Raccoon City was the American setting where Resident Evil began. After multiple instalments set around the world, Resident Evil Requiem producer Masato Kumazawa shared why the series is returning to the ruins of this iconic city.In a PlayStation Blog interview, Kumazawa explained that after more recent titles that had explored "the broader universe" of Resident Evil, Capcom wanted a story that "continues the overarching narrative rooted in Raccoon City and the secret machinations of the Umbrella Corporation." Following the T-virus outbreak, the US government ordered a missile strike to destroy the city in order to eradicate the virus. In having players return to its ruins about 30 years later, Kumazawa said that the team also wanted a character "with a personal connection to the city itself," introducing Grace Ashcroft, the presumed daughter of Resident Evil: Outbreak's Alyssa Ashcroft.Continue Reading at GameSpot #resident #evil #requiem #continues #quotoverarching

Reading Time: 9 minutes In the ever-evolving landscape of customer engagement, staying ahead of the curve is not just advantageous, it’s essential. That’s why, for Chapter 7 of “The Customer Engagement Book: Adapt or Die,” we sat down with Mirela Cialai, a seasoned expert in CRM and Martech strategies at brands like Equinox. Mirela brings a wealth of knowledge in aligning technology roadmaps with business goals, shifting organizational focuses from acquisition to retention, and leveraging hyper-personalization to drive success. In this interview, Mirela dives deep into building robust customer engagement technology roadmaps. She unveils the “PAPER” framework—Plan, Audit, Prioritize, Execute, Refine—a simple yet effective strategy for marketers. You’ll gain insights into identifying gaps in your Martech stack, ensuring data accuracy, and prioritizing initiatives that deliver the greatest impact and ROI. Whether you’re navigating data silos, striving for cross-functional alignment, or aiming for seamless tech integration, Mirela’s expertise provides practical solutions and actionable takeaways.   Mirela Cialai Q&A Interview 1. How do you define the vision for a customer engagement platform roadmap in alignment with the broader business goals? Can you share any examples of successful visions from your experience? Defining the vision for the roadmap in alignment with the broader business goals involves creating a strategic framework that connects the team’s objectives with the organization’s overarching mission or primary objectives. This could be revenue growth, customer retention, market expansion, or operational efficiency. We then break down these goals into actionable areas where the team can contribute, such as improving engagement, increasing lifetime value, or driving acquisition. We articulate how the team will support business goals by defining the KPIs that link CRM outcomes — the team’s outcomes — to business goals. In a previous role, the CRM team I was leading faced significant challenges due to the lack of attribution capabilities and a reliance on surface-level metrics such as open rates and click-through rates to measure performance. This approach made it difficult to quantify the impact of our efforts on broader business objectives such as revenue growth. Recognizing this gap, I worked on defining a vision for the CRM team to address these shortcomings. Our vision was to drive measurable growth through enhanced data accuracy and improved attribution capabilities, which allowed us to deliver targeted, data-driven, and personalized customer experiences. To bring this vision to life, I developed a roadmap that focused on first improving data accuracy, building our attribution capabilities, and delivering personalization at scale. By aligning the vision with these strategic priorities, we were able to demonstrate the tangible impact of our efforts on the key business goals. 2. What steps did you take to ensure data accuracy? The data team was very diligent in ensuring that our data warehouse had accurate data. So taking that as the source of truth, we started cleaning the data in all the other platforms that were integrated with our data warehouse — our CRM platform, our attribution analytics platform, etc. That’s where we started, looking at all the different integrations and ensuring that the data flows were correct and that we had all the right flows in place. And also validating and cleaning our email database — that helped, having more accurate data. 3. How do you recommend shifting organizational focus from acquisition to retention within a customer engagement strategy? Shifting an organization’s focus from acquisition to retention requires a cultural and strategic shift, emphasizing the immense value that existing customers bring to long-term growth and profitability. I would start by quantifying the value of retention, showcasing how retaining customers is significantly more cost-effective than acquiring new ones. Research consistently shows that increasing retention rates by just 5% can boost profits by at least 25 to 95%. This data helps make a compelling case to stakeholders about the importance of prioritizing retention. Next, I would link retention to core business goals by demonstrating how enhancing customer lifetime value and loyalty can directly drive revenue growth. This involves shifting the organization’s focus to retention-specific metrics such as churn rate, repeat purchase rate, and customer LTV. These metrics provide actionable insights into customer behaviors and highlight the financial impact of retention initiatives, ensuring alignment with the broader company objectives. By framing retention as a driver of sustainable growth, the organization can see it not as a competing priority, but as a complementary strategy to acquisition, ultimately leading to a more balanced and effective customer engagement strategy. 4. What are the key steps in analyzing a brand’s current Martech stack capabilities to identify gaps and opportunities for improvement? Developing a clear understanding of the Martech stack’s current state and ensuring it aligns with a brand’s strategic needs and future goals requires a structured and strategic approach. The process begins with defining what success looks like in terms of technology capabilities such as scalability, integration, automation, and data accessibility, and linking these capabilities directly to the brand’s broader business objectives. I start by doing an inventory of all tools currently in use, including their purpose, owner, and key functionalities, assessing if these tools are being used to their full potential or if there are features that remain unused, and reviewing how well tools integrate with one another and with our core systems, the data warehouse. Also, comparing the capabilities of each tool and results against industry standards and competitor practices and looking for missing functionalities such as personalization, omnichannel orchestration, or advanced analytics, and identifying overlapping tools that could be consolidated to save costs and streamline workflows. Finally, review the costs of the current tools against their impact on business outcomes and identify technologies that could reduce costs, increase efficiency, or deliver higher ROI through enhanced capabilities. Establish a regular review cycle for the Martech stack to ensure it evolves alongside the business and the technological landscape. 