Store News, Tips, Tricks & Ideas

The iOS 17.2 public beta 2 was rolled out yesterday, November 10, and we saw the Spatial video recording feature arrive with the update, while it is already known that it will also add the highly anticipated Journal app to the iPhones. However, one less-talked-about change with this feature is that Apple has started taking the first steps towards phasing out the dedicated iTunes Movie Store that users have become accustomed to. It is expected to be merged with the TV app soon, and eventually removing it from iPhones.

LEGO 2K Drive, which launched earlier this year, was the first release in what’s been reported as a multi-year partnership between 2K and LEGO, and the next game from that partnership might be right around the corner. Previous reports have claimed that a LEGO football game is also in the works, which has been prematurely revealed as LEGO 2K Goooal! in multiple age ratings in recent months, and now it seems an announcement for the title might be right around the corner.

Google offered developer Epic Games $147 million to put Fortnite on the Google Play Store, according to The Verge’s reporting of the ongoing legal battle between Epic and Google. 

Apple has finally caved to the Digital Markets Act, or DMA, and expects to bring some changes to the App Store policies to comply with the EU’s new ruling. Evidence that the company has decided to alter its platform regulations comes in the form of a 10-K financial form, with details present under the ‘Business Risks’ section. This effectively means that the App Store might finally be open to third-party platforms and the possibility of iMessage being interoperable with other messaging services, along with other changes.

The Epic Games Store’s next free titles have been announced.

Yet more evidence has pointed to an upcoming announcement for Lego 2K Goooal.

Unannounced football game Lego 2K Goooal! has leaked yet again, this time with official artwork via a listing on the PlayStation Store.

Almost five years since it launched - and two years after Epic revealed they hoped to gobble up half of all PC gaming revenue - the Epic Games Store is still yet to turn a profit.

It’s time to see which PS5, PS4, PS VR2, PS VR, and free-to-play games topped the download charts this month. The newly released Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 swung to the top of October’s PS5 list. For PS VR2, Beat Saber rocked to the top of the list.

The still isn’t profitable nearly five years after the platform launched. The storefront’s General Manager, Steve Allison, revealed as much when called to testify in Epic’s ongoing legal battle with Google.

As part of an ongoing trial, an executive has revealed that the Epic Games Store still isn't profitable, and after years of roasting the Steam competitor the PC gaming community has some theories about why that might be.

The Epic Games Store will officially turn 5 years old in early December, and while some of the fiery debate surrounding the storefront has died down, that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s a success yet. Epic and Google are currently engaged in a legal showdown over app store fees, which has provided some interesting new testimony regarding the Epic Games Store.

Epic Games is in court trying to prove that Google is running an illegal monopoly with their Google Play store. As part of the trial, Epic Games Store boss Steve Allison has admitted that the Epic Games Store is still not profitable, according to reporting by The Verge.

Epic Games admitted this fact in court.

Epic Games has admitted that its digital storefront still isn't profitable after launching five years ago.

Epic's quest to see half the tech industry in court has has put its executives in the witness stand again. This time, the case is the Epic vs Google trial and the executive is Steve Allison, the general manager of the Epic Games Store, who testified yesterday (via The Verge) that the PC storefront continues to generate no profit for the company five years after its December 2018 launch.

Epic’s expensive war with Valve over PC gamers’ cash still hasn’t paid off, the company has admitted.

The Epic Games Store is still not a profitable venture.

The Epic Games Store still isn't profitable.

The Epic Games Store still isn’t profitable, according to Epic Games.

If you liked Ion Hazzikostas' What Sword shirt during the WoW Deep Dive panel, now you can buy your own on the Blizzard Gear Store. Blizzard has added two WoW-themed shirts to the store during the convention: What Sword? and The War Within Key Art T-Shirt. What Sword? in the Blizzard Gear StoreThe War Within Shirt in the Blizzard Gear Store The War Within Key Art T-Shirt is $30 and features Thrall, Alleria, and Anduin with their updated models and poses from the official key art. The What Sword T-Shirt is $35 and has been an ongoing meme in the community for many years.

AtBlizzCon 2023, the World of Warcraft community received some great news when Executive Producer Holly Longdale unveiled the latest chapter for World of Warcraft Classic: the Season of Discovery. This new seasonal experience will change the classic gameplay with some new features and twists, encouraging players to embark on a novel journey of within their beloved realm of Azeroth.

PQube will publish Crinkle Cut Games-developed wholesome store management simulation game Discounty when it lanuches for PC via Steam, the company announced. A release date was not announced.

The Essential Picks Sale launches on PlayStation Store Wednesday, October 25, bringing with it discounts of up to 75% across a variety of amazing PlayStation 5 and PlayStation 4 games. That includes titles like Demon’s Souls, Star Wars Jedi: Survivor Deluxe Edition and Gotham Knights: Deluxe Edition.

