For PC gamers, the most important component is the graphics card we choose to jam into our machines. But without a quality screen to go with it, we're not going to be getting the best out of that GPU. So what makes a "gaming" monitor worth the money? What makes it better than the average LCD? We tested more than a dozen monitors to find the best, with the right balance of resolution, refresh rate, color quality and viewing angles.

Update 12/15/2015: We now have a pick for the best FreeSync gaming monitor. For Nvidia users, we've still got our eye on the Acer Predator XB1 and Asus PG279Q.Update 11/6/2015: Asus and Acer have near-identical G-Sync monitors releasing in November that are both strong candidates for the best gaming monitor. We'll be checking them out, so stay tuned.

The best gaming monitor

The Acer XB270HU is simply the best gaming monitor you can buy right now. For years, gamers have been forced to make a choice between picture quality and refresh rate. Cheaper, faster TN panels delivered fast refresh speeds up to 144 Hz, while IPS screens offered more vibrant colors and dramatically better viewing angles, but at much slower refresh rates. Finally, with the XB270HU, that s a problem of the past: Acer is the first company to pair an IPS screen with a 144 Hz refresh rate, which is why this monitor has replaced our previous favorite, the Asus RoG Swift.

We wrote that the RoG Swift was dangerously close to being the perfect gaming display thanks to the sheer amount of tech it has shoved into its slimline chassis, and the Acer XB270HU fits the same description. It offers a 144 Hz refresh with low input lag, Nvidia G-Sync support for variable refresh, and a beautiful, vibrant IPS screen.

One note: if you're an Nvidia user, this is a great monitor for you. If you're an AMD user, however, you won't benefit from the G-Sync functionality and should consider a FreeSync monitor instead. Our pick for that is below.

Like the RoG Swift, the XB270HU is a 27-inch monitor with a 2560x1440 resolution, which we currently consider the sweet spot for high-end gaming. It offers substantially more pixels than 1080p without being as demanding as a 4K panel, meaning games look sharp at 27 inches but won t bring a good GPU to its knees.

The best argument for the XB270HU s dominance as a gaming monitor comes from TFTCentral s exhaustive review. The review dives into the panel s refresh rate, color balance, and every one of its features, which you can read about at the link.

But here s the conclusion: When you combine the high 2560 x 1440 resolution, fast response times, freedom from overshoot, 144Hz refresh rate support, ULMB blur reduction mode, G-sync support and very low lag you have one hell of a gaming monitor. We feel that this screen pips the excellent Asus ROG Swift PG278Q thanks to its IPS panel, bringing with it a lighter, clearer AG coating and improvements in image quality and viewing angles compared with TN Film offerings. You're really combining the best of both worlds here.

TFTCentral does point out a few minor drawbacks—the panel could use better presets and doesn t quite have the build quality or style of the RoG Swift. It also only has a DisplayPort input, which is the case for all monitors that use Nvidia s G-Sync module. That s fine for PC use, but if you want an all-around monitor for plugging in consoles, too, it s not the best option.

The only other drawback is price. At $800, this is an expensive monitor any way you look at it. But considering it s a dramatically better panel than the Asus RoG Swift, launching at the same price, it s easy to recommend.

We consider a monitor an investment. Don t buy something cheap you ll want to replace in two years. Buy a great monitor that will still be going strong half a decade from now. Asus has its own 144Hz IPS monitor coming out this fall, but it will be similar to Acer s offering. That competition may drive down pricing, but for now, the Acer XB270HU is the best choice, and worth every dollar.

The best FreeSync monitor

Right now there's really no competition for the Asus MG279Q: this is absolutely the best monitor for AMD users who want a FreeSync display. It's a 1440p IPS screen that can refresh up to 144Hz, like our favorite monitor above. But because it uses the open FreeSync technology instead of G-Sync, it's considerably cheaper.

Thanks to that IPS screen, colors look great even from off-angles. The base is sturdy (and allows for lots of tilting, pivoting, and height adjustments) and the bezel is fairly thin, which is nice for a 27-inch monitor that s already taking up a good deal of space. The on-screen menu is easy to navigate thanks to a joystick nub on the rear of the display. Like most other gaming displays, it also has a light anti-gloss coating, which I like; some older IPS displays went too heavy on the coating and affected image quality, but the MG279Q doesn t have that problem.

