Following recent claims Warner Bros.'s Wonder Woman game was in trouble and still "years away from release", the company has reportedly now cancelled the project and shut down its developer Monolith Productions as part of a string of studio closures. Read more

The Rise of the Golden Idol details first DLC Investigation, out next monthFirst of four DLC planned for 2025.Image credit: Eurogamer/Color Gray Games News by Matt Wales News Reporter Published on Feb. 25, 2025 If you've already hoovered up developer Color Gray Games' excellent deduct-'em'-up sequel The Rise of the Golden Idol, you might well be delighted to hear The Sins of New Wells - the first of its previously announced post-launch DLC episodes - is arriving this March.The Rise of the Golden Idol, if you're unfamiliar, takes the sleuthing formula of its 2022 predecessor and shifts it from the 18th Century to the 1970s. Eurogamer liked its 20 new cases enough to declare it a "compelling modern mystery thriller" in our four star review last year.Prior to its release, Color Gray Games confirmed The Rise of the Golden Idol would be getting a paid Detective Pass, granting access to four additional self-contained DLC Investigations throughout 2025 - each one featuring "at least" four new cases. And we now know the first of these, The Sins of New Wells, is coming in March.Watch on YouTubeThe Rise of the Golden Idol release date trailer."Homicide detective [REDACTED] has been transferred to the [REDACTED]," the studio explains in its announcement, "where corruption runs as deep as the sewers beneath New Wells. Here, crime is business as usual. But as he and his new partner, Cliff Savea, investigate a string of brutal crimes, they find themselves pulled into something far more insidious...Lemurian magic."And if that appeals, The Sins of New Wells will be available as part of the aforementioned Detective Pass bundle, which costs 14.99/$17.99, or as an individual purchase priced at 4.99/$5.99. It's coming to PC, consoles, and the Netflix-exclusive mobile version.

Engineers for Elon Musks so-called Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, are working on new software that could assist mass firings of federal workers across government, sources tell WIRED.The software, called AutoRIF, which stands for Automated Reduction in Force, was first developed by the Department of Defense more than two decades ago. Since then, its been updated several times and used by a variety of agencies to expedite reductions in workforce. Screenshots of internal databases reviewed by WIRED show that DOGE operatives have accessed AutoRIF and appear to be editing its code. There is a repository in the Office of Personnel Managements (OPM) enterprise GitHub system titled autorif in a space created specifically for the directors officewhere Musk associates have taken chargesoon after Trump took office. Changes were made as recently as this weekend.So far, federal agency firings have been conducted manually, with HR officials combing through employee registries and lists provided by managers, sources tell WIRED. Probationary employeesthose who were recently hired, promoted, or otherwise changed roleshave been targeted first, as they lack certain civil service protections that would make them harder to fire. Thousands of workers have been terminated over the last few weeks across multiple agencies. With new software and the use of AI, some government employees fear that large-scale terminations could roll out even more quickly.While DOGE could use AutoRIF as the DOD built it, multiple OPM sources speculated that the Musk-affiliated engineers could be building their own software on top of, or using code from, AutoRIF. In screenshots viewed by WIRED, Riccardo Biasini, a former engineer at Tesla and a director at The Boring Company, has seemingly been tasked with pruning AutoRIF on GitHub, with his name attached to the repository. Remove obsolete versions of autorif, one file description authored by a user with Biasinis username on GitHub says.Biasini has also been listed as the main point of contact for the government-wide email system created by the Trump administration from within OPM to solicit resignation emails from federal workers.OPM did not immediately respond to requests for comment from WIRED.Got a Tip?Are you a current or former government employee who wants to talk about what's happening? We'd like to hear from you. Using a nonwork phone or computer, contact the reporter securely on Signal at makenakelly.32.In order to conduct RIFs, government HR officials are required to create lists ranking employees who may be subject to firings. AutoRIF does that automatically, a former government HR official tells WIRED. However, even with the use of any automated system, the OPM guidance says all data has to be confirmed manually and that employees (or their representative) are allowed to examine the registers. Its not immediately clear if AutoRIFs capabilities have been altered either by the Defense Department or DOGE.The revelation that DOGE is working on AutoRIF comes as it seemingly prepares for its second major round of firings. On Saturday evening, government workers received yet another email purportedly from OPM demanding that they reply detailing what they accomplished in the last week. Some agencies, like the FBI, asked that employees not respond to the message. In a meeting with HR officials on Monday, OPM told agencies they could ignore the email.In these emails, government workers were asked to lay out five bullet points explaining their top work achievements of the last week. On Monday, NBC News reported that this information would be fed into an unspecified large language model that would assess whether an employee was necessary.Before the first round of probationary firings, Centers for Disease Control managers were tasked with marking workers they deemed as mission critical and then sending a list of them up the chain of command ahead of firings, a CDC source tells WIRED.CDC went through a very, very deliberate effort to characterize our probationary employees as mission critical or not, and that way we could keep those that would have real impacts to the mission should they get terminated, they say. None of that was taken into account. They just sent us a list and said, Terminate these employees effective immediately.

