• Solider 76 is one of the original heroes of "Overwatch," the massively popular first-person shooter that debuted in May 2016.
• "Overwatch" creator Activision Blizzard recently released an official short story that describes a romantic relationship between Soldier 76 and a man named Vincent.
• The revelation was largely met with an enthusiastic response. 
• Solider 76 is the second "Overwatch" character to be identified as queer. Tracer, a British hero, was confirmed to be a lesbian in an official comic book from 2016.

A short story tie-in to one of the most popular games in the world revealed that one of the game's most recognizable characters is gay — generating an enthusiastic response from fans, many of whom had already suspected as much. 

On Monday, "Overwatch" creator Activision-Blizzard released the short story titled "Bastet," which focuses on two of the game's heroes, Solider 76 and Ana. As the characters discuss their shared history, Ana comes across a picture of a young Soldier 76 alongside another man. It's revealed that the other man, Vincent, was once a love interest for Soldier 76, but they ultimately broke up.

While the relationship is just a small anecdote in the larger story, it served as confirmation for long-held speculation about Solider 76's sexuality. Some fans were confident that the character was gay based on his relationships with the game's other heroes, while others felt that he took on an asexual role as the patriarch of "Overwatch." Michael Chu, the lead writer of "Overwatch," later confirmed on Twitter that Solider 76, a super-soldier once known as Jack Thompson, identifies as gay.

LGBTQ fans seem to have embraced the news and welcomed Soldier 76 as the game's second gay character. Another of the original "Overwatch" heroes, Tracer, was revealed to be a lesbian in an official 2016 comic book. Fans have shared jokes and memes across social media as they celebrate the news.

One fan pointed out that the picture of Jack and Vincent was present in the same comic featuring Tracer's lesbian relationship:

Another bisexual fan showed off his Soldier 76 jacket with pride:

Well-known esports champion Dominique "SonicFox" McLean, who is gay, made an affectionate (but slightly risqué) joke on his Twitter, too. 

While the response to the reveal of Soldier 76's sexuality has been overwhelming positive, not everybody is happy with how Blizzard has handled it. A few skeptical Overwatch players have questioned why Blizzard waited so long to address the character's sexuality. Others have openly wondered whether if Blizzard will make the queerness an active part of these characters' identities, or if their sexuality will ultimately become trivia.

"I mean, that's great that #Soldier76 is gay but let's be f**king real. #Overwatch is never going to do anything with it," wrote one Twitter user. 

SEE ALSO: Eight teams paid more than $30 million each to join the Overwatch League – here's everything you need to know before the new season starts

SEE ALSO: The newest 'Overwatch' character is a deadly gunslinger with a grudge to bear

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• Nintendo's first big game of 2019 stars Yoshi, the ever-helpful dinosaur friend of Super Mario.
• The game is named "Yoshi's Crafted World," and it's set to launch on March 29 for $60.
• "Yoshi's Crafted World" is a blend of platforming, puzzle solving, and egg shooting. Yes, egg shooting!

Nintendo's first major game of 2019 puts a side character into a rare starring role: In "Yoshi's Crafted World," players control Super Mario's dinosaur friend Yoshi through a variety of unique, perilous worlds.

The game is set to arrive on March 29, Nintendo said on Wednesday morning; it's headed to the Nintendo Switch, and will cost $60.

For fans of the Super Nintendo, "Yoshi's Crafted World" may look familiar — it's a bit of a spiritual sequel to "Yoshi's Island: Super Mario World 2," which was originally launched on the SNES in 1995.

This is most evident in the trail of eggs following behind Yoshi, which he creates by swallowing his enemies whole. Those eggs can then be aimed and fired at enemies, traps, puzzle solutions, and all manner of other target. It's a unique twist that sets these two Yoshi's titles apart from Nintendo's other platforming franchises.

The other twist in Crafted World, of course, is the game's distinct style:

As the name implies, "Yoshi's Crafted World" is made up of what looks like craft projects.

The background above, for instance, is made up of colored cardboard cutouts, shirt buttons, and pieces of paper shaped into cones. The bushes on the right are newspaper cutouts, with visible writing still on the paper.

The overall aesthetic is clearly built around the "crafted concept,' and it gives "Yoshi's Crafted World" a distinctly Nintendo look. 

Given Yoshi's origins in the "Super Mario" series, it's no surprise that the game's main villain appears to be Kamek— a particularly pernicious enemy from "Super Mario World" who also served as the antagonist in the original "Yoshi's Island" game.

Nintendo released a trailer detailing the game's story in broad terms, which you can see right here:

But you probably want to see the actual game in action, don't you? Great news — you can do that right here:

SEE ALSO: The 29 hottest video games you shouldn't miss in 2019

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• The Kevin Hart-Bryan Cranston dramedy "The Upside" won the domestic weekend box office, taking in an estimated $19.6 million.
• That knocks "Aquaman" from the top spot after being there for three-straight weekends.
• "The Upside" had an impressive win, exceeding box office projections that had the movie opening around $10 million-$15 million.
• The movie was originally to be released by The Weinstein Company before the sexual misconduct allegations against Harvey Weinstein crippled the company. Lantern Entertainment took over the title when the company bought remaining Weinstein Company assets in a bankruptcy auction in July 2018.
• STXfilms was brought on to release the movie, it marks the first box office win for the company since it launched in 2014.
• "Aquaman" has now earned over $1 billion at the global box office, marking the first DC Extended Universe title to hit that milestone.

"Aquaman" has finally been taken down from the number one spot at the domestic box office after being perched there for three straight weeks, and the movie that did it was the unlikely movie to pull it off.

STXfilms' dramedy "The Upside" — starring Bryan Cranston as a paralyzed billionaire who hires a recently paroled convict, played by Kevin Hart — won the weekend box office with an estimated $19.6 million.

It's not only a remarkable feat that a $37.5 million-budgeted character study took down "Aquaman," the biggest movie in the world since the holidays. "The Upside" faced tough odds of even making it to screens.

