Drew Haley Smith, a 2023 B.A. graduate of Auburn University in Alabama, is now the youngest licensed female architect in the United States, reports the local outletWFSA. Smith, who is currently employed as an architect and project manager for Seay, Seay & Litchfield Architects (SS&L) in Montgomery, according to her LinkedIn profile, completed the licensure process in just six months to obtain the certification at just 23 years old early last summer.The new U.S. record-holder was complemented by the firm's senior principal, Jimmy Seay Jr., who said: "I met her [in] her freshman year. Her work was just exquisite. The composition of her resume and portfolio was really incredible. She was so friendly and could explain things really well. It was a no-brainer. She checked all the boxes, and we said 'were going to fore sure hire her.'"Explore the topic of architectural licensure in our Archinect In Depth: Licensure series.

Developer Riot Games has released a new trailer for Valorant, giving us a look at the next addition to the games roster Tejo. The trailer, which you can check out below, gives us a chaotic look at Tejos fire-based abilities.More details about Tejos abilities have been revealed thanks to a post on the Xbox blog. Tejo will have four main abilities: Stealth Drone, Guided Salvo, Special Delivery, and his ultimate, Armageddon. The Stealth Drone can be activated to create a small sonar pulse to reveal enemies around it. The Guided Salvo allows Tejo to fire missiles at different parts of the map, which in turn explode twice. Special Delivery is a an explosive sticky grenade that can bounce off surfaces once. Armageddon allows Tejo to bombard an area with a wave of explosions.Tejo will be joining the roster of Valorant with the release of the first Act planned for launch in 2025. The character will be released on all platforms simultaneously, and Xbox Game Pass subscribers will be able to get the jump on unlocking him asap.After having spent a few years available exclusively on PC, Valorant made the jump to consoles back in August 2024. For more details, check out our review of the games PS5 release.

Paramount Pictures Sonic the Hedgehog film series has crossed $1 billion at the worldwide box office. The first film debuted in February 2020 and grossed $725.2 million worldwide together with the 2022 sequel. Sonic the Hedgehog 3 was released on December 20th, 2024, and has earned a worldwide gross of $312 million.Domestic earnings crossed $187 million, while the international box office gross crossed $100 million (becoming the fastest movie in the series to reach that total). Shortly after the third movies release, Paramount confirmed that Sonic the Hedgehog 4 is in the works and will arrive sometime in 2027. Though casting has yet to be announced, Jim Carrey (who plays Dr. Robotnik) said hes open to returning.On the gaming side, Sonic x Shadow Generations has been a big hit for Sega, selling over 1.5 million units in less than a month. Sega also recently announced Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds with Shadow joining the roster, though further details have yet to be revealed.

2K Games has shut down the online servers for WWE 2K23. This means that the only way to play a WWE game online is the most recent title: WWE 2K24. The servers for the previous game coming down means that one of the biggest features of the game the ability for players to make and share custom creations like pro-wrestlers and arenas will no longer be available.Other online features, including multiplayer, as well as the ability to buy DLC, have also been disabled. The publisher had also taken the game offline from digital storefronts back in September, preventing players from buying it in favour of the more recent WWE 2K24.Going by the release schedule of the yearly WWE titles, we will likely see a new game, presumably dubbed WWE 2K25, in the first half of this year. Were 2K to follow a similar pattern, WWE 2K24 will also likely see its servers shut down next year. This seems to be part of a larger trend by the publisher to try and ensure that players can only play the most current version of the game.For more details on WWE 2K24, check out our review. And for nostalgias sake, check out our review of WWE 2K23 while youre at it.

