A few big PlayStation exclusives have dropped over the last few weeks — Horizon Forbidden West, Gran Turismo 7 and Sifu— along with other major releases like Dying Light 2 and Elden Ring. Now that players have their hands on those, it’s time to take a look at what’s ahead for PS4 and PS5.
The next State of Play stream will take place on March 9th at 5PM ET. It’ll run for around 20 minutes and focus on games from Japanese publishers. There’ll be updates from studios elsewhere too.
As ever, Sony is tempering expectations a bit. The State of Play won’t include anything about the PlayStation VR2 headset or games for it. Still, fingers crossed for a firm release date for God of War Ragnarök and details about whatever Naughty Dog is working on.
You’ll be able to watch the stream on PlayStation’s Twitch and YouTube channels.
After several months of testing, Amazon is opening up access to Amp, its social audio app. Amp shares some DNA with the likes of Clubhouse, Twitter Spaces and Spotify Greenroom, but there’s one thing that sets it apart: the option for hosts to become DJs with tens of millions of licensed songs at their fingertips.
“This limited-access beta will allow us to partner with passionate early adopters in a diverse community of creators, so we can improve the experience and better serve everyone when the app officially launches,” Amp vice-president John Ciancutti said.
Amp is only available in the US on iOS for the time being, but an Android app is in the works. Users can download Amp from the App Store and sign up for a waitlist. Access codes will also be shared on Amp’s social accounts.
You’ll need an Amazon account but Amp is free to use. Hosts can bring in callers and will have control over who can speak and when. They’ll be able to schedule shows too.
Amazon has deals with Universal Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment, Warner Music Group and independent labels and publishers to use their music. Hosts can play songs at any time during broadcasts, but there are some limits.
Amazon
They can play up two songs from the same album or three songs from the same artist in any three-hour window. You can’t repeat songs in that timeframe either. You’ll also need at least one listener before you can start playing songs, so don’t expect to use it as a free ad-hoc music streaming app. Shows can’t primarily be focused on taking song requests and you can’t play any songs from outside the Amp library unless you have the right to do so.
Listeners will be able to follow creators and get notifications when they go live. More features are on the way, including Alexa integration and more search and discovery tools. You’ll be able to listen to shows from high-profile hosts including Nicki Minaj, Pusha T, Travis Barker and Big Boi.
Shows aren’t archived, so you’ll only be able to listen live for now. Hosts won’t be able to generate any revenue from the platform directly as things stand, but Amazon plans to add monetization options later.
Amp’s community guidelines prohibit users from promoting self-harm, calling for violence, supporting terrorism and engaging in hate speech. They are prohibited from, among other things, denying mass tragedies (including the Holocaust and 9/11), having slurs in their usernames and profiles, victim blaming and glorifying hate crimes.
Amazon
Harmful misleading information and disinformation are banned too. “We believe that science and facts matter. That truth is a matter of safety,” Amp’s website reads. Mature content is allowed to an extent, but it needs to be labeled. Amazon has a moderation team that will look into reports, and, if necessary, suspend or ban users.
Creating a successful social app from scratch is no easy feat, even for companies of this size (remember Google+?). Amazon has another pretty successful platform where creators can engage with their communities in Twitch. However, it didn’t create Twitch — it bought the company in 2014. (As an aside, it’d be nice to see Twitch creators getting access to the same library of licensed music for their streams.)
It remains to be seen whether Amp will take off, particularly given that people aren’t staying at home as much as they were when pandemic stay-at-home measures were broadly in place. However, Amp’s mashup of Clubhouse and Turntable.FM with licensed music could be enough to convince people to try it.
Blizzard is gearing up to reveal what’s next for the Warcraft franchise across multiple games. The studio is working on the next World of Warcraftexpansion following 2020’s Shadowlands and fans will get their first look on April 19th.
Although Activision Blizzard didn’t say when the expansion will arrive, the timing of the reveal suggests it’s sticking with the cadence of releasing one every couple of years. That’s despite the difficulties of developing games during the pandemic and the company finding it difficult to hire and retain staff in the wake of lawsuits and misconduct allegations.
Before the WoW reveal, Hearthstoneplayers will get a look at the first of three expansions coming their way in 2022. Those details will emerge on March 15th. Soon after that, the Hearthstone team will reveal more about what’s ahead this year, including core set changes.
