Asia Archives

AppWizard

June 20, 2025

NetEase Games announces AAA single-player action adventure game Blood Message for consoles, PC

NetEase Games, in collaboration with 24 Entertainment, is developing a single-player action-adventure game titled Blood Message, which is set to be released on various consoles and PC. The game is powered by the Unreal 5 Engine and marks NetEase Games' first AAA single-player title. Blood Message features a narrative-driven gameplay experience set during the final years of the Tang Dynasty, where players assume the role of a nameless messenger and his son during Dunhuang’s uprising. The game emphasizes themes of loyalty, survival, and the impact of ordinary individuals on history, with gameplay that includes visceral combat and exploration of expansive landscapes inspired by East and Central Asia. A trailer and screenshots have been released, but no specific release date has been announced.

AppWizard

June 20, 2025

NetEase Games Announces AAA Action-Adventure Game Blood Message for Consoles and PC

NetEase Games, in collaboration with 24 Entertainment Lin’an, has announced a new AAA single-player action-adventure game titled Blood Message, designed for consoles and PC. This game is NetEase Games' first fully single-player experience, featuring a cinematic, linear story driven by the Unreal 5 Engine. Set during the final years of the Tang Dynasty, players will follow a nameless messenger and his son as they navigate East and Central Asia to deliver a critical message amidst a righteous uprising. The game will explore themes of loyalty, family, and the impact of ordinary individuals on history. Players will traverse approximately 3,000 li (around 1,000 miles) back to Chang’an, facing various perilous environments. Key features include narrative-driven gameplay, realistic combat, and expansive landscapes inspired by the region's diverse terrains.

Winsage

June 17, 2025

Millions Of Windows Users Get Microsoft’s Free Upgrade Offer

As of June 17, Windows 10's global market share has fallen below 50% for the first time, now at 48.9%, while Windows 11 is at 47.7%. This suggests that nearly 60 million users have switched from Windows 10 to Windows 11. In the United States, Windows 11 holds 55.2% of the market compared to Windows 10's 42.0%. In Asia, Windows 10's share has decreased from 59% to 49%, while Windows 11 has increased to over 46%. Approximately 700 million users remain on Windows 10, with over 240 million devices not meeting the upgrade requirements. Microsoft is encouraging users to upgrade and will introduce a migration tool to facilitate the transition. The upgrade from Windows 10 to Windows 11 is free for compatible PCs, but unsupported systems may face security risks post-October 14.

AppWizard

June 16, 2025

Lilo & Stitch Box Office Surges Past Minecraft’s Global Earnings

Disney's live-action adaptation of Lilo & Stitch has surpassed 8 million in global earnings, with 6 million from domestic markets and 2 million internationally. The film's opening weekend generated 6 million, and 57.3% of its total revenue comes from international markets. It has a 76% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes. Meanwhile, the Minecraft movie leads the box office with 1 million in earnings, appealing to a wide fanbase, especially in Asia and Europe. The competition between the two films is notable, with Lilo & Stitch speculated to potentially reach the billion-dollar milestone. Both Disney and Warner Bros. are considering sequels for their respective films.

AppWizard

June 13, 2025

Sony Removes PC Region Locks for Major PlayStation Games on Steam

Sony has lifted regional restrictions on its popular PlayStation titles for PC, allowing access to games like God of War Ragnarök, Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, The Last of Us Part II Remastered, and Helldivers 2 in many new countries. This change follows the successful launch of Stellar Blade on Steam, which achieved over 183,000 concurrent players. Previously, Sony had region locks that restricted access to significant portions of Africa, Asia, and South America. Some regions, including Russia and Syria, remain restricted.

Tech Optimizer

June 7, 2025

Amazon Aurora DSQL Goes GA: Distributed, PostgreSQL-Compatible Serverless Database

Amazon has launched Amazon Aurora DSQL, a PostgreSQL-compatible and serverless database solution designed for active-active high availability and multi-region strong consistency. It features a disaggregated architecture with independent components that scale based on workloads. Aurora DSQL offers 99.99% availability within a single region and 99.999% in multi-region deployments, with automatic recovery from failures. It supports microservices, event-driven architectures, and multi-tenant SaaS applications. All read and write operations maintain consistency across regional endpoints. The service includes a new billing unit called the Distributed Processing Unit (DPU) and supports essential relational features, although some PostgreSQL features are not supported. Aurora DSQL has expanded its availability to more regions and introduced new features, including PostgreSQL views and AWS Backup. A free tier is available, covering 100,000 DPUs and 1 GB-month of storage monthly.

AppWizard

June 5, 2025

New flagship smartphone makes PC gaming on mobile smoother than ever

RedMagic is set to launch its flagship gaming phone, the RedMagic 10S Pro, in global markets after its unveiling in China. The device features a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Leading Version chipset and a dedicated RedCore R3 Pro gaming chip, allowing for enhanced gaming performance with up to 120FPS. It includes an advanced ICE-X cooling system with Liquid Metal 2.0 technology, which improves thermal management. The phone has a 6.85-inch BOE custom AMOLED 1.5K display with a 144Hz refresh rate and a peak brightness of 2,000 nits, alongside a 7,050 mAh battery supporting 80W wired charging. The camera system consists of a 50-megapixel main sensor, a 50-megapixel ultra-wide lens, and a 2-megapixel camera, plus a 16-megapixel front camera. Pricing for the RedMagic 10S Pro starts at €649 for the 12/256GB model and goes up to €999 for the 24GB/1TB model. Pre-orders will be available from June 12 to 17, 2025, with general sales starting on June 18. The phone will be available in various regions, including North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, GCC countries, Latin America, and the Middle East, with some countries receiving it at a later date.

BetaBeacon

May 22, 2025

Game of Thrones: Kingsroad is Out Now on PC, iOS and Android

Netmarble has released Game of Thrones: Kingsroad on PC, iOS, and Android platforms in various regions.

Winsage

April 22, 2025

More Americans are on Windows 11 than Windows 10: the older OS is getting abandoned en masse

Microsoft will officially cease support for Windows 10 on October 14, compelling users to transition to Windows 11, which has more demanding hardware requirements. Users with older systems may struggle to meet these requirements, and Microsoft will not guarantee updates for installations on unsupported hardware. Windows 10 will continue to receive support until October 2025, after which paid updates will be available. The Trusted Platform Module (TPM) is emphasized in Windows 11 for enhanced security, providing encryption and verifying software integrity. Recent statistics show that Windows 11 has surpassed Windows 10 in market share in the U.S., with 54% of users on Windows 11 compared to 44% on Windows 10. However, Windows 10 still holds a 55% market share in Europe and over 60% in Asia.

AppWizard

April 18, 2025

Rokky interview: tapping global PC markets

PC game publishers are seeking innovative revenue enhancement methods and new audience engagement. Rokky, founded in 2009, has grown from five to around 60 employees and offers a distribution platform that connects game publishers with various digital storefronts, focusing on markets outside Europe. The company collaborates with publishers for content and engages stores for sales, easing the burden on publishers managing multiple relationships. Rokky highlights the potential of untapped markets in China and Asia, where traditional advertising is restricted. They have established connections with local marketing agencies and influencers to navigate these challenges. Andreev advises leveraging influencer partnerships for marketing in China, emphasizing the importance of social media. The grey market poses challenges for publishers, where game keys are resold at inflated prices across regions. Rokky suggests region-locking keys and adjusting pricing strategies based on local economic conditions to mitigate revenue loss from cross-border sales. Andreev envisions a future shift towards seamless activation processes, moving away from traditional key-selling methods to instant activation upon purchase, enhancing the user experience.