Tag: far’
Apple’s AR/VR headset rumor roundup: What we think we know so far
Google Pixel Fold: Everything we know so far
Four more Ubisoft games are coming to Steam, starting with Far Cry 6
Four more Ubisoft games are heading to Steam. Far Cry 6, Riders Republic, Rainbow Six Extraction and Monopoly Madness were all previously available via the Epic Games Store and Ubisoft’s own storefront, but will be released on Steam across May and June.
Ubisoft is bringing ‘Far Cry 6’ and three other recent games to Steam
Ubisoft is about to bring another handful of games to Steam in the coming months. As spotted by PC Gamer, Far Cry 6, Riders Republic, Rainbow Six Extraction and Monopoly Madness will arrive on the storefront on May 11th, June 8th, June 15th and June 22nd, respectively. On PC, all four games are currently only available through the Epic Games Store and Ubisoft’s own Connect marketplace.
Following a three-year absence from the platform, Ubisoft began releasing its games on Steam again in the winter of 2022. The first batch of titles included Assassin’s Creed Valhalla and Anno 1800. At the start of 2023, the company then released The Division 2 and Watch Dogs: Legion, among a handful of other titles that were previously unavailable on Steam. When Ubisoft left the storefront in 2019, it said the decision led to pre-orders for The Division 2 increasing by six times on its own storefront (where Ubisoft did not have to pay Valve’s up to 30 percent cut of sales). As for the company’s decision to return to Steam, Ubisoft has only said it’s “constantly evaluating how to bring our games to different audiences wherever they are,” a statement that suggests the size of Valve’s userbase may outweigh the value of sharing a smaller portion of sales with a partner like Epic.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ubisoft-is-bringing-far-cry-6-and-three-other-recent-games-to-steam-204545630.html?src=rss
Twitter Blue nets 28 signups so far since legacy checkmark purge
The removal of legacy users’ verified checkmarks finally happened on Thursday and the aftermath was unnerving for the platform. Early results culled from independent researchers about a day after the legacy purge showed that Twitter Blue only netted 28 new subscribers.
This is disheartening news for Musk’s subscription service, as the purge was the billionaire’s attempt to force verified users to pay for Twitter Blue. This strong-arm tactic has looked destined to backfire spectacularly ever since it was announced. As covered on Mashable before, celebrities like LeBron James and Stephen King have been very vocal critics of the move. The purge even provoked the ire of big-name shitposting accounts like @dril, who set out to block anyone who has a checkmark now.
Travis Brown, an independent researcher who has been keeping track of Twitter Blue subscriber numbers, relayed the news on Twitter Friday. He noted that of the 400,000+ legacy accounts, only 19,469 were subscribed to Twitter Blue, and after the purge that number increased to 19,497. While Brown does not have direct access to Twitter Blue subscriber data, his methodology has been reliable in the past.
Brown commented in the thread that anyone with an API account can verify his numbers, and he also explains how he gathers such data. Brown had earlier used his API access to confirm that legacy verification really has been purged from the platform.
For context, Musk had originally planned to purge legacy checkmarks on April 1. That did not happen, but when the purge did finally move forward this week, some users discovered a glitch that revealed that legacy users’ badges weren’t actually removed, they were just hidden by the UI.
It seems this issue has been fixed. But technical glitches and coding shortcuts are not uncommon since Musk took over last October. Possibly as a result of laying off 80 percent of his full-time staff, Twitter has experienced a deluge of weird bugs that have done everything from allowing copyrighted movies to be played in full, to outages of almost the entire platform.
The legacy checkmark purge is emblematic of Elon Musk’s Twitter ethos: the billionaire CEO seems to have misconstrued the former value of blue checks to Twitter users, and seems to believe that value is monetary. In reality, having been introduced after former Major League Baseball player Tony La Russa of all people threatened to sue Twitter, verification once existed solely to stop impersonation on the app. It morphed into a status symbol, and then that status symbol became available to anyone with $8. Now the blue checkmark is associated with Musk’s fans: largely NFT/crypto grifters and right-wing influencers.
In other words, Musk appears to have mistaken the past prestige associated with ID verification for something that can be commodified. But it now looks like that bubble has burst. With legacy accounts having had their checkmarks removed, and the platform’s only ID verification system now saddled with stigma, the platform is facing a bad impersonation problem — a complication that spurred major advertisers to back out of Twitter in previous months.
