Americans lost at least $2.1 billion in 2025 to scams that originated on social media, according to the Federal Trade Commission. That figure marks an eightfold increase since 2020.
The FTC said Americans reported losing $1.1 billion last year to investment scams that started on social media. These often began with a post or ad offering a program that claimed to help people learn how to invest. More than 40 percent of Americans who lost money through a social media scam last year blamed shopping-related ads, many of which took them to "unfamiliar websites," the FTC said. The agency also highlighted the problem of romance scams that start on social media.
Most of these scams started on Facebook, with WhatsApp and Instagram in "a distant second and third," the FTC noted. A lawsuit filed against Meta, which owns all three platforms, last week claimed that it misled users about scam ads. In 2025, it was reported that Meta was making billions of dollars from ads promoting scams and illegal products.
Of course, other types of internet scams are snaring regular folks. The FBI said earlier this month that Americans reported losing nearly $21 billion to internet-related crimes in 2025, more than half of which was to cryptocurrency scams. Artificial intelligence scams cost Americans around $893 million last year, the FBI said. And that's just what people have reported losing — many victims won't file complaints to the FBI or FTC.
The FTC offers some advice on how to protect yourself from social media scams, such as limiting the reach of your posts so scammers have less specific information to work with and to avoid letting "someone you have met only on social media direct your investment decisions." The agency also suggests searching for a company's name along with "scam" or "complaint" before buying anything.
As always, tread cautiously, do your own research and if something sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Be careful out there, folks.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/the-ftc-says-americans-lost-at-least-21-billion-to-social-media-scams-in-2025-152846798.html?src=rss
There's something deeply relaxing about chucking on a solid pair of headphones, listening to some good music and cleaning muck off structures and vehicles. Not in real life, though. Heavens, no. PowerWash Simulator 2 lets you do that without having to deal with any actual muck — as long as you're regularly cleaning your keyboard or controller, anyway.
You'll soon be able to carry out powerwashing jobs in six more locations, all of which are in a galaxy far, far away. In the game's upcoming Star Wars expansion, you can visit the likes of Tatooine and Hoth to clean the Lars homestead, an X-wing and a Star Destroyer bridge.
Lars homestead in PowerWash Simulator 2
FuturLab
Developer FuturLab has created an exclusive powerwasher for these levels, in which you'll play as a labor droid called P0-W2. You can take on the jobs with up to four friends. Expect a bunch of Easter eggs too.
FuturLab says the expansion is set during the original Star Wars trilogy. You'll first be taking on work for the Galactic Empire before defecting to the Rebel Alliance (so you'll literally be dealing with Rebel scum).
The studio has previously brought other franchises into the fold. Those who own the first PowerWash Simulator can snag the Final Fantasy and Tomb Raider expansions for free before they’re delisted at 10AM ET on May 19. There are also Back to the Future and Shrek expansions for the original game.
The Star Wars expansion is coming to PowerWash Simulator 2 on PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S and Nintendo Switch 2 this summer. It'll cost $10. In the meantime, spare a thought for those poor contractors whose jobs the P0-W2 droids are taking:
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/a-star-wars-expansion-is-coming-to-powerwash-simulator-2-162946670.html?src=rss
Amazon has brought another high-profile podcasting name into its fold after agreeing to a multiyear licensing deal with Oprah Winfrey. Her podcast will expand to two episodes a week starting in July and it will be available across the likes of Prime Video, Amazon Music, Fire TV channels and Audible. New episodes will still hit YouTube and other podcast platforms, according to Variety.
Winfrey will stick to the same format she's been using on YouTube since starting a podcast channel there at the end of 2024. It will feature interviews with authors, celebrities and others in the public eye.
In addition, Winfrey will create specials based on her Oprah's Favorite Things and Oprah’s Book Club franchises for Amazon. The company is also licensing all 25 seasons of The Oprah Winfrey Show but Winfrey and Amazon haven't figured out exactly how to repurpose the long-running talk show as yet.
Last year, Amazon split its Wondery podcast company in two, with a team focusing on narrative podcasts merging with Amazon’s Audible team and a crew that handles celebrity-hosted shows forming a new division called Creator Services. That group promotes podcasts like New Heights with Jason and Travis Kelce and Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard across Amazon's various properties, as The New York Times notes.
Oprah's Book Club will tie into Audible, Kindle, Goodreads and the Amazon storefront. Products featured in the annual Oprah's Favorite Things holiday list will be highlighted on the latter as well. Winfrey and Amazon will split sales and ad revenue.
It’s become common for major media companies to make a play for popular podcasts over the last several years. As video podcasts have grown, the likes of Netflix have gotten in on the action too. Some people play these as background noise and Winfrey's podcast might be particularly appealing to fans of her TV show, which ended in 2011.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/oprah-brings-her-podcast-to-amazons-streaming-services-142846445.html?src=rss
Welcome to our latest roundup of what's going on in the indie game space. If you're looking for something new to play this weekend, we've got a bunch of options for you. We've also got some interesting upcoming games to tell you about as well.
In a press release announcing that Playdate Season 3 is coming later this year, Panic included a line that I've been thinking about a lot this week. "Panic is currently relieved and happy that people can make amazing games for Playdate with just 16 megabytes of RAM," it said, a nod toward the ongoing RAM crisis.
The Playdate doesn't exactly have a lot of technical oomph, and I'm frequently delighted by what developers are able to do within its limitations. Restrictions foster creativity — many folks had to get pretty inventive on Twitter back when they only had 140 characters to play with. Here, Panic offered a welcome reminder that you don't necessarily need an ultra-powerful rig or console to have access to more great games than you'll ever actually be able to play.
For instance, my favorite game of the year so far, Titanium Court, works on Macs that are capable of running macOS 11 (the 2020 version of the operating system) or later. On PC, you'll need a graphics card that's compatible with OpenGL or DirectX 9, the latter of which was released in 2002. For what it's worth, the game would also fit on a CD-ROM.
