Microsoft will keep Call of Duty on PlayStation after it buys the series’ developer, according to a new deal signed with PlayStation. The Xbox and PlayStation makers have been engaged in a sometimes angry war in recent months, as Microsoft attempts to buy Activision Blizzard, the developer of games including Call of Duty. PlayStation’s objections centre around the fact that the deal would give Microsoft too much control over the gaming market, given the dominance of Call of Duty among players on consoles. Those objections have led to legal hearings, as well as opposition from regulators and competition authorities. At times, those legal objections have looked to derail the deal, which would be the biggest ever gaming acquisition if it is completed. But it now looks to be moving forward, after Microsoft announced that it had signed a “binding agreement” to make the games available on other consoles when the deal is complete. The deal could further ease regulators concerns about what would happen to the game as well as the broader console and gaming market if the deal goes ahead. It is the latest piece of good news for Microsoft, which won a legal case last week against objections from the US Federal Trade Commission, and looks to be moving towards closing the deal. “We are pleased to announce that Microsoft and PlayStation have signed a binding agreement to keep Call of Duty on PlayStation following the acquisition of Activision Blizzard. We look forward to a future where players globally have more choice to play their favorite games,” said Phil Spencer, Microsoft’s head of Xbox, in a tweet. And Microsoft President Brad Smith said in a tweet, “Even after we cross the finish line for this deal’s approval, we will remain focused on ensuring that Call of Duty remains available on more platforms and for more consumers than ever before.” The FTC had argued the deal would hurt consumers whether they played video games on consoles or had subscriptions because Microsoft would have an incentive to shut out rivals like Sony. To address the FTC’s concerns, Microsoft had earlier agreed to license “Call of Duty” to rivals, including a 10-year contract with Nintendo, contingent on the merger closing. Additional reporting by agencies Read More Battery breakthroughs are about to trigger a transport revolution ‘Hostile states using organised crime gangs as proxies in the UK’ Powerful solar flare to disrupt communications, Russians warn

Dozens of AI industry leaders, academics and even some celebrities on Tuesday called for reducing the risk of global annihilation due to artificial intelligence, arguing in a brief statement that the threat of an AI extinction event should be a top global priority.

Amy Duggar tried her best to reach out to Anna Duggar, even when she strongly condemned the actions of Anna's husband and her cousin, Josh Duggar

Elon Musk reportedly took out a $1bn loan from his company SpaceX the same month that he acquired Twitter, now known as X, according to theWall Street Journal. SpaceX approved the loan – which was secured by some of his stock in the company – in October 2022, according to the Journal. That same month, Mr Musk drew all of it down. The SpaceX founder returned the $1bn – with interest – to the company one month later, the Journal reported. It’s unclear why the richest person in the world now and in October 2022, when he took over the social media giant, took out the loan. He bought the social media company for $44bn, which seemed to contribute to him losing that top slot, until he was renamed the world’s richest person in June 2023. The publication also noted that in November 2022, when he repaid the loan, Mr Musk sold $3.95bn in shares in another one of his companies, Tesla. The following month, he sold another $3.58bn in Tesla stock. That year in total, Mr Musk had sold nearly $23bn worth of Tesla stock since April – fuelling speculation that the funds were likely going toward his social media platform acquisition. This isn’t the first time that Mr Musk has taken out money from one of his ventures to aid another. In 2009, Mr Musk reportedly borrowed $20m from SpaceX to support Tesla. More recently, in 2015 and 2016, SpaceX poured $330m in bonds into his solar panel company SolarCity. Tesla ended up acquiring SolarCity in 2016. SpaceX has recently come under fire, as the Justice Department sued the company last month for alleged hiring discrimination practices. SpaceX’s “discriminatory hiring practices were routine, widespread, and longstanding, and harmed asylees and refugees,” the filing stated. The Independent has reached out to SpaceX for comment. Read More Starship ‘ready to launch’, Elon Musk says Elon Musk calls Burning Man ‘best art on Earth’ amid chaos that saw thousands stranded and one dead Elon Musk vows to sue ADL for calling him antisemitic after he promoted antisemitic campaign on X

