When youre selling a house, you want to make sure youre doing everything you possibly can to get top dollar for it. Sometimes its as easy as making note of a desirable specialor unusualfeature in the listing description. People call out swimming pools and walk-in closets all the time, but we wondered what else gets prospective buyers attention. So we polled a few real estate experts who have actually witnessed the truly weird in action for their insights. From spotlighting the treehouse your family built from scratch or stating your homes proximity to a graveyard or fishing hotspot to simply mentioning the Super Bowl, read about the surprising things could increase your homes sale price below.Related StoriesUnique ArtMohsen M.//Getty ImagesThere are definitely some unexpected things that can boost a homes value, especially the weird ones buyers get attached to, says Scott Bergmann, broker and owner of Realty ONE Group Authentic in Omaha, Nebraska. He explains: One of the strangest situations Ive had was a buyer who fell in love with a life-size metal horse made from shards of metal. We actually had to negotiate it into the deal because they wanted it so badly. It goes to show that unique yard art or statement pieces can sometimes be a selling point. In the end, Bergmann says, the seller got over $10,000 more for throwing in the horse. Graveyard ProximityAndrew Fox//Getty ImagesSome people arent afraid of ghosts. Believe it or not, some people are drawn to homes near graveyards and actually see them as being historic and of course peaceful, says Jenna Stauffer, broker and global real estate advisor with Sothebys International Realty. Adding graveyard can be a double-edged sword, so proceed with caution. Related StoryUnusual PerksPgiam//Getty Images If youre tossing an unusual perk into the mix with your home sale, like a boat or golf cart, dont forget to state that in the listing. Ive had situations where a boat was included in the sale, and my buyer was willing to go in at full price because of it, Stauffer says.And thats not even the craziest perk Stauffer has seen. I've even sold an island where the seller included a lifetime membership of chiropractic appointments, Stauffer says. My buyer thought it was so amusing, he picked it over the other options.Dont overlook industrial equipment as a selling point either. If its an acreage or large property, things like tractors, riding mowers, or even ATVs can make a place more appealing, Bergmann adds. Buyers love the idea of having what they need already there.Alfresco LuxuriesPhooey//Getty ImagesAnother category ripe with possibilities that can add value are outdoor elements including fire pits, water features, and even treehouses, Bergmann says. The broker notes that, especially outdoors, anything that creates a vibe or an experience can make a buyer feel more connected to the property.Related StoryOne-of-a-Kind, Repurposed ElementsRobert Peterson / Rustic White InteriorsA wardrobe by designer Alison Victoria.If youve outfitted your home with antique French doors, you better flaunt it. Things like old barn doors, wagon wheels, or anything that gives the home a unique personality may increase a homes value, Bergmann says. Buyers love a good story behind a house.Fishing Hot SpotPeter Adams//Getty ImagesIf your home is located in a prime fishing destination, itll likely capture the attention of avid fishers. Add in the word fishing to the description, Stauffer says. In the Florida Keys, buyers love when a home is near famous fishing spots or spots known for world-class tarpon or fly fishing.Famous/Infamous Former ResidentsBoston Globe//Getty ImagesTaylor Swifts Rhode Island home sits atop a hill in the background.Fans of pop culture cant help but be fascinated by the homes celebrities choose to live inand moving into the former residence of one makes for an intriguing dinner party anecdote. If a notable person lived in the home and you have authorization to say so, mention it, Stauffer says.A little mystery can even intrigue buyers, Stauffer notes, if you want or need to be vague. Consider writing something like, Once the home of a film star/Hollywood executive/TV icon.Related StoryFilming LocationsWayne Ford PhotographyKris Jenners home featured in the original Keeping Up With the Kardashian series is on the market.Similarly, many die-hard movie and TV fans dream of living in the filming locations featured in their favorite productions. If it was the set of a movie or TV show, include the name of the film or show in the listing, Stauffer says.Related StoriesThe Super BowlSoumi SarkarSports fans, or anyone with a home well-suited for entertaining, listen up: According to Zillow, homes with Super Bowl or the big game in the real estate listing description can sell for nearly $3,000 more than similar properties. Even the word football is associated with more than a $2,500 sale premium when mentioned in a for-sale listing, says Zillow trend expert Amanda Pendleton. The caveat: Where you live matters. Lately, listings that benefit from this mention are most commonly found in Kansas City, which is home to the four-time Super Bowl championship-winning Chiefs. Atlanta has the highest percentage of homes that feature the word football, and they often relate to proximity to local stadiums/fields or entertaining areas.Follow House Beautiful on Instagram and TikTok.

