In the trailer for GTA 6, a character with facial tattoos appeared. The American Lawrence Sullivan, known as the “Florida Joker”, sees himself as the clear model for this character and makes demands: He wants not only money but also for the characters to speak – and more story in GTA 6 and Maoam.
This is the backstory:
In December, Lawrence Sullivan issued a deadline to Rockstar: They were to compensate him within three days, or else he would unleash his lawyers on the company. Two million dollars would be acceptable to him.
He accused them of using “his likeness” in the trailer; Rockstar had, in a sense, stolen his life.
To the surprise of absolutely no one, Rockstar and Take-Two let this “deadline” of three days pass without further comment, after which Sullivan generously granted them another month. He actually did not want to sue them.
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Rockstar Games shows GTA 6 for the first time in the trailer
Let’s talk, man
This is the new demand: Now that the bonus month has also expired, Sullivan is reaching out to Rockstar again. Now he demands: “Let me have the character speak, give me a storyline in the game – Let’s make history together, man!”
After all, everyone can see what he has already done well for GTA 6: He has made it to the headlines and blogs. Everyone is writing about him, everyone loves him, man.
It is clear to everyone in Florida that the character in the trailer for GTA 6 is clearly inspired by him.
However, Sullivan does not take the matter lightly: “Stop messing with me, GTA 6! Where’s my money? Call me, let’s make a deal! I don’t want to go to court, with lawsuits, lawyers, and this and that, but if I must, I will!”
He wants them to let him have the character speak and to slide some money over. Where’s his money?
Since the introduction of items on Steam it has become one of the games with the most trading. A rare skin that nobody received for 10 years was recently found. The owner could soon become rich, as there is already a bid of 1 million USD.
What skin is this? The skin in question is AK-47 Case Hardened. The skin can have different patterns and therefore looks slightly different for everyone. Here specifically, it is about the pattern with the number 661, which belongs to the “Blue Gems,” making them particularly valuable.
Here you can take another look at the skin.
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Here you can see the trailer for Counter-Strike 2 again.
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Counter-Strike 2: Valve once again impresses with the launch trailer
One million US dollars is not enough for the owner
What about the skin? The skin has already been valued by the famous CS2 streamer OhnePixel at 800,000 to 1 million US dollars. Meanwhile, the owner of the skin created a Twitter account and reached out to interested parties about the skin. He published in his tweet that he has already been offered 1,000,000 US dollars.
Isn’t that enough? Apparently not, because the owner of the skin set the buyout price at double, so 2,000,000 US dollars. The buyout price describes the price at which he would sell the skin directly. The current offer does not seem to have been rejected, but the seller wants to receive further offers for the skin.
To verify that he is truly the owner of the skin, he chose two well-known, trusted individuals from the community as contacts for potential buyers.
Why do we need intermediaries? The intermediaries have several functions.
They protect the anonymity of the seller
They ensure the safe execution of the trade
They provide reach so that more potential offers reach the seller
They also ensure that not everyone can claim to be the seller
One of the intermediaries, Sam “roflm0nster”, a Twitch streamer with almost 50,000 followers, recently commented on the prices that the lucky owner wants for the weapon.
A new season in EA FC 24 has begun. The new season pass runs for three weeks and brings you not only three UCL heroes and one icon but also a TOTY honorable mentions from Borussia Dortmund. We present to you the mini-TOTY and other highlights of the ‘Fanfare’ season.
What is the season pass? With each new season, a new season pass is released. In this, you can earn rewards in the form of packs, players, coin boosts, or club items. The necessary experience points (EP) are earned by playing as much as you can.
How do you earn EP for the season pass? The seasonal goals in the objectives offer various tasks for you to earn EP. A rule of thumb to keep in mind: ‘Play at least three matches in squad battles or rivals every day.’ This ensures you can collect all the rewards at the end of the season.
Mini-TOTY, heroes, and icon: The players in the new season pass
What can you expect in the new season pass? The new season starts with a real bang. Level 1 immediately gives you UCL hero Carlos Tévez, who still has a proud price of over one million coins (as of January 25). However, Tévez is only available as a loan card for 10 matches.
That is more than sufficient to earn a few wins and thus additional rewards in the last matches of the weekend league.
You can only get this special BVB star through the season pass:
This TOTY special version of the BVB player Julian Brandt is exclusively available only by reaching level 10 in the new season. He has strong stats for his position. Brandt possesses a strong passing game (90) and good dribbling (90), and his pace (81) and shooting stats (83) are impressive. With a 74 physicality rating and a height of 1.85 meters, Brandt brings an atypical physical presence for his position, which will help him in duels.
Additionally, the BVB star has the playstyles needed for a playmaker:
The existing passing playstyles combined with Trivela (outside of the foot) and a 4-star weak foot make him the perfect creator in any situation. With the playstyle ‘Technical’, he can execute the R1-OP dribbling even better. The finesse shot also gives him the ability to take dangerous shots on goal.
Additionally, there is a former BVB star that you can unlock just two levels later.
Level 12: UCL hero Tomáš Rosický (88)
The Czech had five successful years at BVB. While Brandt is slightly better equipped in terms of playstyles, Rosický impresses with slightly more pace. Otherwise, both players are quite similar. BVB fans can certainly enjoy how the two combine on the pitch through the opposing ranks.
These players are also included in the season pass:
Level 12: UCL hero Riise (87) – The Norwegian became famous at Liverpool FC for his powerful shot with his left foot.
Level 20: Winter Wildcards icon Bergkamp (92) as one of 3 options – A slightly different version of the otherwise soft-footed Dutchman. His winter wildcard edition comes with strong upgrades in defense and physicality.
