The Verge - All Postshttps://cdn.vox-cdn.com/community_logos/52801/VER_Logomark_32x32..png2024-03-19T08:00:00-04:00https://www.theverge.com/rss/full.xml2024-03-19T08:00:00-04:002024-03-19T08:00:00-04:00Nuclear weapons in space are bad news for the entire planet
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<img alt="Photo collage of an astronaut with the reflection of a mushroom cloud in their helmet." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/Q7HPw0CnPjs6ki7eEpfgL49JnCw=/0x0:2040x1360/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/73217315/247051_Nukes_in_Space_CVirginia_C.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>Illustration by Cath Virginia / The Verge | Photos from Getty Images</figcaption>
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<p>‘The old fear has come back.’</p> <p class="p--has-dropcap p-large-text" id="32kjCu">Last month, several news outlets reported that Russia could be planning to deploy a <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/17/us/politics/russia-nuclear-weapon-space.html">space-based nuclear weapon</a>, alarming, well, pretty much everyone. </p>
<p id="A5eiRy">US policy hawks, space environmentalists, and anyone with a lingering memory of Cold War-era fears over nuclear annihilation were all sounding the alarm about the threat posed by a Russian nuke in space. </p>
<p id="G11fCS">As scary as the prospects sound, the US government has assured people that the weapon doesn’t necessarily pose a threat to people on the ground. Instead, it would target other objects in space, like the satellites used by the US military for communications and other operations. </p>
<p id="w1VqH5">But that struck some as cold comfort, especially given Russian President Vladimir Putin’s unpredictability. And Putin has indicated that <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2024/03/14/europe/putin-russia-nuclear-power-unit-space/index.html">putting a nuclear power unit in space</a> is a priority for the country. </p>
<p id="Qs3NM4">In the long term, defense experts warn that having a nuclear weapon positioned in space <em>could</em> pose a threat to life on Earth by eroding international relations and space law. From clouds of space debris that could cut off access to space to the development of weapons that could launch from space to hit targets on the ground, space-based nukes have the potential to impact everything — and everyone. </p>
<h3 id="4vOaJw">Anti-satellite weapons already exist — but not nuclear ones</h3>
<p id="ao6gpM">No country has ever used an anti-satellite weapon against another country, but several countries have destroyed their own satellites in demonstrations of their military capabilities — including the US, Russia, China, and India. </p>
<p id="emIRRK">These tests are not without controversy: a 2021 Russian test of an anti-satellite weapon, for example, drew <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/news-release/nasa-administrator-statement-on-russian-asat-test/">condemnation from NASA</a> for creating debris that threatened astronauts on the International Space Station (including Russian cosmonauts). Since then, a UN panel has <a href="https://www.armscontrol.org/act/2022-12/news/un-first-committee-calls-asat-test-ban">called for a ban</a> on the testing of such weapons and <a href="https://spacenews.com/european-union-nations-join-asat-testing-ban/">several European Union nations</a> and <a href="https://spacenews.com/u-s-declares-ban-on-anti-satellite-missile-tests-calls-for-other-nations-to-join/">the US</a> have pledged not to perform destructive tests. </p>
<p id="QBEcoA">A nuclear weapon in space would cause much more destruction than previous anti-satellite weapons tests, explained Andrew Reddie of the Berkeley Risk and Security Lab, as existing space-based weapons typically destroy just one satellite at a time. In the age of huge satellite constellations such as Starlink, knocking out a single satellite is more of an annoyance than a major threat.</p>
<p id="aZ5Lyj">To destroy satellites at scale, you need a different weapon, such as a directed energy weapon based on the ground. Or, you could use a nuclear weapon in space, which creates not only shock effects but also heat, radiation, and an electromagnetic pulse — giving it the ability to take out or impair entire networks. </p>
<div class="c-float-left c-float-hang"><aside id="9rtSaH"><q>A nuclear weapon in space would cause much more destruction than previous anti-satellite weapons tests</q></aside></div>
<h3 id="wOe3oO">International laws protecting space</h3>
<p id="xsMESq">The best response the international community has had to date in restricting the stockpiling and use of nuclear weapons is international law. When it comes to space, the key piece of legislation is the Outer Space Treaty of 1967, of which Article IV prohibits placing nuclear weapons or other weapons of mass destruction in orbit.</p>
<p id="bxed5m">Detonating a weapon in space would be unprecedented and could run afoul of international rules barring the use of indiscriminate weapons on civilians or civilian objects.</p>
<p id="K2tuRu">“It seems to be that any kind of destruction of something in space is an indiscriminate weapon, and indiscriminate weapons are prohibited, and the use of indiscriminate weapons are a war crime,” said Christopher Johnson, professor of law at Georgetown University.</p>
<p id="ohRfcb">However, this assumes that satellites are being destroyed by a kinetic impact. It might be possible to disable or jam satellites in another way, such as using an electromagnetic pulse, or EMP. Some reports have suggested that Russia is developing an EMP anti-satellite weapon rather than a nuclear one. If that could be done in a way that doesn’t create a debris field, that may not contravene the international law because it would no longer be a weapon of <em>mass</em> destruction or indiscriminate in its effects.</p>
<p id="NXjUD9">With the current situation, “We don’t know what is being threatened,” Johnson said and pointed out that the details matter a lot here and that Russia is capable of a very close reading of the relevant laws to stay within them. </p>
<div class="c-float-left c-float-hang"><aside id="G0SwGK"><q>Detonating a weapon in space would be unprecedented and could run afoul of international rules</q></aside></div>
<h3 id="8tSGso">The cascading debris problem</h3>
<p id="QYsGOa">The reason that the use of weapons in space could be considered indiscriminate is because of the debris field they create. Destruction of objects in space creates large pieces of debris, which are hazardous but relatively easy to track. Where it gets dangerous is the increasing number of medium and small pieces of debris, which are too small to be trackable but are still traveling at high enough speeds to do tremendous damage to other objects or even people in space.</p>
<p id="NBdgcf">“A fleck of paint the size of your thumbnail can go through most spacecraft. Traveling at a very high velocity — 18,000 mph — it’ll go right through it,” said space debris expert Vishnu Reddy of the University of Arizona. </p>
<p id="Lm8aRK">A serious collision in orbit could create a field of small debris pieces that would quickly collide with other satellites, creating a cascade. At a critical mass, each collision creates more debris, which creates more collisions, which creates more debris, until an entire orbit becomes difficult or impossible to access. </p>
<p id="c4AyV0">This scenario, known as the Kessler syndrome, could cut off access to space for generations: from making rocket launches more difficult, dangerous, and expensive to, at worst, making any kind of space travel completely impossible for decades and shutting humanity off from the stars.</p>
<p id="MaqitQ">This concept of the syndrome was first proposed in the late 1970s, when there were optimistic predictions that the Space Shuttle might fly as often as once per week. That never came to fruition, so in the intervening decades, there was less concern about the possibility of a cascading debris event.</p>
<p id="a12BTk">But now, with the pace of both government and private launches ramping up to the <a href="https://arstechnica.com/space/2023/11/2023-has-been-another-year-with-a-record-number-of-orbital-launches/">highest levels ever</a>, space debris is once again on everyone’s radar, Reddy said: “The old fear has come back.”</p>
<div class="c-float-left c-float-hang"><aside id="o1UScx"><q>“A fleck of paint the size of your thumbnail can go through most spacecraft.”</q></aside></div>
<h3 id="RV5Iwg">Vulnerable orbits</h3>
<p id="kKHM4t">The most useful orbits around the planet are getting increasingly crowded, and even if humanity <a href="https://www.esa.int/Space_Safety/ESA_s_Space_Environment_Report_2023">stopped launching things</a> into space tomorrow, the debris already in orbit would continue to collide and make the problem worse. </p>
<p id="PA1PYf">Over the long term, if this problem isn’t addressed, it could spiral into a Kessler syndrome, as the situation can go from bad to catastrophic quickly. “The timeline for the cascading collisional scenario is very short,” Reddy said. “We’re talking anywhere from hours to days to weeks, not months to years to decades.”</p>
<p id="Ccdw7w">The use of a nuclear weapon in orbit, depending on its size and in which orbit it is detonated, could kick off such a cascading scenario. But this isn’t exclusive to nuclear weapons. It’s possible that a bad actor destroying a single, carefully chosen satellite could create a cascade, Reddy said, if they picked a vulnerable target. </p>
<p id="yMWnOl">In geostationary orbit, for example, there are only so many slots available for satellites in the ring around the Earth’s equator. That makes the slots in high demand, as they are a limited resource. And this scarcity is compounded by the fact that it’s very difficult to remove debris from an orbit so distant, at over 20,000 miles from the Earth’s surface. If these slots are blocked by debris, it could cut off functionality for systems like communications satellites, weather satellites, and navigation satellites. </p>
<p id="iaHfCo">“That would be really, really bad,” Reddy said. “One satellite explosion big enough would be enough to destroy a lot of assets in geostationary orbit.”</p>
<h3 id="5RsUeO">Fears for the future</h3>
<p id="h1mACA">Although it’s unlikely that any actor would launch a nuclear weapon in space with the specific intention of kicking off a cascading debris effect, it might happen as a consequence of trying to destroy a particular military system. But the debris isn’t the only thing that has experts worried.</p>
<p id="0NzpGN">Security risk expert Andrew Reddie questioned what it would take to convert the technology for a nuclear anti-satellite weapon into a platform that could deploy nuclear weapons from space to targets on the ground. This would require a reentry vehicle, for example, which doesn’t exist yet but could theoretically be constructed based on existing technology. Nukes launched from space would give less warning time than those launched from the surface, threatening thousands or even millions of people.</p>
<p id="egppqf">It’s not that the deployment of nukes in space is necessarily likely, with no current indication that Russia is developing such a weapon. But it does show how nuclear weapons in space could shift the geopolitical landscape dramatically and why reports of potential space-based nuclear weapons have drawn such condemnation.</p>
<div class="c-float-left c-float-hang"><aside id="WBPGoX"><q>“The old fear has come back.”</q></aside></div>
<h3 id="icqIkZ">A matter of global governance</h3>
<p id="jIQnQV">Russian President Vladimir Putin has <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/russia-denies-us-claims-that-moscow-plans-deploy-nuclear-weapons-space-2024-02-20/">denied any plans</a> to develop a nuclear anti-satellite weapon and has said that Russia is against the deployment of nuclear weapons in space. And experts agree that Russia takes pride both in its space program and in its role in international governance as a permanent member of the United Nations, though the invasion of Ukraine has shaken the country’s international status and resulted in the <a href="https://www.esa.int/Newsroom/Press_Releases/ExoMars_suspended">suspension of joint space missions</a> with other space agencies. </p>
<p id="ExWF3g">For the Russians to develop or deploy such an anti-satellite weapon “would undermine their diplomatic efforts,” Johnson said. Russia has a global leadership role in space governance and was a key negotiator in the Outer Space Treaty, and going against that would be self-undermining. “They take their role seriously,” Johnson said.</p>
<p id="MfIje7">There is also international pressure from beyond the US and Europe. Even China, which has a space program that is notably separate from other nation’s space programs and does not participate in international projects like the International Space Station, has emphasized that it is against the proliferation of weapons in space. US government representatives are trying <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/17/us/politics/russia-nuclear-weapon-space.html">to recruit China and India</a> in discouraging Russia from pursuing nuclear anti-satellite technology. </p>
<p id="9eRuOm">Deploying a weapon in space would be against Russia’s own self-interest, experts argue. Spreading a debris field across an entire orbit limits the ability of everyone to access space, including those who fired the weapon.</p>
<p id="8HEVgd">However, those effects are not necessarily symmetrical. “The Americans rely on space far more than both Russia and China, so in most domains, if you were to degrade it for everybody, that would be a problem,” Reddie said. “But if you’re degrading space, it’s going to asymmetrically affect the Americans. And the Russians know that.”</p>
