Split Fiction Proves Massively Popular During Launch Week, Sells Over 2 Million Copi

EA's latest RPG, Split Fiction, launched to much fanfare from critics and gamers alike, with its unorthodox gameplay style and a focus on co-op setting it apart from other recent game releases. It seems as though this early launch success has carried over to financial success for EA and the game's developer, beating out even the massively popular It Takes Two, which also came from Hazelight Studios. As of the time of writing, SteamDB reports that Split Fiction has garnered a peak concurrent player count of 259,003 players.

Hazelight Studios today also announced that it had sold over 2 million copies of Split Fiction in the game's first week. For comparison, this is twice as many sales as the recently cancelled Price of Persia: The Lost Crown managed in the year since it released. Hazelight's previous co-op hit, It Takes Two, peaked at just over 70,000 concurrent players nearly three years after its initial launch. Compared to other Steam games, Split Fiction currently sits in 51st place when it comes to peak concurrent player counts, just behind Rust but ahead of The Finals. It's worth mentioning that Split Fiction is also a full price game, coming in at $49.99 on Steam, while the majority of the other games in the top 50 ranking are free-to-play. Read full story


https://www.techpowerup.com/334137/split...s-on-steam

I’ve always seen prologues in books but never really understood their purpose—until I read a fantastic blog on Self Publishing Guides. The blog answered my question, what is a prologue in a book, in such an easy-to-understand way!
It explained when and why authors use prologues, and now, I see them as an important storytelling tool rather than just an extra chapter. If you’ve ever wondered about prologues, this blog is a must-read!

In today's digital landscape, cybersecurity threats are becoming increasingly sophisticated, making robust Intrusion Detection Systems (IDS) solutions essential for businesses. Progatix offers advanced IDS solutions that provide real-time monitoring, threat detection, and security analytics to protect networks and sensitive data from malicious attacks.

Fortnite and Anti-Cheat To Get Windows on Arm Support Despite Abysmal Adoption Rates

In something of a surprise, Epic Games today announced that it is working with Qualcomm to integrate support for the Qualcomm Snapdragon X CPUs into Easy Anti-Cheat, officially adding Fortnite to the list of games that are available for Windows on Arm. According to the post announcing the upcoming change to EAC, support for Windows on Arm in Fortnite will arrive before the end of 2025. Until the EAC update arrives, EAC will block Windows on Arm players from playing games like Fortnite because Windows on Arm devices use Prism emulation and translation to run x86 apps on Arm hardware. At the time of writing, the unofficial Windows on Arm app compatibility tracker lists a total of 675 apps as compatible with the Arm SoCs, 121 of which are games. This is compared to 17,955 games that are verified or playable on the Steam Deck via Valve's Proton translation layer, according to ProtonDB.

Expanding support for EAC to Windows on Arm could also allow games like Apex Legends and Fall Guys to run on Arm devices. This news comes in spite of the slow adoption of Windows on Arm devices, which Epic Games CEO, Tim Sweeney infamously quoted as the reason for not supporting the Steam Deck or Linux as a platform. "If we only had a few more programmers. It's the Linux problem. I love the Steam Deck hardware. Valve has done an amazing job there; I wish they would get to tens of millions of users, at which point it would actually make sense to support it." However, market share for Windows on Arm still appears to fall short of the market share Linux commands in the desktop OS space. Read full story


https://www.techpowerup.com/334093/fortn...tion-rates

Congatec Unveils Acetone-Based Cooling Solution for Extreme Cold Environments

At Embedded World 2025, Congatec unveiled an acetone-based heat pipe cooling solution explicitly engineered for sub-zero operating environments. The system addresses thermal management challenges in extreme cold conditions where traditional cooling mechanisms risk freezing and component damage. Yes, even at sub-zero environments the CPU still needs a dissipation medium as its heat density is still a problem. Operating reliably at temperatures as low as -40°C, the technology utilizes acetone's -95°C freezing point to maintain thermal transfer functionality in arctic environments. The solution resolves a fundamental limitation of water-based systems, which become inoperable at their 0°C freezing threshold. Despite water's superior latent heat of vaporization (2,260 J/g), its physical properties render it unsuitable for extreme cold applications.

Acetone's thermal properties prevent ice formation and reduce condensation risks, creating a stable heat transfer mechanism for polar research, high-altitude infrastructure, cold storage, and industrial automation in harsh climates. Imagine an edge server operating in the North Pole, needing to collect and process data locally before getting it to the research/scientist team. The solution integrates directly with Congatec's Computer-on-Module (COM) portfolio, including COMe, COM-HPC, and COM-HPC mini designs, eliminating the need for custom cooling system development. An optional heat pipe adapter will be available for specialized implementations. The company clarified that acetone-based cooling is purpose-built exclusively for extreme cold environments rather than general applications, as water remains superior for conventional temperature ranges due to its greater heat dissipation capacity, lower cost, and widespread availability.


https://www.techpowerup.com/334022/conga...vironments

AMD Launches the EPYC Embedded 9005 "Turin" Family of Server Processors

AMD today launched the EPYC Embedded 9005 line of server processors in the embedded form-factor. These are non-socketed variants of the EPYC 9005 "Turin" server processors. The chips are intended for servers and other enterprise applications where processor replacements or upgradability are not a consideration. The EPYC Embedded 9005 "Turin" are otherwise every bit similar to the regular socketed EPYC 9005 series. These chips are based on a BGA version of the "Turin" chiplet-based processor, and powered by the "Zen 5" microarchitecture. Besides the BGA package, the EPYC Embedded 9005 series comes with a few features relevant to its form-factor and target use-cases.

