Latest news with #Concord
Yahoo
18 hours ago
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Trackhouse Racing signs Shane van Gisbergen to multiyear extension
CONCORD, N.C. (AP) — After making the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs as a rookie, Shane van Gisbergen has earned a multiyear extension with Trackhouse Racing. The team announced Friday that the Auckland, New Zealand, native will continue 'for years to come.' No further terms were released. With victories from the pole position at Mexico City, Chicago and Sonoma Raceway, van Gisbergen has secured the fourth seed in the 2025 playoffs with three races remaining in the regular season. 'I feel like Trackhouse Racing is my home,' van Gisbergen, 36, said in a release. After winning three championships in the Australian-based Supercars series, van Gisbergen was hired by Trackhouse two years ago as part of its Project 91 program to showcase international drivers in NASCAR's premier series. At the inaugural Chicago Street Race in July 2023, van Gisbergen became the first driver to win in his Cup debut since Johnny Rutherford in 1963. Van Gisbergen moved to NASCAR last year and made the Xfinity Series playoffs with two victories for Kaulig Racing. He moved up to Cup with Trackhouse this year in the No. 88 Chevrolet and became the winningest foreign-born driver in NASCAR history. In Sunday's race at Watkins Glen International, van Gisbergen will seek to join Chase Elliott and Jeff Gordon as the only drivers with four consecutive Cup wins on road or street courses. 'We are getting to watch one of the superstars of racing,' Trackhouse Racing founder Justin Marks said in a release. 'What we are asking him to do carries a high degree of difficulty. He's moved to the other side of the world, learned a new form of racing and at times dominated the competition. He's one of the greatest.' No. 1 Chevy driver Ross Chastain and van Gisbergen are under contract for 2026, but Trackhouse has yet to announce who will drive its third car with Daniel Suarez leaving the No. 99 Chevrolet after the season. Xfinity Series points leader Connor Zilisch, who has five wins for JR Motorsports, will make his fourth Cup start Sunday for Trackhouse Racing and has been mentioned as a prime candidate to fill Suarez's ride. ___ AP auto racing:
Associated Press
18 hours ago
- Automotive
- Associated Press
Trackhouse Racing signs Shane van Gisbergen to multiyear extension
CONCORD, N.C. (AP) — After making the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs as a rookie, Shane van Gisbergen has earned a multiyear extension with Trackhouse Racing. The team announced Friday that the Auckland, New Zealand, native will continue 'for years to come.' No further terms were released. With victories from the pole position at Mexico City, Chicago and Sonoma Raceway, van Gisbergen has secured the fourth seed in the 2025 playoffs with three races remaining in the regular season. 'I feel like Trackhouse Racing is my home,' van Gisbergen, 36, said in a release. After winning three championships in the Australian-based Supercars series, van Gisbergen was hired by Trackhouse two years ago as part of its Project 91 program to showcase international drivers in NASCAR's premier series. At the inaugural Chicago Street Race in July 2023, van Gisbergen became the first driver to win in his Cup debut since Johnny Rutherford in 1963. Van Gisbergen moved to NASCAR last year and made the Xfinity Series playoffs with two victories for Kaulig Racing. He moved up to Cup with Trackhouse this year in the No. 88 Chevrolet and became the winningest foreign-born driver in NASCAR history. In Sunday's race at Watkins Glen International, van Gisbergen will seek to join Chase Elliott and Jeff Gordon as the only drivers with four consecutive Cup wins on road or street courses. 'We are getting to watch one of the superstars of racing,' Trackhouse Racing founder Justin Marks said in a release. 'What we are asking him to do carries a high degree of difficulty. He's moved to the other side of the world, learned a new form of racing and at times dominated the competition. He's one of the greatest.' No. 1 Chevy driver Ross Chastain and van Gisbergen are under contract for 2026, but Trackhouse has yet to announce who will drive its third car with Daniel Suarez leaving the No. 99 Chevrolet after the season. Xfinity Series points leader Connor Zilisch, who has five wins for JR Motorsports, will make his fourth Cup start Sunday for Trackhouse Racing and has been mentioned as a prime candidate to fill Suarez's ride. ___ AP auto racing:
Express Tribune
a day ago
- Business
- Express Tribune
Bungie to be integrated into PlayStation Studios after Destiny 2 and Marathon underperform
