Gaming in Eu. Reviews, Walkthroughs, News

Pocketpair's monster-collecting survival game Palworld has rekindled the eternal debate over what exactly constitutes a breach of copyright. While the game's mechanics are more reminiscent of Ark: Survival Evolved and other tree-punching, template-arranging wilderness sims, its monsters owe obvious debts to Nintendo and Game Freaks' Pokémon games.

Thank your own personal deity—possibly Zodiark—it's Friday! You've just about made it through the grind of the working week, so pat yourself on the back. Better yet, reward yourself with some good old-fashioned escapism from the lists below. Because, hey, it's probably gonna be too bloody hot to do anything on the weekend anyway. Staring down the barrel at 36°C+ over here. Awesome.

Take-Two Interactive has moved forward with a surprising lawsuit against Remedy.

Samsung Galaxy S24 live: At the Galaxy Unpacked 2024 event today, being held in San Jose, California, the South Korean tech major Samsung has launched its flagship model - Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra. Even at first glance at its features, Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra has emerged as a potent contender to Apple's premier smartphone, the iPhone 15 Pro Max, which has stood as one of the market's finest choices along with the Google Pixel 8 Pro. The Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra stands out as the best Android phone as it boasts an incredible set of features, including a larger screen and more cameras than the iPhone 15 Pro Max. Both gadgets have some similar characteristics, such as a titanium frame. To help you make an informed decision about your next purchase, here's a side-by-side comparison of the iPhone 15 Pro Max and the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra. 

Game maker Take-Two Interactive has filed a lawsuit against Max Payne maker Remedy Entertainment, citing copyright infringement. Take-Two claims that Remedy Entertainment’s «R» Remedy logo is too similar to Rockstar’s «R» logo.

Twitch has released details of its next TwitchCon events in both Europe and the US.

After years of resistance, Apple now agrees to support the RCS messaging standard. This will greatly improve communications between iOS and Android users, likely when sending photos, videos, or location data. The adoption of RCS may also ease complaints of "green bubbles" in group chats, though RCS still lacks many of Apple's iMessage-exclusive features.

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AMD has silently started dropping the prices of its Radeon RX 7000 "RDNA 3" GPUs to compete against NVIDIA's SUPER family & the RX 7900 XT is the first to see this pricing update with a new MSRP set at $749 US.

The CEO of Fortnite-maker Epic Games said Tuesday the company's court battle to open up Apple's iPhone to alternative app stores was lost after theteThe high court announced it would not hear appeals by either Apple or Epic in the long-running case, effectively putting an end to the legal saga.

Take-Two Interactive, which owns Grand Theft Auto 6 developer Rockstar Games, and Remedy Entertainment are doing more together than just making Max Payne and Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne remakes. Both companies are also in a trademark dispute, in the United Kingdom, over the use of the letter “R,” as first reported by gaming website RespawnFirst.

The United States Supreme Court has denied a request to hear Epic Games v. Apple, the antitrust lawsuit regarding Apple's practices in its app store.

The U.S. Supreme Court has declined to hear appeals by both Epic Games and Apple in their enormously costly and long-running legal battle over Apple’s App Store fees — a move that’s likely to frustrate both companies, but that does leave Epic with a partial victory.

Alright, alright, they're in a disupte over the letter R as used for a logo for a video game company. As spotted by Respawn First, Remedy (they of the Alan Wake) revealed their new logo last year, a big letter R, and Take-Two (they of the owning Rockstar Games) contest it. Rockstar's logo is also a big letter R, although I think they're pretty different Rs.

Square Enix has confirmed its upcoming PlayStation shooter Foamstars contains some AI-generated art.

Ubisoft has shared the changes they have made to their subscription service, including a statement about Activision games.

Global executives are increasingly worried about the long term viability of their businesses, a PricewaterhouseCoopers pre-Davos survey showed, with pressures mounting from generative artificial intelligence (AI) and climate disruption.

Guild Wars 2 ’s World vs. World restructuring beta got underway today, but the team is addressing an issue with matchmaking on the EU side. ArenaNet is also previewing the next major balance update, due January 30th. 

By Jon Porter, a reporter with five years of experience covering consumer tech releases, EU tech policy, online platforms, and mechanical keyboards.

By Jon Porter, a reporter with five years of experience covering consumer tech releases, EU tech policy, online platforms, and mechanical keyboards.

