Rockstar, Zynga and 2K owner Take-Two Interactive is shutting down Playdots, the New York-based studio behind the popular mobile game Two Dots, Bloomberg has reported. Sixty-five employees will lose their jobs, the company confirmed to Bloomberg. 

The company confirmed that the puzzle game "will continue at another Zynga studio and there will be no disruption of service." It added that "everyone affected by this decision will have the opportunity to apply for other jobs at Zynga."

Take-Two acquired Playdots in 2020 for $192 million, and specifically called out Two Dots in its Q1 2022 earnings report, saying it was "among the largest contributors to... net revenue." While it might seem odd then to eliminate the studio behind the game, some reorganization was likely inevitable in the wake of its $12.7 billion Zynga acquisition. 

Intel had long been expecting a decline in PC sales after a period of heightened demand due to work-and-study-from-home arrangements brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic. In July, it admitted to Nikkei that it was going to raise the prices of its processors and other chips due to "inflationary pressures" later this year. Turns out that may not be the only move Intel is making to weather the declining PC market. According to Bloomberg, Intel is planning to cut thousands of jobs and could make the announcement around the same time it's releasing its third quarter earnings report on October 27th. 

The company slashed its sales and profit forecasts for 2022 back in July, when it said that it expects revenue for the year to be $11 billion less than previously projected. Chief Executive Officer Pat Gelsinger said during its earnings call for the second quarter that the company "will look to take additional actions in the second half of the year" to improve profits. Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Mandeep Singh said the layoffs could reduce the costs Intel incurs to keep the company running by around 10 to 15 percent. Singh also said that those costs could be worth at least $25 to $30 billion.

Mobileye, the the self-driving tech firm that Intel had purchased for $15.3 billion back in 2017, recently filed for an IPO. Intel intends to keep most of what it earns from the IPO for itself and to help finance the chip factories it's planning to build. But projected earnings from the offering may not be enough to prevent the mass layoffs, which will affect various divisions within the company. Certain groups, such as the sale and marketing department, will reportedly see their numbers reduced by up to 20 percent. 

Over the past year, Intel took steps to achieve its goal of expanding its foundry business. It earmarked $20 billion to build a massive chip-making facility in Ohio, which it intends to turn into the biggest "silicon manufacturing location on the planet." The company also purchased Tower Semiconductor, a chipmaker catering to clients across industries, for $5.4 billion. There seems to be no indication that those expansion plans are changing, and Bloomberg said that Intel intends to pursue the goals it set for itself as a leaner company.

Mobileye, the self-driving tech firm that Intel had purchased for $15.3 billion back in 2017, has filed for an IPO with the Securities and Exchange Commission. When Intel first announced its plans to take Mobileye public late last year, the autonomous driving firm was expected to have a valuation of over $50 billion. Now according to Bloomberg, Intel expects Mobileye to be valued at around $30 billion, due to soaring inflation rates and poor market conditions. Regardless, it's still bound to become one of the biggest offerings in the US for 2022 if the listing takes place this year. 

Intel intends to retain a majority stake in Mobileye, but Chief Executive Pat Gelsinger previously said that taking it public would give it the ability to grow more easily. He also said that the company plans to use some of the funds raised from the IPO to build more chip factories. Intel revealed its big and bold foundry ambitions in 2021 when it announced that the company is investing $20 billion in two Arizona fabrication plants. Back then, Gelsinger even proclaimed that he was pursuing Apple's business. Earlier this year, the CEO revealed earmarking another $20 billion to build two fabrication plants in Columbus, Ohio. The company expects that facility to eventually become "the largest silicon manufacturing location on the planet."

Mobileye didn't specify how much a share would cost in its filing with the SEC. It did say, however, that it will use portion of the proceeds it will get from the IPO to pay debts. The firm also talked about its history in the filing and how its revenue grew from $879 million in 2019 to $1.4 billion in 2021, representing a growth of 43 percent year-over-year. 

