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‘No Reason to Buy Bitcoin’: Ether Supporters Celebrating ATH

by admin August 23, 2025

Ethereum (ETH) price hits ATH, community celebrates
Ethereum’s (ETH) next step: Price discovery ahead?

Yesterday, on Aug. 22, 2025, Ethereum (ETH), the second-largest cryptocurrency, finally hit an ATH over $4,885 on major spot exchanges. The Ethereum (ETH) community in CT is mocking its opponents and guessing the potential targets of ETH’s price rally.

Ethereum (ETH) price hits ATH, community celebrates

With Ethereum (ETH) smashing through its 2021 high, there’s no reason to buy Bitcoin (BTC) any longer. Ethereum (ETH) is at the same time more decentralized and represents a better store of value, long-term ETH proponent Anthony Sassano says on X.

There is no reason to buy BTC instead of ETH.

Ethereum is more decentralized than Bitcoin and ETH is a much better store of value than BTC.

You either accept this now, or be forced to accept it when ETH flips BTC.

The choice is yours.

— sassal.eth/acc 🦇🔊 (@sassal0x) August 23, 2025

According to him, cryptocurrency community members should either accept it now or when Ethereum (ETH) finally flips Bitcoin (BTC).

Meanwhile, the ETH/BTC ratio surged from 0.017 to 0.041 in just four months. Ethereum (ETH) outperformed Bitcoin (BTC) by more than 2.5x since.

Mocking Ethereum (ETH) bears is another hot topic on X today. With $468 million in liquidated short positions, yesterday’s session was the most brutal for Ethereum (ETH) bears in weeks.

ETH bears with short positions liquidated at ATH frantically pulling up the validator exit queue chart to hold on to one last piece of FUD and seeing that it has peaked & started decreasing. pic.twitter.com/YUtpbielOf

— Jrag.eth (@Jrag0x) August 22, 2025

After peaking on Aug. 20, Ethereum (ETH) unstaking queue started clearing. The period of unstaking dropped below 15 days for the first time in weeks. Normally, this is also a signal of growing interest in Ethereum.

Ethereum’s (ETH) next step: Price discovery ahead?

Ethereum (ETH) supporters are sure that after revisiting the previous ATH, Ether is set to start a price discovery period.

Fundstrat’s Tom Lee, one of the vocal Ethereum (ETH) proponents in this cycle, is sure that Ethereum (ETH) has all chances to surpass Bitcoin (BTC) by market cap.

As covered by U.Today earlier today, Raoul Pal, a seasoned economist and investor, expects the altcoin season to peak by mid-2026.

Before KPop Demon Hunters, There Was K/DA

by admin August 23, 2025

KPop Demon Hunters’ fictional bands have become some of the hottest musical acts on the planet since the Netflix animated film released in June–but before Huntrix and Saja Boys were tearing up the charts, a quartet of League of Legends characters were making waves in virtual K-pop.

Even before KPop Demon Hunters was released, the film’s fictional K-pop band was seeing comparisons to Riot Games’ virtual girl group, K/DA. It’s not a stretch to spot the similarities–two animated girl groups releasing catchy K-pop anthems in between fighting enemies with signature weapons and battle costumes. Even some of the costumes and color schemes feel familiar, and both groups have collaborated with real-world K-pop girl group Twice.

Though it feels likely that the team behind KPop Demon Hunters was inspired by K/DA, it hasn’t commented much on the comparison. One of the only official references to K/DA comes from KPop Demon Hunters’ music supervisor Ian Eisendrath, who confirms that Riot’s virtual band was “one of our many influences” for Huntrix’s musical sound. Eisendrath adds that K/DA was just one of “8-12 references” that was mainly used to “envision what these songs could sound like.”

No matter what level of inspiration K/DA had on KPop Demon Hunters, the Riot K-pop project proved almost seven years ago that fans would get behind a virtual girl group.

Made up of League champions Ahri, Akali, Evelynn, and Kai’sa, each member of K/DA is voiced and performed by a real-world pop artist. American artists Madison Beer and Jaira Burns provide the singing voices for Evelynn and Kai’sa, respectively, while members of K-pop group I-dle (formerly (G)I-dle) Miyeon and Soyeon voice Ahri and Akali, respectively. The group is structured like a classic K-pop girl group, with each member having a performing strength, and they mirror certain K-pop archetypes in personality and style.