Can't Beat ThatThe highest grossing animated movie of all time just passed Spider-Man: No Way Home's box office total in less than a month, and you probably haven't even heard of itNow how's that for some success.Image credit: Marvel/ Beijing Enlight Media News by Oisin Kuhnke Contributor Published on Feb. 25, 2025 There's a strong chance you haven't heard of Ne Zha 2, but it's the highest grossing animated film of all time, and it just passed Spider-Man: No Way Home too.A big problem when talking about the canon of successful, popular, and beloved media is that people tend to forget that not everything will be popular, or even available anywhere. Marvel and Disney movies might make lots of money over here, but they don't everywhere. And despite Inside Out 2 taking home the record of being the highest grossing animated film ever made only last year, that record has already been beaten by a Chinese film called Ne Zha 2, which has so far managed to take home $1.89 billion in just China alone, a ridiculous feat in and of itself, and a couple hundred more than Inside Out 2's global box office total.To see this content please enable targeting cookies. Not only that, though, but Ne Zha 2 has now overtaken Spider-Man: No Way Home at the box office, as it now sits at the $1.92 billion mark, albeit slightly more than the webslinger's similar figure. That now makes the animated film the seventh highest grossing film of all time, and it achieved such a feat in less than a month - the film came out January 29 in China, and was released in various countries this month, but again, most of its box office success has come from China alone. For some context, the first film, which came out in 2019, only grossed $726 million, more than a billion dollars less.Watch on YouTubeAccording to Variety, the film is predicted to reach $2.09 billion by the end of tis run, which would make it the fifth highest grossing movie of all time, above Avengers: Infinity War and Star Wars: The Force Awakens, but still a good bit below Titanic's fourth place with $2.25 billion. I guess I'll have to track down the first film so I can see what all the fuss is about!

SkateaporeYour Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 + 4 dreams look to be grinding into reality, with a rating in Singapore the latest trick in the comboSadly, it's not rated M for "My god, you absolutely killed that sick half-pipe run, duderino."Image credit: Activision News by Mark Warren Senior Staff Writer Published on Feb. 25, 2025 It looks like that Tony Hawk's Pro Skater thing being teased over the last week or so will turn out to be Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 + 4, assuming a new rating in Singapore provres trustworthy.As spotted by Gematsu, a listing on the website of the Infocomm Media Development Authority - the Singaporean governmental body which rates media released in the country - appears to list the game as being set to arrive this year.To see this content please enable targeting cookies. There's not much to be gleaned from the listing aside from that apparent 2025 release window, but it does suggest THPS 3 + 4 will be coming to PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, Switch, and PC.It's recieved a "general" rating, which means "suitable for persons of all ages." Yep, even your grandma should be safe to hop into the bowl and start channeling her inner Bob Burnquist by kickflipping so hard everyone within 500 yards is sent into an instant gnarliness coma. To see this content please enable targeting cookies.This follows plenty of antics from Hawk and a countdown on the official website helping to send what were rumours and then chatter about a Call of Duty tease into overdrive. For instance, the official THPS account post above, which had the Birdman and a bunch of other skaters sitting in front of the teaser for March 4.Adding to that, Hawk seemingly used Gang Starr's Mass Appeal as the song to accompany this post on his Instagram, which you might remember from THPS 4's soundtrack.Are you psyched to play THPS 3 + 4 - if this is indeed what it looks like? Let us know below!

