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Garmin Venu Sq review: A solid fitness tracker without the frills

Garmin Venu Sq review: A solid fitness tracker without the frills

The $200 (£179, AU$300) Garmin Venu Sq has almost every fitness- and health-tracking feature you could want in a smartwatch for less than competitors like the Apple Watch ($349 at eBay) and Fitbit Versa 3 ($170 at Target). It has a bright LCD touchscreen, built-in GPS, SpO2 (blood oxygen) tracking and up to six days of battery life, which makes it a compelling buy, especially if you want a watch that's compatible with both Android and iOS. 

It's not the most premium-looking smartwatch out there and it misses out on features like a voice assistant and altimeter, but it makes up for it in health and fitness features that elevate it from the rest. 

A functional watch without the wow factor

Like the name suggests, the Venu Sq has a square watch face with rounded edges, unlike the original Garmin Venu and almost every other Garmin sports watch with circular designs. Its 1.3-inch color LCD display feels a bit cramped compared to other Garmin watches, but it's clear and easy to read even in bright sunlight and you can keep the screen set to always-on. Having used the larger Garmin Venu for a while, the smaller size of the Venu Sq took a bit of getting used to, especially during workouts when I couldn't see as many stats at a glance and had to scroll to find the right metric like heart rate, which was all the way on the last page.

The overall build quality is sturdy enough thanks to an aluminum bezel, although the plastic case and buttons make it feel like a cheaper watch than it actually is, especially compared to something like the Apple Watch SE ($280 at eBay), Galaxy Watch Active 2 ($200 at Amazon) or Fitbit Versa 3 for example, which all have metal finishes and OLED displays. The Venu Sq has two side buttons: one to start/stop activities and the other to navigate back and forth between menus. Once I figured out which did what, it took me a few days to get completely comfortable using them to navigate the interface. 

My biggest complaint with the Venu Sq's design is the vibration motor, which is not particularly strong. Half the time it was the buzzing noise, not the vibration itself, that clued me in on a notification. 

Blood oxygen monitor and heart health alerts 

Garmin's biggest strength is in health and fitness tracking, with the Venu Sq squarely hitting the mark. It has an SpO2 sensor to identify blood oxygen levels, either as a spot check or automatically throughout the day and night, similar to the $399 Apple Watch Series 6. Although setting it to monitor constantly will reduce battery life a lot faster. It's also hard to find the SpO2 option in the menus and I found that adding it as a widget in the settings is the best way to get it to pop up on your wrist. 

Unfortunately I didn't have a pulse oximeter to compare the readings from the Venu Sq to determine accuracy. Either way, it's important to note that the Venu Sq has not been approved to be used as a medical device and should not be used for diagnostic purposes. Always consult with a physician or other qualified health provider about any health-related issues you may have about a medical condition or health objectives.

Though the Venu Sq doesn't have an ECG, or electrocardiogram, like the Apple Watch Series 6 and Galaxy Watch 3 ($399 at Amazon), it does give you the option to receive high and low heart rate notifications that will let you know if your heart rate spikes above or falls below what it considers to be a healthy threshold. 

The Venu Sq also uses heart rate variability to determine your stress levels, but doesn't really offer much guidance on how to decrease your stress. I found Garmin's Body Battery meter, which takes into account heart rate variability readings, activity levels and sleep, a more accurate representation of how my body was working that day and helped me decide what kind of workout to do and how hard to push myself. It works better than the Stress Management Score in the Fitbit Sense ($240 at Target) that is a bit more difficult to interpret for me.

Garmin also offers breathing rate and estimated VO2 max, the maximum amount of oxygen your body can use during exercise, which can be used to gauge and improve athletic performance. The higher the number, the more fit you are. 

Screenshot by Lexy Savvides/CNET

Sleep tracking is also great on the Venu Sq and clearly identifies your sleep stages of REM, deep and light sleep. You'll also be able to see breathing rate and SpO2 levels in the morning. The downside is that the Garmin Connect app doesn't give you any tips on improving your sleep quality. Menstrual cycle tracking is also available on the Venu Sq and like other Garmin watches, it offers pregnancy tracking to log symptoms and monitor baby movement.

The Venu Sq has a range of workouts preloaded onto the watch, including cardio, strength, Pilates and yoga, so you can follow along with a preset routine on your wrist. There aren't any visual cues on the screen though, just text cues, so if you're doing yoga for example, you'll need to know what "standing forward bend pose" or "low lunge pose" means to get the most out of the routine. You can also build your own workout, such as a circuit of weights, a Pilates routine or a run, within the Garmin Connect app and sync them to the watch. There are also over 50 additional Garmin-created workouts you can load.

On top of these preloaded routines, the Venu Sq can track more than 20 different workout types, from the usual running and walking variants to golf and pool swimming. There's also a personal running coach you can use to help you train for a race or to hit a set goal. It doesn't give you personalized feedback on your form or audio cues like the Galaxy Watches ($295 at Amazon), for example, instead it's more a guide for when you should warm up or how long you should run for, displayed on your wrist.

The Venu Sq has built-in GPS, meaning you don't have to rely on your phone for distance tracking when you're outside. Just be warned that it does take at least 30 seconds to lock on to a GPS signal when you are outside (regardless of whether you have your phone with you or not), which seems like an eternity if you're an impatient runner like me who just wants to get on with it. Once it finally locked though, it tracked my route accurately.

The downside is that there is no gyroscope or altimeter on the Venu Sq, so if you need accurate elevation data you'll likely want to look elsewhere. The Garmin Connect app does a good job of clearly showing you all the details after your workout, but it doesn't dive any deeper into metrics than what similarly priced rivals like the Apple Watch SE or Fitbit Versa 3 offer.

Like other Garmin watches, the Venu Sq has Garmin Live Track which lets you share your location with a safety contact when you are doing an outdoor workout. It does however require a cellular connection, so you will need your phone with you to use this feature. 

You can customize the options on this screen to show only your favorite workout types to track.

Lexy Savvides/CNET

Just enough smarts for most people

While the Venu Sq is geared towards fitness and health tracking, that doesn't necessarily mean you'll miss out on smartwatch features. Like almost every other watch, the Venu Sq displays notifications from your phone and pings your phone to locate it if you lose it within Bluetooth range. You'll be able to see call notifications come through regardless of which phone you have the watch paired with, but only Android users will be able to decline calls and respond to text messages from the watch with prewritten responses. There is no speaker or mic onboard so you can't use voice-to-text responses.

The Venu Sq runs Garmin's own operating system (Garmin OS) which is not as seamless as that of Apple or Samsung's smartwatches, but I found it to be stable and more responsive than the Fitbit OS. It's faster to sync updates and doesn't experience any lag in selecting menu options or opening apps.

The biggest pain point for me when using the Venu Sq paired with an iPhone ($500 at Best Buy) has been notifications. The Garmin Connect app on iOS doesn't let you filter out what notifications come through on your wrist and simply mirrors whatever notifications you have set up on your phone. It might not be a deal breaker for many, but I like to push only the most important notifications such as calls and text messages to my wrist, rather than everything that my phone shows. Android users get more control over which notifications come through.

Lexy Savvides/CNET

If you want onboard music storage, you'll need to opt for the music edition of the Venu Sq that costs $50 more, which is the version I tested in this review. The Venu Sq Music lets you store music for offline listening from apps like Spotify (with a Premium subscription) or songs you already own. It's also the watch to get for faster data transfers as it has Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity, whereas the regular Venu Sq only uses Bluetooth.