There are tons of other great indie games new and old that'll run just fine on lower-powered machines. Bear that in mind the next time a current-gen console or other gaming system gets a price increase because of the RAM shortage. The DLSS 5 debacle aside, you probably don't need a 50-series NVIDIA GPU either. Maybe just pick up a Playdate instead.
New releases
While many of the weapons, characters and enemies are the same, Vampire Crawlers is a fresh spin on Vampire Survivors. It's a turn-based roguelite deckbuilder. Instead of automatically firing whatever weapons you have at nearby enemies, you'll play cards to conquer the mob that you face in each fight. You can still modify and evolve your weapons and abilities.
Each card has a casting cost, so you’ll need to consider which ones to play in a given moment and the order in which you do so. As such, it’s a slower-paced, more strategic take on the original game, albeit with a similar level of visual chaos should you put together a particularly powerful build.
I've played a ton of Vampire Survivors and the Vampire Crawlers demo lured me in too. Its approach to turn-based battles is working for me. I've only played a little of the full game so far, but there's every chance I could lose days of my life to it.
Vampire Crawlers — from Survivors creator Poncle and co-developer Nosebleed Interactive — is available now on Steam (for PC and Mac), Xbox for PC, Xbox Series X/S, PS5 and Nintendo Switch for $10. It's included with Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass.
Fable creator Peter Molyneux and his studio 22cans are back with another god game. In Masters of Albion, you can construct and modify settlements as a literal hand of god. You'll design buildings (which are immediately constructed and usable) and manage workers. You can also assume control of a human or animal in the world to take on quests and hunt for treasure.
There's a tower defense element to this as well. You'll need to prepare your towns from nighttime attacks from various creatures. You can fend off these foes as the god or battle them on the ground as a hero. There's a lot going on here, but perhaps my favorite part is this apparent warning in the mature content description section of the Steam page: "Players are also able to use crude, adult hand gestures at will in the game." Yes, that means you can flip the bird while playing as the god hand. Yes, I am very mature.
Masters of Albion is now available in early access on Steam. It typically costs $25, but there's a 10 percent discount until April 29.
Snap & Grab caught our attention at last summer's edition of the Day of the Devs showcase. This is a cartoonish heist game in which you'll carry out your robberies in two parts. You play as Nifty, a famous fashion photographer. In the setup phase, you'll take advantage of your position to take snaps of loot, threats and opportunities and then use those to construct a plan. With the help of some henchman, you'll then try to execute the heist.
The game’s developer No Goblin is taking an episodic approach to Snap & Grab as it's releasing the game in five parts over the course of this year. The first episode is available now on Steam (usually $8, though there's a 10 percent discount until May 1).
Snow Day Software's follow-up to Indoor Kickball is Indoor Baseball. It's an arcade game in which you play baseball inside buildings, funnily enough. You'll play 1v1 matches against the CPU or a friend in local multiplayer. You can also dive into a 14-game season or check out the story mode, in which you'll try to play your way back onto your school's baseball team (and maybe do some chores to make up for smashing too many things at home).
There are several different levels, each of which has a variety of ways for you to make a home run, from smashing a window to landing the ball in a toilet. It seems light and fun and as a burgeoning baseball guy, I dig the idea of this one.
I love Another Crab's Treasure very much and so I'll always be interested in whatever Aggro Crab is up to. Given that the studio also co-developed the smash hit Peak (alongside Landfall), I imagine many other folks feel the same way.
Crashout Crewis another multiplayer game from Aggro Crab. This one adopts the chaotic co-op formula of games like Overcooked. As a team of forklift drivers, you and your buds will work together to fill orders in warehouses while dealing with obstacles like blackouts, cacti, fire and bees.
I'm very much here for slice-of-life games based around soccer (I still need to play Despelote!). Kick is another such title. This is a side-scrolling, anime-inspired game from solo developer nospacelost and publisher Shoreline Games, in which you dribble a ball as you make your way to school.
There are 23 levels with people to dodge and obstacles to overcome. You'll need to avoid damaging anything as you try to pull off tricks by kicking the ball at the correct angle, all while making sure you get to class on time (you can switch off the timer for a more relaxed experience). It looks pretty, and it never hurts a game's prospects to have a pup accompanying the main character.
No release date for Kick has been announced. It's coming to Steam at some point.
Elfie: A Sand Plan is a cozy sandcastle building game from Pressed Elephant and Sol's Atelier. There are more than 180 levels in which you'll build sand sculptures to match what Elfie, a small elephant, has in mind. There are three difficulty levels too.
It looks cute and I adore elephants (oops, I just started fostering another one), so I'm interested in checking it out. Elfie: A Sand Plan is coming to Steam for PC and Mac on May 12. It'll cost $7, and there'll be a 10 percent launch discount.
It took the team at Realmsoft 14 years to bring Clockwork Ambrosia to fruition and if this latest trailer is any indication, that long development cycle could have well been worthwhile. This is a side-scrolling action platformer in which you can customize half a dozen weapons using more than 150 modifiers.
You play as an airship engineer who tries to survive on a steampunk island full of aggressive robots and creatures following a crash. I really dig the art direction here, which features lush hand-drawn pixel art and lovely animations. Realmsoft made the game using a custom engine the team built from scratch.
I'm looking forward to checking out Clockwork Ambrosia. It's coming to Steam on May 12.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/vampire-crawlers-peter-molyneuxs-return-and-other-new-indie-games-worth-checking-out-110000340.html?src=rss
Xbox is cutting the prices of both Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass, effective immediately, but there’s one big caveat. First, the good news: Game Pass Ultimate now costs $23 per month, down from $30. PC Game Pass will now run you $14 a month instead of $16.50. The Xbox team noted in a blog post that prices may vary by region.
