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Skate 4 Will Have 100 Songs And Support 150-Players Lobbies

by admin August 19, 2025

The next Skate game from EA, which is often called Skate 4 online by fans, is set to arrive via an early access launch later this year. And in a new blog from the devs behind the reboot, we learned that music is a big part of the upcoming skateboarding game and that a whole lotta people will be able to play it together online.

This new Skate game was first officially announced all the way back in June 2020. And over the years, the game has leaked numerous times while EA has also released official early footage of it and brought in fans to playtest it. The development of Skate (which is not called Skate 4 for some reason) has been remarkably transparent, and as part of this, developers Full Circle have released regular blog posts sharing new details about the reboot. And in the latest one, the devs shared a bunch of information on how music–a very important part of any good skateboarding game–will work in Skate.

🚨We will be inviting all registered skate. Insiders to come playtest in July. Check your emails.

The latest build has improved textures and lighting, more challenges, and changes to our progression system. pic.twitter.com/fyjxtOj3qi

— skate. (@skate) June 17, 2025

In the most recent installment of “The Grind,” EA and Full Circle announced that Skate will launch with “about 100” songs. These songs will be grouped into different, themed playlists that will act like radio stations. Players will be free to like songs and create their own playlist of favorites. There will also be a playlist that will feature songs other players are listening to and liking, which will update over time. As for what kind of music to expect in Skate, Full Circle says the team is “focused on emerging artists” and that they included some “deep cuts” that the devs hope will help players “discover” new favorites.

EA and Full Circle also plan to add new songs to the game as it changes live-service seasons every three months. It also sounds like music that’s less popular with players might leave the game, but EA says it will make sure that the tracks you favorite and enjoy stick around in Skate “for longer.”

While losing music is a bit of a shame, I’m excited to hear devs promising regular music updates. With live-service games that players are expected to play for months or years, new music being added over time can help reinvigorate things. There are only so many times you can hear the same tunes over and over before starting to hate them. As someone who has played GTA Online for over a decade, trust me on this.

In the latest blog post, the devs also said that the team is aiming for about 150 players per server session. And yes, in case you forgot or weren’t aware, Skate is an always-online free-to-play skating game, so multiplayer is a big part of the equation. Over on Reddit, players who have been involved in playtesting have suggested that servers only supported 80 players during their time with the game, but that EA wanted to up that number to 150, which the blog confirms. 150 players is a lot, so hopefully Skate‘s open world is large enough to support all those skateboarding hooligans listening to music and popping kick flips.

Skate 4 aka the Skate reboot doesn’t have a specific release date yet, but EA says it will be available on PlayStation, Xbox, and PC via early access at the end of the summer.

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August 19, 2025 0 comments

NFT Gaming

Tom Lee Climbs to #2 in Corporate Crypto Race. Is Saylor Safe?

by admin August 19, 2025

Ethereum’s Saylor
Is Saylor’s crown safe?

Tom Lee’s BitMine Immersion Technology (BMNR) has now climbed to second spot on the list of the biggest cryptocurrency treasury companies.

According to data provided by Arkham Intelligence, it now holds a staggering $6.6 billion worth of Ethereum (ETH). In fact, it now controls close to 1.3% of the altcoin’s entire circulating supply.

Ethereum’s Saylor

Lee, who used to be JPMorgan’s chief equity strategist, co-founded Fundstrat Global Advisors in 2014. He gained prominence back in 2017 by becoming one of the first Wall Street analysts to openly back Bitcoin.

The famed “permabull” had frequent TV appearances, during which he would make ridiculously bullish predictions in 2017 and early 2018 that backfired during the brutal cryptocurrency bear market that ensued shortly after.

After briefly pausing his Bitcoin price predictions, Lee then continued making frequent appearances on CNBC with bullish cryptocurrency calls. As reported by U.Today, Lee predicted that Bitcoin could soar to $250,000 this year.

Is Saylor’s crown safe?

Despite surpassing some of the biggest Bitcoin treasury companies, Lee’s Bitmine is still miles away from Saylor.

Strategy currently holds a whopping 629,376 Bitcoins that are worth a whopping $73.24 billion at current prices.

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August 19, 2025 0 comments

Crypto Trends

Google Becomes Largest Shareholder in TeraWulf

by admin August 19, 2025

Tech giant Google has become the largest shareholder of TeraWulf, holding 14% of shares, after receiving more stock in exchange for increasing its backstop in the lease deal between the Bitcoin miner and AI infrastructure provider Fluidstack.

TeraWulf disclosed in a shareholder call on Thursday that it inked a 10-year colocation lease agreement with Fluidstack. Google is supporting the lease obligations through a financial guarantee known as a backstop and receiving warrants to purchase shares in return.

Speaking to Cointelegraph, Kerri Langlais, the chief strategy officer of TeraWulf, said Google’s backstop in the agreement has now increased to $3.2 billion total in return for warrants to purchase over 73 million shares in TeraWulf, representing a 14% stake in the company.

