NFT fantasy sports startup Sorare lays off 13% of staff, as web3 gaming continues to sputter

Web3-enabled fantasy sports platform Sorare laid off 22 employees based in its New York office in February. The move comes as the startup wants certain teams to be concentrated at the company’s Paris headquarters to improve communication and efficiency, a source familiar with the matter told TechCrunch. “As we plan for our next stage of […]
© 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.

Posted in Tech | Tagged | Comments Off on NFT fantasy sports startup Sorare lays off 13% of staff, as web3 gaming continues to sputter

SEC adopts climate disclosure rules, giving carbon accounting startups firm footing

The financial regulator won’t require publicly traded companies to report indirect emissions, but the rules help the U.S. catch up with its peers.
© 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.

Posted in Tech | Tagged | Comments Off on SEC adopts climate disclosure rules, giving carbon accounting startups firm footing

Google adds new developer fees as part of the Play Store’s DMA compliance plan

Google today is sharing more details about the fees that will accompany its plan to comply with Europe’s new Digital Markets Act (DMA), the new regulation aimed at increasing competition across the app store ecosystem. While Google yesterday pointed to ways it already complied with the DMA — by allowing sideloading of apps, for example […]
© 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.

Posted in Tech | Tagged | Comments Off on Google adds new developer fees as part of the Play Store’s DMA compliance plan

Sling TV now lets customers play free arcade games while watching live TV content

DISH-owned streaming service Sling TV announced today the launch of its new gaming platform called “Arcade,” featuring classic arcade games like Tetris, Wheel of Fortune, Sweet Sugar, Solitaire Clash, Poker Online, and Doodle Jump, among others. Notably, the experience is free for Sling TV and Sling Freestream customers, and they can play games while simultaneously […]
© 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.

Posted in Tech | Tagged | Comments Off on Sling TV now lets customers play free arcade games while watching live TV content

Rise of the Ronin – How to pre-load on PS5 a week early

If you have been frantically wondering what you are going to delete from your PS5 to accommodate the 100 GB + Rise of the Ronin needs when it arrives in a few weeks time, you should at least be happy to hear that you won’t need to download the massive file at the same time as everybody else when the game launches.
That’s right, Sony will open up pre-loads for the game seven days before Rise of the Ronin comes out on 22nd March.
How big is Rise of the Ronin download?
PlayStation Game Size on X posted that the download size for Rise of the Ronin will be around the 96GB mark. This could be the US version which will likely be smaller than any versions that might need to have multiple languages packaged with it.
It also will not include the likely Day One patch that will inevitably be present but by downloading it in advance, at least you will only need to deal with the patch.

Rise of the Ronin
– 𝐃𝐨𝐰𝐧𝐥𝐨𝐚𝐝 𝐒𝐢𝐳𝐞 : 96.343 GB– 𝐕𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 : 1.001.001
– 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗮𝗿𝗱 𝗘𝗱𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 ($𝟲𝟵.𝟵𝟵):Pre-Load : March 15 – Midnight Release : March 22 – Midnight #rotr #PS5 pic.twitter.com/kKUMT7pyvg
— PlayStation Game Size (@PlaystationSize) March 5, 2024

When can you pre-load Rise of the Ronin?
You will have a seven-day window to get the game installed ahead of the rush on your PS5, and we would always advise you to do so if possible as launch time will see the servers stretched, and at the very least, slower than they will be in the run-up as everybody else will be downloading it.
You will be able to pre-load the game from midnight in your region on 15th March before it launches, once again at midnight in your region on 22nd March. Simply head to the PlayStation Store, find the game, and pre-load it from there.
We haven’t seen any reviews yet, but the embargo lifts a day before the game comes out, so you could still have time to not buy until you see a review, like what you hear, pre-purchase and download it, all before it’s actual release on midnight.
The post Rise of the Ronin – How to pre-load on PS5 a week early appeared first on ReadWrite.

Posted in Tech | Tagged | Comments Off on Rise of the Ronin – How to pre-load on PS5 a week early

Headspace bring wellness app to Meta Quest 3

The guided meditation and mindfulness app, Headspace, has been launched on the Meta Quest platform today and is available to those with Meta Quest 2,3, and Pro.
Described as being a ‘playground for your mind,’ the wellness app has been adapted for Meta and it now incorporates both fully immersive VR and mixed reality experiences that are said to blend the physical and digital worlds.
In a release published on the Meta Quest blog today (Wednesday, March 6) the Headspace Vice President of Content Creation Sara Cohen explains more about what people can expect: 
“People can expect a fully immersive world that they can escape to, either alone or with friends, to really be able to check in with how they’re feeling, how their friends are feeling, and engage in experiences that are completely customized to meet them exactly in those feelings, exactly where they are in that moment.

