June 16: Foundation Day of the Akal Takht (Sikhism) James Joyce 632 – The final king of the Sasanian Empire of Iran, Yazdegerd III, ascended the throne at the age of eight. 1819 – A strong earthquake in the Kutch district of Gujarat, India, caused a local zone of uplift that dammed the Nara River, which was later named the Allah Bund ('Dam of God'). 1904 – Irish author James Joyce (pictured) began a relationship with Nora Barnacle, and subsequently used the date to set the actions for his 1922 novel Ulysses, commemorated as Bloomsday. 1936 – A Junkers Ju 52 aircraft of Norwegian Air Lines crashed into a mountainside near Hyllestad, Norway, killing all seven people on board. 1997 – The English rock band Radiohead released their landmark third album OK Computer in the United Kingdom. John Cheke (b. 1514)Tomás Yepes (d. 1674)Helen Traubel (b. 1899)Tony Gwynn (d. 2014) More anniversaries: June 15 June 16 June 17 Archive By email List of days of the year About

Just a few days ago, Related Companies and Wynn Resorts scrapped their casino bid for Hudson Yards West. Silverstein Properties, Rush Street Gaming, and Greenwood Gaming and Entertainment have simultaneously updated their own proposal for a “first-class gaming facility” on Manhattan’s West Side, designed by CetraRuddy Architecture and Steelman Partners. The Avenir is a masterplan for 11th Avenue just north of the Javits Center, pushed up against the Port Authority Bus Terminal ramps, where construction is underway on a $10 billion replacement complex by Foster + Partners. The plan entails a 1,000-room luxury hotel, over 12 bars and restaurants, conference and meeting rooms, a spa and fitness center, an outdoor pool, a community gallery on 11th Avenue, and a casino, should the development team earn a gaming license. There will also be 100 units of permanently affordable housing available through New York’s housing lottery system. The Avenir looking east (Courtesy Silverstein Properties) The ground-floor community gallery on 11th Avenue would span the entire block between 40th and 41st Streets, the team noted. The casino would begin on the second floor, and comprise a total 12 percent of the Avenir’s footprint. It would also have natural light, making it noticeably different from other casinos. Renderings show a 785-foot tower that rests atop a podium. The base is 9 stories, and the tower tops out at 45 stories, with by a biophilic green rooftop. The casino would have a separate entrance from the community gallery and hotel to ensure good egress for both user groups. The sculptural qualities are meant to create a “rhythmic harmony within its dense urban surroundings,” developers said, “and the hotel tower is additionally sculpted to create an elegant silhouette on the skyline while creating view corridors from the surrounding neighborhood.” Entrance from 41st Street (Courtesy Silverstein Properties) Nancy Ruddy, CetraRuddy founding principal, said, the “site is located at the crossroads of diverse neighborhoods and activity districts that currently are not connected.” Ruddy said too that the Avenir will “knit together the fabric of this part of the Far West Side by creating an exciting cultural hub that reinforces New York’s character as a pedestrian-friendly and walkable city.” There are today just about a dozen major proposals for New York gaming licenses that the team behind Avenir is up against. The State Gaming Commission is scheduled to announce its decision for the three gaming licenses by December 31, 2025.

Developers have a ‘clearer path’ to pursue architects who design unsafe buildings following a recent Supreme Court ruling, legal experts have warned The judgement, which interprets important elements of the Building Safety Act 2022 (BSA) and the Defective Premises Act 1972 (DPA), heightens the need for practices to hold ‘comprehensive’ professional indemnity (PI) insurance, according to top lawyers. Earlier this month (21 May) the Supreme Court ruled that BDW, the main trading arm of Barratt Developments, was able to pursue damages from structural engineering company URS for alleged negligence in provision of design services for two residential schemes. This was despite BDW undertaking remedial works on the properties voluntarily more than three years ago and no longer owning the buildings. Judges dismissed the engineering firm’s latest appeal against BDW’s right to claim for compensation on all four grounds.Advertisement Nick Stockley, partner at law firm Mayo Wynne Baxter, said: ‘This ruling creates an easier route for builders to reclaim losses that they incur for the actions of design contractors. ‘It suggests that the time-out defence is no longer a fail-safe if the genuine blame rests with a design contractor. The ruling also takes away any voluntary-decision defence that either a design contractor or architect may try to raise. ‘It means that any design contractor needs to maintain insurance that extends to their work, irrespective of when the work was carried out. ‘An architect’s work should always be covered by professional indemnity insurance but that cover will need to be more extensive. An architect should review any existing insurance policy cover in order to check that that policy extends to all work carried out by the architect.’ The two projects at the centre of the BDW claim are Capital East in London and Freemens Meadow in Leicester. Advertisement The housebuilder carried out voluntary remedial works at these properties in 2020 and 2021, despite no longer owning them, after defects were discovered that created a danger to occupants.   It claimed damages from URS but the engineering firm appealed, initially to the Court of Appeal then to the Supreme Court, arguing that a voluntary act could not lead to recoverable losses, and only claims brought by a property owner under the DPA were subject to an extended 30-year limitation period.  URS claimed that a third party could not be owed a duty under the DPA and added that a contribution for liability could only be made once a settlement was finalised.  However, the Supreme Court found in BDW’s favour, saying that URS’s interpretation of the law ‘would penalise responsible developers, such as such as BDW, who had been pro-active in investigating, identifying and remedying building safety defects’.  It said DPA would ‘better serve the policy of ensuring the safety of dwellings’ if it had a wider application, ruling that ‘BDW itself has rights under the DPA against a party primarily liable for the defects’.  It added that BDW had ‘acted responsibly’ and ‘in accordance with the government’s strong encouragement’ in carrying out remediation work at Capital East and Freemens Meadow, concluding: ‘Penalisation of [such] developers would be contrary to the purpose of the legislation’. Rob Horne, head of construction disputes for Osbourne Clarke, which represented BDW, said: ‘For residential developers there is now significantly more clarity over the full effect of the retrospective limitation period introduced by the BSA. ‘Ultimately, the aim of the BSA was to ensure that safety failures are properly addressed and that those responsible bear the costs. This case furthers that aim by ensuring that developers have a clearer path to recover funds from designers and constructors who designed and built unsafe buildings.’  Horne added: ‘The Supreme Court has commented that proactive developers who, in effect, do the right thing in effecting necessary safety works, should not be penalised by having rights of recovery barred.  ‘Such developers are able to recover the remedial costs from those most responsible for the safety defects in question.’  ‘This reading gives the Defective Premises Act far more teeth’ Julia Tobbell, partner at law firm Forsters, said the decision will be ‘a relief to proactive developers’ as, ‘although their decision to voluntarily take on repairs may be a factor in assessing reasonableness of mitigation, it does not bar them in principle from being able to recover from negligent contractors’.  She added: ‘The court also found that the duty to build homes properly under Section 1 of the PDA is not just for the benefit of the homeowner, but also the developer who procures the contractor to carry out the works.   ‘The developer can both owe a duty (to the homeowner) and be owed a duty (by the contractor); this reading gives the DPA far more teeth.’  2025-05-30 Will Ing comment and share

Old Enemies, New Alliances: Black Ops 6 Season 04 is Here! Though he once had the chance to end Vikhor “Stitch” Kuzmin’s reign of terror, Adler spared his nemesis after they met at the culmination of Black Ops Cold War. Latest intel reveals Kuzmin was later captured and locked up in an Icelandic CIA black site until he might prove useful. Following the events and evidence uncovered by the deceased CIA Agent Jason Hudson, that day has come, and in an unlikely team up, Adler and team have broken Stitch out from his confinement, seeking his help to crack the codenames needed to find the Pantheon moles. With Verdansk once again an area of operations for deployment, what other plans might Stitch have in store? For now, Adler needs him to complete the mission at hand.  To succeed, the two must put their past behind them in pursuit of a new goal. Get in on the action when this stacked offering of free and premium content comes to Call of Duty®: Black Ops 6, launching in Season 04 on Thursday, May 29 at 9AM PT across all platforms. Nomenclature Note: Throughout the blog, you’ll see references to when gameplay content launches. Here are what these various suffixes mean: “Launch”: Expect to access this content immediately at the Season launch “Launch Window”: Expect to access this content between launch and up to 72 hours after launch.  “In Season”: Expect to access this content during the season, but before either the mid-season or next season arrives. “Mid-Season”: Expect to access this content at Mid-Season or later. All content timing may be subject to change. Multiplayer Content Summary Five MP Maps: Drop into Icelandic AOs with three new maps at launch including the Shutdown and Fugitive 6v6 Core maps and the Blitz Strike map. In the mid-season, party it up in Eclipse and play a reimagined Fringe. New and Returning Modes: Pick up dog tags to drain the enemy’s reserves in Team Elimination, a fun new twist on the Kill Confirmed formula. Make every bullet count with the return of One in the Chamber and get festive in the Party Ops Limited-Time Mode. Additional Equipment: The Grim Reaper Scorestreak returns from the original Black Ops, offering an explosive payload that’s guaranteed to blow the competition sky high. Season 04 Ranked Play: Challenge the best of the best, get those wins, and climb the Ranks in a new season of Multiplayer Ranked Play, with all-new rewards and bragging rights. Shutdown (Launch) Brand-New, Core, 6v6, Small-Sized Before breaking out Stitch, Adler and team first need to cut off the power to the black site prison, bringing them to a hydroelectric plant built on the rugged volcanic terrain of Iceland. Fight in and around the central building housing the now wrecked Turbine or dive down the Sluice into the Lake, its waters hugging the plant’s south end by the Transformers. Jump up by the red container to target enemies from far out or swim back onshore to reach the Atrium and Parking. Head to the north side to fight in the rugged Yard, away from the shoreline and bookended by the Pumphouse and Canteen. It’s a quick run to the Turbine from here, giving you good map coverage down the middle. If things get too hot, you can always drop down the Chute and swim your way to safety.  