With its blend of deep-sea exploration, crafting, and survival sandbox gameplay, Subnautica quickly became a favourite among players when it launched in 2018. Now, Subnautica 2 from Unknown Worlds Entertainment builds on everything that made the original so memorable, adding a wave of fresh ideas to pull returning players back underwater.
As Subnautica 2 begins its Early Access journey, here is how it is already improving on the original experience.
Unreal Engine 5 Brings More Than Just Better Visuals
One of the biggest changes in Subnautica 2 is the move from Unity to Unreal Engine 5. While that shift obviously means a massive visual upgrade, the benefits go well beyond surface-level improvements.
Thanks to Unreal Engine 5’s Lumen lighting system, the ocean feels incredibly dynamic and atmospheric. Bioluminescence casts light convincingly across the environment, while sunlight filters through the water in a way that reacts naturally to movement on the surface. The result is an underwater world that feels richer, moodier, and far more immersive.
The water itself is also highly reactive. Dynamic currents push both players and vehicles around the environment, turning navigation into a much more active part of survival. In some areas, those currents act as a serious hazard rather than just background detail.
The engine also introduces fresh environmental threats, including Bloom zones. These infected areas are filled with thick, murky fog that limits visibility and makes exploration deeply tense, pushing Subnautica 2 closer to survival horror territory.
Multiplayer Co-op Is Finally Happening
For many fans, this is the big one. After years of requests, Subnautica 2 launches into Early Access with multiplayer co-op for up to four players.
What makes this feature especially impressive is how seamless it is. Players can start a world solo and open it up for friends to join later, without needing to build the whole experience around co-op from the beginning.
Shared progression is another major step forward. Blueprints, databank entries, materials, and recipes are all shared across the group, making teamwork feel meaningful rather than inconvenient.
Better still, players aren’t constantly forced to stay close together. Instead of imposing strict distance limits, Subnautica 2 gives co-op groups the freedom to split up, explore, and tackle tasks in their own way.
Base Building Looks Much More Flexible
Base building has received a major overhaul. The rigid modular construction of the first game is replaced by a flexible procedural building system that gives players far more control over how their bases look and function.
Rather than working within fixed room sizes and limited layouts, players can reshape corridors, rooms, and interiors freely. That opens the door to more personal, creative base designs and makes construction feel less restrictive overall.
There’s also more control over the finishing touches. Interior lighting can be adjusted in greater detail, including both colour and intensity, and a wide variety of window options make it easy to create bases that feel practical, stylish, or both.
Biomods Create New Progression Options
Character progression in the original Subnautica was mostly tied to gear upgrades. In Subnautica 2, that system expands in a much more interesting direction through Biomods.
By harvesting DNA from local wildlife and taking it back to a Biolab, players can unlock mutations that affect how their character develops. These upgrades sit within skill trees and offer active and passive benefits that go beyond simple stat boosts.
That means unlocking improved resistance to water pressure, faster swimming, or better visibility in hazardous areas like Bloom zones. It’s a layered progression system that adds another dimension to exploration and survival.
The Ocean Is More Dangerous Than Ever
The creatures of Subnautica 2 aren’t just threatening in appearance; they are highly advanced in how they behave.
New predators, such as the Collector Leviathan, provide large, intelligent threats that actively hunt players, attack vehicles, and flush explorers out of hiding spots. More broadly, the game’s fauna reacts to a wide range of factors, including prey relationships, water currents, and even the time of day.
This makes the world feel unpredictable and deeply alive – exactly what a game like Subnautica needs.
Meet the Tadpole
The original game’s Seamoth is replaced by a new modular vehicle called the Tadpole, and it is a massive upgrade in terms of flexibility.
Instead of relying on a single all-purpose design, players can swap out the Tadpole’s shell chassis depending on what they need for a particular expedition. A faster setup suits exploration, while a bulkier shell prioritises storage and endurance.
This level of customisation gives players complete control over how they approach each dive, making the vehicle system feel incredibly adaptable.
Final Thoughts
From upgraded visuals and smarter creature behaviour to co-op play, deeper progression systems, and more flexible base building, Subnautica 2 is a meaningful step forward rather than a simple follow-up. With all of these ideas already taking shape at the start of its Early Access journey, it is well on its way to becoming the sequel fans have been waiting for.
