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Biggest

Stellar Blade is now Sony’s biggest ever game on Steam by concurrent players

by admin June 12, 2025

Stellar Blade is now the biggest PlayStation published single-player game on Steam in terms of concurrent players.

Whilst multiplayer title Helldivers 2 sports a concurrent peak of over 450,000 players, making it Sony’s biggest game overall, single-player game Stellar Blade has blazed past the concurrent peak records of similar single-player adventures like Ghost of Tsushima, God of War, and Marvel’s Spider-Man Remastered, which boast peaks of 77,154, 73,529, and 66,436, respectively.

Right now Stellar Blade sits with a concurrent player count of over 183,000, but this record has been broken several times today already, and is likely to go up again over the weekend.

Stellar Blade released on PC on June 11. It’s currently sitting on an “overwhelming positive” user rating on Valve’s PC client.

Yesterday, June 11, Sony’s first-party Bend Studio announced a round of layoffs following the cancellation of “a live service concept.”

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June 12, 2025 0 comments

Crypto Trends

AI deepfakes are crypto’s biggest threat: Bitget, SlowMist, Elliptic warn

by admin June 10, 2025

A new joint report from Bitget, SlowMist, and Elliptic highlights the rapid rise of AI-powered crypto crime.

Crypto crime is evolving, increasingly targeting human psychology as an attack vector. According to the report, published on Tuesday, June 10, social engineering scams are becoming more common, and many now leverage AI to increase their success rate.

“In 2024, nearly 40% of high-value frauds involved deepfake technology. And behind most scams—whether Trojan job offers or Ponzi-like “staking platforms”—is some form of social engineering designed to exploit trust, fear, or greed,” Bitget report.

For example, scammers have used AI-generated videos of high-profile figures, including Elon Musk, to create social proof for scam projects. AI videos are also being used to bypass KYC systems and even lure victims into live phishing Zoom calls.

Other types of social engineering scams are surfacing in the job market. Scammers often pose as recruiters seeking developers, directing job seekers to download what appears to be a task project. In reality, the file contains a Trojan virus capable of taking over the victim’s computer.

How to protect yourself from AI crypto scams

Blockchain security firm SlowMist outlines several steps users can take to avoid falling victim to scams. First, users should be highly skeptical of promotional content on social media. Posts offering jobs, ChatGPT trading bots, or high staking returns should be approached with caution.

Social engineering scams often create a false sense of urgency. Traders should always pause to consider whether an offer seems too good to be true. The same goes for videos of public figures promoting crypto launches—users should verify through official websites or trusted news sources.

“Bottom line? In an age where AI can mimic anyone, security must start with skepticism—and end with collective defense,” Bitget report.

SlowMist also warns against clicking on links or downloading files shared in group chats or social media comments. Tools like ScamSniffer can help by automatically blocking phishing links. For suspected rug pulls, users can check MistTrack to see whether a wallet address is tied to known scams.

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June 10, 2025 0 comments

Gaming Gear

Apple WWDC 2025: the 13 biggest announcements

by admin June 10, 2025

Apple packed a bunch of major updates into its annual Worldwide Developer Conference keynote. During the event, the company showed off the sleek design refresh coming to its operating systems, as well as a mix of new features for the iPhone, iPad, Mac, AirPods, and more.

Here’s a roundup of some of the most exciting changes Apple announced during the keynote — you can watch our edited version that cuts it down to under thirty minutes right here.

As predicted, Apple has given each of its operating systems new version numbers that now align with the year after their release, rather than the version number. The new names are iOS 26, iPadOS 26, macOS 26, watchOS 26, tvOS 26, and visionOS 26. They’ll be coming out in late 2025, but still, it’s easier to remember that than iOS 19, watchOS 12, and macOS 16.

The operating systems are available as developer betas starting today and will be available to all users this fall.

Image: Apple

Apple is revamping the design across its operating systems. Now they will have a new Liquid Glass theme that adds more transparency to buttons, switches, sliders, text, and media controls throughout their interfaces.

The date, time, notification previews on iOS 26’s lockscreen will also adopt the new look, allowing you to get a clear view of your wallpaper behind all the text.

New looks for the Camera, Safari, and Phone apps

Image: Apple

As part of its broader redesign, Apple revealed revamps for some of its core apps in iOS 26. Now, webpages in Safari will take up your entire screen. The Camera app also has a simplified layout that shows you two main options — photo and video — and you can swipe on the tool bar to reveal other modes, such as Slow-Mo and Cinematic.

The Phone app is getting an upgrade, as well, as it will now have a layout that combines favorites, recents, and voicemails into one panel, while calls, contacts, and keypad remain on the bottom of the app.

Image: Apple

Apple is bringing a major update to iPadOS 26 that should make multitasking easier. New windowing capabilities will let you resize app windows, place them around your display, and open more windows at once. It’s also adding a more precise mouse pointer and a new menu bar, allowing you to swipe down on an app to view various options and commands. It all looks a lot more Mac-like.

iPadOS 26 is also getting a version of the Mac’s Preview app to view and annotate image and files.

Messages gets custom backgrounds and new group chat features

Image: Apple

Apple is updating Messages to let you change the background of your chats and create polls in group conversations. Some other updates include typing indicators for group chats and the ability to screen messages from unknown senders, which will appear in a separate folder instead of your main list.

