When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works. ExplorerPatcher fix bypasses Windows 11 24H2 upgrade block, and squashes two major bugs Sayan Sen Neowin @ssc_combater007 · May 23, 2025 04:06 EDT ExplorerPatcher is a popular third-party customization and tweaking app on Windows. The latest update has three major improvements for Windows 11 24H2. First up, the author has made changes so that the app can bypass the Windows 11 24H2 upgrade block. Microsoft informed earlier that 24H2 compatibility block related to customization apps was slowly being removed. With the latest update, the ExplorerPatcher developer notes that they made changes to improve the app's Desktop Window Manager compatibility with the newest Windows version by renaming the ep_dwm EXE file to ep_dwm_svc. If you remember, Microsoft started blocking third-party apps like this one back in April 2024 during Insider testing and the safeguard hold continued even after general availability. In terms of bug fixes, there are several and two of them are related to Windows 11 24H2. The feature "disable rounded corner" now works on the latest Windows feature update. If you are familiar with Windows 11, one of the many characteristics of its aesthetics is the presence of rounder corners, which Microsoft has also brought over to its other apps, although there is still clearly room for sharper edged tabs too. So many who disliked the rounded corners on Windows 11 would rely on unofficial apps like ExplorerPatcher to deal with them. Thankfully, the feature now works, as previously it would simply automatically uncheck when detecting a 24H2 build. The second improvement is about Simple Window Switcher or SWS as the developer of ExplorerPatcher refers to it. SWS is meant as an alternative to the Alt-Tab functionality on stock Windows. Unlike the "disable rounded corner" option, the SWS feature still worked, although its implementation on Windows 11 24H2 was buggy, as users experienced slowdowns and lag. Underlying code issues can often cause problems like these as recently pointed out by a senior Microsoft engineer. From the user comments, it is apparent that the window switcher feature exhibited various other issues too. One user 03juan documented the several problems they encountered in great detail. These included being stuck in an infinite loop, high CPU usage, among others. The full changelog is given below: Start10: Fixed Pin to Start on 226x1.4541+ and 261xx.2454+. sws: Added support for 24H2. ep_dwm: Added support for 24H2. ep_dwm.exe has been renamed to ep_dwm_svc.exe to get around 24H2 upgrade blocks. ep_dwm: Now always unregistered on uninstallation, regardless of whether it was running during the uninstallation or not. Setup: The failure message now displays the associated code line number that failed, to assist in troubleshooting. Taskbar10: Fixed disabling immersive menus on ARM64. Taskbar10: Fixed Win+X menu still having Windows Terminal entries when Windows Terminal is not installed, that crashes Explorer when selected. For now, if you want to have PowerShell entries, Windows Terminal must be uninstalled. Taskbar10: Fixed Win+X entry clicks doing nothing on 26xxx.5551+ ARM64. GUI: Added dropdown indicators to dropdown entries. GUI: The language names now include the country name. (3f11766) Localization: Added Czech translations. (Thanks @9hb, @andrewz1986, and @Panzimy!) Localization: Added Spanish (Spain) translations. (Thanks @AlejandroMartiGisbert!) ep_taskbar: Added support for "Show desktop button: Hidden" setting. (#4020) (1be6658) ep_taskbar: Fixed a bug that prevented shortcut global hotkeys from working on 24H2. (#3777, #4016) ep_taskbar: Fixed a bug that prevented the taskbar from resizing properly after DPI changes. (#3796) ep_taskbar: Added the following languages: German, French, Hungarian, Indonesian, Italian, Korean, Lithuanian, Dutch, Polish, Portuguese (Brazil), Romanian, Spanish (Spain), Turkish, Ukrainian, Chinese (Simplified). ep_taskbar: Fixed a number of memory leaks and code/behavior inaccuracies. ❗ ep_taskbar: Fixed incompatibility with 26200.5603 (Dev), 26120.4151 (Beta), and 26100.4188 (Release Preview). (#4321) ep_taskbar: Now supports all Windows 10 versions supported by EP (17763/1809+). (aec8c70, 1edb989) To download