Expect A PaydayUnlike GTFO, Den of Wolves will have both microtransactions and DLC, but that doesnt mean 10 Chambers is going to put any manipulative stuff into its next gameWith a growing studio to look after, 10 Chambers is reappraising its approach to monetization. But dont worry, the dev knows you will vote with your wallet.Image credit: VG247/10 Chambers Article by Dom Peppiatt Editor-in-chief Published on April 1, 2025 When 10 Chambers launched GTFO into early access in 2019, the world - and the video game industry - was a very different place. The studio, then formed of only nine staff, didnt know if there was an audience for a super hardcore co-op FPS. So it launched the game as a very simple proposition: it was premium, you buy it once, and you get all the content. No MTX, no DLC, no nonsense. Quelle surprise, it gathered a large, loyal following, sold over 2.5 million copies (only on PC), and made all its development costs back in under 9 days.But that was six years ago, and a lot has changed since then. Now, all 10 Chambers efforts are on Den of Wolves. The team, formed of many ex-Payday developers, is making what it calls both a 4-player co-op heist game and a techno-thriller FPS where you play a gang of criminals enacting corporate espionage, larceny, and sometimes outright murder on the vying mega-corporations that have set up an unregulated financial district in the middle of the Pacific ocean. It was announced at The Game Awards in 2023, and weve seen (and heard) a fair amount from the game already.To see this content please enable targeting cookies. Perhaps fittingly for a game designed to showcase the perils of power and money, my conversation with 10 Chambers audio director Simon Viklund quickly turned to monetization techniques in 2025, and how much has changed for developers since GTFOs uber-successful launch.The way we launched GTFO - you pay for it once, and you have the whole game - that was a viable business approach for when we were nine members of staff, he tells me. But now were 100 people, the burn rate is way bigger, and Den of Wolves is a much more ambitious game. So were hoping it turns into a live service type thing.Its not going to be a subscription service, its going to be a premium price. Maybe two-thirds of what triple-A games usually cost. So its more in the level of GTFO, the Payday games, and Vermintide those other first-person co-op games. Thats the space were occupying.So, yes, there will be microtransactions, most likely. There will be DLC, but nothing that is pay-to-win, nothing that is math-fuckery where, you know, for 20 bucks you buy 100 buckazoids and then everything you can buy in the game costs 64 buckazoids, so you can never ever get rid of all your buckazoids, so you always have that splinter in your mind telling you: Im leaving money on the table in this game, I need to buy more buckazoids. Its manipulative, stuff like that. Classic heist gameplay with a cyberpunk twist? Yeah, OK. | Image credit: 10 ChambersThe path forward, then, is to drop more content into the game and give the player the choice when to purchase. MTX will likely be solved in the form of weapon or character skins, and everything will be labelled as clearly as possible - and sold in real currency - so that you know exactly what youre getting for your money. Oh, and therell be no loot boxes, either. Obviously.And theres certainly no gambling! So, certainly nothing where its like, you know: I'm buying this box, and I don't know what's inside. We couldn't sleep at night if we had that! It's going to be, purely, to keep the game alive. People can vote with their money. Our commitment is to make good content that is good value for money. That people are going to want to buy.10 Chambers has learned from the missteps of other developers, too. Its policy is that if you buy DLC that unlocks new missions or districts for you to play in, you will be able to host that content and invite people to play who don't have that same DLC. In much the same way that Hazelights games allow you to get friends to co-op its games without the need to buy a title twice.This is so we do not split the community into people who have the DLC, and don't have the DLC, and stuff like that, continues Viklund. So it's not going to be shady stuff, you know. We're going to be generous. But there needs to be some way for people to keep supporting the game. Many heists will culminate with 'dives' - where you hack into living people's brains and parkour through their unconscious mind. Cool, right? | Image credit: 10 ChambersWhat Viklund says about the monetisation aspect even plays into the narrative wrapping paper that defines Den of Wolves world. He envisions the idea of Player 1 inviting Players 2 and 3 three to a new district in this dystopian cyberpunk world as a sort of permit-sharing system, where the boss thats planning a heist is doing the legwork in getting his criminal chums access to the skyscraper/megastructure where theyll be doing their next job.You can sort-of roleplay things, he laughs. You dont say oh Im matchmaking with other players. No, you're going on to the dark net, to find companions or criminal affiliates or whatever. Its such a juicy concept, this entire thing with the heists and the criminal underworld, you can tie so much into that theme.Den of Wolves is a solid game. What Ive played so far (please look out for a preview soon) is a tight, smart take on the heist genre thats part-Inception, part-Heat, part-Payday 