Gaming in China. Reviews, Walkthroughs, News

From Software boss Hidetaka Miyazaki has ruled out making a second Elden Ring expansion, but left the door open for a potential sequel.

Sprinkled into TikTok’s endless feed of videos, you can find all sorts of content related to video games. You can see lore analysis videos, cool tips and tricks, cosplay, and, if you’re lucky, thirsty edits of characters like Leon Kennedy. The platform has become a place where people can learn about the games they love and discover new ones. Some games, like The Wandering Village, have specifically flourished thanks to TikTok and have found millions of viewers on the app. But now, that could all go away.

Vivo X100s live images have surfaced ahead of its anticipated launch. Set to hit the market in China later this month, the smartphone has been subject to numerous leaks, the latest being a fresh batch of live images showcasing its design. The images, which were recently shared on Weibo, provide a clear view of the phone's front panel, featuring a centrally placed punch-hole selfie camera. Notably, the device sports flat edges reminiscent of the iPhone 15 and the Galaxy S24 Plus.

NVIDIA has announced an update to the NvRTX branch of Epic's Unreal Engine 5. The major new feature is the addition of experimental support for ReSTIR Global Illumination, the ray tracing algorithm first discussed by NVIDIA researchers in the seminal paper Spatiotemporal Reservoir Resampling for Real-Time Ray Tracing with Dynamic Direct Lighting released at ACM SIGGRAPH 2020.

The Apple Vision Pro might not be a hit in the consumer market as updated shipment estimates have dropped to 400,000 to 450,000 units for 2024, but the $3,499 head-mounted wearable is a success in the enterprise division, with companies thoroughly impressed with what has been crammed into the device. During Apple’s Q2 2024 earnings, CEO Tim Cook revealed that half of Fortune 100 companies have purchased the AR headset, and it has proven itself to deliver immense utility in various applications.

Apple Inc. shares jumped in late trading after the company posted stronger-than-expected sales last quarter and predicted a return to growth in the current period, sparking optimism that a slowdown is easing.

Whereas most FromSoftware received two DLCs, Elden Ring will only get Shadow of the Erdtree, FromSoftware president and Game Director Hidetaka Miyazaki confirmed to the Chinese website Campfire Camp, thus effectively denying previous rumors of a second expansion slated for 2025.

fans hoping for even more expansions after the upcoming DLCare out of luck as creative director Hidetaka Miyazaki shared some bad news about the game's future. Released in 2022, the community has waited for over two years to return to The Lands Between and while pre-release footage continues to look promising, some are already looking to the future. While FromSoftware is known for releasing at least a couple of expansions for their RPGs, with a few exceptions, it seems like won't receive any further post-launch support.

Huawei was reported to have attained a new milestone as its Pura 70 lineup was said to be comprised of 90 percent components sourced from Chinese partners. This approach would have meant that shortly, the company would be even less dependent on foreign suppliers that are strongly influenced by the U.S., assuming the claim turned out true. The report mentioned that the Japanese electronics consultancy firm Fomalhaut Techno Solutions analyzed the latest smartphones, but the Chief Executive has denied this information.

Despite the love it received from core gamers and critics alike, Remedy's recent effort, Alan Wake 2, has yet to make back its development and marketing budget. This surprising situation has plenty of contributing factors, which we first covered in December, but the reality is that sales are soft. No doubt striking while the irons are hot, Chinese multinational holding company Tencent, the largest video game company in the world, has increased its stake in the Finnish developer from 5% to 15%, securing additional shares and voting rights.

FromSoftware boss Hidetaka Miyazaki has confirmed that Shadow of the Erdtree will be the only expansion released for beloved role-playing game Elden Ring.

As reported by Chinese outlet Campfire Camp, spotted by GamesRadar, and machine translated by Ian Games of the Ian Games Network, and then delivered fresh to your eyeballs by me, Nic Reuben of Reuben Paper Shotgun dot com, Elden Ring expansion Shadow Of The Erdtree will be the only DLC released for the world stomping rpg game. That’s according to FromSoftware's sadistic DM and notable swamp troll Hidetaka Miyazaka, although it doesn’t sound like he’s trolling this time.

