Like the alluring mythological creatures from which it draws its name, Netflix's Sirens wears a tempting facade, but conceals something darker at its core.That facade draws on the pleasures of shows like Big Little Lies and The White Lotus: great actors — Julianne Moore! Meghann Fahy! Milly Alcock! — facing off against a backdrop of picturesque mansions and beaches. As in those series, showrunner Molly Smith Metzler (Maid) also looks to tackle thornier topics of class and trauma. Yet these subjects rarely get the depth they deserve, brushed over by a haphazard plot that delivers soapy fun, if not much else.What's Sirens about? Meghann Fahy and Milly Alcock in "Sirens." Credit: Macall Polay / Netflix Sirens kicks off with the world's most misguided edible arrangement. Devon (Fahy), fresh off her second DUI and learning her father (Bill Camp) has early-onset dementia, has appealed to her absent younger sister Simone (Alcock) for help. Simone's response? A basket of melon and berries, and a card telling Devon to "keep your chin up." The subpar gift and empty platitude are enough to make Devon travel several hours, rotting fruit in hand, to the luxurious island where Simone works as assistant to wealthy philanthropist Michaela "Kiki" Kell (Moore). You May Also Like Simone doesn't just manage the staff who run Michaela's lavish Cliff House estate. The working relationship between the two is deeply personal — and frankly, creepy. Boundaries don't exist for them: Simone drafts Michaela's sexts to her husband Peter (Kevin Bacon). The pair share gum in order to have fresh breath. If this is raising red flags for you, you're not alone: Devon is horrified by Simone's bond with her boss, and she's ready to drag her sister kicking and screaming from Michaela's grasp. But as a scrappy working-class interloper in Michaela's wealthy world — over the all-important, party-filled Labor Day weekend, no less — Devon is at a major disadvantage. As she attempts to protect her sister, dark secrets about their past (and dark rumors about Michaela's) come to light, prompting a whirlwind of dramatic revelations that ultimately don't hold the weight they should. Mashable Top Stories Stay connected with the hottest stories of the day and the latest entertainment news. Sign up for Mashable's Top Stories newsletter By clicking Sign Me Up, you confirm you are 16+ and agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Thanks for signing up! Julianne Moore, Meghann Fahy, and Milly Alcock are great in Sirens, but is it enough? Julianne Moore in "Sirens." Credit: Macall Polay / Netflix Sirens is at its best when it's a dark comedy with a touch of soap opera, and much of that comes down to Moore, Fahy, and Alcock's performances. Moore and Alcock make a perfect pair, channeling Stepford Wives creepiness in their pastel getups and matching athleisure sets. Alcock's Simone simpers and preens for her boss, while Moore commits fully to Michaela's frigid cult leader vibes. (Whether Michaela's bird preservation society is actually a cult is one of the mysteries Sirens presents, even if the resolution isn't particularly satisfying.)Fahy's Devon, meanwhile, is a wonderfully prickly contrast to Simone and Michaela's rich girl acts. She's raw and unapologetic, unafraid to call out Michaela's bizarro rituals. When she and Simone are together, that rawness rubs off on Simone, too, highlighting their sisterly connection and the pain the two shared during their traumatic upbringing. Related Stories Discussion of that trauma results in some of Sirens' biggest tonal swings, as the show ranges from send-ups of the superficial rich — Glenn Howerton excels as Michaela and Peter's sleazeball neighbor, for example — to clichéd explorations of mental health, like Simone's panic attacks. Also predictable? Sirens' examination of unbalanced, predatory power dynamics within relationships. As soon as Bacon's Peter shows up on the scene, it's clear what will play out between him, Michaela, and Simone. The show treats this arc as culminating in a revelatory plot twist, but it feels more tired than anything.Sirens isn't without interesting ideas. In keeping with the "sirens" motif, all three women are treated as monstrous at some point in the show's five-episode run, even though they're often at a disadvantage. (Especially Devon and Simone.) The mythological theme extends to a solid running joke in which two of Devon's loser suitors follow her around, as if lured by her siren song, despite her annoyed rejections of them. These contrasts between people perceiving Sirens' leads as near-mythic beings versus their actual, unfulfilling realities result in the show's most fascinating moments. But with only five episodes, Sirens fails to probe these contrasts as much as it could, and its song ultimately falls flat.Sirens is now streaming on Netflix. Topics Netflix

