Coming This Week to Digital Foundry (Week 52 2025) (Patreon)

Hi there and welcome to the last weekly update from Digital Foundry in the year 2025. Work still continues here until we leave for the Christmas to New Year break and we've got some excellent stuff in the works, so here's what you can expect across the next couple of weeks. Moving into the New Year, Alex and Oliver will be attending CES, so hopes are high for an exciting kick off into 2026.

We had a little look back at 2025 in the latest Direct, but I'd just like to reiterate my thanks for all the support we've had across the months (and years!) and especially when we made the break into full independence last summer. The response here on Patreon and from the games business generally has been very humbling, but having now re-established the business as an entirely separate entity and with all the bills having been paid, it's great to be able to do the things we always wanted to do, like the website, the DF Retro Super Show and to actually expand the team.

I predict that 2026 is going to continue to be challenging for games media - but I rest much easier now knowing our fate is fully in our own hands, that the ownership structure means that the business is now fully controlled by people literally invested in the team and the work we produce. In the last four months we've achieved more in growing DF and addressing the fundamentals than we have in the last five years. Thanks to you for your role in making this happen!

But it's a #content update so let's get on with it.

Rich (ie me) recorded a mini Direct yesterday with Alex and Oliver, discussing the hardware highlights of the year. And that's where the header image comes from. The insanity of a Strix Halo handheld is real - and the GPD Win 5 is quite the beast. So if running from mains gets you within spitting distance of PS5 performance, what happens if you drop to 30W and then drop resolution to match the handheld's 1080p screen? Find out in our Hardware of the Year special, I guess!

John is completing his annual games of the year compilation, has participated in a further episode of the DF Retro Super Show you'll see on Sunday and will be helping out Alex with his project...

Tom is rounding off the year by looking at Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 on PlayStation consoles, stacked up against Xbox Series equivalents. This video should be out more towards the new year.

Alex is preparing himself mentally and physically for the ordeal that is "The Best And Worst PC Ports of 2025". John will be along to provide emotional support through this difficult period.

Oliver is working on a Layers of Fear Switch 2 review - which has some fascinating characteristics, by the way - while also handling multi-cam editing duties for the Hardware of the Year and potentially Alex's best and worst PC ports videos. We've also had the opportunity to speak to the developers of the Assassin's Creed Shadows Switch port and there'll be a video about that too.

You'll get to read that interview with Ubisoft on digitalfoundry.net thanks to Sam, who'll continue to keep the site fully stocked with #content.

That's all from me and from us for this year - thanks as ever for watching and supporting Digital Foundry. As ever, feel free to give us your thoughts, feedback and questions below.