the latest version, 22631.5335.68, of ExplorerPatcher, head over to Neowin's software stories page or its official GitHub repo here. The ExplorerPatcher author has also cautioned that Microsoft Defender will still flag the newer versions of the app, and has provided the following PowerShell to optionally add to anti-virus exclusions: Add-MpPreference -ExclusionPath "C:\Program Files\ExplorerPatcher" Add-MpPreference -ExclusionPath "$env:APPDATA\ExplorerPatcher" Add-MpPreference -ExclusionPath "C:\Windows\dxgi.dll" Add-MpPreference -ExclusionPath "C:\Windows\SystemApps\Microsoft.Windows.StartMenuExperienceHost_cw5n1h2txyewy" Add-MpPreference -ExclusionPath "C:\Windows\SystemApps\ShellExperienceHost_cw5n1h2txyewy" Bear in mind though, that Defender serves to protect your system from dangerous malware like the recently reported Lumma, which affects nearly 400,000 systems worldwide. So if you do add exceptions manually, make sure to not let a dangerous quarantined threat out. Tags Report a problem with article Follow @NeowinFeed

Embracer has announced that it is spinning off Coffee Stain Group – formerly known as Coffee Stain & Friends – into a standalone group of developers and publishers. As a result of this, what remains of Embracer Group, a division formerly known as Middle-Earth & Friends, will be renamed to Fellowship Entertainment. As part of this move, shares in Coffee Stain Group will be distributed to shareholders of Embracer and will go on to be listed on the Nasdaq First North Premier Growth Market in Stockholm. Fellowship’s stocks will continue to be listed on Nasdaq Stockholm. As a result of this move, Coffee Stain Group will take with it 250 employees among its development and publishing divisions. The overall group will include Coffee Stain, Tuxedo Labs, and Ghost Ship, along with some Scandinavia-based studios from Amplifier Game Investment. Some of the IPs under Coffee Stain Group will be Deep Rock Galactic, Goat Simulator, Satisfactory, Teardown, Valheim, and Welcome to Bloxburg. Fellowship Entertainment, on the other hand, will focus on transforming its business into a group that can handle game development and publishing, as well as the development of new IPs that can be spin-off into transmedia properties, including comics, merchandise, and film. Companies under Fellowship Entertainment include 4A Games, Aspyr Media, CrazyLabs, Crystal Dynamics, Dambuster Studios, Dark Horse, Deca Games, Eidos-Montréal, Flying Wild Hog, Gunfire Games, Limited Run Games, Middle-earth Enterprises, Milestone, PLAION, Tarsier Studios, THQ Nordic, Tripwire Interactive, Vertigo Games, and Warhorse Studios. These are among the 40 different companies under Fellowship Entertianment. “We’re really proud of everything we’ve built as part of Embracer, and grateful for the support and trust we’ve received over the years,” wrote Coffee Stain founder and group CEO Anton Westbergh. “Now, as we take the step to become a separately listed company, it feels both exciting and, honestly, a little bit scary—but in a good way.” “The games industry is more competitive than ever, but also more rewarding if you do things right, and we believe this move gives us the clarity and control to navigate the landscape better on our own terms. We can now focus even more on what we do best—supporting our developers, staying close to our communities, and building an even brighter future for Coffee Stain.” Embracer co-founder and group CEO Lars Wingefors also had a statement where he praised the talent, IPs and communities under Coffee Stain Group. The decision to split the company off was seemingly made because of Westbergh’s strategies and leadership for the long-term health and success of the company. “Coffee Stain Group has incredible talent, IPs and communities. To date, it has been a true recipe for success,” said Wingefors. “I am confident in Anton’s strategy and leadership and see a clear long-term opportunity in attracting and enabling partnerships with like-minded independent game developers and talents.” While the move looks largely like it might end up being a good thing for all parties involved, only time will tell how they might end up affecting the developers at all of the studios, as well as the games that they’re making, that will be affected.

