In the ’90s, Wing Commander: Privateer made me realize what kind of games I love
Most things Privateer did have been done better, but it’s still a classic.
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Samuel Axon
Senior Editor
samuel.axon@arstechnica.com
Samuel Axon is the editorial lead for tech and gaming coverage at Ars Technica. He covers AI, software development, gaming, entertainment, and mixed reality. He has been writing about gaming and technology for nearly two decades at Engadget, PC World, Mashable, Vice, Polygon, Wired, and others. He previously ran a marketing and PR agency in the gaming industry, led editorial for the TV network CBS, and worked on social media marketing strategy for Samsung Mobile at the creative agency SPCSHP. He also is an independent software and game developer for iOS, Windows, and other platforms, and he is a graduate of DePaul University, where he studied interactive media and software development.
Recent stories by
Samuel Axon
Call of Duty co-creator and Battlefield lead Vince Zampella dies in car crash
He had worked on Medal of Honor, Call of Duty, Titanfall, and Battlefield.
Samuel Axon
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125
For the lazy techie: These are Ars staff’s last-minute holiday gift picks
Two wireless mice, two external hard drives, and a partridge in a pear tree.
Samuel Axon
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52
Runway claims its GWM-1 “world models” can stay coherent for minutes at a time
Runway joins a competitive field alongside Google, Nvidia, and others.
Samuel Axon
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59
Revisiting Jill of the Jungle, the last game Tim Sweeney designed
DOS platformers didn’t have a reputation for being fun, but this one is a blast.
Samuel Axon
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211
Vision Pro M5 review: It’s time for Apple to make some tough choices
A state of the union from someone who actually sort of uses the thing.
Samuel Axon
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229
Anthropic introduces cheaper, more powerful, more efficient Opus 4.5 model
Longer chats address a long-standing criticism of Claude.
Samuel Axon
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158
Return to the year 2000 with classic multiplayer DOS games in your browser
There are fan-made browser versions of Red Alert, Unreal Tournament, and more.
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Most Read
Microsoft makes Zork I, II, and III open source under MIT License
Microsoft’s Open Source Programs Office worked with Jason Scott to do it.
Samuel Axon
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151
“We’re in an LLM bubble,” Hugging Face CEO says—but not an AI one
The risks of AI investment in manufacturing and other areas are less clear.
Samuel Axon
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138
With a new company, Jeff Bezos will become a CEO again
He stepped down at Amazon in 2021 and doesn’t hold a CEO title at Blue Origin.
Samuel Axon
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111
Well-received big-budget Alien Earth TV series gets a second season
Production will move from Thailand to London, suggesting a new setting.
Samuel Axon
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116
Cursor introduces its coding model alongside multi-agent interface
The vibe-coding IDE put an emphasis on speed with Composer.
Samuel Axon
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70
With new acquisition, OpenAI signals plans to integrate deeper into the OS
The acquired firm was working on a tool to control macOS directly with AI.
Samuel Axon
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95
Claude Code gets a web version—but it’s the new sandboxing that really matters
Sandboxing lessens hassle, but fire-and-forget agentic tools still pose risks.
Samuel Axon
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56
Roberta Williams’ The Colonel’s Bequest was a different type of adventure game
What if point-and-click games weren’t about the puzzles?
Samuel Axon
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87
Inside the web infrastructure revolt over Google’s AI Overviews
Cloudflare CEO Matthew Prince is making sweeping changes to force Google’s hand.
Samuel Axon
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135
Hands-on with Fallout 76’s next expansion: Yep, it has Walton Goggins
TV tie-ins aside, it’s the combat tweaks over the past year that really matter.
Samuel Axon
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56
With new agent mode for Excel and Word, Microsoft touts “vibe working”
Agent Mode in Word, Excel works like vibe coding tools but for knowledge work.
Samuel Axon
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90
30 years later, I’m still obliterating planets in Master of Orion II—and you can, too
There’s an unparalleled purity to MOO2‘s commitment to the fantasy.
Samuel Axon
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174
iFixit tears down the iPhone Air, finds that it’s mostly battery
Design that puts the logic board at the top helps stave off a second Bendgate.
Samuel Axon
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113
iPhone 17 Air is real—here’s what’s new in Apple’s extra-thin handset
It’s not revolutionary, but it’s hypertargeted at one type of customer.
Samuel Axon
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250
Apple introduces AirPods Pro 3 with live translation feature
Plus upgrades to active noise cancellation and battery life.
Samuel Axon
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90
Civilization VII team at Firaxis Games faces layoffs
CEO says the game is projected to meet expectations, but there are cuts anyway.
Samuel Axon
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189
The new Dolby Vision 2 HDR standard is probably going to be controversial
It addresses two scourges of modern TV viewing—but maybe not in the way we want.
Samuel Axon
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196
With new in-house models, Microsoft lays the groundwork for independence from OpenAI
Microsoft is still deeply tied to OpenAI, but who knows what the future holds.
Samuel Axon
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90
Parallels Desktop 26 offers a lot to enterprise users, a little to consumers
There are no major new consumer features. Enterprises get a few things though.
Samuel Axon
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30
Blade Runner makes its live-action return next year
New series will star Michelle Yeoh and take place 50 years after the 2017 film.
Samuel Axon
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188
After successes like Severance and The Studio, Apple TV+ gets a price hike
Apple, like other streamers, is facing a difficult economic reality.
Samuel Axon
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164
In Xcode 26, Apple shows first signs of offering ChatGPT alternatives
Claude support in Xcode heralds bigger moves across the ecosystem.
Samuel Axon
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42
A question for the ages: Is The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall a good game?
Revisiting the 1996 RPG exposes both genius and madness.
Samuel Axon
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109
Apple brings OpenAI’s GPT-5 to iOS and macOS
It’s unclear exactly how GPT-5’s new approach to model-switching will work here.
Samuel Axon
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96
US executive branch agencies will use ChatGPT Enterprise for just $1 per agency
Questions linger about ideological bias in models as well as data security.
Samuel Axon
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100
Developer survey shows trust in AI coding tools is falling as usage rises
“AI solutions that are almost right, but not quite” lead to more debugging work.
Samuel Axon
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188
Blender developers begin work on full-fledged mobile version
Support will come to the iPad Pro first, with other platforms to follow.
Samuel Axon
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Remembering Descent, the once-popular, fully 3D 6DOF shooter
Descent is a big part of gaming history, but not many people talk about it.
Samuel Axon
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242