One of the most memorable survival horror games of recent years is coming to smartphones and tablets. Feral Interactive will bring Alien: Isolation to iOS and Android on December 16th.

Feral, which also handled the Nintendo Switch port of the 2014 game, claims it has replicated the "stunning AAA visuals, arresting narrative and terrifying atmosphere of Creative Assembly’s award-winning sci-fi masterpiece" for mobile devices "without compromise." It added customizable touchscreen controls, though you can connect an external controller. The game, which costs $15, includes all seven DLC packs.

Alien: Isolation is set 15 years after Ridley Scott's classic sci-fi horror film Alien. Players take on the guise of engineer Amanda Ripley, who attempts to get to the bottom of her mother Ellen Ripley's disappearance. 

Creative Assembly did a great job of replicating the terrifying atmosphere of the original movie. The first-person perspective certainly adds to the feeling of dread as you try to evade a xenomorph. Whether Alien: Isolation feels as immersive on mobile as it does on consoles and PC remains to be seen, though the Switch port was well-received.

Meanwhile, as of Tuesday, Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscribers can play another classic survival horror game on their phone. Dead Space is now part of the cloud gaming library, thanks to Microsoft's partnership with EA Play. Alien: Isolation is also available on Game Pass, albeit only on console and PC, not through the cloud.

Tidal is adding a free, ad-supported tier as it seeks to expand its user base. The option, which is only available in the US for now, includes access to Tidal's entire library of 80 million songs as well as playlists. The service noted on Twitter that it's introducing the free tier to "remain competitive" with its rivals, eight months after Square bought a majority stake in the company. Tidal says the plan is rolling out on Android and "will be available on all devices in the coming days."

There are some trade-offs beyond occasional ads, of course. The audio quality tops out at 160 kbps, there's no offline listening option and it doesn't appear that you'll have unlimited skips. The later feature is mentioned explicitly as part of the revamped $10/month Tidal HiFi plan.

Tidal says users on that plan can now listen to music in HiFi quality — up to 1,411 kbps. There are no ads and you'll gain access to more than 350,000 videos. Users can listen to music in HiFi quality on connected devices through Tidal Connect, and they'll be able to track and share what they're listening to via a new activity feed.

In addition, there's a $20/month HiFi Plus plan. It includes everything from the HiFi tier, as well as master-quality audio at up to 9,216 kbps. The plan also offers immersive, spatial audio formats, such as Dolby Atmos and Sony 360 Reality Audio, and early access to upcoming features. Both HiFi plans are available in all countries in which Tidal operates.

What's more, the HiFi Plus tier has a couple of new features centered around artists. One of those is direct-to-artist payments, which Tidal is rolling out today. Every month, 10 percent of a HiFi Plus user's subscription fees (i.e. $2) will go to the artist they listen to the most. That's on top of regular streaming royalties. It's another way for users to support their favorite artists.

Starting in January, Tidal will roll out a revamped artist payment system called fan-centered royalties. Every time a HiFi Plus user listens to one of their songs, they'll receive a "significantly higher" per-stream payment than other music streaming services' payouts. Apple Music pays a penny per stream, while artists have long been asking Spotify for a similar rate.

Tidal says "royalties attributed to HiFi Plus subscribers will not be aggregated." Payments will be tied to each individual user's listening activity, but only on that tier. HiFi Plus users will be able to see how those payments are divvied up through their activity feed.

In addition to revamping the payment model, Tidal is aiming to ensure "quick and seamless" payouts to artists around the world. It's working with Square, Cash App and PayPal to facilitate those.

These are bold, but perhaps necessary moves by Tidal as it aims to become more competitive with larger music streaming services. Tidal was one of the first major proponents of lossless audio, but as rivals started offering that option at no extra cost, it more or less had to bring that option to the $10/month plan.

Apple Music added lossless and Dolby Atmos spatial audio features in June. Amazon Music Unlimited dropped the premium fee for HD and Ultra HD streaming in May. It too offers spatial audio as part of the regular plan.

Meanwhile, many of Tidal's rivals have long offered ad-supported free streaming options, including Spotify, Amazon Music, Deezer and YouTube Music. At the opposite end of the scale, Spotify announced plans in February to roll out a CD-quality audio plan, also called HiFi, in select markets at some point this year. It has yet to do so.

What better way to show off the splendor of 8K visuals than with nature programming? That seems to be Roku's train of thought as it adds the first premium 8K channel to its platform: The Explorers.

The only 8K Roku TVs on the market right now are from TCL. The first of those sets was released in 65” and 75” formats in August. TCL first showed off the TV at CES. 

Ultra-high definition premium content from The Explorers (which also offers free content through its channel) will typically cost $3/month. A tenth of that fee will be donated to The Explorers Foundation, which aims to preserve biodiversity. However, if you're have an an TCL Roku TV 6-Series 8K display, you'll get a three-month free trial.

