Hasta La Motion!

The makers of PUBG Mobile, Tencent Games has introduced a new seven days challenge in India named ‘7 Days of StayHome’ challenge . This new event in the game has been modeled asking players to stay at home. Various gaming companies are working with the WHO in the #PlayApartTogether initiative. With this initiative, the gaming companies are providing interesting incentives to ensure players stay at home. Social distancing has become a necessity with the coronavirus threat looming large.

The ‘7 Days of StayHome’ challenge will be held on the game’s Indian social media platforms, and it will cover a number of in-game activities including topical quizzes, trivia challenges, art-based contest, and in-game battles. These activities will give participants a chance to win UC, rare outfits, classic coupons, bonus challenge coupons, and more. This challenge will also include a community match where participants get a chance to fight it out for 17000UC.

PUBG Mobile is also giving its community to win rewards as part of its second-anniversary celebrations. Players are invited to compete in classic mode daily missions to acquire controllers, which in turn can be redeemed for in-game prizes. On top of this, once redeemed, players will have the possibility to receive rewards such as RP S12 mission card, snowboard set, supply crate coupon and more.

Till 12 April  players will get additional UC from lucky crates for the purchase of any amount of UC. This means that anyone who purchases any amount of UC will get one lucky crate that contains guaranteed 10UC extra. Further, those who purchase at least 60UC will get two lucky crates containing guaranteed 60UC extra and up to 150UC extra.

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Extraction trailer was recently released on Netflix India. The three-minute trailer for the Chris Hemsworth-starrer actioner shows weapons dealers and drug traffickers. Extraction’s other cast members include Pankaj Tripathi (Mirzapur), Priyanshu Painyuli (Bhavesh Joshi Superhero) play the biggest drug lords of India and Bangladesh, Golshifteh Farahani (About Elly) is on the operations team, and David Harbour (Stranger Things) is also seen in the trailer. Randeep Hooda (Highway) appears for a split second in the Extraction trailer.

Deep in the underbelly of weapons dealers and traffickers, Extraction follows a mercenary for hire named Tyler Rake (Hemsworth), who is paid to rescue the kidnapped young son (Rudhraksh Jaiswal) of a Bangladeshi businessman and crime lord (Painyuli). The son becomes a pawn in a war between notorious drug lords inside one of the world’s most impenetrable cities, Dhaka. Though the Netflix film is technically set in the Bangladesh capital city, Extraction was actually filmed in Ahmedabad and Mumbai.

Hargrave is debuting as a director on Extraction with a history of performing stunts in over 80 movies, including Marvel Cinematic Universe entries Endgame, Infinity War, Civil War, and Thor: Ragnarok. Joe Russo is also a producer on Extraction alongside his brother and Endgame co-director Anthony Russo, in addition to Mike Larocca, Eric Gitter, Peter Schwerin, and Hemsworth. Extraction is a production of AGBO Films — that’s the Russo brothers’ banner — and TGIM Films, which previously produced the Charlize Theron-starrer, Atomic Blonde, on which Hargrave was also stunt coordinator.

Tyler Rake (Chris Hemsworth) is a fearless black-market mercenary with nothing left to lose when his skills are solicited to rescue the kidnapped son of an imprisoned international crime lord. But in the murky underworld of weapons dealers and drug traffickers, an already deadly mission approaches the impossible, forever altering the lives of Rake and the boy.

Extraction is slated to release on 24 April 2020 on Netflix in India and elsewhere.

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ZEE Entertainment Enterprises (ZEEL), in order to contribute in the nation’s fight against Covid-19, has announced to offer financial relief to over 5000 daily wage earners, working directly or indirectly for the company in its overall production ecosystem.

Gauging the unprecedented impact caused to all daily wage earners due to the lockdown, as a responsible player in the media & entertainment sector, ZEEL has taken this step ensuring that the families of daily wage earners do not get impacted during this challenging phase.

In order to further support prime ministers’ Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations Fund (PM CARES Fund), ZEEL will leverage the strength of its media network across the nation and world at large, encouraging over 1.3 billion people to contribute. 

Over and above this step, ZEEL has also provided an opportunity to all of its 3500 employees to offer voluntary contributions towards the PM CARES Fund through an intranet portal. The company will match the corpus collected from the employee contribution and the collective amount will be donated to PM CARES Fund.

Punit Goenka

Commenting on this initiative, ZEEL managing director and chief executive officer Punit Goenka said, “We stand committed to financially support all the daily wage earners working in our production ecosystem. We firmly believe in the extraordinary power of coming together and fighting against a situation. In these challenging times, it is extremely critical for India Inc to  come together and support the national level initiative undertaken by prime minister Narendra Modi.”

The collective strength of all verticals of the company, including its television channels, digital platforms and social media platforms, will be leveraged to urge people across the globe to join this movement. Being a responsible brand, ZEEL, in order to keep its consumers informed and sensitized about the safety and precautionary measures, had implemented a first-of-its-kind initiative, titled #BreakTheCoronaOutbreak.

