UPI, built by a coalition of Indian banks, has become the most popular way Indians transact online, processing over 10 billion transactions monthly.
In February, a parliamentary panel in India urged the government to support the growth of domestic fintech players that can offer alternatives to the Walmart-backed PhonePe and Google Pay apps.
The NPCI has long advocated for limiting the market share of individual companies participating in the UPI ecosystem to 30%.
The RBI is also weighing an incentive plan to create a more favorable competitive field for emerging UPI players, another person familiar with the matter said.
Indian daily Economic Times separately reported Wednesday that the NPCI is encouraging fintech companies to offer incentives to their users, promoting the use of their respective apps for making UPI transactions.
Video game giant Activision is investigating a hacking campaign that’s targeting players with the goal of stealing their credentials, TechCrunch has learned.
Somehow, the hackers are getting malware on the victim’s computers and then stealing passwords for their gaming accounts and crypto wallets, among others, according to sources.
Zeebler described the effort as an “infostealer malware campaign,” where malware designed as legitimate-looking software unknowingly installed by the victim surreptitiously steals their usernames and passwords.
Zeebler told TechCrunch that he found out about the hacking campaign when a PhantomOverlay customer had their account for the cheat software stolen.
After that, Zeebler said he contacted Activision Blizzard as well as other cheat makers, whose users appear to be affected.
I’m getting hacked, I’m getting hacked bro, I’m getting hacked,” said one of the players allegedly compromised during a live stream of the gameplay.
On Tuesday, Respawn, the studio that develops Apex Legends posted a statement on X (formerly Twitter), addressing the incidents.
Conor Ford, who works on Apex Legends security team, wrote on X that he and his colleagues are working to address the issues.
Or other video game hacking incidents?
Or other video game hacking incidents?
The number of startups in India’s electric two-wheeler market has surged to over 150 from 54 in 2021, driven by government incentives to promote clean vehicles and cut oil imports, according to a new analysis.
“Most are competing in the mainstream, and 85% of the 65 models launched last year were such products: high-speed as against speed and range-constrained products, which used to be a feature of the startups,” Bernstein analysts wrote.
The government has offered incentives under its FAME II scheme, which provides subsidies to buyers and was recently extended to 2024.
Bernstein’s analysis found low barriers to entry, with electric two-wheelers built using outsourced models and readily available components.
Most established automotive companies have been granted PLI while only a few startups qualified, potentially providing a cost advantage for major incumbents, Bernstein said.
On Sunday, two competitive esports players appeared to get hacked during a live streamed game, prompting the organizers to postpone the tournament.
Players were competing in the Apex Legends Global Series, a competitive esports tournament for the popular shooter game Apex Legends, which has a $5 million total prize pool.
I’m getting hacked, I’m getting hacked bro, I’m getting hacked,” said Genburten, holding his hands up during the game, according to a video they posted on X, which was also posted on multiple YouTube channels.
“I’m cheating, I’m cheating, I’m cheating, I’m fucking cheating,” said ImperialHal.
We will share more information soon,” announced the official Apex Legends Esports account on X.
A new sports tech startup, Volley, aims to revolutionize the way racquet sports players (platform tennis, padel, and pickleball) train with its AI-enabled sports training machine.
You can also digitally control the machine by tapping on your phone to select where you want the ball to land.
As an avid platform tennis player, John came up with the idea for Volley when he decided to put a tennis ball machine up on painter sticks to mimic certain shots.
“Volley is in a category on its own because the ball trainers of yesterday are no longer meeting the needs of players and pros.
On the long-term roadmap, the company says it wants to start leasing trainers to individual players who have at-home courts.
Even as quick commerce is slowly fading in many markets and several heavily-funded startups have folded in the past two years, India is emerging as a striking outlier where the model remains vibrant.
Zomato’s Blinkit leads the quick commerce market in India, having cornered as much as 46% of the market share by GMV in the quarter that ended in December, according to a new analysis.
Reliance Retail-backed Dunzo, which pioneered the quick commerce model in India, has virtually lost its entire market share.
However, the long-term sustainability of the quick commerce model remains to be seen.
Flipkart is weighing entering the quick commerce market by as early as May this year, TechCrunch reported last week.
Readyverse Studios partnered with Warner Bros.
Readyverse Studios founders debuted Open in a trailer today during the South By Southwest (SXSW) festival.
Of course, the new experience features a Ready Player One biome where players can explore environments, get skins inspired by the novel, and compete against each other.
In the trailer, viewers see Ready Player One protagonist Wade Watts (a.k.a.
For those who aren’t familiar with Cline’s work, Ready Player One is set in 2045, when the planet is on the verge of collapse.
We’ve covered Lego Fortnite since it launched last month, when the new title lured in 2.4 million simultaneous players.
A little over a month after its launch, Lego Fortnite’s content was beginning to run dry for players who dove in headlong in December (present company included).
More on our latest update here: https://t.co/p28TYzZD49 pic.twitter.com/fzquiEGRVj — LEGO Fortnite (@LEGOFortnite) January 23, 2024Building-oriented players also get some tweaks to make things go more smoothly.
Some of those experienced are made by Epic itself, like Lego Fortnite, but most are “user-made” with Epic’s beefy game development toolkit.
So far, Lego Fortnite is Fortnite’s most compelling alternative offering — and a game that’s likely to build more momentum as the updates keep rolling in.
Riot Games is laying off about 530 employees, which represents 11% of its workforce, the Tencent-owned company announced on Monday.
The League of Legends maker is also sunsetting its five-year-old publishing group, Riot Forge.
Riot Games wrote two posts about the changes, addressing the affected employees in one and its players in another.
He also highlighted two areas that’ll see “immediate impact” from the organizational changes– Riot Forge and the digital collectible card game Legends of Runeterra.
Riot Games joins other video game publishers making job cuts, such as Epic Games, which eliminated 830 employees in September.