Displays with 8K capabilities can show video in up to four times the resolution of standard 4K content. But the trouble is, there isn't much 8K content that early adopters can watch on their new TVs. YouTube is perhaps the main hub of 8K footage at the minute.

TCL noted that 8K cameras are becoming more commonplace, and OnePlus 9 Pro owners even have one in their pockets. So, there's much more 8K content on the way. Still, buying an 8K set is mainly about future proofing for the time being, rather than playing games and watching TV shows and movies at home in a higher resolution right now.

When Riot Forge said it would soon provide more long-awaited details about League of Legends spin-off Ruined King, few fans would have expected Riot Games' publishing arm to suddenly thrust the game into the world. But hey, guess what? That's exactly what happened. 

Ruined King: A League of Legends Story is out today on Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Steam, GOG and the Epic Games Store. It costs $30 and it's backward compatible on PS5 and Xbox Series X/S. A version of the game is in the works for those consoles and there'll be a free upgrade available from the previous-gen systems.

This is a single-player, turn-based RPG developed by Airship Syndicate, the studio behind Darksiders: Genesis. It features some familiar faces for League of Legends fans, including the Champions Miss Fortune, Illaoi, Braum, Pyke, Ahri and Yasuo. You'll assemble a party, explore Bilgewater and venture to the Shadow Isles to learn about the secrets behind the deadly Black Mist.

Ruined King was initially supposed to arrive earlier this year. Riot announced the RPG back at the 2019 edition of The Game Awards.

As it turns out, this isn't the only LoL spin-off you can play starting today. Side-scrolling rhythm runner Hextech Mayhem, which costs $10, also hit Switch and PC. It's also coming to Netflix's library of games in the near future at no extra cost to subscribers.

In addition, Riot Forge provided an update on another project it announced a while back, Conv/rgence: A League of Legends Story. Double Stallion is developing that game, which is now set to arrive on consoles and PC next year. Song of Nunu, from Tequila Works, is also scheduled to arrive next year. And that's not all. Riot Forge also revealed during its showcase that a game set in the Demacia region is in development.

Sonos is rolling out an update for its S2 app today that will, among other things, add a welcome feature for home theater enthusiasts. Some of the company's devices will be able to decode the DTS Digital Surround format for surround sound, which should help folks get more out of movies, games and other content that supports the standard. 

Sonos Arc, both generations of the Beam soundbar, Playbar, Playbase and Amp will all get DTS support. When your speakers are playing DTS Digital Surround audio, you'll see a badge on the Sonos app's Now Playing screen. both support Dolby Atmos as well.

DTS isn't as immersive as DTS:X or Dolby Atmos — the latter of which works on Sonos Arc and Beam (Gen 2). DTS supports 5.1-channel audio, but not a 7.1-channel setup or overhead speakers. Were Sonos to eventually roll out DTS:X support on Arc (it seems unlikely to arrive on the current Beam models), that would be a boon for Blu-ray fans. Still, broader support for surround sound standards isn't anything to sniff at.

In addition, the S2 update adds a battery saver setting for the Roam and Move devices. When you turn on the setting, the speakers will switch off entirely after being inactive for 30 minutes. You'll need to use physical power buttons to turn them back on. Sonos claims that, when the speakers are completely off, Move can retain battery life for up to 30 days and Roam can do so for as long as 70 days.

Elsewhere, the Now Playing screen on the iOS app will have EQ settings. You can tap the volume slider and access the settings on the right of the screen. Android users will gain access to the feature in the next few months.

Meanwhile, Sonos has revealed some intriguing news for fans of spatial audio. Support for Amazon Music Ultra HD and Dolby Atmos Music (which Apple Music supports) is coming to Sonos speakers "soon."

Streamlabs has teamed up with Twitch to help streamers improve broadcasts from an Xbox — without the need for a capture card. The web-based Streamlabs Studio will let streamers customize their broadcasts with widgets and overlays, such as a chat panel or live stream alerts.

"Live streaming gives viewers unprecedented access to their favorite creators. Real-time viewer engagement via chat and alerts create incredible shared experiences," Ashray Urs, Streamlabs' head of product, said in a statement. "In the past, creating professional broadcasts and engaging viewers from a console has been challenging. With Streamlabs Studio, you can transform console gameplay into a high-quality live stream production with viewer engagement tools to interact with your community."

Typically, Twitch streamers who broadcast their console gameplay have had to run the video through a PC with the help of a capture card if they want to add bells and whistles like onscreen donation alerts or custom layouts. Xbox owners can now select "Streamlabs" as a destination in the Twitch app and log into the Streamlabs Studio website to customize their stream. The site works on mobile and tablets, so you don't even need a PC to personalize your stream or switch between preset scenes.