5. How do you evaluate whether a company’s tech stack can support innovative customer-focused campaigns, and what red flags should marketers look out for? I recommend taking a structured approach and first ensure there is seamless integration across all tools to support a unified customer view and data sharing across the different channels. Determine if the stack can handle increasing data volumes, larger audiences, and additional channels as the campaigns grow, and check if it supports dynamic content, behavior-based triggers, and advanced segmentation and can process and act on data in real time through emerging technologies like AI/ML predictive analytics to enable marketers to launch responsive and timely campaigns. Most importantly, we need to ensure that the stack offers robust reporting tools that provide actionable insights, allowing teams to track performance and optimize campaigns. Some of the red flags are: data silos where customer data is fragmented across platforms and not easily accessible or integrated, inability to process or respond to customer behavior in real time, a reliance on manual intervention for tasks like segmentation, data extraction, campaign deployment, and poor scalability. If the stack struggles with growing data volumes or expanding to new channels, it won’t support the company’s evolving needs. 6. What role do hyper-personalization and timely communication play in a successful customer engagement strategy? How do you ensure they’re built into the technology roadmap? Hyper-personalization and timely communication are essential components of a successful customer engagement strategy because they create meaningful, relevant, and impactful experiences that deepen the relationship with customers, enhance loyalty, and drive business outcomes. Hyper-personalization leverages data to deliver tailored content that resonates with each individual based on their preferences, behavior, or past interactions, and timely communication ensures these personalized interactions occur at the most relevant moments, which ultimately increases their impact. Customers are more likely to engage with messages that feel relevant and align with their needs, and real-time triggers such as cart abandonment or post-purchase upsells capitalize on moments when customers are most likely to convert. By embedding these capabilities into the roadmap through data integration, AI-driven insights, automation, and continuous optimization, we can deliver impactful, relevant, and timely experiences that foster deeper customer relationships and drive long-term success. 7. What’s your approach to breaking down the customer engagement technology roadmap into manageable phases? How do you prioritize the initiatives? To create a manageable roadmap, we need to divide it into distinct phases, starting with building the foundation by addressing data cleanup, system integrations, and establishing metrics, which lays the groundwork for success. Next, we can focus on early wins and quick impact by launching behavior-based campaigns, automating workflows, and improving personalization to drive immediate value. Then we can move to optimization and expansion, incorporating predictive analytics, cross-channel orchestration, and refined attribution models to enhance our capabilities. Finally, prioritize innovation and scalability, leveraging AI/ML for hyper-personalization, scaling campaigns to new markets, and ensuring the system is equipped for future growth. By starting with foundational projects, delivering quick wins, and building towards scalable innovation, we can drive measurable outcomes while maintaining our agility to adapt to evolving needs. In terms of prioritizing initiatives effectively, I would focus on projects that deliver the greatest impact on business goals, on customer experience and ROI, while we consider feasibility, urgency, and resource availability. In the past, I’ve used frameworks like Impact Effort Matrix to identify the high-impact, low-effort initiatives and ensure that the most critical projects are addressed first. 8. How do you ensure cross-functional alignment around this roadmap? What processes have worked best for you? Ensuring cross-functional alignment requires clear communication, collaborative planning, and shared accountability. We need to establish a shared understanding of the roadmap’s purpose and how it ties to the company’s overall goals by clearly articulating the “why” behind the roadmap and how each team can contribute to its success. To foster buy-in and ensure the roadmap reflects diverse perspectives and needs, we need to involve all stakeholders early on during the roadmap development and clearly outline each team’s role in executing the roadmap to ensure accountability across the different teams. To keep teams informed and aligned, we use meetings such as roadmap kickoff sessions and regular check-ins to share updates, address challenges collaboratively, and celebrate milestones together. 9. If you were to outline a simple framework for marketers to follow when building a customer engagement technology roadmap, what would it look like? A simple framework for marketers to follow when building the roadmap can be summarized in five clear steps: Plan, Audit, Prioritize, Execute, and Refine. In one word: PAPER. Here’s how it breaks down. Plan: We lay the groundwork for the roadmap by defining the CRM strategy and aligning it with the business goals. Audit: We evaluate the current state of our CRM capabilities. We conduct a comprehensive assessment of our tools, our data, the processes, and team workflows to identify any potential gaps. Prioritize: initiatives based on impact, feasibility, and ROI potential. Execute: by implementing the roadmap in manageable phases. Refine: by continuously improving CRM performance and refining the roadmap. So the PAPER framework — Plan, Audit, Prioritize, Execute, and Refine — provides a structured, iterative approach allowing marketers to create a scalable and impactful customer engagement strategy. 