The Verge’s entertainment section collects the latest news from the worlds of pop culture, music, movies, television, and video games. Whether you want to know what to watch on Netflix or how to make the most of your streaming service budget, the entertainment section acts a reliable source. There’s simply too much to read, watch, hear, and play. Let us be your tour guide.
Netflix’s latest livestreamed boxing match will take place on September 19th at the Las Vegas Sphere.
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At the end of a long and personal blog post to mark the occasion of Balatro’s second birthday, LocalThunk confirmed that the 1.1 update, which was delayed from a planned 2025 release, is still in the works. I’m looking forward to it, but in the near term, Slay the Spire II will help pass the time.
[LocalThunk]
The multiplayer title, which will shut down on April 9th, reportedly struggled to find players, and developer Glowmade recently laid off staff.
It’s yet another change for Amazon’s gaming efforts, which include ditching MMOs and offloading a MOBA to Ubisoft.
[King of Meat]
The very good Ball x Pit is coming to iOS and Android on March 12th.
A new Evangelion anime series directed by Mobile Suit Gundam GQuuuuuuX’s Kazuya Tsurumaki and written by NieR creator Yoko Taro is in the works. So far, no other details about the project have been announced.
[Crunchyroll News]
Bloomberg and Deadline are both reporting that the DOJ has officially begun looking into whether the combination of Netflix and Warner would create a monopoly and hurt competition. Netflix, Warner Bros., and the DOJ have not publicly confirmed the investigation, but Deadline obtained a copy of the Civil Investigative Demand, which reads:
“This civil investigative demand is issued pursuant to the Antitrust Civil Process Act …in the course of an antitrust investigation to determine whether there is, has been, or may be a violation of the antitrust laws by conduct, activities, or proposed action of the following nature: the proposed acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. by Netflix Inc, that may substantially lessen competition, or tend to create a monopoly in violation of Section 7 of the Clayton Act, or Section 2 of the Sherman Act.”
Uematsu has created music for countless Square Enix games, including classics like Chrono Trigger, Final Fantasy VI, and Final Fantasy VII. Now he’s going to be the subject of a biography by James Mielkem, Nobuo Uematsu: On the Record.
Windows MIDI Services is ready for primetime and brings support for MIDI 2.0 and improvements to MIDI 1.0 to Microsoft machines. This includes support for higher resolution expression, loopback, and bidirectional communication with MIDI 2.0 hardware. Now with the major OS providers onboard, maybe adoption of MIDI 2.0 will pick up steam.
[Windows Experience Blog]
Now that Andor has come to end, series creator Tony Gilroy is free to speak more openly about what it was like working for Disney, and in a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter he says that the studio was very insistent on him not using the word “fascism” while talking about his show focused on fighting fascism.
[The Hollywood Reporter]
I Am Frankelda — co-writer / directors Arturo and Roy Ambriz’s stop motion dark fantasy film about a girl with a strange connection to another dimension — has been acquired by Netflix and is slated to debut on the streamer sometime later this year.
Ahead of the debut of The Gorillaz’s new album The Mountain, the animated band has dropped a teaser video that makes it seem like there might also be a short film situation on the way.
The lawsuit alleges that “children in Los Angeles County have been repeatedly exposed to sexually explicit content, exploitation and grooming on Roblox because the company chooses to put corporate profit over the safety of children.”
HBO’s medical drama has been teasing out a smart story about what makes gen AI so tempting and concerning.
That’s two weeks from today! The game has new characters, new cards, and even a co-op mode. Can’t wait.
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Highguard’s website has been down for two days, and developer Wildlight Entertainment reportedly laid off most of its staff last week, but development on the game continues. Last night, Wildlight published notes about a new patch and detailed some changes coming to Highguard’s next patch, including a new raid-focused mode.
We already knew that the threat in Toy Story 5 would be a fresh piece of technology voiced by Greta Lee, and the latest trailer shows a bit more of the adorably creepy Lilypad, which is “always listening.” I guess I know what fictional gadget I’m reviewing next.
Starting on May 3rd, 2026, five Formula 1 races, including the Miami, Monaco, British, Italian, and United States Grands Prix, will be shown in “select IMAX locations” across the country. The showings will take place in at least 50 IMAX theaters as a result of a new partnership with Apple.
Though HBO still hasn’t announced a firm release date for House of the Dragon’s upcoming third season, there’s a new trailer teasing out Rhaenyra’s plan to make her enemies pay using her squad of newly-tamed dragons. The new season drops some time in June.
The epic sci-fi RPG, which debuted on the Wii U before being ported to the Switch, is now available in a Switch 2 edition. It includes technical upgrades like support for 4K and 60fps in TV mode, and if you already own the Switch version, it’s $4.99 to upgrade.
With the new integration, SeatGeek will join the dozens of other companies Spotify partners with to sell tickets within its app. SeatGeek will surface tickets for shows at 15 major venues around the US, which could appear as recommendations on an artist’s Spotify page or inside notifications.
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Starting on February 18th, Dropout fans will be able to drop into a new 24/7, ad-free livestream channel on the comedy-focused streaming service. “Dropout 24/7” will run all of its content, including the TTRPG series Dimension 20, improv comedy shows Game Changer and Make Some Noise, and more, starting with a Dimension 20 marathon.
Focus Features is billing The AI Doc: Or How I Became An Apocaloptimist as an “eye-opening” exploration of “the most powerful technology humanity has ever created.” You’d think the doc might feature some critical voices, but its new trailer makes it feel like it might be one big commercial. The film premieres on March 27th.
The latest trailer for The Mandalorian and Grogu really highlights how very, very young Grogu still is for one of Yoda’s species, which makes it seem that much more absurd that Din Djarin still hasn’t found his son a helmet to protect that (presumably) soft head.
