The current-gen version of ‘The Witcher 3’ is now slated to arrive in late 2022

The long-awaited PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S version of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt once again has a release window. The new edition, which is also coming to PC, is expected to arrive in the last three months of the year, according to CD Projekt Red. It will be a free upgrade for those who own the respective last-gen version on PC, PS4 or Xbox One.

The news comes a month after CD Projekt Red delayed the current-gen version of the game indefinitely. Its in-house team took over development of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt — Complete Edition from Saber Interactive (which handled the Nintendo Switch port of the base game) around that time. Now, presumably after assessing how much work needs to be done, CDPR is confident it can get the upgraded version out this year.

The studio announced the PS5 and Xbox Series X/S edition in September 2020 and it initially planned to release it the following year. However, CDPR pushed back the launch window to the second quarter of 2022 before the most recent delay.

Developers should always get as much time as possible to polish a game and squish as many bugs as they can anyway, but after the disastrous launch of Cyberpunk 2077, CD Projekt Red doesn’t have much room for error. It released the (very good) current-gen edition of Cyberpunk 2077 in February. Here’s hoping the upgrade for The Witcher 3 is worth the wait too.

Netflix rolls out a new discovery feature for kids

Picking out something new to watch from Netflix’s slew of kid’s titles can be overwhelming, for both parents and children. And sometimes kids are just indecisive. But the streaming service’s new “Mystery Box” feature on Netflix Kids — available today —…

Android 13 will have native support for braille displays

Android already has some accommodations for typing in braille, but Google is taking that one (important) step further with Android 13. As hinted at I/O, Android 13 will begin offering “out-of-the-box” support for braille displays through the platform’s Talkback screen reader. You won’t have to download the BrailleBack app to use physical input instead of the virtual keyboard.

You’ll have access to “many” of Talkback’s features, whether it’s navigating the interface or shortcuts for common tasks like sending text messages. New shortcuts are aimed specifically at braille displays, such as jumping to the next line in a document or copying text.

Braille display support will first arrive in the next Android 13 beta, due “in a few weeks.” The move will help people with blindness use their phones without using voice commands, and could make smartphones far more viable for people with deafblindness that can’t rely on audio cues.

Gatik is bringing its self-driving box trucks to Kansas

Autonomous vehicle startup Gatik says it will start using its self-driving box trucks in Kansas as it expands to more territories. Governor Laura Kelly last week signed a bill that makes it legal for self-driving vehicles to run on public roads under certain circumstances.

Following a similar effort in Arkansas, Gatik says it and its partner Walmart worked with legislators and stakeholders to “develop and propose legislation that prioritizes the safe and structured introduction of autonomous vehicles in the state.” Before Gatik’s trucks hit Kansas roads, the company says it will provide training to first responders and law enforcement.

Gatik claims that, since it started commercial operations three years ago, it has maintained a clean safety record in Arkansas, Texas, Louisiana and Ontario, Canada. It still has a safety driver at the wheel in some jurisdictions. Last August, Walmart started making fully driverless deliveries with Gatik trucks in Arkansas, albeit on a fixed loop.

What we bought: Our favorite small kitchen essentials

While we at Engadget are blessed with a passion for cooking, most of us are not blessed with spacious kitchens. But that doesn’t stop us – we use every inch of our tiny apartment kitchens as efficiently as possible. In doing so, we’ve found that some o…

1Password knocks 50 percent off Personal and Family plans

We don’t have to tell you how frustrating it can be when you forget your username or password at a critical moment. But investing in a password manager can help you avoid those scenarios all together. 1Password is one of our favorites and the company is running a rare sale right now that knocks 50 percent off Personal and Family plans. The Personal plan is built for one user and is down to $1.50 per month, or about $18 when billed annually. The Family plan that can support up to five users is on sale for $2.50 per month, which comes out to $30 per year.

Subscribe to 1Password starting at $1.50/month

If you’re unfamiliar with how password managers work, they securely hold all off your login information and you only have to remember one master password to get into your account. While signed in, 1Password will fill in the appropriate credentials as you visit online stores, social media sites and more. Arguably the easiest way 1Password does this is via its many browser extensions, which recognize the sites you’re visiting and automatically plug in the proper usernames and passwords when you’re prompted to log in. And you’ll be able to do the same thing across all of your devices thanks to 1Password’s Mac, iOS, Windows, Android, Linux and Chrome apps.

