Ars Technica Gaming

1. Bill to block publishers from killing online games advances in California

   Publishers would have to offer "independent" play patch or refunds after server shutdowns.

2. Over a year later, AMD is bringing improved FSR 4 upscaling to its older GPUs

   FSR 4.1 running on RDNA3 or RDNA2 GPUs may take a bigger performance hit.

3. Pirates are already playing Forza Horizon 6 days before its launch

   Crackers take advantage of unencrypted files that briefly appeared on Steam.

4. Sony says "efficient" AI tools will lead to even more games flooding the market

   But human artists still "must remain at the center," PlayStation maker says.

5. The Nintendo Switch 2 is getting more expensive later this year

   "Changes in market conditions" lead to $50 price bump on Sept. 1.

6. Everyone’s a loser in Strait of Hormuz game that simulates global crisis

   The game asks players to find the least worst options for a shipping chokepoint.

7. Google DeepMind partners with EVE Online for AI model testing

   Move comes as CCP Games spends $120M to go independent, rebrands as Fenris Creations.

8. AMD is adding HDMI 2.1 support for Linux. That's good news for the Steam Machine.

   Fixed Rate Link being added now; Display Stream Compression coming soon.

9. The RAMpocalypse has bought Microsoft valuable time in the fight against SteamOS

   Op-ed: Valve has made a dent in Windows' gaming share, but can it keep going?

10. Nvidia fixes the 8GB RAM problem with one of its GPUs—if you can pay for it

    Framework charges nearly double for the 12GB version of the mobile RTX 5070.

11. "Super ZSNES" is a stab at a modern SNES emulator from the original developers

    Upgrades to SNES graphics and sound go way beyond the typical screen filtering.

12. Steam Controller: The Ars Technica review

    Valve's new hardware is solid but might not justify its $99 price.

13. Meet the players who lost big money on Peter Molyneux’s failed Legacy

    After millions in NFT sales, the hyped “play to earn” game was effectively dead in weeks.

14. Lawsuit: Nintendo is getting tariff refunds—its customers should get them instead

    Lawsuit demands Nintendo pass Trump tariff refunds on to its customers.

15. Microsoft removes Call of Duty from Game Pass, lowers subscription pricing

    New Xbox CEO says subscription "has become too expensive for too many players."

16. Framework Laptop 16 upgrades make it look less like an unfinished prototype

    A lower-end Ryzen AI 340 CPU option will also bring the price down, for now.

17. Meta's AI spending spree is helping make its Quest headsets more expensive

    Prices for "critical components" are surging because of massive data center investments.

18. The Ukraine war's deep impact on Metro 2039’s development, story

    Upcoming sequel wants to capture a "uniquely Ukrainian perspective" on the post-apocalypse.

19. Retro Rewind re-creates the glorious drudgery of working a '90s video store

    What the nostalgic throwback lacks in complexity it makes up for in repetitive charm.

20. What leaked "SteamGPT" files could mean for the PC gaming platform's use of AI

    AI tools could help moderators sift through mountains of suspicious incidents