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The Steam Deck has proven itself as a popular bit of kit, with Valve confirming late in 2023 that they had sold “multiple millions” of the handheld device.
Developers have stepped up accordingly and “Steam Deck Verified” is a mark of honor many strive for.
Valve, creators of the Steam Deck and games marketplace platform Steam, have released a list of the 100 most played games on the Deck between March 2023 and March 2024. In this case, “most played” means the highest daily active player count. Grab them now during the Steam Spring Sale.
Top Ten most played Steam Deck games in the last year

Baldur’s Gate 3

Steam Deck Verified: Yes
Steam Sale: -10%, currently $53.99
This game hardly needs an introduction. It was voted Game of the Year in 2023 and continues to delight fans across the globe.

Vampire Survivors

Steam Deck Verified: Yes
Steam Sale: -20%, currently $3.99
An addictive bullet hell roguelike with one of the most replayable gameplay loops to emerge from the genre in years.

Dave The Diver

Steam Deck Verified: Yes
Steam Sale: -25%, currently $14.99
Run a sushi restaurant by diving for delicious fish, but don’t let the customers get too mad. Imagine Overcooked, but you can’t blame your friends when it all goes wrong.

Elden Ring

Steam Deck Verified: Yes
Steam Sale: No
FromSoft’s most epic adventure sees you battling your way through a massive landscape and over 160 bosses. Keep your eyes out for the upcoming DLC, Shadows of the Erdtree.

Palworld

Steam Deck Verified: Compatible
Steam Sale: -10%, currently $26.99
The smash-hit success of early 2024, adventure your way through Palworld collecting pals and creating whatever you can imagine. It’s still being updated with new content like raids.

Cyberpunk 2077

Steam Deck Verified: Yes
Steam Sale: -50%, currently $29.99
A true redemption arc, the 2.0 update saved this game from the scrap heap. Explore Night City and embark on epic quests, then check out the DLC, Phantom Liberty.

Grand Theft Auto V

Steam Deck Verified: Compatible
Steam Sale: -63%, currently $14.98
The most popular game in a franchise that has sold more copies than there are people in North America. Grab it now before Grand Theft Auto VI launches.

Stardew Valley

Steam Deck Verified: Yes
Steam Sale: -20%, currently $11.99
After being the internet’s darling for over eight years, ConcernedApe is still updating this all-time great, which recently broke over 30 million sales.

Red Dead Redemption 2

Steam Deck Verified: Compatible
Steam Sale: -67%, currently $19.79
Lose yourself in the epic tale of Arthur Morgan as you ride around in this Cowboy ’em up that defines its class in every way.

Hades

Steam Deck Compatible: Yes
Steam Sale: -50%, currently $12.49
An incredibly crafted roguelike with a story to rival many more traditional games, Hades is exceptional. Grab it now before the sequel comes out this year.

The post What are the most popular Steam Deck games? appeared first on ReadWrite.

Minecraft devs Mojang has urged players not to update their Minecraft games for fear of losing all their worlds in what is a pretty major big deal when you think some people have been creating their worlds, for like, oooh, ten years or so.
Mojang, who today also launched the Minecraft Marketplace monthly subscription, posted the following message on its official Mojang Status X account:
“Do not update Minecraft through the Xbox app on PC. If you do, your worlds may be lost. We recommend that you run the Gaming Services Repair Tool for PC before installing the Minecraft update.”
This is all well and good, as long as you actually see this post, which is on an ancillary account on X before pushing the update button in your Game Pass app and potentially crying yourself to sleep for the rest of your days.
A further post on the linked Microsoft support page states:
“Do not download the recent update for Minecraft through the Xbox app for PC.

Do not update Minecraft through the Xbox app on PC. If you do, your worlds may be lost. We recommend that you run the Gaming Services Repair Tool for PC before installing the Minecraft update. For more information, go here: https://t.co/9X1am8dzHG
— Mojang Status (@MojangStatus) March 15, 2024

If you do, your worlds may be lost. We recommend that you run the Gaming Services Repair Tool for PC in the Xbox app on PC before installing the Minecraft update. Using this tool updates the Gaming Services to version 19.87.13001.0, which will avoid the update error. Below are instructions on running the tool;

Launch the Xbox app on PC.
Click your Profile picture.
Click on Support.
Click on Gaming Services Repair Tool
Click on Start Troubleshooting.

For more information about this tool, see our support article here: Gaming Services Repair Tool for PC.
A further issue is that the Xbox App will probably try to automatically update the game for you, regardless of whether you are even in the building so this could be a blocky disaster.
There is no indication as yet as to what the problem is, but Minecraft is not the first game to suffer save game issues this year, with Baldur’s Gate 3 players also losing hours of gameplay due to save game corruption.
The post Stop! Step away from Minecraft. Do not update it by order of Mojang appeared first on ReadWrite.

