PS5 live service plans in trouble again as Fairgames delay rumoured Adam Starkey Published May 16, 2025 2:12pm Updated May 16, 2025 2:12pm Fairgame$ doesn’t seem to be faring well (Sony Interactive Entertainment) One of PlayStation’s few remaining live service projects looks like it’s in trouble, as the studio’s founder departs amid concerns around its progress. Sony once had plans for 12 live service projects to be released by 2026, but many of them have either been cancelled or, like Concord, scrubbed from existence after a mere two weeks. Despite its failures in the area (the externally developed Helldivers 2 being the only exception), PlayStation still has several live service projects underway, driven by the potential profits from microtransactions which are a crucial part of PlayStation’s overall income. One of these upcoming games is Fairgame$ from developer Haven Studios, which was originally announced back in May 2023. While we’ve heard nothing about the heist shooter since, reports suggest things aren’t going well. The first concerning sign is the departure of Haven studio founder, Jade Raymond, who served as a producer in the early days of the Assassin’s Creed franchise. In light of her exit, Haven Studios will now be led by new co-studio heads Marie-Eve Danis and François Sapinski. ‘Jade Raymond has been an incredible partner and visionary force in founding Haven Studios,’ a PlayStation spokesperson said in a statement. ‘We are deeply grateful for her leadership and contributions, and we wish her all the best in her next chapter.’ As reported by Bloomberg, no reason was given for Raymond’s exit, but this comes several weeks after an ‘external test’ of Fairgame$. Following this test, it’s claimed ‘some developers at Haven were concerned about how the game was received and its progress’. According to the report, Fairgame$ was originally slated to come out in autumn 2025, but it has been delayed to spring next year – potentially in the firing line of GTA 6. However, this hasn’t been officially announced by Sony. While it’s unclear why it would have been potentially delayed, launching Fairgame$ later this year seems like a bizarre move considering Sony’s next live service hopeful, Bungie’s Marathon, is set to drop on September 23, 2025. More Trending Beyond Marathon, Sony’s other remaining live service project is a rumoured Horizon multiplayer spin-off, which is reportedly set to release before 2027. So it’s possible Fairgame$ might be awkwardly wedged between the two – if it isn’t cancelled before then. While Sony has cancelled many live service games over the past few years, including The Last Of Us Online, the company has recently opened several studios clearly designed to chase this model. One of these, Dark Outlaw Games, is led by former Call Of Duty Zombies lead Jason Blundell, while another, named teamLFG, is working on a team-based action game. There’s a chance we could see more from Fairgame$ over the coming weeks, if Sony holds its usual State Of Play presentation in May or June. Assuming it makes it as far as a public release, that is. Sony is yet to announce the rumoured Horizon multiplayer spin-off (Sony Interactive Entertainment) Email gamecentral@metro.co.uk, leave a comment below, follow us on Twitter, and sign-up to our newsletter. To submit Inbox letters and Reader’s Features more easily, without the need to send an email, just use our Submit Stuff page here. For more stories like this, check our Gaming page. GameCentral Sign up for exclusive analysis, latest releases, and bonus community content. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. Your information will be used in line with our Privacy Policy

Meta Platforms has decided to delay the public release of its most ambitious artificial intelligence model yet — Llama 4 Behemoth. Initially expected to debut at Meta’s first-ever AI developer conference in April, the model’s launch was pushed to June and is now delayed until fall or possibly even later. Engineers at Meta are grappling with whether Behemoth delivers enough of a leap in performance to justify a public rollout, The Wall Street Journal reported. Internally, the sentiment is split — some feel the improvements over earlier versions are incremental at best. The delay doesn’t just affect Meta’s timeline. It’s a reminder to the entire AI industry that building the most powerful model isn’t just about parameter count—it’s about usefulness, efficiency, and real-world performance. Sanchit Vir Gogia, chief analyst and CEO at Greyhound Research, interprets this not as a standalone setback but as “a reflection of a broader shift: from brute-force scaling to controlled, adaptable AI models.” He said that while Meta has not officially disclosed a reason for the delay, the reported mention of “capacity constraints” points to larger pressures around infrastructure, usability, and practical deployment. What’s inside Llama 4 Behemoth? Behemoth