President News, Tips, Tricks & Ideas

Moon Studios may be known for its hit Metroidvania games, but its new action RPG, No Rest for the Wicked, is now available in early access, and former Blizzard president Mike Ybarra believes its "bold direction" is what the genre needs to "stay relevant."

The latest instalment of the SaGa series has finally dropped today. SaGa Emerald Beyond is up for grabs on Android and iOS along with Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5 and 4 and PC. Published by Square Enix, it’s priced at $49.99. This newest addition to the SaGa family stays true to its roots. Keep reading to find out more!

A full reveal for Lollipop Chainsaw RePOP is coming soon.

A in the is now a major possibility following both the House and the Senate voting in favor of a that would force its parent company, ByteDance, to divest or endure a partial ban.

On Tuesday, the U.S. Senate passed an extensive, $95 billion national security package that sends financial aid to Taiwan, Ukraine, Israel, and Gaza. Tucked inside that bill is a piece of legislation the government’s been trying to pass for a while — a purported “TikTok ban.” Called the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controller Applications Act, the bill won’t exactly ban TikTok; instead, the goal is to force TikTok owner ByteDance to sell the popular app. The legislation signed by President Joe Biden on Wednesday will give ByteDance nine months to sell TikTok. (Biden could extend the deadline by 90 days, too.)

AI Roundup, April 19: In today's AI news, Cisco announced their new security product called HyperShield which uses AI to safeguard applications, devices, and data of businesses. The system primarily focuses on protecting the IT environment. In other news, HarperCollins has partnered with audio AI company ElevenLabs to develop audiobooks. All this, and more in our AI Roundup today.

Gamers worldwide have long wondered whether Microsoft’s historic acquisition of Activision Blizzard would lead to structural and organizational changes for the World of Warcraft developer. Now, six months after the acquisition’s finalization, a higher-up at World of Warcraft has revealed that the Xbox maker has “let Blizzard be Blizzard.”

Hasbro, owner of Dungeons & Dragons publisher Wizards of the Coast, is looking for potential partners to work on the future of Baldur's Gate.

For nearly two years, Microsoft's unprecedented $68.7 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard stayed in the news, mostly due to the Windows and Xbox company's battle with certain regulators (chiefly the US FTC and the UK CMA). That came to an end, even though the FTC is still trying to unmake the deal, on October 13, when Microsoft announced the closure of the acquisition.

The president of Wizards of the Coast and Hasbro Gaming, Cynthia Williams, will soon be stepping down from her position in the company. Hasbro is yet to decide on who will replace her as head of Wizards of the Coast.

It has been announced that Wizards of the Coast and Hasbro Gaming president Cynthia Williams will be stepping down at the end of the month, officially leaving her role at both companies on April 26. Williams apparently announced her resignation to Wizards of the Coast and Hasbro Gaming on April 15, according to an SEC filing from Hasbro.

World of Warcraft's executive producer says "the dream remains" regarding the long-running MMO coming to Xbox one day, even if you're likely facing a wait to see that happen.

An animated Golden Axe series is in the works at Comedy Central, based on the popular Sega video game series of the same name.

Larian Studios confirmed earlier this year that it will not be involved in Baldur's Gate 4. The studio is moving away from Dungeons & Dragons to focus on its own projects, whatever they may be. But that doesn't mean the series is over.

Hasbro, the IP holder of Dungeons & Dragons, says there are early conversations being held about another Baldur's Gate sequel.

Expanding its artificial intelligence (AI) push, Microsoft has announced that it will be investing $1.5 billion in United Arab Emirates-based artificial intelligence firm G42, giving the U.S. giant a minority stake and a board seat, allowing the two to deepen ties amid the global battle for tech dominance. AI has become the buzzword of the last few years, with companies around the world competing to leverage this technology.

The former president of Blizzard has suggested that players should have the option to tip developers after finishing a game. That’s on top of paying $70 for the game in the first place, mind.

Even though Alex Garland’s near-future catastrophe movie Civil War takes place during an American insurrection aimed at forcing an autocratic, democracy-destroying president out of power, it focuses more on the journalists covering the war than on who’s fighting who. That, Garland tells Polygon, was a choice he made because he wanted the story to be about why reporters are a critical part of a functioning society. That same agenda also shaped the look of Civil War: The movie is largely seen through the eyes of two photojournalists, veteran Lee Miller (Kirsten Dunst) and cub reporter Jessie (Cailee Spaeny). Their intent focus on capturing the perfect image made it important for Civil War to be visually striking.

Former Blizzard president Mike Ybarra, who exited the publisher in January, would like to leave tips after completing some $70 games.

Mike Ybarra, the former president of Blizzard, has suggested that games have a tipping feature. He says he developed this idea after playing games like Horizon Zero Dawn, Baldur's Gate 3, and Elden Ring, and feels that devs deserve more than the standard $60 or $70 price tag.

