GOG is losing money and refocusing on ‘handpicked selection of games’

CD Projekt says its GOG games storefront will put more focus on offering “a handpicked selection of games” and transfer some developers to other projects, following ongoing financial losses at the division.

“Regarding GOG, its performance does present a challenge, and recently we’ve taken measures to improve its financial standing,” CD Projekt CFO Piotr Nielubowicz told investors on a quarterly earnings call. “First and foremost, we’ve decided that GOG should focus more on its core business activity, which means offering a handpicked selection of games with its unique DRM-free philosophy. In line with this approach, there will be changes in the team structure.”

“GOG should focus more on its core business activity, which means offering a...

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Miami rescinds its short-lived ban on shared electric scooters

Daniel A. Varela/Miami Herald/Tribune News Service via Getty Images

The Miami City Commission voted to end its short-lived ban on shared electric scooters Monday after some new safety measures were put in place.

Early this month, the commission voted 4 to 5 to end the city’s multiyear scooter pilot, citing blocked sidewalks and the risk posed by untrained riders on busy streets. The companies that operate shared scooters, including Lime and Spin, argued that their services helped reduce car usage, connect residents to transit hubs, and bring extra revenue to the city.

That message appears to have gotten through. On Monday, the commission voted 3 to 1 to rescind the ban on the condition that new safety regulations would be implemented.

“Change is coming; it’s going to happen anyway. Regulate it,”...

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The best official Nerf blaster ever made is half off for Cyber Monday

You want to bring a badass foam blaster to your next Nerf war — or gift one to a very grateful kid or kid-at-heart this holiday. Good news: the Nerf Rival Perses, arguably the best official blaster ever made, is just $50 during Walmart’s Cyber Monday sale.

Normally $100, it’s a fully automatic SMG-style blaster that holds 50 far-flying, bouncy foam rounds in its hopper and dishes them out at up to eight shots per second. Plus, you won’t need to buy big bulky dumb alkaline batteries for this one. It comes with its own rechargeable NiMH battery pack and charger, unlike practically every other Hasbro blaster on the market.

Just know it’s a little too big for small kids. At over five pounds and with big beefy grips, it’ll be a late...

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Sonos could soon announce a smaller, more affordable Sub Mini subwoofer

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Sonos is likely planning to announce a new, smaller, and cheaper subwoofer to join its home theater product lineup. A Redditor spotted mention of a “Sub Mini” right in the Sonos smartphone app, and based on the text, it’s evident that this is a real product and not some mistake or placeholder text. In the screenshot, Sonos describes the Sub Mini as a “smaller, cylindrical subwoofer” compared to the large, square, and very pricey Sub.

Most conventional subwoofers are hefty squares or rectangles that people often try to keep out of sight. But cylinder-shaped subwoofers aren’t unheard of. The Sub Mini could resemble something like the below subwoofer from OSD.

Image: OSD

This example of a cylindrical subwoofer is...

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Go read this report on how your next food delivery might be cooked up in a parking lot

Photo by ANTHONY WALLACE/AFP via Getty Images

Mobile kitchens that cater solely to food delivery services, like Uber Eats and DoorDash, sound like a great idea in theory, as dedicated delivery kitchens can push out food faster without having to worry about passing meals along to servers. But a report from The Wall Street Journal details some of the mishaps associated with one trailer-bound ghost kitchen company, Reef, which involves third-degree burns and regulatory violations.

Just this April, the WSJ reports that one Reef kitchen in Houston, Texas experienced two fiery accidents in just four months. One involved a blast that erupted from the kitchen’s propane burners — and by a stroke of luck, the cook came out unscathed.

While the cook escaped harm — she happened to open a...

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CD Projekt Red promises Cyberpunk 2077’s next-gen update is still ‘on track,’ for real this time

A screenshot from Cyberpunk 2077. | Image: CD Projekt Red

_Cyberpunk 2077_developer CD Projekt Red assured investors and players during its latest quarterly earnings that the already-delayed next-gen update for the game is “on track” for the first quarter of 2022. CDPR originally announced a late 2021 target launch for the update in September but said in October that the release would slip into next year.

