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People are freaking out about how long 'Red Dead Redemption 2' takes to download https://ift.tt/2RjHcuM Rockstar Games
The biggest game of 2018 is finally here: "Red Dead Redemption 2" is available now on Xbox One and PlayStation 4. But that doesn't mean you can play it immediately. This is 2018, after all, so you've gotta deal with a pretty hefty download and/or file install on both PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. If you buy the game digitally, you're looking at somewhere in the range of 93 to 107 GB depending on your console of choice. And that's got people freaking the hell out as they wait for the massive download to complete: One intrepid user even went as far as to look up the file size for a previous Rockstar Game of note: The original "Grand Theft Auto." There are, of course, ways around dealing with these massive file sizes. You could buy a physical copy of the game, for instance — it'll still take some time to install, but not nearly as much time as a 90 GB file takes to download. And there's one other option for you digital-only folks: Set the game to start downloading remotely on your console while you're at work/school/etc. Both the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One have this option, and you can easily set it up through your respective console's settings. That said, if you're stuck waiting on a particularly long download of "Red Dead Redemption 2," we've got a few suggestions:
And, if all else fails, there's always this video you could watch: See Also:
SEE ALSO: After 30 hours with 'Red Dead Redemption 2,' I'm convinced it's a game everyone should play Business via Business Insider https://ift.tt/1IpULic October 26, 2018 at 10:45AM
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Arianna Huffington Thought 'HuffPost' Would Be Her 'Last Chapter.' Was She Ever Wrong. https://ift.tt/2OSgooD Editor’s note: Builders Series features no-holds-barred in-depth interviews with female leaders in different industries to offer insight into what successful women have done to push through feeling stuck, frustrated and uncreative in order to build incredible brands and businesses. Arianna Huffington is someone I’ve long admired, for her ability to jump into something new, and for her passion for true wellness, or as she might put it, "thriving." She is the founder and CEO of Thrive Global, founder of the Huffington Post -- now HuffPost -- and author of 15 books, including, most recently, Thrive and The Sleep Revolution. In a recent interview, Huffington took a deep dive into the risks she's taken and talked about how to overcome the naysayers. I especially appreciated her respect for the women who had come before (like her mother!) and her honesty in recounting the things in her life that haven’t always worked. Huffington has been named to Time magazine's list of the world’s 100 most influential people and Forbes's Most Powerful Women list. What have you built? What inspired you to build it?Thrive Global. I was inspired by our mission to end the stress and burnout epidemic by offering companies and individuals sustainable, science-based solutions to enhance well-being, performance and purpose, and create a healthier relationship with technology. The pervasive belief that burnout is the price we must pay for success is a delusion, and I’m inspired to accelerate the culture shift that allows people to reclaim their lives and move from merely surviving to thriving. Were you born a builder,or did you have to learn to be one?One of the through-lines to my life has been my love of helping people connect and engage -- which Greeks usually do over food! And both of the companies I’ve built have been platforms for that. Who was the first woman you looked up to? Why did you want to be like her?My mother. She had the gift of living in a constant state of wonder at the world around her, and her favorite piece of advice to me was that failure isn’t the opposite of success, but a stepping-stone. That gave my sister and me the encouragement and license to try anything, secure in the knowledge that if we failed, she wouldn't love us any less. What’s the greatest risk you’ve taken?Launching the Huffington Post. Though it was quickly successful, that was not at all a sure thing when we launched. In fact, I remember one reviewer who said the site was "the movie equivalent of [the failed movies] Gigli, Ishtar and Heaven's Gate rolled into one." And a year later, when that same reviewer emailed me to ask about blogging for HuffPost, I happily said yes, since holding grudges is one of the most draining things you can do. When have you broken down, personally or professionally? How did you break through?I had a wake-up call in 2007 when I collapsed from exhaustion and lack of sleep, cutting my eye and