Goenka further said, “Apart from the financial support, we will also contribute in creating nationwide awareness about the noble initiative. Leveraging our strong reach across the nation and world at large, we are urging our esteemed viewers to join this movement. This is a time where the entire nation needs to come together as one family.”

Under this initiative, content across 40+ channels was paused for a 30-second break throughout the day, encouraging viewers to wash their hands. In line with the decision undertaken by Indian Broadcasting Foundation (IBF), television channel Zee Anmol was made available free of cost to all viewers across all DTH platforms and cable TV networks for a period of two months.

On the digital side, ZEE5 ensured that the internet bandwidth across the country was optimised by replacing high definition (HD) content to standard definition (SD) content. It also ensured that the viewers remained calm and composed during the lockdown phase with its #BeCalmBeEntertained initiative. 

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As the world combats the Covid-19 pandemic, lockdowns are being put in place throughout. With multiple events being cancelled, postponed or going digital, one of the biggest and well known animation film festivals of the world is also getting cancelled.

While multiple other noted events across the ecosystem were cancelled in the recent past owing to the spread of Coronavirus, the news regarding the cancellation of the 60th edition of Annecy International Animation Film Festival and Market came today.

However, an online edition of the event is in works, the details of which will be announced soon while the official selection will be announced on 15 April.

The initial excerpt of the message sent out by the management of the festival read,

“Dear friends of the Annecy International Animation Film Festival and Market,

It is with tremendous disappointment that we are resigned to cancelling the Annecy 2020 edition.

Over the past few weeks, driven by our passion and our enthusiasm, despite the confinement constraints we were nevertheless hoping to maintain the exceptional edition that we had in store for you. We were so looking forward to greeting you as we do every year in June, in Annecy, the animation film capital of the world.

But today, the rationale and the international situation compel us to act with lucidity and responsibility. To show our respect and our deep gratitude to the health care providers, as well as all those who choose solidarity and the public interest.

Annecy is a party, a “family gathering”. We cannot bring ourselves to celebrate animation and our 60th
anniversary when some amongst you would not be able to attend.”

The option to move the festival to a later date was not feasible for the organisers as necessary facilities, the regular events calendar and other schedules of already postponed events were hindrances.

However, as with other festivals, an online edition of the 2020 edition is in works, says the official post, “For several weeks, our founding members, partners, suppliers, professionals and creators have been sending us their full support, and for this we are immensely grateful. These encouragements motivate us to offering an Annecy 2020 online version that would give access to exclusive works and original content, despite the current circumstances.”

As mentioned above the official selection will be announced on 15 April followed by the reveal of an offer that will be”elaborate and up to the expectations” of the festival goers and Mifa professionals.

The statement concludes with, “The team is mobilised on this project, so see you in the forthcoming days, and from 14 to 19 June 2021 to finally celebrate, as it should be, the festival’s 60th anniversary, and African animation, in Annecy.”

The note was signed by CITIA chairman Dominique Puthod, CITIA CEO Mickaël Marin, Artistic Director Marcel jean and The Annecy International Animation Film Festival and Market team.

The Annecy International Animation Film Festival is frequented by noted professionals from across the ecosystem and the globe. Last year Vaibhav Studios’ slapstick comedy, Lamput, had earned a place at the festival to be the only invited Indian animated IP.

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In the midst of Covid19 lockdown if you are exhausted with your video game collection while in self-isolation or have been looking for an upgrade to a new console, you may be hunting for the best deals, to save up and stock up games, consoles, and accessories which will survive you through the lockdown then this is the right time. Here are some of the spring deals:

Epic Games Spring Sale initiated spring deals which include- Assassin’s Creed, Watch Dogs, Anno, Far Cry, and Metro. Red Dead Redemption II is reduced by 20 per cent to $35.99, while Borderlands 3 is down 50 per cent from $44.99 to $22.49. Big savings are offered on Assassin’s Creed Origins, from $50.90 to $12.72, while a similar 75 per cent discount can be found on Far Cry 5 ($51.46 to $12.86) and Anno 2205 ($33.38 to $8.34). Shenmue III has been reduced by 50 per cent to $12.49 and if you’re a fan of South Park then you can pick up The Fractured But Whole and The Stick of Truth at 75 per cent discounted prices.

Sony launches the Spring Sale like every year for both new and old generation consoles and will continue to run live till 28 April 2020.  Games include- Arizona Sunshine at $9.99, Borderland: Game of the year edition  at $9.89, Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2 at $8.99, Grand Ages: Medieval at $3.99, Creed: Rise To Glory at $8.99, Mafia III at $9.99, Marvel Vs. Capcom: Infinite at  $9.99, NBA 2K Playgrounds 2 at $7.49, Project Cars 2 at $8.99 and many more. Over on eBay, you can score a 12-month  to Playstation Plus, Sony’s online gaming subscription service, which allows you to play multiplayer games online and gives you access to 100GB of online storage to upload saved games to the cloud. You’ll also get member-only discounts and more. While a yearly membership typically costs $60, reputable seller NeoGames has it on sale for $37.50. Get Call of Duty: Modern Warfare for $63.99 (Save $16). Game deals also include: Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot for $40.19, FIFA 20 for $23.99, God of War for $14.99, Mortal Kombat 11 for $23.99, Need for Speed Heat for $29.99, NBA 2K20 for $19.79 (Save $40.20), Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order for $35.99.