That’s a smart, much-needed decision. In a memo that leaked last week, new Microsoft Gaming CEO Asha Sharma expressed concern over the high price of Game Pass, stating that it “has become too expensive for players, so we need a better value equation. Long term, we will evolve Game Pass into a more flexible system which will take time to test and learn around." Sharma reiterated that publicly in a post on X.
Game Pass Ultimate has become too expensive for too many players. Starting today, we’re dropping the price from $29.99 to $22.99/month. Future Call of Duty titles will no longer join Game Pass Ultimate on day one. They will join this tier the following holiday after launch (about…
In October, Microsoft increased Game Pass Ultimate to $30 per month, which was a 50 percent price hike. It was the second time in 15 months that the company had jacked up the monthly fee, making it an unjustifiable expense for many. The price of a PC Game Pass subscription also rose by $4.50 per month, and now Microsoft is bringing that back down a bit too.
“Our players cover a wide breadth of geographies, preferences, and tastes, so while there isn’t a single model that’s best for everyone, this change responds to a lot of feedback we’ve gotten so far,” the Xbox team wrote. “ We’ll continue to listen and learn.”
There is one giant tradeoff here: new Call of Duty games will no longer be available on Game Pass Ultimate or PC Game Pass on day one. They’ll eventually hit those tiers about a year later, during the following holiday season. That means Call of Duty titles will be the only first-party Xbox games that don’t hit Game Pass on their release date.
This, of course, is an attempt to generate more revenue from one of the biggest gaming franchises in the world. Call of Duty is a major reason why Microsoft shelled out $68.7 billion to buy Activision Blizzard a few years back. While Call of Duty fans on PlayStation still had to pay full price for the last few annual releases to play them as soon as possible, Xbox and PC players have been able to hop in to them via Game Pass. (There’s still no sign of Call of Duty on Switch or Switch 2 as yet!)
There had been rumors that Microsoft would carve out Call of Duty from the current versions of Game Pass and give those tiers a price cut. Chatter suggests that the company may introduce yet another, higher-level Game Pass tier (or an add-on) that will include day-one Call of Duty games, but there’s no official word of that as yet.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/xbox/xbox-cuts-game-pass-prices-but-new-call-of-duty-games-will-no-longer-hit-the-service-on-day-one-163636536.html?src=rss
Nintendo has padded out the Switch 2 release slate for this summer by revealing that Splatoon Raiders is coming to the console on July 23. This is the first spinoff in the series and while it's a "single-player-focused Splatoon game," there is a multiplayer element. Nintendo announced Splatoon Raiders(the title of which is a soft pun on Tomb Raider) last June.
You play as a mechanic and after customizing your character's appearance, you'll go hunting for treasure across the Spirhalite Islands. You'll be working with Deep Cut — a fictional band that appeared in Splatoon 3 — and upgrading your weapons as you take on enemy sea creatures.
The colorful, inky action and wacky weapons in the latest trailer remind me a bit of Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart. You can mount Deep Cut member Big Man (a manta ray) as you venture into battle and it seems as though you'll be able to cut through swarms of bad guys by firing a shark at them. Alongside Splatoon Raiders, Nintendo will release an Amiibo pack featuring the three members of Deep Cut.
The company also confirmed there's a multiplayer mode in Splatoon Raiders. You'll be able to team up with as many as three friends locally or online to take on raids together.
Don’t abandon the squad just yet – #SplatoonRaiders also lets you invite up to three friends to join you on raids via local wireless or online multiplayer! pic.twitter.com/lpmGMHtHv0
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/nintendo/splatoon-raiders-lands-on-nintendo-switch-2-on-july-23-140447901.html?src=rss
It's been a whole month since I've played some Ball x Pit after the mobile versions went live in March, but I'll surely be jumping back in again next week. The latest update will arrive on April 27, bringing a host of goodies to the wonderful brick-busting roguelite, which was one of Engadget's favorite games of 2025.
Designer Kenny Sun spilled most of the beans about the update on the PlayStation Blog, revealing that it will add two new characters, 11 more balls with special powers, four passive upgrades and a new building. If you opt to play as The Tiptoer, you'll be able to get close to enemies without fear of them attacking you, but you'll have lower health and damage. She could be a good partner for The Shieldbearer, so you can right in front of bosses to rapidly bounce back balls and ramp up the damage in no time at all. As for The Tunneller, that character fires balls that wrap around the edge of the screen and return from the other side.
The latest balls and evolutions include Venom, which slows down targets and can paralyze them in place after hitting them enough times. Other new time-based balls can freeze enemies too. Erosion saps away a percentage of a target's health, which could weaken bosses very quickly, and the Warp ball jumps to a random place and increases in speed every time it hits an enemy. I can't wait to see how effective these are after merging them with area-of-effect abilities or ones that spawn more balls with the same powers.
The Sniper ball sounds interesting too. That will reward precision as it cuts through every enemy in a straight line until it hits a boundary. I prefer a more chaotic approach, though.
As such, the Full Metal Rapier passive ability seems like one I'll want. It scales up the damage of each ball depending on how many enemies and baby balls (i.e. ones that don't inherently have special abilities) are on screen. The Arrow of Fate passive is intriguing as well, as it turns every enemy projectile that hits you into a smattering of baby balls. I smell some synergy between those two.
On top of that, the new Guildhall building that you can place in the citybuilder side of the game allows you to change upgrades that you've already chosen for your character. Looking forward to seeing how that plays out in practice.
This is the second of three free updates that Sun and publisher Devolver Digital have announced for Ball x Pit. The first one, which introduced more upgrades and an endless mode, dropped in January. The third one is expected in July.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/ball-x-pits-next-update-adds-11-more-balls-to-the-fray-on-april-27-170929983.html?src=rss
We’ve seen some astonishing photos of an Earthset — the Earth setting behind the Moon — from the Artemis II crew’s history-making trip around our planet’s closest neighbor. Now, Reid Wiseman, the mission’s commander, has shared a remarkable video of that same phenomenon.
