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How to watch the Latin American Games Showcase at Summer Game Fest 2025

Summer Game Fest 2025 is just around the corner and it’ll be a weekend packed with video game news. The event kicks off on June 6, with roughly a dozen livestreams scheduled to take place from then through June 8. Among them is the Latin American Games Showcase, which will highlight over 50 titles from Latin American indie developers. You can tune into the YouTube stream on Saturday, June 7 at 2PM ET (11AM PT).

Last year’s Latin American Games Showcase at SGF gave us a glimpse at a ton of games to be excited about, like the recently released title, Despelote, that’s both memoir and soccer game. We don’t know yet what the 2025 showcase will bring, but there’s sure to be some gems. Before the Latin American Games Showcase on Saturday, Summer Game Fest Live will usher in the festivities on June 6 at 5PM ET (2PM PT).

We have all the info you need to know right here ahead of Summer Game Fest and will be on the ground getting some hands-on time with many of the games you’ll see featured in the showcases, so be sure to check back in for the latest news.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/how-to-watch-the-latin-american-games-showcase-at-summer-game-fest-2025-210009391.html?src=rss

Meta will reportedly soon use AI for most product risk assessments instead of human reviewers

According to a report from NPR, Meta plans to shift the task of assessing its products’ potential harms away from human reviewers, instead leaning more heavily on AI to speed up the process. Internal documents seen by the publication note that Meta is aiming to have up to 90 percent of risk assessments fall on AI, NPR reports, and is considering using AI reviews even in areas such as youth risk and “integrity,” which covers violent content, misinformation and more. Unnamed current and former Meta employees who spoke with NPR warned AI may overlook serious risks that a human team would have been able to identify.

Updates and new features for Meta’s platforms, including Instagram and WhatsApp, have long been subjected to human reviews before they hit the public, but Meta has reportedly doubled down on the use of AI over the last two months. Now, according to NPR, product teams have to fill out a questionnaire about their product and submit this for review by the AI system, which generally provides an “instant decision” that includes the risk areas it’s identified. They’ll then have to address whatever requirements it laid out to resolve the issues before the product can be released.

A former Meta executive told NPR that reducing scrutiny “means you’re creating higher risks. Negative externalities of product changes are less likely to be prevented before they start causing problems in the world.” In a statement to NPR, Meta said it would still tap “human expertise” to evaluate “novel and complex issues,” and leave the “low-risk decisions” to AI. Read the full report over at NPR.

It comes a few days after Meta released its latest quarterly integrity reports — the first since changing its policies on content moderation and fact-checking earlier this year. The amount of content taken down has unsurprisingly decreased in the wake of the changes, per the report. But there was a small rise in bullying and harassment, as well as violent and graphic content.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/meta-will-reportedly-soon-use-ai-for-most-product-risk-assessments-instead-of-human-reviewers-205416849.html?src=rss

How to watch the Women-Led Games Showcase at Summer Game Fest 2025

The Women-Led Games Showcase will be returning for its second year at the Summer Game Fest 2025. It will feature 39 titles from women-led and majority women development teams, and viewers can expect to see deep dives, release announcements and information on DLCs during the event. The Showcase will take place on June 7 at 1PM Eastern time and will be streamed live on Twitch and YouTube, which is embedded below. You can also watch the stream through various co-streamers’ Twitch channels that you can find from the Women-Led Games’ X account. Take note that the team will also be running a Steam sale event from June 6 to 13 for women-led titles.

In addition to this showcase, Summer Game Fest 2025 will also feature several other events, such as Day of the Dev for indie titles and Wholesome Direct for cozy games. There will be a showcase for titles created by Latin American developers, a Green Games event for titles that make direct contributions to green initiatives and an Xbox Games Showcase for updates on titles from across Xbox Game Studios, Bethesda and Activision Blizzard. You can also watch the live premiere for Death Stranding 2: On The Beach on June 8 at 10PM Eastern time.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/how-to-watch-the-women-led-games-showcase-at-summer-game-fest-2025-190005489.html?src=rss

Elden Ring Nightreign’s next patch will make gameplay easier for solo players

Just a day after its release, FromSoftware announced a crucial patch for Elden Ring Nightreign players who prefer to solo queue. The game’s developer posted on X that Patch 1.02 will be released next week, delivering some bug fixes and “improvements for solo expeditions.”

