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midnight

World of Warcraft is getting player housing in December, ahead of Midnight expansion launch

by admin October 3, 2025

Blizzard has announced that player housing will be coming to World of Warcraft starting 2nd December, ahead of the Midnight expansion launch.

This initial rollout for housing will not be feature-complete, with the full suite of mechanics arriving when it enters the game proper at Midnight’s launch sometime in 2026. With the housing release in December, players will be able to buy a plot of land, establish a neighbourhood with other players, and begin designing your home with a selection of decor items.

Future updates to housing will include hundreds of decorations, including some furnishings that come from older achievements and content from prior expansions such as World of Warcraft: Legion Order Hall completion.

Here’s the full developer Q&A for World of Warcraft: Midnight, that came out alongside the alpha.Watch on YouTube

In addition, players will be able to level up their houses over time, which provides increased interior and exterior decor placement budget, fixture budget, and room placement budget. Neighbourhoods can be both private and public, allowing those from the same guild to build up an estate of sorts together within a variety of biomes.

Not only that, but neighbourhoods will be able to participate in endeavors. These are monthly neighbourhood events that provide exclusive decor to use on participants’ homes. As such, some level of community collaboration is intended for the housing system.

World of Warcraft: Midnight is the second part of a three-part trilogy, which started with The War Within last year. It’ll take players back to Silvermoon city, where the Blood Elves are having a rough time fending off void ne’er-do-wells. In addition players will be able to play as the Haranir as an allied race, a faction of note throughout The War Within’s narrative.

When Blizzard first announced housing it did so with a subtle jab at Final Fantasy 14, another popular MMO with its own housing system and housing-related problems. It’s worth noting that unlike Final Fantasy 14, housing isn’t limited in World of Warcraft, so players won’t be unable to get a house come December, which is good!

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October 3, 2025 0 comments

LEGO Just Released the 2025 City Advent Calendar, Selling for Pennies on Amazon at Launch

Game Reviews

LEGO City Advent Calendar Is Hard to Spot on Amazon, but It’s Selling for Just Pennies Until Midnight

by admin October 2, 2025

December feels forever away but here’s the thing: LEGO drops its Advent calendars in September for a reason. And if you’ve ever waited until November, you already know the truth: by then, the deals are gone, the stock’s low and you’re stuck paying full price. But right now, the LEGO City Advent Calendar 2025 (the most loved one in the lineup) is hiding on Amazon at an all-time low of just $25, down from $34.99, and it’s available for everyone, Prime or not, until tomorrow night.

See LEGO City Advent Calendar 2025 at Amazon

A Holiday Countdown That Feels Like Magic

This isn’t just a calendar: It’s 24 bursts of joy, one door per day. Your kid (or you?) gets to open a fresh surprise every morning—mini builds, fun accessories, and adorable mini-figures—all the way through to Christmas. And what about the mini-figs: Santa and Mrs. Claus are on the job, along with laugh-out-loud hilarious characters of Santa in a reindeer costume, Mrs. Claus as a polar bear, and even Mrs. Claus as a walking Christmas tree.

The great part? It’s made for kids 5 and up and each little build has simple instructions tucked just behind the door. No frustration, no confusing instructions – just the happy “aha!” moment when they click the pieces into place. And the pièce de résistance: the calendar flips open into a big playmat. One minute it’s a countdown, the next it’s a winter wonderland holiday party scene where all the figures come to life. Kids can mix and match their other LEGO City sets, build wacky scenarios and play for hours.

Parents, pay attention: how many times can you receive a gift that provides something new each day? That keeps the anticipation going, promotes patience and sparks creativity without the use of a screen? This calendar does all of the above – and it’s only $25 today at Amazon. That’s close to a ten-dollar discount, and it doesn’t often go this low except for Prime Day or Black Friday.

See LEGO City Advent Calendar 2025 at Amazon

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October 2, 2025 0 comments

NFT Gaming

Cardano Founder Confirms Google Collaboration On Midnight

by admin October 1, 2025

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

Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson has confirmed a new collaboration between Midnight—Cardano’s privacy-focused partner chain—and Google Cloud, framing it as a strategic step to harden the network’s infrastructure and accelerate developer adoption. “Proud to be working with Google on Midnight. They are a wonderful company and add a ton of value to our ecosystem,” the Cardano founder wrote on X, amplifying Midnight’s announcement and a same-day blog post from the project.

