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Call For Questions For DF Direct Weekly #245 (Patreon)

Published:
2025-12-18 12:47:23
Edited:
2025-12-18 12:48:23
Imported:
2025-12

Content

Hi there, Rich here with the final Call For Questions for a DF Direct episode for the year of our lord 2025. We'll be discussing the rumours that Half-Life 3 is a launch title for Steam Machine, while AyaNeo presents its remarkable vision for a Strix Halo handheld... and based on what I've just experienced with GPD Win 5, it should be quite something.

Other potential subjects include discussion of Marathon and its "ViDoc", the arrival of DLSS 4 MFG and ray reconstruction for Avatar Frontiers of Pandora. But we're still on the lookout for new topics, so feel to pitch in!

Also, please pose your questions! If news is light, we'll be doing a bigger Supporter Q+A section so feel free to pose any and all questions you have. Right now it's looking like Rich, John and Alex on the panel, deadline is 8am GMT.

Files

Comments

Chase

Divinity 2 on Switch 2, any thoughts?

Banandy

Ey up me ducks! Despite another year of #StutterStruggle, layoffs/studio closures/project cancellations and Windows grievances, what have been some highlights of the year? What are you all hoping that 2026 will bring/change? Cheers and thanks for another 12 months of amazing #content

Pomps

Hey guys, what's up??? Did you guys catch the new orbitals game shown at the geoffs? It seems like split fiction, but with an 80's anime's aesthetic that I think kinda works! Just wanted to hear your thoughts!

Skyrimfest 26 FPS Edition

Should Half-Life 3 be a Valve Steam Frame launch title and VR exclusive? VR really needs a killer title and Half Life Alyx was almost that game for the Index and Cculus Rift.

Skyrimfest 26 FPS Edition

What presents under the Christmas tree would make the team's eyes light up? And any wrapping tips for a CRT?

spud19870

This week we saw rumours that Samsung were leaving the consumer SSD market. While these were denied by Samsung (https://www.pcgamer.com/hardware/memory/samsung-will-reportedly-announce-the-end-of-sata-ssd-production-next-year-multiple-industry-sources-suggest-adding-to-our-memory-pricing-woes/) it seems likely more firms are considering pulling out of the consumer PC parts market. If this is the case will this eventually turn PC building/upgrading into a more enthusiast area and price out many prospective consumers. Longer term, how will this impact the development of new hardware and games. Thank you for all the great work and have a great Xmas!

Bad Hunter

Hello, good fellows! A small change of pace and a request for more DF lore. What hobbies do you have outside of gaming? Do you each still enjoy gaming as a hobby now that video game coverage is a full time job?

goregutz

Yeeeeeees, digital foundry. Since all you have such deep love for copilot, I thought I should ask copilot to generate a question based on this patreon call for questions. Here's the response copilot gave: Absolutely! Based on the topics mentioned in the post, here’s a question that could spark a great discussion on DF Direct Weekly: "With Half-Life 3 rumored as a launch title for Steam Machine, do you think Valve is finally ready to commit to hardware as a serious platform, and how might this impact the handheld PC space dominated by AyaNeo and GPD?" Since this is a better question than any one of us can conure up in our minds, can we just get all supporter questions to be copilot generated? In fact, let's get copilot to answer all those questions as well

wildwildwesty

As we draw to a close the year of our lord 2025, looking back, what was your favourite piece of DF content to produce, and what are you looking forward to working on next year? Happy holidays lads and hope you have a well deserved break!

Skyrimfest 26 FPS Edition

If the RAMpocalypse leads to hardware stagnation do you think we will see devs doing more optimisations to squeeze better visuals from older hardware to make up for this? I sometimes feel like hardware advances are not being fully taken advantage of.

Alan

Hi guys, 2026 is looking like a bad year for gamers. Reports suggest that NVIDIA is set to cut gaming GPU production by 30–40% starting in 2026. Coupled with ongoing memory and storage shortages, one would think Gen 9 is going to be a long one. Yet, with Xbox sales down 70% year-over-year and PS5 down 40%, it seems the "NextBox" will be in trouble at release. How long do you think they can hold out? They will surely have to blink well before Sony.

Marcus

Hiya foundrymen! I’ve been playing through Avatar after the update and I’m still very impressed with how the game looks. That being said, on the topic of ray reconstruction, when do you think it’s worth using? Take this game for example it feels like it delivers a big performance hit for slightly better looking reflections but otherwise has very minor effects. Obviously in path tracing titles that performance hit from using it can be negligible or even you might have a performance gain, but how viable do you think it is for non-path traced ray tracing heavy titles in general? Thank you for all your hard work.

kreskowaty

Greetings DFers! Half Life 3 leaks/rumors suggest physics based gameplay like friction between objects, the temperature of objects and its impact on the spread of fire, etc. Do you have some thoughts on the Steam Machine's CPU in the context of the Source engine and a push towards physics based gameplay? Cheers!

