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CES 2023: Witchfire trailer confirms Nvidia DLSS 3 support

By Giovanni Colantonio January 3, 2023

CES 2024

Read and watch our complete CES coverage here

Developer The Astronauts released a new gameplay trailer for its upcoming game Witchfire, showing off its action. The clip confirms that the shooter will support Nvidia DLSS 3.

Witchfire is a fantasy first-person shooter set to launch sometime this year, following its delay in 2022. It’s a fast-paced action game with open-ended levels, though the developer emphasizes it’s not an open-world game. The new 45-second gameplay clip shows off some of its combat, as its hero rips through demons Doom-style with guns, fists, and crossbows.

The trailer confirms that the title will utilize Nvidia DLSS 3. The unique technology uses AI to generate additional frames while playing a game. That in turn boosts performance without forcing players to compromise on resolution. Developer The Astronauts notes that the tech is an especially strong fit for the fast-paced nature of Witchfire.

“You start the game, push all graphics options to the max,” writes Witchfire creative director Adrian Chmielarz in a press release. “You enjoy it for a while but then, especially if it’s an action game, you realize that the framerate is king. So you start lowering the quality of visuals in order to achieve that smooth gameplay. DLSS 3 allows the seemingly impossible, high frame rate without compromising the visuals. A no-brainer for a game like Witchfire, which is both action and beauty.”

Witchfire is the latest title to utilize the tech, joining a list of games like Spider-Man: Miles Morales and A Plague Tale: Requiem. Some of 2023’s other upcoming releases will utilize the tech, including Hogwarts Legacy and Atomic Heart.

Nvidia had several other reveals during its presentation, so make sure to read our roundup of everything Nvidia announced at CES 2023.

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Giovanni Colantonio

Section Editor, Gaming

Giovanni is a writer and video producer focusing on happenings in the video game industry. He has contributed stories to…

Gaming

Baldur’s Gate 3 drops Series S splitscreen support to release on Xbox in 2023

Jaheira in Baldur's Gate 3.

Larian Studios promises to release Baldur's Gate 3 on Xbox Series X/S later this year after pushing the game back because of performance problems on Xbox Series S.
Baldur's Gate 3 is available now on PC and will come out for PS5 on September 6, but an Xbox Series X/S version won't be available for a little bit longer. In a July 2023 community update, developer Larian Studios explained that this is because it needed "to ensure that the game is performing without compromise across the entire Xbox X/S ecosystem, in multiplayer and with split-screen. The Xbox Series X version was running fine, but the Xbox Series S version of the game was struggling a lot more. The Xbox versions of Baldur's Gate 3 didn't have a release window until now, when Larian Studios co-founder Swen Vincke took to X to confirm it'd come to Xbox platforms before the end of the year. That said, it will exclude one notable feature.
"Super happy to confirm that after meeting [Phil Spencer] yesterday, we’ve found a solution that allows us to bring Baldur’s Gate 3 to Xbox players this year still, something we’ve been working towards for quite some time," Vincke wrote. "All improvements will be there, with split-screen coop on Series X. Series S will not feature split-screen co-op, but will also include cross-save progression between Steam and Xbox Series."
Thankfully, it looks like Xbox players won't have to wait too much longer to play this excellent game, but it will be one of the first games to notably drop a major feature between the Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S versions. This follows comments by Head of Xbox Phil Spencer where he said he doesn't believe Microsoft will drop support for Xbox Series S in the foreseeable future. "I want to make sure games are available on both, that's our job as a platform holder and we're committed to that with our partners," Spencer told Eurogamer. "And I think we're gonna get there with Larian. So I'm not overly worried about that, but we've learned some stuff through it. Having an entry-level price point for console, sub-$300, is a good thing for the industry."

Baldur's Gate 3 is available now for PC, launches for PS5 on September 6, and will finally come out for Xbox Series X/S before the end of 2023.

Gaming

S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 Gamescom trailer confirms delay, but looks fantastic

A Stalker from Stalker 2 look off in the distance with a radioactive symbol behind him.

At Gamescom 2023, Ukrainian game developer GSC Game World gave another update on its highly anticipated first-person shooter horror game S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl. It did push the game back until next year, but we also got our best look yet at gameplay in a new trailer.
S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl — Bolts & Bullets Trailer
The trailer begins with the player emerging from a sewer into the game's irradiated wasteland. We see the player slowly move around a few different environments before shooting at a supernatural enemy in a facility. The trailer only gets more intense from there as we see the player kit out their gun before taking on a variety of enemies, from humans to dogs to more disgusting-looking supernatural enemies. At the end of the trailer, we learn that S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 will now launch in the first quarter of 2024 and that preorders are finally open.
This long-awaited sequel to a PC cult classic has had a very turbulent development. It was originally supposed to be released in April 2022, but has gotten delayed multiple times due to development challenges and the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Some of its developers are fighting with the Ukrainian Armed Forces, while others moved to the Czech Republic to finish the game. On top of all of that, GSC Game World has faced multiple cyberattacks and game leaks it attributes to Russia.

Despite all of the challenges GSC Game World has faced in the development of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2, the game seems to be shaping up nicely. This new trailer is full of intense action and very atmospheric moments, and previews from people playing the game at Gamescom 2023 are positive. Hopefully, GSC Game World can take this positive momentum and meet its new release window.
S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl will launch sometime in the first quarter of 2024 for PC and Xbox Series X/S.

Computing

Half-Life 2 is getting Nvidia’s RTX treatment with DLSS 3

Gordon Freeman's suit in Half-Life 2 RTX

Nvidia announced Half-Life 2 RTX at Gamescom, which means one of the best games of all time will get a community-made remaster with ray-tracing, DLSS 3, and more, similar to what happened with Portal.

Half-Life 2 RTX is the latest in a long stream of fan-made remasters for classic PC games that demonstrate the power of Nvidia's latest technology. Last year, Valve Software's Portal got this treatment, and Digital Trends called it the most demanding PC game we've ever tested. It's not surprising that Nvidia would move on to what is probably Valve's other most influential game, Half-Life 2. This game, which was originally released in 2004, set a new bar for first-person shooters and has a vibrant modding community. Now, some of those modders have come together to form Orbifold Studios and are working with Nvidia to release Half-Life 2 RTX.