Content Designer- Call of Duty MobileActivisionSanta Monica California 90405 United States of America2 hours agoApplyJob Title:Content Designer- Call of Duty MobileRequisition ID:R025388Job Description:Job Title : Content DesignerReporting to: Art DirectorDepartment: Call of Duty MobileLocation : Santa Monica, CAYour PlatformFounded in 1979, Activision has continuously disrupted the world of entertainment as a leader in the videogame industry. With a history of delivering iconic game changers -- like Pitfall® , Tony Hawk®, Guitar Hero®, Crash Bandicoot™, Skylanders ™ and Call of Duty ® -- our obsession is delighting our players around the globe. Focused and committed to innovation, we consistently deliver the most beloved, engaging and successful entertainment.And while we have world-class franchises, infrastructure and resources, our success comes from a passionate, talented and diverse team of people producing greatness together. So, if you’re interested in our biggest priority, it’s our people.We’re currently driving the next era for our company and community by creating amazing experiences for fans and continuing to make Activision an inclusive place where everyone can thrive.Join us, make history. To learn more, check us out at www.activision.com, www.activisiongamesblog.com or @Activision on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.Your Mission:As a Content Designer at Activision, you will be responsible for helping to create and implement a vision for live operations content. You will bring the unique narrative, characters, and weapons to life through innovative, compelling design. The perfect candidate has a passion for the Call of Duty franchise, has experience with narrative and visual storytelling, is familiar with mobile standard processes, and has worked in a fast-paced live ops environment.Responsibilities:Conceptualize characters, weapons, and other assets with an emphasis on fast ideation and creative design through the use of mood boards and written briefs.Work with Lead and Art Director to develop content from concept to final.Conceptualize and help write narrative elements.Consistently bring creative and fresh ideas to the table that will surprise and delight our player base.Collaborate with various departments to ensure content aligns with overall game design and company goals.Minimum Requirements:2+ years of working experience in a design role with at least one shipped product or having worked on a live ops product.Experience designing cosmetic assets for games.Experience with establishing narrative or visual storytelling.Comfortable developing visuals through the use of mood boards or concept art.Passion for playing and making video games.Strong communication skills; able to direct vendors and external partners.Organization and self-management skills.A positive and dedicated demeanor with the ability to be collaborative in a team environment.Extra Points:Familiarity with Call of Duty IP and storylines.First Person Shooter development experience.Previous experience designing for mobile devices.Familiarity with a global audience.Narrative design experience.Our WorldActivision Blizzard, Inc. is the world’s largest interactive entertainment company, with operations across North America, Europe, and Asia. We are home to some of the most beloved entertainment franchises including Call of Duty®, Destiny, Skylanders®, World of Warcraft®, Overwatch®, Diablo®, Candy Crush™, and Bubble Witch™. Our combined entertainment network delights hundreds of millions of monthly active users in 196 countries, making us the largest gaming network on the planet!Our ability to build immersive and innovate worlds is only enhanced by diverse teams working in an inclusive environment. We aspire to have a culture where everyone can thrive in order to connect and engage the world through epic entertainment. We provide a suite of benefits that promote physical, emotional and financial well-being for ‘Every World’ - we’ve got our employees covered!The videogame industry and therefore our business is fast-paced and will continue to evolve. As such, the duties and responsibilities of this role may be changed as directed by the Company at any time to promote and support our business and relationships with industry partners.Activision is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, national origin, protected veteran status, or any other basis protected by applicable law and will not be discriminated against on the basis of disability.RewardsWe provide a suite of benefits that promote physical, emotional and financial well-being for ‘Every World’ - we’ve got our employees covered! Subject to eligibility requirements, the Company offers comprehensive benefits including:Medical, dental, vision, health savings account or health reimbursement account, healthcare spending accounts, dependent care spending accounts, life and AD&D insurance, disability insurance;401(k) with Company match, tuition reimbursement, charitable donation