2, and part-Control (the Remedy game, that is). Yeah, that mix is a bit of a headfuck, but this is the worst version of the game anyone is ever going to play, per Viklund, due to the fact its pre-alpha. And its still pretty damn good. I cant wait to get my hands on more content.We know 10 Chambers makes a decent game - Overkills Payday 1 and 2 and GTFO are testament to that - and now the studio is committing to a game that it can support, keep alive, keep players coming back to. The GTFO hardcore are crying out for more content, and they probably will never get it. But, if 10 Chambers gambit pays off with regards to how it wants to fund and fuel Den of Wolves, well perhaps the best of the studio is yet to come.Den of Wolves is set to launch into Early Access soon. It will launch for PC, but no window has been given at the time of writing.

The FuzzThe Precinct is a game that finally captures that classic cinematic cop experience, if classic cop movies were obsessed with due process and paperworkFrom a birds eye view, take down crime one parking ticket at a time.Image credit: Fallen Tree Games Article by Connor Makar Staff Writer Published on April 1, 2025 There's this particular style of police fiction that still grips the hearts of people all around the world; a Starsky and Hutch or Miami Vice-inspired action-packed drama where imperfect cops do their best against a city under the boot of crime. This depiction of police is an aging one. I doubt too many young people today dream of detectives busting a drug ring or locking up a mafia boss, but the dream lives still, in the minds of Fallen Tree Games and The Precinct.A top down "neon-noir" action game, The Precinct tells the tale of an Academy-fresh cop new in town, faced with a surge of organized crime. He, alongside a cast of various cop-show archetypes, must whittle down this illicit empire one assault charge, car chase, and parking ticket at a time.I was able to play The Precinct for a few hours, and I've got to say while I'm not exactly a member of The Met fan club, I do see the vision here. And dare I say, it's one I quite liked.To see this content please enable targeting cookies. Almost immediately, you're introduced to a bunch of coppers with names like Kowalski, who poke and joke with each other, who all have different opinions on the state of the city. Some, like your older mentor (only a few weeks from retirement, of course) want to keep their head down. Others, like yourself, have an idealistic sense of justice that they take out to the street. It's all very stereotypical, but therin lies the charm. These tropes are realised in not necessarily a bad way. You kick off the day with a hotdog with your partner, a bonafide glizzy lover if there ever was one.From there you go out on the street and dish out the law. This can come in many forms, and the game isn't shy at all at throwing dangerous days your way earlier on. A car chase with bank robbers sets the tone, sending you speeding down packed highways and narrow alleys. Sirens blaring and your partner shooting out the passenger window. But the game is firm on showing your the ropes on more typical police work, too, sending you on patrol down nearby streets where you check parking metres and write up naughty drivers. The game does like to throw some real movie-style action every now and again to keep things exciting. | Image credit: Fallen Tree GamesOne thing that I believe is important is that the game is incredibly serious about its depiction of "correct policing". You are not a brutalizing thug in The Precinct. If you catch a youth spray painting a wall and shoot him down, the mission fails and you're sent back to the last checkpoint. If you beat him up, you are heavily punished. Appropriate force is the name of the game, and it came across to me that the game was created this way as so to not glorify the sort of violence police are known for in this day and age.It's a crucial component of the police fantasy at work. You are not a run-and-gun loose cannon. Instead, the procedure is god in The Precinct. More of your headspace is filled with taking track of what crimes a perp has actually committed, and doing things by the book is rewarded with additional XP. This XP provides various boons to your police work, so if you want to be a good cop, you've got to be a good cop. During my short time playing, I managed to get a peak of what the meat of the game will be. Three gangs hold the city in a steel grip, and by cracking down on crime you come across on patrol, you gain evidence that'll eventually lead you to a boss for one of the gangs. So once you breach the tutorial portion of the game, it's all about doing your job until one of the serious department detectives have enough proof to run down one of the big time players. Rinse, repeat. Helicopter chases are present too, another layer to the frantic ordeal that is cleaning up the streets. | Image credit: Fallen Tree GamesAll this works in large part due to the city itself. It's a brilliantly crafted urban sprawl with neon signs, hotdog stands, and all manner of clutter that brings the fantasy to life. It begs to be explored. Playing it, it felt a little like the old school GTA games, mixed with a bit of True Crime for taste and tone.All in all The Precinct looks to be the real deal, and the perfect game for a particular batch of people out in the world. You can download a demo for The Precinct now on Steam, and hang tight for the eventual release date on May 13.