IA : OpenAI rachète la start-up de l’ex-designer historique d’Apple Jony Ive, pour 6,5 milliards de dollars L’entreprise de Sam Altman annonce que l’ex-cadre associé au lancement de l’iPhone chez Apple sera responsable du design, notamment d’une « nouvelle génération d’ordinateurs nourris à l’intelligence artificielle ». Article réservé aux abonnés Sam Altman, cofondateur et patron d’OpenAI, à Washington, le 8 mai 2025. JOSE LUIS MAGANA/AP « Excité de nouer un partenariat avec Jony, à mon avis le plus grand designer du monde. Et excité aussi d’essayer de créer une nouvelle génération d’ordinateurs nourris à l’intelligence artificielle. » Le directeur général d’OpenAI,Jony Ive, l’ancien designer historique d’Apple, célèbre, notamment, pour avoir participé au lancement de l’iPhone. Lire aussi | Article réservé à nos abonnés Les entreprises d’IA voient dans la robotique une nouvelle frontière La start-up d’intelligence artificielle (IA) rachète à cette occasion, pour 6,5 milliards de dollars (5,74 milliards d’euros), io, la jeune entreprise lancée par Jony Ive pour concevoir des appareils connectés. Ce dernier assurera une fonction de responsable du design chez OpenAI, pour les futurs matériels, mais aussi le logiciel, dont l’interface du célèbre robot conversationnel ChatGPT. Le Britannique Jony Ive, 58 ans, est un ancien collaborateur du cofondateur d’Apple Steve Jobs. Il est associé au lancement de plusieurs de ses produits, dont, outre l’iPhone, l’iPod, la tablette iPad ou la montre Apple Watch. Il a quitté Apple en 2019. L’accord annoncé mercredi symbolise la volonté de diversification de Sam Altman pour OpenAI. Le fondateur de l’entreprise spécialisée dans les logiciels d’IA a commencé, il y a plusieurs mois, à discuter de projets de matériels avec Jony Ive. En 2024, OpenAI avait déjà pris une participation minoritaire dans son projet « io ». L’entreprise, valorisée 300 milliards de dollars, rajoute aujourd’hui 5 milliards en actions pour finaliser le rachat. Cette transaction devra toutefois encore être approuvée par les autorités de la concurrence d’ici à l’été 2025, précise la presse américaine. Il vous reste 56.8% de cet article à lire. La suite est réservée aux abonnés.

From The Heretic’s Gawain to Louise in Enemies, our Demo team continues to create real-time cinematics that push the boundaries of Unity’s capabilities for high-fidelity productions, with a special focus on digital humans.The pursuit to create ever more realistic digital characters is endless. And since the launch of Enemies at GDC 2022, we have continued our research and development into solutions for better and more believable digital human creation, in collaboration with Unity’s Graphics Engineering team and commercially available service providers specializing in that area.At SIGGRAPH 2022, we announced our next step: replacing the heavy 4D data playback of the protagonist’s performance with a lightweight Ziva puppet. This recent iteration sees the integration of Ziva animation technology with the latest in Unity’s graphics advancements, including the High Definition Render Pipeline (HDRP) – all with the aim of further developing an end-to-end pipeline for character asset creation, animation, and authoring.Along with the launch of a new strand-based Hair Solution and updated Digital Human package, the Enemies real-time demo is now available to download. You can run it in real-time and experience it for yourself, just as it was shown at Unite 2022.While the cinematic may not appear too different from the original, its final rendered version shows how the integration of Ziva technology has brought a new dimension to our protagonist.Ziva brings decades of experience and pioneering research from the VFX industry to enable greater animation quality for games, linear content production, and real-time projects. Its machine learning (ML)-based technology helps achieve extraordinary realism in facial animation, and also for body and muscle deformations.To achieve the level of realism in Enemies, Ziva used machine learning and 4D data capture, which goes beyond the traditional process of scanning actors in 3D scans. The static, uneditable 4D captured facial performance has now been transformed into a real-time puppet with a facial rig that can be animated and adjusted at any time – all while maintaining high fidelity.Our team built on that 4D capture data and trained a machine-learned model that could be animated to create any performance. The end result is a 50 MB facial rig that has all the detail of the 4D captured performance, without having to carry its original 3.7 GB of weight.This technology means that you can replicate the results with a fraction of the animation data, creating real-time results in a way that 4D does not typically allow.In order to achieve this, Unity’s Demo team focused on:Creating the puppetTo create this new version of Louise, we worked with the Ziva team. They handled the machine learning workflow using a preexisting 4D data library. Additional 4D data was collected from a new performance by the original Enemies actor (we only needed to collect a few additional expressions). This is one of the unique advantages of our machine learning approach.With this combined dataset, we trained a Ziva puppet to accurately reproduce the original performance. We could alter this performance in any way, ranging from tweaking minute details to changing the entire expression.Using the 4D data capture through machine learning, we could enable any future performance