The new 13-inch, 15-inch M3 MacBook Air and the base M3 MacBook Pro all have 8GB unified RAM for the base configuration. Where Apple’s competitors have started outfitting their premium notebooks with 16GB RAM as standard, the company has taken a backseat when it comes to upping the total memory count. According to the latest interview, Apple executives have defended the technology giant’s decision by stating that this amount of unified RAM is ‘suitable’ for various tasks. Obviously, these individuals have ignored the significant number of drawbacks that come with these limitations, which we have discussed below.

BLUETTI, a leading provider of energy storage solutions, has expanded its Solar+ program, a one stop solution for solar transition, to three new states in the US, starting from March 14, 2024.

Alex Garland keeps getting asked the same question about his new movie, Civil War. It’s an obvious question. Garland, known best for Ex Machina, Annihilation, and Men, wrote and directed a movie set in near-future America, centering on a civil war that’s fractured the United States — and yet he reveals very little about how that war came about, or what the warring sides represent. Instead, he tells an almost clinically procedural action story about photojournalists crossing the country to cover that war, without ever digging into the details. Why make a seemingly apolitical movie about an American civil war in an era where so many pundits are worried that we’re on the brink of real civil war?

AI roundup: Microsoft is planning to make a huge investment in Japan to accelerate the country's AI development. Additionally, the investment will also aid Japan in building strong cybersecurity defence to combat enemy countries. In other news, President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida urged Amazon and Nvidia to fund an AI research program. Know more about such AI news of today. 

NetEase has announced a renewed partnership with Blizzard Entertainment to bring World of Warcraft and other Blizzard games back to China! Included in the announcement were statements from NetEase President Ding Lei, Blizzard President Johanna Faries, and Head of Microsoft Gaming Phil Spencer all celebrating the renewed venture and welcoming the Chinese player base home again.

Meta Platforms Inc. is under immense pressure to ensure that social media content created by artificial intelligence doesn't cause havoc with elections this year. The company's top leaders say they haven't seen that happen yet on their services.

It is too early for Google to announce its fully custom Tensor chipset for smartphones and tablets, but the company has probably ensured a solid footing of producing in-house silicon with the announcement of Axion, an ARM-based SoC designed specifically for datacenters. The chip was unveiled during Cloud Next 2024 and arrives with a host of performance and efficiency benefits, which we will discuss at length here.

AI roundup: With preference for online exams growing, an online assessment solutions company announced its AI-powered remote proctored exam platform to eliminate the chances of cheating. In other news, South Korea is planning to invest over $7 billion in AI to retain its name as a leading semiconductor chip provider. Know about more such AI news from today, April 9,  in our roundup. 

Disney Games has added three games industry veterans to its leadership team, following the announcement of its collaboration with Epic on a new «games and entertainment universe».

Disney Games has expanded its leadership team with two new hires of industry veterans, as well as three internal promotions.

Kareem Choudhry has left Microsoft as of Friday, April 5, 2024. The former corporate vice president of Emerging Technologies at Xbox, Choudhry most recently spearheaded the company’s exploration of artificial intelligence (AI) technology in gaming.

Realme has become one of the most popular smartphone brands in India. With a greater customer base, the company is planning to announce India-exclusive smartphones which are said to be the “power series.” The  Realme P series smartphones are expected to launch in the mid-range smartphone market. Realme's Vice President Chase Xu made an official announcement about the devices. Now several leaks about the devices have started to circulate. Know what's coming with the new Realme P series smartphones.

Xbox president Sarah Bond has confirmed that backwards compatibility with previous-generation Xbox games will remain a priority for the company's hardware going forward.

Xbox president Sarah Bond has established a new team dedicated to game preservation and backwards compatibility in future hardware.

Xbox President Sarah Bond has revealed in an email to Microsoft staff that she has set up a team dedicated to gaming preservation and backwards compatibility in preparation for the next Xbox console.

While the name Kareem Choudhry may not be as well-known as, say, Phil Spencer or Matt Booty, Xbox fans who keep abreast with the company’s announcements and showcases are likely to be familiar with his face. As corporate vice president of emerging technologies at Xbox, Choudhry was in charge of a lot of the more innovative things Microsoft’s gaming division offered in recent years, including backward compatibility and Xbox Cloud Gaming.

Developer Arrowhead Game Studios has officially honoured the brave sacrifice and noble fallen of Malevelon Creek. The pivotal battle against the Automatons marked the community's first significant loss, which was recently avenged as a part of the ongoing Operation Swift Disassembly. To celebrate, 1st April will henceforth be known as Malevelon Creek Memorial Day, which should be spent in pensive reflection while simultaneously mainlining Helldivers 2.

