A malicious ad-blocking extension on Chrome and Edge is using the ClickFix attack to infect devices with a remote access payload capable of spying on and taking over a system.

NexShield pitched itself as a privacy-focused ad blocker from the developer of well-established and highly trusted uBlock Origin. However, as security firm Huntress found, the extension initiates a variation of the ClickFix attack that has been dubbed “CrashFix”—a reference to the browser crash that precedes the fake security warning and malicious command prompt.

How NexShield’s ‘CrashFix’ attacks your device

As BleepingComputer describes, the NexShield extension creates a denial-of-service (DoS) loop that exhausts your device’s memory, ultimately freezing Chrome or Edge and causing it to crash. When the browser restarts, the extension displays a pop-up with a “Run Scan” button to identify “potential security threats that may compromise your browsing data,” leading users to believe that the crash resulted from a security issue.

If you follow through, you’ll see another fake window with instructions for executing commands in the Windows command prompt. This is the ClickFix attack: a form of social engineering that relies on fake error messages, CAPTCHAs, and command prompts to trick users into deploying malware onto their own devices.

In this case, the extension copies a command to the clipboard, and if users enter the keystrokes in the fake pop-up, downloads and executes a malicious script. After a 60-minute delay to avoid detection, NexShield delivers the payload that can run commands, fingerprint systems, and elevate privileges.

Note that as of this writing, NexShield has been removed from the Chrome Web Store.

How to protect your system from malware

If you’ve installed NexShield, you should uninstall it and perform a full system cleanup to clear its payloads from your device. (We’ve got step-by-step guides to removing malware from your Mac and your PC.)

As general protection against similar attacks, only install browser extensions from trusted sources. This isn’t a guarantee that you’ll never encounter a malicious add-on in the Chrome Web Store or in other browsers, as hackers occasionally manage to sneak through the approval process and even get their extensions labeled as trusted or verified. Some extensions are only later injected with malicious code, essentially “waking up” their ability to attack.

Before installing a new extension, carefully check the creation date, reviews and ratings, and even the name, as malicious add-ons will often impersonate trusted ones (or, as in the case of NexShield, piggyback on legitimate brands like uBlock Origin). Watch for suspicious permissions—if the extension requests access to data or actions that seem excessive or are unrelated to its core function, it might be malware.

Finally, never run codes or commands on your machine copied from websites or communication that you don’t understand, and always verify instructions with an independent, trusted source. For this specific campaign, Huntress has other indicators of compromise you can look for on your system.

The price of water and sewer services for American households has more than doubled since the early 1980s after adjusting for inflation, even though per-capita water use has actually decreased over that period. Households in large cities now spend about $1,300 a year on water and sewer charges, approaching the roughly $1,600 they spend on electricity. The main driver is federal regulation.

Since the Clean Water Act of 1972 and the Safe Drinking Water Act of 1974, the U.S. has spent approximately $5 trillion in contemporary dollars fighting water pollution — about 0.8% of annual GDP across that period. The EPA itself admits that surface water regulations are the one category of environmental rules where estimated costs exceed estimated benefits.

New York City was required to build a filtration plant to address two minor parasites in water from its Croton aqueduct. The project took a decade longer than expected and cost $3.2 billion, more than double the original estimate. After the plant opened in 2015, the city’s Commissioner of Environmental Protection noted that the water would basically be “the same” to the public. Jefferson County, Alabama, meanwhile, descended into what was then the largest municipal bankruptcy in U.S. history in 2011 after EPA-mandated sewer upgrades pushed its debt from $300 million to over $3 billion.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Microsoft has announced that the Xbox app is now available on all Arm-based Windows 11 PCs. The app’s release follows an update Microsoft made to its Prism emulator in December 2025, which translates x86 and x64 apps to Arm, and now includes support for AVX and AVX2. Both extensions play a role in making games run efficiently on Windows.

