Ahead of Street Fighter 6's launch on June 2nd, 2023, Capcom has unveiled a new free playable demo for PS5 and PS4, the company announced. It will let you play the first part of the World Tour mode and create an avatar for use in the main game. The demo arrives next week on April 26th, with more details in the video below. 

The developer also unveiled the first four playable characters for the game's first year: Rashid (summer 2023), A.K.I. (autumn - 2023), Akuma (spring 2024), and Ed (winter 2024). 

Capcom also detailed the single-player Street Fighter 6 modes. As mentioned, one is called is World Tour. There, you can level up avatars, explore Metro City and other locations, and interact with famous characters from Street Fighter and Capcom lore. some of those include Haggar, Carlos Miyamoto and others. World Tour mode is shown in the video below. 

We learned previously that the upcoming entry to the fighting franchise will come out for the PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S and PC. The game will include Luke, a key DLC character for Street Fighter V, as well as fan favorites Ryu and Chun-Li. Capcom previously described Luke as "a key player in the future of Street Fighter" who would help expand its world. The playable demo should give us a good feel for the game, so fans will likely want to check it out when it arrives on April 26th.  

Twitter has talked about pulling legacy verified checkmarks for a while, and now it's acting on that plan. The social network has begun removing the original blue ticks from users' profiles — formerly verified staff at Engadget can confirm this. From now on, you'll need to pay $8 per month for Blue to get that symbol back. Businesses can receive a gold checkmark without a subscription, while government and multilateral organization accounts get a gray checkmark.

The company introduced verification in 2009 to reduce the potential for impersonation, and focused on well-established (though not necessarily famous) people in areas like politics, entertainment and the media. When Elon Musk bought Twitter in 2022, however, he claimed there were too many "corrupt" verified accounts and that it was necessary to drop the legacy system. He characterized Blue as a way to democratize checkmarks.

That's not how it panned out. Twitter had to pause and relaunch Blue after trolls abused the feature to impersonate notable figures, including Musk. The firm instituted a review process and barred sign-ups from accounts that had been around for less than 90 days. Gold and gray checkmarks restored some of those anti-impersonation measures, but many celebrities, journalists and similar personalities no longer have those protections.

Twitter has had other problems with user labels, too. Multiple major media organizations, including NPR and PBS, have left Twitter over objections to the social site's "government-funded media" designation. These outlets say the label falsely implies government influence over their content when they maintain strict editorial independence. The death of legacy checkmarks just underscores this conflict — critics are concerned that Twitter is eroding trust in its quest to earn more revenue from subscriptions.

It took a couple of years, but Disney+ is finally doing more to patch the Spider-Man-sized hole in its Marvel movie lineup. The streaming service is adding the first wave of Spidey movies to its US catalog in the next few weeks. Sam Raimi's trilogy and The Amazing Spider-Man will be available tomorrow (April 21st), while Homecoming and Venom arrive May 12th.

More of Sony Pictures' Spider-Man movie and TV lineup will come to the US later in the year, Disney says. While you can already watch The Amazing Spider-Man 2 in at least some countries, this does mean you'll have to wait if you want to watch titles like No Way Home or Into the Spider-Verse without turning to other services (and in some cases, paying for a purchase or rental).

The gap has long been a pain for Disney, and particularly since the launch of Disney+ in 2019. Sony has a perpetual film license for Spider-Man so long as it releases a new title every 5.75 years. Disney had to reach a deal to borrow the web-slinger for Avengers movies as Sony still had the rights to the character's solitary adventures. You had to turn to Disney+ rivals like Netflix (which has exclusive rights for Sony movies) to see the rest of Spider-Man's story.

Disney addressed that omission in 2021, when it struck a deal to access Sony's theatrical releases through 2026 as well as archival Marvel titles like the Spider-Man series. You're now seeing the fruits of that agreement — Disney+ doesn't have to worry as much about viewers subscribing to competitors just to get their full superhero fix.

