The recent Summer Game Fest 2025 has been quite successful. According to Variety, the live stream saw a massive growth year-over-year in terms of live viewership, coming in at an increase of 89 percent since the 2024 edition. The event saw a number of new games announced, as well as trailers for previously-announced games that will be coming soon. Among the headliners for the event were titles like Capcom’s Resident Evil Requiem, as well as gameplay for IO Interactive’s 007: First Light. “In total, the peak concurrent audience for SGF reached more than 3 million live simultaneous viewers across Twitch and YouTube, with significant year over year growth on both platforms in terms of average viewership, watch time and co-streams,” announced Summer Game Fest in a press release over the weekend. At the time of publishing Summer Game Fest 2025 had managed to get 8.5 million views on just one of the places where it was hosted – the official The Game Awards channel. While it is worth noting that this number takes both the live stream audience as well as those who watched the event afterwards into account, the number would quite likely be higher when taking other hosts, and even platforms like Twitch into account. Reports, have indicated that of the 8.5 million viewers, 1.5 million could be attributed to those watching during the live stream globally. Twitch, on the other hand, saw a growth of 38 percent in terms of live viewership among the over 8,900 channels that were co-streaming the event. This came in to around 1.4 million concurrent live viewers worldwide. Summer Games Fest 2025 was accompanied by a host of other events happening over the same weekend. This included events focused on PC Gaming, as well as Microsoft’s own Xbox Games Showcase, and even the indie game-focused Future Games Show 2025. Coinciding with the events was Valve kicking of its latest edition of Steam Next Fest, which featured a host of different game demos that players could try out. A lot of these games were unveiled or otherwise got new trailers during the live events last weekend. However, it is worth noting that today is the final day of this iteration of Steam Next Fest, which means that a lot of the demos will be going away.

Image by Getty / FuturismRx/MedicinesBroken ice cream machines aren't the only thing bedeviling stalwart fast food chain McDonald's.Financial services firm Redburn Atlantic put the company's stock in the bear category, coinciding with a slumpy week in which it lost about three percent of its value — because analysts are betting that GLP-1 agonist weight loss drugs like Ozempic are going to disrupt the fast food business model, CBS News reports.The eyebrow-raising conclusion comes as the analysts reason that people with lower incomes who go on the drugs will tend to shun food outside the home. Meanwhile, people at a higher income level who take Ozempic and similar go back to their food spending habits after a year or so."Behaviour changes extend beyond the individual user — reshaping group dining, influencing household routines and softening habitual demand," wrote the analysts, as reported by CBS. "A 1 percent drag today could easily build to 10 percent or more over time, particularly for brands skewed toward lower income consumers or group occasions."This could have a huge impact on the bottom line of fast food chains like McDonald's, which could stand to lose as much as $482 million annually as they see the disappearance of 28 million visits from formerly hungry customers.This is all complete speculation at this point, because only about six percent of American adults are currently taking these weight loss medications. And they're prohibitively expensive, prices starting at around $900 per month, meaning that extremely few poor people are currently able to afford them.But there's a movement by some policymakers to lower the price of the drugs, which have been proven to not just help people lose weight, but they come with a rash of benefits from preventing certain cancers to treating addictions, among other positives.So if lawmakers force a reduction in price in the future, expect fast food chains like McDonald's to be left holding the bag.And maybe that's a good thing, because the kind of fried foods that McDonald's traffics in are just plain bad for your health.More on Ozempic: Doctors Concerned by Massive Uptick in Teens Taking OzempicShare This Article

As President Donald Trump kicked off a birthday military parade on the streets of Washington, DC, what’s estimated as roughly 2,000 events were held across the US and beyond — protesting Trump and Elon Musk’s evisceration of government services, an unprecedented crackdown by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and countless other actions from the administration in its first five months. Held under the title “No Kings” (with, as you’ll see, one conspicuous exception), they’re the latest in several mass protests, following April’s Hands Off events and a wave of Tesla Takedown demonstrations in March.As The Verge’s Tina Nguyen went to downtown DC, we also sent reporters to No Kings demonstrations spanning the country, plus a “No Tyrants” event in the UK. How would they unfold after promises of “very heavy force” against protesters in the capital, after the deployment of thousands of military troops in a move a judge has bluntly called illegal, and after promises to “liberate” the city of Los Angeles from its “burdensome leadership” by local elected officials? What about the overnight killing of a Minnesota Democratic state representative and her husband, and the shooting of a Democratic state senator and his wife?The answer, at the events we attended, was fairly calmly — even against a backdrop of chaos.Downtown Los Angeles, CaliforniaAn inflatable baby Donald Trump, dressed in a diaper, hovered over throngs of people rallying outside of Los Angeles City Hall. Demonstrators outnumbered clumps of California National Guard members in fatigues posted up along sidewalks. “Go home to your families, we don’t need you in our streets,” one young person wearing a long braid down her back tells them while marching past. “Trump come catch these hands foo!” the back of her sign reads. I can’t see what the front says, but I can tell there’s an empty bag of Cheetos pasted to it.The big baby joins the march, floating through the streets of Downtown LA over demonstrators. A flatbed truck rolls ahead of it, the band — maybe LA’s own Ozomatli? — singing “We don’t like Trump” to the tune of “We Want The Funk.” Ducking inside Grand Central Market from the march, I talk to Puck and Twinkle Toes — two demonstrators in line for the public restrooms. Twinkle Toes tells me she’s part of an activist clown collective called Imp and Circumstance, wearing pink and white clown makeup and a striped pink and white bow wrapped around a loose hair bun atop her head. She’s here exercising her right to free speech, she says. Demonstrators in Los Angeles marched alongside an inflatable Donald Trump baby dressed in a diaper.