Roundup of VR/AR news from week 4 of 2026.
Tech & Science
Old School Runescape ignored the rules for 25 years — and it’s not even close to dead yet
Design director Kieren Charles talks sailing, standing out in the competitive MMO space, and the future of OSRS
Flight Cancellations Hit Record High As Winter Storm Rages On
Arctic cold is upending transportation across North America.
‘Jujutsu Kaisen’ Keeps Looking So Damn Good
An evolving art style has helped each ‘Jujutsu Kaisen’ season feel distinct and stun viewers during its many, *many* fights.
New, Smarter Siri Is Reportedly Weeks from Arriving. It Had Better Be Amazing
Apple is borrowing tech from Google to try and score a much-needed win. But Google wins either way.
What time does Grounded 2’s Toxic Tangle winter update release in your time zone?
The Grounded 2 Toxic Tangle winter update release date is coming up fast. We list when the update and the Garden releases in your time zone.
Creators and communities everywhere take a stand against ICE
It’s not surprising when the guy who’s been yelling about the horrors of late-stage capitalism on Instagram for the last five years turns his ire toward ICE. But something different has been happening over the week or so, following the most recent shootings of civilians by federal agents – even accounts that stay laser focused [&8230;]
It doesn’t matter if Alex Pretti had a gun
Shortly after federal agents killed Alex Pretti Saturday morning, the Department of Homeland Security began to run with the story that the dead man had been armed and dangerous. He had a gun, DHS said. (A Bellingcat analysis of the video concludes that Pretti was unarmed when he was shot.) He had approached the agents [&8230;]
They’re no longer « almost real. »
When Reality Can Be Perfectly Fabricated, Who Decides What&x2019;s True?
The next classic Marvel cartoon to get the X-Men ‘97 treatment shouldn’t be Spider-Man
After the success of X-Men ’97, rebooting Silver Surfer feels like a no-brainer
Beyond the Frame: Moving from 2D Monitors to 3D Space
Why immersive tech matters, and how it&x2019;s reshaping the way we connect with the world.
Why won’t anyone stop ICE from masking?
Americans do not like masked secret police. There is really no other way to put it. The reasons why are manifold: accountability, trust in law enforcement, and just plain overall vibes. More concretely, not being able to tell who’s a cop and who’s not is dangerous. An assassin masquerading as law enforcement killed Minnesota legislator [&8230;]
New Super Mario Galaxy Movie Trailer Finally Reveals Yoshi, Birdo, And More
No word on who’s voicing the dinosaur yet, though The post New <em>Super Mario Galaxy Movie<
The Super Mario Galaxy Movie’s new trailer reveals Yoshi, Birdo and more
Nintendo and Illumination released a new trailer for The Super Mario Galaxy Movie in a Nintendo Direct, showing off Yoshi and more.
Forget DJI, GoPro HERO13 Black Hits Its Lowest Price as Amazon Offloads Waterproof Action Cameras
This action camera is great for athletes or anyone who gets out and about into the world. The post Forget DJI, GoPro HERO13 Black Hits Its Lowest
A New ‘Super Mario Galaxy’ Trailer Unleashes Yoshi
Everyone’s favorite dino buddy is joining the cast of ‘Super Mario Galaxy,’ and he looks adooooorable.
Sony’s first clip earbuds don’t quite hit the mark
The Sony LinkBuds Clip are the company’s first clip earbuds. They follow the innovative donut-hole LinkBuds and LinkBuds Open and, like their predecessors, allow you to listen to music or podcasts, make phone calls, or be active outdoors while still maintaining awareness of your surroundings. The clip design has become more popular over the past [&8230;]
The great e-bike crackdown has begun
This is The Stepback, a weekly newsletter breaking down one essential story from the tech world. For more on the e-bike movement, follow Andrew J. Hawkins. The Stepback arrives in our subscribers’ inboxes at 8AM ET. Opt in for The Stepback here. How it started Last week, I did something I don’t typically do, which [&8230;]
Robosen’s $1,400 Soundwave Transformer Is a Sick Robot and Sad Bluetooth Speaker
The voice-controlled, transforming robot is an objectively cool toy, but a little less than meets the eye in the sound department.
