$100bn tech company is teaming up with the world's biggest memory manufacturers to produce supercharged HBM.

Russell Hedrick, a North Carolina farmer, flies drones to spray fertilizers on his corn, soybean and wheat fields at a fraction of what it would cost him to use a conventional ground spreader.As a volunteer rescuer, Hedrick uses thermal drones to search for people trapped by mudslides and cargo drones to send water and baby formula to those who are stranded something he did afterHurricane Helene.Now he is fretting that one day he will have to ground his drone fleet. Most commercial drones sold in the United States, including those used by Hedrick, are made in China. They have become a target of U.S. lawmakers, who see the dominance ofChinese dronesnot only as an espionage threat but as a commercial threat because they make it nearly impossible for American manufacturers to compete.Its another front in the U.S.-China economic and technological competition thats likely to intensify with the return to the White House in January of Republican Donald Trump, who has promised to get tough on China.Washington has already placed restrictions onChinese telecommunications companiesand imposedhigh tariffs on Chinese-made electric vehiclesas the U.S. competes with China insemiconductors, artificial intelligence and other areas.A defense bill that Congress passed on Dec. 18 includes a clause to stop two Chinese companies from selling new drones in the U.S. if a review finds they pose an unacceptable risk to American national security. Congress has banned federal agencies from acquiring Chinese drones, with some exceptions, and several states have barred publicly funded programs from using or procuring Chinese drones.A broader ban is worrisome for Americans for whom drones have become a part of their lives and work. It could disrupt wide-ranging operations, from law enforcement to mapping and filmmaking that drone operators say are viable because of the low cost and high performance of the Chinese drones. American-made drones just arent comparable, they say.American reliance on Chinese-made dronesIn Hickory, North Carolina, Hedrick began flying Chinese-made drones in 2019 to fertilize crops and monitor crop health. A drone spreader costs $35,000, while a conventional ground sprayer would set him back $250,000, he said.With the drone efficiency, we are able to do things we were never able to do before: to apply fertilizer but use less, which is good for American consumers, Hedrick said.But its precisely that reliance on Chinese drones that worries U.S. lawmakers.It is strategically irresponsible to allow Communist China to be our drone factory, argued Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., who has been tapped by Trump to be the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. She led earlierHouse effortsto ban new Chinese drones.It was the role of drones in everyday life that drove Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., to get Congress to restrict the purchase of Chinese drones by federal agencies. Those restrictions were included in a defense bill that Democratic President Joe Biden signed last year.Scott has compared Chinese drones to spy balloons that could gather data or carry harmful payloads across America, posing risks to military bases, critical infrastructure and natural resources.Michael Robbins, president and chief executive officer of AUVSI, an advocacy group for unmanned vehicles such as drones, opposes an immediate ban. Instead, his group has urged the government to support the U.S. drone-making industry through investment so it can catch up with its Chinese competitors in both capability and cost.He applauds Congress for addressing some of the issues in the 2025 defense budget, including promoting investment in autonomous technology and working to develop a secure supply chain for U.S. drone manufacturing.That vulnerability was clear earlier this year when Beijing sanctioned the U.S. drone maker Skydio, forcing it to ration its batteries sourced from China.This is an attempt to eliminate the leading American drone company and deepen the worlds dependence on Chinese drone suppliers, wrote Adam Bry, chief executive officer of Skydio.Citing security interests, China has restricted exports to the U.S. of drone parts, including motors, flight controllers and imaging equipment.John Goodson, CEO of Darkhive, a San Antonio-based drone maker, said a ban would not stop Chinese drone makers from selling their products elsewhere in the world but could hurt U.S. drone companies that rely on China for parts.For now, it remains unrealistic to ban Chinese drones when there are few comparable products, said Faine Greenwood, a drone enthusiast who writes extensively about drones. If we ban the Chinese drones, we knock out many amazing things we do.The dominant Chinese playerThe best-known Chinese drones are those by DJI Technology Co., a company founded in 2006 and based in the southern city of Shenzhen. Its named in the defense spending bill, along with another Chinese company, Autel Robotics.DJI has the lions share of the global drone market and is the dominant player in the U.S. market. Its devices are known for their affordability and high performance. They are even used on the