matching;Paid holidays and vacation, paid sick time, floating holidays, compassion and bereavement leaves, parental leave;Mental health & wellbeing programs, fitness programs, free and discounted games, and a variety of other voluntary benefit programs like supplemental life & disability, legal service, ID protection, rental insurance, and others;If the Company requires that you move geographic locations for the job, then you may also be eligible for relocation assistance.Eligibility to participate in these benefits may vary for part time and temporary full-time employees and interns with the Company. You can learn more by visiting https://www.benefitsforeveryworld.com/ .In the U.S., the standard base pay range for this role is $29.81 - $55.14 Hourly. These values reflect the expected base pay range of new hires across all U.S. locations. Ultimately, your specific range and offer will be based on several factors, including relevant experience, performance, and work location. Your Talent Professional can share this role’s range details for your local geography during the hiring process. In addition to a competitive base pay, employees in this role may be eligible for incentive compensation. Incentive compensation is not guaranteed. While we strive to provide competitive offers to successful candidates, new hire compensation is negotiable. Create Your Profile — Game companies can contact you with their relevant job openings. Apply

Menu Home News Hardware Gaming Mobile Finance Deals Reviews How To Wccftech Gaming The US Federal Trade Commission v. Microsoft Over The Activision Blizzard Deal Has Come To An End, The FTC Officially Drops The Case David Carcasole • May 22, 2025 at 09:58pm EDT As spotted by The Verge, the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has officially dropped its case against Microsoft over its Activision Blizzard King acquisition. The organization filed a motion to dismiss the case today, May 22, 2025, finally closing the door on the FTC's attempts to block the largest acquisition in video game industry history. Microsoft first announced its acquisition of Activision Blizzard King at the beginning of 2022, and by the end of 2022, the FTC had filed a lawsuit against Microsoft, and so began the long contest that has continued to stretch on, even after the FTC lost in its one major change to really stop the deal from happening. At the beginning of this month, it lost a final attempt at stopping the deal and has chosen to put its fight to rest. "On May 7, 2025, the Ninth Circuit affirmed the decision of the United States District Court for the Northern District of California, FTC v. Microsoft Corp...denying the Commission's application for a preliminary injunction to block the acquisition of Activision Blizzard, Inc. by Microsoft Corp," the filing reads. "The Commission has determined that the public interest is best served by dismissing the administrative litigation in this case. Accordingly, it is hereby ordered that the Complaint in this matter be, and it hereby is, dismissed by the Commission." Vice chair and president of Microsoft Brad Smith celebrated the dismissal, saying "Today's decision is a victory for players across the country and for common sense in Washington, D.C. We are grateful to the FTC for today's announcement." After losing its initial attempt to stop the deal, Microsoft closed its acquisition of Activision Blizzard King in October 2023, but that didn't stop the FTC from trying to break it up after the fact. The organization also spoke out against decisions Microsoft has made since the deal closed, like raising the price of Game Pass and laying off thousands of employees. Deal of the Day Subscribe to get an everyday digest of the latest technology news in your inbox Follow us on Topics Sections Company Some posts on wccftech.com may contain affiliate links. We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com © 2025 WCCF TECH INC. 700 - 401 West Georgia Street, Vancouver, BC, Canada

Baphomet Member Dec 8, 2018 21,923 Whether it be local or global , what is your most enjoyable experience with a multiplayer game? I love FFXIV and I am really enjoying WoW but my favorite multiplayer experience is probably not something most people would pick... My favorite is Dokapon Journey: View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LciL9eWBUdI I have so many fond memories playing this with 2 of my closest friends during my early 20's. We would play at their house (they were brothers) until 3am every weekend.  Flipmenex Member Oct 27, 2017 2,283 PES 6. Or pretty much any PS2 Pro Evolution Soccer games. Still the best football games ever.  Shinobido Heart Member Dec 23, 2017 10,187 Probably Uncharted 3 multiplayer.   Cess007 Member Oct 27, 2017 15,493 B.C., Mexico Super Smash Bros Melee Followed very closely by Perfect Dark and CoD2.  Dogui Member Oct 28, 2017 11,019 Brazil Crash Team Racing. Still the goat kart racer.  