K/DA was formed back in 2018 as an opening act for the League of Legends World Championship–and as a vehicle to sell their shiny popstar outfits as skins. The single and music video launched the same day as K/DA’s debut augmented-reality performance in Incheon, South Korea, and quickly took off.

The debut single, Pop/Stars, charted at number one on the K-pop music charts and number five on the overall pop charts for Apple Music in the US, as well as topping Billboard’s World Digital Song Sales chart. The music video went viral on YouTube, reaching over 100 million views in its first month. Despite being a fake band, K/DA made history by becoming the first K-pop girl group to have a single certified platinum with Pop/Stars.

Viranda Tantula, the creative lead on the opening ceremony performance, explained in an interview that Pop/Stars’ success was all about commitment to the “fantasy of the champs being in the real world.” In order to sell this fantasy, Tantula explained, they had to create a pop song that stands up against real-world pop music and a performance that competes with real-world stadium-level pop.

Despite how much went into K/DA’s debut, it initially wasn’t intended to be any more than the one single. “We really went into it wanting to make the singular moment as dope as possible and intentionally weren’t thinking much further into the future than that,” Tantula said in the same interview. When Pop/Stars started taking off, far eclipsing anything the Riot music team had released previously, Tantula says the team started “chatting about where this could go.”

K/DA was quiet for a while after their debut, though they remained popular with fans who created art, cosplay, and dance covers for Pop/Stars–and spent plenty of cash on K/DA skins. After two years of speculation, the group finally returned with a bang in 2020, releasing the five-song EP All Out and once again gracing the Worlds opening ceremony with an augmented-reality performance of lead single More.

While none of the All Out tracks reached the viral peak that Pop/Stars saw, the EP performed well as a musical release in its own right–with play counts on Spotify comparable to Huntrix’s discography at the time of writing.

Riot hasn’t revisited K/DA since the All Out release–though it did experiment with a boy band, Heartsteel, and an Akali-led side project, True Damage, all of which exist in the same alternate universe of League of Legends lore. The rise of KPop Demon Hunters seems to have brought fans back to K/DA, however: The Pop/Stars YouTube comments are full of people who say they’re watching because of KPop Demon Hunters, while the K/DA subreddit is full of Huntrix/K/DA mashups and fan art.

Some fans who were introduced to K-pop by the Netflix film even appear to be jumping to K/DA for their next fictional K-pop fix. Though this could just be because both bands have a similar sound, there’s an argument to be made that virtual acts may be less intimidating for first-time fans who aren’t ready for the complexity of real-world K-pop fan culture. No matter the reason, both K/DA and Huntrix have proven themselves successful gateway artists for fans who have never engaged with K-pop before.

The similarities between K/DA and Huntrix may be undeniable, but there’s one major element that sets the two groups apart: K/DA is a virtual K-pop group, while Huntrix doesn’t exist outside of the narrative of KPop Demon Hunters–for now. The difference is the conceit that K/DA is a band that really exists in our world–they’ve performed stadium shows, filmed music videos, and even held interviews and addressed fans directly via social media.

Riot’s handling of K/DA as a virtual band provides a template that Netflix could very well follow with KPop Demon Hunters. In a Reddit AMA with members of the KPop Demon Hunters team, a fan asked if Huntrix and Saja Boys could become bona fide virtual bands, and music supervisor Ian Eisendrath replied, “I would love that.”

Just like K/DA before them, both Huntrix and Saja Boys are blowing up the charts right now–going head to head with some of the most popular real K-pop groups. Huntrix surpassed Blackpink as the highest-charting K-pop girl group when it hit number two on the US Spotify charts, while Saja Boys surpassed the likes of BTS and Stray Kids to become the highest-charting K-pop boy group. There’s no word yet on Netflix’s plans for either fictional group, but it’s not hard to picture them selling out stadiums.

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August 23, 2025 0 comments

NFT Gaming

5 Cryptos to watch as Citigroup eyes blockchain payment services, stablecoin custody

by admin August 23, 2025

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

Citigroup enters stablecoin custody and blockchain payments, signaling a major leap for crypto adoption.

Summary

Citigroup enters stablecoin custody, signaling crypto’s move into mainstream finance.
Little Pepe presale surges as investors eye high-potential tokens.
With exchange listings secured, LILPEPE aims to lead 2025’s top crypto performers.

The digital asset market is preparing for its next major leap as Citigroup, a $2.57 trillion banking giant, confirms its push into stablecoin custody and blockchain-based payments.

