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Netflix is acquiring Estonian startup Ready Player Me, a company creating "cross-game avatar tech" that allows players to bring their digital personas with them to different games, the company's CEO Timmu Tke shared in a LinkedIn post. The acquisition is part of Netflix's new games strategy, which puts an emphasis on approachable multiplayer titles and adaptations of the streaming service's IP.Ready Player Me's team of around 20 employees will be incorporated into Netflix's staff, TechCrunch writes, though Tke is the only one of the startup's four founders who will continue on after the acquisition. Neither company has shared when the avatar tech will be incorporated into Netflix's games or what games will support the feature when they do. Besides designing its avatar system to be easy for developers to implement in their games, Ready Player Me's big pitch for their system is using AI to automatically redesign avatars for different games' art styles and "automatically fit assets to any avatar rig or topology without manual work."Netflix has taken multiple different approaches to games in the last few years, but lately, the company has actively retreated from AAA development and its more ambitious projects. Other than the premiere of its take on HQ Trivia, Netflix's last few game announcements of 2025 were focused on a collection of streamable party games, and a partnership with FIFA to release a new soccer sim in 2026. All of those projects could support avatars in one form or another, now Netflix just needs to decide how.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/netflix-is-acquiring-game-avatar-maker-ready-player-me-204443001.html?src=rss
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It looks like the holidays aren't a bad time to shop for a VPN subscription. ExpressVPN, Engadget's pick for the best premium provider, currently has a less premium price. This deal gives you two years of the Advanced plan (with a bonus of four free months) for only $101. When it isn't on sale, the same subscription would cost $392. Engadget's VPN guru, Sam Chapman, praised ExpressVPN's service. He described it as "high-performing" and having "very few flaws." The service received high marks for its speeds, easy-to-use interface and global network availability. The only significant mark against it was its relatively high standard pricing. But with this holiday sale, that criticism is (temporarily) null and void. ExpressVPN recently switched to a multi-tier pricing structure. (That previously mentioned Advanced plan is the mid-range one.) There's a cheaper Basic plan that allows 10 simultaneous devices (compared to the Advanced plan's 12) and doesn't include perks like a password manager. You can also choose the highest-priced Pro plan. It allows for 14 simultaneous devices and adds several extras. You can compare plans on ExpressVPN's website. When buying a two-year plan, the Basic tier is available for $2.79 per month (78 percent off). The Advanced plan is $3.59 per month (74 percent off). And the Pro plan is $5.99 per month (70 percent off). All three include the bonus of four additional months, giving you 28 total. Follow @EngadgetDeals on X for the latest tech deals and buying advice.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deals/get-up-to-78-percent-off-expressvpn-two-year-plans-for-the-holidays-194912043.html?src=rss
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Behold Mark Zuckerberg: man of principle. Witness the Meta CEO's dedication to the most high-minded of causes: "currying favor with whoever's in charge." In 2013, when Barack Obama was president, Zuckerberg co-founded FWD.us, a pro-immigration advocacy group. For years, he vocally supported providing paths to citizenship for "the most talented and hardest-working people, no matter where they were born." Now, in 2025, with Donald Trump back in power and pushing draconian immigration policies, Zuckerberg's philanthropy organization has officially cut ties with the group. Who says Big Tech executives don't stand for anything?On Friday, Bloomberg reported on the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative (CZI) severing its ties with FWD.us. Zuckerberg's group provided no funding to the advocacy group for the first time this year. Up to that point, over half of the roughly $400 million donated to the nonprofit since 2013 had come from CZI.In addition, CZI's chief of staff, Jordan Fox, resigned from the FWD.us board. No one else at CZI will fill the vacant slot, another first for the pro-immigration and justice reform advocacy group.In late 2024, Zuckerberg met with Trump adviser Stephen Miller, who reacts to brown-skinned humans being sent to foreign gulags the way my dog responds to a juicy steak. Among other topics during the exchange, Miller reportedly questioned Zuckerberg's ties to FWD.us.Mark Zuckerberg listens attentively to Stephen Miller at Trump's January inaugurationBRENDAN SMIALOWSKI via Getty ImagesApparently, his words resonated with Zuckerbergs principles. In January, before Trump was sworn in for his second term, Meta unleashed an overhaul that reads like a Miller wishlist. The company ended its diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs. That same month, it ditched third-party fact-checkers, calling them "too politically biased." It also changed its policies to allow for "insulting language" on topics of immigration and LGBTQ+ issues. The company even added Trump backer Dana White to its board.It fits a broader pattern of Big Tech bending the knee to Trump."We're in the middle of a pretty rapidly changing policy and regulatory landscape that views any policy that might advantage any one group of people over another as something that is unlawful," Zuckerberg told the New York Times in January. "Because of that, we and every other institution out there are going to need to adjust.""We now have a US administration that is proud of our leading companies, prioritizes American technology winning and that will defend our values and interests abroad," Zuckerberg said in a January investor call. "I am optimistic about the progress and innovation that this can unlock, so this is going to be a big year."What a big year indeed.US Chief Border Patrol Agent, Gregory Bovino and masked ICE agents in New OrleansRyan Murphy via Getty ImagesNow witness the contrasting words of one of Zuckerberg's chief rivals in Silicon Valley. "When you meet these [immigrant] children who are really talented, and they've grown up in America, and they really don't know any other country besides that, but they don't have the opportunities that we all enjoy, it's really heartbreaking, right?" the tech executive said. "That seems like it's one of the biggest civil rights issues of our time."That "rival," of course, was Obama-era Mark Zuckerberg in 2013.Despite the funding setback, thanks to our principled hero, FWD.us will press forward. "We're thankful to our donors, past and present, and so grateful to the many new donors who have stepped up in the past few years and particularly the influx of new supporters we have seen this year," FWD.us President Todd Schulte said in a statement. "This allows us to fight for immigrants under attack today and to build a better approach to immigration and criminal justice reform for many, many years to come."This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/mark-zuckerbergs-nonprofit-cuts-ties-with-the-immigration-advocacy-group-he-co-founded-183447900.html?src=rss
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