The Chicago Plan Commission and Committee on Zoning has approved the construction of the KPF-designed 1325 West Fulton Street development. Archinect covered the schemes design last month, which is defined by a facade of brick arches.Developed for Sulo Development, the 859,000-square-foot project is the first of three plannedtowersfor the full-block site in the West Loop neighborhood. The towers distinctive brick arches pay homage to the areas industrial heritage while integrating modern design elements; a move KPF calls rugged sophistication.Image credit: Atchain via Kohn Pedersen FoxA shared podium serves as the base for the three towers, offering amenities and parking services. The development also includes publicly accessible pocket parks between the towers, creating pedestrian-friendly entryways and breaking up the structures overall mass.With zoning approval secured, the scheme will now seek final approval from the City Council....

NetEase might be planning on pulling out of the global gaming market in a large scale. According to a report by VentureBeat, the companys CEO, William Ding, has seemingly lost confidence in NetEase having overseas teams. While NetEase itself hasnt made any such announcements recently, its recent closure of an R&D-centric studio that had helped with the development of Marvel Rivals might indicate one of the steps in this major move.The move was seemingly foreshadowed by founder of VC firm F4 Fund David Kaye, who spoke about geopolitical tensions, along with the whims of certain CEOs leading to Chinese companies pulling out of its international investments.China is in retreat: geopolitical tensions, some big bets not paying off and the whims of certain CEOs mean that a massive pullback has begun, said Kaye. One MAJOR strategic who has made dozens of investments in the past several years is reportedly pulling the plug and divesting ALL investments outside of China. Some will likely find buyers, others will not be so lucky.According to VentureBeat, the company that Kaye was referring to in this statement is NetEase, which has previously made large investments in various international gaming companies. This includes buying a stake in Bungie that was subsequently sold to Sony, as well as funding smaller companies like Devolver Digital and buying development studios like Quantic Dreams and Grasshopper Manufacture.As such, the long-term effects of NetEase pulling out of its international investments will be far reaching, affecting more than just titles like Marvel Rivals. For its part, NetEase itself has said that it is not, in fact, pulling out of all of its international investments.As far as overseas business efforts are concerned, NetEase has not wavered in its global expansion plans, said NetEase in a statement. Our two-pronged approach, proposed in 2022 (combining self-research and investments to explore overseas markets), is still actively progressing and yielding positive results.For titles developed by the self-owned studios, we successfully launched games like Once Human and Marvel Rivals in 2024. These projects demonstrate NetEases ability, along with our talented development teams, to produce high-quality games loved by players worldwide. For 2025, we have an extensive pipeline of titles in development, featuring a variety of genres, including FragPunk, Ananta and more.The company did go on to say that it was scaling down on its investment strategies at the end of 2024. It said that this was done because of business evaluations, and not other factors. It said that it is continuing to support its studios throughout North America, UK, Spain, and Japan.We are very open and aim to leverage our companys strengths and accumulated expertise to support all developers, said NetEase. In order to achieve this vision, we have implemented an evaluation process, which applies equally to all NetEase studios globally both domestic and overseas.This de-emphasis on international teams by Chinese companies is echoed by Shanghai-based Pillar Legal partner Charles Yu, who spoke about high costs and management inefficiencies playing a role in future business decisions. This includes NetEase pulling out of its overseas investments, and even laying off its overseas strategy investment team.However, it appears that Chinese game companies are less inclined to set up development teams in the U.S. or other Western countries due to concerns about high costs and management inefficiencies, Yu said. I think it is probably true that NetEase is scaling back its overseas investments. A recent news indicated that NetEase laid off the entire overseas strategy investment team and shut down several studios in 2024. However, NetEase never officially announced this news.For context, NetEase is counted as among the top 10 gaming companies in the world in terms of market capitalisation, and is currently valued at $68.4 billion. NetEase is joined by companies like Apple, Tencent, Google, Xbox, and Nintendo.

Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii launches tomorrow for Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, PS5, and PC. However, PC players can pre-load the title now on Steam, per Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio, which confirmed that the hack-and-slash high seas adventure is Steam Deck Verified.If that werent enough, the developer also shared a new gameplay video showcasing a pirate shanty between Majima, Noah and the Goromarus crew. Which slowly morphs into an anthem not unlike Majima Constructions (though not quite as catchy).As a spin-off and follow-up to Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth, Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii sees Majima washing up on an island without his memories. In typical Majima fashion, he commands his own pirate ship and crew, scouring the seas and searching for treasure, which sees him at odds with Madlantis and its rulers.Check out our review here or download the free demo to try the new Sea Dog style and naval combat. New Game Plus will be available as a free post-launch update, though a release window is unknown.Turn up the volume and enjoy a shanty before embarking on yer adventure in Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in HawaiiFeb 21stPre-order to add Ichiban & Nancy to yer crew + 2 of Ichibans iconic outfits!Play the demo NOW pic.twitter.com/OGAuE8v7sg RGG Studio | Like a Dragon & Yakuza Series (@RGGStudio) February 20, 2025

Marvel Rivals has surpassed 40 million players worldwide after topping 10 million users within 72 hours of launch.NetEase shared those milestones in its fiscal report for the year ended December 2024, and revealed the free-to-play hero shooter delivered another "surge" following its Season 1 update in January 2025 to claim the top spot on Steam's global top-sellers and most-played charts.Marvel Rivals launched on December 6, 2024, and has seemingly delivered the goods for NetEase. Despite those achievements, the Chinese company laid off a number of Marvel Rivals developers based in the United States earlier this week.In a statement sent to Game Developer, the company said those cuts were made to "optimize development efficiency" and pledged to continue investing in the title.Discussing its financial performance, NetEase said net revenue associated with 'Games and related value-added services' increased by 1.5 percent during the fourth quarter to $2.9 billion.Full year revenue within the same segment rose to $11.5 billion in FY24 from $11.2 billion in FY23."Net revenues from the operation of online games accounted for approximately 96.2 percent of the segment's total net revenues for fiscal year 2024, compared with 92.9 percent for fiscal year 2023," said NetEase."Net revenues from mobile games accounted for approximately 72.7 percent of net revenues from the operation of online games for fiscal year 2024, compared with 75.2 percent for fiscal year 2023."The change in revenue mixwas mainly due to higher net revenues generated by PC games such as Naraka: Bladepointand licensed titles."NetEase CEO William Ding said the company "pushed the boundaries of innovation in 2024" and intends continue expanding its game portfolio."Our new hit titles not only redefined gameplay but also set new industry benchmarks, while our legacy franchises gained fresh momentum through striking enhancements in design, storytelling and immersive content," he added."As our diverse game portfolio expands across more genres and engages an ever-growing global audience, we remain dedicated to fostering creativity and collaborating with top talent and strategic partners to shape the next wave of gaming trends."

Oppos Find N5 feels like the end game for foldable phones. Not because its make or break for a segment of the phone market that never quite took off like manufacturers hoped it would, but because I simply dont know where we go from here. Theres scarcely room to make the phone thinner without ditching USB-C entirely; battery life, performance, and even cameras are now on par with other flagship phones; and this time, Oppo even managed to fit wireless charging and water resistance in, too. This is what we were promised all along. Now what?8Verge ScoreOppo Find N5$1867$1867The GoodIts really, really thinExcellent battery lifeThe crease is almost invisibleThe BadFoldables are still fragileIts not launching in the US$1867 at OppoHow we rate and review productsHardware and camerasIts hard to see how the hardware improves much further. At 8.93mm thick when closed, this is the thinnest foldable in the world, shaving almost half a millimeter off the previous record holder, Honors Magic V3. Its just 4.21mm thin when its open, which proves theres still space to trim Huaweis trifold Mate XT runs to just 3.6mm but were close to at least one hard physical limit. Oppo told me it had to customize the USB-C port to fit it into a phone this thin. Theres only a hairs breadth of metal on the ports outer edge. If foldable phones are going to get meaningfully thinner, USB-C has to go first.1/4The USB-C