Electronic Arts Reports Q4 and FY23 Results, offering the company's latest financials. Word is: "EA delivered a strong Q4 with record net bookings, up 11 percent year-over-year, demonstrating the strength of our business." Bookings are not exactly the same as revenue, and the phrase "net bookings" appears 14 times in the results. The results mention FIFA 23 has become the most successful launch in franchise history and Apex Legends Season 16 was more successful than Season 15. It also notes that The Sims 4 has served over 70 million worldwide players over the years, fueled, no doubt, by the game going free-to-play. Here's more on the financial impact of the quarter:

“EA delivered a strong Q4 with record net bookings, up 11 percent year-over-year, demonstrating the strength of our business. Our teams continue to create high quality entertainment, fueled by amazing games and deeply engaging live services,” said Andrew Wilson, CEO of Electronic Arts. “We're excited to continue our momentum, including the highly anticipated launch of EA SPORTS FC later this year.”

"Record live services performance and increased engagement, particularly from our EA SPORTS FIFA franchise, drove better-than-expected Q4 net bookings, capping a strong finish to the fiscal year," said Chris Suh, CFO. "Looking ahead, our teams remain disciplined in prioritizing the player experience as we continue to focus our investments on long-term growth."

Amazon announces a new service called Amazon Anywhere, as the retail giant has found a new area to expand its ubiquity. This will allow physical products to be sold from within video games and virtual reality. We thought this was praiseworthy for not using the term "metaverse," but it just takes a couple of paragraphs for that to appear. Here's word:

Amazon wants you to buy something while you’re having fun.

On Tuesday, the company launched a new service, called “Amazon Anywhere,” that will allow customers to purchase physical products from its online store while playing video games or interacting in virtual reality.

With the new service, customers can purchase items from Amazon without having to leave the game, or whatever mobile app they might be using, the company said.

Continue here to read the full story.

Here's a Steam Listing for Mouse, an upcoming first-person shooter from Fumi Games (thanks Gematsu). At first glance this appears to be another beneficiary of copyright law, defiling Mickey Mouse rather than defiling Winnie the Pooh. As has been noted, just the original 1928 Steamboat Willie version of the cartoon mascot will lapse into the public domain next year. But the mice (rats?) in the Steam Trailer don't resemble that cartoon. Interestingly, your hands are shown wearing Mickey Mouse's signature white gloves, which are not part of the Steamboat Willie version of the character. So this appears to be an homage. Here's word:

Step into a world of cartoon animation and retro action-packed adventure in Mouse. Inspired by the best of 30s rubber hose animation and the classic noir style, this retro shooter is a story-driven experience that will take you on a thrilling journey through a dangerous and corrupt city.

Armed with a variety of mid-century firearms and explosives like the Revolver, Tommy Gun, Hammer, Carcano, Dynamite, you'll be able to take on enemies in any way you choose. Whether you prefer to run and gun, jump and dodge, or carefully plan your attacks, Mouse gives you the freedom to approach combat your way.

Continue here to read the full story.

• It seems like AC Mirage has been internally delayed from August to October. Nexus, AC's VR offering has also been delayed a couple of months.
• EA Presents Timeline Of Upcoming "Announced" Titles Up Until Q3 Of Fiscal Year 2024, With Dragon Age: Dreadwolf Noticeably Absent.

• EA CEO: Activision Blizzard Deal Is 'Not Really Material to Us.'
• EA ‘overjoyed’ with early Star Wars Jedi: Survivor performance. You know, sales performance.

• Save 70% on GreedFall on Steam.
• Save 20% on Starship Troopers- Terran Command on Steam.
• A kind of magic! SpellForce Midweek Madness Deal is live.
• Save 30% on IXION on Steam.

• Activision hires Queen's former lawyer to lead appeal against CMA acquisition ruling.
• Skillz Announces First Quarter 2023 Results.
• Private Division Announces Publishing Partnership with Game Freak.

• Humble 2022 Social Impact Report Highlights Record Breaking Year with $33 Million Raised for 10,000+ Charities.
• Call of Duty fans hit out at DMZ's most egregious -pay-to-win- bundle yet.

