December 22, 2024: We’ve checked for new Super League Soccer codes.

What are the new Super League Soccer codes? This new footy game on the Roblox platform lets you take up any role on the field, be it a goalkeeper, a striker, a midfielder, or any other position on the 7v7 lineup your team might be lacking. And it isn’t without style, either. If you can master the technique, bicycle kick goals aren’t out of the question, with the below codes giving you the coins you’ll need to stay ahead of the opposing team.

Need even more Roblox games to add to your rotation? For some of the most popular and long-lasting titles right now, check out these Multiverse Defenders codes, Project Slayers codes, and Blox Fruits codes. If you’d prefer to escape the anime hold, Arm Wrestle Simulator codes, Doors codes, and Brookhaven codes might be more your speed.

New Super League Soccer codes

• There are currently no active Super League Soccer codes

Expired codes

• 100kLikes
• battlepass
• xmas
• 90kLikes
• 80kLikes
• console!
• 70kLikes
• Part1
• fix14
• 60kLikes
• 50kLikes
• GKFix!
• 40kLikes
• 30KLIKES
• 25klikes
• SLSCOMP

How do I redeem Super League Soccer codes?

It doesn’t take much effort at all to redeem codes in Super League Soccer. You don’t have to spam them in the chat, and you won’t need to grind levels in-game first. As soon as you join the game for the first time, you’ll be ready. Here’s what to do:

• Open Roblox and launch Super League Soccer.
• Wait for the game to load.
• Once in-game, tap the ‘Codes’ button at the bottom.
• Enter your code.
• Claim your rewards!

How do I get more Super League Soccer codes?

Unlike most other Roblox games, you won’t see a bunch of ways to get new codes stuffed into the experience’s launch page description. Finding where to spot new codes actually requires you to attempt to redeem one. By opening the code redeem box, you’ll spot not only the next code goal but also a link to the Super League Soccer Discord.

Head there to see any new codes that might drop, or check back here often. We’ll add the same ones here, so you don’t need to bother with potentially unrelated notifications from yet another Roblox Discord server.

For even more block-based fun, check out our master list of Roblox promo codes, or the best Roblox games in 2023 if you’re looking to expand your horizons. And if you want an anime-inspired football game instead, Striker Odyssey codes are worth checking out.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 publisher Activision has replaced some of the shooter’s voice actors amid the ongoing SAG-AFTRA actor strike.

The voices of Zombie mode characters William Peck and Samantha Maxis – hitherto portrayed by Zeke Alton and Julie Nathanson, respectively – seem to have changed between pre-release and now, with no formal word from the publisher or developer Treyarch about the change.

It also appears that Alton has been pulled from the credits, too, whilst Nathanson remains on the list – albeit uncredited for individual roles – making it difficult to know what characters are now voiced by who.

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Alton expanded a little on the changes, saying “to the best of [their] knowledge, that performance is not [mine]”.

“It’s [Activision’s] character, and they can do with it what they please,” Alton told Game Developer. “My only concern is for my brand as a performer. Fans of the game have reached out to me because the lack of crediting [of the replacement actor] implies that it may still be me, which unfairly represents my abilities as a performer.

“I have no issue with Activision’s actions with a character and IP that they own,” Alton added. “I absolutely adore the creative team and the opportunity I’ve had to collaborate with them in the past. I sincerely hope to collaborate in the future once all performers are protected against generative AI abuse.”

In a careful statement to press, Activision said it would not comment on the specifics “out of respect for all parties”, adding it “respect[ed] the personal choice of these performers [to strike]” but wouldn’t “add new commentary about the ongoing negotiations” with SAG-AFTRA. It then simply said it was “looking forward to a mutually beneficial outcome as soon as possible”.

Video game performers with US actors’ union SAG-AFTRA are currently striking over concerns about the use of AI and a lack of protection for actors.

In related news, Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 players recently hit out at “AI slop” they believe has been used within the game and its promotional materials.