breaking my cheekbone on the way down. I was diagnosed with an acute case of burnout and made changes in my life, including renewing my estranged relationship with sleep and redefining my idea of success. That led to several breakthroughs, including my books Thrive and The Sleep Revolution, and, ultimately, my launch of Thrive Global. What makes you doubt yourself? How do you manage it?I've struggled with that voice of self-doubt, which I call "the obnoxious roommate living in our heads." It's the one that tells so many women we’re not good enough. But as [the 16th century French essayist] Michel de Montaigne said, "There were many terrible things in my life, and most of them never happened." How do you know when to leave someone or something?For me, leaving the Huffington Post to found Thrive Global was a tough decision, but as the mission of building a company that would help end the stress and burnout epidemic became more and more compelling for me, I knew I had to jump. And as soon as I had jumped, it was clear that it was the right decision. Related: Media Pro Tina Brown Shares Her Bravest Moment, Greatest Risk and Overcoming Self-Doubt What was your bravest moment?I don’t know if I would call it brave, but I had long assumed the Huffington Post would be my last chapter. But as I became more passionate about the connection between well-being and performance, I felt the need to turn this passion into something that would help people change their daily lives. It was a call to action I just couldn’t ignore, so I founded Thrive Global. Knowing what you know now, was it worth it?Absolutely. There’s nothing more important and fulfilling to me than having an impact on people’s lives. And what’s also been rewarding about Thrive Global in particular is that part of our mission is to be a sustainable startup, proving that you can build a business, even a technology company, without being fueled by stress and burnout. So, I love the process of putting our principles into action. What can you see yourself building next?Thrive Global has an ambitious mission, and that’s going to be more than enough to keep me occupied for years to come, but we’ll be building Thrive Global’s expansion into many more parts of the world. Because the burnout epidemic is global, Thrive Global has been global from day one -- we’ve now launched Thrive in India and Greece and have given trainings in five continents. In a few years, we’ll be in even more countries. Related: Business via Entrepreneur https://ift.tt/1V7CpeP October 26, 2018 at 10:34AM This $250 home security system has made living in a high-crime area less stressful for my family10/26/2018
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This $250 home security system has made living in a high-crime area less stressful for my family https://ift.tt/2PoMFDf The Insider Picks team writes about stuff we think you'll like. Business Insider has affiliate partnerships, so we get a share of the revenue from your purchase.
I live in Lansing, Michigan. My city has some of the highest violent and property crime rates in the United States. And, my neighborhood is among the worst in town. All of my neighbors have a story or three of someone breaking into their house and stealing whatever valuables they could grab quickly. In fact, a neighbor tells me that before I moved in, there were several burglaries in my house. So, when I came to town five months ago, I knew I'd need to take some protective measures to scare off ne'er-do-wells. Fortunately, SimpliSafe was game to send me a review unit of their all-new third-generation home security system to test out. Below are my experiences with it. My first experiences with SimpliSafeSimpliSafe's system uses Wi-Fi and cellular connections to send alerts. Each of the devices is also powered by batteries. This means that if the power is knocked out or your landline is cut, the monitoring stations will still get your signal. They have even made the keypad and base station "smash safe." The review set included 10 pieces of security equipment:
Installation of these units took a total of 45 minutes. This included reading the manual, installing the app, installing the sensors, and testing. There were no tools needed. All of the devices have adhesives on them that make it easy to stick them to the walls. They also come with screws if you want to mount them that way. Read more: The best security cameras you can buy for your home How SimpliSafe performedWith SimpliSafe, you can self-monitor or pay $14.99 per month (no contract required) for 24/7 professional monitoring. If you choose to self-monitor, the onus is on you to assess the threat and contact the police when you receive an alert. Self-monitoring fails when you are in a compromised position and cannot contact the police. With SimpliSafe's professional monitoring