As it's getting darker in the northern hemisphere, we're seeing a continuing stream of new game releases and this week's AAA title appears to involve hammers and ruins of some kind. The rest of this week's releases includes tiny civilizations, rhythms, faith, flashbacks and a Japanese game. Take a gander below to see if there's something for you or maybe you're suffering from new game release overload already?

Warhammer Age of Sigmar: Realms of Ruin / This week's AAA title / Friday 17 November
Wage a campaign of brutal conquest in this realm-shattering real-time strategy game set in the Warhammer Age of Sigmar universe. Explore the nature of war from the perspectives of righteous champions and villainous warlords. Battle for survival and dominance across a campaign featuring four major factions, including Stormcast Eternals, Orruk Kruleboyz, Nighthaunt and the Disciples of Tzeentch! Experience a cinematic plot, penned in conjunction with acclaimed Black Library author, Gavin Thorpe.

The wait is over. GeForce NOW Ultimate members can experience Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty on GOG.com at full GeForce RTX 4080 quality, with support for NVIDIA DLSS 3.5 technology. It's part of an action-packed GFN Thursday, with 26 more games joining the cloud gaming platform's library, including Quake II from id Software. Take on a thrilling challenge with Phantom Liberty, an all-new adventure for Cyberpunk 2077. When the orbital shuttle of the President of the New United States of America is shot down over the deadliest district of Night City, there's only one person who can save her. Become V, a cyberpunk for hire, and dive into a tangled web of espionage and political intrigue, unraveling a story that connects the highest echelons of power with the brutal world of black-market mercenaries.

Ultimate members can return to the neon lights of Night City and experience the benefits of NVIDIA DLSS 3.5 and its new Ray Reconstruction technology. These updates enhance the quality of full ray tracing in Cyberpunk 2077's Ray Tracing: Overdrive Mode, as part of the game's 2.0 update available for the base game for free and included with the Phantom Liberty expansion. Upgrade to a GeForce NOW Ultimate membership today to see Night City at its best.

Hail Commanders. Alongside the cinematic campaign and multiplayer modes already announced, those with a keen eye for the ever shaping landscape of the Realm before us may have noticed some exciting updates unveiled recently over on our Warhammer Age of Sigmar: Realms of Ruin Steam store page. It's time to discover more in our latest video here (see below).

A real-time strategy game from Frontier, set in the iconic Warhammer universe. Become a warlord and lead four unique factions to conquer the wild and savage Realm of Ghur in tense and tactical battles. Wage a campaign of brutal conquest in this realm-shattering real-time strategy game set in the Warhammer Age of Sigmar universe.

Greetings, Lord Captain! A grand voidship is ready to pierce the depths of space. Your companions await your orders. Dangers and adventures, terrors and treasures lie ahead. And now you finally know when you will take the first step on your glorious path. Your journey starts on December 7, 2023. Made in a close partnership with Games Workshop, Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader is a story-rich classical RPG from Owlcat Games, developers of the critically acclaimed game, Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous.

Plan your actions carefully
Slaughter the enemies of Mankind in a fully-fledged isometric turn-based tactical combat. Take advantage of cover, the environment, and careful positioning to overpower your enemies. When that is not enough - use your companions' powerful abilities to turn the tide of battle and achieve victory even in the direst of situations. Our video game adaption of the classic Rogue Trader ruleset allows an enormous number of possibilities for you to explore.

Today, Focus Entertainment and Saber Interactive, in partnership with Games Workshop, are thrilled to unveil the most extensive look at Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2's gameplay to date. In this 10-minute Extended Gameplay trailer, the explosive third-person action game shows Lieutenant Titus and his battle brothers Chairon and Gadriel taking on swarms of Tyranids on the Planet Avarax. The game will release on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S and PC with digital and physical versions, and a prestigious Collector's Edition which is currently open for pre-orders.

Continue the story of legendary Space Marine Lieutenant Titus - voiced by Vikings and Taken star Clive Standen - and drive back the everlasting night in Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2's epic new campaign whether solo with AI or in 3-player co-op! Unleash a deadly arsenal and embody the unwavering brutality of the Emperor's greatest warriors to protect humanity from the untold horrors of the galaxy, including the dark forces of Chaos! First teased at Summer Game Fest, the sorcerous Thousand Sons - Chaos Space Marines in thrall to the Chaos God of fate and mutation are now confirmed to appear in the game!

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.

We do not determine the guilty; we do not decide the punishment; we are merely the cold instruments of the Emperor's vengeance. There is no form of death unknown to us; there is no form of terror beyond our means; there is no enemy outside our reach. We are the blade that hovers over the throat of the traitor; we are the bullet that awaits the heretic's skull; we are the poison in the throat of the alien.