Elden Ring's Shadow of the Erdtree DLC will be the RPG's only expansion, but developer FromSoftware isn't ruling out other full games in The Lands Between.

Elden Ring's Shadow of the Erdtree DLC apparently has no definitive ending, and won't impact the plot of the main game.

After the conclusion of the May Day holidays in China, reports indicate a flurry of new smartphone releases on the horizon. Digital Chat Station, a renowned leaker, has hinted at the imminent arrival of six flagship-grade phones, although specific names are not disclosed. However, speculations suggest that among these releases are the Realme GT Neo 6, Vivo's X100 series, the Oppo Reno 12 lineup, and the Meizu 21 Note.

The Nintendo Switch 2 may be clocked higher than expected in docked mode but "crazy low" in handheld mode to achieve better battery life, according to rumors circulating online.

Japan’s most popular indie games expo, BitSummit, has opened ticket sales for its 2024 event, which will return to Kyoto on Friday, July 19.

Qualcomm is expected to officially unveil the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 in October this year, so it is no surprise that the flagship’s engineering sample is being thoroughly tested and benchmarked to iron out the problems before commercial units are sent to the company’s phone partners. However, early results show that the chipset’s performance is beyond disappointing, with the performance cores said to be running at a significantly lower resolution than what previous reports suggested.

Ubisoft has just announced that Assassin’s Creed: Mirage will arrive on the Apple App Store on June 6. Coming to the latest generation of iPhones and iPads, the release of Assassin’s Creed: Mirage for iOSmarks the first time that fans will be able to play through one of the franchise's major console titles on a mobile device.

Remedy Entertainment has provided an update on the development of Control2, Codename Condor, and the Max Payne 1 and 2 remakes. 

Real-time Strategy RPG Path to Nowhere is celebrating its 1.5th anniversary with a special event. It’s called ‘Ode to Sun’ and kicks off on April 30th, that is today. With not just one but ten blazing suns threatening catastrophe, you can join forces and wield the Almighty Bow. Curious to know more? Follow along for all the details on Path to Nowhere 1.5th anniversary!

Despite being one of the most successful games released by Remedy Entertainment, Alan Wake II still hasn't recouped its expenses, according to a new financial report.

Microsoft has announced the first wave of games coming to Game Pass in May 2024. Highlights include Little Kitty Big City, Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition, and Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons.

Samsung is expected to launch a new F-series smartphone early next month. The Galaxy F55 5G is expected to be the rebranded version of the Galaxy C55 which was launched earlier this month in China. Samsung has been actively teasing the smartphone by revealing its new vegan leather finish, which looks very similar to the Galaxy C55. Now, the company has finally confirmed the vegan leather finish of the Galaxy F55 5G.

Like the Series S before it, the Nintendo Switch 2 is the worst kept secret going. It’s getting to the point where it’s so unofficially official that even third party manufacturers are casually dropping details.

Every Fallout game, dating back to the original in 1997, has been set in America. We've gone from New California to the Capital Wasteland to The Commonwealth, but never outside the USA.

Chinese tech and entertainment giant Tencent has increased its stake in Finnish games firm Remedy.

Huawei achieved another milestone with its Pura 70 series launch and that is sourcing 90 percent of smartphone components from Chinese suppliers. With the U.S. export control barring foreign companies from shipping parts to the company to use in various products, Huawei was adamant about cutting off overseas manufacturers and relying on local firms to get the job done. So far, the progress has been impressive, and only a few components remain to completely eliminate dependency on supply chain partners outside of China.

Super Impact has just launched its latest game, Sidestep Storm on Android. It’s a game where you run and dodge to brave the storm, a lot like Temple Run and Subway Surfer. So, what’s different or new in this running game by Super Impact? Keep reading to know more!

Tencent has significantly increased its shareholding in Remedy Entertainment.

Remedy has provided an update on Codename Condor, the co-operative multiplayer game set in the Control universe.

Hypergryph just dropped some big news for Arknights China players. A crossover with the beloved ‘cooking’ anime, Dungeon Meshi will soon be out! The announcement came during Arknights CN’s 5th Anniversary Livestream on Bilibili. So, what’s in store for the Arknights x Dungeon Meshi crossover? Keep reading to find out!