Google Is Now Part Of Cardano’s Midnight

In a September 30, 2025 post, Midnight said the Midnight Foundation has launched a “strategic collaboration” with Google Cloud “for enterprise-grade security and infrastructure and to expand community tools and resources,” positioning zero-knowledge technology as “essential infrastructure for next-generation digital systems.” The announcement situates Midnight’s core thesis—selective disclosure and privacy-preserving computation—inside a compliance-aware architecture aimed at institutions handling sensitive data.

The scope of work is unusually concrete for a cloud–blockchain tie-up. According to Midnight, Google Cloud will “operate critical network infrastructure, including running a validator for Midnight,” and will bring its Mandiant division’s threat monitoring and incident-response capabilities to the network.

Midnight also says it will leverage Google Cloud’s Confidential Computing to remove operators from the trust boundary and harden against provider-level access, signaling an attempt to bind zero-knowledge proofs with hardware-enforced isolation. “The future of enterprise applications requires both transparency and privacy,” said Richard Widmann, Head of Web3 Strategy and Operations at Google Cloud. “By providing scalable infrastructure, we’re enabling developers to experiment with innovative zero knowledge frameworks to verify transactions without exposing sensitive data.”

Midnight framed the collaboration as an accelerant for real-world use cases that have historically struggled on transparent public chains. Fahmi Syed, President of the Midnight Foundation, argued that “Midnight transforms privacy from a technical barrier into a competitive advantage, enabling confidential financial systems, verifiable digital identity, and secure applications that can operate at scale with regulatory compliance built in.”

The blog post points to selective-disclosure patterns for financial institutions (private trading and compliant cross-border payments), credential issuance for governments, and privacy-preserving data-sharing in healthcare as early targets.

On the developer front, Midnight said projects building on the network can apply to the Google for Startups Web3 Program, with “up to $200,000 in Google Cloud Platform Credits over two years,” plus training and mentorship—an increasingly standard incentive package in cloud-supported web3 ecosystems but notable for a privacy-centric L1. Midnight’s own post and social messages also emphasize that the Google Cloud collaboration includes support for community tooling and expanded resources, indicating a bid to spur third-party app growth around Midnight’s zero-knowledge stack.

Hoskinson’s endorsement underscores the partner-chain strategy that Cardano entities have advanced this year, with Midnight frequently described as the lead privacy chain in that model. While the announcement stops short of financial terms or service-level guarantees, it commits Google Cloud to an operational role on the network—validator operations and security services—beyond marketing or co-branding, and provides direct quotes from both organizations that anchor the collaboration in concrete infrastructure and security deliverables.

At press time, Cardano (ADA) traded at $0.80.

Cardano needs to break the black trendline, 1-day chart | Source: ADAUSDT on TradingView.com

Featured image created with DALL.E, chart from TradingView.com

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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October 1, 2025 0 comments

Product Reviews

Midnight Murder Club review: bite-size murder madness

by admin September 19, 2025

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Midnight Murder Club is a bite-sized first-person shooter with a unique premise that makes it worth trying out.

Set in a pitch black mansion, this PS5 exclusive (well, console exclusive) challenges you to track other players using only the light from a small torch and audio cues like muffled footsteps, the creaking sound of doors opening, and overheard conversations through proximity chat.

Review info

Platform reviewed: PS5
Available on: PC, PS5
Release date: August 14, 2025

When you have a full match of six players all using their microphones, the atmosphere is absolutely electric. There’s serious tension as you creep around, which always gives way to pure chaos once the shooting starts. If you’re looking for something to try on your next night of gaming with friends, then you can certainly do much worse for the modest $9.99 / £8.99 asking price. There’s even a ‘Guest Pass’ feature that lets your buddies join in completely for free, which is appreciated.

Unfortunately, the experience falls apart when you don’t have a dedicated group. Finding online matches is almost impossible thanks to a tiny pool of players just a few weeks after launch, and the few offline modes, while a decent starter course, won’t keep you entertained for long.

Lights out

(Image credit: Sony)

Midnight Murder Club offers a total of five player-versus-player (PvP) game modes, and while they follow the same general format, a few unique mechanics keep each one interesting.

