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It’s been quite a while since we’ve heard much about Quantic Dream’s Star Wars: Eclipse. The studio revealed that project at The Game Awards back in 2021 and details have been scarce since then. As it turns out, the developer of Heavy Rain and Detroit: Become Human had been working on a second game this whole time. It’s one that sees Quantic Dream venturing into entirely new territory, because the studio is making its first multiplayer game.

Spellcasters Chronicles is a 3 vs. 3 MOBA with a third-person perspective that’s akin to Marvel Rivals. Each round lasts 25 minutes, with teams summoning minions, battling to conquer territory and earning victory by destroying their opponents’ lifestones. So far, so typical MOBA. But Quantic Dream has a few tricks up its sleeve that it hopes will help make Spellcasters Chronicles stand out in a highly competitive live-service market.

It’s a magic-based MOBA with characters that have unique abilities, personalities and backstories. Every one of these mages has the ability to fly at any time and for as long as they want. So you can freely take to the skies to get a bird’s eye view of the battlefield and help you make decisions about what to do next. You can duke it out with enemies in the air too.

Along with attacks, support spells and summoning armies with hundreds of creatures, players can use their magic to plunk down buildings and shore up their defenses while altering the environment. There’s interplay between characters too, as you can infuse allies (including summoned creatures) with spells. One mage, for instance, might add fire to a tankier teammate’s hammer, so there are synergies to discover. “Something we wanted to push is the sense of creativity,” game director Greg Diaconu told reporters ahead of the reveal.

Spellcasters Chronicles

Eventually, you’ll be able to bring giant, game-changing titans into battles. Each player can summon one. Whenever a titan appears, it’s an all-hands-on-deck situation for the opposing team, since these are powerful creatures that can completely change the course of a round.

“It was important for us to create a sense of spectacle,” Diaconu said. “Something that’s as fun to watch as it is to play.”

It all seems quite action-packed, but there’s a heavy strategic element to Spellcasters Chronicles as well. Before you go into a battle, you’ll select your spells and summons, including your titan — so this is a deckbuilder game too. In the thick of the action, your team will need to decide when to pressure the map and try to expand your territory while capturing altars of power, totems that will grant you resources. Speaking of which, each spell has a limited number of uses, so resource management is a factor too.

Spellcasters Chronicles is free-to-play, but there are no pay-to-win concerns here. In-game purchases will be purely cosmetic. Expect battle passes full of new looks for the characters. Lots of updates are in the pipeline too, including new mages, spells and creatures.

Seven years in the oven

Quantic Dream started making Spellcasters Chronicles seven years ago (so before Netease bought a stake of the company and eventually the whole shebang). Although the studio decided to keep making narrative-driven single-player games after Detroit: Become Human, it wanted to try something new as well. The idea was to take the team’s experience of working on interactive storytelling to a different genre by creating a multiplayer game with a stylized look. 

“Multiple teams are fully dedicated to crafting the next generation of great games, including something very different, a competitive multiplayer experience, born from the same spirit of curiosity and creativity that has always defined us,” Quantic Dream founder David Cage wrote in a blog post on Thursday. “This new title may surprise our fans as it is very different from what we have done so far. But taking risks, challenging ourselves, exploring new ways of playing and telling stories, and attempting what seems impossible, has always been part of our DNA.”

In the world of Spellcasters Chronicles, gods are no more and mages who are able to harness an energy called the Source will shape the future. Quantic Dream hasn’t shared too many details about the plot and characters of Spellcasters Chronicles just yet — the reveal focused on gameplay. That’s perhaps in part because the studio is leaning into a community-driven narrative approach. Victories and defeats will contribute “to the evolving Tapestry of Fate, where seasonal decisions will change gameplay, lore and map meta.”

We shouldn’t have to wait too long to see how all of that works in practice. Quantic Dream will run a closed beta for Spellcasters Chronicles on Steam later this year, and the game is set to hit consoles with cross-play support in 2026. Those who are attending TwitchCon San Diego this week can try out the MOBA there.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/for-its-next-trick-quantic-dream-is-trying-to-compete-with-league-of-legends-and-dota-150000283.html?src=rss 

Over a decade since Microsoft tried to make talking to Cortana on PCs a thing — and spectacularly failed in the process — the Windows giant is taking another swing at voice commands with its Copilot AI assistant in Windows 11. Starting today, the company is rolling out an upgrade to its existing Copilot Voice and Vision features which will let you say “Hey, Copilot” and then ask your PC a question based on what’s on the screen. If you’re looking at pictures of Hawaii, for example, you could ask your Windows 11 PC where exactly they were taken, have it plot you a flight plan and potentially even give you some budgeting tips to afford that island vacation.