Windows on Arm users will be able to use the Xbox app to purchase, download and stream PC games, and Microsoft says that “more than 85 percent of the Game Pass catalog” now runs on Arm PCs. Unlike Valve’s SteamOS, Windows on Arm also supports anti-cheat software like Epic’s Easy Anti Cheat, which means you can access a wider library of online multiplayer games in comparison to what you can get on the Steam Deck.

Microsoft has been working on getting Windows running on Arm for years at this point, and the company made a major push with its own Arm-based hardware and the launch of the Copilot+ PC program in 2024. Many Copilot+ PCs use Qualcomm’s Snapdragon chips, the latest of which the company announced in September 2025. Up until this point Microsoft’s handheld efforts have been focused on PCs running AMD chips, but expanded support for Arm and Qualcomm’s own teases certainly makes it seem like an Arm-based Windows 11 handheld could be announced sooner rather than later.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/pc/microsoft-ports-the-xbox-app-to-arm-based-windows-pcs-191049475.html?src=rss

A workout habit has a way of building momentum: Once you’re doing something, anything, it’s easy to build on that. Video workouts are a simple way to get started, but if you’re having trouble following along, I’m here to help. Below are some ways to make common exercises more accessible, and what to do if you can’t get through a whole video yet.

If you can’t squat

Lots of “easy” bodyweight programs ask you to perform a squatting motion without any added weight. But if that’s already more than you can do, try one of these instead:

• Sit in a chair, and stand back up.

• Lean your back against a wall and slide down until you’re in a sitting position (this is called a wall squat).

• Hold onto a countertop or the back of a chair while you do a squat.

For any of these, it’s okay to squat as low as you can, even if that’s not all the way to parallel. You can work on going lower over time.

If you can’t do pushups

Pushups are another move you’ll find in simple beginner workouts, but not everyone can do a pushup on their first day. Pushups get easier the higher your hands are, and harder the higher your feet are. So for the easiest beginner version, put your hands on a wall around shoulder height. Lean into the wall, then push yourself back to a standing position.

Once those become easy, choose a lower surface, like a table or countertop. Then move to a chair, and so on. This progression is arguably better than doing pushups on your knees, because no matter which level you’re on, you are practicing holding your entire body straight in a plank position.

If you aren’t ready to pick up weights

Dumbbells come in all sizes—and fortunately for beginners, the smallest ones are also the cheapest. If your gym doesn’t have dumbbells small enough, any store with a sporting goods section will likely have some one- and two-pound dumbbells you can pick up and add to your gym bag.

But if you’re not even ready for dumbbells, that’s okay. A half-liter water bottle weighs about a pound. Same with a can of soup. Larger water bottles, wine bottles, and milk jugs can take you up a bit further in weight; we did the math for you here. You can also hold books, roller skates, or tote bags full of literally anything. (Two water bottles in a grocery bag? That’s a two-pound weight.)

Need to start even lighter? It’s okay to do weight workouts using literally nothing. Make your hands into fists and go through the motions. If you’re following a video that does a million reps of bicep curls or tricep extensions, your arms will get tired even if they’re empty. Just move up to the water bottles as soon as you’re ready.

If you can’t keep up with the pace of the video

With these substitutions, you may feel ready to start following along with beginner level workout videos. But what if you can’t handle exactly what’s on the screen? Remember, your goal should be to do a workout at your current level of fitness, not to complete a certain number of reps that you theoretically could do if you were in better shape. So if the video asks for 30 seconds of pushups but you can only manage a few reps, do as many as you can and rest for the remainder of the time.

It’s fine to bounce from video to video until you find something at your level. Keep an eye out for one that seems like fun but is just out of your reach. Do it anyway, modifying it or resting as needed, and then bookmark it and come back to it next week. Chances are good you’ll be able to keep up a little bit better—and if you keep coming back to that same workout week after week, you’ll eventually master it. Consistency breeds momentum.

If cycling workouts are too hard

Let’s say you want to do a workout from a Peloton-like cycling instructor. You’ve got your bike, you can pedal, but pretty quickly you’re out of breath and feel like you can’t keep going.

