Breaking, Business, Featured, Games, Gaming, News

Perfect Dark Remake is no more as The Initiative closes its doors

Xbox’s recent announcement that it has canceled the long-gestating Perfect Dark reboot and shuttered the high-profile studio The Initiative has sent shockwaves through the gaming industry. This decision, shared in an internal memo by Matt Booty, Xbox Game Studios head, reflects a broader strategic realignment amid sweeping layoffs at Microsoft Gaming.

Perfect Dark, first released by Rare in 2000, earned its reputation as one of the industry’s best sci-fi first-person shooters. Its blend of espionage, futuristic gadgets, and branching story paths won critical acclaim—and cultivated a devoted fanbase itching for a modern revival. Early reports placed the reboot at The Initiative, Xbox’s marquee studio founded in 2018 to drive “A-list” exclusive blockbusters. The project’s long, quiet development spurred high expectations that, ultimately, never materialized.

The Initiative: A Studio with Sky-High Ambitions

  • Founded: 2018 in Santa Monica, California
  • Mission: Deliver new flagship Xbox franchises on par with series like Halo and Gears of War
  • Key hires: Industry veterans from Naughty Dog, Blizzard, Crystal Dynamics
  • Public unveiling: “Unannounced AAA sci-fi IP” teased at Xbox events, widely presumed to be Perfect Dark

Despite its talented roster, The Initiative struggled under heavy scrutiny and shifting corporate priorities. The studio’s closure marks the first shuttering of an Xbox Game Studios outfit in Microsoft’s latest round of cuts.

Windows Central got a hold on Xbox Game Studios leader Matt Booty’s internal memo to its umbrella of gaming studios after the confirmation of the cancellation:

Following Phil’s note, I want to share more about the changes to the Studios business units.

We have made the decision to stop development of Perfect Dark and Everwild as well as wind down several unannounced projects across our portfolio. As part of this, we are closing one of our studios, The Initiative. These decisions, along with other changes across our teams, reflect a broader effort to adjust priorities and focus resources to set up our teams for greater success within a changing industry landscape. We did not make these choices lightly, as each project and team represent years of effort, imagination, and commitment.

Our overall portfolio strategy is unchanged: build games that excite our players, continue to grow our biggest franchises, and create new stories, worlds, and characters. We have more than 40 projects in active development, continued momentum on titles shipping this fall, and a strong slate headed into 2026.

For those directly affected, we are working closely with HR and studio leadership to provide support, including severance, career transition assistance, and where possible, opportunities to explore roles on other teams.

To everyone across our studios: thank you. Your creativity and resilience continue to define who we are. I believe in the strength of our teams and the direction we’re taking on the path ahead.

Microsoft’s decision to cut Perfect Dark’s reboot and close The Initiative underscores a harsh reality: even the most hyped AAA ventures can be sacrificed to corporate strategy and market pressures. For fans, it’s a painful reminder that beloved franchises aren’t immune to business calculus. Yet from seeds of cancellation often springs creativity—whether through new studio alliances, fan passion projects, or smaller teams daring to dream big.

Looking forward, we’ll be watching how Xbox rebalance its portfolio, which studios rise to fill the gap, and whether Perfect Dark will ever return in another form. In the meantime, revisiting the original Rare classics seems the best way to keep the spy-shooter flame alive.

Breaking, Business, Games, Gaming, News, Xbox

Zenimax’s Blackbird & Rare’s Everwild are the collateral of Microsoft Gaming shake-up

The immedate aftermath of Microsoft confirming that it would eliminate roughly 9,000 roles—about 4% of its global workforce—as part of a company-wide effort to streamline operations and reallocate resources to high-priority areas like cloud and gaming, we already have som collateral as the layoff impacted the development of two not-so-secret projects.

For a recap, Microsoft’s gaming arm was notably impacted, with cuts spanning:

  • Xbox central teams and global operations
  • Mobile-gaming giant King (Candy Crush)
  • ZeniMax Media’s marketing and development staff across Europe and the U.S.

These reductions follow earlier rounds in January, May and June, underscoring an ongoing pivot toward a leaner structure and greater agility.

BREAKING: As part of today's cuts, Xbox has canceled the troubled Rare game Everwild, according to people familiar. News on the job cuts is coming in drips — not sure why Xbox didn't announce it all at once — but I'll report what I can as I confirm it.