and police dispatch, they call you when the alarm is triggered. If you don't answer, they contact the backup number. If the secondary contact doesn't answer, then a SimpliSafe representative calls 911. Because of false alarms tying up police resources, different municipalities have different processes for these calls. For instance, in order for a third-party to contact police on your behalf, some cities require you to register your security system and also provide some sort of audio or video proof of a crime in progress. I set off the alarm a couple of times. Within about 10 minutes of leaving the house after first arming the system, I got a call from SimpliSafe asking if I had an emergency event because the motion sensor had been triggered by my dog. I gave the representative my safe word, and there was no need for a police dispatch. The setup guide directs you on how to place the motion sensor if you have cats or dogs but not both. I have two cats and a dog. I emailed SimpliSafe's customer service on a Sunday evening for help on the correct placement of the motion sensor, and they got back to me the next morning. The service rep recommended installing the motion sensor upside down about four feet above the floor. This is because the sensor doesn't monitor upwards. So, people four feet tall and taller will set it off. Four-legged creatures will not. Once I resolved this, I didn't have any other false alarms from the motion sensor. The app is incredibly easy to use and makes it effortless to customize your experience. You can choose to get push notifications, SMS texts, or emails when any of your sensors are triggered. There is also an option to instantly sound the alarm. I set this up for when the glassbreak sensor is triggered. Read more: The best home security products you can buy Some concerns about the home security systemAt 95 decibels, the alarm is quite loud, but it may not reach all parts of your home. SimpliSafe instructs you to install the base station in a central location in your home. At first, we figured that would be the second floor of our three-story home. But, from the first floor, where intruders will likely enter, the sound of the siren was not as intense as we would have liked. So, we moved the siren to the first floor. It would be nice if SimpliSafe offered a few sirens throughout the home. I wanted to keep the key fob on my keychain for easy access, but I accidentally armed the system while it was in my pocket. At the time, I was next door talking to my neighbor and didn't have my phone on me. I faintly heard an alarm-like sound, but I assumed it was coming from elsewhere. Well, it turns out it was our system and my wife got a call from the SimpliSafe rep. Now, I just keep the key fob next to my bed to arm the system when I go to bed. I use the keypad when leaving the house. Lastly, there's a reported hack that can disarm the second-generation SimpliSafe system. The signals for the new third-gen system are encrypted and should protect against this hack. If you are concerned about this, I recommend not advertising that you are using a SimpliSafe system. Instead, consider purchasing generic signs off Amazon or elsewhere. Either way, it's important that you advertise that you have a security system. That should be enough to deter most scofflaws. Bottom lineEven the best security system won't stop a determined burglar. But, when it comes to opportunistic crimes, a security system should be enough to ward off most criminals. In the five months we've lived here, we haven't had any security issues. And, my wife and I sleep easier at night knowing that our home is being monitored 24/7. Based on my experience, the third-generation of SimpliSafe's wireless home security system is everything it claims to be. I strongly recommend it for safeguarding your home. Buy the SimpliSafe Wireless Home Security System starting at $249.99 on AmazonSee Also:
Business via Business Insider https://ift.tt/1IpULic October 26, 2018 at 10:33AM The solid GDP report is raising red flags on one of Trump's signature promises about tax cuts10/26/2018
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The solid GDP report is raising red flags on one of Trump's signature promises about tax cuts https://ift.tt/2PXT4SK Sean Rayford/Getty Images
