The Verge

You can do it in just a couple minutes. Puget Systems offers a number of different benchmarks to test out your PC using automated real-world tasks in the Adobe Creative Cloud. Some of them (such as the one for Premiere Pro) are somewhat complicated and can take a while to get up and running. But one of them — PugetBench for Photoshop — is very simple.PugetBench for Photoshop measures how fast your computer can perform various tasks, including mask refinement and gradients as well as filter tasks like lens correction and noise reduction. Unlike some of Puget’s other benchmarks, the Photoshop benchmark only requires one quick plug-in to set up.Note: this benchmark is not yet supported for the M1-native version of Photoshop.

Photo by Avery White for The Verge Shopping for a phone plan doesn’t have to be painful Continue reading…

Image: Umar Shakir / The Verge Readdle, best known for its PDF and document productivity apps for iOS, also makes a comprehensive Calendars app that combines tasks, to-dos, and reminders — and, today, that app is now available for Mac (via 9to5Mac). Officially titled Calendars by Readdle, it joins the Ukraine-based company’s collection of Mac apps like PDF Expert and Spark email.Fans of the Calendars by Readdle app will be excited to know that the Mac app syncs up with the iPhone / iPad versions and that cross-device use will not cost extra on top of the $19.99 per year Pro subscription plan. You can use the main calendar part of the app for free, although you will miss out on the integration features with apps like Google Tasks and Apple’s Reminders as well as the... Continue reading…

Sony’s 2022 lineup is ending up on Netflix. | Image: Columbia Pictures Uncharted, the movie where Tom Holland recreated some of the PlayStation series’ iconic scenes, will be coming to Netflix on July 15th for US customers, according to What’s on Netflix. While apparently many people have already seen the film (it reportedly made over $400 million during its theater run), this will be its streaming debut.If you’re trying to decide whether to add it to your summer watchlist, I recommend reading my colleague’s excellent review to see how it holds up as a movie (spoiler: about as well as those ancient buildings Nathan Drake is always destroying). I’ll also add that, as a longtime Uncharted fan, it definitely didn’t feel essential for the series, but my wife and friend who’ve never played any of the games... Continue reading…

Combating cheats is costly business, but more costly if you make them. | Image: Bungie In a rather spectacular conclusion to a lawsuit filed by Bungie in August of last year, the owners of the Destiny 2 cheat domains, Veterancheats, LaviCheats, and Elite Boss Tech, will have to pay a settlement totaling roughly $13.5 million in damages. The math of this settlement comes from a fine of $2,000 per violation of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act’s anti-circumvention provisions — 17 US Code Section 1201 a and b — multiplied by the roughly 6,765 unique downloads of the program in question.According to a report by Andy Maxwell on TorrentFreak, Bungie accused the defendants of breaching copyright law in addition to racketeering, fraud, money laundering, and violations of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act.Cheating in games like... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge The Federal Aviation Administration, or FAA, says it expects AT&T and Verizon to be able to more or less fully roll out their 5G C-band networks by July 2023, after multiple delays due to concerns about the radio waves affecting vital safety equipment on planes. The plan, which the FAA says is the result of collaboration between regulators, carriers, and the aviation industry, will allow carriers to turn on their equipment in “carefully considered phases” as airlines work to retrofit their planes with equipment that will mitigate any potential interference from cellular signals.As AT&T and Verizon were turning on their next-gen networks in January, the FAA protested and the carriers agreed to create buffer zones around dozens of... Continue reading…

