The Game Awards 2023 wrapped earlier today, marking an epic conclusion to this year’s video game season and celebrating the best games released in the past year. The lengthy ceremony was once again hosted by Geoff Keighley, live from Los Angeles, with Baldur’s Gate 3 taking home the coveted Game of the Year award. As usual, there were a few exciting new announcements, and while some expectations were crushed, there’s still a bunch to look forward to. Standout reveals this year include a collaboration between Hideo Kojima and filmmaker Jordan Peele, a free DLC for God of War Ragnarök, yet another Skull and Bones release date, and more surprises.

The Game Awards 2023 Winners: The Full List

Without further ado, here’s a list of the biggest announcements at The Game Awards 2023:

OD

Hideo Kojima’s presence at The Game Awards is always met with the utmost elation, though this time, he didn’t come on stage to show off more Death Stranding 2. Instead, he’s partnering with acclaimed film director Jordan Peele (Nope) to create an immersive horror experience, which the former assures is still a video game, despite its cinematic influences. It’s called OD and the teaser simply shows some facial capture tests of known actors — Sophia Lillis (Sharp Objects), Hunter Schafer (Euphoria), and Udo Kier (Melancholia) — spouting some tongue twister about a hungry purple dinosaur, as a Geiger counter ticks away in the background. As previously reported, it is being developed for Xbox Game Studios and leverages cloud gaming technology.

Blade

Arkane Lyon — best known for the Dishonored franchise — is creating a ‘mature’ single-player narrative on Marvel’s Blade aka Daywalker, the superhuman vampire hunter wielding a sharp titanium sword. Set in a quarantined zone in Paris, players are tasked with hunting down bloodthirsty fiends at night and preventing the spread of infection. This marks the second vampire-based video game attempt from Arkane, having previously worked on the disappointing Redfall, and marks their first third-person experience. I just hope it maintains the comic-book art style riddled with Ben-Day dots, as shown in the announcement trailer.

Skull and Bones

Release date: February 16, 2024
Platform: PC, PS5, Xbox Series S/X

Assuring this isn’t the same old dance, Ubisoft has set a fixed release date for Skull and Bones, the naval combat game that has you climb the ranks from a rookie pirate to a kingpin, whilst besting traitors and menacing foes tucked away in the waves. The studio has also planned another closed beta event, running between December 15–18. Ubisoft+ subscribers can play it three days early, too.

Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II

Ninja Theory dropped a ghastly trailer for Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II, showcasing its realistic cinematics that almost feels like an acid trip, as our returning protagonist traverses Viking Iceland to save those who’ve succumbed to darkness. With puzzles exhibited through psychotic visions, robust sound design, and gruesome hand-to-hand combat, this one looks quite exciting. Wish we knew more about the narrative, though.

God of War Ragnarök – Valhalla DLC

Release date: December 12
Platform: PS4, PS5

Having defeated Odin, Kratos finds himself washed ashore in Valhalla, accompanied by the always-jabbering Mimir. Players will engage in a highly volatile roguelike experience, overcoming trials by facing randomised swarms of enemies, culminating in a boss fight, where each death will take you back to the starting point. It’s unclear how this ties back to God of War Ragnarök’s main lore, but it appears as though he’ll face some enemies from his past life in Greek mythology while experimenting with new builds blessed by the ancient gods. And yeah, it’s a free DLC.

Suicide Squad Kill the Justice League

Release date: February 2, 2024
Platform: PC, PS5, Xbox Series S/X

Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League got a new trailer introducing its various supervillains — or rather, heroes who’ve fallen prey to the Brainiac’s mind control — and a glimpse at its high-octane looter-shooter gameplay, as we switch between members of the Task Force X. While originally the game was an always-online affair, Rocksteady Studios has confirmed that it will add an offline story-focused mode after launch. The game also serves as one of the late Kevin Conroy’s final voice-acting performances before his death.

Black Myth: Wukong

Release date: August 20, 2024
Platform: PC, PS5, Xbox Series S/X

Black Myth: Wukong, the souls-like title inspired by ‘Journey to the West,’ finally got a release date. Venture into the dark fantastical realm of ancient China as the titular heroic Monkey King and partake in punishing but gorgeous boss battles against corrupted creatures and humanoid enemies to seal your fate as the ultimate saviour. Experiment with spells, weapon arts, and special upgrades to ensure you live long enough to see the end and uncover the truth beneath your name. It’s out August 20 on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series S/X.