Image: Apple

Apple revealed a new Games app that will let you access all of your Apple Arcade games and discover new ones from a single spot. You can check out the Library tab to view the games you’ve downloaded from the App Store, as well as use the Play Together option to challenge friends.

Image: Apple

The next macOS software update will introduce an upgrade to Spotlight that will make your search results more relevant with personalization and filtering options to help you search for specific files, folders, apps, and messages. It also adds the ability to take actions like sending an email or creating a note.

Apple is also bringing the Phone and the newly announced Games app to macOS 26, along with support for the iPhone’s Live Activities.

The Apple Vision Pro will support PlayStation’s VR2 Sense controllers in visionOS 26, which will let you play a wider variety of virtual-reality games. It’s also adding a new scrolling feature that lets users navigate apps by looking up or down, in addition to spatial widgets that integrate “seamlessly into a user’s space and reappearing every time they put on Apple Vision Pro.”

Image: Apple

There’s a new Apple Intelligence feature coming to iOS 26 that lets you use the same buttons you would to take a screenshot to call upon the AI assistant. From there, you can ask additional questions about what you’re seeing on your screen with ChatGPT or search for a particular object on Google or Etsy to find similar images.

watchOS 26 ‘wrist flick’ Image: Apple

Along with the Liquid Glass design language, Apple is bringing a new “wrist flick” gesture to watchOS 26 that you can use to dismiss notifications. The Apple Watch will have a new AI-powered “Workout Buddy,” as well, which will generate personalized advice and encouragement.

Apple is building AI-powered live translation into the Messages, FaceTime, and Phone apps. You can use the integration to automatically translate texts in the Messages app, while you’ll hear speech translated aloud on the Phone app. In FaceTime, Apple will display translated live captions while you listen to your conversation partner.

Apple previewed an update that will let users take a photo with their iPhone or iPad by tapping the stem of their AirPods. It’s also working on a new feature that lets users record “studio-quality” vocals in noisy areas with voice isolation. The features will come to the AirPods 4, AirPods 4 with Active Noise Cancellation, and AirPods Pro 2.

Though Apple’s keynote was a bit light on AI news, the company announced that it will let third-party app developers access the on-device large language model used by Apple Intelligence, allowing them to create tools of their own.

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June 10, 2025 0 comments

Game Updates

Elden Ring Nightreign’s rarest item could be hiding the game’s biggest secret

by admin June 9, 2025

The first time I saw the Cord End on the ground in Elden Ring Nightreign, I was vexed. The enigmatic item had a simple description: “Gain entry somewhere.”

Where is somewhere, you might ask? Good question. I didn’t find out during that playthrough. Painfully, I relinquished the item on the floor in the waiting area before the final boss on that run to make room for articles with more immediately apparent uses, like healing. Every single teammate stopped what they were doing to inspect the object, which silently exhibited its rarity with a golden hue. Classic Souls experience right there: Something, somewhere, can be interacted with, if only you could figure out the exact conditions. The game will helpfully not tell you. Only your curiosity or willingness to Google the answer can solve the mystery.

I’ve kept an eye out since then, but to some degree, it felt useless. Nightreign’s design forces players to zip through the map from icon to icon in the hopes of building up a character who can withstand a Nightlord on the third day, which the game enforces by periodically corralling players with a Fortnite-like storm. But while Nightreign’s pacing is speedier than that of the original Elden Ring, the intricate level design and secrecy remain. Areas will have winding hallways leading to deep chambers with multiple pathways and doors that you may never see if you have any sense of urgency. One time, I dove deep into the magma area of the map only to find that the level extended so deeply, I couldn’t figure out how to get out before the storm claimed my runes.

In my 60 hours playing Nightreign, I’ve seen the Cord End exactly once. I figured that the likelihood of ever figuring out what to do with it was small, so I recently allowed myself to look it up. Turns out, it opens a door near the castle residing in the middle of the map. In it, there are three Sacrificial Twigs, which prevent you from losing runes or levels when you die.

Looking at a picture of the door itself, it’s evident why I couldn’t figure out where the Cord End might lead to. The area is poorly lit and barely visible. I had probably run by it many times, on most of my runs — the castle is a popular destination — without ever realizing it.

Image: FromSoftware/Bandai Namco

Puzzle solved… kind of. Figuring out what it does, hilariously enough, was the easiest part of the Cord End debacle. Players now know that the Cord End will sometimes drop in churches that house extra flask charges, but hell if anyone can get the item to drop again.

“I found one of these on my very first game and in the fifty-something games since I’ve never seen another one and now I’m going insane,” reads one comment on the Fextralife website detailing the item.

“I want to say I’d looted over 50 by that time, so it isn’t a very common drop at all,” another remarked.

“In 44 hours, I’ve only found 2,” says a comment on a YouTube video about the item.

Sacrificial Twigs are useful items, to be sure, but they’re not necessarily critical to beating Nightreign. Part of what’s driving the interest here is that lore junkies are convinced that the Cord End might do more than simply open a door.

