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Valve’s card game ‘Artifact’ is reportedly getting a reboot

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Valve CEO Gabe Newell called Artifact an “interesting failure,” since the company thought it was a strong product. He also told the magazine that the team analyzed the things people didn’t like about the product in order to fix them:

“We ran an experiment, we got a negative result, and now we need to see if we’ve learned anything from that, so let’s try again. And that’s what [the Artifact team] have been doing and that’s what they’re getting ready to release. Based on the reaction to it, what was wrong with the product? How did we get there? Let’s fix those things and take another run at it.”

Newell didn’t say when the update will be released and didn’t elaborate on whether it’s a full-blown sequel or something else. He did say, however, that the company needs “to do a larger reboot in order to justify [the game’s] existence to customers and to markets.”

Valve also posted an update on Steam that says it will reveal more details after Half Life: Alyx launches on March 26th. In that announcement, Valve thanked fans for their continued interest in Artifact and promised to start “tests on [its] systems and infrastructure.”

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Get Segway’s Kickscooter Max for $100 off, plus a $100 gift card

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The deal will only continue as long as supplies last, so you’ll want to act quickly if you’re in the market. This isn’t the lowest price we’ve ever seen for the scooter, but the combination of the upfront discount with the gift card makes it a better deal than usual.

It’s easy to be skeptical of scooters, especially if you’ve used not-so-sturdy examples from rental services. However, the Kickscooter Max does address some of those concerns. It has a claimed 40.4-mile range, or enough to take you into town and back without worrying about your battery. It can handle 20 percent inclines, and its IPX5 rating should help you get home even in a downpour. And importantly, it has self-healing tires to keep you going in the event of a puncture. In other words, this should be a scooter you can depend on at a time when recharge points and repair centers may be hard to find.

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The Morning After: First impressions of the new MacBook Air

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Inevitable.Google I/O 2020 is canceled

After initially shifting its annual developer event to an online-only affair, Google announced Friday afternoon that “we sadly will not be holding an I/O event in any capacity this year.” For the time being, Google plans to share details about upcoming Android updates in blog and community forum posts.

On non-race weekends, fans will go head-to-head with drivers.Real F1 drivers will compete in an esports series

Starting Sunday, several drivers will square off in the F1 Esports Virtual Grand Prix series, using the PC version of F1 2019 and playing remotely for safety reasons. First up is the Virtual Bahrain Grand Prix on what was supposed to be the second weekend of the actual F1 season. You’ll be able to watch it all go down live on the F1 YouTube, Twitch and Facebook channels at 3PM ET.

Plus Moog and Korg synthesizer apps for free.The best deals we found this week: ‘The Sims 4,’ Fire TV Sticks and more

Digital deals dominated this week, but there are also numerous deals on gadgets as well. Square Enix cut the prices of all of its Nintendo Switch games, so now’s the time to grab a Final Fantasy title (or three) while they are up to 50 percent off. Amazon Prime members can also snag a Fire TV Stick 4K for only $25.

Here are all the deals from this week that you can still get today.

Should’ve seen that coming.‘Sonic the Hedgehog’ movie gets an early digital release on March 31st

The new Sonic movie had an unusual path to release that included a delay to change the hedgehog’s computer generated look. But the final product was better than most expected, and now the movie will be available to watch at home much sooner than expected. The digital release will come through on March 31st, just over a month after it hit theaters.

Dolores is in control.‘Westworld’ remembers that TV is supposed to be fun

Season two of Westworld was all over the place, and not always in a good way. Devindra Hardawar explains why the premiere of season three is a welcome return to form for HBO’s robots-in-the-big-city cyberpunk tale.

Can telehealth save us?The Engadget Podcast

This week, many of us found out exactly which meetings could’ve been emails. On the podcast, Cherlynn and Devindra explore the rise of telehealth during the global coronavirus pandemic. It’s not all serious conversation; our hosts also dive into the gaming hardware news from this week, as well as a few fun recommendations to help you hold it together.

Listen on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Spotify, Pocket Casts or Stitcher.

But wait, there’s more…

The Morning After is a new daily newsletter from Engadget designed to help you fight off FOMO. Who knows what you’ll miss if you don’t Subscribe.

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Have a suggestion on how we can improve The Morning After? Send us a note.



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SoundCloud links up with Twitch so creators can earn from livestreams

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The music platform said in its announcement:

“It’s an unsettling time for everyone right now, and we know COVID-19 has been especially hard on musicians who were scheduled to play live shows over the next few months. Many creators are turning to live video streaming platforms to connect with their fans.”

Those who don’t have a Twitch account yet will obviously have to sign up for one first. Creators will then have to fill out a fast-track application, and then Twitch will send them an affiliate invitation within days. Once they gain affiliate status, fans can subscribe to their channels — on Twitch, that means fans are paying actual money to support their favorite creators — and they can also run ads, as well as link to their merchandise stores. Interested SoundCloud creators can already start applying for Affiliate status, though they’ll first have to be validated by a human Twitch personnel to get it.