What other rewards can you earn? To celebrate the loan card from UCL hero Tévez appropriately, EA Sports is also providing suitable club items that take the Argentinian as a figurehead:
Level 4: Choreo
Level 6: Stadium theme
Level 9: XL Choreo
Level 11: Home jersey
Along with these visual treats, you can also earn additional players.
These player packs can be earned in the season pass:
Actor Tom Hollander (Pride and Prejudice, Pirates of the Caribbean 2) recounted during a late-night show how he is repeatedly mistaken for Marvel star Tom Holland (Spider-Man: Homecoming) and even once accidentally received a paycheck for Avengers – even though he wasn’t in it.
During the Late Night Show with Seth Meyers on January 23, 2024, British actor Tom Hollander was asked about the famous Marvel actor with the similar name, Tom Holland.
The host Seth Meyers asked if people ever made the mistake of confusing the two. To that, Hollander replied with a: Yes.
Start video
German trailer for the Marvel movie „Avengers 4: Endgame“
Hollander humorously explained that it had been very difficult. “I was there first… But he is enormously famous.”
Of course, he wouldn’t be confused with the Marvel star based on looks, but in every other context, his name is constantly mixed up with Tom Holland.
Several times the actor had to emphasize in his professional setting that he is not Tom Holland, but Tom Hollander. “Or I will be introduced to someone’s very, very excited, then confused, then disappointed children,”, said Hollander.
You can watch the YouTube video where Tom Hollander tells the story yourself. Just skip to 8:50:
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Even his agency had confused the two actors, who were both represented by the same management for a brief period.
So, the “Pirates of the Caribbean” actor was sitting in the theater to watch a play in which one of his friends was acting when he got a message from his management:
I was sitting smugly in the audience after just having done a BBC show for $30,000 […] intermission came and I checked my emails and got one from the agency saying: ‘Payment receipt for the first box-office bonus for ‘The Avengers’.
Hollander’s first thought was then: “I don’t think I’m in ‘The Avengers’.” Nevertheless, he opened the email and saw that his acting colleague received a seven-figure sum.
Hollander emphasized that this was not the Marvel star’s salary, but just his first box-office bonus. Even this payment was more money than the actor had ever seen, and the smugness about his own fee of $30,000 was gone in an instant.
There is revenge – and then there is really dark retribution in Baldur’s Gate 3. No boss has been defeated in such a despicable way – because the player’s own mother is involved.
In Baldur’s Gate 3, you have quite a few options to express yourself freely. You can be a shining hero in sparkling armor who brings peace and good deeds everywhere. Alternatively, you can also be a depraved murderer and villain who leads various characters in the game world to their doom to enrich yourself.
Or you are so cruel that you first kill a character’s mother and then use her corpse to beat up her son. A toast to the freedom of choice.
Spoiler warning: This article is about Act 3 of Baldur’s Gate 3 and some decisions you can make there.
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Baldur’s Gate 3 is coming to PS5 – Trailer prepares for console release
What happened? In the Baldur’s Gate 3 subreddit, Syntactics2411 shared a small clip showing his fight against Gortash. He is one of the two main villains you face in the last act of the game – or can ally with him.
Gortash is not a blank slate. The whole plan with the mind flayers partly originated from him, and his backstory is particularly intertwined with Karlach. He sold the tiefling to hell, after which her machine was used as a heart, and she had to fight in the arena for devils for years – even though she had trusted Gortash until that point.
Karalach wants revenge for this betrayal and asks the hero to be there when it comes time to deal with Gortash – ideally, she even wants to deliver the fatal blow herself.
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And that’s exactly what she does in the video shown. She doesn’t just strike, but goes about it in a particularly insidious way. She pulls Gortash’s mother’s corpse from her inventory and hurls it at her son – which causes enough damage to defeat him.
This kind of cruelty would probably astonish even the “Dark Desire.”
Who is Gortash’s mother? You can find Gortash’s mother in a rather small house in the city of Baldur’s Gate. The parents are not part of any real quest line but provide some additional background information about Gortash. It is also revealed that both parents are already infected with a mind flare worm, and Gortash ensures that they remain ‘trapped’ in their bodies.
It should be mentioned that Gortash’s mother is not exactly the most lovable character you can encounter in Baldur’s Gate 3. She sold her son to a warlock at a young age to avoid falling into deep debt – thus, she isn’t exactly the mother of the year.
Of course, one could discuss whether Karlach would really be so cruel as to send Gortash to hell in this manner – but hey, in the end, it’s quite a creative (if unnecessarily cruel) way to defeat Gortash, which only came about due to the vast freedom of choice in Baldur’s Gate 3.
Whether one should really exploit this freedom to this extent – that ultimately has to be decided by each individual.
For those who find the opponents in Palworld too difficult, they must resort to more creative methods. A group of players has devised something quite special in the fight against a Mammorest: they grilled the monster.
What is the situation? The bosses in Palworld are not always easy to defeat. Especially not when your character is severely under-leveled. But what if you have enough ambition to defeat the opponent anyway? In that case, players must get creative.
That’s what a group of players thought when they faced a level 38 Mammorest. The Pal was actually much too strong for the group. Most of the players were at level 10.
However, they did not shy away from the fight. As it turned out, the players only dealt a pathetic one damage point per attack. So rather little. That’s why they resorted to an unusual method.
Palworld showcases the small monsters in massive action in the early access trailer
The players did not fight the boss; they grilled it
What was the group’s tactic? Fortunately, the Mammorest was particularly sensitive to fire. The players took advantage of this weakness. They built about 20 campfires around the boss and kept drawing it into the deadly flames.
