Image: 2K We finally know why Spec Ops: The Line was delisted — it’s the licensing. Video game newshound Wario64 first sounded the alarm on social media that the game had been removed from Steam and other PC storefronts seemingly without explanation. On X, Cory Davis, the game’s designer and director, was also out of the loop asking the game’s publisher 2K why this happened. “Makes no sense,” Davis wrote. “Especially because the themes portrayed in [Spec Ops: The Line] are more relevant now than ever.”In an email to The Verge, 2K communications director Joe DiMiero offered the reason for the game’s removal:Spec Ops: The Line will no longer be available on online storefronts, as several partnership licenses related to the game are expiring.... Continue reading…

I have some proposed enhancements. | Kristen Radtke / The Verge; Getty Images In a case of life imitating Saturday Night Live, Peter Thiel has invested in a seed round of the Enhanced Games, which describes itself as “the modern reinvention of the Olympic Games that does not have drug testing.”It does seem to go a little beyond just not testing, though, at least judging by the press release. The investors “see the vision of a new model of sports, that openly celebrates scientific innovation and honestly represents the use of performance enhancements in sports today,” said Aron D’Souza, president of the Enhanced Games, in the statement. Thiel himself certainly has no problem backing medical experiments.The release says some weird things about not burdening taxpayers because it’s a private company, which made me... Continue reading…

Photo by Kathryn Riley/Getty Images US lawmakers have proposed letting people sue over faked pornographic images of themselves, following the spread of AI-generated explicit photographs of Taylor Swift. The Disrupt Explicit Forged Images and Non-Consensual Edits (DEFIANCE) Act would add a civil right of action for intimate “digital forgeries” depicting an identifiable person without their consent, letting victims collect financial damages from anyone who “knowingly produced or possessed” the image with the intent to spread it.The bill was introduced by Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), joined by Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), and Josh Hawley (R-MO). It builds on a provision in the Violence Against Women Act Reauthorization Act of 2022, which... Continue reading…

The Indiglo button on a modern Timex Weekender. | Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge Long before the self-lit pixels of OLED phones illuminated our lives, there was a time many portable gadgets didn’t shine at all. Remember when the display of practically every Nintendo Game Boy was designed to be viewed by sunlight? Remember when it was tough to tell time with your average wristwatch after dark?But in 1992, Timex popularized a push-button technology that could bathe any small display in a soothing, sea-green glow. And even though the actual button was often bad, it literally changed the face of portable electronics.They called it Indiglo. As a ‘90s kid, I thought Indiglo was the coolest thing. It still kind of is! Electricity energizes a layer of phosphorescent material as thin as a human hair, invisibly suspended... Continue reading…

Tomo, the AI avatar | Luka, Inc. AI companion company Replika partnered with the team behind the AI dating simulator Blush to release Tomo, a wellness and meditation app with an AI-generated avatar guiding users. Its the kind of concept that seemed destined as soon as generative AI took off, but in the time I’ve spent with Tomo, I found myself wondering if I can ever open up to an AI like I can with a real therapist.Tomo, now generally available on the Apple iOS store, brings users to a virtual island retreat, greeted by an AI-generated avatar guide named… Tomo. Tomo offers programs to help people explore personal growth, mental well-being, and fulfillment. It also provides guided meditation, yoga, affirmation classes, and, most of all, talk therapy. Users can try out... Continue reading…

Illustration by Kristen Radtke / The Verge; Getty Images Elon Musk isn’t going to get that $55 billion pay package after all, a Delaware Court of Chancery judge has ruled. The ruling means Tesla’s board will need to come up with a new proposal. The ruling threatens Musk’s fortune if it makes it through an appeal, Bloomberg reports. Without the options in that package, Musk may only be the third-richest man in the world.Tesla shareholders approved the package in 2018, which gave Musk incentive to hit specific milestones, including a market valuation of $650 billion, which was more than 10 times Tesla’s value at the time. The trial hinged on a specific question: did Musk mislead the shareholders when he gave them the plan?Tesla shareholders approved the package in 2018Greg Varallo, attorney... Continue reading…

Arlo’s cloud subscription plan for a single camera or video doorbell is increasing to $7.99 a month. | Photo by Jennifer Pattison Tuohy / The Verge In more “things are just getting expensive” news, the Arlo Secure subscription service is climbing. Again. This time, it’s going from $4.99 to $7.99 for a single camera or video doorbell. This 60 percent price hike comes on the heels of an increase early last year from $2.99 to $4.99. According to an email sent to single-camera users from Arlo and posted on Reddit, the change is “due to increasing costs and investment in developing innovative solutions.” The updated plans are now live on Arlo’s site, and the lowest-tier Arlo Secure plan, which includes 30 days of cloud storage and smart alerts for people, pets, packages, and vehicles, costs $7.99 monthly for one camera. If you have multiple Arlo cameras, the subscription costs $12.99... Continue reading…

Modern video games provide a myriad of settings and parameters you can tweak to get the best possible experience. Heck, even the accessibility and gameplay options can take a couple of minutes to fully explore, and that’s before we include the sheer number of graphical settings you can tweak in most games these days.

Illustration: The Verge Google spent $2.1 billion on severance and other expenses as it laid off more than 12,000 employees over the course of 2023. And the layoff charges keep coming: in just the one month of 2024 so far, the company has already spent $700 million on employee severance charges as part of layoffs targeting another 1,000-plus roles. Alphabet, Google’s parent company, revealed the figure alongside its fourth-quarter earnings release on Tuesday.Despite the cuts, Google ended 2023 with growth across most of its core business lines. Google posted $86 billion in revenue for the fourth quarter of 2023, a 13 percent increase year over year. The search giant’s core digital ads and cloud computing businesses also showed steady growth, which CEO Sundar... Continue reading…

Microsoft introduced 3D immersive meetings to Teams last week, but people who use the tool without paying can't use the feature. Instead, the Teams free users now have access to many community engagement and accessibility features for a better meeting experience across different platforms.

Fantasy players and sports bettors should be salivating right now. | YouTube Since its launch last spring, YouTube TV’s multiview functionality has been a huge quality-of-life improvement for sports fans. You can use it to watch multiple games concurrently without making space for extra TVs — but until now, you could only watch the predetermined sets of games that YouTube thinks would appeal to most viewers. An incoming update changes that, finally letting you customize multiview with your preferred combination of broadcasts, as spotted by 9to5Google.While a big improvement over the curated multiview feeds YouTube TV launched with, it sounds like you’re still bound by certain limitations. For instance, although you can build your own bundle of specific games, you can still only choose them from a predetermined... Continue reading…

The best thing about installing an M.2 SSD is that it doesn't demand a lot of space inside the PC case or requires any cables for connection. These SSD modules are small enough to be installed directly on the motherboard itself, and it only takes a few minutes to secure one of them in place. In fact, you can install an M.2 SSD very easily even on PCs that are already assembled. Installing an M.2 SSD is usually quite simple, even in a PC that's already been assembled.