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Color Space is a VR coloring book to help you relax

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Let’s face it: with the COVID-19 pandemic creating chaos, you’re probably looking for something, anything to shut out the outside world and help you relax. Thankfully, you might have an option if you happen to have an Oculus VR headset. Lighthaus has released a Color Space coloring book app for the Quest and Rift that has you bringing a dull gray scene to life while you’re inside. The more you color, the more it comes to life with animation and sound. It’s very simple (you only need one button to control everything), but that’s precisely the point — Lighthaus designed the app as a distraction for patients going through stressful procedures.



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Twitter will verify more health experts to fight coronavirus misinformation

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The update comes as Twitter has taken more aggressive steps to beat back a wave of hoaxes and other disinformation that’s spread on social media in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. The company previously announced it would ban tweets spreading fake cures or other inaccurate pseudo-scientific information.

Now, that effort is also extending to its verification program, an often fraught topic for the company, which tends to avoid publicly discussing verification (though several current and former Twitter execs jokingly reference their inability to verify users in their bios). In a series of tweets, the company said it’s verified “hundreds” of accounts, and explained steps academics and others who work for public health organizations or academic institutions can take in order to ensure their accounts can be verified.

“We are prioritizing Verification for Twitter accounts that have an email address associated with an authoritative organization or institution,” the company wrote. “Please also ensure your Twitter bio references (and links to) the institution you are associated with, and that the page you link to includes a reference back to your Twitter account.”

A Twitter spokesperson said the company is currently working with partner organizations like the World Health Organization to identify accounts that should be verified.

Additionally, the company will “likely” open up a public-facing form that will allow health experts to directly request verification from Twitter, according to Twitter product lead Kayvon Beykpour. “We’ll likely share a link to an intake form soon for experts to fill out to request verification too– just working on way to better separate likely noise from signal,” he said.

If Twitter does make a publicly-accessible verification request form available, it would be the first time the company has done so since it officially “paused” verification in 2017 after it was widely criticized for verifying white nationalists. (Though the company has continued to quietly verify thousands of new accounts in the years since.)

And while the latest measures will only apply to health experts sharing information about the coronavirus, it does at least show that Twitter is willing to take public input on verification in some circumstances.



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Native Instruments’ $50 retro synth plug-in is currently free

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While “free” is a great price, it can be difficult to navigate Native Instrument’s software ecosystem — users can’t simply download the Analog Dreams software and start playing. First, they need to download and install the company’s Native Access management tool, followed by its free Kontakt Player plug-in. Then, they can finally download expansions like Analog Lab. Those just getting started with Native Instruments’ offerings should consider downloading the company’s Komplete Start package, which is a free bundle of instruments and effects, and comes with Kontakt Player.

Native Instruments isn’t the first company to give away its music-making tools to keep people busy during the coronavirus pandemic. Both Moog and Korg have made some of their mobile apps free. The Analog Dreams giveaway seems to be a hit already — the Native Instruments website is having difficulty loading pages and servings downloads, and can’t even load its password recovery page at the moment. Musicians who want to download the software should be able to once the dust settles, but that could take some time.

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‘Sonic the Hedgehog’ movie gets an early digital release on March 31st

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Disney released Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker on most digital stores a few days before it was supposed to be out. It also made Frozen 2 available for streaming on Disney+ three months earlier than anticipated.

Paramount Pictures received a lot of flak when an early preview of the movie showed a version of the beloved hedgehog that didn’t look anything like the Sonic fans are used to. It prompted the studio to push back its theater release in order redesign the character. The company’s efforts were worth it in the end: the final result was so well-received, it broke the record for a video game movie opening. After its digital release in a few days, the film will also be available on 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray and DVD on May 19th.

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Bandsintown will help artists promote livestreams

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The Watch Live feature will be available for free on the Bandsintown For Artists platform next week. The push notifications will appear in the Bandsintown app, and other platforms that use its event listings, like Facebook and Instagram Stories.

The new Bandsintown Live Twitch channel will raise money for the MusiCares COVID-19 Relief Fund, which will provide financial relief to artists and music industry professionals impacted by the pandemic. Bandsintown Live hosted its first performance today, with DJ and producer Black Coffee, and next week, it will host a multi-day Live Music Marathon.

“Artists and fans are already missing the tribal experience that live shows create. We all must do whatever we can to keep that feeling alive as well as help artists in these difficult times,” said Fabrice Sergent, managing partner of Bandsintown. “WATCH LIVE and a new Bandsintown Live music channel on Twitch are the first of many new initiatives from Bandsintown.”

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Educators can temporarily give Creative Cloud access to distance learners

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Adobe hopes that allowing for easier access to its apps will help keep K-12 and college students on track despite the lack of access to on-campus computer labs. IT admins have to fill out a form, which Adobe will evaluate. The admins can then grant access by uploading spreadsheets of approved users to their Creative Cloud management app.

This is probably a good move on Adobe’s part, especially in light of its strange decision to revoke licenses to old versions of its applications last year. Students can continue to practice their creative skills while cooped up at home, and messing around in Photoshop and Illustrator outside of academic pursuits could help kill some boredom, too.

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