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Photo by ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images

Microsoft just signed a deal to revive the shuttered Three Mile Island nuclear power plant. If approved by regulators, the software maker would have exclusive rights to 100 percent of the output for its AI data center needs.
Constellation, the owner of the Three Mile Island plant, announced a power purchase agreement with Microsoft earlier today, which should see the site coming back online in 2028, assuming regulators approve it.
The reactor that Microsoft plans to source its energy from was retired in 2019 for economic reasons, and is located next to a unit that was shutdown in 1979 after the worst US nuclear accident in history. The plant that Constellation plans to reopen can generate 837 megawatts of energy, enough to power more than 800,000 homes — demonstrating the huge amount of power needed for data centers and Microsoft’s AI ambitions.
Microsoft has agreed to purchase power from the plant — which will be renamed to the Crane Clean Energy Center to honor the late Chris Crane, former CEO of Exelon — for 20 years in a first of its kind deal for the software giant.
Microsoft’s own greenhouse gas emissions are growing with its focus on AI, putting its ambitious climate goals at risk. Bloomberg reports that this nuclear plant would help Microsoft’s plans to run its data centers on clean energy by 2025, and power data center expansions in Chicago, Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Ohio.
“This agreement is a major milestone in Microsoft’s efforts to help decarbonize the grid in support of our commitment to become carbon negative,” says Bobby Hollis, vice president of energy at Microsoft. “Microsoft continues to collaborate with energy providers to develop carbon-free energy sources to help meet the grids’ capacity and reliability needs.”
Microsoft has been betting on next-generation nuclear reactors to power its data center and AI plans recently, looking for someone who could roll out a plan for small modular reactors (SMR) last year. Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates is also a “big believer that nuclear energy can help us solve the climate problem.”
Constellation will invest $1.6 billion to revive the plant, and the company will need approval from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to bring the site back online, alongside permits from state and local agencies. Constellation is also pursuing a license renewal to extend plant operations until at least 2054.

Photo by ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images

Microsoft just signed a deal to revive the shuttered Three Mile Island nuclear power plant. If approved by regulators, the software maker would have exclusive rights to 100 percent of the output for its AI data center needs.

Constellation, the owner of the Three Mile Island plant, announced a power purchase agreement with Microsoft earlier today, which should see the site coming back online in 2028, assuming regulators approve it.

The reactor that Microsoft plans to source its energy from was retired in 2019 for economic reasons, and is located next to a unit that was shutdown in 1979 after the worst US nuclear accident in history. The plant that Constellation plans to reopen can generate 837 megawatts of energy, enough to power more than 800,000 homes — demonstrating the huge amount of power needed for data centers and Microsoft’s AI ambitions.

Microsoft has agreed to purchase power from the plant — which will be renamed to the Crane Clean Energy Center to honor the late Chris Crane, former CEO of Exelon — for 20 years in a first of its kind deal for the software giant.

Microsoft’s own greenhouse gas emissions are growing with its focus on AI, putting its ambitious climate goals at risk. Bloomberg reports that this nuclear plant would help Microsoft’s plans to run its data centers on clean energy by 2025, and power data center expansions in Chicago, Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Ohio.

“This agreement is a major milestone in Microsoft’s efforts to help decarbonize the grid in support of our commitment to become carbon negative,” says Bobby Hollis, vice president of energy at Microsoft. “Microsoft continues to collaborate with energy providers to develop carbon-free energy sources to help meet the grids’ capacity and reliability needs.”

Microsoft has been betting on next-generation nuclear reactors to power its data center and AI plans recently, looking for someone who could roll out a plan for small modular reactors (SMR) last year. Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates is also a “big believer that nuclear energy can help us solve the climate problem.”

Constellation will invest $1.6 billion to revive the plant, and the company will need approval from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to bring the site back online, alongside permits from state and local agencies. Constellation is also pursuing a license renewal to extend plant operations until at least 2054.