“The more people that are out here, the more we know that this is not okay. That we don’t want an autocrat. We want democracy,” Puck tells me, adding that the Pride March in Hollywood last weekend was “nothing but love and sunshine” despite protests and burning driverless cars making headlines in downtown. “The news tries to make you think all of LA is rioting. It’s not.” Puck says.Back out on the streets, a young man quickly writes “Fuck ICE” on a black wall with white spray paint before a group of older demonstrators wearing floppy hats shushes him away — warning him that tagging will only attract more law enforcement.Further along, another older man with tufts of white hair sticking out under his Lakers cap walks stiffly and slowly along under the summer sun. A Mexican flag draped across his shoulders, he crosses Hope Street. A young man wearing a Nike cap makes his way over to ask if he wants water; the old man accepts a bottle and keeps walking without stopping. The march has looped around downtown, and is coming to an end back at City Hall. As I make my way to my bus stop, a line of police vehicles — sirens blasting — whizzes past me, back toward the crowd still gathering around City Hall.The Los Angeles Police Department issued a dispersal order for parts of downtown Los Angeles later in the afternoon, citing people “throwing rocks, bricks, bottles and other objects.” Law enforcement reportedly cleared crowds using gas, and the LAPD authorized the use of “less lethal” force.— Justine CalmaPortland, OregonFour different “No Kings” protests in the greater Portland area on Saturday drew massive crowds of tens of thousands across the city. Various activists, government officials, and representatives for politicians spoke at the rallies, which also featured music and live performances. (One advertised free drag shows.) Protesters of all ages came with dogs, strollers, flags, banners, and hand-made signs. At the downtown waterfront, some tourist boats appeared to still be departing, but the bike rental stand (which also sells ice cream) was closed for the day with a hand-lettered explanation reading “No crowns, no thrones, no kings” and “Americans against oligarchy.” Women appearing to be organizers passed out free American flags; many attendees came with their own American flags modified to fly upside down. Most protesters brought signs expressing a wide range of sentiments on the theme of “No Kings.” Some signs were surprisingly verbose (“If the founders wanted a unitary executive (a king) we’d all still be British”) while others were more succinct (“Sic semper tyrannis”). Others opted for simple images, such as a picture of a crown crossed out, or — less frequently — a guillotine. Image: Sarah JeongThe waterfront park area was filled with people from the shoreline to the curb of the nearest street, where protesters held up signs to passing cars that honked in approval. The honking of a passing fire truck sent the crowd into an uproarious cheer. Portland is about a thousand miles from the border with Mexico, but the flag of its distant neighbor nation has emerged as protest iconography in solidarity with Los Angeles. The rainbow pride flag was flown as often as the Mexican flag. Military veterans were scattered throughout the crowd, some identifying themselves as having seen action in conflicts spanning from Vietnam to Afghanistan. Emanuel, an Air Force veteran, told me that he had turned out in defense of the constitution and due process, saying, “Nobody has any rights if one person doesn’t have any rights.” Image: Sarah JeongAnger was directed at ICE and the mass deportations all throughout the day, in signage, in chants, and in rally speeches. The previous night, about 150 people protested at a local ICE facility — coincidentally located by the Tesla dealership — a mile south of downtown, near a highway exit. The ICE facility protests, which have been continuous for some days, have been steadily building up. A couple of “No Kings” signs were present on Friday. (The following day, a handful of “Chinga la migra” signs would show up at the “No Kings” protests). Demonstrators stood on the curb urging passing cars to “Honk if you hate fascists,” successfully eliciting car horns every few seconds, including some from a pristine white Tesla. Federal law enforcement in camo and helmets, their faces obscured, maced and shot at protesters with pepper balls, targeting them through the gates and sniping at them from the rooftop of the building. A handful of protesters — many wearing gas masks and respirators — formed phalanx formations in the driveway, wielding umbrellas and handmade shields. On Saturday, a speaker at one of the “No Kings” rallies advertised the occupation of the ICE facility, saying, “We’re a sanctuary city.” The crowd — replete with American flags both upside down and right side up — cheered. — Sarah JeongNew Port Richey, FloridaNearly every intersection on Pasco County’s State Road 54 looks the same: a cross-section of strip malls, each anchored by a Walmart or Target or Publix, surrounded by a mix of restaurants, nail salons, and gas stations. It’s not an environment that is particularly conducive to protests, but hundreds of people turned out in humid, 90-plus degree weather anyway. The overall size of the crowd is hard to determine, but it’s larger than I — and other attendees — anticipated, given the local demographics. (Trump won 61 percent of the vote in Pasco County in 2024.) New Port Richey, FL. Image: Gaby Del ValleEveryone is on the sidewalk; an