Digital Foundry Direct Weekly

One part necessary re-organisation, one part liberation for key developers, one part vandalism of Xbox studios, it's a mixture of disbelief and anger from the DF panel as the full extent of Xbox's so-called "reset" becomes clear. If Asha Sharma's report on the business is on the level, clearly something had to be done - but as the scale of the lay-offs and the astonishing cuts to id Software becom...

Sony announces the end of PlayStation game discs via a three paragraph blog post - bringing to an end the era of physical media and actually owning the games you buy, along with the right to resell them, share them and preserve them. A sombre panel assesses the full implications of Sony's decision, why it's doing it, the damage it'll cause and how the PlayStation Store needs a major revamp to take...

In the wake of Steam Machine pricing and sharp Xbox MSRP increases, are we looking at the prospect of a $1000 next-gen console? John, Rich and Oliver discuss. Meanwhile, in the current climate, how can you save money on gaming hardware? Is GTA 6 in danger of being the most over-hyped game ever? And if time travel were available, how could the current Xbox crisis have been averted? 00:00 Introducti...

Oliver, Rich and Tom discuss GTA 6. Are the 63 new screenshots indicative of actual gameplay? What about the "code in a box" situation? Are the latest PS5 Pro rumours plausible? Meanwhile, the panel is shocked by the huge Xbox price rises, somewhat more positive about FSR 4 arriving on RDNA 3 GPUs, and there's a full breakdown of Sonic Frontiers for Switch 2. And finally, SteamOS can now power a r...

In the wake of our Steam Machine review, Rich and Will tackle a range of Supporter questions on the price, value and design of the hardware, the ability of Valve to supply it - and the future of SteamOS in general. 00:00 Introduction 00:37 Supporter Q1: What should we think of the value of the Steam Machine? 12:03 Supporter Q2: What’s the target audience for the Steam Machine? 20:01 Supporter Q3:...

Actual GTA 6 news - and a new clip - see John, Tom and Oliver "concerned" over missing RT reflections. Then it's onto Unreal Fest with discussion on the latest Unreal Engine 5 upgrades and the implications of AI in Unreal Engine 6 workflow. The Gears of War: E-Day tech demo demands attention, while John gets to grips with a staggeringly expensive VR headset. And would you believe it's been a whole...

The team is left reeling after reports emerge of studios on the brink within Microsoft - a far cry from the highs of the summer showcase and previous comments from management about preserving their studio structure. Meanwhile, we discuss ARM's new ML rendering suite, the potential return of the previously cancelled RTX 50-series Super cards and... is Sega working on a retro handheld and if so, wha...

Nintendo Direct rounds off the big summer gaming events and... well, it's a mixed bag for sure. What have we learned about the Ocarina of Time Remake? How well are the third party ports holding up? John, Rich and Oliver have some thoughts on that before moving on to reactions to the 30 minute Fable gameplay demo. Meanwhile, Nintendo is planning a new Switch 2 revision with a replaceable battery an...

Our audience has questions, we've got answers - but first, the team gets to grips with the contents of Asha Sharma and Matt Booty's Xbox Reset memo. Beyond that, is Xbox console exclusivity the best route forward? Should Valve update Steam Machine specs? Will God of War Laufey get a massive PS6 enhancement? It's a big show and there's still more to discuss beyond that. 00:00 Introduction 01:00 Wha...

Taped before we produced our Xbox Showcase coverage, it's John, Rich and Oliver at their respective microphones to discuss all the big games at the recent Summer Game Fest. Geoff came good - as this excellent line-up of titles reveals. 0:00:00 Introduction 0:02:28 Final Fantasy 7 Revelation 0:10:35 Resident Evil Veronica 0:19:20 Stellar Blade: Blood Rain 0:24:35 Mighty Cuphead Adventures 0:29:25 A...

It's Xbox's time to shine with the latest in the big summer showcases and Team Green certainly delivered. Gears of War: E-Day finally breaks cover, Halo Campaign Evolved impresses, while Senua, Metro 2039 and Resonance: A Plague Tale Legacy look phenomenal. But what's the deal with Microsoft's exclusivity strategy and will it actually work? 0:00:00 Introduction 0:00:46 Gears of War: E-Day 0:13:36...

At the time of publication, it has been one year and one day since Nintendo launched the Switch 2 console - so, as is DF tradition, it's time to look back over the last year and assess the system's track record so far. Strong back compat, impressive first and third party support, actual ray tracing and game-changing DLSS results - has Nintendo managed to put a foot wrong at all? 00:00 Overview 01:...

