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Learn MoreMetas VP of generative AI, Ahmad Al-Dahle took to rival social network X today to announce the release of Llama 3.3, the latest open-source multilingual large language model (LLM) from the parent company of Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Quest VR.As he wrote: Llama 3.3 improves core performance at a significantly lower cost, making it even more accessible to the entire open-source community.With 70 billion parameters or settings governing the models behavior Llama 3.3 delivers results on par with Metas 405B parameter model from the Llama 3.1 from the summer, but at a fraction of the cost and computational overhead e.g., the GPU capacity needed to run the model in an inference.Its designed to offer top-tier performance and accessibility yet in a smaller package than prior foundation models.Metas Llama 3.3 is offered under the Llama 3.3 Community License Agreement, which grants a non-exclusive, royalty-free license for use, reproduction, distribution, and modification of the model and its outputs. Developers integrating Llama 3.3 into products or services must include appropriate attribution, such as Built with Llama, and adhere to an Acceptable Use Policy that prohibits activities like generating harmful content, violating laws, or enabling cyberattacks. While the license is generally free, organizations with over 700 million monthly active users must obtain a commercial license directly from Meta.A statement from the AI at Meta team underscores this vision: Llama 3.3 delivers leading performance and quality across text-based use cases at a fraction of the inference cost.Llama 3.1-405B requires between 243 GB and 1944 GB of GPU memory, according to the Substratus blog (for the open source cross cloud substrate). Meanwhile, the older Llama 2-70B requires between 42-168 GB of GPU memory, according to the same blog, though same have claimed as low as 4 GB, or as Exo Labs has shown, a few Mac computers with M4 chips and no discrete GPUs.Therefore, if the GPU savings for lower-parameter models holds up in this case, those looking to deploy Metas most powerful open source Llama models can expect to save up to nearly 1940 GB worth of GPU memory, or potentially, 24 times reduced GPU load for a standard 80 GB Nvidia H100 GPU. At an estimated $25,000 per H100 GPU, thats up to $600,000 in up-front GPU cost savings, potentially not to mention the continuous power costs. A highly performant model in a small form factorAccording to Meta AI on X, the Llama 3.3 model handedly outperforms the identically sized Llama 3.1-70B as well as Amazons new Nova Pro model in several benchmarks such as multilingual dialogue, reasoning, and other advanced natural language processing (NLP) tasks (Nova outperforms it in HumanEval coding tasks).Llama 3.3 has been pretrained on 15 trillion tokens from publicly available data and fine-tuned on over 25 million synthetically generated examples, according to the information Meta provided in the model card posted on its website.Leveraging 39.3 million GPU hours on H100-80GB hardware, the models development underscores Metas commitment to energy efficiency and sustainability.Llama 3.3 leads in multilingual reasoning tasks with a 91.1% accuracy rate on MGSM, demonstrating its effectiveness in supporting languages such as German, French, Italian, Hindi, Portuguese, Spanish, and Thai, in addition to English.Cost-effective and environmentally consciousLlama 3.3 is specifically optimized for cost-effective inference, with token generation costs as low as $0.01 per million tokens. This makes the model highly competitive against industry counterparts like GPT-4 and Claude 3.5, with greater affordability for developers seeking to deploy sophisticated AI solutions.Meta has also emphasized the environmental responsibility of this release. Despite its intensive training process, the company leveraged renewable energy to offset greenhouse gas emissions, resulting in net-zero emissions for the training phase. Location-based emissions totaled 11,390 tons of CO2-equivalent, but Metas renewable energy initiatives ensured sustainability.Advanced features and deployment optionsThe model introduces several enhancements, including a longer context window of 128k tokens (comparable to GPT-4o, about 400 pages of book text), making it suitable for long-form content generation and other advanced use cases. Its architecture incorporates Grouped Query Attention (GQA), improving scalability and performance during inference.Designed to align with user preferences for safety and helpfulness, Llama 3.3 uses reinforcement learning with human feedback (RLHF) and supervised fine-tuning (SFT). This alignment ensures robust refusals to inappropriate prompts and an assistant-like behavior optimized for real-world applications.Llama 3.3 is already available for download through Meta, Hugging Face, GitHub, and other platforms, with integration options for researchers and developers. Meta is also offering resources like Llama Guard 3 and Prompt Guard to help users deploy the model safely and responsibly.VB DailyStay in the know! Get the latest news in your inbox dailyBy subscribing, you agree to VentureBeat's Terms of Service.Thanks for subscribing. Check out more VB newsletters here.An error occured.

