New Photo - Avatar: The Last Airbender coming to Fortnite – All new skins and features coming as game goes down for 29.20 update | 993F296 | 2024-04-30 15:08:02
Avatar: The Last Airbender coming to Fortnite – All new skins and features coming as game goes down for 29.20 update | 993F296 | 2024-04-30 15:08:02

FORTNITE fans are preparing for a mega update today with three new skins and exciting events from a beloved animated series.

Avatar: The Last Airbender is headed to the game in the latest batch of Chapter 5 Season 2 content.

Avatar: The Last Airbender coming to Fortnite – All new skins and features coming as game goes down for 29.20 update
Avatar: The Last Airbender coming to Fortnite – All new skins and features coming as game goes down for 29.20 update
Epic Games
Katara is seen in a recent teaser trailer[/caption]
Avatar: The Last Airbender coming to Fortnite – All new skins and features coming as game goes down for 29.20 update
Avatar: The Last Airbender coming to Fortnite – All new skins and features coming as game goes down for 29.20 update
Epic Games
Toph is also spotted earthbending[/caption]

Fans went wild in February over rumours that the Nickelodeon show could be the next collab destined for Fortnite.

The anticipation increased further after players spotted character Aang frozen in the iceberg within the game.

A teaser trailer released by Epic Games last night confirmed Avatar: The Last Airbender's imminent arrival.

"Yip yip! Get ready, Avatar: The Last Airbender is coming to Fortnite," the caption reads.

Fortnite's servers are due to go down today as part of scheduled maintenance to introduce v29.20, with the new skins in tow.

It's due to take place from 9am until 1pm BST.

But fans are also wondering where Aang fits into all of this – read on to find out more.

Avatar: The Last Airbender Fortnite skins and features

There will be three Avatar: The Last Airbender skins added to Fortnite as part of the collab.

These are:

  • Katara
  • Toph
  • Zuko
                    <!-- End of Brightcove Player -->

Once the update is complete, they will available to buy as Outfits in the Fortnite item shop.

Of course, there is expected to be new harvesting tools, emotes and back bling as well.

                        <p class="article__content--intro">                  You may be wondering where much-loved Aang is in all this.              </p>          </div>  </div>

Fortnite crossover event

An in-game crossover event will also called Avatar: Elements.

It's not clear what the event will entail as yet but based on previous crossovers it's likely to run for about two to three weeks with a series of objectives linked to the characters and elements of Avatar: The Last Airbender.

In a tweet, Epic Games said: "And start warming up your bending technique, Avatar: Elements kicks off April 12 at 9 AM ET."

                        <p class="article__content--intro">                  Get the lowdown on more of the latest PS5 releases from our expert reviewers.               </p>          </div>  </div></p><div class="hashtags">#coming #avatar #last #airbender #fortnite #new #skins #features #goes #2920 #update #US #UK #NZ #PH #NY #LNDN #Manila #Games </div></div>

More >> https://ift.tt/7ZDG9AF Source: MAG NEWS
byCUSTOS CAELORUM
in
April 30, 2024

Avatar: The Last Airbender coming to Fortnite – All new skins and features coming as game goes down for 29.20 update | 993F296 | 2024-04-30 15:08:02

Avatar: The Last Airbender coming to Fortnite – All new skins and features coming as game goes down for 29.20 update | 993F296 | 20...
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New Photo - Candy Crush developer is open to working on games for Xbox despite the layoffs | 993F296 | 2024-04-30 15:08:02
Candy Crush developer is open to working on games for Xbox despite the layoffs | 993F296 | 2024-04-30 15:08:02

MICROSOFT has a bad reputation for acquiring companies and then their output rapidly declining.

Rare was the king of the N64 era before Microsoft acquired it and forced a pivot to the widely unpopular Kinect.

Candy Crush developer is open to working on games for Xbox despite the layoffs
Candy Crush developer is open to working on games for Xbox despite the layoffs
King
Tjodolf Sommestad is the president at Candy Crush developer King[/caption]

Then there was the purchase of Bethesda turning Redfall and Starfield into Xbox exclusives, and we sadly saw how that turned out.

However, it hasn't been all doom and gloom, while the leads at Mojang left following its acquisition, Minecraft has gone from strength to strength under new leadership.

Microsoft purchased the world's biggest publisher, Activision Blizzard King, last year for a mind-boggling $70billion.

However, King President Tjodolf Sommestad doesn't think it will change how his company makes games.

He told us: "We are now part of an even bigger group of game studios or games companies.

"They have a passion for shipping games to players and making the world more playful.

"All of them really have this passion to make games better and learn from others.