battlefield in Ukraine by both sides, even though DJI does not make military drones.DJIs drones have been used by first responders to locate disaster victims, mappers to survey roads and utility lines, mosquito control officers to reach swarms of larvae, and filmmakers to capture aerial footage. Police use them to help prevent crime and find missing people.Hedrick, the North Carolina farmer, mobilized drone search efforts as a volunteer after Helene hit. On the first night, he and his teammates located 150 stranded people. When they could not be immediately rescued, Hedrick said his team used DJI cargo drones to send in supplies.I am not going to say I wont love to have U.S. drones, but I dont see the American drones as anywhere close to the DJI drones in terms of reliability, ease of use, and just the user-friendly software, Hedrick said. The U.S. drones are not as good as the DJI ones but cost twice as much.But as U.S.-China relations have soured, DJI drones have come under scrutiny. The U.S. government has put the company on several blacklists, saying it violates human rights by supplying drones to Chinese police to surveil members of the ethnic Uyghur minority, and alleging links to the Chinese military.DJI has denied wrongdoing and is suing the Pentagon over the designation that it is a Chinese military company. U.S. customs officials also have blocked some DJI shipments over concerns that the products might have been made with forced labor. DJI has called it a customs-related misunderstanding.As for the defense bill, DIJ said it contains no provision that would allow the company to defend itself. We call on a relevant technical intelligence agency to undertake an audit of our products, and we ask for a fair right of reply to any findings, DJI said.The Chinese Embassy in Washington said China opposes what it calls the politicization of trade.The Chinese government firmly supports Chinese companies in carrying out international trade and cooperation in drones for civilian use, and opposes certain countries frequent illegal sanctions on Chinese companies and individuals on the grounds of so-called national security, Liu Pengyu, the embassy spokesman, said in a statement.A lack of alternativesSeveral states have already restricted the use of Chinese drones. In Tennessee, public agencies, including police and fire departments, are no longer allowed to purchase DJI drones.That caused a headache for Capt. Chris Lowe of the Kingsport Fire Department. After his department lost a DJI Mavic Pro drone, he was quoted $5,000 for a replacement from an approved list of drones, when another DJI Mavic Pro would cost $1,000 to $1,500.Basically it would be a DJI clone but doesnt have all the capabilities, Lowe said of the alternative. Without any state assistance, he said he would either forgo a new drone or tighten the belt in equipment maintenance elsewhere. He said the department has used drones to scope out wildfires, chemical leaks and disaster scenes and to search for missing people. Its about life and death, he said.In Wimberley, Texas, Gene Robinson has used high-resolution drone images to analyze differences in vegetation to discover buried bodies. He said he helped police find a victims buried arm, making prosecution possible. Robinson doesnt think theres a viable alternative to the DJI drone he uses.He said his project at Texas State Universitys Forensic Anthropology Center would be deader than a doornail if theres a national ban on Chinese-made drones.At the Interior Department, the policy against foreign-made drones has hamstrung its drone operations, resulting in the loss of opportunities to collect data on landscape, natural and cultural resources, wildlife and infrastructure, according to a September report by the U.S. Government Accountability Office.Floridas state banIn Florida, law enforcement officers last year complained to the state senate that a ban on state-funded agencies operating Chinese-made drones left them with costlier aircraft that didnt perform as well. That prompted state lawmakers to appropriate $25 million to help government-run drone programs acquire compliant models.Christopher Todd, executive director of the not-for-profit group Airborne International Response Team, described the ban and the subsequent switch as an absolute mess.Lawmakers failed to understand that this issue is far more complicated than simply changing from one drone to another, he said. You need to learn a new user interface with new shortcuts and new protocols, and then you need to change all of the software and accessories and re-examine all of your network configurations to accommodate the technology change.But the financial assistance as well as training programs, such as the one provided by his group, made the transition possible, he said.More than 90% of law enforcement agencies in Florida used DJI drones in 2022, and the share plummeted to about 14% after the ban, according to Todds group.In Orange County, where Orlando is located, the sheriffs office said it spent nearly $580,000 to replace 18 noncompliant drones last year and received nearly $400,000 in reimbursements from the state.The transition has gone well and has simultaneously increased our drone fleet with better capabilities and technology, the sheriffs office said.Didi Tang, Associated Press

