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Jay Peters

Jay Peters

News Editor

Jay Peters is a News Editor at The Verge. He covers breaking news in consumer technology, social media, video games, virtual worlds, streaming, and more. He’s appeared on CNBC, NPR, BBC News, WNYC, and other broadcast outlets to discuss technology news.

Before joining The Verge as a News Writer in 2019, Jay worked for Techmeme, where he helped curate the most important technology news of the moment. He actually started his career in technology public relations, working in the field for more than five years. He graduated from the University of Oregon’s School of Journalism and Communication.

When he’s not writing, Jay really likes running. But he prefers to run far, not fast.

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Youtube
The Weeknd this weekend.

The Weeknd just shared a teaser of his upcoming appearance in Fortnite Festival, the new in-Fortnite music-themed experience developed by Harmonix, and it features a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it look at what it’s like to actually play Festival. You can jump into the new experience starting December 9th.


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The Verge
GTA VI isn’t launching on PC.

According to Rockstar’s press release for the just-released Grand Theft Auto VI trailer, the game will launch on PS5 and Xbox Series X / S in 2025 — PC isn’t a listed platform.

Unfortunately, the absence of PC isn’t too surprising, given that the PC version of GTA V was released more than a year and a half after the game first came out on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. Seems like we might be waiting awhile for GTA VI on PC, too.


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Youtube
The Last of Us Part II’s roguelike mode looks brutal.

In a trailer for the new “No Return” mode (which might get buried by... you know), you can see how you’ll be able to play as different TLOU characters and take on zombies while dealing with “unique gameplay modifiers” (like one that appears to make a zombie invisible).

The mode will be included with The Last of Us Part II Remastered, which is set to release on January 19th.


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Youtube
The first of Vampire Survivors’ story mode “Adventures” will be available on December 6th.

Adventures, which remix some of the game’s content, will launch first on PC and Xbox and “later” on Nintendo Switch and mobile, according to Poncle’s trailer for the update. The developer is teasing that one of the Adventures will feature Poe, a garlic-wielding old man.

I thought I had shaken my obsession with this game, but the Adventures might pull me back in.


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Youtube
Barbie streams on Max starting December 15th.

Very soon, you’ll be able to stream Barbie’s existential crisis and Ken’s shenanigans on Max. You’ll also be able to watch a version of the film interpreted in American Sign Language, according to a Warner Bros. Discovery press release.


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External Link
“Beer me another, choom.”

That’s my best “V-from-Cyberpunk-2077’s-update-2.1-sitting-at-the-bar-(who-is-also-a-fan-of-The-Office)” impression; in the new update, which is out on Tuesday, “it is now possible to sit at various bars in Night City and interact with the vendors,” according to CD Projekt Red’s patch notes.

Based on the patch notes, it looks like the update adds a ton of new features and bug fixes. The update, which CDPR says will launch at about 6AM ET, will also let you ride public transit.

Update 2.1 is planned to be the “last big update” for Cyberpunk 2077, a CDPR spokesperson confirmed to IGN.

Update December 4th, 12:41PM ET: Added that Update 2.1 is the game’s last major update.


Update 2.1 Patch Notes

[Home of the Cyberpunk 2077 universe — games, anime & more]

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External Link
It’s apparently just “Google Messages” now.

Did you know the product was previously called “Messages by Google?” I didn’t until I read this 9to5Google article about the recent name change.

Just don’t get Google Messages and Google Chat confused.


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External Link
23andMe says it’s notifying users about a data breach, but we don’t have all the details yet.

In a Friday SEC filing providing an update on its investigation of a recent security incident (that it will not call a breach, based on justifications that remain unclear), 23andMe says a bad actor was able to access 0.1 percent of the company’s accounts through credential stuffing. According to TechCrunch’s estimates, that 0.1 percent figure translates to around 14,000 accounts.

However, those accounts were used to access a “significant number of files containing profile information about other users’ ancestry” that users share when opting in to its DNA Relatives feature. How many is “significant”? 23andMe didn’t say.


FORM 8-K/A

[www.sec.gov]

Google is rolling out a bulk select feature in the Gmail mobile app.

I can’t believe it didn’t have one already. Google says the feature is available on Android and rolling out now on iOS.


A screenshot showing the Gmail app’s new “select all” button.
If you tap an email sender’s image, Gmail will show the new “select all” checkbox at the top of the screen.
Image: Google