EA revises FY2025 and Q3 guidance due to underperformance across two franchisesEA Sports FC 25 and Dragon Age: The Veilguard "underperformed net booking expectations"Image credit: Electronic Arts News by Sophie McEvoy Staff Writer Published on Jan. 23, 2025 Electronic Arts has revised its full year guidance for FY2025 due to EA Sports FC 25 and Dragon Age: The Veilguard not meeting expectations during its third quarter.EA expected net bookings of $7.5 billion and $7.8 billion for its fiscal year ending March 31, 2025, which it has now revised to between $7 billion and $7.1 billion.The firm also pre-announced preliminary results for its third quarter, with net bookings projected to be $2.2 billion compared to previous guidance of $2.4 billion to $2.5 billion.EA said a slowdown in its global football franchise was the main reason for this change, as "early momentum in the fiscal third quarter did not sustain through to the end."Dragon Age: The Veilguard also saw approximately 1.5 million players which was 50% below expectations for the quarter."During Q3, we continued to deliver high-quality games and experiences across our portfolio," said EA CEO Andrew Wilson. "However, Dragon Age and EA Sports FC 25 underperformed our net booking expectations."This month, our teams delivered a comprehensive gameplay refresh in addition to our annual Team of the Year update in FC 25; positive player feedback and early results are encouraging. We remain confident in our long-term strategy and expect a return to growth in FY26, as we execute against our pipeline."EA CFO Stuart Canfield added: "We continue to balance investment for future growth with operational discipline, and remain committed to EA's long-term financial framework. As we look to FY26, we expect to grow as we launch more of our iconic franchises."

Mortal Kombat 1 tops 5m sales | News-in-briefCo-creator says fighting title is "still in the top 15 most played PS5 games"Image credit: NetherRealm / Warner Bros. News by Vikki Blake Contributor Published on Jan. 23, 2025 This is a News-in-brief article, our short format linking to an official source for more information. Read more about this story by following the link below:Mortal Kombat 1 tops 5m sales

A fundamental challenge in advancing AI research lies in developing systems that can autonomously perform structured reasoning and dynamically expand domain knowledge. Traditional AI models often rely on implicit reasoning processes, which limit their ability to explain decisions, adapt across domains, and generalize relational patterns. These shortcomings hinder their applicability to complex scientific problems that require interdisciplinary approaches, such as hypothesis generation, causal inference, and creative reasoning. Overcoming these limitations necessitates systems that can explicitly encode, refine, and transfer relational knowledge across diverse domains while maintaining adaptability and interpretability.Existing approaches, including transformers and graph neural networks (GNNs), have achieved remarkable progress in natural language processing and relational tasks like property prediction. However, transformers primarily excel at linguistic fluency but rely heavily on implicit reasoning processes, restricting their ability to encode explicit structures. GNNs, while capable of representing relational systems, often struggle with distinguishing non-isomorphic graphs, limiting their capacity for hierarchical inference and abstraction. Additionally, both methods exhibit limitations in adaptability to new domains and often require substantial labeled data, reducing their efficiency for tasks that demand real-time reasoning or interdisciplinary synthesis.Researchers from MIT propose Graph-PReFLexOR, an innovative framework that integrates graph-based reasoning with symbolic abstraction to address these challenges. This framework formalizes reasoning as a structured mapping M: T(G, P, A), where tasks generate knowledge graphs (G), abstract patterns (P), and final answers ( A). Inspired by category theory, it encodes concepts as nodes and relationships as edges, supporting hierarchical inference and adaptive generalization. Graph-PReFLexOR introduces explicit graph construction during the reasoning process to enhance interpretability and employs recursive reflection to refine reasoning iteratively. Bridging symbolic reasoning and neural architectures allows interdisciplinary applications, such as linking mythological concepts to materials science or uncovering patterns across domains. This paradigm enhances reasoning depth and adaptability, pushing beyond the capabilities of existing AI frameworks.Graph-PReFLexOR combines graph-based reasoning with the fluency of transformer architectures, employing graph isomorphism networks (GINs) to identify structural equivalence across domains. The reasoning process involves constructing dynamic knowledge graphs where nodes represent core concepts and edges encode relationships such as IS-A or RELATES-TO. These graphs preserve relational structures, making detecting universal features like recurring subgraphs and algebraic patterns easier. The framework balances linguistic fluency with structured reasoning by embedding graph reasoning into transformers. The authors trained the system with a database of 1,000 bio-inspired materials science research papers using retrieval-augmented generation and recursive reasoning mechanisms. The model independently generates and improves knowledge graphs, promoting adaptability and consistency in difficult reasoning tasks.Graph-PReFLexOR demonstrated excellent reasoning strengths on various tasks, effectively combining structured graph reasoning and symbolic abstraction for interdisciplinary uses. The system demonstrated the ability to generalize across diverse domains, effectively linking music with material properties, identifying isomorphic patterns, and dynamically generating knowledge graphs for hypothesis generation. It delivered significant improvements in reasoning depth, adaptability, and accuracy compared to conventional methods. The framework also bridged seemingly unrelated fields, such as mythology and materials science, uncovering innovative connections and providing insights into biomimetic material design. Its capacity to grow and refine knowledge graphs dynamically highlights its potential as a versatile tool for advancing interdisciplinary research and discovery.Graph-PReFLexOR represents a major advancement in AI reasoning, addressing the critical challenge of enabling structured, interpretable, and interdisciplinary reasoning. By combining graph-based reasoning with symbolic abstraction, it achieves impressive adaptability and generalization across domains. With applications ranging from materials science to creative reasoning and hypothesis generation, this approach opens new pathways for AI-driven discovery. Future work can explore scaling this system to larger datasets and real-time applications, further unlocking its potential to drive innovation across scientific and interdisciplinary fields.Check out the Paper. 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. Dont Forget to join our65k+ ML SubReddit. Aswin Ak+ postsAswin AK is a consulting intern at MarkTechPost. He is pursuing his Dual Degree at the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur. He is passionate about data science and machine learning, bringing a strong academic background and hands-on experience in solving real-life cross-domain challenges. Meet 'Height':The only autonomous project management tool (Sponsored)