John-Paul Jones
Scribbling about videogames since 2005, John-Paul Jones first stoked his love for the industry with the Atari 65XE at the age of four before proceeding onto the ZX Spectrum, Amiga and beyond. These days, he finds himself unreasonably excited about Sega’s Yakuza franchise, foreign cinema and generally trying to keep his trio of sausage dogs from burning his house down. Clearly, he is living his best life right now.
Jenova Chen – the designer of indie classics such as Flower and Journey – was partly inspired to begin making games in the first place after shedding a few tears over Final Fantasy 10, and who can blame him with a love story that tragic?
Final Fantasy is a series stuffed with emotional moments and scenes that feel like someone’s squeezing onion juice over your eyes, but Final Fantasy 10 still features one of the strongest tearjerker endings in the entire franchise (and in all of gaming, according to Japanese gamers.) Tears generated by the game are so powerful, in fact, that they inadvertently led to the creation of a stone cold PS3 classic.
“If you look at the history of many of the movie makers, like Peter Jackson, why does he want to make films? His dad took him to watch King Kong when he was really young, and when he saw this giant ape climbing the Empire State Building, that was a really shocking experience,” Chen explains in an interview with Edge Magazine. “Many artists decide to become artists because they were really shocked to their core when they saw something emotionally impactful.”
Latest Videos From
For the founder and CEO of thatgamecompany, weeping at games isn’t an unfamiliar experience, but one memory that sticks out to Chen happened while going through Tidus and Yuna’s fight against a repeating, apocalyptic threat. “One day I woke up and I went to wash my face, and I thought about a character in that story, and I suddenly started to cry. I was thinking about what happened to that person. He made a sacrifice for the group. I was just moved by the act – it’s so beautiful and it’s so melancholy that I was crying.”
“At film school, we say, with a mediocre film, when the film is over, everybody leaves the theatre talking to each other, smiling,” he goes on. “When you have a really impactful film, everybody leaving the theatre is quiet. Their mind is totally blown away. That was me… And that’s why I think a great piece of art usually gives me a new perspective on life, and it changes how I live my life. That’s what made me realise I probably wanted to become an artist.”
SolarSquare, an Indian rooftop solar startup that helps households and housing societies adopt solar power, is in advanced talks to raise fresh capital after securing India’s largest solar venture investment in December 2024, TechCrunch has learned.
B Capital and Lightspeed Venture Partners are set to co-lead the Series C round, which could value SolarSquare at between $450 million and $500 million and bring in $55 million to $60 million in new investment, according to multiple people familiar with the matter. That would represent more than a doubling of SolarSquare’s valuation in roughly 18 months — a sign of how rapidly investor conviction is building around India’s residential solar market.
Lightspeed Venture Partners previously led SolarSquare’s $40 million Series B round at around a $200 million post-money valuation in December 2024. This time, according to a source, it’s investing through its growth fund, which has backed names such as Razorpay — India’s leading digital payments platform — and Zepto, the fast-delivery startup.
Existing investor Elevation Capital is also expected to participate in the deal, which is currently in advanced stages and is expected to close next month. The terms could still change as the financing has not yet been finalized. SolarSquare has raised $61.1 million in equity financing to date, per the startup data platform Tracxn.
India has set a target of achieving 500 gigawatts of renewable energy capacity by 2030, with solar expected to contribute more than half of that total. The country became the world’s third-largest solar power producer in 2025, trailing only China and the U.S. Its cumulative installed solar capacity has surged from about 3 GW in 2014 to more than 150 GW in 2026, aided partly by government incentives and subsidy schemes aimed at accelerating rooftop solar adoption.
Mumbai-headquartered SolarSquare, founded in 2015, is positioning itself as a full-stack residential solar platform in a market that remains highly fragmented, dominated by small local installers and dealer networks tied to component manufacturers such as Tata Power, Waaree Energies, Luminous Power Technologies, and Exide Industries. The startup designs, installs, and maintains rooftop solar systems for homes, housing societies (the apartment complexes and gated communities common across urban India), and enterprises, and has installed more than 150 megawatts of solar capacity with a presence across 29 cities in nine states, per its website.
SolarSquare has powered nearly 50,000 homes and around 400 housing societies, according to a source. The startup has also deployed rooftop solar systems for large enterprises including Swiggy, Zepto, and iD Fresh Food.
