Sony wants the court to block the game from sale entirely, but as the case continues Tencent has agreed to keep Light of Motiram out of the spotlight. The company submitted a court filing that says there will be "no new promotion of public testing" of the game as Sony's injunction request is argued. In return, Sony will give Tencent more time to respond to the injunction.
Tencent has also issued a request to dismiss the lawsuit entirely. Both companies have jointly requested that the injunction request and the motion to dismiss be moved to the same day, which could be as early as January.
For the uninitiated, Light of Motiram is an open-world hunting game that has some obvious similarities to Horizon Zero Dawn and its sequel. The basic setup is similar, as is the visual appearance of the characters and marketing materials. This all caused Sony to refer to it as a "slavish clone" in the lawsuit.
Sony
To be fair, there are differences. The Horizon games are third-person adventures in the mold of Zelda, but Light of Motiram looks to be primarily a cooperative survival game.
Tencent is a giant multi-tentacled company that actually owns Riot Games, Supercell and Funcom. It also has investment stakes in Epic, Ubisoft, Activision and Blizzard and Larian Studios, among many others.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/tencent-agrees-to-stop-promoting-its-horizon-ripoff-during-sony-lawsuit-193043644.html?src=rss
Micron Technology is winding down its consumer-facing Crucial brand to focus on providing RAM and other components to the AI industry, The Wall Street Journal reports. The company plans to continue shipping Crucial RAM and storage through February 2026, and will honor warranty service and support for its existing Crucial products even after it stops selling directly to consumers.
"The AI-driven growth in the data center has led to a surge in demand for memory and storage. Micron has made the difficult decision to exit the Crucial consumer business in order to improve supply and support for our larger, strategic customers in faster-growing segments," Sumit Sadana, Micron Technology's EVP and Chief Business Officer said in an announcement to investors. Micron Technology didn't share how many jobs could be impacted by shuttering Crucial, but did note that it hoped to soften the blow via "redeployment opportunities into existing open positions within the company."
The majority of generative AI products used today are supported by a growing network of data centers that train and host large language models. The rapid buildout of servers at these data centers has been a boon to PC parts makers like NVIDIA, who provide the GPUs used to power them, but also companies like Micron, who build the memory components these computers need to run. It's not surprising the company would want to focus on where growing demand is, but it does put considerable strain on the remaining companies who continue to service both businesses and hobbyist PC-builders.
There were next to no true deals on memory or pre-built PCs for Black Friday due to how costly RAM has become now that AI companies are buying it in bulk. PC maker CyberPowerPC even went as far to say that "global memory (RAM) prices have surged by 500 percent and SSD prices have risen by 100 percent," forcing it to raise prices on its products. Losing another source of RAM like Crucial likely won't make things any better.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/computing/crucial-is-a-casualty-of-ais-hunger-for-ram-185910113.html?src=rss
Russia has blocked the popular gaming platform Roblox, according to a report by Reuters. The country's communications watchdog Roskomnadzor accused the developers of distributing extremist materials and "LGBT propaganda." The agency went on to say that Roblox is "rife with inappropriate content that can negatively impact the spiritual and moral development of children."
This is just the latest move the country has taken against what it calls the "international LGBT movement." It recently pressured the language-learning app Duolingo into deleting references to what the country calls "non-traditional sexual relations."
Russian courts regularly issue fines to organizations that violate its "LGBT propaganda" law, which criminalizes the promotion of same-sex relationships. President Vladimir Putin has called the protection of gay and transgender rights a move "towards open satanism."
Roblox doesn't have a "LGBT propaganda" problem because there's no such thing, but the platform does have plenty of issues that Russia doesn't seem all that concerned about. It's a noted haven for child predators, which has caused other countries like Iraq and Turkey to ban the platform. To its credit, the company has begun cracking down on user-generated content and added new age-based restrictions.
Roblox is still one of the more popular entertainment platforms in the world. It averaged over 151 million daily active users in the third quarter of this year alone.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/russia-blocks-roblox-citing-lgbt-propaganda-as-a-reason-180757267.html?src=rss
Amazon’s Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales might be over, but the company is still running a deal on its premium music streaming service. Right now, you can get three months of Amazon Music Unlimited for free if you’re a new subscriber.
As with most offers of this nature, your subscription will auto-renew for the full price of $12 per month (or $11 for Prime members) after your three months are up. But you can cancel whenever you like and won’t be charged a penny if you do so before the trial ends.
