FromSoftware has released a new update for Elden Ring which introduces a number of adjustments to Shadow of the Erdtree's final boss.

Promised Consort Radahn is generally considered to be the toughest foe in the expansion by players who have managed to come face-to-face with him, so some who have been having trouble with him will be glad to know that the final boss has now been considerably nerfed.

As detailed in the patch notes for version 1.14, FromSoftware has changed the action pattern of the boss when the battle first starts - which could mean he'll no longer dive headfirst towards you when you enter the arena - and some attack moves have also been adjusted, though it's not mentioned which ones.

Some of Radahn's attacks have also been reduced in damage and stamina, as well as the attack range of some non-weapon-based attacks, which could mean his phase three abilities, and the visibility of some attack effects have been improved.

Aside from the highlight of the patch, the update has also made adjustments to PvP equipment and skills, while a selection of base game equipment, incantations, and spells have received their usual tweaks.

Elden Ring - Version 1.14 Patch Notes:

Final Boss Adjustments

• Changed the action pattern when the battle starts
• Adjusted some attack moves
• Decreased the damage of some attacks
• Decreased stamina damage of some attacks
• Decreased the attack range of some non-weapon-based attacks
• Improved the visibility of some attack effects

PvP-exclusive balance adjustments

Equipment:

• Decreased the damage of Backhand Blades against other players (The Smithscript Cirque's throwing attacks are not affected by this change)
• Decreased the damage of Spears’ dual wield attacks against other players
• Decreased the damage of the Pata weapon against other players
• The “Spread Crossbow” weapon will no longer cause the headshot damage motion when hitting another player

Skill:

Scattershot Throw

• Decreased damage against other players
• This skill will no longer cause the headshot damage motion when hitting another player

Discus Hurl

• Decreased the damage animation value generated by this skill when hitting another player

Weed Cutter

• Decreased the poise value of follow-up attacks when using this skill against other players

General balance adjustments

Equipement:

• Increased the attack speed of the uncharged version of the first heavy attack for the following weapon types:
  Dagger / Throwing Blade / Straight Sword / Great Sword / Colossal Sword / Heavy Thrusting Sword / Curved Sword / Twinblade Sword / Katana / Great Katana / Axe / Flail / Great Spear(Except Serpent-Hunter) / Halberd / Reaper / Whip (Except Urumi) / Hand-to-Hand Arts / Beast Claw.
• After performing left handed attacks with weapons of the Great Katana category, cancelling into subsequent attacks using the right handed weapon will now take longer.

Hand-to-Hand Arts weapon type

• Increased damage
• Shortened the recovery time between some normal attacks and follow-up attacks

Colossal Sword weapon type

• Increased the move distance when attacking
• Increased the speed of the first normal attack

Backhand Blade weapon type

• Decreased the attack speed of normal attacks from a crouching position

Small Shield and Medium Shield weapon types

• Increased the damage negation of some shields when blocking physical attacks
• Increased the guard strength of some shields

• It will now take longer to be able to cancel into most actions after performing one-handed normal attacks with the Swift Spear.
• Extended the Smithscript Dagger’s throwing attacks range.
• Increased the attribute scaling of Rellana's Twinblade for lower Intelligence and Faith attributes.

Rellana’s Cameo Talisman

• Reduced the delay before the damage enhancement activates
• Increased damage enhancement

Weapon Arts

Light

• Increased attack speed

Darkness

• Increased attack speed

Dynastic Sickleplay

• Reduced stamina consumption
• Increased poise damage of follow-up heavy attacks
• Increased the movement distance of the first follow-up heavy attack
• Adjusted the damage animation recovery time when the second follow-up heavy attack hits another player

Shield Strike

• Cancelling other actions to perform this weapon art will now take longer

Moon-and-Fire Stance

• Increased the light wave range, poise damage, and attack speed of the stance’s normal attack
• Increased the poise damage from the stance’s heavy attack
• Adjusted the damage animation recovery time when a stance’s heavy attack hits another player

Devonia's Vortex

• Increased attack power
• Extended the attack range of the Great Hammer’s spin
• Increased poise value and poise generation speed
• Adjusted the damage animation recovery time when a charged attack hits another player

Spell

Rellana's Twin Moons

• Increased attack range for the first and second attacks
• Reduced the knockback distance of the second attack

Incantation

Aspects of the Crucible: Thorns

• Increased attack power
• Increased attack power, stamina attack power against guarding enemies
• The close-range hitbox now follows the movement of the player