Read More 

Everyone’s iPhone camera might look a little different with the new Photographic Styles. | Photo: Allison Johnson / The Verge

When I walked into the building that houses the Steve Jobs Theater for the iPhone 16 launch last week, the first person I saw taking a photo of the room wasn’t using an iPhone; they were using a compact digital camera.
I’m not talking about a fancy Ricoh GR III. I’m talking a PowerShot, Cybershot, or a Coolpix — something with 6 megapixels and a CCD sensor that makes anything above ISO 1600 look like confetti. These cameras are in style right now with a certain subset of photographers, tired of phone photos looking “overprocessed,” running straight in the other direction to the hard contrast and blown highlights of those early digital sensors. What’s old is new again, and artificially bright shadows are out.

Apple’s reaction to the little point-and-shoot renaissance and the popularity of things like Halide’s Process Zero is on full display in the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Pro: an unprecedented amount of control over your image processing settings in the form of overhauled Photographic Styles. Personally, I love it. I think a lot of people who miss shadows in their photos will like it, too. But it’s also made the iPhone camera more complicated than ever, highlighting just how tricky Apple’s situation is.
Photographic Styles have been around since the iPhone 13. On a basic level, they’re filters to give your images a certain look — warmer, cooler, brighter, etc. — only instead of sitting on top of the image, they’re baked into the camera processing pipeline. The iPhone 16 updates Photographic Styles in a big way, with new controls for undertones meant to help you dial in skin tones and apply film-like color casts. You can use some preset options, but they’re also immensely customizable, so you can dial in exactly the right amount of saturation and contrast you want. And for the first time, you can apply them to your photos after you take them.

As I spent the past week-plus testing the iPhone 16 camera, the flood of new options gave me a kind of vertigo. What do I want this camera to be? Do I want to wander around Pioneer Square and treat it like a Fujifilm X100? Should I shoot black and white all the time? Do I optimize the undertone for my kid’s skin tone? Or for my skin tone? Should I just shoot in Standard and change the style afterward? If so, which style?
Adding to the confusion is the fact that Photographic Styles aren’t “sticky” right out of the box. If you use one, leave the camera app, and come back, it will reset to your default. You can change this in the camera settings, but I didn’t realize what was happening at first because, on my iPhone 13 Mini, Photographic Styles are sticky.

My favorite photos of… what exactly?

Going through this process is the only way to set a new default.

The camera’s default setting is a “Standard” style that’s basically just Apple’s take on what a camera should be. You can set any of the Photographic Styles as your default, but only by going into the system settings and tapping through an interface where you audition four of your “favorite photos” in the new style.
On top of all this, you have to shoot in HEIF to use the new Photographic Styles, which is Apple’s preferred image file format. HEIFs can store a lot of image data in a smaller file than JPEG, but it’s not as widely supported. Compatibility is a lot better than it once was since lots of platforms have adapted to Apple’s insistence on making HIEF happen, but it has nowhere near the adoption rate of JPEG, which is basically a universal standard.
One day, you might find yourself face-to-face with an ancient government website that won’t accept your .heic file. Apple’s best solution to converting HEIFs to JPEG seems to be “email it to yourself,” which automatically converts the image, but that doesn’t feel like a real solution. I had to use the Files app to convert a bunch of images for my iPhone 16 review, and that is a workflow I would not wish on anyone.

That’s the problem: the iPhone camera has to be all things to all people. It needs to capture the expression on your kid’s face as they blow out birthday candles even when they’re backlit to all hell. It has to take a clear picture of your receipt so you can file your expense report. It’s the camera you have with you on a walk around your neighborhood when the sun is hitting your partner’s face just right. It’s the thing you use to take a picture of that same partner’s very specific allergy medicine before you run to the store. It’s the only video camera most people own.
How do you build one single camera that can please everyone, all the time? Apple’s thesis is, apparently, to make everyone else do the work. The standard mode will do what the iPhone has leaned into for years — boosting shadows, smoothing out skin tones, aiming for a middle ground that increasingly pleases nobody. But if you want more or less, warmer or cooler, flatter or contrastier, the tools are in your hands now.
That’s an entirely reasonable answer, but it puts a lot of work on the individual to sort it all out. It’s not exactly intuitive, either, and as a result, I think a lot of people will give up trying to figure it out. This might be the best, most personal camera Apple’s ever made, but most people probably won’t experience it like that — and that’s a real shame.