Last weekend, players noticed a six-fingered zombified Father Christmas had popped up on the loading screen, and whilst some fans simply attributed this as a nod to the fact this is the sixth Black Ops game, others alleged it was evidence that the art was machine-generated, as AI typically struggles to generate realistic-looking hands.

Ubisoft has quietly released a new game based on its Captain Laserhawk animated series, which features beloved mascot Rayman and NFTs.

Captain Laserhawk: The G.A.M.E., as spotted by Game File’s Stephen Totilo (via Polygon), is a PC top-down multiplayer shooter that uses cryptocurrency and blockchain technology. Though it’s technically in early access, Totilo described it as “the most basic top-down shooter imaginable”.

Players require an NFT Niji Warrior ID card to play, which itself requires a crypto wallet to purchase (the NFT costs $25.63).

Captain Laserhawk: A Blood Dragon Remix was created by Ubisoft for Netflix and released last year. It’s based on the Far Cry 3 spin-off Blood Dragon and features multiple characters from across Ubisoft’s games, including Rayman.

According to the FAQ for this game based on the series, it’s a “transmedia gaming adventure where the community drives the narrative through innovative governance”.

It continues: “Eden Online is the layer which gives power to the community when it comes to decision making for the game updates each season.

“Eligibility to play the game in early access will be reflected by ownership of a Citizen ID Card. Eden Online has a limited capacity of 10,000 seats for citizenship.”

Once an ID has been purchased, which Totilo stated is a convoluted process, it’s customised with a cartoon headshot and further details to make it unique. Then, as a Medium post on the game reads, your “Niji Warrior NFT is dynamic”, meaning it “evolves by capturing your in-game accomplishments, growing in uniqueness and value, and showcasing your dedication and skill”.

You can then sell your ID as an NFT, though it’s unclear why anyone would wish to.

Rayman, meanwhile, features as the announcer of the game’s deathmatches.

Back in 2021, Ubisoft announced Quartz, its “energy-efficient” NFT platform for AAA games, though it didn’t appear to be a success.

Despite criticism, Ubisoft has ploughed on. Back in October this year it quietly released its first-ever blockchain game, tactical NFT battler Champions Tactics: Grimoria Chronicles where players purchase NFT figurines to battle using cryptocurrency.

Now it’s added Captain Laserhawk: The G.A.M.E. to its growing NFT portfolio.

The day was 8th March 2005. The event: the inaugural Walk of Game celebration, in which gaming icons Mario, Link, Sonic and Master Chief were recognised for their contributions to the industry. Sonic even got a nice trailer showcasing his most glorious exploits since his inception in 1991.

As the video wrapped up, no one could have predicted what happened next. Shots of classic 2D Sonic were suddenly riddled with bullet holes. The screen, full of happy memories, was shattered, revealing a morose Shadow the Hedgehog – and this hog was packing heat. The footage that followed featured Shadow running, jumping and bouncing around environments similar to previous 3D Sonic games, with one not-so-subtle new feature: guns. Laser guns, machine guns, pistols, you name it. And Shadow wasn’t afraid to use them to blow the game’s alien enemies away. No, this wasn’t an April Fool’s joke, a hallucination or a mod by an angry prepubescent wishing their colourful cartoon mascot would grow up and start handling his problems like an adult. This was a legitimate Sonic Team-developed game in the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise featuring firearms, and it was coming that holiday season – whether we liked it or not.

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I vividly remember the myriad questions that ran through my teenage mind on first seeing the trailer. Why did this game exist? Who signed off on this utterly pants idea? A solo Shadow game wasn’t far-fetched by any means – his surge in popularity after his debut in Sonic Adventure 2 was undeniable. But why take the Sonic series down the same dark, edgy road other franchises like Jak and Daxter and Prince of Persia had already trodden?

