Pornhub has decided to pack up and host its popular pornographic offerings away from the Lone Star State.

The move comes from the sex-work site after being forced to restrict users residing in Texas unless they can prove their age via a range of documents. Pornhub decided not to enforce this and rather block access entirely to accounts in the confines of the state.

“Since age verification software requires users to hand over extremely sensitive information, it opens the door for the risk of data breaches,” Pornhub wrote on its blog.

Pornhub blocks Texans

The porn site owned by parent company Aylo, formerly MindGeek, decided after it felt the move to force users to produce age identification could also bring with it a Pandora’s box of data security issues.

The world-renowned adult material producer would say via a blog post that they “had to make the difficult decision to block user access in numerous American states due to newly passed Age Verification laws (Texas, Utah, Arkansas, Virginia, Montana, North Carolina). While these new laws claim to protect children from accessing harmful material online — something we fully support — they not only fail to do this but also jeopardize user safety and privacy.”

US Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit ruled that Texan lawmakers would now be able to enforce age verification on adult websites. This was opposed by Pornhub and a number of other websites in the state as the Free Speech Coalition, who would robustly disagree with the ruling stating that the decision by a 2-1 majority and the “dissenting opinion by Judge [Patrick] Higginbotham makes clear, this ruling violates decades of precedent from the Supreme Court.”

As we reported in January, Montana and North Carolina have also restricted Pornhub due to similar age-verification laws. To which the sites controlled by Aylo would reply, saying, “As you may know, your elected officials in your state are requiring us to verify your age before allowing you access to our website. While safety and compliance are at the forefront of our mission, giving your ID card every time you want to visit an adult platform is not the most effective solution for protecting our users and in fact, will put children and your privacy at risk.”

With Texans unable to access the popular adult sites, there has comically been an upsurge in the search terms coming out of the state tracked by Google. With “VPN” at the top of the pile, followed by related searches like “how to change VPN location” and “Texas porn law.” This shows that the oldest industry in the world still has fans in Lone Star State who are looking for ways around the block.

“We know that normalizing sex work and sexual expression is an uphill battle, but it can be done. We must be vocal about it. Change begins with raising our voices, educating others, and engaging in important social conversations to spread the message.

For more information, visit the Free Speech Coalition,” the blog post would conclude.

It seems that the collection of adult sites Aylo has in its menagerie will never grace Texan screens again unless, of course, a viable VPN can be found to assist those who reside in the state.

Image: Pornhub Blog.

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Super Bowl winning team the Kansas City Chiefs would consider the impact that gambling legalization would have on the team’s assets and branding options.

Arrowhead Stadium, the home of the Chiefs, has been the source of much renovation and planning discussions since Chiefs Chairman and CEO Clark Hunt and President Mark Donovan presented the club’s vision, “Taking an icon into the future.”

Kansas City Chiefs and gambling legislation

Kansas City in Missouri is often confused with the state of Kansas. Kansas the state has some form of legalized gambling, as do most of the states that border the state of Missouri, which the Chiefs call home. Oklahoma is the only other state with no recognized sports wagering legislation.

The Chief’s home state does not allow sports wagering, but the early lobbying and bills that have progressed flew through the Missouri State House but were shut down by the Senate. This is despite the Supreme Court giving states a choice over gambling and sportsbooks being legal after a 1992 ruling known as the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA) was struck down in 2018.

At that time, Justice Samuel Alito wrote for the court, “The legalization of sports gambling requires an important policy choice, but the choice is not ours to make.” The court’s “job is to interpret the law Congress has enacted and decide whether it is consistent with the Constitution,” he wrote. “PASPA is not.”

The Missouri Senate’s block has forced the state’s sports teams to go on the offensive and petition for sports wagering to appear on the November election ballot. This will bypass the Senate’s ruling and give the people of Missouri the power to make the decision. The Chiefs, Royals, Sporting Kansas City, Blues, and Cardinals have all been lobbying for this possible form of lucrative revenue from gambling partnerships that other state teams utilize.

“We think it makes sense,” Donovan said. “The states around us have proven that. If you look at what Kansas is doing and the amount of revenue they’re generating, that’s just revenue that we, as a state, are not getting.”

The NFL team’s current $800-million renovation plans depend on voters in the state deciding on a sales-tax extension on April 2. However, if the narrative of sports betting were changed in the state, the Super Bowl holders would have no end of suitors wanting to back the national champions.

The Chiefs and the other sports sides in the state hope their lobbying attempts will get on the November election ballot and that voters will follow the yellow brick road to the legalization of sports betting in Missouri.

Image: KSC

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The United States is set to award Samsung over $6 billion to expand the company’s presence in the country.

The Korean technology firm already has a burgeoning presence in Austin, Texas with projected plans for a new plant in Taylor to the tune of $17 million. The funding will be announced before the end of March and these awards will be drawn from the funding agreed in the 2022 Chips and Science Act.

What is the Chips and Science Act?

The act signed into law in August of 2022 was designed to boost the chip-making and semiconductor industry of America. Over $280 billion was allocated to boost U.S. competitiveness, innovation and national security over the next 10 years.

A total of $52.7 billion of this funding will be set aside for semiconductor manufacturing, R&D, and workforce development, with another $24 billion worth of tax credits for chip production on U.S. soil.

Despite being the world’s leading economy and the center of the global tech industry, the U.S. only produces 10% of its entire global supply of semiconductors. So the U.S. government has made it a priority to invest in companies that can produce them while creating jobs and contributing to local and national economy.

Samsung published a report last month detailing the company’s economic impact in the State of Texas to be $26.8 billion. The Austin and Taylor campuses supported 38,144 jobs in the area along with $1.7 billion in workers’ salaries

Greg Abbott, Governor of the State of Texas would said: “Texas is the No. 1 state for semiconductor manufacturing in the nation, thanks to partners like Samsung who contribute so much to our economy and communities in Central Texas and beyond.”