In TFTCentral's review of the MG279Q, they found the monitor neck-and-neck with the Acer XB270HU (our favorite monitor) in terms of performance, although the Asus is missing a blur reduction feature available on the Acer monitor. Here's a quote from their MG279Q review:

Input lag is very comparable at the maximum 144Hz refresh rate (very low lag), but because of the scaler present in the MG279Q there is more lag at the lower refresh rates. The Acer has a wider dynamic refresh rate range between 40 and 144Hz, whereas the Asus is more limited at 35 - 90Hz. To be fair, it probably doesn't make much difference to normal users as that range is more than adequate, and in fact the slightly lower minimum range might be useful to a lot of people as opposed to the higher upper limit.

The dynamic refresh ranges they mentioned are pretty standard for G-Sync and FreeSync monitors, but the most important thing to note is that performance is nearly identical, which is great for a cheaper screen. Still, it is a bit of a drawback that the MG279Q doesn't support the adaptive refresh rate all the way up to 144 Hz. You have to choose between 144Hz and a lower (but still pretty great) 90Hz cap if you want a dynamic framerate.

TFTCentral also praised the MG279Q's setup out of the box, its contrast ratio and flicker free image. Another quote: Viewing angles and image stability were as you would expect from IPS, and certainly a key area separating this from the mass of TN Film gaming screens out there. The availability of a decent range of interface options and an internal scaler help separate this screen from G-sync models out there as well, not just because of the lower retail price.

With no other IPS FreeSync displays that can match the MG279Q on specs, this is a great monitor and an easy choice for anyone with an AMD graphics card.

The best 1080p monitor for gaming

This 22-inch Viewsonic screen is probably the most controversial choice in this whole test. It s a small display, isn t boasting any 144Hz refresh rate and the chassis isn t particularly nice. So why's it our favorite 1080p gaming monitor? Becuase it has a decent IPS panel inside that minimal bezel. More importantly, it s an astoundingly good value. The Viewsonic VX2263Smhl is only $140 on Amazon.

I ve been recommending Viewsonic s VX2370Smh in the PC Gamer Rig of our mashed-up-dead-tree counterpart, but it is becoming harder and harder to track that 23-inch IPS screen down. This slightly smaller version is only a few months old, and is almost as cheap.

I ve been recommending Viewsonic s VX2370Smh in the PC Gamer Rig of our mashed-up-dead-tree counterpart, but it is becoming harder and harder to track that 23-inch IPS screen down. This slightly smaller version is only a few months old, and is almost as cheap.

At $140 ( 110) it s an IPS bargain, and given the screen size is relatively small compared to our other favorites, its diminutive pixel pitch makes it seem even sharper. And because it s an IPS panel there s none of the terrible washed out colours you get with a cheap 1080p TN panel.

It s not the best IPS you ll ever see—I d wager it s a 6-bit screen as there s a certain amount of visible dithering in the gradients (in many cases, manufacturers don't reveal the exact specifications of their panel technology). That means the colours aren t as vibrant as you ll see on a true 8-bit or 10-bit IPS, but they re easily as good or better than the very latest 28-inch TN panels that make up the affordable 4K ranges. And that makes them way better than most other TN screens you ll see.

The contrast levels are good, the black levels and white saturation levels are almost perfect and the viewing angles are excellent. It s a great panel for the price.

And if you re going for a 1080p screen, you shouldn't spend much on it. If you re going to spend good money on a brand new monitor, make sure it s at least a 27-inch 1440p panel.

That s why the Viewsonic VX2263Smhl makes the most sense at this size, and that's why I'm calling it the best 1080p gaming monitor. Yes, there are 1080p monitors with better specs and larger screens, but if you're seriously investing in a gaming monitor—one you'll be using for years to come—it's worth it to spend a bit more on one of the other models in this guide.

Picking the Viewsonic itself from a sea of 1080p monitors was a tough call: the AOC G2460PG is a fantastic 1080p monitor with a great panel, but it s $450 ( 330) which is a ludicrous amount of money to spend on a 1080p TN screen, even if it does have 144Hz and G-Sync.