You’re also able to save more than just password credentials to your 1Password vault, including credit card information, documents and more. And when you’re signing up for a new site or service, 1Password can help you make stronger passwords from the get go, so you don’t end up using a slightly tweaked version of the same old phrase again. 1Password also has a handy feature called Watchtower, which can automatically alert if any of your credentials may have appeared in data breaches, or if you have duplicate passwords saved to your vault. 

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Epic Game Store sale includes huge discounts for ‘Final Fantasy’ and ‘Far Cry’

Epic is betting that you’re looking for games to keep you entertained this summer. The Epic Games Store is running a “Mega Sale” from today (May 19th) through June 16th that offers significant discounts on a host of PC games, including a few recent blockbusters. Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade is 29 percent off, while the open-world shooter Far Cry 6 is a whopping 50 percent off. Bethesda’s recently launched Ghostwire: Tokyo is on sale for the first time at 34 percent off, while Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands and the tough brawler Sifu both see 20 percent drops.

The deals are effectively larger than that. Every Epic Games account is receiving a 25 percent coupon that applies to any full-game purchases worth at least $15 after any other discounts, including the heftier ones mentioned above. You’ll get a coupon after each transaction, too. The sale doesn’t apply to add-ons, in-game content or non-game software.

The promo will dovetail with four weekly giveaways for “tentpole” games. You won’t have to pay a thing to get at least something out of the Mega Sale, then, even if Epic is clearly hoping you’ll buy something else while you’re downloading your free titles.

Sony details ‘God of War: Ragnarok’ accessibility features

Sony has been putting a bigger emphasis on accessibility in its first-party PlayStation games over the last few years with the inclusion of extensive options in the likes of The Last of Us: Part II, Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart and Horizon Forbidden West. When it eventually arrives, God of War: Ragnarok will be no exception. To mark Global Accessibility Awareness Day, Sony has detailed some of the options.

“Not only have we redesigned our UI to allow for more flexibility and readability, but we have also rebuilt controller remapping from the ground up and added more customization to our combat and interaction systems,” Santa Monica Studio lead UX designer Mila Pavlin wrote in a PlayStation Blog post. “We have retained all our accessibility features from 2018’s God of War and expanded upon them to include more than 60 ways to adjust gameplay to best suit your style and needs.”

Among the settings is a customizable high-contrast mode. Players will be able to add a color layer to characters, targets, enemies and various items to make them stand out from the background. You’ll be able to adjust the individual colors for each category and desaturate the background to help make the objects more visible. Pavlin notes that the visibility of traversal paint (perhaps referring to the environmental markers that show players where to go) and special effects can be enhanced in this mode too.

Some of the accessibility options added to the PC version of God of War will be included in the sequel. Those include auto sprint, an always-on reticle (which can reduce motion sickness by providing a persistent focal point) and a way to toggle aiming and blocking.

Subtitles and captions are being upgraded with more size and color display options and a way to blur the background behind the text box. There will be expanded captions for sound effects and directional indicators for critical gameplay information, including for puzzles that have sound cues.

The features also include settings for other UI text elements and icon sizes, in-depth controller remapping (including the ability to set shortcuts for more complex moves on the touchpad) and traversal assistance. A new feature for the God of War series, and one that’s been included in games elsewhere, is a way to reorient Kratos toward the next story objective while not in combat with the press of a button.

These are just some of the accessibility settings that will be included in the game. “We can’t wait to tell you details about our other categories of accessibility features like combat/aim assists, puzzle/minigame assists, HUD adjustments, camera tuning, auto pick up and much more,” Pavlin wrote.

To underline how important the accessibility features are, Sony has revealed them before even announcing the God of War: Raganrok release date. It’s expected to arrive on PS4 and PS5 this year. Showing the accessibility options now suggests those are at least close to being finished. Hopefully, that means Sony won’t have to delay the game again.

In the meantime, Sony has released an audio description version of the God of War: Raganrok reveal trailer from last year’s PlayStation Showcase. If you’re interested, you’ll need to go to YouTube to watch it due to the age restriction settings.