Author

admin

Cyberpunk 2077 sequel features second city that’s like “Chicago gone wrong”, says series creator

by admin May 21, 2025

Mike Pondsmith, the creator of the Cyberpunk tabletop RPG that formed the basis of Cyberpunk 2077, has been discussing CD Projekt’s in-development sequel, saying it’ll feature second city that feels like “Chicago gone wrong”.

CD Projekt confirmed a Cyberpunk 2077 sequel was in the works back in 2022, and only a scant few details have been shared since then. We know it’s currently being referred to by the codename Project Orion, for instance, that it’s being developed by CD Projekt’s Boston and Vancouver studios, and… well, that’s about it.

Pondsmith, though, has now provided what might just be the first tangible details of CD Projekt’s Cyberpunk 2077 sequel. Speaking to TVGRY during this year’s Digital Dragons Conference in Krakow, he explained that while he’s “not as involved directly” with Project Orion as he was its predecessor, he still sees the scripts and has been visiting its development studio.

Here’s a trailer for Cyberpunk 2077’s Ultimate Edition.Watch on YouTube

“Last week,” he revealed, “I was wandering around talking to different departments and seeing what they had… I spent a lot of time talking to one of the environment guys, and he was explaining how the new place in Orion… because there’s another city we visit, and I’m not telling you anymore than that.”

Luckily for everyone (except, perhaps, CD Projekt, which seems unlikely to have sanctioned any of these reveals), Pondsmith did share a little more. First, he confirmed “Night City is still there” alongside this second location, before teasing how Project Orion’s two cities will differentiate themselves. “I remember looking at [the new location] and going, ‘Yeah, I understand the feel that you’re going for, and this really does work. It doesn’t feel like Blade Runner, it feels more like Chicago gone wrong’. And I said, ‘Yeah, I can see this working.'”

Interestingly, while Pondsmith only suggested Project Orion’s second location was like Chicago, fans have long speculated the actual city of Chicago will play a key role in CD Projekt’s sequel. As explained in a fairly comprehensive post on the Cyberpunk subreddit, the in-universe version of Chicago has struggled through both an economic collapse, a corporate war, and a bio-plague – so “gone wrong” would very much apply here. Additionally, Cyberpunk 2077’s Phantom Liberty expansion features a possible ending that can nudge players several years forward in the timeline, after which the Transcontinental Maglev Network project referenced in the base game – one linking Night City with Chicago – is revealed to be complete.

It’s certainly a compelling theory, especially given Pondsmith’s latest chatter, but there’s obviously no guarantee any of this will make it through the years of development required to turn Project Orion – which is currently in the pre-production phase – into a complete and released game. That won’t happen until sometime after The Witcher 4’s still-nebulous launch window – but at least that leaves plenty of time to wrap up the original Cyberpunk 2077, which will soon be making its Nintendo debut on Switch 2.

Source link

May 21, 2025 0 comments

NFT Gaming

US Tourist Says Bitcoin, XRP Worth $123K Stolen After Ride With Fake Uber in London

by admin May 21, 2025

In brief

A U.S. tourist lost more than $123,000 in cryptocurrency after being drugged and abducted by a fake Uber driver in London’s West End.
The attacker reportedly gained access to the victim’s digital wallet after obtaining his phone passcode.
Police are investigating the incident amid a rise in physical attacks targeting crypto holders across Europe.

A U.S. tourist has lost more than $123,000 in crypto after being targeted in a suspected premeditated theft in London’s West End following a night out and a short stay in the city.

Jacob Irwin-Cline from Portland, Oregon, was on a two-day layover when he called an Uber after leaving The Roxy, a nightclub in Soho, around 1:30 AM on May 9.

Police reports indicate a driver who knew his name from the app intercepted him, according to an initial report from local media outlet MyLondon.

CCTV footage from the nightclub later requested by Irwin-Cline revealed that he entered a dark sedan rather than the Toyota Prius displayed on his Uber app.

“The guy seemed super chill, super nice,” Irwin-Cline recounted.

The driver then offered him a cigarette, believed to contain scopolamine, a sedative causing blackouts while keeping victims conscious and suggestible.

