Windows August 2026
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The Blood of Dawnwalker PC Settings Guide: Maximize Your PC Performance By Tweaking These Options
While 2026 has so far been packed with incredible PC games, The Blood of Dawnwalker was the one that I was looking forward to the most. Not only does it come from a game director with an incredible pedigree, but ever since system requirements were first revealed in February, I knew that this game would absolutely punish my PC – and I’m into that. Luckily, Rebel Wolves has since lightened the system requirements a bit, now only recommending an RTX 4070 Ti for 4K 60 fps gameplay, rather than the RTX 5090 I thought it was going to require at the beginning of the year. And now that I’ve had a chance to play it, I’m pleasantly surprised at its performance, even if the visuals are a little mixed. Just like a lot of RPGs of this scope, much of what makes The Blood of Dawnwalker so beautiful is its environments. Just walking through the town and the forest in the opening chapter is jaw-dropping, with realistic foliage and water. The character models don’t quite reach the same fidelity, but I’m ok with that when just walking through the world looks as good as it does. The Blood of Dawnwalker PC Settings ExplainedWhile The Blood of Dawnwalker is available on Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5, PC is where it truly shines. This game has pretty much every graphics option I’d like in a modern game, and avoids clumping a bunch of graphics techniques into one banner. The game is quite heavy to run maxed out, but there is genuinely enough room to dial it in for better performance, pretty much whichever hardware you’re playing it on. Keep in mind, though, that The Blood of Dawnwalker is running on Unreal Engine 5. The game handily avoids the kinds of problems that have plagued Star Wars Zero Company and Halo: Campaign Evolved, but it is pretty heavy, especially on your CPU. The game will still run on a handheld, technically, but not particularly well. I played it a bit on the Lenovo Legion Go 2 at the lowest settings at 900p, and got around 24 fps indoors. So, I’d stick to your main tower for this one. But even on a tower, Blood of Dawnwalker can be very demanding. At 4K with DLSS set to Quality and on the Ultra preset, the RTX 5090 gets anywhere from 70–90 fps before frame generation. It is incredibly smooth, but that’s the type of performance you’d expect from an RTX 5090. Here's my list of recommended graphics settings, so you can spend less time wondering what each option does and more time living your best vampiric life. Shadow Quality: This one’s pretty simple and just changes the resolution and accuracy of shadows. This game has a lot of dynamic lighting, though, and this is probably one of the first settings I’d turn down to improve performance. But, it is a game where shadows do add a lot to the atmosphere, so you’ll have to weigh the importance there. Mid-Range PC: High; Handheld: LowLight Quality: It’s hard to tell from looking at this game’s gorgeous lighting, especially in the mornings and evenings, but there is no ray tracing on offer here. Still, this setting will change how detailed lights are, and the intensity of effects like global illumination and diffuse lighting. Turn it down if your performance is struggling. Mid-Range PC: High; Handheld: LowReflections Quality: I’ll admit that I’m only a couple of hours into this absolutely massive RPG, but at least in my time with it, there aren’t that many reflective surfaces. Still, this setting will change how detailed screen space reflections are, so turn it down if you start getting performance drops around water or other reflective surfaces. Mid-Range PC: Medium; Handheld: LowPost-Processing Quality: You’ll be able to toggle individual post-processing features on or off further down in the settings, so this changes how good all of those effects look. I’d keep this up on higher settings if you like a cinematic aesthetic, but you can effectively turn it off if you don’t really care about bloom or motion blur. Mid-Range PC: High; Handheld: LowTexture Quality: This mostly affects how much VRAM the game is going to eat up. I’ve spent most of my time in this game with this maxed out, and the game ate up about 10–12GB of VRAM. So I’d stick to Ultra on 16GB plus, High on anything from 8–12GB and medium or low if you have less than 8GB of VRAM. This should be one of the first things you turn down if you start running into stuttering. Effects Quality: This mostly affects particle effects, and there are surprisingly a lot of them in this game. This is going to be heavier on your CPU than anything, so I’d turn this down if you’re getting bottlenecked there. Mid-Range PC: Ultra; Handheld: LowShading Quality: This is just another way to scale the lighting