The greatest strength of CBS new medical drama Watson is its potential for audacity. This is a show built for big, wild swings that either knock the ball clear out of the park or whiff so bad that everyone ends up in the hospital whatever happens, it should be fun to watch. (And in the event of that mass hospitalization: Sounds like the seeds of a great episode of Watson.) Unfortunately, the series first five episodes are occasionally modest with their exam-room conundrums, and they come close to wasting both an excessively creative premise and a steady leading performance from Morris Chestnut. Because Watson isnt just a new CBS medical drama, its also yet another modern revival of Arthur Conan Doyles Sherlock Holmes universe that also happens to be a medical drama. And a mystery show. And a light thriller about the machinations of an evil villain. And sometimes a commentary on Americas healthcare system. And sometimes its about how high-functioning addicts can gaslight the people around them.But perhaps most audacious of all is the fact that this has been done before, for eight whole seasons on Foxs House. There are some very crucial differences between Watson and House, though, including the tone of both shows (mirroring its title character, House tended to be gritty and dark, while Watson is overtly optimistic), but the most explicit difference is that Houses Holmes influences were just that: Influences. Watson, on the other hand, straight-up takes place in a world where Chestnuts Dr. John Watson went on a bunch of adventures with renowned detective Sherlock Holmes in London. He then returned to the United States to open a clinic after Holmes apparent death at the hands of the evil Professor Moriarty, which, as depicted in Doyles The Final Problem and Guy Ritchies Sherlock Holmes: A Game Of Shadows, involved the Reichenbach Falls.This all works best when the backstory is integral to whats happening onscreen and isnt just color, like when it factors into the overarching plot or when Watson imparts some Holmesian lesson. But, at the same time, it is kind of fun to watch run-of-the-mill doctor stuff going on while thinking Sherlock Holmes existed in this world or the guy doing this medical examination presumably met versions of Inspector Lestrade, Woman-with-a-capital-W Irene Adler, and the famously lazy Mycroft Holmes.Thats where the audacity comes in: Watson just works so hard to be interesting. There have been decades of medical dramas on TV that didnt have to jump through this many conceptual hoops, but theyve rendered the genre pretty dull and formulaic. Watsons gimmick doesnt go as hard as it should or could, but its a better gimmick than youll find in most of its peers especially since so many are simply What if there were a doctor who just cared a whole lot?Watson GalleryTheres a fascinating potential for silliness in Watson, and its early goings contain at least one stand-out moment that might make you leap out of your chair at how impressively deranged it is. While those moments are too few and far between, it does at least always feel like one could pop up out of nowhere and make an episode a whole lot more fun than it was before.The struggle of Watson is in those moments in between. When its just a straightforward doctor show with an emphasis on weird genetic mysteries (Watsons speciality, apparently), it meets the bare minimum of being compelling, watchable television. This type of thing is popular for a reason, since it presents a dangerous situation and then makes you feel for the person in that situation and then everything works out in the end. The average episode of Watson follows that arc to a T. Thankfully, Morris Chestnuts casual magnetism makes the more generic material a little more appealing. Hes a great leading man, as his years on television would attest, and he does bring a sense of playful joy to the role that feels consistent with how Dr. John Watson is often portrayed in the typical Sherlock Holmes story. If he enjoys puzzling out a patients ailment so much, it makes sense that hed throw his old life away so he could hang around with an acerbic English detective (and would then be devastated by that mans death).Watson just works so hard to be interesting.Less successful is virtually everyone else around him. Watson has (for lack of a better term) a House-style team of younger physicians (Eve Harlow, Peter Mark Kendall in a dual role, and Inga Schlingmann) who do most of the medical work, and each one is explicitly a gimmick unto themselves. Its clever that those gimmicks are actually part of the plot and that everyone is aware they are a gimmick, but its clear that some of the characters were designed to carry storylines themselves and others are just there for the quirks of their personalities or backstories. Ritchie Coster also appears as classic Holmes side character Shinwell Johnson, who often feels like he was added to Watson at the last minute to deliver clearer exposition about the larger Holmes-y mythology of it all.But theres still that potential for silliness. There always seems to be a chance that Watson will pull the trigger on a ridiculous plot twist or a show-shaking reveal, and then the less-exciting parts will suddenly become Worth It. And if that doesnt happen in a given episode well, it might happen in the next one. Thats the weird trick of Watson: Its not always great, and its not always fun, but when it is fun, it makes you want to stick around.