Garmin has plenty of watch faces to choose from, including third-party options to help personalize the look, plus a fairly wide selection of apps through the Connect IQ Store (a separate app you need to download on your phone). You can also make contactless payments with Garmin Pay on all versions of the watch. The main Garmin Connect app is where you see all your stats and change settings on the watch, while the Connect IQ Store is for adding apps and watch faces.

The Venu Sq, however, lacks a voice assistant, a feature that by now has become standard for most of its similarly priced competitors. This might not be a deal-breaker for you, but it means you miss out hands-free voice control, which I like.

A week's worth of battery life 

The Venu Sq has great battery life and you can get up to six days worth of use before you'll need to charge it up, though that number may start to whittle down if you're using it for a lot of GPS workouts, listening to music or continuously tracking your blood oxygen levels. Garmin quotes up to eight hours of battery when playing back music, 14 hours if you are using it in GPS mode, or up to six hours with GPS and music playback. 

A great fitness watch without extra bells and whistles

If you're willing to sacrifice a few smart features for better health and fitness tracking, the Garmin Venu Sq is a solid choice that works with Android or iOS. That said, I do wish that Garmin wouldn't charge the extra $50 for the music version, as it does alter the value proposition quite a bit, particularly if you are an iPhone user who might also be considering the Apple Watch SE which, at that point doesn't cost you that much more. 

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WWE SummerSlam 2019: Results, new champion, match rankings and full recap

WWE SummerSlam 2019: Results, new champion, match rankings and full recap

Don't count WWE out. While NXT is considered to be the better wrestling show and AEW is the hot new thing in Grapple Town, WWE's SummerSlam proved that the company can still put on an outstanding show. The show had no bad matches, though one was saved that dubious only by the hot crowd, it flowed well and had a outstanding main event. Oh, and by the way, Seth Rollins is your new Universal Champion.

Maybe the biggest surprise of the night was Trish Stratus, whose return match against Charlotte Flair was a highlight. Elsewhere, Randy Orton and Kofi Kingston fought to a double countout, and Becky Lynch retained her Women's Championship in a hot opening match against Natalya.

And The Fiend. Oh boy. Bray Wyatt's in-ring re-debut as The Fiend was something that words can't sufficiently convey. Watch the gifs below, or better yet sign up to the WWE Network and check it out for yourself. 

Us wrestling fans always give WWE a hard time -- and mostly they deserve it -- but credit where it's due. SummerSlam 2019 was fantastic. Read below for a full recap and match ratings, from the end of the show to the beginning.

Seth Rollins slays The Beast... again!

Boos for Rollins, cheers for Lesnar. Rollins' ribs are heavily taped, as per the beatings Lesnar gave him on the last two episodes of Raw.

Lesnar works Rollins over in the corner. Rollins superkicks Lesnar, briefly stunning him. Lesnar yanks Rollins for a German suplex, but Rollins flips out for a curbstomp. Two count. Lesnar rolls out. Rollins hits him with a flying knee, Lesnar rolls back in the ring. Lesnar attempts a second German, Rollins flips out and hits two superkicks. Rollins shoots for a second curbstomp, but Rollins catches him and hits an F5.

Lesnar is rocked and can't cover Rollins. Lesnar gets up, grabs Rollins by his rib tape and swings him around. Now it's time to go to suplex city. Three German suplexes. Rollins rolls out. Lesnar follows him for another suplex, this time on the floor. Lesnar goes for an F5 into the turnbuckle post, but Rollins counters and pushes Lesnar, head first, into the post. Then again. Rollins throws Lesnar into the ring. Springboard flying knee to Lesnar.

Rollins goes for another flying knee, Lesnar doges and throws Rollins with a release German suplex. Dueling chants for "suplex city!" and "burn it down!" Lesnar takes off his preposterously large gloves, slams Rollins into the corner and latches on a bear hug. Lesnar works him over and goes for a tackle into the turnbuckle, but Rollins dodges and Lesnar hits the post shoulder first. 

Rollins dropkicks Lesnar off the apron and hits two suicide dives. He goes for a third but Lesnar catches him and rams him into the ring post. Absolute beast. Lesnar undresses the Spanish announce table, then eats a superkick from Rollins. Rollins hits a frogsplash on Lesnar, crashing both through the announce table.

*Record scratch* Yep, that's me. 

WWE

Crowd is not heavily into Rollins, a far cry from his original reaction. He lands another frogsplash in the center of the ring and another curbstomp. Two count. He stomps the ground for a third. Crowd chants "burn it down" with him. Lesnar catches him for an F5, but Rollins lands on his feet. Superkick, curbstomp, 1, 2, 3. New champion.

Rating: 4.5 stars. Awesome, awesome, awesome. Great intensity, Rollins is incredible, Lesnar worked hard and the crowd was super invested. As good a 15-minute match as you'll ever see. 

The Fiend debuts

It's time to get freaky. Wyatt comes out with a remixed version of his old Live in Fear theme song. He's wearing the Fiend mask as a flashing spotlight follows him. He still has a lantern, but it's a severed head. If I was a child, I would be terrified. Finn Balor is about to get killed harder than Dolph Ziggler.

Wyatt slams and clubs Balor. He did a scary looking neck-twist move, the type you'd see in a movie where one character snaps the neck of another. Wyatt goes for Sister Abigail, but Balor fights back. Slingblade, shotgun dropkick. Another shotgun dropkick. He attempts a coup de grace but gets caught with a mandible claw. Wyatt wins. 

The announcers say Wyatt has Undertaker-levels of intimidation. I guess new Wyatt is going far. 

Rating: No rating. Essentially a squash match. The Fiend is amazing, though. Legitimately terrifying. The crowd chants "that was awesome" after The Fiend's cinematic exit. 

Kofi Kingston vs. Randy Orton ends in double countout

Kingston comes out with the New Day throwing pancakes. One of his pancakes hits a woman who's on her phone. Good start. Split crowd for this match. As the two begin there are dueling "Kofi's stupid!" and "Randy sucks!" chants. Crowd is into it, but they're starting slow -- probably to ease the crowd into the match after the Stratus/Charlotte match.

Kingston goes for a springboard attack but Orton pushes him to the outside. Orton takes the champ over to the announcer's tables and slams him about. They move back in the ring. A European uppercut from Orton sends them back outside. Orton tries to Irish whip Kingston into the steps, but Kingston jumps over them, runs back, jumps off them and strikes down Randall Keith Orton. Kingston attempts a cross body from the ring apron but Orton ducks. Orton slams Kingston on one of the announcer's tables.

Back in the ring, the dueling chants begin again. Orton goes for a superplex but Kingston fights him off and lands a tornado DDT from the top rope. Two count. The two stagger up and Kingston starts with strikes on Orton. Tom Phillips says we're in the fourth quarter, and Cory Graves says we're in overtime. That worries me, because it feels to me like we're just getting to third gear.

Kingston starts clapping for a trouble in paradise kick. Orton counters with a backbreaker. Orton starts clapping to taunt Kingston, and goes for a draping DDT. Kingston counters, though, and drops Orton to the outside. Huge trust fall on Orton. Back inside the ring, Kingston hits a frogsplash crossbody. Two count. 

Kingston attempts offense in the corner, but Orton trumps him with a draping DDT. He sets up an RKO, but Kofi turns it into a backslide pin attempt. Kingston goes for a trouble in paradise, but Orton dodges. Kingston jumps from the turnbuckle and gets caught with an RKO. Before Orton can pin him, though, Kingston rolls outside. Kingston's kids are in the crowd. Orton begins to taunt them and Kingston, enraged, attacks Orton. Double countout finish. Crowd chants "bullshit."