Rosebud Two Pieces Member Apr 16, 2018 51,243 Fortnite   hydruxo ▲ Legend ▲ Member Oct 25, 2017 22,735 It's between CoD 4 and Destiny/Destiny 2. I think CoD 4 was the first MP game where I was truly addicted. I was so into it I even joined a clan and did some tournaments and I've never done that with any game. Then Destiny/Destiny 2 had its share of highs and lows but it was such a fun experience going along with those games for 10 years. Most of my friends that I still play with online today are from Destiny back in 2014. Some of my favorite gaming memories of all-time came from Destiny.   Lifejumper #1 Celtics fan / #7 Serbia fan Member Oct 25, 2017 30,000 Halo 2/3   Sargerus ▲ Legend ▲ The Fallen Oct 25, 2017 22,473 A tie between Halo 3 and MW2 (2009).   JhOnNY_HD Member Dec 13, 2020 1,076 Local: Perfect Dark Online: Destiny & Warhawk  atony7 Member Apr 6, 2025 147 Smash Ultimate   Solitude Member Nov 11, 2020 2,033 United Kingdom Uncharted 2 for me.   rawr its ry Member Oct 27, 2017 719 Halo 3, WoW from original to WoTLK or Street Fighter 4   mietek Member May 9, 2025 46 Halo 3   derFeef Member Oct 26, 2017 19,323 Austria For me personally it is a toss-up between Counter-Strike 1.6 and Anarchy Online. Both amazing times playing these games, meeting great people and forming friendships. It can't be recreated.  turbobrick Member Oct 25, 2017 14,451 Phoenix, AZ overwatch/overwatch 2. Its just been consistently fun the entire time I've been playing it. I do have a lot of nostalgia playing counter-strike back in the day, so its a close runner up.  CloseTalker Sister in the Craft Member Oct 25, 2017 38,114 I have had remarkably few multiplayer experiences that have measured up to my enjoyment of the Spies vs Mercs mode in Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow. And it has to be that version specifically, none of the others were as good   SupersonicHypertonic Member Apr 20, 2022 3,523 Between halo 3, COD:MW2 (the original) Titanfall 2 and Mario Kart 8. Some of the most fun I've ever had and played with a lot cool people online and in person.   Jameson Member Nov 23, 2017 1,096 WoW   MadJosh04 Member Nov 9, 2022 2,824 Halo 3   Mr. Poolman The Fallen Oct 27, 2017 8,159 Unreal Tournament, can't tell how many lunch breaks I forgot to play this at an old work I had. Also taught me about mods  Fossora Member Jun 14, 2023 2,445 It has to be WoW or OSRS. For non-MMOs, probably Dota.  Skel1ingt0n Member Oct 28, 2017 11,501 PVP: Halo 2 PVE: Phantasy Star Online Eps I&II LITERALLY more than 5,000 hours dumped into those two games. EDIT: Honest to God I could be completely satisfied with just Halo 2's 1-bomb assault on Headlong until the end of time if it had a huge community and dev support for tweaks.  Rockodile Member Dec 7, 2018 1,254 Probably Halo 2   Protein Carbs Fat Member Jun 24, 2024 97 World of Warcraft   Mr Evil 37 Member Mar 7, 2022 27,871 Halo Infinite and Titanfall 1.   Rygar 8Bit Member Oct 25, 2017 17,781 Site-15 Half-Life is #1 king for me no other game has come close. the amount of total conversion mods were crazy. Counter Strike, Team Fortress Classic, Day of Defeat, The Specialists, Natural Selection, Vampire Slayers, Firearms, Science & Industry, Sven Co-op, Brainbread, Earth Special Forces. These mods lasted me almost 10 years of daily play. After that I'd rank the rest of my top 10 as: Ultima Online Star Wars Galaxies Diablo 2 Nox Starsiege Tribes Phantasy Star Online Battlefield 4 Unreal Tournament Aliens vs Predator 2 Age of Empires 2  UraMallas Member Nov 1, 2017 24,473 United States PvP is Halo PvE is Gears  Jakenbakin "This guy are sick" and Corrupted by Vengeance Member Jun 17, 2018 14,387 Rocket League is my favorite, but some others I've enjoyed Trackmania (the Wii version had hundreds of hours played in my garage lol) Super Smash Bros (Brawl mostly just for timing) New Super Mario Bros Wii Mario Party's Jackbox Zombi U Borderlands Dead Nation Overcooked Game & Wario was weirdly a huge hit with my friends Nintendoland Baldur's Gate Dark Alliance 1+2/Champions of Norrath 1+2 Obscure 1+2 Pixeljunk Eden/Monsters Boom Blox Guitar Hero/Rock Band bit.trip Beat is not multiplayer, but my friends and I would set there stoned out of our minds jamming to the tunes taking turns lol  Stibbs Member Feb 8, 2023 4,258 The 518 Destiny probably, arguably the most important game in my personal life   JMY86 Member Oct 27, 2017 7,640 United States Battlefield 1942   panic Member Oct 26, 2024 83 Battlefield. Played all of them.   Indelible Member Oct 27, 2017 17,116 Canada Local: WCW/NWO Revenge for N64 Online: Titanfall  FLX-II Gargantuan Generousness Guaranteed Member Oct 28, 2017 456 Unreal Tournament 2004   ethanradd Member Oct 30, 2017 2,230 The Division 1, absolutely beautiful game, some really talented people at Ubisoft worked on that game.   PianoBlack Member May 24, 2018 7,522 United States This is tough but let's go with PlanetSide. At its best, it was unmatched.   overcast Member Oct 25, 2017 15,252 Rocket League followed by Gears/COD4. At its peak, Overwatch had its hooks in me like nothing else.   