Nvidia is updating its cloud-based GeForce NOW game platform with 1440p streaming, ultrawide resolution and, in lieu of a price increase, a 100-hour monthly playtime cap for new subscribers at the Priority tier (now called Performance), or Ultimate level, effective January 1. Existing Priority members will be automatically upgraded to Performance, which also lets members save in-game graphics settings across streaming sessions, including GeForce RTX features in supported titles. Ultimate members continue with RTX 4080-powered game performance of up to 4K resolution at 120 fps, or 1080p and 240 fps in Competitive mode. Continue reading Nvidia Ups GeForce NOW Gaming Cloud to 1440p Streaming

The first big play from Disney following February’s $1.5 billion investment in Epic Games is “ESPN Football Island,” available now as part of the “Fortnite” social gaming platform. The new sports-themed experience is designed to get football in front of younger fans. Games include navigating an obstacle course and “high-intensity box fights,” with the main action centering on “Touchdown Rush,” where players “team up with friends and enter the stadium to navigate rocky terrain, a lava moat, and the other team,” according to ESPN. The experience includes participation from ESPN announcers and will soon feature regular updates highlighting the current season. Continue reading Disney, Epic Launch ‘ESPN Football Island’ Experience Online

Epic Games has launched Fab, an online marketplace for buying, selling, sharing and discovering digital assets. Fab supports different types of creators with content for use across Unreal Engine, Unity 3D and Unreal Editor for Fortnite (UEFN). Developers will be able to access Fab in the Unreal Engine 5 Editor, while “Fortnite” creators can look forward to tapping game-ready assets through Fab in UEFN. Epic says Fab will eventually support all game engines. It’s live now on the Web, though the Fab UEFN integration “is undergoing maintenance” while the Unreal Engine 5 Editor implementation is “coming soon.” Continue reading Epic’s Fab Marketplace Has Open Approach to Digital Assets

Competing chipmakers Intel and AMD are joining forces on an advisory group for x86 computing. Invented by Intel and launched in 1978, the x86 architecture remains one of the most widely used platforms in the world, but has already been displaced by ARM in mobile, and is now fending off a challenge from that architecture in the AI space. Also participating in the x86 advisory are Broadcom, Dell, Google, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, HP Inc., Lenovo, Meta, Microsoft, Oracle and Red Hat, joined by tech luminaries Linus Torvalds, inventor of Linux, and Epic Games founder and CEO Tim Sweeney. Continue reading Rivals Intel and AMD Team Up to Launch x86 Advisory Group

The battle between Epic Games and Apple has arrived at a truce that finds the game maker’s massively popular “Fortnite” title back on iOS in the European Union, where Apple was pushed into the move by the competition-fostering Digital Markets Act. “Fortnite” is now available for iPhones there via the new Epic Games Store as well as the third-party outlet AltStore PAL. The launch comes after years of litigation between Epic and Apple in Europe and the U.S., where the Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal, resulting in a decision Epic found less satisfactory than the EU outcome. Continue reading Epic Launches App Store for iOS in the EU, Android Globally

An alternative app store called AltStore PAL recently launched in response to the European Union’s Digital Markets Act (DMA) and is now offering third-party iOS apps. The move comes several months after the company implemented an updated version of its open-source app marketplace in the EU. The DMA was enacted to foster competition, regulating Apple into opening up to rivals. Among AltStore PAL’s new offerings is iTorrent, which lets users download peer-to-peer files, and qBitControl, a remote client for iOS devices. Another app, PeopleDrop, automatically helps users connect to those nearby. Epic Games revealed it plans to offer “Fortnite” on AltStore PAL. Continue reading App Merchant AltStore PAL Bows in EU with a Focus on iOS

The Entertainment Technology Center@USC has released the fourth and final installment of its case study, “Fathead: Virtual Production & Beyond.” Chapter 4 of the four-part white paper is titled “Key Contributors: Process Pipelines,” which summarizes key findings of the production and recommended best practices moving forward. “Fathead” — directed by c. Craig Patterson and produced by Erik Weaver, ETC’s director of adaptive production — was shot at Amazon Stage 15 in Culver City as an experiment in virtual production, in-camera VFX and collaborative, cloud-based workflows. Continue reading ETC Releases Final Section of Virtual Production White Paper

Apple has approved the Epic Games Store app for iOS and the App Store in the EU. But the battle apparently continues, with Apple couching the move as “temporary,” and Epic founder and CEO Tim Sweeney vowing to fight any reversals. Sweeney says Apple is “demanding we change the buttons in the next version — which would make our store less standard and harder to use. We’ll fight this.” Even a temporary toehold moves Sweeney — whose Maryland-based Epic Games is home to the popular “Fortnite” — closer to its goal of an alt game store on the insular Apple platform at home and abroad. Continue reading Apple Issues ‘Temporary’ Epic Game Store Approval for iOS

