Greetings, Travelers! We’re excited to announce that Genshin Impact Version Luna I, Song of the Welkin Moon: Segue, will be released on September 10. This update, which marks the beginning of the year-long Song of the Welkin Moon version series, will also introduce a major new region, Nod-Krai. The new version series will tie together past story clues and characters, answer some long-standing questions, and reveal more about the secrets of the moon. The stage for these events is Nod-Krai, a new self-governing region at the edge of Teyvat. Blessed by pure moonlight, Nod-Krai is a land rich with a unique and powerful energy which has attracted various individuals and factions, all with their own goals and ambitions which often lead them to conflict. However, it is also this very same energy that will be crucial to your journey, guiding you as you explore the region and solve its mysteries. View and download image Download the image close Close Download this image View and download image Download the image close Close Download this image View and download image Download the image close Close Download this image View and download image Download the image close Close Download this image We invite all Travelers who have finished the Mondstadt Archon Quest “Prologue: Act III – Song of the Dragon and Freedom” to enter Nod-Krai. You can access the region via a Teleport Waypoint at its entrance. If you have also completed “Chapter I Act III – A New Star Approaches” in Liyue, you will be able to start the new Archon Quests in Nod-Krai immediately. Gather under the moonlight Moonlight pierces the haze, casting rippling shadows toward the unknown. To uncover a new Fatui scheme related to the “Ancient Moon’s Remnants,” Travelers must set sail from Natlan, heading north to the self-governing region of Nod-Krai located at the southernmost part of Snezhnaya. Nod-Krai is a land where an ancient elemental energy called Kuuvahki can be found. This unique power influences the lives of its people, but it also draws factions with competing goals, leading to constant conflict. Walk the paths of this land, Traveler, and see with your own eyes how these factions seek and harness this potent energy. In Version Luna I, Travelers can explore three distinct island areas within Nod-Krai. Your journey begins in Nasha Town, where the residents have woven the ancient energy of Kuuvahki into their everyday lives. Here, street signs hum with a gentle energy, and clever devices retain the traces of ancient power. Head west, and you will find the Clink-Clank Krumkake Craftshop, home to the whimsical inventors Aino and Ineffa. Continue westward and you will find yourself at Hiisi Island, where you will enter the lands of the Frostmoon Scions. The devotees here, who brook no blasphemy towards the moon, worship the moon goddess Kuutar while fiercely guarding the purity of their faith. Yet, in the shadows, unseen forces are stirring up a crisis. Further north along the coast, the Fatui’s Kuuvahki Experimental Design Bureau stands over ancient ruins. The Fatui have come here to build war engines fueled by Kuuvahki. You can choose to face them head-on or infiltrate quietly to uncover their secrets. As you explore Nod-Krai, you may also encounter the Wild Hunt, a dangerous force emerging from the Abyss that leaves a trail of destruction in its wake. Standing against this darkness are the Lightkeepers, an ancient order that defends the freedom and peace of the land. They carry special lanterns that change color to warn of the kind of danger that is coming. View and download image Download the image close Close Download this image View and download image Download the image close Close Download this image View and download image Download the image close Close Download this image View and download image Download the image close Close Download this image Meanwhile, Columbina, who once served as the Fatui’s Damselette, has left them and is now lingering in her homeland of Nod-Krai. Here, she is revered as the Moon Maiden. Interestingly, the statues of the Idol of the New Moon found throughout Nod-Krai bear a striking resemblance to Columbina’s appearance before she joined the Fatui, hinting at her past identity. Now, she has her very own haven, the Sanctuary of the Silver Moon Court, located near Hiisi Island. Walk there by the moonlight, fulfill her requests, and you may earn her assistance on your journey. In the new Archon Quest, the Traveler will assist Lauma, the Moonchanter of the Frostmoon Scions. Join her to confront the Fatui and uncover the secrets behind their faith in the moon goddess. You will also see for yourself the unwavering resolve of the Lightkeepers as you fight alongside Flins, a warrior of their order, to defend the land. This adventure will also introduce you to new allies, such as the merchants of Nasha Town, while also presenting a menacing debut of the Fatui Harbinger Sandrone, the Marionette. Fight alongside new allies and unleash the power of the Moon In Nod-Krai, certain characters blessed by the moon can channel the ancient energy of Kuuvahki in combat through their Moon Wheels. This unique ability triggers special Lunar reactions. Both Lauma and Flins are among the characters who have this ability. As a Moonchanter of the Frostmoon Scions, Lauma listens to her people, soothes their worries, and safeguards their covenant with the land. Gentle, wise, and deeply connected to nature, she has earned the trust of her companions. Even the small creatures influenced by Kuuvahki seem to share this trust, approaching and interacting with her whenever she is near. Lauma can even transform into a cervitaur, allowing her to dash swiftly across the land. In battle, this 5-star Dendro Catalyst user can give her team a decisive edge with a new Elemental Reaction: Lunar-Bloom. Once the Bloom reaction is triggered with Lauma on the team, she can convert it into a Lunar-Bloom reaction. This creates a valuable combat resource called Verdant Dew, which Lauma can then use to deal significant Lunar-Bloom damage with the potential for CRIT Hits. In combat, Lauma can periodically deal AoE Dendro DMG and further support the team by lowering enemies’ Dendro and Hydro RES. Her combat style is focused on collecting Verdant Dew from Lunar-Bloom reactions and converting