Fortnite

Apple’s Phil Schiller gives Epic iPhone testimony

What does ‘locked in’ mean, though? We’ve gotten through the expert witnesses of Epic v. Apple, and as a reward, Phil Schiller — currently an “Apple Fellow,” whatever that is, and previously the senior vice president of worldwide marketing — took the stand like a twinkly App Store St. Nick. To hear him tell it,… Read more

Apple said Roblox developers don’t make games, and now Roblox agrees

Massively popular game creation tool Roblox is now a massively popular experience creation tool Roblox, possibly in response to the ongoing Epic v. Apple trial. Roblox allows a variety of user-created projects on its platform, and until earlier this week, these were all grouped under a tab called “Games” on Roblox’s website. Roblox creators could… Read more

Katy Perry’s new music video stars her BFF Pikachu

Katy Perry’s latest video features an electric rat. The pop star released her new video for the single “Electric,” which is a surprisingly charming coming-of-age story about growing up with Pikachu as a best friend. It features a young Perry and her Pichu struggling early on in her career, while the current version of the… Read more

Epic fights Apple in court by playing Candy Crush

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Expert testimony continues Sometimes I reflect on my life and wonder where I went wrong, such that I am sitting on a wooden pew in federal court, watching a Google search for Candy Crush Saga on the display monitor. This is a huge trial with major stakes for… Read more

These art collectors are making their own metaverse through games

Forgetter. Dslcollection is using technology to explore new ways to show off works of art Sylvain Levy just co-produced his first video game, Forgetter, which launched on Steam on April 17th. Sylvain Levy has also never played a video game in his life. “I’m not kidding,” says the 67-year-old art collector on a Zoom call… Read more

The Division is getting a free-to-play game and mobile version

Ubisoft announced that it’s developing a free-to-play game set in The Division’s universe, called The Division Heartland. The company also announced that a Division mobile game is in the works. The announcement is light on details, so it’s not clear yet whether the game will be a battle royale style like Call of Duty: Warzone… Read more

Microsoft would like to remind you the Xbox definitely makes money

A Microsoft executive has admitted that the company doesn’t earn any profit on sales of Xbox consoles alone. The admission came as part of the Epic v. Apple trial yesterday, confirming what we’ve known for years: Microsoft sells Xbox consoles at a loss. Asked how much margin Microsoft makes on Xbox consoles, the company’s head… Read more

Why the bad iPhone web app experience keeps coming up in Epic v. Apple

Safari just doesn’t support key features — and Safari’s the only option Something keeps coming up at the Epic v. Apple trial as a potential alternative for getting Fortnite on the iPhone: web apps. It’s an intriguing idea, as web apps are able to do surprisingly complex things: just look at a Chromebook or even… Read more

Activision is tripling the size of its Call of Duty studios

Mustafa Mahmoud 14 hours ago Featured Tech News, Software & Gaming Call of Duty is one of the biggest franchises in all of video games, with over 400 million copies sold. This doesn’t even include Warzone and COD mobile, each of which have over 100 million players. In order to keep up with its size… Read more

2B from NieR: Automata is coming to Fall Guys

Mustafa Mahmoud 2 days ago Featured Tech News, Online, Software & Gaming Ever since it was popularised by Fortnite, many different video games have seen crossover content, especially in battle royales. Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout, the Takeshi’s Castle styled game has likewise followed suit, with the latest leaks revealing that upcoming skins will include 2B… Read more

Court documents reveal over a dozen planned Fortnite crossovers

One of the most interesting aspects to the Epic Games vs Apple lawsuit is the fact that it has given fans an inside look into the inner workings of these two warring companies. Alongside a number of internal documents detailing revenue information and more, it has been revealed that Epic Games had planned over a… Read more

Epic Games Store expected to become profitable by 2024

Matthew Wilson 2 days ago Featured Tech News, Software & Gaming A few weeks ago, we learned that Epic Games had spent around $330 million on obtaining Epic Games Store exclusives so far. Now, thanks to testimony given during the first day of the Epic Games v Apple trial, we know that the Epic Games… Read more

Epic v. Apple turns into Windows v. Xbox

Is an iPhone more like a PC or an Xbox? That question was asked — implicitly and explicitly — over and over on the third day of Epic v. Apple testimony. The antitrust trial started on Monday with some heady pronunciations about Fortnite, the game and/or metaverse at the heart of the case. Yesterday, both… Read more

Epic pushed Xbox chief to open free multiplayer just ahead of Apple Fortnite battle

Epic pushed Microsoft to open up its Xbox network for free multiplayer gaming just weeks before the Apple and Fortnite battle. In the weeks leading up to Epic Games’ decision to circumvent Apple’s 30 percent cut on Fortnite in-app purchases, CEO Tim Sweeney sent an email to Xbox chief Phil Spencer teasing something big and… Read more

I watched the Epic v. Apple trial on Discord

The Epic Games v. Apple trial started on Monday, and if you wanted to follow along and listen to Epic CEO Tim Sweeney talk about the “metaverse,” your options were limited. In theory, there’s public access to the trial, like most court proceedings, but since the courthouse is still closed for lockdown, the only access… Read more