Residential customers and housing societies now account for a majority of SolarSquare’s business, according to people familiar with the startup’s operations, as the startup has increasingly scaled back lower-margin industrial rooftop solar projects in recent years.
The startup has crossed an annualized revenue run rate of more than ₹10 billion (around $104 million) across homes and housing societies combined, according to a source familiar with the matter. It also aims to reach 200 megawatts in its residential solar portfolio this year, the source added.
SolarSquare declined to comment. B Capital, Lightspeed Venture Partners, and Elevation Capital did not respond to requests for comment.
When you purchase through links in our articles, we may earn a small commission. This doesn’t affect our editorial independence.
Apple is readying the subdomain genai.apple.com, according to MacRumors contributor Aaron Perris, but it does not yet lead to a live web page. The genai.apple.com subdomain has been added to Apple’s domain name servers a few weeks ahead of Apple’s annual developers conference WWDC, where the company has promised to announce “AI advancements” across its software platforms.
Apple’s website already has an Apple Intelligence page, so it is unclear what the company’s plans are for genai.apple.com at this time. The subdomain certainly is a reference to “generative ai” which has been popularized by ChatGPT and Claude in recent years.
Apple’s next major software releases like iOS 27, iPadOS 27, and macOS 27 are expected to include many new Apple Intelligence features, including a more personalized version of Siri with on-screen awareness. Similar to other chatbots like ChatGPT, a dedicated Siri app will reportedly allow users to have back-and-forth conversations.
Apple today highlighted four Distinguished Winners of this year’s Swift Student Challenge, ahead of the WWDC 2026 developers conference next month.
The annual Swift Student Challenge gives eligible student developers around the world the opportunity to showcase their coding capabilities by using the Swift Playground or Xcode apps to create an interactive “app playground.”
Apple said this…
macOS 27 will have a “slight redesign” compared to macOS Tahoe, according to the latest word from Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman.
In his Power On newsletter today, Gurman said the design changes will help to improve the readability of macOS Tahoe’s Liquid Glass interface:If you’ve used Tahoe, you’re likely familiar with some of the quirks — particularly the transparency effects and shadows that…
Apple today updated its Apple Developer app, introducing a Liquid Glass redesign and giving developers some WWDC-themed stickers that can be used in the Messages app.
The Apple Developer app has a revamped Liquid Glass icon that reintroduces some older design elements while adopting the translucent Liquid Glass aesthetic. The icon has a pencil, paintbrush, and ruler that form the “A” shape,…
Launching a new product isn’t just all colors and excitement; it also comes with a lot of potential risks, especially for startups. Turning every idea into a manufacturable product can really be full of challenges, as every design choice makes a huge difference throughout the process. In fact, there are a lot of businesses that give more emphasis only on the aesthetic side of the product rather than ensuring how efficient it is to be manufactured at scale.
This is why design for manufacturability services play a very significant role, as they make the process easier by saving time, energy, and money without compromising the product quality. It is indeed helpful for businesses, especially for startups with limited budgets, but that want to create something profitable in the market. A lot of growing companies rely on DFM professionals, and it is really best for beginners to apply in order to strengthen their product development. Cad Crowd really helps in providing skilled professionals with strong experience who are guaranteed to contribute to launching products that will scale successfully.
🚀 Table of contents
What design for manufacturability really is about
Design for Manufacturability (DFM) guarantees a smoother production of the product from the very start until the end. It is a process that gives importance to how everything is made, giving extra care to the smallest to the largest detail. It doesn’t just focus on how the product looks; instead, it digs deeper into every intricate part of it, considering every idea and design choice before assembling it.
It is, in fact, a very purposeful engineering approach since it delivers a practical yet quality-based outcome, making everything worth the effort and time. One thing that sets it apart is that it truly saves a lot of time and energy. Instead of hopping straight to how it will look after it’s done, it thoroughly designs a specific product while also thinking of how it will be manufactured. It is not designed to just create a product and then let things get complicated later on; it ensures it considers the manufacturing flow throughout the process.
By integrating design for manufacturing and assembly services in designing your product, you can see through different sides of planning and be informed of any risk management following it, since every startup needs to be extra mindful as they go through the process of creating the product that they have in mind. And for a young brand to grow, it needs to have a wise engineering approach for it to be credible and efficient, not just for today, but as it sustainably grows throughout the journey of its venture. Also, through this, designers and manufacturers get to lower the costs and save a lot of hassle as they go through the entire production.
