Fans of “Kim Kardashian: Hollywood,” a mobile game shuttering in April, are heartbroken, per The Wall Street Journal.

Glu Mobile (acquired by Electronic Arts in 2021) launched the game in 2014. Players control a custom avatar whose goal is to book gigs, go on dates, and otherwise increase their Hollywood clout to A-list status.

• The game was a hit, raking in $74.3m in its first six months, and a loyal fanbase of long term players.
• WSJ spoke to some who’d spent years spending in-game currency (which cost real money) on their avatars’ dream homes, private jets, designer fashions, and more.
• Players are circulating and signing online petitions to save their beloved app.

But Kardashian, once deeply involved in the game’s creation, wants to focus on her “other passions.”

Sure, it’s not real life…

… but people get attached to virtual worlds, whether it’s an “Animal Crossing” village or “Minecraft” city, a massively multiplayer online (MMO) game, or a metaverse space.

• One study found that people’s feelings of affection for digital places can be even stronger than for their real homes
• Another survey found online gaming communities can foster friendships just as important as those IRL.

Yet many have shut down leaving nothing behind, including MMOs “City of Heroes” and “Star Wars Galaxies” and Microsoft’s social platform, “AltspaceVR.”

And with the rise of cloud gaming and AI…

… we’re apt to see more of it.

An Ubisoft exec recently spoke about a consumer shift where gamers should get “comfortable” not owning their games, the way people now rely on streaming services over physical media for music, TV, and movies.

But that’s also led to the loss of certain media as streamers pull shows that, unlike series of yore, have no DVD boxset.

At the same time, people have become attached to AI companions:

• Replika users were dismayed when a software update changed their companions’ personalities.
• Soulmate and Forever Voices users were upset to lose their AI companions when the platforms shut down.

In an increasingly online and AI-powered world, the question remains as to what responsibility, if any, companies have to users who build a world and relationships, only to have them vanish.

The Motorola Razr. The Blackberry. The iPhone — for each generation there was an iconic phone that was the pinnacle of cool.

But is it possible that Gen Z’s phone of choice could be the humble landline?

While young people certainly aren’t tossing their smartphones into the sea, there has been a surging interest in the outdated tech, per The Guardian.

And that’s pretty ironic considering the landline has been slowly going extinct, according to data from The Washington Post:

• Back in 2010, 63% had both wireless and landline phones.
• By 2022, 73% of American adults lived in a home without a landline.
• ~1% of adults in the US only use landlines. Adults 65 and older are the only group in which homes with landlines outpace those with wireless phones.

Responding to the steady downturn, major phone service companies are inching closer to nixing landlines — AT&T attempted to cut their service entirely in California.

Keeping the cord

Despite all that, some Gen Zers are buying old-school landlines as novelty items and, sometimes, as escapes from reality and the internet.

This isn’t the first time the generation has taken interest in retro tech: we’ve written about Gen Z’s penchant for Y2K nostalgia, from T9 texting and point-and-shoot cameras to Juicy Couture sweatsuits.

Since landlines aren’t the most practical choice, we have to assume this is a fleeting phase, and the corded dinosaurs will likely be relegated to antique store shelves.

But for now, we hope Gen Z gets a taste of stretching a landline cord all the way to their room to try to have a private conversation.

If you aren’t a Salt Bae fan, this probably won’t curry favor. Chef Bae turned viral videos into ostentatious restaurants in cities like London, Dubai, and NYC that cater to the uber-wealthy — and seems to do it well, given they turned a $4.2m profit last year. But here’s a strange juxtaposition: the Turkish butcher’s London hotspot, which sells a $856 steak, is also skimping on heating for its patrons and employees. The luxury purveyor says it shuts off its central heat “to improve energy efficiency,” but critics are calling BS, saying it’s another nickel-and-diming move by a chain whose staff is already angry over alleged tip theft.

Machine Gun Kelly has more ink than an HP OfficeJet Pro. The rapper unveiled a massive (like, “it takes up most of his torso” massive) new tattoo that apparently took 44 needles to complete — and covers much of the ink he already had. The buzzworthy piece was completed by tattoo artist Roxx, who specializes in blackwork and whose client list also includes Ricky Martin and Rosie O’Donnell. Want to add yourself to that roster? Be warned: an initial consultation with Roxx runs $499/hour.

We’re guessing your middle school didn’t have a $500k+ esports lab (ours didn’t either). Tallahassee’s R. Frank Nims Middle School is about to leave other schools in the dust, as it’s soon to add a gamer’s paradise to its campus, equipped with a 100-inch flat-screen TV, computers, two PlayStation 5 consoles, and ~$50k worth of gamer chairs. Florida taxpayers who financed the half-million dollar project surely won’t be mad about a thing once assured it’s all for the kids — many Nims students have reported that esports class is their favorite, which, respectfully, no shit.

If you see a giant banana peel on the tarmac, blame Spirit Airlines. The budget airline has been in a bind since a judge nixed its $3.8B merger with JetBlue, but Spirit found one teammate it won’t be forcibly removed from: Universal Studios Hollywood. The two brands partnered on the first-ever Super Nintendo World airplane, which sounds exciting, but is truly just a standard Airbus A320 with a picture of Mario slapped on its side. So cool.