Image: Gemma Smith / Nintendo LifeWith Switch entering its ninth year on 3rd March 2025, and with over 150 million units sold and more million-selling games than we've had hot dinners, it's hard to remember a time when Nintendo pooling its portable and home console software teams behind a single system felt like a risky move. As Wii U foundered, it was the slow-starting 3DS that kept Nintendo fans' candles burning during The Lean Wii U Years, so putting all its eggs in one basket felt like a gamble.It wasn't really much of a gamble, all told. Not only did Nintendo's vast cash reserves mean it could weather several generations of flops, but by leaning on its IP and investing heavily in non-gaming areas (merch, movies, and theme parks), not to mention its mobile experiments, the company went and got a whole new bunch of multimedia baskets for its eggs. Switch 2 could be a catastrophic failure but Nintendo's got a long runway; it would multiple catastrophic failures to result in proper Nintendoom.The Switch strategy of pooling its teams onto a single platform has proved a real winner and resulted in an impressive slate of near-monthly releases that it's kept rolling out since its launch. Looking back, it's been pretty much one first-party-published game every month since March 2017 and reader Clark2k recently reached out recently asking if we think Nintendo can possibly maintain that momentum with Switch 2.The answer? We think so.Image: Damien McFerran / Nintendo LifeNow, it's easy to read 'one first-party-published game every month' and think, 'Yeah, of course - just make and release games and you'll have a successful platform!' But publishing a new title every four or five weeks? That might be slow if you're pumping out AI-generated pap, but it's an incredible feat to put out quality software at that rate in this day and age, and it speaks to an efficiency in Nintendo's production pipeline and partnerships which must be the envy of the industry. Both Sony and Microsoft have struggled for years to get first-party output where they want it to be, yet Nintendo consistently puts out several multi-million-sellers every year.Various circumstances make it more difficult for those competitors. The scale of resources needed to produce art and assets for a PS5 game versus Switch is significant. Nintendo hit a dev bump with Wii U's move to HD, and being behind the tech curve has been a major advantage for several hardware cycles now.That Sony seemingly has no room in its roster for off-the-wall experiments, instead relying almost exclusively on enormous blockbusters is a topic for a different article, but alongside its tentpoles, Nintendo purposefully maintains a varied software lineup that includes curios and experiments to keep things fresh. ARMS and Game Builder Garage might not have hit like Splatoon, but let's not forget that, as of the last report, those two examples have sold over 2.6 million and 1.06 million copies respectively. No, they haven't shifted Spider-Man 2 numbers (11 million as of May 2024), but crucially that isn't necessary for them to be profitable, and the texture and richness that they add to Switch's library is something you just don't find from first parties on other platforms.A great cadence Image: Zion Grassl / Nintendo LifeSony and Microsoft have chosen to divest themselves of smaller-scale teams and put resources into projects that demand enormous success just to break even. It's not just a case of advancing tech and an audience used to photorealistic, single-player epics - it's a choice to chase only the biggest wins and one side effect is a tiny handful of first-party games per year.That doesn't make Nintendo's monthly cadence a dead cert with the Switch 2, of course, but we think there's a very good chance they'll hit that apparent target, despite the challenges.The Wii U has almost run dry. Beyond the Wind Waker and Twilight Princess outliers, most of the big games fans have been crying out for have found their way to Switch one way or another (yes, there are still more I want, though). However, look back to the Wii generation and there's a platter of porting possibilities yet to be plundered - and Nintendo's made a start already with the likes of Donkey Kong Country Returns HD and Kirby's Return to Dream Land Deluxe. Throw in the missing Metroid Primes and a handful of 3DS ports like Luigi's Mansion 2 HD and there's more than enough 'HD' and 'Deluxe' fodder to fill the gaps between the brand-new NS2 releases.There's still a couple of these that haven't returned Image: Zion Grassl / Nintendo LifeNintendo has also leaned on partner studios to flesh out its release schedule, especially in the last couple of years. Its failure to flag the external teams working on projects pre-release is massively disappointing, but that they're old Nintendo titles with Nintendo characters makes it easy to obscure the fact that partner studios did the bulk of the work.Looking back, over the last couple of years' releases, partner studios have handled most of Nintendo's output. It's almost like the internal teams shifted attention to other things a long time ago...All signs point to Nintendo not only recognising the importance of hitting the ground running with Switch 2, but also being able to pull it off. DLC for Tears of the Kingdom might have been a no-brainer and a 'missed opportunity' in some players' eyes, but would it be worth taking a big chunk of pre-production time away from the Zelda team's next project? There are mightier porgys to fry.(To be clear, that doesn't mean we're expecting a new Zelda at launch, but an earlier start means a better chance of hitting Switch 2's Year Three rather than Year Four or Five.)Image: Gemma Smith / Nintendo LifeAnd when problems arise and NCL's hamster in the wheel needs a breather? That's when the third parties come in with an Octopath Traveler or a Monster Hunter. February '25 has been a quiet month sandwiched between DK in January and Xenoblade Chronicles X in March, but Nintendo has put some of its marketing weight behind Civ 7. If the platform is popular, there are always options - a way to maintain that crucial momentum.So yes, tech creep will inevitably lead to longer dev times, but we feel Nintendo has its plates set up well enough to keep them spinning out new games on a monthly basis, at least through Switch's launch year. But what do you think, dear reader? Let us know in the poll below.Do you think Nintendo will be able to keep up its near-monthly cadence of new games on Switch 2? (291 votes)Definitely!13%Probably, with the odd slip59%Not sure14%Hmm, I doubt it11%No way do they stick to the monthly schedule!3%What's a Nintendo? 0.7% Super Mario SpreadsheetSee AlsoShare:402 Gavin first wrote for Nintendo Life in 2018 before joining the site full-time the following year, rising through the ranks to become Editor. He can currently be found squashed beneath a Switch backlog the size of Normandy. Hold on there, you need to login to post a comment...Related ArticlesNintendo Is Discontinuing Gold Points, One Of The Switch's Best IncentivesNoooo, don't do it!Toby Fox Shares Development Update On Deltarune Chapter 3 And 4"Still console testing"Hands On: Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition - A Decade On, Mira's Still Got ItA Skell of a good timeNew Tactical RPG From Danganronpa & Zero Escape Creators Scores A DemoComing soon to Switch