in Blood of Dawnwalker. I’d turn this down early if you’re struggling to hit 60 fps. Mid-Range PC: High; Handheld: LowFoliage Quality: Simply put, foliage in this game is gorgeous, almost at the same level as something like Assassin’s Creed Shadows. But, if you notice your performance start to tank when you’re running around in the wilderness, you should probably drop this to a lower setting. But, really you should at least try running it a higher setting just to see what it looks like. Mid-Range PC: Medium or High; Handheld: LowDetail Quality: Maybe it’s just me, but having the option to tweak “Detail Quality” feels a little like changing “Detail Details.” Regardless, this changes a lot of volumetric effects like fog, along with destructible objects. I’d turn this down if you’re running into CPU issues. Mid-Range PC: Medium; Handheld: LowVolumetric Quality: This setting also changes volumetrics, but focuses more on their resolution. I’ll always turn volumetrics down before anything else, and that doesn’t change in Blood of Dawnwalker. Mid-Range PC: Medium; Handheld: LowUpscaling Technology: Unlike a lot of other Unreal Engine 5 games, Blood of Dawnwalker doesn’t try and shove TSR down your throat. Instead, Blood of Dawnwalker supports all three major upscalers from GPU manufacturers and the one you should choose depends on which graphics card you’re using. Nvidia users should use DLSS, AMD users should use FSR and Intel users should use XeSS. Upscaling Mode: Because this game is hard to run, I’d go with upscaling on performance mode if you’re struggling to hit 60 fps. However, keep in mind that performance mode will look pretty rough on lower resolutions, so you might want to lower lighting settings first. Frame Generation: This uses AI to insert interpolated frames in between rendered frames. This will nearly double your frame rate, but will increase latency by a little bit. But because this isn’t a competitive game, and isn’t even that fast-paced, I’d recommend just turning this on, especially if you have a high-refresh rate gaming monitor. Motion Blur: This is just a toggle to either enable or disable motion blur. I hate motion blur, you might love it. It’s really up to you. It won’t affect performance all that much either way. Bloom: This is another toggle, but this time for Bloom. These are the little rays of light that you sometimes see coming off of the sun or something. This will affect performance a bit, so I’d turn it off if you’re playing on a low-end GPU. But for most people on a modern gaming PC, it probably won’t make that much of an impact. Chromatic Aberration: This is an effect that tries to mimic a camera lens. I don’t notice much of a difference whether its enabled or not, so I’d try it each way and see what you prefer. This won’t affect performance much if at all. Depth of Field: This will blur distant objects, especially in cutscenes. This is a nice effect, and I usually leave it on, but turn it off if you want everything to be crystal clear. Jackie Thomas is the Hardware and Buying Guides Editor at IGN and the PC components queen. You can follow her @Jackiecobra
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Warlock: Dungeons & Dragons Gameplay Reveal Gives Extended Look at Combat, Exploration, and Traversal
Warlock: Dungeons & Dragons recently released its long-awaited gameplay reveal at gamescom, and it gave us an extended look at main character Kaatri and the powers she has at her disposal.If you weren’t already aware, Warlock: Dungeons & Dragons is a single-player, third-person, open-world action-adventure game from developer Invoke Studios where you wield forbidden magic to bend the rules, outwit obstacles, and overcome challenges through creativity. Kaatri is the warlock, and the gameplay reveal begins with her and Tasha, her witch queen patron. We see Tasha upgrade Kaatri’s Warlock’s Eye, which allows her to see Raw Magic and is the key to finding new spells and improving the ones she has.From there, Kaatri moves to Darkon, a Domain of Dread pulled directly from D&D. It’s unstable and on the verge of being ripped apart by Mists. There is time to explore Darkon, but it’s filled with danger and opportunity around every corner.Exploration is clearly a big focus of Warlock. As you travel through Darkon, you’ll need to stay alert and use magic to help you make your way. Your Warlock’s Eye will point you toward Raw Magic, but it’ll be up to you to figure out what to do with it. You need to pay attention to the sights and sounds around you and decide what deserves your attention.Kaatri heads into Crickshank, a settlement in Darkon that harbors a dark secret that players can uncover. Skev, her imp companion, flies alongside as Crickshank's biggest mystery pulls them underground, beneath its shops. Kaatri enters the ossuary catacombs, and we see