organizer with a megaphone tells people to use crosswalks if they’re going to attempt to brave the six-lane highway. Two days earlier, Governor Ron DeSantis said Floridians could legally run over protesters on the street if they feel “threatened.” New Port Richey, FL. Image: Gaby Del ValleSo far, most drivers seem friendly. There are lots of supportive honks. One woman rolls down her window and thanks the protesters. “I love you! I wish I could be with you, but I have to work today!” she yells as she drives away. Not everyone is amenable. A man in a MAGA hat marches through the crowd waving a “thin green line” flag and yelling “long live the king!” as people in the crowd call him a traitor. A pickup truck drives by blasting “Ice Ice Baby,” waving another pro-law enforcement flag. The protesters have flags, too: American flags large and small, some upside down; Mexican; Ukrainian; Palestinian; Canadian; different configurations of pride and trans flags. Their signs, like their flags, illustrate their diverse reasons for attending: opposition to Trump’s “big beautiful” funding bill, DOGE’s budget cuts, and ICE arrests; support for immigrants, government workers, and Palestinians. One woman wears an inflatable chicken suit. Her friend pulls an effigy of Trump — dressed to look both like an eighteenth-century monarch, a taco, and a chicken — alongside her.New Port Richey, FL. Image: Gaby Del ValleMost of the demonstrators are on the older side, but there are people of all ages in attendance. “I thought it was going to be maybe 20 people with a couple of signs,” Abby, 24, says, adding that she’s pleasantly surprised at both the turnout and the fact that most of the protesters are of retirement age. Abe, 20, tells me this is his first protest. Holding a sign that says “ICE = GESTAPO,” he tells me he came out to support a friend who is Mexican. Three teenagers walk by with signs expressing support for immigrants: “While Trump destroys America, we built it.” “Trump: 3 felonies. My parents: 0.” As I drive away, I notice nine counter-protesters off to the side, around the corner from the main event. They wave their own flags, but the demonstrators seemingly pay them no mind.— Gaby Del ValleHistoric Filipinotown, Los AngelesWearing a camo baseball cap — “Desert Storm Veteran” emblazoned on the front — Joe Arciaga greets a crowd of about 100 people in Los Angeles’ Historic Filipinotown around 9:00AM.“Good morning everyone, are you ready for some beautiful trouble?” Arciaga says into the megaphone, an American flag bandana wrapped around his wrist. The faces of Filipino labor leaders Philip Vera Cruz and Larry Itliong, who organized farm workers alongside Cesar Chavez, peer over his shoulders from a mural that lines the length of Unidad Park where Arciaga and a group called Lakas Collective helped organize this neighborhood No Kings rally. “I’m a Desert Storm veteran, and I’m a father of three and a grandfather of three, and I want to work for a future where democracy is upheld, due process, civil rights, the preservation of the rule of law — That’s all I want. I’m not a billionaire, I’m just a regular Joe, right?”, he tells The Verge.Joe Arciaga speaks to people at a rally in Historic Filipinotown, Los Angeles. Image: Justine Calma“I am mad as hell,” he says, when I ask him about the Army 250th anniversary parade Donald Trump has organized in Washington, DC coinciding with the president’s birthday. “The guy does not deserve to be honored, he’s a draft dodger, right?” Arciaga says. He’s “livid” that the President and DOGE have fired veterans working for federal agencies and slashed VA staff.Arciaga organizes the crowd into two lines that file out of the park to stand along Beverly Blvd., one of the main drags through LA. Arciaga has deputized a handful of attendees with security or medical experience with whistles to serve as “marshals” tasked with flagging and de-escalating any potentially risky situation that might arise. Johneric Concordia, one of the co-founders of the popular The Park’s Finest barbecue joint in the neighborhood, is MCing out on Beverly Blvd. He and Arciaga direct people onto the sidewalks and off the asphalt as honking cars zip by. In between chants of “No hate! No fear! Immigrants are welcome here!” and rap songs from LA artist Bambu that Concordia plays from a speaker, Concordia hypes up the organizers. “Who’s cool? Joe’s cool?” He spits into the microphone connected to his speaker. “Who’s streets? Our streets!” the crowd cheers. An hour later, a man sitting at a red light in a black Prius rolls down his window. “Go home!” he yells from the intersection. “Take your Mexican flag and go home!”The crowd mostly ignores him. One attendee on the corner holds up his “No Kings” sign to the Prius without turning his head to look at him. A few minutes later, a jogger in a blue t-shirt raises his fist as he passes the crowd. “Fuck yeah guys,” he says to cheers.By 10AM, the neighborhood event is coming to a close. Demonstrators start to trickle away, some fanning out to other rallies planned across LA today. Concordia is heading out too, microphone and speaker still in hand, “If you’re headed to downtown, watch out for suspicious crew cuts!” — Justine CalmaSan Francisco, California1/10Most of the crowd trickled out after 2pm, which was the scheduled end time of the protest, but hundreds stayed in the area. Image: Vjeran PavicLondon, UKLondon’s protest was a little different than most: it was almost entirely bereft of “No Kings” signs, thanks to the fact that about two miles away much larger crowds were gathered to celebrate the official birthday of one King Charles III. “We don’t have anything against King Charles,” Alyssa, a member of organizers Indivisible London, told me. And so, “out of respect for our host country as immigrants,” they instead set up shop in front of the US embassy with a tweaked message: “No kings, no crowns” became “no tyrants, no clowns.” London, UK. Image: Dominic PrestonOf the hundreds gathered, not everyone got the memo, with a few painted signs decrying kings and crowns regardless, and one brave Brit brandishing a bit of cardboard with a simple message: “Our king is better than yours!”London, UK. Image: Dominic PrestonStill, most of the crowd were on board, with red noses, clown suits, and Pennywise masks dotted throughout, plus costumes ranging from tacos to Roman emperors. “I think tyrants is the better word, and that’s why I dressed up as Caesar, because he was the original,” says Anna, a Long Island native who’s lived in London for three years. “Nobody likes a tyrant. Nobody. And they don’t do well, historically, but they destroy a lot.”For 90 minutes or so the crowd — predominantly American, judging by the accents around me — leaned into the circus theme. Speakers shared the stage with performers, from a comic singalong of anti-Trump protest songs to a protracted pantomime in which a woman in a banana costume exhorted the crowd to pelt a Donald Trump impersonator with fresh peels. London, UK. Image: Dominic PrestonDuring a break in festivities, Alyssa told the crowd, “The most threatening sound to an oligarch is laughter.”