More specifically, FromSoftware will add the effect of “Automatic Revival Upon Defeat” that allows a self-revival once per night boss battle for solo expeditions. Players will also get more runes, which should provide a more balanced gaming experience when venturing alone. This news of this patch follows several criticisms of the game being poorly optimized when playing solo, versus in a party of three as it was designed for.

FromSoftware’s titles have a reputation for being difficult, but early reviews pointed out that Nightreign offers poor scaling with certain mechanics, abilities and boss fights that cater towards a full party. Despite the millions of copies sold on the first day, Nightreign holds a “mixed” Steam user review rating thanks to the solo queue issues, along with a lack of communication tools, cross-platform play and less replayability than other Souls titles.

For FromSoftware, Elden Ring Nightreign represents a stylistic shift into the roguelike genre based on its best-selling predecessor and it might still be working out some of the kinks. The game’s director, Junya Ishizaki, told IGN in an interview that jumping into an expedition as a duo was “overlooked during development” but is something that the developer is looking at and considering for post-launch support. Some players are also having issues with matchmaking itself, where FromSoftware recommends restarting the process to get into an expedition. As for rebalancing for solo play, FromSoftware said that more details about this upcoming patch will come next week.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/elden-ring-nightreigns-next-patch-will-make-gameplay-easier-for-solo-players-183644323.html?src=rss

How to watch Devolver Direct at Summer Game Fest 2025

Devolver Digital is devoting its Summer Game Fest stream to a single title. That’s quite the departure for the Austin-based publisher. So, the company must see something special in Ball x Pit: The Kenny Sun Story. Get ready to find out about it on June 6.

Devolver isn’t being shy about its enthusiasm for Ball x Pit. The publisher says it’s a game the team “can’t even put down — hundreds of hours later.” Sounds promising!

So, what do we know about the game and its titular character? Not much. There’s the teaser image above, featuring battle skeletons and other fantasy characters. Also, Devolver called it “a tremendous little game.”

Expect to learn much more about Ball x Pit on June 6 at 8 PM ET. You can tune into Devolver Direct on YouTube and Twitch. (That’s the same broadcast as the Summer Game Fest Live and Day of the Devs livestreams.)

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/how-to-watch-devolver-direct-at-summer-game-fest-2025-170014340.html?src=rss

A new Nebraska law wants to make social media less addictive for kids

Nebraska is the latest state to crack down on how kids can use social media. The state’s governor, Jim Pillen, recently signed into law a package of bills aimed at restricting certain social media features that keep kids hooked on the platform. The final bill signed, called the Age-Appropriate Online Design Code Act, will require companies to offer time limits on usage, restrict certain categories of content and provide chronological feeds instead of algorithmic ones that promote infinite scrolling.

The Age-Appropriate Online Design Code Act, also known as LB504, details that social media companies can only collect the minimum amount of personal data from younger users, and offers parents more tools to limit how their children use their accounts. Along with those restrictions, the law prohibits any ads related to gambling, alcohol, tobacco or drugs from reaching kids on social media.

Alongside LB504, the signed package of bills includes LB140 that limits student use of smartphones in schools, LB383 that requires social media companies to verify the age of its users and require parental consent for creating accounts, and LB172 that creates criminal penalties for AI-generated pornography.

“Collectively, all these bills have an incredible impact on helping our teachers and giving our schools the opportunity to teach our kids, instead of being disrupted in the classroom,” Pillen said in a press release. “They also provide parents with the tools they need to protect our kids from big tech online companies and predators.”

