Tag Archives: Media

Netflix is reportedly in exclusive talks to acquire Warner Bros. and HBO

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Netflix is in exclusive talks to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery's film and TV studios and HBO Max streaming service, according to sources from Bloomberg. That suggests Netflix submitted a superior offer to rivals including Paramount Skydance Corp (owned by billionaire Larry Ellison) and Comcast, which owns NBCUniversal. The deal could be consummated within days and, if approved, would change the landscape of Hollywood and the streaming market. 

Warner Bros. Discovery's cable channels including CNN, TBS and TNT, valued at more than $60 billion, would not be part of the deal and spun off prior to the closing. However, Netflix would become the owner of the HBO network and its library of series (The Sopranos, Game of Thrones, etc.), along with its Burbank studios and massive film and TV archive consisting of 12,500 feature films and 2,400 TV series, including properties like Batman, Lord of the Rings and Friends. 

A big sweetener offered by Netflix was a $5 billion breakup fee if the deal isn't approved by regulators, according to people familiar with the discussions. That's a considerable risk on Netflix's part, as the acquisition is likely to be closely scrutinized by the FCC and even President Trump himself, who reportedly has close ties to Ellison. It would also need to pass muster with regulators from other nations, considering the wide reach of WBD and Netflix. 

After multiple suitors, including Paramount Skydance expressed interest in buying Warner Bros. Discovery, CEO David Zaslav put the company up for sale in October. The bidding process has been heated, with Paramount's lawyers complaining that WBD "embarked on a myopic process with a predetermined outcome that favors a single bidder," namely Netflix. Paramount argued that its deal would be more palatable to regulators around the world.

However, Zaslav's camp has said that it would achieve the best value in a sale by splitting off its cable assets and doing two separate deals, CNN reported. Both Paramount Skydance and Comcast submitted deals to buy all of WBD's assets. 

Netflix offered around $28 a share for WBD minus the cable assets, according to Deadline. Shares were as low as $7.50 earlier this year. The acquisition would be far and away the largest for Netflix, which has historically favored organic growth. 

An acquisition could have a huge impact on streaming customers and filmgoers. Would Netflix merge its catalog with HBO Max or continue to run the latter as a separate service? It's also not clear if Netflix would honor Warner Bros.' commitment to theatrical releases, considering that Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos has called movie theatres an "outdated concept."

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/streaming/netflix-is-reportedly-in-exclusive-talks-to-acquire-warner-bros-and-hbo-082233278.html?src=rss

Cairn’s new release date is January 29, 2026

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We've been monitoring the upcoming rock climbing game Cairn for several months, as have the many folks who've already enjoyed the demo — which has an impressive 99 percent rating on Steam. In September, developer The Game Bakers pushed back the game's planned 2025 debut to give some extra time for polish. Today, the team dropped a fresh trailer announcing the revised launch date for the project. Cairn will be available on January 29, 2026 for Steam and PlayStation 5 for $30.

The Game Bakers have a solid track record of indie gems, often with a strong, unique sense of place and character. The survival-climbing experience seems like an excellent new topic for the team behind games including Haven and Furi. Cairn captures the intensity of winding your way up a mountain and paints a psychological portrait of the people who are drawn to tackling that mental and physical challenge. And if you find the basic gameplay isn't difficult enough, there will also be a free solo mode for channelling your inner daredevil without ropes.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/cairns-new-release-date-is-january-29-2026-211508330.html?src=rss

Meta says it’s fixing its broken support system, with the help of AI

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If you've ever had something go wrong with your Facebook or Instagram account, then you probably have a good idea of just how frustrating the support process can be. The company's automated processes are so broken that some people have found that suing Meta in small claims court can be a more reliable way of getting help from the company.

Now, Meta says it's trying to address some of these longstanding issues. In an update, the company acknowledged that its "support hasn’t always met expectations" but that a series of AI-powered updates should make it easier for people to get help. 

The company is rolling out a new "support hub" on Facebook and Instagram that is meant to bring all of its support features into one place. The hub will also have a new AI chat feature so users can ask questions about account issues or Meta's policies. An in-app support hub might not be that helpful if you can't access your account, though. A Meta spokesperson pointed to its external account recovery tool, which is meant to help people get back into their accounts. 