The Korean tech giant’s ties with the region go back to 1996, where “Samsung Austin Semiconductor has been an integral part of the Central Texas community by being drivers of job generation, economic impact and engagement within the community,” according to Jon Taylor, corporate vice president, Samsung Austin Semiconductor.

Samsung’s major rivals are Intel and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC), the world’s largest contract chipmaker. Both are set to receive investment from the U.S. Government in a bid to make the bulk of their chips in America, but the announcements have not been made official yet.

Last week, U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo delivered a speech Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS).

Raimondo reiterated the importance semiconductors will play in the future of U.S. technology: “We all know our modern world is powered by semiconductors. From windshield wipers to cell phones to pacemakers to rocket ships, chips are fundamental to every aspect of our lives and our economy.”

The Biden Administration last month announced that the National Semiconductor Technology Center (NSTC) would be backed by $5 billion in investment to natively research and develop more of the integral technology in America. This entity won’t be able to directly rival the corporate chipmakers operating in America, but it shows that there will be a public-private partnership presence in the research and development of U.S chips.

It remains to be seen which chipmaker will come out on top in the battle for the mantle of the biggest domestic producer of chips in the United States, but Intel, Samsung and TSMC are all in the frame to be heavily backed by the Chips Act for their investment in key states and their infrastructure.

Image: Samsung news.

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Epic Games and streaming service Steam are going head to head over the best deals to grab this Spring. Seasonal sales are nothing new, but they do give people scanning for deals a great excuse to pick up a heavy-hitting title for just that little bit less than usual. After a busy festive season, these Spring sales are the first port of call for the heavyweights in gaming to offer discounts for a limited time.

We’ve got the best deals and info on the titles lined up for both the Epic Spring Sale and Steam Spring Sale.

Epic Games Spring Sale

Epic is giving gamers the chance to grab some flagship titles like EA Sports FC for a generous 80% off, which is the biggest discount to date for the soccer sim and Madden 24 is also getting a 70% price cut for a limited time. Steam is also offering the exact same offer on their EA Franchise section, so both platforms are neck-a-neck on value.

Epic Games isn’t holding back on large discounts to some other major games like Hogwarts: Legacy, at 50% off, Alan Wake 2, and Red Dead Redemption are also discounted to the tune of 20% and 67% off.

Epic Games is also bumping up the Epic Rewards scheme from 5% to 10% as an added incentive for those purchasing games across this limited-time Spring Sale. This added bonus is applied at the checkout as a credit for future purchases and lets gamers get a little bit back from each title they pick up.

Steam Spring Sale

Steam offers a host of games for a reduced price across this time-sensitive sale, with the now redeemed Cyberpunk: 2077 being half-price compared to Epic’s 37% offering and Game of the Year-winner Baldur’s Gate 3 getting a little trim off the marquee price point with a 10% deduction.

Two other great deals are Lies of Pi, the Souls-like adventure in a steampunk Parisian dystopia, and the space setting Starfield getting 25% and 33% whipped off their usual price points respectively.

Those hoping to get in the mood for Dragon’s Dogma 2 can pick up the original game for under $5 alongside some great grabs like the acclaimed Disco Elysium, Horizon Zero Dawn and It Takes Two for under $10.

Both stores offer a little added incentive to pick up some of the best titles to drop across 2023 and we’d suggest combing both the storefronts to make sure you get the best out of these sales.

The Epic Games Spring Sale runs from now until March 28 and the Steam Spring Sale shuts its doors that little bit earlier on March 21.

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Fortnite fans can pick up an exclusive skin for the online multiplayer this week.

Lina Scorch is the unlockable character outfit that can be acquired for players who have a PlayStation Plus subscription.

The Blazin’ Wheels Pack has a skin for the online multiplayer brawl and shooter element of Fortnite and the LEGO equivalent. The pack also boasts a cool ‘Gas Up’ back-bling piece that keeps the gas station and roller derby vibes alive for those with access to the subscription.

What is PlayStation Plus?

PlayStation Plus is a membership run by Sony’s console storefront and gives players access to a library of games and trials. As well as those Playstation exclusives gamers will receive exclusive monthly content that ties in with the most popular titles on the console.

A number of these exclusive packs can’t be picked up in game and Sony entices users to sign up to add them to their lockers. Most of these titles are massively multiplayer online games that do have in-game transactions like Genshin Impact.

Fortnite has seen a number of these exclusive packs and they are generally tied in with major updates to the game. The popular multiplayer builder has recently entered another season and is currently celebrating Ramadan with Lantern Fest.

Fortnite Chapter 5 Season 2 faced a number of downtime hiccups that had gamers less than thrilled that the shooter was in maintenance. The Greek god-inspired takeover of the sandbox shooter, Myths and Mortals, ushers in a whole host of new changes.

This comes on the back of a very well-received limited event involving the teenage mutant ninja turtles. The sai, nunchaku, katana, and staff have been replaced by fiery sets of wings and the throwable thunderbolts of Zeus himself.

“Olympian legends – including Hades and the thunder god Zeus – now rule the island in otherworldly rage. To make matters worse, they’ve brought their powers and weapons with them. Use their mythological means against them in Chapter 5 Season 2: Myths & Mortals!

Despite the lengthy wait times and the Pandora’s box of server issues, players qued up to enjoy the pantheon of Greek mythology taking over the shooter.

The online multiplayer also saw a record player count with a 5,152,863 player peak, proving that users were happy to wait to access the new seasonal content.

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Warhammer 40,000: Darktide’s developer, Fatshark, is planning to revamp the popular four-player title throughout the rest of this year.

The game is a cooperative shooter in the same mold as Left 4 Dead and the fantasy-inspired Vermintied titles the Swedish games studio has produced to great reception.