Bessy67 Member Oct 29, 2017 13,055 Mass Effect 3. Nothing else has scratched quite the same horde mode itch. The classes, the enemy types and factions, the weapons, and the biotic/tech combos just all blended together so well to make what is to me the best co-op PvE experience I've ever played.   VoidShaman Member Jul 11, 2023 1,381 Right now it is a tie between Warframe and Final Fantasy XIV, with Space Marine 2 coming in as a very close third.   Rygar 8Bit Member Oct 25, 2017 17,781 Site-15 PianoBlack said: This is tough but let's go with PlanetSide. At its best, it was unmatched. Click to expand... Click to shrink... True, how there are no other games like it is baffling. Planetside 1&2 are amazing.  julian Member Oct 27, 2017 18,995 For more than just 2 players, Saturn Bomberman.   TheBaldwin Member Feb 25, 2018 8,766 Halo 2/3. Hell now I can just cheat with Halo Master Chief Collection. Honestly I could play that collection until the end of time and be satisfied. Other mentions would be Rainbow Six Siege, GTA4 Online (Yes 4, not 5), Team Fortress 2, and Bad Company 2  Mudcrab Avenger Oct 26, 2017 3,963 The original DayZ mod for ARMA 2 before the bandit changes   PianoBlack Member May 24, 2018 7,522 United States Rygar 8Bit said: True, how there are no other games like it is baffling. Planetside 1&2 are amazing. Click to expand... Click to shrink... Seriously! Time for my annual "where is the StarCraft / Halo PvPvE take on PlanetSide??" post.  maze001 Member Sep 18, 2024 665 Halo 3 or Street Fighter 4 Spent countless hours on both too hard to pick one  Last edited: Today at 8:33 PM Grenlento Member Dec 6, 2023 1,801 I guess the early VS games (X-Men CotA & XvSF in particular) in arcades. It was the first time I made IRL friends from gaming.   Mr Evil 37 Member Mar 7, 2022 27,871 UraMallas said: PvP is Halo PvE is Gears Click to expand... Click to shrink... Franchise is cheating. Pick one 😉   Rygar 8Bit Member Oct 25, 2017 17,781 Site-15 PianoBlack said: Seriously! Time for my annual "where is the StarCraft / Halo PvPvE take on PlanetSide??" post. Click to expand... Click to shrink... Every time someone asks how a Starcraft MMO could even work I just constantly shout make it like Planetside. You take the 3 way war of Planetside, you add some base building type stuff like from Natural Selection and you make one of the best games ever made.  Razgriz-Specter Member Oct 25, 2017 34,508 Socom Rainbow 6 Vegas 1 COD4  EllaJay Member Dec 10, 2024 137 Left 4 Dead 2. It has one of the best communities. I made so many friends in random matches. I still play it sometimes but I wish they'd make a new one.  

OnlyFans, the internet’s kingdom of smut, may be changing hands soon. Reuters reports that the porn platform’s parent company, Fenix International, Ltd., is in talks to sell the business for some $8 billion to a U.S. investor group. The New York Post previously reported that Leonid Radvinsky, the billionaire owner of the site, was looking to “cash out,” but had not yet found a buyer. Reuters now identifies at least one potential buyer as the Forest Road Company, an investment firm based in Los Angeles that is reportedly leading an investor group that wants to buy the porn platform. On its website, Forest Road describes itself as “not your average investment firm” and says it embraces “complexity and creativity to extract value where others see limitations.” The site also expresses an interest in “media & entertainment” and “digital assets.” Not much else is known about the talks. Citing sources familiar with the potential deal, Reuters writes that Fenix is also talking to other interested parties. Gizmodo reached out to OnlyFans for more information. OnlyFans was founded in 2016 and rose to prominence during the pandemic by helping horny web users satisfy their libidos whilst otherwise avoiding human contact. Since then, the business has only continued to grow. Other than a weird brief moment in 2021 (when the company bizarrely claimed it would ban “sexually explicit content”), it has served as a premier destination for dirty content, and has helped re-shaped the porn industry through its gig-worker model. Last year, the company reported that payments made through the platform had surged by 19 percent since 2023, topping some $6.6 billion. Radvinsky purchased the company in 2019 and it has made an absolute killing since then. Bloomberg reported last year that the mogul had made $1 billion in three years through corporate dividends from the business. The company has also been the subject of considerable criticism, as well as numerous legal complaints. Critics accuse the platform of being frequented by sex traffickers, and claim that the site has also become a portal for child sexual abuse material. The company was also recently sued by two customers who were outraged to discover that they may have not been messaging with real models (creators often outsource their customer communications to third-party firms).

