html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40/loose.dtd" A recent render created using LuxCoreRender shared on the open-source renderer’s Instagram account. The LuxCoreRender team has released version 2.10 of the open-source physically based renderer and BlendLuxCore, its Blender integration plugin.The update – the first stable release in over three years – puts development “back on track”, adding support for the Blender 4 releases, and for Apple Silicon Macs. A hybrid CPU/GPU unbiased render engine, formerly known as LuxRender Formerly known as LuxRender, and rebooted in 2018, LuxCoreRender is an alternative to Blender’s native Cycles renderer, particularly for product and architectural visualization. It’s a physically based render engine with a range of production features and, as of LuxCoreRender 2.0, supports hybrid rendering on CPUs and GPUs. Now compatible with Blender 4.x, and available for Apple Silicon Macs LuxCoreRender 2.10 is the first stable version of the software in over three years: while there have been some experimental updates, the last stable release was LuxCoreRender 2.6.Development then stalled after several of the original key developers left the project. According to the release announcement, the 2.10 release is mainly intended to put development “back on track”. While it doesn’t introduce major new features, it makes the software compatible with the current Blender 4.x releases, and makes it “ready for new development work”. LuxCore Python bindings are now available as wheels on PyPi, making it easier for third-party developers to integrate the renderer into their software. The update also makes LuxCoreRender available for a greater range of platforms: as well as Windows, Linux and Intel Macs, it now runs current Macs with Apple Silicon processors. For GPU acceleration, the software still uses CUDA on NVIDIA hardware, and OpenCL elsewhere: it doesn’t currently use Apple’s Metal API when running on macOS. License and system requirements LuxCoreRender 2.10 is available under an Apache 2.0 licence for Windows, Linux and macOS. BlendLuxCore 2.10 is compatible with Blender 4.2 and 4.3. The experimental 3ds Max integration plugin, MaxToLux, has not been updated, and is no longer available on the downloads page of the LuxCoreRender website. Read more about the new features in LuxCoreRender 2.10 in the release announcement Download LuxCoreRender and BlendLuxCore Have your say on this story by following CG Channel on Facebook, Instagram and X (formerly Twitter). As well as being able to comment on stories, followers of our social media accounts can see videos we don’t post on the site itself, including making-ofs for the latest VFX movies, animations, games cinematics and motion graphics projects.

Enchant is launching a new zero-equity accelerator for gaming and AI startups, with applications now open for its three-month program. The accelerator is dedicated to early-stage teams at the crossroads of gaming and artificial intelligence. Founded by veterans of Sony, Supercell, EA, Ubisoft and Playrix, the fully remote program gives founders hands-on product sprints, weekly one-on-one sessions with industry leaders and direct access to a global investor network — while letting every startup keep 100 percent of its cap-table. Enchant backs companies building games, gaming-industry tools, AI products and Web3 experiences. By stripping away office requirements and equity grabs, the accelerator concentrates on rapid product iteration, real-world traction and warm introductions to publishers, VCs and strategic partners, said Eugenii Unegovskiy, cofounder of Enchant, in an interview with GamesBeat. Rolling admission, personal start date Enchant is taking applications for its zero-equity accelerator. The program is an intensive 12-week track that begins the day a team is accepted. Founders apply whenever they’re ready; there is no need to wait for fixed cohorts. From day one, each company follows a milestone roadmap that includes product deep-dives, go-to-market workshops and Demo-Day preparation. “Founders shouldn’t have to wait for a calendar slot,” said Unegovskiy. “Acceptance triggers day-one sprints, live play-tests and build reviews shoulder-to-shoulder with veterans from triple-A studios. It’s real co-building, not classroom mentoring, and it means products hit the market in weeks, not months.” “Zero-equity is a strong benefit, with an even bigger advantage being a clean cap table that helps early gaming and AI teams close future rounds faster,” added Aakash Parameswaran, CEO of Fable Fox, a former Game Designer at Electronic Arts and an expert in Enchant, in a statement. “From refining core loops to designing live-service economies, we work in the trenches so founders stay player-first and ship games investors can trust.” Why zero-equity matters Enchant is taking flat fees for its work. Keeping the cap-table clean at the earliest stage helps founders retain control and stay more attractive for future Seed and Series A rounds, when dilution stakes are far larger. It also lets Enchant operate purely on the startup’s success, aligning incentives around product wins and fundraising milestones. Applications are reviewed on a rolling basis, and accepted teams can start immediately. Unegovskiy said that while running demo days for game startups at Subscrible, he realized something crucial: most early-stage founders don’t fail because the product is weak — they fail because the business around it isn’t ready. No go-to-market, no monetization strategy, no clear idea how much money they need — or why. “That’s why I teamed up with folks from Supercell, Ubisoft, Sony, EA, King, Xsolla, and Oracle — many of whom I’m sure you know or have crossed paths with — along with the creators of Tetris, Angry Birds, and Cut the Rope, to launch Enchant, a new kind of accelerator for gaming and AI startups,” Unegovskiy said. Without cohorts or equity, the company will provide focused support that helps founders move forward. “We help with pitch training, fundraising prep, GTM and monetization strategy, grant and UA support, legal and marketing guidance — plus access to tools, credits, and partner services worth over $500,000 (cloud credits, analytics, dev tools, etc.),” Unegovskiy said. “It’s a simple model: small monthly fee + a success fee if we help a team raise or grow — no early dilution.” The team includes Tim Horton, an experienced gaming executive with 16+ years in leadership, business development, and partnerships within the global gaming industry. Horton helps optimize operations, drive growth, and deliver high-quality projects in mobile gaming, triple-A art, console porting, and game development. Sutton Trout specializes in leadership/strategic partnerships/business development/goal attainment and revenue. He is an action-oriented leader with 20 years of experiences in games and entertainment. He has worked at Supercell, Sony and WB Games. And he helped with complex