<p id="pVrLmR">This raises the question of what the global consequences might be if — or when — any nation chooses to use a space-based weapon and whether the existing international legal structure could respond to that.</p>
<p class="c-end-para" id="dlSoCM">Space debris expert Reddy compared firing such a weapon to flipping a chess board when you’re losing a game: “It’s no longer about winning. It’s ‘I’m losing, so nobody wins.’”</p>
https://www.theverge.com/2024/3/19/24104979/nuclear-weapons-space-russia-putin-satellite-debris-orbitGeorgina Torbet2024-03-18T20:00:00-04:002024-03-18T20:00:00-04:00We’re one step closer to a global cybersecurity standard for smart home devices
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<img alt="" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/sKCqPtGAjpHUlAnBEvzC2sfKeTM=/143x0:1666x1015/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/73216684/Screenshot_2024_03_18_at_12.09.17_PM.0.png" />
<figcaption><em>The Verified Product Security Mark is a new labeling program from the CSA designed to help users easily identify what cybersecurity protections an IoT device has in place. </em> | Image: CSA</figcaption>
</figure>
<p id="0aFgCd">As useful as connected devices like video doorbells and smart lights are, it’s wise to exercise <a href="https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/parks-associates-54-of-us-internet-households-report-experiencing-a-data-privacy-or-security-issue-in-the-past-12-months-an-increase-of-50-over-five-years-302017235.html">caution when using connected tech</a> in your home, especially after years of reading about <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2022/12/20/23517973/ring-doorbells-swatting-yahoo-email-arrest">security camera hacks</a>, <a href="https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2014/01/is-your-refrigerator-really-part-of-a-massive-spam-sending-botnet/">fridge botnet attacks</a>, and <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2019/8/14/20802774/june-smart-oven-remote-preheat-update-user-error">smart stoves turning themselves on</a>. But until now, there hasn’t been an easy way to assess a product’s security chops. A new program from the <a href="http://www.csa-iot.org">Connectivity Standards Alliance (CSA)</a>, the group behind the <a href="https://www.theverge.com/22832127/matter-smart-home-products-thread-wifi-explainer">smart home standard Matter</a>, wants to fix that.</p>
<p id="YjZDHB">Announced this week, the <a href="https://csa-iot.org/newsroom/the-connectivity-standards-alliance-product-security-working-group-launches-the-iot-device-security-specification-1-0/">CSA’s IoT Device Security Specification</a> is a baseline cybersecurity standard and certification program that aims to provide a single, globally recognized security certification for consumer IoT devices. </p>
<p id="vmu2Fi">Device makers who adhere to the <a href="https://csa-iot.org/developer-resource/specifications-download-request/">specification</a> and go through the certification process can carry the CSA’s new Product Security Verified (PSV) Mark. If that security camera or smart lightbulb you’re buying carries the mark, you’ll know it has met requirements to help secure it from malicious hacking attempts and other intrusions that could impact your privacy. </p>
<div class="c-float-left c-float-hang"><aside id="Be9x9g"><q>“It’s a huge step forward to have a global consumer IoT security certification. It’s so much better than not having one,” Steve Hanna, Infineon</q></aside></div>
<p id="GQFRTn">“Research continually shows that consumers rate security as an important device purchase driver, but they don’t know what to look for from a security perspective to make an informed purchase decision,” Eugene Liderman, director of mobile security strategy at Google, tells <em>The Verge</em>. “Programs like this will give consumers a simple, easily identifiable indicator to look for.”</p>
<p id="8kPB4E">Liderman is part of the CSA working group that defined the 1.0 spec for the program, which<em> </em>has been developed by over 200 member companies of the CSA. These include (along with Google) Amazon, Comcast, Signify (Philips Hue), and several chipmakers such as Arm, Infineon, and NXP. </p>
<p id="9HPwC9">According to Tobin Richardson, CEO of the CSA, products carrying the PSV Mark could start to appear as soon as this holiday shopping season. </p>
<figure class="e-image">
<img alt=" " data-mask-text="false" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/xATvTBMBNBEKjFFZKBU_S8ImXIg=/400x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25343032/Screenshot_2024_03_18_at_12.08.17_PM.png">
<cite>Image: CSA</cite>
<figcaption><em>The CSA’s new product security verification mark. </em></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2 id="ZeqJqi">One cybersecurity mark to rule them all</h2>
<p id="EvUr3p">The <a href="https://csa-iot.org/newsroom/the-connectivity-standards-alliance-product-security-working-group-launches-the-iot-device-security-specification-1-0/">CSA’s announcement</a> on March 18th follows last week’s news that the <a href="https://docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/DOC-401201A1.pdf">FCC has approved implementing its new cybersecurity labeling program</a> for consumer IoT devices in the US. Both programs are voluntary, and the CSA’s label doesn’t compete with the <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2023/7/18/23798153/fcc-cyber-trust-mark-biden-security">US Cyber Trust Mark</a>. Instead, it goes a step further, taking all of the US requirements and adding cybersecurity baselines from similar programs in Singapore and Europe. The end result is a single specification and certification program that can work across multiple countries (see sidebar). </p>
<div class="c-float-left c-float-hang"><div id="sUS1xh"><div data-anthem-component="aside:12282879"></div></div></div>
<p id="MUBGom">Richardson says the goal is for the CSA’s PSV Mark to be recognized by governments, so manufacturers can go through just one certification process to sell in all the major markets. This could reduce cost and complexity for manufacturers and potentially bring more choice to consumers. </p>
<p id="3PIygn">The PSV Mark has been <a href="https://csa-iot.org/newsroom/the-connectivity-standards-alliance-and-the-cyber-sec[%E2%80%A6]cognition-arrangement-on-cybersecurity-labels-for-consumer-iot/">recognized by the Cyber Security Agency of Singapore</a>, and the CSA says it is working on mutual recognition with similar programs in the US, EU, and the UK. “It’s very likely, and with some [countries], it’s a certainty,” says Richardson. “It’s mainly a matter of tying up some paperwork.”</p>
<p id="AzWdxN">To get the PSV Mark, devices must comply with the <a href="https://csa-iot.org/developer-resource/specifications-download-request/">IoT Device Security Specification 1.0</a> and go through a certification program that involves answering a questionnaire and providing accompanying evidence to an authorized test laboratory. Highlights of the requirements include:</p>
<ul>
<li id="v6GI1b">Unique identity for each IoT Device</li>
<li id="6o2zTS">No hardcoded default passwords</li>
<li id="Lj6hto">Secure storage of sensitive data on the device</li>
<li id="j4Q3V5">Secure communications of security-relevant information</li>
<li id="5KdM27">Secure software updates throughout the support period</li>
<li id="kXZJey">Secure development process, including vulnerability management</li>
<li id="ecjP4v">Public documentation regarding security, including the support period</li>
</ul>
<p id="zjVfCE"><em>(Source: CSA)</em></p>
<p id="Pw5Kin">According to the CSA, the voluntary program applies to most connected smart home devices — including lightbulbs, switches, thermostats, and security cameras — and can be applied retroactively to products in the market. Along with the PSV Mark, “A printed URL, hyperlink, or QR code on the mark gives consumers access to more information about the device’s security features,” the CSA says in <a href="https://csa-iot.org/newsroom/the-connectivity-standards-alliance-product-security-working-group-launches-the-iot-device-security-specification-1-0/">its press release</a>.</p>
<p id="ZwXK3n">The program is focused specifically on device security — making sure the physical device itself can’t be accessed — rather than privacy. “But there is a close linkage in that you can’t have privacy without security,” says Richardson. While security impacts privacy, this program doesn’t offer many requirements around how a manufacturer uses the data a device collects. The CSA has a separate <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2023/2/22/23610081/smart-home-matter-data-privacy-certification-csa">Data Privacy Working Group</a> dealing with that can of worms. </p>
<h2 id="iRXVT9">Better security, but still not perfect</h2>
<p id="QYchK5">The current iteration of the program isn’t a silver bullet to solve IoT device security concerns. Steve Hanna of Infineon Technologies, a 25-year cybersecurity researcher and chair of the CSA working group for the program, told <em>The Verge</em> there’s still more he’d like to see incorporated. “But we have to crawl, walk, and then run,” he says. “It’s a huge step forward to have a global consumer IoT security certification. It’s so much better than not having one.”</p>
<p id="VgKcZy">Google’s Liderman also points out that meeting the minimum security standard doesn’t guarantee a device is vulnerability-free. “We greatly believe that the industry needs to raise the bar over time, especially for sensitive product categories,” he says.</p>
<p id="lcEaYQ">The CSA plans to keep the specification updated, requiring companies to recertify at least every three years. Additionally, Richardson says there will be a requirement for an incident response process, so if a company encounters a security issue — such as <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2024/2/19/24077233/wyze-security-camera-breach-13000-customers-events">Wyze’s recent problems</a> — it must fix those before it can be recertified. </p>
<div class="c-float-left c-float-hang"><aside id="wye6Tc"><q>An API could allow a smart home platform app to alert you to a device’s security status before it can join your network</q></aside></div>
<p id="51sFzg">To address concerns about misuse of the label, Hanna says the CSA will have a database of all certified products on its website so you can cross-check a company’s claims. He also says there are plans to make the information available in an API, which could allow your smart home platform app to alert you to a device’s security status before it can join your network. </p>
<p id="D7htHE">Hanna cautions against setting expectations too high. “Some companies are excited about it to recognize the work they have already done, but we shouldn’t expect every product to have this,” he says. Some may find they have problems that mean they can’t get certified, he says. “If or when these become required by governments, that’s where the rubber hits the road.”</p>
<p id="Ogz6Bm">A voluntary program may seem like a finger in the dam, but it does solve two basic problems. For manufacturers, it makes it simpler to comply with regulations from multiple countries in one step, while for consumers, it opens an avenue to information about what type of security practices a company adheres to. </p>
<p id="2Sz7hO">“Without a label or a mark, it can be difficult as a consumer to make a purchasing decision based on security,” says Hollie Hennessy, an IoT cybersecurity expert at <a href="https://omdia.tech.informa.com/">tech analyst firm Omdia</a>. While the program being voluntary could be a barrier to adoption, Hennessy says her firm’s research indicates people are more likely to purchase a device with privacy and security labeling.</p>
<p id="N5kTCd">Ultimately, Hennessy believes that a combination of standards and certifications like this, along with regulations and legislationis needed to solve consumer concerns about privacy and security in connected devices. But this move is a big step in the right direction.</p>
<p id="HgEcWc"></p>
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https://www.theverge.com/2024/3/18/24104906/csa-iot-device-security-specification-product-security-verification-markJennifer Pattison Tuohy2024-03-18T18:39:34-04:002024-03-18T18:39:34-04:00Steam streamlines its family sharing features
<figure>
<img alt="The Steam logo on a pink background, surrounded by Valve logos." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/ZPuxxQ5CvmkYHi70xKJovM88AGQ=/0x0:2040x1360/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/73216573/STK139_Stream_Kradtke_01.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>Image: The Verge</figcaption>
</figure>
<p id="ygJv0u">Today, Steam launched Steam Families, an <a href="https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/593110/view/4149575031735702628">overhaul of its family sharing system</a>. The new system gets rid of limits on how many people can play games from one library, makes buying games for your kids easier, and adds new parental controls and sharing options. </p>
<p id="jckn2X">Before, you needed to use two different systems — Family Sharing and Family View — if you wanted to share your library but limit which games your kids could play. Also under the old approach, only one person at a time could play a game from another’s library. Now — to use Steam’s example — if you’re playing your copy of <em>Portal 2</em> and someone else wants to play <em>Half-Life</em> from your library, that’s fine. They’ll only be booted if you start up <em>Portal 2</em> while they’re playing it from your library. That’s right — they can’t earn your cake and eat it, too. (I hope this <em>Portal</em> reference is satisfactory.)</p>
<figure class="e-image">
<img alt="Screenshots showing the menus where you can find family sharing settings." data-mask-text="false" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/ivVFVLAzfgVHY9TSSx8qM939xM4=/400x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25343210/Steam_Family_setup.png">