Blahshead

Hello DF Crew! What is your ultimate vision for the new DF Forums -- are they meant as a supplement to the Discord? Also, the forums have got me reminiscing about the early- to mid-aughts, when forums were much more commonplace and could be found for almost any niche. I loved forums back then because they provided a much greater sense of community, and I hope the DF forums are a huge success! What forums did you frequent back in those days (gaming related or otherwise), and do you miss that era of the web? Cheers from Chicago.

RL

Hey gentlemen. It seems like not much is happening at the moment so I'll simply ask about whether you (or specifically Alex) can look into the Star Citizens VR update.

Candescence

When do you think we'll see a proper dedicated mouse for the Switch 2? While there are third-party accessories to make mouse controls a bit better when using the Joycons, the Joycons are still somewhat lacking in terms of a proper mouse control experience, mainly in ergonomics. I also think the design of the Joycons doesn't allow for the full potential for a gyro mouse experience, as shown by the Swiftpoint Z2, which has a 'stand' that allows the mouse to be used normally but also can be tilted to use the gyro controls for stuff like leaning, which you can't really do with the Joycons when they're in mouse mode. I'm just surprised that Nintendo hasn't made a proper Switch 2 mouse peripheral yet.

Zero

Hello! So, who is winning a Digital Foundry Super Smash Bros tournament? Your esteemed audience needs to know each team members "main"!

CABBAC

Hello Father Richmas and your elves in the digital grotto!!! Something different for the festive Direct. If you could have one game that you could play for the first time all over again and find it under the Christmas tree on Xmas morning, obviously delivered by Father Richmas, what would it be and why? Merry Christmas to all digital beings out there.

Snorkel Bandit

Whuddup Diggy-F, What would be your first choice for a 7th gen console set-up in the modern era? Raw-dogging it on a 4k tv?/ 4K with a retrotink?/ A 720p screen to get a nice native render resolution match on more games? / A classic CRT? Happy holidays gents!

EvilRacer329

Afternoon folks! Lumines Arise got an update this week with a dedicated 'Steam Deck' optimised graphics mode, significantly boosting performance by, apparently, swapping out a number of effects for lightweight versions with little visual trade-off on the small screen. This follows Doom: The Dark Ages' own dedicated Steam-Deck mode. As someone who, according to Steam's 2025 wrap-up, spends about a quarter of their time gaming on the handheld this is all great news, and suggests that developers are looking at ways to deliver optimised experiences, even if somewhat belatedly. Why do you think these options aren't there at launch? And what do you think is driving these retroactive 'downgrades'? Could the Steam Cube get its own built-in one-click 'optimised settings' to help deal with some of its hardware limitations? Thanks again for all the great work and congratulations on your independence!

MattGPT

Following on from the DF graphics of the year and some comments about it not being valid because Doom requires a higher end rig to be able to path trace, what would be your choice of best graphics on low end hardware, maybe the Deck as a baseline? At that level is it more about art style? (or is Metroid Prime 4 on Switch 1 already the answer to this).

MattGPT

Would you consider a DF hardware survey, Consoles by output resolution, whether the TV is 120hz, VRR, PC a full survey? Would Sony and MS (I very much doubt Nintendo) be willing to share data on output resolution, refresh rate and VRR with you on their different consoles? I imagine nearly all PS5 Professionals are on a 4K 120hz/VRR display, but what about PS5, Series S and X?

RagingWhisky

Got any "best of 2025" impossible ports, or titles that punched well above their weight-class for the hardware they were on?

MattGPT

I know you will have been too busy this year with your new independence, but now is the time to start planning for your Christmas number one in the year of our lord 2026. I imagine it would be Rich on lead guitar and vocals, Tom on backing guitar, harmonica and vocals, Oliver on bass guitar, Alex on keys and John on drums, with guest appearances from Audi on sax and Marc on ocarina (of time). Would you cover a previous Christmas song or go with something original about little Alex getting a 1,000 GHz CPU that removes all stutter from games, little Oliver getting a 10,000 nits OLED Switch 2 and little John getting a 100 inch 4K CRT?

TheAdam

Hi DF Machinery. Rumor has it that Nvidia plans to radically reduce its GPU production in 2026 to better serve the AI market. If that were the case, wouldn't this present an incredible opportunity for games to become better optimized? Simply because the next GPU generation would take longer to arrive, and developers wouldn't be able to rely on raw hardware power to compensate for poor performance? Have a merry Christmas and an awesome 2026!!!

