games

Video games have grown a lot this year. But the money goes to China, Roblox and the owners of mobile platforms

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The global video game industry had a turnover of around $185 billion in 2024 and continues to grow. But there is a catch: this growth does not reach the studios or the area that traditional players look at, those of the console wars and the old PC Master Race. Matthew Ball’s usual annual report leaves a less complacent diagnosis: revenue is concentrated in China, on platforms like Roblox and on the owners of mobile operating systems. The rest survive as best they can. The Old Times (2021): There is still talk about how great the year 2021 was for video games. It seems like it was yesterday when the pandemic (insert meme of Grandpa Simpson telling stories to the kids here) confined hundreds of millions of people to their homes, and games (mobile, console, PC, free, subscription) absorbed the benefits of that confinement. As Ball, CEO of Epyllion, analyzes in The State of Video Gaming in 2025the factors that drove that peak were an extraordinary sum of factors: mobile platforms, free-to-play models, games as a service, the cross play and new genres like battle royale and social play. Downhill. The flip side of that was a much bigger recession than expected: global spending on video games fell 3.5% in 2022 and barely recovered a few percentage points towards the end of 2024. According to the consulting firm MIDiA Research, the sector had enjoyed growth of 26.3% in 2020 and 9.8% in 2021, and the rebound was inevitable. According to Ball, the engines that had driven the industry between 2011 and 2021 stopped all at once: the smartphones They were no longer surprising with each interaction, social networks were paralyzed, the free-to-play was normalized. 6.5% of total gaming time in 2023 corresponded to new video games, says Ball, and only four titles shared half of that percentage. Layoffs in full force. He report also speaks how the sector’s layoffs since 2022 illustrate this adjustment: more than 44,000 jobs, 61% of them concentrated in North America. This does not mean that it is the end of the industry or that the same pattern is being repeated. crash 1983, as has been said (the industry is too diversified and globalized to repeat a systemic collapse of that magnitude). What we are paying is the cost of having built a structure designed for an industry in continuous growth during the pandemic. The Chinese monster. Ball puts on the table that global spending on video games grew by approximately $10 billion between 2021 and 2025. But… where did that money go? The report assures that to Beijing: about 4,000 million of that growth is from the Chinese market, and another 1,500 million are from titles developed in China sold in international markets. In total, Chinese publishers have racked up about half of global growth since 2019. And there are more data: Gamer spending in China reached $49.2 billion in 2024, with a base of 722 million active gamers, more than double the total population of the United States. China is already the first market in the world by income. Not foreigners. Very significantlythat market remains almost closed to foreign games. 84% of Chinese gamers’ spending goes on titles produced in China, and that percentage has increased, as unusual as it may seem: 20% of Chinese domestic spending goes on imported titles (a figure that also registered a decrease of 5% between 2023 and 2024). It is comparable to what happens with cinemawith local films devouring foreign ones at the box office. A situation favored by a combination of factors: First, the Chinese regulatory framework favors national titles through a licensing system; second, development costs are substantially lower than in the West; Finally, the work culture of the country’s studios allows for more intensive production cycles. You don’t have to dig far to find examples of great Chinese international successes: ‘Genshin Impact‘, from miHoYo, raised more than $3.5 billion in its first year70% outside China with a character design rooted in anime. ‘Honor of Kings‘, from Tencent, dominated the Chinese mobile market for years before making the international leap with adaptations of character names. AND ‘Black Myth: Wukong‘, developed with support from Tencent, sold ten million copies in its first three days launching in August 2024, betting on the opposite of assimilation: an unequivocally Chinese mythology without thematic concessions to Western taste. Roblox sweeps. The numbers sing: 70% of the growth of the video game market outside of China in 2025 was absorbed by ‘Roblox‘. Which is an infrastructure on which millions of creators build interactive experiences using the platform’s own tools. Players access it for free and spend real money on cosmetic items and access within these worlds, transactions that are carried out in Robux, the ecosystem’s virtual currency. Of every dollar spent,’Roblox’ historically retained around 70% leaving the creator with approximately 25 or 30 cents. In September 2024, ‘Roblox’ announced a new delivery model for paid games that increases the creator’s commission up to 70% on titles that sell for $49.99. What does this translate into? In 2024, ‘Roblox’ paid around $923 million to its creators (an increase of 25% compared to 2023), while its total revenue grew by 29% until reaching 3.6 billion dollars. Its intentions are colossal: CEO David Baszucki stated that the company’s goal is to capture 10% of the global video game content market. Some more questions. Just to finish outlining the portrait: ‘Roblox’ registers sustained net losses (a accumulated deficit of 3.5 billion) with the logic of the platform in the expansion phase, sacrificing immediate profitability. Some observers they point because ‘Roblox’ has become the video game equivalent of YouTube, a platform that extracts value from the work of its creators in the form of data, advertising and infrastructure. And one last thing: two titles on the platform (‘Blox Fruits’ and ‘Brookhaven RP’) each accumulate 60% of the monthly gaming hours of all of Electronic Arts. 30%. If the global video game market reached an all-time high in … Read more