Chris Kerr, Senior Editor, NewsMay 22, 20252 Min ReadImage via Embracer GroupEmbracer Group has detailed how the next stage in its plan to split into three standalone, publicly-listed companies will unfold.Last year, the Swedish conglomerate ended a period of studio closures, divestments, and layoffs by announcing it would partition its business into three units: Asmodee, Coffee Stain & Friends, and Middle-earth Enterprises & Friend.After carving out Asmodee and saddling it with debt, the company has confirmed it intends to spin off Coffee Stain Group and rename its remaining business Fellowship Entertainment."Embracer today announces its intention to spin-off Coffee Stain Group (previous working name Coffee Stain & Friends) into a standalone group of community-driven game developers and publishers by the end of calendar year 2025," reads an investor update."The shares in Coffee Stain Group will be distributed to the shareholders of Embracer, and are intended to be listed on the Nasdaq First North Premier Growth Market in Stockholm. At the same time, Embracer Group AB are planned to be renamed Fellowship Entertainment (previous working name Middle Earth & Friends)."Embracer pledges to create "unforgettable experiences" after cutting ties with thousands of workersCoffee Stain Group will consist of over 250 game developers and publishers such as Coffee Stain, Ghost Ship, and Tuxedo Labs. It will also house certain studios from Amplifier Game Invest.Related:Coffee Stain CEO and co-founder Anton Westbergh will lead the group and become the steward of popular franchises including Deep Rock Galactic, Goat Simulator, Satisfactory, Valheim, Teardown, and Welcome to Bloxburg.Embracer's remaining business will be renamed Fellowship Entertainment and intends to unite top creators and intellectual properties to "build unforgettable experiences" for players.Fellowship will comprise 4A Games, Aspyr Media, CrazyLabs, Crystal Dynamics, Dambuster Studios, Dark Horse, Deca Games, Eidos-Montréal, Flying Wild Hog, Gunfire Games, Limited Run Games, Middle-earth Enterprises, Milestone, PLAION, Tarsier Studios, THQ Nordic, Tripwire Interactive, Vertigo Games, Warhorse Studios, and more than 40 other companies.In total, the rebranded business unit will employ roughly 6,000 people in over 30 countries. The group will control the commercial rights to The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings and game franchises like Kingdom Come Deliverance, Dead Island, Tomb Raider, and over 300 other IPs.Embracer Group CEO Lars Wingefors will continue to oversee all three business entities by establishing a privately held holding company called Embracer AB that will "act as an active and supportive long-term shareholder" of Asmodee Group, Coffee Stain Group, Fellowship Entertainment, and "potentially other companies."Related:Read more about:Embracer GroupAbout the AuthorChris KerrSenior Editor, News, GameDeveloper.comGame Developer news editor Chris Kerr is an award-winning journalist and reporter with over a decade of experience in the game industry. His byline has appeared in notable print and digital publications including Edge, Stuff, Wireframe, International Business Times, and PocketGamer.biz. Throughout his career, Chris has covered major industry events including GDC, PAX Australia, Gamescom, Paris Games Week, and Develop Brighton. He has featured on the judging panel at The Develop Star Awards on multiple occasions and appeared on BBC Radio 5 Live to discuss breaking news.See more from Chris KerrDaily news, dev blogs, and stories from Game Developer straight to your inboxStay UpdatedYou May Also Like

Embracer Group to spin off Coffee Stain Group; remaining business to be renamed Fellowship Entertainment Embracer Group will spin off Coffee Stain Group into a standalone group by the end of 2025, the companies announced. At the same time, Embracer Group’s remaining business, previously known un… www.gematsu.com Embracer Group will spin off Coffee Stain Group into a standalone group by the end of 2025, the companies announced. At the same time, Embracer Group's remaining business, previously known under the working name "Middle-earth Enterprises & Friends," will be renamed Fellowship Entertainment, and a new holding company, Embracer AB, will be established as a long-term shareholder of Asmodee Group, Coffee Stain Group, and Fellowship Entertainment. Coffee Stain Group will consist of more than 250 game developers and publishers across the following companies: Coffee Stain Studios, Ghost Ship Games, Tuxedo Labs, and certain studios from Amplifier Game Invest, all based in Scandinavia. Its intellectual properties include Deep Rock Galactic, Goat Simulator, Satisfactory, Teardown, Valheim, and Welcome to Bloxburg. Fellowship Entertainment will consist of companies such as 4A Games, Aspyr Media, CrazyLabs, Crystal Dynamics, Dambuster Studios, Dark Horse, Deca Games, Eidos Montreal, Flying Wild Hog, Gunfire Games, Limited Run Games, Middle-earth Enterprises, Milestone, PLAION, Tarsier Studios, THQ Nordic, Tripwire Interactive, Vertigo Games, and Warhorse Studios, among more than 40 other companies. The group will be steward of the commercial rights to J.R.R. Tolkien's work The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, as well as intellectual properties Kingdom Come Deliverance, Metro, Dead Island, Killing Floor, Darksiders, Remnant, and Tomb Raider, amongst more than 300 other video game properties. Click to expand... Click to shrink...