"We're not working tightly with them at all, but have a feeling that we're part of that environment that creates. 

"We get the right types of answers, and when we ask for help.

"They understand what we would like to have help with because they've seen similar things before and know how the creative process works."

Before the latest acquisition, King was acquired by Activision Blizzard back in 2015, but Sommestad hasn't seen as big of a shift this time.

He reflects: "It's been less of a change. We're still under Activision Blizzard, but we are running a relatively independent business as King."

While King's upper management weren't in talks with Microsoft concerning the acquisition, it was a large piece of the puzzle.

Microsoft has a sizable chunk of both the console and PC gaming markets, but lags far behind when it comes to mobile games.

Sommestad believes he knows why Microsoft was so adamant in acquiring one of the biggest mobile publishers in the world.

He says: "We're absolutely the biggest [mobile developer in the Microsoft Gaming group] for sure. But I'm not personally driven by shining within the group.

"Mobile has been growing very healthily for a decade. A lot of companies have moved in, lots of content has been created, and it is maturing a bit.

"The growth rates are coming down. But then in other industries, it's similar, even declining.

"[The layoffs] are sad to see but there's been periods where we and many other companies have been hiring very actively.

"It's potentially a bit of a normalization for us but I can't speak for other companies. I think mobile is in a great place. The mobile industry is in a healthy place. 

"I'm quite optimistic for the future, but companies need to readjust and make sure that they have the right workforce to deliver for tomorrow."

Sommestad is referring to the mass layoffs that have occurred within the industry, saying that studios have to hold on to its talent if it wants to grow.

This has been one of Microsoft's biggest missteps in the past, pivoting a studio to work on a new IP, and laying off a large number of employees once the companies merge.

The latter has already occurred, with Xbox laying off 1.9k employees following the acquisition, including an unknown number of King employees. 

Does Sommestad also believe that King could be asked to pivot to a different area of gaming?

He says: "Not yet at least, but we're really early. It's only been a few months, and this first period is about making sure that we can keep delivering to the players through the games that we have.

"We're starting to establish some relationships with our peer studios, but who knows what will happen.

"I personally don't think that the type of games that we have at King are good for consoles. So that's not something we're actively talking about.

"I would never say I'm 100% certain because I'm open to learning, open to new ideas and the industry evolves. But the way it is right now, it's not a priority for us."


If you want to read more about King, check out how Candy Crush wants to use AI.

Get the lowdown on more of the latest PS5 releases from our expert reviewers. 

</div></p><div class="hashtags">#candy #crush #developer #open #working #games #xbox #despite #layoffs #US #UK #NZ #PH #NY #LNDN #Manila #Games </div></div>

More >> https://ift.tt/7ZDG9AF Source: MAG NEWS
byCUSTOS CAELORUM
in
April 30, 2024

Candy Crush developer is open to working on games for Xbox despite the layoffs | 993F296 | 2024-04-30 15:08:02

Candy Crush developer is open to working on games for Xbox despite the layoffs | 993F296 | 2024-04-30 15:08:02 MICROSOF...
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New Photo - Candy Crush developers say AI can never replace people | 993F296 | 2024-04-30 15:08:02
Candy Crush developers say AI can never replace people | 993F296 | 2024-04-30 15:08:02

SUDDENLY over the last year, the meaning of AI shifted, and conversations over its use have run rampant.

AI used to mean how an NPC in a game moves or talks, but when you hear AI now, you picture melting faces, too many fingers, and nonsense word salad.

Candy Crush developers say AI can never replace people
Candy Crush developers say AI can never replace people
King
Luka Crnkovic-Friis thinks that the human touch is always needed when working with AI to ensure high quality games[/caption]

In many ways, AI has become a dirty word, but we should remember what AI does best, and has done for a long time.

We visited Candy Crush developer King in Stockholm, Sweden to talk about the company's future.

Candy Crush is known for its incredibly loyal user base, and the team showed us the latest innovations awaiting beyond the horizon that keep the players coming back day after day.

These include the implementation of AI in their game routines, with a noticeable impact on titles such as Candy Crush Soda Saga and Farm Heroes Saga.

We spoke with King's Head of AI, Luka Crnkovic-Friis, about how AI has been implemented in Candy Crush games without subjecting us to something akin to Willy's Chocolate Experience.

Crnkovic-Friis says: "We have over 100 different use cases at King. Broadly, it falls into three large areas. 

"There's content automation, which is level design. The other is personalization, which is everything to do with recommendations.

"This is things like recommending a booster, recommending moves, recommending what to show after you have ended the game, and is based on the gameplay of the player.