The law is set to go into effect January 1, 2026, and any companies that violate these new regulations will face civil penalties. Nebraska is the latest state to restrict social media usage for minors, but Texas is also trying to pass a similar ban. With more efforts to regulate social media, NetChoice, an Internet advocacy organization whose members include Google, Meta and X, has voiced criticism of these states’ efforts, arguing that they infringe on First Amendment rights and user privacy. In 2022, California signed a similar law meant to protect underage users, but it has since been in a legal battle following a lawsuit filed by NetChoice that claims a violation of free speech rights.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/a-new-nebraska-law-wants-to-make-social-media-less-addictive-for-kids-171510432.html?src=rss

How to watch Day of the Devs at Summer Game Fest 2025

The indie-focused Day of the Devs is nearly here. That’s the portion of Summer Game Fest where smaller publishers step into the spotlight. It tends to be a worthwhile watch, often eclipsing the main show. Get ready to tune in on June 6.

What’s on tap this year? Heart Machine’s 2D sidescroller Possessor(s) will make an appearance. If you like hand-drawn art, horror and visual novels, this is your game. (Oh, and don’t forget “very hot” demons!)

We’ll also see more of Outersloth’s “nightmarish life sim” Neverway. That title has a killer elevator pitch. “After quitting her dead-end job, Fiona starts over on a farm and becomes the immortal herald of a dead god.” (As one does!)

Big Walk

House House

Untitled Goose Game maker House House is on the schedule. That will presumably mean a closer look at Big Walk. The “cooperative online walker-talker” eschews the hardcore competition common in online gaming. “Our favorite part of playing online coop games is when they give you enough direction for the group to keep up a good momentum,” the studio said in 2023. “But it’s relaxed enough that you’re mostly just able to enjoy spending time with your friends.” Expect a chill time with delightfully strange characters.

Expect much more beyond that small sampling. Day of the Devs kicks off on June 6 at 7PM ET. You can also stream it on YouTube and Twitch. Engadget will also be on the ground at Summer Games Fest with plenty of first-hand impressions.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/how-to-watch-day-of-the-devs-at-summer-game-fest-2025-150047219.html?src=rss

Playdate Season 2 review: Fulcrum Defender, Dig! Dig! Dino! and Blippo+

Playdate Season Two is here, bringing with it two new games for the quirky yellow handheld every week until July 3. And if the first two titles are any indication of what this season will be like, it’s sure to be a great one. Season Two kicked off on May 29 with the arcade action game Fulcrum Defender — from the studio behind FTL: Faster Than Light and Into the Breach — and the delightfully chill Dig! Dig! Dino!. The two games couldn’t be more different from each other, but they’re both bangers in their own right.

Panic also released Blippo+, which can only be described as a fever dream of cable TV, with the first drop of Season Two, and it is amazingly bizarre.

Fulcrum Defender

Subset Games

“Survive for 10min!” sounded almost like a threat when I first started reading through Fulcrum Defender‘s How To Play guide. Between all the on-screen information you need to pay attention to, the many different types of enemies that’ll be attacking and the various weapon upgrades you can earn over the course of a run, there’s a lot to take in, and I braced myself for a tense and complicated playing experience. But, while that may be closer to the case on Hard Mode, I found that Fulcrum Defender wasn’t all that punishing of a shooter on Normal Mode. It’s a challenge, for sure, but one with a surprisingly achievable goal that I was able to enjoy without losing my mind. At least, not until crossing the 10-minute mark. After that, all hell breaks loose.

In Fulcrum Defender, you’re positioned at the center of a circular arena and have to fend off a continuous swarm of enemies. Your shield will take damage any time an enemy collides with it, and once enough have breached that zone, it’s game over. To avoid that, you need to shoot them down one by one, using the crank to aim your weapon and the D-pad to shoot. Some enemies can be taken out in one shot, but others — distinguished by their filled-in appearance — require multiple shots. Over time, you’ll earn weapon upgrades to build out a more powerful defense system, with options like large, guided projectiles and a flail that can knock out several enemies in one sweep.