— Dominic PrestonProspect Park, Brooklyn, New YorkThe No Kings protest at Brooklyn’s Grand Army Plaza was a calmer affair. Instead of gathering under the picturesque memorial arch, protesters were largely sequestered to a corner right outside Prospect Park, with some streets blocked off by police. The weekly farmers market was in full swing, meaning people cradling bundles of rhubarb were swerving in and out of protest signs that read things like, “Hating Donald Trump is Brat” and “Is it time to get out the pitch forks?” Like during the Hands Off protest in April, New York got rain on Saturday.Prospect Park, Brooklyn. Image: Mia SatoThe area where protesters were gathered made it difficult to count the crowd, but there were hundreds — perhaps a few thousand — people that streamed in and out. At one point, some protesters began marching down the street alongside Prospect Park, while others stayed at Grand Army Plaza to chant, cheer, and hold signs up at oncoming vehicles. With its proximity to the public library, the park, and densely populated neighborhoods, the massive intersection is a high-foot traffic area. Cars blared their horns as they passed, American flags waving in the chilly afternoon breeze.Jane, a Brooklyn resident who stood on the curb opposite the protesters, said she isn’t typically someone who comes out to actions like this: before the No Kings event, she had only ever been to one protest, the Women’s March. (Jane asked that The Verge use her first name only.) Prospect Park, Brooklyn. Image: Mia Sato“I’m deeply concerned about our country,” Jane said, pausing as a long stream of trucks and cars honked continuously in support of the protesters in the background. “I think Trump is behaving as an authoritarian. We’ve seen in Russia, in Hungary, in Hong Kong, that the slide from freedom to not freedom is very fast and very quick if people do not make their voices heard,” Jane said. “I’m concerned that that’s what’s happening in the United States.” Jane also cited cuts to Medicaid and funding for academic research as well as tariffs as being “unacceptable.”Prospect Park, Brooklyn. Image: Mia SatoThe event was peaceful — there were lots of kids present — and people were in good spirits despite the rain. Protest signs ran the gamut from general anti-Trump slogans (“I trust light tampons more than this administration”) to New York City-specific causes like “Andrew Cuomo can’t read” (there is a contenious mayoral election this month). One sign read, “Fix your hearts or die,” an iconic line from the late director, David Lynch’s, Twin Peaks: The Return. And of course, amid nationwide immigration raids that have been escalated by the involvement of the federal government, ICE was top of mind: one sign simply read, “Melt ICE,” and another protester held a large “NO ICE IN NYC” sign. Though it was smaller and more contained than other events, the protest didn’t lack conviction: attendees of all ages stood in the cold rain, chanting and blowing into vuvuzela, banging the lids of pots and pans. At one point a man stood on the median on the street, leading the group in chants of “No justice, no peace.” Cars laid on the horn as they drove by.— Mia SatoAkron, OhioIt’s been raining pretty hard the last few days in Akron, OH, so much that I didn’t think there’d be a large turnout for our chapter of the No Kings protest. But I was emphatically proven wrong as the crowds I saw dwarfed the Tesla Takedown protests last month. Officially, the protest was to take place in front of the John F. Seiberling Federal Building on Main Street in Downtown Akron. But the concentration of people spilled over from that small space down Main Street and up Market Street. All told, though there were no official counts, I estimate somewhere between 500 to 900 people in this blue enclave in Northeast Ohio.The mood was exuberant, buoyed by supporters who honked their horns as they passed. The chorus of horns was nonstop, and when a sanitation truck honked as it went by, cheers got louder. The chants the crowds were singing took on a local flare. Ohio is the home of the Ohio State Buckeyes and anywhere you go, shout “O-H” and you’ll invariably get an “I-O” response. The crowds used that convention to make their own chant, “OH-IO, Donald Trump has got to go.”There was no police presence here and the crowd was very good at policing itself. Ostensibly out of concern for the incidents where people have rammed their cars into protestor crowds, the people here have taken up crossing guard duties, aiding folks who wish to cross Main or Market Streets. Toward the end of my time at the protest, I saw an older gentleman wearing Kent State gear and holding a sign that read, “Remember another time the National Guard was called in?” His sign featured a drawing of the famous photo from the event in which four Kent State students during a protest of the Vietnam War were killed by National Guard troops. I caught up with him to ask him some questions and he told me his name was Chuck Ayers, a professional cartoonist, and was present at the shooting. Akron, OH. Image: Ash Parrish“When I saw the National Guard in front of the federal building in LA,” he told me, “It was just another flashback.”He did not tell me this at the time, but Ayers is a nationally recognized cartoonist, noted for co-creating the comic strip Crankshaft. He’s lived in Ohio his entire life and of course, drew that sign himself. As he was telling me about how seeing news of the National Guard being deployed in LA, I could see him strain to hold back his emotions. He said it still hurts to see this 55 years later, but that he was heartened to see so many people standing here in community and solidarity. He also said that given his pain and trauma he almost didn’t come. When I asked why he showed up when it so obviously causes him pain he said simply, “Because I have to.”