Fugitive (Launch) Brand-New, Core, 6v6, Medium-Sized Deploy to a secret CIA black site in a remote part of Iceland, the very location where Stitch has been imprisoned until Adler brings him in as an unlikely ally for an urgent operation. With the power out, Adler and his crew seize their chance to infiltrate the prison, climbing, zipping, and battling their way through the frozen compound. Upon reaching their target, Adler and Stitch strike a deal. Following the jailbreak, the alarms are blaring and warnings of a power failure light up the Cell Block. Though the area may appear smaller than expected when first glancing at the minimap, the prison’s intricate layout presents multiple levels and shortcuts to the various outside areas including the Checkpoint, Courtyard, and Recreation Yard. In the upper Cell Block, newly opened cells present the danger of ambush. Be on guard and look for ziplines for quick access to your next target. Blitz (Launch) Brand-New, Strike, 6v6/2v2, Small-Sized Traffic comes to a halt as Pantheon reinforcements race toward the prison but get ambushed by the Rogue team. Leave the road and seek out targets over the rugged terrain of the Cliffside or move inland, ambushing enemies at the Waterfall. To approach the battle head on, move down the central Bridge, using the scattered convoy for cover. Jump down from the center to move underneath the Bridge, a great means of pivoting to a new location. Though a small map overall, Blitz’s long lanes leave room for marksmen to shine. Eclipse (Mid-Season) Brand-New, Strike, 6v6/2v2, Small-Sized Stitch and the team arrive in Avalon, slipping into the shadows of an underground nightclub to discuss business. The neon lights flicker as they form a plan to break the Pantheon codenames, but the meeting is cut short when Pantheon agents storm in. Show off your best moves on the dance floor, dodging shots and flanking targets down the sides where seating offers party goers a chance to rest and order a drink from the bar. Ambush passing enemies from the DJ booth and then break through the broken façades on the walls, escaping into the halls. Fringe (Mid-Season) Remaster, Core, 6v6, Medium-Sized Revisit Fringe from Call of Duty: Black Ops 3, reimagined for the first time ever in Black Ops 6. Attend the grand opening of the Rolling Hills distillery, established in an idyllic setting with several navigable buildings and the surrounding grounds. Battle along the main Road or dive into the Bar for a closer fight. Watch for sharpshooters in the upper Barn and along the Bridge and relive the thrill of trying to make it out alive through the narrow Loading route. The first half of Season 04 brings two exciting Multiplayer modes: Team Elimination and One in the Chamber. In the mid-season, loosen up in the Party Ops Limited Time Mode. Team Elimination (Launch) In this twist on Kill Confirmed, two teams are given a limited amount of lives each round as they fight to be the last surviving team. Players drop a dog tag on death that can be picked up by the enemy to confirm the kill or by a teammate to deny the opposing team. Survive longer than the other team or hold the most remaining lives when the timer ends to win the round. Balance aggression and defense as you seek out enemy dog tags while preserving your life. Dig in with your teammates to counter enemy attacks and then ask for cover while you collect the droppings. Picking up tags is a great way to earn your next Scorestreak, so stay aggressive and keep up the momentum. Once your team’s life pool is drained, your remaining teammates can still revive you where you were last killed in a last-ditch effort to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. One in the Chamber (In-Season) Another Black Ops fan-favorite mode returns as One in the Chamber shows up in Season 04! In this free-for-all mode, each Operator is given one pistol, one bullet, a knife, and three lives. Precision is king, as bullets always eliminate on impact and the only way to earn another bullet is to get an elimination. Stay cool, aim true, and preserve your lives while aiming for the highest score. UAV scans keep the action moving, so don’t try to hide. At the end of the match, the top three scoring Operators will step up to the Winner’s Circle. Party Ops (Mid-Season) Get the party started with a new Limited-Time Mode arriving later in the season: Compete in a randomized set of party themed minigames. The player with the highest score at the end of the match wins it all. The devastating Grim Reaper Scorestreak is back from the original Black Ops, unleashing massive hits on other Operators and Scorestreaks alike. New Scorestreak Scorestreak: Grim Reaper (In-Season) Type: Lethal Score: 725 Mastery Badges: Yes Powerful semi-automatic launcher that can fire up to four rockets in one load. Wield the Grim Reaper, a quad tube loaded Launcher capable of inflicting heavy damage on enemies. Whether targeting Operators or locking on to enemy Scorestreaks, the Grim Reaper’s payload delivers a huge explosion. The weapon is lost if you’re taken out, so save it for the right moment and bring backup to ensure you have the protection needed to unleash havoc.  Season 04 Ranked Play Overview Prove you’re the very best by dedicating your Multiplayer match time to Ranked Play, using the same settings, maps, modes, and weapon restrictions used by the Call of Duty League™. Win matches to earn SR (Skill Rating) and progress through the Ranks while earning career rewards like Rank Skins and Win Challenge rewards. As usual, match wins ensure you progress through the Ranks throughout Season 04 to earn new seasonal rewards like a new Pro Issue Weapon Blueprint, Rank-themed Calling Cards, Ranked Charms, and more: Season 04 Ranked Play Rewards Get 10 Wins: “Pro Reissue AMES 85” AMES 85 Weapon Blueprint Get 100 Wins: “Ranked Season 4 – 100 Wins” Large Decal Silver: “Ranked Season 4 – Silver” Calling Card Gold: “Ranked Season 4 – Gold” Calling Card and Charm Platinum: “Ranked Season 4 – Platinum” Calling Card and Charm Diamond: “Ranked Season 4 – Diamond” Calling Card and Charm Crimson: “Ranked Season 4 – Crimson” Calling Card and Charm Iridescent: “Ranked Season 4 – Iridescent” Calling Card and Charm Top 250: “Ranked Season 4 – Top 250” Calling Card and Charm Season 04 Champion: “Ranked Season 4 – Top 250 Champion” Calling Card Note: Multiplayer Events: Check the General section later in this blog to uncover the full complement of events for this mode across Season 04. Zombies Content Summary Grief Returns! Drop into this epic 4v4 competitive battle on all maps, outlasting the opposition while securing Capture Zones to debuff and Grief your opponents. The last team still standing wins! Additional Gameplay Content: Crack open the armored undead and create area-of-effect explosions with the Shatter Blast Ammo Mod, chew over the impressive effects of three new GobbleGums, and create even bigger explosions with the Grim Reaper Support launcher. New Modes and More: Unlock hidden rewards with more Dark Ops Challenges, then prepare to face down a powered-up Abomination, survive as long as you can in the Starting Room LTM, and prove your Leaderboard worth by zombie slaying for bragging rights and rewards! 4v4 competitive mode where two teams outwit and outlast each other. Capture zones to debuff enemies. No damage against other players. Respawns every third round. Available Maps: Liberty Falls, Terminus, Citadelle des Morts, The Tomb, Shattered Veil. Restricted: Wonder Weapons, GobbleGums: Exit Strategy, Idle Eyes, Wonderbar!, Time Out, and Flavor Hex (Season 04 GobbleGum).  Not seen since Black Ops 2, Grief returns to Zombies! This fan-favorite mode pits two teams of four against each other, with both sides vying to out-survive the other. As the battlelines are drawn between S.A.M. and Director Richtofen, each team pledges their support to one of these rivals at the start of a match, subsequently receiving handler comms support from one of them throughout the ensuing chaos. Indirect PvP Combat The action is almost immediate as both teams drop into either side of the same Grief Arena within the chosen Zombies map, and indirect PvP combat comes into effect: The two teams of four players can’t outright kill members of the enemy team, but can interact with them by body-blocking, or slowing them  by using melee, bullet-based weapons, or projectiles.  Victory Conditions: The winning team is the one that manages to “Grief” their rivals into being killed or entering a downed state. As long as one or more team members are upright, the match continues! Grief Arena Features The action is constant and can get incredibly chaotic, due in part to your proximity to your opponents and the hordes of undead encroaching on your team, thanks to the Arena being a sub-section of the main Zombies map. These are known as “Grief Arenas.” Within a Grief Arena are a variety of features: An Open Environment: Grief Arenas are clearly defined areas where any critical doors have already been opened, and the power will already have been turned on. All other Door Buys are inactive. Both teams spawn on opposite sides of the Arena, each in a group of four. Player Respawning: Any team members that are downed – provided one or more of their team are still alive – can be revived at any time, though rival teams, undead enemies, and Shock Charges can hamper this action! Additionally, a Wave Respawner triggers every third round, automatically reviving any eliminated teammates from both teams. Join In Progress: Any player not in the game can join up until Round 10 has been completed and has a small grace period to orient themselves before they’re swarmed by zombies. Additionally, if a team has won back-to-back Capture Zones (see below), join-in-progress is not available. Essence and Salvage: Unlike in Standard playlists, Salvage pickups in Grief are worth 100 Salvage, visible to all players, and can only be picked up by the first player to grab it. Zombies: Rounds will progress faster than usual and the amount of zombies per round has been increased to account for 8 players! All undead entities – except for bosses – are to be expected. If players fail to kill zombies, the round will turn. Core Mechanics: The Arsenal, Pack-a-Punch, Mystery Box, Crafting Tables, Perk machines, GobbleGum machine (with Exit Strategy, Idle Eyes, Wonderbar!, Time Out, and Flavor Hex restricted), Armor Wall Buys, and Der Wunderfizz machine are available in a Grief Arena where they normally reside, or in a new location if they don’t normally exist in this portion of their respective maps. Note: While the current GobbleGum restrictions are in place to keep