It’s unexpectedly addicting. The music is beautiful and calming, giving the whole thing a pleasant atmosphere despite the fact that you’re surrounded by enemies at any given moment and trying not to die. Once I realized it was absolutely possible to survive 10 minutes and even go beyond that, I got sucked into the loop of trying over and over to beat my high scores. I’d love to see a global leaderboard for this game at some point, because I just know I’d be floored by how long some players will be able to last.

If you liked this one and want to know a little more about the making of it, be sure to check out our interview with Jay Ma, the co-founder of Fulcrum Defender developer Subset Games.

Dig! Dig! Dino!

Dom2D & Fáyer

I can’t think of anything I’d rather be doing right now than pretending to be a paleontologist and casually digging for bones. No thoughts, just dig. That’s exactly what Dig! Dig! Dino! has going on, and it’s awesome.

You’re working as part of a crew (made up entirely of anthropomorphic animals) at the site of some really unusual dinosaur fossils, and it’s your job to dig up new bones and artifacts. Once you’ve got the entire skeleton of a particular dinosaur, you can scan it in the lab to reveal what it was like when it was alive. That information, coupled with the peculiar artifacts scattered around the site, paints a picture of some pretty strange activities that went on there long ago. For example, some of these dinosaurs seem to have had crystals growing out of their bodies, and it looks like they were warned about the asteroid extinction event. Fishy!

The gameplay is extremely low stakes — this is one for when you just want to zone out playing something that’ll keep your hands busy. You’re equipped with a shovel, a drill and a radar gadget for detecting items beneath the surface, and have no time-sensitive goals to hit. You only have so much energy, though, which will be consumed with each use of your tools. When you run out, the round is over. But you can visit each site as many times as you need to in order to find all of the dinosaur pieces hidden there, so it can be a really casual undertaking if you want it to be.

It’s a really nice time, with a fun story to tie it all together. You’ll get a solid few hours of playtime out of this, too, and the simplicity of it all means you can put it down and come back to it later without having to rack your memory to figure out where you left off. I loved this one.

Blippo+

Panic

What can one even say about Blippo+? This bizarre “1-bit television” experience came as a bonus with the first Season Two games, and it is something. Panic first teased it back in December 2024 as a Steam title, but here it is for the Playdate now, complete with a roster of channels playing hallucinatory programs and Femtofax, an interactive message board of sorts where you can find affirmations, neighborhood drama, chatter among amateur astronomers and more. Panic describes it as being “comparable to an old episode of The Twilight Zone,” but it’s more like an old episode of The Twilight Zone if it were made by Tim & Eric and aired after midnight on Adult Swim. I think I am obsessed with it?

I’m really interested to see where this goes. It’ll keep getting new content alongside the rest of the Season Two releases, with new episodes every week for 12 weeks. I would totally park my Playdate in a dock (but not the Stereo Dock </3) on my desk and leave Blippo+ running in the background all day if it has enough fresh material to sustain it. The song playing alongside the endlessly scrolling Blippo+ TV guide screen is already stuck in my head, and I don’t hate it. The program guide with this week’s schedule is online, if you’re curious about what’s going on right now.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/playdate-season-2-review-fulcrum-defender-dig-dig-dino-and-blippo-140036697.html?src=rss

’28 Years Later’ used 20 iPhones in tandem for some wild shots

It’s no secret that 28 Years Later used iPhones to shoot parts of the film. Now its director, Danny Boyle, has discussed the use of iPhones for the film in more detail with IGN. The first film in the franchise, 28 Days Later, was shot on digital video, giving it a homemade feel. Boyle explained that he and writer Alex Garland got the idea from the fact that home video cameras were common at the time, and people would’ve shot videos with them if an apocalypse had indeed happened. Those cameras, of course, have since been replaced by smartphones.

The movies used three special rigs for the iPhone sequences: One for eight cameras that one person can carry, another with 10 and another with 20. “I never say this, but there is an incredible shot in the second half [of the film] where we use the 20-rig camera, and you’ll know it when you see it,” Boyle told IGN. He described the 20-iPhone rig as “basically a poor man’s bullet time,” which is a visual effect that uses multiple cameras to freeze or slow down time. Think the scene in The Matrix, wherein Neo dodged bullets in super slow motion.