As one player points out, there’s a crypt area in the game where a description reads, “The Ways of Cutting point to the deep woods, bestow branches to those who are worthy and wise.” Another description in the same area says, “The Ways of Cutting point to the deep woods, bestow branches to those who wander and roam.”

Theoretically, both of these text snippets may not only reference specific areas of the map, but they could also be attached to characters in the game. The descriptions are tied to coffins that players speculate belong to each individual class. The Recluse, for example, is described in the game as a witch of the deep woods. Crucially, this area also appears to have something that resembles an altar, and it’s accompanied by text that says, “To atone for the first sin, we elect to become the foundation.”

It could just be stuff to set the ambiance; while Souls games do have distinct narratives, you can’t assume every bit of text is an intentional tie to a wider storyline. Sometimes, descriptions will conflict with one another or plainly not make sense in the larger context of the game. Still, this is a lot of references to branches, all hailing from an apparently important place in the game. The altar is suggestive; is the player supposed to do something there? What happens if players bring the twigs to the areas on the map?

Twigs are obviously useful, but why does it give you three? A single player can only carry two branches, as it is classified as a Talisman, not a normal item. If the game expects you to share the twigs, is there a chance something might happen if specific characters hold those branches in the right area of the map? It’s the sort of thing that sounds like a classic Souls puzzle.

“I think there is some way to get those three branches to these 3 spots within the Roundtable,” muses a Redditor who is convinced there’s a deeper mystery afoot.

Another thing that’s fueling this quixotic search is the knowledge that being given a legendary item merely prevents you from losing runes doesn’t feel like a proper reward for something this unlikely.

“I believe that to solve this Easter egg, you need to have a group with specifically Recluse, Wylder, and Duchess, and happen to get a cord drop and open the secret door,” another Redditor says. “Then everyone needs to equip the branches. After that? Who knows?”

The hunches could be right, and there could be a wilder secret no Nightreign player has figured out yet. Then again, Souls games are not above simply trolling players. Famously, the original Dark Souls offered players a choice to begin the game with a pendant that players convinced themselves must be tied to some other elaborate thing in the game. Later, everyone found out that the developers just wanted to prank players. Nightreign is also slated to get updates, so it’s possible that whatever the twigs do — if indeed they do anything — might not be in the game yet.

We can’t know until someone successfully tests out the myriad theories floating around. Good luck getting the item to drop, though. Even if you do get the twigs, you’ve got to survive long enough to bring the branches to the right locations, or end a run with the items still in your possession. Most runs aren’t successful, and dying is a constant in Nightreign. Woof.

Perhaps one Redditor puts it best when they wrote, “I wish I had a consistent team just to run around the map to try and find cords, but to whoever can do this first and see if there really is more to the secret door, you’ll be a legend!”

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June 9, 2025 0 comments

Esports

2025 NBA Finals: Biggest takeaways from Thunder-Pacers Game 2

by admin June 9, 2025

Coming into Game 2 of the NBA Finals, the obvious question was how this young Oklahoma City team would respond to its fourth-quarter collapse in Game 1. Would the Thunder respond with a blowout as they did following Game 1 against the Denver Nuggets? Or would they possibly follow the Cleveland Cavaliers’ and New York Knicks’ example, and allow the Indiana Pacers to steal yet another 2-0 lead on the road?

The final scoreboard read 123-107, but in reality, Sunday night’s Game 2 was decided far sooner. This was precisely the response you’d expect from a team that has now spent the past eight months establishing itself as a potentially all-time great squad.

The league’s Most Valuable Player, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, looked like it in Game 2, bouncing back from a starring role in that Game 1 collapse with a stellar all-around performance. Chet Holmgren, who struggled in the series opener, immediately set the tone in the first quarter of Game 2, scoring nine quick points and making multiple impact plays defensively.

Game 1: Pacers 111, Thunder 110
• How Indiana stole a win | Inside Haliburton’s rise
Game 2: Thunder 123, Pacers 107
• Caruso’s journey in OKC
Game 3: at Pacers, Wed., June 11, 8:30 p.m.
Game 4: at Pacers, Fri., June 13, 8:30 p.m.
Game 5: at Thunder, Mon., June 16, 8:30 p.m.
Game 6*: at Pacers, Thu., June 19, 8:30 p.m.
Game 7*: at Thunder, Sun. June 22, 8 p.m.
* If necessary | All times Eastern

• More NBA playoffs from ESPN

Thunder coach Mark Daigneault, who caught some predictable (if also misguided) criticism for changing his starting lineup in Game 1, stuck with it in Game 2 while also making some subtle — but effective — changes, including playing both big men, Holmgren and Isaiah Hartenstein, on the court together and going away from the minutes for rookie guard Ajay Mitchell.

The Thunder once again throttled the high-octane Pacers offense, preventing any Indiana player from scoring 20 points for a second consecutive game. This was a commanding performance — one that should be expected from a team that won 68 games and outscored its opponents by 12.7 points per 100 possessions in the regular season.

But the Pacers have spent the entire postseason proving they cannot be counted out. Oklahoma City can have cold stretches shooting the ball, as it did in the second half of Game 1, and Indiana will certainly be boosted by hosting its first Finals games in a quarter century later this week.