Aspects of the Crucible: Bloom

• Increased attack speed, increased size of the hitbox
• Shortened recovery time between using this incantation and follow-up actions

Divine Bird Feathers

• Decreased the minimum delay between consecutive hits
• Increased range

Furious Blade of Ansbach

• Cancelling this incantation into rolls will now take less time
• Increased poise damage
• Increased enemy knockback distance

Midra's Flame of Frenzy

• Increased attack speed
• Increased Frenzy status buildup range against enemies
• Decreased Frenzy status buildup when using this skill

Bayle's Flame Lightning

• Increased attack power

Bug Fixes

• Black Pyreflies items will now correctly reappear when resting at a site of grace.
• Fixed a bug where performing a Light Greatsword heavy attack while jumping did not consume stamina.
• Fixed a bug where unintended Weapon Skills could be used when equipping the Ballista in the left hand.
• Fixed a bug that caused critical hit damage dealt to Taylew the Golem Smith when using certain weapons the be lower than intended.
• Fixed a bug that prevented the player from acquiring runes when an enemy was killed while holding a shield.
• Fixed a bug where casting the Inescapable Frenzy Incantation using the Staff of the Great Beyond would cause its hitbox to be generated incorrectly.
• Fixed a bug where whiffed backstabs with the Pata weapon had a smaller fist hitbox that intended.
• Fixed a bug where some attacks of the Lizard Greatsword weren’t registered as strike attacks.
• Fixed a bug where Euporia could increase the attack power of other weapons when its luster is restored.
• Fixed a bug where the restored luster effect of Euporia was sometimes displayed on different weapons.
• Fixed a bug where the power of some Weapon Skills of a right-handed Falx changed depending on the level of the weapon equipped in the left hand.
• Fixed a bug where the enchantment effects of certain skills were being applied to some attacks that did not use weapons.
• Fixed a bug that could cause incorrect player motions to be performed when using lock-on for the following Skills.
• Wild Strikes / Spinning Strikes / Unending Dance
• Fixed a bug that caused the Rolling Sparks Skill to go through some terrain.
• Fixed a bug where the Blades of Stone Spell did not hit targets at a different height level correctly.
• Fixed a bug where some attacks of the Bayle’s Tyranny Incantation did not hit multiple enemies.
• Fixed a bug that caused the attack of the Bayle’s Tyranny Incantation to go through certain terrain.
• Fixed a bug where Godfrey’s Icon Talisman did not apply to some Skills, Spells, and Incantations.
• Fixed a bug that prevented the player from becoming translucent when the Crepus’ Vial Talisman is equipped and the Unseen Form Spell is used.
• Fixed a bug where the hitboxes of some attacks of Rellana, Twin Moon Knight were different than intended.
• Fixed a bug where the “Leave” option could not be selected in the inventory menu for some equipment.
• Fixed a bug that made some Site of Graces difficult to touch under certain circumstances.
• Fixed a bug in some areas where the invasion spawn-in position was different than intended.
• Fixed a bug where the displayed name of certain areas was different than intended.
• Fixed a bug in which, under certain circumstances, the combat state was not released after defeating an invading NPC.
• Fixed a bug that prevented some effects from being displayed correctly.
• Fixed a bug where the Watchful Spirit Incantation’s attacks were sometimes invisible to other players in multiplayer.
• Fixed a bug where the effects of some tools and incantations were not correctly applied when trying to deflect or cancel.
• Several performance improvements and other bug fixes
• Corrected a descriptive error in the game’s credit that was incorrectly added in patch 1.12

Possible unstable performance fixes

• For the PS5 version of the game, unstable framerate may be improved by using the "Rebuild Database" option from the device’s safe mode. 
• In some PC versions, Ray Tracing may be unintentionally enabled and cause unstable performance. Please check the Ray Tracing setting in the "System" > "Graphics " > "Ray Tracing Quality" from the title screen or in-game menu.
• In the PC version, the message "Inappropriate activity detected" may appear without cheating. To fix this issue, please verify the integrity of the game's files before restarting the game.
• In the PC version, unstable framerate may be caused by third party applications that control mouse behavior.  Deactivating these third party applications may improve performance.

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BioWare has announced that Dragon Age: The Veilguard will feature photo mode at launch.

