Austrian Audio didn’t appear out of nowhere. The company was formed in 2017 after AKG shut down its Vienna operations, and a significant portion of its engineering and design team decided not to follow the corporate roadmap. Instead, they stayed put and built something new, bringing with them experience tied to models like the K612, K702, and K812.

Since then, Austrian Audio has covered both ends of the market. The Hi-X series established its presence with studio focused, budget friendly designs, while The Composer proved the company could compete at the high-end if you’re willing to spend $2,699.

What’s been missing is the middle. That gap is now filled by The Arranger, a $1,299 open-back headphone that lands right in one of the most competitive segments in personal audio. It’s also where expectations get less forgiving. Up against established options like the HiFiMAN Arya Unveiled and Sendy Audio Egret, this isn’t about proving competence, it’s about proving relevance.

And that raises the real question: did Austrian Audio tune The Arranger for the studio, or for the Head-Fi crowd with very different expectations?

Custom Designed Drivers 

Within each earcup of The Arranger sits a newly developed 44mm driver designed entirely in house. Austrian Audio has put real effort into the motor and diaphragm design, using a proprietary ring magnet system and a DLC coated diaphragm to improve rigidity and control.

On paper, the numbers are ambitious. Bass extension is rated down to 5Hz, which Austrian Audio claims is class leading. Distortion is kept below 0.1% at 1kHz, and driver excursion appears well managed for a driver of this size.

The electrical side looks just as approachable. With a 25 Ohm impedance and 94dB/mW sensitivity rating, The Arranger should be relatively easy to drive from a wide range of sources. Whether that holds up in real world use is something we will get into in the drivability section.

Design & Comfort

When it comes to design, The Arranger makes no attempt to hide what it is. This is a studio first headphone. It is not sculpted to impress and it is not chasing luxury cues. What you get instead is a build that feels like it was designed to survive actual use. Drops, knocks, and long days at a desk should not faze it. The foldable chassis also gives it an advantage over many open-back competitors when it comes to portability.

The aesthetic is functional. There is a lot of polymer in the construction, and the single sided cable terminates in a quarter inch plug, which tells you exactly where this is meant to live. The cable itself is a rubberized, high durability design that feels like it was built to be abused, rolled over by chairs, and kept working without complaint.

That said, it is not without character. The beige and gold finish gives it a distinctive look, and there is something appealing about how unapologetically utilitarian it is. If you do not like how it looks, it is largely irrelevant once it is on your head.

Comfort is a strong point. At 320 grams without the cable, The Arranger is relatively lightweight for its class, and that pays off over longer sessions. Six hour listening stretches are entirely manageable. The suede leatherette pads and headband padding are on the firmer side out of the box, but they do not create pressure hotspots.

Long term usability has also been considered. The earpads and headband padding are user replaceable, which is not always a given in this category and should help extend the lifespan of the headphone.

The semi open acoustic design sits somewhere between fully open and closed-back. There is some attenuation of external noise, but passive isolation is limited and leakage is still present. Whether this is an issue for you or not will depend on your listening environment and personal preferences.

Listening

Austrian Audio positions The Arranger as a reference grade headphone for studio use. However, the tuning is not really what I or many others, for that matter, would consider to be neutral.

The overall presentation leans warm, prioritizing ease of listening over absolute clarity and detail. It is a smoother, more forgiving sound rather than a strictly analytical one. Depending on your preferences and what you listen to, that will either work in its favor or feel like a compromise.

For testing, The Arranger was paired with a range of DACs and amplifiers. That included smaller dongle options like the Campfire Audio Relay, as well as higher end desktop setups such as the Ferrum Audio WANDLA and Ferrum Audio OOR with the Ferrum Audio HYPSOS. Source material ranged from high resolution FLAC files to Spotify streams, mostly over USB.

The idea was simple. See how consistent The Arranger is across different setups, and whether it behaves more like a studio tool or something tuned for longer listening sessions.