matches dynamic yet balanced, additional restrictions may be made in the future as the developers keep an eye on game balance, similar to Ranked Play. Capture Zones: Appearing at a regular cadence during a match, these are smaller areas within a Grief Arena where players are required to stand and earn specific types of kills to trigger a Grief  on the opposing team. Plan A: Survive! Plan B: Capture Zones! Keeping your team upright and focused on undead slaying for longer than your rivals is the main plan in this mode. However, there’s an important secondary focus you need to plan for: Capturing zones and “Griefing” your rival team! Capture Zones appear at regular intervals throughout a match, and after stepping through the glowing perimeter, you and your team can secure the Zone by staying inside it and dispatching zombies. Beckon your crew into a Zone to quicken the zombie slaying, and once your kill count meets the requirement, a Grief is triggered on the opposition. Note that if neither team reaches this requirement within the countdown inside a Capture Zone, the Grief is applied to both teams. What is a Grief? It’s a temporary debuff, penalty, or negative gameplay mechanic that you can inflict on your rival team at a Capture Zone. The type of Grief is shown at the objective tracker within a Capture Zone. Here are the possible Griefs you’re aiming to inflict on your foes: Weapon Nerf: The affected players inflict considerably reduced damage to zombie enemies. Ammo Drain: All ammo-based weapons, including those stowed, receive an ammo drain with bullets or shells being removed constantly while the Grief is active. Zombie Ambush: An Elite zombie is summoned, and it solely focuses its killing power on the enemy team until either the Elite or the team are defeated, or the timer runs out. Weapon Carousel: The rival players’ weapons are randomly swapped every few seconds. Frozen: This Grief reduces the enemy players’ movement, along with frost and ice coating the characters. Griefs and Capture Zones also introduce new score types, including: Capture Zone Kill: Awarded to a player who defeated a zombie type during a successful Capture Zone completion. Capture Zone Win: Awarded to all players on a team who successfully commandeer a Capture Zone. Capture Zone Elite Kill: Awarded to a player who slays an Elite spawned in a Capture Zone. Available Grief Arenas (11 Arenas, Launch) A total of 11 different Grief Arenas are available in this mode. Here’s a list along with a brief description of the points of interest within each one: Liberty Falls Arena 1: Pump & Pay, Motor Lodge, and Fuller’s Liberty Lanes Liberty Falls Arena 2: Dark Aether Church, Cemetery, Hilltop Terminus Arena 1: Bio Lab Terminus Arena 2: Crab Island  Citadelle des Morts Arena: Courtyard, Ramparts, and Entrance Hall The Tomb Arena 1: Dig Site, Mausoleum The Tomb Arena 2: Dark Aether Nexus Shattered Veil Arena 1: Garden Pond, Lower Terrace Shattered Veil Arena 2: Upper Terrace, Shem’s Henge, Motor Court Shattered Veil Arena 3: Mansion Foyer, Overlook, East Foyer, Library Shattered Veil Arena 4: West Hallways, Southwest Balcony, Bottlery Access the following new content within all five Zombies Maps (unless otherwise stated) throughout Season 04: Dark Ops Challenges (Launch) A mysterious new set of hidden Calling Cards and bounteous amounts of XP are available at the start of Season 04, thanks to a fresh drop of Zombies Dark Ops Challenges. Who knows... maybe there’s even one for Grief. All further information is [[REDACTED]]. New LTM: Starting Room (Mid-Season) Inspired by the starting room in the classic “Moon” Zombies map, drop in with up to three of your Zombies crew into a more straightforward but challenging experience where you’re locked into the first zone of a map. Raptor One is gone, and those undead hordes are only getting stronger, but all doors in the initial zone are locked. Survive to the highest round you can! New LTM: Abomination Challenge (Mid-Season) Enter a warped version of Liberty Falls during this new Mid-Season Event, and hunt down an ultra-powered-up Abomination. Perhaps it’s wise to bring backup. Wreck even the most battle-hardened undead threat with the explosive power of the Shatter Blast Ammo Mod, then drop even more devastating firepower on the hordes with the Grim Reaper Support launcher. There’s three new chewables, too! Ammo Mod: Shatter Blast (Launch) Available: Augments Menu, and In-Game (Pause Menu) “Bullets deal explosive damage. Each bullet has a chance to create an explosion that destroys armor.” Modify your ammunition to explode the toughened armor of certain normal and Special undead enemies. This mod also has a second benefit, creating an area-of-effect blast radius at the same time, whether any armor is shattered or not.  Due to the somewhat chaotic nature of this modification, there is a random chance of the Shatter Blast effect triggering, and it won’t happen every time you fire. Also expect a cooldown period after the effect. Note that Shatter Blast doesn’t directly affect Elite enemies (pending some Augment research!), but area-of-effect explosions can still damage them. You are wise to wrangle your undead into hordes so they’re near each other, to really inflict some damage! Shatter Blast: Major Augments Research the following Augments to further customize this Ammo Mod. Big Game Shatter Blast can be used against Elite enemies. Expect an impressively sized explosion. Blast Chain On explosion, three additional explosions occur in rapid succession. Blast Repair For every enemy that has its armor destroyed by Shatter Blast, armor health will be restored for the player. Shatter Blast: Minor Augments Blast Zone Increase the size of the explosion. Blast Boost Increase the explosion damage. Blast Wave Normal enemies are knocked down by the explosion. New GobbleGums (Launch) Crack your teeth on three new GobbleGums, available across all maps once you earn or unlock them and equip them in your GobbleGum Loadout Pack. Explosive Flourish (Epic): Reloading your weapon creates an explosion around you. GobbleGum lasts 2 minutes. Flavor Hex (Legendary): Activates a random Ultra GobbleGum. Rainburps (Whimsical): Zombies killed belch sparkly rainbow bubbles. Lasts 3 minutes. Additional Support Weapon: Grim Reaper (In-Season) Available: Rivals Event reward Salvage: 2000 Hammer away at the Crafting Table and assemble a powerful semi-automatic launcher known as the Grim Reaper, which deals out lethal damage to the undead with up to a quartet of missiles fired in one load. With a capacity to carry up to a dozen rockets, and the ability to fire them individually or as a quartet of devastation, this can level a courtyard of undead with a single launch! Unlock this Support weapon once you’ve earned it via the Rivals Event. Note: Zombies Events: Check the General section later in this blog to uncover a first look at events for this mode across Season 04, including the King of the Dead Leaderboard challenge! Call of Duty: Warzone Content Summary New Point of Interest: The towering skyscraper known as The Overlook comes to Downtown Verdansk, with ziplines, cranes, and an impressive interior to explore. New and Limited Time Modes: Clash mode – the massive 52v52 Verdansk Deathmatch – is back! Join 51 other Operators in a chaotic firefight to claim domination points and defeat foes. Then compete in a specially themed area of Verdansk in a match with rule-bending modifiers in Havoc Royale. And drop into Rebirth Island for a spot of Resurgence Casual human and bot combat. Doubling Down on Ranked Play: Call of Duty: Warzone doubles down – literally – with two separate Ranked Play modes; Battle Royale: Ranked (Verdansk) at launch running throughout the entire season, and the return of Ranked Play to Rebirth Island at Mid-season. New Features: Cranes and horizontal ziplines Downtown. Lobby Lockdown in The Overlook. Look up and look out!  Dominate foes with a gigantic new skyscraper point of interest, available to Operators within the vicinity of Downtown! The old tenement blocks, Burger Town, and SKN Comm tower have been demolished, and construction crews are finalizing a sprawling skyscraper that dominates the landscape! Look for a full recon tour below. Recon Tour: The Overlook As construction nears completion on this behemoth of a skyscraper (more than twice the height of any previous building within the Verdansk conurbation), it’s worth gaining a tactical advantage on this monolithic new point of interest. The Overlook Footprint: The “Diamond” and Perimeter Security Checkpoints Drop into the grounds of The Overlook, and you’ll immediately see the grounds of the new skyscraper under construction stretch in a rough diamond shape around the location of the old SKN Comm Tower. Flanked by two massive cranes, the building plot perimeter runs from the corner of the main bank, clockwise past the Post Office, passing the Rothwynn Donna building, northeast to the Museum/Art Gallery, and follows the road around to City Hall.  All the older structures (the Burger Town, low-rise tenement blocks, the building site, and the small coffee shop and bar across from the Museum) have been bulldozed in the name of progress! Perimeter Security Checkpoints Military-style security checkpoints have been set up on the corners and roads of the plot of land within the footprint of the structure. Most aren’t secure enough to impede vehicular progress, and some have ramps to allow airborne access. These serve as helpful visual cues that you’re entering the new POI, The Overlook.  Ground Level: Construction Sites Most of the groundwork around the skyscraper is in its final stages of completion, but there are plenty of barriers, fencing, canopies, and containers to use as cover in the area below each of the two giant cranes north and south of the structure. Ground Level: Restaurants Burger Town: Fans of the famous Burger Town Double Cheeseburger will be thrilled to know the fast-food chain has relocated a few meters further down the road from its previous location and is contained within the massive footprint of The Overlook. This outlet also serves as a lower entrance into the grand foyer interior of the building. Sushi Bar: Diagonally opposite the Burger Town, on the northwest side of the POI, is a small Sushi bar, within the footprint of the tower itself. Nestled in the stepped courtyard, you can quickly advance to the north crane or main lobby entrance. It’s also worth pointing out that the sight lines around this POI have significantly changed since Season 03, with much greater visibility across familiar POIs within Downtown and the surrounding districts. North and South Cranes Two huge cranes flank the north and south side of the monolith and are another way to traverse into The Overlook at great height. With five separate platforms attached to the mast to land on (two at ground, and three at height), use the vertical Ascender built into the crane’s mast and take an eight-second ascent to a platform just below the jib that extends out to the main winch, and the hoist allowing a jump to The Overlook roof. Operators who aren’t challenged by vertigo will have wild and panoramic views that extend to all of Verdansk’s POIs (except Quarry)! Both cranes are also functional, and providing you’ve found the necessary controls in the vicinity (both on and off the cranes’ superstructures), cargo on the hook block and hoist can be summoned and moved to various locations around the tower and nearby Downtown buildings, in case you or your team needs a daring lift! Zip Lines and Additional Rooftop Cover Increasing the ways you can quickly traverse and gain (or lose) great height in your tactical positioning near The Overlook exterior, zip-lines provide a diagonal route to and from the surrounding Downtown building rooftops.  