Technologies

The Agony and the Ecstasy of Endless Gaming Crossovers

In navigating my own love-hate relationship with this phenomenon, I talked to some of the devs behind them to get a better sense of how these crossovers work and why companies pursue them.

When my friends want to play Magic: The Gathering, I wade through my two-dozen or so decks built for Commander — the card game’s casual, multiplayer format. I might choose the deck built around Elenda, the Dusk Rose, a vampire saint who can create legions of vampires. Maybe I’ll take my Narset, Enlightened master deck, which lets me cast powerful spells for free when she attacks. Both Elenda and Narset are original characters from Magic: The Gathering.

Or maybe I’ll grab my Lightning, Army of One deck, constructed around the Final Fantasy 13 character, so I can attack people for absurdly high amounts of damage. Maybe my Godzilla deck will engage in glorious combat against my friends’ decks led by characters from Dracula or Warhammer 40K. Would Eowyn from Lord of the Rings be a better match-up against the forces of the Imperium?

It’s a double-edged sword, this impulse toward crossovers. And it’s happening in games far beyond Magic: The Gathering.

Overwatch featured skins from Persona 5 in September, Halo armor and weapons showed up in Helldivers 2, and edgy looter shooter Borderlands 4 is showing up in… golf game PGA Tour 2K25. The crossover crown lies eternally with Fortnite, thanks to its never-ending influx of skins from games, movies, comics and real-life celebrities — leading players using the Sabrina Carpenter skin to stop shooting each other and, say, hold impromptu concerts instead.

When the elements fit each other are handled with care, it’s a fun way for fans to engage with multiple interests simultaneously. But when it feels carelessly thrown-together or when the elements don’t mesh, it can feel like a cash grab that hollows out the original property. And what works for one player might feel egregious or immersion-breaking to another.

«Am I the problem?» I ask myself, as I work on a fourth Magic deck built around a Final Fantasy character, after spending hundreds of dollars on cards and accessories from the set.

I do realize that the money I spent on the release event and weekly drafts screamed to Hasbro, «It’s working!» At the same time, playing with cards from that Final Fantasy set was also the most fun I’ve had with Magic in several years.

Corporations betting big on brand crossovers feels like the unavoidable consequence of a world in which players look more and more for customization and ways to show off their personalities and interests, which dovetails with companies looking for lucrative ways to attract new players and increase revenue in ongoing games. Is other media filtering into popular games about the joy of including familiar faces, or does it turn characters into digital bumper stickers, starved of their identity from their original context?

The answer, like it or not, is both.

Money is a big part of the motivation, but expanding reach and offering customization also factor in

Blending different properties together generally requires an intense collaboration between the property owners and the game inviting the crossover. So what makes these gaming collaborations worth it for those parties?

There’s a financial incentive, to be certain, as Hasbro has made astonishingly clear. In its second-quarter 2025 earnings call, CEO Chris Cox noted that Magic: The Gathering’s Final Fantasy set made $200 million in revenue in one day, while it took the Lord of the Rings set six months to hit that milestone. To put those two collaborations in the context of original Magic: The Gathering sets, the bestselling Magic set before Lord of the Rings was Modern Horizons, which made $200 million over two years.

Admittedly, $200 million in 24 hours is performance that Magic: The Gathering will likely struggle to replicate, even with the overabundance of outside properties coming next year: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, The Hobbit, Star Trek and Marvel. Still, Cox said the company feels good about the collaborations set to launch next year in terms of pleasing players and bringing in revenue. And Final Fantasy ultimately points to the financial power of a good gaming crossover, one where the properties are handled thoughtfully and intentionally (even if some of that intention is making the collaboration more collectible).

To better understand how and why these crossovers happen, I talked with some of the people powering these gaming collaborations.

There were «a lot of clues» both internally and externally that Magic could support these kinds of crossovers in the game, said Aaron Forsythe, Magic: The Gathering’s vice president of research and development.

Sets like Lord of the Rings and Final Fantasy can also help funnel new players into a game that has been around since 1993.