The Officio Assassinorum have arrived. Our second major DLC, Execution Force is now available to all players via Steam and the Epic Games Store. This DLC brings the might of four unique Assassin units to your disposal. Use them wisely in combination with your Grey Knights to decimate Nurgle's despicable plague. Alongside Execution Force comes Update XIII, which brings a swathe of its own new content and changes. Notably a new squad of enemies, the Tainted Sons have entered the fray, posing a new fearsome challenge.

Gather your forces because the Realms of Ruin Open Beta is now LIVE! The time has come to venture forth to tame the Realm of Beasts in the Warhammer Age of Sigmar: Realms of Ruin Open Beta, right here on Steam. By participating in the Open Beta, you will have the chance to become an integral part of the development process, providing valuable thoughts and feedback to ensure a smooth and stable experience for players at the game's full launch.

It's not too late to join!
The Warhammer Age of Sigmar: Realms of Ruin Open Beta is now available to download and play today, running from July 7-10. A Frontier account is required to access the Open Beta. You can create one on our Frontier website if you don't currently have an account here. Simply navigate to the Warhammer Age of Sigmar: Realms of Ruin store page, here on Steam and follow the link there to download.

The Stormcast Eternals are mortal heroes transformed into supernatural warriors in the forges of Azyr. They are the God-King's wrath made manifest, and they were created for one single purpose: outright war! In Warhammer Age of Sigmar: Realms of Ruin, they are led by Sigrun, a commander of the Stormcast Eternals detachment sent to defend a Dawnbringer settlement known as Harkanibus.

Beset by relentless Orruk Kruleboyz raids, Sigrun must embark on a perilous mission to help them turn the tides of war. Learn more about how this formidable faction plays as well as more details about the Direct Step system offered to those playing on gamepad in the first of our Faction Focus video series (below).

Only one day to wait before the release of Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun! We're sure you can't wait to get your hands on this explosive boomer shooter, so to manage your wait, we cooked this explosive Extended Gameplay Trailer, showcasing a viciously satisfying gameplay footage topped off with a climactic boss fight! Pre-order now ahead of Boltgun's Steam release on May 23.

Plunge headlong into the grim darkness of the far future!
Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun is a single-player FPS that delivers a hardcore, neo-retro experience in an iconic '90s style, putting you in the ceramite armored boots of the ultimate killing machine: a Space Marine. One week before it launches, take a nice, good, nostalgic look at the devastating, visceral and gory gameplay that is about to obliterate the daemons of Chaos.

To call this a busy week of game releases would be an understatement and there should be something for everyone except those that want a new sports or racing game of some kind. This week's AAA title is all about precious things, but we also have games covering the post-human world on earth, rescue missions, hammers of war, the colour yellow and snakes, for those that are into those kinds of things. Oddly enough, most of the games this week are released on Tuesday, so we included a whole bunch of new releases on the same day of week this time around due to this, not because we hate the other days of the week.

The Lord of the Rings: Gollum / This week's AAA title / Thursday 25 May
Play as Gollum on his quest to retrieve his Precious. You will need to climb the mountains of Mordor, sneak around Mirkwood and make difficult choices. Who will gain the upper hand: the cunning Gollum or the innocent Smeagol?

It is time to purge the heretics! Get ready for Boltgun, a gory, rapid-fire boomer shooter blast from the past that is as nostalgic as its gameplay is fluid and modern. You will take control of a mighty Sternguard Veteran along with his faithful servo-skull and plunge headlong into the grim dark universe of Warhammer 40,000. Summoned by the Inquisition, ready your righteous arsenal, your indomitable armor and your battle-honed instincts to Scour Graia, a Forge World on the brink, overrun by Cultists, Traitors and Daemons.

Blast cultists apart with your mighty Boltgun! Smash traitors with your Charge! Shred the spawn of the Archenemy with your Chainsword! Maim and obliterate hordes of foes with your array of iconic weapons! Only in death does duty end! Unleash your wrath upon the enemies of the Imperium!

The 40th anniversary of Warhammer has been filling us with nostalgia, and the new trailer for Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun is only making things better. This is a gloriously retro pulse-pounding first-person shooter, where you play a Space Marine one-man army gunning through pixelated heretic hordes. This awesome game lets you experience the ultimate homage to retro shooters, blending 80s-style visuals with fluid, modern FPS gameplay. And you won't have to wait long to play it - it's out on May 23rd!