Progress, EU Guild on Gehennas, has achieved world first Ruby Sanctum on Wrath of the Lich King Classic! They defeated Halion in just over 12 minutes after the launch of Ruby Sanctum. You can view the entire Progress page of all guilds worldwide below on Warcraft Logs -- Warcraft Logs — Ruby Sanctum

It’s time to see which PS5, PS4, PS VR2, PS VR, and free-to-play games topped the PlayStation Store download charts last month. 

Early benchmarks of Intel's upcoming Lunar Lake & Arrow Lake iGPUs featuring the Alchemist+ "Xe-LPG+" and Battlemage "Xe2" GPU architectures have leaked out.

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Might and Delight has the first Book of Travels update of the year, with some bug fixes, info on the newest server region, and some new game content.

By Jon Porter, a reporter with five years of experience covering consumer tech releases, EU tech policy, online platforms, and mechanical keyboards.

Alan Wake and Control developer Remedy Entertainment has recently filed a trademark for FBC: Firebreak in Europe.

The venerable online shooter Tribes made a surprise comeback in late 2023 as Tribes 3: Rivals, and with a launch set to happen later this year developer Prophecy Games has announced the first Rival Rumble tournament, an open-to-all competition that's set to get underway on January 27.

The European Union's competition regulator said Tuesday it was looking into Microsoft's investment into ChatGPT developer, the CEO Sam Altman-led OpenAI to see if it merits further investigation under the bloc's merger rules. The European Commission said in a statement it was "checking whether Microsoft's investment in OpenAI might be reviewable under the EU Merger Regulation".

By Jon Porter, a reporter with five years of experience covering consumer tech releases, EU tech policy, online platforms, and mechanical keyboards.

By Jon Porter, a reporter with five years of experience covering consumer tech releases, EU tech policy, online platforms, and mechanical keyboards.

By Jon Porter, a reporter with five years of experience covering consumer tech releases, EU tech policy, online platforms, and mechanical keyboards.

Do you want to get the latest gaming industry news straight to your inbox? Sign up for our daily and weekly newsletters here .

A new study showed that most game ads on social media platforms failed to properly disclose the presence of in-game purchases and lootboxes under UK and EU regulations.

Peacock's surprisingly decent Twisted Metal adaptation has been confirmed for a second season, and the comedy series is taking the opportunity to introduce some fan-favourite characters. Calypso, the sadistic creator of the Twisted Metal tournament, will make his debut alongside playable characters from the series, like Axel, Dollface, and Mr. Grimm.

Loot box researcher Leon Xiao has released the results of his latest study into loot box advertising, which found that ads for games on social media routinely run afoul of UK and EU regulations when it comes to disclosing the presence of loot boxes, or even in-game purchases of any kind.

Korean publisher Nexon have been fined 11.6 billion won - around $8.9 million - for secretly altering the drop rates of coveted items in free-to-play MMO gacha game MapleStory. The fine, issued by the Korea Fair Trade Commission, is the largest penalty ever doled out for violation of South Korea's Act on Consumer Protection in Electronic Commerce.

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Microsoft President Brad Smith has softened his stance on the UK regulator, the Competition and Markets Authority, following the Microsoft – Activision deal.

Microsoft president Brad Smith has seemingly walked back on comments criticising the UK over the handling of its Activision Blizzard deal.

By Tom Warren, a senior editor covering Microsoft, PC gaming, console, and tech. He founded WinRumors, a site dedicated to Microsoft news, before joining The Verge in 2012.

Runaway artificial intelligence has been a science fiction staple since the 1909 publication of E. M. Forster's The Machine Stops, and it rose to widespread, serious attention 2023. The National Institute for Standards and Technology released its AI Risk Management Framework in January 2023. Other documents followed, including the Biden administration's Oct. 30 executive order Safe, Secure, and Trustworthy Artificial Intelligence, and the next day, the Bletchley Declaration on AI Safety signed by 28 countries and the European Union.

Hello! Welcome to the 308th edition of the WoW Economy Weekly Wrap-up! This week we take a look back over 2023 and discuss all the major things that have happened over the year to completely change the face of gold making as we know it. My name is Samadan and I'll be your guide through the World of Gold Making!

With January rolling around Ms. Xiulan started selling new cosmetic items for rather expensive prices. These items include the previously datamined Gold Resonating Crystal and the Quel'serrar HD models Whispering Temple Blade and Gleaming Whispering Temple Blade.

