In an effort to cut costs, Sega announced that they will be laying off 240 staff across three subsidiary companies as well as selling Relic Entertainment to an external private investor.

The job losses will be spread across three of Sega’s subsidiaries: Sega HARDLight (responsible for multiple Sonic The Hedgehog franchise games), Sega Europe, and Creative Assembly (developers of the popular Total War series).

Relic Games stated in a post on X that they plan to continue to support Company of Heroes 3 and that they view the transition from Sega subsidiary to an independent development studio as a positive one.

Important Update from Relic Entertainment pic.twitter.com/nCcF8olDaC

— Relic Entertainment (@relicgames) March 28, 2024

Why is Sega conducting layoffs and selling subsidiary companies?

According to the press release from Sega, it has been forced to perform layoffs due to the “rapidly changing” business environment, citing a “reactionary decline from the stay-at-home demand in COVID-19 and the economic downturn due to inflation,” meaning that “profitability has been lowered.”

Eurogamer was able to see an internal email from Jurgen Post, European managing director at Sega, which confirmed that some laid-off staff members found out about the layoffs from social media before they were informed personally.

“Due to the nature of this announcement and our legal obligations in Japan, we were unable to share any detail with you until now,” Post wrote. “That is far from ideal and means some of you may have read about this in the media or via social networks before seeing this email. If that is the case, I’m sorry.

“I want to sincerely apologize for the worry and understandable distress this news will cause, particularly for those directly affected,” Post continued. “These decisions have been incredibly tough to make, and they follow meticulous consideration and deliberation with leadership teams across the business.

“Change is necessary to secure the future of our games business, and to ensure that we are well-placed to deliver the best possible experiences to our players going forward.”

It has been a tumultuous day for the games industry. As well as Sega selling Relic, it was also announced that Embracer Group plans to sell Gearbox Entertainment to Take-Two Interactive. It’s a period of flux for the industry as a whole.

Featured image credit: Relic Entertainment

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Building on initial reports in February, leaked images of the supposed upcoming disc-less Xbox Series X  have surfaced.

eXputer has revealed exclusive leaked images of the new version of Microsoft’s console. It appears that the new drive-less Series X will be available in the same ‘robot white’ color that the Series S is currently available in.

Very few details are known at present but the lack of a disc drive means that the new version of the Series X will probably retail around $50 – $100 cheaper than the current version. As well as the removal of the disc drive and the color change, the new console will reportedly have an improved heatsink, but little to no other hardware changes.

An improved heatsink will provide a slight performance enhancement because cooler components run better, but nothing revealed so far suggests the gains will be enough to warrant replacing old consoles with new ones.

What about the previously leaked Xbox console refresh?

eXputer’s report suggests that the new disc-less Series X could launch in June or July (while acknowledging that this is changeable, as anything is with regards to leaks.

It is unclear at present how the new console affects a previously leaked refresh of the console. Revealed in documents related to FTC v. Microsoft last year, a project codenamed Brooklin suggested Microsoft was already planning to launch an “adorably all digital” Xbox Series X, but with much greater changes to the design than color.

The leaked design featured a cylindrical console with plans for updated technology, improved sustainability, and more internal storage alongside a new controller, which would ship for $499, the same price Series X consoles currently retail for.

The Verge obtained an internal email where Xbox CEO Phil Spencer addressed the leaks and suggested that part of the downside of leaks is how quickly things change in the company’s plans.

We've seen the conversation around old emails and documents. It is hard to see our team's work shared in this way because so much has changed and there's so much to be excited about right now, and in the future. We will share the real plans when we are ready.

— Phil Spencer (@XboxP3) September 19, 2023

So don’t hold your breath about the new leak either – who knows what Microsoft will eventually release. All we can really say for sure is that they are continuing to work on the Xbox console series and may have some plans to release a new version of their flagship console.

The success of GamePass as a digital streaming platform and two leaks that show consoles with no drive for physical media do raise questions however, especially as Spencer has previously said in an interview with Game File that getting rid of physical media was not a strategic decision for Microsoft.

Featured image credit: eXputer

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Embracer Group has announced plans to divest Gearbox Studios in a sale to Take-Two Interactive valued at $460 million to be made up entirely of newly issued Take-Two shares. Take-Two has confirmed that Gearbox is working on a new Borderlands game.

According to a press release from the video game holding company, it is divesting Gearbox Software, Gearbox Montreal, Gearbox Studio Quebec, and the franchises Borderlands, Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands, Homeworld, Risk of Rain, Brothers in Arms, and Duke Nukem.

The divested properties will join Take-Two’s 2K division, which has long been a publishing partner of Gearbox. They have published the successful Borderlands games franchise since the first one in 2009. Gearbox will continue to be led by its founder and CEO Randy Pitchford.

The sale does not include studios that were purchased by Embracer through Gearbox, including Cryptic Studios, Lost Boys Interactive, and Captured Dimensions. It also does not include Gearbox Publishing in San Francisco, publishers of Remnant 2, and owners of the publishing rights of several upcoming titles, including Hyper Light Breaker.

The end of Embracer’s restructuring?

This divestment marks the apparent end of a planned restructuring which resulted in over 1300 layoffs at Embracer-owned companies.

“Today’s announcement marks the result of the final structured divestment process and is an important step in transforming Embracer into the future with notably lower net debt and improved free cash flow. Through the transaction, we lower business risk and improve profitability as we transition to becoming a leaner and more focused company,” says Lars Wingefors, co-founder and CEO of Embracer.

