Category: 4. Technology

We keep almost everything on our smartphones nowadays, from our communications to our photos to our calendars. But the more data piles up on our devices, the harder it can be to find when we need it, or to put it to use without cumbersome scrolling and searching.

Google’s Pixel 9 changes all that with generative AI that sees everything on your phone and assists with exactly the task you need done right now. Google’s built-in Gemini AI also helps you take great photos even in less-than-ideal conditions. and easily edit or reimagine them the way you want. It doesn’t skimp on hardware, either, making it the whole package: CNET’s reviewer says the Pixel 9 “shines for its great camera, elegant design, and clean software.” 

There’s never been a better time for an AI-forward upgrade: now through October 6, you can save $100 when you buy the Pixel 9 at Best Buy.

Always-on AI assistance at your fingertips

No matter where you are on the Google Pixel 9, AI is never more than a long-press away. All you have to do is click and hold the power button or voice the wakeup phrase to activate Gemini. What sets it apart from other chatbots is that it already has the context it needs to deliver what you ask. 

Say you have come across a photo of a landmark on Instagram, you can simply tell Gemini to explain what’s on your screen, and it will automatically grab a screenshot and find out more about it for you. If you need to take notes on an important call, Gemini can do it for you. If someone texts you an invite, it can add it to your calendar. 

Similarly, the built-in Pixel Screenshots app leverages Gemini AI’s smarts to organize your heaps of screenshots. As opposed to manually going through your gallery to retrieve a piece of information you screen-grabbed weeks ago, you can punch in what you are looking for, like an Airbnb Wi-Fi password or a restaurant receipt, and the app will pull up all matching screenshots. 

AI experiences are incomplete without a little whimsy, and the Pixel 9 is no different. Its Pixel Studio service can produce AI-generated imagery of just about anything, based on brief prompts — perfect for whether you need visuals for your new business or an invite for a Pokémon-themed game night. 

A camera that lets your imagination run wild 

Spending hours to set up a shot doesn’t always guarantee flawless results. Some aspects of taking photos, like a passerby walking into your scene when you’re about to click, or gloomy weather in the background, will never be in your control. The Google Pixel 9 changes that. Its pair of rear cameras can still snap high-quality photos even in less-than-ideal conditions, but it’s what it allows you to do after you click the button that stands out. 

Is there an unwanted object or person in your photos? Just tap or circle them, and Pixel 9’s Magic Editor will get rid of them without ruining the rest of the image. A trash can in your selfie’s backdrop? Ask Magic Editor to replace it with flowers. Cloudy sky? Magic Editor can switch it to bright and sunny. 

The Pixel 9 eliminates the need to request strangers to take your group’s photo, too. Its “Add Me” tool intelligently merges two pictures: each taken by a different member of the group, so that everyone can be in the final shot. You don’t have to worry about aligning the two frames, either. The phone superimposes where everyone was positioned in the first photo so that the second photographer can frame their shot accordingly. 

Get your Google Pixel 9 at Best Buy 

Since Google promises seven years of updates and new features every few months, the Pixel 9 won’t go out of style anytime soon, irrespective of new models and successors. So grab yours at Best Buy and save an extra $100 on it now. 

Liposomal irinotecan (Onivyde) was first investigated as subsequent therapy in pancreatic adenocarcinoma before being incorporated into frontline combination chemotherapy. In a Case-Based Roundtable event in Washington, DC, moderated by Kashif Ali, MD, the evidence surrounding the optimized chemotherapy regimen was presented. Ali, a medical oncologist of Maryland Oncology Hematology in Silver Spring, Maryland, discussed the difficulty of directly comparing the efficacy of FOLFIRINOX (5-FU [5-fluorouracil], leucovorin [folinic acid], irinotecan, and oxaliplatin) with the newer regimen due to differences in patient population. He also discussed the apparent tolerability benefits, especially with appropriate use of dose reduction.

Register today to join a Case-Based Roundtable near you.

