Recommended Posts

 

So, do they really need to wait over a month to release?   or was the delay just a precaution in case it will take longer?  

 

I paid full price for the game long time ago to support the developer.  I wanna play NOW!

 

 

Also wondering if it will leak... 

I haven't heard if anyone's figured out how to crack the Xbox One copy protection, but I would imagine it's related if not.

 

That said, this is not the first title that's preloaded very early on Xbox One.

 

I'm actually kind of interested in this game...will probably pick it up in May.  I didn't even think Witcher 2 was all that good.

Pre-load missing essential files, so can't even be cracked on pc. Also on ps4, too.

Don't understand this "exlusivity" deal, at all.

As I've said, it's been done with several titles before.  I don't think MS is paying anyone to put their games up for preload, they're just doing it.

 

I've never seen any other platform do three (or more) week early preloads, don't look at me.

Don't understand this "exlusivity" deal, at all.

I believe the developer tried to explain it here:

Looking at the heated comments, I believe that our announcement of the physical addition of two decks of Gwent cards and a cloth map, requires a further word from us.

Here at CD Projekt Red, we always put gamers first. Our PC versions are released DRM-free, we bend over backwards to give you the most beefed up editions of our games (be it standard or Collector's), and we deliver the same game, regardless of platform or version you buy. Moreover, we promised not have any exclusive DLCs, neither per platform nor per retailer, and we do stand by our promise--nothing has changed, nor will change in this regard.Don't get me wrong, I do understand that these extra items might be desirable for Witcher fans playing the game on other platforms. However, as we are not offering any platform or retail exclusive DLCs or any other form of gameplay differentiation, we do have to find other ways to support our partners. We are also providing special pre-order items for certain retailers around the world, including Witcher comic books, posters, steel books or medallions. Funnily enough, we did not notice any heated comments on the pre-order specials.What is the reason? Why are we doing this? We need the support of partners to make our game visible worldwide. This should hopefully translate to better sales, which will in consequence allow us to do what we have been doing for the last 10 years, i.e. reinvest this money to make more great RPGs, while still sticking to our values.If you still consider that adding two decks of Gwent cards and a map of the in-game world to the Xbox One CE equals us betraying our values and not fulfilling our promises, well, it does make us sad, but the final call is always yours to make.Still, I do hope that what we offer is unique and we can ask you to give us the benefit of the doubt. We have more great things to announce for The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt in the coming months and I promise you won't be disappointed (yes, yes, there are no more exclusives coming).

Source

I say "tried" to explain it because that attempt at an explanation doesn't make any sense to me.  Maybe it does to you though.

My best guess is that they made the deal before the Xbox One and PS4 launch and assumed the Xbox One would outsell the PS4 in North America like the 360 outsold the PS3. Then it makes sense as they are a European developer and giving exclusives to (who they thought would be) the dominant platform in the North America would help them make their "game visible worldwide."

 

If that is the case though then they failed pretty badly because the base assumption turned out false.  So now with the PS4 outselling the Xbox One in North America they're snubbing the dominant platform on the continent to give exclusives to the platform with the lower install base... which makes no sense.  I think that's a similar situation with Titanfall though.  EA thought the Xbox One would outsell the PS4 in North America (it seemed like a reasonable assumption at the time) so they made an exclusivity deal that didn't pan out.  Now Titanfall 2 is now on PS4 as well.

Ach I gotta finish 2 someday.  How much more after I got to this dwarf town?  It didn't seem like there should be too much more, but I dunno.

 

 

Yeah, I have this one ordered and I need to get the second one finished before it comes out. This game looks amazing also super excited for dynamic beard growth.

Lol! So Im not alone. Still need to finish 2nd one also :p

The amount of times i started 2 and stopped early on. I was in double digits i think.

It had the crappiest launch of any game I remember for Steam users at least.  Largely due to them using gigantic files to combat piracy which Steam would have to fully redownload every time anything changed.  I spent more time downloading and defragging than actually playing...maybe nine (or more) months later everything was fine and I didn't give a ###### anymore.

  • 2 weeks later...