DFM emphasizes creating products that are not just easy to produce but also have a top-notch quality. That is why it is especially needed for businesses that are just starting. Aside from a limited budget, they also have a small team that operates. A smaller scope of people to do the job and go through the entire process, all at hand. It is undeniable that in creating a product, possible issues will somehow be faced later on, but with the help of DFM, these issues will most likely be prevented or minimized. And if issues are identified early, then startups can greatly avoid expensive redesign in the long run.
It also enables the designers to evaluate if a certain design will be easy to manufacture or not before taking a step in making it. Because as we know, every product is far from every drawing design when built, yes, the idea and creativity are there, but many overlook the importance of the manufacturing process. In fact, many business owners pour most of their energy into innovating something that they believe will turn out to be something people would love to buy, without digging into the fact that the process of making it can be a lot more complicated and costly than they imagined it to be, and that’s where most of the issues are coming from. Thus, to avoid more errors and to help save a lot of factors, startups must give Design for Manufacturability a try.
Smart approach
What makes this approach beneficial to the manufacturers is that it is highly involved in selecting the perfect materials to be used, specifying the standard components, curating the right parts, and designing for an easier way of finalizing it. Its main goal is to prevent potential issues that may arise along the way, like specific parts that don’t fit, colors that don’t match, complicated shapes that are hard to fix, or even costly materials that are difficult to buy. These kinds of issues are what make the production run slow and delay the launch. And when the launch is delayed, it could affect a lot of factors in the business, especially for those who are just about to start this venture. A lot of worse things may happen, such as losing investors or partners’ trust, for it signals poor planning.
Launch delays impact
Also, if delays keep happening, there’s a possibility that the product may lose its demand season. It can also be a reason where the trust of the people slowly vanishes when they find that a brand is not true to their words, and they find it not worth the try since it already fails in initial planning, how much more in the long run for engineering design firms.
We cannot really predict people’s comments and views about a certain product, although we cannot please them all. Still, it is important to meet them where they are coming and resolve issues early before they even spot bigger issues from it. After all, it is how you protect your brand’s dignity and save yourself from a larger problem throughout the business journey. That is why with the help of design for manufacturing, products are promised to be production-ready and guarantee long-term success in the market for product design companies.
Financial challenge
Moving forward, let’s talk about the financial health of a business, especially when everything is just about to start. You’ll get to source a lot of materials for your project, deal with a lot of people, pay your team, and especially the designers and the manufacturers, and other important people who will help you get through the process, just so you can launch on the very exact date of your announcement.
So your finances will really be put to the test, and you cannot afford delays because these people depend on you. And the investors are rooting for you, and they need transparency just so they cannot feel like they are being betrayed, too, or that internal planning is a failure in your business. So to make everything clean and smooth, DFM is really a wise choice. It avoids these potential risks or even minimizes whatever challenges that may arise throughout the manufacturing process.
So, technically, you need to choose the wise option and be strategic in making everything happen, especially when you want to pull trust from people that invests on it, because when production schedules are disrupted, and the timelines of your launch keep on shifting, then this trust gradually weakens, putting you on the edge of frustration. And it is really hard to manage this kind of problem as a startup business owner because in every step throughout the production, there will really be a lot of factors you need to consider, because after all, it’s not just all about you, it’s all about every person that helps you in making it work. So you need to listen, not only to your internal ideas, but also to other people’s suggestions and ideas. And if that one idea leads you to opening your arms for DSM, then you need to hop on this approach so you will be guaranteed a full-force creation of your product that is ready for a successful launch.
Avoiding overcomplication
Another important aspect of DFM is that it avoids overcomplication. It helps manufacturing design experts evaluate products’ intricate details, making sure to do it the easier way, but assures reliability. From looking through every side of it up until assembling it, everything is really strategically demonstrated to meet the expectations of the designer. Yes, complex designs are undeniably impressive to look at, especially at first glance, but the challenge there is how to make it a real thing, what materials it will need, and when it will be finished.
So, there are a lot of aspects to consider, since complex designs require a thorough process. By simplifying it without compromising its thought and quality, everything will for sure be set for the success of any product that will be processed along the way. It is important to note that complicated ideas don’t need to be built in a complicated way for them to be effective. Because if a project is very complicated, it will be hard for the people to bring it to life, especially with a limited budget and for a business that is yet to start, since factors around it will really need to be considered, since you aren’t just paying for the materials, you also pay for the labor, for the assembling, and for the many parts of it.
