Take-Two Interactive plans to lay off 5 percent of its workforce, or about 600 employees, by the end of the year, as reported in an SEC filing Tuesday. The studio is also canceling several in-development projects. These moves are expected to cost $160 million to $200 million to implement, and should result in $165 million in annual savings for Take-Two.
As the publisher of Grand Theft Auto and the parent company behind Rockstar Games, 2K, Private Division, Zynga and Gearbox, Take-Two is a juggernaut in the video game industry. It reported $5.3 billion in revenue in 2023, a nearly $2 billion increase over the previous year. Just a few weeks ago, Take-Two agreed to purchase Gearbox, the studio responsible for Borderlands, for $460 million. The company is preparing to release Grand Theft Auto VI in 2025, a move that should bring in billions on its own.
Take-Two instituted a round of layoffs in 2023 across Private Division the indie label behind Kerbal Space Program, The Outer Worlds and Rollerdrome and other in-house studios.
An estimated 8,800 people in the video game industry have lost their jobs in 2024 so far, and a total of 10,500 industry employees were laid off in 2023. These are, depressingly, record-breaking figures. Sony in February laid off about 900 people at PlayStation; Microsoft fired about 1,900 workers across its gaming division in January; Riot Games let go more than 500 people that same month and these are just some of the industry's most recent and largest layoffs. Take-Two is now at the head of this list.
Take-Two executives have been hinting at a "significant cost reduction program" coming this year, but before today, they deflected questions about mass layoffs. In March, CEO Strauss Zelnick said on an investor call, "The hardest thing to do is to lay off colleagues and we have no current plans."This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/take-two-plans-to-lay-off-5-percent-of-its-employees-by-the-end-of-2024-235903990.html?src=rss
On March 8, a piece of space debris plunged through a roof in Naples, FL, ripped through two floors and (fortunately) missed the son of homeowner Alejandro Otero. On Tuesday, NASA confirmed the results of its analysis of the incident. As suspected, its a piece of equipment dumped from the International Space Station (ISS) three years ago.
NASAs investigation of the object at Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral confirmed it was a piece of the EP-9 support equipment used to mount batteries onto a cargo pallet, which the ISS robotic arm dropped on March 11, 2021. The haul, made up of discarded nickel-hydrogen batteries, was expected to orbit Earth between two to four years (it split the difference, lasting almost exactly three) before burning up harmlessly in the atmosphere, as NASA predicted at the time. Not quite.
The roof-piercing debris was described as a stanchion from NASA flight support equipment used to mount the batteries onto the cargo pallet. Made of the metal alloy Inconel, the object weighs 1.6 lbs and measures 4 inches tall and 1.6 inches in diameter.
Hello. Looks like one of those pieces missed Ft Myers and landed in my house in Naples. Tore through the roof and went thru 2 floors. Almost his my son. Can you please assist with getting NASA to connect with me? Ive left messages and emails without a response. pic.twitter.com/Yi29f3EwyV Alejandro Otero (@Alejandro0tero) March 15, 2024
Otero told Fort Meyers CBS affiliate WINK-TV that he was on vacation when his son told him that an object had pierced their roof. I was shaking, he said. I was completely in disbelief. What are the chances of something landing on my house with such force to cause so much damage. Im super grateful that nobody got hurt.
NASA says it will investigate the equipment dumps jettison and re-entry to try to figure out why the object slammed into Oteros home instead of disintegrating into flames. NASA specialists use engineering models to estimate how objects heat up and break apart during atmospheric re-entry, the space agency explained in a news release. These models require detailed input parameters and are regularly updated when debris is found to have survived atmospheric re-entry to the ground.
