Sony is conducting an internal investigation after the specs for the PS5 Pro, codenamed Trinity, were leaked during a third-party developer rollout. Insider Gaming's Tom Henderson confirmed the leaked documents' authenticity, and there may be security ramifications for third-party developers in the future. The outcome of the investigation remains to be seen, but potential measures could include reducing the pool of trusted third-party developers with access to new technology.
Discord is expanding its Activities feature by providing third-party developers with tools to create games and apps that can be embedded and played on its platform, aiming to significantly increase the number of available embedded games and interactive experiences. The company wants to become the best place for developers to build, share, distribute, be discovered, and monetize their work, and is also experimenting with a way for users to associate these new games and apps with their accounts for use away from servers.
Xbox has announced its Xbox Partner Preview event, focusing on third-party game announcements. While Activision Blizzard won't be featured, there will be reveals for games like Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth, Alan Wake 2, Ark: Survival Ascended, and Dungeons of Hinterberg. The event will showcase new trailers and surprises for Xbox Game Pass, including RoboCop: Rogue City and Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater. Manor Lords and Ikaro: Will Not Die were also highlighted as upcoming games.
Reddit message boards, including some of its biggest, went private in protest over new app-developer fees. However, some subreddits, including r/pics, are allowing only photos of John Oliver. Reddit CEO Steve Huffman said the changes were necessary to make the platform self-sustaining, but some subreddits may permanently shutter. The company also faced backlash over policy changes regarding explicit content. Non-commercial, accessibility-focused apps and tools will continue to have free access under the new rules that are set to go into effect in July.
Subreddits went private for two days to protest Reddit's decision to charge third-party developers for API access. Apollo, a third-party Reddit viewer, announced it will be forced to shut down due to the unsustainable $12,000 charge per 50 million requests to access the API. Reddit's CEO Steve Huffman has been criticized for his handling of the situation, with some accusing him of shifting the blame onto moderators and dismissing the concerns of users.
Thousands of subreddits went dark in protest over Reddit's plan to charge certain third-party developers to access the site's data. Reddit CEO Steve Huffman says the company is not backing off, and that the new policy is necessary to become a self-sustaining business. Protest organizers say Reddit's new policy threatens to end key ways of historically customizing the platform using an API, which allows computer programs to communicate with each another. While some subreddits returned to their public settings after 48 hours, others say they plan to stay private until Reddit meets their demands, which include lowering third-party developer charges.
Reddit moderators have initiated a large-scale protest against the company's decision to increase the price for third-party developers to use its API. The move has sparked a blackout of more than 8,000 subreddits, including r/Funny, r/Music, and r/Science. The moderators are concerned that the new pricing structure will make it difficult for smaller third-party developers to afford the tools they use to run their groups. The controversy highlights the fraught relationship between Reddit's leadership team and its many outside supporters, who have helped the company maintain over 100,000 active communities that attract over 500 million monthly global visitors.
Thousands of communities on Reddit are "going dark" for two days starting Monday to protest controversial new fees the site is charging third-party developers. Reddit CEO Steve Huffman hosted an AMA — short for "ask me anything" — on the site recently in an attempt to quell the furor over the changes. The access changes to its application programming interface, also known as API, are part of a larger shake-up at the company that has included reductions in its staff by 5% and also in future hiring.
Apollo, the most popular third-party Reddit app, will shut down due to new API fees imposed by Reddit. The solo developer, Christian Selig, claims that the new API model would cost him $20 million per year just to run Apollo. Selig went public with the issues he was having with Reddit regarding the company's choice to start charging third-party developers for API access. The broad Reddit community is planning to protest Reddit's API changes with subreddits planning to "go dark" and temporarily shut down for a 48-hour period starting June 12.
Google Chrome's desktop side panel will soon support Manifest V3 extensions that want to display an interface, thanks to a new Chrome Side Panel API. Side panels can be made to appear on a specific site as a companion or remain open when navigating between tabs. Third-party developers can now leverage this feature, giving extensions a unified space and layout. The Side Panel API is available to Manifest V3 extensions and is currently available in Chrome Beta 114.
Apple's mixed reality headset, likely to be called Reality Pro or Reality One, may not have a killer app yet, but the company is packing it with a wide range of features, including the ability to run most of Apple's existing iPad apps, a new wellness app, large gaming focus, advanced videoconferencing, and virtual meeting rooms, among others. Bloomberg columnist Mark Gurman expects the headset to be accompanied by a wave of apps from third-party developers. However, he also questions whether Apple will have enough time to go through all these features before users potentially lose interest, citing Meta Platforms' predicament of losing consumers early on with an unclear vision.
Apple is reportedly developing a journaling app called "Jurassic" that could be announced at the Worldwide Developers Conference in June. The app will suggest topics to write about based on usage data from the user's iPhone and could include a feature that recognizes friends and colleagues. The app could put Apple in direct competition with third-party journaling apps like Day One, leading to accusations of "Sherlocking" developers. Apple's advantage over third-party developers is that it primarily makes money from selling hardware and uses its software to attract users.