Spain’s secret weapon in the Olympic Games is a skater dressed as a Minion. Universal almost prevented it

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Tomàs-Llorenç Guarino Sabaté had been preparing for months for the most important moment of his sporting career. The 26-year-old Catalan skater, six-time Spanish champion, was clear about how he wanted to make his debut in the Olympic Games: dressed as a Minion, on the ice of Milan-Cortina 2026performing a medley of songs from the Universal Pictures animated saga. He had used that program throughout the season in international competitions, with the characteristic costume of blue jumpsuit and yellow t-shirt. I thought I had all the permits in order. Drama at Universal. On February 3, just four days before the opening ceremony of the Games, Guarino received devastating news: Universal Pictures was denying him permission to use the Minions’ music and costume in the Olympic event. “I was informed that I no longer have permission, due to copyright issues,” the skater explained in a statement published by the Royal Spanish Ice Sports Federation. Their competition was scheduled for Tuesday, February 11. Changing programs at that point seemed impossible. Permits? What permissions? In August 2024, before starting the season, he had processed the necessary permits through ClicknClearthe official system that the International Skating Union (ISU) makes available to athletes to manage music rights. His intervention included four pieces: Universal Pictures’ characteristic fanfare in the Minions version, ‘Freedom’ by Pharrell Williams (which appears in ‘Despicable Me’), and two other compositions related to the franchise. Negotiations begin. The week before the Games, Universal Studios requested additional information about the music and costumes that Guarino had been using for months. A race against time then began: the skater and his team had to negotiate simultaneously with Universal Pictures, Pharrell Williams, Sony Music and Juan Alcaraz, each owner of different rights of the songs. But as the news spread on social media, the massive support for Guarino convinced Universal to reconsider its position. All good. The skater quickly got approval for two of the songs, and got permission for a third by contacting the composer, also Spanish, directly. The fourth and final piece, Pharrell’s, was resolved at the last moment. On Friday, February 7, just two hours before the figure skating competition at the Games began with the team event, final confirmation came. The Royal Spanish Ice Sports Federation (RFEDH) announced that Guarino had obtained all the necessary licensesand managed to participate as planned last night. The laws. Guarino’s case is not an isolated incident. For decades, the International Skating Union (ISU) strictly prohibited the use of music with lyrics in competitions. Skaters could only choose instrumental pieces, usually classical music, that were in the public domain and did not raise copyright conflicts. In 2014the ISU decided to allow vocal music to attract a younger audience and modernize the image of the sport. The first time was in PyeongChang 2018. More cases. This artistic opening brought unforeseen consequences: skaters began to use copyrighted music, and artists began to claim compensation for its use. Alexa Knierim and Brandon Frazier used a version of ‘House of the Rising Sun’ performed by the duo Heavy Young Heathens in Beijing 2022, who sued them. This year, Russian Petr Gumennik They denied permission to use the music from the soundtrack of ‘The Perfume’. Belgian Loena Hendrickx changed one Celine Dion song for another at the last minute due to legal complications. Canadian artist CLANN expressed his displeasure upon discovering that the American Amber Glenn had used one of her songs, even though she had won the team gold medal with it. Mea Culpa. ISU President Jae Youl Kim has openly acknowledged the extent of the problem during these Games. The organization continues to seek solutions, but the complexity of the music rights ecosystem (involving songwriters, performers, production companies, record labels and distribution platforms) makes any licensing system vulnerable to errors or misunderstandings. The 2014 decision to modernize the sport by allowing vocal music was intended to revitalize it and bring it closer to new audiences, but has generated an unforeseen side effect. In Xataka | Surya Bonaly, the unattainable skater who ended up being banned from “dancing with death”