— Jason Schreier (@jasonschreier.bsky.social) 2025-07-02T14:04:33.426Z

BREAKING: The new MMORPG project from Zenimax Online Studios, maker of Elder Scrolls Online, has been canceled as part of the Xbox layoffs, sources tell Bloomberg News. The project, code-named Blackbird, had been in development since 2018. Still more news to come this morning.

— Jason Schreier (@jasonschreier.bsky.social) 2025-07-02T15:05:30.540Z

Zenimax Online’s “Project Blackbird” Shelved

In the wake of the layoffs, Microsoft canceled the long-gestating MMORPG at ZeniMax Online Studios, code-named Project Blackbird. Key details:

  • Development began in 2018 under ZeniMax Online, creators of The Elder Scrolls Online
  • Blackbird represented the studio’s next major online IP after over seven years of work
  • Cancellation was confirmed by Bloomberg via sources familiar with the Xbox cuts

That means after years of concepting, prototyping and testing, the team’s resources will be redirected toward existing live services and new first-party content.

Rare’s Everwild Cut Loose

One of Rare’s most mysterious projects, Everwild, was also canceled as part of the gaming-division layoffs:

  • First revealed in late 2019 as a nature-driven “eternal” multiplayer experience
  • Promised to blend magic, exploration and community without traditional combat
  • Confirmed canceled by VGC, Eurogamer sources and Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier following the Xbox job reductions

After nearly a decade of fits and starts—including a complete restart in 2021—Everwild will no longer proceed.

ProjectStudioCodenameStartedCanceledNotes
Project BlackbirdZeniMax Online StudiosBlackbird2018Jul 2 2025Cancelled due to Xbox-division layoffs
EverwildRareN/A2019Jul 2 2025Cancelled amid layoffs after troubled, decade-long dev

What’s Next for Microsoft Gaming

With Blackbird and Everwild axed, Microsoft Gaming will likely:

  • Double down on Bethesda and Activision Blizzard franchises
  • Push hardware innovation, including next-gen consoles and handhelds
  • Expand cloud gaming partnerships and infrastructure investments

The layoffs and cancellations signal a tougher era for big-budget experimental IP—at least until emerging technologies deliver clearer paths to profitability.

Microsoft’s July 2 announcement marks both an end and a new beginning: while two flagship internal projects have been cut, the tech giant is reallocating its creative firepower toward subscription growth, blockbuster sequels and innovative delivery platforms. Gamers and developers alike will be watching closely as Xbox reshapes its roadmap for the years ahead.

Business, Gaming, News, Xbox

Microsoft Confirms 9,000 Layoffs as It Doubles Down on Gaming and Xbox

Microsoft kicked off its 2026 fiscal year on July 2, 2025, by announcing it will cut approximately 9,000 jobs—just under 4% of its global workforce—across multiple divisions, including sales, Xbox, and global operations. The move continues a broader restructuring effort aimed at flattening management layers and refocusing resources on high-growth areas.

Previous reductions this year included a sub-1% performance-based cut in January, over 6,000 roles in May, and at least 300 more in June, underscoring Microsoft’s commitment to streamlining its structure for greater agility.

Gaming and Xbox: The New Growth Drivers

As Microsoft trims headcount, it is simultaneously doubling down on its gaming business—viewed internally as one of the company’s key engines for future expansion:

  • July 2025 Game Pass highlights such as Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 + 4 and High on Life demonstrate day-one blockbuster releases for subscribers, cementing Game Pass as a must-have service.
  • The June Xbox Games Showcase unveiled the new ROG Xbox Ally handhelds, first-party titles like Call of Duty: Black Ops 7, and long-awaited sequels such as The Outer Worlds 2 and Grounded 2, signaling a hardware and software push designed to captivate players everywhere.

Microsoft’s CEO Satya Nadella has consistently emphasized that resource realignment is essential in a dynamic market. By reducing headcount in certain corporate layers, the company can:

  1. Free up budget to invest in cloud infrastructure, AI integration, and gaming content.
  2. Accelerate decision-making by flattening reporting hierarchies.
  3. Position Xbox and Game Pass at the core of its consumer strategy, leveraging subscription-based recurring revenue.

This management-layer reduction mirrors moves by peers like Amazon and Meta aiming to stay nimble amid slowing global tech spending.