Each also has a small billboard or other protective cover as you reach the zipline mechanism. Access to and from Overlook at the following locations: South: Post Office rooftop to Skydeck. West: Rothwynn Donna building rooftop to Skydeck. Northeast: Art Gallery/Museum rooftop to Skydeck. East: City Hall dome rooftop to Skydeck.  The Overlook: Entrance and Lobby Lockdown The Overlook has a substantial exterior and interior presence, mainly tiered fountains, planting, and stairs up to forecourts and shuttered entrances to the north, east, south, and west, all leading to a central interior lobby. If you find the main entrances shuttered, it means the lobby is experiencing a lockdown. Perhaps there’s a way to breach this security? Are there other ways to get in? The interior lobby has a coffee shop, mezzanine office, stairs, a variety of cover options, and other areas to investigate, not least the marginally terrifying 18-storey elevator ascenders to the northeast and southwest, and even those only get you halfway up the inside of the tower. The Overlook: Atrium and Skydeck (Interior, Exterior) Just above the midway point within The Overlook tower is a five-floor interior with exterior Skydeck. Depending on your use of ziplines, you’re able to access a large Atrium with concrete tile and planters and an abundance of plant life. Around the perimeter are rooms, stairwells, and two new elevator shafts, all enabling you to reach the exterior Skydeck. Known by some locals as the “cyclops” tower, due to this large central upper opening you can fly a helicopter through, the Skydeck features a small glass pyramid, some windswept seating, and infiltration to the floors above.  The large, rectangular holes on all four sides provide zipline access around Downtown, as well as daring helicopter maneuvers through the gaps. The ascent doesn’t end here; enter any of the four pillars holding up the roof of the skyscraper for another elevator ascender ride. The Overlook: Penthouse (Interior), Roof (Exterior) The remaining upper floors of The Overlook are nearing completion, meaning health and safety rules aren’t being observed as stringently as you’d like. Top floors up from the Skydeck is the roof. Missing windows, exterior gantries without railings, and exposed exterior ladders mean you’ll be thankful for your parachute.  Depending on which of the tower corners you’re fighting through, this offers another five floors to investigate, including rooms that are fully furnished.  These include a security and server room, a two-floor penthouse level with opulent bedroom, kitchen, and games area, and that’s before the more perturbed of Operators learn the secrets of the [[REDACTED]] room!  As well as the usual Battle Royale and Resurgence playlists across Verdansk and Rebirth Island, major modes – Clash and Battle Royale: Ranked Play – return to the game, with the intriguing Havoc Royale and the arrival of Resurgence: Ranked Play on Rebirth Island at mid-season! Clash LTM (Launch) 104 players (52v52), 15-minute matches 52v52 Team Deathmatch chaos is back in Call of Duty: Warzone! First introduced into Call of Duty: Warzone during Season Five of Black Ops Cold War back in September 2021 as a revamped version of the original “Rumble” mode, Clash is back, bigger than ever, and now includes some impressive, game-changing equipment and power-ups only available in this mode. But what is Clash Mode? This is Team Deathmatch and Domination on a massive scale! Overview, Win Conditions, and Scoring This action-packed team-based mode takes place in and around a specific POI within Verdansk, and pits two teams of 52 players (divided into 13 Quad Squads per side) against each other. With no Circle Collapse, no last stand benefit for the Survivor Perk, and your Loadouts available immediately, the plan is simple; your side needs to acquire 500 points by the end of the 15-minute time limit. These are mainly gained by slaying enemies (sometimes aided with power ups you can acquire within a match), completing contracts, and participating in the in-game Public Events, as well as the following: Scoring: 1 point per enemy elimination 2 points per enemy elimination with Double Down Power Up 5 points per Contract completed 10 points for capturing a Domination Point (Flag) 10 points for capturing a Bonus Crate or a Cash Crate Clash: Available Locations Expect Clash matches to occur across a sub-section of the main Verdansk map, incorporating several adjacent areas around the following POIs: Quarry Boneyard Farmland Promenade (East) Clash: Available Vehicles With the impetus to reach the enemy forces never more important, expect heavy use of vehicles throughout a Clash Match. The full complement of currently available ground and air vehicles are as follows: Heli Cargo Truck LTV (Light Tactical Vehicle) Polaris RZR Pro R 4 Available Contracts There are three available Contracts to complete in Clash Mode: Scavenger Search and Destroy Recon The Scavenger and Recon Contracts work in the same way as they do in Battle Royale Matches. In addition to the usual rewards and in-game cash, you receive five team points for each Contract completed. Search and Destroy Contracts (Clash Mode Only): Everything must go with this new contract, where one team plants a bomb on a Buy Station, and on detonation, they can earn impressive rarity weapons and items from the Buy Stations’ inventory. The other teams can defuse the bomb to earn a Fire Sale for a major discount from the Buy Stations.  Expect the Search and Destroy Contract to be available in Battle Royale, Resurgence, and Plunder Modes, at Mid-Season. In-Match Events and Domination Points During a Clash match, expect several in-match Events to occur. These are like those in Battle Royale Matches, though Clash Events are timed throughout the match rather than related to the Circle Collapse. The available Events are: Domination Points Bonus Points Crates Clash Firesale Cash Crates Power Surge Domination Points Event: Up to three single capture Dom Points (flags) appear on the map, and these respawn throughout the match. Much like the Multiplayer Mode of the same name, a team that reaches and captures one of the Dom Points receives a reward; in this case, 10 team points. Bonus Points Crates Event: A cargo plane flies across the center of the map, and up to four crates are dropped. Teams are likely to head to the crates as they float to the ground, as capturing a crate awards you with 10 team points. Clash Firesale Event: For the next two minutes, all players can take advantage of a Firesale as two Portable Buy Stations are dropped into the backfield of each team (a total of four). Additionally, all loot crates are restocked and cash found in crates is also increased.  Cash Crates: Capture one (or more) of the three Cash Crates that drop during this event also nets you 10 team points. Power Surge Event: For the next two minutes, there’s an increased drop rate of Power Ups when you dispatch an enemy player or loot any ground caches. Clash Mode Gameplay Features As well as the previously mentioned new Search and Destroy Contract, Clash comes loaded with features unique to the mode. Here’s the full run-down of what to expect: Buy Stations (Clash Mode only): Expect Buy Stations to be scattered across a Clash map and roughly split between each team’s area of operations. Portable Buy Stations are also available during the Firesale In-Match Event. Here’s what you can purchase: Armor Plate: $500 Munitions Box: $1,000 Trophy System: $1,500 Counter UAV: $3,000 Sentry Turret: $3,000 Hand Cannon: $4,000 Bunker Buster: $4,000 Cluster Strike: $4,000 Precision Airstrike: $6,000 Specialist Perk: $10,000 New Field Upgrade: Door Barricade (Clash Mode at Season Launch): Control access points more easily during mid or close-quarter combat scenarios and delay enemy incursions with the Door Barricade. Fit a barricade to a close single or double door, and a heavy-duty lock attaches to (and is visible on) both sides, preventing the opening or access through the door. This is until the barricade is either removed (only by the Operator or squadmates who fitted it), or destroyed, usually by using explosives, though gunfire and melee equipment is also an option. Expect the Door Barricade to be loot in Battle Royale and Battle Royale Casual Modes, via the new Care Package Killstreak, all coming at Mid-Season. New Killstreak: Hand Cannon (Clash Mode at Season Launch): This high-powered pistol Killstreak, originally available in Multiplayer during Season 01, is available in ground cache as rare loot. Expect a slow rate of fire and finite ammunition, but good handling, and improved hip fire accuracy with faster hip-fire shooting speed. Expect the Hand Cannon to be rare loot in Battle Royale, Battle Royale Casual, Resurgence, and Plunder Modes, via the new Care Package Killstreak, all coming at Mid-Season. Feature: SAM Turrets (Clash Mode only): Chopper and drone pilots take note; Clash mode maps feature SAM Turrets in various tactical positions across the environment. Spend $1,500 of in-match cash to activate these anti-air missile batteries and use them up to four times to target any aircraft and drones in the area. If you’re flying in the Heli on the receiving end of a SAM barrage, now’s the time to utilize flares to counter the incoming missiles! Train (Clash Mode only): If a Clash map features a portion of the large, circular railroad track that the train travels along, then this hulking engine and loot-filled carriages are parked and available to use as added cover and looting opportunities. UAV Towers (Clash Mode only): Providing you have the $2,000 in-match cash to activate them, teams can head to and capture a few scattered UAV Towers, allowing pinging of enemy movement across the local area. Clash Mode Powerups  Clash Mode features five differently hued in-match Powerups that are automatically used when found. Available as a possible loot drop or sometimes appearing as dropped loot near the body of an eliminated enemy Operator, these Powerups are color-coded and offer temporary benefits to the Operator who grabs them. All five can be obtained in a single match and expect the frequency of available Powerups to be significantly increased if the in-match Power Surge Event activates (usually in the final stages of a match). Here’s what each of the five Clash Powerups grant you: Hunter (Red Aura): Highlights enemies and allies in red and blue respectively. Allies are visible through walls. Applies Tracker and High Alert Perks. Speed Boost (Yellow Aura): Prevents fall damage and provides approximately 20 percent speed boost to your movement. Regeneration Aura (Green Aura): Refills your health and armor at roughly 20 percent per second. Allies within a small radius around you also receive this benefit. The effect does not stack. Double Down (Blue Aura): Grants you two points per enemy Operator elimination instead of one. Kill Mag (Purple Aura): Refills your active weapon magazine after a kill and quickens your reload. Havoc Royale LTM (Mid-Season) 44 players (Quads), 15-minute matches Compete in a Call of Duty: Warzone match like no other, where rule bending modifiers twist the realities of the usual Resurgence gameplay in chaotic and game-changing ways.  