to run on any 3D head by showing a single performance applied to multiple faces of varying proportions. This makes it easier to expand the range of performances to multiple actors and real-time digital humans for any future editions.The puppet’s control schemeOnce the machine learning was completed, we had 200–300 parameters that, when used in combination and at different weights, could recreate everything we had seen in the 4D data with incredible accuracy. We didn’t have to worry about a hand-animated performance looking different when used by a group of different animators. The persona and idiosyncrasies of the original actor would come through no matter how we chose to animate the face.As Ziva is based on deformations and not an underlying facial rig, we could manipulate even the smallest detail because the trained face uses a control scheme that was developed to take advantage of the fidelity of the machine-learned parameters/data.At this point, creating a rig is a relatively flexible process as we can just tap into those machine-learned parameters – this, in turn, deforms the face. There are no joints in a Ziva puppet, besides the basic logical face and neck joints.So what does this all mean?There are many advantages to this new workflow. First and foremost, we now have the ability to dynamically interact with the performance of the digital human in Enemies.This allows us to change the character’s performance after it has already been delivered. Digital Louise can now say the same lines as before, but with very different facial expressions. For example, she can be friendlier or angrier or convey any other emotion that the director envisions.We are also able to manually author new performances with the puppet – facial expressions and reactions that the original actress never performed. If we wanted to develop the story into an interactive experience, it would be important to expand the possibility of what the digital character reacts to, such as a player’s chess moves, with nuances of approval or disapproval.For the highest level of fidelity, the Ziva team can even create a new puppet with its own 4D dataset. Ziva also recently released a beta version of Face Trainer, a product built on a comprehensive library of 4D data and ML algorithms. It can be used to train any face mesh to perform the most complex expressions in real-time without any new 4D capture.Additionally, it is possible to create new lines of dialogue, all at a fraction of the time and cost that the creation of the first line required. We can do this either by getting the original actress to perform additional lines with an HMC and then using the HMC data to drive the puppet, or by getting another performer to deliver the new lines and retargeting their HMC data to the existing puppet.At SIGGRAPH Real-Time Live! we demonstrated how to apply the original performance from Enemies to the puppet of another actress – ultimately replacing the protagonist of the story with a different person, without changing anything else.This performance was then shown at Unite 2022 during the keynote (segment 01:03:00), where Enemies ran on an Xbox Series X, with DX12 and real-time ray tracing.To further enhance the visual quality of Enemies, a number of HDRP systems were leveraged. These include Shader Graph motion vectors, Adaptive Probe Volumes (APV), and of course, hair shading.Enemies also makes use of real-time ray tracing in HDRP and Unity’s native support for NVIDIA DLSS 2.0 (Deep Learning Super Sampling), which enable it to run at 4K image quality, comparable to native resolution. All of these updated Unity features are now available in Unity 2022 LTS.The brand new strand-based Hair Solution, developed during the creation of the Enemies demo, can simulate individual hairs in real-time. This technology is now available as an experimental package via GitHub (requires Unity 2020.2.0f1 or newer), along with a tutorial to get started.By integrating a complete pipeline for authoring, simulation, shading, and rendering hair in Unity, this solution is applicable to digital humans and creatures, in both realistic and stylized projects. The development work continues with a more performant solution for hair rendering enabled by the upcoming Software Rasterizer in HDRP. We are also diversifying the authoring options available by adopting and integrating the Wētā Wig tool for more complex grooms, as showcased in the Lion demo.Expanding on the technological innovations from The Heretic, the updated Digital Human package provides a realistic shading model for the characters rendered in Unity.Such updates include:A better 4D pipelineA more performant Skin Attachment system on the GPU for high-density meshesMore realistic eyes with caustics on the iris (available in HDRP as of Unity 2022.2)A new skin shader, built with the available Editor technologyTension tech for blood flow simulation and wrinkle maps, eliminating the need for a facial rigAnd as always, there is more to come.Discover how Ziva can help bring your next project to life. Register your interest to receive updates or get early access to future Ziva beta programs. If you’d like to learn more, you can contact us here.

