TROM Social | Community

Amazon to Shut Down All Amazon Go and Amazon Fresh Stores

Amazon to close Fresh, Go stores, expanding Whole Foods

Company will close Amazon Go and Amazon Fresh physical stores to prioritize investment in growth areas.

^{Amazon Staff (US About Amazon)}

#technology

Lawsuit Alleges That WhatsApp Has No End-to-End Encryption

As evidence, the lawsuit cites unnamed "courageous whistleblowers" who allege that WhatsApp and Meta employees can request to view a user's messages through a simple process, thus bypassing the app's end-to-end encryption. "A worker need only send a 'task' (i.e., request via Meta's internal system) to a Meta engineer with an explanation that they need access to WhatsApp messages for their job," the lawsuit claims. "The Meta engineering team will then grant access -- often without any scrutiny at all -- and the worker's workstation will then have a new window or widget available that can pull up any WhatsApp user's messages based on the user's User ID number, which is unique to a user but identical across all Meta products."

"Once the Meta worker has this access, they can read users' messages by opening the widget; no separate decryption step is required," the 51-page complaint adds. "The WhatsApp messages appear in widgets commingled with widgets containing messages from unencrypted sources. Messages appear almost as soon as they are communicated -- essentially, in real-time

Lawsuit Alleges That WhatsApp Has No End-to-End Encryption - Slashdot

Longtime Slashdot reader schwit1 shares a report from PCMag: A lawsuit claims that WhatsApp's end-to-end encryption is a sham, and is demanding damages, but the app's parent company, Meta, calls the claims "false and absurd.

^{it.slashdot.org}

#technology

HellsBelle via Canada

1 week ago • •

HellsBelle
1 week ago • •

A Pattison Company’s Possible Deal with ICE Brings Boycott Threats | The Tyee

The leader of the BC Green Party is calling for a boycott of Save-On-Foods and other businesses owned by B.C. billionaire Jimmy Pattison.

Emily Lowan made the call on social media Saturday following U.S. news reporting that revealed Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, is in talks to buy an Ashland, Virginia, warehouse from a Pattison-owned real estate company.

According to a letter sent by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to the Hanover County planning department, ICE plans to use the warehouse as a processing facility “in support of ICE operations.”

Allie Carpenter, a resident of nearby Richmond, Virginia, who is active in opposing the Trump administration and ICE’s aggressive deportation push, said she hopes Canadians will pressure the Jim Pattison Group to stop the sale.

https://thetyee.ca/News/2026/01/27/Pattison-Company-Possible-Deal-ICE/

#canada

like this

in reply to HellsBelle

DriftingLynx

in reply to HellsBelle • 6 days ago • •

Capitalists are going to capitalist 😑

in reply to HellsBelle

MNByChoice

in reply to HellsBelle • 6 days ago • •

It would be funny if someone working release detailed photos of the current layout. Locations of pipes, wiring, and sight-lines. Which outside lines bring power in, and from which substations. Notes on any access narrow areas. Maybe suggestions about what contracts are working for the new owners. Just silly things to make the kids laugh.

HellsBelle via Canada

1 week ago • •

HellsBelle
1 week ago • •

Canada could gain nearly 7% in real GDP by removing internal trade barriers, says IMF

Canada's economy could gain nearly seven per cent, or $210 billion, in real GDP by fully removing internal trade barriers between the country’s 13 provinces and territories, according to a report published Tuesday by the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

On average, the barriers are the equivalent of a nine per cent tariff nationally, estimates the report, which was co-authored by IMF researchers Federico J. Diez and Yuanchen Yang with contributions from University of Calgary economist Trevor Tombe.

That would-be tariff is even higher in service-oriented sectors like healthcare and educational services — more than 40 per cent — where professional mobility between provinces is highly regulated.

"Such a level would be prohibitive in most international trade agreements," the authors wrote. For comparison, the Bank of Canada estimates that the U.S.'s average tariff rate on Canada was 5.9 per cent in November 2025.

#canada

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in reply to HellsBelle

NordicAnalyst

in reply to HellsBelle • 6 days ago • •

we need this more than anything ; and external partnership

in reply to HellsBelle

Auli

in reply to HellsBelle • 5 days ago • •

If we didn't siphon money out of the country with American businesses and vacations to the US we would be better off.

deadymouse via Asklemmy

1 week ago • •

deadymouse
1 week ago • •

Do you have any ideas on how to attract people from centralized platforms to such as lemmy?

niche community will work?

I'm interested in your ideas and strategies.

::: spoiler additionally not quite related to the topic.

Unfortunately, I didn't manage to register on BlueSky, or rather, I managed to, but my account was blocked for suspicious activity a second after registration. Idk why.
:::

#asklemmy

This entry was edited (1 week ago)

☆ Yσɠƚԋσʂ ☆ likes this.

in reply to deadymouse

Eiri

in reply to deadymouse • 1 week ago • •

A lot of people are against it because they see it as the first step towards evil, but I still think we should have some sort of recommendation algorithm. New content discovery on Lemmy is way too manual for normies like me.

The sign-up process should be streamlined. It's really intimidating to have to choose an instance when you don't even understand what the heck that is. And then there's the manual account validation. I'm not sure what the solution is but we might want to find one.

