portfolio Archives

AppWizard

May 2, 2025

Kepler says Oblivion launch didn’t harm Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 release

Publisher Kepler Interactive stated that the launch of The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion Remastered did not negatively impact the debut of their title, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. Senior portfolio director Matt Handrahan expressed optimism, noting that the remaster increased interest in the RPG genre. He highlighted the distinct identities within RPGs, with players often favoring either Western or Japanese styles. Handrahan felt confident about Expedition 33's launch due to its competitive price and inclusion in Game Pass. He reported that the launch week went well, with Oblivion becoming the highest-grossing game on Steam and Expedition 33 securing the No. 3 position.

Tech Optimizer

April 30, 2025

Malwarebytes Launches Global Strategic Partner Program Offering Organizations a One-stop Shop for Personal Security, Privacy, and Identity Solutions

Malwarebytes has launched a partnership initiative aimed at providing financial institutions, HR benefit providers, and internet service providers with personal security, privacy, and identity solutions in response to rising online fraud, which has led to financial losses of .5 billion over the past year for one in three individuals. The program offers AI-powered consumer security solutions to protect devices from various threats and allows partners to choose from a range of options or create custom solutions. Key features include a comprehensive cybersecurity platform, advanced mobile security, and flexible integration options. Eero is one of the first partners to integrate Malwarebytes Premium Security into its eero Plus subscription service, enhancing online security for its subscribers.

AppWizard

April 26, 2025

Oblivion Remastered hit 4 million players in less than a week, with a big chunk of them buying the game on Steam

Bethesda has announced that over four million players have engaged with the remaster of The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion. The remaster has achieved nearly 200,000 concurrent players on Steam, ranking it at the top of Steam's best-sellers list and second on the SteamDB best-selling tracker. The Palestinian Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) National Committee has called for a boycott of Xbox products due to Microsoft's provision of cloud and AI services to the Israeli military.

AppWizard

April 23, 2025

Devolver lays off 40% of Nerial workforce

Indie publisher Devolver Digital has reduced its workforce at Nerial, the studio behind the Reigns series, by 40 percent as part of a strategic response to challenges with recent releases. Nerial currently has 13 employees listed on LinkedIn, though it is unclear if this reflects pre- or post-layoff numbers. The Reigns franchise has generated over a million in revenue. Additionally, Polish developer Artificer has seen a workforce reduction exceeding 50 percent, and other Devolver labels, such as Good Shepherd and Big Fan, have also experienced layoffs affecting more than half of their staff in 2024. Overall, Devolver has reduced its workforce by over 30 employees between 2023 and 2024. Cult of the Lamb has generated over a million in lifetime revenue, Astroneer has surpassed the million mark, and the Gungeon series has earned over a million and sold more than five million copies. Devolver's average expenditure on third-party titles is projected to decline from approximately .99 million in 2022 to .73 million in 2025 and further to .04 million in 2026.

Tech Optimizer

April 22, 2025

VIPRE Security Crushes Competition with 99.93% Protection Rate in Latest Test

VIPRE® Advanced Security received the Advanced+ distinction from AV-Comparatives in their March 2025 Malware Protection Test, demonstrating strong capabilities against cyber threats. The test evaluated 19 security products using 10,030 malware samples and included both online and offline scenarios. VIPRE achieved a 98.7% detection rate and a 99.93% overall protection rate during execution testing, with one of the lowest false positive counts among the products tested. VIPRE's security solutions also enhance other Ziff Davis consumer security products, utilizing its threat intelligence cloud to block malicious sites and improve overall protection.