Everest base camp. | Photo by TASHI LAKPA SHERPA/AFP via Getty Images Nepal is moving the Everest base camp off of the melting Khumbu glacier, the BBC reported.Research shows that the Khumbu glacier is rapidly thinning as a result of the changing climate. “We see increased rock falls and movement of melt-water on the surface of the glaciers that can be hazardous,” Scott Watson, a researcher at the University of Leeds who studies glaciers, told the BBC.The current base camp location is becoming destabilized by the ice melt and is no longer safe. Climbers say cracks appear in the ground overnight, and guides say they expect more avalanches and ice falls at the current location going forward. The new base camp will be around 200 to 400 meters lower in altitude — and in a spot where there isn’t year-round... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge This week has revealed to the average investor just how interconnected cryptocurrency firms are. Two firms have frozen withdrawals, and a cryptocurrency hedge fund is in trouble. Celsius Network, Babel Finance, and Three Arrows Capital are floundering, and it’s not yet clear how extensive the damage may be.All three firms managed other peoples’ moneyThis week started with a Sunday night announcement from the Celsius Network, a gigantic crypto lending company, that it would pause withdrawals and transfers. After that, the value of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, already weeks into a slide that some have termed a “crypto winter,” plunged even further, and five days later, the news hasn’t improved much.All three firms managed other... Continue reading…

The new 13-inch MacBook Pro uses Apple’s M2 CPU, and you can preorder it now. | Image: Apple Perhaps one of the more unexpected announcements from Apple’s WWDC event last week was the unveiling of a new 13-inch MacBook Pro that will be equipped with Apple’s new M2 processor. While it was initially hinted by Apple that the new MacBook would become available in July, preorder pages are currently live at multiple retailers, with deliveries and in-store availability beginning on June 24th.Currently, you can only preorder configurations of the new 13-inch MacBook through the Apple storefront or through a small handful of authorized resellers that we’ll list on this page as more retailers make preorders available.AmazonAmazon has preorders available for the 256GB and 512GB configurations of the M2 MacBook, with orders shipping on... Continue reading…

The 2022 TCL 5-Series has Google TV built-in, as an alternative to the usual Roku TV. | Image: TCL With the recent announcement of Amazon Prime Day returning on July 12th and 13th, you may think the best deals on things like TVs are yet to come. While there’s sure to be some great discounts to take advantage of, we’ve got some ready for you in the here and now.Today, you can get the best price to date on the 65-inch TCL 5-Series TV, which is marked down to $549.99 at Amazon and Best Buy. This model comes equipped with Google TV for all your streaming needs, slightly bucking the trend of TCL sets shipping with Roku’s software — though that version is also discounted the same $150 off if you prefer. Normally priced at $699.99, the TCL 5-Series offers a lot of value at its full price, including Dolby Atmos and Dolby Vision support.... Continue reading…

Common pied oystercatchers / Eurasian oystercatcher (Haematopus ostralegus) pair on dry stone wall, Shetland Islands, Scotland, UK. | Photo by: Arterra/Universal Images Group via Getty Images The hunt is on for a bird tracking device that, instead of logging the bird’s movements, is likely tracking the travels of an unwitting tourist. Researchers are asking for the public’s help to retrieve the tracker so that it can be used to study birds again.An oystercatcher, a black and white bird with a long, red-orange beak for breaking through shellfish, initially brought the tracker from Dublin, Ireland, to Orkney, an archipelago of islands north of Scotland.The bird seemed to have lost the tracker at the beach on one of the islands, Sanday, on April 7th. It stayed there until late May, when the device started tracking unusual movements for a bird.“It’s gone on a bit of a Tiki tour”“It’s gone on a bit of a Tiki tour,” Steph... Continue reading…

The Sonos Roam, a small speaker with plenty of sound, is on sale for $143.20 at Best Buy. | Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge Panicking because Father’s Day is just around the corner and you have yet to pick up your dad something special? Fret not because we’ve got your back. We did a bit of digging and found a variety of excellent gadgets Dad will love, all of which you can still order today and receive in time for Father’s Day. You don’t necessarily need to be an Amazon Prime member to receive some of these in time for the holiday either, nor do you need to pay extra for expedited shipping at places like Best Buy, Target, or Walmart.Also, if you still can’t decide what to buy after looking through our list, be sure to check out our Father’s Day 2022 gift guide. And if you really can’t make up your mind and end up leaving things until the last minute, we’ve... Continue reading…