After the match, Kingston dominates Orton with a Kendo stick and hits him with a trouble in paradise kick. 

Rating: 3.25 stars. Nice match. Ended as it was on the cusp of getting great. Crowd hated the finish, though. 

Charlotte Flair defeats Trish Stratus

The announcers are hyping this as a clash of two eras. This match is Rocky 6, essentially. Crowd is into Stratus, who's from Canada. They start the match by chanting the Canadian national anthem. 

Stratus starts off with some acrobats, including a springboard hurricanrana, leading to a "you still got it!" chant. Charlotte gutwrenches Stratus but Stratus counters with an armdrag outside the ring. Stratus hits a wrecking ball dropkick to the outside. A woman in the crowd loudly proclaims to be "very Stratusfied." Flair pulls Stratus into the steel steps, then absolutely smashes her into the barricade. 

Charlotte slaps a shoulder hold onto Stratus inside the ring. Charlotte hits a suplex. She goes for a backdrop, but Stratus counters with a crossbody. Nice. Charlotte isn't happy about it, and throws Stratus head-first into the ground. Everything Stratus does, she's doing well. But there's a lot of nothing going on, with Charlotte taunting a lot in between moves.

Stratus interrupts a taunt with a takedown and hits punches on the turnbuckle. Stratus flips over to the apron, where she eats a big boot from Charlotte. Stratus narrowly avoids being counted out. Charlotte attempts a moonsault but Stratus rolls out. Stratus torpedoes through the ropes for a reverse DDT. She starts chopping Charlotte, Flair style. 

They end up on the turnbuckle, where Stratus goes for a hurricanrana. Charlotte looks to counter with a powerbomb, but Stratus shifts her weight at the last minute for the hurricanrana. It doesn't keep Flair down though, and Stratus gets clocked with another big boot. Now Charlotte begins working over Stratus' leg. Flair attempts a figure four, but is countered by Stratus. Stratus then locks Flair in a figure four, and then a figure eight, of her own. Charlotte gets the ropes, though.

Figure eight.

WWE

Charlotte kicks Stratus by the knee, and the crowd chants "this is awesome!" Charlotte misses a spear, and Stratus hits a Stratusfaction (springboard bulldog) for a two-count false finish. Another "this is awesome" chant. The two exchange chops. Stratus goes for a jackknife rollup, Charlotte rolls out at two and Stratus nails her with a Chick Kick for a two count. Stratus goes for another, but Charlotte counters with a big boot.

Charlotte locks Stratus in a figure eight, and Stratus taps. After the match, Stratus gets a "thank you Trish" chant and a well-earned hero's sendoff. 

Rating: 3.75 stars. A bit slow at the start, but absolutely over delivered. Stratus did great, and Charlotte Flair is terrific. 

Kevin Owens beats Shane McMahon

If Shane wins, Owens has to retire. Owens, from Quebec, is mega hot with the crowd. Shane says the match will have a special guest enforcer, to make sure the match is all fair, Elias. (Elias is essentially now Shane's henchman.) 

The match begins with Elias distracting Owens on the outside, leading to Owens almost getting counted out. Not the smartest guy, apparently. Owens gets back in the ring and throws hands with Shane, then hits a cannonball in the corner.  Shane rolls out of the ring, and Owens goes for a suicide dive but is blocked by Elias. The distraction then allows Shane to throw Owens from the ring apron to the outside barricade. Owens almost gets counted out.

Crowd loves Owens, hates Shane.

WWE

Shane strikes Owens in the corner as the crowd chants "Shane, you suck!" Apparently he's a really nice guy in real life, Toronto. Shane slams Owens with a Russian leg sweep. Toronto chants "you can't wrestle" at Shane. Well, you ain't wrong, Toronto.

Owens attempts a pop-up powerbumb, but Shane dodges and lands a DDT. Shane goes to put Owens into a sharpshooter, but Owens powers out and manages to hit a pop-up powerbomb. He pins Shane, but Elias distracts the ref -- and then Owens gets distracted too. Shane rolls Owens up for a two count, then eats a clothesline from Owens.

Elias slides a chair to Owens, encouraging him to smash Shane and get DQ'd. Shane slaps Owens in the face. Owens goes for a swing, but thinks better of it at the last minute. He superkicks Shane, hits a senton from the top rope and then a frogsplash from another turnbuckle. He pins Shane, but Elias pulls the ref out before the three count. Owens cannonballs Elias on the outside, but takes out the ref in the process.

With the ref out, Owens picks up the chair. Before he can take out Shane, though, Elias drags Owens out of the ring. Owens kills Elias with chair shots. Back in the ring, Owens goes to swing on Shane with the chair but the ref slides in to stop him. As the ref takes the chair off Owens, Owens kicks Shane square in the crotch and then hits a stunner for a highly symbolic win.

Rating: 2.75 stars. A lot of tomfoolery here, and the actually wrestling was only OK. But the crowd loved Owens and was into the match, which made it fun. The inverse of Bayley's match, in other words. The worst part was how easily Owens was distracted by Elias throughout. He looked like an idiot.

Bayley pins Ember Moon

It's going to be tough for these women to follow the three previous matches, all of whom had big stars. Better now than in three hours, though.

Moon hasn't made much of an impact on the main roster, but she's super good. She starts off the match with strikes and acrobatic offense. She puts Bayley in a bow-and-arrow style submission. Some of the crowd claps for Bayley, but there's significantly less heat here than in previous bouts. 

Bayley hits a clothesline to turn the tide. She lands a suplex and starts working Moon over in the corner. The crowd is bored, and starts singing the "Hey Bayley" song. Bayley hangs Moon upside down over a turnbuckle and nails a springboard elbow drop. She then puts Moon in an inverted boston crab. 

The two fight by the ropes. Moon does a top-rope hurricanrana and then a gutwrench codebreaker move for a two count. Crowd is absolutely dead. Moon counters a Bayley kick with a nice powerbomb. Moon goes to the top rope, but is met by Bayley who hits a top-rope Bayley to belly for the win.

Rating: 2.75 stars. The women worked hard, and wrestled a good match. They were killed by the indifferent crowd, though. 

AJ Styles defeats Ricochet

AJ Styles and Ricochet are arguably the two best wrestlers in the whole company. They've had several matches thus far, including one at least month's Extreme Rules event, but none have been as great as you'd expect. Hopefully this is the one. 

The two start off quick. Within the first minute Ricochet literally bounces off Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson to hurricanrana Styles. Back in the ring, Styles cuts off Ricochet and starts working over his leg. 

Ricochet makes a comeback after an enziguri. He then hits a springboard lariat on one foot, selling his injured leg. Styles gets control back, though, with a kick to Ricochet's leg. Styles beats him down, and every time Ricochet tries to mount a comeback his knee fails him. Styles locks him in a calf crusher, which Ricochet counters into an anaconda vice. Punk'd. Styles powers out, though.

Ricochet hits an impressive northern lights suplex into a falcon arrow. He then takes out Anderson and Gallows on the outside then ascends the turnbuckle. Ricochet goes for a phoenix splash which Styles counters with a beautiful Styles clash. 

Rating: 3.75 stars. The start was great, as was the finishing spot. All the work has crisp, but the middle was a bit plodding. The finish itself was also abrupt, even if the Styles clash was sweet.  

Goldberg kills Dolph Ziggler

It's smashing time. Dolph Ziggler is out first. He grabs a mic and tells the crowd he's the best thing on the show and in WWE. He's the best thing to happen to pro wrestling, DZ says. I am ready to see this man get killed by Goldberg.