The Nintendo Switch 2 will undergo minor changes in appearance over the current dock, but under the hood, it will pack some significant improvements, according to a new report.

Looks like a crossover with all the good stuff-ing is going to drop soon in China. It’s the Reverse: 1999 China x Pizza Hut collaborations that’s about to drop for the Chinese servers. Bluepoch, the publishers of the game, is all set to bring three of the most popular characters of the game into Pizza Hut’s world. Who are they and what else is going down? Keep reading to find out!

Switch peripheral maker Mobapad claims to have new information on the Switch 2, particularly with regards to its controllers.

OnePlus is gearing up to expand its popular Nord series lineup with the anticipated releases of the OnePlus Nord 4 and Nord CE 4 Lite. Recent leaks and rumours have provided insights into the potential features and specifications of these upcoming smartphones, sparking excitement among tech enthusiasts.

New hardware details for Nintendo's successor appear to have leaked, reportedly revealing features for its controllers, screen and more.

The demand for Apple Vision Pro is slowly dwindling, but the company’s long-term goals have not budged an inch. A new report states that the successor to the $3,499 AR headset could launch sometime by the end of 2026. However, there is a huge glaring issue that Apple needs to address, or this product category will most likely never take off, and that is pricing. For that to happen, the technology giant needs to bring down its component costs, but with each current-generation unit estimated to set back Apple by $1,542, the road to a more affordable head-mounted wearable is long and hard.

Apple Vision Pro surveys have been sent out to users ever since the headset launched earlier this year, but on this occasion, the company has sent customers a multitude of questions, wanting to learn about their experience and usage habits. What is interesting about the latest in-depth survey is that it was sent out shortly after the technology giant reportedly cut production of its latest head-mounted wearable to an estimated 400,000 to 450,000 annual units.

Stardew Valley update 1.6.6 is officially here, and although creator Eric Barone says it's "mostly bug fixes and translation changes," there is a list of "balance and gameplay changes," and among them is one that's a pretty dang big deal for honey farming.

Fallout has been the watercooler TV show this month, an impressive feat for a video game adaptation. Although Bethesda doesn’t have any new Fallout games to release alongside it, the Amazon Prime series has reinvigorated interest in Fallout, with all its titles seeing notable player count increases. For now, we’ll have to be content with a Fallout 4 current-gen upgrade, but I’ll admit that my mind is drifting to thinking about Fallout 5.

NVIDIA's GeForce RTX 40 GPUs, including the RTX 4060 Ti, are experiencing some major supply issues, leading to increased prices.

The Dimensity 9400 is scheduled to be announced later this year, and one of the most significant differences between it and chipsets like the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 and A17 Pro is that MediaTek will not rely on custom cores for its upcoming SoC. Instead, ARM’s current CPU designs will be utilized, which might give an impression that the Dimensity 9400 is at a distinct disadvantage. However, one tipster claims that MediaTek and ARM are collaborating to use the latter’s ‘BlackHawk’ architecture in the upcoming silicon, potentially delivering better Instructions Per Clock (IPC) performance than competing current-generation chips.

Huawei was previously rumored to be developing an Apple M1 competitor to take that ARM-based chipset market share away from the company. However, according to the latest information, the Chinese firm is using the Taishan V130 architecture to mass produce a silicon that can come close to the M3’s multi-core performance. It appears that Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X Elite is not the only one trying to carve out a piece of the pie.

Following the launch of Update 1.6, players have been jumping back into Stardew Valley, with one fan encountering a beneficial bug in which they got an unexpected 100 million gold after their co-op partner's character passed out in the game. Stardew Valley Update 1.6 has already received a number of patches to fix bugs that have popped up following the new additions, and some fans are wondering if certain glitches may be more useful if left unfixed.

TikTok creators can’t seem to escape a maelstrom of policy and security concerns lately. On Wednesday, President Joe Biden signed a $95 billion national security package into law. Nestled inside it was the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, which gives TikTok parent company ByteDance 270 days to sell the platform or cease operations in the United States. Policymakers maintain that the bill is not a “ban,” but a way to get the China-based ByteDance to divest from TikTok. The battle over TikTok could play out in the courts for far longer than the roughly nine-month window before the deadline, but the uncertain future of the app has kicked up a fervor among its many creators, who depend on it for community, connection, and their livelihoods.

