More details regarding the upcoming Vivo X200 series have been confirmed. The Vivo X200 series will be the first to see brand new LPDDR5X Ultra Pro RAM, along with the new Sony LYT-818 camera sensor.

The Vivo X200 series to use world’s fastest RAM, while the ‘Pro’ models are getting a new camera sensor

This RAM was announced back in April, and it offers “over 25% improvement in power consumption and performance”. Back then, Samsung mentioned the MediaTek Dimensity 9400 chip too, as this RAM was validated for use in collaboration with that chip. Yes, LPDDR5X Ultra Pro RAM is the world’s fastest RAM for smartphones.

That will not only make the Vivo X200 and Vivo X200 Pro the first phones to ship with the MediaTek Dimensity 9400 flagship SoC, but be the first to utilize this RAM from Samsung as well.

Another detail that Vivo confirmed is the use of the new Sony LYT-818 camera sensor. Vivo said that the Vivo X200 Pro and Vivo X200 Pro Mini will end up using this camera sensor. That probably means that the Vivo X200 will use something else.

The Sony LYT-818 is a 1/1.28-inch camera sensor a successor to LYT-808

In any case, the Sony LYT-818 camera sensor is the successor to the Sony LYT-808 sensor that can be found in the OnePlus 12. This is a 1/1.28-inch sensor which has an 86dB HDR dynamic range per frame. It also comes with a 0.95e signal-to-noise ratio and real time HDR preview capability.

It’s still technically not the flagship sensor from Sony, though. The Sony LYT-900 still holds that position, it’s a 1-inch type sensor from the company. It will likely be used in the Vivo X200 Ultra next year, as it was used in the Vivo X100 Ultra too. Well, unless Sony comes up with its successor, which is a possibility.

The Vivo X200 series will become official on October 14. The three devices will launch in China, though a global launch is expected at a later date. We’re still not sure when, though.

In addition to all this, some new real-life images of the Vivo X200 have surfaced. The device is depicted in a blue color in the gallery below. As you can see, onde the sun hits it, it truly does look very interesting and eye-catching.

Steam appears to have started posting a notice in its shopping cart that purchases on its storefront are only for a license and not a game, according to a notice spotted by Engadget. It looks like an attempt by the company to get ahead of a new California law coming next year that forces companies to admit that buyers don’t actually own digital content.

When you open your shopping cart with items inside and before going to payment, a notice at the bottom right states: “A purchase of a digital product grants a license for the product on Steam.” This is the first time our editors have seen of a notice like this (and we use Steam a lot), so it appears to be relatively new.

Last month California governor Gavin Newsom signed AB 2426 into law, forcing digital marketplaces to make it clear to customers when they only purchase a license to access media. It will not apply to permanent offline downloads, only digital copies of video games, music, movies, TV shows or ebooks from an online storefront. Companies that fail to comply could face fines for false advertising if they don’t explain in clear language the limitations of a given digital purchase. The law followed situations like Ubisoft deleting The Crew from player’s libraries after the game’s servers shuttered.

A dev team called Longdue announced that they are developing a “spiritual successor” to Disco Elysium, a popular modern RPG launched in 2019.

The actual Disco Elysium sequel has been canceled, and that’s why Longdue believes it can call its own game a “spiritual successor.” It’s a new psychological RPG, set in a game world conceived by the leads of the now canceled Disco Elysium sequel.

London-based Longdue recently formed as a new independent studio that has raised seed investment to create an RPG that will continue Disco Elysium’s award-winning legacy and represent a bold new artistic endeavor that aims to trailblaze in the narrative-first cRPG space.

While the new team is calling this a “spiritual successor,” it’s worth nothing that the developers of the original Disco Elysium, Robert Kurvitz and Aleksander Rostov, are not involved in the new title.

Longdue is already a dozen strong, including team members that worked on the original Disco Elysium and its unreleased sequel. The team is also drawing talent from across the industry, including veterans from Bungie, Rockstar, and Brave At Night.

