TikTok is testing more mini-games, including one from Aim Lab

TikTok is conducting a broader test of games in its all-conquering app. The company recently added a way for creators in some markets (including the US) to append one of nine mini-games to a video by tapping the Add Link button and choosing the MiniGam…

Twitter’s latest test lets people cram video, images and GIFs into one tweet

Twitter has been testing out a few experimental features lately, including tweets that can be co-authored by two accounts and an AIM- or MySpace-style status label. For its latest trick, Twitter is toying around with a way for people to pack a single tweet with multiple images, videos and GIFs.

“We’re testing a new feature with select accounts for a limited time that will allow people to mix up to four media assets into a single tweet, regardless of format. We’re seeing people have more visual conversations on Twitter and are using images, GIFs and videos to make these conversations more exciting,” Twitter told TechCrunch in a statement. “With this test we’re hoping to learn how people combine these different media formats to express themselves more creatively on Twitter beyond 280 characters.”

Although we haven’t seen these tweets in the wild as yet, app researcher Alessandro Paluzzi previously shared screenshots of what the tweet composer looks like when adding several forms of media. It looks similar to the existing method of attaching multiple images to a tweet, with the option to add and remove photos, videos and GIFs and to shuffle the order of them around. Having multiple videos or GIFs in a single tweet could end up looking messy, though, and it might cause havoc on people’s data plans.

Snapchat will pay indie musicians up to $100,000 per month for popular songs

Snap has set up a new grant program to pay indie musicians behind popular songs on Snapchat. It created the Snapchat Sounds Creator Fund to “recognize emerging, independent artists for the critical role they play in driving video creations, inspiring internet trends and defining cultural moments,” according to a blog post.

Starting in August, the fund will give artists who distribute music on Snapchat Sounds via DistroKid up to $100,000 in total each month. For now, the program is limited to 20 songs each month. The artists behind each of the songs Snapchat selects will receive $5,000. “We want to support the independent and emerging artists that are driving creation on Snapchat,” said Snap’s global head of music partnerships Ted Suh said. 

Artists need to be at least 18 years old to be eligible (or 16 if they have written consent from a parent or guardian). Snap says artists can’t apply for a grant and it will decide recipients at its own discretion.

Snapchat started letting users attach music to snaps through the Sounds feature in October 2020. Creators have made more than 2.7 billion videos with music from Sounds and have accrued more than 183 billion views in total. The Snapchat Sounds Creator Fund seems like a reasonable way to reward musicians whose work has become a viral hit on the platform or helped creators to express themselves.

Meta will no longer pay US publishers for news content

After Meta’s revenue shrank for the first time in its history, the company has reportedly told publishers it will no longer pay for content to run in Facebook’s News Tab, according to Axios. “Most people do not come to Facebook for news, and as a business it doesn’t make sense to over-invest in areas that don’t align with user preferences,” a spokesperson said in a statement.

Facebook spent around $105 million on such deals, paying $20 million to The New York Times, $10 million to The Wall Street Journal and $3 million to CNN, according to Axios. Facebook struck the deals back in 2019 as it boosted its investment in news and even hired journalists to direct traffic to the news tab. 

Facebook also promised to pay partner sites including The Guardian and The Economist for news in the UK when it launched the News Tab there late in 2020. Shortly after that, it signed a deal with Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp to pay for content in Australia, after the Australian Parliament passed a law requiring Facebook and Google to do so. 

Along with Google, Facebook has taken criticism for drawing ad dollars away from dedicated news sites. That has contributed to the failure of a quarter of US news sites over the last 15 years, according to Poynter, with the professional journalism vacuum often been filled by false or misleading news on Facebook. 

Twitter raises the price of Blue subscriptions to $5 a month

Twitter’s $3 subscription now costs $5 a month. The social network has sent out an email notifying existing subscribers that Twitter Blue has raised its prices for new members, but as early adopters, the monthly amount they’re paying will remain the same until October. In the email posted by social media consultant Matt Navarra and first spotted by The Verge, the company said early adopters will also be notified at least 30 days before the new monthly price takes effect for their accounts. 

The company didn’t elaborate on the reason behind the price increase and only said in the email that it will help Twitter build new features subscribers have been asking for, improve upon the ones it already has and sustain its mission of supporting journalism. It also said that it’s currently creating a “more frictionless reading experience” and launching new experimental features in Twitter Blue Labs for those who choose to stick around even with the higher subscription price.

Twitter launched its subscription service in the US back in November, unlocking additional features for the website’s most dedicated users. Some of its features can be very useful, including the ability to Undo tweets, which is the closest thing to an “edit” button at the moment. It also allows members to browse news without ads and gives them access to the latest features the website is testing.

In its second quarter earnings report for 2022, Twitter said it has seen a sharp rise in the number of regular users on the website. The bad news was that it didn’t translate to more money for the company. It posted a net loss of $270 million, which it blamed on the economic downturn and the uncertainty surrounding Elon Musk’s takeover. If you’ll recall, Musk offered to buy Twitter for $44 billion back in April and the social network quickly accepted, but they’ve been at odds since then. In July, Twitter sued Elon Musk for attempting to back out of the acquisition, and now the two parties are going to face off in an expedited, five-day trial beginning in October.

‘Outer Wilds’ will be upgraded for PS5 and Xbox Series X/S September 15th

Outer Wilds is getting a PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S upgrade on September 15th, and it’ll be free for anyone who already owns the game on PS4 or Xbox One. Outer Wilds is a brilliant open-world mystery about exploring strange planets and unlocking the secrets of an endless time loop that’s consumed the solar system, and it first landed in 2019. It’s the first console and PC game out of indie studio Mobius Digital, and it’s picked up a handful of prestigious accolades since launch, including Best Game at the 2020 BAFTA Games Awards.

The native PS5 and Xbox Series upgrade will hit 60fps. Outer Wilds: Echoes of the Eye, a big and beautiful bit of DLC for the game, will also be upgraded and included in the new version.

The Switch version of Outer Wilds is set to come out after the new upgrade in September, and this is a delay from its original release window of this summer. Mobius Digital made all of these announcements during today’s Annapurna Interactive showcase.

Watch Annapurna Interactive’s games showcase here at 3PM ET

Annapurna Interactive is set to hold its second games showcase today at 3PM and you can watch it below. The powerhouse indie publisher just released one of the most anticipated games of the year in Stray, as well as the acclaimed, speedrun-friendly Neon White. It’s about to offer a look at what’s next.

We might find out a release date for Open Roads, the latest game from Gone Home and Tacoma studio Fullbright. The road trip adventure is still slated to arrive this year, according to its Steam page. Here’s hoping for more details on Sayonara Wild Hearts developer Simogo’s Lorelei and the Laser Eyes and Cocoon, from Limbo and Inside lead gameplay designer Jeppe Carlsen. 

Maybe there will be word of updates for Annapurna’s previous games. There will almost certainly be some new game announcements too. In any case, we won’t have long to wait to find out what’s in store.

Google Photos for Chromebooks is getting a video editor and movie maker

Later this year, Google Photos is going to get a significant update that has the distinction of first arriving on Chromebooks. According to a Google blog post, Google Photos will get a new movie editor and video editing features this fall as part of an…