This makes The Veilguard the first game in the Dragon Age series to have photo mode at launch, a feature fans have been hoping for. This means players won't have to install third-party applications to capture their favorite moments in the upcoming game.

The new photo mode will come with all the tools that players may be familiar with from other modern releases, like Horizon Forbidden West and Spider-Man 2. It will feature a free-roaming camera, autofocus, the ability to hide the player, the party, enemies, and NPCs, as well as customize the screenshots settings like brightness and saturation.

Dragon Age: The Veilguard photo mode features:

• Free-roaming camera, tilt, focal length, and lens distortion
• Depth of Field
• Auto Focus
• Distance
• F-Stop, which lets you control the lighting
• Vignette mode, which darkens the edge of the screen and gives it a more cinematic look
• Bloom strength
• Saturation, brightness, and contrast
• The ability to hide the player, the party, enemies, or NPCs

Speaking to IGN, game director Corinne Busche gave The Veilguard's photo mode credit to Mass Effect: The Legendary Edition's technical design director Brenon Holmes, saying he helped implement it into the game.

"Not only did he drive this feature, he did a lot of the work to support it," Busche said. "What I really like is the tab that lets you hide various characters. So hide character, hide party, hide enemies, hide NPCs. You can really curate the shot to your liking...You might be mid-fight with a dragon, but there’s a character in the way, so you can clear them out."

Dragon Age: The Veilguard launches on October 31 for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, and PC.

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Developer Rebellion has revealed brand-new Atomfall merchandise ahead of its 2025 release.

The survival-action game may not be arriving until next March, but that doesn't mean fans can't already secure some exclusive merch ahead of time.

Today, the indie studio behind Sniper Elite: Resistance and Zombie Army announced the Atomfall Survival Pack, a unique merchandise bundle inspired by the upcoming single-player game.

Starting today and running until October 11, fans can preorder the bundle for £89.99 (around $116.99) to get their hands on some limited-time goodies that will ship when the game launches next year.

The Atomfall Survival Pack is bundled within a Tin Box Cache Replica and comes featured with some decorative items like a poster and postcards, a badge, a diorama, and more.

Those who preorder the limited-time pack will also receive exclusive downloadable content (DLC) including the metal detector cosmetic skin which can be redeemed at launch. It's important to note that the Atomfall Survival Pack does not come with a copy of the game.

Atomfall Survival Pack includes:

• Diorama – a 20cm diorama of the classic British red phone box
• Postcards – A perfect way to treasure your idyllic visit to the village of Wyndham with its rolling green hills and friendly locals.
• Tin Box Cache Replica – Store your survival necessities in this replica cache measuring 20 x 14 x 7cm
• The Old Bridge Beer Mat– A local favourite
• BARD Pin badge – An essential for any member of the British Atomic Research Department
• Poster – Help keep your community safe and educate your neighbours on the dangers of playing with robots
• British flag Rosette – Carry on and show your national pride
• 3 x Skill patches – Display your newly learnt skills
• Exclusive DLC – Cosmetic metal detector skin (will be emailed in March 2025 to a provided email address)

Atomfall, which was first announced as part of the Xbox Games Showcase in June, is coming to PS5, PS5 Pro, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, PS4, Xbox One, and PC, and is a first-person survival game inspired by the real-life events set five years after the Windscale nuclear disaster in Northern England.

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The latest PS5 software update is easily one of the current-gen console's biggest yet - adding customizable home screens, adaptive controller charging and much more. This is likely as a means to refresh the system's UI and features ahead of PS5 Pro's November 7 launch.

The details are available to read over at the official PlayStation Blog which states that the latest update will be rolling out worldwide over the coming weeks, beginning for select users in the US today.

Headlining the new additions is the all-new Welcome Hub. This is something of an improvement over the previous Explore tab which is now being phased out. The Welcome Hub acts as a fully customizable central point on your PS5's dashboard.

You'll be able to fill the hub with various widgets including Trophy tracking, a battery life monitor (for DualSense, DualSense Edge and PSVR 2 Sense controllers), friends list, wishlist and accessibility features. Better yet, the Welcome Hub will let you choose backgrounds for your PS5 dashboard. Sony says there are some animated presets, but you'll also be able to use a screenshot from your media gallery much like on Xbox Series X and Series S.

Another big feature is adaptive controller charging. This will be supported on PS5 Slim and PS5 Pro only (sorry, launch console owners), and lets users set how much charge will be supplied to controllers while the console is in rest mode. This new 'Adaptive' charge setting seems to only supply power to your controllers as long as they need charging, meaning it'll stop once they're fully topped up.

