Tag:

Expansion

Mount and Blade 2: Bannerlord - War Sails screenshot
Gaming Gear

Mount & Blade 2: Bannerlord’s big naval expansion is delayed: ‘After taking a hard look at where things stand, it became clear we won’t be ready’

by admin



War Sails, the Mount and Blade 2: Bannerlord expansion announced in March, has been delayed. Instead of launching on June 17 as planned, developer TaleWorlds Entertainment says it’s now on track for release in early fall.

“After taking a hard look at where things stand, it became clear we won’t be ready by the originally planned release date of June 17th,” the studio wrote in an update. “The title is currently on track for an early Fall 2025 release window.

“We came to this decision after a lot of thought (and a few long meetings), because we need more time to reach the level of quality you rightfully expect. The extra development period will give us more time to apply additional polish, and continue making progress on the improvements to the base game that are already in motion. We believe this short delay will ultimately lead to a better and more enjoyable experience for all players.”


You may like

Nobody likes delays but War Sails looks very ambitious, and given all it brings to the game I can’t say I’m terribly surprised that TaleWorlds wants more time with it, rather than rushing to meet an arbitrary deadline. Here’s the rundown on what was revealed when the expansion was announced in March:

  • The new Nords faction, and their home, the Northern Kingdom
  • Naval warfare, complete with wind and water physics, boarding, ramming and all sorts of ship-themed mayhem
  • 18 ships with distinct handling, which can be upgraded with new sails, rams, siege engines and cosmetic flourishes
  • Traversable rivers
  • New companions, banners, tattoos, hairstyles, weapons and skills
  • A larger map with the northern sea, islands and rivers

Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord – War Sails – Announcement Trailer – YouTube

Watch On

That’s all coming alongside a planned free update adding new features including stealth and disguises, new random events, weapon types, a parley mechanic, and more. It’s a lot.

TaleWorlds said it’s now working on a “revised timeline” for the expansion, and hopes to have a new release date ready to announce “in the upcoming weeks.”



Source link

0 comments
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
Trump’s Bitcoin Strategy: Crypto Czar Unveils Expansion Blueprint
NFT Gaming

Crypto Czar Unveils Expansion Blueprint

by admin


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

The framework for the US Strategic Bitcoin Reserve may soon be broadened, according to remarks from White House crypto adviser David Sacks during Bitcoin2025 in Las Vegas.

Sacks, who serves as President Trump’s designated “crypto czar,” outlined a potential pathway for the government to increase its Bitcoin holdings without adding to the national debt or imposing new taxes.

Exploring Budget-Neutral Acquisition Mechanisms

Speaking alongside Gemini co-founders Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, Sacks referenced President Trump’s March 6 executive order, which established the US Strategic Bitcoin Reserve using approximately 200,000 BTC seized through legal proceedings.

According to the order, the Treasury and Commerce Departments may explore budget-neutral strategies for future Bitcoin acquisitions. Sacks emphasized that any such purchases must be funded through surplus resources from existing government programs to avoid burdening taxpayers.

Sacks explained that either the Commerce Department or the Treasury Department could initiate Bitcoin purchases if they find creative ways to cover the costs.

Meanwhile, analysts from research firm K33 have proposed several ideas, including reallocating surplus funds from the US Treasury Exchange Stabilization Fund, selling special drawing rights obtained through the International Monetary Fund, or utilizing revaluations of gold certificates.

While no decisions have been made, Sacks noted that the necessary executive authorization is already in place. “The question is just, can we get either the Treasury Department or the Commerce Department to get excited about that?” he said.

Notably, the March executive order also authorized the creation of a Digital Asset Stockpile to hold forfeited digital assets other than Bitcoin. However, this stockpile is limited to assets already seized and will not be actively expanded through purchases.

Broader Crypto Policy Agenda Under Trump Administration

Beyond the reserve, Sacks discussed other components of the Trump administration’s evolving crypto policy. Within its first 100 days, the administration issued pardons, banned central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), rolled back enforcement initiatives like Operation Choke Point 2.0, and reversed certain SEC and IRS rules impacting DeFi and brokerage disclosures.