it into more Lunar-Bloom damage. Flins is a 5-star Electro Polearm user known for his noble and aristocratic bearing. This veteran Lightkeeper who has long dedicated himself to defending Nod-Krai’s freedom and peace can even hear the whispers of the Wild Hunt while on exploration. In battle, Flins deals powerful Lunar-Charged DMG and can adjust his strategy on the fly. For situations that require multiple instances of Lunar-Charged DMG in a short period, he can use his standard Elemental Burst. In fast-paced, high-tempo combat, Flins can enter another state with his Elemental Skill which allows him to unleash a special Elemental Burst that costs less energy on a more frequent basis. In addition, Aino, the Whiz-Kid Mechanic, is a 4-star Hydro Claymore user who can be invited to the Traveler’s party for free via the new Archon Quest. In combat, Aino can also attack enemies with Hydro DMG. Beyond their roles in battle, these three new friends have their own day-to-day lives to live, and small, everyday joys to savor. With a new feature called Meeting Points, you can chat with them, help build these points throughout Nod-Krai, and unlock more of their stories by progressing through certain events. Visit the Clink-Clank Krumkake Craftshop where Aino and Ineffa are always hard at work, or step into the Frostmoon Enclave to read the legends among the Frostmoon Scions together with Lauma. Or, stop by Flins’s home to listen to the long-guarded tales of the Lightkeepers. In the first half of Version Luna I, Lauma will make her debut alongside a rerun for Nahida. The Chronicled Wish will also feature the return of several Sumeru characters. In the second half of the update, Flins, Yelan, and Aino will join the Event Wishes. Wander through the Moon-blessed land As you gaze at the sky as blue turns to black and the pale moon rises, you may wonder why this ancient energy attracts so many to its power. Traveler, when you enter Nod-Krai, you will find traces of Kuuvahki everywhere throughout the land. As you walk through Nod-Krai, you will notice strange objects shimmering with the power of Kuuvahki, typically glowing with either a red or blue unipolar field. These fields behave in a very curious way: two of the same color will push each other away, while different colors are drawn together. Step close enough to one of these fields, and you may enter an empowered state. In this state, you can solve puzzles, collect items, and even gain an advantage in combat. Sometimes, standing near a special field will even allow you to perform a special jump, revealing paths that would otherwise be out of reach. Nod-Krai is home to a special elemental creature with various forms known as the Kuuhenki. When you are near certain plants, like the Moonshine Violet, you can gain Kuuvahki energy, which allows you to harness the power of the Kuuhenki and move freely. In this state, you can drift near the mist patches in the area. Patches of a different color will draw you in, while patches of the same color will push you away. As the Kuuhenki glides through the air, it leaves behind bright trails called Moonlanes. Hitch a ride on these lanes to move quickly, switch paths, and interact with nearby objects. Deal wisely with the enemy The dangers and challenges of Nod-Krai are a constant reminder to the Traveler to act with caution. However, one should also be brave enough to face danger head-on at the same time. In the region’s other areas, you will encounter enemies that demand careful handling, as many are influenced by the ancient energy of Kuuvahki. For example, when you face the cave-dwelling boss, the Radiant Moonfly, you can temporarily boost your abilities by healing your HP to its maximum. Not all challenges involve fighting belligerent foes. You can hone your battle skills using Knuckle Duckle, a duck-shaped combat machine built by Aino. Effects like Electro-Charged or Lunar-Charged attacks can provide you with a combat efficiency boost. Interestingly, when Aino or Ineffa interacts with the machine, it can trigger extra dialogue options. You might even obtain special items that change their appearance. What’s more, there will also be more seasonal events and optimizations which will bring you bountiful rewards and make your adventure an easier one. In celebration of the fifth anniversary of Genshin Impact, we have prepared various gifts to thank our Travelers, including 10 Intertwined Fates, 1,600 Primogems, two exclusive gadgets, and a free 5-star standard banner character of your choice. Know that when you see the signs of the new moon, the story of Version Luna I is about to be unveiled. Let us set out for the new region, Nod-Krai, as we turn a new page in the story, and bask in its cold moonlight. #genshin #impact #version #luna #song

AI models are advancing at a rapid rate and scale. But what might they lack thathumans don’t? Common sense: an understanding, developed through real-world experiences, that birds can’t fly backwards, mirrors are reflective and ice melts into water. While such principles seem obvious to humans, they must be taught to AI models tasked with accurately answering complex questions and navigating unpredictable physical environments, such as industrial warehouses or roads. NVIDIA is tackling this challenge by developing a set of tests to coach AI models on the limitations of the physical world. In other words, to teach AI common sense. These tests are used to develop reasoning models such as NVIDIA Cosmos Reason, an open reasoning vision language modelused for physical AI applications that are proficient in generating temporally grounded responses. Cosmos Reason just topped the physical reasoning leaderboard on Hugging Face. Cosmos Reason is unique compared with previous VLMs as it’s designed to accelerate physical AI development for fields such as robotics, autonomous vehicles and smart spaces. The model can infer and reason through unprecedented scenarios using physical common-sense knowledge. For models to understand complex environments — including industrial spaces and laboratories — they must start small. For example, in the test depicted below, the Cosmos Reason model is tasked with answering a multiple-choice question about the relative motion in the video: Example from Cosmos Reason evaluation dataset What Does Reasoning Look Like for an AI Model?  