“I said I stopped smoking, but he said, ‘Oh, c’mon. I said, ‘Sure, if you want to bond over a cigarette, ‘” Irwin-Cline reportedly said.

While under the influence, Irwin-Cline unwittingly provided his phone’s passcode and access to his crypto accounts before he was abandoned in an unfamiliar area of London.

Authorities later confirmed the attackers accessed his wallet directly after a forced login of his Revolut account.

The London incident marks the latest instance across Europe involving a “wrench attack,” a term used to refer to physical threats forcing victims to surrender their crypto.

Irwin-Cline estimates his total crypto losses at $123,000, including $72,000 in XRP tokens, approximately $50,000 in Bitcoin, and several smaller coin positions were drained.

He also said he doesn’t believe he was targeted and that instead the attacker got “lucky” that he had a “bit of wealth stored away.”

An investigation is ongoing, and no arrests have yet been made. Decrypt reached out to relevant authorities for comment.

Edited by Sebastian Sinclair

Daily Debrief Newsletter

Start every day with the top news stories right now, plus original features, a podcast, videos and more.

Source link

May 21, 2025 0 comments

Crypto Trends

Google Unveils Android XR Glasses with Gemini AI Integration

by admin May 21, 2025

In brief

At Google I/O, Google demos Android XR glasses with Gemini AI for translation, navigation, media, and real-time help.
The glasses are in beta testing and Google plans to release them with eyewear brands Gentle Monster, and Warby Parker.
Google is positioning Android XR to rival Meta’s AI glasses.

Google unveiled Android XR, a new extended reality platform designed to integrate its Gemini AI into wearable devices such as smart glasses and headsets.

During its 2025 I/O developer conference on Tuesday, the tech giant showcased the Android XR glasses, the company’s first eyewear set since the ill-fated Google Glass smart glasses in 2023.

During the presentation, Shahram Izadi, Vice President and General Manager at Android XR, highlighted the need for portability and quick access to information without relying on a phone.

“When you’re on the go, you’ll want lightweight glasses that can give you timely information without reaching for your phone,” he said. “We built Android XR together as one team with Samsung and optimized it for Snapdragon with Qualcomm.”

Google first announced Android XR in December 2024. The reveal arrived eight months after Meta released the latest version of its Ray-Ban Meta AI glasses—a sign of growing competition in the wearable AI space.

Glasses with Android XR are lightweight and designed for all-day wear. They work with your phone so you can be hands-free, stay in the moment with friends and complete your to-do list. pic.twitter.com/CLXGxeQPzs

— Google (@Google) May 20, 2025

Like Meta’s AI glasses, the Android XR glasses include a camera, microphones, and speakers and can connect to an Android device.

Google’s flagship AI, Gemini, provides real-time information, language translation, and an optional in-lens display that shows information when needed.

During the presentation, Google also showed off the Android XR glasses live streaming capabilities, as well as their ability to take photos, receive text messages, and display Google Maps.

Google also demonstrated how Gemini can complement exploration and navigation through immersive experiences.

“With Google Maps in XR, you can teleport anywhere in the world simply by asking Gemini to take you there,” Izadi said. “You can talk with your AI assistant about anything you see and have it pull up videos and websites about what you’re exploring.”

While Google did not announce a release date or price, Izadi said the glasses would be available through partnerships with South Korean eyewear brand Gentle Monster and U.S. brand Warby Parker, adding that a developer platform for Android XR is in development.

“We’re creating the software and reference hardware platform to enable the ecosystem to build great glasses alongside us,” Parker said. “Our glasses prototypes are already being used by trusted testers, and you’ll be able to start developing for glasses later this year.”

Edited by Sebastian Sinclair

Generally Intelligent Newsletter

A weekly AI journey narrated by Gen, a generative AI model.

Source link

May 21, 2025 0 comments

Gaming Gear

AMD’s Radeon RX 9060 XT Could Do Budget GPUs Better Than Nvidia

by admin May 21, 2025

In the battle of the low-end, 60-class graphics cards, AMD wants to see if it can pull off the same sucker punch of price and performance it gave Nvidia during the launch of its mid-range GPUs. The graphics card maker offered the first, sparse details on its Radeon RX 9060 XT graphics processors late Tuesday at Computex. The card may offer enough power for your PC to hit solid gaming performance at 1440p resolution, similar to the $450 Nvidia GeForce RTX 5060 Ti, on cheaper gaming rigs. The real inflection point of this latest card will be whether you can actually buy it for its base price.