A decade of Star Trek-themed fart jokes: The Greatest Generation podcast turns 10
How two podcasters turned a Star Trek side project into a full-time career.
VRChat Economy & New Generation Drive 149K Concurrent Users! — Metaverse Demographics Report 2026
On New Year&x2019;s Day 2026, VRChat announced that it had broken its record for concurrent users, reaching an unprecedent
The Lotus Project — Bringing Nalanda University Back to Life
It&x2019;s finally here!
The day of the second killing
Steven Garcia, as told to Gaby Del Valle: I was in the middle of a frozen lake when I got the notification from The Minnesota Star Tribune that there had been a shooting. I was on assignment at a pond hockey event, and someone who was supposed to play later that evening said he probably [&8230;]
Microsoft handed the government encryption keys for customer data
The FBI went to Microsoft last year with a warrant, asking them to hand over keys to unlock encrypted data stored on three laptops as part of an investigation into potential fraud involving the COVID unemployment assistance program in Guam – and Microsoft complied. Typically, companies resist handing over encryption keys to authorities. Most famously, [&8230;]
OpenAI Partners with Major Government Contractor to ‘Transform Federal Operations’
Leidos is a prolific government contractor with a « strong relationship with DHS. »
Poland’s energy grid was targeted by never-before-seen wiper malware
Destructive payload unleashed on 10-year anniversary of Russia’s attack on Ukraine’s grid.
MicroSD Express cards and Anker’s travel adapter rule the deal roost this week
Welcome to the weekend, friends! We’re still in a bit of a deals lull before the Presidents Day and V-Day sales begin, the bulk of which we anticipate kicking off the first week of February. However, for now, we’re still seeing some solid discounts on a few newer gadgets and some old, Verge-approved favorites. Anker’s [&8230;]
Samsung Crashes the Galaxy Watch 7 to a Record Low to Clear Out Old Smartwatch Stock
If you’re ready to buy a new smartwatch, consider this model. The post Samsung Crashes the Galaxy Watch 7 to a Record Low to Clear Out Old
A weird, itchy rash is linked to the keto diet—but no one knows why
While the rash has a clear link to ketones, the underlying mechanism remains elusive.
Demand for Intel’s processors is apparently there, but the supply is not
Intel is allocating more of its own production to its money-making server chips.
A Pokémon Store Was Robbed At Gunpoint, But It’s Only Made Its Community Stronger
The Poké Court in Manhattan doesn’t want to be another scary scalper story The post A <em>Pokémon</em> Store Was Robbed At Gunpoint, But It&8217;s Only Made Its Community
The Hobbit &The Lord of the Rings 25th Anniversary Movie Tie-In Books Are Up For Preorder
Read the full article on the source.
DHS keeps trying and failing to unmask anonymous ICE critics online
Community watch groups have a playbook to keep ICE away from subscriber information.
White House alters arrest photo of ICE protester, says « the memes will continue »
Lawyer calls it « outrageous that the White House would make up stories. »
Telly’s « free » ad-based TVs make notable revenue—when they’re actually delivered
The LA startup said it would ship « millions » of TVs by 2024.
TikTok deal is done; Trump wants praise while users fear MAGA tweaks
“I am so happy”: Trump closes deal that hands TikTok US to his allies.
Meta CTO Explains Layoffs & Strategy Shift: « VR Is Growing Less Quickly Than We Hoped »
In a series of interviews at Davos, Meta CTO Andrew Bosworth explained why the company is reducing its investment in VR.
