Ring has canceled its partnership with Flock Safety, after receiving backlash for running a Super Bowl ad touting its Search Party feature. If youll recall, Ring revealed back in October 2025 that it was entering a partnership with the surveillance company, which would make it possible for law enforcement to ask smart doorbell owners for videos captured by their devices. In its announcement, the company said that the planned Flock Safety integration would require significantly more time and resources than anticipated. The decision to call off the partnership was mutual, Ring added, and Flock Safetys integration was never launched. Apparently, no Ring customer footage was ever sent to Flock. Under the partnership, law enforcement agencies using Flock's Nova platform or FlockOS would have been able to use Rings Community Requests to ask for doorbell videos from users. They would have been asked to specify the location and timeframe of the incident, as well as provide a unique investigation code and the details about what is being investigated. Their requests would then be forwarded to relevant users, who could choose to share footage from their doorbell. Ring said the whole process would have been anonymous and optional. Ring was known to have shared security cam videos to law enforcement without a court order or the device owners consent at least 11 times in the past. In 2024, however, it seemed to have walked back its police-friendly stance and said that it would stop sharing videos with the police without a warrant. This alliance with Flock would have marked a return to police collaboration after the company distanced itself from law enforcement. Flock is known for its automatic license plate readers and for centralizing the information it collects into a database that police can search without a warrant. While law enforcement says the system can help them solve crimes like kidnapping. 404Media reported last year that ICE has been using the database, citing immigration-related reasons. While Rings official reason was that the Flock partnership would need more resources than expected, its worth noting that the company recently got flak for its Super Bowl Search Party ad. Ring touted it as a way to find lost dogs by using its cameras AI to identify pets running across their field of vision and then pooling feeds together to identify missing pets. While Search Party isnt new and was announced last year, the ad sparked concerns about surveillance and how the tech could be misused, leading users to disable the feature for their cameras altogether. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/home/ring-calls-off-partnership-with-police-surveillance-provider-flock-safety-031717605.html?src=rss
Barcelona was just named Europe's first Capital of Small Retail, crowning years of deliberate policy work.The city's small retail sector accounts for 13.2% of GDP and supports more than 152,000 jobs, with over 90% of ground-floor commercial premises occupied. But what earned Barcelona the designation isn't the size of its retail ecosystem so much as the depth of its strategy. The city runs over 40 interlocking initiatives spanning sustainability, digitalization, mobility and entrepreneurship.Among the most distinctive is Amunt Persianes ("Raise the Shutters"), through which the city council has invested EUR 17 million in purchasing empty ground-floor premises and offering them to local entrepreneurs at 30-50% below market rent. Rather than waiting for market forces to fill vacant storefronts, Barcelona is treating street-level retail space as public infrastructure. Italy's Silandro and Portugal's Caldas da Rainha also earned the EU-backed title, in the small and mid-sized city categories, respectively.TREND BITEThe European Capitals of Small Retail initiative formalizes a new urban strategy: treating small retail as a public good. For decades, small shops have been framed as casualties of progress: charming but doomed by e-commerce and big-box efficiency. Barcelona's approach flips that script, treating independent retail as essential civic infrastructure a generator of jobs, social cohesion and neighborhood identity that justifies active municipal investment.The playbook is practical: combine data-driven policymaking with direct intervention, embed sustainability into existing retail networks rather than bolting it on, and build public-private coalitions broad enough to survive political cycles. For businesses watching the slow hollowing-out of commercial streets in their own cities, the takeaway is that revitalization doesn't require a savior brand or a market upswing; it requires treating every shuttered storefront as a design problem with a policy solution.
During its State of Play livestream on Thursday, Sony revealed the first PlayStation Plus Game Catalog addition for February and it's a doozy. Marvels Spider-Man 2 (PS5) will finally websling its way onto the Game Catalog on February 17.
Marvels Spider-Man 2 was released in October 2023, and Insomniac's third Spidey game is the the best of the bunch. You can play as both Peter Parker and his protégé Miles Morales. Each Spidey has his own skill tree and moveset to master.
Traversing New York (with a lot more of it explorable than in previous entries) has never felt better thanks to the addition of the wingsuit, while the set pieces are frequently breathtaking. Marvels Spider-Man 2 remains one of the PS5s flagship games, and with Marvels Spider-Man: Remastered and Miles Morales already on the Game Catalog, Extra and Premium subscribers can now play the whole series while they wait for Insomniac's Wolverine game to arrive later this year.
Sony later revealed the full PS Plus Game Catalog lineup for February on the PlayStation Blog. It includes Neva (PS4 and PS5), a stunning 2D platformer that's pretty much an interactive fairytale. Engadgets Jessica Conditt opened her review of the game by saying she had "absolutely nothing negative to say" about it, which is surely about as effusive as a recommendation can get. (A paid expansion that acts as a prequel is on the way next week too.)