And we need to do something about the extremists. They have a right to exist, but the abnormally high prevalence of American-coded communist/anarcho-communist content that just casually talks about executing the rich and the like is weird and intimidating even to me, a decidedly left-wing person. Americans, who are famously doubtful of communism, probably run away from the platform seeing that. And as for non-Americans... Well the proportion of content that's specifically about American politics is even higher than on Reddit, which is saying something.

in reply to Eiri

Cowbee [he/they]

in reply to Eiri • 1 week ago • •

The strong presence of communists is very normal, actually, though I don't know what you mean by "American-coded." Lemmy was created and is developed by communists, and communists in general are atttracted to FOSS tools and platforms.

in reply to Cowbee [he/they]

Eiri

in reply to Cowbee [he/they] • 1 week ago • •

Well there's a focus on American events, American billionaires, and the distinctly American flavour of extreme policing

in reply to Eiri

Dessalines

in reply to Eiri • 1 week ago • •

Depends on the instance. A lot of instances let themselves be overrun by US reddit reposters, filling every community, and they moderate none of it.

At least on lemmy.ml we try to keep US content quarantined to US-specific communities.

This entry was edited (6 days ago)

misk via Games

1 week ago • •

misk
1 week ago • •

Valve Facing £656 Million Class Action Lawsuit

Valve Facing $900 Million Class Action Lawsuit - Insider Gaming

A tribunal has ruled that Valve must defend itself against a $900 million class action lawsuit regarding its pricing and commission practices

^{Mike Straw (Insider Gaming)}

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in reply to misk

Artwork

in reply to misk • 1 week ago • •

To be frank, I don't know any case when Valve forced these rules, and even when someone reported such cases to Steam support directly. The response was just - "Thank you. We will check it out.", and that's it.

Self-published developers I am aware of have been considering these "rules" as fair suggestion from Valve who point out that it's important to Valve stay afloat in competition, where many developers will just follow these getting the point, which is straightforward.

A few developers I know do find following this "rule" a respect towards the platform in general even.

like this

in reply to misk

StitchInTime

in reply to misk • 1 week ago • •

Does discovery in the UK work like it does in the US. I don’t have an opinion on this, but I’m interested in what we might learn about Valve from the discovery process.

in reply to misk

_‌_反いじめ戦隊

in reply to misk • 1 week ago • •

2hours of penalty, btw

Steam revenue reportedly exceeds $16.2 billion, allowing Valve to pull in over $50 million per employee

Valve has long prided itself on making more money per employee than some of the industry juggernauts, such as Google and Apple.

^{Sambit Saha (Notebookcheck)}

in reply to misk

eleijeep

in reply to misk • 1 week ago • •

No new yacht for Gabe this year :(

like this

in reply to eleijeep

wizardbeard

in reply to eleijeep • 6 days ago • •

Isn't at least one of them actually a marine research vessel, run by a group he founded/funds?

I get that he's not our friend like a lot of people think just because his company is less shit, but he seems to have at least a crumb of his soul left.

like this

in reply to wizardbeard

bonenode

in reply to wizardbeard • 6 days ago • •

At least one yacht out of how many does maybe some research, sorry dude, but that is a long stretch.

in reply to bonenode

wizardbeard

in reply to bonenode • 6 days ago • •

Maybe spend a few minutes searching before throwing shade. Cynicism's easy. Here's what I found in about 3 minutes:

He founded the marine research non-profit Inkfish, and a custom yacht building company OceanCo that builds ships for it.

Depending on the source I'm finding that they have 3 ships/yachts in their fleet with a new one under construction, and the Leviathan has most or all of the normal luxury features swapped out for additional lab space, hospital, 3d printing and fabrication workshops. One of the ships carries a crew of 75 scientists.

Their mission statement includes the intent to share all their discoveries freely.

You can look up images of the ships. They look like what I'd expect of research vessels, not billionaire pleasure ships.

Additionally, I'm seeing that he also co-founded the "Heart of Racing" race team that raises money for childrens charities, he's donated significant money to pediatric ICU in New Zealand (where he lives),

Inkfish Expeditions

Teile deine Videos mit Freunden, Verwandten oder der ganzen Welt

^YouTube

This entry was edited (6 days ago)

in reply to misk

THE_GR8_MIKE

in reply to misk • 6 days ago • •

First filed back in 2024 by Vicki Shotbolt, the lawsuit claims that Valve charges “excessive commission charges” that lead to “an unfair price which is then passed on to consumers”.

Don't they just take the same commission as everyone except for Epic?

Not to mention PC is where I save the most money, and it's solely thanks to Steam and the free Epic games.

Idk, this seems kind of weird when Steam has been seemingly one of the more user-friendly marketplaces, compared to other ones. Remember Uplay and Origin? Lol

in reply to misk

deliriousdreams

in reply to misk • 6 days ago • •

This BS again. "In exchange for selling Steam Keys of your game on the internet (using steam as the vendor for your game), you, the developer agree to sell those steam keys at the cheapest price you offer. Steam doesn't set the price, takes the same cut from each key sold as almost every other platform including Nintendo, Epic, PS, Xbox, and GOG.

So I am struggling to understand what is anti-competitve about this.

oyster.ignimgs.com/wordpress/s…

ign.com/articles/2019/10/07/re…

Report: Steam's 30% Cut Is Actually the Industry Standard - IGN

A breakdown of how much every major retailer takes from the sale of a game.