Haier Appliances India unveiled its latest line of "super heavy-duty" air conditioners, incorporating its Hexa Inverter and Supersonic cooling technologies. NS Satish, President of Haier Appliances India, emphasized the company's commitment to crafting innovative products aimed at enhancing customers' comfort and convenience, particularly in India's challenging climate.

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

This week, Helldivers 2 developer Arrowhead released a new cape, free to all players, to mark what it’s called 'Malevelon Creek Memorial Day.' Now, a subset of the game’s community is threatening to teamkill players who wear it, seemingly because they don’t like the focus on Malevelon Creek itself.

The Cabin in the Woods director and The Martian writer Drew Goddard is set to helm a new installment in The Matrix franchise.

It’s time to re-enter the Matrix, only this time with a new director. The Matrix is coming back for a fifth entry, directed and written by Drew Goddard, Warner Bros. announced on Wednesday.

Helldivers 2 developer Arrowhead has given all players a new cape to celebrate what it’s called 'Malevelon Creek Memorial Day.'

Helldivers 2 has a brand new cape to offer players in memory of their fallen comrades, and an accompanying 'Malevelon Creek Memorial Day' to commemorate those lost in the battle to take the infamous planet.

AI roundup: With the use of AI expanding rapidly, over 200 musicians including the Jonas Brothers, Katy Perry, Billie Eilish and others have signed an open letter against AI replacing the work of human artists. They urge tech companies to take steps against people stealing or using their artwork, music, writing, etc. In other news, Yahoo acquired Artifact, an AI news platform founded by Instagram co-founders. Check out more about AI news from today, April 3, 2024. 

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

Russian President Vladimir Putin has reportedly instructed his government to begin exploring the creation of a Russian games console in an apparent attempt to reboot the Russian gaming industry.

, as with many RPGs, is all about the choices players make and their consequences. This continued through its expansion,, where players had to make a major decision about whether to side with the Federal Intelligence Agency (F.I.A.)'s sleeper agent, Solomon Reed, or his former netrunner protégé, Song So Mi (aka. Songbird) who seeks to be freed from the NUSA's clutches after being used to tap into the Blackwall for President Myers' personal needs.

Silent Hill 2 has been rated by the ESRB.

Koei Tecmo has announced restructuring plans, which will see the company establishing a new AAA development studio. The Japanese company says the new studio will be “established as a project independent from existing brands”, and will be focused on the development of “new major titles” (via DeepL).

Sony has won a court battle instigated by Genuine Enabling Technology (GET) that accused the PlayStation maker of infringing on one of its controller technology patents. At the time of filing, the most recent Sony console would have been the PlayStation 4.

Gearbox Entertainment has revealed that Borderlands 4 is in "active development," and is but one of several projects the developer plans to release with new owner Take-Two.

Former President Donald Trump launched his social media platform, Truth Social, in early 2022, after he was banned from major sites such as Facebook and the platform formerly known as Twitter following the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.

Apple’s App Store is said to have a guardian in the form of former Vice President of Worldwide Marketing, Phil Schiller, who, despite transitioning from his senior executive role to an ‘Apple Fellow,’ an honorary position, holds tremendous influence in the firm. According to the latest profile shared by The Wall Street Journal, Schiller is said to be working 80 hours a week, becoming a shield for the App Store, and standing vigil to guard it at all times from external threats such as antitrust watchdogs and other entities.

An attendee of GDC 2024 says that her drink was spiked at a hotel bar, but authorities refused to investigate the matter. Snow Rui, president of the game publisher Hooded Horse, says that she was met with "complete indifference" from emergency services, with police reluctant to investigate and the hospital she was admitted to refusing to run tests for commonly used date rape drugs.

On the set of Ex Machina and Annihilation director Alex Garland's latest movie, authenticity was key. Civil War, an action-packed film that follows a near-future version of the US as it's torn apart by a tyrannical president, seceded states, and violence, used real tanks, real weapons, and real jets to bring its warfare to life.

A few weeks ago, Toys for Bob unexpectedly split from Activision and Microsoft to become an independent developer once again. However, even in that announcement, the studio based in Novato, California mentioned that they were exploring a partnership with Microsoft for their next game.

Final Fantasy 15's director believes that game developers should familiarize themselves with generative AI.

In 2019, Arkane founder Raphaël Colantonio left the studio after nearly two decades. During his tenure, he served as president and co-creative director, working on games like Dishonored and Prey. That same year, Colantonio teamed up with former Arkane exec Julien Roby to open WolfEye Studios.

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

Chris Paulson, a former executive at Activision Blizzard, has joined the team at Skybound Games, a division of The Walking Dead company Skybound Entertainment. Paulson will serve as executive vice president and general manager of games publishing.