After a limited introduction in select markets and to Premium subscribers, YouTube’s Playables free gaming catalog is rolling out to all users. More than 75 games are currently accessible on desktop, Android and iOS by visiting the main YouTube home page and selecting Playables in the Explore menu. Games can be shared by tapping the three-dot “more” menu. The lightweight offerings include popular titles like “Angry Birds Showdown,” “Words of Wonders,” “Cut the Rope” and “Trivia Crack,” among others. Availability will ramp up gradually over the coming months. Continue reading YouTube Adding ‘Playables’ Free Game Catalog for All Users

Since Epic Games debuted the Unreal Editor for Fortnite (UEFN) and Creator Economy 2.0 tools in March 2023, the company says creators have published more than 80,000 UENF islands, and Epic has rewarded creators with more than $320 million in engagement payouts. Now Epic is adding more core features to UEFN: MetaHuman Creator and MetaHuman Animator, which enable the creation and animation of non-playable MetaHuman characters. Epic’s UEFN 2024 roadmap, presented at this week’s Game Developers Conference in San Francisco, includes more camera options for the player-made game platform, including a first-person perspective. Continue reading MetaHuman and Animator Now Available to Fortnite Creators

The Walt Disney Company has selected five companies to be in its annual Accelerator program, three of them AI startups, one in robotics and one developing VR. The program, now in its tenth year, identifies promising new tech companies to benefit from Disney funding and mentorship in exchange for an inside track on talent and acquisitions. The class of 2024 includes AudioShake, which leverages AI to aid in mixing and dubbing audio tracks for mixing or dubbing; ElevenLabs, which has a text-to-speech app for GenAI voicing; and Promethean AI, a digital archives search platform that informs prototype design. Continue reading Latest Disney Accelerator Backs AI, VR, Autonomous Vehicles

Apple has reportedly sold about 200,000 Vision Pro units since its U.S. release February 2, the day before the tech giant’s quarterly earnings showed net sales increased by 2 percent to $119.58 billion for the three months that ended December 31. It was the company’s first quarterly revenue increase in a year, driving $33.92 billion in profit for the period, a 13 percent uptick year-over-year. Apple has yet to release official numbers for the Vision Pro, which it describes as “a revolutionary spatial computer that seamlessly blends digital content with the physical world.” Based on early estimates, sales of the $3,500 device are likely to be too small to significantly impact the next quarter. Continue reading Apple’s Vision Pro Ignites Worldwide Interest as Sales Inch Up

The Walt Disney Company announced revenue of $23.5 billion for the quarter ending December 31, essentially consistent year-over-year, while net income was up 49 percent to $1.91 billion year-over-year. CEO Bob Iger amplified plans to bring the company “to a period of sustained growth.” Following news that ESPN plans to partner on a new sports streaming platform, Iger disclosed a $1.5 billion investment in “Fortnite” creator Epic Games that will see the companies “collaborate on an all-new games and entertainment universe.” He also revealed Disney+ will exclusively stream Taylor Swift’s “The Eras Tour” concert film. Continue reading Disney Announces Gaming and Sports Part of Growth Strategy

Taiwanese tech powerhouse MSI (Micro-Star International) has a new handheld gaming device called the Claw that uses an Intel Core Ultra 5 or 7 chip and Intel Arc graphics, making it among the most powerful portable PC gaming devices on the market. The device breaks from tradition, as competing mobile game units like the Steam Deck, the Asus ROG Ally and the Lenovo Legion Go all use AMD chipsets. The MSI system — demonstrated at CES 2024 in Las Vegas — is expected to be priced between $699 to $799 in a trio of configurations when it hits the market in February or March. Continue reading CES: MSI Claw Is First Gaming Handheld with Intel Core Ultra

Concurrent with the U.S. Supreme Court’s January 16 decision not to hear the appeal in Epic vs. Apple, the iPhone maker has revised its App Store rules, letting developers link to outside payment platforms. While that ostensibly lets third parties circumvent Apple’s unpopular payment processing fee of up to 30 percent, the tech giant says it will still collect a premium of up to 27 percent using a “commission” structure. That workaround has Epic founder and CEO Tim Sweeney vowing to continue litigating the case in U.S. District Court. Continue reading Apple Creates Payment Fee Workaround After Battle with Epic