1. Introduction: The Calm Before the January Storm
Welcome to the 16th night of December 2025.
Traditionally, this is the time of year when the technology industry goes into hibernation. Engineers clock out for the holidays, PR teams go silent, and news feeds are filled with "Best of 2025" lists.
But not this year.
Tonight, we witnessed a convergence of massive leaks and strategic announcements from the titans of the industry. It seems that companies like Nvidia, Rockstar, and Google are determined to squeeze in one last "mic drop" moment before the year ends. From the virtual streets of Leonida to the high-power laboratories of Taiwan, here is everything you need to know about the events of the last 12 hours.
2. The GTA VI Files: Rockstar's "Snowy" Website Update
Let's address the elephant in the room: Grand Theft Auto VI.
For months, Rockstar Games has maintained strict radio silence, testing the patience of millions of fans. However, this evening, the specialized community of Rockstar dataminers struck gold.
2.1. Decoding the 'snow_overlay_v2' Asset
Around 6:00 PM EST, users on the GTA Forums and the highly reliable insider Tez2 reported a backend update to the official Rockstar Games website.
The developers uploaded a new CSS asset titled gta6_snow_overlay_v2 along with a hidden JavaScript countdown timer that is currently set to null.
This discovery has sparked two prevailing theories:
- The Pessimistic View: This is simply a new festive UI for the annual GTA Online "Festive Surprise" update. However, the prefix
gta6_in the file name makes this unlikely, as GTA Online assets usually carry thegta5_orgtao_tag. - The Optimistic View: Rockstar is preparing the website for a "takeover." The theory suggests that on Christmas Day (December 25), the site will be covered in a digital snow effect that wipes away to reveal the release date or Trailer 2 for GTA VI.
2.2. The History of December Reveals
Rockstar has a fondness for December. The record-breaking Trailer 1 was released in December 2023. Now, exactly two years later, and with the rumored 2026 release window fast approaching, a holiday marketing push makes perfect sense.
If the dataminers are correct, we might be seeing Jason and Lucia sooner than we thought. For now, all eyes are on the Rockstar Newswire.
3. Hardware Leak: Nvidia RTX 6090; Power Hungry Beast
While software fans are looking at Rockstar, hardware enthusiasts are staring in horror (and awe) at new leaks regarding Nvidia's next flagship GPU.
3.1. The Dual 16-Pin Connector Controversy
With CES 2026 just weeks away, schematics allegedly from an MSI factory floor have leaked onto the Chinese forum Chiphell. The documents detail the PCB layout for the upcoming GeForce RTX 6090 (codenamed "Blackwell Ultra").
The shocking detail? The card features TWO 12V-2x6 power connectors.
If accurate, this implies a TGP (Total Graphics Power) that could exceed 600 watts out of the box, with overclocking headroom pushing it toward 800 watts. This effectively renders most current 850W and 1000W power supplies obsolete.
3.2. Blackwell Ultra: 50% Faster than the 5090?
Why so much power? The leak suggests a massive increase in CUDA cores and a new GDDR7X memory standard. Early synthetic benchmarks included in the leak show the RTX 6090 performing roughly 55% faster than the current RTX 5090 in Ray Tracing workloads.
This card seems designed for a singular purpose: 8K 60FPS gaming.
However, the thermal implications are massive. The reference design appears to occupy 4 slots, and many AIB partners (like ASUS and MSI) are reportedly switching exclusively to liquid-cooled AIO hybrid designs for this model. Prepare your wallets—and your air conditioning.
4. Gaming Deals: Sony and EA's Holiday Offensive
Not all news tonight is about spending thousands of dollars. Sony and Electronic Arts have teamed up to dominate your weekend with free access.
4.1. PlayStation Free Online Multiplayer Weekend
Sony has officially confirmed via the PlayStation Blog that a Free Online Multiplayer Weekend is incoming.
Dates: From Friday, December 19 (12:01 AM) to Sunday, December 21 (11:59 PM).
