Baldur’s Gate III took home the top honour at The Game Awards 2023, held early Friday in Los Angeles, besting its lead competitor Alan Wake II. The Dungeons & Dragons-based sprawling RPG, which was strongly revered by both fans and critics alike, bagged six trophies, including Best Community Support and Best Performance. The latter was collected by Neil Newbon, who played Astarion, the silver-haired vampire spawn, holding our attention with his melodramatic persona and the occasional high-pitched screeches. Meanwhile, Remedy’s Alan Wake 2 won four awards across some of the most important categories, with co-directors Sam Lake and Kyle Rowley emerging as the best game directors of the year, alongside a writing/ narrative nod.

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, which orchestrated most of the gaming craze in early 2023, only won one award — for Best Action/ Adventure Game. Cyberpunk 2077, which saw a resurgence lately, with update 2.0 and its Phantom Liberty expansion, was crowned the Best Ongoing Game, for its commitment to fixing and essentially breathing new life into a title that drastically failed at launch. The indie game slot was a subject of controversy for its inclusion of the Nexon-owned Dave the Diver, though there’s no more room for outrage since another cutesy pixelated game Sea of Stars emerged victorious. The cast of the upcoming Fallout series also made an appearance on stage to present the award for Best Adaptation, which HBO’s The Last of Us series won — no surprise there.

Baldur’s Gate 3 Review

In addition to The Game Awards jury-voted winners, there was a Players’ Voice bracket, which as the name suggests, is completely governed by fan voting. Baldur’s Gate 3 was also a victor in that, beating out Genshin Impact, whose fanbase was called out last year for botting to skew the results in their favour.

With that, here’s the entire list of winners from The Game Awards 2023:

The Game Awards 2023 winners — the full list

Game of the Year

Baldur’s Gate 3 (Larian Studios) — WINNER
Alan Wake II (Remedy Entertainment/Epic Games Publishing)
Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 (Insomniac Games/SIE)
Resident Evil 4 remake (Capcom)
Super Mario Bros. Wonder (Nintendo EPD/Nintendo)
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (Nintendo EPD/Nintendo)

Best Game Direction

Alan Wake II — WINNER
Baldur’s Gate 3
Marvel’s Spider-Man 2
Super Mario Bros. Wonder
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom

Best Narrative

Alan Wake II — WINNER
Baldur’s Gate 3
Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty (CD Projekt Red)
Final Fantasy XVI (Square Enix)
Marvel’s Spider-Man 2

Best Art Direction

Alan Wake 2 — WINNER
Hi-Fi Rush (Tango Gameworks/Bethesda Softworks)
Lies of P (Round8 Studio/Neowiz Games)
Super Mario Bros. Wonder
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom

Best Score and Music

Masayoshi Soken, Final Fantasy XVI — WINNER
Petri Alanko, Alan Wake 2
Borislav Slavov, Baldur’s Gate 3
Shuichi Kobori, Hi-Fi Rush
Nintendo Sound Team, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom

Best Adaptation

The Last of Us (PlayStation Productions/HBO) — WINNER
Castlevania: Nocturne (Powerhouse Animation/Netflix)
Gran Turismo (PlayStation Productions/Sony Pictures)
The Super Mario Bros. Movie (Illumination/Nintendo/Universal Pictures)
Twisted Metal (PlayStation Productions/Peacock)

The Last of Us Season 1 Review

Best Audio Design

Hi-Fi Rush — WINNER
Alan Wake 2
Dead Space (Motive Studio/EA)
Marvel’s Spider-Man 2
Resident Evil 4

Best Performance

Neil Newbon, Baldur’s Gate 3 — WINNER
Ben Starr, Final Fantasy XVI
Cameron Monaghan, Star Wars Jedi: Survivor
Idris Elba, Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty
Melanie Liburd, Alan Wake 2
Yuri Lowenthal, Marvel’s Spider-Man 2

The Game Awards 2023: The Biggest Announcements

Innovation in Accessibility

Forza Motorsport (Turn 10 Studios/Xbox Game Studios) — WINNER
Diablo IV (Blizzard Entertainment)
Hi-Fi Rush
Marvel’s Spider-Man 2
Mortal Kombat 1 (NetherRealm Studios/WB Games)
Street Fighter 6 (Capcom)

Best Ongoing Game

Cyberpunk 2077 — WINNER
Final Fantasy XIV
Apex Legends (Respawn Entertainment/EA)
Fortnite (Epic Games)
Genshin Impact (HoYoverse)