port doesnt leave much room to get thinner.Every comparison you can make to other devices sounds impressive. When closed, this is less than a millimeter thicker than an iPhone 16 Pro Max or Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra and weighs only 2g more than the Apple phone. Open, it boasts a bigger screen than an iPad Mini but is thinner and weighs less. Its lighter than any of the foldables you can buy in the US right now and is a full 3mm thinner than the Galaxy Z Fold 6. Its hard to overstate how astonishing the Find N5 feels and how few compromises there are to its design and build. I keep picking it up and marveling at the engineering.That applies to the 8.12-inch main display, too, where Oppo has worked to reduce the crease where the screen bends. Its still visible, but only when it catches the light just right, making it easier to ignore than to notice.Yes, theres still a crease. No, it doesnt matter.Foldables have historically been short on battery life. Surely this is where Oppo cut corners to keep the Find N5 trim, right? Not really. By using a second-generation version of its silicon-carbon battery technology, the company fit in a 5,600mAh capacity larger than any foldable youll find in the US. I spent yesterday visiting friends in an area with unreliable signal, taking plenty of photos along a countryside walk and using the large internal screen to plan an upcoming vacation together. The Find N5 was only down to 50 percent when I went to bed.The lack of wireless charging was one of the major complaints about the previous Find N3, which eventually launched in the US as the OnePlus Open. Thats been fixed, too, with support for 50W wireless charging if you use one of Oppos own AirVooc chargers and slower speeds on regular charging pads. Oppo is selling a magnetic charging case separately, too, but thats on its own standard the Find N5 isnt Qi2 Ready-certified.Battery life is probably helped by adopting a new seven-core version of Qualcomms Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset, which sacrifices a little performance for better cooling and lower power consumption. It seems like a smart swap: I havent noticed the Find N5 stutter once in over a week.1/9The 8-megapixel ultrawide lens feels like a real afterthought, but the 50-megapixel main and 3x telephoto cameras would hold their own against most flagships. Dim lighting pulls the two apart a little, with the telephoto dropping detail and overcompensating on brightness, losing the warm, natural color balance the Hasselblad-tuned cameras tend to offer the rest of the time. These arent the best cameras youll find, but theyre at least comparable with the Pixel 9 Pro Folds, and I reckon the telephoto here has the edge over Googles.If theres one hardware area with room for improvement, its durability. Oppo boasts that this is the first foldable phone with an IPX9 water-resistance rating, but the X means theres no rating for protection from dust arguably much more important for a foldable phone. While the Find N5 feels remarkably sturdy for its size, foldables are inherently fragile. SoftwareOppo rightly received praise for its novel take on split screening when it launched the Find N3 a year and a half ago. Up to three apps can be opened on the main screen at once, either sharing the space equally or with one dropping off the edge, ready to be pulled back into focus with a tap. It remains the best approach to splitting up a large touchscreen, and Oppo avoided tinkering with it too much here. The only real change is that its quicker and easier to enable, accessible via a three-dot menu in the notification bar.1/3This is probably the best split-screen software on a foldable right now.The bigger new feature tries to fit even more apps onto the screen: Mac apps, to be specific. Oppo has expanded its existing O Plus Connect functionality, which previously supported file sharing between Oppo phones and iPhones or iPads, to support Macs. It does more than share files, though: once set up, you can use it to remotely control your Mac. You can turn the phone into a teeny-tiny laptop, with the Mac display mirrored to the top half and either a keyboard or imitation trackpad on the bottom. The phone and Mac dont need to be on the same network, though the Mac has to be online and awake to initiate the connection. This is the kind of functionality youd only ever use in a pinch, but it runs surprisingly smoothly, though you have to squint at the screen.The other software changes are predictably AI-centric. Artificial intelligence can improve your connectivity, translate your calls, and summarize your documents. Google Gemini is now the default assistant, and almost everything the camera does is in some way AI-enabled. None of it is especially exciting, and it feels like its only there because it has to be. Four years of Android version updates and six years of security support at least guarantee that theres a lot more AI to come.The biggest failure of the Find N5 might just be that it isnt launching in the US. While wed expected OnePlus to rebadge