Redfall is not fit for public consumption. It may not give you salmonella, but Arkane Austin’s vampire-infused world is unpolished, underpopulated and littered with glitches. From the jump, there are signs the game would’ve benefited from another delay before launch day. That’s not to say Redfall is a bad game filled with terrible ideas, but in its current form, it’s difficult to see the brilliance among the bugs.

Redfall is an open-world first-person loot shooter in the vein of Borderlands, but with a bunch of vampires and cultists instead of bandits, and set in a picturesque fictional town off the coast of Massachusetts rather than an arid wasteland. It has four playable characters, each with a magical skill set powered by pesky local pharmaceutical experiments.

Arkane Austin

The characters represent a bright spot in the game, so let’s start with the good stuff. I primarily played as Layla, a student whose special abilities include a glowing purple umbrella that soaks up bullets and a psychic elevator that propels friends and foes into the sky. Her final ability summons her former boyfriend, a ghostly vampire who shows up to pull focus and deal damage (typical ex behavior). I also spent some time with Remi, a support-class character with an adorable robot dog. Each character has a skill tree with a few dozen upgrade slots, plus a backpack that can be stuffed full of firearms, and three guns equipped at any time.

Running in Redfall is incredibly satisfying, and this is crucial, considering a large portion of the game is spent exploring neighborhoods on foot. The run mechanic feels like gliding, providing a significant and immediate speed boost that never feels too slow.

The actual town of Redfall is charming. The campaign is spread across two maps, a suburban center and a historic district, each with a distinct vibe. While this is definitely not Prey or Dishonored, Arkane’s DNA runs through Redfall, and the map contains a variety of locales sprinkled with world-building lore – abandoned churches and homes, lootable shops, spooky mansions, hiking trails, farmland, an amusement park.

Missions are structured to slowly reveal new areas of the map, and along the way there are safe houses to unlock, side stories to uncover and special vampires to vanquish. A highlight is clearing vampire nests, which teleport you to twisted versions of the town, providing a welcome break from the idyllic landscapes. All told, Redfall is a neat place to explore. I just wish it didn’t feel so empty.

Here’s where things start to fall apart. Redfall’s entire world feels dead, and not in the on-brand, reanimated corpse type of way. There are long stretches of road and entire neighborhoods without enemies or points of interest, and groups of cultists and vampires are often incredibly easy to spot. Combine this with shockingly dumb enemy AI and an oppressive amount of aim assist, and most basic encounters end after a smattering of bullets and little tension. There are always plenty of shinies to collect, at least.

Arkane Austin

I played on an Xbox Series S and PC, and experienced numerous bugs and crashes, particularly on the Xbox version. The game is limited to 30 fps at launch on both Series S and X, and suffers immensely because of it, with heavy-handed motion blur barely smoothing out the judders. Playing with a gamepad on Xbox is especially jarring – hefty aim assist mixes with a significant dead zone to create an unpleasant, weirdly imprecise shooting experience. I was able to tweak things to make it bearable, but basic gunplay in Redfall feels bad.

And then there are the bugs. Prompts to talk to people or read notes often fail; environments pop in with half-loaded textures; framerate drops result in stop-motion animations; sniper rifle scopes break completely; the game fully crashes. In 15 hours with Redfall, my game crashed three times. Arkane says it’s addressing a handful of known crash areas with the game’s day 0 patch, so hopefully these are cleared up for prime time.

While you can technically play Redfall solo, the game was clearly designed to be played with a team. Characters’ abilities dovetail cleanly, and wandering the town is way more fun with a teammate. Once I started playing with a friend, the game made more sense, with strategy talk and shared curiosity filling those long, empty stretches of road, adding intrigue to easy shots. However, co-op also introduced fresh glitches, including floating character models and choppy collision physics.

As a feature-complete AAA experience with a price tag of $70, Redfall is a massive disappointment. However, that’s not how most people are going to play – Arkane is a subsidiary of Xbox Game Studios, and Redfall will be available to Game Pass subscribers on PC and console, day-one and at no extra charge. The barrier to entering Redfall is low and this might be its saving grace, allowing developers to continually update the game while thousands of playtesters provide live feedback. Hell, that might even be the plan.