The best 4K monitor for gaming

For the same price as the Asus Swift you can actually pick up the very first 4K monitor with G-Sync built in, the $800 Acer XB280HK. Your excitement levels about such a thing are going to be entirely bound up in just how powerful a graphics array you have in your PC, and whether it s an Nvidia-based setup.

One of the biggest issues with gaming on 4K monitors is that you need a colossal amount of rendering power to game at decent frame rates at such high resolution. And arguably the best hardware for 4K gaming resides in the top AMD graphics cards, mostly thanks to their far speedier memory interfaces. When you're chucking around so many more pixels you need that extra bandwidth, something which Maxwell's augmented 256-bit bus struggles with.

But the AMD Radeon R9 295X2 requires a pair of GPUs to actually be able to hit 60FPS at Ultra 4K settings in Battlefield 4, where even the best GTX 980 struggles to hit 36FPS. 

A good 1440p screen will generally offer around twice the frame rate a 4K monitor will display because of the demands it puts on your graphics card (assuming you're playing at native resolution). So, is a G-Sync 4K monitor worth the money or the effort?

Most affordable 4K monitors are now rocking the speedy TN panel tech, which allows for a 1ms pixel response. That means they re actually pretty good receptacles for having a bit of G-Sync hardware chucked inside. And because this screen is around $800 ( 500), a similar price to most other 28-inch 4K monitors, you re almost getting the G-Sync tech in this display for free.

The added bonus is the latest TN panels used for the latest 4K monitors are far better than most of the other panels we've tested. Even the otherwise lovely RoG Swift has to make do with a screen that s noticeably lower quality than this cheaper, higher-resolution TN. The better quality of the latest panels is shown most noticeably in the viewing angles of the Acer XB280HK.

The vertical angles still aren t on the same level as a good IPS or VA display, especially when you re looking up at the screen, but the horizontal angles are almost indistinguishable from an 8-bit IPS monitor.

You ll also see the difference in the white saturation levels too; this Acer screen gets almost perfect image quality in that regard. This panel's black levels are unfortunately worse than the whites. With the other TN screens I ve tested it s completely the other way around. Elsewhere, the contrast is excellent and there is no visible banding to the gradients.

There is one other problem with 4K: size, and how it affects pixel density.

At 28 inches, the Acer XB280HK is almost too small to be a 4K display; you ll still end up having to scale the OS to get comfortably readable text and icons at the screen s native resolution. And Windows scaling is still not great. Things have improved with Windows 8, but you will still get some fuzziness and a whole host of third-party applications will struggle to cope or fit with a scaled display.

You ll also need a beefy system to get the best out of a 4K screen and, because this is a G-Sync monitor, you re also stuck Nvidia cards to get the most out of the glorious smoothness it can bestow upon your games.

Until our graphics hardware gets to the point where you can run a 4K display from a modestly-priced single GPU, I'd recommend sticking with a lower resolution screen like the RoG Swift above. That way you get great gaming frame rates and are better able to take advantage of the benefits of the 144Hz and G-Sync technology.

For UK readers: the Iiyama Prolite B2888UHSU

In a rare twist, folks in the UK actually get a better deal when it comes to 4K monitors, because they re blessed with affordable access to monitors from Iiyama. The price of Iiyama screens in the US makes them prohibitively expensive for the vast majority of people, while in the UK they can be amongst the best value. If you re not fussed on G-Sync, or prefer an AMD GPU array for your rig, then the Iiyama Prolite B2888UHSU is one of the best 4K monitors you can buy.

At just 420 the Prolite really is exceptional value for a 4K screen, and that doesn t equate to any quality reduction either. The modern TN panels used for these affordable super high-res screens are the best examples of this cheaper display tech.

The contrast levels and colour reproduction is genuinely hard to distinguish from an 8-bit IPS panel and that s high praise for TN. And out-of-the-box this Iiyama screen shows that image quality right from the off.

The best widescreen gaming monitor

The AOC U3477Pqu very nearly took the overall award for the best gaming monitor from the Asus RoG Swift. I am still quite torn over which should actually get the full honours, but for now the gorgeous 34-inch AOC will have to make do with the tag as the best widescreen gaming monitor. And boy, is it wide.