^{Tom Marks (IGN)}

in reply to deliriousdreams

misk

in reply to deliriousdreams • 6 days ago • •

It’s anticompetitive when you have 90% market share and you do this. Monopolies are generally legal but can’t do certain things regular companies can.

in reply to misk

deliriousdreams

in reply to misk • 6 days ago • •

So sell epic keys or some other store fronts keys and move on with your life? There are other digital store keys they could sell at literally any price they want. And that's why this is bogus.

They don't have to sell their game digitally with steam keys. They can create keys on other platforms to sell their game.

I don't think that word means what you think it means. Market share has nothing to do with this.

in reply to deliriousdreams

misk

in reply to deliriousdreams • 6 days ago • •

Allegedly they can’t because confidential agreement prevents them. And they won’t move away from Steam because it’s a monopoly. Which is why this is illegal.

like this

in reply to misk

deliriousdreams

in reply to misk • 6 days ago • •

First filed back in 2024 by Vicki Shotbolt, the lawsuit claims that Valve charges “excessive commission charges” that lead to “an unfair price which is then passed on to consumers”.

These fees are 30% cut of profits per game key sold, not an extra fee on top of that. So selling the steam key costs the same amount and nets about the same profit as selling a PlayStation or Nintendo key.

Literally every other online store (Epic, GOG, Xbox, PlayStation, ...) does the exact same thing when it comes to both game keys and DLCs. Seems frivolous on that point at least.

This has been alleged before. And it was a nothing burger then. There's a whole pictograph floating around comparing the cut that other game sale platforms take and I think only like 2 of them take a smaller than 30% cut.

This compares physical games to electronic keys, and that's also a nothing burger. The cost will be higher with those on the manufacturing side because of the cost of materials to make the physical copies, the logistics of delivery to ret

First filed back in 2024 by Vicki Shotbolt, the lawsuit claims that Valve charges “excessive commission charges” that lead to “an unfair price which is then passed on to consumers”.

Literally every other online store (Epic, GOG, Xbox, PlayStation, ...) does the exact same thing when it comes to both game keys and DLCs. Seems frivolous on that point at least.

Steam isn't a monopoly. You keep using that word but it has a very finite legal definition. That definition provides that through practices of the company that are anti-consumer or anti-competitve, or both, the company retains a significant majority of the market share.

So again I'm not even suggesting that these devs leave steam. But the crux of the matter is that they want to use steam keys on other store fronts etc and don't want to pay steam 30% for the use of those steam keys. They can use a different store front with a different store front's game keys and still provide steam keys through steam. They are not required to use steam keys on their own website or other digital store fronts.

You also aren't required to launch games from or use steam for anything except downloading the game. You can launch them, update them, modify them, etc without even having steam running.

As I said before, DLC being tied to the store front that supplied the key makes sense and is a normal standard business practice.

If what you allege is true then literally no exclusive games on the Epic store could every be made available on steam (after the exclusivity contracted time ends), because I think what you're trying to suggest is that Steam (through confidential agreement) is forcing these devs to only provide steam keys. Which is a pretty bogus claim.

in reply to deliriousdreams

misk

in reply to deliriousdreams • 6 days ago • •

You’re missing the point.

Valve can’t enforce prices across other store by mandating they can’t be cheaper because they’re a monopolist. If this part of their agreement is true then they are out of the line, in breach of law, and should be punished. Being a monopoly isn’t illegal, how Valve got there doesn’t matter. Their behaviour as a monopolist matters. It’s literally the law in most civilised countries and those laws come from the times when people didn’t simp for monopolies.

This entry was edited (6 days ago)

in reply to misk

deliriousdreams

in reply to misk • 6 days ago • •

Valve can for the keys that they provide. The keys they provide are free. Their agreement only is valid for Steam Keys. Those are freely generated Steam licenses of the game for the game dev to sell on other store fronts. For which the developer gets 100% of profits.

And steam is not a monopoly. I will not continue to reiterate the legal definition of that.

in reply to deliriousdreams

misk

in reply to deliriousdreams • 6 days ago • •

Steam keys means everything still happens in their store, with users attached to the platform without a way out. This is not a serious answer.

Steam is a monopoly because of their massive market share, that’s all there is to it, having irrelevant competition doesn’t matter in this case. You think monopoly = bad and therefore Steam can’t be a monopoly. That’s not how it works.

This entry was edited (6 days ago)

in reply to misk

deliriousdreams

in reply to misk • 6 days ago • •

So use other licenses not provided by steam (epic for instance). That's the point of what I said.

You think monopoly = illegal and what I'm saying is that it doesn't meet the legal requirement to be a monopoly. This was never about good or bad.

in reply to deliriousdreams

misk

in reply to deliriousdreams • 6 days ago • •

Circular logic, no? Devs have to kneecap themselves by limiting their reach to stores with 5% cumulative market share or accept everything Valve wants. Take a look at this and see what happens when a big publisher goes against them:

gamedeveloper.com/business/-i-…

EA has issued a response to the game's removal, saying that it was "not an EA decision or the result of any action by EA," saying instead that the game was removed because an agreement that developer Crytek made with "another download service" violates an unspecified rule Steam has for its distribution partners. Valve has not responded to requests by Gamasutra for clarification. An EA spokesperson provided this statement to Gamasutra: "It’s unfortunate that Steam has removed Crysis II from their service. This was not an EA decision or the result of any action by EA. Steam has imposed a set of business terms for developers hoping to sell content on that servi

_Crysis 2_ Removed From Steam

EA's first-person shooter Crysis 2, released earlier this year, has been removed from digital distribution service Steam and now sports an 'Only on Origin' tag on the EA site. [Update: EA denies involvement, blames Steam.]

