VGC reports: “Veterans of the rhythm game genre have established a new development studio called RedOctane Games. According to today’s announcement, the “small” studio plays home to “creators and developers who helped create and scale Guitar Hero and DJ Hero nearly two decades ago, as well as proven emerging development talent and community leaders from across today’s rhythm gaming space”.”
The Hollywood Reporter reports: “Fox’s Tubi and Sony Pictures Entertainment in Canada have struck terms on a new film and TV content licensing agreement. In a sign the Canadian free, ad-supported TV market continues to grow amid turbulence for the digital advertising business, the latest agreement will see around 130 movies and TV episodes from Sony Pictures’ programming vault head to Tubi north of the border.”
Variety reports: “Say ciao to the stand-alone Hulu streaming app: Disney said it is “fully integrating” the Hulu service, which it now owns 100%, into its flagship Disney+ streamer. A new “unified” Disney+ and Hulu streaming app will be available in 2026, the company said. According to a Disney rep, customers will still be able to buy a stand-alone Hulu subscription (as well as a stand-alone Disney+ plan).”
Yahoo! Finance reports: “Microsoft is making OpenAI’s new free and open GPT model, gpt-oss-20b, available to Windows 11 users via Windows AI Foundry, the tech giant’s platform that lets users tap AI features, APIs, and popular open-source models on their computers. The company said in a blog post that gpt‑oss-20b is “tool-savvy and lightweight,” adding: “Optimized for agentic tasks like code execution and tool use, it runs efficiently on a range of Windows hardware, with support for more devices coming soon. It’s perfect for building autonomous assistants or embedding AI into real-world workflows, even in bandwidth-constrained environments.”
CNBC reports: “ESPN will launch its new flagship streaming service — also named ESPN — on Aug. 21.Disney’s ESPN has been working on the all-in-one streaming app for some time in preparation for it coming out this fall. The app will be available ahead of the upcoming NFL season — the highest rated live sports content — as well as the start of college football, where ESPN has expanded its portfolio.”
GamesBeat reports: “Play Cubed announced the launch of an AI Mobile App Studio that will develop and launch purpose-driven mobile apps that give users done-for-you AI superpowers. The first one is an AI personal shopper called Gifty.Love. Play Cubed’s plans is have each app do one thing exceptionally well using AI. The first app, an AI personal shopper for effortless, meaningful gift-giving called Gifty.Love has launched and is now available for free in The App Store.”
Music Business Worldwide reports: “AI audio company ElevenLabs has launched Eleven Music – a platform that’s said to generate “studio-grade music” from “natural language prompts” – after striking partnerships with independent music licensing organization Merlin and publisher Kobalt. London and New York-based ElevenLabs announced the launch on Tuesday (August 5), marking its expansion beyond voice synthesis into full AI music generation.”
PC Mag reports: “As some streaming services hike up prices, Roku is trying to attract consumers by offering its own budget alternative in the US. Howdy is a new streaming service that costs only $2.99 per month and does not serve ads. That might help it stand out from other streamers, such as Netflix, Disney+, and HBO Max, which start at $7.99 or $9.99 per month, but force you to watch ads in exchange for a lower price.”
Games Industry Biz reports: “The Global Gaming League (GGL), a new video game league launching later this month, has secured licensing agreements with six major game publishers. The GGL announced the partnerships on August 4, revealing that Activision Blizzard, Bandai Namco, Capcom, Tetris, Ubisoft, and EA are the first publishers to sign up to the celebrity-driven gaming league.”