Load up your Boltgun and plunge into battle headfirst! Experience a perfect blend of Warhammer 40,000, classic, frenetic FPS gameplay and the stylish visuals of your favourite 90's retro shooters. Play a battle-hardened Space Marine on a perilous mission across the galaxy, as they battle against the Chaos Space Marines and daemons of Chaos. In glorious boomer shooter style, unleash your devastating Space Marine arsenal as you blast through an explosion of sprites, pixels and blood. Run, jump and charge across huge levels to shoot, shred and slice the worst heretics across the galaxy!

Intel Graphics today released the latest version of its Arc GPU Graphics Drivers. Version 101.4090 beta comes with launch-day optimization for "Forspoken." The company also fixed a couple of issues with this release. For Arc "Alchemist" discrete GPUs, an application freeze issue with "A Plague Tale: Requiem" has been fixed. Box corruptions noticed in "Need for Speed: Unbound," have also been fixed. For Intel Core processors with Xe LP-based iGPUs, a screenspace corruption issue with NFS: Unbound has been fixed; besides an intermittent application crash with Total War: Warhammer III in DirectX 11 mode, and color corruption in Battlefield: 2042. Grab the drivers from the link below.

DOWNLOAD: Intel Arc GPU Graphics Drivers 101.4090 beta

Award-winning studio Owlcat Games is thrilled to reveal the first gameplay trailer for Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader - the first cRPG set in the legendary grim darkness of the far future of Warhammer 40,000. Set to be released on PC and consoles, the game features turn-based combat and is being produced in close collaboration with Games Workshop.

Owlcat unveiled a new gameplay trailer during the PC Gaming Show 2023 Preview, giving viewers a taste of what it truly means to be a Rogue Trader. The launch of the trailer is also heralding the opening of the Steam and GOG wishlists for the eagerly anticipated title. The fabulous Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader collector's box revealed on the show includes an 8-inch painted figure of Navigator Cassia Orsellio, hardcover art book, Warrant of Trade that you can personalize with your name, Rogue Trader banner, and sticker pack. Together with physical items you will receive a digital version of the game in a selected store with the pack of various in-game goodies and access to Alpha and Beta versions. The Collector's Edition is available for pre-order via owlcat.games' website.

NVIDIA today released the latest GeForce Game Ready software. Version 526.98 WHQL adds official support for the GeForce RTX 4080 graphics card launched earlier this week. It also adds optimization for "Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales," "Warhammer 40,0000: Darktide," the latest patch update for "WRC Generations," and "World of Warcraft: Dragonflight." It adds DLSS 3 support for the latest "Spider-Man" title, as well as DLAA support for "Monster Hunter Rise." The drivers also introduce official support for DirectStorage 1.1 API, as well as RTX-IO support for Vulkan. This way, even Vulkan API-based games can enjoy GPU-accelerated game asset decompression, speeding up game loading times.

DLSS 3 is now made to get along with VSYNC On G-SYNC and G-SYNC Compatible Monitors & TVs. The new HDR10+ Gaming standard is now implemented. Among the issues fixed with this driver release are a game crash with "Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves Collection," on GTX 10-series GPUs, application crashes with Daz Studio and Maxon Cinema 4D; and minor quirks with Fujitsu Siemens SL23T-1, and the G-SYNC logo not displaying with LG OLED TVs that support it. Grab this feature-packed update from the link below.

DOWNLOAD: NVIDIA GeForce 526.98 WHQL

NVIDIA today released the latest version of GeForce Game-Ready drivers. Version 511.79 WHQL comes with optimization for "Elden Ring," "Destiny 2: The Witch Queen," "GRID Legends," "Martha is Dead" and "Total War: Warhammer III." Reflex support is added to iRacing. The drivers fix a display corruption with "Call of Duty: Vanguard" and "Assassins Creed Valhalla." Color flashing in "Battlefield 2042" has been fixed. An application-launch issue with Corel Paint Shop Pro X has been fixed. A bug affecting G-SYNC re-enabling on compatible monitors once disabled, has been fixed. Digital vibrance resets when the monitor goes to sleep.

DOWNLOAD: NVIDIA GeForce 511.79 WHQL

Independent developer Fatshark today released Winds of Magic, the new expansion to their multimillion selling and award winning hit game Warhammer: Vermintide 2.

"Warning heroes - the Beastmen have arrived, and they bring malice with them. Pick up the new weapons, and help me put a stop to this invasion of ruthless enemies." says Bardin Goreksson, self-proclaimed leader of the Ubersreik Five group of heroes.

Kasedo Games and Bulwark Studios are pleased to announce that Heretek, the expansion to the critically acclaimed Warhammer 40,000: Mechanicus, is now available for Windows PC, Mac & Linux, priced at $9.99, €9.99, £6.99.