While mission specialist Christina Koch was using a Nikon camera to snap stunning still images of the Earthset, Wiseman used an iPhone 17 Pro Max to film the moment. “I could barely see the Moon through the docking hatch window but the iPhone was the perfect size to catch the view… This is uncropped, uncut with 8x zoom which is quite comparable to the view of the human eye,” he wrote on X.
Only one chance in this lifetime…
Like watching sunset at the beach from the most foreign seat in the cosmos, I couldn’t resist a cell phone video of Earthset. You can hear the shutter on the Nikon as @Astro_Christina is hammering away on 3-shot brackets and capturing those… pic.twitter.com/8aWnaFJ69c
This was the first time that human eyes had witnessed an Earthset in 54 years since the Apollo 17 mission. The Artemis II crew flew more than 5,000 miles beyond the Moon as they travelled more than a quarter of a million miles away from Earth — the furthest any humans have ever been from terra firma.
I, like many people, overuse the word “awesome.” It should only really be used when something actually inspires awe. This video absolutely meets that mark. It’s genuinely awesome.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/science/space/artemis-ii-commander-shares-a-remarkable-video-of-earth-vanishing-behind-the-moon-152036403.html?src=rss
Welcome to our latest roundup of what's going on in the indie game space. Once again, there are some neat new games for you to check out this weekend. We've got a bunch of updates and announcements for upcoming titles to tell you about too.
There have been a bunch of solid indie showcases lately (and highlights from another one to tell you about below). If you want to learn about a ton of other games ASAP, you might want to set your alarm pretty early on April 25.
Starting at 5AM ET that day, the latest edition of Indie Life Expo takes place on YouTube, Twitch, TikTok, Bilibili and elsewhere. This one will feature more than 200 games! A rapid-fire Indie Waves segment will power through 160 of them. Organizers received 1,100 submissions for this installment, so hats off to them for featuring a sizable percentage of those.
Before that, you can check out another showcase on April 21. Top Hat Studios Presents: Spring Showcase 2026 will start at noon ET on the publisher's YouTube and Twitch channels.
The stream will feature Motorslice, Well Dweller and survival horror game Becrowned, as well premieres and other Top Hat games. I've been looking forward to Motorslice, which has a May release window. I wager we'll get a precise release date for that during this stream.
Meanwhile, there's an interesting Steam event taking place soon. InterfaceX26 will run from April 27 until May 4. This one is focused on games that deal with made-up operating systems and other custom interfaces. Organizers have brought together more than 150 developers and publishers, who are asking Valve to introduce an official "Fake OS" tag for games on Steam.
Some neat games will be included in a sale and a showcase on May 2, including Blippo+, TR-49 and The Roottrees are Dead. Expect demos and relevant new releases too. Speaking of which...
New releases
We've been waiting a very long time for Replaced. This cyberpunk adventure from Sad Cat Studios and publisher Thunderful finally landed this week on Steam, GOG, Xbox on PC and Xbox Series X/S. It's on Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass. Otherwise, the base game costs $20. A supporter edition that includes the soundtrack is $25. It'll hit the Epic Games Store at a later date.
The game was initially supposed to arrive in 2022. It certainly didn't help that Sad Cat Studios was forced to relocate from Belarus to Cyprus after Russia's invasion of Ukraine. But the game is finally here and it debuted to generally positive reviews.
Replaced is a 2.5D action platformer set in an alternate version of 1980s America, in which you play as an AI trapped in a human body that may or may not dream of electric sheep. I haven't yet had a chance to properly jump into this gorgeous-looking game, but I'm hoping to do so this weekend.
Speaking of games I've long had on my wishlist, Gecko Gods arrived this week. I think I first clapped eyes on this around 2022. Various trailers charmed me with the idea of a puzzle exploration platformer that casts you in the role of a gecko that's able to run along walls and ceilings.
I've played around 90 minutes of this one so far. I dig the look and the gecko is very cute (being able to customize its appearance is a nice touch). I love that you "collect" different types of bugs by eating them. It's a fairly relaxing game, which is broadly what I need at the minute.
I think there are some issues here, though. I've explored two of the main five islands in the open world and it feels a bit sparse so far. The joy of being able to clamber up and around any object complicates things when it comes to more precise platforming sections. While the sailing sections are pretty, the boat is clunky to control on the choppy water. I ran into some mild technical issues as well on PS5 with occasional framerate dips and objects popping in. Hopefully, that's something the developers at Inresin are able to address.
Gecko Gods — from publishers Super Rare Originals and Gamersky Games — is available now on Steam, PS5 and Nintendo Switch. It's normally $20, but there's a 10 percent launch discount until April 30 (on PS5, this only applies to PlayStation Plus members)
Another highly anticipated game landed this week in the form of Mouse: PI for Hire. We've had our eyes on this first-person shooter/detective game with sumptuous rubberhose-style animation for quite some time. Reviews have been generally positive so far, and it seems that there's enough substance here to live up to those stellar visuals.
Thirsty Suitorsdeveloper Outerloop Games and co-publisher Outersloth served up the cooking-themed Dosa Divas this week. It tells the story of two sisters who set out on a journey with their mech to take down a fast food empire and reconnect communities through cooking.
It caught my eye when I saw it during a showcase a while back and it has a great concept, though I don't exactly love turn-based combat. I've read a few lukewarmreviews of the game, and the consensus seems to be that the cooking mechanics and combat perhaps needed some more time to simmer.