<cite>Image: Valve</cite>
<figcaption><em>Set up Steam Family Sharing under Family Management.</em></figcaption>
</figure>
<p id="wbWcgm">You’ll need to be in the beta program to try it, which you can do by visiting Settings > Interface > Client Beta Participation and selecting “Steam Family Beta.” Then, to create a family, go to the Store page, click your account, then Account details > Family Management > Create a Family. </p>
<p id="IXWIec">Accounts can share a library with five other family members, just as before, but there’s no mention of limits to the number of devices you can authorize. (It was capped at 10 before.) Offline play is supported now, too, whereas the previous sharing scheme required you to be online to play games from someone else’s library. </p>
<figure class="e-image">
<img alt="Screenshot of shared libraries and a list of shared games in a “Steam Family.”" data-mask-text="false" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/_mRDHW_jgruk6DNAevhTpa20z74=/400x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25343213/Steam_Family_shared_libraries.png">
<cite>Image: Valve</cite>
<figcaption><em>Here’s what a shared library might look like.</em></figcaption>
</figure>
<p id="cGb2Cl">Doing parent stuff is also easier, and not just because you now can manage kids’ access to specific games, monitor their play time, and set time-based restrictions. You won’t have to go through the rigamarole of buying a gift card or handing off your credit card to buy your kid a game anymore — you just approve their request for a game, and your account is charged for it. </p>
<p id="NU0CLu">A note of caution, though: the new system is region-locked, so if you’ve been sharing with someone in another country, you might not be able to continue doing so. And if someone leaves your family, they can’t join or start another one for a full year.</p>
<p id="uJkOPq">Steam says developers have to approve their titles for family sharing, while others, like free-to-play games or those requiring third-party keys, accounts, or subscriptions, can’t be shared. </p>
https://www.theverge.com/2024/3/18/24105220/steam-families-shared-library-parental-controlsWes Davis2024-03-18T18:15:11-04:002024-03-18T18:15:11-04:00The best Android phones for everyone
<figure>
<img alt="" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/2pDkEMFJuQCil9K38Vfq8u4y-eE=/0x0:2040x1360/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/72165575/android_guide_art.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>Image: The Verge</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Whether you want everything but the kitchen sink or top-tier performance for a midrange price, you’ve got options.</p> <p id="CYuPXK">The Android ecosystem is all about choice. While iPhone owners have <a href="https://www.theverge.com/23618862/best-iphone-camera-battery-screen-guide">a smaller pool of new devices to pick from</a> when it’s time to upgrade, there’s a much wider range of choices on Android. You want incredible camera zoom? A built-in stylus? A phone that runs a complete desktop environment when you plug it into a monitor? You can find it on Android. Heck, you can find all of that in <a href="https://www.theverge.com/24053907/samsung-galaxy-s24-ultra-review-ai-screen-camera-battery">a single device</a>.</p>
<p id="0wxeCe">On the flip side, all that choice can make for some hard decisions. Here’s where I’d like to help; I’ve tested a whole boatload of recent Android phones, and I think there are some real winners in the current batch. It’s all a matter of what you’re looking for, what you’re comfortable spending, and what your definition of a “reasonably sized phone” is. (<a href="https://www.theverge.com/2023/5/20/23730130/apple-iphone-13-mini-apple-phones">I have my own</a>, personally.) </p>
<p id="L4k169"><strong>If </strong><a href="https://www.theverge.com/2024/1/17/24041928/samsung-galaxy-s24-ai-event-2024"><strong>Samsung’s S24-series launch event</strong></a><strong> is anything to go by, then it’s a safe bet that this year’s mobile tech buzzword will be AI. Generally speaking, AI has yet to really impress me on a phone. Google’s Pixel phones have some neat AI photo editing tricks, and Galaxy devices can translate a phone call for you in real time. These things are nothing to sneeze at! But just keep in mind that you’re always just a few taps away from AI-gone-wrong atrocities like </strong><a href="https://www.theverge.com/24058916/samsung-galaxy-s24-plus-review-screen-battery-camera#:~:text=a%20new%20arm%20made%20out%20of%20pillows"><strong>Pillow Arm</strong></a><strong>. Best not to put too much stock in any company’s AI claims just yet.</strong></p>
<div><div id="bjPLVl"><div data-anthem-component="aside:11844098"></div></div></div>
<p id="4gBy8z">If you live in the US, I have some bad news about the Android market, though. For complicated reasons having to do with “capitalism” and “geopolitics,” we don’t get nearly as many of the options as you’ll find in Asia and Europe — brands like Huawei, Xiaomi, Honor, and Oppo just aren’t available here. I’ve limited this guide to the devices I’ve personally tested in depth; thus, it is a fairly US-centric set of recommendations. </p>
<div class="c-float-left c-float-hang"><aside id="IHPv9M"><div data-anthem-component="readmore" data-anthem-component-data='{"stories":[{"title":"The best smartphone you can buy for under $500","url":"https://www.theverge.com/21420196/best-budget-smartphone-cheap"}]}'></div></aside></div>
<p id="en4uQY">With that in mind, it’s also worth acknowledging that most people in the US get their phones “for free” from their wireless carrier. If you can manage it, buying a phone unlocked will give you the most flexibility and freedom if you end up wanting to change carriers in the near future. Phone manufacturers also offer financing and trade-in deals to make payment more manageable. But if you’re happy with your carrier and the free phone on offer is the one you really want, by all means, take the free phone. Just make sure you understand the terms, especially if you need to change plans to cash in on the deal. </p>
<p id="mPuuLW">However you go about it, you have some fantastic options for your next Android phone.</p>
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<h2 id="ueIawV">Best Android phone overall</h2>
<div id="CDHt0B"><div data-anthem-component="productcard:12224575"></div></div>
<p id="J7ZSrk"><small><em><strong>Screen: </strong></em></small><small><em>6.7-inch 1440p 120Hz OLED / </em></small><small><em><strong>Processor: </strong></em></small><small><em>Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 / </em></small><small><em><strong>Cameras:</strong></em></small><small><em> 50-megapixel F1.8 main with OIS, 10-megapixel 3x telephoto with OIS, 12-megapixel ultrawide, 12-megapixel selfie / </em></small><small><em><strong>Battery: </strong></em></small><small><em>4,900mAh / </em></small><small><em><strong>Charging:</strong></em></small><small><em> 45W wired, 15W wireless / </em></small><small><em><strong>Weather resistance:</strong></em></small><small><em> IP68</em></small></p>
<p id="ARbcod">Samsung’s bigger flagship — but not <a href="https://www.theverge.com/24053907/samsung-galaxy-s24-ultra-review-ai-screen-camera-battery">the <em>big</em> big flagship</a> — is once again the best Android phone for most people. The Galaxy S24 Plus is a crowd-pleaser if the crowds want a big screen, impressive cameras, and good battery life (I think they do). </p>
<p id="GQV6qV">Samsung makes a big deal about its AI features, which are like all AI features on phones right now: hit-and-miss. You can have the phone act as a real-time language translator on phone calls. It works well enough and could really come in handy in a pinch. But the generative AI photo edits? Still very much <a href="https://www.theverge.com/24058916/samsung-galaxy-s24-plus-review-screen-battery-camera#:~:text=a%20new%20arm%20made%20out%20of%20pillows">a work in progress</a>.</p>
<figure class="e-image">
<img alt="Samsung Galaxy S24 Plus on a purple background showing camera array." data-mask-text="false" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/wd8EpY_B4LbHVQctZeh__VRTBA8=/400x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25262607/DSC06589.jpg">
<cite>Photo by Allison Johnson / The Verge</cite>
<figcaption><em>Samsung’s S-series phone is once again the best option on Android for most people.</em></figcaption>
</figure>
<p id="VGDzXb">Outside of software updates, you won’t find much new hardware here — and that’s fine. The updated Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset is powerful enough for just about anyone, the battery is a little bigger, and the screen gets a resolution bump this year for a crisper image. If these sound like minor updates, it’s because they are. But that’s okay when you’re already giving the people what they want.</p>
<h4 id="hBOhoM">
<a href="https://www.theverge.com/24058916/samsung-galaxy-s24-plus-review-screen-battery-camera">Read my full review of the Samsung Galaxy S24 Plus</a>.</h4>
<h2 id="d1zQdW">Best maximalist phone</h2>
<div id="9w3Jod"><div data-anthem-component="productcard:12224583"></div></div>
<p id="2JgAbm"><small><em><strong>Screen: </strong></em></small><small><em>6.8-inch 1440p 120Hz OLED / </em></small><small><em><strong>Processor: </strong></em></small><small><em>Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 / </em></small><small><em><strong>Cameras:</strong></em></small><small><em> 200-megapixel main with OIS, 50-megapixel 5x telephoto with OIS, 10-megapixel 3x telephoto with OIS, 12-megapixel ultrawide, 12-megapixel selfie / </em></small><small><em><strong>Battery: </strong></em></small><small><em>5,000mAh / </em></small><small><em><strong>Charging:</strong></em></small><small><em> 45W wired, 15W wireless / </em></small><small><em><strong>Weather resistance:</strong></em></small><small><em> IP68</em></small></p>
<p id="j8T7zl">The Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra says it all in the name: <em>Ultra.</em> It has everything you could ask for in a phone — well, at least one that doesn’t fold in half. There’s a stylus, two telephoto cameras, a massive battery, and one of the best ding dang screens on any phone, anywhere. </p>
<figure class="e-image">
<img alt="Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra" data-mask-text="false" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/NvOwUi66D6MLLxy9sJWG4JRC6-U=/400x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25253485/DSC06482.jpg">
<cite>Photo by Allison Johnson / The Verge</cite>
<figcaption><em>Write your grocery list in style.</em></figcaption>
</figure>
<p id="NVGmhV">So why am I a little underwhelmed? For starters, Samsung swapped last year’s 10x telephoto camera for a higher-resolution 5x camera that uses in-sensor crop to zoom to 10x. This is a sensible move, and photos at 10x look <em>fine</em>, if not as crisp as they did on the last model. It’s also pricier this time around, and it was already an expensive phone. It’s pretty darn heavy, too, and Samsung’s switch to titanium for the frame hasn’t made it any lighter.</p>
<p id="wDmJ5d">Personal feelings about the zoom lens aside, the S24 Ultra is still basically peerless. Its much-touted AI features are fine, but if there’s one thing that makes it worth the upgrade, it’s the screen. Its anti-glare coating and boosted maximum brightness make it so comfortable to use outside it’s almost magic. That’s hardly a fancy new tech feature, but the Galaxy S24 Ultra is hardly any old phone.</p>
<h4 id="hQgZWo">
<a href="https://www.theverge.com/24053907/samsung-galaxy-s24-ultra-review-ai-screen-camera-battery">Read my full review of the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra</a>.</h4>
<h2 id="oV1Wae">Best phone if you’re sick of hearing about AI</h2>
<div id="mSYLFU"><div data-anthem-component="productcard:12234052"></div></div>
<p id="qcJOoI"><small><em><strong>Screen: </strong></em></small><small><em>6.82-inch 1440p 120Hz LTPO OLED / </em></small><small><em><strong>Processor:</strong></em></small><small><em> Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 </em></small><small><em><strong>Cameras:</strong></em></small><small><em> 50-megapixel f/1.6 main with OIS, 64-megapixel 3x telephoto with OIS, 48-megapixel f/2.2 ultrawide / </em></small><small><em><strong>Battery: </strong></em></small><small><em>5400mAh / </em></small><small><em><strong>Charging:</strong></em></small><small><em> 80W wired, 50W wireless / </em></small><small><em><strong>Weather-resistance rating:</strong></em></small><small><em> IP65</em></small></p>
<p id="CVK6ll">After a few years and <a href="https://youtu.be/xd-SefaGrLM?si=LzF8afFoHpSq2ZX9">a little soul-searching</a>, OnePlus is back to its roots. The OnePlus 12 is an excellent device with high-end performance with a competitive price: $799 for the base model with a hefty 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage.</p>
<p id="nLJfT3">For that price, you get a crisp 1440p 6.8-inch display, a top-tier Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset, and a capable camera. It supports wireless charging, something that previous OnePlus flagships have skipped. Battery performance is fantastic, too — power users can get through a full day, and light users can stretch it to two.</p>
<figure class="e-image">
<img alt="OnePlus 12 on a green and purple background showing home screen." data-mask-text="false" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/fznGg9IRVFTYmWRmV8UZxZDxZHk=/400x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25242629/DSC06403.jpg">
<cite>Photo by Allison Johnson / The Verge</cite>
<figcaption><em>The OnePlus 12 gets the basics right at a very nice price.</em></figcaption>
</figure>