In BriefPosted:12:20 PM PST February 25, 2025Image Credits:NurPhoto / Contributor / Getty ImagesApple shareholders vote down anti-DEI proposalApple shareholders rejected an anti-DEI proposal at its investor meeting Tuesday.The proposal was brought by a conservative group called the National Center for Public Policy Research (NPPR). It asked Apple to end its DEI activities. Boards typically ask shareholders to reject shareholder proposals, and this was one of four such shareholder proposals.This proposal gained national attention, however, because Apples recommendation against it comes as other tech companies are trimming or eliminating their DEI programs. DEI has come under social and legal fire in the past year, exacerbated by the Trump Administrations less-than-favorable look on the premise.Meta eliminated its DEI programs, while Amazon said it would curb some efforts, and Google announced it would ditch diversity hiring goals and conduct a review of its internal DEI programs.However, CEO Tim Cook warned at the meeting that as the legal landscape around these issues evolves, we may need to make some changes to comply, Reuters reported.Topics

OpenAI says that it wont bring the AI model powering deep research, its in-depth research tool, to its developer API while it figures out how to better assess the risks of AI convincing people to act on or change their beliefs.In an OpenAI whitepaper published Wednesday, the company wrote that its in the process of revising its methods for probing models for real-world persuasion risks, like distributing misleading info at scale. OpenAI noted that it doesnt believe the deep research model is a good fit for mass misinformation or disinformation campaigns, owing to its high computing costs and relatively slow speed. Nevertheless, the company said it intends to explore factors like how AI could personalize potentially harmful persuasive content before bringing the deep research model to its API.While we work to reconsider our approach to persuasion, we are only deploying this model in ChatGPT, and not the API, OpenAI wrote. Theres a real fear that AI is contributing to the spread of false or misleading information meant to sway hearts and minds toward malicious ends. For example, last year, political deepfakes spread like wildfire around the globe. On election day in Taiwan, a Chinese Communist Party-affiliated groupposted AI-generated, misleading audio of a politician throwinghis support behind a pro-China candidate. AI is also increasingly being used to carry out social engineering attacks.Consumers are being duped by celebrity deepfakesoffering fraudulent investment opportunities, whilecorporations are being swindled out of millionsby deepfake impersonators. In its whitepaper, OpenAI published the results of several tests of the deep research models persuasiveness. The model is a special version of OpenAIs recently announced o3 reasoning model optimized for web browsing and data analysis.In one test that tasked the deep research model with writing persuasive arguments, the model performed the best out of OpenAIs models released so far but not better than the human baseline. In another test that had the deep research model attempt to persuade another model (OpenAIs GPT-4o) to make a payment, the model again outperformed OpenAIs other available models. The deep research models score on MakeMePay, a benchmark that tests a models ability to persuade another model for cash.Image Credits:OpenAIThe deep research model didnt pass every test for persuasiveness with flying colors, however. According to the whitepaper, the model was worse at persuading GPT-4o to tell it a codeword than GPT-4o