Recovering hacked accounts has long been a pain point for Facebook and Instagram users. But Meta says that it's now improved the process with better email and text alerts. AI has also helped the company's systems detect devices and locations you've frequently used in the past. "Our new account recovery experience adjusts to your particular situation with clearer guidance and simpler verification," Meta writes. "We’ve also expanded recovery methods to include taking an optional selfie video to further verify your identity."

Meta is also starting to test a new "AI support assistant" on Facebook that can provide "instant, personalized help" for issues like account recovery or managing your profile. It's not clear how this will work, or if it will enable people to talk to an actual person who works for Meta. For now, the most reliable way to access live support is via a Meta Verified subscription, though many users report that the chat-based service isn't able to help with more complex issues.

A Meta spokesperson said that the assistant is in the "early stages of testing" and is currently only available to some Facebook users globally. Those who are part of the test can find it via the app's new support hub. 

According to Meta, these improvements have already shown some success in helping people get back into hacked accounts. The company says that this year it has "increased the relative success rate of hacked account recovery by more than 30% in the US and Canada."


This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/meta-says-its-fixing-its-broken-support-system-with-the-help-of-ai-185348328.html?src=rss

Artist Bungie plagiarized for Marathon alpha says the issue has been resolved

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Bungie and Sony Interactive Entertainment appear to have settled the plagiarism scandal that rocked Marathon before the game was indefinitely delayed in June 2025. Fern Hook, an artist who goes by the name “Antireal” online, posted on X that her issues with Bungie using her work without credit in Marathon have been resolved to her "satisfaction."

Marathon's distinct art style is one of its charms, but as Hook claimed on X and Bungie later confirmed, a portion of the assets and textures featured in the game's alpha were lifted from Hook's work. At the time, Bungie announced that it was conducting an investigation and hoped to discuss the issue with Hook. It's not clear what kind of agreement Bungie, Sony and Hook came to, but it appears to have solved any outstanding issues.

Bungie delayed Marathon from its original September 2025 launch date in June, and more recently ran closed playtests of an updated version of the game in October. As of Sony's November earnings report, the company now says Marathon will launch by March 2026. Marathon is a reimagining of an older Bungie franchise, but more importantly, it's also the developer's first new game since Destiny 2 was released in 2017. Considering Sony's increased scrutiny of Bungie's performance, settling this issue and hopefully setting up Marathon for a smoother launch is definitely a good thing.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/artist-bungie-plagiarized-for-marathon-alpha-says-the-issue-has-been-resolved-223901094.html?src=rss

Artist Bungie plagiarized for Marathon alpha says the issue has been resolved

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Bungie and Sony Interactive Entertainment appear to have settled the plagiarism scandal that rocked Marathon before the game was indefinitely delayed in June 2025. Fern Hook, an artist who goes by the name “Antireal” online, posted on X that her issues with Bungie using her work without credit in Marathon have been resolved to her "satisfaction."

Marathon's distinct art style is one of its charms, but as Hook claimed on X and Bungie later confirmed, a portion of the assets and textures featured in the game's alpha were lifted from Hook's work. At the time, Bungie announced that it was conducting an investigation and hoped to discuss the issue with Hook. It's not clear what kind of agreement Bungie, Sony and Hook came to, but it appears to have solved any outstanding issues.

Bungie delayed Marathon from its original September 2025 launch date in June, and more recently ran closed playtests of an updated version of the game in October. As of Sony's November earnings report, the company now says Marathon will launch by March 2026. Marathon is a reimagining of an older Bungie franchise, but more importantly, it's also the developer's first new game since Destiny 2 was released in 2017. Considering Sony's increased scrutiny of Bungie's performance, settling this issue and hopefully setting up Marathon for a smoother launch is definitely a good thing.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/artist-bungie-plagiarized-for-marathon-alpha-says-the-issue-has-been-resolved-223901094.html?src=rss

Artist Bungie plagiarized for Marathon alpha says the issue has been resolved

Posted on by

Bungie and Sony Interactive Entertainment appear to have settled the plagiarism scandal that rocked Marathon before the game was indefinitely delayed in June 2025. Fern Hook, an artist who goes by the name “Antireal” online, posted on X that her issues with Bungie using her work without credit in Marathon have been resolved to her "satisfaction."