In an era dominated by artificial intelligence and smartphones, one of the most overlooked engines of economic growth sits quietly at the heart of every neighborhood: the public library.  Gone are the days when libraries were sanctuaries reserved for only reading and research. Today, they are being reimagined as dynamic hubs for workforce development, creative sector support, and cultural exchange. Across the country, these reservoirs of knowledge are evolving into digital and physical beacons of community resilience.  Local access, global reach: A case study in artist empowerment  In Huntsville, where I serve as the city’s first music officer, we’ve partnered with our public library system to develop a multifunctional creative hub—with music at its core. A primary pillar of our collaboration is Blast Music, a digital streaming platform designed to showcase local talent. It’s a model other cities can and should replicate.  Through the Blast program, artists are paid, promoted, and added to a curated library collection—offering not only exposure, but bona fide industry credentials. Over 100 local artists are currently featured on the platform, and we will welcome up to 50 additional artists into the program annually.  The ripple effect of Blast is real. The free service empowers local listeners to discover homegrown talent while giving musicians tools to grow their fan base and attract industry attention. Perhaps most importantly, Blast provides emerging artists with resume-worthy recognition—essential for building sustainable careers in a tough industry.  But Blast isn’t just about digital reach—it’s embedded in Huntsville’s cultural DNA. From artist showcases like the Ladies of Blast event at the Orion Amphitheater, to community events like Hear to Be Seen (a portrait exhibition of Blast musicians), to stages designated exclusively for Blast artist performances at Camp to Amp, PorchFest, and more, Blast is bringing music into public spaces and cultivating civic pride. That’s the kind of community infrastructure that libraries are uniquely equipped to deliver.  There’s no such thing as too much visibility, and even artists with international acclaim see value in the platform. Huntsville native Kim Tibbs, a vocalist, songwriter, Alabama Music Hall of Fame honoree and UK chart-topper, submitted her album The Science of Completion Volume I to Blast—not only for more exposure, but to mentor and support the next generation of artists in her hometown.   Libraries as talent incubators  Huntsville is part of a broader national trend. In cities like Chicago, Nashville, and Austin, libraries are integrating creative labs, media production studios, and music education into their core services—functioning as public-sector incubators for the creative economy.  As technology continues to reshape traditional jobs, libraries are well-positioned to bridge skill gaps and fuel the rise of creative economies, including the vital but often overlooked non-performance roles in the music industry.  Huntsville is doubling down on this approach. We’re investing millions into programs that bring interactive music technology workshops to teens at the local library—focusing on hands-on training in production, recording, and audio engineering. With professional equipment, studio spaces, and expert instruction, we’re preparing the next generation for careers both onstage and behind the scenes.  Local industry is stepping up too. Hear Technologies, a global leader in sound and AV production, has been designing cutting-edge audio devices for years. They’re now part of a dynamic team collaborating with city leaders to help develop the library’s music maker space, nurture new talent and accelerate our region’s creative growth.  This matters now, more than ever  Libraries have always been entry points for education, employment, and exploration. But today, they’re more than just information access points—they are gateways to opportunity and launchpads for industries that define the future. By utilizing public space and collaborating with local talent, libraries can become platforms for economic mobility and cultural innovation. This investment isn’t a feel-good gesture. It’s a smart, strategic move for any city building a future that works—for everyone.  The playlist is simple: Invest in creative ecosystems, embed them in trusted community institutions like public libraries, and treat music as critical infrastructure.   Matt Mandrella is music officer for the City of Huntsville, Alabama. 