MikeyLove

Hi Gents I hope everyone is looking forward to a great Christmas and New Years. Apologies if something similar has been asked in the past but In recent years both Xbox and Sony have moved to multi-platform strategies with everything being a Xbox and Sony with PC releases. Do we think Nintendo will ever follow suit ? We have seen Nintendo embrace backwards compatibility again with the switch 2 and its online emulation service so repurchasing game ports for each new console is less of a profit reason for exclusivity but the switch 2 also has a mouse and keyboard styled input system so could we perhaps see Nintendo games follow a PlayStation styled PC releases for titles ? Also should we ever seen Nintendo games on the PC what games would excite you most on more powerful hardware ?

Gordon Lin

Hi DF gents! It's fascinating seeing how AMD struggled with frame pacing whereas almost every other team doing FG seems to do better. Have you guys considered interviewing the Lossless Scaling one-man team to see how they've solved/preempted FG issues? I figured one developer might be more approachable than a mega-corporation.

Jonathan Thomassen

Considering current market conditions and the seemingly increasing volatility on PC hardware pricing, do you think there's a risk that Sony might deem the PS6 to not be a very feasible product within the next couple of years? And if so, do you think they might instead consider another 'stop-gap' upgrade console? A PS5 Pro Plus, if you will?

regawdless

Hello Gents! Seeing the praise for AC Shadows flag physics during the best graphics of the year video in the Year of our Lord 2025 was very depressing. Because we already had that 13 years ago in Borderlands 2 with PhysX. I encourage people to watch the trailer from Nvidia for us to be sad together. Do you see any push from other developers towards more physics driven interactivity in games or will it remain a rarity? Cheers

Renan

Hi DF crew! I love your discussions on new technology especially when Alex goes teacher mode and provides in-depth explanations. However, as a console player (mostly Switch 2 these days, but also PS5), which tech advancements are actually applicable? Do consoles stagnate throughout their generation with any improvements relying on art design only? Or is the underlying tech updatable over time even on consoles? Happy holidays and see you next year!

Orcacle

Hi Digitised Foundarians. I took a little look at the free Demo for Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade on the Switch 2 and was pleasantly surprised by the image quality. Handheld feels like one of the highest fidelity Switch titles I've ever played, and Docked actually looks on par if not slightly better than my 5070ti desktop due to the use of DLSS that the PC port lacks (PC forces TAA)! Are there any plans to take a further look at this title before the full game launches? Cheers for the wonderful year of technology reports, excited for what's to come.

Visceral Overdrive

An appropriately temperate hello (exclamation point). Switch 2 had a recent update to the HDR adjustment settings and 'HDTVTest' posted a video that shows the ease of use to get optimal paperwhite and highlights. What I've been curious about is the 'Always Enabled' HDR setting and its effectiveness for non-HDR games. Many have restricted it to 'Conpatible Software Only' due to the former resulting in a "blown out" image. However, on the handheld (at 450 peak nits I believe) and on my modest HDR TV, which has a good contrast ratio but peaks at 300 nits, I've noticed only positives. For non-HDR games, would capping the peak brightness (now visible as a number in the settings) and ensuring paperwhite brightness is optimal make this "auto HDR" good for everyone? It's not the stratospheric "Linneman" HDR but it certainly gives games a Rich-ness and glow, and also allows the home menu to pop!

Snorlax cat

hello I feel like people are overstating ff7 remake on switch 2 it is a game with baked shadows, so it is easy. It is like if they did an uncharted or tlou port to switch 2, it would look amazing because everything is baked and probes are on characters who you can't bake

Snorlax cat

I am very excited for the DF community awards, are you happy to have such a devoted fanbase?

Bespoke To Soon

Merry Digital Christmas! There seems to be uproar everytime a developer admits to (or is caught) using ML tools. With spiralling development costs and time scales associated in creating games, folks often complain about 'too few AAA games this gen' and so on. Isnt ML a cromulent solution to this? ML has obvious benefits and, for me, isn't ethically wrong to use across the board, and would surely embiggen the capability of indy devs. If it's used poorly, then quite rightly it should be criticised, but in the same way we'd be critical of sub-par character models etc. I've never heard DF blame Blender for bad models, or Photoshop for bad textures. What's your thoughts on the future of ML? PS. You can blame Oliver's excellent video on the subject a few years back for my opinion.

