Dinner party intel: Fate rivals Pokémon Go | New censorship?

The topics you have to be able to discuss this week.

1. Europe’s new challenge

Austrian elections, which have defied Europe’s lurch to the right, may also have calmed the reaction to Italy’s vote to reject constitutional reform, leading Matteo Renzi to resign as prime minister. Though some analysts say Italy’s vote does not fit into the narrative of a populist revolt against globalisation and immigrants, the country’s political situation is as muddled as ever.

2. Fate rivals Pokémon Go

Pokémon Go captured the gaming headlines this year, giving Nintendo a solid revenue boost. But in Japan, Fate/Grand Order, produced by Sony, has quietly emerged as its rival. The game lets players travel back in time and team up with figures such as Julius Caesar, Leonardo da Vinci and Joan of Arc to rescue humanity from disaster. Bloomberg says Fate/Grand Order has been downloaded more than 7m times since its July 2015 debut.

3. The new censorship?

Is China exporting its censorship? Like most apps, WeChat censors the information its Chinese users have access to, and a report says it is acting similarly outside China. Chinese users are subject to higher levels of censorship even if they later leave China and switch numbers, a University of Toronto report says. And here is the crunch: if others want to enter China, they’ll be expected to do the same. Reports emerged last month that Facebook is developing a tool to censor content in an effort to re-enter the country.