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Activision does plan to release a premium Call of Duty game in 2023, but it won't be a mainline sequel or spin-off.

Today Activision confirmed that Call of Duty's annual release structure will not be interrupted. The publisher says that a premium Call of Duty game is set to launch in 2023, but gave no further details on what it could be.

Sources have told Bloomberg's Jason Schreier that Call of Duty 2023 will actually be a big paid expansion to Modern Warfare 2. The game will be developed by Sledgehammer Games (Advanced Warfare, WWII) and is planned to have a dearth of content.

Automaker Kia is working on prototype pickup trucks, and one has been spotted out in the wild in Korea. Both kia_club_official and Bobaedream were quick to the news and pictures:

Obviously, details about the truck remain scarce, with Kia keeping quiet. We honestly aren't even sure if this was an electric prototype. It does look like Kia's Mohave SUV is now sharing the same front end as this secret truck. Despite a hood cover, the truck's LED headlights also appear to be borrowed from the Mohave.

Cadillac China is showing off a CT5 in honor of the God of War game series, ahead of the impending release of God of War: Ragnarok. The Chinese market exclusive has a clean paint job, featuring white body paint with red, black, and gray highlights on the full exterior, rooftop, and mirror caps.

A God of War logo is placed on the front of the hood, and PlayStation's iconic triangle, circle, X, and square from the controller can be found near the rear wheels.

The car has a striking paint job in honor of Kratos, whose backstory as the protagonist of the game series is quite in-depth. Kratos isn't actually covered in white paint - but the ashes of his wife and daughter to turn his skin white - which is part of a curse placed on him. The red is a tattoo in honor of his brother, Deimos.

Two car enthusiasts took their heavily modified cars to the track to determine which one would succeed between a Nissan GT-R and Acura Integra. The race is part of Hoonigan's HONDA vs HATERS YouTube racing series, which puts unique and high-powered cars to the test.

Before I jump into the drag race details, let's first start by defining "hoonigan": "A person who operates a motor vehicle in an aggressive and unorthodox manner, consisting of, but not limited to, drifting, burnouts, donuts as well as acts of automotive aeronautics. One who hoons."

The 1994 Acura Integra GSR featured 1,400 hp, a 4-speed manual, and a 1.9-liter turbocharged inline 4 motor. The all-wheel-drive car weighed just 2,700 pounds. The competing 2015 Nissan GT-R featured 1,300 hp, a 6-speed DCT, and a 4.1-liter L twin-turbo V6 engine. Also sporting AWD, the car weighed in heavier at 3,400 total pounds.

SpaceX and Tesla CEO Elon Musk recently fired half of the employees at Twitter, and now reports are coming out that the company is asking some of those employees to come back.

The mass layoff happened on Friday, with Musk announcing the news publicly by saying that Twitter's reduction in force of approximately 7,500 employees "unfortunately there is no choice when the company is losing over $4M/day", while adding that everyone who was fired was offered 3 months of severance, which is, according to Musk, 50% higher than what is legally required. The layoffs sparked major concern over Twitter's content moderation capabilities and if the platform was able to maintain its standards and policies on the content allowed on the platform.

Twitter's head of safety, Yoel Roth, took to his Twitter account in a series of Tweets where he explained that the layoffs affected approximately 15% of Twitter's Trust and Safety organization, and that front-line content moderation workers were the least affected out of the entire layoffs. Furthermore, Roth explained that more than 80% of Twitter's incoming content moderation volume was unaffected by Musk's 50% reduction in staff and that Twitter's daily volume of content moderation across the platform remained unchanged throughout the firing period.

A team of researchers attached cameras to a group of Tiger sharks to study the ocean floor, and what they discovered was amazing.

The new study published in the scientific journal Nature Communications details a group of scientists attaching cameras and trackers to the dorsal fins of several Tiger sharks. These sharks then led the researchers to an incredible seabed in the Caribbean. The study explains that the sharks led the researchers to an underwater forest of seagrass that the team believes is approximately 35,000 miles in diameter. The authors behind the study say the discovery is a representation of how little humans know about the ocean.

There isn't much knowledge on seagrass, but scientists do know that underwater forests of it are a prime feeding ground for marine life, while the forests also double as a storage facility for large amounts of carbon. Since underwater forests of seagrass are so vast, and are incredible for storing carbon, researchers believe studying these forests will influence humans' overall fight against climate change and slow its effects. Studying underwater forests of seagrass will allow scientists to understand how the carbon it's storing affects the planet.

The humongous popularity of Keanu Reeves' performance in the hit movie series John Wick has sparked ideas for a video game adaptation to be created.

The movie franchise began in 2014, and since the release of the first movie, the former hitman John Wick starring Keanu Reeves, has received massive popularity for its incredible fight scene choreography, a gripping revenge story, and the exponential number of victims that Wick leaves in his wake. The movie franchise has collectively grossed more than $587 million worldwide, and the fourth installment, John Wick: Chapter 4, is currently in post-production with a release date set for March 24, 2023.