Yeah, I have this one ordered and I need to get the second one finished before it comes out. This game looks amazing also super excited for dynamic beard growth.

 

Don't trust neither screenshots nor videos. They have scaled back on everything in order to get it running at damn 30 fps on those "next-gen" joke consoles.

Don't trust neither screenshots nor videos. They have scaled back on everything in order to get it running at damn 30 fps on those "next-gen" joke consoles.

 

Are you trying to flame consoles in favor of PC? People play on what they have. If they have a new Console but not a PC that is capable of playing the game then its just nice that they can still play it.

Are you trying to flame consoles in favor of PC? People play on what they have. If they have a new Console but not a PC that is capable of playing the game then its just nice that they can still play it.

 

No, just saying that the first screenshots that they released are not the reality anymore because they had to scale back everything in order to get the game running on the consoles.

Retail boxes are useless. So much for GOG's DRM-FREE REVOLUTION crap. Game requires a GOG account for patching, and an online activation-like thing to work properly, else the boxes are outright useless and without an internet connection the game won't start at all.

 

/clap /clap

Could be worse... a lot worse.

More detail about what we can expect in The Witcher 3.

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt level designer Miles Toast has revealed tons of interesting new information during a livestream hosted by GoG.com...

You can read the information provided below:

  • There are three types of armor: heavy medium and light. Heavy armor gives more protection, but hampers stamina regeneration.
  • When fighting groups of humans there could be archers with them.
  • Focusing on one enemy will deplete his stamina (displayed as a yellow bar under his life bar), this will prevent him from blocking your attacks further.
  • You have two types of dodge, a long one (which is a roll) and a short one (which is basically a sidestep/backstep).
  • Adrenaline points are very important. They let you trigger several special effects, like casting signs using them instead of adrenaline.
  • With perfect timing on arrow deflection you can actually send an arrow back to the one that shot it.
  • Slotting skills let you link them to mutagens in order to increase their effect.
  • Of course you can combine different trees, but you
This topic is now closed to further replies.
  • Posts