Crowd is super hot for Goldberg. Everyone knows Dolph Ziggler is great at being speared, and Goldberg is great at spearing. 

The two square up. Ziggler backs off, then hits Goldberg with a surprise superkick. One count. Goldberg gets up and eats a second superkick. Ziggler goes for a third one and Goldberg hits a huge spear. Jackhammer nailed, 1, 2, 3. 

Goldberg walks up the ramp but before he can walk backstage Ziggler calls him back to the ring. Goldberg obliterates him with another spear. Happy days. Goldberg walks through the back, but Ziggler gets the microphone again and says Goldberg is a laughing stock. Goldberg comes back out and hits a super spear. 

Rating: No rating. Their match, while not a real match, was everything it should have been. Goldberg looked great. Ziggler calling him back once was fine. The second callback was overkill. 

Becky Lynch retains Raw Women's Championship

SummerSlam is going to be a long show, which means the performers who go out earlier in the show have a much fresher, more energetic crowd to work with. Becky Lynch and Natalya are the lucky two to start the show: It's Becky Lynch, arguably the most popular wrestler on the roster, against home-country hero Natalya.

Natalya enters draped in a Canadian flag, just for that sweet cheap pop. Crowd is split, but into both women. 

Lynch starts out strong, and goes for an armbar that one of the announcer's errantly call a Disarmer. Then then transfers into a triangle choke. I believe Lynch dabbles in Jiu Jitsu, and it shows. Natalya heads for the ropes, but there are apparently no rules in this submission match, meaning catching the ropes doesn't lead to a rope break. They tumble outside, though, and Natalya takes control.

Sharpshooter. 

WWE

Natalya works down Lynch in the ring, which leads to a big chant for Lynch. First big spot of the match sees Natalya lock a sharpshooter on the turnbuckle, through the ropes. Eventually Natalya breaks, and the two end up outside again. They brawl, with Lynch slamming Natalya shoulder-first into steel steps, the idea being this sets up her Disarmer. But Natalya fights back and hits a superplex.

Back in the ring Natalya goes for a low dropkick, but Lynch counters into a sharpshooter. The crowd roars. Natalya counters, rolling through and pushing Lynch to the turnbuckle. Crowd chants "this is awesome." A bit early, but so far so good. Lynch goes for a high kick, but Natalya counters and puts Lynch in the Disarmer. Crowd roars again. 

Lynch rolls out, but Natalya catches her in a sharpshooter. The crowd erupts for it. There were big Becky chants earlier, but it now seems like Toronto wants to see a new champ. Lynch manages to escape, and sweeps Natalya into a Disarmer. Natalya taps out.

Rating: 3.75 stars. This match was all action, and it was all great. But it was a touch short, as an extra few minutes could have made it truly great. 

Preshow results

SummerSlam's two-hour preshow had three matches, two of which were for titles. Here are the quick results.

Alexa Bliss and Nikki Cross retain Women's Tag Team Championships: They defeated former champs The IIconics. 

Buddy Murphy vs. Apollo Crews ended in disqualification when Erick Rowan attacked Murphy: It follows a key WWE storyline right now, as on SmackDown Murphy revealed Rowan to be behind a string of mysterious attacks on Roman Reigns. 

Drew Gulak beat Oney Lorcan to retain Cruiserweight Championship: Gulak pinned Lorcan. 

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Best Mental Health Apps for 2022

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Best Mental Health Apps for 2022

Therapy can be a daunting step to take, but it is important for us to treat our mental health appropriately, so we can lead better lives. There are a number of mental health apps that can go a long way in helping you relieve stress, bring down your anxiety or even help you take the first steps in going to therapy and talking to someone. Research shows that mental health apps are also a great way to improve your well-being and keep tabs on your wellness journey.

There's a lot to love about mental health apps -- the variety, the affordability and the features. They also bring mental health resources to people who otherwise couldn't get help due to finances, disabilities or location. But they're not all created equal. Not all mental health apps are backed by research or clinical insights. With between 10,000 to 20,000 wellness apps out there, it can be difficult to find the best option for you. We've pulled together a curated list of our top choices to make the process easier.

Read more: Best Online Therapy Services

Screenshot by Taylor Leamey/CNET

Talkspace takes our top spot for the best therapy app because of its 24/7 access to medical professionals. It's an affordable online therapy option that gives you more than just helpful guides and videos to watch. You have access to a licensed therapist wherever and whenever you need them. Talkspace is a great option for someone who is not comfortable going into an office or would rather have therapy appointments online. 

A 2020 study found that messaging a therapist through Talkspace reduced feelings of anxiety and depression. A different study said that using Talkspace's voice, video and text features also reduced symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD. Note that the researchers of the studies had connections to Talkspace.

Within the app, you have access to video, text and audio chat to communicate with your therapist. However, users note there is a 5-minute cap on audio messages. 

Talkspace is significantly more expensive than other apps on the list. However, if you're looking for an app that allows you to talk to a therapist directly, it may be worth the price. 

Price: Plans start at $65/week. 

Talkspace best features:

• Talkspace offers therapy with a mental health professional. Not all mental health apps offer this feature.
• You can change therapists. 
• Access to treatment and Talkspace features 24/7. 

Things to consider:

• Since it offers therapy, Talkspace is more expensive than other apps. Which may put it out of reach for some.
• You can use insurance to pay for Talkspace, but some users have noted customer service wait times and other insurance troubles. 

Screenshot by Taylor Leamey/CNET

Calm is one of the most well-known mental health apps in the wellness space, with over 100 million downloads. We consider Calm one of the best meditation apps because of its comprehensive offerings, including breathing techniques and calming exercises. 

The Calm app is pretty easy to navigate and organized well. When you open the app, you are prompted to take a few deep breaths. Then you select what your main goals are so that your recommendations are tailored to your needs. You also can track statistics within the app, such as how long you have been using the app or how many sessions you've completed. 

The free version of Calm is limited, but there is a 7-day trial that helps you decide if it's right for you. After the trial, you have to pay the premium to access the 100 guided meditations, sleep library and masterclasses, which is $14.99/month or $69.99/year. If you are ready to commit to Calm, it's good to go with the full-year option since it comes out to just under $6/month instead of the full $15. Or you can always stay with the limited free version.

Price: $14.99/month or $69.99/year

Calm best features:

• Calm is simple to use and the exercises are easy to follow. It's a great mental health app for beginners. 
• Features of Calm include breathing exercises, sleep programs, relaxation and mindfulness techniques. 
• You have access to sleep stories narrated by celebrities like Harry Styles or Laura Dern.

Things to consider: 

• Calm offers a free version of the app, however, it is limited. You have to pay to access the full features. 
• You do have to enter payment upfront when you sign up, meaning you have to remember to cancel if you decide it's not for you.
• Reviews say that the app has troubles and customer service can be difficult to work with. 

Screenshot by Taylor Leamey/CNET

The Moodfit app has a lot to offer, and you can choose how to use the app. You can track sleep, nutrition, exercise and more during your wellness journey. Moodfit uses tools and sessions that help you assess your feelings, recognize negative thinking and change it. 

The Moodfit app has pretty standard navigation. The "notices" tab at the bottom is what I would consider the educational section. There is a lot of good information available, like how your thoughts influence your behavior and feelings, but you will have to take the time to actually read it. Other apps have a more interactive experience with imagery, videos and readouts. 