Doyle said that the 20-camera rig can be attached to cranes or dollies and give you 180 degrees of vision of an action. In editing, you can choose from any of the footage each iPhone takes to, say, move between perspectives or jump forward and backward. For 28 Years Later, the team used the rig for violent scenes to emphasize their effect. “For a moment the audience is inside the scene, the action, rather than classically observing a picture,” Doyle explained.

In addition to the iPhones, the filmmakers also used drones, cameras attached to actors and even farm animals to achieve an immersive feel for its 2.76:1 widescreen aspect ratio. They decided on the aspect ratio to create a sense of unease, since you’d have to keep scanning the screen to see potential threats coming from the sides.

Sony

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/28-years-later-used-20-iphones-in-tandem-for-some-wild-shots-130043338.html?src=rss

Playdate Season Two, Spray Paint Simulator and other new indie games worth checking out

One of the many beautiful things about the indie gaming scene is that there’s always something to check out. So if you don’t fancy playing Elden Ring: Nightreign this weekend, there are plenty of other new options. To help you keep up with what’s going on in the space, here’s our weekly indie game roundup.

As a heads up, we won’t be publishing an edition of this roundup next week. Not because there won’t be enough games to highlight. Quite the opposite: Summer Game Fest kicks off on Friday June 6. There will be literally hundreds of game announcements and updates. There’s also the small matter of the Nintendo Switch 2’s arrival in a matter of days.

You can check out what to expect from SGF and find out how to watch the various showcases in our preview. We’ll be bringing you news on titles of all shapes and sizes from Summer Game Fest Live, Xbox Games Showcase and other events. We’ll also be on the ground in Los Angeles to go hands on with many of the newly announced games. Keep up with our coverage here on Engadget throughout SGF.

In the meantime, there are a host of new games to savor, as well as peeks at what’s coming your way in the coming weeks and months. Let’s get to it.

Thinky Direct

This showcase from Thinky Games was jam packed with captivating puzzle and mystery games. Two in particular caught my eye. The first is a very intriguing first-person archery puzzler. In He Who Watches, you’ll walk on walls, rotate rooms and use a bow and arrow to solve puzzles. It reminds me of the shrines in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom. A demo is out now on Steam and the full game should arrive this fall.

The other game that really stood out to me was Echo Weaver, a so-called “Metroidbraina.” Unlike in many Metroidvanias, where you need to find power ups or new abilities to progress, here you’ll move forward by acquiring knowledge, including figuring out your character’s special abilities.

There aren’t any procedurally generated elements here. As with the likes of Outer Wilds, each run is time-based. You can find ways to extend the limit or sacrifice some time to pass through a barrier. Echo Weaver is coming to Steam and Xbox (including Game Pass).

There was lots of other interesting stuff in the first-ever Thinky Direct. I really enjoy the chill train puzzler Railbound and it was neat to find out that there’s a level editor available in beta. Kiko’s Apple Adventure is an adorable-looking block-pushing game in which the aim is to nudge apples onto rafts. It just arrived on Steam.

The Button Effect features a museum with a lot of buttons, each with a purpose for you to find out. It seems like a certain Taskmaster task taken to new extremes. The first public demo just hit Steam.

Nonolith is another compelling game that was featured in the showcase. In this puzzle platformer, you can copy and paste blocks to create openings, bridges and staircases. At first glance, it reminds me a little of Animal Well. Monolith is coming to Steam in 2026.

New releases

One thing definitely worth getting excited about this week if you own a particular yellow console with a crank owner is the start of Playdate Season Two. Every Thursday throughout the six-week season (which costs $39), two new games arrive on Panic’s diminutive device.

The first batch includes the charming-looking Dig! Dig! Dino! and Fulcrum Defender. The latter of those is from FTL: Faster Than Light and Into the Breach studio Subset Games, whose co-founder Jay Ma went through hell to make Fulcrum Defender.

