Sundays are for hopping over stepping stones across a river. There's a stone missing in the middle. Immediately, a quest decision prompt flashes up before my eyes, offering three choices: turn back in humiliation; attempt the leap and risk perishing in the writhing waters, leaving this week's Sunday Papers unfinished; or pile up smaller stones… read more

This is The Stepback, a weekly newsletter breaking down one essential story from the tech world. For more news about the streaming industry, follow Emma Roth. The Stepback arrives in our subscribers' inboxes at 8AM ET. Opt in for The Stepback here. How it started Streaming was once a reprieve from cable. Not only could… read more

The founding story of Nest is pretty much a perfect tech myth. A legendary product maker (in this case, Tony Fadell) helps create one of the most successful products ever (the iPhone) and then rides off into the sunset to enjoy the rest of his life, only to have an experience that drags him back… read more

Coffee Talk started out as a slice-of-life visual novel casting you as a night-shift barista serving Seattle’s uniquely magical residents, from elves to vampires to succubi, hearing out and advising their whims and woes over steaming cups. Its strength was not just in the individual lines of dialogue spouting from these monsters (affectionate), but also… read more

Phasmophobia maker Kinetic Games has revealed its new roadmap, confirming ghostbusters can expect the reworked Willow Street map by the end of July, "two major quality-of-life updates", and confirmation that the hugely anticipated 1.0 release has now slipped to 2027. Read more Read Full Article read more

Jonathan Rinderknecht was facing arson charges for setting a fire on New Year's Day in 2025, which became one of the deadliest wildfires in LA history. To make their case, prosecutors turned to location data from his iPhone, security camera footage, and witness testimony. But they also turned to his ChatGPT logs. Prosecutors said that… read more

Sony has written to PlayStation customers to advise that hundreds of "previously purchased" digital movies previously available via its online store will "be removed" from video libraries later this year. Read more Read Full Article read more

Just five days ago, we reported that indie hide-and-seek game Meccha Chameleon had sold seven million copies since its release on 10th June, and now it's topped another staggering milestone: 10 million copies sold. Read more Read Full Article read more

I do love me an odd little immersive sim I do. There's just something special about the flexibility in them, so my ears always perk up like a dog hearing the word walkies whenever a new one enters the scene. Today, it's Bloodwoven, the next game from the devs behind Blood West (guess they like… read more

Teenage Engineering has already issued multiple substantial updates for its surprisingly capable $329 EP-133 KO II sampler. Its latest is one of the biggest yet. OS 2.5 adds audio over USB, selectable sample rates for lo-fi fun, sample reverse, an arpeggiator, equal-length autochopping, and it extends the maximum length of a sample from 20 seconds… read more

Striking staff at Quantic Dream have warned that if the studio proceeds with its plans to lay off 115 developers, its upcoming Star Wars Eclipse game "literally cannot be finished". Read more Read Full Article read more

The thing about Citizen Sleeper is that I wish there was more of it. Not literally, necessarily, I'd never want that world to be exhausted of its setting, and my imagination is stronger than any threequel or otherwise. Still, I'd like to play more of it because its inventive approach to digitising tabletop RPG design… read more