Other new additions with this update include 3D audio profile customization for PS5 headsets and earbuds, enabling Remote Play for specific users, and the ability to party share on external social media apps such as WhatsApp or Discord.

This latest PS5 update will be rolling out to all users over the coming weeks, according to Sony. So if you're not receiving an update today, it could be that you'll need to wait a little bit longer for it to roll out in your region.

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A new PlayStation handheld console could be in development.

Earlier this year, YouTuber Tom aka Moore's Law Is Dead released a video where he shared the specs for the PS5 Pro, and although they were later verified by IGN, at the time, the leaker's claims were generally considered unreliable.

However, now that we have confirmation of the leaked specs from Sony itself following the official reveal of the PS5 Pro, the information also lends credence to the YouTuber's other claims about a new PlayStation handheld that is supposedly in the works (via TheGamer).

In the same video, Tom also claimed that Sony was partnering with AMD to make a new handheld device that could potentially be the successor to the PS Vita.

The claims initially went under the radar when they were first reported back in March, but have now cropped back up following Sony's PlayStation 5 Technical Presentation.

At the time, Tom reported that the handheld had not been greenlit for launch, which means that the device could be scrapped before Sony makes the project public.

The YouTuber claimed that the console was in the 'High-Level Design' phase, suggesting that Sony is still considering the concept and has "not decided what it [looked] like", with Tom explaining that he could not guarantee a launch and that it could be two years away at least.

Tom also stated that he spoke to developers who said that the console "could utilize 18 CUs", meaning that it could run digital PS4 games, similar to the Steam Deck, and possibly some PS5 games if there was a "Pro-like patch".

Sony has yet to officially announce a successor to the PS Vita, but it has now confirmed that the PS5 Pro will launch globally on November 7, 2024, with pre-orders set to begin on September 26.

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Microsoft is laying off another 650 employees from its Xbox gaming workforce.

As reported by IGN, Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer sent a memo to staff members today, September 12, informing them that the decision was made to "organize our business for long term success" and will mostly affect corporate and support functions.

"For the past year, our goal has been to minimize disruption while welcoming new teams and enabling them to do their best work," Spencer wrote. "As part of aligning our post-acquisition team structure and managing our business, we have made the decision to eliminate approximately 650 roles across Microsoft Gaming — mostly corporate and supporting functions — to organize our business for long term success.

"I know that this is difficult news to hear. We are deeply grateful for the contributions of our colleagues who are learning they are impacted. In the U.S., we’re supporting them with exit packages that include severance, extended healthcare, and outplacement services to help with their transition; outside the U.S. packages will differ according to location."

Spencer explained that the changes will also impact other team "as they adapt to shifting priorities and manage the lifecycle and performance of games", but confirmed that no games, devices, or experiences have been canceled, and no studios will be closing.

"With these changes, our corporate and supporting teams and resources are aligned for sustainable future growth, and can better support our studio teams and business units with programs and resources that can scale to meet their needs," the Xbox boss said.

"Separately, as part of running the business, there are some impacts to other teams as they adapt to shifting priorities and manage the lifecycle and performance of games. No games, devices or experiences are being cancelled and no studios are being closed as part of these adjustments today."

Spencer continued, writing that today is a challenging day and that the changes will be hard, "but even in the most trying times, this team has been able to come together and show one another care and kindness as we work to continue delivering for our players."

"We appreciate your support as we navigate these changes and we thank you for your compassion and respect for each other," Spencer added.

Earlier this year, Microsoft laid off 1,900 members of staff across Xbox, Activision Blizzard, and ZeniMax teams so it could align itself "on the best opportunities for growth" following its $69 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard last year.

This was the beginning of a string of other job cuts as Microsoft later shuttered four Bethesda Softworks studios including Hi-Fi Rush developer Tango Gameworks, Redfall's Arkane Austin, Roundhouse Studios, and Alpha Dog Games.

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Despite the high price of the PS5 Pro, Sony's new mid-generation console could sell just as well as the PS4 Pro.

That's according to research firm Ampere Analysis (via VGC) that determined that the PS5 Pro sales will reach a similar level to the enhanced version of the PS4, and expects the console to sell up to 1.3 million units during its November 2024 launch window, compared to the PS4 Pro's 1.7 million in 2016.