Where I think where Moodfit really shines is its analytics. With the easy-to-interpret charts, you can spot patterns in your mood and your activities. You also can track your mood down to the hour -- analytic views available are monthly, weekly, daily and hourly. Many apps do have analytics, but Moodfit puts a lot of intention behind helping you find patterns in your behavior and moods.

Price: $8.99/month

Moodfit best features:

• With Moodfit, you can adapt what the app offers based on your goals. Daily reminders and exercises will keep you on track.
• Moodfit has some of the best analytics available in the mental health app game.

Things to consider:

• Moodfit does not offer communication with a therapist.
• The basic version of Moodfit does not include all that the app has to offer. The premium version is $8.99/month, which is a few dollars cheaper than the average cost of the best mental health apps without therapist access. 

Moodfit's home page features your progress and goals. 

Screenshot by Taylor Leamey/CNET

Screenshot by Taylor Leamey/CNET

Sanvello is the best mental health app for stress relief thanks to its full meditation library, guided journeys, health tracking and cognitive behavioral therapy tools. I was pleasantly surprised when using Sanvello. For me, it was a lesser-known option on the list, and it did not disappoint. You can choose what goals you want to target -- reduce anxiety, feel happier, build confidence, etc., and you can select as many goals as you want.

One of my favorite parts of the Sanvello app was how connected it felt when using it. Like other apps, there is an education section. What's different is how it is presented. Sanvello uses text, videos and audio for a multimedia experience that is much easier to follow and digest. This comes down to preference, as some people prefer to read at their cadence. 

The basic version of Sanvello is free. However, there are additional features that the app offers -- like coaching and guided journeys -- that are not available on the free version. There is a premium option of $8.99/month and a premium plus coaching option for $50/month which offers a coach with live connection capabilities. 

Price: $8.99/month or $50/month

Sanvello best features:

• You can choose which areas you want to target, which allows for personalization. 
• Unlike other apps, Sanvello has an option to connect with peers who are going through the same things. 
• Sanvello does have a therapy subscription that connects you with a licensed therapist. 
  

Things to consider: 

• Unfortunately, the therapy option is not available in all states, and if not covered by insurance, it can get expensive. 
• There are limitations to the free app. You have to pay a subscription to access advanced features. 

The Sanvello app allows you to select which goals you want to target. 

Screenshot by Taylor Leamey/CNET

Screenshot by Taylor Leamey/CNET

Happify is a free mental health app that focuses entirely on your mood and helps relieve anxiety. Developed by mental health professionals, Happify's strategies are derived from cognitive behavioral therapy that helps you learn how to recognize and reorient negative thinking. 

Happify had the most thorough questionnaire when signing up. I was asked about relationships, employment and medical conditions to help personalize the service. As the name suggests, Happify focuses on positivity and tries to make your journey fun with engaging games. With the relaxation and mindfulness techniques Happify offers, you can boost your mood and relieve anxiety. 

The app has a different navigation setup than other apps. Instead of having the navigation bar at the bottom, there's a three-bar dropdown you have to tap to bring up the menu at the top left, making it just a little more difficult to find things. 

Price: $14.99/month or $139.99/year. You also can purchase "lifetime access" for $499.99. 

Happify best features:

• Happify was developed by therapists. It's one of the most robust mental health apps on the list. 
• You can personalize how you use the app by selecting what your goals are. 
• When using Happify, you have access to a community forum or you can keep your account private. 
• Happify also has a digital coach feature available. 
  

Things to consider:

• The free features available are limited. To access the digital coach and advanced features, you have to pay for a subscription. 
  

Various tracks are available from Happify.

Screenshot by Taylor Leamey/CNET

Screenshot by Taylor Leamey/CNET

MindShift is a free mental health app specifically designed to target anxiety. Categories within the app are broken down into general worry, social anxiety, perfectionism, panic and phobias. This allows the user to personalize which type of anxiety they want to work through.

As the name suggests, MindShift targets your mindset, meaning that it helps you identify what is making you anxious and helps you redirect your thinking to positivity. When you open the app, you're prompted to rate your daily anxiety score to track over time. The app is pretty easy to use and easier to navigate than other options simply because there is less available. One tool that stood out was the "thought journal" that helps you work through what you're worried about and how to overcome negative thoughts. "Coping cards" are also available to help you ease anxiety in the moment. 

MindShift is much more interactive than other apps, as it relies on you to add anxiety scores and type responses to get the best experience. Other apps are mainly reading-based. If you want the best out of MindShift, you need to interact with the app.

Price: Free

Mindshift best features:

• MindShift is a very interactive app that allows you to choose which type of anxiety you target. 
• It's a free app that used psychotherapy techniques. 

Things to consider:

• Because it's free, you have a limited number of entries a day. 
• The app may have technical difficulties. 

Screenshot by Taylor Leamey/CNET

The unique experiences of people of color are often excluded from traditional mental health resources. The wellness app industry is traditionally not inclusive and mainly focuses on experiences that white people encounter. Only one in three Black Americans get the mental health care they need. That's why Shine is the pick for the best mental health app for people of color. 

It's specially designed to target the needs and struggles of people of color, making mental health resources more accessible and inclusive. Shine offers meditations, self-care courses led by experts and monthly virtual workshops. You are also prompted to add a wellness check-in each day and are greeted with motivational messages. 

Price: $14.99/month

Shine best features:

• The topics and practices offered are focused on BIPOC mental health. This is unique to the mental health app space.
• You have access to a peer community that offers support and empowerment.  
  

Things to consider:

• Shine offers a free app version, though you will not have access to all the features offered. 
• The price is about average when compared to the other options on the list. 

Selection of choices for Shine app. 

Screenshot by Taylor Leamey/CNET

How we chose the best mental health apps

The apps included on the best mental health app list have the best features supported by research. When selecting our picks, we examined each app's user experience, features and pricing. We also read through user reviews to tease out pain points and what people value in mental health apps.

Frequently asked questions

What are mental health apps?

Who doesn't want therapy from the comfort of home? Mental health apps are tools you can use to improve your well-being. While not all offer online therapy, they're simple to use and make managing your mental health easy. Each app will vary in what it targets. For example, Calm specializes in relaxation and breathing. Moodfit focuses on tracking your mood and finding patterns. 

Mental health apps are not intended to diagnose conditions or be a replacement for therapy. Instead, they are a great tool to use for continued support daily. They offer encouragement, education and helpful activities you can use to improve several areas of your mental health.   

Read more: Tips to Find the Right Therapist For You

Are mental health apps effective?

Experts are split on the effectiveness of mental health apps. Some studies have not found "convincing evidence" that apps greatly improve outcomes related to disorders like anxiety, depression or drinking. However, other research has suggested that mental health apps have potential in managing and improving symptoms of select disorders. 

The research on the effectiveness of long-term treatment with apps is young. Most experts agree that they are a great tool to support your mental health, especially when you use them in addition to other treatment options. They are not intended to diagnose conditions and should be viewed primarily as a complement to traditional treatment options.

What are the benefits of mental health apps?

Mental health apps bring resources to those who otherwise may not have had access to them, whether because of financial standing or regional location. And while they are not a true replacement for therapy, mental health apps are a great way to self-regulate and be mindful of how you're feeling.

• Convenience: You can track your mood, talk to a counselor or read about mental health topics from anywhere. 
• Price: Mental health apps are significantly more affordable than traditional therapy. Many are available for under $20/month.
• Consistency: You want to be as consistent as possible during your wellness journey. With push notifications and props to check in, mental health apps ensure that you are being mindful of patterns in your behaviors or moods and how to meet your goals. 
• 24/7 access: With a mental health app, you can access resources whenever you need them. While some of the counselors may not reply immediately, you have access to the app's other features 24/7. 
• They can help: Wellness apps can help you achieve your goals, whatever they are. For example, they can help you recognize patterns in your mood or improve your coping skills. 