To develop their reasoning capabilities, NVIDIA models are being taught physical common sense about the real world via reinforcement learning. For example, robots don’t intuitively know which way is left, right, up or down. They’re taught these spatial-temporal limitations through training. AI-powered robots used in safety testing, such as vehicle crash testing, must be taught to be aware of how their physical forms interact with their surroundings. Without embedding common sense into the training of these robots, issues can arise in deployment. “Without basic knowledge about the physical world, a robot may fall down or accidentally break something, causing danger to the surrounding people and environment,” said Yin Cui, a Cosmos Reason research scientist at NVIDIA. Distilling human common sense about the physical world into models is how NVIDIA is bringing about the next generation of AI. Enter the NVIDIA data factory team: a group of global analysts who come from various backgrounds — including bioengineering, business and linguistics. They’re working to develop, analyze and compile hundreds of thousands of data units that will be used to train generative AI models on how to reason. The Data Curation Process One of the NVIDIA data factory team’s projects focuses on the development of world foundation models for physical AI applications. These virtual environments create deep learning neural networks that are safer and more effective for training reasoning models, based on simulated domains. It all starts with an NVIDIA annotation group that creates question-and-answer pairs based on video data. These videos are all from the real world and can include any type of footage, whether depicting chickens walking around in their coop or cars driving on a rural road. For example, an annotator might ask about the video below: “The person uses which hand to cut the spaghetti?” Example from Cosmos Reason evaluation dataset The annotators then come up with four multiple choice answers labeled A, B, C and D. The model is fed the data and has to reason and choose the correct answer. “We’re basically coming up with a test for the model,” said Cui. “All of our questions are multiple choice, like what students would see on a school exam.” These question-and-answer pairs are then quality checked by NVIDIA analysts, such as Michelle Li. Li has a background in public health and data analytics, which allows her to look at the broader purpose of the data she analyzes. “For physical AI, we have a specific goal of wanting to train models on understanding the physical world, which helps me think about the bigger picture when I’m looking at the Q&A pairs and the types of questions that are being presented,” Li said. “I ask myself, do the Q&A pairs that I’m looking at align with our objectives for the guidelines that we have for the project?” After this, the data is reviewed by the data factory leads of the project, who make sure it’s up to quality standards and ready to be sent to the Cosmos Reason research team. The scientists then feed the hundred thousands of data units — in this case the Q&A pairs — to the model, training it with reinforcement learning on the bounds and limitations of the physical world. What Are the Applications of Reasoning AI?  Reasoning models are exceptional because they can make sense of their temporal space as well as predict outcomes. They can analyze a situation, come up with a thought web of probable outcomes and infer the most likely scenario. Simply put, reasoning AI demonstrates humanlike thinking. It shows its work, giving the user insight into the logic behind its responses. Users can ask these models to analyze a video such as of two cars driving on a road. When asked a question like, “What would happen if the cars were driving toward each other on the same lane?” the model can reason and determine the most probable outcome of the proposed scenario — for example, a car crash. “We’re building a pioneering reasoning model focused on physical AI,” said Tsung-Yi Lin, a principal research scientist on the Cosmos Reason team at NVIDIA. The data factory team’s ability to produce high-quality data will be imperative for driving the development of intelligent autonomous agents and physical AI systems that can safely interact with the real world as NVIDIA reasoning model innovation continues. Preview NVDIA Cosmos-Reason1 or download the model on Hugging Face and GitHub. #how #you #teach #model #reason

Peak, the social co-op game from developers Aggro Crab and Landfall, has sold nearly 10 million copies since its release in June, according to numbers from Alinea Analytics. It's remained one of the top-played games on Valve's Steam platform since its release, reaching a peak concurrent player count of 170,759 in mid-August. Peak is immensely popular—and its playerbase keeps growing. Hitting that 10 million milestone would make Peak the second "budget indie," as Alinea Analytics called it, to reach that point—the first was another social co-op game: R.E.P.O. These two titles follow an emergence of social-driven co-op games that have largely been made by independent studios with lower budgets—the likes of Landfall's 2024 Content Warning, horror survival game Lethal Company, multiplayer fishing game Webfishing, and even InnerSloth's social deduction mega-hit Among Us. Social games are nothing new: Multiplayer is a core element of plenty of video games; games like Fortnite, Minecraft, and Call of Duty are often vehicles for chatting with a group of friends. Peak, R.E.P.O, and the like, though are something different.The core appeal of "weirdo social games"Aggro Crab art director Galen Drew told Game Developer that "weirdo social games" like Peak have existed for some time, pointing back to games like Among Us and Lethal Company. There are games you can play with your friends, but these games are ones that are designed around "the experience of hanging out with your friends," Drew said. "It's the expressiveness in the way the characters move and look, and the types of things you can do. It's all just a vehicle to make your friends laugh."Related:Players clearly want that: The top three new games on Steam, by copies sold, are R.E.P.O, social co-op drug dealing game Schedule I, and Peak, according