Sean Hollister

Senior Editor

Sean is a senior editor at The Verge, a very good website he helped found in 2011. He thrives at the intersection of gaming, technology, and toys, with a side of consumer advocacy because companies just can’t help themselves, can they? Sean previously led breaking news teams at The Verge and CNET and the reviews program at Gizmodo. He also has that voice. (Contact me securely at Signal: seanhollister.01) Ethics statement, June 2023: Sean’s wife is employed by Apple as a video producer. He therefore does not currently report or edit stories about Apple products or Apple as a company.

Google Chrome is coming to Arm-powered Linux devices later this year

Sean HollisterMar 12

‘The era of bargain-priced PCs and tablets is behind us’: PC shipments expected to drop 11 percent.

IDC, Omdia, and Gartner agree: the PC market will shrink because of RAMaggedon. Respectively, they’re forecasting 11 percent, 12 percent, and 10 percent declines in 2026, far bigger than previously predicted.

“The sub-$500 entry-level PC segment will disappear by 2028,” Gartner said in late February. Phones will drop similarly. And these forecasts don’t include the impacts of Trump’s war on Iran.

Sean HollisterMar 12

Epic judge wants experts to weigh in on Google settlement.

Epic and Google are settling, but the US version of the plan still rests in Judge Donato’s hands. He’s asking for “friend of the court” briefs in early April, meaning it’ll be longer before he makes a decision.

Sean HollisterMar 11

Did Microsoft just announce classic Xbox games are coming to PC?

It’s not clear, and Microsoft VP Jason Ronald wouldn’t tell us in person, saying more info about the Game Preservation program is on the way. But his written remarks include the phrase: “we’ll be rolling out new ways to play some of the most iconic games from our past.” What new ways? Well, it appears PC-first development is “compatible with next-gen game preservation.”

A slide from an Xbox GDC 2026 presentation showing games that are part of game preservation.

Photo by Sean Hollister / The Verge

Microsoft’s ‘Xbox mode’ is coming to every Windows 11 PC

Sean HollisterMar 11

Microsoft’s next Xbox, Project Helix, won’t reach alpha until 2027

Jay Peters and Sean HollisterMar 11

Sean HollisterMar 11

Would you look at that: the original Xbox prototype.

We’d heard it was at the Game Developers Conference and here it is: the original metal X prototype, which predated the Bill Gates / The Rock stage reveal of the actual console. Also see a few other items from Xbox history in my quick gallery:

1/7Photos by Sean Hollister / The Verge

Sean HollisterMar 11

Microsoft says you should build next-gen Xbox games by building them for PC.

We’re in line for Microsoft’s keynote, but look what we spotted at its booth at GDC! “Cross-platform is the future of the Xbox ecosystem,” it writes. “Build for Xbox on PC.” Again, the future of Xbox is W.