But on Sunday night, the Thunder showed why they entered the Finals as decisive favorites. And, in this series’ biggest moment yet, this young group had an extremely mature response. — Tim Bontemps

MVP SGA delivers for the Thunder’s offense

After Haliburton and the Pacers stole Game 1, Oklahoma City needed its MVP to answer. Gilgeous-Alexander delivered with the kind of calm, controlled dominance that has come to be expected of him.

Gilgeous-Alexander scored 38 points in the series opener, but he needed 30 shots to do it. His 34 points in Game 2 came with his routinely excellent efficiency: 11-of-21 from the floor and 11-of-12 from the line.

It was also a terrific passing performance by the superstar. Gilgeous-Alexander had eight assists and plenty of other smart passes out of double-teams that started beautiful sequences of ball movement which resulted in open looks for teammates.

It’s hard to beat the Thunder when Gilgeous-Alexander plays at this level. — Tim MacMahon

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1:28

SGA after Game 2 win: ‘Basketball is full of ups and downs’

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander reflects on how the Thunder bounced back in Game 2 vs. the Pacers.

Pacers need Haliburton to find his rhythm

The credit goes to the Thunder’s defense because Indiana’s offense struggled to find a rhythm for most of the game. The Pacers scored just 41 points in the first half and shot 35% from the field — one of their worst offensive performances of the postseason — putting them in a deep deficit they couldn’t climb out of this time. It’s no coincidence the Pacers were limited on offense on a quiet night from Haliburton, who scored 17 points with six assists after hitting a few baskets in the fourth quarter. He also committed five turnovers, his most in any game this season (regular or postseason).

Haliburton hit the clutch shot at the end of Game 1, but the Thunder have done a good job of limiting his production in the series while holding him to 31 points combined in two games. As the series shifts to Indiana, the Pacers will need to find more ways to keep Haliburton involved in their offense, which is crucial to that unit functioning at its highest potential. — Jamal Collier

What to watch for Game 3

Game 3: Thunder at Pacers (Wednesday, 8:30 p.m. ET, ABC)

Haliburton will face plenty of criticism leading up to Game 3, such is the burden of a superstar. That spotlight is warranted because of Haliburton’s tepid performances through two games.

But it’s also worth noting how much worse Indiana has played without its star point guard. In Game 1, the Pacers were plus-12 with Haliburton on the court but minus-11 without him. In Game 2, they were minus-5 when Haliburton played versus minus-11 when he was on the bench.

Through two games, the Pacers are plus-7 in 73 minutes with Haliburton and minus-22 in 23 minutes without him. That’s not a winning formula.

In Game 2, for instance, Oklahoma City led 21-20 when Haliburton exited for the first time, with two minutes left in the first quarter. By the time he reentered midway through the second, the Thunder’s lead had grown to 40-27 — despite Gilgeous-Alexander also sitting for most of that stretch. Indiana never cut the deficit to single digits for the rest of the game.

So, while Haliburton must increase his aggression and effectiveness for Indiana to have a chance in this series, the Pacers also must stop getting blown off the court when he rests. The Pacers’ depth looked strong in the Eastern Conference playoffs compared to the shallower rosters in Milwaukee and New York and the injured roster in Cleveland, but it pales in comparison to Oklahoma City’s bench.

Perhaps Pacers role players like Bennedict Mathurin will play better at home while the likes of Oklahoma City’s Aaron Wiggins (18 points on 6-for-11 shooting in Game 2) struggle on the road. Rick Carlisle could also stagger his rotation so that more of Indiana’s starters are on the court when Haliburton rests, instead of turning to bench-heavy lineups that can’t keep up with the Thunder.

But the Pacers reached the Finals because of a team effort, not just because of Haliburton’s heroics. They’ll need that entire team to play better, from Haliburton on down, in Game 3. — Zach Kram

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2:05

Indiana Pacers vs. Oklahoma City Thunder: Game Highlights

For the first 47 minutes, 40 seconds of Game 1 of the NBA Finals, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander thoroughly outplayed Tyrese Haliburton in a matchup of star point guards.

But as Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said after Indiana’s remarkable comeback to beat the New York Knicks in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals: It’s a 48-minute game. And, in those final 20 seconds Thursday night, Haliburton and the Pacers changed the narrative … again.

First, it was Gilgeous-Alexander — who had 38 points but was 14-for-30 shooting — missing a clean midrange jumper, his specialty, that would’ve given the Thunder a three-point lead with 10 seconds left. And then, it was Haliburton again playing the role of road spoiler, hitting a circus shot that might not have been quite as spectacular as his high-bouncing miracle at Madison Square Garden on May 21. But, unlike that shot, this shot won the game for the Pacers in regulation.

From the play-in tournament to the NBA Finals, ESPN has you covered this postseason.

• Game 2 takeaways: The Thunder strike back
• NBA Finals: Keys to Thunder-Pacers
• Shelburne: Inside the Dorture Chamber
• Collier: What’s fueling Haliburton’s run
• Kram/Pelton: 7 things that will decide the Finals
• Kram: Why NBA should be terrified of OKC
• Pelton: Are Pacers best comeback team ever?
• Marks: Offseason guides for 28 teams

As a result, Indiana — which never led until Haliburton’s shot from just inside the 3-point arc dropped through with 0.3 seconds left — somehow left the Paycom Center with a 111-110 victory over the heavily favored Thunder, and injected a massive amount of life into this series.