A newly announced Stardew Valley mod seeks to introduce a variety of Baldur's Gate 3-inspired content to the game. The ambitious project could hence add to the ever-growing list of community-created Stardew Valley add-ons, assuming it manages to realize its avid aspirations.

Even more potential details surrounding the yet-to-be-announced Nintendo Switch 2 console have leaked online. Nintendo itself has not formally revealed the Switch 2, but persistent rumors and leaks have suggested that the console is coming sooner rather than later. Some reports have even suggested that the Switch 2 release date will be late 2024, as opposed to 2025, which has been previously rumored.

The Nintendo Switch 2 will be a conservative hardware evolution over the original model, according to a recent report from a Chinese peripheral manufacturer.

The long-awaited Lost Soul Aside out of Sony's own China Hero Project could be nearing the development finish line as the PS5, PS4 title has been handed a Chinese age rating, clearing it for release in the country. Daniel Ahmad, an analyst at Niko Partners, adds this likely means news surrounding the game's final release will likely be shared soon, potentially within the next three months.

A World of Warcraft fan recently noticed that Earthen characters leave behind piles of rocks when they die, rather than a skeleton. This charming detail is not only unique to the Earthen but is also a direct nod to the lore of the new World of Warcraft race.

Developer ConcernedApe has rolled out Stardew Valley update 1.6.6, containing a plethora of balance adjustments, translation improvements, bug fixes, and more. This update also introduces specific fixes and changes for Stardew Valley modded players and mod authors.

MSI seems to be focusing more on NVIDIA's RTX GPUs than AMD's Radeon GPUs as the company focuses on products with higher user interest.

The version 2.2 update for Honkai: Star Rail, dubbed “Then Wake to Weep,” will launch on May 8, developer miHoYo announced.

Roguelite deduction adventure game The Detective Reaper Invites will launch for PC via Steam on May 25 for $9.99, publisher PLAYISM and developer Shizu Kano Umi announced. It will support English, Japanese, Traditional and Simplified Chinese language options.

Shadow of the Ninja Reborn will launch for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series, PlayStation 4, Switch, and PC via Steam on August 29, publisher Natsume Atari and developer Tengo Project announced. It will support English, Japanese, French, Italian, German, Spanish, Korean, Simplified Chinese, and Traditional Chinese language options.

The US government this week said it will ban TikTok if the platform isn't sold in the next nine months.

We’ve been hearing about Lost Soul Aside for years at this point, and though the Devil May Cry and Final Fantasy-inspired action RPG has continued to look impressive with each of its new showings, details on when the game will actually launch have remained frustratingly elusive. That, however, might change soon.

After withdrawing its Find X series of camera-focussed premium phones from India in 2020 (after the launch of its Find X2), Oppo seems to have suddenly become interested in the ultra-premium segment once again. As brands like OnePlus and Oppo (and soon Vivo) collectively attempt to dethrone Samsung in India in the foldables segment, Xiaomi and Oppo now seem interested (or confident) in taking things up a notch and competing with Samsung's premium Galaxy S Ultra series as well, which for years remained untouched.

Lost Soul Aside, the upcoming action RPG hack-n-slash from Chinese developer Ultizero Games, has been rated in China.

Samsung is confronting a shortage of its S24 smartphones in Pakistan, attributed to an unexpectedly high demand for the flagship phone. Assembled locally in the country, the Galaxy S24 series has witnessed remarkable popularity since its launch earlier this year, particularly among affluent Pakistani consumers.

Microsoft has reported their results for Q3 2024 (which ran from the beginning of January to the end of March of this year) and it throws into very stark relief two narratives unfolding for Team Green. On the one hand, Microsoft Gaming revenue is up significantly overall following the purchase of Activision Blizzard, but the rest of the Xbox business has continued to suffer with console sales down badly year-on-year.