The US economy is still in high gear, thanks to consumers who still have the means to empty their wallets. On Friday, the Commerce Department's advance reading on third-quarter gross domestic product showed the US economy grew by 3.5%, marking the fastest back-to-back periods of growth since 2014. While consumer spending soared, the timing of slowdowns in business spending and net exports last quarter raised concern with some economists about the durability of the economy's growth spurt. Business investment in fixed structures like factories shrank by 0.04 percentage points in the third quarter, according to the early GDP reading. Although a small decline, it was the first since the fourth quarter of 2015, and occurred after the most significant corporate-tax overhaul in three decades. "While it is still too early to come to conclusions on the relative effectiveness of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, there has to be some concern over this development," said Joe Brusuelas, the chief economist at RSM. "The tax plan was essentially an enormous bet that a large, unpaid for business tax cut would result in a significant increase in productivity-enhancing investment which would the boost the long-term US growth path. This data implies that, at least for now, such a boost is not in the cards." The drop in business investment was surprising to Ben Ayers, a senior economist at Nationwide, because surveys from business owners have been strong. In other words, there's a gap between how executives say they feel about business conditions and what they're actually doing with their money. Additionally, a big reversal in business inventories added to growth in Q3, but the current quarter does not look promising on this front. Inventories are a volatile category of GDP and may have surged in the July-September period as companies stockpiled, bracing for the impact of US tariffs on Chinese goods. Companies may have also stockpiled on goods to meet strong consumer demand. "Regardless of the reason, it represents a sizable asterisk for an otherwise strong quarterly growth result and creates a probable headwind to growth in the coming quarters as those inventories are trimmed back," said Jim Baird, the chief investment officer for Plante Moran Financial Advisor. Apart from business spending, the details on trade provided another reason to raise eyebrows at Friday's GDP report. Net exports shrank by $98.1 billion, and trade provided the biggest drag on the US economy in 33 years, according to Bloomberg. This was a reversal from the second-quarter gain, which President Donald Trump described as the "biggest and best results" from the previous GDP report. "The swings in inventories and trade in Q4 will be smaller than in Q1, but the net effect of the two components likely will be modestly negative, reversing the small net gain in Q3," said Ian Shepherdson, the chief economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics, in a note. "At the same time, consumption probably can’t sustain 4% growth, so overall we’re looking for slower GDP growth, though 3% still should be achievable." Now read:
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Business via Business Insider https://ift.tt/1IpULic October 26, 2018 at 10:33AM Federal authorities arrest man in Florida in connection with slew of suspected mail bombs10/26/2018
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Federal authorities arrest man in Florida in connection with slew of suspected mail bombs https://ift.tt/2PqPLGJ REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton
Federal authorities have reportedly arrested a man in Florida in connection with a series of attempted attacks on top Democrats and other public figures over the course of the week. A spokeswoman for the Department of Justice confirmed a suspect was in custody, and said a press conference will be held at 2:30 p.m. ET. The suspect is in his 50s and from Aventura, Florida, according to the Miami Herald, and is expected to face charges. It's not clear if anyone else may have been involved in the attempted attacks. Police have also towed a van in Plantation, Florida, that's apparently connected to the arrest, according to reports. At least 12 suspicious packages containing potential explosive devices have been intercepted since Monday. All were addressed or sent to top Democrats and other public figures whom President Donald Trump has vocally attacked and who've often been critical of the president as well. So far, package have been sent or addressed to former President Barack Obama, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, former CIA Director John Brennan, former Attorney General Eric Holder, Democratic Rep. Maxine Waters, former Vice President Joe Biden, actor Robert De Niro, Democratic Sen. Cory Booker, former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, and billionaire George Soros. Skye Gould/Business Insider This story is developing. NOW WATCH: Here's what caffeine does to your body and brain See Also:
Business via Business Insider https://ift.tt/1IpULic October 26, 2018 at 10:33AM
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Here's what the most expensive house for sale in every US state looks like https://ift.tt/2PY3O3E From listing on Trulia
