It was announced today that Epic Games was leading a $15M round of funding for Manticore Games, the creator of the Core game creation platform. Core is a member of a growing segment of “games for making games”, similar to other titles such as Dreams and Roblox. Core is built on top of the Unreal Engine and provides most of the tools required to make modern online games in an easy to use package.

Details of the investment from Manticore Games:

Manticore Games has closed $15 million in funding, led by Epic Games and validating the vision and the progress of Core toward an endless gaming multiverse.

Manticore’s mission is to unleash a new wave of creativity in games by radically lowering the barriers to game making and publishing the same way that YouTube revolutionized video creation.

“Core is very impressive,” said Adam Sussman, President, Epic Games. “At Epic we believe the industry is ultimately headed to games becoming more like open platforms where creators can build their own worlds. Built in Unreal Engine, Core exemplifies this future and goes one step further by providing the environment for anybody to create great multiplayer games, and a metaverse playground where players discover endless entertainment.”

You can learn more about the acquisition and get a brief overview of Core in action in the video below (or watch on Odysee here). For more details on Core be sure to check out our previous coverage here when they announced alpha, and here when monetization for creators was announced.

Aaron

Azure Static Web Apps is a service that automatically builds and deploys full stack web apps from a GitHub repository. Azure Static Web Apps consist of a static web frontend, and an Azure Functions based backend. When you create a Static Web Apps resource, Azure sets up a GitHub Actions workflow in the app’s source code repository that monitors a branch of your choice. Every time you push commits to the watched branch, the GitHub Action automatically builds and deploys your app and its API.

As of today, Azure Static Web Apps now has first-class support for Blazor WebAssembly and .NET Functions in preview, available in all supported regions. This was one of the top user requests since Static Web Apps was announced at Build. You can develop and deploy a frontend and a serverless API written entirely in .NET.

Let’s give it a try!

Getting Started

To help you get started, we’ve created a GitHub repository template, which you can use as a starting point for your own projects.

In GitHub, click on the Use this template button to create a new GitHub repository using the template, providing it a name of your choosing (we’ll use my-blazor-app here) and click Create repository from template.

There are three folders in the template:

• Client: The Blazor WebAssembly sample application
• API: A C# Azure Functions API, which the Blazor application will call
• Shared: A C# class library with a shared data model between the Blazor and Functions application

To run the app locally, start both the API and Client projects. The “Fetch data” page in the Blazor app requests weather forecast data form the backend Function API and display it on the page.

To run the app from the command-line, you’ll need to install the Azure Functions Core Tools for your platform of choice.

Deploying to Static Web Apps

To deploy this app as an Azure Static Web App, log into your Azure account (sign up for a free one here) and search for Static Web Apps.

Click Create, provide a Subscription, Resource Group and name for the application.

Next, sign into GitHub and locate your GitHub repo (my-blazor-app) and select the branch you wish to deploy.

Finally, select Blazor from the Build Presets, which will populate the App location, API location and App artifact location with Client, API and wwwroot. The first and second values are the path within the Git repository to where the project files for the Blazor and Functions app resides, so if you’ve modified the structure of the Git repository, make sure these values are updated to reflect. The third value is the output path that Blazor will compile into and doesn’t need updating.

Complete the wizard and Static Web Apps will create the GitHub Actions workflow file for you and deploy your application to Azure.

Summary

We started by forking a GitHub repository (but you could’ve also used a project created in Visual Studio/Visual Studio Code/etc.), created a Static Web App in Azure, and it setup a GitHub Actions workflow for us, automatically building and deploying our Blazor and Functions application. We’ve now got a statically hosted application with a serverless backend, ready to scale for our demands.

Additional Resources

To learn more about Blazor WebAssembly and .NET Functions on Static Web Apps, check out the quickstart docs, the Microsoft Learn module, as well as the comprehensive Static Web Apps docs.

Give Feedback

We’re excited to have Blazor WebAssembly and .NET Functions supported by Azure Static Web Apps, and can’t wait to see what you build with them. Let us know what you think by filing an issue on GitHub.

