Monster Hunter has always been one of Capcoms biggest money-making franchises. Ever since its debut over two decades ago, the action RPG franchise has enjoyed a meteoric rise in success and popularity, and though initially much of that was limited to a Japanese audience, with the seminalMonster Hunter World,the series turned into a worldwide sensation. Indeed, the 2018 title enjoys a stellar reputation, while also being the biggest ever commercial success in the entire history of Capcom, whileMonster Hunter Rise,which released in its aftermath, has also seen widespread success, both critical and commercial.Now, the series is ready to step forward into the limelight once again. Its next mainline entry,Monster Hunter Wilds,has been in the works for years, and ever since it was first showcased over a year ago, excitement surrounding it has continued to grow. Based on the reputation of the franchise alone, its easy to see how the game is likely going to be one of the biggest and most successful releases of the year (unless Capcom screws up in unexpected ways)- but looking beyond that and at the game itself, theres a bucketload of improvements and changes to be excited about.TheMonster Hunterformula is obviously an incredibly addictive one. Its been that way ever since the series inception, and has only improved with time, with improvements and refinements brought about the technological leap forward that wasMonster Hunter Worldbringing it to entirely new heights. The upcomingWilds, however, doesnt seem to be content with not fixing what aint broke. In the months leading up to its release, Capcom has spoken of a number of tweaks and changes, major and minor, that are promising to build on the series beloved formula in key ways.Take, for instance, the fact thatMonster Hunter Wildsis taking multiple steps to make the experience feel much more seamless. Travelling between your hub village and the games multiple open world maps will be entirely seamless, for starters. Meanwhile, the quest board in the central village will also no longer be the only way to pick up a new quest. Simply finding your quest target in the world will dynamically begin the mission. And once that mission is done, youll no longer have to return to the village either, with the campsites that you establish throughout the maps serving as places where you can replenish your supplies.Then there are the changes being made to the monsters themselves, who, of course, are always the highlights of anyMonster Hunterexperience. Specifically, Capcom says it is continuing to make improvements to the monsters AI. That means they will behave more realistically than ever before, and that the game will feature ecosystems that will be way more complex and reactive, with the constant push-and-pull of different species of herbivores and carnivores and the environments surrounding them creating an ever-shifting and dynamic world for players to navigate.Other major features are also promising to heighten that sense of dynamism and immersion. For instance,Monster Hunter Wildswill be putting a much greater emphasis on weather and extreme weather events, as was made perfectly clear by the games sandstorm-filled announcement trailer itself. That weather, of course, will not only affect your surroundings and how you move around, but also the behaviour of the monsters populating that area (something that will happen courtesy of the games new dynamic day/night system as well).Thats far from the extent of similarly promising improvements being made to theMonster Hunterformula withWilds, and based on everything shown so far, the end result may very well be yet another ingenious evolution for the beloved franchise. Of course, its worth acknowledging that the games beta did raise concerns about its technical condition, and whether itd be able to carry the weight of its ambitions at launch. Capcom has, however, assured that key improvements are being made to the game based on that very feedback, so the hope is that the company will have made enough polishing passes by launch.And of course, when Monster Hunter Wildsdoes launch not long from now, if it is as good as it is looking like its going to be, there should be little doubt in anyones mind that its going to be a major hit for Capcom. The series always tends to enjoy widespread acclaim and high scores, especially in recent years, and youd expect that to be the case once again. On the commercial side of things, meanwhile, its very, very likely that things will be just as good, if not even more so. As mentioned previously,Monster Hunter Worldis the bestselling Capcom game of all time with over 27 million units sold.Monster Hunter Rise,meanwhile, sits in second place, with 16 million sales. Their expansions,IceborneandSunbreak, have sold 14 million and close to 9 million units respectively.All of which is to say thatMonster Hunter,ever a big seller, has become even more of a guaranteed money maker for Capcom in recent years, and its very likely that the company will be expecting similarly rapturous success from its upcoming next instalment. In a year that is purportedly going to see the release ofGrand Theft Auto 6, and in all likelihood, a newMario Kartgame, it might be premature to say thatMonster Hunter Wildswill end the calendar as 2025s biggest seller. But even if it doesnt grab