The never-ending talk of tariffs has people rushing to buy the best iPhone that they can afford now before it becomes significantly more expensive.iPhone users are worried about a potential price increase.Apple's stock prices continue to suffer, as President Trump's "Liberation Day" tariffs have caused concerns for analysts and casual iPhone users alike.According to a Bloomberg report, published on Monday, Apple's US retail locations are as busy as they usually are during holiday seasons. Employees are often asked questions about increases in iPhone pricing, but Apple has reportedly provided no instruction or guidance. Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums

Arup, in collaboration with the California chapter of the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC-CA), has released a guide to rebuilding for homeowners impacted by the Los Angeles Fires.  The 65-page guidance includes recommendations for building back safely and sustainably while reducing costs and is aimed at equipping stakeholders to pursue more equitable, climate-resilient rebuilding solutions across the state—which has lost at least 39,000 properties to damage in the last five years. The information included allows for a decision matrix to be established using recommendations for everything related to building systems/envelopes, landscaping, roofs, exterior walls, windows, ventilation, a new building’s placement, and more. Related on Archinect: Urban Land Institute, USC, and UCLA release post-wildfire rebuilding roadmap for L.A.An FAQ section is included to answer questions hanging over the individual recovery "journey" and equip those affected with the proper tools and resources to...

A Hurricane Swept These Tortoises Across Miles of Ocean to a New Home in Florida—and Now, They’re Thriving Park rangers say at least 84 gopher tortoises are now living at Fort de Soto Park near St. Petersburg. Prior to Hurricane Helene in September, the local population was around eight Gopher tortoises are disappearing from Florida, primarily because of habitat destruction that's often tied to residential development. Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission via Flickr under CC BY-ND 2.0 When Hurricane Helene swept through the southeastern United States in September 2024, the storm caused catastrophic damage and nearly 250 deaths. But a rare bright spot has emerged amid the destruction. Dozens of threatened gopher tortoises have taken up residence at Fort de Soto Park near St. Petersburg, Florida, after presumably being swept more than two miles across open water during the storm. Before the hurricane, the 1,136-acre park was home to roughly eight of the land-dwelling reptiles. Now, their population has ballooned to at least 84 individuals—and counting. The creatures seem to be adapting well to their new home, too. Park rangers have spotted them burrowing, roaming around and even mating. Gopher tortoises live on land and are not strong swimmers—which is why park rangers were so surprised when dozens of them began washing up at Fort de Soto Park. Where had the tortoises come from? And how did they survive the journey? The tortoises seemed disoriented at first but eventually made themselves at home by digging burrows. Anna Yu To answer that first question, park rangers only had to look at the reptiles’ shells. They found tiny holes that had been drilled by biology students tracking gopher tortoise populations on Egmont Key, an island located more than two miles away. Since 1994, researchers had used the drill marks to identify hundreds of individual tortoises. During Hurricane Helene, then, the tortoises living on Egmont Key must have been swept out to sea. They were probably sheltering several feet underground in their burrows when the storm surge ripped off the top layer of sand and vegetation—and took the animals with it. “This speaks to the real force that this hurricane had,” says Jeffrey Goessling, a biologist at Eckerd College, to Fox13’s Kailey Tracy. The tortoises, he adds, probably went through a “pretty harrowing couple of hours.” They likely survived by holding onto rafts of debris or simply floating atop the waves. The tortoises came from Egmont Key, where researchers have been conducting population tracking studies. The scientists marked the tortoises by drilling small holes in their shells, as shown here. Anna Yu “We think that a combination of some potential to float or swim, we did have massive amounts of debris that came over from Egmont Key, it’s entirely possible that they rode those debris rafts over,” says Dave Harshbarger, the park’s manager, to Bay News 9’s Jeff Van Sant. These types of “natural dispersal” events are relatively common among plants and animals. Other examples include dandelion seeds being carried on the breeze or coral gametes being pushed along by ocean currents. “Tortoises are really good at dispersing over water—and it probably is part of their success as a group that they’ve dispersed this way,” says Peter Meylan, the biologist at Eckerd College who led the Egmont Key tortoise population tracking research, to the Tampa Bay Times’ Max Chesnes. Unfortunately, the terrestrial reptiles didn’t all make it across the water: Rangers also found the remains of more than 40 dead tortoises on the park’s beaches after the hurricane. The population of gopher tortoises at Fort de Soto Park has ballooned since Hurricane Helene. Anna Yu When the survivors made landfall at Fort de Soto, park rangers said they initially seemed disoriented and confused. But eventually, they started settling in and digging burrows. Park rangers and researchers are now keeping tabs on them using several motion-activated cameras. The tortoises seem to be digging their burrows at higher elevations than normal. One made its home roughly 30 feet above sea level, at the top of the park’s historic military fort, and others dug their burrows above Helene’s storm surge level. “It’s like they knew exactly where to go, they went a little bit higher in hopes of not being drowned out by another storm,” says park ranger Anna Yu to the Guardian’s Richard Luscombe. Gopher tortoises (Gopherus polyphemus) live throughout the southeast, including in Louisiana, South Carolina and Florida. Measuring 9 to 11 inches long as adults, they have tannish-brown shells and shovel-like front legs that are covered in scales. In the wild, their typical lifespan is 40 to 60 years, though they can live to be more than 90 in captivity. The species is listed as “threatened” under the Endangered Species Act in the part of their range that’s located west of the Mobile and Tombigbee Rivers in Alabama; the state of Florida also lists gopher tortoises as “threatened.” Their numbers have dwindled—and are now between 700,000 and 800,000, per the Florida Wildlife Federation—as humans develop more of their habitat, often to build residential neighborhoods. Gopher tortoises are land-dwelling reptiles, so park rangers were initially puzzled when they started showing up on the beach, seemingly from the ocean. Anna Yu As their name suggests, these tortoises spend most of their time in large burrows that are usually 15 feet long and 6.5 feet deep. Burrows provide stable year-round temperatures for these cold-blooded creatures, as well as protection from predators, fire and drought. More than 350 other species use the tortoises’ burrows, too—including owls, snakes and frogs—so their expanded presence at Fort De Soto is also good news for the other critters that live there. “Everybody in the ecosystem benefits from gopher tortoises being there, and we’ll hopefully see an increase in biodiversity in the park,” Yu tells the Guardian. Get the latest stories in your inbox every weekday.