was never intended to be just another model in Meta’s Llama family. It’s intended to be the crown jewel of the Llama 4 series, designed as a “teacher model” for training smaller, more nimble versions like Llama Scout and Maverick. Meta had previously touted it as “one of the smartest LLMs in the world.” Technically, Behemoth is built on a Mixture-of-Experts (MoE) architecture, designed to optimize both power and efficiency. It is said to have a total of 2 trillion parameters, with 288 billion active at any given inference — a staggering scale, even by today’s AI standards. What made Behemoth especially interesting was its use of iRoPE (interleaved Rotary Position Embedding), an architectural choice that allows the model to handle extremely long context windows—up to 10 million tokens. That means it could, in theory, retain far more contextual information during a conversation or data task than most current models can manage. But theory doesn’t always play out smoothly in practice. “Meta’s Behemoth delay aligns with a market that is actively shifting from scale-first strategies to deployment-first priorities,” Gogia added. “Controlled Open LLMs and SLMs are central to this reorientation — and to what we believe is the future of trustworthy enterprise AI.” How Behemoth stacks up against the competition When Behemoth was first previewed in April, it was positioned as Meta’s answer to the dominance of models like OpenAI’s GPT-4.5, Anthropic’s Claude 3.5/3.7, and Google’s Gemini 1.5/2.5 series. Each of those models has made strides in different areas. OpenAI’s GPT-4 Turbo remains strong in reasoning and code generation. Claude 3.5 Sonnet is gaining attention for its efficiency and balance between performance and cost. Gemini Pro 1.5, from Google, excels in multimodal tasks and integration with enterprise tools. Behemoth, in contrast, showed strong results in STEM benchmarks and long-context tasks but has yet to demonstrate a clear superiority across commercial and enterprise-grade benchmarks. That ambiguity is believed to have contributed to Meta’s hesitation in launching the model publicly. Gogia noted that the situation “reignites a vital industry dialogue: is bigger still better?” Increasingly, enterprise buyers are leaning toward SLMs (Small Language Models) and Controlled Open LLMs, which offer better governance, easier integration, and clearer ROI compared to gargantuan foundation models that demand complex infrastructure and longer implementation cycles. A telling sign for the AI industry This delay speaks volumes about where the AI industry is heading. For much of 2023 and 2024, the narrative was about who could build the largest model. But as model sizes ballooned, the return on added parameters began to flatten out. AI experts and practitioners now acknowledge that smarter architectural design, domain specificity, and deployment efficiency are fast becoming the new metrics of success. Meta’s experience with smaller models like Scout and Maverick reinforces this trend—many users have found them to be more practical and easier to fine-tune for specific use cases. There’s also a financial and sustainability angle. Training and running ultra-large models like Behemoth requires immense computing resources, energy, and fine-grained optimization. Even for Meta, this scale introduces operational trade-offs, including cost, latency, and reliability concerns. Why enterprises should pay attention For enterprise IT and innovation leaders, the delay isn’t just about Meta—it reflects a more fundamental decision point around AI adoption. Enterprises are moving away from chasing the biggest models in favor of those that offer tighter control, compliance readiness, and explainability. Gogia pointed out that “usability, governance, and real-world readiness” are becoming central filters in AI procurement, especially in regulated sectors like finance, healthcare, and government. The delay of Behemoth may accelerate the adoption of open-weight, deployment-friendly models such as Llama 4 Scout, or even third-party solutions that are optimized for enterprise workflows. The choice now isn’t about raw performance alone—it’s about aligning AI capabilities with specific business goals. What lies ahead Meta’s delay doesn’t suggest failure — it’s a strategic pause. If anything, it shows the company’s willingness to prioritize stability and impact over hype. Behemoth still has the potential to become a powerful tool, but only if it proves itself in the areas that matter most: performance consistency, scalability, and enterprise integration. “This doesn’t negate the value of scale, but it elevates a new set of criteria that enterprises now care about deeply,” Gogia stated. In the coming months, as Meta refines Behemoth and the industry moves deeper into deployment-era AI, one thing is clear: we are moving beyond the age of AI spectacle into an age of applied, responsible intelligence.