Amazon Music Unlimited offers lossless streaming and podcasts, and as you’d expect, it works best with Amazon’s ever-swelling army of Alexa devices. It’s a bit clunky compared to the likes of Apple Music and Spotify, and not as good for music discovery and curation, but the app has made strides over the years. It even has its own Spotify Wrapped-alike now.
If you do take advantage of this deal, bear in mind that Amazon Music Unlimited is more expensive than Apple Music, YouTube Music and Tidal without a Prime subscription, after Amazon put its prices up earlier this year. A paid Spotify Premium Individual plan costs the same as Amazon’s service (sans Prime), and you can also try that for free right now, with the company offering four months without payment provided you’ve never been a Premium subscriber in the past.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deals/you-can-get-three-months-of-amazon-music-unlimited-for-free-right-now-175508803.html?src=rss
Indie studio Santa Ragione is facing more strife after claiming its latest game has been blocked on another major storefront. The developer previously said it was at risk of closure after Valve banned Horses from Steam, noting that it would be very difficult to recoup its investment without access to the world’s largest PC gaming storefront. The situation became more dire this week after Epic Games blocked Horses as well.
Santa Ragione said Epic notified the studio of its decision just 24 hours before the game was released on Tuesday, despite approving Horses for sale on the Epic Games Store weeks earlier. “Once again, no specific indication of problematic content in the game was given, only broad and demonstrably incorrect claims that it violated their content guidelines,” the studio wrote in an FAQ. “Our appeal was denied twelve hours later without further explanation.”
According to an email from Epic that Santa Ragione shared, the company banned Horses from its store due to violations of its inappropriate content and hateful or abusive content policies, the latter of which “prohibits content that promotes abuse and animal abuse.” It also determined that Horses had received an adults-only rating, and such games aren’t allowed on its store. Engadget has contacted Epic for comment.
Horses is a horror game about a college student who works on a farm during the summer. The farm’s so-called horses are actually nude human adults who wear equine masks and live as horses.
Santa Ragione said that, in its appeal to Epic, it pointed out that Horses is a “strong critique of violence and abuse in general” and that it doesn’t promote any kind of abuse. It claimed that there are no “explicit or frequent depictions of sexual behavior,” as nudity is pixelated and although the three-hour game has four “sexual sequences,” these are brief and censored, with two mainly taking place off-camera. However, Santa Ragione said Epic stuck by its decision to block the game from its store.
With Horses being banned from Steam and the Epic Games Store, that leaves GOG (where it’s currently at the top of the bestsellers chart) and Itch.io as the only storefronts on which the $5 game is available as Santa Ragione tries to recoup the $100,000 or so it spent on development. Horses was supposed to have been available via the Humble Store as well but, as Gamespot notes, the URL for the listing now redirects to the store’s homepage.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/epic-bans-indie-game-horses-from-its-storefront-24-hours-before-release-173500417.html?src=rss
India will no longer require smartphone makers to preinstall the Sanchar Saathi "security" app. After blowback from Apple, Samsung and opposition leaders, the Modi government issued a statement saying it "has decided not to make the pre-installation mandatory for mobile manufacturers." The app is still available as a voluntary download.
India's Ministry of Communications framed the U-turn as a result of strong voluntary adoption. The nation said 14 million users (around 1 percent of the nation’s population) have downloaded the app. "The number of users has been increasing rapidly, and the mandate to install the app was meant to accelerate this process and make the app available to less aware citizens easily," the statement read.
In a statement sent to Engadget, the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) celebrated India’s reversal. "This was a terrible and dangerous idea by the Indian government that lasted 24 hours longer than it ever should have," EFF Civil Liberties Director David Greene wrote. "We thank our colleague organizations in India, such as SFLC.in and Internet Freedom Foundation, for promptly opposing it."
The Indian government had previously given smartphone makers 90 days to preinstall the Sanchar Saathi app on all new phones. They were also required to deliver it to existing devices via software updates. India claims its app exists solely for cybersecurity purposes. It includes tools allowing users to report and lock lost or stolen devices.
But privacy advocates warned that it could be used as a government backdoor for mass surveillance. According to the BBC, the app’s privacy policy allows it to make and manage calls and send messages. It can access call and message histories, files, photos and the camera.