So, in able to lessen the cost, you really need to accept that you don’t have to complicate things, you just need to be wiser in choosing what could be the best alternative for you to not spend much, but the quality must remain and your idea will still be intact and addresses the story behind the product that you are about to implement. The best product is made with proper planning and undergoes a strategic process while making sure it functions well and is sellable to the market. Only then will it be effective when people find it durable and, of course, for owners to have a justifiable profit from it as well.
Startups common mistakes
Some common mistakes of startups is they avoid DFM, leading them to overspend on redesigning over and over again. They focus on how the product will be designed, not on the manufacturing process, often skipping consultations with manufacturers. This usually leads to major revisions, and when that happens, it also requires a major solution with high cost and energy.
It doesn’t really help for startups and new product development companies to be one with their thoughts alone. They also need to do thorough research and apply what is necessary for them to grow and for their product to be led to the right path and not to revising it over and over again so that they will know what are the practical ways and more efficient ways for their product to bloom and for it to be designed in a way where they don’t need to cost much without compromising its quality. What they don’t know is that it is not practical to overdesign products without thinking of how it will be during the process. Others even choose those fancy materials that don’t even add up to its quality, and just make everything so costly.
And what’s even more overlooked is the part where they mostly skip the fact that it is important to see through manufacturer input. After all, there is no harm in trying, and if startups venture into this very effective approach, then they will see for themselves how it will greatly contribute to the success of their product as it blooms in the long run. Yes, doubts and confusion are there at first, but you cannot know the outcome if you don’t give a chance to something new in the innovation world. And in order to grow in the business industry, it is a must to be open to what’s new around and apply it in your process, especially when it is promised not to harm you but help you in so many ways.
Potential challenges when skipping DFM
There are a lot of cases already where startup businesses failed to provide a quality product on their first launch. Although things are open for feedback and reviews, the damage has still been done, and the image of it is somehow being tainted, which can cause early loss of interest. But by being open to applying DFM, there is a high chance that the product will be efficient and functional, and most likely meet their timeline while also not wasting time and money that much.
It may be a risky step for beginners, especially when they don’t know yet what this process can do to their business, but with proper information and guidance from other experienced companies, they will surely put their trust in it. It may be a first hop of leap into this kind of business, but surely they will not regret applying this approach since it guarantees to provide a quality and ready-for-production product, especially when done by the right experts.
These business startups only want to get work done and just launch the product without considering how the process will be such a time-consuming part. It is so crucial to seek experts who will truly guide you in venturing into new businesses and listen to their creative and technical advice, because not all the time will your ideas prevail. You also need to be open and accept that there are a lot of approaches out there that need to be applied in order for your business to grow and excel in the competitive world of consumer product firms. Through integrating DFM, you are also opening your doors to the possibility of long-term success and a smoother flow of running a business, especially when you want your product to be one of the leading items in the market.
Choosing the brilliant way
Design for Manufacturability is truly a very brilliant solution because it is not just a technical process but also a strategic mindset that really contributes to the manufacturing process of a certain product. It is practical but still delivers the creativity you have in mind that keeps your product brimming with quality. It is really essential, especially for those startups that want to lead in the market but have a limited budget and timeline. It protects you from harm and financial challenges, making sure that you both successfully launch your product and make a profit in a sensible way.
Imagine trying to build a new product, wanting to turn your every idea into a salable item, but getting frustrated by every process that you are gonna go through. And it is not easy, especially when all you want to see is an outcome that best justifies what the market would really love. So, you try to meet both your expectation and the market’s wants, but with only a starting budget, so you really cannot afford to repeat processes over and over again, and are not sure if it will work by the time of the final launch.
And you don’t want it, especially when you want to gain trust from investors, since they look through your management style and how effective you are as a partner in this venture. They can’t afford to invest in a product that is unsure of what it provides to the public and doesn’t have a clear production process. That is when DFM gets in; it will make the process easier and smoother, and help you deliver a product that will not cost you so much over and over again.
This approach leads to fewer defects and fewer or no revisions, making you satisfied and happy with its outcome. It sees early signs of errors and identifies potential waste even before the design is started. This is really a wise strategy to apply since it keeps your brand building successfully, especially when you are just starting. You will be able to build a reputation that will make a mark in the industry and increase credibility in the market for product engineering services.