Then, the players just had to cleverly dodge the monster’s attacks. The well-placed campfires did the rest and ensured that the Mammorest was literally grilled. But see for yourself:
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Building the campfires took about five minutes, according to the group’s statement (via X). The tricky part was luring the boss into the prepared area. Once that was done, the rest of the “fight” was like child’s play. The only downside: the victory occurred so quickly that there was no time left to catch the Pal at the last moment.
What do the developers say about the tactic? The video clip also made its way into the hands of the developers of Palworld. They expressed their admiration, shared the video on the official X account of the game, and wrote: “You have come up with a brilliant method to fight Mammorest!”
It certainly won’t be the last unusual method discovered by the community. Can you catch Pals like Grizzbolt? You can find the answer on MeinMMO.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
An important aspect in Palworld is collecting resources, including ore. We will explain how you can obtain this resource with significantly less effort.
What is ore? Ore is one of the raw materials available in Palworld. You can only obtain it from ore deposits that you may encounter in the world. The raw material is important for crafting various items, such as weapons or structures.
So that you don’t have to collect the ore yourself, you can automatically farm ore as well. Clever players have now found several locations where automated farms are particularly worthwhile.
Start video
Palworld: How you can level up quickly
Up to 8 ore and 5 coal deposits in a single location
Where is this location? The most lucrative spot can be found at coordinates 190, -40. Here, a user on Reddit has discovered 8 ore and 5 coal deposits just waiting to be mined by you. This makes it a more than good spot to establish another base and have Pals with a high mining skill work there.
This way, you don’t have to manually handle the mining and can explore and enjoy the other aspects of the game in the meantime.
What other good spots are there? In addition to this impressive location, there are several others that have been found and shared by players on Reddit. For example, at this location there are additional deposits that can all be found in close proximity.
Other players are also enthusiastic about these spots. One user commented on the post with the words: It is life-changing!
Additionally, another player shares that you can find another good location for coal deposits at coordinates 202, -112. As well as at coordinates 161, -66. Finally, coordinates -157, -88 are also mentioned. Here, in addition to coal deposits, you can also find sulfur.
What do you think about the spots? Have you perhaps discovered them yourself and established another base here? Or do you plan to if you didn’t know the locations yet? Feel free to let us know in the comments. More helpful tips and tricks can be found in our overview of Palworld Guides.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
In the auto shop of GTA Online, you will find the Exotic Export List for cars. We show you the 100 spawn points of the exotic vehicles on the map and give tips on how to find them. We also show you how much you can earn per day.
What kind of list is this? You can find the Exotic Export List in your auto shop, which you can purchase since the “Los Santos Tuners” update. However, the list is not immediately available in the shop. After you complete the first mission there from one of the mini-heists, the board with the sought exotic cars will be unlocked for you.
Where to find the cars? There are a whopping 100 spawn points across the map of GTA Online where you can catch the vehicles. Some are driven by NPCs. Others are parked and marked with a blue dot on your minimap when you are near one of the listed vehicles.
How to deliver the cars? If you find one of the exotic cars from the list, get in it. When you are behind the wheel, you will receive a prompt to bring the vehicle to the harbor. An anchor symbol will blink on your minimap to guide you. However, a GPS route does not start automatically.
When you arrive at the docks, drive the car into the designated yellow circle. A cutscene will play, and you will have completed the mission.
You will see this blue dot on the minimap near a sought car
How much money does the Exotic Export List bring?
This is how much you earn: With the export list, you can earn 300,000 GTA Dollars per day. It splits up among the vehicles as follows:
The first nine cars from the list you collect each earn 20,000 GTA Dollars
The tenth and final car on the list earns 120,000 GTA Dollars in one go
If you complete the list in one day, you will earn a total of 300,000 GTA Dollars for it
Based on personal testing, it takes about two to three hours to find and deliver all the vehicles. To earn money quickly, other activities might be more effective. However, if you casually export the vehicles, it can be a nice way to fill your bank account.
All 100 Spawn Points on the Map
Here’s where you should look: All the locations of the car spawns for the Exotic Car List have already been compiled in the GTA forums. The website Gtaweb.eu has integrated the locations into an interactive map, of which we present two screenshots here (via GTAWeb.eu).
As you can see, the spawns in the upper part of the map of GTA Online are rather scarce. If you are already in that area, you can look for the cars. However, from there, you also have a long way to the docks to deliver the cars.
In the lower half of the map of GTA Online, you will find significantly more vehicles. We recommend keeping an eye out there. The route to the docks is not far from these spawn points.
However, these spawn points are not all active at the same time. It’s best to grab a helicopter and fly roughly over the points. Look out for noticeably tuned cars. These are not the standard NPC vehicles that you are picking up.
How do you like the content with the exotic cars that you have to pick up? Have you used it yet, or is it content that you ignore or only do on the side?
Write your opinion about it here on MeinMMO in the comments and exchange ideas with other players.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
The roadmap of Palworld shows what updates and patches are planned for the game next. The community is pleased with what the planning reveals.
What does Palworld show? After the release on January 19, 2024, the team already published a roadmap five days later with what players can expect next. The overview is divided into critical issues, improvements that should be implemented quickly, and a preview of what is to happen in future updates.
Here we show you the roadmap and give an insight into the reactions of the community.
Palworld Roadmap from January 24, 2024
This is the roadmap:
The official roadmap of Palworld from January 24, 2024
Critical issues: Some bugs have been identified and reported, which are now being prioritized for fixing.
Some players get stuck on the loading screen when trying to enter a world.