The median US home price is about $280,000, according to Zillow, but some lavish homes currently on the market cost much more than that — millions and millions more, in some cases. Trulia helped Business Insider put together a list of the most expensive homes currently for sale in every state and Washington, DC. Here's a look at all 51 houses, ranked in ascending order of price: Iowa: $3.5 millionFrom listing on TruliaCity: Elkhart Size: 10,666 sq. ft. Bedrooms/bathrooms: 5 beds/9 baths North Dakota: $3.65 millionFrom listing on TruliaCity: Williston Size: 6,755 sq. ft. Bedrooms/bathrooms: 5 beds/5 baths Nebraska: $3.75 millionFrom listing on TruliaCity: Elkhorn Size: 10,572 sq. ft. Bedrooms/bathrooms: 4 beds/10 baths See the rest of the story at Business Insider See Also:
Business via Business Insider https://ift.tt/1IpULic October 26, 2018 at 10:33AM
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Elevate your marketing strategy with location data insights (VB Live) https://ift.tt/2CJ2JJn Where are your target customers going, and how are they spending their time and dollars? Location data is key to crafting killer personalized messaging and outreach when and where hearts and minds (and wallets) are ready to be captured. Learn how to leverage it when you join this VB Live event! Access on demand for free right here. Any time a phone requests location — from a navigation app, weather app, or any other source — it reveals a mobile ID, a time stamp, and latitude-longitude coordinate. Contextualize that with how those data points intersect with a place of interest — an airport, a hotel, a restaurant, a retail store, a college campus, a sports venue – and you have location data, a powerful tool that can crack open an unprecedented number of insights about customer behavior, competitor operations, and more. “You can start to build interesting segmentation and understanding of your clients and audiences based on where they go,” says David Bairstow, SVP of product management at Skyhook. “You can quickly categorize any device or any group of devices by what they’re doing. You can identify people who have a strong preference for high-end shopping versus budget or family shopping. You can understand what kind of hotels they stay at. We even get down to a level of which particular airlines and flights particular devices are flying on.” Location data can even help you drill down into census data and infer demographic information about who your customers are and where they’re coming from when they visit your business. “There is great, rich information about your customers that can inform marketing strategies in how you operate as a company,” Bairstow adds. “But the data itself is also very actionable, because all of this segmentation starts at the bottom up. Any segmentation can be quickly targeted through whatever advertising platforms you work with, and everything is measurable.” This kind of data is critical when you’re looking at customer loyalty — specifically splitters, because for many companies, that’s the most critical opportunity, says Sheryl Jacobson, principal consultant on strategy and analytics at Deloitte Consulting. She points at the hospitality and travel industry as a prime example. Most hotel customers are “splitters,” with a go-to brand that they prefer, but will still switch based on convenience, price, location availability, and so on. “What the hotels haven’t been able to access is how big that splitting opportunity is: Who is it that’s splitting, where else are they going, and how do I think about intervening, given that?” Jacobson says. “Your ability to home in on where a phone is resting, assuming the person has opted into location services, means you can tell if they’re currently staying at a Hyatt, and if this is a person who has stayed at Starwood properties their last three times.” This goes far beyond the self-report data that hotels have previously had to rely on. You can drill down to the type of travel they’re doing, business or leisure, with their family or alone, for true behavior-based segmentation, and reach out with offers in the moment, and with a much higher degree of confidence around the design and appropriateness of your programs. The splitting opportunity for airlines is even bigger than for hotels, Jacobson says. Location data means that an airline can actually know for sure when someone is splitting, and gives it the opportunity to intervene in the moment, as well as offer the opportunity to explore some of the business issues around airline splitting with differential data: Where does splitting happen most often, and on what types of routes? Is it competitive intensity, a particular terminal in a particular airport, a price? Airlines are also interested in the overall travel experience — what are its customers doing in the hours leading up to arriving at the airport? What are they doing at the airport when there’s a delay? Are there better