The 34-inch span across its diagonal is measured with a 21:9 aspect ratio, making it the same height as the Swift but almost a third again as wide. The 3440 x 1440 native resolution isn t as demanding on the GPU as a move up to 4K would be, but I would argue that it s a far more dramatic change to your gaming experience. For the better.

Sat at your desk, the 34-inch panel will almost entirely fill your field of view. That makes a big difference in-game, adding another level of immersion that the standard 16:9 aspect ratio cannot manage.

The AOC also has an absolutely beautiful IPS panel. It s a stunning screen, with glorious colour reproduction and contrast levels, and the 1440 pixel height makes it just as effective on the Windows desktop as it is with the wind and bullets whistling through your hair in Kyrat.

Where the Asus Swift has the edge is its 1ms pixel response and 144Hz refresh rate. For games, that speedy response is important. It also has the added bonus of G-Sync as well, offsetting the weaker TN panel it s sporting.

Another minor drawback for the AOC U3477Pqu: some games don't provide native 21:9 support. This can lead to images being stretched or unsightly black bars being placed around your screen. Thankfully, the PC gaming community has come to the rescue as always with the excellent  Flawless Widescreen application. It's a piece of third-party software that is continually being updated with to support games that don't have native 21:9.

The AOC is also an incredibly high-priced screen, with a recommended retail price of some $900 ( 600). That s a bitter pill to swallow, but the good news is the beauty of this screen will wash away the nasty taste that leaves in your mouth the instant you boot up your favourite game in its full 21:9 glory.

How we test gaming monitors and others we tested

The search for the best gaming monitor is a tough challenge. There's no perfect screen, and there's a whole lot of exciting new technology being squeezed into current monitors, so finding a panel that combines everything is an impossible mission. A mission so impossible (because 70 s TV shows have taught us there are gradations of impossibility), we might need to get Leonard Nimoy and Tom Cruise on the case.

You might be reading this on a slow, dull, washed-out TN panel. Our eyeballs are lazy, and they quickly become used to whatever panel they're looking at. Why upgrade? Because a good gaming monitor will improve your gaming experience just as much as a new graphics card. And it will last longer.

Seeing Elite: Dangerous or Far Cry 4 running on a high-res, 144Hz G-Sync screen will make you question why it's taken you so long to make the change. A great panel will likely outlast your entire PC. Possibly twice over. I m running a decade-old 2560 x 1600 Dell 30-inch panel on our test bench and it still looks great.

Is that titanic monitor the best gaming panel around right now? Of course not. The best gaming monitors right now are the Asus Republic of Gamers Swift PG278Q and the AOC U3477Pqu. They are both expensive screens, but both offer something unique, each with their own positives and slight drawbacks.

The Asus RoG Swift PG278Q has a 1ms pixel response, 144Hz refresh rate and instant-on capabilities. It s the fastest gaming screen in existence. The 2560 x 1440 panel uses Nvidia s G-Sync technology to smoothly sync the panel's refresh rate to the graphics card's. Paired with a GeForce GPU, this is the best gaming monitor around.

But then the AOC U3477Pqu has a stunning IPS panel and an utterly immersive and vision-filling 21:9 aspect ratio. With a native resolution of 3440 x 1440, it s crisper and more vibrant than the Swift s weaker panel, and when you ve got proper widescreen content it s more dramatic than anything I ve had sat on my desk.

Testing gaming monitors

There are two main ways to test out our screens to determine the best gaming monitor. The first is by playing games on it. Obv.

Subjectively testing the gaming performance of each panel isn t necessarily going to give you the lowdown on the specifics of a particular screen, but will let you test the functioning aspect ratio, native resolution and any particular gamer-centric technologies they re sporting.

Side-by-side comparative testing in this manner is also incredibly valuable for keying into the sometimes subtle differences between each panel. When you use a screen in isolation it s easy to become blind to its comparative faults as you simply get used to them. Testing screens back-to-back allows us to discover and highlight specific issues between them.

You can do more objective testing using the LCD calibration pages  here. This site offers several test screens you can bring up on any web connected panel to make reliable qualitative assessments. The days of actual retail space for such things are dwindling, but if you can get a look at a screen before purchasing it, plugging a notebook or such into it and checking out the Lagom pages is very handy.