Source: TeraWulf

Langlais added that Google’s new equity makes it TeraWulf’s largest shareholder, providing a “powerful validation from one of the world’s leading technology companies,” and highlighting “the strength of our zero-carbon infrastructure and the scale of the opportunity ahead.”

Google’s backstop safeguards the deal

TerraWulf said in a statement on Monday that Fluidstack exercised an option in the deal to expand at TeraWulf’s Lake Mariner data center campus in New York with a new purpose-built data center, due to start operation in the second half of 2026.

Langlais told Cointelegraph the financial backstop supports Fluidstack’s long-term lease commitments at Lake Mariner, and if the AI company could not meet its financial obligations, Google would step in with the $3.2 billion.

“This is not a guarantee of TeraWulf’s corporate debt, nor do we have access to those funds,” she said.

“The backstop is tied exclusively to contracted AI and high-powered computing lease revenues and is unrelated to our Bitcoin mining operations.”

TeraWulf plans to maintain Bitcoin mining platform

A growing number of Bitcoin (BTC) miners have been diversifying income streams by shifting their energy capacity toward AI and high-power computing (HPC) hosting services after the April 2024 halving cut mining rewards to 3.125 Bitcoin, hurting overall profitability.

Langlais said in the future, TeraWulf plans to maintain, but not expand, its Bitcoin mining platform at Lake Mariner, with a focus on “execution: building, hosting, and delivering for our partners and our shareholders.”

“In the near term, mining generates cash flow and provides a valuable resource to the electrical grid, as its flexible load can be rapidly adjusted to support stability and reliability.”

However, over the medium to long term, the firm sees “greater value in transitioning those megawatts” to AI and HPC workloads, where long-term contracted revenues with blue-chip partners such as Fluidstack and Google “will drive growth and value creation.”

In an August 2024 report, asset manager VanEck estimated that if publicly traded Bitcoin mining companies shifted 20% of their energy capacity to AI and HPC by 2027, they could increase additional yearly profits by $13.9 billion over 13 years.

TeraWulf has projected its agreement with Fluidstack to generate $6.7 billion in revenue, potentially reaching $16 billion through lease extensions.

TeraWulf stock price on the rise

In the Monday trading session, TeraWulf’s stock (WULF) staged a rally to $10.57, representing a 17% increase over the previous close of $8.97.

Related: Bitcoin miner BitFuFu mines 445 BTC for its biggest production month

However, by the end of the session, the miners’ share price had settled at $9.38 and lost a further 1.28% after the bell.

TeraWulf’s stock staged a rally early in the trading session on Monday, but had settled by the close of business. Source: Google Finance

Since TeraWulf first announced its agreement with Fluidstack on Thursday, its stock price has registered a more than 72% gain in the last five days.

Magazine: Coinbase calls for ‘full-scale’ alt season, Ether eyes $6K: Hodler’s Digest, Aug. 10 – 16

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August 19, 2025 0 comments

Gaming Gear

How Could Frodo Be in ‘The Hunt for Gollum’?

by admin August 19, 2025

This weekend, Ian McKellen had a bit of Hobbiton-disturber-of-the-peace energy about himself when he revealed at a fantasy convention in London that Frodo Baggins would appear in Andy Serkis’ upcoming Lord of the Rings prequel movie, The Hunt for Gollum. Frodo is far from the only familiar face who has been teased as making a potential appearance in the film (due out in 2027), but he is a particularly interesting one considering the chronology of events we already know from Tolkien’s books.

When Is The Hunt for Gollum Set?

Speaking to Empire Magazine late last year, producer Phillipa Boyens said that The Hunt for Gollum “falls after the birthday party of Bilbo and before the Mines of Moria” during the events of The Fellowship of the Ring. We’ve already seen parts of that journey in both the theatrical release and extended editions of the film. Galadriel’s prologue covers Bilbo’s finding of the ring (before, again, we see that covered even further during The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey), and we see moments of Gollum’s torture at the hands of Sauron’s forces pointing the Ringwraiths to the Shore. Several scenes added in the extended cut see members of the Fellowship acknowledge that they are being tracked by Gollum by the time they have arrived in Moria.

In the chronology of Tolkien’s own writing, events play out similarly, but we learn that, in contrast to the perception of the movie, those events take place over a much, much longer period of time.

Wait, How Many Years Passed Between Bilbo’s Party and the Formation of the Fellowship?

One of the things most poorly conveyed from the books in the film adaptation of Fellowship is that almost two decades pass between Gandalf leaving Frodo in the Shire after Bilbo departs for Rivendell and the meeting of the council of Elrond that puts into motion the quest to destroy the One Ring once and for all.

