At the start of the week, Google announced it was finally adding support for 4K streaming to YouTube TV. Now the company is attempting to entice existing YouTube TV subscribers to sign up for the pricey $20 monthly add-on with a promotion that dangles a free Chromecast with Google TV.

A YouTube TV subscriber detailed the offer in a forum post spotted by Droid Life. "To ensure our loyal YouTube TV members have a great viewing experience (including the ability to watch 4K content on our optional, new add-on service), we would like to offer you a free Chromecast with Google TV device," the company says in an email it sent out to some customers.

Taking advantage of the promo involves visiting the Google Store to “purchase” the streaming device at no cost. As you might have guessed, supplies are limited, and the code is only valid for the white model. The email’s fine print also states only those in the US with an active YouTube TV subscription are eligible. What’s more, you’ll need to have made at least one payment to Google. If you find the email in your inbox, you’ll need to redeem it before the end of the month. And if you already own a Chromecast with Google TV, the code is not transferable.

Before it hosts its Play Live event on the 22nd, EA will stream a series of “Spotlight” panels throughout the month of July. In all, fans can look forward to four such panels. The series will start on July 8th with an event devoted to Battlefield 2042, Apex Legends and first-person shooters more broadly. The panel will feature contributions from both Dice and Respawn Entertainment.

The next one falls on July 13th. It will consist of a conversation on indie games that EA promises will be “spirited.” Given that Josef Fares of It Takes Two and A Way Out developer Hazelight Studios is taking part, we believe it. Then, it’s an EA Sports double-header, with back-to-back panels scheduled for July 19th and 20th.

The first will offer a detailed look at Madden NFL 22 and how fan input has shaped the game's updated franchise mode. EA is also promising a look at a new scouting feature that it hopes to release in September. When it comes to the July 20th panel, meanwhile, EA is being tight-lipped. “Look, we’re not allowed to tell you much about this one yet, sorry,” the company said. “But we can say this Spotlight will highlight an extremely cool new addition to an extremely popular and long-running EA Sports franchise.”

Part of the reason EA plans to host these panels is so that it can make games the “unwavering” focus of its July 22nd event. From start to finish, the publisher says its main showcase should clock in at about 40 minutes. Outside of more details on upcoming titles like Battlefield 2042, EA will reportedly show off a Dead Space remake at the event. 

In mid-July, Humble Bundle will move forward with its previous decision to cap charitable donations. Back in April, the company announced a plan to introduce a new storefront that was set to do away with its signature sliders and limit how much of their purchase customers could direct to charity. Following vocal backlash from its community, Humble Bundle said it would take time to re-evaluate that plan.

As of today, the company plans to move forward with a version of its storefront that affords consumers some amount of choice over where their money goes, but still takes away the option to donate everything they spend on charity. “While splits on each bundle will vary, on average there will be a minimum amount for Humble Bundle between 15 to 30 percent,” the company said in a blog post spotted by Kotaku. “Sliders will clearly indicate any minimums to customers and the flexibility to adjust donations will be available in every purchase of a bundle.”

Humble Bundle says its latest decision reflects shifts in the “PC storefront landscape,” adding “the change to sliders lets us continue to invest in more exciting content so we can keep growing the Humble community which will ultimately drive more donations for charitable causes.” Media conglomerate IGN acquired Humble Bundle in 2017 for an undisclosed amount. In 2019, co-founders Jeff Rosen and John Graham left the company.

As with its initial announcement, the reaction to today’s news hasn’t been positive. “Yeah, the multi-billion dollar company needs the money more than my local animal shelter,” said one Twitter user, referencing the estimated $1.9 billion net worth of IGN and Humble Bundle parent company Ziff Davis.

EA is reportedly working on a remake of Dead Space. You read that right. After more than eight years of the franchise collecting dust, VentureBeat reports EA has tasked its Motive studio to develop a Resident Evil 2-style remake of the first game in the series. According to writer Jeff Grubb, fans should expect an experience that uses the original game as a “strong foundation,” but features modern visuals and gameplay tweaks introduced in later Dead Space games.

Grubb first hinted at the possibility of the series coming back during an episode of the GamesBeat Decides podcast, saying EA would announce a revival at its upcoming Play event on July 22nd. Eurogamer and Gematsu later corroborated his claims, noting they had heard similar information. It’s also worth noting Grubb was the first person to report that EA was working on Mass Effect Legendary Edition. And while it’s always good to be skeptical, there have been other tantalizing hints that EA will resurrect Dead Space. Just yesterday, someone noticed the company had updated the official Dead Space YouTube page following years of inactivity to change the channel’s profile picture. With EA Play a mere three weeks away, we won’t have to wait long to see if the rumors are true. 

Back in December, TikTok started allowing some of its best-known creators to upload longer videos to the platform. Instead of adhering to the usual 60-second limit, they could share clips that were as long as three minutes. Starting today and “over the coming weeks,” TikTok says it will roll out that capability to everyone. You’ll get a notification from the app once you can use the feature.

TikTok says it’s making the change to give people more flexibility when it comes to crafting their videos, especially when it comes to content like cooking and beauty tutorials that are tough to pull off over a series of short clips. “With longer videos, creators will have the canvas to create new or expanded types of content on TikTok, with the flexibility of a bit more space,” the company says of the change.