Johnny Zuagar said he tried to hide his worries about a potential government shutdown from his three boys as he weighed how much to spend on Christmas presents.Ive got to keep a poker face, Zuagar, a statistician at the U.S. Census Bureau, said when thinking about his boys, ages 14, 12 and 6. Youre just trying to take that worry off of your family.Like thousands of federal workers, Zuagar had been navigating the holidays with the spirit of the season overtaken by an air of gloom and uncertainty.The efforts in Congress to reach an agreement on keeping the government open had cast a cloud over the holidays for many federal workers facing the prospect of furloughs in the days before Christmas. But Congress passed a three-month spending bill early Saturday, just after the midnight deadline, and President Joe Biden signed it into law hours later. There was no shutdown.Many federal workers were already anxious about the possibility of future workforce reductions under the incoming Trump administration.Zuagar, who is president of the American Federation of Government Employees Local 2782, which represents federal workers at the census, has lived through shutdowns before.This time, the uncertainty came as Trump and his allies have promised sweeping cuts in the federal workforce.We really dont know anymore, Zuagar said during a telephone interview Friday. Again, the rhetoric out there is that federal employees are the problem.The contentiousness of the current debate has left him wondering: Are we the scapegoat for every ill and grievance in America?He said federal workers are also worried about what will happen after Trump takes office.Theyre fearful of whats to come, like this is the beginning of something, or they dont care about us, Zuagar said.Jesus Soriano, president of the AFGE Local 3403 representing workers at the National Science Foundation and several other agencies, also said the budget clash felt different this time around.Americans need to decide what type of services the government should provide, whether we are talking about national security, the safety of our borders, the safety of our food, Social Security or others, Soriano said in an interview in Chevy Chase, Maryland.Brian Witte, Associated Press

Amazon delivery drivers and Starbucks baristas are on strike in a handful of U.S. cities as they seek to exert pressure on the two major companies to recognize them as unionized employees or to meet demands for an inaugural labor contract.The strikes that started Thursday and Friday followed other recent standoffs between corporate America and organized labor. Large and established labor unions secured meaningful employer concessions this year following strikes by Boeing factory workers, dockworkers at East and Gulf coast ports, video game performers, and hotel and casino workers on the Las Vegas Strip.But workers at Starbucks, Amazon and some other prominent consumer brands still are fighting for their first contracts. Amazon refuses to acknowledge the organizing efforts of drivers and warehouse workersmany of whom have voted to unionizeeven though the powerful Teamsters union says it represents them. Starbucks long resisted the unionization of its stores, but had agreed to negotiate a contract by the end of the year.Why are the strikes happening now?Strikesparticularly ones that happen during the holidays, a time of high economic activitycan help unions exercise leverage during negotiations or flex their muscles by garnering support from workers and sympathetic consumers.Both Amazon and Starbucks sawa wave of organizing effortsfollowing the COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic focused attention on front-line workers and the impact of economic inequality on the lives of wage-earning Americans.Employees organized at bookstores, where unions are rare, and were successful with campaigns at some stores run by Apple,Trader Joesand theoutdoor equipment company REI.But turning those wins into contracts can be a challenge. At Amazon and Starbucks, which were not unionized before the pandemic, workers have yet to secure an agreement with the e-commerce and coffee giants, which both have their headquarters in Seattle.John Logan, director of labor and employment studies at San Francisco State University, said he thinks the Amazon and Starbucks workers are desperate to make progress beforePresident-elect Donald Trumpgets to appoint a Republican majority to theNational Labor Relations Board, which is expected to be less friendly to unions during his administration.The unions want to make these disputes public and bring political pressures on the companies, Logan said in a written statement. If these disputes drag on until next year, and if they are fought largely through the labor board and the courts, the unions and workers will almost certainly lose. This might be their last, best chance to pressure the companies in public before Trump comes into office.However, Trump has also given some signs that he might be friendlier to labor during his second term compared to his first term. Last month, he picked Oregon Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer to lead the Department of Labor in his new administration, elevating a Republican congresswoman