Competitors

We tested a huge range of monitors to get a bead on the best panels to recommend, so we can be confident in our choice of the best gaming monitor.

We think a gaming monitor is a serious investment, and it's worth spending money now on something like the Asus RoG Swift or the AOC ultrawide. They'll both make your gaming experience better and still be great monitors years from now. But if you don't have that much to spend, there are some good alternatives below.

Some of these are still great monitors, but not the best. For example, check out the Ben-Q GW2765HT for a more affordable 27-inch IPS monitor, without the RoG Swift's amazing refresh rate or G-Sync.

Asus PQ321QE:

This 32-inch panel was our very first taste of 4K, and it is an utterly superlative panel. But while it s price has halved since launch it s still around $1,500 ( 1,500), which is still too much.

Asus PB287Q:

This was one of the first affordable 4K monitors we saw and is still quite beguiling. It is though running the same 28-inch TN panel as the Iiyama 4K we love and is a good bit more expensive at $560.

AOC U2868Pqu:

It s pretty much the same situation for AOC s affordable 4K panel. It s almost as good as the Iiyama panel, but more expensive and lacks the Acer s G-Sync extras.

Samsung 32SD850:

This big-screen, 32-inch Samsung screen had all the hallmarks of a quality monitor. The VA screen tech should be better than TN and its 2560 x 1440 res is great for gaming...but it s one of the poorest Samsung panels I ve seen with terrible viewing angle problems.

LG 34UM95:

Again, it s all down to price. I ve got a feeling this is the exact same panel as in the other 34-inch 21:9 panel I ve tested, but it s got some extra Apple-pleasing Thunderbolt connectivity which bumps up the price without offering us much in return. Not worth the $900.

Ben-Q GW2765HT:

I m actually rather taken by this BenQ panel. It s a good price at $440 ( 275) and offers a lovely 2560 x 1440 IPS panel with BenQ s quality controls and chassis. A good 27-inch IPS option for gamers.

Iiyama Prolite GB2773HS:

If you can t power a high-resolution monitor, but still want a bigger screen you can have a 27-inch 1080p panel instead. That said, we don't recommend it—pixel density is simply too low. This Iiyama s also benefitting from a 144Hz TN panel too, but it s got terrible white saturation levels and is super-expensive in the US.

AOC G2770Pqu:

The 27-inch AOC is running along the same lines as the Iiyama above. It s a big, 1080p panel with a 144Hz refresh rate. But that TN screen is as bleached as the bones in Death Valley.

Iiyama Prolite GB2488HSU:

With possibly the worst TN panel I ve ever seen, this Iiyama screen is beyond recommending even with a 144Hz display. The main issue is that it s just so washed out, even without the brightness set at 100%.

AOC G2460PG:

This was almost my favourite 1080p gaming screen, and only misses out because I baulk at spending $450 ( 330) on a 24-inch TN display. That said it is a lovely TN panel, almost as good as the current affordable 4K screens, and has both the G-Sync tech and a 144Hz refresh rate. The cheaper Viewsonic IPS though gets our vote for its sheer value.

Viewsonic VG2401mh:

And speaking of Viewsonic… This little 24-inch, 1080p panel is rocking the buttery-smooth 144Hz refresh rate, but still feels just a little too pricey for a wee TN panel.

Viewsonic VG2438sm:

The VG2438sm is a rarity both in this test and in real-life. It s rocking a 16:10 aspect ratio giving you more height to your display. At 30-inches that works great with our old Dell 3007WFP, but at 24-inches this aspect ratio just feels a tad boxy to make a good gaming monitor.

Future testing

Obviously this isn t a complete list of every single monitor available—I don t have the desk-space for them all!—but we ve covered a wide variety of different panel technologies, sizes, aspect ratios and manufacturers.

Right now the Asus RoG Swift PG278Q is our number one choice, with the AOC U3477Pqu just behind with its mega-wide aspect ratio. But we re still waiting on the perfect panel. For my money that would be a 21:9, 34-inch IPS panel, running at 144Hz with either G-Sync or FreeSync capabilities.

A guy can dream, can t he?

There are some fascinating screens coming soon—there s a 40-inch 4K Phillips monitor with a 60Hz refresh, a VA panel and a single stream connection to ease driver problems. That is big for a desktop monitor, but its pixel pitch will be about the same as a 27-inch 1440p monitor and ought to mean this is one 4K monitor we wont have to scale in Windows.