Will mental health apps be the end of therapy?

Mental health apps are great tools that supplement your experience. However, it's unlikely they would ever replace traditional therapy, even the options that offer virtual therapy. Mental health apps have limitations in crises, and there are questions about effectiveness when used alone. Mental health apps aren't the best option for everyone. While the apps are typically user-friendly, some people still prefer to meet in person and have their therapists' undivided attention. It's all a matter of preference.

Read more: What Is Cognitive Behavioral Therapy? 

Do mental health apps share your data?

With mental health apps, you can't assume that everything is protected under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act. Mental health apps fall in a gray area. HIPAA only protects information collected by "covered entities," including healthcare providers and insurance companies. Many of the best mental health apps on the market operate without connection to covered entities, meaning your information isn't completely private. 

HIPAA applies to conversations with your therapist on an app. So you don't need to worry about what you disclose in those sessions. However, the apps' additional features -- guided meditations, CBT exercises and mood logs -- are not always kept confidential. Neither is the fact that you use a mental health app. The data you give the apps outside of therapy sessions can be sold for targeted advertising. And it's not just Facebook; your information can be shared with public health and academics for research.

Privacy will vary by platform. Make sure you read the privacy policy of each app to fully understand your protection.

Should you use a mental health app?

For many people, apps are an important tool to guide their wellness journey. While they are not a replacement for therapy, mental health apps are a great way to check in on yourself. My advice is that mental health apps are what you put into them. Many of the free ones offer helpful, educational content. But you need to take the time to read it. Others allow you to work through stressors with open-ended answer boxes. But you have to interact with the app to truly benefit from it. 

A wellness app won't give the client's relationship with a counselor that traditional talk therapy offers. And for some, that's not something they are willing to give up. But if therapy is currently out of your reach, especially due to cost, then mental health apps may be a good option. You won't get the highly personalized experience you could get with another person, but you can still learn healthy habits and skills.

The information contained in this article is for educational and informational purposes only and is not intended as health or medical advice. Always consult a physician or other qualified health provider regarding any questions you may have about a medical condition or health objectives.

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Top-notch Vietnamese software BKAV raises antivirus bar

Top-notch Vietnamese software BKAV raises antivirus bar

Quang Tu Nguyen has changed the landscape of network and computer security in Vietnam. Dong Ngo/CBS Interactive

Editors note: CNET editor and Crave contributor Dong Ngo is spending the next month in his homeland of Vietnam and plans to file occasional dispatches chronicling his impressions of how technology has permeated the culture there. Click here for more of Dong's stories from abroad.

HANOI, Vietnam--If you use any Internet-connected computer in Vietnam--and there are lots of them, with Internet cafes and Wi-Fi spots abounding in any city--chances are you'll find a little red plus sign at the bottom-right corner of the screen.

That's the icon of the most popular antivirus software here. It's called BKAV.

(A bit of background: if you've recently read reviews of Internet security products by our security editor Rob Vamosi, know that I am the one who designed the methodology involved in testing these applications. It's therefore natural for me to be curious about how people in various parts of the world are protected against malicious software.)

BKAV is short for Bach Khoa AntiVirus, with "Bach Khoa" being the Vietnamese name for the Hanoi University of Technology. The software was originally developed as a hobby by Quang Tu Nguyen, a student-turned-lecturer at the school. It's currently the flagship product of Bach Khoa Internetwork Security center (BKIS), of which Quang, now 33, is director.

Quang still lectures once in awhile, but he's primarily known as the man who has changed the landscape of network and computer security in Vietnam. His creation, BKAV, is in many ways just about the best security software you can find.

I visited Quang at the BKIS headquarters, an office that somewhat resembles CNET or any other high-tech company: cubicles and lots of computer screens are everywhere. There's one big exception, however: everybody is asked to remove their shoes before entering, which is not a standard business practice in Vietnam. The company is probably the cleanest workplace I've seen here yet.

The center has about 400 employees, 300 of whom are software engineers, mostly recruited in-house from the school. They are among the brightest computer science minds in the country. According to BKIS, the BKAV security software currently enjoys about 10.5 million users and more than 110,000 downloads daily. Currently, Vietnam has about 20 million Internet users and counting (out of a population of about 85 million), according to the Vietnamese Ministry of Information and Communication.

Despite its frill-free user interface, BKAV offers highly advanced protection. Dong Ngo/CBS Interactive

The majority of security software applications feature a couple of common annoyances: they take a long time to install, they take a long time (and sometimes some difficulty) to remove, and they slow down your machine. This is because in order to protect your computer, security software needs to interfere significantly with basic operations such as reading and writing files, checking network connections, and so on. It's a challenge to develop protection software that is simple yet effective.

After a few days of trying BKAV and a few hours of talking to Quang and his engineers, I found BKAV to be arguably the only security application so far that offers both those attributes.

First off, the software took literally one second to install on my Dell XPS 1330 laptop and two seconds to completely remove, each step requiring a single mouse click. The software also uses very few system resources when not performing a scan.

If you accept the default options, you can start/stop the scanning just by using the Enter and Escape key. There are absolutely no frills in the user interface. For those who have installed and used any Windows software before and like to get things done the fastest possible way, this is a pleasant surprise. And yet this is the least impressive thing about the software.

It's common for antivirus software to remove a threat by literally removing/quarantining infected files. Technically, this is a fast way to write code that generally works well as long as the infected files are the viruses themselves.

This does, however, pose problems when the virus is sophisticated enough to add itself to a critical system file or replace the legitimate system file with a compromised version that also carries malicious commands. There is a new trend of viruses that do just that, and there are currently a few of them in the wild. Using the standard method to remove them will result in crippling the operating system, making it impossible to log in, and causing the loss of common features such as cut and paste or the ability to go on to the Internet.

(I actually sat down in the BKIS labs and tried a few known antivirus software applications against two specimens of these nasty viruses, including one identified by Symantec as Infostealer.Gampass and another identified by McAfee as Generic.dx. It's important to note that different security firms might identify the same virus differently, and sometimes a new virus can be identified as an existing virus. The applications, collectively, did detect and remove the viruses but also rendered the system unusable afterward.)

BKAV, by contrast, deals with each threat (and its variants) individually by dissecting its codes and meticulously countering exactly whatever it is the virus is designed to do. This is a lot of work, and it takes dedication. Quang and his colleagues take turns working literally around the clock to discover new threats and develop updates to counter them, typically within 24 hours.

Their effort results in two things: first, it's close to impossible for BKAV to register false detection. This is because once a threat is identified, BKAV goes deeper and scrutinizes the coding to find out exactly how it should be dealt with. This process at the same time verifies whether the detected threat is real. Second, BKAV is able to remove the malicious code without harming the system. Most of the time, you don't need to restart the computer for the cleaning to get done, either.

Unlike other software that gives you lots of flashy warnings and progress displays, BKAV takes care of threats in a rather unceremonious way. Often you wonder if your computer has actually been swept.

Taking up only roughly 13MB after installation (as opposed to hundreds of megabytes in other applications), BKAV is capable of protecting your computer against and removing all threats including viruses, trojans, spyware, rootkits, and malicious links spread through e-mail or or Yahoo chat. BKIS also offers network and enterprise protection solutions.