For much of Game 1, the Thunder were dictating the terms of engagement. They forced Indiana — typically great at taking care of the ball — into a team that was flinging the ball all over the place for 24 turnovers, compared to only six for Oklahoma City.

The Thunder took 16 more shots than the Pacers, but the Pacers hit 18 3-pointers — including 6-for-10 in the fourth quarter — and the Thunder, as they are prone to do, missed a whole bunch of them (11-for-30). That allowed Indiana — a team that has pulled off one remarkable comeback after another in these playoffs — to find itself in prime position again.

And, as he has so many times in these playoffs, Haliburton delivered.

There are still plenty of reasons to think Oklahoma City is the deserved favorite in this series. But the second half of Thursday’s game revealed a blueprint: The Pacers took far better care of the ball, and their high-octane offense took off. Oklahoma City, meanwhile, got into a rut offensively, and Gilgeous-Alexander had a couple of critical misses in the closing moments.

Because of it, as they did in both the Eastern Conference semifinals against the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Eastern Conference finals in New York, the Pacers have claimed a Game 1 road victory.

And, as a result, we have ourselves a series. — Bontemps

The Thunder need 48 minutes of their NBA-best defense, not 24

The first half displayed the Thunder’s defensive fury at its finest, forcing 19 turnovers while holding the Pacers to 45 points. But it didn’t hold up in the second half.

Maybe it just took the Pacers a couple of quarters to adjust to the Thunder’s defensive pressure, but Indiana looked comfortable after halftime, putting up 66 points in the second half — 35 in the fourth quarter, punctuated by Haliburton’s winning shot — to pull off the upset.

Indiana also had only five turnovers in the second half, playing their style of fast-paced, under-control offense. — MacMahon

A new guide to another ridiculous Pacers comeback: cut the turnovers

If this postseason has taught us anything, it’s that the Pacers can never be counted out. After trailing by 15 points in the fourth quarter, Indiana stormed back to take Game 1 on yet another winning shot by Haliburton with 0.3 seconds remaining, the Pacers’ only lead.

It has become a series staple for the Pacers during this postseason run: a fourth-quarter Game 1 comeback that has demoralized each of their previous three opponents.

Indiana’s comeback this time was fueled by its usual suspects, some clutch 3-point shots from Myles Turner, Obi Toppin and Aaron Nesmith, and taking better care of the ball after record-setting 19 turnovers in the first half.

And then, of course, Haliburton hit another big shot to seal the deal. — Collier

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June 9, 2025 0 comments

Space men standing in a science facility

Product Reviews

Lethal Company’s biggest update for months is finally out, and with it comes the much awaited first look at a new monster

by admin June 2, 2025

It’s been a hot minute since we got an update for Lethal Company, but Zeekerss has finally answered players’ hopes and wishes with a chunky slab of new content. Available to play right now, v70 brings an update to the mansion, overhauled features, and probably the best part, a scary new monster.

Work on Lethal Company has slowed down a little bit, with the time between updates growing larger and larger. Zeekerss previously mentioned that they were working on a separate game, but had also encountered a bit of creative block. That was until their spark was reignited after playing a REPO for over 50 hours.

So here we are, v70 comes hot off the heels of collecting trinkets in REPO, and while it may not be as monumental as the v50 update, you won’t hear me complaining, not when we have a new plant monster on our doorstep.

Helldivers 2 Players Score Biggest Victory Yet But At What Cost

by admin June 1, 2025

Image: Arrowhead Game Studios

“The President of Super Earth has been killed in action by the Illuminate during the fall of Prosperity City.” That was the message that greeted Helldivers 2 players when they logged on last night in one last bid to repel their invading squid-like foes. Some truthers think the hit was inside job. When the dust settled Friday morning, the battle to save Super Earth was over and players had succeeded in winning the extraction shooter’s biggest showdown since it launched. Pus they got a new battle station to celebrate.

The Week In Games: Co-Op Bug Blasting And More New Releases

“The devastation wrought upon our home is immense,” read the latest in-game dispatch from Arrowhead Game Studios. “Only two Mega Cities remain standing: Prosperity City and Equality-on-Sea. The remainder have been vacated by the enemy, having suffered catastrophic damage at their hands.” New Major Orders are still pending, but in the meantime players get to vote on where to move the new DSS battle station that aided in the fight, and that provides extra military bonuses to Helldivers fighting on whatever planet it orbits.

For anyone who missed the last two weeks, a brief series of entries on the Galactic Map recaps the events from the Illuminate’s arrival and torching of Mars and other planets, all the way through players’ epic last stand to protect Equality-on-Sea (Helldivers’ version of Shanghai). A lot of creative military tactics were improvised and deployed to take down the massive invading Leviathan ships, and a wave of negative Steam reviews, purportedly from Chinese players angry, due to a potential mistranslation, about why they couldn’t seem to fully liberate Equality-on-Sea, appears to have subsided.