With Wall Street preparing to integrate crypto into mainstream finance, investors are searching for tokens positioned to ride this momentum.

Here are five cryptos to buy right now:

Little Pepe (LILPEPE): The memecoin rewriting the rules with sniper bot resistance, zero tax, and $20.6 million+ presale raised.
Solana (SOL): Breaking past $200 with ETF inflows and a $1,000 long-term target.
Tron (TRX): Building structural demand with resilient on-chain growth and a path toward $1.
Arbitrum (ARB): Up 50% weekly as ETH nears $5k, boosted by PayPal and Robinhood integrations.
Mantle (MNT): Surging 30% in 48 hours on Bybit partnerships and MiCA-compliant staking demand.

Impending Citigroup big stablecoin move

With $2.57 trillion in assets under custody, Citigroup has confirmed it’s exploring custody services for stablecoin reserves, crypto ETF infrastructure, and tokenized payments.

The plan aligns with the U.S. GENIUS Act, which requires issuers to back tokens with safe assets like Treasuries or cash. The bank already uses blockchain to transfer USD across financial hubs and is considering establishing a stablecoin.

Citi might become a primary stablecoin payment provider if it performs fully, boosting crypto adoption and investor trust. This backdrop makes the following five cryptos highly relevant in the current environment.

Little Pepe: Memecoin meets institutional-grade strategy

While Citi is shaping the payment rails, Little Pepe is leading a parallel revolution in memecoins. Unlike Dogecoin or Shiba Inu, LILPEPE is not just a meme but a Layer-2 blockchain ecosystem designed for speed, low fees, and community empowerment.

The presale has been remarkable: $20.6 million raised, 13.4 billion tokens sold, and Stage 11 now live at $0.002 per token, already up 100% from its Stage 1 entry price. With demand accelerating and multiple stages left, LILPEPE is building momentum that often fuels massive post-listing rallies.

What makes LILPEPE unique is its sniper bot resistance, the world’s only chain where bots can’t exploit early trading. Combine that with zero buy/sell taxes, a dedicated meme launchpad, and confirmed listings on two top-tier CEXs at launch, and there is a meme token positioned more like a high-growth tech play.

Backing from anonymous experts who helped scale other top memecoins adds credibility, while the recently completed Certik audit strengthens investor trust. Little Pepe’s roadmap also includes a plan to hit a $1 billion market cap and climb into the CMC Top 100 immediately post-listing.

LILPEPE could be the one to deliver 100x returns from launch. In a market where institutions seek stability, LILPEPE demonstrates that memes with robust infrastructure are enduring.

Solana: Can SOL soar to $1,000?

Solana has been one of the strongest large-cap performers this cycle, climbing above $200 with nearly 28% gains in 30 days. The launch of the Solana + Staking ETF has fueled institutional FOMO, while $13b in trading volumes confirms liquidity support.

Solana Price Chart | Source: CoinGecko

Analysts see a short-term correction to $190, but the larger target remains clear: $500 within 6 months and potentially $1,000 long-term if ETF demand and adoption sustain. With the market set to welcome significant capital from Citigroup, Solana is already emerging as a top crypto to buy in 2025.

Tron: The path to $10 looks clear

Tron has quietly become one of the most resilient performers of this market cycle. Trading at $0.36, TRX has grown over 50x since launch while maintaining a strong uptrend channel. Analysts point to consistent accumulation and 11.1 billion+ on-chain transactions, confirming structural adoption across payments and stablecoin transfers.

Tron Price Chart | Source: CoinGecko

The projection for this cycle? A breakout toward $2 in the short term, with the psychological $10 target in sight. With futures markets showing balance and no signs of overheating, TRX remains a reliable bet for investors looking for steady upside.

Arbitrum: Layer-2 leverage on Ethereum’s surge

Arbitrum has surged 50% in the past week, breaking above resistance as Ethereum nears $5,000. As one of the top Ethereum Layer-2s, ARB benefits directly from higher transaction volumes and institutional demand.

Arbitrum Price Chart | Source: CoinGecko

Big partnerships fuel the rally: PayPal is integrating the PYUSD stablecoin on Arbitrum, and Robinhood has tapped the network for tokenized assets. With volume up 133% to $1b and resistance at $0.55–$0.60, analysts believe ARB could climb toward $3+ this cycle as ETH adoption cascades through its ecosystem.

Mantle: New utility, new momentum

Mantle has been one of the biggest surprises of August, rallying 30% in just 48 hours. The surge came after Bybit EU launched MiCA-compliant staking for MNT, marking its first regulated staking product in Europe.