"The price point of the PS5 Pro will inevitably cause a lot of commentary," said Piers Harding-Rolls, research director for games at Ampere Analysis. "The price point differential between the PS5 and PS5 Pro is between 40-50%, which is significantly more than the differential between the PS4 and PS4 Pro at launch.

"In the US, the PS4 Pro launched at $399 and the slim PS4 was $299 at the time, a 33% differential. Additionally, the slim PS4 had a retail price of $299 having dropped from the original PS4 launch price of $399."

Sony has confirmed that the PS5 Pro will cost $699.99 / £699.99 and around AU$1052.99, which represents a price gap of $200 / £200 / AU$253.99 between the Pro and the now-base version of the PS5. This will make it Sony's most expensive piece of gaming console hardware to date.

Harding-Rolls added that even though the PS5 Pro is costly, this won't stop PlayStation fans from buying the console, saying, "we expect the price point to soften demand with some consumers, but for PlayStation enthusiasts the pricing is less of a consideration."

The PS4 Pro's lifetime sales reached 14.5m units, around 12% of total PS4 sales and Harding-Rolls estimates a "similar dynamic for the PS5 Pro, with the expectation that it will sell-through around 13m units by 2029."

The PS5 Pro launches globally on November 7, 2024, with pre-orders set to begin on September 26.

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Microsoft is currently testing Xbox 360-style friend requests on Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, and Xbox One.

Microsoft announced the news via its official Xbox X / Twitter account which stated it plans to reintroduce the older friend request system. Screenshots accompanying the post-show that there will be a menu within the 'People' tab that shows friend requests you've both sent and received. Players will also have the option to adjust friend requests via their privacy settings or turn the feature off entirely should they prefer.

The accompanying Xbox Wire post explains that this friend request system is currently being tested within the Xbox Insider program for Alpha Skip-Ahead users specifically, and Xbox expects to share more information on a full rollout of the feature sometime this year.

For those potentially worried about losing their friends lists when the update is made, Xbox reassures in a follow-up post that: "your existing mutual friends will update automatically with this change once we roll it out. You'll stay friends with people who had also added you as a friend previously and continue following anyone who hadn't."

Xbox confirms that the follower system will still remain in place and work as it always has. However, friend requests will act as a "two-way, invite-approved relationship," thus giving players a lot more control over their Xbox mutuals. I can imagine many disabling the follower features entirely in favor of a more tried-and-true friend request system.

In other news, Microsoft has revealed more details on its upcoming Xbox Game Pass Standard tier, which does away with 'day one' releases that'll now be exclusive to the Xbox Game Pass Ultimate tier.

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After a beta period earlier this year, Steam's new family sharing system and parental controls hub is now available for everyone. Steam Families is replacing both Family Sharing and Family View, creating a nucleus for all your game-sharing needs. 

A Steam Family can comprise up to six members (including yourself), and the full libraries of all the users will be available to the 'family' unit, except for games where developers have opted out of sharing for whatever reason. No longer will you need to feel bad if you're watching your big brother play a game that you want – you can share the title across devices, just not at the same time.

The most important upgrade to Steam's game-sharing update is the ability for you and your family to play games from your library at the same time. For example, your wife can play your copy of Cyberpunk 2077 while you play Warzone concurrently with no issues. And while playing one copy at the same time is still a no-go, if there are two copies of Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 within your family's shared library, you and your brother can play together.

With Steam Families, each user will have their own save files, earn Steam achievements, access workshop files and more. That's a lot of freedom for a child to have on Steam – which is why parental control are also key additions.

Improved Parental Controls, but it's not all bad, kids

There are two member (or 'role') options within Steam Families – adult and child. Adults can manage member invites and apply account restrictions, while children are subject to controls put in place by the adults, and have no managerial power. 

As an adult, you control what games children have access to, can restrict their access to the Steam Store, Friends Chat and Community, set playtime limits and recover your child's account if they lose their password.

Purchasing games for kids is also easier thanks to Steam Families. Usually buying a game for a child requires an adult to complete a gift purchase or let them borrow your card. Now, children have the ability to add games to their cart, and then request an adult to pay for it. Through their email or mobile device, the adult can then approve or deny the request.

Out with the old, in with the new

Steam Families is an exciting improvement to Steam's family-sharing. For too long little brothers and sisters have had to watch along while their older sibling hogs the PC to themselves. Too often dad's have been booted from their account in the middle of a run because their child opened up Terraria, but that will no longer be the case.

