Metal Slug is arguably one of the few series from the ’90s which has managed to endure and persist despite the passage of time and the advances of technology; it seems that blowing up 2D sprites has a timeless quality to it, and we’ve personally been really enjoying revisiting these classic games on Switch.

If you’re a fan of the series then you might already be aware of Bitmap Books’ new Metal Slug: The Ultimate History, an officially-licenced tome which includes concept art, screenshots, interviews, features and much more besides.

Produced with the full cooperation of SNK, the book is 452 pages long and features input from Kazuma Kujo, Takushi Hiyamuta, Andoh Kenji and Takeshi Okui, three of the key developers who shaped this seminal series.

Every game in the Metal Slug bloodline makes the cut, right up to Metal Slug Advance and Metal Slug 7, the two Nintendo-exclusive entries (although the latter did get released on the PSP in a slightly updated form). The book also covers titles which are considered to be forerunners to the franchise, such as In The Hunt (which is coming to Switch soon) and GunForce.

If you like what you see, then you can order a copy direct from the publisher for £29.99.

Please note that some links on this page are affiliate links, which means if you click them and make a purchase we may receive a small percentage of the sale which helps support the site. Please read our FTC Disclosure for more information.

The latest Nintendo Download update for Europe has arrived, and it’s bringing new games galore to the eShop in your region. As always, be sure to drop a vote in our poll and comment down below with your potential picks for the week. Enjoy!

Switch Retail – New Releases

Sparklite (Merge Games, 14th Nov, £16.99 / €21.24) – Sparklite is an action-adventure set in the whimsical and ever-changing land of Geodia. Battle foes in top-down action using an arsenal of gadgets, guns, and gear. Explore dangerous corners of the procedurally generated world, take down titans of the mining industry, and harness the power of Sparklite! Everything in the world of Geodia is tied together by Sparklite… it’s the life force of the planet, and the inhabitants have learned how to channel it safely. Geodia’s self-titled “Baron” has devised a plot to mine the world’s Sparklite core to meet his own ends. – Read our Sparklite review

Pokémon Shield / Pokémon Sword (Nintendo, 15th Nov, £49.99) – A whole new Pokémon RPG adventure awaits in Pokémon Sword and Pokémon Shield on Nintendo Switch! Get ready to experience Galar, an expansive region with diverse environments, from a peaceful countryside and contemporary cities to a thick forest and snow-covered mountains. The people and Pokémon who live here work together closely to develop the industries within it. Read our Pokémon Shield review

Bee Simulator (Bigben Interactive, 14th Nov, £34.99 / €39.99) – See the world through the eyes of a bee! Explore a world inspired by Central Park where you can take part in bee races, collect pollen from rare flowers and defy dangerous wasps. Play with friends or family in three game modes, including co-op and PvP on split-screen. The hive awakens as the sun’s first rays warm the horizon. It’s time to test your wings, receive orders from the Queen and begin your first mission. And that’s just the start of your adventures. Humans want to cut down the tree that holds your hive, so your fate – and that of the whole swarm – rests on your tiny shoulders!

Mad Games Tycoon (Toplitz Productions, 12th Nov, £35.99 / €39.99) – In Mad Games Tycoon you build your own Gaming Empire. Start your own game studio in the early 80s. The journey begins in a small garage with little money and limited resources. Create new game concepts, set up your team and develop the next million hit. Research new technologies, train employees and buy new and larger office space. Build your empire and dominate the gaming industry!

The Unicorn Princess (Bigben Interactive, 14th Nov, £39.99) – Embody Leila, a young girl, and travel between the real world and the dream world to help Unica the Unicorn to save the guardian of her world. Explore an open world on the back of one of the six horses you can choose from, with many options to customize your character and your ride. The Unicorn Princess is a perfect gift for those who love horses and unicorns!

WRC 8 FIA World Rally Championship (Bigben Interactive, 14th Nov, £44.99 / €49.99) – Never before has the official WRC simulation been this authentic. New off-road physics on all road surfaces, completely redesigned career mode, dynamic weather, 50 teams, 14 countries, 100 tracks, weekly challenges and the eSports mode all packed into the best WRC experience ever!

