Image: Roblox Roblox is going to let creators that sell assets and tools for other creators on its marketplace keep all of the revenue from their sales minus taxes and payment processing fees, the company announced at its Roblox Developers Conference (RDC) 2023 on Friday. The change goes into effect starting sometime next year.This will be a big change — though it will only apply to sales on the Creator Marketplace, which is for creators to sell to creators, and not to sales on the Marketplace (formerly Avatar Shop) where people can sell avatar-related goods.Right now, creators who sell things on the Creator Marketplace get a 70 percent cut, and they only thing they can current sell on that marketplace are plugins. But starting next year, developers... Continue reading…

Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge According to a post from Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, it’s looking more likely that Apple won’t launch its line of M3-powered MacBooks “before the end of this year.”While there haven’t been any solid rumors about when Apple will launch its first laptops with next-generation chips, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman said last month that Apple could introduce its M3 chip to “entry-level” Macs during an October launch event. Reports suggest that Apple could put its M3 chip, which is expected to feature a more efficient 3nm process, in a new 13-inch MacBook Pro, 13- and 15-inch MacBook Air laptops, and a Mac Mini. Gurman believes that we could see all of these new products over the course of the next year.It wouldn’t be that surprising if Apple... Continue reading…

Image: Roblox Roblox is launching its own take on video chat called Roblox Connect, the company announced at its Roblox Developers Conference (RDC) 2023 on Friday. The feature, which is set to launch later this year, lets you chat with other people as your Roblox avatar, and your avatar will be able to mimic your real-life facial movements. The call will also take place in a shared virtual space that you can run around in, like a campsite or a dock.Roblox is already designed to be a social app where you can use text and voice chat to keep in touch while exploring virtual experiences with your friends, so it’s not too much of a stretch for the company to make a video-focused feature that’s also designed as a place to hang out and talk. It’s also an... Continue reading…

ChatGPT has limits, and pairing Captain America and the Winter Soldier is one of them... sometimes. | Image: Disney / Marvel AI-generated fiction has become a subject of perpetual fascination for me. It’s the bane of some writers’ existence, yet it’s increasingly cropping up across both commercial storefronts like Amazon and noncommercial writing sites like Archive of Our Own (AO3). While some creators painstakingly train their own tools, many simply plug prompts into an off-the-shelf commercial chatbot, particularly OpenAI’s ChatGPT. And ChatGPT is not a rarefied artist’s tool. It’s a platform, which means every word that goes into and comes out of it is moderated to avoid offense and controversy. That raises a fascinating question: what stories should you be allowed to make an AI system tell?Apparently, not ones about Steve Rogers and Bucky Barnes being... Continue reading…

Image: Roblox Roblox announced a new conversational AI assistant at its 2023 Roblox Developers Conference (RDC) that can help creators more easily make experiences for the popular social app. The new tool, the Roblox Assistant, builds on previously announced features that let creators build virtual assets and write code with the help of generative AI.With the Roblox Assistant, creators will be able to type in prompts to do things like generate virtual environments. In one demo, somebody types in “I want to make a game set in ancient ruins,” and Roblox drops in some stones, moss-covered columns, and broken architecture. “Make the player spawn by a campfire in the ruins” adds a campfire and a stool. “Add some trees for the player to chop down” adds... Continue reading…

For many years, Valve has been focused on making Linux a great operating system for Steam, and suffice to say, it's managed to succeed. It's the default operating system for the Steam Deck, and it can easily run non-native games with the Proton compatibility layer. But you can also get Steam on your Linux PC. However, while Steam can easily be installed on some Linux distros, the process is more obscure on others.