Reutersreports that industry experts cited Russia as the only known precedent for such a requirement. In August, Vladimir Putin's regime ordered the messenger app MAX to be preinstalled on all mobile devices in the country. Like with India's example, experts warned that it could be used for surveillance.
On Tuesday, Reuters reported that Apple would not comply with India's order, citing privacy and security concerns. Samsung reportedly followed. Opposition leaders in the Indian government also joined the fray. Senior Congress leader Randeep Singh Surjewala called on the Modi government to clarify its legal authority for "mandating a non-removable app." Despite India's framing, it seems likely that the two companies' stances, along with domestic political pressure, played no small role in the reversal.
Update, December 3, 2025, 2:50 PM ET: This story has been updated to add a statement from the EFF.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/cybersecurity/india-will-no-longer-require-smartphone-makers-to-preinstall-its-state-run-cybersecurity-app-171500923.html?src=rss
Zillow has dropped its climate risk score program just one year after it started, according to a report by TechCrunch. It has removed climate risk scores from over one million listings after real estate agents complained that the data was misleading and leading to lost sales.
In their place, listings now feature a small link to data sourced from climate risk startup First Street, which is the organization that provided the original assessment. The startup isn't too happy about this move, with spokesperson Matthew Eby telling TechCrunch that "the risk doesn't go away; it just moves from a pre-purchase decision into a post-purchase liability." First Street's climate scores still appear on listings from Redfin, Realtor.com and Homes.com.
The California Regional Multiple Listing Service (CRMLS) is pleased with Zillow's decision, as this real estate database is used primarily by industry professionals. CRMLS CEO Art Carter told The New York Times that "displaying the probability of a specific home flooding this year or within the next five years can have a significant impact on the perceived desirability of that property."
Carter also questioned the validity of First Street's data, saying that areas that haven't flooded in 40 or 50 years were not likely to flood in the next five. First Street responded by saying "our models are built on transparent, peer-reviewed science and are continuously validated against real-world outcomes."
Zillow
Zillow's climate risk score labels have been controversial since the company launched the program in 2024, particularly among real estate agents. One agent told The Boston Globe last year that they were "putting thoughts in people’s minds about my listing that normally wouldn’t be there." More than 80 percent of prospective buyers consider climate risks when shopping for a new home so, yeah, those thoughts are already in there.
First Street maintains that its climate risk scores are extremely useful for consumers, noting that its maps correctly identified risk for over 90 percent of the homes that burned during the Los Angeles wildfires. The company says its internal maps have been "significantly outperforming CalFire's official state hazard maps."
Engadget has reached out to Zillow to ask about its reasoning here. We will update this post when we hear back.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/zillow-removes-climate-risk-scores-after-agents-complain-about-sales-164405763.html?src=rss
Sony is bringing another of its long-running game franchises to iOS and Android in the shape of MLB The Show Mobile. This is a free-to-play “standalone experience built from the ground up to deliver realistic baseball gameplay on mobile devices.” San Diego Studio, the developer of every MLB The Show game since the series debuted in 2006, is behind this mobile game as well.
MLB The Show Mobile, which was spotted by Gematsu, doesn’t feature crossplay with console games. For now, it’s only available in the Philippines and it went live there on Wednesday. Sony says it doesn’t have a timeline in place for expanding availability to more territories, but it certainly plans to do that. It’s not uncommon for mobile games to have a soft launch in select regions before they’re made available elsewhere. Sony is doing the same thing with a Ratchet and Clank multiplayer game.
Sony is optimizing MLB The Show Mobile for more recent mobile devices. On the iOS side, that means “iPhone 16 or comparable” devices. As for Android, you’ll get the best experience on Samsung Galaxy S25, Sony Xperia V or a comparable device, according to the game’s website.
MLB The Show Mobile features solo and player-vs-player modes. There are more than 1,100 cards representing baseball players in the game. You’ll be able to build out an all-star roster of MLB players past and present, and upgrade their cards. San Diego Studio appears to be tapping into the Ultimate Team modes of EA Sports games, as you’ll be able to buy and sell cards with other players in a marketplace. Sony also notes that in-game purchases can include random items.
