New Meta Horizon Worlds update lets you easily block and report other users Image: MetaMeta’s new Horizon Worlds release will make it easier to block and report other users who aren’t playing nice. The new v124 release for the metaverse social platform lets players quickly access mute, block, and report functions in the user pause menu. To access the safety controls, users can hover over another person’s nameplate while…

Epic’s new program lets developers keep their revenue in exchange for exclusivity Illustration by Alex Castro / The VergeEpic Games will let developers keep 100 percent of their net revenues from the Epic Games Store for six months if they choose to make their games or apps exclusives for that time through its new First Run program, the company announced on Wednesday. Typically, Epic lets developers keep 88 percent of their r…

Hollywood writers say producers want them to ‘cave’ after the public release of proposals Photo by Mario Tama / Getty ImagesHollywood producers are trying to turn up the pressure on striking writers — but writers aren’t biting. The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) publicly released its counteroffer to the Writers Guild of America (WGA) on Tuesday, which details proposals surrounding AI, residuals, streaming…

BioWare is laying off ‘approximately’ 50 people Image: BioWareBioWare is laying off “approximately” 50 people, according to an announcement from the studio’s general manager, Gary McKay. “In order to meet the needs of our upcoming projects, continue to hold ourselves to the highest standard of quality, and ensure BioWare can continue to thrive in an industry that’s rapidly evolving, we must s…

Tornado Cash devs charged with laundering more than $1 billion Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The VergeTornado Cash developers Roman Semenov and Roman Storm have been charged with three conspiracy counts in an indictment unsealed today. Storm has been arrested and Semenov remains at large, according to a statement from the Southern District of New York. Tornado Cash is a so-called “mixer,” a privacy serv…

WhatsApp will let you set up group chats without having to come up with a name Illustration: The VergeWhatsApp will soon let users create new group chats without having to name them, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has announced. Unnamed groups will instead be given an auto-generated name based on their participants. In a screenshot shared by Zuckerberg, we can see one such group titled “Rocco & Li-Chen.” Although it’s a minor fe…

India’s Chandrayaan-3 probe successfully lands on the lunar south pole India is now the first nation to successfully achieve a soft landing near the Moon’s southern pole. | Photo by INDRANIL MUKHERJEE / AFP via Getty ImagesIndia’s Chandrayaan-3 mission has made space travel history today by successfully achieving a soft landing near the south pole of Earth’s Moon, just days after Russia’s Luna 25 spacecraft crashed…

Hands-on: the HyperX Cloud III Wireless makes a great headset even better Cloud III Wireless versus Cloud II Wireless. | Photo by Sean Hollister / The VergeMy colleague Cameron Faulkner called the HyperX Cloud II Wireless “among the most comfortable headsets I’ve worn.” Today, HP is announcing its successor — the Cloud III Wireless — and I’m happy to say it’s better in most every way. When I heard the new Cloud III W…

Sony’s portable PlayStation Portal launches later this year for $199.99 PlayStation Portal. | Image: SonySony is officially launching its portable PlayStation later this year, the PlayStation Portal remote player. The handheld device will stream PS5 games over Wi-Fi and features an eight-inch LCD screen running at 1080p resolution at 60fps. Sony says the PlayStation Portal will be available later this year priced at…

Sony’s PlayStation wireless earbuds will cost a whopping $199.99 Image: SonyIn addition to announcing the price of its upcoming PlayStation Portal remote gaming gadget, Sony also shared new details today on the PlayStation-branded wireless earbuds that it first revealed several months ago. They’re officially called the Pulse Explore and will be priced at $199.99, though the company isn’t yet sharing exactly w…

Dark Brandon haunts the Fox News website on GOP debate day Image: Rob Flaherty, Biden 2024 deputy campaign managerThere’s no escaping him. “Dark Brandon,” Joe Biden’s undying alter ego, has appeared on everything from baseball caps to crop tops. Now, his menacing red eyes are staring out from the FoxNews.com homepage — where the first GOP presidential debate is set to stream later tonight. Throughout t…

A visit to the one-man computer factory The Mythic I is a computer, but it’s nothing like your computer.Computers used to be made out of wood, endlessly customizable, and totally personal. Now they’re all metal rectangles. Can one guy in his LA house help bring the old way back? Continue reading…

This batarang houses Qualcomm’s next big bet on gaming Two years ago, we told you how Qualcomm was eying the Nintendo Switch and Steam Deck, building a reference design that eventually morphed into the Razer Edge. And while Razer’s handheld was eventually hamstrung by truly ridiculous pricing, Qualcomm is now building three new chips to replace the previous one. Today, the company’s announcing the …

Teen Lapsus$ member was behind the leaked GTA 6 footage, London jury finds Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The VergeA London jury has found that a teenage member of the Lapsus$ hacking group carried out the high-profile cyberattacks on Rockstar Games, Uber, and Nvidia, according to a report from the BBC. The Southwark Crown Court jury found 18-year-old Arion Kurtaj guilty on 12 counts, including blackmail, fraud, and…

Corsair’s first standing desk is designed for gaming, streaming, and more Just look at all the stuff you can mount on this desk. | Image: CorsairCorsair’s Platform:6 is a modular standing desk that’s being targeted at everyone from remote workers to content creators and, naturally, PC gamers. It’ll be available to purchase in the fourth quarter of this year, but Corsair’s website isn’t currently listing any prices for…

The false promises of Tesla’s Full Self-Driving Image: Owen Grove / The VergeBack in 2016, Tesla CEO Elon Musk stunned the automotive world by announcing that, henceforth, all of his company’s vehicles would be shipped with the hardware necessary for “full self-driving.” You will be able to nap in your car while it drives you to work, he promised. It will even be able to drive cross-country w…

Samsung’s 57-inch ‘Dual UHD’ gaming monitor gets a price and release date It’s a lot of screen, whichever way you cut it. | Image: SamsungSamsung’s 57-inch Odyssey Neo G9, its massive gaming monitor that’s like having two 32-inch 4K displays sat next to each other, will be available in the US in October for $2,499.99, the company has announced. If you’re in the UK the monitor is available to preorder from today for £2…

Hyperkin’s new Xbox controller has drift-free sticks in a PlayStation-style layout A licensed Xbox controller with a bit of a PlayStation vibe. | Image: HyperkinThird-party controller makers are continuing to pick up the slack from Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo when it comes to making more durable, drift-proof controllers. Hyperkin is announcing the Competition, an Xbox-licensed wired controller for Xbox Series X / S and PC wi…

Mortal Kombat 1 reboots the bloody fighter with a focus on new players NetherRealm StudiosMortal Kombat 1 gets RPG chocolate in your fighting game peanut butter with the new Invasions game mode. Continue reading…

OpenAI opens GPT-3.5 Turbo up for custom tuning Illustration: The VergeOpenAI has announced that businesses can now fine-tune GPT-3.5 Turbo using their own data — OpenAI claims the resulting custom model can match or exceed the abilities of GPT-4 for certain tasks. Later this fall, the company says it will open up the arguably more advanced GPT-4 for the same purpose this fall. Fine-tuning le…