• Rumour Points To PlayStation IP Being Adapted Into New Anime Series.
• Lawson Zelda Collaboration Includes Tri-Force Speaker.

Official patches.

• Hearthstone 26.2 Patch Notes.
• The Last of Us Part I v1.0.5 Patch Notes.
• Overwatch 2 - Patch Notes.
• Torchlight- Infinite - Cube of Rapacity Season Patch Note.

Official trailers.

• Bus Simulator 21 Next Stop – Ebusco Bus Pack Trailer.
• The Crew 2: US Speed Tour Next - Season 8 Episode 2 Trailer.

• Pearl Abyss exploring beyond Black Desert - GamesIndustry.biz.

• Purge Your Sin with the Season 13 Battle Pass — Diablo Immortal.
• World of Warcraft Dragonflight Season 2—Now Live.
• Sea of Thieves - Season Nine’s Style of Thieves Theme Reveal.
• Path of Exile Announcement - More ExileCon Tickets Added.

• Alboran Hatchery Map Intel — Call of Duty- Modern Warfare II. Includes a new trailer.

• Nintendo Releases New Switch System Update Ahead of Tears of the Kingdom.
• PlayStation reveals initiative to fund and support indie devs in India.
• Private Division And Pokémon Developer Game Freak Are Collaborating On A New Title Codenamed "Project Bloom."
• Creature Photographing Supernatural Puzzle Adventure Moonrise Fall Hits Xbox.

• Don’t let Tesla Cybertruck’s new tool rack distract from its oversize windshield wiper. Thanks Matthew.
• A special Galaxy S22 privacy case can disable cameras, mic, radios at hardware level.

• Over half of Twitter Blue's earliest subscribers are no longer subscribed. Thanks Boing Boing.
• MrBeast Bought A Whole Neighborhood For Employees To Live In. It's the fake smile that brings in all the views.
• Pewdiepie manages to get banned from Twitch without actually streaming on Twitch.
• Tucker Carlson is taking his show to Twitter.

Thanks Console General.

• Poor Earnings Force Samsung To Reduce Production Of DDR4 As Pricing Takes A Rollercoaster Dive.
• AI gains “values” with Anthropic’s new Constitutional AI chatbot approach.
• Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22621.1755 and 22624.1755.
• Humane’s new wearable AI demo is wild — and we have lots of questions.
• Visual Studio Code v1.78.1.
• AMD Can't Beat Ada, So Brags About Old Ampere Comparisons.
• Why you're right to hate motion blur in games. The first thing to turn off in any game.

• This devious new ransomware encrypts itself to avoid your antivirus.
• FBI-led Operation Medusa kills Russian FSB malware network.
• Microsoft starts enforcing number matching for Authenticator.

• Bungie has won another Destiny 2 cheat seller lawsuit.
• PEGA committee calls for EU level regulation of spyware.
• SBF says “dishonesty and unfair dealing” aren’t fraud, seeks to dismiss charges.
• China Arrests Man for Allegedly Using ChatGPT to Create Fake News. He needed AI to make stuff up?

Last Link of the Day: Woman who wrote a book on grief after her husband's death is charged with his murder. Thanks loonyboi.

Paradox Interactive has launched Galactic Paragons, a new expansion for Stellaris, the science fiction 4X strategy game. This is for PC and consoles, and the Windows, macOS, and Linux edition is available on GOG.com* and Steam, depending on where you bought the base version. But all owners of the original game are getting an update today, regardless of whether they purchase the new DLC. Word is this includes quality of life improvements and two new multiplayer modes: "All Stellaris players will also receive the free 3.8 ‘Gemini’ from the Stellaris custodians team, which includes a tremendous number of Quality of Life updates. Alongside Galactic Paragons, two multiplayer game modes are now available in open beta: Cooperative PvE and Competitive PvP." Here's a Release Trailer with a look at the new add-on, and here's more:

Paradox Interactive today launched Galactic Paragons, the latest expansion for the sci-fi strategy game Stellaris. Players can strengthen their empire by customizing and fine-tuning their empire’s leaders to make the most of their unique characteristics. Galactic Paragons is available today via online stores for a suggested retail price of $14.99/£12.79/€14.99.