Drop into a specially themed area of Verdansk with your Loadout. Every new gas circle activates a different modifier. Adapt fast to sudden changes as Havoc modifiers may impact you, the environment, and even the gameplay rules. Survive the Havoc, be the last team standing, and claim victory! Expect a full rundown of this game mode in the Season 04 Reloaded blog, just prior to Mid-season. Resurgence Casual (Mid-Season) 44 Players, Players & Bots Infil into Rebirth Island with your squad and commit to winning using the regular Resurgence ruleset, but with one important twist; some of your adversaries aren’t human! Whether facing down a bot or not, Resurgence Casual is a great mode to drop into whether you’re warming up, teaching a new player about the game, or you’re wanting a Resurgence match that isn’t quite as extreme as normal. As with Battle Royale Casual or Call of Duty: Warzone Bootcamp, game progression is limited in this mode and results will not count towards or against your stats. This mode also doesn’t count towards your eligibility to accessing Resurgence Ranked Play when it arrives at Mid-Season. Grind your way towards a coveted position in the Top 250 as Battle Royale: Ranked Play becomes the first of two Ranked Play variants to drop in Season 04 within Call of Duty: Warzone. Harness the competitive spirit and earn new rewards for ranking up and advancing through the Skill Divisions, unlocking the following rewards as you go: Season 04 BR Ranked Play Rewards First Season Win: Weapon Charm Get 25 Eliminations: Elimination Sticker Get 100 Eliminations: Elimination Weapon Camo Get 250 Eliminations: Elimination LR 7.62 Weapon Blueprint Silver: “Ranked Season 4 – Silver” Emblem Gold: “Ranked Season 4 – Gold” Emblem and Decal Platinum: “Ranked Season 4 – Platinum” Emblem and Decal Diamond: “Ranked Season 4 – Diamond” Emblem and Decal Crimson: “Ranked Season 4 – Crimson” Emblem and Decal Iridescent: “Ranked Season 4 – Iridescent” Emblem and Decal Top 250: “Ranked Season 4 – Top 250” Emblem and Decal Season 04 Champion: “Ranked Season 4 – Top 250 Champion” Emblem Ranked Play: Resurgence (Mid-Season) Trios, Rebirth Island Craving some real competition on Rebirth Island? Then squad up with your winning Trio, and attempt dominance over the very best players as Resurgence Ranked Play makes its triumphant return! Expect the same rules set you remember during the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare® III era, and an expanded look at this returning, fan-favorite mode in the Season 04 Reloaded blog, just prior to Mid-season. Ranked Play Notes: Battle Royale: Ranked Play (Verdansk) runs from Launch Window throughout the entirety of Season 04. Resurgence: Ranked Play (Rebirth Island) begins at Mid-Season, and runs alongside Battle Royale: Ranked Play, meaning you can play one or both Modes when they are active. The ranking is separate from Battle Royale: Ranked Play. A new Contract, Field Upgrade, Killstreak, Perk, and ATV are all set to drop into Verdansk during Season 04: Clash Mode Features Expansion (Mid-Season) After an evaluation period in Call of Duty: Warzone’s Clash Mode, expect the following new equipment to become available across additional modes at mid-season. Here’s what to expect: Contract: Search & Destroy: Battle Royale, Resurgence, Plunder. Field Upgrade: Door Barricade: Battle Royale, Battle Royale Casual Modes. Available via Care Package. Killstreak: Hand Cannon: Battle Royale, Battle Royale Casual, and Plunder Modes. Available via Care Package. Killstreak: Care Package (Mid-Season) Open ground loot caches for a rare chance to obtain the Care Package, a throwable Killstreak that, when lobbed, explodes into trail of smoke, after which a loadout-sized crate falls from the skies. Open this crate for a chance to obtain rare loot including rare equipment, the Specialist Perk, and more. New Perk: Loot Master (Mid-Season) Available only as Ground Loot during Resurgence and Plunder matches, the Loot Master Perk allows you to maximize your scavenging potential and gear up faster by increasing the amount of loot you find while opening caches. Gain the early advantage or sustain yourself during prolonged engagements. Expect an increased drop rate for equipped weapon ammo, a higher chance to find tacticals and lethals, more cash, and a greater chance at field upgrades, killstreaks, and other high-tier gear. ATV: Polaris Sportsman XP 1000 (Launch) Added to the vehicle pool is the Polaris Sportsman XP 1000, a real wild ride allowing you to hit the Verdansk goat trails in comfort with legendary suspension, great clearance and traction, and versatility for positioning up to three Operators on the surface of the vehicle. Compared to the current ATV, the wheelbase and size of the Sportsman XP 1000 offers more stability than ever before.  Note: Call of Duty: Warzone Events: Check the General section later in this blog to uncover the full complement of events for this mode across Season 04. General Content (MP, ZM, WZ) Call of Duty: General Content Summary (All Modes and Games) Weapons Detail: Five new weapons arrive in Season 04, including two at launch: the LC10 SMG and FFAR 1 Assault Rifle. Later in the season, get your hands on the , Essex Model 07 Marksman Rifle, Olympia Special weapon and Pickaxe Melee weapon, and change up your playstyle with new attachments. The Events Horizon: Season 04 is packed with Events, including Rivals, Ballerina (From the World of John Wick), and even more coming mid-season.. Plus, prove your worth across the Zombies leaderboards and become King of the Dead! Battle Pass and BlackCell: The Season 04 Battle Pass brings Stitch and brutal BlackCell Operator Omen to the forefront alongside new Weapon Blueprints, Operator Skins, Calling Cards, Finishing Moves, Emotes, and more in a mix of free and premium tiers. Free tiers include two new base weapons and the G-Grip Tactical Foregrip. Season 04 Operators: Stitch returns after being freed from prison, headlining the new Battle Pass next to the sinister Omen leading BlackCell. Plus, deploy as assassin Eve Macarro in a collaboration with Ballerina, followed by much more at the mid-season. CDL Announcements: Major IV is almost here! Find out where to watch, plus the in-game rewards you can unlock, just for tuning in! Primary Weapon: LC10 (Launch) SMG, Battle Pass Page 3, Page 14 Battle Pass Blueprint Levels: 38 MAGS: 4 MAG SIZE: 34 Mastery Badges: Yes Attachments: Optic, Muzzle, Barrel, Underbarrel, Magazine, Rear Grip, Stock, Laser, Fire Mods Customize Options: Skins, Camos and Reticle Unlocks (MP, ZM, WZ), Accessories (1), Decals (1), Stickers (3). Full-auto submachine gun. Excellent accuracy and range, with a moderate rate of fire. Average mobility and very slow handling for its class. Returning after its debut in Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War, the LC10 SMG spits out rounds fast coupled with good accuracy and range, moderate damage, and a quick reload to get you back into the fight. The weapon performs well off the hip or down sights, with 34 rounds in the base magazine for a hefty ammo supply. Via Gunsmith, equip a variety of improvements such as a Laser for improved hipfire spread and an updated Barrel to further extend the weapon’s respectable damage range. Primary Weapon: FFAR 1 (Launch) Assault Rifle, Battle Pass Page 6, Page 11 HVT Tier Battle Pass Blueprint Levels: 42 MAGS: 3 MAG SIZE: 30 Mastery Badges: Yes Attachments: Optic, Muzzle, Barrel, Underbarrel, Magazine, Rear Grip, Stock, Laser, Fire Mods Customize Options: Skins, Camo and Reticle Unlocks (MP, ZM, WZ), Accessories (1), Decals (1), Stickers (3).  Full-auto assault rifle. Very high rate of fire and excellent CQB power, but slower handling and mobility. Boasting a blazing fast fire rate that rivals the SMG weapon class, this bullpup Assault Rifle is designed for taking down targets fast. The somewhat unpredictable recoil favors burst fire when tackling distant targets, but once you’re locked on it’s all over for them. Supporting a variety of Underbarrel Launcher attachments, use Gunsmith to add greater versatility to the weapon. Running low on ammo? Grab an Extended Mag while you’re at it. Primary Weapon: Essex Model 07 (In-Season) Marksman Rifle, Event Reward Levels: 38 MAGS: 3 MAG SIZE: 8 Mastery Badges: Yes Attachments: Optic, Muzzle, Barrel, Underbarrel, Magazine, Lever, Stock, Laser, Fire Mods Customize Options: Skins, Camo and Reticle Unlocks (MP, ZM, WZ), Accessories (1), Decals (1), Stickers (3). Lever-action marksman rifle. High damage potential. Balanced by slower rate of fire and handling. Inflict heavy critical point damage with this lever-action tactical rifle. An ideal tool for the new sheriff in town, this classic armament offers smooth handling with shots that quickly recenter after kicking up. Choose from a variety of Levers to further customize the weapon’s action, improving ADS speed, sprint to fire speed, and other movement abilities.  