If you'd like to try Dosa Divas yourself, you can pick it up on Steam, Xbox Series X/S, PS5, Nintendo Switch and Switch 2. It'll usually run you $20, but there's a 10 percent launch discount until April 28.
If you're looking for a puzzle game that can be relaxing or rather dark, depending on your mood, it might be worth checking out A Storied Life: Tabitha. As you pack up the home of a late loved one, you'll need to decide which items to keep in the limited storage space you have and discard the rest. You'll need to wrap fragile items in bubble wrap and vacuum pack soft items to save room in the boxes.
As you save items, you'll unlock words that you can use to fill in the blanks of your loved one's life and tell their story, Mad Libs-style. Given that you'll find items like a blackmail letter and a shirt with lipstick on the collar, it seems like there's a lot of variety to the kinds of stories you can tell.
A Storied Life: Tabitha is available on Steam now. It'll normally run you $15, but you can save 10 percent if you buy it before April 28.
To round out this section, I’ll quickly note that Hades 2 is out now on PS5 and Xbox Series X/S for $30, with a 20 percent launch discount. It's on Game Pass Ultimate, Game Pass Premium and PC Game Pass too.
I bought Hades 2 when Supergiant Games brought it to Steam early access two years ago, telling myself I'd wait until the full game was out. But I still haven't gotten around to it yet. There are always too many games tugging at my fragile attention span and Hades 2 faded into the background for me. I really ought to play it, I know!
Upcoming
I'm keeping an eye out for Agefield High: Rock the School from Refugium Games. This spiritual successor to Rockstar's Bully is set to arrive this summer on Steam. It emerged this week that it will hit PS5 and Xbox Series X/S later in the year.
It's a coming-of-age adventure in which you play as Sam, a young lad who has moved to a new school in the early 2000s. He wants to make his last few months of high school a time to remember.
There's a branching narrative with multiple endings here — you can opt to go to classes and be a good student, or skip school and cause trouble. As a mostly rule-abiding student way back when, I'd be tempted to go for the latter. This seems like a bit of a life sim with a broad array of activities and ways to get into bother. I’m looking forward to it.
The latest edition of the Galaxies Showcase — yet another indie spotlight event — took place this week and The Backworld caught my attention. This is a Mother-inspired RPG from Numor Games and publisher Top Hat with charming art direction (yes, I did see that one character doing a Naruto run), an intriguing mix of characters and...
Oh no, why did the music stop? Why did it get so dark all of a sudden? What are these horrifying beasts that are chasing my character? Yup, there's a heavy horror element here. Numor took inspiration from The Backrooms as well.
The Backworld will be released later this year. A demo just hit Steam.
A Study in Blue, from Relate Games, was another highlight of the Galaxies Showcase, thanks in large part to that impressive animation. This is a point-and-click adventure in which you play as two characters with complex pasts: private detective Kenneth and runaway Blue.
You'll explore a semi-open world and solve crimes by collecting clues and calling out characters' lies. There are three intertwined story acts and multiple endings. A Steam demo featuring a side quest from the main game that'll take around two hours to complete is available now.
I'm always going to be interested in any game that riffs on The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past. On the face of this trailer, Elementallis developer AnKae Games seems to borrow quite a bit of the design language and other ideas from the SNES classic. Still, if you're going to crib from anything, it may as well be the best game of all time.
This 2D action RPG, which is also published by Top Hat and has a heavier focus on elemental powers than A Link to the Past, looks very much like my kind of jam. It's coming to Steam, GOG, Switch, PS4, PS5, Xbox Series X/S and Xbox One on April 28. Per the eShop listing, it'll cost $18.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/cyberpunk-platformers-gallivanting-geckos-and-other-new-indie-games-worth-checking-out-110000924.html?src=rss
Bluesky is once again having a wobble. The platform said some of its systems are down and that it’s “investigating an incident with service in one of our reginos” (that’s Bluesky’s typo, not mine). The issue appears to have started at 1:42AM ET and was still persisting as of 11AM when this story was originally published. Since then, the site has been experiencing intermitent interuptions, including at times to its status page where users should be able to monitor outages.
At 7:47PM ET, the platform explained that it’s been attempting to mitigate “a sophisticated Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) attack, which intensified throughout the day.” It said the attack had caused interruptions to users’ feeds, notifications, threads and search, all of which the Engadget team experienced first-hand at various points through the day. While DDoS attacks are frequently used as virtual smokescreens for hacks, Bluesky says it has “not seen any evidence of unauthorized access to private user data.” The social media service had another brief outage earlier this month.
In a later update on April 17, Bluesky noted that the DDoS attacks are “ongoing” but that the service has been stable since about 9PM PT last night. The company also reaffirmed that it hasn’t seen any evidence of access to user data. The next update is set to arrive by end of day Friday.
Update, April 17, 12:47PM ET: This story was updated with Bluesky’s latest outage update.
Update, April 16, 8PM ET: This story was updated after publish with an of the outage from Bluesky.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/bluesky-blames-ddos-attack-for-server-outages-150515882.html?src=rss
While I dabble in other Overwatch modes, I spend the vast majority of my time there in Mystery Heroes, a casual mode in which you load in as a random character and automatically switch to another one when you respawn. It's by far my favorite way to play Overwatch (which I do a lot!), since it helps me switch off and relax. Others play it as a warmup for competitive action. It requires a particular skillset, as players need a working knowledge of all 51 heroes to help them coordinate with teammates and know what the opponents have on deck. But with the arrival of the new Overwatch season this week, Blizzard changed Mystery Heroes, and made it much less fun to play.
The developers say they modified Mystery Heroes "to help keep the mode's casual pace intact while mitigating some of the more extreme pain points it's had in the past." That might have something to do with how the mode handled perks. In other modes, players earn perks (upgrades to their existing tools or entirely new abilities) throughout a match. In Mystery Heroes, they load into a round with random perks already equipped. That's fun! I love the chaos of Mystery Heroes and trying to make things work with whatever hero and perks I have.