Games for Impact

Tchia (Awaceb/Kepler Interactive) — WINNER
A Space for the Unbound (Mojiken Studio/Toge Productions/Chorus)
Chants of Sennaar (Rundisc/Focus Entertainment)
Goodbye Volcano High (KO_OP)
Terra Nil (Free Lives/Devolver Digital/Netflix)
Venba (Visai Games)

Baldur’s Gate 3 — WINNER
Cyberpunk 2077
Destiny 2 (Bungie)
Final Fantasy XIV
No Man’s Sky (Hello Games)

Best Independent Game

Sea of Stars (Sabotage Studio) — WINNER
Cocoon (Geometric Interactive/Annapurna Interactive)
Dave the Diver (MINTROCKET)
Dredge (Black Salt Games/Team 17)
Viewfinder (Sad Owl Studios/Thunderful Publishing)

Best Debut Indie Game

Cocoon — WINNER
Dredge
Pizza Tower (Tour de Pizza)
Venba
Viewfinder

Best Mobile Game

Honkai: Star Rail — WINNER
Final Fantasy VII: Ever Crisis (Applibot/Square Enix)
Hello Kitty Island Adventure (Sunblink Entertainment)
Monster Hunter Now (Niantic/Capcom)
Terra Nil

Best VR/AR Game

Resident Evil Village VR Mode (Capcom) — WINNER
Gran Turismo 7 (Polyphony Digital/SIE)
Humanity (tha LTD/Enhance Games)
Horizon Call of the Mountain (Guerrilla Games/Firesprite/SIE)
Synapse (nDreams)

Best Action Game

Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon (FromSoftware/Bandai Namco) — WINNER
Dead Island 2 (Dambuster Studios/Deep Silver)
Ghostrunner 2 (One More Level/505 Games)
Hi-Fi Rush
Remnant 2 (Gunfire Games/Gearbox Publishing)

Best Action/Adventure Game

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom — WINNER
Alan Wake 2
Marvel’s Spider-Man 2
Resident Evil 4
Star Wars Jedi: Survivor

Resident Evil 4 Remake Review

Best RPG

Baldur’s Gate 3 — WINNER
Final Fantasy XVI
Lies of P
Sea of Stars
Starfield (Bethesda Game Studios/Bethesda Softworks)

Best Fighting Game

Street Fighter 6 — WINNER
God of Rock (Modus Studios Brazil/Modus Games)
Mortal Kombat 1
Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl 2 (Ludosity/Fair Play Labs/GameMill Entertainment)
Pocket Bravery (Statera Studio/PQube)

Best Family Game

Super Mario Bros. Wonder — WINNER
Disney Illusion Island (Dlala Studios/Disney)
Party Animals (Recreate Games)
Pikmin 4 (Nintendo EPD/Nintendo)
Sonic Superstars (Arzest/Sonic Team/Sega)

Best Sim/Strategy Game

Pikmin 4 — WINNER
Advance Wars 1+2: Re-Boot Camp (WayForward/Nintendo)
Cities: Skylines II (Colossal Order/Paradox Interactive)
Company of Heroes 3 (Relic Entertainment/Sega)
Fire Emblem Engage (Intelligent Systems/Nintendo)

Best Sports/Racing

Forza Motorsport — WINNER
EA Sports FC 24 (EA Vancouver/EA Romania/EA Sports)
F1 23 (Codemasters/EA Sports)
Hot Wheels Unleashed 2: Turbocharged (Milestone)
The Crew Motorfest (Ubisoft Ivory Tower/Ubisoft)

Best Multiplayer

Baldur’s Gate 3 — WINNER
Diablo IV
Party Animals
Street Fighter 6
Super Mario Bros. Wonder

Most Anticipated Game

Final Fantasy VII Rebirth (Square Enix) — WINNER
Hades II (Supergiant Games)
Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth (Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio/Sega)
Star Wars Outlaws (Massive Entertainment/Ubisoft)
Tekken 8 (Bandai Namco/Arika)

Content Creator of the Year

IronMouse — WINNER
PeopleMakeGames
Quackity
Spreen
SypherPK

Best Esports Game

Valorant (Riot Games) — WINNER
Counter-Strike 2 (Valve)
Dota 2 (Valve)
League of Legends (Riot Games)
PUBG Mobile (LightSpeed Studios/Tencent Games)