75% of UK students in favour of esports education in schools58% of those surveyed found esports to be more accessible as a career than law or engineering News by Sophie McEvoy Staff Writer Published on Dec. 6, 2024 75% of UK students advocate the integration of esports into the school curriculum, with 64% already engaged in esports-related academic activities.This is according to new research commissioned by Tencent in collaboration with the British Esports Federation and Ukie.Conducted by Censuswide, the report surveyed 2,000 respondents aged between 16 and 27 who were interested in the creative and entertainment industry.Of those surveyed, 40% are considering video game related fields with 58% believing that esports is more accessible as a career than fields such as law and engineering.Despite 16 higher education institutions in the UK offering degree programs relating to esports, 36% of respondents found there were financial barriers in pursuing further education. 33% said career pathways were unclear."Esports in curricula in secondary, further, and higher education [...] is equipping young people with the skills needed for careers in esports, gaming, and the wider digital, creative, and STEM sectors," said British Esports Federation VP Tom Dore."However, support and recognition from video game publishers and industry stakeholders are crucial to driving sustainable growth, grassroots development and clear career pathways within the esports ecosystem."Ukie CEO Nick Poole added: "Esports plays a key role in shaping the future of work and creativity, offering young people opportunities to develop skills and pursue careers at the intersection of technology, media, and interactive entertainment."The UK is uniquely positioned for growth in this sector, with its strong track record of hosting major global tournaments and home to Europe's largest community of student esports players. To build on this momentum, we must continue to invest in education, infrastructure, and cross-industry collaboration."

Apple is facing a class action lawsuit from UK developers alleging that the App Store's 30% fee is anti-competitive. Read more

Justin Carter, Contributing EditorDecember 6, 20243 Min ReadImage via Ryu Ga Gatoku/SEGA.At a GlanceWhat goes into programming the Like a Dragon games? RGG's Yukata Ito and Tomoaki Nakamura pull back the curtain.This past January, Ryu Ga Gatoku (RGG) released Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth, the eighth mainline entry in the crime drama series. Weeks before its launch, technical director Yukata Ito shared a photo of the game's source code. It's an uncommon move for triple-A developers, and in a late November interview with Automaton Media, Ito said it was his way of offering encouragement to prospective coders."I created an X account in the first place because I felt like there werent many game developers out there spreading technical information for people who want to become programmers," Ito told Automaton. He noted the hurdles aspiring developers can face when they try learning from their established peers, and hoped his thread would help future devs see how programming can be "surprisingly simple."Programming manager Tomoaki Nakamura similarly acknowledged how common secrecy is in game development, and how people assumed there was "some kind of special programming" used for the Like a Dragon games. He hopes that by showing RGG uses "ordinary" C++, it proves the language "is enough for anyone to be able to make a game."According to Ito, graduates who apply at Sega don't know C++. However, he believes they should, since a "lot of high-end titles" are made in the technical language. "If you want to be involved in console game development," he suggested, "its a good idea to gain experience creating games in C++ while youre still a student."By his own admission, that thread "pushed the limits" on what RGG is allowed to make public. But he stressed the move was made with consultation from each team before showing the source code, including the programmer who wrote it. The parts he chose were "relatively clean," which he hoped would make for good reactions, and be intentionally beginner-friendly.Like a Dragon, like a programmerLike a Dragon games release on a near-yearly basis, and sometimes two games per year. To help onboard newcomers and "resolve issues as soon as they come up," RGG veterans (programming and otherwise) are often placed next to newer staff to foster easier communication."I always tell our new programmers to respect people in other teams," Ito explained to Automaton. "I instruct them to...try to to be considerate towards the other party. This kind of reliable attitude makes the designers and planners more inclined to consult with the programmers, and I believe this is very beneficial for interpersonal relationships in the studio.""We require our programmers at RGG to not only work as instructed," he continued, "but to form and voice their own opinions on the games design and contribute towards improving the game, so we train them in this area as well."To aspiring programmers, Ito said the profession is for anyone "as long