These workouts are easy to adjust: All you have to do is pay attention to the instructor’s voice and facial expressions and ignore any specific numbers. It doesn’t matter if she’s asking you for a “20” or a “50.” If the instructor looks and talks like she’s on an easy bike ride, adjust your resistance so you are on an easy bike ride. If she looks like she’s working hard but not dying, adjust your resistance so you are working hard but not dying.

If you can’t decide where to start

Start literally anywhere. There isn’t a wrong answer. Maybe you start doing cardio dance videos, but it turns out you hate dancing. Well, you’re already moving your body a couple times a week, so you can swap out the dancing for something else.

Or maybe you start doing pushups every day, but after a while your wrists are aching. You can choose to address that problem and continue your pushups, or you can look back on how far you’ve come, congratulate yourself, and pick a different thing to try for the next chapter of your fitness journey. After all, you’ve already started, so why not keep going?

Eightfold AI, a venture capital-backed AI hiring platform used by Microsoft, PayPal and many other Fortune 500 companies, is being sued in California for allegedly compiling reports used to screen job applicants without their knowledge. From a report: The lawsuit, filed on Tuesday accusing Eightfold of violating the Fair Credit Reporting Act shows how consumer advocates are seeking to apply existing law to AI systems capable of drawing inferences about individuals based on vast amounts of data.

Santa Clara, California-based Eightfold provides tools that promise to speed up the hiring process by assessing job applicants and predicting whether they would be a good fit for a job using massive amounts of data from online resumes and job listings. But candidates who apply for jobs at companies that use those tools are not given notice and a chance to dispute errors, job applicants Erin Kistler and Sruti Bhaumik allege in their proposed class action. Because of that, they claim Eightfold violated the FCRA and a California law that gives consumers the right to view and challenge credit reports used in lending and hiring.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

The announcement came out of the blue, from Blue, on Wednesday.

The space company founded by Jeff Bezos, Blue Origin, said it was developing a new megaconstellation named TeraWave to deliver data speeds of up to 6Tbps anywhere on Earth. The constellation will consist of 5,408 optically interconnected satellites, with a majority in low-Earth orbit and the remainder in medium-Earth orbit.

The satellites in low-Earth orbit will provide up to 144Gbps through radio spectrum, whereas those in medium-Earth orbit will provide higher data rates through optical links.

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Threads has grown enough for Meta to fully integrate it into its advertising machine. On Wednesday, the company said that, with the platform now hosting 400 million monthly active users, ads are expanding globally to all users. The inevitable move follows a test in 30 countries early last year.

Ads on Threads are powered by Meta’s AI-powered advertising system. They’ll use the “same level of personalization” (i.e., tracking and profiling) as Facebook and Instagram. Image, video and carousel ad formats will all appear natively in Threads feeds.

Meta said the ad expansion will begin next week, but the full rollout will take months. “Ads on Threads expansion to all users will be gradual, with ad delivery initially remaining low as we reach global user availability in the coming months,” the company wrote in a blog post.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/meta-is-expanding-ads-to-all-users-globally-183900439.html?src=rss

Apple TV+ has become one of the best streaming services for sci-fi, with hits like Pluribus, Severance, Foundation and many more. There are so many shows that it’s easy to forget the one that started it all. For All Mankind was the platform’s very first attempt at sci-fi and it’s finally coming back after two years for season five on March 27.

The next season will run for ten episodes on a weekly basis. It concludes on May 29, with new installments dropping each Friday.

What follows are some slight spoilers for the show, so read with caution. The streamer dropped a short teaser to announce the release date and it shows Alex Baldwin, grandson of the show’s original star, careening around Mars on some sort of motorcycle.

For All Mankind started as an alt-history show that explored what would happen if Russia beat the USA to the moon in the 1960s. However, it has since become famous for time jumps. The next installment takes place in an alternate version of the 2010s and continues the story of competing space agencies after turning Mars into a viable colony.