to Alinea Analytics. The firm's estimates suggest that co-op games on Steam brought in billion in revenue in the first half of 2025; "the highest six-month total ever recorded for the genre," according to analyst Rhys Elliot. Michael Chu, CEO and co-founder of Treehouse Games, which is making co-op, seafaring survival game Voyagers of Nera, told Game Developer that "there are more great options for co-op games than ever, so the competition feels intense as a developer."He continued: "But a bigger and more diverse audience of playerslooking to gaming as their favorite way to hang out every year."With that in mind, it makes sense that developers would start to really hone in on that experience—and purpose-build games that give players powerful moments with friends.Related:What to make of "Friendslop"A new term has emerged to describe the growing genre that Peak, Lethal Company, and R.E.P.O find themselves in: "Friendslop." Friendslop was used first in a joke: A Twitter user posted three pictures from Lethal Company, Content Warning, and R.E.P.O and called the genre friendslop. "Its sole purpose of existence is friendfarming," they said. The term—or, maybe, a desire to dunk on it on social media—caught on. Depending on who you talk to, it's used in jest, is insulting to games it's used to refer to, or it's something to embrace. What is uncontested, though, is the demand for games that are built for socialization, experimentation, and silliness with one's buddies."The core of a friendslop game is where the fun of the game comes from stupid stuff you and your friends do, and a lot of it is driven by the mistakes you make," Drew said of Peak. "It's a game where you're all dumb idiots trying to do something difficult and complicated, and failing is the funny part."Aggro Crab and Landfall used the friendslop format but stripped away the horror game roots to make Peak, Drew said. Horror is a good fit for the genre because it adds an inherent pressure that ends up being slapstick comedy. There's a performance element to it, too, Drew said. "Horror is an easy pressure to put on those kinds of challenges, because it's just easy to get people flustered and freaking out and making a mistake that's funny," he said. "In the case of Content Warning, that's a great mechanic, because filming is a good incentive to even, like, perform the funny."Related:For Peak, the collaboration between the Content Warning and Another Crab's Treasure makers, the developers wanted to capture a similar feeling but about surviving with friends. There's no horror element to up the ante; instead, the antagonist is the climb—not any sort of looming monster. The mountains themselves are there to lure the player into taking risks and making mistakes, Drew said. "Almost every item we add is meant to be tempting to use in a way that's dumb," he said. "Generally, we don't add items that are strictly useful—there are a few, obviously, like the piton or rope. But almost all of them have this built in failure point. You still have to place the piton, and it takes time, and you could fall while you're doing it. The rope, you still have to spool out a certain length, and you don't really have a great idea of how much you're spooling out. They're all intentionally chosen so that your friends are yelling at you because you didn't spool out enough rope when they climb."A tonal change for the genreChu told Game Developer that Voyagers of Nera, which is slated for early access in mid-September, will deliver similar sorts of moments. Voyagers of Nera, however, doesn't necessarily fit under the "genre" of friendslop, despite its similarities in goal—to create moments for friends."We built the game to deliver memorable moments with friends, but our game focuses on a different flavor. We wanted to create moments of shared discovery as players explore far off locations together, rescue magical spirits, and battle deep sea monsters. We think there's something romantic and familiar about starting out at the horizon on the ocean and wondering, ‘What's out there?'"Voyagers of Nera isn't necessarily built upon the performance and humor of a game like Peak or Content Warning, but still hinges on gameplay that encourages socialization. Peak and other games more firmly situated in the friendslop world seemingly rely more on sessions than an ongoing experience; Peak's maps rotate every 24 hours, something that Drew said was a technical constraint rather than an intentional decision. But it's a constraint that Drew said plays into the excitement of playing Peak: People want to see and try the different maps. The rotations become like Destiny raids, he said. There's some fear of missing out on some unique experience, but it's not so exclusive that it drives people away—there's always another day. "It will feel like a special thing every time you," Drew added.Voyagers of Nera, on the other hand, is a shared world that lives on a server and up to 10 people per session can come back to it, like Palworld or Rust. Regardless of the differences, though, the core of the experience remains: "Games have become a default way to spend quality time with friends," Chu said. And games that are built to support these relationships are more popular than ever. #what #developers #can #learn #indie

At least eight developers have decided to push their projects' publishing dates after Team Cherry announced that Hollow Knight: Silksong is releasing on September 4.Exactly a week ago, the studio shared the news via its own YouTube channel. During the past seven days, multiple developers announced delays for their game and demo releases, directly mentioning Silksong's popularity.At the time of writing, this includes Aeterna Lucis by Aeternum Game Studios, Stomp and the Sword of Miracles by Frogteam Games, CloverPit by Panik Arcade, Demonschool by Necrosoft Games, Little Witch in the Woods by Sunny Side Up, Faeland by Talegames, Megabonk by Vedinad, and Baby Steps, which is being published by Devolver Digital.The release of Little Witch in the Woods initially matched Silksong's. In the delay announcement, Sunny Side Up said it's moving the launch to September 15, given the "immense influence" of Team Cherry's game. "We fear that launching Little Witch in the Woods on the same day would not only dishearten our