«With Final Fantasy, we have seen a marked increase in play participation, especially among players who haven’t previously participated in our Organized Play programs,» said Rebecca Shepard, the vice president of franchise for Magic: The Gathering. That participation also extends after the launch of sets based on the other properties, which Magic brands Universes Beyond.

She noted that Universes Beyond releases also lead to increased interest in older products, demonstrating the crossovers’ ability to drive interest in the game’s original creations.

Magic’s designers have spent decades creating multiple in-game worlds or «planes» with their own lore, characters and mechanics. To a certain degree, crossovers are baked into its premise.

But what about something with a considerably smaller scope, like the hero shooter Overwatch 2? The team-based game is set in nearish future Earth, where other Blizzard games like Diablo and Starcraft are minimal parts of the world as references and outfits. But aside from a small Lego crossover, other external properties were mostly only winked at… until the game introduced skins from the popular manga and anime One-Punch Man back in 2023.

The game’s collaborations started out as infrequent events, but now show up roughly every season.

The Overwatch team was nervous for its first collaboration and took a cautious approach, said Aimee Dennett, Overwatch’s associate director of product management. Devs wanted to ensure that heroes were still recognizably Overwatch characters while also maintaining the integrity of the game’s lore. The solution was described as «our characters are cosplaying,» meaning that the Overwatch heroes maintain the iconic parts of their visual identity, while incorporating elements that are recognizable as the characters from the crossover properties.

There are also internal motivations for these opportunities.

«We’ve found that it has such a positive effect on the team,» said Overwatch’s Art Director, Dion Rogers. People who work on the game are also fans of these properties, and the opportunity to design those crossovers can be a creative spark for the developers.

Fortnite didn’t start the party, but it did invite basically everyone

Fortnite is the de facto example of crossovers in gaming. It represents an astonishing evolution of a concept that kicked off decades ago.

Video game publishers were firmly protective of their properties to keep their games unique, but gaming website Giant Bomb asserts that crossovers started in earnest with 1992’s Battle Soccer, where Godzilla could take the pitch against giant mech Gundams and superheroes from Japanese TV. A few years later, Marvel’s X-Men faced off against Street Fighter characters in a move that would eventually spawn the Marvel vs. Capcom series of fighting games.

Crossovers ramped up in the 2000s with Sonic the Hedgehog and Solid Snake as the first two characters not owned by Nintendo to show up in Smash Bros. Brawl, a few years before horror movie villain Freddy Krueger first appeared in a Mortal Kombat game. Thematically, these all make some sense — but Fortnite took crossovers to another level.

The crossovers started with the Infinity Gauntlet limited-time mode, where players could transform into Thanos, the villain of the 2019 film Avengers: Infinity War. It was quickly followed by the first Marvel-themed skins for Black Widow and Star-Lord that any player could wear. That kicked off a wave of Fortnite crossovers that would grow beyond Marvel to also include DC Comics, Star Wars, celebrities and various other games.

More have followed in Fortnite’s wake. The jump to include characters from other media besides video games has proven popular, with games like Mortal Kombat bringing in the villainous superhuman Homelander from The Boys, and the asymmetrical PVP horror game Dead by Daylight leaning heavily into killers and survivors from various games and movies — and also Nicolas Cage as himself, delivering some truly amazing voice lines.

Still, when it comes to bringing in everything from everywhere, nothing tops Fortnite, where crossover events feel less like guest stars and more like the first stop for major franchise promotion. And the cumulative results are, for lack of a better word, bonkers. Now a squad of Ariana Grande, Billie Eilish, Lady Gaga and Sabrina Carpenter can face off against a squad made up of Darth Vader, the Joker, Thanos and Mortal Kombat’s Sub-Zero… and then perform *NSYNC’s Bye Bye Bye dance on the villains’ corpses.

Epic Games, the makers of Fortnite, declined to comment for this story.

Convenience and customization… at a cost

While crossovers with other properties help bring revenue and new players into games, they also risk alienating players whose primary interest is in their games’ original concepts and who may feel the crossovers move the game away from its identity.

«We listen and learn more than folks realize but at the same time, our goal of making Magic for everyone — because it is — can also frustrate our existing players,» said Shepard in response to a question about the feedback to Universes Beyond and the seemingly polarized responses online.

