Digital Foundry Direct Weekly

The team sit down once more to discuss the latest questions from DF Supporters. What do we make of Unreal Engine 6's debut in Rocket League of all places? Has Epic delivered a version of Lumen that is performant enough for lower spec kit? Is Sony's quality control to be blamed for lower than expected PC sales and finally, the big one... if Steam is a monopoly, why do we like it?00:00 Introduction01:09 Supporter Q1: What should we make of the Unreal Engine 6 announcement?16:48 Supporter Q2: What does the new “medium Lumen” preset mean for Switch 2?21:52 Supporter Q3: Which UE5 game got closest visually to The Matrix Awakens?25:58 Supporter Q4: Has the RTX 4090 aged like fine wine?34:10 Supporter Q5: Should Sony’s declining PC port quality be blamed for poor sales?42:05 Supporter Q6: If people don’t like monopolies, why do they like Steam?

John, Oliver and Rich sit down to discuss the latest gaming and technology news, kicking off with the end of the road for Destiny 2. It's had a fantastic long run, but where does that leave Bungie? Following that, it's a - dare we say it - Unreal Fest. The team discuss the latest Lego Batman on PS5 and PC, Yoshi and the Mysterious Book on Switch and more, before moving into retrospective mode - it's been one year since the Witcher 4 UE5 demo and five years since we went hands-on with the Valley of the Ancient demo, so what have we learned? And finally, the nostalgia continues: this week, it's been an incredible TEN YEARS of DF Retro!0:00:00 Introduction 0:01:16 News 1: Bungie ends Destiny 2 development0:19:44 News 2: Lego Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight released 0:32:51 News 3: Yoshi and the Mysterious Book tested 0:45:41 News 4: Two new UE5 games buck engine trends 0:57:36 Retrospective: 5 year Unreal Engine 5 early access anniversary 1:12:07 Retrospective: DF Retro celebrates 10 year anniversary

The show kicks off with the news that Sony is no longer bringing its single-player narrative-driven games to PC before moving on to supporter questions! How competitive would PS5 with Linux be to Valve's Steam Machine? Will FSR 4.1 come to Xbox consoles and could a PSSR Lite come to base PlayStation 5? Would there be any point bringing Quick Resume to PS6 and... is it Xbox or XBOX and should we change our pronounciation of the name?!00:00 Introduction00:45 News: Sony says single-player Sony games will no longer release on PC08:14 Supporter Q1: Could a Linux-running PS5 be a good Steam Machine alternative?12:48 Supporter Q2: Will FSR 4.1 come to Xbox? What about a PSSR for base PS5?19:03 Supporter Q3: Could Sony implement Quick Resume for PS5?24:56 Supporter Q4: Could a new third party commercial game engine succeed?33:15 Supporter Q5: Do any of you double dip on game re-releases?40:42 Supporter Q6: Is it Xbox or XBOX?

PS5 Linux continues to yield dividends as Rich tests path tracing on PS5 with Quake 2 RTX, Portal RTX and Cyberpunk 2077 RT Overdrive (!) on Sony's console. Beyond that, there's great news with the announcement of FSR 4.1 coming to older Radeon graphics cards, and there's a hint that Xbox may have some kind of "disc to digital" way to bring your physical purchases over to a potentially disc-less Project Helix. Finally, the team celebrate a duo of key anniversaries - Uncharted 4 and Doom 2016!0:00:00 Introduction 0:01:03 News 1: Path tracing tested on PS5! 0:22:07 News 2: FSR 4.1 coming to RDNA 2/30:36:07 News 3: New 007 First Light footage shows 60fps PS5 Pro gameplay 0:46:23 News 4: Report suggests Xbox “disc to digital” program may be coming0:57:18 Retrospective: 10 year Uncharted 4 anniversary 1:09:36 Retrospective: 10 year Doom (2016) anniversary

Another packed Direct Q+A show sees Oliver, Rich and Alex getting to grips with high-end graphics: are they actually worth it and are technological advances worth pushing? Meanwhile, can Switch 2 last for the 6-7 years Nintendo wants it to - or will next-gen consoles make it obsolete for multi-platform titles? All this and more in the new Direct Q+A Show. 00:00 Introduction 00:53 Supporter Q1: Is the high end PC experience really worth it? Should we stop pushing top-tier visuals in general? 11:07 Supporter Q2: Will we have to wait years for a SWOLED 2? What should we make of Nintendo’s reported increase in R&D spend? 19:44 Supporter Q3: Can Switch 2 handle another 6 or 7 years of cross-gen software? 24:46 Supporter Q4: Given inflation, isn’t it true that gaming hardware today is relatively cheap? 31:02 Supporter Q5: Could Microsoft ship a version of Windows for Xbox Series? 35:36 Supporter Q6: Will Project Helix hardware prove tempting for AI users? 39:09 Supporter Q7: Is PC emulation on Android ready for prime time? 44:04 Supporter Q8: What would you do in 2026 with an old 10-series PC? 49:17 Supporter Q9: How much does Oliver cut out of DF Direct every week?

In this week's Direct, Oliver, John and Rich get to grips with the reveal of Nintendo's Star Fox remake for Switch 2, there's justified concern over the Nintendo price hike for its new console, while Activision confirms that the next Call of Duty will finally leave last generation hardware behind. Meanwhile, the Pragmata resolution saga continues with an undocumented resolution hike for the PlayStation 5 Professional, while Pragmata (again) has an unconventional way to boost performance on Switch 2. And finally, the panel mark the 10th anniversary of Nvidia's remarkable Pascal architecture.0:00:00 Introduction 0:01:19 News 1: Nintendo reveals Star Fox! 0:17:18 News 2: Nintendo increases Switch 2 prices 0:27:38 News 3: Next Call of Duty drops PS40:39:05 News 4: Pragmata gets surprise PS5 Pro resolution bump 0:46:39 News 5: Switch 2 GameChat can boost game performance! 0:56:24 News 6: Nvidia 10 series hits 10 year anniversary!