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Netflix is bringing back Stranger Things: Puzzle Tales with new gameplay

Netflix is bringing the Stranger Things: Puzzle Tales game to its platform with new gameplay based on the content from Season 4 of the show. Users will be able to play as new characters features in Season 4 in this no-ads game as the company continues its push toward gaming.
Users have to solve puzzles in this game to beat enemies like Demogorgons and other supernatural monsters. In the process, they can collect up to 50 versions of characters from the show. The company describes the game’s graphics as “nostalgic 1980s Saturday morning cartoon art style.”

Stranger Things: Puzzle Tales was first released in 2021 and it was removed from the App Store and Play Store in August after Netflix acquired the game’s publisher for $72 million. At that time, the streaming service announced that it is working on revamping the game and moving it to Netflix exclusively.
Users can download the updated game starting today using this link. This release of the title joins other Stranger Things games like Stranger Things: 1984 and Stranger Things 3: The Game.
The game also builds on Netflix’s efforts to let fans engage with the show in various ways. Earlier this year, the streaming company partnered with Reddit for Stranger Things-based customized avatars and teamed up with Spotify for personalized playlists.
At TechCrunch Disrupt, the company’s VP for gaming Mike Verdu said that Netflix is exploring avenues to get into cloud gaming. He added that the streaming giant is also opening its second gaming studio in California after establishing its first studio in Helsinki in August. The company also launched game handles that can be used across exclusive titles in September.
While the company is putting a lot of effort into making gaming a success, it hasn’t seen stellar results. According to a report from Apptopia published in August, Netflix games were only averaging 1.7 million daily users. During its Q3 2022 earnings, the company announced that it now has 223 million subscribers.
Netflix is bringing back Stranger Things: Puzzle Tales with new gameplay by Ivan Mehta originally published on TechCrunch
Netflix is bringing back Stranger Things: Puzzle Tales with new gameplay

Elon guts Twitter, Google shutters Hangouts, and the tech layoffs continue

Hey, all — welcome back to Week in Review, the newsletter where we sum up the most read TechCrunch stories from the past week. And oof, what a week it was.
Want this newsletter in your inbox every Saturday? Sign up here. Signed up? Let’s just dive right in.
most read
Mass layoffs at Twitter: It was Elon’s first full week as the boss of Twitter post-$44 billion acquisition. Sweeping layoffs were said to be on the way — and, well, they’ve begun. After a painfully impersonal heads-up email went out Thursday evening, entire teams are waking up to find their access suddenly revoked. With reports suggesting layoffs could impact up to half the company, Twitter employees have reportedly taken to referring to the whole thing as “the snap” (à la Thanos). A class action lawsuit has already been filed alleging that Twitter isn’t following the proper legal processes here.
Layoffs everywhere: Meanwhile, news of tech industry layoffs continues to pour in. Lyft let go of 13% of its workforce, Stripe cut 14%, Opendoor reduced its workforce by 18%, Chime parted ways with 12%, and more. Meanwhile, both Apple and Amazon have reportedly gone into hiring freezes.
Google kills Hangouts: We knew it was coming, but this week Google put the final nail in Hangouts’ coffin, shutting down the chat-focused web app (the Hangouts Android/iOS apps were shuttered last year) in favor of Google Chat. Of course, given Google’s history with chat apps, I expect at least two more to be launched and/or shuttered by the time I finish this newsletter.
Falcon Heavy returns to space: This week SpaceX launched its Falcon Heavy rocket for the first time since 2019, finally moving forward on a mission that had been delayed (“due to payload readiness issues”) since late 2020.
Amazon expands its Music service: “The company said it will now offer Prime subscribers a full music catalog with 100 million songs, instead of the previously more limited selection of just 2 million songs,” writes Sarah, “and will make most of the top podcasts on its service available without ads.”
audio roundup
Whats up in TC podcast land this week? Here’s some of the highlights:
The Equity crew chatted about the ever-evolving role of the venture capitalist, and our friend Melia Russell from Business Insider stopped by to fill us in on her recent story about how “investors are rewriting the playbooks when it comes to maternity leave policies at their firms.”
Amanda joined Darrell on the TC Podcast to discuss Elon’s “questionable plans” to change up how identity verification works on Twitter
The Chain Reaction team dive into the growing list of troubles that have developed for Bitcoin miners in the last few months.
techcrunch+
Not a part of TechCrunch+ yet? Here’s what TC+ members were reading most behind the paywall:
Pilot’s CEO tears down their $60 million Series C deck: Published in early 2021, this one blew up for some reason this week! Just a few weeks after raising a big Series C, Pilot CEO Waseem Daher sat down with Lucas Matney to break down what worked about their pitch deck.
The most common pitch deck mistakes: Speaking of pitch decks, TC’s resident pitch expert, Haje Jan Kamps, has a list of the mistakes he’s tired of seeing in decks, having reviewed thousands of them.
Elon guts Twitter, Google shutters Hangouts, and the tech layoffs continue by Greg Kumparak originally published on TechCrunch
Elon guts Twitter, Google shutters Hangouts, and the tech layoffs continue

