 |
|
|
|||||
Bluesky has passed the 20 million user mark as the app continues its recent surge in growth. The decentralized service, which reached 15 million users less than a week ago, has just about tripled its user base in the last three months. Though its still far smaller than its rivals Threads and X, Blueskys current momentum is notable. The app has had several days over the last week where it added a million new users in a single 24-hour period. Thats similar to the growth rate of Threads, which has been getting a million new sign-ups a day for going on three months, according to an update last week from Metas Adam Mosseri. Threads reached 275 million monthly users earlier this month and has added at least 15 million since the start of November. And while Bluesky remains the underdog, there are other signs its gaining momentum. Bluesky has been the top app in Apples App Store for the last six days and has been the top non-gaming app in Google Play for four days, according to data provided by analytics firm App Figures. Metas Threads is currently in the number two spot on the App Store. Though Bluesky has experienced other periods of significant growth over the last year, the recent surge is far bigger than what the open-source service has previously seen. The latest growth for Bluesky seems to be at least partially furled by mounting frustration from some X users. There was a significant spike in traffic to Bluesky on November 7, the day after the presidential election, according to a report from analytics company SimilarWeb. That spike seemed to coincide with a surge in users trying to deactivate their accounts on X. Bluesky has also been keen to differentiate its policies from its larger rivals. Last week, the company pledged that it would not use its users content to train generative AI. Xs new privacy policy allows it to work with third-parties to train AI models on users past tweets. Blueskys CEO Jay Graber has also said that she doesnt want to enshittify the network with ads. Threads, meanwhile, reportedly plans to start experimenting with its first ads in January.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/bluesky-hits-20-million-users-143920955.html?src=rss
Category:
Marketing and Advertising
Adobe is making it more affordable to access its apps if you pay for a subscription until Black Friday this year. You can get the 100GB Adobe Creative Cloud All Apps plan for $30 a month instead of $60 if you sign up for a subscription until November 29. If you're a student, you can get it even cheaper at $16 per month, or 70 percent less than its usual price. Take note that the offer is only available if you're a first time subscriber, and it requires a one year commitment. You will be paying the discounted rate for the entirety of those 12 months, though, and it's not until your subscription is renewed after the year is over that you'll have to pay for its regular $60-a-month pricing. Creative Cloud for Teams is also discounted until November 29 and will cost businesses $45 per month per license, down 50 percent from $90. Meanwhile, Adobe Express for teams will set businesses back $5 per month per license instead of $8. Adobe Creative Cloud All Apps gives you access to 20 of the company's creative apps. They include Photoshop, which is probably the Adobe app you're most familiar with, as well as Illustrator, Premiere Pro, After Effects, InDesign and Acrobat. In addition, you'll also get cloud storage space, social media templates and thousands of fonts with a subscription. If you want to make a website, you can use the plan's access to Adobe Portfolio create it, and you can also use the included access to Adobe Behance if you want to showcase your creative work. Check out all of the latest Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals here.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deals/adobes-black-friday-deal-slashes-50-percent-off-creative-cloud-plans-143039647.html?src=rss
Category:
Marketing and Advertising
Blizzard's first real-time strategy games had a profound impact on me as a young immigrant to Canada in 1994 and 95. Warcraft: Orcs & Humans and Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness helped me learn how to read and write in English, and formed the basis for some of my oldest friendships in a brand-new country. Suffice to say, I have a lot of love for these old RTS games maybe more than Blizzard itself. So you can imagine my excitement at remaster rumors for Warcraft II and its expansion, Beyond the Dark Portal. When Blizzard aired its Warcraft Direct last week, not only were those rumors confirmed, but it announced that the original Warcraft would receive the same treatment, and both would be sold alongside Warcraft III: Reforged (itself a remaster) as part of a new battle chest. Of course, I immediately booted up Battle.net and bought the bundle. I was just as quickly disappointed. Where to start? The most obvious place is the new hand-drawn graphics. Some fans have accused Blizzard of using AI to upscale the art in Warcraft and Warcraft II. I dont think thats what happened here, but what is clear is that the new assets dont live up to the companys usual quality. The unit sprites are completely missing the charm of their original counterparts. They also dont look properly proportioned, and many of them have new stilted animations. Additionally, the extensive use of black outlining makes everything look a bit too stark. At best, the remasters resemble poorly made mobile games. Both games feature a toggle to switch between their original and remastered graphics seamlessly, but here again, Blizzard missed the mark. Theres a great YouTube video explaining the issue, but the short of it is the company didn't accurately represent the tall pixels that the original graphics were designed around, so every asset appear stretched horizontally. Like every game from that era, Warcraft was designed to be played on a 4:3 CRT monitor. However, the original art assets were made to scale within a 320 x 200 frame, which is a 16:10 resolution. As a result, UI elements and units look taller in the 1994 release than in the remaster. GOG correctly accounted for this when it rereleased Warcraft and Warcraft II in 2019, and theres no reason Blizzard couldnt do the same in 2024. Without these nods to the games original visuals, Warcraft: Remastered just doesnt look right. What gameplay enhancements the remasters include are minimal, and while theyre all appreciated, Blizzard could and should have done more. In Warcraft, for instance, its now possible to select up to 12 units simultaneously, up from four, and bind buildings to hotkeys for more efficient macro play. Oh, and you can finally issue attack move commands, something you couldnt do in the original release. However, any features you might find in a modern RTS are notably missing. For example, neither game allows you to queue commands or tab between different types of units in a control group. If this sounds familiar, its because Blizzard took the same approach with StarCraft: Remastered. StarCraft: Brood War still had a sizable professional scene when Blizzard released its remaster. Had Blizzard touched the balance or mechanics of that game, it would have caused an outcry. By contrast, Warcraft II is essentially moribund, and would have greatly benefited from modernization. At the very least, Blizzard could have done a balance pass and added a ladder mode to give the game a chance to attract a new multiplayer fanbase. Coming back from the dead is achievable for an old RTS. Age of Empires II managed to pull this trick off with flying colors: Since the release of its Definitive Edition in 2019, Microsofts genre-defining RTS has never been in a better place. A constant stream of support, including a substantial new expansion that was released just last week, has managed to grow the AoE2 community. At any time, there are as many a 30,000 people playing the Definitive Edition on Steam. If you ask me, thats pretty great for a game that was originally released in 1999, and it shows whats possible when a company cares and nurtures a beloved franchise. The fact Microsoft now owns Blizzard makes its treatment of Warcraft feel particularly unfair. Most disappointing is the lack of bonus content. Contrast this with Half-Life 2s free anniversary update, which Valve released just days after the Warcraft remasters. It includes three and a half hours of new commentary from Gabe Newell and the dev team. Valve also uploaded a two-hour documentary and announced a second edition of Raising the Bar, a behind-the-scenes look at Half-Life 2s turbulent development. If Newell could take time away from his yachts to talk about Valve's most important game, surely Chris Metzen could have done the same for Warcraft. The people who were vital to Warcraft and Warcraft IIs development arent getting any younger Blizzard should preserve their stories. If theres one thing Im hopeful for, its that Blizzard will eventually do the right thing. As I mentioned, the bundle I bought also came with Warcraft III: Reforged. Last week it received a free patch that does a lot to fix the disastrous issues with that remaster, albeit four years late. With more work, I can see the Warcraft and Warcraft II remasters becoming essential. But as things stand, the studio has done the bare minimum to honor its own legacy.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/pc/i-wish-blizzard-loved-warcraft-as-much-as-i-do-141524674.html?src=rss
Category:
Marketing and Advertising
All news |
||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||