To answer those questions meant looking at the paradigm shift the video game industry was undergoing at the time. Dark, brooding anti-heroes were all the rage in the early-to-mid 2000s. Colourful mascot platformers had been unceremoniously shoved off their pedestal as the dominant gaming genre by first- and third-person shooters – perhaps most notably by the Halo series. US gamers in particular were flocking to the genre in droves, and it was to that group that scenario writer and director Takashi Iizuka sought to appeal to with Shadow. At the same time, Iizuka made it clear that the game’s mission was to expand the Sonic franchise for a more mature audience without alienating the existing fanbase. Unfortunately, things didn’t quite pan out as Iizuka envisioned.

The story opens with an amnesiac Shadow wandering the city outskirts, struggling to remember the secrets to his past that have eluded him since first being awakened in Sonic Adventure 2. As luck would have it, the one person who can answer his questions appears right in front of him at that exact moment: the evil alien Black Doom, who claims to have ties to Shadow and will divulge what he knows if Shadow gathers the Chaos Emeralds for him. The thing is, Black Doom is also trying to conquer the planet with his alien forces known as the Black Arms, leaving Shadow with a huge moral quandary on his hands.

That’s where arguably the most interesting aspect of the game comes into play: Shadow’s morality system. Does he fight for the planet and fend off the alien invaders, side with the Black Arms in their conquest, or barrel ahead without paying heed to the conflict at all? Each level allows players to decide for themselves. In the opening stage Westopolis, for instance, you can gun down the soldiers repelling the alien invasion, save the city by taking out the aliens, or remain neutral and simply race to the end of the level. Your chosen path dictates which level you tackle next. It’s up to the player to determine whether they want to go pure hero, pure villain, stay neutral, or bounce around like a morally confused pinball depending on their mood.

Eventually, you’ll reach one of the game’s ten initial endings, ranging from Shadow decimating the planet’s military, beating up Black Doom, deciding to take over the world himself, or a variety of paths in between. All in all, there are a whopping 326 different pathways you can take to clear the game. While only the most hardcore fans are likely to try, you have to admire Sonic Team’s dedication.

However, the story doesn’t stop there. While you’re free to play through the game once and call it quits, it’s only by unlocking all ten initial endings that the final story becomes available. There is a canon ending, and – spoiler alert – at the end of the day, Shadow’s a brave-hearted hero. Well, anti-brave-hearted hero, anyway. You won’t see Sonic shooting an alien in the face with a machine gun anytime soon.

Speaking of, let’s delve deeper into its weapons-based combat. At its most basic, Shadow the Hedgehog plays like the 3D Sonic titles that preceded it; Shadow can run, jump, home in on enemies, and even engage in fisticuffs when his hands are free. Unlike previous Sonic games, however, upon defeating an enemy, Shadow can commandeer their weapons for his own use, including a wide variety of guns, swords, hammers, spears and grenade launchers. Players who recoil at the thought of using weapons in a Sonic game can finish the adventure without ever touching them, though they are significantly more effective at clearing out enemies than your standard homing attack – undoubtedly an intentional move by the developers to encourage their use. It’s easy to argue that the ultimate lifeform using a weapon is as redundant as Sonic driving a car – to say nothing of the silliness of the concept – but from a gameplay perspective, the implementation is competent enough.

The game’s edginess goes beyond firearms, though. Keeping with the more mature tone, the developers allowed the characters to drop their filters and belt out some salty language. You’re not going to hear the characters you’ve known and loved for years dropping F-bombs (though the game did initially feature some stronger language, according to Shadow’s voice actor Jason Griffith), but there is mild profanity throughout, mostly by Shadow himself. Of course, it’s debatable whether it makes the game edgier or simply more meme-able. The alien enemies also bleed when hit, though their blood was changed from red to green to keep the game’s rating down. It’s relatively tame compared to many games in this day and age, but it was still certainly jarring to see in a Sonic the Hedgehog game nonetheless.

