New Fantastic Beasts Movie Hits HBO Max May 30

Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore will be hitting HBO Max on May 30. The sequel was originally released stateside back in April.

The beleaguered Fantastic Beasts 3 has had a rocky ride to release, including star Johnny Depp exiting mid-project in 2021 (and reportedly earning $10 million or more after filming one scene) and being replaced by Mads Mikkelsen and this year having the worst US opening in Harry Potter history. Also, increasingly, any mention of the Harry Potter franchise automatically brings with it complicated associations with franchise creator J,K. Rowling’s anti-transgender rhetoric. Relatedly, WB censored gay dialog in the film for its release in China.

Days before release, it came out that there was no screenplay in place for a fourth Fantastic Beasts installment, and that executives are waiting to see how the film performs at the box office to give the green light. Which means, well, if you are still rooting for the franchise, you’ll want to help further support it on May 30 by streaming it on HBO Max.

Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore was directed by David Yates, from a screenplay by Rowling a…

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Stardew Valley Having Performance Issues After 1.6 Update- Take The Hats Off Your Pets

Stardew Valley’s recent 1.6.9 update is now live on all platforms, but like many games that implement large patches, the beloved farming sim’s latest update is reportedly causing performance issues for some players.

The 1.6.9 update gives players all kinds of dress-up options for their cats, dogs, and horses, but the feature also seems to be the source of the performance issues some players are facing. But on the bright side, Stardew Valley creator Eric “ConcernedApe” Barone has offered players a (temporary) solution to the problem: Take the hats off your pets. Come from Sports betting site VPbet

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Dreamtech Gaming reveals new futuristic online slot, Lotsa Lines; latest title as YG Masters programs partner

Changing paylines is just one of the features players can look forward to in YG Masters’ partner Dreamtech Gaming’s new futuristic slot, Lotsa Lines, powered by Yggdrasil’s state-of-the-art GATI technology. 

This high volatility video slot plays out on a 5×5 sized game grid where a light show pulses to 80s-style synth sounds and trance beats, and within the base game, the least amount of paylines you’ll be working with is 25. However, if the right surge of electricity hits, they jump to 50, 100, or 200. Landing at least three scatters can unlock up to 500 additional lines in the 12 extra spins awarded to players, resulting in huge win potential. 

Game symbols & features:

“Our latest smash-hit offers up to 500 paylines in the bonus round and, combined with the simple yet engaging gameplay and strong soundtrack, players can truly immerse themselves in the action of Lotsa Lines.

Dahl added that through YG Masters and using GATI technology they have “rapidly built exciting content and significantly boosted the reach” of their products. 

Established in 2017, the Asian-centric software developing studio…

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FansUnite Entertainment Sells Subsidiary FansUnite US Inc. for $37.5M to GeoComply and Hero Group

FansUnite Entertainment Inc. disclosed today the signing of a definitive agreement to sell its wholly-owned subsidiary, FansUnite US Inc., to GeoComply Solutions Inc. and Hero Group Corp. for an aggregate purchase price of US$37.5 million. The sale is structured on a cash-free, debt-free basis, with anticipated net proceeds to FansUnite of approximately US$20 million following adjustments and the settlement of obligations. The closing date for the transaction is expected around August 15, 2024.

Impact on shareholders:

Upon completion, Hero Group will be majority-owned indirectly by Betting Hero’s co-founders, Jai Maw and Jeremy Jakary, with GeoComply holding the remaining stake. A substantial portion of the net proceeds is slated to be distributed to FansUnite’s shareholders. The estimated distribution will range from approximately C$0.065 to C$0.075 per company share.

Quinton Singleton, an independent member of FansUnite’s board and Chair of the Special Committee overseeing the transaction, emphasized in the company’s press release, “Following review of the Transaction by the Special Committee, we believe that this Transaction represen…

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Mohegan Recruiting Ahead of the Inspire Resort December Launch in South Korea

The US gaming operator and integrated resort developer, Mohegan Gaming and Entertainment, held a recruitment event on June 20, 2023 in southern Seoul to make the first selections for its Inspire Entertainment Resort to be launched in Incheon in December. According to Korea YoongAng Daily, the opportunity to work for the soon-to-become the Korea’s grandest integrated resort attracted around 1,000 people to the company’s information and hiring booths in Gangnam District in Seoul.