10. What are the most common challenges marketers face in creating or executing a customer engagement strategy, and how can they address these effectively? The most critical is when the customer data is siloed across different tools and platforms, making it very difficult to get a unified view of the customer. This limits the ability to deliver personalized and consistent experiences. The solution is to invest in tools that can centralize data from all touchpoints and ensure seamless integration between different platforms to create a single source of truth. Another challenge is the lack of clear metrics and ROI measurement and the inability to connect engagement efforts to tangible business outcomes, making it very hard to justify investment or optimize strategies. The solution for that is to define clear KPIs at the outset and use attribution models to link customer interactions to revenue and other key outcomes. Overcoming internal silos is another challenge where there is misalignment between teams, which can lead to inconsistent messaging and delayed execution. A solution to this is to foster cross-functional collaboration through shared goals, regular communication, and joint planning sessions. Besides these, other challenges marketers can face are delivering personalization at scale, keeping up with changing customer expectations, resource and budget constraints, resistance to change, and others. While creating and executing a customer engagement strategy can be challenging, these obstacles can be addressed through strategic planning, leveraging the right tools, fostering collaboration, and staying adaptable to customer needs and industry trends. By tackling these challenges proactively, marketers can deliver impactful customer-centric strategies that drive long-term success. 11. What are the top takeaways or lessons that you’ve learned from building customer engagement technology roadmaps that others should keep in mind? I would say one of the most important takeaways is to ensure that the roadmap directly supports the company’s broader objectives. Whether the focus is on retention, customer lifetime value, or revenue growth, the roadmap must bridge the gap between high-level business goals and actionable initiatives. Another important lesson: The roadmap is only as effective as the data and systems it’s built upon. I’ve learned the importance of prioritizing foundational elements like data cleanup, integrations, and governance before tackling advanced initiatives like personalization or predictive analytics. Skipping this step can lead to inefficiencies or missed opportunities later on. A Customer Engagement Roadmap is a strategic tool that evolves alongside the business and its customers. So by aligning with business goals, building a solid foundation, focusing on impact, fostering collaboration, and remaining adaptable, you can create a roadmap that delivers measurable results and meaningful customer experiences.     This interview Q&A was hosted with Mirela Cialai, Director of CRM & MarTech at Equinox, for Chapter 7 of The Customer Engagement Book: Adapt or Die. Download the PDF or request a physical copy of the book here. The post Mirela Cialai Q&A: Customer Engagement Book Interview appeared first on MoEngage. #mirela #cialai #qampampa #customer #engagement

Cybersecurity researchers have flagged several popular Google Chrome extensions that have been found to transmit data in HTTP and hard-code secrets in their code, exposing users to privacy and security risks. "Several widely used extensionsunintentionally transmit sensitive data over simple HTTP," Yuanjing Guo, a security researcher in the Symantec's Security Technology and Response team, said. "By doing so, they expose browsing domains, machine IDs, operating system details, usage analytics, and even uninstall information, in plaintext." The fact that the network traffic is unencrypted also means that they are susceptible to adversary-in-the-middleattacks, allowing malicious actors on the same network such as a public Wi-Fi to intercept and, even worse, modify this data, which could lead to far more serious consequences. The list of identified extensions are below - SEMRush Rankand PI Rank, which call the URL "rank.trelliancom" over plain HTTP Browsec VPN, which uses HTTP to call an uninstall URL at "browsec-uninstall.s3-website.eu-central-1.amazonawscom" when a user attempts to uninstall the extension MSN New Taband MSN Homepage, Bing Search & News, which transmit a unique machine identifier and other details over HTTP to "g.ceipmsncom" DualSafe Password Manager & Digital Vault, which constructs an HTTP-based URL request to "stats.itopupdatecom" along with information about the extension version, user's browser language, and usage "type" "Although credentials or passwords do not appear to be leaked, the fact that a password manager uses unencrypted requests for telemetry erodes trust in its overall security posture," Guo said. Symantec said it also identified another set of extensions with API keys, secrets, and tokens directly embedded in the JavaScript code, which an attacker could weaponize to craft malicious requests and carry out various malicious actions - Online Security & Privacy extension, AVG Online Security, Speed Dial- New Tab Page, 3D, Sync, and SellerSprite - Amazon Research Tool, which expose a hard-coded Google Analytics 4API secret that an attacker could use to bombard the GA4 endpoint and corrupt metrics Equatio – Math Made Digital, which embeds a Microsoft Azure API key used for speech recognition that an attacker could use to inflate the developer's costs or exhaust their usage limits Awesome Screen Recorder & Screenshotand Scrolling Screenshot Tool & Screen Capture, which expose the developer's Amazon Web Servicesaccess key used to upload screenshots to the developer's S3 bucket Microsoft Editor – Spelling & Grammar Checker, which exposes a telemetry key named "StatsApiKey" to log user data for analytics Antidote Connector, which incorporates a third-party library called InboxSDK that contains hard-coded credentials, including API keys. Watch2Gether, which exposes a Tenor GIF search API key Trust Wallet, which exposes an API key associated with the Ramp Network, a Web3 platform that offers wallet developers a way to let users buy or sell crypto directly from the app TravelArrow – Your Virtual Travel Agent, which exposes a geolocation API key when making queries to "ip-apicom" Attackers who end up finding these keys could weaponize them to drive up API costs, host illegal content, send spoofed telemetry data, and mimic cryptocurrency transaction orders, some of which could see the developer's ban getting banned. Adding to the concern, Antidote Connector is just one of over 90 extensions that use InboxSDK, meaning the other extensions are susceptible to the same problem. The names of the other extensions were not disclosed by Symantec. "From GA4 analytics secrets to Azure speech keys, and from AWS S3 credentials to Google-specific tokens, each of these snippets demonstrates how a few lines of code can jeopardize an entire service," Guo said. "The solution: never store sensitive credentials on the client side." Developers are recommended to switch to HTTPS whenever they send or receive data, store credentials securely in a backend server using a credentials management service, and regularly rotate secrets to further minimize risk. The findings show how even popular extensions with hundreds of thousands of installations can suffer from trivial misconfigurations and security blunders like hard-coded credentials, leaving users' data at risk. "Users of these extensions should consider removing them until the developers address the insecurecalls," the company said. "The risk is not just theoretical; unencrypted traffic is simple to capture, and the data can be used for profiling, phishing, or other targeted attacks." "The overarching lesson is that a large install base or a well-known brand does not necessarily ensure best practices around encryption. Extensions should be scrutinized for the protocols they use and the data they share, to ensure users' information remains truly safe." Found this article interesting? Follow us on Twitter  and LinkedIn to read more exclusive content we post. #popular #chrome #extensions #leak #api