BKIS' technical support is available 24/7. All support is free; you just have to pay for the toll call. Dong Ngo/CBS Interactive

(Speaking of Yahoo, if you live in Vietnam, you might wonder why Yahoo isn't doing so well in the United States. Yahoo Mail and Messenger are the first choice among Vietnamese teenagers and young adults when it comes to Internet-based communication. And teens and young adults are the majority of Internet users here. Also, Yahoo 360 is by far the most popular blogging service here, and it loads much faster in Hanoi than it does in the States.)

Before this trip to Vietnam, I always had a lingering feeling that my family and friends were missing out on top-notch American online protection. Now I realize we Americans are actually the ones who having been missing out on some great software and services, but hopefully not for too much longer. Quang told me BKIS is working on making its software and services available outside of Vietnam in 2009.

In the meantime, you can download and try the free version of the BKAV software; the software comes with both Vietnamese and English interfaces. The commercial version costs only $299,000 dong ($17) for a one-year subscription, much less than the cost of its American counterparts.

Personally, I am highly impressed by how BKAV works and the way BKIS is run. It's ironic, however, that a lot of Vietnamese, mostly adults, would probably argue that BKAV is in no way comparable with other protection software solutions developed outside of Vietnam, especially in America, simply because it's made in Vietnam.

Vietnam is a super-friendly country, sometimes to the point of xenophilia, when it comes to products. Maybe that's why KFC is such a popular place. But hey, go to the fast-food joint and have an order of highly processed fried chicken and a large soda, then tell me if that's really more satisfying than a plate of spring rolls served with spicy fish sauce or an order of sticky rice sprinkled with shredded pork and crispy, roasted sliced onions.

On second thought, tastes differ, so don't tell me anything. But trust me that when it comes to BKIS, you're in good hands.

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Beyond Axie Infinity: 'Web3 Games' Hope to Convert Crypto Skeptics

Beyond Axie Infinity: 'Web3 Games' Hope to Convert Crypto Skeptics

The moment Chris saw Axie Infinity, he was hooked. He was once an avid gamer, playing hours of League of Legends every day, but stopped after deciding he was sinking too much time into an unproductive hobby. Axie Infinity promised something different. Inspired by Pokemon, it's a video game about training and battling monsters. That sounds like hundreds of other games, but one element distinguishes Axie Infinity. It's built on the blockchain.

Axies are the Pokemon of Axie Infinity, but they're owned as nonfungible tokens, or NFTs. A cryptocurrency called Smooth Love Potion is earned by battling these Axies. Players can also breed Axies, then either sell or battle with them. Chris, who declined to give his real name and goes only by the pseudonym Cryptobarbarian, felt he could justify playing video games again -- as long as it paid.

"It was fun for the first few weeks, but it gets boring really fast," the 28-year-old said. From there, he said, Axie Infinity became purely about making money.

Axie Infinity is a browser game. Accessing it is free, but you need to buy a team of three Axies to play. At its peak of popularity, bottom-tier Axies cost around $350 each, meaning playing the game once required a four-figure investment. The game allows Axie owners to lease out their monsters to other players, however. A longtime crypto investor, Cryptobarbarian told me he bought $30,000 worth of Axies and loaned them out in return for 40% to 70% of the profits. (CNET wasn't able to verify his purchases.)

The strategy paid off at first. Axie Infinity was a hot ticket in CryptoTown, generating over $15 million a day last August. But thanks to a combination of poor in-game economics, inflation threatening the real world's economy and a $600 million hack reportedly caused by a fake job posting, the price of Axies and the game's Smooth Love Potion cryptocurrency collapsed. The same monsters that cost hundreds of dollars last year now fetch under $10.

"I got around 100 players playing for me with high-end Axies," Cryptobarbarian said to me over Twitter, "which overall cost around $100,000 at the height and are now worth nothing."

To gamers, stories like this provide ample reason to reject "Web3 gaming," a term referring to the integration of NFTs and cryptocurrency into games. The significant carbon footprint of ethereum and bitcoin adds to the resentment. Be it Ubisoft bringing NFTs into Ghost Recon or Square Enix launching Final Fantasy 7 NFTs, gamers have fiercely resisted the blockchain coming anywhere near their industry.  

Three Axies in Axie Infinity. 

Sky Mavis

The fear is that crypto and NFTs will deform gaming into a side hustle, transforming its purpose from entertainment to moneymaking. Play-to-earn titles such as Axie Infinity prove the point; they're not games as much as they are financial speculation with the veneer of a game.

"I've never met anyone that played it just for fun," Cryptobarbarian said of Axie Infinity, "only to make money." 

But Axie Infinity doesn't represent the future that many Web3 developers envision for gaming. Video game firms, both small and large, are developing titles they hope will clean the slate of Web3 gaming. All are on carbon-neutral blockchains such as polygon or solana, which are far more efficient than ethereum. (Whether they're as secure is an open question.) The goal isn't to make titles that entertain crypto speculators, but rather to make games fun enough that people can justify playing them regardless of whether they earn crypto. 

"I've long been a believer that gaming is one of the consumer internet categories that is most likely to bring on mainstream adoption of crypto," said Amy Wu, head of gaming at FTX Ventures, the investment arm of the FTX crypto exchange. "But I also believe when you have a hit game with Web3 elements, it's very likely that the majority of players will never actually trade those tokens. They're just playing the game."

Free to play, play to own

The upcoming wave of Web3 games will range from free-to-play mobile titles to big-budget AAA games for PC and console. On the simpler end of the scale is Shatterpoint. With an art style inspired by Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, it's an action RPG for Android and iOS that, on paper, looks like many top App Store games. There's a single-player campaign plus a PvP multiplayer mode. You earn new weapons and gear as you progress and, much like Fortnite and Call of Duty, the multiplayer is broken up into different "seasons."

But these seasons, segmented by "the shattering" in the game, is where the blockchain comes in. Players will be given a certain list of goals each season. If they complete one -- say, being one of the first 100 players to reach level 50, or staying atop of the PvP leaderboard for a certain amount of time -- their character will be converted into an NFT. Only a limited amount of NFTs will be minted per season. 

There are two reasons why players might want to bother scoring an NFT. The shattering acts as an in-game reset, so any gear you've collected will vanish. NFT characters, of which there will be a limited amount each season, are permanent. However your character looks when it's minted into an NFT, with whatever combination of gear equipped, that's how it'll look in perpetuity. The second benefit is that these NFTs can be sold on a marketplace -- if there's a market for them.

A screenshot from Shatterpoint. 

Estoty Games

There are three crucial elements that make this model sustainable, says Shatterpoint developer Benas Baltramiejunas. First, the game is free to play -- unlike P2E games like Axie Infinity, which requires the upfront cost of three Axie NFTs. Second, none of the items retained as an NFT can resemble "pay to win" mechanics. There can only be cosmetic benefits to owning it, not a competitive edge. Last, and most important, the game is designed with the assumption that most people playing won't be interested in minting their character as an NFT. It has to be fun for them too.

"We're using the NFT approach to create a bit of competitiveness, to incentivize players to play," he said. Shatterpoint is monetized by traditional microtransactions and from taking a small cut of NFT sales -- 2.5% is the traditional cut creators take. Baltramiejunas hopes that focusing on NFTs will result in both better game design and fairer prices. If developers can create a compelling game, revenue can theoretically be sorted out organically through whatever the player base sets as the value of the NFTs. 

"In free-to-play games you have whales which account for 10% of the player base but 90% of the revenue," Baltramiejunas said. "If you only have those microtransactions for monetization, you are only focusing on those whales during the content creation, and you're leaving everybody behind. However, with NFT integration, you don't need to monetize that aggressively. The market decides." 