projects and major launches like Hogwarts Legacy. Also on the team is Andrey Feinberg (Kuznetsov), former CIO at GDEV and Nexters. He has more than 10 years of experience in gaming, tech, and internet industries. He helped closed 40+ deals worth over $800 million, and he is now an independent advisor focused on fundraising, M&A, and strategy for gaming and interactive entertainment companies. Unegovskiy is one of the experts, as he is a six-time founder with experience in game development and AI. Other experts include Amir Shaked, Igor Diev, Jun Qian, Oded Lavie, Martin Hoszowski, Kevin Beardslee, Yosef Warburg, Wes Harris, Elvis Fernandes, Han Lee, Faisal Nazir, Tim Gerritsen, Hovav Shoshan, Igor Bazhanov, Cipto Adiguno, Casey Dickinson, Rosario Basilotta, Aakash Parameswaran, Mariam Japaridze and Eugene Volikov. Enchant expert Aakash Parameswaran, CEO of Fable Fox. By not taking a stake in the company, Unegovskiy said the company focuses on working side-by-side with founders to improve everything from pitch to revenue strategy. It takes a flat monthly fee, plus a success fee if it helps a team raise money or grow. The fee is typically 5% to 10% of the raised amount or a share of revenue growth. “We also reserve the right to invest in future rounds on founder-friendly terms — aligned with long-term support, not short-term ownership,” said Unegovskiy. He also said mentors and advisserss are similiarly aligned to the startup’s success.The focus of games and AI at Enchant. The company just opened applications and are starting to see a diverse mix of early-stage founders — from game studios to AI-tool builders, across multiple regions. A significant share of interest is coming from projects working at the intersection of gaming and AI — blending creative ambition with scalable infrastructure. “We’re seeing strong indicators that the next wave of gaming startups will be deeply technical, globally minded, and looking for business-first support without early dilution,” Unegovskiy said. 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.

Peter Molyneux on Masters of Albion progress and the influence of Fable on his new game GamesIndustry.biz catches up with the creator of Fable and Black & White at Nordic Game 2025 Image credit: 22cans Feature by Samuel Roberts Editorial Director Published on May 22, 2025 Peter Molyneux was typically charming and emotional during his fireside chat at Nordic Game 2025 in Malmö this week, discussing his past work at the studios Bullfrog, Lionhead, and even the legendary doomed Kinect project Milo and Kate. Molyneux is a complicated figure for some (in games media circles, that's certainly the case), but the response in the room was incredibly warm. There is perhaps an understanding from the creator of Dungeon Keeper and Fable that the game has to do the talking this time. That said, as usual, Molyneux couldn't hide his excitement for what's coming next. Following last year's in-depth chat about upcoming god game Masters of Albion, as well as his negative experiences with the press, GamesIndustry.biz caught up with Molyneux about how development on the game is progressing ahead of his talk. This interview has been edited for brevity and clarity. How is Masters of Albion going? I've got to say this, but it's going to get me in trouble: every atom of my being believes we're making a great game. I bullied, persuaded, and blackmailed a lot of the old people that I worked with, like Russell Shaw, Mark Healey and Ian Wright, Kareem Ettouney, to come back and do one last gig. And it's incredible. There is a magic that we used to have, when we created Dungeon Keeper and Black and White and Fable, and that magic was completely intangible. It's not something you can produce. But it really feels that magic is back. And I'm not saying that to you to hype the game – I'm only saying so you get a perspective of how I'm feeling about the game. It should be impossible to make this game. It's all about player freedom, it's all about asking ourselves what a god game is, what it should be, and what it should stand for. But: it's f*cking working. It's coming together. If you can play the game, it is something that in my mind, feels – and again, these are words that play out in my mind, this is not me hyping the title – but it feels fresh, and different, and new, and it feels, above all, insanely brave. It's exactly what I wanted it to be: it's a marriage of Dungeon Keeper, and Black & White, and Fable, and it's all [of] that put together. And how the hell does that work? It's only now, really, in the last year, that I've dared to hope that this weird mixture of game mechanics can actually blend into something unique and different. When you're working again with all these previous collaborators, does it feel like it used to, or with time and experience, does the dynamic feel a little bit different? There is this trust. There is this overwhelming trust that you have. I'm not telling Mark [Healey] what to do; you don't tell Mark what to do, he is a genius. You just show him, and he does the rest. I don't say, 'we should have this type of music, or we should have these sound effects' with Russell Shaw; he just takes what I make and he adds his genius to it. And that dynamic, I didn't dare hope would work again, but it is working. We've got 24 people, because I love working with small teams. Then to work with other people on the team that I've worked with for ten years, to see them embrace this thing that we're creating, is just wonderful. I'm working harder now than I worked in my twenties. Every moment of every day is spent on the game, and thinking about it. But that sort of focus is what you need. Image credit: 22cans How does it feel to be in the weeds of designing a game now versus 20 or 30 years ago? It's funny you should ask that question, because there is this realisation that I had a while back. Journalists always ask me, 'you're working on an RTS one minute, you're working on a god game another minute, you're working on a roleplaying [game] another minute, where's the consistency?' I think I've realised that the consistency is the experience that the player has. What we're really trying to do is create an experience. And for me, that started back when we created a game called Magic Carpet, years and years ago. Let me give you an example of what I mean by an experience. At that time in the industry, Doom and Quake and Wolfenstein were around, and we had that tech to do an indoor shooter just like those. And we would've made a shitload of money, and maybe even created a franchise. But instead, my bastard and half-insane mind said, 'no. Let's not do that. Wouldn't it be fantastically cool to experience flying? Like, flying on a magic carpet? Okay, you shoot things, but [while] flying on a magic carpet.' That's when I first realised, I think, that for me as a designer, it's more about the player's experience than it is about the mechanics. Traditionally, if you're making an RTS game, the first thing you do as a designer is you write down all your units, work out your attack skills, and you have your design bible, and you give that to the programming team. That's not the way we approach it, and that's definitely not the way we approached it with Masters [of Albion], and we didn't approach it [that way] with Fable, or Black & White, or any of those games. So, the short answer to your question is, it feels so familiar to the way we used to work, and that is stumbling through the darkness looking for the daylight as you're developing the game. Trying things out, throwing things away, obsessing. Going, 'that's the heart of the game; no, actually that isn't the heart of the game, let's throw that away'. So in that sense it's incredibly familiar. It's very, very chaotic. Those people that we do employ who have worked elsewhere, after they've been working with us for a week, just look defeated. 