Right now, Redfall makes sense as an early access game. It’s a mess, but it’s still largely playable; Redfall’s core loop is actually thrilling when all the mechanics line up correctly, but the details need attention. The early access process is a crucial tool for developers, especially when it comes to online experiences, and there are pipelines for works in progress on every major platform, including Xbox. Redfall feels like a work-in-progress.

But in reality, Arkane and Xbox aren’t pitching Redfall as an early access game. They’re calling it a finished product and they’re charging $70 – or at least one month of Game Pass, set to automatically renew – for the privilege of playing its glitchy, imprecise missions.

It’s all reminiscent of Sea of Thieves, the original “day one on Game Pass” title. When it came out in 2018, Sea of Thieves was roundly criticized for feeling unfinished, lacking direction and being light on actual content. With years of updates and a consistent presence on Game Pass, Sea of Thieves stabilized, nurtured its player base, and eventually picked up a BAFTA award in the evolving game category in 2021. Its ninth season rolled out in March.

Arkane Austin

Redfall could easily follow a similar path. The game has good bones, and it could evolve into an engaging co-op shooter with plenty of room for replayability and expansions – Left 4 Dead for the Twilight generation; Borderlands meets What We Do in the Shadows; small-scale Destiny with a Stranger Things typeface. There’s room for Redfall, but only if Microsoft gives Arkane the runway to save it.

Redfall is less ambitious than Sea of Thieves, and it really shouldn’t be in this poor shape: Arkane Austin has plenty of experience crafting AAA first-person shooters, and Redfall is a traditional loot shooter with online play. Nothing in this game falls outside of Arkane’s or Xbox’s capabilities, and personally, I’m interested to see how it shapes up over time.

That doesn’t make Redfall’s launch state feel any less shady. If Xbox plans to use Game Pass as an early access hub, then the terms need to be clear. Players deserve to know when they’re spending $70 on potential, and potential alone.

Amazon just announced the impending launch of Fire TV Channels, allowing customers access to a wide variety of “premium, free content” on Fire streaming sticks, streaming boxes, and, of course, Fire-branded televisions. The company promises there will be no forced sign-ups or fees associated with this content.

Just like the similar offering from Roku, there looks to be plenty of free content to wade through here. There are channels for local and national news, sports, travel, cooking, music videos, old TV shows and just about everything else. Amazon announced content partnership deals with professional NHL hockey, PGA golf, gossip site TMZ, ABC News and media giant Condé Nast, among others. All told, the company says it has lined up over 400 publishing partners ready for the summer launch.

This is an ad-supported service, so if you have an aversion to that dang Liberty Mutual song, look elsewhere for content. Amazon already offers some FAST (free ad-supported TV) channels, but this is a major boost for the platform. Additionally, there will be an easily accessible “Free” tab right on the home screen of all Fire devices for instant perusal. This tab breaks down into more category-specific menus.

“With Fire TV Channels, we’re delivering a simple, category-based experience that makes it easy to discover what you want to watch while constantly expanding content offerings.” said Charlotte Maines, director of Fire TV advertising, monetization, and engagement.

The company says that channels will feature live content, linear content and VOD content. It also says that new stuff will be added throughout each day, so binge, baby, binge. Amazon is not the only player in the FAST space. Along with the OG Roku, Google recently announced its own 800-channel offering. 

There's one less competitor in the robot vacuum world. Neato Robotics is shutting down as the company hasn't reached its "self-defined economic goals" for years, parent company Vorwerk Group tellsTechHive. The firm's sales haven't met expectations, in other words. Vorwerk is promising cloud and repair support to Neato customers for "at least" five years, so your robovac should continue to run for a while longer.

The move will affect 98 jobs, Vorwerk says. Users started worrying weeks ago, when users noticed a broken customer sign-in page. Neato's Facebook and Twitter accounts vanished, and support staff fell silent. Vorwerk is fixing the login issues and says they're not connected to the shutdown.

Neato emerged in 2005 and soon became one of the main competitors to iRobot's Roomba series. It stood out by pushing the limits of robot vacuum technology, such as by adding WiFi in 2011 and LiDAR mapping in 2020. Vorwerk bought Neato in 2017, but continued to run the brand independently. Neato ran into trouble, and restructuring efforts didn't turn the company around.