NFT brands expand into gaming

While Shatterpoint is a mobile game that produces NFTs, the coming years will see many examples of the reverse: NFT collections turning into games. NFT drops, such as the famed Bored Ape Yacht Club, are doubling as crowdfunding platforms that produce games. Creators earn millions in royalties from sales, and use that money to expand the brand, theoretically boosting NFT prices in the process. Some brands are expanding into TV and film. Many are dabbling in gaming.

One such example is My Pet Hooligan. It's a product of AMGI Studios, an animation studio where former Pixar animator Colin Brady serves as chief creative and technology officer. The studio sees Unreal Engine 5 and blockchain technology as the next technologies that will drive entertainment, Brady told me at the recent NFT.NYC conference. 

AMGI Studios' goal of 2021 was to use Unreal Engine 5 to create an animated film for Netflix at half of the traditional cost. While the film was being greenlit, Brady explained, AMGI technical lead Kevin Mack approached him about starting an NFT collection. 

The result was My Pet Hooligan, a set of 8,888 3D rabbits. "We sold out in less than a minute, and all of a sudden people started saying, 'hey, when movie? When TV show? When video game?'" Brady said. The studio, filled with Unreal Engine programmers, already had a game in the works. 

The result is Rabbit Hole, a sandbox game that looks like a mix of Grand Theft Auto and Ratchet and Clank. Rabbit Hole is currently in closed alpha, available only for My Pet Hooligan NFT holders with only one map functional. The build of the game I saw at NFT.NYC was intriguing. It was certainly incomplete, with noticeable frame-rate issues, but had the clear foundation of a fun sandbox game.

My Pet Hooligan NFTs on the OpenSea marketplace.

AMGI Studios/OpenSea

Rabbit Hole will eventually be available for PC and console. Brady says the goal is to reach 1 million players by the end of the year.  To encourage the type of in-game socialization seen among players of Fortnite and Roblox, the studio developed a companion facial-recognition app for phones. If you perch your phone where a webcam typically is on a computer, it'll track your face and replicate all facial movements on your on-screen Hooligan.

Unlike Shatterpoint, which will integrate just NFTs, Rabbit Hole will use both NFTs and crypto. It will have a play-to-earn mechanic -- or play and earn, as technical lead Kevin Mack prefers to say -- in the form of in-game currency Karrots. These will be used to buy clothing, dances and more for the Hooligan avatars, but it doubles as a cryptocurrency that can be exchanged for ether or bitcoin. You can earn money playing Rabbit Hole, but Brady said it's not going to be life-changing cash. 

Then there's the NFT element. This is primed towards holders of the 8,888 My Pet Hooligan NFTs. While players who download the game will start with a generic Hooligan, My Pet Hooligan owners will be able to use their NFT as an avatar in the game. 

If the game gets popular enough, Mack said, there will be a certain prestige to owning one of these avatars. But he recognizes that to make that happen, the team has to make a game that people actually want to play.

"Superman No. 1 is valuable because Superman was a great comic," he said. "I think the NFT space for a while started to get that a little backward, where they thought the things were valuable just because they were collectable." 

To infinity...

Of all the NFT brands expanding into games, Bored Ape Yacht Club is the biggest. BAYC creators Yuga Labs are developing Otherside, a "metaverse" MMORPG. The term "metaverse" is nebulous, but in this case it refers to an open world where items are owned as NFTs and in-game currency is crypto that can be exchanged for dollars. Details on Otherside are scant, but Yuga has a huge warchest for it. The game's map will be made up of 200,000 plots of land, which players can buy and own. Over $350 million was raised from selling land back in May. 

Otherside may be the Web3 game with the highest budget, but perhaps the most ambitious is Star Atlas. 

In development since 2020, the Eve Online-inspired Star Atlas is crafted like a traditional AAA game. Michael Wagner, CEO of Star Atlas development studio ATMTA, told me there are around 200 developers working on the game. It's scheduled for release in 2026. 

Like Eve Online, Star Atlas is half game, half space simulator. Players ride spacecraft through the galaxy, socializing and battling with each other, exploring exoplanets, mining lands and meteors for resources and so on. 

Games like Eve Online are giant, big enough for players to lose themselves in for years. Star Atlas hopes to mimic that feat. On the way to doing so, it uses almost every new tool Web3 offers.

It starts with funding. Wagner said $185 million in revenue was raised in 2021, through the sale of an Atlas token and NFT ships, with a "substantial margin" of that funding development. In the game, ships, items and land will be owned as NFTs. There will be a comprehensive crypto economy built atop the game, which Wagner says will allow for not just a market, but a labor economy too. The economy isn't just in the game; part of Star Atlas will be built on the blockchain, meaning elements will be open source. People will be able to develop apps on top of this data, for things like spacecraft maintenance or resource management. 

Part of Star Atlas' economy will involve taxation. Just like in real life, a certain percentage of all sales will go to a treasury. There will be a DAO, or decentralized autonomous organization, in which token holders can vote on how these funds are used, be it to fund a new marketing campaign or a user engagement campaign. Then there will be another DAO specifically for the game itself, where token holders can vote on changes to the game, like additional features or ways to balance combat. 

"We've structured the economics of the DAO such that we don't lose control in the near term," Wagner said. "But in the future, it would even be possible for them to vote us out as the principal developer of the game and bring in somebody new if they think they could deliver the product in a superior fashion to us." 

Risks and rewards

The potential of Web3 gaming is tremendous, but its challenges are enormous. An examination of Star Atlas alone highlights many issues Web3 developers are likely to face.

First and foremost, making video games is hard. Making high-quality AAA games is harder still, even for veteran game studios, and the Star Atlas game alone is audacious in its ambition. The Web3 components offer additional opportunity for failure: An imbalanced economy, for instance, has the potential to completely break the game. Then there's security and regulation. Crypto has been a digital Wild West for years, with scams endemic. Regulators are slowly changing that. It's an open question whether Web3 gaming can survive in a regulated environment. 

"In many countries, consumer protection is the No. 1 driver of regulations. Given gaming is so mainstream, it will be a topic," said FTX Ventures' Wu. "100%, these assets are going to be regulated."

The final issue is the very commodity that fuels crypto tokens and NFT projects: hype. Games are often promised on NFT project road maps before a single second of development has been undertaken. As Brady noted, it took less than a day for My Pet Hooligan holders to demand the announcement of a game, movie or TV show to sustain hype and lift the NFT value. Vaporware is sure to be common.

Games will need to be developed in a way that insulates players from the crypto-rich speculators. Speculators outbidding each other can artificially raise the value of in-game items, which blocks players who actually want to play the game from accessing them. Recall the speculative bubble that caused the cost of entry to Axie Infinity to inflate to over $1,000.  

"I'm personally not interested in someone who's paying $100,000 for an NFT," said Brady. "That's a certain echelon. That's not normal society. I'm only interested if this helps every person."

Of all the developers I spoke to, a recurring theme was mistrust of any games company that promises a regular income, or dangles the possibility of earning enough money to quit the rat race. "Play-to-earn is not sustainable and is going to die off," said Baltramiejunas. Instead, the goal is for Web3 games to be more engaging than the games you play today, with the benefit of some pocket money on the side.

"If the game was good I would be satisfied with a little money as long as it's not totally a time waste," said Cryptobarbarian, reflecting on how much money he'd need to earn to justify playing games again.

"If I could earn some lunch money with it, that would be nice. But I think that will take at least a few more years before it happens." 

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