VR Modder Luke Ross Removes All Mods Following ‘Cyberpunk 2077’ DMCA Takedown
Luke Ross, the prolific VR modder, was r
Scaling NVFP4 Inference for FLUX.2 on NVIDIA Blackwell Data Center GPUs
In 2025, NVIDIA partnered with Black Forest Labs (BFL) to optimize the FLUX.1 text-to-image model series, unlocking FP4 image generation performance on NVIDIA…
Real VR Fishing Sold One Million Copies So Far
Real VR Fishing crossed a milestone and teased future updates.
Streamlining CUB with a Single-Call API
The C++ template library CUB is a go-to for high-performance GPU primitive algorithms, but its traditional « two-phase » API, which separates memory estimation…
Lynx-R2 Headset Revealed With Surprisingly Wide Field-of-View in a Tiny Package
Lynx has unveiled the Lynx-R2, a signifi
Distance Technologies Reveals Military AR Goggles for Battlefield Awareness
Distance Technologies has u
Thief VR: Legacy of Shadow Rolls Out Graphical Improvements
Thief VR: Legacy Of Shadows continues to see polish with a new update focused on graphical improvements.
Guardians Frontline’s New Update Adds User-Made Campaigns
The new update in Guardians Frontline focuses on community content.
VITURE Calls XREAL Lawsuit “patent-troll-style” in Escalating AR Glasses IP Battle
AR glasses maker XREAL is taking its competi
Oculus Founder on Meta Cuts: “The ‘Meta abandoning VR narrative’ is obviously false”
Read the full article on the source.
‘Cyberpunk 2077’ VR Mod Taken Down Following Legal Complaint, But There May Still Be Hope
Luke Ross, the prolific VR modder, has been forced to
Gaming & Entertainment
The Hidden Economics of Haptic Disparity in the Metaverse and Distortion of the Labor Curve
A Response to Ready Player One, the film. I have not read the book
Trusting your phone to Abxylute’s mobile controller requires a big leap of faith
As a retro gaming fan, I was thrilled when Apple opened its App Store to emulators in 2024, but I’ve yet to find a controller that makes me want to fully embrace retro gaming on my phone. Clamp-on controllers like the Backbone Pro are a bit too bulky, and I don’t want to prop my [&8230;]
Super Mario Galaxy Movie’s New Trailer Introduces Yoshi And Birdo
Earlier this month, Nintendo announced a Super Mario Galaxy Movie Direct for today, and it was one of the shortest Directs that the publisher has ever had. But the new trailer for The Super Mario Galaxy Movie may be worth it, because it introduces everyone’s favorite dinosaur, Yoshi. The beginning of the trailer features Mario and Luigi’s
Undertale’s snowman perfectly encapsulates the game’s sicko freedom
Undertale lets you be as kind or villainous as you like to every character you encounter, even snowmen with wanderlust
Frustration Inside Ubisoft: ‘This Is Probably The Most Embarrassed I Have Felt Working Somewhere’
Some Ubisoft developers feel like they’ve been here before and they’re tired of it The post Frustration Inside Ubisoft: &8216;This Is Probably The Most Embarrassed I
Score A Limited-Time Deal On This Sonic the Hedgehog Arcade Machine
Read the full article on the source.
10-Year-Old Sims 4 Sex Mod With Full Nudity Is Still Shockingly Popular
What a wicked game to play, to make me feel this way The post 10-Year-Old <i>Sims 4</i> Sex Mod With Full Nudity Is Still Shockingly Popular appeared first on Kotaku .
Fable: Everything We Know About The Open-World Fantasy RPG Reboot
Xbox and Playground Games are reviving the Fable series later this year on both Xbox and PlayStation The post <i>Fable</i>: Everything We Know About Th
Attending Lakers Games In Apple Immersive Plays To VR’s Strengths
The Lakers in Apple Immersive points to the future of broadcasting.
Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds Switch 2 Physical Edition Includes The Full Game Data
Read the full article on the source.
