Sunday, May 15, 2022

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'Zenless Zone Zero' is a new action RPG from the studio behind 'Genshin Impact'

Posted: 14 May 2022 01:11 PM PDT

Genshin Impact developer Hoyoverse is working on a new project. On Friday, the studio shared the first trailer for Zenless Zone Zero, an action RPG set in a modern urban setting. Reminiscent of titles like The World Ends With You and Scarlett Nexus, the game pits players against Ethereal, monstrous creatures borne from another dimension. In a nod to Neon Genesis Evangelion, the action takes place in New Eridu, one of the few cities to survive the devastation wrought by the Ethereal.

As a "Proxy," you'll need to organize a disparate party of characters to battle the monsters. Hoyoverse hasn't explicitly said how it plans to monetize Zenless Zone Zero, but it sounds like the game will employ a similar system to the one found in Genshin Impact. In other words, expect to use real-world money to improve your chances at obtaining some of the game's most powerful party members. Zenless Zone Zero does not have a release date yet, but you can sign up to take part in the game's closed iOS and PC beta by visiting its official website.

‘Stardew Valley’ has sold more than 20 million copies

Posted: 14 May 2022 11:48 AM PDT

Six years after its initial release, Stardew Valley has sold more than 20 million copies. Creator Eric Barone shared news of the accomplishment in an update posted to the game's press site and an interview with PC Gamer. "The 20 million copies milestone is really amazing," he told the outlet.

But what's even more impressive is the increasing pace of Stardew Valley's sales. It took four years for the game to sell its first 10 million copies. Since September 2021, it has sold 5 million units. "The average daily sales of Stardew Valley are higher today than at any point," Barone said. "I'm not exactly sure why that is. My hope is that the game is just continuing to spread via word of mouth, and the more people that are playing it, the more people will share the game with their friends."

Barone told PC Gamer he plans to continue working on Stardew Valley but is now primarily focused on Haunted Chocolatier, a new action RPG he announced last fall. "Ultimately I have to follow my heart or else the quality of the content will suffer," Barone said.

Twenty million copies sold is an impressive feat for any game, let alone one that a single person developed. Barone began working on Stardew Valley after graduating with a computer science degree from the University of Washington Tacoma. He found that he couldn't land a position in his field following the 2008 financial crisis, so he started developing the game to hone his craft. He then spent the next four years working on the project before finally releasing Stardew Valley at the start of 2016. Bloomberg journalist Jason Schreier documents the entire saga in his excellent 2017 book Blood, Sweat, and Pixels.

Proposed Ohio legislation would criminalize AirTag stalking

Posted: 14 May 2022 10:27 AM PDT

A group of bipartisan lawmakers in Ohio has introduced a bill to criminalize AirTag stalking. If passed by the state legislature, HB672 would "prohibit a person from knowingly installing a tracking device or application on another's property without the other person's consent."

Ohio lawmakers decided to tackle the growing problem of remote tracker stalking after 3News lobbied the government to take action. In February, the news station found a loophole in state law that allows those with no prior record of stalking or domestic violence to track someone without potential penalty. According to an investigation by the outlet, fewer than two dozen states have enacted laws against electronic tracking, Ohio being among the group that has not drafted specific legislation against the behavior.

A recent report from Motherboard suggested AirTag stalking isn't an issue limited to a few high-profile incidents. After the outlet requested any records mentioning AirTags from a dozen US police departments, it received 150 reports. Of those, 50 involved cases where women thought someone was secretly using the device to track them.

In February, Apple said it would implement additional safety features to prevent AirTag stalking. Later in the year, the company plans to add a precision finding feature that will allow those with iPhone 11, 12 and 13 series devices to find their way to an unknown AirTag. The tool will display the direction of and distance to an unwanted AirTag. Apple said it would also update its unwanted tracking alerts to notify people of potential stalkers earlier.

"AirTag was designed to help people locate their personal belongings, not to track people or another person's property, and we condemn in the strongest possible terms any malicious use of our products," the company said at the time. "We design our products to provide a great experience, but also with safety and privacy in mind. Across Apple's hardware, software, and services teams, we're committed to listening to feedback."

Netflix is developing livestreaming features

Posted: 14 May 2022 08:38 AM PDT

Netflix plans to livestream its upcoming slate of unscripted shows and comedy specials, according to Deadline. Netflix told the outlet it was in the early stages of developing the capability.

Deadline suggests the streaming giant could use the technology to hold live voting for competitive shows like the upcoming Dance 100 and air sets from its annual Netflix Is A Joke festival, among other use cases. The feature doesn't have a rollout date yet, with only a small team within the company reportedly in the "preliminary" stages of developing the tech. We've reached out to Netflix for comment.

Separately, The Wall Street Journal reported on Friday that the company recently updated its culture guidelines to add a new section titled "artistic expression." In short, the section tells potential employees they may be required to work on projects they may not align with their values.

"Not everyone will like — or agree with — everything on our service… and we let viewers decide what's appropriate for them, versus having Netflix censor specific artists or voices," the company states in the document. "Depending on your role, you may need to work on titles you perceive to be harmful. If you'd find it hard to support our content breadth, Netflix may not be the best place for you."

Netflix told The Journal it spent the past 18 months discussing cultural issues with employees. The company says it wrote the tweaked guidelines to help job seekers make more "informed decisions about whether Netflix is the right company for them."

The update comes after Netflix faced employee unrest over its latest comedy special from Dave Chappelle. Many at the company criticized the comedian and The Closer for being transphobic. Netflix's reaction to the incident, including the decision to fire a worker who allegedly shared sensitive information about the special, led to a worker walkout.
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