At Gamescom, Korean peripheral manufacturer Pulsar showed many upcoming releases slated for 2024 and 2025, some of which had to be flown in overnight fresh out of the factory. Aside from updates to existing mice series such as the Xlite, X2, X2H, or X2A, Pulsar also showed wholly new shapes and concepts.

Pulsar XS-1 sensor and in-house firmware
Shared between all new mouse releases from Pulsar will be improvements to the sensor and firmware. Based on PixArt's latest PAW3950 sensor, the custom XS-1 sensor will be capable of CPI adjustment in increments of 10, which would be restricted to steps of 50 on a regular PAW3950. After two years of development time, Pulsar's own in-house developed firmware is also nearing completion, and will feature multiple improvements over the third-party solution used previously. More specifically, refined double-click prevention will be included, slam-click prevention is implemented, and latency has been lowered further across the board. The firmware change will be accompanied by a new software as well, which will be exclusive to all newer models featuring the XS-1.

Among many other releases, ASUS has shown several upcoming peripheral releases at Gamescom, including both the ROG Harpe Ace Mini and the Harpe Ace Extreme, the latter of which had already been announced prior. Interestingly enough, the mouse demonstration units weren't pre-production units, but rather from mass production, hinting at an impending release. While no exact date has been revealed, both the ROG Harpe Ace Mini and the Harpe Ace Extreme indeed are expected to hit shelves within the next few weeks.

Shared between both mice are their basic specifications and internals. Much like on the ROG Keris II Ace, ASUS's latest AimPoint Pro sensor capable of 42,000 CPI sees use, along with ROG Optical main button switches. When asked for comment, ASUS has stated that on their enthusiast mouse releases, optical switches will continue to be preferred over push-fit mechanical switch sockets to save as much weight as possible. Through the ROG Polling Rate Booster, polling rates of up to 8000 Hz can be achieved in wired operation, and up to 4000 Hz in wireless operation. Since the firmware is shared across all models, performance of the ROG Harpe Ace Mini and the Harpe Ace Extreme will closely match the Keris II Ace provided the ROG Polling Rate Booster is used.

CHERRY XTRFY announces the retail availability of a new series of gaming gear at this year's Gamescom. These include the long-awaited Wireless M64 and M68 gaming mice and the new MX 3.1 keyboard. CHERRY XTRFY has a long tradition of working with professional esports athletes, collaborating with organizations worldwide, such as Team Vitality, SK Gaming and LNG E-Sports. The company relies on expert testimonials and reviews in order to take the needs of gamers into account as much as possible in product development. The new releases at Gamescom are the results of this collaboration over the past year.

The MX 3.1 is a powerful gaming keyboard with a high-quality aluminium housing that enhances stability and durability. It features RGB lighting, which complements its distinctive look, available in either black or white. This keyboard provides a low noise level and a pleasant typing experience, thanks to the improved damping structure of the newly integrated CHERRY MX2A switches. These switches are designed for longevity, offering a lifespan of 100 million keystrokes and are available with different switching characteristics.

Funcom are thrilled to announce that Dune: Awakening, the Open World Survival MMO, will release in early 2025, with the console release planned for a later date. Premiered at Gamescom Opening Night Live, fans were treated to a 5-minute Exclusive Gameplay Reveal, which shows, for the first time, a player's rise from scavenging and survival to mobilizing an entire guild in the hunt for spice. See the new gameplay in action now.

Set on the most dangerous planet in the universe Dune: Awakening will challenge players to…

• SURVIVE the scorching desert and colossal sandworms by learning the ways of the Fremen.
• EXPAND your influence through combat, spice flow, building and upgrading bases, crafting vehicles, and trade. Develop your character by walking the path of the Mentat, Trooper, Planetologist, Swordmaster or Bene Gesserit.
• CONTROL the spice and cling to power as guild intrigue and warfare rage. Join a guild and align with House Harkonnen or Atreides, and clash for the precious spice in dynamic guild versus guild battles involving a range of vehicles, tech, and specialized combatants.

Samsung Electronics today announced the unveiling of its latest gaming monitors with a particular focus on the groundbreaking Odyssey 3D, which offers glasses-free 3D viewing, at Gamescom 2024 in Cologne, Germany. Gamescom 2024, held from August 21 to 25, is the world's largest gaming exhibition and features more than 1,400 exhibitors, including hardware, software and game content producers. Samsung will showcase its high-end gaming monitors - including the new Odyssey 3D and models from the Odyssey G6, G8 and G9 series - at its booth, which spans 800 m² and is the company's largest and most immersive booth to date.