Everyone’s iPhone camera might look a little different with the new Photographic Styles. | Photo: Allison Johnson / The Verge

When I walked into the building that houses the Steve Jobs Theater for the iPhone 16 launch last week, the first person I saw taking a photo of the room wasn’t using an iPhone; they were using a compact digital camera.

I’m not talking about a fancy Ricoh GR III. I’m talking a PowerShot, Cybershot, or a Coolpix — something with 6 megapixels and a CCD sensor that makes anything above ISO 1600 look like confetti. These cameras are in style right now with a certain subset of photographers, tired of phone photos looking “overprocessed,” running straight in the other direction to the hard contrast and blown highlights of those early digital sensors. What’s old is new again, and artificially bright shadows are out.

Apple’s reaction to the little point-and-shoot renaissance and the popularity of things like Halide’s Process Zero is on full display in the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Pro: an unprecedented amount of control over your image processing settings in the form of overhauled Photographic Styles. Personally, I love it. I think a lot of people who miss shadows in their photos will like it, too. But it’s also made the iPhone camera more complicated than ever, highlighting just how tricky Apple’s situation is.

Photographic Styles have been around since the iPhone 13. On a basic level, they’re filters to give your images a certain look — warmer, cooler, brighter, etc. — only instead of sitting on top of the image, they’re baked into the camera processing pipeline. The iPhone 16 updates Photographic Styles in a big way, with new controls for undertones meant to help you dial in skin tones and apply film-like color casts. You can use some preset options, but they’re also immensely customizable, so you can dial in exactly the right amount of saturation and contrast you want. And for the first time, you can apply them to your photos after you take them.

As I spent the past week-plus testing the iPhone 16 camera, the flood of new options gave me a kind of vertigo. What do I want this camera to be? Do I want to wander around Pioneer Square and treat it like a Fujifilm X100? Should I shoot black and white all the time? Do I optimize the undertone for my kid’s skin tone? Or for my skin tone? Should I just shoot in Standard and change the style afterward? If so, which style?

Adding to the confusion is the fact that Photographic Styles aren’t “sticky” right out of the box. If you use one, leave the camera app, and come back, it will reset to your default. You can change this in the camera settings, but I didn’t realize what was happening at first because, on my iPhone 13 Mini, Photographic Styles are sticky.

The camera’s default setting is a “Standard” style that’s basically just Apple’s take on what a camera should be. You can set any of the Photographic Styles as your default, but only by going into the system settings and tapping through an interface where you audition four of your “favorite photos” in the new style.

On top of all this, you have to shoot in HEIF to use the new Photographic Styles, which is Apple’s preferred image file format. HEIFs can store a lot of image data in a smaller file than JPEG, but it’s not as widely supported. Compatibility is a lot better than it once was since lots of platforms have adapted to Apple’s insistence on making HIEF happen, but it has nowhere near the adoption rate of JPEG, which is basically a universal standard.

One day, you might find yourself face-to-face with an ancient government website that won’t accept your .heic file. Apple’s best solution to converting HEIFs to JPEG seems to be “email it to yourself,” which automatically converts the image, but that doesn’t feel like a real solution. I had to use the Files app to convert a bunch of images for my iPhone 16 review, and that is a workflow I would not wish on anyone.

That’s the problem: the iPhone camera has to be all things to all people. It needs to capture the expression on your kid’s face as they blow out birthday candles even when they’re backlit to all hell. It has to take a clear picture of your receipt so you can file your expense report. It’s the camera you have with you on a walk around your neighborhood when the sun is hitting your partner’s face just right. It’s the thing you use to take a picture of that same partner’s very specific allergy medicine before you run to the store. It’s the only video camera most people own.

How do you build one single camera that can please everyone, all the time? Apple’s thesis is, apparently, to make everyone else do the work. The standard mode will do what the iPhone has leaned into for years — boosting shadows, smoothing out skin tones, aiming for a middle ground that increasingly pleases nobody. But if you want more or less, warmer or cooler, flatter or contrastier, the tools are in your hands now.