Randy Pitchford said that despite being a long-term shareholder in Embracer Group, he believed that this was the most positive outcome for Embracer, Take-Two, and Gearbox. “My primary interest is always Gearbox, especially our talent and our customers. I want to personally assure fans of our games that this arrangement will ensure that the experiences we have in development at Gearbox will be the best they can possibly be,” he said.

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Update: SBF has now been jailed for 25 years – read more here.

Sam Bankman-Fried, owner of the bankrupt crypto exchange FTX, will receive sentencing in New York today (March 28) after his convictions for fraud and conspiracy last year. District Judge Lewis Kaplan could level a sentence of up to 110 years of jail time.

Prosecutors are pushing for 40-50 years, whereas the defense is seeking leniency due to Bankman-Fried being a non-violent first-time offender. They are lobbying the judge for a sentence closer to six and a half years.

Victims of the collapse of FTX have been writing to the judge to provide their thoughts on the issue and to attempt to convey the impact fraud of this scale has had on them.

Sunil Kavuri, a British investor, said to the BBC “He has shown no remorse so why would any judge show any mercy?” At the time of FTX’s collapse, Kavuri had over $2 million worth of holdings on the exchange site.

Arush Sehgal, an entrepreneur from Barcelona, and his wife had around $4 million in dollars and Bitcoin in FTX – their life savings. He described it as them having “lost everything.”

Canadian Angela Chang had about a quarter of a million dollars in FTX, and its fall has led to her taking out credit card debt and ultimately selling a portion of a claim to an investor. She believes that victims of the crimes committed by Bankman-Fried are being minimized due to being in the crypto industry. “People think that crypto is criminal and so they have sympathy for this guy… But I’m not a criminal,” she said to the BBC.

How will Sam Bankman-Fried’s sentence be determined?

Making a sentencing decision such as this is a complex matter. The scale of the crime and its effects are contested at a huge scale, according to Columbia Law professor Daniel Richman. “Any judge or lawyer will tell you that one of the best things the defendant can do before being sentenced is really, really show he’s on the right path, show some remorse, and show some degree of self-knowledge as to his offense,” said professor Richman, continuing, “Here you not only have a defendant who went to trial but you have one who really, at least the judge believed, was obstructive prior to trial.” Bankman-Fried had his bail revoked last year after rumors of witness tampering and intimidation reached Judge Kaplan.

Part of the case for leniency stems from the fact that through the bankruptcy filings, most people who had holdings in FTX stand to regain their money. However, this does not account for losses sustained due to being unable to participate in the market as Bitcoin hit its record high before beginning to fall again.

There are also those reaching out to beg for leniency in sentencing, including Bankman-Fried’s mother, Barbara Fried. She is a former law professor and describes the US justice system as “punitive”. “I have no illusions about the redemptive power of prisons,” she wrote in a letter to Judge Kaplan. “Being consigned to prison for decades will destroy Sam as surely as would hanging him.”

Despite the pleas from family and friends and the fact that Bankman-Fried is a non-violent first-time offender, Professor Richman believes it would be “really surprising” for the Judge to come anywhere close to the defense’s request of 6.5 years.

Featured image: Generated by Ideogram

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Credible leaks from the Honkai: Star Rail 2.2 version beta are coming thick and fast now. One of the latest is that players will receive a free Light Cone, an ATK, DEF, and HP boosting weapon when the patch drops.

The free Light Cone will be called For Tomorrow’s Journey and is a 4-star weapon. It’s a Harmony Path weapon so only Harmony characters will receive the passive bonus granted by the item.

2.2 Free 4 star Harmony LC
byu/ukrisreng inHonkaiStarRail_leaks

What are the stats on the free Light Cone in Honkai: Star Rail 2.2?

For Tomorrow’s Journey is the name of the free weapon and its detailed stats are:

• Path: Harmony
• Rarity: 4-stars
• HP: 952
• ATK: 476
• DEF: 330
• Bonds (Harmony Path users only): Increase the wearer’s ATK by 16%. When the wearer uses their Ultimate, increase their DMG dealt by 18% for one turn.

There is a lot of speculation online about what this Light Cone is designed for. Being an offensive Harmony path Light Cone suggests that it could be designed for Robin, an upcoming 5-star Harmony character who uses physical damage. It is rumoured that Robin will release in 2.2, alongside this Light Cone.

What are Light Cones in Honkai: Star Rail?

In Honkai: Star Rail, Light Cones are a kind of weapon, ranging between 3- and 5-star rarity, which characters can equip. They all provide a variable boost to HP, ATK, and DEF, and have a passive ability that will activate if the Cone is equipped by someone of the same path.

Light Cones can be leveled up and enhanced by consuming other Light Cones or Light Cone EXP Materials. The six Ascension phases mean they can be leveled to 80.

Light Cones can also be Superimposed, which increases its passive ability’s level. Superimposing is done by consuming an identical Light Cone. The rank of the Cone and the one being consumed by the Superimposition are added together during the process and this can be done to a maximum of level five.

Honkai Star Rail version 2.1, Into the Yawning Chasm, is now available across all regions, and 2.2 is expected sometime in May. Find out more about what’s in Honkai: Star Rail version 2.1 here.

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Antstream Arcade, a massive library of retro games available to Xbox owners and PC gamers for an annual fee of $30/year, is adding 14 new titles to the service this month.

The app launched in July 2023 and provides subscribers with instant access to over 1,300 classic titles. The games range from the Atari, through the NES, to the Game Boy, all the way up to the PlayStation 1 (calling the PlayStation 1 retro makes me concerned I might be about to crumble into dust) and more. As well as games, the service has sweetened the pot by providing tons of extra features and continually expanding its game library.

