Microsoft may be preparing a new strategy to expand the audience of its popular service Game PassThe company is rumored to be in discussions with Valve about possible integration Game Pass on Steam. The move, if confirmed, could be a major breakthrough for both platforms.

Game Pass has long been one of the main selling points of the Xbox ecosystem, especially given the console's poor sales. The service allows access to a wide library of games, including popular titles like Call of Duty, which helps retain users and attract new ones.

According to leaker extas1s, hints of a partnership between Microsoft and Valve have been emerging in recent hours, and he also claims that an official announcement could happen at the Xbox Direct event rumored to be held in January.

Integration Game Pass on Steam seems like a logical step: Valve CEO Gabe Newell has previously expressed a desire to work with Microsoft. In addition, Steam has long had a successful partnership with EA Play, and the addition Game Pass will only strengthen the platform's position.

In addition, Steam is experiencing another peak in popularity. In 2024, the platform broke its own record for the number of concurrent players - more than 37 million people.

If the rumors are true, it would be a good deal for both parties. Steam would get even more users, and Game Pass will become available to a huge audience of PC gamers who value the convenience of using a single platform.

We expect an announcement soon, but in the meantime, users are actively discussing how this partnership will change PC gaming.

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Destiny 2, one of the most famous looter shooters, continues to lose popularity, and its creators, the Bungie studio, were acquired by Sony for $ 3,6 billion, are facing serious difficulties. The decline in online traffic and problems with the quality of the game call into question the justification for such a large-scale acquisition.

After Lightfall DLC failures Bungie had hoped that the new expansion The Final Shape would turn the tide, but the data suggests otherwise. The failed Episode Revenant update only reinforced the negative trend.

According to SteamDB, the average online Destiny 2 on Steam fell to 16 thousand players, which is catastrophically low for a game-service. The total online on all platforms, including PlayStation and Xbox, is about 37,6 thousand users. Of these, 13,1 thousand people play on Steam, 14,7 thousand on PlayStation, and Xbox collects only 7,9 thousand players.

Players are complaining en masse about long wait for matchmaking, which is why even third-party tools like Fireteam Finder and Discord LFG do not help solve the problem. In some modes, searching for a team takes tens of minutes.

Meanwhile, Sony continues to restructure Bungie. The studio's strategic partnerships department has been transferred to the PlayStation franchise development division. However, analysts are increasingly calling the purchase of Bungie by mistake. Sony spent $3,6 billion on a studio that is not only losing audiences, but also unable to turn around the situation with Destiny 2.

Bungie's situation is reminiscent of Sony's failure with another major project, Concord, which turned out to be a financial disaster. Now the future of Destiny 2, as well as the entire studio, remains in great question.

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Studio MachineGames, known for the Wolfenstein series, is working on more than just her latest project — Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, but also over several others unannounced games. Information about this appeared on the LinkedIn profile of Pete Ward, the studio's audio director.

With Indiana Jones now complete, the team appears to be focusing on one of these new projects. It remains to be seen what these games might be, but given MachineGames' history, it's safe to assume one of them will be a direct sequel. Wolfenstein 2: The New Colossus. Events in the spin-off Wolfenstein: Young Blood took place 20 years after the second part, so the new project could bring Blazkowicz and his daughters Jessie and Zofia back to the screen as the main characters.

At the same time, despite expectations, Indiana Jones and the Great Circle showed relatively low numbers in terms of concurrent players. According to Steam, the peak number of players was 8,148, which is lower than the studio's previous projects. For example, Wolfenstein: The New Order reached 11,986 players, and Wolfenstein 2: The New Colossus — 16,141.

The low numbers may be due to a number of factors: the game has been available since day one Game Pass, has high system requirements due to the mandatory use ray tracing, and also went through the early access stage.

However, MachineGames fans are eagerly awaiting news about future projects studios that can continue the tradition of gripping stories and dynamic gameplay.

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Developers Monster Hunter Wilds confirmed that the game's performance on PC will be improved by compared to open beta test. The Pre-Launch Community Update game director Yuya Tokuda stated that, despite the lack of specific data, the release version will provide best experience on the same hardware, which was used in testing.

For owners PlayStation 5 Pro the game will receive a special day-one patch, which will add yet-to-be-revealed improvements. As for the base models, PlayStation 5 и Xbox Series X, the graphics priority mode will be supported 2160p with increased resolution to 3072 x 1728cm и 30 FPS, and the performance priority mode is 2160p with an increase from 1080p и 60 FPS. On Xbox Series X the game will offer a mode with resolution 1080p и 30 FPS. All versions will use the technology AMDFSR to scale the resolution, instead of chess reconstruction, used in the beta test.

In addition to technical improvements, the release version includes changes to gameplay, such as specific changes to weapons, the return of the "hitstop" mechanic, and other innovations.

Release Monster Hunter Wilds takes place February 28 on PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S. The game promises to be a significant step forward for both the series and for players looking for the highest quality and most detailed gaming experience.

