AMD is back to bundling video games with some of its own hardware: Ryzen processors and Radeon RX graphics cards.
Last June, hack and slash fans were treated to the release of Diablo IV. In August, Dungeons & Dragons fans will be able to count on the work of Belgian studio Larian to send them into the dark alleys of Baldur's Gate III, and in September, it's another major title that will fill the nights of all video game fans... that is, if the quality is up to scratch! On September 6, Bethesda Softworks and Microsoft will be releasing Starfield, the new franchise from the studio behind the benchmark Elder Scrolls(Morrowind, Oblivion and Skyrim, to name the last three).
A major release for all video game fans, whether on consoles or PC, but one that will not concern PlayStation players, at least not immediately, as Microsoft has decided to make the game exclusive, at least initially. On September 6, Starfield will be released "only" on Xbox Series and PC. For the latter, it's likely that a machine update will be necessary to get the most out of Bethesda's game. AMD has sniffed out the opportunity and negotiated a partnership with Bethesda/Microsoft. The idea is to link AMD hardware to the game in a number of ways.
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Initially, a graphics partnership was revealed. This time, the focus was on the technical improvements developed by AMD and, of course, more functional on the brand's hardware, Ryzen processors and Radeon graphics cards. Thus, of the three super-sampling techniques most popular with developers (DLSS, FSR and XeSS), only AMD's FSR seems likely to be taken into account by Starfield. Logically, NVIDIA's highly advanced DLSS3 technique will not be officially supported.
The second part of the partnership between AMD and Bethesda/Microsoft is a commercial offer. While we've been talking about upgrading your configuration to get Starfield running at its best, AMD is offering to simply give away the game for the purchase of certain pieces of hardware of its own creation. All Ryzen 7000-series processors and all Radeon RX 7000-series graphics cards (and even most 6000-series models) will be eligible for a download code to be used before October 28, 2023, failing which the code will be cancelled.
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Please note that the operation starts on July 11, and therefore does not take into account purchases made recently... even on July 10, for example! Finally, it's worth pointing out that there are two levels to this promotion. As you can see above, some AMD hardware entitles you to Starfield Premium Edition, while others "only" entitle you to the standard edition of Bethesda's game. Still, it's a nice gift!