With their subscriptions, players gain access to over 600 minigame challenges, a vast number of which Antstream Arcade is adding to every month. There are global weekly tournaments for the really competitive players, and couch co-op for people looking to recapture the feeling of a classic games night.

Although $30 for an annual subscription to such a vast library plus extra features may seem like a great deal, it gets better: you can get a lifetime subscription for just $80. One subscription allows you access across all of your devices.

That (game) belongs in a museum!
Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis has resurfaced from the depths of watery bugs & is back on Antstream! Have you played this classic Indy adventure? pic.twitter.com/4uuxloUZBg

— AntstreamGDC (@AntstreamArcade) March 12, 2024

What games are coming to Antstream Arcade in March?

• Bristles (Arcade)  – can you navigate Peter the Painter through the house and paint every wall?
• Demons of Asteborg (Arcade) – fight the demonic hoards and save your homeland in this action platformer.
• Firelord (Amstrad) – explore the cursed kingdom of Torot and recover the four charms of eternal youth.
• First Samurai (C64 and SNES) – a beat ’em up platformer that sees you defeating rival swordsmen to prevail as the first Samurai.
• Hobgoblin (Amstrad) – cross the swamps of the hobgoblin hoards and retrieve the stolen Golden Orb.
• Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis (Amiga) – help Indie discover the fate of Atlantis in this classic point-and-click adventure.
• Mr. Tuff (SNES) – never originally released, now is your chance to check out this action platformer.
• Pitstop (Atari) – put your foot down in this semi-first-person racing game and see if you can win the championship.
• Pitstop 2 (Atari) – a more complex older brother to Pitstop which adds split-screen racing for two players.
• R-Type (Arcade) – dive into this side-scrolling shooter and destroy the alien threat before they wipe out humankind!
• Streak Hoverboard Racing (PS1) – famed for being extremely difficult, are you up to this racing challenge?
• Switchblade (Arcade) – a side-scrolling run-and-gun action platformer where you must defeat the enemies and collect the shards of the Fireblade.
• Xenon (Amstrad) – become a future space pilot in this vertical-scrolling shooter to help win the war against the aliens.

Antstream Arcade has also announced multiple future titles on their way to the platform, including the ultimate game night game, Worms Armageddon. Don’t forget to grab yourself an 8BitDo keyboard for maximum retro immersion.

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The Steam Deck has proven itself as a popular bit of kit, with Valve confirming late in 2023 that they had sold “multiple millions” of the handheld device.

Developers have stepped up accordingly and “Steam Deck Verified” is a mark of honor many strive for.

Valve, creators of the Steam Deck and games marketplace platform Steam, have released a list of the 100 most played games on the Deck between March 2023 and March 2024. In this case, “most played” means the highest daily active player count. Grab them now during the Steam Spring Sale.

Top Ten most played Steam Deck games in the last year

1. Baldur’s Gate 3

   • Steam Deck Verified: Yes
   • Steam Sale: -10%, currently $53.99
   • This game hardly needs an introduction. It was voted Game of the Year in 2023 and continues to delight fans across the globe.

2. Vampire Survivors

   • Steam Deck Verified: Yes
   • Steam Sale: -20%, currently $3.99
   • An addictive bullet hell roguelike with one of the most replayable gameplay loops to emerge from the genre in years.

3. Dave The Diver

   • Steam Deck Verified: Yes
   • Steam Sale: -25%, currently $14.99
   • Run a sushi restaurant by diving for delicious fish, but don’t let the customers get too mad. Imagine Overcooked, but you can’t blame your friends when it all goes wrong.

4. Elden Ring

   • Steam Deck Verified: Yes
   • Steam Sale: No
   • FromSoft’s most epic adventure sees you battling your way through a massive landscape and over 160 bosses. Keep your eyes out for the upcoming DLC, Shadows of the Erdtree.

5. Palworld

   • Steam Deck Verified: Compatible
   • Steam Sale: -10%, currently $26.99
   • The smash-hit success of early 2024, adventure your way through Palworld collecting pals and creating whatever you can imagine. It’s still being updated with new content like raids.

6. Cyberpunk 2077

   • Steam Deck Verified: Yes
   • Steam Sale: -50%, currently $29.99
   • A true redemption arc, the 2.0 update saved this game from the scrap heap. Explore Night City and embark on epic quests, then check out the DLC, Phantom Liberty.

7. Grand Theft Auto V

   • Steam Deck Verified: Compatible
   • Steam Sale: -63%, currently $14.98
   • The most popular game in a franchise that has sold more copies than there are people in North America. Grab it now before Grand Theft Auto VI launches.

8. Stardew Valley

   • Steam Deck Verified: Yes
   • Steam Sale: -20%, currently $11.99
   • After being the internet’s darling for over eight years, ConcernedApe is still updating this all-time great, which recently broke over 30 million sales.

9. Red Dead Redemption 2

   • Steam Deck Verified: Compatible
   • Steam Sale: -67%, currently $19.79
   • Lose yourself in the epic tale of Arthur Morgan as you ride around in this Cowboy ’em up that defines its class in every way.

10. Hades

    • Steam Deck Compatible: Yes
    • Steam Sale: -50%, currently $12.49
    • An incredibly crafted roguelike with a story to rival many more traditional games, Hades is exceptional. Grab it now before the sequel comes out this year.