Each of these player cards has a momentum cost. These are stat points you can use strategically to better your chances of winning. The gameplay is skill-based. You’ll need to get the timing right to throw a great pitch or hit the ball out of the park. You’ll have real-time control of runners as well, so you can try to steal bases.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/playstation/sony-is-bringing-mlb-the-show-to-ios-and-android-163300468.html?src=rss
Waymo is adding four new US cities to the gradual rollout of its robotaxi service. As reported by TechCrunch, the company said it has already started trialling self-driving cars in Philadelphia, albeit with a human safety monitor, and that it will now commence similar manual tests in Baltimore, St. Louis and Pittsburgh.
After the initial supervisory and data-collecting stage, the plan is to deploy fully autonomous vehicles, as Waymo recently did in Miami, ahead of launching in five new cities across Texas and Florida in 2026. Waymo's taxis currently accept passengers in Los Angeles, Phoenix, Atlanta, Austin and the San Francisco Bay Area, and it recently announced that San Diego, Las Vegas and Detroit would soon be joining them.
Also key to the company’s aggressive nationwide expansion is New York City, even if a fully functioning robotaxi service is likely still some way off. New York state law currently prohibits the operation of vehicles without a driver behind the wheel, but back in August, Waymo was temporarily granted the permit needed to be able to test autonomous vehicles in parts of Manhattan and Downtown Brooklyn. The testing phase ran until late September, marking the first time a permit for the "testing deployment" of AVs in the city had been signed off.
Waymo has international ambitions too. Next year it will partner with Moove to launch a robotaxi service in London, which will be its first major expansion outside the US. Fully driverless cars are currently banned in the UK, but new legislation will begin a long regulatory process that starts with government-approved robotaxi pilots in the Spring.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/transportation/evs/waymos-testing-avs-in-four-more-cities-including-philly-161709279.html?src=rss
Video used to be an afterthought for Nikon, but since the company purchased RED last year, content creators are now high on its priority list. A perfect example of that is Nikon’s new $2,200 ZR: a full-frame mirrorless model that stands up against dedicated cinema cameras for a fraction of the price.
It’s the first consumer camera to capture video using RED’s 12-bit RAW format, but unlike RED’s Hollywood cameras, it has a fast and accurate autofocus system. It also comes with a huge display, pro video monitoring tools, in-body stabilization and 32-bit float internal audio recording. After shooting a short film that tested its capabilities, I can confirm that the Nikon ZR offers incredible video quality at this price.
Body and handling
While a bit lighter than Nikon’s Z6 III, the 1.19-pound (540-gram) ZR feels solid. It has a boxy design like Sony’s FX2 but a much smaller grip because it’s designed to be rigged up for cinema shooting with cages and handles. However, unlike the FX2 which has multiple 1/4-inch mounting threads to do such rigging, the ZR unfortunately has only one of those on the bottom.
The ZR also lacks an electronic viewfinder like the FX2, but it more than makes up for that with its huge 4-inch display — the largest I’ve ever seen on a mirrorless camera. At 1,000 nits, it’s bright enough to shoot on sunny days, extremely sharp (3.07 million dots) and flips out for vloggers. All of that makes it a perfect primary display for checking the image and controlling the camera.
Nikon has nailed the ZR’s handling, too. While it’s not covered with buttons and dials like some models, it does have two shooting dials to control exposure and a joystick for autofocus. There’s also a camera/video switch, two record buttons, a power switch and five customizable buttons. Many of Nikon’s lenses come with control rings as well, so extra manual control is available.
The menu button is unusual: you press once for the quick menu and hold to see the full menu. Given the large number of settings, I would advise anyone buying this camera to learn all the important adjustments, then customize the controls to avoid wading through dense menus while shooting.
Another unique feature is in the battery compartment. There’s a single fast CFexpress slot to handle RAW video, plus a microSD slot for proxies. The lack of a second CFexpress slot or fast SD card slot for backup isn’t ideal for a professional camera, though.
Finally, the ZR runs on the same N‑EL15c batteries as other Nikon mirrorless cameras. They allow 90 minutes of HD shooting on a charge, or 390 photos per CIPA standards. That’s mediocre, so if you’re planning long shoots, stock up on batteries.
Video
Steve Dent for Engadget
The Nikon ZR has the largest selection of RAW video settings I’ve seen. The centerpiece is RED’s RAW R3D NE light codec (designed by RED for Nikon) with RED’s Log3G10 log format. It also supports Nikon’s N-RAW, ProRes/ProRes RAW and H.265 with resolution that ranges from 6K at up to 60 fps to 4K 120 fps and 1080p at 240 fps. Despite the smallish body, it can capture 6K RAW video continuously for 125 minutes without overheating.