the phone as the Open 2, the company has confirmed it wont release a foldable this year. The UK and Europe will get the Find N5, but the States will not, reducing the pressure on Samsung and Google to put out hardware to match or to drop their prices, which is really the final frontier of foldables. The Oppo Find N5 has taken book-style foldable hardware about as far as it can go, but at $2,499 SGD (around $1,867), this is still priced for enthusiasts only. If foldables are going to stick around, they need to stop getting thinner and start getting cheaper.Photography by Dominic Preston / The VergeAgree to Continue: Oppo Find N5Every smart device now requires you to agree to a series of terms and conditions before you can use it contracts that no one actually reads. Its impossible for us to read and analyze every single one of these agreements. But we started counting exactly how many times you have to hit agree to use devices when we review them since these are agreements most people dont read and definitely cant negotiate.To use the Find N5, you must agree to:Oppos User AgreementOppos User Privacy Protection policyGoogles Terms of Service (including its Privacy Policy)Google Plays Terms of ServiceAutomatic installs (including from Google, Samsung, and your carrier)There are many optional agreements. Here are just a few:Sending diagnostic data to OppoOppo services, including network optimization, enhanced intelligent services, a user experience program, global search, App Market user agreement and privacy policy, and AI servicesGoogle Drive backup, location services, Wi-Fi scanning, diagnostic dataFinal tally: there are five mandatory agreements and at least 10 optional ones.See More:

Oppo has launched the Find N5, the thinnest foldable phone in the world. Its launching in markets worldwide, including across Europe and Asia, at $2,499 SGD (about $1,867 USD). Thats more expensive than either the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 or Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold in Singapore, though comparable once you adjust for storage. There wont be any US release at all though, as sister brand OnePlus has already confirmed that it has no plans to launch a foldable phone this year.The Find N5 is slimmer than any rival foldable, so long as you measure it when closed. At 8.93mm its thinner than the previous record holder, last years Honor Magic V3, and less than a millimeter thicker than an iPhone 16 Pro. Open the phone up and its just 4.21mm at its thinnest point so thin that Oppo told me it had to customize the USB-C port to even fit though measured this way it is fractionally thicker than Huaweis 3.6mm trifold Mate XT, which also got a global launch this week.The phone has IPX6, X8, and X9 ratings, meaning its protected against both submersion and spraying water but not dust or dirt arguably the bigger threats to folding phones. Oppo has also made the display crease both narrower and shallower, making it harder to spot or feel while swiping.The Find N5 is so thin that Oppo had to customize its USB-C port to fit.A 5,600mAh battery is surprisingly spacious for the phones size, and was good enough for two days of use at a time while I was testing the phone for my review. Oppo has also managed to fit in wireless charging, one of the big omissions from the previous Find N3 (there was no N4, since its considered an unlucky number in China).The phone uses a 7-core version of the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset, and comes in just one configuration, with 16GB of RAM and 512GB of storage. The Hasselblad-branded cameras are impressive too, with 50-megapixel main and telephoto lenses joined by a 12-megapixel ultrawide.The Find N5 is launching in Europe and Asia, with a release date of February 28th so far only confirmed for Singapore. While we had hoped for a US launch under the OnePlus brand the Find N3 launched Stateside as the OnePlus Open its been confirmed that OnePlus is skipping this generation, and so the Find N5 is just one more phone that US buyers wont have the option to pick up.Photography by Dominic Preston / The VergeSee More:

Despite my avid love for all things sports, I've given up on the idea that I'll ever be good at golf. Something about the way the body must contort to successfully crank a ball down the fairway just doesn't compute in my mind. But like few other games can, PGA Tour 2K25 takes everything I visualize myself doing in real life and executes it virtually, thanks to its in-depth simulation gameplay that lets my thumbs and brain do what my actual body simply refuses to do. To be honest, I went into PGA Tour 2K25 a bit hesitant. While 2K23 wasnt the worst golf game Ive ever played, it lacked any shine in its personality or gameplay, which came as a surprise considering HB Studios has been dutifully working on successful golf sims like The Golf Club for well over a decade. Couple this with the fact that, unlike most sports games, PGA Tour 2K took two full years to put out a new iteration, and it was safe to say my expectations were in check.PlayTo