as they have learned the basics of programming. [It's] not only for those who have studied it professionally. [...] If you are working in another industry with the dream of becoming a game programmer, we encourage you to apply for the mid-career job openings at RGG Studio."You can read Automaton's full interview with Ito and Nakamura about programming for the Like a Dragon series here.About the AuthorJustin CarterContributing Editor, GameDeveloper.comA Kansas City, MO native, Justin Carter has written for numerous sites including IGN, Polygon, and SyFy Wire. In addition to Game Developer, his writing can be found at io9 over on Gizmodo. Don't ask him about how much gum he's had, because the answer will be more than he's willing to admit.See more from Justin CarterDaily news, dev blogs, and stories from Game Developer straight to your inboxStay UpdatedYou May Also Like

Square Enix's HD-2D remake of Dragon Quest III has sold 2 million copies worldwide since its release on November 14.The turn-based RPG released on PlayStation 5, PC, Nintendo Switch, and Xbox Series X|S. It's also the latest remake for the 1988 NES classic, which has been re-released on Super Famicom, Game Boy Color, phones, and more recent consoles over the decades.Compared to earlier HD-2D games, Dragon Quest III has sold faster than its predecessors, Octopath Traveler II and Triangle Strategy. Last year, Square Enix revealed Octopath sold 1 milion copies in about four months. The series has sold 4 million overall copies as of this past June. Meanwhile, Triangle Strategy sold 1 million copies by December 2022, about nine months after its launch that March.Octopath Traveler, Triangle Strategy, and Dragon QuestIn the time since Octopath Traveler and Triangle Strategy's respective releases, the former has come to Xbox Series X|S and Xbox One, and will remain on Game Pass alongside Octopath Traveler until January 2026. This past Halloween, Square Enix ported Triangle Strategy over to Meta Quest 2, 3, and Pro, and pulled the game from the Nintendo Switch eShop earlier this week.Player-wise, Dragon Quest III HD-2D has peaked at 45,357 concurrent Steam players. At launch, it opened to 37,323 players, and became Square Enix's biggest single-player release on the platform.Square Enix is continuing the HD-2D train with remakes of Dragon Quest I and Dragon Quest II. Those two titles will release on the same platforms as Dragon Quest III HD-2D in 2025, and will be packaged together as a single entity.

Dads are known for a lot of things corny jokes, falling asleep on the couch, owning far too many pairs of New Balance sneakers but being easy to please isnt always at the top of that list. At no point is this more evident than during the holidays, when gift-giving is at its peak and time is in limited supply.RelatedBut you dont have to worry if youre struggling to find inspiration this year. Weve gone ahead and amassed an eclectic collection of gifts that should appeal to all types of dads, from the aspiring marathoner and science fiction aficionado to the wannabe grill master hell-bent on perfecting his burger skills. Weve also included a range of picks for adventurer seekers and music lovers as well as multiple board games for the dad who prefers an old-fashioned whooping over another round of Mario Kart or Fortnite. Just try not to crush his spirits completely if you can help it hes still your dad, after all.price range:The Bright SwordThere are a lot of Arthurian legends out there, though few tales are quite as enchanting as Lev Grossmans most recent work. The lengthy novel centers around an aspiring knight and his motley crew of companions, all of whom set out to rebuild Camelot in the wake of King Arthurs death. Its classic sword and sorcery, only with a heaping of historical twists. Price: $14.99+AmazonWalmartBarnes & NobleUgreen 2-in-1 Magnetic Wireless Charging StationUgreens 2-in-1 charger doesnt offer Qi2 speeds, a luxe design, or anything fancy. That being said, the adjustable stand is great for charging a pair of AirPods or supplying a MagSafe-compatible phone with up to 7.5W of power overnight. It also makes for a terrific StandBy companion for those who are running the latest versions of iOS and want to use their phone as a desk-friendly widget machine. Price: $24.99AmazonWalmartKeychron V1 Max keyboardRegardless of what your dad does for work, chances are he spends countless hours tap-tap-tapping away at a keyboard. So, why not make the experience more enjoyable with a touch of nerdy fun? The Keychron V1 Max may be the best gateway into mechanical keyboards we've seen, with satisfying typing feel and sound, hot-swappable switches, and loads of customizability. Price: $104+AmazonKeychronAirPods 4 with Active Noise CancellationApples latest AirPods pack better sound, a USB-C charging case with a built-in speaker, and improved comfort. But their biggest upgrade over the standard AirPods 4 is the addition of active noise cancellation, which lets you tune out the outside world surprisingly well for a pair of open-style earbuds. Thats an extra $50 well spent. Price: $138.99+AmazonBest Buy WalmartHoverAir X1 