Implications for Employees and the Gaming Community

For affected employees, Microsoft has outlined severance packages, career counseling, and internal placement efforts. Across the Xbox organization, some roles will shift from traditional product marketing and sales to focus on content acquisition, cloud streaming, and community engagement.

For gamers, the reallocation of resources should translate into:

  • Larger, more frequent Game Pass day-one releases.
  • Continued hardware innovation, from consoles to handhelds.
  • Expanded cloud-gaming experiences via Xbox Cloud and new partners like ASUS.

Also, The Verge got a copy of the internal memo that Microsoft Gaming CEO that shared with all the Xbox business, Xbox Game Studio and Activision Blizzard King:

Today we are sharing decisions that will impact colleagues across our organization. To position Gaming for enduring success and allow us to focus on strategic growth areas, we will end or decrease work in certain areas of the business and follow Microsoft’s lead in removing layers of management to increase agility and effectiveness. Out of respect for those impacted today, the specifics of today’s notifications and any organizational shifts will be shared by your team leaders in the coming days.

I recognize that these changes come at a time when we have more players, games, and gaming hours than ever before. Our platform, hardware, and game roadmap have never looked stronger. The success we’re seeing currently is based on tough decisions we’ve made previously. We must make choices now for continued success in future years and a key part of that strategy is the discipline to prioritize the strongest opportunities. We will protect what is thriving and concentrate effort on areas with the greatest potential, while delivering on the expectations the company has for our business. This focused approach means we can deliver exceptional games and experiences for players for generations to come.

Prioritizing our opportunities is essential, but that does not lessen the significance of this moment. Simply put, we would not be where we are today without the time, energy, and creativity of those whose roles are impacted. These decisions are not a reflection of the talent, creativity, and dedication of the people involved. Our momentum is not accidental—it is the result of years of dedicated effort from our teams.

HR is working directly with impacted employees to provide severance plan benefits (aligned with local laws), including pay, healthcare coverage, and job placement resources to support their transition. Employees whose roles were eliminated are encouraged to explore open positions across Microsoft Gaming, where their applications will be given priority review.

Thank you to everyone who has shaped our culture, our products, and our community. We will move forward with deep appreciation and respect for all who have contributed to this journey.

Phil

Microsoft’s July 2 announcement marks a pivotal moment: while it streamlines legacy operations, the tech giant is betting big on gaming as a cornerstone of its long-term growth. As Xbox hardware and Game Pass ecosystems expand, both employees and gamers alike will watch closely to see if this strategic pivot delivers on its promise of “gaming everywhere, for everyone.”

Games, Gaming, News

Hideo Kojima wants to be the “first” in a unexplored gaming development environment

The legendary auteur behind Metal Gear Solid and Death Stranding has set his sights beyond Earth’s horizon. Hideo Kojima recently revealed a daring ambition: to become the first person ever to develop—and potentially even play—a video game from orbit.

Kojima’s Cosmic Ambition

Kojima spoke with The Guardian about training as an astronaut, mastering docking procedures, and spending several months aboard the International Space Station (ISS) solely to work on a game. At 61, he points out that numerous astronauts continue their careers well past that age, making his dream—by his reckoning—feasible.

He doesn’t envision a short-lived, celebrity photo-op flight. Instead, he wants full immersion: learning spacecraft systems, living in microgravity, and treating game development as seriously as any Earth-bound project. “I want to be the first,” he declared, underlining his determination to break new ground in interactive entertainment.

Technical and Logistical Challenges

Bringing game development hardware and software into orbit poses unique hurdles and after a quick inquiry of how plausible could this be achieved, there are some considerations to be taken like:

  • Microgravity Effects
    Keyboards, screens and peripheral devices must be secured; hot-swappable mounting rigs and magnetic fixtures become essential.
  • Radiation and Electronics
    Cosmic rays can corrupt data and damage delicate microchips. Shielded, medical-grade enclosures and error-correcting code are non-negotiable.
  • Limited Bandwidth & Latency
    Uploading builds and live collaboration with Earth-based studios requires optimized compression and asynchronous workflows.
  • Power and Cooling
    The ISS has finite power allocations; any development station must balance performance with strict power budgets and passive cooling solutions.

While no video game development kit has yet orbited our planet, these challenges are surmountable with today’s technology—and Kojima believes the ISS partners would welcome a creative experiment on par with scientific research missions.

