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I've been hoping for a long while that bad performing PC ports would become a thing of the past, but over the last few years, that hasn't panned out. The biggest examples of recent games are Rise of the Ronin (which I've covered previously), Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, and Monster Hunter Wilds, which all suffer from constant stuttering and rely on upscaling methods like DLSS for performance stability.

It's not just performance either; the lack of ultrawide compatibility in some games today is alarming, as there's no secret that ultrawide displays have become more mainstream than ever before.

Fortunately, Shift Up's Stellar Blade is one of the recent outliers, with fantastic performance and optimization, including ultrawide compatibility up to a 32:9 aspect ratio.

This also applies to cutscenes, as some titles that do have ultrawide introduce black bars during cutscenes – and yes, I know this is to prevent some strange glitches from happening where you're not supposed to see them. However, I want more titles to include the option to disable black bars (as some games do).

There are numerous popular games I've mentioned before that don't have ultrawide support whatsoever; I won't go into a full deep dive again, but Stellar Blade is another game coming from Sony's PlayStation 5 console that both runs well and adheres to multiple user configurations well – so this is another plea for other game developers to do better.

To give you an idea of how good performance is in Stellar Blade, I've been able to achieve over 60fps at 1080p on medium graphics settings on my Asus ROG Ally, sometimes even reaching low 80fps. Switching on AMD Frame Generation sees the frame rate shoot up to 112fps – and notably, it doesn't feel choppy or laggy, since frame generation tech works best when the base frame rate is up to a good standard (and 60fps is perfect for that).

With the Steam Deck, 60fps on lower settings is easily achieved, too, and this is perhaps one of the very few games that is Deck Verified, and lives up to it. It only gets better if you're using a device like the MSI Claw 8 AI+, which boasts more horsepower than its competitors.

On the side of desktop PCs, Stellar Blade easily runs at over 100fps consistently without the use of Nvidia's Frame Generation, on the highest graphics settings. It's possible thanks to an RTX 4080 Super and an AMD Ryzen 7 5700X3D, and it's a huge indication of just how powerful PC hardware can be when games are made to run optimally.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying there aren't other games that don't impress with good optimization, but rather, there are too many bad apples among triple-A titles. Those bad PC ports leave a sour taste behind for those who spend on high-end hardware, because as good as those systems may be, there's only so much they can do to brute force things.

It's also worth noting that handheld gaming PCs are becoming mainstream (or arguably already have), and while a portion of them utilize very powerful hardware, it's not the case with others like the Steam Deck. So, ports like Stellar Blade on PC are great for fans to see, and I'm hoping game developers and publishers can look at this as a template going forward.

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• Cybercriminals are recycling expired Discord links to launch silent, devastating multi-stage malware attacks
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• Old community invite links now lead to malware servers stealing your data and digital assets

Cybercriminals are increasingly exploiting a lesser-known flaw in Discord’s invitation system to target unsuspecting users, particularly gamers, new research has claimed.

A report from researchers from Check Point found attackers manage to register previously valid invite links with custom vanity URLs.

The tactic involves hijacking once legitimate and trusted expired or deleted Discord invite links and redirecting them to malicious servers hosting multi-stage malware campaigns.

These hijacked links, often embedded in old forum posts, community pages, or social media, are being used to silently funnel users to Discord servers operated by threat actors.

Once on these fake servers, users are greeted with what appears to be a standard verification process.

A bot named “Safeguard” prompts visitors to click a “Verify” button, which initiates an OAuth2 process and redirects them to a phishing site.

The site employs a social engineering method called “ClickFix,” where users are tricked into copying and running a PowerShell command under the guise of fixing a broken CAPTCHA.

This action silently launches the malware installation chain, with the attackers using cloud services such as Pastebin, GitHub, and Bitbucket to deliver the payloads in multiple stages, allowing them to blend into normal network traffic.

Initial scripts download executables that retrieve further encrypted payloads, which include AsyncRAT, a tool that gives attackers remote control over infected systems, and a tailored variant of the Skuld Stealer designed to extract credentials and cryptocurrency wallet data.

Gamers have become a prime target, with campaigns even disguising malware as tools like The Sims 4 DLC unlockers - one archive named Sims4-Unlocker.zip was downloaded over 350 times, highlighting the campaign's reach.

Through clever evasion techniques such as delayed execution and command-line argument checks, the malware often bypasses detection from even the best antivirus software.

The threats extend beyond typical malware infections. The Skuld Stealer used in these attacks can extract crypto wallet seed phrases and passwords, effectively granting full control over victims’ digital assets.

Considering the focus on cryptocurrency theft and credential harvesting, individuals should reinforce their defenses with robust identity theft protection services.

These tools can monitor for unauthorized use of personal information, alert users to breaches, and assist in recovering compromised digital identities.

While some might assume that endpoint protection tools would shield them from these tactics, the multi-layered, modular structure of the attack often flies under the radar.

To stay safe, users must be wary of Discord invite links, especially those embedded in old content. Also, avoid running unexpected scripts or following suspicious verification steps.

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