Former BioWare General Manager Casey Hudson has set up his own development company, Humanoid Studio, where he’s developing an “all-new” IP.
Hudson left BioWare last December following a period of troubles marked by Anthem‘s failure and reports of poor management. At Humanoid, he wants to “unleash the creative freedom of developers.”
Today we are announcing a new independent videogame company built to unleash the creative freedom of developers – bringing innovation and artistry to players through an all-new IP.
“Founded by Casey Hudson and talented developers from around the world, we combine excellence in the arts with advanced sciences to deliver the future of interactive entertainment,” reads a press release. “We believe in hiring great people, empowering them with the best tools and a supportive environment, and providing them the creative freedom to do their best work. We are building something special, and we invite you to join us.”
Humanoid already has seven job opportunities, ranging from Senior Gameplay Programmer to 3D Artist. The studio is seeking developers with past experience in AAA development.
“Humanoid Studios is a new videogame company founded on the axiom that creative freedom and independence lead to better, more innovative games,” reads a job description. “We believe in the power of small, agile teams, and a flat organizational structure, where everyone is empowered to make decisions and help drive the project vision.”
Humanoid will unveil its game in due course. We’ll update our readers when we have more information about the project.
Thought we know everything about Evangelion? We don’t, it seems! During a recent press conference for the Blu-ray release of Evangelion 3.333, voice actor Maaya Sakamoto said that creator Hideaki Anno told her secrets about the character she plays, Mari Illustrious Makinami.
Google is tightening its ad screening rules in the UK after a steep rise in fraudulent adverts online during the pandemic. The search giant has announced that starting in the fall it will only run ads for financial products and services from sources that have been cleared by the UK's financial watchdog.
Google said it will update its policy from August 30th and begin enforcing the rules a week later on September 6th. At that point, advertisers will have to demonstrate that they are authorized by the UK Financial Conduct Authority or qualify for its limited exemptions. According to Google, the requirement covers financial products and services that go beyond the regulator's ambit.
The decision didn't happen overnight, however. Google has been on the end of mounting criticism from regulators, law enforcement and consumer groups over its perceived lack of action against scrupulous ads. According to trade body UK Finance, investment scam cases on search engines saw a 32 percent increase last year. These typically involve criminals duping victims into moving their money to a fictitious fund (such as a pension pot) or to pay for a fake investment. Losses incurred from the fake ads totaled over £135 million.
Meanwhile, the FCA threatened to take legal action against Google and social media companies after it issued 1,200 warnings about fraudulent ads on their platforms, double the amount from 2019. The regulator told a parliamentary committee that it was able to start taking action in the wake of Brexit. In the past, the FCA had been bound by EU rules on financial ads that did not apply to online platforms.
Others blamed Google's system for the failings. UK consumer group Which? found that 51 percent of the 1,870 search engine users it surveyed didn't know how to report suspicious ads in search listings. The perceived inertia from Google led some lawmakers to claim that it was content to continue profiting from the bogus ads. MPs told The Guardian that the company was benefiting from online scammers who paid to host ads on its platforms. While the FCA had also paid Google more than £600,000 ($830,000) in 2020 and 2021 to run ‘anti-scam’ ads.
For its part, Google claims it has improved its ad screening rules using a mix of machine learning and human review. The tech giant removed 3.1 billion adverts that violated its policies in 2020 according to its ad transparency report. It also began verifying advertisers in January by requiring them to submit legal identification, business incorporation documents and proof of the country in which they operate. Back in 2018, Google followed in Facebook's footsteps by banning cryptocurrency ads.
“This new update builds on significant work in partnership with the FCA over the last 18 months to help tackle this issue,” Ronan Harris, vice president and MD, Google UK and Ireland, said in a blog post. “Today’s announcement reflects significant progress in delivering a safer experience for users, publishers and advertisers. While we understand that this policy update will impact a range of advertisers in the financial services space, our utmost priority is to keep users safe on our platforms — particularly in an area so disproportionately targeted by fraudsters.”
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The big game-studio buy-up continues, and it’s Sony’s turn. Again. This time, it’s picked up Housemarque, the Helsinki-based studio behind PlayStation games including Returnal for the PS5 and arcade-style shooters like Super Stardust HD and Dead Nation.
In recent years, Sony Interactive Entertainment snapped up Ratchet and Clank developer Insomniac Games in 2019. Before that, it acquired Horizon Zero Dawn developer Guerilla Games — whose former head Hermen Hulst is now the chief of PlayStation Studios — and Sucker Punch, the studio behind Ghost of Tsushima.
Sony seems to be stepping up its studio shopping. Microsoft made waves with its acquisition of all those Bethesda wares, and we finally started to see the results at E3 2021, with exclusive games headed to Xbox.
It seems Sony isn’t stopping at Housemarque: PlayStation Japan uploaded the wrong image with their first tweet on the Housemarque news, mentioning a Bluepoint acquisition. That’s an entirely different studio, which was tasked with the Demon’s Souls PS5 remake. The spending spree continues.
Young kids who see their parents on a Peloton bike and want to join workouts will soon have another way to do that. Little Tikes has created a smart stationary bike for children aged three to seven. It's called the Pelican Explore & Fit Cycle, which does not at all sound like "Peloton." They'll have access to trainer adventure videos from Little Tikes’ YouTube channel, but I feel pretty sad about the entire concept. Continue reading.