my surprise and relief, that extra time paid off: it didnt take long for PGA Tour 2K25 to impress me with its improvements, especially in terms of appearance. While it still cant quite match EA Sports rival PGA Tour game head to head in their respective visual recreations of golf, the difference is nowhere near as stark as it had been. Player models look much closer to their real-life counterparts, courses are more detailed, and animations are crisper. I found myself pausing while playing multiple times to take in the water crashing against the rocks or comparing the cut of the fairway, fringe, and rough areas for each course. The putting and driving animations are also fluid, no longer stopping abruptly after contact or feeling too weighty. Performance is smoothed out as well, and the only time I ever ran into issues with dropped frames on my PlayStation 5 was due to internet connectivity issues. Even the single-player Career Mode is always online, so there were a few instances where my shot would stutter and even a couple of times where my round didn't save.I found myself pausing while playing multiple times to take in the sights.My biggest gripe with the look and feel of PGA Tour 2K25 is the low-energy commentary team of Luke Elvy and Rich Beem. While they are both very knowledgeable, describing approaches and conditions beautifully, their lines could not be more flatly delivered. I know golf isnt the most exciting sport, but there is no need to sound like a robot when discussing it. They also seem to have a vendetta against me. If I do any worse than getting on the green in two or birdie putting, Rich Beem will berate me like Bob Barker going at Happy Gilmorethe price is wrong, Richie! At least thanks to my experience dealing with FIFA commentary for years, tuning them out wasn't very difficult. Other than that, its pretty much all good news. For example, its clear that HB Studios prioritized features that the community has been begging for. The most notable additions revolve around approaches, with the ability to change tee position and choose your hazard drop spot. It might seem like a small detail, but not being able to adjust position after a water hazard or move the ball at the tee for a better angle made for some of my most frustrating shots in PGA Tour 2K23. I love the amount of control that 2K25 gives me.Another big change is that MyPlayer development has become an RPG system that allows you to unlock specific shots as you go, making your growth in the MyCareer campaign customizable to your specific strengths. Skills in the six trees vary from advanced shot types like the Stinger, which is ideal for dealing with high-wind situations, to proficiency boosts, which help buff each shot. I chose to build a Powerhouse archetype who focuses on driving down the fairway, getting my feet wet against other newbies in the Q-School. It was here that I got comfortable with the new EvoSwing mechanics. The new-and-improved golf swing technique focuses on proper posture, torque, and arc size, and after each swing it even breaks down how good your contact, rhythm, transition, and swing path are so you have detailed information on how to improve. You can even customize how it controls by choosing the classic Swing Stick or the 3-Click Swing, depending on your skill level. As a veteran golf (gamer) I love 3-Click Swing for the control it gives you over your shot.The Swing Stick simply requires you to pull the right stick back and release to swing, which is easy to get the hang of but it still has to be lined up well to get a good shot. The 3-Click Swing is certainly harder to master, since you have to press, hold, and release before clicking to push or pull the shot and finally click again to hook or slice, but it is something I love as a veteran golf (game) for the control it gives you over your shot. After using it to blow my competition out of the water, shooting 30 under par across four days, I moved on to the PGA Tour.Like the real deal, the goal here is to compete for points in tournaments, finishing in the Top 70 to earn a spot competing for the FedExCup. But instead of thrusting you into each event blindly, PGA Tour 2K25 features training and scouting scenarios before each event as a way to earn stat buffs and get the lay of the land. Training scenarios are bite-sized minigames, such as target challenges or competing to land on the green quickest or to sink the most long putts. Completing these gives your character a temporary boost in specific attributes, which is applied to the coming tournament. At first, I shrugged these off as ways to pad playtime, but once I played on harder difficulties I realized how what seemed like a minor buff to my drive power could mean the difference between hitting the fair way instead of a bunker. Practice Rounds also give you an edge for the coming tournament in exactly the way youd expect: being able to play and feel out the specific run and shape of every course just before competing there is a real difference-maker. It is so satisfying to strategize for a course just like the