Galactic Paragons expands Stellaris’ Council mechanic, introduces leaders who bring specialized abilities to your empire, and adds tons of additional features. Players gain control over how they invest in and strengthen their leaders to guide their empire and influence the galaxy’s future.

*Blue's News may receive a commission on sales of this item. Continue here to read the full story.

It may come as a shock, but Prime Matter and Nightdive Studios announce that development on the full remake of System Shock is now complete. This means the now-gold new version of the 1994 action/RPG-first-person shooter is on track to launch on May 30th. This supports Windows only, and will be available on the Epic Games Store, GOG.com,* and Steam. Each site promises a free copy of the upcoming System Shock 2: Enhanced Edition as a preorder incentive. Version for PlayStation 4|5 and Xbox One and Series S|X are still planned, word is these will come "in due course; more details will be shared in the future." The news includes the game's system specifications, so here are those:

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS

MINIMUM:
Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system
OS: Windows 7/8.1/10 (64-bit only)
Processor: Intel Core i5-2400/AMD FX-8320 or better
Memory: 4 GB RAM
Graphics: NVIDIA GTX 670 2GB/AMD Radeon HD 7870 2GB or better
DirectX: Version 11
Storage: 2 GB available space

RECOMMENDED:
Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system
OS: Windows 7/8.1/10 (64-bit only)
Processor: Intel Core i7-3770/AMD FX-8350 or better
Memory: 8 GB RAM
Graphics: NVIDIA GTX 970 4GB/AMD Radeon R9 290 4GB or better
DirectX: Version 11
Storage: 2 GB available space

*Blue's News may receive a commission on sales of this item.

With the Diablo IV Server Slam set to kick off on Friday, NVIDIA takes the opportunity to remind us of the game's DLSS 3 support. And since that feature requires a 40-series GPU, and NVIDIA also announces a new Diablo IV with GeForce RTX 40 Series Bundle which includes a free copy of the action/RPG sequel for purchasers of qualifying cards. This is the standard edition along with a mount, a pet, and some cosmetics. Here's word:

Diablo® IV is the ultimate action RPG experience with endless evil to slaughter, countless abilities to master, nightmarish dungeons, and legendary loot. Raise hell with the ground-breaking AI-accelerated performance of NVIDIA DLSS 3 and the best responsiveness with NVIDIA Reflex at launch, and ray tracing post-launch.

For a limited time, get Diablo® IV with the purchase of a qualifying GeForce RTX 4090, 4080, 4070 Ti, 4070 desktop or GPU.

It's time to open a Corona and wax on about the importance of family. The Heist & The Hazardous is now available for Saints Row on PC and consoles, adding the first DLC to the open-world action game reboot. The Launch Trailer is here to introduce the add-on. The Windows edition is available on the Epic Games Store. Owners of the Saints Row Gold Edition should already have this in their libraries thanks to its DLC pass. Here word on the first of three such releases, which also comes alongside a massive free update for the base game:

Deep Silver and Volition today are happy to announce that the first DLC expansion for Saints Row is out now. Releasing alongside a massive free content update, the crime-infested city of Santo Ileso just got bigger and better.

As the first of three planned DLC expansions for Saints Row, The Heist & The Hazardous adds three new story missions for single player or co-op sessions, a new weapon and helicopter, rewards, cosmetics, and more. The Heist & The Hazardous is available now as a standalone purchase or as part of the Saints Row Expansion Pass.

Bosses across Santo Ileso will also be able to access a new part of the city for free starting today. Adventure through the all-new district of Sunshine Springs – inspired by Palm Springs – and check out the suite of new features, improvements, and bug fixes implemented with this update.

Continue here to read the full story.