Mantle Price Chart | Source: CoinGecko

With additional integrations into structured products and creator economy tools, Mantle is expanding its utility base. Trading volumes surged to nearly $600 million daily, and derivatives data suggest a potential breakout above $1.40, with a path toward $2 if shorts get squeezed. As a newer Layer-2 solution, Mantle could carve out a strong niche this cycle by positioning itself as a compliance-first blockchain for utility-driven demand.

From Citi to Pepe: The next big cycle winners

Citigroup’s entry into stablecoin custody highlights one undeniable truth: crypto is no longer fringe; it’s the future of global payments. While large caps like Solana, Tron, Arbitrum, and Mantle are primed to benefit, the real asymmetric bet remains with Little Pepe. With exchange listings locked in and community momentum building, LILPEPE could lead the top cryptos to buy this cycle. Don’t miss the chance to buy before the subsequent presale price increase.

To learn more about Little Pepe, visit the website, Telegram, and X.

Disclosure: This content is provided by a third party. Neither crypto.news nor the author of this article endorses any product mentioned on this page. Users should conduct their own research before taking any action related to the company.

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August 23, 2025 0 comments

Crypto Trends

3 Potential Reasons for AAVE’s Stunning Performance

by admin August 23, 2025

AAVE surged nearly 19% to $355 over the past 24 hours, according to CoinDesk Data, leading the top 40 cryptocurrencies by percentage daily gain as investors responded to its recent Aptos expansion and Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s dovish remarks.

What Aave is and why it matters

Aave is a decentralized finance protocol that lets users lend and borrow cryptocurrencies without intermediaries. Loans are managed by smart contracts, with borrowers required to post collateral valued above their loans.

The AAVE token underpins this system. It can be staked to support security and earn rewards, used as collateral for borrowing and grant holders governance rights. In return, tokenholders gain voting power and fee benefits, making AAVE central to protocol operations.

Aptos expansion

On Aug. 21, Aave Labs announced that Aave V3 had gone live on Aptos, its first deployment on a non-EVM blockchain. Developers rewrote the codebase in the Move language, rebuilt the user interface and adapted the protocol for the Aptos virtual machine.

The launch was supported by audits, a mainnet capture-the-flag competition, and a $500,000 bug bounty. The first market supports assets including APT, sUSDe, USDT and USDC, with supply and borrow caps to be raised gradually. Chaos Labs and Llama Risk conducted risk assessments, and Chainlink provided price feeds.

Aave Labs founder and CEO Stani Kulechov called the launch “an incredible milestone,” highlighting the shift beyond EVM chains after five years of exclusivity.

Jerome Powell’s Jackson Hole speech

Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s speech on Friday morning at the Jackson Hole Economic Policy Symposium added momentum. Powell said the balance of risks between inflation and employment had shifted, signaling that interest rate cuts could begin in September.

Markets viewed his remarks as dovish, with CME FedWatch data showing expectations for a quarter-point cut in September rising to 83% from 75% earlier in the week. U.S. equities and crypto have rallied broadly since Powell’s speech, with AAVE among the biggest movers.

WLFI exposure resurfaces

Another factor one analyst claims may not be fully priced in is Aave’s alleged exposure to WLFI, the governance token of World Liberty Financial (WLFI), the DeFi project associated with Donald Trump’s family.

In October 2024, the startup proposed launching its own Aave V3 instance on Ethereum mainnet.

The proposal stated:

“AaveDAO will receive:

20% of the protocol fees generated by the WLF Aave v3 instance
Approximately 7% of the total supply of $WLFI tokens for:
- Participation in WLF Governance procedures
- Liquidity mining
- Promoting decentralization of the WLF platform”

Simon, an analyst at Delphi Digital, noted on Saturday that with WLFI’s token set to begin trading Sept. 1 at an implied $27.3 billion valuation, Aave’s allocation could be worth around $1.9 billion — more than a third of its current $5 billion fully diluted valuation. He argued that this alleged exposure may be contributing to AAVE’s rally, even if investors are only now revisiting its significance.

However, according to a post on X by WU Blockchain published at 4:16 p.m. UTC on Saturday, the WLFI team is saying that the claim that “Aave will receive 7% of the total WLFI token supply” is false.

