During the livestream reveal of Path of Exile 2: Dawn of the Hunt, we discussed several things in the Q&A that we'd like to provide some further clarification on. In today's news post we'd like to start with additional information about Map Portals in Dawn of the Hunt! We'd like to clarify the situation with having to use portals each time you die. The concern raised during the Q&A was that you would be consuming portals to have to store items in your stash or trade with players. With so few portals, as low as one, you would not be able to leave the map and return.

Map Portals
We have made the following change to address this problem: you will now be able to enter and exit your Maps as much as you like as long as you haven't died. The number of portals is now representative of the number of revives you have during the Map, so if you are able to survive you can come and go as you please. We also wanted to clarify that when returning to a map after dying you will return to the last checkpoint, so if you forgot to make a portal you won't have to run through too much of an empty map to get back to where you died. We're also currently making a change which hopefully will make it for release, otherwise shortly after. This change is that when you die in a Map then revive, assuming you have any revives remaining, you will be instantly placed at the last checkpoint without any loading screens, so you don't need to return to your hideout and re-enter the map every time. We'll continue to provide further updates to topics discussed during the Q&A in the lead up to launch, so keep an eye on our announcements!

AMD has launched a new open-source project called, GAIA (pronounced /ˈɡaɪ.ə/), an awesome application that leverages the power of Ryzen AI Neural Processing Unit (NPU) to run private and local large language models (LLMs). In this blog, we'll dive into the features and benefits of GAIA, while introducing how you can take advantage of GAIA's open-source project to adopt into your own applications.

Introduction to GAIA
GAIA is a generative AI application designed to run local, private LLMs on Windows PCs and is optimized for AMD Ryzen AI hardware (AMD Ryzen AI 300 Series Processors). This integration allows for faster, more efficient processing - i.e. lower power- while keeping your data local and secure. On Ryzen AI PCs, GAIA interacts with the NPU and iGPU to run models seamlessly by using the open-source Lemonade (LLM-Aid) SDK from ONNX TurnkeyML for LLM inference. GAIA supports a variety of local LLMs optimized to run on Ryzen AI PCs. Popular models like Llama and Phi derivatives can be tailored for different use cases, such as Q&A, summarization, and complex reasoning tasks.

MSI's latest high-end gaming laptops, including the Titan 18 HX AI, Raider 18 HX AI, and Vector 16 HX AI, feature Intel Core Ultra 200 HX series CPUs and NVIDIA RTX 50 series GPUs, while Raider A18 HX and Vector A18 HX run on AMD Ryzen 9000 series. With NVIDIA's last major GPU upgrade in over two years, these laptops deliver top-tier performance for ultra-high-resolution gaming. Beyond gaming, MSI's Titan, Raider, Vector, and Stealth series excel in AI applications, particularly Small Language Models (SLM), making them ideal for both gaming and AI-driven tasks.

Next-Gen GPUs: A Breakthrough for AI Applications
NVIDIA's latest RTX 50 series GPUs, built on the cutting-edge Blackwell architecture, introduce 5th-generation Tensor Cores, 4th-generation RT Cores, and Neural Rendering technology for the first time. With expanded memory capacity and GDDR7, these GPUs optimize AI-enhanced neural computations, reducing memory usage while boosting graphics rendering and AI processing efficiency. This results in unmatched performance for both gaming and creative workloads, enabling smoother, more efficient execution of complex tasks.

Josef Fares is a passionate creator, innovator, and a bold leader. These qualities have long served him well as the Director of Hazelight Studios, where he's built a reputation for delivering emotionally charged and deeply immersive interactive entertainment experiences. Known for his unique style and knack for blending humor, heart, and innovative gameplay, Fares has captivated the gaming world with his work on titles like A Way Out and critical darling It Takes Two. And now, after years of anticipation and dedication, Josef is back with Hazelight's latest creation: Split Fiction.

We sat down with Josef prior to launch (available March 6 on PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and through the EA app) for an exclusive Q&A to dive into the creative process behind Split Fiction, the challenges of bringing such a complex vision to life, and one level in particular that he believes is something that has never been seen before in video games. Let's dive in!

Just over a year ago, at The Game Awards 2023, Sega teased the revival of several legacy franchises. Today we are excited to formally announce the first of those games: Shinobi: Art of Vengeance. Yesterday's State of Play provided a first look at the game which will release August 29, 2025 on PC and consoles.