Patrick D'Arcy

Most ineffable and inscrutable Foundry Men, in your previous direct, when talking about Redstone, you mentioned that image upscaling has crossed the threshold into being 'good enough' to be considered part of a holistic approach to graphics presentation going forward, and that frame gen will be 'good enough' in time to be considered the same. Personally, I think the proliferation of upscaling techniques that work well enough on low input resolutions (eg. 540p being upscaled to 1080p) is what has allowed it to become accepted as normal for most gamers. However, frame gen does not work very well at low input frame rates due to the severe input lag, which is arguably where it would also have it's most notable impact (30fps to 60fps is much more noticeable than 60 to 120fps. 120fps feels like a luxury rather than a necessity imho). Do you see the input lag issue being solved to allow for adoption by more budget gamers in future who would feel it's benefits more, or will it remain the domain of people who have higher budget rigs that can achieve at least 60fps in AAA titles? Many thanks for the fantastic year of content, and really excited to see what 2026 brings from the Foundry. Merry Christmas!

Jordan + Cinewhirl

PhysX cards were so cool, I remember the tech demo that utilised it being so awesome. Do you think we will ever see another company bringing back cards and expansions for other things (i.e, not just physics necessarily) or are we destined to remain with hardware setups the way it is now? If you could choose, what would you have a designated PC card for?

Ryan H

I noticed John’s speakers have changed. What does he have now? Are those Kef Reference 1?

Karvox

G'Day Digital Gents! As we approach the end of the year of our lord 2025, what does each panel member think was the most impactful tech announcement this year for our upcoming year of our lord 2026? Going by consumer interest it could be Steam Deck, but perhaps there are more impactful things going "under the radar". Oh and a bonus one for John, how about Retro? What was announced this year that could make for significant changes next year? Wishing you all a safe and happy winter solstice.

GeekyDud

Good day gents! Question mainly for John. Mega Man is finally back! What are your thoughts on what we've seen from Dual Override so far? What do you want to see from the game? Also, with there being a rumored second game in development for the 40th anniversary, what do you want that do be? X9? Legends 3? A new sub series altogether? Thank you all for all your hard work, Merry Christmas and a happy new year!

Solegor

Hello, esteemed DF gents! Longtime viewer and first-time subscriber here. The very first show I was most excited for was DF After Dark, and I’ve already listened to the inaugural episode. That experience inspired a holiday-themed question for each member of the panel: what is your fondest gaming-related memory from this time of year? Wishing you a joyful holiday season—Merry Christmas, Happy Kwanzaa, Happy Hanukkah, and warm wishes for all the holidays celebrated this season.

VeryProfessionalDodo

First, great user name :D Second, generative AI (not to be confused with machine learning) isn't the solution to "few AAA games this gen". Tighter scope and reduced head counts are. We already know this. It wasn't generative AI that "made possible" games like Clair Obscur and Dispatch. As for it not being ethically wrong to use across the board, I sincerely urge you understand how these models are created. They are scraped non-consensually from the entire Internet, in the most insane copyright theft in human history. It surely wasn't legal, or else Open AI and others wouldn't be settling lawsuits left and right with IP holders. The "how it was made" is only a part of the ethics discussion. The second biggest part is how this is a potentially ruinous practice in the medium to long term for the entire industry. Let's imagine you want to get into voice acting. Previously, you would maybe audition for a side / minor role in a game / movie. Then you start getting into contact with the right people, making more of a name for yourself, and then suddenly you can become the next Laura Bailey, Ben Starr or Troy Baker. But what if that first role doesn't come, because all minor characters are now AI generated? What becomes of that part of the industry 10, 20 years from now? We're pulling the ladder behind us, and this can be a catastrophic event of human replacement in the one field in human history we really shouldn't deprive ourselves of. Art. Not to be consumed, but to be enjoyed, to be made, to give meaning to the existence of those who view it as much as those who create it. I hope this sheds some light into why this is a much more complex topic than you might think initially.

Anxiously Chrono Triggered

Ho, ho, ho DF crew — Merry Christmas! Is there a particular holiday game you like to return to this time of year? Maybe something you associate with the season, or a title that brings back those cozy, nostalgic memories from your younger days? Wishing you all a fantastic New Year!

FrametimeSommelier

Di DF Crew, another year is almost in the books, and it was a big one for DF. As 2025 comes to an end, I wanted to ask how you fell this year turned out for PC port quality. It seems like games were generally in better shape than the past few years. Would you agree? Happy holidays, and all the best for 2026. May Digital Foundry continue climbing to new heights in the gaming tech world.

Myo

Hello! New Patron here. The Steam Machine architecture confuses me. At first I thought they made an SOC with a CPU, GPU, a DDR5 controller, AND a GDDR6 controller. I found that intriguing because that could work the same as a normal PC but without PCIE bottlenecks when swapping between pools. Alternatively, the GPU could be made to access things directly from DDR5 which should be fine for things like textures. Either way that would make the 8GB of VRAM a bit less limiting. After looking it up I'm hearing it's two chips: a GPU and an APU with the iGPU disabled. I get that the iGPU is redundant but so are the display controllers and video encoder/decoders that would be on both chips. For something that's custom, that seems like a lot of extra silicon that will go to waste. Do you have any information about any of this? Is there any chance that they're doing something more interesting than that? Maybe they popped a DDR5 controller, a Zen 4 IFOP, and USB PHYs on the GPU die and paired it with a Zen 4 chiplet? It feels like there's so much potential being left on the table.