dedicated team but also disappoint our devoted audience," the studio wrote.'We would not be doing our game any favors by wading into waters we can clearly see are blood red'Both CloverPit and Demonschool, now releasing on September 26 and November 19, respectively, were initially locked in for a launch on September 3, the day before Silksong's release.Related:"Silksong is the most anticipated and wishlisted game on all of Steam and we think people will love this game and play it right at launchbut that also means it will overshadow all games launching close to it," Panik Arcade wrote. Via GamesIndustryBiz, almost 5 million people have wishlisted Silksong. "So if we stick to our original date we would risk the launch of CloverPit a fair bit."Ysbryd Games, the publisher of Demonschool, called the process behind the decision an "anguished consideration," saying that it's "reasonably qualified to say that at any point of 2025 on balance, has been or will be as brutal as market conditions can get" when it comes to picking a release date."Crueler still, that we should find out with such short notice that Hollow Knight: Silksong will launch just one day after our planned release for Demonschool," the publisher added.Via Bluesky, Necrosoft Games said that the delay "was not our choice," but that the studio "understands why the choice was made." Necrosoft said that Ysbryd is paying for the delay. "Dropping the GTA of indies with 2 weeks notice makes everyone freak," the developer added.Related:"We have to remind ourselves that gaining visibility for Demonschool is our main goal," continues the publisher's statement. "Thus, the Ysbryd team strongly believes we would not be doing our game any favors by wading into waters we can clearly see are blood red."The other four games were all slated to release sometime in September, but decided to move either later in the month or directly into 2026, as is the case for Aeterna Lucis.  Out of all developers, Stomp and the Sword of Miracles and Faeland are notable examples, considering both games also fall into the metroidvania genreFrogteam Games planned to release a demo for Stomp and the Sword of the Miracles on August 29, with a Kickstarter campaign launching on September 12. Now, the developer is unsure about when it'll resume these plans."Trying to market an indie game is already really, really hard," Frogteam wrote. "It's the task of trying to get attention in a deep sea of other amazing games. In the case of Silksong, however, I feel like a little krill trying not to get eaten by a blue whale. Tiny devs like me rely on word of mouth and streamers to bring in visibility, and everyone's gonna be busy with Silksong for quite a while."Related: #games #have #pushed #publishing #dates

The banners in Zenless Zone Zero are called Signal Search, and it's split into four parts; Exclusive Channel, W-Engine Channel, Stable Channel, and Bangboo Channel. Exclusive Channel is the banner that features a limited S-Rank Agent, while the W-Engine is where players can get the signature weapon for the featured 5-star character. Meanwhile, Stable Channel and Bangboo Channel are standard banners in ZZZ, where the former contains S-Rank Agents and W-Engines, whereas the latter is exclusively for 4-star and 5-star Bangboos. #zzz #banners #current #next #past

Brace yourself, COGs — the Locusts aren’t the only thing rising up. The Coalition’s legendary shooter Gears of War: Reloaded is launching day one on GeForce NOW. But that’s just the start. This GFN Thursday, seven games join the GeForce NOW library, including Ubisoft’s The Rogue Prince of Persia, the electrifying 2D roguelike action-platformer. More Grit, More Gears Never skip leg day. Chainsaws — check. Grizzled one-liners — absolutely. Gears of War: Reloaded is back, buffed and primed, remastered from the ground up in Unreal Engine 5. It’s the classic curb-stomping action gamers remember, now with visuals sharp enough to make the Locust run for cover. Form up and get loud. Dive into battle with Marcus, Dom and the rest of Delta Squad to fight tooth and chainsaw to save humanity from the subterranean Locust Horde. Carve through the epic campaign solo or tag in friends for online co-op mode. The remastered version packs every blast, chainsaw duel and bro fist from the original — plus bonus campaign missions, multiplayer maps and more. Tackle battles with modern controls for franchise newcomers or classic controls for veterans — no grunt left behind. Stream Gears of War: Reloaded on GeForce NOW and witness Unreal Engine’s best visuals without upgrading hardware. Run multiplayer with the lowest latency with an Ultimate membership, cross-play with the squad and see every crumbling wall and flying chunk — all from the cloud, effortlessly. Greatest Leap Yet Kick first, ask questions later. The Rogue Prince of Persia 1.0 marks the game’s full release after months of early access, bringing refined parkour, polished combat, fresh content and the complete story of the rogue heir racing to reclaim his kingdom. Sprint, vault and wall-run through a reimagined Persia as the prince battles to undo a deadly curse and stop the invading Huns. Each run is a new fight for survival, blending fluid platforming with swift, acrobatic combat. Leap over traps, chain stylish moves and wield an ever-expanding arsenal while unlocking medallions, upgrading gear and uncovering the truth behind the prince’s fall — and his shot at redemption. On GeForce NOW, the adventure shines at its best with up to 4K 120 frames-per-second streaming. Land every parkour move with perfect timing thanks to ultralow latency and take the prince’s fight anywhere, instantly, on nearly any device. Let’s Play Today Catbots > Brainblobs. Make sure to check out Chip ‘n Clawz vs. The Brainioids, a quirky action-strategy hybrid from X-COM creator Julian Gollop, where players control a clever inventor and his robo-cat to fight off an invasion of bizarre Brainioid aliens. Mix third-person action with real-time strategy while building bases, commanding bot armies and squishing rogue brains in solo and co-op modes, all wrapped in a colorful, comic-book world. Couch and online multiplayer, player vs. player battles and a humorous campaign make this a fresh, approachable take on the strategy genre. In addition, members can look for the following: Gears of War: ReloadedChip ‘n Clawz vs. The BrainioidsMake WayAmong Us 3DGatekeeperKnighticaNo Sleep for Kaname Date – From AI: THE SOMNIUM FILESWhat are you planning to play this weekend? Let us know on X or in the comments below. This is a duo appreciation post. Who are you locking in with?— NVIDIA GeForce NOWAugust 27, 2025 #drop #into #battle #gears #war

