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50 storiesHeart Machine Lays Off Nearly All Staff After Publisher Withdraws Funding
Indie studio Heart Machine has laid off nearly all its developers after a publisher withdrew funding for its unannounced next project, leaving the studio's future uncertain. Founder Alx Preston called the decision 'devastating' and acknowledged the studio may not survive.
3 outletsBusinessBuild a Rocket Boy Studio Reports Closing After Layoffs and Union Disputes
The studio behind the controversial game MindsEye, Build a Rocket Boy, is reportedly shutting down following multiple rounds of layoffs and employee disputes. Several staff members have confirmed their roles are ending, with some indicating the studio is winding down permanently.
3 outletsBusinessAnthropic Says Claude Blocked Suspected State-Linked Bioweapon Research Attempts
Anthropic has disclosed five cases in which users allegedly tried to use its Claude AI models for research that could aid bioweapons development, describing anonymization and geo-block evasion tactics tied to what it called state-sponsored actors. The company says it cannot confirm malicious intent in every case, given biology research's inherently dual-use nature.
2 outletsBusinessMiami Beach Votes to Negotiate GTA 6 Marketing Deal After Divided Vote
Miami Beach commissioners voted 4-3 to let the city negotiate a promotional partnership tied to Grand Theft Auto 6, with officials describing a low-key campaign involving beach umbrellas rather than city landmarks, despite objections over the game's violent content.
2 outletsBusinessRockstar and Fired GTA 6 Staff Clash Over Alleged Union-Busting 'Mole' as UK Tribunal Opens
An employment tribunal in Glasgow has begun hearing dueling accounts of why Rockstar Games fired a group of developers in October 2025, with the company alleging serious security breaches on a union Discord server and the dismissed workers alleging a long-running campaign of surveillance and union-busting.
3 outletsBusinessReports: PlayStation Dropped Kojima's Physint Over Budget, Schedule and Exclusivity Concerns
New reporting from Bloomberg's Jason Schreier, cited by TechPowerUp and Wccftech, says PlayStation's cancellation of Hideo Kojima's Physint stemmed from missed deadlines, ballooning costs, underwhelming Death Stranding sales, and Sony's reluctance to fund a game without permanent exclusivity. Kojima Productions has since partnered with Xbox to continue the project.
2 outletsBusinessSaber Interactive Says It Has 'No Real Development' Left in North America, Credits Overseas Studios for Space Marine 2's Success
Speaking at Gamescom, Saber Interactive chief creative officer Tim Willits said the studio behind Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 and SnowRunner now does its development work almost entirely outside North America, citing dramatically lower costs at its global studios compared to U.S. salaries.
2 outletsBusinessFramework Refunds Laptop Buyers Amid RAM Crunch, Ends Keyboard Customization Program
Framework is refunding customers after finding cheaper memory for its Framework 13 Pro, a move contrasted with Nintendo's tariff-refund sale. Separately, Framework has ended its One Key Module keyboard program due to manufacturing and cost issues.
2 outletsBusinessSony Reportedly Dropped Kojima's Physint Over Budget, Deadlines and Death Stranding Sales
A Bloomberg report, cited by multiple outlets, says PlayStation canceled Hideo Kojima's Metal Gear successor Physint due to missed deadlines, ballooning costs, and disappointing returns from the Death Stranding series. The project has since moved to Xbox.
4 outletsBusinessMiami Beach Narrowly Approves Negotiations for GTA 6 Marketing Deal With Rockstar Games
Miami Beach commissioners voted 4-3 to let the city negotiate an advertising deal with Rockstar Games for Grand Theft Auto 6, sparking debate over the game's violence versus millions in potential city funding.
3 outletsBusinessSaudi Wealth Fund Reportedly Weighing Merger of EA and Savvy Games Group
A Bloomberg report says Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund is considering merging newly acquired Electronic Arts with Savvy Games Group, though no final decision has been made and any move would likely wait until Savvy closes its $6 billion Moonton acquisition.
3 outletsBusinessNintendo Funds 'Customer Appreciation Sale' With Tariff Refunds, Drawing Criticism Amid Lawsuit
Nintendo of America is using part of a $300 million tariff refund to fund a storewide sale rather than compensating Switch 2 buyers who paid higher prices, a move critics say sidesteps an ongoing class-action lawsuit.