The Radeon RX 9060 XT is the step down in GPU performance from the RX 9070 that AMD launched back in March. It’s based on the same RDNA 4 microarchitecture of the mid-range cards, but with 32 of the company’s latest compute units compared to the 56 on the higher-end card. The GPU comes with two options: one with 8 GB and another with 16 GB of GDDR6 VRAM. The version with more memory will be better for your rig long-term, especially if you plan to hook your PC up to a 1440p monitor and run the latest, more graphically intensive games.

AMD did not offer us the full range of specs, which makes it hard to pin down just where this GPU will land in terms of raw performance compared to Nvidia’s latest cards. While the number of RDNA 4 compute units—the core clusters on AMD cards that process the thousands of calculations necessary for graphically intensive tasks—offers a vague impression of performance compared to the RX 9070, AMD didn’t provide any charts to compare FPS between games. The GPU runs on a 3.13GHz boost clock and has between 150W and 182W of board power compared to the 2.54 GHz clock and 304W board power on the company’s Radeon RX 9070 XT.

Without a price tag, it’s impossible to judge how much of a step down the latest card is compared to the RX 9070. AMD didn’t offer any word on a non-XT variant, either. The card will require a PCIe 5.0 x16 interface, the same as its other cards. AMD doesn’t craft its own GPUs and instead relies on AIC (add-in card) makers to produce its cards. We’ll update this article if AMD announces details on price or availability during its Computex keynote.

The crown jewel of AMD’s current lineup of graphics cards is the RX 9070 XT. AMD made headlines when it set the suggested sale price of the GPU at $600, only $50 more than the 9070, but it packs enough performance to get playable framerates out of multiple intensive games at 4K with a fair amount of ray tracing settings turned up. Unfortunately, because of a combination of tariffs and stock woes, the 9070 XT ended up priced at over $800 and as high as $1,000 at some online retailers.

We’ve seen prices fluctuate regularly over the past several months, but a near 20% price inflation to what should be a mid-range card is simply too much to stomach. However, the lower-end GPUs are faring better. The RTX 5060 Ti MSRP is set at $450, and the lowest price we’ve seen so far is $480. The $300 RTX 5060 is sitting closer to $320 from some AIC makers like Gigabyte. A fair number of Nvidia’s lowest-end GPUs are currently listed as “Out of Stock” or “Coming Soon” on sites like Newegg and Best Buy. Those buying a lower-end GPU are more price sensitive than people who can drop $2,000 on an RTX 5090 without blinking. AMD has even more impetus to set a price people can afford, and make sure it can keep costs level when the card finally hits store shelves.

Source link

May 21, 2025 0 comments

GameFi Guides

Bancor sues Uniswap for patent infringement

by admin May 21, 2025

Bprotocol Foundation and LocalCoin have filed a lawsuit against Uniswap Labs and the Uniswap Foundation, alleging patent infringement.

On May 20, 2025, the Bprotocol Foundation and LocalCoin, entities behind Bancor Protocol and the Bancor token BNT, announced the lawsuit against Uniswap (UNI). The platforms filed the lawsuit in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York.

Bancor is accusing Uniswap for infringing on the protocol’s patents around technology on smart contracts use in decentralized trading. Uniswap is a leading decentralized exchange that commands huge volumes and users in the crypto market.

In the lawsuit, Bancor alleges that Uniswap has used its patented technology underpinning the constant product automated market maker (CPAMM), the core mechanism powering the Uniswap Protocol. Bprotocol and LocalCoin claim this constitutes unauthorized use of proprietary technology.

“When an organization continuously uses our invention without our authorization and does so as a means of competing with us, we must take action,” reads part of the press release Bancor published on Tuesday.

The project claims Uniswap has relied on this technology over the past eight years, all without permission from Bancor.

The legal action, according to Bprotocol Foundation and LocalCoin, is intended to defend their intellectual property from continued unlicensed use.

Bancor filed for a patent for its decentralized trading technology in 2017, having invented it in 2016. It’s the same technology that it used to launch its AMM powered DEX protocol.