That’s an entirely reasonable answer, but it puts a lot of work on the individual to sort it all out. It’s not exactly intuitive, either, and as a result, I think a lot of people will give up trying to figure it out. This might be the best, most personal camera Apple’s ever made, but most people probably won’t experience it like that — and that’s a real shame.

Read More 

Image: Microsoft

Microsoft is overhauling the illustrations it uses throughout its products and services to make them less flat and more playful and interesting. The previous iteration of illustrations was heavily vector-based, with a flat illustration style that can be found throughout apps like Microsoft Teams, Skype, Office, and even parts of Windows. Now, Microsoft is shifting towards 3D designs that bring back skeuomorphism, together with more colorful and playful designs.
“Our studies showed that while our illustrations could be described as colorful, inclusive, and genial on a surface level, they were received within consumer culture as uninteresting and emotionless,” explains the Microsoft Design team in a blog post outlining the new illustrations. “The flat vectorized style that was once hugely popular across the industry was now communicating sub-optimally and potentially evoking ideas and themes that were misaligned with our company values.”

Image: Microsoft
Microsoft’s previous illustrations were a lot more flatter and desaturated.

Microsoft has now overhauled its illustrations with a style that is “designed to simplify and unify our products with a distinct Microsoft aesthetic.” The result is the integration of a lot more shapes and symbols from Microsoft’s Fluent design language, with a more saturated color palette.
The 3D illustrations are a lot more expressive and playful than the flat and desaturated style that Microsoft has been using in recent years, with a focus on soft contours and more curves, shapes, and elements that mirror the natural world.

Image: Microsoft
Microsoft’s new Fluent illustrations.

Microsoft’s new illustrations should also better complement accompanying text. “Our previous illustrations often duplicated accompanying written copy, creating unnecessary mental strain and occasional confusion,” says Microsoft’s design team. “Being more intentional with how our illustrations harmonized with other elements within the user’s experience could help alleviate this.”
Microsoft is now using more general-purpose illustrations across different apps, so there are fewer bespoke illustrations that used to make its products look and feel different. “We also leveraged our Fluent iconography to repeat, reuse, and re-purpose a series of connected objects,” says Microsoft.
The challenge for Microsoft now will be updating its illustrations across all of its products and services in the months ahead. Microsoft continues to evolve its iconography, illustrations, and overall Fluent design system regularly, so expect to see even these latest illustrations refined again in the future.

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Image: Microsoft

Microsoft is overhauling the illustrations it uses throughout its products and services to make them less flat and more playful and interesting. The previous iteration of illustrations was heavily vector-based, with a flat illustration style that can be found throughout apps like Microsoft Teams, Skype, Office, and even parts of Windows. Now, Microsoft is shifting towards 3D designs that bring back skeuomorphism, together with more colorful and playful designs.

“Our studies showed that while our illustrations could be described as colorful, inclusive, and genial on a surface level, they were received within consumer culture as uninteresting and emotionless,” explains the Microsoft Design team in a blog post outlining the new illustrations. “The flat vectorized style that was once hugely popular across the industry was now communicating sub-optimally and potentially evoking ideas and themes that were misaligned with our company values.”

Image: Microsoft
Microsoft’s previous illustrations were a lot more flatter and desaturated.

Microsoft has now overhauled its illustrations with a style that is “designed to simplify and unify our products with a distinct Microsoft aesthetic.” The result is the integration of a lot more shapes and symbols from Microsoft’s Fluent design language, with a more saturated color palette.

The 3D illustrations are a lot more expressive and playful than the flat and desaturated style that Microsoft has been using in recent years, with a focus on soft contours and more curves, shapes, and elements that mirror the natural world.

Image: Microsoft
Microsoft’s new Fluent illustrations.

Microsoft’s new illustrations should also better complement accompanying text. “Our previous illustrations often duplicated accompanying written copy, creating unnecessary mental strain and occasional confusion,” says Microsoft’s design team. “Being more intentional with how our illustrations harmonized with other elements within the user’s experience could help alleviate this.”