Improvements that should be implemented quickly:
Important improvements to key mapping.
Improvements to the basic AI of the Pals and their pathfinding.
Updates for the future:
PvP
Raid bosses (as endgame content)
Pal Arena (PvP for the Pals)
Crossplay for Steam and Xbox
Various improvements for Xbox features
Server transfer and mergers
Improvements to the building system
New islands, Pals, bosses, and technologies
No data or timeframes on when these changes and improvements will be implemented in the game have been provided so far. The priority is clearly on fixing bugs and issues as well as the AI. In addition, the team writes on Steam:
We would like to introduce you to our roadmap for Palworld. The sales figures have significantly exceeded the expectations of the development team, and we currently have many issues, partly due to excessive access overload. We will first address these problems and then work on implementing new game features. We thank you for your understanding.
Start video
Palworld: How you can level up quickly
Community Reactions
What is well received: Generally, players are pleased that the team finds time to communicate with players despite the surprise success and the associated problems, as well as an emergency meeting. However, one point is repeatedly mentioned in the comments:
“Yes, the Pal AI really needs some improvements,” writes a player on Reddit. Often the AI gets stuck on structures or takes strange paths to complete tasks. There are also opportunities for improvement in transporting items. Player LuminousShot writes: “The transport of items needs an AI improvement. I tested it, and if only single items are on the ground, e.g., a stack of size 1, the Pals only carry one item, regardless of their transport level. This is really bad for ranches and mining outposts.”
Many users in the comments view the priority of the roadmap very positively. MortalJohn says: “Solid communication. Covers everything I personally want from them, in the right order. Honestly, a home run.”
But there are also users who criticize that the term “roadmap” was used rather generously for the few contents shown.
What do you think? Do you like the outlook on the roadmap or have the developers not mentioned something very important?
Terraria is one of the highest-rated games on Steam with 98% positive reviews: It was the first game on Steam to receive 1 million reviews while being rated so positively. A small YouTuber sees himself as the “best player in the world” in Terraria and is going all in.
One could describe Terraria as a kind of “2D Minecraft”; it is an action-adventure sandbox game. The player builds, fights, and crafts through a procedurally generated world.
Impossible run drives the growth of a YouTube channel like crazy
What does the YouTuber do? The YouTuber “Wild Lmao” specializes in Terraria and sees himself as “probably the best player of the game”.
He started a “Hardcore, Master Mode Run” with a mod that lets 30 times more enemies spawn in the game than normally.
Since November 2023, he has been working on a series where he plays Terraria against 30 times more enemies that also have 3 times more hit points and deal 3 times more damage than usual. Additionally, this is all still in Hardcore mode: deaths are therefore permanent.
Discovered the key to success.
How is it going for him? As can be seen on SocialBlade , the YouTuber’s views have exploded since November 2023.
The channel was created back in January 2019, but struggled to achieve any growth for a long time.
Just a year ago, in May 2023, he had about 5,000 views per month; now it’s almost 1 million (December 2023) and the number is rising sharply.
In January 2024 alone, he set a new record for subscribers and significantly grew his channel. More than half of his nearly 50,000 subscribers came in the last 3 months since he has been running the series.
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His latest video achieved 242,000 views in about 2 weeks, and he receives many enthusiastic comments. Besides the gaming skills of the YouTuber, his humor and entertaining style are especially praised.
Wild Lmao has likely found a way to really take off on YouTube as a gamer, even with a 13-year-old game that is actually totally worn out: 5 games that surprisingly exploded on Steam
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
The new bonus episode of 7 vs. Wild shows how well Joey Kelly fared alone in Canada. Fans particularly enjoy the episode because Joey Kelly truly shows what he is capable of.
This article contains spoilers for 7 vs. Wild Season 3 Episodes 1-14.
Why is he complaining? On January 24, 2024, the final episode of 7 vs. Wild was released on YouTube. A bonus episode in which Joey Kelly managed to survive alone in the wilderness for 7 days without his partner. Joey Kelly’s team partner Jan Schlappen quit the project on Day 7 and returned to civilization. Against production’s instructions, Joey Kelly chose to remain stranded alone in Canada.
Primarily, Joey Kelly appears disappointed by Schlappen’s departure from the project. Even though the two probably didn’t have the best chemistry, as they revealed after the project ended, Joey Kelly had firmly hoped Jan Schlappen would continue.
He states himself that he is hungry and would love to eat a pizza, burger, or fries, but he can wait until after the 14 days. Joey Kelly appears emotional at this point:
“Because I didn’t come to Canada to give up! Prepared for months. Whatever. I can’t change it.
[…] it’s not enjoyable to torture myself, I’m hungry too! I’m freezing, but Jan my friend, you knew what was coming for you. We went out as a team, out!
I’ll keep going, even if I’m out of the team ranking. You have to fight in life, friends. This can’t be right.”
One of the participants of Season 3 is the Twitch streamer Jens “Knossi” Knossalla. You can see more about him in our video:
Start video
From the Witness Stand with Barbara Salesch to the King of Twitch – Career and Life of Knossi
After the emotions, Kelly shows what he can really do
Where can Joey Kelly shine? Joey Kelly achieves something that likely no one else managed to do in that extent during the 14 days. With a self-made fishing rod, he caught a truly large fish from the open sea. While the other teams only caught very small fish at the cliffs, Kelly really scored here. He prepared the fish as stockfish and asserted how delicious it would taste.
However, that was not the only thing the 51-year-old ate without his team partner. The survival expert prepared a berry smoothie with the native Salal berries, which are said to look and taste similar to blueberries.