Commuters in the New York City and New Jersey area are in for what is likely to be a weekend of increased congestion and more limited transit options after the engineers who run the New Jersey Transit rail system voted to go on strike. That strike is now in effect and could continue throughout the weekend—and potentially even longer. Here’s what you need to know about the NJ Transit strike. What’s happened? On Thursday, the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET) announced that its members who run the trains in the New Jersey Transit Corporation, better known as NJ Transit, were officially on strike. The strike came after the BLET and NJ Transit failed to reach a deal on a new contract for the approximately 450 engineers and trainees who run the railway and are represented by the union. The main issue centers around a disagreement on wage increases for the workers. News of the strike is no doubt a disappointment to the 100,000 NYC and NJ commuters who use the line daily, especially after both sides were reportedly “close” to a deal. Talks between both sides went on for 15 hours on Thursday and ended shortly before 10 p.m., reports CNN. The strike then officially began at 12:01 a.m., today, Friday, May 16. It is the first time union members working for New Jersey Transit have gone on strike in 42 years. The last time NJ Transit workers took to the picket lines was in 1983. What do the striking rail workers want? The BLET’s union members are striking because no acceptable deal was reached on wage increases for its members. In a notice announcing the strike, BLET says that its NJ Transit members have not received a raise for five years. The union also notes that NJ Transit engineers “make at least $10 less per hour” than the engineers for other passenger railroads that share the same train platforms as the ones used by NJ Transit. “NJ Transit has a half-billion dollars for a swanky new headquarters and $53 million for decorating the interior of that unnecessary building,” BLET National President Mark Wallace said in a prepared statement. “They gave away $20 million in revenue during a fare holiday last year. They have money for penthouse views and pet projects, just not for their front-line workers. Enough is enough. We will stay out until our members receive the fair pay that they deserve.” In addition to the strike now in effect, from 4 a.m. this morning BLET members began picketing at multiple locations, including NJ Transit’s Newark headquarters, New York’s Penn Station, and the Atlantic City Rail Terminal in Atlantic City. The union says that “despite the transit agency having the funds for a raise,” NJ Transit managers walked out of talks before 10 p.m. on Thursday. What does NJ Transit say? NJ Transit, for its part, has posted a fact sheet about the strike, which lays out six claims and what the transit agency says are the “facts” about the claims. NJ Transit says that it offered BLET members a “competitive wage and benefits package that all 14 other rail labor unions accepted in 2021.” It also says that under its offer, NJ Transit locomotive engineers would have seen their average total earnings rise from $135,000 per year now to $172,856 as of July 1, 2027.  The transit agency says these wages are “competitive within the region” and higher than the wages Philadelphia’s SEPTA workers receive. It concedes that the wages are lower than those received by MTA (Metro-North Railroad and Long Island Rail Road) workers in New York, but it adds, “It isn’t reasonable to live and work in New Jersey, but demand to be paid like you live and work in New York.” How long could the strike last? That is impossible to tell at this point.  In theory, NJ Transit and BLET could agree to return to the negotiating table at any time—although that’s unlikely to happen today. However, on Thursday, NJ Transit CEO Kris Kolluri said that both sides are currently scheduled to start negotiating again on Sunday. But just because negotiations are scheduled—or even begin—doesn’t mean the strike will be called off anytime soon. Indeed, if BLET would call off the strike, it may lessen the pressure on NJ Transit to meet their demands. CNN notes that when Southeastern Pennsylvania Transit Authority (SEPTA) workers went on strike in the 1980s, the strike lasted for 108 days. A strike of Metro-North workers lasted 42 days, and a strike of Long Island Railroad workers lasted 11 days.  What should I do if I plan to use NJ Transit today? You should rethink your travel plans.  