Articles by Afplast Updated

Business

New 'Call of Duty' video game launches amid rival success

Getty Images The world's best-selling war game saga, "Call of Duty", releases its latest instalment Friday, under pressure to rival the strong launch of longtime competitor "Battlefield"."Call of Duty: Black Ops 7" plunges gamers into the near-future and follows a special forces team facing off against a Nicaraguan terrorist.For the past twenty years, "Call of Duty" and "Battlefield" have dominated the first-person-shooter series with an intense rivalry.The former still claims the number on spot, with more than 500 million copies sold since the first game's release in 2003, according to its publisher Activision Blizzard. Several of its instalments are said to have individually surpassed 20 million sales.Live EventsHowever, setting the new game in 2035 could be seen as a risky choice with previous "Call of Duty" games set in the future proving the least popular.Rivalry"Black Ops 7" removes features unpopular with fans, like "jetpacks" and "wall running" gameplay, Activision communications director Stephanie Snowden told AFP. New feature allow characters to instead bounce off walls with a double jump.Overall, it remains close to recent instalments while cultivating the success of older titles in hopes of keeping fans happy. The latest story follows on from Black Ops 2 and 6, including familiar characters and maps. Stretching the formula would risk alienating Call of Duty's audience.At the same time, "the franchise doesn't innovate enough", said Lou Martin, a marketing student who tested the game at Paris Games Week. And then there is the blockbuster success of "Battlefield 6", released on October 10."Battlefield 6 Shatters Records Becoming the Biggest Launch in Franchise History," its publisher Electronic Arts said one week after its release.More than seven million copies of "Battlefield 6" were snapped up in what EA touted as one of the biggest gaming and entertainment launches of 2025.Some specialised media estimate that it has since surpassed 10 million sales. It marked a significant rebound after "Battlefield 2042," released in 2021, was deemed disappointing."I was planning to buy 'Black Ops' for the end of the year, but 'Battlefield' made me change my mind," said Martin. "Battlefield" challenges its rival with smaller multiplayer maps than usual and a "battle royale" mode where players eliminate each other one by one, similar to a popular mode found on "Call of Duty". "Even if there's not enough innovation, comparatively I prefer (it)... to the 'Battlefield' franchise, which is too complex for me," Reda Mbarki, a gamer aged in his thirties, said after testing the game.By continuing to offer a multiplayer and zombie modes, "Call of Duty" can still rely on a loyal audience.Add as a Reliable and Trusted News Source Add Now! (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel) Read More News onCall of Duty Black Ops 7Battlefield 6Activision Blizzardnew video game releaseElectronic Artsgaming industry newsvideo game salesfuture warfare games (Catch all the Business News, Breaking News and Latest News Updates on The Economic Times.) Subscribe to The Economic Times Prime and read the ET ePaper online....moreless (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel)Read More News onCall of Duty Black Ops 7Battlefield 6Activision Blizzardnew video game releaseElectronic Artsgaming industry newsvideo game salesfuture warfare games(Catch all the Business News, Breaking News and Latest News Updates on The Economic Times.) Subscribe to The Economic Times Prime and read the ET ePaper online....moreless

2 hours ago

Technology

Tech shares lower as Trump rejects talk of AI bubble

Tech shares were back under pressure Friday, leading major indices lower as President Donald Trump dismissed worries about an artificial intelligence stock bubble."No, I love AI. I think it's going to be very helpful," Trump said in response to an AFP reporter about whether there is an AI bubble."It's truly going to be the future, and we're leading the world."But shares of Amazon, Google-parent Alphabet and AI chip giant Nvidia were among those in the red Friday, a dynamic that weighed especially heavily on the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index, which was down 1.1 percent at 22,794.81 around 1900 GMT.The Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 0.4 percent to 46,728.74, while the broad-based S&P 500 fell 0.6 percent to 6,677.97.Tech giants such as ChatGPT-maker OpenAI have announced multiple massive projects throughout 2025, also spurring significant building plans for new electricity generation to bolster processing capacity.But after multiple stock market records throughout the year, equity markets have hit resistance in recent days amid persistent concerns of overvaluation.In a note Friday, Briefing.com analyst Patrick O'Hare pointed to the retreat in Palantir shares after the company reported strong earnings earlier this week as a sign of growing anxiety.Unclear is whether "this loss of momentum is a simple profit-taking consolidation or the start of a larger valuation-driven correction," O'Hare said.jmb/des

