Tag Archives: author_name|Anna Washenko

Netflix hires former Epic Games exec as new President of Games

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Netflix has landed a notable new leader for its rapidly-expanding gaming endeavors. Variety reported that the streaming company has hired Alain Tascan as its new president of games. Before joining Netflix, Tascan was executive vice president for game development at a little studio you may have heard of called Epic Games. In that role, he oversaw the first-party development for some of the company's hugely successful titles, such as Fortnite, Lego Fortnite, Rocket League and Fall Guys.

The company is also recruiting talent on the creative side. Since launching the games project in 2021, Netflix has acquired notable indie studios Night School, Boss Fight, Next Games and Spry Fox, and has brought a large number of acclaimed indie games to mobile. In its second quarter earnings call, Netflix execs revealed that it has more than 80 games currently in development, which would nearly double its current library of about 100 titles. 

Many of these new projects are interactive fiction based on Netflix shows and movies, with the goal of giving fans new ways to engage with their favorite titles. "I think our opportunity here to serve super fandom with games is really fun and remarkable," Co-CEO Ted Sarandos said during the call. We also learned that a multiplayer Squid Game project will be coming to Netflix Games later this year.

Although Netflix is making a sizable investment into this games division, people haven't been flocking to their titles yet. In 2022, the library had about 1.7 million daily users and its games had been downloaded 23.3 million times.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/netflix-hires-former-epic-games-exec-as-new-president-of-games-212614285.html?src=rss

Humble Games reportedly lays off its entire staff

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Humble Games has reportedly laid off all 36 of its staff. Former employees posted about the layoffs on social media. Humble Games is owned by media conglomerate Ziff Davis, which counts IGN, Eurogamer and GamesIndustry.biz among its gaming portfolio. Humble Games confirmed in a LinkedIn post that there had been a "restructure" at the company, but did not reveal the number of jobs lost.

A PR rep for Humble Games also confirmed to Engadget that the company would not be shutting its doors as a result of today's restructuring. He added that both ongoing and upcoming projects would continue to be supported and published by the studio.

The layoffs at Humble Bundle are the latest in a sweep across the gaming business. Last year saw a shocking number of cuts across studios of all sizes, and the trend has sadly continued into 2024.

"The games industry is volatile, it's been inundated by people who only want exponential growth at the expense of making great games with great teams," Emilee Kieffer, a former lead quality assurance analyst with Humble Games, wrote on LinkedIn following the layoffs.

The indie publisher helped bring almost 50 video games to market, including notable hits such as Slay the Spire, Unpacking, Wandersong and Coral Island. Humble Games also had several upcoming games slated for release, such as Never Alone 2, a second delve into mythology and stories from the indigenous Iñupiat people in Alaska. 

"This decision was not made lightly; it involved much deliberation and careful thought, with the goal of ensuring the stability and support of our developers and ongoing projects," Humble's statement said. 

This business is a separate operation from the charity storefront Humble Bundle, which is also part of Ziff Davis but does not appear to be impacted by today's news. We've reached out to Ziff Davis and Humble Games for more information and will update if we hear back.

Update, July 23, 2024, 5:35 ET: Article has been updated to include a response from Humble Games' PR team.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/humble-games-reportedly-lays-off-its-entire-staff-201923446.html?src=rss

The live-action Halo show has been canceled at Paramount+

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Many moons ago, back in 2013, we learned that Hollywood royalty Steven Spielberg had teamed up with Microsoft to create a live-action Halo television series. It took about ten years for the vision to finally come to fruition, but the show has now been canceled by the Paramount+ streaming service after a mere seventeen episodes. The first season aired in 2022 and the second earlier this year. We had mixed feelings about the show's debut, but it's still a sad conclusion for the big-budget project.

According to an unnamed Variety source, the show creators plan to shop the project around and search for a new home for the chronicles of Master Chief and Cortana. "We deeply appreciate the millions of fans who propelled the Halo series to be a global success and we remain committed to broadening the Halo universe in different ways in the future," 343 Industries said. "We are grateful to Amblin and Paramount for their partnership in bringing our expansive sci-fi universe to viewers around the world."