What happens next is anyone’s guess. Arrowhead Game Studios might take some time before kicking off whatever it has planned to let players catch their breath. Maybe the development team is lining up a revenge campaign, or maybe there’s still another shoe to drop and Super Earth isn’t quite in the clear after all. A new president? In this economy? Maybe they’re just an Illuminate plant after all, ready to control Super Earth from within. The beauty of Helldivers 2‘s fascist space satire is that nothing is ever quite out of the question.

May kicked off one of Helldivers 2‘s biggest balance patches and content updates in some time, including a new Warbond battle pass with additional melee weapons and the ability to level up and customize most of the shooter’s guns. I wouldn’t bet on any other big updates anytime soon. That said, Summer Game Fest is just around the corner and Arrowhead used host Geoff Keighley’s last big gaming showcase to announce the addition of the Illuminate to the fray. Who knows what’s in store for the second half of Helldivers 2‘s second year?

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June 1, 2025 0 comments

Crypto Trends

The Biggest Games Releasing in June 2025

by admin June 1, 2025

It’s officially Nintendo Switch 2 month, and the hype is real.

Over 20 games are set to drop at launch, from shiny “Switch 2 Editions” of existing games to brand-new titles built for the upgraded hardware. But let’s be honest—we’ve got our eyes locked on Mario Kart World, the ambitious open-world reimagining of Nintendo’s iconic kart racer.

After years of perfecting the formula, Mario Kart is finally shaking things up in a major way—and we’re more than ready to hit the gas.

But Switch 2 isn’t the only thing dropping in June. This month also delivers two heavy-hitting “walking simulators”—and no, we don’t mean the slow-burn narrative kind.

We’re talking about Death Stranding 2 and Dune: Awakening. One has you trekking across surreal landscapes with a backpack full of oddly shaped cargo and clients who make Amazon look chill.

The other? It’s all about surviving the desert by walking without rhythm—unless you feel like becoming worm food.

Strap on your boots. It’s going to be a long (and weird) walk.

The Nintendo Switch 2

Release Date: June 5

We generally focus on software in this list, but we’re going to make an exception for a Nintendo console launch. The Switch 2 doesn’t feel like quite the revolution that the Switch or the Nintendo Wii were, but it’s surely far from the disaster that the Wii U was.

This is a powerful, well-optimized handheld by all accounts, offering significant improvements in performance and power.

The Joy-Con controllers have undergone significant improvements, featuring a magnetic attachment system that keeps them securely attached to the system, as well as the ability to turn a Joy-Con into a functioning mouse.

The mouse option turns the fact that games like Civilization VII are coming to the system into something to crow about, rather than something to dread.

Onboard, it runs games at 1080p, and when docked, you’re looking at native or upscaled 4K—so couch play is getting a serious upgrade. It also packs eight times the internal storage of the original Switch, which is a huge win for digital collectors.

We’ll need to go hands-on to see if the bump in size and weight is worth the trade-off—and whether the battery life holds up—but for now, we’re locked in on that June 5 release.

Mario Kart World

Release Date: June 5

Platforms: Nintendo Switch 2

Topping our hype list this month is Mario Kart World—the first major Switch 2 release out of the gate. Yes, there are still lap-based tracks, but now they’re all stitched together into a massive open world packed with shortcuts, secrets, and new ways to race.

Fans are already throwing around comparisons to Forza Horizon, and while that’s a bold claim, we’re curious to see how it holds up once we’re behind the wheel.

Honestly, we’ve been waiting for a new Mario Kart almost as long as we’ve been waiting for GTA VI, so if Nintendo’s finally dropping a fresh one, you better believe it’s going to shake things up.

Legend of Zelda Switch 2 editions

Release Date: June 5

Platforms: Nintendo Switch 2

Two of the best Nintendo Switch games, regarded by many as simply two of the best games period, are getting a refresh for the Switch 2.

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom are both getting the deluxe treatment on Switch 2: sharper resolution, smoother frame rates, full HDR support, and—finally—achievements.

They’re also adding support for the new Zelda Notes mobile app, which doubles as a collectible tracker, GPS, and probably your new favorite sidekick. Already own the games? It’ll cost you $10 to upgrade and unlock all the new features.

Cyberpunk 2077: Nintendo Switch 2 Edition

Release Date: June 5

Platforms: Nintendo Switch 2

CD Projekt Red’s cyberpunk RPG is legendary both for its disastrous launch and remarkable recovery, of course, but also for how demanding it can be of the hardware it runs on—it was literally unplayable on the Xbox One and PlayStation 4.

It’s a big, flashy game, and just seeing it running on Switch 2 is a marvel. This is thanks in part to the fact that the Nvidia chip behind the screen can run DLSS, Nvidia’s upscaling technology that allows games to run at higher resolutions without sacrificing visual fidelity.

It might be time to replay Cyberpunk anyway.

Dune Awakening

Release Date: June 10

Platforms: PC (Steam), PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S

Dune Awakening assumes you’re at least passingly familiar with the Dune universe, but asks you to accept one big change: Paul Atreides was never born.

The sleeper never awakened. Jessica Atreides had a daughter as the Bene Gesserit asked her to. Instead of inhabiting the body of a messianic figure in control of millions of soldiers, you’re a bit more humble—a prisoner sent to Arrakis to endure the brutal conditions and search for signs of the missing Fremen.