"We are thrilled to present our glasses-free 3D gaming monitor at Gamescom, the world's largest gaming exhibition," said Hoon Chung, Executive Vice President of Enterprise Business Team, Visual Display Business at Samsung Electronics. "Samsung remains committed to leading the premium gaming monitor market by continuously developing cutting-edge technologies that enhance the gaming experience."

AMD's next-gen Ryzen 9000 Series CPUs have arrived, setting a new bar for gaming performance. For Gamescom 2024, we're introducing our X870E and X870 motherboard family. These boards unleash the full power of your new AMD CPU with upgraded connectivity, a host of smart features, and an arsenal of performance-boosting refinements.

Your most feature-rich, high-end options for an AMD Ryzen 9000 Series CPU use the X870E chipset. The ROG Crosshair X870E Hero sits at the top of the stack. Premium metallic textures, nickel-plated surfaces, and second-gen Polymo Lighting II make this a true showcase motherboard. But this board doesn't just look the part—it's fully prepped to take your gaming to the next level with the power of advanced AI.

This week at Gamescom 2024, HP Inc. unveiled its latest gaming gear from OMEN and HyperX. The new offerings take customization to the next level, allowing gamers to fine-tune their aesthetics and ensure their desktops are future-ready with OMEN components.

"HP is committed to pushing the boundaries of technology to deliver unparalleled, personalized experiences for every gamer," said Josephine Tan, Senior Vice President & Division President of Personal Systems Gaming Solutions. "With our latest innovations in OMEN and HyperX, being showcased at Gamescom 2024, we are excited to elevate the gaming experience. Our goal is to provide users with the tools they need to perform at their best and ensure their systems are upgradable, allowing them to fully immerse themselves in their gaming worlds for years to come."

NVIDIA ACE is a revolutionary suite of digital human technologies that brings digital humans to life with generative AI. Since its debut at Computex 2023 in the Ramen Shop tech demo, ACE's capabilities have evolved rapidly.

At Gamescom 2024, we announced our first digital human technology on-device small language model improving the conversation abilities of game characters. We also announced that the first game to showcase these ACE and digital human technologies is Amazing Seasun Game's Mecha BREAK, bringing its characters to life and providing a more dynamic and immersive gameplay experience on GeForce RTX AI PCs.

ZOTAC GAMING proudly announces the much-anticipated premium gaming handheld, the ZOTAC GAMING ZONE, is ready to begin accepting preorders in select regions and e-tailer platforms. The ZONE, which emphasizes premium hardware and elite controls, was announced COMPUTEX 2024 with great anticipation. Visitors arriving at GAMESCOM 2024, one of the largest video game trade fairs held annually in Cologne, Germany, will be the first to experience the thrills of gaming on the ZONE. The ZOTAC GAMING ZONE is the first handheld gaming PC on the market to incorporate premium hardware and elite control features that players will not find on other handheld PCs, offering gamers more immersion and advantages in PC games like non-other.

The ZOTAC GAMING ZONE is powered by AMD's Ryzen 7 8840U, an efficient powerhouse with bleeding edge Zen 4 architecture and RDNA 3 graphics that enables even AAA gaming at native 1080p resolution. Along with the 16 GB of LPDDR5X-7500 Memory on board, the ZONE makes the full spectrum of experiences that PC gaming can offer through stunning visuals and performance, and take advantage of AMD's driver-level Fluid Motion Frames (FMF) and FidelityFX Super Resolution technology to enhance gameplay performance and immersion further. Also featured are a full-sized 2280 512 GB M.2 NVMe PCIe 4.0 x4 SSD and a UHS-II microSD card reader to cover every gamer's storage needs.

Dune: Awakening, the Open World Survival MMO set on Arrakis from developer Funcom, today unveiled the second Dune: Awakening Direct. The showcase offers 30 minutes of in-depth interviews and game footage showing character creation, the MMO-like server structure, the narrative ramifications of a world where Paul Atreides was never born, and the spiritual journey the player will undergo in the game, following in the footsteps of the Fremen.

Dune: Awakening, which recently shot past 1 million wishlists on Steam, draws on the visual and aural identity created by Denis Villeneuve and Legendary's recent blockbuster movies and is deeply rooted in the original masterpiece by Frank Herbert. The game unleashes you on a vast and open Arrakis torn by war, where you must survive and strive for control of the spice alongside hundreds of other players.