who has strong support from unions, including the Teamsters. Teamsters President Sean OBrien also spoke at the Republican National Convention this past summer.Teamster-led strikes at AmazonThe Teamsterssay workers at Amazon are striking at seven delivery stations in Southern California, San Francisco, New York City, Atlanta and Skokie, Illinois, because the company ignored a Sunday deadline the union had set for contract negotiations. At midnight on Saturday, the Teamsters say workers will also strike at a prominent warehouse in New York, which voted to join the fledglingAmazon Labor Unionin 2022 and have since elected toaffiliate with the Teamsters.The prominent labor group says its fighting for higher wages, better benefits and safer working conditions for Amazon employees, many of whom experience economic insecurity while working for a company worth $2.3 trillion. It has not said how many Amazon warehouse workers or drivers are joining the striking.The union has mainly focused onorganizing delivery drivers, which the company says are not its workers because they are directly employed bycontractors Amazon recruitedto handle package deliveries.That type of setup gives the Amazon more cover from unionization attempts in an industrytransportation and truckingthats dominated by the Teamsters. However, the union has argued before the National Labor Relations Board that the drivers, who wear Amazons ubiquitous gray-blue vests and drive similarly colored vans, should be classified as company employees.Meanwhile, the online retailer has accused the union of pushing a false narrative about the thousands of workers it claims to represent. Amazon has also touted its pay, saying it provides warehouse and transportation employees a base wage of $22 per hour plus benefits. It also recently boosted hourly pay for the subcontracted delivery drivers.In September, the NLRB, which has taken a more pro-labor stance under President Joe Biden, filed a complaint that found the drivers to be joint employees of Amazon. The agency also accused Amazon of unlawfully failing to bargain with the Teamsters on a contract for drivers at a California delivery hub.The Teamsters union says it also represents Amazon warehouse workers, including thousands of employees at the major New York City fulfillment center who voted to be represented by the Amazon Labor Union.Amazon objected to the 2022 warehouse election results, alleging the Amazon Labor Union and the federal labor board had tainted the vote. A regional NLRB director issued a complaint last year that accused Amazon of violating the law by refusing to bargain with the union.Amazon, in turn, is challenging the constitutionality of the NLRB in federal court along with Elon Musks SpaceX. In June, the Supreme Court made it harder for the agency to win court orders in labor disputes, siding with Starbucks in a case brought by the company.Contract negotiations at StarbucksUnlike Amazon, contract negotiation have been underway at Starbucks.But Starbucks Workers United, the union that has organized workers at 535 company-owned U.S. stores since 2021, said the company has failed to honor a commitment made in February to reach a labor agreement this year.The union also wants Starbucks to resolve outstanding legal issues, including hundreds of unfair labor practice charges that workers have filed with the National Labor Relations Board. The agency also has opened or settled hundreds of charges against Amazon.In launching the strikes that started Friday in Chicago, Los Angeles, and Seattle, Workers United said Starbucks proposed an economic package with no new wage increases for unionized baristas now and a 1.5% increase in future years.Union leaders said the strikes expanded on Saturday to include stores in Denver, Pittsburgh and Columbus, Ohio. In a post Sunday on X, the union said that picket lines had expanded to Brooklyn and Long Island in New York, St. Louis and Pittsburgh.Without providing a specific number, labor leaders said dozens of Starbucks stores are now affected by the strike.We were ready to bring the foundational framework home this year, but Starbucks wasnt, Lynne Fox, president of Workers United said in a statement. After all Starbucks has said about how they value partners throughout the system, we refuse to accept zero immediate investment in baristas wages and no resolution of the hundreds of outstanding unfair labor practices.Starbucks said Workers United prematurely ended a bargaining session this week. The company also says it already offers pay and benefits worth $30 per hour for baristas who work at least 20 hours per week.Starbucks workers walked off the job on two occasions last year. Workers United has said the latest strikes could spread to hundreds of stores across the country by Christmas Eve.Patricia Campos-Medina, who recently ran for the U.S. Senate as a Democrat in New Jersey and leads Cornell Universitys Worker Institute at the School of Industrial and Labor Relations, said she expects there to be more union activity before Trump takes office.Trumps reactions will give the public a chance to see what his commitments are to the working class, Campos-Medina said.Haleluya Hadero, Associated Press business writerDee-Ann Durbin in Detroit contributed to this story.