Artificial Intelligencehas been making significant strides over the past few years, with the emergence of Large Language Modelsmarking a major milestone in its growth. With such widespread adoption, feeling left out of this revolution is not uncommon. One way an individual can stay updated with the latest trends is by reading books on various facets of AI. Following are the top AI books one should read in 2025. Deep LearningThis book covers a wide range of deep learning topics along with their mathematical and conceptual background. It also provides information on the different deep learning techniques used in various industrial applications. Python: Advanced Guide to Artificial Intelligence This book helps individuals familiarize themselves with the most popular machine learningalgorithms and delves into the details of deep learning, covering topics like CNN, RNN, etc. It provides a comprehensive understanding of advanced AI concepts while focusing on their practical implementation using Python. Machine Learningfor Dummies This book explains the fundamentals of machine learning by providing practical examples using Python and R. It is a beginner-friendly guide and a good starting point for people new to this field. Machine Learning for Beginners Given the pace with which machine learning systems are growing, this book provides a good base for anyone shifting to this field. The author talks about machine intelligence’s historical background and provides beginners with information on how advanced algorithms work. Artificial Intelligence: A Modern Approach This is a well-acclaimed book that covers the breadth of AI topics, including problem-solving, knowledge representation, machine learning, and natural language processing. It provides theoretical explanations along with practical examples, making it an excellent starting point for anyone looking to dive into the world of AI. Human Compatible: Artificial Intelligence and the Problem of Control The book discusses the inevitable conflict between humans and machines, providing important context before we advocate for AI. The author also talks about the possibility of superhuman AI and questions the concepts of human comprehension and machine learning. The Alignment Problem: Machine Learning and Human Values This book talks about a concept called “The Alignment Problem,” where the systems we aim to teach, don’t perform as expected, and various ethical and existential risks emerge. Life 3.0: Being Human in the Age of Artificial Intelligence The author of this book talks about questions like what the future of AI will look like and the possibility of superhuman intelligence becoming our master. He also talks about how we can ensure these systems perform without malfunctioning. The Coming Wave: Technology, Power, and the Twenty-First Century’s Greatest Dilemma This book warns about the risks that emerging technologies pose to global order. It covers topics like robotics and large language models and examines the forces that fuel these innovations. Artificial Intelligence Engines: A Tutorial Introduction to the Mathematics of Deep Learning “Artificial Intelligence Engines” dives into the mathematical foundations of deep learning. It provides a holistic understanding of deep learning, covering both the historical development of neural networks as well as modern techniques and architecture while focusing on the underlying mathematical concepts. Neural Networks and Deep Learning This book covers the fundamental concepts of neural networks and deep learning. It also covers the mathematical aspects of the same, covering topics like linear algebra, probability theory, and numerical computation. Artificial Intelligence for Humans This book explains how AI algorithms are used using actual numeric calculations. The book aims to target those without an extensive mathematical background and each unit is followed by examples in different programming languages. AI Superpowers: China, Silicon Valley, and the New World Order The author of this book explains the unexpected consequences of AI development. The book sheds light on the competition between the USA and China over AI innovations through actual events. Hello World: Being Human in the Age of Algorithms The author talks about the powers and limitations of the algorithms that are widely used today. The book prepares its readers for the moral uncertainties of a world run by code. The Master Algorithm: How the Quest for the Ultimate Learning Machine Will Remake Our World This book talks about the concept of the “Master algorithm,” which is a single, overarching learning algorithm capable of incorporating different approaches. Applied Artificial Intelligence: A Handbook for Business Leaders “Applied Artificial Intelligence” provides a guide for businesses on how to leverage AI to drive innovation and growth. It covers various applications of AI and also explores its ethical considerations. Additionally, it sheds light on building AI teams and talent acquisition.  Superintelligence: Paths, Dangers, Strategies This book asks questions like whether AI agents will save or destroy us and what happens when machines surpass humans in general intelligence. The author talks about the importance of global collaboration in developing safe AI. We make a small profit from purchases made via referral/affiliate links attached to each book mentioned in the above list. If you want to suggest any book that we missed from this list, then please email us at asif@marktechpost.com Shobha KakkarShobha is a data analyst with a proven track record of developing innovative machine-learning solutions that drive business value.Shobha Kakkarhttps://www.marktechpost.com/author/shobha-kakkar/Hugging Face Introduces a Free Model Context ProtocolCourse: A Developer’s Guide to Build and Deploy Context-Aware AI Agents and ApplicationsShobha Kakkarhttps://www.marktechpost.com/author/shobha-kakkar/13 Free AI Courses on AI Agents in 2025Shobha Kakkarhttps://www.marktechpost.com/author/shobha-kakkar/OpenAI Just Announced API Access to o1Shobha Kakkarhttps://www.marktechpost.com/author/shobha-kakkar/OpenAI Just Released Sora: The Most Awaited AI Video-Generation Tool #top #artificial #intelligence #books #read