Doom The Dark Ages – not a cheap game (Bethesda) The Friday letters page blames Sony for the decline of Bungie, as one reader thinks they’ve guessed the secret of Super Mario on Switch 2. To join in with the discussions yourself email gamecentral@metro.co.uk Top three I was considering buying Doom: The Dark Ages but was shocked to find that the game is £70 on PC. I know it’s that on console too but normally PC games are at least £10 cheaper, although I’m not sure why. So we’ve got a game that is single-player only, can be beaten in around 13 hours, and is not only the most expensive a console game can be but the same on PC too. How many different ways can Bethesda find to put me off buying the game?I wonder if this is an attempt by Microsoft to push people towards paying for Game Pass, but I can assure them that is not going to work on me. I’ll just buy the game on Black Friday, when I’m sure it’ll be at least half price – just like Doom 2016 was by that same point. Video games might not have seen much of a price rise over the decades, I understand that, but what these companies seem to forget is that back in the SNES days most of us were only getting two or three games a year, because they were so expensive. If Microsoft and whoever wants to go back to those days then fine, but I can tell you Doom is not going to be one of my three for 2025.Sonny GC: PC games are usually cheaper because there’s no licensing fee to pay to publish them, as there is on consoles. Expect nothing So basically Sony are wasting another year? Possibly no summer showcase at all and if it is it’ll just be a bog standard State of Play? That is just tragic at this point. We’ve had three years of them acting like this and I have no idea why or what would convince them to stop and go back to how they used to be. I guess the assumption has to be that they’re never going to now.We’ve got Ghost Of Yōtei this year and the Returnal sequel next year and I think that means nothing else is imminent. If they had something coming out between those two, I think we would’ve heard about it by now. We might get more games published but not made by them, like Death Stranding 2, but I’m not even sure if that’s hoping for too much at the moment.Scooby Tears of the Mushroom Kingdom How did Nintendo shake up the long running Zelda franchise? They went open world with Breath Of The Wild. How are Nintendo shaking up the long running Mario Kart franchise? They’re going open world with Mario Kart World (it’s in the name!) for the Switch 2 release.So, what do I predict they’ll do with the next mainline Mario game to shake up the franchise? No, I’m not going to predict anything because it’s a fool’s errand to predict Nintendo!ttfp saylow (gamertag) Now playing: Zelda: Tears Of The Kingdom (rescued from the backlog) and Crime Scene CleanerEmail your comments to: gamecentral@metro.co.uk Hands-on management I have been hearing about Bungie having bad management for years, long before Sony bought them, so I’m not sure why this has never been solved. Obviously, they’re the ones in charge, so there’s not much the workers can do, but Sony certainly could, and should’ve, knocked some heads together.In that sense it’s hard not to at least partially blame Sony for the mess that Bungie has got into. They bought them but don’t seem to have had a plan for what they were going to do with them. It makes me wonder whether these companies are just bought like trophies, with no real idea of how they could be used effectively. I remember when Sony bought Bungie the rumours were that they did it just as much to stop Microsoft from getting hold of them, who would’ve presumably used them to revitalise Halo. But then what has Microsoft done to change or improve Activision? As far as I can see nothing has changed and they certainly haven’t started making more games or bringing back any of their old franchises. The average person probably has no idea they even changed hands.Whisper No answer I have been trying for hours to find a direct link to GAME online UK customer services contact details, to raise an issue with a faulty controller purchased in April of this year.Although on the GAME website there is information regarding contacting customer services every link you follow sends you to drop down menus that do not meet the criteria I’m looking for. I have accidentally but more successfully had immediate contact with GAME SA via WhatsApp or email but as for GAME UK, no response at all. Is this a purposeful ploy on behalf of GAME online UK to make their customers so frustrated they give up?!Lorraine First impressions I just wanted to say thank you to GC for their preview of the Nintendo Switch 2. I just finished reading the feedback, from the press event in Paris. It was a very informative piece and I’m modestly relieved to see positive impressions. I am pleasantly unsurprised to see the Welcome Tour was the lowest point of the event. Of course, you had to expect that GC. It did put someone to sleep, after all.I’m glad to also see that Cyberpunk 2077 is a winner as well. It was a dumpster fire on PlayStation 4, so it’s extremely important that it was ported sufficiently enough to ensure the same issues never bore fruit. Mario Kart World is shaping up to be a wonderfully delicious experience and I’m deeply glad for it, since I’ve brought the bundle. It was important that my investment is paying off. I also am curious to see how the titles that we’ve yet to see test footage run on the system, namely Star Wars Outlaws and Borderlands 4. I’ve also heard that the upcoming James Bond title will be ported; very interesting to hear. I wasn’t expecting that at all and it’s definitely something to keep an eye on. But we know nothing of the title yet, so that’s essentially a long time away. That’s all my thoughts. So, I’d like to thank GC again and I am indeed much more positive. With two weeks left until launch day, hopefully the positive momentum continues.Shahzaib Sadiq Giving it a chance I’m glad that Assassin’s Creed Shadows has done well, despite all the negativity before it was released. Ubisoft brought some of it on themselves, but it reviewed well and I took a chance and was very impressed by it. It has some of the best graphics I’ve ever seen and while the gameplay is a little predictable for the series it’s still a lot of