Image: AsusIt seems as though the much-anticipated Xbox handheld, codename "Keenan", has been revealed by its maker, Asus.Yes, as reported by our pals over at Pure Xbox, Asus has dropped a slick teaser trailer for their upcoming ROG-Ally-styled handheld, which will carry official Xbox branding, buttons and we're assuming a nice new UI that ties it into Microsoft's home console ecosystem.It's only a very short glimpse, but the trailer (below) does give us a good look at a console that falls very much in line with what we've seen in the last two gaming handhelds from Asus. We're not sure we've been able to make out some of the rumoured features of the console from this advert, such as a dedicated Xbox button, like the one found on the console's controllers. However, the very obvious flashes of the classic Xbox controller buttons leave no mystery about what we're looking at here.More interestingly, during a sequence where a robotic character sits at a computer, we see a bunch of info telling us to expect "more capacity" as well as a "fresh look" and, perhaps more interestingly, "faster speeds" and "marathon stamina". So, an Ally rocking more SSD space, RAM, and a better battery? We're not foaming at the mouth. You are.Note the side-eyed response from the Xbox X account above, acknowledging involvement without any disrespectful nods on the timing of the trailer itself - if somehow you'd forgotten, there's a Switch 2 Direct tomorrow. Of course, Xbox won't want to be starting anything more than a bit of playful banter with the big N, as there could be any number of crossovers or partnerships in the future between these consoles. But also, well, because the Switch 2 absolutely commands respect.Nintendo consoles bring that big shiny Nintendo seal of quality, and the storied games that its fanbase want along with it, which is something that the snazzy specs on these powerful new handheld PCs need to be careful in competing with. For those who aren't au fait with the ROG Ally, by the way, it's one of the most straight-up powerful handhelds currently out there - you can check out a very informative review of it over at Pure Xbox.Subscribe to Nintendo Life on YouTube801kPut it all together and this new console is certainly looking like a powerful new, Xbox-branded replacement for the ROG Ally, and Asus will know that with that branding, and with Game Pass and a sweet new interface, this is a console that could really turn the heads of some potential Switch 2 customers. We don't think the advert's timing is coincidence, let's say that much.Taking into account this console will undoubtedly be packing serious firepower, a slick UI, and instant access to Game Pass (presumably), and there's no doubt interests will be piqued, especially if you're on a budget and looking for just one handheld going forward this year. It'll certainly be interesting to see where Asus lands with the price tag.However, for the discerning Nintendo fan, we're not sure just how much this new console actually factors into the year's plans. It's not going to replace any of our current consoles in the way the Switch 2 will, that's for sure. We won't be looking at it for huge new exclusives, so perhaps a direct rivalry can be avoided in favour of peaceful times and beautiful crossovers.What do you think of the latest Asus console? Would you consider it a direct challenger to Switch 2, or is it an entirely different beast that you won't be considering? Make sure to let us know in the comments! Microsoft could be testing the waters...[source purexbox.com]See AlsoShare:00 PJ is a staff writer across Pure Xbox and Nintendo Life. He's been playing video games pretty much nonstop since the early 1980s, and enjoys boring people with tedious stories about how long ago that really is. Hold on there, you need to login to post a comment...Related ArticlesRumour: Nintendo Switch 2 To Launch In June With 3-Phase Software PlanGoing through phaazesTalking Point: Which Switch Game Needs A 'Nintendo Switch 2 Edition' The Most?Time for an upgrade?

