Lucid made more cars in 2022 than it ultimately expected

Lucid had such lofty goals for 2022. It originally planned to build 20,000 vehicles during the year. But, due to supply chain issues and a shortage of parts, it had to revise down the target to between 12,000 and 14,000 and then again to between 6,000 and 7,000 units. Ultimately, though, Lucid ended up beating that annual guidance.

The automaker says it built 7,180 vehicles in 2022 and it delivered 4,369 of them. During the October-December period, it produced 3,493 vehicles (an increase of 53 percent over the previous quarter) and delivered 1,932. The company started delivering the Lucid Air in Europe in December.

We’ll find out more about what this means for Lucid’s bottom line when the company reveals its Q4 financial results on February 22nd. In any case, beating the annual guidance, even after it significantly slashed the target, is a positive sign that the automaker is overcoming its production issues. Meanwhile, Lucid will soon start taking reservations for its Gravity electric SUV, with deliveries slated to start in the US and Canada in 2024.

Ubisoft cancels three games and delays ‘Skull and Bones’ yet again

Things aren’t exactly going smoothly over at Ubisoft. The publisher has canceled another three games, following the four titles it killed last summer. Not only that, the company has announced yet another delay for Skull and Bones — a game we first tried all the way back at E3 2017. The pirate sim was supposed to finally emerge on March 9th, but Ubisoft has delayed it until the early part of its 2023-24 fiscal year, which starts in April. This is the sixth publicly announced delay of Skull and Bones.

“Players will be able to discover the beauty of Skull and Bones in the upcoming beta phase. The additional time has already paid off and brought impressive improvements to its quality, which has been confirmed by recent playtests,” Ubisoft said in a financial statement. “We believe players will be positively surprised by its evolution. We have decided to postpone its release in order to have more time to showcase a much more polished and balanced experience and to build awareness.”

Meanwhile, the company lowered its financial projections target for the October-December quarter from around €830 million ($891 million) to approximately €725 million ($779 million). Mario + Rabbids: Sparks of Hope and Just Dance 2023 didn’t perform as well as the company expected. “We are facing contrasted market dynamics as the industry continues to shift towards mega-brands and everlasting live games, in the context of worsening economic conditions affecting consumer spending,” CEO Yves Guillemot said.

Ubisoft expects its net bookings to fall by 10 percent for the year. Previously, the company expected that those revenues would increase by 10 percent. All told, Ubisoft has reduced its estimated operating income for this year by around $1 billion.

Going forward, Ubisoft is tightening its belt and will focus on fewer games. The company is depreciating €500 million ($538 million) in research and development on the canceled games, as well as its upcoming premium and free-to-play titles. It’s also aiming to reduce costs by over €200 million ($215 million) in the next two years through “targeted restructuring, divesting some non-core assets and usual natural attrition.” However, it plans to keep hiring “highly talented people” for its major projects.

Aside from Skull and Bones, perhaps the biggest title Ubisoft currently has on the docket for this year is Assassin’s Creed Mirage. Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora is slated to arrive by the end of March 2024 as well. Other unannounced premium games are in the pipeline for the next fiscal year, including “a large one.” Free-to-play titles for some of Ubisoft’s biggest brands are in the works too. Given its current state of affairs, the company will need most, if not all of those, to be hits. 

Google decouples some Android accessibility features from OS updates

Google has broken out some Android accessibility features into a separate app. Switch Access has graduated from the Android Accessibility Suite and it’s now available through the Play Store. Offering Switch Access features via a separate app could allow Google to roll out more frequent updates instead of having to do so at the OS level. 

The move could also let Google offer Switch Access features on older devices too. The app is available on 2017’s Android 8 (aka Android Oreo) and later. 

Switch Access enables users to operate their phone or tablet using means other than the touchscreen, as Android Police notes. They can use the front-facing camera to control the phone with face gestures or external devices such as a keyboard or buttons connected via USB or Bluetooth. The on-board volume buttons can be used to control other aspects of your phone too.

Users can set up one or more switches (i.e. the front-facing camera and/or other devices) through the app. They’ll be able to define how the app scans their screen for actions they’re able to carry out. The app can move between all items one at a time, scan a single row at a time or select a location on the screen using moving lines.

Switch Access can also assign groups of actions to different switches. Press the corresponding switch for the color around the action you want to access, then keep narrowing things down until you get to the correct element. As 9To5 Google points out, once you select an item, several interaction options will be available, such as select, scroll, copy and paste. A menu at the top of the screen provides access to system-wide settings, notifications, the home screen and a way to record shortcuts for frequent and more complex actions.

To get started with Switch Access, go to the titular menu in the device’s accessibility settings. The Switch Access app is free to download from the Play Store too.

An Xbox and Bethesda showcase is set for January 25th

The first major gaming showcase of the year (unless another one emerges in the meantime) is on the calendar. Xbox and Bethesda are hosting an event on January 25th at 3PM ET. You’ll be able to watch it on both brands’ Twitch and YouTube channels.

The so-called Developer_Direct will be presented by creatives from various studios and it will center on major features, gameplay and more details on titles coming to Xbox, PC and Game Pass in the next few months. It’s unclear whether any third-party studios will be involved.

Turn 10 Studios will provide more Forza Motorsport details and gameplay, while there will be some info on the player vs. player experience in Minecraft Legends. Both of those games will arrive this spring. Expect to see more single-player and multiplayer vampire slaying in Redfall too, along with updates on the combat, customization, bosses and open world. Hopefully, we’ll get firm release dates for all these games too.

You’ll get a look at this year’s major chapter update for The Elder Scrolls Online as well. Immediately following the Developer_Direct, Zenimax Online Studios will host an ESO Chapter Reveal Event to provide fans with more details.

Don’t expect to see much, if any, of Starfield during the Developer_Direct, though. Xbox says a standalone show for that game is in the works in order “to dedicate the proper amount of time for a deep dive.” Bethesda’s hotly anticipated space RPG is slated to arrive by the summer.

After a fairly quiet 2022 for first-party Xbox games, Microsoft is looking to come racing out of the traps this year. Several other games are expected to debut on Game Pass in the first half of 2023, including Cocoon (from the lead designer of Limbo) and a little project called Hollow Knight: Silksong.

Netflix inches further into livestreaming as it snags the SAG Awards

Netflix is slowly starting to make more waves in the world of livestreaming, as the company has snagged the rights to broadcast the Screen Actors Guild Awards. This year’s ceremony will take place on February 26th and stream on Netflix’s YouTube channe…

‘TMNT: Shredder’s Revenge’ hits iOS and Android as a Netflix mobile exclusive

If you’re looking for a game to play right now and you have a Netflix subscription, it’s worth checking out Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge. It just hit iOS and Android mobile as a mobile exclusive for Netflix members.Shredder’s Reveng…