The main mode is called Wildcards and features three teams of two players vying for the most kills. At the start of the match, every player selects a titular wildcard from a deck, each one boasting a unique effect. This ranges from simple bonuses like faster reload speeds and more effective flashlights to whackier options like a card that turns every gunshot into a loud jazz trumpet toot or another that gives everyone massive heads.

The chosen wildcards affect all players, leading to some enjoyably bonkers combinations. More cards are unlocked with each completed match, too, giving you at least a small reason to keep coming back for more.

Best bit

(Image credit: Sony)

Nothing quite compares to the satisfaction of nailing a foe using nothing but sound. Hearing footsteps and taking a risky shot only for it to instantly pay off is fantastic every time.

The other modes on offer are a standard free-for-all and team deathmatch, and more exciting ‘Thief in the Night’ and ‘Headhunters’, which see you clamoring to collect valuable skull fragments or destroying evil totems, respectively.

You start off each game armed with a basic revolver that has unlimited ammunition in most modes, but vending machines littered around the map give you access to more powerful machine guns and deadly traps like falling chandeliers. Getting gear from vendors doesn’t cost money, but rather produces a huge amount of light and noise – forcing you to weigh up whether the gear on offer is worth exposing your position.

Your flashlight presents much the same risk-versus-reward proposition. Levels are completely pitch black without it on, so it’s necessary to navigate unless you want to spend most of your time running into walls. Beams of light make it easy to track your location, though, and if you blindly shoot where one is coming from, more often than not, you’ll bag an easy elimination.

Dead silence

(Image credit: Sony)

Voice chat is a key part of Midnight Murder Club, and coordinating with your team is almost vital for success. It relies on a proximity chat system, where your DualSense Wireless Controller or PS5 headset is constantly broadcasting your voice to nearby players – whether friend or foe.

Turning off your flashlight and following the sound of other players’ voices for a sneak melee attack is a constant source of devilish satisfaction – particularly when you get to hear their panicked screams as you strike.

Although proximity chat can be a lot of fun, its inclusion does present some risks when you’re playing with strangers. I was particularly impressed to see an ‘Auto Scramble’ feature that automatically distorts the voices of anyone who’s not on your team.

You can still decipher general emotions, but individual words are impossible to make out – an innovative and practical addition that I’d love to see in other online games.

(Image credit: Sony)

Unfortunately, there are few opportunities to use this as the online matchmaking situation is dire. I’ve been trying to find matches every day for weeks, and it’s borderline impossible to find a full lobby.

To make matters worse, players frequently drop out of matches, and the peer-to-peer hosting means that massive lag spikes are common.

There are some single-player options here, like the ability to play Wildcards against bots or mow down computer-controlled enemies in the stages of the usually two-player Graveyard Shift mode, but they’re very limited, and you really need a large group of friends to make the most of it.

Although there is cross-platform support, players who try the game on PC will have to log in with a PlayStation account in addition to a Steam one. Given this is a PlayStation published game, this does make some sense, but it’s still incredibly annoying in a game that would otherwise be easy to pick up and play.

A few of the friends I had lined up to join me didn’t already have access to PlayStation accounts and weren’t willing to fork their email addresses over to Sony for what might be a single night of gaming, so they ended up wanting to play something else. When finding matches is already so difficult, this seems a bit like the developers shooting themselves in the foot.

All of this leaves Midnight Murder Club difficult to wholeheartedly recommend. It can be a fantastic time, provided you’re able to find a full lobby – which is almost impossible if you’re not playing with friends. It’s only really worth picking up if you have a group of five buddies eager to squad up.

Should I play Midnight Murder Club?

Play it if…

Don’t play it if…

Accessibility features

There are a few accessibility features in Midnight Murder Club.

You can customize the colors of in-game teams to make them easier to see and invert your camera controls. Most button inputs can also be tweaked on PS5, allowing you to rebind them as needed.

(Image credit: Sony)

How I reviewed Midnight Murder Club

I played Midnight Murder Club for almost four hours on PS5 using the DualSense Wireless Controller and a pair of Final VR500 gaming earbuds.

In that time, I played a variety of matches online and explored all of its single-player modes. For communication, I relied on the microphone built into the controller.