Build A Rocket Boy’s Leslie Benzies has spoken about MindsEye and how the studio plans to offer a value-for-money experience without any filler. However, it’s only the first step in a longer game, which includes a “big overarching ten-year plan.” While speaking to GamesIndustry.biz, Benzies reiterated that the title would continue receiving new content. “Some of the content, like races, are made just for fun. Butmost of the content, we’ll try and incorporate it into the story. So once you’ve played the big overarching ten-year plan, you’ll have a very good idea of what this universe looks like.” There are plans for multiplayer and a fully open world, but it’s also looking at “what players are creating and incorporating that into our plans. Given the ease of the tools, we think there will be a high percentage of players who will jump in and give it a try, see how it feels, and then decide. Hopefully, some will create compelling content we can then promote and make that part of our plans to push to other players.” Interestingly, the story of MindsEye is “bang in the middle” of the greater narrative that Build A Rocket Boy wants to tell. “So, we’re going to go back 10,000 years, then we’re going to go forward a certain amount of time. It’s the relevant piece of the puzzle that will have players asking questions of what the bigger story is,” said Benzies. This is the reason why the studio hasn’t showcased footage for “huge parts” of the experience. The studio wants to avoid spoilers, but he does tease that the story takes some “unusual twists.” As for multiplayer, Benzies said, “The dream from the building side is to allow players the opportunity to create their own multiplayer open-world games with ease. Anyone could pick up the game, jump in, drive around, stop at a point where they saw something of interest, build a little mission, jump back in the car, drive again, and build another mission. Once you’ve built a couple of hundred of these, you’ve built your own open-world game. So, that’s the build side.” However, Build A Rocket Boy also wants to develop “a place where people can socialise, play together, and engage in the stories that we build.” As such, an open-world multiplayer title is planned for next year, unfolding one year after the events of MindsEye. You can also expect an open-world free-roam title to bridge the gap between the two releases. “All of these stories interconnect in a fairly unique and original way, which I think players like these days. They like the complexity of deeper stories.” MindsEye launches on June 10th for Xbox Series X/S, PS5, and PC. Check out the overview trailer and post-launch roadmap. #mindseye #has #overarching #year #plan

The big Leslie Benzies interview: MindsEye, Everywhere, and the double-edged sword of GTA How Build A Rocket Boy developed its debut project Feature by Samuel Roberts Editorial Director Published on May 30, 2025 As the producer behind the Grand Theft Auto games from GTA 3 through to GTA 5, as well as Red Dead Redemption and LA Noire, any project with Leslie Benzies' name on it is going to be a lightning rod for attention. MindsEye, the first game from Benzies' studio Build A Rocket Boy, is getting plenty of it – even if some of that attention has been less positive. MindsEye is a single-player third-person shooter with vehicle gameplay, set in a Las Vegas-style city called Redrock. It's a techno-thriller story about a former soldier called Jacob Diaz – but it's clear from visiting BARB in Edinburgh this week that the game is envisioned as a gateway into something much larger, both in the fiction of MindsEye, and for players who pick the game up. That includes a user-generated content platform called Build.MindsEye, where players on PC can create levels using relatively straightforward tools that incorporate any object in the game. When asked if third-person shooter levels or driving sections were the limits of the build side of MindsEye, the developers showed other examples of how they can be used, like massively increasing the proportions of a basketball, dropping it into the world, and functionally making an in-game version of Rocket League. Still, while MindsEye launches on June 10, 2025, for PC and consoles, many questions remain unanswered, including the future of its long-gestating Everywhere project. Benzies sat down with GamesIndustry.biz earlier this week to talk us through his vision for the game. This interview has been edited for brevity and clarity. Image credit: Austin Hargrave What's your grand vision for MindsEye? What will it be at launch, and where is it going in the future? MindsEye is one story in an epic universe. The other stories take place at different time periods, anddifferent locations in the universe. This story is Jacob Diaz's story. There are also other stories within MindsEye, so we tell the backstories of other characters Jacob will meet. That's the way we're going to fill out the universe over time – so when you travel around, all the stories will be connected by one overarching theme, and each story will have different mechanics. And we'll give these mechanics to players within the creator tools. What will happen with the game after launch?will support the game through Play.MindsEye, with continuous new content. Some of the content, like races, are made just for fun. Butmost of the content, we'll try and incorporate it into the story. So once you've played the big overarching ten-year plan, you'll have a very good idea of what this universe looks like. We have plans to add multiplayer,we have plans to make a full open world. And of course, we've also got to look at what players are creating, and incorporate that into our plans. Given the ease of the tools, we think there's going to be a high percentage of players who will jump in and give it a pop, see how it feels. Hopefully some will create compelling content we can then promote and make that part of our plans to push to other players. Is it best to think of MindsEye as the first game in a series of games? Or one game as part of a larger experience? MindsEye sits bang in the middle of our story. So, we're going to go back 10,000 years, then we're going to go forward a certain amount of time. It's the relevant piece of the puzzle that will have players asking questions of what the bigger story is. We've intentionally not released footage of huge parts of the game, because we don't want to spoil anything for players. But this story does take some unusual twists. What's your vision for the multiplayer component of the game? I guess there's two sides to the answer. The dream from the building side is to allow players the opportunity to create their own multiplayer open world games with ease. So anyone could pick up the game, jump in, drive around, stop at a point where they see something of interest, build a little mission, jump back in the car, drive again, build another mission. Once you've built a couple of hundred of these, you've built your own open world game. So, that's the build side. From our side, we want toa place where people can socialise, play together, and engage in the stories that we build. So, we do have plans next year to launch an open world multiplayer game that takes place a year after MindsEye finishes. In the interim, we also have an open world free roam game that spans from when MindsEye finishes to the launch of the open world multiplayer game. All of these stories interconnect in a fairly unique and original way, which I think players like these days. They like the complexity of deeper stories. You're selling the base game at launch, with a pass for upcoming content additions. Do you have a vision for how you're