"The third one is in performance marketing, which is the balance of how much do you pay when buying ads versus the estimated lifetime value of the player."

If we break this down, the level design is the randomisation of the candy, trying to ensure that the candy to match feels random while still making matching and combos possible.

The second is about tailoring the experience to the user, encouraging people to spend their money while balancing what feels aggressive.

Finally, the AI is monitoring which adverts drive more users to its games.

Essentially, the AI is in charge of the busy work; the spreadsheets and algorithms that would be tedious for a person to do by hand.

Most importantly, there are humans overseeing the AI, making tweaks, and balancing the job it's doing.

Crnkovic-Friis says: "I think the biggest challenge is that this is a massive game with lots of users.

"We have to make sure that when we are introducing a radical change that it doesn't negatively affect the users.

"So there's a lot of testing involved, and there's some time between creating a feature and when it gets deployed. 

"Candy Crush is a complex game [and you don't want to] break anything when you replace an older component with a newer one."

One of the biggest concerns about AI in games is that it could lead to job losses across the industry, and  lower-quality content for users.

Crnkovic-Friis says this isn't the aim at King: "What we are deploying are tools that empower Kingsters, making their jobs more efficient, more fun. 

"That's our view for the foreseeable future. If we look at generated content, it's just not feasible for the level of quality that we need, the level of creativity that is required for it.

"And what we have now with level design, it's the combination of a human designer that does the overall creative thinking, the storyline, the theme.

"Then the AI helps to optimize the right difficulty, and that it flows well."

Last year, Microsoft acquired Activision Blizzard King, the largest purchase tech has ever seen, costing an unfathomable $70billion.

This has opened King up to more AI tools, and while Crnkovic-Friis says the company has no plans to use generative AI when it comes to the creative aspects, his enthusiasm for OpenAI, which encompasses ChatGPT and video AI Sora, tells a different story.

He says: "Microsoft opened up a lot for us and also indirectly to our partnership with OpenAI, we got access to things that we would not have if we were not part of it. 

"And it's amazing to be able to have this close relationship with world leading companies."

In return King can offer Xbox a way into the lucrative mobile industry, an area Xbox is severely behind in.

Crnkovic-Friss says: "Xbox has no real mobile presence. So this is a really new thing for them.

"A new way of looking at game development. the traditional triple-A games, they're like blockbuster movies and were like a TV show. 

"But there will be a Candy Crush in 10 years and it won't be Candy Crush 2. It will still be Candy Crush."


If you want to read more about Xbox, check out the latest Xbox custom console.

Get the lowdown on more of the latest PS5 releases from our expert reviewers. 

</div></p><div class="hashtags">#candy #crush #developers #say #ai #can #never #replace #people #US #UK #NZ #PH #NY #LNDN #Manila #Games </div></div>

More >> https://ift.tt/7ZDG9AF Source: MAG NEWS
byCUSTOS CAELORUM
in
April 30, 2024

Candy Crush developers say AI can never replace people | 993F296 | 2024-04-30 15:08:02

Candy Crush developers say AI can never replace people | 993F296 | 2024-04-30 15:08:02 SUDDENLY over the last year, the...
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New Photo - Gamers can snatch an excellent 9/10 game cheaper – here's how to get the best deal | 993F296 | 2024-04-30 15:08:02
Gamers can snatch an excellent 9/10 game cheaper – here's how to get the best deal | 993F296 | 2024-04-30 15:08:02

GAMERS across most platforms can grab an amazing game at a deep discount, but not all deals are created equal.

We've looked through all storefronts on all platforms, and found that some players can get a better deal, or even play the game for free.

Gamers can snatch an excellent 9/10 game cheaper – here's how to get the best deal
Gamers can snatch an excellent 9/10 game cheaper – here's how to get the best deal
Motion Twin
Metroidvania roguelike game Dead Cells is now on sale across multiple platforms[/caption]
Gamers can snatch an excellent 9/10 game cheaper – here's how to get the best deal
Gamers can snatch an excellent 9/10 game cheaper – here's how to get the best deal
Motion Twin
It features challenging combat where button mashing won't get you far[/caption]

Dead Cells is a great roguelike metroidvania that masterfully combines the staple features of the two genres.

You play as an amnesiac Prisoner who journeys across ever changing levels of a diseased island, with the ultimate goal to kill its King.

It's a single-player side-scrolling platformer with quite challenging combat, requiring you to time your attacks and dodges carefully.

It's a rogulike, so there is permadeath, but each playthrough unlocks permanent upgrades that will help you in your next attempt.

The randomised level layouts keep the game fresh and interesting.