her utilize both her dexterity and magic for rapid traversal.She emerges into a large chamber full of monsters, including the eyeball-like aberration Death Kiss. Kaatri rushes into combat and uses a spell to latch onto a column and pull it down onto a monster. The developers have revealed that this spell is called Tasha’s Leash and is a brand-new cantrip that can be used to pull or throw objects whenever you want, showing that use of the environment will be a major part of combat.With the Death Kiss closing in on her, Kaatri then uses another spell to swap positions with a different monster, allowing her to escape to high ground while the Death Kiss destroys the monster she swapped with. The developers shared that this is called Fey Switch, a new Warlock advanced spell.These new spells are all well and good, but if you’ve played D&D before, you know there’s one tried and true spell that’s a mainstay for all Warlocks: Eldritch Blast. So of course, we get a look at that too. As with its D&D counterpart, Eldritch Blast’s value in Warlock is its versatility. It’s a cantrip, so it’s consistently available. And it’s helpful in just about any situation, whether you need a ranged attack to apply pressure to an enemy, want to cleanly finish one off, or want to keep your offensive momentum going in between melee strikes and bigger spells. It’s a key part of your kit, just as it should be.The gameplay reveal then shows another way you can use the environment: weather. Kaatri makes her way into a misty field and invokes the Downpour Ritual, calling forth rain and forming puddles across a field where vampires are fighting a horde of zombies. Kaatri casts Witch Bolt, shooting out electricity that spreads across the wet surfaces and forks through enemies.Since she’s a Pact of the Blade Warlock, Kaatri is then able to conjure a sword and other pact weapons to switch into melee combat. And that’s where it all comes together, as Kaatri weaves together magical and melee combat and showcases the core of Warlock’s combat system. The effects of one spell can feed into the next, as you chain together different abilities depending on the enemies you’re facing and the space you’re in.The video ends with Kaatri finding a Strand of Magic, giving us a glimpse at the Raw Magic that’s hidden across Darkon that will fuel Kaatri’s progression throughout the game. It’s clear that Warlock draws on familiar spells, locations, and lore that D&D fans will immediately recognize, but tells a new and original story that newcomers can dive into and learn everything they need to know.Warlock: Dungeons & Dragons is slated to release on PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S in 2027. To get the latest news and updates, you can check out the game’s official website or follow it on Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, Facebook, or YouTube. And for more coverage of the game as we get more info, stay tuned to IGN.
Apple Seeds Eighth visionOS 27 Beta to Developers
Apple today provided developers with the eighth beta of an upcoming visionOS 27 update for testing purposes. The beta comes a week after Apple released the seventh beta. visionOS 27 can be installed by opening the Settings app, going to Software Updates, and opting into Beta Updates. visionOS 27 introduces Siri AI, the smarter and more capable version of Siri that's similar in capability to chatbots like ChatGPT and Claude.
The SCUF Labor Day Sale Is Live: Save Up to 30% Off the Best Performance Gaming Controllers for PC and Xbox
Competition grade.
Apple Inducted Into 'Brand Hall of Fame' for Iconic Ads
The One Club for Creativity, a U.S. non-profit organization that promotes excellence in advertising and design, today announced that Apple has been selected as the first brand to be inducted into its newly established "Brand Hall of Fame". non-profit organization that promotes excellence in advertising and design, today announced that Apple has been selected as the first brand to be inducted into its newly established "Brand Hall of Fame".
TerminalFix Uses Fake Cloudflare CAPTCHAs to Deploy Reverse-Tunnel Backdoor
Microsoft says TerminalFix uses fake Cloudflare CAPTCHAs to trigger PowerShell and deploy a reverse-tunnel backdoor for internal network access.
Apple @ Work: Parallels Desktop 27 brings OpenGL 4.3 and AI acceleration to Apple Silicon
Parallels Desktop 27 adds a Metal-based OpenGL 4.3 driver, faster local AI on M4 Macs, and new enterprise deployment tools for IT teams.
Xbox CEO Says Project Helix Includes a 'Family of Devices'
Xbox CEO Asha Sharma has suggested Project Helix will encompass more than one device, saying that Microsoft has been working on "a great family of devices."
Save $170 Off the Lenovo Legion Go S AMD Ryzen Z2 Go Handheld Gaming PC
As this point we'd recommend getting a Legion Go S over a Steam Deck.