Architect Alexis Sanal has created an urban planning card game where users are given a set of prompts and urban elements to turn "the challenge of urban design into a lively, creative adventure".City Making 101 is a role-playing and debate-focused game created by Alexis Sanal of Istanbul-based studio Open Urban Practice and ANALarcwhere players imagine design guidelines for a city or public space.Alexis anal has created a card game for designing cities"City Making 101 turns the challenge of urban design into a lively, creative adventure," said the team. "Through role-playing and spirited debates, players dream up ideal environments, tackle real-world design problems, and craft creative yet practical solutions."The game is played through role-play, similar to the fantasy tabletop game Dungeons and Dragons. Each player selects and builds a character such as a "resident", an "expert" or "local government", while a facilitator presides over gameplay and lays out a picture of the environment.The game is debate focused, with players prioritizing elements of a city during discussionIndividual players are then given a series of cards that detail urban elements or policies, such as "interstitial spaces", "car parking", or "universal accessibility" and sort the cards by priority. The game then transitions into debate, with the aim of convincing others to select priority cards.The selected cards are gradually placed at the centre of the group to build the city or public area.Read: "Interactive architecture game" encourages players to get creative with waste materialsDesigned for professional designers and the general public, the intent is that players learn more about the urban planning experience and take away ideas "to spark real-world change"."Whether you're gathering with colleagues, friends, or fellow city enthusiasts, City Making 101 offers a chance to bring bold ideas to life and spark real-world change one card at a time," said the team.It is designed to be used by professionals and the general publicWith degrees from SCI-Arc and MIT, Sanal was inspired to make the game from her own work experience as an urban planner."It's a creative and accessible way for anyone whether a professional or a curious citizen to explore, debate, and shape the future of our shared spaces," said the team.Other design-focused card games include a merge of Uno and I Spy designed by children and an Ikea tarot deck set informed by the company's manual instructions.The photography is courtesy of GriyerProject credits:Project founder: OPEN URBAN PRACTICE / openurbanpractice.comProject founder, chief editor: Alexis SanalResearcher: Semra HoruzProject coordinators: Dilsad Aladag, Muhammad Abdullatif, Ulufer Celik, Ahmet F. YeniceInterns: Julie Brun, Keimpke ZigtermanGraphic design: Okay KaradaylarVisual curators using Midjourney and ChatGPT: Metehan Ozcan, Selva Gurdogan, Esra Kahveci, Alexis SanalIllustrations: Mrine GodancaEditor: Erica OlsenProject manager: Jake AndersonPhotos / Production: GRIYER (Eslem Serra zen, Mehmet Akif Sar, rem Mert)ORO Editions Publishers of Architecture, Art, and DesignPublisher: Gordon GoffThe post Alexis anal creates City Makign 101 card game for urban planning role play appeared first on Dezeen.

Bone conduction headphones available on the market will offer you the finest audio quality, whether in the gym, walking on the street, or running in the park, without compromising your safety, since your ears are always open to whats happening in the surroundings. The Vision Bone Conduction Headset is starkly different from the possible applications for which the technology is being used. It is designed not for music but for the autonomy of the visually impaired.The interesting new concept headphones are designed to help the visually impaired lead a slightly more independent life. This device steps up as a companion that interacts with the wearer and serves as a guardian, providing the psychological comfort necessary for independent movement. Vision is not just an assistive device, but a companion that supports visually impaired individuals in becoming independent and maintaining their self-esteem, the designers note.Designers: Kyungsung University Industrial Design Department KSIDOf course, with the evolution of technology, numerous types of assistive devices have been developed for the convenience of the visually challenged. The designers believe many of these devices are cumbersome and inconvenient to use. That along with inadequate safety infrastructure makes independent navigation difficult, which maybe a pair of bone conduction headsets can provide a slight improvement towards.The minimalist pair of headphones is designed with the high reliance of the visually impaired on their sense of touch in mind. It integrates object recognition cameras with conversational AI technology to facilitate the open-ear bone conduction headset to identify objects and obstacles simultaneously conveying audible information for the users convenience.By leveraging conversational AI technology to provide real-time feedback of the things picked by the mounted cameras on the way, and talking to the user about it all along the distance may actually help the users just like a human assistant would guide them through a busy street maybe. So the Vision is not just a navigation assistant, it is an interactive companion to have close to the ear, guiding all along the way.Bone conduction technology allows the headset to sit close, but outside the ears, leaving the ears open to acquire ambient noises. On the design front, it features a dial and earcups with controls written in Braille. The former allows the user to adjust the size or rotate the headphones in the desired direction. The push of a tiny grove in its center resets the Vision to its original position. Excitingly the device comes draped in high-visibility colors, making them easy for anyone with partial blindness to locate. To further user convenience, its integrated with a magnetic charging slot, so that the person doesnt have to struggle with precise alignment for insertion as is the case with charging ports available in our devices.The post This bone conduction headset is not just an assistive device, it facilitates the visually impaired first appeared on Yanko Design.

