‘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.

The PS5 finally gets 1440p support

The PlayStation 5now supports 1440p, at least for gamers with access to its beta software. While the console has supported 1080p and 4K output from the start, 1440p support is still a much-requested feature by players who use monitors instead of TVs. It provides a middle ground between full HD and 4K, after all, and is a popular choice for gamers who also play on their PCs. Testers who get the latest beta software for the PS5 will now see a 1440p HDMI video output option as an additional visual setting when they use the console with a compatible monitor.

Obviously, they can enjoy the full benefits of 1440p rendering if the game they’re playing supports the resolution. But if they’re playing a game that supports 4K, they could also benefit from the feature, because the option downsamples the visuals for 1440p output and that leads to sharper images. As VG247 notes, though, Variable Refresh Rate (VRR), which rolled out for the console in April, is only available for 1080p and 2160p. VRR gives the screen the ability to sync its refresh rate with that of the game for a smoother experience, and it’s not quite clear why it’s not available for 1440p output. 

In addition to 1440p support, the latest beta software also gives users a way to create gamelists in their Game Library so that they can better organize all the titles they own. Players can create up to 15 gamelists with 100 games each. Their in-progress activities will now be shown prominently at the top of the game hub when they resume a game, as well, and they can now request party members to share their screens so that they can watch their gameplay. Plus, when they enter a party and a member is playing game they can join, they’ll now receive an alert and then join the game directly from that notification.

Sony has introduced more experimental features with the new beta and has listed them all on the PlayStation blog.

PlayStation Plus will offer eight Yakuza games this year

Sony is bringing eight Yakuza games to PlayStation Plus this year as it looks to build out the revamped service’s library with notable third-party titles. Starting on August 2nd, subscribers on all three tiers will be able to snag Yakuza: Like a Dragon on PS4 and PS5. The other two games hitting the base Essential tier as part of August’s solid lineup are Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1+2 (PS4 and PS5) and Little Nightmares (PS4).

At least for now, Yakuza: Like a Dragon will be the only Yakuza game that will hit the Essential tier. Yakuza 0, Yakuza Kiwami and Yakuza Kiwami 2will join the Extra and Premium versions of the service in mid-August. Later this year, Yakuza 3 Remastered, Yakuza 4 Remastered and Yakuza 5 Remastered will land on the Premium tier. Yakuza 6: The Song of Life will hit Extra and Premium in the coming months as well.

Unlike Microsoft does with Game Pass, Sony isn’t putting its own blockbuster games out on PlayStation Plus on the day they’re released. It has to find other ways to make the service attractive to lure in new users and keep existing members on board. Yakuza is a popular series and those who want to revisit the earlier games (or check them out for the first time) might be tempted to sign up to PS Plus or keep their subscription going to play through them all.

Amazon’s one-day Instant Pot sale takes up to 52 percent off pressure cookers and air fryers

If you’re one of the few people in the US who’ve yet to get an Instant Pot — or if you want another model to add to the one(s) you already have — this is your chance to grab one at a discount. Amazon is holding a one-day sale for the brand’s products, including the 5.7-quart Instant Pot Vortex Air Fryer, which is currently listed on the website for 52 percent off. At $67, that’s the lowest price we’ve seen on Amazon for the air fryer-oven combo that has an original retail price of $140. Another one of our favorite air fryers, the 6-quart Vortex Plus, is 38 percent off and down to $99.

Shop Instant Pot deals at Amazon

While Instant Pot Vortex is an air fryer, it also has one-touch controls for baking, roasting and reheating. You can also create customized programs for specific types of food, so you can cook wings, potatoes or even cinnamon buns with a single touch.

Instant Pot’s 8-quart 9-in-1 Duo Plus model is also on sale, if you what you need is the brand’s classic pressure cooker. It has dropped back to an all-time low of $80, or $70 less than its retail price. The Duo Plus has nine functions in one device and could act as a rice cooker, slow cooker, yogurt maker, steamer, sauté pan, food warmer, sous vide and sterilizer, in addition to being a pressure cooker. It has 15 customizable programs to make cooking ribs, cake, soup, among other types of food a lot easier, as well. 

But if you’re looking to get an air fryer and a pressure cooker on a limited budget, you can get the Instant Pot Duo Crisp instead. It has nine functionalities that include air frying and pressure cooking — plus, it lets you easily switch between lids especially designed for each function. The Duo Crisp is currently on sale for $100, which $50 off its retail price. You’ll find a few more models to choose from on the deals homepage. Some of them aren’t selling for their all-time low prices at the moment, but Instant Pots are always a great pick-up on a deal.

Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter and subscribe to the Engadget Deals newsletter for the latest tech deals and buying advice.

‘Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic’ remake is indefinitely delayed

You might not get to play the PlayStation 5 remake of Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic anytime soon: According to Bloomberg, its development has been delayed indefinitely. Sony announced that Aspyr Media, a company known for creating ports out of existing video games, was remaking BioWare’s classic Star Wars RPG last year. Aspyr had been working on the remake for three years by then and had industry veterans, as well as people who helped create the original game, onboard. Things certainly looked promising, but now the game’s future seems uncertain. 