Marathon's distinct art style is one of its charms, but as Hook claimed on X and Bungie later confirmed, a portion of the assets and textures featured in the game's alpha were lifted from Hook's work. At the time, Bungie announced that it was conducting an investigation and hoped to discuss the issue with Hook. It's not clear what kind of agreement Bungie, Sony and Hook came to, but it appears to have solved any outstanding issues.

Bungie delayed Marathon from its original September 2025 launch date in June, and more recently ran closed playtests of an updated version of the game in October. As of Sony's November earnings report, the company now says Marathon will launch by March 2026. Marathon is a reimagining of an older Bungie franchise, but more importantly, it's also the developer's first new game since Destiny 2 was released in 2017. Considering Sony's increased scrutiny of Bungie's performance, settling this issue and hopefully setting up Marathon for a smoother launch is definitely a good thing.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/artist-bungie-plagiarized-for-marathon-alpha-says-the-issue-has-been-resolved-223901094.html?src=rss

Netflix is getting rid of another of its game studios by selling it back to its founders

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The developer of Cozy Grove and Alphabear is leaving Netflix. Spry Fox is being sold back to its original founders, Game File reports, and will continue to work on its upcoming "cooperative village life sim" Spirit Crossing as an independent company. Unlike other shuttered Netflix games studios Team Blue and Boss Fight Entertainment, Netflix will remain involved with the studio as Spirit Crossing's publisher on mobile.

As part of the arrangement, Spry Fox founders David Edery and Daniel Cook will be able to shop Spirit Crossing to other publishers for console and PC releases of the game. While reverting to being an independent studio is definitely a happier version of the typical studio closure story, it might not be without issues. Game File reports that layoffs at Spry Fox are still possible and the developer will need to find additional funding to continue long-term. Spirit Crossing may also need to be altered so that Spry Fox can continue to make money from the game after players purchase it.

Netflix acquired Spry Fox in 2022, a little over a year after it acquired Oxenfree developer Night School. Spry Fox released its first game for Netflix subscribers, a sequel to Cozy Grove, in 2024. The studio formally announced Spirit Crossing in March of this year, as an ambitious attempt to fuse the cozy life simulation elements of something like Animal Crossing: New Horizons with the online social experiences of MMOs like World of Warcraft or Final Fantasy XIV. 

That pitch apparently no longer jives with Netflix's current game strategy, which changed when Epic Games' Alain Tascan took over from ex-EA executive Mike Verdu. Whereas Netflix Games under Verdu acquired studios, funded projects and licensed an eclectic collection of mobile games for Netflix subscribers, Tascan has refocused the company's games business around titles based on Netflix IP, social party games and known quantities, Game File writes. Spirit Crossing doesn't fit neatly into any of those categories, which might be one reason Netflix is parting ways with Spry Fox.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/netflix-is-getting-rid-of-another-of-its-game-studios-by-selling-it-back-to-its-founders-203645232.html?src=rss

Amazon rolls out a find-a-scene Alexa+ feature for Prime Video

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Amazon is rolling out a new Alexa+ feature on Fire TV that can take you to a specific moment in a given movie on Prime Video based on a natural language voice command. The company says that, when you describe a certain scene, quote or character action, Alexa+ can start playing that part of the film. The company previewed this feature at its Devices and Services event in September.

According to Amazon, you can say something like “Jump to the card scene in Love Actually" or “Jump to the Ozdust ballroom scene in Wicked with Glinda,” to quickly get to that moment. Alexa+ can apparently figure out which movie you're referring to if you don't say the title. So if you say, for instance, “Jump to the scene when John McClane says ‘come out to the coast, we’ll get together, have a few laughs,’” Prime Video will start playing that bit in Die Hard where McClane is in an air duct.

To make this work, Alexa+ uses "visual understanding" and captions to determine what's happening in each scene so it can take you to the one you're looking for. It's all processed through the X-Ray feature in Prime Video. As with Alexa+, it's built on Amazon Bedrock and it harnesses large language models such as Amazon Nova and Anthropic Claude.

Alexa+ has indexed tens of thousands of scenes across thousands of movies on Prime Video so far, including many that you can purchase or rent. Amazon plans to expand this feature to more films and scenes, as well as TV shows, in the near future. 