With all of the success behind the John Wick franchise and the inherit high levels of action ingrained in each of the movies, it seems like a no-brainer to explore the idea of creating a video game adaption of John Wick. At least that is what Lionsgate's CEO, Jon Feltheimer thinks as he recently confirmed that his team is "fielding proposals" for a "AAA" John Wick game. The Lionsgate CEO said that nothing has been confirmed as of yet, but the company believes that "there is a big AAA game to be made out of John Wick", but isn't prepared to "say anything more" on that topic.

Following its combination with Zynga, Take-Two Interactive is now interested in pursuing subscriptions, game streaming, and even Web 3 technologies as potential growth vectors for its business.

Take-Two Interactive CEO Strauss Zelnick is typically conservative in its views, and has expressed lots of skepticism against emerging trends like game subscriptions like Xbox Game Pass and game streaming. Now in a recent Q2 investors briefing, the company has outlined a few interesting pathways to potential future growth, including Web 3 integration.

The emerging growth opportunities include possible exploration in things like:

Honda showed off its e:N2 Concept vehicle during a recent event hosted in Shanghai, China. It's the latest futuristic prototype after the company unveiled the e:N concept publicly in 2021. Trying to figure out what category this vehicle fits in may prove difficult - is it a coupe? A hatchback-type vehicle? Or is it an SUV?

The eye-catching surface finish of the vehicle is met with a clean metallic look that highlights sharp body lines. Interested auto buyers in the United States could be disappointed as it looks like this concept will one day initially focus on the Chinese market.

Honda designed the car so people behind the wheel have a driving experience to remember in an EV that stands out. Using Honda's current technologies, designers hope to offer vehicle stability and responsive handling.

Take-Two Interactive CEO Strauss Zelnick is still skeptical about video game subscriptions, and agrees with Sony's opinion of the Xbox Game Pass model.

The Xbox Game Pass model is a big hit among consumers who want to access Microsoft's first-party games with no extra cost. But for Sony and major players like Take-Two Interactive, who make hundreds of millions of dollars a year from premium game sales, the Game Pass model is just too disruptive. Take-Two's Strauss Zelnick says that day-and-date launches are actually a lost opportunity for publishers.

Although Grand Theft Auto V certainly has enjoyed a healthy earnings jump from its brief stint on Xbox Game Pass, the day one release cadence just isn't something that major publishers like Take-Two are willing to pursue. Zelnick shared his thoughts on subscriptions in a recent Q2 earnings call:

Honda is now publicly demonstrating its own artificial intelligence platform which relies on the company's cooperative intelligence efforts. Honda CI is designed to help humans and robots coexist in a productive manner. An autonomous short-distance people mover/taxi type model was also shown off, with development continuing into 2023.

Honda has several different potential use cases for Honda CI, which include robots, an autonomous transportation vehicle, and more. It remains to be seen if any of these services will make it to actual real-world use, but it's neat to see automakers branching out.

The WaPOCHI electric micro-mobility robot can follow designated users, with the person identified based on palm vein authentication - and can learn and recognize distinctive physical features of each user. Although this might seem overly creepy, the operator is able to go about daily tasks while the robot is able to ferry items around for the user.

The recent GTA 6 was confirmed real by Rockstar Games and Take-Two, but the leaker apparently did not steal any important game assets or content from Rockstar Games.

Back in September, Rockstar Games suffered one of the largest leaks in the history of video games. Tons of video and screenshots of an early build of GTA 6 were released, and the hacker had boasted to multiple message boards saying that they had internal files from Rockstar. The GTA 6 leaker, colloquially known as "teapotuberhacker" has since been caught, and now Take-Two has issued more comments on the security breach:

"In regard to the leak, it was terribly unfortunate and we take those sorts of incidents very seriously indeed. There was no evidence that any material assets were taken, which is a good thing. And certainly the leak will not have any influence on development or anything of that nature," Take-Two Interactive CEO Strauss Zelnick said.

After nine years of sales across three console generations, Grand Theft Auto V sales are finally starting to slow down.

GTA V is a powerhouse sensation that has generated billions of dollars for Rockstar Games. Since its release in 2013, the title has been a tentpole that helped prop up three console generations with megaton sales. From launch to present, GTA V has shipped over 170 million copies, and now the game is starting to get long in the tooth.

Take-Two Interactive's recent Q2 FY23 earnings report confirms GTA V sales are stalling. The company says GTA V has now sold-in "over 170 million copies," as compared to the "nearly 170 million copies" figure from Q1'23. Throughout the last couple of quarters, GTA V shipped 5 million copies per quarter for five quarters in a row (from Q4'21 to Q3'22). That exponential growth is starting to slow down.

NVIDIA's new GeForce RTX 4080 graphics card isn't too much further away now, with the second Ada Lovelace card releasing November 16 starting at $1199... and now we're getting a look under the covers of the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Founders Edition graphics card.