Amazon’s 2020 48-hour “Prime Day” is reportedly to take place over October 13 and October 14, based on internal emails, after having been delayed because of the coronavirus.

When workers for Lockheed Martin began assembling the crew seats for a spacecraft designed to return astronauts to the moon and pave the way for human exploration to Mars, they had no need for paper instructions or tablet screens to work from.

Everything they needed to see — from animations of how pieces fit together to engineering drawings to torque values for tightening bolts — was visible in HoloLens 2 devices that they wore.

The mixed reality headsets left their hands free to manipulate hardware. Voice commands guided them through every step, with holographic instructions overlaid on the relevant parts of the four seats that will be installed inside the crew module of the Orion spacecraft, which Lockheed Martin is building to support NASA’s Artemis program to carry humans to the moon and beyond.

“They didn’t have to refer back to a computer screen or paper drawings during that entire activity,” said Shelley Peterson, Lockheed Martin principal investigator for augmented and mixed reality. “Out on the shop floor they can put on the HoloLens 2 device, power it up, and it has all the content that they need to figure out how to do that task overlaid right there on the structure.”

Building a spacecraft requires millions of tasks, each with zero room for error, from attaching electrical cables in the correct pathways to lubricating joints and precisely locating thousands of tiny devices that measure how the craft performs under stress.

Lockheed Martin, the prime contractor building Orion, has employed HoloLens 2 on a variety of assembly tasks for the spacecraft that will be used in NASA’s Artemis II mission, the first to carry a crew of astronauts aboard Orion.

For some jobs that require lots of precise measuring by hand ­— such as marking locations for hundreds of fasteners on Orion’s spacecraft adapter jettison fairings — technicians using holographic instructions have finished those repetitive tasks 90 percent faster. The mixed reality headsets have also all but eliminated assembly mistakes, Peterson said. Lockheed Martin has experienced zero errors or rework requests on tasks in which workers were assisted by HoloLens headsets, which the company first deployed at the end of 2017, she said.

“The fact that we haven’t had any errors across all of these activities is phenomenal,” said Peterson, who oversees the company’s mixed reality initiatives.

“Usually when we’re considering new technologies we’re asking if there’s improved quality, if it’s faster or if it’s less expensive, and most people say you can only get two out of the three because there are always tradeoffs. What we’re finding with the HoloLens 2 is that we can hit all three, which is pretty unique,” Peterson said.

At its Ignite conference on Sept. 22, Microsoft announced it is expanding the global availability of HoloLens 2, which is now available for purchase in Italy, Netherlands, Switzerland, Spain, Austria, Sweden, Finland, Norway, Denmark, Belgium, Portugal, Poland, Singapore, Hong Kong and Taiwan.

Both companies will expand their deep existing technology collaboration to create and deliver new solutions to help customers, suppliers and other businesses lower emissions.

Redmond, Washington – 22 Sept. 2020 – Shell International Petroleum Company Limited and Microsoft Corporation, building on a history of three decades of working together, are embarking on a new strategic alliance to support progress towards a world with net-zero emissions. This builds on the strong foundation of decades of technology collaboration between the two companies. This type of strategic alliance is a model for how companies can work together to achieve their net-zero ambitions.

“Microsoft and Shell both have rich histories of innovation and bold ambitions to decarbonise,” said Huibert Vigeveno, Downstream Director of Shell. “We are proud of the work we have already done together. Our strategic alliance will enable us to push the boundaries of what can be achieved. We believe we can unlock tremendous progress for Shell, Microsoft, our customers and beyond.”

“We are building on our work with Shell by establishing a deeper alliance to further accelerate innovation in support of decarbonization and energy industry transition,” said Judson Althoff, executive vice president of Microsoft’s Worldwide Commercial Business. “Cross-industry collaborations like this are fundamental to help society reach net-zero emissions by 2050, and digital transformation is key to tackling this important issue, within the energy sector and beyond.”

This strategic alliance will support Shell’s ambition to be a net-zero emissions energy business by 2050, or sooner, in step with society and its customers. Shell’s supply of renewable energy will help Microsoft deliver on its renewable energy supply goals and its broader ambition to be carbon negative by 2050.