fun.It makes me want to try out Star Wars Outlaws too, as that good a bad rap before it was released as well, mostly just because it was a Ubisoft game, as far as I can tell. So I’m going to try and pick it up next time I see it on sale. I’m not a fan of any company but I don’t think it’s right to dismiss any game just because of who made it.Arnie All in good time I definitely agree that Rockstar’s best game is possibly Red Dead Redemption and taking nothing away from Grand Theft Auto due to the more interesting new ideas involved in the game. One of these was getting a bounty on a person and being able to hogtie a target and take them back alive if possible, which was just like a Western film.Literally. you had every location going, with the great plains, the forests, the variety of frontier towns with the characters doing an amazing job creating the best drama out there. And of course, the mountain ranges and across the border to the desert region and Mexican villas, amongst their own unique landscapes. The city is awesome in GTA and the night life and sunrise appearing on the horizon, with your favourite radio station blasting a belter of a tune, is how gamers fell in love with GTA. But Red Dead just made it work over a 100-odd years prior. A future Red Dead Redemption 3 would be an incredibly exciting experience to dream about, with all the amazing possibilities that Rockstar’s clever devs can give us. But hey, GTA 6 soon and I’ll go with that for now.Alucard Inbox also-rans I’m still kind of shocked that Monster Hunter Wilds is the best-selling game of the year. I know of literally no one in the real world that is even aware of the franchise. Good for Capcom though, I guess.FocusReally excited about the fan campaign for Star Wars Battlefront 3. I’m not sure it’ll work, given the costs involved, but I’d love to see it, given all the new shows they could base maps on. I want to play as K-2S0!Gordo More Trending Email your comments to: gamecentral@metro.co.uk The small printNew Inbox updates appear every weekday morning, with special Hot Topic Inboxes at the weekend. Readers’ letters are used on merit and may be edited for length and content. You can also submit your own 500 to 600-word Reader’s Feature at any time via email or our Submit Stuff page, which if used will be shown in the next available weekend slot. 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Wells Fargo says in a report that President Donald Trump's tariffs won't bring manufacturing back. Carlos Barria/REUTERS 2025-05-23T02:31:46Z Save Saved Read in app This story is available exclusively to Business Insider subscribers. Become an Insider and start reading now. Have an account? Wells Fargo said in a report that President Donald Trump's tariffs won't bring manufacturing back. High labor costs and a lack of workers would make building more factories an "uphill battle." US manufacturing needs $2.9 trillion in investment to reach 1979 employment levels. President Donald Trump's push to revive American manufacturing through tariffs may face some hurdles.Despite some high-profile commitments, including Nvidia's plans for a US-based supercomputer plant and Apple's pledge to invest $500 billion domestically, a new report from Wells Fargo economists predicts that bringing back offshored manufacturing jobs will be an "uphill battle.""An aim of tariffs is to spur a durable rebound in US manufacturing employment," Wells Fargo analysts wrote in the report. "However, a meaningful increase in factory jobs does not appear likely in the foreseeable future, in our view."The report attributes the potentially low factory job growth to high labor costs, a lack of suitable workers to fill vacant positions, and a subdued population growth from lower fertility rates and slower immigration."Higher prices and policy uncertainty may weigh on firms' ability and willingness to expand payrolls," the analysts added.The tariffs are part of Trump's broader economic agenda to revive American manufacturing as a pathway toward middle-class prosperity. The tariffs are meant to hike the costs of imports to incentivize companies to make goods domestically."Jobs and factories will come roaring back into our country," Trump said while announcing tariffs on April 2. "And ultimately, more production at home will mean stronger competition and lower prices for consumers."Some tariffs imposed on April 2 have been temporarily paused or greatly reduced, including tariffs on China. The 10% across-the-board tariff remains, as do some specific tariffs on Mexico and Canada, plus 30% in duties on China. Duties at their current level are still the highest they have been since the 1940s."In order for manufacturing employment to return to its historic peak, we estimate at a minimum $2.9 trillion in net new capital investment is required," Wells Fargo analysts wrote. "Assuming businesses are willing and able to invest such ample sums, questions over staffing remain."The Wall Street bank says that US manufacturing employment currently stands at 12.8 million, down from its 1979 peak of 19.5 million. To get back to that mark, the US would need to add roughly 6.7 million jobs. Wells Fargo added that the figure is nearly the same as the entire pool of unemployed Americans, which in April was 7.2 million, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics."Population aging, negative perceptions, and skill mismatches also underpin workforce concerns," Wells Fargo analysts wrote. "New jobs will require different skills than those previously lost."In 2024, Taiwanese chipmaker TSMC said it delayed the opening of its Arizona chip factory due to a shortage of skilled workers. A report released in April 2024 by Deloitte and the Manufacturing Institute also found that nearly half of the 3.8 million new manufacturing jobs anticipated by 2033 could remain unfilled due to skill gaps and other population factors."Tariffs must be high enough to make the cost of domestic production competitive in the US market, and they also must be kept in place long enough for producers to bring on additional workers and expand capacity," the report concluded. "If the economic or political costs are deemed too high, the current administration could quickly dial-back prevailing duties further."The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comments.