Bass

The lower frequencies on The Arranger are clearly elevated, especially through the midbass region. This adds a welcome sense of weight and impact, giving music more drive and physicality. For harder hitting genres, it works well. Drum and bass tracks like “The Moment” by Nu:Tone and Lea Lea come across with strong dynamics and a presentation that leans toward that nightclub energy.

There is a downside. The midbass lift can introduce a bit of muddiness on certain tracks, masking finer details and slightly softening both male and female vocals. It is not overwhelming, but it is noticeable depending on the recording.

Whether that trade off is worth it for the added sense of impact will depend on your preferences.

Midrange

The Arranger has a V-shaped sound signature, which means the midrange takes a step back compared to more neutrally tuned headphones. It is not completely recessed, but it is not the focus either. As a result, vocals and instruments do not come across with the same presence or naturalness that you would expect from a true reference tuning.

Female vocals in particular sit a bit further back in the mix than expected, likely due to a dip in the upper midrange. This gives them a slightly muted quality at times. Even headphones like the HiFiMAN Arya Unveiled, which also show some recession in the 1 to 2kHz region, do not exhibit the same degree of restraint with female vocals.

Treble

Those who prefer a smoother, more effortless treble presentation will likely enjoy the upper frequencies on The Arranger. There are no noticeable peaks or troughs throughout, and combined with the bass elevation, the treble was pared back in a pleasant way that allowed for extended listening session with no fatigue.

Despite this, you still get plenty of clarity and sparkle up top that can cut through the slightly bass-heavy nature of The Arranger and make things a little more exciting. For example, listening to “La lune” by L’Imperatrice, you are able to make out the faint triangle hits through the bass guitar, both of which feature heavily in the track.

Soundstaging & Imaging

The Arranger has quite a small soundstage, reminiscent of closed-back headphones despite having a semi-open design. However, the imaging precision within said stage is pinpoint accurate, making for a coherent, intimate yet multi-layered soundstage that is way more aurally pleasing than a wide soundstage with poor imaging accuracy. I enjoyed TOOL’s “Chocolate Chip Trip” through The Arranger, as I was able to follow the complex track without any of the layers getting jumbled into one.

An opposite example would be the AKG K702, which to my ears has a very wide but diffuse and confused spatial presentation with a murky centre image.

Drivability

With its relatively high sensitivity and low impedance, The Arranger is very easy to drive. In practice, it does not scale dramatically with more power or higher end source gear. Moving from the FiiO JM21 to the LAiV Crescendo VERSE resulted in only a small change in overall sound quality, and adding the Aune S17 Pro brought a slight improvement in bass texture rather than a wholesale upgrade.

That is not a criticism. If anything, it works in The Arranger’s favor. You do not need to invest heavily in a dedicated DAC or amplifier to get close to its full performance, which makes it a more practical option than many of its competitors.

The Bottom Line

The Arranger gets a lot right, but not always in the way Austrian Audio suggests. It delivers a smooth, engaging, and fatigue free presentation that makes long listening sessions easy. The elevated midbass and strong sense of dynamics give music real drive, especially with electronic, rock, and other harder hitting genres. Add in the lightweight build, solid durability, and very good comfort, and it is a headphone you can live with day to day without much effort.

The tradeoffs are just as clear. This is not a neutral or strictly reference tuned headphone. The V-shaped balance, midbass lift, and slightly recessed upper mids mean it does not excel at critical listening or vocal accuracy. Detail is there, but it is not pushed forward, and the overall presentation favors enjoyment over analysis.

So who is it for? Not the engineer looking for a microscope. Not the listener chasing absolute tonal accuracy. The Arranger is for someone who wants a well built, easy to drive headphone that sounds lively, forgiving, and musical across a wide range of gear.