At one time "The Upside" was part of the upcoming slate for The Weinstein Company, the now defunct production and distribution company of Harvey and Bob Weinstein. Following the numerous sexual misconduct allegations against Harvey Weinstein that forced him out of Hollywood and left The Weinstein Company and its movies in question, Lantern Entertainment purchased the remaining assets of the company in a bankruptcy auction in July 2018.

Lantern brought on STX to release "The Upside," which then worked with its director Neil Burger to recut the movie from an R-rated title to a more audience-friendly PG-13 version before its release. 

Despite sitting on the shelf since being shot in the beginning of 2017, Kevin Hart's Oscar host controversy that surrounded his promotion of the movie, and the movie only having a 40% Rotten Tomatoes score, "The Upside" exceeded industry projections.

Projected to only open around $10 million-$15 million, the movie's $19.6 million take showed that audiences were ready for a change after weeks of seeing the DC Comics superhero, and it's evident Hart didn't lose his huge fanbase despite backlash from his past anti-gay jokes.

Read more: The 43 biggest movies coming out in 2019, which could propel the box office to another record-breaking year

It's a huge win for STX, as this marks the first time a movie it's released has gone number one at the box office since the company launched in 2014.

But don't feel bad for "Aquaman." The latest DC Comics title from Warner Bros. succeeded beyond any DC Extended Universe release to date, hitting the $1 billion milestone at the global box office. The movie hit the figure on Sunday following a $17.2 million take over the weekend putting its domestic total at $287.8 million.

SEE ALSO: The 31 best movies you can watch on Amazon's new free streaming channel, IMDb Freedive

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• Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos is reportedly dating entrepreneur and former TV anchor Lauren Sanchez.
• Earlier on Wednesday, Jeff and MacKenzie Bezos announced that they were divorcing after 25 years together.
• The New York Post reported that Sanchez is still married to Hollywood agent Patrick Whitesell, though they are separated.
• The National Enquirer said it's on the verge of publishing an exposé on the alleged affair between Bezos and Sanchez, saying its reporters tailed the pair for months.

Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos reportedly has a new romance in his life: former TV anchor Lauren Sanchez.

On Wednesday, the billionaire exec and his wife, MacKenzie Bezos, announced they were divorcing, saying in a joint statement: "We want to make people aware of a development in our lives. As our family and close friends know, after a long period of loving exploration and trial separation, we have decided to divorce and continue our shared lives as friends."

The New York Post and the National Enquirer both reported that Jeff Bezos, 54, is romantically involved with 49-year-old Sanchez, a former "Good Day LA" news anchor with Fox who also works as a helicopter pilot and entrepreneur.

The TV host is still married to Patrick Whitesell, the co-CEO of prominent Hollywood talent agency WME. Whitesell counts Matt Damon, Christian Bale, and Hugh Jackman among his clients. According to the New York Post, Sanchez and Whitesell separated in the fall. It's after this that Bezos reportedly "became closer" with Sanchez. Sanchez has three children — two from her marriage to Whitesell and one from a previous relationship.

The National Enquirer said it conducted a four-month investigation into Bezos and Sanchez's alleged affair, and suggested that it was its impending report — due to be published in full later this week — that sparked the announcement from Bezos.

"During a blockbuster four-month investigation, The ENQUIRER tracked Bezos, who turns 55 on Jan. 12, and secret lover Sanchez across five states and 40,000 miles, tailed them in private jets, swanky limos, helicopter rides, romantic hikes, five-star hotel hideaways, intimate dinner dates and 'quality time' in hidden love nests," the National Enquirer wrote in a story teasing its upcoming investigation.

Bezos has an estimated net worth of about $137 billion, and news of his impending divorce has sparked fevered speculation as to what it will mean for his fortune. It's not clear whether Jeff and MacKenzie Bezos signed a prenuptial agreement or formed another arrangement regarding what would happen if they split. The couple have been married for 25 years, and have four children.

An Amazon spokesperson did not immediately respond to Business Insider's request for comment.

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• Netflix's negative free cash flow, which reached a high of $3 billion in 2018, has been one of the few sources of worry for Wall Street analysts and investors.
• Netflix has said it needs negative free cash flow to fund its increased investment in original TV shows and movies, but it's hard to assess the value of that content over its lifetime, making it difficult to project the company's financial future.
• But Morgan Stanley sees signs that Netflix's financials are on the right track and predicts the streaming giant will become free-cash-flow positive in 2021 and reach over $10 billion in free cash flow in 2025.

As Netflix has morphed from David into Goliath, there has been one lingering question lurking around the positive chatter: When is this company going to stop burning cash?

Netflix said it expected its negative free cash flow to reach $3 billion in 2018, up from $2 billion in 2017 (we'll know for sure when it reports earnings on Thursday).

Why is that number soaring?

Netflix CEO Reed Hastings explained the reason for the rise in cash burn best in 2017.

"When we produce an amazing show like 'Stranger Things,' that's a lot of capital up front, and then you get a payout over it over many years," Hastings said. "And seeing the positive returns on that for the business as a whole is what makes us comfortable that we should continue to invest."

Netflix's production of original series like "Stranger Things" has ramped up over the past few years, and the company has made moves to own the entire production and distribution pipeline by signing big-name hitmakers like Shonda Rhimes and Ryan Murphy in deals worth hundreds of millions. That strategy has been validated as competitors from Disney to AT&T have announced their own streaming services, and the market for licensing TV shows and movies has become increasingly crowded. Netflix needs original productions — and a lot of them — to sustain subscriber growth.

But as Hastings noted, making a premium TV show requires a ton of money up front. And it's hard for investors and analysts to value what a piece of intellectual property will be worth to Netflix over its lifetime — or even what Netflix's entire library of TV shows and movies is worth in total.

Some shows like "Friends," which Netflix recently renewed the rights to stream at a reported cost of up to $100 million, retain massive value as a part of the service's streaming library. But the value for other shows fades quickly. And the difficulty in judging that rate of deterioration makes it hard to value Netflix's new original shows and its library over time.

That's one reason investors will breathe a sigh of relief when Netflix's free cash flow turns positive and the piece of Netflix's accounting that requires a pinch of faith is made clearer. Until then, Netflix will continue to use billions in debt to fund its productions.