As with many other industries, the tech sector has been feeling the squeeze of the global economic slowdown this year. Meta isn't immune from that. Reports in May suggested that the company would slow down the rate of new hires this year. Now, Bloomberg reports that Meta has put all hiring on hold. CEO Mark Zuckerberg is also said to have told staff that there's likely more restructuring and downsizing on the way. 

Meta declined to comment on the report. The company directed Engadget to a comment that Zuckerberg made during Meta's most recent earnings call in July. “Given the continued trends, this is even more of a focus now than it was last quarter," Zuckerberg said. "Our plan is to steadily reduce headcount growth over the next year. Many teams are going to shrink so we can shift energy to other areas, and I wanted to give our leaders the ability to decide within their teams where to double down, where to backfill attrition, and where to restructure teams while minimizing thrash to the long-term initiatives.”

In that earnings report, Meta disclosed that, in the April-May quarter, its revenue dropped by one percent year-over-year. It's the first time the company has ever reported a fall in revenue.

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The US Securities and Exchange Commission has filed a lawsuit against two former MoviePass executives. In a federal complaint seen by Bloomberg, the agency accused Theodore Farnsworth and Mitch Lowe on Monday of misleading investors about the viability of the company’s $9.95 per month business model.

Farnsworth was the chief executive officer of Helios and Matheson Analytics, the parent company of MoviePass between 2017 and 2020. Lowe led MoviePass between 2016 and its collapse in 2020. The SEC alleges Farnsworth and Lowe “intentionally” and “repeatedly” shared false information.

“Faced with debilitating negative cash flows – rather than tell the public the truth – Farnsworth and Lowe devised fraudulent tactics to prevent MoviePass’s heavy users from using the service, and falsely and misleadingly informed the public that usage had declined naturally or due to measures the company had employed to combat subscribers’ purported violations of MoviePass’s terms and conditions of service,” the complaint states.

In addition to financial penalties, the SEC is seeking to prevent both Farnsworth and Lowe from serving in director or officer positions in any company that’s required to register securities with the agency. The SEC’s lawsuit also names former MoviePass business development executive Khalid Itum as a defendant. Itum allegedly pocketed $310,000 by submitting false invoices to the company. Last year, Helios and Matheson, Farnsworth and Lowe settled a lawsuit from the Federal Trade Commission related to allegations they mislead customers and failed to protect user personal information.

“The complaint concerns matters subject to an investigation that the company and other news outlets publicly disclosed nearly three years ago, and Mr. Farnsworth’s legal team will maintain the challenge to this complaint,” Chris Bond, a spokesperson for Ted Farnsworth told Bloomberg. “Mr. Farnsworth continues to maintain that he has always acted in good faith in the best interests of his companies and shareholders.”

The suit comes as a new version of MoviePass attempts to reestablish itself under the leadership of cofounder Stacy Spikes. The company recently launched a beta service in Chicago, Dallas and Kansas City, offering packages that start at $10 per month.

Patreon, a platform that helps creators to generate more income from their work, has laid off 80 employees, or around 17 percent of its total headcount, amid the global economic slowdown and fears of a recession. The company is closing its Berlin office, which housed sales and marketing employees. Patreon is centralizing those operations in the US. A Dublin office is also shutting down and Patreon will offer nine engineers there the option to relocate to the US in order to centralize resources. An office in Porto, Portugal will remain open to provide support to creators and users in Europe.

The layoffs have impacted four teams — Go-to-Market, Operations, Finance and People — CEO Jack Conte wrote in a letter to employees. Patreon will offer affected workers at least three months of severance and those in the US will receive COBRA healthcare coverage through the end of the year. The company will also offer resources to help them find a new job and waive a one-year equity vesting cliff for pending stock options.

Last week, Patreon let go five members of its security team for different reasons. Conte said this "was part of a longer-term strategy to continue distributing security responsibilities across our entire engineering team, bring new areas of expertise into Patreon internally, and continue partnering with external experts." However, he noted that the company is ramping up its investment in security.

Conte wrote that the layoffs are part of a restructuring that will see Patreon plow more resources into its product, engineering and design departments. However, the company is scaling back recruitment and the size of its operations.

