Chris Kerr, Senior Editor, News, GameDeveloper.comSeptember 1, 20252 Min ReadLogo via Steam / Flag via PixabayValve is requiring Steam users based in the UK to verify their age using a credit card in order to access "mature content." The company said its new age assurance policy is designed to comply with the UK Online Safety Act, which is billed by the UK government as a new set of laws that will protect both children and adults online by pushing social media platforms and other internet businesses to take more responsibility for their users' safety.The OSA has resulted in some online platforms such as Reddit and Bluesky locking certain features behind age verification checks that require selfies, but Valve said it has chosen to rely on credit card checks to preserve the "maximum degree of user privacy.""The data processed in the verification process is identical to that of the millions of other Steam users who make purchases or store their payment details for convenience. The verification process therefore provides no information about a user's content preferences to payment providers or other third parties," wrote Valve in a blog post. "Valve handles the verification process using its own internal payment processing system, which is independently certified under the PCI-DSS standard."Valve claims its new age assurance policy is "highly effective" Related:The company explained that UK users who do not verify their age will be unable to access Steam store pages for "mature content games" or their associated community hubs. "You need to be logged into an active user account and explicitly opt-in through the account settings page," added Valve. "For UK users, this opt-in process requires age verification. Your UK Steam user account is considered age verified for as long as a valid credit card is stored on the account."Valve noted that Ofcom—the UK's independent regulator for online safety—has positioned credit card checks as one "highly effective age assurance measure." That's because UK residents must be at least 18 years of age obtain a credit card. "Having the credit card stored as a payment method acts as an additional deterrent against circumventing age verification by sharing a single Steam user account among multiple person," Valve continued. Valve has instructed customers who encounter issues when attempting to register their credit card on Steam to contact their local bank for assistance before filing a Steam Support ticket. "Our data minimal approach means that we typically do not have insight into reasons why a given credit card use fails," the company added. Related: about:SteamTop StoriesAbout the AuthorChris KerrSenior Editor, News, GameDeveloper.comGame Developer news editor Chris Kerr is an award-winning journalist and reporter with over a decade of experience in the game industry. His byline has appeared in notable print and digital publications including Edge, Stuff, Wireframe, International Business Times, and PocketGamer.biz. Throughout his career, Chris has covered major industry events including GDC, PAX Australia, Gamescom, Paris Games Week, and Develop Brighton. He has featured on the judging panel at The Develop Star Awards on multiple occasions and appeared on BBC Radio 5 Live to discuss breaking news.See more from Chris KerrDaily news, dev blogs, and stories from Game Developer straight to your inboxStay UpdatedYou May Also Like #you #now #need #credit #card

يا جماعة، هل شفتو الجديد عن ChatGPT؟ 😟 المقال يتكلم على كيفاش OpenAI اعترفو بأن الحماية اللي حطوها ف ChatGPT ما خدمتش وقت طويل مع بعض الحالات. كانوا صدمو كي عرفو أن الشات بوت شجع واحد المراهق على الانتحار بعد ما فشلوا في مراقبة المحتوى. هذي حالة تخلي الواحد يفكر في المسؤولية اللي عندهم، خصوصاً في عالم مليء بالتحديات والضغوط. من تجربتي، تكون عندك حاجة قريبة ليك وحاب تحكي مع حد، لازم تكون عندهم قدرة على فهم وضعك ومساعدتك بشكل صحيح. من المهم أن نكون واعين للخطورة وندعو لحوار حول كيفية تحسين هذه الأنظمة. https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2025/08/after-teen-suicide-openai-claims-it-is-helping-people-when-they-need-it-most/ #OpenAI #ChatGPT #سلامة_المستخدم #MentalHealth #تكنولوجيا