This is the latest hurdle for fans of the UNSC to get more Halo action. Not only is the TV show gone, but last year's rounds of layoffs at Microsoft didn't leave 343 Industries unscathed. The studio reportedly had to restart its development of the series' next chapter, and we haven't heard much about the games since.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-live-action-halo-show-has-been-canceled-at-paramount-230612472.html?src=rss

Netflix will drop a new multiplayer game when Squid Game season 2 premieres this year

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Netflix is expanding its games roster with an intriguing (and probably gruesome) new tie-in. During the company's quarterly earnings announcement, Netflix shared that it plans to launch a multiplayer game inspired by Squid Game. Its release date will be timed to coincide with the second season of the South Korean TV sensation. We have no other information about what style of game it will be, but we can guess that it will echo the children's games contestants play for survival on the series.

The program has already spawned several spinoffs for the streaming service. After season 1 became an international sensation in 2021, Netflix created a virtual reality version as well as an in-person pop-up experience in Los Angeles based on the fictional reality show. The company also teamed with a British production company to create Squid Game: The Challenge, an actual reality TV show that is fortunately a lot less lethal than its source material.

Another insight from the quarterly report is how much advertisements have grown in importance for Netflix. The ad-supported tier is responsible for 45 percent of new sign-ups in markets where the subscription option is available. The plan has only been available for about 18 months, and its audience has already grown 34 percent sequentially in the second quarter of 2024. Part of that shift is happening because the basic plan option is being phased out; it left Canada and the UK already, and the US and France are next up.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/netflix-will-drop-a-new-multiplayer-game-when-squid-game-season-2-premieres-this-year-220338938.html?src=rss

Blizzard reveals gameplay for the new Diablo IV class, Spiritborn

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After a teaser at last year's BlizzCon, Blizzard today revealed more details about the new character class that will be coming to Diablo IV this fall. The Spiritborn looks like a fun, powerful mix of several characters from past Diablo entries. Imagine the martial arts combat of the Diablo 3 Monk paired with the animal abilities of the same game’s Witch Doctor plus the aesthetics of the Amazon in Diablo 2. This sounds like a pretty darn tasty recipe to me.

The Spiritborn is a dexterity-driven class with four Spirit Guardians whose powers you can draw on in combat. The jaguar grants fire damage and the eagle offers lightning damage abilities. With the gorilla, players get defensive power and survivability. And the centipede provides poison and fear skills for damage over time and crowd control. During the livestream, Class Designer Bjorn Mikkelson said the Spiritborn is "probably our fastest, most aggressive class." Think leaping into groups of enemies to deliver big burst damage with glaives, quarterstaffs, and polearms.

A typical rotation will see players using those short cooldown skills infused with an element of a spirit's power. But the real payoff with Spiritborn is the ultimate ability, which brings one of the Spirit Guardians to fight by the player's side. "Summoning the god into battle is the power fantasy for this class," said Diablo IV's Game Designer Brent Gibson.

Part of what has always made Diablo games compelling is the ability to personalize and specialize your playstyle within the broad character concept. And some of the other Diablo 4 class designs encourage players to specialize in a single ability tree, such as picking one elemental power to use for a Sorcerer. With the Spiritborn, players will have the flexibility to specialize in a single Spirit Guardian's skill tree if they want, or to mix and match at will without any loss of stats. Things will get even more personalized with the Spirit Hall class mechanic and a whole new set of legendary and ancient gear for the Spiritborn to further fine-tune your preferred playstyle for demon-smashing.