^{Mike Rose (Game Developer)}

This entry was edited (6 days ago)

in reply to misk

deliriousdreams

in reply to misk • 6 days ago • •

They are not required to disseminate steam keys outside of steam. They do so because the generation of steam keys is free and they can keep 100% of the profits of using those steam keys. In exchange for the key being free they only ask that if the keys generated from steam are the same price both on steam's storefront and elsewhere.

If I am the manufacturer of a widget that you design, and I provide that widget to you to sell while footing the bill for the manufacturing of that product and only ask for 30% of the profits when I sell that widget in my store, but ask for none of the profits from selling the widget I manufactured when you sell it in other stores like Walmart, so long as the price of the widget remains the same on my store as it does in that other store, that's pretty much an industry standard.

If you as the designer wish to have someone else manufacturer your widget design and then sell that manufactured widget at other storefronts then I have no control over the price as well I shouldn't because that has nothing to do with me unless I specifically request exclusivity (which is similar to what epic does). <-- It has been alleged that Valve doesn't have or include this clause as part of their agreement, but they are trying to strong arm this developer into exclusivity in pricing anyway. There has as yet been no definitive proof that this is true and out of thousands of developers, literally like 3 are alleging this is true.

So there are two different things that are being alleged here and we don't have proof for either of them.

We have no definitive proof that they are strong arming any company/developer into price parity for game keys that Steam/Valve does not generate. If they were doing this, that would be an anti-competitve practice, but again , where's the proof?

And we have no definitive proof that the 30% cut of sales that Valve/Steam take for games sold on their store front are an egregious cost considering the competition and how similar their service fees are. In fact, the fact that one or two other store fronts take a smaller commission of sales is notable here because if Valve were a legal monopoly this is shown to be competition forcing market correction. Except that it's not doing so because other companies have basically refused to lower their commission cut. There is no definitive proof that Valve is colluding with other companies in the industry to keep that cut high. That would be an anticompetitive practice. I am not arguing that it's not (just that we have nothing substantiate the claim).

in reply to deliriousdreams

misk

in reply to deliriousdreams • 6 days ago • •

Dude, you’re beyond help. Steam keys are a form of locking you in Steam. People are lazy, the main reason they don’t buy outside of Steam is because they like everything in one place. Valve knows this, hence their line „just resell keys” is plain malicious and you’re just doing free PR for Gabe.

Tell me what could be the precise reason for delisting Crysis 2 from Steam? Why is developers agreement with another party any consideration at all? If Apple delisted someone because their product was cheaper on an alternative to app store would that be ok? I’m sure it would cause an outrage and they’re not even a monopoly, unlike Valve.

This entry was edited (6 days ago)

in reply to misk

deliriousdreams

in reply to misk • 5 days ago • •

I have not argued that steam keys don't lock you to the service. If that's all you have to say (and you trust EA, a corp known for bad consumer practices, instead treating the crysis 2 delisting as a he say she say event), you are beyond help and I don't see why you keep replying to me.

in reply to deliriousdreams

misk

in reply to deliriousdreams • 5 days ago • •

So you don’t see a problem with Valve’s solution not being a solution to everyone being locked in their platform. Valve monopoly is based on their gatekeeper status to the defacto industry standard game ownership ledger.

You must have loved Internet Explorer.

This entry was edited (5 days ago)

in reply to misk

Nibodhika

in reply to misk • 4 days ago • •

I think it's you who is missing the point everyone is trying to explain to you. Valve doesn't dictate the price on other stores, want proof? Epic gives free games regularly, those same games are sold on steam, for example currently you can get Definitely not fried chicken for free on Epic, but it has never been free on steam.

Valve only forbids you to sell Steam keys cheaper than on Steam. And even then they tend to turn a blind eye to stuff like humble bundle. They provide you with free Steam keys that you can sell and keep 100% of the value, but in exchange you can't sell them cheaper than on Steam, which just seems like common sense really. If that lawsuit goes somewhere what Valve will do is charge for extra steam keys, or stop providing them, both of which are bad for developers.

in reply to misk

Scrubbles

in reply to misk • 6 days ago • •

They have the highest market share because every other platform has been shit (until gog), and customers voted with their wallet. They aren't squeezing competition out, everyone else needs to suck less.

in reply to Scrubbles

misk

in reply to Scrubbles • 6 days ago • •

And Valve has to remove abusive clauses from their agreements with the devs so that it can actually happen, yes.

in reply to misk

Goodeye8

in reply to misk • 6 days ago • •

If you think removing those abusive clauses will have an impact on the market you're delusional.

Third party sellers have no reason to have a lower price on a different store, unless the store itself is paying them the offset of a lower price. That's only going to suffocate smaller stores that don't have money to burn.

And the stores with first party games can already create a bigger incentive for their store by keeping their games store exclusive because it would be the only place to play that particular game (it's why streaming services have gone down the route of exclusivity). Also having the game with a higher price point on Steam would just lead to a controversy which will hurts sales and damage the reputation of the company.