Bprotocol Foundation and LocalCoin say they own all rights pertaining to the invention, and that Uniswap Labs has illegally used it in the Uniswap Protocol since launching v1 in November 2018. The protocol unveiled its new DEX platform Carbon in April 2023.

The Uniswap Protocol meanwhile has grown since v1.

Recently, it crossed the $3 trillion cumulative swap volume, a milestone that comes amid a resurgence in the DeFi market.

Meanwhile, the total value locked in the protocol has increased significantly amid upgrades that have seen Uniswap launch v4.

According to DeFiLlama data, Uniswap TVL currently stands at over $4.8 billion.

Source link

May 21, 2025 0 comments

Game Updates

Don’t be shocked that Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein isn’t horror

by admin May 21, 2025

Guillermo del Toro recently spoke at the Cannes Film Festival, sharing some details about his upcoming film Frankenstein, set to release on Netflix later this year. As reported by Variety, he said he’s been asked whether his movie will have “really scary scenes.” That prompted the Academy Award-winning director to ponder how people would receive the movie made: “For the first time, I considered that. It’s an emotional story for me. It’s as personal as anything. I’m asking a question about being a father, being a son… I’m not doing a horror movie — ever. I’m not trying to do that.”

While it can be confusing to hear a man with story and producer credits on a film literally called Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark (adapted from the excellent book of the same name) say he’s “not trying to do” horror, that mindset aligns with most of his career.

Del Toro’s early movies, like Cronos and The Devil’s Backbone, can certainly be classified as horror. While his later films feature frightening elements, though, they break away from conventional horror and lean more into gothic fantasies and dark fairy tales. I was as scared as anyone by the Pale Man in Pan’s Labyrinth, perhaps his most famous film, but that doesn’t make it a horror movie. It’s more of a fantasy and a parable, examining the realities of war through the eyes and imaginative reinterpretations of a young girl.

Though Crimson Peak tells a ghost story, it features romance at its core. And The Shape of Water continues a focus on romance, as well as telling a story centered around embracing the Other. With an ending that sees protagonist Elisa (Sally Hawkins) becoming a mythical creature herself, it’s more of a fairy tale than a horror film.

Emphasizing with the ostracized is at the core of plenty of del Toro’s work, whether its Elisa and The Amphibian Man’s fairy-tale-esque love story or Hellboy’s pursuit of normalcy in del Toro’s adaptation of Mike Mignola’s comics. “The first time I thought I was going to avenge the creature was when Marilyn Monroe is coming out [of 1954’s The Creature from the Black Lagoon] in The Seven Year Itch with Tom Ewell, and she says the creature just needed somebody to like him,” del Toro said at Cannes. “I fell in love with Marilyn, and I fell in love with the creature in that scene at a very early age. And I thought, you know, all we have is people that look at people the wrong way. That’s what we have in this world.”

Don’t expect Frankenstein to be any different. “[F]or me, it’s an incredibly emotional movie,” del Toro said. With its focus on the parental relationship between Victor Frankenstein and his creation, Frankenstein sounds similar to del Toro’s last film, the stop-motion Pinocchio. “[Geppetto] has asked, almost like in a horror tale: ‘I want my child back.’ And the child comes back in a way that he doesn’t recognize,” del Toro told Polygon about Pinocchio in 2022. It marked his return to animation after a pooping burglar destroyed his first attempt at the medium. Now that’s what I’d consider a horror story.

Source link

May 21, 2025 0 comments

AMD's Jack Huynh on stage at Computex 2025 in front of an FSR 4 Redstone presentation

Product Reviews

AMD just gave us our first glimpse of FSR 4’s ‘Redstone’ update, with a host of machine learning-based improvements

by admin May 21, 2025

AMD just gave us our first look at a significant update to FSR 4, codenamed “Redstone.” The new update is due to arrive in the second half of this year, and looks like something of a catch-up phase to counter Nvidia’s recent efforts with DLSS.

Top of the list is Neural Radiance Caching, which is presumably the equivalent of Nvidia’s Neural Rendering tech. FS4 Redstone will also feature machine learning-enhanced ray regeneration, with some more machine learning magic (it’s not actually magic, I know) added to its Frame Generation tech, too.