The Epic Games Store’s next free title has been revealed.

Statue fans, a new statue has arrived at the Blizzard Gear Store. You can now purchase the Black Prince himself to decorate your space. Wrathion is 14” tall, has light-up effects requiring 2 AA batteries, and costs $350. Preorders will ship August 2024. We know that Wrathion has a part to play in Patch 10.2, but getting the statue treatment is pretty big. Might this mean that he may have a major role to play all the way into 11.0? And if so, might we be taking on his bugbear, the Old Gods? Wrathion Statue in the Blizzard Gear Store

Now that Microsoft has officially acquired Activision Blizzard King, the rumour mills are swirling about what’s next. Much of that talk has centred on Microsoft’s plans for Xbox on mobile, given that King was actually one of the key reasons Microsoft was so keen on the acquisition.

The Blizzcon schedule has finally been released, and with it the full Blizzcon Blink Store, filled with goodies from every Blizzard franchise! This year, the standout Diablo merchandise is a new line of figures from McFarlane Toys, featuring four of the five classes! Barbarians, Druids, Necromancers, and Sorcerers each have a brand new seven inch action figure to show their class pride — Rogues, however, seem to be stealthed, as there doesn't appear to be a Rogue figurine. Blizzcon Blink Store Each product is listed for $30 USD, and has three color variants: Common, Rare, and Epic, each associated with a popular build for that class.

Blizzard has announced that the Armor of the Lich King will be available in the Blizzard Blink Store, which means if you are attending Blizzcon (Tickets are still available!), you'll be able to Pre-Order the Armor of the Lich King and pick it up in person! Wowhead was sent one early to offer a first look at the new product, which you can view below -- Armor of the Lich King $100 Shop Page

Next week's Epic Games Store free titles include indie 2D Zelda-alike adventure Turnip Boy Commits Tax Evasion.

A new skin was briefly added to the Epic Games Store version of Batman: Arkham Knight.

ARK: Survival Ascended is the brand new remaster of the original Ark title, DLCs and all.

AI is everywhere now. From search engines to customer-facing chatbots, it is added in a lot of different ways for different tasks. It has also begun appearing in mobile applications on both Android and iOS. Now, noticing the potential risks with generative AI, Google has updated its Play Store policy to push for moderation of AI-generated content in apps. As per the new policy, developers will have to add an option to report when AI generates offensive content, and then developers must use these reports to build safe filters and moderation tools to protect users.

The Epic Games Store’s next free titles have been confirmed.

Valve has launched its much-awaited SteamVR 2.0 update, following a one-month beta testing period in September. While it's unclear whether the company is laying the groundwork for a new virtual reality headset, the update brings a complete overhaul to the user interface, in a way that matches the current Steam Big Picture mode. The store prioritises new and major VR releases at the top, in addition to making it easy to navigate through a consistent experience across the desktop app, the Steam Deck, and other devices. The update was originally supposed to drop in 2020.

Xbox spills the beans on when the Invincible villain joins the MK1 roster.

Excel is one of the programs that gets used in a multitude of sectors, from banking and finance, to engineering and medicine. In the case of the latter, geneticists routinely struggled with the program's habit of converting text into a date, causing gene naming errors to crop up in research papers.

Nintendo has removed Need for Spirit: Drink and Drive Simulator from the eShop following an investigation by PEGI.

The Essential Picks promotion launches on PlayStation Store Wednesday, October 25, bringing with it discounts of up to 75% across a variety of amazing PlayStation 5 and PlayStation 4 games. That includes titles like Like a Dragon: Ishin! Digital Deluxe Edition PS4 & PS5, Star Wars Jedi: Survivor Deluxe Edition, and Gotham Knights: Deluxe.

Palia has added regional servers for European players in its new update, which also sees the game arrive on the Epic Games Store.

Palia, Singularity 6’s beautiful, homey MMO, is joining a PC storefront for the first time as part of its open beta. More specifically, it’s launching on the Epic Games Store on October 24. According to the developers, existing Palia players will be able to bring their current progress over if they use the game through the EGS. Palia remains free-to-play, and it also launches on Switch later this year.

By Brandon Widder, a senior editor overseeing deals, gift guides, and commerce. He spent six years spearheading buying guides and consumer tech coverage at Digital Trends.

Video games are expensive. We don’t have to tell you that. But the latest generation of video game console platforms also brought in a price hike for new AAA video games. That can be frustrating for some players who were already not fond of paying the standard $59.99. Now, we’re forced to dig deeper into our wallets and pay $69.99. Ultimately, this just means consumers will be more selective about the new games they purchase. Additionally, that means developers will have to deliver a solid product to persuade players to pick up their latest games. Fortunately, sales are going on regularly, and today, we have one to highlight for PlayStation players.