You can see that frustration in videos from prominent Magic creators, with titles like «The Problems With Universes Beyond — Even if You’re NOT a Hater» and «Half of Magic: The Gathering Will Not Be Magic: The Gathering.» The discussions in those videos touch on multiple elements, but center around the proportion of and execution of Universes Beyond sets and how those sets do or don’t gel with the rest of the game.

That tension exists with most gaming crossovers. I wasn’t initially a fan of Overwatch’s move into collaborations. For me, the image of Doomfist in a yellow suit and flowing cape cheapened a character who’s supposed to be a surly big bad in the Overwatch universe. To me, it felt tonally mismatched with his identity, and I feared Overwatch feeling less like Overwatch as a result.

But the response I saw was largely positive. A change being celebrated doesn’t mean it’s necessarily good for the game, nor does outcry mean a change is bad. But there were clearly people who wanted the customization and expression of anime skins, highlighting the tension inherent in gaming collaborations like this.

Magic’s Aaron Forsythe acknowledged the competing interests, saying, «Players that have been with us for a while don’t feel the need for a change of this magnitude, and I appreciate how this hits them. But we’re doing this both because we want to grow the game — and we are — and because we think it’s another really fun way to enjoy it.»

For longstanding fans who have played the game for years, perhaps even decades, it may feel like the resources for the game’s original ideas are being diverted to fuel crossovers.

There are degrees, though. In the case of Magic: The Gathering, one-time Secret Lair drops like Sonic the Hedgehog that mostly show up in casual multiplayer formats may not seem as disruptive. But over the course of next year, Magic will release four more sets based on outside properties, bringing the total to seven such sets in two years. More than any individual card or set, that density of outside properties might feel particularly unwelcome, contributing to the feeling that it’s just Fortnite now.

Everyone is here (and here to stay)

I think a lot of the response to crossovers comes down to two things: how well the concept fits and how good the execution is. Fortnite itself has become a conglomeration of various game types — from Battle Royale to Lego to Ballistic, festivals and Creative modes — so the game featuring skins from all kinds of movies, games and celebrities sort of fits into that «everything for everyone» idea.

Something like Dead by Daylight is an example of using crossovers with a narrower focus, incorporating horror icons that fit its gameplay and lore. Resident Evil characters trying to escape from Halloween’s Michael Myers doesn’t make total sense, but there’s enough of an internal logic in the genres of slasher films and survival horror games for it to work.

And, despite my initial reservations about Overwatch’s collaborations, I was immediately enthralled when I saw Kiriko’s Suki skin from Avatar: The Last Airbender. In addition to giving me a new outlet for my favorite character from the show, it just fit the visual identity and the concept of the Overwatch hero, a protector in her own right.

The people behind the games acknowledge how much that matters. «If we don’t do this right,» Overwatch’s Rogers told me, «the fans will call us out.» Players have their own ideas of what fits and what doesn’t, and they aren’t shy about voicing those feelings. But Rogers said that getting it right instead helps maintain the identity of the game’s heroes.

Similarly, Magic’s Shepard said one step in the process of evaluating potential crossovers is feeling out whether it feels like «an authentic relationship» for the game and its players. The challenge, however, is that each player’s mileage will vary when it comes to that authenticity.

There’s no putting these crossovers back in the box, for better and worse. We’ll continue to have more options to play as our favorite characters across a variety of games. Right now, if I wanted to, I could fire up Street Fighter 6 and play a game as Chun-Li in the context of her original series. I could then swap over to Fortnite and run around sniping people as Chun-Li before logging into Overwatch and playing as Juno in her Chun-Li skin, healing people with a Martian mediblaster. And then over the weekend, I could play Magic: The Gathering with my friends and pull out a deck built around a Chun-Li character card.

For Chun-Li superfans, that’s great. At the same time, my Magic opponents may be sick of playing against characters from Stranger Things, Jurassic Park and Marvel, which might break the immersion of the game for them.

The demand is there and the complaints are valid. Companies will follow the money. But each game’s developers have to find their own way of squaring the crossover — justifying (or not) how another creative world collides with theirs.