Apple

Many of the original stars are still kicking around, but the characters are extremely old at this point. Check out this image of an aged Ed Baldwin, still played by Joel Kinnaman. Other returning cast members include Edi Gathegi, Coral Peña and Wrenn Schmidt. New cast members include Sean Kaufman, Mireille Enos, Costa Ronin, Ruby Cruz and Ines Asserson.

The show doesn’t get a lot of buzz when compared to some of Apple TV’s newer sci-fi properties, but it must still get eyeballs. The platform recently announced a spinoff that will be set in the Soviet Union. It’s called Star City but we don’t have much information beyond that.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/tv-movies/for-all-mankind-returns-on-march-27-for-a-fifth-season-183212860.html?src=rss

The funny thing about smartphone addiction is that it makes low-effort tasks feel totally productive. When I finally quit doomscrolling through Instagram and TikTok and watch an actual movie or TV show, I feel like I’ve just spent the afternoon studying physics. Platforms like Netflix, which could once be seen as time-wasting entertainment, now seem like antidotes to endless, useless scrolling.

But Netflix doesn’t seem to appreciate its new role. Instead, the company apparently sees short-form video apps—and smartphones themselves—as a direct threat to its business, and is jumping on the bandwagon. It’s not only that Netflix is reportedly now making content with phone scrollers in mind, encouraging creators to craft dialogue that makes their shows and movies easy to understand even if you’re not actually paying attention.

No Netflix also wants to position its mobile app as an actual competitor to TikTok and Instagram, by introducing a short-form video feed directly within the app.

Netflix’s take on TikTok

The company officially introduced its plans for short-form video during its fourth-quarter earnings call on Tuesday. Netflix co-CEO Greg Peters announced the company will roll out a new app later this year that will include its take on the vertical video feed. This isn’t totally new, as the company has been experimenting with vertical video feeds since May. But it’s the first time we’ve seen a larger announcement about how Netflix plans to integrate the short-form experience directly into its app.

Unlike TikTok, Instagram, or YouTube, you won’t hop on the Netflix app to find short-form videos from independent creators. Instead, Netflix will serve users clips from Netflix-distributed shows and movies in a scrollable TikTok-style feed. You might swipe through this feed and see clips from Stranger Things, Emily in Paris, or His & Hers. Many of us already waste our time watching clips from shows and movies on other platforms—often cropped, slowed down or sped up, in low-quality, and besieged by artifacts meant to throw off copyright claims. Netflix obviously won’t need to do this, so I expect the experience will be filled with high-quality videos (depending on how you define “quality” of course).

It won’t just be TV shows and movies on the feed. Netflix also has big plans for its video podcasts, as evidenced by recent programs like The Pete Davidson Show and recent deals with Spotify and iHeartMedia to bring existing podcasts to its platform. Expect Netflix to sprinkle clips from these video podcasts into the short-form feed to create an experience that sounds not too far off from scrolling through other apps. How many clips you do see from video podcasts, TV shows, and movies on TikTok?

As Netflix inches closer to acquiring Warner Bros., you might soon be seeing a lot of official short-form content in the Netflix app. If and when the acquisition closes, I wouldn’t be surprised to see clips from HBO shows like A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, The White Lotus, and Euphoria.

Catering to the short attention span

I get the move from a business perspective: Netflix is likely losing subscribers’ attention due to the addictive nature of vertical video apps. But do any of us really need another app to scroll through, especially when we’re already paying for access to the full content to begin with? Maybe could be a helpful avenue to find new shows and movies to watch, but in all likelihood, it will just be be another addictive time-waster. I have too many of those in my life as it is.

Amazon is introducing an AI-powered assistant to One Medical, the tech-forward primary care provider it acquired in 2023. Dubbed ‘Health AI,’ Amazon says the tool “provides 24/7 personalized health guidance based on your medical records.”

The company says Health AI can explain lab results, help manage medications, and book appointments for patients. Amazon also says it can “analyze images” but doesn’t specify whether this means medical imaging or user uploaded photos. While the company specifically says the tool “complements, but does not replace,” a patient’s healthcare provider, it also vaguely says the AI can “answer general and complex health questions” while “considering your unique health history.”