Image: Nintendo Life / Mike DruckerHave you ever wondered what it might be like to be employed at Nintendo? Few companies feel quite as impenetrable when it comes to discovering their inner workings, but after speaking with comedian and author (and former Nintendo employee) Mike Drucker and reading his new book Good Game, No Rematch, life at Nintendo of America sounds reasonably normal, actually. Well, as normal as an impromptu paintball match with Reggie Fils-Aim could be.For Drucker, who would go on to write on Saturday Night Live, Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, and Full Frontal with Samantha Bee, the idea of working at Nintendo felt like something of a pipedream. So much so that he went into his initial interview with the company (specifically Nate Bihldorff, who's currently Senior Vice President of Product Development and Publishing) fully expecting it to be little more than a learning experience.As luck would have it, though, his low expectations allowed him to remain calm and not freak out at the prospect of speaking to someone high up at Nintendo (Apparently, some people cry, he told us), putting him near the top of the pile.Druckers interview and subsequent stint at Nintendo of America is just one of many stories that make up Good Game, No Rematch, a comedy chronicle of his life and experience with video games written during the 2023 Writers Guild of America strike. From his initial experience as a child with Duck Hunt and Super Mario Bros. to a heartbreaking tale of friendship and loss with Nier Automata during the height of COVID, this is a piece of work that, above all else, celebrates games and the impact that they can have on our lives.Image: Mike DruckerIndeed, at a time in which the world feels more divided than ever and groups within the gaming community are seemingly locked in an endless, pointless culture war, Drucker describes the book as his own personal antidote. While fierce passion for the medium can often lead to negativity, he wanted to "write something that had the same amount of passion, but channel it into something good, demonstrating how powerful games are and how much they help us.This comes across wonderfully, and despite Drucker's enviable writing career, so much of it feels instantly relatable. Whether its queuing up for hours just to play a few minutes of an upcoming game (Super Mario 64 in his case) or building an unmanageable backlog of titles that you promise to yourself youll get around to clearing one day, this is very much a glimpse not only into the mind of Mike Drucker, but the minds of gamers everywhere.If it were just that, however, you could argue that you could get similar gratification by having a chat with your mates down the pub. Thankfully, Good Game, No Rematch is also full of stories that give us, as Nintendo fans specifically, fascinating glimpses into a world that most won't ever experience firsthand.Image: Ollie Reynolds / Nintendo LifeFor starters, Drucker tells the story of how he came up with the name for Groose, the hulking yet bumbling resident of Skyloft in The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword. Given just how popular Groose would prove to be, its surprising how little time it took to land on the name. I started to think about asshole birds, he tells us, boshing out the name 'Groose' in a single meeting. We wont divulge the whole story here, but its a great little peek into how localisation works (or worked at the time, at least) at Nintendo.He also covers the work that went into the localisation of Kid Icarus: Uprising, along with the copious emails that he would receive from none other than Masahiro Sakurai. Given Sakurais hands-on approach and perfectionism, its surprising just how much freedom he gave Drucker and the team in localising the game for the West. When Nintendo took Drucker on, they were simply after someone who could tell jokes, and this is 100% evident in Uprising's sharp, witty dialogue.The book is packed with hilarious anecdotes; it'd be impossible to cover them all here, but we were particularly fond of how Drucker became the natural 'middle-man' whenever Nintendo came to Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. He would help out with the setup, almost like when you're asked to reset your parents' internet router or get their ageing Sky Box back online.Anybody can read Good Game, No Rematch and have a grand ol' time with it, but if you're a gamer in your 30s or 40s, this book was made for you. A lot of the stories from Drucker's childhood will resonate more if you were around at the same time, and those on the younger side might wonder what all the fuss was about. That said, this is a true celebration of gaming and, by extension, Nintendo itself. If you're after something lighthearted that will elicit more than a few giggles.Image: Nintendo Life / Mike DruckerThanks to Mike for speaking with us and providing a copy of the book. Good Game, No Rematch is published by Harper Collins and is available now at bookstores across North America. A release in the UK is confirmed, but a date has not been nailed down at the time of writing.Buy Good Game, No Rematch: A Life Made of Video Games

