Gaming

Hogwarts Legacy ends Call of Duty’s streak as bestselling game of the year

Also beats Spider-Man 2 and Zelda 2

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Last year was an excellent time for breaking streaks. As reported earlier, Apple broke Samsung’s thirteen-year streak as the world’s smartphone shipment leader. Now, Call of Duty is the next loser from last year. After the numbers have been crunched, Hogwarts Legacy emerges as 2023’s bestselling title in the United States, breaking Call of Duty’s almost-undisputed reign at the top.

Reported by Circana’s Mat Piscatella, Hogwarts Legacy edged out Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III as 2023’s bestselling game. The rankings include both physical and digital sales on most available platforms. The Warner Bros. Games title also beats Madden NFL 24, Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, and The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom for the top spot.

Since 2009, the Call of Duty franchise reliably bagged the top spot for the year. The only exceptions were in 2013 and 2018. Both years were captured by Rockstar Games through Grand Theft Auto V and Red Dead Redemption 2, respectively.

Of note, both titles were subject to their respective controversies around their release date. Hogwarts Legacy, the earlier of the two, was constantly threatened by boycotts because of its affiliation with problematic author J.K. Rowling. On the other hand, critics pummeled Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III for its lackluster campaign.

Regardless of the controversies affecting both titles, money continues to talk. However, Hogwarts Legacy’s victory this year signals the persistent hunger for story-driven titles over the past fifteen years.

SEE ALSO: Call of Duty Modern Warfare III, Warzone: Everything to expect

Gaming

Gangstar Mirage City launches on August 20 with SEA localization

Join a faction now for a chance to win rewards

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Gangstar Mirage City is set for a full regional launch on August 20, with localization for the Southeast Asia region.

Published by Level Infinite, the free-to-play multiplayer, urban, open-world action game is available for download on iOS and Android.

The full regional release features an expanded open world, a new PvP Arena mode, and local languages.

In Gangstar Mirage City, players can team up for up to 4-man co-op heists, drive powerful vehicles, customize their arsenal, build an empire, and fight for control of Rooklyn City.

Players can register on gangstarmiragecity.com for in-game rewards.

In Southeast Asia, players can also register as a member of their respective local faction and get an exclusive in-game Avatar to represent their loyalty:

  • Philippines: Manila Brigade
  • Indonesia: War Kanda
  • Malaysia: Taiko Tedung
  • Thailand: SIAM APEX

Factions will be ranked based on how many players join and support them. The winning faction will enable all members to get 300 Diamonds, sent directly to their accounts.

Meanwhile, all players, including those who already began their journey in Rooklyn City with the soft launch last July, are invited to join the Global Vault Heist.

Reaching the final Registration Milestone will unlock the Full Tilt Vehicle Pack. These are the rewards up for grabs per milestone:

  • 5 million players: 100 Diamonds
  • 10 million players: 200 Diamonds
  • 20 million players: Vehicle Upgrade Vouchers x5
  • 30 million players: Full Tilt Vehicle Pack

All Global Vault Heist and Faction rewards can be claimed via the in-game mail system on August 20.

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Gaming

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 clip shows Losing Ground 1st look

Pre-order now for Campaign Early Access

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A short new Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 teaser shows a quick look at the Losing Ground mission for the first time.

It is one of the big war missions from the title’s Campaign mode, following the Korean grunt squad through chaos on the ground.

The brief clip is a pre-order promotional material, wherein gamers can place pre-orders now on any platform for Campaign Early Access.

This shall allow players to dive into the full single-player campaign a week ahead of the official worldwide release date on October 16.

In the vignette, soldiers can be seen advancing through a burning urban environment while under intense enemy fire.

The squad pushes through a breached storefront into a local cafe to clear enemy strongpoints.

Laster on, out in the open on the bridge, squad members realize they are heavily exposed and call out incoming enemy air support. This was right before an explosion rocks the area.

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Computers

AMD launches Radeon RX 9050 graphics card

Affordable GPU option for AAA titles

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AMD has launched the new AMD Radeon RX 9050 graphics card, expanding the Radeon RX 9000 series with an affordable option.

This brings AMD RDNA 4 gaming technologies to mainstream gamers with a retail price of US$ 279.

The particular GPU is designed for responsive gameplay at 1080p. That’s for esports and modern AAA titles.

Some popular titles it can run at high frame rates on a 1080p resolution include: Cyberpunk 2077, Forza Horizon 6, Pragmata, Call of Duty: Black Ops 7, Valorant, and Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege, to name a few.

This highly efficient, drop-in upgrade features a 92W TBP and fully supports the latest AMD FSR technologies, next-gen raytracing, and high-quality AV1 video streaming.

Key specs:

  • Architecture: AMD RDNA 4
  • Compute Units: 16
  • VRAM: 8GB GDDR6
  • Game Clock / Boost Clock: 1.92 GHz / Up to 2.60 GHz
  • TBP: 92W

In line with the Radeon RX 9050 launch, AMD has also released AMD Software: Adrenalin Edition 26.7.1.

This driver introduces official day-one support for Radeon RX 9050, alongside early multiplayer access for Gears of War: E-Day.

Users can download the software here.

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