A Psychogeographic RPG with narrative depth

Longdue’s debut RPG explores the delicate interplay between the conscious and subconscious, the seen and unseen. Set in a world where choices ripple between the character’s psyche and environment, players will navigate a constantly shifting landscape, shaped by both internal and external forces.

The game introduces a psychogeographic RPG mechanic, where every decision reshapes both the world and the characters that inhabit it. In this experience, the lines between the mind and the environment blur, colliding and transforming with each choice, leading players through an ever-evolving narrative landscape.

While Longdue’s debut project draws from the creative energy and legacy of Disco Elysium and other beloved RPGs, like Planescape: Torment, it’s also crafted to stand independently as a meaningful addition to the RPG genre. Longdue is committed to making games that carry the weight of thoughtful design and engaging storytelling, positioning the studio as a steady, dependable voice in RPG development, the company said.

Longdue aims to create games that resonate emotionally and intellectually. The studio is here to build a reputation for consistently delivering quality, with a focus on depth and narrative integrity. This is just the beginning of Longdue’s journey to become a trusted name in the greater RPG canon.

“At Longdue, we’re inspired by decades of classic RPGs, from Ultima and Wizardry, through Fallout and Planescape, to the justifiably adored Disco Elysium,” said narrative director Grant Roberts, in a statement. “We’re excited to continue that legacy with another narrative-first, psychological RPG, where the interplay between inner worlds and external landscapes is the beating heart of the experience. We’re building a world-class team for a world-class game that will tell a world-class story, and we can’t wait to show you more.”

Longdue investor representative Riaz Moola said in a statement, “We are excited to back the work of an incredible team of creative talent and support the development of a new type of narrative-first video game experience and associated technology to improve the creation of these games across the video game industry.”

I asked how this was a spiritual sequel if the original founders were not working on it. A spokesperson said the game world has been conceived by staff who worked on the original Disco Elysium and the team includes multiple people who worked on the canceled Disco Elysium sequel.

“Multiple people who worked on Disco Elysium’s canceled sequel are working on the game. It’s a spiritual successor in the sense that it is a narrative-driven cRPG that consciously draws on some of the elements that resonated with people in the first game – the combination of deep, layered world-building, psychological complexity and intelligent storytelling,” the spokesperson said.

“Having said all that, Longdue is very much its own entity with its own vision that will be creating a brand new world and looking for ways to push boundaries in new directions, rather than just replicating what’s already been done,” the spokesperson said.

There are about a dozen people on the team and the entity has raised money, but they’re not saying how much yet. They’re also not disclosing the name of the game yet. Moola (chairman) and Roberts (narrative director) are the only staff being revealed now.

Monzo is now valued at $5.9 billion after the U.K.-based challenger bank confirmed a secondary market share sale to provide liquidity for its employees.

The transaction, first rumored yesterday, saw existing investors such as Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund (GIC) and StepStone Group procuring additional shares in the London-based fintech.

A secondary market sale essentially rewards employees for getting a company to where it is, without having to go public — or, at least, buying it more time.

It has been an action-packed year for Monzo. The company raised $190 million in May, just two months after kicking off a $425 million Series I round that saw Alphabet’s CapitalG and sister VC firm GV making a rare co-investment. The startup has now raised around $1.5 billion since its foundation nine years ago.

At the time of its March fundraise, Monzo said its pre-money valuation was £3.6 billion ($4.6 billion), implying a post-money valuation of £4 billion ($5 billion) — this valuation rose slightly with the second tranche that followed in May. The following month, Monzo reported its first full-year (pre-tax) profit, with its revenues more than doubling from the previous year. The company claims 20% of U.K. adults as customers as well as 6% of businesses in the country.

This growth, coupled with a roadmap that includes a wider European expansion and plans to accelerate its rollout in the U.S market where it appointed a new CEO last October, has clearly been deemed sufficient for a valuation bump in the past five months.

Rival U.K. neobank Revolut recently confirmed a new valuation of $45 billion via a similar secondary market sale, shortly after securing its own banking license in the U.K. and Mexico.

“It’s great to be able to provide employees with some liquidity, while meeting further investor demand for Monzo equity,” Monzo CEO TS Anil said in a statement.