Bespoke To Soon

Thank you for your elequent and thoughtful reply!! I have to admit I typed out a more lengthy response that this one, and lost it somehow! Short version was I agree with many of your points that I hadnt considered previously, but I still believe there is a space for AI as a creative tool and by no means would want to see people replaced. Maybe "across the board" was the wrong terminalogy. Your comments about scrapping in particular stood out to me, and your totally correct. I'd love to see a way this can be done ethically.

Deadeyes

One of the big problems with screen space graphical effects is how they break down at the edge of the screen. Why do you think we never see devs render a little bit extra off-screen and just crop the view to mitigate this? Would it just be too much of a performance hit for what it's worth?

The Shadow-Map

Oh hi DF, The Xbox 360 is often regarded as the first HD console, yet the original Xbox supported component output and even offered a small number of games running at 720p and 60fps, such as Tony Hawk’s Underground. I noticed very few reviews of the time seem to note this. Did any of you have a setup at the time that allowed you to take advantage of the original Xbox’s HD output? And if so, did people think you were from the future?

Deadeyes

It's semi-custom, which appears to mean they took an off-the-shelf design from AMD and made minor tweaks. They appear to have done VERY little customization. It's the same strategy they used for Steam Deck. I don't think Valve is interested in designing silicon in the way Sony and Microsoft do for the consoles.

Deadeyes

As long as it depends on queueing a frame I don't see a way around having the input lag issue. It's best to think of FG as an alternative to motion blur rather than anything related to "performance." It's a motion smoothing tool that has been grossly misrepresented by its marketing.

Fowler is God

Happy Christmas DF Team. I've been reading a lot of push back against ray tracing recently. Mainly centred around the fact it doesn't look so much better that it's worth taking the performance hit. Although it is more natural and realistic, I do understand better is in the eye of the beholder. Regardless, I thought the main benefit was to make developing games quicker and easier in the future, without the need to bake in the lighting. Am I wrong? If not, why is that not pushed more from developers. "Get Ray tracing more mainstream and we can make games quicker."

Deadeyes

I think you're too hung up on the tech. The point is pulling off a great looking output image on weak hardware. How you got there isn't as important. Baked lighting is a trade-off. Exchanging dynamism, interactivity, and huge amounts of work hours (and typically a lot of drive space for the install) for good looking GI. TLOU, for example, is absolutely a monumental achievement even if a lot of the tech isn't cutting edge. It's till a masterpiece example of implementing that older tech. The point is making something that looks better than you'd expect it to given the hardware, and I hear FF has higher image quality than expected.

Fowler is God

Hi all, question for John. I've read that newer Playstation 5s now don't need internet activation to pair a blu ray drive. I recall your warning from an older episode and I have held back selling my original PS5 and upgrading to a pro for mainly this purpose. Have you seen this? Are you still concerned?

Someguyperson

Rich is getting coal this year because he didn't read my Christmas carol "Richard Baby" last week, so I might have to post it in the forums for all to see. Since he has no Christmas spirit in his heart, I had to make a new carol for you all: _You're a Mean One, Mr. Rich (TM)_ 🎵🎵🎵 You're a mean one, Mister Rich You really love some stutter You're as silky as sandpaper You hate frames smooth as butter, Mister Rich The way you go about your day makes me shake and shudder You're a monster, Mister Rich You locked Alex in a room You made him play UE5 games You've filled him with doom & gloom, Mister Rich Let's hope Epic resolves this soon so we don't need to build a tomb You're a vile one, Mister Rich You're attitude is debonair When it comes to other opinions you do not seem to care, Mister Rich When it comes to making money, Rich, you're a billionaire 🎵🎵🎵 P.S. Once again, no AI was used while making this. Dr. Suess rhymes in a song take too long, so I only did 3 verses this time.

Myo

The SteamDeck APU was only considered semi-custom? There's a whole computer vision processing engine in the original chip that went unused in the SteamDeck and was removed in subsequent revisions. That It's unfortunate that they're not using something more custom in the Steam Machine though :-(

Someguyperson

Sales in the US on gaming has fallen dramatically this year (27% Y/Y). The ASP of a console in 2019 was $235, while in November it was $439 (accounting for inflation, the 2019 ASP would be ~$297.26 today). Do you think gaming is just too expensive now, or do you think this is a signal that a recession is coming? Do you think this trend will only continue in the coming years? Will this help push people to the PC now that the price gap is closing? (Source: Circana Tracking Service)

Sloth

If PC games come to rely heavily on Advanced Shader Delivery, how will this impact user-created content for games? Custom maps and mods are one of my favourite aspects of PC gaming but I wonder if they would have performance issues if shader delivery is only designed for the base game - I'm not sure how this aspect would work. Best wishes for the holiday break and for 2026.

