Microsoft has filed a patent application for an AI system that can change what someone says in a live video and redraw their lips to match. The filing, US 2026/0341309 A1, was submitted in April 2025, published on October 29, 2026, and first spotted by patent tracker Patentlyze. In short, an AI agent scans the live audio and picks words to swap or remove based on rules and a viewer's profile, such as their age, languages, or location. A generative model then replaces those words in both the audio and video, reworks the frames around each edit and plays the result with a delay of roughly one to ten seconds. It could run locally on AR glasses, phones, tablets or cameras.

A separate claim covers live translation with matching lip movements, which is easily the most practical use. However, the filing also lists filler words, stutters, mispronounced or offensive words, and colloquial terms like "y'all" or "bite the bullet" as things to replace, and the new words can even come from an internet search. It mentions lectures, award shows, game shows, and live sports as examples. The original feed may be stored as "ground truth," but the main claim says nothing about telling viewers what was changed. Of course, Microsoft files plenty of patents that never become products, and the examiner has already rejected the claims as filed, which is routine at this stage. Sony has been busy with AI patents as well, ranging from frame generation to an AI that can play for distracted players.

World of Warcraft: Forever is now the biggest launch in WoW history by peak concurrent players, according to Blizzard. The official Warcraft account also says the game brought back the highest number of returning players the franchise has ever seen. Forever went live on November 4 for Windows and macOS, and it is included with a regular WoW subscription. Blizzard didn't share any actual numbers, so it's hard to say how big the lead is. Going by the claim, Forever beat every expansion launch, including Wrath of the Lich King, as well as WoW Classic in 2019. However, Blizzard never published peak concurrent figures for those launches either, so a direct comparison isn't possible.

The launch itself went far more smoothly than the beta, which had its population caps raised several times. Forever runs on large megaservers that span multiple regions instead of dozens of smaller realms, and many players reported short login queues or none at all. Blizzard's Holly Longdale summed it up on X as "so far so goodish." Developer Josh Greenfield admitted to a few problems, mainly with the boat and zeppelin service, and Blizzard added temporary portals while it prepares a proper fix. On Twitch, the WoW category reportedly peaked at around 1.12 million viewers during launch, per Streams Charts. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella had already called the Forever beta the largest in franchise history, and it looks like the launch has kept that momentum going.

Sony has been granted a US patent for a system that lets livestream viewers point things out on a streamer's screen and even change what happens in the game. Titled "Adaptive screen share pointer and reactions during gameplay," US 12752199 was filed in October 2023 and appears to have been issued on October 6. A viewer gets a cursor that shows up over the streamer's gameplay, and its look changes with the game being played. The patent gives examples like marking a boss's weak point or showing where to aim a shot. Viewers could also drop stickers on the screen, or send emoji reactions that the streamer feels as vibration through a controller, VR headset, or phone.

It goes further than pointing, however. The patent describes game actions reserved for viewers who aren't controlling the character, such as triggering a lever or revealing a hidden item, and publishers would define these through an SDK. Only one cursor may appear at a time, with control passed between viewers through a queue based on engagement points. Streamers could earn a virtual trophy from the reactions they receive, while viewers get tiered rewards of their own. Consoles from Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo are all listed as client devices.

Microsoft has introduced a handy new feature within the Windows 11 File Explorer application - an update was released last week (Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 23434), and it adds a Photo Gallery feature layer. It does not look too far removed from the operating system's standard photo/picture viewer, as well as the discontinued (as of 2012) Windows Photo Gallery app - although the latter offered a wide range of image organization, photo editing and photo sharing functionalities.

Microsoft's Amanda Langowski (Head of Insider Program) and Brandon LeBlanc (Senior Program Manager) go into further detail about the latest addition in an official Windows blog: "We are introducing Gallery, a new feature in File Explorer designed to make it easy to access your photo collection. The set of content shown in Gallery is the same as what you'll see in the All Photos view in the Photos app."