You can side with the Atreides or Harkonnen houses, and learn the skills of the Fremen, Mentats, Bene Gesserit, and more.

Survival in the dunes isn’t just about avoiding sandworms—it’s about crafting the essentials. You’ll need to build your own Ornithopter, set up personal shelters, and stay sharp while navigating the desert.

Shade is your best friend, and every step counts—walk the wrong way, and you might see the sand ripple before you get swallowed whole.

Stellar Blade comes to PC

Release Date: June 11

Platforms: PC (Steam, Epic Games Store)

Stellar Blade was released last year on PlayStation 5 to critical acclaim, with an aggregated score of 81 on Metacritic and zero negative reviews.

It was touted as being a solid, great-looking action game in the vein of games like Bayonetta and Devil May Cry. Now it’s hitting the PC.

Whether you’re revisiting it or playing for the first time, it’ll have all the excellent action, but it’ll look better than ever.

Death Stranding 2

Release Date: June 26

Platforms: PlayStation 5

We’re still not quite sure what happened in Death Stranding.

You do a lot of deliveries, you fight some animals and guys made out of oil, and you throw grenades full of blood and human biological waste at them.

There’s a guy named Die-Hardman, and multiple characters have the faces of successful movie directors.

There are hands everywhere, and a place called “The Beach,” and then there’s a real groaner of a pun when Sam Porter Bridges (who is incidentally a porter who builds physical and metaphorical bridges) calls another character “Princess Beach.”

It was a blast to play thanks to Kojima Productions’ compelling gameplay. Now there’s a sequel with improved combat, new ways to deliver packages, more varied environments—not everything looks like Iceland this time around—and we can’t wait to see if the story makes even a little bit more sense than Death Stranding.

Edited by Sebastian Sinclair

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June 1, 2025 0 comments

A crowd looks at the stage during Netflix Tudum

Gaming Gear

Netflix Tudum 2025 live: the biggest news about Stranger Things, One Piece, Squid Game and more

by admin May 31, 2025

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2025-05-31T23:18:50.335Z

Where can I watch Netflix Tudum 2025?

Netflix Tudum 2025 | Official Trailer | May 31 | Netflix – YouTube

Watch On

You can tune into the Netflix Tudum 2025 live event from home by streaming it live on Netflix on May 31, 2025, at 8pm ET / 5PM PT. That means viewers in the UK can catch it at 1am BST, while those in Australia will be able to watch it at 10am AEST.

Just like any other Netflix live streaming event, you’ll need a subscription to be able to get in on all the action. If you’re not currently signed up to the service though (Netflix doesn’t tend to feature among the best streaming deals), then you can catch up on anything you missed right here.

Today’s best Netflix deals

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May 31, 2025 0 comments

Crypto Trends

Crypto Game Crashouts: The Biggest Shutdowns So Far in 2025

by admin May 31, 2025

In brief

Crypto gaming has experienced a growing trend of games and studios shutting down.
Game creators are struggling to find funding to complete development, among other commonly cited issues.
Once-promising blockchain games like Deadrop, Nyan Heroes, and Ember Sword top the list.

While crypto gaming has long been seen as a key use for blockchain, letting gamers really own and freely trade their unique items and perhaps profit from a game’s success, developers are struggling to sustain their games and digital economies.

Some games, like Gunzilla Games’ Off the Grid, have punched through to a broader audience, gaining adoption from top streamers and gamers alike—albeit ahead of full blockchain integration. But many other games and studios building with tokens are struggling to find players and maintain funding.

In 2025, a number of once-promising crypto games have already closed up shop, and the list has been growing recently with each new week. Here’s a look at some of the biggest games to go offline or shut down entirely.

Deadrop

Deadrop game developer Midnight Society announced that it was closing shop in January. The studio, which had previously removed co-founder Dr. Disrespect in 2024 after alleged misconduct, gave employees just two days notice, according to an employee post on X.

The extraction shooter game spent around two years in early access, selling players NFT access passes on Ethereum scaling network Polygon, as well as other non-NFT items that ultimately became useless. In March, players started rallying around the abandoned community Discord, helping each other secure refunds via credit card chargebacks and bank reversals by claiming the product was never fully delivered.

Ember Sword

Ethereum game Ember Sword at one point received more than $200 million in pledges for an NFT land sale, conveying the level of hype around metaverse gaming land NFTs in 2021. But the final sale brought in much less than that, and in May, the game was ultimately shut down.

Developer Bright Star Studios cited a lack of funding in its closing announcement—a common theme among crypto games ceasing development of late. The MMORPG entered closed beta last July and early access later in the year, but drew criticism from players. After moving chains multiple times in search of a permanent home, it’s since gone offline.

“We explored every possible way forward. But in today’s market—where even some of the most promising projects are shutting down—we couldn’t find a path to keep building,” the project said.

Nyan Heroes

The Solana cat-mech shooter game Nyan Heroes ended its run in May, as well.

The game, which had racked up more than 250,000 wishlist additions across PC gaming platforms, was unable to secure the necessary funding to complete development and push ahead with its planned full launch next winter.

Its closure rendered its NYAN Solana token useless, plummeting its value to more than 99% off its all-time high established in 2024.