This article is part 2 of a 2-part series from a Case-Based Roundtable event.

Targeted Oncology: How did the NAPOLI 3 (NCT04083235) trial support the use of liposomal irinotecan in the first line?

Kashif Ali, MD: This is the newest approval in patients with metastatic pancreatic cancer. This is looking at NALIRIFOX [5-FU, liposomal irinotecan, leucovorin, and oxaliplatin], which is like modified FOLFIRINOX, except you’re substituting irinotecan for liposomal irinotecan. The reason it’s like modified FOLFIRINOX is because you’re not using the bolus 5-FU. The difference between this and the [NAPOLI 1 trial (NCT01494506)] is that liposomal irinotecan is at 50 mg/m², not 80 mg/m², which was in the previous trial. Even the oxaliplatin is a lower dose. It goes back to the tolerability.

It’s not FOLFIRINOX, because the oxaliplatin dose is lower. It is also a modified version, because you’re not giving the bolus. We know now that it causes less neutropenia than giving modified FOLFIRINOX. The control arm here was a good control arm, not 5-FU plus leucovorin or single-agent gemcitabine. It was gemcitabine/nab-paclitaxel, which is a potent regimen. The primary end point was overall survival [OS], and the secondary end points were overall response rate [ORR] and [progression-free survial (PFS)].

How did NALIRIFOX perform in the context of existing regimens?

It had the same median OS we saw with FOLFIRINOX.^1,2 Now, these are different trials. We can’t compare them. Gemcitabine/nab-paclitaxel is going to do relatively [well], because it’s better than single-agent gemcitabine; the HR is 0.83 [95% CI, 0.70–0.99; P =.036].¹ Even though the median OS here is 11.1 months, and if you look at the 18-month OS rate, 26% of [patients] are alive at 18 months, if you look at the [PRODIGE 4/ACCORD 11 trial (NCT00112658)], it was 18%.² There’s something different here about this compared with the other one, because you’re flattening the curve there, and that’s why the 18-month survival there is 26.2 months, even though the median OS is the same.

The problem is, when you try to do cross-trial comparisons, even the gemcitabine/nab-paclitaxel is flattening, which is not the case with the gemcitabine/nab-paclitaxel trial. It’s a different patient population. Be careful when you look at that, because the gemcitabine/nab-paclitaxel trial was not like this.

What other takeaways are there based on NAPOLI 3?

The 18-month data look good, but I wouldn’t say based on this that [NALIRIFOX] is more potent. [However], is this going to be more tolerable? Are you going to have less neutropenia? Are you going to have fewer gastrointestinal adverse events [AEs]? And if you dose reduce, is it going to be of detriment to your patient?

Regardless of whether you had a high CA 19-9 or a normal CA 19-9, both benefited from this. With gemcitabine/nab-paclitaxel, normal CA 19-9 did not benefit, but with FOLFIRINOX and with NALIRIFOX, there’s a benefit either way, regardless of CA 19-9, and everything else benefited there, regardless of site of metastasis, age, or sex, [etc]. The confidence intervals are wide, because how often do you get metastatic [disease with lower CA 19-9]?

We saw in the FOLFIRINOX trial, the ORR was around 30%. The ORR here is 41.8% but the gemcitabine/nab-paclitaxel ORR is also very good [36.2%]. I think this is a different population. The stable disease rate was 26% for both gemcitabine/nab-paclitaxel and NALIRIFOX.

What was the tolerability of NALIRIFOX in this trial?

We think of FOLFIRINOX as being toxic and gemcitabine/nab-paclitaxel as being not as toxic. If you look at grade 3 or higher AEs, there was no difference: 86% and 87% between gemcitabine/nab-paclitaxel and NALIRIFOX. If you look at treatment-related AEs leading to dose reduction, it was the same. If you look at discontinuation based on AEs, it was the same. Treatment-related deaths were exactly the same at 6%. This shows that when you’re giving NALIRIFOX, the numbers may be exactly the same as FOLFIRINOX as far as efficacy, but the AE profile is very similar in some ways…to gemcitabine/nab-paclitaxel.

