Gaming
Resident Evil reboot tops Rotten Tomatoes rankings
A new Resident Evil film has become the highest-rated video game adaptation on Rotten Tomatoes, according to early reviews.
YESTERDAY, STILL WORTH KNOWING
Still
Crunchy.
A week of turbulence in the gaming sector is bookended by high-profile hardware launches and a shift in US policy towards artificial intelligence.
Gaming Restructuring and Layoffs
Microsoft is reshuffling its internal studios, moving the Halo franchise to Activision and reducing Halo Studios to a support team. This follows a series of layoffs and sees Ninja Theory proposed for closure, while Turn 10 merges with Playground Games. The shake-up signals a strategic pivot in Microsoft's first-party approach, prioritising studio strengths over internal stability.
The restructuring is deepening with reports of a second major round of job cuts affecting hundreds of staff across Xbox Game Studios, Bethesda, Activision and Blizzard. This comes despite a recent BlizzCon that revealed Diablo V and a popular beta for World of Warcraft: Forever. The pressure on Halo Studios is also intensifying, coming after the mixed reception of Halo: Campaign Evolved.
Hardware and Connectivity Innovations
ASUS has unveiled the ROG G1000, a flagship desktop that pairs a Ryzen 7 9800X3D processor with an RTX 5080 GPU. The system features a holographic fan with 720 LEDs and a dedicated cooling chamber to isolate the CPU radiator. This launch highlights a trend towards specialised cooling and visual customisation in high-end PC builds.
Separately, ASUS has introduced the ROG Rapture GT-BN98, the world’s first consumer router to support the new Wi-Fi 8 standard. The device focuses on connection reliability and range rather than raw speed, addressing common home networking pain points. This move marks the practical entry of the 802.11bn specification into the consumer market.
AI in Science, Policy and Devices
OpenAI claims a new internal model solved over 100 long-standing math problems in a single month, prompting the company to establish an independent advisory group. This rapid progress highlights the tension between AI's problem-solving ability and the mathematical community's concern for conceptual understanding. The company is attempting to balance rapid development with responsible sharing of results.
In a contrasting move, the US government is prioritising economic growth over safety concerns. Donald Trump has created an AI Force and appointed an AI tsar, dismissing safety worries as a hoax. This policy shift suggests a global precedent where governments are balancing innovation with public safety by prioritising rapid development and economic growth over regulation.
Software and Adaptation Trends
Adobe has released a free version of its Premiere video editing software for Android, bringing multi-track editing and 4K export to mobile devices. This challenges the dominance of mobile-first apps like CapCut and InShot by offering a more professional toolset. The release signals Adobe's renewed focus on the mobile market, which has been largely ignored since the shuttering of Premiere Rush.
The gaming sector also saw a creative success with the Resident Evil reboot topping Rotten Tomatoes rankings. The film achieved a 97 per cent critic score, surpassing Sonic the Hedgehog 3 to become the highest-rated video game adaptation. This suggests a growing audience appetite for adaptations that respect the source material and move away from previous franchise iterations.