Humanity, a curious hybrid of a platformer and a puzzle game, at last has a release date. It's coming to PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5 and Steam on May 16th, with virtual reality support on all platforms. PS Plus Extra and Premium subscribers will be able to check it out at no extra cost, as Humanity will join the PS Plus Game Catalog on its release day.

The latest title from Rez creator Tetsuya Mizuguchi's Enhance studio has been in the works for quite some time. We got our first look at it in 2019 and it was supposed to be out the following year. However, the delay gave Enhance a chance to create PlayStation 5 and PS VR2 versions as well. Enhance announced the release date with an outstanding homage to early PlayStation ads.

In Humanity, you'll play as a glowing, nameless Shina Ibu. Your mission is to guide crowds of people to an exit by placing commands on the ground that get them to turn, jump, float, swim, climb and so on — effectively flipping the atypical dog-human relationship on its head. The story mode has more than 90 levels, somehow including boss fights. You'll be able to create your own stages and share them with other players too.

On the PlayStation Blog, Enhance executive producer Mark MacDonald wrote that the team decided to bring Humanity to the PS Plus Game Catalog on day one so it can reach a large number of players right away. Several titles have debuted on the base PS Plus Essential tier over the years and quickly found a large audience, most famously Rocket League and Fall Guys. Meet Your Maker was the most recent game to hit the Essential tier on its release day.  

Since Sony rolled out Extra and Premium a little under a year ago, the only games that have hit those particular tiers on their release day before Humanity are Stray and Tchia (subscribers have access to Essential games too). Meanwhile, PS VR2 owners may be particularly pleased by Humanity's PS Plus debut, given that PS VR titles don't automatically work on the new headset and they're having to piece together a fresh library of games.

Starting on April 25th, advertisers using Microsoft's social media management tool will no longer be able to access Twitter on their dashboard. As Mashable has first reported, the tech giant has announced on its Advertising platform page that its Digital Marketing Center's Smart Campaigns with Multi-platform tool will no longer support the social network in a few days' time. The announcement comes almost a month after Twitter revealed how much users will have to pay to access its API. While the company wasn't that forthcoming when it came to pricing for enterprise customers, Wired previously reported that the cheapest package available for them cost $42,000 a month. 

Although Microsoft could easily afford to pay that, it seems to have chosen to drop Twitter instead. Removing support for the website on its social media management tool means advertisers will no longer be able to use it to create, manage or schedule draft tweets, as well as to view past tweets and engagements. Microsoft has noted in its announcement that other social media channels, such as "Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn will continue to be available."

After Microsoft's announcement, Elon Musk responded to a tweet reporting its decision with a threat to take legal action against the company. "They trained illegally using Twitter data. Lawsuit time," Twitter's owner wrote. He didn't elaborate on how Microsoft illegally trained anything using Twitter data, but it's worth noting that the tech giant is a key backer of ChatGPT developer OpenAI. The executive co-founded OpenAI back in 2015, but he distanced himself from the organization and has been vocally criticizing the chatbot and AI as a whole as of late. Musk also recently revealed his plans for his own AI company that could rival OpenAI and Google. 

Whether Musk's lawsuit threat would actually materialize remains to be seen. Regardless, Microsoft's decision came at a very bad time for Twitter. The website has been steadily losing advertisers since Musk took over, and according to digital marketing analysis firm Pathmatics by Sensor Tower, less than half of its top 1,000 advertisers spent money on ads in January. 

If you spent almost any time on the internet this week, you probably saw a lot of chatter about “Heart on My Sleeve.” The song went viral for featuring AI-generated voices that do a pretty good job of mimicking Drake and The Weeknd singing about a recent breakup.

On Monday, Apple Music and Spotify pulled the track following a complaint from Universal Music Group, the label that represents the real-life versions of the two Toronto-born artists. A day later, YouTube, Amazon, SoundCloud, Tidal, Deezer and TikTok did the same.

