Source: Blue’s News

A new update is now live in Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War, adding new content to Season One in the first-person shooter sequel. A post on the Call of Duty Blog has all the details on the new weapons and modes in today’s update along with more on the new 6v6 multiplayer map and a new zombies experience coming to the game on February 4th. This also kicks off the week of free access to the zombies mode they promised earlier this week. Here’s a summary of what’s in the new update:

The following are included in the Season One Update:

• Sanatorium multiplayer map – Ten squads of four will head up to the Ural Plains to fight over objectives and vehicles on land, sea and air.
• Express multiplayer map – Returning from Call of Duty: Black Ops II, Express arrives Feb. 4 in Cold War as a 6v6 Multiplayer favorite, known fondly as the hi-tech train station that hosted many a jaw-dropping moment in competitive Call of Duty history.
• Operator Zeyna joins the fight in Cold War and Warzone, starting on January 21st.
• New multiplayer modes, including the continuation of the fast-paced 3v3 experience, Face Off. Additional modes include Dropkick (live now), Snipers Only Moshpit and Endurance Mode.
• In February, the Dark Aether storyline continues with an all-new Zombies map called Firebase Z and new Onslaught maps. Available now is the new Zombies mode entitled Cranked.
• Zombies Free Access Week is live now through January 21.

Check out these latest hardware announcements for today from around the web. Also included are some hardware news bits, and on some days, a few rumors tossed in for good measure. Click on the links below to read the official press release, visit the products web page, or to an independent news source.

• ASUS Reveals Its GeForce RTX 3060 ROG STRIX Graphics Card
• EK Introduces EK-AIO Basic and Special Edition EK-AIO Elite Aurum
• GIGABYTE Launch Z590 VISION Motherboards Designed For Creators
• Bitspower Announces the Premium Mobius VGA Water Block for GeForce RTX 3080 FE
• EK Introduces a Vector Water Block for NVIDIA RTX 3070 Founders Edition
• MSI, ASUS Z590 Motherboard Lineup Surface; MSI Models up to €999, ASUS up to €1516
• EK Launches New Water Block for RTX 3070 Strix Graphics Cards
• For an Immaculate Build That Keeps its Cool – CORSAIR Launches Versatile 5000 Series of Mid-Tower Cases
• MSI Announces MSI Geforce RTX 30 SEA HAWK (liquid cooled)
• Arctic Unveils its BioniX P-series Fans
• GELID Announces Glint ARGB M.2 SSD Cooler
• Thermaltake Debuts its Floe RC Ultra 240/360 CPU/Memory AIO
• Gainward Announces GeForce RTX 3060 GHOST and Pegasus Graphics Cards
• Palit Releases GeForce RTX™ 3060 Dual and StormX Series Graphics Cards
• GIGABYTE Launches its GeForce RTX 3060 Series Graphics Cards
• ASUS Unveils its ROG Gladius III (Wired & Wireless) Mice
• ASUS Announces ROG Swift PG32UQ 32″ 4K 144 Hz HDMI 2.1 IPS Gaming Monitor
• GIGABYTE AORUS Gen4 7000s SSD- The Fastest PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSD
• PNY Releases RTX 3060 12GB XLR8 Gaming REVEL EPIC-X RGB & RTX 3060 12GB UPRISING
• ZOTAC Launches its RTX 3060 Graphics Card Series
• PNY Announces its XLR8 CS3140 M.2 NVMe SSD
• BIOSTAR Unveils its Intel 500 Series Motherboard Lineup
• Introducing the EVGA GeForce RTX 3060 12GB Graphics Cards – Built For Gamers
• MSI Announces its 500 Series Motherboards
• NVIDIA Announces the GeForce RTX 3060, $330, 12 GB of GDDR6
• COLORFUL Launches NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 Neptune and RTX 3060 Series
• EVGA Debuts its Z590 Chipset Motherboards
• Inno3D Unveils its 3060 12 GB Series Starting at $329!
• Thermaltake Unveils its ARGENT Gaming Peripherals
• GIGABYTE Reveals the New Z590 AORUS Motherboards
• Thermaltake Unveils DIVIDER 300TG Mid-Tower Chassis

Order of Battle is getting a new trilogy of DLCs that depicts World War 2 from the Allied perspective. Allies Defiant, the first chapter, deals primarily with the British involvement in battles across Europe, the Mediterranean and North Africa from spring 1940 to late 1942.