that crown, there should be absolutely no doubt in anyones mind that it will absolutely be one of the years biggest sellers.In fact, whenWildsopen beta went live in November, we saw ample evidence of just how much hunger there is out there for a newMonster Hunterexperience, with the beta seeing a peak of over 463,000 concurrent Steam players. The beta, of course, was free, but its easy to imagine just how massive of an audience the full game is going to attract across all platforms when it launches at the tail end of February. On top of that, if it eventually also ends up releasing for the Nintendo Switch 2 like leaks have claimed in the past, its going to rake in even more sales, and add yet more to its player numbers.Capcom has done a fantastic job of nurturing and expanding theMonster Hunterfranchise over the course of two decades, and withWorldseven years ago, the publisher firmly established the series as a juggernaut of the industry. Excellent post-launch support and the endlessly replayable nature of the game itself has kept players coming back to the 2018 classic in droves even now, years on from its release, and of course,Monster Hunter Risehas also contributed to the series growth. Now, however, with a newMonster Huntergame on the horizon, the excitement within the fanbase is palpable, and its easy to see why. After all, the major steps forward that the series has taken in series years have all proven thoroughly successful. IfWildsshould keep that trend going, were likely going to be in for yet another jewel in Capcoms dazzling crown.Note: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of, and should not be attributed to, GamingBolt as an organization.

The head of Bathynomus vaderi, a newly described species of giant isopod found in Southeast Asian waters Nguyen Thanh SonMove aside, lobstera newly described giant isopod from Vietnam is now a seafood delicacy, and it has a cool name to go along with this status: Bathynomus vaderi, in homage to Darth Vader. A team of scientists named the crustacean for the dark depths of the ocean it inhabits, as well as its head, which shares a similar shape with the Star Wars characters iconic helmet. The enormous critter was described in a study published in the journal ZooKeys this month.I am the biggest Star Wars fan in the team, as its my vintage. The first movie was in 1977, in my youth, and it was cool, study co-author Peter Ng, a carcinologist, or crustacean researcher, at the National University of Singapore, tells New Scientists James Woodford. But we all agree that the face of Bathynomus looks so much like Darth Vader that it just had to be named after the Sith Lord.Though the species is newly described by the scientific community, locals in Vietnam previously called it (and other similar creatures) b bin, Vietnamese for sea bugs. Bathynomus, however, are not even close to being bug-sized. The genus Bathynomus refers to a group of giant isopodsodd-looking crustaceans with seven pairs of legsthat can grow approximately one foot long.Instead of running away at the sight of these behemoths, people in Vietnam have recently begun enjoying sea bugs as a seafood delicacy, since about 2017, per the paper. The crustaceans are caught from deep waters via trawling, then transported alive in ice boxes to restaurants for sale. Once treated as accidental bycatch when fishing, the animalsdriven in part by media exposureare now considered by some to rival the culinary fineness of lobster, according to a statement.In 2022, the researchers acquired four giant isopods from fishmongers in the Vietnamese city of Quy Nhn. Through comparisons to other isopods and analysis of DNA, they realized they were dealing with a species that had never been officially described. Study co-author Conni Sidabalok examinesBathynomus vaderiat Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum, Singapore. Rene OngAs if Bathynomus werent big enough in general, Bathynomus vaderi are specifically supergiant isopods that can reach 12.8 inches in length and weigh more than 2.2 pounds. Unlike other supergiants, however, a segment of Bathynomus vaderis back section narrows and curves backward in a unique way.Currently, the species is only known to live near the Spratly Islands, but the researchers suggest it probably also inhabits other regions of the South China Sea.Some experts, however, are raising conservation concerns for these enormous crustaceans: Bathynomus notoriously produce a small number of eggs, which makes them vulnerable to threats such as overfishing, study co-author Conni Sidabalok, a researcher with the National Research and Innovation Agency in Indonesia, tells CNNs Julianna Bragg.These (creatures) dont grow very fast, and if they become a very unusual and sought-after item, we may eat them out of existence, says Lanna Cheng, a marine biologist at the University of California, San Diego, who was not involved in the study, to CNN.The scale of harvesting is a matter for concern. Its a challenge for all deep-sea species we fish, Sidabalok tells New Scientist. We know so little about their biology, so we need more studies to evaluate how best to conserve and manage this resource.The researchers hope their study serves as a call to further investigate deep-sea biodiversity in the face of encroaching human activities like industrial fishing and offshore drilling. According to the statement, that a species as large as this could have stayed hidden for so long reminds us just how much work we still need to do to find out what lives in Southeast Asian waters.Get the latest stories in your inbox every weekday.Filed Under: Animals, Cooking, Food, Oceans, Weird Animals

