milestone Archives

AppWizard

March 6, 2026

Disguise Renews Licensing Deal for ‘Minecraft’ Costumes

Disguise Inc. has renewed its multi-year licensing agreement for Minecraft, marking a significant milestone in their collaboration. The success of A Minecraft Movie, which premiered on April 4, 2025, increased fan engagement and demand for related merchandise, prompting Disguise to offer authentic character costumes. A second film is in development for release in 2027, ensuring Disguise will continue to design, develop, and distribute costumes and accessories for the Minecraft franchise.

Tech Optimizer

March 6, 2026

Azure Databricks Lakebase is Generally Available

Azure Databricks Lakebase is a managed, serverless PostgreSQL solution optimized for the Databricks Platform on Azure, announced by Microsoft as generally available. It separates compute from storage, allowing direct writing of operational data to lakehouse storage and bridging the gap between transactional systems and analytics. Lakebase features instant branching and zero-copy clones, enhancing developer productivity by enabling safe testing environments without infrastructure delays. It operates on a serverless model with autoscaling capabilities, ensuring cost efficiency by charging users only for the compute resources utilized. Lakebase is built on standard PostgreSQL, ensuring compatibility with existing tools and libraries, and supports various extensions. It provides unified governance through Unity Catalog, offering consistent access control and auditing across the Azure Databricks data estate. The platform facilitates AI development by enabling real-time operational context access and low-latency feature serving. Azure Databricks Lakebase integrates with Microsoft Entra ID for security and compliance, simplifying the DevOps burden for developers.

AppWizard

March 6, 2026

The best Pokémon game in a decade is a perfect crossover between Animal Crossing and Minecraft

Pokémon continues to thrive despite criticism, with strong sales attributed to its broad appeal among both loyal fans and younger players. The upcoming title, Pokopia, diverges from traditional mainline games, targeting children while also appealing to a wider audience. In Pokopia, players assume the role of a Ditto in a devastated Kanto region, where they must rally Pokémon to aid in reconstruction. The game incorporates gameplay mechanics reminiscent of Animal Crossing and Minecraft, focusing on forging friendships with Pokémon and building projects. Pokopia is set to launch exclusively on the Nintendo Switch 2 on March 5, 2026, developed by Omega Force, which has assembled its largest team for this project. The game promises hundreds of Pokémon and dozens of hours of gameplay, contributing significantly to the Pokémon franchise's legacy as it approaches its 30th anniversary.

AppWizard

March 5, 2026

Minecraft Experience | Asia debut at Mandai Singapore

Minecraft Experience: Villager Rescue will debut in Asia at Green Canvas within the Mandai Wildlife Reserve from 24 April to 13 September 2026. This immersive experience has previously launched in Dallas, London, and Toronto and invites participants to save a village from a zombie siege through eight interactive rooms. The experience includes large-scale projections, theatrical sets, motion-tracking gameplay, and storytelling, with participants using a unique "Orb of Interaction." After completing the quest, players can visit the Trading Post for keepsakes and earn an in-game cape. Developed by Supply + Demand in collaboration with Microsoft and Mojang Studios, this event capitalizes on Minecraft's popularity, with over 300 million copies sold worldwide. Merlin Entertainments announced plans for additional location-based entertainment experiences inspired by Minecraft, expected to open between 2026 and 2027.

AppWizard

March 4, 2026

Sony reportedly scaling back PC ports for PlayStation exclusives

Sony is scaling back its plans for releasing PlayStation 5 exclusives on the PC platform due to underwhelming sales performance of PS5 games on PC and concerns about brand dilution. While certain online games will still launch on multiple platforms, upcoming titles like Ghost of Yōtei and Saros will remain exclusive to the PS5. However, Death Stranding 2 and Kena: Scars of Kosmora are expected to receive PC ports. The PC version of Ghost of Tsushima: Director's Cut was notable for incorporating PSN features, but the PC port of Helldivers 2 faced criticism over PSN connectivity requirements. Additionally, Sony may delay the launch of its next-generation console until 2028 or 2029 due to an ongoing AI-driven memory shortage crisis.