But there are signs Netflix's free cash flow will turn positive in 2021, according to a recent note by Morgan Stanley analysts.

"Even as spending grows, unit economics continue to improve, with margins benefiting from scale and pricing power: Exclusive global originals are a key driver of Netflix's model, resulting in higher engagement and lower churn," the analysts wrote. "While the level of cash spend has increased, Netflix continues to drive higher contribution profits per subscriber, which is up over 30% annually for the last two years. As the gap between cash spend and content amortization closes, we see a path for free cash flow to reach breakeven in 2021E, with strong expansion thereafter fueled by continued subscriber adoption and ARPU growth."

And it will only keep climbing from there, with the analysts expecting it to reach over $5 billion in 2023 and over $10 billion in 2025.

Here's a chart a chart showing how Morgan Stanley expects it to progress over the next few years:

SEE ALSO: Netflix has been smacked with a lawsuit over 'Black Mirror: Bandersnatch' that claims it 'tarnishes' the 'choose your own adventure' trademark

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• Keanu Reeves' new movie "Replicas" opened over the weekend and only took in $2.5 million.
• That's a career worst for the actor.

It turns out "Replicas" was as bad as everyone anticipated.

Keanu Reeves' new movie — in which he plays a scientist who attempts to use biological cloning to bring back his family after they died in a car crash — did a paltry $2.5 million over the weekend on about 2,300 screens.

That's the worst opening weekend for any Reeves movie that has opened on at least 2,000 screens.

"Replicas" has the typical backstory for a January box-office bomb.

The movie had been sitting on the shelf since being made in 2016. Entertainment Studios bought the movie for a reported $4 million following a private screening at the 2017 Toronto International Film Festival, and here we are in 2019 with the movie finally coming out.

Read more: Kevin Hart's new movie 'The Upside' exceeded expectations and dethroned 'Aquaman' from the top of the box office

It also didn't help that "Replicas" is sporting just a 10% score on the reviews aggregator Rotten Tomatoes.

These were sure signs the movie would become the first major disappointment of 2019. And it did.

Though this is also the biggest flop of Reeves' career, he'll soon have a chance to rebound, as he has before. He has "John Wick: Chapter 3" coming to theaters in May, and his hard-to-miss voice will be featured a month later when the anticipated "Toy Story 4" hits theaters.

SEE ALSO: The 31 best movies you can watch on Amazon's new free streaming channel, IMDb Freedive

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• During a livestream of "Fortnite" on Twitch, one player received a massive gift: $75,000.
• It's common for video game streamers to use donation systems for viewers to give money, but it's usually in much smaller denominations — $1, $5, or maybe a bit more.
• Because of the absurdly high amount of the donation, the streamer initially didn't believe it was real.

"Wait a minute, that can't be real!" a stunned "Fortnite" streamer exclaimed during a stream early last week.

He was stunned for a good reason: He had just received a massive donation of $75,000 from a fellow streamer. And he didn't believe it was real.

The next few moments were tense, as the streamer known as "ExoticChaotic" frantically logged into his PayPal account to confirm the legitimacy of what he was seeing.

He leaped from his chair, yelling. "Dude!" he exclaimed. "What is that s---?!"

It turns out that a fellow streamer known as "KingMascot" had donated the money.

The streamers are friends, and KingMascot knew his friend was not in a good place financially.

"I do not have a very high income," ExoticChaotic told Kotaku. "My girlfriend has worked full time to support my career as a 'Fortnite' streamer, so I owe it to her and my 4-year-old son to protect and grow this money for their futures."

As for KingMascot, he's apparently got money to spare as "an early investor in bitcoin" who "now trades stocks," Kotaku said.

Though massive donations are rare, this is far from the first time such a large sum was donated to a streamer. Tyler "Ninja" Blevins, for instance, once received a donation of $40,000 from one person. And in 2014, an anonymous benefactor was known to gift large sums, seemingly at random, to a variety of streamers.

That said, the video of ExoticChaotic's reaction to this donation stands out as especially delightful — you can see it in full here:

SEE ALSO: The original 'Legend of Zelda' has a massive hidden area that one player finally opened, more than 30 years later

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• In 2019, Nintendo plans to release the first-ever "core" Pokémon game for the Nintendo Switch.
• Nintendo is also reportedly working on a new version of the Nintendo Switch, which could arrive in the coming year.
• Before the end of March 2019, Nintendo is expected to launch its first "Mario Kart" game for smartphones.

Nintendo is a notoriously secretive company, and much of the coming year for the Japanese gaming giant is a mystery. 

That said, we have a pretty good idea about some of Nintendo's biggest plans for 2019: a new main-series "Pokémon" game on the Switch, the first-ever "Mario Kart" game for smartphones in the not-so-distant future, and maybe even a new version of the wildly popular Switch console itself!

And that's before we start talking about the big unknowns. Is 2019 the year when we see more of "Metroid Prime 4" than a logo? Perhaps "Bayonetta 3"?

Here's everything we know — and a few things we're less certain of, but are still entirely possible — about Nintendo's coming year:

SEE ALSO: The 5 biggest things to expect from PlayStation in 2019

1. A new "core" Pokémon game

Pokémon is coming to the Nintendo Switch — prepare yourself!

Nintendo said a "core RPG Pokémon title" is coming to the Nintendo Switch. Not a spin-off, like "Pokémon Stadium" and "Pokémon Snap" way back on the Nintendo 64, but a full-on main-series entry.

The beloved Pokémon game series has always been a portable affair. With few exceptions, the only way to engage with the long-running series was on Nintendo's handheld consoles. But with this new entry, that's about to change.

Nintendo said the next main entry in the long-running Pokémon game franchise — the successor to "Pokémon Ultra Sun" and "Pokémon Ultra Moon" — will arrive in "late 2019." For now, that's all we know.

2. A new version of the Nintendo Switch?

Not a new Nintendo console, mind you, but a new version of an existing one: It looks like Nintendo is already deep in development of a new version of the Nintendo Switch.

Rumors point to logical upgrades, such as a brighter screen, better battery life, and a slimmer profile — Nintendo has yet to say anything officially.

That said, Nintendo has a long history of making new variants of its game consoles.