_Cyberpunk 2077_had a famously rocky launch, and CDPR has released multiple updates and hotfixes to address many of the game’s issues. But it’s seen a recent surge in popularity; it was one of the top sellers on Steam last week, according to SteamDB, possibly buoyed by a 50 percent price cut as part of Steam’s Autumn Sale. (It’s currently 50 percent off on the PlayStation and Xbox stores as...

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Frances Haugen will testify before Congress again this week

Photo by Thierry Monasse/Getty Images

House Democrats announced that Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen will testify before Congress a second time on Wednesday to discuss possible legislative changes to tech’s controversial legal liability shield, Section 230.

The House Energy and Commerce subcommittee on communications and technology will hold the upcoming hearing to discuss what Democrats are referring to as “targeted reforms” to Section 230. Several committee members have already introduced bills that would create carve-outs in the law that would make big tech companies like Facebook and Google legally liable for algorithms that amplify content that leads to offline violence.

Haugen will testify alongside Color of Change president Rashad Robinson, according to House...

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The best Cyber Monday deals on noise-canceling headphones 2021

Embrace the silence

Whether you’re overdue for a new pair or are just trying to cancel out the usual onslaught of holiday music, Cyber Monday is a great time to invest in some noise-canceling headphones. You’ll find significant discounts on many of our favorite headphones featured in our noise-canceling headphones buying guide. These include picks from Sony, Bose, Apple, Sennheiser, and others. In some cases, these deals will save you $100 or more.

Aside from the steep discounts, another good thing about buying headphones during the holidays is the extended return period at many retailers. That gives you plenty of time to try out your new cans and make sure the sound quality, ANC, comfort, and other factors are all to your liking before you’re stuck with...

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The Verge Cyber Monday 2021 live blog

Illustration by The Verge

We’re rattling off the best Cyber Monday tech deals as we find them

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Twitter CTO Parag Agrawal replaces Jack Dorsey as CEO

Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images

Confirming rumors first reported this morning by CNBC, Twitter co-founder and CEO Jack Dorsey announced his departure. The company confirmed that CTO Parag Agrawal will succeed him and says Bret Taylor is taking over as the new chairman of the board.

Dorsey returned to lead the company as CEO in 2015 despite being forced out of the post in 2008. He continues to serve as the CEO of Square, and last night tweeted “I love Twitter.”

In the company’s official statement, Dorsey says, “I’ve decided to leave Twitter because I believe the company is ready to move on from its founders. My trust in Parag as Twitter’s CEO is deep. His work over the past 10 years has been transformational. I’m deeply grateful for his skill, heart, and soul. It’s his...

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Nissan lays out $17.6 billion plan to electrify its future

Nissan is the latest automaker to announce a plan to spend gobs of money on an ambitious electrification strategy. The company said it will spend 2 trillion yen (around $17.6 billion) over the next five years to accelerate the roll-out of electric vehicles. And to emphasize that point, Nissan unveiled a pack of delightful EV concepts, including an adorable pickup truck, an outdoorsy SUV, and a sleek sports car.

It’s an impressive commitment, but Nissan notably stopped short of making the same promise that other automakers have to phase out the production of gas-powered vehicles. For example, Volvo and General Motors have vowed to become EV-only companies by 2030 and 2040, respectively.

Nissan said it will produce 23 new electrified...

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Cheaters are already ruining Halo Infinite multiplayer games

Halo Infinite is currently suffering from an influx of hackers and cheaters. Halo Infinite players have been reporting multiple instances of cheaters over the Thanksgiving weekend, with recordings showing people clearly using aimbots and wallhacks to cheat. It’s the latest game to be hit by an increase in cheating across the world’s biggest PC games.

Reddit and Twitter users have been posting clips of cheaters, where you can clearly see them snapping to players and getting killing sprees, or tracing rival players through walls. Most of these cheaters are clearly using third-party software on PC, and it has led many players to call for an option to disable crossplay.

Halo Infinite Cheating fromhaloinfinite

H...

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Tom Holland will return for another trilogy of MCU Spider-Man movies

Spider-Man: No Way Home is set to wrap up the current trilogy of Marvel Cinematic Universe Spider-Man movies soon, but Tom Holland’s incarnation of the web-slinging hero isn’t hanging up his suit just yet: Sony producer Amy Pascal has confirmed in an interview with Fandango that Holland will return for a future trilogy of Spider-Man movies that will continue to be set in the MCU.