The other titles coming to the PS Plus Game Catalog on February 17 are:
Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown (PS5)
Season: A Letter to the Future (PS4 and PS5)
Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings of Ruin (PS4)
Monster Hunter Stories (PS4)
Venba (PS5)
Echoes of the End: Enhanced Edition (PS5)
Rugby 25 (PS4 and PS5)
PS Plus Premium members will have an extra game to play on PS4 and PS5 in the form of Disney Pixar Wall-E. This version was originally released in 2008 for the PlayStation 2.
Looking further ahead, Tekken Dark Resurrection will be available to Premium subscribers in March. Premium members will be able to play the original Time Crisis on their PS5 with gyro controls in May, which sounds fun. Also, Big Walk, a multiplayer game from Untitled Goose Game developer House House, will be available on all three PS Plus tiers when it debuts later this year.
Update February 12, 6:43PM ET: Added the full list of PS Plus Game Catalog titles for February.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/playstation/the-ps-plus-game-catalog-additions-for-february-include-marvels-spider-man-2-232459779.html?src=rss
Last year marked 20 years since God of War hit the PlayStation 2 and kicked off one of gaming biggest franchises. Now, at the tail end of that 20th anniversary celebration, Sonys Santa Monica Studio has announced two new project. First, and most significantly, the original God of War trilogy from the PS2 and PS3 is being remade for the modern era. Theres no footage of it yet the developer says that theyre very early in development, so we likely wont see or hear much about this for a while. But given renewed interest in God of War thanks to the excellent two Norse games from 2018 and 2022 (not to mention the upcoming Amazon series), it makes sense to revisit these classics. God of War and God of War II were released for Playstation 2 in 2005 and 2007, respectively, while the third of the Greek trilogy hit PlayStation 3 in 2010. The third game was also remastered for the PS4. But its safe to say that while the first two games are classics for their era, they also really show their age in some gameplay spots. Hopefully the remake will smooth out those rough edges. (Who else has nightmares in the Hades level near the end of the first game? Not just me, right?)While we wont see the remakes for a while, there is a new God of War-inspired game out right now: God of War Sons of Sparta. It was developed by Mega Cat Studios, a developer known for its love of retro games it even still releases games for the SNES and Genesis. Given their pedigree, its no surprise that Sons of Sparta has vibes of classic 2D action/platformer games. Its apparently canon for the series and takes place in Kratos youth while he trains with his brother. It obviously looks nothing like the other God of War games but the combat and monsters shown off in the trailer definitely feel right at home in the series. Perhaps the most fun part of all this is that its available today for $30. While Sons of Sparta looks like a fun curio for God of War fans, itll only go so far towards whetting our appetite for that remake series. Might I suggest binging some Valhalla in the meantime?This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/playstation/god-of-war-is-getting-a-remake-trilogy-and-a-new-retro-inspired-action-game-is-out-today-234056618.html?src=rss
Coming off the success of Slient Hill f, which moved the series psychological horror to the Japanese countryside, Konami, Annapurna Interactive and developer Screen Burn Interactive have chosen a foggy island as the setting for Silent Hill: Townfall.The first gameplay trailer for Townfall, introduced during Sonys latest State of Play, follows Simon Ordell, a man who keeps mysteriously waking up in the water off the coast of the empty island town of St. Amelia. In the trailer, Simon hides from monsters, peers at a portable television, swings a fire axe, and deals with the psychological turmoil typical of a Silent Hill protagonist, all in first person, one of the unique twists of this new game.Silent Hill: Townfall was originally announced alongside Silent Hill f and the remake of Silent Hill 2 in 2022. The game is developed by Screen Burn Interactive (formerly known as No Code), the creators of Observation and Stories Untold. Konami will share more details about Townfalls gameplay and story in an upcoming Silent Hill Transmission presentation later today.Silent Hill: Townfall is coming to PlayStation 5 in 2026.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/playstation/silent-hill-townfall-takes-the-series-trademark-fog-to-an-eerie-coastal-community-233324897.html?src=rss
Volume two of the Metal Gear Solid: Master Collection will arrive on August 27, publisher Konami announced today during Sonys latest State of Play presentation. The bundle will feature 2008s Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, the HD remaster of 2010s Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker and a selection of bonus content, including Metal Gear: Ghost Babel, which was originally released for Game Boy Color in 2000. All told, thats a smaller selection of games than Konami made available with Vol. 1 of the Master Collection, but Metal Gear fans will be excited nonetheless, if only for the fact it will mark the first time MGS4 will be officially playable on a platform other than the PlayStation 3. That it has taken Konami nearly two decades to release the conclusion of Solid Snakes story on more systems has to do with the nature of the game as a PS3 exclusive. MGS4 took extensive advantage of the consoles unique Cell architecture, a fact that made it difficult (and expensive) proposition to port to more recent x86-based systems. In recent years, its been possible to emulate the game on a powerful PC, but not everyone has that kind of hardware. Metal Gear Solid: Master Collection Vol.2 will be available on PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PC, Nintendo Switch and Nintendo Switch 2.Update, February 12, 6:30PM ET: This story was updated after publish to add details about Metal Gear Solid: Master Collection Vol.2s launch platforms.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/playstation/the-next-metal-gear-solid-remaster-collection-arrives-this-summer-231711005.html?src=rss
