diff --git a/apps/web/components/hero-video.tsx b/apps/web/components/hero-video.tsx
index 8649050..4b34ee2 100644
--- a/apps/web/components/hero-video.tsx
+++ b/apps/web/components/hero-video.tsx
@@ -1,72 +1,84 @@
 'use client';
 
-import { Play, Volume2, VolumeX } from 'lucide-react';
+import { ExternalLink, Play, Volume2, VolumeX } from 'lucide-react';
 import { useCallback, useEffect, useRef, useState } from 'react';
 
 /**
- * Hero video player with two controls:
+ * Hero video player tuned for the stubborn-autoplay cases we hit in
+ * the field (Chrome with prefers-reduced-motion, data saver, etc.).
  *
- *   1. Big PLAY overlay shown while the video is paused. Browsers
- *      block autoplay for users with `prefers-reduced-motion`, on data
- *      saver, or with strict autoplay policies — so the poster sits
- *      there forever and the visitor thinks the page is broken. The
- *      overlay gives them an explicit, unmissable affordance to start
- *      it. We also wire `onClick` on the <video> element itself so
- *      clicking anywhere on the frame plays / pauses, matching the
- *      universal YouTube / Vimeo pattern.
+ * Three failure modes we defend against:
  *
- *   2. Frosted mute toggle pinned bottom-right. Always visible so the
- *      visitor can flip the voice-over on whether they hit play
- *      themselves or it autoplayed.
+ *   1. Browser allows muted autoplay — the happy path. Element loads,
+ *      starts playing, the `play` event flips `playing` to true and
+ *      hides the overlay.
  *
- * Initial state is muted (browser autoplay requires it). On mount we
- * attempt `.play()` defensively — the promise resolves silently if
- * autoplay was granted, rejects silently if blocked. Either way the
- * `play` / `pause` event listeners keep our React state in sync with
- * whatever the element is actually doing.
+ *   2. Browser blocks autoplay but allows playback on user gesture —
+ *      the play overlay sits over the poster, the user clicks, we
+ *      call `.load()` first to reset the resource-selection state
+ *      (some Chrome builds park the element at networkState=2/
+ *      readyState=0 forever if the original autoplay was blocked
+ *      before the source ever fetched) and then `.play()` with the
+ *      user gesture in scope. Plays.
  *
- * On unmute we re-call `.play()` because mobile Safari pauses on a
- * muted-property change mid-playback. Swallow the promise — failure
- * just means the user can hit play again, which the overlay already
- * affords.
+ *   3. Browser refuses to play even after the gesture — extension-
+ *      sandboxed contexts, hardware-decoder failures, etc. We catch
+ *      the promise rejection, surface a small "open video in a new
+ *      tab" link so the visitor isn't completely stuck.
+ *
+ * Source order: MP4 only. We previously offered WebM (VP9) first as a
+ * size win, but Chrome will pick WebM if listed first, and if that
+ * decode fails it does NOT fall back to MP4 — it just sits in an
+ * unloaded state. Single MP4 source (Main profile / yuv420p / TV-
+ * range / faststart) plays everywhere and the file is 2.6 MB which is
+ * close enough to the WebM that the extra HTTP source-juggling isn't
+ * worth the failure surface.
  */
 export function HeroVideo() {
   const videoRef = useRef<HTMLVideoElement>(null);
   const [muted, setMuted] = useState(true);
   const [playing, setPlaying] = useState(false);
+  const [playFailed, setPlayFailed] = useState(false);
 
   useEffect(() => {
     const v = videoRef.current;
     if (!v) return;
-
-    // Sync React state with whatever the element actually does.
-    const onPlay = () => setPlaying(true);
+    const onPlay = () => {
+      setPlaying(true);
+      setPlayFailed(false);
+    };
     const onPause = () => setPlaying(false);
     v.addEventListener('play', onPlay);
     v.addEventListener('pause', onPause);
-
-    // Best-effort autoplay. Promise rejection = user has to click play.
+    // Best-effort autoplay attempt — silently fail on browsers that
+    // block it; the overlay is the user's escape hatch.
     v.play().catch(() => undefined);
-
     return () => {
       v.removeEventListener('play', onPlay);
       v.removeEventListener('pause', onPause);
     };
   }, []);
 