Are you willing to hack and take control of Chinese websites for a random person for up to $100,000 a month?Someone is making precisely that tantalizing, bizarre, and clearly sketchy job offer. The person is using what look like a series of fake accounts with avatars displaying photos of attractive women, and sliding into the direct messages of several cybersecurity professionals and researchers on X in the last couple of weeks.We are recruiting webshell engineers and teams to penetrate Chinese websites worldwide, with a monthly salary of up to $100,000. If you are interested, you can join our channel first, read the message, which included a link to a Telegram channel.For some reason, I also received this message from an X account named Look at my homepage, which had a username, @JerelLayce88010, that looked like it was randomly generated.When I followed the link, I was able to see the admin of the channel, someone who goes by the name Jack and has an AI-generated avatar of a pirate.Are you proficient in penetration technology? Jack asked me.I am not, but I asked Jack to tell me more about their goals.Get webshells from Chinese registered domains. There is no specific target. As long as the domain is registered in China, it is our target range, said Jack, referring to web shells, programs or scripts that hackers can use to control hacked web servers. You need to understand Chinas CMS referring to content management systems, the software that runs the backends of websites find loopholes, and be able to obtain webshells in batches. There is no upper limit to the number we need. The more the better. This is a long-term job. We can establish long-term cooperation.Yes, but crucially, why?What I need is Chinas traffic, Jack said, perhaps losing patience with my questions.OK, but, for what?At this point, Jack definitely got tired of my questions and gave me an assignment: Get me three web shells on any domain registered in China so I know you have the skills. Generously, Jack offered me $100 for each hacked domain.Alas, I still dont have the skills to do that, nor the willingness to break the law. Instead I kept asking questions, including who Jack was working for. Indian government, Jack responded, although in a subsequent chat Jack contradicted that, blaming automatic translation, which they said they were using because Chinese is their first language.I spoke to some of the researchers who got Jacks strange job offer, and they were also puzzled. Nobody said they have gotten a malicious link, for example, or suspicious questions that would indicate some sort of doxing or scam campaign.I am guessing its a troll [rather] than some serious threat actor, said s1r1us, a security researcher who received a DM from one of Jacks sockpuppet accounts on X. If they want to hire top talent this is not definitely the way.The Grugq, a well-known cybersecurity expert, told TechCrunch that he has never seen anything like this recruiting campaign. I have seen [people] asking dumb questions and spamming for various cyber security related things, he said. But never anything like the persistent, widespread, bizarre shit from this guy.According to The Grugq, perhaps the goal is to infect people inside China with malware, as it doesnt make sense to use Chinese domains to launch DDoS attacks or spam, because that wouldnt justify the high payment.I really cant think of wtf theyre doing, The Grugq concluded. It makes no sense.And neither can anyone else, apparently. Godspeed, Jack, in whatever adventure you are embarking on.

In a series of posts on X on Monday, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said that the popularity of the companys new image-generation tool in ChatGPT will cause unspecified product delays. We are getting things under control, but you should expect new releases from OpenAI to be delayed, stuff to break, and for service to sometimes be slow as we deal with capacity challenges, Altman wrote. Working as fast we can to really get stuff humming.OpenAIs new image generation capability arrived with much fanfare and controversy for its impressive ability torecreate styles like Studio Ghiblishand-drawn animation. Over the weekend, Altman said inpostson Xthat the company hasnt been able to catch up since launch and that staff have worked late nights and through the weekend to keep the service up.In a single hour on Monday, ChatGPT added a million new users, Altman claimed in a post. ChatGPT now has 500 million weekly users and 20 million paying subscribers, up from 300 million users and 15.5 million subscribers at the end of 2024.In an effort to ease its capacity issues, OpenAI delayed the release of the image generation tool for free ChatGPT users and temporarily disabled video generation for new users ofSora, the companyssuite of generative AI media tools.