Microsoft is now using more general-purpose illustrations across different apps, so there are fewer bespoke illustrations that used to make its products look and feel different. “We also leveraged our Fluent iconography to repeat, reuse, and re-purpose a series of connected objects,” says Microsoft.

The challenge for Microsoft now will be updating its illustrations across all of its products and services in the months ahead. Microsoft continues to evolve its iconography, illustrations, and overall Fluent design system regularly, so expect to see even these latest illustrations refined again in the future.

Read More 

The two new proceedings are meant to “assist Apple in complying with its interoperability,” according to the EU. | Cath Virginia / The Verge

The European Commission has opened new proceedings under the Digital Markets Act (DMA) that will see the bloc instruct Apple on how it can comply with its interoperability obligations. The two “specification proceedings” focused on iOS and iPadOS will conclude within six months.
Under DMA, Apple is required to provide third parties “free and effective interoperability” with hardware and software features controlled by iOS and iPadOS. Now the EU is going to help Apple understand what that specifically means.
“Today is the first time we use specification proceedings under the DMA to guide Apple towards effective compliance with its interoperability obligations through constructive dialogue,” said outgoing EU competition chief Margrethe Vestager. “We are focused on ensuring fair and open digital markets. Effective interoperability, for example with smartphones and their operating systems, plays an important role in this.”

Apple must provide free and effective interoperability to third-party developers and businesses with hardware and software features controlled by iOS and iPadOS.Today, we’ve initiated two specification proceedings to assist Apple in complying with its interoperability… pic.twitter.com/wWPouytXdF— European Commission (@EU_Commission) September 19, 2024

The first specification proceeding will examine how Apple’s iOS operating system handles interoperability with devices like headphones, smartwatches, and virtual reality headsets, particularly regarding functions like notifications, device pairing, and connectivity. While the EU doesn’t specify, we can imagine it wanting to address Apple’s lack of support for headphones with true Bluetooth multipoint capabilities and a long-standing complaint from Garmin watch owners who can’t send quick replies when paired with an iPhone.
The second proceeding will focus on how Apple is handling interoperability requests from third-party developers who want to bring their products to iOS and iPadOS devices. In a statement to Bloomberg, Apple said it’s introduced secure ways for developers to request additional iPhone and iPad interoperability, and that undermining the system protections it’s created would put European consumers at risk.
The Commission says it will “communicate its preliminary findings to Apple, where it will explain the measures the gatekeeper should take to effectively comply with the interoperability obligation of the DMA.” A summary of this will also be published for third parties to comment. If the iPhone maker then fails to comply, it eventually faces fines of up to 10 percent of its global annual turnover, but that’s only after a lengthy non-compliance investigation.
In September last year, Apple was designated as a “gatekeeper” — large tech platforms providing essential services that could impact market competition — alongside Microsoft, Meta, Amazon, and Alphabet.

The two new proceedings are meant to “assist Apple in complying with its interoperability,” according to the EU. | Cath Virginia / The Verge

The European Commission has opened new proceedings under the Digital Markets Act (DMA) that will see the bloc instruct Apple on how it can comply with its interoperability obligations. The two “specification proceedings” focused on iOS and iPadOS will conclude within six months.

Under DMA, Apple is required to provide third parties “free and effective interoperability” with hardware and software features controlled by iOS and iPadOS. Now the EU is going to help Apple understand what that specifically means.

“Today is the first time we use specification proceedings under the DMA to guide Apple towards effective compliance with its interoperability obligations through constructive dialogue,” said outgoing EU competition chief Margrethe Vestager. “We are focused on ensuring fair and open digital markets. Effective interoperability, for example with smartphones and their operating systems, plays an important role in this.”

The first specification proceeding will examine how Apple’s iOS operating system handles interoperability with devices like headphones, smartwatches, and virtual reality headsets, particularly regarding functions like notifications, device pairing, and connectivity. While the EU doesn’t specify, we can imagine it wanting to address Apple’s lack of support for headphones with true Bluetooth multipoint capabilities and a long-standing complaint from Garmin watch owners who can’t send quick replies when paired with an iPhone.