Colossal Biosciences has announced that it has brought the dire wolf back from extinction. The Dallas-based “de-extinction” company announced the rebirth the once extinct dire wolf. The dire wolf, largely assumed to be a legendary creature made famous from the HBO hit series Game of Thrones, was an American canid that had previously been extinct for over 12,500 years. I’ve done an interview with the company leaders, who were really planning to make the announcement tomorrow until The New Yorker decided to break the news embargo. I’ll run that interview later. The successful birth of three dire wolves is a revolutionary milestone of scientific progress that illustrates another leap forward in Colossal’s de-extinction technologies and is a critical step on the pathway to the de-extinction of other target species, the company said. Yep, it’s like the plot of Jurassic Park. Additionally, Colossal has birthed two litters of cloned red wolves, the most critically endangered wolf in the world, using a new approach to non-invasive blood cloning. The birth of red wolves provides further evidence of the link between de-extinction efforts and the company’s growing capacity to support conservation efforts globally through de-extinction technology innovation. This news comes on the heels of the recent announcement of the Colossal woolly mouse, which previously held the record for unique germline edits in an animal with eight precision edits. With the dire wolves, Colossal has made 20 unique precision germline edits including 15 edits from the ancient gene variants that have not existed in over 12,000 years, setting a new bar for precision germline editing in any animal. Beth Shapiro, George R.R. Martin and Ben Lamm. “I could not be more proud of the team. This massive milestone is the first of many coming examples demonstrating that our end-to-end de-extinction technology stack works,” said CEO of Colossal Ben Lamm, in a statement. “Our team took DNA from a 13,000 year old tooth and a 72,000 year old skull and made healthy dire wolf puppies. It was once said, ‘any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.’ Today, our team gets to unveil some of the magic they are working on and its broader impact on conservation. ” Lamm told me he showed the dire wolves in their safe enclave to George R.R. Martin, author of A Song of Ice and Fire, and Martin broke down in tears. Just last month, Colossal Biosciences said it had created mice with the wooly hair of the wooly mammoth. The company is trying to bring back the wooly mammoth, the dodo and the thylacine. The two litters of Colossal’s dire wolves include two adolescent males (Romulus and Remus) and one female puppy (Khaleesi, named after a Game of Thrones character). Colossal also birthed two litters of red wolves from three different genetic founder lines. These litters include one adolescent female red wolf (Hope) and three male red wolf puppies (Blaze, Cinder, and Ash). “Preserving, expanding, and testing genetic diversity should be done well before important endangered animal species like the red wolf are lost. Another source of ecosystem variety stems from our new technologies to de-extinct lost genes, including deep ancient DNA sequencing, polyphyletic trait analyses, multiplex germline editing, and cloning. The dire wolf is an early example of this, including the largest number of precise genomic edits in a healthy vertebrate so far. A capability that is growing exponentially,” said Harvard geneticist and cofounder of Colossal, George Church, in a statement. The wolves are thriving on a 2,000-plus-acre secure expansive ecological preserve that is certified by the American Humane Society and registered with USDA. Colossal employs ten full time animal care staff to support the wolves’ physical and mental well-being. The entire preserve, which includes specialized engagement zones and habit types, is enclosed by 10-foot-tall, zoo-grade fencing with redundant perimeter security. Within the preserve, the wolves are continuously monitored through on-site live cameras, security personnel, and drone tracking to ensure their safety and welfare. The preserve includes a smaller, six acre secure site where the dire wolves can be further tended to and studied. This smaller area also supports an on-site veterinary clinic, a wolf management facility, an outdoor storm shelter, and natural built dens for the wolves. “Colossal has achieved American Humane Society Certification, the prestigious designation ensuring excellence in animal welfare and care. Optimal welfare is evidenced by spacious habitats with ample space and opportunity for animals to socialize, exercise, and exhibit natural behaviors,” said Robin Ganzert, CEO of American Humane Society, in a statement. “Staff are passionate, highly engaged and devoted to the animals in their care. We congratulate Colossal as a shining example of excellence in humane care and welfare. The technology they are pursuing may be the key to reversing the sixth mass extinction and making extinction events a thing of the past.” The conservation property will provide lifetime care, feeding, and protection for the wolves. The wolves will be monitored and observed to assess their readiness to move into larger protected and managed care facilities. Ultimately Colossal plans to restore the species in secure and expansive ecological preserves on indigenous land. Dire wolf pups. “The de-extinction of the dire wolf is more than a biological revival. Its birth symbolizes a reawakening – a return of an ancient spirit to the world. The dire wolf carries the echoes of our ancestors, their wisdom, and their connection to the wild,” shared MHA Nation Tribal Chairman Mark Fox, in a statement. “Its presence would remind us of our responsibility as stewards of the Earth – to protect not just the wolf, but the delicate balance of life itself. The work of the team at Colossal Biosciences is not only significant to our lands and people, but for conservation efforts across the globe. The ability for technological innovation to bring forth something so culturally and spiritually significant to indigenous people is paralleled by the far reaching impacts that this technology provides for the future of stewardship on our planet in species diversity and conservation.” An overview of dire wolves Dire wolves (Aenocyon dirus) were distributed across the American midcontinent during the Pleistocene ice ages. The oldest confirmed dire wolf fossil, from Black Hills, SD, is around 250,000 years old. Colossal’s genomic data indicate, however, that the lineage first appeared during the Late Pliocene, between 3.5 and 2.5 million years ago, as a consequence of admixture between two more ancient (and now extinct) canid lineages. Dire wolves were as much as 25% larger than gray wolves and had a slightly wider head, light thick fur and stronger jaw. As hyper-carnivores, their diet comprised at least 70% meat from mostly horses and bison. Dire wolves went extinct at the end of the most recent ice age, around 13,000 years ago. “I have spent nearly 10,000 days in the field studying the behavior of the wolves in Yellowstone National Park. Prior to Yellowstone, I worked in Denali National Park in Alaska where I studied wildlife species that live on the tundra: wolves, grizzlies, caribou, and Dall sheep,” said Rick Mcintyre, author and internationally recognized as one of the world’s foremost experts on wild wolf behavior, and Colossal Conservation Advisory Board Member. “Later, I spent some time on the northern and western coasts of Alaska. I was born far too late to see now extinct Ice Age species such as dire wolves and mammoths. “ He added, “Long ago, my Celtic ancestors probably lived among those animals in northern Europe and may have had some role in contributing to their extinction. I never thought I might live in a time when we have the science to bring back those species and restore them to selected sections of their former homeland. I have a dream that some time in the near future I can go back to Alaska, or a similar place in Northern Europe or Asia, and see those extinct species that have been brought back thanks to science. When that happens, I will begin to study the behavior of dire wolves.” For many people, introduction to the dire wolf occurred through the lens of entertainment, rather than the natural world. Mentions of this legendary prehistoric canid in role-playing games like Dungeons & Dragons; video games like World of Warcraft; music like the Grateful Dead’s aptly-named song, “Dire Wolf”; and most notably, George R.R. Martin’s best-selling fantasy novel series, A Song of Ice and Fire and its TV adaptation, Game of Thrones. “Many people view dire wolves as mythical creatures that only exist in a fantasy world, but in reality, they have a rich history of contributing to the American ecosystem,” said Game of Thrones creator, esteemed author, and Colossal Investor and Cultural Advisor George R.R. Martin. “I get the luxury to write about magic, but Ben and Colossal have created magic by bringing these majestic beasts back to our world.” The science behind the return of the dire wolf A baby dire wolf. The birth of dire wolf pups proves the efficacy of Colossal’s de-extinction protocols and the feasibility of creating a standardized toolkit for de-extinction. The dire wolf pups set the record for number of precise genetic edits in any living species. The company performed a record 20 precise edits to the genome, all modifications derived from analysis of the dire wolf genome with 15 of those edits being the exact extinct variants. Together these edits contribute to a larger, stronger body and a longer, fuller coat with light pigmentation. To de-extinct the dire wolf, Colossal: ● Extracted and sequenced ancient DNA from two dire wolf fossils;● Assembled ancient genomes from both, and compared those to genomes from living canids including wolves, jackals, foxes, and dholes;● Identified gene variants specific to dire wolves;● Determined that dire wolves had a white coat color, and long thick fur – aspects of the dire wolf phenotype that were unknowable from fossils and consistent with animals that lived during cold periods of the Pleistocene ice ages;● Performed multiplex gene editing to a donor genome from their closest living relative, the gray wolf, resulting in edits 20 sites in 14 genes with 15 of those edits being extinct variants;● Screen edited cell lines via whole genome sequencing and karyotyping;● Cloned high quality cell lines using somatic cell nuclear transfer into donor egg cells;● Performed embryo transfer and managed interspecies surrogacy; and,● Successfully birthed an extinct species.Colossal extracted ancient DNA from two dire wolf fossils: a tooth from Sheridan Pit, Ohio, that is around 13,000 years old, and an inner ear bone from