There are several different versions of the Nintendo 3DS handheld, for instance, some with more horsepower and bigger screens than others. The same could be said for the Nintendo DS before it, and the Game Boy Advance before that.

It's more than just a rumor, it's entirely likely that Nintendo will release new iterations of the Nintendo Switch. And 2019 is said to be the year that we'll see the first of those iterations.

3. "Metroid Prime 4"

What is "Metroid Prime 4"? Little more than a logo at this point, at least publicly speaking.

"Metroid Prime 4" is the fourth game in the first-person "Metroid Prime" series. The franchise began its life on the Nintendo GameCube and drew a legion of loyal fans across several sequels. It's been over a decade since the last major entry, "Metroid Prime 3," arrived on the Nintendo Wii.

The next game is said to be in production by Japanese game company Bandai Namco, rather than the studio responsible for the previous three games, though Nintendo has yet to confirm as much.

After announcing the game through a logo back in June 2017 (pictured above), Nintendo has yet to say another word about the highly anticipated sequel. 

• Hulu released a documentary on the disastrous Fyre Festival on Monday, days before Netflix is set to release its own.
• But data from Google Trends shows that Netflix has been leading Hulu in search interest on the subject.

The streaming war is heating up, with Netflix and Hulu releasing competing documentaries on the exact same subject this week.

Hulu surprise dropped a Fyre Festival documentary on Monday called "Fyre Fraud," days before Netflix is set to release "Fyre," its own documentary on the disastrous music festival that drops on January 18.

But data shows that Netflix has been dominating search queries on the subject.

A quick look at Google Trends for "Fyre Festival Hulu" and "Fyre Festival Netflix" shows that the latter has piqued people's interest far more than the former's, even during Monday morning when Hulu debuted "Fyre Fraud." Graphs showing the search trends are below, where Hulu is blue and Netflix is red.

Past 30 days: 

Past seven days:

January 14, 8 a.m. — 12 p.m.

Hulu declined to comment on the record on releasing "Fyre Fraud" ahead of Netflix's film. Netflix did not immediately return a request for comment.

The Fyre Festival was a 2017 event on a private island in the Bahamas coordinated by entrepreneur Billy McFarland, who is currently serving six years in prison for wire fraud. Attendees paid up to $25,000 for elaborate accommodations, but when they arrived, they found little food, no concert stage, and none of the artists that were promised, including Blink-182 and Migos.

READ MORE: Hulu gained on Netflix in the US during a year of massive user growth, but there's a big challenge it will have to overcome in 2019 to keep up the pace

Hulu's move to unexpectedly drop "Fyre Fraud" shows the urgency to compete in the age of streaming, and how easy it is to release content to audiences. But the Google Trends data also highlights Netflix's streaming domination, and how competitors struggle to keep up.

The Monday results were still early, though, and maybe "Fyre Fraud" will catch on.

Hulu is now at 25 million subscribers, and gained ground on Netflix in the US 2018. But to reach Netflix, Hulu will have to sustain subscriber growth (without promotional discounts), especially as more companies like Hulu majority owner Disney and AT&T release their own direct-to-consumer streaming services in 2019.

Netflix dropped the first trailer for "Fyre" on January 10, while Hulu released the first trailer for "Fyre Fraud" on Monday, the same day the film became available to stream.

You can watch both trailers below:

"Fyre Fraud" — Hulu

"Fyre" — Netflix

SEE ALSO: Netflix's 'Sex Education' is its latest hit British TV show

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• Verizon is the latest company known to be planning a cloud gaming service. Verizon Gaming will let users stream video games directly to their smartphones and other devices.
• The Verge reported that the Verizon Gaming app is being tested on the Nvidia Shield, a home-theater streaming device, and will be headed to Android devices next.
• Other companies pursuing cloud gaming services include Microsoft, Google, Amazon, Sony, and Electronic Arts.

Verizon is planning a new streaming service for video games called Verizon Gaming, according to a report from The Verge. Screenshots of an early test version of the Verizon Gaming app have surfaced, and Verizon has made more than 135 games available for streaming.

Test participants receive a Nvidia Shield, an Xbox One controller, and a Verizon Gaming account, and will be awarded a $150 Amazon gift card once the test is complete. The Verizon Gaming app comes preinstalled on the Nvidia Shield, which is an Android-based device with access to the Google Play store.

Cloud gaming services use remote servers to stream top-quality video games directly to the player. In the simplest terms, the server runs the game and sends the player a video feed from the cloud, while the player's controller inputs are sent back to the server. This allows the user to play the game remotely on their choice of computer or mobile device.

With the server doing the heavy lifting, players no longer need expensive video-game consoles to run the latest games. This has sparked the interest of major tech companies looking to get involved in the video-game industry without investing in expensive consoles and other hardware.

Cloud-based services still require a strong, stable internet connection to stream games properly, and Verizon's 5G mobile-data infrastructure would be ideal for delivering games at high speeds. Amazon and Microsoft, two of the world's largest server providers, will also be testing their own cloud gaming services this year.

Early screenshots from Verizon Gaming obtained by The Verge show a number of popular titles, including "Grand Theft Auto V," "Fortnite," and "Destiny 2,"  but also include PlayStation 4 exclusives such as "God of War 2" and "Knack." However, Verizon informed participants that some of the titles might just be placeholders. Verizon Gaming is also in such an early stage that players cannot save their progress; the game starts fresh each time they boot the app. 

“This trial is primarily focused on performance,” the Verizon Gaming team told test participants in an email, according to The Verge. “At a later date, when we advance the product, our library will consist of most or all of the top games you are familiar with — but at this early stage we’re working on the engine and its parts.”

The Verge found multiple job listings connected to Verizon's cloud-gaming, mobile-gaming, and video-game initiatives, suggesting that the project is still expanding.  The test is due to run through the end of January.

Expect more beta testing for cloud gaming services to pop up during 2019. Google's Project Stream beta test ends January 15, while Microsoft promised a beta test for their Project xCloud service later this year.

You can check out leaked screenshots of Verizon Gaming over at The Verge.