— Ash ParrishOneonta, New YorkOn a northward drive to Oneonta — population roughly 15,000, the largest city in New York’s mainly rural Otsego County — one of the most prominent landmarks is a sprawling barn splashed in huge, painted block letters with TRUMP 2024. (The final digits have been faithfully updated every election since 2016.) It’s Trump country, but not uniformly Trumpy country, as evidenced by what I estimated as a hundreds-strong crowd gathered in a field just below Main Street that came together with a friendly county-fair atmosphere. Kids sat on their parents’ shoulders; American flags fluttered next to signs with slogans like SHADE NEVER MADE ANYONE LESS GAY, and attendees grumbled persistently about the event’s feeble sound system, set up on the bed of a pickup truck. It was the kind of conspicuously patriotic, far-from-urban protest that the Trump administration has all but insisted doesn’t exist.Image: Adi RobertsonBeyond a general condemnation of Trump, protest signs repped the same issues being denounced across the country. The wars in Gaza and Ukraine made an appearance, as did Elon Musk and Tesla. A couple of people called out funding cuts for organizations like NPR, one neatly lettered sign reminded us that WEATHER FORECASTING SAVES LIVES, another warned “Keep your nasty little hands off Social Security,” and a lot — unsurprisingly, given the past week’s events — attacked mass deportations and ICE. An attendee who identified himself as Bill, standing behind a placard that blocked most of him from sight, laid out his anger at the administration’s gutting of the Environmental Protection Agency. “I think if it was not for protests, there would be no change,” he told me.The event itself, supported by a coalition including the local chapter of Indivisible, highlighted topics like reproductive justice and LGBTQ rights alongside issues for groups often stereotyped as Republican blocs — there was a speech about Department of Veterans Affairs cuts and a representative from the local Office for the Aging (whose words were mostly lost to the sound system’s whims). Rules for a march around the modest downtown were laid out: no blocking pedestrians or vehicles, and for the sake of families doing weekend shopping, watch the language. “Fuck!” one person yelled indistinctly from the audience. “No, no,” the event’s emcee chided gently. The philosophy, as she put it, was one of persuasion. “We want to build the resistance, not make people angry at us.”Image: Adi RobertsonBut even in a place that will almost certainly never see a National Guard deployment or the ire of a Truth Social post, the Trump administration’s brutal deportation program had just hit close to home. Only hours before the protest commenced, ICE agents were recorded handcuffing a man and removing him in an unmarked black car — detaining what was reportedly a legal resident seeking asylum from Venezuela. The mayor of Oneonta, Mark Drnek, relayed the news to the crowd. “ICE! We see you!” boomed Drnek from the truckbed. “We recognize you for what you are, and we understand, and we reject your vile purpose.”The crowd cheered furiously. The stars and stripes waved.- Adi RobertsonSee More: Policy

Soulmask, a survival sandbox game developed by CampFire Studio and published by Qooland Games, has announced its first major cultural expansion, the free Golden Legend (Sanxingdui) DLC, coming on June 5. Inspired by ancient Sanxingdui Chinese civilization, the new DLC marks a turning point in Soulmask’s journey. What began in the primal chaos of rainforest survival pushes into uncharted territory, fusing ancient mythical symbolism with sandbox survival exploration systems. This DLC introduces new masks, exploration zones, and a collection of ornate bronze furnishings that allow players to shape their interpretations of a long-lost ritual civilization. The free Golden Legend DLC introduces The Golden Mask, an ornate ritual artifact adorned with copper eye protrusions and engraved Kui dragon patterns. Its powers include Divine Sight, where it detects threats and terrain changes from a distance; Heaven’s Watch, which can analyse enemy stats, specialities, and potential; Sunbird Blessing, which yields passive buffs that enhance movement and perception; and The Sunken Altar, where deep in the ocean lies you find a lost branch of Eastern civilization. It’s a new submerged zone that welcomes exploration, featuring shipwreck ruins, ritual relics, and ceremonial architecture wrapped in mythological symbolism. The DLC also features The Golden Legend Set, a new line of Bronze Age–themed furniture, mask displays, and ornamental props that let players transform their homesteads into stylized ancestral sanctuaries. Smarter survival through automation Soulmask players can explore The Golden Legend in free DLC. Coinciding with the DLC, Soulmask is rolling out core gameplay upgrades to the base game, focused on advancing automation in construction and logistics. This includes a building planning mode, where players can now record any custom-built structure plans. Tribesmen will automatically collect resources and rebuild them in other locations, dramatically improving the speed and efficiency of base expansion.It also has an automated logistics system where powered ziplines can be set up between homesteads and resource points, creating a flexible transport network for streamlined material delivery across the map. These features allow for faster, more organized tribe management and base development, especially for players aiming to build on a larger scale. Looking forward: 1.0, Egypt, and the future of civilization Soulmask’s update will offer a lot. The Golden Legend DLC arrives as a special gift to mark Soulmask’s first anniversary in Early Access – a thank-you to players who have shaped the world through feedback, exploration, and creativity. Soulmask will exit Early Access with its 1.0 release later this year, alongside a new Egypt-themed DLC. These milestones will continue to broaden the game’s cultural inspirations and deepen its automation systems, offering players new ways to build, govern, and survive across richly imagined ancient worlds. Producer Zima has described his long-term vision for Soulmask as “the intelligent multi-civilization survival sandbox,” where automation and cultural diversity form the foundation of a dynamic, player-driven experience. Daily insights on business use cases with VB Daily If you want to impress your boss, VB Daily has you covered. We give you the inside scoop on what companies are doing with generative AI, from regulatory shifts to practical deployments, so you can share insights for maximum ROI. Read our Privacy Policy Thanks for subscribing. Check out more VB newsletters here. An error occured.