Best Esports Athlete

Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok (League of Legends) — WINNER
Mathieu “ZywOo” Herbaut (CS:GO)
Max “Demon1” Mazanov (Valorant)
Paco “HyDra” Rusiewiez (Call of Duty)
Park “Ruler” Jae-hyuk (League of Legends)
Phillip ”ImperialHal” Dosen (Apex Legends)

Best Esports Team

JD Gaming (League of Legends) — WINNER
Evil Geniuses (Valorant)
Fnatic (Valorant)
Gaimin Gladiators (Dota 2)
Team Vitality (Counter-Strike)

Best Esports Coach

Christine “potter” Chi (Evil Geniuses – Valorant) — WINNER
Danny “zonic” Sorensen (Team Falcons – Counter-Strike)
Jordan “Gunba” Graham (Florida Mayhem – Overwatch)
Remy “XTQZZZ” Quoniam (Team Vitality – Counter-Strike)
Yoon “Homme” Sung-young (JD Gaming – League of Legends)

Best Esports Event

2023 League of Legends World Championship — WINNER
Blast.tv Paris Major 2023
EVO 2023
The International Dota 2 Championships 2023
VALORANT Champions 2023

Players’ Voice

Baldur’s Gate 3 — WINNER
Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Libery
Genshin Impact
Spider-Man 2
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom

Oppo Find X8 Mini might be launched by the Chinese smartphone maker soon, according to details shared by a tipster. The company recently launched the Oppo Find X8 and Find X8 Pro in China, and it is expected to announce a new Find X8 Ultra model as part of the series. However, it looks like Oppo might also be preparing a fourth model in the lineup that could compete with Vivo’s X200 Pro Mini smartphone that was launched in China last month.

Oppo Find X8 Mini Tipped to Debut Alongside Flagship Find X8 Ultra Model

Tipster Digital Chat Station (translated from Chinese) states in a post on Weibo, the Chinese microblogging platform, that Oppo is working on a new smartphone that could arrive alongside the Oppo Find X8 Ultra, which is expected to launch in the coming months. The tipster suggests that this handset could be the purported Oppo Find X8 Mini.

Photo Credit: Weibo/ Digital Chat Station

It’s worth noting that Oppo hasn’t revealed any details about the Oppo Find X8 Ultra or the rumoured Find X8 Mini, and the tipster hasn’t cited any sources for their claim. However, if this fourth model were to debut in the Find X8 series, it would compete with the Vivo X200 Pro Mini, which was launched on October .

Vivo’s smallest model in the X200 Pro series is equipped with a MediaTek Dimensity 9400 chip, paired with up to 16GB of RAM. It sports a 6.3-inch LTPO AMOLED screen with a 120Hz refresh rate. The is equipped with three 50-megapixel (primary, ultrawide, and periscope telephoto) cameras, as well as a 32-megapixel selfie camera.

You get up to 1TB of storage on the Vivo X200 Pro Mini, which is equipped with a 5,700mAh battery that supports 90W (wired) and 30W (wireless) charging. It has an in-display fingerprint scanner and runs on Android 15, with the company’s OriginOS 5 skin running on top.

Asus, like several other original equipment manufacturers, has its eyes firmly set on India. The Taiwanese firm has made inroads in the Indian PC market, traditionally dominated by HP, Dell, and Lenovo, and has climbed up to the second spot in the consumer segment in the country. While it is early days for the company here, with its local manufacturing effort in its first year, Asus’ plans for India, which boasts a lucrative and growing personal computer market, remain ambitious.

“Right now, it’s just at the starting point,” said Peter Chang, General Manager for the APAC region at Asus. Chang spoke to Gadgets 360 at the sidelines of Computex Taipei, held between June 4 and June 7, discussing the company’s road ahead in India, its local manufacturing plans, and more.

On the back of the Indian government’s revamped production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme promising an outlay of Rs. 17,000 crore for IT hardware, Asus set up a new manufacturing unit in Chennai last year. It’s only been a few months since the plant went into operation, but Asus aims to ramp up local production in the coming years. Chang said the company was still in the learning stage, and its manufacturing targets in India depended on the results of the first few years.

“We are open, but to set up a clear target also depends on how it goes in the first year and the second year. So, for the first year, I think right now our targets are around 10 percent,” Chang said. “Then, year by year, we will increase. We will go step-by-step to evaluate this. That’s why I say we are still new to it,” he added.