During this period, the paywall for online play will be removed. Owners of PS4 and PS5 consoles can play multiplayer modes in games like Call of Duty, GTA Online, and Tekken 8 without an active PlayStation Plus subscription. It is a smart move to re-engage casual players right before the holiday break.
4.2. EA Sports FC 26: Free Trial
Coinciding with Sony's event, EA announced a "Free Play Days" promotion for EA Sports FC 26.
Starting Thursday, the full game will be downloadable for free. Unlike a demo, this grants access to the full suite of modes, including Career Mode and Ultimate Team.
Why now? FC 26 sales have reportedly dipped slightly compared to last year. This aggressive push, combined with a confirmed 40% discount on the digital store, is EA's attempt to hook new players into the Ultimate Team ecosystem before the "Team of the Year" event in January.
5. AI Wars: Google Unveils Gemini 2.5 Pro
Just when we thought the "AI Coding" discussion was settled with Trae and Claude, Google has re-entered the chat. Tonight, CEO Sundar Pichai announced the surprise rollout of Gemini 2.5 Pro.
5.1. The "Self-Correction" Engine
The headline feature of Gemini 2.5 is its ability to "self-heal" code.
Unlike current LLMs that blindly output code snippets, Gemini 2.5 runs its generated code in a secure, internal sandbox environment first. If the code throws an error or fails a unit test, the AI detects the failure, iterates on the code, fixes the bug, and then presents the final, working solution to the user.
This "Agentic Workflow" mimics how a human developer thinks. Google claims this reduces "hallucinated code" by over 80%.
5.2. Benchmarks vs. Claude Opus
In the leaked benchmarks provided in the whitepaper, Gemini 2.5 Pro scores a 94.5% on the HumanEval Python test, narrowly beating our current favorite, Claude 4.5 Opus.
We will be testing this model extensively at Tekin Plus labs tomorrow to see if it can dethrone Claude as our "Digital Architect."
6. Mobile Rumors: Galaxy S26 Ultra Date Set
The leak floodgates opened for Samsung tonight as well.
A promotional poster for Galaxy Unpacked 2026 has gone viral on X (formerly Twitter).
The Date: January 14, 2026.
The Location: San Jose, California.
The poster features a silhouette of the S26 Ultra with a distinct focus on the camera module. The tagline "Darkness, Illuminated" all but confirms the rumors that Samsung is adopting a massive 1-inch camera sensor (likely the Sony LYT-900) to finally surpass Chinese competitors like the Xiaomi 15 Ultra in low-light photography.
The device is also expected to feature the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 2 chip, pushing mobile gaming performance even closer to console levels.
7. Streaming: The Last of Us Season 2 Records
Finally, a quick look at the entertainment world.
HBO Max (now simply 'Max') announced tonight that the official trailer for The Last of Us Season 2, released yesterday, has shattered records.
The trailer garnered 150 million views across all platforms in its first 24 hours, beating the record previously held by House of the Dragon.
The hype is driven by the controversial introduction of the character "Abby" (played by Kaitlyn Dever) and the promise of a darker, more violent adaptation of the second game. The show is slated to premiere in March 2026.
8. The Verdict: What to Watch Tomorrow
Tonight was a reminder that the tech industry never truly sleeps.
We have dataminers dissecting Rockstar's code, engineers analyzing Nvidia's power draw, and gamers preparing for a free weekend.
Coming Up Tomorrow on Tekin Game:
- We will put Google Gemini 2.5 Pro to the test: Can it fix our broken CSS better than Claude?
- A guide on how to preload FC 26 so you don't waste your free weekend downloading.
- Deep dive analysis: Should you buy an S25 Ultra now with discounts, or wait for the S26?
Stay tuned, sleep well, and keep your power supplies ready.
— The Tekin Plus News Team
We want to hear from you in the comments.
Scenario A: You wake up on Christmas morning to a GTA VI Release Date.
Scenario B: Nvidia announces the 6090 is priced under $1,500.
Which one is more likely to happen, and which one would you prefer? Let the debate begin!