Suddenly, sports gaming competition is everywhere. Unless you're into the NHL.
The big picture: EA's return to making baseball games this week is the latest in a recent rush of moves that will restore competition to video game baseball, golf, football and more.
Four Chinese teams that participate in the American-run Overwatch League are dropping their refusal to compete against a Korean player who made comments supportive of Hong Kong and Taiwan's independence.
What they're saying: "In the spirit of sportsmanship and continuing to deliver amazing competition for our fans around the world, the teams have agreed to resume normal activities with one another," the league said in a statement first reported by the Washington Post.
Amazon told CNBC Thursday it is delaying its annual Prime Day sales in Canada and India as both countries struggle to control surges in new coronavirus cases.
Why it matters: In an email reviewed by Bloomberg, the company said the delay was needed to protect "the health and safety of our employees and customers," though Amazon didn’t give a rescheduled date in either country.
Epic's Apple lawsuit is costing the company dearly, but the game developer has its eye on a valuable long-term goal: prying tomorrow's virtual worlds loose from the grip of app store proprietors like Apple.
Between the lines: Epic isn't spending a fortune in legal fees and foregoing a ton of revenue just to shave some costs off in-app purchases on today's phones. Rather, it's planning for a future of creating virtual universes via augmented and virtual reality — without having to send a big chunk of their economies to Apple or Google.
Twitter on Thursday introduced "Tip Jar," a feature that allows users to send and receive monetary support on the platform.
What they're saying: "Tip Jar is an easy way to support the incredible voices that make up the conversation on Twitter," the company said. "This is a first step in our work to create new ways for people to receive and show support on Twitter – with money."
It's not just you: Uber and Lyft rides are more expensive, company executives said this week.
Why it matters: Demand for rideshare is roaring back as the economy starts to reopen, but the same can't be said for drivers on the apps. That means fewer cars on the road, causing a supply gap that's pushing up prices.
Nintendo's worst-selling home console, the Wii U, continues to be the source for some of its biggest hits on the record-setting Nintendo Switch.
Why it matters: With the Switch, Nintendo is putting on a clinic about how to turn prior failure into fortune as it repurposes games from the disastrous Wii U and tries selling them again on its newer hit device.
If you loved Thomas the Tank Engine as a kid, consider pasting his face onto Lady Dimitrescu's big tall body with Crazy Potato's "Countess Theodora" mod for "Resident Evil Village."
The intrigue: "Resident Evil Village" is currently only available as a timed, hour-long demo, but that hasn't stopped modders from turning beloved childhood characters into eldritch terrors.
A New York Attorney General investigation Thursday found that 18 million of the 22 million comments submitted to the FCC during the 2017 rollback of federal net neutrality rules were fake, with millions of fraudulent comments funded by a broadband industry campaign.
Why it matters: Federal agencies are required to take public comments into account while developing regulations, but gaming the system with fake comments distorts public opinion and compromises the process' integrity.
Amazon Web Services (AWS) launched a "clean energy accelerator" this morning to help advance startups with climate-friendly technologies.
Why it matters: It's the latest step in the tech sector's expanding climate work, even as the industry remains under pressure from activists over its work with oil-and-gas clients.
YouTube is spending $7 million to fund two new programs to help journalists looking to build an audience on YouTube, executives tell Axios.
Why it matters: It's the first time YouTube is spending money to fund journalism independently of the $300 million Google has dedicated to journalism programs through its Google News Initiative.
IBM announced today it has reached a milestone in semiconductor manufacturing, producing chips with wiring just 2 nanometers thick.
Why it matters: Chips with thinner wiring typically consume less power and boost performance, while also taking up less space, reducing cost. The IBM process is still a couple years from being ready for full-scale manufacturing.
The Oversight Board's decision Wednesday to uphold Facebook's suspension of former President Trump found few fans in Washington and exposed the company to a new round of attacks.
Why it matters: While the board urged Facebook back to the drawing board to better define its rules and processes around political speech, political actors on both left and right agree that the social media giant already has too much power.
Jobs are coming back more slowly in America's top tech centers than in other cities — but it's not the tech jobs that are lagging, according to a new analysis from the jobs site Indeed.
What's happening: Pandemic-era remote work is still keeping white-collar workers in tech hubs at home, and that's slowing down the recovery of local shops and restaurants in those communities.
The independent Oversight Board sent former President Trump's suspension from Facebook back to the company Wednesday because it found Facebook's original referral of the case to be "lazy," a member of the board told Axios.
What they're saying: "We felt it was a bit lazy of Facebook to be sending over to us a penalty suggestion that didn't exist in their own rulebook, so to speak, in their own community standards," said former Danish Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt, an Oversight Board member, at an Axios event.
A new report makes the case that closing the gap in broadband access could add hundreds of thousands of jobs and tens of billions of dollars in economic output.
Why it matters: As both education and work shift online, those who don't have reliable internet access will be left behind, which hurts them and the country as a whole.
Facebook's continued suspension of Donald Trump's account extends the silencing of Joe Biden's most potent critic — and the current president's control over the national political narrative into his second 100 days.
Why it matters: Biden has been able to successfully focus on COVID-19 relief, his infrastructure plan and fielding his new administration, in part, because Trump hasn't been able to shake his social media muzzle and bray about the migration crisis or any White House misstep.
Researchers are creating "digital twins" of coronavirus patients to study long-haul COVID-19.
Why it matters: An estimated 1 in 20 COVID-19 patients are likely to suffer from some long-term effects, but doctors still don't know why or how best to care for them. Digital twins promise to speed efforts to investigate a major medical mystery.