The post stated: “The WLFI team told WuBlockchain that the claim that “Aave will receive 7% of the total WLFI token supply” is false and fake news. Previously, a community member claimed that, according to a previously released proposal, AaveDAO would receive 20% of the protocol fees generated by the WLFI Aave v3 instance and approximately 7% of the total WLFI token supply.”

Technical analysis highlights

According to CoinDesk Research’s technical analysis data model, AAVE posted significant gains during the 24-hour trading period from Aug. 22 at 12:00 UTC to Aug. 23 at 11:00 UTC, climbing from $297.75 to $353.22 — an 18.65% increase that reflects growing confidence in the platform’s expansion strategy.
The digital asset traded within a $62.11 range, fluctuating between $294.50 and $356.60, with the most pronounced price movement occurring at 14:00 UTC on Aug. 22 when trading volume reached 340,907 units, significantly exceeding the daily average of 102,554 units.
Sustained buying pressure was observed during the final hour of the analysis period from 10:49 UTC to 11:48 UTC on Aug. 23, with AAVE advancing from $349.61 to $353.79.
Trading volumes consistently exceeded 3,000 units during key price levels at $352.55, $353.98, and $355.52, compared to the session average of 1,647 units, indicating what market participants describe as methodical institutional positioning.

Disclaimer: Parts of this article were generated with the assistance from AI tools and reviewed by our editorial team to ensure accuracy and adherence to our standards. For more information, see CoinDesk’s full AI Policy.

Updated at 6:19 p.m. UTC on Aug. 23 to include more information about Aave’s alleged exposure to the WLFI token, especially the X post by WU Blockchain that was published at 4:16 p.m. UTC on Aug. 23.

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August 23, 2025 0 comments

Gaming Gear

Get half off subscriptions for Labor Day

by admin August 23, 2025

If you want to brush up on some skills or learn new ones, MasterClass offers a good way to do just that. The streaming service has hundreds of classes taught by professionals and experts in their fields, and now you can get a subscription for 50 percent less than usual. All MasterClass membership tiers are on sale right now, so you can sign up for as low as $5 per month.

With a subscription, you could watch a class on writing taught by James Patterson, or learn cooking techniques from Thomas Keller. If you’re trying to impress at your next pickup basketball game you could learn about shooting, ball-handling and scoring from Steph Curry. Each class includes around 20 video lessons that run about 10 minutes long on average, as well as an in-depth workbook.

MasterClass

A MasterClass subscription is 50 percent off during this Labor Day sale.

$96 at MasterClass

MasterClass has also begun producing some original series for its platform. The series Business Rebels features different CEOs walking viewers through the strategies that helped them disrupt their industries. One entitled Skin Health features top dermatologists and a cosmetic chemist walking viewers through keeping their skin healthy through cleansing routines and specific beauty products.

The wide range of skills or life lessons you could learn through these classes is why MasterClass is on our list of best subscriptions you can give as gifts. Maybe your loved one who loves to host dinner parties could use some tips from Gordon Ramsay.

There are three subscription tiers for MasterClass that each differ only in how many devices they allow at one time, and whether offline videos are supported. The Standard subscription only supports one device, whereas the Plus subscription allows two. These are normally $10 and $15 per month, respectively, and neither offers offline mode. The Premium tier, which carries a regular price of $20 per month, allows up to six devices and features offline mode for downloaded classes.

All three tiers are part of the 50 percent off sale, which marks them down to $5, $8 and $10 respectively. MasterClass bills annually, so be sure to calculate the total from the “monthly” price before deciding.

Follow @EngadgetDeals on X for the latest tech deals and buying advice.

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August 23, 2025 0 comments

Esports

German politicians officially open Gamescom 2025

by admin August 23, 2025

German political guests of honor officially opened Gamescom on August 20, 2025, with speakers highlighting the importance of the event and the games industry.

Among the political guests of honour were Dorothee Bär, Germany’s federal minister responsible for video games; Hendrik Wüst, minister-president of North Rhine-Westphalia; and Henriette Reker, mayor of Cologne and chairwoman of the supervisory board of Koelnmesse.

In their speeches, speakers highlighted the importance of the games industry and Gamescom, while emphasising policymakers’ goal for Germany to become one of the world’s leading games locations.

“The gaming sector holds great cultural, economic, and technological potential, impressive proof of which is on display at gamescom year after year, ” said Bär. “Strengthening the international competitiveness of our gaming location is important to me so that we can all benefit more from the potential of digital games in the future.