The closure isn't surprising. iRobot has long dominated robovacs, and claimed 46 percent of the market in 2020 according to Statista. Neato, by comparison, had roughly 3 percent in preceding years and was already fading away by 2020. Competitors like Anker's Eufy brand, Roborock and Shark have entered the field and sometimes undercut Neato on price.

A shutdown may not be good news for iRobot, though. American politicians are already concerned about the potential harm of Amazon's proposed iRobot acquisition to the competitive landscape, and European regulators are reportedly close behind. Neato's demise further reduces that competition, even if it hasn't been a heavyweight for a while.

If you were hoping to avoid spoilers before playing Nintendo's highly anticipated follow-up to Breath of the Wild, that goal just got a lot harder: The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom has been leaked. Physical copies of the game appeared on sites over the weekend, apparently selling for up to $300 each. Now, digital copies of the game have shown up online. Some who have downloaded the pirated files have streamed footage of the game's intro and gameplay.

How this all happened still isn't completely clear. According to a thread on the GamingLeaksAndRumors subreddit, players who received the physical game early posted scattered images. One person allegedly dumped the game from a physical cart to a computer and started streaming it on a Discord sever via PC emulation. Eventually, admins on that server said the files were being uploaded to filesharing websites.

These kinds of leaks are becoming more common. Back in 2018, Kingdom Hearts 3 made it to some players six weeks before the title's planned launch. More recently, a hacker acquired a test build of the next Grand Theft Auto game and released more than an hour of footage from the build. And indeed, this has happened to Nintendo before: The Wii U version of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild was leaked before launch back in 2017.

Nintendo hasn't commented on the situation yet, but it's likely they'll pursue legal action if they can identify the leaker. The company recently subpoenaed Discord for information on users who leaked a Tears of the Kingdom art book earlier this year. There's also the case of Gary Bowser, a hacker for Team Xecuter who developed and sold devices that enabled people to play pirated games on the Nintendo Switch — he was jailed in 2022, and has been ordered to pay 25-30% of his monthly gross income to Nintendo in restitution for the rest of his life.

Curious what to expect from the new game without having to delve into leaks and spoilers? You can read Engadget's own preview of The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom right here. 

Nintendo did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Apple promised faster turnaround times for security patches with iOS 16 and macOS Ventura, and it's now delivering on that claim. The company has released its first Rapid Security Response updates for devices running iOS 16.4.1, iPadOS 16.4.1 and macOS 13.3.1. They're available through Software Update as usual, but are small downloads that don't require much time to install. MacRumors says the fix is deploying over the course of 48 hours, so don't be surprised if you have to wait a short while.

There have been hitches so far. Engadget and others have received an error warning that iOS can't verify the update as the device is "no longer connected to the internet." We've asked Apple for comment, but you may have to be patient with this software. To date, the upgrades have only been available to beta testers.

Rapid Security Response lets Apple fix vulnerabilities sooner than it would through conventional software updates. While you can disable them, they may be ideal for quickly fixing zero-day flaws that attackers can use right away. That, in turn, could prevent malware from rapidly spreading through the community — particularly among users who have automatic updates enabled.

The concept of emergency security updates isn't new, of course. Apple, Microsoft and others have posted out-of-schedule patches. This just streamlines the process, and (along with recent additions like Safety Check) provides some reassurance. You're less likely to spend days worrying that your data could be up for grabs.

Republicans’ and Democrats’ views of Twitter have moved in opposite directions since Elon Musk’s takeover last fall. A Pew Research poll published today found that Republicans are more likely to see the social platform in a positive light than two years ago, while Democrats’ views have moved on a divergent path. Although the results reflect what already appeared to be common sense — Republicans like it when the platform’s new leader amplifies far-right views while Democrats don’t — this is some of the first hard data we’ve seen to confirm that.

The portion of Republican and Republican-leaning Twitter users who believe the platform is “mostly bad” for US democracy dropped significantly to 21 percent from 60 percent two years ago. Similarly, Republicans who say the platform is “mostly good” for democracy rose from 17 percent to 43 percent in those two years. Meanwhile, Democrats’ views of Twitter as being good for democracy dropped from 47 percent in 2021 to 24 percent today; their view of the site being bad for democracy also increased from 28 percent to 35 percent.