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As fans get stuck into Genshin Impact’s 4.5 release across the world, leaks have revealed more details about the hotly anticipated five-star character Arlecchino, known as The Knave. Reliable sources have shown off her splash art and her weapon.

ARLECCHINO SPLASH ART — GENSHIN IMPACT

Via Dimbreath#Genshinlmpact #原神 #Genshin pic.twitter.com/MXQGLLG2UC

— K O V A K (@KdeKovaK) March 13, 2024

Arlecchino is a Fatui Harbinger, the fourth of eleven, and initially appeared in a trailer that showcased eight of these mysterious characters. She has also been a part of the Fontaine storyline, leaving fans wanting more.

The leaks, which have been shared by reliable sources, come from the Genshin Impact 4.6 beta testing server. The splash art is eye-catching, with its black, red, and white color scheme. Arlecchino stands atop the “Ancient Mountain of Doom” and sports a single red wing.

Equally as exciting is the reveal that Arlecchino’s signature spear weapon transforms into a scythe as she uses it. The attack, named “Crimson Monn’s Semblance” has been shown by other leaks to have a very high attack value, making Arlecchino a valuable DPS character.

The new leaks have added to the hype though, and people can’t wait to add Arlecchino to their rosters. Her weapon’s sub-stat is CRIT rate, a huge boon for damage-dealing characters. It also grants a Bond of Life effect of 25% max hit points whenever a charged attack lands. This prevents opponents from healing mid-fight. The cherry on the cake is that having an active Bond of Life grants a damage bonus to Arlecchino.

When will Arlecchino be released?

While there is no firm release yet for when players can get their hands on Arlecchino, it has been confirmed by HoYoverse that she will release with Version 4.6, the next major patch due for the game. Genshin Impact has a tendency to follow a 6-week release cycle, and if that continues to hold true, Arlecchino might be available on April 24. 

Naturally, all information gained from leaks, no matter how reliable, should be taken with a pinch of salt. All this information is subject to change as HoYoverse gathers information from the 4.6 beta testing server.

Image credits: HoYoverse

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Despite reaching record highs of almost $74,000 on Thursday (March 14), the price of Bitcoin (BTC) dropped by 9% early on Friday (March 15) to $66, 885.

Many cryptocurrency traders will likely sell some of their Bitcoin holdings to cash in on the substantial 175% price increase over the past year. This profit-taking will be a contributing factor to the Bitcoin drop.

City Index analyst Matt Simpson told Sky News: “Bitcoin has an established history of getting volatile and ruthless after hitting a record high. And not only did it recently hit a new high, but it looks like the Federal Reserve won’t be as dovish as traders had hoped.”

Analysts speaking to Coindesk echoed this sentiment. “The recent surge in bitcoin prices has been too fast for the market to price correctly, so the current correction is expected,” Greta Yuan, Head of Research at VDX, a Hong Kong-licensed exchange said.

What will happen when Bitcoin halves?

A further complicating factor is the upcoming Bitcoin “halving”, which happens every four years and is due in April. During the halving, the number of new Bitcoins being made available will be permanently halved. After this point, just 450 BTC a day will enter the market.

Why is this significant? First and foremost it helps maintain and control Bitcoin’s fixed supply and the digital asset’s inflation rate over time. This escalating scarcity is part of why Bitcoin is valuable, however, there’s no evidence previous Halvings have caused the price to rise, which adds to the current uncertainty.

On top of this, the United States recently approved spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETF), which have seen huge volumes of capital passing through since their launch. The largest Bitcoin ETF is run by BlackRock with $15.5 billion flowing into the fund in the two months since its launch.

“The historical trading volume of Blackrock’s Bitcoin ETF has caused some unease in the market,” said Adrian Wang, founder and CEO of Metalpha in an interview with Coindesk, “with some stakeholders fearing that Bitcoin’s price will surge too much too soon and could experience a flash crash,” Wang said.

The SEC has also delayed an important regulatory decision on whether to approve the trading of options on ETFs that invest directly in Bitcoin.

The market is uncertain and Bitcoin is historically volatile. Dips such as the one seen during Friday’s Asia trading hours are to be expected, especially amidst the anticipation of the halving.

Featured image credit: Generated with Ideagram

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According to a talk Cosmic Lounge’s cofounder Tomi Huttula gave at Think Games 2024, his studio has developed a generative artificial intelligence (AI) tool that can prototype games in “five to six hours.”

“Yes, AI is really changing how games are developed and it is a big part of the future of game development,” he said during his talk. “My recommendation to everybody here is that you should be getting your teams and technology ready for AI.”

During the talk, Huttula demonstrated Cosmic Lounge’s in-house tool, Puzzle Engine, which uses dropdown menus and prompts to create a variety of game elements from puzzle engines and game logic to art and levels. He showed off ‘Angry Dev’, a puzzle game prototype created using Puzzle Engine in five to six hours.

“Creative people have a lot of game ideas. The challenge, of course, always has been: how do you know if your idea is good?” said Huttula. “Typically within companies, a designer has an idea, but they need an artist and an engineer to try the idea. So we want it to be super easy for designers – they can come up with ideas to create a prototype, just with Puzzle Engine, without an artist or an engineer.”

He described how Cosmic Lounge’s tech can generate vast quantities of levels, and then play through those levels for testing. It can then provide feedback on important points such as difficulty, possible churn points, and even potential areas for monetization. The human designers, which the studio only has two of, can edit and tweak based on the AI feedback.

Generative AI in an industry scarred by layoffs

“We don’t think that AI is doing anybody’s job,” said Huttula. “This is not replacing somebody…we are thinking about AI as helping our team members to do their job better, be more productive, and get better results.”