Marcel Breuer’s HUD headquarters may be in jeopardy, but folks who adore the the Hungarian emigre’s most famous New York work now have good reason to celebrate. The former Whitney Museum of American Art, completed by Marcel Breuer and Associates in 1966, was unanimously designated an individual and interior landmark today by the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC). Now, both the former Whitney Museum of American Art’s exterior and its interior are protected under the Landmarks Law—a major preservation win. The LPC also recently designated Paul Rudolph’s Modulightor Building Apartment Duplex an interior landmark. The LPC recognized the interiors as emblematic of the 1960s, when Brutalism was in vogue. (Courtesy NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission) The Whitney Museum of American Art was renamed the Met Breuer in 2016, when the Metropolitan Museum of Art took it over. Sotheby’s acquired 945 Madison Avenue in 2023, and subsequently brought on Herzog & de Meuron to renovate the place. The “sensitive adaptation and renovation,” Sotheby’s said in 2024, will deliver new world class gallery space for displaying the auction house’s “full suite of offerings.” Today’s landmark designation by LPC had the support of Sotheby’s. “We fully endorse the landmark designation, as reflected in our initial plans for the building,” Sotheby’s Global Head of Real Estate Steven Wrightson said in a statement. “We look forward to welcoming the public back and honoring the Breuer’s enduring legacy as we usher in a new chapter of Sotheby’s.” Sarah Carroll, LPC chair, commended the former Whitney Museum of American Art building for its “unique interior” that serves as a remarkable example “of the Brutalist style of modern architecture.” The interiors, Carroll elaborated, “represent a powerful testament to New York City’s role as a global center of innovative design.” “Today’s designation honors Marcel Breuer’s groundbreaking vision and ensures that this architectural icon will continue to serve as a premier showcase for world-class art, and be preserved and protected for generations to come,” Carroll continued. The news comes after Cape Cod Modern House Trust acquired Breuer’s summer cottage, following a lengthy preservation initiative to save it.

Adobe will be giving its priciest subscription tier an AI-first rebrand—and adding an even higher price tag. Adobe’s Creative Cloud All Apps subscription, which includes access to more than 20 Adobe apps, will soon be known as “Creative Cloud Pro,” the company announced last week. The renamed subscription plan will give users expanded access to Adobe’s AI-powered tools and apps, but for a price: For subscribers on an annual plan, the cost will increase from $59.99 to $69.99 monthly, or from $659.88 to $779.99 annually. Beginning on June 17, any members of Creative Cloud All Apps will be automatically opted into Creative Cloud Pro. According to Adobe’s announcement of the plan, Creative Cloud Pro pricing will be effective at your next renewal on or after June 17. Currently, these changes are only rolling out in North America. This follows better-than-expected first quarter 2025 financial results for the software company, which reported a record revenue of $5.71 billion, equal to 10% year-over-year growth. Still, Adobe’s shares dropped after the report, as several experts and investors noted concerns that the company might be falling behind competitors with its AI efforts. Creative Cloud Pro appears to be the next step for Adobe to monetize its newly robust suite of AI tools by making them a mandatory investment for the company’s most dedicated users, even as it rolls out “made without generative AI” image labels. Here’s what to know about the new plan. What’s new on Creative Cloud Pro? To start, Creative Cloud Pro comes with all of the features that were included under the Creative Cloud All Apps umbrella. The plan includes a portfolio of more than 30,000 fonts, unlimited Creative Cloud libraries, millions of