Netflix is a popular streaming platform with over 250 million subscribers, but there's one feature that the majority of users do not use at all. The streaming services are not only home to thousands of TV series and films, but there are also plenty of video games to play. Gaming studios such as Night School Studios, which developed the Oxenfree games were acquired by the company. Despite the development of Oxenfree 2 exclusively for Netflix, the statistics show that most subscribers are not aware of or just don't use this feature that comes free with their subscription. There are up to 70 games on the app which are on the Netflix app under the 'Mobile Games' section, where there are games based on the most popular shows such as Squid Game, Stranger Things, The Queen's Gambit, Black Mirror, and reality shows such as Love Is Blind and Too Hot To Handle. Other award-winning titles also include Immortality, Kentucky Route Zero and Before Your Eye. Only 2.2 million Netflix subscribers (0.88 per cent approximately) play one of the streamer’s games daily, as per a CNBC report. But it appears there is a struggle to get subscribers to return to the video games after trying them, since more than 70 million subscribers at some time have downloaded a game. Perhaps, this issue could be due to games taking up more download space, and commitment for users. Although stats show subscribers are not playing video games, the streaming giant has been splashing the cash in this area since in the last year, the quantity of games available has tripled. But Co-CEO Greg Peters, says this is all part of the "crawl, walk, run" strategy that has successfully worked in the past. “This trajectory is not dissimilar from what we’ve seen before,” Peters said on the company’s prerecorded earnings call on Wednesday, CNBC reported. “When we’ve launched a new region, or when we launched new genres, like unscripted” we had to “crawl, walk, run, but we see a tremendous amount of opportunity to build a long-term centre value of entertainment.” How to join the indy100's free WhatsApp channel Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

Elon Musk has introduced new controls to X, formerly Twitter, that allow users to limit who can comment on posts to just paying users. The reply paywall will prevent unverified accounts that do not pay for X Premium from engaging in discussions on certain posts. It is the latest change to the platform that Mr Musk has overseen since taking over Twitter last year and renaming it X. The tech billionaire, who is the most-followed person on X, said the latest limits “should help a lot with spam bots”. Mr Musk has brought about a complete overhaul of the way verification on the platform works since his takeover, removing the legacy blue ticks from celebrities, journalists and politicians, and giving them to anyone who paid a monthly subscription fee. These paying users were also given prominence over non-paying users when appearing in searches, as well as prioritised ranking in conversations. The move comes amid reports that Mr Musk is planning to test new subscription options for X users, which could see the introduction of up to three tiers. Each premium tier will offer different levels of ad exposure, according to a report in Bloomberg, though it is not clear if the price of the top tier will differ from the $11 (£9.60) that it currently costs. Other social media firms are also considering similar subscription models, with both Meta and TikTok among those who will potentially supplement their advertising revenue with a user-funded model. Monthly fees for Meta’s platforms, which include Facebook and Instagram, could cost between €10 (£9) and €13 in Europe, The Wall Street Journal reported last week, and come in response to Europe’s data privacy laws. These laws are seen as a threat to the lucrative business model of showing personalised ads to users, with a spokesperson confirming that Meta was exploring options to “comply with evolving regulatory requirements”. Read More The mystery AI device that could replace your phone Schoolboy almost dies from swallowing magnets for TikTok challenge Woman shares honest review of New York City apartment TikTok mom slammed after making 5-year-old son run in 104 degree heat

An xQc fan who was amazed by the substantial amount he won during the stream, headed to Reddit to craft and share a post detailing their astonishment

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China is proposing new measures to curb the amount of time that kids and teens can spend on their phones, as the country takes aim at internet addiction and tries to cultivate "good morality" and "socialist values" among minors.

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 26, 2023--

Chip giant TSMC said it is determined to "keep its roots in Taiwan", as it launched a massive new research and development facility in the northern...

Kids have the kind of energy adults could only dream of having. But like for