the future of Olympic Games broadcasts is now

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FPV (First Person View) drones capable of reach one hundred kilometers per hour have burst into Olympic broadcasts with a disturbing promise: to turn sport into something visually indistinguishable from a video game. In alpine skiing, cycling and extreme sports tests, these aircraft equipped with synchronized telemetry systems They follow the athletes from angles that until recently were technically impossible, generating plans that seem extracted from virtual simulators. Who is behind. Olympic Broadcasting Services (the organization created by the International Olympic Committee in 2001 to act as host station for the Olympic and Paralympic Games) is responsible for generating the television, radio and digital signal for media around the world. He began to implement this technology systematically in Beijing 2022. For Paris 2024 Its use had multiplied in disciplines such as BMX, skateboarding and sailing. The question is no longer whether drones can follow athletes, but to what extent this video-ludic aesthetic is reconfiguring our perception of sport. The technology. The devices that Olympic Broadcasting Services has deployed at Milano-Cortina 2026 are not adapted commercial drones, but rather platforms built specifically for sports broadcasting. The Dutch company Dutch Drone Gods has developed a model for sleigh descent tests (bobsleigh, skeleton and luge) that weighs just 243 grams (less than an iPhone) and reaches speeds of 100 kilometers per hour. These cinewhoop type devices They incorporate propellers protected by inverted ducts that improve aerodynamic efficiency. They allow smoother curves, essential for following athletes on steep descents. The technical key lies in the high-end COFDM transmission system that integrates directly with the infrastructure of broadcast traditional, allowing native HD HDR video (both progressive and interlaced) to be transmitted that is seamlessly incorporated into mobile units’ color adjustment systems. How many are there? OBS has deployed 25 FPV drones in total for these Games. They are operated by teams of three specialists (pilot, director and technician) who work synchronized through a dedicated communication channel to manage flight paths, timings and technical adjustments. One of the pilots He assures that it is the most difficult job he has ever done: flying in small spaces up to fifty times per session, consistently, with no margin for error, with millions of spectators watching live. The past. Milano-Cortina 2026 represents the massive winter debut of this technology. The path began in Paris 2024, where FPV drones were used for the first time in competitions. mountain bikingoffering an unprecedented immersive perspective. At the current Winter Games, the most dramatic application has occurred in sliding sports: for the first time, Spectators can follow complete routeswith athletes reaching speeds of over 140 kilometers per hour. Previously, coverage of these disciplines was done with a succession of quick cuts between fixed cameras. Now we can follow the athlete without interruptions, which helps to have a better impression of the speeds they reach. In alpine skiing, drones accompany athletes down the legendary Stelvio descent. In freestyle skiing and snowboarding, the devices are launched with them from the 23-meter springboard. The characteristic high-pitched whir of the rotors has become a recognizable soundtrack of these Games. It is particularly audible during testing. snowboard big airwhere the synchronization between the athlete’s jump and the flight of the drone must be millimeters. How we see sport. We reached this point after decades of developing sports broadcasts. In the mid-eighties there were already cable-suspended camera systems (with variants such as the SpiderCam) that offered aerial angles impossible for fixed cameras. The next step was portable cameras mounted on the athletes themselves. GoPro popularized action cameras during the past decade. Rio 2016 marked another milestone with the introduction of virtual reality, an attempt at total immersion in the sporting event. Regulatory challenges. The 2015 incident at Madonna di Campiglio, where A 10-kilogram drone almost hit skier Marcel Hirschercaused a temporary ban from the FIS that lasted until the 2023-24 season. Race director Markus Waldner then declared that drones were detrimental to safety. A decade later, Milano-Cortina’s 243-gram drones demonstrate how lightweight design and improved protocols can mitigate these risks, although the recent incident with Australian snowboarder Ally Hickman emphasizes that the technology still requires improvement. Header | Matthieu Pétiard in Unsplash – Ricardo Gomez Angel in Unsplash

Getting it right this Valentine’s Day is easier if your partner likes video games with these controllers, retro consoles, steering wheels and more