First reviewed August 2025

Midnight Murder Club: Price Comparison

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September 19, 2025 0 comments

GameFi Guides

Midnight and Webisoft to Build Privacy-Focused Dark Pool DEX

by admin September 7, 2025

Midnight has partnered with Webisoft to launch a decentralized dark pool trading platform built for institutional investors. The platform will operate on the Midnight network and use advanced zero-knowledge (ZK) proof technology to keep trades completely private.

Midnight confirmed the update on X, “Midnight Webisoft is joining forces with the midnight foundation to build an institutional-grade dark pool trading platform. This project will use Midnight’s privacy-enhancing technology to create a secure, fully anonymous decentralized exchange (DEX).”

Midnight 🤝 @webisoft_

Webisoft is joining forces with the @midnightfdn to build an institutional-grade dark pool trading platform. This project will use Midnight’s privacy-enhancing technology to create a secure, fully anonymous decentralized exchange (DEX).

The partnership… pic.twitter.com/zUDDrJeK1S

— Midnight (@MidnightNtwrk) September 5, 2025

The partnership solves a big problem for institutional finance in decentralized ecosystems: the necessity for privacy is at odds with the fact that public blockchains are open to everyone. It will also give developers access to a full set of DeFi tools.

Tackling Transparency Challenges in DeFi

As per the blog post, traditional decentralized exchanges reveal all buy and sell orders, exposing large trades to the market. Consequently, this transparency creates price slippage and inefficiencies when institutions execute big orders. A single trade can lead to panic or excitement, moving prices before transactions are complete.

Dark pools solve this issue by hiding trade intentions. Buyers and sellers match privately, and trades finalize at market-driven prices. This protects confidentiality until after execution, preventing disruption.

Both companies intend to bring the model to Web3, combining privacy with avant-garde DeFi capabilities. The platform will be based on Midnight’s Zswap protocol to ensure secure atomic settlements.

It will also feature a private matching engine using multi-party computation (MPC) and custom wallet support through MetaMask Snap. Moreover, developers will access open-source tools to build privacy-preserving applications on the network.

Rational Privacy for Regulatory Balance

The project builds on Midnight’s concept of rational privacy. As Midnight Foundation President Fahmi Syed stated, “Privacy is a fundamental human and digital right, yet in our current systems, users give everything away just to participate.”

The platform allows institutions to confirm trades by using ZK proofs without revealing any sensitive information. This method tackles regulatory issues and ensures that user privacy is upheld.

Syed also emphasized, “Traditional blockchains make every transaction permanent and public. That’s a barrier to real-world adoption.”

The roadmap has confidential asset management, MPC-powered matching, and audited security reports. All components will be released under an Apache 2.0 license, encouraging broad developer adoption.

This collaboration could accelerate institutional adoption of DeFi by delivering privacy, compliance, and scalability, bridging the gap between traditional finance and decentralized ecosystems.

Also Read: Solana Approves Alpenglow Upgrade to Boost Network Speed

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September 7, 2025 0 comments

Game Updates

Silksong won’t release bang on midnight on 4th September, so maybe don’t take the whole day off

by admin September 1, 2025

Team Cherry has confirmed both the cost and release times for Hollow Knight Silksong.

As previously leaked, Silksong will retail for $20, or €19.99/ ¥2300. That is roughly £17 here in the UK.

Along with confirming the price, the Silksong developer has also announced exactly when its highly anticipated sequel will be released. For those of us in Blighty, the game will be available to dive into from 3pm, on 4th September.

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Silksong release times for other regions are as follow:

7am PT
10am ET
4pm CEST
11pm JST

Silksong is heading to PC, Switch, Switch 2, PS4, PS5, Xbox One and Xbox Series.

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— Team Cherry (@teamcherry.bsky.social) September 1, 2025 at 2:44 AM

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Elsewhere in Silksong news, it has not, in fact, taken so long to release due to being stuck in development hell. Rather, hype skyrocketed sales of the original game to give Team Cherry financial freedom.

Last month, our Dom braved the Gamescom queues to go hands-on with Silksong, and came away impressed with its high challenge and how Hornet’s movement differs from the original game’s Knight. You can check out their thoughts in Eurogamer’s Silksong preview here.

This is a news-in-brief story. This is part of our vision to bring you all the big news as part of a daily live report.