"I’m more confident than ever that the world needs a better economic system for creative people, and Patreon will keep building that system for creators over the decades ahead," Conte said. "However, the pandemic introduced volatility to the broader trend, starting with a rapid acceleration during COVID lockdowns. In response, we built an operating plan to support this outsized growth, but as the world began recovering from the pandemic and enduring a broader economic slowdown, that plan is no longer the right path forward for Patreon."

This is just the latest in a long line of recent layoffs at notable tech companies. Apple, Google, Meta, Peloton, Netflix, Snap, Paypal, Unity and others have all reduced their headcount or pumped the brakes on recruitment in recent months.

Peloton is expanding a rental program for its Bike and Bike+ fitness equipment. Now, anyone in the contiguous US (sorry, Alaska and Hawaii) can try one of the connected exercise bikes at home without having to shell out at least $1,445. The company started testing the program in select markets earlier this year. It's worth noting that the rentals may still not be available in some remote locations.

A Bike rental costs $89 per month, while Bike+ costs $119 per month. You'll need to pay a $150 setup fee as well. Both options include an All Access Membership, which features Peloton's swathe of live and on-demand fitness classes. You can return the equipment for free at any time. After 12 months, you'll be able to buy the Bike or Bike+ at a reduced rate ($895 and $1,595, respectively).

News of broader availability of the rental program comes after it emerged that two of Peloton's co-founders are departing the company. As CNBC notes, John Foley is stepping down as executive chairman. Karen Boone will take over as the chair of the board. Chief legal officer Hisao Kushi, another co-founder, is leaving and will be replaced by Tammy Albarrán, Uber's chief deputy general counsel.

Additionally, chief commercial officer Kevin Cornils, who joined Peloton in 2018, will move on later this month amid a broader organizational shakeup. Chief strategy officer Dion Sanders will take on many of Cornils' duties in a new role as chief emerging business officer.

These executive changes are the latest developments in a turbulent year for Peloton as CEO Barry McCarthy tries to resolve the company's woes. Just as McCarthy took over the position from Foley earlier this year, Peloton laid off around 2,800 workers. In July, Peloton let go around 570 employees in Taiwan amid a shift away from in-house manufacturing, and last month, the company cut another 784 jobs in the distribution and customer service departments. It will rely on third-party companies for deliveries.

Whether McCarthy's ambitious plan to steady the Peloton ship pays off remains to be seen. It's been a rough year financially for the company to say the least. McCarthy told shareholders last month that, despite incurring an operating loss of $1.2 billion last quarter, he sees "significant progress driving our comeback and Peloton’s long-term resilience."

McCarthy said this week that Peloton would start selling its products in some brick-and-mortar stores after announcing the closure of many of the company's own retail locations. It recently listed its equipment on Amazon for the first time. McCarthy also mused on making it easier for people to access third-party content on Peloton's displays, something that's already possible to do by jailbreaking the device.

Snap has confirmed reports that it will lay off around 20 percent of its employees — approximately 1,300 people — to reduce costs. The company has also canceled most original Snapchat shows (save for the long-running politics and news series Good Luck America) and shelved other projects. For one thing, Snap said it's putting games and mini-apps into maintenance mode. It will also sunset the standalone Zenly and Voisey apps to focus on Snapchat's Snap Map and Sounds features.

On the hardware front, Snap is "narrowing our investment scope in Spectacles to focus on highly differentiated long-term research and development efforts." In addition, the company has halted further development of its Pixy selfie drone only a few months after it started selling the device.

Snap said in a note to investors that the layoffs, project cancellations and other restructuring will save the company approximately $500 million in the annualized cash cost structure relative to the April-June quarter (for which Snap posted lackluster earnings results). The figure includes a $50 million reduction in content costs. The restructuring costs will be around $110 million to $175 million. Approximately $95 million to $135 million of that will likely be incurred in adjusted operating expenses, mostly in the current quarter.

"Unfortunately, given our current lower rate of revenue growth, it has become clear that we must reduce our cost structure to avoid incurring significant ongoing losses," Snap CEO Evan Spiegel wrote in a letter to staff. "While we have built substantial capital reserves, and have made extensive efforts to avoid reductions in the size of our team by reducing spend in other areas, we must now face the consequences of our lower revenue growth and adapt to the market environment."