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There is very little left until the arrival of Valentine’s Day, so if you still don’t have the gift or you don’t know very well what to buy for a video game lover, in this article we are going to review the best ideas we can find in stores like Amazon, PcComponentes or Xtralife. Game & Watch: The Legend of Zelda by 49.99 eurosa retro console with three iconic video games from the Nintendo saga. Xbox Series Controller by 54.99 eurosa tighter price for an excellent controller. Switch Pro Controller by 64.95 eurosthe controller for the first Nintendo Switch, which is also compatible with the Switch 2. ‘Animal Crossing. New Horizons‘ by 54.99 eurosa video game to spend many hours on. Blade BR5 Wheel by 89.99 eurosa good price considering that it includes pedals and gearbox. Game & Watch: The Legend of Zelda If your partner is a fan of The Legend of Zelda saga and loves everything retro-related, Xtralife right now has 49.99 euros the iconic Game & Watch. The design is completely customized for the specific saga and includes three The Legend of Zelda video games. Of course, they are in English and Japanese: ‘The Legend of Zelda’. ‘Zelda II: The Adventure of Link’. ‘The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening’. Game & Watch: The Legend of Zelda The price could vary. We earn commission from these links Xbox Series Controller If we talk about controls, the Xbox Controller for Xbox Series and One consoles is one of the best. Not only because of its ergonomics (that too), but because of the distribution of the joysticks and for the quality of the materials. PcComponentes right now has it in blue for a price of 54.99 eurosalthough there are other colors almost at the same price. The price could vary. We earn commission from these links Switch Pro Controller The controller for the Nintendo Switch is expensive, but it is also one of the few (along with the official ones) that allows you to turn on the console from the controller itself, without having to do it from the console. He Switch Pro Controller It is also quite ergonomic, has a good battery and comes with the same layout of joysticks that we find on the Xbox controller. Its price in Xtralife is 64.95 euros. Switch Pro Controller The price could vary. We earn commission from these links Animal Crossing. New Horizons ‘Animal Crossing: New Horizons‘ arrived very recently in its edition for Nintendo Switch 2. It is a perfect video game for lovers of life simulators, especially if we want to give it a try. hours and hours creating our own space on Desert Islands. Its official price is 69.99 euros, but PcComponentes right now has it for 54.99 euros. Other video games that are on sale: ‘Hyrule Warriors: Age of Banishment’ (Switch 2 Edition) by 52.99 euros. ‘Pokémon ZA Legends’ (Switch 2 Edition) by 56.99 euros. Animal Crossing: New Horizons (Switch 2 Edition) The price could vary. We earn commission from these links Blade BR5 Wheel On the other hand, if your partner loves driving video games and is looking to have a much more complete experience than what can be had with a controller, the Blade BR5 Wheel It is a steering wheel compatible with PlayStation 5 which not only incorporates a good assortment of buttons, but also includes a pedal with accelerator and brake and a gear lever. All this for 89.99 euros. Furthermore, for complete the giftit can also be very attractive to accompany the steering wheel with the ‘Gran Turismo 7‘, one of the best driving simulators for the PlayStation 5. Its price in this case is 54.99 euros. The price could vary. We earn commission from these links Some of the links in this article are affiliated and may provide a benefit to Xataka. In case of non-availability, offers may vary. Images | freepikNintendo, Microsoft, Blade In Xataka | PlayStation 5 Pro vs PlayStation 5: these are all the differences between the two Sony consoles In Xataka | Two years ago I bought a PS5. I wish someone had told me I needed these plugins too.

Genie 3 is awesome at creating worlds for video games. But the problem with video games was never creating worlds

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Genie 3 has been with us since August and its previous versions since long beforebut this weekend its fame has exploded because Google has taught us how to generate interactive 3D environments simply by writing a phrase. And in seconds, Genie 3 materializes a forest, or a city, or a cave, or whatever you want. And there you can move, or jump, or fly. Technically it is brilliant. However, There is nothing there that makes us think that it is going to bring down video game development.. It will make it easier, in any case, but it does not pose a threat to him. Because The bottleneck of video games has never been generating polygons. The difficult part of creating a good game is not creating a world in which a character can walk or fly. The hard part is creating a world where you, I, and all the other players want to keep walking or flying. That difference between space and experience is what separates a demo like the ones we have seen of Genie 3 – a video to be amazed by for a few seconds – from a video game that we are going to dedicate hours to. Or at least a few minutes. Several video game companies fell around 10% after this announcement of Genie 3, but none as much as Unity, which has fallen 20%. It is a sign that There are Unity investors who don’t understand what makes a company like Unity valuable.. Unity is not Unity because it renders polygons but because of the invisible infrastructure it sells: making the physics the same on all the devices on which its games are played, creating collision systems that do not fail, maintaining debugging that explain why your game crashes in frame 47,293. Genie 3 generates impressive landscapes, but it can’t explain why your character is traversing the ground in that particular corner of the map. From the outside, what is visible seems to be the great work to be done with a game. The graphics, the models, the environments… But any developer knows that create assets is the, quote-heavy, “easy” part. The bad thing is what takes years of accumulated effort: Design clashes with enemies that are complex but fair, calibrate progression curves, write dialogue that serves much more than conveying an idea (such as revealing a character) without stopping the action for it. That is, build complex systems that consolidate the narrative and engage the player, interacting in emergent ways. Genie 3 doesn’t touch any of that. There is one limitation that perfectly sums up the distance between what Genie 3 does and what a video game demands: spatial memory. The generated worlds they tend to forget themselvesand that is why a ladder that you saw a while ago is no longer there, and not because someone has taken it. If you go back, possibly the model regenerates it, perhaps in another place, perhaps with another geometry. In a video game, just the opposite is needed: a persistent state where each action has consequences. A tree you cut down has to stay down. Spatial consistency is the basis of a digital world. And that is not solved by updating the model to make it a little more capable. It is something inherent to generative systems: they live in an eternal present, without real memory of frames previous. This doesn’t mean that Genie 3 is useless. We insist: it is beastly. But for something else. For rapid prototyping, to elevate conceptual art to something interactive. Those types of scenarios. Maybe even for a indie Show the investor what your game will be like without settling for a PowerPoint. And that is valuable. It will change dynamics and lower costs. But It is one more tool in the entire process, not a replacement for any process.. Google is going to solve a problem in the world of video games, but it has the most difficult ones left: making those worlds matter something and making the mechanics satisfactory. May we remember the stories they tell and may the players progress. Ultimately, the soul of a game. That is hardly designed with a prompt. That is designed, iterated, and polished for a long time by people who know about intentionality. Now AI can create the canvas, but that has never been the hardest thing about painting. Featured image | Google In Xataka | What’s happening with Ubisoft: after canceling six games and adjusting its structure, this is the plan of the great French studio