“To do so, games funding must be plannable and reliable. As a first step, funding will therefore be more than doubled. Looking to the future, we are working to introduce tax incentives, as has already been done in other countries.”

Hendrik Wüst said: “With outstanding developer studios and the world’s top event for video games, North Rhine-Westphalia is the [number one] games state. The long-term commitment of gamescom to Cologne this year is a strong signal for North Rhine-Westphalia. It’s where innovations are developed, which drive the entire economy forward.

“Video games create jobs, promote creative thinking and connect people across borders. North Rhine-Westphalia is leading the way and has developed a new, modern and market-oriented games funding guideline.

“It focuses specifically on small, up-and-coming projects, as start-ups are crucial to ensuring that the games ecosystem grows and remains vibrant. This focus complements federal funding in the best possible way. The new federal government has finally got things moving in the games sector.”

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August 23, 2025 0 comments

GameFi Guides

Eric Trump’s BTC Price Predictions, Acquisition Plans, and Metaplanet Visit

by admin August 23, 2025

Eric Trump is deepening his role in digital assets with reported plans to attend a shareholder meeting in Tokyo, public predictions about bitcoin’s price, and new corporate ventures that extend the Trump family’s crypto push into Asia.

Bloomberg reported Friday that Trump will join a Sept. 1 shareholder meeting of Metaplanet, a Japanese company following Michael Saylor’s Strategy (formerly, MicroStategy) playbook, citing people familiar with the matter. Trump was appointed as a strategic adviser in March. His Tokyo stop will apparently follow an appearance at the Bitcoin Asia conference in Hong Kong on Aug. 28–29.

A day earlier, Trump appeared at the Wyoming Blockchain Symposium, where he described himself as a “bitcoin maxi” and said he now spends more than half his time on crypto projects. He predicted bitcoin would reach $175,000 by the end of 2025 and eventually climb past $1 million. He argued that bitcoin and blockchain could address flaws in traditional finance, such as slow payments and settlement processes.

The Financial Times reported onAug. 15 that American Bitcoin — a miner and treasury company co-founded by Eric Trump and his brother Donald Trump Jr. — is exploring acquisitions of listed firms in Japan and Hong Kong to use them as vehicles for stockpiling bitcoin, following the playbook pioneered by Michael Saylor’s MicroStrategy. The company is preparing to go public in the U.S. through a reverse merger with Nasdaq-listed Gryphon Digital Mining. Eric Trump is a co-founder and the chief strategy officer.

American Bitcoin emerged in May from a reorganization of American Data Centers, a Trump-linked entity that absorbed rigs from Canadian operator Hut 8. The firm has said it aims to become the world’s most efficient bitcoin accumulation platform, combining active treasury management with new coin production.

The Trumps’ crypto ambitions extend beyond Eric Trump. Trump Media & Technology Group, parent of Truth Social, raised more than $2 billion in the second quarter to create a bitcoin treasury. President Donald Trump disclosed in June $57 million in income from World Liberty Financial, a crypto startup launched last September.

Together, these moves highlight how Eric Trump and his family are aligning themselves with crypto at a time when Japan and Hong Kong are competing to attract digital asset firms.

Japan’s Financial Services Agency (FSA) will approve the first yen-denominated stablecoin as early as this fall. Meanwhile, Hong Kong has introduced the Stablecoins Ordinance, a regulatory framework that requires fiat-referenced stablecoin issuers to obtain a license from the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA).

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August 23, 2025 0 comments

Game Updates

How purple skin and a Spanish phone number almost sank The Rogue Prince of Persia

by admin August 23, 2025

The Rogue Prince of Persia celebrated its 1.0 release yesterday with a remarkably honest behind-the-scenes video from developers Evil Empire, detailing the ups and downs of a year-long Early Access period, including the decision to completely overhaul the game’s art style and redesign its purple-skinned protagonist.

The video opens with the admission that this Roguelike take on the wall-jumping, time-rewinding Prince suffered multiple blows upon its Early Access release in May 2024. The first of these was the surprise drop of heavyweight Hades 2, which also launched in May and stole most of the Prince’s limelight. The second was the negative player response to both the game’s lack of content and its colourful visual style, which was inspired by Persian miniature paintings and the artwork of Mœbius/Jean Giraud.

Watch on YouTube

Notably, the decision to give the titular Prince and all NPCs a purple skintone was met with confusion. In a developer diary from 2024, it was revealed that this was intended as a direct ode to the PC CGA port of Prince of Persia from 1990, which featured neon skin for all due to a limited 4-colour palette. Unfortunately, this homage went over the heads of most players.