Hi everyone,Question is: while I was making VFX for movies i could buy assets, textures and models and use them how i wanted to create whatever effect i needed in that movie and my client would have rights to that movie. I am wondering how its working with VFX for games. Final product will be game so its not reselling textures or materials. I am making some VFX as freelancer and I buy some asset from lets say fab like textures,models or decals, can i give my effect that use them to some company to use it in their game or this company would need to buy rights to use them? 1 post - 1 participant Read full topic

Thanks to a $300 million gift by philanthropist Richard Hedreen, Seattle University (SU) will soon boast a new art museum to complement its new art school, the Cornish College of the Arts. The future Seattle Museum of Art will be located near the campuss main entrance within a new building designed by Olson Kundig. To make way for the Seattle Museum of Art, a beloved theater, the Lee Center for the Arts, will be razed. Anniyah Fitzhugh, a SU communications and theater major, called the Lee Center critical space for students and community members to express themselves, collaborate, and celebrate the arts.The gallery spaces were designed with flexibility in mind. (Courtesy Seattle University)Renderings show the future museum occupying a prominent corner site clad in wooden slats. Both stories are expressed with different material elements; the ground floor has ample open space and the second floor is regulated by fins, which help control interior natural light. Its flexible gallery spaces will accommodate performance art, music, and select theater productions. Both Seattle University and Olson Kundig describe the future building as a teaching museum. The building will permanently house and display the Hedreen art collection, which includes more than 200 works.The Hedreen art collection has pieces from the 15th and 16th centuries through modernism with pieces from Jacopo da Pontormo, Thomas Gainsborough, Willem de Kooning, Roy Lichtenstein and Andy Warhol, among many others.The collection on view will include works all the way from the 15th century through modernism. (Courtesy Seattle University)In addition to showcasing a spectacular collection of art, the new museum serves a beacon to both the campus and the surrounding community, Tom Kundig said in a statement. It carries forward the agenda and ambition of the Chapel of St. Ignatius, framing a flexible gathering space between the two buildings that could be a future campus green.Both stories are expressed with different material elements. (Courtesy Seattle University)Past museum projects by Olson Kundig include the Burke Museum at the University of Washington, the Bo Bartlett Center at Columbus State University, and two wings of the Tacoma Art Museum.Groundbreaking on the Seattle University Museum of Art will commence August 2026.The museum will open in 2028.

Detail of Dont Worry About the Government. All images courtesy of Adam Ledford, shared with permissionFilled with Half-Pots, Adam Ledfords Life-Size Room Drawings Reflect Timeless RoutinesApril 1, 2025ArtKate MothesIn Harold and the Purple Crayon, the young protagonist composes a fantasy reality using the deceptively simple power of line. Harold manifests numerous adventures with a single writing instrument, drawing himself into ever more exciting capers. For artist Adam Ledford, Crockett Johnsons iconic 1955 childrens book provides one reference point for his approach to large-scale installations.Ledford dots life-size line drawings of domestic spaces with half pots, or reliefs of ceramic vessels, which reflect how everyday objects represent individuals values, experiences, and projection of identity. Canisters of coffee or cleaning solutions detail vintage packaging design, while other items like cooking utensils or decorative objects highlight personal taste and daily routines.Detail of Dont Worry About the GovernmentI am the person visiting your house, who is eyeing up all the tchotchkes, asking about your tea kettle, and picking up and looking at the bottom of your tableware, Ledford tells Colossal. He credits his love for pottery for providing the lens through which he also learned Americas historical timeline, describing how the objects help set a mental stage for the abstract process of thinking about the past.In Ledfords expansive installations, which range from multiple walls to single architectural features, black-and-white outlines represent kitchen cabinets, countertops, or fireplaceslocations where containers and vessels are collected, stored, or displayed. Theater, for example, is a replica of his own kitchen. The artist says, The drawn environments are a stage setting for the objects to play and star.Ledfords work is currently on view in Dinner Table, on view through May 29 at The Delaware Contemporary in Wilmington. Find more on the artists website and Instagram. You might also enjoy the hand-drawn installations of Anastasia Parmson and Shantell Martin.Theater Detail of TheaterDetail of TheaterDont Worry About the GovernmentDetail of Dont Worry About the GovernmentA Room with a ViewDetail of A Room with a ViewDetail of Dont Worry About the GovernmentNext article