Apple TV+ has gained a strong reputation for its lineup of sci-fi shows, including its new most popular series ever: Severance. Now, the company has just announced the release date for its next big sci-fi show. Its called Murderbot, and it hits Apple TV+ this spring.Murderbot premieres in May with first seasonMurderbot is a new Apple TV+ sci-fi comedic thriller based on the hit book series The Murderbot Diaries. It stars Alexander Skarsgrd.Apple TV+ just announced that Murderbots 10-episode season will premiere on Friday, May 16. The first two episodes will be available then, with weekly drops through July 11.Heres the series description:Based on Martha Wells bestselling Hugo and Nebula Award-winning book series, Murderbot is a sci-fi thriller/comedy about a self-hacking security construct who is horrified by human emotion yet drawn to its vulnerable clients. Murderbot must hide its free will and complete a dangerous assignment when all it really wants is to be left alone to watch futuristic soap operas and figure out its place in the universe.The series hails from Chris and Paul Weitz, who were behind the acclaimed film About a Boy and Prime Videos hit show Mozart in the Jungle.Murderbot Diaries offers lots of potential for expansive Apple TV+ runIf you want to get a head start reading the inspiration for the new TV+ show, the first book of The Murderbot Diaries is called All Systems Red, which you can pick up on Apple Books.Its a pretty short, easy read, and can give you a taste of what to expect before the shows May premiere. And assuming you like it, there are plenty of extra books to keep you busyand to give Apple abundant material for future seasons of the Murderbot show.If youre interested in sci-fi, other Apple TV+ shows to check out include Dark Matter,Silo, Foundation, Severance, plus the new movie The Gorge.Apple TV+ isavailable for $9.99 per month.Are you interested in Murderbot? Let us know in the comments.Best iPhone accessoriesAdd 9to5Mac to your Google News feed. FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.Youre reading 9to5Mac experts who break news about Apple and its surrounding ecosystem, day after day. Be sure to check out our homepage for all the latest news, and follow 9to5Mac on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn to stay in the loop. Dont know where to start? Check out our exclusive stories, reviews, how-tos, and subscribe to our YouTube channel

Apple remixed the 2025 iPhone lineup this week, outdating all existing buying advice until September. Thats when we expect the iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro, and new ultra-thin version likely called iPhone 17 Air. Between now and then, however, theres one piece of buying advice everyone should hear first.Apples current iPhone lineup looks like this:Theres the iPhone 16 Pro from $999, the iPhone 16 from $799, the iPhone 16e from $599, and the iPhone 15 from $699. From most expensive to most affordable except for the iPhone 15, which is oddly priced in the lineup.Look, folks, dont buy it. Simply do not buy the iPhone 15 in 2025. If youre thinking about buying the iPhone 15, then buy the iPhone 16e instead.Not just because iPhone 15 costs $100 more than iPhone 16e for the same amount of storage.Not just because iPhone 15 has six hours less battery life than iPhone 16e for video playback.Not just because iPhone 15 doesnt support Apple Intelligence and iPhone 16e does.Each of those factors should inform your decision, but it comes down to two specs: processor and RAM.iPhone 15 runs on Apples A16 Bionic chip and has 6GB of RAM for multitasking. iPhone 16e is powered by Apples A18 chip and includes 8GB RAM for keeping more tasks in memory.Sure, there are a number of things that make the iPhone 15 a more attractive phone than the iPhone 16e. It comes in blue, pink, and yellow. It wirelessly charges twice as fast and has built-in MagSafe. And it has a dedicated camera for capturing wider shots.But if youre buying an iPhone 15 in 2025, then youre already saying no to the iPhone 16 which has all that and more. Youre definitely saying no to the top-of-the-line iPhone 16 Pro with all its bells and whistles.Thats because you probably just want a good, reliable phone thats simple and affordable. You probably want it to last for years before you think about replacing it. For those reasons, do not buy the iPhone 15 in 2025. Instead, save $100 and buy the iPhone 16e with a newer processor and more RAM. These specs will help your iPhone feel fast for longer. Theyll also likely support software updates for longer.For perspective, the iPhone X really doesnt feel that old