Allies Defiant will be released on January 28th. We are currently looking for beta testers willing to provide us with feedback and criticism on the new campaign. If you would like to take part in it, please sign up here.

In the first battle the player takes command of British units deployed to Norway, but as the war intensifies on the Western Front in May 1940, the next two scenarios feature defensive battles in Belgium and France.

Afterwards the campaign moves to North Africa, where British forces battle Axis troops in Egypt and Libya. In spring 1941 the player gets to fight the crucial naval battle at Cape Matapan in the Mediterranean Sea, before they are reassigned to participate in the defence of Greece.

The last stage of Allies Defiant focuses again on the desert war, which changed dramatically with the arrival of Rommel’s Afrikakorps. Since the Desert Fox managed to drive the Allies back into Egypt in 1942, the player has to deplete enemy offensive strength before he can finally resume offensive operations themselves. Allowing them to deal Axis forces a decisive defeat at El Alamein.

Find out more about Order of Battle: Allies Defiant via the games webpage.

Matrix Games have announced that the third DLC of the Axis Operations series, 1940, is now available.

Axis Operations 1940 covers the pivotal year of 1940, in which you will lead the Wehrmacht in several stunning blitzkrieg offensives against Scandinavia, the Low Countries, Belgium, France, and even an optional “what-if” invasion of England.

Play through the 19 scenarios of the branching campaign and experience new features such as the new training scenarios, or see the return of Axis Operations recurring mechanics like the Commendations system or the Nemesis system. Prepare to meet historical characters like Erwin Rommel and Charles De Gaulle, and take command of plenty new units, including experimental prototypes never seen before in other games.

You can find more information on the DLC’s product page.

We’re releasing a new bundle containing all the Axis Operations DLCs released so far at a nice discount. You can find it here.

Furthermore, Panzer Corps 2 and its DLCs are currently discounted as part of our Holiday Sale. You can find more information on the sale here.

You can watch the Panzer Corps 2: Axis Operations – 1940 in 2 minutes trailer here.

Nuclear Winter comes to ICBM for a limited time during the Holiday Season, with the Nuclear Winter Map. The map will be playable for a month and will feature 4 factions, including North Pole and South Pole territories, all of which will be playable for the first time. The rules will otherwise follow the standard game rules.

Play as the Free Land of Rebel Elves and Nuke down the Evil Reign of the Gift Factory, or step into the shoes of the Great Democracy of Ginger Bread. Protect the Emperor’s Hometown, capital city of the Great Empire of Penguins and engage in a thermonuclear war where you can take down places like the “Cinnamon Hills” and “Caramel Applefields”. Take revenge against those Stinky Sweaters and Overpriced Dolls once and for all.

ICBM Leaderboard
Along with this limited-time event, we have released a global leader board that you will be able to find here. Discover your position in the global destruction ladder and keep nuking your opponents to climb your way to the top.

Find out more about ICBM on the games official product page.

Check out these latest hardware announcements for today from around the web. Also included are some hardware news bits, and on some days, a few rumors tossed in for good measure. Click on the links below to read the official press release, visit the products web page, or to an independent news source.

• ENERMAX Intros a New Color Option for LIQMAX III 360 ARGB
• ASUS Unveils the ROG Strix LC Radeon RX 6900 XT
• PowerColor Announces Radeon RX 6900 XT Red Devil
• AOC Announces the AGON AG493UCX Monitor: 49″ VA, 5120 x 1440, 120 Hz, 1ms, 32:9, FreeSync and DisplayHDR 400
• NZXT Releases Third Generation Internal USB Hub
• Thermaltake AH T200 Micro Chassis Now Comes in Pink
• Team Group Launches DARK Z FPS Gaming Memory and Cardea IOPS Gaming PCIe SSD
• IFixit Mako Precision bit set Now Available at EK Online Store

New map, new guns, new customization items, and more!

Cold Blood introduces ‘Bab’ – a brand new winter map. Bab is set in a snowy mountain village built around an ancient citadel. It’s perfect for snipers with long sightlines and an open layout. Tight alleyways and indoor combat mark the areas between them. Bab is a brand new and unique layout, offering players something really different to get stuck into.