“This is not the last movie that we are going to make with Marvel — [this is not] the last Spider-Man movie. We are getting ready to make the next Spider-Man movie with Tom Holland and Marvel, it just isn’t part of… we’re thinking of this as three films, and now we’re going to go onto the next three. This is not the last of our MCU movies,” Pascal said.

“Marvel...

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Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey is reportedly close to stepping down

Photo by MARCO BELLO/AFP via Getty Images

Jack Dorsey is expected to step down as CEO of Twitter “in the near term,” according to CNBC’s David Faber, who cited “a number of different people familiar with the situation.” Faber said he doesn’t “know much else” beyond that and wasn’t sure who might be brought in to replace him. _The Verge_has reached out to Twitter for comment.

Dorsey has been CEO of Twitter since 2015, presiding over a rocky but relatively successful run for the company. During the past couple years, Twitter has started to rapidly roll out new products and features. And while not all of them have been hits, they’ve suggested a transformation into a far more nimble company ready to adapt to its users interests.

BREAKING: Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey is expected to step...

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Walmart’s PS5 and Xbox Series X restock starts at 12PM ET for subscribers

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Walmart is back with a Cyber Monday console drop. Starting at 12PM ET / 9AM PT, you can have a go at snagging a PlayStation 5 (both the $499.99 disc-based version and $399.99 digital version are available) or the $499.99 Xbox Series X console.

To get this early access to boost your chances of getting a console (though it’s no guarantee), you’ll needto be a paying member to Walmart Plus, starting at $12.99 per month. To reiterate, members sampling the free trial will notget early access.

Here are the links, with more details about this restock beneath them.

Hey, if you miss out on a chance to get the Series X, it might help during the holidays that the smaller, less-powerful Series S is more readily available and costs less at...

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The best Cyber Monday deals happening now

Black Friday is technically over, but many of the same deals have carried over into Cyber Monday — plus a few new ones, of course. We’ve adapted our coverage to make sure that you’re only seeing the latest and best deals on tech that you want, and that we recommend, on wireless earbuds, TVs, games, phones, and more. The occasional Nerf blaster might find its way in here, too.

If you’re hoping to get the majority of your holiday shopping done ahead of mid-December, now is a good time to do that. Though, don’t despair if something you’re looking for either isn’t available, or isn’t as cheap as you were hoping. December always brings more deals, and we’ll do our best to give you every opportunity to score on tech deals before the holidays.

K...

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The British Fashion Council launches new award category for Roblox designs

As part of its annual fashion awards, the British Fashion Council is adding a new category for 2021: an award for “metaverse design.” As broad as that might sound, the award was actually created in partnership with Roblox, and as such, the shortlist is limited to five Roblox creators. The winner, cSapphire, operates an in-app clothing boutique.

In keeping with the virtual nature of 2021, the award will be presented by an avatar of Gucci’s creative director Alessandro Michele (pictured above) inside a Roblox experience. Players will also be able to explore a virtual recreation of Royal Albert Hall to watch the awards. “This unique metaverse space BFC has created in collaboration with Roblox represents the future of fashion, and it’s been...

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Elon Musk tells Tesla employees to stop rushing to increase quarterly deliveries

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

In a recent memo, Tesla CEO Elon Musk has told the company’s employees to not sprint to make deliveries by the end of this quarter, and to instead focus on minimizing costs, CNBC reports. In the November 26th memo, Musk wrote that he doesn’t want the company “spending heavily on expedite fees, overtime and temporary contractors just so that cars arrive in Q4.”

“What has happened historically is that we sprint like crazy at end of quarter to maximize deliveries, but then deliveries drop massively in the first few weeks of the next quarter,” said Musk. “In effect, looked at over a six month period, we won’t have delivered any extra cars but we will have spent a lot of money and burned ourselves out to accelerate deliveries in the last two...

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Australian PM proposes defamation laws that force social platforms to unmask trolls

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison is introducing new defamation laws that would force online platforms to reveal the identities of trolls, or else pay the price of defamation. As ABC News Australia explains, the laws would hold social platforms, like Facebook or Twitter, accountable for defamatory comments made against users.