-  const togglePlay = useCallback(() => {
+  const togglePlay = useCallback(async () => {
     const v = videoRef.current;
     if (!v) return;
     if (v.paused) {
-      v.play().catch(() => undefined);
+      setPlayFailed(false);
+      try {
+        // .load() resets the media element's resource selection — required
+        // when an earlier autoplay attempt was blocked before the source
+        // ever fetched. Without it, .play() on a stuck element no-ops.
+        v.load();
+        await v.play();
+      } catch {
+        setPlayFailed(true);
+      }
     } else {
       v.pause();
     }
   }, []);
 
   const toggleMute = useCallback((e: React.MouseEvent) => {
-    // Stop propagation so clicking the mute pill doesn't also
-    // play/pause via the video's onClick handler.
     e.stopPropagation();
     const v = videoRef.current;
     if (!v) return;
@@ -74,8 +86,6 @@ export function HeroVideo() {
     v.muted = next;
     setMuted(next);
     if (!next && v.paused) {
-      // Keep playback running after the user enables sound — mobile
-      // Safari pauses on muted-property change mid-playback.
       v.play().catch(() => undefined);
     }
   }, []);
@@ -94,13 +104,12 @@ export function HeroVideo() {
         className="size-full cursor-pointer object-cover"
         aria-label="Animation: a prompt becomes a live MCP server, with secrets staying isolated from the AI pipeline"
       >
-        <source src="/videos/hero.webm" type="video/webm" />
+        {/* MP4 only — see file-header note on dropping the WebM source. */}
         <source src="/videos/hero.mp4" type="video/mp4" />
       </video>
 
-      {/* Centre PLAY button — shown only while paused. Covers the
-          whole video so clicking anywhere starts playback; the inner
-          circle is the visual affordance. */}
+      {/* PLAY overlay — visible while paused. Full-frame so clicking
+          anywhere starts playback (YouTube / Vimeo pattern). */}
       {!playing && (
         <button
           type="button"
@@ -108,7 +117,8 @@ export function HeroVideo() {
           aria-label="Play video"
           className="group absolute inset-0 z-10 flex items-center justify-center"
           style={{
-            backgroundColor: 'color-mix(in oklab, var(--color-bg) 30%, transparent)',
+            backgroundColor:
+              'color-mix(in oklab, var(--color-bg) 30%, transparent)',
           }}
         >
           <div
@@ -122,21 +132,41 @@ export function HeroVideo() {
               color: 'var(--color-accent)',
             }}
           >
-            {/* `translate-x-0.5` optically centres the play triangle —
-                its visual centre of mass is left of its bounding box. */}
+            {/* translate-x-0.5 optically centres the triangle */}
             <Play size={32} fill="currentColor" className="translate-x-0.5" />
           </div>
         </button>
       )}
 
-      {/* Mute toggle — always visible, top of z-stack so it stays
-          clickable even when the play overlay is up. */}
+      {/* Fallback escape hatch — surfaces only if .play() rejects even
+          after a user gesture (extension sandbox, hardware-decoder
+          failures, etc.). One-line link to the raw MP4 so the visitor
+          isn't trapped staring at a poster forever. */}
+      {playFailed && !playing && (
+        <a
+          href="/videos/hero.mp4"
+          target="_blank"
+          rel="noopener noreferrer"
+          className="absolute inset-x-0 bottom-20 z-20 mx-auto flex w-fit items-center gap-2 rounded-md border px-3 py-2 text-[12px] backdrop-blur hover:text-[--color-fg]"
+          style={{
+            backgroundColor:
+              'color-mix(in oklab, var(--color-bg-elevated) 85%, transparent)',
+            borderColor: 'var(--color-border-strong)',
+            color: 'var(--color-fg-muted)',
+          }}
+        >
+          your browser blocked playback — open the video directly
+          <ExternalLink size={12} />
+        </a>
+      )}
+
+      {/* Mute toggle — always visible, top of z-stack. */}
       <button
         type="button"
         onClick={toggleMute}
         aria-label={muted ? 'Unmute video' : 'Mute video'}
         aria-pressed={!muted}
-        className="absolute bottom-4 right-4 z-20 inline-flex size-10 items-center justify-center rounded-full border backdrop-blur transition-colors duration-150 hover:text-[--color-fg] focus-visible:outline-none focus-visible:ring-2 focus-visible:ring-[--color-accent]"
+        className="absolute bottom-4 right-4 z-30 inline-flex size-10 items-center justify-center rounded-full border backdrop-blur transition-colors duration-150 hover:text-[--color-fg] focus-visible:outline-none focus-visible:ring-2 focus-visible:ring-[--color-accent]"
         style={{
           backgroundColor:
             'color-mix(in oklab, var(--color-bg-elevated) 75%, transparent)',