Posted by msmash from Slashdot
From the tough-luck department: Wesley Yin-Poole, reporting for IGN: Microsoft has closed a number of Bethesda studios, including Redfall maker Arkane Austin, Hi-Fi Rush and The Evil Within developer Tango Gameworks, and more in devastating cuts at Bethesda, IGN can confirm. Alpha Dog Studios, maker of mobile game Mighty Doom, will also close. Roundhouse Games will be absorbed by The Elder Scrolls Online developer ZeniMax Online Studios.
On Redfall, the disastrous vampire co-op game will now not receive promised updates as Microsoft has ended all development on the game. Microsoft said Redfall will remain online to play, and it will provide a "make-good" offer for those who bought the Hero DLC. In an email to staff sent by Matt Booty, head of Xbox Game Studios, Microsoft blamed the cuts on a "reprioritization of titles and resources."
Posted by from MMO Champion
Dragonflight Patch 10.2.7 - Dark Heart Live This Week
Dragonflight Patch 10.2.7 Dark Heart goes live this week!
What's New?
Dark Heart Content Update Notes The War Within Prologue Draenei And Troll Heritage Armor Sets New Dragonflight Quests Hunter Pet Stable Update WoW Remix: Mists of Pandaria Dark Heart Content Update Notes
Here are the official content update notes for Dragonflight Patch 10.2.7 Dark Heart.
The War Within Prologue
Khadgar has summoned us and Alleria Windrunner to investigate a mysterious figure called the Harbinger, who possesses a powerful relic called the Dark Heart.
Draenei And Troll Heritage Armor Sets
Draenei and Troll characters level 50 and above can start new questlines to unlock their heritage armor sets:
Draenei - Seek out the Magically-Sealed Parcel in Stormwind to begin the quest "An Artificer's Appeal".
Troll - Seek out Zi'guma in Orgrimmar who will offer the quest "Return to the Echo Isles".
New Dragonflight Quests
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Posted by BeauHD from Slashdot
From the bad-management-meets-bad-software department: The Register provides a retrospective look at how Microsoft "absorbed the handset division of Nokia" ten years ago, only to kill the unit two years later and write it off as a tax loss. What went wrong? "It was a fatal combination of bad management, a market evolving in ways hidebound people didn't predict, and some really (with a few superb exceptions) terrible products," reports The Register. From the report: Like Nokia, Windows Mobile's popularity peaked in 2007, then started to drop away. The iPhone was the tech item of choice for fashionistas, Blackberry was seen as essential for serious business, and Android -- with Google as its new owner -- was gaining traction. Microsoft by that time had a new CEO in Steve Ballmer, who completely and famously failed to see the shifting sands in the mobile market. He dismissed the iPhone as a threat to what he thought was Windows Mobile's unassailable market position, and was roundly mocked for it. So the scene was set for a mobile standards war, and Steve Ballmer staked his professional pride on winning it. Microsoft recruited Nokia to help out. [...]
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Posted by from MMO Champion
Cataclysm Classic Hotfixes - May 6, 2024
Originally Posted by Blizzard
(
Blue Tracker /
Official Forums)
Cataclysm Classic
Account wide achievements that reward titles now grant them at an account level.
Fixed an issue that prevented players from receiving daily Random Battleground rewards.
Smoke Bomb will now properly cancel Stealth, Prowl, and Shadowmeld from enemy players.
Fixed an issue that would prevent Warden Stillwater from spawning during the Lawn of the Dead quest.
Fixed an issue where Death Knights in Blood Presence could be incorrectly, critically hit by all melee attacks.
Reduced the cost of all honor and arena gear from Wrath of the Lich King, to better match honor gain while at level 80 compared to level 85.
Holidays
Made some improvements to the Children's Week Quests The Banshee Queen, Malfurion Has Returned!, and The Fallen Chieftain to more consistently grant quest credit.
Warlock
The Warlock Demon Soul ability will now work with the Incubus pet.
Fixed an issue where Warlock Demonology pets were not properly updating from Mastery.
Fixed an issue with the incorrect tooltip on Demonic Pact. It should correctly read that it grants the Warlock 2% increased personal spell damage.
Posted by BeauHD from Slashdot
From the safety-first department: "Out of an abundance of caution," Boeing says its historic Starliner launch has been postponed, citing an issue with the oxygen relief valve on the Atlas V rocket's upper stage. It was expected to launch tonight at 10:34 p.m. ET. TechCrunch reports: There are backup launch opportunities on May 7, 10 and 11. After years of delays and over $1 billion in cost overruns, the mission is set to be Boeing's first attempt to transport astronauts to the International Space Station. Once the issue is resolved with the upper stage, the United Launch Alliance Atlas V will carry the CST-100 Starliner capsule to orbit along with the two onboard astronauts -- Butch Wilmore and Sunny Williams -- from Florida's Cape Canaveral at 10:34 PM local time Monday evening. The mission also marks the first time ULA's Atlas will carry crew. The rocket boasts a success rate of 100% across 99 missions. (ULA is a joint venture of Boeing and Lockheed Martin.)
