Category: Technology

The Reddit community’s mass protest over the company’s controversial API changes has started. Thousands of subreddits have “gone dark,” setting their communities private and making their content inaccessible to anyone not already subscribed.

Some of the site’s most popular subreddits, including r/Music, r/funny, r/aww and r/todayilearned — each of which has millions of followers — have joined the effort, along with thousands of other communities. The movement has grown significantly in the last few days following CEO Steve Huffman’s AMA with users in which he defended the new policies, which will result in popular third-party apps like RIF and Apollo shutting down for good.

As of last week, the number of participating subreddits was just over 3,000. But by Monday morning, the number had climbed to more than 6,200 communities, according to a Twitch stream tracking the protest. With the blackout, participating subreddits have posted brief messages alerting users that they are protesting the company’s planned API changes. Most have committed to a 48-hour blackout, but at least 60 subreddits say they plan to protest “indefinitely” until the company walks back its changes. Many are also urging users not to browse Reddit at all. Some have also set up Discord servers to encourage subscribers to stay off of Reddit.

The backlash against the company’s new API policy kicked off after Christian Selig, the developer behind Reddit client app Apollo, shared that Reddit’s new pricing would cost him as much as $20 million a year to keep his app going. The company further angered Apollo fans by claiming that Selig had “threatened” the company, which the developer promptly refuted with an audio clip of a phone call with a Reddit employee. Huffman then doubled down on the criticism in his AMA last week.

“As the subreddit blackout begins, I wanted to say thank you from the bottom of my heart to the Reddit community and everyone standing up,” Selig wrote in a post on Twitter. “Let’s hope Reddit listens.”

Reddit’s users aren’t only upset about the company’s treatment of Selig and Apollo, though, They are also frustrated with losing moderation and accessibility features only available via third-party apps. In a message to users, moderators of r/blind said the native Reddit app was so lacking in accessibility that a sighted user had to switch the subreddit private.

If Reddit was a restaurant third party apps are franchises. We can get a burger from Reddit directly or from a franchise. The official Reddit location is at the top of a cliff. Disabled people can’t get there. Reddit is charging franchise fees so high nobody else can afford to offer burgers. We, with thousands of other subreddits, have gone dark for 48 hours. We will be back on June 14. Our Discord server remains open. Thank you for understanding; app so bad, vision required to go dark

Reddit’s moderators — who are often quick to point out that they are unpaid volunteers — shared similar. “In many cases these apps offer superior mod tools, customization, streamlined interfaces, and other quality of life improvements that the official app does not offer,” moderators wrote in an open letter. “The potential loss of these services due to the pricing change would significantly impact our ability to moderate efficiently, thus negatively affecting the experience for users in our communities and for us as mods and users ourselves.”

For now, it’s unclear whether the protest will be able to influence Reddit’s leaders. The company didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment, but has previously defended the new API policy, citing the rise of generative AI companies taking advantage of its data. “We’ll continue to be profit-driven until profits arrive,” Huffman said last week in his AMA.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/reddit-sees-more-than-6000-communities-go-dark-in-protest-over-api-changes-095311637.html?src=rss 

Microsoft Game Pass members will soon be able to stream PC games on NVIDIA’s GeForce Now, following the announcement of a pact between the companies earlier this year. “This will enable the PC Game Pass catalog to be played on any device that GeForce Now streams to, like low spec PCs, Macs, Chromebooks, mobile devices, TVs, and more, and we’ll be rolling this out in the months ahead,” Microsoft said in a blog post.

It doesn’t appear to include the whole catalog, as GeForce Now members will be able to “stream select PC games” from the library, the company wrote. Still, it’ll give PC Game Pass subscribers access to what we called “the enthusiast’s choice for game streaming” thanks to the high performance offered by NVIDIA’s latest RTX 4080 cards.

Previously, the companies announced that Microsoft Store would be coming to GeForce Now for purchases. In addition, Xbox games have already come to GeForce Now, starting with the arrival of Xbox exclusive Gears 5 last month. 

In February, Microsoft and NVIDIA struck a 10-year deal to bring games to the GeForce Now service, including Activision Blizzard titles like the Call of Duty series. Microsoft also signed an agreement with Spain-based cloud gaming provider Nware in April, and previously inked pacts with Nintendo, Steam, NVIDIA, Boosteroid, Ubitus and EE to make its games available on those companies’ platforms. 