Removing the price parity clause will do nothing.

in reply to Goodeye8

misk

in reply to Goodeye8 • 6 days ago • •

You mean that people who came up with those laws, as a consequence of monopolies abusing their power, were delusional. Take a step back to think what’s more likely.

in reply to misk

Goodeye8

in reply to misk • 6 days ago • •

In case you were not paying attention you said Valve has to remove abusive clauses, which there is only one in question here and that's about price parity, so other stores could compete. At not point did you mention any actual laws and at no point did I mention anything remotely related to laws. I said you thinking that removing that one clause will make other stores competitive is delusional thinking.

EDIT: And I got blocked. I guess that says all there is to say about OP.

This entry was edited (6 days ago)

in reply to Goodeye8

misk

in reply to Goodeye8 • 6 days ago • •

Go gaslight someone else.

in reply to misk

Nibodhika

in reply to misk • 4 days ago • •

How is it anticompetitive to regulate the price for items on their store? Valve doesn't dictate price on any other store unless they sell steam keys.

in reply to deliriousdreams

theparadox

in reply to deliriousdreams • 6 days ago • •

The practice I've found the most concerning is the alleged "most-favored nation" clause/provision in the Steam Distribution Agreement. I haven't been able to actually find the actual Steam Distribution Agreement anywhere, which itself is concerning. I just see it mentioned alongside an NDA that must be signed.

The MFN basically requires that Valve never be undercut in any way, whether or not the game is distributed elsewhere using a Steam Key or not.

No discount. No bonus content. No perks. Steam key or direct download from your own website without any involvement of Valve whatsoever - it doesn't matter.

Edit: It seems it was not explicit in the agreement regarding non-key sales, but allegedly threatened and possibly enforced in practice.

When new video game stores were opening that charged much lower commissions than Valve, I decided that I would provide my game "Overgrowth" at a lower price to take advantage of the lower commission rates. I intended to write a blog post about the results.
But when

This entry was edited (6 days ago)

in reply to theparadox

deliriousdreams

in reply to theparadox • 6 days ago • •

Where did you get this information?

I have never seen and nobody has ever ~~provided~~ proven that Steam requires price parity for electronic game keys or physical copies that are not steam keys.

As far as I understand it, Steam only requires that you sell your game for the same price on other marketplaces if you're selling Steam keys. If you're selling a non-Steam license then you don't have to match prices at all and can sell for cheaper on Epic, Itch, GoG, etc.

partner.steamgames.com/doc/fea…

I also want to point out that I believe if you sell steam keys anywhere else except the steam platform you get to keep 100% of those sales. Steam only takes a 30% cut from steam key sales sold on their own store front.

Steam Keys (Steamworks Documentation)

^{partner.steamgames.com}

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in reply to deliriousdreams

theparadox

in reply to deliriousdreams • 6 days ago • •

When new video game stores were opening that charged much lower commissions than Valve, I decided that I would provide my game "Overgrowth" at a lower price to take advantage of the lower commission rates. I intended to write a blog post about the results.
But when I asked Valve about this plan, they replied that they would remove Overgrowth from Steam if I allowed it to be sold at a lower price anywhere, even from my own website without Steam keys and without Steam’s DRM. This would make it impossible for me, or any game developer, to determine whether or not Steam is earning their commission. I believe that other developers who charged lower prices on other stores have been contacted by Valve, telling them that their games will be removed from Steam if they did not raise their prices on competing stores.

wolfire.com/blog/2021/05/Regar…

It seems it was not explicit in the agreement regarding non-key sales, but allegedly threatened and possibly enforced in practice.

in reply to theparadox

deliriousdreams

in reply to theparadox • 6 days ago • •

Yep. I read the original statement from the original game dev that sued. Their lawsuit was unsuccessful and they decided to refile it as a class action as a result. Which is why in my original comment I said "This BS again", and "This has been alleged before".

Still it seems like no other devs are actually alleging this except 1-2 others. Out of thousands of game devs. Seems suspect.

in reply to deliriousdreams

Nibodhika

in reply to deliriousdreams • 4 days ago • •

Plus all of those games are still on steam, so no actual action was taken against them, one support person possibly misunderstood the question thinking he was selling steam keys and answered with incorrect information. I would get it if the game had been removed and that's why they were suing, and in that case I would be with them, but that's not the case. And Overgrowth is an old enough game that they could realistically risk it since there's very likely not that many new sells happening.

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in reply to deliriousdreams

tb_

in reply to deliriousdreams • 6 days ago • •

takes the same cut from each key sold as every other platform

That is just blatantly wrong. Steam takes 30%, Epic takes 12% after the first $1M.

This entry was edited (6 days ago)

like this

in reply to tb_

deliriousdreams

in reply to tb_ • 6 days ago • •

*"almost" *. missed a word. Will update the comment.

in reply to tb_

atrielienz

in reply to tb_ • 5 days ago • •

I just wanted to point out that from the article they linked Valves cut of profits also drop by a certain amount per game sold.

And Epic also notoriously reduced their cut of profits under 1 million just last year.

After $10 million in sales through Steam, Valve’s cut drops to 25% on all new sales, and drops again to 20% on sales after $50 million.

