“I think we can’t get in trouble for that now. It’s like 20 years ago.” Back in 2009, Ars wrote about what was being reported as a leaked trailer for the then-upcoming Left 4 Dead 2, saying the footage “looks like it’s straight from a high-gloss action movie.” Today,…
Over 1 million Game Pass subscribers will have to pay more for their heavy streaming use. In 2020, Microsoft announced that Game Pass Ultimate subscriptions would include unlimited access to its new Xbox Cloud Gaming service (then still known as Project xCloud). Now, that kind of streaming buffet service…
Interactive mobile “gizmos” are easy to make, hard to share outside Meta’s platform. The relatively recent rise of AI-assisted coding tools and the whole concept of “vibe coding” have effectively upended entire software development workflows. While these tools have been available to novice coders willing to put in the…
Cut content from Portal 2, hints of Half Life 2: Episode 3, and so much more. Here at Ars, we’re intimately familiar with data leaks surrounding Valve’s games, hardware, and the workings of Steam itself. But nothing could have prepared us for this weekend’s “terarelease” encompassing more than 12TB…
“It just felt like the right thing to do.” Panic, the indie game publishers behind the quirky, yellow crank-sporting Playdate gaming handheld, is issuing refunds to customers who had to shoulder the cost of inappropriate tariffs imposed by the Trump administration this year. The news comes months after the…
“Most” Xbox One and Series X games are compatible; discs will still work after being claimed. For decades, console owners have faced a choice between the convenience of digital downloads and the permanence of physical game discs. Soon, Xbox owners will be able to get the best of both…
Privilege escalation attack grants “full control” and freedom from Meta’s servers/apps. Remember the original Quest headset that Meta (then Oculus) trumpeted back in 2019? Meta seems to hope you don’t, since the company officially stopped supporting the wireless VR headset in 2023 to focus on the more popular Quests…
The Stop Killing Games movement faces an uphill battle. Video Game Preservation: Saving Yesterday’s Games for Tomorrow’s Players | Ars Live This week, Ars hosted a live discussion with Ross Scott about the Stop Killing Games movement and its ongoing efforts to ensure that games remain playable even after…
Our discussion takes place live on August 11 at 3 pm ET. By now, any serious gamer is familiar with a favorite title becoming unplayable after a centralized online server gets shut down, or being unable to purchase and download a digitally delisted, critically acclaimed title from yesteryear. Can…
New update includes improvements for the Intel-based MSI Claw 8 EX AI+ among others. SteamOS is continuing its slow march to fuller support on a wider variety of non-Valve hardware. This weekend’s release of the SteamOS 3.8.25 Beta includes “initial gamepad support” for a few recent gaming handhelds and…