For now, ChatGPT remains the better-rounded and more capable product, offering a suite of features that DeepSeek simply cannot match.Read More

Ubisoft confirmed that it's laying off yet more employees and closing its Leamington office as it restructures in Europe.Read More

Japanese ratings board demands changes to Assassin's Creed ShadowsThe option to toggle amputation on/off has been permanently removedImage credit: Ubisoft News by Vikki Blake Contributor Published on Jan. 27, 2025 Assassin's Creed Shadows will be censored in Japan when it releases in March 2025.As detailed by developer/publisher Ubisoft in a statement, there will be "differences in content" between the Japanese edition and the versions available overseas despite the game securing a CERO Z rating, the equivalent of a mature/18+ classification.Japan's rating board, CERO, confirmed that whilst players in Europe and North America will be able to toggle amputation on/off, for Japanese players "the option to switch amputation on/off from the game settings has been removed" and "amputating the neck and limbs of enemies during gameplay is now always impossible."CERO also required Ubisoft to amend how severed body parts are presented in-game in order to authorise Assassin's Creed Shadows' Japanese release.CD Projekt Red's Cyberpunk 2077 was also heavily censored in Japan.

Dauntless and Fae Farm developer Phoenix Labs has laid off "a majority" of its workers one month after releasing a poorly-received update to the former title as part of its launch on Steam.The company announced the move in a post on LinkedIn, saying that today is "another difficult day" for the studio. It added that the decision was part of "unfortunate but necessary changes to [its] operations.""We recognize and deeply appreciate the contributions of every individual impacted," the statement continues. "Their talent, dedication, and creativity have left an indelible mark on our company and our games." It added that it would be sharing "more details" in the weeks ahead about what these departures mean for Fae Farm and Dauntless, its two released games. Dauntless is a free-to-play live service game, while Fae Farm is a premium game with online multiplayer.Today's layoffs come a few months after Game Developer reported on turmoil at the studio after a 2023 acquisition by blockchain firm Forte Labs. Former Phoenix Labs employees told us that the then-new parent company instituted a culture of strict secrecy, cutting off communication between teams and going so far as to seemingly conceal its ownership of the developer from prospective employees.Related:Shortly after our reporting, Phoenix Labs launched its flagship monster-hunting game Dauntless on Steam, only to be criticized by players for its new in-app monetization design and erasing previous progression with the new "Awakening" update. The game still has an "Overwhelmingly Negative" number of reviews on Steam.Poor reception of this update may have dented the company's fortunes at the end of 2024, making today's layoffs more likely. According to SteamDB, the number of concurrent players spiked briefly at about 3,200 when it first launched on Steam, but it steeply declined in the days after. Today the game is only averaging between 130-160 CCU on a given day.Phoenix Labs' Dauntless was a hit when it first launchedwhat changed?When Dauntless first launched in 2019, the game was a bona fide hit, picking up 500,000 players after launching across the Epic Game Store, Xbox One, and PlayStation 4. The gamefunded and published initially by Epic Gameswas an early adopter of cross-platform gameplay. This was only two years after Epic Games "accidently" activated cross-platform functionality in its flagship battle royale game Fortnite, which was followed by public campaigning by CEO Tim Sweeney for platforms like Xbox and PlayStation to lower the multiplayer walls between platforms.Today, cross-play multiplayer is a widely-supported feature for many games and is no longer a unique selling point.Phoenix Labs continued support for Dauntless but also spun up other teams to work on games like fairy-farming simulator Fae Farm and the now-cancelled dragon-themed crafting survival game codenamed "Project Dragon," along with other games ultimately cancelled in 2024. Many of these projects were spun up under then-parent company Singaporean publisher Garena (a subsidiary of Sea Ltd), which divested from Phoenix Labs in 2023.The company let go over 160 employees before this massive layoff, in the months since the acquisition by Forte Labs. In that time, its new owner reportedly pressed developers to draft methods for integrating blockchain technology in its games for the purposes of buying and selling, and trading in-game goods, according to former employees who spoke with Game Developer. No blockchain games or game mechanics have been publicly revealed by Phoenix Labs.Game Developer has reached out to Phoenix Labs for comment and will update this story when a response is issued.