Most space junk moves extremely fast, reaching up to 18,000 mph, according to NASA. It explains, Due to the rate of speed and volume of debris in LEO, current and future space-based services, explorations, and operations pose a safety risk to people and property in space and on Earth.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/nasa-confirms-its-space-trash-pierced-florida-mans-roof-204056957.html?src=rss
Nearly 11 years after it first showed off its current humanoid robot, Boston Dynamics is retiring Atlas. The DARPA-funded robot was designed with search and rescue missions in mind, with the idea that it would be able to enter areas that were unsafe for humans to carry out a range of tasks. However, Atlas became a bit of a star thanks to videos showing off its slick dance moves and impressive feats of strength, agility and balance. Fittingly, Atlas is trotting off into the sunset with one final YouTube video.
"For almost a decade, Atlas has sparked our imagination, inspired the next generations of roboticists, and leapt over technical barriers in the field," the YouTube description reads. "Now its time for our hydraulic Atlas robot to kick back and relax."
Boston Dynamics' farewell to Atlas doesn't just show some of the cool things the robot can do. It's a bit of a blooper reel as well. Along with hurling a toolbag and leaping between platforms, Atlas slips, trips and falls a bunch of times in the clip oddly enough, that makes it seem more human.
Boston Dynamics of course has more commercially successful robots in its lineup, including Spot. It's likely not the end of the line for the company's humanoid robots entirely, though. "Take a look back at everything weve accomplished with the Atlas platform to date," reads the description on the farewell video. Those last two words suggest Boston Dynamics isn't quite done with that side of robotics yet.
Engadget has contacted the company for details about its future humanoid robot development plans. For now, it seems Atlas could be looking for a Wednesday afternoon dance partner at a robot retirement home.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/boston-dynamics-sends-atlas-to-the-robot-retirement-home-184157729.html?src=rss
Whether they're designed to be used indoors or outside, a lot of the best pizza ovens that you can currently buy can only cook a 13-inch pie. That's great for most situations, especially if you're keen on hosting a party where everyone can choose their toppings. However, there are times when you need more space, either for larger pizzas or to bake or roast other foods. Ooni is filling the void with its latest model, the Koda 2 Max, which is the company's largest pizza oven so far. The 24-inch, gas-burning unit can bake pizzas up to 20 inches while still achieving the high-heat cook quality Ooni ovens are known for.
In addition to being the biggest option in Ooni's lineup, the Koda 2 Max has several additional features that make it an upgrade over some of the company's other models. First, it offers dual-zone cooking with independent controls for both burners. This will allow you to cook two things at different temperatures simultaneously, or to simply have a hot and cold side of the oven when needed. To facilitate this, Ooni positioned the two burners on the sides of the Koda 2 Max rather than having one at the rear of the oven. The company says its G2 gas technology includes burners with tapered flames for more efficient heat distribution and more consistent cooking stone temps.
Another update is the color digital temperature display mounted on the front. While this isn't the first Ooni oven to show you the temp inside, it is the first to do so in color and it's the first to send those stats to your phone. The Koda 2 Max retains the overall look of previous gas-burning Koda products, including the folding legs for transport. It will also connect to a propane tank like previous models in order to provide fuss-free cooking where you don't have to manage a fire while you're making pizza and other dishes.
The Ooni Koda 2 Max will be available in May for $999, making it the most expensive outdoor-only option in the company's pizza oven range. The all-electric Volt was the same price at launch, but it currently goes for $899. If you can do without all of the fancy new features and extra cooking space, the Koda 16 ($599) and Koda 12 ($399) are hundreds of dollars cheaper, baking 16- and 12-inch pizzas as the names imply.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/oonis-largest-pizza-oven-yet-offers-dual-zone-heat-control-and-temperature-tracking-on-your-phone-181537924.html?src=rss
If you like the idea of turning on a light just by talking, here's an affordable smart home starter bundle. For those already comfortable with the automated life, this deal will give you one more thing to control and one more receptacle for your demands. Amazon's smallest smart speaker, the Echo Pop, bundled with a TP-Link Kasa smart bulb is now $23. The speaker goes for as much at $40 at full price, though the lowest we've seen it drop is $18 for Black Friday last year. The bulb has a $23 list price, but dropped to $15 a few times before. In all, the bundle marks a $40 discount off the full price and a $22 savings over the two items' current sale prices. The Kasa bulb made the cut in our guide to smart bulbs.