Pros:

• Smooth, fatigue free tuning that works well for long listening sessions
• Strong dynamics with impactful midbass that suits electronic, rock, and other energetic genres
• Easy to drive with low impedance and good sensitivity; no need for expensive amplification
• Consistent performance across a wide range of sources with minimal scaling dependency
• Lightweight at 320g with very good long term comfort
• Durable, studio ready construction with a practical, foldable design
• User replaceable earpads and headband padding extend product lifespan
• Semi open design offers some awareness of surroundings without being fully exposed

Cons:

• Aesthetic is functional and may not appeal to those expecting a more premium look
• Not a neutral or true reference tuning despite studio positioning
• Elevated midbass can introduce slight muddiness and mask fine detail
• Recessed upper mids push vocals, especially female vocals, further back in the mix
• Midrange lacks presence and natural timbre compared to more balanced competitors
• Detail retrieval is good but not emphasized, limiting critical listening use
• Semi open design still leaks sound and offers limited isolation

Where to buy:

Related Reading:

Hackers are exploiting a critical vulnerability in Marimo reactive Python notebook to deploy a new variant of NKAbuse malware hosted on Hugging Face Spaces.

Attacks leveraging the remote code execution flaw (CVE-2026-39987) started last week for credential theft, less than 10 hours after technical details were disclosed publicly, according to data from cloud-security company Sysdig.

Sysdig researchers continued to monitor activity related to the security issue identified additional attacks, including a campaign that started on April 12 that abuses the Hugging Face Spaces platform for showcasing AI applications.

Hugging Face serves as an AI development and machine learning-focused platform, acting as a hub for AI assets such as models, datasets, code, and tools, shared among the community.

Hugging Face Spaces lets users deploy and share interactive web apps directly from a Git repository, typically for demos, tools, or experiments around AI.

In the attacks that Sysdig observed, the attacker created a Space named vsccode-modetx (an intentional typosquat for VS Code) that hosts a dropper script (install-linux.sh) and a malware binary with the name kagent, also an attempt to mimic a legitimate Kubernetes AI agent tool.

After exploiting the Marimo RCE, the threat actor ran a curl command to download the script from Hugging Face and execute it. Because Hugging Face Spaces is a legitimate HTTPS endpoint with a clean reputation, it is less likely to trigger alerts.

The dropper script downloads the kagent binary, installs it locally, and sets up persistence via systemd, cron, or macOS LaunchAgent.

According to the researchers, the payload is a previously undocumented variant of the DDoS-focused malware NKAbuse. Kaspersky researchers reported the malware in late 2023 and highlighted its novel abuse of the NKN (New Kind of Network) decentralized peer-to-peer network technology for data exchange.

Sysdig says that the new variant functions as a remote access trojan that can execute shell commands on the infected system and send the output back to the operator.

“The binary references NKN Client Protocol, WebRTC/ICE/STUN for NAT traversal, proxy management, and structured command handling – matching the NKAbuse family initially documented by Kaspersky in December 2023,” mentions Sysdig in the report.

Sysdig also spotted other notable attacks exploiting CVE-2026-39987, including a Germany-based operator who attempted 15 reverse-shell techniques across multiple ports.

They then pivoted to lateral movement by extracting database credentials from environment variables and connecting to PostgreSQL, where they rapidly enumerated schemas, tables, and configuration data.

Another actor from Hong Kong used stolen .env credentials to target a Redis server, systematically scanning all 16 databases and dumping stored data, including session tokens and application cache entries.

The overall takeaway is that exploitation of CVE-2026-39987 in the wild has increased in volume and tactics, and it’s crucial that users upgrade to version 0.23.0 or later immediately.

If upgrading is not possible, it is recommended to block external access to the ‘/terminal/ws’ endpoint via a firewall, or block it entirely.

Automated pentesting proves the path exists. BAS proves whether your controls stop it. Most teams run one without the other.

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Set in neon-lit 1993, the new Street Fighter film follows Ryu and Ken, formerly best friends but now estranged, as they are brought back together by the mysterious Chun-Li. Some nefarious powers lurk in the shadows of the World Warrior Tournament, compelling the couple to confront each other as well as some unpleasant memories from their past that they thought they’d forgotten.

Ken Masters appears on screen as the has-been celebrity that he has become, the ideal host for some cringeworthy MTV-style show, but Noah Centineo manages to lend a little of humor to the role, even when Ken is screaming out off-key karaoke and plainly has lost a step. Despite this, he manages to unleash his trusted Shoryuken uppercut, followed by the roll back throw that usually sends opponents reeling, and land a Jinrai Kick straight out of the current games, a lovely touch that reminds everyone that you never lose your fighting talents totally.