because it has two cameras, Face ID, and an OLED display. However, the iPhone X only runs the latest version of iOS 16 and not iOS 18.If value and longevity are what youre going for, and they probably are if youre considering buying the iPhone 15, then the iPhone 16e is a rare instance of a better option costing less.Best Apple accessoriesFollow Zac Hall on X, Threads, and Bluesky, and listen to Runtime with co-host Sophia Tung on Apple Podcasts and YouTube.Add 9to5Mac to your Google News feed. FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.Youre reading 9to5Mac experts who break news about Apple and its surrounding ecosystem, day after day. Be sure to check out our homepage for all the latest news, and follow 9to5Mac on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn to stay in the loop. Dont know where to start? Check out our exclusive stories, reviews, how-tos, and subscribe to our YouTube channel

In 2022, Elon Musk placed a bid of almost $44 billion to acquire Twitter, which he then tried to worm out of. With his back against the wall after a brief skirmish in the courts, Musk chose to honor his original purchase agreement and take over the platform.Flash forward to the present day, and X-formerly-Twitter has lost upward of 79 percent of its original value after neo-Nazis flocked to the platform and big-name advertisers fled in droves.Now, in a somewhat rare move for the richest man on Earth, Musk has taken to beg investors for more funds at a valuation of at least $44 billion, according to reporting by Bloomberg. That's the same price Musk acquired it for nearly two years ago a pretty bold move, to say the least.Needless to say, at this price, Musk's valuation far exceeds the company's estimated value, which was $9.4 billion as of 2024, according to Fidelity Investments. By all accounts, the billionaire's tenure over the platform has been a financial disaster, incurring a debt of $13 billion at its peak. Investors peeking into X's books have also noticed the company lost about $1 billion in cash since Musk acquired it in 2022.Insiders who spoke toBloombergindicated that this fundraiser would help the company pay off its remaining debt of $1 billion, among other smaller projects. These include Musk's much-ridiculed promise to turn X into a combination banking, dating, and video platform, or, as he calls it, "the Everything App".It's not clear why Musk currently worth almost $400 billion doesn't finance the sum himself, though he could be trying to stimy the losses to his fortune since he took up the DOGE mantle. So far in 2025, Musk's total net worth has plummeted by nearly $90 billion, owing mostly to a major slump in Tesla sales since December 2024.Though X's value might currently be in the toilet, Musk's fundraising comes after some optimistic Wall Street banks decided to start offloading the company's debt to creditors. The debt buyers are seemingly encouraged by Musk's close ties to president Donald Trump, as well as the cash flowing into Musk's artificial intelligence project, xAI.The bank move might look like a short-term boost to X, but it doesn't do much to change the platform's operations, which continue to struggle. Just take it from Musk himself:In a leaked email from late January, the mogul told X employees that "our user growth is stagnant, revenue is unimpressive, and were barely breaking even."With that in mind, it might be no wonder he picked this tiny break in the clouds to re-up on debtbefore the sky darkens yet again and sours investors on X for good.More on Musk's business moves: Elon Musk Is Shamelessly Firing Government Workers Who Were Investigating His CompaniesShare This Article

NASA's plans to return to the Moon are seemingly on very thin ice.As Reuters reports, NASA has lost four key senior Artemis officials, further stoking concerns that the space agency may ditch its plans to return to the Moon altogether. Whether they'll ever be replaced remains as dubious as ever; both president Donald Trump and SpaceX-CEO-slash-unelected-White-House-hatchet-man Elon Musk have argued that going to Mars should take priority.The outgoing officials, according to Reuters, include three senior staffers at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center, as well as Jim Free, the agency's associate administrator who has championed the Artemis program.Meanwhile, billionaire tech founder andSpaceX space tourist Jared Isaacman, who Trump appointed as the next NASA administrator last year, has been strikingly quiet over the last couple of months.But in a tweet over the weekend, Isaacman made the case for "sending humans to another