Beyond technicalities, Kojima frames his venture as an existential pursuit. He references what he calls the “Tom Cruise disease”—the idea of testing one’s limits through calculated peril, a philosophy exemplified by Cruise’s own space-shooting movie plans and daredevil stunts.

For Kojima, creating art at the edge of human experience isn’t a gimmick; it’s a catalyst for innovation. By placing himself—and his creative process—in an environment that demands total focus, he hopes to unlock storytelling possibilities unattainable on terra firma.

But the veteran gamer maker and director isn’t the first one with the desire, as film studios have flirted with on-orbit shoots (including Cruise’s aborted ISS scenes), but interactive media––with its iterative builds, user feedback loops, and performance testing––adds another layer of complexity.

Should Kojima succeed, it could:

  • Inspire space agencies to partner with cultural institutions.
  • Catalyze research into human-computer interaction in microgravity.
  • Spark a new genre of orbital-themed games developed half-in, half-out of Earth’s atmosphere.

The convergence of space tourism, private rocketry, and entertainment heralds a future where astronauts and game designers work shoulder to shoulder.

Hideo Kojima’s aspiration to build the first space-borne video game transcends mere headline-grabbing. It fuses his hunger for innovation, appetite for risk, and belief in pushing creative boundaries. Whether he’ll don a spacesuit or steer a Soyuz module remains uncertain, but one thing is clear: the final frontier may soon welcome its first game designer.

‘We’re all connected – but it’s not the connection I imagined’: Hideo Kojima on Death Stranding 2
The legendary video game designer discusses directing actors in LA from Japan, how Mad Max inspired his career and the unique reason why he wants to go to space
Source/Via
CyberBoxTV, Gaming, Review

Nintendo Switch 2: A Much-Needed Evolution That Feels Like a Pro Version

After eight years since the launch of the original Nintendo Switch, we finally have its long-awaited successor: the Nintendo Switch 2. The original console showed clear signs of aging in its final years, struggling to deliver decent performance in demanding titles. The most obvious case was the latest Pokémon game, where the performance was disappointing. Thankfully, the new console arrives to fix many of those issues and offer a more modern gaming experience.

One of the most notable improvements is the ability to play in 4K resolution when connected to a TV, and even reach 120 frames per second in select games. In handheld mode, the Switch 2 features an 8-inch screen with a new LCD technology that closely mimics the colors of an OLED display. Thanks to its upgraded power, the console can now run much more demanding titles, bringing it closer to the level of its competitors, though not in a one-to-one comparison. Games that previously suffered from technical or visual issues now run the way they were meant to. Pokémon Violet, for example, feels like a completely different game, and Zelda titles no longer suffer from frame drops. The environmental colors now appear vibrant and alive. In terms of build quality, the device feels more premium—less like a toy—and its larger size gives it a more visually appealing presence.

The Joy-Con controllers have also been redesigned. They now use a magnetic attachment system that provides a firmer grip and reduces wear on the locking mechanism. There’s even a new feature that allows them to function like a computer mouse, though it remains unclear how widely this feature will be used in the future. That said, not everything is perfect. The battery life remains a weak point, offering only 2 to 4 hours of regular gameplay. At launch, the system only came with one game designed to showcase its capabilities, and as of now, there’s no clear information on upcoming Nintendo exclusives. There’s also some confusion regarding how physical cartridges work, which might make the transition a bit unclear for some users.

In summary, the Nintendo Switch 2 is the successor many fans have been waiting for. Its improved performance, visual quality, and refined design make it a more capable and modern console. However, due to the lack of a strong game library and its focus on fixing past issues, it currently feels more like a Pro version of the original Switch than a true next-gen leap. It has potential, but at this stage, it’s still hard to fully recommend as a must-buy.

Final Score: 3/5

Games, Gaming, News

Capcom sunsets Resident Evil Re:Verse

On June 29, 2025, Capcom quietly flicked the switch off for Resident Evil Re:Verse, bringing an online experiment to a close less than three years after its launch. In its final 24-hour stretch, the game’s player count spiked by 264%—from under 20 concurrent users to a peak of just 86 players—before fading into digital oblivion.

Originally released in early 2022 as a free bonus alongside Resident Evil Village, Re:Verse was billed as a 25th-anniversary celebration. Players could pick from iconic survivors or turn undead in asymmetrical skirmishes, or race against time solving puzzles as a team. The concept held promise: mash up classic characters, inject fresh multiplayer modes, and reward long-time fans. But instead of becoming a bustling online hub, Re:Verse struggled to build a sustainable community.