going to package future stories in the overarching MindsEye experience? It depends on the scale of the story. Some will be free, and some will be paid. After you left Rockstar Games, what came next? What led to you building the studio? I spent a few years looking into some other things: goingsome property development. Using some of the games experience, we made a thing called VR-Chitect, which allowed you to build houses and view them in VR. I spent a lot of time in Los Angeles at this point, and this is when the droughts were very bad. I got intothese machines that would suck water out of the air. Still sitting in my back garden in Los Angeles is this big clunky machine, it works like an air-conditioning unit. It could suck up one thousand litres of water. So I got involved with that. But there's really nothing like making games. The different types of people – the lawyers, the accountants, the programmers, the artists, the dancers, the singers – that bunch of people in one big pot, all working together, and turning something from a piece of paper intoscreen – that's where I get my excitement. Since I was a kid, that's what I've wanted to do. I thought, 'I better get back into making games' because nothing else was as much fun. What was the journey towards creating MindsEye as your first standalone release? Your first game's always your hardest. You have to build systems, you have to build the team. Everything is new. You don't really see a lot on the screen until way down the line, because you're building underlying systems, physics systems, the gameplay systems. It's a slow start, but what you end up with is an engine, and obviously we use Unreal, which provides a certain level of support and building. On top of that, we've got to build our own stuff., we have to pack up everything we build and present it nicely for the creator tools. So it adds this extra layer of complexity to everything. But now, given where we are, the speed that we can iterate, we can very quickly place enemies, place vehicles, place puzzles, whatever, and get a feel for a game. We've now got a great, experienced team – a lot of talented guys in there. In the old days, you'd get a game, stick it on the shelf, and you'd wave goodbye. It's not like that anymore. You're continually fixing things. When you release a game, you've suddenly got, not a hundred testers, but hopefully millions of testers. You've got to continually fix, continually optimise, and especially with the tools that we've got, we want to continually create new content. So MindsEye is a standalone game, and Everywhere is not mentioned anywhere on the Steam page. But obviously there's a strong 'build' component to this game, which was part of the Everywhere pitch. What does this mean for Everywhere, and what was behind the decision to package the game this way? This is all part of a bigger story and ecosystem that we've got planned. Everywhere is going to show up again pretty soon. Everything we're working on, there's a story behind it – a big overarching story. So Everywhere will come back, and it fits into this story somewhere. I can't tell you, because it would be a spoiler. But that's going to reappear soon, and it will all be a part of the same product. "I'm not sure it would've been smart as a company to say, 'we are going to compete with the biggest game on the planet'" Leslie Benzies, Build A Rocket Boy In terms of the tools, the tool doesn't really care what world you're building in. It sits separately. So any game we create, it will naturally work on top of it. But we're big fans of keeping everything thematically connected, or connected through a narrative, and you'll see it. The bigger story will become obvious, once you've played through all of MindsEye. Then you might start to see how it all connects together, to the Everywhere world. Has the landscape for something like Everywhere, or the build component to MindsEye, changed as platforms like UEFN have taken off or Roblox has become so huge? It's great to see these tools being used by people. I build a lot with my son, and when he builds, I see the excitement he gets. It reminds me of when I was a kid with my Dragon 32 computer, managing to get a little character moving on the screen – that excitement of, 'wow, I did that'. Giving that to other people is massive. It's still very difficult to build in Roblox. For example, when my son wants to do it, I have to jump in. I used to be a programmer, and I struggle to build in there. When he wants to run around and scream with his friends he's in Roblox; when he wants to build he'll jump into Minecraft, because Minecraft is a much easier system to build within. And I think we sit somewhere in the middle: you can get very high quality, fun games, but they're very easy to build. I think we're at the infancy of this in video games. We're at the very beginning of it, and we're going to see way, way more of it. It doesn't necessarily have to be presenting it to your friends, or to an audience. I think the process of creating for a human being is fun in itself. MindsEye has been positioned as a linear game. You are best known for creating open world games. What was behind the decision to make MindsEye a more linear, narrative-driven experience? I think certain stories are more difficult to present to players in an open world setting. Open world gives you freedom – you don't necessarily want freedom to portray a story. For MindsEye, it's a very set time in a character, Jacob Diaz's, life. You pick up as Jacob when he arrives in Redrock, and then you leave Jacob at a certain point in the future. And so, it'd be very difficult for us to have an open world in there. It's horses for courses: it depends what you're doing. But for Jacob's story, it had to be a linear game. Having said that, there are open world experiences in there, and we can build them through Build.MindsEye. There is a free roam open world mode, where you playa different character and you see his time, from the end of MindsEye, to the point of our next big planned launch. Again, they're all connected through a narrative, and we really want to show the universe, show the stories that have taken place in the universe, the characters in that universe, and see how they've experienced the same experience but from different viewpoints. "The dream from the building side is to allow players the opportunity to create their own multiplayer open world games with ease" Leslie Benzies, Build A Rocket Boy Was there ever a discussion about creating a more traditional GTA competitor? In design, you look at a lot of different options. I'm not sure it would've been smart as a company to say, 'we are going to compete with the biggest game on the planet'. I'm not sure that would be the best business decision to make. We went through a bunch of different designs, and to tell our story, this is what we landed on. MindsEye is priced more like a game from a decade ago at and it'll take around 20 hours to finish. Can you talk about how you settled on the game's length and scope, and how you made that decision around price? So you've got the MindsEye campaign, and yes, it'll