Justin Carter, Contributing EditorJanuary 27, 20252 Min ReadImage via Frontier Developments.At a GlanceReports indicate Nexon canceled a Warhammer RPG from developer Thought Pennies, which led to major layoffs at the studio.A Warhammer RPG in development at Thought Pennies was recently canceled by South Korean developer and publisher Nexon.Sources speaking to Eurogamer allege the title was a collaboration between the two studios. Rumors of the project's end stirred last week, and a representative for Thought Pennies told the outlet that Nexon "made a strategic change.""The partnership worked well and we got a lot of good input...but late last year, we agreed to end [it]," the spokesperson said.Last November, Thought Pennies eliminated positions after losing funding on a then-unknown project. At the time, CCO Daniel Erickson claimed the similarly unnamed publisher opted to pursue a new "strategic direction," and didn't disclose further specifics.A team-up between Games Workshop (which owns Warhammer) and Nexon was first announced in 2021. Said project was to be based on the Warhammer Age of Sigmar fantasy franchise, which Eurogamer's sources corroborate.When the project was first revealed, Nexon teased it as a PvE game for PC, mobile, and consoles. Thought Pennies wasn't named as a developer back then, and this would have been its debut project after starting up in 2020.Not all Warhammers are equalWhile there have been Warhammer 40,000 games for decades, developers have only recently begun making video games based on the Age of Sigmar miniatures. It debuted with two mobile games in 2018, and its most recent title was Frontier's Warhammer Age of Sigmar: Realms of Ruin in 2023.There was an Age of Sigmar game last year, an autobattler subtitled Soul Arena, but that was canceled.Meanwhile, the 40K license is still attracting players. It was recently revealed Warhammer 40K: Space Marine II hit 6 million players since its September 2024 launch, and was a success for publisher Pullup Entertainment. Owlcat Games' Warhammer 40K: Rogue Trader, another game under the sub-series banner, has recently sold 1 million copies. More 40K media, games and otherwise, is on the horizon.Likewise, there are a consistent number of games based on the Warhammer Fantasy setting, with the most recent entry being 2023's Blood Bowl 3.With how successful recent Warhammer games have been, and how ongoing a presence it's had in the medium, it makes Nexon canceling its Sigmar RPG even more surprising.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

There is a new Humble Bundle of interest to game developers, The Complete Godot 2025 Course bundle by Zenva. This bundle contains a collection of up to 24 courses for Godot Engine 4.x at both beginner and intermediate levels. The vast majority of training materials in this bundle have not been featured in previous Humbles. The bundle is composed of the following courses:1$ TierIntro to Godot 4 Game DevelopmentGodot 4 Mini-ProjectsMedian TierMobile Game Development with GodotBuild a Walking Simulator with Godot 425$ TierIntermediate Godot Essential Programming PatternsThe Comprehensive Godot Multiplayer CourseConstruct a Multiplayer Lobby in GodotCreate a Horror Game in Godot 4Discover Procedural Generation in Godot 44X Strategy Game in Godot & C# Unit 1 Hex-Based Map4X Strategy Game in Godot & C# Unit 2 City Spawning4X Strategy Game in Godot & C# Unit 3 UnitsDevelop a Complete Roguelike Game in GodotGit and GitHub for Godot Version Control EssentialsMake Custom Plugins for Godot from ScratchCreate 3D Spatial Shaders with Godot 4Build a Complete Hypercasual Game with GodotComplete Godot Project In-Game ShopBuild a Tower Defense Game in Godot 4Develop a Bullet Hell in Godot 4Build a Complete, Fully-Fledged 2D Game with GodotBuild a Complete Puzzle Game with Godot and C#Make a Metroidvania in Godot 4Make an AI State Machine in Godot 4Outside of the $1 tier, none of the courses have been featured in previous Humble Bundles. The courses are redeemed using a single key on the Zenva website. Using our links helps support GFS (thanks so much if you do!) and if you have an issue with opening the link, try opening it in a new tab and it should work just fine. You can learn more The Complete Godot 2025 Course bundle by Zenva about in the video below.