Ryu is about as far from the flashy showbiz life as you can get, a solitary martial artist who has managed to step back from the limelight, but Andrew Koji adds depth to the character, revealing a man who is a force to be reckoned with even when he is alone in the still of the night training for the next battle. Even as Ken delivers a flying kick, Ryu blinks briefly before he and Ken exchange glances, sizing out their old enemy. Later, we see Ryu gathering energy in his palms, and then, in a moment that will send every Street Fighter fan wild, he says the one phrase we’ve all been waiting for: “Hadouken.”

Chun-Li emerges as the driving force for Ryu and Ken’s reunion, and she possesses a steely will. Callina Liang has the poise and strength of an Interpol agent who is personally invested in seeing justice served. She wants vengeance on those who killed her father, and she believes the infamous M. Bison is behind it all. From the start, she sees Ryu as a man hiding from the world, and Ken as something of a sideshow relic, but when she recruits them both, we get a taste of the banter, including a throwaway exchange in which she trades barbs with Cammy about her famously muscular legs, a wink to all the old-school players. Chun-Li then demonstrates her own top training with the Hundred Lightning Legs move, a whirlwind of kicks that proves she’s one of the best.

Additional fighters round out the roster, resulting in some very unforgettable scenes. Joe Anoa’i makes a brief appearance as Akuma, hurtling at Ryu with a dark energy whirling about him like a mad storm in a technique known as Empyrean’s End. Curtis Jackson appears as Balrog, the heavyweight boxer who has a serious go at Ken early on. Olivier Richters looms enormous as Zangief, who attacks Ken with a piledriver that appears to have been plucked straight from the games. Jason Momoa plays Blanka, the green-skinned warrior whose electric powers stem from a bizarre tale concerning an aircraft crash. Cody Rhodes exudes Guile’s confidence with military swagger. Meanwhile, lesser roles are given to some fairly familiar faces, like Orville Peck as the clawed Vega, Vidyut Jammwal as the stretchy Dhalsim, and Eric Andre as the loudmouth announcer Don Sauvage, and each cameo just long enough to get that old familiar spark going before the next blowout begins.

Director Kitao Sakurai, who has worked on episodes of Twisted Metal and other projects, keeps the whole thing moving at a high energy level while yet keeping it grounded. The film will be released in theaters on October 16, 2026.

Rent the Runway’s Stephanus Meiring discusses the workforce of the future and what it will take to make it productive and sustainable.

For Stephanus Meiring, vice-president of engineering, managing director and site lead at Rent the Runway, the biggest challenge facing the workplace and workforce of the future is the pace of change. 

He said, “Things are moving faster than many organisations and individuals are used to and that creates uncertainty. But the opportunity is just as real. The people who tend to do well in these moments are the ones who are willing to learn, adapt and get involved rather than dismissing change as hype. 

“In my space – software engineering and delivery – AI is already changing how work gets done. I think that same pattern will play out across most industries in different ways.”

What part will diversity and inclusion play in the make-up of the workforce of the future?

A very important one. As technology becomes a bigger part of how work gets done, different perspectives shaping the tools, the decisions and the guardrails around them are needed. Inclusion will also mean making sure people have access to learning and the opportunity to build new skills, not just access to jobs.  If that part is missed, the benefits of change will not be shared evenly.

Work-life balance is arguably central to job satisfaction – is this achievable by having a future-focused mindset?

It can be, but only if companies approach it in the right way. Technology should help remove repetitive work, reduce some of the manual grind and give people more time for the parts of work that really need judgement and creativity. Used well, that should improve work-life balance. But if companies simply use new tools to expect more and more output without rethinking workload and priorities, then it could just create a different kind of pressure.

We’ve recently seen increases in salary, particularly in tech. Do you think the future of work will bring in other types of non-salary benefits?