Lenovo has managed to make a laptop with RTX 3070 graphics for several hundred dollars less than many of its competitors. With AMD’s Ryzen 7 CPU and NVIDIA’s RTX 3070 GPU, all for $1,530, it’s very compelling on paper, but Dan Cooper says you should be prepared for a couple of compromises. To start, if you run on battery alone, don’t expect it to last more than five hours. Continue reading.
You'll be ready when Dolby Vision-supported games are finally released.
Microsoft's Xbox Series X and Series S consoles both support 4K Dolby Vision at 120Hz, but there's a problem: So far, no TVs have supported all of those things at once. Now, LG has announced it's rolling out a firmware update that unlocks Dolby Vision HDR at 4K 120Hz on its latest 2021 C1 and G1 series OLED models. LG's high-end G1 and mainstream C1 series should be capable of 120Hz 4K gaming with Dolby Vision, but Xbox Series X owners have been reporting that isn’t the case, with an error message that says "your TV setup doesn't support Dolby Vision at 4K 120Hz." Continue reading.
Apple has revealed 22 special edition Watch bands to mark the summer Olympics, but this time you won't have to travel to the games to get one. There's a US band as well as straps for Australia, Greece (it did start the Olympics, after all), Japan and South Africa and many more countries. These Sports Loops also tap into App Clips, with the packaging helping you to download a matching Watch face for your new strap. They’re all priced at $49, but what price patriotism? Continue reading.
Devindra Hardawar spends a little longer putting Microsoft’s new OS through its paces. He says the company is fundamentally shifting the way many aspects of Windows work, with a centered taskbar and redesigned Start menu. But it's still Windows and still works like it always has. There's the focus on productivity, along with subtler improvements that make for a more pleasant user experience. At this point, Windows 11 feels like an OS that will please PC diehards (I think that’s probably Devindra) and mainstream users (hey, that’s me!) alike. Continue reading.
It also packs HDR and Windows Hello authentication.
Most laptops ship with a 720p or 1080p camera, so you have to purchase a separate webcam if you want higher quality video — or resort to using a compatible action cam or DSLR. Dell is offering a new 4K option, the $200 UltraSharp Webcam, which is capable of recording 4K footage at up to 30 frames per second.
Like Razer’s own Kiyo Pro webcam, Dell's 8.3-megapixel camera also features a Sony Starvis sensor (only this one is 4K), which is normally used in surveillance cameras. You might not need your influencer ring light. Continue reading.
United has announced that it’s adding 270 Boeing and Airbus planes to its fleet in a bid to reinvigorate domestic travel now that states have started lifting pandemic-related restrictions. And one of the best news for frequent flyers is that the new jets will feature seatback entertainment screens that come with Bluetooth connection. In addition, United will refurbish its old mainline jets with the new and upgraded in-flight entertainment until 2025.
Bluetooth audio is a much-requested addition to all in-flight entertainment systems that United has granted with the launch of its new interior. As The Verge notes, tech companies have been pushing a wireless lifestyle onto consumers by removing headphone jacks from their phones and launching truly wireless earbuds. Some may have already thrown their wired earphones away, or tucked them away in a drawer, forgotten until the next time they decide to do some spring cleaning.
Aviation writer Jason Rabinowitz has tweeted a video that gives us a look at the new seatback entertainment system with Bluetooth capabilities on a 737 MAX 8 plane. As you can see, all of the seats will have entertainment screens, which while great for passengers could also cause a bit of a headache. At full capacity, passengers may have trouble pairing their earphones as everyone tries to connect to Bluetooth at the same time.
The main attraction of @united's new interior is the new @PanasonicAero seatback IFE system. It finally offers one of the overall most requested passenger items: BLUETOOTH AUDIO. Narrowbody aircraft with these screens will finally make it a reality. #PaxExpic.twitter.com/tD004G4x7c
Still, that’s a small problem for those waiting for the feature for a long time. Bluetooth audio is a fantastic addition to the new planes’ entertainment systems, and passengers will be able to get to try it soon. United will fly its first 737 MAX 8 jets with the new interior this summer, while its first 737 MAX 10 and Airbus jets will start flying in 2023.
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Silent Hill and Metal Gear publisher Konami is teaming up with The Medium creator Bloober Team in a "strategic partnership," the companies have announced. They'll be "jointly developing selected content and exchanging know-how" on both new and existing game properties. "We look forward to combining Bloober Team’s and our respective characteristics and strengths to create high-quality content," said Konami President Hideki Hayakawa in a statement.
The news should perk up the ears of Silent Hill fans hoping for a new chapter. Bloober's The Medium is also a horror-style game (even using a score from Silent Hill composer Akira Yamaoka) with players flipping between real and afterlife versions of the world.
On top of that, Bloober Team CEO dropped a hint earlier this year that it was working on something interesting. "In fact, we've been working for more than a year on another gaming project, another horror IP, and we're doing this with a very famous gaming publisher," he told Gamesindustry.biz in February. "I can't tell you who. I can't tell you what the project is, but I'm pretty sure when people realize we're working on it, they will be very excited."
Nothing about any Silent Hill IP has been confirmed, though, and it'd be understandable iffans remain skeptical. A Silent Hills sequel with Hideo Kojima, Guillermo del Toro and Norman Reedus was canceled back in 2015 — despite the appearance of an impressive playable teaser.
Still, the Konami and Bloober Team partnership is a promising development. The Medium generally met with good reviews, though our own Jessica Condit found it a bit "medium," as it were. The game's "dual reality" switching was also well done, so if the two companies combine their horror chops and technology, it could result in some compelling IP.
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