In Tolkien’s writing, Bilbo’s 111th birthday celebration takes place in the year 3001 of the Third Age, and in that same year, Gandalf recruits Aragorn to track and find Gollum’s whereabouts, after the two first crossed paths almost half a century earlier. Gollum had left his cave dwellings in the Misty Mountains in 2944 to search for the halfling who took the ring from him and was captured in 3009 by Aragorn. After being brought to the realms of Mirkwood for interrogation, Gollum flees the elven realms while they are attacked by the forces of Mordor almost a decade later in 3018—a year after Gandalf, as seen in Fellowship of the Ring, rides to Gondor’s capital, Minas Tirith, and uncovers information leading him to believe that Bilbo’s magic ring is indeed the One Ring of power. The Council of Elrond, where Gandalf details his history tracking Gollum in the books, takes place in October of that year.

That means Gollum’s capture by the forces of Sauron and the torture that eventually leads to him sharing his knowledge of the ring’s location occur at some point in the almost 70 years between leaving his mountain home and his capture by Aragorn. And that which is conveyed as weeks or months at best in the film adaptation of Fellowship of the Ring is actually seventeen years. The only real acknowledgement that a significant passage of time has occurred is Bilbo’s own aging, although that can be in part credited to his vitality no longer being sustained by the One Ring.

What Was Frodo Doing in the Years Between?

The answer is that we simply don’t know, beyond the fact that he continued to stay at Bag End after Bilbo’s departure from the Shire and that he kept the ring hidden as per Gandalf’s request. We know that, at Gandalf’s request when he went to Aragorn to discuss finding Gollum, Dúnedain rangers kept watch over the Shire, which probably means that Frodo wasn’t exactly running around Middle-earth for fun during that time, so he presumably stayed living the same life he had since coming under Bilbo’s guardianship.

So, How Could Frodo Be in The Hunt for Gollum?

Well, the easy answer is that Frodo doesn’t have to be a hugely involved character in however the film portrays its version of the passage of time from Tolkien’s books and writings. Peter Jackson’s film trilogy already played loose in communicating, for the most part, the years that pass between the events of Fellowship, Two Towers, and Return of the King, and we don’t know enough yet about what kind of time frame Hunt for Gollum will spread its own interpretation over.

But regardless of that, Frodo is at least present in three largely vague points: the opening, set with Gandalf departing the Shire and recruiting Aragorn after Bilbo’s party; the ending, which presumably climaxes with Gandalf’s return to the Shire to confirm his belief that the One Ring has been found; and then literally anywhere between those two points, waiting out for word from Gandalf and living his best halfling life. Any role Frodo would have in Hunt for Gollum could be incredibly slight.

The film could also take the approach The Hobbit trilogy did with its own Frodo appearance. There, Frodo appears in the framing device that opens An Unexpected Journey alongside the late Ian Holm, once again portraying the older Bilbo, as the two hobbits discuss Bilbo writing the story of his adventures. Hunt for Gollum could very easily, say, flash back from Frodo writing his own adventures down in Return of the King‘s epilogue to him wondering what Gandalf did after he left the Shire again.

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 19, 2025 0 comments

Esports

Unwavering Duty god rolls and how to get them in Destiny 2

by admin August 19, 2025

Among many new weapons added to Destiny 2 in The Edge of Fate, there are also a couple of reissued ones. One weapon long overdue for an update is the Unwavering Duty machine gun, which is probably one of the best-sounding weapons in the game.

Unwavering Duty is an Adaptive Frame Solar machine gun from Trials of Osiris. Adaptive Frame machine guns are arguably the most versatile archetype among machine guns – they’re great for PvP with their steady rate of fire, and potent in PvE at 450 RPM.

Here are our Unwavering Duty god rolls for PvE and PvP in Destiny 2.

What is the Unwavering Duty god roll in Destiny 2?

A million and one combination. Screenshot by Dot Esports

Unwavering Duty PvE god roll

Barrel: Arrowhead Brake
Magazine: Flared Magwell
Perk one: Incandescent
Perk two: Onslaught or Killing Tally
Masterwork: Reload Speed

Unwavering Duty PvP god roll

Barrel: Arrowhead Brake
Magazine: Ricochet Rounds
Perk one: Dynamic Sway Reduction
Perk two: Killing Tally
Masterwork: Range

Unwavering Duty has endless perk combinations for PvE. In the third column, there are Incandescent and Rampage. Rampage is a solid perk granting a damage buff of up to 33 percent, but Incandescent is a better choice for AoE and Solar synergies, as it spreads scorch.

You could also go with the reload perk in the third column. There’s Envious Assassin, Auto-loading Holster, and perks refunding ammo like Subsistence and Fourth Time’s the Charm. If you do that, an Appended Mag would be a better option than a Flared Magwell, since you don’t need to reload as much.

In the fourth column, Killing Tally is a classic choice for machine guns like Commemoration. The damage increases as you get kills, up to 30 percent. There is also Burning Ambition for more Solar synergy, but Incandescent is often more than enough, so you can go for raw damage instead.

