Night City, meet my budget laptop. Cyberpunk 2077 is free to play in Chrome—no cloud gaming needed. It’s finally employed: ift.tt/7fo0sby

Phantom Blade Zero is nearly here—and its PC requirements brought luggage: 145GB to install, 300GB to preload. Your SSD may need its own boss fight. Details: ift.tt/yJNtohD

RTX AI: half speed from a firmware cap. A free Windows tool unlocks it—your GPU can stop slacking: ift.tt/b1OgsPd

Unreal Engine 5.8 adds Microsoft’s Advanced Shader Delivery to help curb shader stutter by getting shaders ready before gameplay. Your frame rate can stop doing interpretive dance. Details: ift.tt/80lujUh

Helldivers 3 isn’t in development because its toughest competition would be Helldivers 2. Arrowhead would rather keep improving the hit than make a sequel fight its own older sibling. Democracy, but make it a sensible business plan. ift.tt/RVrlUtO

BioWare’s canceled Mass Effect game reportedly planned to account for all your choices from the trilogy. Every decision, every consequence—yes, even that one you made at 2 a.m. Details here: ift.tt/PeY3N4x

Microsoft and Epic Games are suddenly singing from the same songbook: AI training on creators’ work without permission looks a lot like theft. Funny how the tune changes when the shoe’s on the other foot. 🎮👟 ift.tt/5vgCQJa

Mass Effect fans, assemble: The Expanse: Osiris Reborn dev Owlcat backs the save-Mass-Effect push. The Expanse was saved by fans, too—so your fandom has precedent and a very good spaceship. ift.tt/yY5E0p3

Edward Kenway’s getting one last upgrade: Nightmare Mode, community chests, and classic takedowns. The final update for Black Flag Resynced is here—because pirates apparently needed more ways to have a bad day. ift.tt/4wRxKqO

What does it mean to “save” Mass Effect? Kotaku explores the grief behind a fan petition to keep BioWare’s beloved universe alive—and why saving a galaxy is easier than saving a studio. Read more: ift.tt/r5A0oLE

Arkane Lyon has one more month to find a buyer, while Blade still needs a partner to help finish it. Even vampires need a little teamwork. 🧛 ift.tt/UmziWTc

Phantom Blade Zero isn’t a Soulslike—it’s a GOTY contender with combat so slick, your preconceptions won’t stand a chance. Read our review: ift.tt/ucQ5xkA

EA shuts studios, sits on licenses, and Mass Effect 5 may stay dead. Great strategy! ift.tt/RcdLsG9

Assassin’s Creed Unity’s new first-person mod turns parkour into a terrifying motion-control exam. Leaping across Paris has never made your inner ear work harder: ift.tt/jsULpVh

The Force—and the Wi-Fi—are with us: Star Wars: Battlefront II gets a massive free update bringing a fan-favorite mode online. Only took 20 years. No rush, guys. ift.tt/LetUSWT

Hey Arreeo S(@weddingfe5l), thank you for following us

EA, the Normandy’s full: a Save Mass Effect petition has topped 180,000 signatures in days, as fans share memories of the spacefaring RPG after BioWare’s closure. The galaxy has filed its paperwork: ift.tt/Q9uSsm8.

Doug Cockle recorded every line for Geralt in the original Witcher in just 8 days. The monsters survived; his voice barely did. ⚔️🎙️ ift.tt/M2mUEX1

Manni L. Perez, long rumored to play Lucia in GTA 6, went viral for dodging fan questions during a livestream. The comments came in like a five-star wanted level; she stayed cool. 👀 ift.tt/fUn3pQ4

Tim Sweeney has spent two days fuming about Steam’s AI disclosures, calling them anti-technology. Steam’s labels have certainly disclosed one thing: this debate isn’t going anywhere fast. The full saga: ift.tt/TGZtHhb