Bungie is set to lose its independent status and become fully integrated into PlayStation Studios following underwhelming performances from Destiny 2 and the upcoming Marathon. Sony acquired Bungie in 2022 for $3.6 billion with an agreement allowing the developer to operate independently, provided profitability targets were met. However, a decline in Destiny 2's player base and mixed feedback for Marathon, combined with allegations of plagiarism, have weakened the studio's position. In late 2024, over 100 Bungie employees were moved to Sony during company-wide layoffs, signalling a shift towards closer integration. Speaking during Sony's Q1 2025 earnings call, PlayStation CFO Lin Tao confirmed the transition was underway. 'This independence is getting lighter, and Bungie is shifting into a role which is becoming more part of PlayStation Studios, and integration is proceeding,' Tao said. 'In the long term, you can see this as an ongoing process. So the direction is to become part of PlayStation Studios.' While Bungie will continue to exist as a studio, it will operate as a first-party developer creating titles for Sony's core audience. Future releases could see platform exclusivity, aligning with Sony's broader strategy of selective multi-platform launches. Tao also noted that Sony's wider live service ambitions have faced challenges, referencing Concord as a significant commercial failure. The move marks a strategic change in Bungie's role within the PlayStation ecosystem. The studio's future direction will depend on the final stages of Marathon's development and the winding down of Destiny 2 content updates.
Metro
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Metro
PS5 sales pass 80 million but Sony admits live service plan ‘not going smoothly'
Sony has addressed the ongoing failure of their live service strategy, admitting there is a possibility that Marathon could still be cancelled. Up until now, the PlayStation 3 has been Sony's only major home console failure, when it was deemed by fans to be overly expensive and without a sufficient number of high quality exclusive games. But despite its poor start it still ended up outselling the Xbox 360 and Sony seemed to learn all the right lessons from its difficulties, when it came to the PlayStation 4. On paper, the PlayStation 5 has been an unqualified success, with Sony this week announcing that shipments have hit 80.3 million and are up over 4% year on year this quarter. But with Xbox Series X/S console sales continuing to freefall, there's increasingly little choice for anyone looking for a home console that plays high-end AAA titles. So while the PlayStation 5 has won by default, in terms of hardware, its software line-up has come under heavy criticism for the past three years, with fans increasingly frustrated at the paucity of first party exclusives and Sony's unjustified obsession with live service games. Sony is hardly the only company to have chased the success of Fortnite and other forever games but what has caused controversy is that around two years into this generation they seem to have told all, or most, of their internal developers to make live service titles instead of single-player titles. We say 'seem' because Sony has never explained its policy in public, which has only added to the frustration. Especially as there's some sign that they may have U-turned a year or so ago, with the exit of former PlayStation boss Jim Ryan, but have never clarified any change in direction. The situation reached a nadir with the spectacular failure of first person shooter Concord, which is reported to have cost $400 million to make and only lasted two weeks. And yet in the aftermath Sony was quick to insist that it was still committed to more live service titles. Sign up to the GameCentral newsletter for a unique take on the week in gaming, alongside the latest reviews and more. Delivered to your inbox every Saturday morning. In the absence of any explanation from Sony itself, the obvious reason for continuing, despite the continued failures, is that it's what shareholders and investors want to hear. They're not interested in an award-winning single-player, that has only a finite lifetime as a big seller, but in a title that can bring in consistently high profits for decades – primarily via microtransactions and DLC. Speaking in a Q&A following the latest financial results, Chief Financial Officer Lin Tao admitted that, 'Last year Concord, and this year Marathon, was postponed, so somewhat negative news has been coming out. 