American Falls, Idaho, around 72,000 years old. The team deeply sequenced the extracted DNA and used Colossal’s novel approach to iteratively assemble high quality ancient genomes, resulting in a 3.4-fold coverage genome from the tooth and 12.8-fold coverage genome from the inner ear bone. Together, this data provided more than 500 times more coverage of the dire wolf genome than was available previously. Interspecies gestation Colossal’s computational analysis of the reconstructed dire wolf genome revealed several unknowns of dire wolf evolution. Previous work could not resolve the origin of dire wolves, leading to speculation that jackals may be their closest living relative. Analyses of the high quality dire wolf genome, however, revealed that the gray wolf is the closest living relative of dire wolves – with dire wolves and gray wolves sharing 99.5% of their DNA code. Interestingly, the analysis also revealed that dire wolves have a hybrid ancestry, which helps to explain the previous uncertainty. Colossal’s analyses indicated that the dire wolf lineage emerged between 3.5 and 2.5 million years ago as a consequence of hybridization between two ancient canid lineages: an ancient and early member of the tribe Canini, which may be represented in the fossil record as Eucyon or Xenocyon, and a lineage that was part of the early diversification of wolf-like lineages including wolves, dholes, jackals, and African wild dogs. “Our novel approach to iteratively improve our ancient genome in the absence of a perfect reference sets a new standard for paleogenome reconstruction ,” said Beth Shapiro, Colossal’s chief science officer and a leading expert in the field of ancient DNA, in a statement. ”Together with improved approaches to recover ancient DNA, these computational advances allowed us to resolve the evolutionary history of dire wolves and establish the genomic foundation for de-extinction – specifically for selecting with confidence dire wolf specific genetic variants that establish our targets for gene editing.” Analyses of the dire wolf genome allowed Colossal to identify the key variants in dire wolves that are not found in other canids that tell the story of dire wolf evolution. For example, Colossal identified multiple genes undergoing positive selection that are linked to dire wolf skeletal, muscular, circulatory, and sensory adaptation. The team discovered dire wolf specific variants in essential pigmentation genes revealing that dire wolves had a white coat color – a fact that is impossible to glean from fossil remains alone. The team also identified dire wolf specific variants in regulatory regions that alter the expression of genes. From this list, Colossal used its proprietary computational pipeline and software to select 20 gene edits across 14 distinct loci as targets for dire wolf de-extinction, focusing on the core traits that made dire wolves unique including size, musculature, hair color, hair texture, hair length, and coat patterning. Based on Colossal’s genomic analysis, the team used gray wolves – the closest living relative of dire wolves – as the donor species for establishing cell lines. Using Colossal’s novel approach to establish cell lines from a standard blood draw, the team collected blood during a normal veterinary procedure and established cell lines from blood epithelial progenitor cells (EPCs). The team then performed multiplex genome editing of these cells followed by whole genome sequencing to confirm editing efficiency and identify any alterations to the genome arising during extended cell culture. The Colossal dire wolf team selected high quality cells with normal karyotypes for cloning by somatic cell nuclear transfer into donor oocytes, followed by short-term culture to confirm cleavage. Healthy developing embryos were then transferred into surrogates for interspecies gestation. Three pregnancies led to births of the first de-extinct species. “The de-extinction of the dire wolf and an end-to-end system for de-extinction is transformative and heralds an entirely new era of human stewardship of life,” said Christopher Mason, a scientific advisor and member of the board of observers for Colossal, in a statement. “The same technologies that created the dire wolf can directly help save a variety of other endangered animals as well. This is an extraordinary technological leap in genetic engineering efforts for both science and for conservation as well as preservation of life, and a wonderful example of the power of biotechnology to protect species, both extant and extinct.” Colossal edited 15 extinct dire wolf variants into the donor gray wolf genome, creating dire wolves that express genes that have not been expressed for more than 10,000 years. These target genes were selected because each is linked to one or more key traits that made dire wolves unique among canids. For example, Colossal targeted CORIN, a serine protease that is expressed in hair follicles and suppresses the agouti pathway, impacting coat color and patterning. The dire wolf CORIN variants impact pigmentation in a way that leads to a light coat color. Colossal also edited dire wolf specific variants in a multi-gene regulatory module that has been linked to variation in body size as well as ear, skull, and facial morphology. The region encodes eight genes that establish species-specific constraints in skeletal size and structure, and has been linked to features including differences in human height and the diverse beak shapes among finch species. One gene encoded by this module – HMGA2 – is directly associated with body size in dogs and wolves. Another gene in this module – MSRB3 – has been linked to variation in ear and skull shape among canines and other mammals. Given the role of these genes in establishing species-specific size and morphology, the dire wolf team edited dire wolf-specific variants into gene enhancers (DNA sequences make it more likely that the gene will be transcribed into RNA) in this genomic region. For each high impact variant identified as linked to a target phenotype, Colossal’s dire wolf team created a detailed profile of all potential impacts on a donor gray wolf genome. To ensure healthy outcomes, the team discarded variants that would incur some risk outside of the predicted phenotype or prioritized variants already evolved in gray wolves with the predicted phenotype. For example, Colossal edited the protein coding region of LCORL, a transcription factor that regulates gene expression by influencing whether a gene is transcribed. Variations in LCORL have been linked to variation in body size in many species, including humans, horses, and canids. The dire wolf has three changes to the LCORL protein sequence that are predicted via 3D modeling to alter the way the protein folds precisely at the location where LCORL should bind to a major gene silencing complex known as the PRC2 domain. Interestingly, large dog breeds (which are domesticated gray wolves) have a variant of LCORL that is missing the PRC2 domain entirely. As the dire wolf version is predicted to have a similar phenotypic impact as the variant found in larger dog breeds, and because of the potential for LCORL to interact with other genes in the gray wolf genetic background that are not edited, Colossal’s dire wolves express the protein that is found in the largest grey wolves. This choice allows for the predicted phenotypic impact and without any additional risk. “Functional de-extinction uses the safest and most effective approach to bring back the lost phenotypes that make an extinct species unique,” said Shapiro. “We turn to ancient DNA to learn as much as we can about each species and, whenever possible, to link specific extinct DNA sequence variants to each key trait. In some cases, we learn that variants already present in the surrogate species can be used to engineer that key trait. In those cases, engineering existing variants into the donor genome is an optimal path, as that path provides strong confidence in the outcome with minimal risk to the animal.” The dire wolf genome has protein-coding substitutions in three essential pigmentation genes: OCA2, SLC45A2, and MITF, which directly impact the function and development of melanocytes. While these variants would have led to a light coat in dire wolves, variation in these genes in gray wolves can lead to deafness and blindness. The team therefore engineered a light colored coat in Colossal’s dire wolves via a path known to be safe in gray wolves: by inducing loss-of-function to MC1R and MFSD12. These genes influence expression of pigments eumelanin (black) and pheomelanin (red) in melanocytes that deposit to the coat, achieving the lighter pigmented coat color phenotype suggested by the dire wolf genome but without any potential health impacts. “When I learned of Colossal’s approach to engineering the light coat color into their dire wolves, I was simultaneously impressed and relieved,” said Elinor Karlsson, associate professor in Bioinformatics and Integrative Biology at the UMass Chan Medical School and Director of Vertebrate Genomics at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, in a statement. “By choosing to engineer in variants that have already passed evolution’s clinical trial, Colossal is demonstrating their dedication to an ethical approach to de-extinction.” The path to the dire wolf and the red wolf also led to innovations reaching beyond de-extinction, including advances in ancient DNA genome reconstruction and genotype-to-phenotype prediction, as well as optimized tools for multiplex gene editing. Another important contribution from the project are Colossal protocols to establish cell lines directly from blood that can be used for somatic cell nuclear transfer. The collection of whole blood is a rapid and noninvasive procedure that is routinely carried out on sedated wolves for veterinary monitoring purposes. These field collections provide a valuable opportunity to isolate expandable endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs), which are cells that are involved in vascular repair and neovascularization and differentiate into the cells that line blood vessels. Isolated EPC cell lines can be frozen for later genomic analyses and, Colossal has now shown, can be used to successfully clone wild canids. Biobanking and cloning EPCs from threatened or endangered populations of wild wolves provides a safety net to preserve the genomic diversity present today from further loss and extinction. “Whether due to natural or human-induced changes in climate, habitat and food source, the extinction of an untold number of species is a loss to our planet’s history and biodiversity. Modern genetics lets us peer into the past, and modern genetic engineering lets us recover what was lost and might yet thrive. Along the way, it invents