How was the isolation for him? The isolation was not easy for Joey Kelly either. He said that he thought a lot and occasionally had strange dreams. He also built a bench for his family in case his siblings would visit, at that moment Joey Kelly also seemed slightly dazed and spoke of his family coming around the corner with the houseboat.
If you want to get an impression of Joey Kelly’s adventure, you can watch the bonus episode here. At about 1:03:00, you will find the scene with the bench.
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What does the community like so much? The community finds the bonus episode more than successful. Not only Joey Kelly’s skills, but also the way he presents himself in the video appeals to fans. On YouTube viewers write:
Kurzb3: “Wow, he really makes Fritz look old. My utmost respect.”
Anja-ec7gl: “Fish caught in open sea without a net, but with a fishing rod? Respect!”
derbirra8370: “The episode was more exciting than the entire season combined. By a long shot!”
maphidoka3071: “In my opinion, Joey not only managed to last the 14 days, 7 of them even alone, but also made the viewer feel like a part of the series. Outstanding footage, filmed from multiple perspectives, great explanations, and especially creatively worked on. An absolutely worthy and magnificent conclusion to this season. Thank you!”
Jan Schlappen had various reasons for leaving the adventure. One of them was the many monotonous tasks he had to perform daily with Joey Kelly. In the past, fans have discussed a lot about the mismatched pair. In our article, you can find out why: Fans of 7 vs. Wild are controversially discussing Joey Kelly and Jan Schlappen
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
Black Forest Games was one of the larger German gaming studios, with over 100 employees. However, it is now reported that nearly 50% of the workforce is to be laid off. This job cut is, like the one at Piranha Bytes, related to the crisis of the Embracer Group.
What kind of studio is this? Black Forest Games is a studio from Offenburg, primarily known for the remake of the quirky alien shooter Destroy All Humans! and its sequels. Since 2017, Black Forest Games has been part of the publisher THQ Nordic, and thus, part of the Embracer Group.
For a game with the working title “Super Shotgun”, Black Forest Games received 3.1 million euros from the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action in July 2023. This was the third-highest individual funding that a game has received from the federal government so far.
For the studio, this was already the second subsidy of this kind, after they received 2.2 million euros from the then-responsible Ministry of Transport for Destroy All Humans! 2 – Reprobed in 2021 (via Games Wirtschaft).
In August 2023, it was also announced that the studio is working on a game about the cult turtles from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. It is supposed to be based on the dark comic spin-off The Last Ronin.
While the Embracer Group apparently took on too much in the traditional sense, others are ruining their business in a modern way on Twitch:
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Chef ruined his company in 59 seconds on Twitch – What happened to him?
Managers are safe, employees must go
What is the current situation? Embracer announced a “restructuring” in June 2023, which was to be accompanied by studio closures and layoffs. According to Kotaku, Black Forest Games is to lay off nearly half of its workforce on January 24.
The management is said to have promised employees more information next week. Kotaku also reports an insider stating that hardly any employees in higher management positions are to be affected by the layoffs. The studio is reported to have employed approximately 110 people recently.
MeinMMO contacted Black Forest Games and asked for a statement regarding the layoffs. We will add it here as soon as we receive it.
Black Forest Games is already the second German gaming studio affected by the “restructuring” of the Embracer Group. It had gone on a major acquisition spree between 2020 and 2022, incorporating numerous studios – including the Borderlands developer Gearbox.
The map of Palworld is large, and traveling on foot from A to B takes quite a while. A player has now invested time and patience to breed a Direhowl that is 60% faster. How he did it, you can read here.
What kind of mount did the player breed? The super-fast mount is a Direhowl. It is number 26 in the Paldeck. You can find them here, among other places:
Forgotten Island
Azurobe Hill
Sea Breeze Archipelago
Fort Ruins
Marsh Island
Eastern Wind Island
You can find the locations using the interactive map from Map Genie. Make sure to toggle off everything except Point of Interest, Fast Travel, and Location. This way, you can orient yourself accordingly.
Direhowls are white-gray wolf-like Pals that can carry you across the world of Palworld with a Direhowl saddle harness. According to the description in the Paldeck, the riding speed of the creature is higher than usual.
The Paldeck entry of Direhowl
The harness must be unlocked with technology points. To be able to craft it, you need the following materials:
10 leather
20 wood
15 fibers
10 Paldium fragments
reddit user DaD_Maiden made use of the increased riding speed: He paired two Direhowls together until he got a Direhowl that seems to be 60% faster than the other mounts. The key point is the special type of the Pal – Direhowls are the faster mounts – as well as the passive traits of the creature.
Start video
Palworld is in Early Access and there is already a Pokémon mod
What affects the speed of a mount? For one, Direhowls are generally faster than other mounts, and on the other hand, this special Pal has very good passive traits:
Lucky: Level 3; +15% attack and work speed
Nimble: Level 1; +10% speed
Runner: Level 2; +20% speed
Swift: Level 3; +30% speed
With these very good passive traits, this Direhowl is thus 60% faster than other Direhowls – which are generally faster than other mounts anyway. In a second reddit post by DaD-Maiden, he compares a normal Direhowl with his:
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How do you obtain the fast Direhowl? It is not so easy to get this Direhowl. You mainly need a lot of patience.
In the first step, you need one female and one male Direhowl. Make sure they have the passive traits Nimble, Runner, and Swift. Lucky is optional. However, the first three traits are absolutely essential: When Pals are paired, the resulting Pals inherit the passive traits from the parent generation – both good and bad.