Game Producer - Teamfight TacticsRiot GamesSingapore, Central Singapore, Singapore1 hour agoApplyEstablished in 2020, the Riot Singapore Studio is Riot’s second international game development studio. Our mission is to “scale Riot’s games to hyper-serve players.” Riot has been expanding our footprint in Asia and accelerating our talent growth to develop games that deliver great experiences to our players.We partner with our LA headquarters on game development for League of Legends, Teamfight Tactics, Legends of Runeterra and VALORANT. Riot Singapore is seeking talented, passionate Rioters with backgrounds in all areas of game development to build games that make it better to be a player.We’re focused on working together to promote individual autonomy, ownership, collaboration, and inclusivity, so every Rioter can be their best while we boldly pursue games.That's where you come in.As a Game Producer on Teamfight Tactics, you will be working closely with the development team to produce cosmetics from Inception to a successful launch. You will drive development, smash through obstacles, and push projects across the finish line.ResponsibilitiesPartner with cross-functional development teams to deliver high quality Cosmetics content for Teamfight Tactics.Oversee the production and relationship with external vendors.Collaborate effectively with internal teams, external vendors and partner groups across the organization to deliver player value.Identify opportunities for optimization and continuously iterate on processes and systems to support team efficiency and output.Proactively address emergent issues to ensure smooth delivery.Communicate regularly with stakeholders to provide updates on project status and gather requirements.Facilitate team meetings, including planning, retrospectives and other project meetings.Maintain clear and up-to-date documentation of workflows, schedules, and project statuses.Required Qualifications4+ years of game production or as a producer, with at least one shipped title.Hands-on experience applying project management methodologies (such as agile) in a development environment.Proven ability to collaborate with cross-functional teams across time zones and diverse cultural backgrounds.Familiarity with project management tools like Jira and Airtable.Desired QualificationsStrong leadership skills, demonstrating a results-driven focus to navigate complex cultural, technical, and product challenges.Outsourcing experience: Experience collaborating with and managing external development partners.Game development knowledge: Familiarity with game development pipelines and the various phases of production.Speaking Mandarin is a plus.Our PerksFull relocation supportFull health insurance for you, your spouse and childrenOpen paid time offRetirement benefits with company matchingLife insurance, parental leave, plus short-term and long-term disabilityPlay Fund so you can broaden and deepen your knowledge of our players and community through gamesWe will double down on your donations of time and money to non-profitsDon’t forget to include a resume and cover letter. We receive a lot of applications, but we’ll notice a fun, well-written intro that shows us you take play seriously. Create Your Profile — Game companies can contact you with their relevant job openings. Apply

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. Garmin Fenix 8 $799.99 at Amazon $999.99 Save $200.00 Get Deal Get Deal $799.99 at Amazon $999.99 Save $200.00 Garmin Venu 3 $354.99 at Amazon $454.99 Save $100.00 Get Deal Get Deal $354.99 at Amazon $454.99 Save $100.00 Garmin Forerunner 265 $349.99 at Amazon $449.99 Save $100.00 Get Deal Get Deal $349.99 at Amazon $449.99 Save $100.00 Garmin Forerunner 255 $279.00 at Amazon $399.99 Save $120.99 Get Deal Get Deal $279.00 at Amazon $399.99 Save $120.99 Garmin Forerunner 955 $369.99 at Amazon $499.99 Save $130.00 Get Deal Get Deal $369.99 at Amazon $499.99 Save $130.00 Garmin Vivoactive 5 $199.00 at Amazon $249.99 Save $50.99 Get Deal Get Deal $199.00 at Amazon $249.99 Save $50.99 Garmin Edge 1050 $599.99 at Amazon $699.99 Save $100.00 Get Deal Get Deal $599.99 at Amazon $699.99 Save $100.00 SEE 4 MORE Even as Memorial Day sales are running hot, Garmin has quietly slashed its prices ahead of the holiday weekend. Its spring sale includes significant price cuts on Garmin's most popular models, from the rugged Fenix 8 series to the newly released Forerunner lineup.The sale arrives just days after Garmin unveiled its next-generation Forerunner 570 and Forerunner 970 models. As is typical when new models launch, previous versions (like the highly regarded Forerunner 265 and 965) are seeing major discounts, creating an excellent opportunity for runners who don't need the latest features. Using the best price-checking tools, I've rounded up my favorite Garmin watches that you can snag at a serious discount right now. Fenix 8 seriesGarmin's flagship outdoor adventure watch