Embark reveals Arc Raiders’ next four major monthly updates, which it calls the ‘Escalation’ phase, teasing new matchmaking, machines, and more, but our second new map is months away

Arc Raiders has already come a long way in the roughly three months since launch, adding a new map, deadly machines, the festive Cold Snap event, and more. With the previous Arc Raiders roadmap running dry at the start of January, however, we’ve been eagerly anticipating what Embark has planned for 2026, especially given how…

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Asus ROG Azoth 96 HE review

Asus first introduced the ROG Azoth range a couple of years ago to straddle the line between traditional gaming keyboards and the more enthusiast-grade options that had skyrocketed in popularity. The original ROG Azoth was a triumph that walked the tricky line wonderfully, packing in nice-to-haves such as lubricated switches, reliable wireless connectivity and hot-swappable…

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Master Chief voice actor says he never wants AI cloning his hunky tones: ‘That’s where we cross a line… I don’t like it, and I would prefer that it not be done’

The actor behind the husky voice of Halo’s Master Chief has become the latest high-profile industry figure to speak out against the use of generative AI to clone voice performances. Steve Downes takes particular issue with the nightmare scenario of AI being trained on real-life voice recordings to imitate those actors, whether living or dead….

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MSI Vector A18 HX review

This review is, if I can read a spreadsheet correctly, the first time this site has assessed a laptop containing the Ryzen 9 9955HX. So if you’ve ever wanted one of AMD’s thundering 16-core Zen 5 chips in your portable(ish) PC, this is your chance. It’s fast, though not 9950X3D fast. An unfair comparison considering…

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Valve warms up for the Steam Machine with a client update bristling with gamepad fixes and, oh, the betas UI is fancier now if you’re into that

We are an alarming way into 2026 already, and you know what that means: the precipitous decline of all of our institutions and the environment. Also, the soonish release of the Steam Machine, which will probably make all that other stuff go down a lot easier. The Steam Machine’s actual release date isn’t known yet,…

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Highguard requires Secure Boot and Easy Anti-Cheat to run, leaving Linux and kernel-conscious gamers out in the cold

If you happened to have caught the Game Awards trailer for it, Highguard, an upcoming free-to-play hero shooter from ex-developers of Apex Legends and Titanfall, launches next week. You will need to enable Secure Boot if you plan on playing through. As we’ve spotted on the Highguard Steam page, the game needs Secure Boot, TPM…

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