Image: Dami Lee Elon Musk may want out of his deal with Twitter, but he has some ideas about how to run the bird app, and they involve layoffs, subscriptions, and… a sarcasm button. Musk turned up on Thursday for a video chat with Twitter employees, and the employees promptly leaked its contents to reporters — including my Verge colleague Alex Heath and The New York Times’ Mike Isaac, who ran a liveblog of the event while it was happening. An apparent digression about aliens notwithstanding, the meeting’s results were fairly predictable but illuminating for anybody who’s spent too much time obsessing over ominous phrases like “authenticate all humans” in the past few months.In Thursday’s meeting, Musk had the energy of a rich MMORPG fan who buys a... Continue reading…

Image: Crunchyroll I’m confused. I’m playing Final Fantasy VII, and my partner is playing Resident Evil 4. My ears perk up as I hear the familiar and unmistakable heavy metal guitar chords of this song as Trigun appears on the TV.I have no idea what year it is.Late last night, Crunchyroll announced that a new Trigun anime series is in the works, and it seems like 2023 will be the year of maximum millennial nostalgia bait.

An inexpensive budget phone that could offer more Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge According to a report from Electrek, a wave of layoffs at Tesla may affect hourly workers, despite a company-wide email from Elon Musk on June 3rd saying “Tesla will be reducing salaried headcount by 10% as we have become overstaffed in many areas.” On June 4th, Musk tweeted that “[t]otal headcount will increase, but salaried should be fairly flat,” in response to a statement about Tesla’s staffing over the next twelve months.The email went out clarifying the situation after initial reports of Musk telling company execs it would need to reduce headcount by 10 percent overall and pause hiring worldwide due to his “super bad feeling” about the economy. Tesla did not respond to a request for comment; the company disbanded its public... Continue reading…

Photo by Rasid Necati Aslim/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images UK Home Secretary Priti Patel has approved an American request to extradite WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange. Patel signed the order on June 17th, bringing Assange one step closer to facing espionage charges in the US.Assange’s legal counsel plans to appeal the decision before the UK’s High Court. “This is a dark day for press freedom and for British democracy,” WikiLeaks said in a statement. “Julian did nothing wrong.”“A dark day for press freedom” says WikiLeaksPatel’s approval follows a series of legal losses for Assange. In December, the UK’s High Court approved Assange’s extradition, concluding that US authorities had credibly promised humane treatment in the American prison system. He was later refused an appeal by the UK... Continue reading…

Illustration by Kristen Radtke / The Verge; Getty Images Elon Musk appeared at a virtual town hall for Twitter employees on Thursday to answer their questions, and by the end of the session one question loomed larger than most: can you really run Twitter off the top of your head?Over 60 or so freewheeling minutes, the world’s richest man fielded queries over remote work, layoffs, content moderation, and other questions of pressing interest to Twitter’s roughly 8,000 employees. Time and again, he offered workers hungry for concrete answers a jumble of sentence fragments.Will Twitter’s mostly remote workforce be able to continue working from home? Maybe, if they’re “excellent,” Musk said, according to Bloomberg’s live blog. But it’s “much better if you are on location physically,” he said, a... Continue reading…

Flagship features for a more palatable price Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge The Food and Drug Administration has authorized COVID-19 vaccines for children under five — the last age group in the United States to get clearance to receive the shots. The agency authorized both Pfizer / BioNTech and Moderna vaccines for this age group.It’s been a long, long wait for young children to get these vaccines, full of delays and frustrating setbacks. The Biden administration has plans in place for the first vaccinations for this age group, which includes kids between six months and five years old, to start the week of June 20th.The FDA also authorized the Moderna vaccine for adolescents and teenagers six through 17 years old. It had previously only been available to people over 18.Pfizer / BioNTech’s under-five... Continue reading…