Beast Quest (Maximum Games, 15th Nov, £29.99) – Embark on an epic action-adventure to save the Kingdom of Avantia from ruin. Based on the best-selling fantasy novels, Beast Quest comes to Nintendo Switch for the first time ever, with a rich, progressive storyline, vibrant settings, and an excess of compelling challenges. Read our Beast Quest review

Switch eShop – New Releases

Yaga (Versus Evil, 12th Nov, £17.99 / €19.99) – Smash, clobber and bash the murderous legends of Slavic mythology in this darkly funny action role-playing game that changes every time you play. Play as Ivan, a one-handed blacksmith with incredibly bad luck, who must take on the impossible tasks given to him by the tzar. All the while the mysterious witch, Baba Yaga, watches over Ivan’s fate.

Romancing SaGa 3 (SQUARE ENIX, 11th Nov, £22.39 / €25.59) – Once every 300 years, the Rise of Morastrum threatens the existence of our world. All born in that year are doomed to perish before its end. However, there came a time when a sole child did survive. He was using the power of death to conquer the world. Yet one day, he vanished. Another 300 years passed, and again a child defied fate. She came to be known as the Matriarch. It has been 300-odd years since the appearance of the Matriarch. Humanity now stands at the fulcrum between hope and despair. Will there be another child of destiny?

DRAW CHILLY (HYPETRAIN DIGITAL, 12th Nov) – DRAW CHILLY is a hell of an arcade game where you take on the role of Vladimir and raise a city from the depths of Purgatory at the request of your employers, the Horsemen of the Apocalypse. Vladimir and his squad of brave, pure-hearted, yet occasionally hapless mechanics fight monkeys as they make their way upwards stage by stage to deliver the bosses, who have ended up in Purgatory by mistake, into the hands of the Reapers so they can be sent to Hell where they belong.

Thief of Thieves: Season One (Rival Games, 12th Nov) – Season One contains all four volumes of this award winning game from Rival Games in one single purchase. (Voice acting and subtitles in English. ) Based on the best-selling comic by Robert Kirkman, Thief of Thieves: Season One is a story of heists and the people behind them. It’s time for Celia, protege of master thief Redmond, to make the leap from apprentice to master.

Zen Chess Collection (QUByte Interactive, 12th Nov, £0.87 / €0.99) – Zen Chess Collection. A collection of four minimalist chess puzzle games to test your skills in a series of 600 challenges, designed for experienced chess players and newcomers alike.

holedown (webbfarbror, 13th Nov) – Dig deep underground by shooting balls and breaking blocks to traverse your way to the core of planets. With only a certain number of shots per round and some blocks firmly fixed to the wall, thoughtfully strategize and aim the balls for maximum impact. Knock down as many blocks as possible while collecting crystals for upgrades and getting deeper beneath the surface.

Fractured Minds (Wired Productions, 14th Nov, £1.79 / €1.99) – Fractured Minds is an immersive artistic short game, exploring anxiety and mental health issues. Winner of a 2017 BAFTA Young Game Designers Award, Fractured Minds is a game created by 17-year-old Emily Mitchell, with the hope of aiding understanding and awareness of mental illness. Embark on a journey through the human psyche and experience six atmospheric and thought-provoking chapters, each symbolising a different aspect or challenge associated with mental health issues; from isolation to anxiety, with everyday situations being distorted beyond recognition.

GROOVE COASTER WAI WAI PARTY!!!! (TAITO, 14th Nov) – Rhythm Game x Roller Coaster! Ride a roller coaster of sound with simple controls, and get grooving in this exhilarating rhythm game!

Labyrinth of the Witch (ORANGE CUBE, 14th Nov) – A simple dungeon exploration RPG that anyone can play! Strategically use a multitude of items to tackle ever-changing dungeons. A rogue-like for anyone and everyone, this simple, easy-to-play dungeon exploration RPG is free of difficult game mechanics.

Overlanders (Run-Down Games, 14th Nov) – Battle it out in 5 player multiplayer or rage through the campaign. Overlanders delivers the futuristic, competitive racing experience of your dreams. Invite your friends and tear up the tracks together.