However, this might not be a stance shared with many game developers. The industry has been dominated by layoffs for the better part of a year despite soaring profits. It is hard to hear ‘AI is generating and testing levels’ and ‘AI isn’t taking any jobs’ in the same talk without it sticking in the throat. The games industry is grappling with how generative AI will affect it, and with large company bosses such as Square Enix’s President Takashi Kiryu and EA CEO Andrew Wilson boarding the AI hype train, the mood is uneasy.

Valve has introduced new processes for developers to disclose how AI is used in their games. Several users have taken to X to express their unease, with one saying they won’t touch any game made with generative AI. This is a complex, multifaceted issue that the games industry will be confronting for months and years to come.

Featured image credit: Ideogram

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The third test launch of Elon Musk’s SpaceX Starship saw the massive craft successfully reach a suborbital coast before plunging down harmlessly into the Indian Ocean.

Starship is coasting in space pic.twitter.com/ZFUXMUkufW

— SpaceX (@SpaceX) March 14, 2024

Starship is a behemoth with 33 engines, weighing over 5000 tons. According to Elon Musk, this makes it the heaviest flying object ever made. For context, that’s around half the weight of the iconic Eiffel Tower in Paris.

The first two test launches resulted in the ship exploding shortly after launch, but this time, the rocket successfully made it into orbit. The test, this time, was designed to show the opening and closing of the payload doors and to reignite its engines in space.

“This flight pretty much just started, but we’re farther than we’ve ever been before,” SpaceX spokesperson Dan Huot said in a livestream. “We’ve got a starship, not just in space, but on its coast phase into space.”

Even though the rocket was ultimately not recovered and the test wasn’t perfect, it was still a much more successful test than the previous two.

What went wrong, and what went right?

The Super Heavy booster correctly separated from the main ship around 2 minutes 45 seconds after liftoff but did not manage to reignite, resulting in the loss of the booster.

“It didn’t light all the engines that we expected and we did lose the booster,” Huot said. “We’ll have to go through the data to figure out exactly what happened, obviously.”

Starship, however, completed its systems test with the engine reignition and the payload doors. Unfortunately, SpaceX lost contact with the ship before reentry, resulting in them declaring Ship 28 lost.

“We are making the call now that we have lost Ship 28,” Huot said sometime after they lost contact, “We haven’t heard from the ship up until this point, and so the team has made the call that Ship has been lost. So, no splashdown today.”

Although there are still clearly kinks to be worked out, successfully reaching sub-orbit and completing vital systems tests shows that progress is being made towards the eventual goal of Starship being a reusable craft ready to fly passengers to the moon and beyond. This builds on their success with satellite launches earlier this year and paves the way for further testing.

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In a collaboration between the Toyota Engineering Society and the Pokémon Company, this weekend lucky fans can ride a real Pokémon replica.

Using cutting-edge technology, the invention is as close to the size and shape of the Pokémon as possible, and can even transform between the two modes of Miraidon, wheels and legs.

The Toyota Engineering Society is a small subset of engineers from Toyota who have been building weird and wondrous devices and machines with the car-maker’s technology for over 70 years.

They collaborate annually with the city of Tokyo on the ‘Waku Waku World’ event. This year the theme was “Future Mobility”. After receiving over 8,000 submissions from elementary students in the Japanese capital, the team opted to create a lifelike Miraidon.

The collaboration aimed to convey the message that “an adult’s seriousness can become a child’s dream” and “Dreams don’t end as dreams, as imagination creates the future,” according to a translated post on Twitter/X.

【トヨタミライドンプロジェクト】

"大人の本気が、子供の夢になる"

トヨタ技術会とポケモン(@Pokemon_cojp)が夢に向かって始動

プロジェクトの様子をぜひご覧ください#トヨタミライドンプロジェクト始動 pic.twitter.com/ZOTKnqYlB1

— トヨタ自動車株式会社 (@TOYOTA_PR) March 14, 2024

The completed model will be on display in the Tokyo Midtown Hibiya mall from March 15 to 17, and anyone who weighs under 65kg will get the chance to ride on the back of Miraidon. Tickets for a ride are limited in number so this is truly a once-in-a-lifetime experience for a small number of fans.

Pokémon fans are an ingenious bunch and this isn’t the first brush with modern technology we’ve seen. In January, a YouTuber created a working Pokédex using a 3D printer and AI.

What is Miraidon?

Miraidon is a Pokémon which featured on the box art for Pokémon Scarlet and Violet. The replica is of the blue-purple variant from Pokémon Violet. The legendary creature joins the protagonist on their adventure, transforming between a ride-on living motorbike and a dog-dragon hybrid ready to battle.

Despite releasing in 2022, Pokémon Scarlet and Violet were still receiving content updates in the form of an epilogue earlier this year.

Featured image credit: Toyota Engineering Society/The Pokémon Company

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Elon Musk has abruptly pulled the plug on Don Lemon’s upcoming talk show on the X platform, after a tense inaugural interview between the former CNN anchor and the billionaire.

Lemon said Musk texted him to say “contract terminated”. He then shared a post and a video on X discussing the interview and the outcome. “Elon Musk is mad at me,” he said. “His commitment to a global town square where all questions can be asked and all ideas can be shared seems not to include questions of him from people like me,” he elaborated.

Elon Musk canceled #TheDonLemonShow

Watch on YouTube and listen everywhere on Monday March 18. pic.twitter.com/AAhnvcY0ny

— Don Lemon (@donlemon) March 13, 2024

“Throughout our conversation, I kept reiterating to him that although it was tense at times, I thought it was good for people to see and hear our exchange, and that they would learn from our conversation,” he said in the video.