So, then comes the million-dollar question. Taking everything into consideration, is Shadow the Hedgehog a good game?

As someone who grew up with Sonic from the very beginning and was completely taken aback when Shadow’s solo title was announced, it’s… fine. Like, surprisingly fine. Was it a dumb idea? Absolutely. Was it a blatant attempt at cashing in on the dark and edgy game craze? Almost certainly. Was it executed decently despite all this? I personally lean toward yes, but ‘decent’ is about the highest praise I can give it.

Plenty of Sonic games are still widely discussed by the community and greater internet decades after release, for better or worse. Sonic 06. Unleashed. Colours. Beyond the occasional meme, Shadow isn’t one of them. Even Sonic Team itself tend to gloss over the game; the only legal way to play it is by purchasing a used copy for sixth generation consoles, and official references that aren’t outright mocking it are rare to non-existent.

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That’s part of what makes the recently-released Sonic X Shadow Generations, and the Sonic the Hedgehog 3 film, so significant. For the first time since Shadow the Hedgehog, Sonic Team is taking a deep dive back into the character’s rich but troubled history as part of its broader Year of Shadow celebration. We even get to witness the unexpected return of Black Doom, undoubtedly a past version of the character brought about via the game’s time travel shenanigans.

Just as Shadow must once again confront his ugly past, so too is Sonic Team bravely acknowledging one of its biggest misfires in the hopes it can find something worth salvaging. While I doubt the new Shadow-centric story campaign is going to retroactively sway public opinion in favor of his original solo outing, it is nevertheless a potent reminder that, despite its laughable concept and numerous shortcomings, Shadow the Hedgehog did have some cool ideas.

A sequel to Hi-Fi Rush is being considered “positively” but studio Tango Gameworks is “considering various opportunities” before fully committing.

In a new interview with IGN, studio head Colin Mack, Hi-Fi Rush director John Johanas, and Hi-Fi Rush project manager Kazuaki Egashira discussed the future of the franchise.

After Microsoft closed Tango Gameworks it was acquired by Krafton. At the time of the acquisition a sequel to rhythm action game Hi-Fi Rush had begun, but Mack has now clarified the studio is considering its options.

“We are considering a sequel positively,” said Mack. “We are not yet at the stage where we can say specifically, ‘This is what we’re going to do’.”

“Many of our staff have a lot of love for [Hi-Fi Rush], so we feel like we have options,” added Johanas. “We’re currently at the stage of considering various opportunities.”

Johanas stated many members of the development team have a “strong attachment” to Hi-Fi Rush, adding: “Not only the game but also the characters and the world are beloved by us, so I want to cherish this IP.”

However he believes it’s “important to try new things”, which is seemingly a philosophy that itself led to the development of Hi-Fi Rush – a clear change in tone for the studio following The Evil Within.

Indeed, Egashira said creating new experiences is “in the DNA of Tango Gameworks”.

“Hi-Fi Rush became popular as a new IP, but if Hi-Fi Rush were to stay the same forever, it would eventually become outdated,” he said. “I think Tango Gameworks is about taking on new challenges. I hope to continue to work in a way that puts developers at the centre, without losing our passion.”

As previously reported, Krafton head of corporate development Maria Park stated a build for a Hi-Fi Rush sequel was about six months old ahead of the studio acquisition.

“[Tango] want to make sure [it] surpasses the expectations of the existing fans,” said Park. “For instance, some of the feedback about Hi-Fi Rush was that some people felt it was [just] going through factories, so now they want to give a more open world type of experience. I don’t think it’s going to be completely open world, but a more dynamic environment [that] you play in. Also, having more advanced technology applied to the rhythm action so that it feels more synchronised.”

Tencent has pulled two directors from Epic Games’ board following an antitrust investigation by the US Justice Department.

The government agency “expressed concerns” that Tencent had directors sitting on Epic’s board when it’s also the parent company of competitor Riot.

