Weekly Roundup: Firebreak Ends Content, Cyberpunk Gets TCG, DLSS Causes a Stir and More
How was your week? There’s been a good variety of happenings in the industry since Monday, so let’s dive straight in and see what’s what.
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NVIDIA ACCUSED OF AI SLOP
NVIDIA rolling out regular tech updates for games isn’t normally that exciting, as it’s been iterating upon its various DLSS and RTX architecture for a while now. However, this week it revealed the latest version of DLSS is due to arrive in the fall; as for what this actually does, here’s NVIDIA’s explanation from a press release:
“DLSS 5 introduces a real-time neural rendering model that infuses pixels with photoreal lighting and materials. Bridging the divide between rendering and reality, DLSS 5 empowers game developers to deliver a new level of photoreal computer graphics previously only achieved in Hollywood visual effects.”
This news was accompanied by the above image of Grace from Resident Evil Requiem, which led to pretty much all gaming sites decrying it (incorrectly) as “AI slop.” The reveal also caused plenty of the same sites to indulge in a bit of pearl-clutching as they all rallied around the same idea of it somehow replacing, or overwriting the work of, game artists.
NVIDIA’s CEO Jensen Huang refuted such talk at GTC 2026: “Well, first of all, they’re completely wrong,” he said. “The reason for that is because, as I have explained very carefully, DLSS 5 fuses controllability of the geometry and textures and everything about the game with generative AI.”
“All of that is in the control – direct control – of the game developer,” he added. “This is very different than generative AI; it’s content-control generative AI. That’s why we call it neural rendering.”
In short, it can allow developers to implement any number of visual effects via shaders that can then be applied easily to the entire game. DLSS 5 also has the backing of major game studios including Bethesda, NetEase, and Ubisoft. It’s set to be included in games such as AION 2, Assassin’s Creed Shadows, Black State, Hogwarts Legacy, Phantom Blade Zero, and The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered.
Cyberpunk TCG Makes History
On Tuesday (March 17), CD PROJEKT RED and WeirdCo launched a Kickstarter campaign to raise funds for a TCG based on both the Cyberpunk 2077 video game and Edgerunners show on Netflix. It hit its $100,000 goal in just five minutes.
It currently still has 28 days to go, with (at the time of writing) 13,057 backers already pledging a staggering $10,660,751. That’s not a typo: they’ve raised over $10 million in under three days. This has made it the “Most Funded TCG Ever” as the campaign page now proudly displays.
“Pour one out for him! New pledge tier Night City Legend – Jackie Welles is available now on our Rewards page!” reads the latest update from WeirdCo on the page. “New stretch goal incoming: $12,000,000 – more variants for add-on neoprene playmat! Three more playmat add-on options to choose from!”
The playmats all feature Cyberpunk artwork, but arguably the most exciting news is that every backer at the Netrunner Starter Pack tier and above receives a free Beta Box. This includes a Booster pack and a Legend pack. As more stretch goals are unlocked, the Beta Box gets more stuff added to it (like extra Rare and Legend cards).
Pledge tiers start at $49 and go all the way up to an eye-watering $7,999. Currently, 11 people have backed at this top level. The TCG will ship in two waves once the campaign ends: the first wave will only contain starter decks, Beta booster displays, add-on starter decks, and add-on Beta booster displays, and these’ll go out starting Q3 2026 with express shipping.
The second wave will contain accessories from the Netrunner Starter Kit pledge tier and above, Common Cyberdecks and Quickhacks pledge tier starter decks, Beta booster displays, add-on starter decks and add-on Beta booster displays. These roll out from Q4 2026 with standard shipping.
As for how it’s actually played, WeirdCo have put out a handy video:
Layoffs Affect Tom Clancy Studio and Tomb Raider
Another week, another round of major studio layoffs in the video game industry. This time, it’s Red Storm Entertainment and Crystal Dynamics; the former was founded by Tom Clancy in 1996 and the latter is the current home to the latest Tomb Raider game.
In a LinkedIn post yesterday, Crystal Dynamics said it’s “reducing its workforce by 20 talented team members, split between some development personnel and some central operations roles,” and added “We know that news like this can cause concern amongst our community. Crystal Dynamics remains fully committed to the future development of our already announced Tomb Raider titles.” This marks the fourth round of lay-offs at the studio within a year. Crystal Dynamics is currently linked with Amazon Game Studios which itself has seen a lot of studios lose employees.