This title puts you in the shoes of a recent imperial army inductee as part of the Astra Militarum, the rank-and-file grunts of space war in the far-flung future of the Dark Millennium, where the game is set.

You must venture deep into a human warren of immense size, called a Hive, to root out a cult dedicated to pestilence and corruption on behalf of the Inquisition, the enforcer of law and order throughout the galaxy that is tasked with taking out any alien or demonic threat.

Darktide developments

Speaking to the Darktide community, which sits at 108,395 users strong according to SteamDB, the studio broke down its intentions for 2024 via a blog post.

“Our first update will focus on a comprehensive revamp and expansion of the penance system, including adding many additional rewards and a completely new way to earn them,” the message to fans would say.

The penance system is the game’s progress and rewards tracker. As you play a conscript attempting to win back the favor of the God-Emperor, you don’t achieve rewards; rather, you gain penance in the eyes of the all-seeing religious order to spend on cosmetics, trinkets, and a whole host of other items.

Fatshark is looking to overhaul its “current itemization process. With the new system, we want to remove a lot of the unpredictable grind that came from an RNG-heavy system while giving players more agency and a steady progression toward specific load-outs, blessings, and stats refinement.”

The studio goes on to say that in 2024, they will be adding new “missions, new enemies, new weapons, new conditions, and new features alongside balance updates, quality of life additions, along with some other surprises which we will share in due time.”

Fans of the shooter will be excited to see what the studio has to showcase, and although the revamp of the game’s internal mechanics are light on details, Fatshark will be documenting this development journey and will “be sharing more information on this update by the end of the month along with a dev blog, so keep your eyes peeled on our Communication channels to learn more.”

Image: Fatshark

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The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is set to trial artificial intelligence (AI) within the world of its flagship icon Doctor Who.

The publicly funded broadcaster will be using generative AI to promote the ‘Whoniverse’ collection on the company’s streaming platform iPlayer.

Head of Media Inventory at the BBC, Dan Houston told the Radio Times that “experimentation is at the heart of how we approach marketing at the BBC. Testing and learning on how we let audiences know what BBC content is most relevant to them and we know they might love underpins our digital marketing strategy.”

Doctor Who to use artificial intelligence

The senior BBC executive would continue that there is “a rich variety of content in the Whoniverse collection on iPlayer to test and learn with, and Doctor Who thematically lends itself to AI, which is a bonus.”

With a new season of Doctor Who on the way this tech driven test will be used as a benchmark for future instalments of the Tardis travelling doctor.

Houston said “We’re going to take it one step at a time, starting simple and learning as we go. We have chosen to start with Doctor Who, as it is a joint content priority for both BBC Public Service UK and BBC Studios marketing teams.”

This AI-first will also be taking place at the same time a new pair debuts as the sonic screwdriver-wielding Time Lord is now played by Ncuti Gatwa and Millie Gibson’s Ruby Sunday will be on hand to help as they get into scrapes across time and space.

Showrunner Russel T Davis has told fans that this season will be a “slow burner” and that some of the scenes that introduced Gatwa’s Doctor and Gibson’s Ruby characters to the audience will be revisited.

Gatwa has taken on the mantle of the 15th Doctor from his introduction in the 60th anniversary special and the time-honoured tradition of the Time Lord’s Christmas Special, which was titled ‘The Church on Ruby Road’.

Doctor Who returns to BBC One and BBC iPlayer in May 2024 for the UK and Disney+ for the rest of the world.

As we reported earlier this year, Doctor Who will also be making a debut in the world of Fortnite to possibly coincide with this new series of science fiction adventures, according to well established gaming leakers.

Image: BBC.

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New Helldivers 2 War Bond content is about to drop from Arrowhead Studios this week. The acclaimed bug-blasting game has had fans clamouring for more content and the announcement brings weapons, experimental armor and new emotes to its eager audience.

Helldivers 2 content drop

The announcement video shows off the new armor sets and primary weapons in action against the automatons and insects that threaten Super Earth.

“Helldivers… we need your help. The brainiacs in Super Earth Research & Development have some cool experimental armor ready to be field-tested. This is where you come in, you’re just the right people for the job,” says the Sony blog post.

The EX series of prototype armor is supposedly the “end result of several billion Super Credits and 12 years of research into creating “the Soldier of Tomorrow.” Three suits of this superior experimental armor can be donned by players from March 14 as well as three stylish new capes to billow behind the backs of heroic Helldivers.

These come with a matching color scheme, player card and three new emotes to show your appreciation for Managed Democracy.

An assortment of weapons will be coming alongside the stylistic changes, showing “R&D didn’t stop at armor” and will be “rolling out a new series of alien-splitting weapons with electrifying perks!”

The LAS-16 Sickle, SG-8P Punisher Plasma, and ARC-12 Blitzer will all be available after the drop and will feature three types of ammunition and damage in energy, plasma, and arc-lightning respectively.

A new stun grenade to halt enemies in their tracks, the G-23 Stun, and the LAS-7 Dagger pistol will also be part of the release.

Arrowhead has been vocal about adding new content to the game after a roaring success set the title back with overloaded servers and the game had to contend with scammers trying to pawn off illicit Steam listings to con gamers.

This new content drop comes off the back of a massive update patch that brought fire tornadoes and meteors to the co-op shooter, as well as stabilization and balancing fixes. The duty of care the developers have shown for Sony’s biggest-ever Steam launch has impressed the gaming community and it shows as the studio launched its accolades trailer to show this wave of appreciation:

Super Earth approves these messages.

The HELLDIVERS need YOU. Join the cause and help bring Managed Democracy to the galaxy on PlayStation 5 & PC.
PS5: https://t.co/U6Kmi8LciU
Steam: https://t.co/bkbHdXMQwEhttps://t.co/R5JX02iIs4

— HELLDIVERS 2 (@helldivers2) March 13, 2024

Johan Pilestedt, the ever-vocal CEO and Creative Director of Arrowhead has dropped further hints about new content coming in the shape of “flying bugs” on X, showing that there is plenty more to come from the well-received shooter:

I've heard rumors of flying bugs in @helldivers2. I want to officially refute such preposterous claims.

