Invincible VS has added perhaps the one character fans have been clamoring for the most: Conquest. The terrifyingly powerful and mentally unstable Viltrumite is the final character joining the roster at launch: may heaven have mercy on everyone else.

Revealed dramatically during the Evo Awards, developer Quarter Up describes Conquest as a striker who is capable of applying “immense pressure” and overwhelming opponents with powerful strikes. For example, he has a charging punch that builds speed and gains super armor the further it travels.

Today’s news finalizes the 18-fighter launch roster. Here is the full line-up:

Allen the Alien
Anissa
Atom Eve
Battle Beast
Bulletproof
Cecil Stedman
Conquest
Dupli-Kate
Ella Mental
Invincible
Lucan
Monster Girl
Omni-Man
Powerplex
Rex Splode
Robot
Thula
Titan

These characters won’t be alone for long. Quarter Up previously announced a Year 1 DLC roadmap that will add new fighters over the coming months, and we now know the first two characters that will arrive: The Immortal and Universa. The Immortal, as his name suggests, is a long-living warrior and a pillar of the Guardians of the Globe. Universa is new to fans of the Invincible animated series, having debuted in the recently released Season 4; we won’t reveal anything else if you haven’t watched yet.  

Additionally, Quarter Up also revealed the modes that will be playable in the game’s open beta from April 9-11. Players can try the Tutorial, Practice, and Ranked offerings. 10 characters will be selectable (Invincible, Atom Eve, Omni-Man, Allen, Battle Beast, Rex Splode, Robot, Monster Girl, Thula, and Bulletproof) across 6 arenas: Hometown Invasion (Night), The Moon, Ka-Hor’s Tomb (Day), Himalayas, Kinetic Chamber, and Training Room. Lastly, open beta players will also unlock a special Omni-Man character skin.

Invincible VS is set to launch on April 30 for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC. The game also graces the cover of Game Informer magazine this month, and you can subscribe to read the digital issue now (with print issues arriving in the mail and to bookstores/newsstands soon). To learn more about the game, be sure to check out our exclusive feature detailing gameplay for Dupli-Kate, this video feature with co-creator Robert Kirkman discussing the game’s origin, and this piece shedding light on Invincible VS’ story mode.

This feature from Harry McCracken is just spectacularly good. (And it’s a gift link that’ll get you past Fast Company’s paywall.) 50 years is a long time and there are some key players in Apple’s origin story who are gone — but because everyone was so young at the time, it’s amazing how many of them are still alive. And, of course, in Chris Espinosa’s case, still working at Apple:

I was sitting there in the Byte Shop in Palo Alto on an Apple-1 writing BASIC programs, and this guy with a scraggly beard and no shoes came in and looked at me and conducted what I later understood to be the standard interview, which was “Who are you?” I said, “I’m Chris.” And he said, “What are you doing?” I said, “I’m writing BASIC programs on this Apple-1 for the owner.” And he said, “Are you any good?” I showed him my BASIC programs on the Apple-1.

He told me, “I’ve seen you around Homebrew. Woz is working on this second-generation computer, and instead of loading BASIC from cassette tape, we want to put it in ROM. And so it has to be perfect. I want you to come and test Woz’s BASIC, and I’ll give you 4K of RAM for that when you build your own computer.” That sounded like a good deal. Steve Jobs’s idea back then of recruiting was to grab a random-ass 14-year-old off the streets.

Apple is at its best when it’s infused with a bit of the spirit of the two Steves whose first joint venture were blue boxes that let you make long distance phone calls for free. The first public phone call Steve Jobs ever made on an iPhone was a prank call to the Starbucks next to Moscone West. I feel like that renegade spirit has been repressed in the Tim Cook era.

Julie Bort / TechCrunch:
Report analyzing payments of 28M US consumers shows Claude adding paid subs at a steadily increasing pace; Anthropic: paid subs have more than doubled this year  —  Whatever the final outcome for Anthropic from its feud with the Department of Defense, the attention it has generated …

Suno just released one of its biggest updates yet with v5.5 of its AI music model. Where previous updates focused mostly on improving fidelity and creating more natural vocals, v5.5 is about giving users more control. It includes three new features: Voices, My Taste, and Custom Models. In the release notes, Suno says that Voices […]

A translator who worked on Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 claims Warhorse Studios will use AI for translations going forward