Markets News, Tips, Tricks & Ideas

The next generation of consoles might be closer than we thought, at least for Xbox fans. Today, Call of Duty leaker TheGhostofHope relayed a rumor from trusted sources that the next Xbox console might launch in late 2026, way earlier than most analysts and fans predicted, with Call of Duty as a launch day title.

Snap Inc. Chief Executive Officer Evan Spiegel said he's investing more aggressively in bringing artificial intelligence and machine learning to Snapchat to make it more interesting for its users, the next major shift after years spent overhauling its advertising business.

iOS 17.5 houses a bug that has been plaguing iPhone users and it appears that there is more to the story than originally expected. The update brought its fair share of issues with it, as users have been complaining of a bug that is making deleted photos reappear in photo libraries. However, it appears that the situation is more serious than originally anticipated as users who have sold their devices to strangers are also impacted, and it is a huge violation of privacy on Apple's part.

A new set of cards for the expansion has been revealed, and they are a welcome throwback to one of the franchise’s best regions. is an upcoming Japan-exclusive set that will focus on several creatures from the Land of Kitakami, as it portrays elements of ’s epilogue. Nevertheless, it also contains several Pokémon, trainers, and locations from other locations. It has recently been announced that the set will be partially converted for the release of in the Western market in August.

is expanding yet again with, and a new batch of cards means that there are some new high-value options on the table. Although the supply shortages that plagued the early days of haven't affected the most recent expansions in the same way, some cards remain elusive thanks to their rarity. The most desirable tend to be s Enchanted cards, which feature special foil treatments and aren't found in most packs.

As the gaming hobby grows, so too do the mechanisms that make games run. Deck building is a tried game mechanism that has been around for a long time, to the point that it has become a genre of its own. I’ve long been a fan of deck building and it’s been a delight to see how it has grown over time and been implemented in newer games, while the core concept- each player having an individual deck to which cards are added or culled in order to make it stronger- remains a satisfying strategic exercise.

Loongson has revealed that its next-gen CPUs will be able to match Intel's 12th Gen Core i7 & Core i5 CPUs, propelling the domestic Chinese PC market to new heights.

Microsoft Corp.'s partnership with artificial intelligence firm Mistral AI will avoid a UK antitrust probe after the watchdog said it didn't qualify for an investigation.

Bandai Namco has appointed Adrien Guerra as its new country manager for the UK and Nordic regions.

is known as being one of the largest and often most bizarre MMOs on the market but its latest crossover promotion may be one of its weirdest marketing collaborations yet. Having said that, it's fairly common practice for brands to approach popular video games and offer unique in-game items that can only be accesed by purchasing a can of Monster Energy or a packet of Doritos. Yet it's rare to see a game so steeped in fantastical mythology and deity-slaying heroes be the face of such a campaign.

The dynamic world of online gaming has seen significant transformation with the introduction of rust gambling platforms like Rustly which blend traditional gaming elements with gambling dynamics, offering an exciting challenge that mixes skill with the element of chance.

Player1 Events has reportedly laid off an unknown number of staff, believed to be the majority of the company, and shut down long-running UK video games event Insomnia Gaming Festival.

The release date, several new cards, and preorder details for ’s expansion have been revealed. In fact, the set itself has just been announced for the Western market, though it should arrive later this Summer. At the moment, the popular is starting to expand its portrayal of Generation 9 game content with the upcoming set,. The expansion set for late May will focus on DLC for, though the release of will not cover all elements of Kitakami.

Grand Theft Auto VI is expected to be the biggest entertainment launch of all time, but the game could impact the industry as a whole if it performs below expectations.

Sony may be gearing up to return to the handheld market with a new PlayStation Portable that will be capable of running PlayStation 4 games, according to rumors circulating online.

Intel's next-generation Lunar Lake "Core Ultra 200V" CPUs are coming to gaming handhelds as a new device is revealed by a Chinese maker.

