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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

The Cybertruck is coming to Fortnite and Rocket League because we’re being punished

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Video games are supposed to provide us an escape from the grinding and anger produced on an average day. Now one of the real world’s most contentious aggravations has slithered its way into Fortnite AND Rocket League. The Cybertruck, Tesla’s electric vehicle that replaced the pink Hummer as the official car for total jerks, makes its digital debut in both games today.

The Cybertruck add-ons are part of a new “Summer Road Trip'' promotion bundle for Fortnite and Rocket League. Both bundles come with a vehicle that looks like a door stop and special body decals such as “Baja Off-Road,” “CyberCamo,” “MatteBlack,” “Stainless Steel” and “OMG Cybertruck,” which recreates the window that Elon Musk broke while trying to prove the strength of the Cybertruck’s windows. Did they also include the sticky accelerator?

The new Cybertruck DLC for Fortnite and Rocket League come with six unique skins, all of which scream
Psyonix/Tesla

Presumably, the OMG stands for “Oh my God! (Can’t I go one day without seeing that ego on wheels we call the) Cybertruck?" The Baja Off-Road skin paired with the douchey Cybertruck in particular just screams, “I wear a lot of Ed Hardy!”

We have… some questions. Will the rain in Fortnite cause widespread rusting of the chassis? Will the Rocket League ball dent the “shatterproof” window like a metal ball famously did way back in 2019? Will players be able to finish a whole game if there’s another recall alert? If you really must, you can find out in both games now.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-cybertruck-is-coming-to-fortnite-and-rocket-league-because-were-being-punished-210309356.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

A Call of Duty game is coming to Xbox Game Pass, just not one anyone wants

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Microsoft has been taking a lot of hits over its Xbox Game Pass price hike and the overall lackluster offering of games. So to make up for it, they are offering a Call of Duty game for the first time on its virtual buffet. Unfortunately, it’s Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III, one of the lowest rated games in the series.

Calling the reviews for Modern Warfare III “mixed” would be generous. IGN’s Simon Cardy said its single-player campaign was “shallow,” “dull” and “the worst Call of Duty single-player campaign I’ve played.” Jump Dash Roll’s Derek Johnson wrote that its main campaign is “genuinely not worth playing” and its signature Zombies mode “isn’t quite as atrociously terrible as its single-player but that doesn’t mean it’s anything resembling something fun.”

Modern Warfare III won’t be the only Call of Duty game available for Xbox Game Pass subscribers. Xbox Game Pass will provide day one access to Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 in October. Of course, we don’t know how good the game will be but one imagines it'll garner a bit more favor from critics compared to Modern Warfare III.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/a-call-of-duty-game-is-coming-to-xbox-game-pass-just-not-one-anyone-wants-175255224.html?src=rss

Russia-linked hackers cut heat to 600 Ukrainian apartment buildings in the dead of winter, researchers say

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Cybersecurity company Dragos has flagged malware that can attack industrial control systems (ICS), tricking them into malicious behavior like turning off the heat and hot water in the middle of winter. TechCrunch reports that’s precisely what the malware, dubbed FrostyGoop, did this January in Lviv, Ukraine, when residents in over 600 apartment buildings lost heat for two days amid freezing temperatures.

Dragos says FrostyGoop is only the ninth known malware designed to target industrial controllers. It’s also the first to specifically set its sights on Modbus, a widely deployed communications protocol invented in 1979. Modbus is frequently used in industrial environments like the one in Ukraine that FrostyGoop attacked in January.

Ukraine’s Cyber Security Situation Center (CSSC), the nation’s government agency tasked with digital safety, shared information about the attack with Dragos after discovering the malware in April of this year, months after the attack. The malicious code, written in Golang (The Go programming language designed by Google), directly interacts with industrial control systems over an open internet port (502).

The attackers likely gained access to Lviv’s industrial network in April 2023. Dragos says they did so by “exploiting an undetermined vulnerability in an externally facing Mikrotik router.” They then installed a remote access tool that voided the need to install the malware locally, which helped it avoid detection.