Today’s livestream also had some good nuggets for the lore nerds, and hardcore fans will likely find it worth rewatching the video to see all the details about the worldbuilding that the Blizzard teams put into developing this character. Diablo IV's Vessel of Hatred expansion, aka 'Neyrelle and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day,' will launch on October 8 and the standard edition will cost $40.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/blizzard-reveals-gameplay-for-the-new-diablo-iv-class-spiritborn-205945475.html?src=rss

The HMD Skyline is a mid-range smartphone that’s all about repairability

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Today, HMD unveiled its newest own-brand smartphone called Skyline. This phone runs on a mid-range Snapdragon 7s Gen2 CPU, and it offers up to 256GB of storage and 12GB of RAM. It has 15W Qi2 wireless charging and its 4600mAh battery lasts “up to 48 hours.” The screen is a 6.55-inch full HD+ panel with a 144Hz refresh rate and up to 1,000 nits of brightness. Pick either pink (maybe they had leftovers from the Barbie collab) or black for your phone's color. Skyline phones will be available starting in August and will cost $499.

The spotlight feature for Skyline is ease of repairability. This has been a focus for recent projects from HMD, which also makes phones under the Nokia brand. The back cover of this phone model can be removed, allowing for a user or a third-party shop to replace a broken screen, a worn-out battery, or a bent charging port. Replacement parts are available in select markets from iFixit, which said Skyline will have almost the repairability levels of the Fairphone. Right to repair movements gained a lot of traction last year, with even holdout device manufacturers starting to change their tune. It's positive to see HMD not just offering an option to self-repair, but making it easy to do so.

Front of HMD skyline phone
HMD (modified)

Skyline is also equipped with some notable photo features. The 50 megapixel front camera offers autofocus and eye-tracking. It also has "selfie gesture" hardware that will snap a photo in response to one of four common hand gestures. The rear camera is 108MP, and it has both portrait and night modes to capture the right image for the moment.

As more people want the option to unplug from the always-on lifestyle, Skyline will offer a Detox mode. This feature lets users select specific apps and contacts to block during scheduled breaks. It can be useful for people who find themselves spending more time than they want on social media or games, or for those who need to draw strong lines for work-life balance.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-hmd-skyline-is-a-mid-range-smartphone-thats-all-about-repairability-070035654.html?src=rss

Microsoft releases iOS and Android apps for Designer, its AI-powered Canva competitor

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Microsoft has officially released its Designer platform for AI image generation. After a long preview phase, Designer is now available to most people with a Microsoft account. Designer can be used on the web in more than 80 languages, as a mobile app for iOS and Android, and as a Windows app. You can create a brand new visual from the ground up with AI, or use Designer to edit and tweak a picture you've already made. There are plenty of templates available to guide the creation of common image types, like a greeting card, smartphone wallpaper or a profile avatar. More experienced artists can also build everything from scratch, developing their own templates and using their own art.

While Designer can be used on its own, Microsoft is promoting its integration with the company’s other services. Thanks to the company's Copilot AI chatbot, Designer images can be easily linked up to Microsoft Word and PowerPoint projects. Of course, taking full advantage of that will require a Copilot Pro subscription.

If you've used Canva, then Designer will feel very familiar. The service takes a very similar approach to its user experience and now also has some AI options. According to details from when Microsoft first announced the app back in 2022, Designer is integrated with OpenAI's image generator DALL-E. Copilot already has DALL-E 3 integration, as well as ChatGPT 4 Turbo, so it makes sense that Designer will sync up with those existing services.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/microsoft-releases-ios-and-android-apps-for-designer-its-ai-powered-canva-competitor-203028855.html?src=rss

AMC is bringing fifteen shows to Netflix for one year

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AMC and Netflix have inked a deal to bring several series from the cable network to the streaming platform later this summer. Variety reports that the agreement includes seasons 1-8 of Fear the Walking Dead, season 1 of The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon, seasons 1-4 of Preacher, seasons 1-3 of A Discovery of Witches, seasons 1-3 of Into the Badlands, seasons 1-2 of Kevin can F*** Himself, seasons 1-2 of Dark Winds, seasons 1-2 of Gangs of London, season 1 of Anne Rice’s Interview With the Vampire, season 1 of Anne Rice’s Mayfair Witches, season 1 of Monsieur Spade, season 1 of That Dirty Black Bag and season 1 of The Terror. All of them will join Netflix on August 19 and will be available for one year. The first seasons of both The Walking Dead: Dead City and The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live will land on Netflix on January 13.