The traditional PC market, comprising desktops, notebooks, and workstations, continues to show potential in India, growing 2.6 percent YoY in the first quarter of 2024, according to data from IDC. The consumer PC segment, where Asus is the second largest player in the country, showed YoY growth (4.4 percent) for the third consecutive quarter. Technology market analyst Canalysis estimates that the commercial and consumer PC market in India will grow at a rate of 14 percent YoY this year. Chang said that the PC market size in India was bigger now but not yet at the scale where it could “sustain the whole ecosystem.”

“For example, with smartphones, (the market) right now in India has already become very mature. The market size is mature enough to sustain the whole ecosystem,” Chang said, adding that the laptop market needed to follow the same trajectory. “Once you are big enough, you have enough scale, then it could be a win-win situation for the industry and the end user.

“I think this is a key criterion for the PC local manufacturer to be successful. So, for Asus, since we have a very ambitious plan for India, it is critical to provide the solution locally to the end user,” Chang said. According to him, Asus’ plans in India hinged on the balance between fulfilling the government’s criteria and its own ambition.

The first part of that, however, is not easy. India’s policy landscape for tech firms and original equipment manufacturers comes with unique hurdles. It can also be unpredictable. Last year in August, in an apparent bid to boost local manufacturing, the government said it would impose licensing requirements on imports of laptops, PCs and tablets. The import restrictions, however, were pushed back after backlash from the PC industry and criticism from the US. They were eventually reversed in October in favour of a new system that could track PC shipments without adversely affecting market supply.

Asus is still learning how to navigate and “manage” such policy challenges in India. “One good thing is that the government already shared the rule with us in advance, so at least we got to know it,” Chang said, speaking about the import restrictions. “It’s still at the initial stage, we are yet to finish the first year. So, we see that to set up local manufacturing, the production facility, electricity, import order, key components and importing all the equipment and then also to mass produce smoothly with good quality control — all these things will change the pace of how fast we can do the investment and fit the (government’s) criteria,” he added.

Disclosure: Asus sponsored the correspondent’s flights and hotel for the event in Taipei.

A recent NASA-funded study has observed findings about the molecular processes that might have shaped the origins of life on Earth. Research published in Nature Communications suggests that ribonucleic acid (RNA), a molecule believed to have predated DNA, exhibits no inherent bias in producing the left- or right-handed versions of amino acids. This challenges long-standing assumptions about why life predominantly uses left-handed amino acids in its proteins, a phenomenon known as homochirality.

The Enigma of Molecular Handedness

Amino acids, the essential building blocks of proteins, exist in two mirror-image forms: left-handed and right-handed. Life on Earth exclusively relies on the left-handed variety, though there is no apparent reason right-handed amino acids would not function similarly. This phenomenon has baffled scientists, as it appears to reflect a fundamental aspect of biology. The current study, led by Irene Chen, Professor at the UCLA Samueli School of Engineering, tested ribozymes—RNA molecules capable of acting like enzymes under early-Earth conditions. The results indicated that ribozymes could favour either handedness, undermining the notion that RNA inherently favoured the left-handed type.

Implications for Life’s Early Evolution

The research involved simulating primitive Earth conditions, where ribozymes were exposed to amino acid precursors. In 15 tested combinations, no consistent bias towards left-handed amino acids was observed. This discovery suggests that homochirality may have emerged through evolutionary processes rather than as a result of RNA’s chemical preferences. Co-author Alberto Vázquez-Salazar, a UCLA postdoctoral scholar, noted that these findings imply that life’s molecular handedness likely arose later in its development.

Future Research on Life’s Molecular Origins

Jason Dworkin, Senior Scientist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, emphasised that understanding life’s molecular properties informs the search for extraterrestrial life. Current analysis of samples from asteroid Bennu, brought back by NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission, includes studying amino acid handedness. Such investigations may uncover further clues about the origin of homochirality and its role in life’s development.

The research was funded by NASA, the Simons Foundation, and the National Science Foundation, contributing valuable insights into one of life’s most profound mysteries.

(Disclaimer: New Delhi Television is a subsidiary of AMG Media Networks Limited, an Adani Group Company.)

