Digital Foundry Direct Weekly

We're not going to be commenting on leaks from a stolen GTA 6 build that's years old and promoting a memecoin but we WILL be talking about Sony's comments on not knowing PS6's pricing and release date and assessing the Black Myth Zhong Kui gameplay reveal. Rich is intrigued by Alan Wake's big PC upgrade for AMD users, while John muses over the reported end of live service elements in Horizon Hunters Gathering. Finally, five years ago, Alex made a range of predictions about Switch 2 and DLSS... so how accurate did they turn out to be?

0:00:00 Introduction
0:02:49 News 1: Sony undecided on PS6 release date
0:20:18 News 2: Remedy adds FSR 4.1 support in Alan Wake 2
0:27:23 News 3: Black Myth: Zhong Kui demoed
0:34:57 News 4: Horizon: Hunters Gathering drops live service elements
0:45:38 News 5: Doom ported to 12 year old camera
0:51:59 Retrospective: Alex’s Switch 2 DLSS predictions
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Bethesda is promising a new patch for Oblivion Remastered based on the Switch 2 version's optimisations - but is there any evidence to suggest that the Switch 2 improvements will make any real differences for the other versions? Meanwhile, Oliver clarifies his comments on which PC specs reflect next-gen consoles, whether Project Helix will make much of a difference for Microsoft and whether Epic should make their own console (!). Finally, how come Switch 2 hasn't really much in the way of cross-gen first party exclusives?

00:00 Introduction
01:19 Supporter Q1: Can Switch 2 Optimisations Fix Oblivion Remastered on other systems?
16:47 Supporter Q2: How should we think about GPU VRAM and next gen consoles?
25:13 Supporter Q3: How was Nintendo able to transition from Switch 1 to Switch 2 so quickly?
32:24 Supporter Q4: If Microsoft stops shipping Xboxes, what will be lost?
40:57 Supporter Q5: Is Valve not being stringent enough with their Steam Deck Verified program?
45:49 Supporter Q6: Should Epic make their own Epic Games Machine with Unreal Engine optimizations?
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The team react to Pearl Abyss' statement that Crimson Desert is - somehow - coming to Switch 2, but the first order of business is to share impressions (and performance testing) for the Gears of War E-Day MP beta on PC... and while extremely impressive, we do have some concerns. Rich tests a remarkable system for playing Switch 2 games on the go in TV move with a virtual 174-inch OLED display, John's excited by a new wave of announced VR titles, there's curiousity around Xbox/Game Pass app games coming to Linux and there's some eyebrow-raising data on Resident Evil Requiem physical disc sales.

0:00:00 Introduction
0:02:36 News 1: Gears of War: E-Day tested on PC!
0:24:28 News 2: Switch 2 port of Crimson Desert confirmed
0:36:11 News 3: Viture Beast, Pro 2 XR glasses tested
0:50:11 News 4: Resident Evil Requiem figures show high physical sales
1:00:37 News 5: Project Xodus brings Xbox PC games to Linux, Mac
1:09:23 News 6: VR Games Showcase demos upcoming VR titles
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It's been a year since Digital Foundry parted ways with IGN, buying out its shares and becoming completely independent. The team discuss the challenges of the last 12 months within the context of continuing bad news within the games business, before discussing what we've achieved from our objectives, where we've fallen short and how we're looking to revamp our tools. Beyond that, there are more questions about the future of the console business, the idea of an Xbox Helix "add in card" for PC, how Nintendo has achieved success without compromising its identity and finally... what PC spec today would match the consoles of tomorrow?

00:00 Introduction
01:07 Celebrating one year of DF independence!
27:42 Supporter Q1: Should we blame Microsoft for the state of PlayStation?
37:32 Supporter Q2: Should Sony follow Nintendo’s first-party centric console approach?
46:22 Supporter Q3: Could Xbox Helix be a system-on-a-chip for PC systems?
50:46 Supporter Q4: What PC hardware will you need for next generation games?
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What was looking like a fairly quiet week turned into a frenzy with the news that Rockstar will be publishing an "extended look" at Grand Theft Auto 6 on August 27 - but what should we expect? And why on earth would Netflix pay for a six-hour exclusivity window? Meanwhile, The Verge reveals Microsoft docs confirming Xbox 360 emulation for PC, Xbox Disc2Digital should be coming soon and someone has Half-Life Alyx kinda running on Meta Quest 3. Finally can the Steam Hardware Survey really be trusted? Are there really more 16GB GPUs out there than 8GB GPUs?

0:00:00 Introduction
0:02:26 Sponsored by Alienware
0:03:46 News 1: Rockstar announces GTA 6 “Extended Look”
0:22:54 News 2: QuakeCon 2026 brings back Quake memories
0:44:46 News 3: Xbox 360 games reportedly coming to PC backwards compatibility
0:57:55 News 4: Half-Life Alyx demoed on Meta Quest 3
1:07:22 News 5: Steam Hardware Survey suggests 16GB GPUs, 8 core CPUs are ascendant
1:16:40
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.