The second proceeding will focus on how Apple is handling interoperability requests from third-party developers who want to bring their products to iOS and iPadOS devices. In a statement to Bloomberg, Apple said it’s introduced secure ways for developers to request additional iPhone and iPad interoperability, and that undermining the system protections it’s created would put European consumers at risk.

The Commission says it will “communicate its preliminary findings to Apple, where it will explain the measures the gatekeeper should take to effectively comply with the interoperability obligation of the DMA.” A summary of this will also be published for third parties to comment. If the iPhone maker then fails to comply, it eventually faces fines of up to 10 percent of its global annual turnover, but that’s only after a lengthy non-compliance investigation.

In September last year, Apple was designated as a “gatekeeper” — large tech platforms providing essential services that could impact market competition — alongside Microsoft, Meta, Amazon, and Alphabet.

Read More 

The Sony PS5 Pro.

We took some photos to give you a better look. We’ve now gotten our own brief look at the $700 PS5 Pro, coming this November. Fair warning: it’s a very limited look indeed. Just photos, no touching yet!
Given how little Sony has yet shared about its big, pricy console refresh, and the excitement for the company’s just-announced limited-edition PlayStation 30th Anniversary Collection, I figure you may want a peek anyhow.
Plus, I can now confirm its arrangement of USB ports: unlike what we’d previously heard, both of the console’s USB-C ports will be on the front, with two USB-A around back.
So here are some photos. First, the PS5 Pro. Then, the PlayStation 30th Anniversary Collection, including throwback grey versions of the PS5 Pro, PS5, DualSense, DualSense Edge, and PlayStation Portal — which all include a new version of Sony’s easter egg microtexture that includes a “30” next to the other PlayStation symbols.

PlayStation 30th Anniversary:

More photos of both in our gallery below:

Photography by Sean Hollister / The Verge

The Sony PS5 Pro.

We took some photos to give you a better look.

We’ve now gotten our own brief look at the $700 PS5 Pro, coming this November. Fair warning: it’s a very limited look indeed. Just photos, no touching yet!

Given how little Sony has yet shared about its big, pricy console refresh, and the excitement for the company’s just-announced limited-edition PlayStation 30th Anniversary Collection, I figure you may want a peek anyhow.

Plus, I can now confirm its arrangement of USB ports: unlike what we’d previously heard, both of the console’s USB-C ports will be on the front, with two USB-A around back.

So here are some photos. First, the PS5 Pro. Then, the PlayStation 30th Anniversary Collection, including throwback grey versions of the PS5 Pro, PS5, DualSense, DualSense Edge, and PlayStation Portal — which all include a new version of Sony’s easter egg microtexture that includes a “30” next to the other PlayStation symbols.

PlayStation 30th Anniversary:

More photos of both in our gallery below:

Photography by Sean Hollister / The Verge

Read More 

Image: Firaxis / 2K Games

Netflix’s newest games are actually a bit old. During its Geeked Week 2024 presentation, the streaming service revealed it’s adding Civilization VI and Street Fighter IV: Champion Edition as well as a host of other titles to its ever-increasing and legitimately impressive gaming lineup.
For Civ 6, players will have access to all the game’s expansion packs that were a part of the Platinum Edition version of the game. Meanwhile, Netflix will host the Champion Edition of Street Fighter IV featuring all 32 fighters released over the game’s lifetime. Also, iOS and Android users will be able to compete against each other online exclusively via Netflix. Neither game has a launch date just yet, with Netflix saying both are coming soon.
Street Fighter and Civilization will join the other games announced for the platform, including Don’t Starve Together, Stardew Valley-with-Hobbits simulator Tales of the Shire, Lab Rat, Carmen Sandiego, Monument Valley, Spongebob Bubble Pop F.U.N., and Battleship.

Image: Firaxis / 2K Games

Netflix’s newest games are actually a bit old. During its Geeked Week 2024 presentation, the streaming service revealed it’s adding Civilization VI and Street Fighter IV: Champion Edition as well as a host of other titles to its ever-increasing and legitimately impressive gaming lineup.