stock photos and videos, and 100 gigabytes of cloud storage. In addition to these perks, the upgraded plan will include several new AI features. First, users will gain unlimited access to “standard generative tools” like Photoshop’s Generative Fill, which can essentially “deepfake” anything within a composition, and Lightroom’s Generative Remove, which eliminates unwanted details in a photo. Creative Cloud Pro users will also have 4,000 monthly credits to use for Adobe’s class of “premium generative features,” like Premiere Pro’s Generative Extend, which uses AI to add frames to the beginning or end of any video. The rebranded subscription also includes the most recent Firefly app, which Adobe bills as its “one-stop shop for exploration and ideation with creative AI.” The app comes with Adobe’s new text-to-image generator Image Model 4, as well as its Firefly Video Model, which first entered public beta testing last month. Another feature called Firefly Boards allows teams to do some Pinterest-style mood board brainstorming.  For any Creative Cloud Pro users who have a different AI model of choice, they can also choose to import Google Imagen 3 and Veo 2, OpenAI image generation, or Flux 1.1 Pro into Firefly. More details on Creative Cloud Pro features are available here. How much will it cost for different kinds of users? Prices are set to rise across the board for all kinds of Creative Cloud All Apps users.  For rolling subscribers (those not on an annual plan), prices will rise from $89.99 to $104.99. For teams, prices will jump from $89.99 to $99.99 per month. And for student and teacher plans, renewal prices are set to increase from $34.99 to $39.99 monthly. What if I don’t want to join this new plan? If you’re a current Creative Cloud All Apps user but don’t want to be automatically shuffled into Creative Cloud Pro, Adobe has created another subscription tier called Creative Cloud Standard. This tier is the same price as the former Creative Cloud All Apps ($54.99 per month for annual users), but it comes with a bit less value.  Whereas All Apps included 1,000 monthly credits for the aforementioned standard generative features, Creative Cloud Standard only includes 25 credits. It also limits access to premium features on mobile and web apps, and, of course, does not include premium generative features or Firefly.  While Adobe’s web page states that Creative Cloud Standard is “only available to existing customers,” an Adobe spokesperson clarified that new users can actually join this tier by contacting customer support. It’s a trade-off that essentially means you’ll be paying the same amount for a subscription with fewer bonuses, but it might be the option that makes the most sense for users who have no interest in Adobe’s AI features. On Reddit, plenty of users have already expressed displeasure with the new plan. It’s easy to see why. Adobe is automatically upgrading subscriptions to the more expensive Creative Cloud Pro tier, a UX pattern that makes it less likely for users to opt out than if they had to make an active choice and tick a subscribe box, for instance. Both this and the Creative Cloud Standard journey for new users could be seen as dark patterns, which are UX pathways that manipulate users into taking actions that they may not have intended but are in the business interests of the company. The U.S. sued Adobe over its hard-to-cancel subscriptions last year. The goal of the automatic upgrade, in combination with the decreased appeal of the Creative Cloud Standard tier due to its reduced features, seems to be to draw more daily active users into the company’s existing AI products. That would be in close keeping with its recent focus on monetizing generative AI tools following its last earnings report, which was plagued with fears that Adobe isn’t staying ahead in the AI race. An Adobe spokesperson declined to comment on the reasoning behind the subscription tier rebrand and whether users will be personally notified before the change takes place.