SEE ALSO: Google's new video-game streaming service could mark the beginning of the end for gaming consoles

SEE ALSO: Amazon is reportedly building a Netflix-like service for video games

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• Netflix's "Sex Education" has an 89% critic score on Rotten Tomatoes, and fans have praised how the show addresses relevant issues.
• Unlike some of its other British Netflix "original" shows, "Sex Education" didn't originate on a UK network, and demonstrates Netflix's evolving production strategy.
• Netflix will increase the amount of European shows it produces in 2019 to compete with a potential British streaming service, The Telegraph reported in November.

Netflix has built an impressive catalog of hit British TV shows licensed from networks in the UK, or co-produced with them. But with its latest British series, Netflix started from scratch — and it seems to have paid off.

"Sex Education" debuted on the streaming giant on January 11 and stars Asa Butterfield and Gillian Anderson. Netflix describes the series like this: "Insecure Otis has all the answers when it comes to sex advice, thanks to his therapist mom. So rebel Maeve proposes a school sex-therapy clinic."

READ MORE: Netflix's hit British series, 'Bodyguard,' won a Golden Globe and has a 92% on Rotten Tomatoes

The show quickly garnered a fanbase over the weekend. People on Twitter praised the show's positive and "healthy" portrayal of male friendships that lack "toxic masculinity," and its "complex characterization of a gay teen of color," among other things.

Below are some Tweets commending the show:

Critics love it, too, and it has an 89% Rotten Tomatoes critic score. The Atlantic's Sophie Gilbert wrote that the show is "patched together so perspicaciously from pieces of existing hits that you can virtually see the stitches ... it works so well is almost annoying."

Allison Shoemaker wrote for RogerEbert.com that the show is "willing to experiment and find a balance that works. And like sex—like good sex anyway—it’s often an absolute pleasure."

The series features a primarily international cast and was filmed in South Wales. But what makes "Sex Education" different than some other hit Netflix British shows as of late is that it didn't originate on a UK TV network.

Unlike "Bodyguard," "The Last Kingdom," or even "Black Mirror" — all of which Netflix acquired streaming rights to (or picked up as originals) after they had aired on BBC networks — "Sex Education" is purely a Netflix original. This is a sign of Netflix bulking up its output of international originals.

Netflix will increase the amount of European shows it produces in 2019 by a third, The Telegraph reported in November. The move comes on the heels of the head of the UK's broadcast regulator pushing British networks to create a streaming service to compete with Netflix, according to The Telegraph.

SEE ALSO: Netflix has been smacked with a lawsuit over 'Black Mirror: Bandersnatch' that claims it 'tarnishes' the 'choose your own adventure' trademark

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• Data show that online conversation for "You" has increased significantly since it debuted on Netflix.
• The show's audience demographic has shifted, as well.
• The series originated on Lifetime, but Netflix will exclusively air its second season.

Like with so many shows before it, "You," Lifetime's creepy drama, has found new life on Netflix.

The series debuted on Lifetime in September and became available to stream on Netflix on December 26. Since then, the series — about a book-store manager named Joe (Penn Badgley) who goes to great lengths to make struggling writer Beck (Elizabeth Lail) fall for him — has risen dramatically in popularity.

Read more: Netflix's 'Sex Education' is its latest hit British TV show

Data from consumer-insights company Crimson Hexagon provided to Business Insider show that daily social-media posts for "You" were declining before it went to Netflix. But as soon as it was available to stream, the show saw a big spike. The online conversation around the series has been consistent and has seen 15,000 total posts since December 26.

Netflix has helped expand the audience demographic for the show, too. The show still skews toward women, as it did while on Lifetime, but more men have now watched the series on Netflix (28% of its audience) than they did while it was on Lifetime (23%).

Viewers 18 or younger were the biggest age demographic for the show on Lifetime. On Netflix, the primary demographic has shifted to ages 18 to 24, as seen in the graph below.

"You" will return for its second season exclusively on Netflix, rather than on Lifetime.

It's not the first show to get a big boost from Netflix. "Breaking Bad" was the first major show to feel the "Netflix Effect." When the second half of its final season premiered on AMC in 2013, it doubled the ratings of the first half's premiere with a series' best of 5.9 million viewers, according to Variety. The show's past seasons had been streaming after AMC signed a licensing deal with Netflix in 2011. 

The second season of "Riverdale" premiered to series-best ratings in 2017 — 67% above the series premiere and double the first season finale — after the first season had been available on Netflix, according to Vulture.

SEE ALSO: Netflix and Hulu are releasing competing documentaries on the Fyre Festival debacle, but Netflix is dominating Google search interest

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• Tidal, the music streaming platform owned by Jay-Z, is being investigated by Norwegian authorities for allegedly manipulating and inflating streaming play counts, according to Reuters.
• Although the official investigation was just launched, the Norwegian newspaper Dagens Naeringsliv has been investigating Tidal's numbers, and reported on the issue last year.
• The newspaper claimed that Tidal had over-reported the play counts for Beyonce's "Lemonade" and Kanye West's "The Life of Pablo" by "several hundred million," and used over a million fake accounts to manipulate streaming numbers.

Norwegian police have launched an investigation into Jay-Z's music streaming service as a result of allegations that play counts were over-reported to make the platform seem more successful and popular than it actually is, according to Reuters.

Claims that Tidal was fabricating its numbers were first leveled against the platform last year by a Norwegian newspaper, but an official criminal investigation was launched Monday, Reuters reports. The newspaper, Dagens Naeringsliv, concluded after a year-long investigation that the listener numbers Tidal reported were "manipulated to the tune of several hundred million false plays."

Read more:Jay Z's music service Tidal says accusations it wildly inflated Beyoncé and Kanye West's streaming stats are a 'smear campaign'

Specifically, the publication found the biggest discrepancies in Tidal's reported numbers for two particular albums: Beyonce's "Lemonade" and Kanye West's "The Life of Pablo."

The albums, which were both released in 2016, premiered exclusively on Tidal. In its reported numbers, which are the same given to record labels and investors, Tidal said the albums had racked up hundreds of millions of streams within the first 15 days of release — 306 million for Beyonce and 205 million for West.