I agree with you though.

slothrop via Canada

1 week ago • •

slothrop
1 week ago • •

Nexus applications have plummeted in another sign Canadians are avoiding Trump's America | CBC News

#canada

Robert7301201 via Technology

1 week ago • •

Robert7301201
1 week ago • •

In China, AI is no longer optional for some kids. It's part of the curriculum

#technology

slothrop via Canada

1 week ago • •

slothrop
1 week ago • •

Carney says he told Trump 'I meant what I said in Davos,' contradicting U.S. account | CBC News

#canada

in reply to slothrop

we_all_live_in_a_capital_i

in reply to slothrop • 1 week ago • •

Rare - and refreshing - to see a politician stand their ground in the face of US lies and bluster. Not a tactful, softened vague response. Just: "No". Dare I get my hopes up for more plain talking truth in the face of lies?

misk via Games

1 week ago • •

misk
1 week ago • •

Ubisoft Employees Vote to Strike Against Proposed Layoffs

Ubisoft Employees Vote to Strike Against Proposed Layoffs - Insider Gaming

The French unions representing Ubisoft have unanimously agreed to organize a strike next month. Here are more details.

^{Sam Sepiol (Insider Gaming)}

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in reply to misk

RamRabbit

in reply to misk • 1 week ago • •

Ubisoft is in the shitter and they, for some reason, have over 17,000 employees. A strike over layoffs will most likley result in that entire office being closed. Ubisoft simply doesn't have the sales to back up their overinflated head count.

Their stock is literally a penny stock right now. Down 95% in the last 5 years....

in reply to RamRabbit

AliasAKA

in reply to RamRabbit • 1 week ago • •

Their stock price is 4.50 a share, and they have 780 million cash on hand. It’s still a huge drop from their high of course, but they have enough money they can pay their employees, you know, the ones who generate the value. Screw shareholders, they should be obligated to their employees.

in reply to AliasAKA

KoboldCoterie

in reply to AliasAKA • 1 week ago • •

If the 17000 employee statistic is accurate, $780M won't even last 6 months. That's just shy of $46k per employee, and according to Glassdoor, the average salary is considerably more than that.

This entry was edited (1 week ago)

in reply to KoboldCoterie

RamRabbit

in reply to KoboldCoterie • 1 week ago • •

Exactly. Every employee costs the company 1.5x-2x their salary (benefits, taxes, etc, etc). So, you are talking just a few months of personal costs covered (not to mention piles and piles of other, non-personnel, costs). $780M in the bank at is a terrifyingly small amount of money to work with.

This entry was edited (1 week ago)

in reply to KoboldCoterie

AliasAKA

in reply to KoboldCoterie • 1 week ago • •

Yes and no. Cash on hand is just what they have in the bank. Ubisoft isn’t cash flow negative, they have revenue of 2.5 billion USD per year. They lost 160 million dollars in 2025 but made 270 million in 2024. So at their 2025 rate, they can afford to pay all their employees they had in 2025, at their 2025 rates, for nearly 5 years. If they actually have good leadership and release good games that people buy, they’ll make money like in 2024 and be more than fine.

This entry was edited (1 week ago)

in reply to AliasAKA

RamRabbit

in reply to AliasAKA • 1 week ago • •

They appear to have multiple stock types (this is common for large companies). The interesting part there is not the dollar value of each, but the 95% loss of value their stocks have have experienced over the last 5 years. The company is in the shitter and drastic changes are needed to keep it out of bankruptcy.

This entry was edited (1 week ago)

in reply to RamRabbit

AliasAKA

in reply to RamRabbit • 1 week ago • •

I don’t disagree on them having hard times.

I disagree that their only course of action is to layoff entire studios that actually generate their revenue.

in reply to AliasAKA

RamRabbit

in reply to AliasAKA • 1 week ago • •

I agree the best course of action was to not rehash the same stale games over and over for the last decade. Unfortunately, they kept that cycle going until there was nothing left in the tank. They let this massive problem fester until there is no longer any choice except drastic action.

This entry was edited (1 week ago)

in reply to RamRabbit

AliasAKA

in reply to RamRabbit • 1 week ago • •

Sure, they need a drastic redirect on what games they’re making and their shitty launcher. They need to return to making games people want to buy, instead of shoveling crap.

This requires fairly compensated labor.

in reply to RamRabbit

dreadbeef

in reply to RamRabbit • 1 week ago • •

good time to buy? 👀

in reply to RamRabbit

stupidcasey

in reply to RamRabbit • 6 days ago • •

Oh wow 😲, you mean statements like:

"You need a little friction to create games"

“Microtransactions make the player experience more fun”

“Nothing is eternal” about support for older games

And wonderful decisions like:

always-online DRM

Removal of Access to Purchased Games

microtransactions in full-priced single-player games

Making the same game 500 times

Partnerships with Tencent.

Might have been bad ideas that lead to a lack of consumer trust and we have absolutely no reason to be forced into buying from a game company we don't like since literally anyone can download a game engine and start making games for free? Are you saying Yves Guillemot has been wrong this entire time? That's impossible next you'll be telling me EA or Bethesda is just as doomed and indie games will be just fine so gamers will be all the better for it.

in reply to stupidcasey

DoucheBagMcSwag

in reply to stupidcasey • 6 days ago • •

"get used to not owning your games."

Well you need to get used to not having money

This entry was edited (6 days ago)

in reply to misk

Scrubbles

in reply to misk • 1 week ago • •

I hate to say it, but like the other commenter, these aren't layoffs because they want line go up, they're layoffs because they literally don't have the money to pay for that many people. Ubisoft is rightfully circling the drain, it's unavoidable that those people's jobs will be lost.

in reply to Scrubbles

Swordinferno

in reply to Scrubbles • 1 week ago • •

I think an important fact to keep in mind is that not all Ubisoft offices are unionized, and from what I have seen they are targeting the unionized offices first.