“It’s been a difficult last few months,” 9 Lives CEO and Creative Director Max Fu told Decrypt following the announcement. “Currently, we are exploring acquisition of the studio and/or the IP. Some discussions are underway, but I suspect it may take some time to finalize a decision.”

Realms of Alurya

A funding issue also signaled the apparent end of the line—at least for now—for Realms of Alurya. The game, which was initially expected to launch on Treasure’s blockchain, was forced to migrate to the Ethereum gaming-focused sidechain Ronin as Treasure pivoted to focus on AI initiatives.

The developers claimed in a message to its community that Treasure unexpectedly cut grant funding that was expected along developmental milestones. Without that funding, the studio is no longer able to complete its roadmap, and has yet to secure additional backing.

While the team explores future solutions, the game is offline until further notice.

Symbiogenesis

Final Fantasy creator Square Enix will bring its Ethereum-based blockchain game Symbiogenesis to an end this July.

The browser-based narrative game, which has links to multiple Ethereum scaling chains, like Arbitrum and Polygon, was first announced by Square Enix in 2022 and billed as a “digital collectible art project,” offering multiple chapters and quests to players in a new continent set in the sky. Just recently, the game did a crossover promotion with a couple games on Sony’s new Ethereum layer-2 network, Soneium, but the end is still nigh.

Unlike other games which have been forced to fold due to a lack of product market fit or funding, the Symbiogenesis roadmap has been intentionally designed to end in July 2025 as the storyline comes to its conclusion. And to be clear, Square Enix has ample resources to keep a game like this live, making this an anomaly on this list; maybe the game just ran its course.

The Mystery Society

The Mystery Society, an Ethereum game that blended vibes of the casual Among Us game with murder mystery, suspended operations in February.

The game’s developer, Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow, was unable to find the funding necessary to complete the game, despite having previously raised $3 million.

The game first launched on Polygon before migrating to gaming-centric scaling chain Immutable in late 2024.

After the announcement, the game developer’s CEO Chris Heatherly told Decrypt that “greed and stupidity from just about all players is killing the space before it can prove itself.”

The Walking Dead: Empires

Gala Games’ zombie-themed MMORPG The Walking Dead: Empires will find its way to the graveyard this year. The Ethereum game, which was officially licensed from the AMC show The Walking Dead, will only be playable through the end of July.

“After careful consideration, we have made the difficult decision to sunset The Walking Dead: Empires, with the last playable date set for July 31, 2025,” wrote Gala Games in early May.

The game challenged players to craft weapons and build bases to protect themselves from the undead, at one point commanding major price tags for its NFTs on the secondary market. As compensation for the game’s shutdown, players will get mystery boxes filled with NFTs from other games published by Gala.

MetalCore

Mech shooter MetalCore closed its game servers and Discord community in March, ending communications with its community as developer Studio 369 makes “important changes to the game.” The official X post on the matter even restricted replies to only those that the MetalCore account follows.

Thank you to all the mercs who joined us for the Battlegrounds event! 🫡

MetalCore servers and Discord channels will be down as we make important changes to the game. Thanks for your dedication and support—stay sharp, we will return soon!

— METALCORE | Let’s #PlayMetalCore! (@playmetalcore) March 25, 2025

The game, which is still listed as available in the Epic Games Store, started on Ethereum layer-2 network Immutable zkEVM, but began a migration to Solana last October. But no updates have come since that March 25 announcement, despite a mention in the post that the team will “return soon.”

Blast Royale

The developer of mobile game Blast Royale signaled its discontinuation in mid-May “after exploring every path and possibility,” it said.

The creators of the battle royale-style game, which had a collection of Ethereum NFTs, will open its source code on June 1, allowing anyone in the community to pick up where they left off and further develop and modify the game. But otherwise, the game will close to players on June 30.

With a heavy heart, we confirm the news about Blast Royale’s closure. Thank you to our amazing community for being part of this journey. Please see the attached community statement shared by @Renny0x last week. pic.twitter.com/2iAv0VSGZg

— Blast Royale (@blastroyale) May 16, 2025

The game’s NOOB token will still be distributed and trade freely on Base, the Ethereum layer-2 built by Coinbase, but it has plummeted more than 99% from its all-time high price.

Mojo Melee

And the latest addition to the list, coming on Friday, is Mojo Melee—the NFT-fueled auto-battler game in the vein of Teamfight Tactics. We went hands-on with Mojo Melee back in 2023 and enjoyed it, and the game subsequently held a promotion with Amazon to give out free in-game assets to Prime subscribers.

But now developer Planet Mojo is closing up shop, making a pivot to AI with plans to launch a movie-making platform. Mojo Melee and the studio’s WWA platform for AI gaming agents will shut down on July 1.

It is with deep regret that we announce that Planet Mojo is officially sunsetting on July 1. Thank you to everyone who played, supported, and built with us. You can read our full message to the community here 👇 pic.twitter.com/2B0OGQzN57

— Mojo AI 🌱 (@WeArePlanetMojo) May 30, 2025

“While we’re incredibly proud of how far these projects came and and the passionate community that grew around them, shifting market realities have made it unsustainable to continue developing them at the level they deserve,” the studio said Friday in a Discord message cross-posted to X.

Edited by Andrew Hayward

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May 31, 2025 0 comments