2 outletsBusinessUbisoft Reportedly Testing End to Mandatory Connect Launcher on Steam
An unverified but widely reported Steam post suggests Ubisoft is testing a way to let Steam players use Ubisoft Connect features like cross-play and cross-progression without installing or launching the separate Connect client, starting with Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown.
5 outletsBusinessMicrosoft's September Patch Tuesday Fixes Nearly 1,000 Vulnerabilities, Including Two Actively Exploited Flaws
Microsoft's September security update addressed close to 1,000 vulnerabilities across Windows, Office, Azure and other products, with two zero-day flaws already being exploited in the wild. Sources differ slightly on the exact total number of vulnerabilities patched.
2 outletsBusinessNintendo Announces 'Customer Appreciation Sale' Funded by Tariff Refunds It Won't Give Back to Players
Nintendo says a new storewide discount event was made possible by $300 million in tariff refunds, even as it fights in court to avoid passing that same money back to customers who paid higher prices.
4 outletsBusinessApple Raises iPhone Prices Across the Board Amid DRAM Shortage
Alongside unveiling the iPhone 18 Pro, iPhone 18 Pro Max, and the new foldable iPhone Duo, Apple quietly increased prices on nearly its entire iPhone lineup by $100, including older models that received no hardware changes.
2 outletsBusinessXbox Signs Kojima's Physint After PlayStation Steps Away From the Project
Hideo Kojima's stealth-action title Physint, once a PlayStation exclusive, is now set to be published by Xbox after Sony informed Kojima Productions in June that it planned to cancel the project.
4 outletsBusinessSteam's New Age Verification in Australia Requires a Credit Card, Excluding Many Adults
Valve has rolled out mandatory 18+ age verification for Australian Steam users, but unlike PlayStation and Xbox, it currently accepts only one method: owning a credit card, leaving some adults unable to access R18+ content.
2 outletsBusinessCXMT's HBM Chips Reportedly Stuck at 25% Yield, South Korean Media Say
Chinese memory maker CXMT is said to be struggling with HBM production yields of around 25%, according to South Korean media reports cited by TechPowerUp and Wccftech, as the company works to master through-silicon via (TSV) stacking technology.
2 outletsBusinessIntel Reports High-NA EUV Milestone and Packaging Lead, Also Overhauls Technical Ladder
Intel says it has processed one million wafers using High-NA EUV lithography and is drawing praise for its EMIB-T packaging technology, while separately renaming its longstanding 'Fellow' title to 'Distinguished Engineer.'
3 outletsBusinessChinese Chipmakers CXMT and YMTC Stockpile ASML DUV Tools for Three-Year Expansion, Report Says
A Financial Times report cited by TechPowerUp and Wccftech says Chinese memory makers CXMT and YMTC have secured enough ASML deep ultraviolet lithography tools to sustain expansion for three years, as Washington pushes for tighter export controls and domestic Chinese equipment makers race to scale up production.
2 outletsBusinessPlayStation Architect Mark Cerny and Geoff Keighley Launch Nova Games Foundation to Fund New Game Developers
Mark Cerny, PlayStation's lead systems architect, and Geoff Keighley, host and creator of The Game Awards, are starting the Nova Games Foundation, a philanthropic initiative that will give millions of dollars in grants to recent university graduates to help them break into the game industry.
3 outletsBusinessMicrosoft Slashes Xbox Cloud Gaming Hours to as Low as 5 a Month, Sparking Backlash
Microsoft announced new monthly Xbox Cloud Gaming limits ahead of its TCL TV expansion announcement. Starting in November, Game Pass tiers will include 5, 10 or 15 streaming hours per month, with extra time available for purchase.
2 outletsBusinessDeepSeek Reportedly Orders 160,000 Huawei Ascend 950DT AI Chips for Inner Mongolia Data Center
Chinese AI lab DeepSeek has placed a large order for Huawei's domestically made Ascend 950DT accelerators instead of Nvidia's China-specific H20 GPUs, according to reports from TechPowerUp and Wccftech, signaling a shift toward homegrown chips for large-scale AI inference.