Cool FindsArchaeologists Unearth Early Medieval Sword Engraved With Mysterious Runes in a Cemetery in EnglandDating to the fifth and sixth centuries C.E., the burials held a trove of grave goodsbut the team was particularly impressed by the sword, which was covered in intricate decorations Researchers created a 3D scan of the sword. Ash LentonArchaeologists have discovered an early medieval cemetery in southeastern England. Inside one of its treasure-filled burialswhich date to the fifth and sixth centuries C.E.they have also unearthed a well-preserved sword.Found in a mans grave, the weapons silver- and gold-plated hilt is engraved with patterns, and a ring is fused to its pommel (the top of its handle). Its long blade sports a runic script, reports theGuardians Dalya Alberge. Remarkably, researchers also recovered parts of the swords scabbarda sheath of wood and leather lined in beaver fur.Swords like this are very special, Duncan Sayer of theUniversity of Central Lancashire, the sites lead archaeologist, tells Smithsonian magazine. It looks like the man it was buried with is hugging it. The hilt and guard end up at head and shoulder height, visually intermeshed with his face and his personal appearance.The sword might have been a gift from a royal, Sayer adds, and it may have been used for generationssignifying social statusbefore accompanying its last owner to the grave. It gives him authority, he says. An X-ray of the sword Dana Goodburn-BrownArchaeologists have excavated 12 burials in the cemetery, which they think could hold as many as 200 interments. The sword-hugging mans grave also contained a gold pendant engraved with a dragon or serpent, which researchers think might have been a treasured keepsake belonging to a female relative, per the Guardian.All of the mens graves contained larger weapons, like spears and shields, while the womens graves held knives, brooches, buckles and other artifacts. The sword will soon be featured on BBC Twos Digging for Britain, which is hosted by anthropologistAlice Roberts.Its an extraordinary Anglo-Saxon cemetery, with really beautifully furnished graves, a lot of weapon burials where you find things like iron spear-points andseaxes, which are Anglo-Saxon knivesand then theres this astonishing sword, Roberts tells the Guardian. Ive never seen one thats so beautifully preserved.Researchers are working to understand the weapons significance and markings. In particular, the ring attached to its hilt indicates an interesting origin.Its been suggested that swords had their own distinct identity, and the ring on this one may suggest that it is a gift from a king or important lord, Sayer tellsNewsweeks Flynn Nicholls. Anearly medieval bucket atop one of the graves Duncan SayerHoping to shed new light on funerary practices, conservator Dana Goodburn-Brown is studying and preserving the sword in a lab. Her analysis shows that the body wasnt covered right away, perhaps giving loved ones time to say their goodbyes, writes the Guardian.Because the weapon is in the lab, Sayers team hasnt yet examined all of its mysterious runes. They dont often say anything that we can understand, he tells Newsweek. But they would have been meaningful to the people who used and saw the sword and understood its story.The cemetery also holds foreign objects likeScandinavian andFrankish grave goods, which researchers say reflect a changing political landscape in fifth- and sixth-century England.After the cemeterys artifacts are excavated and conserved, theyll travel to theFolkestone Museum in Kent. Researchers have said the graves are near Canterbury, north of Folkestone, but they havent divulged the cemeterys exact location.Get the latest stories in your inbox every weekday.Filed Under: Archaeology, Artifacts, British History, Cool Finds, England, History, Medieval Ages, Rituals and Traditions, Weapons

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Meta's Quest Pro headset now no longer availableMeta began phasing out its Pro system in September News by Vikki Blake Contributor Published on Jan. 6, 2025 Meta's Quest Pro headset is no longer available.First noted by RoadtoVR, the Quest Pro web page clearly states that "Meta Quest Pro is no longer available," and instead invites consumers to "shop Meta Quest 3 for the ultimate mixed reality experience and premium comfort."The headset - at that time aimed at super users and VR professionals - released in October 2022 and initially sold for $1,500. It came with 256 GB storage and the Pro's optical lenses were 40% lighter with higher-resolution screens than the Meta Quest 2.It also boasted facial and eye tracking capabilities, which the company believed would help improve social presence in apps by having avatars reflect users' expressions.The headset failed to gain traction, however, leading to an announcement in September from Meta that informed players it was phasing out Quest 2, Quest Pro, and the 128GB version of its Quest 3.Meta Quest 3S launched in October, the same month Meta published its third-quarter earnings, recording a loss of $4.4 billion in its AR/VR Reality Labs division. This is the third reported loss of the year in this segment, with Reality Labs reporting a loss of $3.8 billion during its first quarter, and $4.5 billion in the second.

Justin Carter, Contributing EditorJanuary 6, 20251 Min ReadImage via Xbox.At a GlanceXbox first brought its cloud service to Smart TVs with Samsung's line of televisions in 2022.Later this year, LG's new line of Smart TVs will come pre-packaged with an Xbox app, allowing Game Pass Ultimate subscribers who to access Xbox's Cloud Gaming service directly through the TV.Ultimate members could first play their games on Smart TVs via cloud back in 2022. At the time, this was relegated to Samsung TVs, and this marks its latest expansion since the feature was rolled out.Last November, Xbox unveiled a feature for Ultimate members to cloud stream select non-Game Pass titles they own. That will also be part of Xbox's LG collaboration, allowing players to stream "over 50 games." The publisher plans to reveal more specific details in the coming months.Prior to its teamup with LG, Xbox focused on expanding its Cloud Gaming service to different game platforms and hardware, including iOS, Meta Quest, and Google Chromebooks. It's also brought its own internal products, like Microsoft Edge and Bing, into the Cloud Gaming fold.Despite the headway made, Xbox Game Studios head Matt Booty previously dismissed the cloud game market as "very, very, small" during the company's pursuit to acquire Activision Blizzard in 2023.Despite Booty's comments, leaked documents from its trial against the FTC ahead of that completed acquisition showed Xbox very much sees potential in cloud streaming games. At the time, one of its long-term plans mentioned was a hybrid game platform that could "leverage the combined power of the client and cloud to deliver deeper immersion and entirely new classes of game experiences."This next-gen device was considered a "new innovation" for the Xbox hardware line, and according to those documents, is expected to release in 2028.Read more about:[Company] XboxAbout 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