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In a statement, the department said that by being simultaneously on two competing companies’ executive boards, Tencent was violating Section 8 of the Clayton Act, a US law designed to protect consumers from potentially harmful business practices.

“Scrutiny around interlocking directorates continues to be an enforcement priority for the Antitrust Division,” said the department’s deputy director of civil enforcement, Miriam R. Vishio.

“Due to the hard work of our tremendous staff, our increased enforcement around Section 8 over the last few years has achieved substantial results and become part of our fabric.”

We recently learned that Ubisoft was continuing its talks with Chinese giant Tencent over a possible buyout deal that would take the Assassin’s Creed maker private.

A fourth Sonic the Hedgehog film is on the way, with a spring 2027 release date.

As reported by Variety, Paramount is currently preparing for a new film as Sonic the Hedgehog 3 releases in cinemas this weekend.

Fans have already been speculating which new characters will be introduced in the post-credits of the third film, who will undoubtedly be the focus of the inevitable fourth film.

The first two Sonic the Hedgehog films have earned a combined global box office total of $725.2m, with the third film expected to top the box office this Christmas season.

Plot details for Sonic the Hedgehog 4 are obviously being kept under wraps for the moment, so it’s unclear who from the cast will return.

Jeff Fowler has directed all three Sonic films, with Ben Schwartz as the voice of the titular blue blur and Jim Carrey as antagonist Dr. Robotnik.

The third film introduces Shadow the Hedgehog from the Sonic Adventure 2 game, voiced here by Keanu Reeves.

“Sega and Paramount more closely align game and film worlds for an authentic Sonic romp with added Keanu cool,” I wrote in our Eurogamer Sonic the Hedgehog 3 film review.

“Sonic 3 is a resounding success and fitting finale to the Year of Shadow. It’s quippy and self-aware, balancing broad pop culture appeal with authenticity to its source material, while its flashy action thrills alongside an unbridled sense of cool that’s only enhanced by Reeves as Shadow.”

Audeze is an American brand best known for making everything from some serious audiophile grade headphones to some of the best gaming headsets we’ve tested. Their MM-500 is more of the former option, as a big, chunky and impressive set of planar magnetic cans which have an eye-wateringly high price tag to boot – you’ll just need to fork out £1699/$1699, no big deal really.

I’ve tested some reasonably dear headphones before, although none have made quite the same initial impression as the MM-500s. Whereas the likes of the Focal Bathys come with a sleek, gorgeous hard case, Audeze has chosen to go for a full-on briefcase for transporting these cans in. It’s made of a blend of metal and plastic, and is seriously sturdy, while inside, there’s a generous helping of moulded foam for transporting the MM-500s. You feel like you’re a member of the US Secret Service opening the briefcase up.

Once you open the briefcase up, you’re greeted with the MM-500s. They’re fully metal, with a blend of machined alumnium and spring steel, which gives a premium feel while also being reasonably light at 495g. That’s still quite heavy against a pair of Grados, for instance, although is lighter than you’d initially expect. The MM-500s look like a classic pair of Audeze cans, with a thinner headband, earcups with oval cutouts on the outside, and big, plush angled earpads that are wonderfully soft amd supportive, while also coming with a heavier clamping force to ensure they stick on your noggin.

The weight of the MM-500s takes some getting used to, especially with the stiffer headband, although placing it over a stack of books can help to loosen it up a tad if the clamping force is too much out of the box, according to Audeze. It is on the tighter side, but I didn’t have much of an issue with it when using these in the evenings to listen to some tunes or play some games with.

The MM-500’s earcups are perhaps the opposite to the Grado Hemps I’ve also tested recently. Where the Hemps were a thinner, shallower option with fabric padding, the MM-500 has these luscious, deep cups with some of the plushest leather I’ve felt on a set of headphones outside of my own Focal Bathys I use every day. The earcups are also angled to conform to the fact that people’s ears aren’t actually parallel to the sides of your head – they’re angled out a little. This means sound goes right into your ears, as opposed to on other headphones which lack the adjustability for you to swivel the earcups to achieve this same purpose.

