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Paradox Tectonic, which employs 24 people, has been working on the game since 2019, but the studio is being shut down following the life sim’s cancelation, according to Paradox Interactive.

I asked if all Tectonic employees are being laid off and if any staffers will be offered other positions at Paradox, but spokesperson Jesse Henning declined to comment.

A deep dive by Rolling Stone tracked the deaths of children who died after taking fake drugs they bought on the app. Parents and law enforcement officials blame, in part, the disappearing messages feature that made Snapchat popular in the first place.

It will be available starting on June 25th and will update the original Backbone One controller with a translucent green shell (reminiscent of the Jungle Green N64), laser-etched buttons, an aluminum D-pad, and glow-in-the-dark Post Malone branding.

The Backbone One: Post Malone Limited Edition Controller will be limited to just 500 units, and that exclusivity is reflected in its $199.99 price tag.

Nintendo Switch Sports launched with a handful of games you’d kind of expect, like bowling, badminton, and swordplay, but after a free update dropping later this year, you’ll finally be able to shoot some hoops as well.

A new collection of Marvel and Capcom crossover arcade games is coming to Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, and Steam in 2024. Marvel vs. Capcom Fighting Collection Arcade Classics will contain seven titles, including X-Men Children of the Atom and both Sega Dreamcast-era Marvel vs. Capcom 2D fighting games.

It’s about time Marvel vs. Capcom 2 is released from jail and easily available again outside of a pricey Arcade 1Up machine.

Until now, patients with Medicare — a government-funded insurance program mostly for older adults — haven’t been eligible to enroll in the RxPass program Amazon debuted last year. The RxPass offers Medicare patients “unlimited access” to 60 different prescription medications for $5 a month and a prime membership. For now, patients with Medicaid — state-funded insurance for lower-income Americans — are still ineligible for the program.

The media group, which owns wide swath of TV networks around the country, has leveraged that reach to syndicate stories about Biden’s fitness for office, Popular Information reports. The stories, which sometimes included misleadingly-edited clips, published at the same times on dozens of local news sites Sinclair owns. Sinclair called claims it’s deceived its audience “outrageous and offensive.”

After 10 years of fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons, Wizards of the Coast is revamping the popular tabletop RPG with three new core rulebooks. The 2024 Player’s Handbook, Dungeon Master’s Guide, and Monster Manual kick off a new, non-numbered generation of the game when they launch September 17th, November 11th, and February 18th, respectively — with preorders available now.

Check out these snippets of art and pages from the upcoming books.

Un Kyu Lee’s Micro Journal Rev.6 is a purpose-built writing tool that trades the polish of Astrohaus’ Freewright devices for a cheaper price tag. The $169 kit pairs a hot-swappable keyboard with a monochromatic LCD display, a 30-hour battery, and wireless Google Drive syncing. The design files are also available through GitHub, eventually letting anyone 3D print and build their own.

Microsoft is launching its Copilot Plus PCs today, with Qualcomm-powered chips inside. If you’re wondering where our reviews are, Microsoft and most of its OEM partners haven’t seeded devices ahead of today’s launch because of Microsoft’s Recall... recall. I have started testing a Surface Laptop today, and we’ll have a full review of this new Windows on Arm hardware as soon as possible.

The Amazon Labor Union voted to ink an affiliation agreement with the International Brotherhood of Teamsters. Workers at a Staten Island warehouse became the first Amazon employees to vote to unionize in 2022. They still don’t have a contract, as the union struggles to get Amazon to the bargaining table. Joining forces with the Teamsters infuses their fight with fresh resources, The New York Times reports.

Days after the Financial Times said that Apple would be found guilty of not complying with obligations under the DMA to allow app developers to “steer” users to offers outside its App Store, the bloc’s competition chief Margrethe Vestager had this to say:

We have a number of Apple issues, I find them very serious. I was very surprised that we would have such suspicions of Apple being non-compliant.

Despite numerous setbacks, autonomous vehicle startups are somehow still able to get rich investors to open their wallets to them. Just today, Waabi, the driverless truck startup founded by former chief scientist at Uber’s Advanced Technology Group Raquel Urtasun, announced its Series B funding round, led by Uber and Khosla Ventures, of $200 million. The money will go toward the launch of the company’s “fully driverless, generative AI-powered autonomous trucks” by 2025. Big bucks and an elusive deadline to launch the new tech? What is this, 2017?

After warning it was running out of cash, the California-based company founded by designer Henrik Fisker has filed for Chapter 11 protection:

Like other companies in the electric vehicle industry, we have faced various market and macroeconomic headwinds that have impacted our ability to operate efficiently. After evaluating all options for our business, we determined that proceeding with a sale of our assets under Chapter 11 is the most viable path forward for the company.

Slim and light and globally available in June for $79.99 / €89.99.

Keys-To-Go 2, available in Lilac, Pale Grey and Graphite, features scissor keys for a comfortable, efficient and more precise typing experience. Connect via Bluetooth with up to three devices via the Easy-Switch keys, and type seamlessly across tablets, phones and laptops. This compact keyboard is available in two layouts, Universal (Android, ChromeOS, Windows, iPadOS, iOS and MacOS) and dedicated Apple layout (iPadOS, iOS and macOS).

The marketing whiplash in this press release announcing the availability of the Galaxy Book4 Edge is really something. 

It starts by praising the magic of AI (14 times), saying Samsung’s “next-gen AI PC will change the way users work, create and play through the power of AI.” It ends with this teeny tiny footnote for its “popular Galaxy AI:”

Samsung does not make any promises, assurances or guarantees as to the accuracy, completeness or reliability of the output provided by AI features.

To be fair, Samsung didn’t say the change was good.

The legislation would have given large cities the power to tax or even restrict autonomous vehicle deployment. But after lawmakers proposed stripping local control provisions, the bill’s sponsor decided to put it on ice. AV lobbyists opposed the bill, calling it a “backdoor ban.” But supporters said cities should have more say over whether to allow driverless cars on their streets.

Beats just posted a teaser featuring LeBron James and the heavily leaked Beats Pill refresh. More information is coming June 25th, apparently.

We knew Lego Star Wars: Rebuild the Galaxy, a four-part animated miniseries airing September 13th, would play amusingly fast and loose with canon.

But an entire Dark Falcon with Darth Jar Jar and Darth Rey and a Beach Luke?! Amazing. That’s the leak from Clay Bricks, who says it’ll cost $179.99. “X-Fighters” and “Tie-Wings” are reportedly coming too.

A new teaser for Motorola’s next-gen Razr gives us a brief glimpse at the foldable and confirms a June 25th launch date. So far, leaks suggest that the Razr 50 Ultra and its cheaper counterpart will come with larger cover screens.

I’m pretty skeptical that the “crypto voter” exists — there are plenty of other issues that weigh higher in people’s minds — but there’s a lot of spending happening. That said, Sam Bankman-Fried spent a great deal and got nothing, so...