Rise of the Ronin

Release date: March 22, 2024
Platform: PS5

Team Ninja is exploring the late Edo period of Japan in this open-world samurai entry, as the country falls into a state of turmoil. As a nameless warrior, explore the desperate landscape or glide through the skies to reshape history by working with real-life figures like Ryōma Sakamoto and the intellectual Shoin Yoshida — with consequences governed entirely by the choices you make. Battle foes using a variety of swords and spears, in addition to deflecting flaming arrows with an oiled-up katana to imbue your weaponry with added heat. Rise of the Ronin launches March 22, exclusively on the PS5.

Monster Hunter Wilds

Release date: 2025
Platform: PC, PS5, Xbox Series S/X

While not explicitly mentioned, Monster Hunter Wilds appears to be the franchise’s open-world take, set in the vast deserts populated by herds of armadillo-looking creatures, lightning storms, and some gorgeous ecosystems reminiscent of spore-spouting coral reefs. There isn’t much to glean from the short reveal trailer, but it does promise a 2025 release window — let’s see whether it releases before GTA VI!

Final Fantasy XVI DLC

Follow Clive and his party on two new chapters in the lands of Valisthea, as Square Enix reveals paid DLC additions for Final Fantasy XVI. One of the additions, The Echoes of the Fallen, is now available on the PS5 and is set before the base game’s final battle, forcing players to investigate the surge of some weird black crystals being sold in the market and its suspicious sellers. Meanwhile, The Rising Tide DLC is slated for an American Spring 2024 release, and promises ‘new challenges.’ The title itself won the Game Award for best score and music, composed by the legendary musician Masayoshi Soken.

The Game Awards 2023 Announcements — the full list

Beyond the highlights, here’s the complete list of game reveals and updates we saw at The Game Awards 2023:

• Light No Fire (new title from no Man’s Sky developer Hello Games)
• Rise of the Ronin (March 22, 2024 | PS5)
• Fortnite Rocket Racing (December 8 | PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One)
• No Rest for the Wicked (TBA | PC, PS5, Xbox Series S/X)
• Exodus (TBA | PC, PS5, Xbox Series S/X)
• Big Walk (2025 | PC)
• Blade (TBA | PC, Xbox Series S/X)
• God of War Ragnarök – Valhalla DLC (December 12 | PS4, PS5)
• OD (TBA | TBA)
• Suicide Squad Kill the Justice League (February 2, 2024 | PC, PS5, Xbox Series S/X)
• The Finals (December 8 | PC)
• Lost Records: Bloom and Rage (Late 2024 | PC, PS5, Xbox Series S/X)
• Black Myth: Wukong (August 20, 2024 | PC, PS5, Xbox Series S/X)
• Monster Hunter Wilds (2025 | PC, PS5, Xbox Series S/X)
• The Casting of Frank Stone (2024 | PC, PS5, Xbox Series S/X)
• Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2 (2024 | PC, Xbox Series S/X)
• Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons Remake (February 28, 2024 | PC, PS5, Xbox Series S/X)
• Skull and Bones (February 16, 2024 | PC, PS5, Xbox Series S/X)
• Final Fantasy XVI: Echoes of the Fallen DLC (December 8 | PS5)
• Final Fantasy XVI: The Rising Tide DLC (Spring 2024 | PS5)
• Dragon Ball: Sparkling Zero (TBA | PC, PS5, Xbox Series S/X)
• Kemuri (TBA | TBA)
• Jurassic Park Survival (TBA | PC, PS5, Xbox Series S/X)
• Last Sentinel (TBA | TBA)
• Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 (September 9, 2024 | PC, PS5, Xbox Series S/X)
• The First Descendant (Summer 2024 | PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series S/X)
• Ready or Not comes out of early access (December 13 | PC)
• Asgard’s Wrath 2 (December 15 | Meta Quest)
• Stormgate early-access (Summer 2024 | PC)
• Thrasher (2024 | Meta Quest, other virtual reality platforms | PC and console launch later)
• Windblown (2024 | PC)
• The First Berserker: Khazan (TBA | PC, PS5, Xbox Series S/X)
• Exoborne (TBA | PC, PS5, Xbox Series S/X)
• Mecha Break (TBA | PC, PS5, Xbox Series S/X)
• Zenless Zone Zero (2024, PC, MacOS)
• Tales of Kenzera: Zau (April 23, 2024 | PC, PS5, Xbox Series S/X)
• Pony Island 2: Panda Circus (2025 | PC)

Meta Platforms plans to offer Instagram and Facebook users in Europe the option to receive “less personalised ads,” the tech giant announced on Tuesday, in an effort to allay regulators’ mounting concerns.

