If you are one of those people who hates the idea of Artificial Intelligence (AI) being used to create the games you love because it puts talented people out of work and replaces them with Chat-GPT’s overly enthusiastic writing or MidJourney’s seven-fingered monstrosities, you are going to hate this.

The new 2024 Unity Gaming Report has surveyed 7,062 workers in the game industry and “found that around 62% (4,378) of developers are leveraging AI tools during production” according to an analysis by GameDeveloper.com. 

Of those people, a further 63% (2,758) confirmed they used generative AI to help them create assets for the projects.

This means around 39% of everyone surveyed (7,062) is using AI to build assets for the game. It is super interesting as the games industry undergoes wave after wave of layoffs amid panic that AI will ultimately cost many jobs, that the very tools being blamed for redundancies are being flaunted by such a high number.

AI and generative AI should be being used as a tool and an aid, but whether decisions to bring our future robot overlords on board at this early stage are being made in the board room and being forced on the workers, or whether the developers themselves – the artists and programmers are embracing the tech to help them be more productive would be a wonderful thing to learn.

‘We’re empowering designers’

VP of product management, Kjell Bronder at Niantic (famous for Pokemon GO!), said:

“To increase our productivity, like many others, we’ve been really looking at AI and seeing how we can use this new generation of tools to empower our designers so they can create new assets to explore new ideas.”

“Also, how we can prototype new ways of characters, bring them to life, and have them animate in new ways.”

These empowered designers were obviously not part of the 25% of staff layoffs the company made in the middle of 2023.

Unity itself said, “While 2023 was a year marked with persisting economic headwinds, game developers are strategically navigating the challenges and successfully adapting to changes in technology, the economy, and player habits by doing more with less.” 

Presumably, the less includes the 1,800 people Unity itself let go at the start of the year. 

One thing is for sure, the better AI gets, the less work there will be for humans in the games industry. That is something we need to get our heads around and accept, but we, as the people who buy the games,  should not be expected to accept lower standards for profit.

Featured Image: AI-generated by Ideogram

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Irdeto has confirmed the launch of a new technology designed as a “watermarking solution” to act as a bulwark against gaming leaks.

TraceMark for Games comes from the same company responsible for the contentious Denuvo digital rights management system, with the new release able to add markers to video game content to act as invisible identifiers.

These tags allow content to be traced back to the source, as already utilized across media output such as sports broadcasts, TV shows, and movies.

Irdeto, the digital platform cybersecurity firm, has placed faith in the qualities of TraceMark, taking the view it will act as a deterrent to dissuade individuals from leaking game content when accessing early play tests, beta, or reviews.

Its features include flexible watermark generation to match specific requirements, with quick and easy deployment to the user’s consumer base and a wide range of devices and platforms.

Irdeto positions TraceMark for Gaming as the solution for clients to “enjoy peace of mind throughout the content lifecycle, from development to distribution.”

What’s the problem with hacks and leaking?

The video game industry has been beset with hacks and leaks in recent times, with even non-disclosure agreements being broken as was the case with Skate when early content surfaced. Grand Theft Auto VI is another prominent title to be impacted, with hacks resulting in leaks of the long-awaited release, undermining the official release more than a year later.

TraceMark isn’t being presented as a cure for all ills on leaks, nor does it claim to be. It most likely won’t have a significant impact on the unwanted, unauthorized flow of content from headline gaming titles but for the early stages and development of many new releases, it could prove to be a useful tool.

TraceMark for Gaming will be supported by Windows, Xbox, iOS, and Switch.

Image credit: Ideogram AI

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The Solana (SOL) blockchain has emerged as a major platform for the emergence of new memecoins, signaling the onset of a bullish market trend. This trend was accompanied by a surge in SOL’s price as well, nearing $100.

A standout in this memecoin surge is Slerf (SLERF), which despite its creator accidentally destroying over $10 million in Solana before its debut, quickly soared to a market capitalization of $500 million within just a few hours and then fell again.

Guys I fucked up. I burned the LP and the tokens that were set aside for the airdrop.

Mint authority is already revoked so I can not mint them.

There is nothing I can do to fix this.

I am so fucking sorry.

— Slerf (@Slerfsol) March 18, 2024

As of press time CoinMarketCap data shows that Slerf is trading at $0.51. The 24-hour trading volume also reached nearly $681.6 million, up 3,450% from the $19.21 million reported 24 hours ago.

Before this crash the cryptocurrency rallied from its initial CoinMarketCap price of just under $0,68 to nearly $1.06 before crashing to its current price. The market cap reported by Coingecko also very quickly rose to over $622 million down to $184 million before settling at over $205 million as of press time. All of this activity took place on Mar. 18 as intraday volatility.

The team behind Slerf managed to gather 535,000 SOL for the coin’s launch but inadvertently destroyed $10.4 million in Solana in an attempt to clean their wallet. This surge in memecoin activity has drawn parallels to the Ethereum (ETH) initial coin offering craze of 2017, a period marked by numerous crypto ventures raising significant funds, though most ultimately fell short of their promises.

What are memecoins?

Memecoins, characterized by their origins in internet memes or possessing humorous qualities, in most cases lack practical applications beyond serving as pop culture artifacts. These digital currencies spawned after the introduction of Dogecoin (DOGE) back in 2013 are speculative by nature and are buoyed by dedicated online communities.

Dogecoin gained fame and support from Elon Musk during the 2021 bull market. In 2024, several new memecoins have quickly reached market capitalizations in the billions, creating a wave of crypto millionaires.