Your ears also sit quite close to the drivers inside the MM-500, although they aren’t necessarily drivers per se. After all, these are planar magnetic headphones, as opposed to the more common dynamic drivers. I’ve not an expert on this by any means, but, in essence being planar magnetic means that they work by suspending the headphones’ diaphragm material between magnetic fields which cause vibration, as opposed to working by placing the driver over a coil that’s pulled by a magnet, in the case of dynamic drivers. It means that planar magnetic cans need more surface area to work, hence the fact that the MM-500 are quite bulky against more ‘standard’ headphones.

In terms of their tuning, it’s here where the MM-500 mark a departure from previous Audeze efforts, with a move more towards a reference set of cans, in the same vein as Sennheiser’s HD660S2. After all, these are designed perhaps more for music production and studio work than they are for generalist use. This is arguably due to the name that quietly adorns the MM-500’s earcups. Look closely, and you’ll see Manny Maroquin’s name on the side. He might not be a name you’ve heard of, but the albums and songs by artists he’s produced or mixed you most certainly will have. Taylor Swift’s Red for instance, Natasha Bedingfield’s Unwritten or Bruno Mars’ Unorthodox Jukebox, have all had work on by Marroquin, and he’s produced the MM-500 in collaboration with Audeze. That’s quite the endorsement.

With this point in mind, it changes how you view the MM-500. After all, they might not be as exciting or energetic as other cans out there, but they’re designed with a specific purpose in mind – to give the most accurate view of music possible. Fundamentally, if audio sounds as it should when mixed in here, it’s going to be excellent elsewhere. The other thing about these being designed for audio mixing means they come with the massive quarter-inch jack on the end, but do come with a 3.5mm adapter for plugging into more normal things, so you can use the MM-500s with your laptop, or a DAC.

I should say that you can genuinely use these with a MacBook or otherwise – they’re remarkably easy to drive, with a low impedance of just 18 ohms. While it isn’t a foolproof method of measuring how easy headphones are to work with, it means you don’t necessarily require specialist audio gear for them to work, and get plenty loud. I had no issues using them with my MacBook Pro, or usual gaming PC for that matter with their bundled headphone jacks, although giving them more oomph with a DAC or DAP is likely to yield higher-quality listening.

Music out of the MM-500s, whether it’s Latin pop, hard rock or jazz fusion, has this wonderfully smooth and warm quality that sounds excellent. Upon plugging them into either my HiBy R3 II, FiiO M11S or Chord Mojo 2 DAC, I was greeted with some gorgeous audio with a deep but not overbearing low-end, excellent and more prominent mid-range and smooth treble. A listen to Riverman from Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds exemplified this wonderfully, with reassuring bass, fantastic vocal handling and solid, crisp treble with the track’s cymbal work.

That deep low-end was also reflected in the fantastic Let’s Groove from Earth, Wind & Fire, with the track’s prominent funky bassline, while Rush’s YYZ carried appropriate, accurate oomph with wonderful extension. As for the mid-range, James Taylor’s Lighthouse was gorgeous, with the MM-500 handling his vocals well, as well as the song’s prominent acoustic guitar and drum work, while Peter Mayer’s The Last Island was a rich soundscape fronted by his vocals, and the track’s brilliant percussion work.

The MM-500 also handles treble with a smooth and crisp finish, as opposed to it being too sharp, as with some other headphones I’ve tested. This was demonstrated well with the intermitted cymbal crashes and tambourine hits in Phil Collins’ I’m Not Moving, while on Ralph MacDonald’s Calypso Breakdown, the track’s constant bell hits were handled with panache. Steely Dan’s Do It Again is always a track I use for testing treble, with the song’s percussion-laden introduction a potential minefield for some cans. The MM-500 served up a sublime result with everything from its cymbals to chimes and organ having this excellent smoothness and precision to it.