Microsoft’s jaunty promotional videos for the Copilot features, set to Vampire Weekend’s almost two-decade-old “A Punk,” make the process look practically seamless. One user asks Copilot to show them how to stream their music in the “best possible quality,” and the AI proceeds to highlight the exact location of the streaming settings in Spotify, while suggesting they choose the lossless option. Another person asks Copilot to write up a short biography based on their photo portfolio. Now Copilot isn’t just about searching the web or generating novelty AI art, it’s making it easy for users to perform practical tasks without much effort.

Microsoft is clearly striving for the convenience of the Star Trek ship computer, a dream that also pushed Amazon to invest billions in its Echo devices and Alexa. The difference with Copilot is that you’re not just talking to a faceless speaker — Microsoft is also trying to make Windows 11 aware of what you’re doing on your screen. The “Hey Copilot” feature and all of the Copilot Vision are cloud-based, so you’ll have to live with image data of your desktop making its way to Microsoft’s servers. That involves a level of trust the company has lost with many users, especially after the messy debut of Recall, its first flagship AI-powered feature.

It doesn’t help that many people are still peeved about the death of Windows 10 support this week. Unsurprisingly, the company stresses that “Hey, Copilot” is a purely opt-in feature that’s buried in the Copilot app settings. (Of course, that can always change, especially if the company wants to juice AI engagement stats in a few years.)

Copilot Actions

I suspect it’ll be even harder for users to swallow where Microsoft wants to take Copilot: Giving it the ability to perform Windows tasks on its own. That’s the goal of the experimental Copilot Actions feature, which initially debuted as a tool that could perform tasks on websites. Once enabled, Copilot Actions can be prompted to handle manual tasks, like resizing and straightening an a folder of photos. If any questions pop up, it can prompt you to answer them within the Copilot app. And as Copilot Actions is handling its job in the background, you’re free to do anything else you’d like on your computer.

Conceptually, Copilot Actions sounds similar to handing off a task to a real life assistant — but just like a human assistant, there’s always a chance something could go wrong along the way. It’s also not hard to imagine the feature being coopted by nefarious malware down the line, since it’s basically a Windows script in a better interface. Microsoft says it’s tested Copilot Actions “extensively” internally, and it’s rolling out the feature slowly to gather feedback.

Just like “Hey, Copilot,” it’s entirely opt-in, and you can see everything Copilot Actions is doing step-by-step in the Copilot app. Microsoft says you’l be able to jump in and take control of a Copilot Action job at any point, as well as control the permissions of AI agents in Windows 11’s user settings. Copilot tasks are also performed in a contained environment, according to Microsoft, which allows for even more specific permissions controls as well as runtime isolation (so Copilot can’t affect the rest of your system beyond its specific task).

And as if we’re not already inundated with Copilot all over Windows 11 already, Microsoft also plans to add an “Ask Copilot” search function right on Windows 11’s taskbar. The company claims it’s part of a mission to make the taskbar “a dynamic hub” for accomplishing tasks, but personally I like to keep my taskbar clear so I can cram in more app windows. Like everything Microsoft is announcing today, the Ask Copilot bar will also be entirely opt-in.

As someone who’s been skeptical of Microsoft’s Copilot initiatives so far, I could actually see myself using “Hey Copilot” if it works as advertised. It sounds far more practical than the old Siri voice commands, which were limited by simplistic language models from a decade ago. Microsoft is also expanding AI actions built into Windows 11, including a new integration with Manus, an AI agent that can do things like turn several documents into a website, as well as Filmora, which lets you create AI videos right from the File Explorer.

The new “Hey Copilot” and Copilot Vision features are available today on all Windows 11 PCs that have access to Copilot. Microsoft is also making Copilot Vision broadly available around the world today where Copilot is available. Copilot Actions and the Ask Copilot taskbar feature will “gradually” become available to Windows 11 Insiders, according to Microsoft.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/computing/microsofts-next-windows-11-ai-gamble-just-say-hey-copilot-130000875.html?src=rss 

Pinterest is taking new steps to reduce the amount of AI slop its users are seeing. The service is adding settings that allow people to “dial down” AI-generated content in a number of categories that are “highly-prone” to such imagery, the company said in an update.

While most social platforms have grappled with how to deal with the rise of AI-created content, Pinterest has been particularly inundated. Its image-board UI has proven particularly susceptible to AI slop, and users have complained about the difficulty of finding content created by humans.

Now, Pinterest is offering users more control over how much AI content appears in their recommendations. The service is adding a “refine your recommendations” setting that allows you to toggle generative AI content from specific categories, including art, architecture, beauty, fashion, entertainment, health, home decor and sport. According to the company, these topics have seen an influx of AI-generated content, but users should “expect even more additions in the future.”