On the gun side, the Marksman class now has two new high caliber semi-automatic battle rifles to play with. The M110 SASS on Security, and for Insurgents, an older Army issue and WWII classic, the M1 Garand. As with everything in Sandstorm, they come with a wide selection of attachments and scopes to let every player customise how they wish.

Also included in this update is a swathe of various other tweaks and additions, including toggleable optic scopes. This also marks the release of a new cosmetic bundle including four Cold Blood-themed DLCs. To celebrate, the game is available at a 50% discount running from now until December 14.

Watch the new trailer HERE.

Visit the official Insurgency: Sandstorm website for more game information.

The Division 2’s fourth Season, End of Watch, is now live and available for all Warlords of New York expansion owners. As soon as your complete the New York campaign and return to Washington D.C., the Season is open before you.

Your Prime Target this season is the once loyal agent twice turned traitor; Faye Lau, who now leads Black Tusk in Bardon Schaeffer’s stead along with her own cell of fellow Rogue SHD agents.

Your first target, Viper, is already available and can be tracked down by completing various missions, control points, and bounties throughout the map. Eliminate Viper and take your first step towards bringing down Faye Lau.

As always when a new manhunt target becomes available, you will be able to earn double XP for the first 15 levels during first 7 days of the manhunt.

What else lies in store for Season 4? Here’s what you can expect:

• Season 4 – End of Watch is filled with Leagues, Global Events, Manhunt Targets, and more. Tuesday of each week will bring the beginning of a new event as we move through Season 4.
• TCTD2 WONY Season 4+Branding Calendar 960×540 final
• Seasonal Levels – As in Seasons past, 100 levels are available to earn throughout the season. Prior season experience does not count here – as all 100 levels are reset to be earned again. Season XP is earned from all activities and difficulties, so take the Season at your own pace and enjoy!
• After reaching Season Level 100, every SHD Level increases will also yield a Field Proficiency Cache!
• Season Pass – The optional Season Pass is available for 1000 Premium Credits ($10 or your regional equivalent) in the in-game store, granting additional cosmetics and opportunities for season gear as you progress. The Season Pass also adds a Daily Project for a hard difficulty Main Mission that grants extra XP to help you get those level rewards!
• Seasonal Manhunt Targets – A new target unlocks every 3 weeks, alongside a double XP event, providing an opportunity to progress quicker for the first 15 levels gained that week. Take down all four Lieutenants, Viper, Kestrel, Magnus, and Circe, to unlock the Prime Target, Faye Lau. Upon finishing the Manhunt, you’ll earn the new unique Skill variant, the Achilles Pulse.

Watch the official The Division 2 – Warlords of New York – Season Four Overview trailer HERE.

More game information can be found on the official Tom Clancy’s The Division 2 website.

Source: TechPowerUp!

NVIDIA today released the GeForce 460.79 WHQL Game Ready drivers. These drivers come on the eve of what’s easily the year’s most anticipated game release—Cyberpunk 2077, and the drivers come with optimization, including support for DLSS and RTX raytracing. Also included is day-one optimization for Minecraft with RTX for Windows 10.

Among the issues fixed with GeForce 460.79 WHQL are an artifact noticed on certain Forza Motorsport 7 race tracks. Display color format changing from RGB to ycbcr422 on certain high refresh-rate displays has been fixed. G-Sync with 3x display Surround causing certain games to freeze at launch, which has been fixed. An issue causing NVAPI returning an incorrect Tensor core count for RTX 30-series GPUs has been fixed. MPC-HC crashing on playback of videos with 1088-pixel width has been fixed. Certain display settings relevant to 5K displays has been fixed. NVIDIA also expanded the list of G-Sync compatible displays.

You can download the GeForce 460.79 WHQL Game Ready drivers via GeForce.com.

Source: TechPowerUp!

AMD has released the latest version of Radeon Software Adrenalin drivers. Version 20.12.1 WHQL comes with support for the new Radeon RX 6900 XT. The drivers also come with optimization for “Cyberpunk 2077.” Among the issues fixed with the release include a bug that caused lower than expected clock speeds in certain games, a synchronization issue with HP Reverb G2 VR HMD with RX 6800 series, display corruption issues with Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege in hybrid graphics scenarios; an issue with CrossFire, and Performance Metrics Overlay.

The Radeon Software Adrenalin 20.12.1 WHQL drivers are available online at the AMD driver download page.