Unwavering Duty has some of the best PvP perks, too. There’s Dynamic Sway Reduction in the third column to improve accuracy and stability when holding down the trigger. In the fourth column, Killing Tally is still the best choice to get a five percent damage buff after a kill, reducing the time-to-kill from 0.53 seconds to 0.4 seconds. There is Target Lock in the fourth column, but it doesn’t shift the time-to-kill values at all like it does on primary weapons like Auric Disabler.

How to get Unwavering Duty in Destiny 2

Time to get your Outbreak. Screenshot by Dot Esports

As before, Unwavering Duty drops from Trials of Osiris. Post The Edge of Fate expansion, there’s no way to focus rewards at Saint-14. Instead, it’s all based on RNG, but you have a higher chance of getting a machine gun when it’s the featured weapon.

To get Tier 4 and Tier 5 drops in Trials of Osiris, you need to increase your Power level and Guardian Rank. Both affect your drops, including rewards from the Lighthouse chest. At 300+ Power, you can expect Tier 3 drops with occasional Tier 4s, and above 400 Power, you get Tier 4 drops with occasional Tier 5s.

Dot Esports is supported by our audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn a small affiliate commission. Learn more about our Affiliate Policy

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August 19, 2025 0 comments

Game Updates

This Old-School Dungeon Crawler Is Free On Steam If You Grab It Quickly

by admin August 19, 2025

Last year, solo developer Chris Allen released his old-school dungeon crawler Shade Silver on PC. Now, Allen is temporarily giving Shade Silver away for free on Steam, if you take the time to grab it before the offer expires.

To claim Shade Silver, the only thing players need to do is claim it on Steam before 10 AM PT on August 21. After that time, you’ll have to pay for it.

The game casts players as a wizard named Shade Silver as he embarks on a side-scrolling adventure that forces him to avoid traps, shoot enemies, solve puzzles, find treasures, and even bribe a few ogres to advance to the next level. There are four bosses and boss battles across 81 levels, with multiple secrets to discover along the way.

Allen has also shared a trailer for his next solo-dev game, Vein-Weaver Knitting. The demo for that game is already on Steam.

Valve recently unveiled a tweak to the way that reviews are displayed on Steam to make them more relevant for players. Valve is also refreshing the look of Steam’s game pages to make them wider, with more room for images and videos. However, Steam and other digital outlets have been bending to pressure from the anti-porn non-profit Collective Shout and removing NSFW games from search results or banning them altogether.

One of the games banned by Steam was the indie psychological horror game, Vile: Exhumed, which is now available as a free download.

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August 19, 2025 0 comments

Elden Ring Nightreign Libra on purple background looking at camera with goggle eyes

Product Reviews

15 attempts in, I actually love that Elden Ring Nightreign’s Everdark Libra is the first FromSoftware boss who’s harder to beat in co-op than solo

by admin August 19, 2025

The handshake deal in FromSoftware games, the obfuscated difficulty option that’s always been there since Demon’s Souls, is co-op: Summoning phantoms controlled by other players or the computer⁠. In OG Elden Ring everybody’s best friend was the Mimic Tear, a powerful summon to make a copy of yourself to fight by your side.

This has held true in the co-op centric, roguelike spinoff Nightreign, with the sturdy tripod of a full party clearly being what the experience was catered towards. The new duos mode is nice enough but still slightly compromised, while even with post-launch patches, solo is still the worst way to play.

But now they’ve gone and turned all that on its head: The latest Everdark superboss, the ultra instinct version of Baphomet dealbroker Libra, only gets more challenging the bigger your posse is. I managed to take him down solo after just three runs, while I’m somewhere north of 15 attempts deep in duos and trios, a W still evading me at every turn.

Everybody hates Everdark Libra. My peer, Austin Wood at GamesRadar, thinks he’s “100% getting nerfed.” Just like with the similarly loathed Everdark Augur, I disagree. I love this sick freak of a boss and how he turns all the rules on their heads.

To make Everdark Libra easier would compromise the beautiful vision at his core, the product of a sensitive, poet’s soul that’s clearly been hurt by this cruel world of ours and wants to inflict that pain right back. We’re all letting Libra down. Champions adjust. Spoilers for Everdark Libra below.

Make your choice

Yeah man, we get it. (Image credit: FromSoftware)

Libra’s already a real piece of work in his base form, tied with end boss Heolstor as the hardest in the game by my reckoning. He has an arsenal of unusual, difficult-to-read projectile attacks that all build up the madness status effect, which does huge damage and a stun if you manage to survive the initial burst.

His signature move is a delayed blast sigil that brutalizes you with madness build-up after a quick beat. It comes out fast enough that you can’t exactly respond to it carefully and can get royally screwed if you’re in the middle of an animation, while a slight delay punishes immediate panic rolling. It is deliciously evil.