the tools that let us protect what is still here. As humans we have a unique capacity and moral obligation to steward the earth for the benefit of ourselves and all living things, for now and for the future,” said Alta Charo, Professor of Law and Bioethics and Colossal Bioethics Lead, in a statement. A leap forward for red wolf recovery The technology developed within the Colossal de-extinction pipeline has immediate applications for conservation efforts globally. The research undertaken to birth the dire wolf has been successfully paralleled to the birth of two litters of the red wolf. Colossal’s two litters of red wolves include one female and three males from a total of three different cell lines. Colossal generated the cell lines, collected from the southwest Louisiana population, using its novel method of insolating EPCs following a standard blood draw. The pups were born after somatic cell nuclear transfer into a donor oocyte followed by embryogenesis and embryo transfer into a surrogate mother. Both embryo transfers resulted in the birth of healthy red wolf pups. “In a world where humans are rapidly eroding the environment, species (especially wolves) need allies. One of the most impactful ways to be an ally is to use science to help discover and preserve lost genes, genetic diversity, and phenotypes. We now have the technology that can edit DNA to increase resilience in species that are facing extinction or to revive extinct genetic diversity and species. We get to witness the de-extinction of the dire wolf, which is a marvel of scientific progress, and just the start of numerous species we can bring back to create a better, more habitable, and balanced world. I am beyond thrilled that such technologies are also being leveraged to support programs of preventing extinction in endangered species like the red wolf,” said Bridgett von Holdt, Princeton associate professor of Evolutionary Genomics and Epigenetics. Currently listed as critically endangered, fewer than 20 red wolves remain in North America, which makes them the most endangered wolves on the planet. Thousands of red wolves once roamed across most of eastern North America. But by 1960 they were nearly extinct. The Endangered Species Act and a captive breeding program have been critical to securing the reintroduction of red wolves back into the wild in eastern North Carolina. The Fish and Wildlife Service’s Red Wolf Recovery Program successfully grew the wild population to more than 120 wolves. When the program was halted in 2015, however, the population crashed to as few as seven wolves. In 2021 the program resumed, but red wolves have struggled to regain their numbers. One challenge has been to maintain genetic diversity among the captive and re-wilded population of red wolves, all of which descend from only 12 founder individuals. Adding Colossal’s red wolves to the captive breeding population would increase the number of founding lineages by 25%. “The dire wolf project is surreal and unreal at the same time. It’s recreating reality that stemmed from reality, from millennia ago. To think that in this day dire wolves aren’t just mythical illusions and tales told in movies that we believe may have had origins in reality…Now, we have the science and ingenuity to bring life back to once existing reality. Colossal is drastically changing the prognosis for countless endangered species around the world,” said Aurelia Skipwith, former director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife, in a statement. “The company’s work to combat extinction of the red wolf creates hope for so many other critically endangered species fighting for survival.” The research program for the dire wolf has also helped efforts to develop technologies for the red ‘ghost’ wolf, unique canids, found only on the gulf coast of Texas and Louisiana who carry lost DNA and biodiversity of the red wolf. Researchers Bridgett vonHoldt of Princeton University and Kristin Brzesk of Michigan Technological University lead the Gulf Coast Canine Project which aims to understand the genetic ancestry of the wild canines persisting along the Gulf Coast of the United States. They study how red wolf ancestry shapes morphology and behavior, and the support of Colossal has helped them accelerate their research through the inclusion of data from the red wolf genome, the assembly of a reference genome for the recovery population’s red wolves, and finally the creation of a pangenome for US native canids.The hope is that this work can set precedent for other species with a complicated genetic history, while also improving the capacity of conservation efforts for the red wolf, today. In addition to the challenges of reintroduction, the red wolf’s biggest threat of extinction comes from limited genetic diversity that resulted from the population’s bottleneck that occurred during its rapid decline. The technology and understanding developed through Colossal’s red ‘ghost’ wolf project has now unlocked additional genetic diversity and red wolf ancestry that can be a resource to create a genetic rescue program for the red wolf population. “The extinction crisis is a massive, mostly unattended, and growing worldwide problem. I applaud Colossal for taking bold and innovative steps to arrest and reverse the crisis by developing cutting edge genetic techniques to undergird reintroduction efforts of imperiled species. By collaborating with Dr. vonHoldt on red wolf recovery, Colossal creates potential to increase the genetic diversity of this species which exists only because of a captive population founded by a paltry 14 individuals. Perfecting genomic tools to integrate “ghost alleles” from Gulf Coast canids would increase red wolf genetic diversity and generate knowledge for recovering other imperiled species, like the bolson tortoise, that are compromised by restricted ranges and reduced genetic diversity.”- Mike Phillips, Director of the Turner Endangered Species Fund and project lead for rewilding gray wolves in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. From conservation to rewilding Colossal’s long term goal is for their red wolves to be re-wilded through current US conservation efforts in collaboration with the US government. “Colossal’s successful de-extinction of the dire wolf represents a massive coup for conservation,” said Matt James, Colossal’s Chief Animal Officer and Colossal Foundation Executive Director. “The technologies developed on the path to the dire wolf are already opening up new opportunities to rescue critically endangered canids. The creation of less-invasive sampling tools such as our EPC blood cloning platform allows for the conservation community to ramp up biobanking efforts of those species on the brink.” Colossal’s de-extinction mission always includes plans to rewild associated species in alignment with global conservation efforts. Research suggests that rewilding wolves can have massive impacts on factors that drive climate change and support biodiversity. Inspired by the US Fish and Wildlife’s bold efforts to rescue the red wolf from the brink of extinction, Colossal has created technological platforms to offer key tools to those in the fight to save the world’s most endangered wolf. “Today’s dire wolf announcement represents an exciting scientific step and demonstrates the power and possibilities of genetic technologies,” said Barney Long, Phd, Senior Director of Conservation Strategy for Re:Wild. These technologies will likely transform the conservation of critically endangered species that still exist, and we are excited to apply them to prevent extinctions. From restoring lost genes into small, inbred populations to inserting disease resistance into imperiled species, the genetic technologies being developed by Colossal have immense potential to greatly speed up the recovery of species on the brink of extinction.” Colossal will provide more information about the rescue of the red wolf and restoration of the dire wolf in the coming months following extensive feasibility studies, monitoring, and tracking of the health and well-being of the new species. “As someone who’s fascinated with canids—I’ve written about coyotes and wolves—the idea of being able to have dire wolves again is tremendously, personally exciting, and I think it’s going to be exciting to a lot of people. An organization like Colossal, to me, is one of the things that gives me hope. If I were looking 100 years out, I would say that we’re very likely to have animals once again that we thought were always gone—just as I once thought I was never going to get to hear a wolf howl… That was something I really never thought I’d have a chance to experience, and it became reality. And so, that makes me think that more and more, we’re going to get to experience what Henry David Thoreau lamented back in the 1850s—that he wasn’t getting to experience an entire heaven and an entire Earth. And I think that’s something to look forward to.” – Dan Flores, A. B. Hammond Professor Emeritus of the History of the American West at the University of Montana-Missoula Partnerships The effort to de-extinct the dire wolf, genetic rescue of the red wolf, and innovative gray wolf conservation programs are all made possible through Colossal’s collaborative work with a broad spectrum of Indigenous communities, conservation organizations, and scientific experts. Colossal extended its deepest gratitude to the MHA Nation, the Nez Perce Tribe, the Karankawa Tribe of Texas, Indigenous Led, and the Wind River Tribal Buffalo Initiative, whose ancestral knowledge and insights have guided the company’s efforts. Colossal Biosciences and the Colossal Foundation also thank the many conservation organizations whose expertise and passion fuel these initiatives, including the American Wolf Foundation, Re:wild, Conservation Nation, Gulf Coast Canid Project, International Coexistence Network, Wolf Connection, Grizzly Systems and the Yellowstone Wolf Project. Colossal was founded by emerging technology and software entrepreneur Ben Lamm and world-renowned geneticist and serial biotech entrepreneur George Church, and is the first to apply CRISPR technology for the purposes of species de-extinction. Colossal creates innovative technologies for species restoration, critically endangered species protection and the repopulation of critical ecosystems that support the continuation of life on Earth. Colossal is accepting humanity’s duty to restore Earth to a healthier state, while also solving for the future economies and biological necessities of the human condition through cutting-edge science and technologies. To follow along, please visit: www.colossal.com. GB Daily Stay in the know! Get the latest news in your inbox daily Read our Privacy Policy Thanks for subscribing. Check out more VB newsletters here. An error occured.