Everyone knows that "Bugs can't fly".

And I'm not alone in thinking this. The Ministry of Truth agrees that this is propaganda from bug sympathizers that want to brainwash…

— Pilestedt (@Pilestedt) March 12, 2024

Image: Sony.

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In a little over a week, the gaming platform Steam is set to launch its summer sale. Between March 14 to 21, the Steam Spring Sale brings some of the best deals outside of the games discounted in late fall and winter.

It can be hard to predict which major titles will see a dip in price, but knowing when to hop on to take advantage of the price slashes gives gamers a chance to pick up some gems after the busy and costly winter months.

Steam sale

The spring, summer, autumn, and winter sales run by the gaming platform are the most anticipated outside of the monthly genre-based deals and the “spotlight deals” that pop up on the digital storefront. Steamdb has a handy countdown clock that lets us know in real-time when to hop on to the sales.

As we reported last month, Steam noted that 500 games on the platform raked in over $ 3 million in sales over 2023. This annual summary conducted by the sales front is a great way to dig deeper into how the promoted games get the limelight and some handy tools to take into account when making a purchase.

We have found that one of the best ways to check out the games that are performing well on Steam is the handy ‘Steam Charts‘ section of the site.

This shows in real-time the figures of the total players online and the all-time concurrent player count, which currently stands at an impressive 34,629,533 figure.

This section also shows the top-selling and most played games according to the analytical data collected by the sales platform. It is a great indicator of the newest games doing well as the weekly, monthly, and yearly top games are sectioned off.

Helldivers 2 for example has been dominating the sales charts by becoming Sony’s best-ever launch on Steam, but gamers hoping to grab a copy of the shooter should use the charts as a way to find the official game. As we reported a number of scammers were masquerading as the official title to leech off the bug-blasting co-op game’s success.

Some games may remain pricey at the moment, but a quick cross-reference with the upcoming Steam sale could bag a digital detective a few gems.

Last year we saw the Steam Spring Sale throw up some great offers, and we hope we get a launch video in the same vein too:

Games like Deep Rock Galactic and Dying Light 2: Stay Human were discounted amongst a heap of other great gaming titles.

We reported on the recent Women’s Day sale that Steam is running as a 10-day-long event and picked out the choice gaming titles that players can pick up at a lower price than usual.

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Helldivers 2 players will have to combat the elements as well as the bugs plaguing the galaxy in a new balance patch.

Arrowhead Studios, the developer of the critically acclaimed co-operative shooter has been victim of their own success after a series of server issues hit the title early into its launch phase. Fans of the gun-toting title have been patiently waiting for more information and the Helldiver’s Devs have again come in clutch with another fix to the game.

Support incoming!
We have issued a patch for PC players (PS5 patch is coming soon) that introduces planetary hazards, balancing updates, and more!

Read more here: https://t.co/YziLfoXl8d pic.twitter.com/8qnZBdI49q

— HELLDIVERS 2 (@helldivers2) March 6, 2024

Helldivers patch notes highlights

Helldivers has been a resounding success for Arrowhead and Sony. So much so that the game became the Japanese console maker’s biggest-ever launch on Steam. The studio has also faced an early challenge with impersonators pretending to be the acclaimed title with copy-cat listings, as we reported earlier this month.

This new patch that will be incoming for PC gamers initially, with PlayStation set to follow, will add an additional elemental foe to contest with as the bullets fly.

The patch notes state that this major update sees “Planetary Hazards active. Many planets now have additional environmental challenges that will appear at random while you are deployed, from fire tornadoes to meteor showers and many more.”

The bulk of the patch takes on the process of balancing the game after a hectic launch period that no doubt gave Arrowhead a ton of collated data to process. With over 458,709 players at the game’s all-time peak according to Steambd, this is a lot of information to sift through.

Most games have a period of stabilization introduced in the form of patches that drop throughout the title’s lifecycle. This first one from Arrowhead brings changes to some of the missions and how they are completed.

One of the tweaks sees Eradicate Missions now being a longer process to conquer with the studio saying these mission types “now require more kills and enemies spawn more often. The time to complete the mission was previously shorter than intended and should now usually take twice as long to complete.”

Other changes announced in the patch take on the Primary, Secondary, & Support Weapons, stratagems, and the issues and fixes the studio has put into place.

The full notes of the recently announced patch are here, but we will be watching for incoming support from Arrowhead Studios as Helldivers 2 continues to thrive in its co-op chaos.

Image: Sony blog

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Japanese gaming giant Capcom has announced that those hopeful of joining the company via the graduate route will level up in salary.

The news has been released by the company in their ambitions to keep “pursuing further investment in human capital and the acquisition of exceptional talent.”

This graduate salary increase equates to a 28% jump in base pay from ¥235,000 ($1,752) per month to ¥300,000 ($2,006) from the start of the company’s 2025 fiscal year.

Capcom salary increases

Haruhiro Tsujimoto, President and COO of Capcom would also state the company “will provide its current employees (including new employees that join in fiscal year 2024) with a one-time special payment as an investment in the people who support the future of the company. Further, Capcom plans to raise salaries over 5% on average in fiscal year 2024.”

The statement from the publisher of titles such as Street Fighter, Resident Evil and the upcoming Dragon’s Dogma 2, would conclude that “Capcom will work to address the issues facing our society while aiming to improve its corporate value and establishing a relationship of trust with employees and stakeholders.”

This is the first forward-thinking approach from a games company in some time, as we have reported for the past three months that layoff announcements are becoming as frequent as new title releases across 2024.