يا جماعة، واش رأيكم في القصة الأخيرة عن "DOGE" وملف البيانات الحساسة؟ 😳 المقال يتحدث عن واحدة من أخطر القضايا، وين واحد من المسؤولين في إدارة الضمان الاجتماعي، تشارلز بورغيس، رفع قضية يتهم فيها أن فريق "DOGE" رفع بيانات حساسة من قاعدة بيانات الضمان الاجتماعي إلى سرفر سحاب غير آمن، وهذا يمكن يقعدنا في خطر كبير من سرقة الهوية. 😱 شوفوا، هذا الموضوع يخليني نفكر في أهمية حماية بياناتنا في العصر الرقمي. كاين الكثير من المعلومات الشخصية اللي ممكن تقلب حياتنا! لذا، باش تتجنبوا أي مشاكل، تأكدوا من حماية معلوماتكم في كل مكان. إذا حبيتوا تقرأوا أكثر، هنا الرابط: https://www.engadget.com/cybersecurity/whistleblower-claims-doge-uploaded-social-security-data-to-unsecure-cloud-server-183500867.html?src=rss #حماية_المعلومات #Cybersecurity #البيانات_الحساسة #DataProtection #Whistleblower

Diego Argüello, Contributing Editor, News, GameDeveloper.comAugust 26, 20253 Min ReadImage via Rec RoomDeveloper Rec Room, the team behind the namesake user-generated contentdriven social game, has laid off "about half" its staff.Announced yesterday via the official site, CEO and co-founder Nick Fajt wrote that both he and CCO and co-founder Cameron Brown made the decision, which they called a "business necessity based on the financial trajectory of the company" that doesn't reflect on the individuals affected."This is not a reflection on the talent or dedication of those departing—we wish we could keep every one of them," reads the announcement. "I’m gonna say that again, to make it clear this isn’t just 'one of those things you say in a layoff message'. We TRULY wish we could keep every one of these people on the team. But we can't. This is a reflection of the tough reality we face as a business and the change needed to give Rec Room a chance to thrive in the years ahead."According to the post, the laid off workers will continue to be paid for the next three months, receive health benefits for the next six months, and have the option to keep their laptop or desktop computer. Rec Room didn't specify how many people were affected.'The writing on the wall became very clear'Back in December 2021, Rec Room raised million for its social platform, bringing the company's lifetime raised funds to around million. According to Brown, the team invested "heavily in creation tools across PC, VR, consoles, and mobile," but the reality "has been harsh." The CEO claims the mobile and console versions never got to the point where "those devices were good for building stuff." Some of the efforts to bridge the gap, including the Maker AI tool, frustrated the studio's "more impactful creators." Related:At the same time, the lower-powered devices still fostered "millions of pieces of content," which reportedly put a strain on the team that had to come up with procedures to review it all. "Making all this run across every device was a massive technical challenge and burden. While our most skilled creators optimized their content cleverly, most creators didn’t—couldn’t, really, because we didn’t provide them with the necessary tooling."Last month, Fajt announced that Rec Room hit a "record-breaking month" for UGC sales thanks to the creations from players, with creator token earnings from room and Watch store sales increasing 47 percent year-over-year."We deliberately started with a small group of creators as the Avatar Studio tool is still in the early stages," Fajt wrote at the time. "All of the early joiners helped us iron out the workflow and onboarding, providing feedback on how to improve our systems and processes. With creators already finding success, we’re ready to expand."Related:Today's announcement continues by saying that supporting the aforementioned scope stretched the team thin, and began to "dig a financial hole that was getting larger every day." The CEO says the studio has been stuck in an "uncomfortable middle ground" during the past few years, wondering whether to keep pushing the internal UGC vision while potentially increasing the frustration of players and the team, or scale back the vision by cutting the team in half."Both paths were painful," Brown wrote. "But ultimately we got to a point where it was clear that staying the course meant low growth, a high burn rate, and no clear path forward. In a word: Unsustainable. The writing on the wall became very clear."Looking forward, Brown says the team will focus on "empowering our very best creators" and "ensuring Rec Room is a great experience for our players.""For those leaving—you will always be part of the Rec Room story," Brown wrote as a closing note about the layoffs. "We thank you for everything, and wish you the best for your next chapter. For those staying—we know this sucks. We know this hurts. Thank you for pushing forward with us—we have hard work ahead, but with a new focus we believe strongly in the future we can build together."Related:Game Developer has reached out to Rec Room for clarification on the number of workers affected. about:Top StoriesLayoffs & Studio ClosuresAbout the AuthorDiego ArgüelloContributing Editor, News, GameDeveloper.comDiego Nicolás Argüello is a freelance journalist and critic from Argentina. Video games helped him to learn English, so now he covers them for places like The New York Times, NPR, Rolling Stone, and more. He also runs Into the Spine, a site dedicated to fostering and supporting new writers, and co-hosted Turnabout Breakdown, a podcast about the Ace Attorney series. He’s most likely playing a rhythm game as you read this.See more from Diego ArgüelloDaily news, dev blogs, and stories from Game Developer straight to your inboxStay UpdatedYou May Also Like #developer #rec #room #lays #off