Ancient sloths came in a variety of sizesDiego Barletta A cooling, drying climate turned sloths into giants – before humans potentially drove the huge animals to extinction. Today’s sloths are small, famously sluggish herbivores that move through the tropical canopies of rainforests. But for tens of millions of years, South America was home to a dizzying diversity of sloths. Many were ground-dwelling giants, with some behemoths approaching 5 tonnes in weight. Advertisement That staggering size range is of particular interest to Alberto Boscaini at the University of Buenos Aires in Argentina and his colleagues. “Body size correlates with everything in the biological traits of an animal,” says Boscaini. “This was a promising way of studying [sloth] evolution.” Boscaini and his colleagues compiled data on the physical features, DNA and proteins of 67 extinct and living sloth genera – groups of closely related species – to develop a family tree showing their evolutionary relationships. Unmissable news about our planet delivered straight to your inbox every month. Sign up to newsletter The researchers then took this evolutionary history, which covered a span of 35 million years, and added information about each sloth’s habitat, diet and lifestyle. They also studied trends in body-size evolution, making body mass estimates of 49 of the ancient and modern sloth groups. The results suggest sloth body-size evolution was heavily influenced by climatic and habitat changes. For instance, some sloth genera began living in trees – similar to today’s sloths – and shrank in body size as they did so. Meanwhile, three different lineages of sloths independently evolved elephantine proportions – and it seems they did this within the last several million years, as the planet cooled and the growth of the Andes mountains made South America more arid. “Gigantism is more closely associated with cold and dry climates,” says team member Daniel Casali at the University of São Paulo, Brazil. Many of these diverse sloths disappeared during two stages: one around 12,000 years ago and the other around 6000 years ago, says Boscaini. “This matches with the expansion of Homo sapiens, first over the entire American supercontinent, and later in the Caribbean,” he says — which is where some giant sloths lived. Notably, the only surviving sloth species live in trees so are much harder for humans to hunt than massive ground sloths. The idea that humans were the death blow for ancient megafauna is well-supported, says Thaís Rabito Pansani at the University of New Mexico, who wasn’t involved in the study. “However, in science, we need several lines of evidence to reinforce our hypotheses, especially in unresolved and highly debated issues such as the extinction of megafauna,” she says. The new evidence shores up this story. “Sloths were thriving for most of their history,” says Casali. “[The findings] teach us how a very successful [group] can become so vulnerable very quickly.” Journal reference:Science DOI: 10.1126/science.adu0704 Topics:evolution

Who owns what? Why console makers can legally brick your game console "If the ability [to brick a console] is there, someone will want to 'see how it goes.'" Kyle Orland – May 22, 2025 6:09 pm | 13 The martial artist is a console maker. The brick is your console. Credit: Getty Images The martial artist is a console maker. The brick is your console. Credit: Getty Images Story text Size Small Standard Large Width * Standard Wide Links Standard Orange * Subscribers only   Learn more Earlier this month, Nintendo received a lot of negative attention for an end-user license agreement (EULA) update granting the company the claimed right to render Switch consoles "permanently unusable in whole or in part" for violations such as suspected hacking or piracy. As it turns out, though, Nintendo isn't the only console manufacturer that threatens to remotely brick systems in response to rule violations. And attorneys tell Ars Technica that they're probably well within their legal rights to do so. Sony's System Software License Agreement on the PS5, for instance, contains the following paragraph of "remedies" it can take for "violations" such as use of modified hardware or pirated software (emphasis added). If SIE Inc determines that you have violated this Agreement's terms, SIE Inc may itself or may procure the taking of any action to protect its interests such as disabling access to or use of some or all System Software, disabling use of this PS5 system online or offline, termination of your access to PlayStation Network, denial of any warranty, repair or other services provided for your PS5 system, implementation of automatic or mandatory updates or devices intended to discontinue unauthorized use, or reliance on any other remedial efforts as reasonably necessary to prevent the use of modified or unpermitted use of System Software. The same exact clause appears in the PlayStation 4 EULA as well. The PlayStation 3 EULA was missing the "disabling use... online or offline" clause, but it does still warn that Sony can take steps to "discontinue unauthorized use" or "prevent the use of a modified PS3 system, or any pirated material or equipment." Microsoft, if anything, is even more straightforward in its Xbox Software License Agreement. Efforts to "install Unauthorized Software" or "defeat or circumvent any... technical limitation, security, or anti-piracy system" can mean that "your Xbox Console, Kinect Sensor or Authorized Accessory may stop working permanently at that time or after a later Xbox Software update," the company writes. While it's unclear how far back in history this legal clause goes, the mention of the now-defunct Kinect sensor suggests it dates back at least to the Xbox One era. A prototype SX Core device soldered to a Nintendo Switch motherboard. Credit: Team Xeceuter A prototype SX Core device soldered to a Nintendo Switch motherboard. Credit: Team Xeceuter While console makers routinely ban players and consoles from online play and services, remotely bricking a game console's offline capabilities for EULA violations seems exceedingly rare in practice. Even when cases of public console hacking have led to protracted legal fights—such as George Hotz's saga with the PS3 or Team Xecuter's Switch jailbreaks—console makers don't seem to have used technical means to completely disable offline functions for specific consoles. In 2015, Microsoft even went so far as to actively deny reports that it had bricked a console associated with a leak of an early Gears of War beta. "To be clear, if a console is suspended from Xbox Live for a violation of the Terms of Use, it can still be used offline," Microsoft said at the time. "Microsoft enforcement action does not result in a console becoming unusable." That said, it