'Tell me what to do, and I'll do it really well.' You miss the point: it's not what to do, it's how we embrace what [comes from that process]. You're launching the game in Early Access. How does the process of building a roadmap look for you, when you're very conscious of not overpromising? I think the real time for a roadmap is when you're in Early Access. I'm never going to lose this creative friction that happens, but if you've got a live product, and we have experience of this now, because we still have two live-service products [at 22cans] – Godus and Betrayal, which are both very successful. You can think creatively, and you absolutely should think creatively, but you've got to be a little bit more predictable, because you're no longer just throwing a schedule away, you're throwing away what people are anticipating. So I think the time for a roadmap, the time to be predictive about what we're releasing and share that with the community, that's soon coming up. The Dungeon Keeper and Black & White influences on Masters of Albion are really clear. Can you talk more about how the Fable influence manifests in the game? The way I think of it is like making a soup. I can put potatoes in, and I can put leeks in – and it's going to be a leek and potato soup. Then I can put strange other ingredients in, and it tastes like nothing I've ever tasted before. That's how I think about Masters of Albion. We have got bits from Dungeon Keeper; there's a core mechanic in the game that's absolutely inspired by Dungeon Keeper. We've got very visible things from Black & White, like the hand and reaching into the world, and this godlike feeling, caring for things and nurturing things, absolutely from Black & White. But Fable: that's where the main focus comes from, because the entire narrative, the entire world, the openness of the world, the freedom which Fable gave you as a player, absolutely is embraced [here fully]. We've just done some user tests – I shouldn't say any of this stuff – using a company over in America. And the first thing that came back is, 'oh my god, I'm playing Fable.' That was such a wonderful moment for me. That's what they said when they first started playing it. And then they said, 'no no, it doesn't remind me of Fable, it reminds me of Black & White.' It is a blend, but that blend, just like that soup analogy, is something new, fresh and different. GamesIndustry.biz is a media partner for Nordic Game 2025. Travel and accommodation were covered by the organisers.

At last month’s rapturously received Slate debut, it took an executive’s quip that “Slate” and “Tesla” use the same 5 letters to shift my brain into high gear. I’ve covered the EV world for 15-plus years, and I virtually never spend time on counterfactuals. There’s quite enough to cover in the real world.But … I’m of the opinion Tesla could, and should, have launched a small, simple, cheap compact pickup truck—in other words, what Slate debuted—rather than the pickup it did produce, the Cybertruck. That expensive and polarizing vehicle has been, to put it bluntly, a sales disaster. Over 18 months, Tesla has sold only about 50,000, versus projections of many times that volume. Worse, while EV crossover utilities sell tens of thousands a month, the more expensive EV pickup trucks to date have not. The path not takenThe company that led the world in EV production for more than a decade could have launched an inexpensive small pickup that would have democratized EVs to a whole new class of buyers. Tesla likely could have offered more range at the same price due to its in-house battery cell production. And it would have been a global product, likely to be sold in Europe and China from launch.Most important, it would have given Tesla the $25,000 EV that CEO Elon Musk had promised since 2020—and simultaneously pioneered a new vehicle in a “white space” in the market where no other entry existed. Now, Tesla is no longer targeting a $25,000 EV: Musk abruptly said in October 2024 the company had walked away from the ”$25,000 Tesla” idea entirely. He went on to suggest the idea of selling any $25,000 Tesla that wasn’t a robotaxi was both “pointless” and “silly.”Why exactly should Tesla have done a Slate? I see four factors: first and foremost, the hugely appealing idea of a truly affordable EV. Tesla could well have made a small, cheap EV pickup a huge hit, given its existing assembly plants, lower-cost batteries, plus the chance to sell globally right out of the box.A “$25,000 EV” to catapult Tesla into the major leaguesThe excitement over an unexpected product from an unknown maker likely reflects intense market desire for truly affordable EVs. That was historically what Tesla intended to do, over time: grow its volume by producing higher numbers of less costly EVs via economies of scale.In 2024, Tesla delivered roughly 1.789 million cars globally—20,000 fewer than its 2023 total of 1.808 million. That makes the company larger than Mitsubishi (945,000) Subaru (976,000), and Mazda (1.170 million), but smaller than BMW (2.45 million) and BYD (4 million-plus).Tesla likely could have offered more range at the same price due to its in-house battery cell production.With Musk’s hopes to sell hundreds of thousands of Cybertruck a year dashed for good, Tesla’s volume mainstays are now in their sixth and ninth model years (the Model Y and Model 3 respectively). Those vehicles now face competitors in all their main markets, which certainly wasn’t the case in 2020 or 2017 when those cars launched. More than 20 new EVs, both from existing automakers and startups like Lucid and Rivian, have hit the market since those yearsThe classic way to boost volume is to offer new products in new segments—and from 2020, the long-promised “$25,000 Tesla” was to be that product. Even before tariffs, the U.S. vehicle market suffered from an affordability crisis: the sales-weighted average transaction price of a new vehicle has stayed at $47,000 to $48,000 since the pandemic. If EVs are to take off, their prices have to be