You’re going to get more diarrhea with NALIRIFOX at 20% vs 5%, [whereas] neutropenia and anemia were actually higher with gemcitabine/nab-paclitaxel. If you look at neutropenia, it was 14% with NALIRIFOX vs 25% with gemcitabine/nab-paclitaxel, and anemia was 11% with NALIRIFOX vs 17% with gemcitabine/nab-paclitaxel.

How do you approach dose reduction in this setting?

We have patients with pancreatic cancer. When they require dose reductions, we get nervous, because we have nothing else for them, and that’s their only hope. [With NALIRIFOX], patients who had dose reduction did better. Patients who had dose reductions when the liposomal irinotecan was dose reduced; the median OS was 12.6 months.³ When they were not dose-reduced, it was 9.4 months. Dose delays and restarting at the same dose is probably not a good idea. Dose delay and reducing the dose is a better idea. When the oxaliplatin was dose reduced, it was the same thing. [Those with] oxaliplatin dose reduced did better 13.5 months median OS vs 7.7 months if you chose not to dose reduce oxaliplatin.

The patients who did the best were the second to last dose reduction, meaning that, if the starting dose [of irinotecan] is 50 mg/m², your median overall survival is 9.1 months. If you’re at a dose of 32.5 mg/m², it was 16.9 months. The only ones who didn’t do as well as the second to last was the [lowest] dose, but even the [lowest dose] did better than the starting dose. So, if you’re at 25 mg/m², median OS was 13.5 months, meaning survival was still better than the starting dose. It was the same thing [with oxaliplatin]; the second to last did the best: 17.1 months. Just keep in mind these are subgroup analyses, but still, this is an important point.

Register today to join a Case-Based Roundtable near you.

DISCLOSURES: There were no known relevant disclosures.

_REFERENCES:

_{1. Wainberg ZA, Melisi D, Macarulla T, et al. NALIRIFOX versus nab-paclitaxel and gemcitabine in treatment-naive patients with metastatic pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (NAPOLI 3): a randomised, open-label, phase 3 trial. Lancet. 2023;402(10409):1272-1281. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(23)01366-1}

_{2. Conroy T, Desseigne F, Ychou M, et al. FOLFIRINOX versus gemcitabine for metastatic pancreatic cancer. N Engl J Med. 2011;364(19):1817-1825. doi:10.1056/NEJMoa1011923}

_{3. Patel AJ, Laursen AA, Cockrum P, et al. Effect of dose adjustments on overall survival (OS) in patients with metastatic pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (mPDAC) treated with NALIRIFOX: A post hoc analysis of NAPOLI 3. J Clin Oncol. 2025;43(suppl 4):716. doi:10.1200/JCO.2025.43.4_suppl.716}

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Amazon will now let you shop for products by pointing your camera at them. On Thursday, the company announced Lens Live, a new feature that uses your camera to scan things in the environment around you, while surfacing matching product listings.

This feature, which is only rolling out to the Amazon Shopping app on iOS for now, lets you pan your camera around a room or focus on a specific product. Amazon says Lens Live will use an object detection model to identify the products shown on your camera in real-time, and then compare them against the billions of products on its marketplace.

Once it finds similar items, Lens Live will display them in a swipeable carousel, where it will also show options to add products to your cart or wishlist. It sounds like Amazon’s take on Google’s Gemini Live, an AI-powered assistant that similarly lets you scan things in your environment and ask questions about them. The difference is that Amazon’s AI tool puts a big “buy” button on everything you see.

Lens Live also integrates Amazon’s AI assistant Rufus to summarize product descriptions and answer questions about them. The feature builds upon the existing capabilities of Amazon’s visual search features, which let you search for products by uploading an image, scanning a barcode, or snapping a picture in the Amazon Shopping app. Amazon plans on bringing Lens Live to more customers in the “coming weeks.”