appears console makers sometimes take steps to remotely brick consoles after they've been reported stolen. It's not hard to find online reports of people buying used consoles only to find that they had been rendered entirely useless due to a prior theft. As always with secondhand hardware, let the buyer beware. They have the (legal) power Just because the major console makers don't tend to make use of the "brick switch" on their hardware doesn't mean they don't have the legal right to do so. "Although users own the hardware, the software that's needed to run it is subject to a license agreement," attorney Jon Loiterman told Ars. "If you violate the license terms, Nintendo has the right to revoke your access to that software. It's less common for software makers to revoke access to software in a way that disables hardware you bought from them, but the principle is the same." While these kinds of "bricking" clauses haven't been tested in court, lawyers who spoke to Ars felt they would probably hold up to judicial review. That's especially true if the facts of the "bricking" case centered around software piracy or some other method of getting around digital rights protections baked into the console itself. Consoles like these may get banned from Nintendo's online services, but they tend to still work offline. Credit: Kate Temkin / ReSwitched Consoles like these may get banned from Nintendo's online services, but they tend to still work offline. Credit: Kate Temkin / ReSwitched "Unfortunately, 'bricking' personal devices to limit users’ rights and control their behavior is nothing new," Electronic Frontier Foundation attorney Victoria Noble told Ars Technica. "It would likely take selective enforcement to rise to a problematic level [in court]," attorney Richard Hoeg said. Last year, a collection of 17 consumer groups urged the Federal Trade Commission to take a look at the way companies use the so-called practice of "software tethering" to control a device's hardware features after purchase. Thus far, though, the federal consumer watchdog has shown little interest in enforcing complaints against companies that do so. "Companies should not use EULAs to strip people of rights that we normally associate with ownership, like the right to tinker with or modify their own personal devices," Noble told Ars. "[Console] owners deserve the right to make otherwise legal modifications to their own devices without fear that a company will punish them by remotely bricking their [systems]." The court of public opinion In the end, these kinds of draconian bricking clauses may be doing their job even if the console makers involved don't invoke them. "In practice, I expect this kind of thing is more about scaring people away from jailbreaking and modifying their systems and that Nintendo is unlikely to go about bricking large volumes of devices, even if they technically have the right to," Loiterman said. "Just because they put a remedy in the EULA doesn’t mean they will certainly use it either," attorney Mark Methenitis said. "My suspicion is this is to go after the people who eventually succeeded in jailbreaking the original Switch and try to prevent that for the Switch 2." The threat of public backlash could also hold the console makers back from limiting the offline functionality of any hacked consoles. After citing public scrutiny that companies like Tesla, Keurig, and John Deere faced for limiting hardware via software updates, Methenitis said that he "would imagine Nintendo would suffer similar bad publicity if they push things too far." That said, legal capacities can sometimes tend to invite their own use. "If the ability is there, someone will want to 'see how it goes.'" Hoeg said. Kyle Orland Senior Gaming Editor Kyle Orland Senior Gaming Editor Kyle Orland has been the Senior Gaming Editor at Ars Technica since 2012, writing primarily about the business, tech, and culture behind video games. He has journalism and computer science degrees from University of Maryland. He once wrote a whole book about Minesweeper. 13 Comments

Forward-looking: While night vision is typically associated with bulky goggles that display only monochromatic images, recent experiments suggest the technology could be miniaturized for everyday eyewear. New applications of thin, lightweight filters may allow humans to perceive both infrared and visible light simultaneously. Contact lenses and eyeglasses could one day enable people to see beyond the natural visible light spectrum. Eyewear equipped with this special technology holds promise for enhancing visibility in challenging conditions and introducing new ways to convey information. Researchers from the University of Science and Technology of China are developing contact lenses that allow mice and humans to perceive infrared light in multiple colors. Unlike traditional night vision goggles, these lenses don't require an external power source. Additionally, because they are transparent, they don't block visible light – allowing wearers to combine natural and infrared vision. In the image above, the lenses change how letters appear under near-infrared light (bottom) compared to visible light (top), in one case revealing a previously hidden letter. In another experiment, mirrors that appeared monochromatic in visible light became more colorful under near-infrared, while those showing color in visible light shifted hues under NIR. The study, published in Cell, describes how upconversion nanoparticles convert light just outside the visible spectrum – known as near-infrared – into visible red, green, and blue light. Test subjects wearing the lenses were able to detect previously invisible colors and perceive near-infrared light beams. // Related Stories Although night vision is the most obvious application, the technology could also enhance visibility in foggy or dusty environments. Smart devices could use it to assist during emergencies, and wearers could receive information encoded in infrared light. The technology may also benefit individuals with color blindness. Although the experimental lenses do not yet provide a sharp infrared image, specially designed eyeglasses incorporating this technology can enhance image quality, and nanoparticle development is ongoing. Interestingly, wearing the lenses allows near-infrared light to be seen even with closed eyes, as infrared light penetrates eyelids more effectively than visible light – making near-infrared information clearer. The study parallels a paper published last year by Australian researchers, who used metasurface-based upconversion technology to demonstrate eyeglasses that merge infrared and visible light. Their goal: to create thinner, lighter, and more practical night vision gear. Continued research aims to expand access to more of the infrared spectrum.