Angelique Chrisafis / The Guardian:
A French court finds three ex-Ubisoft executives, including the chief creative officer, guilty of enabling a culture of sexual and psychological harassment  —  Former staff likened offices of video game company in Paris to ‘boys’ club above the law'  —  Three former executives …

Jason Snell, writing at Six Colors:

Well, would you look at that? The A18 Pro is 46% faster than the M1 in single-core tasks, and almost identical to the M1 on multi-core and graphics tasks. If you wanted to get rid of the M1 MacBook Air but have decided that even today, its performance characteristics make it perfectly suitable as a low-cost Mac laptop, building a new model on the A18 Pro would not be a bad move. It wouldn’t have Thunderbolt, only USB-C, but that’s not a dealbreaker on a cheap laptop. It might re-use parts from the M1 Air, including the display.

I like that Apple sells a laptop at $649, and I think Apple likes it, too. A new low-end model might steal some buyers from the $999 MacBook Air, but I’d wager it would reach a lot of customers who might otherwise not buy a full-priced Mac — the same ones buying M1 MacBook Airs at Walmart.

My first thought when I saw this rumor pop up was to dismiss it. But upon consideration, I think it makes sense. Especially if Apple considers the M1 MacBook Air at Walmart to be a success. And all signs point to “yes” on that — they started selling the M1 MacBook Air as a $700 Walmart exclusive in March 2024 and they continue to sell it this year at just $650.

So I think if this rumor pans out, a MacBook at this price point will become a standard part of the lineup, sold everywhere — including Apple Stores.

Stephen Hackett, at 512 Pixels:

The immediate downside to the A18 Pro is that it only supports USB 3 at 10 Gb/s, not Thunderbolt. This would make any Mac with an A18 at its heart only capable of USB-C. I think that’s fine on a low-end Mac, but it could cause confusion for some customers.

For people looking at MacBooks in this price range, talking about USB 3 vs. Thunderbolt brings to mind this classic Far Side cartoon.

Freya Pratty / Sifted:
Berlin-based Talon.One, which provides software for brands to run personalized promotions and loyalty schemes, raised $135M  —  UiPath and Salesforce investor Meritech Capital is among those backing the company  —  Talon.One, a Berlin-based startup which helps retailers offer promotions and loyalty schemes, has raised $135m.

Rare’s long-in-development game Everwild is no more, according to a report from Video Games Chronicle, citing sources at the studio. The enigmatic open-world adventure has been canceled, nearly six years after it was first revealed and after a decade of some form of development on Everwild. News of Everwild’s cancellation arrives amid more layoffs at […]

Microsoft confirmed that it’s laying off as many as 9,100 employees, or about 4 percent of its workforce, in yet another round of cuts this year, reports The Seattle Times. Employees in Microsoft’s Xbox division, known as Microsoft Gaming, are being hit hard by these layoffs, although exact numbers and divisions are not yet known. […]