Perils of Baking (eastasiasoft, 14th Nov, £3.59 / €3.99) – You play as the younger of two brothers, famous for their baking. It’s up to you to stop your brother’s evil plans as he has given in to a dark artefact. Over the 40 main levels in the game you will master driving a minecart, flying a balloon, swimming, baking, reversed gravity and more. True Bakers will discover all the bonus rooms and beat the levels in Secret Land.

Push the Crate (Polygon Art, 14th Nov) – You are looking for a logistical challenge? Look no further! Push the Crate is a 3D transport puzzle game with 300 level with varying degrees of difficulty. From kid-friendly challenges to a real logistical mastermind – Push the Crate has puzzles for everyone. All you need to do is to transport the crates to their target positions and make sure you won’t get stuck.

Rocket Wars (Rooftop Panda, 14th Nov) – Rocket Wars is a fast-paced couch party game for up to 4 players. 6 different game modes will keep the game fresh and challenging. 12 different spaceships with unique stats let you play according to your own playstyle. You can play FFA, 2v2 or entirely against AI opponents. Enjoy both PVP and coop with your friends!

Scarlett Mysteries: Cursed Child (Artifex Mundi, 14th Nov) – Look for clues to the whereabouts of your father! As the protagonist tries to locate her missing father, a clue leads her to the train station next to Baronet Steameyer’s mansion and factory. Use your psychic abilities! Scarlett possesses a remarkable gift that enables her to see where her father resided and travelled in the past.

Some Distant Memory (Way Down Deep, 14th Nov) – Some Distant Memory is a hand-drawn story exploration game set 300 years after the apocalypse. You play an archaeologist named Professor Zay, joined by her companion, Arora, a centuries-old AI capable of recreating human memories from scanned relics.

Squidgies Takeover (GiantMargarita, 14th Nov, £10.11 / €11.24) – You control the Squidgies, hapless little blobs of adorableness, that need your help to escape their Momma’s tentacles and make their new home on planets across the galaxy. Find creative solutions to each level’s puzzles by making the Squidgies swing, fling, float, splat, stretch into tubes, and turn metallic. Some Squidgie powers can be combined together for even more mind-bending puzzle-solving techniques!

Sudoku Relax 3 Autumn Leaves (G-mode, 14th Nov, £4.13 / €4.58) – Let your mind take a break and refresh itself to the mind-soothing effects of Sudoku Relax 3. The popular “Sudoku Relax” title is coming out with a sequel, “Sudoku Relax 3”. This new title is filled with warm autumn colours and brings a sense of calm. Choose from easy, normal or hard modes with over 300 puzzles. Exercise your brain and wind down to the relaxing gameplay and music.

Go! Fish Go! (Cool Small Games, 15th Nov) – Even fish lose their patience and try to escape from the aquarium. A team of five amazing fish embark on a daring adventure to escape from their young oppressors. Help them to trick and lose the pursuers. Every second counts. Speed, reflexes and wit are what count. Avoid getting caught in a net and escape your way to freedom! Don’t hesitate – start the game and save the five cute fish from being put back into the aquarium. They’re counting on you!

Lots of Slots (Dispatch Games, 15th Nov)

Mars Power Industries (SONKA, 15th Nov) – Congratulations on your first tiny colony! Taking the post of Plumber/Electrician must be tough out there, we know how lonely it might get and you probably miss your family. Don’t worry! We provide music. No silence in space. Studies show employees exhibit a high degree of stress when surrounded by silence, so it is to be avoided. The pleasant soothing sounds of distant synth music will calm you right away… and continue calming you through the years… Imagine a spaceship slowly moving through endless black pudding, with no one on board but you and the lights. But the lights are broken.

Raining Blobs (Black Shell Media, 15th Nov) – Raining Blobs is a fast-paced arcade puzzle game based around matching falling blobs. This game will put both your fingers and mind to a test of raw skill. Features: -Arcade, Tournament, Endless Battle and Puzzle modes that can be played solo, with friends and CPU players with 6 levels of difficulty.

Tactical Mind 2 (Drageus Games, 15th Nov) – Enjoy the classic brain-teasing challenges offered by Chess but with entirely new rules and concepts to discover. Tactical Mind is one of the most innovative 1vs1 board games and you can now play the sequel – with 30 stages, enhanced visuals and brand new layouts to twist your perceptions! Face a real player in local multiplayer or dominate the AI in a progression-based Single Player campaign.