Michael Sarnoski reportedly attached to direct Death Stranding movie Sarnoski is known for directing A Quiet Place: Day One and Pig, is currently filming The Death of Robin Hood Image credit: Kojima Productions News by Sophie McEvoy Staff Writer Published on April 8, 2025 A Quiet Place: Day One's director Michael Sarnoski has reportedly been attached to helm the Death Stranding movie adaptation. According to Deadline, Sarnoski will also write the screenplay. Ari Aster and Lars Knudsen's Square Peg Films are allegedly set to join the project as a producer. The film adaptation of Death Stranding was announced in 2023, with the game's developer Kojima Productions partnering with film distributor A24. "Their presence is singular within the industry; they are like no other," studio founder Hideo Kojima said. "The films they are delivering to the world are high in quality and very innovative." "I have been attracted to their creations, and they have inspired my own work. Their innovative approach to storytelling aligns with what Kojima Productions has been doing for eight years. Now, we are making a Death Stranding movie together." Speaking to Variety last year, Kojima said he wouldn't be directing the film but would supervise the project. "I'll help by communicating with a director I really trust," he said. "There are several Death Stranding adaptation projects currently underway, but there is a different story I've written that's intended for a movie. But I don't have the time to direct it." Kojima Productions launched a division dedicated to music, television, and film in 2021. Released in 2019, Death Stranding features a star-studded cast including Norman Reedus, Mads Mikkelsen, Léa Seydoux, Guillermo del Toro, and Margaret Qualley. Its sequel, Death Stranding 2: On the Beach, was announced in 2022. The title is set to launch on June 26, 2025, with new characters portrayed by Ellie Fanning, Shioli Kutsuna, and Luca Marinelli.

Over the weekend, Meta dropped two new Llama 4 models: a smaller model named Scout, and Maverick, a mid-size model that the company claims can beat GPT-4o and Gemini 2.0 Flash “across a broad range of widely reported benchmarks.”Maverick quickly secured the number-two spot on LMArena, the AI benchmark site where humans compare outputs from different systems and vote on the best one. In Meta’s press release, the company highlighted Maverick’s ELO score of 1417, which placed it above OpenAI’s 4o and just under Gemini 2.5 Pro. (A higher ELO score means the model wins more often in the arena when going head-to-head with competitors.)The achievement seemed to position Meta’s open-weight Llama 4 as a serious challenger to the state-of-the-art, closed models from OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google. Then, AI researchers digging through Meta’s documentation discovered something unusual.In fine print, Meta acknowledges that the version of Maverick tested on LMArena isn’t the same as what’s available to the public. According to Meta’s own materials, it deployed an “experimental chat version” of Maverick to LMArena that was specifically “optimized for conversationality,” TechCrunch first reported.“Meta’s interpretation of our policy did not match what we expect from model providers,” LMArena posted on X two days after the model’s release. “Meta should have made it clearer that ‘Llama-4-Maverick-03-26-Experimental’ was a customized model to optimize for human preference. As a result of that, we are updating our leaderboard policies to reinforce our commitment to fair, reproducible evaluations so this confusion doesn’t occur in the future.“A spokesperson for Meta didn’t have a response to LMArena’s statement in time for publication.While what Meta did with Maverick isn’t explicitly against LMArena’s rules, the site has shared concerns about gaming the system and taken steps to “prevent overfitting and benchmark leakage.” When companies can submit specially-tuned versions of their models for testing while releasing different versions to the public, benchmark rankings like LMArena become less meaningful as indicators of real-world performance.”It’s the most widely respected general benchmark because all of the other ones suck,” independent AI researcher Simon Willison tells The Verge. “When Llama 4 came out, the fact that it came second in the arena, just after Gemini 2.5 Pro — that really impressed me, and I’m kicking myself for not reading the small print.”Shortly after Meta released Maverick and Scout, the AI community started talking about a rumor that Meta had also trained its Llama 4 models to perform better on benchmarks while hiding their real limitations. VP of generative AI at Meta, Ahmad Al-Dahle, addressed the accusations in a post on X: “We’ve also heard claims that we trained on test sets -- that’s simply not true and we would never do that. Our best understanding is that the variable quality people are seeing is due to needing to stabilize implementations.”“It’s a very confusing release generally.”Some also noticed that Llama 4 was released at an odd time. Saturday doesn’t tend to be when big AI news drops. After someone on Threads asked why Llama 4 was released over the weekend, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg replied: “That’s when it was ready.”“It’s a very confusing release generally,” says Willison, who closely follows and documents AI models. “The model score that we got there is completely worthless to me. I can’t even use the model that they got a high score on.”Meta’s path to releasing Llama 4 wasn’t exactly smooth. According to a recent report from The Information, the company repeatedly pushed back the launch due to the model failing to meet internal expectations. Those expectations are especially high after DeepSeek, an open-source AI startup from China, released an open-weight model that generated a ton of buzz.Ultimately, using an optimized model in LMArena puts developers in a difficult position. When selecting models like Llama 4 for their applications, they naturally look to benchmarks for guidance. But as is the case for Maverick, those benchmarks can reflect capabilities that aren’t actually available in the models that the public can access.As AI development accelerates, this episode shows how benchmarks are becoming battlegrounds. It also shows how Meta is eager to be seen as an AI leader, even if that means gaming the system.See More:

We’re multiple generations into PlayStation and Xbox having system-wide achievement systems in the form of Trophies and, well, Achievements. However, all this time, Nintendo refused to join the party. Of course, some had hoped that the upcoming Switch 2 would finally introduce something similar, but that’s not happening. The same was confirmed by Nintendo’s vice president of player and product experience Bill Trinen when asked by Polygon if the Switch 2 will finally have its equivalent of Xbox’s Achievements or PlayStation’s Trophies. “Nope,” he replied. Those hoping for a taste of achievements in Nintendo titles will still be able to do just that with the enhanced Switch 2 re-releases for The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom, but system-wide achievements will remain elusive, it seems. Given how Nintendo has operated over the years, it doesn’t exactly come as a shock. The Nintendo Switch 2 is set to launch on June 5, with pre-orders kicking off on April 9 everywhere except the US, thanks to the potential impact of pricing tariffs.