equal to—or cheaper than—their nearest gasoline counterparts. A truly affordable EV could sell like gangbusters. And if any company were well-placed to deliver it, it would be Tesla.Instead, Musk has doubled down on his vision of Tesla becoming a company whose products are robotaxis and humanoid robots. Soon we’ll know more about the substitutes for that $25,000 model, the promised “lower-cost Teslas.” They’re widely expected to be “decontented” (stripped-down) versions of today’s compact Model 3 sedan and Model Y crossover. They probably won’t start at $25,000, but we’ll find out soon enough. And, to be honest, they hardly seem likely to generate the same excitement and buzz as the Slate unveiling produced.Existing assembly plantsSlate is now where Tesla was in 2011 and 2012, as it struggled to get the Model S into production in its newly-acquired former GM-Toyota plant in Fremont, California. More than a decade later, Tesla has learned a great deal about building vehicles in volume. The company now has four plants: Fremont; Austin; Shanghai, China; and outside Berlin in Germany. That experience is something Slate’s production execs, with experience all over the auto industry, will have to impart to the new employees they hire to build cars in its own factory, a 1.4-million-square-foot former printing plant in Warsaw, Indiana.A truly affordable EV could sell like gangbusters. And if any company were well-placed to deliver it, it would be Tesla.With that experience, a Tesla Slate might have used conventional stamped-steel construction. Slate chose a nonstandard construction technique: molded grey polypropylene panels bolted onto a metal substructure. That saves Slate several hundred million dollars on the steel-stamping presses and paint shop it doesn’t have to build. Want a Slate in a different color? Simply wrap it—just as Tesla used to offer to do for the Cybertruck.To be fair, the Cybertruck too uses nonstandard materials, which contributed to some of the significant production delays before deliveries started in late November 2023. They were due not only to its brand-new assembly plant in Austin, Texas, but also the special tooling for its flat, angular stainless-steel design and the extraordinary challenges of reaching acceptable levels of quality in a vehicle built in that metal. We’ll see how Slate does in turn.Image: SlateLower-cost batteriesElon Musk identified the need for what he dubbed a “gigafactory” to produce huge volumes of battery cells as early as 2013. Tesla brought its cell partner, Panasonic, into the Reno gigafactory while every other automaker was still buying cells shipped from battery suppliers. Reno started supplying 2170 cells for Model 3 production in January 2017.Tesla is now rumored to have the lowest battery cost per kilowatt-hour of any non-Chinese maker. Globally, it produces cells for roughly 1.8 million EVs a year as well as more for its growing energy-storage business. (Though it’s worth noting that last year, GM produced cells with higher total energy through its Ultium Cells joint venture than Tesla did— at least in North America.)Slate, on the other hand, will buy assembled battery modules from Korean maker SK-On, which also supplies batteries to Ford for its F-150 Lightning electric pickup, and assemble them into battery packs in its factory. Are they the same module? A spokesperson for Slate did not respond to a request for comment.We’d bet Slate’s cost-per-kWh is higher than Tesla’s. So Tesla could have done a Slate-style pickup with either more range (from more battery capacity at the same price) or an even lower price if it stuck with Slate’s projected ranges. Tesla may have offered only the higher-range (240-mile) model, of course; from the start it has said its EVs had to have 200 miles.Image: Cath Virginia / The Verge, Getty ImagesGlobal sales potentialOne of the biggest drawbacks of the Tesla Cybertruck is that, at least for the moment, it remains a North America-only vehicle. It is a few inches short of 19 feet long—more than 2 feet longer than a Model S—and weighs 6,600 pounds. That’s just too large to use comfortably on many European and U.K. roads. Analysts express doubts over the stainless-steel truck’s ability to comply with European Union pedestrian-protection impact and crush standards.As for China, Tesla said in December it had no plans to sell the truck there “for now”. So the Cybertruck now appears limited to North America. For a much-touted new product that supposedly received 1 million or more reservations from across the globe, that can only be a missed opportunity.A Slate-alike compact or C-segment two-door pickup from Tesla, on the other hand, could be designed from scratch to sell in all three major markets — just like every Tesla model was before the Cybertruck. Small pickups are a known and accepted quantity there, and the news that Slate has a cargo-box accessory kit under development for use as a small van would put such a vehicle directly into competition with the European makers now launching electric compact vans. Except this one would have had the cachet Tesla enjoyed until quite recently.Reasons this idea is idioticThere are, of course, lots of reasons why a Slate-like vehicle might have been exactly the wrong thing for Tesla to launch instead of the Cybertruck. The first and most important is that, in the words of the old industry saying, “Low price equals low profits.” After 2020, when the company became profitable for the first time, its margins on Model 3 and Model Y sales grew to impressive percentages. Even at high volumes, a lower-priced vehicle with a battery of 80 kWh is likely to have slim margins despite Tesla’s low cell costs. The Cybertruck, sold in the volumes claimed, may not have posed that challenge.Second, any Tesla virtually has to have a central touchscreen and advanced telematics. It’s part of the brand DNA. That clearly adds cost, as would a camera suite to let Tesla continue to aggregate visual data for its hopes of a self-driving future.There are, of course, lots of reasons why a Slate-like vehicle might have been exactly the wrong thing for Tesla.Third, again to the brand image, a small, cheap, square, very basic pickup is hardly what we would envision as a “Tesla.” It would require expanding the concept of what a Tesla is—though so did the Cybertruck. Side note: a Slate-like pickup might not do well in China, where a small pickup is viewed as a commercial vehicle for low-wage laborers.Finally, a Slatelike truck–or any two-door vehicle–is an impractical vehicle to turn into a robotaxi, even assuming it were fitted with the appropriate camera and sensor suite. As long as five years ago, that was clearly the direction in which Musk was driving the company. As noted, I almost never deal in counterfactuals. I made an exception here, considering the road not taken, because it seems to me more in line with what the world expected of Tesla from 2012 to 2020. Not to mention a lot more aligned with The Secret Tesla Motors Master Plan of 2006, specifically its third point: “Use that money [from building affordable cars] to build an even more affordable car.”Still, affordable cars have to be desirable to make a difference; the Cybertruck is neither, as the market has shown. But a Slate-like Tesla small pickup could have been. Sic transit gloria mundi.See More:

Renewed calls for a fresh Star Wars Battlefront game have been given a boost by an actor from critically-acclaimed TV series Andor. The past month has seen fans flock back to 2017's Star Wars Battlefront 2 — generating the game's best player count on Steam in years, despite support from developer DICE ending a long time ago.Now, Andor's Muhannad Ben Amor, who plays the heroic Wilmon Paak, has taken to social media to help campaign for a fully-operational sequel.Play"Star Wars gotta give us Battlefront 3 ASAP," Amor wrote on Instagram (thanks, Comicbook), revealing he had played Battlefront 2 for 469 hours. That's great kid, but don't get cocky."Grew up with Battlefront 2 — been a veteran since day one," Amor continued. "Let's HOPE Battlefront 3 happens."The past month has seen the popularity of Star Wars Battlefront 2 soar, thanks in part to the success of Andor's climactic second season, and other Star Wars activity surrounding the franchise's annual May 4 celebrations.After years averaging a Steam player count of around 2,000 players, the game's popularity has been steadily climbing over the past few weeks, and is now close to topping its 10,000-player all-time concurrent Steam peak.But does this mean a Star Wars Battlefront 3 is now more likely? For now, DICE is busy throwing all of its development weight into getting its big new Battlefield game out the door in the best shape possible. A proper reveal for the still-untitled next Battlefield, which is currently undergoing player testing, is expected this summer.DICE may also still hold some reluctance to revisit the series, after Battlefront 2 originally launched amid a huge controversy over its loot boxes. Over time, however, sentiment towards the game has shifted. And while publisher EA, DICE's owner, is no longer exclusively making Star Wars games, Respawn is still at work in the galaxy far, far away making a Star Wars Jedi threequel."Star Wars Battlefront 2 is a redemption story worthy of the Skywalker saga," IGN wrote in its 2019 Star Wars Battlefront 2 re-review. "Overall, it’s a great package now that serves as one of the best and most thrilling ways to have an authentic Star Wars gaming experience."Tom Phillips is IGN's News Editor. You can reach Tom at tom_phillips@ign.com or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social

The Phillipou Brothers broke onto the cinematic scene with their smash hit party horror, Talk to Me. The spooky yet decidedly fun film about kids messing around with forces they didn’t understand became an A24 horror favorite and established the twins—who already had a massive following thanks to their YouTube Channel RackaRacka—as some of the genre’s most freaky fun filmmakers. Although Bring Her Back is in some ways a spiritual sequel to Talk to Me, with both films exploring the way grief can incite drastic change, it couldn’t be more different tonally. The twins’ chilly and affecting follow-up showcases a different side of their proverbial demons, with the pair diving into the havoc and madness of grief and the surreal nightmare of being a child whose parents have unknowable agendas or violent tendencies.  The usually delightful and effervescent Sally Hawkins stars as Laura, a grieving mother and ex-child psychologist who has opened her home to a brother and sister who recently lost their father. In her first horror performance, Hawkins delivers the kind of turn that in a just world would be recognized as a strong contender come awards season. Laura is a woman of many sides: she’s the cool foster mom, a grieving mother, and eventually a terrifying monster whose sorrow has driven her mad. But while the movie is an intimate chamber drama of gore, it’s far from a one-woman show.  At the center of Bring Her Back are three heart wrenching performances from the film’s young leads: Sora Wong as Piper, Billy Barratt as her brother Andy, and Jonah Wren Phillips as Ollie. Siblings Piper and Andy are the newcomers to the outwardly gorgeous rural home, and Ollie is already an established and terrifying presence who we first meet as he grapples with an unruly cat in the echoing emptiness of the home’s drained pool. Phillips is an astonishing performer who despite his young age inhabits the evermore terrifying Ollie. His unnerving presence gives us two of the film’s most memorable and nightmare-inducing moments with a fearlessness and ferocity that pulses off the screen.  As the central siblings,  Wong and Barratt form an impressive duo, with the former making her feature debut in a performance that immediately marks her as a serious talent to watch. It’s rare to see a sight-impaired actor onscreen, let alone leading a horror film, but Wong shoulders that responsibility with a courage and humor that alongside Barratt makes the siblings painfully believable. And as the dread ratchets up, Barratt showcases raw talent while Andy faces down Laura’s constant gaslighting and psychological torture as he attempts to protect his sister from their supposed guardian—although to what purposes Laura’s schemes delve remains an unsettling mystery for most of the film.  Grotesque and often shockingly gory if you’re someone who (like me) went through a French New Extremity phase, you’ll likely warm to the horrors while being pleasantly surprised by how performance-focused the film is, only using its gore and grossness to further the journeys of our four extremely messed up leading characters. Even at a brisk hour and 39 minutes, the film manages to feel impactful, especially for those easily shaken by gnarly practical effects and movies that will give you an existential crisis. There are practical effects here that will turn your stomach in the best way, though the emotional hits will linger far after you cleanse your mind of some of the bloodier moments. In spite of all that, Bring Her Back is the kind of horror that feels like it’ll find an unexpected audience in those who don’t usually watch horror as its emotional core is so strong, and Hawkins is a revelation in such a villainous role.  In era where movies about trauma are at the center of the horror conversation (for better or worse), Bring Her Back stands as one of the best in the genre, unafraid to scare, haunt, and disturb its audience as it pushes through the pain and picks at the part of your brain that asks just how far you’d go to bring a loved one back from the dead and what you’d do to achieve it.  Bring Her Back opens in limited release in the U.S. on May 30 and wide on June 6. Learn more about Den of Geek’s review process and why you can trust our recommendations here.