It is expected that over time the alliance will enable the two companies to achieve even more together.

Highlights of the expanded alliance include:

• Shell will supply Microsoft with renewable energy, helping Microsoft to meet its commitment to having a 100% supply of renewable energy by 2025;
• The two companies will continue working together on artificial intelligence (AI), which has already driven transformation across Shell’s operations through access to real-time data insights, contributing to worker and onsite safety, and delivering efficiencies that have helped reduce Shell’s carbon emissions;
• Shell and Microsoft will work together on new digital tools so Shell can offer its suppliers and customers effective support in reducing their carbon footprints;
• Shell and Microsoft will explore working together to help advance the use of sustainable aviation fuels; and
• The companies will use Microsoft’s Azure cloud computing system and data from Shell assets to strengthen operational safety, by improving risk analysis, prediction and prevention.

Shell and Microsoft have already achieved important results through their long-standing technology collaboration:

• Shell and Microsoft have been working together on AI for three years. So far this year, 47 AI-powered proprietary applications have been deployed across Shell’s businesses. Technologies such as Real-Time Production Optimisation have already shown potential to reduce CO₂ emissions in Shell’s liquefied natural gas (LNG) operations. The companies are committed to accelerating their AI work together to drive efficiencies and reduce emissions.
• Shell and Microsoft have worked together to develop technologies that help keep Shell’s workers and sites safe. For example, Microsoft Azure powers Shell’s Autonomous Integrity Recognition (AIR) system, which uses image recognition algorithms to detect when equipment or parts of a site are susceptible to corrosion.

The alliance will deepen the co-operation that has existed between the two companies for more than three decades. It will enable Microsoft and Shell to accelerate the progress they are making on reducing carbon emissions.

Enquiries:

Shell Media Relations

International: +44 207 934 5550

US & Brazil: +1 832 337 4355

Microsoft Media Relations

WE Communications for Microsoft

(425) 638-7777

rrt@we-worldwide.com

About Royal Dutch Shell plc

Royal Dutch Shell plc is incorporated in England and Wales, has its headquarters in The Hague and is listed on the London, Amsterdam, and New York stock exchanges.  Shell companies have operations in more than 70 countries and territories with businesses including oil and gas exploration and production; production and marketing of liquefied natural gas and gas to liquids; manufacturing, marketing and shipping of oil products and chemicals and renewable energy projects. For further information, visit www.shell.com.

About Microsoft

Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT” @microsoft) enables digital transformation for the era of an intelligent cloud and an intelligent edge. Its mission is to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more.

Cautionary note

The companies in which Royal Dutch Shell plc directly and indirectly owns investments are separate legal entities. In this release “Shell”, “Shell Group” and “Royal Dutch Shell” are sometimes used for convenience where references are made to Royal Dutch Shell plc and its subsidiaries in general. Likewise, the words “we”, “us” and “our” are also used to refer to Royal Dutch Shell plc and its subsidiaries in general or to those who work for them. These terms are also used where no useful purpose is served by identifying the particular entity or entities. ‘‘Subsidiaries’’, “Shell subsidiaries” and “Shell companies” as used in this release refer to entities over which Royal Dutch Shell plc either directly or indirectly has control. Entities and unincorporated arrangements over which Shell has joint control are generally referred to as “joint ventures” and “joint operations”, respectively. Entities over which Shell has significant influence but neither control nor joint control are referred to as “associates”. The term “Shell interest” is used for convenience to indicate the direct and/or indirect ownership interest held by Shell in an entity or unincorporated joint arrangement, after exclusion of all third-party interest.

It is important to note that as of September 22, 2020, Shell’s operating plans and budgets do not reflect Shell’s net-zero emissions ambition. Shell’s aim is that, in the future, its operating plans and budgets will change to reflect this movement towards its new net-zero emissions ambition. However, these plans and budgets need to be in step with the movement towards a net zero emissions economy within society and among Shell’s customers.

