Top gaming news for Sept. 20, 2022: Rockstar and Take-Two's statement on GTA 6 leak, NVIDIA's RTX 40 series launch, and more

Check out the top news of the day on gaming and eSports here at India Today Gaming. Today's issue features ASUS ROG gaming phone's latest launches, updates on PS5's detachable hard drive, winners of Valorant Championship, and more.

After the major gameplay leak of the upcoming GTA VI, both developer Rockstar Games and publisher Take Two have finally issued statements. On the other hand NVIDIA's RTX 40 series launches today. Also announced is the launch of ASUS ROG's gaming phones 6D and 6D Ultimate, and Intel's NUC 12 Mini PC with Arc graphics and 12-gen processors. In other news, notorious leaker, TheRealInsider's identity has been exposed. Find out more on these latest developments from the gaming eSports world below. 

1. Rockstar Games and Take-Two Interactive issues statement on GTA 6 gameplay leak

Rockstar Games and Take-Two Interactive have released a statement following the GTA 6 leak. The companies have said that the leak has not hindered the development process for the upcoming title in the Grand Theft Auto franchise. Meanwhile, the hacker is said to be behind the Uber hack as well which occurred a few days before GTA 6 leak. Uber is currently in touch with the FBI and US Department of Justice to track down hacking group Lapsus$ who are allegedly behind these data breaches. 

2. Nvidia’s RTX 40-series announcement today; How to watch GTC 2022 live

Nvidia will be revealing their next-gen GPUs today during GeForce Beyond, as part of GTC 2022 live event. They will finally be revealing the new RTX 40-series. Nvidia is reportedly planning to reveal two RTX 4080 models and one RTX 4090 model. Fans can watch the unveiling live on September 20 at 8:30 PM IST. The event will be streaming live on Nvidia's official websiteYouTube, and Twitch.

3. PS5 will come with a detachable hard drive in 2023, says new report

Sony PlayStation 5 will reportedly be coming with a new model in 2023 that would have a detachable disk drive. This report from Tom Henderson says the model will be “almost identical” to the current hardware. However, it will consist of a detachable disc drive that connects to the PS5 via a USB-C port. These detachable disc drivers will be sold separately by Sony, as per Henderson. He has also claimed that this PS5 model has been under production since the launch of PlayStation 5 in November 2020. Meanwhile, Sony has confirmed that the upcoming PSVR 2 will not be able to run PSVR games as it will not support backwards compatibility.

4. Asus ROG 6D and 6D Ultimate launched

Asus has finally launched the Asus ROG 6D and 6D Ultimate. Both of these new Asus ROG gaming phones are powered by the MediaTek Dimensity 9000+ SoC. Asus has introduced a new AeroActive Portal on the back of 6D Ultimate. Exclusively for 6D Ultimate, the Aeroactive Portal opens a direct path for AeroActive Cooler 6 to create a 20% better thermal efficiency.

ROG 6D and 6D Ultimate have a 50MP front cam, up to 512GB storage and up to 16GB RAM to offer. Asus ROG 6D is priced at £799 (around  ₹72,910) in the U.K whereas the Phone 6D Ultimate goes for  £1,199 (around ₹1,09,430). Check out our complete coverage of the launch of the Asus ROG 6D and 6D Ultimate gaming phones. 

5. LOUD wins ‘Valorant’ world championship, defeating OpTic in Istanbul

Brazilian esports team LOUD are the winners of the 2022 Valorant Champions Tour after they defeated OpTic Gaming in Instanbul on Sunday. The 3-1 victory at the Volkswagen Arena gave LOUD their first title on the international stage. Brazil is now the only country in the world to have won the biggest titles in Valorant, CS:GO and Rainbow Six Siege. LOUD took home $300,000 as Valorant Champions of 2022.  

6. Intel’s Arc A770 announced to soon hit market alongside launch of NUC 12 Mini PC with Arc graphics and 12-gen processors 

Intel isn’t shutting down its GPU development any time soon. In a recent Tweet, CEO Pat Gelsinger revealed his own unit of the Intel Arc A770. He announced that the Arc Gaming GPUs will soon hit retail. Additionally, Intel has also announced the launch of a new NUC 12 Enthusiast Mini PC. It is the first NUC to feature the company’s Arc A-series graphics card, along with its 12th gen processors.  

7. Pokemon Go announced its upcoming Halloween-themed Community Day, coming this October

Pokemon Go’s next Community Day is Halloween-themed. Scheduled on October 15, 2PM to 5PM IST, this Halloween, you get another chance to earn unique Pokemons like an evolved Lampent, a special Chandelure, and Litwick- a fire/ghost type Pokemon. A community day special research will be on sale, which will earn you your ticket to the Litwick Community Day, which is another exclusive Special Research story. Additionally, there are lure models, three-hour incenses, bonus raids, and snapshot surprises. 

8. Xbox Game Studios upcoming titles scheduled for launch in 2023 revealed by industry insider Jeff Grubb

In the latest episode of podcast Xbox Expansion Pass, Jeff Grubb spoke about the releases of Xbox Game Studios scheduled for 2023. Grubb, who’s an industry insider said that Microsoft had originally planned at least 9 exclusives for 2023.  However, he also added that some of them may not launch in 2023 at all now. Titles include high-profile games like Hellblade 2, Perfect Dark, Avowed. Some others include Fable, Contraband, and Everwild. There’s also an unannounced InXile title, along with unannounced titles from Compulsion Games and Coalition, scheduled for 2023. Starfield and Redfall may also be up for a 2023 launch. 

9. Cyberpunk 2077 sees a sudden surge in player count on Steam- the gain’s almost by 80%

Cyberpunk 2077 has been recording a massive surge in player count, as per Steam Charts. At the time of writing, 79,685 was recorded as the 24-hour peak. Cyberpunk 2077 has reportedly also seen a gain by over 83% in average player count over the last 1 month. Experts and media analysts suggest that the surge could be accredited to the hype created by the upcoming Netflix anime based on the game- Cyberpunk Edgerunners. The game however has notably improved in leaps and bounds since its launch. 

10. Ubisoft Forward 2022 leaker TheRealInsider is none other than YouTuber Dan Allen

The notorious Assassin’s Creed leaker “TheRealInsider” has reportedly been exposed as YouTuber ‘Dan Allen Gaming’. After he mistakenly responded to a follower on RealInsider from their “Dan Allen Gaming” account, the connection between the two accounts became apparent. Soon after that was pointed out, the tweet as well as the TheRealInsider account disappeared altogether. Subsequently, Allen published a statement of apology on Twitter, saying “I'll be taking some time to reflect on my poor decisions, which will never occur again.”