<p id="jfMqcl">What stands out about the OnePlus 12, though, might just be what’s <em>not</em> here: a bunch of AI features. Honestly? That’s kind of refreshing. Some of the AI features Google and Samsung are busy shipping right now are nice, but none of them feel essential. If you want to sit out this AI hype cycle but you still want a great phone, the OnePlus 12 might be the one.</p>
<h4 id="wTR5JS">
<a href="https://www.theverge.com/24047368/oneplus-12-review">Read my full review of the OnePlus 12</a>.</h4>
<h2 id="SbewYq">Best phone for family photography</h2>
<div id="GREE1C"><div data-anthem-component="productcard:12073457"></div></div>
<p id="P0Z8MO"><small><em><strong>Screen: </strong></em></small><small><em>6.7-inch 1344p 120Hz LTPO OLED / </em></small><small><em><strong>Processor:</strong></em></small><small><em> Tensor G3 </em></small><small><em><strong>Cameras:</strong></em></small><small><em> 50-megapixel f/1.7 main with OIS, 48-megapixel 5x telephoto with OIS, 48-megapixel ultrawide / </em></small><small><em><strong>Battery: </strong></em></small><small><em>5050mAh / </em></small><small><em><strong>Charging:</strong></em></small><small><em> 30W wired, 23W wireless with Pixel Stand 2 / </em></small><small><em><strong>Weather-resistance rating:</strong></em></small><small><em> IP68</em></small></p>
<p id="KOqr9j">Anyone who’s ever tried to photograph a young child understands what a phone camera is up against: an unpredictable (but adorable!) subject that won’t. Ever. Sit. Still. The Google Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro <a href="https://www.theverge.com/23914615/pixel-8-pro-camera-parents-best-take-face-unblur">tackle this age-old problem</a> with some new tech: AI. And unlike most recent AI features on smartphones, these tools really do come in handy. </p>
<p id="ruqv3r">Both phones include an AI editing tool that will let you choose the best expression for each person in your photo when you take a burst of images — especially handy if you want to get one with everyone looking at the camera. There’s AI to improve the audio in your videos, too, allowing you to minimize distracting background noises. </p>
<figure class="e-image">
<img alt="Photo of blue Google Pixel 8 Pro on a colorful play mat surrounded by building blocks" data-mask-text="false" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/E0wsT29js2SMcL-GiDB41fXuMlY=/400x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/24998650/DSC05815_processed.JPG">
<cite>Photo by Allison Johnson / The Verge</cite>
<figcaption><em>The Pixel 8 Pro comes with a few features perfect for photographing little monsters.</em></figcaption>
</figure>
<p id="5QjCDG">The Pixel 8 and 8 Pro have highly capable cameras in general, though only the pricier 8 Pro has a telephoto lens. It’s worth the upgrade if you’re a keen photographer. The 8 Pro also comes with a bigger screen and battery, which a lot of people will appreciate. The light and svelte Pixel 8, with its 6.2-inch screen, is a good choice for small-ish phone fans. Both phones use Google’s Tensor G3 chipset, though <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2024/3/7/24093603/the-pixel-8-wont-get-gemini-nano-because-of-reasons">only the 8 Pro</a> is able to run large language models on-device — that’ll be important in the future as AI tools (possibly?) become more useful.</p>
<p id="0JhTbh">Otherwise, the 8 and 8 Pro are good all-around devices — just know that Pixels are unfortunately susceptible to an <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2024/1/24/24048920/google-pixel-bug-internal-storage-access-crashing-apps">unusual bug here and there</a>. None of the review units I’ve tested have suffered from them, but <a href="https://www.androidpolice.com/google-pixel-experience-unreliable-inconsistent-editorial/">they’re out there</a>. </p>
<h4 id="X36o4t">
<a href="https://www.theverge.com/23912370/google-pixel-8-pro-review-camera-assistant-magic-editor-best-take-audio-eraser">Read my full review of the Google Pixel 8 and 8 Pro</a>.</h4>
<h2 id="n6yvTZ">Best foldable phone</h2>
<div id="FQb3Pn"><div data-anthem-component="productcard:12009233"></div></div>
<p id="N3P9qv"><small><em><strong>Screen: </strong></em></small><small><em>7.6-inch 2176p 120Hz OLED inner screen, 6.2-inch 2316p 120Hz OLED cover screen / </em></small><small><em><strong>Processor:</strong></em></small><small><em> Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 / </em></small><small><em><strong>Cameras:</strong></em></small><small><em> 50-megapixel F/1.8 main with OIS, 10-megapixel 3x telephoto with OIS, 12-megapixel ultrawide, 10-megapixel selfie (cover screen), four-megapixel under-display selfie (inner screen) / </em></small><small><em><strong>Battery: </strong></em></small><small><em>4,400mAh / </em></small><small><em><strong>Charging:</strong></em></small><small><em> 25W wired, 15W wireless / </em></small><small><em><strong>Weather resistance:</strong></em></small><small><em> IPX8</em></small></p>
<p id="wa6W3v">Samsung’s flagship foldable isn’t the only show in town anymore, but it’s still the best choice for most people looking for a folding phone. Its multitasking capabilities are second to none, and it’s lighter and easier to wield than <a href="https://www.theverge.com/23773594/google-pixel-fold-review-screen-battery-hinge-camera">Google’s Pixel Fold</a>. The narrow dimensions of the cover display make it a little awkward to use for regular phone stuff, but that’s a reasonable tradeoff considering everything that the Fold 5 can do.</p>
<p id="L2Zc0C">There are some important things to consider, though, starting with the $1800 price. That’s what the Pixel Fold costs, too, but it doesn’t matter how you look at it — that’s a lot to pay for a phone. The Fold 5 isn’t dust-resistant, either, so you’ll want to be somewhat careful with your investment. </p>
<figure class="e-image">
<img alt="Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 shown in cream color on a table with rear panel facing up." data-mask-text="false" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/l3HLNo4U3sc84tCTLG0MWBPWCns=/400x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/24840077/DSC05301_processed_alt.JPG">
<cite>Photo by Allison Johnson / The Verge</cite>
<figcaption><em>The Fold 5’s unusually long-and-narrow aspect ratio when it’s closed is a turn off for some.</em></figcaption>
</figure>
<p id="r0hzfN">The Fold 5 isn’t exactly teeming with technological improvements over last year’s model, either. There’s a new hinge that folds flat rather than with a gap between the two halves of the phone, and that’s about it. A couple of software updates that it offers will come to older Fold devices in the future, so there’s not much reason to rush out and trade in your Fold 4 for a Fold 5. </p>
<p id="gFpIyX">If you’re a devoted Pixel fan or averse to the Fold 5’s narrow form factor when closed, Google’s foldable might be a better choice. But for most people, the Galaxy Fold 5’s versatility and good recent track record for durability make it a better bet.</p>
<h4 id="aUYw3y">
<a href="https://www.theverge.com/23826325/samsung-galaxy-z-fold-5-review-screen-hinge-battery-camera">Read my full review of the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5</a>.</h4>
<h2 id="RuPvYr">Best phone that puts on a light show</h2>
<div id="1n64lY"><div data-anthem-component="productcard:12017304"></div></div>
<p id="Gk9v8A"><small><em><strong>Screen: </strong></em></small><small><em>6.7-inch 1080p 120Hz OLED / </em></small><small><em><strong>Processor: </strong></em></small><small><em>Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1 / </em></small><small><em><strong>Cameras:</strong></em></small><small><em> 50-megapixel F/1.9 main with OIS, 50-megapixel ultrawide, 32-megapixel selfie / </em></small><small><em><strong>Battery: </strong></em></small><small><em>4,700mAh / </em></small><small><em><strong>Charging:</strong></em></small><small><em> 45W wired, 15W wireless / </em></small><small><em><strong>Weather resistance:</strong></em></small><small><em> IP54</em></small></p>
<p id="HztD5C">The Nothing Phone 2 doesn’t offer the very best value proposition in its upper-midrange category. But if it’s style you’re after and something a little flashy (well, <em>a lot</em> flashy), then the Phone 2 is an easy pick. </p>
<p id="JFxmXp">It offers a good 6.7-inch screen, great daily performance and battery life, and a capable camera system. But that’s the usual stuff — what’s unusual about the Phone 2 is its set of LED light strips on the back panel. They illuminate in combinations called “glyphs,” and you can set them to alert you to certain notifications. It’s neat but ultimately isn’t as helpful as the system’s customizable always-on display.</p>
<figure class="e-image">
<img alt="Nothing Phone 2 on a table showing home screen." data-mask-text="false" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/Ch1hBFt31o87ryEO5lM_2zRiyho=/400x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/24785448/DSC04957_processed.JPG">
<cite>Photo by Allison Johnson / The Verge</cite>
<figcaption><em>The Phone 2’s UI is on-theme.</em></figcaption>
</figure>
<p id="STqKtZ">On the downside, the Phone 2 is only splash-resistant rather than fully resistant to water submersion like virtually all other phones over $500. It’s also not fully supported on Verizon’s network, which takes it out of contention for a lot of the US population. </p>
<p id="mxhzc2">If neither of the above is a deal-breaker, and the Phone 2’s styling appeals to you, then it’s an excellent choice. One thing’s for sure — it definitely stands out from the crowd.</p>
<h4 id="90sXpc">
<a href="https://www.theverge.com/23792961/nothing-phone-2-review-glyph-screen-battery-camera">Read my full review of the Nothing Phone 2</a>.</h4>
<h3 id="W3yT1i">Other Android phones worth considering</h3>
<p id="sJIMwR">There are many more great Android devices that weren’t covered here, and a few are worth calling out that didn’t quite make the cut for a recommendation. </p>
<p id="oo1MGQ">There’s <a href="https://www.theverge.com/23820202/samsung-galaxy-z-flip-5-review-screen-battery-camera-hinge">the Galaxy Z Flip 5</a>, Samsung’s clamshell-style foldable. It’s much more useful than its predecessors, thanks to a bigger 3.4-inch cover screen that allows you to type out texts and emails on a full QWERTY keyboard. It’s not as versatile as the Fold 5, but it also costs a much more reasonable $999. Another flip phone worth considering: <a href="https://www.theverge.com/23768630/motorola-razr-plus-40-ultra-review-screen-battery-camera">the Motorola Razr Plus</a>. It’s not as durable as the Flip 5, and its cover screen widgets aren’t as useful, but it runs full apps on the outer display more easily. And it’s just plain <em>fun</em>, gosh dang it.</p>
<p id="b2eXsY">On the other side of the foldable spectrum, <a href="https://www.theverge.com/23923599/oneplus-open-review-foldable-battery-screen-camera-price">the OnePlus Open</a> is a welcome addition to the mix with the best screen format on a book-style folding phone. It’s thin and light, and the software includes some thoughtful approaches to multitasking — a crucial part of the folding phone experience. At $1,700, it’s just $100 shy of the Pixel Fold and Galaxy Z Fold 5 and misses a couple of key features that both of those other options include: wireless charging and an IPX8 rating. But if those omissions don’t bother you and the form factor appeals, it’s a lovely device to use.</p>
<p id="FTECDZ">There’s one more Pixel phone to consider: <a href="https://www.theverge.com/23716677/google-pixel-7a-review-screen-camera-battery">the Google Pixel 7A</a>. It’s $499 and has the same Tensor G2 processor as the Pixel 7 and 7 Pro. The 7A is definitely the best phone camera you can get for the money, and it comes with nice creature comforts not usually seen in budget devices, like wireless charging. It’s on the pricey side of the “budget” category, but it’s designed to go the distance.</p>
<p id="zETxgU"><em><strong>Update March 18th, 2024, 6:15PM ET: </strong></em><em>Replaced the Google Pixel 8 with the Samsung Galaxy S24 Plus. Replaced the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra with the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra. Added the Google Pixel 8 Pro and the OnePlus 12.</em></p>
https://www.theverge.com/23674658/best-android-phoneAllison Johnson2024-03-18T17:53:01-04:002024-03-18T17:53:01-04:00Here are the best AirPods deals you can get right now
<figure>
<img alt="An iPhone and pair of third-gen AirPods." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/VeWoDBHlSeZ_zkRX7eFP41dQ27s=/0x0:2040x1360/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/67012056/IMG_0049_2.32.jpg" />
<figcaption><em>The third-gen AirPods start at $139.99 ($40 off).</em> | Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge</figcaption>
</figure>
<p id="NjCYhY">If you know where to look, you can often score discounts on Apple’s ever-popular AirPods. Since Apple launched the <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2021/10/18/22671344/apple-new-airpods-3-spacial-audio-specs-price-release-date-features">third-gen AirPods</a> at the end of 2021, we’ve seen the starting price of the second-gen, entry-level model slowly dip to under $100. And now that the <a href="https://www.theverge.com/23878402/apple-airpods-pro-usb-c-adaptive-audio-conversation-awareness-test-review">latest AirPods Pro</a> has been on the market for over a year, we’re also seeing their price fall more often, too. We’re even seeing great deals land on the newer updated <a href="https://www.theverge.com/23878402/apple-airpods-pro-usb-c-adaptive-audio-conversation-awareness-test-review">AirPods Pro with USB-C</a>.</p>
