U.S.-EU Tensions Rise After $140 Million Fine on Elon Musk’s X Platform 
Apple App Store Injunction Largely Upheld as Appeals Court Rules on Epic Games Case 
U.S. Greenlights Nvidia H200 Chip Exports to China With 25% Fee 
SpaceX Edges Toward Landmark IPO as Elon Musk Confirms Plans 
SK Hynix Labeled “Investment Warning Stock” After Extraordinary 200% Share Surge 
Trump Criticizes EU’s €120 Million Fine on Elon Musk’s X Platform 
Trello Outage Disrupts Users as Access Issues Hit Atlassian’s Work Management Platform 
EU Court Cuts Intel Antitrust Fine to €237 Million Amid Long-Running AMD Dispute 
Australia Enforces World-First Social Media Age Limit as Global Regulation Looms 
Intel’s Testing of China-Linked Chipmaking Tools Raises U.S. National Security Concerns 
Australia’s Under-16 Social Media Ban Sparks Global Debate and Early Challenges 
Evercore Reaffirms Alphabet’s Search Dominance as AI Competition Intensifies 
SoftBank Shares Slide as Oracle’s AI Spending Plans Fuel Market Jitters 
Microsoft Unveils Massive Global AI Investments, Prioritizing India’s Rapidly Growing Digital Market 
Nvidia Develops New Location-Verification Technology for AI Chips 
It has only been a little more than three months since 343 Industries released the battle royale-like game mode in “Halo Infinite” called Last Spartan Standing. But the developer announced it is now being shelved to make room for new playlists.
“Halo Infinite” players can no longer queue for Last Spartan Standing starting Tuesday, Aug. 23, at 11 a.m. PT / 2 p.m. ET, 343 Industries said in a blog post. A few hours later, the new additions, Ranked Doubles and Team Doubles will go live.
Last Spartan Standing went live last May as part of the “Halo Infinite” season 2 updates. It had some gameplay elements of battle royale as it required players to survive the entire match and be the final player standing to be the winner.
But unlike other battle royale games, every match in “Halo Infinite’s” Last Spartan Standing has relatively fewer opponents played in Big Team Battle maps. Each match is joined by 12 players only, who each have five respawns. They have to eliminate opponents using grenades and other equipment they pick up across the map.
It is unclear what 343 Industries has planned for Last Spartan Standing. But the same blog post suggests the playlist could still return to “Halo Infinite” in future updates. “As with all playlists, we will continue to monitor their individual health in addition to the health of the entire matchmaking experience,” the developer said. “If all these playlists perform well, we will continue experimenting with adding or rotating more playlists in the future.”
Other changes are coming to “Halo Infinite” on Tuesday, specifically on Ranked gameplay features. With the addition of the new Ranked playlists, 343 Industries will update how Matchmaking Ranking (MMR) is determined to come up with more accurate Competitive Skill Ranks (CSR).
These changes will require a few hours of maintenance activity on Aug. 23, starting at 10 a.m. PT / 1 p.m. ET. Ranked Arena will not be available during this process, but it will return on the same day at 1 p.m. PT / 4 p.m. ET, along with the new playlists Ranked Doubles and Team Doubles.