    • Well I really think the repasting helped if your higher clocks have returned, maybe the next thing to look at is if there is a problem with your case airflow? I guess this because your 3080 has returned to optimal state, but is still staying too warm, which might suggest it was thermal throttling before you repasted, of which the only logical conclusion could be outside factors.
    • Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8, Flip 8, Z Fold Wide: Everything you need to know by Hamid Ganji Galaxy Z Fold 7 - Image via Samsung The next generation of Samsung foldables is set to be unveiled next month at the second Unpacked event of the year. Samsung’s 2026 foldables are not expected to offer significant upgrades over their predecessors, with the Korean firm instead focusing on design refinements and conventional upgrades such as faster processors and better cameras. However, Samsung is reportedly planning to unveil an all-new passport-style foldable this year to rival Apple’s first foldable iPhone, which is expected to debut this September. Here’s a roundup of everything we know about Samsung’s upcoming foldable devices ahead of their official debut. When can we expect Samsung’s new foldables? The Galaxy Z Fold 7 and Z Flip 7 series were unveiled in July, and Samsung is expected to maintain this timeframe in 2026. Based on previous reports from Korean sources, Samsung will hold its Unpacked event on July 22 in London, UK, to pull back the curtain on the Galaxy Z Fold 8 series. The devices are also expected to hit the shelves a few weeks after launch. However, Samsung has yet to announce an official date. A new naming scheme? One of the most interesting changes we might see this year is a new naming scheme for Samsung’s latest foldables. SamMobile reported that since Samsung is expected to unveil three foldables this year, it has adopted a new naming strategy to simplify product identification for customers. Accordingly, the standard Galaxy Z Fold 8 will reportedly be called the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra and will serve as the direct successor to last year’s Galaxy Z Fold 7. The “Ultra” suffix suggests the phone could feature higher-end specifications, such as additional rear camera modules. Samsung’s new passport-style foldable is expected to carry the Galaxy Z Fold 8 name without any suffix. This model is reportedly equipped with two rear cameras. No major changes are expected for the Flip model. Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra and Z Flip 8 anticipated specs Rumors over the past few months suggest Samsung is preparing several upgrades for its upcoming foldables, although the devices may continue to rely on larger batteries and faster charging speeds rather than dramatic design changes. The primary focus this year is expected to be the Galaxy Z Fold 8 and its wide-screen design. Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra official CAD renders - Image via AndroidHeadlines Here are the anticipated specifications for the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra based on previous leaks: 6.5-inch outer display and 8-inch inner display, 120Hz refresh rate, and 2,600 nits peak brightness Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 processor, paired with 12GB or 16GB of RAM and 256GB, 512GB, or 1TB of storage 4.1mm thickness when unfolded and a weight of 210g 200MP main camera, 50MP ultrawide camera, 10MP or 12MP telephoto camera, 10MP cover camera, and 10MP selfie camera 5,000mAh battery with 45W wired charging Android 17 and One UI 9 As for the Galaxy Z Flip 8, the device is not expected to be a major departure from its predecessor, although it could become slightly slimmer. Expected specifications include: Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 or Exynos 2600 processor 12GB of RAM with 256GB and 512GB storage options 6.9-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2X inner dispaly and 4.1-inch Super AMOLED outer dispaly 50MP main camera, 12MP ultrawide camera, and 10MP selfie camera 4,300mAh battery with 25W wired charging Android 17 and One UI 9 Samsung’s foldables are also expected to launch with Gemini Intelligence, Google’s AI suite for automating tasks in Android ecosystem. Moreover, given current memory and component costs, some Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra and Z Flip 8 variants could see a price hike. Galaxy Z Fold 8 adopts a wide-screen design The centerpiece of the upcoming Unpacked event could be the Galaxy Z Fold 8, previously rumored as the Galaxy Z Fold Wide. This model adopts a passport-style form factor and is expected to compete directly with Apple’s iPhone Fold. Galaxy Z Fold 8 official CAD renders - Image via AndroidHeadlines Here’s what to expect: 7.6-inch primary OLED display and 5.4-inch cover display, 120Hz refresh rate, 2,600 nits peak brightness, and 4:3 aspect ratio Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 processor, 12GB or 16GB of RAM, and 256GB, 512GB, or 1TB storage options 4,800mAh battery with 45W wired charging 50MP main camera, 50MP ultrawide camera, and 10MP selfie camera Android 17 and One UI 9 The three new foldable phones are unlikely to be the only devices unveiled at Samsung’s Unpacked event. The company is also expected to introduce the Galaxy Watch Ultra 2 and the Galaxy Watch 9 series.
    • Thanks