<div class="c-float-left c-float-hang"><aside id="cAewsn"><div data-anthem-component="readmore" data-anthem-component-data='{"stories":[{"title":"Apple Vision Pro review: magic, until it’s not","url":"https://www.theverge.com/24054862/apple-vision-pro-review-vr-ar-headset-features-price"},{"title":"Apple’s wearable ideas include smart glasses and cameras in your ears","url":"https://www.theverge.com/2024/2/25/24082760/apple-smart-glasses-airpods-cameras-smart-ring"},{"title":"This DIY AirPods Max mod means you can stop waiting for a USB-C upgrade","url":"https://www.theverge.com/2024/2/28/24085141/apple-airpods-max-usb-c-ken-pillonel-mod"}]}'></div></aside></div>
<p id="E6INSh">Here, we’ve curated the best deals currently available on each model, including the entry-level AirPods, the AirPods Pro, the third-gen AirPods, and the AirPods Max.</p>
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<h2 id="ej2msf">The best AirPods (second-gen) deals</h2>
<div id="upOxaE"><div data-anthem-component="productcard:9502973" data-anthem-component-data='{"layout":"full_with_square_img"}'></div></div>
<p id="eg29V6">In 2021, Apple lowered the list price of the second-gen AirPods — now the entry-level model — from $159 to $129. It now only sells the model with a wired charging case, however, which charges via a standard Lightning cable. Despite their age, we found that the easy-to-use, second-gen AirPods still offer great wireless performance and reliable battery life, making them a great pick if you can live without a wireless charging case.</p>
<div class="c-float-left c-float-hang"><aside id="07GZLr"><div data-anthem-component="readmore" data-anthem-component-data='{"stories":[{"title":"The best deals on MacBooks right now","url":"https://www.theverge.com/22399419/apple-macbook-air-pro-mac-mini-imac-deals"},{"title":"Here are the best Apple Watch deals right now","url":"https://www.theverge.com/21289209/best-apple-watch-deals"},{"title":"The M3 MacBook Air has a familiar look","url":"https://www.theverge.com/24092910/apple-macbook-air-m3-first-impressions"}]}'></div></aside></div>
<p id="d18DWW">For Black Friday, Apple’s most affordable pair of earbuds dropped to an all-time low of $69 ($60 off) at Walmart and other retailers. For now, however, the second-gen earbuds with a Lightning charging case are on sale at <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Apple-AirPods-Charging-Latest-Model/dp/B07PXGQC1Q/?tag=theverge02-20" rel="sponsored nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Amazon</a>, <a href="https://goto.walmart.com/c/482924/565706/9383?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.walmart.com%2Fip%2FApple-AirPods-with-Charging-Case-2nd-Generation%2F604342441&subid1=verge021424" rel="sponsored nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Walmart</a>, and <a href="https://howl.me/clDiIYwVGc3">Best Buy</a> for about $99, a $30 discount. The model with the wireless charging case, meanwhile, is <a href="https://howl.me/cjyYOe4WqSs">on sale at Adorama</a> for $119.99 ($30 off). </p>
<h4 id="wPz1Z4">
<a href="https://www.theverge.com/2019/3/29/18286012/apple-airpods-2-new-2nd-gen-review-price-specs-features">Read our AirPods (second-gen) review</a>.</h4>
<h2 id="eG2fnz">The best AirPods (third-gen) deals</h2>
<div id="CYFJoy"><div data-anthem-component="productcard:11877191"></div></div>
<div id="cg0atZ"><div data-anthem-component="productcard:10744075" data-anthem-component-data='{"layout":"full_with_square_img"}'></div></div>
<p id="d2yjBK">With support for the company’s MagSafe technology and an asking price of $179, Apple’s third-gen AirPods are often considered the middle child in Apple’s current AirPods lineup. The shorter stems make for a more subtle design, too, while improved sound and features like sweat and water resistance, support for spatial audio with dynamic head tracking, and improved battery life render them a nice improvement over the last-gen model.</p>
<div class="c-float-left c-float-hang"><aside id="6nh2rp"><div data-anthem-component="readmore" data-anthem-component-data='{"stories":[{"title":"The best wireless earbuds to buy right now","url":"https://www.theverge.com/21309820/best-wireless-earbuds"},{"title":"Apple now finally sells USB-C EarPods","url":"https://www.theverge.com/2023/9/13/23872134/apple-usb-c-earpods-store"}]}'></div></aside></div>
<p id="orderTotalOutput">In 2022, Apple quietly <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2022/9/7/23341651/apple-airpods-third-gen-charging-case-lightning-magsafe">introduced a new, slightly cheaper option</a> of the third-gen AirPods that comes with a Lightning-only charging case, which are currently available at <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Apple-Generation-Lightning-Resistant-Headphones/dp/B0BDHB9Y8H?tag=theverge02-20" rel="sponsored nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Amazon</a> for $149.99 ($20 off). However, we recommend the version with a MagSafe charging case, which is currently down to $139.99 ($40 off) at <a href="https://www.anrdoezrs.net/links/8532386/type/dlg/sid/verge/https://www.costco.com/apple-airpods-3rd-generation-with-magsafe-charging-case.product.100806298.html" rel="sponsored nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Costco</a> through March 24th. Note that if you’re not a Costco member, you’ll have to pay a five percent non-member surcharge, which raises the price to $146.99. That is still one of the best prices we’ve seen, and cheaper than the Lightning-only version.</p>
<h4 id="hXYEsf">
<a href="https://www.theverge.com/22744686/apple-airpods-third-gen-review">Read our AirPods (third-gen) review</a>.</h4>
<h2 id="Iewbkw">The best AirPods Pro (second-gen) deals</h2>
<div id="UdaqOr"><div data-anthem-component="productcard:12099370" data-anthem-component-data='{"layout":"full_with_square_img"}'></div></div>
<div id="1iJ499"><div data-anthem-component="productcard:11753463"></div></div>
<p id="S8o5q4">Apple announced the second-gen AirPods Pro <a href="https://www.theverge.com/23341046/apple-iphone-14-plus-pro-max-notch-event-announcements-watch-8-se-ultra-airpods-pro">during its “Far Out” event in 2022</a>, a pair of earbuds that feature a similar build to the first-gen model but offer better noise cancellation. They also sport swipe-based controls, come with Apple’s new H2 chip, and feature an extra-small pair of swappable silicone ear tips for smaller ears. </p>
<div class="c-float-left c-float-hang"><aside id="qLXXfN"><div data-anthem-component="readmore" data-anthem-component-data='{"stories":[{"title":"How to find your Apple Music Replay","url":"https://www.theverge.com/23484112/apple-music-replay-how-to"},{"title":"Here are the best iPad deals right now","url":"https://www.theverge.com/21280354/best-ipad-deals-apple"},{"title":"Apple now sells the AirPods Pro USB-C case by itself — for $99","url":"https://www.theverge.com/2023/12/13/24000010/apple-airpods-pro-usb-c-case-now-available"}]}'></div></aside></div>
<p id="Zaa6jO">During last year’s “Wonderlust” event, Apple also announced an updated version of the <a href="https://www.theverge.com/23878402/apple-airpods-pro-usb-c-adaptive-audio-conversation-awareness-test-review">AirPods Pro with a USB-C charging case</a> and an upgraded IP54 rating for water and dust resistance. The new model also comes with lossless audio support when used with <a href="https://www.theverge.com/24054862/apple-vision-pro-review-vr-ar-headset-features-price">Apple’s new Vision Pro</a> headset.</p>
<p id="JVsUVN">You can currently buy the updated AirPods Pro for around $189 ($60 off) at <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Apple-Generation-Cancelling-Transparency-Personalized/dp/B0CHWRXH8B?tag=theverge02-20" rel="sponsored nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Amazon</a>, <a href="https://howl.me/clRq6Zb7Zks">Best Buy</a>, and <a href="https://goto.walmart.com/c/482924/565706/9383?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.walmart.com%2Fip%2FAirPods-Pro-2nd-generation-with-MagSafe-Case-USB-C%2F5020133971&subid1=verge021424" rel="sponsored nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Walmart</a>. That matches their all-time low price, making for an excellent deal.</p>
<h4 id="CtktC1">
<a href="https://www.theverge.com/23878402/apple-airpods-pro-usb-c-adaptive-audio-conversation-awareness-test-review">Read our hands-on impressions of the AirPods Pro with USB-C</a>.</h4>
<aside id="1tN9fa"><div data-anthem-component="actionbox" data-anthem-component-data='{"title":"Verge Deals on X","description":"Join more than 50,000 followers and keep up with the best daily tech deals with @vergedeals","label":"Follow us!","url":"http://bit.ly/2JzR5Ud"}'></div></aside><h2 id="x5NHYH">The best AirPods Max deals</h2>
<div id="E5cMsS"><div data-anthem-component="productcard:10361602"></div></div>
<p id="ESUeUd">The AirPods Max aren’t the iconic in-ears that have become synonymous with the AirPods name. They’re large and luxurious, comprised of aluminum, steel, and mesh fabric that remains comfortable during extended listening sessions. They also sport excellent noise cancellation, Apple’s spatial audio feature, and expansive, balanced sound, even if they lag behind some of their peers when it comes to bass response. They’re not the <a href="https://www.theverge.com/21345733/best-noise-canceling-headphones">best noise-canceling headphones</a> for most people — blame the price — but it’s hard to find a pair of Bluetooth headphones that sound better and feature more intuitive controls. </p>
<div class="c-float-left c-float-hang"><aside id="EIbEUM"><div data-anthem-component="readmore" data-anthem-component-data='{"stories":[{"title":"Apple’s future AirPods roadmap just leaked, and big changes are coming","url":"https://www.theverge.com/2023/10/25/23931989/apple-airpods-4-max-pro-rumor-new-features"}]}'></div></aside></div>
<p id="irGZgJ">Woot and other retailers have discounted the AirPods Max as low as $409 in the past. Right now, though, the best you can do is $529 ($20 off) in select colors at <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Headphones-Cancelling-Transparency-Bluetooth-Headphones/dp/B08PZJ8FZ8?tag=theverge02-20" rel="sponsored nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Amazon</a>, <a href="https://howl.me/clxQFAS9td5">Best Buy</a>, and <a href="https://goto.walmart.com/c/482924/565706/9383?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.walmart.com%2Fip%2FApple-AirPods-Max-Space-Gray%2F509451094&sharedid=theverge.com" rel="sponsored nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Walmart</a>. </p>
<h4 id="Lxq0zw">
<a href="https://www.theverge.com/22177494/apple-airpods-max-headphones-review-price-features">Read our AirPods Max review</a>.</h4>
<aside id="Mpx47T"><div data-anthem-component="newsletter" data-anthem-component-data='{"slug":"deals"}'></div></aside>
https://www.theverge.com/21302051/best-apple-airpods-dealsSheena Vasani2024-03-18T16:39:02-04:002024-03-18T16:39:02-04:00Nvidia reveals Blackwell B200 GPU, the ‘world’s most powerful chip’ for AI
<figure>
<img alt="" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/RVIcuLVHSWoo7UZdiNN_pNgBq_A=/303x124:1529x941/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/73216327/NVIDIA_Blackwell_Architecture_Image.0.jpg" />
<figcaption><em>The Blackwell B200 GPU.</em> | Image: Nvidia</figcaption>
</figure>
<p id="IqCPyn">Nvidia’s must-have H100 AI chip made it <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2024/2/23/24080975/nvidia-ai-chips-h100-h200-market-capitalization">a multitrillion-dollar company</a>, one that may be worth <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2024/2/14/24073384/nvidia-market-cap-passes-amazon-alphabet">more than Alphabet and Amazon</a>, and competitors have been <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2024/2/1/24058186/ai-chips-meta-microsoft-google-nvidia">fighting to catch up</a>. But perhaps Nvidia is about to extend its lead — with the new Blackwell B200 GPU and GB200 “superchip.” </p>
<figure class="e-image">
<img alt=" " data-mask-text="false" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/PRByFMdSYM1TH6thap0B80-unb0=/400x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25343088/SCR_20240318_mbxt.jpeg">
<cite>Image: Nvidia</cite>
<figcaption><em>Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang holds up his new GPU on the left, next to an H100 on the right, from the GTC livestream.</em></figcaption>
</figure>
<p id="uwE3yQ">Nvidia says the new B200 GPU offers up to 20 <em>petaflops </em>of FP4 horsepower from its 208 billion transistors. Also, it says, a GB200 that combines two of those GPUs with a single Grace CPU can offer 30 times the performance for LLM inference workloads while also potentially being substantially more efficient. It “reduces cost and energy consumption by up to 25x” over an H100, says Nvidia. </p>
<p id="eH1UGR">Training a 1.8 trillion parameter model would have previously taken 8,000 Hopper GPUs and 15 megawatts of power, Nvidia claims. Today, Nvidia’s CEO says 2,000 Blackwell GPUs can do it while consuming just four megawatts.</p>
<p id="P0sbmL">On a GPT-3 LLM benchmark with 175 billion parameters, Nvidia says the GB200 has a somewhat more modest seven times the performance of an H100, and Nvidia says it offers four times the training speed. </p>
<figure class="e-image">
<img alt=" " data-mask-text="false" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/4d2ranb2Ns3231KJ6Y7F6i_nv9s=/400x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25343065/NVIDIA_GB200_Grace_Blackwell_Superchip_Image.jpg">
<cite>Image: Nvidia</cite>
<figcaption><em>Here’s what one GB200 looks like. Two GPUs, one CPU, one board.</em></figcaption>
</figure>
<p id="ORq4TV">Nvidia told journalists one of the key improvements is a second-gen transformer engine that doubles the compute, bandwidth, and model size by using four bits for each neuron instead of eight (thus, the 20 petaflops of FP4 I mentioned earlier). A second key difference only comes when you link up huge numbers of these GPUs: a next-gen NVLink switch that lets 576 GPUs talk to each other, with 1.8 terabytes per second of bidirectional bandwidth. </p>