The Game Awards 2023 wrapped earlier today, marking an epic conclusion to this year’s video game season and celebrating the best games released in the past year. The lengthy ceremony was once again hosted by Geoff Keighley, live from Los Angeles, with Baldur’s Gate 3 taking home the coveted Game of the Year award. As usual, there were a few exciting new announcements, and while some expectations were crushed, there’s still a bunch to look forward to. Standout reveals this year include a collaboration between Hideo Kojima and filmmaker Jordan Peele, a free DLC for God of War Ragnarök, yet another Skull and Bones release date, and more surprises.

The Game Awards 2023 Winners: The Full List

Without further ado, here’s a list of the biggest announcements at The Game Awards 2023:

OD

Hideo Kojima’s presence at The Game Awards is always met with the utmost elation, though this time, he didn’t come on stage to show off more Death Stranding 2. Instead, he’s partnering with acclaimed film director Jordan Peele (Nope) to create an immersive horror experience, which the former assures is still a video game, despite its cinematic influences. It’s called OD and the teaser simply shows some facial capture tests of known actors — Sophia Lillis (Sharp Objects), Hunter Schafer (Euphoria), and Udo Kier (Melancholia) — spouting some tongue twister about a hungry purple dinosaur, as a Geiger counter ticks away in the background. As previously reported, it is being developed for Xbox Game Studios and leverages cloud gaming technology.

Blade

Arkane Lyon — best known for the Dishonored franchise — is creating a ‘mature’ single-player narrative on Marvel’s Blade aka Daywalker, the superhuman vampire hunter wielding a sharp titanium sword. Set in a quarantined zone in Paris, players are tasked with hunting down bloodthirsty fiends at night and preventing the spread of infection. This marks the second vampire-based video game attempt from Arkane, having previously worked on the disappointing Redfall, and marks their first third-person experience. I just hope it maintains the comic-book art style riddled with Ben-Day dots, as shown in the announcement trailer.

Skull and Bones

Release date: February 16, 2024
Platform: PC, PS5, Xbox Series S/X

Assuring this isn’t the same old dance, Ubisoft has set a fixed release date for Skull and Bones, the naval combat game that has you climb the ranks from a rookie pirate to a kingpin, whilst besting traitors and menacing foes tucked away in the waves. The studio has also planned another closed beta event, running between December 15–18. Ubisoft+ subscribers can play it three days early, too.

Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II

Ninja Theory dropped a ghastly trailer for Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II, showcasing its realistic cinematics that almost feels like an acid trip, as our returning protagonist traverses Viking Iceland to save those who’ve succumbed to darkness. With puzzles exhibited through psychotic visions, robust sound design, and gruesome hand-to-hand combat, this one looks quite exciting. Wish we knew more about the narrative, though.

God of War Ragnarök – Valhalla DLC

Release date: December 12
Platform: PS4, PS5

Having defeated Odin, Kratos finds himself washed ashore in Valhalla, accompanied by the always-jabbering Mimir. Players will engage in a highly volatile roguelike experience, overcoming trials by facing randomised swarms of enemies, culminating in a boss fight, where each death will take you back to the starting point. It’s unclear how this ties back to God of War Ragnarök’s main lore, but it appears as though he’ll face some enemies from his past life in Greek mythology while experimenting with new builds blessed by the ancient gods. And yeah, it’s a free DLC.

Suicide Squad Kill the Justice League

Release date: February 2, 2024
Platform: PC, PS5, Xbox Series S/X

Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League got a new trailer introducing its various supervillains — or rather, heroes who’ve fallen prey to the Brainiac’s mind control — and a glimpse at its high-octane looter-shooter gameplay, as we switch between members of the Task Force X. While originally the game was an always-online affair, Rocksteady Studios has confirmed that it will add an offline story-focused mode after launch. The game also serves as one of the late Kevin Conroy’s final voice-acting performances before his death.

Black Myth: Wukong

Release date: August 20, 2024
Platform: PC, PS5, Xbox Series S/X

Black Myth: Wukong, the souls-like title inspired by ‘Journey to the West,’ finally got a release date. Venture into the dark fantastical realm of ancient China as the titular heroic Monkey King and partake in punishing but gorgeous boss battles against corrupted creatures and humanoid enemies to seal your fate as the ultimate saviour. Experiment with spells, weapon arts, and special upgrades to ensure you live long enough to see the end and uncover the truth beneath your name. It’s out August 20 on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series S/X.