Yes, definitely. Salary will always matter, but I think other benefits will become even more important. Flexibility, learning opportunities, time to upskill, access to strong tools, good leadership and work that feels meaningful will all matter more. In a fast-changing environment, helping people stay relevant and grow their skills is a real benefit in itself.

We’re looking at a more automated future, so how do you think this will affect roles in your sector?

In software engineering, delivery and support, the nature of the work is already changing. The craft of sitting and typing code all day is shifting quickly. But writing code was never really the whole job, and it was rarely the biggest bottleneck on its own. The harder part has always been understanding the problem properly, making good decisions, and delivering something reliable, secure and useful.

AI can now help more with those parts too, which is exciting, but it also means human judgement, critical thinking and accountability become even more important, not less.

What new jobs do you think will come to the fore?

I think we will see more roles and responsibilities emerge around AI governance, automation oversight, quality control, platform enablement, model risk, as well as jobs where people need to bridge technical depth with business context. But beyond that, I think some of the most important jobs of the future may be ones we cannot fully describe yet.

A role a few years from now might look less like someone doing one narrow task all day, and more like someone directing systems, validating outputs, making judgement calls, and bringing creativity and context that machines do not have. In many cases, jobs may not disappear so much as evolve. A lot of what comes next is still speculation, so the best response is to get involved, keep learning and be ready for change.

What will companies need to do to attract and support the best talent?

They will need to create environments where people can learn quickly, use modern tools and still feel supported and trusted. The best talent wants room to grow, but also clarity and direction. Companies that combine ambition with sensible guardrails will be in the strongest position. People are much more likely to stay where they feel they are growing, where leadership is clear and where the company is helping them prepare for what is next rather than leaving them to figure it out alone.

In your opinion and from experience, what can companies do today to prepare for the work of tomorrow?

Start now. Encourage people to learn, experiment safely and build confidence with new tools. Update your ways of working, not just your technology. In the next year, I think the biggest shift will be how quickly teams bring AI into everyday work.

Over five years, I expect we will see many roles reshaped around judgement, oversight, creativity and decision-making far more than routine execution. The companies that prepare early, invest in people and build the right habits now will have a real advantage.

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In short: Google has added Nano Banana-powered image generation to Gemini’s Personal Intelligence feature, letting the AI create images informed by a user’s Gmail, Photos, Calendar, Drive, and other Google app data. The feature rolls out to Plus, Pro, and Ultra subscribers in the US first, with Europe excluded from the initial global launch. Nano Banana is Google’s native image generation family for Gemini, now spanning three model versions.

Google has added Nano Banana-powered image generation to Gemini’s Personal Intelligence feature, letting the AI create images that draw on a user’s personal context across Gmail, Photos, Calendar, Drive, and other Google apps. The update means Gemini can now generate images informed by who you are and what you do, not just what you type into the prompt.

The feature is rolling out to Plus, Pro, and Ultra subscribers in the United States in the coming days, with free users expected to gain access over the next few weeks. Google says it plans to expand to Gemini in Chrome on desktop and to additional markets, though Europe is notably excluded from the initial global rollout of Personal Intelligence.

What Nano Banana is

Nano Banana is Google’s native image generation capability for the Gemini model family, distinct from Imagen, Google’s dedicated text-to-image line. Where Imagen is built for users who prioritise quality, iteration speed, and professional workflows, Nano Banana is designed for conversational image generation within the Gemini interface, accepting text, images, or both as inputs.

The family now includes three versions. The original Nano Banana, built on Gemini 2.5 Flash, handles basic conversational image generation. Nano Banana 2, launched in February 2026 on Gemini 3.1 Flash, combines the advanced features of the Pro version with faster iteration speeds. Nano Banana Pro, built on Gemini 3 Pro, incorporates the model’s full reasoning and real-world knowledge into image generation, producing outputs that reflect deeper understanding of prompts rather than surface-level pattern matching.

The technical advantage Google claims is that Nano Banana uses the Gemini model’s language understanding to capture prompt nuance in ways that standalone image generators cannot. Because the image generation is native to Gemini rather than bolted on as a separate system, the model can reason about what you are asking for before generating the image, drawing on context from the conversation and, now, from your personal data.