Publisher PROTOYPE and developer Key have announced planetarian: The Reverie of a Little Planet & Snow Globe for Switch. It will launch on June 27 with English, Japanese, French, Simplified Chinese, and Traditional Chinese language support.

The gaming tech universe is incredibly competitive these days, but there’s always room for new and innovative entries from creators around the world. Hong Kong-based PB Tails are entering the controller arena with the Crush, a Bluetooth 5.0 enabled pad compatible with PC, Switch, iOS and Android. Fully customisable, it boasts Hall Effect sticks and triggers which will last you well into the next generation.

The Snapdragon X Elite performance numbers that nearly everyone has seen would likely present an impression that Qualcomm has finally developed a capable ARM-based SoC that delivers some much-needed competition to Apple Silicon. Unfortunately, that would have been the case if the San Diego chip giant had not allegedly manipulated benchmarks. One report says that the benchmark claims are impossible to recreate for Qualcomm’s partners that will eventually use the Snapdragon X Elite in various notebook models.

Sixteen months after first being revealed to the world, the new Fallout 4 next-gen update has arrived on console.

AI roundup, April 25: Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced the expansion in AI investment to stay ahead of competitors such as Google, Microsoft, and other tech giants. The company also assured investors of monetisation opportunities. In other news, Duolingo highlighted that one of the reasons for their layoffs was AI adoption. Know more about what happened in the world of AI.

A in the is now a major possibility following both the House and the Senate voting in favor of a that would force its parent company, ByteDance, to divest or endure a partial ban.

There’s no shame in admitting that you enjoy the company of a teddy bear in Fallout 76 over the ghouls and mutants. In fact, we would probably prefer spending time finding these cuddly bears than playing with the other players, but these stuffed animals are a rare commodity in the wasteland. Technically, these are classified as a junk item that you can break down for materials, but who would do something like that? These are great display items to make your camp feel more like home, or just another annoying daily task you need to complete. Whatever your motivations are, here is where you can find each of the different teddy bear variations in Fallout 76.

President Joe Biden today signed into law a package of national security measures, including legislation that will force China-based ByteDance to sell TikTok or see the app banned in the US.

On Tuesday, the U.S. Senate passed an extensive, $95 billion national security package that sends financial aid to Taiwan, Ukraine, Israel, and Gaza. Tucked inside that bill is a piece of legislation the government’s been trying to pass for a while — a purported “TikTok ban.” Called the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controller Applications Act, the bill won’t exactly ban TikTok; instead, the goal is to force TikTok owner ByteDance to sell the popular app. The legislation signed by President Joe Biden on Wednesday will give ByteDance nine months to sell TikTok. (Biden could extend the deadline by 90 days, too.)

The Chinese domestic x86 chip, Zhaoxin KX-7000 CPU, has been benchmarked in a wide range of tests at stock & overclocked settings, showcasing a huge performance increase versus the previous generation while also offering the domestic marketplace a new option for their PC needs.

No Rest for the Wicked's director has cited Baldur's Gate 3 and Hades 2 as examples of how early access launches can be fantastic, and said releasing in early access is "one of the best decisions we could've made."

League of Legends pro player Lu ‘Leyan’ Jue has been suspended for two matches and fined $6000 for his on-stream behavior.

Some cool skins in Arknights are heading your way. After the Chinese servers, the ‘City Rider’ skin collection will soon drop for the global server. Yep, these outfits first popped up between November 11th and 19th in 2019 exclusively in China. Keep reading to know more about the Arknights City Rider series outfits.

Apple is expected to rely on China for a reliable supply chain for the foreseeable future, and though the company has successfully established manufacturing plants outside of the country, it will take years before the technology giant can claim complete independence from the region. Now, according to its 2023 supplier list, Apple has added eight new supply chain members from China while removing four of them due to undisclosed reasons.

Gigabyte has unveiled new «Metal Gear Plus ITX» mini PCs, which feature AMD's «Hawk Point» processors. The new mini PCs from Gigabyte will be available in three different configurations, and seasoned PC builders will be able to customize their chosen variant.

Wired Productions will publish Chinese developer Pollard Studio‘s psychological horror game KARMA: The Dark World for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series, and PC (Steam, Epic Games Store, GOG), the company announced. A release date was not announced.