Libra’s Everdark form ups the ante by summoning invader clones of the player party with all the same abilities and a number of potential weapon loadouts thoughtfully constructed to inflict the most pain and frustration. Some of my favorites:

Mini Malenia Executor: Equipped with the Hand of Malenia Sword and can perform a weaker, but still potentially instant-death version of Waterfowl Dance. Yes, that Waterfowl Dance.
Terminator Ironeye: Possesses the Jar Cannon and One-Eyed Shield (which has a built-in cannon), as well as a seemingly-permanent buff resembling the Ironjar Aromatic: He walks extremely slowly but is extra tanky and can’t be interrupted.
Sniper Wylder: Uses a greatbow to spam the Rain of Arrows ash of war, doing crazy damage in a huge AoE from long distance.
Rot Duchess: Dual wields Scorpion’s Stinger daggers for fast Scarlet Rot buildup.

Much like the player-style NPC enemies of FromSoft’s previous games, they don’t play by the same rules that you do: Malenia-Executor is particularly difficult to interrupt out of his signature move, while all of the clones are capable of dodge rolling out of attack combos a normal player could not.

The pièce de résistance is how they shuffle in: It does not feel like Libra has a consistent timer for summoning a fresh wave of evil twins. Wiping them out is not a guarantee of breathing room to DPS the boss, while it’s far more likely for them to start piling up as you fail to clear out old ones before the new clones spawn in.

The final indignity is that Libra summoning a new wave heals any surviving invaders, buffs their defense and damage, and the buffs stack. A veteran six rounds deep Executor spamming Waterfowl Dance is who I wish I was playing as.

All of this while Libra has new, more aggressive madness-inflicting AOE attacks to fling at you. A mature Everdark Libra fight is pure chaos, a field of evil clones glowing gold with layered buffs, some attacking each other, but most chasing you around like it’s Yakety Sax while Libra turns the field into a bullet hell screen. It’s utterly deranged. I don’t know how a group of randos with no coordination is supposed to beat it. It’s hilarious.

The time is ripe

The Gamer’s Gambit. (Image credit: FromSoftware)

Whether fully intentional or not, FromSoft’s classical deferred difficulty system works in reverse with Everdark Libra. It’s like a martial arts movie thing or Bruce Wayne climbing out of Bane’s house without the dang rope or something: If the enemy draws its strength from you, make yourself weaker.

Not only is one evil twin far more manageable than triplets, the singleplayer mode’s adjusted health values mean they go down quicker too. Even in the solo runs I failed, I didn’t experience the chaotic pileups of a three-player slugfest.

This inversion is another example of how flexible and surprising FromSoft’s well-worn systems can still be. Yet another boss in Nightreign is challenging in a way that took me off-guard, that wasn’t just another really tall, sad guy with a sword who moves super fast.

That has me even more excited for what the studio does next: After Promised Consort Radahn in Shadow of the Erdtree, I was worried there might be a ceiling to FromSoft’s arms race with itself to make ever greater twitch reflex challenges in its bosses. In Nightreign, the studio sidestepped this issue, proving there’s nothing stopping it from delivering spectacles, challenges, or sheer curveballs we just won’t see coming.

As for the fight itself, it’s a new favorite. Everdark Libra feels like a joke at my expense, a prank played on us players. That’s one of my favorite things to see in a game, and FromSoft is the master when it comes to this rare art.

Could they ease off the gas with the clone spawns just a touch? Maybe, it depends on how soon you ask me after a failed run. Is it kinda bullshit that Vyke’s War Spear, the only melee weapon Libra is weak to, is such a rare drop that I’ve only seen it twice in 111.8 hours (but who’s counting)? Perhaps.

I hope they never nerf Everdark Libra. He’s so stupid. It’s all so meanspirited. I love him like a son.

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August 19, 2025 0 comments

Game Reviews

18th August video games round-up: Battlefield 6 beta sadness, Shenmue 3, and a Nintendo Direct for Kirby

by admin August 19, 2025

Update: That was the world of video games today on 18th August. A full transcript of everything that occurred today is available below if you wish to digest it all at your leisure.

It’s 18th August, and we’re back with another daily live report. We’ll be running down all the day’s news and events, checking in with what you are up to, and providing some hopefully entertaining commentary on the world of video games.

Today we’ve got some great articles going live on the site, but we’ll also discuss Gamescom, which takes place this week, and look at the games releasing in September that you’ve got your eyes on.

Our live coverage of this event has finished.

Coverage
Comments

08:09 am
UTC

Morning everyone! I hope you’ll join us today as we look ahead to Gamescom, round up the day’s news and events, and think about the games we’re all looking forward to in September.

Tom Orry

08:15 am
UTC

Kane & Lynch 2 – remembering the most miserable game of all time

If you’re looking for something to read on a quiet Monday morning, and you missed what we published over the weekend, here’s a round-up:

Tom Orry

08:31 am
UTC

Tony Hawk on his life and his video games

Image credit: TonyHawk.com

Has a video games series had a bigger impact on people than the Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater series? Talk to anyone who was playing video games and growing up in the late 90s/early 00s and I bet most of them have fond memories of those early games.