The RTX 5060 is here, finally completing the 50-series lineup that debuted five months ago with the 5090. The new "mainstream" graphics card is far from cheap at $299/£270, but ought to offer reasonable performance and efficiency while adding the multi frame generation feature that's exclusive to this generation of GPUs. However, the 5060 also ships with just 8GB of VRAM, which could be a big limitation for those looking to play the latest graphics showcases. Before we get into our results, it's worth mentioning why this review is a little later than normal, coming a few days after the cards officially went on sale on May 19th. Normally, Nvidia or their partners send a graphics card and the necessary drivers anywhere from a couple of days to a week before the embargo date, which is typically a day before the cards go on sale. That's good for us, because it allows us to do the in-depth analysis that we prefer and still publish at the same time as other outlets, and it's good for potential buyers, as they can get a sense of value and performance and therefore make an informed decision about whether to buy a card or not - from what is often a limited supply at launch. For the RTX 5060 launch, Nvidia - via Asus - delivered a card in good time ahead of its release, but the drivers weren't released to reviewers until the card went on sale on May 19th, coinciding with Nvidia's Computex presentation. Without the drivers, the card is a paperweight, so any launch day coverage is necessarily limited - and in many cases, graphics cards went out of stock before the usual tranche of reviews went live from the tech press. It's a frustrating situation all around, and I doubt that even Nvidia's PR department will be thrilled that most reviews start with the same complaint. Nvidia's GeForce RTX 5060 gets the Digital Foundry video review treatment.Watch on YouTube Following the public release of the drivers, we've been benchmarking around the clock to figure out just how performant the new RTX 5060 is, where its strengths and weaknesses lie, and where it falls compared to the rest of the 50-series line-up, prior generation RTX cards and competing AMD models. Looking at the specs, you can see that the RTX 5060 is based around a cut-down version of the same GB206 die that powered the RTX 5060 Ti. The 5060 has 83 percent of the core count and rated power of the full-fat 5060 Ti design, with an innocuous three percent drop to boost clocks and the same 448GB/s of memory bandwidth. Unlike the 5060 Ti, however, which debuted in 8GB and 16GB models, the 5060 is only available with 8GB of frame buffer memory - a limitation we'll discuss in some depth later. For your 16.6 percent reduction to core count and TGP versus the 5060 Ti, you pay around 20 percent less - so the 5060 ought to be slightly better value. Marvel's Spider-Man 2 and Monster Hunter World - 1440p resolution. We aren't at native resolution. We aren't on ultra settings, but both 8GB RTX 5060 and RTX 5060 Ti see performance collapse. The 16GB RTX 5060 Ti works fine and delivers good performance - proof positive that 8GB is too much of a limiting factor for these cards. | Image credit: Digital Foundry RTX 5070 Ti RTX 5070 RTX 5060 Ti RTX 5060 Processor GB203 GB205 GB206 GB206 Cores 8,960 6,144 4,608 3,840 Boost Clock 2.45GHz 2.51GHz 2.57GHz 2.50GHz Memory 16GB GDDR7 12GB GDDR7 16GB GDDR7 8GB GDDR78GB GDDR7 Memory Bus Width 256-bit 192-bit 128-bit 128-bit Memory Bandwidth 896GB/s 672GB/s 448GB/s 448GB/s Total Graphics Power 300W 250W 180W 150W PSU Recommendation 750W 650W 450W 450W Price $749/£729 $549/£539 $429/£399 $379/£349$299 Release Date February 20th March 5th April 16th May 19th There's no RTX 5060 Founders Edition, as you'd perhaps expect for a mainstream model, with various third-party cards available in a range of sizes. The RTX 5060 model we received is the Asus Prime model, an over-engineered 2.5-slot, tri-fan design that is nonetheless described as "SFF-ready" due to its relatively modest 268mm length. On top of the robust industrial design, the card features a dual BIOS with "quiet" and "performance" options - always useful. In this case however, the cooler is so large that even the "performance" option is very, very quiet. The card ships with this preset and we recommend it stays there. Hilariously, the manufacturer product page recommends a 750W or 850W Asus power supply, though the specs page for the same model makes a more sane 550W recommendation. Regardless, you'll be good to go with a single eight-pin power connector. In terms of ports, we're looking at the RTX 50-series standard assortment, including one HDMI 2.1b and three DisplayPort 2.1b. Like the RTX 5060 Ti - but not AMD's just-announced Radeon RX 9060 XT - the RTX 5060 uses a PCIe 8x connection. That's perfectly fine on a modern PCIe 5.0 or 4.0 slot, but potentially problematic on earlier motherboards with PCIe 3.0 slots - something we'll test out in more detail on page eight. For our testing, we'll be pairing the RTX 5060 with a bleeding-edge system based around the fastest gaming CPU - the AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D. We also have 32GB of Corsair DDR5-6000 CL30 memory, a high-end Asus ROG Crosshair X870E Hero motherboard and a 1000W Corsair PSU. With all that said, let's get into the benchmarks. Nvidia GeForce RTX 5060 Analysis To see this content please enable targeting cookies.