Why did Elon Musk cancel the Don Lemon show on X?

Musk, who owns X, posted on the site about the decision, and the company’s official account stated: “after careful consideration, X decided not to enter into a commercial partnership with the show.”

When pressed for a specific reason, the 52-year-old himself stated that he believed Lemon was taking the wrong approach.

“His approach was basically just ‘CNN, but on social media’, which doesn’t work, as evidenced by the fact that CNN is dying. And, instead of it being the real Don Lemon, it was really just Jeff Zucker talking through Don, so lacked authenticity. All this said, Lemon/Zucker are of course welcome to build their viewership on this platform along with everyone else,” said his post.

He clarified that Don Lemon is welcome to share and host the show on X, but there will be no commercial agreement between the entities.

is welcome to monetize on this platform, just like everyone else.

What we aren’t going to do is guarantee minimum payments to him, as he was demanding, which would be going beyond everyone else!

Unfortunately, all wants to do is rehash the dying CNN business model “but…

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 14, 2024

The talk show was announced in January as part of a way to encourage advertising revenue back to X after significant ad revenue losses. The interview with Elon was intended to be the first episode of the new venture. Don Lemon has stated that the show will be available across platforms including YouTube and X on Monday, March 18, and will include the interview with Musk, despite the dissolution of the partnership.

With news that X is coming to TVs, this seems like a serious blow to Musk’s plans to expand the platform.

Featured Image: midjourney

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In a major victory against cryptocurrency scams, federal prosecutors in Massachusetts have taken unprecedented steps to return $2.3 million worth of digital assets seized from fraudsters to victims duped by a devious “pig butchering” scheme.

The Massachusetts US Attorney’s Office (USAO) filed a motion on Wednesday (Mar.13) to return all the funds to victims.

The investigation began in spring 2023 after the USAO became aware of a ‘pig butchering’ cryptocurrency scam targeting the eastern state’s residents. 

The assets being sought for forfeiture include of 299,457.4 USD Coin (USDC), 1,455,305.997648 Tether (USDT), 102,278.515015 Tron (TRX), 3,032.1689461 Solana (SOL), 67.79400436 Binance Coin (BNB), 13,703.955431 Cardano (ADA) and 0.54151495 Ether (ETH), all of which were seized from two Binance accounts traced back to the scam. Binance is the world’s most popular cryptocurrency exchange and wallet service.

What is a ‘pig butchering’ crypto scam?

The ‘pig butchering’ crypto scam follows a methodology scammers have used for decades: build trust with the victim through lying, manipulation, and social engineering, persuade them to invest, then disappear with the money.

Frequently originating on dating sites or through ‘wrong number’ texts, scammers befriend the victim and either walk them through downloading an app to use for investing which is actually a fake app controlled by them, or they will get the victim to send money to their crypto wallet so they can do the heavy lifting.

Often the scammers will engineer the situation so it looks like the victim is making good returns. This encourages them to keep investing with higher and higher amounts of money – the proverbial fattening of the pig.

Make sure you know how to avoid the most common crypto scams with our handy guide.

Featured image credit: Generated with Ideogram

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Embracer Group, a Swedish video game holding company, has sold Saber Interactive for $247 million, less than half of their planned sale. Early in March, it was leaked that Embracer planned to sell off Saber for $500 million.

Embracer’s initial acquisition of Saber in 2020 cost them $525 million.

Selected assets have been divested from Saber to Beacon Interactive. Beacon is a new company founded by one of Saber’s cofounders, Matthew Karch.

This move results in Embracer ceasing all operations in Russia, in line with a decision made by the Embracer board previously.

The company’s CEO, Lars Wingefors, made a statement on the sale. “I am pleased that we have found a win-win solution for Embracer and the parts of Saber that now will leave us. This transaction puts both companies in a stronger position to thrive going forward. Embracer is now able to discontinue all operations in Russia, according to a previous board decision, while safeguarding many developer jobs under new independent ownership.

Ongoing restructuring

“This is the first transaction of the previously mentioned structured processes and marks a small but important step in our journey to transform Embracer into the future for the benefit of all employees, gamers, and shareholders,” finished Wingefors. Embracer previously announced an ongoing restructuring effort aimed at reducing its debt. 

Matthew Karch also spoke about the transaction. “This divestment leaves both parties in much better positions to grow our respective businesses. I will continue to remain a large, long-term shareholder of Embracer and we will remain partners on several ongoing and future projects. This transaction also safeguards the livelihoods of hundreds of professionals, many of whom I have worked with for over two decades.”

Beacon will retain several studios that were part of Saber, including Fractured Byte, creators of Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons, Biomutant, and classic skateboard games Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 & 2.

The Swedish company retains control of multiple studios as well as several titles already in development. 4a Games, creators of Metro Exodus, are amongst the studios staying with Embracer.

Featured image credit: Fractured Byte

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We don’t usually know what games will be coming to PlayStation Plus until near the end of the month (we found out about March’s PS+ games on the last day of February), but the official PlayStation blog has already announced April’s freebies, and they will all be playable from March 19th, a full week earlier than anticipated.

What games are coming to PlayStation Plus in April?

NBA 2K24 Kobe Bryant Edition

The most recent installment in the National Basketball Association’s series of management sports simulation games, NBA 2k24 allows players to take control of a single player or the whole squad in their attempt to become the best.