At the end of last year, we wrote a somber look back at how these industry cuts defined the 2023 retrospective in gaming. This turned out to be a precursor to the raft of layoff pieces that have been published as gaming studios across the world have made the decision to further cut ties with employees.

Sony announced last month that 900 employees (around 8% of the console maker’s global workforce) would face the door. Jim Ryan, Sony Entertainment’s CEO said that the “industry has changed immensely, and we need to future-ready ourselves to set the business up for what lies ahead.”

The Japanese gaming titan would not be the only big name to shed staff in the early part of this year as Microsoft announced that 1,900 staff from all of the company’s gaming divisions would be let go. In the wake of a record deal with Activision-Blizzard the Microsoft Gaming CEO, Phil Spencer, would release an all-staff memo saying the cuts were “painful”.

Image credit: Pexels.

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Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TMNT) creator Kevin Eastman has given us more details on the new Last Ronin game in development.

Whilst chatting to Game Informer, Eastman told Brian Shae where the project was currently, saying that “everything I’ve seen – we’ve been interacting with the development crew – and it looks like some of the sets and some of the characters have literally walked right off the pages of the comic.”

TMNT in time

The dark story follows the last of the four reptilian brothers to survive a grim dystopian future where Shredder’s grandson rules the land under an iron fist. The identity of which brother takes up the nunchaku, the sai, the staff, and the katana is a mystery to those who have not read the run, published by IDW comics.

The idea was drawn up by Eastman and co-creator of the three-fingered pizza lovers, Peter Laird almost 30 years ago. Now Paramount is riding a wave of turtle resurgence, but did not want the iconic comic to impact the success of the recent Mutant Mayhem movie, so decided to take the adaptation down the gaming route.

The game is being developed by Black Forest Games and will be published by THQ Nordic for PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC. THQ Nordic released a teaser trailer for the title six months ago, showing the implied carnage that leads to one surviving brother:

Eastman would go on to say that from what he has seen so far the game is “so beautiful. So fantastic. And so pretty much every fan of Last Ronin that I’ve talked to is really, seriously pumped, like, ‘We get to have an older version of the Turtles just for us as a video game!”

The legendary comic creator would conclude that if this somber adaptation is “done the way we all hope and the way it’s taking shape, then I think we’ll get to play in this arena for a long time to come, and that’s up to the fans to decide. We’re going to do the best job we can and hope for the best.”

The turtles have seen a raft of minor gaming adventures, with classic titles such as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles in Time that debuted on the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES) back in the 90’s. The Konami games of this generation received a recent coat of paint and a spiritual successor in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge, from Tribute Games that hit every device that has a screen.

Fans of the four bandana-wearing brothers will be looking forward to any news that comes from THQ Nordic and Black Forest games, but for now, the only recent major gaming adaptation of the mutants is the land of online multiplayer. As we reported late last year, the heroes-in-a-half-shell made their debut across a Fornite event.

You can also make the reptilian heroes in the highly popular indie browser game Infinite Craft, blending a mix of commands to make the turtles appear from an assortment of items.

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It’s finally game over for Yuzu after the company responsible for the illegal Switch emulator conceded in court today (Monday, 4 March) over a dispute with Nintendo.

Tropic Haze, the company that created Yuzu, has been at the center of a very public case involving some of Nintendo’s flagship console games.

The culmination of this legal battle, which both parties agreed, will be $2.4 million in damages paid to Japan’s biggest console operator.

What is Yuzu?

Yuzu is “an open-source project that lets you play Switch games on your PC or mobile device. It supports many popular titles, such as Super Mario Odyssey, The Legend of Zelda, Pokemon Sword, and more,” according to the site’s description.

The “open-source” project however was taking licensed Nintendo games a week before their release like The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, and seeing them downloaded over 1 million times on the emulator. Nintendo was set on the warpath and wanted the emulator to cease.

As we reported last week, Yuzu was “facilitating piracy at a colossal scale” according to the original case that was filed late February in the United States District Court of Rhode Island.

Nintendo settles for destruction

In the case closure, documents found that “Yuzu executes code that decrypts Nintendo Switch video games (including component files) immediately before and during run time using unauthorized copies of the Nintendo Switch cryptographic keys. Yuzu is primarily designed to circumvent and play Nintendo Switch games.”

Today, the court saw Tropic Haze bend the knee to Nintendo and agree to not only a substantial fee but also the destruction of all materials pertaining to the emulator.

The court resolution called for the “destruction by deletion of all circumvention devices, including all copies of Yuzu, all circumvention tools used for developing or using Yuzu—such as TegraRcmGUI, Hekate, Atmosphère, Lockpick_RCM, NDDumpTool, nxDumpFuse, and TegraExplorer, and all copies of Nintendo cryptographic keys including the prod.keys, and all other electronic material within Defendant or its members’ custody, possession, or control that violate Nintendo’s rights under the DMCA or infringe copyrights owned or exclusively licensed by Nintendo.”

Nintendo also received the domain of Yuzu and all related materials in the closure of the case. Marking the end of Yuzu and all the related information that Tropic Haze had on the emulator. This also marks a substantial win for the console giant against piracy and sets a precedent for any other emulators that may adopt a similar approach.

Image credit: Photo by Juan Jimenez; Pexels

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Xbox Partner Preview will showcase upcoming titles over a 30-minute broadcast this month.

The Xbox newsroom says that the “format is all about sharing exciting games news from our talented studios from across the globe with no frills: just new game reveals, release date announcements, and fresh new gameplay from upcoming games, coupled with unique behind-the-scenes stories from developers on Xbox Wire.”

The event will be streamed on Wednesday, March 6 at 10 am PT/1 pm ET/6 pm GMT, across the console’s official YouTube and Twitch channels. Games studio’s such as Capcom and EA will display their newest games and trailers across the half hour.