NJ Transit has posted a notice warning of the “complete suspension” of services on its rail lines. The agency says it “strongly encourages all those who can work from home to do so and limit traveling on the NJ TRANSIT system to essential purposes only.” However, if you do need to commute, the agency says that it is “adding very limited capacity” to existing New York commuter routes on its bus services. The agency also says that from May 19, its regional Park & Ride service “will operate on a first come, first served basis.” Commuters who need to use NJ transit during the strike are strongely encouraged to check out the agency’s rail strike information page here. What if I’m seeing the Shakira or Beyoncé concerts? From this weekend, there are also two large music events planned in the area that NJ Transit normally serves. The first is the Shakira concert at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, which begins at 7:30 p.m. tonight, May 16. Then, Beyoncé is scheduled to perform at the same stadium for five nights between May 22 and May 29. MetLife Stadium has posted some travel options for concertgoers who are seeing the Shakira show tonight. The stadium points out that there will be no NJ Transit bus or rail service to the stadium tonight. It says that those coming to the concert from New York City may be able to use the Coach USA bus service, which it says will be “limited.” The venue also asks people who plan to arrive by car to please carpool and arrive early to help ease congestion. Will Congress step in? When it comes to transportation strikes, Congress does have the authority to act and compel workers to accept a deal and return to their jobs, notes CNN. The last time Congress did this was in December 2022 when it voted to force workers from the country’s four major freight railroads to accept a deal. However, CNN points out that Congress likely felt more compelled to step in at that time because the strike affected most of the country. The NJ Transit strike is a local affair, which means Congress may be more reluctant to interfere.

Baldur's Gate 3's seven-year development journey might officially be at an end thanks to April's final major update, but Larian is still loitering around to hammer out the last few wrinkles. That brings us to its newly released Hotfix #31, which, among other things, excises some bits of "defunct dialogue" from an abandoned Minthara storyline inadvertently restored in Patch 8. Read more

It’s safe to say I’ve written about probably hundreds of EDC knives at this point – but hardly ever (if not never) written about an EDC sharpener. I’m not entirely sure if it’s even a category, but it is now, with the TiSpinx – a portable pendant-shaped knife sharpener that’s also a fidget spinner, and made almost entirely from titanium. Designed as jewelry, but functionally essential, the TiSpinx lets you keep your blades sharp no matter where you are. Three micro sharpening stones sit on the cylindrical surface of the TiSpinx, giving you a place to quickly (and effectively) jazz up any dull EDC blade you’ve got while outdoors. When you’re not whetting blades, the TiSpinx transforms into a fidget spinner, keeping your hands and mind occupied. All this sits in something the size of a piece of candy, making it perfectly portable, and ideal for stringing around a paracord, a keychain, a bracelet, or even a neck-chain. Designer: TIGO Click Here to Buy Now: $59 $89 (34% off) Hurry! Only 43 of 100 left. “The idea for TiSpinx was born from a common outdoor frustration. On a camping trip, a dull knife became a real problem—and sharpening it with rough stones just didn’t cut it,” said the folks at TIGO, who designed the TiSpinx. You see, EDC knives are a dime a dozen, and a decent amount of them are designed to stay sharp for years. But that promise is only good up until you’re faced with a dull blade that doesn’t slice through wood or cut paracord. That’s when the TiSpinx comes in handy, giving you a proper place to sharpen your blade rather than a random rock on a riverbank. But wearing a knife sharpener around your neck isn’t particularly glamorous – which is why TIGO took a subtle, yet sophisticated approach to making the TiSpinx. It had to be a sharpener, but it had to be more than just one too. The result, a pendant-shaped bead-like EDC that also doubled as a fidget spinner. With 3 micro sharpening stones, 9 tritium slots, and a hollow, compact design, the TiSpinx easily fits on bracelets, keyrings, or necklaces. It has the appeal of a dog tag, while being functional too. Spin it when you’re bored, sharpen knives when you’re equipped with dull blades, and show it off as haute outdoor jewelry when you’re just going about your day. The entire device is machined from GR5 titanium, a bona fide EDC-grade metal known for its lightweight, rugged nature. The TiSpinx measures under an inch high and wide (a 25.3mm x 19.9mm cylinder to be precise), and weighs a paltry 19.2 grams or 0.6 ounces. That officially makes