4 days ago

Technology

New satellite images suggest mass killings persist in Sudan's El-Fasher

RelatedGroup says attack by Sudanese paramilitaries in Darfur kills at least 53 New satellite imagery suggests that mass killings are likely continuing in and around the Sudanese city of El-Fasher, Yale researchers said, days after it fell to the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces.At war with the regular army since April 2023, the RSF seized El-Fasher on Sunday, pushing the army out its last stronghold in the western Darfur region after a grinding 18-month siege.Since the city's fall, reports have emerged of summary executions, sexual violence, attacks on aid workers, looting and abductions, while communications remain largely cut off.A report by Yale University's Humanitarian Research Lab on Friday said fresh images gave them reason to believe much of the population may be "dead, captured, or in hiding".The lab identified at least 31 clusters of objects consistent with human bodies between Monday and Friday, across neighbourhoods, university grounds and military sites.Live Events"Indicators that mass killing is continuing are clearly visible," the lab said.Survivors from El-Fasher who reached the nearby town of Tawila have told AFP of mass killings, children shot before their parents, and civilians beaten and robbed as they fled.Hayat, a mother of five who fled El-Fasher, said that "young men travelling with us were stopped" along the way by paramilitaries and "we don't know what happened to them".The UN said more than 65,000 people have fled El-Fasher but tens of thousands remain trapped.Around 260,000 people were in the city before the RSF's final assault.The RSF claimed to have arrested several fighters accused of abuses on Thursday, but UN humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher questioned the RSF's commitment to investigate violations.Both the RSF and the army have faced war crimes accusations over the course of the conflict.El-Fasher's capture gives the RSF full control over all five state capitals in Darfur, effectively splitting Sudan along an east-west axis, with the army controlling the north, east and centre.Add as a Reliable and Trusted News Source Add Now! (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel) Read More News onSudan mass killingsRapid Support Forces SudanYale UniversityUN humanitarian chiefYale researcherssudan news (Catch all the Business News, Breaking News and Latest News Updates on The Economic Times.) Subscribe to The Economic Times Prime and read the ET ePaper online....moreless (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel)Read More News onSudan mass killingsRapid Support Forces SudanYale UniversityUN humanitarian chiefYale researcherssudan news(Catch all the Business News, Breaking News and Latest News Updates on The Economic Times.) Subscribe to The Economic Times Prime and read the ET ePaper online....moreless

Nov 1, 2025

Technology

SpaceX says 'disabled' 2,500 Starlink devices at Myanmar scam centres

ReutersA view of the SpaceX Starbase facility in Starbase, Texas, U.S. SpaceX has cut service to more than 2,500 Starlink devices at scam centres in Myanmar, a company vice-president said on Wednesday, after AFP revealed that the use of the satellite internet terminals had exploded in the illicit industry.Meanwhile, an AFP journalist saw hundreds of people fleeing one of Myanmar's biggest fraud factories -- KK Park, bordering Thailand -- as a crackdown on the hub continued.AFP's investigation this month revealed a construction boom at Myanmar's scam centres, particularly in the border area of Myawaddy, despite a highly publicised initial clampdown earlier this year.Many of the centres appeared to have installed large numbers of Starlink internet receivers on their roofs after neighbouring Thailand cut their internet and power connections."SpaceX proactively identified and disabled over 2,500 Starlink Kits in the vicinity of suspected 'scam centers'" in Myanmar, Lauren Dreyer, vice-president of Starlink business operations at Elon Musk's SpaceX, said on X.Live EventsMyanmar's military announced this week it had raided KK Park and seized 30 Starlink terminals, a fraction of those used at the site.But an AFP journalist on Wednesday saw more than 1,000 people travelling away from the site on foot, by motorbike and crammed into pickup trucks, with one departing KK Park worker saying the crackdown was ongoing.Add as a Reliable and Trusted News Source Add Now! (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel) Read More News onSpaceXStarlink devicesMyanmar scam centresfraud factoriesMyanmar's militarystarlinklauren dreyersatellite internet terminals (Catch all the Business News, Breaking News and Latest News Updates on The Economic Times.) Subscribe to The Economic Times Prime and read the ET ePaper online....moreless (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel)Read More News onSpaceXStarlink devicesMyanmar scam centresfraud factoriesMyanmar's militarystarlinklauren dreyersatellite internet terminals(Catch all the Business News, Breaking News and Latest News Updates on The Economic Times.) Subscribe to The Economic Times Prime and read the ET ePaper online....moreless Explore More Stories123

Oct 22, 2025