Tokyo-based publisher and developer Cygames has announced the establishment of a new overseas branch in Singapore called Cygames Singapore.

has introduced new features over its lifespan, some as part of full expansions and others as continuous regular updates. This even includes plans to revamp the main storyline quest. With a likely influx of new and returning players trying out a vast selection of jobs – broadened by the release of on Xbox Series X/S consoles – there will possibly be a lot of activity in the game’s open world. To ease quest difficulty and grinding, it would be a good idea to bring along a Chocobo Companion into battle.

PlayStation has revealed that it has managed to shift just over 59 million PS5s over the course of the system's first four years, but the platform's active user base of 118 million people implies that there are quite a lot of people still playing on PS4.

Shares of India's vaunted IT outsourcing firms are facing a reality check, as global investors' rush into the artificial intelligence theme starts to leave pricey old-economy tech stocks behind.

Wuthering Waves is looking like the next big thing. The upcoming gacha is getting an absolutely colossal push in Asia, with bus liveries, subway station takeovers, and enormous banners. In the west, the title recently rebranded Times Square, in a marketing event that must have cost developer Kuro an enormous chunk of change. The free-to-play title has attracted 30 million registrations prior to its release next week, on 22nd May.

Best Buy has become one of the biggest retailers on the market, with everything from TVs to blenders on sale, meaning you can pretty much grab whatever your heart desires directly off Best Buy. In fact, we draw a lot from Best Buy when it comes to the best TV deals, best laptop deals, and best phone deals, so we know how great of a source it can be for solid deals. To that end, we’ve gone out and collected some of our favorites in various categories and collected them for you below.

Six days from launch, Senua's Saga: Hellblade 2 has a new promotional video out that breaks down the story from the first game.

It’s nearly that time of year when – for a week or two – there’s actual game news. And this not-E3 might be the most important yet.

The 13-inch M4 iPad Pro measures just 5.1mm in thickness and is marketed as Apple’s thinnest product yet. However, the obvious concern that potential buyers would have is how durable it would be over long-term use, and while Apple’s executives have attempted to put people’s worries to rest by stating that a protective cowling provides structural rigidity to the latest tablet, a new bend test reveals a different story. However, what is interesting to note is that the larger iPad Pro breaks from the charging position, not from the center, as Apple added the ‘central spine’ there to increase the slate’s durability.

Bandai Namco has announced the appointment of Adrien Guerra as country manager for the UK and Nordics.

The Kirin 9000S enabled Huawei to regain its lost market in China, staging a comeback that is making rivals like Apple nervous and probably frustrating the Biden administration as their continued efforts to stifle the competition overseas have been fruitless. However, as Huawei shifts towards mass production of advanced chipsets for smartphones and PCs, it will have to take away production resources from all Kirin 9000 variants, as mentioned by one tipster.

This is not investment advice. The author has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. Wccftech.com has a disclosure and ethics policy.

The release of Wear OS 3 marked a big change in Google's smartwatch strategy. Wear OS watches were now actually good, something which couldn't be said of most products on the market before that point. It also helped the OS grow its userbase much further, with many people buying the improved product. Like Android, Wear OS is seeing yearly major releases, and now, the next big version of Wear OS is here—say hello to Wear OS 5.

WWE 2K24 has been on the market for a couple of months now and developer Visual Concepts is expanding the experience with the game’s first DLC pack. CM Punk made his surprise return to WWE this past November at Survivor Series, and in years past, fans would likely have had to wait over a year to see him in a WWE game, as the deadline for setting the roster for the next game would have passed. Thankfully, that’s no longer the case, as Visual Concepts got to work and managed to get him into the ECW Punk Pack, which also includes Bubba Ray and D-Von Dudley, Sandman, and Terry Funk.

April PC and console game sales fell 6.2% year-on-year in Europe, with 10.5 million games sold.

 A study by a leading analyst firm highlights the rapid expansion of India's artificial intelligence (AI) sector, driven by growing talent and investment in the AI ecosystem. The AI software market is projected to reach $2.6 billion by 2027.