Budget-minded viewers may also appreciate that these AMC shows will be available to watch ad-free, even for people on Netflix's ad-supported standard plan. The same is true of all eleven seasons of The Walking Dead that are already on the streaming service.

"These curated titles are also being strategically windowed to drive interest in current and upcoming seasons on our direct-to-consumer and partner platforms," AMC Networks CEO Kristin Dolan said of the arrangement. "We believe this significant expansion of our Netflix relationship will drive viewership and engagement on Netflix, while also raising awareness and interest in our award-winning content on AMC-branded and partner platforms across our distribution ecosystem.

The cable company pursued a similar, even shorter-term deal to get Fear the Walking Dead and other programming in front of the Max streaming audience in 2023. The company’s own streaming service, AMC+, had 11.5 million subscribers as of May 2024.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/amc-is-bringing-fifteen-shows-to-netflix-for-one-year-230551808.html?src=rss

Anthropic’s Claude chatbot is now an Android app

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Anthropic announced that its Claude chatbot is now available as an Android app. After introducing the platform’s free iOS app in May, Android owners can now also play with the company's AI on their mobile devices. The Android app is free and works with both the Pro and Team plans for paid users. Conversations with Claude can happen across hardware, with both of the mobile apps and the web version connected to each other.

This platform is one of several large-language model AI chatbots currently available to the public. OpenAI and its ChatGPT tool have attracted the lion's share of attention. ChatGPT is already available in both Android and iOS app form, and it underlies many features of the new Apple Intelligence. However, it's possible that Claude may have more powerful skills. According to Anthropic, the Claude 3 version of the platform performed better than both ChatGPT and Google's Gemini on some important benchmarks. The Claude 3 Opus version scored top marks in March and the Sonnet 3.5 version did the same in June. We always need to take that kind of comparison from one of the companies in question with many grains of salt. But even the leaps between the Sonnet and Opus over the course of a few months do appear to be impressive.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/anthropics-claude-chatbot-is-now-an-android-app-220046355.html?src=rss

Streaming accounted for more than 40 percent of TV viewing in June

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Streaming has hit a new high on the American viewing charts. According to the latest Nielsen data, streaming services were responsible for 40.3 percent of daily TV viewing in June 2024. It's a banner result for streaming video, which first overtook cable in Nielsen ratings back in 2022. The June result marks not only the biggest share recorded for streaming since Nielsen added it as a tracked category on The Gauge report, but it is also the largest share Nielsen has ever recorded for a single viewership category. Cable TV secured 27.2 percent of American viewing for the month, followed by broadcast TV at 20.5 percent.

YouTube was the favorite streaming platform with 9.9 percent of the monthly usage, followed by Netflix at 8.4 percent. The summer sensation of Bridgerton helped boost Netflix's performance; the costume drama was responsible for a staggering 9.3 billion minutes of viewing during the month. There's a notable drop after those two services, with Amazon's Prime Video securing 3.1 percent, and companion platforms Hulu and Disney+ coming in with 3 percent and 2 percent shares, respectively.

In case those streaming figures seem low, it's important to note that Nielsen tracks viewing only on television screens. That means the vast number of hours Americans spend streaming shows on their phones and tablets isn't part of this accounting.

While streaming continues to draw ever-more eyeballs, executives are more focused on drawing in dollars. Another report, this one from analyst PricewaterhouseCoopers, projected that advertising would be responsible for about 28 percent of global streaming revenue. In 2023, the ad share was 20 percent.

The report credited that shift to the growth rate of subscription revenue stalling out. "Usage and consumer uptake of the core offering is continuing to increase — albeit at a lower rate than in recent years – but companies are having greater difficulty getting people to pay more for digital goods and services," PwC said. "As the number and range of streaming services proliferate, a form of market saturation has begun to kick in." In response, recent years have seen many of the top video streaming services, including Netflix, Disney+ and Amazon Prime Video have introduced hybrid models that offer lower monthly subscription costs in exchange for viewers watching ads. If the PwC forecast is accurate, we can expect other platforms to follow suit.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/streaming-accounted-for-more-than-40-percent-of-tv-viewing-in-june-203206939.html?src=rss