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Premier League football club Manchester United has filed a lawsuit against Sega and Sports Interactive, the publisher and developer respectively of Football Manager.

The football club is unhappy with how its name, badge, and overall trademark has been used in the game without its consent, despite appearing in Football Manager for decades. According to The Guardian, Manchester United’s attorney is also seeking to add player-made mods to the lawsuit, in light of how it claims Sega and Sports Interactive encourage players to use them to recreate clubs in the game.

In a counterargument, Sega claimed that the lawsuit by Manchester United intends to “prevent legitimate competition in the video games field by preventing parties not licensed by the claimant from using the name of the Manchester United football team within such games”. It also argues the validity of a lawsuit that seeks to prevent the use of the name “Manchester United” in any context without the authority of the trademark holder.

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Author: Alessandro Barbosa

For nearly 20 years, Frogwares has been the premier developer of games based on Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes. Following the release of 2019’s The Sinking City, an open-world adventure game inspired by H.P. Lovecraft, the developer jumped straight to work on its follow-up–this time bringing their most well-known character back to his roots in a large setting to explore. In an exclusive with GameSpot, the developers at Frogwares have revealed that is developing and self-publishing Sherlock Holmes: Chapter One, a prequel that will focus on the early exploits of the gentleman sleuth.

Set for release in 2021 for PC, PS4, Xbox One, and next-gen consoles, Sherlock Holmes: Chapter One takes cues from The Sinking City, bringing players into an explorable open-world city filled with characters to meet, disguises to wear, and mysteries to solve. Set in the early years of the detective’s career, the game casts you as a 21-year-old Sherlock Holmes who returns to his Mediterranean island hometown following his mother’s death. After reacquainting himself with the island, his family manor, and the enigmatic companion Jonathan–who is definitely not Watson–he’ll discover that the town has got some secrets, and he’ll use his budding yet still brilliant detective skills to uncover a larger conspiracy at work.

Before the reveal, I spoke with Frogwares producer and community manager Sergey Oganesyan and lead feature designer Yaroslav Martyniuk about what’s to come in the next Sherlock Holmes game. As a prequel, Chapter One is set many years before the detective’s other cases in games like Crime and Punishment and The Devil’s Daughter. Similar to Batman: Year One, Chapter One reframes the early years of the detective and his world, doubling as a prequel to the narrative arc from Frogwares’ previous Sherlock games, and a gateway for newcomers to jump into the series.

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Author: Alessandro Fillari

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Zoom has temporarily disabled the integration of GIF platform Giphy in its chat feature, the company said in a blog post. “Once additional technical and security measures have been deployed, we will re-enable the feature.” Zoom didn’t offer any specifics beyond that on Giphy’s removal.

The company mentioned the change as part of its latest list of security updates to the platform, which also includes limits on screen sharing, changes to muting and unmuting functions, and restrictions on logging in to meetings from multiple devices (for meetings that require registration).

The move comes a few days after Facebook acquired Giphy for over $300 million, with plans to integrate it into Instagram. How that acquisition will affect Giphy…

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Author: Kim Lyons

Camel spiders and giant hornets and shimmering butterflies, oh my. An arachnologist gives a behind-the-scenes tour at the California Academy of Sciences.
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Author: Matt Simon

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Wikipedia plans to crack down on harassment and other “toxic” behavior with a new code of conduct. The Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees, which oversees Wikipedia among other projects, voted on Friday to adopt a more formal moderation process. The foundation will draft the details of that process by the end of 2020, and until then, it’s tasked with enforcing stopgap anti-harassment policies.

“Harassment, toxic behavior, and incivility in the Wikimedia movement are contrary to our shared values and detrimental to our vision and mission,” said the board in a statement. “The board does not believe we have made enough progress toward creating welcoming, inclusive, harassment-free spaces in which people can contribute productively and…

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Author: Adi Robertson

This is a great week to revisit some games you may have already played. Mortal Kombat 11 is getting an action-packed epilogue with the Aftermath expansion, and Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition has new story content on Nintendo Switch as well. That’s not the only game making a comeback on Switch, either. 2K is launching a trio of big game bundles: BioShock: The Collection, the Borderlands Legendary Collection, and the XCOM 2 Collection. The adventure continues in Minecraft Dungeons and Shantae and the Seven Sirens too.

Mortal Kombat 11: Aftermath — May 26

Available on: PS4, Xbox One, PC, Switch

Aftermath picks up right where the story left off, with Liu Kang setting out to create a new timeline. A new timeline is a great place to introduce new characters, and MK 11 is adding Fujin, Sheeva, and even Robocop, voiced by original actor Peter Weller. If you don’t want to spend money on the new story and characters, good news: May 26 is also when a free update drops for all players. This adds new stages and brings back Friendships.

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Author: Tony Wilson

With the right precautions in place, going to the polls isn’t so dangerous.
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Author: Gilad Edelman

The last time a rocket launched from US soil, nearly one million people gathered to watch | Photo by Carla Cioffi/NASA via Getty Images

Ahead of this week’s launch of SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spacecraft, NASA is working to keep the enduring threat of COVID-19 at bay during the historic launch. To protect its astronauts, ground crew, and potential visitors, NASA has adjusted their approach to this highly anticipated event. If successful, the launch will not only break the US’s nine-year drought of crewed launches to the ISS, but it will also make history as the first time a private spacecraft has carried people into orbit.

“We’re taking extra precautions,” said Steve Stich, deputy manager of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, during a press call this month. On the ground, the agency is introducing temperature checks and physical distancing at Mission Control.

A successful…

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Author: Nicole Wetsman

Robert Crippen is the only living NASA astronaut to have flown on a new spacecraft for the first time. The Crew Dragon flyers will join his elite club this week.
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Author: Daniel Oberhaus

Fraudsters have found yet another way to take advantage of the pandemic.
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Author: Lily Hay Newman