itself. OpenAI noted that the test results likely represent the lower bounds of the deep research models capabilities. [A]dditional scaffolding or improved capability elicitation could substantially increaseobserved performance, the company wrote.Weve reached out to OpenAI for more information and will update this post if we hear back.At least one of OpenAIs competitors isnt waiting to offer an API deep research product of its own, from the looks of it. Perplexity today announced the launch of Deep Research in its Sonar developer API, which is powered by a customized version of Chinese AI lab DeepSeeks R1 model.

Breakdown & ShowreelsAlien Romulus: More VFX Breakdowns by Weta FXBy Vincent Frei - 25/02/2025 Compositing. FX Simulations. Virtual Cinematography. Three deadly tools. One unforgettable nightmare. Witness how Weta FX fuels the terror of Alien: Romulus in a trilogy of VFX breakdowns. Are you ready to see what lurks in the dark?WANT TO KNOW MORE?Weta FX: Dedicated page about Alien: Romulus on Weta FX website.Dan Macarin & Ludovic Chailloleau: Heres my interview of Dan Macarin (VFX Supervisor) & Ludovic Chailloleau (Animation Supervisor) at Weta FX.Eric Barba: Heres my interview of Production VFX Supervisor Eric Barba. Vincent Frei The Art of VFX 2025

The UK Government has announced the five architecture firms shortlisted to design a memorial to the late Queen Elizabeth II. The memorial is set to be located in St. James Park, London. The shortlisted teams are: Foster + Partners, Heatherwick Studio, J&L Gibbons, Tom Stuart-Smith with Jamie Fobert Architects, and WilkinsonEyre. The selection for the memorial was made by the Queen Elizabeth Memorial Committee, a group established in 2023 comprised of eight British public figures, with the purpose of commemorating Britains longest reigning monarchs life of service and providing a space for pause and reflection. To be considered for the shortlist, each team was required to list examples of projects similar to the memorial conceptualized by the committee and to outline each contributors expertise.The Queen Elizabeth II Memorial will be located close to Buckingham Palace, in St. James Park next to The Mall at Marlborough Gate and includes the Blue Bridge. Once built, the memorial will be a featured monument along The Mall, the main drag of the ceremonial route from Buckingham Palace to Trafalgar Square that is used for royal processions and frequented by tourists for the Changing of the Guard. The teams selected to design the memorial are multidisciplinary. The team led by Foster + Partners includes artist Yinka Shonibare and landscape architect Michel Desvigne Paysagiste. Heatherwick Studio plans to work with sculptor Halima Cassell, landscape designer MRG Studio, and engineering firms Webb Yates and Arup. The landscape studio, J&L Gibbons is leading a team that also includes Michael Levine, a set designer; the architecture firm William Matthews Associates; and Structure Workshop and Arup as engineers. Garden designer Tom Stuart-Smith and Jamie Fobert Architectss team is rounded out by artist Adam Lowe of Factum Arte and Structure Workshop. Finally, WilkisonEyre said it would work with artists Lisa Vandy and Fiona Clark, garden designer Andy Sturgeon, and engineers Atelier One and Hilson Moran.As for next steps, the five shortlisted teams will submit their design concepts for the Queen Elizabeth II Memorial. Each will be required to develop a masterplan this spring, which will then be considered by the Selection Panel.The winning design team will be chosen by summer 2025. A final design will be announced in April 2026, close to what would have been Queen Elizabeths 100th birthday.