Image: Getty Intuit, the parent company of TurboTax, is still facing blowback over claims it tricked people into using its “free” tax filing service that wasn’t actually free. In a ruling on Friday, the Federal Trade Commission’s chief administrative law judge (ALJ) ruled that Intuit “deceived consumers” and “engaged in deceptive advertising.”The ruling includes several pages of commercials and online ads where Intuit advertised its “Free Edition” software. While the name implies that the service is, well, free, people wound up having to pay to use it — sparking a lawsuit from the FTC and a $141 million payout to affected users. Meanwhile, Intuit’s actually no-cost Free File version, which it launched in partnership with the IRS, remained... Continue reading…

This Umbra x Nanoleaf collab includes a portable smart light and a color-changing desk caddy lamp. Both are Matter-compatible and use Thread. | Image: Umbra The dust has settled on IFA 2023, Europe’s biggest tech trade show, held annually in Berlin, Germany. The Verge was on the ground at the show, which ran from September 1st to 5th, covering all the big news and gadget launches. But now that I’m back stateside, I wanted to call out a few more fun gadgets and intriguing pieces of tech I saw on the show floor (or thereabouts). In case you missed it, I’ve already written about SwitchBot’s cool new twist on a robot vacuum mop that can fill its own water tanks, got some hands-on time with Philips Hue’s pricey but pretty new smart security camera system, and listened to Alexa and Google play nicely in a new smart speaker from JBL. So, in no particular order, here are a few more gadgets from the... Continue reading…

Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge Roblox will finally be available on PlayStation soon. At its 2023 Roblox Developers Conference (RDC) on Friday, Roblox announced that its popular social and gaming app is coming to PS4 and PS5 in October.Roblox, which is free to download, is already out on a bunch of platforms, including PC, Mac, iOS, Android, and Xbox, but the lack of support for Sony’s consoles has felt like a notable hole in Roblox’s lineup. There have been some clues that a PlayStation version has been in the works, though: a 2022 job listing indicated that Roblox was hiring for a PlayStation engineer, and CEO David Baszucki hinted on an August earnings call that the company has been looking at bringing the app to PlayStation and Nintendo Switch.Roblox promises... Continue reading…

Whether you’re listening for the sounds of enemy footsteps in a multiplayer FPS or soaking in the spooky sounds of the wilderness in a fully kitted-out Skyrim mod, detailed audio is an essential ingredient for truly immersive gaming. This is an ingredient only the best gaming headsets can deliver. Luckily, the myriad of wireless gaming headsets available aim to provide the best experience, whether you’re looking for the best value or demanding the best of the best.

Donald Mustard at the 2018 Game Awards. | Photo by Alberto E. Rodriguez / Getty Images Donald Mustard ran a successful studio that showed what the Xbox and iPhone were capable of. Then, he became the face of one of the biggest and boldest storytelling experiments in history, to borrow a phrase, with Fortnite’s massive metaverse. Now, he’s done: Mustard, chief creative officer at Epic Games, says he’s retiring this month. After an incredible adventure, I will be retiring from my role as Chief Creative Officer at Epic this month. I have enjoyed nearly 25 years in the game industry collaborating with some of the most talented people ever and I am so proud of what we have made together. From the… pic.twitter.com/HWlNEarU4K— Donald Mustard (@DonaldMustard) September 8, 2023“I’m excited to spend time with my wife and... Continue reading…

We’ve got deals on all sorts of TVs, ranging from affordable (yet feature-packed) models to high-end OLED and Mini LEDs that will really wow you. | Image: Chris Welch / The Verge Things are looking bright for those who want to nab a great TV in 2023 at a substantial discount. That’s because, these days, you can usually land a great deal on a mid- or high-end TV from LG, TCL, Hisense, or Amazon’s own Fire TV brand with some regularity — even if the biggest discounts remain reserved for sales events like Black Friday, Amazon Prime Day, or the lead-up to the Super Bowl.Right now, there are a number of discounted 4K TVs to choose from, spanning a wide variety of prices, size configurations, and feature sets. Whether you want a secondary TV for the bedroom or a high-end OLED that’s built for a cinema-like experience, we’ve picked out the best TV deals across some common categories.The best 4K TV deals for most... Continue reading…