AI roundup: South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol highlights the risk of AI to democracy at a global summit. Yeol talked about how fake news and disinformation are being spread with the use of AI and how it could create a big threat. In other news, Qualcomm announced its new Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 chipset with the ability to support on-device generative AI. Know more about such AI news today, March 18, 2024.

There is a moment that looms large over everything else in the pilot of Apple TV’s post-Civil War drama, Manhunt, a conversation that will haunt Edwin Stanton (Tobias Menzies) for the rest of his life. He’s hard at work in his office, putting together the plans for Reconstruction, when Abraham Lincoln (Midnight Mass’ Hamish Linklater) comes in tossing a baseball and invites him to the theater tonight (Ulysses S. Grant flaked to hang with his wife). Stanton is intrigued, drawn in by his friend’s easy charm, but ultimately backs out — he also owes his wife a night together. And so Lincoln strolls out, bemoaning that he’ll just be hanging out with Mary’s friends as he sees Our American Cousin.

Turtle Beach, the accessories giant best known for its gaming headsets, has acquired PDP for the value of $118 million.

Behaviour Interactive has acquired fellow Canadian firm Fly Studio.

In today's Patch 10.2.6 announcement, Blizzard confirmed that Dragonflight Season 4 will only launch «several weeks» into the patch cycle. This means that Season 4 will likely be released around late April. Once Patch 10.2.6 goes live on March 19th, we will have a Season 4 PTR cycle, as previewed by Executive Producer and Vice President for WoW Holly Longdale. Dragonflight Season 4 Mythic+ Updates

Old emails uncovered in a lawsuit against Valve have revealed that Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney was previously very disgruntled with the changes to Steam revenue splits announced in late 2018, and went as far as to call Valve "assholes" in a message to president Gabe Newell.

In a rare display of bipartisanship, the House of Representatives has overwhelmingly voted in favor of a bill that seeks to ban TikTok in the United States or force its sale to a non-Chinese entity. The newly advanced legislation poses another in a long list of hurdles for TikTok's stateside ambitions.

The United States House of Representatives has passed the “TikTok bill” that would effectively ban the short-form video-sharing app if owner ByteDance doesn’t divest. Representatives voted on Wednesday on the Protecting Americans From Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, pushing it forward with a majority vote of 352 to 65. The bill is expected to move onto the Senate for another vote if Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) brings it to the floor. President Biden said he’d sign the bill should it reach his desk.

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

OpenAI lambasted Elon Musk's allegations against it, saying in a court filing that the billionaire entrepreneur's claims “rest on convoluted — often incoherent — factual premises.” 

Silent Hill 2 has been rated in Korea.

Since his tumultuous takeover of Twitter, Elon Musk has made an unabashed turn to the right politically, defying the orthodoxy that Silicon Valley is a citadel of well-heeled liberals beholden to Democrats. Long considered non-identifiable ideologically, Musk's politics are now hardline right wing as he uses his platform (now called X) to stoke the themes cherished by Fox News, conservative talk radio and far right movements across the West.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman will return to the ChatGPT-maker's board along with three new directors, the company said on Friday. Below is a timeline of the events in a tumultuous few months for the artificial intelligence company. Date Event Nov. 17, OpenAI board fires CEO Sam Altman and 2023 President Greg Brockman quits. Mira Murati named as interim CEO Nov. 18, Altman's firing was over a "breakdown in 2023 communication between Sam and the board," and not "malfeasance", COO Brad Lightcap says in an internal memo Early investor Khosla Ventures says it wants Altman back at OpenAI, "but will back him in whatever he does next" 

In a recent interview with The Verge’s Decoder podcast, Crunchyroll president Rahul Purini revealed that the anime-focused streaming service was experimenting with implementing AI-generated subtitles for the service’s library of titles. Purini’s proposition was that AI could expedite the workflow of subtitling and closed captioning in order to launch episodes “as close to the Japanese release as possible” for worldwide anime fans.

Hasbro and Magic: The Gathering/Dungeons & Dragons parent company Wizards of the Coast announced that it has "about 40" video games in the works and that it hopes to collaborate with Baldur's Gate 3 developer Larian Studios again as it pushes further into the medium.

How do you win the prize for outstanding performance in the Junon Parade in Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth? After you have worked out how to recruit all Midgar 7th Infantry Units for the Junon Parade, you can put them to work and win the top prize. As part of our Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth guide, we're going to reveal how to win the prize for outstanding performance in the Junon Parade. Doing so unlocks the Stealing the Show Trophy.

Fortnite Chapter 5, Season 2 will seemingly introduce flying mounts to the game, as originally leaked by dataminers and now teased by the official Twitter account.

Entertainment giant Warner Bros is still planning on focusing on live-service titles in spite of a lacklustre reception to Suicide Squad Kill the Justice League.