In the weeks leading up to Gamescom 2023 all sorts of Nintendo-related rumors started to spew forth—the boldest being a public unveiling of their much anticipated Switch successor during the conference segment. This did not transpire—of course—with Nintendo choosing to showcase existing games and hardware on the trade fair floor in Germany. Post-event murmurs proposed another highly unlikely circumstance—claims posted to social media and on forums pointed to a top secret demo session of "Switch 2" hardware occurring "behind closed doors" at Gamescom, with an elite set of development teams in attendance. These rumblings were largely dismissed due to unsubstantiated information coming from less than reliable sources.

Eurogamer and Video Games Chronicles (VGC) reached out to their cadre of industry insiders to find out more—newly published articles seem to align with recent leaks. The former understands that: "Developer presentations for Switch 2 took place behind closed doors, with partners shown tech demos of how well the system is designed to run. One Switch 2 demo is a souped up version of Switch launch title Zelda: Breath of the Wild, designed to hit the Switch 2's beefier target specs. (To be clear, though - this is just a tech demo. There's no suggestion the game will be re-released." An insider familiar with the games industry in Spain alleged, a few months ago, that Switch 2 development kits had been delivered to a notable local development partner.

During the Gamescom fair, Thrustmaster was pleased to unveil its unique new racing wheel mounting system, including a rotary spinner knob - a perfect complement for all heavy vehicle driving simulators. The SimTask Steering Kit allows gamers to set up their racing wheel in a flat-mounted position, delivering an immersive experience when driving farm machinery or heavy vehicles. The mount allows users to customize the steering wheel's angle and height, offering a number of diverse driving configurations similar to real life.

In addition, the rotary spinner knob provides a major agility boost, enabling gamers to operate the steering wheel with one hand. The SimTask Steering Kit is compatible with Thrustmaster T128 and T248 racing wheels. SimTask is Thrustmaster's new range of products, specially designed to deliver an enhanced experience of driving simulation with heavy vehicles and farm machinery.

Each week, we bring you news of the latest DLSS and ray tracing integrations in games and apps. Last week, we unveiled NVIDIA DLSS 3.5, which will make your games even more beautiful, immersive and realistic with the introduction of Ray Reconstruction, a new AI-powered technique that further improves the quality of ray tracing. Alan Wake 2, Cyberpunk 2077, Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty, Portal with RTX, Chaos Vantage, D5 Render, and NVIDIA Omniverse will all launch with or be updated to DLSS 3.5 this fall. Additionally, we announced that NVIDIA DLSS 3's AI-powered performance multiplication is coming to this fall's biggest games, including Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III, PAYDAY 3, and Fortnite.

This week, we're celebrating the release of Fort Solis with DLSS 3, and announcing that Delta Force: Hawk Ops and Project Mugen will launch with DLSS 3. Also, Daymare: 1994 Sandcastle, F1 Manager 2023, and SPRAWL are available now with DLSS 2. And there are new trailers from DLSS 3 titles, including Black Myth: Wukong, The First Descendant and Warhaven to watch.

Lexar, a leading global brand of flash memory solutions, joined Gamescom 2023 for the first time. Lexar also unveiled some of the new products that are estimated to be launched in Q4 2023 for the first time at the show. Designed for PC enthusiasts to accelerate their workflow, the new portfolio includes internal SSDs, DRAM.

The performance of Lexar ARES RGB DDR5 Desktop Memory reaches a new height of 8000MT/s and 8400MT/s, allowing hardcore gamers and PC enthusiasts to experience superior performance with next-gen DDR5. And, in addition to the performance, this memory also features Lexar RGB Sync so gamers can customize the RGB LED to their own style, and its sleek premium aluminium heat spreader keeps the system cool. It is built with on-die ECC, which leverages real-time data error correction for increased data stability and reliability. With on-board Power Management IC (PMIC), it provides better power control and power delivery.

Scott Herkelman, senior vice president and general manager of AMD's Graphics Business Unit made a slightly unexpected announcement during an IGN live streamed discussion at Gamescom 2023. Following the official unveiling of Radeon RX 7800 XT and RX 7700 XT GPUs on Friday, Herkelman sat down for a brief interview regarding the future of Team Red's RDNA 3 generation—he was asked whether there were any additional Radeon RX 7000-series models on the horizon. In response he stated: "Well, the RDNA3 portfolio is now complete. Of all products that we have planned to launch, that is, this is the last few products that we will launch. We may have some different versions, but they are not a new ASIC…It's been a journey, it's been about a year since we launched the very first RDNA 3 and now we are a year later finishing up the series. We should be done, we are done and we are excited. And now I think we have a broad spectrum covered for people who want RDNA 3 up and down the price tag."