The Apple iPhone 17 event is now just one week away. On Tuesday, September 9, we’ll finally get to see the new iPhone 17 lineup, and — assuming Apple sticks to tradition — we should be able to install iOS 26 around a week or so after the event. But you don’t have to wait to test out the new features because you can download and install the newly released public beta 6 (or iOS 26 developer beta 9 for developers). You can see a more complete view of the new features in our preview of the iOS 26 public beta release, which shows off the fresh home and lock screen redesign. Called Liquid Glass, the translucent look will extend across all of Apple’s upcoming operating systems. The overhaul is one of several big changes coming to iOS, macOS, iPadOS and the rest of Apple’s software suite, all of which were showcased during the company’s WWDC keynote on June 9.

After overpromising on AI plans last year, Apple kept its iOS roadmap focused more on basic quality of life improvements this year. There are multiple useful additions coming to the Phone and Messages apps on your iPhone, for instance: Apple execs outlined the ability to weed out spam texts or other unknown senders and an option to hold your spot on a phone call when you’ve been waiting for a representative to pick up. Plus, a treasured feature that we took for granted is coming back (hint: it’s in the Photos app).

With each beta, it seems like additional new improvements are popping up, like this new AirPods gesture we’re all curious about. With the release of the iOS 26 developer beta 5, we saw more added features, like a new bouncy animation on the passcode screen and in the Control Center, MacRumors reports. Some or all of those changes will likely soon migrate into the separate public beta (see below). Most newer iPhone models are eligible to download iOS 26 (both the betas and final version). Want to see the full list of new features coming this fall? Read on.

What is iOS 26?

The current iPhone operating system is iOS 18, and Apple is still actively updating it — version 18.6.1 was released to restore Apple Watch blood oxygen monitoring functionality for certain users in the US. More recently, Apple released 18.6.2 to address a vulnerability related to image processing. Apple has officially stopped signing iOS 18.6, MacRumors reports, which means it can no longer be installed on your iPhone due to a “server-side software verification check.” That’s pretty normal when newer versions are available to download.

But don’t expect to see iOS 19 soon — or ever. Instead, Apple is skipping the numbering ahead to iOS 26 next month. The company has decided to line up its iOS version numbers with a year-based system, similar to car model years. So while iOS and its sibling operating systems will be released in late 2025, they’re all designated “26” to reflect the year ahead.

What is Liquid Glass design?

Let’s be honest. Out of everything announced at WWDC this year, the new Liquid Glass design was the star of the show. The iPhone’s home and lock screens have looked pretty much the same year after year — the last exciting thing (in my opinion) was the option to add your own aesthetic to your home screen by customizing your apps and widgets. So seeing the home and lock screens’ new facelift is refreshing.

So what exactly is Liquid Glass? Apple calls it a “new translucent material” since, well, the apps and widgets are clear. However, the screen can still adapt to dark and light modes, depending on surroundings. You’ll also notice buttons with a new floating design in several apps, like Phone and Maps. They’re designed to be less distracting than the current buttons, but are still easy to see. While the design overhaul has proven to be controversial since its announcement, some — including Engadget’s own Devindra Hardawar — like the new direction, even if it’s somewhat reminiscent of Microsoft’s translucent Windows Vista Aero designs from nearly twenty years ago.

That said, as of the release of the iOS 26 beta 2, Apple has already incorporated some user feedback into the design, dialing back the transparency in at least some places. And while it will continue to evolve, Apple users won’t be able to escape it: Liquid Glass was designed to make all of Apple’s OSes more cohesive. Here’s a look at how the translucent aesthetic will look with the new macOS Tahoe 26 on your desktop.

What are the new and notable features of iOS 26?

iOS 26 has a laundry list of new features. Among the most worthwhile:

Phone app redesign: You’ll finally be able to scroll through contacts, recent calls and voicemail messages all on one screen. It also comes with a new feature called Hold Assist that’ll notify you when an agent comes to the phone so you can avoid the elevator music and continue on with other tasks.