Steam clarifies that the old Family Sharing feature "will eventually be retired". While this won't be an issue for most users, but it might affect some others. For example, the older game-sharing feature allowed two (or more) people in different locations to share libraries, but that might no longer be possible.

Steam doesn't directly say that Steam Families will be limited to one ISP, though terminology like "This information is available from wherever you access Steam, including your mobile device when you are away from home" lends us to believe, like Netflix, that it will be limited to one household. 

Nevertheless, this is a massive Steam update that will make many people happy, although we suspect there will be others who will want a better game-sharing setup from Valve.

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The PS5 Pro games list has now been revealed by Sony - at least in part. In a recent technical presentation, PlayStation 5 Pro was revealed, alongside some glimpses of PS5 Pro-boosted games. We don't have the full list of every game that'll be improved by the new console, but we do know a handful of headline titles that Sony is choosing to showcase pre-launch.

As Sony revealed the PS5 Pro, it was made clear that plenty of currently available PS5 games will receive updates to coincide with the launch of the PS5 Pro on November 7, 2024. Judging by the PS5 Pro specs, it's likely that games such as Marvel's Spider-Man 2 will look and feel better than ever, thanks to AI-driven upscaling and improved raytracing.

Before you place a PS5 Pre-order, however, you'll want to know what games are set to receive upgrades, which is where we come in. In this article, we'll cover every PS5 Pro game confirmed so far, including a look at what's set to change in each title. As more games are confirmed, we'll be sure to update this list.

PS5 Pro games list - confirmed PS5 Pro-enhanced titles

Sony has confirmed a small list of PS5 Pro games that'll receive boosts thanks to the upcoming console's new and improved specs. This list doesn't include every game that's set to benefit from the new hardware, though for now, it's all we have set in stone.

• Alan Wake 2
• Assassin’s Creed: Shadows
• Demon’s Souls
• Dragon’s Dogma 2
• Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth
• Gran Turismo 7
• Hogwarts Legacy
• Horizon Forbidden West
• Marvel’s Spider-Man 2
• Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart
• The Crew Motorfest
• The First Descendant
• The Last of Us Part II Remastered

The games above will receive dedicated PS5 Pro versions, and will even be labeled separately to indicate as such. There will be a whole host of PS4 and PS5 games that'll benefit from what Sony is calling PS5 Pro Game Boost (as per the PS Blog):

"With the PS5 Pro version of the Game Boost feature, you can enjoy faster and smoother frame rates in some of the PS4 and PS5 console’s greatest games."

This is said to apply to at least 8,500 PS4 and PS5 titles, so there are plenty of changes and upgrades on the way to the games you already own if you do choose to pick up a PS5 Pro. In addition, PS5 Pro will significantly enhance PSVR 2 games according to Mark Cerny.

PS5 Pro enhanced games - what's the difference?

As part of the recent PS5 Pro technical presentation, we saw a few games running on the new hardware. Each game will benefit from the new specs in different ways, but they'll all be pulling from the improvements below:

• Upgraded GPU with 67% more compute units and 28% faster memory; resulting in 45% faster rendering
• Advanced ray-tracing
• AI-driven upscaling known as PlayStation Spectral Super Resolution (PSSR)
• 2TB SSD
• PS5 Pro Game Boost
• Optional disc-drive
• VRR and 8K gaming support

In the aforementioned presentation, The Last of Us Part 2 and Marvel's Spider-Man 2 were both shown running on PS5 Pro. Both titles aim to achieve 'Fidelity mode-like visuals, at 60 frames per second (FPS).' When compared side by side with the base PS5, the PS5 Pro versions ran much more smoothly while retaining comparable visuals. The jump in some cases is from 30 FPS to 60 FPS, with only a small drop in graphical detail. 

The larger GPU at the PS5 Pro's core looks to have particularly stunning effects on Horizon Forbidden West, which sees boosts to lighting, as well as hair and skin textures. Raytracing improvements will be most felt in games like Gran Turismo 7, which will now support reflections between cars, while still maintaining the 60FPS maintained across all modes.

From what we've seen of PS5 Pro games so far, it's clear that each game will make use of the new features in unique ways. The "Big Three" specs of the larger GPU, AI-driven upscaling, and improved raytracing, will be employed depending on the game's scope and current design. Expect games to have increased smoothness and visual detail across the board, however, especially in first-party offerings.