Woven (Alterego Games, 15th Nov)

Galactic Defence Squadron (4MB Interactive, 14th Nov, £3.99 / €4.39)

Arcade Archives Yie Ar KUNG-FU (HAMSTER, 14th Nov)

Balthazar’s Dream (Dolores Ent., 14th Nov)

Biolab Wars (Forever Entertainment, 14th Nov)

Color.Motif Deluxe (Kodobur Yazilim, 14th Nov)

Switch eShop – Demos

The Legend of Dark Witch (INSIDE SYSTEM)

Switch eShop – Pre-Orders

Narcos: Rise of the Cartels (Curve Digital) – Welcome to Colombia, 1980’s – the fires of El Patrón’s empire have been lit, its influence spanning borders, and expansion unabated. Influence and corruption is rife; cops, guards, politicians and those in between are falling into the pocket of the Medellín Cartel, and after years of production, America is finally taking notice. Narcos: Rise of the Cartels tells the story of the hit Netflix TV series, of the rise and fall of El Patrón.

Bloo Kid 2 (Headup Games, pre-order from 11th Nov)

Castle of no Escape 2 (QubicGames, pre-order from 14th Nov)

Electronic Super Joy (Hard Copy Games, pre-order from 14th Nov)

Tiny Gladiators (BoomBit Games, pre-order from 14th Nov)

Pine (Kongregate, pre-order from 15th Nov)

Where the Water Tastes Like Wine (Serenity Forge, pre-order from 15th Nov)

Switch eShop – Special Offers

DLC / Add-On Content

Nintendo Switch

• Taiko no Tatsujin: Drum’n’Fun! – ONE PIECE Anime Songs Pack (Bandai Namco Entertainment)
• Bridge Constructor Portal – Portal Proficiency (Headup Games)
• Pandemic: On the Brink – Roles & Events (Asmodee Digital)
• Pandemic: On the Brink – Virulent Strain (Asmodee Digital)
• WRC 8 FIA World Rally Championship – WRC 8 – Ford Escort MkII 1800 (1979) (Bigben Interactive)
• WRC 8 FIA World Rally Championship – WRC 8 – Lancia Delta HF Integrale Evoluzione (1992) (Bigben Interactive)
• WRC 8 FIA World Rally Championship – WRC 8 – Alpine A110 (1973) (Bigben Interactive)
• WRC 8 FIA World Rally Championship – WRC 8 – RWD Legends (Bigben Interactive)
• WRC 8 FIA World Rally Championship – WRC 8 – Senior Staff Members Unlock (Bigben Interactive)
• WRC 8 FIA World Rally Championship – WRC8 Legendary Pack (Bigben Interactive)
• GROOVE COASTER WAI WAI PARTY!!!! – Dempagumi.inc Pack (TAITO)
• GROOVE COASTER WAI WAI PARTY!!!! – Touhou Project Arrangements Pack 1 (TAITO)
• GROOVE COASTER WAI WAI PARTY!!!! – VOCALOID Pack 1 (TAITO)
• GROOVE COASTER WAI WAI PARTY!!!! – UNDERTALE Pack (TAITO)
• Pic-a-Pix Pieces: 15×15 Pieces Pack 11 (Lightwood Games)
• Pic-a-Pix Pieces: 20×20 Pieces Pack 11 (Lightwood Games)
• WorldNeverland – Elnea Kingdom:Navy Fishing Coats Set (althi)
• Go! Fish Go! – Characters pack (Cool Small Games)
• Let’s Sing 2020 – [Various] Song Packs (Koch Media)
• Bee Simulator Voiceover-Paket − Deutsch (Bigben Interactive)
• Bee Simulator Pack de voces – Español (Bigben Interactive)
• Bee Simulator Pack de Langue – Français (Bigben Interactive)
• Bee Simulator Pacchetto lingua – Italiano (Bigben Interactive)
• Bee Simulator Taalpakket – Nederlands (Bigben Interactive)
• Bee Simulator Пакет озвучки – русский (Bigben Interactive)
• Taiko no Tatsujin: Drum’n’Fun! – Donder Pack -Lightning- (Bandai Namco Entertainment)
• The Escapists 2 – The Glorious Regime (Team17)
• The Escapists 2 – Wicked Ward (Team17)
• The Escapists 2 – Big Top Breakout (Team17)
• The Escapists 2 – Dungeons and Duct Tape (Team17)
• Overcooked! 2 – Season Pass (Team17)
• Overcooked! 2 – Carnival of Chaos (Team17)
• Overcooked! 2 – Night of the Hangry Horde (Team17)
• Overcooked! 2 – Campfire Cook Off (Team17)
• Overcooked! 2 – Surf ‘n’ Turf (Team17)
• Overcooked! 2 – Too Many Cooks Pack (Team17)
• My Time at Portia – Housewarming Gift Set (Team17)
• Starlink: Battle for Atlas – Collection Pack (Ubisoft)
• Starlink: Battle for Atlas – Starlink Digital Collection Pack 2 (Ubisoft)
• South Park: The Fractured but Whole – Season Pass (Ubisoft)
• Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle ®: Donkey Kong Adventure (Ubisoft)
• Trials® Rising – Expansion pass (Ubisoft)
• Mario + Rabbids® Kingdom Battle : Season Pass (Ubisoft)

