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India says border peace critical to ties with China amid reports of military tensions

India's foreign ministry said peace along its disputed border with China is critical to ties between the Asian neighbours, amid reports of renewed military tensions between the two countries' troops in a remote corner of the Himalayas. New Delhi's comment is its second in less than a week and comes as the Asian giants, who share a long and disputed frontier, mend ties following deadly clashes in 2020. It also comes ahead of a BRICS summit in New Delhi from September 12 to 13 that Chinese President Xi Jinping is expected to attend. "In matters relating to the border areas between India and China, we have always emphasised in discussions with the Chinese side that we consider these issues as most serious," Indian foreign ministry ⁠spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said on Tuesday at a regular media briefing. "We have also stated that the state of...
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Phoenix Labs announces major layoffs, impacting majority of its workforce

Phoenix Labs, the Vancouver-based video game developer behind Dauntless and Fae Farm, announced on Monday that it is laying off a majority of its staff. The news was shared in a post on the company’s official LinkedIn page and first reported by Game Developer. Photo: LinkedIn “We have made the tough decision to part ways with the majority of the studio as part of unfortunate but necessary changes to our operations,” the post read. The company stated that more details regarding the future of Dauntless and Fae Farm would be shared in the coming weeks. According to LinkedIn, Phoenix Labs employs approximately 90 staff members. GeekWire has reached out to the company for additional comments. The layoffs come amid a wave of downsizings, reorganizations, and closures across the video game industry in 2025. Other affected companies include Ubisoft, which shut down a UK-based studio on Monday, and Seattle’s Highwire Games, which announced a smaller round of layoffs. For Phoenix Labs, the layoffs appear tied to the underperformance of Awakening, the most recent expansion for its flagship title Dauntless. Released on December 5, Awakening was met with a lukewarm reception from players, partly due to a controversial monetization strategy. The update introduced aggressive microtransactions and reset players’ existing progress, offering in-game items for sale that players had previously earned. This move sparked backlash from the player community, which had not previously associated Dauntless with such practices. Dauntless, a live-service game launched in 2018, challenges players to hunt monsters called Behemoths, using materials from defeated creatures to craft better gear.         View this post on Instagram                       A post shared by Dauntless (@playdauntless) Awakening was marketed as a significant mechanical update and coincided with the game’s debut on Steam. Analysts and fans have linked the controversial changes to Phoenix Labs’ parent company, blockchain gaming firm Forte Labs, which acquired Phoenix Labs in 2023. Forte Labs has been criticized for its involvement in operational decisions, including a previous round of layoffs in May 2024 and the cancellation of an unnamed major project. Phoenix Labs' announcement highlights ongoing challenges in the video game industry as studios grapple with financial pressures and shifting market dynamics.

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