Rise of the Ronin

Release date: March 22, 2024
Platform: PS5

Team Ninja is exploring the late Edo period of Japan in this open-world samurai entry, as the country falls into a state of turmoil. As a nameless warrior, explore the desperate landscape or glide through the skies to reshape history by working with real-life figures like Ryōma Sakamoto and the intellectual Shoin Yoshida — with consequences governed entirely by the choices you make. Battle foes using a variety of swords and spears, in addition to deflecting flaming arrows with an oiled-up katana to imbue your weaponry with added heat. Rise of the Ronin launches March 22, exclusively on the PS5.

Monster Hunter Wilds

Release date: 2025
Platform: PC, PS5, Xbox Series S/X

While not explicitly mentioned, Monster Hunter Wilds appears to be the franchise’s open-world take, set in the vast deserts populated by herds of armadillo-looking creatures, lightning storms, and some gorgeous ecosystems reminiscent of spore-spouting coral reefs. There isn’t much to glean from the short reveal trailer, but it does promise a 2025 release window — let’s see whether it releases before GTA VI!

Final Fantasy XVI DLC

Follow Clive and his party on two new chapters in the lands of Valisthea, as Square Enix reveals paid DLC additions for Final Fantasy XVI. One of the additions, The Echoes of the Fallen, is now available on the PS5 and is set before the base game’s final battle, forcing players to investigate the surge of some weird black crystals being sold in the market and its suspicious sellers. Meanwhile, The Rising Tide DLC is slated for an American Spring 2024 release, and promises ‘new challenges.’ The title itself won the Game Award for best score and music, composed by the legendary musician Masayoshi Soken.

The Game Awards 2023 Announcements — the full list

Beyond the highlights, here’s the complete list of game reveals and updates we saw at The Game Awards 2023:

• Light No Fire (new title from no Man’s Sky developer Hello Games)
• Rise of the Ronin (March 22, 2024 | PS5)
• Fortnite Rocket Racing (December 8 | PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One)
• No Rest for the Wicked (TBA | PC, PS5, Xbox Series S/X)
• Exodus (TBA | PC, PS5, Xbox Series S/X)
• Big Walk (2025 | PC)
• Blade (TBA | PC, Xbox Series S/X)
• God of War Ragnarök – Valhalla DLC (December 12 | PS4, PS5)
• OD (TBA | TBA)
• Suicide Squad Kill the Justice League (February 2, 2024 | PC, PS5, Xbox Series S/X)
• The Finals (December 8 | PC)
• Lost Records: Bloom and Rage (Late 2024 | PC, PS5, Xbox Series S/X)
• Black Myth: Wukong (August 20, 2024 | PC, PS5, Xbox Series S/X)
• Monster Hunter Wilds (2025 | PC, PS5, Xbox Series S/X)
• The Casting of Frank Stone (2024 | PC, PS5, Xbox Series S/X)
• Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2 (2024 | PC, Xbox Series S/X)
• Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons Remake (February 28, 2024 | PC, PS5, Xbox Series S/X)
• Skull and Bones (February 16, 2024 | PC, PS5, Xbox Series S/X)
• Final Fantasy XVI: Echoes of the Fallen DLC (December 8 | PS5)
• Final Fantasy XVI: The Rising Tide DLC (Spring 2024 | PS5)
• Dragon Ball: Sparkling Zero (TBA | PC, PS5, Xbox Series S/X)
• Kemuri (TBA | TBA)
• Jurassic Park Survival (TBA | PC, PS5, Xbox Series S/X)
• Last Sentinel (TBA | TBA)
• Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 (September 9, 2024 | PC, PS5, Xbox Series S/X)
• The First Descendant (Summer 2024 | PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series S/X)
• Ready or Not comes out of early access (December 13 | PC)
• Asgard’s Wrath 2 (December 15 | Meta Quest)
• Stormgate early-access (Summer 2024 | PC)
• Thrasher (2024 | Meta Quest, other virtual reality platforms | PC and console launch later)
• Windblown (2024 | PC)
• The First Berserker: Khazan (TBA | PC, PS5, Xbox Series S/X)
• Exoborne (TBA | PC, PS5, Xbox Series S/X)
• Mecha Break (TBA | PC, PS5, Xbox Series S/X)
• Zenless Zone Zero (2024, PC, MacOS)
• Tales of Kenzera: Zau (April 23, 2024 | PC, PS5, Xbox Series S/X)
• Pony Island 2: Panda Circus (2025 | PC)

Samsung is expected to release One UI 7 — it’s upcoming software upgrade that is based on Google’s Android 15 update — in early 2025. While One UI 7 isn’t expected to arrive on the company’s smartphones for the next couple of months, Samsung previously revealed that it would release a beta version of One UI 7, which would allow software developers and enthusiasts to try out the upcoming software before it rolls out next year. A tipster has now shed some light on when the beta could be released.