So that’s your lot for this week’s Nintendo Download. Go on, be a sport and drop a vote in the poll above, and comment below with your hot picks!

Hey Alpha ring users! Today’s Xbox Insider Release Notes highlight the latest fixes, known issues, and features coming to your console. Starting at 2:00 p.m. PT today, users will receive the latest 1911 Xbox One system update (build: 19H1_RELEASE_XBOX_DEV_1911\18363.8112.191101-1945). Keep reading for more details.

System Update Details:

• OS version released: 19H1_RELEASE_XBOX_DEV_1911\18363.8112.191101-1945
• Available: 2:00 p.m. PT – November 4, 2019
• Mandatory: 3:00 a.m. PT – November 5, 2019

Fixes for Alpha

We’ve heard your feedback, and we’re happy to announce the following fixes have been implemented for this 1911 build:

Home

• Users should no longer see a random square next to certain text on the dashboard.
• Fixed an issue where the dashboard would not load up when starting the console.

Narrator

• Various fixes to functionality across the console.

Party

• Fixed an issue where users were unable to use Party Chat while playing Call of Duty: Modern Warfare.

Settings

• Fixed an issue where certain sections of the Settings menus would not load.

System

• Various updates to properly reflect local languages across the console.

Known Issues for Alpha

We understand some issues have been listed in previous Xbox Insider Release Notes. These issues aren’t being ignored, but it will take Xbox engineers more time to find a solution. We appreciate your patience at this time!

Audio

• Users who have Dolby Atmos enabled and console display settings set to 120hz with 36 bits per pixel (12-bit) are experiencing loss of Dolby Atmos audio in some situations.
  
  • Workaround: Disable 120hz or set Video Fidelity to 30 bits per pixel (10-bit) or lower.

Home (Experiment)

• Some users may see a different Store icon on the dashboard than what normally appears.
• Some users may see their content blocks reset randomly during the experiment.
• Users may see the images for ads on the dashboard looking cropped or cutoff.

Dolby Access

• Users are unable to complete the setup for Dolby Atmos in the app and the app is not recognizing Dolby Atmos headphones.
  
  • Note: This is an issue with the Dolby Access app and the app developers are aware and investigating.

Profile Color

• Sometimes users may encounter the incorrect Profile color when powering on the console.

Are you not seeing your issue listed above? Make sure to use Report a problem to keep us informed of your issue. We may not be able to respond to everyone, but the data we’ll gather is crucial to finding a resolution.

Learn more about feedback and how each ring is differentiated in the following links:

For more information regarding the Xbox Insider Program follow us on Twitter and join the community subreddit for support and updates. Keep an eye on future Xbox Insider Release Notes for more information regarding your Xbox One Update Preview ring!

Tencent’s online game revenue is up 11 percent year-over-year for the quarter ending [September 30], coming in at RMB 28.6 billion or just over $4 billion for the three-month period.

The Chinese company shared performance for its video game dealings alongside other departments in its latest financial report, noting that smartphone games, as well as advertising and commercial payment services, helped drive a 21 percent year-over-year increase in revenue for the company as a whole.