At least, they tried to comply with the complaint, but as is always the case with the internet, you can still find the song on websites like YouTube. Before it was removed from Spotify, “Heart on My Sleeve” was a bonafide hit. People streamed the track more than 600,000 times. On TikTok, where the creator of the song, the aptly named Ghostwriter977, first uploaded it, users listened to “Heart on My Sleeve” more than 15 million times.

In a statement Universal Music Group shared with publications like Music Business Worldwide, the label argued the training of a generative AI using the voices of Drake and The Weeknd was “a breach of our agreements and a violation of copyright law." The company added that streaming platforms had a "legal and ethical responsibility to prevent the use of their services in ways that harm artists."

It’s fair to say the music industry, much like the rest of society, now finds itself at an inflection point over the use of AI. While there are obvious ethical issues related to the creation of “Heart on My Sleeve,” it’s unclear if it’s a violation of traditional copyright law. In March, the US Copyright Office said art, including music, cannot be copyrighted if it was produced by providing a text prompt to a generative AI model. However, the office left the door open to granting copyright protections to works with AI-generated elements.

“The answer will depend on the circumstances, particularly how the AI tool operates and how it was used to create the final work," it said. "This is necessarily a case-by-case inquiry. If a work’s traditional elements of authorship were produced by a machine, the work lacks human authorship and the Office will not register it." In the case of “Heart on My Sleeve,” complicating matters is that the song was written by a human being. It’s impossible to say how a court challenge would play out. What is clear is that we’re only the start of a very long discussion about the role of AI in music.

Star Trek: Picard heads out to pasture when the series finale airs this week. We live in an age of shared universes, however, so another Trek is coming quicker than you can say raktajino (Klingon coffee). The second season of the well-reviewedStar Trek: Strange New Worlds premieres on June 15th, and Paramount+ has finally dropped a real trailer.

We’ve known the premiere date for a while, but there was no trailer until now, which is an odd choice considering the show starts in less than two months. Still, the footage gives a fairly in-depth look at what the Enterprise will be up to in June, and there is a lot for fans to get excited about. Eagle-eyed viewers will notice the return of regular-looking Klingons, so it looks like the vaguely off-putting redesign featured in Star Trek: Discovery is over and done with.

There is also plenty of Captain Kirk, as played by newcomer Paul Wesley. Kirk appeared twice during the first season and was heavily involved in the season finale. Remember, Strange New Worlds is a prequel that chronicles the adventures of the Enterprise before Captain Kirk, so this is a younger version of the character.

The show also features younger versions of other legacy characters like Spock and Uhura, along with minor characters from the original 1960s Star Trek, such as Nurse Chapel and Dr. M’benga. Strange New Worlds strives to captures the feel of older Trek shows, with a return to the episodic formula that made the franchise such a hit in the first place.

This has been a big couple of weeks for Trek-related announcements. Yesterday saw the official announcement of a Michelle Yeoh-led movie and last month Paramount+ revealed a forthcoming show set at Starfleet Academy. Strange New Worlds has also already been renewed for a third season. In other words, the franchise is, uh, prospering. 

Nintendo's latest Indie World showcase featured some news on the long-awaited sequel to Oxenfree. You'll be able to check out Oxenfree II: Lost Signals in a few months, as it will arrive on Switch, PlayStation 4, PS5, Steam and on mobile via Netflix on July 12th.

Night School Studio announced the follow-up to its supernatural mystery title back in 2021 during a previous Indie World stream. Last year, after Netflix bought the studio, Night School it said was delaying Oxenfree II until 2023 in order to make the game "truly special." A new trailer offers a closer look at the sequel, which sees a character called Riley returning to her gloomy hometown to delve into the mystery behind some unusual radio transmissions. As you explore, you can use a new walkie-talkie conversation system to stay in touch with local contacts.

