Tottenham Hotspur confirm that Son Heung-min has joined Major League Soccer (MLS) side Los Angeles FC on a permanent transfer. Read...

The Tongans had lost to defending champions NZ in their opening OFC U16 Women`s Championship on Saturday, but bounced back in style in their second game. Read...

Police are investigating a violent assault that occurred at a soccer match in Mill Park earlier this month. Read...

A round-up of sports news from around the region, including rugby league, rugby, soccer, cricket. Read...

BBC Sport reflects on the pre-match, half-time and post-match entertainment at the Club World Cup final, as well as the heightened security at the MetLife Stadium. Read...

Xbox Game Pass is a pretty sweet deal for gamers, especially if you don’t want to buy a console or gaming PC. The subscription library is basically the easiest way to get access to a huge amount of titles for a fairly low monthly charge, Netflix-style, and streaming options make them accessible on devices from a laptop to a VR headset. But how much is Microsoft spending on those games? A lot, clearly. The company has spent upwards of one hundred billion dollars over the last few years, gobbling up developers and publishers across the industry, most notably Activision-Blizzard, Bethesda, and Minecraft maker Mojang. All of those purchases bolster the game and streaming catalog of Game Pass. But what about the games that don’t fit under Microsoft’s ever-widening umbrella? Those require content deals with other companies before they appear on Game Pass, again, very much like TV shows or movies that pop up on streaming services. We’re getting some interesting insight into how those deals go down, from a source that Microsoft might not appreciate. Following a cull of 9000 employees across the company, including deep cuts to the Xbox and gaming divisions, some of those workers are updating their resumes over on LinkedIn (which is also owned by Microsoft). Windows Central spotted former Senior Business Development Manager Ian MacIntyre doing just that. According to MacIntyre, he “negotiated 500+ deals ranging from $50k to over $50m, securing both indie hits and AAA titles for Game Pass.” Precisely which deals for which games cost how much wasn’t mentioned, of course. But perusing the Game Pass library for titles not directly owned by Microsoft via its developers and publishers, I note Rockstar’s Grand Theft Auto V, Ubisoft’s Rainbow 6 Siege, Dead by Daylight, and recent RPG hit Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. Smaller titles that are nonetheless popular, like fast-paced soccer game Rematch, often get tons of visibility if they launch on Game Pass. The latest round of layoffs, which closed studios and cancelled long-running game projects like Perfect Dark, was heavily spurred by a reallocation of funds for AI competition. Microsoft has laid off 15,000 people this calendar year. It has made over $100 billion in profit every year since 2021. Microsoft Microsoft has struggled to keep its Xbox console hardware relevant, but PC gaming has never been stronger, and its focus on wooing and keeping Game Pass subscribers appears to be paying off. The company claimed 34 million subscribers as of 2024, and it’s making branding partnerships to expand the “Xbox” label to devices like the Asus ROG Ally and the Meta Quest headset. Without deeper insight into Microsoft’s numbers it’s hard to know how Game Pass is affecting the wider industry, including “cannibalization” of direct retail sales for games that appear on Game Pass at launch. Some industry figures have called the model unsustainable, but Microsoft insists that Game Pass is profitable, even accounting for direct sales lost via major titles. Read...

These are very different stories: Diogo Jota was a player on the world stage, while Muhannad Fadl Al-Lili lived in a war zone. But actually, that’s the point. Read...