Now, perks are gone from Mystery Heroes. I kind of get it. Nixing them helps players clock what's going on a bit faster — they won't feel the need to quickly check which perks they have when they're racing back to the action when the time is running out. Perks were only added to Overwatcha little over a year ago and they've helped make the game more enjoyable. Removing them from Mystery Heroes diminishes it compared with other modes, especially given that some heroes are now more oriented around their perks.
Overwatch
Blizzard Entertainment
The other major change in Mystery Heroes is a switch from teams of five players to 6v6. I'm fine with 6v6 in other game types, but it makes Mystery Heroes much worse.
In other 6v6 formats, you typically have two tanks, two supports and two damage heroes. In Mystery Heroes, the defense might load in with four tanks and two supports (teams are limited to three heroes from any class after respawns). While tanks generally have lower health pools in 6v6 modes, that's still an oppressive composition to run into. Attackers lack the agency to switch to other characters that can counter such a setup. For instance, if the attackers don't spawn in as heroes that can get behind a chokepoint and take out those supports, they might never break through. That doesn't make for a fun round. Trying to keep five other players alive as a solo support isn't exactly a blast either.
I’m not the only one who’s disappointed with these changes. In every single Mystery Heroes game I’ve played since the update, other players have lamented the loss of perks (the reaction to the 6v6 switch is more mixed). They're protestingonReddit and the Overwatch forums too.
It’s not like I’m averse to change. Blizzard has made a ton of updates to greatly improve Overwatch over the last few years. It added the big Stadium mode in 2025 and the game recently had a soft, successful relaunch. Even in this season, there are lots of positive tweaks, including some welcome hero updates (and some that are less welcome) and the return of post-match awards. New damage hero Sierra is rad too.
The Mystery Heroes changes, though, are a step in the wrong direction. I dearly hope Blizzard reverses course on those soon.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/blizzard-just-made-overwatchs-best-mode-much-worse-185114683.html?src=rss
The RAM crisis has prompted another company to jack up hardware prices. Meta says it will be increasing the price of Quest headsets on April 19. The Meta Quest 3 will get a $100 hike to $599, while the Quest 3S will be $50 more expensive at $350 (for a version with 128GB of storage) and $450 (256GB).
Meta is blaming the increases on the rising costs of RAM, which has skyrocketed in price due to a shortage of chips as AI companies gobble up as much memory as they can for their data centers. Sony recently bumped up the prices of PS5 consoles and the PlayStation Portal handheld for similar reasons. Microsoft made its Surface PCs more expensive this week too.
Meta Quest accessories are staying at the same prices, but refurbished Quest units are somehow getting more expensive as well. Refurbished Quest 3S units will be also be $50 more at $320 (128GB) and $410 (256GB). Meta is increasing the price of a refurbished Quest 3 by $100 to $550. I’m not exactly sure how the company can pin those changes on increased manufacturing costs. Meanwhile, Meta told The Verge that it doesn’t expect to increase the prices of its smart glasses anytime soon.
Correction April 16, 2026, 11:28AM ET: This story initially stated that the price of a refurbished Quest 3 is increasing by $170. It’s going up by $100. We regret the error.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ar-vr/meta-quest-headset-prices-are-going-up-on-april-19-143259031.html?src=rss
Windrose was a hit in a recent Steam Next Fest event, with more than 850,000 people checking out the demo. More than 1.5 million people have wishlisted the pirate survival-adventure title on Steam as well. So, it’s safe to say this game has some wind in its sails, and it’ll be arriving very soon. During Thursday’s Triple-i Initiative showcase, developer Windrose Crew revealed that it’s charted a course for an early access release on Steam, the Epic Games Store and Stove on April 14 for $30.
In Windrose, you can sail the high seas solo or explore the open world with friends. While the world is procedurally generated, the developers have handcrafted more than 90 points of interest, such as dungeons, temples and shipwrecks.
You and your buds can team up to take down rival ships by sharing command of your vessel's weapons. Once you get close enough, you can board enemy ships for close-quarters combat. A broad range of weapons (including swords and muskets) can help you in battle with adversaries such as sailors, monstrous creatures and bosses.
Windrose also features farming, fishing, crafting and trading, as well as a reputation system and base building. You can hire non-player characters for your crew as well.
Windrose Crew expects the game to remain in early access for around 1.5 to 2.5 years. It plans to add 50 percent more content, such as new biomes (the early access version has three), enemies, ships and gear. The developers might introduce more gameplay systems as well. The team also said the main story should take players between 50 and 70 hours to complete.
This is a grittier alternative to Sea of ThievesandSkull and Bonesfor those who want to engage in a spot of piracy with some of their friends. If you’d like to sample what Windrose is all about, the demo remains available on all three PC platforms.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/co-op-pirate-survival-game-windrose-hits-pc-in-early-access-on-april-14-175842163.html?src=rss
Nintendo Switch 2 owners will have to wait a bit longer to check out IO Interactive's stab at a James Bond game on the console. The Hitman developer has delayed that version of 007 First Light until later this summer. The game is still slated to hit PS5, Xbox Series X/S and PC on May 27, which itself is a delay from the previous March release date.
"We're excited to see players discovering James Bond's reimagined origin story," IOI wrote on X. "[We] are looking forward to bringing you the best game experience possible across all platforms."
Earlier this year, IOI suggested that PC players would need quite a beefy rig to meet the recommended specs for 007 First Light. A week later, the publisher updated the specs with more modest requirements and apologized after eagle-eyed observers spotted inconsistencies in the original version. IOI said the error was "due to an internal miscommunication leading to an older version of the specs to be shared." Meanwhile, Sony has announced a limited-edition 007 First Light DualSense controller.