“All the experiences are designed to help people feel more energized, to help them focus, to help them wind down or relax.”
The company was first announced to partner with Meta at the two-day virtual event Meta Connect which was held on September 27, 2023, in Menlo Park, California.
The relationship with VR company Nexus Studios was then brought on from an idea by Meta Platforms Inc as they wanted Headspace to push the idea further for the headset.
The five pillars of the Headspace app will continue through to the Meta Quest addition, with these being to meditate, move, eat, sleep, and play.
Upcoming additions to Meta Quest
Numerous apps coming to Meta Quest in the coming months. In March, users can download ‘Humanity’ and ‘Medieval Dynasty New Settlement.’
The likes of ‘Zero Caliber 2,’ ‘Zombie Army VR,’ ‘Taskmaster VR,’ and ‘Metro Awakening’ will be available later this year, alongside others.
As more apps and experiences are released, there’s hope this will continue to drive sales. The vision behind the Quest 3, Meta Reality Labs, had its highest-ever quarterly revenue in Q4 of last year. UploadVR states that Meta reported $1.07 billion in quarterly revenue for Reality Labs.
Featured Image: Photo by Mediamodifier on Unsplash
The post Headspace bring wellness app to Meta Quest 3 appeared first on ReadWrite.

Posted in Tech | Tagged | Comments Off on Headspace bring wellness app to Meta Quest 3

OpenAI hit back at Elon Musk lawsuit with leaked emails

After a lawsuit was announced last Friday (March. 1) from Elon Musk, the people behind OpenAI have shared what they claim to be historical email correspondence between them and the Tesla chief executive as they say they’re aiming to ‘dismiss all of Elon’s claims.’
Elon Musk is suing OpenAI, its CEO Sam Altman, co-founder Greg Brockman, as well as others, as he accuses them of violating contractual commitments established during the company’s inception when he helped to found the company in 2015.
The lawsuit contends the Microsoft-backed AI company’s shift towards profit-oriented objectives goes against the original agreement.
Today (Mar.6) OpenAI took to X to share their latest blog post highlighting information about their side of the story and their opinion on the suit.
In the release, they expand on three specific points. These include:

We realized building AGI will require far more resources than we’d initially imagined

We and Elon recognized a for-profit entity would be necessary to acquire those resources

We advance our mission by building widely-available beneficial tools

The authors behind the blog, which includes CEO Sam Altman, go on to say: “We’re sad that it’s come to this with someone whom we’ve deeply admired – someone who inspired us to aim higher, then told us we would fail, started a competitor, and then sued us when we started making meaningful progress towards OpenAI’s mission without him.
“We are focused on advancing our mission and have a long way to go. As we continue to make our tools better and better, we are excited to deploy these systems so they empower every individual.”
In response, Elon Musk replied via X simply telling OpenAI to “change your name”. He also responded with a laughing face emoji to a post from user @realSharonZhou who said ‘more accurate to rename OpenAI to OpenEmail.’

Change your name
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 6, 2024

The emails between OpenAI and Elon Musk
The email chain shared from OpenAI dates back to 2015, when the company was first founded. Elon Musk helped to cofound OpenAI, but later stepped away in 2018. OpenAI has published emails from the South African-born billionaire in an attempt to knock down his claims the company has strayed from its founding mission to serve as a non-profit check on the threats of generative AI.
In the first email which is said to be from the billionaire entrepreneur, it says ‘We need to go with a much bigger number than $100M to avoid sounding hopeless…’ The content in the email goes on to explain a ‘$1bn funding commitment’ may be more appropriate.
When looking at the next step for OpenAI, the details in the blog say ‘Elon wanted majority equity, initial board control, and to be CEO. In the middle of these discussions, he withheld funding.’
The blog post continues to read: ‘We couldn’t agree to terms on a for-profit with Elon because we felt it was against the mission…’
In an email shared by OpenAI, apparently from Elon Musk, he says OpenAI should ‘attach to Tesla as its cash cow.’
In one of the last emails to be made public, cofounder Ilya Sutskever explains further about the tool. In the blog, the authors say ‘Elon understood the mission did not imply open-sourcing AGI.’ They later shared that Elon allegedly responded with ‘Yup.’
The alleged emails between OpenAI and ElonMusk
Featured image: Midjourney
The post OpenAI hit back at Elon Musk lawsuit with leaked emails appeared first on ReadWrite.

