Technology

Halo Infinite, the next game in Microsoft’s iconic franchise, will officially launch in fall 2021, developer 343 Industries announced in a blog post on Tuesday. The game was originally supposed to launch alongside the Xbox Series X / S in November, but it was delayed to 2021 in August due in part to challenges created by the COVID-19 pandemic. Since Microsoft hasn’t specified a month or day, this fall 2021 window could effectively mean that the game gets delayed as much as an entire year from its original release date. Microsoft did demo Halo Infinite during its July Xbox Series X games showcase, but received some criticism for the graphics and visuals shown during the demo (a dead-eyed enemy shown then even spawned the now-infamous Craig meme). In Tuesday’s blog post, 343 Industries said ...

Cloudflare is proposing a new DNS standard it developed with Apple that’s designed to help close a blindspot in my (and I’m sure many others’) internet privacy measures (via TechCrunch). The protocol is called Oblivious DNS over HTTPS (ODoH), and it’s meant to help anonymize the information that’s sent before you even make it onto a website. Whether that will help you with your overall net privacy is something we’ll tackle in a second, but first, we need to understand how regular DNS works, and what Cloudflare has added. Basically, DNS lets us use the web without having to remember the IP address of every site we want to visit. While we humans can easily understand names like “theverge.com”, or “archive.org,” computers use IP addresses (like 207.241.224.2) to route their requests across th...

The PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X / S have been out for a few weeks now. And while we’ve been loving next-gen titles like Astro’s Playroom and Spider-Man: Miles Morales, many Verge staffers have been marveling at something unexpected: older games on newer consoles. Thanks to more powerful hardware, many games now have more stable resolutions, better frame rates, and faster load times, which makes playing them even better than before. And the PlayStation Plus Collection and Xbox Game Pass offer a plethora of older titles at a monthly price that’s far cheaper than a brand-new next-gen game. We’ve all spent time with different games, so our newsroom wanted to share some of our experiences in case you’ve been wondering just how well older games might fare on the PS5 and Xbox Series consoles....

Pornhub has made significant changes to its content policies after a New York Times report detailed the damage done by nonconsensual videos posted to the platform, often involving underage girls. In a statement today, Pornhub announced a new set of policies aimed at keeping nonconsensual videos off the site. Most significantly, the platform will no longer accept uploads from unidentified users, a significant shift for a company that built its platform on non-professional uploads. In the short term, that will restrict uploads to content partners and members of the platform’s Model Program, although Pornhub plans to roll out a broader verification process for regular users in 2021. Once content has been uploaded, Pornhub will block downloading content entirely, no longer allowing users to ex...

Netflix is rolling out a new tool for parents to better understand and monitor what their kids are watching. Called the Kids Activity Report, as seen in the image above, the new breakdown includes data on what type of programming kids are spending the most time watching, who their favorite character is, and recommendations for new shows based on their interests. Emails sent out to customers who have kids accounts enabled started going out this weekend, letting parents know they could opt into the report. The report also comes with a “joke of the day,” coloring pages (based on Netflix characters and shows) to print out for kids stuck at home, and prepared questions to ask their kids based on their favorite show or character. Parents will hopefully be able to better connect with their kids b...

After three years of support, the Pixel 2 has received its last update from Google: a delayed November security patch going out to the devices this month, as noted by Android Central. Google’s device support schedule indicates that the Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL aren’t guaranteed security updates after October 2020. Google announced the Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL in October 2017. The two devices were identical in every way except size, and they earned plenty of praise for their somewhat groundbreaking camera. Google was early to really lean into camera software and computational photography, and the results showed in the Pixel 2 — its single rear-facing camera was in many ways ahead of the multi-camera-toting competition. Aside from a highly capable camera and an overall likable design, it wasn’t ...

Bungie has confirmed Destiny 2 will be getting crossplay support at some point next year. While Bungie didn’t specify which platforms will support the feature, hopefully you’ll be able to dive into Destiny 2 with players across every platform on which the game is available. That includes PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X / S, PC, and Stadia. Earlier this year, it seemed as though a 2021 launch date for crossplay was the goal, but Bungie was more definite about a launch next year in a blog post published on Tuesday. Bungie has slowly been making the game more platform-agnostic. The studio added cross-save support, which lets you bring your save from one platform to another, in 2019. And alongside the next-gen update for the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X / S that’s out today, the game will...

Today, Facebook Gaming announces a new initiative targeted specifically at Black streamers on the platform: the Black Gaming Creator Program. The company says it plans to invest $5 million a year over the next two years to support the Black gaming creator community. If you’re selected to take part in the program, there are some benefits. You’ll get Facebook Gaming partnership, early product access (along with product feedback sessions), community support — which includes invitations to all digital and in person events — and mentorship. The program also comes with guaranteed monthly pay, which distinguishes it from other creator mentorship programs. Interested creators can apply here. Leo Olebe, the global director of games partnerships at Facebook, said in a statement that the new initiati...

Cyberpunkland Latest Cyberpunkland <div class=”specialcenterbox”><img src=”https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22154314/cyberpunkland_XOXL_Icon_3_01.png” style=”width:200px;height: 100%;margin-bottom: 16px;”> Welcome to Blade City, a full-service dystopia resort. Blade City is a dangerous, fast-moving world where hackers, hustlers, and streetfighters live in the shadow of the evil corporation Xoxl. As the Hospitality Manager at Xoxl, it’s your job to keep Blade City dirty and antisocial — a hip, gritty vacation from a soul-numbing late capitalist reality. Are you ready? (link:”CLOCK INTO WORK”)[(goto:”Grittiness Tutorial”)] </div>{ (set:$Tutorial to 2) (display:”Name Arrays”) (set:...

Samsung’s next flagship phones the Galaxy S21, S21 Plus, and S21 Ultra are widely expected to arrive this January (alongside some new buds), but we haven’t had a true glimpse at them yet. That may be changing today, as Android Police has just published three brief teaser videos that it says come directly from Samsung, and line up perfectly with the OnLeaks renders we first saw in October. While we can’t glean too much from these videos, they make it crystal clear what to expect from the design of these phones — a sleek, streamlined new camera bump that blends into the sides of the phone, with three cameras on the S21 and S21 Plus and five cameras (including what appears to be a periscope zoom lens, see the square shape) on the S21 Ultra. Your eagle eyes can probably also see that the S21 U...

On today’s episode of Decoder, I’m talking to Chris Best, co-founder and CEO of Substack, the subscription newsletter startup that’s taken the media industry by storm over the past few months. High-profile journalists like Glenn Greenwald, Andrew Sullivan, Matt Yglesias, and Anne Helen Petersen have left their jobs at traditional media companies to start paid newsletters on Substack. Casey Newton recently left The Verge and launched a Substack newsletter called Platformer, which is great — you should subscribe to it. The appeal of running your own newsletter is obvious and simple: instead of working for a boss, you can work for yourself. Instead of having your salary determined by management, you can make more money just by getting more subscribers. And most importantly, instead of feeling...