Technologies

Stadium Is a Hit: Here’s What’s Next for Overwatch’s Wild New Mode

Players have spent several million hours in the game mode already, and new heroes and maps are already lined up.

Overwatch launched a new game mode, Stadium, last week as part of its 16th season. After playing the mode ahead of launch for a week, I called it «the first thing that has felt truly new in the game since it came out.»

Well, it seems like players are enjoying the new taste. In a Director’s Take blog post, Blizzard announced Thursday that, in the first week after its launch, about half of all the play hours in Overwatch were spent in Stadium. «While we often see a big spike in play time shortly after a sparkly new event launches, play time in Stadium has been a bit stickier,» the game developer said.

That’s good news for a game facing stiffer competition since December, largely in the form of Marvel Rivals, which was a smash hit of a hero shooter right out of the gate. Earlier this year, Overwatch introduced a new perks system that provided more progression within each match, which at the time felt like a major change. While that shifted up gameplay for the game’s core quick play and competitive modes, it wasn’t nearly as radical a departure for Overwatch 2 as Stadium.

Blizzard said the first week of launch led to 2.3 million Stadium matches (which translates to 7.8 million hours), more than doubling Overwatch Classic’s popularity.

Game Director Aaron Keller said in group interviews ahead of the Stadium launch that the Overwatch team was investing heavily in Stadium, including the mode having its own separate resources and a fresh influx of new heroes and maps every season. We’ve already seen a couple of hotfix patches to address overpowered builds and heroes.

We’ll get the first big taste of that commitment to Stadium when Freja joins the chaos in the midseason patch. But that’s only the start.

After some time in Stadium, I noted that some team strategies had different viability than in mainline Overwatch. In particular, rush compositions felt a bit overturned, thanks largely to a combination of available heroes (especially tanks) and more compressed maps. I hoped that future hero additions would prioritize different macro strategies, «enabling more ranged compositions with heroes like Sigma and Zenyatta or dive compositions with Winston.»

As it turns out, Sigma and Zenyatta are joining the mode in season 17, along with Junkrat. That’s a significant boost to ranged damage. Then in season 18, Stadium will add Winston, Sojourn and Brigitte, which should complement the mode’s existing heroes like Genji and Ana for more powerful dive setups.

Sure, it’s still just matchmaking, so most people are just picking whatever hero they feel like playing, probably without much thought to overall team synergy, but I like that the devs are giving us the ability to pursue those types of strategies, even if it’s rare for it to come together. And the new heroes are coming alongside new maps and modes, unranked crossplay, and an eventual draft mode over the next several seasons.

Overall, it’s a bunch of good news for a mode that seems to be a hit. I’ve been playing the mode semi-frequently since launch (not wanting to neglect the standard modes so I can play Freja, who feels like the most fun new hero since Kiriko) — the mode varies from thrilling to rage-inducing, but it’s certainly never boring. The updates announced Thursday are a strong signal that Overwatch is poised to keep the momentum going.

Technologies

Today’s Wordle Hints, Answer and Help for May 3, #1414

Here are hints and the answer for today’s Wordle No. 1,414 for May 3.

Looking for the most recent Wordle answer? Click here for today’s Wordle hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Connections, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands puzzles.

Today’s Wordle puzzle answer is a word that seems to have slipped out of favor. It’ll be interesting to see if it stumps a lot of players. It’s also a first name that isn’t very popular as that anymore, either. If you need a new starter word, check out our list of which letters show up the most in English words. If you need hints and the answer, read on.

Today’s Wordle hints

Before we show you today’s Wordle answer, we’ll give you some hints. If you don’t want a spoiler, look away now.

Wordle hint No. 1: Repeats

Today’s Wordle answer has no repeated letters.

Wordle hint No. 2: Vowels

There is one vowel in today’s Wordle answer, and one sometimes vowel.

Wordle hint No. 3: First letter

Today’s Wordle answer begins with the letter P.

Wordle hint No. 4: Name game

Today’s Wordle answer used to be a popular girl’s name, but it’s not used that much anymore.

Wordle hint No. 5: Meaning

Today’s Wordle answer can refer to someone who’s easily taken advantage of.

TODAY’S WORDLE ANSWER

Today’s Wordle answer is PATSY.

Yesterday’s Wordle answer

Yesterday’s Wordle answer, May 2, No. 1413 was WHOSE.

Recent Wordle answers

April 28, No. 1409: DUMMY

April 29, No. 1410: BLISS

April 30, No. 1411: IDLER

May 1, No. 1412: ADEPT

Technologies

How to Get a Free Fortnite Star Wars Skin and 4 Other Outfits Now

Fortnite has several promotions running simultaneously, letting you get your hands on multiple free skins right now.

Fortnite is once again brewing up crossovers with a galaxy from far, far away — and luckily for you, that means there are free skins up for grabs. The First Order Stormtrooper skin is available for free right now when you connect your Epic Games and MyDisney accounts.

If a stormtrooper skin from the Star Wars sequel trilogy era isn’t quite your style, there are other non-Star Wars skins that you can earn for free, whether you’re completing tasks in-game or redeeming promotional offers. Two more free skins are unlocked by linking your Epic Games and Lego accounts.

