Author: News Room

Activision, the developer-publisher Microsoft and Xbox purchased for $69 billion last year, has formed a new studio called Elsewhere Entertainment, and it is developing a new “narrative-based and genre-defining AAA franchise.” The studio is based in Warsaw, Poland, and, according to a report from IGN, it is not working on a Call of Duty-related project.  This studio, which has been formed behind-the-scenes before today’s public unveiling, arrives roughly one week after Xbox closed four Bethesda studios, including Hi-Fi Rush developer Tango Gameworks and Redfall team Arkane Austin. While the company has yet to publicly address the closures directly, Xbox president Sarah…

Phoenix Labs is seeing its third round of layoffs in just over a year. According to reports, over 100 people were affected this time around and projects have been canceled. The company confirmed the layoffs in a post on LinkedIn, citing a restructuring that would allow it to focus solely on its flagship titles: the free-to-play Dauntless and cozy life-sim Fae Farm. While it did not confirm the exact number of layoffs, Polygon reports that there were over 100 people affected. “We are reorganizing Phoenix Labs to focus on our best-in-class live service titles, Dauntless and Fae Farm, and serving their communities,” the statement…

OpenAI launched its Superalignment team almost a year ago with the ultimate goal of controlling hypothetical super-intelligent AI systems and preventing them from turning against humans. Naturally, many people were concerned—why did a team like this need to exist in the first place? Now, something more concerning has occurred: the team’s leaders, Ilya Sutskever and Jan Leike, just quit OpenAI.The resignation of Superalignment’s leadership is the latest in a series of notable departures from the company, some of which came from within Sutskever and Leike’s safety-focused team. Back in November of 2023, Sutskever and OpenAI’s board led a failed effort…

Phoenix Labs, the developer behind last year’s Fae Farm and Dauntless, has laid off staff and canceled in-development games as part of a restructuring at the studio. Polygon’s Nicole Carpenter is reporting on X (formerly Twitter) that more than 100 people at Phoenix Labs were laid off.  Shortly after Carpenter reported that, Phoenix Labs released the following statement:  “Today is an incredibly difficult day. After a long period of evaluating how to navigate our economic structure, we have had to significantly restructure the company to pave a path for a strong future. We are reorganizing Phoenix Labs to focus on our best-in-class…

Here’s a TV that doubles as an interesting design piece — Samsung’s The Frame QLED 4K TV. If you want to go big with it, the 85-inch model is currently available from Samsung with a $1,300 discount that slashes its price from $4,300 to $3,000. It’s still not cheap, but these are the types of TV deals that you should consider if you want to take your home’s aesthetics to the next level. You need to hurry if you’re interested in taking advantage of the offer though, as there are only a few days left before it ends. Why you…

Vivo Y200 Pro 5G India launch date has been set for next week, the Chinese company confirmed on Thursday (May 16). The new Vivo Y series phone is confirmed to come in at least two colour options with a Snapdragon chipset. The images revealed by the brand show a hole punch display and dual rear cameras. It is expected to debut as a rebrand of the Vivo V29e. The Vivo Y200 lineup currently comprises Vivo Y200 and Vivo Y200e models.The Vivo Y200 Pro 5G India launch will take place at noon on May 21, the company announced through a press…

Students across the land are donning gowns and readying their cap-throwing arms. If you’ve got a gaming or tech fan celebrating their big accomplishment, it’s likely you may also be looking for a way to congratulate them on their achievement. We’ve assembled a curated selection of tech, toys, tabletop games, and more to delight the new graduate this year. Disclaimer: Recommended products are selected by our editorial team, independent of our parent company, GameStop. Razer BlackShark V2 Pro Headset For Consoles Razer’s continued iteration on the BlackShark headset line has borne fruit with this excellent product release, which joins a…

You don’t need your hands to control your Android phone anymore. At Google I/O 2024, Google announced Project Gameface for Android, an incredible new accessibility feature that will let users control their devices with head movements and facial gestures. There are 52 unique facial gestures supported. These include raising your eyebrow, opening your mouth, glancing in a certain direction, looking up, smiling, and more. Each gesture can be mapped to an action like pulling down the notification shade, going back to the previous app, opening the app drawer, or going back to home. Users can customize facial expressions, gesture sizes,…

Google has started rolling out the Android 15 Beta 2 update for compatible Pixel phones. Several phone manufacturers have also seeded the beta update to their compatible phones and tablets. This update is said to offer increased productivity, battery life, and smoother app performances. It is also said to bring better user privacy and security. The Android 15 Beta 1 was released in April this year. The third and fourth versions are scheduled to be introduced in June and July/August respectively. Following are some of the new features and the devices that are compatible with the new Android 15 Beta 2.The…

EA Sports College Football finally has a release date, cover stars, and two different editions. The long-awaited return to college football hits PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S on July 19. Gracing the cover of the game’s Standard edition are Michigan Wolverines’ running back Donovan Edwards, Texas Longhorns quarterback Quinn Ewers, and Colorado Buffaloes wide receiver/defensive back Travis Hunter. Check out the Standard and Deluxe covers in the gallery below.   The cover reveal comes a day before the game’s full debut tomorrow. So far, we know that College Football 25 features 134 FBS schools, and it’s being developed by…