2 outletsBusinessSaber Interactive Draws Line on AI Use in Big Licensed Games, Stands Firm Amid Rideshare Stimulator Backlash
Saber Interactive CCO Tim Willits says generative AI won't be used in major licensed titles like Space Marine 3, even as the studio defends its AI experimentation in Rideshare Stimulator and weathers criticism over a writer's claims she was replaced by ChatGPT.
2 outletsBusinessData Center Water Use Sparks Outrage in Two Separate Incidents
A condemned Bitcoin mining facility in Oklahoma leaked 3 million gallons of water, while a Denver data center faces scrutiny for watering its lawn amid drought restrictions.
1 outletBusinessTom's Guide Rounds Up Labor Day Mattress Deals, With Testers Split on Top Pick
Tom's Guide's Labor Day mattress coverage highlights discounts across several brands, with individual reviewers championing different beds — from the Helix Midnight Luxe to the Saatva Classic to Brooklyn Bedding's budget CopperFlex Essential — while a master deals list shows some pricing differences from the standalone reviews.
1 outletBusinessLabor Day Sales 2026: What Tom's Guide and Tom's Hardware Found Across Retailers
As summer winds down, Tom's Guide and Tom's Hardware deals editors rounded up Labor Day sales spanning Amazon, Best Buy, REI, Lowe's, Alo Yoga, Dollar Shave Club, T-Mobile, Walmart and Dell, highlighting discounts on tech, tools, cameras, apparel and outdoor gear even as several brands recently raised prices.
2 outletsBusinessSaber Interactive CCO Defends Studio's Comms Strategy and Business Model Amid Controversy
At Gamescom, Saber Interactive CCO Tim Willits told PC Gamer the studio won't change its communications approach despite recent backlash, while also crediting the studio's spread-out resource model for helping it avoid industry-wide struggles like layoffs and reliance on mega-budget games.
1 outletBusinessFormer Old School RuneScape Developer Sentenced for Stealing In-Game Gold and Items From Players
Andrew Lakeman, known to the RuneScape community as 'Mod Jed,' has been sentenced after a years-long investigation found he used his access as a Jagex developer to steal gold and items from player accounts and resell them for real money and cryptocurrency.
3 outletsBusinessSony Clarifies PlayStation Disc Production Won't Fall to 10 Percent, Just by That Much
Sony has pushed back on reports that PlayStation disc manufacturing would be slashed to just 10 percent of current output, clarifying the real figure is a 10 percent decline by 2028 — as debate continues over the platform's disc-free future.
2 outletsBusinessMiami-Dade Officials Pitch GTA 6 Tie-In, but County Sheriff Pushes Back
A Miami-Dade County pitch deck proposing a marketing partnership with Rockstar Games around Grand Theft Auto 6 has drawn public opposition from the county's sheriff and at least one commissioner, even as officials tout potential revenue and tourism benefits.
4 outletsBusinessTim Schafer Explains How Double Fine Survived Leaving Xbox
Double Fine founder Tim Schafer opened up to Bloomberg about the studio's departure from Microsoft, the layoffs that followed, and why he believes the studio's niche games could still find an audience.
3 outletsBusinessSpider-Noir Canceled After One Season at Prime Video Despite Emmy Nominations
Amazon MGM Studios and Sony Pictures Television have canceled Spider-Noir after a single season, despite the series earning multiple Emmy nominations and strong critical reviews.
2 outletsBusinessGamescom Apologizes for Its Response to Developer Hardware Thefts, Vows Security Review
After a wave of criticism over its initial statement blaming exhibitors for a string of hardware thefts at this year's event, Gamescom has apologized and pledged to work with affected developers to improve security.
3 outletsBusinessWhite House Launches 'Arcade.gov' With Trump-Themed Game Knockoffs; Tetris Company Pushes Back
The White House added an online arcade of low-effort clones of classic games — including a Tetris-style border wall game — themed around immigration enforcement and other administration priorities. The Tetris Company publicly distanced itself and warned it takes copyright infringement 'very seriously,' a rare pushback compared to the silence of other game brands referenced in past White House social posts.
4 outletsBusinessBungie Seeks to Sublease Most of Its Massive Bellevue Headquarters
After a costly 2021 expansion and repeated rounds of layoffs, Bungie is looking to sublease the majority of its 211,000-square-foot campus, citing a shift to remote work.