planet" pointedly not the Moon.The avid space traveler was responding to a post that showed the "clearest image of Mars ever taken" by NASA."When I see a picture like this, it is impossible not to feel energized about the future," he wrote.However, Isaacman stopped short of explicitly saying NASA's current plans to return to the Moon should be canceled, arguing that "groundbreaking technologies in propulsion, habitability, power generation, in-situ resource utilization, and manufacturing" could unlock "mission optionality from the Moon to Mars and beyond."Nonetheless, it's hard not to see his sudden enthusiasm for the Red Planet as an early warning sign that NASA's existing extraterrestrial travel plans could be on short notice.Most prominently, Musk hasn't beaten around the bush when it comes to his aversion for the Artemis program, arguing that its "architecture is extremely inefficient" and accusing it of being a "jobs-maximizing program, not a results-maximizing program" in a Christmas Day tweet.NASA's rocket of choice, the Space Launch System (SLS), has also proven particularly troubled. Its development is billions of dollars over budget and years behind schedule. The rocket successfully delivered NASA's Orion capsule around the Moon and back without a crew on board in late 2022, as part of the inaugural Artemis program mission.But whether the mission will get a followup in the coming years remains unclear. Lawmakers have remained adamant that Artemis is our best shot to return to the Moon as Musk's so-called Department of Government Efficiency rips through federal agencies at a breakneck pace to make brutal cuts.Following reports of possible mass cullings at NASA, the agency's interim administrator Janet Petrotold senior officials that the firing of around 1,000 "probationary" employees was on hold, at least temporarily, a last-minute decision that sowed even more confusion.In short, it's a possibly existential moment for NASA's Artemis program, which was first conceived during Trump's first term. With the president, his number one sidekick, and the agency's future administrator Congressional approval pending voicing their desire to visit Mars, it's hard not to see the possibility of major changes being made in the coming months.The warning signs of a major shift in priorities are certainly there. Case in point, SLS contractor and embattled aerospace giant Boeing announced earlier this month that roughly 400 SLS-related jobs could be axed as soon as April 2025.Isaacman is expected to prepare for his confirmation hearing in front of Congress in Washington this week. Whether he'll stand up for the Artemis program and side with lawmakers or double down on Trump and Musk's desire to go to Mars instead remains to be seen.More on Artemis: Trump Enacts Brutal Cuts at NASAShare This Article

The race to shape the future of computing is heating up among tech companies, with Microsoft saying it's made a major breakthrough in quantum computing, potentially paving the way for the technology to address complex scientific and societal challenges.Scientists at the tech giant have spent 17 years developing a new material and framework for quantum computing to help power its new Majorana 1 processor. Microsoft is calling the advancement the world's first quantum processor powered by topological qubits, the fundamental units of quantum computation. The company published its latest research in the journal Nature.Unlike traditional computers, quantum computers can process massive amounts of data at the same time in ways that could revolutionize fields such as science, medicine, energy and artificial intelligence. However, quantum computing is prone to errors because of the instability of qubits.But Microsoft said it's new topoconductor -- made of a new material from indium arsenide (a semiconductor) and aluminum (a superconductor) -- can perform tasks with greater speed and accuracy than traditional qubits. The Majorana 1 chip is designed to scale up to 1 million qubits on a single, compact chip.The news comes as several tech companies race to advance quantum computing. In December, Google unveiled its latest quantum computing chip called Willow, claiming it can complete a complex computing challenge in 5 minutes that would take one of today's fastest supercomputers longer than 10 septillion years.Microsoft said it is on track to build the world's first fault-tolerant, scalable quantum computer within years rather than decades. The effort is part of a US government's Defense Advanced Research Project Agency (DARPA) initiative designed to make quantum computing practical for the real world.