Paradox Interactive reveals sales figures for Age of Wonders 4, saying that, including preorders, Triumph Studios' strategy sequel sold over 250,000 units in the first four days of availability. You might find yourself wondering if that would make it the fastest-selling entry since the launch of the series, to which the answer is an emphatic yes. Here's the news:

Paradox Interactive, a developer and publisher of truly magical experiences, today announced that Age of Wonders 4, the latest entry in the cherished fantasy strategy game series from Triumph Studios, has sold over 250,000 copies since its launch on May 2, 2023. Including pre-orders, these sales reflect total copies of both the standard and premium edition of the game across all platforms where it is available, including PC, PlayStation®5, and Xbox Series X and S consoles. Age of Wonders 4 reached this milestone in only four days, making this the fastest-selling title in the Age of Wonders series to date.

“Triumph and Paradox have so much in common, from our design ethos to our close relationship with our player communities, and working hand-in-hand over the development and release of Age of Wonders 4 has been a very rewarding journey,” said Fredrik Wester, CEO of Paradox Interactive. “Longtime Paradox fans have identified a number of ways in which the game draws inspiration from other Paradox titles, but Age of Wonders 4 retains Triumph’s signature style and perfect blend of strategy, role-playing, and fantasy storytelling from start to finish. It’s a wonderful testament to how our two companies match, right down to the DNA.”

Krafton announces its Q1 net income is up. Word is this exceeds expectations: "Krafton Inc. on Tuesday reported its first-quarter net profit of 267.2 billion won (US$201.8 million), up 9 percent from a year earlier. The company said in a regulatory filing that operating profit for the January-March period fell 10.2 percent on-year to 283 billion won. Revenue increased 3 percent to 538.7 billion won." Word is that the ongoing success of PUBG: BATTLEGROUNDS is one of the main factors here:

PUBG: BATTLEGROUNDS, KRAFTON's flagship title, achieved an all-time high in in-game sales for PC and console, with PC sales growing 28% QoQ and 68% YoY, accounting for 33% of total sales. The development team, which celebrated PUBG’s 6th anniversary in March, plans to maintain momentum with a variety of updates, including improvements to Arcade mode, a new Clan system, an assortment of brand collaborations, and new map release."

PCGamesN has the latest on Dark and Darker, the RPG project that's been plagued by accusations of copyright infringement by Nexon. This started with a DMCA takedown and led to a lawsuit. The latest news is that all this has pushed back the game's Early Access release "a bit." Here's word from a Discord post:

We truly hate not being able to communicate as freely as we usually do, however due to the sensitive nature of our current situation, we can't divulge too much information right now. I know this isn't the announcement everyone wanted to hear but we needed to let our fans know that the Early Access release has been delayed a bit. Just know that we are working on a ton of things to ensure the game gets out to you as soon as possible. We ask everyone to hold the line just a little longer. Thanks!

Revived publisher Atari announces Mr. Run and Jump, a speedrunning game that advertises its platformer bona fides right in the title. This is set to arrive later this year for PC on the Epic Games Store and Steam, as well as for PlayStation 4 & 5, Xbox One and Series X|S, Switch, and Atari VCS. An Announcement Trailer is here to show off the game's neon graphics along with all the running and jumping you'd expect. Here's more:

It’s dangerous business going out your front door, especially when you’re exploring the Realms of Color, where the titular Mr. Run and Jump must embark on a fast-paced, fluorescent adventure to defeat the ghastly Void and find his missing dog, Leap.

Mr. Run and Jump features precise controls, silky smooth gameplay, and free-flowing level design, making it a speedrunner’s dream. Run, jump, dash, and roll to hard-to-reach locations to find collectibles, or adjust the difficulty level via Dynamic Assistance to enjoy a more approachable experience with the heart-pounding peril cranked down a couple of notches.

Continue here to read the full story.

• Wild Rumor Claims Sony Lands Some Form Of Exclusivity Deal For Metal Gear, Silent Hill & Potentially Castlevania.
• An 'Unannounced Project 2023' Has Been Listed By A Sony VFX Artist On LinkedIn.
• Starfield’s M rating all but confirms jetpack sex. Living the dream.

• Türkiye & Syria Earthquake Relief Mega Bundle by PlayForTürkiye and 135 others - itch.io. Thanks Eurogamer.
• Team Blue vs. Team Purple – choose your team of GOG Staff Picks and enjoy deals up to -85% - GOG.com.*

*Blue's News may receive a commission on sales of this item.