it the smallest knife sharpener ever made, and the only one designed to be worn as EDC jewelry. The titanium construction houses 3 tiny sharpening stones that can easily be removed and flipped over if they get dirty. Meanwhile, an integrated ball-bearing system allows the TiSpinx to double as a silent fidget spinner. The tiny whetstones are made from Alumina or aluminum oxide – a hard, amorphous material extracted from bauxite ore. It’s known for its hardness and abrasion resistance, making it perfect for sharpening all kinds of blades, even ones made from tough high-chromium steel. Three strategically placed stones on the TiSpinx give you three surfaces to sharpen your blade on. You can choose to wet the stone too, for a cleaner experience – titanium is naturally rust-proof, making it the perfect material for the TiSpinx. The TiSpinx comes in 3 colors – a plain, sandblasted finish for lovers of the classic titanium color, an anodized yellow for people who want their sharpener/pendant to also have a little bling, and a PVD black for lovers of stealth. Each TiSpinx also comes with a total of 9 tritium slots, which you can put glow-vials into, giving the pendant a unique appeal while also allowing it to be visible in the dark. The TiSpinx starts at a discounted $59, which feels like a steal given most knives often cost the same amount, and this product basically extends the lifespan of every one of those knives. It’s jewelry, it’s EDC, it’s a fidget toy, but it’s also an investment in the longevity of your favorite blades, which is a laundry list of features that no other product I’ve ever written about has. I mean, a wearable knife sharpener that also happens to be a fidget pendant? And comes with a titanium construction that’s guaranteed to last a lifetime? It’s practically a dream for EDC enthusiasts, outdoor lovers, knife nerds, and just about anyone who adores functional jewelry. Click Here to Buy Now: $59 $89 (34% off) Hurry! Only 43 of 100 left.The post World’s Smallest Knife Sharpener Doubles as a Titanium EDC Pendant You Can Wear first appeared on Yanko Design.

Fairgame$ developer Haven Studios has lost its founder, Jade Raymond, a report from Bloomberg has revealed. The report also claims Fairgame$ has been delayed out of 2025, and into spring 2026. Haven Studios was announced in 2021, with Raymond making the announcement that she had partnered with PlayStation to form a new team that would be based in Montreal. At the time, Raymond explained that the emphasis behind the studio's name was "to create games that are a haven for players, and we want to build a studio that is a haven for developers." A year after that, we learned that PlayStation had acquired Haven Studios, officially bringing it into the PlayStation Studios family, and classifying Haven's debut project as a "AAA multiplayer experience." A year after that, Fairgame$ was announced, a competitive heist game that has only been showcased through a CGI trailer so far. According to Bloomberg's report, Raymond's departure is happening weeks after Fairgame$ went through an external test, and that developers at the studio were "concerned about how the game was received and its progress." About Raymond's departure, a PlayStation spokesperson told Bloomberg, "Jade Raymond has been an incredible partner and visionary force in founding Haven Studios. We are deeply grateful for her leadership and contributions, and we wish her all the best in her next chapter." Bloomberg also notes that the spokesperson said PlayStation is "committed to supporting Haven Studios and excited to continue the journey." Marie-Eve Danis and Pierre-François Sapinski will replace Raymond as co-studio heads. Before Haven, Raymond made a name for herself as a producer on the Assassin's Creed series at Ubisoft, before leaving to establish Motive Studio within EA. After a number of years with EA, she was brought in to Google to help get Stadia off its feet. And now, the latest chapter in her career has come to an end. When Sony acquired Haven, former PlayStation boss Jim Ryan was going all-in on live-service games as the future of the PlayStation platform. Since then, Ryan retired, two of the first-party PlayStation Studios teams Sony had working on live-service games have been shut down (Deviation and Firewalk), and PlayStation has cut down the number of live-service games Ryan originally touted the company was going to make. It's difficult to read Raymond's departure at this stage as anything but a sign that Haven is next to be shut down, meaning it's currently a toss-up whether Fairgame$ even comes out. It also doesn't help that Fairgame$ resembles another dismally fated heist shooter. Deal of the Day