I m also jonesing for one of LG s curved 21:9 34-inch screens, but their price is utterly prohibitive for the vast majority of us. New monitors will doubtless be announced at CES in January.

The monitor landscape is moving pretty fast, and new panels will soon arrive and we ll make sure we take a look at the very best on offer. If there are some we simply must check out, let us know in the comments. We'll be updating this guide as we game on new screens.

A note on affiliates: some of our stories, like this one, include affiliate links to stores like Amazon. These online stores share a small amount of revenue with us if you buy something through one of these links, which helps support our work evaluating PC components.

I had my doubts when InnerSpace took to Kickstarter last month. I love the idea of an aerial (and underwater) hunt for relics and secrets in a strange, inside-out world, but I wasn't sure my enthusiasm would be shared widely enough to achieve its $25,000 goal. As it turns out, I was wrong.

InnerSpace actually crossed the line yesterday, and at last check was inching toward the $28,000 mark—not a huge sum compared to other Kickstarters, perhaps, but enough to get the job done. Somewhat unusually, there are no stretch goals: Instead, as the team explained in the Kickstarter pitch, "The scope of the final product will be defined by the amount earned through crowdfunding, as there would be more active hours spent on it, since we would be able to either have our key developers start working full-time or hire talented contractors."

The most recent Kickstarter update is really just a thank-you repeated eight times, but there's also a new trailer marking the final 24 hours of the Kickstarter that makes me want to play this game more than ever. There's still time to get in on the action if this looks like your thing (and bear in mind that, my own personal enthusiasm notwithstanding, this isn't an endorsement—Kickstart at your own risk), but the clock is ticking: The InnerSpace Kickstarter wraps up at 1 am on December 6.

Remember how the GOG Winter Sale felt like it launched almost immediately after the GOG Fall Sale had ended—mainly because it did? Now Valve is doing essentially the same thing: With the dust from the 2014 Steam Winter Sale barely settled, it's flicked the switch on yet another one.

The games in this sale are all 2014 Game Award nominees, which explains why some of them aren't actually on sale and one—Batman: Arkham Knight—isn't even available for purchase. Even so, while it isn't as all-encompassing as a seasonal sale, there are still some decent deals to be found, if your wallet can take the punishment. Among them: Child of Light is 60 percent off, reducing it to $6; Wolfenstein: The New Order is 67 percent off, to $20; The Walking Dead Season Two is 66 percent off, to $8.50; Alien: Isolation is half-price, making it $25.00; The Vanishing of Ethan Carter is 40 percent off, to $12.

The 2014 Game Awards Steam Sale is, unsurprisingly, running in concert with the 2014 Game Awards, which takes place tonight—that's December 5—at 9 pm PST. The show will be streamed through numerous sources, including Twitch, YouTube, and Steam itself; a more detailed breakdown of what's in store may be had at thegameawards.com.

The PC version of Final Fantasy XIII was not a particularly good port, in part because it offered no option to adjust the graphics. In November, Square Enix promised to address that shortcoming with a patch that would be rolled out at the beginning of December, and while I think it's fair to say that the "beginning" of the month has passed us by, the update is on its way.

"As mentioned recently, the Final Fantasy XIII team have been working hard to improve your experience on Steam and we're happy to announce that custom resolutions (720p, 1080p...) and graphic options will be added to the game from December 11th 2014!" the publisher excitedly announced on Steam.

If that date sounds familiar, it's likely because that's also the day that that Final Fantasy XIII-2 comes to Steam. Luckily for us, that one will offer selectable resolutions and run at 60 fps right out of the box.

Mojang has revealed that Scrolls, its long-awaited collectible card/board game crossover, will finally come out of beta next week. And while most free-to-play games depend on players spending ungodly amounts of money on gold, potions, cards, power-ups of various sorts, or whatever else the developers offer in order to make progression easier, or even possible, Scrolls will apparently take the opposite approach.

"We restrict how much you can spend to retain game balance," the studio said, as reported by Eurogamer. "This sounds unlikely, but you really don't have to spend more than the cost of Scrolls ($4.99) to progress." Scrolls players will be able to buy in-game items using "shards" purchased with real money or gold earned through gameplay, and "All items are available for a reasonable amount of gold," it added.