There is more to be shared in the coming months, but for now we wanted to bring you a Q&A with the game's producers at Sega of Japan and Lizardcube, who have teamed up to bring the game to life. We discuss the motivation to revive the franchise, how this new installment pays tribute to the original entries, and what players can expect from the full release. We hope you enjoy this first look behind Shinobi: Art of Vengeance!

Assassin's Creed Shadows has had a bit of a rough time of late, with Ubisoft initially pulling out of the Tokyo Game Show entirely and delaying the launch of Shadows to February 2025, attributing its absence at the show to the buggy, incomplete nature of the 2025 entry into the Assassin's franchise. In the announcement confirming the launch delay and the Tokyo Game Show Absence, Ubisoft also communicated that it would be shaking up the Assassin's Creed launch and monetization strategy significantly. Apparently as part of that monetization switch-up, Ubisoft has also changed the price of the Assassin's Creed Shadows Collector's Edition, cutting it by a whopping $50.

Ubisoft confirmed the price change on Discord in an official Q&A, announcing that, due to dropping the three-day early access that Collector's Edition buyers would originally have received, the Collector's Edition would now cost $229.99 instead of the previous price of $279.99. Meanwhile, the Collector's Edition will still include all the other paraphernalia and real-world loot that it originally bundled. The aforementioned delay and changes to the monetization strategy not only saw the cancellation of the Season Pass model previously used by Ubisoft, but it also meant that all Assassin's Creed Shadows players would also get the game's first expansion for free along with the base game.

Assassin's Creed Mirage was envisioned as an homage to its franchise—a celebration of how it began and what it accomplished between 2007's Assassin's Creed and 2023's Mirage. Beginning as an idea for a DLC expansion that would take Eivor to the Middle East, it grew into a standalone prequel starring Basim, the enigmatic Hidden One from Valhalla. Developed as a shorter experience by Ubisoft Bordeaux, the return-to-roots game presented a distinctive set of challenges, which are explored in the March 22 GDC talk "Between Legacy and Modernity: Creating an Homage Game to the 15-Year-Old Assassin's Creed Franchise."

During the talk, Creative Director Stéphane Boudon and Lead Producer Fabian Salomon discuss the game's beginnings, its growth into a "remoot"—that is, something between a remake and a reboot - and how a streamlined approach helped them make tough choices and focus the game on the Assassin experience. To find out more, we spoke with Boudon and Salomon about some of the early concepts behind the game, a few features that didn't make the cut, and how Mirage re-introduced and redefined stealth as a gameplay pillar.

Nations have long invested in domestic infrastructure to advance their economies, control their own data and take advantage of technology opportunities in areas such as transportation, communications, commerce, entertainment and healthcare. AI, the most important technology of our time, is turbocharging innovation across every facet of society. It's expected to generate trillions of dollars in economic dividends and productivity gains. Countries are investing in sovereign AI to develop and harness such benefits on their own. Sovereign AI refers to a nation's capabilities to produce artificial intelligence using its own infrastructure, data, workforce and business networks.

Why Sovereign AI Is Important
The global imperative for nations to invest in sovereign AI capabilities has grown since the rise of generative AI, which is reshaping markets, challenging governance models, inspiring new industries and transforming others—from gaming to biopharma. It's also rewriting the nature of work, as people in many fields start using AI-powered "copilots." Sovereign AI encompasses both physical and data infrastructures. The latter includes sovereign foundation models, such as large language models, developed by local teams and trained on local datasets to promote inclusiveness with specific dialects, cultures and practices. For example, speech AI models can help preserve, promote and revitalize indigenous languages. And LLMs aren't just for teaching AIs human languages, but for writing software code, protecting consumers from financial fraud, teaching robots physical skills and much more.

Our next Developer Update Livestream begins on January 18 at 9 a.m. PST and will unearth details about the next season's gameplay features, Season Journey, and quality-of-life updates. Plus, we'll also share information about the new competitive leaderboard system—The Gauntlet. Join associate director of community Adam Fletcher, game design manager Daniel Tanguay, quest designer Madeleine James, and lead class designer Adam Jackson, as they delve into the danger awaiting you in Diablo IV's third season.