If you fancy playing Black Ops 6 as a walking bullet hose, you'll fit right in on the newest multiplayer map.As Season 2 Reloaded adds new maps, modes, events and guns to the latest Call of Duty game, the standout addition is the new strike map Bullet. Two teams of six will fight across (and on top of) a moving bullet train in various core multiplayer game modes.Developer Treyarch is well-known for its three-lane map design, but Bullet is adopting a new, experimental one-lane design, maximizing chaos by forcing players to fight face-to-face as they take encounters from one train car to another.Whether or not Bullet's implementation is successful remains to be seen, but it could change how Treyarch approaches strike map design in future updates.Bullet is the first real Call of Duty 'hallway map' The minimap layout for the new map is literally a straight line. ActivisionSince launch, the Black Ops 6 map pool has been a mixed bag. Massive maps like Red Card, Rewind and Lowtown encourage slow play, with lots of downtime leading to matches running out the clock more often than not. The lack of action on these bigger maps feels antithetical to the arcade-y Call of Duty ethos.On the other hand, strike maps like Warhead, Pit, Stakeout and the latest iteration of Nuketown turn into meat grinders as omni-movement traversal sends players careening down three tight lanes. Many of these maps (except for the wide-open Gala) have become fan favorites, as the constant adrenaline of picking fights within seconds takes the sting out of a respawn.Treyarch has identified this trend and added more moshpit maps and playlists to the game. Stakeout 24/7 and Nuketown 24/7 playlists are often available on weekends and during special events, allowing players to play a variety of game modes on the fast-paced maps. Additionally, Racket, Lifeline and Heirloom have been added throughout seasons one and two, adding more map diversity to moshpit playlists. This bullet train is pretty swanky, so all of the amenities will serve as some natural cover. ActivisionThis spurred many fans to jokethat the game was on track to include a "hallway map," where players would trade gunfire down a single lane. The new Bullet minimap doesn't look much different from the mockup.Of course, the train will feature different cars with fixtures to take cover behind, leading to what will hopefully be more dynamic gameplay. Sneaky flanks aren't out of the question either, as more confident players can battle it out on the train's roof as they push into the enemy team.In a game full of risk-averse, engagement-driven design decisions, Bullet is a small breath of fresh air. Treyarch's iconic three-lane philosophy has churned out some of the most iconic Call of Duty maps since Black Ops 2 -- but it's been 13 years, and it's worth trying something new.Whether or not Bullet is a hit, I'm glad they're willing to take this baby step to buck a mostly tired formula.More new maps, modes, events and weapons are coming to Black Ops 6 and Warzone These heroes in a half shell are positively terrifying. ActivisionThe long-awaited hallway map isn't the only thing arriving to Black Ops 6 in Season 2 Reloaded. There are also freakishly realistic-looking Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.Yes, a TMNT crossover event is coming to Black Ops 6 Season 2 on Thursday, Feb. 27, as well as a multiplayer moshpit mode that includes Ninja Turtles-themed scorestreaks, a Zombies Cranked mode with special power-ups, an event pass with new operator skins and a slate of new weapons. All event content will remain accessible until Thursday, March 13.Players can earn a new secondary, the D1.3 Sector sawblade launcher, and a host of melee weapons, including a skateboard, katanas, bo staff, nunchaku and sai. You'll be able to earn these weapons from the Armory if you miss them during the TMNT event.Multiplayer load-outs will become even more kitted out with a belt-fed firing mode attachment for all LMGs, the new Hunter's Instinct perk that marks the nearest enemy after elimination, and the Flyswatter wildcard that lets players carry a launcher in their dedicated melee weapon slot.Warzone players will gain access to the new stealthy Low Profile perk, letting them move more quickly while crouched or prone and removing death markers from eliminated enemies. Zombies players will be able to access the Directed mode for The Tomb map, meaning the early rewards for easter egg completion are about to disappear.When is Warzone Season 2 Reloaded's release date and time in Black Ops 6?Call of Duty Season 2 Reloaded islive now across all platforms. The brand new midseason update launched new Warzone battle royale and Black Ops 6 content simultaneously onThursday, Feb. 20. Here's when the latest seasonal content became available in your time zone:Eastern Standard Time: Feb. 20, 2025 at noon.Central Standard Time: Feb. 20, 2025 at 11 a.m.Mountain Time: Feb. 20, 2025 at 10 a.m.Pacific Time: Feb. 20, 2025 at 9 a.m.As is the norm with Call of Duty HQ updates, PC players were able to preload the update ahead of time, while console players only had access to the newest patch several hours before it hits the live servers.With the update released, you're able to jump into the action and fight your way down the brand-new Black Ops bullet train right now.