    • 7 Days: Killing uBlock Origin bypasses, Euro Office faces fire, and will AI replace you? by Aditya Tiwari 7 Days is a weekly roundup of picks of what's been happening in the world of technology - written with a dash of humor, a hint of exasperation, and an endless supply of (black) coffee. This week's highlights include WWDC 2026 announcements, updates on child safety, and Meta's use of data from outside businesses to optimize your feed. Let's get started. You can check out the recent issues of the 7 Days weekly roundup. Killing uBlock Origin bypasses The hottest news of the week was about Google Chrome effectively ending most uBlock Origin workarounds (a free, open-source ad blocker extension) by permanently dropping MV2 extensions and their bypasses. Chrome is transitioning towards newer MV3 extensions. A recent discussion thread highlighted how the latest and upcoming versions of the most popular browser are expected to be its final releases with support for MV2 extensions. Genuinely European? Euro-Office faces fire The recently launched cloud-based office suite, Euro-Office, is facing criticism at home. The LibreOffice developer wrote an open letter criticizing Euro-Office for its marketing claim that it's the "first open-source office suite developed in Europe," since the honor has belonged to OpenOffice since 2001. The Document Foundation has called out Euro-Office, arguing that it can't consider "itself genuinely European" as long as it keeps pushing Microsoft defaults on users, adding that "it has to speak ODF as its mother tongue." Will AI replace you? Image: Tara Winstead via Pexels Microsoft's AI boss, Mustafa Suleyman, said in an interview earlier this year that AI would replace office workers within 12 to 18 months. Joining the ranks of top executives who have softened their stance on AI replacing humans, Suleyman recently walked back his earlier remarks and now says that AI will automate tasks, not replace entire white-collar jobs. He defended his earlier comments by arguing that they referred only to individual actions people perform at their desks. Louis Rossmann wants to sue Samsung Image: Louis Rossmann Tech repair entrepreneur and right-to-repair activist Louis Rossmann contacted Samsung support over a failed 4TB Samsung 990 Pro NVMe SSD. After back-and-forth communication, Samsung offered a $330 refund instead of a replacement, but Rossmann found that the SSD was readily available for new buyers at a higher price. He has issued a formal 60-day notice and intends to file a suit in Texas small claims court, as Samsung's actions reflect a failure to honor its warranty obligations. Samsung reached out to Neowin to clarify its updated stance that customers in such situations will receive a refund equal to the product's current market price. Child safety or mass surveillance? Image: Jonathan Borba via Pexels Signal accused the UK government of using child safety and device-level explicit content ban as a cover for mass surveillance. Calling the plan "dystopian," Signal warned that it violates everyone's fundamental right to privacy. The messaging platform believes that the government should keep children "safe" and "protected," but it should do so through social services and education. Fears of social media regulation Image via DepositPhotos.com More governments across the globe are tightening their grip on social media and bringing stricter regulations in the name of child safety. Bluesky COO, Rose Wang, warned that social media regulations could destroy competition from small startups and that heavy regulatory compliance costs favor deep-pocketed tech giants while locking out new entrants. Our Features Image: Pexels Our coffee-powered team publishes a platter of editorials, opinion posts, and guides. Here's what they got for the week: UK **** blockers are a looming privacy disaster, we must be able to see the source code This week in software news Image: Proton Catch up on some of the latest software news updates that arrived throughout the week: Dark clouds over PC makers: Building on our report from last month, Dell officially acknowledged that its own remediation software was causing BSOD issues and unexpected system restarts. HP is also facing equally frustrating issues involving recent Windows Secure Boot updates on Windows 11. Controversial icon: Spotify finally removed the disco ball icon from its app and replaced it with the familiar flat green logo after weeks of mixed reactions online. While some people don't like the new design, the retro, three-dimensional look has generated a following of its own. Even other brands are coming up with their versions of the disco logo. NVIDIA fixes stuff: A new hotfix driver 610.52 fixes various issues related to monitors and displays, noting that G-SYNC-related frame pacing troubles should now be resolved on Ada Lovelace GPUs. The feedback thread also points out that the hotfix patches a BSOD issue. FIFA World Cup tracker: Opera is redesigning its Android browser with a built-in football tracker for the upcoming World Cup in the US. The new homepage is now "more immersive" with easier access to common browser features. Command line for Proton: The Swiss technology company has launched a command line version of the Proton Drive, which you can use to manage your encrypted files directly from a terminal across all major platforms, including Windows, macOS, and Linux. This