Samsung Tipped to Roll out One UI 7 Beta to Testers by Mid-November

In a post on X (formerly Twitter), tipster Ice Universe (@UniverseIce) claims that Samsung will “take another half month” before it rolls out the One UI 7 beta update, which is based on Android 15. The tipster has a good track record of leaking information related to the South Korean tech conglomerate, and we can expect the beta version of the company’s upcoming software to be rolled out to users by the middle of November.

Samsung’s One UI 7 beta has been considerably delayed this year — it was previously expected to arrive in August, but the company revealed last month that it would roll out the beta version by the end of the year, while the stable release would arrive next year — presumably with the purported Galaxy S25 series. The Samsung Galaxy S24 series is likely to be the first smartphone to receive an update to One UI 7.

Samsung One UI 7 Features (Expected)

Unlike previous versions of One UI, Samsung didn’t provide detailed information about upcoming features coming to its Android 15-based One UI 7 update at the Samsung Developers Conference. However, details of the upcoming software update have already surfaced online, even though it isn’t expected to roll out to users for another couple of months.

Samsung’s One UI 7 update will reportedly bring a fresh coat of paint for several system app icons, including the dialler, messages, gallery, calculator, and clock apps. Meanwhile, notification handling is also expected to be improved, especially the ones displayed on the lock screen.

Other features reportedly coming to the One UI 7 update include new AI features for the gallery app that will allow users to “restyle” their portrait images using artificial intelligence. Meanwhile, the Sketch to Image feature that was introduced with One UI 6.1.1 is said to expand to more devices when One UI 7 rolls out. Samsung Galaxy smartphones are also expected to gain support for Google’s Homework Help feature shown off at Google I/O earlier this year.

Asus Vivobook S 15 was launched by the company last month at its “Next Level. AI Incredible.” event, and the company’s first Copilot+ PC is now available for purchase as one of the first consumer laptops to be equipped with advanced Windows AI features and powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X Elite chipset. The device also sports an OLED display with a 120Hz refresh rate, and is claimed to offer up to 18 hours of battery life on a single charge.

Asus Vivobook S 15 (2024, Copilot+) price, availability

The Asus Vivobook S 15 (S5507) pricing starts at $1,299 (roughly Rs. 1,08,400) for the base model with 16GB of RAM and 1TB of storage, while the 32GB+1TB version is priced at $1,399 (roughly 1,16,700). 

The laptop is now available for purchase in the US, in a Cool Silver colourway. It is also expected to make its way to other markets in the future, including India.

Asus Vivobook S 15 (2024, Copilot+) specifications

The company’s first Copilot+ PC is powered by Qualcomm’s Arm-based Snapdragon X Elite (X1E-78-100) chip that is equipped with 12 cores. It also features a Qualcomm Hexagon NPU with up to 75 total trillion operations per second (TOPS) and a Qualcomm Adreno GPU. The Vivobook S 15 is equipped with up to 32GB LPDDR5X of RAM and 1TB of SSD storage.

It features a 15.6-inch 3K (2,880×1,620 pixels) Lumina OLED screen with a 120Hz refresh rate, an 89 percent screen-to-body ratio, and up to 600 nits peak brightness. Asus says the display on the Vivobook S 15 has a Display HDR True Black 600 certification from VESA along with a TÜV Rheinland certification. 

Connectivity options on the Asus Vivobook S 15 include Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4. and it is equipped with a 3.5mm audio jack, a MicroSD card reader, and four ports — two USB 4.0 Gen 3 Type-C ports, two USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A, and a HDMI 2.1 port. It features a Full-HD infrared camera for video calls, and Harmon Kardon-certified speakers. It also has Asus’ ErgoSense keyboard with support with a dedicated Copilot key. 

The Asus Vivobook S 15 is equipped with a 70Wh battery that can be charged at 90W. It is claimed to deliver up to 18 hours of battery life on a single charge. The laptop runs on Windows 11 out-of-the-box and will get Copilot+ features with future software updates, according to Asus. It measures 352.6x227x15.9mm and weighs 1.42kg.

NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope has provided new insights into the young star FU Orionis, located in the constellation Orion. Observations have uncovered extreme temperatures in the inner region of its accretion disk, challenging current models of stellar accretion. Using Hubble’s Cosmic Origins Spectrograph and Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph, astronomers captured far-ultraviolet and near-ultraviolet spectra, revealing the disk’s inner edge to be unexpectedly hot, with temperatures reaching 16,000 kelvins—almost three times the Sun’s surface temperature.

A Star’s Bright Outburst Explained

First observed in 1936, FU Orionis became a hundred times brighter in months and has remained a unique object of study. Unlike typical T Tauri stars, its accretion disk touches the stellar surface due to instabilities. These are caused by the disk’s large mass, interactions with companion stars, or material falling inwards. Lynne Hillenbrand, a co-author from Caltech, in a statement said that the ultraviolet brightness seen exceeded predictions, revealing a highly dynamic interface between the star and its disk.

Implications for Planet Formation

As per a report by NASA, the study holds significant implications for planetary systems forming around such stars. The report further quoted Adolfo Carvalho, lead author of the study, saying that while distant planets in the disk may experience altered chemical compositions due to outbursts, planets forming close to the star could face disruption or destruction. This revised model provides critical insights into the survival of rocky planets in young star systems, he further added.

Future Investigations on FU Orionis

The research team continues to examine spectral emission lines in the collected data, aiming to map gas movement in the star’s inner regions. Hillenbrand noted that FU Orionis offers a unique opportunity to study the mechanisms at play in eruptive young stars. These findings, published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters, showcase the ongoing value of Hubble’s ultraviolet capabilities in advancing stellar science.

The Day Before, once Steam’s most wish-listed open-world survival MMO, has been delisted from Valve’s platform. The game launched in early access to an almost immediate flood of negative reviews last week, with most players claiming that it wasn’t really an MMO but an extraction shooter reminiscent of Escape from Tarkov, combined with the post-apocalyptic threats of The Last of Us. The misleading gameplay claims were made worse by several game-breaking glitches that caused characters to clip off from the map, an incomplete and sparse world devoid of action, and inconsistent online features. Merely five days after release, the game is no longer available to buy on Steam and Fntastic, the studio behind the game, has announced it is shutting down and working on refunds for customers who bought the game.

“Today, we announce the closure of Fntastic studio. The Day Before has failed financially, and we lack the funds to continue,” the blog post reads, with the developer originally claiming that all earned income would be used to pay off its debts. There are no plans to patch the game and turn it into something that the creators originally hoped for either, since more funding is out of the picture. Sure, the shooter was never crowd-funded, but the accusations of stolen or repurposed assets, a barrage of misleading gameplay trailers, and a $40 price tag on a game that was quite possibly a scam didn’t work in the studio’s favour. Debuting with 38,000 concurrent players on Steam, the player base has been steadily going down — no uptick during the weekend either — as players realised how the expectations from the trailer had been wrecked. At the time of writing, The Day Before has 749 concurrent players. (Probably the select few who are looking to capture funny gameplay compilations before the server is shut down.)

Fntastic isn’t sure of the studio’s direction going forward but assures players that the servers for The Day Before and its previous multiplayer hide-and-seek game Propnight will remain operational. Understandably, disappointed players are looking for refunds and publisher Mytona is willing to do that even if the playtime on Steam exceeds two hours. As usual, this can be achieved through Steam’s Help section, which will lead to a questionnaire asking the reasons for the refund. To calm the loud accusations of a scam, Fntastic claims that it will not receive any money from the sales and admitted to heavily overestimating its capabilities as a game developer. Adding fuel to the fire was an immature response to criticism on Twitter, where Fntastic replied, “This was our first big experience. Shit happens.” For what it’s worth, hopefully, we get a new ‘Crowbcat‘ video from this colossal mess.

With the Fntastic CEO wiping his Twitter account from the internet, followed by the deletion of the studio’s YouTube channel, it’s almost as if the game maker is trying to erase any proof that the company ever existed. The Day Before currently has an Overwhelmingly Negative rating on Steam, having garnered 18,000 bad reviews, at one point placing it amongst the 10 worst reviewed games on the platform. The only reason it’s no longer listed there is because the game as a whole has been removed from the platform.

The road to launch wasn’t without its own hitches as well. The Day Before suffered countless delays — one of them a month before launch, got into a trademark dispute, and was accused of facilitating unpaid labour. Fntastic later dismissed those claims saying that those were all ‘volunteer’ help.