With the release of DeepSeek R1, there is a buzz in the AI community. The open-source model offers some best-in-class performance across many metrics, even at par with state-of-the-art proprietary models in many cases. Such huge success invites attention and curiosity to learn more about it. In this article, we will look into implementing a Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) system using DeepSeek R1. We will cover everything from setting up your environment to running queries with additional explanations and code snippets.As already widespread, RAG combines the strengths of retrieval-based and generation-based approaches. It retrieves relevant information from a knowledge base and uses it to generate accurate and contextually relevant responses to user queries.Some prerequisites for running the codes in this tutorial are as follows:Python installed (preferably version 3.7 or higher).Ollama installed: This framework allows running models like DeepSeek R1 locally.Now, lets look into step-by-step implementation:Step 1: Install OllamaFirst, install Ollama by following the instructions on their website. Once installed, verify the installation by running:# bashollama --versionStep 2: Run DeepSeek R1 ModelTo start the DeepSeek R1 model, open your terminal and execute:# bashollama run deepseek-r1:1.5bThis command initializes the 1.5 billion parameter version of DeepSeek R1, which is suitable for various applications.Step 3: Prepare Your Knowledge BaseA retrieval system requires a knowledge base from which it can pull information. This can be a collection of documents, articles, or any text data relevant to your domain.3.1 Load Your DocumentsYou can load documents from various sources, such as text files, databases, or web scraping. Heres an example of loading text files:# pythonimport osdef load_documents(directory): documents = [] for filename in os.listdir(directory): if filename.endswith('.txt'): with open(os.path.join(directory, filename), 'r') as file: documents.append(file.read()) return documentsdocuments = load_documents('path/to/your/documents')Step 4: Create a Vector Store for RetrievalTo enable efficient retrieval of relevant documents, you can use a vector store like FAISS (Facebook AI Similarity Search). This involves generating embeddings for your documents.4.1 Install Required LibrariesYou may need to install additional libraries for embeddings and FAISS:# bashpip install faiss-cpu huggingface-hub4.2 Generate Embeddings and Set Up FAISSHeres how to generate embeddings and set up the FAISS vector store:# pythonfrom huggingface_hub import HuggingFaceEmbeddingsimport faissimport numpy as np# Initialize the embeddings modelembeddings_model = HuggingFaceEmbeddings()# Generate embeddings for all documentsdocument_embeddings = [embeddings_model.embed(doc) for doc in documents]document_embeddings = np.array(document_embeddings).astype('float32')# Create FAISS indexindex = faiss.IndexFlatL2(document_embeddings.shape[1]) # L2 distance metricindex.add(document_embeddings) # Add document embeddings to the indexStep 5: Set Up the RetrieverYou must create a retriever based on user queries to fetch the most relevant documents.# pythonclass SimpleRetriever: def __init__(self, index, embeddings_model): self.index = index self.embeddings_model = embeddings_model def retrieve(self, query, k=3): query_embedding = self.embeddings_model.embed(query) distances, indices = self.index.search(np.array([query_embedding]).astype('float32'), k) return [documents[i] for i in indices[0]]retriever = SimpleRetriever(index, embeddings_model)Step 6: Configure DeepSeek R1 for RAGNext, a prompt template will be set up to instruct DeepSeek R1 to respond based on retrieved context.