Axios

The announcement of a new Gearbox studio in Montreal yesterday extends an extraordinary streak of studio openings in what was already one of the global capitals for video game creation.

Driving the news: Since last year, Tencent’s TiMi Studios, 2K, Amazon, Dontnod, New World Interactive, Phoenix Labs, Quantic Dream, Room 8, Deck13, and more have opened studios in Montreal.

The upcoming video game “War Hospital” is the rare historical war game focused on saving lives, not taking them.

Why it matters: War video games are common and cliche. Not this one.

A new federal program that offers $50 a month to pay for internet service has enrolled 5 million households, the Federal Communications Commission said Friday.

The big picture: There are tens of millions of low-income Americans eligible for the Emergency Broadband Benefit program, and digital inclusion experts say more on-the-ground work is needed to connect those households.

For all their differences, Europe, China and the U.S. are making remarkably similar moves in tech policy.

The big picture: Nations and regions with wildly differing political systems and cultures have converged on a shared set of responses to the power of big tech firms: rein in the companies, avoid dependencies and subsidize critical networks and technologies.

Apple said Thursday it will relax some App Store rules in order to settle a class-action lawsuit brought by U.S.-based developers over its store terms.

Why it matters: Apple will let developers communicate with users about alternative payment methods outside of the App Store. It will also set up a $100 million fund for small developers and make some other changes to its practices, but it's keeping its overall commission structure.

The Peloton slowdown is here, new financials show.

Why it matters: Few benefited from the at-home fitness phenomenon ushered in by the pandemic like Peloton.

• If (or when) the boom times taper off might be a key indicator of whether the colossal workout economy underwent a permanent shift.

What’s new: Peloton’s connected fitness subscribers — people who own a bike and pay a monthly fee for classes — jumped to 2.3 million.

• But check out the chart above. For the first time since the pandemic, the number of users added during the quarter slowed.
• And those subscribers worked out less: an average of 20 times per month last quarter — a drop-off from the same time a year ago (roughly 25 rides), when people were more likely to be stuck at home.

But, but, but: Results got hit by a recall of its treadmill product that put sales on hold — a key reason the company lost money last quarter. Sales resume next week.

• Of note: It's slashing the price of its cheapest spin bike again by $400 to $1,495.

Flashback: Peloton saw unprecedented (and likely unrepeatable) demand for its equipment and classes as the economy locked down, shuttering gyms.

• “The past year represented an inflection point for the connected fitness industry, with significant increases in awareness and demand,” CEO John Foley said in a release.

What to watch: Popular gym chain Planet Fitness said this month it's recouped 75% of members lost during the height of the pandemic, a sign that gyms aren’t dead.

A new interactive experience in "Fortnite" is sparking discussion about whether featuring Martin Luther King Jr. in the game is simply too ridiculous.

Why it matters: "Fortnite" has proved that it can serve as a venue for entertainment beyond what it offers as a video game.

John Binns, a 21-year-old American who now lives in Turkey, told the Wall Street Journal that he was behind the T-Mobile security breach that affected more than 50 million people earlier this month.

The intrigue: Binns said he broke through the T-Mobile defenses after discovering an unprotected router exposed on the internet, after scanning the carrier's internet addresses for weak spots using a publicly available tool.

Western Digital (Nasdaq: WDC) reportedly is in advanced talks for a $20 billion all-stock merger with Kioxia, the Japanese flash memory chipmaker owned by Bain Capital.

Why it matters: This reflects surging demand for memory chips, driven primarily by 5G expansion and the home office boom. It also could set up a series of global regulatory showdowns, if past semiconductor company merger efforts are any guide.

Box CEO Aaron Levie tells Axios that yesterday's earnings report shows that the company can deliver long-term growth, and that last year's slowdown was a hiccup.

Why it matters: The online storage firm is in the midst of a proxy fight with activist investors who want a greater role on the company's board.

After assembling a team of tough-minded regulators to take on big technology companies, the Biden administration on Wednesday called on many of those same companies to work with the federal government to address a growing wave of cyberattacks.

Driving the news: A White House summit between President Biden and tech leaders Wednesday, including the CEOs of Apple, Google, Amazon, Microsoft and IBM, concluded with a raft of announcements of new cybersecurity projects and spending plans.