Game Developer can confirm that Chinese publisher, developer, and studio investor NetEase has shut down T-Minus Zero Entertainment, the game studio founded by BioWare alumni Rich Vogel in 2023.Vogel initially posted on the company's LinkedIn page about NetEase' decision to cease its partnership with T-Minus Zero. "We deeply appreciate NetEase for providing us with both ample runway and support - from helping us find potential investors to giving us the time and budget to develop our game into a fully playable hands-on demo. It has generated a lot of interest."Days later, he told Game Developer that NetEase has shut down T-Minus Zero.T-Minus Zero had been working on a "third-person online multiplayer action game set in a sci-fi universe," according to the company's founding announcement. It appears the project was well-liked by high-level NetEase employees. Former NetEase president of global investments and partnerships Simon Zhu commented on the company's post, stating that the game "deliversgreat fantasy of fighting against 15th floor kaiju to protect the city you care about."Meanwhile NetEase head of brand/publishing for North America & Europe Cisco Maldonado called it a "super great concept anda solid market fit" in a post on Vogel's page.Related:A spokesperson for NetEase initially told Game Developer that the company is "actively working with the studiofind a new publishing home." They added that the company "cannot confirm any layoffs," and that it was "working with the full studio in terms of this transition and future publishing plans."Said spokesperson offered a follow-up comment after we queried the company about Vogel's statement that the company is shutting down T-Minus Zero. They stated that NetEase has made the "difficult decision" to discontinue funding for the company. "This decision was made with careful consideration, as we have been inspired by our partnership with the studio and their bold vision," they said. "However, we have had to reassess our business priorities and are now working closely with the studio to provide support and explore next steps."NetEase is reversing course on millions of dollars worth of studio investmentsNetEase has spent 2025 unwinding a number of international investments in studios like Skybox Labs, Ouka Studios and Jark of Sparks, also laying off US-based developers working on live service megahit Marvel Rivals. This hasn't been a complete withdrawal. Rebel Wolves and Anchor Point made statements saying they were not affected by a business pivot reported on by Bloomberg News.Related:Update 8/29: This story has been updated with additional comment from NetEase. #netease #shuts #down #rich #vogelled

IntroductionHi everyone, I'm Leandro Grasso, a 3D Environment Artist from Sicily. My journey into 3D art began after the COVID period, sparked by my passion for landscape photography. Recently, I completed a mentorship with Jeremy Cerisy, during which I significantly improved my environment creation skills. I learned a lot and was able to apply that knowledge to my most recent project. As a freelance artist, I've contributed to a couple of NDA projects, and I'm currently working on an environment for an indie video game scheduled for release later this year. PlanningUnder the direction of my mentor, I scouted for real-life locations and imagined how they could be interpreted for a video game environment, rather than starting from a concept. My main goal was to improve my skills in creating destroyed environments, learning how to handle damaged walls, cracked pavements, and abandoned objects.So, I decided to create an old abandoned asylum in Germany and added a crashed World War I aircraft to introduce new challenges and storytelling opportunities. Through this combination, I aimed to study destruction while also suggesting a narrative about what might have happened at the site after the crash. Below, you can see some of the references I used for the asylum and how I planned it. Blockout & CompositionI started with a simple blockout in Unreal Engine 5. While building the blockout, I frequently used the mannequin to ensure proper proportions. Once the basic layout was in place, I placed several cameras to find the best compositions and give the environment the right sense of depth, especially considering the limited space available for movement.After that, I exported the entire blockout to Blender and began dividing it into different pieces to plan out the modules and props. I was able to properly plan these elements after creating an advanced blockout, where I also applied some basic textures to see how the environment reacted to different colors and materials.Asset Production WorkflowOnce the blockout was complete, I started modeling the modular pieces based on the needs of the environment. I created modules of various sizes, ranging from 1 to 4 meters, for the main elements like simple walls. For more complex parts, such as the stair walls, I took a different approach and created larger, non-repeating modules.Speaking of modules, I want to highlight the destroyed wall caused by the aircraft crash. I used a Boolean operation to cut out the damaged section of the wall and the wood. After that, I created individual bricks and placed them along the broken edges to add more realism and detail. Connected to that wall, the modular stairs I created were designed to fit the ideal layout of a game level. To maintain the correct proportions, I used the default stairs in Unreal as a reference and then modeled them in Blender.As for the railing, to save time, I first broke it down into main components and created instances of those pieces. Once the entire railing was modeled and the UVs were ready, I made the instances real so I could unwrap all the pieces in one go. After unwrapping, I moved the UV islands randomly to introduce variation during the texturing phase.For the vegetation, I used assets from Quixel