droneUnless youre filming cinematic shots in Hollywood, you dont necessarily need a fancy quadcopter. HoverAirs so-called selfie drone is a great budget alternative to more premium models from DJI, with top-mounted controls, excellent object tracking, and a max video resolution of 2.7K / 30fps. And did we mention it can fit in your pocket? Because it can. Price: $299+HoverAirB&H PhotoAdoramaGoogle Pixel 9 Pro FoldYour dad may not need a folding phone, but that doesnt mean he doesnt want one. The Pixel 9 Pro Fold is the nicest book-style foldable there is, with a 6.3-inch outer screen that opens to reveal an eight-inch OLED inside. It also features IPX8 waterproofing, impressive battery life, and seven years of OS updates, which makes its lofty price tag a tad easier to swallow.Price: $1,799AmazonBest Buy GoogleJim Beam Black BourbonJim Beam Black is a premium bourbon aged for seven years, offering a smoother, richer taste with notes of deep caramel and warm oak. Known for its refined flavor and versatility, its perfect for sipping straight, over ice, or as a sophisticated addition to cocktails. As part of the iconic Jim Beam lineup, it represents a blend of craftsmanship and quality, delivering a high-end bourbon experience at an accessible price. Its balance of tradition and bold taste makes it a standout choice for bourbon enthusiasts and newcomers alike. Price: $30MikMakGarmin Forerunner 265 / 265SThe Garmin Forerunner 265 is the Goldilocks of running watches. It can track nearly every running metric under the sun and offers many of the same features as the last-gen Forerunner 255 including dual-frequency GPS and an NFC chip for contactless payments except it uses an always-on OLED screen instead of a memory-in-pixel display. The best part? It does it without destroying battery life. Price: $404.95+AmazonGarminREICuisinart Stainless Steel Smashed Burger PressWere not entirely sure when smash burgers became a capital-T Thing in the culinary world, but if your dad is into compressed beef and caramelized crust, Cuisinarts stainless steel press will surely be a hit. The inexpensive six-inch contraption is more convenient than using a shoddy spatula or the bottom of a pan to crush patties, though its not any more difficult to clean. Price: $19.25+AmazonWalmartCuisinartBose SoundLink HomeThanks to its classy anodized aluminum build, the Bose SoundLink Home is the best-looking Bluetooth speaker youll see this year. Its lack of waterproofing means its not as rugged as the SoundLink Max or Mini, but you still get a built-in microphone, up to nine hours of battery life, and a USB-C port that conveniently doubles as an audio input. Just keep it away from the kitchen sink. Price: $199BoseDistil Wando SunglassesIts not the generous replacement policy or timeless, round look of Distils flexible Wando Sunglasses that makes them attractive though they do look quite good. The real appeal lies in their hidden neodymium magnets, which let you effortlessly clip the polarized shades to your shirt or bag without having to worry about them falling off. That alone is worth the $69 price tag. Price: $69AmazonDistilApple TV Plus subscriptionWhat do Severance, Silo, and Sunny all have in common? They can all be found on Apple TV Plus. Five years into its existence, Apples once-fledgling streaming service has become the premier destination for all things sci-fi, making an Apple gift card a stellar gift for the dad who cant stop pondering what life would be like in a postapocalyptic bunker or outer space.Price: $9.99AmazonTargetAppleWyrmspanWyrmspan is like Wingspan but with cold-blooded beasties instead of birds. The one-to-five-player tabletop game features many of the same systems and mechanics as the lauded engine-building game that inspired it; however, the fantastical setting and a handful of thoughtful gameplay tweaks make it a great alternative, particularly if you own neither. Price: $59+AmazonStonemaier GamesKindle Colorsoft Signature EditionWith the Kindle Colorsoft Signature Edition, you no longer need a smartphone or tablet to enjoy digital book covers and illustrations in full color. Amazons latest ebook reader adds new depth to the reading experience with nitride LEDs and a color E Ink display, making it an eye-popping upgrade for someone long entrenched in the monochromatic world of traditional e-readers. Price: $279.99AmazonBest Buy Blundstone 500 Chelsea bootBlundstones original 500 Chelsea boot has changed very little since it was introduced in the late 1960s, and for good reason. Its got a classic silhouette with elastic sides and pull tabs for easy entry, not to mention a durable TPU outsole and weather-ready leather that makes it well suited for hitting the streets or the old dusty trail whichever your giftee prefers. Price: $189.95+BlundstoneL.L. BeanAdidas x MLS Archive Collection jerseySadly, the MLS isnt exactly known for producing good-looking kits, at least compared to soccer leagues in the UK. The Adidas x MLS Archive Collection is a bold step in the right direction, however. Each throwback jersey pairs nostalgia-inducing retro styling with a more modern aesthetic, resulting in