Apparently, Aspyr finished a demo of the game to show Lucasfilm and Sony on June 30th and the developers were even excited by what they’ve achieved. A week later, however, the company fired design director Brad Prince and art director Jason Minor. On his LinkedIn page, Minor’s Aspyr credit shows his end of employment as July 2022, and his profile image currently features the “#Opentowork” frame.

Aspyr reportedly held a series of meetings in July about the situation to tell employees that the demo wasn’t where they wanted it to be and that the project would be put on hold. The studio heads also told staff members that the company will be looking for new contracts and development opportunities. 

While the developer’s reasons for firing Prince and Minor and for freezing the project aren’t clear at this point, one of Bloomberg’s sources suggested that it poured a disproportionate amount of time and money into creating the demo. If that’s the case, continuing what it’s been doing for the rest of the game wouldn’t be sustainable. Bloomberg says another possible point of contention is the game’s timeline. Aspyr has been telling partners that the game would be released by the end of 2022, but 2025 would be a more realistic target.

Some Aspyr personnel now believe that Saber Interactive, which has been doing outsourced work for the project, could now take over. We reached out to the company for a response to Bloomberg’s report and will edit this post with any information it may provide. To note, company released Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II for the Nintendo Switch back in June. The game went out with a bug that prevented people from finishing it, but Aspyr rolled out a patch to fix the issue in July.

PlayStation VR2 will offer livestreaming support and a ‘Cinematic Mode’

Sony is finally ready to share early details of PlayStation VR2’s software experience, not just the hardware. The company has previewed a few key features for its PS5 VR headset, including livestreaming support. If you have a PS5 HD Camera, you can broadcast both gameplay and a view of yourself. As you might guess, that could be helpful for Twitch streamers, YouTubers and others who want to share their PSVR2 footage without relying on capture cards and green screens.

The company also explained how it will handle non-VR content. The PSVR2 headset will offer a 1080p “Cinematic Mode” that displays the PS5 interface and conventional games on a virtual screen at refresh rates between 24Hz and 120Hz. This is a very familiar experience if you’ve used VR before, but it will still be helpful if you’d rather not remove your headset to change system settings. Native VR content displays at 4,000 x 2040 with a 90Hz or 120Hz refresh rate.

 Other known features exist primarily to prevent accidents. A “see-through” mode lets you quickly peek at the room to avoid a collision or find your controllers. You can also define a customized play area that will warn if you’re too close to the couch or TV. This also isn’t a novel concept, but it could prove crucial to apartment dwellers and anyone else with limited space for walk-around VR experiences.

There are still many more unknowns, such as the VR-native interface. Sony has promised that developers will “soon” have access to this latest experience, though, and it has teased upcoming details for the release date and more games. Don’t be shocked if you hear considerably more about PSVR2 in the near future.

Samsung’s Galaxy S22 will be available in another shade of purple on August 10th

Ahead of its upcoming Galaxy Unpacked event in August, Samsung is unveiling a new color variant of the flagship S22 it launched earlier this year. Called “Bora Purple” after the Korean word for purple, the new hue will be available only for the smallest S22, not the Plus and Ultra versions, though Samsung said the color will launch on “exciting new Galaxy devices later this year.” You’ll be able to buy the Bora S22 on August 10th for the same $800 as the original model, which also comes in violet, green, pink, white and black. 

We’ve seen Samsung launch purple gadgets before, like the “Orchid Gray” Galaxy S8, “Lilac Purple” Galaxy S9 and the lavender Z Flip 3. The S22 series itself is already available in violet, but the Bora edition’s contour cut camera housing is color-matched to the rest of the phone, while this part on the older handset is gold. 

Samsung’s obsession with the color purple is evident in the press release it issued to announce the launch of Bora. “[P]urple is for everyone, whether you’re a global pop sensation, someone with a playful sense of style or a teen who wants to stand out from the crowd,” the company wrote. “In that sense, the purple stands for the same things as Samsung Galaxy: embracing diversity, pushing boundaries, and relentlessly innovating under the philosophy of openness.”

The company’s executive vice president and head of marketing Stephanie Choi also said in the statement “With its pastel and neutral tones, Bora Purple embodies optimism and a sense of calm. It will unfold your world with the power of choice.” Choi added “You don’t need to be a K-pop star or a mythical creature to embody mystery or power, you just need to be yourself.” 

That is all technically true, with or without a purple phone. During my brief hands-on with the new Bora S22, I did not feel like a K-pop star or a mythical creature. I did not feel like I embodied mystery or power. I did not feel more optimistic or calm, though the phone is indeed quite pretty.

We’re expecting Samsung to launch five new Galaxy products next month, including the next-generation Z Fold, Z Flip, Watch and Buds. Judging by the hint in today’s announcement, it’s likely that Bora Purple will be a launch color for these devices. 

The Morning After: A chess robot broke the finger of its 7-year-old opponent

Sometimes the headline says it all: A chess-playing robot accidentally broke the finger of its seven-year-old opponent during an exhibition match in Moscow. The child apparently moved his piece too soon, and the robot grabbed his finger and squeezed it…