# pythonfrom ollama import Ollamafrom string import Template# Instantiate the modelllm = Ollama(model="deepseek-r1:1.5b")# Craft the prompt template using string. Template for better readabilityprompt_template = Template("""Use ONLY the context below.If unsure, say "I don't know".Keep answers under 4 sentences.Context: $contextQuestion: $questionAnswer:""")Step 7: Implement Query Handling FunctionalityNow, you can create a function that combines retrieval and generation to answer user queries:# pythondef answer_query(question): # Retrieve relevant context from the knowledge base context = retriever.retrieve(question) # Combine retrieved contexts into a single string (if multiple) combined_context = "n".join(context) # Generate an answer using DeepSeek R1 with the combined context response = llm.generate(prompt_template.substitute(context=combined_context, question=question)) return response.strip()Step 8: Running Your RAG SystemYou can now test your RAG system by calling the `answer_query` function with any question about your knowledge base.# pythonif __name__ == "__main__": user_question = "What are the key features of DeepSeek R1?" answer = answer_query(user_question) print("Answer:", answer)Access the Colab Notebook with the Complete codeIn conclusion, following these steps, you can successfully implement a Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) system using DeepSeek R1. This setup allows you to retrieve information from your documents effectively and generate accurate responses based on that information. Also, explore the potential of the DeepSeek R1 model for your specific use case through this.Sources 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. Meet 'Height':The only autonomous project management tool (Sponsored)

If youve kept up with The White Lotus the past couple of seasons, you know that its never really a matter of if someone will end up dead, but rather when and who. Based on the just-released official season 3 trailer, it seems like this trip might be even deadlier, with at least one body bag making an appearance and a violent robbery shown among the local crime threatening the idyllic Thailand resort. Give it a watch below.Series creator Mike White has already teased that this season will be about death. The first season kind of highlighted money, and then the second season is sex, and I think the third season, it would be a satirical and funny look at death and eastern religion and spirituality, White says. While he doesnt confirm that there will be more than one death this season, it doesnt seem likely that a season about death will stop with just one body.In addition to the body bag and the local crime both shown and alluded to in the trailer, we also see an increasingly worried and stressed out Jason Isaacs (who has an impeccable Southern accent in this by the way) loading a gun with no clear intended target.Belinda (Natasha Rothwell), who seems to be trying to move on from what happened in Maui in season 1, may have stumbled into something dangerous as well. We see her talking with resort staff about reaching out to the police and with someone at dinner about going home in a goddamn body bag.Many of the characters this season seem like theyre trying to escape something, as many White Lotus characters do. But as some of them may soon realize, death comes for us all, whether were ready for it or not.But with death often comes rebirth. At the end of the week, you will be an entirely different person, says the voice at the beginning of the trailer. If this season really is diving into ideas of Eastern religion and spirituality in relation to death, we might be seeing more than just death in the literal sense. We could also see the death of ideas, behaviors, or other elements of these characters pasts as they are reborn from their experiences at the White Lotus both good, bad, and everything in between.That being said, we know that theres going to be at least one body this season based on the trailer and previous seasons of the show. This seasons cast is stacked, and we cannot wait to get to know these characters, no matter how long they might last. Itll certainly be entertaining to see who will and wont survive this season of The White Lotus.The White Lotus season 3 premieres Sunday, February 16 at 9 p.m. ET on HBO.