Its been less than three months since we got our first look at Control Resonant, the sequel to Remedys mind-bending, third-person adventure that introduced us to Jesse Faden and the Federal Bureau of Control. At todays State of Play event, we got to see the first extended bit of gameplay from Control Resonant and the combat looks as inspired as ever, though the setting is completely new.As we learned in December, the next Control games doesnt focus on Jesse Faden; instead, youll primarily play as her brother Dylan who Jesse was trying to find for much of the first game. Dylans out in a warped version of New York City trying to track the games Resonant creatures that are responsible for whatever calamity has taken place. We knew this already, but the change of setting from the Bureau of Control building into the more open city setting should go a long way towards making this game feel fresh. Dylans capabilities are also completely different than what we saw from Jesse in the original. Theres a much bigger emphasis on melee combat, as Dylan has a shapeshifting weapon called the Aberrant. You can switch from hammer to blades to other various forms, much in the way that Jesses firearm in the first game could morph between different types of guns. But the thing that stood out the most to me in the brief preview was the way that NYC completely disobeyed the laws of physics. Buildings and streets would just head into the sky at 90-degree angles and Dylans powers let him completely which surface is the ground for him. Theres still no firm release date for Control Resonant, but thats not unreasonable the game was only announced a few months ago. Remedy says theyre still on target to launch in 2026. And, at the end of todays PlayStation blog post, they promise that things are going to get weirder. Just what I was hoping for!This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/playstation/the-first-control-resonant-gameplay-trailer-shows-dylan-defying-physics-in-a-sideways-nyc-224746545.html?src=rss
Sonys first State of Play stream of the year included an update on Mina the Hollower, the latest title from Shovel Knight studio Yacht Club Games. Its now slated to arrive sometime this spring. The developer initially planned to release the retro-style action-adventure platformer on Halloween last year, but delayed it to to apply some final polish and balancing to make the game truly shine.While Mina the Hollower didnt make its original Halloween release date, at least the new demo, which will be available for a limited time, is getting a eerily timed debut. Itll hit PS5 tomorrow i.e. Friday, February 13. Yknow Friday the 13th?This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/playstation/mina-the-hollower-resurfaces-with-a-spring-2026-release-window-224327165.html?src=rss
When it launched in 2021, Kena: Bridge of Spirits was an early example of the graphical power of the PS5 thanks to its Pixar-adjacent animation and over-the-top effects. Based on a surprise trailer at Sony's latest State of Play, it seems like its sequel, Kena: Scars of Kosmora, could up the ante when it launches later this year.Scars of Kosmora follows spirit guide Kena to a mysterious island called Kosmora, where a powerful spirit breaks her staff and forces her to embrace a new style of spirit guiding (and presumably a collection of new game mechanics). Like the first game, Scars of Kosmora looks to be filled with lush visuals and cute Spirit Companions, but also a surprising amount of boss battles. Developer Ember Lab's new trailer heavily emphasizes the game's updated combat, which seems like it'll play a big role in the sequel.According to a post on the PlayStation Blog, it sounds like manipulating the elements will also be a major focus. "Weve added new elemental gameplay to bring strategy and depth when facing the threats of Kosmora," developer Ember Lab says. "These new combat skills, elemental infusions and use of your Spirit Companions will be key to overcoming challenging encounters and epic boss fights."Kena: Scars of Kosmora is coming to PlayStation 5 and PC in 2026.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/playstation/kena-scars-of-kosmora-is-coming-out-later-this-year-224006963.html?src=rss
Ghost of Yoteis forthcoming Legends multiplayer expansion will arrive early next month, Sony announced today during its latest State of Play presentation. As in Ghost of Tsushima, youll be able to play the mode with up to three other people online. Players can each choose from one of four classes samurai, archer, mercenary and shinobi who excel in different combat scenarios. All four classes can wield a katana and bow, but then they also have access to special weapons and skills. For example, the samurai can wield the odachi, giving them a sweeping move set against groups of enemies. Youll need to use teamwork and your classs abilities to take down demonic versions of the Yotei Six. The mode will arrive alongside the games 1.5 patch, and will be free for all Ghost of Yotei owners. At launch, players can look forward to three different mission types. In survival, youll be tasked with fighting off increasingly difficult enemies. In story mode, meanwhile, you and one other player will need to complete a series of 12 missions to unlock the expansions incursion mode, which will see you siege a fortress belonging to a member of Yotei Six. At first, there will be four strongholds for players to conquer, with a later April patch adding the final bosses. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/playstation/ghost-of-yoteis-multiplayer-expansion-arrives-march-10-223842684.html?src=rss