pros would. PGA Tour 2K25 Official ScreenshotsNot every new feature in MyCareer lands on the fairway, though especially the new personality and popularity mechanics. Weve seen all this before in other games like Madden and EA Sports FC: Your pro spends time off the course gaining influence with fans, developing a following, and forming a personality based on the answers they choose in conversations and interviews. While this is a well-meaning effort to give MyCareer a bit more flair and make you feel like the belle of the ball, the system feels just as pointless as it does in other games. All conversations are done through text and don't have an effect on the actual gameplay, so it feels unpolished and isnt a good use of time. The actual way to get sponsorships and unlock questlines for XP is simply by doing well at playing golf. This was pretty easy to do at first because the default settings PGA Tour 2K25 feel like child's play: I was easily winning each tournament, destroying the likes of Viktor Hovland by -13 strokes a round. The Dynamic option is my favorite addition to MyCareer since 2K23.At this point, I decided to experiment with the customizable sliders, which let you tune everything from CPU difficulty to green conditions to weather. The difficulty took the most time to experiment with, as it was hard to find the right percentages to match my own skills, and seemed uneven. In some games, one golfer would score 10 under the second-closest AI rival. However, once I adjusted weather and course conditions to random the playing field started to feel much more level, and scores were closer. Either everyone benefited from the smooth greens and shining sun, or everyone suffered the whipping winds and slick surfaces where the ball glides way too fast across them. The Dynamic option, though, is my favorite addition to MyCareer since 2K23: With this, you can choose the number of holes you want to play within a course, and which specific ones, and any skipped holes will be simulated. I don't mind playing a full 18 most of the time, but having the option to shorten the time commitment for some rounds by simming dynamically is a nice touch. Andrew's Best Golf GamesThese are the best golf games around!See AllMicrotransactions are, unfortunately, still present in PGA Tour 2K25, but mercifully they are mostly cosmetic-based. Yes, you can dump real money into making your player a superstar stat-wise and decked out with flashy clothes right off the bat, but you'll also earn upgrade points and different outfits at a decent clip by completing tournaments, so they aren't entirely necessary and are less objectionable than what 2K has been doing in its casino-like approach to NBA 2K in recent years. So playing online with others is still enjoyable, since this isnt a sport where youre being dunked on by someone who can run faster and jump higher because they paid extra.The same seven online modes from 2K23 return, including my favorite: four-ball. I loved competing against my partner and the other team, as it simply felt more competitive, fast-paced, and interactive than going against AI. For my money, this mode is the next best thing to being out on the course with your buddies competing in real life. Ranked and Casual games also let you choose between Swing Stick and 3-Click lobbies and select which gameplay features and aides you want off and on to make sure everybodys on the same page. Its also notable that Societies mode now offers crossplay features, letting you and your friends schedule asynchronous events regardless of platform differences.

NetEase Games has promised to release at least one new Marvel Rivals hero every half-season, but that didnt stop one creative player from bringing his idea for a playable Doctor Octopus to life.Reddit user WickedCube surprised r/MarvelRivals followers earlier this week with a 30-second video showing what looks like rough gameplay from NetEases smash-hit hero shooter. At a glance, the footage seems to focus on a pre-Hulk Bruce Banner suspended in midair in what appears to be a testing room but its more than that. Marvel fans will recognize this eight-armed version of the gamma-infused doctor as an unpolished, Marvel Rivals-inspired take on classic Spider-Man villain Doctor Octopus.It's stiff and a touch goofy, but the likeness is unmistakable. Squint and youll see a well-thought-out concept of what Doc Ock could potentially look and move like should NetEase ever decide to send Otto Octavius crawling into Marvel Rivals. With his arms able to magnetize the player up and around obstacles, WickedCubes idea come-to-life essentially allows the character to fly so long as hes close enough to a stable structure an important note in a game with destructible environments. This rough Doc Ock concept even comes with named abilities, including Havoc Claw for the standard melee attack and a ranged move called Wrecking Grip. At 16,000 upvotes at the time of publication, its impressive, playable, and made entirely by one person.Doc Ock has always been one of the coolest villains in Spider-Man, and