EU players are reportedly receiving an extra 500 Tendies from their January Trading Post rewards. That means 1500 for January instead of the regular 1000 possible for the month. We don't know yet if this is a bug or intended, but hopefully, it is intended, as the trading post sports many expensive items this month, including Armored Golden Pterrordax, Copper Resonating Crystal, and Time-Lost Salamanther. January Trading Post is already live for EU players. NA players need to wait until 7 am Pacific Time to start the January activities.

Chinese tech giant Huawei said Friday it "weathered the storm" of US sanctions as it announced a rise of almost nine percent in revenues in 2023, a year that saw it shock Washington with the release of a high-end smartphone.

By Jon Porter, a reporter with five years of experience covering consumer tech releases, EU tech policy, online platforms, and mechanical keyboards.

A US federal court ruled on Friday that social media company Twitter, now branded X, violated contracts by failing to pay annual performance bonuses it orally promised its workers.

Alphabet Inc.'s Google considered changing its app store pricing model to circumvent a regulatory crackdown, but abandoned a proposal to charge a set fee per app after it became clear that could cost the company billions of dollars, according to documents released late Thursday.

AMD has landed two supercomputer wins in Germany, powering the "Hunter" & "Herder" systems using its latest chips such as the Instinct MI300A.

Alphabet's Google said on Tuesday it will restrict the types of election-related queries its chatbot Bard and search generative experience can return responses for, in the run up to 2024 U.S. Presidential election.

Blizzard has released the Azure Pack bundle in the Battle.net Shop. This bundle contains many blue mounts, pets and transmogs! The initial price of the Azure Pack is set at $260/€260, with prices dynamically changing the more items of the bundle you previously purchased. The Azure Pack — NA ShopThe Azure Pack — EU Shop Here is everything in the pack!

By Jon Porter, a reporter with five years of experience covering consumer tech releases, EU tech policy, online platforms, and mechanical keyboards.

 The European Union took the first formal steps against Elon Musk's X over allegedly breaking rules on how it handled illegal content and disinformation, in the first such probe of a major online platform since the bloc's Digital Services Act came into force this year. 

Artificial intelligence (AI) has been the buzzword of 2023, with developments taking place at the speed of light, seemingly. From AI chatbots to AI tools that can be used for various purposes including image generation, code interpretation, multi-modal search, and more, the incorporation of AI has been quite expeditious. However, it has not been all smooth sailing so far. Various debates have taken place about the ills of AI, with deepfakes rising at an alarming rate. As such, the need for its regulation is necessary. Thus, the passing of the EU AI Act could not have come at a better time. But it is not just deepfakes where AI is posing a danger. A new report has shed light on its implications in the news sector, with publishers saying that Google's new AI Search tool, Search Generative Experience, could potentially be at the forefront of the top traffic-destroying elements.

Facebook owner Meta's text-based app Threads arrived in the European Union on Thursday, months after its global launch in July, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said. Threads is a spin-off of the Instagram photo app and is intended to be a rival to X, formerly known as Twitter, after that platform alienated many users and advertisers following Elon Musk's purchase last year.

The file size for God of War Ragnarok: Valhalla has been confirmed.

Today's free God of War Ragnarok Valhalla expansion weighs in at more than 7.6GB on PlayStation 5.

Epic Games has won its antitrust case against Google, after the jury gave its verdict yesterday.

Epic Games has won its trial against Google over antitrust claims, with the jury deeming Google Play and its billing system to be an illegal monopoly.

Epic Games has prevailed in their lawsuit over Google.

On Friday, December 8, Europe reached a provisional deal on landmark European Union (EU) rules governing the use of artificial intelligence (AI). The political agreement is seen as a landmark moment for the EU and now, it is expected that the rest of the process to enact the AI Act. As per reports, the sticking points where the bloc failed to find consensus were governments' use of AI in biometric surveillance and how to regulate AI systems such as ChatGPT. Now that the agreement is in place, you should know the key elements of the AI Act and how it may shape the future of this emerging technology.

On Monday, a jury sided with Epic Games over Google in an antitrust case that could reshape how app marketplaces like Google Play are allowed to operate.

 Sorry, OpenAI. The European Union is making life for the leaders of artificial intelligence  (AI) much less private.  A newly agreed draft of the region's upcoming AI Act will force ChatGPT maker OpenAI and other companies to share previously hidden details about how they build their products. The legislation will still rely on companies to audit themselves, but it's nonetheless a promising development as corporate giants race to launch powerful AI systems with almost no oversight from regulators. 