“During a brainstorming session about skins, our art director had raised a seemingly innocent question,” says Evil Empire Marketing Manager Matthew Houghton in the video. “Are we sure that making the Prince purple won’t be a problem? At the time, everyone told him no. He was overthinking it; colours are cool, they’re stylish, it adds a bit of fantasy! Well…now we all know how that turned out.”

The Prince’s purple look, along with its original inspiration. | Image credit: Rock Paper Shotgun/Evil Empire/Ubisoft

The rest of the footage details how Evil Empire not only packed The Rogue Prince of Persia with additional content, but also revamped the art style – a decision that is now conveyed in more detailed levels and a decidedly less-purple Prince adorning everything from the game’s key art to the album cover of its impressive soundtrack by Persian American musician ASADI. Alas, even this visual update faced unexpected friction in the form of a bizarre Steam issue which required the devs to use a Spanish phone number to get their own product updated.

“Through all those problems and roadblocks,” Houghton continues, “we’ve had a great community giving us a helping hand the whole way. Even when it was clear we had a tonne of work to do, they’ve been there giving us support, feedback and encouragement. So a special shoutout to you guys for sticking with us on our crazy journey.”

Despite these nice words, Houghton acknowledges that the game has faced a low player count during its Early Access. The 1.0 release is now considered final, and throughout the video there does seem to be a slight feeling of “well, we sure hope more folks play this, or else we’ll never make a sequel.” Which would be a shame, considering that last year’s Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown was a superb effort that Ubisoft sent out to die with poor promotion before disbanding the team behind it.

I intend on giving the Rogue Prince of Persia a proper go this weekend and am looking forward to it. I also liked the purple Prince look, because I can’t help but admire unorthodox art design decisions, especially when they’re an ultra-niche homage to computer colour schemes that existed when I was a kid. But I can see how his grape skin along with the game’s more cartoony and dreamy original visuals failed to latch onto players, and it does feel as if the final result is actually a tad more reminiscent of the Persian miniature inspiration.

Most of all, however, I’m sticken by the frankness of Evil Empire in this video. Despite taking over Dead Cells DLC from Motion Twin, Houghton consistently acknowledges that the team was inexperienced in certain regards, and that this was their first fully-fledged project. It’s rare to see admissions of setbacks that aren’t couched in corporate industry speak (particularly for a gaming brand owned by Ubisoft). I only hope that the Rogue Prince of Persia manages to catch a few more eyes because of it.

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August 23, 2025 0 comments

Product Reviews

Five Years Ago, ‘The Batman’ Made Its Brutal, Moody Debut

by admin August 23, 2025

On August 22, 2020, Warner Bros. held its first-ever DC FanDome, a weekend-long virtual event meant to make up for that year’s San Diego Comic-Con, which was canceled due to the pandemic. If you’ve ever followed big industry events like the Game Awards or… well, Comic-Con, you know they often come with a big trailer or two that’s meant to make it all worth it. And for WB, the big showcase for its inaugural, short-lived event was the very first look at Matt Reeves’ The Batman.

Trailers for superhero movies have gradually become more and more of a big deal, whether they’re telegraphed in advance, leaked, or appear just out of the blue. The Batman already caught the internet’s eye with casting Twilight alum Robert Pattinson in the lead role, and excitement truly began to grow once Reeves showed the actor in his Batsuit and the most car-looking Batmobile in years.

It also didn’t hurt that this was the first solo Bat-movie in nearly a decade and technically the true start of WB’s plans to dabble around with a cinematic multiverse that kept this Batman in his own world away from other goings-on at the time.

Within 24 hours, that teaser amassed over 31 million views, and while those numbers are short in the grand scheme, it did its job in getting people talking about Batman again. If online circles weren’t discussing its darkness in comparison to the Nolan films, they were gushing over Colin Farrell’s makeup job as Penguin or listening to Nirvana’s “Something in the Way” on repeat. For a movie that was openly marketing itself back then as still in the works, it won enough of the internet over right away that they were willing to follow Reeves to hell if it meant getting to see this on the big screen.