These discounted tablets, headphones, and kitchen goods can still make it under the treeif you hurry.

2024 may stand out as a mixed year for Sony between the mandatory PSN linking for its PC titles, the failure of Concord, and PlayStation VR2 trending downwards. However, its successes are far higher and nowhere is that more apparent than with the PS5s game library. First-party titles were few and far between, but we still witnessed some of the best third-party offerings (many exclusive) and more than a few incredible indie titles. Check out the 20 best PS5 games from 2024 and why you should play them.Horizon Zero Dawn RemasteredSonys Remastered trend hasnt received the warmest reception over the years, but Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered more than earns its flowers. It revamps and improves its environments with more foliage, better lighting and shadows, and over 10 hours of new motion capture animation. Character models are pretty much carried over from Forbidden West and look fantastic. For just $50 ($10 if you own the original), its a pretty good deal.

We all look for different things in a video game, whether its an engaging story, unique mechanics, well-developed characters, or a relaxing atmosphere. Then again, some also want to test themselves, taking on the most challenging endeavors and dying repeatedly. It may seem like torture to those on the outside looking in, but overcoming these is the real reward. The question is: Which titles from 2024 provided that feeling of unrelenting difficulty? As it turns out, quite a few. Check out 15 brutally difficult games from this year.S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of ChornobylGSC Game Worlds sequel isnt a particularly challenging survival experience when managing hunger and radiation. However, patience and endurance are key, whether deducing and defusing anomalies, surviving encounters with Mutants or managing your inventory and dealing with the encumbrance. Doing all this without any fast travel is just the cherry on top. The lethality of firearms also goes both ways, ensuring each gunfight could be fatal with proper preparation.

A standalone multiplayer Elden Ringexperience may have come out of nowhere for the vast majority of us, but even so, thanks to FromSoftwares track record, when the studio announces something new, you pretty muchhaveto pay attention.Elden Ring: Nighreignis promising a unique roguelike multiplayer action RPG experience that takes the bones of Froms beloved 2022 open world masterpiece and remixes and recontextualizes them in a way thats completely new to the developer- and were quite excited about that. Here, we go over the key details that you, too, should know aboutElden Ring: Nightreign.PREMISEElden RingmeetsMonster Huntersort of begins to capture the idea, but theres much more toNightreignthan that. Directed by FromSoftware veteran Junya Ishizaki,Nightreignis a run-based PvE co-op action RPG that reuses and remixesElden Ringsworld, enemies, weapons, mechanics, and other elements, all repurposed to deliver a new and different multiplayer experience. Movement is faster and nimbler, the structure has been entirely changed, and the focus, of course, is now on multiplayer.LIMVELDElden Ring: Nightreignis set in Limveld, which, FromSoftware has stressed, is not the same asElden Ringssetting, and more of a remixed and parallel version of Limgrave. Players will find plenty of familiar elements in the settings environments, but FromSoftware says the game is a spinoff that is set parallel to the world and events of Elden Ring, which means the two dont intersect or affect each other in any way. And yes, that also meansA Song of Ice and Fireauthor George R.R. Martin the loremaster behind the world and setting ofElden Ring had no involvement inNightreignor its world, as confirmed by game director Junya Ishizaki in an interview with IGN.THREE-DAY STRUCTUREEach run inElden Ring: Nightreignis built around a three-day structure, which, interestingly enough, also makes use of battle royale elements. Making use of a day/night system, the game tasks players with surviving three days while exploring and facing the dangers of Limveld. Each night brings a different boss fight (and yes, you can expect plenty of familiarElden Ringbosses, with a total of eight included in the game), and at the beginning of the following day, a large circle