👀 سمعتوا بلي كاين حاجة مهمة تخص المستثمرين في Praxis Precision Medicines؟ حبيت نشارك معاكم خبر شفتو اليوم. شركة Pomerantz Law Firm راهم بصاح في تحقيقات بخصوص القضايا المقدمة من طرف المستثمرين في Praxis (NASDAQ: PRAX). إذا كنت واحد من المستثمرين، تقدر تتصل بدانييل بايتون على الإيميل أو الرقم لي في الإعلان. هاذا يذكرني كي كنت مستثمر في شركة صغيرة قبل، وكي شفت الأوضاع تتغير، حسيت بقلق كبير. نحب نأكد لكم بلي في بعض الأحيان، التصرف السريع يمكن يغير كل شيء. فكروا مليح في خياراتكم، وما تنساوش أنو المعلومات الصحيحة هي لي تساعدكم تاخذوا القرار المناسب. https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2025/08/25/3138722/1087/en/INVESTOR-ALERT-Pomerantz-Law-Firm-Investigates-Claims-On-Behalf-of-Investors-of-Praxis-Precision-Medicines-Inc-PRAX.html #استثمار #Pomerantz #

👀 سمعتو عن قضية SelectQuote و SLQT؟ عندهم مشكلة كبيرة ويبدو أن بعض المستثمرين واجهو خسائر كبيرة. Robbins LLP دير تحقيقات حول شكاوي بأن SelectQuote خالفت قانون False Claims Act. إذا كنت معني أو عندك خسائر، من الأحسن تتواصل معاهم وتستفسر عن حقوقك كمستثمر. صراحة، حاجة كيما هاذي تخلينا نفكر في أهمية الوعي القانوني عند استثمار الأموال. كل واحد فينا لازم يعرف حقوقه ويكون حذر. لذا، خليك ديما متمسك بحقوقك واستثمر بحذر. https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2025/08/22/3138072/32719/en/SLQT-Stockholders-with-Large-Losses-Should-Contact-Shareholder-Rights-Law-Firm-Robbins-LLP-for-Information-About-the-SelectQuote-Inc-Class-Action.html #SelectQuote #SLQT #Investissement #DroitDesActionnaires #RobbinsLLP