Posted in Tech | Tagged | Comments Off on OpenAI hit back at Elon Musk lawsuit with leaked emails

Gambling giant 888 to quit the US market

In a time when the US is experiencing a sports betting boom, the gambling giant 888 has announced they’re set to be leaving the market.
In an update from this morning (Mar. 6) on the London Stock Exchange, the firm has announced a ‘strategic review of its US B2C operations.’
Currently, 888 is active in four states, with SI Sportsbook and SI Casino in Michigan, SI Sportsbook in Colorado and Virginia, and 888casino in New Jersey.
The company has seen huge success in the UK and other countries like Israel, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Italy, and more, with 888 Holdings plc owning brands such as 888casino, 888poker, Mr Green, 888sport, and William Hill.
The international sports betting company goes on to explain the reasonings behind taking a thorough look at their US arm: “The gross profit margin in the US is lower than the group level, reflecting significant direct costs of operating in the market including duties, market access fees, and license fees, in addition to intense competition from well-capitalized incumbent participants.”
As they go forward, they’ll be looking at all ‘potential alternatives that can deliver value for the business,’ which could include the sale of the Group’s US B2C business, the controlled exit of US B2C operations, or other possible strategic transactions.
CEO of 888, Per Widerström said: “…we have concluded that achieving sufficient scale in the US market to generate positive returns within an accelerated timeframe is unlikely.”
US sports betting boom continues
Online betting has been on the rise in the US since the 1992 ban on sports betting was overturned in 2018. Before this, anyone who wanted to bet on sports legally had to travel to casinos in Nevada or three other states which were exempt from the ban.
Now, punters can legally take part in some form of sports betting in 38 states and you can do so online in 25 jurisdictions.
Since betting was legalized, Americans have gambled more than $245bn. In 2022, over 25 million people engaged in sports betting in the US, with the figure forecast to increase by 47 percent by 2025.
Featured Image: Via Ideogram.ai
The post Gambling giant 888 to quit the US market appeared first on ReadWrite.

Posted in Tech | Tagged | Comments Off on Gambling giant 888 to quit the US market

Helldivers 2: Players will have to dodge fire tornadoes and meteors in new patch

Helldivers 2 players will have to combat the elements as well as the bugs plaguing the galaxy in a new balance patch.
Arrowhead Studios, the developer of the critically acclaimed co-operative shooter has been victim of their own success after a series of server issues hit the title early into its launch phase. Fans of the gun-toting title have been patiently waiting for more information and the Helldiver’s Devs have again come in clutch with another fix to the game.

Support incoming! We have issued a patch for PC players (PS5 patch is coming soon) that introduces planetary hazards, balancing updates, and more!
Read more here: https://t.co/YziLfoXl8d pic.twitter.com/8qnZBdI49q
— HELLDIVERS 2 (@helldivers2) March 6, 2024

Helldivers patch notes highlights
Helldivers has been a resounding success for Arrowhead and Sony. So much so that the game became the Japanese console maker’s biggest-ever launch on Steam. The studio has also faced an early challenge with impersonators pretending to be the acclaimed title with copy-cat listings, as we reported earlier this month.
This new patch that will be incoming for PC gamers initially, with PlayStation set to follow, will add an additional elemental foe to contest with as the bullets fly.
The patch notes state that this major update sees “Planetary Hazards active. Many planets now have additional environmental challenges that will appear at random while you are deployed, from fire tornadoes to meteor showers and many more.”
The bulk of the patch takes on the process of balancing the game after a hectic launch period that no doubt gave Arrowhead a ton of collated data to process. With over 458,709 players at the game’s all-time peak according to Steambd, this is a lot of information to sift through.
Most games have a period of stabilization introduced in the form of patches that drop throughout the title’s lifecycle. This first one from Arrowhead brings changes to some of the missions and how they are completed.
One of the tweaks sees Eradicate Missions now being a longer process to conquer with the studio saying these mission types “now require more kills and enemies spawn more often. The time to complete the mission was previously shorter than intended and should now usually take twice as long to complete.”
Other changes announced in the patch take on the Primary, Secondary, & Support Weapons, stratagems, and the issues and fixes the studio has put into place.
The full notes of the recently announced patch are here, but we will be watching for incoming support from Arrowhead Studios as Helldivers 2 continues to thrive in its co-op chaos.
Image: Sony blog
The post Helldivers 2: Players will have to dodge fire tornadoes and meteors in new patch appeared first on ReadWrite.

Posted in Tech | Tagged | Comments Off on Helldivers 2: Players will have to dodge fire tornadoes and meteors in new patch

Meta Abandons Hacking Victims, Draining Law Enforcement Resources, Officials Say

A coalition of 41 state attorneys general says Meta is failing to assist Facebook and Instagram users whose accounts have been hacked—and they want the company to take “immediate action.”

Posted in Business | Tagged | Comments Off on Meta Abandons Hacking Victims, Draining Law Enforcement Resources, Officials Say