Tom Orry

08:33 am
UTC

rmx87 says: It’s the 18th Tom! Morning!MarcusJ says: Flip your desk calendar over, Tom!

Looking forward to this week’s EG. Should be some good stuff.

Well done you two! Test passed. You both win a day of live reporting. Congratulations!

Tom Orry

09:00 am
UTC

New Pokémon Legends: Z-A trailer shows off Link Battles

If you are keen for every single morsel of Pokémon Legends: Z-A info, as some of the team at Eurogame are, then this new trailer and info released over the weekend will be of interest. This latest game update focuses on the game’s Link Battles.

Watch on YouTube

Tom Orry

09:16 am
UTC

Gamescom ONL, time to get hyped via a trailer?

We reserve the right not to get hyped about Gamescom ONL, the show taking place tomorrow evening (7pm BST in the UK), but that hasn’t stopped Geoff putting out a trailer designed to do just that.

Watch on YouTube

Tom Orry

09:50 am
UTC

2much says: Presumably _this_ is the night we’re gonna see the Bloodborne remaster

Thanks for this, 2much. I needed a good laugh this morning. ONL is tomorrow night, and I will be gobsmacked if anything near this level of game reveal is there.

Tom Orry

10:00 am
UTC

Warhammer 40K: Dawn of War is one of the greatest strategy games of all time

Image credit: Relic Entertainment

Chris is well into Space Marines and that, and he has a special place in his heart for the Dawn of War series. The original game was a little tricky to get running nicely on modern hardware, but the newly released Definitive Edition fixes all that and comes with a bunch of new refinements and tweaks.

To quote Chris, verbatim, from a definitely real conversation I had with him about Dawn of War: “It’s orksome.” What more do you need to be told?

Tom Orry

10:15 am
UTC

On the subject of games people are looking forward to in September (and end of August, if you want):

Danzig85 says: I’ve got my eye on Metal Gear this month and Hell Is Us next month. Plenty to finish before then though.

So many games, so little time.

Both potentially great games. We’ve got a MGS3 Delta review coming later this week, and Hell is Us has impressed at preview.

Tom Orry

11:02 am
UTC

These games are set to leave Xbox Game Pass at the end of August

Image credit: Sabotage / Eurogamer.

Xbox has revealed which games are leaving Xbox Game Pass at the end of August. A few good ones in this list.

Borderlands 3 Ultimate Edition
Sea of Stars
Paw Patrol Mighty Pups Save Adventure Bay
This War of Mine: Final Cut
Ben 10: Power Trip

Tom Orry

11:39 am
UTC

chesterBox says: PS Store added a discount called “Gamescom 2025” and there’s Bloodborne… that must mean something, right? Right?! 😀

(99% it does not mean anything)

Don’t do this to yourself, Chester. It’ll just bring pain.

But… what if?

Tom Orry

11:44 am
UTC

A delve into the Eurogamer archive

Image credit: Valve

My brain can’t always go back far enough to bring out the real classics, but this superb article from Simon Parkin popped into my head this morning, so I’m sharing it with you all now.

At 6am on 7th May 2004, Axel Gembe awoke in the small German town of Schönau im Schwarzwald to find his bed surrounded by police officers. Automatic weapons were pointing at his head and the words, “Get out of bed. Do not touch the keyboard,” were ringing in his ears.

Get this read if you haven’t already, or maybe read it again.

Tom Orry

12:22 pm
UTC

Euro Truck Simulator 2 PS5 and Xbox versions spotted

Cult hit Euro Truck Simulator 2 is seemingly coming to PS5 and Xbox consoles. The news comes via PSN and Xbox store listings for the game, which is yet to be officially announced for the two consoles.

Tom Orry

13:17 pm
UTC

Surprise! Shenmue 3 is back

Image credit: Ys Net

Shenmue 3 is coming back for a second bite at success with the Enhanced Edition. This reworked and improved version of the original release will be available on PC, PS5, Xbox Series consoles, and Nintendo (presumably Switch 2). A full reveal is coming at Gamescom this week.

Tom Orry

13:21 pm
UTC

Kirby Air Riders Direct tomorrow

Tune in tomorrow Tuesday, August 19th at 2pm UK time for a livestreamed Kirby Air Riders Direct featuring about 45 minutes of information about the upcoming Nintendo Switch 2 game.

Boom! 45 minutes of Kirby tomorrow? What a treat.

Kirby Air Riders Direct is airing tomorrow at 2pm BST in the UK.

Tom Orry

13:42 pm
UTC

45 minutes of Kirby Air Riders? I love a bit of Kirby as much as the next fan of alien entities that take on the abilities of the objects they consume, but that’s a long time to spend on one game. I’m excited to see what Nintendo has cooked up, though.