Rainbow Six Siege X is coming as a major update to Ubisoft’s competitive esports game on June 10 to the consoles and PC. While it’s a major free upgrade for anyone who owns Rainbow Six Siege, the Siege X update introduces free access, allowing new players to experience the tactical action of Siege for free in Unranked, Quick Match, and the all-new 6v6 Dual Front mode. The game is debuting on PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Amazon Luna, and PC via Ubisoft Connect and Steam. In Dual Front, attacking and defending Operators join forces, opening up new opportunities to synergize with clever gadget combinations as your team fights to secure enemy zones while defending your own. Plus, Dual Front allows you to respawn, letting you get back to the action quickly. Ubisoft has also been working on reducing toxicity in the game, using new technology for detecting the bad actors and rewarding positive behavior in the game as well. The game will have “veteran rewards” for those players who have played in the past. The audio system will be more precise, reliable and more immersive. The game has modernized maps, destructible ingredients, improved rappel navigation, and more as part of a wide-ranging suite of upgrades, improvements, and refinements. June 10 also marks the launch of Operation Daybreak (Year 10 Season 2) which will deliver an Operator remaster for Clash; balancing updates for Jackal, Sledge, Thunderbird, Jäger, and Blackbeard; changes to electricity and limb damage; and more. These updates will be free for all Siege X players, including those who download and play through Free Access. Siege X Siege X is the next evolution of Rainbow Six Siege that is free for all players who already own the game. It’s also introducing Free Access, which means anyone can hop in for free and play the Quick Match, Unranked, and Dual Front modes, and enjoy all of the upgrades delivered with Siege X. Keep an eye out for newly placed destructible ingredients in every map, including explosive gas pipes, vision-clouding smoke detectors, and interactable metal detectors. Player movement will be more fluid thanks to the advanced rappel navigation allowing sprinting and turning corners, as well as the momentum movement improvement. Siege X also introduces map modernization, a process through which the Siege team improves existing maps with boast new lighting and shadows, as well as higher resolution. Five maps will be modernized on June 10, with three more maps getting the upgrade each season. The audio system is also being overhauled, the result of which will be clearer, more accurate audio cues to help you gain richer intel about what’s happening around you. You’ll be able to make callouts more effectively with the new communication wheel, and show off your cosmetic style with the new weapon inspect feature. And whether you’re refining your competitive strategy with the new pick and ban system in Ranked matches, or learning the ropes faster and more thoroughly with the new onboarding flow, you’ll benefit from the extensive upgrades and refinements throughout the game. More details can be found in our Siege X Showcase recap article from the Siege X Showcase in March. At the recent RE:LO:AD esports event in Rio de Janeiro, more details were revealed on updates coming with Siege X, including an in-game esports tab that will allow easy access to keep up with the best Siege competition around the globe. New beginner challenges and onboarding flow will offer in-game rewards to diligent new players, and experienced players will progress faster through the clearance levels with a new XP curve. Follow your progress with the new career stats tracker as you review your performance in different playlists by checking your stats, including the K.O.S.T. stat that esports fans will recognize as a popular metric in pro play. The new Enlisted and Field Training playlists will cater to new and returning players, respectively, giving each a customizable practice arena to fight on full maps against AI bots trained on real player behaviors. Whether you’re training solo or playing matches against other players, you’ll now hear the voices of the Operators more often as the new Operator banter feature will bring new dialogue lines that illuminate the personalities and relationships between the characters. PC players can get an early taste of Siege X in action in the test server session, starting on May 20 at 6 AM PT/3 PM CEST and running through June 9 at 6 AM PT/3 PM CEST. The session is open to all players who already own Rainbow Six Siege on PC, and the test server tile should automatically appear in your Ubisoft Connect library. If it doesn’t, you can register for the test server via the Ubisoft Connect website. Operation Daybreak (Season 2) Siege X will feature Operation Daybreak. Coinciding with the launch of Siege X is the start of Operation Daybreak, the second season of Rainbow Six Siege Year 10. This season brings of host of balancing updates for various Operators, changes to electricity and limb damage, as well as an Operator remaster for Clash. Clash is the first Defender to ever wield a shield, and it’s her CCE Shield that has received some significant upgrades. She can now deploy her CCE Shield MK2, freeing her to move more quickly and position herself to play off of her shield’s stationary position. While the shield is deployed, Clash can operate its taser remotely, applying the shocking and slowing effect in a broad cone-shaped area. Defenders