No need to dig through digital shelves this week; some sick deals have landed across all major platforms, with prices low enough to make your backlog quake in fear. Whether you're into lightsabers, loot, or just causing utter chaos as a goat, there’s something here to tempt all types of bargain hunters.This Day in Gaming 🎂In retro news, I'm celebrating S.W.A.T. 4's 20th birthday. My lasting memories of this Irrational Games shooter are of no checkpoints, having to abide by strict "baddies have to draw first" rules, and the randomisation of hostages and enemies (skill, numbers, arsenal, and morale). The spiritual successor to this, Ready or Not, is well worth targeting.This was the best swat game I'd played since Mario Paint's 'Gnat Attack'.Aussie bdays for notable games- S.W.A.T. 4 (PC) 2005. Get- Half-Minute Hero (PSP) 2010. eBay- Stealth Inc 2 (PC,PS3/4,XO) 2015. GetContentsNice Savings for Nintendo SwitchOver on the Nintendo Switch, Mortal Kombat 1 slices a whopping 60% off, down to just A$24. It’s the first in the series where Jean-Claude Van Damme actually voices Johnny Cage (only 30 years after they originally based the character on him). Meanwhile, Goat Simulator 3 is charging in at A$35, and yes, there was no Goat Simulator 2. Just one of many jokes baked into this gloriously chaotic goat-fest.Preorders openNintendo Switch 2 ConsoleRequires a free to make / cancel First Membership that provides free shipping.Switch Lite Console Hyrule Ed. (-12%) - A$299FC 25 (-62%) - A$35Mortal Kombat 1 (-60%) - A$24Goat Simulator 3 (-24%) - A$35Mysims: Cozy Bundle (-35%) - A$40Darkest Dungeon Ii (-20%) - A$48Bluey: The Videogame (-35%) - A$40GTA Trilogy Def. (-60%) - A$32Expiring Recent DealsOr gift a Nintendo eShop Card.Switch Console PricesHow much to Switch it up?Switch OLED + Mario Wonder: $̶5̶3̶9̶ $499 | Switch Original: $̶4̶9̶9̶ $448 | Switch OLED Black: $̶5̶3̶9̶ $448 | Switch OLED White: $̶5̶3̶9̶ $445 ♥ | Switch Lite: $̶3̶2̶9̶ $294 | Switch Lite Hyrule: $̶3̶3̶9̶ $335See itBack to topExciting Bargains for XboxXbox Series X fans can snag Remnant II for only A$20 (-75%), a roguelike shooter where even the developers get lost in its procedurally generated worlds. And Hogwarts Legacy drops its spellbinding price by 57% to A$48. Fun fact: the in-game ghosts have their own AI routines that let them “haunt” the castle even when you’re not around.Uh, the script says I'm supposed to bonk you with this. "I wouldn't." Right on!Monster Hunter Wilds (-14%) - A$100Hogwarts Legacy (-57%) - A$48Witcher 3: Complete Ed. (-46%) - A$44Remnant Ii (-75%) - A$20Wild Hearts (-83%) - A$20Xbox OneAce Combat 7 (-65%) - A$35Wolfenstein: The Old Blood (-62%) - A$16Carrion (-75%) - A$8Scribblenauts Mega Pack (-90%) - A$5No Man's Sky (-60%) - A$36Expiring Recent DealsOr just invest in an Xbox Card.Xbox Console PricesHow many bucks for a 'Box? Series X: $̶7̶9̶9̶ $749 👑| Series S Black: $̶5̶4̶9̶ $545 | Series S White:$̶4̶9̶9̶ $498 | Series S Starter: N/ASee itBack to topPure Scores for PlayStationAnd on PS5, Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order is slashed to A$27 (-61%). Its saber-tastic combat system? Partly inspired by Sekiro. For just A$20, Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League might not have rocked every review, but it does let you fight Superman with a boomerang. Enough said.PS4Expiring Recent DealsPS+ Monthly FreebiesYours to keep from Apr 1 with this subscriptionRoboCop: Rogue City | PS5The Texas Chain Saw Massacre | PS4/5Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth HM | PS4Or purchase a PS Store Card.What you'll pay to 'Station.PS5 + Astro Bot:$̶7̶9̶9̶ $679👑 | PS5 Slim Disc:$̶7̶9̶9̶ $798 | PS5 Slim Digital:6̶7̶9̶ $678 | PS5 Pro $1,199 | PS VR2: $649.95 | PS VR2 + Horizon: $1,099 | PS Portal: $329See itBack to topPurchase Cheap for PCOver on PC, Baldur's Gate 3 sits at A$72 (-20%), and it’s worth every cent. And for something quirkier, the newly updated Braid, Anniversary Edition is just A$8 (-75%). The game’s creator, Jonathan Blow, built his own programming language just to remaster it. That’s my kind of dedication.Expiring Recent DealsOr just get a Steam Wallet CardPC Hardware PricesSlay your pile of shame.Official launch in NovSteam Deck 256GB LCD: $649 | Steam Deck 512GB OLED: $899 | Steam Deck 1TB OLED: $1,049See it at SteamLaptop DealsApple 2024 MacBook Air 15-inch (-12%) – A$2,197Lenovo ThinkPad E14 Gen 5 (-36%) - A$879Lenovo ThinkBook 16 Gen7 (-27%) - A$1,018Desktop DealsHP OMEN 35L Gaming (-10%) – A$2,799Lenovo ThinkCentre neo Ultra (-25%) - A$2,249Lenovo ThinkCentre neo 50q (-35%) – A$629Monitor DealsLG 24MR400-B, 24" (-30%) - A$97Z-Edge 27" 240Hz (-15%) - A$279Samsung 57" Odyssey Neo Curved (-22%) – A$2,499Component DealsStorage DealsBack to topLegit LEGO DealsExpiring Recent DealsBack to topHot Headphones DealsAudiophilia for lessSamsung Galaxy Buds2 Pro (-49%) – A$179Sony WH-CH520 Wireless (-27%) - A$73SoundPEATS Space (-25%) - A$56.99Technics Premium (-36%) - A$349Back to topTerrific TV DealsDo right by your console, upgrade your tellySamsung S95D 77" OLED 4K (-19%) - A$6,499LG 43" UT80 4K (-23%) - A$693Kogan 65" QLED (-50%) – A$699Back to top Adam Mathew is our Aussie deals wrangler. He plays practically everything, often on YouTube.