3 outletsBusinessMiami-Dade Officials Clash Over Pitch to Turn County Into Real-Life Vice City for GTA 6
Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava pitched Rockstar Games a marketing collaboration transforming parts of the county into Grand Theft Auto 6's Vice City, but the county's sheriff, a commissioner, and members of the judiciary have pushed back, calling the game's crime themes incompatible with the region's image.
4 outletsBusinessNvidia to Acquire Hugging Face for $12.93 Billion, Pledges to Keep Platform Open
Nvidia has agreed to buy AI model-hosting platform Hugging Face for $12.93 billion, with both companies saying the platform will remain independent, open, and compatible with non-Nvidia hardware.
3 outletsBusinessNexus Mods Acquires SteamDB After 13 Years of Solo Development
Nexus Mods has acquired SteamDB, the popular Steam tracking database run single-handedly for 13 years by developer Pavel "xPaw" Djundik, promising to keep the site free of ads and paywalls while adding new features.
2 outletsBusiness153 Million U.S. and Canadian Driver's Licenses Reportedly Exposed in Breach Tied to ID-Verification Vendor
A hacker-run site called Nexus claimed to sell access to over 153 million driver's licenses and other ID documents, including that of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, with evidence pointing to a breach at identity verification company IDScan.net.
2 outletsBusinessUBS: China's EUV Lithography Development Trails ASML by About 10 Years
A new UBS report finds China's progress in extreme ultraviolet (EUV) chip-making technology resembles ASML's status around 2004, suggesting Chinese manufacturers remain roughly a decade behind in this critical area, even as they may close the gap faster in older DUV lithography.
2 outletsBusinessSteamDB Acquired by Nexus Mods Owners After Founder Cites Burnout
SteamDB, the long-running, donation-funded Steam data tracking site, has been acquired by Chosen, the company behind Nexus Mods, after founder xPaw stepped away citing burnout and the changing internet.
3 outletsBusinessMemory Chip Prices Surge Past Chipset Costs Amid AI-Driven Shortage
A global memory shortage fueled by the AI infrastructure boom has sent DRAM and NAND flash prices soaring, making memory the most expensive component in smartphones and pushing prices to levels comparable to gold.
1 outletBusinessDiscounted Windows 11 Pro Licenses and Office Bundle Offered Through Sept. 1
Two PCWorld listings detail limited-time offers for lifetime Windows 11 Pro licenses, including a standalone version and a bundle with Office Professional 2021, both requiring PC compatibility checks before purchase.
1 outletBusinessGamescom Faces Backlash After Multiple Indie Developers Report Stolen Equipment
Several indie studios say laptops and other equipment were stolen from their booths at Gamescom 2026 in Cologne, Germany, despite promises of security. The event's organizers responded by pointing exhibitors to insurance and paid security options, drawing criticism for not taking more responsibility.
3 outletsBusinessNvidia Denies Pausing AI Cloud Partnership Deals After Report of Partner Pushback and Antitrust Concerns
The Wall Street Journal reported that Nvidia paused parts of its new AI Compute Partnership program amid partner irritation and internal antitrust concerns, but Nvidia says the initiative remains in place and is 'evolving.'
2 outletsBusinessSK hynix Breaks Ground on First U.S. HBM Packaging Plant in Indiana
SK hynix has held a groundbreaking ceremony for a $4 billion advanced packaging and testing facility for high-bandwidth memory in West Lafayette, Indiana, with mass production targeted for the second half of 2029.
2 outletsBusinessYMTC Targets Top Spot in Global NAND Market by 2027 Ahead of Shanghai IPO
Chinese memory maker YMTC has told investors it aims to overtake Samsung and SK hynix to become the world's largest NAND flash producer by the end of 2027, as it prepares a multibillion-dollar IPO on the Shanghai Stock Exchange.
2 outletsBusinessNvidia Posts Record $96 Billion Quarter, Projects Vera Rubin to Drive Fastest Product Ramp in Company History
Nvidia's fiscal Q2 2027 results show record revenue and data center sales, while the company signals its new Vera Rubin platform could account for 20% of data center revenue next quarter. The results come alongside massive supply commitments and new financing guarantees tied to an OpenAI-linked data center project in Ohio.
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