The administration also hosted the White House’s first crypto summit and continues to promote domestic Bitcoin mining by easing regulatory barriers for energy and infrastructure development.

The Winklevoss twins described how debanking tactics during Operation Choke Point 2.0 impacted crypto firms like Gemini, which lost multiple banking partners in 2023.

Sacks reiterated the administration’s commitment to supporting the sector, adding that additional legislation such as the GENIUS Act and a broader crypto market structure bill are likely to pass before August.

Looking ahead, Sacks expressed optimism about achieving regulatory clarity and advancing the role of digital assets in the US economy. He concluded by underscoring the administration’s long-term commitment to integrating Bitcoin into national strategy through initiatives such as the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve.

BTC price is moving upwards on the 2-hour chart. Source: BTC/USDT on TradingView.com

Featured image created with DALL-E, 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.



Source link

0 comments
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
Cities: Skylines 2's first big expansion delayed yet again as studio seeks to "add more depth"
Game Reviews

Cities: Skylines 2’s first big expansion delayed yet again as studio seeks to “add more depth”

by admin


Cities: Skylines 2 players are facing yet another delay for the beleaguered city builder’s first major DLC expansion, with publisher Paradox Interactive having announced a new release window of “Q4” this year – closing in on two years after it was originally due to launch.


Cities: Skylines 2’s troubles are well documented; the city builder sequel got off a disastrous start in 2023, forcing developer Colossal Order to reprioritise its development efforts amid significant criticism of the game’s performance. Initially, the studio had planned to release its first DLC – the Beach Properties Asset Pack – shortly after launch, but it was delayed into the following year, while all other announced DLC (the Urban Promenades and Modern Architecture Creator Packs, and the Bridges & Ports expansion) shifted from Q1 2024 to Q2.


Unfortunately, the Beach Properties’ eventual arrival did little to improve the community’s goodwill; it was slammed by players for its high price and lacklustre content, leading Colossal Order to announced an ‘indefinite’ delay for all future paid DLC. Bridges & Ports was moved into 2025 as a result, but a further delay was announced last September, while Colossal Order focused its efforts on completing what it called the “crucial” assets editor.


In the months since, Colossal Order has continued to make improvements to the base game and launched some free “region” DLC. But that “crucial” assets editor remains unreleased, and now the studio has opted to delay Bridges & Ports yet again, moving it out of Q2 this year into Q4. “We’ve spent the last five months working hard on the Bridges & Ports DLC, and towards our upcoming expected release,” the studio wrote in a message shared on the Paradox forum. “After reviewing the content ourselves and sharing it with our early access group, we’ve received consistent feedback: the bridges are super exciting, and the port works well, but there are aspects of the expansion that are not as polished as they could be.”


“That left us with a difficult choice,” it continued, “delay the release once again to add more depth, or release it as-is, knowing players may feel it falls short. We believe the current content is enjoyable, but we’re not blind to what’s missing, and to bring it to the level you deserve, we need more time… We’re assessing feedback from our early access group and mapping out what we want to improve when the expansion launches – which we are now expecting in Q4 of this year. This is still a beautiful expansion, and we’re excited about what it will add to your city. We just want to ensure it adds enough to meet your deservedly high expectations.”


Cities: Skylines 2 players won’t, however, be left waiting for new content until the end of this year. Colossal Order has elected to release the free update it was originally intending to ship alongside Bridges & Ports on 11th June, offering “a bit of content that gives a slight sneak peek of what is to come in the expansion”. It’ll include two new bridges, three leisure piers, and three quays, with more details available in today’s forum post.


As for Cities: Skylines 2’s much-delayed console port, there’s still no hint as to when that might arrive. It was originally due to launch alongside the PC version back in October 2023, but has remained in limbo since then, with Colossal Order admitting it has struggled to overcome “hardware limitations” impacting performance on Xbox Series X/S and PS5. Back in March, it warned, “We will not have a release before summer”, but there’s been no update since then.