Live Translation in Phone, FaceTime and Messages: iOS 26 is bringing the ability to have a conversation via phone call or text message with someone who speaks another language. Live Translation will translate your conversation in real time, which results in some stop-and-go interactions in the examples Apple shared during its presentation.

Polls in group chats: Tired of sorting through what seems like hundreds of messages in your group chat? You and your friends will soon be able to create polls in group messages for deciding things like which brunch spot you’re eating at or whose car you’re taking on a road trip.

Filtering unknown senders in Messages: If you haven’t received spam texts about unpaid tolls or other citations, you’re lucky. For those of us who have, those annoying messages will soon be filtered away in a separate folder.

Visual Intelligence: Similar to a reverse Google image search, this new feature will allow you to search for anything that’s on your iPhone screen. For instance, if you spot a pair of shoes someone is wearing in an Instagram photo, you can screenshot it and use Visual Intelligence to find those shoes (or similar ones) online.

Photos tabs are back: For anyone who’s still frustrated with the Photos changes made last year, you’ll be happy to know that your tabs are coming back. Library and Collections will have their own separate spaces so you don’t have to scroll to infinity to find what you’re looking for.

Camera app updates: Navigating the Camera app is simpler in iOS 26, as all the buttons and menus are in convenient spots — less swiping, more photo taking. Plus, there’s a new feature that tells you if your lens needs to be cleaned.

FaceTime “Communication Safety” feature: A newer addition to iOS 26 appears to be the FaceTime “Communication Safety” feature that pauses communications if and when nudity is detected. The feature appears to be a child safety feature that uses on-device detection, thus obviating any cloud-based privacy issues.

New lock screen options: The iPhone lock screen gets more customizable in iOS 26, with a cooler clock, 3D wallpaper effects, more widgets and better focus mode options.

New alarm setting: You’ll no longer be stuck with the 9-minute snooze setting in your alarms. Instead, you’ll have the option to change your snooze time from one to 15 minutes.

New changes coming to iPadOS 26

Your iPad isn’t getting left behind when it comes to big updates. Here’s what’s coming this fall.

Multitasking and real windowing: When you download the newest update, you’ll be able to have multiple apps running on your screen at the same time. Once you open an app, it’ll appear on your screen as normal but you’ll be able to resize and move it across your screen to make room for other apps. This feature is optional so you can turn it off if you don’t like it.

Visual update: Along with the other new OSes, iPadOS 26 is coming with the Liquid Glass aesthetic. This new look will appear on the lock and home screens, as well as the drop-down menus.

New menu bar: When you swipe down on your screen, the new menu bar will appear with options like File, Edit, Windows and more. There’s also a search option if you’re looking for something specific.

Check out our first impressions of iPadOS 26.

What about AirPods?

AirPods are also getting updated with iOS 26. Here are some of the more notable functions.

Enhanced audio recording: Apple calls this “studio-quality” audio recording, and with it, you’ll notice more clarity while in noisy environments.

Camera remote control: Using this, you can take a photo or start and stop video recording with just one press on your AirPods. When taking photos, you’ll get a three-second countdown before your iPhone or iPad snaps the picture.

Live translation feature: While not officially announced or confirmed, it appears that the long-rumored live translation for AirPods could be coming with iOS 26. The evidence comes from a system asset spotted in the in iOS 26 beta showing a gesture that’s triggered by pressing both earbud stems at the same time. The photo also shows words in several different languages.

Heart rate monitoring (rumored for now): Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman believes Apple will introduce new AirPods Pro earbuds this year, which could have heart rate monitoring. It would work with Apple’s Health app and other fitness apps that track heart rates.

Will Siri get an update?

Siri is in a holding pattern. Apple has previously specified that its smarter voice assistant — first promised at WWDC 2024 — is delayed until some point “in the coming year,” so you shouldn’t expect any major changes in the current betas. But there are reports that Apple is aiming to give Siri a bigger brain transplant by basing it on third-party artificial intelligence models like OpenAI’s ChatGPT or Anthropic’s Claude, which could make 2026 a pivotal year. The company is also reportedly working on a “stripped-down” AI chatbot to rival ChatGPT.