Jan 23, 2025Ravie LakshmananMalware / Threat IntelligenceCybersecurity researchers have disclosed details of a new BackConnect (BC) malware that has been developed by threat actors linked to the infamous QakBot loader."BackConnect is a common feature or module utilized by threat actors to maintain persistence and perform tasks," Walmart's Cyber Intelligence team told The Hacker News. "The BackConnect(s) in use were 'DarkVNC' alongside the IcedID BackConnect (KeyHole)."The company noted that the BC module was found on the same infrastructure that was observed distributing another malware loader called ZLoader, which was recently updated to incorporate a Domain Name System (DNS) tunnel for command-and-control (C2) communications.QakBot, also called QBot and Pinkslipbot, suffered a major operational setback in 2023 after its infrastructure was seized as part of a coordinated law enforcement effort named Duck Hunt. Since then, sporadic campaigns have been uncovered propagating the malware.Originally conceived as a banking trojan, it was later adapted into a loader capable of delivering next-stage payloads onto a target system such as ransomware. A notable feature of the QakBot, alongside IcedID, is its BC module that offers the threat actors the ability to use the host as a proxy, as well as offer a remote-access channel by means of an embedded VNC component.Walmart's analysis has revealed that the BC module, besides containing references to old QakBot samples, has been further enhanced and developed to gather system information, more or less acting as an autonomous program to facilitate follow-on exploitation."In this case the malware we talk about is a standalone backdoor utilizing BackConnect as a medium to allow a threat actor to have hands on keyboard access," Walmart said. "This distinction is further pronounced by the fact that this backdoor collects system information."The BC malware has also been the subject of an independent analysis by Sophos, which attributed the artifacts to a threat cluster it tracks as STAC5777, which, in turn, overlaps with Storm-1811, a cybercriminal group known for abusing Quick Assist for Black Basta ransomware deployment by posing as tech support personnel.The British cybersecurity company noted that both STAC5777 and STAC5143 a threat group with possible ties to FIN7 have resorted to email bombing and Microsoft Teams vishing to prospective targets and trick them into granting the attackers remote access to their computers via Quick Assist or Teams's built-in screen sharing to install Python backdoors and Black Basta ransomware."Both threat actors operated their own Microsoft Office 365 service tenants as part of their attacks and took advantage of a default Microsoft Teams configuration that permits users on external domains to initiate chats or meetings with internal users," Sophos said.With Black Basta operators having previously relied on QakBot for deploying the ransomware, the emergence of a new BC module, coupled with the fact that Black Basta has also distributed ZLoader in recent months, paints a picture of a highly interconnected cybercrime ecosystem where the developers behind QakBot are likely supporting the Black Basta team with new tools, Walmart said.Found this article interesting? Follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn to read more exclusive content we post.SHARE

The Architects JournalSurprise rejection for A IS FOR_s Folkestone harbour plansA IS FOR_s controversial regeneration proposals for Folkestone Harbour have been refused by local councillors against the advice of planning officersThe post Surprise rejection for A IS FOR_s Folkestone harbour plans appeared first on The Architects JournalGino Spocchia