Microsoft is also hosting X-Box One consoles, plus a huge selection of popular games. Through 13 April, you’ll find discounts of up to $100 on bundles like the Xbox One X Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, NBA 2K20 Special Edition, and Forza Horizon 4 LEGO Speed Champions, all of which include the 4K-compatible Xbox One X 1TB console and an Xbox Wireless Controller. For those looking to play multiplayer games online while social distancing, Microsoft is also offering new subscribers an Xbox GamePass Ultimate One-Month Subscription (normally $15/month) for just $1. If you’re unfamiliar, Game Pass Ultimate is a combination of Xbox Live Gold—Microsoft’s online gaming subscription service with Game Pass—which gives you access to more than 100 Xbox and PC games. To sign up for Gamepass Ultimate, you’ll also need an Xbox Live Gold pass, which you can currently save 50 per cent on when you purchase a yearly subscription. Microsoft’s Xbox games specials, with the best-sellers includes Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot for $40.19, Red Dead Redemption 2 for $29.99, Resident Evil 2 for $19.99, Mortal Kombat 11 for $23.99, Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order for $35.99, Need For Speed Heat for $29.99, The Sims 4 for $9.99, FIFA 20 for $23.99, NHL 20 for $19.79, Madden NFL 20 for $19.79, NBA 2K20 for $19.79 and more.

Nintendo Switch are incredibly hard to come by, but you can still save on Switch games and accessories. Nintendo’s Spring 2020 eShop sale just arrived, for instance, with more than 700 discounted Switch games, including ever-popular titles such as Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle, Crash Bandicoot N Sane Trilogy, Spyro Reignited Trilogy, and many more. You can find all these deals by heading over to the Nintendo Sales and Deals section of the official Nintendo website, or by checking out the UK Nintendo eShop.

Stellar Nintendo Switch bundles are in short supply at the moment. Perhaps one of the best things you can do is bag a Nintendo Switch Lite. It’s $ 98.74 cheaper than a Switch proper with the main difference being that it’s handheld-only – and won’t connect to a TV. That’s probably fine for many users, so definitely consider picking up a Switch Lite if you’re looking for a cheaper way to play the latest Nintendo games. If you’re looking for a bit more storage for your Nintendo Switch, B&H Photo has a SanDisk 128GB Memory Card on sale for $28 (down from $35). For Switch Lite owners, you can also save $7.50 on this Ergonomic Grip Case from Best Buy.

PC game deals includes: Alan Wake for $4.49, Ancestors: The Humankind Odyssey for $20, Anno 1800 for $30, Ape Out for $7.49, Assassin’s Creed Odyssey for $19.79, Borderlands 3 for $30, Cities Skylines for $6.89, Civilization VI for $18, Control for $36, Death Stranding (PC pre-order) for $49.68, The Division 2 for $9.89, Doom (2016) for $5.59, Doom Eternal for $52.79, Dying Light for $13.59, The Elder Scrolls Online for $8, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim – Special Edition for $18.79, Everspace – Ultimate Edition for $10, The Evil Within 2 for $10, Fallout 76 for $18, Into the Breach for $7.49, Jackbox Party Pack for $12.49, Jackbox Party Pack 2 for $15, Jackbox Party Pack 3 for $16.24, Jackbox Party Pack 4 for $15, Jackbox Party Pack 5 for $19.49, Jackbox Party Pack 6 for $21, Journey to the Savage Planet for $18, Kingdom Come: Deliverance for $15, Metro: 2033 Redux for $5,Metro Exodus for $20, Metro: Last Light Redux for $5, Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord for $40, No Man’s Sky for $30 ($60), Observer for $7.49 ($30),The Outer Worlds for $39 ($60), Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire – Obsidian Edition for $27, Resident Evil 3 Remake for $46.79, Sleeping Dogs – Definitive Edition for $3, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic I & II pack for $6.79, Superhot for $10,Tabletop Simulator for $10, Tabletop Simulator four-pack for $30,Team Sonic Racing for $9.19, Total War: Three Kingdoms for $40.19, Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus for $11.19, Yakuza 0 for $6, Yakuza Kiwami 2 for $14.39.

There’s an entire section of accesories you can grab, including several HyperX headsets are also on sale, such as the HyperX Cloud II, which is $20 off. If you’re in the market for a new PC, there are sales across the board during the Spring Sale. If you want some high-end gaming power, you can grab the HP OMEN Obelisk Gaming Desktop for $100 off. If you prefer to game on the go, you can get the Razer Blade Stealth 13 for $200 off right now. If you’re hunting for a laptop for productivity rather than gaming, the Dell Inspiron 14 5000 2-in-1 is on sale for $100 off.

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