an attractive third kit that pays homage to the city it represents. Price: $79.99+MLS StorePebblebee Clip UniversalBeing locked into an ecosystem sucks. Fortunately, Pebblebees rechargeable Bluetooth tracker supports multiple Find My networks, making it a solid pick for households using a mix of iOS and Android devices. Plus, unlike Apples like-minded AirTags, the Clip Universal is outfitted with a rechargeable battery and an integrated key ring for added convenience. Price: $34.99AmazonBest Buy PebblebeeSlice Auto-Retractable Box CutterScissors are overrated. The Slice Auto-Retractable Box Cutter has been a mainstay in our gift guides for several years, primarily because the finger-friendly ceramic blade is great for tearing through paper packaging tape and cutting plastic wrapping. The comfortable tool also comes with a sturdy reinforced nylon handle and a hooked design that makes it easy to stow when not in use. Price: $15.19+AmazonWalmartB&H PhotoRoad to Nikko printNo one has captured the exquisite beauty of the Japanese countryside quite like renowned 20th-century printmaker Hasui Kawase. The Road to Nikko remains a great example of his keen eye for detail and ability to capture natural lighting, which, in this instance, dapples ancient cedars on the famed road into the mountains north of Tokyo.Price: $14.40+Ink & DropAnker 2-in-1 USB C to USB C Cable 140WNo one should have to deal with a rats nest behind their desk when devices like Ankers 2-in-1 USB-C cable exist. The handy USB-C cable splits at the end, giving you the ability to charge up to two devices from a single port. That means you can split power between a phone and tablet or juice a 16-inch MacBook Pro to 50 percent in just 20 minutes using a single port. Price: $19.99AmazonAnkerBachans Japanese Barbecue SauceBachans Japanese Barbecue Sauce should be a staple in every household. The savory-sweet condiment is pretty atypical compared to American BBQ sauces, which often rely heavily on brown sugar or molasses for taste. Instead, Bachans recipe offers a nice balance of ginger, soy, mirin, green onion, and other Japanese flavors that work great if youre trying to add a kick of umami to your next meal. Price: $7.98+AmazonWalmartTargetCustom Lego minifigureIm as big a fan of Legos homage to the Great Deku Tree as anyone, but $299.99 is a steep price to pay for a brick-ified rendition of a tree. Thankfully, for a mere $11.99, you can build your pops a minifig version of himself, complete with accessories and a T-shirt showing off his favorite catchphrase. Whether you want to give him a full head of hair is entirely up to you.Price: $11.99LegoGarmin inReach Messenger Plus Although the latest phones from Apple and Google may come with two years of free satellite connectivity, none of them are as rugged or long-lasting as the new inReach Messenger Plus. Garmins robust satellite communicator lets you send photos and audio clips in addition to texts, ensuring you can maintain contact with emergency services or loved ones no matter how far you wander off the grid. Price: $499.99+ (subscription required)AmazonGarminREIWavelengthThink you and your old man are on the same wavelength? CMYKs outstanding board game is one way to find out. The simple premise has you guessing where your partner thinks a specific word or topic fits between two diametric ends of a spectrum, which, believe it or not, can be incredibly difficult depending on how well you know your teammate. Price: $29.99+AmazonWalmartCMYKDungeons & Dragons 2024 Players HandbookMuch like Mad Max: Fury Road, the new D&D Players Handbook is a triumph mired in controversy. Despite its long and rocky production, the redesigned 384-page tome is an exceptional resource for fifth-edition D&D players, owing to a more streamlined structure, gorgeous artwork, and other quality-of-life updates that render it as robust as it is user-friendly. Price: $49.99+AmazonD&D BeyondWizards of the Coast2024 Mac MiniApples latest Mac Mini is as charming as it is capable a remarkable feat for a desktop that starts under $600. Its the best value in the current Mac lineup as a result of Apples zippy M4 silicon and the fact it now ships with 16GB of RAM by default, which should allow the adorable machine to perform a wide range of tasks for years to come. Price: $579+AmazonBest Buy B&H PhotoNemo Stargaze Reclining Camp ChairNemos Stargaze is certifiable proof that not all camping chairs are created equal. The collapsible rocker is extremely comfortable thanks to its generous padding and elbow room as well as an auto-recline mechanism that lets you set your preferred sitting angle by simply leaning back. Its basically a backcountry La-Z-Boy, except youre not likely to kill yourself moving it. Price: $199.95+AmazonREIBackcountrySatechi Vegan-Leather Magnetic Wallet StandApples MagSafe technology ushered in a whole ecosystem of accessories, including god knows how many magnetic wallets. Satechis sleek four-card holder, while not particularly fancy or inventive, is an easy recommendation that doubles as a stand for propping up your phone in landscape or portrait orientation. Just make sure your dad