be about 20ish hours. But you do have all this other side content: there's going to be this continuous stream of content. These days, there are so many different options for people. It's not just games: there's streaming TV, so many good shows out there. I don't think you can have filler content in games. I think people want the meat, and they want the potatoes. We've tried to make as much meat as we can, if that makes sense. I think that's a good length for a game. What you also find through data, is thatbig games, people don't play them all. The majority of people – 60% or 70% of people – don't actually play games to the end. So when you're making something, I would prefer – I'm sure the team would say the same –you had the whole experience from start to finish, and not create this 200-hour game. Create something that is finishable, but have some side things that will fill out the universe. A lot of the side missions on the play side of MindsEye do fill out the characters' back stories, or do fill out what was happening in the world. On price: the world's in a funny place. People are worried about the price of eggs. So value for money, I think people appreciate that when times are difficult. I was curious why you waited until quite late in the day to reveal the build element of the game, only because it seemed you were being quite church and state with how MindsEye is releasing versus what Everywhere is. So in general, we believe – and again, it goes back to the amount of information, the amount of options people have these days – I don't think you can have extended marketing times. It's very expensive, we're a start-up. I think you lose interest from people. There are so many things for people to do, that if you extend it, you're not punching through to the place you need to be. I've seen other games, nine years before launch, it's getting talked about. I'm not sure that's the way of the world these days. You'll see there are games that never go to market: the day of launch was the marketing campaign, and it worked very well. So I think we tried to compress ours down for that reason. On the MindsEye.Playpart of it, yeah, maybe we should've got that out there sooner, but it is a nice little surprise to give players. That's the thing with marketing – you never know what's the right or wrong way to do it, you've got to go with your gut, your senses, and test it. Being who you are, it brings a certain level of expectation and attention. Do you find it a double-edged sword, launching a new studio and launching a new game, with your background? Yes. There's always comparisons, and I think that's how humans work. As kids, we're taught to put a triangle into a triangular hole, and a square into a square hole. I think we do that for the rest of our lives, and we like to describe something new as 'it's X plus Y, with a bit of Z in there'. It makes things easy for us. It's maybe humans optimising the way we communicate. So there are comparisons. It serves us well in some ways, it doesn't serve us well in others. Dave Grohl said it well when he formed the Foo Fighters: nobody's interested in the Foo Fighters, all they were interested in was Nirvana. The guys have built something very cool, and I just hope people can see it for what it's trying to be. #big #leslie #benzies #interview #mindseye

Category: GamesMay 30, 2025 Atomfall Story Expansion Arrives Next Week – Dare You Visit Wicked Isle? Ben Fisher, Head of Design, Rebellion For those of you who are new to the game, Atomfall is an action-survival mystery set in the UK. The story takes place five years after the real-life events of the 1957 Windscale Disaster in the North of England. In the world of Atomfall, a quarantine zone has been established around the Atom Plant and no one has been allowed in or out for five years. Life and society have changed and adapted under these trying circumstances and gangs of strange folk now wander the countryside. You wake up in a bunker with no idea who you are or how you got there. Given the circumstances you have little choice but to set out on a journey to discover what really happened at Windscale and maybe try to find out who you are in the process. The Wicked Isle expansion adds a whole new location, with its own set of characters and enemies as well as additional leads, weapons, skills, items and multiple new endings for the main game. What is the Wicked Isle? Surrounded by murky and perilous waters lies a wicked isle… a mysterious new region to explore, nestled off the Cumberland coast. They say there was a creepy old fishing village out there, but the locals haven’t seen anyone from there for years. The Wicked Isle is an entirely new area for players to explore in Atomfall, accessible by boat from the village of Wyndham. It’s a region that gave us an opportunity to really double down on the Folk Horror influences that you find throughout the game, as well as hints of sci-fi and cold war paranoia for good measure. When developing the Wicked Isle, there were two real-world locations that acted as key inspirations. The first was Lindisfarne – the “Holy Island” – which is a monastery on an island off the coast of Britain and was famously raided by Vikings in the 9th century. On the wicked isle, an Abbey towers over everything and constantly entices you to explore what secrets it holds within. The other major inspiration was Anthrax Island, a real-world island off the coast of Scotland that was used for military experiments during the Second World War. The entire island was quarantined until the 1990s as a result of the tests, and you might find evidence of similar experiments as you explore Wicked Isle. Explore the Isle’s Mysteries Shrouded by dense fog, this strange isle holds secrets that lead to the heart of the mystery of what really happened at the Windscale Plant. The Wicked Isle is located close to the Atom Plant and as a result, infection had spread rapidly and had a significant effect on the environment and the people that live there. You will have to tread carefully! As you investigate the island you will uncover new leads and story threads. While some of these are standalone stories, some leads link back to the overarching narrative of Atomfall as you seek to uncover what really happened. You will have to travel back to the mainland in search of clues and items which will in turn unlock multiple new potential endings for the main game. Uncover New Treasures While exploring you will find new items, weapons, and skills to help you as you survive in the Quarantine Zone. Deadly blunderbusses, upgraded metal detectors, and otherworldly abilities are just some of the things you’ll find on the isle. In creating these new weapons, we had an immediate and impactful opportunity to link to the key themes we were exploring in this story expansion – whether it be the Blunderbuss and Cutlass tying to the nautical history of the isle itself or some of the stranger ritualistic weapons used by the pagan druids who have made this their home. However, I’m most excited to see how people interact with the new abilities that the Wicked Isle brings. I don’t want to give any