That's a fairly common claim for free-to-play developers to make, but in the case of Scrolls it might actually hold water. Mojang has a well-earned reputation as a "gamer-first" studio, for one thing, and the runaway success of Minecraft means there's not a huge amount of pressure for Scrolls to be a money-making blockbuster itself. Players will also be able to trade scrolls directly or for in-game gold, providing another avenue for satisfying their specific needs.

Official box art! #Scrolls is getting a digital release, but if it were sold on disc, it'd look something like this! pic.twitter.com/nATWMBxkBZ

— Scrolls (@ScrollsGame) December 5, 2014

Scrolls goes into full launch mode on December 11, which will also see the release of a free trial version of the game. Anyone who picked it up during either the alpha or beta periods will be upgraded to the full version for free, while everyone else will have to pay $5.

STALKER: Lost Alpha was a Shadow of Chernobyl mod released back in April. Once planned as an official STALKER expansion, it was leaked ahead of time—putting an end to the paid-for deal. Disappointed but undeterred, the team eventually released the mod for free.

That, it seems, is not the end of the story. "Some people already buried our project, but we are still working on our dream game," writes the mod team in a new announcement. They compare Lost Alpha's initial release to an "early access" project, saying, "many people simply did not understand they are playing a work in progress game."

The next update, it seems, will be the biggest by far—so much so that they've decided to mark it as a special "Developer's Cut" enhancement.

"What do we plan to add? More life to the Zone, earlier unlocked freeroam for NPCs, less empty places on huge levels, revised weapons and trading system, revised atmospheric Ukrainian weather," they write, before continuing to list lots and lots of other things. You can see the current patch notes here, although they'll be continually revised as the mod approaches completion.

Lost Alpha's original aim was to restore cut content to Shadow of Chernobyl. Eventually, it expanded in scope—becoming a completely parallel campaign across restored and re-imagined areas.

Update 2: Street Fighter V has been confirmed at the Playstation Experience (don't worry, it's coming to PC—in fact, there will be cross-platform play between PC and PS4). The trailer is back online, below. Capcom also revealed about a minute of in-game footage, which you'll find below too.

Update: An accidentally early publish, it seems, as the CapcomChannel video has now been removed. See below for a few choice screencaps of the teaser.

Original: There's not much to go on at this point, save a few brief facts:

1) Street Fighter V is happening.

2) Street Fighter V is happening, and has been confirmed as "exclusive" for PC and PS4.

Release date? Nope. Feature list? Nope. Anything else beyond those two facts, and a briefly available teaser celebrating the game's competitive spirit and community? Nope.

Techland has laid out the system requirements for their zombie survive-'em-up Dying Light. They are... significant, shall we say. Like, "oh come on, my GTX 670 isn't that old and now you're saying it's only good for 'minimum'" significant.

Update: Techland has now released revised system requirements that are slightly more in line with not causing your PC a hot, steaming meltdown. See these new requirements below:

• OS: Windows 7 64-bit / Windows 8 64-bit / Windows 8.1 64-bit
• Processor: Intel Core™ i5-2500 @3.3 GHz / AMD FX-8320 @3.5 GHz
• Memory: 4 GB RAM DDR3
• Hard Drive: 40 GB available space
• Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560 / AMD Radeon™ HD 6870 (1GB VRAM)
• Direct X : Version 11
• Sound: DirectX compatible

• OS: Windows 7 64-bit / Windows 8 64-bit / Windows 8.1 64-bit
• Processor: Intel Core™ i5-4670K @3.4 GHz / AMD FX-8350 @4.0 GHz
• Memory: 8 GB RAM DDR3
• Hard Drive: 40 GB available space
• Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780 / AMD Radeon™ R9 290 (2GB VRAM)
• Direct X: Version 11
• Sound: DirectX compatible

These requirements now seem to be filtering through the game's official channels, although not everywhere has been updated as yet. The Steam page for the game's Season Pass, for instance, still currently lists the old specifications:

Dying Light is a free-running survival game due out late-January, 2015. You can read Matt Cabral's hands-on impressions here, and see the most recent teaser video below.