owns an iPhone 12 or newer. Price: $25.99+AmazonSatechiAppleStoke Voltaics Joulle Kettle PotPropane and butane aren't hard to come by, but wouldn't it be nice if you didn't have to worry about either while camping? Stoke Voltaics portable Joulle is essentially a gas-free JetBoil with an auto-off function and three settings, each of which pulls in a different amount of AC power. It's great for heating a can of soup or even whipping up some popcorn, even while off the grid. Price: $99.99AmazonStoke VoltaicsBlack Diamond Spot 400You can look ma, no hands your lighting needs with Black Diamonds handy 400-lumen headlamp. The low-profile light is a convenient way to illuminate your immediate vicinity, as it offers more than enough power to navigate your home or local hiking trail in the dark. Best of all, its dual-fuel compatible, meaning you can power it with either a rechargeable BD 1500 Li-ion battery or three AAAs. Price: $44.88+AmazonREIBlack DiamondTinyPodIf your dad is the nostalgic type who longs for the days of MP3s and tactile scroll wheels, TinyPod has you covered. The company's titular gadget is a case that lets you use various Apple Watch models like an iPod, making it a fun alternative to your phone if you own a cellular watch. Hell, the built-in scroll wheel even turns the digital crown, letting you make full use of your strapless wearable. Price: $79tinyPodAeropress Coffee MakerWith the Aeropress Coffee Maker, your dad will be able to enjoy their morning cup of joe no matter where he is. Not only does the portable coffee press pack into its own plastic cup and showcase a shatterproof see-through build, but it can make up to three cups of coffee at once, meaning he can enjoy a refill when that mid-day slump inevitably hits. Price: $36.95+AmazonWalmartAeropressMechanism Gaming PillowIf youre going to succumb to marathon gaming sessions on the couch, you might as well make yourself as comfortable as possible. Mechanisms malleable 12-inch bean bag is designed to cradle a variety of handhelds including the Nintendo Switch, Steam Deck, and PlayStation Portal so you never have to worry about whether your arms will hold up in the next dungeon. Price: $59+MechanismDeWalt USB-C Charging KitIf your dad has a small cache of DeWalt power tools, he can put those beefy yellow-and-black batteries to work for other devices using the companys official charging kit. The nifty adapter lets you add a 100W USB-C PD port to any DeWalt 20V power tool battery, giving your dad an extra way to charge his phone, tablet, or even a laptop. Price: $79+AmazonAcme ToolsThe Home DepotGardener's Tool SeatLet's not pretend gardening is good for your back or posture. Luckily, Uncommon Goods sells a lightweight garden stool made of steel and water-resistant nylon, letting rest your joints when necessary. The foldable stool also features a 21-pocket detachable tool bag for stowing shovels, shears, and whatever else dad needs to keep his azaleas alive through the winter. Price: $48Uncommon GoodsDragon Age: The VeilguardDragon Age: The Veilguard is a redemption story, if only for BioWare. The action-packed RPG is the best thing the studio has done in more than a decade, anchored in gorgeous environments, deep lore, and a nuanced cast of characters that would give those from previous Dragon Age titles a run for their money. Now, lets hope dear old dad has a cool 80 hours to kill.Price: $49.97+AmazonBest Buy GameStopCreditsPhoto/Art Direction and Photography: Amelia Holowaty KralesCreative Direction: Kristen RadtkeArt Direction and Design: Cath VirginiaProp Styling: Maeve Sheridan

If I told you that Valve could make a play to dethrone the Sony PlayStation and Microsoft Xbox in your living room this next year while simultaneously challenging the Meta Quest as the gamers VR headset of choice, would you believe me? Because Valve may have a lot of SteamOS hardware on the way.If theres fire where we currently see smoke, Valve is currently preparing a wireless VR headset codename Deckard, a pair of trackable wands codename Roy, a Steam Controller 2 gamepad codename Ibex, and a codename Fremont living room console too. (That last one now looks likelier than it did yesterday.) And Valve has also now seemingly revealed plans for partners to create third-party SteamOS hardware too.RelatedIt wont be easy to take on Sony, Microsoft, or Meta. Those companies have a lot to lose, and theyre deeply entrenched. But the Steam Deck has revealed a massive weakness in each of their businesses that may take them years to correct the desire to play a huge library of games anytime, anywhere. And while they figure that out, Valve may be building an entire new ecosystem of SteamOS hardware, one that could finally let PC and peripheral makers tap into the huge and growing library of Windows games on all sorts of different hardware without relying on Microsoft or subjecting their customers to the many annoyances of Windows. Today, every major PC company is building one or more Steam Deck rivals. But without Valves blessing and support, theyre saddled with a Windows OS that doesnt start, pause, and resume games quickly and seamlessly