The memecoin boom has rekindled memories of the 2017 ICO frenzy, with influencers successfully raising millions for new memecoin ventures. A user on X remarked that the current memecoin craze represents a more transparent iteration of the 2017 ICO and 2021 NFT bubbles, with projects no longer pretending to fulfill unrealistic promises and investors acknowledging their speculative motives.

This meme coin mania is merely a more honest version of the 2017 ICO craze and the 2021 NFT/crypto-art bubble…

Projects no longer have to pretend to deliver on a fake white-paper and investors no longer have to pretend to be in it for the art

Too cynical?

— WhiteRabbit1111 (@WRabbit1111) March 16, 2024

The memecoin phenomenon, while creating overnight millionaires, often results in significant losses for many who invest without fully understanding the lack of inherent value of those assets.

While Solana’s memecoins continue to gain ground, major meme token Shiba Inu (SHIB) has seen many left wondering if it has any life left in it. In our recent market review, we share the predictions of this token’s future by three market analysts.

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Hackers have targeted the esports final of online shooter game Apex Legends, causing significant disruption to the closing stages of the North American tournament.

The competition was thrown into disarray after unwanted cheats were deployed in-game with clips shared by pro players, showing their consternation toward the outside interference.

Apex Legends is a free-to-play, team-based battle royale shooter developed by EA-owned Respawn Entertainment, the studio synonymous with Star Wars: Jedi Survivor.

As the action was unfolding, Apex pro player Noyan “Genburten” Ozkose announced his game was being hacked with cheats used on his profile. A video clip from the player’s Twitch livestream showed a cheat program’s settings menu appear, resulting in a frantic Genburten outburst, “I’m getting hacked, I’m getting hacked!”

The malicious actors were witnessed repeatedly typing into the chat box from his account, “by Destroyer2009 & R4ndom” and “Apex hacking global series.”

Another high-profile player, ImperialHal, shared a similar response to the experience of the cyber attack.

Official reaction to the hack on Apex Legends

A comment was made on the X account of Apex Legends, late on Sunday night.

“Due to the competitive integrity of this series being compromised, we have made the decision to postpone the NA finals at this time. We will share more information soon.”

At present, the origin of the hack is unknown, whether Apex Legends’ servers or game may have been exploited, or if the incident has stemmed from its Easy Anti-Cheat software, with online suspicion of a possible remote code execution (RSE) attack.

We have investigated recent reports of a potential RCE issue within Easy Anti-Cheat. At this time – we are confident that there is no RCE vulnerability within EAC being exploited. We will continue to work closely with our partners for any follow up support needed

— Easy Anti-Cheat (@TeddyEAC) March 18, 2024

This attack appears to have come from an outside source, but players have previously broken protocol to insert cheat modes into the game. Due to concerns around this issue, Apex streamer Lindsey “LuluLuvely” has implored developers at Respawn to urgently fix an “out of control” cheating situation, suggesting the kernel-level anti-cheat system doesn’t go far enough.

This hacking controversy surfaced just days after EA disposed of around 23 staff working on Apex Legends, as part of a cut to the workforce also impacting an estimated 200 QA testers on the game.

Image Credit: Apex Legends/EA

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The Flight sim experts Aerosoft are going to be offering up something a little different in September this year. Today the German studio announced Highway Police Simulator – a new cop game it is working on alongside Z-Software.

Slated for a launch on PC, Xbox, and PlayStation 5 the game will see you as a lone Highway Patrol cop in America [performing a work shift that includes breakneck high-speed chases, shootouts, and routine traffic stops.

When it is released Highway Police Simulator will include:

• Varied open-world environments, each with its own challenges and missions
• A storyline with exciting cases, career progression, ranking system, and more
• Unique vehicles, including different police cars, helicopters, and more
• A wide array of missions with traffic stops, accidents, car chases, and more
• A morality system that challenges players to make difficult decisions with real consequences for the story and the environment

“Highway Police Simulator encapsulates the investigative, often stressful role of law enforcement in a detailed and realistic world,” said Dirk Ohler, Head of Product at Aerosoft. “We’re thrilled to announce the title and our partnership with the talented team at Z-Software, and we look forward to all our new recruits joining the force in September 2024!”

The short launch trailer isn’t giving too much away although it is giving us some Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit vibes, but as well as the car chases it looks as though Highway Police Simulator is going to also feature a little legwork for your cop.

It’s set in the fictional American state of Caminora and can be played casually or with the simulation aspects ramped up. You can wishlist Highway Police Simulator on Steam right now and start polishing your boots in anticipation of its release in a few months time.

Aerosoft is more known for its work on games such as Microsoft Flight Simulator, so it is interesting to see it diversifying into a different kind of sim.

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Playstack and LocalThunk have confirmed their highly popular roguelike deckbuilder Balatro has exceeded one million sales, less than a month after its release.

The poker-inspired title launched for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series, Playstation 4, Xbox One, Switch, and PC on 20 February, proving to be an instant smash hit after it grossed $1 million in just eight hours.

A press release from Playstack, via its parent company Tru Fin, confirmed Balatro has been its “fastest selling game to date” with Harvey Elliott, company CEO stating, “We’re incredibly grateful for the support and enthusiasm from players worldwide.”

“The game’s success is a testament to the quality and creativity that the indie sector can deliver, proving that even in uncertain times, innovative games can thrive. We extend our deepest thanks to every player who has joined us on this adventure.”