Free PS4 and PS5 games in February 2026 for PlayStation Plus Essential, Extra and Premium

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Let’s tell you what they are the games that Sony will give you at no additional cost in February 2026 if you have subscription to PlayStation Plus. These are 3 new titles that will be available from February for all subscribers of any of the versions of this service, and which you can play whenever you want at no additional cost as long as you maintain your subscription. PlayStation 5 It is backward compatible with the PS4, which means that you can play all the games from the previous generation on it. In the list of games we are going to put you games with official prices from the official Sony website, which may sometimes be different from what you will find in stores, but which serve as a reference to see the value of the games you get. Free games for PS4 and PS5 Undisputed (PS5), valued at 49.99 euros. A boxing simulator with over 70 boxers and fighters, although some can only be unlocked by punching. It has many different scenarios, with intuitive controls and intense combat. You have the file in 3DGames. Subnautica: Below Zero (PS5, PS4), valued at 29.99 euros. A new episode of the fantastic Subnautica that is sold separately. It takes us to a new frozen region where we face new challenges for our survival. You have the file in 3DGames. Ultros (PS5, PS4), valued at 24.99 euros. A metroidvania with exploration and combat. Locked in a narrative loop, we will have to face multiple challenges while we progress our character. You have the file in 3DGames. Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown (PS4), valued at 69.99 euros. A flight simulator where you have to control fighter planes. You can pilot about 30 planes. You have the file in 3DGames.

The Google Pixel 10 Pro cheaper than ever, the Nintendo Switch 2 in a pack with two games, offers on watches and more. Hunting Bargains

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Christmas will be over, but The offers continue to arrive, standing out not only in quantity, but also in quality.. Stores like Amazon, MediaMarkt and many others have added tons of discounts on a huge variety of devices. If you are looking for the Nintendo Switch 2 at a good price or want to renew your mobile, keep an eye out for this week’s Bargain Hunting offers. Google Pixel 10 Pro by 749 eurosthe best price we have seen to date. Even better than Black Friday. nintendo switch 2 by 509 eurosa pack that includes two exclusive Nintendo video games. Bit F7 by 448.99 eurosa pack that in addition to the mobile phone includes a tablet. OnePlus Watch Lite by 159 eurosa smartwatch in a pack that includes the brand’s Bluetooth headphones. PocketBook Era Color by 213.90 eurosan e-book reader with a color screen. Google Pixel 10 Pro One of the best offers of the entire week has fallen on the Google Pixel 10 Proa mobile phone that, although it is true that it has received many offers in recent months, now has the best one we have seen to date: Amazon has it for 749 euros. It is a small mobile (6.3 inches) that comes with 16 GB of RAM, its battery supports wireless charging, its software will be updated for many years and Its photographic section is a delight. Google Pixel 10 Pro (128GB) The price could vary. We earn commission from these links nintendo switch 2 There are not a few offers that we have seen in the nintendo switch 2 since its launch. After a Christmas full of discounts, MediaMarkt now has a special offer on a pack put together by the store itself: the Nintendo Switch 2 comes with the official pack that includes the ‘Mario Kart World‘, but also for the same price you can select the video game ‘Pokémon ZA Legends‘ totally free. In this way, the console is left with two games per 509 euros. If you prefer, MediaMark has the Nintendo Switch 2 for 469 euros. It does not include ‘Mario Kart World’, but it does come with ‘Pokémon Legends Z-A’. In both cases, To select these packs assembled by MediaMarkt, you must select them a little further down in the store. Nintendo Switch 2 + Mario Kart World + Pokémon ZA Legends The price could vary. We earn commission from these links Little F7 From time to time Xiaomi launches the odd pack on offer. We see it a lot on the phone, and this time it was the turn of the Little F7 that, for a price of 489.99 euroscomes along with the Redmi Pad 2a tablet with good build quality and a screen and sound combo perfect for consuming multimedia content. As regards the Little F7it is a mobile phone that incorporates a good 6.83-inch screen that offers 1.5K resolution. Its processor is the Snapdragon 8s Gen 4 and Its battery is 6,500 mAh. It is also waterproof (IP68) and comes with 256 GB of internal storage. Poco F7 (256GB) + Redmi Pad 2 (128GB) The price could vary. We earn commission from these links OnePlus Watch Lite There are no two without three. He OnePlus Watch Lite It arrived recently and the official store not only has it on sale with a good discount, but also has it in a pack with the OnePlus Nord Buds 3 ProBluetooth headphones with adaptive cancellation that are valued at 79 euros. The watch pack with the headphones remains in 159 euros. As for the OnePlus Watch Lite, it is a smartwatch that has a 1.46-inch AMOLED screen. It has 4 GB of internal storage, Its theoretical autonomy reaches a week with typical useincludes GPS and comes with more than 100 sports modes, as well as a good assortment to monitor physical activity. OnePlus Watch Lite + OnePlus Nord Buds 3 Pro The price could vary. We earn commission from these links PocketBook Era Color If you didn’t get to take advantage of the numerous deals we saw on Kindle and Kobo readers over Christmas, we can still find plenty of discounts on other brands. During the El Corte Inglés Sales, you can buy the PocketBook Era Color by 213.90 euros. It is an eReader with a 7-inch color anti-glare screen that allows you to access eBiblio from the browser. It plays books and audiobooks and is compatible with a wide range of formats. The price could vary. We earn commission from these links Some of the links in this article are affiliated and may provide a benefit to Xataka. In case of non-availability, offers may vary. Images | Google, Nintendo, Xiaomi, OnePlus, PocketBook In Xataka | The best mobile phones, we have tested them and here are their analyzes In Xataka | The best smartwatches (2026): their analyzes and videos are here