At its core, making an important decision comes with deep planning by the team. In businesses, confusion and uncertainty will never be gone, but with the help of DFM, things will surely run smoothly. Especially when you find the best professional to handle the work for you. They analyze the design you want to be turned into a reality and suggest ideas that will help you better every part of it. These skilled people will not just give you initial planning but will walk you through the entire production, helping you meet the expectations you have in mind or even exceed them.
Why Cad Crowd is the best choice
What’s also beneficial in hiring these professionals is that you minimize the entire expenses in your product since they are guaranteed to know what works best and what’s a better option to use that will help you cut costs wisely and help you save money in the entire manufacturing process. They are trained for this specific work; thus, you can confidently trust them in improving your product quality.
In essence, DFM is a wise choice, making you build a brand that will not just grow but last through time. It will help you be confident by transforming your product into something that will be loved by many. Aside from choosing the best product design experts, you also need to know the best place to choose, and it’s on a platform that has a heart to provide you with only the best. In Cad Crowd, smoother flow is just an understatement since all you have to do is wait and see how they perform and give you the people who will create your ideas into a reality product you can confidently showcase to the market world.
Choose the smarter way, with Cad Crowd all the way
In conclusion, launching a product takes so much time and effort, and bravery to weather all the challenges along the way. Because it really is a complex process that demands you to have a wiser mindset and functional strategy as you plan and understand how the design decisions affect the manufacturing process. And as a startup, you do need to be mindful as every mistake covers costly price, which can somehow lead to financial drain and can affect all your resources.
So, with Design for Manufacturability, experts help the business in many ways. They make sure that everything is efficiently taken care of and thoroughly guide manufacturers in the process of creating the product. That is why it is also important to choose the best expert to help you with the process. And it can be taskful to look for one, especially when you are just starting and have no idea as to where to find or how to spot the best one.
Through companies like Cad Crowd, they ensure to provide you with people who will be of help in turning your ideas into a real-life product. While you overthink whether your ideas will be justified, they look through great experts for you, ensuring they will help you to bring your ideas to life. They are proven by a lot of manufacturers and designers already.
Cad Crowd really stands out among others since they do the work smoothly in finding freelancers for you, through their website, where you can just tell what you need, and a pool of skilled freelancers across the globe will be presented, ready for you to discuss your plans and for them to turn them into a reality. So, if you want a hassle-free transaction and a product that will outshine others positively, then Cad Crowd is a hand you can rely on. Request a quote today.
MacKenzie Brown is the founder and CEO of Cad Crowd. With over 18 years of experience in launching and scaling platforms specializing in CAD services, product design, manufacturing, hardware, and software development, MacKenzie is a recognized authority in the engineering industry. Under his leadership, Cad Crowd serves esteemed clients like NASA, JPL, the U.S. Navy, and Fortune 500 companies, empowering innovators with access to high-quality design and engineering talent.
The Konkr Pocket Block will be smaller than the company’s previous vertical handhelds.
Ayaneo’s next retro gaming handheld is revisiting the iconic Game Boy design once again. The handheld maker announced the Konkr Pocket Block, an “extremely compact” device that will also pack in AI features. Ayaneo didn’t detail what these AI features are, nor what makes the Konkr Pocket Block “the world’s first AI handheld,” but we’re expecting it to be much cheaper than the company’s premium handhelds that can start at more than $1,000.
Ayaneo debuted the Konkr Pocket Block during one of its streaming sessions, where the company’s CEO, Arthur Zhang, did side-by-side comparisons with the handheld and Ayaneo’s previous devices, like the Pocket Vert and Pocket DMG. However, instead the sleek and minimalist look of its other vertical handhelds, Ayaneo went with “retro aesthetics” and a pocketable form factor for the Konkr Pocket Block.
As usual, Ayaneo only showed off what the Konkr Pocket Block looks like and said it will reveal more details about the handheld in the future. The biggest question surrounding the upcoming handheld is its price, but it should be more affordable than Ayaneo’s Pocket Vert that starts at $269, since the Konkr Pocket Block will be released under the company’s budget sub-brand.
Despite being a 2024 release, this Moto G Stylus features a really pretty display, a powerful suite of cameras, and impressive performance, especially given the price point.