It’s hard to put into words how cute the little creatures in Peridot are. The virtual pets, which star in the next release from Pokémon Go developer Niantic, seem scientifically designed to make you say “awww.” They have big eyes and colorful bodies, and they really react when you give them some attention. I was only able to play a short amount of a pre-release version of the game, but I’m already smitten.I had the chance to try a hands-on demo of Peridot with senior producer Ziah Fogel at Summer Game Fest last week in Los Angeles. The game is essentially a cross between Pokémon Go and Nintendogs, with all of the augmented reality and location-based gameplay you’d expect from Niantic but with a greater focus on taking care of your... Continue reading…

A group of Senate Democrats is calling on the US Commerce Department to follow Europe’s lead in forcing all smartphone manufacturers to build devices that adhere to a universal charging standard.In a Thursday letter addressed to Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA) — along with Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Bernie Sanders (I-VT) — demanded that the department develop a strategy to require a common charging port across all mobile devices.The letter comes a week after European Union lawmakers reached a deal on new legislation forcing all smartphones and tablets to be equipped with USB-C ports by fall 2024.“The EU has wisely acted in the public interest by taking on powerful technology companies over this... Continue reading…

Last year’s Fairphone 4. | Photo by Jon Porter / The Verge Sustainable smartphone manufacturer Fairphone has announced a new subscription service that offers its latest phone, the Fairphone 4, for as little as €21 a month. Fairphone Easy is only available for customers in the company’s home market of the Netherlands for now, who’ll be able to rent the phone for anywhere between 3 and 60 months, but Fairphone spokesperson Ioiana Luncheon says the service could be expanded to more countries in Europe in 2023 depending on the results of this initial pilot.The subscription service is the sustainable manufacturer’s latest attempt to cut down on the environmental impact of smartphone production, and it’s designed to encourage users to hold onto their existing phones for as long as possible. The... Continue reading…

The full headset taken from the recently-published Valve patent. Valve’s most recent VR headset was 2019’s high-powered, high-priced Valve Index. But rumors have long been swirling that the company is working on another device — a standalone headset code-named “Deckard.” Well, here to give that rumor-pot a fresh stir is a recently-published patent application from the company that could reveal Deckard itself.Of course, the usual caveats apply: patents are patents, not product roadmaps. And the language used within applications likes this are so purposefully broad as to resist much close-reading.But the images — ah, the images — they do tell a story. Or at least, they give your imagination enough leeway to tell a story of its own, about the perfect standalone VR headset built by Valve itself.... Continue reading…

The notch found on last year’s MacBook Pros. | Photo by Phil Esposito / The Verge Most people have more or less gotten over the iPhone’s display notch, the once-controversial design element introduced with the iPhone X in 2017. But feelings are more raw when it comes to the MacBook Pro’s cutout, which only got a notch of its own last year. At least until you see how useful it can be thanks to an app under development by Ian Keen, who’s trying to turn the chunk of missing screen into a feature that makes AirDropping files easier.In a video posted on Twitter, the developer shows how the app causes the notch to flash when the user is dragging AirDrop-compatible files. The idea is that these can then be dragged and dropped onto the notch itself, at which point a traditional AirDrop share window opens up showing in-range... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge As titans of the social media world, Facebook and TikTok often invite comparison. But while Facebook is currently retooling its app to be more like its new rival, TikTok says it has no plans to become more like big blue.Speaking to CNBC, TikTok’s president of global business solutions Blake Chandlee made the differences between the two companies clear: “Facebook is a social platform. They’ve built all their algorithms based on the social graph. That is their core competency. Ours is not.” He added: “We are an entertainment platform ... The difference is significant. It’s a massive difference.”(By “social graph,” Chandlee is referring to the data that tracks connections between individuals that companies like Facebook generate to map... Continue reading…

One customer received around 30 shipments as a result of the glitch. Sonos has confirmed that customers who received extra, unordered devices as a result of a recent software glitch don’t need to return the speakers. “Sonos does not require the return of extra equipment and respects the decision of each impacted customer,” said spokesperson Madeline Krebs. “We have and will continue to be in full compliance with FTC requirements.”A summary of the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) requirements are outlined on the US agency’s website. “You never have to pay for things you get but didn’t order,” the website reads. “You also don’t have to return unordered merchandise. You’re legally entitled to keep it as a free gift.”“We have and will continue to be in full compliance with FTC requirements”The software... Continue reading…

Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for The Met Museum/Vogue SpaceX has fired a number of employees who wrote and shared a letter criticizing the behavior of CEO Elon Musk, with the company’s president criticizing the letter as “overreaching activism.”The open letter, first reported by The Verge, described Musk’s behavior as “a frequent source of distraction and embarrassment for us, particularly in recent weeks.” It cites SpaceX’s “No Asshole” policy and asks the company to “publicly address and condemn Elon’s harmful Twitter behavior.”Said the letter writers: “As our CEO and most prominent spokesperson, Elon is seen as the face of SpaceX — every Tweet that Elon sends is a de facto public statement by the company. It is critical to make clear to our teams and to our potential talent pool that... Continue reading…

Capcom is developing a sequel to its 2012 high fantasy action RPG Dragon’s Dogma, the company announced Thursday. There are few official details, but we do know the title — Dragon’s Dogma 2 — and that it will take advantage of Capcom’s RE Engine, which has been used for many of the studio’s recent games. Director Hideaki Itsuno announced the new game at the end of a video looking back on the creation of the original Dragon’s Dogma.

Would you subscribe to Snap? | Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Snap is doing internal tests of a paid subscription called Snapchat Plus, which will apparently give users early access to features, as well as other abilities. In a statement to The Verge, Snap spokesperson Liz Markman said:

The Baby Shark family is once again moving to the blockchain. | Image: Pinkfong Pinkfong, the company behind “Baby Shark” — aka the song with the most-viewed video on all of YouTube — has announced an NFT project titled “Baby Shark: Collection No. 2.” The NFTs in the collection, all 10,000 of them, will feature generative art of the titular baby shark and the rest of his shark family. Generative NFTs are like the Bored Ape Yacht Club, where there are a variety of randomized traits across a collection.When I first heard this news, I had two thoughts simultaneously (using up my entire daily allotment):

Square Enix During today’s Final Fantasy VII 25th anniversary event, Square Enix announced a remake of Crisis Core, the prequel to Final Fantasy VII that was previously only released on the PSP.Dubbed with the exceedingly long and convoluted name, Crisis Core — Final Fantasy VII —Reunion, Crisis Core recounts the story of Zack Fair: the Shinra SOLDIER turned hero turned Aerith’s main boo turned Cloud’s comrade, who is one of the most compelling protagonists in the Final Fantasy canon.According to the reveal, the Crisis Core remake boasts new, upgraded models, new voiceovers, and new music. All the newness, however, means that, unfortunately, Gackt — the J-pop star who lent his voice to the villain Genesis — will likely not be making a... Continue reading…

Image: Square Enix Square Enix officially announced the next chapter of the Final Fantasy VII remake saga Thursday evening during its Final Fantasy VII 25th Anniversary Celebration stream. The game is titled Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, and it will launch as a PS5 exclusive “next winter.”Remake ended on a major cliffhanger that set up for a lot more story ahead, and now we have a hint at what the next game might look like. In a brief trailer, Square Enix revealed some of the world outside of Midgar, as well as mysterious scenes of Cloud Strife walking alongside Sephiroth and an injured Cloud huddled against Crisis Core protagonist Zack Fair.“Final Fantasy VII Rebirth is being designed so that people can enjoy this game whether they know the original game... Continue reading…

Image: Square Enix Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade is coming to yet another platform very soon. Square Enix announced that the game, along with the bonus episode featuring Yuffie (together know as Intergrade), are coming to Steam on June 17th. That’s tomorrow! Notably, the Steam version on Intergrade will indeed be compatible with the Steam Deck, according to the company.The game originally launched following a lengthy development cycle on PS4 on April 10th, 2020. It was worth the wait, as my colleague Andrew Webster considered it to be a thrilling, thoughtful reimagining on the classic RPG. Square Enix then released PS5-specific performance upgrades and extra story content in June 2021 within the Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade bundle.