week in hardware news Image: Thermaltake Catch up on some of the latest software news updates that arrived throughout the week: Intel and AMD PCs in one case: Thermaltake's CAPO X dual-system chassis brings you the best of both worlds by supporting two microATX (mATX) motherboards and up to two 360 mm AIO liquid coolers. If you want ideas, maybe you can use one as your main PC and another as an AI agent. Google Tensor production: While TSMC will remain the lead producer, the search giant is reportedly in talks with Samsung to hand over part of the production of its next-generation Tensor AI chips. The upcoming TPUs are reportedly codenamed “Icefish” and will be produced using Samsung's 2-nanometer process technology. Lethal fake phone chargers: UK-based consumer rights organization Which? has warned that "potentially lethal knock-off chargers" are still being sold on online marketplaces, including Amazon and eBay, despite the dangers of such chargers having been exposed. This week in Google News Image: Google Catch up on some of the latest Google news updates that arrived throughout the week: Sliding into DMs: You might remember that YouTube had a direct messaging feature back in the day. It's now rolling out a revamped direct messaging inbox that lets you share Shorts, videos, and live streams and have conversations about them. New in NotebookLM: The AI-powered note-taking app got some new agentic capabilities and more advanced reasoning, thanks to support for Gemini 3.5 and Antigravity. NotebookLM can now generate outputs in more formats, making it easier to start new projects with less information. This week in Apple News Image: Apple Catch up on some of the latest Apple news updates that arrived throughout the week: WWDC 2026: This week was all about Apple's annual developer conference, where the iPhone-maker finally unveiled an upgraded Siri AI and a platter of new Apple Intelligence features. Siri AI now has a cross-platform app, which is supported on select models of iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, and Vision Pro. What's different about WWDC: I wrote a detailed feature this week discussing how Apple changed the WWDC keynote this year, blurring the lines between its operating systems. Apple didn't have dedicated segments for its operating systems this year and didn't even publish the official press releases. Liquid Glass slider (finally): It's that time of the year when Apple previews fresh updates for iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, AirPods, and other platforms. A new transparency slider for Liquid Glass is coming to iOS 27, iPadOS 27, and macOS 27 Golden Gate. Is your device supported?: If you're wondering whether your Apple device supports the new developer beta builds, you can check the respective compatibility lists for iOS 27, iPadOS 27, macOS 27, and watchOS 27. Siri AI not coming to Europe: Yes, that's true due to complications related to the Digital Markets Act (DMA). While Apple penned a blog post to tell its side of the story, a European Commission spokesperson told Neowin that the DMA does not prohibit Apple from launching its services in the EU; the company is simply required to comply with the law. New child safety features: Apple announced a trove of new safety features for kids, including a simpler setup experience for parents, Ask to Browse, Time Allowances, and a redesigned Screen Time UI. Parents can now visit a new website to find answers to common questions around child safety features. More cloud power: Apple's Private Cloud Compute cloud infrastructure will now run beyond its own data centers for the first time. It's working with Google and NVIDIA to run new Apple Intelligence workloads on Google Cloud systems powered by NVIDIA GPUs. This week in Meta news Catch up on the latest Meta news updates that arrived throughout the week: Data from outside: Meta is rolling out a new update globally to personalize your AI responses and primary feeds using data from outside businesses. It already targets ads based on shopping activity, but the latest development enables it to personalize other "parts of your experience." There is a toggle in the Settings to disable activity from other businesses; however, it won't prevent companies from sending your data to Meta. Level playing field: The European Commission has ordered the social media giant to restore access to WhatsApp for third-party AI chatbots, including ChatGPT and Copilot. Meta previously blocked rival AI chatbots from operating on WhatsApp, prompting the Commission to launch an antitrust investigation. Spying on users: On the flip side, WhatsApp accused the Israeli cyber-intelligence firm, NSO Group, of deploying a fresh wave of targeted "spear phishing" attacks against its users, which were thwarted by WhatsApp's security teams. Reorder profile grid: Adding some customization for the profile grid feature, Instagram now lets you rearrange posts in your profile without deleting and reuploading content. Go to your profile and long-press any thumbnail to find the "Reorder grid" option. This week in AI news Catch up on the latest artificial intelligence news updates that arrived throughout the week: Claude RAM hogger: Windows users are getting infuriated by Claude Desktop's hidden 1.8GB Hyper-V VM bug, which spins up if you use Claude Cowork or agent mode even once. It shows a Vmmem process