After invading the development of video games, AI enters an untouchable area with a Sony patent: the player himself

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Sony has registered a patent that proposes a future where video games can complete themselves. The document, presented in September 2024 and released this weekdescribes a system of “artificial intelligence ghosts” capable of actively intervening in PlayStation games. These virtual agents would go beyond traditional guides: they would not only show how to overcome obstacles, but they could directly take control and solve entire levels while the player watches. How it works. The patent details an assistance system with several levels of intervention. For example, “Guide Mode” would allow the ghost to show the solution to a specific problem, such as solving a puzzle or executing a precise sequence of commands, but it would have to be completed by the player. “Complete Mode”, on the other hand, would hand over total control to the artificial agent, which would overcome the obstacle autonomously. More modes. The registration document describes four modes Selectable additional features: Story Mode, Combat Mode, Exploration Mode and Full Game Mode, suggesting specialization in certain tasks, depending on the type of challenge presented to the player. The system would function as a layer superimposed on the user’s character, visible on the screen as a visual reference. In some cases, this digital ghost could even hold conversations with the player’s avatar to offer contextualized instructions. What does it feed on? The technology would be fueled by recordings of previous games, including content shared on YouTube and social networks. The original patent document justifies the need to access these videos by stating that “players can research the game or search for previous gameplay on Internet sites, but that process is time-consuming.” Help systems. Player aids have come a long way. In the ’90s, players who got stuck called support lines (Nintendo’s being especially popular) or consulted guides in magazines, full of maps and secrets. The web democratized access through databases such as GameFAQs and, later, through audiovisual content on YouTube that allowed step-by-step solutions to be seen. In fact, Playstation 5 already incorporates Game Helpa system that displays clips of other users overcoming specific sections of the game. Its application, however, leaves something to be desired. Microsoft, of course, is betting on Copilot in the form of a conversational assistant that answers questions about the game. The proposal for artificial ghosts goes one step further, going from pre-recorded content to direct intervention in the game. AI in industry. The artificial intelligence integration video game development is accelerating. In 2024Unity revealed that 62% of studios that were using its tools implemented AI in some phase of production, highlighting animation as the main application. A survey from the Game Developers Conference of the same year indicates that approximately a third of professionals in the sector were already using these technologies. Data from the Tokyo Games Show raised the figure to more than half of Japanese companies. The automation of gameplay It’s not new either. Kotaku mentions in its article successful titles such as ‘Vampire Survivors’, with semi-automatic mechanics; ‘Megabonk’, nominated for the Game Awards for its automated design; or, in general, all idle subgenrewhich has such popular examples as ‘Ball X Pit’. The debate. This technology poses a dilemma: on the one hand, it would allow more players to enjoy complex content and prevent abandonment due to frustration. It would be integrated into the accessibility options (difficulty settings, control remapping, color blind modes), without forcing anyone to use it. On the other hand… do we run the risk of losing the “challenge” of games by delegating our participation to AI agents? What’s the point of playing then? And of course, it raises multiple questions in multiplayer environments, where there will be a temptation to take credit for victories achieved by the ghost. In Xataka | The new “test” to discover whether or not an AI model is truly intelligent: play Pokémon