'But if we look at the past five years, five years ago live service games were almost non-existent for PlayStation Studios. We have Helldivers 2, MLB: The Show, and Gran Turismo 7, and Bungie's Destiny 2, so we have these four live services contributing to sales and profits in a stable manner.' However, considering the rapidly declining fortunes of Destiny 2, the age of Gran Turismo 7, and the lack of global reach for baseball game MLB: The Show, that's not a very impressive list. The only real success Sony has had so far is with Helldivers 2, which ironically is the only one not made by an internal first party studio. The game's continued popularity has led to Sony taking the unusual step of planning an Xbox Series X/S release on August 26. This seems to part of a general move towards more multiformat releases – which again Sony has failed to explain in public, leaving fans unable to do anything but guess at what their policies might be in the future. Tao tried to make things sound better by saying that 40% of first party software revenue for the quarter came from live service games, but considering the only notable game they've published this year is the externally developed Death Stranding 2, that doesn't seem significant. Especially as she admitted that for the full year it's only between 20 and 30%. 'In terms of the transformation, it's not entirely going smoothly,' said Tao. 'But from a longer-term perspective, if you look at the changes over five years you see that there's definitely been a change. 'Of course, we recognise that there are still many issues, so we should learn the lessons from mistakes and make sure that we introduce live service content where there's less waste and it's more smooth.' More Trending Asked about Destiny 2 developer Bungie, which Sony bought in 2022 for $3.6 billion but which began to struggle almost immediately, Tao confirmed that the plan was to increasingly erode Bungie's independence and fully integrate it into PlayStation Studios. That's not necessarily as bad as it sounds, as Bungie staff have frequently blamed their own management for the company's problems, and many seem to feel they would do no worse with Sony directly in charge. 'At the time of acquisition we were offering a very independent environment, so that was one way of thinking,' said Tao. 'However, thereafter, we have gone through structural reform, as we announced last year, so this independence is getting lighter and Bungie is shifting into a role which is becoming more part of PlayStation Studios, and integration is proceeding.' She didn't rule out the possibility of current live service project Marathon being cancelled but stated that the current plan was for it to launch within the current fiscal year, i.e. before April next year. Email gamecentral@ leave a comment below, follow us on Twitter. To submit Inbox letters and Reader's Features more easily, without the need to send an email, just use our Submit Stuff page here. For more stories like this, check our Gaming page. MORE: Call Of Duty 'too big to fail' against Battlefield 6 says Activision MORE: GTA Online age check settings confirmed real as screenshots leak MORE: EA Sports FC 26 hands-on preview – a bigger change than you think
CBS News
5 days ago
- Politics
- CBS News
Police investigate scuffle involving neo-Nazi group outside New Hampshire State House
Police in New Hampshire are investigating after a group of masked neo-Nazis were involved in a violent scuffle outside the State House. Aislinn Kaloe captured video during the neo-Nazi demonstration that turned violent over on Saturday in Concord. "In the video you can see him sort of getting beaten in the back," Kaloe said. She says she was enjoying drinks with her friends downtown from a rooftop bar when she heard a lot of screaming. "And directly under us, giant black flag with a white swastika on it and about 20 or so completely masked and wearing red," she said. She says she started recording video as the scuffle broke out between the demonstrators and a bystander who wanted them to leave. She says the man who was attacked in the video is her friend. "This person I can say, physically not in great perfect condition but he is OK and was treated by an ambulance that showed up," Kaloe said. "But his face is cut up and he's not looking great." Jeremy Berger is with the Jewish Federation of New Hampshire. He says in times like these its important people communicate. "Shocked and this is not what New Hampshire is about. The swastika is symbol of hate and it's absolutely horrible. I think it's really education and bringing people together talking and communication. That's what it's all about and neo-Nazis is extremism," he said. In a statement Gov. Kelly Ayotte said, "There is no place for hate groups or their repugnant and disgusting ideology in New Hampshire." Kaloe says there were several people who made their voice known and wanted the demonstrators out of town. "It felt like everyone in Concord was out and was screaming in opposition to this display of hate," she said. WBZ reached out to the demonstrators, but they did not respond. Police are investigating the incident.
