After a 20-year drought, Dune fans suddenly have more than one game to look forward to playing. After announcing Dune: Spice Wars in 2021, Norwegian publisher Funcom revealed at this year's Gamescom that it's creating a new MMO set in Frank Herbert's seminal sci-fi universe. The trailer the company shared during the event didn't showcase gameplay. 

Instead, we see a character, possibly the game's version of Paul Atreides, watch a sandworm devour a spice harvester while reciting Dune's famous "fear is the mind-killer" mantra, with the eventual title card promising an open-world survival experience. The game's Steam page provides a few more details about the project. Players will have the chance to explore the desert planet while in search of spice. You'll need to protect your harvester from opportunistic raiders and the occasional sandworm. Funcom did not announce a release date for Dune: Awakening, but the game's website invites fans to sign up for a forthcoming beta.

Gearbox Software announced several months ago that a new Tales from the Borderlands game was coming this year, and its title is exactly that: New Tales from the Borderlands. CEO Randy Pitchford made an appearance at Gamescom's Opening Night Live showcase to reveal more details about the game.

Pitchford said he was a big fan of the original game, a narrative-driven point-and-click title set in the Borderlands universe developed by Telltale Games. Pitchford said Gearbox brought in some of the writers who worked on the first game for New Tales from the Borderlands

The latest title has three new main characters (Anu, Octavio and Fran) and a fresh storyline. As you might expect from a Borderlands game, the trailer suggests it will have offbeat humor and lots of guns. It seems there'll be a minigame or two as well. While New Tales from the Borderlands retains the series' distinctive art style, it looks like the visuals have been given an upgrade after Gearbox switched to Unreal Engine.

Gearbox is making New Tales from the Borderlands in-house at its Quebec studio. It will release the game on PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch, Steam and Epic Games Store on October 21st.

Under the Waves appears to be a heavy, emotional and poetic game about grief and isolation, which means it'll fit right in with the other titles under Quantic Dream's umbrella. Under the Waves is in development at independent French development house Parallel Studio, and it's being published by Quantic Dream, the company known for Heavy Rain, Beyond: Two Souls and Detroit: Become Human. It's due to hit Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 4, PS5 and PC in 2023.

As the name suggests, Under the Waves takes place far below the surface of the sea. The game stars Stan, a professional diver who finds himself dealing with grief, isolation and strange events in the crushing depths. Parallel Studio is using Quantic Dream's suite of motion-capture, animation and voice-recording tools to build Under the Waves.

Quantic Dream started ramping up its third-party publishing efforts in 2019, following an influx of cash from Chinese tech giant NetEase. In terms of first-party titles, Quantic Dream has been working on Star Wars: Eclipse for at least a year.

Starting in 2018, Quantic Dream was the subject of a media investigation regarding allegations of unchecked sexism, homophobia and hostility in the workplace, with reports stemming from multiple former employees. The studio faced a handful of lawsuits from these employees and it sued some of the involved publications; Quantic Dream lost some of those cases and won some.

Gamescom 2022 opened with the reveal of Everywhere, a new game from Grand Theft Auto producer Leslie Benzies. "We want the community to build this. We want it to be their world. We want them to tell their stories in our game," Benzies said before sharing a trailer that seemed to show off two very different games.

At first, we see an experience that looks similar to Fortnite. There are multiple characters shooting, jumping and driving across different biomes, with an obvious metaverse-like social component built into gameplay. However, in the final third of the trailer, the game's art style changes and we're treated to more photo-realistic graphics. In an interview after the clip played, assistant game designer Adam Whiting didn't provide many other details about the project, but did say developer Build a Robot Boy hopes to release Everywhere sometime next year.  

Power shortages and the threat of rolling blackouts in Ireland likely means no new Microsoft and Amazon data centers. The Timesreported that a moratorium on new connections by Ireland’s state-owned electric utility EirGrid means a planned €2 billion data center expansion by the tech giants will be put on hold. The country’s existing data centers have already strained the nation’s power supply, which prompted Ireland’s utilities regulator last year to issue a warning that rolling blackouts were likely if the problem wasn’t solved. One planned Amazon Web Services site and two planned Microsoft sites (including one that was supposed to provide backup power to Irish windfarms) have not been granted licenses by EirGrid to connect to Ireland’s grid.