Marvel’s Midnight Suns

A tactical RPG where players can create their own superhero to fight alongside Marvel’s characters. Engage in challenging turn-based combat and tune your combat deck to face off against the challenges posed by evil Lilith.

Resident Evil 3

The critically acclaimed remake of the 1999 classic, take charge of Jill Valentine and evade the unstoppable Nemesis as you try and escape the outbreak in Racoon City. Survival horror at its finest, every bullet counts.

Lego DC Supervillains 

Become the best villain the world has ever seen in the newest LEGO/DC crossover. Set in an open world with 15 levels to fight your way through, plus 5 bonus levels, this game offers hijinks and antics galore.

Mystic Pillars: Remastered

A beautiful puzzle game with an immersive story set in India, Mystic Pillars is a reimagining of the traditional Indian board game “Ali Guli Mane”, also known as Mancala.  Take charge of a traveler and save the kingdom.

Blood Bowl 3

Time to engage in a spot of deadly team sports? Blood Bowl 3 uses the most up-to-date ruleset of the tabletop classic and has both a single-player campaign and online multiplayer. Become the greatest team in the Old World.

Super Neptunia RPG

This is a unique and ‘meta’ game where the player delves into a world dominated by 2D and must team up with three others to prove the value of 3D. Sidescrolling action is accompanied by charming graphics and highly customizable combat.

Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot

(the PS5 version – the PS4 version is already in the Plus Games Catalog)

Lead the iconic hero Goku through the events of the popular anime Dragon Ball Z in this action RPG sprinkled with fighting game elements. Divided into four main storylines, players get to face off against much-loved villains in this colorful game.

Featured image credit: Generated with Ideogram

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Microsoft has announced that their Copilot artificial intelligence (AI) assistant is receiving a huge performance boost for both paid and free users. They are integrating Copilot with OpenAI’s GPT-4 Turbo.

After quite some work, GPT4-Turbo replaced GPT-4 in the Copilot free tier. Pro users can still choose the older model, if prefer (there is a toggle).

— Mikhail Parakhin (@MParakhin) March 12, 2024

Pro users with niche use cases aren’t forgotten about either, because they are also adding a toggle function so people can return to standard GPT-4 if needed.

According to Microsoft’s CEO of Advertising and Web Services, Mikhail Parakhin, on X, all of Copilot’s modes will have access to GPT-4 Turbo, but each mode has been fine-tuned for how much to use Turbo over regular GPT-4.

Creative and Precise modes are almost fully GPT-4 Turbo integrated, whereas Balanced mode only uses GPT-4 Turbo in certain cases.

Parakhin also stated those who use the free tier of Copilot would be able to use GPT-4 Turbo at all times, however, according to the Copilot pricing page, free users are still limited to off-peak times. It’s unclear whether this discrepancy in information is just the pricing page not being updated yet.

What are the benefits of GPT-4 Turbo?

Launched earlier this year in a big update from OpenAI, GPT-4 Turbo is an enhanced version of OpenAI’s ChatGPT model and is more powerful than previous models.

One of the most noteworthy updates to this new mode is that it now has knowledge of events up to April 2023. Elon Musk has made much of his Grok AI’s ability to engage with events in real-time, and the rivalry between Grok and OpenAI has risen to new levels after Musk announced plans to open-source Grok. So GPT-4 Turbo’s more recent knowledge will help keep the model relevant in a fiercely competitive world.

The Turbo model boasts a much larger context window of 128k, which means it can accept a much larger quantity of input prompts from users.

Featured image: Generated with Ideogram

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Dragon’s Dogma 2 (DD2) ramped up excitement this week by releasing its character creator as a standalone download weeks ahead of the game’s launch. We’ve rounded up all the reasons we have to be excited about the game and all we know so far so dive in to get really hyped.

What kind of game is Dragon’s Dogma 2?

Like the original, DD2 is a third-person action RPG where the player takes charge of The Arisen to hunt down legendary foes and face an epic story of dogma and dragon slaying. The player will be helped by non-playable characters called Pawns. Pawns have adaptive AI and will learn as you go, which can be useful…if you teach them good habits. If you drink too many healing potions you might find your Pawns gulping them down like they are going out of fashion.

How big will the game be?

The game’s director Hideaki Itsuno has stated that the map of Dragon’s Dogma 2 would be four times larger than the map in the original game. In a subsequent interview, Itsuno discussed the game’s limited fast travel system. Players can get ox carts between some settlements, but you never know what monsters you might be faced with while en route. “While riding one, you might find the path blocked by goblins and have no choice but to get off and join the battle. Then as you do, a Griffin might swoop in and destroy the entire cart with one blow, forcing you to walk the rest of the way while cursing its name,” said Itsuno. He explained that none of these encounters are scripted and mentioned Rockstar’s games as inspiration for dynamic, emergent gameplay. “Travel is boring? That’s not true. It’s only an issue because your game is boring.”

Other gameplay elements we know

It has been revealed that in-game quest markers will be kept to an absolute minimum. Don’t expect to see yellow exclamation points above the heads of NPCs who have a quest, or dotted lines on the map leading you to exactly where you need to go to complete the quest. DD2 takes a more traditional approach, with characters giving you instructions and directions. Or maybe you’ll get lucky and your Pawn will know where to go. Pawns are also eagle-eyed and are designed to point out any areas of interest you’re walking past. Taking after three of the most successful games of recent years (Zelda Breath of the Wild, Elden Ring, and Zelda Tears of the Kingdom) this is sure to lead to organic and rewarding gameplay.