Special Weapon: Olympia (Mid-Season) Special, Event Reward Levels: 30 MAGS: 8 MAG SIZE: 2 Mastery Badges: Yes Attachments: Barrel, Stock Customize Options: Skins, Camos (MP, ZM, WZ), Accessories (1), Decals (1), Stickers (3). Double-barrel shotgun. Very high damage and respectable range but requires frequent reloading. The double-barrel Olympia – not seen since Black Ops 3 – makes its debut in Black Ops 6, returning as a Special Weapon that makes for the perfect backup when entering tight spaces. The Olympia holds two shots at a time, each spraying multiple pellets when your Operator pulls the trigger. Light customization via the Short Barrel and Cut-Off Stock attachments gives you some control over the weapon’s playstyle, but the fundamentals remain the same: get up close and make your shots count. Fire down the sight for a tighter pellet spread or shoot off the hip to inflict damage over a wider area. Melee Weapon: Pickaxe (Mid-Season) Melee, Event Reward Levels: 30 Mastery Badges: Yes Attachments: None Customize Options: Skins. One-hit kill. Medium attack speed. Short range. Without a Pickaxe, you’ll be lost in the tundra. Bring the right tool for the job when deploying to Iceland in Season 04’s Multiplayer maps, starting with this deadly Melee weapon that downs unarmored enemies with brutal severity. Though its range is short, the Pickaxe’s combination of rapid slashes and overhead swipes will keep enemies frozen in their tracks. Close the distance and say farewell. G-Grip (Launch) SMGs (except PP-19), Assault Rifles, Battle Pass Page 7 Reward Vertical foregrip with integrated laser for improved firing stability, horizontal recoil control, and tightened spread when transitioning between hipfire and aiming down sights. Beam: Blue. Blocks Laser attachments. Stryder .22 3-Round Burst Mod (Launch) Stryder .22 Pistol, Event Reward Convert the Stryder .22 into a 3-round burst. Drastically improves fire rate and maintains manageable gun kick but alters the weapon’s damage profile outside of the effective range. SVD Full Auto Mod (In-Season) SVD Sniper Rifle, Event Reward Convert the SVD from semi-auto to full-auto functionality, ramping up the speed of your damage output and drastically improving recoil and handling. TR2 CQB Auto Conversion (In-Season) TR2 Marksman Rifle, Event Reward Alter the TR2 Marksman Rifle to fire handgun caliber rounds, resulting in a Marksman Rifle with a compact frame and fully automatic capabilities that rival fire rates of an SMG! Stitch Returns to Action in the Season 04 Battle Pass Stitch returns to the fray, leading this season’s Battle Pass content in a shocking team up with Adler. Purchase the Season 04 Battle Pass for 1,100 COD Points or the Season 04 Battle Pass Bundle for 2,400 COD Points to immediately unlock the Instant Rewards Page of the Battle Pass, including the following items: 10% Battle Pass XP Boost The new “Supermax” Stitch Operator and “Supermax BlackCell” Stitch Operator Skin for those who purchase BlackCell The “Lock Up” Legendary Blueprint for the Feng 82 LMG The “Try Me!” Emote The “Untamable” Large Decal Start to unlock up to 1,100 COD Points as you progress through the Battle Pass The Season 04 Battle Pass includes over 110 pieces of unlockable content (excluding BlackCell) including two new Base Weapons, the G-Grip Tactical Foregrip Attachment, and several unlockable mil-sim style skins for Bailey, Payne, Grey, Caine, Brutus, Toro, Adler, Nazir, and Marshall. Stay tuned for the BlackCell, Battle Pass and Store Bundles blog prior to Season 04 launch for more details. BlackCell Offerings When the job needs to get done, summon Omen, the otherworldly Operator leading BlackCell content in Season 04. The menacing Operator and his three-headed guard dog are joined by a cast of infected, black and purple-hued Operator Skins and Weapon Blueprints earned exclusively through BlackCell. BlackCell owners can access the Season 04 Battle Pass via the exclusive BlackCell Page, instantly unlocking the following items: The “Omen” BlackCell Operator and Skin 10% XP Boost 1,100 COD Points The “Guard Dog” Companion Finishing Move The “Hellblock” Mastercraft Blueprint for the Ladra SMG The “Kill Tally” Gun Screen The “BlackCell” Clan Tag (showcased in Lobbies and Winner’s Circles) BlackCell owners get access to page after page of additional exclusive rewards within the Season 04 Battle Pass, including: Seven BlackCell-exclusive skins for Stitch (two skins), Bailey, Payne, Caine, Brutus, and Adler.  Seven BlackCell-exclusive Weapon Blueprints for the Krig C (Assault Rifle), XMG (LMG), SWAT 5.56 (Marksman Rifle), ASG-98 (Shotgun), FFAR 1 (Assault Rifle), Model L (Assault Rifle), LC10 (SMG) Over 130 item rewards (Battle Pass and BlackCell related) for those who fully complete the Season 04 BlackCell Battle Pass. As usual, players who upgrade to BlackCell after purchasing the Battle Pass will also receive back the COD Points they spent. BlackCell Daily Challenges: Players with BlackCell will receive additional Daily Challenges throughout Season 04 for Multiplayer, Zombies, and Call of Duty: Warzone, giving even more chances to rake in the XP during your play sessions! BlackCell Loyalty Bonus: Players who purchased BlackCell in a previous Black Ops 6season and go on to purchase Season 04 BlackCell will earn a permanent 10% Player and Weapon XP Loyalty Bonus, up to 30% for players who purchased Season 01, Season 02, and Season 03 BlackCell! The return of Stitch signals a shift in the battles ahead, requiring new Operators to meet the demands of the intensifying conflict. Predict a swift demise for your opponents with Omen leading BlackCell, joined by Stitch at the head of the Battle Pass plus a special appearance by Eve Macarro from Ballerina. Omen (BlackCell, Crimson One, Launch) “Omen” Operator: BlackCell Instant Reward Page It’s time for lockdown. Omen is a presence who strikes fear even in the world’s most dangerous criminals, with an almost preternatural ability to keep even the most sinister prisoners in line. Stitch (Battle Pass, Rogue Black Ops, Launch) “Supermax” and “Yard Dog” Skins: Battle Pass Instant Reward Page, Battle Pass Completion Page Until recently, Stitch was assumed dead. Instead of eliminating his enemy, however, Adler sent him off to a black site prison. Now the time has come, and following a daring jailbreak, Stitch is once again free. Adler needs his help cracking the codenames that will finally lead to the Pantheon moles, but at what cost? Ballerina (Bundle, Crimson One, In-Season) Store Bundle Seeking revenge for her slain father, Eve Macarro embarks on a relentless mission against the High Table’s most feared opponents in Ballerina, the highly anticipated new action film from the World of John Wick. Deploy as the elite assassin in one of two looks in the Ballerina Bundle arriving in Season 04. Participate in a new round of scheduled Events across Multiplayer, Zombies, and Call of Duty: Warzone. Earn rewards like new weapons, special attachments, and more. Here’s a first look at the Events to come (with more announcements in the Season 04 Reloaded blog): Event: Ballerina (MP, ZM, WZ, In-Season) Activation Dates: June 5 to June 12 Total Rewards: 10 (+ One BlackCell reward) Enter the world of John Wick with the new Ballerina Event. Prove your capabilities as a supreme assassin by slaying your way across Multiplayer, Zombies, and Call of Duty: Warzone. Rewards include the new Essex Model 07 Marksman Rifle and a Ballerina-themed Nunchuck Melee Blueprint for BlackCell Owners. Event: Rivals (MP, ZM, WZ, In-Season) Activation Dates: June 12 to June 26 Total Rewards: 15 (+ One BlackCell reward) Enemies become allies in the Rivals Event, when Stitch brings his code-cracking expertise to help uncover the real names of the final Pantheon moles in the CIA. The goal is simple; prove you’re the most proficient Operator by earning XP across all game modes and unlock a plethora of impressive free items. Dominate your enemies to become the first to unlock rewards including the Stryder .22 3-Round Burst Mod (Attachment) and Grim Reaper (Scorestreak). Events: King of the Dead, Master of Grief (Zombies, Mid-Season) Activation Dates (King of the Dead): June 26 to July 3 Activation Dates (Master of Grief): July 10 to July 17 King of the Dead: “Eliminate zombies in any Zombie mode to earn points to climb the leaderboard.” Master of Grief: “Collect Essence in Grief to earn points to climb the leaderboard.” Earn points by slaying all types of undead! As you’d expect, you receive more points for dispatching the harder zombie types. This, in turn, causes you to climb the Zombies leaderboard, and once the Event is over, rewards will be granted based on your leaderboard position. Everyone receives some kind of reward, but to obtain the really good stuff, it’s time to perfect your Special and Elite Zombies slaying!  Season 04 brings new Bundles to the Store, including a special crossover event with Ballerina. Get more intel in the Season 04 BlackCell, Battle Pass, and Bundles blog arriving before launch. Tracer Pack: Ballerina Choose one of two Operator Skins for Eve, a red sequin dress as “Eve Macarro” or a sleek black professional fit as the “Ruska Rogue.” Bring light to the darkness with three Legendary Weapon Blueprints featuring High Table Coin Tracers and High Table Coin Death FX: the “Relevé” AK-74 Assault Rifle, “Plié” Saug SMG, and the “Arabesque” 9MM PM Pistol. For a snazzier elimination, take them out with the “Dance With Death” Finishing Move. Balance lethality and elegance with additional Ballerina themed content, including the “Pirouette” Emote, “Keepsake” Weapon Charm, animated “Caged Grace” Emblem, animated “Pas de Duex Calling Card, and the “Take a Bow” Loading Screen. Tracer Pack: Ink and Smoke Reactive Ultra Skin Add some class to your deployments with the cel-shaded, black and greyscale “Hardboiled” Ultra Operator Skin for Weaver, accompanied by the Reactive “Lethal Inspection” AMES 85 Assault Rifle and “Personal Detective” ASG-89 Shotgun Weapon Blueprints, both featuring Noir Tracers and Ink Annihilation Death FX. For a closer finish, leap for their throats using the “Wire Cut” Finishing Move. When taking on the undead, equip the “Search Engine” Wonder Weapon skin for the Thrustodyne M23 and show off your Zombies credentials with the “Sidepiece” Weapon Charm, “Dead Noir” Weapon Sticker, “Evidence” Spray, “Greyscale” Loading Screen, and the consumable Time Out GobbleGum. Other Incoming Bundles There’s plenty more awesome new content arriving in the Season 04 Store, including the “Tracer Pack: Olympus Bolt Mastercraft Ultra Skin” Bundle, featuring an electrifying Mastercraft Weapon Blueprint for the new LC10 SMG alongside a divine Ultra Operator Skin for Caine. Also incoming is the “Tracer Pack: System Breach” Bundle, and the “Tracer Pack: The Goat Ultra Skin” Bundle with a Goat Companion Finishing Move. See more of the season’s upcoming Bundles and more in the Season 04 BlackCell, Battle Pass, and Store Bundle blog. Call of Duty League, the pinnacle of competitive Call of Duty, is bringing its fourth and final Major of the season to the DreamHack Dallas show floor. Guests with a CDL add-on ticket can watch Major IV live, where the 12 Call of Duty League teams will battle it out for the final CDL points to qualify for 2025 Call of Duty League Championship in June. Ensure you get into the action by tuning in and watching Major IV live on YouTube. Be sure to link your YouTube account with your Activision ID Account to earn some special viewership rewards (shown above). Click here for more intel. The event starts at 10:300 AM PT Friday, May 23, and continuing at 10:30 AM PT Saturday May 24 with the Finals beginning at 10:30 AM PT Sunday May 25.  Black Ops 6 is available now, and now’s definitely the time to experience the spy action thriller Campaign, the in-depth tactical chaos of best-in-class Multiplayer, and to soak in the gory glory of an incredible round-based Zombies experience with five maps and the brand-new Grief mode! Click here to Purchase Black Ops 6. © 2025 Activision Publishing, Inc. ACTIVISION, CALL OF DUTY, CALL OF DUTY WARZONE, MODERN WARFARE, CALL OF DUTY LEAGUE, and CALL OF DUTY BLACK OPS are trademarks of Activision Publishing, Inc. All other trademarks and trade names are the property of their respective owners. For more information, please visit www.callofduty.com and www.youtube.com/callofduty, and follow @Activision and @CallofDuty on X, Instagram, and Facebook. For Call of Duty Updates, follow @CODUpdates on X. ®, TM & © 2025 Lions Gate Entertainment Inc. and related companies. All Rights Reserved.