Games on display

Tales of Kenzera: Zau — This Metroidvania title has been developed by Surgent Studios and published by EA. It follows the journey of Zau, who is voiced by Abubakar Salim of Assasin’s Creed: Origins fame.

According to the game’s page, it is a “poignant single-player story shaped by actor Abubakar Salim’s own experience with grief, discovering how love gives us the courage to press on after devastating loss. As Zau, you must face your own emotions to become a worthy Nganga: a spiritual healer.”

Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess — Capcom will be showing off more details of this action-strategy title that takes after previous works from the publisher, such as Ōkami and Shinsekai: Into the Depths.

So far, we have seen the announcement trailer from last year and the game’s page that says the title will uphold “Capcom’s legacy of original and innovative works. Explore an incredible world in which traditional Japanese aesthetics are brought to stunning life by the power of RE Engine. Witness an epic clash between the spirit realm and mortal man.”

First Berserker: Khazan — The action-role-play game shows off a wonderful art style influenced by anime and boasts a brutal combat system from the footage we have seen.

The game’s page on steam tells us that the player “will become Khazan, the great general of the Pell Los Empire, who overcame death, and sets out to reveal the incidents that led to his downfall and seek vengeance on his enemies.”

Those hoping to check out the showcase and learn more about the titles  can do so via the below links:

YouTube.com/Xbox
Regional Xbox channels around the world
Twitch.tv/Xbox
Twitch.tv/XboxASL

Image credit: Xbox.

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Alphabet’s Google has been told by a United States District Judge that the company will have to face certain antitrust concerns in court.

The Judge for the Southern District of New York, Kevin Castel, would dismiss a number of cases put in front of him, as reports Reuters, but would uphold one key argument to continue.

Castel would address the cases he dismissed, stating that those advertising companies accusing Google of a monopoly “have not plausibly alleged antitrust standing in the markets for ad-buying tools used by large advertisers, but they plausibly allege antitrust standing as to injuries they purportedly suffered from anti-competitive practices in the ad-exchange market and the market for small advertisers’ buying tools.”

Google vs. news industry advertiser

The Judge would allow the case of Gannett Co., the largest news media publisher in the United States and the owner of USA Today, to continue.

Castel presided over a case updated in August last year, Gannett Co., Inc. v. Google LLC et al. This case informs Castel’s green light for Gannett to argue that Google fraudulently concealed the anticompetitive effects of some technology, but the news industry will have to prove this.

The news empire would say in the court filing that “online digital advertising is a $200 billion business — a nine-fold increase since 2009. Yet, despite the opportunity for publishers to produce more news content and earn more revenue, news publications’ advertising revenue has declined by nearly 70% over the same timeframe.”

Gannett would continue that publishers do not “see the growing ad spending because Google and its parent Alphabet unlawfully have acquired and maintain monopolies for the advertising technology (“ad tech”) tools that publishers and advertisers use to buy and sell online ad space.”

What are these tools?

Publisher ad servers are used as inventory management systems for a publisher to see their online display ad inventory available on desktops, mobile web, and mobile applications.

Gannett argues that a publisher’s ad server is at the mercy of two things linked to Google’s advertising exchange. The search giant operates an “ad exchange (AdX) (linked) to its publisher ad server (DFP). Today, Google permits publishers to clear transactions for impressions through AdX only if they also use DFP,” according to the news powerhouse.

Both the AdX and the DFP were rebranded under the banner of Google Ad Manager. This online toolkit allows websites to offer advertising space for sale and operates as an exchange that automatically matches advertisers with content publishers. Gannet Co. alleges that this is “the dominant exchange and dominant buy-side software; Google is the most powerful buyer of that inventory.”

“The mechanics of Google’s conduct have evolved over time, but the result has remained the same: Google manipulates the process of real-time bidding to exclude rival exchanges, underpay for publisher inventory, and ultimately reduce the quality and quantity of online news,” the case filing would read.

Google has been at the front of monopolizing issues before

The search giant has been at the center of several high profile cases against them reportedly monopolizing the online advertising world. The U.S. Justice Department sued Google in January 2023 for having a stranglehold on digital advertising technologies “that website publishers depend on to sell ads and that advertisers rely on to buy ads and reach potential customers.”

So there is already a case ongoing that Castel has presided over and he has allowed the argument to continue. For the news agency to be successful in court, they must prove that Google is responsible for any wrongdoing in how it operates this ad exchange and if any of these processes harbour any unlawfully hidden processes.

Image credit: Photo by Cottonbros; Pexels

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Activision has officially confirmed that the far-flung warzone of Warhammer: 40,000 is coming to Call of Duty. Rumors were flying like the artillery of the dystopian future about a possible team-up between Call of Duty and the Nottingham-based tabletop strategy game.

On the Official Call of Duty social media channels the followers of the God Emperor of mankind were given a rousing lift to their spirits:

Operators are only as strong as the oaths they uphold

Inspired by the @Warhammer 40,000 universe, Space Marines, Sisters of Battle, Astra Militarum skins and more are coming to Call of Duty #Warzone and #MW3 pic.twitter.com/du3PNWTEbB

— Call of Duty (@CallofDuty) March 1, 2024

The post has announced that skins “inspired by the Warhammer 40,000 universe, Space Marines, Sisters of Battle, Astra Militarum skins, and more are coming to Call of Duty.”

The small wax seal is iconic of the Warhammer universe and has a line to get fans excited for the coming battle in the garb of the heroes of the imperium:

“There can be no bystanders in the battle for survival. Anyone who will not fight by our side is an enemy we must crush. There is no peace among the stars. Only the eternity of carnage and slaughter and the laughter of thirsting Gods.”