Which iPhones will be able to upgrade to iOS 26?

A few iPhone models that run the current version of iOS — iPhone XR, XS and XS Max — won’t be compatible with the latest upgrade. But any iPhones released in 2019 or later will be eligible for the iOS 26 update.

• iPhone SE (second generation or later)

Not listed here are the presumed new iPhone 17 models (or maybe iPhone 26?) that are all but certain to be announced and released in September.

How to install iOS 26 beta

The iOS 26 public beta is now available to download via the Apple Beta Software Program. If you’re not already a member, you’ll need to sign up to try out all the latest features. Just visit beta.apple.com and sign up with your phone number or email address. It’s free.

Once you’re in, you can install it by going to Settings > General > Software Update and selecting iOS 26 public beta.

A word of caution: Don’t sign up with your main iPhone unless you’re OK with any risks that occur with using an OS that isn’t finalized.

When will the final version of iOS 26 be released?

iOS 26 will be released to the public this fall. It usually comes in September, within a week of the Apple iPhone event. Last year, it rolled out to iPhone users on September 16 — exactly one week after the iPhone 16 lineup was announced. Since the iPhone 17 event falls on September 9 this year, it’s possible the downloads will hit our phones on September 16.

If you’re more interested in the Apple Intelligence features coming, here’s everything Apple revealed for iOS, macOS and more during WWDC. Also, check out how iOS 26 screenshots could be an intriguing preview of Apple’s delayed Siri rework.

Update, September 2: Added more new features coming with iOS 26.

Update, August 29: Added new section about Siri and a link to what’s new with the iOS 26 Camera app.

Update, August 27: Added the official iPhone 17 event date, as well as the potential iOS 26 release.

Update, August 25: Added a rumor about new AirPods Pro having heart rate monitoring.

Update, August 22: Noted that Apple has officially stopped signing iOS 18.6.

Update, August 20: Noted that iOS 26 public beta 4 and iOS 18.6.2 are now available to download.

Update, August 18: Added details about a potential iOS 18.6 update.

Update, August 15: Added to link to what to expect at the Apple iPhone event and details about what’s available in the iOS 26 screenshots editor.

Update, August 13: Added new AirPods detail spotted in the iOS 26 beta.

Update, August 11: Noted that iOS 26 developer beta has hit beta 6.

Update, August 8: Added new features coming with iPadOS 26 and AirPods.

Update, August 6: Noted the release of iOS 26 beta 5 and the new bouncy feature on passcode screen and Control Center.

Update, August 4: Noted that Apple is reportedly working on a ChatGPT rival.

Update, August 1: Added quote from Tim Cook about iOS 26.

Update, July 31: Noted that iOS 18.6 is now available.

Update, July 24: Noted the iOS 26 public beta is now available.

Update, July 3: Noted new FaceTime feature found in the developer beta.

Update, June 30: Noted ongoing iOS 18 releases, and reports that Apple is considering additional external LLMs for Siri.

Update, June 25: Noted changes added in iOS 26 beta 2.

Using digital boarding passes on the iPhone has become common practice for many of us. But after years with no changes to the feature, iOS 26 is about to upgrade Apple Wallet’s boarding passes with several handy new features.

Apple Wallet offers new reasons to use a digital boarding pass in iOS 26

One of the apps getting the most new features in iOS 26 is the Wallet app, which will soon offer more Car Key vehicle brands, AI-powered order tracking, US Passport support, full credit card details, and more.

Another big Wallet change involves travel.

Many of us save our boarding passes for flights inside Apple Wallet, and in iOS 26 those passes will offer three new features.

1. Live Activities
2. Airport maps
3. Luggage tracking with Find My

Live Activities can be an asset on travel days, but only certain airline apps support them—and features will vary from one airline to another.