The soundstage here isn’t as wide as other, even more ‘affordable’ open backs I’ve tested, although there is a good sense of width and awe-inspiring precision, such as on Rush’s 2112, the legendary 20 minute long multi-part prog epic I always use for testing headphones. The track’s ‘Discovery’ section, which builds from limited electric guitar parts with ambient water noise into intermittent vocals and even harder rock is a particular highlight for testing, as it gives you a sense of how wide and spacious a set of cans can be, particularly at the beginning. In addition, I’ve always paid attention to the position of the bongos on Earth, Wind & Fire’s September. Get it right, and they’re far off in the distance on the right hand side, with an excellent sense of placement.

The more pronounced mid-range in amongst the MM-500’s frequency also helped to make games immersive too, with footsteps being prominent in the likes of CS:2, and the open back nature of the headphones also helping immersion. The solid stereo imaging also helped my immersion in Forza Horizon 5 races with engine notes of nearby cars, while also working well in Assetto Corsa, too. GTA Online was also fantastic fun with the MM-500, with the fun of the game’s drift racing or when I was simply running over pedestrians and picking fights with other online players in the midst of Los Santos.

The Audeze MM-500 is a brilliant set of planar magnetic headphones that, while designed for studio use for mixing and production first and foremost, quite frankly surprised me for how good they are for both gaming and for general music listening. They’ve got a deep bass that isn’t overbearing, an excellent and precise midrange and smooth treble that made everything from Genesis to Grand Theft Auto a sublime listen. The big problem, of course, is the big price they come with – £1699/$1699 is purely for pro-grade peeps or those audiophiles with a fair chunk of change. Are they worth the price? In the context of what you’re getting, probably. Would I recommend you buy them, though? No.

Allow me to explain – the MM-500s are simply some of the best headphones I’ve used for purely listening, given their reference-like neutral profile and immense detail, although if you’re looking for a bit more energy in your music and more fun, then the Grado Hemps are wonderful, and cost a third of the price of these. Or, if you want the fun of planar magnetics without spending loads, go grab a pair of Audeze Maxwells, which is one of our favourite gaming headsets.

I’m not saying the MM-500 is a contextually bad set of cans, because they really aren’t – the last 1600 or so words should demonstrate that. But they’re only worth it if you want a neutral sound, the reputation of these planar magnetic drivers, and also if you’ve got £1699/$1699 to burn. Otherwise, they’re a bit of a difficult sell.

Capcom has detailed its targeted performance for Monster Hunter Wilds on consoles, confirming a day one patch will be available on PS5 Pro.

The game’s director Yuya Tokuda shared details in a pre-launch community update stream covering various elements of the game following its open beta test. PC specs have already been revealed, but in this stream performance targets on console were shared.

Both PS5 and Xbox Series X will include a Prioritise Graphics mode at 30fps and a Prioritise Framerate mode at 60fps. Xbox Series S will only run the game at 30fps, while on PC the frame rate will of course vary depending on hardware.

No specific details were provided on the PS5 Pro patch, beyond confirming it will enhance the graphics and will be available from launch. More details will be provided closer to launch.

“The target frame rate we have here was not being achieved in the OBT build,” said Tokuda (via translator). “To be honest it was an earlier version that wasn’t quite as optimised and there were also some rendering issues with the graphics when using frame priority mode.”

The current full version has seen an improvement on fine details like fur and feathers and is “getting closer to that target of 60fps”.

The Xbox version of the game has had a similar improvement to PS5, while on PC the development team is looking to lower the minimum required specs, though the details are still being worked on.

Capcom is also considering releasing a benchmark tool for PC to help players determine if the game will be playable on their machines.

In the stream, Tokuda shared a short snippet of gameplay to show the performance improvements compared with the open beta test.