Now that the feature is becoming more widely available, it will be interesting to see how the TikTok community responds to it. When some of the first longer videos hit the platform, the response was one of collective bewilderment. After all, the 60-second format is so central to TikTok’s identity. That’s not to say longer videos will erode the app's popularity, but you always worry when a platform moves away, even if it’s just a small step, from what made it popular in the first place.

Sony has just bought another studio, and no it’s not Bluepoint Games. On Thursday, the company announced the acquisition of Nixxes Software, a Dutch developer best known for supporting Crystal Dynamics, IO Interactive and Eidos Montreal in porting some of their games over to PC. “We can’t wait to get to work and are so excited to bring our technical and development expertise to an IP powerhouse like PlayStation Studios,” Jurjen Katsman, founder and senior director of development at Nixxes, said in a statement.

The deal suggests Sony plans to step up its efforts to bring more of its exclusives to Windows. In the last year, the company released Horizon Zero Dawn and Days Gone to Steam and the Epic Games Store, and Sony president and CEO Jim Ryan said more of the company’s first-party games would make their way to the PC in the future. The purchase of Nixxes also follows Sony's acquisition of Returnal developer Housemarque earlier in the week.    

Much like bookshelves, watchlists say a lot about who we are as people. They reflect our interests and the things that inspire us. Tapping into that, Google is introducing a new TV feature called Watch With Me. Part of an ongoing series, it will share content recommendations from celebrities and artists. Each spotlight will also include an interview where the featured individual will talk about their picks. The first Watch With Me will star Emmy-nominated actress and LGBTQ+ advocate Laverne Cox.

Google isn’t the first company to put together a feature like this. If you’ve used HBO Max recently, you’ve likely seen the playlists the streaming service has shared around events like Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month. In that instance, HBO Max highlighted recommendations from Crazy Rich Asians director Jon M. Chu. But in Google TV’s case, what separates Watch With Me is that you’ll get recommendations for a variety of sources, not just one streaming service, and that's likely to make you more inclined to use Google TV as a hub.

Instagram doesn't see itself anymore as a platform where people go to share and look at photos. That's the main takeaway from a series of recent comments made by the head of the company, Adam Mosseri. "We're no longer a photo-sharing app or a square photo-sharing app," Mosseri said in a video he posted to his social media accounts this week. According to Mosseri, the main reason for that is that people come to Instagram "to be entertained," and it's not the only app that offers that in what is a crowded marketplace.

"Let's be honest, there's some really serious competition right now," Mosseri said. "TikTok is huge, YouTube is even bigger and there are a lot of other upstarts as well." To stay competitive, Mosseri said Instagram has to embrace that aspect of itself. "And that means change." One way the app will change is with Instagram handing out more recommendations. Mosseri referenced a test the company kicked off last week that's seen it intersperse "Suggested Posts" in users' feeds. He also said Instagram plans to embrace video more broadly, focusing on full-screen and immersive content.

In short, what Mosseri is describing is Instagram becoming more like TikTok. And that's something we've already seen the company try to do with features like Reels. Of course, it's one thing to adapt to your rivals and another to lose sight of what made your platform compelling to people in the first place. Together with things like a dedicated shopping hub, Reels and Stories have made Instagram feel bloated and less vital than it was before.

Spotify is reportedly “considering” expanding into events, according to The Information. The outlet reports the company could sell tickets for both virtual and live concerts as it looks to diversify its business. However, making money off of ticketed events isn’t necessarily Spotify’s short-term goal. Its more immediate plan is to use them as a way to improve its relationship with artists.

The Information suggests Spotify thinks there’s an opportunity to leverage the data it has to help musicians plan successful concerts in places most promoters avoid. In this way, the company is said to believe it can better show those artists it’s invested in their careers. It would also be a way for it to differentiate its platform from Apple Music.

Spotify has already dabbled in live events. This past spring, the company put on a handful of prerecorded virtual concerts featuring artists like The Black Keys and Leon Bridges. It sold tickets to those shows for $15 each. The Information reports the results of those concerts “validated” Spotify’s thinking on what events could do for it in the future, and it’s been thinking about next steps ever since. Of course, we wouldn't say that makes an expansion is a done deal. Selling tickets to concerts might make a lot of sense for a music streaming platform, but it would still represent a massive business shift for Spotify.    

Following last year’s expansion beyond the US, Twitch users can now access the platform’s "Watch Parties" feature on Android and iOS devices. Watch Parties allow Twitch users to stream content from Amazon Prime Video much like they would a video game. Viewers can follow along with the TV show or movie as it unfolds and take part in chat.

Previously, Watch Parties were only available through Twitch’s web client. As you might imagine, there are some limits in place to prevent people from watching Prime Video content for free. To start, both the person streaming the video and watching it need an active Prime Video subscription to take part. Regional restrictions also apply, so someone can’t stream a TV show or movie that’s not available in their local Prime Video library. But even when you take those restrictions into consideration, there aren’t a lot of features out there that match what Twitch has with Watch Parties. After all, it’s something the company can only offer because it’s owned by Amazon.