Yesterday, Sony Interactive Entertainment revealed that its PS5 console had sold 59.2 million units as of March 31, slightly below Sony's own forecast.

NVIDIA's Blackwell GPUs are going to be the fastest AI chips the world has ever seen when they become available and also the most expensive yet.

NVIDIA and MediaTek might be working on a brand new SOC that will be powering gaming handhelds and consoles.

The smartphone market is abuzz with rumors of Vivo's latest offering, the Y200 Pro. While yet to be officially announced, recent online speculation sheds light on its purported features and expected price range. Let's delve into the details surrounding this anticipated release.

The recently released Pixel 8a is one of the best phones on the market for those who are looking for a device that is affordable but also packs a punch. There are several reasons to choose this device, like the fact that it is more affordable than its elder siblings while maintaining most of what makes the Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro so good. However, benchmarks of the newly released budget Pixel tell a slightly different story.

Assassins Creed Shadows fans are trying to figure out a cryptic marketing puzzle hidden by Ubisoft.

Amazon.com Inc.'s newly named cloud chief, Matt Garman, inherits a $100-billion-a-year business that's as profitable as it has ever been. He also faces the daunting task of retaining the cloud-computing pioneer's edge in the artificial intelligence age.

Lenovo has unveiled its LEGION Blade 7000K PC configurations, which adopt Intel's 14th & 13th Gen HX CPUs at much lower prices.

The Netherlands Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM) has fined Fortnite maker Epic Games for pressuring youngsters.

Megalopolis, legendary director Francis Ford Coppola’s first film in 14 years, is one of 2024’s most notable movies for two reasons. First, it is the decades-in-development self-funded passion project of a cinematic titan, and second, no one wants to distribute it. On paper, that’s plenty baffling, but it only becomes more so when you see what the film looks like.

Amazon.com Inc.'s cloud-computing division chief Adam Selipsky is stepping down, making way for Matt Garman, the unit's top sales and marketing executive.

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Square Enix‘s share price has dropped by nearly 16% following its FY2024 financial results on Monday.

This week, Microsoft and Bethesda announced that they would be closing down multiple game development studios under their umbrella. These include Alpha Dog Games, maker of Mighty Doom, and Arkane Austin, developer of the disastrous Redfall among others. In the gaming industry, the conventional wisdom has long been held that bad games sink you and great games save you, which would lead many to drawing an unfortunate line between Redfall’s reception and Arkane Austin’s closure — but immediately stops supporting that conclusion when you get to Tango Gameworks.

The head of Amazon's AWS cloud computing business, Adam Selipsky, who was helping lead the company's expansion into AI, told workers he was stepping down Tuesday.

Just over a year ago, Tango Gameworks and Xbox released Hi-Fi Rush, a musical delight that seemed to come out of nowhere. Hi-Fi Rush received almost universal acclaim – it was wholly unique, polished, and tightly paced. It was also like nothing developer Tango Gameworks had ever made before, and seemingly made explicitly for Xbox Game Pass. It followed closely in the footsteps of games like Psychonauts 2 and Pentiment, neither of which match the profile of the big, blockbuster AAAs that move millions upon millions of copies, and yet they were beloved anyway. Taken as a whole, they lent credibility and prestige to Xbox Game Pass as an accessible library of well-supported, beautifully crafted art.

Along with revealing sales numbers for Helldivers 2, Sony announced that the PlayStation 5 has reached 59.3 million worldwide shipments as of March 31st, 2024. During the three months, it shipped 4.5 million consoles, up from 54.8 million in the last quarter but down from the same quarter of the previous year.

Industry reports now suggest that Samsung has failed to pass specific stages of HBM3E memory verification set by NVIDIA, potentially creating a roadblock for the Korean giant.

Samsung is making waves in the smartphone market once again as it extends its latest software update, One UI 6.1, to its mid-range champions, the Galaxy A54 and A34.

Google Cloud and Bharti Airtel have collaborated to deliver cloud solutions to the latter's customers, according to a joint statement issued on Monday.

