Technology

Square Enix announced two mobile games set in the Final Fantasy VII universe today. One is a battle royale game aiming for a 2021 release, and the other is Final Fantasy VII Ever Crisis, a compilation of all the games and stories set in the Final Fantasy VII universe (Final Fantasy VII, Advent Children, Before Crisis, Crisis Core, and Dirge of Cerberus). The latter is slated to launch sometime in 2022 on Android and iOS. According to a press release, Final Fantasy VII Ever Crisis is a chapter-structured single-player experience that covers the entire timeline in one of the most popular installments in Square Enix’s RPG franchise. The compilation will feature all the events from each game, in addition to new story elements focusing on the “origins of SOLIDER.” Watching the announcement trai...

Final Fantasy VII Remake’s soundtrack will be available to stream on Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music Unlimited, and other music subscription services tomorrow, February 26th, Square Enix announced on Thursday. It will have an eye-popping (ear-popping?) 156 tracks, according to a press release. The game’s soundtrack was an excellent reimagining of the original game’s iconic music, and I frequently listen to it via random YouTube videos. The official arrival on streaming services should make listening to it much easier. We know you’ve been waiting a little while for this… From February 26th, the @FinalFantasy VII Remake Soundtrack will be available on online music subscription services such as Apple Music, Spotify and Amazon Music Unlimited! pic.twitter.com/IKSSOEhAxW — FINAL ...

Apple is once again releasing an update to prevent a charging problem from killing MacBooks — this time it’s to fix a problem where 2019 and later MacBook Pros, and 2020 and later MacBook Airs were being damaged when connected to third-party USB-C hubs and docks (via MacRumors). It’s unclear how widespread the issues are, but a poll on Reddit had 74 out of 221 respondents report that their M1 Air or Pro had failed after using a hub. As with all polls, it’s best to take the results with a grain of salt, but there’s an indication that some people were experiencing issues. Most of the issues seemed to come from using a third-party dock, and while some of them seem to be from pretty obscure brands, there are a few recognizable ones that are reported to have killed laptops. For its part, Apple ...

If you missed Target’s early morning Xbox Series X restocks today, you have another chance today to secure Microsoft’s next-gen console. A Walmart spokesperson told The Verge that the retailer will have the Xbox Series X and Series S available for purchase today, February 25th, at 3PM ET. Walmart told The Verge you will have two options to pay for the Xbox Series X — with a one-time payment of $499.99 or pay with Xbox All Access, which requires a monthly payment for 24 months. Xbox All Access is a bundle that splits the cost of an Xbox console; Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, which includes both versions of the video game streaming service; access to xCloud; and Xbox Live Gold. Xbox Series X / S Prices taken at time of publishing. The Xbox Series X is Microsoft’s flagship console, serving as its ...

Twitch is removing the anti-union ads that its parent company, Amazon, was running on the platform. The ads showed Amazon employees talking about why they want to vote no on unionization and directed viewers to Amazon’s “DoItWithoutDues” website. A Twitch spokesperson said the ads “should never have been allowed to run on [the] service,” as they violate its political advertising policies. Twitch also says that it is “evaluating [its] review processes to ensure that similar content does not run in the future.” The ads were reported by More Perfect Union; their removal was first reported by Rod Breslau. The ads were the latest entry in a long campaign aimed at disrupting organization efforts at an Amazon warehouse outside of Birmingham, Alabama. Those efforts involve pulling employees into m...

Valve has been compelled by a California court to provide sales data on more than 400 Steam games to Apple and possibly reveal its yearly sales, revenue, and profits to Apple as well. The iPhone maker subpoenaed Valve for the data as part of its ongoing dispute with Fortnite developer Epic Games. According to a Wednesday order by Judge Thomas Hixson, Valve will have to provide yearly sales and pricing data on 436 games that are available on both its PC game distribution platform, Steam, and the Epic Games Store. Apple has requested the data so it can define the video game market in its case against Epic. In a filing published on February 18th, Valve had argued that Apple’s demands were overly broad. Apple had asked for even more data in its subpoena, including annual revenues from Steam, t...