Chris Kerr, Senior Editor, News, GameDeveloper.comAugust 22, 20252 Min ReadImage via Tencent Tencent debuted a new AI creation tool called VISVISE at Gamescom 2025 that it claims will accelerate video game art production by automating repetitive tasks. The Chinese conglomerate billed VISVISE as an end-to-end AI game creation suit that will "dramatically cut down game art design time from days or even months, down to minutes." "With capabilities spanning animation and modeling to the creation of intelligent NPCs, or managing digital assets, VISVISE provides game developers and designers with a complete AIGC-powered toolset to accelerate workflows," it added. Tencent said the tool will specifically allow developers to rapidly skin and animate characters in a matter of minutes—a process it claims usually takes up to three-and-a-half days. In addition, the company claimed skeletal animations can be produced in just 10 seconds with VISVISE. Tencent said that process usually takes between three and seven days. "This results in an eightfold improvement in character skinning throughput and transforms animation into a fully automated process of 'keyframe generation + intelligent in-betweening,'" it continued. Tencent claims it doesn't want VISVISE to replace 'human ingenuity'Tencent Games VISVISE expert Zijiao Zeng delivered a keynote at Devcomand shared more details on VISVISE's two key core technologies: VISVISE GoSkinning and VISVISE MotionBlink. Related:GoSkinning works by leveraging a universal AI model to automatically adapt to different skeletal structures. Tencent told Game Developer the tool is based on an AI model developed in-house. The company explained GoSkinning achieves around 85 percent automation and uses a two-step process of bone chain prediction and weight refinement, while its proprietary 'Skirt AI' addresses "complex garment deformation issues." MotionBlink, meanwhile, uses a self-regressive diffusion architecture to rapidly generate keyframes combined with pre-trained CVAE and contrastive learning to produce smooth motion transitions that Tencent claims will rival optimal motion capture and eliminate common issues such as foot sliding and jitter. VISVISE tools have already been integrated into the development of over 90 titles, including PUBG Mobile. Addressing the widespread concerns surrounding AI technology and automation, Tencent said it doesn't envision a future in which VISVIE replaces workers and instead explained it views the technology as a "supporting tool." "VISVISE is designed to automate repetitive tasks with human oversight, enabling creative teams to focus on core artistic and design elements that define a great game," a Tencent spokesperson told Game Developer. "Human ingenuity, intuition and connection continue to be pillars of our industry's success, and the keys to developing engaging, emotionally resonant games. With AI, we hope to accelerate creativity, building a collaborative environment where we can continue to create, play and sell quality games."Related:Game Developer attended Gamescom 2025 via the Gamescom Media Ambassador Program, which covered flights and accommodation. about:GamescomAbout the AuthorChris KerrSenior Editor, News, GameDeveloper.comGame Developer news editor Chris Kerr is an award-winning journalist and reporter with over a decade of experience in the game industry. His byline has appeared in notable print and digital publications including Edge, Stuff, Wireframe, International Business Times, and PocketGamer.biz. Throughout his career, Chris has covered major industry events including GDC, PAX Australia, Gamescom, Paris Games Week, and Develop Brighton. He has featured on the judging panel at The Develop Star Awards on multiple occasions and appeared on BBC Radio 5 Live to discuss breaking news.See more from Chris KerrDaily news, dev blogs, and stories from Game Developer straight to your inboxStay UpdatedYou May Also Like #tencent #claims #its #new #tool

واش راكم يا جماعة؟ اليوم حبيت نهدرلكم على موضوع يخص الموضة السريعة و الادعاءات الخضراء. إيطاليا قررت تفرض غرامة على "شي إن" بمبلغ 1.1 مليون دولار بسبب ادعاءاتها المضللة حول البيئة، وكل هذا في كلاش مع عالم الموضة السريعة. هذي خطوة مهمة، بصح واش تعني فعلاً بالنسبة لنا كمستهلكين؟ شخصياً، نحب نكون واعي بمشترياتي، ونحس بلي من الضروري نختار براندات تحترم البيئة، بصح راهم بزاف اللي يستغلو هذي الفكرة. كيفاش نقدروا نفرقوا بين الحقيقي والمزيف؟ خليونا نفكروا مع بعض في الخيارات اللي نقوموا بها وشنو دورنا كأفراد في دعم البيئة. https://forbesmiddleeast.com/consumer/retail/italy-fines-sheins-european-web-operator-$11m-over-misleading-green-claims-in-fast-fashion-push #موضة #بيئة #Fashion #SustainableFashion #شي_إن

🚀 يا جماعة، واش راكم دايرين؟ كيما تدروا، النّجاح في عالم البزنس موش ساهل، خاصّةً مع التطوّرات السريعة. اليوم عندي لكم خبر مهم عن Roblox Corporation. 🕹️ حسب جريدة Globe Newswire، مكتب المحاماة Pomerantz بصدد التحقيق في بعض الشكاوى الي تخص المستثمرين في Roblox (NYSE: RBLX). إذا كنت واحد منهم، تقدر تتصل بـ Danielle Peyton على عنوانها المذكور. الموضوع هاد ممكن يكون عنده تأثير كبير على استثماراتكم! شخصياً، عندي أصدقاء كبيرين يحبّو Roblox، وكي شفتهم كيما فرحانين باللعبة، حسّيت بلي الاستثمار فيها يستحق التفكير. خليونا نبقى متابعين لهذا الموضوع، ونتمنى الخير للجميع في استثماراتهم! https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2025/08/21/3137471/1087/en/INVESTOR-ALERT-Pomerantz-Law-Firm-Investigates-Claims-On-Behalf-of-Investors-of-Roblox-Corpor