Zeroing in on Tencent’s game business, mobile games like Honour of Kings, PUBG Mobile, Call of Duty Mobile, and the China-only PUBG-like Peacekeeper Elite were called out as games with a strong showing this quarter.

Riot Games’ Teamfight Tactics was also called out for “establishing global leadership in the emerging auto chess genre” alongside those notable mobile games, though as a whole PC game revenue decreased on both a yearly and quarterly basis despite gains made by League of Legends in China.

Smartphone games alone saw a 25 percent increase in revenue, coming in at RMB 24.3 billion (~$3.5 billion) for the quarter, driven by “robust performance of key domestic titles and increasing contributions from overseas.” As mentioned before, revenue from PC client games decreased 7 percent year-on-year (and 2 percent from Q2) to RMB 11.5 billion (~$1.6 billion). However, Tencent attributes the bulk of this drop to high revenue last year driven by an in-game anniversary event.

Tencent as a whole reported revenue of RMB 97.2 billion (~$13.8 billion), up 21 percent year-over-year, and non-IFRS operating profit of RMB 28.5 billion (~$4 billion), up 27 percent year-over-year.

Epic Games has filed a statement of claim in the Quebec Superior court against former Keywords employee Lucas Johnston that accuses him of leaking Fortnite’s recently launched new map ahead of its official reveal.

This isn’t the first tester Epic Games has taken legal action against and, with damages exceeding $85,000 being sought in this particular case, public lawsuits like this likely aim to dissuade other employees from doing the same in the future.

According to details from the court document shared by Canoe, Johnston took a screenshot while testing unreleased Fortnite content and emailed that image to himself. The image appeared on a Fortnite forum weeks later and, though Johnston says he is unaware of how it ended up online, Keywords’ internal investigation claims he shared it with his frequent Fortnite teammates, leading to its eventual circulation

“As the creative projects created by the claimant require a long period of time between the start of their conception and their commercialization, confidentiality is thus, throughout the process, essential in order to offer its users innovative projects at the forefront of the video game technology industry,” explains the filing.

In a similar vein, Epic filed a lawsuit against another Fortnite tester last month for leaking information about new Fortnite Chapter 2 features and map changes before they were later revealed through an unconventional in-game event.

Netflix News

• What's New To Netflix This Week: Movies, TV, And Originals
• Netflix In November 2019 - Best New Movies And TV Shows To Watch!
• New To Netflix In November 2019: Movies, TV, And Originals

Back at GDC 2019, Crytek surprised the world with a demonstration that showcased real-time raytracing without the need for modern RTX enabled hardware.  Today CryTek released that benchmark into the wild.  You can learn more about the benchmark here.

CryTek did an in-depth interview describing the process of creating the benchmark available here:

Crytek has released a new video demonstrating the results of a CRYENGINE research and development project. Neon Noir shows how real-time mesh ray-traced reflections and refractions can deliver highly realistic visuals for games. The Neon Noir demo was created with the new advanced version of CRYENGINE’s Total Illumination showcasing real time ray tracing. This feature will be added to CRYENGINE release roadmap in 2019, enabling developers around the world to build more immersive scenes, more easily, with a production-ready version of the feature.

Neon Noir follows the journey of a police drone investigating a crime scene. As the drone descends into the streets of a futuristic city, illuminated by neon lights, we see its reflection accurately displayed in the windows it passes by, or scattered across the shards of a broken mirror while it emits a red and blue lighting routine that will bounce off the different surfaces utilizing CRYENGINE’s advanced Total Illumination feature. Demonstrating further how ray tracing can deliver a lifelike environment, neon lights are reflected in the puddles below them, street lights flicker on wet surfaces, and windows reflect the scene opposite them accurately.

Neon Noir was developed on a bespoke version of CRYENGINE 5.5., and the experimental ray tracing feature based on CRYENGINE’s Total Illumination used to create the demo is both API and hardware agnostic, enabling ray tracing to run on most mainstream, contemporary AMD and NVIDIA GPUs. However, the future integration of this new CRYENGINE technology will be optimized to benefit from performance enhancements delivered by the latest generation of graphics cards and supported APIs like Vulkan and DX12.