Roku drops ~19% as it braces for a bumpy fourth quarter

As advertisers pull back on spending and supply chain disruptions persist, investors have braced themselves for an unpleasant quarter for Roku. And investors are probably right to be worried.
Roku released its fiscal third-quarter earnings results on Wednesday, revealing that it is still experiencing slow growth in revenue in a continuously challenging environment. The company also warned investors of a weak fourth quarter, telling shareholders it expects total net revenue of about $800 million, or a 7.5% decline year over year. Roku shares dropped nearly 19% in after-hours trading once investors saw the fourth-quarter guidance.
“As we enter the holiday season, we expect the macro environment to further pressure consumer discretionary spend and degrade advertising budgets, especially in the TV scatter market. We expect these conditions to be temporary, but it is difficult to predict when they will stabilize or rebound. We, therefore, anticipate Q4 Player revenue and Platform revenue to be lower year over year,” the company wrote in its letter to shareholders.
And while Roku reported a total net revenue that beat expectations, the results are still much lower than in the past. Roku noted that its total revenue grew 12% year over year to $761 million, above its own expectation of $700 million. Analysts predicted Roku’s total revenue to reach $696 million this quarter.
“Platform revenue grew 15% year over year, which was lower than our historical growth rates but positive given the difficult macro environment. Advertising spend on our platform continues to grow more slowly than our beginning-of-year forecast due to current weakness in the overall TV ad market, and the ad scatter market in particular,” the company said.

Roku points finger at advertising slowdown for missing the mark on quarterly results

Roku missed revenue expectations last quarter and reported a total net revenue of $764 million, which was $41 million less than Wall Street’s expectations. The company blamed the slowdown in TV ad spending for missing the mark.
Meanwhile, the company also reported a net addition of 2.3 million incremental active accounts in Q3, bringing the total to 65.4 million, up from 61.3 million active accounts in the second quarter. Roku also had total streaming hours of 21.9 billion, up 1.1 billion from last quarter.
Its free streaming service, The Roku Channel, saw a jump in streaming hours of 90% year-over-year.
Roku continues to invest in The Roku Channel. Just this past month, the company launched the streaming service in Mexico, which marked a significant move for the service. Previously, The Roku Channel was only available in the U.S., the U.K. and Canada.
The Roku Channel also launched 14 new linear channels through its Live TV Guide and added Paramount+ as a new premium subscription option.
Roku tries to be smart(er)
Roku made a bold move last month by stepping into the connected home space with the launch of various smart home devices. The Roku Smart Home lineup includes security cameras, video doorbells, smart lights and voice-enabled smart plugs.
With Google and Amazon already in the smart home market, it’s likely Roku doesn’t anticipate becoming the first choice for consumers. Still, it makes sense for the company to monetize the smart home experience to the many consumers that already have Roku smart TVs in their homes.
During a conference call with reporters, Roku chief financial officer Steve Louden said: “Expanding into the smart home ecosystem is a natural extension for Roku. Obviously, we’re a leading TV streaming platform, and smart TV is usually at the center of someone’s smart household. It’s a good extension to leverage our existing 65 million active accounts.”
The company added in its letter that it’s still “early days,” but Roku has the “necessary technology and expertise in hardware, software, and connectivity to deliver a smart home ecosystem that is simple, powerful, and delightful.”
Roku also recently launched the 2022 version of the Roku Express streaming player, a Roku Wireless Bass, as well as its software update, Roku OS 11.5, which includes new features like a universal watch list, a “continue watching” feature and a discovery hub that features short-form content.