Developer LocalThunk posted on Steam to express gratitude for the landmark achievement.

“I’m so grateful to all the players and people that have made this happen. I still can’t grasp the response to this game, and I am overjoyed that so many people have been able to have fun with my silly creation. I’m so fortunate that I can continue working on my passion as a career. Thank you!”

This morning Balatro hit a momentous milestone…

ONE MILLION COPIES SOLD!

We still have some fun things planned for the future, but for now… pic.twitter.com/S7PEb0qjeG

— Balatro (@BalatroGame) March 18, 2024

What recognition had Balatro received?

Balatro has gained a sought-after “Overwhelmingly Positive” rating on gaming marketplace Steam, achieved thanks to more than 17,000 positive reviews in addition to a commendable rating of 90 on Metacritic, the reputable critic aggregator.

The game also enjoys a rank of 10th in peak CCU (concurrent users) among all Steam games with the ‘roguelike’ tag, listed in between Warm Snow (44.7k CCU) and Hades (37.7k CCU).

On the ‘roguelike deckbuilder” tag, Balatro is second to the free-to-play roguelike battle royale title Gene Shift Auto, which is not necessarily considered to be a deck-building game, and listed above games such as Slay the Spire (33k CCU) and Backback Battles (36.5k CCU).

Image credit: Balatro/X

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Image credit: Ideogram

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As console fans are gearing up for the release of Sony’s PlayStation 5 Pro, the rumor mill continues to spin as further predictions and ‘leaks’ come out of the woodwork.

Last Friday (Mar. 15) Insider Gaming’s Tom Henderson confirmed that ‘the leaked PS5 Pro specs leaked earlier today are real.’

This has been further determined as being real by IGN today (Mar. 18).

They cite anonymous sources who saw that the leaked documentation from the YouTube channel Moore’s Law is Dead is legit, as it’s said to be from a PlayStation developer portal that was sent out to third-party developers.

These documents suggest the PlayStation 5 Pro will feature the following:

• Rendering 45% faster than the PlayStation 5

• 2-3x Ray-tracing (4x in some cases)

• 33.5 Teraflops

• PSSR (PlayStation Spectral Super Resolution Upscaling) upscaling/antialiasing solution

• Support for resolutions up to 8K is planned for future SDK version

• Custom machine learning architecture

• AI Accelerator, supporting 300 TOPS of 8-bit computation / 67 TFLOPS of 16-bit floating point

These largely point to improvements to the GPU, with the CPU also seeing an upgrade as it could have the addition of a ‘High CPU Frequency Mode.’

The standard PS5 offers 10.28 teraflops, with the Pro version expected to be considerably more.

Rumors from over the last few months point towards a focus on image quality too. Gaming insider Tom Henderson wrote on Key to Gaming that he had heard the new console would “[target] improved and consistent FPS at 4K resolution” and a “new performance mode” for 8K resolution…”

When is the PlayStation 5 Pro release date?

Sony hasn’t yet confirmed or announced a date, but that hasn’t stopped people from guessing.

Generally, the rough window for a release date is thought to be September 2024. However, the new leak could line up with the Pro version being available from the holiday season.

The second half of 2024 would make sense with the planned release of Grand Theft Auto 6 in 2025.

Featured Image: Photo by Ahmad Mohammadnejad on Unsplash

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President Joe Biden’s proposed 30% tax on crypto mining power faced criticism for potentially harming the industry and erasing investor wealth.

The resurgence in Bitcoin and other cryptocurrency values has brought Bitcoin (BTC) back into the spotlight, prompting an unexpected shift in stance from Donald Trump towards cryptocurrencies.

Bitcoin’s value recently soared past $71,000, surpassing its 2021 all-time high before dropping well under $70.000. This surge not only spotlighted Bitcoin but spurred growth in the prices of cryptocurrencies like Ethereum (ETH), XRP, and Solana (SOL). BlackRock — the world’s premier asset management firm — foresees a crypto market expansion to $90 trillion.

Meanwhile, U.S. President Joe Biden faces criticism for policies perceived as harmful to the crypto industry, potentially erasing billions in investor wealth. In a contentious move, the Biden administration has revisited the idea of imposing a 30% tax on crypto mining operations, which rely on high-energy computing for transaction verification and network security. According to the “General explanation of the administration’s fiscal year 2025 revenue proposals” dated Mar. 11, 2024:

Any firm using computing resources, whether owned by the firm or leased from others, to mine digital assets would be subject to an excise tax equal to 30 percent of the costs of electricity used in digital asset mining.

This proposal, as outlined by the U.S. Treasury in its 2025 revenue plan, could severely impact the mining sector, leading to significant losses in investor value, according to Taras Kulyk of SunnySide Digital:

“Implementing a blanket 30% federal tax on digital mining will certainly kill the sector and wipe out billions of dollars of investor value virtually immediately in the U.S.”

Senator Cynthia Lummis, a crypto advocate, warned that such a tax could decimate the industry’s presence in the U.S. Yet, some interpret the White House’s budget as showing strong confidence in crypto’s revenue-generating potential, suggesting an underlying bullish stance on Bitcoin and digital assets.

The White House 2025 budget is incredibly bullish on crypto assets, some might even say they believe it’s going to the moon.

But a proposed 30% punitive tax on digital asset mining would destroy any foothold the industry has in America.