The Menlo Park, California-based company said it is implementing these changes in response to demands from EU regulators.

Over the coming weeks, people in the EU who use the company’s social media platforms for free with ads will be able to choose to see ads based on what Meta calls “context”- content that a user sees during a particular session on the platforms.

These ads will also target users based on age, gender, and location, with some being unskippable for a few seconds.

Meta also plans to reduce the price of ad-free subscriptions by about 40 percent for European users.

This move comes as European regulators intensify efforts to curb Big Tech’s power and level the playing field for smaller firms, including through the landmark Digital Markets Act (DMA) which came into force earlier this year.

“The new model introduced by Meta is under Meta’s sole responsibility, and it is neither endorsed by nor agreed with the Commission. It is premature to speculate about the impact on the pending non-compliance proceedings,” a spokesperson for the EU told Reuters.

“Our objective is to bring Meta to full and effective compliance in this matter as soon as possible.”

Last month, Europe’s top court ruled that Meta must restrict the use of personal data harvested from Facebook for targeted advertising, supporting privacy activist Max Schrems.

“While the solution still needs to be assessed, we welcome the fact that an important platform announces that it will offer a new choice for free with less detailed profiling for advertising,” Anu Talus, chair of the EU’s privacy watchdog – the European Data Protection Board- said in a statement.

Meta’s plans to introduce less personalized ads were first reported by the Wall Street Journal.

© Thomson Reuters 2024

(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

The US Federal Trade Commission on Thursday argued in federal court for a preliminary injunction to temporarily block Microsoft’s acquisition of videogame maker Activision Blizzard.

“If this deal is completed, the combined company… is likely to have the ability, an incentive, to harm competition in various markets related to consoles, subscription services, and the cloud (for gaming),” FTC lawyer James Weingarten said in the government’s opening arguments in the first day of a five-day evidentiary hearing.

The FTC argues it needs a judge to block Microsoft and Activision Blizzard from closing their $69 billion (about Rs. 5,65,921 crore) merger until the agency’s in-house court gets to rule on whether the combination hurts competition in the videogame industry.

The FTC says the combination would give Microsoft’s Xbox videogame console exclusive access to Activision games, leaving Nintendo consoles and Sony‘s PlayStation out in the cold.

“I think you will see that every piece of evidence shows that it only makes sense for Xbox to make these Activision games available to as many people on as many platforms as possible,” Microsoft lawyer Beth Wilkinson said in opening arguments, adding that if an injunction is granted it could result in a three-year administrative proceeding that would kill the deal.

Set to testify on Friday are Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer, senior Microsoft finance director Jamie Lawver, former director of product management for Google‘s now-shuttered Stadia cloud gaming service Dov Zimring, and Sony Interactive Entertainment CEO Jim Ryan, who will appear by video deposition.

Resolving the US lawsuit is one of several key antitrust battles Microsoft and Activision have fought around the world to get the deal finalised. Microsoft’s bid to acquire the Call of Duty videogame maker was approved by the European Union in May, but British competition authorities blocked the takeover in April.

The FTC has argued that the deal, which would be the largest for Microsoft and the biggest in the history of the videogame business, would give Microsoft the “ability and increased incentive to withhold or degrade Activision’s content in ways that substantially lessen competition.”

Microsoft has said that the deal would benefit gamers and gaming companies alike, and has offered to sign a legally binding consent decree with the FTC to provide Call of Duty games to rivals for a decade.

The hearing is scheduled to proceed through June 29. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and Activision CEO Bobby Kotick are among the witnesses for next week.

© Thomson Reuters 2023

(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

Samsung Galaxy S24 FE was launched in India and global markets last month and details of its purported successor have already surfaced online. According to details shared by a tipster, the company will equip the Galaxy S25 FE next year with MediaTek’s latest flagship chipset, instead of using its own Exynos mobile processor. Meanwhile, a South Korean publication reports that Samsung is considering the possibility of launching the Galaxy S25 FE as a ‘slim’ smartphone with a slimmer but larger battery.