Someguyperson

I would think they would invest a lot of money into making HL3 and would therefore need a good return on it. VR simply doesn't have enough units in the market for the math to work out.

Snorlax cat

the switch 2 has a cpu like ps4 and a gpu like a 2050, I expected nothing less

Someguyperson

The investment into data centers is a bit of a fool's errand. The ultimate goal is to sell hardware that can run smaller models locally so your entire operation doesn't rely on people buying a monthly plan. I think you'll see the OpenAI business model consume itself in the near future. All this will have those same manufacturers pivot to consumer again. It will just take some time.

Patrick D'Arcy

I understand what you mean, but I'm interested in hearing what the DF guys think about it in terms of what they were saying about a holistic approach to graphics and the rise of upscalers. If framegen, much like upscaling, is going to be mainstream some day then developers will lean on it, much like they do on upscaling this console gen. If the Nintendo Switch 2 has dlss lite or whatever scaling from sub HD resolutions, despite the downsides, and advertises itself as a 1440p/4k console, then i could imagine the Switch 3 using framegen from low-ish (say 30-40fps) framerates to effectively advertise itself as capable of running most games at 60fps

Someguyperson

That's a bit of a bogus rumor. Nvidia is limited by CoWoS packaging, not wafer production, so they wouldn't cut consumer wafer production in favor of B200 production. Lower down the market, there is a pressure on RAM allocation, but if Nvidia makes their partners deal with that issue, Nvidia can just push forward with their own consumer wafer allocation as is.

Someguyperson

I think the majority of people see all the AI slop generated every day and see how it's devoid of personality, character, and value, even if they don't put those exact words to it. Going with off-the-shelf AI models also clashes with a game designed around a very particular style. Think of Kojima & Sakurai games; each of them have a very distinct style, pacing, and set of gameplay priorities that people are huge fans of. Generative AI pulls you away from the loved gaming weirdos and towards an art style that's essentially an average of all media you generally consume, so it doesn't really stand out in a good way. You can have AI help people create art, but you always need a human there to clean up the mess left behind by AI.

Jimmy Joe McGurl

Sorry, I know this isn't related to this week's topics but I can't find info on this anywhere and seems like it could use the DF treatment for testing so I'll ask again: Hello venerable DF team!! I have noticed when using the Switch 2's Game Chat feature, specifically in docked mode, that the framerate of some games, as well as the Switch 2 homescreen seems to be cut in half! Have you noticed this or tested/posted about it anywhere? When trying to search this online you can only find information about the low framerate of the screenshare feature, and while I understand why that would make sense, what I'm seeing is that while only using audio over gamechat, from both my Switch 2, as well as my girlfriend's Switch 2 over (again, no screen sharing active), my homescreen was scrolling at what looks like 30fps, and Apex Legends went from 60fps, to what appeared to be a consistent 30fps. I'm noticing this in docked mode, playing at 1080p 60fps on an FW900 CRT (shoutouts John!) and I'm in the Gamechat's full screen mode. Within a few seconds you can see the framerate double in real time on Apex when you close Gamechat. Thanks for any insights into this and for all the wonderful, bespoke content throughout the years! For posterity, I'll also note that I'm using a Pro controller with a headset plugged in, not that this SHOULD affect anything, but you never know.. also tested and can confirm Celeste was at half the framerate as well, and that shouldn't be a demanding title for Switch 2 by any means. Oh yeah, and even getting a notification from the Switch 2 that a friend is online seems to hurt the framerate in games. Thanks!

FrametimeSommelier

I saw the numbers too, but didn't that specifically say physical hardware and software sales? What about digital software sale? And why did they exclude digital software sales.

Someguyperson

As an independent 3rd party, they can't observe what happens on closed software stores. They can only track physical shipments of things and consoles are required for console gaming and they are also physical goods that can be tracked for these purposes. Yes, it doesn't show the full picture, but it's about as good as we can get a glimpse of unless Sony, Microsoft, Nintendo & Valve release more detailed numbers.

Butler404

With the DRAM apocalypse upon us and seemingly here to stay, do you think GPU manufacturers will finally switch to using some type of swappable RAM? Newer standards like LPCAMM do significantly improve signal integrity and bandwidth, and while I know I'd be bad for buyers in the short term, at least it'd decouple RAM pricing from GPUs, much like CPUs. And it would allow for much easier repairs, or even upgrades. Happy Hanukkah!