All information on breeding Pals can be found here:
Breed with your two selected parent Pals until you have the passive traits described above. You can also breed further with the resulting Pals to gradually get closer to your desired configuration.
Once you have the passive traits as high as possible, you also need to increase two more stats: the level of the Pal and the number of Pal souls applied to the Pal.
You can improve the Pal leveling at the statues of power. In total, there are four levels, which you can recognize based on the filled stars in the upper left in the Pal overview. To strengthen Pals, you must first condense creatures of the same type with a Pal sponge, which you unlock at level 12.
Statues of power also allow you to use Pal souls to upgrade your partners. Collect as many small, medium, and large Pal souls as possible and use them as you see fit.
Will you breed the Direhowl again? Or do you have another mount that you like to use regardless of its speed? Let us know in the comments!
In Diablo 4, Season 3 started on January 23rd. After the first few days, players now have an opinion, and it is mostly negative. The biggest criticism: The new vault feature is annoying. There is anger towards the developers and a desire to return to Season 2.
Additionally, there is a new type of dungeons, the vaults. Here you need to not only fight enemies but also avoid traps if you want good loot. Only here can you get new guiding stones for the Warden.
This is how the season is received: The first reactions to Season 3 are largely negative. On Reddit and in the forums, there is significant criticism of the new content. It is not necessarily lacking something new but simply what Season 2 did well.
Season 2 was extremely well received, especially due to the blood harvests. Here, players could continuously defeat enemies and level up and loot excellently. Exactly what Diablo players want.
In Season 3, there is something similar. The best leveling method is the Mechanical Quakes, which are, however, significantly slower. You need to summon bosses in a cumbersome manner, and it takes longer for the action to start. Additionally, traps slow down the gameplay considerably.
However, the biggest criticism is directed at the vaults and the Warden itself. The pet is said to be almost useless and the vaults are just annoying. They feel like nightmare dungeons with more obstacles and less loot.
Especially the last room just before the end frustrates people: There are extremely many traps and waves of enemies with many abilities. However, the foes drop neither loot nor experience (via Reddit). And if you position yourself incorrectly, you can ruin your entire run here, as triggering too many traps results in less loot at the end.
Start video
Diablo 4: The Announcement Trailer for Season 3
“Does that mean only every other season will be good?”
On Reddit, there are players who say that Diablo 4 has two development teams: one for the current season and one for the upcoming one. This means one team is responsible for the even-numbered seasons, while the other takes care of the odd-numbered seasons.
Season 2 was well received after the setback of Season 1. Season 3 feels bad again. Players now fear that only every second season would be worth it. Currently, one could simply play in the Eternal Realm, as the new uniques are also available there, and apart from the Warden and the “boring” features, you miss nothing (via Reddit).
This Warden is also under criticism:
I’m not mad, just … disappointed. The main feature of this season is a pet. Something that the devs have actively downplayed. Because they want us to be powerful, not our companions. […] After a pretty good Season 2, where players were buffed by season abilities, we are now in Season 3. With a pet that has a fraction of the buffs that we had in previous seasons.
This pet isn’t even on my screen 90% of the time. It is gone and playing some games in another room.
Others believe that Season 3 should not be written off too soon. There are always people complaining – especially in Diablo 4. Even the retrospectively praised Season 2 had critics at the beginning, including very loud and prominent ones. For example, Asmongold stated: You can’t just repaint NPCs. That the season became so good only became clear after weeks.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
The developers of Palworld are currently celebrating great successes. However, as the CEO of Pocket Pair has now announced, the studio had little experience in at least one aspect of the game. They brought in a 20-year-old hobby developer to help.
What is the situation? The success of Palworld is undeniable. Since its release, the game has broken record after record. Many are now asking what the reason for this success is. Is it the game’s concept that initially seemed like a “Pokemon with guns” but is actually so much more?
Interestingly, the weapons, which the game has prominently showcased in the trailers, were a significant problem during development. This is evident from a blog post written in Japanese by the CEO of Pocket Pair, the studio behind Palworld.
Finding someone knowledgeable in the design and animation of firearms was far from easy in Japan.
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Palworld showcases the small monsters in massive action in the early access trailer
The Palworld developers had no idea about firearms
What was the problem? CEO Takuro Mizobe shares in his blog post about a specifically Japanese issue: “Japan makes a ridiculous amount of RPGs. But how many Japanese shooters are out there?” The only example he could think of is Resident Evil, where the weapons are not the focus.
However, Palworld definitely needed to include shooter mechanics. The reason for this, according to Mizobe, is simple. He states:
I decided right at the beginning of the project that Palworld would be a shooter because those are the most popular games worldwide.
Takuro Mizobe via note.com
Although there are some other examples of titles with shooter mechanics from Japan, such as Splatoon by Nintendo, the genre simply isn’t particularly popular there. Accordingly, it was quite difficult to find a developer with experience in this genre.
Initially, relying on foreign professionals was also not a solution. The reason for this was simply that no one on the team spoke fluent English. It would have complicated the work.
Salvation came in the form of a 20-year-old hobby developer
How was the problem solved? It’s almost a miracle that CEO Mizobe randomly came across an anonymous account while scrolling on X (formerly Twitter). There, he found a series of videos showcasing weapon animations, like reloading a rifle.
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Mizobe contacted the unknown creator. It turned out that the creator of the videos was not a long-time game designer with vast industry experience, but rather a 20-year-old from northern Japan who worked part-time in a grocery store. He had a middle school diploma and no experience in the gaming industry.
Everything the young man knew about animating weapons, he had learned through tutorials on YouTube. Additionally, he had learned near-fluent English by playing shooters.
