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We’re starting to get a clearer picture of how Elon Musk’s takeover of Twitter has changed the platform. According to new data from Pew Research, a “majority” of US Twitter users have “taken a break” from the platform over the last year, and many of the site’s “most active” users are tweeting less often than they used to.

“Six-in-ten Americans who have used Twitter in the past 12 months say they have taken a break from the platform for a period of several weeks or more during that span,” Pew writes in a report based on a survey of 10,701 Twitter users. In a separate report, Pew also studied the “actual behavior” of 1,002 of Twitter’s “most active” users and found “a noticeable posting decline in the months after” Musk’s acquisition. “These users’ average number of tweets per month declined by around 25% following the acquisition,” Pew noted.

Together, these stats suggest that engagement on Twitter has declined since Musk’s takeover, at least among formerly active users. That’s particularly notable because, as Pew notes, the vast majority of Twitter users are lurkers, not posters. Twenty percent of Twitter users send 98 percent of all tweets.

At the same time, it seems many of Twitter’s most active users haven’t given up on the platform entirely. According to Pew, only 25 percent of “highly active” users said they are “not very or not at all likely to be on Twitter a year from now.”

Pew didn’t poll Twitter users on the reasons for their pullback from Twitter, or if Musk’s actions were directly responsible for the shift. It also doesn’t take into account how many new users may have joined Twitter in the last year. But the new numbers offer new insight into the growing ranks of Twitter quitters who may be spending more time on alternative platforms like Mastodon and Bluesky since Musk’s takeover,

Unsurprisingly, Pew also found that Musk himself has become even more of a main character on Twitter over the last year. “On average, adult Twitter users in the U.S. mentioned Musk in a tweet just once between Jan. 1 and April 13, 2022, before he announced his intention to acquire the platform,” the report says. “Since then, however, references to Musk have become much more common on the site. These users tweeted about him an average of three times between April 14 and Oct. 26, 2022 – while Musk was in the process of acquiring the platform – and an average of six times in the months after the sale was finalized.”

The reports come as Musk has named a new CEO in former NBCU executive Linda Yaccarino. Yaccarino, who is slated to start in the coming weeks, is expected to draw on her ad industry experience to try to win back advertisers, many of whom have fled following controversial policy changes by Musk. Whether she’ll be able to win back the much sought-after “highly active tweeters,” though, is unclear. With Musk remaining as CTO and executive chairman, he’s likely to continue to be Twitter’s most influential — and controversial — user for the foreseeable future.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/us-adults-are-spending-less-time-on-twitter-since-elon-musk-took-over-192939586.html?src=rss 

Nicolas Cage will soon appear in Dead by Daylight. The actor will bring his delightful eccentricity and Billy Mays-style beard to the multiplayer survival game, developer Behavior Interactive announced on Twitter. “There is nothing more powerful than imagination,” Cage says in the appropriately campy teaser. “It can shape the fabric of reality, transforming everything you may think you know.”

Cage will play himself in the role of a Survivor, according toEurogamer. “After countless awards and over one hundred movies shot across the globe, Nicolas Cage had seen it all and done it all — or so he thought,” a brief announcement reads. “While on set filming the role of a lifetime, his performance summoned The Entity, a malevolent being of incomprehensible power. The actor soon found himself cast in otherworldly Fog, forced to Survive a host of terrifying Killers deadlier than even the most scathing film critic.”

It’s the latest quirky / campy addition to the popular horror game, following a K-Pop star, Freddy Kreuger, Leatherface, Evil Dead’s Ash Williams and a pro-surveillance tech executive. (It even has a dating-sim add-on for some reason.) The game’s developers, who describe Cage’s appearance as “the performance of a lifetime,” say we’ll hear more about the Oscar winner’s contribution on July 5th.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/nicolas-cage-is-coming-to-dead-by-daylight-174623542.html?src=rss 

Four years after the last in-person edition, a full-on version of BlizzCon has been scheduled for later this year. Blizzard’s fan convention will take place at its long-standing Anaheim Convention Center home on November 3rd and 4th. More details will be revealed next month, including ticket information, though hotel blocks are already open. As always, some of the panels will be livestreamed, including the opening ceremony.

A lot has changed since BlizzCon 2019. Of course, the COVID-19 pandemic upended everything, and BlizzCon has beenonhiatus (save for a virtual edition that took place in early 2021) ever since. 

In the interim, Blizzard has faced accusations of fostering a toxic work culture. BlizzCon is saddled with its own baggage and the company has yet to detail the safety policies that will be in place at this year’s event. Reports also suggest there may be an exodus of Blizzard developers due to the publisher’s return to office policy.

Nevertheless, the studio will surely have news and updates to share for its various franchises at BlizzCon, including Warcraft, Overwatch and Diablo. BlizzCon will likely host some esports events as well.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/blizzcon-returns-as-an-in-person-event-later-this-year-180934125.html?src=rss 

Analogue’s universally compatible TurboGrafx-16 console, the Duo, will finally be available for preorders later this week, on May 19th. The company made the reveal on Twitter and also noted that preorders begin sharply at 8AM PDT. These kinds of niche gaming consoles tend to sell out of preorders quickly, so set your alarm.

There’s a spot of bad news to go along with the announcement. The Analogue Duo was first revealed all the way back in 2020 and was set to launch for $200. The updated price tag is now $250.