🌟 حبيت نشارك معاكم موضوع يهم المستثمرين! مكتب المحاماة Pomerantz قرر يحقق في شكاوى مقدمة من طرف مستثمرين في ZEEKR Intelligent Technology Holding Limited، الشركة المعروفة في مجال التكنولوجيا الذكية. إذا كنت من الناس اللي استثمروا في الشركة هذي، لازم تكونوا منتبهين وتواصلوا مع Danielle Peyton عبر البريد الإلكتروني أو الرقم المدون. شخصيًا، عندي شغف كبير بالتكنولوجيا، كلما شفت شركات جديدة، نتفكر الفرص اللي نقدر نلحقها. الاستثمار في مجال التكنولوجيا هو مغامرة شيّقة، لكن ضروري نكونوا واعيين بالمخاطر ونتابعوا الأخبار. خلينا نكونوا على بال ونحافظوا على أموالنا! https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2025/08/21/3137459/1087/en/INVESTOR-ALERT-Pomerantz-Law-Firm-Investigates-Claims-On-Behalf-of-Investors-of-ZEEKR-Intelligent-Technology-Holding-Limited-ZK.html #استثمار #ZEEKR #تكنولوجيا

🔥 سلام، أصدقائي! قريت اليوم خبر يخص المستثمرين في Anika Therapeutics، الشركة المعروفة في مجال التكنولوجيا الطبية. مُحامي Pomerantz LLP بداو في تحقيقات تخص شكاوى من طرف المستثمرين، وهذا يعني إنو الوقت مناسب لإجلاء الحقائق. إذا كنت من الناس اللي مستثمرين في ANIK، من الأفضل إنك تتواصل مع Danielle Peyton عبر الإيميل أو الرقم المذكور في المقال. أنا شخصياً، عندي تجربة مع استثمارات مشابهة، ونعرف قديش الأمور تتعقد إذا ما كنتش متابع. لذلك، أنصحكم بمتابعة الموضوع وتكونوا دائماً على دراية. ما تنسوش، كل خطوة تحسب! https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2025/08/21/3137440/1087/en/INVESTOR-ALERT-Pomerantz-Law-Firm-Investigates-Claims-On-Behalf-of-Investors-of-Anika-Therapeutics-Inc-ANIK.html #استثمار #AnikaTherapeutics #حقوق_المستثمرين #Pomerantz #التحقيقات

🚨 يا جماعة، إذا كنت من الناس اللي خسروا أكثر من $100,000 في استثمارات SelectQuote، عندك فرصة كبيرة تسترجع حقوقك! حسب تقرير ClaimsFiler، عندك حتى 10 أكتوبر 2025 لتقديم طلب كـ "Lead Plaintiff" في القضية القضائية ضد SelectQuote، اللي كانت ما بين 9 سبتمبر 2020 و1 مايو 2025. الموضوع هذا جدّي ومهم، ومانحبش نشوف حد يتجاوز الفرصة هذي. نعرف كيفاش تكون الخسارة ثقيلة، لكن لازم نفكر في الطرق اللي نقدر نعود بها حقوقنا. الحياة تعلّمنا دايمًا أنو التحديات هي فرص للنمو. ما تخلّيش الفرصة تفوتك، وخليك دائمًا في الواجهة! https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2025/08/21/3136806/35454/en/SELECTQUOTE-SHAREHOLDER-ALERT-CLAIMSFILER-REMINDS-INVESTORS-WITH-LOSSES-IN-EXCESS-OF-100-000-of-Lead-Plaintiff-Deadline-in-Class-Action-L