So strike now, sue for union busting later.

in reply to Scrubbles

aburrito

in reply to Scrubbles • 1 week ago • •

If they need to do layoffs, start at the top

in reply to aburrito

MotoAsh

in reply to aburrito • 6 days ago • •

Now why would they go and do something perfectly sensible like that?! They don't get filthy rich by doing logical things.

in reply to MotoAsh

aburrito

in reply to MotoAsh • 6 days ago • •

Worth mentioning apparently the CEO did reduce his salary, but like, I’m not convinced? Just cause you dropped the bag doesn’t mean you didn’t rob the bank

(But also just being a bitch about the rich is cathartic)

in reply to aburrito

MotoAsh

in reply to aburrito • 6 days ago • •

I mean, if he's still living a life his employees can only dream of, he's still actually being a pile of shit. It's all pandering until they need to move out of their mansions.

This entry was edited (6 days ago)

in reply to Scrubbles

Squizzy

in reply to Scrubbles • 6 days ago • •

Sell their assets, someone else could do a good AC. Youdont get to be shit and hold all the cards, they dont deserve to keep everything they built at the cost of the livelihoods of their staff.

in reply to misk

THE_GR8_MIKE

in reply to misk • 6 days ago • •

Fuck Ubisoft and all of its higher ups and boardmembers. They're getting what they deserve.

Now, who isn't getting what they deserve are all of the hardworking people that actually do the work for the company. The ones getting shitcanned.

alyaza [they/she] via Technology

1 week ago • •

alyaza [they/she]
1 week ago • •

Redditors Are Mounting a Resistance Against ICE

archive.is link

Over the past month, as the Department of Homeland Security has deployed thousands of armed, masked Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to Minnesota’s Twin Cities, the r/Minneapolis subreddit has become a vital news and information hub for both residents and outsiders.
Previously, the user who shared the shooting footage posted about a missing dog poster and about trees being cut down near a local lake. “I just wanted a local subreddit to know what was happening in my city, and now all of a sudden, we’ve turned into this de facto hub of information for basically how to fight fascism,” says one r/Minneapolis moderator, who has been in the volunteer position for close to a decade and spoke on the condition of anonymity due to safety concerns.
For many of the longtime r/Minneapolis users, ICE agents have occupied their backyards. But even outside of the local Minnesota subreddits, rage against ICE has reached a boiling point. A maj

archive.is link

Over the past month, as the Department of Homeland Security has deployed thousands of armed, masked Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to Minnesota’s Twin Cities, the r/Minneapolis subreddit has become a vital news and information hub for both residents and outsiders.
Previously, the user who shared the shooting footage posted about a missing dog poster and about trees being cut down near a local lake. “I just wanted a local subreddit to know what was happening in my city, and now all of a sudden, we’ve turned into this de facto hub of information for basically how to fight fascism,” says one r/Minneapolis moderator, who has been in the volunteer position for close to a decade and spoke on the condition of anonymity due to safety concerns.
For many of the longtime r/Minneapolis users, ICE agents have occupied their backyards. But even outside of the local Minnesota subreddits, rage against ICE has reached a boiling point. A majority of posts in r/all, where top posts across all subreddits are ranked, was devoted Saturday and Sunday to mocking and criticizing ICE for killing Pretti.
In the Reddit community for cross stitching, the top post this weekend was a “Fuck Ice” embroidery, and there were multiple variations of the same slogan in the stained glass subreddit, too. “FUCK ICE” was painted on an acrylic set in a nail polish subreddit, where other users offered dupes to get the look of a woman’s bright pink nails in a picture where her hand was pressed against a prominent right-wing influencer’s face during a downtown Minneapolis clash.
When the moderator of camera subreddit r/Leica prohibited “partisan comments” on photos of ICE officers in Minneapolis, a user wrote “HATE the censorship of this sub.” (Photojournalist John Abernathy—who went viral after tossing his camera to another photographer while being tackled by ICE agents.) Even users in r/massivecock, where most of the posts are images of erect penises, railed against ICE in their captions.
“I think it’s just like this awareness of the level of injustice taking place,” said the r/Minneapolis moderator, adding that people outside the state are increasingly worried about being targeted by ICE. “They’re testing things here. They’re coming for you next.”

https://www.wired.com/story/redditors-are-mounting-a-resistance-against-ice/

#technology

kiol via Technology

1 week ago • •

kiol
1 week ago • •

Approaching Docker, Containers, and Compose for curious Self-hosters - Linux Prepper episode

cross-posted from: discuss.online/post/34537889

cross-posted from: discuss.online/post/34494723

Detailed episode for pairing with the very light "A Great Day for Linux". Hope you enjoy it. Since Lemmy struggles with markdown from Castopod, here is a link to the notes.

Approaching Docker, Containers, and Compose for curious Self-hosters

This is a bonus Linux Prepper podcast, available as a detailed companion to “A Great Year for Linux”. This is a discussion with HB, stemming from this post on Lemmy learning from admins who avoid container technology.

^{Podcasts by james.network}

#technology

Szewek via Fediverse memes

1 week ago • •

Szewek
1 week ago • •

Friends tell me Fediverse is the Esperanto of social media

Fortega korelacio, certe signifas kaŭzecon; mi neniam povus vidi iun alian klarigon.