What's more, you can use your smartphone or tablet as a webcam and layer that into your stream. Streamlabs Studio can also capture audio from a headset plugged into a controller or video from a webcam that's connected to an Xbox and include those feeds in broadcasts.

Streamlabs Studio isn't free — it costs $5/month or $50/year. However, it could help Twitch streamers who don't have a capture card or capable PC to make their broadcasts stand out from the pack.

Meanwhile, Microsoft is currently testing an option that makes Twitch streaming easier on Xbox consoles. It brought the Console Live Streaming feature to Xbox Insiders on the Alpha Skip-Ahead ring last month.

Sony has updated the PS Remote Play app on Android, which now has some extra controller features for Android 12 users. You can now connect a DualSense controller and use it to play PlayStation 5 games remotely. Sony brought DualSense support to the iOS version of the app earlier this year.

There are also some upgrades for those who use a DualShock 4 (the PS4 controller) with the app. There's now support for the touchpad, motion sensor and rumble features, as well as a battery indicator. Although those features are only available to those on Android 12, the controller is compatible with Android 10 and 11 as well.

In September, Sony added the option to stream PS4 and PS5 games to the app over a mobile data connection, in addition to WiFi. So, wherever you are, you might be able to sneak in some Deathloop or Returnal with a DualSense.

Peloton has filed fresh lawsuits against two of its rivals, iFit and Echelon. It alleges that the companies are violating up to four patents it holds related to on-demand classes, one of which it only obtained last week, as Bloomberg Law notes. Peloton is seeking a court order to block sales of the devices until the patents expire, in addition to compensation. In both suits, Peloton accuses competitors of attempting to "free ride" off its technology.

The iFit complaint concerns NordicTrack, ProForm and FreeMotion products that use the company's leaderboard and/or its ActivePulse or SmartAdjust features. "Prior to the actions giving rise to this suit, iFit Functionality never delivered live classes — i.e., classes taught by instructors and streamed to users’ devices in substantially real time — or offered its members the ability to participate in competitive classes via a leaderboard. Instead, iFit Functionality only allowed subscribers to follow along with pre-recorded exercise classes on their machines, without any sort of community engagement," Peloton wrote in the filing.

It accuses iFit of "profiting immensely from this infringement." In October, iFit paused its plan to go public due to adverse market conditions.

As for Echelon, Peloton is targeting the Smart Connect EX1, EX3, EX4s, EX5, EX5s, EX-7s, EX-Pro and GT+ bikes; Stride and Stride-5s treadmills; Row, Row-s and Row-7s rowers; and the Echelon Fit app. Peloton claims that, before it released the Tread, "it was not well-known for treadmills to offer a leaderboard" and that Echelon now has a "copycat leaderboard" with an "'Online Filter' that allows users to 'see who is taking an On Demand class at the same time.'"

Peloton has had a thorny relationship with both companies over the last few years. It has sued iFit (previously known as Icon Health and Fitness) over patent infringement in the past and vice versa. Peloton also filed suit against Echelon in 2019 for, among other things, "imitating the Peloton Bike experience." Engadget has contacted iFit and Echelon for comment.

Rumors started swirling over the last few days that Microsoft will release the free Halo Infinite multiplayer mode before the full game. During its Xbox 20th anniversary event, the company confirmed that's the case. The standalone mode is now available on Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S and PC.

The Halo Infinite campaign release date is still set for December 8th, though a few features will be missing at launch. The campaign co-op and Forge modes will be released later, because 343 Industries wanted to focus on the quality of the single-player and multiplayer modes.

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Xbox chief Phil Spencer has given the strongest hint yet that Elder Scrolls VI won't be coming to PlayStation. Since Microsoft bought Bethesda Softworks owner ZeniMax Media earlier this year, questions have been swirling around platform exclusivity for ongoing franchises, such as Elder Scrolls, Doom and Fallout.

Spencer previously noted exclusivity would be decided on a "case-by-case basis." He later said Microsoft would "continue to invest in communities of players" and that "there might be things that have either contractual things or legacy on different platforms that we'll go do." Still, he was adamant that the ZeniMax/Bethesda deal was largely about "delivering great exclusive games."

Now, in an interview with GQ to mark the 20th anniversary of Xbox, Spenser strongly hinted that, like next year's Starfield, Elder Scrolls VI will be locked to Xbox consoles, PC and Xbox Cloud Gaming. “It’s not about punishing any other platform, like I fundamentally believe all of the platforms can continue to grow,” he said. “But in order to be on Xbox, I want us to be able to bring the full complete package of what we have. And that would be true when I think about Elder Scrolls VI. That would be true when I think about any of our franchises.”

That won't exactly inspire confidence among, say, Skyrim fans that they'll get to play Elder Scrolls VI on PlayStation and Switch. In any case, with Bethesda's focus on Starfield, it might be a while before it divulges more details about the next Elder Scrolls game.