Had things gone to plan, The Batman would’ve come out in June 2021, but the pandemic forced a readjustment. The Batman was a quarter into production when it was indefinitely paused for most of 2020, during which the film’s dialect coach Andrew Jack passed away from covid and Pattinson himself tested positive just days after work resumed again. As a result, things were basically radio silent until late 2021, when the film basically reintroduced itself with a new trailer that kept the mood and song but featured more bombast and a great idea of what the movie would be about. On just one of WB’s YouTube accounts, it’s gotten over 65 million views and closes on a shot that’ll likely define Reeves’ entire Batman tenure. If there were any doubts that people lost interest in this movie because of the pandemic, that second trailer sure proved that wrong.

Since that first trailer came and went, The Batman (which hit theaters March 4, 2022) has continued to have a hold on the internet, which has been waiting impatiently for its sequel. Like its predecessor, The Batman Part II has had no shortage of production problems and delays, to the degree that DC Studios head James Gunn politely (but firmly) told people to back off Reeves. The second movie isn’t due for another two years and change and only recently entered pre-production—but when the first proper look at that one hits, expect comparisons between it and its predecessor’s first trailer as fans once again prepare to fall in love with Reeves’ interpretation of DC’s ever-brooding leading man.

Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.

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August 23, 2025 0 comments

Game Reviews

My favourite tech at Gamescom is this “falcon-shaped” split gaming keyboard

by admin August 23, 2025

I want to tell you about my favourite thing from Gamescom. It’s not the Xbox Ally X, it’s not an active sim racing brake pedal, and it’s not even that 720Hz tandem OLED monitor. It’s a keyboard – a very special keyboard with one glaring flaw. Let me explain.

The Falcata is another of Asus’ keyboards named after a sword (Falchion, Claymore), and in this case it’s a falcon-shaped sword that was used in the Iberian peninsula. I had no idea that “falcon” was a valid shape for a sword, but there you go. The keyboard itself isn’t Falcon-shaped (thankfully), instead it’s kind of normal 75 percent keyboard sized. It does look a little odd though, with a loop of USB wire up top connecting the left side to the right.

That’s because the keyboard splits in half when given a tug, allowing some interesting possibilities. The left side houses all of the internals, so you can use it fully standalone as a keypad, giving you a huge amount of mousing space even if you have a small desk. You can also keep that right side connected, but separate the two halves, angling them outward for a more comfortable typing position. The bonus here is that a convenient space opens up between the two halves, which is ideal for a steaming mug of tea.

Here’s what the keyboard looks like when you use a proper camera to take a photo, instead of relying on a camera phone in a weirdly lit press area on a boat. | Image credit: Asus

Beyond the split ergonomic design, the Falcata is quite a comfy keyboard for typing. The big difference here is the inclusion of four layers of sound dampening poron and silicone, quieting the keyboard while also making its report deeper and more satisfying. There are also PBT keycaps, which last longer than ABS alternatives and tend to have a bit more texture to them, and detachable wrist rests for each side.

The Falcata is also very capable when it comes to gaming, with a laundry list of “best mechanical keyboard 2025” features: magnetic (Hall Effect) switches, rapid trigger (keys react instantly to being pressed or released rather than only when passing set depth thresholds), SOCD (pairing keys so that pressing one automatically disables the other, useful for side-strafing in FPS titles), 8000Hz polling (rinses your battery life to minimise input latency). And yup, this keyboard has 2.4GHz and Bluetooth connectivity, so there is a built-in battery. You can also use the keyboard wired if you prefer, with 8000Hz being an option both wired and via the 2.4GHz connection.

The magnetic switches in the Falcata look just like this, but smaller.

You can see some of the four layers of sound-dampening poron and silicone here.
Image credit: Eurogamer

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Setting up your keyboard can take a second or hours, depending on your requirements, but you don’t need to install software to do this with the Falcata. Instead, you can access web software to rebind keys, adjust the RGB lighting or make macros. This is a continuing trend these days, and as someone that is contractually obligated to clutter up my computer with thousands of peripheral drivers and software, I feel very grateful.

Now here’s the bit where I lose the otherwise-interested reader: the Falcata costs £376 or $420, which is about 50 percent higher than even I expected. That’s a ludicrous price, even for the high-end specs and features offered, but sadly ergonomic keyboards like this do come with a massive mark-up. The keyboard isn’t yet out, so I hope there’s room for that price to come down before launch – or a cheaper wired model to be commissioned. Regardless, it’s likely that we’ll see more affordable imitators before too much longer. And maybe one of those keyboards will be my favourite piece of tech from Gamescom 2026.

Disclosure: Asus paid for flights and accommodation to Cologne for Gamescom so that we could see their new products in person.

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August 23, 2025 0 comments