For Civ 6, players will have access to all the game’s expansion packs that were a part of the Platinum Edition version of the game. Meanwhile, Netflix will host the Champion Edition of Street Fighter IV featuring all 32 fighters released over the game’s lifetime. Also, iOS and Android users will be able to compete against each other online exclusively via Netflix. Neither game has a launch date just yet, with Netflix saying both are coming soon.

Street Fighter and Civilization will join the other games announced for the platform, including Don’t Starve Together, Stardew Valley-with-Hobbits simulator Tales of the Shire, Lab Rat, Carmen Sandiego, Monument Valley, Spongebob Bubble Pop F.U.N., and Battleship.

Read More 

Netflix

The second and final season of Netflix’s Arcane finally has a concrete release date, but it looks like the episodes won’t all be dropping at once.
This evening, during the final night of this year’s Geeked Week showcase, Netflix and Riot announced that Arcane’s final season will be a three-part event. Act One is set to premiere on November 9th, Act Two debuts on November 16th, and Act Three drops on November 23rd. Along with the the new dates, Netflix also released yet another teaser trailer showcasing how sisters Vi (Hailee Steinfeld) and Jinx (Ella Purnell) will be drawn back into battle with one another as the war for control of Piltover reaches its climax.
The team behind Arcane still has plans for more animated projects set in the world of League of Legends down the line. But for the time being, fans will have to pace themselves as Arcane wraps things up piece by piece.

Netflix

The second and final season of Netflix’s Arcane finally has a concrete release date, but it looks like the episodes won’t all be dropping at once.

This evening, during the final night of this year’s Geeked Week showcase, Netflix and Riot announced that Arcane’s final season will be a three-part event. Act One is set to premiere on November 9th, Act Two debuts on November 16th, and Act Three drops on November 23rd. Along with the the new dates, Netflix also released yet another teaser trailer showcasing how sisters Vi (Hailee Steinfeld) and Jinx (Ella Purnell) will be drawn back into battle with one another as the war for control of Piltover reaches its climax.

The team behind Arcane still has plans for more animated projects set in the world of League of Legends down the line. But for the time being, fans will have to pace themselves as Arcane wraps things up piece by piece.

Read More 

Image: Netflix

It doesn’t look like Dante has lost a step for his upcoming animated series. Netflix just released a new trailer for its Devil May Cry adaptation, and it includes the kind of absurd, over-the-top demon-hunting action that has made Capcom’s games so beloved. That means big swords, motorcycle chases, dual-wielding pistols, and… guns hidden in pizza boxes. Even better: we now know when the series will start streaming. The show will hit Netflix in April 2025.
The series was first announced last year, and is helmed by Adi Shankar, who previously worked on Netflix adaptations like Castlevania and Captain Laserhawk. The game series, meanwhile, has been largely quiet since 2019’s excellent return in the form of Devil May Cry 5. (Read our interview with director Hideaki Itsuno right here for more on the game.)
This isn’t Capcom’s first title on Netflix, either. A live-action Resident Evil series debuted in 2022, while a Mega Man movie is also in the works.

Image: Netflix

It doesn’t look like Dante has lost a step for his upcoming animated series. Netflix just released a new trailer for its Devil May Cry adaptation, and it includes the kind of absurd, over-the-top demon-hunting action that has made Capcom’s games so beloved. That means big swords, motorcycle chases, dual-wielding pistols, and… guns hidden in pizza boxes. Even better: we now know when the series will start streaming. The show will hit Netflix in April 2025.

The series was first announced last year, and is helmed by Adi Shankar, who previously worked on Netflix adaptations like Castlevania and Captain Laserhawk. The game series, meanwhile, has been largely quiet since 2019’s excellent return in the form of Devil May Cry 5. (Read our interview with director Hideaki Itsuno right here for more on the game.)

This isn’t Capcom’s first title on Netflix, either. A live-action Resident Evil series debuted in 2022, while a Mega Man movie is also in the works.