For Overwatch’s Dennett, as the game grows and changes, so does the team’s philosophy about collaborations — because pushing the boundaries of what’s possible in the hero shooter sparks the imaginations of its player base.

«It’s sort of a self-reinforcing cycle, where our players grow and change so much, and so do the types of collaborations, and the types of collaborations change, which grows and changes our players.»

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Technologies

Apple AirPods Max 2 vs. Sony WH-1000XM6: What’s the Best Choice for Apple Users?

How do the AirPods Max 2 stack up to Sony’s excellent WH-1000XM6 headphones? CNET’s audio expert David Carnoy gives you the full rundown.

When the AirPods Max 2 came out, I wrote an article comparing them to the original AirPods Max for Apple users who were considering upgrading. But some folks seemed more interested in my thoughts on how the Max 2 compare to Sony’s WH-1000XM6, which are among the very best noise-canceling headphones out there right now.

Both headphones earned CNET Editors’ Choice awards — and both are expensive. The AirPods Max’s high price was a source of contention when the original model launched in 2020, and the Max 2 also lists for $549. Pricing consumer headphones at more than $500 was a little shocking six years ago, but that didn’t stop people from buying the Max and setting a new benchmark for premium noise-canceling headphone prices, with top models from Bose, Sony and Bowers & Wilkins all receiving price hikes in recent years.

It’s a bit early for significant discounts on the Max 2, but later this year, they should settle in around $500 on Amazon, so you’re looking at about a $100 to $150 price bump to get them instead of the XM6, which retail for $450, but are typically discounted to around $400 in flash sales.

You can read my AirPods Max 2 review and Sony WH-1000XM6 review at those links.

Design

On the outside, anyway, the Max 2 are exactly the same as the Max USB-C, which came out in late 2024, and they’re available in the same five color options.

You can argue about which design is better and which model is more comfortable, but I’d have to give the Max 2 the advantage for pure build quality. These are headphones with a stainless steel frame, aluminum-clad earcups, smooth telescoping arms and swanky earpads that adhere magnetically and are easily replaceable. And then there’s that sweet digital crown to adjust volume and control playback.

Aside from their minimalist smart case, which I don’t love, the Max 2 have a more luxurious and durable design than the XM6. The Sonys are made primarily out of high-tech plastic and carbon-fiber composite, and their hinges aren’t immune to cracking despite their metal reinforcements, according to some user reports. The problem doesn’t seem nearly as prevalent as it was with some earlier Sony models, and I haven’t had any issues with my XM6. But online, you will find some photos of cracked or broken XM6 hinges and arms.

The trade-off for build quality is weight. The Max 2 weighs 386.2 grams or 13.6 ounces, while the XM6 weigh 254 grams or 9 ounces. The Max 2 are well-balanced and do a nice job distributing that extra weight on your head, with their breathable mesh knit canopy that spans the top of the headband. They don’t seem as heavy on your head as they feel in your hand. Most people will find both headphones quite comfortable, but you can’t get around the fact that the Max 2 are on the weightier side for headphones, and that may be a downside for some people, whether they’re on your head or in a bag, which you have to carry around with other things, such as a laptop.

It’s also not a good idea to drop the Max 2 on pavement because the aluminum can get dinged up or scratched. I’m pretty good about not dropping my headphones, but I put clear plastic earcup covers on my original Max as a precaution, especially after my daughter kept borrowing them from me. I should also note that the earpads and canopy can get a little stained and dirty if you’re not careful, especially the lighter colors. My kids don’t treat their headphones as well as I do, so I ended up having to replace the earpads for $69, though I did make my daughter pay for those replacements with her own money.

Winner: AirPods Max 2 win for build quality and durability, but the Sony WH-1000XM6 are well designed and will appeal to those looking for lighter headphones. The XM6 also have a dual-hinge design that allows them to fold up and flat (the Max 2 simply folds flat). I grade this a draw.

Features

The Max 2 have the edge in features as well, especially after Apple upgraded the Max 2 with the H2 chip, which essentially adds all the features found in the AirPods Pro 3 to the Max 2. These include Adaptive Audio, Conversation Awareness, Voice Isolation, Live Translation and Siri Interactions that allow you to use head gestures to answer and ignore calls or dismiss audio notifications. The Max 2 also support studio-quality audio recording and Apple’s camera remote feature using the digital crown. Both are useful for content creators.