dominate in the age of AI and video games

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Officially, CES 2026 in Las Vegas starts tomorrow, January 6, but as usual, some companies have wanted to stand out to capture the spotlight. One of those is an AMD that is pushing its processor division hard and that has stood at the event with three new Ryzen. Not three different processors: three categories. As it could not be otherwise, there are many “artificial intelligence” in the equation. It is something that the company’s latest processors for Consolidated PCslike the Asus ROG Xbox Allythey have made it clear, and that in these new families it continues to be promoted. That said, we are going with all the new AMD processors, including some more industrial ones that are not interesting for us as users, but that says a lot about the state of the technology industry in general and The United States and AMD itself in particular. New AMD Ryzen AI 400 APUs Image | amd First things first: the Ryzen AI 400. It is an APU, a package that integrates CPU, GPU and NPU to process artificial intelligence tasks. This type of units is found in established consoles, laptops and PCs, and this AI is responsible for “inventing” frames per second with tools such as ‘frame generation’ or reconstructing the image with AMD’s FSR and the Nvidia DLSS. In this new family, we see improvements in memory speed, cores and frequency, but what stands out is the performance of the NPU. It has 1.2 times more TOPs than previous Ryzens. Manufacturers are expected to start launching compact laptops and desktops at the end of January this year, and the features of all Ryzen AI 400 processors are as follows: Cores/threads Maximum frequency cache memory speed NPU TOPs GPU CUs Ryzen AI 9 HX 475 12 / 24 5.2GHz 36MB 8,533 MT/s 60 16 Ryzen AI HX 470 12 / 24 5.2GHz 36MB 8,533 MT/s 55 16 Ryzen AI 9 465 10/20 5GHz 34MB 8,533 MT/s 50 12 Ryzen AI 7 450 8 / 16 5.1GHz 24MB 8,533 MT/s 50 8 Ryzen AI 7 445 6 / 12 4.6GHz 14MB 8,000 MT/s 50 4 Ryzen AI 5 435 6 / 12 4.5GHz 14MB 8,000 MT/s 50 4 Ryzen AI 5 430 4/8 4.5GHz 12MB 8,000 MT/s 50 4 Ryzen AI Max+ Image | amd On the other hand, there are the Ryzen AI Max+. They are also APUs that integrate graphics, processor and NPU, but the TDP is higher because they are designed for more demanding tasks such as 3D modeling, video editing and video games with comparable image quality, according to AMD, to what we would have if we used a conventional CPU plus a graphics card. Now we will see the frequencies, cores and bandwidth, but AMD has focused on commenting that the characteristics of this processor allow AI models to run in local mode without depending on the limitations of the cloud. In fact, the model Liquid AI It is the one they mention as local execution and it can be downloaded for free by everyone who has a Ryzen AI processor. And, of course, comparisons are odious, but they have put an Asus ROG Flow Z13 face to face with an AI Max and at MacBook Pro M5 to tell us that the Asus performs 1.4 more in AI tasks, 1.8 more in content creation, has 1.8 faster multitasking and better performance -1.6x- in ‘Cyberpunk 2077‘. Here is the entire family: Cores/threads Maximum frequency NPU TOPs GPU CUs GPU TFLOPS Ryzen AI Max+ 395 16 / 32 5.1GHz 50 40 60 Ryzen AI Max+ 3 392 12 / 24 5GHz 50 40 60 Ryzen AI Max+ 3 390 12 / 24 5GHz 50 32 48 Ryzen AI Max+ 3 388 8 / 16 5GHz 50 40 60 Ryzen AI Max+ 3 385 8 / 16 5GHz 50 32 48 New Ryzen 9000, because not everything is AI Image | amd If the two previous families rely on AI to be able to handle models locally and to improve visual parameters in video games, now we move on to the new Ryzen 9000. These are processors designed for the desktop, and within the new family of Ryzen 5, Ryzen 7 and Ryzen 9we have real beasts with a TDP of up to 170 W and maximum frequencies of up to 5.7 GHz in the most powerful of them: the Ryzen 9 9950X3D. It is a processor with 16 cores and 32 threads with a combined cache of 144 MB and AMD itself is not the one it has used for its comparisons because it is a processor more designed for creating content than for video games. Looking for a greater balance, there is the Ryzen 7 9850X3D. It has 8 cores, 16 threads, a TPD of 120 W and a maximum frequency of 5.6 GHz. This is 400 MHz more than the fabulous 9800X3D and maintains compatibility with the AM5 socket. If you already had a previous processor compatible with that socket, the change is very simple. These are all the new Ryzen 9000: Cores/threads Maximum frequency cache TDP Ryzen 9 9950X 3D 16 / 32 5.7GHz 144MB 170W Ryzen 9 9950X 16 / 32 5.7GHz 80MB 170W Ryzen 9 9900X 3d 12 / 24 5.5GHz 140MB 120W Ryzen 9 9900X 12 / 24 5.6GHz 76MB 120W Ryzen 7 9850X 3D 8 / 16 5.6GHz 104MB 120W Ryzen 7 9800X 3D 8 / 16 5.2GHz 104MB 120W Ryzen 7 9700X 8 / 16 5.5GHz 40MB 65W Ryzen 5 9600X 6 / 12 5.4GHz 38MB 65W Ryzen 5 9600 6 / 12 5.2GHz 38MB 65W And, although it is not new, AMD has recalled that they launched Redstone recently. This is the name they have given to FSR, its image reconstruction technology and pixel generation. Most new games are already compatible with Redstone and it is something that we can see in this video and that only interests you if you have a Radeon RX9000: Embedded APU, the … Read more