Exposing the dark underbelly of the Adeptus Mechanicus faction like never before, in Heretek, players must uncover what has brought civil unrest to The Caestus Metalican while also battling the fearsome Necrons on Silva Tenebris.

Bigben and EKO Software are pleased to reveal the launch trailer for Warhammer: Chaosbane. The game is now available on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC. After two beta phases that united Warhammer and hack-and-slash fans alike, EKO Software is proud to announce a game that remains faithful to the lore while simultaneously offering game mechanics never seen in its genre before.

Konrad Vollen the soldier, Elontir the mage, Bragi Axebiter the dwarf Slayer, or Elessa the archer: which hero will you choose, alone or with your friends, to come to the Empire's rescue and push the Chaos back?

If you're looking for a new game to pave your way through some dead hours of your days, and like space marines, the Humble store has you covered. They're offering up copies of Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine to anyone and everyone that goes into their store page, adds the game to their cart, and checks-out. You can redeem the offered code on your Steam account for a limited time - et voilá. Simple and easy. If you have the time, peruse their other options as well. Any piece of code you purchase from their store helps different charities, so if you can prioritize your purchases through them, there's always also that warm fuzzy feeling of maybe having done something right.

AMD today released Radeon Software Adrenalin 18.6.1 beta. The drivers come with performance optimization for "Warhammer: Vermitide 2," with up to 9 percent performance improvements over 18.5.2, seen on Radeon RX Vega 56, at 1440p resolution; and up to 10 percent improvements seen using the RX 580 8 GB. In addition, the update fixes a number of bugs.

Blank screen issues with "Subnautica" have been fixed. System hangs or crashes experienced in "Sea of Thieves" in the "Cannon Cove" area have been fixed. Ground texture corruption in "World of Tanks" on certain multi-GPU systems, has been fixed. Flickering noticed in certain menus of "Middle Earth: Shadow of War" has been fixed. Desktop being out of the visible area at the 8K resolution on Radeon Pro Duo has been fixed. Grab the drivers from the link below.DOWNLOAD: AMD Radeon Software Adrenalin 18.6.1

The change-log follows.

AMD today rolled out Radeon Software Adrenalin 18.5.2 Beta drivers. This includes drivers for 32-bit Windows 10 and Windows 7. While the drivers don't coincide with any AAA game launches; they pack a number of bug fixes. To begin with, they fix a system hang noticed on "Sea of Thieves" after the splash-screen. A "white screen" that was noticed in "The Crew" in daylight maps, is now fixed. Shader Cache failing to enable on some games, has now been fixed. Certain FreeSync displays putting out a blank screen when FreeSync is enabled in the middle of a game, is fixed. Texture issues with zombie models in "Arizona Sunshine" is fixed. "Warhammer: Vermintide 2" experiencing an application hang upon changing resolution, has also been fixed.DOWNLOAD: AMD Radeon Software Adrenalin 18.5.2 Beta

Slitherine and Games Workshop renew their relationship to offer a fresh approach to the Warhammer 40,000 universe - planetary 4X. Warhammer 40,000: Gladius incorporates the dark, gothic, far future science-fantasy setting in ways never tried before. A brand new, deep storyline has been created to combine elements of 4X gameplay with a combat-focused system. The evolution of technology, construction of infrastructures and exploration of an unknown world, goes hand in hand with the management of military resources, including heroes with special abilities and mighty war machines.

Warhammer 40,000: Gladius has been designed to give four totally different gameplay experiences, depending on which factions players choose. Space Marines, Astra Militarum (aka Imperial Guard), Orks and Necrons each have dramatically different characteristics, both in how they develop and expand and in the way they interact with allies and enemies. This gives the game virtually endless replay value and players the chance to play out the same experience in totally divergent ways.

With the rather fast introduction of the Intel Core i7-8700K (just 9 months following the January 3rd launch of the i7-7700K), retailers are finding themselves with quite a bit of unsold i7-7700K (and even i7-6700K) inventory. Consumers are drawn to either the i7-8700K, or the competing AMD Ryzen processors. To help the market digest these unsold chips, Intel started a new game-bundle dubbed "Game Without Compromise."

Buyers of brand-new Core i7-7700K and i7-6700K processors will receive game keys to "Total War: Warhammer II" and "Assassins Creed: Origins," which is effectively a $100 value-addition to these $330 quad-core chips. It provides an upgrade path to users of the older 100-series/200-series chipset platform. As with most such game bundles, the "Game Without Compromise" bundle will be limited to select retailers.