At Appfest 2022, Noelia Lopez, Blockchain PM and Senior Monetization Manager at Tilting Point, shared her ad monetization strategies for midcore and hardcore mobile games. Read the summary or watch the full video.She kicked off her presentation with the main challenge facing free-to-play games: less than 3% of gamers actually pay for in-app purchases. But, Noelia explains, just because 97% of users aren’t paying, doesn’t mean you can’t monetize them.The pillars of monetizationAs Noelia explains, many hardcore and midcore game developers are concerned that ad monetization may negatively affect retention and/or revenue. She’s heard them say that:“paying users will churn if they see ads”“in-app ads might cannibalize in-app purchase revenue”“ads attract low-quality players or decrease the quality of the game”But, according to Noelia, none of these concerns are true - in fact, it just means these developers aren’t implementing their ad placements the right way (or, as she puts it, “you aren’t doing your job well enough!”).The roadmap of ad implementationSo, how can you monetize with ads in a way that promotes revenue growth and [tooltip term="user-engagement"]engagement[/tooltip]? Follow a roadmap, implementing placements throughout the development lifecycle, from prototyping, soft launch, global launch, and finally live ops.PrototypingMany developers think the prototyping stage of the game is too early to begin thinking about ad monetization, and would rather focus on other in-game features - but in fact, Noelia says it's critical to begin here.That’s because during the prototyping phase, your entire studio is conducting the necessary market research to understand your competition - making it a critical time to also understand the monetization strategies your competitors use and the strategies you’d like to adopt.From here, conceptualize putting these placements into your game and how much revenue they could bring. Understanding each ad placement’s revenue potential will help you prioritize which placements to focus on first. By getting started this early, you can also encourage the product team to prioritize placements and align on your exact strategy.Noelia emphasizes the importance of conceptualization, or mentally preparing yourself and your team for an ad placement, even if there’s no space for it in that moment. You can start preparing by asking yourself: where exactly a placement should go, what it looks like, and what else it needs, like a tutorial.Soft launchAfter prototyping, it’s time for the soft launch, or the testing phase. Noelia broke this phase down into three parts: integration, goal setting, and testing.First comes your ad placements. This starts with integrating ad networks - whichever ones you find perform best - and a mediation platform. The best ads for hardcore games are rewarded videos and offerwalls.In the next stage, you want to always consider your goals - like fill rate, boosting LTV, and finding the balance between in-app ads and in-app purchases that maximizes revenue. As she explains, there’s no need to push for CPMs, or make a complex waterfall because soft launches often run in countries that tend to have lower impressions. That’s why it’s important to focus on fill rate, so you understand your engagement and impressions per day, and that your fill rate is good.As for tests, Noelia suggests conducting multiple tests for your ads - it’s important to test the most challenging ads, or the ones that might cannibalize in-app purchases, affect retention, etc. As you determine your game economy, this is also the time to test the ideal reward amount you want to give - increasing or decreasing it accordingly. Even after launch, you should continually be testing and optimizing to ensure the highest performance.Global launchNext comes the global launch - time to finally monitor how your in-app ads are performing. Noelia recommends viewing the metrics of all your ad placements, like engagement and ads per [tooltip term="daily-active-users"]DAU[/tooltip], on one page so you can see which perform best. The ad engagement rate for hardcore games, according to Noelia, hovers around 60%, ads per DAU ranges from 0-3, and ad revenue can get up to 15%. The goal is to have a 95% fill rate, to ensure there’s the highest opportunity possible to serve impressions.To drive home her point, Noelia shared successful examples of placement strategies from her games, like Warhammer: Chaos and Conquest. For example, they offer a welcome package of hard currency every time a user logs on, which boosts players to get started in the game and keep playing. To get non-paying hardcore users to experiment with your game’s ads, she also recommends using offerwall ads - which also helped increase Warhammer’s engagement rate.Live operationsFinally comes the live ops, or the post launch period, where you should be adjusting your ad placements to optimize performance. Before making any adjustments it’s important to be mindful that these changes don’t impact users’ ability to engage with ads.The live ops period can even be an opportunity to increase revenue. For example, if you establish a leaderboard to incentivize non-paying players, you can use ad placements as “tickets” for getting in. Due to increased competition with non-paying users, paying users can also be motivated to invest more to stay on top.Ultimately, ads are a major asset to monetizing your midcore or hardcore game, but placement strategies can only succeed with the right amount of monitoring and optimizing - even from the initial stages of your game’s development.