Scientists have investigated what happens to your brain when you play video games. And they have surprising news

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There is something strangely comforting about dissonance. Sometimes, while I’m fighting with a crochet hook trying to make a scarf not end up looking like a dish towel, I like to put the TV channel in the background. TacticalGramma. Michelle is 59 years old, she is a proud grandmother and, while I clumsily count wool stitches, she is annihilating entire squads in Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 with a precision that any teenager would want for themselves. The scene has that visual irony: technology has not come to isolate us in a basement, but to rescue our neurons from rust. For decades, the social narrative sold us that video games “rot” the brain; Today, science is beginning to suggest that, if you want to reach 60 with good mental agility, perhaps you should take control. The brain clock. A study published by Nature has managed to compare the health of neural connections with the person’s actual age—what is known as brain clocks. The team led by Carlos Coronel-Oliveros has discovered that players who are experts in strategy titles like StarCraft II They have a mental structure that is much more resistant to the passage of time. On average, the brains of these players function with the agility of someone four years younger, according to a statistical estimate based on neuroimaging models. An efficiency phenomenon that neuroscience calls Brain Age Gap (BAG). When Sudoku is no longer enough. While classic brain games are isolated and repetitive tasks, an action video game forces the brain to manage an avalanche of information in real time. This level of constant demand—planning movements, reacting to attacks, and filtering out distractions simultaneously—forces neurons to reorganize. To reach this conclusion, the research team used research techniques whole-brain modelingcombining fMRI with machine learning algorithms capable of detecting subtle patterns in connectivity. The results showed more efficient integration in the so-called “frontoparietal hubs”, key regions for attention and executive function that are usually among the first to deteriorate with age. Changes in brain hardware. This apparent rejuvenation has a physical reflection in the structure of the brain. Science has found that, just as a muscle develops with exercise, certain key areas of players become denser and more robust. Studies in Scientific Reports and Translational Psychiatry reveal that those who regularly play action titles have more “gray matter” in regions responsible for coordination, attention and making quick decisions. It is as if the brain had expanded its information highways to react sooner and better to each stimulus. But the most useful change is the refinement of our visual “filter.” Research in PLOS ONE show that the players They develop a superior ability to ignore unnecessary noise. It’s not that they see more, it’s that their brain has learned to process only the information that really matters to win the game, optimizing the energy expenditure of the visual cortex. The ‘learning to learn’ factor. What is truly significant is not being more precise within the game, but the impact on the ability to continue learning. A study in Communications Biology showed that video game training Action speeds up the speed at which people learn new tasks, even when they are unrelated to the game. As they explain psychologists Daphne Bavelier and C. Shawn Green, these games train the brain’s attentional control. The result is improved cognitive adaptation, valuable in an ever-changing technological world. But experts still debate the degree of “far transfer”—that is, the extent to which being a keyboard whiz makes you better at managing a real crisis or a complex spreadsheet. When the benefit runs out. Even so, it is advisable to lower your enthusiasm. Most of these studies they are correlational: they do not allow us to state with certainty whether playing transforms the brain or whether certain already “agile” brain profiles are more inclined to enjoy video games. Furthermore, the effects vary depending on age and life context. Side B is not minor either. Researchers warn that excessive exposure can cause cognitive fatigue and sleep disturbances. The World Health Organization recognizes the video game disorder as a real problem when gambling becomes a compulsive behavior. The neural benefit depends on the balance that if the challenge stops being stimulating and becomes automatic or addictive, the protective effect disappears. Not just any game will do. Another key point is that not all video games produce the same effects. The strongest benefits are seen in action and real-time strategy games, which require quick decisions and multitasking. As experts point outonce a game stops being difficult and becomes mechanical, brain plasticity stagnates. Speed ​​and time pressure seem to be essential ingredients for keeping machinery in shape. There is something hopeful about seeing someone like TacticalGramma master a digital environment. The science doesn’t say that video games are a panacea, but it does suggest that brain aging doesn’t have to be a one-way path to decline. Perhaps the secret to a healthier brain is not in a pill, but in our ability to continue to face what is difficult and accept the frustration of constant learning. For now, I’m going to leave crocheting for a while. Image | freepik Xataka | The art of self-deception: why our brain defends our mistakes even if it knows we are wrong

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