• Unity fires manager who tweeted the company is "out of touch." Wasn't that tweet actually a resignation?

• Elite Dangerous - Update 15 Release Notes.
• Riftbound Summoner's Path FREE Expansion Out Now. Here's the Expansion Launch Trailer.
• STAR WARS Jedi- Survivor Patch Notes. Patch expected "as soon as possible this week."
• World of Warcraft Hotfixes: May 8, 2023.

↑ Official patches. ↓ Unofficial games, patches, and mods.

• Army Men Mod for Call of Duty released.

• Star Wars Jedi: Survivor Patch 4 will reduce traversal stutters.
• Warzone 2 players beg for another nerf to most-used AR in Season 3 Reloaded.

Official trailers.

• Apex Legends: Arsenal Battle Pass Trailer.
• Aurora: The Lost Medallion - The Cave - Official Teaser Trailer.
• Bus Simulator 21 Next Stop – Ebusco Bus Pack Trailer.
• Wendell & Walnut's BBQ Heist - Fortnite Shorts.
• Limerick: Cadence Mansion Gameplay Trailer #1.

• Nintendo Switch Surpasses 125 Million Units Sold, But Overall Sales Are Down.
• Horizon Franchise Surpasses 32 Million Units Sold As Forbidden West Nears 9 Million.
• Pokemon Scarlet and Violet Sales Figures Pass 22 Million.
• Is There A Switch 2? Not This Year, Nintendo Says.
• 20 Years of Guerrilla: The Story of a PlayStation Studio.
• This Week's Deals with Gold and Spotlight Sale - Xbox Wire.

• Samsung Has Started Testing Android 14-based One UI 6.0 on a Number of Galaxy Flagships.

Thanks Frans.

• The Metaverse, Zuckerberg's Tech Obsession, Is Officially Dead. ChatGPT Killed It. Something must have lived before it dies.
• Hybrid and remote work- The state of play in 2023.
• Spotify ejects thousands of AI-made songs in purge of fake streams.
• LinkedIn is shutting down its Chinese spinoff InCareer and laying off 716 employees.
• Microsoft confirms it'll throttle and block mails from outdated, unpatched Exchange Servers.
• Mozilla Firefox 113.0, See All New Features, Updates and Fixes.
• Mozilla Firefox ESR 102.11.0, See All New Features, Updates and Fixes.
• Malwarebytes 4.5.28.266 component package 1.0.2005. Thanks DSLReports via Ant.
• Zelda streamer mistakenly banned on Twitch for streaming press preview footage. Like how we got kicked off of YouTube for posting official trailers.
• How To Delete Your Data From ChatGPT (may require registration or subscription).

• More DDR4 Memory Price Reductions Incoming.
• Nvidia Rumored to Unveil Three GeForce RTX 4060-Series Cards in May, Up to 16GB.
• AI is already writing books, websites and online recipes. Especially if you consider plagiarism writing. Thanks DSLReports via Ant.
• Noctua Publishes Roadmap: Next-Gen AMD Threadripper Coolers Incoming.
• New Philips Monitor Features an E-Paper Side Panel.
• GitHub unveils its huge code search makeover. Just an easier way to find binaries would be welcome.
• Sennheiser's best wireless headphones get a great free sound upgrade.
• Evernote v10.56.9. Thanks Console General.
• Synology stops hosting old reinstall files, claims "licensing" issues (video). Thanks Burrito of Peace.

Thanks Ant.

• How an Indiana hospital fought to recover from a cyberattack. Thanks DSLReports.
• NextGen Healthcare says hackers accessed personal data of more than 1 million patients. I rant about this below.
• Millions of UAW retirees health benefits stolen due to third-party security breach in Metro Detroit. Thanks DSLReports.
• QR codes used in fake parking tickets, surveys to steal your money. Thanks DSLReports.

• Feds seize 13 more DDoS-for-hire platforms in ongoing international crackdown.
• Apple just lost its lawsuit trying to ban iOS virtual machines.
• Singapore pitches new law to slow spread of cybercrime.