— Senator Cynthia Lummis (@SenLummis) March 11, 2024

Featured image: ideogram

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As Reddit works on plans to go public this March, the Federal Trade Commission launches an inquiry into its AI content licensing practices.

The social media company disclosed that they received a letter from the FTC on March 14, via an amendment to their IPO filing.

The document goes on to explain the situation and the details: “For example, on March 14, 2024, we received a letter from the FTC advising us that the FTC’s staff is conducting a non-public inquiry focused on our sale, licensing, or sharing of user-generated content with third parties to train AI models.

“Given the novel nature of these technologies and commercial arrangements, we are not surprised that the FTC has expressed interest in this area.”

They go on to say that they “do not believe that we have engaged in any unfair or deceptive trade practices.”

The letter sent to Reddit indicates that Federal Trade Commission staff are interested in meeting with the team to learn more about plans. The FTC is also said to intend to request information and documents as its inquiry continues.

In a press release published on Feb 22, an agreement between Google and Reddit was announced. The data from the social media platform is to be shared with Google to train the tech giant’s AI model, with Google now having access to Reddit’s Data API.

Reddit gears up for going public this month

In the same month that the mega Google deal was announced, Reddit also shared news of an initial public offering of its stock. They are seeking a valuation of up to $6.4 billion.

As detailed in a corporate filing, the company wants to sell around 22 million shares, priced between $31 and $34 each, raising up to $748 million in the process.

According to the NASDAQ calendar showing public offerings, Reddit should be live on the New York Stock Exchange on March 21.

Featured Image: Photo by Brett Jordan on Unsplash

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We knew it was coming, we just didn’t know when, but now Square Enix has just announced that Final Fantasy XIV Online will arrive on Xbox on 21st March after completing its open beta which has been running since last month.

There are some great games coming to Game Pass already this week, you also do not want to miss out on Lightyear Frontier which arrives on the 19th.

The game will launch at 1 am (PDT) and will be available in the Microsoft Store in several different flavors.

Final Fantasy XIV Online Xbox versions

You are certainly not spoilt for choice when it comes to how many versions of FF XIV you can choose from. Here is what will be available. If you are a Game Pass Ultimate subscriber you can download the basic Online Starter Edition free of charge until April 19th.

FINAL FANTASY XIV Online Starter Edition

For newcomers, the Starter Edition includes three award-winning titles: the base game, A Realm Reborn, and the first and second expansions, Heavensward and Stormblood.
* Players with an Xbox Game Pass Ultimate plan may download the FINAL FANTASY XIV Online Starter Edition for free until Friday, April 19.

FINAL FANTASY XIV: Endwalker

Players can experience the main scenario quests and content available in the Shadowbringers and Endwalker expansions. Requires FINAL FANTASY XIV Starter Edition to play.

FINAL FANTASY XIV: Endwalker Collector’s Edition

The Endwalker Collector’s Edition includes several in-game bonus items. Requires FINAL FANTASY XIV Starter Edition to play.

FINAL FANTASY XIV Online Complete Edition

For newcomers, this is the most comprehensive edition and includes A Realm Reborn, Heavensward, Stormblood, Shadowbringers, and Endwalker expansions.

FINAL FANTASY XIV Online Complete Collector’s Edition

This version includes the in-game bonus items from the A Realm Reborn, Heavensward, Stormblood, Shadowbringers, and Endwalker Collector’s Editions.

FINAL FANTASY XIV Online Free Trial

Play for free up to level 70 and experience the main scenario quests and content from A Realm Reborn, and the Heavensward and Stormblood expansions with no restrictions on playtime.

Pre-purchasing will get you the rather underwhelming free in-game cosmetics:

• Wind-up Palom Minion
• Menphina earring (grants 30% EXP bonus up to level 80)

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The Maryland House has passed an iGaming authorization bill which will now proceed to the Senate. If passed, Maryland could become the latest state to legalize online casinos.

The House voted 92-43 to pass the HB 1319 ‘Internet Gaming – Authorization and Implementation’ bill, two days before the deadline.

Now, the Senate has less than a month to pass the bill with the general assembly set to adjourn on April 8.

The HB 1319 plans would allow for up to 30 wagering licenses to be issued across the state, with each license lasting for five years and an initial application fee of $1 million.

Three types of licenses could be available for operators, including licenses by right for brick-and-mortar casinos, Class B wagering facility licenses, and competitively-awarded licenses.

This comes after House leaders at the Maryland General Assembly shared a $1.3 billion plan on Friday (Mar. 15) for new state revenues to pay future education and transportation costs.

The Old Line State is expected to have the best shot at passing an online casino bill this year. Maine is the only other state that is currently considering legalizing it.

Reactions to possible online casino bill in Maryland

There are concerns about the potential loss of jobs and a decline in retail casino revenue.

In February, SBC Americas reported that Sage Policy Group CEO Anirban Basu expressed his opinion to the committee: “There’s cannibalization with respect to casinos, but that’s where the issue starts…

“Because when you’re spending money on iGaming that’s when you do not have to spend elsewhere in the economy.”

Studies have been carried out to see how this could impact on the state and its residents.

One study suggests that retail casino revenue could take a drastic hit if iGaming is to be implemented. While another, by Eilers & Krejcik Gaming, dismisses these claims and suggests iGaming could boost revenue for brick-and-mortar operators.