The Numbers Behind the Decline

Steam Charts recorded a hopeful start—2,080 concurrent players during its first month—but the numbers plummeted thereafter. By the following month, peak users dropped to 329, and double-digit concurrency became the norm. As whispers of server shutdown circulated earlier this year, curious players swelled login attempts one last time. Yet even that final surge only nudged Re:Verse into the high double digits.

Several factors conspired to doom Capcom’s multiplayer spin-off:

  • Content drought: Beyond its initial character roster, Re:Verse offered few new maps or modes, leaving veteran players with diminishing reasons to return.
  • Monetization missteps: Early DLC bundles and cosmetics felt tacked on rather than community-driven, eroding goodwill.
  • Marketing fatigue: Bundling Re:Verse with Village delayed its standalone release, confusing retail customers and fragmenting its player base.

Together, these miscalculations prevented Re:Verse from evolving beyond a trophy shelf freebie into a living part of the Resident Evil ecosystem.

Re:Verse’s shuttering underscores a broader challenge: digital-only titles—even from storied franchises—can vanish without a trace. Unlike physical discs that can be tossed on a shelf or traded among friends, server-dependent games transform into inactive icons the moment support ends. For preservationists and historians of gaming culture, this presents a dilemma: how do we archive experiences that literally cease to exist?

Lessons for Capcom’s Next Multiplayer Venture

As Capcom eyes Resident Evil Requiem and beyond, several takeaways stand out:

  1. Sustained content drops: Seasonal events, balance patches, or new maps can rekindle interest long after launch.
  2. Community-first monetization: Cosmetic items tied to in-game achievements, or fan-designed skins, foster ownership and pride.
  3. Clear launch strategy: Separating anniversary side-projects from core titles avoids mixed messaging and distribution confusion.

By weaving community feedback into development cycles—rather than retrofitting features—Capcom can bolster both engagement and goodwill.

Though Re:Verse is gone, Resident Evil’s multiplayer ambitions live on. Next year’s Requiem promises to refine the formula, blending narrative depth with cooperative and competitive modes. If Capcom learns from Re:Verse’s missteps, the series could finally carve out a lasting online legacy.

eSport, Events, Gaming, News

OpTic Texas Makes History with Back-to-Back Call of Duty League Championships

In a weekend defined by jaw-dropping turns and unrelenting intensity, OpTic Texas etched its name into Call of Duty lore by claiming its second consecutive CDL Championship in Kitchener, Canada. Facing a red-hot Vancouver Surge squad, the Green Wall emerged 5–3 victors in the best-of-nine Grand Final, proving once and for all that their 2024 triumph was no fluke.

No team had ever defended a world title in Call of Duty esports—until now. OpTic Texas not only became the first organization to secure back-to-back world championships, it also sits alone atop the podium with three total world crowns in its history. In doing so, they surpass even the storied runs of early OpTic rosters and cement themselves as the CDL’s first true dynasty.

Sweeping Through the Winners Bracket

From the opening whistle, OpTic looked untouchable. They refused to drop a single map on their winners-bracket journey, blitzing through Atlanta FaZe, Toronto Ultra and Boston Breach with surgical precision. Shotzzy and Huke’s submachine-gun duos set the pace early, turning Hardpoints into highlight reels and leaving opponents scrambling for answers.

Though billed as underdogs, Vancouver Surge delivered one of the most remarkable comeback stories in CDL history. After an opening upset loss to the Miami Heretics, they tore through the elimination bracket—knocking out the top-seeded LA Thieves, then dispatching Ultra, Miami again, and finally Boston—to earn a shot at redemption on the sport’s grandest stage.

Grand Final Showdown: Momentum Swings

The final series was an emotional roller coaster. Surge struck first, sweeping OpTic in a Search round and handing them their first map loss of the weekend. But OpTic’s dominance in respawn modes—anchored by Shotzzy’s map control and Dashy’s top-tier AR play—allowed them to swing the series back. After seizing match point with a crafty Search win on Hacienda, the Green Wall closed it out in a nerve-shredding Rewind Hardpoint, 250–215, to seal the 5–3 victory.