Megascans. Since the pack didn’t include vertical vegetation, I sourced a different ivy asset that contained vertical elements. I removed the leaves and kept only the branches.Then, using a particle system, I added the correct leaves onto the vertical branches, scattering them only at the tips by using a vertex group. Here are the vertical assets I created, with a small detail asset shown in the top left.Regarding the assets, I didn't use high-to-low poly baking in this project. Instead, I modeled everything in mid-poly to save time while still maintaining good visual quality.One of the biggest challenges was modeling the destroyed World War I aircraft. As a junior artist, it was my first time working on a damaged vehicle. I began by modeling the aircraft fully intact and then manually destroyed it piece by piece to achieve a more realistic and intentional look. To guide me through the process, I looked to industry professionals for inspiration. I found some amazing vehicle models by Pavlo Panchenko for S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl on ArtStation. Being able to study his work helped me a lot, not just technically, but also in defining the artistic direction for my own piece.Last but not least, I wanted to talk about the broken glass pieces I created. I made them in ZBrush, starting with a random image of broken glass I found on Google. I brought the image into Photoshop, converted it to black and white, and increased the contrast to make the cracks more visible.Then, I imported the image into ZBrush, subdivided a plane several times, and used the image as a mask. I hid the unnecessary parts and deleted them, keeping only the masked glass shapes. After that, I decimated the mesh to reach an acceptable polycount, imported it into Blender, and created the UVs. All UVs were unwrapped in Blender. I used Texel Density Checker to set a texel density of 512 px/m with a texture size of 2048. For this project, I used three UV channels: the first for the RGB mask, the second for tileable textures, to maintain high quality during the texturing phase, and the third for additional normal maps where needed. This setup allowed me to reuse the same textures, such as metal, rust, and wood, across both modules and assets. I also used RGB masks for the assets, so the UV islands were specifically packed into that channel.TexturingFor the texturing, I wanted to experiment with a workflow I hadn't tried before. The entire project was textured using Vertex Painting, RGB Masks, and tileable textures. I didn't use any unique baked textures.Tilable textures allowed me to maintain high quality even on large modules and props. Vertex Painting was used to add variation across surfaces, while RGB Masks provided additional layers of variation, especially on props. I also used decals and normal edge decals to add extra detail and break up the surfaces further.Below, you can see my master material setup, which includes Parallax, Vertex Color blending with a HeightLerp node, and RGB Mask blending using a simple Lerp node. All the textures used in my environment were sourced from Quixel Megascans, except for two tileable textures that I created specifically for this project. I made these two textures from scratch in Substance 3D Designer.I'd like to talk about my stained glass and explain how I achieved the final result. First, I took a photo of a real stained glass window from the actual location. Using the Warp tool in Photoshop, I straightened the image and then exported it.Next, I imported it into Blender and began modeling the metal framework that separates the glass pieces. Once that was complete, I rendered the shape in orthographic view with a black background and a white emissive material applied to the metal. I then cleaned up the render in Photoshop and brought it into Substance 3D Designer, where I used it as a mask to create the final stained glass texture. Once my textures were ready, I used a pre-made master material from the Advanced Glass Material Pack, free on FAB, and customized it to suit the needs of my stained glass.For the normal edge decals, I improved my workflow compared to my previous project by sculpting four different corner variations. Once the sculpts were complete, I imported them separately and baked them in Substance 3D Painter to avoid halos on the edges of the bakes. This approach allowed me to skip any cleanup in Photoshop. I only used Photoshop to combine all the baked corners into a single normal texture, as shown below. Last but not least, I'm really happy with how this decal turned out in the project. When I saw it in the main reference, I immediately knew I wanted to include it in my environment.I imported the reference image into Photoshop, straightened it using the Warp tool, and used the Clone  Stamp and Content-Aware Fill to fix some damaged areas. Then, I took a screenshot of the wall in Unreal Engine with only the albedo visualization enabled, and used it in Photoshop as the base layer for the mural. I tweaked the blending modes to extract imperfections from the albedo texture and created a custom mask with brush strokes to blend the mural naturally into the wall. This is the result. CompositionWhen it comes to composition, my background in photography helped me a lot with setting up cameras. I defined a few key shots early on and added more as the environment progressed and came together. Since I was working on an indoor scene, I chose to use a wide-angle lens to capture more of the space, and also included a zoomed-in shot, like the one of the wheelchair, to create a stronger sense of depth.To support the composition, I scattered various details throughout the environment, such as debris, papers,  small pieces of glass, and other elements to enhance storytelling and realism.LightingFor the lighting, I used an add-on for Unreal Engine called Ultra Dynamic Sky to give the scene a natural base lighting pass. After that, I added Rectlights to emphasize certain areas of the environment, slightly tweaking their indirect lighting bounces.I also placed some ivy in front of the spotlights to fake subtle shadow patterns and add more visual interest. For color grading, I used a LUT. I first rendered a single frame and imported it into DaVinci Resolve, where I applied a LUT I liked. Once I was