A spokesperson from EirGrid told the Times that since Ireland issued the moratorium on new connections to its electric grid last November, it had not authorized any new data centers. “EirGrid is now applying these criteria to all data center applicants, many of which have decided not to progress their developments,” a spokesperson said. 

A source also told the Times that Amazon is building its data center in London instead. Meanwhile, Microsoft is exploring alternative locations in London, Frankfurt and Madrid. 

The Times reviewed text messages between Microsoft’s head of public policy in Ireland and IDA Ireland (the government agency in charge of foreign investments) which indicated that Microsoft is aware it will be impacted by the moratorium. The company had reportedly been assured at one point that the policy wouldn't affect its planned sites. “Despite all the assurances it still looks like a moratorium on DCs [data centres] in the GDA [greater Dublin area],” wrote Microsoft’s Ciaran Conlon to IDA officials.

Data centers consume an enormous amount of electricity, which have led to constraints on electricity grids all over the world. Officials even paused construction on new houses in West London until 2035 because data centers have already taken up the electricity capacity, reported Data Center Dynamics. Loudon County, Virginia, which is home to the largest concentration of data centers in the world, is delaying new projects because of power constraints.

Engadget has reached out to both Microsoft and Amazon for comment on The Times’ reporting, and will update if we hear back.

Sony is leveling up its PlayStation 5 gamepads with the DualSense Edge. The Edge is all about customization, apparently — it features five customizable profiles, upgraded guts and a few extra input methods. There are two buttons below the analog sticks on the new controller, and in initial images all of the rubberized grips look extra grippy all around. 

Feel free to think of the DualSense Edge as Sony's take on the Xbox Elite controller. There's no word on availability or pricing for the new gamepad. 

The DualSense is a standout feature of the PlayStation 5, offering intense haptic feedback and trigger buttons with adjustable tension. This adds a layer of immersion to games from Deathloop to Stray to Astro's Playroom, and it's something that Xbox simply doesn't offer.

The Edge was revealed during Gamescom's Opening Night Live showcase.

Developing...

Apple has confirmed reports that it will shake up the typical rollouts for its major operating system updates this year. For the first time in years, the company will not release the public build of the new iPadOS at the same time as the next iOS. It's expected that iOS 16 will arrive soon after Apple's usual September iPhone event. However, the company says it will release the next iPadOS sometime this fall instead.

What's more, it won't offer iPadOS 16.0 to everyone — the company will go right to iPadOS 16.1 for the public build. It's unclear whether Apple plans to release iOS 16.1 and iPadOS 16.1 simultaneously to get them back on the same cadence.

“This is an especially big year for iPadOS. As its own platform with features specifically designed for iPad, we have the flexibility to deliver iPadOS on its own schedule," Apple told TechCrunch. "This fall, iPadOS will ship after iOS, as version 16.1 in a free software update.”

The company made the announcement just as it released the iPadOS 16.1 beta. The showpiece feature of iPadOS this year is Stage Manager, a multitasking tool for M1-powered iPads that allows users to have more control over windows. The idea is that you'll be able to resize and overlap them as you see fit.

In the first iPadOS 16 beta, Stage Manager was unpolished. In our preview, we deemed it to be a buggy experience that occasionally crashed an iPad that was plugged into an external display. As TechCrunch notes, the main changes in the iPadOS 16.1 beta are for Stage Manager. Here's hoping this build fixes some of the feature's teething problems.

Bloombergpreviously reported that Apple would delay iPadOS 16 to resolve the Stage Manager issues. The publication suggested the OS would arrive in October, which fits with Apple's fall timeframe. Meanwhile, it's believed that Apple will release macOS Venture in October. For what it's worth, we have found Stage Manager to be a far better experience on desktop than iPad this far.