Developers and publishers have had difficulty in porting certain games to the Switch 2, as Kotaku notes. Gearbox Entertainment delayed — and ultimately shelved — a version of Borderlands 4 for the system. The long-awaited Switch 2 port of Elden Ring was delayed until sometime this year after the game had severe performance issues in a public demo at Gamescom 2025. Reports suggest the game is in better shape on Switch 2 now, but there's no firm release date for that version as yet.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/nintendo/the-nintendo-switch-2-version-of-007-first-light-is-delayed-until-later-this-summer-151524487.html?src=rss
The free No Man’s Sky updates are still flowing. With the latest one, dubbed Xeno Arena, Hello Games has added a completely original feature. Players have long been able to adopt wild animals as companions. But now these can be deployed in simulated, turn-based battles against rival teams. As you win more battles, you’ll increase your reputation and perhaps be invited to take on more difficult opponents.
Among other things, the creatures can launch powerful attacks, use healing abilities, dodge incoming salvos, power up their own abilities and turn enemies into more vulnerable forms. They can earn experience that allows them to grow stronger and genetically mutate into new forms. An evolution, if you will. You can also modify the progeny of your squad, with their personalities and physical characteristics affecting how they fare in battle.
There are eight affinities (some might call them "types") that the creatures belong to, including ones concerning fire, ice and radiation. A fire-based beast might fare well against an ice-based one, but struggle to be effective against radiation. So you’ll need to choose your creatures for each battle strategically. Gotta catch em’ all first, though!
This all seems really neat and such a novel concept. It would be quite a shocker if there were a brand-new game out today that also features turn-based creature battles.
The No Man’s Sky battles take place on Holo-Arena tables that are found in a range of structures throughout the universe. The creatures look quite small on these tables, almost pocket-sized.
Wait a second, pocket monsters? Now, there’s an idea…
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/no-mans-sky-now-has-pokemon-style-creature-battles-142020310.html?src=rss
I've played a couple of hours of Forza Horizon 6, and so far I've enjoyed it in much the same way as its predecessor: by exploring and taking in the sumptuous world Playground Games has crafted. The preview build I played on my Xbox Series X was limited in terms of available activities — it was basically the game's prologue — but I was able to explore almost all of the open world.
The on-rails intro takes you through some of the Japanese countryside and past landmarks like Tokyo Tower and Shibuya Crossing on the way to a race through the streets of the country's largest city. Once that was out of the way and a springtime version of the map opened up, I set a marker for the mountains in the north. I wanted to check out an area I'd seen in a screenshot, a pass where you can drive through snowdrifts that are dozens of feet tall.
Playground Games/Xbox Game Studios
My goal was simple: to bury my car into these snowdrifts, just to find out if it was possible. Sadly, the piles of snow were steadfast barriers. What a shame.
The journey to the mountains took me through rainstorms and falling cherry blossom leaves, small towns and forests. The environments, vehicles and weather effects all look pretty and polished, as you'd expect from this series at this point. (For what it's worth, I normally opt for performance mode in modern console games, prioritizing higher framerates over visual fidelity. This Forza Horizon 6 preview was locked to the 30fps quality mode.)
In the prologue, there are activities to complete ahead of the Horizon Qualifier, a "wristband" event that gates story progress, and I checked a few of those out on my way up north. Trying to go as fast as you can through speed traps, drag meets, time trials and drift zones are enjoyable enough, but it's the races that are the bread and butter of this series.
I entered a challenging cross-country race in a GMC Jimmy with a tall suspension. Not my smartest move. Still, I managed to pull out the victory after drifting my way across rice fields and beaches. I would have had an easier time if I'd chosen my car more carefully – there'll be hundreds available in the full game.
Playground Games has built on the very welcome slate of accessibility features from Forza Horizon 5 as well. Having options like autosteering should help ensure a broader range of folks can play the latest game.
Other than only having access to a limited number of activities, the only aspects of the open world that were blocked off were The Estate (i.e. your home base) and Legend Island, which sounds like an endgame region. I didn't tinker with my vehicles in the garage either. I did, however, stumble across an aftermarket sale, where I was able to buy a tuned-up car at a discount. That's one of several neat additions in Forza Horizon 6.
Playground Games/Xbox Game Studios
Though I'm not much of a car guy, I dug my time with the last two Forza Horizon games. I'm looking forward to playing through this one. More than anything, though, Forza Horizon 6 is nudging me toward taking the step of actually booking my second trip to Japan, which I've been thinking about taking later this year. As pretty as the game is shaping up to be, it can't beat the real deal.
If I do take that trip this summer, I won’t get to see the aforementioned giant snowbanks in person. That area of the map is based on a real place, the Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route, where the snow walls can reach 65 feet in height. I wouldn't want to travel between snowbanks like that in real life anyway, so driving through the pass in the game was a worry-free way to have that experience. Thanks for that, Playground.
Forza Horizon 6 is coming to Xbox Series X/S, Xbox on PC, Steam and Xbox Cloud on May 19. It'll be available on Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass. The game is set to hit PS5 at a later date.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/xbox/forza-horizon-6-gives-would-be-racers-another-gorgeous-open-world-to-explore-130000365.html?src=rss
As ever, Xbox is bringing a bunch of high-profile titles to Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass this month, while adding several to the lower tiers of the service. There aren't too many surprises among this first wave of April newcomers, though. Many of these additions were previously confirmed, while EA Sports NHL 26 and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (the remake) were always going to join Game Pass at some point.
Still, there's plenty to dive into on the service this month. April 14 is a particularly eye-catching day, with both Hades 2(which is debuting on Xbox Series X/S and PS5) and the long-awaited Replacedhitting Game Pass alongside the turn-based, character-driven RPG The Thaumaturge.