Some of Adobe’s most expensive Creative Cloud subscriptions are about to get even pricier for users in North America. Starting from June 17th, the Creative Cloud All Apps plan will be renamed Creative Cloud Pro for users in the US, Canada, and Mexico, adding a bunch of generative AI perks in exchange for bumping up subscription costs.The pre-tax monthly price for individual Creative Cloud All Apps subscribers on an annual contract will increase from $59.99 to $69.99, or from $659.88 to $779.99 annually. The monthly price for rolling, non-contracted subscribers will jump from $89.99 to $104.99. Contracted prices for teams start at $99.99 per month, up from $89.99, while student and teacher plans will jump from $34.99 to $39.99 monthly on renewal.The new Creative Cloud Pro plan provides access to the same Adobe apps and features as the previous All Apps plan, alongside some new additions. Users will have unlimited credits for powering generative AI image tools like Photoshop’s Generate Fill, and 4,000 monthly credits for “premium” AI video and audio features like Generative Extend in Premiere Pro. The plan also includes the ability to select third-party generative AI models like OpenAI’s GPT and Google Imagen, and access to Adobe’s in-beta collaborative whiteboard app, Firefly Boards.“We want to empower you with more time to explore ideas and create, so we’re focused on continually upgrading your apps’ performance, delivering innovations to your core workflows, and integrating generative AI-powered capabilities across Creative Cloud and through our new Firefly app that make you more productive,” Adobe said in its announcement. “Today, we’re sharing updates to our Creative Cloud offerings to reflect our continued innovation and commitment to providing you the best tools for bringing your visions to life.”The previous All Apps plan will no longer be available following the switch, and existing subscribers will be charged the increased price on their next renewal date. These changes only apply in North America, and Adobe says it isn’t planning to make name or pricing changes in other regions “at this time.”Adobe is also offering a stripped-back “Creative Cloud Standard” plan for users who don’t need its generative AI offerings. Starting at $54.99 per month for contracted subscribers or $82.49 for rolling users, the Creative Cloud Standard plan is nearly identical to the current All Apps plan, but reduces the previous 1,000 monthly generative credit allowance down to 25. Users also won’t have access to premium web and mobile app features that are unlocked for Creative Cloud Pro subscribers. Not only is Adobe defaulting current All Apps subscribers to the more expensive AI-laden plan, compared to the Standard offering that’s closer in price and features, but this new Creative Cloud Standard offering is only available to existing subscribers, forcing new customers to take the more expensive AI-focused plan.Adobe’s All Apps plan was a poor investment for most individual users anyway, as it’s rare for one person to need more than 20 apps that target such a wide variety of creative industries. Still, some existing All Apps subscribers aren’t too pleased with the changes, if the reactions on Adobe subreddits are any indication. Canva attempted to make similar AI-driven price increases last year, which were later softened due to backlash from its users, so we will have to see if Adobe sticks to its guns.See More:

Projects named in deal include Euston station and Smithfield Market in BirminghamThe Crown Estate is buying a 50% share in six Lendlease projects in the UK including the Australian developer’s schemes at Euston station in London and Birmingham’s Smithfield Market. The joint venture between the King’s property company and the Sydney-based firm, which earlier this year sold its UK construction business to private equity which has since renamed it Bovis, could create up to 26,000 new homes and 900,000 sq m of offices and laboratories across the six sites, which also include Lendlease’s plots at Silvertown Quays in London’s Royal Docks, at Thamesmead Waterside, along the High Road West next to Tottenham Hotspur’s ground and at Stratford Cross. The deal was announced this morning at the Treasury and chancellor Rachel Reeves said it would “boost home ownership and make Britain a global hub for life sciences”. Pictured (l-r) are investment minister Baroness Gustafsson, The Crown Estate chief executive Dan Labbad, Lendlease chief Tony Lombardo and chancellor Rachel Reeves She added: “[Our plans] includes creating the right environment for organisations like The Crown Estate and Lendlease to partner, helping us to unlock capital to get Britain building and get Britain growing.” The Crown Estate, which is head by former Lendlease Europe chief Dan Labbad, who left the firm six years ago after more than 20 years to join the Crown Estate, is one of the UK’s largest landowners and manages £16bn-worth of both rural and urban land and property around England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Its profits are paid to the Treasury and in 2024 it reported making £1.1bn. The deal is set to have a gross development value of £24bn and is expected to see Lendlease, which has rejigged its business to concentrate on its domestic market, make AUS$300m (£144m) from the sale. Labbad, who signed the agreement with Lendlease chief executive Tony Lombardo, said: “As a country, we face challenges to unlock growth. To support this, we need to spark investment in sectors like science, technology, and housing, alongside deep collaboration across communities, government, and the private sector. “This joint venture is an example of how The Crown Estate is harnessing its mandate to act in the UK’s