Nvidia's DLSS 5 Leaks Online, and Modders Have Already Turned It Into a Slop Filter
Nvidia debuted DLSS 5 back in March 2026, promising to bring neural rendering to games in order to make them look more realistic. While pretty much everyone hated it, it seems like Nvidia has continued to work on it behind the scenes: It's leaked in a build of the NBA 2K27 beta. Twitter user @renan_maniero spotted the new DLSS file in the NBA 2K27 early access, called nvngx_dlssnr.dll. The 'nr' at the end there appears to stand for neural rendering. Just finding the file in the game's directory would be one thing, but it looks like some enterprising modders have been able to build it into some other existing games. Eita, o acesso antecipado do jogo NBA 2K27 veio com uma DLL nova do DLSS. DLSS-NR (Neural Rendering) 👀 pic.twitter.com/X15fYO92RU— Renan Maniero (@renan_maniero) August 26, 2026 Some modders built a DLSS 5 mod and integrated it into Control, which was spotted by Gizmodo. In the initial post on X, you can see the modders manipulating some sliders to change the degree by which the neural renderer is changing the image. Things like auto skin mask, intensity and style are all customizable, which is something Nvidia said would be possible when it announced the technology earlier this year. A YouTube video shows the mod in action, and from the moment neural rendering is enabled, the frame rate is cut nearly in half – from 95fps to 53. Keep in mind that right now the mod is limited to character models, and it really only has the effect of making Jessie look like she needs a nap. Over on the Nvidia subreddit, some modders were able to work the tech into The Last of Us Part 2, and while most of the images with the tech enabled make the characters look downright weird, the response seems to be split down the middle. One user says the DLSS 5 "looks deep fried, I am not going to lie," which is probably where I'm sitting. Someone else says, "There's more detail and the characters look more photo realistic and less like Pixar characters." Obviously, this technology is in its very early stages, and once game developers are able to actually work it into the game naturally and optimize it, there probably won't be such a pronounced performance impact. But it's hard to imagine that turning on DLSS 5 will in any way improve your frame rate, which makes it one of the first pieces of Nvidia's AI software suite that makes performance worse. Either way, now that the DLL file that enables the technology is clearly out in the wild, it's only a matter of time before it actually makes its way to market. But if the RTX 5090 gets its performance cut in half, I don't know if I'd recommend anyone enable it until some future graphics card hits the market. Because while the visual effect the tech has will probably be debated until the end of time, the performance impact is where PC gamers tend to decide whether or not tech is worth using. It took a few years for people to start actually turning ray tracing on, as it was a surefire way to halve your performance in its early days. I'll be testing the technology one way or another as soon as Nvidia actually releases it. Jackie Thomas is the Senior Tech Editor at IGN and the PC components queen. You can follow her @Jackiecobra
19 Chrome and Edge Extensions Found With Wallet-Stealing and Crypto-Draining Code
A cluster of 19 Chrome and Edge extensions can steal wallet secrets, drain crypto, harvest credentials, and inject code into targeted sites.
After GTA 6: Extended Look Showed Rockstar's Game Running at 30fps, Tech Experts Say a 60fps Console Version Is 'Extremely Unlikely' and 'Genuinely Challenging' Even on PC
Getting Rockstar's hugely ambitious GTA 6 running at 60fps on current consoles will be "extremely unlikely", the tech experts at Digital Foundry have said, after analysis of footage from the Grand Theft Auto 6: Extended Look.
Two Unitree G1 EDU Humanoid Robot Flaws Enable Root RCE, One Starts Over Bluetooth
Two Unitree G1 EDU vulnerabilities enable separate root RCE chains, including a BLE path; fixed firmware versions remain unverified.
What Console Should You Buy for GTA 6? We Break Down PS5 vs. Xbox Pricing, Deals, and More
What is the best console to play Grand Theft Auto 6 on? We break down PS5, PS5 Pro, and Xbox Series X pricing, expected frame rates, and new or upcoming hardware deals, alongside whether it's worth waiting for a PC release.
Resonance: A Plague Tale Legacy's Game Director and Star on Why Sophia Is So Special and Why This Prequel Let the Team 'Get Some Fresh Air' | gamescom 2026
Resonance: A Plague Tale Legacy has just been released on PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC, and we had the chance at gamescom to speak to David Dedeine, co-founder of Asobo and game director, and Anna Demetriou, Sophia's voice actor, about this big moment for the franchise.