rarely sees significant discounts, making this sale particularly noteworthy. The Fenix 8 series, known for its rugged construction, extensive battery life (especially in the solar variants), and comprehensive tracking features, is seeing a 20% markdown, to $799.99 from its list price of $999.99. With advanced mapping, training metrics, and multi-sport capabilities, these watches are ideal for serious athletes and adventurers.Venu 3/3SThe Venu 3 and its smaller 3S stand out as Garmin's most competitive answer to traditional smartwatches. These models offer vibrant AMOLED displays, voice calling capabilities, and Garmin's ECG app—features typically associated with Apple Watch and Samsung Galaxy watches. The Venu series balances comprehensive fitness tracking with everyday smart features, making it perfect for users who want health metrics without sacrificing smartwatch functionality. You can get it now for $354.99, down from $454.99.Forerunner seriesFellow runners, this is the series for us. And as my colleague Beth Skwarecki notes, the recent drops of the Forerunner 570 and 970 is excellent news—not because you should pick up those models necessarily, but because the older generations of Forerunner, which remain excellent watches, are now going for ludicrously low prices. Older models like the highly regarded 265, 255, and 955 are seeing significant price drops. And if you're hesitant to buy an older watch, keep in mind that Garmin's Forerunners have serious longevity: The Forerunner 265, with its bright AMOLED display and comprehensive running metrics, remains one of the best dedicated running watches on the market years after its release.The Forerunner 265 is $349.99 (down from $449.99)The Forerunner 255 is $279 (down from $399.99)The Forerunner 955 is $369.99 (down from $499.99)Vivoactive 5The Vivoactive series is Garmin's (and possibly the world’s) most underrated fitness watch. While the Vivoactive 6 is the latest version, the 5 is still one of the best mid-tier options for anyone seeking a balance of features and affordability. The Vivoactive 5 still has a range of fitness tracking capabilities, but in a sleeker, more casual design than the sport-focused models. It's currently $199.99 (down $50 from the retail price of 249.99).Edge cycling computersBeyond watches, Amazon's sale also includes Garmin's Edge 1050 cycling computer, normally $699.99, now at $589.99. When used with the Garmin Connect app, this cycling computer lets you stay connected on group rides with in-ride messaging, live locations, and incident detection alerts.

Today, Embracer Group announced a rebranding to Fellowship Entertainment. This is a clear nod to The Lord of the Rings IP, whose rights Embracer purchased around two years ago for a relatively low sum ($395 million). Following the acquisition, COO Matthew Karch claimed that the group's priority should be turning The Lord of the Rings into one of gaming's biggest franchises. Karch is no longer with Embracer (which split with Saber Interactive a while ago), but the sentiment appears to have remained the same, given the brand name's choice. Of course, Tolkien's beloved fantasy universe is just one of many big franchises owned by Fellowship Entertainment, such as Kingdom Come Deliverance, Metro, Dead Island, Killing Floor, Darksiders, Remnant, and Tomb Raider. The new company will house over 6K employees spread across 50 companies or so. The other big news announced today is that Coffee Stain Group (Goat Simulator, Satisfactory, Deep Rock Galactic) is being spun off into a separately listed company. Lars Wingefors, co-founder and Group CEO of Embracer, said in a statement: Coffee Stain Group has incredible talent, IPs and communities. To date, it has been a true recipe for success. 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. Anton Westbergh, co-founder and Group CEO of Coffee Stain, added: 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. 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. The Embracer name will live on, albeit stained after countless layoffs and closures, only as the privately held holding company of Fellowship Entertainment, Coffee Stain Group, and Asmodee Group (which had been spun off earlier this year). Lars Wingefors, as the main shareholder, will remain in control. The company also provided an overview of its announced release schedule. In fiscal year 2025/2026, the following titles will be launched: Metal Eden Gothic 1 Remake REANIMAL Fellowship Wreckreation The next SpongeBob SquarePants game NORSE: Oath of Blood Deep Rock Galactic: Rogue Core Killing Floor 3 Marvel 1943: Rise of Hydra Embracer said a triple-A game previously scheduled for 2025/2026 is likely to be moved to 2026/2027. The company expects similar sales to Kingdom Come: Deliverance II for this title. They may be referring to the next Metro game, though there's no way to know for sure. Deal of the Day

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...

