HardwareLuxx's editor, Andreas Schilling, was invited by Intel Tech Tour to attend a recent press event at the company's manufacturing facility and test labs in Malaysia. Invited media representatives were allowed to observe ongoing work on next generation client and data center-oriented products. He posted a short summary of these observations via social media: "I've seen wafers with Emerald Rapids XCC on them, that were being cut. Not a surprise at all, but still...also MTL682_C0, so Meteor Lake with 6 P-Cores, 8 E-Cores and GT2 Graphic Tile tested in a C0 stepping and finally the Failure Lab already saw BMG G10 - Battlemage is real." We have been hearing mixed mutterings about the status of Team Blue's next-gen Arc GPU technology, with more concrete evidence of its existence popping up around mid-August—namely in the shape of two Battlemage interposers, BGA2362-BMG-X2 and BGA2727-BMG-X3, uploaded to Intel's DESIGN-iN Tools website.

Schilling elaborated further in his full report: "In the Failure Analysis Lab, we came across a tray that evidently contained chips from the next Arc generation - at least, there were already corresponding chips in the analysis, which were clearly labeled as BMG G10." This chip looks to be lined up to succeed the current Alchemist ACM-G10 GPU, as seen on Intel Arc A750 and A770 discrete graphics cards. A leaked product roadmap shows Intel targeting a Battlemage launch around Q2 - Q3 2024, with the aforementioned G10 having a TDP rating of <225 W, as well as another variant—G21—rated for a maximum power consumption of 150 W.

The Sky UK news network has gathered intel from industry and government sources about an industry event that is due to take place next week at a very famous location - 10 Downing Street - the residence of the UK's Prime Minister. Sky News has been informed that Microsoft has been invited to attend the showcase by the UK Interactive Entertainment (UKIE) industry organization - best described as the main trade body for the nation's games and interactive entertainment sector. The American technology behemoth is expected to display and demonstrate their Xbox gaming product range in front of top politicians and key entertainment industry figures. There is no mention of representatives from Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE) being invited to attend in a similar capacity. The timing of this UKIE organized event (to take place on April 26) is highly controversial as it will coincide with the UK's Competition and Markets Authority's statutory deadline to deliver a Phase-2 verdict on Microsoft's proposed acquisition of Activision Blizzard.

The UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) regulatory body has already delivered a provisional approval of the aforementioned deal, but stated that it required more time to investigate the potential for irregularities in competition within the cloud gaming sector. The Phase-2 verdict, due to be delivered next week, is anticipated to include the antitrust watchdog's finalized judgement on cloud gaming market affairs. Sky's insider sources in the city of London have speculated that Microsoft could face a humiliating situation at the 10 Downing-hosted party, if by coincidence the CMA changes its opinion on the Activision Blizzard takeover bid. If the competition regulator stays consistent with its (earlier) provisional decision, Microsoft could be criticized for its extensive courting of government organizations - not only in the UK, but around the world.