The world’s leading storage and server manufacturers are combining their design and engineering expertise with the NVIDIA AI Data Platform — a customizable reference design for building a new class of AI infrastructure — to provide systems that enable a new generation of agentic AI applications and tools. The reference design is now being harnessed by storage system leaders globally to support AI reasoning agents and unlock the value of information stored in the millions of documents, videos and PDFs enterprises use. NVIDIA-Certified Storage partners DDN, Dell Technologies, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Hitachi Vantara, IBM, NetApp, Nutanix, Pure Storage, VAST Data and WEKA are introducing products and solutions built on the NVIDIA AI Data Platform, which includes NVIDIA accelerated computing, networking and software. In addition, AIC, ASUS, Foxconn, Quanta Cloud Technology, Supermicro, Wistron and other original design manufacturers (ODMs) are developing new storage and server hardware platforms that support the NVIDIA reference design. These platforms feature NVIDIA RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell Server Edition GPUs, NVIDIA BlueField DPUs and NVIDIA Spectrum-X Ethernet networking, and are optimized to run NVIDIA AI Enterprise software. Such integrations allow enterprises across industries to quickly deploy storage and data platforms that scan, index, classify and retrieve large stores of private and public documents in real time. This augments AI agents as they reason and plan to solve complex, multistep problems. Building agentic AI infrastructure with these new AI Data Platform-based solutions can help enterprises turn data into actionable knowledge using retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) software, including NVIDIA NeMo Retriever microservices and the AI-Q NVIDIA Blueprint. Storage systems built with the NVIDIA AI Data Platform reference design turn data into knowledge, boosting agentic AI accuracy across many use cases. This can help AI agents and customer service representatives provide quicker, more accurate responses. With more access to data, agents can also generate interactive summaries of complex documents — and even videos — for researchers of all kinds. Plus, they can assist cybersecurity teams in keeping software secure. Leading Storage Providers Showcase AI Data Platform to Power Agentic AI Storage system leaders play a critical role in providing the AI infrastructure that runs AI agents. Embedding NVIDIA GPUs, networking and NIM microservices closer to storage enhances AI queries by bringing compute closer to critical content. Storage providers can integrate their document-security and access-control expertise into content-indexing and retrieval processes, improving security and data privacy compliance for AI inference. Data platform leaders such as IBM, NetApp and VAST Data are using the NVIDIA reference design to scale their AI technologies. IBM Fusion, a hybrid cloud platform for running virtual machines, Kubernetes and AI workloads on Red Hat OpenShift, offers content-aware storage services that unlock the meaning of unstructured enterprise data, enhancing inferencing so AI assistants and agents can deliver better, more relevant answers. Content-aware storage enables faster time to insights for AI applications using RAG when combined with NVIDIA GPUs, NVIDIA networking, the AI-Q NVIDIA Blueprint and NVIDIA NeMo Retriever microservices — all part of the NVIDIA AI Data Platform. NetApp is advancing enterprise storage for agentic AI with the NetApp AIPod solution built with the NVIDIA reference design. NetApp incorporates NVIDIA GPUs in data compute nodes to run NVIDIA NeMo Retriever microservices and connects these nodes to scalable storage with NVIDIA networking. VAST Data is embedding NVIDIA AI-Q with the VAST Data Platform to deliver a unified, AI-native infrastructure for building and scaling intelligent multi-agent systems. With high-speed data access, enterprise-grade security and continuous learning loops, organizations can now operationalize agentic AI systems that drive smarter decisions, automate complex workflows and unlock new levels of productivity. ODMs Innovate on AI Data Platform Hardware Offering their extensive experience with server and storage design and manufacturing, ODMs are working with storage system leaders to more quickly bring innovative AI Data Platform hardware to enterprises. ODMs provide the chassis design, GPU integration, cooling innovation and storage media connections needed to build AI Data Platform servers that are reliable, compact, energy efficient and affordable. A high percentage of the ODM industry’s market share comprises manufacturers based or colocated in Taiwan, making the region a crucial hub for enabling the hardware to run scalable agentic AI, inference and AI reasoning. AIC, based in Taoyuan City, Taiwan, is building flash storage servers, powered by NVIDIA BlueField DPUs, that enable higher throughput and greater power efficiency than traditional storage designs. These arrays are deployed in many AI Data Platform-based designs. ASUS partnered with WEKA and IBM to showcase a next-generation unified storage system for AI and high-performance computing workloads, addressing a broad spectrum of storage needs. The RS501A-E12-RS12U, a WEKA-certified software-defined storage solution, overcomes traditional hardware limitations to deliver exceptional flexibility — supporting file, object and block storage, as well as all-flash, tiering and backup capabilities. Foxconn, based in New Taipei City, builds many of the manufacturing industry’s accelerated servers and storage platforms used for AI Data Platform solutions. Its subsidiary Ingrasys offers NVIDIA-accelerated GPU servers that support the AI Data Platform. Supermicro is using the reference design to build its intelligent all-flash storage arrays powered by the NVIDIA Grace CPU Superchip or BlueField-3 DPU. The Supermicro Petascale JBOF and Petascale All-Flash Array Storage Server deliver high performance and power efficiency with software-defined storage vendors and support use with AI Data Platform solutions. Quanta Cloud Technology, also based in Taiwan, is designing and building accelerated server and storage appliances that include NVIDIA GPUs and networking. They’re well-suited to run NVIDIA AI Enterprise software and support AI Data Platform solutions. Taipei-based Wistron and Wiwynn offer innovative hardware designs compatible with the AI Data Platform, incorporating NVIDIA GPUs, NVIDIA BlueField DPUs and NVIDIA Ethernet SuperNICs for accelerated compute and data movement. Learn more about the latest agentic AI advancements at NVIDIA GTC Taipei, running May 21-22 at COMPUTEX.