FrametimeSommelier

But this makes that kind of reporting obsolete. If they have no access to the data of the majority of the market, what good is that statistic? The reports about US gaming being down really need context. Yes, physical hardware and physical software sales have dropped, but that’s only a small slice of the overall market. Most industry estimates put digital game sales at 90–95% of all software sold, so focusing on physical numbers alone creates a distorted picture. When articles frame the decline in physical sales as evidence that gaming is falling dramatically, it’s misleading at best. What’s actually happening is a shift in how people buy games not a collapse in interest or spending. If you ignore the digital side, of course the numbers look bad, but that’s because you’re leaving out the overwhelming majority of the market.

Anxiously Chrono Triggered

Hello Gentlemen, is there anything you really want to see during CES 2026? Also, it will have been a year since DLSS 4 was dropped. Do you think nVidia is cooking anything new for us to see in January? Cheers!

Anxiously Chrono Triggered

Hey DF crew! DF supporters have now all voted for the best hardware of 2025. What would you choose? Perhaps something that is not on the list? My vote would go for Legion Go S Z1E SteamOS. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

tod weitzel

What small games that weren't in need of DF coverage (like Dispatch or Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles) did you sink a lot of time into this year? I'm sure you play games that aren't for work and you don't feel like analyzing, so what were they?

Someguyperson

90-95% of revenue might possibly be from digital sales, but in terms of game purchases, it's absolutely lower than that. DLC purchases and free to play games distort the revenue numbers greatly. Particularly, if you include game revenue from phones in that number, which is something completely different than console & PC gaming. Nintendo mentioned that half their game sales are digital & half are physical. Sony still sells a ton of discs of AAA games and Microsoft is completely irrelevant at this point. Sales of consoles is an absolutely massive indicator of how the sector is performing though, particularly in terms of ASP. To claim otherwise isn't a particularly convincing argument.

Keaten

Hello, Gents! I’ve been wondering about this one ever since seeing Final Fantasy VII Remake on Switch 2. As John reported in his fantastic video around launch, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth had image quality struggles that have started picking at the back of my mind since hearing of the game’s imminent Switch 2 release. These issues were, of course, massively reconciled with the use of PSSR on Playstation 5 (Professional variation). So here’s a fun one: In your opinions, how likely is it that (given they used it in Remake) tiny DLSS will present better than the base PS5’s FSR implementation? Assuming they target a similar visual quality to that performance mode for Switch 2, which I feel is likely. Cheers!

FrametimeSommelier

2025 Digital Game sales share by platform: PC: 99%+, PS: 83%, Xbox 90%, Nintendo 63% (some sources say 70%). Not trying to argue with you, I just find judging the state of gaming mainly by physical sales odd. That's all I totally agree with hardware sales being down. Totally plausible with the current hardware prices. But when it comes to game sales numbers, any reporting on physical sales only is just misleading.

MittenFacedLass

Looks like The Division 1 got updated to 60fps on PS5, though from some brief testing, it seems like it may not be able to quite hit it consistently at times? Unsure what I was experiencing. Might have been network issues. Haven't gone back to test. Still a gorgeous game, though. Arguably moreso than its sequel in some ways.

FlowEffect

Ho ho ho merry Foundrymen! Christmas is coming and I would love to know, if there are any special christmas games that you like to play occasionally around this time of the year? Personally I love to play Batman Arkham Origins once in a while or The Division 1 with its special atmosphere to get some christmas vibes in terms of their settings. Cheers and happy holidays!

Skyrimfest 26 FPS Edition

Even beloved Larian can't avoid AI controversy. What's your take on the use of AI in game development? Friend or foe to the industry?

DaJaCo (Dan)

Sintered Season's Salutations Foundrymen! (& The Especially Festive; Behatted Battaglia). Do we see a picture emerging of the Switch 2 becoming "The home of Moribund Proprietary Engines".. an "Engine Scrapyard" of sorts for old proprietary engines which allow deeper levels of customisation for the unique hardware, while larger projects and teams have moved onto UE5. This seems to have happened with CDPR.. and with Massive Entertainment (Project Scout rumoured to be UE5).. and yet the results have been the best that Switch 2 has seen! It seems like such a waste for these engine technologies to die when they have already been so impressive so early in the lifecycle. Imagine if CDPR made a Switch 2 exclusive using the good old REDengine, but NOT an open world game.. something more constrained, they could push the visuals much harder! The same goes for Snowdrop.. a game with smaller environments could deliver a lot with that engine on Switch 2.. and yet these engines seem to be on the road to the glue factory.. Unless UE5 miraculously ups its Switch 2 game; doesn't this feel like a missed opportunity?

Jonathan Hamilton

What are some neat gift ideas for gamers, especially kids and teens? Nintendo & PlayStation gift cards get boring. Cool Switch 2 cases? Affordable yet stylish headsets? What are your picks?