As for Red Storm, this studio’s best known for titles such as Rainbow Six and Ghost Recon, but pivoted to VR around 10 years ago. It was also bought by Ubisoft in 2000, and it’s this company that’s behind the layoffs. Ubisoft started 2026 by announcing a serious restructure that includes firing around 18% of its staff across various studios, as well as cancelling multiple games.
Notably, Red Storm isn’t being shut down; rather, Ubisoft is ending the game development side of the studio and instead will continue in more of a tech support role.
Firebreak is Dead (Sort of)
It also hasn’t been a good year for Remedy, in terms of the trouble it’s had with live service shooter FBC: Firebreak. A lot has already been reported about the poor sales and player/critic reception to the game, but now the sort-of final nail in the coffin has been hammered in: Firebreak received its final content update this week.
“FBC: Firebreak was built by a team fueled by passion and experimentation,” said Game Director Mike Kayatta. “That spirit shaped the game, but the moments that brought it to life were the ones that players created together.”
“We want to make sure those moments can continue for the players who are already here, and for anyone else looking for a high-energy, low-pressure game night with friends. That’s why the relay servers are staying up, the price is going down, and a Friend’s Pass is going in. From all of us on the team, thank you for your own passion and experimentation, and we’ll see you in there.”
The Open House update adds a bunch of new arenas (Cafeteria, Aircon Room, Ranger HQ, Turntable, Ritual Lobby) in the existing Endless Shift mode, alongside weapon, perk and various gameplay tweaks. The Friend’s Pass is free, and lets anyone join a game as long as they’re invited by someone who owns a full copy. Remedy has also promised to keep the game’s servers up for “years to come.”
The issues that have plagued FBC: Firebreak and led to this moment are succinctly summed up in a recent user review on Steam by Agent Dale Cooper: “I love Remedy, but this live service BS lives off the mood of the crowd that buys it. The few people playing this game are not friendly.”
“It’s a gamble doing live service and everyone else is pushing it. Remedy’s greatest strength is doing storytelling that no one else is doing in gaming, thanks to Sam Lake.” In a perfect act of username-comment synergy they ended with “It’s the unique tone, characters, and storylines that Sam Lake has created. If we lose his voice, it will be like losing David Lynch all over again.”
Other News This Week: Embark Studios, MindsEye, and Fortnite
A few bite-sized pieces of gaming-related news now: Embark Studios recently saw its CEO also take on a major role with Nexon, and now it’s lost its co-founder and Chief Commercial Officer Rob Runesson but for less favorable reasons. Runesson has quit following accusations of sexual misconduct involving an unnamed female streamer.
Embark Studios released a statement three days ago: “Our leadership team was recently made aware of allegations against an Embark employee. We take these matters seriously, and as a part of our process for addressing any types of allegations, we immediately hired a law firm to conduct an external investigation. The investigation did not substantiate the allegations, but we found the situation unsustainable and mutually agreed to part ways with Rob.”
This news follows previous issues with male esports players allegedly harassing female gamers in Embark’s other live service game, The Finals, as highlighted by the game’s community last month.
MindsEye was also back in the news this week and it’s never, ever for a good reason. This time, it’s because IOI Partners (the Hitman franchise) has split from MindsEye developers Build a Rocket Boy, leaving the beleaguered studio to now act as its own publisher.
“In light of this separation, the Hitman mission announced in June 2025, planned as a crossover event within MindsEye, will no longer be released. However, BARB plans on working with partners on other projects in the future,” the companies said in a joint press release.
Last but not least, Epic brought a potential player boycott down on Fortnite this week as it revealed it was bumping up the price of V-Bucks. Epic said “The cost of running Fortnite has gone up a lot and we’re raising prices to help pay the bills” in an official news post on March 10 that also details how the pricing, and various packs/Battle Pass, are affected. Interestingly, rather than an explicit price hike, Epic are instead lowering the amount of V-Bucks gamers can get. For example, $8.99 used to get you 1,000 V-Bucks but now it gets you 800.
Players took to social media to try and ensure people didn’t play on March 19 (the start of the new in-game season), although there’s currently no word on how well they achieved this [personal note: I jumped in last night and found no noticeable drop in players across game types].
