Valve ramps up production to ‘more than double’ Steam Deck shipments

There’s some good news if you’ve been waiting to get your hands on a Steam Deck. Valve says it has boosted production and will be shipping more than twice the number of units each week than it has over the last few months.

The company planned to start shipping the device in December, but supply chain issues forced it to delay the Steam Deck until February. It now appears Valve has found the parts and production capacity it needs to build units at a faster pace and get them out to customers more quickly.

Were you to reserve a Steam Deck now, you likely wouldn’t receive it until at least October. However, since Valve is ramping up the volume of shipments, it may be able to bring down the wait time. Hopefully, it will soon get to the point where it can ship a Steam Deck within days of someone deciding to order one. 

Valve says those who had an expected shipment window of Q3 will start receiving reservation emails on June 30th. When you do eventually get your Steam Deck, though, it’s probably best to avoid swapping out the built-in storage. Valve hardware designer Lawrence Yang warned that the power requirements of off-the-shelf SSDs could cause a Steam Deck to overheat and shorten the lifespan.

Nintendo Direct on June 28th is all about third-party Switch games

Nintendo has announced when its next games showcase will take place. A Nintendo Direct Mini is scheduled for June 28th at 9AM ET. It most likely won’t feature news on Mario, Zelda, Pokémon or any of Nintendo’s other franchises, though. The company said the stream will focus on third-party titles that are on the way to Switch.

Right now, it’s unclear what to expect from Nintendo Direct Mini: Partner Showcase (to give the broadcast its full title). However, it could a be fairly meaty affair, since it clocks in at 25 minutes and Nintendo usually zips through announcements during Directs.

This isn’t pegged as an Indie World Showcase, so it may center more around titles from major publishers and larger studios. One of the more notable third-party games slated for a Switch debut, No Man’s Sky, already has a release date of October 7th, so that may not get a heavy focus. There’s always the chance of more details on Hollow Knight: Silksong, which is slated to arrive sometime within the next year.

The Nintendo Direct Mini will air a week after a Direct focused on Xenoblade Chronicles 3, though it’s not the full-on first-party showcase fans have been waiting for and expecting. You’ll be able to watch Tuesday’s event on Nintendo’s YouTube channel.

‘Axie Infinity’ hack victims will only get back around a third of what they lost

Sky Mavis, the developer of blockchain game Axie Infinity, says it will start reimbursing the victims of a $617 million hack that took place earlier this year. The attackers took $25.5 million in USDC (a stablecoin that’s pegged to the value of the US dollar) and 173,600 ether, which was worth around $591.2 million at the time. The FBI claimed North Korean state-backed hacker groups were behind the attack.

Impacted Axie Infinity players will be able to withdraw one ether token for each one they lost in the hack, Sky Mavis told Bloomberg (the company didn’t mention a USDC reimbursement). However, as with other cryptocurrencies, the value of Ethereum has plummeted since the attack in March. 

Because of that, Sky Mavis will return around $216.5 million to users. It’s possible that the price of Ethereum will rise again, but as things stand, affected users will get back around a third of what they lost.

In April, Sky Mavis raised $150 million in funding to help it pay back the victims. The developer plans to reimburse affected users on June 28th, when it restarts the Ronin software bridge that the hackers targeted. 

Axie Infinity is widely considered the most popular play-to-earn game. Players collect and mint NFTs representing creatures that battle each other, Pokémon-style. These NFTs can be sold to other players, with Sky Mavis charging a transaction fee. By February, Axie Infinity had facilitated $4 billion in NFT sales.

However, the NFT market has all but bottomed out, which has had a significant impact on Axie Infinity. For one thing, according to Bloomberg, the daily active user count dropped from 2.7 million in November to a quarter of that by the end of May.

How to watch the Summer Games Done Quick 2022 speedrunning marathon

The 2022 edition of Summer Games Done Quick, the semi-annual speedrunning event, gets underway on June 26th. From then until July 3rd, SGDQ will host a non-stop livestream of skilled players tearing through a wide variety of games as fast as they can. Hopefully, they’ll set a few world records in the process.