Rated between 84 and 91 on review aggregator Metacritic, Dead Cells is among the best titles in its genre and it's now on sale on multiple platforms.

PlayStation players can grab it for £9.99 / $12.49, instead of £19.99 / $24.99, saving 50% off its regular price.

Nintendo Switch owners are getting the same deal as PS players, and it ends on April 21.

On Steam, it's a 40% discount, at £13.19 / $14.99, if you grab it before 6pm UK Time / 1pm EDT on April 13, 2024.

These are all great deals on an excellent game, but some players can even play it completely free.

Xbox Game Pass members can either play for free or buy to own with a special £4 / $5 subsriber discount.

PS Plus Extra and Premium subscribers can also play the game at no additional cost for as long as they are subscribed.

Dead Cells is also free on Netflix, so if you have a subscription you can enjoy the mobile version of the game, complete with all DLC.

If you're looking for more gaming deals, check out three free-to-play games from a triple-A publisher.

Get the lowdown on more of the latest PS5 releases from our expert reviewers. 

</div>

#gamers #can #snatch #excellent #910 #cheaper #heres #how #best #US #UK #NZ #PH #NY #LNDN #Manila #Games

More >> https://ift.tt/7ZDG9AF Source: MAG NEWS
byCUSTOS CAELORUM
in
April 30, 2024

Gamers can snatch an excellent 9/10 game cheaper – here’s how to get the best deal | 993F296 | 2024-04-30 15:08:02

Gamers can snatch an excellent 9/10 game cheaper – here's how to get the best deal | 993F296 | 2024-04-30 15:08:02 ...
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New Photo - Gamers are just realising they can play one of the best paid online games completely free – here's how to grab it | 993F296 | 2024-04-30 15:08:02
Gamers are just realising they can play one of the best paid online games completely free – here's how to grab it | 993F296 | 2024-04-30 15:08:02

MOST of the best online games either require you to pay a subscription or charge a full price and then release paid updates, so playing them can be a costly affair.

One of the most popular games is no exception, but there's a way to play it completely free right now.

Gamers are just realising they can play one of the best paid online games completely free – here's how to grab it
Gamers are just realising they can play one of the best paid online games completely free – here's how to grab it
Popular MMO Elder Scrolls Online is hosting a Free Play Event as the game celebrates its 10th anniversary
Gamers are just realising they can play one of the best paid online games completely free – here's how to grab it
Gamers are just realising they can play one of the best paid online games completely free – here's how to grab it
Bethesda
Unlike RPGs Skyrim, Oblivion, and Morrowind, which are set in the same world of Tamriel, ESO is a multiplayer experience[/caption]

The Elder Scrolls Online is hosting a Free Play Event across all platforms on which the game is available.

No matter if you're on PC via Steam or Epic Games, Mac, Xbox or PlayStation consoles, or Nintendo Switch, you can play absolutely free this week.

The free event started on April 2 and will continue until April 9, 2024, so fans of The Elder Scrolls series who are new to the online MMORPG still have time to jump in.

The Elder Scrolls Online is part of the same series and set in the same world as popular RPGs Skyrim, Oblivion, and Morrowind.

Instead of a single-player story, though, ESO offers players the true MMO experience in Tamriel, and has been hugely popular since its April 4, 2014 launch.

Over the last decade, The Elder Scrolls Online has received numerous content updates and expansions, and has amassed a loyal fanbase.

To celebrate its 10th anniversary, publisher Bethesda has prepared new content, events, and updates, including a new chapter, Gold Road, due to launch in June.

In order to play The Elder Scrolls Online for free during this week's event, you just have to download and install the game on your preferred platform.

Once the free period is over, players can buy the ESO base game at 75% off, for just £3.99 / $4.99 as part of a limited-time offer.

The latest update for the game, The Elder Scrolls Online: Necrom is also on sale right now, at 67% off, for £8.41 / $9.89.

If you're looking for more gaming deals, check out 12 PC games you can grab from Amazon Prime this month.

Get the lowdown on more of the latest PS5 releases from our expert reviewers. 

</div></p><div class="hashtags">#gamers #just #realising #can #play #best #paid #games #completely #free #heres #how #grab #US #UK #NZ #PH #NY #LNDN #Manila #Games </div></div>

More >> https://ift.tt/7ZDG9AF Source: MAG NEWS
byCUSTOS CAELORUM
in
April 30, 2024

Gamers are just realising they can play one of the best paid online games completely free – here’s how to grab it | 993F296 | 2024-04-30 15:08:02

Gamers are just realising they can play one of the best paid online games completely free – here's how to grab it | 993F296 | 2...
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