enough to feel portable and easy. When building those handhelds, they typically rely on off-the-shelf AMD chips, too, since no other manufacturers parts currently compete on Windows gaming plus battery. But Valve has long said it will open up SteamOS to other manufacturers, even recently committing to some direct support for rival handhelds like the Asus ROG Ally and the other week, Valve quietly updated a document that may reveal its larger overarching strategy. It wont just leave SteamOS sitting around and hope manufacturers build something itll hold their hand.Valves new branding guidelines include Powered by SteamOS hardware. Image: ValeValve now has an explicit label for third parties to create Powered by SteamOS devices, which it explicitly defines as hardware running the SteamOS operating system, implemented in close collaboration with Valve. It additionally lets companies create Steam Compatible hardware that ships with Valve approved controller inputs, as well as SteamVR hardware and Steam Link hardware that lets you stream games from one device to another. And if the leaks are correct, manufacturers may not have to pick just one or two of those labels. It sounds like Valves Steam Controller 2 may contain the ingredients to be recognized and tracked in a VR environment and that Valves VR wands will feature enough buttons to double as a gamepad, playing Steams massive library of flatscreen games as well. Valve may be putting in the work to reduce dependence on AMDs x86 chips as well. Datamining by Brad Lynch, the Valve watcher whose community has uncovered most if not all of these leaks, showed that Valve has been testing many Steam games, including VR games, on Arm chips as well. While Valve once told me that the Steam Decks AMD x86 chip might be a good candidate for a possible future standalone VR headset, Arm chips could potentially offer better battery life and lower weight for a portable product than x86 even while Valve investigates more powerful AMD solutions than ever for a possible living room console.When Valve asked PC manufacturers to sign onto its Steam Machines initiative over a decade ago, with the idea of building living room PC consoles, it asked for a leap of faith with very little to show and a tiny chance of success. It took years for Valve to even build the oddball living room controller for its Steam Machines, and it didnt get far in convincing Windows game developers to port their games to Linux. The Alienware Alpha was a planned Steam Machine, but Dell couldnt afford to wait until Valve figured things out; it initially shipped with Windows instead. But by the time it announced the Steam Deck, Valve had hammered out a Proton software compatibility layer so good that many Windows games now run better on Linux, and created the most customizable yet familiar set of controls ever made.If manufacturers could build their own Steam Machines rather than equivalent Windows machines, they could offer better gaming products than they do today. Maybe theyd even want to release a VR headset that isnt tied to Microsoft or Meta if it doubled as a Steam Deck, portably playing decades of flatscreen games.Its not clear any of this will pan out; Valve is an exceedingly small company that tries not to chase too many things at a time. When I speak to PC industry executives about why they pick Windows over SteamOS, some say theyre concerned about whether Valve would truly be able to support them. But its just as intriguing an idea as it was 12 years ago when Gabe Newell explained the initial vision to us, and this time, theres a far better chance itll work.

Back in March, Epic games announced the launch of Project Titan, a 10-week collaborative game jam using Unreal Engine. Over 4,000 developers contributed to the effort and now the results have been made available completely free on Fab. It is very large though, over 80GB in size and required Unreal Engine 5.5 to use. The resulting project and assets are completely free and released on Fab under the standard marketplace license.The description of the Project Titan project from the Fab Marketplace page:In March 2024, Epic Games unveiled Project Titan, a groundbreaking global Unreal Engine 5 art jam. This initiative brought together contributors from around the world to collaboratively create a massive, open-world environment over the course of three months.Unlike traditional Unreal Engine samples, Project Titan is not solely focused on best practices. Instead, it celebrates the achievements of the participating artists while demonstrating the accessibility and collaborative potential of Unreal Engine.Designed to support a wide range of platforms, from mobile devices to high-end PCs, Project Titan features an expansive 88 km open-world map, a Mover-driven player character with diverse movement modes, and an array of plugins and world-building tools developed specifically for the art jam.Key LinksProject Titan on FabProject Titan Release BlogIf you want to learn more about Project Titan for Unreal Engine or just see the results in action saving yourself a 80GB+ download, you can check it out in action in the video below.