The benchmark is available on the Crytek Marketplace and requires you to have the CryEngine launcher installed.  You can check out the benchmark running on rather antiquated hardware (at a respectable clip!) in the video below.  According to the CryEngine Roadmap we should expect to see raytracing support (with or without hardware) in CryEngine 5.7, scheduled for a Spring 2020 release.

GameDev News CryEngine

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By Joe Robinson 13 Nov 2019

Today, Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne, France’s Minister of State attached to the Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs, announced remarkable progress toward securing cyberspace. The community of Paris Call signatories is growing and taking new initiative to thwart attacks that threaten our democracies, economies and public services. The number of signatories of the Paris Call for Trust and Security in Cyberspace, announced a year ago, has nearly tripled to more than 1,000 and now includes 74 nations; more than 350 international, civil society and public sector organizations; and more than 600 private sector entities. These commitments to the Paris Call from around the world demonstrate a widespread, global, multi-stakeholder consensus about acceptable behavior in cyberspace.

The principles in the Paris Call address real-world challenges we’re facing today, like preventing foreign interference in elections, protecting availability of the internet, and curbing attacks on critical infrastructure. Importantly, supporters are committed to working together in a multi-stakeholder model, with governments, industry, academia and civil society collaborating to protect our cyberspace from nation-state threats, including attacks on our democratic processes.

Nations now supporting the Paris Call reflect the broadening mandate for international action to address cyberthreats with 10 Latin American nations, 13 Asian and Pacific signatories and eight African nations joining with 42 European states and Canada. In total, Paris Call signatories represent almost 40 percent of United Nations member states.

Enterprises in more than 60 countries and civil society groups in more than 65 countries have now joined, with respected retailers like Migros of Switzerland and Rakuten of Japan; financial services and insurance companies like CIMB Group in Malaysia and AXA Group in France; the global logistics leader Deutsche Post DHL Group; media and telecommunications providers like Sky and Telefonica; as well as civil society organizations like the German Marshall Fund of the United States and the Vatican’s Pontifical Academy for Life. More than 60 enterprises and civil society groups in India have joined, although the Indian Government has not yet made its commitment.

One interesting trend, following a series of ransomware attacks targeting municipalities in the U.S., is that local and state governments in the U.S. have signed onto the Paris Call. New joiners include the cities of San Jose and Louisville and the states of Colorado, Virginia and Washington, bringing the number of U.S. signatories to more than 130. We believe this strengthens the case for the U.S. government to sign onto the Paris Call. The Paris Call builds on international norms that the U.S. has endorsed previously, with the addition of one new commitment that the U.S. should find easy to support: the protection of elections.

The tech sector has the primary responsibility to protect the internet and the people who rely upon it, but ultimately security and stability in cyberspace will require that governments, companies and civil society come together to find joint solutions to the challenges we are facing. With nation-state cyberattacks on the rise, the growing consensus emerging from all these groups makes it clear that cyberspace should not be exploited to inflict harm on the citizens of this world.

The promise of the Paris Call is the commitment of signatories to collaborate and build solutions across the full range of cyber challenges. In recent months, we have participated in roundtable discussions in cities around the world on how we engage in even more concrete follow-up action not just to abide by the principles in the Paris Call but to proactively advance them around the world. We at Microsoft strongly support the concept of a “Paris Call Community,” also announced today, centered around the nine principles of the Call. For example, Microsoft and the Alliance for Securing Democracy have created the “Paris Call Community on Countering Election Interference” – a multi-stakeholder project focused on implementing principle no. 3, working to identify best practices and build capacity to defend against foreign interference in democratic processes. We are also partnering with the Cybersecurity Tech Accord, the Internet Society, Global Cyber Alliance and CyberGreen to strengthen solutions that improve cyber hygiene, or basic security practices, among signatories in accordance with principle no. 7. We are committed to expanding these projects and encouraging contributions of talent and energy from everyone who wants to help realize the potential of the Paris Call Community.

If you are a government, a business in any industry, or a non-governmental organization, adding your voice to the Paris Call is a powerful way to advocate for principles and engage to help build solutions that will make your organization and ultimately the world a safer place. Head to this website to learn more and add your name and your efforts to the growing community of Paris Call participants.

Tags: cybersecurity, Paris, Peace call