Aw yeah, that’s... one... run-of-the-mill strap. | Image: Google Any modern smartwatch worth its salt comes with swappable straps. So it’s no surprise that Google is reportedly working on a number of strap options for its forthcoming Pixel Watch. According to 9to5Google, the company is making at least seven straps — including the one showcased during the I/O keynote — for when the smartwatch launches this fall.So far, 9to5Google is reporting that Google’s working on a Milanese-style mesh band, two types of leather bands, a link bracelet, a fabric band, and a silicone band. It’s also purportedly working on a stretchable option reminiscent of Apple’s Solo Loop. If it sounds like Google’s taking several pages out of Apple’s playbook, it is. We still don’t know the majority of the Pixel Watch’s specs,... Continue reading…

eBay Live looks heavily inspired by Instagram’s livestream feature. | Image: eBay eBay’s combining online and real-world auction experiences with its newly launched eBay Live platform, where people can chat and react to sellers through Livestream video and buy their products. The service is currently in beta release and will launch with “highly coveted and rare” trading card offerings like a “1998 Kobe Bryant Skybox That’s Jam PSA 10” from eBay seller Bleecker Trading starting on June 22nd at 3PM ET. The event will be hosted live by avid collector DJ Skee, and interested buyers can join in on the official eBay Live page or sign on via the eBay app.“As the collector community grows, we’re offering a new live platform that combines an engaging environment with incredible ease, allowing our community to come together... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Amid all the news on Overwatch 2 and Diablo Immortal, Activision Blizzard has filed a document with the US Securities and Exchange Commission in which it affirms that, after an internal investigation, it concluded its own board did not fail to act when presented with allegations of harassment.“Contrary to many of the allegations, the board and its external advisors have determined that there is no evidence to suggest that Activision Blizzard senior executives ever intentionally ignored or attempted to downplay the instances of gender harassment that occurred and were reported,” Activision Blizzard wrote in the filing.The report does acknowledge there were problems within the company and that such a conclusion does little to address the... Continue reading…

Image: Jonathan Wight Apple’s upcoming Continuity Camera feature, which lets you wirelessly use your iPhone as a webcam, is quietly one of the features I’m most excited about in the next version of macOS and iOS — and it seems like I’m not alone in that. Jonathan Wight, a software engineer at Apple, has already made 3D-printable mounts that let you stick your phone to your computer instead of waiting for the official accessories to hit the market or even for the operating systems that enable the feature to officially launch (via 9to5Mac).The mounts, which Wight has made for the iMac Pro and MacBook Pro, are relatively simple. They have hooks for mounting onto your computer and a slot for a MagSafe charging puck that will handle actually holding your phone... Continue reading…

Illustration by Kristen Radtke / The Verge; Getty Images Elon Musk told Twitter employees on Thursday that the company needs to become more like WeChat and TikTok if it wants to achieve his goal of hitting 1 billion users.When asked how Twitter could grow its user base and increase engagement, Musk explained that the app should offer more utility and make sure “people are very entertained and informed,” according to employees who heard the remarks during his first internal all-hands. He drew a comparison to WeChat, the super app in China that mixes social media with payments, games, and even ride-hailing.“There’s no WeChat equivalent outside of China,” Musk said after dialing in 10 minutes late to the virtual meeting via his phone camera. “You basically live on WeChat in China. If we can... Continue reading…

You’ll be able to filter comics out of your Kindle reading list! Approximately four months after Amazon incorporated Comixology into the Kindle app and kind of broke both in the process, it has outlined a number of plans to fix things. io9 noted that a thread was posted to the Comixology account on Twitter yesterday.“We understand that the current experience needs improvements, and want you to know that we’re working hard to get those out the door as quickly as possible,” the eleven-tweet thread begins.