• Darkest Dungeon 2 review: a fast-paced roguelite down gloomy roads - Rock Paper Shotgun.
• Darkest Dungeon II Is as Stress Inducing as Its Predecessor - Siliconera.
• Hunt the Night is a Souls-like Metroidvania mashup that fuses the two genres VERY well! - Indie Ramble (video).

Thanks Neutronbeam.

• Gaming Chair: Cooler Master Caliber R3 Gaming Chair Review - ThinkComputers.org.
• Gaming Chair: Corsair TC100 Relaxed review - PCGamesN.
• Graphics Card: Colorful RTX 4070 NB EX-V Review - Vortez.
• Keyboard: Asus ROG Azoth Review - IGN.
• Laptop: Lenovo Yoga Pro 7 14 G8 notebook review- GeForce RTX 4050 laptop powers 3K display with 120 Hz - NotebookCheck.net Reviews.
• Misc: Anker EverFrost Powered Cooler 40 - LanOC Reviews.
• Monitor: ASUS PG27AQN Review - 360Hz 1440p monitor - Guru3D.
• Mouse: XPG Slingshot Review - TechPowerUp.
• RAM: Patriot Viper Xtreme 5 DDR5-8000 32GB Dual-Channel Memory Kit - TweakTown.
• SSD: Gigabyte Aorus 10000 SSD Review- Bold PCIe 5.0 SSD, If You Can Find It - Tom's Hardware.

• Elden Ring Player Beats The Game Without Ever Leveling Up…
• Relive Your Childhood Games With This Free CD-ROM Archive. Thanks Neutronbeam…

NextGen Healthcare says hackers accessed personal data of more than 1 million patients (thanks Ant) is one of those stories that's become too common to even notice. I'm not as gung-ho about these issues as some and have willingly given up some privacy for some convenience along the way. But I just had a fight with our dentist about patient records last week. I was scheduled for a cleaning and got a note saying I needed to fill out my complete medical history online. I've been their patient for around 20 years, and this seemed silly, so I simply refused. This was brought up when I visited, and I said I didn't trust that it was secure to enter this information online. So the receptionist said no problem and handed me an iPad. I explained that using their computer rather than my own to enter this into their online database was the same thing. At which point she handed me a printout and said I could fill it out by hand. You can see where this is going right? I said I'd be happy to do that if they were going to just file the paper away. But of course, she planned on entering my info into the computer from my form, so that ended that. My hygienist tried to assuage me, telling me this is required of them, and they've been putting it off, and that it would come up again. So I looked it up, and I don't think it's the case that they need my medical history. It looks like they are just required to keep records of my treatment by them for six years. So I may continue to fight this. I can't say for sure why I'm willing to die on this hill. I don't think it was a case of picking one's battles. More like I just wanted to pick at least one battle on this front.

Impatient Round-up
Thanks Ant and Neutronbeam.

Breakfast Link

• 9 Ways to Imagine Jeff Bezos’ Wealth. He probably earned over $1000 while you read that headline. Thanks RedEye9.

Story

• Robert De Niro Reveals He 'Just Had a Baby' at 79, Now Is a Dad of 7.

Science
Thanks Max.

• Building a Dyson Sphere Around the Sun Would Be Easy if We Used Jupiter for Raw Materials. Thanks Slashdot via A.C.M.
• There’s a reason some of us find it easier to change than others.
• Debunking the Dunning-Kruger effect – the least skilled people know how much they don't know, but everyone thinks they are better than average.
• Ambitious Arab mission to explore seven asteroids, including a very red one.

Image

• Webb Space Telescope offers up beautiful image of Fomalhaut's dust disk.

Media

• Arrested Succession (Narrated by Ron Howard) (AI). Thanks Boing Boing.
• Oppenheimer - New Trailer. Thanks RedEye9.
• Judge Jessie proves he has the know-how to settle any dispute.
• MEG 2: THE TRENCH - OFFICIAL TRAILER. Only a matter of time before we get a Megnado.

Creature Features

• Raccoon Gets Jump-Scared By Indoor Cat. Thanks Boing Boing.

Follow-up

• EPA Report on Neonics Proves US Has 'Five-Alarm Fire' on Its Hands, Green Groups Say. Thanks Acleacius.