The personal intelligence angle

Personal Intelligence is Google’s framework for connecting Gemini to a user’s Google account data. Launched in January 2026, it lets Gemini access text, photos, and videos from Gmail, Calendar, Drive, Google Photos, YouTube, Search, Maps, and other first-party apps. The feature is opt-in, with users controlling which apps Gemini can access, and Google says the AI does not train on personal data.

Until now, Personal Intelligence has primarily powered text-based personalisation: answering questions about your travel plans by reading your Gmail confirmations and calendar entries, or making shopping suggestions based on purchase history. Adding Nano Banana image generation extends the personalisation to visual outputs. Google’s example use cases include generating images that incorporate your personal photos, creating visuals informed by your preferences and context, and producing outputs that reflect an understanding of your life rather than generic stock imagery.

A “sources” button shows how Gemini derived the context for each personalised image, giving users visibility into which personal data informed the output. This is a meaningful transparency feature in a product category where the provenance of AI-generated content is increasingly contentious.

The competitive context

Google is not the first to combine personal context with AI image generation, but it has a structural advantage that no competitor can easily replicate: it already has more personal data than any other consumer technology company. Gmail, Google Photos, Drive, Calendar, Maps, Search, and YouTube collectively represent a more comprehensive picture of a user’s life than any single app or platform can offer. Connecting that data to a capable image generator creates a personalisation moat that is difficult for OpenAI, Apple, or Meta to match without equivalent data breadth.

The timing also matters. ChatGPT’s image generation capabilities have driven significant user engagement for OpenAI, and Apple Intelligence has been integrating on-device AI features across the iPhone ecosystem. Google’s response is to lean into what it does best: cross-product integration powered by its unmatched data infrastructure.

On-device image generation with Gemini Nano is also coming to Pixel phones and Android devices, which would enable instant, private generation without cloud dependency. That combination, cloud-powered personalised generation for complex requests and on-device generation for speed and privacy, positions Google to cover both ends of the use case spectrum.

The privacy question

The obvious concern is that giving an AI image generator access to your personal photos, emails, and browsing history creates risks that Google’s opt-in controls may not fully address. Google says it does not train on personal data, but the feature necessarily involves processing that data to generate contextually relevant images. The distinction between “training on” and “using for inference” is technically meaningful but may be lost on users who simply see an AI that knows what their house, their children, or their holiday looked like.

Europe’s exclusion from the rollout suggests that Google’s own assessment is that the feature may face regulatory friction under GDPR and the AI Act. The company has form here: Gemini’s initial launch was also delayed in Europe, and Google has repeatedly had to navigate the gap between the personalisation its products depend on and the data protection frameworks that European regulators enforce.

For users who opt in, the value proposition is clear: an AI assistant that can generate images reflecting your actual life, preferences, and context rather than producing generic outputs from a prompt alone. For users who are wary of handing that much personal context to an AI system, the “sources” button offers some transparency, but the fundamental trade-off, personalisation in exchange for data access, is one that Google has been asking its users to make for two decades. This is simply the latest, and most visually expressive, version of that bargain.

Google has not disclosed pricing changes or additional costs for Nano Banana-powered Personal Intelligence image generation. The feature appears to be included in existing subscription tiers, which range from the free plan through Plus, Pro, and Ultra, with the pace of rollout tied to subscription level.

Popular kitchen brand Our Place is expanding its lineup with a new rice cooker. The compact kitchen appliance was created with chef and best-selling author J. Kenji López-Alt, and we had a chance to test it firsthand.

The Wonder Oven Pro and the Always Pan 2.0 made millions of fans, including me, so I was excited to test the new appliance to see if it lived up to the company’s innovative reputation and social media hype. 

Like all of Our Place’s products, the rice cooker has a sleek, simple, vaguely retro design with just the right amount of controls. A large button on the front of the appliance pops the device open, while the smaller buttons on the top control the mode and temperature.  