But in iOS 26, Apple is baking Live Activity support into the Wallet app for boarding passes. This way, you can get a consistent experience no matter how tech-forward (or not) your airline’s app is.

One nice touch with these Live Activities is that they’re easily shareable, so you can send one to a friend or family member who needs to track your flight.

Additionally, boarding passes will now show more information when viewing the pass itself.

You’ll find easy access to airport maps, plus the location of your AirTag-equipped luggage and ability to report missing bags.

Overall, these three changes should make your travel experience with iOS 26 just a little more convenient than ever before.

What do you think of the new features coming to boarding passes? Let us know in the comments.

Best iPhone accessories

The Chinese Room has been going through it. The award-winning UK studio—known for working on titles such as Still Wakes the Deep, Dear Esther, and Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture—divested from Tencent-owned parent company Sumo Group in July in a bid to secure its future. 

It was a decision that resulted in the studio becoming a born-again indie and one that should enable it to continue creating original titles. The downside, as has so often been the case recently, came in the form of layoffs. It’s unclear how many people were made redundant as a result of that management buyout (MBO), but some employees won’t be around to witness the dawn of the new era.

How, though, did The Chinese Room arrive here around seven years after it was acquired by Sumo in a deal reportedly worth £2.2 million ($3 million)? And, perhaps even more importantly, where does the esteemed UK studio go from here? We sought answers to both of those questions and more at Gamescom 2025, where we sat down with studio director Ed Daly. 

During a candid conversation, Daly suggests the writing was on the wall for The Chinese Room at Sumo Group towards the end. For instance, he explains the development team was happy with Still Wakes the Deep, which he says performed “pretty well” and managed to win over critics. Yet, despite those perceived wins, he claims Sumo wasn’t necessarily happy with the returns being generated by original projects. 

Related:Evil Empire tells devs to avoid early access unless their project is 90 percent complete

“Given that, you can maybe see that at some point, Tencent or Sumo would decide ‘we can’t keep investing’ [in original products]. I think Tencent would love to have a great new hit IP, but achieving that via Sumo maybe wasn’t happening,” says Daly. 

Daly confirms The Chinese Room had planned to work on two more original projects that would have been funded by Sumo. Yet, when its parent company announced it would be focusing exclusively on work-for-hire projects, the Brighton-based studio had to search for a future beyond the shadow of that corporate umbrella. 

At that point, Daly explains The Chinese Room had two options: The first was to seek out another conglomerate that might be interested in acquiring the studio. The second was to pursue an MBO and become independent. 

Daly didn’t completely rule out the prospect of another acquisition at first, but says there was trepidation as to whether a prospective new owner would have allowed The Chinese Room to continue building original titles, or would instead position the company as a dedicated support studio. 

“Maybe [the acquisition option] would have worked, but the alternative opened up,” he says. “We thought ‘there’s a business plan we can produce that means we can fund the company’ and it became a no-brainer. There is something to be said for the so-called security that comes of being part of a larger business, but the moment it seemed that we could actually [complete the MBO] it became really compelling for the studio to give that a go. Like I said, we had these two projects that we were really excited about. They were in the pre-production stage and we were really determined to make sure we see these games through and get them made.” 

Related:Frost Giant CEO Tim Morten says layoffs are possible after Stormgate underperforms

“There is no other business plan in town other than one in which we reduce our costs”

Who, though, remains to wrangle those mystery titles into existence? Daly explains The Chinese Room currently comprises 55 employees and confirms the studio was “bigger” before the MBO. He explains it’s difficult to discuss how many people were laid off because there is nuance involved. For instance, he notes that some people transferred to other divisions within Sumo before The Chinese Room bolted for the exit. So, while they’re no longer with the studio, they are still employed. 

Even so, he says it was “disappointing to have to lose people” but claims there was no other way for the company to successfully execute a buyout. “There is no other business plan in town other than one in which we reduce our costs,” he explains. “But it was good that some roles were offered to people at Sumo—for them to transfer to other studios—to reduce the impact of that.” 

