Daily archive

Tech News for Wednesday, October 21, 2026

143 stories from 40 outlets. Times show when each story first broke, in UTC.

Top stories

Jason Schreier · Bloomberg Technology17 sources

Electronic Arts shuts down BioWare, creator of Mass Effect and Dragon Age, cancels the next Mass Effect and cuts about 3% of its workforce

Electronic Arts has shut down BioWare, the studio behind Mass Effect, Dragon Age and KOTOR, just months after EA was acquired by a private equity consortium. The closure cancels the next Mass Effect and comes alongside cuts of about 3% of EA's workforce, roughly 400 jobs.

Also covered by The Verge, Ars Technica, CNET, Engadget, Mashable Tech

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Business 35

Gadgets 20

AI 16

Startups 11

Security 9

Big Tech 8

Science 6

Everything else 33

Tom Warren · The Verge4 sources

Xbox Cloud Gaming’s pay-as-you-go option starts at $3.99 for 10 hours

Microsoft announced last month that it will let anyone access Xbox Cloud Gaming in November, without the need to subscribe to Xbox Game Pass. The new pay-as-you-go model will require players to purchase bundles of cloud hours, and now Microsoft is revealing today that bundles will start at $3.99 for 10 hours of cloud playtime. […]

Also covered by Ars Technica, 9to5Google, Engadget

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Justine Calma · The Verge2 sources

Texas data center boom could erase decades of progress on air quality

<p>Article URL: <a href="https://www.texastribune.org/2026/10/20/data-centers-texas-air-quality-report-pollution-health-risks/">https://www.texastribune.org/2026/10/20/data-centers-texas-air-quality-report-pollution-health-risks/</a></p> <p>Comments URL: <a href="https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50184712">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50184712</a></p> <p>Points: 15</p> <p># Comments: 2</p>

Also covered by Hacker News

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Bloomberg Technology

AI Will Become A Commodity Over Time: Namburi

Madhu Namburi, managing director, co-head of creation fund at General Catalyst, joins Dani Burger on "Bloomberg Deals." They discuss how AI is affecting dealmaking and investments. (Source: Bloomberg)

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Tom Warren · The Verge

Xbox mandates a four-day return to office

Microsoft asked its employees to return to the office three days per week last year, and it's now upping this requirement to four days a week for most Xbox employees. An internal memo, seen by The Verge, describes the change as a "need to create more opportunities for people to work together" after feedback from […]

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