<p id="7xzt5T">That required Nvidia to build an entire new network switch chip, one with 50 billion transistors and some of its own onboard compute: 3.6 teraflops of FP8, says Nvidia.</p>
<figure class="e-image">
<img alt=" " data-mask-text="false" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/AkSY2C4CILCpWprHuNAUZHkW0Yw=/400x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25343112/SCR_20240318_mflh.png">
<cite>Image: Nvidia</cite>
<figcaption><em>Nvidia says it’s adding both FP4 and FP6 with Blackwell.</em></figcaption>
</figure>
<p id="1nd1EJ">Previously, Nvidia says, a cluster of just 16 GPUs would spend 60 percent of their time communicating with one another and only 40 percent actually computing.</p>
<p id="Tctj0t">Nvidia is counting on companies to buy large quantities of these GPUs, of course, and is packaging them in larger designs, like the GB200 NVL72, which plugs 36 CPUs and 72 GPUs into a single liquid-cooled rack for a total of 720 petaflops of AI training performance or 1,440 petaflops (aka 1.4 <em>exaflops</em>) of inference. It has nearly two miles of cables inside, with 5,000 individual cables.</p>
<figure class="e-image">
<img alt=" " data-mask-text="false" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/ajMNpaSih2XpMH_8pbh3EUN_oHs=/400x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25343064/NVIDIA_GB200_NVL72_Image.jpg">
<cite>Image: Nvidia</cite>
<figcaption><em>The GB200 NVL72. </em></figcaption>
</figure>
<p id="JDysX5">Each tray in the rack contains either two GB200 chips or two NVLink switches, with 18 of the former and nine of the latter per rack. In total, Nvidia says one of these racks can support a 27-trillion parameter model. GPT-4 is rumored to be around a 1.7-trillion parameter model.</p>
<p id="Aab10h">The company says Amazon, Google, Microsoft, and Oracle are all already planning to offer the NVL72 racks in their cloud service offerings, though it’s not clear how many they’re buying. </p>
<p id="wfTO8Q">And of course, Nvidia is happy to offer companies the rest of the solution, too. Here’s the DGX Superpod for DGX GB200, which combines eight systems in one for a total of 288 CPUs, 576 GPUs, 240TB of memory, and 11.5 exaflops of FP4 computing.</p>
<figure class="e-image">
<img alt=" " data-mask-text="false" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/yT3TBBzJgE1nwYDmzQi-0UzN-V4=/400x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25343069/DGX_SuperPOD_with_DGX_GB200_systems_Image.png">
<cite>Image: Nvidia</cite>
</figure>
<p id="89mdO9">Nvidia says its systems can scale to tens of thousands of the GB200 superchips, connected together with 800Gbps networking with its new Quantum-X800 InfiniBand (for up to 144 connections) or Spectrum-X800 ethernet (for up to 64 connections). </p>
<p id="7sgFNZ">We don’t expect to hear anything about new gaming GPUs today, as this news is coming out of Nvidia’s GPU Technology Conference, which is usually almost entirely focused on GPU computing and AI, not gaming. But the Blackwell GPU architecture will <a href="https://videocardz.com/newz/nvidia-blackwell-gb203-gpu-to-feature-256-bit-bus-gb205-with-192-bit-claims-leaker">likely also power a future RTX 50-series lineup</a> of desktop graphics cards.</p>
https://www.theverge.com/2024/3/18/24105157/nvidia-blackwell-gpu-b200-aiSean Hollister2024-03-18T15:56:54-04:002024-03-18T15:56:54-04:00Cyberpunk is out and solarpunk is in, according to Figma’s CEO
<figure>
<img alt="Dylan Field at Vox Media Podcast Stage Presented by Atlassian at SXSW on March 9, 2024 in Austin, Texas." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/XalLpUOu4WP2lZQGeLiE0laVIJc=/0x0:3724x2483/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/73216194/2071157324.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>Photo by Rick Kern / Getty Images for Vox Media</figcaption>
</figure>
<p id="gEmGjS">Cyberpunk design has been all the rage for several years now — this very website was once <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2016/11/1/13484656/verge-5th-anniversary-relaunch-2016">awash in neon colors</a> and hard edges, you might recall — but Figma CEO Dylan Field says he sees glimmers of optimism taking over. </p>
<div id="3z9K9M">
<blockquote class="tiktok-embed" cite="https://www.tiktok.com/@decoderpod/video/7347783332186443054" data-video-id="7347783332186443054" data-embed-from="oembed" style="max-width:605px; min-width:325px;"> <section> <a target="_blank" title="@decoderpod" href="https://www.tiktok.com/@decoderpod?refer=embed">@decoderpod</a> <p>Figma CEO Dylan Field talks to Nilay live at SXSW about the rise of Solarpunk as a counter to cyberpunk aesthetics, using the example of the Tesla Cybertruck and the Rivian R3. <a title="sxsw" target="_blank" href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/sxsw?refer=embed">#sxsw</a> <a title="cyberpunk" target="_blank" href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/cyberpunk?refer=embed">#cyberpunk</a> <a title="solarpunk" target="_blank" href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/solarpunk?refer=embed">#solarpunk</a> <a title="design" target="_blank" href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/design?refer=embed">#design</a> <a title="dystopia" target="_blank" href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/dystopia?refer=embed">#dystopia</a> <a title="tesla" target="_blank" href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/tesla?refer=embed">#tesla</a> <a title="cybertruck" target="_blank" href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/cybertruck?refer=embed">#cybertruck</a> <a title="rivian" target="_blank" href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/rivian?refer=embed">#rivian</a> <a title="cars" target="_blank" href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/cars?refer=embed">#cars</a> </p> <a target="_blank" title="♬ original sound - Decoder with Nilay Patel" href="https://www.tiktok.com/music/original-sound-7347783441377299242?refer=embed">♬ original sound - Decoder with Nilay Patel</a> </section> </blockquote> <script async="" src="https://www.tiktok.com/embed.js"></script>
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<p id="CYMSdd">“I think that we were really futurist, really cyberpunk for a while,” the founder of the popular design tool company <a href="https://www.theverge.com/24102160/figma-ceo-adobe-deal-design-ai-web-future-regulation-sxsw-decoder-interview">told the crowd at a live taping of <em>Decoder</em> at SXSW</a> when asked to compare the Cybertruck with the <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2024/3/7/24093570/rivian-r3-r3x-electric-suv-crossover-pics-specs">just-announced Rivian R3</a>. “A lot of neon lines, a lot of hard edges, a lot of poly or low-poly sort of metaphors. And it feels like we’re going more humanist. It feels like we’re going maybe more solarpunk.”</p>
<figure class="e-image">
<img alt=" " data-mask-text="false" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/Ae2yzeNPPaTYtNktOJfhceD-s2g=/400x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/19399322/sokane_191112_3807_8349.jpg">
<cite>Photo by Sean O’Kane / The Verge</cite>
<figcaption>
<em>Cyberpunk</em>.</figcaption>
</figure>
<figure class="e-image">
<img alt=" " data-mask-text="false" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/x4kxjmoqeIFzFmOk_cIuz64yc6c=/400x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25323552/01_Rivian_R3X.jpg">
<figcaption>
<em>Solarpunk</em>.</figcaption>
</figure>
<p id="1FkjYI">Solarpunk has been <a href="https://www.vice.com/en/article/wx5aym/solarpunk-is-not-about-pretty-aesthetics-its-about-the-end-of-capitalism">around for a few years now</a> — long enough that the conservative American Enterprise Institute <a href="https://www.aei.org/articles/solarpunk-futurism-seems-optimistic-and-whimsical-but-not-really/">wrote an entire blog post</a> about how it’s a dangerous liberal fantasy somehow tied to AOC! — and it usually looks like <em>Tears of the Kingdom</em> fan art. Think abundant energy, organic shapes, greenery embedded into architecture. Think... Emma Watson posting about hopeful futures to her Instagram in 2021:</p>
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<p id="11Bu5P">“Cyberpunk is dystopia — everything’s metal and concrete and low poly. It’s kind of depressing, but it’s also got that edge to it. Whereas solarpunk is more natural, the architecture is blending with the environment,” Field said. “I think it’s still a vision of the future, but also it’s more human and it’s got a lot of curves. It’s blended into the environment more, rather than trying to stand out as a piece of technology or a piece of architecture.”</p>
<p id="6E4PmY">It certainly seems like cuter, friendlier designs have been capturing a lot of attention recently — the <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2024/1/9/24030667/rabbit-r1-ai-action-model-price-release-date">Rabbit R1</a> was the hit of CES, for example. But whether it all adds up to “solarpunk” or just cool retro-ish design... well, you just let us know in the comments.</p>
https://www.theverge.com/2024/3/18/24104890/figma-ceo-dylan-field-cyberpunk-solarpunk-trends-sxsw-2024Nilay Patel2024-03-18T15:52:02-04:002024-03-18T15:52:02-04:00The Supreme Court is skeptical of restricting the White House from talking to social media platforms
<figure>
<img alt="Photo illustration of the Supreme Court building with pixelated sky." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/CRHpNjJ-QwG35MLNrXHos_3vRfU=/20x0:2021x1334/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/73216184/STK463_SCOTUS_B.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>Cath Virginia / The Verge | Photos via Getty Images</figcaption>
</figure>
<p id="40DUx2">During oral arguments on Monday, both liberal and conservative justices on the Supreme Court appeared wary of imposing broad limits on how the government can communicate with social media companies about problematic content it thinks should be removed.</p>
<p id="1Lv969"><a href="https://www.theverge.com/2024/3/15/24101298/supreme-court-murthy-missouri-speech-social-media">The case at issue is called <em>Murthy v. Missouri</em></a>, and it asks the court to determine whether the Biden administration’s communications with platforms coerced the companies to take down content, like misinformation about covid vaccines, thereby violating the First Amendment. It also asks the court to consider whether the government’s encouragement to take down such posts actually transformed the platforms themselves into state actors.</p>
<p id="gNGzPI">But several justices seemed skeptical of the arguments from Louisiana Solicitor General Benjamin Aguiñaga, who argued on behalf of the states and individual plaintiffs who challenged the Biden administration on its communications with social media companies. The justices appeared to worry about the far-reaching consequences of limiting the ways the government is able to speak with tech platforms.</p>
<p id="cOIKiJ">In the case originally filed in May 2022, the attorneys general for Louisiana and Missouri accused the Biden administration of coercing platforms to censor viewpoints they disagreed with. They had secured wins from the lower courts, which issued and upheld an injunction on the government’s communications with platforms, though the appeals court narrowed its scope. The justices must now determine whether that injunction was appropriate and where the line falls between persuasion and coercion.</p>
<p id="9uIddl">Liberal Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson asked Aguiñaga a hypothetical that demonstrated concerns with how a ruling squarely in the states’ favor could play out. She imagined a social media challenge among teens that encouraged them to jump out of windows, leading to injuries and deaths. “Is it your view that the government authorities could not declare those circumstances a public emergency and encourage social media platforms to take down the information that is instigating this problem?” Jackson asked.</p>
<p id="pZEdka">Aguiñaga said the government could use the bully pulpit to publicly encourage the platforms to do that. But he took issue with private communications instructing platforms on what they should do.</p>
<p id="VHV5NR">“I think they absolutely can say, ‘This is a problem, it’s going rampant on your platforms,’” Aguiñaga said. “But the moment that the government tries to use its ability as the government and its stature as the government to pressure them to take it down, that is when you’re interfering with the third-party speech rights.”</p>
<p id="9YVgdt">Later, Jackson said, “My biggest concern is that your view has the First Amendment hamstringing the government in significant ways in the most important time periods ... I’ve heard you say a couple times that the government can post its own speech, but in my hypothetical, ‘Kids, this is not safe, don’t do it,’ is not going to get it done.”</p>
<div class="c-float-left c-float-hang"><aside id="TYyTpp"><q>“My biggest concern is that your view has the First Amendment hamstringing the government in significant ways in the most important time periods”</q></aside></div>
<p id="cYhgAp">Chief Justice John Roberts, a conservative, followed up on Jackson’s hypothetical, asking whether encouraging platforms to take something down rises to the level of coercion. He added that Jackson’s example was not about eliminating a viewpoint but rather an instruction for a dangerous game.</p>
<p id="wEKlSs">“The moment that the government identifies an entire category of content that it wishes to not be in the modern public sphere, that is a First Amendment problem,” Aguiñaga said.</p>
<p id="APxz16">Conservative Justice Amy Coney Barrett asked Aguiñaga a different hypothetical, where he and other members of the Louisiana state government were doxxed and people were posting on social media that “people should rally, and you should be harmed.” She asked, assuming the speech did not cross the line of becoming illegal, whether it would be appropriate for the Federal Bureau of Investigation to encourage social media platforms to take down the messages.</p>