Much like the 2025 model, the 2024 Moto G Stylus 5G has a beautiful vegan leather back panel and a long-lasting battery life. Upgrades to the newer model include a slightly brighter display, improved fast charging speeds, and a higher-resolution selfie camera that users like. If those aren’t a big deal to you, however, it’s definitely worth catching sales like this on the 2024 model, as it still has many of the Motorola lineup’s best features.
✅Recommended if: you’re looking for a phone with a beautiful display panel and an included stylus; you like Motorola’s vegan leather anti-slip backing and the overall design of the Moto G Stylus 2024; you like having a phone with powerful rear-facing cameras and a long-lasting battery.
❌Skip this deal if: you prefer a newer-generation phone and you’d rather upgrade to one of the best Motorola stylus phones on the market; you don’t need a phone with a stylus and you’d prefer to look at some other models around this discount price; having a guarantee of multiple OS upgrades is a major priority to you when buying phones.
The 2024 Moto G Stylus 5G is a cheaper phone with a stylus than many of the premium-level and current-gen Samsung devices. It comes with a 6.7-inch, 120Hz OLED display that’s a delight to use, a speedy Qualcomm Snapdragon 6 Gen 1 chipset, 8GB of RAM, and decent cameras despite being a generation old. It also sports wireless charging capabilities, up to 30 hours of battery life, and up to 30W fast charging.
Again, it’s a pretty good pick for just $190, especially for casual users who just want a good user experience and a stylus.
The Texas Attorney General has sued Meta over allegations that the company’s WhatsApp messenger, used by more than 3 billion people, doesn’t provide the end-to-end encryption (E2EE) it has long claimed.
Since at least 2016, Meta (then named Facebook) has said WhatsApp provides robust end-to-end encryption, meaning that messages are encrypted on a sender’s device with keys that are available only to the receiver’s. By definition, E2EE means that no one else—including the platform itself—can read the plaintext messages.
In sworn testimony before two US Senate committees in 2018, CEO Mark Zuckerberg said Meta does “not see any of the content in WhatsApp; it is fully encrypted” and that “Facebook systems do not see the content of messages being transferred over WhatsApp.” The engine for this E2EE is the Signal protocol, an open source code base that multiple third-party experts have said lives up to its promises.
In a complaint filed Thursday, Texas AG attorneys said Meta’s claims are false and that the company can and does read the unencrypted contents of WhatsApp messages. They said they are filing the action to “prevent WhatsApp and Meta from continuing to willfully deceive [Texans] by misrepresenting that their private communications were just that—private and inaccessible even to WhatsApp and Meta—when, in fact, WhatsApp and Meta have access to all WhatsApp users’ communications in their entirety.”
“The gravity of Meta’s and WhatsApp’s violation of users’ privacy and trust cannot be overstated,” the attorneys wrote. “All users were entitled to believe their communications were private when WhatsApp and Meta unequivocally and repeatedly promised that no one—not even WhatsApp and Meta—can access their messages.”
In an email, Meta called the allegations “baseless” and vowed to fight the lawsuit in court.
He said, she said
The sole factual evidence cited for the claims is an article published last month by Bloomberg. It reported that the US Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security had abruptly closed an investigation into allegations that Meta could access encrypted WhatsApp messages shortly after one of the department’s agents sent an email outlining the probe’s preliminary findings.
A claustrophobic anomaly-horror game where you can only turn, blink, and decide: is it real or not? Survive five endings and uncover Mike’s story.
THIS IS NOT A TYPICAL ANOMALY-SPOTTING GAME. You wake up strapped to a chair in a looping room. You can only rotate, blink, and choose. Narrators interact with you. Each cycle, the room repeats one floor higher. Your task is to tell reality from hallucination, survive, and eventually break the loop. Warhammer 40000 Mechanicus II
SPOT IT, BLINK IT, CHOOSE IT In the game, you will encounter many anomalies — but not all of them are real. Some are just fragments of Mike’s imagination. Blink to check. If the anomaly disappears and the room returns to normal, you’re safe. If it doesn’t — it’s better to move to another floor.
Still see something strange? Press red.
Does everything look normal now? Press green.
Each correct decision brings you closer to the end.
THIS IS MIKE’S STORY Nothing in this game is random. Every detail is part of the story. The first playthrough won’t give you the full picture — it only reveals one layer of Mike’s story. With each cycle, the game becomes harder, new hints appear, and new doubts arise. The narrators are not there by accident.