However, both parties surveyed increasingly believe Twitter doesn’t affect American democracy. In 2021, 22 percent of Republicans answered that the social media platform had no impact, while 23 percent of Democrats agreed. Today, 36 percent of Republicans said it has no effect, and Democrats’ views on Twitter’s democratic irrelevance grew to 40 percent.

Meanwhile, the gap in the US political parties’ views on misinformation and abuse on the platform is also widening. For example, 68 percent of Democrats surveyed say “inaccurate or misleading information” is a problem on the platform (up from 54 percent in 2021), compared to 37 percent of Republicans who believe it’s a problem (compared to 52 percent two years ago). Similarly, 65 percent of Democrats say harassment and abuse are concerns (a rise from 50 percent in 2021), while 29 percent of Republicans agree (down from 41 percent in 2021).

Researchers (and anyone paying attention) have noted Musk’s increasingly conspiratorial posts and amplification of hate-mongering on the far right since the self-proclaimed centrist and free-speech absolutist took over. After he bought Twitter for $44 billion in October, researchers noted a quick rise in hate speech and misinformation. For example, in the week before the takeover, Montclair State University researchers found 84 tweets per hour using “homophobic, antisemitic and racial hate terms;” they found over 4,778 tweets fitting those criteria in the first 12 hours of Musk’s reign on October 28th.

“The way that Twitter’s content moderation has changed since [Musk has] taken over has definitely skewed towards favoring the far-right,” JM Berger, a researcher on extremism in social media, toldInsider in December. “I think he’s intentionally empowering right-wing extremists. Any argument that he’s trying to empower the center is patently bullshit and should be treated as such.”

Musk tweeted the transphobic and conspiratorial double whammy in December: “My pronouns are Prosecute/Fauci.” Additionally, in a since-deleted tweet posted in October, he shared a link to a site spreading conspiracy theories about the assault on Nancy Pelosi’s husband, Paul, insisting there may be “more to the story.” Then, in early December, he reinstated the account of the creator of a Neo-Nazi website. And, of course, he also invited Donald Trump back to the platform in November after the former President was banned for inciting an insurrection in January 2021.

“The danger here is that in the name of ‘free speech,’ Musk will turn back the clock and make Twitter into a more potent engine of hatred, divisiveness, and misinformation about elections, public health policy, and international affairs,” said Paul Barrett, deputy director of NYU’s Stern Center for Business and Human Rights, in October. “This is not going to be pretty.”

What looks like a bottle of sunscreen and feels like it belongs in a 1990s fever dream? Microsoft's new Xbox x OPI controller collaboration. The 'Sunkissed Vibes' OPI special edition Xbox Wireless controller is inspired by the nail polish brand's Summer Make the Rules collection. These kinds of fashion collaborations aren't new, and this particular controller doesn't have any special features you won't find in a standard gamepad, save from the fact that it's really, really ridiculously good looking.

Borrowing hues from the OPI makeup collection gives the controller a distinct pop, splashing its back with a pastel blue and adorning its front with a burst of soft, but bright orange. These unique hues are what makes these kinds of collaborations so unique — you may be able to create a custom gamepad using Xbox Design Lab, but those controllers don't have access to the custom colors mixed by the nail polish brand's designers. I even tried to design a similar controller using the app, and it just didn't have the same vibes, sunkissed or otherwise.

The controller's landing page doesn't say which OPI colors Microsoft borrowed for the gamepad, but at a glance, it looks like it's painted in "Dancing in Stilettos" and "Surf Naked." The polish collection has 51 whimsically named colors to choose from — just in case the bright controller inspires you to head to the beach.

Since its establishment in 1914, the US Federal Trade Commission has stood as a bulwark against the fraud, deception, and shady dealings that American consumers face every day — fining brands that "review hijack" Amazon listings, making it easier to cancel magazine subscriptions and blocking exploitative ad targeting. On Monday, Michael Atleson, Attorney, FTC Division of Advertising Practices, laid out both the commission's reasoning for how emerging generative AI systems like ChatGPT, Dall-E 2 could be used to violate the FTC Act's spirit of unfairness, and what it would do to companies found in violation. 

"Under the FTC Act, a practice is unfair if it causes more harm than good," Atleson said. "It’s unfair if it causes or is likely to cause substantial injury to consumers that is not reasonably avoidable by consumers and not outweighed by countervailing benefits to consumers or to competition."