If you want some early Tango Gameworks horror, you can pick up 2014’s The Evil Within for free through Epic Games Store right now. However, the offer won’t be on forever, so you best pick up a copy before it’s too late.

This spooky season, consider The Evil Within, the debut horror-action game from Resident Evil co-creator Shinji Mikami and the debut game from Tango Gameworks. This flawed but frightening horror game is currently free to download (and keep) on the Epic Games Store — and is available through both an Xbox Game Pass and PlayStation Plus Extra subscription on consoles.

The Epic Games Store is bleeding money, but it's also still bleeding free games, and a couple of good ones are on the line right now. This week you can pick up The Evil Within, the hit survival horror game headed up by original Resident Evil director Shinji Mikami, and next week it'll be the sequel, The Evil Within 2. This is the first time that either of The Evil Within games have gone free on Epic, so you'll probably want to grab them while you can.

Epic Games announced this week that it’s launching two programs for its PC gaming store. The first is its First Run program, its initiative where developers can boost their revenue on games while they’re exclusive to the Epic Games Store. The other is the Now on Epic program, which incentivizes devs bringing their previously published games to the EGS.

The Epic Games Store is going all-in with survival horror for its free games during Halloween this year, as next week you'll be able to grab a copy of The Evil Within 2. Up for keeps alongside it will be puzzle platformer Tandem: A Tale of Shadows.

The Epic Games Store’s next free titles have been announced.

«Be beautiful in sin yet again», said Blizzard and decided to release yet another Lilith statue, this time in see-through red! at a much more affordable price compared to the first Lilith statue, this red beauty can either be bought through the Blizzard Gear Store or at BlizzCon directly. Red Lilith Statue at Blizzard Gear Store

Singularity 6’s much-anticipated simulation MMO, Palia, is set to debut on the Epic Games Store on October 24th, marking an exciting new chapter in the game’s journey since its initial release in August. This collaboration with the Epic Games Store promises to provide players with even more opportunities to immerse themselves in the world of Palia, building connections, customizing their experience, and embarking on a remarkable adventure.

Season 2 has finally arrived, which means new cosmetics! New to Tejal's shop are unique pets to carry on your back throughout Sanctuary — one for each class. They're absolutely adorable! While we don't know for certain when thess packages will rotate out of stock, what we do know is that the shop refreshes happen daily at approximately 10 am PDT, so stay tuned — we may have new cosmetic options soon! Premium Currency in Diablo 4 These adorable companions will snooze away as you slay, accompanying you much as the adorable does for those who played the Diablo 4 Beta. Each pack comes with several accessories, including weapons and a class specific emote as well!

Ever since the Epic Games Store first launched back in 2018 and became a mainstay in the PC gaming market, a large number of Steam users have been reluctant to get on board. Most of that is down to the sheer number of different launchers publishers force PC users to download to play certain titles, but the Epic Games Store is particularly controversial as it's set itself up as Steam's main rival.

The Mobile Battle.net shop has teased an unreleased 12-Month subscription offer! The last 12 month sub bundle was released on November 1st, 2022 which means it is about time for another one! On the Battle.net mobile shop, there's a new header at the top that teases a new 12-month subscription offer but it DOES NOT appear to be available yet. This looks to contain multiple new mounts for both Retail and Classic WoW!

We've datamined some new weapon models ahead of Patch 1.2.0 including ones from the Season 2 Battle Pass!

Blizzard has released the Hallow's End Pack promotion which is the last chance for 5 spooky mounts and pets at a 50% discount! Hallow's End Pack This is your last chance to get these 5 items before they leave the shop indefinitely on October 31st, 2023! You can buy this online or in-game!

Epic has announced a foolproof plan to tempt devs and publishers to put their back catalogues onto the Epic Games Store: throw money at them. Announced yesterday, the Now On Epic program will offer game makers (and licence holders) 100% of the revenue generated by older games they put on Epic for the first six months of their time on the store, as opposed to the 88%/12% split that selling games via Epic usually entails.

Epic has announced a new incentive program to encourage developers to bring their older titles to the Epic Games Store, with the promise of a 100% revenue share for the first six months from release. 

Epic have dropped a bunch of details as to planned improvements for the Epic Games Store in the on-going race to out-Steam Steam - the Coca-Cola to Epic's Pepsi Max. Amongst other things, we can expect more robust search features, support for third-party subscriptions, better EGS launcher performance, a download manager with improved controls, and a new "for you" personalisation tab - all of that rolling out across 2024 and 2025.