The upcoming NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Founders Edition graphics card has been torn down by @KittyYyuko on Twitter, with a cleverly placed EK sticker and even an Intel CPU placed on top of the board and GPU... so we don't know how many VRMs that NVIDIA is using on its in-house GeForce RTX 4080 Founders Edition graphics card.

You can see the AD103 GPU that NVIDIA is using for the GeForce RTX 4080 in the center of the card, while there's 16GB of GDDR6X memory surrounding it. There are 8 x 2GB modules of GDDR6X memory, adding up to 16GB of GDDR6X which sits on a 256-bit memory bus that provides up to 716GB/sec of memory bandwidth.

GAINWARD has one of the most impressive custom GeForce RTX 4090 graphics cards on the market, and now the company is reportedly replacing faulty GeForce RTX 4090 power cables.

According to Australian retailer TechFast, GAINWARD is delaying shipments of its GeForce RTX 4090 family of graphics cards for another week, spotted by Redditor 'varunbabu008". TechFast has reached out to customers providing them with some updates on their GeForce RTX 4090 graphics card orders Down Under.

TechFast customer support explained to -- I'm sure every Australian gamer who ordered a GAINWARD GeForce RTX 4090 graphics card -- that GAINWARD explained to them that the cables that were shipped with their cards are being replaced. Because of this, the company is "holding shopping on all cards until this has taken place".

German automaker Mercedes-Benz has a partnership with Riot Games and the studio's popular League of Legends title - and it has led to the Project SMNR (Summoner) virtual show car effort. Project SMNR has a fully 3D virtual user interface, so viewers interact with a real-time hologram environment.

Using "metamaterials" provides a fully virtual environment that is not limited by physics or production constraints. Instead of vehicle wheels, only energy fields are demonstrated - or something like the axles are removed so the void sculptural axle tunnel is revealed. Here is what Mercedes-Benz noted about the project:

"The resulting use of completely new materials, known as 'metamaterials', pushes the limits of what is possible. For example, the two-seater vehicle has a dynamic silhouette with a centrally located driver's cockpit and increased ground clearance. The wheels in the conventional sense have been replaced by energy fields and are fluidly integrated into the overall design of the vehicle. The flexible energy fields make it possible to completely dissolve the axles and bring their absence into focus. In addition, the spokes run inwards and accentuate the sculptural axle tunnel."

EVGA may have terminated its relationship with NVIDIA which means we won't see any GeForce RTX 40 series graphics cards, at all, from EVGA... except YouTuber "JayzTwoCents" has gotten his mitts on a prototype card.

The unreleased EVGA GeForce RTX 4090 FTW3 graphics card was sent to JayzTwoCents in engineering form, which would've been close to the retail version of the card I'm sure, and it is a big boi graphics card. It's thicker than its Ampere-based predecessor in the EVGA GeForce RTX 3090 Ti FTW3, which he has for comparison against the prototype EVGA GeForce RTX 4090 FTW3 graphics card.

EVGA was still using a triple-fan cooler on the GeForce RTX 4090 FTW3 engineering sample, with the in-house ICX cooling system, and something that I love: the rear-placed 16-pin PCIe power connector.

The consumer automotive industry is packed with models and trims providing a few different categories. A particular trend that is often overlooked is beginning to receive more attention: camping vans.

Ford recently started taking orders for the Ford 2023 Transit Trail Van, while Mercedes-Benz is teasing the Concept EQT Marco Polo camper van. Electric automaker Rivian is expected to launch the Adventure Van sometime in 2025 - and its electric R1T truck has a three-person tent or kitchen cooking add-ons.

It might appear to be a random niche customer base, but it has grown enough for organized support. The Adventure Van Expo Series 2022 went on a multi-city west coast tour throughout 2022 for van life enthusiasts - where van builders, rental companies, and others were on hand to speak to the public.

Netflix's video game adaptations continue with a new series of Gears of War shows and films.

Today the Gears of War franchise celebrates its 16th anniversary with a big announcement: The series is expanding to the big screen. Netflix today announced that it is adapting the Gears of War shooter franchise into a series of multimedia content including a live action feature film and another separate animated series.

The feature length film will be be based on the first Gears of War game released in 2006, and Netflix is working closely with Microsoft's first-party Xbox game developer team at The Coalition to ensure the adaptation is as authentic as possible.

The best-selling Call of Duty franchise has now made $31 billion in lifetime revenues thanks to a significant boost from the newly-released Modern Warfare 2.

Today Activision announced that Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 has made $1 billion in just 10 days time, making it the fastest-earning game in the entire franchise. This development not only underlines the might of one of the most powerful forces in all of media, but also updates total series revenues.

Based on Modern Warfare 2's numbers, total Call of Duty franchise sales have now broken $31 billion. Back in June, The Washington Post published an article that confirmed the series had earned a cumulative total of $30 billion. That number was up from the $27 billion figure that was presented as of December 2020, which meant the series had made $3 billion in all of 2020.