As is often the case, the Indie World stream featured rapid-fire updates and announcements for a broad swathe of games, including Cult of the Lamb, one of Engadget's favorite titles of 2022. A major free update for the deliciously cute mashup of dungeon crawler and management sim will land on April 24th. 

Among other things, the Relics of the Old Faith update adds richer combat and a photo mode, while refreshing bosses and enemies. Those who've been waiting for a reason to come back may be pleased to learn there'll be much more post-game content as well, including additional stories, revamped dungeons, a boss rush mode and a permadeath option.

Elsewhere, it emerged during the Indie World showcase that Rift of the NecroDancer, a Crypt of the NecroDancer spin-off, is coming to Switch later this year. It adds a Guitar Hero-style rhythm twist to lane-based combat — you'll need to match onscreen prompts to fend off monsters. 

This fall, you'll be able to check out Quilts and Cats of Calico. This adaptation of the board game Calico sees you placing pieces on a board and adding buttons to earn points and attract cats. Each of the customizable cats has their own favorite quilt pattern. It all seems utterly adorable. The game supports local and online multiplayer and you'll even be able to compete in ranked matches.

In addition, cooking and restaurant management sim PlateUp! will land in October and the enjoyable Escape Academy will hit Switch in the fall. Bomb Rush Cyberfunk, a game that caught our eye during a previous showcase thanks to its Jet Set Radio vibes, will be available on Switch and Steam on August 18th. 

Paper Trail, which requires you to fold parts of the world to solve puzzles, looks charming as heck. That one is coming to Switch in August. Meanwhile, Brotato, a Vampire Survivors-style game that's been one of the most-played titles on Steam Deck in recent months, is getting a Switch port this year.

If you're looking for something new to pass the time with on your Switch until Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom drops, you're in luck. Nintendo revealed that Five Nights at Freddy’s: Security Breach and puzzle platfomers Teslagrad Remastered and Teslagrad 2 will all be available on the eShop today, along with slapstick RPG Shadows Over Loathing. In case you missed the Indie World stream, you can catch up on the entire thing below:

Snapchat's subscription service may be more popular than you think. Snap has revealed that Snapchat+ has topped 3 million subscribers. That suggests growth is once again accelerating. While growth slowed after the 1 million mark in the first month, it reached 2 million users in January — there's clearly an audience willing to pay $4 per month for early features and VIP benefits like priority comments.

The social network is also adding a few new features for everyone. A new "After Dark" shared Story lets friends add to a summary of late-night escapades. A Communities feature for sharing views with classmates, meanwhile, is expanding to more schools over the course of the month.

Snap Map will be more useful as well. You'll see 3D landmarks that could help you find content around hotspots, while location sharing helps you keep track of pals. Places can also have tags to help you find trending venues.

The Snapchat+ expansion and new features come at a crucial moment. Snapchat has continued to grow, reaching 750 million monthly active users (and 375 million daily users) as of February despite competition from the likes of Instagram and TikTok. It also follows after a rough 2022 that included layoffs of 1,300 workers and the early death of its Pixy selfie drone. Sustained growth could not only help Snap bounce back, but help reduce its dependence on ad money.

Since February, Netflix has offered paid account sharing in Canada, New Zealand, Portugal and Spain. The add-on allows primary account holders to pay an additional fee every month to share their Netflix service with up to two people outside of their household. Now, it’s coming for US subscribers – or non-subscribers. The company wrote in its Q1 letter to shareholders: “In Q1, we launched paid sharing in four countries and are pleased with the results.” It added: “We are planning on a broad rollout, including in the US, in Q2.” Netflix has estimated more than 100 million non-paying households have access to its service – and it wants them to pay something.

Netflix will also close its DVD rental business in September. Yes, that’s still a thing.

– Mat Smith

The Morning After isn’t just a newsletter – it’s also a daily podcast. Get our daily audio briefings, Monday through Friday, by subscribing right here.

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