But the Norwegian paper worked with the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, and concluded the data didn't add up. By over-reporting numbers, Tidal could garner "massive royalty payouts at the expense of other artists," the newspaper said.

Tidal has called the allegations false, and slammed the Norwegian newspaper for launching a targeted "smear campaign." In a statement provided to Business Insider, Tidal said Monday it was "not a suspect" in the Norwegian police's investigation.

Norwegian authorities confirmed to Reuters they had opened an investigation into "whether someone has manipulated the number of times certain songs have been played." No one has been charged, but at least four former Tidal employees have already been questioned, Engadget reported.

Tidal has struggled, despite its impressive roster of well-known celebrity backers (including Madonna and Coldplay frontman Chris Martin). The streaming service was originally known as WiMP, but was acquired by Jay Z in 2015 and launched as Tidal to rival music streaming services from Spotify, Pandora, YouTube, and Apple Music.

Allegations of problems at Tidal were reported by Norway's Dagens Næringsliv newspaper first in 2016. The publication reported Tidal was behind on paying more than 100 outstanding bills to record labels, ad agencies, and banks. The newspaper then reported in 2017 that Tidal inflated the number of how many subscribers the service had.

Tidal grew in popularity by brokering deals with artists to exclusively release their music on the streaming platform. However, West cut ties with Tidal is 2017, and alleged the service owed him more than $3 million. West turned to a small streaming app called WAV when it was time to release his next album, "Ye,"in 2018.

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• "Rocket League" has joined "Fortnite" in the PlayStation Cross-Play Beta program, giving players from four different platforms (PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, and PC) the option to play together for the first time.
• "Rocket League" previously allowed cross play between PC, Xbox, and Switch players, with Sony's PlayStation 4 community as the lone holdout.
• Cross-play will be implemented with "Rocket League's" first update of 2019 and will require players to opt-in.

"Rocket League" will soon be the second game on PlayStation 4 to allow cross-platform play, enabling the game's community to join matches alongside players on the Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, and PC.

After years of pressure from fans and developers alike, Sony agreed to explore cross-platform play late last year. Traditionally, games have had separate player bases across different platforms to promote console-specific communities and minimize security concerns. In September 2018, "Fortnite" became the first game in the PlayStation Cross-Play Beta program, and players have had few issues playing the game together on a variety of smartphones, computers, and video game consoles.

With more than 50 million players spread between four different platforms, "Rocket League" developer Psyonix has wanted to implement cross-play for years. The game did have some shared matchmaking between the PC and Xbox communities, but Sony's stricter policy for online games prevented players from joining with friends on different platforms.

Read more:After months of criticism, Sony is finally allowing 'Fortnite' players on PlayStation 4 to play with people on Xbox One and Nintendo Switch

Cross-play features will arrive with Rocket League's first update of 2019 and players will have to opt-in from the game's settings to enable matches with other platforms. Psyonix says players will also be able to join groups with players from different platforms with just a few button presses, though the specifics are not clear as of yet. Last year Psyonix said they were planning to create a new account system called RocketID to help with cross-platforming matchmaking.

"Fortnite" and "Rocket League" are paving the way for cross-platform play, and even more games may be able to benefit from connecting player bases that are split across different consoles. However, with Sony still restricting cross-play to beta tests, competition between console makers remains an obstacle.

SEE ALSO: The creators of 'Fortnite' just unveiled an ambitious plan to make PlayStation and Xbox work together, whether they like or not

SEE ALSO: Sony gives in: After months of criticism, Sony is finally allowing 'Fortnite' players on PlayStation 4 to play with people on Xbox One and Nintendo Switch

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• Two hotly anticipated TV shows documenting the wild Fyre Festival saga begin streaming this week. Hulu's version debuted on Monday, while Netflix's will follow on Friday. 
• Billy McFarland, the organizer of the festival, was sentenced to six years in prison in October and ordered to forfeit $26 million.
• McFarland pleaded guilty in March 2018 to wire-fraud charges in relation to Fyre Festival, which became infamous after hundreds of attendees were left stranded in the Bahamas last year.
• In June 2018, McFarland was arrested again on charges of selling fake tickets through a different company, called NYC VIP Access, starting in late 2017. He pleaded guilty to those charges in July.
• Here's a look back at what happened at Fyre Festival.

After much anticipation, two documentaries that give a behind-the-scenes look into 2017's hellish Fyre Festival will finally air on our screens.

Hulu's version launched on Monday, and Netflix's will follow on Friday. 

Billy McFarland, the 27-year-old founder of the company behind the festival, was sentenced to six years in prison in October and faces a $26 million forfeiture order. He is featured in an exclusive interview in the Hulu documentary.

Read more: Fyre Festival founder sentenced to 6 years in prison after pleading guilty to defrauding investors out of millions of dollars in various ticketing schemes

Fyre Festival, which promised a VIP experience on the island of Great Exuma in the Bahamas, turned into a nightmare situation as attendees were stranded with half-built huts to sleep in and cold cheese sandwiches to eat.

Here's what happened:

SEE ALSO: Netflix and Hulu are releasing competing documentaries on the Fyre Festival debacle, but Netflix is dominating Google search interest

The three-day party was supposed to be on a private beach on the island of Great Exuma in the Bahamas.

It was supposed to be over two weekends in 2017: April 28-30 and May 5-7.

It was described as an "immersive music festival."

• Data miners exploring files on the Nintendo Switch say they have discovered a list of 22 Super Nintendo games coming to the console in the future.
• Nintendo Switch Online subscribers can currently access a selection of games from the original Nintendo Entertainment System, but games from other Nintendo consoles are not available.
• During their search, the data miners also discovered potential file slots for two new more consoles to be included with the Nintendo Switch Online service.

More than 20 classic Super Nintendo games could be on their way to Nintendo's newest console during 2019, based on data found in a recent Nintendo Switch software update.

Since the Switch Online subscription service launched in September 2018, Nintendo has offered players a selection of retro games as an added bonus for paying for online features. New games have been added to the collection each month, but so far those games are only from the original Nintendo Entertainment System (NES).