The attackers downgraded the controller firmware to a version lacking monitoring capabilities, helping to cover their tracks. Instead of trying to take down the systems altogether, the hackers caused the controllers to report inaccurate measurements — resulting in the loss of heat in the middle of a deep freeze.

Dragos has a longstanding policy of neutrality in cyberattacks, preferring to focus on education without assigning blame. However, it noted that the adversaries opened secure connections (using layer two tunneling protocol) to Moscow-based IP addresses.

“I think it’s very much a psychological effort here, facilitated through cyber means when kinetic perhaps here wasn’t the best choice,” Dragos researcher Mark “Magpie” Graham told TechCrunch. Lviv is in the western part of Ukraine, which would be much more difficult for Russia to hit than eastern cities.

Dragos warns that, given how ubiquitous the Modbus protocol is in industrial environments, FrostyGoop could be used to disrupt similar systems worldwide. The security company recommends continuous monitoring, noting that FrostyGoop evaded virus detection, underscoring the need for network monitoring to flag future threats before they strike. Specifically, Dragos advises ICS operators to use the SANS 5 Critical Controls for World-Class OT Cybersecurity, a security framework for operational environments.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/russia-linked-hackers-cut-heat-to-600-ukrainian-apartment-buildings-in-the-dead-of-winter-researchers-say-171414527.html?src=rss

US and European antitrust regulators agree to do their jobs when it comes to AI

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Regulators in the US and Europe have laid out the "shared principles" they plan to adhere to in order to "protect competition and consumers" when it comes to artificial intelligence. "Guided by our respective laws, we will work to ensure effective competition and the fair and honest treatment of consumers and businesses," the Department of Justice, Federal Trade Commission, European Commission and the UK's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said.

"Technological inflection points can introduce new means of competing, catalyzing opportunity, innovation and growth," the agencies said in a joint statement. "Accordingly, we must work to ensure the public reaps the full benefits of these moments."

The regulators pinpointed fair dealing (i.e. making sure major players in the sector avoid exclusionary tactics), interoperability and choice as the three principles for protecting competition in the AI space. They based these factors on their experience working in related markets.

The agencies also laid out some potential risks to competition, such as deals between major players in the market. They said that while arrangements between companies in the sector (which are already widespread) may not impact competition in some cases, in others "these partnerships and investments could be used by major firms to undermine or co opt competitive threats and steer market outcomes in their favor at the expense of the public."

Other risks to competition flagged in the statement include the entrenching or extension of market power in AI-related markets as well as the "concentrated control of key inputs." The agencies define the latter as a small number of companies potentially having an outsized influence over the AI space due to the control and supply of "specialized chips, substantial compute, data at scale and specialist technical expertise."

In addition, the CMA, DOJ and FTC say they'll be on the lookout for threats that AI might pose to consumers. The statement notes that it's important for consumers to be kept in the loop about how AI factors into the products and services they buy or use. "Firms that deceptively or unfairly use consumer data to train their models can undermine people’s privacy, security, and autonomy," the statement reads. "Firms that use business customers’ data to train their models could also expose competitively sensitive information."

These are all fairly generalized statements about the agencies' common approach to fostering competition in the AI space, but given that they all operate under different laws, it would be difficult for the statement to go into the specifics of how they'll regulate. At the very least, the statement should serve as a reminder to companies working in the generative AI space that regulators are keeping a close eye on things, even amid rapidly accelerating advancements in the sector.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/us-and-european-antitrust-regulators-agree-to-do-their-jobs-when-it-comes-to-ai-163820780.html?src=rss

Lego’s first Fortnite sets are here

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Lego just announced its first sets inspired by the gaming phenomenon Fortnite. These kits draw from iconic characters and vehicles from both the original game and the brick-based spinoff Lego Fortnite, like an ouroboros of corporate synergy.

The baddest of the bunch looks to be the 954-piece Battle Bus kit, which costs $100. This is a brick-based replica of the iconic hot-air balloon on wheels, complete with a removable roof and characters like Meowscles, Raven and Cuddle Team Leader, among others.