Featured Image: Photo by Terry Granger on Unsplash

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Dragon’s Dogma 2 offer us a huge range of possibilities when it comes to our character creation and class. You may have already played around with the free Character Creator that has been released, once, of course, you have checked your system requirements to make sure your rig can play the thing in the first place.

Just like in the first game, all those years ago, classes in Dragon’s Dogma 2 are known as Vocations – but we will let you off if you are still referring to them by the ior more traditional moniker for this sort of thing. Anybody who is used to playing RPGs will likely already be drawn to certain play styles, so the table below will show you the Vocation and what it specializes in, so you can get off to a flying start when you begin your first game.

Dragon’s Dogma 2 Vocations (Classes)

There are 10 Vocations / classes in DD2 at launch. Let’s have a closer look at what each offers us: There is one notable omission from the original game The Mystic Knight vocation is very much Missing in Action here. It may be that they have blended the Vocation into the 10 below to give a more rounded character, or well, future DLC is always a possibility.

	Vocation	Description
	Archer	Archers are experts in ranged warfare, adept with bow and arrow. They launch their assaults from a distance, capable of hitting targets in elevated positions and playing a pivotal role in supporting the vanguard. By pinpointing enemy vulnerabilities, Archers pave the way for allies to launch effective strikes.
	Fighter	Masters of close-quarters combat, Fighters excel with sword and shield in hand. They carve through adversaries with ease and land-crushing hits, while their shields serve as steadfast protection for themselves and their comrades.
	Mage	Armed with a staff, Mages bolster their group with a diverse array of support abilities, from unleashing magical assaults and enhancing allies’ weapons to casting restorative spells. The thrill of strategy comes alive as Mages carefully time the casting of their increasingly potent spells.
	Magick Archer	Unique to the Arisen, Magick Archers dominate ranged combat with enchanted arrows. Beyond attacking and healing, they adeptly support allies and can sacrifice a portion of their maximum health to deliver a sweeping, area-wide assault.
	Mystic Spearhand	Exclusive to the Arisen, the Mystic Spearhand merges martial prowess with magical aptitude, ensuring effectiveness at any distance. Wielding the Duospear, they command spells to immobilize foes or launch a barrage of objects, showcasing their versatility.
	Sorcerer	Dedicated to the art of magic, Sorcerers wield their power to alter the battlefield’s dynamics. Channeling spells with a grand staff, they must choose the perfect moment and position to unleash their lengthy incantations, turning the tide of conflict.
	Thief	The Thief strikes with lightning speed, unleashing a flurry of attacks using dual daggers, coupled with remarkable agility. They dart in and out of combat, seizing opportunities to ambush foes and deal significant damage. Thieves are also skilled at pilfering items from NPCs and adversaries.
	Trickster	An Arisen-specific vocation, Tricksters weave illusions from their unique Censer’s smoke. They manipulate these deceptions to turn enemies against each other and can briefly amplify their Pawns’ strength, pushing them beyond their usual capabilities.
	Warfarer	Exclusive to the Arisen, the Warfarer is a jack-of-all-trades, proficient with every weapon type and borrowing skills from across vocations. Their adaptive arsenal allows for a versatile combat approach, combining weapons and skills to form unique combos. The Warfarer’s adaptability is key, compensating for their lower base stats by exploiting the strategic advantages of diverse weaponry.
	Warrior	Warriors showcase formidable strength and a preference for up-close battles, thriving under the weight of enemy blows. Proficient with heavy weapons like greatswords and hammers, their devastating attacks, following a moment of charge, stand as some of the most powerful amongst the vocations.

How to change your Vocation in Dragon’s Dogma 2

As you travel around the world of Dragon’s Dogma 2, keep a close eye out for wandering Vocation Masters. Interactive with these wise old NPCs to gain access to their vocations and teachings.

What are Pawn Vocations in Dragon’s Dogma 2?

Pawns in DD2 are characters you can control with your main character. You can have up to three of these under your spell which is great, however the downside is, Pawns do not have access to all Vocations, in fact they can only be one of the following six:

• Archer
• Fighter
• Mage
• Sorcerer
• Thief
• Warrior

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The Shiba Inu (SHIB) price has retraced approximately 50% of its 2024 uptrend, now underperforming new low cap meme coins in March – although the second largest meme coin is still up 170% year to date.

Marginally in the green to open the week – while rival Dogwifhat (WIF) pumps by double digits – is this a dead cat bounce? Will the SHIB price dip lower as traders pivot to newer tokens?

Shiba Inu Price Predictions

One school of thought is to bet on strength – echoed this week by one of the longest active crypto Twitter accounts, @Crypto_Chase (formerly Chase_NL).

Crypto Chase

Chase has built up 150,000 followers since 2011 and doesn’t see ‘much point in keeping an eye on $DOGE, $SHIB, $BONK‘ with new meme coins like $WIF being the ‘top performer for longs’ with the cleanest price action.

Among the high cap meme coins he’s also watching $PEPE.

$WIF has proven itself to be the best performer of the high cap memes during this uptrend. I personally don't see much point in keeping an eye on $DOGE, $SHIB, $BONK, etc.

If you're looking for the cleanest PA and the top performer for longs, it's WIF. 2nd place goes to $PEPE.

— Crypto Chase (@Crypto_Chase) March 15, 2024

Both $WIF and $PEPE – which turns one years old next month – today have a market cap of just over $3 billion, the #3 and #4 ranked meme coins.

That potentially gives them room to grow to catch up to Shiba Inu’s $16 billion market capitalization and Dogecoin’s $21 billion.