Platforms will also have to create a complaint system that people can use if they feel that they’re a victim of defamation. As a part of this process, the person who posted the potentially defamatory content will be asked to take it down. But if they refuse, or if the victim is interested in pursuing legal action, the platform can then legally ask the poster for permission to reveal their contact information.

...

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Backbone One gaming controller for the iPhone is $70 today

Backbone One for the iPhone | Photo by Cameron Faulkner / The Verge

The Backbone One is the best mobile gaming controller for the iPhone and you can get it from Amazon today for $70, $30 off of its regular price. In addition, it includes a month of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, which lets you play over a hundred Xbox games right on your iPhone.

If you’re looking for other Cyber Monday deals, be sure to check out our roundup of the best Cyber Monday offers from around the internet.

Similar to other gaming controllers, the Backbone One slots an iPhone in between two hand grips, complete with analog sticks, multiple buttons, and shoulder triggers. It’s compatible with any iPhone that can run iOS 13 or later, and works with hardware dating back to the iPhone 6S.

In his review earlier this year, Cameron Faulkner...

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The best early Cyber Monday deals you can get at Best Buy

The OnePlus 9 Pro and OnePlus 9 are on sale at Best Buy. | Photo by Becca Farsace / The Verge

Several retailers started early with Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals in advance of the hectic, no-holds-barred weekend that kicks off right after Thanksgiving. Best Buy is one of a few — aside from Amazon, Walmart, and Target — that got things started particularly early this year. If you’ve been paying attention to our Black Friday / Cyber Monday coverage, you’ve likely noticed dozens of deals peppered in, but that’s just a sampling. There’s more where that came from.

Before we get into it, we’ve included some resources below that should make your Cyber Monday shopping experience a little better. And to make things more fun, you can also enter our sweepstakes for a chance to win a mystery bag filled with stuff from The Verge’s tech...

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Online spending on Black Friday decreased for the very first time

Photo by Beata Zawrzel/NurPhoto via Getty Images

Online sales during Black Friday took a bit of a tumble this year, marking the first time that spending has dipped lower than the previous year, as noted in a holiday shopping report by Adobe Analytics. Online shoppers reportedly spent a total of $8.9 billion this year, falling a little short of the $9 billion that was spent in 2020.

Adobe suggests that the trend downward might’ve been caused by an uptick in early spending

Adobe suggests that the downward trend might’ve been caused by an uptick in early spending, as some stores started sales and promotions as early as October. And when shoppers did make online purchases during Black Friday, Adobe found that 44.4 percent of those sales were made from a smartphone, a 10.6 percent increase...

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Samsung’s Galaxy Z Flip 3 is up to $500 off at Best Buy

Photo by Dan Seifert / The Verge

Samsung’s Galaxy Z Flip 3 is the company’s lowest-priced foldable yet at its normal $999.99, but today you can get the trendy phone for way, way less than that. In an early Cyber Monday 2021 deal, the unlocked Z Flip 3 is available from Best Buy for $599.99 if you activate service on the device with your purchase.

That’s a colossal $400 discount from the Flip 3’s regular price and brings it on par with something like the Pixel 6. Google’s phone is terrific, but it certainly doesn’t have the cool factor of a folding screen. Verizon and AT&T customers can both get that price for a limited time.

In certain cases, you can save even more. Activating a new line of service on T-Mobile / Sprint brings the price down to $499.99 for the unlocked...

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The best early Cyber Monday deals happening now

Welcome to the in-between of deals. Black Friday has come and gone. There were tons of great discounts, many of which even began well before the day after Thanksgiving, and our _Verge Deals_team worked to cover as many of them as possible. We even did a liveblog to bring you the latest up-to-the-minute updates. There have been deals on wireless earbuds, headphones, video games, 4K TVs, pre-built PCs, and even the occasional Nerf blaster. With so many savings already happening across the world of tech, it’s hard to believe Cyber Monday is still approaching.

That brings us to today, where we find ourselves between Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Plenty of deals are continuing on, and fresh ones have cropped up to join the fray. If you...