Even though VR has been around for a while, the market has only really started booming in the last half-decade, with the best VR headsets that are actually affordable coming out in the past couple of years or so. One great example is the Meta Quest 3, which is so new that it essentially has no deals available for it right now. That said, you get some bonuses when you buy the Quest 3, including a free game and a few months of Meta’s game subscription service if you buy the larger 512Gb Quest 3. You could also try checking out some Meta Quest 2 deals if you feel the Quest 3 is still too pricey for you.

HMD Global, renowned for its Nokia-branded smartphones, is gearing up to introduce its maiden HMD-branded device in India. Preceding its official debut, the Finnish company has unveiled the device's name, which was chosen through a contest on X. Speculations suggest that this upcoming smartphone could be a rebrand of the HMD Pulse, already available in Europe and expected to arrive in the US as the HMD Vibe.

In the bustling smartphone market, Motorola recently unveiled its Moto Edge 50 Pro in India, offering a compelling package of features at an attractive price point. Priced around ₹40,000, it's a strong contender against the OnePlus 11R, which despite being a year old, still holds its ground in the market. If you're eyeing a smartphone under 40K, deciding between these two options can be tough. Let's break down the comparison to help you make the right choice.

Apple officially discontinued its entire iPod range in 2022, leaving behind memories of a revolutionary product that strongly impacted the music and technology industry. It made little sense to continue selling these devices, as the company giant was selling iPhones in the millions, and its handsets could pretty much do everything the iPod could and more. However, there was a time when Microsoft founder Bill Gates was not so optimistic about Apple’s future with its music player family, stating that it could not sustain the iPod’s success, but there was a reason for these bold claims, as you will soon find out.

Hello! Welcome to the 326th edition of the WoW Economy Weekly Wrap-up! This week we take a look at Inscription in The War Within Alpha. We also have Cataclysm Classic and tools for levelling professions and things to focus on when you have limited time. On top of that, we have a discussion over transmog vs. twink items and making the most of Alchemy profits in Season of Discovery! My name is Samadan and I'll be your guide through the World of Gold Making!

There was a time when I’d write about games. Now I write about how industry executives keep stepping on rakes.

EA CEO Andrew Wilson has revealed in a recent earnings call that the company is working on putting in-game advertisements into its releases, viewing them as a "meaningful driver of growth".

Spoiler warnings have become a polite way to signal to the internet that you’re about to discuss some aspect of a movie they might prefer not to know before seeing the film. People online have argued endlessly about what constitutes a spoiler and what needs a warning. But the question gets more complicated when a studio’s marketing for a movie is handing out the spoilers.

Despite making a name for itself courtesy of its feature phones and then smartphones, Motorola has also had a steady presence in the audio market. While all of these offerings have donned the Motorola logo, some of them, such as the Verve Ones+, have yet actually to be built by the company, but by a third party. However, that has since changed with recent options such as the Motorola Buds 120 and 150, but the company still hasn't managed to capture the TWS market like it would've hoped to. Intending to change its fortunes, Motorola has launched its latest TWS earbuds, the Moto Buds+, alongside the more affordable Moto Buds. But is Motorola's newest offering able to take on its competitors, such as Nothing Ear, and emerge victorious and the best of them all? Know it in our review.

This is not investment advice. The author has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. Wccftech.com has a disclosure and ethics policy.

GameStop may begin purchasing graded Pokémon cards at a select number of retail locations soon, according to store associates. If true, the move would make the retailer one of the single largest buyers of graded collectibles with nearly 3,000 potential retail locations in the United States for consumers to sell their cards. Rumors first began circulating Thursday, via PokéBeach. Polygon has reached out to GameStop’s press team for comment.

This is not investment advice. The author has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. Wccftech.com has a disclosure and ethics policy.

The first major patch for hit city builder Manor Lords, version 0.7.960, has been revealed by developer Slavic Magic and released for public testing.

