some numbers and share some insight into the changes nearly three decades of technological advancement have wrought. Here, main character modeler and lead character artist Dai Suzuki walks us through a selection of characters, creatures, weapons, and more.

Dai Suzuki: When people think of Cloud, most think of his gigantic sword and his unique hairstyle. Because it is so iconic, we needed to put special effort into creating Cloud's hair for Final Fantasy VII Remake, to properly express his personality. The hair was an extremely high-priority element and in fact accounted for half of the total polygon count for the whole model. In Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, the hardware has been changed to PS5, allowing for a higher polygon count to be used than in Final Fantasy VII Remake.

Samsung is partnering with Square Enix to launch a limited collector's edition package of the 990 PRO 2 TB SSD co-branded with Final Fantasy VII Rebirth (FFVII Rebirth). The package consists of a special 180 mm x 180 mm x 175 mm (WxDxH) cuboidal box with branding and imagery from FFVII Rebirth characters. Inside, you'll find a Samsung 990 PRO 2 TB M.2 NVMe SSD with its reference heatsink. The heatsink makes the drive compatible with the PlayStation 5. There are no changes in the specs of the drive—it offers 2 TB of storage with a 2 GB LPDDR4 DRAM cache, and transfer speeds of up to 7450 MB/s sequential reads, and up to 6950 MB/s sequential writes, making it among the fastest Gen 4 SSDs in the market. But that's it with the bundle—you don't actually get the game, but a special edition box that can make for a good background prop if you're streaming. The limited collector's edition is expected to come out some time in March 2024.

With his long silver hair, enormous odachi blade and epic theme song composed by legendary Nobuo Uematsu himself - Sephiroth is one of the most recognizable antagonists in RPG's history. The one-winged angel debuted in the original Final Fantasy VII in 1997 as a once-loved war hero and first-class SOLDIER who descended into madness and promised to destroy the planet upon learning of his unnatural creation. But there is much more to Sephiroth than just that. In Final Fantasy VII Remake, Sephiroth appears sporadically, mainly as a haunting memory, as the story focuses on Cloud and his friends trying to stop the evil corporation Shinra from killing the planet by using its life essence, mako, as an energy source.

In the upcoming Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, however, we will see Sephiroth in his full glory. We asked Producer Yoshinori Kitase to discuss reimagining this iconic character in the Remakes: "The story in Final Fantasy VII Rebirth starts after the team has escaped Midgar and continues all the way up to the Forgotten Capital. In the original game, Sephiroth barely appeared during this section, but in Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, he is the driving force that pulls the story along to fill that void. He is depicted in even more depth than in the original game, and I think this makes him an even more charismatic and appealing antagonist than before."

It's the start of a New Year, and what better way to celebrate than with a new look at one of 2024's most exciting games! Our brand new trailer takes you deeper into the game to offer another tantalizing tease of what to expect. Take a look (below). Final Fantasy VII Rebirth launches for PS5 on February 29, 2024 and is set to be a truly epic adventure. The highly anticipated new standalone story in the critically acclaimed Final Fantasy VII remake project—winner of Most Anticipated game at The Game Awards. Here's just a taste of some of the places you'll get to explore… and some of the compelling characters you'll meet along the way.

ABOUT FFVII:RB
FINAL FANTASY VII REBIRTH is the highly anticipated new story in the FINAL FANTASY VII remake project, a reimagining of the iconic original game into three standalone titles by its original creators. In this game, players will enjoy various new elements as the story unfolds, culminating in the party's journey to "The Forgotten Capital" from the original FINAL FANTASY VII.

You've been wondering when you'll get your next look at FINAL FANTASY VII REBIRTH. That time is now! We've just released a new trailer for the game, and it offers a first glimpse at the gameplay and story of the highly anticipated new RPG. Not only that, we also revealed a fresh look at the upcoming mobile title FINAL FANTASY VII EVER CRISIS, including details of the upcoming closed beta test.

There's a lot to see in the new footage: A fully controllable Red XIII! Yuffie's part of the team! Massive-scale boss fights! Rideable chocobos! An expansive and beautiful world! You'll also get a glimpse at the gripping story, which sees Cloud Strife and his allies confronted by some shocking mysteries, along with some exciting ways for them to team up in combat. We think you'll agree it's a tantalizing taste of what you'll get to experience when the game releases. As for when that will be, we can tell you that FINAL FANTASY VII REBIRTH will launch in early 2024 digitally and physically for PS5.

Sony PlayStation and Square Enix are engaged in the process of hyping up blockbuster action role-player Final Fantasy XVI, set for a worldwide release on June 22, and have recently announced some visually striking accessories and interesting hardware bundles - as part of the promotional cycle and eventual release of the sixteenth (mainline) Final Fantasy game installment. Their Japanese marketing teams are collaborating on a custom design PlayStation 5 DualSense controller and console faceplate/cover bearing Final Fantasy XVI-based artwork. The controller's Midnight Black + gold accenting combo creates a very macho aesthetic, which stands in sharp contrast to some of the recent special edition Xbox controllers in terms of color and finish.

The special edition controller and console plate will be sold separately and are scheduled to launch alongside the game and related console bundles on June 22. These Final Fantasy XVI-themed accessories could be exclusive to the Japanese domestic market - Sony and Square Enix have issued information related to pricing in Yen (¥8980 & ¥7980 respectively), and their North American and European sites only make mention of the standard white PS5 console FFXVI bundle being available on the game's launch day.

Jack is back… and he's punching his way onto Steam! The action RPG is now available on the platform: here's everything you need to know about it. Many of you will be familiar with STRANGER OF PARADISE FINAL FANTASY ORIGIN's Jack Garland: expert swordsman, skilled white mage, destructive black mage, deadly dragoon, powerful pugilist… and that's not even half of it. We can now add one more achievement to his impressive resume: available on Steam! Yes, get ready for some chaotic FINAL FANTASY carnage! Read on and we'll tell you everything you need to know about the game and its Steam release.

What is STRANGER OF PARADISE FINAL FANTASY ORIGIN?
Some of you unfamiliar with the game may be wondering what this game is all about. Long story short, it's about action - brilliantly brutal, fast-paced action that tests your reactions and battle strategy in equal measure. Developed by KOEI TECMO GAMES (Nioh series), STRANGER OF PARADISE FINAL FANTASY ORIGIN is a dark and visceral action RPG that presents a bold take on the FINAL FANTASY series, while celebrating its amazing 35 year legacy! You play as Jack Garland, who along with his allies Ash, Jed, Neon and Sophia, sets off from the Kingdom of Cornelia to defeat Chaos. If you're a fan of the original FINAL FANTASY game, some of those names may be ringing a bell, but we'll let you discover what it all means.