You can watch the event live on Twitch — the stream is embedded below for your convenience. The pre-show gets underway at 12:30PM ET on Sunday, followed by the first run, a Shadow of the Colossus random boss rush. If you miss anything, you’ll be able to catch up on YouTube later.

As ever, viewers will be encouraged to donate to Doctors Without Borders. Last year’s event raised $2.9 million for the cause. The most recent winter edition, Awesome Games Done Quick, raised $3.4 million for the Prevent Cancer Foundation. SGDQ 2022 takes place in Bloomington, Minnesota and it’s the first in-person GDQ event since Awesome Games Done Quick 2020.

GDQ has released the full schedule, and there are a bunch of intriguing runs in the pipeline. I haven’t seen a reverse boss run of Donkey Kong Country before. I’m looking forward to that, as well as the Super Mario Maker 2 relay race. Among the games making their debut at a core GDQ event are Kirby and the Forgotten Land, Halo Infinite, Tunic and, inevitably, Elden Ring.

Juul asks appeals court to block the US ban on its vaping products

Juul has asked a federal appeals court to temporarily block a Food and Drug Administration ban on sales of its vaping products in the US. The agency issued the order on Thursday, citing a lack of sufficient evidence provided by the company to show its devices are safe. The FDA acknowledged that it wasn’t aware of “an immediate hazard” linked to Juul’s vape pen or pods.

“FDA’s decision is arbitrary and capricious and lacks substantial evidence,” Juul said in a filing with the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit, according to The Wall Street Journal. The company called the ban extraordinary and unlawful. It requested an administrative stay until it can file a motion for an emergency review of the FDA’s order.

Juul claimed that, without the stay, it would suffer significant and irreparable harm. The company makes the lion’s share of its revenue in the US. If the stay is granted, Juul and retailers will be able to keep selling its products there. The company argued in the filing that the order marked a move away from the FDA’s typical practices, which allow for a transition period. 

“We respectfully disagree with the FDA’s findings and decision and continue to believe we have provided sufficient information and data based on high-quality research to address all issues raised by the agency,” Juul’s chief regulatory officer Joe Murillo told Engadget after the FDA issued the order. “In our applications, which we submitted over two years ago, we believe that we appropriately characterized the toxicological profile of JUUL products, including comparisons to combustible cigarettes and other vapor products, and believe this data, along with the totality of the evidence, meets the statutory standard of being appropriate for the protection of the public health.”

Murillo said Juul was exploring all of its options in the wake of the ruling. Among those, according to the Journal, is a possible bankruptcy filing if the company is unable to secure a stay or successfully appeal the ban.

In 2020, the FDA required makers of e-cigarettes to submit their products for review. It looked at the possible benefits of vaping as an alternative to cigarettes for adult smokers. It was weighing those up against concerns about the popularity of vaping among young people. The agency has authorized 23 “electronic nicotine delivery systems,” including products from NJOY and Vuse parent Reynolds American.

The FDA slammed Juul in 2019 for telling students that its products are “totally safe.” The Federal Trade Commission and state attorney generals have investigated Juul over claims it marketed its vape pens to underage users. In the last year, the company has agreed to pay at least $87 million to settle lawsuits in several states — including North Carolina, Washington state and Arizona — which alleged that it targeted young people with its marketing. It has faced similar suits in other states.

Update 6/24 12:51PM ET: Added a note about the possible bankruptcy filing.

Netflix Games snags ‘Into The Breach’ as a mobile exclusive

It’s safe to say that not everything is going swimmingly over at Netflix, given that it just laid off another 300 employees. However, the company’s games division is putting together a strong library of titles. Among those are exclusive mobile ports of several beloved indies like Spiritfarer, and Netflix just snagged another one with Into The Breach.

Netflix subscribers will have exclusive access to Into The Breach on iOS and Android starting on July 19th. It’s the exact same turn-based strategy title that’s available on PC, Switch and Stadia, albeit with a touch interface that has been revamped for smaller screens.

Into The Breach was one of Engadget’s favorite games of 2018. You control three mechs and the main aim is to protect structures from monsters known as the Vek. Each map has its own objective and you have a fixed number of turns to complete it. The key twist is that, when it’s your turn, you’ll see exactly what the monsters will do on their next move, which makes Into The Breach a puzzle game. Since it’s a roguelike and the scenarios are procedurally generated, no two runs are the same.

