News

96 of the layoffs were at the id Software office in Richardson, 40 of the layoffs were for remote workers that reported to that office, and 22 of the layoffs happened at the Bethesda Game Studios office in Austin, according to a WARN notice obtained by Game Developer.

Google’s Video Remix feature, running on Gemini Omni, adds new editing options like “cinematic relighting,” custom backgrounds, and “artistic treatments” such as watercolor and sketchbook effects. The AI video editing templates are rolling out starting today for Google AI Plus, Pro, and Ultra subscribers.

Final Fantasy VII Ever Crisis, an FFVII spinoff game on mobile and Steam, will reach end of service status on October 6th, Square Enix says. The company also shut down the short-lived FFVII mobile battle royale game back in 2023. At least there’s the final remake trilogy game to look forward to next year.

Business Insider reported that the project is focused on improving Alexa AI enough to handle more advanced, multi-step tasks, like Google, OpenAI and other AI leaders have been, but internal documents show its steep cost.

It kicks off at 1PM ET. We’ll have to see if the new voice mode works better than the old one.

The step tracking app WeWard has a new way to cut back on screen time — its “Walking Mode” feature can lock selected apps until you hit your step goal, TechCrunch reports. If you leave Walking Mode turned on, it will re-lock your apps when your step goal resets each day.

According to Retro Dodo, the G02 is “officially dead” and has been removed from “every marketplace it was originally sold on.” The $60 handheld was spotted earlier this year, shipping preloaded with thousands of copyrighted retro games from Nintendo, SEGA, and others.

Developer Josh Pigford created a “Knockoff” browser extension that detects alphabet-soup brands — like LUENX, EHEYCIGA, and YXYL — that have become ubiquitous on Amazon. It hides, dims, or labels these listings in your search results based on your preferences.

The 935-gram DJI AP100 can safely bring the pricey drone (and whatever payload it’s carrying) to the ground at a descent rate of less than 5 meters per second. The chute features its own redundant power and communications and can be deployed manually or automatically in an emergency, like when the drone leaves a predefined geocaging boundary.

It will also block “most video ads” outside YouTube, according to a blog post. DuckDuckGo’s browser will switch on the feature by default across Windows, Mac, and iOS devices, while users on Android will have to enable it manually from the Settings menu.

Apple added a bit more insight into that Broadcom deal announced a few days ago. It’s expected to “exceed $30 billion” and “lead to the production of more than 15 billion US-made chips” and “hundreds of American jobs.” The announcement comes with a line of obligatory flattery from CEO Tim Cook:

The Trump administration has given OpenAI’s GPT 5.6 model suite announced on June 26th the green light for public launch, according to Axios. Sol is the flagship, Terra a medium-tier model for “high-volume work,” and Luna is the “fast and affordable” everyday model.

Microcars offer fun and practical transportation in golf-cart communities and dense urban centers. Fiat’s Topolino and Topolino Dolcevita start at $13,995, with a range of 46 miles and street-legal top speed of 25 mph. Quantities are limited through select dealers.

I missed this yesterday, reported by Kotaku. The studio will apparently keep working on Grounded 2 and DLC for The Outer Worlds 2, but “plans beyond that are up in the air,” Kotaku says.

Joshua Achiam, who recently testified in the Musk v. Altman trial, wrote on X that there was “not a specific reason for me leaving, or a specific reason for why now. But it’s something I have been thinking of for a while … it feels possible to work on the mission from outside the walls of a frontier lab.” He added, “The future of humanity depends on the choices we make together about AGI and superintelligence.”

In an update on Tuesday, Google says it will block users from downloading its Google Earth Pro desktop app starting June 25th, 2027. People can continue to use the app after that date, which offers access to more advanced mapping tools, but Google suggests sticking to Google Earth on the web to get access to the latest updates.

Unlike Notion’s main notetaking app, the new Notion Agents app on iOS is specifically for chatting with your custom AI agents or connected AI models like ChatGPT, Gemini, and Claude, 9to5Mac reports. Notion says you can use it to ask your agents questions or capture text, photos, and voice notes.

Omida reports that memory costs can make up more than half the cost of low-end phones. That’s leading to a gradual retreat from the low-end market, as low-end products are “already becoming unprofitable and face a high risk of weakening demand as retail price continues to rise.”

The Wall Street Journal reported the number on Monday. Bloomberg corroborated it on Tuesday, adding that the subscribers figure is “4 million fewer than it did when the company last publicly shared data in 2024.” At one point, Microsoft had hoped that the service would have 100 million subscribers by 2030 — it seems unlikely it’ll meet that bar.

The RPG Project Phoenix initially raised over $1 million in 2013, when it was slated to launch in 2015. As Kotaku reports, after seven years without any updates, the game’s director now says production won’t be finished until “the end of 2031,” when a release date will be revealed.

Following the 12 new sets announced last month featuring Smart Brick interactivity, Lego is once again expanding its Pokémon collection with five new sets. They range in price from a $69.99, 757-piece Munchlax to an elaborate $299.99, 2,386-piece Poké Ball that opens to reveal a battle scene and Professor Oak’s laboratory.

Instead of breaking down passthrough fees — which include costs related to government programs and third-party infrastructure owners — the FCC’s proposed rule change could allow broadband providers to lump them together into an “up to” amount. The FCC will vote on the change on July 22nd.

As Windows Central reports, Valve has released Windows drivers for the Steam Machine, like it previously did for the Steam Deck, so you can replace its Linux-based SteamOS if you want. However, the Steam Machine still doesn’t support dual-booting, so you can only have one OS installed at a time.

9to5Google points to a report from Dealabs claiming that all configurations of the Pixel 11 will cost around €100 more than the Pixel 10. While the base Pixel 11 might be a bit pricier, it could also include 256GB of storage, rather than the current 128GB. According to Dealabs, the Pixel 11 could arrive as soon as August.

The $69.99 HyperMegaTech! Super Pocket Activision Edition! comes with 34 retro games pre-installed that were all available on Atari consoles decades ago. Bundled titles include Pitfall!, Chopper Command, and River Raid, but the handheld is also compatible with Evercade’s ever-growing collection of multi-title cartridges.

Filings spotted by leaker Digital Chat Station claim that the iPhone 18 Pro’s battery will be 4,288 mAh, while the Pro Max’s will be 5,567 mAh, as MacRumors reports. Both would be a modest boost over the iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max’s batteries, especially the 479 mAh bump for the iPhone 18 Pro Max.