Warning: contains spoilers for The Handmaid’s Tale season 6 episode 1. Hallelujah! And again, hallelujah! Something unambiguously good has happened to June Osborne. After Canada turned out not to be the promised land, she was forced apart from Luke again, and her escape chute slammed her with pinpoint accuracy into the person she’d spent most of last season trying to murder (and vice-versa), June finally got a win.  “Mommies always come back”, June cooed to baby Noah in the episode’s opening scene, and she was right. Her mom Holly, assumed to have died in the Colonies, came back. I’d add a third hallelujah but this is The Handmaid’s Tale, where optimism is rarely rewarded. Let’s keep our yippees to a whisper for fear of alerting this show’s powers-that-be, who might send a Gileadean air strike to that Alaskan camp just to cancel out the good vibes. This Elisabeth Moss-directed episode did not keep its celebrations to a whisper. June and Holly’s reunion was presented with a sweeping romantic score, soaring camera and all the emotion of… well, a mother and daughter separated for seven years by wartime. The full-fat satisfaction of that ending was earned after years of watching June suffer degradations of various magnitudes, and at the end of a tense episode filled with the threat of violence. June was always going to push Serena off that train. The fact that she did it to save her was the surprise. The gap between last season’s cliffhanger meeting and this episode’s opening scene of June blissfully cradling baby Noah with no Serena in sight, in fact, made me wonder if she’d already done it. Hi Serena. Bye Serena?  But no, having lost herself in the ecstasy of salvaging Fred, June has learned that bloody revenge may feel great in the moment, but it doesn’t heal deep wounds. Only grace, such as she offered a labouring Serena in a cow shed, can do that. That’s why June didn’t join the baying mob in tearing Serena limb from limb, but stood against them.  A little further along her recovery journey than the train’s other passengers, she knows that more violence against women and children, and another baby torn from its mother’s arms, isn’t the answer. From the moment the train doctor’s memory was jogged to the point that he publicly named her, the tension built beautifully and really made the most of the claustrophobic carriage setting. The whole sequence was filmed like a zombie movie – the women who’d been swapping Gilead war stories with Serena moments before became rampaging creatures ready to rip her apart when they realised who she really was. By the time the would-be attackers were clawing at the door glass, their transformation into wild beasts was complete.  Before that turn, all of the episode’s drama and entertainment had to come from a single source: June’s deep well of antipathy for Serena meeting Serena’s robotic pronouncements on the sunlit uplands towards which they were heading, praise be. Thanks to our familiarity with these well-written and even better-acted characters, that turned out to be plenty. Their double-act was compelling, and even funny. Serena’s clueless attachment and attempts at fellow-feeling coming up against June’s ‘WTF lady?’ boundary setting made for good viewing.  Serena’s key character moment in the episode though, was the bitter outburst she made when cornered. A dumber show might have made that Serena’s epiphany, in which she’d look around at the suffering caused by Gilead, realise her wrongdoing and plead for forgiveness. Not The Handmaid’s Tale. Nika Castillo and Bruce Miller’s script knew that under pressure, fundamentalists gonna fundamental, and that’s exactly what Serena did. “Your children were saved!”, “God took your country away!” she screamed, revealing the snarling teeth beneath her wishy-washy “It seems that all of us here were at some point involved in some kind of violence” support group platitudes. Serena’s outpouring was intense even for Gilead, to judge by the scene between Nick and his father-in-law High Commander Wharton – a new character for this season. A powerful DC commander responsible for God knows how many atrocities, Wharton came across as surprisingly chill. His language was relaxed, and his attitude to Nick – who’d just spent a night in jail after punching out Commander Lawrence – was casual and almost modern. No hellfire and brimstone there, at least not on the surface. Nick’s new spying-for-the-US gig will clearly be extra dangerous though, under his eye. Speaking of danger, we don’t know what Holly has gone through to get to that Alaskan outpost. The last we’d seen her face was in a photograph of “un-women” condemned to toxic agricultural work in the Colonies, used in a Red Centre training slideshow. That picture was proof to June that her mother didn’t get to Canada and was now almost certainly dead. It turns out though, that June isn’t the only exceptionally tough woman in her family; Holly also survived and escaped Gilead. Could she even have been the “really smart doctor who gave a shit” mentioned by the woman on the train? That certainly sounds like Holly – an activist and feminist who saw Gilead coming long before June did. Join our mailing list Get the best of Den of Geek delivered right to your inbox! What next for Holly (the name originally given to little Nichole) and June, and for season six’s ‘rescue Hannah’ mission statement? Let’s not take a single step into their future right now, filled as it likely is with peril. Let’s do what the episode did and leave them both in that smiling, I-can’t-believe-it embrace. Something good happened to June Osborne, finally. Hallelujah.  The Handmaid’s Tale season six episodes one to three are available to stream now on Hulu in the US. Episode four arrives on Tuesday April 15. The new season will air on Channel 4 in the UK at a later date.

For those who enjoy getting lost in expansive fantasy worlds, games like Genshin Impact continue to amaze players who love the thrill of a good RPG. Thanks to its colorful cast of unlockable characters and vibrant art style, Genshin Impact left quite an impression on players when it originally launched back in 2020. With players particularly loving the premise of "here's a world, go explore"--combined with the fact it's free and has plenty to unlock--Genshin Impact has solidified itself as one of the best free gacha games to try right now.While it certainly wasn't the first game of its type, Genshin Impact has influenced games over the years thanks to its innovative approach to open-world design and gacha elements. Similarly, there are older titles that influenced it which are also certainly worth checking out. Below you'll find a selection of games we've picked that are like Genshin Impact, either because they adapt and evolve the game's core gacha mechanics or that they simply evoke a similar feeling or vibe. While you may always feel the draw of Teyvat calling you back, there are certainly plenty of other games that you should dip your toes into.Of course, be sure to also check out the best open-world games and best free games to play in 2025 too, if you want even more options to fill your backlog. Wuthering WavesDeveloper: Kuro GamesRelease Date: May 22, 2024Platforms: iOS, Android, PC, PS5Price: FreeWhen Wuthering Waves was first released in 2024, it was able to capture a core of Genshin Impact players due to the similar gacha mechanics on show. After four years, Genshin Impact players were simply ready for a change in the formula, which is what makes Wuthering Waves' approach to combat so enticing. Intro and Outro skills gives it a little extra depth over Genshin's action, while being able to collect and use Echoes from defeated bosses makes overcoming each challenge feel all the more rewarding. As a result, it feels a lot more challenging to get to grips with early on, but it does make a refreshing change of pace for any players looking for a Genshin Impact alternative. See at Steam Honkai: Star RailDeveloper: MiHoYoRelease Date: April 26, 2023Platforms: iOS, Android, PC, PS5Price: FreeWe're probably not getting a real Genshin Impact sequel for quite some time, if ever. However, MiHoYo's Honkai: Star Rail has served as an excellent spiritual successor that does enough things differently to let both games sit cozily alongside one another. The grind feels a lot more forgiving, largely due to the auto-battle system and easier leveling. On the whole, menus feel a lot cleaner to navigate when compared to Genshin Impact, making it feel much more streamlined. Plus, Honkai: Star Rail swaps out real-time combat for turn-based, which makes it an excellent fit for mobile gaming. If your session is ever interrupted, such as losing internet connection or immediately needing to put your phone away, you'll have an easier time picking up exactly where you left off. We'd recommend Honkai: Star Rail to players who were put off by Genshin Impact's grind and leveling tedium. See at Hoyoverse The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild / Tears of the KingdomDeveloper: NintendoRelease Date: March 3, 2017 / May 12, 2023Platforms: Wii U, Nintendo SwitchPrice: $69.99Since not everyone may enjoy gacha systems, but may like other elements of Genshin Impact's gameplay, we'll throw in a few non-gacha games onto this list too. And one common comparison you'll see made to Genshin is The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (and its sequel, Tears of the Kingdom). These two games are often compared to Genshin due to their similar world designs and emphasis on player freedom. Both also have similar ways of traversal, with running, climbing, gliding, and other mechanics drawing comparisons between both games. Some of the enemies in Genshin Impact even resemble those in Zelda. What sets them apart is how they tell their stories. Genshin is a lot more narrative-heavy, with lots of cutscenes and dialogue, while The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild prefers to throw you into its world and let you figure things out for yourself. Still, the inspiration here is clear, making Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom must-plays for any Genshin Impact fan. See at Amazon