In the event’s opening speech, Chen Si, COO of Inspire reportedly said:  “We are the biggest resort in Korea, but we also want to be the best and that comes down to people. I’m very excited to be here today and meet all of you young people.”

First Mohegan’s Expansion in Asia:

According to Korea YoongAng Daily, the company intends to employ around 3,000 people at the Inspire Entertainment Resort, which is a $1.4 billion project led by the American resort developer and operator Mohegan Gaming and Entertainment owned by the Mohegan Tribe. In addition to seven integrated resorts operated by Mohegan in the United States and Canada, the Inspire project t…

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Asus teases a new ZenBook Duo reveal for CES 2024 and it looks like that second screen is going full-size OLED-

CES 2024 is nearly here, and as the Las Vegas event draws ever closer we’re starting to see teases of some of the reveals already. This time it’s Asus’ turn to give us a sneak peak (via Twitter) at what may be on display at its launch event come January 9, and it looks like a fairly hefty refresh of the ZenBook Duo.

While we’re unlikely to learn the specs until the big reveal proper, Asus’ tweet gives us a shadowy glimpse at what looks like a new ZenBook Duo with two same-sized screens, and what seems to be a removable full-size keeb to boot. 

This would be quite the upgrade over the previous Duo with its tiltable screen pad and integrated keyboard, and it looks like this new model allows you to remove the keyboard entirely for full access to those full-sized screens.

It’s a design concept that Asus has played with before in the form of the ZenBook 17 Fold OLED with its very own removable keeb (albeit with one single, foldable display), so there’s some evidence to suggest that the new ZenBook Duo may have learnt a thing or two from its bigger brother. Given the prominent reference to “Duo AI Experiences” it seems reasonable to infer that this new Duo may w…

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Blasphemous dev reveals that Baldur’s Gate 3 studio Larian quietly backed the game on Kickstarter for $1000 and never asked for anything in return-

In a welcome bit of feel good industry news, Blasphemous level designer Enrique Colinet revealed on Twitter that Larian Studios was one of the game’s biggest backers on Kickstarter, and that the studio never made a big deal of it or asked for the backer rewards such a contribution would entail.

“Not many people know this, but @larianstudios was one of the biggest contributors during the @BlasphemousGame Kickstarter campaign,” Colinet wrote alongside a screenshot of the game’s credits with “Larian Studios LLC” plainly visible. “They dropped a four figures sum, never asked for their rewards, and just kept making one of the best games ever done in recent years. Legends!” 

While Larian’s full list of backed projects is private, you can make out the company’s logo among the 3 contributors to Blasphemous’ $1000 “The Punisher” tier on its Kickstarter page.

Blasphemous is a dark and brutal metroidvania influenced by the Souls series and the aesthetics of Spanish Catholicism⁠—as a product of parochial schooling, I’ve always been intrigued by Blasphemous’ deliciously, well, blasphemous take on the religion I was raised in. We gave the original o…

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The internet is not a free-for-all—we shouldn’t let big tech companies wish copyright out of existence

(Image credit: Future)

This week: I just so happened to be listening to Mustafa Suleyman’s book, The Coming Wave: AI, Power and the 21st Century’s Greatest Dilemma. In which, the DeepMind co-founder goes into his thoughts on AI and the “technological revolution” he suggests has already begun.

When a generative AI system creates an image or some text, it all begins with training. Without an understanding of how words are statistically related to one another, or without knowledge of what an image is showing, a generative AI cannot successfully recreate it. The image generated by an AI might be a new work in itself, a complete original, though it’s influenced by real works—millions of them—owned by millions of people.

How AI companies, or the firms which create datasets used by AI systems, continue to collect data is a source of much contention—an uncomfortable truth hanging over AI’s exponential growth. Many AI firms have quietly assumed a position of acting as though they’re al…

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