ASTRA: Knights of Veda global beta test set for October 8 to 23

After two years co-piloting the biggest acquisition in video game history past an onslaught of challenges, Xbox CEO Phil Spencer now moves on to his next quest: making Microsoft's takeover of Activision Blizzard worth the hassle. Microsoft, which owns the Xbox gaming system, closed its $69 billion deal to buy game-maker Activision Blizzard on Friday after fending off global opposition from antitrust regulators and rivals.

Happy October, Polygon readers!

If you've polished off your Tesla Tequila and chugged your GigaBier, the automaker has a new alcoholic beverage to try out: Tesla CyberBeer.

Have you been able to keep up with all the deals so far today? Prime Day is always mayhem (in a good way) over here and we're fantastically lucky to be able to have two of them this year. We know that when these bumper sales events roll around you're going to want to see the best gaming deals going right now.

Apple has grappled with the development of its in-house 5G modem for years now, and even acquiring Intel’s business for $1 billion did not aid the company’s endeavors. Finding negligible success in this area, the California-based giant had little choice but to extend its partnership with Qualcomm for three more years, but there was a slight chance that Samsung would be brought into the fold, too. Sadly, talks of a deal never went past a certain point, with one report stating that the Korean manufacturer was experiencing supply issues.

From Southeast Asia, online game publisher PlayPark has launched over 180 PC and mobile games since 2001. Working for Asiasoft Corporation Public Company Limited, they have employees in six countries and are managing over 29 games. They cover a wide range of genres, like MMORPGs, SRPGs, FPSs and MOBAs. Examples include MapleStory SEA and Ragnarok Mobile. Recently, PlayPark released a statement announcing the closed beta test of their newest game, Black Moon SEA. The test is scheduled for October 12 and October 16, 2023, at 12 pm and 12 am GMT respectively. PlayPark invites players to explore and save an amazing world shrouded in darkness.

SleepScore Labs said it has received the first permanent certification for reimbursement for its sleep improvement program.

The UK competition regulator will launch a fresh investigation into cloud services, with Microsoft once again in its sights.

Wordle 837 answer for October 4: Your experience with today's puzzle is likely to be like this. You're going to solve it, find 2-3 letters within the first couple of guesses, and then, you are going to struggle till the end to find the fifth one. Don't worry. It's not you, it's the puzzle. The word sneakily contains a couple of less commonly used letters that people normally don't guess, making finding them out a tricky affair. If your streak is too high, it would be wise not to risk it. We offer you our Wordle hints and clues which will allow you to be more confident as you attempt to guess the answer. And if they don't suffice, scroll down for the solution too.

Xbox has announced the first wave of new Game Pass additions for the month of October, including Gotham Knights and The Lamplighter's League, with Forza coming soon.

iOS 17.1 beta update: Just days after Apple unveiled its iPhone 15 series at its Wonderlust event in California, it also released iOS 17 globally. First announced at the World Wide Developer Conference (WWDC) 2023 on June 5, Apple started seeding the betas of the update to developers who tested it for bugs, glitches, and performance issues. It was finally released on September 18, debuting with new features such as Live Voicemail, Contact Posters, and more.

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