Tommy Lee Walker - stock.adobe.cNewsNvidia tackles graphics processing unit hoggingPeople may try to lock up GPU resources even if they dont need them all day but not anymore, thanks to Nvidia KAI SchedulerByCliff Saran,Managing EditorPublished: 01 Apr 2025 16:00 Nvidia has made its KAI Scheduler, a Kubernetes-native graphics processing unit (GPU) scheduling tool, available as open source under the Apache 2.0 licence.KAI Scheduler, which is part of the Nvidia Run:ai platform, is designed to manage artificial intelligence (AI) workloads on GPUs and central processing units (CPUs). According to Nvidia, KAI is able to manage fluctuating GPU demands and reduced wait times for compute access. It also offers resource guarantees or GPU allocation.The GitHub repository for KAI Scheduler said it supports the entire AI lifecycle, from small, interactive jobs that require minimal resources to large training and inference, all in the same cluster. Nvidia said it ensures optimal resource allocation while maintaining resource fairness between the different applications that require access to GPUs.The tool allows administrators of Kubernetes clusters to dynamically allocate GPU resources to workloads, and can run alongside other schedulers installed on a Kubernetes cluster.You might need only one GPU for interactive work (for example, for data exploration) and then suddenly require several GPUs for distributed training or multiple experiments, Ronen Dar, vice-president of software systems at Nvidia, and Ekin Karabulut, an Nvidia data scientist, wrote in a blog post. Traditional schedulers struggle with such variability.They said the KAI Scheduler continuously recalculates fair-share values, and adjusts quotas and limits in real time, automatically matching the current workload demands. According to Dar and Karabulut, this dynamic approach helps ensure efficient GPU allocation without constant manual intervention from administrators.They also said that for machine learning engineers, the scheduler reduces wait times by combining what they call gang scheduling, GPU sharing and a hierarchical queuing system that enables users to submit batches of jobs. The jobs are launched as soon as resources are available and in alignment with priorities and fairness, Dar and Karabulut wrote.Read more stories about GPUsAMD teams up with Rapt AI to boost GPU performance for AI: AMD is partnering with Rapt AI to focus on workload management and performance optimisation when running AI models on AMDs Instinct GPUs.GPU scarcity shifts focus to GPUaaS: High GPU costs and scarcity drive users to GPUaaS for AI workloads. But businesses should assess needs before investing.To optimise for fluctuating demand of GPU and CPU resources, Dar and Karabulut said that KAI Scheduler uses what Nvidia calls bin packing and consolidation. They said this maximises compute utilisation by combating resource fragmentation, and achieves this by packing smaller tasks into partially used GPUs and CPUs.Dar and Karabulut said it also addresses node fragmentation by reallocating tasks across nodes. The other technique used in KAI Scheduler is spreading workloads across nodes or GPUs and CPUs to minimise the per-node load and maximise resource availability per workload.In a further practice, Nvidia said KAI Scheduler also handles when shared clusters are deployed. According to Dar and Karabulut, some researchers secure more GPUs than necessary early in the day to ensure availability throughout. This practice, they said, can lead to underutilised resources, even when other teams still have unused quotas.Nvidia said KAI Scheduler addresses this by enforcing resource guarantees. This approach prevents resource hogging and promotes overall cluster efficiency, Dar and Karabulut added.KAI Scheduler provides what Nvidia calls a built-in podgrouper that automatically detects and connects with tools and frameworks such as Kubeflow, Ray, Argo and the Training Operator, which it said reduces configuration complexity and helps to speed up development.In The Current Issue:Behind the scenes at Amazon UKs robotic-powered warehouseAll change: Weighing up the options for enterprises as open source licences evolveDownload Current IssueDistrust builds between digital ID sector and government amid speculation over 'ID cards by stealth' Computer Weekly Editors BlogAvoiding AI lock-in Cliff Saran's Enterprise blogView All Blogs