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CD Projekt reveals new details about the development The Witcher 4, which will be one of the studio's most ambitious projects. The game will feature significant changes, including a new main character - Ciri, as well as a high-quality redesigned open world.

In an interview with VGC, the developers noted that The Witcher 4 will continue the legacy The Witcher 3, but with a new approach to world building. Instead of increasing its size, the emphasis is on depth and consistency:

"An open world doesn't necessarily have to be bigger and bigger, but it can be deeper, more immersive, more systematic," CD Projekt said.

The studio confirmed the presence of new regions that will immerse players in more a well-developed and atmospheric universe. The main goal is to avoid the mistakes associated with content repetition that are often found in other games with huge worlds. The developers emphasize that the quality of the content is more important than the size of the map, and this will be a key principle for the new project.

According to CD Projekt, The Witcher 4 will be a significant step forward in the action RPG genre. If the team manages to realize the stated ideas, the open world of the game could become one of the most memorable in history.

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Studio GSC Game World summed up the year and shared plans for 2025. One of the main announcements was the confirmation of the release next-gen updates for the collection STALKER: Legends of the Zone Trilogy.

The update will be available for next generation consoles and PC, but the exact release date has not yet been announced. The studio limited itself to the statement that the release will take place in 2025.

What improvements await players is still unknown. Most likely, the update will bring improvements in graphics, performance and, possibly, new mechanics. GSC Game World continues to actively work on the STALKER franchise, including the film adaptation of the game and the development of current projects, such as S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl.

STALKER: Legends of the Zone Trilogy brings together key games in the series that have long been iconic among fans of the post-apocalyptic genre. In 2025, fans will be able to enjoy an updated version of the collection on modern platforms.

Stay tuned to learn more about upcoming changes first.

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Star Citizen continues to develop and is approaching the release of the full version, and in the meantime, the developers are delighting players with new content. A large-scale update was recently presented 4.0 Destination Pyro, which significantly expands the universe of the game.

The main novelty was the new star system Pyro, which includes planets, moons and space stations. This region features a variety of factions that are at odds with each other. Players will be given the opportunity to interact with them, including the ability to join a specific group.

In addition to content improvements, the developers introduced new technology Server Meshing, which significantly improves the technical component of the game. This technology allows up to 500 players be in one universe at the same time, providing:

• improved server stability,
• high performance in busy locations,
• virtually unlimited possibilities for adding new content and locations.

Developers Star Citizen continue to actively raise funds for the development of the project, which has already become one of the most ambitious in the gaming industry. The Destination Pyro update is another step towards realizing the team's large-scale vision.

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Developers S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl continue to improve the game by releasing a new hotfix 1.1.2 versions. This update arrived before the holiday weekend and addresses recent issues that players have been experiencing. The GSC Game World team thanked fans for their active feedback and promises to continue improving the gameplay.

Main changes in version 1.1.2:

• Fixed issues with shader compilation hang, which could cause endless waits or crashes.
• Fixed bugs when loading saves.
• Fixed a crash that occurred when exiting the game.
• Feature added backup saves for PC, which are now automatically saved and stored for 4 days.

Backup save path: C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Local\Stalker2\Saved\Backup.

The developers encourage players to continue sharing feedback and reporting any "anomalies" they find in the Zone via the Technical Support Center. This will help us fix problems faster and improve the game.

Let us remind you that STALKER 2 previously received a large-scale update and several hotfixes that fixed many errors. Work on improving the Zone continues!

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Developers S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl continue to improve their game even during the holidays. After a major update to version 1.1, released on New Year's Eve and including over 1800 fixes, the studio promptly presented hotfix version 1.1.1.

New Year's patch, weight 110 GB, brought many improvements, but also caused a number of problems. Some players encountered errors that prevented the game from launching and loading saves. To eliminate these critical crashes, the team released a small hotfix of 1,1 MB.

The update includes the following changes:

• Fixed a crash when loading saves.
• Fixed issues with loading shaders that were causing crashes.

The hotfix is ​​now available for Steam users, and will be available for download on other platforms soon.

Let us recall that the developers of STALKER 2 are actively working on the game and plan to release story add-ons, multiplayer and console versions. In addition, the studio confirmed the success of the project and is working on its film adaptation.

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Expected game DOOM: The Dark Ages, announced earlier this year, may be coming sooner than expected. According to Xbox insider extas1s, at Microsoft's upcoming annual presentation Xbox Developer Direct, which will take place in January, the game will be one of the main new releases, and its release date will probably be announced - May 2025.

DOOM: The Dark Ages is a first-person shooter set in the dark ages of the Middle Ages. This makes the game unique among other projects from Microsoft studios scheduled for release in 2025. According to the insider, the release date may change, but May remains the main goal of the developers.

The year promises to be a busy one for Xbox owners, with key releases including: avowed, The Outer Worlds 2, south of midnightand Fable. In addition, according to rumors, a remake may be announced at the same presentation. Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, which will also be released in 2025.

Microsoft is clearly betting on genre diversity and a rich lineup of exclusives for its platform. If the rumors are true, DOOM: The Dark Ages will be an important event for fans of the series and shooters in general.

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