Fisker Inc. quietly settled a previously unreported trade secret lawsuit with Volkswagen-backed solid-state battery company QuantumScape last July, The Verge has learned. The suit, filed in April 2019 in Santa Clara Superior Court, was centered on a former QuantumScape employee who brought thousands of confidential documents with her to a new job at Fisker Inc. in late 2018 and early 2019. While the lawsuit played out, Fisker Inc. locked away those documents and the work done by the employee, and even “quarantined” battery cells made while she worked there, though it ultimately argued the information was public domain. As part of the settlement, Fisker Inc. ultimately agreed to delete or destroy the documents the employee brought with her. Fisker Inc. recently disclosed in a filing with th...

The Parker Solar Probe, NASA’s closest eye on the Sun, was whizzing by Venus last summer for a gravity assist when it snapped a striking new image of the planet’s mysterious nightside, revealing a surprisingly clear view of the Venusian surface. The spacecraft, launched in 2018, is in the midst of its seven-year journey to study the Sun from 4 million miles away, the closest any human-made object has gone before. To do this, Parker Solar Probe needs to use the gravity of Venus to help tighten its orbit around the Sun through a series of seven flybys, nudging itself closer to the star with each pass. Those scenic passes are valuable opportunities to catch intriguing shots of Venus. The image taken by Parker Solar Probe’s Wide-field Imager (WISPR) came during its third Venus flyby in July 20...

Something my mom said about the recent streaming landscape stuck with me while watching a three-hour event for Paramount Plus. “I’m sometimes searching on Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, [and] HBO when I’m bored, and I often am, and I still can’t figure out what I want to watch,” she said. “Maybe too much choice isn’t always good!” Companies like ViacomCBS, Disney, Apple, Amazon, NBCUniversal, WarnerMedia, and even Fox would say otherwise. They’re in the midst of pivoting to a streaming-first or streaming-focused strategy, figuring out their way into the world with individual platforms — many of which come with a plus sign at the end. More, the plus sign signals; more, more, more. Paramount Plus is just the latest, and arguably the last, big entry in the space. Has it finally hit the point wh...

Apple Fitness Plus has been out for a couple of months now, and a few of us here at The Verge have been spending that time running it (and ourselves) through its paces. The $9.99-a-month service offers a decent array of exercise videos with an added bonus: integration with the sensors on an Apple Watch. In fact, an Apple Watch is required to use the service. Since everybody’s exercise routine is a little different, we wanted to get a variety of perspectives on the service. What’s become clear from all of our testing is that Apple has successfully achieved what we think it set out to do: create an exercise service that is accessible to a broad range of people. There are lots of different ways an exercise service like this could get tripped up, but for the most part, Fitness Plus stays on tr...

The Oculus Quest 2 standalone VR headset has been tough to find throughout the pandemic. Several retailers now have it back in stock, but only at Newegg can you snag one and get a complimentary gift card with your purchase. The headset with 64GB of storage costs $299 and includes a $10 Newegg gift card, while the 256GB model is $399 and comes with a $20 gift card. If you’ve considered getting a headset, you might as well buy it from a place that’ll give you a freebie. Oculus Quest 2 VR headset Prices taken at time of publishing. The latest standalone VR headset from Oculus features a refined design, higher-resolution displays, and a faster processor than the predecessor. In addition to the headset, Newegg is including gift cards with other accessories made for the Oculus Quest 2. The zip-u...

The PUBG universe is expanding with a new mobile title for iOS and Android called PUBG: New State, which catapults the battle royale ahead in time for a more futuristic take on the massive multiplayer genre. Set in 2051, PUBG: New State takes place years after the current PUBG games (which are set in approximately modern times) on a new map called Troi and promises to bring with it a slew of near-future weapons and vehicles, like drones and deployable combat shields. Based on the early images, it’s a similar vibe to fellow shooter Call of Duty’s semi-futuristic military tech from games like Black Ops 3 and 4. The new game is also set to dive deeper into the lore of the overall PUBG universe, which is apparently a thing that surprisingly exists for a game whose most notable cultural signifi...