Source link

0 comments
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
Decrypt logo
GameFi Guides

Jupiter Price Surges Amid Expansion and Bitcoin Tailwinds

by admin



In brief

  • Jupiter’s JUP token spiked 18% during the U.S.’s Memorial day before cooling to a 4% daily gain as Solana DeFi activity surged.
  • Analysts say the rally was driven by a mix of product launches, meme market revival, and Bitcoin’s breakout.
  • Jupiter remains the second-largest DEX aggregator by volume, handling over $1B in daily trades.

Jupiter’s native token JUP jumped as much as 18% on Monday before retracing, marking one of the day’s top moves among major altcoins, as broader crypto markets rallied on Bitcoin’s break above $109,000.

The sudden spike came after the largest DEX aggregator on Solana recently announced it would launch a new lending product later this summer. 

Called Jupiter Lend, the platform promises loan-to-value ratios of up to 90%, well above the 75% average for crypto lending, and fees as low as 0.1%.

But a few analysts say the token’s sharp rise can’t be attributed to a single event.

Min Jung, an analyst at Presto Research, told Decrypt that the spike was less about any “single catalyst” and more about converging developments that are “driving bullish sentiment.” 

The analyst pointed to the Huma Finance token sale, where Jupiter staking is rewarded, as well as signs of life returning to the meme coin space.

“On the macro front, meme markets are showing signs of a rebound, and Jupiter is well-positioned to benefit from that renewed momentum,” Jung said.

The macro picture includes Bitcoin’s rally to a $111,814 all-time high last week; it currently trades at $109,003, down 0.2% in the past 24 hours, per CoinGecko.

Jupiter was among several mid-cap tokens to benefit from renewed risk appetite, rising over 22% this past week to $0.61, CoinGecko data shows.

Kadan Stadelmann, CTO of Komodo Platform, told Decrypt how Jupiter is “riding on the back of Bitcoin at the present juncture,” noting its gains have coincided with a wider market uplift sparked by BTC’s breakout and the U.S. debt downgrade.

“The higher Bitcoin goes, the more innovation we will see in the industry from incumbent and upstart projects alike,” Stadelmann said.

While the price action caught traders’ attention, some see this as a longer-term validation of Jupiter’s positioning in Solana’s DeFi stack. 

Speaking to Decrypt, Arjun Vijay, founder of Indian crypto exchange Giottus, pointed to Solana’s TVL nearly doubling since April, from $11 billion to $20 billion, and a corresponding surge in Jupiter’s trade volume. 

“As the market stabilizes, Jupiter’s rally is driven by strong fundamentals rather than fleeting hype,” Vijay said, contrasting it with the user fatigue that followed January’s meme coin frenzy, which peaked with tokens from figures such as President Donald Trump.

At the moment, Jupiter processes more than $1 billion in daily DEX volume and holds over a third of the aggregator market, second only to DEX aggregator 1inch, as per DeFiLlama data.

Edited by Sebastian Sinclair

Daily Debrief Newsletter

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



Source link

0 comments
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
Decrypt logo
GameFi Guides

‘Off the Grid’ NFT Sales Heating Up as Avalanche Game Plots Expansion to Steam

by admin



In brief

  • Off the Grid is migrating players onto mainnet, enabling items to be traded as NFTs. Some are selling for thousands of dollars.
  • The game will expand to Steam in June, despite the platform’s 2021 blockchain game ban, raising questions about crypto feature implementation.
  • Some collectors are holding onto rare items, anticipating sizable demand after promised updates.

Avalanche shooter Off the Grid has slowly started to shift its player base onto the GUNZ mainnet, where they can trade in-game items for GUN tokens. Even with approximately 0.13% of its player base now able to trade items, the marketplace is heating up, with some items going for thousands of dollars’ worth of crypto.

This all comes as the hit battle royale shooter plots its June expansion to PC platform Steam—a marketplace that banned blockchain games from the platform in 2021. That said, Off the Grid is also on PlayStation and Xbox, despite those platforms also apparently not allowing crypto features in games.

Up until this point, all console Off the Grid gamers have been playing the game solely on testnet, meaning that a test blockchain was running behind the scenes but that player-facing features were missing. As a result, they can’t trade their items on the marketplace for GUN tokens, potentially cashing out thousands of dollars for rare guns and more.