Read More 

Image: Netflix

It’s been quite some time since we heard anything about Netflix’s animated adaptation of Splinter Cell — but the streamer has finally provided some details on the show. The reveal comes in the form of a very brief teaser trailer, which shows a little bit of the show, but mostly showcases Liev Schreiber’s gravelly take on lead character Sam Fisher. We also have a proper name now: it’s called Splinter Cell: Deathwatch.
The show is being written by Derek Kolstad, creator of the John Wick franchise, and the project is part of an ongoing collaboration between Netflix and Splinter Cell developer Ubisoft. The two previously released the animated series Captain Laserhawk, and are working on a live-action adaptation of Assassin’s Creed (which similarly hasn’t received much news since it was announced). Ubisoft also released a mobile version of Rainbow Six for Netflix subscribers. It’s all part of a big push into gaming adaptations from Netflix, which has included the likes of Castlevania, Dota 2, Sonic the Hedgehog, Tomb Raider, and Devil May Cry.
Deathwatch doesn’t have a premiere date yet, but the teaser says it’s “coming soon.”

Image: Netflix

It’s been quite some time since we heard anything about Netflix’s animated adaptation of Splinter Cell — but the streamer has finally provided some details on the show. The reveal comes in the form of a very brief teaser trailer, which shows a little bit of the show, but mostly showcases Liev Schreiber’s gravelly take on lead character Sam Fisher. We also have a proper name now: it’s called Splinter Cell: Deathwatch.

The show is being written by Derek Kolstad, creator of the John Wick franchise, and the project is part of an ongoing collaboration between Netflix and Splinter Cell developer Ubisoft. The two previously released the animated series Captain Laserhawk, and are working on a live-action adaptation of Assassin’s Creed (which similarly hasn’t received much news since it was announced). Ubisoft also released a mobile version of Rainbow Six for Netflix subscribers. It’s all part of a big push into gaming adaptations from Netflix, which has included the likes of Castlevania, Dota 2, Sonic the Hedgehog, Tomb Raider, and Devil May Cry.

Deathwatch doesn’t have a premiere date yet, but the teaser says it’s “coming soon.”

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Image: Netflix

It’s not clear how much of Avatar: The Last Airbender’s story Netflix will fit into the next season of its live-action adaptation, but we now know who will be portraying the series’ take on Toph.
During Netflix’s ongoing Geeked Week event, the streamer announced that Miya Cech (Beef, American Girl: Corinne Tan) has been cast as Toph Beifong, the blind earthbending prodigy whose unique skills end up making her a formidable part of Team Avatar.
Previously, executive producer Jabbar Raisani teased that, much like in the animated show, Toph’s arrival will add new complications to Team Avatar’s group dynamics as they continue on their quest to defeat the Fire Nation. Given that Netflix’s Avatar is set to end with its third season, Toph finally popping up to become a fixture in the show makes sense. And considering how the cartoon used impressive action sequences to illustrate Toph’s character, it’s likely that she’ll be a highlight of Netflix’s series when it returns.
The second season of Netfflix’s Avatar: The Last Airbender is now in production.

Image: Netflix

It’s not clear how much of Avatar: The Last Airbender’s story Netflix will fit into the next season of its live-action adaptation, but we now know who will be portraying the series’ take on Toph.

During Netflix’s ongoing Geeked Week event, the streamer announced that Miya Cech (Beef, American Girl: Corinne Tan) has been cast as Toph Beifong, the blind earthbending prodigy whose unique skills end up making her a formidable part of Team Avatar.

Previously, executive producer Jabbar Raisani teased that, much like in the animated show, Toph’s arrival will add new complications to Team Avatar’s group dynamics as they continue on their quest to defeat the Fire Nation. Given that Netflix’s Avatar is set to end with its third season, Toph finally popping up to become a fixture in the show makes sense. And considering how the cartoon used impressive action sequences to illustrate Toph’s character, it’s likely that she’ll be a highlight of Netflix’s series when it returns.

The second season of Netfflix’s Avatar: The Last Airbender is now in production.

Read More