The astronauts would now dock at the station at the earliest on Thursday, where they would remain for at least eight days. The two astronauts will return to Earth in the capsule no earlier than May 16. If all goes to plan, Boeing will be able to finally certify its Starliner for human transportation and begin fulfilling the terms of its $4.2 billion NASA astronaut taxi contract. That contract, under the agency's Commercial Crew Program, was awarded in 2014. Elon Musk's SpaceX was also granted a contract under that program, for its Crew Dragon capsule, and has been transporting astronauts to and from the ISS since 2020.
Posted by BeauHD from Slashdot
From the PSA department: An anonymous reader quotes a report from Wired: In April, Apple sent notifications to iPhone users in 92 countries, warning them they'd been targeted with spyware. "Apple detected that you are being targeted by a mercenary spyware attack that is trying to remotely compromise the iPhone associated with your Apple ID," the notification reads. Users quickly took to social media sites including X, trying to work out what the notification meant. Many of those targeted were based inIndia, but others in Europe also reported receiving Apple's warning. Weeks later, little is still known about the latest iPhone attacks. Former smartphone giant Blackberry, now a security firm, has released research indicating they are linked to a Chinese spyware campaign dubbed "LightSpy," but Apple spokesperson Shane Bauer says this is inaccurate.
While Apple says the latest spyware notifications aren't linked to LightSpy, the spyware remains a growing threat, particularly to people who may be targeted in Southern Asia, according to Blackberry's researchers. Described as a "sophisticated iOS implant," LightSpy first emerged targeting Hong Kong protesters in 2020. However, the latest iteration is much more capable than the first. "It is a fully-featured modular surveillance toolset that primarily focuses on exfiltrating victims' private information, including hyper-specific location data and sound recording during voice over IP calls," the researchers wrote. April's warnings were not the first time Apple has issued notifications of this kind. The iPhone maker has sent out alerts to people in over 150 countries since 2021 as spyware continues to target high-profile figures across the globe.
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Posted by BeauHD from Slashdot
From the path-to-net-zero department: Swedish energy company Stockholm Exergi and Microsoft have announced a 10-year deal that will provide the tech giant with more than 3.3 million tons of carbon removal certificates through bioenergy with carbon capture and storage. While the value of the deal was not disclosed, it stands as the largest of its kind globally. Carbon Herald reports: Scheduled to commence in 2028 and span a decade, the agreement underscores a pivotal moment in combatting climate change. Anders Egelrud, CEO of Stockholm Exergi, lauded the deal as a "huge step" for the company and its BECCS project, emphasizing its profound implications for climate action. "I believe the agreement will inspire corporations with ambitious climate objectives, and we target to announce more deals with other pioneering companies over the coming months," he said. Recognizing the imperative of permanent carbon removals in limiting global warming to 1.5C or below, the deal aligns with Microsoft's ambitious goal of becoming carbon negative by 2030.
"Leveraging existing biomass power plants is a crucial first step to building worldwide carbon removal capacity," Brian Marrs, Microsoft's Senior Director of Energy & Carbon Removal, said, highlighting the importance of sustainable biomass sourcing for BECCS projects, as is the case with Stockholm Exergi. The partners will adhere to stringent quality standards, ensuring transparent reporting and adherence to sustainability criteria. The BECCS facility, once operational, will remove up to 800,000 tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) annually, contributing significantly to atmospheric carbon reduction. With environmental permits secured and construction set to commence in 2025, Stockholm Exergi plans to reach the final investment decision by the end of the year.
After a short technical test, Supergiant Games started this week with a bang by releasing Hades II into Early Access. The sequel to the studio’s 2020 action roguelite has been eagerly awaited by fans of the original, but it turns out the audience for Hades 2 is much bigger than anybody was expecting. Not even 24 hours… 
Money is imaginary, and yet we imagine the worst possible version. As we all agree to pretend that swapping numbers on a computer, or paper and metal in person, makes sense as a transaction for goods, we also for some reason pretend that said goods get more expensive. As a result of this, Games Workshop is putting its… 
Just days after Redfall’s one-year anniversary, Microsoft has announced it’s shutting down the studio behind it, Arkane Austin, and ending all further development on the vampire shooter. That includes its promised Hero DLC which some fans already paid for in the $100 Bite Back edition of the Xbox console exclusive. 
Xbox is shutting down four studios in its first-party stable, specifically ones that fall under the Bethesda/ZeniMax umbrella. The brutal cuts will affect Redfall developer Arkane Austin, Hi-Fi Rush developer Tango Gameworks, and Mobile Doom developer Alpha Dog Games. ZeniMax subsidiary Roundhouse Games will be… 
Hades 2, surprise-released into Early Access May 6, has no shortage of challenges. Even with the help of the mighty Olympians and a strike of luck with loot during runs, bosses are likely to put a stop to your ventures until you’ve familiarized yourself with their attacks. 
It is prime time to be a hater right now. The Kendrick Lamar and Drake beef has been a spectacle to watch unfold over the past few days. Lamar is dropping some of the harshest disses of his career, while Drake says “nuh uh” over a beat. I finally understand why Ancient Rome held gladiator fights. 
Folks, it finally happened…sort of. Nintendo formally (and remarkably casually) acknowledged its successor to the Nintendo Switch, stating that it will be announced “within this fiscal year” as part of an investor meeting this week, meaning we’ll hear about it before April 2025. Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa… 
While it seemed like a fun prank at the time, I realize my prank fire extinguishers full of leaded gasoline were a mistake. 