AI regulation is necessary but not sufficient to stop Europe from being a tech footnote.

By Jon Porter, a reporter with five years of experience covering consumer tech releases, EU tech policy, online platforms, and mechanical keyboards.

Hello! Welcome to the 306th edition of the WoW Economy Weekly Wrap-up! This week we discuss further about all the ways you can make gold in Season of Discovery and how the economy itself is so unique due to the level cap. We also talk about the bot issues and various farms in SoD. In retail, we have a great guide on how to maximize fishing to make some low key gold without having to move! My name is Samadan and I'll be your guide through the World of Gold Making!

 European Union policymakers and lawmakers clinched a deal on Friday on the world's first comprehensive set of rules regulating the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in tools such as ChatGPT and in biometric surveillance.

 The European Union reached a preliminary deal that would limit how the advanced ChatGPT model could operate, in what's seen as a key part of the world's first comprehensive artificial intelligence regulation.

Today, December 9, has become a monumental day in the artificial intelligence space as a major regulatory hurdle was crossed. After more than a year spent in debates, protests, and discussions, Europe has finally reached a provisional deal on landmark European Union (EU) rules governing the use of AI, popularly known as the AI Act. In other news, a poster on X highlighted that Grok, the xAI chatbot, leans left libertarian politically, after which Elon Musk responded that immediate steps would be taken to ensure the political neutrality of the AI chatbot. This and more in today's AI roundup. Let us take a closer look.

Alphabet's Google on Friday criticised a potential order from EU antitrust regulators to sell part of its lucrative adtech business, saying it was disproportionate and not right for its advertising partners.

Monsters & Memories  is gearing up for its public playtest this weekend, and the team has a taste of what you can expect and says to have fun testing the old-school inspired MMORPG.

AI Roundup: Several notable developments took place in the field of artificial intelligence (AI) today, December 7. The EU's AI Act could exclude AI models that have an open-source license, according to a leaked compromise proposal seen by Reuters. In the US, despite AI implementation in drive-thru services by chains like Checkers and Carl's Jr., human involvement in fulfilling orders persists, accounting for over 70% of customer interactions in locations like the Philippines. On the other hand, Neverinstall introduced its Windows Cloud PC, aiming to challenge established Desktop-As-A-Service providers with AI integration and CloudLink for an advanced cloud-computing experience.

When is The Game Awards 2023, and where can you watch it? Geoff Keighley's 10th annual awards show is coming up soon, where the host will hand out trophies to deserving developers, bring on celebrity guests, and make a few game announcements for good measure. It's always a fun event to see off the year. So, when is The Game Awards 2023, and where can you tune in? In this guide, we're going to give you all the details you need to watch along live.

Microsoft has reportedly been developing an Xbox mobile storefront that would allow users to bypass Apple's App Store and Google's Play Store and download games off its own application. Earlier this year, Microsoft's gaming chief Phil Spencer, too, had revealed ahead of the annual Game Developer Conference that the company intended to launch its own app store for both iOS and Android. Now, Xbox is reportedly in talks with partners for the same.

Many countries around the world have been considering mandating the USB-C charging port for all devices to reduce e-waste. First, the European Union took the step and introduced the USB-C charging port regulation. It forced Apple to introduce the same in its iPhone 15 lineup, discarding the old Lighting port. Now, India is aiming to bring the same law in which the country is asking smartphone manufacturers to adopt the new standard charging port. The decision may cause huge problems for Apple in various ways. Know what the iPhone USB-C problem in India is all about and what Apple wants from the Indian government.

Amazon.com Inc. must pledge to fairly rank rival robot vacuum cleaners sold on its online marketplace if it is to secure European Union approval for its $1.4 billion buyout of Roomba maker iRobot Corp., the bloc's interim competition chief Didier Reynders warned. 

Black Desert Mobile is celebrating its fourth anniversary this month. Pearl Abyss is celebrating with giveaways, events, new videos and an infographic with lots of stats from the mobile journey.

Loot boxes are still here with us in 2023, and some countries are finally catching up with regulation.

 Hailed as a world first, European Union artificial intelligence rules are facing a make-or-break moment as negotiators try to hammer out the final details this week — talks complicated by the sudden rise of generative AI that produces human-like work.