his tentacles would be a challenge to implement, WickedCube tell us, describing where his inspiration stemmed from. As far as I know, they haven't been fully implemented with playable 3D movement in a game before.I thought, Since I can't play right now, why not make it myself?The India-based indie game developer previously worked with Space Engineers studio Keen Software House before resigning to focus on his own project in January 2024. He's been looking for contract positions and prototyping mechanics since then, so character work usually isnt a priority. Creating a controllable version of Doctor Octopus in Unity required clearing a few hurdles, but its this exact challenge that helped WickedCube pursue the idea. The rest of the push came from an unlikely source: the recent PSN outage.It all started when PSN was down and I couldnt play Marvel Rivals, WickedCube explains. While browsing Twitter, I came across some really cool Doc Ock fan art. I thought, Since I can't play right now, why not make it myself?The result has seen thousands of players appreciating his ideas for Doc Ock, with some calling for NetEase to bring him onto the team. WickedCube calls the reception incredibly rewarding, adding that hed be more than happy to see the Marvel Rivals studio lift some of his ideas should Doc Ock officially make his way into the game. Although he has no plans to polish the design further, the goal is to release a playable version of the character in the near future.After seeing the response on Reddit, I want to share this and future concepts as a YouTube tutorial series, WickedCube added. I also plan to open-source the code on GitHub and make the playable versions available on Itch.NetEase will charge forward with its Marvel Rivals post-launch plans with two new official characters this Friday: the Human Torch and The Thing. Both heroes follow their Fantastic Four teammates, Mister Fantastic and the Invisible Woman, who launched early last month. Its a shockingly strong start that outpaces competitors in its field, but comic book fans cant help but look to Marvels catalog of heroes and villains as a universe with limitless potential.PlayWickedCubes post says his viral project was born out of the communitys desire to see more Vanguard, or tank-like characters, added to its roster. Not even the strongest rumor has suggested well see Otto show up in-game any time soon, but the Doc Ock designer says hes already cooking up more ideas for other potential heroes. Two names on his mind are X-Men mainstays Nightcrawler and Professor Xavier.The character roster at launch is large enough to keep the game enjoyable for a long time, and the rate at which theyve promised to release new characters is mind-blowing, he added. The designers clearly understand how to make a fun game, which, in my opinion, is the hardest thing to get right.Marvel Rivals is primed to deliver its Season 1 mid-season update tomorrow, February 21. In addition to those aforementioned character releases, the content update will add balance changes, gameplay tweaks, and more. While we wait for launch, you can read up on layoffs that recently impacted the U.S. team at NetEases Seattle branch. You can also learn about why the studio isn't entertaining the rumors surrounding planted hero leaks.Michael Cripe is a freelance contributor with IGN. He's best known for his work at sites like The Pitch, The Escapist, and OnlySP. Be sure to give him a follow on Bluesky (@mikecripe.bsky.social) and Twitter (@MikeCripe).

The rumors turned out to be correct, even if most were styling it with a capital E rather than a lower-case one: the iPhone SE 4 is officially named the iPhone 16e.One question is what the e stands for. Apple has often been vague about the meaning of suffices like S, R, and SE when appended to various iPhone models, but it did provide an answer this time Majin Bu was correctLeaker Majin Bu was first to suggest the new name, at the beginning of January, and was correct with all the details (if we forgive the upper-case E).Based on what my source has reported, it seems that the new iPhone that Apple will unveil in 2025 will not be called iPhone SE4, but iPhone 16E. It should feature a design similar to the iPhone 14, with an OLED display and an action button. The available colors will be white and black.He also referenced apparent packaging shortly before the announcement.Apples history of vague suffixesApple has form for using letter suffixes with no clear explanation of what they mean. The S in the iPhone 3GS was said to stand for speed, but it had no clear meaning in the iPhone 4S to 6S timeframe.The iPhone 5C was a clear one, with a colorful meaning (were pretty sure Apple wouldnt mean cheap!).The Macintosh SE stood for Special Edition, but it wasnt 100% clear whether it had the same meaning in the iPhone SE.We also had the iPhone XR and XS before Apple adopted the more informative mini, Plus, Pro, and Pro Max conventions.What does the e stand for in iPhone 16e?John Gruber notes that someone asked the question in yesterdays press briefing, and Apple said