Roku dives into smart home market with security cameras, video doorbells, smart lights and more

Roku drops ~19% as it braces for a bumpy fourth quarter by Lauren Forristal originally published on TechCrunch
Roku drops ~19% as it braces for a bumpy fourth quarter

Twitter CMO is the latest to leave in a string of exec departures

Twitter CMO Leslie Berland is the latest executive leaving the social network, just days into its Elon Musk era, Bloomberg and the New York Times report. Citing unnamed sources, Bloomberg also writes that Jean-Philippe Maheu, the vice president of global client solutions, is leaving the company.
Berland hasn’t said anything publicly about the job change yet, other than tweeting out a simple blue heart emoji.

— Leslie Berland (@leslieberland) November 1, 2022

Despite the tweet’s brevity, it seems to have been signal enough to usher in a flood of responses, including other Twitter employees sending blue heart emojis right back. A VP of product quote tweeted Berland’s tweet and added that “it’s not hyperbolic to say that no one had a bigger impact on Twitter the service — and Twitter the company. She always had your back, she always listened, she always did right, and she made Twitter ‘what’s happening.’”
Berland’s LinkedIn and Twitter bios haven’t been updated to reflect any job change. TechCrunch reached out to Berland prior to publishing for comment but did not immediately hear back.
Berland’s reported departure comes over a decade after they first joined the company — and continues a string of departures that were announced today, including chief consumer officer Sarah Personette and chief people and diversity officer Dalana Brand.
As my colleague Amanda Silberling noted, the cohort of Twitter’s pre-Musk executives still at the company is getting smaller and smaller. Jay Sullivan, Twitter’s head of product, deleted the bio on his Twitter account, which previously denoted his role at the company. The previous head of product, Kayvon Beykpour, was let go by former CEO Parag Agrawal in May. Agrawal himself, along with CFO Ned Segal, general counsel Sean Edgett and Head of Legal Policy, Trust and Safety Vijaya Gadde were let go on Thursday when Musk took over.
Current and former Twitter employees can reach out to Natasha Mascarenhas at natasha.m@techcrunch.com, or Signal, a secure messaging app, at (925) 271 0912.

Twitter CMO is the latest to leave in a string of exec departures by Natasha Mascarenhas originally published on TechCrunch
Twitter CMO is the latest to leave in a string of exec departures

Google gets into the Halloween spirit with a ghostly multiplayer interactive Doodle

If you want to take a break from work or the never-ending news cycle, Google is here to give you an escape. The search giant has launched a new Halloween-themed playable Doodle that opens up to a Snake-like game that you can play with your friends or random players from around the world.
The goal of the game is to collect as many wandering spirit flames as you can in two minutes and return them to their homebase. After time’s up, the team that has collected the most spirit flames wins. Here’s the catch: opponents can intercept spirits from one another as they bring them back to homebase. Ghosts that collect the most spirit flames will also unlock special powers, such as speed boosts and night vision.
You can host a game and invite up to seven friends to play with you via a custom invitation link or choose to play with randomized players. Google says the team that developed the Doodle built several systems to enable this multiplayer gaming, all running on the Google Cloud Platform. The team utilized Open Match, which is an open source matchmaking framework co-founded by Google Cloud and Unity.
Google often uses its Doodles to commemorate historical dates and figures, but sometimes uses the feature to add a bit of fun when it comes to holidays. The new multiplayer Doodle is the sequel to Google’s “Great Ghoul Duel Doodle” from 2018. The 2022 version includes new characters, game maps, special power-ups and more.
Google gets into the Halloween spirit with a ghostly multiplayer interactive Doodle by Aisha Malik originally published on TechCrunch
Google gets into the Halloween spirit with a ghostly multiplayer interactive Doodle