Dyme

Popular trader Dyme (@CryptoParadyme) posted a bullish Shiba Inu price prediction for his 50k followers today.

He marked out the 651 day accumulation range the Shiba Inu price traded in from Q2 2022 to early 2024, and its breakout above the $0.00002 region.

in hindsight, it was really obvious. but waiting for that range must have been painful $SHIB

probably higher because retardio pic.twitter.com/HcNouu6OUk

— Dyme (@CryptoParadyme) March 17, 2024

His ‘probably higher’ prediction, given the bullish market sentiment around meme coins is the 1.618 Fib at $0.000049.

If that prediction plays out, it’d mark a 1.75x move from the SHIB price today at $0.000028.

Jacob Bury

YouTube and Discord crypto analyst Jacob Bury had $0.000023 marked out as a ‘critical’ support level and noted the RSI on the four hour chart was oversold in a video posted yesterday.

At the time he didn’t see the bearish Shiba Inu price action and ‘capitulation’ to a $14.3 billion market cap as a reason to ‘panic’.

If the Shiba Inu price history repeats, its dip into oversold territory could mark a local bottom and just be a ‘shakeout’ with the daily RSI still strong.

As a low market cap Shiba Inu alternative, he also highlighted the Dogecoin20 (DOGE20) presale which is rapidly selling out, today hitting $2 million raised.

Is Shiba Inu Dead?

Shiba Inu has dropped out of CoinMarketCap’s top fifteen trending token rankings, with brand new Solana meme coin listing Book Of Meme (BOME) taking the top spot.

Dogwifhat and Smog are also in the top crypto gainers today, opening the week with a stronger performance than SHIB.

Whether interest in Shiba Inu is dying or this week’s price crash was a simple retest of its almost two year range breakout remains to be seen in the coming days, if SHIB continues to close high timeframe candles above the $0.000022 level.

Tradingview currently rates SHIB a sell on the four hour timeframe but a buy on the daily and weekly timeframe, plus a strong buy on the monthly.

Related

• 14 Best Meme Coins to Buy in 2024

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Apple quietly acquired Canadian artificial intelligence startup DarwinAI earlier this year, adding dozens of the company’s staffers to its AI division.

Bloomberg News reported the under-the-radar purchase on Thursday (Mar. 14) with Apple yet to publicly announce the news. They did tell the US news outlet that it “buys smaller technology companies from time to time.”

One of the big players in the Ontario-based company, Alexander Wong, has joined Apple as a director in its AI group as part of the deal. He helped to build the startup and works as an AI researcher at the University of Waterloo.

DarwinAI is the latest in a long list of similar acquisitions as Apple reportedly purchased 32 AI startups last year.

What is DarwinAI?

DarwinAI is best known for developing AI technology that can visually inspect components during the manufacturing process. They’re said to have served customers in a range of industries.

Founded in 2017, the company said its initial focus was on disrupting ‘the electronics manufacturing industry by improving the efficiency of Printed Circuit Board Assembly production through their ground-breaking technology.’

In 2022, they raised more than $15 million across six funding rounds. They received investment from 12 investors, including the likes of Honeywell Ventures and Inovia Capital, amongst other venture capital firms.

In a press release following the announcement of a funding round in December 2022, one of the co-founders said the “transformation is just beginning,” as they planned to raise money to help continue building advanced features.

Why did Apple buy DarwinAI?

It’s no secret that Apple is currently trailing behind other industry titans who have already made the steps into the world of AI.

The iPhone maker is now playing catch-up, with Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook promising that Apple will “break new ground” in AI this year. And the iPhone could soon have Google’s Gemini artificial intelligence (AI) to power new features, following chats between Apple and the search giant.

Its acquisition is likely in line with their focus and attention being on artificial intelligence, to keep up with others in the industry. 

In September of 2023, it was reported by The Information that the multinational corporation is investing millions of dollars per day into artificial intelligence, with work ongoing across multiple AI models over several teams.

Extensive work seems to have been carried out in the background at Apple in terms of bringing AI to the forefront, with an announcement expected around June time ahead of iOS 18 in September. 

Featured Image: Via Ideogram

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Sony Group Corporation has allegedly put a stop to production of its PSVR2 headset, due to a backlog of unsold units.

The news came from an article by Bloomberg journalist Takashi Mochizuki who claims that sales of the product have slowed ‘progressively since its launch and stocks of the device are building up.’

Citing unnamed sources who are ‘familiar with its [the firm’s] plans,’ Sony has apparently produced ‘well over two million units of the product launched in February of last year.’

This comes just over a year after the PlayStation VR2 was officially launched, catapulting Sony as one of the front runners in the virtual reality gear market. The device, priced at $549.99, allows users to explore reality gaming with PlayStation VR2 Sense technology.

In the Bloomberg article, Macquarie analyst Yijia Zhai offers a reason for the potential lack of take-up: “The high price of VR hardware acts as the main hurdle for its expansion,”

“Currently, there are limited games that support VR devices, and that will also lead to lack of motivation for players to purchase VR hardware. This limited content also has a reason – the development cost for VR games is substantially higher than normal titles.”

Sony has not yet confirmed or denied the halting of production and it is expected that they’re continuing to work on expanding the PSVR2 headset range.

Reality of the video game industry

The Tokyo-based technology giant has faced some challenges recently, as it announced plans to cut around 900 jobs within its PlayStation unit and shut down a London-based studio in late February 2024.