“Health AI recognizes when symptoms, situations, or specific queries require or benefit from human clinical judgment,” reads the company’s announcement, while giving few details on just how much medical advice the AI tool is empowered to give.

Use of AI tools brings up data privacy concerns, and Amazon says it follows HIPAA-compliant privacy and security practices. The company says that a user’s conversations with Health AI are “not automatically added to your medical record.” This of course implies the option to do just that. It also says the company doesn’t sell members’ protected health information.

One Medical has a limited number of brick-and-mortar offices in major metros throughout the US, but the focus of the company seems to be telehealth services. These services are offered as part of an annual subscription, which is discounted for Amazon Prime members. This is only the latest investment Amazon has made in the healthcare space. In recent years the tech giant has begun same-day prescription deliveries in certain markets, and built vending machines for prescription drugs.

Health AI follows the trend of AI companies competing to enter healthcare with their AI-powered chatbots. Google added an AI health coach to the Fitbit app last year, and OpenAI announced a dedicated health portal within ChatGPT in January.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/amazon-is-adding-ai-powered-assistant-to-one-medical-180803368.html?src=rss

Ubisoft is canceling game projects, shutting down studios and cutting its guidance as the Assassin’s Creed maker restructures its business into five units. From a report: The French gaming firm expects earnings before interest and tax to be a loss of $1.2 billion the fiscal year 2025-2026 as a result of the restructuring, driven by a one-off writedown of about $761 million, the company said in a statement on Wednesday.

Ubisoft also expects net bookings of around $1.76 billion for the year, with a $386 million gross margin reduction compared to previous guidance, it said. Six games, including a remake of Prince of Persia The Sands of Time, have been discontinued and seven other unidentified games are delayed, the company said. The measures are part of a broader plan to streamline operations, including closing studios in Stockholm and Halifax, Canada. Ubisoft said it will have cut at least $117 million in fixed costs compared to the latest financial year by March, a year ahead of target, and has set a goal to slash an additional $234 million over the next two years.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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We’re going back to Westeros, baby! Not that we ever really left, given that we’re merely between seasons of that other Game of Thrones spin-off, and with several more allegedly in development. It seems the only place the Game of Thrones universe is completely stalled is on the page—but I digress.

Where the original series saw a kingdom in decline and House of the Dragon takes us back to the Targaryen Dynasty at its height, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms occurs roughly in-between, shifting the focus from the realm’s power players to more tangential (at least for now) smallfolk: Ser Duncan the Tall (Peter Claffey), a lowborn hedge knight, and his faithful squire Egg (Dexter Sol Ansell), who may have a greater destiny. It’s that relationship to power that sets the show apart from the rest of the wider franchise, and that’s also what ties together these 10 “streamalikes,” whether they’re solidly in the fantasy genre or works of historical fiction.

Alchemy of Souls (2022 – 2023)

This popular two-season South Korean import can go toe-to-toe with Knight when it comes to juicy drama and medieval-style action. It’s set in the fictional Daeho, a country reminiscent of Korea during the Joseon era. Lee Jae-wook stars as Jang Uk, a noble of questionable parentage who had his natural mage powers taken at birth. Nak-su (Jung So-min), meanwhile, is an assassin who is killed by a rival family. Fortunately, she’s able to survive (via alchemy) by transferring her soul into the body of a weak, blind woman. When Uk and Nak-su (in her new body) meet up and he discovers her real identity, they strike a deal: She’ll publicly act as his squire while also teaching him everything she knows about fighting and magic, provided he helps her get revenge. Stream Alchemy of Souls on Netflix.

Alchemy of Souls

at Netflix

at Netflix

House of the Dragon (2022 – )

An obvious choice, given that it’s a Game of Thrones spin-off, since (vague spoiler for the new show!) House of the Dragon also focuses in on the Targaryen family—members of which are always up to something. Where Thrones caught up with the dragon riders in their downward spiral and Knight is set a bit before that, House of the Dragon goes back further to show us the royal dynasty at its height, before all that incest and indolence sent them completely ’round the bend. Stream House of the Dragon on HBO Max.