February 20, 20254 min readNational Science Foundation Mass Firings Go Beyond Trump's Orders, Sparking OutrageAt an emotional meeting, NSF officials announced layoffs for about 10 percent of their workforce and warned of more firings to comeBy Corbin Hiar & E&E News National Science Foundation headquarters shown outside Washington. JHVEPhoto/Alamy Stock PhotoCLIMATEWIRE | The National Science Foundation went beyond the staff cuts demanded by the Trump administration in a move that set off a frenzied backlash at the science funding agency.NSF fired about 10 percent of its staff at the end of Tuesday, removing 168 people who included most of the agency's probationary employees and all of its experts, a class of contract workers who are specialists in niche scientific fields.The agency didn't have to fire its experts but decided to in the interest of fairness, a top NSF official told staffers in an emotionally charged hybrid meeting Tuesday morning at its Alexandria, Virginia, headquarters.On supporting science journalismIf you're enjoying this article, consider supporting our award-winning journalism by subscribing. By purchasing a subscription you are helping to ensure the future of impactful stories about the discoveries and ideas shaping our world today."The removal of experts was completely at the agency's discretion. Because if we're asked to remove probationers, then we also need to remove at-will employees," Micah Cheatham, NSF's chief management officer, said at the tense and tearful hour-long meeting, according to a transcript obtained by POLITICO's E&E News."This is the first of many forthcoming workforce reductions," he added.NSF was created by Congress in 1950 to ensure U.S. leadership in science and engineering. The agency now provides roughly a quarter of federal support to America's colleges and universities for basic research.E&E News previously reported that NSF expects to cut up to half of its 1,500-person workforce. Scientists and Democratic lawmakers fear that staff losses of that scale could effectively break the nation's research and innovation pipeline, with disastrous consequences for the U.S. economy and American citizens.The mass firing at one of the nation's leading funders of scientific research comes as Elon Musk, the head of the Department of Government Efficiency established by President Donald Trump, races to slash federal spending with the help of the Office of Personnel Management. Musk's group has initially targeted foreign aid and racial diversity efforts, but nearly all agencies have been impacted by cuts, or expect them to come soon.A few probationary employees whose work NSF leaders determined was essential were spared from the firings."We asked who was mission critical and more than half of people were identified," Cheatham said. "That was too many."Fired NSF staffers were instructed to stop working by 1 p.m. Tuesday, at which point they would be locked out of the agency's computer network. They had until the end of the day to clean out their desks.To avoid having the stain of a firing on their resumes, staffers were told they could resign. But then they would not be eligible for unemployment payments.The announcement prompted outrage, confusion and concern from people at the meeting, resulting in a string of scathing all-staff emails from impacted workers."You are presenting us as trophies in front of OPM," one angry employee said in the meeting, referring to the Office of Personnel Management, according to the transcript. "I don't want to hear anything about how you are sad, how you feel bad for everyone who's losing their job today.""You screwed people, hardworking people, who trusted the word of this agency, left their careers, wherever they came from," they added. "That's on all of you. Take some accountability."An NSF official apologized to the fired workers, noting that they were "following orders" from the Trump administration.The White House and OPM didn't respond to requests for comment.NSF spokesperson Mike England said its actions were taken to ensure their compliance with the presidents DOGE executive order and thanked the dismissed employees for their service to NSF and their contributions to advance the agency mission.Another fired worker warned that they were