These layoffs affected in-house studios like Guerrilla Games which worked on creating an exclusive game for the headset from its popular Horizon series.

Sony is not alone, as both Microsoft and Tencent-owned Riot Games also underwent significant layoffs in recent months due to a slow recovery in the gaming industry.

PlayStation 5 Pro expected launch in September

Although the PSVR2 headset may not be performing as well as the company hoped, that isn’t stopping them from gearing up ahead of the PlayStation 5 Pro release.

An exact date isn’t yet known, but console fans are trading rumors about a possible date in September of this year. Several gaming tech insiders seem to agree about this rough window which would line up logically with the planned release of Grand Theft Auto 6 in 2025.

It’s reported by industry sources via the YouTube channel RedGamingTech that the PlayStation 5 Pro will feature eight-core Zen 2 CPUs (clocking in at 4GHz), an RDNA 3 GPU at 2.8 GHZ, and 16GB of 18,000 MT/s GDDR6 memory with a bandwidth of 587 GB/s.

Much like everything else, the price isn’t yet known either. In 2016, when Sony released a Pro console after a Slim version, the Pro version cost $100 more. By that logic, the PlayStation 5 Pro could potentially be in the region of $599.99.

Featured Image: Photo by Triyansh Gill on Unsplash

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xAI has confirmed the open release of its Grok artificial intelligence (AI) model, detailing the weights and architecture of the system. 

Elon Musk’s company detailed the Grok-1 version as a “314 billion parameter Mixture-of-Experts model trained from scratch by xAI.” In addition, the San Francisco-based startup outlined how the model had been instructed on a large volume of text data rather than tailored toward any specific task.

No training code is required, as users can head directly to Git Hub to get started with the large language model (LLM). 

In an effort to solicit input from the research community on potential enhancements, companies like xAI can make their LLMs either fully open-source or available through limited open-source releases.

Grok has also been available to premium subscribers on X, the prominent social media platform formerly known as Twitter before Musk’s takeover.

What is the legal dispute between Elon Musk and OpenAI?

Last week, the billionaire announced xAI would open-source Grok at a time when he is embroiled in a bitter legal battle with rival firm OpenAI, which he was previously associated with as a co-founder.

Musk, 52, walked away to take a different direction in AI development and now he has sued the maker of ChatGPT and its incumbent CEO, Sam Altman, for allegedly reneging on its original purpose to build AI for the benefit of humanity and not for the pursuit of profit.

In response, OpenAI has rebuked the legal action, stating it is based on “convoluted – often incoherent – factual premises”, in a court filing as part of the counterclaim.

An official blog post that accompanied an email to company employees appeared to dismiss the early influence and impact of Musk on Open AI. 

The firm implored it has stayed true to its mission “to ensure AGI benefits all of humanity, which means both building safe and beneficial AGI”, “every step of the way”.

It was penned collectively by Altman, Greg Brockman, John Schulman, Ilya Sutskever, and Wojciech Zaremba, and detailed how the firm had raised less than $45 million from Musk, despite his pledge to bring in up to $1 billion in funding.

Image source: x.ai

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The iPhone could soon have Google’s Gemini artificial intelligence (AI) to power new features, following chats between Apple and the search giant.

According to a Bloomberg report, the two companies are reportedly in ‘active negotiations to let Apple license Gemini, coming to the iPhone software this year.’

Gemini is Google’s suite of generative AI tools, including chatbots and coding assistants. Over the years, Google is said to have paid Apple billions of dollars annually to make its search engine the default option in the Safari web browser on the iPhone and other devices.

A partnership between these two tech titans could give them a huge edge over the industry, but it seems more has to be done as the report says: “the two parties haven’t decided on the terms or branding of an AI agreement or finalized how it would be implemented.”

Apple has recently held discussions with OpenAI too, which is one of Gemini’s biggest competitors in the industry.

Neither Apple nor Google have confirmed or denied the potential for a collaboration.

Apple to focus on AI in the future

Coming in September 2024, Apple’s update – in the form of iOS 18 – is expected to be heavily focused on the use of AI.

Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman believes this could be a ‘relatively groundbreaking’ software update with ‘major new features and designs.’ Although the rumors have been circulating for the last few months, the Silicon Valley-based company hasn’t yet offered much in the way of sneak peeks.

This comes after news around Apple’s own testing of its large language model named Ajax. In 2023 we reported how the chatbot, built using Apple’s own framework named “Ajax,” is a large language model that utilizes AI to generate human-like responses. 

It’s believed that Ajax GPT was created for internal use and not much else has been heard about the tool over the last few months.

Featured Image: Via Ideogram

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Cities Skylines II has had a rocky start, part of which is down to just how good playing the original Cities Skylines, even today, with all its mods, patches, and tweaks, can be.

A ropy start, poor optimization, and a feeling that the devs Colossal Order were fire–fighting from the off have meant some poor publicity for the game, but things have been getting better slowly but surely.

The lack of official mod support has been a huge bugbear of the community for a while now but a post today on the official blog should now help put that to bed with the news that we are just a week away from getting mod support – albeit in a beta format initially.

The post reads: “With Mods (short for modifications), you can tailor your gaming experience to your unique preferences. Uploaded by creators all over the world, you can pick between anything to create the city of your dreams. Along with Beach Properties, the first wave of Cities: Skylines II Modding will be available. The Beta release of Modding will initially support Map and Code mods.