will have shrunk inward, battle royale-style. If you make it to the end of the third-day, you will be faced with the runs final boss, dubbed the Nightlord.PLAYABLE HEROESElden Ring: Nightreignis also taking minor cues from class-based multiplayer experiences, in that it doesnt necessarily have classes, but does allow players to play as one of eight different characters, each equipped with unique abilities, strengths, and weaknesses. FromSoftware has yet to reveal finer details on these playable heroes, but in the aforementioned IGN interview, Ishizaki revealed that one of the eight characters uses a Spirit Ash sort of spiritual buddy as a gameplay mechanic.PROGRESSION AND CUSTOMIZATIONBeing a run-based roguelike,Elden Ring: Nightreign will draw a distinction between run-based and overarching progression, and as far as the former is concerned, you can expect it to deviate fromElden Ringsformula in several ways. Players will spend runs looking for stronger weapons to use against enemies, while at Sites of Graces, youll also be able to level up your character. Leveling up will also bring different stat buffs and advantages based on which of the eight characters youre playing as. The beginning of each run will reset all of this back to zilch, though the game will still allow players to make permanent upgrades. Speaking of whichRELICSThe biggest rewards that players are going to want to keep an eye on during their runs inNightreignare Relics. Relics can be earned in a run regardless of how far you make it, and these provide a variety of unique upgrades that are permanent across all runs. You can upgrade your attack stats, your total HP, or apply a variety of unique buffs that will make future runs easier for both you and your allies.CO-OP OR SOLOElden Ring: Nightreignis designed as a primarily multiplayer experience, being a first for FromSoftware in that regard (even though the studio has, of course, included strong multiplayer elements in plenty of its titles over the years). The intended way to play the game is as a three-player co-op experience, though it has been confirmed that you can also play it solo. Playing in a party of two wont be possible, and as you might imagine, the game and its difficulty will scale based on whether youre playing alone or in a party of three.NOT FULL PRICEDFromSoftware has explicitly dubbedElden Ring: Nightreignis spinoff, and sure enough, the multiplayer title is going to be priced accordingly. Specific detials have yet to be revealed by FromSoftware or publisher Bandai Namco, but Ishizaki has confirmed to PC Gamer that the game wont be full-priced, with pricing instead being comparable toShadow of the Erdtree.The expansion, for reference is sold at a price of $39.99, so presumably, thats what we can expect forNightreign, too.NOT LIVE SERVICEElden Ring: Nightreignis clearly a multiplayer-first title, and while its easy to assume that any multiplayer title coming out now is going to be a live service game, FromSoftware says thats not quite the case withNightreign. Speaking with PC Gamer, Ishizaki made it clear the studio doesnt consider the game a live service experience. With Nightreign, we wanted to have a game that felt like a complete package out of the box on the day of purchase, so everything is unlockable, everything is contained with that purchase. Its not what wed consider a live service game, he said.The director added that though patches and balance updates will obviously be released following launch as and when needed, further plans about post-launch content havent yet been decided. Were concentrating on the release of Nightreign, first and foremost, but we will make considerations after the games release Ishizaki said. Especially in the form of post-release updatesbalance updates, things like this that weve done with previous gamesthis will definitely be a priority going forward. For anything else, were still in the process of thinking about the possibilities.NETWORK TESTNightreignis due out sometime in 2025, and though a specific release date is currently unknown, we do know when players will get their first chance to go hands on with the multiplayer action RPG. A closed network test is scheduled for February. It will feature a portion of the game, and will allow you to play as four of the eight characters. Registrations for the network test are set to open on January 10, FromSoftware has announced.