Samsung Reportedly Considering Galaxy S25 FE Model With Slim Design

The Elec reports (in Korean) that Samsung is mulling the development of the Galaxy S25 FE as a slim smartphone. Unlike the Samsung Galaxy S25, Galaxy S25+, and Galaxy S25 Ultra that are expected to launch in early 2025, the South Korean company is not likely to launch a new Fan Edition (FE) smartphone until Q3 2025.

This slim Samsung Galaxy S25 FE model will reportedly feature a 6.7-inch screen, just like the company’s current-generation Galaxy S24 FE model. To achieve the purported slim form factor, Samsung could increase the area of the battery while reducing its thickness, according to the publication.

Samsung isn’t the only company said to be working on a thinner flagship phone. Recent reports suggest that Apple is also working on a slim iPhone 17 Air (or iPhone 17 Slim) that could make its debut next year as the company’s slimmest phone to date as part of the iPhone 17 series. 

Samsung Galaxy S25 FE Tipped to Feature MediaTek Dimensity 9400 Chipset

In a post on X (formerly Twitter), tipster @jukanlosreve claims that Samsung was previously negotiating with MediaTek to include the chipmaker’s new flagship-grade Dimensity 9400 chipset in the Galaxy S25 series, but that these discussions have now “shifted”.

According to the tipster, Samsung’s upcoming flagship smartphones — the purported Samsung Galaxy S25, Galaxy S25+, and Galaxy S25 Ultra — will be equipped with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 (which is yet to be announced by Qualcomm) in early 2025.

Meanwhile, the Samsung Galaxy S25 FE could be equipped with the MediaTek Dimensity 9400 chipset, the tipster claims. This means that unlike the Galaxy S24 FE that was equipped with an in-house Exynos 2400e processor, next year’s Galaxy S25 FE could arrive with MediaTek’s powerful chipset.

While this suggests that Samsung might not equip its upcoming S-series phones with the successors to the Exynos 2400 or slightly underclocked Exynos 2400e chipsets, it’s worth noting that the Galaxy S25 series is expected to arrive in early 2025, while the Galaxy S25 FE is likely to debut in the following months. It’s worth taking these claims with a grain of salt, until we hear more from the company.

The Day Before, once Steam’s most wish-listed open-world survival MMO, has been delisted from Valve’s platform. The game launched in early access to an almost immediate flood of negative reviews last week, with most players claiming that it wasn’t really an MMO but an extraction shooter reminiscent of Escape from Tarkov, combined with the post-apocalyptic threats of The Last of Us. The misleading gameplay claims were made worse by several game-breaking glitches that caused characters to clip off from the map, an incomplete and sparse world devoid of action, and inconsistent online features. Merely five days after release, the game is no longer available to buy on Steam and Fntastic, the studio behind the game, has announced it is shutting down and working on refunds for customers who bought the game.

“Today, we announce the closure of Fntastic studio. The Day Before has failed financially, and we lack the funds to continue,” the blog post reads, with the developer originally claiming that all earned income would be used to pay off its debts. There are no plans to patch the game and turn it into something that the creators originally hoped for either, since more funding is out of the picture. Sure, the shooter was never crowd-funded, but the accusations of stolen or repurposed assets, a barrage of misleading gameplay trailers, and a $40 price tag on a game that was quite possibly a scam didn’t work in the studio’s favour. Debuting with 38,000 concurrent players on Steam, the player base has been steadily going down — no uptick during the weekend either — as players realised how the expectations from the trailer had been wrecked. At the time of writing, The Day Before has 749 concurrent players. (Probably the select few who are looking to capture funny gameplay compilations before the server is shut down.)

Fntastic isn’t sure of the studio’s direction going forward but assures players that the servers for The Day Before and its previous multiplayer hide-and-seek game Propnight will remain operational. Understandably, disappointed players are looking for refunds and publisher Mytona is willing to do that even if the playtime on Steam exceeds two hours. As usual, this can be achieved through Steam’s Help section, which will lead to a questionnaire asking the reasons for the refund. To calm the loud accusations of a scam, Fntastic claims that it will not receive any money from the sales and admitted to heavily overestimating its capabilities as a game developer. Adding fuel to the fire was an immature response to criticism on Twitter, where Fntastic replied, “This was our first big experience. Shit happens.” For what it’s worth, hopefully, we get a new ‘Crowbcat‘ video from this colossal mess.

