Gaming

Sony rolls out new ‘PlayStation Family’ parental controls app

Sony Interactive Entertainment announced on Wednesday that it’s launching a dedicated parental controls app called “PlayStation Family” on iOS and Android. The new app features a series of new tools that allow parents to manage their children’s activity on the console, including an activity report, greater visibility into what their children are playing, and the

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AI gaming startup Born raises $15M to build ‘social’ AI companions that combat loneliness

Fabian Kamberi, CEO and co-founder of the Berlin-based AI gaming startup Born, thinks the current AI companions on the market are designed to be exploitative and geared towards isolating users through one-to-one relationships with AI chatbots.  “It feels like it fuels the loneliness epidemic, instead of making it more fun and giving users the opportunity

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Roblox announces short-form video feed for gameplay clips, new AI tools for creators, and more

Online gaming platform Roblox is launching a TikTok-like short-form video feed for sharing gameplay moments, the company unveiled on Friday at the Roblox Developers Conference. The company also announced increased earnings for creators, new AI tools to boost creation, and other advancements in performance. The new short-form video experience, called “Roblox Moments,” is launching in

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Roblox expands use of age estimation tech and introduces standardized ratings

Amid lawsuits alleging child safety concerns, online gaming service Roblox announced on Wednesday that it’s expanding its age estimation technology to all users and partnering with the International Age Rating Coalition (IARC) to provide age and content ratings for the games and apps on its platform. The company said that by year’s end, the age

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Mirror founder Brynn Putnam to unveil her new startup at Disrupt 2025

Seven years after unveiling Mirror at TechCrunch Disrupt 2018, Brynn Putnam is returning to the stage where it all began. The serial entrepreneur who turned a fitness concept into a $500 million acquisition by Lululemon will debut her latest venture at TechCrunch Disrupt 2025 at San Francisco’s Moscone West in October. Putnam’s path from that

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As India bans real-money games, Dream Sports, MPL start pulling the plug

Top Indian startups in the real-money gaming space have begun shutting down operations after New Delhi effectively banned the sector through new legislation that’s now on the verge of becoming law. On Thursday, the upper house of the Indian parliament passed the Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Bill, 2025 — proposing to completely ban

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Sony is increasing the price of the PlayStation 5 as new tariffs take hold

Sony will raise the price of PlayStation 5 consoles, the company announced on Wednesday. These changes will be effective as of Thursday, August 21. Citing “a challenging economic environment” — which appears to reference President Trump’s tariffs on imported products — Sony is increasing console prices by about $50. In the U.S., the prices will

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India’s government to propose blanket ban on real-money gaming

Real-money gaming companies are reeling as India moves to propose a blanket ban on their operations under a new legislation. The Indian government plans to prohibit real-money games — whether based on skill or chance — under its proposed online gaming regulation, per a draft seen by TechCrunch, which was also verified by three sources,

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Duolingo CEO says controversial AI memo was misunderstood

While Duolingo CEO Luis von Ahn was loudly criticized this year after declaring that Duolingo would become an “AI-first company,” he suggested in a new interview the real issue was that he “did not give enough context.” “Internally, this was not controversial,” von Ahn told The New York Times. “Externally, as a publicly traded company

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