it meant nothing at all.In an online press briefing today, when asked whether the E stands for anything, an Apple rep said no, it does not stand for anything, but that its built for everyone. I dont think she meant to imply that the E secretly stands foreveryone, if only because Im pretty sure Apple doesnt want everyone buying the lowest-price iPhone model.So, thats the official answer: its just a random letter.Image: 9to5Mac/AppleAdd 9to5Mac to your Google News feed. FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.Youre reading 9to5Mac experts who break news about Apple and its surrounding ecosystem, day after day. Be sure to check out our homepage for all the latest news, and follow 9to5Mac on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn to stay in the loop. Dont know where to start? Check out our exclusive stories, reviews, how-tos, and subscribe to our YouTube channel

Feb 20, 2025Ravie LakshmananRansomware / VulnerabilityA previously unknown threat activity cluster targeted European organizations, particularly those in the healthcare sector, to deploy PlugX and its successor, ShadowPad, with the intrusions ultimately leading to deployment of a ransomware called NailaoLocker in some cases.The campaign, codenamed Green Nailao by Orange Cyberdefense CERT, involved the exploitation of a new-patched security flaw in Check Point network gateway security products (CVE-2024-24919, CVSS score: 7.5). The attacks were observed between June and October 2024."The campaign relied on DLL search-order hijacking to deploy ShadowPad and PlugX two implants often associated with China-nexus targeted intrusions," the company said in a technical report shared with The Hacker News.The initial access afforded by exploitation of vulnerable Check Point instances is said to have allowed the threat actors to retrieve user credentials and to connect to the VPN using a legitimate account.In the next stage, the attackers carried out network reconnaissance and lateral movement via remote desktop protocol (RDP) to obtain elevated privileges, followed by executing a legitimate binary ("logger.exe") to sideload a rogue DLL ("logexts.dll") that then serves as a loader for a new version of the ShadowPad malware.Previous iterations of the attacks detected in August 2024 have been found to leverage similar tradecraft to deliver PlugX, which also employs DLL side-loading using a McAfee executable ("mcoemcpy.exe") to sideload "McUtil.dll."Like PlugX, ShadowPad is a privately sold malware that's exclusively used by Chinese espionage actors since at least 2015. The variant identified by Orange Cyberdefense CERT features sophisticated obfuscation and anti-debug measures, alongside establishing communication with a remote server to create persistent remote access to victim systems. There is evidence to suggest that the threat actors attempted to exfiltrate data by accessing the file system and creating ZIP archives. The intrusions culminate with the use of Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) to transmit three files, a legitimate executable signed by Beijing Huorong Network Technology Co., Ltd ("usysdiag.exe"), a loader named NailaoLoader ("sensapi.dll"), and NailaoLocker ("usysdiag.exe.dat").Once again, the DLL file is sideloaded via "usysdiag.exe" to decrypt and trigger the execution of NailaoLocker, a C++-based ransomware that encrypts files, appends them with a ".locked" extension, and drops a ransom note that demands victims to make a bitcoin payment or contact them at a Proton Mail address."NailaoLocker is relatively unsophisticated and poorly designed, seemingly not intended to guarantee full encryption," researchers Marine Pichon and Alexis Bonnefoi said."It does not scan network shares, it does not stop services or processes that could prevent the encryption of certain important files, [and] it does not control if it is being debugged."Orange has attributed the activity with medium confidence to a Chinese-aligned threat actor owing to the use of the ShadowPad implant, the use of DLL side-loading techniques, and the fact that similar ransomware schemes have been attributed to another Chinese threat group dubbed Bronze Starlight.What's more, the use of "usysdiag.exe" to sideload next-stage payloads has been previously observed in attacks mounted by a China-linked intrusion set tracked by Sophos under the name Cluster Alpha (aka STAC1248).While the exact goals of the espionage-cum-ransomware campaign are unclear, it's suspected that the threat actors are looking to earn quick profits on the side."This could help explain the sophistication contrast between ShadowPad and NailaoLocker, with NailaoLocker sometimes even attempting to mimic ShadowPad's loading techniques," the researchers said. "While such campaigns can sometimes be conducted opportunistically, they often allow threat groups to gain access to information systems that can be used later to conduct other offensive operations."Found this article interesting? Follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn to read more exclusive content we post.SHARE