Tech Optimizer

April 22, 2025

VIPRE Security Crushes Competition with 99.93% Protection Rate in Latest Test

VIPRE® Advanced Security received the Advanced+ distinction from AV-Comparatives in their March 2025 Malware Protection Test for its exceptional performance in detecting and preventing malware threats. The test evaluated 19 security products using 10,030 malware samples on a Windows 11 system, focusing on both online and offline threats. VIPRE achieved a 98.7% detection rate in all scenarios, a 99.93% overall protection rate during execution testing, and had one of the lowest false positive counts. VIPRE's security features also enhance other Ziff Davis products, utilizing its threat intelligence cloud to improve protection across various platforms. VIPRE is a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc., and has over 25 years of experience in cybersecurity solutions.

AppWizard

April 8, 2025

Larian vet Mostovoy joins Aonic as head of games

Arthur Mostovoy has become the head of games at Aonic, overseeing the company's diverse portfolio. He previously worked at Larian, contributing to the success of Baldur's Gate 3, and has experience from Azur Interactive Games and Pixonic. Aonic co-founder Olliver Heins expressed excitement about Mostovoy's appointment, highlighting his valuable experience. Additionally, Aonic acquired virtual reality specialist nDreams for million in November 2023 to enhance its capabilities in the gaming industry.

AppWizard

April 6, 2025

The Last of Us Part 2 Remastered PC Performance Analysis

Sony has released The Last of Us Part 2 Remastered for PC, utilizing Naughty Dog’s proprietary engine. Performance analysis was conducted using an AMD Ryzen 9 7950X3D processor, 32GB of DDR5 RAM, and various graphics cards including AMD Radeon RX 6900XT, RX 7900XTX, RX 9070XT, and NVIDIA RTX 2080Ti, RTX 3080, RTX 4090, RTX 5080, and RTX 5090 on a Windows 10 64-bit system. The game features customizable graphics settings and supports technologies like Intel XeSS, NVIDIA DLSS 3, and AMD FSR 3.1. Benchmark tests showed all GPUs maintained frame rates above 60FPS at 1080p and 1440p resolutions with Max Settings, with the NVIDIA RTX 2080Ti achieving 60FPS. The AMD Radeon RX 9070XT outperformed the RX 7900XTX, while the RX 6900XT lagged behind the NVIDIA RTX 3080. For 4K gaming at Max Settings, the AMD Radeon RX 7900XTX and NVIDIA RTX 4090, RTX 5080, and RTX 5090 were necessary for 60FPS. The game requires a minimum of six CPU cores/threads for optimal performance, with dual-core and quad-core systems experiencing severe stuttering. An eight-core processor improved frame rates above 70FPS. The game features impressive pre-baked lighting but has some traversal stutters and asynchronous shader compilation that may affect performance on CPUs with fewer cores. Keyboard and mouse controls function well from the start.

Winsage

April 4, 2025

Microsoft unveils AI assistant with ‘memory’

Microsoft launched an enhanced version of its AI assistant, "Copilot," which can remember user preferences and perform tasks autonomously, during its 50th anniversary event. The assistant can independently book tickets, make reservations, and shop online. This update is part of a strategic overhaul to improve Microsoft's consumer image and reduce reliance on OpenAI. The event featured former CEO Steve Ballmer and co-founder Bill Gates, highlighting past challenges in the consumer market. Current CEO Satya Nadella has shifted focus to cloud services, resulting in a significant increase in share price. Copilot will include a podcast-generating feature and a "Vision" feature for processing information from a user's phone camera. Microsoft aims to enhance its Bing search engine to compete with Google, which dominates the search market. The company hired Mustafa Suleyman and invested in his start-up Inflection AI to advance its AI capabilities. Microsoft maintains a profit-sharing agreement with OpenAI and access to its models until at least 2030.

AppWizard

April 4, 2025

Ubisoft has closed its Leamington studio

Ubisoft has announced the closure of its Leamington studio, expressing gratitude towards its developers. The studio officially closed its doors after many years of operation, with a small number of workers continuing through remote contracts. This decision is part of a broader restructuring effort within Ubisoft, which has resulted in the layoff of 185 employees across various departments. Ubisoft acquired the Leamington studio in 2017; it was originally founded in 2002 as FreeStyle Games.