There are four modes: white rice, brown rice, oatmeal and a custom option for additional grains, and it has a six-cup capacity of cooked rice.

It also uses “fuzzy logic technology,” a common feature in high-end rice cookers. Essentially, it means the appliance uses built-in sensors that read the internal temperature and adjust it as needed for perfect cooking.

When the rice cooker is on, the digital display matches that of the Wonder Oven Pro, another element that creates the cohesive look the brand is known for. Using the rice cooker is easy and feels familiar if you’ve used any of Our Place’s other appliances. 

The rice cooker comes with a silicone measuring cup and a small wooden spatula, essentially a mini version of the one included with the Always Pan. Plus, it won’t scratch the nonstick coating.

The Our Place rice cooker is available now for $139 — admittedly a bit pricey for a rice cooker — in five different colors, including blue salt, steam, spice, char and the limited-edition pistachio. 

If the real world isn’t grim enough for you, Ukranian developer 4A Games has your back: Metro 2039 has been announced and is scheduled to arrive this winter. And based on the developer’s first look at the title, Metro 2039 looks to be an even darker affair than previous titles in the series. A tall order, but the real-world turmoil that has enveloped 4A Games since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine sounds like it has turned into a painful inspiration for the developer.

The lengthy cinematic reveal, which also contains a brief bit of gameplay at the end, doesn’t give much of the story away. But it does serve to place you right in the ruined, terrifying world of the Metro series. Metro 2039 arrives about 25 years after a nuclear apocalypse wiped out most life on the planet. The series focuses on survivors who live in Moscow’s ruined metro system. 4A says that this time out, the different underground factions have been united by a group known as “the Novoreich,” complete with a new ruler, the Spartan known as Hunter.

Despite Hunter promising “salvation and a new life” for the survivors left on the surface, things aren’t exactly rosy underground. As you might expect, this supposedly “united” society is still a complete disaster, with propaganda, authoritarian rule and violence the hallmark of the regime.

The Metro series is based on novels by Dmitry Glukhovsky, a Russian author who has been in exile due to his public denouncement of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. 4A Studios says that while this new game isn’t based specifically on one of his works, they worked in collaboration with Glukhovsky on the story for Metro 2039 “shaped by shared values of freedom and truth, and informed by the harsh realities of the world today.”

In statements from the studio, 4A directly acknowledges the conditions that Metro 2039 was created under. “Many developers continue to work from multiple locations, facing daily challenges never anticipated,” the studio says. “Through power outages, reliance on generators, and disruptions from missile and drone attacks, development has continued – driven by resilience, shared support, and a commitment to the work.”

It goes on to state that: “The war has directly shaped the development of Metro 2039, with its story focused acutely on choices, actions, consequences, and the cost of securing a future. While told from a distinctly Ukrainian perspective, Metro 2039 remains an authentic Metro story.” While the Metro series has been unfailingly bleak, it’s not hard to imagine how Russia’s invasion could have influenced the storytelling coming out of a Ukranian studio with an exiled Russian being part of the story team. But the limited bit of the game we’ve seen so far doesn’t make anything too explicit.

The trailer shows off the new player-character known as The Stranger, the first voiced protagonist in the series (though we don’t hear him do anything but scream in the preview). The Stranger has apparently been surviving in the above-ground wasteland but is forced to return to the metro. The little bit of gameplay we saw was the standard first-person shooter view of The Stranger heading underground to be immediately ambushed by a pretty horrific monster that he barely escapes from — he’s then dragged to “safety” by a group of survivors who just get the doors to their shelter shut before being overrun by a larger horde. Creepy stuff.

The rest of the preview largely feels like a dream (or nightmare) sequence — but while it’s hard to put together what is going on, there’s no doubt that the detail in the environments and characters is top-notch. Given that the last metro game, Metro Exodus, was released way back in 2019, it’s fair to say that we’re getting a more graphically impressive rendering of ruined Moscow and the tunnels beneath it.

There’s no exact release date yet, but 4A Games says Metro 2039 will arrive this winter for Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 5 and PC.