Capcom has worked hard to make sure gameplay and combat will be dynamic and engaging. Break down a dam to wash your foes away. Cut off an enemy’s head and wield it as a weapon. Cut down a bridge to enable a quick getaway – but be careful because next time you need to go that way, you’ll have to find a way around the broken bridge.

One key thing to be aware of is that you can permanently kill NPCs in DD2, whereas the first game had them respawning after some in-game time had passed. So don’t swing your sword about too carelessly.

NPCs no longer respawn in Dragon's Dogma 2. If an NPC dies, they go to the morgue. While they're in the morgue you can wakestone them back to life, but they only stay there a few days before being buried. At that point that NPC is gone for the rest of the game.#DragonsDogma2 #DD2 https://t.co/wTKNGe7KXx

— Chainsaw McFacepunch (@MrMcFacepunch) March 6, 2024

Will Dragon’s Dogma 2 have multiplayer?

DD2 will be purely single-player with no multiplayer gameplay elements. However, the Pawns that you create become part of an online database of Pawns that other players will be able to recruit in their games. Likewise, when you visit the Nexus you can recruit Pawns created by other players. You can turn this feature off and recruit developer-made Pawns if you prefer.

Can you have multiple saves/characters at once?

Like in the original Dragon’s Dogma, DD2 will have only one save file. If you want to start a new character or playthrough you’ll have to delete your previous one. While this can encourage exploration and make decisions more impactful because you can’t go back and see what might have happened, some players will be frustrated at not being able to dabble in multiple different character classes and playstyles.

Is the frame rate capped?

This has been a concern for console gamers but director Hideaki Itsuno took to Twitter to confirm that framerates for the game will be uncapped and it aims to rest at around 60fps.

When will Dragon’s Dogma 2 release?

Dragon’s Dogma 2 is due to release on March 22, 2024, barring any unforeseen delays. It will cost $70, and there is a deluxe edition available for $80 which includes a variety of in-game items.

Featured image credit: Capcom

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Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 has received a huge patch which added New Game Plus, new suits, and…more than Insomniac intended. Players have discovered a menu in-game that details the entire arc of a villain named “Beetle Villain”.

The update accidentally left player access to a development menu, and Insomniac has warned fans on Twitter that using the menu could corrupt their saves and interrupt trophy progress. However, this hasn’t stopped some players from digging in to uncover what’s in there.

We're aware the latest game update may have inadvertently allowed access to a development game menu. There's a hotfix on the way.

Please note that using this menu could corrupt your saves and trophy progress.

There is no risk associated with playing the game as intended.

— Insomniac Games (@insomniacgames) March 7, 2024

As well as revealing the villainous focal point of the DLC, the menu also reveals the true identity of the Beetle Villain – Beetle Janice. Janice is reformed mobster Tombstone’s daughter.

It’s unclear whether Insomniac is still working on this DLC if we will see other iconic characters in any DLC, or if this is just a remnant from other development work. Some information does seem to line up with data that was obtained from leaks and hacks Insomniac suffered late last year.

The company has not issued a statement on the screenshots and no official DLC has been announced.

They have however announced that a hotfix will be coming soon to remove the access to the debug menu so players will be safe from accidentally corrupting their save files.

What was included in the Spider-Man 2 update?

As well as this accidental inclusion, the March 7 update came with many much-requested features for Spider-Man 2. Most notably, the update included a New Game Plus mode which enables players to continue their enjoyment of the game beyond their first playthrough.

The update has added some vital accessibility options to the game too, including audio descriptions and screen reader compatibility, both vital tools for some disabled players.

Featured image credit: Insomniac Games

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Players who can’t wait to get started when Dragon’s Dogma 2 launches won’t have to, as they can now create their characters in advance. Capcom has launched the Dragon’s Dogma 2 character creator as a standalone demo on Steam, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S.

Character Creator & Storage is out now! Use the robust tools to create your Arisen & main Pawn, and save up to 5 Arisen & 5 main Pawns.

We can't wait to see what you make!

PC: https://t.co/IRJ3WdJgH6
PS5: https://t.co/xtnBPnnSGt
Xbox: https://t.co/U3bqQ37Emu#DD2… https://t.co/fBxnYOtnP7

— Dragon's Dogma (@DragonsDogma) March 8, 2024

Needless to say, people are excited, to say the least. The response has been overwhelmingly positive on social media, with at least one user stating that they were not planning to buy the game but are so charmed by the early release of the character creator they now plan on getting the game on launch.

The character creator is free to use and fans can create up to five Arisen (main player characters) and five Pawns (NPC companions). They will be saved in the Character Creator and then be available in the main game when it releases.

Judging by screenshots, this is going to be an extremely detailed character-creation tool. Players can be humans or cat-like Beastren, and there are a range of body types on show in the screenshots. Inclusive character creation is something that games can struggle with, especially when depicting larger bodies or older people, so it’s a step in a positive direction for Dragon’s Dogma 2 to have diverse bodies available to players.

When does Dragon’s Dogma 2 release and how much will it cost?

Dragon’s Dogma 2 is due to release on March 22 on Steam, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S. On launch, Dragon’s Dogma 2 will cost $70, which seems like a steep price but the game’s director, Hideaki Itsuno has stated that it will take over 30 hours to defeat the main story and if the first game is anything to go by, there will be upwards of 100 hours of content to explore your way through.

Dragon’s Dogma 2 is a game players have been waiting over 12 years for and hype levels are high. It’s sure to be an unmissable game for 2024 and we’re preparing our characters in anticipation.

Featured image credit: Capcom

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