Related:Devcom to rebrand as Gamescom Dev

With the dust beginning to settle, Daly is hoping The Chinese Room can use the MBO and the opportunity it presents to reset. The indie landscape—and wider game industry—has changed dramatically since the studio was last independent in 2018. The COVID-19 pandemic has been and subsided, bringing with it rampant investment that has since dried up after that particular bubble burst with aplomb. Now, in a world where companies big and small are struggling to secure financing and conglomerates seem intent on swallowing all in their path, Daly suggests the only way forward is to manage expectations with pinpoint precision. 

“Life is easier if budgets are large because you can take your time, play around, and make some mistakes. That approach no longer feels sustainable,” he continues. “So, for our new games we’re essentially funding them ourselves at the moment, but we will be looking for partners to help us with that at some point. Beyond that, and maybe it seems like this has always been the case to an extent, but we need to pick our battles, manage scope, and avoid spending too much too quickly before we’re ready. I think everyone has become more cost-conscious, which I don’t think is a bad thing.”

Independence also brings more agility. Daly says having fewer stakeholders means The Chinese Room is able to make decisions more quickly, which can help save money. The studio is also committed to building on previous successes rather than starting from scratch each time it kickstarts a new project. For many companies that will be par for the course, but those are the marginal gains that could make the difference for an indie outfit attempting to bring original experiences to market. 

The fact that studio bosses like Daly are now openly talking about the need to scope more efficiently and pragmatically is perhaps the most significant shift. 

“It feels like, three or four years ago, we were almost under pressure to talk up budgets for games to be taken seriously. So, sometimes we almost had the inverse problem where we had to figure out how to make a game that costs $10 million to $20 million,” he continues. “At the moment, lots of people will be dealing with budgets in the low-single-millions to create double-A projects or whatever you want to call them. It’s a big change.” 

The Chinese Room doesn’t want to spend more than three years bringing a game to market

When asked whether those tightening pursestrings might actually do some good in the long run, Daly seems optimistic. “I think it has got be healthy if games are viable and make a profit and recoup their cost. It’s not going to work if everybody’s expectations are being dashed left, right, and center. That isn’t sustainable,” he adds. 

“You know, tools are better. It’s becoming a little bit easier to build certain games. We’re all-in with Unreal and that’s helpful. I don’t think it takes away from the creative opportunity to do something original and different even if budgets are half what they were three or four years ago, but we just need to make sure we’re not being wasteful.” 

With that philosophy in mind, Daly explains The Chinese Room is keen to cap production cycles at around three years for the foreseeable future. There’s also the question as to whether the studio can be more proactive in ensuring its titles have greater permanence. 

“Everything we’ve done in the past, we just built the game, shipped it, and then moved on. We’re never going to make a live service game, but we’re looking at how we can [ensure longevity]. There’s early access. There’s a model that’s more DLC oriented—or kind of an episodic model. We’re interested in how we can get the new game out there maybe at a smaller initial scope, because spending three, four, five years [making a game] is not super appealing at the moment.” 

Creatively, Daly explains The Chinese Room remains focused on building character-driven experiences that take place in deeply-researched, authentic worlds. “There’ll certainly be an emphasis on narrative and world building,” he says, before noting that both of the studio’s original projects are currently in pre-production. 

Notably, Daly emphasizes the studio wants its next original titles to be more “mechanically rich” than their predecessors and offer more scope in terms of player agency. Given Daly mentioned the ideal production timeframe for those projects is no more than three years, we ask where he wants The Chinese Room to be when 2028 rolls around. 

“I think [the ideal scenario] is to have launched that next game and for it to demonstrate the way we’ve evolved our creative strategy,” he says. “I think it would be great to know that everyone in the team also feels secure about the future and to be able to focus without the distraction of ‘where is the next deal going to come from?’ Over the past year or so there have been a few distractions around the business, and it’d be nice to not have those.”

Game Developer attended Gamescom 2025 via the Gamescom Media Ambassador Program, which covered flights and accommodation.