When Into The Breach lands on iOS and Android next month, Subset Games will release a major update for all platforms. The studio says the free Advanced Edition Update will expand almost all elements of the game. It will add more mechs, weapons, enemies, challenges, pilots and abilities. Support for seven more languages will be added — Arabic, Thai, Swedish, Korean, Traditional Chinese, Turkish and Spanish (Latin American) — taking the total to 17. A physical edition will be released for Nintendo Switch later this year too.

Netflix’s gaming push started small but has ramped up significantly over the last year. Among the well-regarded indies it counts as mobile exclusives are Exploding Kittens, Kentucky Route Zero and Before Your Eyes. Immortality, the latest FMV game from Her Story and Telling Lies creator Sam Barlow, is coming to Netflix Games, as is Desta: The Memories Between from Monument Valley studio Ustwo.

Netflix has a slate of original games as well. Those include some based on its own properties — such as Stranger Things, The Queen’s Gambit and Money Heist — as well as the likes of the fantastic Poinpy from Downwell creator Ojiro Fumoto. Netflix aims to have 50 games available for subscribers by the end of the year.

Netflix lays off 300 more employees

Netflix has laid off around 300 people in its latest round of job cuts. Most of the layoffs were in the US, according to Variety, and a number of departments were affected.

“Today we sadly let go of around 300 employees,” a Netflix spokesperson told the publication. “While we continue to invest significantly in the business, we made these adjustments so that our costs are growing in line with our slower revenue growth. We are so grateful for everything they have done for Netflix and are working hard to support them through this difficult transition.”

This is Netflix’s second round of layoffs due to slowing revenue growth. It laid off 150 employees, along with many part-time workers and contractors, back in May. The company has around 11,000 employees around the globe. 

Netflix also let go 10 or so staffers from its marketing department and in-house news site, Tudum, in April. Those particular layoffs were due to a reorganization of Netflix’s marketing team. Those were said to be normal business decisions and were not directly connected to cost reductions.

The latest layoffs follow a steep drop in Netflix’s share price, which has fallen by around 70 percent since the beginning of the year. In the first quarter of 2022, the company’s subscriber count dropped for the first time. It fell by 200,000, in large part because Netflix pulled out of Russia and lost 700,000 subscribers there. In its latest earnings report, Netflix said it expects to lose as many as 2 million subscribers in the current quarter too.

Along with cost cutting, Netflix is looking at more ways of generating revenue. These include ad-supported plans and extra fees for those who share their accounts with people living in other households.

The company is hiring on other fronts and still plans to invest heavily in content, though. It has earmarked around $17 billion for that purpose this year. News of the layoffs comes the week after Netflix announced a reality competition series based on its all-conquering drama, Squid Game. The winner will take away $4.56 million.

Update 6/23 4:30PM ET: Clarifying some details about the layoffs in April.

Google makes it easier for your stuff to sync between Android phones and Chromebooks

Google is rolling out Chrome OS version 103, which includes features that will make it easier for users to share things between Chromebooks and Android devices. For one thing, as the company announced at CES, Phone Hub is getting an upgrade. From your …

FDA bans sales of Juul vape products in the US

The Food and Drug Administration has banned e-cigarette maker Juul from selling and distributing its products in the US. It ordered the company to remove its wares from the market or face enforcement actions. 

Reports earlier this week suggested that an FDA ban on Juul products was imminent. After a two-year review, the agency rejected Juul’s application to keep selling tobacco- and menthol-flavored pods, as well as its vape pen. Juul told Engadget that it intends to seek a stay on the decision. It is exploring all other options, including an appeal.

The ban doesn’t apply to Juul products that are already in the possession of the company’s customers. However, it’ll be difficult, if not impossible, to find its pens and pods in the near future.

In 2020, the FDA began a comprehensive review of all e-cigarette products sold in the US. It weighed up the potential benefits of vaping compared with cigarettes for adult smokers against the popularity of e-cigarettes among underage users. The agency has permitted other manufacturers to continue selling vape products, including NJOY and Vuse parent Reynolds American. To date, the agency has authorized 23 “electronic nicotine delivery systems” (to give vape pens their formal name).