A polar bear in Southeast Greenland. | Image: Thomas W Johansen NASA Researchers have identified a special group of polar bears described in a paper published today in the journal Science. The bears might have found a unique sort of refuge from the effects of climate change in Southeast Greenland, the authors write, where their group has become genetically distinct from other polar bears. Scientists are now pushing to recognize the bears as their own unique “subpopulation,” a move that could help keep them protected from potential threats like hunting and habitat loss.Over the past decade, the researchers surveyed polar bears across 1,800 miles of Greenland’s eastern coastline in an effort to better understand the animals’ health and movements. Although that’s a big range, they thought they were dealing... Continue reading…

Instagram is testing out a new full-screen mode for its feed and an updated navigation bar in hopes of making content on the platform more discoverable and immersive. The test, which has been rolled out to “a limited number of people,” according to Meta spokesperson Seine Kim, is the latest effort from the company to compete with TikTok when it comes to social video.If you’re a part of that group, you’ll be able to see videos almost entirely full screen as you scroll through your feed (the navigation bar will still appear underneath them). The description, as well as buttons that let you favorite or comment on the video, will appear along the bottom, and the Instagram logo and other top buttons will appear floating above the top. ... Continue reading…

Activision Blizzard Overwatch 2 is going free-to-play, ditching loot boxes, and committing to a more consistent content schedule Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge In an all-hands meeting with Twitter’s staff on Thursday, Elon Musk gave more detail on how he would deal with moderation on the platform, leaving the door open for a more hands-on approach than many have assumed he would take.Responding to an employee-submitted question about his views on content moderation, Musk said he believed people should be able to “say pretty outrageous things within the law” but that such speech shouldn’t necessarily be amplified, according to employees who heard the remarks. In particular, he leaned on a distinction between freedom of speech and freedom of reach, popularized by disinformation researcher Renée DiResta.Reiterating past comments he has made publicly, Musk also said he wants Twitter to take a... Continue reading…

Activision Blizzard In Overwatch 2, loot boxes are no more.Contained within the salvo of information Blizzard just launched about Overwatch 2, one of the more interesting bits is the fact the game will transition from a retail model to a free-to-play model. Also included in the Overwatch 2 strategy is a concerted effort to deliver content on a regular basis with a new seasonal content structure. That new seasonal structure will include a premium battle pass not unlike the kind prominent in other live-service games, whereby there will be separate, exclusive rewards available for subscribers.With the arrival of the battle pass also comes an in-game shop making the Overwatch loot boxes a thing of the past.“Players will have a lot more control about how... Continue reading…

Chris Hemsworth in Spiderhead. | Image: Netflix There’s something devious about the playfulness of Netflix’s Spiderhead. The sci-fi thriller, led by a dapper Chris Hemsworth, takes place at a remote prison slash research center, where inmates are given a surprising amount of freedom in exchange for being subjected to experimental pharmaceutical treatments that do everything from making them feel terrified to creating an impossible-to-satiate hunger. It’s bleak stuff. And yet much of the film has a light tone to help mask its devious nature; Hemsworth dances to ’80s pop, and inmates spend their free time playing arcade games and creating snacks with prosciutto and nectarines.The whiplash between these moments and the dark premise is delightful, though ultimately, Spiderhead doesn’t... Continue reading…

Illustration by Kristen Radtke / The Verge; Getty Images Elon Musk told Twitter employees on Thursday that the company “needs to get healthy” financially and bring down costs, suggesting that job cuts are likely in store if his deal to buy the social media service goes through.“Right now costs exceed revenue,” Musk said when asked about the possibility of layoffs during an internal Q&A, according to employees who heard the remarks. “That’s not a great situation.”The question of layoffs has been top of mind for Twitter’s more than 7,000 employees since Musk first said he wanted to buy the company. Current CEO Parag Agrawal told staffers in an earlier meeting that layoffs weren’t being planned “at this time.” Though Musk didn’t explicitly say if there would be job cuts Thursday, his comments... Continue reading…