equity Archives

AppWizard

April 11, 2025

Malay Mail’s Top 10 Picks: ‘A Minecraft Movie’ tops local box office, ends ‘Ne Zha 2’s’ weeks-long reign

Kuala Lumpur's entertainment industry is seeing an increase in video game adaptations, with the Minecraft Movie recently becoming the ninth-highest-grossing video game adaptation and taking the top spot at the local box office, ending Ne Zha 2's reign. Current top films in local cinemas include A Minecraft Movie, Ne Zha 2, and Pabrik Gula, among others. On streaming platforms, Netflix's top shows include Weak Hero: Class 1 and Karma: Season 1, while Viu features Bidaah and Undercover High School. Spotify's top songs for the week include tracks by JENNIE and Billie Eilish, and the top Malay songs feature Ara Johari and Nadeera. The latest bestsellers in fiction include Lyrics & You by Nuruljannah Usop and A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara, while non-fiction bestsellers include Atomic Habits by James Clear and Surrounded by Idiots by Thomas Erikson.

AppWizard

April 10, 2025

UK acting union Equity calls for better working conditions for performers in games

Equity, the UK's union for actors, is advocating for better working conditions and compensation for performers in the video game sector, highlighting stagnant pay over the past decade despite the industry's growth and substantial tax breaks for major companies. John Barclay, Equity's assistant general secretary, emphasized the need for industry leaders to address poor practices and establish union-negotiated agreements to improve pay and conditions. The union also raised concerns about the lack of protections against the misuse of artificial intelligence and non-disclosure agreements, as well as the need for safer working environments to prevent injuries and ensure respectful handling of intimate scenes.

AppWizard

March 15, 2025

Pentagon Schools Instruct Use of Minecraft to Promote DEI Trojan Horse

The Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA) is using Minecraft to enhance social-emotional learning (SEL) among middle school students, focusing on skills like collaboration, communication, empathy, and problem-solving. The initiative has faced criticism for its connections to broader educational frameworks, including critical race theory (CRT). DoDEA serves over 67,000 military-connected students across 161 schools in various locations. The program has been rebranded as “resilience” initiatives, aligning with Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth's commitment to comply with executive orders prohibiting certain educational content related to DEI and CRT. Prior to these orders, Pentagon schools faced scrutiny for including controversial books in their libraries.

AppWizard

February 20, 2025

Sony responds to Bungie vet Barrett’s $200m wrongful dismissal lawsuit

Sony has responded to a lawsuit from Christopher Barrett, a former Bungie employee, by revealing text messages that allegedly show his misconduct towards female colleagues. Barrett left Bungie in March 2024 amid accusations of inappropriate behavior and is seeking [openai_gpt model="gpt-4o-mini" prompt="Summarize the content and extract only the fact described in the text bellow. The summary shall NOT include a title, introduction and conclusion. Text: Sony has officially addressed the lawsuit brought forth by Christopher Barrett, a former employee of Bungie. In a recent legal filing, the PlayStation company has unveiled text messages exchanged between Barrett and female colleagues at Bungie, asserting that these communications illustrate a troubling pattern of misconduct. Details of the Allegations Barrett departed from Bungie in March 2024, a move that was later linked to accusations of inappropriate behavior towards female staff members. He has since initiated legal proceedings, seeking 0 million in damages. His claim hinges on the assertion that his dismissal precluded him from receiving million tied to Sony's acquisition of Bungie, which was finalized in 2022. In its response, Sony emphasizes that Barrett's termination was due to his alleged targeting of a junior female employee. According to the filing, Barrett began with seemingly innocuous conversations but gradually crossed professional boundaries, making comments about her appearance and expressing romantic interest. The company contends that he sought to foster an unprofessional level of intimacy with his alleged victims. Counterarguments from Barrett's Legal Team Barrett's legal representatives have countered Sony's assertions, claiming that the company is selectively presenting text messages and conversations to tarnish Barrett's reputation and rationalize his termination. They argue that the omission of complete text exchanges raises questions about the validity of Sony's claims. “It is telling that Sony does not include the full text messages as exhibits, or the full content of these conversations,” Barrett's lawyers stated. They maintain that nothing in Sony’s response substantiates a legitimate legal basis for terminating Barrett for cause. Furthermore, Barrett's team expresses confidence that a thorough examination of the evidence will reveal a coordinated effort by Sony to undermine Barrett's position and deny him the equity rewards he accrued over his 25 years of dedicated service to the company." max_tokens="3500" temperature="0.3" top_p="1.0" best_of="1" presence_penalty="0.1" frequency_penalty="frequency_penalty"] million in damages, claiming his dismissal prevented him from receiving million related to Sony's acquisition of Bungie in 2022. Sony asserts that Barrett was terminated for targeting a junior female employee, starting with innocuous conversations that escalated to inappropriate comments and romantic interest. Barrett's legal team argues that Sony is selectively presenting evidence to damage his reputation and that the omission of complete text exchanges questions the validity of Sony's claims. They believe a thorough examination of the evidence will show a coordinated effort by Sony to undermine Barrett and deny him equity rewards from his 25 years of service.