Mizobe didn’t need to think long. He invited the young hobby developer to Tokyo and offered him a permanent position at Pocket Pair. Additionally, the company provided him with housing in Tokyo. From then on, the 20-year-old contributed his skills to the development of the now immensely successful Palworld.
In retrospect, the CEO of Pocket Pair wonders about the trust the young man placed in the company:
A small, unknown studio asks a middle school graduate with no experience to quit his job at a grocery store and move to the capital as a full-time employee? I would have thought that was a scam.
Takuro Mizobe via note.com
Fortunately, it was not. Who knows what might have become of Palworld had the studio not found someone to handle the weapons and their animations. It’s a beautiful story that will surely inspire many other hobby developers. Pocket Pair can now continue to enjoy the great success of their game. The streamer Asmongold has his own theory on why Palworld is currently so successful.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
In the Tarantino film “The Hateful 8,” there is a scene where a guitar is destroyed. It was a valuable loan from the museum worth $40,000.
For the filming of The Hateful 8 (2015), the Martin Museum provided a real Martin guitar from the 1870s worth about $40,000.
The plan was for Jennifer Jason Leigh to perform her song with the real guitar. Afterwards, the musical instrument was supposed to be replaced with one of the six copies that actor Kurt Russell would then smash against the pillar.
The problem: Kurt Russell knew nothing of the plan. So he grabbed the real guitar immediately after the song and destroyed it before anyone could intervene.
However, since the actress was aware of the value of the prop, we see in the scene her genuine shock reaction to what transpired.
You can watch the scene from The Hateful 8 here:
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According to sound mixer Mark Ulano, Tarantino stood grinning during the incident because he was so pleased with the actress’s reaction: “Tarantino was sitting in a corner of the room, with a funny smile on his face, because he had gained something from the performance” (Source: reverb.com)
As Jennifer Jason Leigh mentioned in an interview, it seems that Tarantino also did not know at the moment that Russell had just destroyed the original, as otherwise he would have interrupted the scene immediately.
In hindsight, the actor was reportedly hit hard knowing that he had just destroyed an irreplaceable artifact: “Kurt felt terrible, he had no idea. When he found out, he literally had tears in his eyes,” the actress said (Source: billboard.com)
How did the museum react? Dick Boak, the museum director, spoke out and expressed disappointment that they had failed to inform the actor and, as a result, destroyed an “irreplaceable, invaluable artifact” (Source: reverb.com).
Additionally, they did not know in advance that the screenplay called for the destruction of the musical instrument. The museum director also stated that they had attempted to restore the guitar, but the instrument was completely destroyed – there was nothing more that could be done.
As a consequence of the incident, the museum is stating: “As a result of the incident, the company will no longer lend guitars to films under any circumstances.”
Hardware upgrades for laptops can get expensive. A DIY enthusiast saves a lot of money by attaching an external memory expansion to his device.
Applications, games, and files to be processed can take up a lot of storage space on internal drives of PCs and mobile devices. An easy but sometimes expensive solution is to expand the existing storage or replace it with larger capacities.
A Mac user was looking for a cost-effective alternative to upgrade his MacBook’s storage. An upgrade directly from Apple was not an option for him. Therefore, he opted for his own solution with two SSDs that he attached externally to his laptop.
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How crash detection works on iPhone and Apple Watch
“Tim Cook hates this trick” – Affordable storage upgrade with special attachment
What kind of device is this? The laptop with the unusual storage expansion is a MacBook. Devices from Apple are not exactly known for their affordable prices. Even with upgrades, the US company tends to reach deep into their pockets.
For this reason, Reddit user ApocalypsePopcorn came up with something special. He attached two Samsung 860 EVO SSDs with a storage capacity of 4 TB each in a RAID 0 configuration externally to his laptop. They are connected to the device via an additionally connected hub.
Since a RAID 0 configuration consists of two drives that are fast but lack redundancy, all data is lost in case one SSD fails. ApocalypsePopcorn reassures the few users who are concerned about his data, explaining that he also has a backup of his files.
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How did the DIY enthusiast proceed? For the upgrade, the enthusiast relied on several components. To avoid irreparably damaging his MacBook, he obtained a robust protective case for about 34 euros as a base for mounting the SSDs.
Thick machine screws with cable clamps and a durable artificial resin hold all parts in place. A painting of the attachment in black color completes the cyberpunk look.
The two 4 TB Samsung SSDs were connected via a USB adapter to a 10 GB/s fast hub, which was also attached to the protective case. Through clever cable management, there are no loose cables or the risk of a broken plug.
In the future, he even plans to attach a third SSD with 4 TB to his MacBook. This way, the external storage upgrade would grow to a massive 12 TB.
What does the community say about this? The majority of users express praise for this original idea. VortexDestroyer99 sums it up perfectly and writes:
“This is total nonsense, but it looks really great!” (via Reddit)
In further comments under his Reddit post, there is also discussion about the costs the DIY enthusiast was able to save. ApocalypsePopcorn himself does not mention any specific amounts but states that he was able to get the two SSDs at a good price.
In Germany, a new Samsung 860 EVO with 4 TB of storage is currently priced between 270 and 500 euros (via geizhals.de). It should be noted that the SSD has been on the market for 6 years.
According to several users, an 8 TB storage upgrade at Apple costs approximately 1800 to 2000 euros. For instance, big-macintosh2 states:
“Apple charges 2000 euros for an 8 TB MacBook upgrade” (via Reddit)
If you add 34 euros for the protective case and a generous 50 – 100 euros for a hub, screws, and synthetic resin, the DIY enthusiast saved a lot of money even at the high price for the SSDs. User vladw1ck also noticed this saving and aptly says about the CEO of Apple:
If you often participate in Pokémon GO raids, good organization can save you time. We show you how to do it.