Notably, Pinterest isn’t promising to root out generative AI content entirely. Rather, it says the new settings should “dial down” the amount of AI-based content they’re seeing in a particular category. A spokesperson for the company says this is because not all AI-generated content on the platform is low quality and some users are in fact open to seeing AI-generated material.

The setting also applies only to image pins, not video, so it likely won’t do much to prevent Sora or other AI-created video clips from appearing in your feeds. For AI-created or AI-edited content that does continue to surface, Pinterest says it will label these posts more prominently. The company started experimenting with labels back in May, but has now “ramped up” its tools for identifying such content. 

Pinterest’s new settings are available now on desktop and Android and will be available on iOS in the next few weeks.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/pinterest-will-let-you-dial-down-ai-slop-in-your-feeds-130000337.html?src=rss 

ExpressVPN is one of the best VPNs on the market, with user-friendly apps, excellent speed test scores and a strong security record. In my ExpressVPN review, I found it to live up to its positive word of mouth, especially when unblocking foreign streaming sites. But no service is perfect, and my cup of VPN tea is not everybody’s. If you’re looking to switch away, follow this guide to cancel ExpressVPN.

How to cancel ExpressVPN on desktop

No matter where you originally signed up for ExpressVPN, you can cancel through your browser on a desktop platform. With any browser (i.e. Chrome, Safari, etc), the steps are as follows. Note that doing this will instantly cancel your ExpressVPN subscription and revoke your access to the service.

Go to expressvpn.com. In the top bar, click on My Account. Enter your username and password to sign in.

You’ll be taken to your account dashboard. In the menu on the left-hand side of the screen, click Subscription.

Scroll down until you find the words “Subscription details.” You should see a box containing the monthly cost of your subscription. At the right of that box, click Cancel Subscription.

From here, follow the on-screen prompts to complete cancellation.

If you’re not ready to lose ExpressVPN service just yet, you can end auto-renewal instead of cancelling altogether. You’ll still be able to use ExpressVPN until your subscription runs out.

To cancel auto-renew, go to the subscription tab of your account dashboard and find the box with your subscription ID (it should be right at the top). In that box, click the link that says Edit subscription settings, then scroll down and click Turn Off Automatic Renewal. If you change your mind before your subscription lapses, you’ll be able to turn it back on later.

How to cancel ExpressVPN on mobile

You can also cancel ExpressVPN on your phone or tablet, but the process is largely the same — some buttons are just in different places. As above, this instantly ends your ExpressVPN subscription. Here’s how to do it.

Go to expressvpn.com in your mobile browser. Tap the three horizontal lines at the top-right, then in the menu that appears, tap My Account.

In the account dashboard, tap the three horizontal lines at the top-right once again. This time, scroll down to the expanded “My Account” menu and tap Subscription.

Scroll down to the “Subscription details” box and tap Cancel Subscription.

Follow the prompts on the screen to complete cancellation.

Like on desktop, you can also turn off auto-renewal so your subscription ends when your current pay period expires. Go to the subscription tab of your account dashboard as described in the steps, find the box with your subscription ID, then follow the steps from the last paragraph of the previous section.

Cancelling ExpressVPN through an app store

The website is almost always the right way to cancel ExpressVPN, but there is one exception: if you originally signed up through the Google Play Store or Apple App Store. This includes both paid subscriptions and the 7-day free trials ExpressVPN offers to app store users.

In this case, you’ll need to cancel through the app store where you originally made the purchase. On Apple, open the app store, then tap Subscriptions and scroll down to find ExpressVPN. On Android, open Google Play and tap Payment & subscriptions, then Subscriptions. In both cases, once you’ve found ExpressVPN, tap it and scroll down to find the button for cancellation.

How to get a refund from ExpressVPN

ExpressVPN offers a full refund to anyone who cancels a subscription within 30 days of purchase. You can also get a refund if your subscription renews without your consent — if that happens, you have 14 days to request your money back.

There’s no dedicated button for asking for a refund. Instead, you’ll need to contact ExpressVPN. To do that, go to expressvpn.com/support, then click on the button in the bottom-right corner that says Need help? Chat with us! This will open a chat with a bot which you can use to ask for your money back. Unfortunately, there’s no public link to email the support team, so live chat is the only option here.

ExpressVPN alternatives

Depending on what made you want to cancel ExpressVPN, there are a few other VPNs you might like better. Proton VPN is my favorite provider at the moment, combining great apps with a unique focus on privacy rights (it’s also cheaper). NordVPN has a lot of useful features ExpressVPN leaves off its no-frills clients. And if you’re all about speed, Surfshark is the current fastest VPN in my tests.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/cybersecurity/vpn/how-to-cancel-expressvpn-and-get-a-full-refund-123020142.html?src=rss