One of my favorite product lines Nomad has made over the years is their slim power adapters. They started with their 35W slim charger, which brought fast iPhone charging in this ultra-slim form factor. Then they released their 65W version that added a secondary port and was tailored to customers needing more juice. Now, they have finally launched their 100W slim power adapter for those who need to charge their larger machines on the go. Here is what you need to know. My experience (update from May 22, 2025) The first thing I noticed when I opened the packaging was how light this charger is. For comparison, a 14-inch MacBook Pro comes with a 96W power adapter that weighs 454g (about one pound). The Nomad charger is roughly half the weight, slimmer and more compact overall, has an additional USB-C port to charge a secondary device, and is cheaper. There is a lot to like about this charger. First is the build quality, which feels well-engineered and soft to the touch with zero harsh corners or sides. Since its so thin, it is made to huge the power outlet its connected to so you don’t have to worry about the charger falling off the outlet, which happens with Apple chargers. Since it has dual USB-C, I like how they distinguished the fast charger with a blue port. To clarify, both ports can charge at the full 100W, but when two USB-C cables are connected, the blue port is the designated fast charger and the regular one is the normal charger. This charger is perfect because I can fast-charge a MacBook Air and an iPad Pro simultaneously, so I never have to worry about slow charging speeds. But of course its more than fast enough to charge both 14in and 16in Macbook Pros. From my experience, it has stayed cool to the touch throughout my testing, even when pushing the wattage. Overall, this is a great charger that has no real downsides. I wish a USB-C cable were included in the price, but in this product category, it’s rare that any brand does that. A man can dream. Regardless, this is now my main travel charger! It’s incredible how much power they can fit in a charger that is roughly the size of a deck of cards. They were able to use GaN battery tech to make this possible. This allows the charger to get to 100W of max charging efficiently without overheating or losing efficiency. You get: 100W max output to be able to charge the 16-inch MacBook Pro sufficiently Smart dual charging with each port charging up to 100W (70/30 split when both plugged in) Ultra slim, measuring just 19mm in thickness (again, think a deck of cards) Folding prongs This is officially my new travel charger, which I will bring with me everywhere. I can charge my iPad Pro and iPhone at fast charging speeds, no problem. I will also pair this with my Nomad universal cable to charge my Apple Watch while charging my iPad or iPhone. So bringing those two Nomad products gives me a super small, compact, and portable way to charge all three of my devices, and charge them fast. Its amazing how far battery tech has come and where its going. I love that we can now charge a fully loaded MacBook Pro at PD speeds with a charger that can fit in your pocket. Pricing and availability Nomad’s new 100W slim adapter is available today from their site for $75. As of now, it comes in just one color, carbide. They also have their 65W slim adapter for $65 if you do not need a full 100W, and they also have their 35W charger in the gorgeous white color for just $29. Let me know what you think. Is this a product you were looking for? Do you have devices that need this much power? let’s discuss below. Add 9to5Mac to your Google News feed.  FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.You’re reading 9to5Mac — experts who break news about Apple and its surrounding ecosystem, day after day. Be sure to check out our homepage for all the latest news, and follow 9to5Mac on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn to stay in the loop. Don’t know where to start? Check out our exclusive stories, reviews, how-tos, and subscribe to our YouTube channel

May 22, 2025Ravie LakshmananEnterprise Security / Malware A recently patched pair of security flaws affecting Ivanti Endpoint Manager Mobile (EPMM) software has been exploited by a China-nexus threat actor to target a wide range of sectors across Europe, North America, and the Asia-Pacific region. The vulnerabilities, tracked as CVE-2025-4427 (CVSS score: 5.3) and CVE-2025-4428 (CVSS score: 7.2), could be chained to execute arbitrary code on a vulnerable device without requiring any authentication. They were addressed by Ivanti last week. Now, according to a report from EclecticIQ, the vulnerability chain has been abused by UNC5221, a Chinese cyber espionage group known for its targeting of edge network appliances since at least 2023. Most recently, the hacking crew was also attributed to exploitation efforts targeting SAP NetWeaver instances susceptible to CVE-2025-31324. The Dutch cybersecurity company said the earliest exploitation activity dates back to May 15, 2025, with the attacks targeting healthcare, telecommunications, aviation, municipal government, finance, and defense sectors. "UNC5221 demonstrates a deep understanding of EPMM's internal architecture, repurposing legitimate system components for covert data exfiltration," security researcher Arda Büyükkaya said. "Given EPMM's role in managing and pushing configurations to enterprise mobile devices, a successful exploitation could allow threat actors to remotely access, manipulate, or compromise thousands of managed devices across an organization." The attack sequence involves targeting the "/mifs/rs/api/v2/" endpoint to obtain an interactive reverse shell and remotely execute arbitrary commands on Ivanti EPMM deployments. This is followed by the deployment of KrustyLoader, a known Rust-based loader attributed to UNC5221 that enables the delivery of additional payloads like Sliver. The threat actors have also been observed targeting the mifs database by making use of hard-coded MySQL database credentials stored in /mi/files/system/.mifpp to obtain unauthorized access to the database and exfiltrating sensitive data that could grant them visibility into managed mobile devices, LDAP users, and Office 365 refresh and access tokens. Furthermore, the incidents are characterized by the use of obfuscated shell commands for host reconnaissance before dropping KrustyLoader from an AWS S3 bucket and Fast Reverse Proxy (FRP) to facilitate network reconnaissance and lateral movement. It's worth mentioning here that FRP is an open-source tool widely shared among Chinese hacking groups. EclecticIQ said it also identified a command-and-control (C2) server associated with Auto-Color, a Linux backdoor that was documented by Palo Alto Networks Unit 42 as used in attacks aimed at universities and government organizations in North America and Asia between November and December 2024. "The IP address 146.70.87[.]67:45020, previously associated with Auto-Color command-and-control infrastructure, was seen issuing outbound connectivity tests via curl immediately after exploitation of Ivanti EPMM servers," Büyükkaya pointed out. "This behaviour is consistent with Auto-Color's staging and beaconing patterns. Taken together, these indicators very likely link to China-nexus activity." The disclosure comes as threat intelligence firm GreyNoise noted that it had witnessed a significant spike in scanning activity targeting Ivanti Connect Secure and Pulse Secure products prior to the disclosure of CVE-2025-4427 and CVE-2025-4428. "While the scanning we observed was not directly tied to EPMM, the timeline underscores a critical reality: scanning activity often precedes the public emergence of zero-day vulnerabilities," the company said. "It's a leading indicator — a signal that attackers are probing critical systems, potentially in preparation for future exploitation." Found this article interesting? Follow us on Twitter  and LinkedIn to read more exclusive content we post. SHARE    