Nintendo Switch 2 Might Not Have Reviews on Launch Day – Rumour Publications have gotten word from Nintendo that they will not be sent Switch 2 review units until close to launch due to a day-one update. Posted By Joelle Daniels | On 15th, May. 2025 The Nintendo Switch 2, slated for launch on June 5, might not have hardware reviews on launch day. According to The Game Business, editors for several publications were told by Nintendo that, because of a big day-one firmware update for the console, the company will not be sending out review units of the Switch 2 until just a little bit before launch day. This has prompted quite a few editors to talk about their frustrations about the situation, with one pointing out that getting a Switch 2 so close to launch will also cause extra pressure on the publication because it will also be covering Summer Game Fest. “It’s really frustrating,” said the editor. “We will need to cover Switch 2 while also working across Summer Game Fest. How are we supposed to do that?” Another editor brought up the fact that the few lucky people out there who can get their hands on a Switch 2 early thanks to some retailers breaking street dates will end up with an advantage in this regard. This problem will also be further amplified by the fact that there will likely be stock shortages for the Switch 2 on launch, preventing many from legitimately getting their hands on the console. “Anyone who can get hold of a console early from a dodgy retailer will have a head start in terms of coverage,” they said. “I know the console will be sold out at launch, but what about all the other games?” Gaming development and publishing companies are also not happy about industry critics not getting the console early, since it will prevent them from benefiting from releasing “something special” in time for the console’s launch. Described as being something for Switch 2 players that might “want something else in addition to Mario Kart [World]”, the head of a PR department mentioned that “the lack of a independent critical validation is going to make it very hard for us. Maybe we would have been better off waiting a few weeks.” During Nintendo’s earnings report earlier this month, president Shuntaro Furukawa revealed that the company is predicting that it will sell 15 million Switch 2s over the year. Along with this, Furukawa also said that the company forecasts 45 million sales of software units. He also spoke about the relatively modest sales forecasts for the console, saying that the company’s focus is to “quickly popularise” the Switch 2 first. At this time, the top priority is to quickly popularize the Switch 2 hardware,” said Furukawa. “If the assumptions regarding tariffs change significantly, we would like to consider what price adjustments we should make and implement them after considering various factors.” In a Q&A part of the earnings report, Furukawa also revealed that the modest sales forecasts come down to the fact that the Switch 2 and its games will be more expensive when compared to the console’s predecessor. “Since the Switch 2 is priced higher than the original Switch, we recognize that there will be considerable hurdles in achieving the console’s widespread adoption in the early stages,” he said. Tagged With: Elden Ring: Nightreign Publisher:Bandai Namco Developer:FromSoftware Platforms:PS5, Xbox Series X, PS4, Xbox One, PCView More DOOM: The Dark Ages Publisher:Bethesda Softworks Developer:id Software Platforms:Xbox Series X, PS5, PCView More Death Stranding 2: On the Beach Publisher:Sony Developer:Kojima Productions Platforms:PS5View More Amazing Articles You Might Want To Check Out! Ghost of Yōtei’s Setting is “The Perfect Place to Tell Atsu’s Tale,” Says Game Director "If you’re going to tell a ghost story, do it in a dramatic location," says Sucker Punch's Nate Fox, who pra... Nintendo Switch 2 Might Not Have Reviews on Launch Day – Rumour Publications have gotten word from Nintendo that they will not be sent Switch 2 review units until close to la... Persona 5: The Phantom X Launches June 26th for PC and Mobiles Worldwide The free-to-play RPG features the same setting and combat system as Persona 5 but tells a new story with new a... DOOM: The Dark Ages Accolades Trailer Highlights Critical Acclaim Set before the events of DOOM (2016) and featuring id's largest campaign yet, the shooter is available on Xbox... Ubisoft’s New Subsidiary Will Build Story-Based Single-Player, Live-Service Multiplayer, and Mobile Games The subsidiary was founded as part of a €1.16 billion deal between Ubisoft and Tencent, and was officially a... Elden Ring Nightreign Trailer Showcases the Guardian Tank damage with its heavy shield, counter-attack, sweep away foes with a whirlwind or deliver death from abov... View More