House of the Dragon

at HBO Max

at HBO Max

Merlin (2008 – 2012)

This one’s on the lighter side, at least compared to anything going on in Westeros, but we still get a couple of ill-matched buddies, one with a larger destiny, adventuring through a medieval type landscape. Colin Morgan plays the title warlock, who arrives in Camelot to find that magic has been outlawed—which doesn’t stop a dragon with the voice of John Hurt from explaining to him that he needs to protect the king’s only son (Bradley James), a boy who will grow up to unite the land. (The kid’s name is Arthur, in case that weren’t obvious.) Stream Merlin on Prime Video and Tubi.

Merlin (2008 – 2012)

at Prime Video

at Prime Video

Shōgun (2024 – )

Set at the tail-end of Japan’s Warring States period, this adaptation of the James Clavell novel finds ambitious English maritime pilot John Blackthorne (Cosmo Jarvis) shipwrecked on the island and in the power of leading warlord Lord Yoshii Toranaga (Hiroyuki Sanada)—each of them with something to offer the other. Blackthorne is made Toranaga’s Hatamoto, a flag-bearer and most trusted retainer. Reluctantly serving as translator between the two is Toda Mariko (Anna Sawai), highly loyal to Toranaga, but with a complicated past. The main characters all have real-life analogues, and much of the plot mirrors world history, so there’s a verisimilitude to everything in this (mostly) Japanese-language drama that stands up to anything in George R.R. Martin ever dreamed up. Stream Shōgun on Hulu.

Shōgun (2024 – )

at Hulu

at Hulu

The Wheel of Time (2021 – 2025)

An effective bit of fantasy storytelling, The Wheel of Time follows a group of young people taken from a secluded village by Moiraine Damodred (Rosamund Pike), a powerful magic user who believes that one of them is the reborn Dragon—a being who will either heal the world, or destroy it The show’s sweep is more epic than A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, but it smartly places its focuses on the unworldly villagers, who are experiencing the wider world’s dangers at the same time as the audience. The show was cancelled following a third season that just found it getting into its groove, taking us through roughly the first four books of Robert Jordan’s lengthy fantasy series, so I suppose could always jump into it with plans to finish the story on the page—rather the reverse of Game of Thrones, which gave us the ending George R.R. Martin has yet to get down on paper. Stream The Wheel of Time. on Prime Video.

The Wheel of Time

at Prime Video

at Prime Video

Vinland Saga (2019 – 2023)

In this handsome anime series, it’s England in 1013 CE, and conqueror Sweyn Forkbeard lies near death, his status setting off battles of succession between his sons Harald and Canute (true story!). Amidst this turmoil, the show follows Thorfinn Karlsefni, a dramatized version of the real-life Icelandic explorer who ultimately travelled to Greenland and then on to Vinland (roughly modern-day Newfoundland and Labrador). Initially a vengeful mercenary in the service of a Viking warlord, Thorfinn maneuvers the complex politics of his world before coming to understand the horrors of the bloodshed that he’s seen and been responsible for. It’s one of the most impressively realized anime series’ of the past decade. Stream Vinland Saga on Prime Video, Hulu, and Netflix.

Vinland Saga

at Prime Video

at Prime Video

The Witcher (2019 – )

Kicking off with a slightly overcomplicated timey-wimey narrative structure in which we follow multiple threads at various points in time, The Witcher ultimately settles into a groove as a show about a big guy who fights creatures in a Tolkien-esque kingdom. Played first by Henry Cavill and more recently, by Liam Hemsworth, the title Witcher is Geralt of Rivia, a genetically engineered (sort of) magical monster hunter who refuses to kill a young woman accused of monstrosity by a jerk of a mage—a decision that puts him on a path that involves protecting and mentoring Ciri (Freya Allan), a crown princess who lots of people want to kill. Stream The Witcher on Netflix.