His announcement seemingly confirms that Team Red is satisfied enough to conclude RDNA 3 post the September 6 launch of their Navi 32-based Radeon RX 7800 XT and RX 7700 XT cards, with a grand total of a mere six desktop-oriented SKUs—Herkelman perhaps forgot to mention possible mobile variants. This is slightly odd given that non-XT Radeon RX 7800 and 7700 GPUs have cropped up via leaks in the recent past, and speculation has also pointed to a true entry-level RX 7500 model being in the works. Herkelman hinted that refreshed variants could be released down the road, perhaps akin to the mid-gen update of existing RDNA 2 ASICs (e.g RX 6700 XT -> RX 6750 XT). AMD may rely on its previous generation Radeon technology to fill in the gaps not occupied by RDNA 3—it is believed that an RX 6750 GRE graphics card (RX 6700 non-XT variant) is in the pipeline.

AMD and Ubisoft have officially announced the PC features players will be able to enjoy in Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora. A trailer that debuted at Gamescom showed off exactly what you can expect; check out the details below.

Ray Tracing and Extended Graphic Settings
Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora will include ray traced reflections and shadows for more immersive environmental exploration, and extended graphic settings that allow for granular tweaks to a multitude of visuals such as environment reflection quality, and distant shadows.

AMD today at Gamescom unveiled the Radeon RX 7800 XT and Radeon RX 7700 XT performance-segment graphics cards. Designed for maxed out gaming at 1440p with ray tracing, the two are designed to square off against NVIDIA's GeForce RTX 4070 series, offering competitive performance and pricing. The two are based on AMD's latest RDNA3 graphics architecture, and use the 5 nm foundry process where it matters. Both cards claim to offer not just superior performance to the specific NVIDIA RTX 40-series SKUs they're designed to compete with, but also better future-proofing, with more video memory on offer.

At the heart of the two is the new "Navi 32" GPU, AMD's second largest chip from this generation. It is a chiplet GPU, just like the "Navi 31" that powers the RX 7900 series, albeit slightly scaled down. The graphics compute die (GCD), the die with the main graphics rendering and compute machinery, is built on the 5 nm EUV foundry node. It is flanked by four memory cache dies (MCDs), each built on the 6 nm foundry node. These are the same MCDs found in the "Navi 31," but four in number instead of six, which gives the "Navi 32" a 256-bit wide GDDR6 memory interface.

As part of NVIDIA and Microsoft's collaboration to bring more choice to gamers, new Microsoft Store integration has been added to GeForce NOW that lets gamers stream select titles from the Xbox PC Game Pass catalog on GeForce NOW, starting today. With the Microsoft Store integration, members will see a brand-new Xbox button on supported PC games and can seamlessly launch these titles across their devices, provided they either purchased the standalone games through the Microsoft Store or have an active Xbox Game Pass Ultimate or PC Game Pass subscription.

Hot off our recent Gamescom announcement, four blockbuster titles are coming to GeForce NOW this fall: Alan Wake 2, Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty expansion, Party Animals and PAYDAY 3. Plus, head to the cloud and stream the 25 new titles joining the cloud this week, including DOOM 2016 from Bethesda.

August 26 could be the day AMD's Radeon add-in board (AIB) partners announce their custom-design Radeon RX 7800 series and RX 7700 series graphics cards. Gamescom 2023 is underway, and the expo's booth for ASRock has three curious-looking placeholders in the wall with the graphics cards. The placeholders refer to new RDNA3 graphics cards coming in on August 26. ASRock makes AMD Radeon and Intel Arc custom-design graphics cards.

AMD is expected to announce its new performance-segment GPUs a day earlier on August 25, as part of an exclusive Radeon RX event headed by Scott Herkelman and Frank Azor. This is widely expected to see announcements for the desktop RX 7800 series and RX 7700 series; but it wouldn't surprise us if there are some announcements about high-end RX 7000-series mobile GPUs based on the same compacted "Navi 31" ASIC that powers the desktop RX 7900 GRE.

Developer Shiro Games and publisher Funcom are proud to reveal that Dune: Spice Wars, the first game set in the Dune universe in two decades, will release out of Early Access in September. In just over one year of Early Access, Shiro Games has released five major updates, massively expanding the game. Get a taste of precious spice in the brand-new Dune: Spice Wars Gamescom trailer.

Dune: Spice Wars lets you lead one of the Great Houses of the Imperium to dominate Arrakis and the flow of spice. Through intrigue, warfare, economy, and spycraft, you will rule the deserts or be buried in them.

