I really miss the AMD Radeon "Never Settle" and "Never Settle Forever" programs. Years ago both AMD and Nvidia would regularly incentivize GPU purchases by throwing free games our way, and for awhile AMD offered a choice between several AAA and indie games. Bundle incentives like this have faded away recently, but the Red Team is pulling out all the stops for today's Radeon RX 590 launch, serving up a triple-shot of free games that are anything but throwaway titles.
True, AMD did something similar just a few months ago. In August it bundled Assassin's Creed: Odyssey, Star Control: Origins and Strange Brigade with purchases of RX Vega, RX 580 and RX 570 cards. But only of those games was what I'd consider a blockbuster title.
This time around, AMD is dishing out free codes for Devil May Cry 5, The Division 2 and Resident Evil 2. All should retail at $60, so that's $180 worth of free games for a GPU that starts at $280. The same offer, however, will be extended to people buying a Radeon RX Vega, or an eligible RX 590 or RX Vega-equipped PC.
Definitely a tempting incentive if you were planning to check out any of these titles.
RELATED: 2 Reasons Why AMD Wants You To Buy An RX 590
But AMD's throwing a bone to people who may not be interested in the RX 590. If you pick up an RX 580 or RX 570 (or an eligible PC packing those cards) you'll be able to choose two of the three games.
The fine print should be available by 9am Eastern today at amd.com/raisethegame. All three games are scheduled to come out Q1 of 2019, and presumably AMD will deliver codes to redeem once each game has gone live.
The big question on your mind is probably "ok but is the RX 590 worth upgrading to?" Sadly, I've only had a few short hours with AMD's new Polaris offering, so I can't offer any comprehensive insight or a conclusion just yet. But AMD is positioning the RX 590 as a decent upgrade for Radeon RX 480 owners, and a very compelling upgrade path for Nvidia GTX 970 owners.
In AMD's RX 590 Reviewer's Guide, the company also has a battery of benchmarks pitting the new Polaris card -- specifically the Sapphire Nitro RX 590 -- against Nvidia's midrange Asus Strix GTX 1060. In the majority of games -- such as Black Ops 4, Far Cry 5, F1 2018, Wolfenstein II and Shadow of the Tomb Raider, AMD's RX 590 comes out on top, often meaning the difference between 60FPS and sub-60FPS at 1440p.
There's still a lot to analyze and test, since relying on internal benchmarks -- or commissioned ones -- is hardly reliable. I'll have more in-depth coverage as soon as possible in both Windows and Linux gaming environments.
For now you can check out this post which goes into greater detail about the Radeon RX 590.