With the Map Editor, you can make maps with the Terraforming Tools you’re used to, import hightmaps to create highly accurate depictions of your hometown, and upload your creations to Paradox Mods.

With the Code Tools, you can show off your coding skills and create Code Mods to meet your heart’s desire!”

This will be news to warm the hearts of Skylines II players. The prospect of mods to improve quality of life quicker than the devs can push them out should now help propel the games towards where it should have been at launch.

The Mods beta will launch on March 25th alongside a beach Properties Asset Pack that will bring a new Waterfront Zone to the game.

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There’s no mistaking that Elden Ring is one of those games that will go down as one of the all time greats. The beautiful vistas, incredibly designed world, and mechanic-rich boss battles come together to create a jaw-dropping experience.

Shadow of the Erdtree, Elden Ring’s only announced DLC, is primed and ready to enhance the base game even further, bringing additional story beats, bosses, and even more POIs to explore.

Here, we’ll take you through everything we know on Shadow of the Erdtree so you can be as informed as possible before jumping into the expansion.

What is the Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree release date?

Even though Shadow of the Erdtree was announced some time ago, it didn’t have a release date. However, thanks to the official trailer for this much anticipated DLC, we now know the Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree release date is June 21, 2024.

This is almost two and a half years after the base Elden Ring game launched so whatever FromSoftware has been cooking up, you know they have put their heart and soul into it.

Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree trailer

On February 21, 2024, FromSoftware gave fans exactly what they had been waiting for – a glimpse into what Shadow of the Erdtree has to offer – in trailer form.

If you haven’t had chance to watch it yet, here it is:

This is the only trailer that has been released for the DLC as of right now but as we get closer to launch, we expect there to be at least one more, full of exciting tidbits before the full experience releases.

Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree editions

Akin to the Dark Souls series that also received the DLC treatment post-launch, Elden Ring has a fresh set of editions which come packaged with Shadow of the Erdtree content.

There are four fully fledged editions of the DLC that are on sale, all including variations of the product:

Shadow of the Erdtree Edition

• Elden Ring base game code
• Shadow of the Erdtree DLC code

Shadow of the Erdtree Premium Bundle

• Shadow of the Erdtree DLC code
• Digital copies of the Shadow of the Erdtree soundtrack and artbook

Shadow of the Erdtree Deluxe Edition

• Elden Ring base game code
• Shadow of the Erdtree DLC code
• Digital copies of the Elden Ring soundtrack and artbook
• Digital copies of the Shadow of the Erdtree soundtrack and artbook

Shadow of the Erdtree Collector’s Edition

• Shadow of the Erdtree DLC code
• Digital copy of the Shadow of the Erdtree soundtrack
• 40 page hard-cover artbook
• 46cm statue of “Messmer the Impaler”

As shown above, the two editions that come with the base Elden Ring game, required to play the DLC, are the Shadow of the Erdtree Edition and Deluxe Edition. So, if you don’t own the vanilla experience already, this is the route you want to go down.

Pre-ordering will also net you the Ring of Miquella gesture but this can also be unlocked via playing through the DLC so don’t worry too much about missing out.

You can always purchase Shadow of the Erdtree DLC completely separate to the above editions, and is the cheapest of all the options.

Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree story details

Elden Ring’s story is rich and full of really intricate details if you know where to look. With intertwining family trees, lore-rich NPCs, and famous weapons and armor, you can see George R. R. Martin’s influence on the enthralling narrative.

Shadow of the Erdtree continues this, focusing more on the family aspect, delving deep into Miquella who is Malenia’s twin brother, as well as Radagon and Queen Marika’s children.

Miquella was born with the curse of never growing into an adult and as time passed, spawned his need to age in whatever way possible. This was when he utilized a cocoon and his blood to become one with the Haligtree in an effort to become an Erdtree.

However, he was not successful, and if you reach the Mohg Lord of Blood boss in the base game, you can see the aforementioned cocoon with Miquella’s arm seeping through the cracks.

It is here where you enter the DLC and into the Land of Shadow, where we expect that more will be revealed on this bloodline, hopefully clearing up Miquella’s fate.

The trailer above also showcased Mesmer – the scary looking guy dressed in warrior attire and appearing to control snakes. This is likely the final main boss of the DLC, and will likely hold the key to revealing the finale of the story.

Whatever the full story of Shadow of the Erdtree is, there’s one thing for certain – it’ll be complex and only unearthed through diving deep into every item and listening to every NPC.

How many bosses are in Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree?

There are at least ten new bosses that are introduced with Shadow of the Erdtree, with some potentially being as difficult as the infamous Malenia according to game director Hidetaka Miyazaki.

This will take Elden Ring’s total boss count to around 250, including both optional and required fights. Obviously this is a staggering number, and one that will likely be unmatched by anyone other than FromSoftware.

How big is Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree?

Since the FromSoftware pattern for DLC releases is usually a two-part affair, the fact that Shadow of the Erdtree is one big, complete package means that you’re going to be spending some hours in it.

In fact, Miyazaki stated that Shadow of the Erdtree is the “largest expansion” FromSoftware has created “in terms of overall volume”. This translates to a whole new area that is larger than “Limgrave in the base game” coupled with even more dungeons to explore.

In fact, Miyazaki has even managed to squeeze in one of his trademark poison swamps into Shadow of the Erdtree. If you’re feeling shudders down your spine or even fully-fledged nightmares of Dark Souls’ Blighttown, you’re not alone…

Featured image: FromSoftware

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