TikTok recently began experimenting with an in-app meditation feature that encouraged teens to "wind down" after 10PM. Now, the company is making the feature official for all users and turning it on by default for all teens under the age of 18. With the change, teens will hit a full-screen "guided meditation exercise" when attempting to scroll after 10PM. The prompt is apparently something you can opt to ignore, but teens who do will encounter a second "harder to dismiss" prompt. TikTok's adult users will also be able to access the in-app meditations via the app's screen time controls (the feature will not be on by default for adults). The company notes that its initial tests of "Sleep Hours" were successful, with 98 percent of teens opting to keep the late-night meditation settings on. Previous attempts by TikTok to limit screen time have a somewhat different track record. Documents that surfaced as part of a lawsuit against the company showed that teens were spending about 107 minutes a day in the app even when screen time was set to a 60-minute limit. Since then, TikTok has beefed up some of its safety features, including its parental controls, amid increasing scrutiny of the company. TikTok's fate in the US is still, officially, in limbo as President Donald Trump signed off on another extension of a deadline to ban the app last month. Terms of a final deal that will allow it to remain in the country permanently have yet to be announced, though there are a number of interested buyers.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/tiktok-will-try-to-force-teens-to-meditate-after-10pm-231118942.html?src=rss

News Ghost of Yōtei’s Setting is “The Perfect Place to Tell Atsu’s Tale,” Says Game Director "If you’re going to tell a ghost story, do it in a dramatic location," says Sucker Punch's Nate Fox, who praised Hokkaido's beauty. Posted By Ravi Sinha | On 15th, May. 2025 It’s been a long wait for Ghost of Yōtei, the sequel to Sucker Punch’s critically acclaimed and commercially successful Ghost of Tsushima. Set over 300 years later, this time in Ezo (later known as Hokkaido), the narrative is about Atsu, who seeks revenge after the Yōtei Six slaughter her family. As with Ghost of Tsushima, Sucker Punch is aiming to “deliver a feeling of authenticity and believability to our fictional story.” On the PlayStation Blog, game director Nate Fox reveals that the team settled on Hokkaido because it’s “unbelievably beautiful.” “In 1603, it was the edge of the Japanese empire. Back then, it was called Ezo, a mysterious island to the north, sparsely populated by Wajin (Japanese) people bold enough to build a life for themselves in the cold wilderness. This combination of beauty and danger spoke to us.” Fox believes it’s the “perfect place to tell Atsu’s tale; a warrior so driven by revenge that locals start to believe she’s an onryō walking the land. If you’re going to tell a ghost story, do it in a dramatic location.” The development team undertook two trips to gather references, one to Shiretoko National Park, where the “natural beauty” of the ocean and cliffs coexist with predators like bears. “Suddenly we had to split our attention between gazing up at the beautiful snowcapped mountains and looking down at the nearby bushes in case there was a predator nearby. “That experience was magic! A perfect marriage of beauty and danger, that was the exact feeling we wanted for our game.” It’s ultimately what made Fox believe that the location was “the right choice” for the game. The second trip saw the team encounter the titular Mt. Yōtei or the “Female Mountain” as the Ainu called it. Fox felt that it was a “symbol of Hokkaido” and for Atsu, “It’s a symbol of home and of the family she lost. This process of being there, talking about the game with locales and then synthesizing new ideas is what made the trip so fulfilling.” Fox teased that the developer spoke to a “wealth of knowledgeable individuals and visited important cultural sites” to learn more about Japanese culture but that more will be revealed later. Stay tuned for updates in the coming weeks. Ghost of Yōtei launches on October 2nd for PS5, with pre-orders now available. Check out the latest trailer or learn more about how it’s Sucker Punch’s biggest map yet. Tagged With: Elden Ring: Nightreign Publisher:Bandai Namco Developer:FromSoftware Platforms:PS5, Xbox Series X, PS4, Xbox One, PCView More DOOM: The Dark Ages Publisher:Bethesda Softworks Developer:id Software Platforms:Xbox Series X, PS5, PCView More Death Stranding 2: On the Beach Publisher:Sony Developer:Kojima Productions Platforms:PS5View More Amazing Articles You Might Want To Check Out! Nintendo Switch 2 Launch Might be the Most Important Console Ever – DFC Intelligence The fact that Grand Theft Auto 6 