A Lego Peely Bone.
Lego

The 1,414-piece Peely Bone set looks to appeal to collectors more than kids. It builds into a giant version of the rare Fortnite character, who is one-half banana and one-half skeleton. The kit comes with accessories like a pickaxe and paint launcher. This set also costs $100.

The game’s beloved Supply Llama is also getting a kit. This 691-piece set allows fans to build the iconic character and it comes with a whole bunch of themed accessories, including a grappler, Slurp Juice, Slap Juice and more. This set costs $40, which isn’t too bad given the number of pieces involved.

A Lego set and a kid.
Lego

Finally, there’s a teensy Durrr Burger kit, which is aimed squarely at kids. This 193-piece set builds into the aforementioned Fortnite landmark (it’s a restaurant in the game.) It even comes with an olive on a toothpick. The kit costs just $15.

All of these sets are available for preorder right now straight from Lego, but we have to wait a little bit before they ship. The kits don’t officially release until October 1. In the meantime, there’s a nifty Jaws-inspired set coming out in August and a massive 2,500-piece set based on The Legend of Zelda that ships on September 1.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/legos-first-fortnite-sets-are-here-153451343.html?src=rss

A Google Nest Wi-Fi 6E three-pack is back on sale for $285

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So much relies on Wi-Fi — your TV, music, games, smart home devices, possibly even your alarm clock — which makes dead zones productivity killers. One of our favorite ways to remedy weak or spotty coverage is with Google's Nest Wi-Fi Pro 6E and right now, a three pack is down to $285. That's a 29 percent discount and matches the sale price it hit last week for Prime Day. This isn't an all-time low, but it's just $5 more than the record. 

We named the Nest Wi-Fi Pro the best for novice users in our guide to mesh Wi-Fi systems and it earned an 87 in our full review. Our reviewer, Daniel Cooper, called Google's 6E system "more approachable than the rest," though he notes that it's can't beat the competition on speed. 

The smooth rounded shape is a little more decor-friendly than some more industrial-looking routers and was the first Nest router to harness WiFi 6/6E. That's great if you're looking to upgrade to the newer Wi-Fi standard, but keep in mind that these aren't backwards compatible with any pre-6E Nest routers. 

As for speed, it's plenty fast enough for streaming movies and browsing the web and the coverage is impressive. To help with performance, it dynamically shunts traffic around the available space, including using the 6GHz band as backhaul. That frees up a lot of space in 2.4 and 5GHz bands, which is what most devices use. So unless you have a ton of devices that are Wi-Fi 6E-enabled, that feature should help. Still, if speed is your main concern, you might be better off with our pick for power users. 

Overall, Dan appreicated that this was one of the cheapest WiFi 6E systems on the market, with a particularly easy-to-use app that made set up fairly foolproof. And if you're already using other Nest or Google-compatible smart home equipment, you'll appreciate the integration with the Google Home app. 

Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter and subscribe to the Engadget Deals newsletter for the latest tech deals and buying advice.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/a-google-nest-wi-fi-6e-three-pack-is-back-on-sale-for-285-153232698.html?src=rss

Meta AI is now available in Spanish, Portugese, French and more

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Meta AI launched in September 2023 using the Llama 2 learning language model. Nearly a year later, Meta has announced a new round of features for its AI assistant and a fresh LLM to support it: Llama 3.1. 

These updates include an expansion of who can access Meta AI. Thanks to the addition of Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, Peru and Cameroon, the assistant is now available in 22 countries. It's also accessible in new languages: French, German, Hindi, Hindi-Romanized Script, Italian, Portuguese, and Spanish. However, some of the new features are location or language-specific for the time being. 

Meta is rolling out a beta tool called "Imagine me" throughout the US. It allows for prompts such as "Imagine me surfing" or "Imagine me as a surrealist painting," and the AI assistant will create it using a photo of the individual. Meta is also adding new ways to tinker with an image, such as removing, changing or editing its content. This feature allows for creating an image, such as a duck, with the "Imagine me" tool and then instructing Meta AI to "Change the duck to a cat." Next month there will also be an "Edit with AI" button for further fine-tuning of images. The company is also rolling out the ability to create an image with Meta AI in a feed, comment, story or message across Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Messenger. It should roll out this week, though just in English for now.