The XM6 also offer a strong set of features, including Sony’s Speak-to-Chat feature, which preceded Apple’s Conversation Awareness feature. While they have different names, they both automatically lower the volume of the audio you’re listening to and shift the headphones from noise-canceling mode to transparency mode as soon as you start talking, letting you have a conversation without taking your headphones off.

But the AirPods Max 2 are designed to work with Apple products, and they automatically switch audio between devices on your iCloud account. Also, Apple’s spatial audio with head-tracking is arguably superior to Sony’s 360 Audio with head-tracking, which only works with Android devices, as Apple’s only works with Apple devices.

Now, if you’re an Android user, I’d be having a different conversation. Yeah, the AirPods Max 2 can be paired with Android devices, but they lose many of the Apple-exclusive features that set them apart. So if you’re an Android/Windows user and don’t have any Apple devices, you should opt for the XM6, which also support Sony’s high-quality LDAC audio codec if you pair them with an Android device. Or maybe Bose’s QuietComfort Ultra 2nd Gen or Bowers & Wilkins’ PX7 S3.

Winner: While the Sony WH-1000XM6 has a robust feature set available for Apple and Android devices, the AirPods Max 2 eke out a win on features for Apple users. The XM6 win for Android fans.

Noise canceling

With Apple’s H2 chip and software completely rewritten for it, both noise-canceling and voice-calling performance have improved with the Max 2. Apple says the noise canceling is 1.5x better, and you can definitely hear the difference compared to the ANC on the original Max. But the Sony XM6’s noise canceling is top-notch, and it’s hard to tell whether the XM6’s or the Max 2’s ANC is better. Ultimately, it’s very close, and both are quite impressive.

The Max 2 have a slight edge as far as their transparency mode goes. While Sony has improved its ambient sound mode that lets you hear the outside world, Apple’s transparency mode is still the gold standard, and stellar on the Max 2.

Winner: Tie

Voice-calling performance

Both have excellent voice-calling performance and do an impressive job of reducing background sound while isolating your voice. In my initial tests, I found the Sonys did a slightly better job in the noisy streets of New York, as callers said my voice sounded a little clearer and more consistent. But both headphones almost completely eliminated background noise during calls and are top-tier in the voice-calling department.

Winner: Tie

Sound quality

While both headphones sound superb for wireless headphones, they do sound different. Which one sounds better will likely depend on your personal tastes.

The Max 2 and Max 1 have a similar sound signature that’s balanced and pretty accurate. However, the Max 2’s upgraded dynamic range amplifier, coupled with Apple retuning its Adaptive EQ for the H2 chip, allows for a cleaner, more natural sound that’s nearly distortion-free.

The Max 2 do offer more clarity and dynamic sound, while the XM6 are a little warmer and more forgiving. My ears tend to gravitate toward more revealing headphones, such as the Max 2, but they can make badly recorded tracks sound even worse.

Without listening to the Max 2, you’d probably think the Sony’s sound is nicely detailed and accurate, with very good bass definition. But flipping back and forth between the two headphones, the Max 2 come across as more aggressive and intimate, while the XM6 are a little more laid back.

You can tweak the XM6’s equalizer settings in their companion app, which some people prefer. The Max 2, however, rely exclusively on their Adaptive EQ to optimize sound quality. The lack of flexible tuning bothers some people, but most don’t seem to mind the automatic tuning.

I didn’t notice that much of a change to the highs and mids between the Max 1 and Max 2. But whenever I hit a track with a harder bass line — or just more bass in general — the quality of the bass jumped out at me. Not only did it seem to hit harder, but it was tighter and more natural sounding.

The Max 2 sound a little more precise overall than the first-gen and have slightly better separation between instruments, so you can hear them a little more distinctly. That extra bit of precision helps with spatial audio, whether you’re listening to music or watching movies.