Records, MVPs and Milestones

  • Mercules, in his debut Champs appearance, shattered Matthew “FormaL” Piper’s 2017 K/D record, posting the highest kill-death ratio ever at Call of Duty Champs.
  • Anthony “Shotzzy” Cuevas-Castro, at just 23, became the youngest three-time Call of Duty world champion in history.
  • Coach Damon “Karma” Barlow collected his fifth ring—three as a player and two as a mastermind—underscoring his enduring impact on the game’s most celebrated teams.

With the mantle of back-to-back champions firmly in hand, OpTic Texas must now fend off the league’s hungry challengers: Can Atlanta FaZe recalibrate after a stinging defeat? Will LA Thieves rebound? And can Vancouver Surge channel this finals appearance into a sustained top-tier performance?

Meanwhile, Call of Duty’s narrative has a new chapter: the rise of a true dynasty where consistency and clutch execution reign supreme. For the fans, the question is no longer “Can they do it?” but “How long can this era last?”

What do you think this victory means for the future of the CDL—and which next-gen rival has the best shot at toppling the Green Wall? Let me know your thoughts below!

Gaming, Hardware/Console, News, PC

Game Over for the Blue Screen of Death

For PC gamers, the Blue Screen of Death (BSOD) wasn’t just a system crash—it was a rage-quit from the gods. Whether it struck during a ranked competitive gaming match or while benchmarking your new GPU card, the BSOD was the ultimate immersion breaker. But now, after 40 years of haunting our rigs, Microsoft has officially pulled the plug on the iconic blue error screen.

Since the days of DOS and floppy disks, the BSOD has been the digital equivalent of a critical hit to your system. It was the screen that greeted you when your overclock went too far, your drivers clashed, or your mods got a little too spicy. It didn’t discriminate—whether you were running a potato or a $3,000 beast, the BSOD could strike without mercy.

But with Windows 11 version 24H2, Microsoft is replacing the blue with black. That’s right: the Blue Screen of Death is now the Black Screen of Death. Same acronym, new aesthetic.

What’s Changing?

The new Black Screen of Death (still BSOD, thankfully) is part of Microsoft’s broader push to modernize Windows and reduce system-level crashes. Here’s what’s different:

  • Black background instead of blue—less jarring, more goth
  • Simplified error message: “Your device ran into a problem and needs to restart”
  • No more sad-face emoji or QR codes
  • Driver and stop code info displayed clearly for faster debugging

It’s a cleaner, more informative crash screen that aligns with Windows 11’s sleek UI. But let’s be honest—no screen looks good when it interrupts your 60-minute Elden Ring boss run.

Why Now? Blame the CrowdStrike Catastrophe

This change isn’t just about aesthetics. It’s a direct response to the 2024 CrowdStrike meltdown, where a faulty driver update bricked over 8.5 million Windows machines—including gaming rigs, retail systems, and even airport kiosks. The fallout exposed how vulnerable Windows was to kernel-level software.

Microsoft’s answer? The Windows Resiliency Initiative and the Microsoft Virus Initiative 3.0 (MVI), which:

  • Forces security vendors to use deployment rings for safer updates
  • Restricts kernel-level access for third-party software
  • Introduces quick recovery modes to get you back in-game faster

What This Means for Gamers

For PC gamers, this is a win—sort of. The new BSOD is less panic-inducing and more helpful. You’ll get clearer info about what crashed (like that rogue GPU driver), and recovery times are faster. But it also signals a shift in how Microsoft handles system stability: less tolerance for deep-level tinkering, more emphasis on sandboxed security.

That could mean fewer crashes from sketchy mods or overzealous overclocks—but also tighter restrictions on how much control we have over our systems.

Let’s not forget: the BSOD was part of gaming culture. It was the punchline to LAN party horror stories, the screen you saw after pushing your rig too hard, the meme that united us all in shared frustration. It even made appearances in games like Goat Simulator and The Stanley Parable.

For retro PC enthusiasts and preservationists, the BSOD is a relic of a wilder, less polished Windows era—when

Microsoft’s decision to retire the BSOD is a step toward a more stable, user-friendly Windows. But for gamers, it’s also the end of an era. The BSOD was a badge of honor, a rite of passage, and a reminder that even the most powerful rig could be brought to its knees by a single bad update.

So next time your screen goes black mid-session, pour one out for the blue that came before. It may be gone, but it’ll never be forgotten.