(Image credit: AMD)

And a very shiny AMD-red car, of course. The news comes as a bit of a surprise as it didn’t turn up in our pre-briefing slides, but yours truly is sitting in Taipei right now at the press conference typing furiously on his laptop to catch you up.

UPDATE: “All eyes now turn to Liberty’s Heart” Helldivers 2’s big battle for Super Earth is here, as the Heart of Democracy update brings an Illuminate “Great Host” invasion

by admin May 21, 2025

UPDATE (20/05/25, 10:00 AM BST): Arrowhead has just dropped the Heart of Democracy update that leaks had previously hinted at, meaning missions on Super Earth itself have arrived.

“Fight among the towering skyscrapers and crowded streets of our home turf as the Illuminate rain down destruction all around you,” the studio wrote in a PlayStation Blog post, “Inside the city biomes, you will tackle operations and work to liberate cities together, having a significant impact on planetary campaigns.

Your mission is repel the invasion and arm some killer cannons, with Arrowhead explaining: “The might of Super Earth’s arsenal lies hidden beneath our peaceful, democratic streets. With your help, we must activate our Planetary Defense Cannons and take down the Illuminate fleet in a grand show of power.”

You’ll have help from some commandable squads of SEAF troops and have to avoid killing any of the Super Earth citizens you find running around the streets.

Original story follows:

It’s been clear since last week that Helldivers 2’s Galactic War is headed to Super Earth, with a renewed Illuminate offensive pushing towards the home planet of the Helldivers. With the conclusion of the latest major order seeing three planets fall in one fell swoop, that battle’s now imminent.

We’ll still have to see whether this fight for the ball that gifted the galaxy a militaristic force that acts quite fascisty comes with its own fresh update to the game, as leaks have suggested. Either way, though, it’s shaping up to be just as key a point in the war as you’d think.

Manage cookie settings

To set up this inevitable next step in the way, the game’s latest major order has just ended with players losing three planets to The Illuminate “Great Host” at once. Widow’s Harbor, Pilen V, and New Haven – all Altus Sector worlds which are right on Super Earth’s doorstep – are now occupied by the squids.

The Helldivers just couldn’t hold them, despite what looks to have been a very valiant effort. Especially so in the case of New Haven, which looks to have fallen at the order’s climax, leaving folks either watching on in horror from orbit or planting the Super Earth flag in defiance before exfiltrating one final time with a declaration that they’ll be back.

As I was writing this, Arrowhead’s just announced a further blow – The Illuminate have “razed” Mars, forcing Helldiver training facilities to be moved to another planet.

Mars has been razed by the Illuminate. All Helldiver Training Sites across the planet, where rigorous, thorough, and safe training of the Galaxy’s Elite has long occured, have been destroyed. The expert and seasoned facility PA operators who facilitated the training died… pic.twitter.com/16yEhLK0MM

— HELLDIVERS™ 2 (@helldivers2) May 20, 2025

Manage cookie settings

All these losses have got them pretty amped up to defend Super Earth too. “Super Earth’s hyper-urbanized landscapes once grew bountiful wheat. Soon, Illuminate blood shall make it fertile again,” a user with the handle Efficient_Menu_9965 wrote in one of those threads, while Diamondeye12 busted out the caps lock to bellow: “WE WILL HOLD SUPER EARTH TILL THE LAST MAN WOMAN AND CHILD.”

Arrowhead’s briefing for the order’s conclusion is every bit the ra-ra speech you’d expect with such an important clash in the offing. “Millions of Helldivers—paragons of valor, fortitude, and unshakable obedience—undaunted by a knowingly unwinnable fight, formed Democracy’s first line of defense,” the studio wrote making it clear this had not been “in vain”.

“Firstly, this heroic stand impeded the unforeseen Illuminate offensive and, in a testament to our martial superiority, reduced their estimated fleet strength by 21.5%,” it continued, “Additionally, the time secured by their sacrifice has been fully utilized: Mega Cities are now heavily fortified, garrisons reinforced by SEAF battalions recalled from distant sectors.

“The fight for our Freedom is upon us. There is no fallback. All eyes now turn to Liberty’s Heart, as the Helldivers prepare to fight for the very survival of Managed Democracy.”

