Tech Digest daily roundup: Halo Infinite gets early launch for Microsoft anniversary
The latest game in the Halo series has been released three weeks early to coincide with the franchise’s 20th anniversary. Halo: Infinite was originally supposed to be released last year but was delayed until December 2021. But on Monday, at an Xbox 20th anniversary event, Microsoft revealed the multiplayer part of the game was being released the same day. The single-player campaign is still being withheld until 8 December. BBC
Ministers have ordered the competition watchdog to launch an in-depth investigation into the $40bn (£30bn) sale of Cambridge technology company Arm to the US giant Nvidia. Nadine Dorries, the Culture Secretary, told the Competition and Markets Authority to begin a “phase 2” investigation on both competition and national security grounds. The move is the latest setback to the sale of one of Britain’s most successful technology companies, which has faced vocal opposition from parts of the tech industry. Telegraph
Ever since Microsoft’s Zenimax Media acquisition, the question of whether the Elder Scrolls 6 will be an Xbox platform exclusive has haunted PS5 owners. Starfield will be an Xbox exclusive, much to the chagrin of PlayStation owners, but surely good guy Phil Spencer wouldn’t deprive a massive, healthy platform of one of the most anticipated games of all time? Well, that’s exactly what Microsoft is going to do. That’s according to a new interview with the Xbox boss at GQ, which makes it plain as day that Elder Scrolls 6 will act as a kind of cudgel against Sony’s console market dominance. PC Gamer
Russia has responded after the US accused it of having endangered astronauts by triggering an explosion in space. It said that it had conducted a test of an anti-satellite weapon, which involved destroying an old and long-defunct Soviet satellite. But it denied that the test had ever put anyone in danger. It followed accusations from the US that the explosion had led to a vast debris field, with hundreds of thousands of pieces of satellite that could have collided with the International Space Station. Independent
Google created a task force to deter Android users from downloading the popular game Fortnite outside of its Play Store, Epic Games alleged in an unredacted court filing made public on Monday. The move helped Google lock in fees from the game but contradicted the idea of Android being an “open” platform, according to the legal filing from Epic, which makes Fortnite. Epic has sued Google and Apple and accused them of operating monopolies by levying 30 per cent fees on in-app purchases. Epic lost on most counts against Apple, but won its claim seeking the right for developers to give users other payment options. FT
Workers at Amazon’s warehouses in California were left “terrified” and “powerless” as the company concealed COVID-19 outbreaks from them, according to the state’s attorney general. The company has been ordered to pay a $500,000 (£370,000) fine to the State of California for failing to adequately notify its staff and health agencies of case numbers. Officials in California will monitor Amazon to ensure that it is complying with state laws that require it notifies workers about new COVID-19 cases. Sky News