However, data miners exploring Nintendo's recent update to the Switch Online service have found placeholder titles for 22 Super Nintendo games, many of which were released on the Super NES Classic, the replica console Nintendo launched in 2017. A Twitter user named @KapuccinoHeck posted the full list of games, along with the file in which they were found.

The Switch uses emulation software to play NES games in their original form, and it seems a second emulator has been added to the Switch for Super Nintendo games. Data miners reported that four emulator types were found in total, meaning there could be future support for other Nintendo consoles like the Game Boy or Nintendo 64. However, the data is ambiguous enough that the values could just be counting the two existing emulators.

Nintendo has sold more than 10 million NES and SNES Classic units at $80 each, so having access to more than two dozen iconic games for a $20 annual fee is potentially a great deal for Nintendo Switch Online subscribers. With Nintendo offering no other options to play classic games like "Super Mario World" and "The Legend of Zelda: Link to the Past" on current consoles, fans should keep their fingers crossed until the data-mined list is confirmed.

SEE ALSO: Nintendo just snuck out a new version of the original 'Legend of Zelda' — and it's available now on the Nintendo Switch

SEE ALSO: Nintendo's Netflix-like service for classic games is a shattering disappointment, but it's so inexpensive that you should try it anyway

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• Apple should be in the hunt for a video content company, Wedbush analyst Dan Ives said in a new report.
• The company's future growth is dependent on its services business, and a streaming video offering is expected and needed to drive that business, Ives said.
• Ives think the company has several potential and notable targets.

Dan Ives thinks the time has come for Apple to open up its wallet and buy a piece of Hollywood.

Like others on Wall Street, Ives, an analyst who covers the iPhone maker for Wedbush, thinks the company's future is in its services business. A key component of that business going forward is likely to be the subscription streaming video offering it's widely expected to launch this year.

But even as Apple is spending more than $1 billion a year to develop new video content, it faces a big challenge going up against Netflix, not to mention the new and upcoming streaming services from Disney and the combined AT&T-Time Warner — it has little in the way of a library of movies and TV shows.

"Now is the time for Apple to rip off the band-aid and finally do significant content [mergers and acquisitions]," Ives said in a new research note. Should the company pass on the opportunity, he continued, "it will be a major strategic mistake ... that will haunt the company for years to come, [because] content [is] the rocket fuel in the services engine that is currently missing in the portfolio."

Read this:Investors focused on Apple's disappointing iPhone sales are missing the company's hidden goldmine

Making such an acquisition would represent a major shift for Apple. While the iPhone maker has purchased lots of smaller companies, it has traditionally eschewed big mergers. To date, the biggest acquisition deal Apple has ever completed was its $3 billion purchase of headphone maker Beats in 2014.

But with some $237 billion in cash and investments as of the end of September, Apple has plenty of money with which to go shopping. And now would be an ideal time, argued Ives. With AT&T having completed its merger with Time Warner last year and Disney expected to close its deal to acquire 21st Century Fox this spring, consolidation is about to become the name of the game in the content business, he said.

While Apple has been trying to build up its content library piece by piece, it risks being left far behind by rivals that are spending many times what it is each year and which already have significant holdings of movies and TV shows, Ives said.

"Apple significantly lacks the core content to get its loyal customer base to pay $10 per month," he said, adding that CEO Tim "Cook, Jony Ive (Chief Design Officer), Eddy Cue (head of Apple's content strategy), and others on the leadership/strategy team continue to drive in the right lane at 55 mph, while competitors from all areas of technology and media are passing the technology stalwart in the left lane driving 100 mph in their new content sports cars."

So where should Apple put its money? What content companies should it buy?

Here are the ones that Ives thinks could be prime targets for Apple:

SEE ALSO: Here's why Apple's China situation is at 'code red,' and why it needs to take dramatic action to plug up a key weakness in the business

A24

An independent film distribution and production house, A24 has made a splash in recent years with several acclaimed films, including "Lady Bird" and Jonah Hill's "Mid90s."

The studio has more recently branched into television, distributing last year's "Pod Save America" TV special and the upcoming "At Home with Amy Sedaris."

Lionsgate

A venerable player in the independent film market, Lionsgate hit it big in recent years with some popular franchise films, most notably "The Hunger Games" series. The company also owns the rights to the "Divergent" and "Twilight" series.

The company also has a significant television arm. Among its more notable productions are "Nashville" and Netflix hit "Orange is the New Black."

Sony Pictures

An Apple acquisition of Sony Pictures would be an interesting turn of events. The studio was formed in the late 1980s when that era's dominant electronics firm — Sony — decided it needed to get into the content business and purchased Columbia Pictures from Coca-Cola.

Purchasing Sony Pictures would be among the biggest moves Apple could feasibly make; Sony Pictures is considered to be one of the Big Six Hollywood studios. In addition to films such as the "Spider-Man" series, Sony Pictures has a major television arm, which has produced shows such as "Shark Tank" and "Masters of Sex."

• Writer Aaron Sorkin thinks there should be a sequel to the Facebook origins film he wrote, "The Social Network."
• He said "a lot of very interesting, dramatic stuff" has happened since the movie came out in 2010.
• The film's producer has also floated the idea of revisiting the subject. 

There should a sequel to "The Social Network," the 2010 film on the origins of Facebook.

That's the view of the man who wrote it, Aaron Sorkin, who said there is plenty of new material for another movie after a nightmare year for Facebook, in which it has made headlines for all the wrong reasons.

"I know a lot more about Facebook in 2005 than I do in 2018, but I know enough to know that there should be a sequel," Sorkin told AP Entertainment.

The 2010 film, directed by David Fincher, dramatises Facebook's early years and the legal battles fought by Zuckerberg with his cofounder Eduardo Saverin and the Winklevoss twins.

"A lot of very interesting, dramatic stuff has happened since the movie ends with settling the lawsuit from the Winklevoss Twins and Eduardo Saverin" Sorkin added.

Read more: Facebook's disastrous run may actually worsen in 2019, with advertisers possibly turned off by its 'toxicity'

The screenwriter, who has penned shows including "The West Wing" and films such as "Molly's Game," added that "The Social Network's" producer Scott Rudin is also enthusiastic about revisiting Facebook. 