DaJaCo (Dan)

Should Sony expand it's investments in it's "Sony Semiconductor Solutions" division and it's slice of JASM (Japan Advanced Semiconductor Manufacturing), in order to produce it's own homegrown memory chips..? They could blag government cash to reinvigorate japanese domestic production, secure supply for A.I. and keep prices down for PS6.. what's not to love (apart from the impenetrable market monopoly, excrutiating setup costs, etc. etc.) ? Mark Cerny, are you listening in your lab!!?

DaJaCo (Dan)

"Intergalactic mandatory overtime", Surely it comes with the territory? Havent they heard of "cryo-sleep"? Or is Naughty Dog being a naughty dog?

Thomas Trala

Hello DF Crew! Thank you for so much great content in 2025. Are you able to share anything each of you have planned for 2026 yet? Is DF After Dark making a comeback?

CottonBird

Why don't more displays offer integer/nearest-neighbor scaling for lower resolution content? Wouldn't this be "easier" to execute since there's no interpolation necessary? Do screen manufacturers not know that some gamers prefer this untreated look? Or perhaps it actually is more common then I can find, and it's just not being advertised on their feature set?

Pol Arbequina

Greetings esteemed DF crew! Congratulations for making it through a big year for the team. This is a purely hypothetical question, but I'm curious to hear your thoughts. Given the recent Switch 2 port of Skyrim and given Bethesda's long standing track record on the technical front, do you think the Elder Scrolls 6 would benefit from moving to UE5? Yes, we know UE5's flaws and we'd lose a more unique look to the game. But it might be a preferable outcome?

Salman

Hello DF Crew It's fair to say that many UE5 PC games have had issues over the past few years. If you're a developer aiming for a realistic visual design, is there a more performant game engine available for licensing? Is CryEngine a realistic alternative? Alex, what are your thoughts on UE 5.5 and above going forward?

TheAdam

Might be...but hey, never underestimate the power of earning more money and to do so making weird decisions.

DudleyTheGentleman

Hello again to our resident pixel auditors! Though things are looking bleak in the consumer hardware space with the ongoing memory apocalypse, what, if anything, excites you about the next generation of CPU and GPU hardware? Please ignore the likelihood that we won't see generational upgrades until 2027/2028.

DudleyTheGentleman

Hi DF Team, in the hypothetical future where the Steam Deck 2 launches, will handhelds actually be powerful enough to run Cyberpunk 2077 with RT Overdrive and/or other current gen titles with path tracing support?

DaJaCo (Dan)

More likely on the PS6 Handheld / PSP - since it will be RDNA 5, have full acceleration support for FSR4 / PSSR 2, and a big bump in hardware RT performance. With the additional advantage that it can be more highly optimised for the hardware. Although I think we are more like to see a PT version on the PS6 home console, with perhaps just RT on the portable, where arguably the impact of PT is less worthwhile anyway, since the lighting accuracy improvements over decent RT can be quite subtle on a small screen especially.

Jay Fischetti

John, I know you've said in the past how there's almost never any anti-aliasing in 6th generation console games, but the more Xbox I play the more I notice it. Psychonauts, Max Payne, lots of others seem to be using MSAA. Have you looked into this? Is the box the king of aliased antis? I am playing on a modded console with any sort of flicker filtering forced off, so it's certainly not that.

Mistle Mikey!

Hello gentlemen and warm question of sorts, Have you thought about starting a consultancy firm and working with developers to improve games prior to release? As a triple A developer i have seen your videos being referenced in Perforce submits and I know you are very popular with my collegues. Often QA will miss issues that are obvious to you and us developers are always running the build without optimizations so we are used to terrible stutters and performance. It seems like an untapped market that could be a nice littler earner for you (exclaimation point)

Thomas Trala

They only did one or two episodes but I was hoping for more

fresh_bison

Hi guys, Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 is now available on PlayStation 5, can you do a review and compare performance on base and pro PS5?

DeanUtube

Some rumours strongly suggesting GTA VI could cost up to 2 billion dollars to make. Surely with the knowledge we've gained from game budgets that were leaked a few years back that seems a bit far fetched? Or does R* truly have near infinite money? Keen to hear your thoughts!

Jeff Messer

Hello DF Friends - a personal preference question for discussion after playing some DOOM: The Dark Ages over the holidays. Using FSR or DLSS - if you're able to run a game using Native AA upscaling at the magical 60FPS barrier, would you choose to use Quality for increased framerate, or Frame Gen? At least in Doom, Quality upscaling still holds the edge for me in responsiveness and image quality, but I have to admit that newer Frame Gen options (over 60FPS base) are becoming more and more usable. Thoughts?