Then there's the launch of Llama 3.1 405B — Meta's new open-source AI model. You can use it on WhatsApp or meta.ai for tasks such as answering math problems and coding. Meta claims it will update its AI technology every two weeks and that new features and languages are on the way. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/meta-ai-is-now-available-in-spanish-portugese-french-and-more-150051715.html?src=rss

Llama 3.1 is Meta’s latest salvo in the battle for AI dominance

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Meta on Tuesday announced the release of Llama 3.1, the latest version of its large language model that the company claims now rivals competitors from OpenAI and Anthropic. The new model comes just three months after Meta launched Llama 3 by integrating it into Meta AI, a chatbot that now lives in Facebook, Messenger, Instagram and WhatsApp and also powers the company's smart glasses. In the interim, OpenAI and Anthropic already released new versions of their own AI models, a sign that Silicon Valley’s AI arms race isn’t slowing down any time soon.

Meta said that the new model, called Llama 3.1 405B, is the first openly available model that can compete against rivals in general knowledge, math skills and translating across multiple languages. The model was trained on more than 16,000 NVIDIA H100 GPUs, currently the fastest available chips that cost roughly $25,000 each, and can beat rivals on over 150 benchmarks, Meta claimed.

The “405B” stands for 405 billion parameters, which are internal variables that an AI model uses to reason and make decisions. The higher the number of parameters an AI model has, the smarter we perceive it to be. OpenAI’s GPT-4 model, by comparison, reportedly has roughly 1.5 trillion parameters, although the company has not disclosed the number so far. In addition, Meta also released upgraded versions of existing Llama models that contain 70 billion and 8 billion parameters each, claiming that the newer versions had stronger reasoning abilities among other things.

Developers can download Llama 3.1 from its official website, while regular users can play with it through Meta AI in WhatsApp or on meta.ai, the company’s website for its chatbot. “Llama 405B’s improved reasoning capabilities make it possible for Meta AI to understand and answer your more complex questions, especially on the topics of math and coding,” Meta’s blog post states. “You can get help on your math homework with step-by-step explanations and feedback, write code faster with debugging support and optimization.” (Editor’s note: Engadget will pit Llama 3.1 against the New York Times Spelling Bee and report back to you). For now, Meta AI on Facebook, Messenger and Instagram are still restricted to the smaller version of Llama 3.1 that uses 70 billion parameters.

Unlike OpenAI, Google, Microsoft and Anthropic that keep their AI models proprietary, Meta’s AI models are open source, which means that anyone can modify and use them for free without sharing personal data with Meta. In a letter published on Tuesday, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg argued that an open source approach to AI development will ensure wider access to the technology’s benefits, prevent the concentration of power among a few big companies, and enable safer AI deployment across society. By open sourcing the company’s largest language model to date, Meta aims to make Llama the “industry standard” for anyone to develop AI-powered apps and services with, Zuckerberg wrote.

Open sourcing AI models and adding them to its existing products already used by billions of people could allow Meta to compete more effectively with OpenAI whose ChatGPT and DALL-E chatbots ignited an AI explosion when they launched in 2022. And it could also boost engagement — Meta announced today that users would soon be able to add AI-generated images directly into feeds, stories, comments and messages across Facebook, Messenger, WhatsApp and Instagram.

In his letter, Zuckerberg also criticized Apple and its closed ecosystem, arguing that the iPhone maker’s restrictive and arbitrary policies had constrained what Meta could build on its platforms. “[It’s] clear that Meta and many other companies would be freed up to build much better services for people if we could build the best versions of our producers and competitors were not able to constrain what we could build,” he wrote.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/llama-31-is-metas-latest-salvo-in-the-battle-for-ai-dominance-150042924.html?src=rss