in Task Manager, indicating 0% CPU usage but 1.8GB of RAM usage. Claude Fable 5: The new state-of-the-art AI model from Anthropic beats OpenAI's ChatGPT-5.5 in multiple AI benchmarks. Claude Fable 5 sits above the Opus models and outperforms most other generally available models across knowledge work, vision, scientific research, and more. However, the model was abruptly suspended after receiving an export control directive from the US government. Stack Overflow for AI agents: The popular Q&A platform has launched Stack Overflow for Agents in beta, which AI agents can use to share, find, and reuse coding knowledge. It explained that AI agents operate in isolation, creating an Ephemeral Intelligence Gap, and valuable tokens are wasted on something another agent has already solved. Upgrading Codex: OpenAI is buying a company called Ona, which makes secure cloud execution and orchestration technology for developers. The ChatGPT-maker aims to make Codex agents run for days without being tied to a local machine or an active session. It also announced a new developer mode in Chrome. This week in open-source news Catch up on some of the latest open-source and Linux updates that arrived throughout the week: Linux 7.1 rc7: Linux Torvalds dropped an optimized rc7 with crucial fixes for AMD and laptop hardware. He said that a stable version of Linux 7.1 could arrive next week, adding that the latest RC is not small, but smaller than recent releases. Alpine Linux 3.24: The latest Alpine Linux release added support for COSMIC Desktop, Linux 6.18, IPv6 installer support, automatic serial console configuration for headless setups, and major package updates and removals. This week in Microsoft News Microsoft had to shut down more than 70 GitHub repos after they were compromised by malware, Teams is getting a controversial tracking feature that users may hate, and the company explained why the new update makes PowerToys faster. You can check out Taras's freshly baked Microsoft Weekly roundup to catch up on all the interesting stories this week. This week in gaming The latest issue of Pulasthi's Weekend PC Game Deals curates several exciting games on sale this week. On the Epic Games Store, the new titles on display for grabs include Warhammer 40K Speed Freeks and The Ouroboros King. NVIDIA GeForce NOW's summer sale lowered the prices of both the Performance and Ultimate membership options for a limited time period. Meanwhile, the Xbox Free Play Days brought Undead Labs' post-apocalyptic title State of Decay 2, as well as two Team17-published titles. That said, here are some more stories from the gaming world: Dragon's Dogma 2: Dark Arisen expansion to bring snowy region, new updates also coming Playground drops 30 minutes of Fable gameplay, shows off life sim and morality system Playground Games confirms Forza Horizon 6 save wipe bug Doom: The Dark Ages Revelations expansion gives the Slayer a brutal Chain Spear State of Decay 3 is out in 2027, reveals Plague Nests with new co-op gameplay trailer From the review corner This week, Taras got his hands on the DuRoBo Krono portable e-ink reader, which comes with a $279 price tag. It's a smartphone-sized device with a rotating dial, sitting somewhere between premium and cheap in terms of build quality. Speaking of the pros, the physical controls are cool, the smart dial is useful, the battery life is good, and Android 15 has no-nonsense software. On the flip side, the device lacks software customization, the built-in AI needs improvement, the smart dial is a bit wobbly, and there is no ambient light sensor. EA Sports UFC 6 EA Sports UFC 6 does a better job at onboarding new players than most fighting games, according to Pulasthi's detailed review. The game comes with rewarding combat systems, top-notch animation, impressive impact physics, and visible damage on fighters. However, the menus lag a lot, grappling isn't very fun, and the flow state feels a little misplaced. More price drops! We got you covered with some hot tech deals all week. For some reason, if you missed out on a great discount, here is a summary of some recent deals that are still alive: GIGABYTE Radeon RX 9070 XT Gaming OC ICE 16G - $649.99 (13% off) 1TB Samsung T7 Portable SSD - $189.98 (31% off) AirPods Pro 3 - $179 ($50 off) Edifier R1280Ts Powered Bookshelf Speakers - $129.99 (24% off) To view all of our recent deals, click here. So, these were some of the biggest tech news and other updates from this week. There will be more issues of our 7 Days series in the coming weeks and months, so stay tuned. You can also support Neowin by registering for a free member account or subscribing to extra member benefits, along with an ad-free tier option. Have a great weekend!
  • Recent Achievements

    • Week One Done
      rolfus earned a badge
      Week One Done
    • One Month Later
      Leroy Jethro Gibbs earned a badge
      One Month Later
    • Conversation Starter
      flexorcist earned a badge
      Conversation Starter
    • One Month Later
      AndreaB earned a badge
      One Month Later
    • One Month Later
      agatameier earned a badge
      One Month Later
  • Popular Contributors

    1. 1
      +primortal
      505
    2. 2
      +Edouard
      196
    3. 3
      PsYcHoKiLLa
      141
    4. 4
      ATLien_0
      90
    5. 5
      Steven P.
      81
  • Tell a friend

    Love Neowin? Tell a friend!