Meta AI just released Llama 3.3, an open-source language model designed to offer better performance and quality for text-based applications, like synthetic data generation, at a much lower cost. Llama 3.3 tackles some of the key challenges in the NLP space by providing a more affordable and easier-to-use solution. The improvements in this version are mainly due to a new alignment process and advances in online reinforcement learning. Essentially, Llama 3.3 delivers performance similar to its predecessor, Llama 3.1405B, but in a smaller, 70-billion parameter model that can run on regular developer hardware. This makes advanced AI capabilities more accessible to a wider audience.Llama 3.3 comes with several technical upgrades that boost its practicality. One of the major enhancements is the reduction in the number of parametersfrom 405 billion in Llama 3.1 to just 70 billionwithout sacrificing performance. This was achieved through online preference optimization and better alignment during the training process. The models alignment with user preferences, powered by reinforcement learning, means it can generate more relevant and context-aware responses. The smaller size also makes it easier to deploy, as it requires less computational power and memory. Developers can now run Llama 3.3 on their personal computers instead of relying on expensive GPUs or cloud infrastructure, which significantly broadens access to high-quality NLP tools.Meta AI tested Llama 3.3 extensively, and the results have been impressive. The model performed well across several benchmarks, excelling in tasks like question answering, summarization, and synthetic data generation. It has shown comparable performance to the larger Llama 3.1405B model, but with much lower computational demands. This makes it a great option for developers and organizations that couldnt previously afford to use large language models. Llama 3.3 also has strong multilingual capabilities, making it well-suited for applications that need a nuanced understanding of multiple languages. Meta AI has highlighted its cost-effective inference, which makes it a practical choice for content creation, synthetic data generation, and interactive tools like chatbots, particularly in environments with limited resources.To sum up, Llama 3.3 is a big step forward in making powerful language models more accessible. By offering the performance of a much larger model in a more efficient form that can run on standard hardware, Meta AI is helping to lower the barriers to using advanced NLP technologies. Llama 3.3 brings sophisticated AI tools to a wider range of people, including developers, educators, and researchers, fostering more innovation and creativity in the AI space.Check out the Model on Hugging Face. All credit for this research goes to the researchers of this project. Also,dont forget to follow us onTwitter and join ourTelegram Channel andLinkedIn Group. If you like our work, you will love ournewsletter.. Dont Forget to join our60k+ ML SubReddit. Asif RazzaqAsif Razzaq is the CEO of Marktechpost Media Inc.. As a visionary entrepreneur and engineer, Asif is committed to harnessing the potential of Artificial Intelligence for social good. His most recent endeavor is the launch of an Artificial Intelligence Media Platform, Marktechpost, which stands out for its in-depth coverage of machine learning and deep learning news that is both technically sound and easily understandable by a wide audience. The platform boasts of over 2 million monthly views, illustrating its popularity among audiences. FREE AI WEBINAR: 'Fast-Track Your LLM Apps with deepset & Haystack'(Promoted)

After laying off 20% of its staff early in 2024, Life Is Strange: Double Exposure studio Deck Nine has announced that it's been hit with more layoffs to end the year.In a statement posted to X/Twitter, Deck Nine Games CEO Mark Lyons wrote they'd have to "say goodbye to some of our talented team members," but didn't specify how many would be affected by the cuts. "This was an extremely difficult decision and reflects the challenging times many companies in our industry are currently facing," Lyons wrote. "We are extremely grateful to every individual who has dedicated their hard work, passion and commitment to making transformative entertainment with us."Deck Nine, which is also behind Life Is Strange entries Before the Storm and True Colors as well as The Expanse: A Telltale Series, released Double Exposure to positive reviews (IGN gave it a 9/10) at the end of October. The studio, however, has been plagued with issues before today's layoffs; earlier this year, we at IGN ran an extensive report about its internal struggles with toxicity, hate speech, crunch, and more.Life Is Strange: Double Exposure developer Deck Nine has announced its second round of layoffs in 2024. Deck Nine announced the last round of layoffs in February. Prior to those layoffs, IGN understood the studio employed roughly between 100 and 130 staffers. It's unclear how many remain after the two rounds of layoffs this year. Deck Nine laid off around 30 employees in May 2023 as well. The original developer of Life Is Strange, Don't Nod, also announced layoffs in October after canceling two in-development projects amid a reorganization.Today's Deck Nine announcement is unfortunately only the latest layoff news to hit the games industry as the year wraps up. Earlier this week, Ubisoft revealed that it would be shutting down two production studios and laying off 277 employees in the process. Alex Stedman is a Senior News Editor with IGN, overseeing entertainment reporting. When she's not writing or editing, you can find her reading fantasy novels or playing Dungeons & Dragons.