ways for the airline to improve that experience? And what kind of opportunities does this unlock? Location data is also significant for sporting teams, she adds, tackling some of their biggest challenges. “It solves an age-old problem for these teams,” she says. “How do you get corporate sponsors? How do you think about the value to them? How do you prove out and measure the value to them in this process?” For corporate sponsors, it helps ensure they’re reaching the right people; for the teams, it helps them determine who they should partner with. Does it make sense for, say, the Bulls and McDonald’s to partner up and run a special on Big Macs post-Bulls games, for instance. Would that actually matter to the folks that sit there? You can take a look at your most loyal customers, outside of the season ticket holders — your core base and most fierce fans. But you can also know what they’re doing before, after, and in between. “So you would know, with a great degree of certainty — before a game, this specific proportion of people are stopping at Chik-Fil-A, this one at McDonald’s.” she says. “It’s a very actionable way to dig into the fanbase.” And that’s true of any event space or franchise that taps into the sponsorship revenue streams. You can think of it as a much broader anchor around a particular event, around a business revenue stream of sponsorship. “Whether it’s a huge Salesforce event or VMworld or any others, there’s a great captive audience for lots of people, but it’s been hard to group them and reach out to them in any coherent way,” Bairstow adds. The retail opportunity is also significant, Jacobson says. “Again, it’s an age-old problem of how Walmart could grab that revenue being spent at CVS, minimize that splitting, and understand why it happens — that’s a direct impact on the bottom line,” she says. On the retail side, particularly when you combine it with purchase data and the receipt data that’s available, whether it be from credit cards or what the actual retailer sends, you know literally who the Walmart shoppers are, what percentage are splitting trips between Walmart and Target, whether they consistently stop off at CVS beforehand, and more. And all of these opportunities, from travel to retail to events and banking all build off that fundamental piece: know your customers better. To learn more about the huge variety of customer insights that location data can offer, the kinds of customer engagement potential they can unlock, and how to start developing your own location data strategy, catch up on this VB Live event now. Don’t miss out! Access on demand for free right here. During this webinar you’ll learn how to:
Speakers:
Stewart Rogers, Analyst at Large, VentureBeat (Moderator)
Sponsored by Skyhook
Business via VentureBeat https://venturebeat.com October 26, 2018 at 10:33AM
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The DeanBeat: How much did Red Dead Redemption 2 cost to make? https://ift.tt/2PlYtWW I’m going to assume that Rockstar Games and its parent company Take-Two Interactive are not going to tell me how much Red Dead Redemption 2 cost to make. In the works for seven years with a team as high as 1,000 developers, it could very well be the most expensive game of all time. We’re probably not going to find out what the budget for the game was, but indulge me, if you will. (If Rockstar tells me how much it cost to make, that would simplify things and I will notify you; Take-Two reports earnings on November 7, but they won’t likely address this.) We only have a few tidbits of information from Rockstar, which shared some details as it tried to defend itself from allegations that it forced employees to work overtime in order to finish the game. Jennifer Kolbe, head of publishing at Rockstar, said in a statement to GamesBeat this week that the company logged 67,000 employee weeks this year, and only 20 percent of the people had to work more than 60 hours in a week, and only 0.4 percent of the time was for people who worked more than 80 hour weeks. Strauss Zelnick, CEO of Take-Two Interactive, told us earlier this year that the company had 4,200 employees across 17 studios, including Rockstar’s people. If those numbers are grounded in reality, then we could take a stab at figuring out how much it cost to make the game, if only for the fun of it. I think the result will be instructive, like how much it costs to make interactive entertainment in comparison to how much it costs to make blockbuster movies. Once we start thinking about these kinds of numbers, we’ll begin to appreciate just how big a business Rockstar — and the video game industry — have become. First, let’s try a little math. Let’s convert that 67,000 employee weeks, for maybe 11 months of the year, to the number of employee years worked on Red Dead Redemption 2 during 2018. So 67,000 