<p id="3Qikyc">After Aguiñaga began responding that he’s a “purist on the First Amendment,” Coney Barrett interrupted and said, “Do you know how often the FBI makes those kinds of calls?”</p>
<p id="i2IyIy">“The FBI absolutely can identify certain kinds of troubling situations like that for the platforms and let the platforms take action,” Aguiñaga said.</p>
<p id="YrLMFm">Some of the justices wondered if even testy exchanges between the government and platforms were all that dissimilar from how it might engage with the press. “I’d assumed, thought, experienced government press people throughout the federal government who regularly call up the media and berate them,” conservative Justice Brett Kavanaugh said in an exchange with US Principal Deputy Solicitor General Brian Fletcher, who was arguing on behalf of the federal government.</p>
<p id="P6s8rU">Fletcher acknowledged that there have likely been instances of angry language or profanity in communications between the White House and the press.</p>
<p id="Jdmh6o">Kavanaugh said it did seem strange to him that the government and platforms would seek to partner on issues like covid. Fletcher said that’s a function of the unusual circumstances in a scenario like the pandemic, where platforms chose to advance good information and reach out to the government, so in that case, “it’s an open door.”</p>
<p id="ABB7bH">“Like Justice Kavanaugh, I’ve had some experience encouraging press to suppress their own speech,” Kagan said, to laughter. “You just wrote a bad editorial — here are the five reasons you shouldn’t write another one. You just wrote a story that’s filled with factual errors — here are the 10 reasons why you shouldn’t do that again. I mean this happens literally thousands of times a day in the federal government.”</p>
<p id="vt4bq0">Some justices also didn’t seem convinced by the causal link the states sought to draw between the government’s messages to tech platforms and later moderation decisions. In one instance the states presented, the Biden administration contacted Facebook in May 2021, asking it not to distribute posts about vaccine hesitancy, and in July 2021, Facebook allegedly blocked health groups in Louisiana that one of the plaintiffs was involved in.</p>
<p id="dr2QRs">“A lot of things could happen in two months,” Kagan said.</p>
<p id="wA99Tc">Conservative Justice Neil Gorsuch also expressed frustration with what he called an “epidemic” of “universal injunction[s],” questioning the remedy offered by the lower court, which sought to block a large swath of communication. Aguiñaga responded that the breadth of the injunction reflects that “the breadth of the government’s enterprise in this case was extremely broad.”</p>
<p id="MboATt">The states received friendlier questioning from Alito and conservative Justice Clarence Thomas. Thomas asked if the states could make their case even without proving the coercion if they could show the government coordinated with the platforms. Aguiñaga said they could. Alito at one point tried to steer discussion of the states’ arguments back to a more pointed question about coercion.</p>
<p id="WF9PRp">“I thought your principle argument was that ... coercion doesn’t apply only when the government says, ‘Do this, and if you don’t do this, there’s going to be legal consequences,’” Alito said, “but that it’s a more flexible standard, and you have to take into account the whole course of the relationship.”</p>
<p id="IV2dVD"><a href="https://apnews.com/article/supreme-court-biden-administration-social-media-132df16a8b086cd7ed72954f3b4c2c04"><em>The Associated Press</em> says</a> a decision should come by early summer.</p>
https://www.theverge.com/2024/3/18/24104892/justices-limiting-government-social-media-communication-murthy-v-missouriLauren Feiner2024-03-18T15:08:29-04:002024-03-18T15:08:29-04:00MrBeast’s $5 million game show for Prime Video could one-up Netflix’s Squid Game
<figure>
<img alt="A photo showing MrBeast" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/DZngSL28FOh19mB6qzUIz97_ueI=/0x0:5628x3752/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/73216017/2072351604.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>Photo by Chris Unger / Zuffa LLC via Getty Images</figcaption>
</figure>
<p id="oaezmW">YouTuber MrBeast (Jimmy Donaldson) has <a href="https://press.amazonstudios.com/us/en/press-release/prime-video-orders-ibeast-gamesi-from-mrbeast-and-">struck a deal with Prime Video</a> to host a new reality competition series called <em>Beast Games</em>. The show will have 1,000 contestants competing for a $5 million reward, which the press release claims is “the biggest single prize in the history of television and streaming.” There aren’t any details yet about what kinds of challenges <em>Beast Games</em> contestants will participate in.</p>
<p id="dml6Qd">It’s a remarkable turn of events, even for someone who’s hosted many similar competitions on his YouTube channel, like recent ones where <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J_z-W4UVHkw">people from every country</a> competed for $250,000 or a group of people from <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FM7Z-Xq8Drc">ages 1 to 100</a> went head-to-head for $500,000. </p>
<p id="k9yt8J">In 2021, Donaldson made a <a href="https://youtu.be/0e3GPea1Tyg?si=rFwb-p2mj1c6feMC"><em>Squid Game </em>in real life</a> video for his YouTube channel a few months after the <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2021/10/12/22723452/netflix-squid-game-biggest-ever-show-at-launch">hit Korean show</a> debuted. Then, Netflix released its own reality competition show, <a href="https://www.theverge.com/23971416/squid-game-the-challenge-review-netflix"><em>Squid Game: The Challenge</em></a>, with a $4.65 million prize. Now, Donaldson has his own reality competition for Amazon’s platform.</p>
<div id="6ObUWa"><div style="left: 0; width: 100%; height: 0; position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.25%;"><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/0e3GPea1Tyg?rel=0" style="top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute; border: 0;" allowfullscreen="" scrolling="no" allow="accelerometer; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share;"></iframe></div></div>
<p id="SGSs9T">Donaldson will serve as executive producer of <em>Beast Games</em>, which will air exclusively on Prime Video in over 240 countries and territories. </p>
<p id="GbtlBU"><a href="https://puck.news/newsletter_content/what-im-hearing-sundance-vibes-mrbeasts-amazon-deal-apples-headspace-2/"><em>Puck </em>reported</a> on rumors of Donaldson’s deal with Prime Video in January.</p>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-dnt="true" align="center">
<p lang="en" dir="ltr">Big news gamers I’m going to be filming the largest game show in history and releasing it on Prime Video! Over 1,000 contestants, $5,000,000 prize, and many other world records.. I’ll reveal more later this year but let’s just say, it’s gonna be an insane show :D</p>— MrBeast (@MrBeast) <a href="https://twitter.com/MrBeast/status/1769741243339141413?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 18, 2024</a>
</blockquote>
<script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
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<p id="y2p6lm">“On YouTube, I have to make videos around titles and thumbnails,” Donaldson <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4FRYox-sPP8&t=362s">says in an interview</a> on <em>The Colin and Samir Show</em>. “But on this show, I can do whatever I want. I can just make good content.” As viewership constantly fluctuates on the platform, Donaldson says he has <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2024/3/4/24090668/mr-beast-tells-creators-to-ditch-the-jump-cut">made some tweaks</a> to his videos to get more eyeballs on his content, including slowing down videos and focusing more on storytelling.</p>
https://www.theverge.com/2024/3/18/24104976/amazon-mrbeast-prime-video-beast-gamesEmma Roth2024-03-18T14:00:00-04:002024-03-18T14:00:00-04:00The return of Gamergate is smaller and sadder
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<p>A group of gamers has mobilized a harassment campaign against a story consultant company, marginalized developers, and journalists in protest of what they see as ‘forced’ diversity in gaming.</p> <p class="p--has-dropcap p-large-text" id="L7RYqD">The Discord server at the center of Gamergate 2.0 is, in some respects, like any other online community. While I was there, I observed people talking about their day, their jobs, and their interests. Its members streamed themselves playing <em>Bejeweled</em> and showed off their personal video game development projects. But one chat room over, the server was filled with racist memes, sexist and ableist slurs, antisemitic messages, and incitations of violence against women and people of color. And at the center of it all was one video game narrative development company: <a href="https://sweetbabyinc.com/">Sweet Baby Inc</a>.</p>
<p id="sOD6na">This growing group of people want to believe themselves a new incarnation of <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-intersect/wp/2014/10/14/the-only-guide-to-gamergate-you-will-ever-need-to-read/">Gamergate</a>, a harassment campaign started in 2014 that targeted women speaking out against misogyny in the video games industry. Back then, the harassers used obfuscating tactics, cloaking their <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2015/1/4/7490539/fake-hostage-threat-sends-police-to-gamergate-critic-home">oftentimes violent harassment</a> <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2014/10/8/6919179/stop-supporting-gamergate">in the veneer of legitimate complaint</a>. Social media gave a platform to those “legitimate complaints” <a href="https://www.polygon.com/2019/12/23/20976891/anita-sarkeesian-gamergate-review-feminist-frequency-game-industry">while the games industry itself remained largely silent</a>, allowing the movement to grow into a many-tentacled behemoth that bolstered the ranks of the “alt-right” movements that plague our political landscape to this very day.</p>
<p id="FjAxxs">But this time, instead of assembling under the false banner of “ethics in journalism,” this new campaign has chosen “<a href="https://www.vox.com/culture/21437879/stay-woke-wokeness-history-origin-evolution-controversy">wokeism</a>” and Sweet Baby as the focus of their grievances. The result has been a wave of bigoted harassment targeting marginalized developers, journalists, and gamers. On social media, the employees of Sweet Baby are subject to a deluge of death threats. Developers who’ve spoken out in support of Sweet Baby are faced with similar treatment, with several making their accounts private in an attempt to stem the tide of abuse. Journalists reporting on the story have become subject to the same harassment they’re covering. The resulting frenzy has been amplified by major actors in the right-wing media sphere, including Libs of TikTok, Matt Walsh, Ian Miles Cheong, and Elon Musk.</p>
<p id="KnjmBp">“The things they say in our inboxes is … the most evil stuff you’ve ever seen in your life,” said David Bédard, co-founder and COO of Sweet Baby, in an interview with <em>The Verge</em>.</p>
<p id="cWoEmt">The harassment campaign against Sweet Baby echoes the <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2014/11/4/7153549/gamergate-campaign-video-game-ethics-feminism-harassment">Gamergate movement of 10 years ago</a>, once again <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/16/technology/gamergate-women-video-game-threats-anita-sarkeesian.html?_r=1">targeting women, people of color, and journalists in the games industry</a>. But this time, the events are playing out differently. Developers and gamers are pushing back, affirming that the kind of diversity these people rail against is here to stay. And after speaking with Sweet Baby employees and spending time with their detractors, it’s clear the goals of this harassment campaign are largely a reactionary backlash against trends in video games that cannot be meaningfully stopped.</p>
<div class="c-float-left c-float-hang"><aside id="gTWFLj"><q>“The things they say in our inboxes is … the most evil stuff you’ve ever seen in your life.”</q></aside></div>
<p id="IdscNh">Sweet Baby was co-founded in Montreal in 2018 by Bédard, who’d previously worked in games marketing at Eidos and Ubisoft, and Kim Belair, a writer and narrative designer who’d worked at Ubisoft and Reflector Entertainment. The narrative development company offers services like script writing, story reviews, and sensitivity readings. “Essentially, everything that touches storytelling in games, whether creative or technical,” Belair said in an interview with <em>The Verge</em>.</p>
<p id="zqpS9z">The neo-Gamergate fervor surrounding Sweet Baby started with a Brazilian Steam user by the name of Kabrutus. In January, he created the Steam curation page called “Sweet Baby Inc Detected” (SBID), which, the page’s description explains, is “a tracker for games involved with Sweet Baby Inc.” According to <a href="https://www.geeksandgamers.com/an-interview-with-sweet-baby-inc-detected-creator-kabrutus/">an interview with Kabrutus in <em>Geeks and Gamers</em></a>, he believes Sweet Baby is responsible for “forc[ing] political agendas and DEI (the abbreviation for diversity, equity, and inclusion) into their games.”</p>