"I’ve gotten more than one email from him with an article attached saying, ‘Isn’t it time for a sequel?'" Sorkin said.

He did not expand on whether actor Jesse Eisenberg might reprise his role as Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, or whether David Fincher would return to direct. 

Facebook's disastrous year began when the explosive Cambridge Analytica data breach was exposed in March 2018. Since then, the company has discovered more data breaches, found further evidence of bad actors using Facebook to interfere in elections, been the subject of a shareholder revolt, and been accused of smearing critics. 

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• "Parks and Recreation" released an episode about a government shutdown in 2010. Many of the jokes ring true during the current record-breaking US government shutdown.
  
• In the episode — the finale of the second season — Tom Haverford considers getting a "temp job," while Leslie Knope is concerned about sewage.
• Similarly, federal parks employees in the US are currently worried about unemployment and unsanitary conditions at local parks.  

When NBC's "Parks and Recreation" debuted its season two finale in 2010, critics called it "smart, funny, crisply written, and poignant." But the episode, which was about a government shutdown, was also prophetic. 

In light of the ongoing government shutdown, now the longest in US history, we revisited the old episode to determine its accuracy. 

As it turns out, there are quite a few similarities between the storyline and the current plight of federal park employees.

Read more: 9 amazing stories from the set of 'Parks and Recreation'

Like many park rangers, members of the Pawnee parks department worry about finding a second job or tackling sewage issues. Others speculate that the shutdown could last for months.

Take a look at the show's uncanny prophecies. 

Andy: "How long is it going to last?" Ron: "Well, if we're lucky, this building will be empty for months."

Like Ron Swanson, we don't know when national parks will return to regular functioning or re-open shuttered facilities and campgrounds. President Trump has suggested it could take "months or even years" for the government shutdown to end.

One of the controversies surrounding the current shutdown is that the Trump administration has elected to keep national parks open, but they lack enough staff to run normally.

So major national parks like Yosemite, Yellowstone, Acadia, and Death Valley are still accessible to visitors, but have canceled certain services like bathroom cleaning and trash collection. 

Ben: "I mean, Idaho cut their Parks Department by 80%, and Idaho is basically one giant park."

An estimated 21,000 National Park Service (NPS) employees have been furloughed due to the shutdown. That's around 87% of the department total — a number that's oddly close to Ben Wyatt's estimate. 

The remaining 3,3000 or so NPS employees have stayed on to provide essential services such as law enforcement and emergency medical attention. 

Leslie: "Children's concerts aren't a priority these days. You know what is? Sewage."

Leslie Knope couldn't have been more right: A major concern among politicians and public advocates is the large amount of human waste piling up in park restrooms. 

At the beginning of January, Joshua Tree National Park closed its campgrounds due to "human waste in public areas." Visitors have also ignored signs telling them not to use the bathroom at some parks in Oregon.

"There are piles of human sh-t everywhere," a Yosemite National Park ranger said in a Facebook post, according to Outside Magazine. "Gross, but so seriously true."

• PewDiePie boosted his monthly subscriber count by 700% over three months thanks to a massive campaign to stop another channel becoming the most popular YouTuber.
• Bollywood music channel T-Series keeps coming close to knocking PewDiePie off the top spot, but a sustained campaign by the Swedish YouTuber's peers and fans has kept him number one.
• PewDiePie gained more subscribers in four months in 2018 than all of 2017.
• This is particularly notable given the slowdown affecting most prominent YouTubers.

PewDiePie's campaign to keep his crown as the world's most popular YouTuber has paid off.

Since October 2018, the controversial Swede has been in danger of losing his title to an Indian company called T-Series, which posts Bollywood music videos and has amassed millions of subscribers.

PewDiePie said as much in August 2018, in a comical video challenging T-Series (a company, not a person) to a sabre fight.

In October, Tubular Labs noticed that T-Series had racked up 66 million subscribers at the time, and was growing so quickly that it would overtake PewDiePie's 67 million subscribers within a week.

It never happened, thanks to PewDiePie's campaign asking people to "smash subscribe."

This resulted in a massive groundswell of support, with PewDiePie fans sticking up posters around their cities asking people to subscribe to his channel. Perhaps more effectively, fellow YouTubers Logan Paul and Mr. Beast made videos asking their audiences to subscribe.

Check out this chart showing the massive uptick in PewDiePie's subscribers:

PewDiePie racked up more subscribers in the last four months of 2018 than in the entirety of 2017. Using statistics site SocialBlade, we worked he gain more than 13 million subscribers between September and December. It took him all of 2017 to gain 7 million subscribers.

In December alone, 6.62 million people subscribed to PewDiePie, which is a 700% acceleration in growth on his 855,000 subscriber haul in September, before the campaign to keep him ahead of T-Series began in earnest. At the time of writing, PewDiePie's total subs base stands at 80.9 million. T-Series is close with 80.5 million fans.

Read more: PewDiePie will lose his crown as YouTube's biggest star next week, thanks to India's obsession with Bollywood

This is especially notable given Business Insider found in 2017 that many of the world's biggest YouTubers are seeing a massive slowdown in subscribers, including PewDiePie.

While famous YouTubers had years of massive subscriber growth, there is now more competition for views and subscribers than ever. Viewers have more choice in terms of the content they watch and the YouTubers they subscribe to, and they only have a finite amount of time.

As views and subscribers slow, YouTubers have stepped up their efforts to diversify how they make money. Think Alfie Deyes investing in startups, or KSI and Logan Paul selling tickets to their boxing matches.

PewDiePie, aka Felix Kjellberg, can thank his prominent peers for doing some of the heavy lifting on the new subscriber front.

Mr. Beast, an American YouTuber with 13 million subscribers, bought radio ads and billboards promoting PewDiePie. He also carried out a 12-hour livestreaming stunt during which he said "PewDiePie" 100,000 times. Likewise, controversial YouTuber Logan Paul offered to donate to charity if his followers subscribed to PewDiePie.

They are supporting PewDiePie on the basis he's an individual creator, rather than a company, and should remain the face of the video site.

SEE ALSO: PewDiePie mocked his critics after praising a 'Nazi' YouTube channel but says he will 'be more careful in the future'

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