As I said, both the Max 2 and XM6 sound excellent in their own way. You can’t go wrong with either of these headphones for sound. But if you’re looking for a little more articulate headphones with slightly better clarity, the Max 2 have the edge in my book.

Winner: AirPods Max 2 win in a photo finish.

Wired listening

I’ll finish with a couple of smaller but still important items that may make a difference for some people. Note that the AirPods Max 2 have support for USB-C audio, which means you can plug the included USB-C cable into them and use them in wired mode with PCs, phones and tablets. The XM6 do not support USB-C audio.

However, the XM6 come with an analog headphone cable with a 3.5mm connector, so you can plug them into a headphone jack for wired mode (or use them with a USB-C-to-3.5mm adapter). This cable comes in handy when you need to plug into an in-flight entertainment system.

The Max 2, on the other hand, don’t include a USB-C-to-3.5mm cable for plane use, which is disappointing given their high price. You can buy the cable for around $35, but note that you have to use Apple’s official cable, not a generic USB-C-to-3.5mm cable.

Winner: The AirPods Max 2 technically have more robust wired-listening capabilities, but they get a points deduction for not including a USB-C-to-3.5mm cable, so I grade it a draw.

Battery life

Lastly, the XM6 do have the Max 2 beat on battery life. The Sonys are rated for up to 30 hours at moderate volume levels with noise canceling on, while the Max 2 are rated for up to 20 hours.

Winner: Sony WH-1000XM6

AirPods Max vs. Sony WH-1000XM6 final thoughts

Honestly, it’s hard to declare a true winner between these two great but expensive headphones. Each has some advantages and some small disadvantages.

Earlier this year, when the Max 2 hadn’t been released yet, I would have told you to get the XM6. But now that the Max 2 are here and the upgrades turn out to be a little more significant than I initially thought, it’s a tougher choice. They do offer some real advantages to Apple users from a features standpoint, so as long as you like the Max 2’s fit, they’re a pretty safe choice if you can afford them.

Technologies

Health-Tracking Pet Collar Acts Like a Smartwatch for Dogs and Cats

Tractive has two new smart collars armed with GPS tracking, AI-powered health monitoring and other tech tools.

Since our pets can’t tell us how they’re feeling or where they’re hiding, Tractive, an Austria- and Seattle-based tech company that creates GPS tracking devices for pets, has announced two new smart collars that «will redefine pet care for millions of families.»

Is your pet stressed, breathing unusually or scratching too much? Much like the basic health-tracking features you can find on a smartwatch, the collars — the Cat 6 Mini ($79) and Dog 6 XL ($89) — are designed to track this behavior and communicate the issues to help maintain your dog or cat’s quality of life, according to the company.

«Pets can’t tell us when something is wrong, but their bodies can,» Michael Hurnaus, CEO and founder of Tractive, said in a statement. «With cutting-edge sensors on every tracker, learnings from millions of pets and AI-powered insights, we’re turning one of the world’s largest pet data platforms into clear, simple information so pet parents can act sooner and care even better.»

When it comes to tracking collars, dogs have usually been the target pet audience for such devices. Tractive’s new Cat 6 Mini collar aims to provide the same service for your feline friend. You can use it to monitor your cat’s respiratory rate and resting heart rate and identify any health concerns early. It’s expected to ship on May 31.

The Dog 6 XL collar, an upgrade from the company’s previous dog wearable, is designed for dogs weighing over 55 pounds. It’s more durable for outdoor use and offers up to four weeks of battery life between charges. It comes equipped with a scratch-monitoring system that flags unusual scratching behavior caused by allergies, skin irritants and other stressors.

You can also use the app to access your pet’s travels and mark safe zones regarding walks, entries and exits. An AI-powered health hub displays your pet’s overall health stats and also acts as a GPS tracker in case your dog or cat goes missing.

How would a veterinarian interact with the data collected on the device?

A Tractive representative told CNET, «In our experience, veterinarians are most interested in baseline resting heart and respiratory rate, so it’s less about monitoring these vitals in real time during recovery from anesthesia/acute care and more about understanding if the baseline is changing day to day to identify the onset of new conditions or manage existing ones.»