long-term national interest, supported by new investment powers, and stepping up its ambition to support inclusive growth for the nation.” The deal will see Lendlease act as development manager for the work. The six developments in the JV 60 acres above and around Euston Station in London, with the potential to deliver circa 4.3m sq ft of commercial space and 2,000 new homes 60 acres in Silvertown in London, with the potential to deliver circa 1.3m sq ft of commercial and 6,300 new homes 40 acres in Smithfield in Birmingham, with the potential to deliver over 2m sq ft of commercial space and 3,400 new homes The Smithfield scheme in Birmingham is planned to have more than 3,000 homes Three land plots in Stratford Cross, London, with the potential to deliver over 1.6m sq ft of commercial space 250 acres of residential space in Thamesmead Waterfront, London, with the potential to deliver over 11,000 homes and 880,000 sq ft of commercial space 27 acres in High Road West in Haringey, London, with the potential to deliver over 100,000 sq ft commercial space and around 2,800 new homes

Mercatorio season 4 kicks off on Friday May 16th. The season includes new resources, buildings, products and productions methods. This time it’s especially the forging and textile classes that are expanding. Posted by rune1 on May 14th, 2025 Mercatorio season 4 kicks off on Friday May 16th. The season includes new resources, buildings, products and productions methods. This time it’s especially the forging and textile classes that are expanding. The medieval trade and economy simulator with true markets is getting more products to produce and trade, new places to produce them, more ways to upgrade buildings and new, more intuitive, game mechanics. The Season 4 map Season 4 will take place on a new map, with most of the towns located on the two large landmasses in the south and east. Other than a new geography, the new map contains the new resources tin and silver. Buildings With new resources comes the need for new buildings to mine and process them. Along with some expansion of the production chains for existing products. Updates: Added mines for tin and silver The foundry splits of processing of ores into the new building the smeltery Added alloy smelter for production of bronze from copper and tin Added carding and fulling houses for processing wool and wool cloth Added tapestry weaver Added armoury for production of plate armour Added bell tower upgrades to religious prestige buildings Flax farm upgrade beehives removed (covered by apiary) Pasture fermentory removed (covered by dairy) Product updates Added fleece: wool as cut from the sheep, before carding Added raw cloth: cloth weaved from wool, before fulling Added tapestries: luxurious fabrics weaved from thread and dyed yarn, potentially incorporating silver and gold Added dyed yarn for use in tapestries Added tin ore and ingots Added silver ore Added bronze ingots Added bells Added plate armour Increased unit size for belts to bundles of 5, making storage and transportation easier Reduced premium of dyed cloth over cloth, both production and consumption increased accordingly Renamed light armor to light armour Production chain updates As usual there are many balancing adjustments and updates across all production chains, but as outlined above there are especially two areas that see major changes this time: Smelting and casting have many new production methods with the inclusion of tin, silver and bronze. The new smeltery deals with all ore processing (except iron), while the alloy forge alloys copper and tin into bronze. The foundry retains casting functions, including casting of the new bells. The textile production chain has been reworked by adding additional (optional) carding and fulling steps for wool, as well as reducing throughput of buildings lower in the chain while increasing garments production throughput Prestige and worker bonuses More tenants from prestige Less management points from prestige, making hiring and training apprentices a relatively more important source of management points Additional bonuses at high levels of prestige Specialist worker bonus reduced from 20% to 12% Game mechanics changes Season 4 will also see two significant changes to the game mechanics, relating to production at buildings and operation linked to a warehouse as well as how services and non-durable production function. Sequential operation The buildings and operations linked to a warehouse will now consume and produce products in the order they are listed, with outputs becoming immediately available to the operations coming after them. For durable goods this reduced the required buffer somewhat and gives quicker feedback when adjustments are made. Services are now truly intra-turn Services and non-durable / perishable products generally can’t be stored or transported, but due to the delayed operation of linked buildings previously, the labour from a farmstead would only become usable the turn after it was produced. This is now changing such that produced labour and other services becomes available for use immediately, allowing adjustments to production to take effect as you make them. In the case services are produced for sale, this means the production has to be finalized at the start of the turn instead of the end (remember production and consumption numbers are usually projections of what will take place at the end of the turn), in order to be available at the start-of-turn auction. This is the same concept that is already used for transports, which consume their inputs as they move, not at the end of the turn. How to start playing? Go to Mercatorio.io to play and join the discord server to meet other players, plan strategies and strike deals.