Many of those came about when Microsoft’s potential acquisition of Activision Blizzard was being scrutinized by regulators in Europe, the US and elsewhere. Since then, however, UK regulators blocked the deal over cloud concerns, saying it would give Microsoft “incentive to withhold [Activision Blizzard] games from competitors and substantially weaken competition in this important growing market.” With the news that it’s offering its PC Game Pass subscription on GeForce Now, it may still think it can convince regulators to get on board. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/microsofts-pc-game-pass-is-coming-to-nvidias-rival-geforce-now-service-091754446.html?src=rss 

AT&T has supported RCS messaging on Android phones since 2021. But if you ask some of the carrier’s customers, the experience hasn’t always been great, with interoperability between different devices sometimes not working as expected. That’s about to change. Over the weekend, Hiroshi Lockheimer, Google’s senior vice president of Android, tweeted (via Android Police) that AT&T is migrating its RCS backend to Google’s own Jibe platform. Per Lockheimer, the change means AT&T customers will get the latest RCS features “instantly.” It should also resolve any lingering interoperability issues between AT&T phones and devices on different networks.

AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile have been committed to RCS since forming the Cross Carrier Messaging Initiative in 2019, but it was only after announcing the end of that partnership in 2021, and Google becoming more directly involved with pushing the platform, that RCS began finding a foothold in the US. In 2021, T-Mobile became the first carrier to commit to preloading Google Messages on its Android devices. A year later, Verizon did the same.

At I/O 2023, Google announced that there are more than 800 million people using RCS globally, with that number expected to increase to 1 billion by the end of the year. Still, the platform faces a major hurdle. Apple has shown no signs it’s interested in supporting RCS, even if Google keeps bringing up the subject. Until something changes, that means RCS features like end-to-end encryption don’t work when Android users text friends and family members who use iPhones.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/att-starts-using-googles-jibe-platform-for-rcs-messages-220258243.html?src=rss 

The Chinese Room — the studio behind Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs, Dear Esther and Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture — is back with a new horror experience, Still Wakes the Deep. It’s a narrative horror game, taking the studio back to its roots, and it’s set on an oil rig in 1975. It’s a first-person game and its announcement trailer captures a series of tense, lethal-looking moments on the rig.

Here’s how The Chinese Room describes the game: “Disaster strikes the Beira D oil rig off the coast of Scotland. Navigate the collapsing rig to save your crew from an otherworldly horror on the edge of all logic and reality.”

Still Wakes the Deep is due to hit Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 5, PC and Game Pass in early 2024.

Catch up on all of the news from Summer Game Fest right here!

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-dear-esther-studio-is-building-an-oil-rig-horror-game-still-wakes-the-deep-184802111.html?src=rss 

If you’re not too tuckered out from the Xbox and Starfield showcases and you’re ready for even more gaming news, you may be pleased to hear that Summer Game Fest isn’t done for the day. The PC Gaming Show is coming right up and you’ll be able to watch it here at 4PM ET.

While the stream will feature some games that will pop up on consoles and perhaps even mobile devices, this is one for the mouse clickers and keyboard devotees (unless you prefer to use another peripheral, of course). The PC Gaming Show will shine a spotlight on 55 games, including 20 brand-new ones we haven’t heard about before. Baldur’s Gate 3, Frostpunk 2 and Dune: Awakening will make appearances, along with a new title from Don’t Starve developer Klei.

After the PC Gaming Show, there’s still more to come from Summer Game Fest, as Ubisoft and Capcom are set to hold their events on Monday. Engadget is on the ground in Los Angeles to check out the various events from the de facto E3 replacement. We’re bringing you news, previews and hands-on impressions of games that are being shown off at Summer Game Fest.

Catch up on all of the news from Summer Game Fest right here!

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/watch-the-summer-game-fest-pc-gaming-show-here-at-4pm-et-190052167.html?src=rss 

Season five of Overwatch 2 will arrive on Tuesday, bringing with it updates such as a mythic skin for Tracer, a fantasy theme and a fresh limited-time game mode. However, it feels like a bit of a placeholder as Blizzard is already looking forward to the sixth season, which starts on August 10th.

The studio is calling this the biggest update to Overwatch 2 yet. It’ll be called Overwatch 2: Invasion and it will include co-op story missions. Long-promised hero missions, which were going to feature long-term progression features for all heroes, are no longer happening.

At the outset, there will be three story missions you can tackle with your friends or other players. You’ll be taking on Null Sector, which is destroying cities and abducting innocent Omnics (robots that are living alongside humans following a war). Null Sector has formidable opponents at its disposal, including “the powerful Annihilators and the deadly Stalkers.” 

There will be a separate co-op mission in season six, as Blizzard will open up new parts of the Kings Row map that aren’t accessible in the competitive modes. You’ll “guide the TS-1 push bot on a mission to save Tracer’s friend and the Omnic Underworld from Null Sector forces,” according to an Xbox blog post. This time around, the robot will have its own weapons.

Meanwhile, Blizzard has revealed some details about Flashpoint, a new core game mode for player vs. player (PvP) modes such as quick play, competitive and the arcade. At the outset, there will be two maps, which are the largest PvP ones to date. Flashpoint will feature multiple capture points. The aim is to capture three of them before the enemy team does. Once a point is secured, the next one will open up. 