Tom Orry

13:47 pm
UTC

Endling – Extinction dev reveals its next game

Image credit: Herobeat

Developer Herobeat has announced its next game, Rewilders: The Lost Spring, which has been inspired by the works of Hayao Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli films.

Tom Orry

13:54 pm
UTC

Any Shenmue fans in the comments today? I won’t pretend I’m a big fan. I played the original game on the Dreamcast and simply couldn’t get into it. And that is as a huge Sega fan who had grown up as a Sega kid. Just wasn’t for me.

Tom Orry

14:23 pm
UTC

The Battlefield 6 party continues in… Battlefield 2042

Connor has been on the blower to moan about how sad he is that the Battlefield 6 beta has finished. “Don’t worry,” I said in reply, cutting through his tears. “You can just play Battlefield 2042 and earn some stuff to use in Battlefield 6.”

He turned to me (not that I could see as we were on a phone call, not a video call), and he said: “Tom, you are so wise. I will play Battlefield 2042 as I am the exact target audience for this type of marketing campaign. I’ll also write up my thoughts on such an event in a story to publish on Eurogamer.net.”

Thanks, Connor. Here is that story:

Tom Orry

14:46 pm
UTC

Today’s Blast from the Past: Flights, Co-op Tomb Raiding, and more

Image credit: Xbox / Microsoft

Another day presents another opportunity for us to look back at gaming history. Here’s some milestone anniversaries for today, 18th August:

Microsoft Flight Simulator’s grand reboot leads the pack of gaming anniversaries today – the reimagining of the franchise first released five years ago. I recieved the coveted Eurogamer Essential, back when that was the parlance – and it sits alongside Animal Crossing as a perfect game for the then all-consuming pandemic, allowing a sort of digital tourism at a time when we were all trapped inside. It’s a shame that the much more content-rich 2024 edition has run into various troubles, but hopefully that team can eventually recapture the spirit of the 2020 edition over time.
Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light is fifteen years old today. A cool, well-reviewed spin-off of the franchise inspired by the likes of Diablo and Gauntlet, it first launched for Xbox 360’s Live Arcade and then made its way to PS3, PC, and even mobile. It brings to mind that era when downloadables were always smaller, bite-sized games, which led to interesting spin-offs of big-name brands like this – something we now don’t see as often. A shame.
And here’s a trio of further recent anniversaries: Rogue Legacy 2, Mortal Shell, and Spiritfarer all hit on this day in 2020 – the same day as Flight Simulator! There was clearly something in the water on this day five years ago. I’m also now just realizing I can’t write “on that day five years ago”, or a variation thereof, without hearing this.

Alex Donaldson

15:04 pm
UTC

I actually really liked Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light, not that I can remember a single thing about it – although I think you had to push a large ball around at one point?

Tom Orry

15:15 pm
UTC

Crazyreyn says: “Any Shenmue fans in the comments today?” hello

Here he is! The Shenmue fan has logged on.

Tom Orry

15:38 pm
UTC

Sword of the Sea review

Image credit: Giant Squid / Eurogamer

Liked this one quite a bit folks.

It’s the latest from Giant Squid, the developer behind Abzu and The Pathless, with creative director Matt Nava having also worked heavily on Journey as art director back in the day. He teams up again with renowned game composer Austin Wintory here. It’s a game that mixes a bit of light Zelda-ing with serene platforming, ludicrously pretty views and a sense of movement, mindfulness and flow that’s right up there with very best of ’em. Big fat five stars from me.

Chris Tapsell

15:44 pm
UTC

Mortal Kombat movie is 30 years old today

As the clock ticks ever closer to 5pm in the UK and I can see the fajitas I’m about to cook for my dinner drift into view, now is the perfect time to remember the original Mortal Kombat movie which turns 30 today. I know this film has gained a large following in the years since its release, but I never liked it that much. That said, it probably captured the video games better than the recent movie did. You can’t say anything negative about this music, though, which is superb.

Watch on YouTube

Tom Orry

16:03 pm
UTC

That’s your lot for today. Big day tomorrow, everyone, so don’t stay up too late tonight. Chances are there’ll be at least one good game shown during Gamescom ONL, which kicks off at 7pm BST tomorrow – although there is supposedly also a bit of a pre-show before that.

Thanks for joining us today. See you all tomorrow.

Tom Orry

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August 19, 2025 0 comments

NFT Gaming

Japan Eyes Approval Of Yen-Backed Token

by admin August 19, 2025

Trusted Editorial content, reviewed by leading industry experts and seasoned editors. Ad Disclosure

Japan is inching towards the approval of its first yen-backed stablecoin, with regulators likely to approve it as soon as October.

Nikkei reports that the token, named JPYC, will be issued by Tokyo fintech company JPYC and will be backed by the Japanese yen with reserves like bank deposits and government debt.

