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Tech News
Sony has announced that Mafia: The Old Country, Horizon Forbidden West and Poppy Playtime: Chapter 2 are joining the PlayStation Plus Extra and Premium catalogs. Most titles arrive October 20, with Poppy Playtime: Chapter 2 following on October 27. PlayStation Plus plans start at $11 a month and include access to a rotating library of games.
Epic Games has released a public preview of a rebuilt Epic Games Launcher, saying it was built largely through AI-assisted 'vibe coding' rather than traditional programming. Epic Games Store GM Martin Keely told press the team rewrote the launcher from scratch in a new tech stack, using AI to replicate existing functionality while adding Windows, Mac and upcoming Linux support. Epic and outlet testing found the new launcher starts up a few seconds faster than Steam, though a claimed 0.06-second advantage in restoring from the system tray was negligible.
Epic Games has released a preview build of a new, AI-generated Games Launcher, citing third-party benchmarks showing it cold-starts in 5.47 seconds versus Steam's 10.07 seconds on Windows. The company also touts a revamped interface with title summary pages, custom top bars, library aggregation, and storage/download monitoring tools. Epic says Fortnite will eventually come to Linux through this client once Easy Anti-Cheat is rebuilt and kernel-level agreements are reached with major distros.
Microsoft has introduced the Xbox Nano Controller, a smaller version of its standard gamepad measuring just over five inches and weighing 3.5 ounces. It features a rechargeable battery, a programmable action button, and Bluetooth support for use with Xbox consoles, PCs, mobile devices, and smart TVs. Pre-orders are open now, with shipping in the US starting November 4 at $50, followed by availability in 35 more countries next month.
Overdrive, an unofficial PS5 storefront offering more than 1,600 pirated PS4 and PS5 games for jailbroken consoles, has gone offline after its developer reportedly received a cease-and-desist notice from Sony. The project went viral after modder Edigax shared it on social media, but within hours of its removal, multiple forked versions appeared on GitHub, with one already listing over 1,800 titles.
Epic Games announced a redesigned Epic Games Store launcher that it says was built using AI-assisted "vibe coding," claiming it launches faster than Steam and offers a less clunky interface than the previous version. The release follows CEO Tim Sweeney's statement that Epic is undergoing a major AI pivot aimed at helping staff "build MORE and BETTER stuff." The update arrives after Epic cut roughly 1,000 jobs in March, reducing headcount by about a quarter.
Titanium Court, a roguelite hybrid that blends match-three mechanics, visual novel storytelling and RPG elements, launched on Steam in April and will arrive on Nintendo Switch, Switch 2, PlayStation 5, Android and iOS on October 29. The game was developed by AP Thomson and won the Seumas McNally Grand Prize at the Independent Games Festival Awards.
Epic Games has launched a redesigned version of its game launcher that the company says was built using AI, or "vibe coded." Epic claims the new launcher starts up 46% faster than Steam and offers a 30x faster library, along with new features like dedicated game pages, a unified downloads page, and collections for organizing titles. The launcher is in a preview/open beta phase, with some social and account management features still missing, and Epic advises Unreal developers and competitive Fortnite and Rocket League players to stick with the old version for now.
The Entertainment Software Association submitted recommendations to the US Trade Representative identifying Chinese-made handheld gaming devices, including those from Anbernic, as major piracy offenders. The ESA says these 'superfake' consoles ship with hundreds or thousands of pirated ROMs preloaded and may run insecure or malicious firmware. It cited an Italian enforcement action that seized roughly 12,000 Anbernic devices containing more than 47 million pirated files.
AI systems are now able to reverse-engineer compiled video games and software back into source code far faster than manual efforts, which previously took years and required large community projects like OpenGOAL and Ship of Harkinian. The resulting decompiled code can be modified, enhanced with features such as higher frame rates and dynamic resolution, and recompiled to run natively on other platforms.
A new jailbreak for the PlayStation 5 reportedly allows the console to run software well outside Sony's intended ecosystem, including Nintendo games, physical PS2 discs, PS3 titles, and even the Windows 7 operating system. The development expands on earlier PS5 jailbreaking efforts that unlocked custom firmware and homebrew support.
Google Play is offering discounted digital gift cards through October 19th, including 20 percent off a $50 Barnes & Noble card, 20 percent off a $100 REI card, and 10 percent off a $100 GameStop card. The promotion also includes discounts on subscriptions like Calm and Duolingo and bonuses on in-app purchases in games such as Pokémon Go and PUBG Mobile.