The Windows Resiliency Initiative: Building resilience for a future-ready enterprise
Resilience isn’t optional—it’s a strategic imperative. In today’s threat landscape, organizations can’t afford to treat resilience as a reactive measure. It must be built into the foundation of how systems are designed, secured and managed
Source/Via

CyberBoxTV, Gaming, Review

Review: Mario Kart World – A New Era for the Franchise

Nintendo returns to the racetrack with Mario Kart World, launching it alongside its latest console in a bold move to reinvent the franchise. This time around, the game takes a major leap by introducing an open-world experience that players can explore freely, marking a significant shift from past titles.

The game features 30 tracks—some brand-new, others reimagined classics—all seamlessly connected through a large open world. One of the standout features is a mode that allows players to use any character to roam this world and discover secrets, encouraging exploration beyond just racing.

The traditional Grand Prix mode is back, now offering 7 cups. However, a key change is that lap-based circuit racing has been replaced with point-to-point track design. Each cup still contains 4 races, but only the first follows the traditional loop format. The remaining tracks take players from one location to another, reducing repetition and showcasing a broader range of environments.

Popular modes like Balloon Battle, Coin Collection, and Time Trials make their return. One of the most exciting additions is the new Knockout mode, a high-stakes competition across six tracks with 24 racers. After each race, a few competitors are eliminated. This keeps the adrenaline high and forces players to consistently place in the top three to survive.

Despite these innovations, Mario Kart World feels like it’s launching with less content than expected. One major omission is vehicle customization, a fan-favorite feature that allowed players to tweak performance to fit their play style. Additionally, track diversity takes a hit—there are no underwater courses or gravity-defying segments like in Mario Kart 8. These have been replaced by new tricks, rail grinding, and wall-riding mechanics. While fun, they don’t quite make up for what was lost.

Nintendo’s ambition to innovate is clear, but in doing so, they’ve also scaled back several beloved features. Still, Mario Kart World gives off the vibe of a platform designed to grow, hinting at future updates or expansions down the line.

The game absolutely shines in terms of presentation. The soundtrack is outstanding, and the visuals take full advantage of the new hardware with smooth animations and intricate details in this expansive new world.

Final Verdict

Mario Kart World is an ambitious step forward that introduces bold ideas and a fresh structure for the series. While it stumbles by removing key features that longtime fans will miss, it still offers a solid and enjoyable experience with room to grow. A promising new direction, even if not fully realized at launch.

Final Score: 4/5

CyberBoxTV, Gaming, Review

Review – Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine Master Crafted Edition — A remaster that brings the Ultramarines back to glory

Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine – Master Crafted Edition might be quite a mouthful to say, but the return of this third-person action classic is anything but tiresome. This remastered version of the original 2011 title not only updates the visuals but also revives an intense campaign and a surprisingly enjoyable multiplayer mode. While some aspects show their age, the core experience remains as entertaining as ever.

The remastering effort is impressive. The visuals have been overhauled, with noticeable improvements in character models—especially facial details—and environmental design that nearly reaches the level of its sequel. The main enemies, the orks, are notoriously hard to portray realistically, but here they’ve been redesigned with more personality and less of the exaggerated, comical tone of the original. Lighting, textures, and environmental assets have all been upgraded, breathing new life into the battlegrounds.

Gameplay remains faithful to the original. You play as Captain Titus of the Ultramarines—an elite squad of superhuman warriors engineered for war. Across the game’s 16-chapter campaign, you’ll fight through waves of enemies using a satisfying mix of ranged and melee combat. While enemy variety can feel repetitive at times, the steady introduction of new weapons helps keep the experience engaging. Chainswords, hammers, and axes all bring chaos control to the battlefield, making combat both brutal and rewarding.

Multiplayer pits teams of Ultramarines against each other in classic modes like Capture the Flag, Deathmatch, and King of the Hill. There’s also a 4-player co-op mode where you fend off waves of enemies—perfect for playing with friends. However, given today’s crowded multiplayer market, finding casual matches can be a challenge.

Final Verdict

Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine – Master Crafted Edition is a strong remaster that respects its roots while giving the original a much-needed facelift. Minor visual glitches and occasionally lackluster AI are noticeable, but they don’t overshadow the game’s compelling story and thrilling gameplay. Whether you’re a longtime fan or new to the 40K universe, this is a battle worth fighting.

Final Score: 4/5

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