With the Fntastic CEO wiping his Twitter account from the internet, followed by the deletion of the studio’s YouTube channel, it’s almost as if the game maker is trying to erase any proof that the company ever existed. The Day Before currently has an Overwhelmingly Negative rating on Steam, having garnered 18,000 bad reviews, at one point placing it amongst the 10 worst reviewed games on the platform. The only reason it’s no longer listed there is because the game as a whole has been removed from the platform.

The road to launch wasn’t without its own hitches as well. The Day Before suffered countless delays — one of them a month before launch, got into a trademark dispute, and was accused of facilitating unpaid labour. Fntastic later dismissed those claims saying that those were all ‘volunteer’ help.

Google is reportedly working on adding another new functionality to its Gemini chatbot. The new artificial intelligence (AI) feature is said to be coming to Gemini Live, the two-way verbal conversation feature that offers a hands-free experience of the chatbot. As per the report, the Mountain View-based tech giant is working on adding Gemini Live support to files being uploaded to Gemini. Currently, users can only interact with such content via text, but it might soon be available over voice chats.

Gemini Live to Reportedly Support Uploaded Files

Android Authority reported about the new Gemini feature. The publication found evidence of the feature during the application package kit (APK) teardown of the Google app beta version 15.45.33.ve.arm64. Several strings of code reportedly point towards the development of this new capability for Gemini Live.

As per the publication, the strings highlight phrases such as “Open Live”, “Talk about attachment”, and “Open Live with attachment”. Here, ‘Live’ likely refers to Gemini Live, and ‘attachments’ refer to the files that users upload.

With this capability, users might be able to use Gemini Live to talk about their uploaded documents and spreadsheets, which is currently not possible. This will make it easier for users to seek insights from text-heavy documents while not being tied down to the Gemini interface.

However, the feature is not expected to be available for all users. Currently, only Gemini Advanced subscribers can upload files to Gemini and ask questions about them. So, the Gemini Live support is believed to be for the paid subscribers using Android devices since it is not available on the web. Notably, people can subscribe to Gemini Advanced via the Google One AI Premium plan, which costs Rs. 1,950 a month.

Gemini Live was first unveiled by the company at the Google I/O event earlier this year. The tech giant first rolled it out for the paid subscribers in August. Later, it was released for all Android users the next month. The voice-based two-way communication feature also supports Hindi and eight regional Indian languages.

Microsoft believes the next generation of gaming consoles should be out in 2028, court documents in the ingoing FTC trial over the Xbox parent’s attempt to acquire Activision Blizzard revealed. The documents, as reviewed by IGN, detailed that the next Xbox and PlayStation 6 will potentially be out eight years after the current ones launched in 2020. The timeline coincides with Sony’s statement from 2022, which alluded that the next console generation won’t be here until 2027. The dates are important, considering Microsoft is trying to convince the court that it is willing to commit to making Activision’s biggest franchise Call of Duty available in parity on PlayStation consoles for a 10-year duration.

“This term would, in any case, go beyond the expected starting period of the next generation of consoles (in 2028),” Microsoft said in the documents (via IGN). “Thus, Call of Duty will be published on successor PlayStation consoles should one be released during the term of the agreement. The agreement also would ensure that Call of Duty console games are offered on PlayStation at parity with Xbox.” This contradicts Sony’s claim from November, last year, where it claimed that Microsoft only plans to offer Activision games on PlayStation until 2027. As it happens, team green had sent a draft of the 10-year agreement to Sony, but the latter has refused to respond to that offer. That duration would also exceed the 2028 release window, allowing Call of duty to flourish on Sony’s next-gen consoles. The US FTC (Federal Trade Commission) has requested to temporarily block Microsoft and Activision Blizzard from closing their $69 billion (about Rs. 5,65,921 crore) deal until the agency’s in-house court decides whether the deal hurts competition in the video game industry.