On top of that, Blizzard divulged more about the previously teased Hero Mastery mode. This is a single-player affair that will challenge you to tackle training courses with certain heroes. You’ll need to have a solid grasp of a character’s weapons and abilities to do well here. You’ll be able to see how you measure up against other players on a leaderboard. Hero Mastery courses for some characters will be available in Overwatch 2: Invasion, with more to come in future seasons. 

There will also be another way for you to sharpen your skills without switching to Aim Lab, as the practice range is getting a firing range. You’ll be able to practice with any hero and customize the settings.

Last but not least, Blizzard is trying to entice Game Pass Ultimate members to check out Overwatch 2 with a fresh perk. Starting on August 10th, subscribers will be able to instantly unlock the five most recent heroes (Sojourn, Junker Queen, Kiriko, Ramattra and Lifeweaver) as well as the next addition to the lineup without having to shell out for the premium battle pass, complete in-game challenges or pay for the characters in the in-game store. You’ll also get a legendary skin and other cosmetics for each of those heroes as part of the New Heroes Starter Pack.

Speaking of the next hero, who will be a support, there was a brief tease of them at the end of the trailer. They have a cape and a large weapon, but we’ll need to wait a bit longer to learn more about them, their backstory and their abilities

The Overwatch 2: Invasion trailer is a fresh spark of hope for the game after the disappointing news that Blizzard downsized its player vs. environment ambitions. There’ll be a bigger focus on story and lore going forward. In the meantime, as a Mei main, I’m looking forward to her becoming more of a menace in season five thanks to her being able to further slow enemies down.

Catch up on all of the news from Summer Game Fest right here!

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/overwatch-2s-story-missions-and-new-pvp-mode-will-land-on-august-10th-191905129.html?src=rss 

Even if an 11th-hour leak may have ruined the surprise, Atlus had big news to share during Microsoft’s Xbox and Starfield showcase on Saturday. The publisher is remaking 2006’s Persona 3 for modern platforms. Persona 3 Reload will reimagine the PlayStation 2 classic with modern graphics built inside of Epic’s Unreal Engine and integrate gameplay enhancements introduced with 2016’s Persona 5. Judging from the trailer Atlus shared, it’s unclear if the remake will incorporate elements from the original’s 2008 expanded rerelease, Persona 3 FES, and 2010 PlayStation Portable port, Persona 3 Portable. The latter introduced an entirely new female protagonist that has since become a fan favorite.      

Alongside Persona 3 Reload, Atlus announced Persona 5 Tactica. As the name implies, it’s a strategy RPG starring the cast of Persona 5. Persona 5 Tactica will arrive on Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S and PC on November 17th, with day one availability on Game Pass. 

Catch up on all of the news from Summer Game Fest right here!

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/persona-3-reload-updates-a-ps2-classic-for-modern-platforms-in-early-2024-192331128.html?src=rss 

Obsidian Entertainment is finally ready to show us a little more of Avowed, its forthcoming first-person fantasy RPG. At Xbox’s SGF showcase, we got to see a barrage of magical spells, battle dynamics, and all kinds of mythical beasts you’re likely to face. Interestingly, you’ll be able to wield swords and guns in addition to magical incantations. Like previous Obsidian games, companions will feature heavily. According to Feargus Urquhart, Studio Head, your first companion will be Kai, a “Coastal Aumaua” and apparently one of the only friendly faces you’ll come across. 

The game is set in the same universe as the crowdfunded Pillars of Eternity, so expect to see more playful writing and storytelling. You’ll play as an envoy of Aedyr, investigating rumors of a plague. From there, it seemingly all goes further downhill. With the tagline of “Forge your destiny”, the trailer hints that you can choose to be a good or (very) bad guy. It looks like it may scratch that Elder Scrolls itch, until Elder Scrolls 6 finally shows itself. 

Avowed is set to launch in 2024.

Catch up on all of the news from Summer Game Fest right here!

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/obsidian-fantasy-rpg-avowed-release-date-sgf-2023-174259416.html?src=rss 

It’s been a while since our last look at Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II, but Microsoft made sure to include it in the Xbox Games Showcase. The sequel finally has a release window too: it’s coming to Xbox Series X/S and PC in 2024. Naturally, Game Pass subscribers will have access to it from the jump.

The latest trailer opens with Senua crawling through a narrow opening into a vast cave. It only takes a few seconds for things to become a little unsettling, thanks to eerie whispers and moving walls. The new clip of Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II, which is being built in Unreal Engine 5, is beautifully detailed, with light reflecting off of a pool of water and bouncing around the cave. For what it’s worth, Microsoft says the footage was captured on an Xbox Series X. 

Catch up on all of the news from Summer Game Fest right here!

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/senuas-saga-hellblade-ii-will-arrive-in-2024-175240445.html?src=rss