With the welcome announcement of Call of Duty coming to Switch 2, the question is... can the hardware handle the series' signature 60fps? Meanwhile, what does Nvidia aim to achieve with its new RTX Spark processor? In the wake of the shock Steam Deck price rises, could a self-built PC potentially offer superior value? What's the fate of Xbox Series S in the Helix era? All this and more in the new...

The summer games showcase event season is upon us and Sony is first off the mark with an excellent showing. God of War Laufey and Marvel's Wolverine are the highlights of the event, but there's plenty more that caught our eye here. John and Oliver share their thoughts on the event. 00:00 Introduction  01:13 God of War Laufey  08:44 Marvel’s Wolverine  16:46 Rayman Legends Retold&nbs...

The shock news of +40% price rises for Steam Deck kicks off a BIG Direct this week, swiftly followed by the team's first impressions of the PC version of 007 First Light - and its ker-azy upscaling issues. The new Call of Duty coming to Switch 2 is a topic of much interest, as is the announcement of a brand-new expansion for The Witcher 3. Rich is dismayed by the presentation of bare buttocks in M...

The team sit down once more to discuss the latest questions from DF Supporters. What do we make of Unreal Engine 6's debut in Rocket League of all places? Has Epic delivered a version of Lumen that is performant enough for lower spec kit? Is Sony's quality control to be blamed for lower than expected PC sales and finally, the big one... if Steam is a monopoly, why do we like it? 00:00 Introduction...

John, Oliver and Rich sit down to discuss the latest gaming and technology news, kicking off with the end of the road for Destiny 2. It's had a fantastic long run, but where does that leave Bungie? Following that, it's a - dare we say it - Unreal Fest. The team discuss the latest Lego Batman on PS5 and PC, Yoshi and the Mysterious Book on Switch and more, before moving into retrospective mode - it...

The show kicks off with the news that Sony is no longer bringing its single-player narrative-driven games to PC before moving on to supporter questions! How competitive would PS5 with Linux be to Valve's Steam Machine? Will FSR 4.1 come to Xbox consoles and could a PSSR Lite come to base PlayStation 5? Would there be any point bringing Quick Resume to PS6 and... is it Xbox or XBOX and should we ch...

PS5 Linux continues to yield dividends as Rich tests path tracing on PS5 with Quake 2 RTX, Portal RTX and Cyberpunk 2077 RT Overdrive (!) on Sony's console. Beyond that, there's great news with the announcement of FSR 4.1 coming to older Radeon graphics cards, and there's a hint that Xbox may have some kind of "disc to digital" way to bring your physical purchases over to a potentially disc-less P...

Another packed Direct Q+A show sees Oliver, Rich and Alex getting to grips with high-end graphics: are they actually worth it and are technological advances worth pushing? Meanwhile, can Switch 2 last for the 6-7 years Nintendo wants it to - or will next-gen consoles make it obsolete for multi-platform titles? All this and more in the new Direct Q+A Show. 00:00 Introduction 00:53 Supporter Q1: Is...

In this week's Direct, Oliver, John and Rich get to grips with the reveal of Nintendo's Star Fox remake for Switch 2, there's justified concern over the Nintendo price hike for its new console, while Activision confirms that the next Call of Duty will finally leave last generation hardware behind. Meanwhile, the Pragmata resolution saga continues with an undocumented resolution hike for the PlaySt...

A new Q+A show sees John, Rich and Alex tackle a number of big questions. Is Project Helix a console or PC? What's the difference nowadays anyway? Will Microsoft's "K2" initiative win back users lamenting the Windows experience? Meanwhile, with no games focusing on ray tracing, will rasterised fallbacks decline in quality going forward? All this and much, much more. 00:00 Introduction 00:50 Suppor...

Exploited PS5s can now run Linux - so obviously we had to check it out, running Steam versions of Crimson Desert, Black Myth Wukong and Pragmata on Linux via Steam, stacked up against the actual PS5 versions - with some fascinating results. Meanwhile, Alex talks us through an amazing tech presentation from the developers of Teardown, John impresses us with his new Anbernic RG477M, Tom provides us...

Some excellent questions from Digital Foundry Supporters this week. Does the F1 25 PS5 Pro path tracing demo and ReSTIR optimisations mean that path tracing is going mainstream - maybe for next gen? Is there still untapped potential in PS5 and Series X? Is Microsoft's new "We Are Xbox" strategy document just a massive balloon of hot air? Is Nvidia making path tracing an exclusive feature and what...

A new DF Direct arrives and with it, some remarkable news that failed to emerge from this year's GDC - namely that Codemasters has a demo of path tracing working on the PS5 Pro version of F1 25. How good is it? How fast is it? Alex clues us in. Meanwhile, the team discuss the AC Black Flag Resynced reveal, Tom looks at Mouse PI For Hire across several platforms and there's much excitement about th...