got pushed back to 2026 might result with hardware sales for PS5 and Xbox Ser... Ghost of Yōtei’s Setting is “The Perfect Place to Tell Atsu’s Tale,” Says Game Director "If you’re going to tell a ghost story, do it in a dramatic location," says Sucker Punch's Nate Fox, who pra... Nintendo Switch 2 Might Not Have Reviews on Launch Day – Rumour Publications have gotten word from Nintendo that they will not be sent Switch 2 review units until close to la... Persona 5: The Phantom X Launches June 26th for PC and Mobiles Worldwide The free-to-play RPG features the same setting and combat system as Persona 5 but tells a new story with new a... DOOM: The Dark Ages Accolades Trailer Highlights Critical Acclaim Set before the events of DOOM (2016) and featuring id's largest campaign yet, the shooter is available on Xbox... Ubisoft’s New Subsidiary Will Build Story-Based Single-Player, Live-Service Multiplayer, and Mobile Games The subsidiary was founded as part of a €1.16 billion deal between Ubisoft and Tencent, and was officially a... View More

Get the Popular Science daily newsletter💡 Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent every weekday. You can now own a $1 gold coin celebrating one of America’s most revolutionary achievements: the NASA Space Shuttle program. The latest variant in the ongoing American Innovation $1 Coin series is available to order through the United States Mint. Selected to represent the state of Florida, the noncirculating legal tender is the third coin released this year and the 28th coin in the 15-year project first announced in 2018. While the coin’s front displays the series’ Statue of Liberty image, the back shows the shuttle launching above plumes of exhaust. United States Mint Medallic Artist Eric David Custer sculpted the image while Artistic Infusion Program (AIP) Designer Ron Sanders designed it. “The Space Shuttle, officially known as the Space Transportation System, remains one of the most iconic and influential spacecrafts in history,” explained US Mint acting director Kristie McNally in an accompanying announcement. “As the world’s first reusable spacecraft, it played a pivotal role in advancing space exploration. We are honored to celebrate this major achievement.” The Space Shuttle’s iconic design (including the image displayed on the new $1 coins) frequently featured not just the shuttle itself, but its large external fuel tank and two solid rocket boosters. Those attachments detached after the shuttle reached a predetermined altitude. While the boosters included parachutes allowing them to be recovered and reused, the fuel tank was designed to disintegrate during its atmospheric reentry along a ballistic trajectory ensuring any remnants landed in the Indian or Pacific Oceans. The Space Shuttle coin is the 28th in the American Innovation series. Credit: US Mint NASA relied on the Space Shuttle to transport astronauts on missions from April 1981 until its retirement in July 2011. The spacecraft blasted off a total of 135 times from one of two launchpads in Florida, returning to Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral at the end of 78 of those trips. During its tenure, the shuttle flew the first women and minority crew members into space, as well as delivered components for both the Hubble Space Telescope and International Space Station (ISS). The program was not without tragedy, however. The Challenger and Columbia disasters of 1986 and 2003, respectively,  collectively claimed the lives of 14 astronauts. In 2004, President George W. Bush announced plans to retire the Space Shuttle program following the completion of the ISS. Today, NASA primarily relies on private contracts with companies like SpaceX and Blue Origin for astronaut and mission transport. The ongoing Artemis lunar program will use an Orion spacecraft designed by Lockheed Martin. The Space Shuttle’s influence today is far more than just symbolic. The Artemis program’s rocket booster engines, casings, and main engines are all repurposed and refurbished from Space Shuttle craft. The Artemis I mission alone utilized components previously employed on 83 shuttle missions. The United States Mint announced its American Innovation $1 Coin series celebrating American achievements across science and technology in 2018, and has already featured three space-related selections prior to the Florida coin. Delaware’s coin from 2018 showcases Annie Jump Cannon, the pioneering astronomer responsible for the star classification system still used today. Meanwhile, Maryland’s 2020 entry pays tribute to the Hubble Space Telescope, and Alabama’s 2024 release includes the Saturn V rocket. Later this year, Texas will become the fifth space-centric $1 gold coin with its Mission Control design.