Meanwhile, Activision Blizzard recently announced a Warcraft mobile game is coming this year. Expect to learn more about that in May.
More major gaming companies are joining the boycott against Russia, with Ubisoft and Take-Two putting business on hold amid the country’s invasion of Ukraine. On Monday, Ubisoft updated a blog post in which it expressed support for Ukraine and its team members based there to note it’s pausing sales in Russia.
Take-Two, meanwhile, has stopped sales of games and ended marketing support in Russia and Belarus. The publisher also told GamesIndustry.biz it’s preventing people in the two countries from installing its games. That includes Grand Theft Auto V, which is believed to be the third most-popular game in Russia behind Counter-Strike: Global Offensive and Dota 2, based on monthly active users.
Since the invasion began, many notable gaming companies have withdrawn from Russia, including Activision Blizzard, Epic Games, Microsoft, EA and CD Projekt. Sony also removedGran Turismo 7 from its Russian storefront just as the game was released elsewhere, while Nintendo halted Switch eShop payments.
Other major companies have ended or limited services and sales in Russia, including Google, Netflix, TikTok, PayPal, Adobe, internet backbone provider Cogent and Meta. Samsung has stopped shipping products to the country, while Apple has suspended all sales there.
As of September, new episodes of some NBCUniversal shows such as Saturday Night Live, The Voice and American Auto will no longer hit Hulu the day after they air. NBCUniversal has ended a content deal between the two sides, meaning those series will stream exclusively on Peacock. It’s not clear which other shows will be affected by the move, according to The Hollywood Reporter and Deadline.
The decision to sever ties with Hulu comes as NBCU tries to drive more subscribers to Peacock. At the end of last year, it had 9 million paying subscribers (most of whom opt for the $5 ad-supported tier) and 24.5 million monthly active accounts. It’s unclear how many of those are using the free tier. Comcast subscribers can access an ad-supported version of Peacock Premium at no extra cost.
“Much of our strong NBC content premieres on Hulu. Over time we’d like to bring that back to Peacock,” NBCUniversal CEO Jeff Shell said during Comcast’s January earnings call. Comcast CFO Mike Cavanagh said the company planned to spend $3 billion on Peacock content this year.
Having many broadcast and cable shows available to stream the day after they air has long been a selling point for Hulu. It’ll be a blow for the service to lose some notable NBC series.
Although Disney has been fully in charge of Hulu since 2019, Comcast still owns 33 percent of the service. Comcast can require Disney to buy out its stake, but not until 2024. At the end of 2021, Hulu had 45.3 million subscribers.
Update 3/4/22 8:30pm ET: “With the proliferation of streaming services entering the marketplace, we have long anticipated changes to our third-party content offering and over the past few years have increased our investment in original content, including popular and award-nominated titles,” a Hulu spokesperson told Engadget via email. “As a leading destination for breakthrough storytelling, we continue to transform Hulu into an exclusive home for stories from across The Walt Disney Company and beyond to bring our viewers even more premium content led by Hulu Originals and next-day television programming.”
Russian officials have blocked Facebook in the country, though Instagram and WhatsApp are still available. Telecom regulator Roskomnadzor says the move is in response to the social network preventing access to state-run media outlets RT and Sputnik in the European Union, Ukraine and the UK. Meta has demoted content from Russian state-owned media organizations on Facebook and Instagram on a global basis too.
The regulator says Facebook also limited access to accounts from other media organizations, which it claims violates Russian laws.
“Soon, millions of ordinary Russians will find themselves cut off from reliable information, deprived of their everyday ways of connecting with family and silenced from speaking out,” Nick Clegg, Meta’s president of global affairs, said in a statement. “We will continue to do everything we can to restore our services so they remain available to people to safely and securely express themselves and organize for action.”
On the Russian government’s decision to block access to Facebook in the Russian Federation: pic.twitter.com/JlJwIu1t9K
Roskomnadzor previously restricted access to Facebook. After Russia invaded Ukraine, the regulator asked Meta to stop fact-checking content posted by four state-owned media outlets and remove the labels it applied to their Facebook posts, but the company refused.