looking to remove this obstacle can use explosives or, if they get close enough, simply burst through the shield and destroy it (but beware, Clash or her allies can also execute this burst-through maneuver for a surprise attack). Clash can still play with her shield in-hand or on her back as well, and it’s been updated to automatically collapse and expand as she sprints, crouches, vaults, and crashes through barricades. She can deploy it, pick it back up, and put down somewhere else. It’s more nimble, more versatile, and gives Clash more ways to be an absolute force on the defending team. Some notable balancing updates will also arrive with Operation Daybreak. Electricity will no longer damage any Operators. It will be a neutral element that will still have a slowing effect on Operators, and will destroy gadgets regardless of team affiliation. Limb damage will be reduced, making it more important than ever to aim for center mass or heads. Shield Operators will no longer be able to aim down sights while vaulting or dropping from higher levels. Blackbeard’s shield glass has been tinted to make it easier to see if it’s up or down. Jackal will only ping an enemy position one time after scanning footprints, and the footprints will disappear immediately after being scanned. He will also be able to use it five times, an increase from the current three. Jäger will now be able to eliminate Capitão’s bolts and Gridlock’s Trax Stingers with his Active Defense System. Thunderbird will no longer allow enemies to heal from her Kona Stations (unless Brava’s Kludge Drone takes them over). Sledge will be able to knock down shield users he comes across (which he is likely to do more often now that attackers and defenders can be on the same team in Dual Front). Operation Daybreak is launching on June 10, read the full news breakdown on the official Rainbow Six Siege website. R6 ShieldGuard and Anti-Toxicity Introduced earlier this year, R6 ShieldGuard is the unification of game security and anti-cheat tools developed by the Rainbow Six Siege team to help ensure fair competition for everyone. Thanks to the introduction of new security hardening tech in Season 1, Operation Prep Phase, cheat reports are trending down as more cheaters are being banned. Season 2 will bring a major security update as well as a powerful change to how updates are delivered. Soon, the unified anti-cheat system will be fully dynamic, allowing the dev team to push a new game executable directly to players at any time during the season and making it significantly more difficult for cheat-makers to adapt. This proactive approach will continue throughout Seasons 3 & 4 as the team works with pro players and the community to continually refine their systems. In addition to protecting the competitive fairness of Siege X, the team is also focused on making the game more respectful and secure for all players. The now-fully activated Reputation System has seen the number of negative actions decrease, including a drop in abusive language, while text chat usage has increased along with reports of positive actions in-game. Seasons 3 & 4 will continue to bolster these efforts with voice chat moderation, new Reputation System actions, and improvements to privacy settings, abandon penalties, and in-game reports. Seasons 3 & 4 Rainbow Six Siege X specs on PC. Looking ahead to seasons beyond Operation Daybreak, the Siege X team has shared some tidbits about what’s on the roadmap for later this year. Season 3 will bring three more modernized maps – Nighthaven, Lair, and Consulate – as well as assignment changes in Dual Front with narrative ties to the new Operator. This new Defender will hail from Switzerland and introduce a new weapon to the game. Players looking for a true competitive challenge will have plenty of opportunities when the Siege Cup becomes available every weekend, and allows you to inspect the stats of your opponents before the match begins. Plus, be on the lookout for a returning Halloween event on a new map. Season 4 will mark the 10-year anniversary of Rainbow Six Siege, and a special in-game event is planned to celebrate the occasion. The season will also deliver an Operator remaster of an Attacker, as well as another new weapon that will, for the first time, be available for multiple Operators upon release (first as part of the battlepass, and later to everyone). Two more modernized maps are inbound – Theme Park and Skyscraper – in addition to a full rework and modernization for a third map. Significant updates for the training modes, including Keres Legion targets instead of test dummies, are also coming in Season 4, plus improvements to ranked matchmaking, a new Dual Front assignment, and continued balancing work that will address EMP and jamming systems. Finally, a new playlist called Testing Grounds will serve as a place for the team to explore new ideas and gather feedback as they shape the future of Siege X. The full reveals of seasons 3 & 4 will come later in 2025, but suffice to say it’s a big year for Rainbow Six Siege X. The Year 10 dynamic roadmap is also available on the official Rainbow Six Siege website. Rainbow Six Siege X is available on PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, and PC via Ubisoft Connect, Steam, and Epic Games, as well as with a Ubisoft+ Premium subscription. GB Daily Stay in the know! Get the latest news in your inbox daily Read our Privacy Policy Thanks for subscribing. Check out more VB newsletters here. An error occured.