Call of Duty X Warhammer

The Space Marines are essentially walking tanks that patrol the cosmos in the futuristic setting and are loyal to their Emperor as well as the “chapters” they represent. Some are inspired by Vikings like the Space Wolves, the Khans of the Mongolian steeps in the White Scars and the iconic Ultramarines are inspired by the legionnaires of Rome.

The Sisters of Battle are an order of monastic female space warriors that dish out penance to heretical cultists and anyone not following the rigorous doctrine of their religion. They are represented by the purple fleur-de-lis in the X post.

The Astra Militarum are the rank-and-file soldiers of this battle-scarred universe. They are the endless waves of loyal military individuals who fight across countless worlds in service to the army of Terra.

40k rumours

As we reported last month a prominent leaker going by the name of Semtex had taken the time to unearth the leaks in the upcoming update code of the game.

Since then a number of users across social media have been posting the possible animations of the Space Marine skin for juggernaut finishers.

god i love this game pic.twitter.com/I4Rq21172Y

— bryan. (@HYP0ESTHESIA) February 24, 2024

We will have to wait for more information about this epic collaboration with Warhammer and to legitimize the rumored content, but fans of the series will be waiting with anticipation for the first time they can don their chapter armor and seek out heretics across Call of Duty multiplayer.

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TimeSplitters, the legendary game series developed by Free Radical Design, has been the subject of a fervent Reddit discussion as a development kit (Devkit) from the studio surfaces on eBay.

The first-person shooter has been revered by fans and took the torch from games like the iconic Goldeneye and Perfect Dark that made waves on the Nintendo 64.

There were three iterations of the series with the original game released on PlayStation 2 in 2000. Then came Timesplitters 2 on the Sony console and for the first time on Xbox and Nintendo’s Game Cube. The last installment, TimeSplitters: Future Perfect, was released only on Playstation and Xbox in 2005.

Now, a surprising post on the selling platform has led to a user snapping up the prototype version of TimeSplitters 4.  Flimsy-Zebra3775, who also goes by “Lukeye” posted an image of a PlayStation 3, including a thumbnail for TimeSplitters 4 dated July 11, 2008.

Is there a TimeSplitters 4 demo on eBay?

The tale follows the Redditor interacting with a PS3 SubReddit and his findings in the development kit from Free Radical’s development team from 2008.

“I asked the seller a lot of probing questions without giving it away, they indeed had a friend who worked at Free Radical until November 2008 a month before the studio shut down,” the Redditor would tell fans of the series looking for more information.

Lukeye would go on that the title “boots up to a main menu, you can launch into the level and the loading into it has the typical TS [TimeSplitters] monkey on it.”

The monkey in question was a feature of the series including a teaser trailer for the shelved fourth title on YouTube:

Several users eagerly awaiting the contents of this gaming treasure chest gave the Redditor advice on the best way to safely add the contents to an archive site via PC transfer.

Redditor Virtual Relic would urge Lukeye to reach out to professional archivists after concerns that the trove could be lost:

“It is possible for an individual to dump a PS3 game themselves, but it isn’t easy for a beginner to know how to set up an SDK and FTP neighborhood connection, plus there’s plenty of opportunity for things to go wrong. This could be the only working prototype of TS4 2008 left in existence, it is best-taken care of by professionals. Video Game History Foundation is a great option.”

Free Radical closed its doors permanently last year after a failed re-start, but this find on the digital storefront gives fans of the series the ability to travel back to 2008 and see what could have been for the PlayStation 3 version of the game.

Image credit: Unsplash.

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Swedish company Embracer Group AB is set to sell Saber Interactive to a group of private investors for $500 million.

Saber is one of the gaming publishing and development arms of parent company Embracer. The company is made up of 20 individual gaming studios with 2,500 employees worldwide and has titles such as Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2, Jurassic Park: Survival, World War Z, and a possible reboot of Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic in the works.

Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier broke the story and posted to X about Saber becoming a private company with a possible 3,500 employees, according to his unnamed source:

SCOOP: Saber Interactive, developer of the Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic remake, will leave Embracer in a $500 million deal to become a privately owned company — the biggest move yet in Embracer's ongoing cost-cutting initiative https://t.co/QzpQ2uQ9r2

— Jason Schreier (@jasonschreier) February 29, 2024

A collapsed deal with an external investor in May last year left the company needing to take “control in our own hands.”

What those hands held was SEK 16.8 billion ($1.5 billion) debt at that time and the company has made strides to reduce this debt to SEK 8 billion ($728.2 million) by the end of this month, March 31.

A translated investor earnings call showed the CEO,  Lars Wingefors stating the collapsed deal and the prospective investor could not be named for legal reasons.

“You don’t comment on business partnerships unless both partners would like to do that,” Wingefors would say. “The background given to us as to why the partnership didn’t happen was not because of the terms or the pipeline of games. It was more, ‘Yes, they would like to do something in the future, but not now,’ which became a ‘no’ for us.”

Embracer selling Saber

Now might be the time for Embracer and these investors, but it remains to be seen if this $500 million deal has anything to do with the one that collapsed back in May 2023.

What it does define is the future of certain franchises and games under the Saber banner and helps the Swedish company take a serious amount off the debt they currently have.

Warhammer 40000: Space Marine was all set for a November 2023 launch and was pushed back to August 2024 after impressive gameplay gave fans much to get excited about. The much rumored Star Wars: The Knights of the Old Republic is still in development according to Schreier, but no news has been heard as the title has been in limbo since 2022.

Borderland’s developer Gearbox Interactive, who is also owned by Embracer, has been the source of many rumors with CEO Randy Pitchford supposedly holding an all-staff meeting about developments at the company, according to Kotaku.

Embracer has already seen one of their studios fold as Volition, the creator of the Saint’s Row franchise would post to Linkedin:

The studio’s collapse was one of the first signs of financial strain under Embracer, who had purchased 27 companies during the covid-era, with Saber being one of them.

Earlier this month we reported that Embracer would continue a restructuring process that follows from its inception in June 2023.