responsible for "literally tens of millions of dollars" and an 80-person grant review panel set to meet in the coming weeks. "My email is going to go dead at one o'clock and they're going to say, where's that guy?"After the meeting, staffers began sending agencywide emails reviewed by E&E News that sharply criticized NSF Director Sethuraman Panchanathan and other top officials."If NSF's top leadership has any dignity, they should resign immediately!" a business operations manager wrote. "At this point, witnessing the cowardliness at the top, NSF is serving no one!""The Director couldnt even show up to the 10 AM firing call held for all of us," an impacted program director said.In a statement accusing Musk and Trump of damaging the nation's competitiveness, Democrats on the House Science, Space and Technology Committee added to the pile-on."We are extremely disappointed in NSF leadership," said Reps. Haley Stevens of Michigan and Zoe Lofgren of California, the committees ranking member. "They have failed American science by not standing up to [the Department of Government Efficiency] and protecting their employees. Dr. Panchanathan must reverse these firings."Reporter Chelsea Harvey contributed.Reprinted from E&E News with permission from POLITICO, LLC. Copyright 2025. E&E News provides essential news for energy and environment professionals.

GTA 5 gets new PC version that adds PS5 and Xbox Series X/S features for freeBut GTA Online multiplayer won't be cross-compatible with previous edition.Image credit: Rockstar News by Ed Nightingale Deputy News Editor Published on Feb. 20, 2025 GTA 5 will receive a free upgrade on PC next month to bring it in-line with PS5 and Xbox Series X/S.That means it'll receive improved graphics options and faster loading times across the game, as well as GTA Online additions like new vehicles and performance upgrades, ambient animals, and more.The upgrade will be available from 4th March.Grand Theft Auto 6 Trailer 1Watch on YouTubeThe update will also include kernel-based anti-cheat protections and proactive voice chat moderation.Other additions to GTA Online include: special benefits when signing up for GTA+ Membership; a Career Progress feature to track criminal movements across all GTA Online's updates; a refreshed landing page; and improved introductory flow for new players with $4m to spend in-game.Story Mode and GTA Online progress will migrate to this new version once downloaded.Depending on hardware support, GTA 5 players on PC will experience: ray tracing features like ambient occlusion and global illumination; support for AMD FSR1 and FSR3, and NVIDIA DLSS 3; faster loading times using SSD and DirectStorage; higher resolutions, aspect ratios and framerates; DualSense controller support, with adaptive triggers; enhanced audio through Dolby Atmos.The recommended specifications are as follows:MinimumRecommendedOperating systemWindows 10 (latest service pack)Windows 11ProcessorIntel Core i7-4770, AMD FX-9590Intel Core i5-9600K, AMD Ryzen 5 3600Memory8GB RAM16GB Dual-Channel Configuration RAMGraphicsNVIDIA GeForce GTX 1630 (4GB VRAM), AMD Radeon RX 6400 (4GB VRAM)NVIDIA GeForce RTC 3060 (8GB VRAM), AMD Radeon RX 6600XT (8GB VRAM)Storage105GB, SSD required105GB, DirectStorage-compatible driveSound card & audio100% DirectX 10 compatibleWindows Spatial Sound-compatible audio system; solution containing Dolby Atmos support required for a Dolby Atmos experienceSupport for the previous version will continue, Rockstar promised, for those players whose hardware does not meet these minimum requirements.However, players on the previous version of GTA Online will not be able to play in sessions with those in this newer version. More details can be found on the Rockstar website.The next game in the series, GTA 6, is poised for a console release this year, though rumours have swirled around a PC release too.Take-Two boss Strauss Zelnick discussed the growing importance of the PC market, noting: "Rockstar has started with some platforms and then historically moved to other platforms."PC peripheral company Corsair, meanwhile, believes the PC release of GTA 6 will be out early 2026.

A release date and price for Lego's upcoming Nintendo Game Boy set has appeared online from a reliable leaker. Read more