Frontier Developments has officially announced the next entry in the series. The acclaimed park builder games see players construct and manage their own version of , looking after both the safety of its animals and visitors while trying to turn a profit, much like the acclaimed 2003 title before it. To coincide with the themes of the movies, however, the also gave players the option to create unique hybrids of dinosaurs and customize them even further.

Motorola is set to reclaim its flagship status with the launch of the Razr Plus 2024, a foldable flip phone aimed at capturing the market's attention. Fresh details on pricing and specifications for the eagerly anticipated device have surfaced in a retailer leak targeting the European market, shedding light on various colour options as well.

The Indian smartphone market experienced a great hike in shipment during the January to March quarter of 2024. India experienced 8 percent YoY growth and 18 percent growth in terms of the overall value of the smartphones shipped, based on a recent report. While the Indian smartphone market is growing with each day passing, the Chinese smartphone brand Vivo has dominated the market with the highest market share. In terms of market share, Vivo surpassed Samsung and Xiaomi with tremendous growth in Q1.

New rumors about upcoming sets of the have begun swirling, pointing to a potential release later this year. The most recent set in the series,, is coming out on May 24, 2024, and many of those cards have already been announced or teased. Each series that releases in has specialty cards that have different uses and rarities, and fans always enjoy seeing what might be next, even if there is nothing confirming the rumors are true.

Ever since Microsoft started on their spending spree of acquisitions in 2018, gamers have feared the worst. Would Microsoft simply out-spend Sony to secure market dominance? Would PlayStation gamers be deprived of innumerable great games? Were they building Game Pass into a video gaming Death Star?

A few rumors have clamored that Samsung intends to keep several areas of the Galaxy S25 Ultra unaltered compared to the Galaxy S24 Ultra, but the specifications bit might be another story. One tipster mentions that the Korean giant will finally introduce a RAM upgrade to its top-end flagship in 2025, but the internal storage might not change.

Intel has placed its bets on ASML's high-NA EUV lithography technology for the future, placing orders for all machines to be built this year.

iPhone 16 will launch in the US without a SIM card slot. This is because Apple opted for eSIM-only iPhone 15 models for the US market last year, ditching the SIM card slot. Now, while Apple will continue with eSIM-only iPhone 16 models in the US, will the Cupertino-based tech giant do so for the entire world? Well, the new iPad 2024 range launch has sparked a new speculation.

Following the confirmation that the next iteration of the Nintendo Switchwill be unveiled before March 2025, recent leaks may have just revealed the hardware users can expect to find within the hybrid console. The current iteration of the ever-popular console is notorious for its less-than-desirable specs; even when it launched in 2017, it's power was significantly less than competitors like the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. While the so-called Switch 2 likely won't rival Sony and Microsoft's machines in terms of performance, it sounds like it will at least be a major step up for Nintendo.

AMD's Zen 5 CPUs are rumored to feature an IPC increase of around 10% with the latest core architecture.

AMD's x86 market share saw continued growth with server and client segments both gaining significant revenue shares in Q1 2024.

The popular vampire survival game V Rising has finally launched out of early access on PC, getting a flattering 9/10 score from our Francesco De Meo in Wccftech's review.

This is not investment advice. The author has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. Wccftech.com has a disclosure and ethics policy.

While many classic Nintendo consoles are known for fetching decent prices among collectors, the most recent one to hit the market may end up being the most expensive ever sold at auction. The world of video game collecting has exploded in recent years as rare games and consoles have become notorious for their impressive prices when sold to the right bidder. Original copies of NES classics like and have been known to be especially valuable, but an early build of a popular console may be even more lucrative for the seller.

While we haven’t even begun to tap into the full potential of the PS5, fans are already beginning to talk about what Sony’s next console, the PlayStation 6, will look like – even if others believe the PS5 to be the company’s last console. Will it be bulky like previous releases? Will Sony revert to a traditional square console look? Or can we imagine something a bit more sci-fi futuristic looking? Let’s take a look at the PS6’s potential.