The Witcher (2019 – )

at Netflix

at Netflix

The Pillars of the Earth (2010)

There are relatively few knights and no fantasy elements in this historical drama (adapted from the Ken Follett novel), but Pillars shares with A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms a roughly medieval setting (literally medieval in this case) and a story involving individuals with tangential relationships with power navigating extremely fraught times. Set amid England’s Anarchy, during which designated heir Matilda battled Stephen of Blois over the throne, the series involves appropriately named mason Tom Builder (Rufus Sewell), tasked with constructing a cathedral in the town of Knightsbridge after he and his family have lost nearly everything. Ian McShane, Matthew Macfadyen, Eddie Redmayne, and Hayley Atwell lead the stacked cast. Rent The Pillars of the Earth from Prime Video.

The Pillars of the Earth (2010)

at Prime Video

at Prime Video

Those About to Die (2024)

Once again we’re talking about people on the fringes of power during dodgy times (or maybe they’re all dodgy). Roland Emmerich is one of the primary names behind this short-lived series, which gives you a sense of the vibe: It’s big, loud, and frequently obvious—but also an awful lot of fun. Think of it as a soap opera set during the opening days of the Roman Colosseum under Emperor Vespasian (Anthony Hopkins): While the emperor’s sons struggle for dominance, Tenax (Iwan Rheon), the proprietor of Rome’s largest betting tavern, forms an unlikely alliance with Cala (Sara Martins), a black Numidian who came to Rome in pursuit of her children, who were taken into slavery by Roman soldiers. There’s nothing (nothing) she won’t do to secure their safety. Stream Those About to Die on Peacock.

Those About to Die (2024)

at Peacock

at Peacock

The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power (2022 – )

You want prequels? Here’s a prequel. While quite different in tone and execution, both Martin’s Westeros and J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle Earth represent efforts to shape unique fantasy worlds form the raw clay of Western European history and mythology. There are a lot of threads to follow in this story set a few thousand years before The Lord of the Rings, but our main character is almost certainly the young(-er) Galadriel (Morfydd Clark). When the helpful but mysterious Annatar offers to aid the elves in forging the title’s rings of power, Galadriel is the only one who clocks that something isn’t quite right. As with The Hobbit and LOTR, it’s the less overtly powerful folk who are the most impacted by the machinations of Middle Earth’s elite. Stream The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power on Prime Video.

The Rings of Power

at Prime Video

at Prime Video

Two high-profile upcoming Ubisoft games have been starting to look more and more like vaporware with each passing year. One of them is Beyond Good & Evil 2, which we were assured is still in development last year. The other is the Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time remake, which is now officially canceled, along with five other games on Ubisoft’s release slate.

The news came in a media briefing attended virtually by VGC, in which the French company also announced delays to seven other games as part of a major restructuring. As reported by VGC, the only canceled game currently named by Ubisoft is the remake of its 2003 classic, which was first announced in 2020 and has by all accounts been in various stages of development hell ever since. Three of the others were original new IPs and one was a mobile game.

Ubisoft isn’t putting names to the more than half dozen delayed games either, but VGC’s report says one was supposed to come out in the first quarter of this year, and will now release before April 2027. While it’s yet to be officially announced, a remake of Assassin’s Creed: Black Flag has been heavily rumored for several months and is likely one of the games that has slipped.

Ubisoft also outlined its new organizational model, which will see the company split into five “creative houses” that function as independent business units. One of these is the previously announced, Tencent-backed Vantage Studios, which will oversee a number of the company’s flagship franchises, including Rainbow Six, Assassin’s Creed and Far Cry.

In its Wednesday briefing, Ubisoft also confirmed recent reports that it’s closing its Stockholm and (recently unionized) Halifax studios, with others, including Star Wars Outlaws developer Massive Entertainment due to be restructured as a result of the new model. Ubisoft declined to tell VGC exactly how many layoffs could occur in the wake of the large-scale reorganization of the company.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/the-prince-of-persia-the-sands-of-time-remake-among-six-games-canceled-by-ubisoft-175801132.html?src=rss