<p id="ARcGcL">Kabrutus believes that any diverse characters or stories in Sweet Baby games are the result of its employees exerting pressure on developers to make additions or changes they might not otherwise make. “I started noticing patterns in some games, like ugly women and male characters being weakened to make female ones look stronger,” Kabrutus said in <em>Geeks and Gamers</em>. The game that brought his attention to Sweet Baby was <a href="https://www.theverge.com/23437043/god-of-war-ragnarok-review-sony-ps5"><em>God of War Ragnarök</em></a>. “I think anyone who played <em>God of War III</em> would find it really weird when Kratos decides to spare Thor and says, ‘We must be better.’ That simply didn’t fit the character.”</p>
<div class="c-float-left c-float-hang"><aside id="FyR3gn"><div data-anthem-component="readmore" data-anthem-component-data='{"stories":[{"title":"Gamergate comes to the classroom","url":"https://www.theverge.com/2019/8/21/20812153/youtube-gamergate-education-classroom-teachers-misinformation-reddit-twitter-online-harassment"},{"title":"Gamergate: a misogynist harassment campaign disguised as consumer revolt ","url":"https://www.theverge.com/2014/11/4/7153549/gamergate-campaign-video-game-ethics-feminism-harassment"},{"title":"Stop supporting Gamergate","url":"https://www.theverge.com/2014/10/8/6919179/stop-supporting-gamergate"}]}'></div></aside></div>
<p id="v6h47w">According to Kabrutus and the thousands of followers he’s recruited through his Steam group and Discord server, developers have no choice but to make these “woke” narrative changes. SBID argues that game companies are forced to add “wokeness” to improve their ESG scores — a measure of environmental, social, and governance considerations — if they want to land investors. SBID supporters also argue that Sweet Baby has coerced developers into making changes through fear, pointing to out-of-context quotes from the company.</p>
<p id="m7whR4">The most widely circulated example involves clips of a talk Belair, a Black woman, gave at the Game Developers Conference in 2019. In it, she counsels developers to “terrify” their bosses with the “threat” of “cancellation” if their requests for inclusivity are not met. </p>
<p id="84Dpq0">But a look at the clip’s full context tells a different story. It’s clear that Belair didn’t want developers to scare their superiors into inclusivity. Instead, she wanted them to enlist support from the employees — those on the marketing and community side — who stand to receive the most backlash from players if those concerns aren’t taken seriously.</p>
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<p id="Lym8T5">In reality, Sweet Baby and other video game consultants are contracted by the studios to support the studios’ own goals. </p>
<p id="7ImCih">“They consult,” wrote Mary Kenney, the associate narrative director on <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2023/12/19/24007570/insomniac-games-hack-wolverine-x-men-ryhsida">the forthcoming Wolverine game from Insomniac Games</a> who worked with Sweet Baby on another Insomniac title,<em> </em><a href="https://www.theverge.com/23915605/spider-man-2-review-ps5"><em>Marvel’s Spider-Man 2</em></a>. “They do research, pitch ideas, give feedback, and maybe even write scripts. But none of that gets into the game unless the core dev team agrees with it.” </p>
<p id="mapmqS">“Sometimes we’ll be brought in to just look at a project storyline to give feedback on it to find ways that it can better kind of align with gameplay mechanics,” Belair said.</p>
<p id="8E8tL3">Kyle Rowley, game director on <a href="https://www.theverge.com/23934662/alan-wake-2-review-ps5-xbox-pc"><em>Alan Wake 2</em></a>, responded to a rumor on X that Sweet Baby was responsible for changing Saga Anderson, one of the game’s main characters, from a white woman to a Black woman. “It’s absolutely not true,” <a href="https://x.com/TimePirateNinja/status/1764697135344202183?s=20">he wrote</a>.</p>
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<p lang="en" dir="ltr">It's absolutely not true. <a href="https://t.co/0EIMDuoMtQ">https://t.co/0EIMDuoMtQ</a></p>— Kyle Rowley (@TimePirateNinja) <a href="https://twitter.com/TimePirateNinja/status/1764697135344202183?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 4, 2024</a>
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<p id="E7YFxq">To date, Kabrutus’ curation list features 16 games, including <em>Assassin’s Creed Valhalla</em>, <em>Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League</em>, and <em>Sable</em>. All the games on the list are marked “not recommended,” a rating that has nothing to do with the game’s perceived quality — one game on the list, <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/erikkain/2024/03/12/abubakar-salim-interview-the-making-of-tales-of-kenzera-zau-and-how-games-can-help-us-grapple-with-grief/?sh=32c81b9f1957"><em>Tales of Kenzera: Zau</em></a>, doesn’t launch until April — but because of Sweet Baby’s involvement in the game’s development. SBID serves as a warning to like-minded gamers not to buy anything on the list.</p>
<p id="XXQYrt">“We’re just tired of seeing people’s creative visions being butchered in order to add something that’s not even necessary or asked for,” wrote Xynjy, a moderator for the Discord server, in a DM conversation.</p>
<p id="FguJJa">The reality is game development, especially AAA development, involves contributions from massive multidisciplinary teams, and it’s actually quite difficult to attribute any one element to an individual or specific team.</p>
<p id="eQz4Q7">“You wouldn’t ask a programmer ‘which part of this did you code?’” said Bédard. “The whole thing is a team effort, and it only works because everything fits to the other parts really well.”</p>
<p id="dEX3iX">It is deeply ironic that one of the group’s stated purposes is to rally against “forced diversity” in games when developers are often forced to make their games more homogenous.</p>
<p id="bQyt1W">“I have never in my entire career seen anyone pressure a developer to make a character more queer or less white,” <a href="https://x.com/chhopsky/status/1766735140875895276?s=20">wrote Christina Pollock</a>, a veteran game developer. “I have, however, seen many instances of developers being forced to change their characters to be straight and / or white.”</p>
<p id="ENCRy8">Many other developers echoed her sentiment. “The anti-censorship crowd like to argue that developers should be able to make the game they want, without being told to make changes to please the market,” <a href="https://x.com/GavinDYoung/status/1766067517917634578?s=20">wrote Gavin Young</a>, a developer on <em>Rainbow Six</em> <em>Mobile</em>. “Believe me, we’re trying: we put diverse characters in games because they represent our teams and our friends.”</p>
<p id="MNeZ2d">Another common refrain from members of SBID is that they actually don’t care if a character comes from a marginalized background, so long as their identity isn’t the sole focus of their character.</p>
<p id="V9OLl3">“My problem with most media nowadays is that they include Black or LGBTQ characters without giving some thoughts about them,” wrote SBID’s Discord moderator. “But [they] forget the most important aspect of a character: [their] relatability and how [they] feel like a real person that you can meet in real life.”</p>
<p id="yH0iQ8">But that need for character depth is the exact reason why developers contract with Sweet Baby. </p>
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<p id="GdEfSd">For their work on <em>Alan Wake 2</em>, Belair said, “We were specifically called to look at Saga’s story, [to look at] how it’s told, how [the developers] could better shore up aspects of herself, how her story reflects aspects of her identity, and essentially how to realize her as a fully human, fully authentic character.”</p>
<p id="jenotm">This lack of understanding about game development, whether intentional or not, belies the group’s true function — a convenient excuse for “anti-woke” reactionary gamers to indulge in racist and misogynistic behavior that’s typically shunned in online communities. “When I act racist, homophobic or whatever [...] I feel free,” one poster wrote in the Discord. </p>
<p id="qDlUoB">The arguments and discussions observed in the Discord and on Steam all harken to the reactionary right-wing movement that has dominated the political landscape since Barack Obama’s presidency. Then, as now, many young white men have grown increasingly alienated from a world they feel has left them behind. A supposed de-emphasis of white males in pop culture in favor of women, people of color, and queer people exacerbated this alienation, especially in video games. </p>
<p id="JzNbJv">Statistically, white men still dominate the video game space in terms of who is playing, making, starring, and writing about games. But the landscape <em>is</em> changing. Companies are putting a greater effort in diversifying their games. Games media is more likely to call out when diversity is absent or done poorly, and the kinds of anti-social behaviors that were once the hallmark of gaming culture are becoming less and less tolerated. As a result, Kabrutus and his followers feel disenfranchised.</p>
<p id="3FxZg5">“We’re in an age where [...] if you don’t want to see a BLM or a Pride flag in a game, you’re a bigot,” wrote a member in the Discord. “Where if you care that the women in games have big tits while there are giant, muscular, shirtless dudes, you’re a misogynist.”</p>
<p id="bslLtX">In order to regain some semblance of control, the members of SBID have chosen to attack something that neatly represents their every grievance — a small company that specializes in improving a game’s narrative staffed in part by women, queer people, and people of color. “We’ll have to make sure Sweet Baby is actually dead before picking a next target to go after together,” wrote a user on SBID’s Steam forum.</p>
<p id="eocUDa">Based on the time I spent lurking in their Discord, it became clear these people aren’t actually here to create meaningful change for their cause. Most are simply there for the vibes, rancid though they are. “I’m just here cause it’s fun, nothing’s gonna happen,” one user wrote in the Discord.</p>
<div class="c-float-left c-float-hang"><aside id="VbcoTX"><q>“I’m just here cause it’s fun, nothing’s gonna happen”</q></aside></div>
<p id="bygOhv">“[There are] lots of emotions and passion bottled up from being silenced for an extended period of time,” wrote another member of the Discord. “This [movement] is basically causing everyone to vent out their frustrations.”</p>
<p id="KqxMZ1">That doesn’t mean the group is harmless. Ten years ago, Gamergate unleashed a wave of harassment targeting women, journalists, and people of color. <a href="https://www.axios.com/2022/10/20/gamergate-right-online-harassment-joan-donovan-meme-wars">It created the template</a> <a href="https://www.axios.com/2022/10/20/gamergate-right-online-harassment-joan-donovan-meme-wars">for a kind of violent, right-wing internet culture that persists to this day</a>. And the guise of “ethics in games journalism,” thin as it was, allowed the movement to shield its true aims. Since SBID to itself as the second coming of Gamergate, it’s important to apply <a href="https://www.vox.com/culture/2020/1/20/20808875/gamergate-lessons-cultural-impact-changes-harassment-laws">the lessons not learned from the previous Gamergate</a> and call this bigoted movement for what it is, loudly and vociferously.</p>
<p id="LjziHY">Diversity in video games isn’t going anywhere, and the practice of hiring consultants to punch up narratives certainly isn’t going to change. Improving diversity continues to be an animating force in the industry. Xbox, Nintendo, and Sony have made DEI a core part of their business with commitments to diversify not only their workforces but their games as well. </p>
<p id="Scmht8">“DEI is a moral necessity until the people making games are a decent approximation of the world they are making games for,” <a href="https://x.com/mrsambarlow/status/1768620085608857849?s=20">wrote Sam Barlow</a>, director of several award-winning games, including <em>Immortality</em>, <em>Telling</em> <em>Lies</em>, and <em>Her</em> <em>Story</em>.</p>
<p id="PApCYw">SBID’s championing of developer “freedom and creativity” fails to consider the possibility that the “diversity” they oppose might actually be what developers and gamers truly want. It’s the reason studios hire companies like Sweet Baby in the first place.</p>
<p id="N3fslS">And while this movement matters to Sweet Baby employees because of the harassment they’re receiving, in the larger context of the video game industry, it seems to be quickly fizzling out.</p>
<p id="lZm3Fu">Steam has apparently taken some action against SBID. As of publication, the vast majority of the SBID’s Steam discussion forum — 100 pages worth of threads — have been deleted, and existing threads are currently locked.</p>
<p id="s6nDQi">Meanwhile, Sweet Baby’s clients are sticking with the company. “The studios that we’re currently working with have reached out and offered their support, saying like, ‘Hey, we see what’s happening online and just know we stand with you,’” said Chris Kindred, a narrative designer at Sweet Baby.</p>
<p id="YeICBC">In an email to <em>The Verge</em>, Gregorios Kythreotis, creative director on <a href="https://www.theverge.com/22699023/sable-review-xbox-steam"><em>Sable</em></a>, wrote, “[Sweet Baby was] lovely to work with, extremely professional and easy going, they respected our creative direction and it was a really great experience. We’re really grateful to them.”</p>
<p id="TSQJrO">Mary Kenney, who worked with Sweet Baby on <em>Spider-Man 2</em>, <a href="https://x.com/marykanpie/status/1765390220940185854?s=20">called them</a> “one of the finest in the biz.”</p>
<p class="c-end-para" id="bElG7f">“I’m so lucky to have worked with that team. I hope to do so again,” <a href="https://x.com/marykanpie/status/1765391280454996046?s=20">she posted on X</a>. “I hope asshats don’t drive out some of the most talented, passionate people we’ve got.”</p>
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https://www.theverge.com/2024/3/18/24104799/gamergate-2024-sweet-baby-inc-diversityAsh Parrish