Yesterday, Epic Games unveiled a new program to entice publishers and developers to bring their catalog games to the Epic Games Store.

Microsoft is making an Xbox mobile store with a potential launch for next year. Microsoft already owns massive IPs such as Candy Crush, Elder Scrolls Blades, and COD Mobile, so this comes as unsurprising news considering they already have the foundation for their own mobile platform.

In a bid to bring more games to the Epic Games Store, Epic Games has launched its new Now On Epic program. Focusing on bringing older games from franchises to its platform, Now On Epic allows developers and publishers to sell games without Epic Games taking a cut of the sales for the first 6 months of the game’s release on the Epic Games Store.

Following Epic's announcement in August it would give third-party developers 100 percent of revenue for six months of Epic Games Store exclusivity on new games, the company — which laid off 16% of its workforce earlier this month — is now attempting to get developers on its storefront by promising 100% revenue on their back catalogue titles.

It's not cool when a retailer leak blows a big game announcement. Just ask Bethesda, which saw its surprise Rage 2 announcement spoiled by an errant Walmart Canada listing. (I bet Pete Hines is still steamed about that.) But you know what might be even more frustrating? When your own gear store does it.

With BlizzCon 2023 rapidly approaching, Blizzard has released a ton of new merchandise on the gear store! Check out this year's exclusive offerings of pins, plushies, dice, and desk mats, t-shirts, sweaters, and more! Check out all of this year's loot on the Blizzard Store

Another new Epic Games Store scheme which will see developers getting a 100% revenue share for the first six months has been announced.

Fortnite maker Epic Games has launched a back catalog program to incentivize game developers and publishers to make their old games available on Epic Games Store.

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When it comes to PC gaming, there’s quite a variety of different online digital storefronts. With that said, two major digital storefronts out there right now might be on your desktop. The first and most significant is Valve’s Steam, a marketplace that’s been around for ages. It’s given players access to a wide range of video games and features to keep the community of players logging into the digital storefront regularly. However, Epic has been providing some competition with their Epic Games Store. Today, the company unveiled the Now On Epic program to bring more video games to their digital store.

By Jay Peters, a news editor who writes about technology, video games, and virtual worlds. He’s submitted several accepted emoji proposals to the Unicode Consortium.

It is that time of the year again when festive sales start, offering massive discounts on a vast range of products such as smartphones, accessories, home appliances, electronics, and more. Not just e-commerce platforms, but brands themselves also roll out special offers. With Diwali, the festival of lights, approaching, more and more companies are expected to unveil their festive offers in the coming days and weeks. Apple has announced its Diwali offers that will be live both online, and its retail stores in India, Apple BKC, and Saket. Check out the offers here.

Tom Warren has gone on record that Microsoft will be launching their mobile store very, very soon.

The Verge journalist Tom Warren made a guest appearance on the latest episode of the Iron Lords Podcast to discuss the aftermath of Microsoft's Xbox successful closure of the $68.7 billion merger with Activision Blizzard. Warren highlighted the importance of the mobile market in this deal, adding that Microsoft still aims to release an Xbox mobile store at some point next year.

In the market for something new to play on your PS5 and PS4? Well, you’re in luck, because Sony’s just plunged the price of almost 3,000 more games on the PS Store, across both consoles. These new deals have arrived to replace the outgoing Extended Play sale, which finishes later today, so make sure you’ve grabbed everything you wanted from that before it’s too late.

Update: A bunch of games coming to PS Plus Extra this month have leaked. According to the report, The Last of Us: Part II is not among them.

Listen, we know video games are not cheap. It can be an expensive hobby, especially when you have so many big-name titles launching into the marketplace. Even the more minor games that come out all add up rather quickly. Plus, we can’t forget to mention that this latest generation of console platforms saw the rise of a new standard for AAA releases. We’re paying $69.99 now for a brand-new AAA game release. So, knowing what games to purchase at launch and which to toss on the back burner until a sale comes around is crucial for our bank accounts. Fortunately, there are sales that happen rather regularly.

If you've been looking to stock up on the spooks and scares in anticipation of this year's impending Halloween, the Epic Games Store has your back; next week's freebie over there is The Evil Within, the acclaimed horror from Resident Evil creator Shinji Mikami. And it's joined by the Eurogamer recommended Eternal Threads.

Valve’s Steam store was reportedly exploited to spread malware to a small number of users. 

By Richard Lawler, a senior editor following news across tech, culture, policy, and entertainment. He joined The Verge in 2021 after several years covering news at Engadget.

Elden Ring is a massive hit, and while some of that is certainly down to the brilliant world-building, combat, exploration, and the wide variety of approaches and tools for every situation, a huge part of the charm are the characters.