To begin with, the EPYC Embedded 9005 "Turin" series comes with NTB (non-transparent bridging), a technology that enables high-performance data transfer between two processor packages across different memory domains. NTB doesn't use Infinity Fabric or even CXL, but a regular PCI-Express 5.0 x16 connection. It isn't intended to provide cache coherence, but to absorb faults across various memory domains. Next up, the series supports DRAM flush for enhanced power-loss mitigation. Upon detecting a power loss, the processor immediately dumps memory onto NVMe storage, before the machine turns off. On restart, the BIOS copies this memory dump from the NVMe SSD back to DRAM. Thirdly, the processors in the series support dual SPI flash interfaces, which enables system architects to embed lightweight operating systems directly onto a 64 MB SPI flash ROM, besides the primary SPI flash that stores the system BIOS. This lightweight OS can act like a bootloader for operating systems in other local storage devices. Read full story


https://www.techpowerup.com/333913/amd-l...processors

NVIDIA Irons Out "Blackwell" Black Screen Issues with Latest GeForce Hotfix Display

NVIDIA has finally responded to widespread stability problems affecting its RTX 50 series "Blackwell" GPU lineup with the release of GeForce Hotfix Display Driver 572.75. The emergency update specifically targets two critical issues: black screen crashes plaguing the entire RTX 50 series and performance degradation after system reboots when overclocking RTX 5080/5090 models. This hotfix arrives after weeks of user complaints about system instability, particularly when utilizing DLSS 4 frame generation and other advanced features. The release comes directly through NVIDIA's Customer Care support site rather than standard distribution channels, packed in the hotfix release.

According to NVIDIA's release notes, the driver underwent an "abbreviated QA process" to spread its availability to affected users. While the company acknowledges the complexity of its driver software and has "an army of software engineers" addressing bugs, many early Blackwell buyers have expressed frustration over paying premium prices for hardware hindered by fundamental stability issues. NVIDIA has indicated that these fixes and additional improvements will be incorporated into the next official WHQL-certified driver release, though no specific timeline has been provided. At TechPowerUp, we don't host hotfix drivers, only WHQL versions, so you must go to NVIDIA's website here to download the latest driver.


https://www.techpowerup.com/333854/nvidi...er-v572-75

This Week in Gaming (Week 11)

Welcome to the second week of March, which takes us to the end of feudal Japan for this week's major release. This is followed by what can only be called a Minecraft wannabe, but with slightly less blocky graphics, a cozy game about tea, a PvP action roguelike, some H. P. Lovecraft inspired horror and finally some big guys and gals in tights pretending to wrestle. The rest of this week was pretty slim pickings, so there are no additional new releases this week.

Rise of the Ronin / This week's major release / Tuesday 11 March
An open-world RPG set in the Bakumatsu period, where players take on the role of a ronin forging their own destiny. The game features multiple possible endings, allowing players to choose which faction to support—such as the anti-shogunate faction, pro-shogunate faction, or Western forces—which significantly alters the story's outcome. Steam link Read full story


https://www.techpowerup.com/333827/this-...ng-week-11

China Develops Domestic EUV Tool, ASML Monopoly in Trouble

China's domestic extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography development is far from a distant dream. The newest system, now undergoing testing at Huawei's Dongguan facility, leverages laser-induced discharge plasma (LDP) technology, representing a potentially disruptive approach to EUV light generation. The system is scheduled for trial production in Q3 2025, with mass manufacturing targeted for 2026, potentially positioning China to break ASML's technical monopoly in advanced lithography. The LDP approach employed in the Chinese system generates 13.5 nm EUV radiation by vaporizing tin between electrodes and converting it to plasma via high-voltage discharge, where electron-ion collisions produce the required wavelength. This methodology offers several technical advantages over ASML's laser-produced plasma (LPP) technique, including simplified architecture, reduced footprint, improved energy efficiency, and potentially lower production costs.

The LPP method relies on high-energy lasers and complex FPGA-based real-time control electronics to achieve the same result. While ASML has refined its LPP-based systems over decades, the inherent efficiency advantages of the LDP approach could accelerate China's catch-up timeline in this critical semiconductor manufacturing technology. When the US imposed sanctions on EUV shipments to Chinese companies, the Chinese semiconductor development was basically limited as standard deep ultraviolet (DUV) wave lithography systems utilize 248 nm (KrF) and 193 nm (ArF) wavelengths for semiconductor patterning, with 193 nm immersion technology representing the most advanced pre-EUV production technique. These longer wavelengths contrast with EUV's 13.5 nm radiation, requiring multiple patterning techniques to achieve advanced nodes. Read full story


https://www.techpowerup.com/333801/china...in-trouble

TechPowerUp HWBOT Contest 2025: The Winners

The TechPowerUp HWBOT Team brought you the 2025 TPU HWBOT Contest, with cash prizes up for grabs. To win, PC enthusiasts would have to make submissions to our HWBOT Team, each submission is worth 10 points, and we have three winners for the top-3 contributors. The Contest was open in the months of January thru February, spanning a wide range of benchmarks and OC feats. The entries have closed, and we have our three top contributors.Deslok with 629 submissions, wins $150neurotix with 369 submissions, wins $100NattyKathy with 42 submissions, wins $50A huge congratulations to you three, and thanks for everyone else to make our contest a success!

Learn more about the TechPowerUp HWBOT team, and check us out on HWBOT.


https://www.techpowerup.com/333738/techp...he-winners