“As part of the restructuring program, Embracer still has a few larger structured divestment processes ongoing that could strengthen our balance sheet and further reduce [capital expenditure],” Wingefors said. “Processes are in mature stages.”

It seems the Saber deal has been in the works for some time and the restructuring of the balance sheet will continue for Embracer. A close eye will be kept on the company’s movements ahead of the projected deadline of March 31 to remove the rest of the debt they still carry.

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Fanatics, the licensed memorabilia manufacturer has launched its official sportsbook in New York state.

The announcement comes from the subsidiary of the clothing maker, Fanatics Betting and Gaming. So those who reside or visit the Empire State will be able to download and place bets via the Fanatics Sportsbook on iOS and Android to “begin their Fanatics Sportsbook experience.”

Fanatics Sportsbook now in 15 states

This venture into the Big Apple will mark the fifteenth state that the sportsbook has launched in the United States. The original operator in this territory was PointsBet, but in August 2023 Fanatics had begun the process of acquiring the competitor and migrating over users to the new Fanatics app.

Fanatics said, “each PointsBet customer’s username, password, account balance, rewards points and responsible gaming settings will be automatically migrated to the Fanatics Sportsbook.”

The operator has endeavored to “build a better sportsbook” with this new Fanatics app for Android and iOS, stating that the “design, speed and quality of the navigation experience rival the sports betting apps in the market .”

Fans can also get 5% of their stakes back in FanCash, which is a bonus credit from betting with the provider and can be used on their website.

States such as Indiana, Iowa and Michigan have also seen the sportsbook take root to compete with the likes of FanDual and Draft Kings for sports gambler’s cash.

Draft Kings brought in a very regal addition to its sports offerings with the announcement that four-time NBA most valuable player LeBron James would be joining the company. The new talent ambassador joined an exclusive list alongside Michael Jordan and David Beckham as he gears up to give his thoughts on NFL and other sports.

Earlier this year we reported that Draftkings were also looking for a larger slice of the gambling action across the U.S. with the possible acquisition of Barstool Sports.

So the gameboard of sports gambling continues to be set and reset as 2024 draws on, but it remains to be seen who will be the biggest operator in American sports parlay placing when the final whistle goes.

Image Credit: Fanatics Media Resource Centre.

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CD Project Red has released a new Cyberpunk patch that aims to fix a host of issues for console and PC gamers. The new update titled ‘Patch 2.12’ hopes to alleviate the issues that have hit gamers taking on the streets of Night City.

“Patch 2.12 for Cyberpunk 2077 and Phantom Liberty is being rolled out on PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S. It focuses on main issues experienced by players after Patch 2.11, such as key bindings,” the recent release said from the award-winning studio.

As we reported last month, a huge update for Cyberpunk 2077 brought lots of changes to the base version of the game and the downloadable content Phantom Liberty in late January.

Phantom Liberty has redeemed a lot of the early faith fans put in the Witcher 3 developer’s dystopian project. The Idris Elba-led content also opened the door for more players to take on the role of V and banish the bad memories of the game being de-listed from the Playstation Store and other sales outlets.

Cyberpunk Patch Notes

Xbox users have been experiencing a particular bug that presents a constant loading screen, but the recently released patch hopes to fix the issue “where the game could enter an infinite loading state, hang up or crash on Xbox when using some saves.”

For PC players there are a raft of smaller quality-of-life fixes like certain keyboard “bindings.” These bindings allow players using a keyboard to effortlessly switch a certain onscreen or background element with an assigned key command.

PC-specific Cyberpunk 2077 updates:

• It will now be possible to properly rebind the Radioport and dropping bodies to a different key on AZERTY keyboards. Switching quest objectives will now be assigned to the T key on all keyboards.
• Fixed an issue where trying to bind the T key to actions in Exploration & Combat resulted in a “Binding Failed” error.
• Together with Intel we fixed the stuttering issue that occurred while the “Prioritize P-Cores” option was enabled.
• Together with Razer we fixed a crash that occurred when using Razer Chroma-enabled devices.
• Fixed an issue where NPC hair could appear extremely bright inside vehicles when Ray Tracing is enabled.
• Fixed a crash that occurred on Steam Deck when playing with Ray Tracing enabled.

Patch 2.12 also addresses a number of problems with important quest lines and their interactive elements, as well as a worrying gang of immortal enemies appearing across Night City.

Patch updates for all versions of Cyberpunk 2077:

• Fixed an issue causing the inability to access the menu, inventory, stash, holocalls and fast travel.
• Updated the description of the Sonic Shock quickhack so that it properly reflects the changes made to its behavior in 2.1.
• Improved visibility of the controller cursor in menus and when using computers or keypads. This change will primarily help Steam Deck users, but will also benefit consoles and PC when using a controller.
• New Dawn Fades – Fixed an issue where it wasn’t possible to open the phone to read the notification from the Automated Delivery System.
• I Can See Clearly Now – Lowered the Body attribute check required to move the dumpster.
• I Walk the Line – Sasquatch’s jump attack will now properly register as a hit and deal damage.
• Riders on the Storm – Enemy cars in the chase sequence will now shoot at Panam’s van.
• Nocturne Op55N1- Fixed an issue where, after choosing to call Reed, the conversation sometimes wouldn’t trigger, blocking progression.
• Sonic Shock will now be properly categorized as a Covert quickhack.
• Fixed instances where groups of immortal enemies could appear across Night City.
• Fixed an issue where some elements on the perk screen wouldn’t change after switching to Colorblind Mode.
• BioDyne Berserk will now properly have increased Crit Chance from its Reflexes Attunement.

The Polish Studio will continue to update its flagship first-person-shooter and has also kept fans of Geralt and the Witcher series happy with news of a successor title being in the works as early as this year.

Image Credit: CD Project Red.

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