Other skins are available through quests — in-game tasks that unlock new items across the different Fortnite modes. The Trailblazer Tai skin is unlocked for free through Lego Fortnite quests, while the limited-time Vanguard Zadie skin is available through an account-level quest.

Here are all of the current free Fortnite skins and how to unlock them.

Free Fortnite skins in May 2025

These are the current free skins available through crossover promotions, account activations and in-game quests.

First Order Stormtrooper

Unlocking the First Order Stormtrooper skin requires you to have an eligible MyDisney account, used to log into Disney’s empire of streaming services like Disney Plus and Hulu, to which you’ll need to connect your Epic Games account in order to earn this skin. In order to do so, navigate to the Apps and Accounts page of your Epic Games account and click «connect» on the MyDisney option. This will take you to the MyDisney webpage to complete the process and bind the accounts. You will have the First Order Stormtrooper skin upon your next Fortnite login.

By watching the first two episodes of Star Wars: Tales of the Underworld on a special Fortnite island (the code is 2124-6713-8076) you can also earn a free Asajj Ventress loading screen.

Mr. Dappermint and Explorer Emilie

Unlocking the Mr. Dappermint and Explorer Emilie skins requires you to have an eligible Lego account, as you need to connect one to your Epic Games account in order to earn these skins. In order to do so, navigate to the Apps and Accounts page of your Epic Games account and click «connect» on the Lego option. This will take you to the Lego webpage to complete the process and bind the accounts. You will have the Mr. Dappermint and Explorer Emilie skins upon your next Fortnite login.

Trailblazer Tai

In order to start Trailblazer Tai’s quest, players must check the Lego Fortnite store. A free quest will be available at the bottom of the store — claiming this quest allows players to complete challenges to unlock the Trailblazer Tai skin. There is no time limit to complete Trailblazer Tai’s Lego Fortnite quest.

Vanguard Zadie

Available as part of a limited-time quest, players can earn the Vanguard Zadie skin by earning 50 Fortnite account levels by June 7. Account levels earned prior to the launch of this quest do not count toward unlocking the Vanguard Zadie skin. The Vanguard Zadie quest also rewards players with a new pickaxe and back bling.

Technologies

Apple Is Moving US iPhone Assembly to India Amid Tariff Turmoil

Apple CEO Tim Cook also said Vietnam will manufacture almost all iPad, Mac, Apple Watch and AirPods products sold in the US.

Apple will be sourcing almost its entire line of iPhones sold in the US — about 60 million phones a year — from assembly facilities in India, CEO Tim Cook said Thursday. The planned move comes against the backdrop of the Trump administration imposing tariffs against China of up to 145%.

The tech giant is predicting a $900 million impact to Apple’s costs this coming quarter if tariff policies, rates and applications stay as they are right now.

«For the June quarter, we do expect the majority of iPhones sold in the US will have India as their country of origin,» Cook said during Apple’s Q1 earnings call on May 1, «and Vietnam to be the country of origin for almost all iPad, Mac, Apple Watch and AirPods products sold in the US.»

It comes as some products such as mobile phones and computers have been exempted from those tariffs for the time being. Apple has long centered its iPhone production in China, making it vulnerable to any trade war between the two countries and spurring speculation that tariffs could mean price increases for the company’s biggest-selling product.

By moving third-party assembly of US iPhones to India, Apple could avoid the most significant cost pressure of a trade war, though India itself faces new tariffs as well.

The company had already begun shipping iPhones made in India, adding to its product reserves, before new tariffs became active.

A global perspective on iPhones and tariffs

While it’s unclear how long the trade war with China will continue, Apple’s shift is part of a larger strategy that may include more US component manufacturing, says Angelo Zino, a senior vice president at CFRA Research.

«Apple must think long term with manufacturing capacity,» Zino said. «We think Apple will look to double its India iPhone capacity in the next two to three years to help mitigate future China-US tensions.»

That said, Zino expects Apple to keep a large China presence, as 15% of its sales will be in that country and global capacity of iPhone manufacturing will still rely on Chinese manufacturing. Cook confirmed that China will «continue to be the country of origin for the vast majority of total product sales outside the US.»

While Apple wouldn’t shift iPhone production entirely to the US, which would be cost-prohibitive, Zino said, it could potentially ramp up modem and internally designed processors with Taiwan Semiconductor in the US.

«That is clearly where the value of Apple lies for the Trump administration, in our view, rather than assembling its devices,» Zino said.

Will Apple’s manufacturing shift to India last?

Muzammil Hassan, head of patent portfolio management and monetization in India for Quandary Peak Research, noted that Apple’s shift to more manufacturing in India was already happening before tariffs were enacted.

«I don’t think it’s a temporary move,» Hassan said. «Foxconn has been training thousands of employees in their factories in Tamil Nadu. In fact, there were reports that iPhone 17 might be developed and manufactured exclusively in India.»

While shifting all US iPhone production to India may be bold, Hassan said, Apple is not pioneering with its manufacturing strategy. «I’d say Apple is late to the party. Samsung, Oppo, Vivo and Motorola among others were already manufacturing their phones in India.»

In addition, Google may be migrating production of its Pixel phone to India from Vietnam, he said.