Dead By Daylight Lets Fans Choose A Hero’s Face And The Shape Of Evil
For a decade, Dead by Daylight has let players into the world of the Entity as they faced original killers as well as some of the most evil monsters from film, TV shows, and video games. Now, Behaviour Interactive is calling on fans to help it complete a crowd-sourced Dead by Daylight chapter called The Grimoire. As explained by senior creative director David Richard, players can visit
The Upcoming Dinkum Physical Release Includes Bonus Content, But Only If You Preorder At GameStop
Read the full article on the source.
Careful, This City-Builder Starring Cute Mice And Evil Royal Cats Might Suck Away All Your Free Time
Whiskerwood is out now on PC via early access, but for the most part it feels like a finished game The post Careful, This City-Builder Starring Cute Mice And E
TR-49 is interactive fiction for fans of deep research rabbit holes
Dense narrative deduction game tells a compellingly academia-tinged sci-fi tale.
WoW’s Pricey Transmog Overhaul Just Got Way Cheaper
World of Warcraft transmog prices just got slashed, with Blizzard announcing a 50% cost reduction to outfit creation prices. The pre-patch for WoW’s Midnight expansion arrived on January 20 and brought major system updates to Blizzard’s MMORPG, including an overhaul of its transmog sys
Xbox Exec Struggles To Explain Why Fable Is Coming To PS5 Day One, But Not Forza Horizon 6
Not every Xbox-published game will come to PS5 right away, but also maybe most of them will, probably, I think The post Xbox Exec Struggles To Explain Why <i>Fable</i> Is Coming To PS5 Day One, But
Major Video Game Union Comes Out Against EA Saudi Buyout
Late last year, Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, Jared Kushner’s Affinity Partners, and the private equity firm Silver Lake made a $55 billion deal to purchase Electronic Arts and take the video game publisher private. Now, the Communication Workers of America’s United Video Games union has approached the US Federal Trade Commission to shar
World Of Warcraft’s Transmog Fiasco Ends With Price Cuts But That’s Not The Whole Story
Some players who enjoy playing dress-up in the MMO are saying they’ll leave the game over new costs and limitations The post <i>World Of Warcraft&8217;</i>s Transmog Fi
Cyberpunk 2077 VR Mod Needs To Be Free, Dev Says After Removal
The developer of Cyberpunk 2077 suggested VR mods of the game have to be offered for free.
Platforms & Hardware
Fortnite X South Park Quests: How To Solve Kenny’s Mystery Quests
During Fortnite Chapter 6, most every cosmetic you could unlock from a pass or for free was earned simply by gaining XP in any mode. But Epic has returned to the old ways in Chapter 7, with unlockable cosmetics that require completing specific quests. Case in point is the Born in Chaos mini pass for
What are Kenny’s Born in Chaos quests in Fortnite?
Kenny’s quests in Fortnite are impossible to decipher. Here’s how to complete each of his mph mmph mhh mmph quests.
All character locations in Fortnite Chapter 7 Season 1
In Fortnite Chapter 7 Season 1, you’ll need to find characters around the map to receive services and complete quests. Here’s where to find them all.
Golden Gloves VR Debuts As Scrappy Contender On Quest Headsets
Golden Gloves VR is out of early access now on Quest headsets.
Meta Quest 3 Review
I spent a few days testing the Meta Quest 3 and the experience was very different from what I expected. Some things feel truly next‑gen, others still feel experimental — and the gap between “VR for everyone” and “VR for gamers only” is smaller than I thought. In the full review I break down: • What actually improved in real use • What still feels unfinished • Whether the Quest 3 is finally mainstream‑ready • Who should (and shouldn’t) b
Sleeper Hit ‘UG’ Has Become One of Quest’s Most Popular and Top Earning Games in Less Than 6 Months
While a flurry of VR studio cuts and closures in the last 12 mo
Sources
Ars Technica, DEV Community, GameSpot, Kotaku, Medium, NVIDIA Developer Blog, Polygon, Road to VR, The Verge, UploadVR, gizmodo.com
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