HyperX, the gaming peripherals team at HP Inc. and brand leader in gaming and esports, today announced the release of the Cloud III Wireless Gaming Headset. Cloud III wireless delivers the ultimate in comfort and sound with up to 120 hours battery life, offering a captivating wireless gaming experience. With legendary comfort, immersive audio with re-engineered 53 mm angled drivers, and a lifetime activation of DTS Headphone:X via NGENUITY software for accurate 3D audio, Cloud III wireless is ready for gaming, wireless entertainment, untethered chat for fun or work.

The HyperX Cloud III Wireless incorporates new features and a striking new design, delivering an exceptional audio experience to gamers. Evolving from the legendary Cloud headset, known for its comfort, sound quality, and durability, the Cloud III Wireless raises the bar for gaming audio.

Blizzard has officially announced the second season for Diablo IV, called Season of Blood. The Season of Blood will launch on October 17 and bring several updates, including a new questline, five additional endgame bosses, as well as some comunity-requested quality-of-life updates.

The announcement came at the Gamescom Opening Night Live, together with the new announce trailer, showing some of the updates. The trailer also introduces Erys, a vampire hunter that will be voiced by Gemma Chan.

be quiet!, the German manufacturer for premium PC components, is unveiling two brand-new high-end air coolers at the gamescom expo in Cologne, Germany, from August 23rd to 27th. Dark Rock Pro 5 follows in the footsteps of the extremely successful and award-winning Dark Rock Pro 4, offering immense cooling performance at low noise levels on all popular consumer platforms, while Dark Rock Elite is aimed at users that require the highest performance and airflow, integrating ARGB lighting and a unique front fan rail system for an elite experience.

Raising the bar for air cooling even further
Improving upon the high performance benchmark set by Dark Rock Pro 4 was not easy, but be quiet! managed to raise the bar even further with Dark Rock Pro 5. By leveraging the performance of Silent Wings and adding an integrated speed switch to prioritize cooling or silence have resulted in an air cooler that loves multithreaded tasks, whether it's high-end gaming or a workstation setup. Still want more? With its unprecedented cooling abilities, Dark Rock Elite is the perfect fit for gaming enthusiasts who want to achieve the best possible CPU performance and airflow, while not missing out on great ARGB lighting. Not only does the Elite offer Silent Wings fans and an integrated speed switch, it also uses an innovative rail system for the front fan to guarantee compatibility with most memory modules and motherboards. Dark Rock Pro 5 and Dark Rock Elite will be officially launched late October.

CORSAIR, a world leader in high-performance gear and systems for gamers, content creators, and PC enthusiasts, today unveiled the CORSAIR Platform:6, a highly versatile modular desk for gamers, content creators, and working professionals. With decades of experience in creating the high-performance desktop and streaming gear that their customers use on their desks every day, CORSAIR and its subsidiary Elgato are uniquely positioned to understand and provide exactly what those customers need in a gaming and work space. Combining premium materials, a high degree of customization, and a multitude of quality-of-life features such as adjustable height and plentiful cable management, the Platform:6 sets the highest standard for an expandable, feature-rich computer desk.

The Platform:6 supports today's many diverse lifestyles, from the hardcore PC gamer to the remote worker in need of an organized workspace in the home. A six-foot wide surface area, which can be expanded even further, provides ample space for high-end PCs, full streaming setups, and an array of accessories. With multiple configurations offering a wide selection of features such as motorized adjustable height, choice of surface material, and an expandable rail system, customers will be able to design the perfect Platform:6 using CORSAIR's online configurator to fit their needs and their space, or choose from several predefined bundles for the best value.

CD PROJEKT RED showcased the "New Ways to Play" trailer at this year's Gamescom Opening Night Live, presenting the new features coming to Cyberpunk 2077 with the Phantom Liberty expansion and free Update 2.0. CD PROJEKT RED's Gameplay Designer Yuliia Pryimak joined Geoff Keighley onstage to discuss the premiere of the "New Ways to Play" trailer, which included a compilation of new gameplay features arriving as part of the upcoming Phantom Liberty expansion and as part of the free Update 2.0.

The trailer unveiled new exclusive features coming to the spy-thriller expansion Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty, including the Relic skill tree. The new skill tree offers a wide range of powerful abilities that allow players to master new playstyles and create unique, meaningful builds. Phantom Liberty also introduces a densely packed new location, Dogtown, with endless dynamic events and missions, action-packed gigs, new clothing items, weapons, cyberware, and more to explore.