Stablecoin Target Remittances And Corporate Payments

The forthcoming launch follows a 2023 revision of Japan’s Financial Services Agency’s legal requirements classifying stablecoins as “currency-denominated assets.”

With this regulation, only licensed money transfer companies, trust companies, and banks may issue them. JPYC is in the process of registering as a money transfer company within the month, which will enable selling tokens shortly afterward.

The company’s goal is ambitious. Within the next three years, it plans to sell 1 trillion yen’s worth of JPYC, roughly $6.8 billion at the current rate of 147 yen per dollar.

🇯🇵 Japan to greenlight first yen-based stablecoin.

The Financial Services Agency will approve the issuance of Japan’s first yen-denominated stablecoin as early as autumn, with the aim of using it for international remittances and more.

— World of Statistics (@stats_feed) August 18, 2025

The tokens might be utilized for cross-border remittances, corporate payments abroad, or trading in decentralized finance markets.

News also indicates hedge funds dealing in cryptocurrencies and family offices handling money of rich investors are already evincing interest.

Carry Trades Attract Institutional Interest

Market observers think that JPYC can also find use in carry trades, which exploit the disparity in interest rates among currencies.

That prospect has attracted institutional interest at a point when stablecoins are becoming popular worldwide.

BTCUSD trading at $115,718 on the 24-hour chart: TradingView

Dollar-backed tokens continue to hold sway, with the overall value of all stablecoins recently hitting more than $250 billion.

Tether’s USDT and Circle’s USDC continue to be used the most for trading and settlements.

Yet, Japan’s attempt to launch a regulated yen-backed token may signal the way toward increased regional adoption in Asia, where dollar-denominated stablecoin alternatives are being monitored closely.

Regulated Path Offers Predictability

JPYC’s approval would highlight Japan’s stricter but clearer approach compared to many other countries.

Analysts say the framework gives companies more certainty as they test blockchain-based settlement systems without fear of regulatory ambiguity.

According to estimates, the global stablecoin market could swell to nearly $4 trillion by 2030, more than 10 times its current size.

And if yen-pegged instruments, such as JPYC, gain traction, they could capture some of that growth and resonate with Asian investors looking for alternatives to dollars.

The Japanese move also comes as governments across the globe heighten their monitoring of stablecoins due to fears about financial stability.

Featured image from CNN, chart from TradingView

Editorial Process for bitcoinist is centered on delivering thoroughly researched, accurate, and unbiased content. We uphold strict sourcing standards, and each page undergoes diligent review by our team of top technology experts and seasoned editors. This process ensures the integrity, relevance, and value of our content for our readers.

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August 19, 2025 0 comments

Crypto Trends

SEC Extends Review of Nine Crypto ETF Filings Into October

by admin August 19, 2025

The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has pushed back decisions on a fresh round of cryptocurrency exchange-traded fund (ETF) proposals, leaving Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, and XRP funds waiting until October for a verdict.

In notices filed on August 18, the regulator extended its review period for multiple applications, including the Truth Social Bitcoin and Ethereum ETF, spot Solana ETFs from 21Shares and Bitwise, and the 21Shares Core XRP Trust.

The new decision dates now fall on October 8 for the Truth Social ETF, October 16 for the Solana filings, and October 19 for the XRP trust.

The Truth Social Bitcoin and Ethereum ETF, first submitted on June 24, is structured as a commodity-based trust that directly holds Bitcoin and Ether. Shares of the fund would be backed by the underlying assets.

Despite its branding under Donald Trump’s Truth Social platform, the product is designed to function in the same way as other spot Bitcoin and Ether ETFs already approved in the United States.

The Cboe BZX exchange is also seeking approval for the first spot Solana ETFs in the country, filed separately by 21Shares and Bitwise. These funds would give institutional and retail investors regulated access to Solana’s price movements.

In addition, 21Shares has applied for a Core XRP Trust, a product designed to hold XRP and mirror its market value. The application, initially filed in February, was approaching its 180-day deadline before the SEC extended its review by another 60 days.

Beyond these products, the SEC also pushed back rulings on other crypto-linked filings, including CoinShares’ proposed spot Litecoin ETF and Grayscale’s application for a spot Dogecoin ETF. The regulator has delayed a total of nine applications, with most of the new deadlines set for October.

Bloomberg ETF analysts Eric Balchunas and James Seyffart said the delays appear to reflect the SEC’s broader strategy of developing a framework for digital asset ETFs rather than continuing with the current case-by-case approval system.

Seyffart suggested that the commission is working on creating clear listing standards that would define which digital assets can be wrapped into ETFs and under what criteria.

The approach could provide greater consistency for the growing number of crypto ETF applications, but in the meantime, issuers and investors will have to wait longer for clarity.

Also Read: Grayscale Files with SEC for Dogecoin ETF Under Ticker GDOG

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August 19, 2025 0 comments