It's shocking! Scientists figure out how the brain forms emotional connections Neural recordings track how neurons link environments to emotional events. Jacek Krywko – May 21, 2025 4:07 pm | 16 Credit: fotografixx Credit: fotografixx Story text Size Small Standard Large Width * Standard Wide Links Standard Orange * Subscribers only   Learn more Whenever something bad happens to us, brain systems responsible for mediating emotions kick in to prevent it from happening again. When we get stung by a wasp, the association between pain and wasps is encoded in the region of the brain called the amygdala, which connects simple stimuli with basic emotions. But the brain does more than simple associations; it also encodes lots of other stimuli that are less directly connected with the harmful event—things like the place where we got stung or the wasps’ nest in a nearby tree. These are combined into complex emotional models of potentially threatening circumstances. Till now, we didn’t know exactly how these models are built. But we’re beginning to understand how it’s done. Emotional complexity “Decades of work has revealed how simple forms of emotional learning occurs—how sensory stimuli are paired with aversive events,” says Joshua Johansen, a team director at the Neural Circuitry of Learning and Memory at RIKEN Center for Brain Science in Tokyo. But Johansen says that these decades didn’t bring much progress in treating psychiatric conditions like anxiety and trauma-related disorders. “We thought if we could get a handle of more complex emotional processes and understand their mechanisms, we may be able to provide relief for patients with conditions like that,” Johansen claims. To make it happen, his team performed experiments designed to trigger complex emotional processes in rats while closely monitoring their brains. Johansen and Xiaowei Gu, his co-author and colleague at RIKEN, started by dividing the rats into two groups. The first “paired” group of rats was conditioned to associate an image with a sound. The second “unpaired” group watched the same image and listened to the same sound, but not at the same time. This prevented the rats from making an association. Then, one day later, the rats were shown the same image and treated with an electric shock until they learned to connect the image with pain. Finally, the team tested if the rats would freeze in fear in response to the sound. The “unpaired” group didn’t. The rats in the “paired” group did—it turned out human-like complex emotional models were present in rats as well. Once Johansen and Gu confirmed the capacity was there, they got busy figuring out how it worked exactly. Playing tag “Behaviorally, we measured freezing responses to the directly paired stimulus, which was the image, and inferred stimulus which was the sound,” Johansen says. “But we also performed something we called miniscope calcium imaging.” The trick relied on injecting rats with a virus that forced their cells to produce proteins that fluoresce in response to increased levels of calcium in the cells. Increased levels of calcium are the telltale sign of activity in neurons, meaning the team could see in real time which neurons in rats’ brains lit up during the experiments. It turned out that the region crucial for building these complex emotional models was not the amygdala, but the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (dmPFC), which had a rather specialized role. “The dmPFC does not form the sensory model of the world. It only cares about things when they have emotional relevance,” Johansen explains. He said there wasn’t much change in neuronal activity during the sensory learning phase, when the animals were watching the image and listening to the sound. The neurons became significantly more active when the rats received the electric shock. In the “unpaired” group, the active neurons that held the representations of the electric shock and the image started to overlap. In the “paired” group, this overlap also included the neuronal representation of the sound. “There was a kind of an associative bundle that formed,” Johansen says. After Johansen and Gu pinpointed the neurons that formed those associative bundles, they started looking at how each of these components works. Detraumatizing rodents In the first step, the team identified the dmPFC neurons that sent output to the amygdala. Then they selectively inhibited those neurons and exposed the rats from the “paired” group to the image and the sound again. The result of disconnecting the dmPFC neurons from the amygdala was that rats exhibited a fear response to the image but no longer feared the sound. “It seems like the amygdala can form the simple representations on its own but requires input from the dmPFC to express more complex, inferred emotions,” Johansen says. But there are still a lot of unanswered questions left. The next thing the team wants to take a closer look at is the process that enables the brain to tie an aversive stimulus, like the shock, to one that was not active during the aversive event. In the “paired” group of rats, some multi-sensory neurons responding to both auditory and visual stimuli apparently got recruited. “We haven’t worked that out yet,” Johansen says. "This is a very novel type of mechanism.” Another thing is that the emotional model Johansen and Gu induced in rats was relatively simple. In the real world, especially in humans, we can have many different aversive outcomes tied to the same triggers. A single location could be where you got stung by a wasp, attacked by a dog, robbed of your wallet, and dumped by your significant other—all different aversive representations with myriad inferred, indirect stimuli to go along with them. “Does the dmPFC combine all those representations into sort of a single, overlapping representation? Or is it a really rich environment that bundles different aversive experiences with the individual aspects of these experiences?” Johansen asked. “This is something we want to test more.” Nature, 2025.  DOI: 10.1038/s41586-025-09001-2 Jacek Krywko Associate Writer Jacek Krywko Associate Writer Jacek Krywko is a freelance science and technology writer who covers space exploration, artificial intelligence research, computer science, and all sorts of engineering wizardry. 16 Comments