spoilers, but you’re going to find some pretty weird stuff going on out there. Face Fearsome Foes The inhabitants of the isle have not escaped the impact of the disaster. A deranged druid cult has become even more powerful through their pagan rituals; roaming bandits have embraced the island’s nautical past and strange creatures lurk in the watery depths. If you want to survive, you’ll need to be prepared to fight back. The response from the community to Atomfall has been incredible and we cannot wait for players to experience Wicked Isle. The stories and leads you uncover there and the people you will meet along the way add even greater depth to the mystery of Atomfall. Available from June 3, the Wicked Isle Story Expansion Pack can be bought separately and is also included in the Atomfall Deluxe Edition and Atomfall Deluxe Upgrade. Game Pass subscribers will also receive a 10% discount. We hope you enjoy visiting the dark and lonely waters. Atomfall: Story Expansion Pack Wicked Isle Rebellion ☆☆☆☆☆ ★★★★★ Get it now Surrounded by murky and perilous waters lies a wicked isle… a mysterious new region to explore, nestled off the Cumberland coast. They say there was a creepy old fishing village out there, but the locals haven’t seen anyone from there for years. There is a boat from the Wyndham Village shore for anyone brave enough to go and look for themselves. New mysteries, new supplies and new possibilities of escape could lie ahead for anyone who dares. The Atomfall story continues with the “Wicked Isle” Story Expansion Pack, introducing a new location, enemies, quests, characters, items, weapons, and more. Explore the isle’s mysteries Shrouded by dense fog, this strange isle holds secrets that lead to the heart of the mystery. Uncover leads that intertwine with the Atomfall narrative, expanding the story and unlocking new routes out of the Quarantine Zone. Uncover new treasures While exploring you will find new items, weapons, and skills to help you as you survive in the Quarantine Zone. Deadly blunderbusses, upgraded metal detectors, and otherworldly abilities are just some of the things you’ll find on the isle. Face fearsome foes The inhabitants of the isle have not escaped the impact of the disaster. A deranged druid cult has become even more powerful through their pagan rituals; roaming bandits have embraced the island’s nautical past and strange creatures lurk in the watery depths. If you want to survive, you’ll need to be prepared to fight back. Related Stories for “Atomfall Story Expansion Arrives Next Week – Dare You Visit Wicked Isle?” Category: ID@XboxA Little Roguelike Fun: Cryptmaster’s Deckbuilder in the Anniversary Update Category: ID@XboxGet Connected: Indie Selects for May 2025 Category: GamesFree Play Days – Call of Duty: Black Ops 6, The Division 2, ARK: Survival Ascended, and More The post Atomfall Story Expansion Arrives Next Week – Dare You Visit Wicked Isle? appeared first on Xbox Wire. #atomfall #story #expansion #arrives #next

For many gamers, the upcoming playable characters are one of the main highlights of Genshin Impact’s frequent version updates. Especially throughout recent updates, the new playable characters in Genshin Impact have pushed the limits for the endgame meta, while also expanding the game’s overarching lore in surprising ways. Naturally, leaks about who will be the next playable character in future updates are generally a hot topic among the game’s community, since this gives players a chance to decide whether to get these characters and start saving their Wish currencies ahead of time. #genshin #impacts #version #character #banner

A lot of product designers who are more environmentally conscious now are looking at sourcing recycled materials when conceptualizing new products. Consumers are also more curious about the ingredients and materials used to create products they are considering and for some, it plays a major factor in that decision. There is also a growing trend towards incorporating a minimalist kind of aesthetic in these sustainable designs since of course we want to use few resources when producing things. The LANOVA TERRA Biowaste Table Lamp exemplifies the fusion of sustainability and minimalist design.Developed by NOI Creative for Lanova, this lighting solution utilizes agricultural byproducts—such as coffee grounds, rice husks, and wheat bran—to craft a lamp that is both environmentally conscious and aesthetically aligned with Nordic design principles. The Terra lamp stands out by transforming organic waste into a functional and elegant home accessory. By repurposing materials that would otherwise contribute to landfill waste, the lamp not only reduces environmental impact but also brings natural textures and tones into interior spaces. Designer: NOI Creative The Terra lamp’s design goes beyond mere aesthetics, deeply embedding principles of sustainability into its very structure. Its compact, modular form is a deliberate choice aimed at minimizing environmental impact from the outset. By allowing the lampshade to nest snugly within the lamp’s body, the overall volume of the packaging is significantly reduced. This not only translates to less material used for packaging itself but also optimizes space during shipping, leading to lower transportation emissions, a crucial factor in reducing a product’s carbon footprint. Furthermore, the lamp’s aesthetic is carefully considered, with soft curves and a simple two-part construction that embodies the essence of Nordic design. This style, often characterized by its clean lines, functionality, and warm, inviting feel, aligns perfectly with the principles of minimalism, ensuring the lamp remains timeless and avoids unnecessary embellishments that would require more resources. This thoughtful design extends to the user experience, prioritizing ease of assembly and practical storage. These features contribute to Lanova’s overarching commitment to sustainable living by creating a product that is not only eco-friendly but also seamlessly integrates into a conscious lifestyle. However, the vision behind the Terra lamp stretches far beyond its tangible form. It symbolizes a fundamental shift in thinking, championing the adoption of renewable materials and the implementation of responsible design practices throughout the industry. By boldly showcasing the untapped potential of biowaste in product design, the Terra lamp transcends its function as a mere light source, becoming an inspiring symbol of innovation and a powerful advocate for environmental stewardship within the home decor landscape. The LANOVA TERRA Biowaste Table Lamp stands as a testament to the powerful synergy between environmental consciousness and minimalist design. By ingeniously repurposing agricultural byproducts, NOI Creative and Lanova have not only crafted an elegant lighting solution but have also illuminated a path towards a more sustainable future for the home decor industry, proving that innovation and responsibility can beautifully coexist. The post Lanova Terra Lamp turns biowaste materials into light source first appeared on Yanko Design. #lanova #terra #lamp #turns #biowaste