Speigel noted that the company is restructuring around three pillars: community growth, revenue growth and augmented reality. "Projects that don’t directly contribute to these areas will be discontinued or receive substantially reduced investment," he added. 

Snap has been feeling the brunt of a broader economic slow down. Its share price has slumped by 80 percent this year (though it rebounded slightly following news of the layoffs and restructuring). So far in 2022, the company's year-over-year revenue growth is eight percent, which Speigel said is "well below what we were expecting earlier this year." However, the Snapchat+ subscription service is off to a positive start, with more than a million users signing up within the first month or so.

Meanwhile, company's leadership team has a fresh look. This week, its two top advertising executives departed for Netflix, which will soon start offering an ad-supported tier. Snap has promoted its former senior vice president of engineering Jerry Hunter to the position of chief operating officer. It will also bring in Ronan Harris, Google's UK and Ireland vice president and managing director, as president of its Europe, Middle East and Africa division.

Sony has joined forces with Tencent to purchase a 30.34 percent share of FromSoftware, the developer behind titles like Elden Ring, Dark Souls 3 and Bloodborne. Tencent's Sixjoy Hong Kong division will own 16.25 percent of FromSoftware's shares, Sony will take a 14.09 percent interest and parent Kadokawa Group will remain the largest shareholder with a 69.66 percent stake. Tencent already has an investment in Kadokawa from last year.

FromSoftware might not be a developer that's on the tip of your tongue, but it has an impressive catalog. Elden Ring has been the top selling game of 2022 to date, with sales of 12 million copies in the first 18 days alone. Along with Bloodborne and the Dark Souls franchise, it has also produced the PSVR mystery adventure Déraciné and Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice. 

The company plans to use the funds raised (36.4 billion yen or $262 million) to strengthen its relationship with Sony, create new IP and expand its ability to publish globally. Elden Ring is the company's biggest hit to date, but it's published outside of Japan by Bandai Namco. Earlier this year, FromSoftware and Bandai Namco called Elden Ring the start of a "new franchise" and announced efforts to "expand the brand beyond the game itself and into everyone's daily life." 

While Microsoft has grabbed most of the headlines with its (still-pending) Activision Blizzard acquisition, Sony has been snapping up studios as well. It recently completed a $3.6 billion deal to buy Halo and Destiny developer Bungie Games, along with God of War co-development studio Valkyrie and Jade Raymond's Haven Studios. Considering the success of Elden Ring, its stake in FromSoftware seems like a relative bargain. 

Beleaguered fitness company Peloton has struck a deal with Amazon to sell a selection of fitness equipment and merchandise on the e-commerce platform, reportedCNBC. The maker of connected bikes and other exercise machines has struggled with declining sales as many people return to gyms and office life. The Amazon partnership marks the first time Peloton will sell its merchandise outside of its website and showrooms. Any fitness equipment ordered on Amazon will also include free delivery and assembly, which is the same deal currently offered on Peloton’s website.

“We want to make it as easy as possible to get a Peloton,” Peloton’s Chief Commercial Officer Kevin Cornils told CNBC in an interview. Following a sharp increase in demand for its products during the pandemic that it struggled to meet, the company now faces the opposite problem: an excess of inventory. Peloton has experimented with new methods to boost sales, including a bike rental plan and partnering with colleges and hotels. Despite these efforts, bike and subscription sales have stagnated.

The company announced it would stop making its own bikes this summer, resulting in the layoffs of 600 Tonic factory employees. Earlier this month, it slashed another 780 jobs, shut down a large number of its retail locations and increased the prices of some equipment. It also announced that it would no longer perform deliveries of its own equipment and shifted last-mile logistics to a third-party company.

Earlier this year, the Wall Street Journalreported that Amazon had been in talks with Peloton to potentially acquire the fitness company. While it hasn’t yet gone that route, the success of Peloton sales on Amazon could lead to the companies teaming up on more efforts.