AppWizard

March 4, 2026

Sony is Reportedly Backtracking on Porting Single Player PlayStation Games on PC

Sony is recalibrating its approach to PlayStation titles on PC, reportedly canceling the PC version of the PS5 exclusive, Ghost of Yotei. This indicates a potential shift in strategy where other first-party PlayStation games may remain exclusive to the PS5. In February 2024, Sony launched Helldivers 2 on both PS5 and PC, with an Xbox version to follow in August 2025. Bungie’s upcoming multiplayer shooter, Marathon, is also set for a simultaneous launch on PS5, PC, and Xbox Series X|S on March 5. Reports suggest that recent PlayStation releases have underperformed on PC, leading to concerns within Sony about brand dilution and sales impact. The anticipated release of Microsoft's next-generation Xbox, which may support PC games, complicates Sony's decision-making. Console exclusivity has historically driven hardware sales, as seen with the Nintendo Switch surpassing 155 million units sold by December 31, 2025. Microsoft has adopted a strategy of launching first-party games on Xbox and PC simultaneously, with some titles also releasing on PlayStation and Nintendo platforms. This strategy may reduce the incentive for consumers to purchase an Xbox console.

Winsage

March 2, 2026

Windows 11 tops market share as 10 faces extended farewell

Recent data from Statcounter indicates that Windows 11 has a market share of 72.57 percent, while Windows 10 holds 26.45 percent. Microsoft claims that Windows 11 has surpassed one billion users. Statcounter's data is collected from over 1.5 million websites and may be subject to revision. Microsoft will discontinue support for many versions of Windows 10 in October 2025, leading some organizations to consider Extended Security Updates (ESU), which can incur additional costs. Windows Server 2016 has a 20.3 percent share among monitored servers, and Windows 10 2016 LTSB accounts for 0.5 percent of Windows devices, making up 19.8 percent within the LTSC/LTSB category. The higher usage of LTSC/LTSB is attributed to special-purpose devices in consumer and retail sectors, which face stricter upgrade protocols.

Winsage

March 1, 2026

Windows Package Manager 1.28.190 is final

Microsoft has launched WinGet 1.28.190, aligning its version number with App Installer to resolve discrepancies. The previous version 1.12.470 has been replaced by this update. Key changes include consistent directory separators for portable packages, compatibility of the –suppress-initial-details option with winget configure test, corrections to the experimental “font” property, and the introduction of the experimental sourceEdit feature, which allows users to set a source for package management. The update signifies a consolidation of versioning and enhances clarity for users and administrators.

AppWizard

February 28, 2026

‘Zootopia 2’ Passes ‘Minecraft’ as Top Domestic Box Office Film of 2025

Disney’s “Zootopia 2” is the highest-grossing film at the domestic box office for 2025, earning 4 million domestically and surpassing the previous record of 3.9 million set by “A Minecraft Movie.” The film has grossed .85 billion globally, making it the highest-grossing Hollywood animated film to date and second among all animated features, behind “Ne Zha 2.” It achieved the second-largest extended opening for Thanksgiving weekend with 8.8 million and became the highest-grossing Hollywood release in China, earning RMB 4.59 billion. “Zootopia 2” has outperformed “Moana 2,” which grossed over .05 billion globally in 2024, and remains in the top 10 of the domestic box office charts after 13 weekends. Disney also has two other titles in the top four of the 2025 domestic gross list: “Lilo & Stitch” with 3 million and “Avatar: Fire and Ash” with 0 million.

AppWizard

February 28, 2026

Zootopia 2 becomes 2025 s highest grossing US release with 424m surpassing A Minecraft Movie

Zootopia 2 has become the highest-grossing domestic release of 2025, earning 4.2 million in the United States and Canada, surpassing A Minecraft Movie's 4.08 million. Internationally, it has grossed .425 billion, bringing its global total to .85 billion. The film debuted ahead of Thanksgiving, generating 8 million in North America and 9 million globally over the holiday period, marking the second-largest Thanksgiving launch and the biggest debut for an animated film. It became the fastest PG-rated film to reach the billion milestone worldwide in just 17 days and is now Hollywood’s highest-grossing animated film of all time. Zootopia 2 has also overtaken Avengers: Endgame as the biggest Motion Picture Association title in China and is the eighth-highest-grossing film in global box office history. The film is directed by Jared Bush and Byron Howard and features characters Judy Hopps and Nick Wilde. Disney's strong box office performance has been bolstered by additional billion-dollar releases, leading to the company's strongest annual sales since before the pandemic.