happy with the result, I copied the settings to the RGBTable16x1 texture, which starts with a neutral look by default. For the final render, I exported the project in EXR format using PIZ Multilayer compression, with Spatial Sample Count set to 1 and Temporal Sample Count set to 64. I also used a Warm Up Count of 120 for both the Render and Engine to ensure the exposure was correctly stabilized from the beginning of the render. Additionally, I applied several console variables to improve the final image quality. ConclusionAnd here we are at the end. This project was one of my portfolio pieces developed under the mentorship of Jeremy Cerisy, who helped me a lot with his feedback and really opened my mind to how to approach level and environment creation. It took me about three and a half months to complete.Even though I aimed to work more efficiently on this environment, I still lost a lot of time at the beginning, mainly because I wasn’t sure which workflow to use for texturing, what I needed to create from scratch, and what I could reuse across the scene. In the end, it became a learning-by-doing process, constantly planning and adapting as I added new techniques I was picking up along the way. One thing I really enjoyed was understanding the connection between level design and environment art, it's fascinating to create a space that not only looks good but also serves gameplay. I learned a lot from this project, but one of the most valuable lessons was this: don't waste too much time on tiny details players will never notice, instead, focus on the overall composition and visual impact, especially from the player's point of view.My advice to anyone starting out in environment art is to stay organized in every phase, especially when it comes to setting personal deadlines. Otherwise, there’s a real risk of dragging the project out much longer than necessary. As a junior artist, I know how tough the industry can feel, especially with all the layoffs in recent months, but don't lose faith. That moment when you get hired will come, as long as you keep putting in the effort and continue creating.Lastly, I want to thank my mentor, Jeremy Cerisy, for guiding me through this project with his invaluable feedback. A special thanks also goes to Alberto Casu, Alex Gallucci, and Andrea Siviero for their extra feedback during my spare time. And finally, thank you to everyone who made it this far and showed interest in my project!Leandro Grasso, 3D Environment ArtistInterview conducted by Emma Collins #designing #atmospheric #wwi #plane #crash

واش راكم يا الأصدقاء؟ 🥳 حبيت نشارك معاكم خبر مفرح! شركة Quick Custom Intelligence (QCI) قررت تمدد شراكتها كـ Title Sponsor لمؤتمرات Raving حتى عام 2026. 🤩 هذا القرار بعد النجاح الكبير لمؤتمرات العام 2025، كيما Raving NEXT و Casino Marketing Conference. كانت فعلاً فرصة زينة لنتعلم ونشارك أفكارنا في ميدان التكنولوجيا. شخصياً، أنا دايماً نحب نتابع كيفاش الذكاء الاصطناعي يساهم في تطوير الصناعة. نجم نقول بلي QCI راها دايماً في الصدارة وتخلي الجميع يلحقها! هذا النوع من الشراكات يفتح آفاق جديدة ويدفعنا نفكروا بطرق مبتكرة. في عالم سريع التغيير، لازم نكونوا ديما متواجدين ونتعلموا من بعضنا! https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2025/08/29/3141830/0/en/Quick-Custom-Intelligence-Extends-their-Title-Sponsorship-of-the-Raving-Conferences-into

يا جماعة، شفتوا هاد الخبر؟ 😳 جيل زيد (Gen Z) قاعد يقطع في التقاعد، يفرط في وجباته، ويبيع حاجاته فقط باش ينجو! المقال يقول بلي هاد الشباب، اللي معروفين بإنهم يصرفوا بزاف، اليوم قاعدين يختاروا بين الفطور أو موعد الطبيب فقط باش يخلصوا الكراء. يعني وضعهم ماشي سهل! أنا بصراحة نحس بالألم تاعهم، كل واحد فينا يمر بمشاكل مالية، لكن هاد الجيل يواجه تحديات أكبر. كيما يقولوا: "فلوس موش كل شيء"، لكن مع الأوضاع الحالية، كل حاجة صارت صعبة. خلينا نفكروا شوية في الوضع اللي راهو يعيشه هاد الجيل، ونكونوا حاضرين لدعمهم بقدر المستطاع. https://fortune.com/2025/08/29/gen-z-dipping-into-retirements-skipping-meals-and-selling-their-belongings-just-to-get-by-new-reports-reveals/ #جيل_زيد #المشاكل_ال

3D creator Sluda Builds unveiled this impressive recreation of a real-life Kowloon Walled City located in Hong Kong, made within Minecraft.The artist recreated dense urban environments of the city using the game's blocks, trying to capture the gritty aesthetics that the dangerous and overcrowded city had. In a time-lapse video, Sluda Builds showcased the entire creation process, explaining each step, including 3D modeling, topography, the making of buildings, floors, and stairs, facades, rooftops, surroundings, and other details.Have a closer look:Sluda Builds' profession is an architect, and the creator transferred it into the digital world by creating amazing projects in Minecraft:Also, check out another Minecraft-inspired project with voxel blocks mapped onto a spherical planet by 3D Artist Bowerbyte:Don't forget to join our 80 Level Talent platform and our new Discord server, follow us on Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, Telegram, TikTok, and Threads, where we share breakdowns, the latest news, awesome artworks, and more. #take #look #this #impressive #recreation

Path of Exile 2's next update The Third Edict is set to add a whole new act, region, and plenty of other new content to the game--but it's the new asynchronous trading system that really has players excited. Grinding Gear Games has shown off the system's new in-game market browser, just days out from the update drop.GGG explains in the video that the in-game trade browser wasn't quite ready to be shown off when the studio did its initial content drop for The Third Edict, but it's now ready to go. The in-game market browser works similarly to PoE 2's official trade website, allowing players to search for items they want in the player-to-player trade system. The new asynchronous trade system means the seller no longer has to be online for a trade to take place--buyers can now purchase it directly from the seller's Hideout. The seemingly simple feature brings a major quality-of-life improvement for PoE 2 players, simplifying what was previously a fairly involved, multi-step process into an easier task. The asynchronous trade system is set to come to the original Path of Exile in future too, provided its integration into PoE 2 goes smoothly.Continue Reading at GameSpot #new #path #exile #update #finally