The 24MP sensor uses a dual ISO system with native 800 and 6,400 ISOs, providing a nice range for indoor and outdoor shooting. The company claims 15+ stops of dynamic range, which is more than just about any other mirrorless camera. Other key video features include five-axis in-body stabilization with seven stops of shake reduction, waveform and vectorscope monitoring and a false color display for manual focus.
To test the camera’s features and video quality, I shot a short film in a mix of indoor low light, outdoor daytime and a mix between the two. I also shot handheld (including running with it) to test the stabilization. I primarily captured in R3D RAW, as well as Nikon’s N-RAW at the native 800 and 6,400 ISOs to maximize dynamic range. (You can take 24MP photos with this camera, but I’m focusing on video as it’s mainly designed for that.)
In order to not see a flat log profile when shooting, you’ll need to apply a look-up table (LUT) designed for RED cameras, like "Achromic," "Bleach" or "Caustic." Those are only for in-camera previews and not baked into the video, but you can apply those LUTs later in Adobe Premiere or DaVinci Resolve to get the same look.
Steve Dent for Engadget
With such a high native ISO, I was able to shoot inside with a single studio light. Video quality was outstanding with little noise in shadow regions, even after boosting black levels in post. Meanwhile, the RED R3D codec and Log3G10 gave me extra latitude to reveal shadow detail and dial down highlights when I shot the subject against a bright window.
When you use the R3D codec, exposure is strictly manual with no ability to set auto shutter speed (shutter angle) or f-stop. So, for a scene with varying light, I used Nikon’s N-RAW to see if it would give me the correct exposure at the beginning and end of the scene. It did a good job, with no noticeable jumps during the shot.
Video in sunlight at ISO 800 was also sharp with accurate colors after downscaling to 4K from 6K in DaVinci Resolve. ISO 800 is a relatively high native setting, though, and the ZR doesn’t have a built-in ND filter to reduce exposure. That means you’ll need to buy ND filters for outside shooting or the high shutter speeds will result in choppy video.
Cinema cameras from Blackmagic Design, Arri or RED are manual-focus only. But the ZR is a Nikon camera, and it has the best AF system I’ve seen on any of the company’s models, consistently nailing focus even with moving subjects. You can also automatically track vehicles, birds and other animals. At the same time, the ZR handles manual focus well. That’s thanks to a built-in display that’s big enough to check focus accurately and Nikon’s focus peaking setting with three levels of sensitivity.
Steve Dent for Engadget
In-body stabilization on the ZR wasn’t up to par with Panasonic’s S1 II, however. Video was smooth for handheld shooting if I panned the camera gently, but all my running and walking shots showed noticeable camera shake. That said, the ZR at least has in-body stabilization, unlike most cinema cameras, and most filmmakers will use a gimbal for running shots, regardless of which camera they use. (Note that the rattling you hear when the ZR is turned off is the sensor, which floats by design.)
Finally, I was able to capture good audio quality via an external microphone without any clipping worries thanks to the Nikon ZR’s 32-bit float internal audio capture. The company also touts directional capture using its built-in mics, but as with any such system, audio quality isn’t high enough for production use.
Wrap-up
With the ZR, Nikon has shown that it’s finally catching up to and even surpassing its rivals for content creation. Whether you’re doing social media, YouTube, documentaries or even film production, this camera is versatile and powerful with few compromises. Video quality and ease of use even beats models that are double or triple the price.
The ZR’s primary competition is in the low-end cinema cameras, particularly Sony’s $2,998 FX2 and the $3,899 Canon R5C. While more expensive, both come with an electronic viewfinder that the ZR lacks, and the R5C can shoot up to 8K video. Another option is Blackmagic Design’s Pyxis 6K camera, but it only offers basic autofocus capabilities and lacks in-body stabilization.
Compared to those options, Nikon’s ZR delivers better dynamic range thanks to the inclusion of RED’s R3D RAW codec. It also comes with an excellent autofocus system and decent in-body stabilization. If you’re a creator looking to get the best video quality for the money without losing those niceties, I’d highly recommend the ZR.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/cameras/nikon-zr-review-a-highly-capable-cinema-camera-at-a-reasonable-price-152634311.html?src=rss