Theodore Agranat, director of Web3 at Off the Grid creator Gunzilla Games, told Decrypt this week that the migration to mainnet has first started for only PC players, but eventually all wallets will be on mainnet. How exactly this will work with crypto features has yet to be revealed, given that they’re prohibited by Steam and still M.I.A. in PlayStation and Xbox games.

Eagle-eyed players have spotted that the official Steam listing for Off the Grid claims the game will have an in-game marketplace, possibly referencing functional crypto features.

At the time of writing, there are just shy of 16.5 million wallets on the GUNZ testnet, a dedicated Avalanche L1 network created to support Off the Grid and potential future games. Meanwhile, there are just 21,000 players on the mainnet—approximately 0.13% of its player base.

Its no surprise that @playoffthegrid is the first game with blockchain components on consoles.

That it would be the FIRST game with blockchain components on STEAM.

Gunzilla moves different.

This will be studied for generations. pic.twitter.com/Iit6kCscDv

— meatport (@meatportmusic) May 21, 2025

Even with such a small amount of players being able to transact on mainnet, already there have been some sizable trades. A Prankster tactical vest sold for $2,393 last week, a ZipperMouth mask was shifted for approximately $1,100, and a Convict chest rig traded hands for more than $500. 

These items are super rare, with the community believing that less than 300 ZipperMouth masks were ever minted, but Gunzilla “reserves the right” to reissue both ZipperMouths and Convict gear—Agranat explicitly told Decrypt that Convict gear will “absolutely” be released in the future. 

As such, skin collectors now see the Pioneer items—which were handed out in the first OTG Pro subscription and will not be re-released—as likely the most rare set in the game. Avid skin collector MoneyMagician reported that this has led to a lack of Pioneer items being listed on the marketplace. 

🚨 Notable OTG Mainnet Sales (Past 24HRS):

🧥 Prankster Vest – $2,393 🔥🔥

🧥 Player Zero Vest – $439

🚀 2x Player Zero Jetpacks – $273 & $301 pic.twitter.com/IZJEHai2bC

— meatport (@meatportmusic) May 18, 2025

This has also been the case for the Kestrel Legacy, a gun that had modified stats in the closed play test but were discontinued, and now is effectively an ultra-limited skin of the stock gun. There are other Legacy weapons, as well as Retro weapons, however the Kestrel Legacy is the most hyped due to its importance to the game’s lore.

MoneyMagician explained that players expect an update is coming for these weapons, which would include a reskin and a deepening of the lore behind the items. This update is what the skin collector anticipates will kick-start the first batch of five-figure NFT sales. For this reason, he said most collectors plan to hold onto their rarest items for now, expecting demand to explode.

“I think when we see sales of five figures, the FOMO will kick in hard, triggering a flywheel,” MoneyMagician told Decrypt. “[The update] would cause new waves of hype and attention onto them, and surely their price will rise along with market volume.”

Agranat declined to offer any additional information on the progression of this update, adding that the mainnet rollout is Gunzilla’s main priority for now.

For now, Prankster items are the most sought-after items despite being marginally less rare than the Pioneer set; Prankster was released in the second battle pass in the closed play test, while the Pioneer was the first one. MoneyMagician believes this is because, well, the Prankster set simply looks cooler.

Over the past 24 hours alone, according to OTG DegenRadar, two Prankster Woodpecker guns have sold for approximately $600 and $570 as well as a pair of Prankster shades for $467. On Tuesday, a Prankster Mask sold for $1,008. But none of those sales compare to the Prankster tactical vest, which commanded a whopping $2,393 last week.

“Rarity isn’t always what sticks, but [rather] what the community feels the most compelled with,” MoneyMagician explained. “The Pioneer set is green, a very showy color, making it hard to splash on just some shorts or a vest to make it look good. But the Prankster, it looks amazing. Gives this Joker vs Batman rivalry feel.”

Edited by Andrew Hayward

GG Newsletter

Get the latest web3 gaming news, hear directly from gaming studios and influencers covering the space, and receive power-ups from our partners.





Source link

0 comments
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
Close