The United States is set to award Samsung over $6 billion to expand the company’s presence in the country.
The Korean technology firm already has a burgeoning presence in Austin, Texas with projected plans for a new plant in Taylor to the tune of $17 million. The funding will be announced before the end of March and these awards will be drawn from the funding agreed in the 2022 Chips and Science Act.
What is the Chips and Science Act?
The act signed into law in August of 2022 was designed to boost the chip-making and semiconductor industry of America. Over $280 billion was allocated to boost U.S. competitiveness, innovation and national security over the next 10 years.
A total of $52.7 billion of this funding will be set aside for semiconductor manufacturing, R&D, and workforce development, with another $24 billion worth of tax credits for chip production on U.S. soil.
Despite being the world’s leading economy and the center of the global tech industry, the U.S. only produces 10% of its entire global supply of semiconductors. So the U.S. government has made it a priority to invest in companies that can produce them while creating jobs and contributing to local and national economy.
Samsung published a report last month detailing the company’s economic impact in the State of Texas to be $26.8 billion. The Austin and Taylor campuses supported 38,144 jobs in the area along with $1.7 billion in workers’ salaries
Greg Abbott, Governor of the State of Texas would said: “Texas is the No. 1 state for semiconductor manufacturing in the nation, thanks to partners like Samsung who contribute so much to our economy and communities in Central Texas and beyond.”
The Korean tech giant’s ties with the region go back to 1996, where “Samsung Austin Semiconductor has been an integral part of the Central Texas community by being drivers of job generation, economic impact and engagement within the community,” according to Jon Taylor, corporate vice president, Samsung Austin Semiconductor.
Samsung’s major rivals are Intel and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC), the world’s largest contract chipmaker. Both are set to receive investment from the U.S. Government in a bid to make the bulk of their chips in America, but the announcements have not been made official yet.
Last week, U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo delivered a speech Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS).
Raimondo reiterated the importance semiconductors will play in the future of U.S. technology: “We all know our modern world is powered by semiconductors. From windshield wipers to cell phones to pacemakers to rocket ships, chips are fundamental to every aspect of our lives and our economy.”
The Biden Administration last month announced that the National Semiconductor Technology Center (NSTC) would be backed by $5 billion in investment to natively research and develop more of the integral technology in America. This entity won’t be able to directly rival the corporate chipmakers operating in America, but it shows that there will be a public-private partnership presence in the research and development of U.S chips.
It remains to be seen which chipmaker will come out on top in the battle for the mantle of the biggest domestic producer of chips in the United States, but Intel, Samsung and TSMC are all in the frame to be heavily backed by the Chips Act for their investment in key states and their infrastructure.
Image: Samsung news.
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A new report has highlighted all the different ways artificial intelligence is revolutionizing the oil industry
For offshore drillers like Nabors Industry Ltd, artificial intelligence (AI) is transformative. AI from Houston-based software developers Corva LLC is able to autonomously control a drilling rig, which helps to increase drilling speed by at least 30% while also significantly reducing the volume of commands needed to operate the rig.  
“This is all automated — the driller doesn’t have to press anything,” Rafael Guedes, the company’s director of performance tools, told Bloomberg. “Now you can use your brain power for something else.”
According to the outlet, companies like Nabors Industries Ltd, which are utilizing AI in order to become more efficient, save between 25 and 50% on costs.
Bloomberg report that AI is also being tested in offshore oil fields, with companies like SLB reporting significant time savings. Jesus Lamas, president of SLB’s well construction unit, told Bloomberg that in the next 3-5 years, all their wells will be autonomously controlled by AI.“We need to do something different,” Lamas said. “We need to lower the cost of a barrel, we need to increase efficiency and we need to decrease the CO2 emissions per barrel.”
‘A lean operator’
 Another company that spoke to Bloomberg is Hilcorp Energy Co, a private oil and gas producer based in the US. Machine learning is utilized at this company by predicting equipment failures before they happen, which in turn prevents company downtime. The company estimates that it can prevent approximately half a billion cubic feet of gas production from going off the line by using machine learning to predict equipment failures.
“We always want to be a lean operator,” Lisa Helper, a geologist, said at a company conference quoted by Bloomberg. “Utilizing AI and machine learning in the field, in the office, then eventually through subsurface analysis has enabled us to keep a very tight, optimal workforce.”
Featured Image: Photo by Jan-Rune Smenes Reite via Pexels
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As fans get stuck into Genshin Impact’s 4.5 release across the world, leaks have revealed more details about the hotly anticipated five-star character Arlecchino, known as The Knave. Reliable sources have shown off her splash art and her weapon.

ARLECCHINO SPLASH ART — GENSHIN IMPACT
Via Dimbreath#Genshinlmpact #原神 #Genshin pic.twitter.com/MXQGLLG2UC
— K O V A K (@KdeKovaK) March 13, 2024

Arlecchino is a Fatui Harbinger, the fourth of eleven, and initially appeared in a trailer that showcased eight of these mysterious characters. She has also been a part of the Fontaine storyline, leaving fans wanting more.
The leaks, which have been shared by reliable sources, come from the Genshin Impact 4.6 beta testing server. The splash art is eye-catching, with its black, red, and white color scheme. Arlecchino stands atop the “Ancient Mountain of Doom” and sports a single red wing.

Equally as exciting is the reveal that Arlecchino’s signature spear weapon transforms into a scythe as she uses it. The attack, named “Crimson Monn’s Semblance” has been shown by other leaks to have a very high attack value, making Arlecchino a valuable DPS character.
The new leaks have added to the hype though, and people can’t wait to add Arlecchino to their rosters. Her weapon’s sub-stat is CRIT rate, a huge boon for damage-dealing characters. It also grants a Bond of Life effect of 25% max hit points whenever a charged attack lands. This prevents opponents from healing mid-fight. The cherry on the cake is that having an active Bond of Life grants a damage bonus to Arlecchino.
When will Arlecchino be released?
While there is no firm release yet for when players can get their hands on Arlecchino, it has been confirmed by HoYoverse that she will release with Version 4.6, the next major patch due for the game. Genshin Impact has a tendency to follow a 6-week release cycle, and if that continues to hold true, Arlecchino might be available on April 24. 
Naturally, all information gained from leaks, no matter how reliable, should be taken with a pinch of salt. All this information is subject to change as HoYoverse gathers information from the 4.6 beta testing server.
Image credits: HoYoverse
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