Other tech platforms have blocked Russian state-run outlets or made it harder to see their content over the past week. Those include YouTube, Reddit, Spotify and Roku. Meanwhile, the EU bannedRT and Sputnik from being broadcast in the bloc.
Update 3/4 1:55PM ET: Added Clegg’s statement.
Update 3/4 2:33PM ET: Noted that the ban doesn’t cover Instagram or WhatsApp.
EA is the latest notable company to stop selling products in Russia and Belarus amid the invasion of Ukraine. The publisher won’t allow players using the Russian-region Origin storefront or EA app to buy games and content, including virtual currency. EA says it’s working to remove its games from other digital storefronts and block sales of in-game content in both countries.
“We continue to be shocked at the conflict that is unfolding in Ukraine, and join so many voices around the world in calling for peace and an end to the invasion. We stand in solidarity with the people of Ukraine,” EA wrote in a statement. “Our primary concern is the ongoing safety of those in the region, particularly colleagues and partners, and we are seeking to understand how we might best help them further beyond our programs that are already in place.”
The publisher said this week it would remove Russian and Belarusian teams from its FIFA and NHL games. Soccer and hockey governing bodies have banned teams from the countries from participating in international competitions. EA noted that as the conflict continues, it’s “continually reviewing the steps we can take.”
Ukraine’s vice prime minister Mykhailo Fedorov called on gaming companies and esports organizations to take action by, for instance, temporarily suspending player accounts in Russia and Belarus. CD Projekt has halted sales of its games and all titles on the GOG storefront in both countries. Bloober Team stopped selling its games there too.
On Friday, Microsoft put all sales in Russia on hold, including those of Xbox consoles. Meanwhile, Paladins and Rogue Company developer Hi-Rez Studios is donating all of its March and April revenues from Russia to UNICEF to help children in Ukraine. It pledged a minimum of $50,000.
Apple’s corporate employees will soon be making a gradual return to the office, two years after the COVID-19 pandemic took hold. In a memo to staff, CEO Tim Cook said workers must be in the office at least one day per week as of April 11th.
Starting on May 2nd, workers will need to be in the office two days a week at minimum. As of May 23rd, they’ll have to work from the office at least on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays amid a shift to a hybrid work model.
“In the coming weeks and months, we have an opportunity to combine the best of what we have learned about working remotely with the irreplaceable benefits of in-person collaboration,” Cook wrote in the memo, which was seen by Bloomberg and The Verge. “It is as important as ever that we support each other through this transition, through the challenges we face as a team and around the world.”
Apple had been attempting to bring employees back to offices since June. However, it delayed those plans multiple times as COVID-19 cases surged. As part of a hybrid work pilot, staff will receive an extra month of work-from-home time this year.
Earlier this week, it emerged Apple made it optional for vaccinated corporate employees to wear masks in regions where they’re no longer required by local regulators. Masks are also once again optional in Apple Stores in some locations. The company has mandated twice-weekly COVID-19 testing for all employees.
Microsoft has closed its $19.7 billion takeover of speech-tech company Nuance Communications. It announced the acquisition last April and cleared the final regulatory barrier this week when the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority signed off on the d…
If you’ve been looking for a solid deal on a smart display, it’s worth considering the Google Nest Hub Max. It’s on sale for $169, which is $60 less than the regular price, at both Adorama and B&H. We saw it dip to the same price in a one-day sale on Adorama in January.
The Nest Hub Max has a 10-inch HD display on which you can stream shows and movies from the likes of YouTube and Netflix, control your smart home gear and take video calls. Google Assistant is baked in, of course, and the device has stereo speakers.
The built-in camera supports a feature called Face Match. The smart display can recognize who’s using it and tailor information such as messages and calendar alerts to that person. It can also act as a Nest Cam, allowing you to monitor what’s happening in your home while you’re away or keep an eye on family members in another room.
There are some gesture controls as well, which allow you to play and pause media. Those who keep the Hub Max next to their bed can also snooze alarms and dismiss timers without having to groggily find the right prompt on the display.
We gave the Nest Hub Max a score of 86 in our review in 2019. Although we took issue with a couple of aspects, such as gestures not always working properly, we lauded it for the great screen, solid sound quality and fair price. The latter is an even better selling point for the time being.
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