So, get ready to lock and load. There’s a planet to defend, and you can’t just drop a crap tonne of mechs on your foes anymore.

Source link

May 21, 2025 0 comments

NFT Gaming

Apex Group Expands Into Tokenization Buying Majority Stake in Tokeny

by admin May 21, 2025

Apex Group, a financial services provider with more than $3 trillion in assets under administration, said on Tuesday it had acquired a majority stake in Tokeny, a Luxembourg-based firm that helps institutions tokenize real-world assets (RWA) on public blockchains.

According to the deal, Apex expects to take full ownership of Tokeny over the next three years, after first investing in the company in late 2023, Apex said in a press release. The companies did not disclose the terms of the acquisition in the press release, and a spokesperson did not immediately return a request for comment.

The acquisition comes as more traditional financial firms are looking at tokenization as the next frontier in capital markets, using blockchain technology for moving assets like bonds, funds and other securities.

For institutional investors, the process promises simpler cross-border transactions, faster settlement and new liquidity channels. Tokenized assets could be a $18 trillion market by 2033, a report from BCG and Ripple last month projected.

“Tokenization is a foundational shift in how assets will be managed, distributed, and accessed,” Apex founder and CEO Peter Hughes said in a statement. “Our strengthened partnership with Tokeny is key to delivering on our vision to be the infrastructure provider in the digital era of finance.”

Tokeny’s infrastructure has already been used to tokenize over $32 billion in assets, supporting the full life cycle of tokenized securities — from issuance to transfer to compliance — and is best known for establishing ERC-3643, a widely used standard for compliant digital asset transfers, the press release said.

Apex said Tokeny’s team and tools will be brought in-house, and it aims to offer clients a turnkey infrastructure for blockchain-based finance, layering smart contracts and decentralized protocols on top of its traditional services.

Read more: Ripple, BCG Project $18.9T Tokenized Asset Market by 2033

Source link

May 21, 2025 0 comments

Crypto Trends

Wall Street Ponke breaks 300k in hours and sets sights on 100x memecoin status

by admin May 21, 2025

Disclosure: This article does not represent investment advice. The content and materials featured on this page are for educational purposes only.

Wall Street Ponke raises $300k fast, aiming to restore integrity to memecoins with AI tools that protect and empower traders.

Wall Street Ponke is not just another memecoin riding the trend, it’s a statement. Launched with a bold mission to restore value and integrity to the memecoin space, this project has already raised over 300,000 dollars in its opening presale hours. That kind of explosive momentum shows there is serious demand for memecoins with substance. Investors are no longer just chasing hype, they’re looking for purpose , and Wall Street Ponke delivers exactly that.

The project was born from a rejection of what the memecoin space has become. Too many coins launch with flashy branding and empty promises, leaving behind a trail of disappointed investors. Wall Street Ponke stands against that. Its core vision revolves around empowering traders with tools that genuinely matter. At the heart of its platform is an artificial intelligence engine that scans new tokens and detects red flags in real time. This feature gives users the kind of insight that can help them avoid scams, fake liquidity, and other traps that plague the crypto market.

Wall Street Ponke launches e-learning hub to educate and empower all levels of traders

In addition to fraud detection, the project is rolling out an e-learning center focused on trader education. Whether someone is a beginner trying to understand basic crypto terms or an experienced holder looking to deepen their market strategy, Wall Street Ponke provides interactive and useful content tailored to real-world crypto situations.

Wall Street Ponke is creating an ecosystem where traders can actually grow and trade smarter, not just hope for luck.

But what’s really catching the community’s attention is how quickly this vision is turning into reality. The fact that the presale crossed 300k in just hours is not just a number, it’s a sign. A sign that the market is tired of the same recycled narratives and is finally supporting projects that bring utility, ethics, and long-term thinking into the world of memecoins. Wall Street Ponke is here to change the game, and early backers know they might be sitting on the next 100x opportunity.

For more information, visit the official website, X and Telegram.

Disclosure: This content is provided by a third party. crypto.news does not endorse any product mentioned on this page. Users must do their own research before taking any actions related to the company.

Source link

May 21, 2025 0 comments