Additionally, Microsoft has now admitted that it has been losing the ‘console wars’ since 2001 i.e., since the first generation of Xbox launched. For the uninitiated, ‘console wars’ refers to the tussle between the biggest video game console manufacturers — PlayStation, Xbox, and Nintendo — for market domination, in an attempt to outsell one another. “Xbox has lost the console wars, and its rivals are positioned to continue to dominate, including by leveraging exclusive content,” Microsoft said in the documents. “Xbox’s console has consistently ranked third (of three) behind PlayStation and Nintendo in sales.” As per VGChartz, the Xbox Series S/X consoles have sold 21.3 million units since launch, whereas the PS5 and Nintendo Switch have sold about 36 million units in that period— as of April 2023. Nintendo takes the lead by a slight margin though, with 36.2 million units sold.

A Kotaku report notes that Microsoft has now given up competing in the current console wars and will instead focus on delivering quality software. This could be through games or even its subscription service Xbox Game Pass, which the company continues pushing every chance it gets. The document further goes on to stress that Xbox does not generate a profit through console sales, selling the systems at a loss in the hopes that it will make up for lost revenue through ‘sales of games and accessories.’ The company recently hiked the prices of its flagship Xbox Series X console in certain regions, and Game Pass subscription around the world.

In related news, the court hearing also revealed that Bethesda’s Indiana Jones game, which was originally planned as a multi-platform release, would now be exclusive to Xbox and PC only. The project was announced in 2021, merely months after Microsoft acquired parent company ZeniMax Media for $7.5 billion (about Rs. 61,532 crore). During the court hearing, Bethesda’s head of publishing Pete Hines revealed that ZeniMax’s original agreement with Disney would have put the Indiana Jones game on multiple consoles. However, when Microsoft acquired the former, Disney had “questions” regarding console exclusivity. Minor changes were then made to the contract, making Indiana Jones an Xbox exclusive. Even Arkane’s Redfall was originally set to release on PS5 as well, but plans for the same were scrapped following the Bethesda acquisition.

iQOO 13 — the upcoming flagship smartphone from the Vivo subsidiary — could be launched in India by the end of the year, according to details shared by a tipster. It is expected to be unveiled in China next month, as one of the first handsets to be equipped with Qualcomm’s next-generation chipset. The iQOO 13 has also surfaced on benchmarking website Geekbench, with the purported Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 SoC, that is expected to be unveiled later this month, giving us an idea of what to expect from the upcoming handset.

iQOO 13 Could Launch in India in December

A Smartprix report citing tipster Yogesh Brar claims that the iQOO 13 will be launched in India on December 5. The smartphone will be powered by Qualcomm’s next flagship chipset, which is expected to be unveiled by the chipmaker later this month as the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 (or Snapdragon 8 Elite) according to the publication.

It’s worth noting that the Vivo sub-brand is yet to announce a launch date for the iQOO 13 in China or in global markets. Last year, the company unveiled the iQOO 12 in China in November, while the handset made its way to India a month later.

iQOO 13 Surfaces on Geekbench With Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 Chipset

A listing for a smartphone with the model number V2408A on Geekbench gives a glimpse of the performance of the upcoming iQOO 13. The Geekbench entry reveals that the phone will be equipped with an octa-core processor with two performance cores clocked at 4.32GHz and six efficiency cores clocked at 3.53GHz.

Purported listings for the iQOO 13 and Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra
Photo Credit: Screenshot/ Geekbench

The Geekench listing for the purported iQOO 13 states that the device has 14.76GB of RAM, which indicates that it will be available in a 16GB memory variant. It is also shown to run on Android 15, and is likely to feature Vivo’s FuntouchOS 15 skin. 

The benchmark result reveals that the handset scored 3,142 points in the single-core test and 10,052 points in the multi-core test. These scores are much higher than the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra that reportedly scored 3,069 points and 9,080 points in the single-core and multi-core tests, respectively, with an ‘overclocked’ Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 chipset.

On Geekbench, the latest benchmark results for the iPhone 16 Pro Max show the handset scored 3,562 points in the single-core test, which is higher than what the purported iQOO 13 managed to achieve. However, Apple’s flagship smartphone scored 8,814 points in the multi-core test, which is significantly lower than iQOO’s upcoming smartphone.

These benchmark results suggest that the iQOO 13 could be one of the most capable smartphones to be launched in the coming months. We can expect to learn more about the performance of the handset and how it fares against its competitors once more smartphones with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 and Dimensity 9400 chipsets are launched.