Why not use the suggested raid teams? When you participate in a raid in Pokémon GO, you can organize your team in the lobby while the raid timer runs down, which you want to use against the raid boss. The game already suggests a raid team for you, which consists of more or less good Pokémon based on the weaknesses of the boss.
Since the suggested selection is not always optimal and does not always choose your strongest or best Pokémon for the battle, you should organize your raid teams yourself. This can save you a lot of time and nerves, especially if you participate in many raids.
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Pokémon GO shows the new season “Timeless Travels” in the trailer
Organizing raid teams into battle teams and tags
How can I organize raid teams? When you click on the Pokéball in Pokémon GO that opens the menu, you can navigate to battles and then to the Team tab. If you scroll down here, you will find the section for gyms & raids. There you can build a team that you can access in the raid lobby. For this, you just need to swipe to the right in the raid lobby.
Here you will find the teams you created earlier. If you have now set up your optimal team for a current raid boss, you can quickly access it in the raids without having to set it up each time. This allows you to save time on each raid.
How many of these raid teams can I set up at most? You can set up up to 10 teams in this way, which you can then access quickly during the raid. This also gives you the option to set up different teams simultaneously if there are currently multiple raid bosses in the game that you want to defeat regularly.
How can I use tags for organization? You can also use tags to organize your Pokémon. Here you can use a tag to save your best attackers of the different types in one tag each.
When you set up a new raid team, you can go into the respective tags and quickly assemble the most important and strongest Pokémon for the current raid bosses. This way, you can also save some time.
What do you think about organizing raid teams? Do you organize your raid teams in advance, rely on the teams suggested by the game, or do you only create your team in the raid lobby? Feel free to share your opinion in the comments. If you want to know what events await you in January 2024 in Pokémon GO, you will find them with us.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
Devices like the Cronus Zen are a real problem in many shooters like Call of Duty: Warzone as they provide users with an unfair advantage. However, Sony has now taken countermeasures.
What is the Cronus? Cronus Zen is a device that promises universal controller usage across various gaming consoles. For example, it is possible to use an Xbox controller on the PlayStation with the Cronus Zen. Accordingly, the Cronus devices are neither officially made by Sony nor Microsoft or Nintendo, and are manufactured by a third party.
However, the “fun” with the universal use of different controllers does not stop with the Cronus Zen, and the device is used by many players to gain various unfair advantages in shooters like Call of Duty and Rainbow Six: Siege.
Start video
Trailer for Call of Duty MW 3 shows a lobby in real life
PS5 disconnects from Cronus devices
How was the advantage taken away from users? Since January 24, 2024, system software update 8.60 (version number 24.01-08.60.00) has been available on the PlayStation 5. This update seems to thwart Cronus users’ plans.
As the manufacturers of the device state on their official website, the Cronus Zen will no longer connect to the PS5 after the update without losing the connection shortly thereafter (via cronus.shop).
The manufacturers themselves do not yet have a solution for the problem and advise their customers to postpone the system software update of the PS5.
Macros and more – Cronus brings cheats to console
What unfair advantages does the Cronus enable? With the device, it is possible to use a mouse and keyboard in games like Rainbow Six: Siege that do not support it at all. Since the tactical shooter from Ubisoft has no aim assist for controller players, “mouse and keyboard” players have an extreme advantage – an advantage that is not supported by Ubisoft and against which they are taking action.
It is also possible to use a mouse and keyboard while the console thinks a controller is connected, thus granting you aim assist for controller players in games like CoD, Apex Legends or The Finals.
In addition, you can create custom scripts to reduce weapon recoil, enhance aim assist, cancel a slide with a button press, or set up macros for automatic firing of semi-automatic weapons.
What impact does this have on players? For most players, this has no negative effect, it only affects Cronus users. Players of competitive shooters can now be pleased that they might encounter fewer opponents using the device for unfair advantages.
If you own a Cronus Zen to play single-player games with an Xbox controller on the PS5 because you find it more comfortable, then you are affected by the update just as much as all other Cronus users.
There are many builds for the Rogue, but only three of them are currently considered the best in Diablo 4 in the current meta. We will list them and explain what makes them so special.
Update from January 25: We have updated the list with the top 3 builds for Season 3.
What are these builds? This listing contains the currently best builds in Diablo 4 for the Rogue. They either prove themselves through massive damage, their utility, or especially their effectiveness against tough enemies. The following builds are currently considered top-tier for the endgame:
Now that Season 3 has been released, it is important to know which direction your build should take so that you have an easier time in the ladder. Now we will explain what makes these builds so special.
Penetrating Shot is the simplest ranged build for the Rogue: You rely on a rapid succession of precise shots, mowing down individual enemies as quickly as large groups of enemies. Range and agility provide additional defense. Suitable for solo and group play.
One of the best builds currently available. You make sure that your twisting blades are buffed as much as possible, plunge the daggers into an enemy, and then move away to kill many enemies at once on your return. Plays like a nimble assassin. Suitable for solo and group play.
The evolution of the famous “Trapsin” from Diablo 2. You fight with strong crowd control and ensure that enemies are bound in one spot to “nuke” them there – that is, to annihilate them with high damage. Ideal as a CC build for groups or solo.
These were all the currently best builds for the Rogue. Season 2 in Diablo 4 is already out, but the meta could still change dramatically in the coming weeks. If you stay tuned, you will always be well informed, as we update our builds and guides for the individual classes and keep them up to date for you.