To understand what is really happening, you’ll have to escape — and piece everything together.
There were certainly signs that Destiny 2’s best days were behind it, but this week’s announcement that the shooter will no longer receive content updates still came as a shock.
The first-person shooter has been evolving for nearly a decade, and among the players devastated by the news are content creators who’ve built careers and communities centered on Destiny 2 commentary, criticism, and lore deep dives.
“I’m a little surprised,” said major Destiny 2 streamer Datto, who has 1.2 million YouTube subscribers, as he reacted to the news on stream. “I thought I would be ready to hear something like this, but I guess I’m just not.”
Latest Videos From
“It’s been my entire adult life,” a tearful Datto said later in the stream. “I graduated college, I worked in television for like two-and-a-half, three years, trying to grind my way up, and then the YouTube channel took off in 2014 … it’s all I’ve known, it’s everyone I know. 99% of my friends have come from this experience. My career has been this experience.”
Following Bungie’s announcement, we learned that development on Destiny 3 is not in progress. It could happen, but as Datto says during his stream, even if it does there’s little chance we’ll see it this decade. It’s at least a relief, the streamer said, to now know what Bungie is doing with the game so that he can plan for his own future.
Destiny 2’s final update will be June 9th, 2026. My reaction. – YouTube
Other streamers and commentators are also considering what they’ll do next.
“What does this mean for me personally?” said Destiny 2 streamer Fallout, reiterating a question from his stream chat. “…We’ve been expanding into other games, thank Christ. I’m going to be making content for it as long as I can. Thankfully, my content on other games have been performing well. I am very fortunate to have this as my job. Very fortunate. This certainly changes things.”
Keep up to date with the most important stories and the best deals, as picked by the PC Gamer team.
In an email correspondence with PC Gamer, Destiny 2 “Lore Daddy” My Name is Byf, known for his deep investigations into the game’s storytelling, expressed support for the Bungie developers who care about the value of games as “art, a third space, a social experience, a fulfilling job,” but cautioned against forgetting, as a creator, that publishers don’t always value anything more than the bottom line.
The industry is so far from its best at current that it might as well be continents away.
Destiny 2 content creator My Name is Byf
“Developers who care, like the many who did within the rank and file of Bungie, will make something remarkable,” said Byf. “Publishers and management teams at their best will enable that brilliance. The industry is so far from its best at current that it might as well be continents away. By that same measure, the leadership team at Bungie in particular might as well have been on Mars.”
Byf also expressed support for movements like Stop Killing Games in the hopes that public pressure can prevent games like Destiny 2 from being made totally unplayable. For now, Destiny 2 will remain in operation, but Sony and Bungie could pull the plug on the servers at any time, and without at least a stripped down version of the game that players can operate themselves, that could be the end of it entirely.
Most of all, Byf and Destiny 2’s other biggest content creators are expressing appreciation for the game that once was and its community, and the feelings of loss they’re experiencing.
“Feeling like I was a part of the community helped me get through the darkest time in my life,” Byf said, “and being in the community at GCX (then Guardian Con, formerly Destiny Community Con) led me to the moment where I met my wife.”
“Destiny is the only game that ever made me want to create content,” said YouTube creator and past PC Gamer contributor Cool Guy, known for his in-depth commentary on Destiny 2’s weapons. “Not for views or a career, just to share something I genuinely loved with other people.”
Speaking to PC Gamer over email, Fallout said that he can’t imagine another game being as meaningful to him as Destiny.
“Destiny as a whole—not just the game, but the entire community itself—remains one of the most incredible and irreplaceable experiences I’ve ever had the privilege of being a part of,” the streamer wrote.
“I wouldn’t have ever become a content creator without the existence of Destiny. It attracted such an unexpectedly wide variety of awesome and passionate players. Speedrunners, lore-fanatics, competitive PvP demons, spreadsheet/number crunchers, podcasters, artists, cosplayers, musicians, and more. Just an incredibly wide array of players that you’d never really picture together all playing together under one roof, experiencing the awesomeness of what no other game had ever managed to deliver.”
Although Bungie has said that future games in the Destiny universe are a possibility, it’s not a sure thing. The studio is focused on its new extraction shooter Marathon, and according to a Bloomberg report, has not yet greenlit a new game for the Destiny 2 team to work on. Layoffs are expected at the studio.