Everything We Learnt about Silver Palace at gamescom
Following the conclusion of its recent beta test, and with over 10-million pre registrations made globally in the run-up to gamescom, developer and publisher Elementa debuted a new trailer for open-world action RPG, Silver Palace, at gamescom’s prestigious Opening Night Live. In development for PC, mobile and – in a surprising reveal – the official announcement that it’s coming to PlayStation 5, IGN was on the ground at gamescom to check out the Silver Palace booth. If you’ve not seen the trailer yet, you can watch it now, below:The trailer opens with a spooky looking operating room as a doctor examines a corpse made of Silverium, before shifting to a sprawling city filled with winding streets – and our first look at the protagonist of Silver Palace, the Detective. The trailer then follows the Detective as they carry out their investigation, engage in combat and explore the city. Glimpses of characters Ashley, Gratia and Red Rose, boss encounters and the operating room showcase the game’s mix of dynamic combat and tension. After the corpse suddenly fractures and sends shimmering silver droplets everywhere, the trailer unveils the brand-new multiplayer combat experience called “House of Greed”.At the booth, as you’d expect, we had the obligatory photo spot and merchandise zones, but there was also a playable demo area where we got to get our hands on Silver Palace proper. With support for DLSS 4.5 and Raytracing at launch, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 PCs they had on-site gave them a chance to show off just how immersive the world of Silvernia will be.During our hands-on with the demo we were introduced to a mystical world filled with flying silver whales, ornate buildings and fantastical enemies. After a failed assassination attempt on the Queen, the protagonist – the Detective – is quickly forced into a boss battle between two huge humanoids emerging from a portal. Combat flowed between light, ranged and ultimate attacks, with dodges and parries helping you avoid damage while keeping the pressure on the enemy. After a spot of exploration in the city of Silvernia on a silverwork horse, we were thrust into another boss encounter, this time against ‘Cinderella’ – except this version used her horse-drawn pumpkin carriage as a weapon rather than a means to travel to a royal ball. Here we got a taste of the other playable characters who seamlessly switch in and out of combat, each providing a unique moveset and extravagant ultimate ability. Multiple live stage performances, cosplayer meet and greets and influencer sessions with iCrimax, HoneyPuu and more gave fans plenty of immersive opportunities where they engaged not only with the game but significant figures in the scene. Characters portrayed included the Detective, Alf, Red Rose amongst several other significant figures, and the game’s pumpkin carriage from the Cinderella Boss Battle was brought to life in stunning fashion with an impressive sculpture. Live band performances and dance showcases at the booth brought the energy to Hall 6 and, for those who took part in activities surrounding their presence, there was a healthy host of rewards such as art cards, blind-box coaster sets, and a very nicely put together “Detective set”.We also spent some time with the game’s development team at their booth in Cologne, to have a chat about things in a bit more detail. Here’s what they had to say:IGN: Your ONL trailer has a noticeably darker, more horror-inspired tone, and some viewers may even be reminded of franchises like Resident Evil. This feels quite different from the main tone of Silver Palace. Was that contrast intentional?Yes. For this trailer, we intentionally adopted a light horror-inspired editing style, so we understand why some viewers may draw comparisons to well-known horror titles. What we really wanted to highlight, however, was the contrast between Silver Palace’s elegant, fairy-tale-inspired characters and the distorted, unsettling creatures featured in the trailer. That contrast creates a very different atmosphere while still remaining rooted in the world of Silver Palace.The ONL trailer also teased what looks like a new gameplay mode. Can you tell us more about it?Yes. The mode, titled House of Greed, is still in an early stage of development and is planned as part of the main game experience. It is designed as a multiplayer mode and uses a classic over-the-shoulder camera and related character-control systems, with a stronger focus on room-based exploration and third-person shooting. The experience is quite different from the main game’s action combat, which centers around a four-character squad and real-time character switching. You recently passed the huge milestone of 10 million pre-registrations. Is there anything you would like to say to the many players out there who are patiently waiting for Silver Palace?We received a great deal of valuable feedback from players during both CBT1 and CBT2, and those comments have been extremely important to the entire Silver Palace development team. We’re very grateful to everyone who has been following the game and waiting patiently for its release. Following its gamescom debut, Silver Palace has been nominated for the gamescom Best Mobile Game Award. Vote for your favourite games from the show here and check out IGN’s gamescom stream on Friday to see the winners announced.With a third closed beta test coming soon, even those who missed the event will soon have a chance to see more of what’s in store for this promising new title. For now, there’s plenty to get your teeth into at https://silverpalace.elementagames.com/
APT28-Linked HOOKEDGE Backdoor Targets European Government and Diplomatic Organizations
Recorded Future links HOOKEDGE campaigns targeting European government and diplomatic organizations to APT28 with moderate confidence.
The Grand Theft Auto 6 Gameplay Just Makes Me Want a PC Version Even More
After watching the Grand Theft Auto 6 Extended Look on Netflix, I came away awed by how good it looks on the base consoles. But more than anything, it made me want to see it running on a high-end PC even more.
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Helldivers 2 Boss Happy That GTA 6 Is Skipping PC at Launch and There's No Online Right Away
Pretty much everyone expects the November launch of GTA 6 to dominate the world of entertainment — indeed that’s one of the reasons we have a September crush of video game releases. But according to the CEO of Helldivers 2 developer Arrowhead, there are two very good reasons why developers shouldn’t be too worried.
Google, Microsoft and OpenAI among 100 firms calling for better cyber defences
The letter warns cyber-attacks which use AI will become more sophisticated in a matter of months.