The larger Echo Dot speaker is also on sale, bundled with the same bulb. The set is down to $40, a 45 percent discount over buying the two items separately and at full price. Since they're both on sale individually right now, getting the set saves you $22 over current sale prices. The Echo Dot is our top pick for a smart speaker under $50 because it puts out big sound for its size, has handy physical controls and grants access to Alexa's helpfulness a selling point if you prefer that assistant's capabilities over another.
Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter and subscribe to the Engadget Deals newsletter for the latest tech deals and buying advice.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/get-an-echo-pop-speaker-with-a-free-tp-link-smart-light-bulb-for-only-23-160052418.html?src=rss
Amazon Music is joining Spotify in starting to offer a generative AI-powered playlist feature. For now, Maestro is available in beta to a small number of Amazon Music users in the US on iOS and Android.
Folks who are included in the beta will see Maestro on the home screen after they update to the latest version of the app. They can also access the tool by tapping the plus button to create a new playlist.
The idea is to use natural language prompts to create any kind of playlist imaginable. Your prompts can include sounds, activities, emotions and even emoji. Amazon suggests you might ask Maestro to whip up a playlist of songs that sound like the robot emoji (in which case you'll probably hear a bunch of Daft Punk tracks). Other prompts the company suggests include " and eating ," "Make my a genius," "Myspace era hip-hop" and, bizarrely, "Music my grandparents made out to." Ewwww.
Based on those ideas, it does seem that Maestro is more or less ready to handle whatever prompts you can throw at it, though Amazon notes that the tech is still in beta. As such, Maestro might not always get things right immediately. The company also says that it has safeguards in place to prohibit offensive language and inappropriate prompts.
Amazon plans to roll out Maestro more broadly over time. As things stand, Amazon Music Unlimited subscribers can listen to Maestro playlists instantly and save them for later (or share them with friends). Prime members and users on the ad-supported free tier can listen to 30-second previews of their playlists before saving them.
Earlier this month, Spotify debuted a similar feature for Premium members in the UK and Australia. AI Playlist works in much the same way as Maestro.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/amazon-debuts-a-generative-ai-powered-playlist-feature-150848360.html?src=rss
Starting today, the Uber app will remind you to put on your seatbelt shortly after your ride starts. Passengers' tendency to not use a seat belt remains a significant concern, the ride-hailing service wrote in its announcement of the new safety feature, even though 50 percent of all vehicle crash deaths in the US in 2022 was caused by their non-usage. Now, your driver's phone will issue an audio reminder when you hop on, telling you to "Please use your seat belt for your safety." You'll also get a push notification on your phone at the same time that says: "Even on a short ride and seated in the back, use a seat belt for safety."
The company first started testing audio seat belt alerts in 2021 based on feedback from drivers. It said at the time that it believes the alerts will "increase seat belt use and help drivers ensure a safe environment while on a trip." This rollout makes it widely available in the US, UK, Taiwan, Latin America, as well as several countries in Africa. Uber intends to bring it to more territories in the future.
The feature will only be enabled for your first five trips after the feature launches. Uber is likely hoping you'll get used to putting your seat belt on after those first five times, though it will send you a notification every 10th trip thereafter. The company also recently launched a new safety preferences section where you can find and automate the service's safety tools. From there, you can automatically switch on features like audio recording, PIN verification, RideCheck and Share My Trip.
Uber
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/uber-will-start-reminding-passengers-to-wear-their-seat-belt-140000112.html?src=rss
Do managers think artificial intelligence will lead to fewer employees and lower salaries? To find out, researchers conducted a survey of 3,000 adults in the United States in management positions. Read the full article at MarketingProfs
Which fonts should you consider and which should you avoid for your email campaigns? This infographic looks at the good (clear and Web-friendly), bad (for decoration only), and ugly (avoid at all cost). Read the full article at MarketingProfs