divided by 52 weeks leaves us with 1,288 employee years worked on Red Dead Redemption 2 during 2018. That sounds reasonably accurate, as Rockstar has said it doubled the size of its previous team and the number was over 1,000 people. The game has been in production for seven years, but we’ll figure it didn’t require much of a staff for a couple of years as they conceived the design and the team ramped up. So instead of seven years, we’ll multiply by five years. That gives us 6,442 employee years. To get to the total cost of paying employees who worked on the game, we’ll have to multiply it by the average salary that these teams received. Since Rockstar has studios spread throughout the world, it will be hard to figure out this cost. But I’ll make a big assumption and say that the average Rockstar salary and associated healthcare costs for the company are about $100,000 a year. So 6,442 employee years times $100,000 a year gives us a total development cost of $644.2 million across the seven years it took to make Red Dead Redemption 2. I am pretty sure that this is red dead wrong because I have no idea if my assumptions are close to the mark. If we look at other costs, Rockstar probably spent something like $200 million in marketing spending on the game. Again, I have no idea how close to the mark I am, but let’s just say that brings the total cost of making and marketing Red Dead Redemption 2 to $844.2 million. At $50 a copy, that means that Rockstar would have to sell around 16.9 million copies to break even with Red Dead Redemption 2. Since the first game sold 15 million copies, I would assume that will be easy to do. Analyst Colin Sebastian of Baird Equity Research estimated that Red Dead Redemption 2 would sell 25 million copies in its first six months. One report said that the estimated cost of making Grand Theft Auto V was $265 million. Obviously, Rockstar has leveled up its game when it comes to pouring more resources into its biggest projects such as Red Dead Redemption 2. And will it make money?We know that Red Dead Redemption 2 is not going to be in the red. Now let’s look at the revenues that had to finance that game. We’ll assume that Rockstar financed the whole thing itself, rather than its parent company Take-Two Interactive. If you look at the revenue generated from the original Red Dead Redemption, that would stand at about 15 million copies sold. If you multiply that by $50 (assuming the usual price of the game is $60, but many of the games were sold at a discount to that peak price), then you get $750 million in revenue. Of that amount, maybe Rockstar kept $600 million, given distribution costs. Rockstar also had a lot of revenues from Grand Theft Auto V, which sold more than 100 million copies. Multiply that by $50, and you get $5 billion in revenue. Maybe the marketing costs were $200 million. So Rockstar had something like $5.3 billion in cash to spend on the development of its next major title. I’m not even counting revenue yet from GTA Online, which regularly generates item sales revenue for Rockstar. So maybe Rockstar spent $600 million to make Red Dead Redemption 2. It may spend $200 million to market it. That means Rockstar might only have $4.7 billion left in the bank. And if Red Dead Redemption 2 sells better than the first title, say maybe 25 million copies, then Rockstar could get another $1.25 billion out of Red Dead Redemption 2 sales. That means that Rockstar will have something like $5.9 billion in the bank, after it covers the costs of making Red Dead Redemption 2. We know from a lawsuit from former GTA V leader Leslie Benzies that top leaders could get a bonus of $150 million. In this case, maybe a couple of the big guys will get that, accounting for another $300 million in costs for the leaders. To put these numbers in perspective, James Cameron’s Avatar film, the No. 1 movie of all time, generated $2.7 billion in box office revenues on a budget of about $237 million. I haven’t seen the revenue figure associated with the ongoing miracle that is GTA Online. And Rockstar has also said that it will launch a Red Dead Online game, and we can assume another version for the PC is coming. Those entities are going to be very useful in financing further blockbuster games. Rockstar itself could very easily double the size of its teams yet again, (as Kolbe said they did on Red Dead Redemption 2) and still come out with plenty of money to make its games. If you want to play at the highest level of the industry, and if you want to compete with the likes of Rockstar, this is the kind of money you have to put down as your ante. This is a high stakes game of poker. And, to mix our metaphors, you don’t want to bring a knife to a gunfight. It’s safe to say that Rockstar will make money from Red Dead Redemption 2. I know that Rockstar demands a lot of work from its employees. I sure hope they give their workers the bonus of a lifetime. Business via VentureBeat https://venturebeat.com October 26, 2018 at 10:33AM Facebook approved fake political ads that claimed to be paid for by ISIS and Mike Pence (FB)10/26/2018