The Architects JournalPattern books, then and nowDerided in some quarters for being the preserve of the volume housebuilder, pattern books have a rich history and could yet play a part in the governments new housing driveThe post Pattern books, then and now appeared first on The Architects JournalCatherine Slessor

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Spider-Man developer won't say if Wolverine launches in 2025, but acknowledges "pent up excitement" for release dateMurphey's claw.Image credit: Insomniac News by Victoria Kennedy News Reporter Published on Jan. 23, 2025 Wolverine is going to be Insomniac's next big game, but despite the project being announced several years ago, the studio is still keeping a release date under wraps.Wolverine was first teased back in 2021, during a PlayStation Showcase. At this time, the studio stated the game was still "very early in development". It also still had its Marvel's Spider-Man sequel in the works at this point, with that project ultimately releasing in 2023.But, with Marvel's Spider-Man 2 now out in the wild, and Insomniac previously stating it had "no additional story content planned" for its web-slinging sequel, many had hoped to hear more about Wolverine. However, the studio isn't quite ready to share too much about its upcoming project just yet, although it appreciates there is plenty of "pent up excitement" around it.To see this content please enable targeting cookies. The Death of Console Exclusives Is Inevitable and I Don't Know How I Feel About It. Watch on YouTubeOur latest morsel on the game comes gollowing Insomniac co-founder Ted Price's retirement announcement yesterday. The Wolverine studio now has three new co-heads - Chad Dezern, Ryan Schneider, and Jen Huang - and the trio sat down to chat with Variety about what this means for Insomniac, and naturally the topic of Wolverine came up.The studio execs would not confirm or deny a 2025 release window when questioned, but did Dezern did say this:"We've announced Wolverine, and we'd love to talk more about Wolverine, but we have to be like Logan today, and remain very stoic until it's time to pop the claws down the road. As much as we're as much as we have pent up excitement, we got to hold on to it. So that's, that's about as much as we could say about our upcoming projects today." Insomniac is playing its claws close to its chest. Other than that brief teaser from 2021, any official word on Wolverine has been slimmer than slim.In 2023, files were stolen from Insomniac Games by ransomware hackers. Following this attack, people began playing - and uploading footage - of an incomplete early development build of Wolverine, which was found within the stolen files.Then, in October of last year, it was revealed the game's creative director had moved across to Xbox, and joined the team working on the Perfect Dark reboot, meaning Wolverine would now be led by Marcus Smith. Meanwhile, Mike Daly became Wolverine's game director, while the game's previously announced game director Camerson Christain would remain with Insomniac, but in a different role.At one point, there were rumours Wolverine could release in 2024, which clearly did not happen. More recently, there was word of a 2025 release, which of course could still happen, so stay tuned.

Banjo-Kazooie composer has "zero hope" for new game, says fans would "slag it off no matter how good it was""All you diehard fans would instantly hate it."Image credit: Rare / Nintendo News by Tom Phillips Editor-in-Chief Published on Jan. 23, 2025 Legendary video game composer Grant Kirkhope has said he has "zero hope" of seeing a new Banjo-Kazooie game.Writing on social media last night, Kirkhope went on to suggest that any new attempt at reviving the dormant platforming franchise was doomed to failure, as "diehard fans would instantly hate it" regardless of "how good it was".Kirkhope is famous for having scored a swathe of classic titles from the heyday of British development powerhouse Rare. He penned the scores of GoldenEye 007, Donkey Kong 64 and Perfect Dark, as well as Banjo-Kazooie, Banjo-Tooie and Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts.To see this content please enable targeting cookies. Nintendo Switch 2 and Mario Kart 9 have been revealed - but questions remain.Watch on YouTubeMore recently, Kirkhope's fame has been revived with work on more modern platformers, including the distinctly Banjo-esque Yooka-Laylee, as well as Ubisoft's Mario + Rabbids games."I hope that last tweet didn't come across as mean," Kirkhope added, several hours later. "The Banjo fanverse is a wonderful thing, the reaction when Banjo got into Smash Bros. is something I'll remember for the rest of my life "Fans of the classic Banjo-Kazooie games have long called for a new installment from developer Rare, but to date there's been no suggestion that one is in the works. Rare itself is busy maintaining hit pirate live-service Sea of Thieves, and has the long-in-development fantasy game Everwild next on its docket.Still, Banjo-Kazooie's popularity endures. Classic games in the franchise have been re-released over the years, including via Xbox's Rare game compilation Rare Replay, as well as on Nintendo Switch Online. And, as Kirkhope mentioned, Microsoft gave the nod for the characters to turn up in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. Could there still be hope for Banjo and Kazooie yet?