Believe it or not, I’ve nearly pulled the trigger on a gaming laptop more times than I care to admit—even though I’ve openly talked smack about them in the past. Gaming from the couch? Hell yeah… until I’d talk myself right out of it. What if it gets too hot and melts my thighs? What if it’s too bulky to lug around the house? But honestly, the biggest reason was always how loud they looked. No offense to the teenage boy demographic out there, but I’m a 37-year-old woman with zero interest in the stereotypical gamer aesthetic. Spicy red accents, edgy fonts, angular designs, aggressive brand names, etc. You know the look. I remember looking at a high-end gaming laptop at my local retail store once and having an inner dialogue with myself: Is this really me, though? If there’s one gaming laptop that has the ‘too much’ gene, it was this one. It had all the hardware I wanted, but I just couldn’t get past the aggressive design. Fortunately, the times are a-changing. While you can still find plenty of neon-soaked, ultra-in-your-face notebooks on store shelves, you’ll increasingly find options available that would look just fine in a work meeting. Gaming laptops are finally growing up. Why design matters The design matters because it tells a story about who the laptop is for and how it feels when you use it. For many years, the story gaming laptops told was loud and juvenile and, if I’m being completely honest, stereotypically male. That’s fine if that’s your thing but for someone like me, I feel left out like the last kid to be picked at a soccer game. I don’t want to ever feel like I’ve got to tuck my laptop away when friends come over or work pops up. I also don’t want to feel like I’m powering up a spaceship, drawing unwanted attention to myself — my introverted self just can’t handle it. I want powerful specs, but I also want something more subtle. I envision myself playing city management games in the evening (with a cup of tea!) and editing articles during the day on the same machine. Having that versatility without sacrificing the design factor would make it feel more justified. Good design doesn’t just hide the guts, it quietly says, “Yeah, I love to game, but I also like to sip tea and write away the hours.” The shift to minimalism IDG / Mark Knapp Thankfully, the laptop industry as a whole is evolving to meet gamers where they’re at in life. Not everyone wants something that looks like some bizarre tool in a science fiction movie. Gaming laptops with more minimalist designs prove you can have power and mature style. The zephyrus g14`s simple black design looks classy! Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 Read our review Best Prices Today: $1599.99 at Best Buy | $2499 at Asus The Razer Blade 16 or Asus Zephyrus G14, for instance, are more mature-looking in design. They blend right in at a coffee shop or modern office. Matte finishes and simple logos? Yup. That’ll do it. But if you want heavy firepower in a truly professional chassis, gamers have another option now: the surging rise of creator-centric laptops built around gaming-class components and no-nonsense design. The rise of creator-focused laptops Creators (editors, 3D artists, etc) need as much raw power as gamers, but they usually need different specs like high-resolution screens with wide color gamuts (a broader range of colors) and more RAM for larger projects. Better yet, they’re designed to look professional, too–this is especially important if you’re face-to-face with your customers. Take the Asus ProArt P16, for example. It’s packing serious power underneath the hood and yet it’s wrapped up in a cool, low-key design. IDG / Matthew Smith The only thing about creator laptops is that most come with displays with lower refresh rates and that’s not something gamers typically want. That might seem like a drawback, but it’s actually by design–it all comes down to priorities. High refresh rate displays typically sacrifice color accuracy. Yeah, gameplay’s smoother, but you miss out on those rich, true-to-life colors. Gaming laptops focus on speed and responsiveness whereas creator laptops prioritize color accuracy and heavy creative work. I should note that you can definitely play on a 60Hz display, but it depends on the type of game. It’s not ideal for twitchy shooters, but for story-driven stuff? Totally fine. Asus ProArt P16 Read our review Best Prices Today: $2,299.99 at Amazon More inclusive design for all sorts of gamers For years, power used to mean in-your-face designs. But gamers aren’t a monolith. Anyone who isn’t just a “some dude kickin’ back in a gamer chair” stereotype deserves gear that actually matches who they are. Manufacturers are (finally) catching on with more minimalist designs and quieter keyboards. It’s also validating to see my interests and identity finally align. I love to play games, but never felt comfortable in the culture. Design is more than just a cosmetic thing to me. The aesthetics of your setup can have an emotional pull, too — witness the wild RGB setups to Hello Kitty keycaps used by major streamers. Vibes matter! And that’s why I’m so thrilled to see laptops grow up. Sure, it took longer than it should’ve, but after decades of living with laptops shouting in fiery angst, I can finally be me. Read...

Matches set for Canberra and Auckland as historic trans-Tasman trophy returns. Read...

Big Zuu scores the winner after four goals from Carlos Tevez help the World XI beat England 5-4 in Soccer Aid, raising £15m for Unicef. Read...