In Juul’s case, though, the FDA said the company’s application “lacked sufficient evidence regarding the toxicological profile of the products to demonstrate that marketing of the products would be appropriate for the protection of the public health. In particular, some of the company’s study findings raised concerns due to insufficient and conflicting data – including regarding genotoxicity and potentially harmful chemicals leaching from the company’s proprietary e-liquid pods – that have not been adequately addressed and precluded the FDA from completing a full toxicological risk assessment of the products named in the company’s applications.”

The agency went on to say that it doesn’t have clinical information that suggests there is “an immediate hazard” linked to Juul’s pen or pods. “However, the [marketing denial orders] issued today reflect FDA’s determination that there is insufficient evidence to assess the potential toxicological risks of using the Juul products,” the FDA said. It noted that it’s not possible to grasp the possible harms of using other pods in a Juul vape pen or the company’s pods in third-party devices.

“The FDA is tasked with ensuring that tobacco products sold in this country meet the standard set by the law, but the responsibility to demonstrate that a product meets those standards ultimately falls on the shoulders of the company,” said Michele Mital, acting director of the FDA’s Center for Tobacco Products. “As with all manufacturers, Juul had the opportunity to provide evidence demonstrating that the marketing of their products meets these standards. However, the company did not provide that evidence and instead left us with significant questions. Without the data needed to determine relevant health risks, the FDA is issuing these marketing denial orders.”

The company became the leader in the US e-cigarette market in 2018. However, sales have dropped following a string of controversies. Juul slipped to second place behind Vuse in terms of US market share. The vast majority of the company’s revenue comes from the US, The Wall Street Journal noted this week. 

Juul had been accused by federal agencies, state attorneys general and other officials of marketing its products to teens. The company agreed to pay eight-figure settlements related to lawsuits in North Carolina and Washington state, and it has faced suits in several other states. 

The company halted sales of mint- and fruit-flavored vape pods in 2019 before the FDA banned most flavored variants in early 2020. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, nearly 85 percent of young people who tried e-cigarettes said they used flavored varieties. However, vaping has become less popular among teens overall, according to data from 2021. In 2019, Juul revealed a new, connected version of its vape pen that can verify a user’s identity in an attempt to prevent underage use. 

Update 6/23 12:50PM ET: Juul Labs’ chief regulatory officer Joe Murillo provided Engadget with the following statement:

We respectfully disagree with the FDA’s findings and decision and continue to believe we have provided sufficient information and data based on high-quality research to address all issues raised by the agency.
In our applications, which we submitted over two years ago, we believe that we appropriately characterized the toxicological profile of JUUL products, including comparisons to combustible cigarettes and other vapor products, and believe this data, along with the totality of the evidence, meets the statutory standard of being appropriate for the protection of the public health.
We intend to seek a stay and are exploring all of our options under the FDA’s regulations and the law, including appealing the decision and engaging with our regulator. We remain committed to doing all in our power to continue serving the millions of American adult smokers who have successfully used our products to transition away from combustible cigarettes, which remain available on market shelves nationwide.

No Man’s Sky will land on Nintendo Switch on October 7th

No Man’s Sky will make its long-awaited arrival on Nintendo Switch on October 7th. The Switch version was previously announced for this summer, so that marks a delay of at least a couple of weeks.

The sandbox survival title landed on PC and PlayStation 4 in 2016 and Xbox One two years later, so its Switch debut has been a long time coming. From the jump, Switch players will have access to all of the features and upgrades Hello Games has brought to No Man’s Sky since its rocky launch. The game’s in a much healthier place than it was at the outset.

Some players might have reservations about how well No Man’s Sky will run on the Switch’s aging hardware. Hello Games tried to placate concerns with a video that shows the game running fairly well on the console, though it remains to be seen what Switch performance will actually be like.

There will be physical and digital editions of No Man’s Sky available for Switch on October 7th. On the same day, fans will be able to purchase a physical version for PS5 for the first time. No Man’s Sky is also slated to arrive on Mac and iPad later this year.