It's Gamescom time once again, and the big Opening Night Live showcase kicks off today at 2PM ET. It'll all be streamed on YouTube, Twitch and Twitter, and it's scheduled to last two whole hours. Video game king Geoff Keighley will host the show, just like he does with The Game Awards and Summer Game Fest, and he's already teased a handful of titles that'll make an appearance.

Today's show is set to include new footage and news about Hogwarts Legacy, The Callisto Protocol, Gotham Knights, High on Life, Borderlands, Sonic Frontiers and more games. Many of these titles are set to come out at the end of this year or early next, so expect plenty of gameplay hype.

Gamescom takes place in Cologne, Germany, and it runs from August 24th to 28th. The entire festival will include about 1,100 exhibitors from around the world, and the indie arena is particularly packed this year. We'll have all the news from ONL and the wider show this week, so stay tuned.

Lightfall, Destiny 2's next expansion, will arrive on February 28th, Bungie announced today. First announced alongside 2020's Beyond Light expansion, the DLC will kick off the final arc of Destiny 2's Light and Darkness saga. Lightfall will pit you and your fellow Guardians against The Witness, a mysterious character Bungie introduced during the campaign of Destiny 2's current expansion, The Witch Queen. You'll have access to a new Darkness subclass dubbed the Strand (Hideo Kojima is probably calling his lawyers right about now). 

Many Strand skills will increase your character's movement abilities. Specifically, each class will have a way to grapple through the environment. The expansion will also introduce Neomuna, a secret neon metropolis found on Neptune. Along the way, there will be new weapons and armor for your character to collect, strikes to complete and challenging raids to overcome. Finding other Guardians to take on those challenges will be easier than ever. In 2023, Bungie will add an in-game fireteam finder, meaning you won't have to turn to websites like Destiny Tracker when you want to take on pinnacle content.     

Lightfall will be the first new Destiny 2 expansion since Sony bought Bungie for $3.6 billion at the start of this year. Xbox, PC and Stadia fans won't be left out of the experience, however. The DLC will be available on every platform where you can currently play Destiny 2. As of today, you can also buy the game on the Epic Games Store.    

HBO Max has swung the ax on another six animated projects, according to Variety. One of them is Batman: Caped Crusader, a series produced by J.J. Abrams, Matt Reeves and Batman: The Animated Series co-creator Bruce Timm. The show, which was announced last year, is a spiritual successor to Timm's classic '90s series.

Unlike some of the other shows and movies HBO Max has canned in recent weeks, production is continuing on these projects. The production teams will seek another home for them. The other projects in this wave of cancellations are Merry Little Batman, The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie, Bye Bye Bunny: A Looney Tunes Musical, Did I Do That to The Holidays: A Steve Urkel Story and The Amazing World of Gumball: The Movie.

HBO Max is deprioritizing kids and family content. Last week, it yanked dozens of shows, including several animated series. It also removed hundreds of Sesame Street episodes in an apparent move to save on licensing fees.

On top of that, HBO Max canceled exclusive movies Batgirl and Scoob!: Holiday Haunt and took down other notable original shows and movies in recent weeks (one of Batgirl's directors seemingly tried to capture some footage from the movie on his smartphone to no avail). What's more, the streaming service and sibling HBO laid off several employees from the family programming division this month.

Parent Warner Bros. Discovery is removing certain shows and movies from HBO Max ahead of merging the service with Discovery+ next year. "As we work toward bringing our content catalogs together under one platform, we will be making changes to the content offering available on both HBO Max and Discovery+," it said.

The decisions to cancel and remove content come amid border cost-cutting efforts at Warner Bros. Discovery, which formed after the merger of WarnerMedia and Discovery earlier this year. CEO David Zaslav and his team are trying to make $3 billion in cuts, but the moves have had an impact on the company's stock price, which has fallen by 25 percent since August 4th. The company's valuation has dropped by billions over the last month. That footage from The Last of Us sure looks good, though.