NVIDIA and Taiwan’s manufacturing ecosystem, including Delta Electronics, Foxconn, TSMC and Wistron, are showcasing this week at COMPUTEX in Taipei the crucial role digital twins play in accelerating industrial AI. These electronics, semiconductor and robotics manufacturing leaders are using Universal Scene Description (OpenUSD) and NVIDIA Omniverse libraries and blueprints to develop physically based digital twins. This is transforming factory planning by unlocking new operational efficiencies and accelerating the development, testing and validation of autonomous robots and robotic fleets. Many of these manufacturers are also extending the digitalization of their factories to the real world, using the NVIDIA AI Blueprint for video search and summarization (VSS) — now generally available and part of the NVIDIA Metropolis platform — to deploy video analytics AI agents into their operations and drive additional automation and optimizations in defect detection and other operations. Taiwan Manufacturers Optimize Planning and Operations With Simulation and AI Agents  Taiwan’s leading electronics and semiconductor manufacturers are using digital twins, physically based simulation and AI agents to optimize existing operations and vastly accelerate the planning and commissioning of new factories. Foxconn is leading the way. At its Taiwan facilities, Foxconn engineers rely on the Fii Digital Twin platform, developed with OpenUSD, Siemens and Omniverse technologies, to design and simulate robot work cells, assembly lines and entire factory layouts. These digital twins connect to material control systems and use Autodesk Flexsim, NVIDIA cuOpt and NVIDIA Isaac Sim to enable engineers to simulate and dynamically optimize the flow of materials, equipment, autonomous mobile robots (AMRs), automated guided vehicles, and other robots and humans. By developing a standard digital twin model for their factories, Foxconn can quickly migrate and easily reconfigure its designs and plans for new factory deployments. Foxconn is using the NVIDIA Isaac GR00T N1 model, the NVIDIA Isaac GR00T-Mimic blueprint for synthetic manipulation motion generation and NVIDIA Isaac Lab to train industrial manipulator arms and humanoid robots for performing complex tasks such as screw-tightening, pick and place, assembly and cable insertion. Foxconn robotics developers use the Mega NVIDIA Omniverse Blueprint to simulate and test large robotic fleets comprising AMRs, manipulators and humanoid robots before deploying them in facilities. To accelerate analysis and decision-making, Foxconn engineers use their digital twin platform to conduct thermal assessments of POD rooms across different scenarios. By connecting their digital twins to the Cadence Reality Digital Twin Platform and integrating NVIDIA PhysicsNeMo frameworks, teams can conduct thermal simulations 150x faster, reduce thermal risks and identify energy-saving opportunities. Using the Omniverse Blueprint for AI factory digital twins, Foxconn can simulate and test GB200 Grace Blackwell Superchips in liquid-cooled PODs to replicate the conditions of an AI factory. Credit: Foxconn The company is also deploying video analytics AI agents using the VSS blueprint from NVIDIA Metropolis for real-time video analysis and insights in live production scenarios. TSMC is collaborating with an AI-powered digital twins startup to optimize the planning and construction of its new fabs. TSMC taps into an AI engine and applications built with Omniverse libraries to transform traditional 2D computer-aided designs into rich, interactive 3D layouts of their complex facilities, including specialized areas like clean rooms. Credit: TSMC Visualizing these optimized layouts in a digital twin allows planning teams to proactively identify and resolve equipment collisions, understand system interdependencies, and assess impacts on space and operational key performance indicators. This AI-driven approach is enhanced by NVIDIA cuOpt for optimization and reinforcement learning with NVIDIA Isaac Lab, enabling the generation of intricate, multilevel piping systems in seconds — a task that traditionally requires substantial time and effort. This enables engineers to virtually validate complex pipe routing and drastically reduce design revisions, ultimately streamlining the entire fab development process. TSMC also uses vision language models and vision foundation models to improve automated defect classification workflows — boosting efficiency to classify wafer product defects for engineers to pinpoint potential root causes for the issues. Beyond the use of digital twins and vision AI, TSMC also taps into NVIDIA CUDA-X software libraries and NVIDIA GPUs to accelerate its entire semiconductor chip design workflow — from lithography with NVIDIA cuLitho to semiconductor process simulation. Wistron teams drive operational efficiencies, optimize layout planning of their plants, and train robots and workers with the Wistron Digital Twin (WiDT) platform. The platform is powered by software from Autodesk, Cadence and Microsoft and taps into NVIDIA AI and Omniverse libraries. By connecting the WiDT platform to generative AI tools and real-time data from surface mount technology machines and shopfloor control systems, operations teams can visualize real-time dashboards to quickly diagnose and improve machine and plant performance. Wistron robotics developers use the platform, and its integration with NVIDIA Isaac Sim, to simulate and test robotic arms. With a simulation-first approach, teams reduced the time needed for each arm to assemble parts on the production line by 12 seconds. Credit: Wistron The Wistron digital twin platform also uses the VSS blueprint to create and curate training videos for teaching workers how to perform and manage complex tasks and scenarios. The platform uses NVIDIA Cosmos Tokenizer to help teams analyze and break down worker actions on the production line and improve standard operating procedures. This approach is enabling Wistron to accelerate onboarding, improve worker productivity and ensure safety. Wiwynn uses AI-enabled digital twins built with Omniverse technologies to optimize factory layouts, simulate production, integrate cobots and enhance quality control through improved inspection and analysis. These solutions have driven significant manufacturing and logistics innovation and efficiencies. Pegatron’s PEGAVERSE and PEGAAi platforms equip engineers and factory managers with digital twins that support many use cases, including factory planning, predictive maintenance, process optimization, resource planning, remote monitoring and quality control. Teams also use the platforms to build visual AI agents to help workers perfect complex assembly tasks. These AI agents, developed with the NVIDIA AI Blueprint for VSS and NVIDIA Metropolis, have enabled Pegatron to augment assembly processes, reduce labor costs by 7% and decrease assembly line defect rates by 67%. Kenmec and MetAI are using Omniverse technologies and the Mega NVIDIA Omniverse Blueprint to build physically accurate digital twins for simulating, testing and deploying warehouse automation solutions. Together, the teams virtualized the entire Chief Smart Logistics Center, creating a full-fidelity simulation environment that brings together physical dynamics, real-time controller logic, AI-driven testing and optimization — all within a simulated environment. GIGABYTE operations teams are using digital twins developed with Omniverse libraries and connected to live IoT data from the manufacturing floor to improve operational monitoring of production systems. By visually flagging anomalies, including equipment issues and delays, the digital twins help teams quickly identify issues, conduct root cause analysis and take corrective actions. Quanta Cloud Technology engineering, operations and logistics teams collaborate using digital twin solutions built with Omniverse to accelerate factory planning. Digital twins provide these cross-functional teams with access to the latest design data, enabling them to provide immediate feedback on proposed layouts, which leads to optimized workflows and improved space utilization. Teams can further extend collaboration sessions to external customers and suppliers so they can remotely contribute to design reviews and validation. Credit: Quanta Manufacturers Embrace Digital Twins to Accelerate Robotics Development In addition to creating the future in manufacturing, Taiwan manufacturers are using digital twins, powered by Omniverse libraries and blueprints, to develop the next wave of AI-enabled robots. Delta Electronics is using Isaac Sim to optimize electronic component production and to simulate, train and validate its entire range of industrial robots — from AMRs to industrial manipulators. Credit: Delta Electronics The company is transforming its expertise into a service by designing a cyber-physical integrated classroom to be launched soon in Taiwan, where customers learn to use the DIATwin platform to simulate and integrate Delta’s industrial equipment and robots to ensure a more effective implementation into their own production lines. Credit: Techman Robot Techman Robot is advancing intelligent automation at Volkswagen’s Transparent Factory. Using Isaac Sim, Techman’s AI Cobots learn to operate on GESSbot AMRs in physically accurate simulations to perform real-time assembly, inspection and adaptive manipulation tasks with precision. By simulating robot behavior and workflows virtually, Techman Robot has reduced the time to program robots by 70% and improved robot productivity by 20%. Credit: Foxlink Foxlink is using the Isaac GR00T N1 model to add generalized intelligence and autonomy to its industrial robots used in manufacturing facilities. Solomon’s AI vision solution, powered by NVIDIA Isaac Manipulator CUDA-X acceleration libraries, is helping Inventec significantly accelerate its robotic server inspection process by boosting complex motion planning speed by up to 8x and reducing errors by 50%. Kudan is integrating its Visual SLAM technology with Isaac Perceptor CUDA-X acceleration libraries into NexAIoT’s AMR, NexMOV-2. This integration uses advanced 3D perception and navigation, enabling them to navigate complex, unstructured environments such as manufacturing, logistics and healthcare facilities with greater precision and reliability. MSI is powering its industrial robots with the NVIDIA Jetson AGX Orin module to perform a variety of tasks, from pick-and-place and material handling to delivering payloads inside large warehouses and facilities. Credit: Adata In healthcare, Adata and Advantech are jointly using Isaac Sim, Isaac Perceptor and Jetson Orin to develop AMRs for disinfecting hospitals. This collaboration has reduced deployment time by 70% and made the disinfection process 3x faster. Ubitus is also using the Isaac platform to train G1 humanoid robots to deliver medical checkup materials and specimens, helping alleviate labor shortages in hospitals. Learn more by watching the COMPUTEX keynote from NVIDIA founder and CEO Jensen Huang and attending sessions at NVIDIA GTC Taipei, running through May 22. See notice regarding software product information. Featured image courtesy of Quanta (top left), Wistron (top right), Foxconn (bottom left), Pegatron (bottom right).

With New York State officials set to award up to three downstate casino licenses in New York City by the end of 2025, more than a dozen proposals across the boroughs have emerged to vie for the prize. Earlier this week, Related Companies and Wynn Resorts, pushing a casino scheme as part of the westward extension of Hudson Yards, have officially withdrawn from the race, citing local opposition to the project. Instead, Related Companies will focus on building luxury housing above the Western Rail Yard site, targeting the construction of 4,000 residences overlooking the Hudson River. Wynn Resorts will exit the project entirely, Michel Weaver, a spokesman for the company, said in a statement. “The recent rezoning process has made it clear to us that there are uses for our capital more accretive to our shareholders, such as investment in our existing and upcoming developments and stock buybacks, than investing in an area in which we, or any casino operator, will face years of persistent opposition despite our willingness to employ 5,000 New Yorkers,” said Weaver. The pairt’s vision for the undeveloped rail yards, dubbed Hudson Yards West, was denounced by both the Friends of the Highline and Manhattan Community Board 4, an advisory committee for development in the neighborhoods surrounding Hudson Yards. Hudson Yards West’s viability had hinged on a controversial augmentation to its zoning, which would have drastically reduced the number of residential units in favor of commercial use and the aforementioned casino program. Though the rezoning proposal had been advanced to City Council by the City Planning Commission, it appears that councilmember Erik Bottcher, who represents the lower west side of Manhattan, was unlikely to approve the scheme. “I am highly skeptical of any alterations to the existing zoning regulations and the potential reduction of housing units,” Bottcher said previously, in a statement. Hudson Yards West would have included a 5.6 acre park named Hudson Green. (Courtesy Related Companies and Wynn Resorts) The initial concept for Hudson Yards West was master planned by SOM in collaboration with Hollander Design and Sasaki. It included a public park, in addition to housing and office space. How much the master plan will be revised going forward remains to be seen. Other casinos bids include Citi Field, backed by Steve Cohen and Hard Rock; a Times Square bid from SL Green, Caesars, and Roc Nation; an 11th Avenue site developed by Silverstein Properties; a proposal at Freedom Plaza by Mohegan and Soloviev Group; a Coney Island scheme from Legends Entertainment and the Chickasaw Nation; an extension of the existing Aqueduct Racetrack; and Bally’s takeover of a former Trump golf course in the Bronx. Formal bids for a casino license are due by June 27, with the winning proposals announced by the end of the year.

The developers behind a potential casino planned for Hudson Yards have dropped the plans following “persistent opposition” to the proposal. As Archinect reported in February 2024, Related Companies and Wynn Resorts had submitted plans for Phase Two of Hudson Yards, with two scenarios for development. One of the scenarios included a five-story gaming/resort podium. “After careful consideration, we have decided not to lodge an application for a gaming license in New York City,” Wynn Resorts said in a statement. “The recent rezoning process has made it clear to us that there are uses for our capital more accretive to our shareholders, such as investment in our existing and upcoming developments and stock buybacks, than investing in an area in which we, or any casino operator, will face years of persistent opposition despite our willingness to employ 5,000 New Yorkers.” When revealed last year, the development plans prompted opposition from the founders of The High Line, which would hav...