We'll also hold a Q&A segment at the end of the stream for players to field their questions directly to the team. Visit our official Diablo Twitch and YouTube channels to watch live! Following the Developer Update Livestream's conclusion, we'll post another article with a video of the livestream so you can still catch up on the details if you miss them.

Sanctuary beckons you forth, wanderer. On November 4, at 2:30 pm PDT, a glimpse into the future of Diablo IV will be revealed live to all at BlizzCon. Join associate game director Brent Gibson, production director Tiffany Wat, lead game producer Kalyeigh Calder, game director Joe Shely, and associate director of community Adam Fletcher, who will introduce content releasing during Season of Blood and beyond.

On the first day of BlizzCon, Q&A questions for the Campfire Chat will be gathered in-person from a box in the Diablo hall, along with any from social media. Then, we'll have a Q&A segment at the end of the stream where the team will answer questions collected from the community.

Just when you think the post-apocalyptic world being overrun by hordes of deadly enemies couldn't get any worse, along comes Remnant 2 with a whole new terrifying world of deadly creatures and god-like bosses. Remnant 2 is the continuation of the best-selling game Remnant: From the Ashes, and we (Xbox Wire) connected with David Adams, President of Gunfire Games, to talk about what you can expect from this intense Remnant combat experience.

Since this is a sequel, the first and most obvious question is, how does Remnant 2 align with everything we experienced in Remnant: From the Ashes, and what do those players who never played the first game need to know? "Story wise it picks up from the end of the first game's final DLC. The main threat has been seemingly defeated, and mankind is starting to fight back and take back the Earth," shares Adams. "However, something is obviously not perfect, or we wouldn't have a sequel. We try to keep the stories in our games simple, so players should have no trouble picking it up."

Logitech has announced the merging of its microphone and audio equipment brands - their G Gaming Twitter account posted about this decision yesterday, and directed customers to a question and answer session on the official subreddit: "Where do you get support? How will ASTRO, Blue and LFC integrate into Logitech G? Will there be new ASTRO products? Get your questions answered with our official FAQ." A brand manager has since confirmed (via a fan query) that the Blue brand is getting nixxed: "We will be keeping the Yeti brand and moving it under Logitech G. The Blue name will be used to describe our technologies." Logitech spent a cool $177 million when it acquired Blue Microphones back in mid-2018, so it is odd that the company has chosen to drop a very recognizable and popular brand name in the worlds of podcasting, streaming and audio recording.

News outlets have discovered that Blue has been removed from the brands section of Logitech's website, and the Bluemic.com domain now directs back to the parent company's main online presence(s). The Logitech G sub-page has been updated with listings of Yeti, Snowball and other microphone models. A brand manager also outlined ASTRO's future: "(it will) continue to live on as a premium console audio product series underneath the Logitech G brand. Stay tuned for more information regarding ASTRO including a launch that we think our community will be very excited about...We're (also) very excited about ASTRO as a product series under Logitech G."

Nintendo has released another of its "Ask the Developer" discussions, the first segment of this week's edition is obviously part of a marketing drive to drum up even more interest in the Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (scheduled to launch this Friday). Included in the roundtable conversation is Eiji Aonuma, project manager of the The Legend of Zelda series, who has RPG development experience dating back to the SNES and N64 days at Nintendo. The veteran developer confirms that the follow-up to 2017's Breath of the Wild functions as a direct sequel - the fanbase has long suspected that this was always the case - in his introduction he gets down to the facts sharply: "Once again, it takes place in the vast land of Hyrule after the conclusion of the previous game."

Aonuma reiterates the chosen setting: "Yes, this title is set in Hyrule shortly after the end of the previous game. There are many reasons why we chose this setting. After finishing development on the previous title, we wondered if we could make it possible for players to continue exploring the world after they've reached the game's ending." Given the previous entry's massive success in terms of sales - Breath of the Wild is approaching 30 million units sold - and critical reception, it would be natural for Nintendo to build on that foundation. A section of the fanbase has been critical of Nintendo's decision to not produce an unconnected sequel - Aonuma addresses this matter when he is asked whether an entirely new setting/visual style was in the cards: "No, not really. Although The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, has its own conclusion, we started to come up with new ideas that we wanted to bring to life in this already realized version of Hyrule, so our direction in making a sequel did not change."