In context: Riot Games launched its new 5v5 shooter Valorant into closed beta last week. Several prominent Twitch personalities were tapped to show off the game in their streams. Viewers watching these specific broadcasts had the chance to get an invite to the beta.

Starting today, Riot Games is letting anyone streaming Valorant on Twitch to drop beta keys. The developer is clearly trying to increase hype around the new shooter by allowing more players into the beta and is confident enough that it has increased the load of its test servers

In brief: Gamers that hoped at least one major gaming convention would be free from the grasp of Covid-19 received some disappointing news today. Germany's Gamescom 2020 will not be taking place as usual -- indeed, for all intents and purposes, the physical event has effectively been canceled.

While the future of the annual Germany-based event has been uncertain for a while, it was tentatively set to move forward in August as planned, with organizers hoping the Covid-19 pandemic

Why it matters: When it comes to online multiplayer gaming, nobody likes a cheater, not even cheaters. Whether using external software to enhance their performance or just to troll other players, these unscrupulous players ruin the game for everyone. As such, game developers are always working on new ways to detect and thwart these types of programs.

Riot Games' new team shooter Valorant has an anti-cheat system called "Vanguard" that has raised some security concerns. When the game launches, the Vanguard client loads with it

Why it matters: Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick confirmed during a recent interview with CNBC’s Squawk Box that all of his company employees have been given his personal phone number and are encouraged to call him with any concerns about healthcare. It's a gesture of goodwill that no doubt helped ease tensions a bit although I'm not so sure that having the CEO field questions all day is the best use of his time.

Mind you, Activision Blizzard has around 10,000 employees on its payroll

Editor's take: Apple's new iPhone SE looks to be a solid alternative for those seeking a modern iPhone on a budget, so long as the dated iPhone 8 design with large bezels, the single camera and a lack of Face ID doesn't bother you too much.

Apple on Wednesday announced its long-rumored second generation iPhone SE . A follow-up to the 2016 handset by the same name (SE standing for Special Edition), the new iPhone SE features a unique blend

Rumor mill: It’s unclear when another Switch will arrive, but when it does, there’s a chance it’ll feature two screens. References to a new model of the console were discovered in the Switch’s latest firmware update, which also mentions its secondary display.

The discovery was made by vulnerability researcher Mike Heskin, who searched through the Switch’s 10.0.0 firmware update and tweeted the highlights of his findings.

The 10.0.0 update introduces several new

The big picture: Apps like Zoom and Houseparty have exploded in popularity over the past month as Covid-19 stay-at-home mitigation efforts sweep the globe. The real question, however, is what's going to happen to these apps when life goes back to normal.

Houseparty , for example, realized 50 million new signups over the past month – a jump of around 70x its normal usage in some markets according to co-founder and CEO Sima Sistani. In Apple’s US

In brief: Sharks and the Apple Watch are quite popular among swimmers for their own reasons, and if Cupertino has its way, a future model of the smartwatch could arrive with sensors to detect sharks and monitor users' health in underwater environments.

A patent filed by Apple in 2016 and published recently by the USPTO reveals that the Apple Watch could soon get more health-related capabilities, in addition to the ECG and fall detection feature added in recent models.

Series 6 of the popular wearable is already expected