Tech Optimizer

February 20, 2025

Magaya enhances performance with Tessell’s PostgreSQL

Magaya Corporation enhanced its database infrastructure by using Tessell's managed PostgreSQL solution, improving database performance and operational efficiency. After being acquired by a private equity firm in 2023, Magaya migrated customers from the Classic system to the Blue Ivory platform but faced initial performance issues with Blue Ivory's database. The original PostgreSQL setup was not optimized for high-volume queries, leading to bottlenecks, and reliance on a single PostgreSQL expert posed operational risks. Tessell's managed PostgreSQL platform transformed Blue Ivory, achieving a tenfold improvement in query execution speeds and enhancing logistics operations to handle tens of thousands of rows per second. The migration to AWS was seamless, with optimizations in partitioning strategies, memory buffers, and disk I/O. Tessell provided 24/7 expert support, reducing dependency on a single in-house DBA. The optimizations prepared Magaya's Blue Ivory platform for sustainable growth, enabling quicker customer onboarding and smoother migrations, and allowing support for both multi-tenant and single-tenant deployments. This transition to a cloud-native solution met ROI expectations for private equity investors, enhancing growth and profitability. The partnership with Tessell modernized Magaya's database infrastructure and strengthened its position in the logistics and supply chain technology sector.

Tech Optimizer

December 12, 2024

New Quest Software updates help accelerate enterprise adoption of PostgreSQL

Quest Software Inc. has released two updates to support the adoption of PostgreSQL. The first update, Foglight with the Performance Investigator for PostgreSQL add-on, enhances database observability and performance optimization, allowing administrators to analyze workloads, identify inefficient queries, and resolve resource issues. Foglight provides a unified view across multiple database environments, essential for managing complex multicloud or hybrid landscapes. The second update, SharePlex, offers robust data replication and migration capabilities for PostgreSQL 17.0, Oracle 23ai, MariaDB 11.4.2, and Google AlloyDB, ensuring real-time data synchronization and minimizing disruption during migrations. SharePlex includes "Compare and Repair" features to address data discrepancies and allows parallel operation of legacy systems with PostgreSQL for phased transitions. Quest Software has been owned by private equity firm Clearlake since 2021.

AppWizard

December 3, 2024

NYC launches annual Minecraft education challenge: How to participate

New York City public school students are participating in the fifth annual New York City Minecraft Education Battle of the Boroughs (BOTB), which has opened its submission period. The competition invites student teams from grades K-12 to design inclusive urban spaces, with submissions due by March 7, 2025. It is organized in collaboration with Minecraft Education and C40’s Reinventing Cities initiative, aligning with the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals and the city's climate plan. Students will explore their boroughs and engage with local officials while developing skills in coding, leadership, teamwork, and problem-solving. Teams can consist of up to five members, and schools are encouraged to submit multiple teams. Qualifying teams will compete for the Mayor’s Cup in May. For inquiries, participants can contact minecraft@schools.nyc.gov.

Winsage

November 28, 2024

These Copilot+ Laptops Can Do More

Jacob York is a Branded Content Editor and Writer at Future, specializing in Games and Tech. He has a diverse writing portfolio that includes award-winning plays and content for niche websites. Jacob has recently taken up baking and enjoys visiting theme parks with his wife. He engages in "product research" by exploring the latest video games. He advocates for supporting local arts and promotes Equity hiring in theatre to foster inclusivity and diversity.

AppWizard

November 25, 2024

2K mocap studio votes for unionisation

Staff at 2K Games' motion-capture studio in California voted to unionize, with 15 employees in favor and six opposed, during an election monitored by the National Labor Relations Board on November 22nd. The unionization effort was supported by the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE). Matthew Peterson, a mocap animator, expressed hope that this milestone would inspire other workers in the industry to organize. IATSE International President Matthew Loeb emphasized the broader implications of this victory for labor relations in the video game industry. The unionization campaign began in October.

AppWizard

November 19, 2024

Minecraft enters real world with $110m global theme park deal

Minecraft is partnering with Merlin Entertainments to create physical attractions, including themed rides, hotels, and retail experiences, starting in the UK and the US. Merlin will invest over £85 million in the initial phase, with two attractions set to open in 2026 and 2027. The partnership, named “Adventures Made Real,” aims to expand to additional countries in the future. Minecraft has 140 million monthly players and is the best-selling video game of all time, having sold over 300 million copies since its launch in 2011. The game is also set to have a film release next April and an animated series on Netflix. In 2022, Merlin partnered with Sony Pictures to integrate the Jumanji franchise into its parks and expanded its collaboration with Peppa Pig. In 2019, a consortium led by the Lego family acquired Merlin for £6 billion.