PS5 Pro games: FAQs

Will new games be PS5 Pro-enhanced?

While we'll have to wait and see what upcoming PS5 games like Death Stranding 2 do with the new PS5 Pro technology, it's highly likely that first-party games will offer some form of PS5 Pro version. This was how things worked with the PS4 Pro, so expect there to be boosts to upcoming games like Marvel's Wolverine, and Ghost of Tsushima 2. In terms of third-party, PS5 Pro enhancements will come on a case by case basis. Some games will lean into the PS5 Pro's features, even offering separate PS5 Pro-labelled versions, while others may focus on a more general PS5 offering.

How much does the PS5 Pro cost?

The PS5 Pro will launch on November 7, 2024, and will retail for $699.99 / £699.99 / AU$1,999.95. This is a significant step up from the base console, especially when you consider that you won't get a disc drive or a vertical stand with it.

What games are the TechRadar Gaming looking forward to on PS5 Pro?

While it'll be interesting to land up our current PS5 library and see what's been improved on PS5 Pro launch day, we're particularly looking forward to seeing how Alan Wake 2 looks on the new console. The atmospheric horror effects, as well as the particularly unique art-direction of the game will no doubt benefit hugely from the new hardware. Similarly, Horizon Forbidden West is sure to be a real powerhouse in visual detail.

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It seems like we can expect the PS5 Pro to have enhancement patches ready to go for a whole bunch of PS5 games at launch.

That's coming from Cnet's hands-on PS5 Pro report, which states that, according to Sony: "about 40 to 50 games will get patches when the system launches in November."

We have already seen many of the best PS5 games running on PS5 Pro during the console's Technical Presentation which aired on September 10. The showcase demonstrated greater image clarity in titles like Gran Turismo 7, Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart and Marvel's Spider-Man 2.

Improvements in these games include a boost to resolution and performance, as well as greater detail for objects in the far distance. PS5 Pro's lead system architect, Mark Cerny, stated that one of the goals for the console is to bridge the gap between fidelity and performance modes - offering the best of both worlds. That does seem to be the case with the demonstrations showed.

We don't currently have the full list of games that'll receive these enhancement patches. But the official PS5 Pro landing page has revealed a handful of titles including Demon's Souls, Gran Turismo 7, Horizon Forbidden West, Until Dawn, Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart, The Last of Us Part 1 and The Last of Us Part 2. It's also been confirmed that upgraded PS5 Pro games will feature a special label indicating they have a patch ready to go.

It's also unclear as to how big the file sizes are going to be for these enhancement patches. We're expecting them to be quite sizeable, but at least the PS5 Pro is well-equipped in this regard with its upgraded 2TB of internal storage out of the box.

The PS5 Pro is launching on November 7 worldwide, and PS5 Pro pre-orders will be available from September 26 at PlayStation Direct and presumably a handful of big box retailers, too.

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PSVR 2 owners will be in good hands with the PS5 Pro it seems, as was confirmed by Sony's Mark Cerny.

Chatting to Cnet, the PS5 Pro's lead system architect confirmed that because of the mid-gen console's improved GPU, PSVR 2 games should benefit greatly. Cerny specifically outlines improvements to resolution and the use of "Sony's AI upscaling that will work with all VR games." Presumably, this means that PS5 Pro's bespoke PlayStation Spectral Super Resolution (or PSSR for short) as outlined in the PS5 Pro specs will play a part here.

Cerny didn't mention any specific PSVR 2 games here or during the PS5 Pro Technical Presentation, though it's easy to imagine marquee titles like Horizon: Call of the Mountain, Gran Turismo 7, and Resident Evil 4 VR all benefiting from the upgraded console.

It's something of a relief to see that PSVR 2 hasn't been forgotten in the PS5 Pro mix. And rightly so; that's a $549 / £529 VR headset and what's about to be a $699.99 / £699.99 console. If I'm investing that much into the PlayStation 5 ecosystem, I'd hope that all the devices benefit each other when it comes to performance improvements.

As for the PSVR 2 specs, the headset supports a per-panel resolution of 2,000 x 2,040. Could PS5 Pro's AI-powered upscaling boost that closer to 4K? That remains to be seen, but definitely seems doable given the console's substantial leap in power.

PS5 Pro launches on November 7, with PS5 Pro pre-orders opening up on September 26. You'll be able to place one most reliably at PlayStation Direct, but it's likely there will be stock at other big box retailers too.

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