The director of Thunderbolts* — now officially renamed The New Avengers — has explained why one character in particular had to die early on in the movie, and how conversations with the actor who played the character went.Warning! Spoilers for Thunderbolts* / The New Avengers follow:Early in Thunderbolts* / The New Avengers, Taskmaster (Olga Kurylenko) is killed by Ava Starr / Ghost (Hannah John-Kamen), unceremoniously shot in the head as the assassins come to blows within a covert O.X.E. facility. Taskmaster dies in her first and only scene in the movie.PlayWhile Marvel’s Thunderbolts* promos had inserted Taskmaster into shots later on in the movie to make it look like the character would make it at least a decent chunk of the way through, her fate had been called into question when the character appeared to be removed from certain shots in pre-release trailers.Making matters even more obvious, Kurylenko was the only member of the Thunderbolts* not to appear in Marvel’s Avengers: Doomsday cast reveal. So, for MCU fans who were paying attention, Taskmaster’s death wasn’t exactly a surprise. But for many it will have come as a shock, especially so early in the film.So, why did Taskmaster have to die? In an interview with The New York Times, director Jake Schreier said the idea came about as a result of the movie feeling “a little bloodless,” and a desire to have a “real tension” between characters who were capable of killing people.“That was a tough one because it’s a character that matters to a lot of people and we don’t want to take that lightly,” Schreier said.“That idea came after the strike when it just felt like the movie at that point was a little bloodless. It’s not rated R, but if we were trying to tell a story that had real tension about people who killed people for a living, you needed to depict that in a way. Obviously, we could have introduced a new character and then gotten rid of them, but then it wouldn’t have the resonance or potentially the shock of doing it to Taskmaster.”The Most Surprising Avengers and Marvel Characters Not Announced for DoomsdaySchreier admitted it wasn’t easy to tell Olga Kurylenko, who played Taskmaster in Black Widow, that she’s return for Thunderbolts* only to be killed off early on.“It’s like in sports: players want to play,” Schreier said. “Olga’s a great actress and of course that’s a hard conversation to have, but she was an absolute pro about it and willing to show up, and I’m very grateful for that.”Earlier this month, Schreier told Entertainment Weekly that the team behind Thunderbolts* felt they needed to kill Taskmaster early “so that you didn't really know who was going to make it.""The decision to do it when we did it, we went through a lot of different versions of that, and we thought very carefully about it," Schreier added."And it felt like, while it would've been very nice — and Olga is a wonderful actress — to have her on the team for longer, that death would've kind of reverberated a lot harder and made it harder to find our tonal balance if it had happened later in the film."And it would've occupied such a kind of more emotional space that would've stepped on what we really need to be building. And we have so little narrative real estate to do it, which is the connection between Yelena and Bob [Lewis Pullman], and the movie is really going to hinge on that. And so in order to keep our tone and to build that team together, it actually felt best, even if it feels a little cold-blooded, to have that happen early."According to the film’s co-writer Eric Pearson, Taskmaster was originally intended to have a much bigger part in the movie, and she was meant to have an important connection to Ghost.“That's one of the biggest changes from my final draft, because in the last version that I did, [Taskmaster] lived out the whole movie and there was a pretty big subplot of her and Ava connecting as two characters that were raised in labs and being controlled by other people,” Pearson told IGN.So, that’s that for Taskmaster, but of course the other Thunderbolts*, that is, The New Avengers, live on, and will appear in Avengers: Doomsday alongside, or potentially in conflict with, the (true?) Avengers. Check out IGN's Thunderbolts Ending Explained: What Happens in the Post-Credits and How Does It Affect the MCU? for more.Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.