Here's a breakdown of everything coming to Game Pass over the next few weeks:
April 7
Final Fantasy IV — Cloud, Xbox Series X/S and PC on Game Pass Ultimate, Game Pass Premium and PC Game Pass
April 8
DayZ — PC on Game Pass Ultimate, Game Pass Premium, Game Pass Essential and PC Game Pass
Endless Legend 2 — PC game preview on Game Pass Premium (already on Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass)
FBC: Firebreak — Cloud, Xbox Series X/S and PC on Game Pass Premium (already on Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass)
Warhammer Vermintide 2 — Cloud and console on Game Pass Essential (already on Game Pass Ultimate and Game Pass Premium)
April 9
Planet Coaster 2 — Cloud, Xbox Series X/S and PC on Game Pass Ultimate, Game Pass Premium and PC Game Pass
April 10
Tiny Bookshop — Cloud, Xbox Series X/S, handheld and PC on Game Pass Ultimate, Game Pass Premium and PC Game Pass
April 13
Football Manager 26 — PC on Game Pass Premium (already on Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass)
Football Manager 26 Console — Cloud, console and PC on Game Pass Premium (already on Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass)
April 14
Hades 2 — Cloud, Xbox Series X/S, handheld and PC on Game Pass Ultimate, Game Pass Premium and PC Game Pass
Replaced — Cloud, Xbox Series X/S and PC on Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass
The Thaumaturge — Cloud, Xbox Series X/S and PC on Game Pass Ultimate, Game Pass Premium and PC Game Pass
EA Sports NHL 26 — Cloud and Xbox Series X/S on Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass
April 17
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare — Cloud, console and PC on Game Pass Ultimate, Game Pass Premium and PC Game Pass
April 21
Little Rocket Lab — Cloud, console and PC on Game Pass Premium (already on Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass)
Sopa: Tale of the Stolen Potato — Cloud, console, handheld and PC on Game Pass Premium (already on Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass)
Vampire Crawlers— Cloud, Xbox Series X/S, handheld, and PC on Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass
April 23
Kiln— Cloud, Xbox Series X/S, handheld and PC on Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass
As Xbox adds more titles to Game Pass, so too must it remove some. It's yet again erasing Grand Theft Auto V (Cloud, console and PC) from Game Pass, this time on April 15. The other games leaving the service on the same day are:
Ashen (Cloud, console and PC)
Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes (Cloud, console and PC)
My Little Pony: A Zephyr Heights Mystery (Cloud, console and PC)
Terra Invicta (game preview on PC)
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/xbox/xbox-game-pass-additions-for-april-include-hades-2-and-call-of-duty-modern-warfare-155130801.html?src=rss
SpaceX has reportedly taken the step many onlookers have long expected: filing paperwork to hold an initial public offering (IPO) on the stock market and become a publicly traded company. Rumors had long pointed toward the IPO taking place by July.
The company filed draft IPO registration paperwork with the US Securities and Exchange Commission confidentially, according to Bloomberg. As such, the public won’t get a chance to closely scrutinize SpaceX’s finances just yet. Taking the confidential approach means SpaceX can obtain feedback from the SEC before making the details public and announcing key factors like the price range and number of shares it’s planning to sell at the outset.
SpaceX is said to have designs on holding the largest IPO in history. It’s reportedly looking to raise $75 billion in the offering, which would far exceed the current record held by Saudi Aramco, which pulled in $24 billion in its 2019 IPO.
It’s expected that SpaceX will seek an IPO valuation of $1.75 trillion. When the Elon Musk-led business swallowed up the Elon Musk-led xAI earlier this year (which means SpaceX is now the parent of X and Grok), the entire company was valued at $1.25 trillion.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/spacex-has-reportedly-filed-for-the-biggest-ipo-in-history-154547537.html?src=rss
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), a branch of Iran's armed forces, has threatened to target US tech companies' operations in the Middle East. It told employees of 18 companies — including Apple, Google, Meta and NVIDIA — “to leave their workplaces immediately to save their lives,” as CBS Newsreported. Those living close to the companies' facilities in the region were instructed to evacuate immediately as well. Microsoft, Oracle, Tesla, HP, Intel, Palantir, Boeing, Dell, Cisco and IBM are also among the companies that the IRGC named.
"Since the main element in designing and tracking terror targets are American [information and communications technology] and AI companies, in response to this terrorist operation, from now on the main institutions effective in terrorist operations will be our legitimate targets," the IRGC said in a statement. The military force warned it will start targeting the companies on Wednesday evening if more Iranian leaders are killed.
Iran previously pledged to attack companies and banks tied to the US and Israel, though the warning it issued on Tuesday had a specific deadline. Earlier this month, Iranian drones struck Amazon data centers in Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates, disrupting Amazon Web Services operations in the region.
The US reportedly used Anthropic's AI in its initial airstrikes against Iran at the onset of the war in late February. Israel has been using a new AI platform of its own to help it track the movements of Iranian officials.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/iran-threatens-imminent-attacks-on-us-tech-companies-in-the-middle-east-184841155.html?src=rss
As of April 1, Gmail will have been around for 22 years. Many of us have a poorly chosen email address that's laced with regret, but we're now stuck with it. We've perhaps had it for longer than most college students have been alive and that's how others get in touch with us. Google is now giving us a chance to move on and change our Gmail address to something more appropriate.
To change your Google Account username, go to the email settings page. From there, click or tap on Personal info > Email > Google Account email. If the ability to alter your username has been enabled on your account, you'll see a Change Google Account email option. Click on this to start modifying your username.
You'll only be able to change your username once every 12 months. If you do change the address, Gmail will retain all of your previous emails. Handily, your former Gmail name will remain as an alternate email address. As such, people will be able to get in touch with you via either address. You can also sign into Google services using both email addresses.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/computing/all-google-users-in-the-us-can-now-change-their-gmail-address-141818676.html?src=rss
Anmelden