The development team previously acknowledged performance issues in the Monster Hunter Wild open beta test.

“The purpose of this test is to allow players to experience a limited portion of Monster Hunter Wilds and also to verify various technical aspects such as network load and overall operation prior to the game’s full release,” it wrote on Steam.

“Please note that the final product is still in development. Certain aspects such as game specifications and balance may differ in the full version. We are committed to ensuring the quality of the final product.”

Monster Hunter Wilds is set for release across PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC (Steam) on 28th February next year.

Intel’s new Core Ultra 200-series desktop processors, codenamed Arrow Lake, launched to seriously underwhelming reviews back in October. Now the American firm has collated five issues that it says are to blame for the difference between its own performance expectations and what reviewers experienced, with four of the five problems described as being already resolved by BIOS, Windows or application updates, and further performance enhancements to arrive in January 2025.

For context, our Core i9 285K and Core i5 245K review saw performance wins for the 285K against the outgoing 14900K in three titles – Crysis 3 Remastered, Dragon’s Dogma 2 and Forza Horizon 5 – while the 14900K retained its crown in the other eight games we tested, often by extreme margins.

Here are the five issues, their root cause and current status, quoted from Intel’s release:

Performance Topic	Root Cause	Status
Unusual scheduling, high run-to-run variation, low single-threaded scores, intermittent ~1.5x increase in DRAM latency, performance lower on Windows 11 24H2 vs 23H2	Intel mistimed deployment of OS power plan settings (“PPM”), which customises DVFS, core parking and C-states. This caused a 6-30% performance loss	Solved in Windows 11 26100.2161 or newer
Intel Application Performance Optimiser (APO) not demonstrating expected performance results	Missing PPM places CPU into state where APO profiles cannot apply, select reviewer BIOSes additionally set APO to disabled by default. This caused a 2-14% performance loss on APO-profiled titles	Solved in Windows 11 26100.2161 or newer
BSOD when launching Easy Anti-Cheat titles on Windows 11 24H2	Known issue with Easy Anti-Cheat KMD and Windows 11 24H2, issue exacerbated by disabling Virtualisation-Based Security (VBS)	Solved with new Easy Anti-Cheat driver distributed by Epic
Select performance settings misconfigured in some pre-release BIOSes	Consistency of VIP performance settings not sufficiently checked by Intel, including ReBAR, Intel APO, compute ring frequency, IMC gear, sustained/transient power limits. This caused a 2-14% performance loss	Solved in customer BIOSes now available
New BIOS performance enhancements	Fresh optimisations developed for upcoming BIOS updates, currently in validation by Intel and its partners, single digit performance enhancement estimated among a 35-game geomean	Motherboard BIOSes planned for January 2025

The table makes for interesting reading, and Intel’s community blog on the subject goes into further detail on each identified issue too. In it, Intel promises “a complete performance digest, inclusive of the January BIOSes” at CES early next year, so we should get a better idea of exactly the performance differentials we should expect with all five fixes applied.

We also saw extremely poor performance in Cyberpunk 2077 in particular, and that seems to have been solved in game update 2.2 if the patch notes are to be believed.

If you are one of the vanishingly small number of people to be running a Core i5 245K, Core i7 265K or Core i9 285K system, then you’ve probably already updated to the latest Windows and BIOS versions, but it’s worth doing so now if you haven’t – and again in mid January when further BIOS updates are made available – to ensure that your system is delivering maximum performance. Intel says that the January BIOSes can be “identified with Intel microcode version 0x114 and Intel CSME Firmware Kit 19.0.0.1854v2.2 (or newer).”

We’ll look to retest the Core i9 285K and Core i5 245K once these January BIOS updates are available, as we did see much worse performance than we expected and it would be nice to see what these proccessors are truly capable of. We’re expecting to hear more from Intel at that time – as well as rivals AMD and Nvidia – so stay tuned for our reports from CES in the new year.