He notes that the new generation of chatbots like Bing, Bard and ChatGPT can be used to influence the user's, "beliefs, emotions, and behavior." We've already seen them employed as negotiators within Walmart supply network and as talk therapists, both occupations specifically geared towards influencing those around you. When combined with the common effects of automation bias, wherein users more readily the accept the word of a presumably impartial AI system, and anthropomorphism. "People could easily be led to think that they’re conversing with something that understands them and is on their side," Atleson argued.

He concedes that the issues surrounding generative AI technology go far beyond the FTC's immediate purview, but reiterates that it will not tolerate unscrupulous companies from using it to take advantage of consumers. "Companies thinking about novel uses of generative AI, such as customizing ads to specific people or groups," the FTC lawyer warned, "should know that design elements that trick people into making harmful choices are a common element in FTC cases, such as recent actions relating to financial offers, in-game purchases, and attempts to cancel services."

The FTC's guardrails also apply to placing ads within a generative AI application, not unlike how Google inserts ads into its search results. "People should know if an AI product’s response is steering them to a particular website, service provider, or product because of a commercial relationship," Atleson wrote. "And, certainly, people should know if they’re communicating with a real person or a machine."

Finally, Atleson leveled an unsubtle warning to the tech industry. "Given these many concerns about the use of new AI tools, it’s perhaps not the best time for firms building or deploying them to remove or fire personnel devoted to ethics and responsibility for AI and engineering," he wrote. "If the FTC comes calling and you want to convince us that you adequately assessed risks and mitigated harms, these reductions might not be a good look." That's a lesson Twitter already learned the hard way. 

The Biden administration is preparing to examine how companies use artificial intelligence to monitor and manage workers. According to Bloomberg, the White House will publish a blog post later today that invites American workers to share how automated tools are being used in their workplaces.

“While these technologies can benefit both workers and employers in some cases, they can also create serious risks to workers,” the post states, per Bloomberg. “The constant tracking of performance can push workers to move too fast on the job, posing risks to their safety and mental health.” Citing media reports, the White House adds the technology has also been used to deter workers from organizing their workplaces and to perpetuate pay and discipline discrimination.

The blog post calls for input from a variety of stakeholders, including researchers, advocacy groups and even employers. Notably, the Biden administration says it wants to know what regulations and enforcement action the federal government should implement to address the “economic, safety, physical, mental and emotional impacts” of workplace surveillance tech.

The call for information comes after a handful of states passed laws against unreasonable productivity quotas. Specifically, New York’s Warehouse Worker Protection Act grants workers the right to request information on their quota at any time. It also prohibits companies from imposing productivity demands that interfere with an employee’s state-mandated meal and restroom breaks.

Days after it started offering users the option to post more than once per day, BeReal is rolling out another new feature. RealPeople is a curated timeline of "the world’s most interesting people." Sorry if you didn't make the cut. The feed includes updates from athletes, artists, activists and other notable users.

As with everyone else on BeReal, users featured in the RealPeople timeline will be prompted to drop everything and take a snapshot of their lives with their phone's selfie and rear cameras when the app sends them a notification at some point during the day. This, BeReal suggests, enables RealPeople to offer "real unfiltered glimpses" into the day-to-day lives of the likes of tennis star Coco Gauff and singers Tinashe and Danny Ocean.

"RealPeople isn’t about influencing, amassing likes or comments or promoting brands," the company wrote in a blog post. "You won’t see perfect photoshopped pictures, product recommendations or ads disguised as posts. It’s trying to show we’re all more alike than we think."

As with the Bonus BeReal feature that debuted last week, RealPeople will only be available in the UK at first before it becomes more broadly available. For now, you'll be able to react to a RealPeople post with an emoji, or hide or report it. Other ways to interact with RealPeople posts are on the way.

Observers have suggested that BeReal didn't move quickly enough to capitalize on the momentum it gained in 2022. The company has said that last year was largely about stabilizing the service amid a large influx of users. It has refuted claims that its user numbers have nosedived in recent months. To help it keep folks engaged though, BeReal is finally starting to roll out new features, something the company wasn't able to do before largerrivals started copying it.