Snehal Antani has been tinkering with technology since childhood. His father, an electrical engineer, would give him broken devices and task him with fixing them.  He moved into computer science as an undergraduate, eventually earning his master's degree. He then worked for IBM and eventually served as CIO for GE Capital and CTO for Splunk. In 2018, he joined Joint Special Operations Command, a division of the United States Special Operations Command, as CTO. He started Horizon3.ai, an AI pen testing company, with JSOC colleague Anthony Pillitiere in 2019. Here, he describes his unusual career path and how he deploys the skills he learned along the way to facilitate innovation. Can you tell me about your early tech education? When I went to undergrad at Purdue, I knew I was going to do computer science. What I love about computer science is that it’s horizontal -- so I can apply that to any vertical that I'm interested in. I was interested in stock trading while I was an undergrad, so I was able to write code to learn how to trade stocks. The software programming and systems architecture skills that I picked up could be applied to solve any job. What did the early portion of your career teach you?I optimized for learning. I used to sit in the hallway in front of my team lead’s office at IBM. He couldn't see me, but I could see his whiteboard. I would try to understand something he had explained to me. I was too afraid to go in and ask for more information, so I would literally sit on the floor and just stare at it, trying to make sure I understood it in detail.  Related:I wanted to be an expert in distributed systems and enterprise software. The first few jobs I took were all about learning as much as I could in that domain.  I was an awful speaker. I forced myself to become a better communicator. I then moved over to learn how to launch products in product management. I was an awful product manager the first year. But there was no way I was going to get better except by throwing myself into that arena and trying to figure it out.  In 2012 I got recruited to be a CIO at GE Capital. I had never managed anyone before. GE made a bet on me. I learned a lot and I was able to impact the organization as well. Having a solid technical foundation and being able to communicate well were probably the two most important skills I developed early in my career. Can you describe a scenario in which you felt out of your depth? When I was in IBM, there was a customer in Germany struggling with their tech. Their banking system kept crashing. Steve Mills, who was a legendary senior vice president, sent out a message that said, "This customer is struggling. No one can figure out what's wrong. Who here knows how to fix this problem?" I was a nobody at IBM. I replied directly to Mills and said, "I think I can fix this problem. Send me." Related:Once it got there, they were explaining their problem. I had no idea what they were talking about. All I could think was, "I’m going to get fired. I just embarrassed myself and my company." Suddenly, everything in my brain clicked: every single aspect of enterprise software technology, operating systems, distributed systems. We ended up solving the problem about 90 minutes later.  How has life in the C-suite changed for tech folks? I remember going into meetings at GE Capital. People thought I was there to manage the projector. Some of those teams struggled to understand the role technology played in creating a competitive edge. GE had just come off gutting and outsourcing the bulk of their technology DNA. Throughout the 2000s it didn’t seem that there was a belief that technology was a competitive advantage. I think there was a realization that they had gone too far. They started to try to bring in more technical talent. In the mid 2000s through 2015, tech was a back-office function. I believe that’s shifted dramatically, especially now when you think about AI and the advantage you can create using technology. There are certainly CIOs in my network who still view themselves as a back-office function. They don’t want to learn the business. But I believe that type of CIO is in the minority now. Related:Why did you join Joint Special Operations Command in 2018? I was 21 when 9/11 happened. I remember this feeling of both helplessness and the desire to do something about it. Was there a multiplier way to affect change -- one calorie in causing 10 calories of impact? There wasn’t an obvious way for me to do that. I remember in 2014 watching the rise of ISIS. The desire to make a difference came back at a much more intense level. The Special Operations community had invited me to do some planning sessions with them. How could they increase the velocity of innovation in order to keep up with the adversary?  Terrorist organizations were able to use off the shelf technology -- open-source software, cloud computing, drones -- to innovate lethal capabilities that were otherwise only available to armies. And so, the question was, how do we accelerate the innovation velocity? A lot of that experience was drawn from my time at GE Capital. I was able to join as the first ever CTO. For me, it was about purpose and impact. There’s no clearer mission than looking at human beings putting themselves in danger to help others. Anything that we could do using technology to reduce risk to them was an incredible opportunity. How did you come to found Horizon3.ai? I met Tony, my co-founder, at JSOC. We saw a challenge: We have no idea we’re secure until the bad guys show up. Are we fixing the right vulnerabilities? Are security tools actually working? We wanted to find a way to build an autonomous system that allows you to hack yourself as often as you want. Fiercely prioritizing problems that mattered was the first thing that we were able to do because our autonomous agent was able to hack organizations, tell you exactly how it hacked them, and then tell you exactly what to fix and how to fix it. Once you fix it, you can run a retest to verify that you're good to go. Find, fix, verify is the primary experience within the product.