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September 1, 2025 0 comments

Game Updates

Opening Night Live buried the lede with WoW’s Midnight expansion – the MMO has a load of new additions coming that are genuinely interesting

by admin August 20, 2025

Gamescom Opening Night Live was packed full of new game reveals as is tradition, one of the fancier looking ones surely being the new cinematic for World of Warcraft’s Midnight expansion. Blizzard cinematics are always fantastic, the team responsible for them having seemingly made a pact with eldritch forces to maintain a level of quality one would think insurmountable.

But aside from the glitz and glamour of this cinematic, and the community-wide sigh of relief from the World of Warcraft community that Lor’themar didn’t get murdered live in front of Geoff Keighley, loads of other dope World of Warcraft related information was dropped that you may have missed. Here’s the good stuff.

Watch the cinematic for World of Warcraft: Midnight here!Watch on YouTube

World of Warcraft has housing and it looks pretty cool

My house! | Image credit: Activison Blizzard

A few months back Blizzard announced its intention to eat Final Fantasy 14’s lunch and add player housing into the game, without virtual landlords and camps of destitute players camped outside of plots they’ve heard may be going up for sale soon.

There’s a housing virtual tour website you can use right now to get an idea of what these homes will look like, and a gameplay demonstration at Gamescom gave us a look at what customising a house would actually be like via the lens of various content creators. Seeing internet celebrities place down a dozen carpets has never been so exciting.

Housing will either be a new venture for collectors and social players that’ll add another layer of immersion and lovely personalisation, or it’ll be a barren building speed levelers will run into briefly once when the expansion comes out before racing to max level and wiping in Mythic zero dungeons. Either way, cool. Those who pre-order the expansion can gain access to play housing early, obviously.

New Demon Hunter specialisation and a new allied race

Perhaps the most Avenged Sevenfold spec of all time. | Image credit: Activison Blizzard

A new Demon Hunter specialisation – called the Devourer – has been revealed. This void-focused spin on the edgiest class in WoW allows players to gorge themselves on the power of darkness, using the void to deal loads of damage. Using spells like “Collapsing Star” and “Hungering Slash”, you can pretend you’re not 35 years old and balding.

The Haranir will also be playable as an allied race in Midnight. These subterranean elvish / trollish people were introduced in The War Within and are a pretty rad spiritual subrace of intriguing weirdos. You’ll be able to play them as a Druid, Mage, Monk, Shaman, Priest, Warlock, Rogue, Warrior, and Hunter. Those who level ’em up get a hairy bat mount.

We’re going back to Blood Elf territory

I mean check this out… Brilliant. | Image credit: Activison Blizzard

One of the best zones Blizzard ever made purely from a perspective of vibrancy and high-fantasy vibes was Quel’Thalas. It’s a gorgeous forest filled with beautiful people with one big scar running down the middle. Well it turns out we’re going back, and not only will that big horrible scar be fixed up, but Silvermoon City will also be totally repaired. As a Blood Elf player, it’s a big victory all on its own.

You’re there to make sure the Sunwell doesn’t fall to the forces of evil, a tough endeavor considering the Sunwell has fallen twice already throughout its history. Still, it’s an excuse to head back to Zul’Aman and murder a third generation of Troll, as well as explore two new zones called Harandar and the Voidstorm. Nice.

A Prey system that might just fix the open world difficulty

Now every quest could be a lot more than you bargained for. | Image credit: Activison Blizzard

For years players have been doing quests and roaming around the open world in World of Warcraft with War Mode on, which would open you up to world PvP. This was meant to make questing a little more challenging, but frankly has mainly been used for an XP boost and for some niche collections.

The new Prey system is similar, though doesn’t require any PvP. Instead, by marking yourself as prey, you can go out and hunt (or be hunted) by tough bosses. There are three difficulties too, so it should all be genuinely tricky for those looking for some extra excitement.

Mounts and house customisation pieces can be gained by signing up, so all in all it’ll likely offer a decent diversion for those looking to extend their time in the Midnight zones, rather than through themselves at raids with terrible friends.

So there’s actually a lot to be excited for with World of Warcraft: Midnight. I, someone who swore off the game a year or so ago, has once again reinstalled the MMO and have found myself roaming around the world. Such is the cycle of WoW. I may even pre-order the expansion, for a mount I will ride around only once and transmog I shall never use.

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August 20, 2025 0 comments