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Cryptocurrency miners suffer amid major energy crunch in Kazakhstan

Photo by Erik Romanenko\TASS via Getty Images

Cryptocurrency miners in Kazakhstan are facing widespread electricity shortages amid a surge in mining, as reported by the Financial Times. Kazakhstan has been grappling with an overloaded energy grid as miners flock in from China, which cracked down on crypto earlier this year and banned crypto-based transactions in September.

Over 87,849 “power-intensive” mining rigs have made their way from China to Kazakhstan

According to the Financial Times, Kazakhstan’s demand for electricity has risen about eight percent since the beginning of 2021, a sharp increase from the one or two percent annual growth that the country typically experiences. The _Financial Times’_research also estimates that over 87,849 “power-intensive” mining rigs have made...

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GitHub is down, affecting thousands of developers

Microsoft-owned GitHub is down, affecting thousands or potentially millions of developers that rely on its many services. GitHub started experiencing issues at around 3:45PM ET, with Git operations, API requests, GitHub actions, packages, pages, and pull requests all affected.

“We’re investigating errors affecting most GitHub services,” says an incident update on the GitHub status page. “We’re actively investigating and will provide an update as soon as possible.” The status page lists problems with Git operations, API requests, webhooks, pull requests, GitHub actions, GitHub packages, and GitHub pages. Codespaces still seems to be operational, though.

GitHub is now home to more than 73 million developers that rely on the service for...

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India says not to preorder Starlink until it obtains a license

Photo by Nilay Patel / The Verge

India has instructed the public not to preorder Starlink, SpaceX’s satellite-based internet service, according to a report from Reuters. As the report notes, the Indian government says that the company needs to obtain a license to operate in the country before it starts deploying its services.

Accordingly, the Government of India has asked the company to comply with Indian regulatory framework for rendering the satellite based communication services and refrain from booking/rendering the satellite internet services in India with immediate effect.

— DoT India (@DoT_India) November 26, 2021

“Public is advised not to subscribe to Starlink services being advertised,” a tweet from India’s Department of Telecommunications (DoT) reads. The...

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Amazon has PS5 consoles in stock again (update: sold out)

Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge

Update November 27th, 2:20PM ET: Amazon has sold out of PlayStation 5 consoles. We’ll be sure to keep you up to date when we hear of another round of restocks.

Sony’s latest gaming console, the PS5, is one of many gaming gadgets that are hard to find in stock right now due to mostly online-only sales. If you are trying to get your hands on one, Amazon has restocked PS5 consoles right now, while supplies last (these links will help you add it directly to your cart — Disc, Digital). The consoles are only available for Amazon Prime subscribers, continuing a trend of retailers restricting access to consoles for paying subscribers only. If you can’t add it to your cart, keep trying, occasionally the sites restock over a period of a few...

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Owlet puts smart baby monitoring socks on hold after FDA warning

Photo by Oliver Berg/picture alliance via Getty Images

Owlet has stopped selling its lineup of smart baby monitoring socks, which are supposed to track a baby’s vital signs and sleep patterns, after receiving a warning letter from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). First reported by Deseret News, the FDA’s letter states that Owlet’s Smart Socks are considered medical devices, as they provide heart rate and oxygen level notifications, and that the company has been selling them without the proper “marketing approval, clearance, or authorization” from the FDA.

The FDA didn’t “identify any safety concerns about the Smart Sock”

Owlet has since pulled its family of Smart Socks, as well as any bundles that include the device from its site. “The Owlet Sock family of products is currently...

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The best tech deals you can still get under $50

The best deals under $50 | Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge

What can $50 get you these days? Turns out, quite a lot; you just need to know where to look. We’ve already rounded up all the best Black Friday deals still available for getting your shopping done early at retailers like Amazon, Target, and Walmart. But if you’re on a tight budget or looking for some gifts that won’t break the bank, you’ve come to the right place.

Have a Nintendo Switch, a Go Pro, or phone/tablet/laptop that features a microSD slot? Treat it to a massive boost in storage capacity with SanDisk’s 400GB microSD card at Amazon for just $45. This card usually costs around $50.

Amazon’s latest streaming stick is a solid alternative to both Roku and Chromecast devices. The Fire TV Stick 4K Max is currently enjoying a $20...

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