This release contains forward-looking statements (within the meaning of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995) concerning the financial condition, results of operations and businesses of Royal Dutch Shell. All statements other than statements of historical fact are, or may be deemed to be, forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are statements of future expectations that are based on management’s current expectations and assumptions and involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results, performance or events to differ materially from those expressed or implied in these statements. Forward-looking statements include, among other things, statements concerning the potential exposure of Royal Dutch Shell to market risks and statements expressing management’s expectations, beliefs, estimates, forecasts, projections and assumptions. These forward-looking statements are identified by their use of terms and phrases such as “aim”, “ambition”, ‘‘anticipate’’, ‘‘believe’’, ‘‘could’’, ‘‘estimate’’, ‘‘expect’’, ‘‘goals’’, ‘‘intend’’, ‘‘may’’, ‘‘objectives’’, ‘‘outlook’’, ‘‘plan’’, ‘‘probably’’, ‘‘project’’, ‘‘risks’’, “schedule”, ‘‘seek’’, ‘‘should’’, ‘‘target’’, ‘‘will’’ and similar terms and phrases. There are a number of factors that could affect the future operations of Royal Dutch Shell and could cause those results to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements included in this release, including (without limitation): (a) price fluctuations in crude oil and natural gas; (b) changes in demand for Shell’s products; © currency fluctuations; (d) drilling and production results; (e) reserves estimates; (f) loss of market share and industry competition; (g) environmental and physical risks; (h) risks associated with the identification of suitable potential acquisition properties and targets, and successful negotiation and completion of such transactions; (i) the risk of doing business in developing countries and countries subject to international sanctions; (j) legislative, fiscal and regulatory developments including regulatory measures addressing climate change; (k) economic and financial market conditions in various countries and regions; (l) political risks, including the risks of expropriation and renegotiation of the terms of contracts with governmental entities, delays or advancements in the approval of projects and delays in the reimbursement for shared costs; (m) risks associated with the impact of pandemics, such as the COVID-19 (coronavirus) outbreak; and (n) changes in trading conditions. No assurance is provided that future dividend payments will match or exceed previous dividend payments. All forward-looking statements contained in this release are expressly qualified in their entirety by the cautionary statements contained or referred to in this section. Readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Additional risk factors that may affect future results are contained in Royal Dutch Shell’s Form 20-F for the year ended December 31, 2019 (available at www.shell.com/investor and www.sec.gov). These risk factors also expressly qualify all forward-looking statements contained in this release and should be considered by the reader. Each forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date of this release, September 22, 2020. Neither Royal Dutch Shell plc nor any of its subsidiaries undertake any obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement as a result of new information, future events or other information. In light of these risks, results could differ materially from those stated, implied or inferred from the forward-looking statements contained in this release.

We may have used certain terms, such as resources, in this release that the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) strictly prohibits us from including in our filings with the SEC. Investors are urged to consider closely the disclosure in our Form 20-F, File No 1-32575, available on the SEC website www.sec.gov.

Today sees the launch of Unrailed! on Nintendo Switch, a chaotic co-op game that’s said to be a true test of friendship.

The game has players working together in either local or online multiplayer with up to four players being supported in total. You’re tasked with guiding a train through dangerous, procedurally generated terrain filled with obstacles and local wildlife that will get in your way, all in a bid to safely reach the next station.

Communication and cooperation are key, as you might expect, and you’ll need to ensure you always have enough resources to build new tracks, that you stop your train from overheating, and that you can fend off any animals that pester you along the way. Alternatively, you can jump into the Versus mode to play against your friends, rather than alongside them.

Here’s a feature list:

Main features:
– An intense and chaotic railroad construction experience
– Online and local couch co-op multiplayer
– Procedurally generated worlds with different difficulty levels
– Dynamic weather system & day and night cycle
– Game modes: Endless, Quick (up to 4 players) and Versus (2 vs 2 players)
– Distinct biomes (5+)
– A bunch of upgradable wagons (10+) to modify your train in Endless mode
– Unlockable characters
– A replay system
– Simple controls & split controller mode
– Blocky to the core

You can see more of the game’s action in this Switch-specific trailer below.

You’ll find it waiting for you on the eShop for $19.99 / £15.99, and there’s also a free demo if you’d like to try before you buy.

Let us know if you plan on checking this one out with a friend or two in the comments below.