Back in March, Brown found more than half the accounts subscribed to Twitter Blue have less than 1,000 followers, revealing an unwillingness by the platform’s power users to buy into the service. In an apparent attempt to circumvent this, Musk has effectively made verification free for a very small subset of influential users, personally paying for the verification of a few celebrities, including Lebron James, Stephen King, and William Shatner.
So in a weird twist of irony, verification isn’t cool anymore even though the coolness was what was supposed to convince people to buy Twitter Blue in the first place. The subscription numbers may not be cool for Musk’s bottom line, but maybe those 28 new subscribers feel pretty fly right now.
Far Cry 6 leads the charge as more Ubisoft games come to Steam soon
Far Cry 6 is among several Ubisoft games coming to Steam over the next two months as the publisher behind the Tom Clancy games continues its return to Valve’s PC gaming platform. The open-world game starring Giancarlo Esposito, known best for his role as Gus Fring in Breaking Bad, follows in the footsteps of Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, The Division 2, and Anno 1800 as a Far Cry 6 release date on Steam is set following previous Epic and Ubisoft store exclusivity.
MORE FROM PCGAMESN: Far Cry 6 review, The best open-world games, Best sandbox games
Every surprise song Taylor Swift has performed on ‘The Eras Tour’ (so far)
Ten nights of The Eras Tour and still no surprise Reputation songs!
In case you haven’t heard yet, Swift adds two surprise songs to her Eras Tour setlist each night, to keep things fresh and fans on their toes. To announce this gimmick on the opening night of the tour Swift said, “The plan, the goal, would be to play different songs every single night and never repeat one. Right? So that when you heard one on this tour, you would know it’s the only time that I was going to play it in the acoustic set, unless — caveat — unless I mess it up so badly,” she added, “that I have to do it over again in some other city. Send your best wishes towards me that I don’t do that.”
The thing is: The Eras Tour setlist is already 44 songs deep, so we wouldn’t blame her if she lost track (and preferably played “Death By A Thousand Cuts” again). Here are all the surprise songs she’s performed so far, which we’ll continue to update throughout the tour.
State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona (March 17,2023)
“Mirrorball,” Folklore
“Tim McGraw,” Taylor Swift
Fans who didn’t attend opening night of The Eras Tour seethed with envy when they found out that “Mirrorball” wasn’t officially on the setlist. It’s one of several Folklore songs that deeply resonates with fans and its live debut was highly anticipated. Before she sang “Mirrorball,” she explained her choice: “I was trying to think of sort of an eloquent way to say that I love you and I need your attention all the time, and I came up with ‘I’m a mirrorball.'” And her 44-song setlist certainly confirmed that she is indeed “still trying everything / to get you looking at me.”
In a tender full-circle moment, Swift performed the song that started it all, “Tim McGraw.” “I was thinking about tonight and how special this is, so I thought it might be kind of fun to play the very first song I ever put out,” she told the crowd. Some newer fans weren’t familiar with her debut single, stirring typical fandom infighting. “Tim McGraw” was the only song off her first album, Taylor Swift, performed at night one in Arizona.
State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona (March 18, 2023)
“This Is Me Trying,” Folklore
“State Of Grace,” Red
Arizona was home to another Folklore heater, “This Is Me Trying.” “Mirrorball”‘s despondent twin moved fans to tears, and, of course, caused hysteria over the fact she played one of her heaviest hitters on night two. She rounded the surprise portion of the show with a piano ballad rendition of “State Of Grace.”
Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nevada (March 24, 2023)
“Our Song,” Taylor Swift
“Snow On The Beach,” Midnights
Per the request of opener Beabadoobee, Swift played an old classic, “Our Song,” at Vegas night one. She introduced the song by saying, “So this is a song I wrote for my ninth grade talent show. It’s called ‘Our Song.'” In celebration of the release of Lana Del Rey’s album, Did You Know That There’s a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd, Swift sang “Snow On The Beach,” a track that features Del Rey. “Lana Del Rey put out a new album… Guys, it’s so good. You probably already know that, but it’s just extraordinary. I just think she’s the best that we have. I think we need to make it a priority as a group to stream, buy, support this album and this artist,” she urged the crowd.
Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nevada (March 25, 2023)
“Cowboy Like Me” (with Marcus Mumford), Evermore
“White Horse,” Fearless
Drumroll please: Vegas saw the first surprise guest of The Eras Tour, Marcus Mumford! He joined Swift to perform “Cowboy Like Me.” After fans mercilessly teased Swift for not showing Evermore as much love as Folklore, they were delighted to see Evermore get some extra air time. She kept the country vibes going with Fearless track five, “White Horse.”
AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas (March 31, 2023)
“Sad Beautiful Tragic,” Red
“Ours,” Speak Now
Congratulations to Speak Now fans. Swift has now officially performed two tracks off her second album on The Eras Tour. Before she sang “Sad Beautiful Tragic,” she declared, “I love this one. When I love a song, I don’t care what anyone says.” It should also be noted that Swift switched out “Invisible String” for “The One,” on the setlist, something fans paid very close attention to after her breakup with British actor Joe Alwyn was reported.
AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas (April 1, 2023)
“Death By A Thousand Cuts,” Lover
“Clean,” 1989
Perhaps the most stacked night thus far, Swift played two of her most celebrated and devastating tracks during night two in Arlington: “Death By A Thousand Cuts” and “Clean.” After reports of Swift’s split from Alwyn made the rounds, fans speculated that performing two of her most iconic heartbreak ballads all but confirmed the couple’s breakup.
AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas (April 2, 2023)
“Jump Then Fall,” Fearless
“The Lucky One,” Red
Texas got two more classics in “Jump Then Fall” and “The Lucky One.” She introduced “The Lucky One” — a song rumored to be inspired by one of her heroes, Joni Mitchell — by saying she fell in love with the track all over again when she rerecorded it for Red (Taylor’s Version).
Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida (April 13, 2023)
“Speak Now,” Speak Now
“Treacherous,” Red
Since the breakup news had kinda, sorta been confirmed by sources close to Swift by this point, Swifties were at the edge of their seat to see which songs Swift would perform in Florida. Hoping for clues into Swift and Alwyn’s ill-fated romance, fans were disappointed that she didn’t sing any of the many songs about Alwyn. However, she did fuel the rumor that Speak Now is the next rerecorded album she’ll release. She said, “I’ve been thinking a lot about one of my albums recently. One of my albums has been on my mind a lot… lots going on in my brain about it. So I thought I might play the title track of that album.”
Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida (April 14, 2023)
“The Great War” (with Aaron Dessner), Midnights (3am Edition)
“You’re On Your Own, Kid,” Midnights
Surprise guest number two! Swift’s Folklore, Evermore, and Midnights collaborator Aaron Dessner, of The National, joined Swift for her second night in Tampa. Attendees were blessed with Swift’s first live performances of Midnights (3am Edition) faves “The Great War” and track five “You’re On Your Own, Kid.” She proclaimed that Dessner is her “collaborator version of a soulmate.”
Before singing “The Great War,” she referenced the fans’ own great war against Ticketmaster: “This song really took on a new meaning when you guys made enough jokes about how you trying to get tickets for this tour felt like surviving the great war.”
Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida (April 15, 2023)
“Mad Woman” (with Aaron Dessner), Folklore
“Mean,” Speak Now
Tampa night three certainly had a theme! Sitting on the piano bench with her bestie Dessner, Swift introduced “Mad Woman,” saying, “We wrote this song that I really love because it allowed me to get a lot off my chest, and now we’re gonna sing it for you — because who doesn’t love a mad woman?” She followed it up with a song fans could sing along with, too: “Mean.”
I’m a gym girl – trolls say I ‘took the bulk too far’ but I don’t care, I proved them wrong
A FITNESS fanatic has shared her impressive look after completing a cut after bulking.
She proved her haters wrong by completing her cut and looking chiseled and toned during her exercise routine.
Celeste Chaoul (@celeste.chaoul) showed her back muscles in a skin-tight workout set.
In the video, she detailed the hater comments she received while undergoing the bulk.
“She gained a lot of weight,” one critic’s quote read.
“She took the bulk too far,” another said.
“She won’t be able to cut the fat,” yet another troll said.
Next, the gym girl showed off the results of her incredible cut.
Her muscles look clearly well-defined as she flexed for the camera.
The fit beauty flexed her arms and lats, further showing off the fruits of her labor.
“Prove them wrong,” she added in the caption.
The video drew in viewers who shared their thoughts in the comment section.
“Proving people wrong is one of the best feelings,” one wrote.
“I got a little scared wasn’t expecting that,” another added.
“That’s insane,” a third commented.
“I love women,” yet another fan said.
“Trust the process,” one more wrote.
Google Pixel 7a: Everything We Know so Far
We’re still deeply impressed by the Pixel 7, a smartphone that managed to offer a flagship experience for just $600. But leaks and rumors indicate that the upcoming Pixel 7a will go even further—it nearly matches the Pixel 7’s specs and hits an even lower price point.