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Facebook approved fake political ads that claimed to be paid for by ISIS and Mike Pence (FB) https://ift.tt/2D6IO8c Getty
It appears that a new political ads feature on Facebook is easily fooled. In an experiment testing Facebook's new "Paid For" political ad disclosures, Vice News successfully created ads on the social network that claimed to be paid for by ISIS, Vice President Mike Pence, and Democratic National Committee Chairman Tom Perez. Vice also submitted an ad that was "Paid for" by Hillary Clinton, which was rejected. The "Paid For" feature was added by Facebook in May after it was discovered that Russians had attempted to interfere with the 2016 election by running false or misleading ads on the platform. The feature adds a small disclosure at the top of a political ad, indicating who paid for the advertisement that is appearing on a user's news feed. It's a mandatory feature that appears on every political ad on Facebook. Vice found that in order to run a political ad, Facebook requires the submitter to present photo ID and proof of residence. But that information isn't shown on the news feed — users only see the "Paid For " disclosure. After Vice provided this information, it was able to successfully create fake advertisements that claimed to be paid for by ISIS, Pence, and Perez. Facebook did not explain to Vice why the fake Hillary Clinton ad was rejected. The "Paid For by Mike Pence" ad featured an image of two women wearing burqas, with the caption "Like and share if you want burqa banned in America. Stop all invaders." The ad accompanied by "Paid for by Islamic State" was an exact copy of an ad that Russians ran on Facebook during the 2016 election. Vice contacted Facebook after creating the ads, which prompted the social media company to remove them. Facebook told Vice that the ads themselves weren't the issue, but the fake "Paid For" disclosures were against its policy. "Inaccurate disclaimers have no place on Facebook and these ads are no longer running," Rob Leathern, head of Facebook's Business Integrity product management team, told Vice. "Enforcement isn’t perfect — and we won't stop all people trying to game the system — but we have made it much harder and we will continue to improve." Facebook did not immediately respond to Business Insider's request for comment on the report. To read the full story — and see the ads that were approved by Facebook — head over to Vice. NOW WATCH: 11 Apple Watch tips and tricks See Also:
Business via Business Insider https://ift.tt/1IpULic October 26, 2018 at 10:27AM
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The best value plays in your DraftKings lineup for Week 8 of the NFL season https://ift.tt/2ELxcJb Peter Aiken/Getty Images Halfway through the 2018 NFL season, and some traditional fantasy players may already be out of the running in their leagues. Thankfully, with daily fantasy games, every week is a new chance to find value and make some money. Take a look below for our picks at every position that looks set to outplay their pricing this week in DraftKings. They'll come in handy for when you've constructed the perfect lineup only to find that you don't have quite as much money left for your flex as you expected. QB: Matthew Stafford, $5,600Michael Reaves/Getty ImagesMatthew Stafford and the Lions offense has been on a solid run, averaging 29 points per game over their past three outings. Against the Seahawks defense that is still figuring itself out in a post-Legion of Boom world, Stafford has an opportunity for another big day and is available as one of the cheapest quarterbacks on the board. RB: Phillip Lindsay, $5,200Norm Hall/Getty ImagesFacing off against the Kansas City Chiefs, the Broncos are going to want to slow things down and control the pace of the game as much as possible. That should translate to a good amount of touches for Phillip Lindsay, who can take advantage of the shaky Chiefs defense. RB: Chris Carson, $4,300Warren Little/Getty ImagesThe Seahawks rushing attack has been a mixed bag this season, with players trading off the leading role sometimes seemingly at random. But Chris Carson has taken the lion's share of the carries, and should be fresh and ready to role for the Seahawks coming off of a bye week against a Lions defense that's one of the bottom 10 in the league against the rush. See the rest of the story at Business Insider See Also:
Business via Business Insider https://ift.tt/1IpULic October 26, 2018 at 10:27AM |
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