For the price, you do get an all-in-one system that promises to play every single TurboGrafx-16/PC Engine title, thanks to dual media readers that play both the originally manufactured cartridges and the compact discs that came later. The console even runs games that require the Arcade RAM add-on that comprised the unsuccessful SuperGrafx console that was only released in Japan.

The Duo includes some modern bells and whistles, like an HDMI port, 1080p resolution, an SD card slot, two USB ports for wired controllers and Bluetooth for wireless accessories. The console doesn’t come with a controller, though it works with plenty of budget-friendly offerings by 8BitDo and others.

To the uninitiated, the TurboGrafx-16, called the PC Engine in Japan, was a competitor to the NES and SNES that saw some success in its home country but only modest sales in the US. Despite never reaching the heights of Sega and Nintendo, the console holds a place in the hearts of retro gamers, thanks to a robust library of hundreds of titles.

Just like all Analogue consoles, the Duo isn’t an emulation machine, as it features near-identical internal components that integrate with physical media. The company has made popular recreations of many iconic consoles, including the Pocket device that plays games from nearly every retro portable console.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/you-can-preorder-analogues-turbografx-inspired-duo-console-this-friday-182539002.html?src=rss 

Game developer Panic, the studio behind Firewatch and Untitled Goose Game, is dropping a unique soccer title on PS5 next year. It’s called Despelote and is described as a “beautiful slice-of-life adventure” about childhood and the world’s favorite sport. The title’s set in Ecuador in 2001, which was when the country had its first qualifying run for the World Cup.

Gameplay involves exploring the city of Quito, playing soccer and engaging in “playful, funny interactions” with various townspeople. It boasts a first person perspective and a highly unique art style that merges grainy photo realism with flourishes of animation. Not sure what that means? There’s a teaser trailer.

Panic says the game was inspired by lead co-creator Julián Cordero’s childhood and it boasts full voice acting in Spanish with the option for localized subtitles. Much of the dialogue was actually captured in real life on the streets of Ecuador to give it a bit more flavor. The same goes for the background ambient noise.

It’s worth noting that this is a narrative title first and a soccer game second, so don’t expect a full-on sim like FIFA. There looks to be plenty of opportunities to kick things, pass things and dribble, however, as you explore the town, “getting caught up in mischief and soaking in the local culture.”

Despelote first appeared on the scene in 2021 at that year’s Summer Games Fest, but there wasn’t an official publisher or release platform back then. As for Panic, the company’s been busy meeting the demands of PlayDate portable console owners in addition to publishing nifty indie titles.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/panic-and-sony-drop-trailer-for-unique-soccer-game-with-a-narrative-twist-164017770.html?src=rss 

The New York Times is doubling down on podcasts. The outlet announced Tuesday the launch of its long-awaited NYT Audio app. Available to download only on iOS at the moment, the software collects all of the Gray Lady’s audio journalism, including podcasts from the Athletic and Serial Productions, under one roof.

The Times first previewed the app back in 2021. At the time, it billed the software as a way to give its journalists more freedom to experiment outside of the limits imposed by platforms like Spotify and Apple Podcasts. “This is a canvas for all of those audio stories the newsroom wants to tell but didn’t quite have outlets for it before,” Times Deputy Managing Editor Sam Dolnick told Axios at the time.

In addition to the outlet’s entire back catalog of podcasts, the NYT Audio will feature new content, including short audio pieces where journalists from The Times will retell how they reported a story they wrote recently. Home cooks can also look forward to listening to recipe advice from the outlet’s Cooking section. You need a digital News or All Access subscription to access the app. If you’re like me and only subscribe to the Cooking section, that won’t cut it, unfortunately. The good news is podcasts like The Daily and The Coldest Case in Laramie aren’t leaving Spotify, Pocket Casts and other platforms.

The release of the NYT Audio app comes as other companies that bet big on podcasts during the pandemic are reducing their investments. Spotify, most notably, cut 11 original podcasts, including the highly acclaimed How to Save a Planet, at the end of last year.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-new-york-times-built-a-standalone-app-for-audio-journalism-165530840.html?src=rss 

The first episode of The Expanse: A Telltale Series at last has a release date. You’ll be able to jump in to the game on July 27th on PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One and PC via the Epic Games Store.

Unlike previous Telltale titles, which often left fans hanging for months between episodes (sometimes due to external issues), you won’t have to wait long for more installments. Telltale says that a new episode will drop every two weeks until all five are out in the wild. The standard version of the game costs $40 and the deluxe edition is $45. Pre-order either on PlayStation or the Epic store and you’ll get to play a day early, while the deluxe edition will include access to more content that’s on the way in the future. Expect to learn more about that at a later date.

The game acts as a prequel to The Expanse, a TV show that originally ran on Syfy for three seasons before Amazon Prime picked it up and produced another three seasons. Cara Gee reprises her role as Camina Drummer, the game’s playable character.

The Expanse is said to have the “largest and most immersive exploration” of any Telltale game to date. Drummer, who helps run a scavenger crew, will scour shipwrecks, walk on ceilings and walls using mag boots and use zero-gravity thrusters to float through open space. You’ll need to deal with the threat of a mutiny and, since this is a Telltale game, make difficult decisions that impact the future of The Artemis’ crew.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-first-episode-of-the-expanse-a-telltale-series-will-arrive-on-july-27th-171001556.html?src=rss