Firaxis released update 1.5.0 for Civilization 7: a new version of the True Start Earth map with enlarged Japan and Hawaii, navigable rivers, and reworked diplomacy. A paid Hall of History pack also launched with Elizabeth I, George Washington, and the England, Babylon, and Gaul civilizations.
Blizzard said the new StarCraft, announced at BlizzCon 2026 as an open-world story shooter, will retain the 'gritty' atmosphere of the original RTS and be inspired by the 'interstellar western.' Release is planned for 2030.
A developer under the nickname FunnyName used Claude Code to create an experimental OS called Ember that boots from USB on an old Lenovo Yoga laptop. The 46 KB kernel is written in NASM assembly, the system with desktop takes under 800 KB, supports DOS programs, Sound Blaster emulation and runs DOOM.
Circana analyst Mat Piscatella confirmed the PSBlackout boycott over Sony's decision to end physical discs for new PlayStation games from 2028 did not change US player count or engagement. The action started on August 23.
Blizzard revealed details about Diablo 5 after announcing it at BlizzCon 2026. It is set a century after Diablo 4 in an enslaved Sanctuary, with release planned for spring 2029.
Samsung Galaxy S26 FE shipped with stable One UI 9 in late August, while the more expensive Galaxy S26 Ultra remains on beta. This follows Google's shift of Android releases to June-July, meaning foldables and FE models now receive new OS versions before the S series.
IO Interactive released an update adding path tracing to the PC version of 007 First Light. The game is the first with native support for DLSS 4.5 Ray Reconstruction, but path tracing is only available on Nvidia GPUs.
A review of iPadOS 27 highlights a separate Siri AI app that works as a chatbot, a Liquid Glass transparency slider, and expanded parental controls. The OS supports iPad Pro (M4 and newer), iPad Air (M2 and newer), iPad (9th generation and newer), and iPad mini (6th generation and newer).
ResetEra moderator Slayven said Microsoft may revise its Game Pass model: the ad-free price would drop to $19.99 per month or $239.99 per year, with an ad-supported tier at $12.99. New games would no longer launch on day one, and cloud gaming would become a separate subscription.
After installing patch KB5002914, paste stopped working in Excel 2016, 2019, 2021 and 2024, failing silently without error. Microsoft acknowledged the issue and is working on a fix, but none is available yet.
Shopify is moving its Shop app and other flagship products from React Native back to native Swift and Kotlin. Reasons cited are AI agents that automatically port code between platforms and the internal Helix tool; the Shop app was rewritten in 12 weeks.
PostgreSQL developers removed SQL/PGQ graph query support from version 19 due to unresolved bugs. The release will instead add REPACK with CONCURRENTLY option to free space without long table locks. Fourth beta planned for September 24, release date unannounced.
The September update of Raspberry Pi OS adds a dock with app launcher and window list plugins to the wf-panel-pi panel, revamps Control Centre, introduces a new screenshot tool and monolithic file manager pcmanfm-pi 1.6. The system moves to Linux kernel 6.18.50 LTS, and Wayfire compositor support is removed in favor of Labwc.
Apple released a set of parental control tools in iOS 27, iPadOS 27, and macOS 27. FaceTime and Safari will block gory and violent content, and an Ask to Browse feature will let children request parental permission.
Playground Games, known for Forza Horizon, held the first showing of Fable, a reboot of the British RPG series closed with Lionhead in 2016. Richard Ayoade and Natasia Demetriou voice characters, and The Guardian was first to try the game.
The Nintendo Switch 2 version of spy action game 007 First Light has been delayed again, now to March 2027. The game launched on PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC in late May, while the Switch 2 version is postponed due to optimization for less powerful hardware.
SEGA signed a deal with Netflix to develop several projects based on its franchises. The first will be a comedy film based on Crazy Taxi from writers Dan Gregor and Doug Mand, with a new Sonic animated series and a film adaptation of RGG Studio's Stranger Than Heaven also planned.
Motion Assist, a feature that reduces motion sickness in transit using floating bubbles on screen, is expanding beyond Pixel and becoming available on Samsung Galaxy devices. It requires Android 17 and Google Play Services version 26.33.32; Galaxy S26 FE and Galaxy Z Fold/Flip 8 support the feature out of the box.
Samsung has started rolling out the second beta version of One UI 9.0 for Galaxy Z Flip 6 and Z Fold 6. The update adds four new Galaxy AI features, fixes crashes in the Contacts app, and improves white balance. The beta is available in India and South Korea, with other regions to follow.
The official MCP specification dated July 28, 2026 removes the session model. The initialize/initialized handshake and Mcp-Session-Id header are dropped; state now travels via _meta and explicit identifiers, with routing through Mcp-Method and Mcp-Name headers.
First internal One UI 9.5 builds for the Galaxy Z Fold 8, Fold 8 Ultra and Z Flip 8 were spotted on Samsung servers. The beta may start by end of year or early next, with a stable release expected with the Galaxy S27 in 2027.
Bulkhead's tactical multiplayer shooter Wardogs surpassed 1.25 million copies sold shortly after launching in early access on PC. Peak concurrent players on Steam reached 428,666, and 79% of nearly 50,000 reviews are positive.