One of the titles included in the season, Blippo+, is a full-motion video game. It will have weekly episodic updates for 12 weeks, extending far beyond the rest of the Season Two window. The first episode is out now.

Trails is a lovely puzzle game that just landed on Steam. You’ll guide sandships to their destination by drawing a path for them. You can’t take a ship through the same square twice, and you’ll need to make sure they don’t crash into each other. There are obstacles, of course, and you’ll sometimes have to collect and deliver cargo.

I’ve enjoyed my time with Trails so far. Developer PurpleSloth gradually teaches you how to play through trial and error, and it adds new hazards and mechanics at a nice pace, though the puzzles do become quite tricky.

You may have spent many pleasant hours cleaning grime off of various objects and iconic landmarks in PowerWash Simulator (which is set to get a sequel later this year). It’s time to flip the script a bit in Spray Paint Simulator, from North Star Video Games and publisher Whitethorn Games.

The concept is pretty similar, in that you’ll complete jobs for clients by painting certain items or environments. There are no time limits here and a feature that lets you mask an area to ensure you get clean lines is a nice touch. If marking your territory on public or private property with sick, definitely-not-ugly tags is more your thing, there’s a free spray mode that you can play alone or with a friend in co-op.

Spray Paint Simulator is out now on Steam, PS4, PS5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S. It’s on Game Pass too. The game is also coming to Nintendo Switch on June 19.

Eternal Evil debuted on Steam back in 2022, and two and a half years later, the survival horror game has made the jump to PS5 and Xbox Series X/S. It has mostly positive reviews on Steam and seems very much in the vein of the Resident Evil series (it even has a dual narrative with two characters to play). You’ll take on vampires that get stronger as they feed in this game from solo developer Honor Games.

How could I not include a game with a name like Trash Goblin? This is a cozy shopkeeping title from Spilt Milk Studios that just came out of early access on Steam. You’ll unearth, restore and upcycle trinkets to sell to customers so you can upgrade your shop. It seems one you might chill out with.

Elsewhere, To a T, a game we mentioned last week, is out now on Xbox Series X/S, Game Pass, PS5, Steam and the Epic Games Store. Cowboy-themed life sim Cowboy Country just landed on Steam, PlayStation, Xbox and Nintendo Switch as well.

Upcoming

I’ve had my eye on Kingmakers for a while. It’s a completely bananas-looking blend of third-person shooting and strategy game from Redemption Road in which you travel back in time to a medieval war, bringing modern weapons and vehicles with you. Publisher tinyBuild revealed during a showcase this week that Kingmakers will debut in early access on Steam on October 8. Really looking forward to that one.

Beyond the Board is a moody-looking adventure that takes a rook… well, beyond a chess board. It takes inspiration from puzzle games like Limbo and Monument Valley, so it shouldn’t be too much of a surprise that the story is told through visual storytelling and soundscapes rather than dialogue. This game from Fragile Shapes Studio doesn’t yet have a release window, but you can check out a demo on Steam now.

An extended demo for a fast-paced, melee-focused dungeon runner called Bloodthief dropped this week. It looks like a lo-fi, medieval spin on Ghostrunner (a series I enjoy but am quite bad at) but with vampires. So yes, I will be digging into this when I have a chance. The original demo is said to have 20 or so hours of gameplay and there’s even more in the extended version, which will be featured in Steam Next Fest. Bloodthief, from developer Blargis, is slated to arrive later this year.

I’m going to close this edition out with a game you’ll probably never be able to play. Developer Kenney says that, a few years back, they helped a young Star Wars fan make a game based on The Mandalorian after a Make-a-Wish connected the pair. It’s a heartwarming story, and the game looks quite charming based on the clip that Kenney shared on BlueSky. However, for legal reasons, it’ll likely stay under lock and key, sadly.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/playdate-season-two-spray-paint-simulator-and-other-new-indie-games-worth-checking-out-110035699.html?src=rss