While this is pretty interesting from a tech perspective and how Amazon’s able to make it work, I’d be interested to know how many people actually end up using it. This isn’t how most people who genuinely love cinema watch movies — maybe just start at the beginning of a film and take it from there? Besides, if you really want to watch a specific scene, YouTube exists.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/amazon-rolls-out-a-find-a-scene-alexa-feature-for-prime-video-150557530.html?src=rss

Amazon halts AI anime dub ‘beta’ after widespread ridicule

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Amazon appears to have quietly removed its terrible AI-generated English dubs for several anime shows currently streaming on Prime Video, following widespread ridicule from viewers and industry professionals. AI dubs were recently added to Banana Fish, No Game, No Life and Vinland Saga, where they were labeled "AI beta" in the Languages section of the app.

As shows that previously only offered English subtitles, the option of a dub for those who prefer it could have been seen as a win for Amazon. But it quickly became clear that the dubs were really quite bad, completely devoid of any emotion or convincing intonation in dramatic moments. Particularly awful clips of the AI English dub for Banana Fish soon started circulating on social media, and the National Association of Voice Actors released a statement in which it branded the dubs "AI slop."

In his own statement, voice actor Daman Mills called the AI-generated dub for Banana Fish a "massive insult to us as performers." In a post on X, which at the time of writing has been liked 14,000 times, he said: "Voice Actors deserve the same level of respect as on camera performers. Anime already pays talent very little. Dub production costs shouldn’t make a dent in these companies’ pocket books. Using AI for a dub of a show that released nearly 8 YEARS AGO AND HAD NO RUSHED SCHEDULE just spits in our faces, has infuriated the consumer, and completely destroys the art." 

Decision-makers at Amazon apparently noted the backlash, as the English dub options no longer show up, as acknowledged by Mills and others yesterday. An AI-generated Spanish dub for Vinland Saga appears to have survived the silent cull, but otherwise it’s back to Japanese language-only and subtitles for the other shows.

The company is clearly committed to introducing more AI to Prime Video — along with its various other services — despite this latest public shaming. It launched an "AI-aided" dubbing program for Prime Video earlier this year, piloting English and Latin American Spanish dubs in 12 licensed series and movies on Prime Video in March. Last month, it also introduced video recaps that summarize shows’ "most pertinent plot points" using generative AI. The feature is currently in beta for select English language Prime Original shows in the US.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/amazon-halts-ai-anime-dub-beta-after-widespread-ridicule-141501051.html?src=rss

Spotify Wrapped 2025 is here and now it’s a competition?

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It's that time of year again, when all of our favorite streaming platforms start dropping personalized lists of what we've been consuming. Spotify Wrapped is perhaps the biggest of the bunch and it's available for perusal right now.

As always, users can access Wrapped to find their most listened-to genres, artists, songs, albums and podcasts from the past year. This information is shareable via social media if you want random bald eagle avatars to comment on your music taste, but there's a new interactive feature called Wrapped Party.

The tool in action.
Spotify

This is a game of a sort. Spotify says it "turns your listening data into a live competition." Wrapped Party hands out awards for stuff like listening to smaller artists and obsession with a particular artist, in addition to total minutes streamed. Finally, friends can settle the age-old debate of "who listens to music more."

Spotify Wrapped is also about the platform itself, so we have plenty of little tidbits from the global user base. Bad Bunny was named the most streamed artist in the world, just ahead of his Super Bowl performance that internet bozos have turned into a controversy for some reason. This is the fourth time he's come out on top in the past five years. He also had the most popular album of the year.

He wins an award.
Spotify

The global top song is something of a surprise, as it's not Bad Bunny or even Taylor Swift. It's the Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars duet "Die With a Smile." The top podcast is, as always, The Joe Rogan Experience. At least Spotify is getting what it paid for with Rogan.

If you don't use Spotify for whatever reason, other major streaming platforms offer something similar to Wrapped. Apple Music has Replay and Amazon Music has Delivered. Even YouTube got in on the act this year, unveiling a recap for video watchers.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/music/spotify-wrapped-2025-is-here-and-now-its-a-competition-130052418.html?src=rss