Even though the collars use a SIM card and require a strong cellular connection to work properly, they can capture activity, sleep and health data while offline. However, without connectivity, the devices «ultimately will not provide any utility,» the representative confirmed.

You’ll need to download the accompanying app and select a separate subscription plan at an added cost. The one-year plan costs $120, the two-year plan costs $168, and the five-year plan costs $300.

Technologies

Double Dazzle: This Weekend, There Are 2 Meteor Showers in the Night Sky

Lyrids began last week, and Eta Aquariids kicks off on Sunday.

We’ve had good reasons to look up at the skies lately: the pink moon earlier this month and the launch and splashdown of the Orion spacecraft, which carried humans to the moon for the first time in more than 50 years on the Artemis II mission.

And now we have two meteor showers.

The first is the Lyrids, which began on Tuesday and continues until the end of the month. It’s a relatively minor meteor shower fed by the C/1861 G1 comet, also known as Thatcher after its discoverer, A.E. Thatcher, in 1861. It’s a long-period comet that takes 415.5 years to orbit the sun.

The Lyrids meteor shower peaks between April 21 and April 22 and will produce somewhere between 15 and 20 meteors per hour under optimal conditions. Per the American Meteor Society, the peak should occur on the evening of April 22, so if you can only make it out for one of the two nights, the second night is expected to be the better viewing experience.

The second meteor shower starting this weekend is the Eta Aquariids. This meteor shower begins on Sunday, April 19 and spans for over a month, wrapping up on May 28. This is the stronger of the two meteor showers with an expected peak of roughly 50 meteors per hour, depending on where you view them from. The Eta Aquariids shower is known for its fast meteors and persistent tails that stick around for a little longer after the meteor has disappeared.

The 1P/Halley comet feeds it, the same one that feeds the Orionids meteor shower every October. Its peak should be between May 5 and May 6. The further south you are, the more meteors you can expect to see, and the opposite is true the further north you go. The best place to view this meteor shower is in the tropics.

How to see Lyrids and Eta Aquariids

Meteor showers come with a built-in trick for finding them. They are named for the constellations where the meteors appear to originate. This origin point, known as the radiant, is where you want to be looking.

The Lyrids meteor shower originates from the Lyra constellation, which is close to the larger Hercules constellation. Both of them rise from the eastern sky shortly around 11 p.m. local time. It will then follow a similar trajectory to the sun, streaking overhead before setting in the west. Sunrise happens long before the constellations actually set, so if you’re waking up early to view these, you’ll want to look high in the western sky.

The Eta Aquariids shower is more difficult to view. It originates from the Aquarius constellation, which spends most of the night of May 5-6 below the eastern horizon. The constellation rises around 3 a.m. local time and will only barely breach the horizon before sunrise a few hours later. If you go out to view the eta Aquariids, get up high and point yourself east.

If you’re having trouble finding the constellations, your best bet is using a sky map app like StarWalk (Android and iOS) or using web tools like Stellarium’s Sky Map. Such tools can help you identify where the constellations will be. For meteor shower viewing, all you really need is the general direction, but there’s no harm in knowing how to find the constellation.

Tips for viewing meteor showers

The advice for viewing meteor showers is the same, no matter how big or small the shower is. The single biggest advantage you can give yourself is getting as far away from light pollution as you can. This means leaving the city and the suburbs behind in favor of greener, dimmer pastures.

The moon can significantly impact viewing. This won’t be a problem for Lyrids since the moon is expected to be about a quarter full during Lyrids’ peak. Eta Aquariids viewers aren’t so lucky since the moon will be about 80% full that night, which will cause significant light pollution. The American Meteor Society says that the shower’s peak may be up to 50 meteors per hour, but with the moon that close to full, people can expect closer to 10.

Other than light pollution, the advice is pretty simple. Make sure to get out there early so your eyes can adjust, and avoid using any bright lights that could affect your night vision. Since meteor shower watching can be a multihour activity, make sure to dress appropriately for the weather and abstain from alcohol, since it acts as a vasodilator and can cause you to lose body heat more quickly on cold evenings.

You won’t need any equipment since meteors are visible to the naked eye. Telescopes and binoculars will reduce your field of view, which may cause you to miss meteors.