Iuj diras, ke ĉi tiuj estas la samaj homoj.

#fedimemes

like this

in reply to Szewek

LordMayor

in reply to Szewek • 1 week ago • •

Yes, servers are located in places with big Internet connections.

in reply to LordMayor

Szewek

in reply to LordMayor • 6 days ago • •

And Esperanto-speaking engineers?

rainpizza via Palestine

1 week ago • •

rainpizza
1 week ago • •

[CW: bombing but no blood] Today, Israel recovered its last captive in Gaza, and to celebrate, it once again massively bombarded the city of Gaza with artillery shells targeting residential areas.

They said that if the captives were returned, it would all be over... but they continue to bombard Gaza anyway.

Video link -> video.twimg.com/amplify_video/…

Source -> xcancel.com/DaniMayakovski/sta…

#Palestine

Beep via Technology

1 week ago • •

Beep
1 week ago • •

California governor Gavin Newsom accuses TikTok of suppressing content critical of the current US president Donald Trump

California's Newsom accuses TikTok of suppressing content critical of Trump

California Governor Gavin Newsom made the accusation as he launched a review of the platform's content moderation practices to determine if they violated state law.

^{RNZ News (RNZ)}

#technology

Beep via Technology

1 week ago • •

Beep
1 week ago • •

TikTokers say anti-ICE videos won’t publish. The company blames tech issues

TikTok users say they can’t upload anti-ICE videos. The company blames tech issues

Why are people saying “Delete TikTok”? One reason is that some TikTok users, including comedian Megan Stalter, are accusing the app of censorship after they have attempted and failed to upload videos about ICE.

^{Scottie Andrew (CNN)}

#technology

LoafedBurrito via Piracy: ꜱᴀɪʟ ᴛʜᴇ ʜɪɢʜ ꜱᴇᴀꜱ

1 week ago • •

LoafedBurrito
1 week ago • •

Installing old windows games on Linux through Lutris is easy!

I use Linux Mint and Lutris and i do own all these games, but lost the key or CD over the years. So i wanted to install them on my little Dell Optiplex with an 6th gen i5 and 32gb of ram with integrated intel graphics 730.

You can get any game you want through Archive.org or myabandonware. If you have the .ISO image, just mount it via Image Disk Mounter and use the "i have a windows executable i want to install" through lutris. Find the setup.exe or similarly named .exe file in the iso as the executable for lutris to open. It should install normally like on any windows computer, but create a windows style folder format in it's own folder on your /home folder.

DO NOT LAUNCH THE GAME BEFORE CONFIGURING. You will need to most likely change the game to 32 bit, change the runner options if it doesn't boot with the default Wine runner. You can try Proton, or the System 9, and usually one of them will work. You will also need to change the path of the executable to the correct autorun exe in the folder. Sometimes they can be hard to find, but look in the APPs folders and ever

Some games require winetricks to be enabled, so you can click that box if the game doesn't launch. Same with DGvoodoo, some games like Carmageddon 2 and Sim City 4 only work well with DGvoodoo.

Rollercoaster Tycoon 2 needs a CD unless you use OpenRCT2, which is a fan made software that works amazing for rollercoaster tycoon and all the expansions. Thanks to the OpenRCT2 creators!

There is an option to make a game windowed and lutris says the option is not supported, but this option is the only way i was able to get Windows Space Cadet Pinball to work.

Game keys can be found many times in the comment sections of archive.org, or you can look up the game on ebay and many sellers will show the key/code on the back of the CD case that you can use.

I have 14 games installed so far and keep finding new games to add. Many of the games run better than they ever did on my old windows equipment.

Any questions, just let me know. But look up tutorials on youtube for step by step instructions and if you run into a problem, let me know.

Games i currently have working 100%
Need for Speed: Porsche Unleashed
CnC Tiberian Sun
Red Alert
Red Alert 2
The Sims complete collection
Sim City 3000 Unlimited
Sim City 4 Deluxe
Carmageddon Max Pack
Carmageddon 2: Carpocalypse Now
Carmageddon TDR 2000
Rollercoaster Tycoon 2: Triple Thrill Pack
Windows Space Cadet Pinball
Sid Meier's Civilization III Complete

Sid Meier's Sim Golf does not work and has many rendering issues as the grass does not show.

#piracy

This entry was edited (6 days ago)

like this

in reply to LoafedBurrito

Localhorst86

in reply to LoafedBurrito • 6 days ago • •

Games i currently have working 100% Need for Speed: Porsche Unleashed CnC Tiberian Sun Red Alert Red Alert 2 The Sims complete collection Sim City 3000 Unlimited Sim City 4 Deluxe Carmageddon Max Pack Carmageddon 2: Carpocalypse Now Carmageddon TDR 2000 Rollercoaster Tycoon 2: Triple Thrill Pack Windows Space Cadet Pinball Sid Meier’s Civilization III Complete

FYI: I assume you wanted to list your games in a list format without having each title start a new paragraph. If you end your line in a double space before hitting return, you can do that.
Need for Speed: Porsche UnleashedCnC Tiberian Sun etc. will become:

Need for Speed: Porsche Unleashed
CnC Tiberian Sun
Red Alert
Red Alert 2
The Sims

This entry was edited (6 days ago)