Persona 5 / Persona 5 RoyalDeveloper: P-StudioRelease Date: September 15, 2016 / October 31, 2019Platforms: PC, PS3, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo SwitchPrice: $19.99 / $59.99Genshin Impact's overarching story, multiple character arcs and unravelling mystery is one of its best features, and players wanting more of that kind of stuff should certainly check out the Persona series. More specifically, Persona 5 (or its expanded version Persona 5 Royal) would be the best one to start with. The anime art style combined with the developing relationships of the characters makes Persona 5 a decent Genshin alternative. Since it's a fully paid title, it also lacks gacha mechanics, which may be a plus to anyone who likes some aspects of Genshin Impact but has been turned off by the monetization model. See at Amazon Zenless Zone ZeroDeveloper: MiHoYoRelease Date: July 4, 2024Platforms: iOS, Android, PC, PS5Price: FreeMiHoyo's Zenless Zone Zero is the most recent entry to the HoYoverse games. Like Persona, it's an urban fantasy with this cool analog retro aesthetic at its core. Compared to Genshin Impact, the story moves a lot faster and the game is far less concerned with having you grind through the same menial tasks over a long period of time. In fact, it's probably the best of the HoYoverse games to respect your time. While Genshin Impact players may miss the vibrant open world of Teyvat, Zenless Zone Zero's New Eridu is brimming with details and interesting narrative droplets that uncover as the story progresses. The pacing improvements also carry over into combat, where it's more about getting into the enemy's face and stylishly dealing as much damage as possible compared to Genshin Impact's more methodical open-world RPG approach. See at Hoyoverse Honkai Impact 3rdDeveloper: MiHoYoRelease Date: October 14, 2016Platforms: iOS, Android, PCPrice: FreeIf Honkai Star Rail isn't to your tastes, we'd also recommend Honkai Impact 3rd as a fun Genshin Impact alternative. It's a more traditional RPG with gacha mechanics, and feels a lot faster-paced compared to Genshin. For starters, there isn't an open world for the first part of the game, adopting a more linear mission-based structure. The combat also has a more hack-and-slash style, with battles fought in tight arenas against larger powerful bosses. So there's less running around and getting sidetracked, and more time focusing on your immediate task using your available skills and team combinations. Thanks to the Part 2 expansion from 2024, the game has also received a more limited open world to explore once you hit the later parts of the story. We'd recommend checking it out if you played Honkai Impact 3rd in its early days or want a fresh break from Genshin Impact. See at Steam Tower of FantasyDeveloper: Hotta StudioRelease Date: 16 December 2021Platforms: iOS, Android, PC, PS4, PS5Price: FreeWhat immediately sets Tower of Fantasy apart from Genshin Impact is it gives you the ability to create and customize your own character from the beginning, as opposed to giving you a roster of pre-determined characters. You can tweak your face, hair, clothing, and even body shape. This extends to the team building aspect too, where instead of swapping between characters in your squad during combat, you're actually swapping between their weapons. So the gacha system becomes more about collecting weapons than characters. Besides that, you'll find the action to be somewhere between Genshin Impact's open-world RPG combat and Honkai Impact 3rd's hack-and-slash style. Gacha players will be familiar with Tower of Fantasy's gameplay loop, but it's also probably one of the more distinct entries on this list due to how personalized the main playable character feels. See at Steam PalworldDeveloper: PocketpairRelease Date: January 19, 2024Platforms: PC, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, PS5Price: $29.99Another example of a non-gacha-style game that might appeal to Genshin Impact players, Palworld is an open-world survival game centered around collecting "Pals"--Pokemon-like creatures with their own unique traits and abilities. The visuals feel like something between Pokemon and Genshin Impact, and there are also more comparisons you can make to the HoYoverse. For starters, you can hatch eggs that contain random Pals, and these Pals can have positive or negative traits. The random-pull nature of this gives it a gacha-like quality, adding to the overall randomness of the game. While it's not completely gacha, since you can't use real currency to buy them, the similarities are there that we felt it was a necessary addition to this list. See at Steam Sky: Children of the LightDeveloper: ThatgamecompanyRelease Date: July 18, 2019Platforms: iOS, Android, PC, PS4, Nintendo SwitchPrice: FreeKnown for its action-free titles that foster emotional responses in players, Thatgamecompany's Sky: Children of the Light is set in a fallen kingdom where players have to release ancient spirits so they can return home. Like Genshin Impact, there are multiple in-game currencies that make up the gacha elements, with each one corresponding to items, abilities, or gifts. There's also a huge social component here too, as Sky: Children of the Light lets you befriend other players and interact by sending them gifts. The game's mystery combined with its beautiful open world makes it a decent sidegrade for any Genshin Impact players who desire a more peaceful experience. While there might not be enough here to keep you playing for days upon days, it's fun to check in every so often to see the new seasonal content released for it. See at Steam Reverse: 1999Developer: BluepochRelease Date: May 31, 2023Platforms: iOS, Android, PCPrice: FreeLike Genshin Impact, Reverse: 1999 is another free gacha game with an interesting story at the heart of it. With some top-notch writing and voice acting, the game has come through hard times following a rough launch plagued with performance and localization issues. Now, it's in a much better state. Don't expect it to be an open world like Genshin Impact, though, as each part of the narrative more or less takes place on these 2D stages which advance the story. However, the card-shuffling mechanics are an interesting addition to the genre, giving it a more relaxed and tactical feel. Just try to unlearn everything Genshin Impact has taught you, because min-maxing is less of a thing here. Instead, it rewards smart play and careful planning. See at Steam Xenoblade ChroniclesDeveloper: Monolith SoftRelease Date: 10 June 2010Platforms: Nintendo Wii, 3DS, SwitchPrice: $59.99We'd recommend Xenoblade Chronicles, or any of its sequels for that matter, to Genshin Impact players for the same reason we've recommended a few others on this list. Like Genshin, you explore this beautiful open world with some absolutely breathtaking locations, with the amount of freedom you'd come to expect from a modern action-RPG. Completing quests and going out of your way to explore the world feels extremely rewarding, as you're always encouraged to dig deep through these large environments for any interesting items or collectibles. While the series as a whole isn't in the gacha genre, it's worth noting that its sequel, Xenoblade Chronicles 2, has some gacha-like systems, where using Crystals to obtain randomly pulled Blades becomes a core focus of the experience. See at Amazon Granblue Fantasy: RelinkDeveloper: Osaka CygamesRelease Date: February 1, 2024Platforms: PC, PS4, PS5Price: $59.99Granblue Fantasy: Relink moves away from the gacha systems that made up its earlier games, giving us a premium $60 experience with no characters or abilities locked behind a massive paywall. Unlike Genshin Impact, there are no strings attached here, so you buy once and can play through the full thing from start to finish. It'll take you about 20-25 hours to complete, so it's also not a huge timesink compared to other RPGs, and you certainly won't be sacrificing months of your life to it like you might with Genshin Impact. Considering the series' heavy gacha origins, Granblue Fantasy: Relink might be a good option for Genshin Impact players to check out. If Relink isn't your jam, there's always the original mobile game too. See at Amazon Infinity NikkiDeveloper: PapergamesRelease Date: 5 December 2024Platforms: iOS, Android, PC, PS5Price: FreeFor the fashion enthusiasts here, Infinity Nikki is all about dressing up and going on adventures. Like Genshin Impact, you'll be exploring a big open world with plenty of secrets and tasks to complete. Platforming and puzzle-solving is also a huge component, giving the game a lot of freedom in how you choose to play. Unlocking new outfits (either by finding outfits or obtaining them through the gacha system) will give you more abilities and upgrades, and these also come in handy during combat. Sometimes you'll be fighting actual monsters, or instead choosing the right outfit to take on an opponent in a "Stylist Duel." Infinity Nikki can certainly feel very grindy at times. You need to gather materials, craft outfits, and upgrade them. But it's also a great option for Genshin Impact fans who want to play a more fashion-oriented gacha game. See at Steam Metaphor: ReFantazioDeveloper: Studio ZeroRelease Date: October 11, 2024Platforms: PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox Series X|SPrice: $69.99While Metaphor: ReFantazio is another premium JRPG with no gacha elements, the mystery and politics central to its plot is something Genshin Impact players may find enticing. With there being plenty of hidden secrets to find and dungeons to crawl, players who love exploring Teyvat in Genshin Impact may also find Metaphor's Euchronia equally interesting. After nearly a decade in the making, Studio Zero's designers clearly saw the creative art featured in games like Genshin Impact and The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and let it inspire them. With its narrative and themes so cleverly interwoven with the rest of the game, it's one of the best RPGs we can recommend today, having received a rare 10/10 in GameSpot's review and being named our 2024 Game of the Year. See at Amazon