*By Zane Bhansali*
Epic Games' release of the Boombox item the day of the 100,000 tournament WSOE 3 fits into a well-established pattern. For pro players like Ghost Gaming's Justin "Kayuun" Ha, that pattern is highly concerning.
"I just don't think Epic is serious about creating a competitive environment for their tournaments," says Kayuun. In his opinion, the chaos that Epic's item releases create is carefully planned to advertise the newest changes to their game to their casual player base.
"As a competitive player, it's very, very frustrating," says Kayuun. "Every tournament it feels like they're trying to take control away from their players to perform the best they can."
Despite his struggles with Epic's patching strategy, Kayuun maintains that he enjoys playing the game. Epic's woes come matched against incredible highs ー the gaming giant recently reported a $3 billion profit in 2018.
The basketball superstar took over Cheddar's Slack channel to tell the team to "BE NICE" and "TAKE MONDAY OFF."
Facebook is in talks to launch a 13-episode series about the Portuguese soccer star for its Facebook Watch platform. It's reported Ronaldo could make $10 million from the series but it's unclear if Facebook's investment in original content would turn into viewers, says Taylor Lorenz, a staff writer at The Atlantic.
Tomorrow's match will pit five-time World Cup champion Brazil against Belgium, which Quartz reporter Mike Murphy says is "the most exciting team at the World Cup." The quarterfinal game kicks off at 2 pm ET on Friday.
Matthew Nordgren, a former Philadelphia Eagle and founder of the Arcadian Fund, drew inspiration from his father, also a former pro, to help weed start-ups grow into businesses of a "championship caliber," he tells Cheddar.
After signing a $154 million contract with the L.A. Lakers, some are wondering if the basketball legend has some ulterior motives in moving to the West Coast. “I think he’s primarily going to become a dominant producing force and maybe becomes an Oprah-type person, who launches his own channel,” Sean O’Connell, managing editor at Cinemablend tells Cheddar.
Russia's shocking win over Spain in the Round of 16 got the team one step closer to its first ever World Cup championship. But while there's still a lot of game left to be played, The Banter's Jeffrey Marcus says, regardless of the outcome, President Vladimir Putin has already achieved his goal.
While many soccer fans will be tuning into the round of 16 starting this weekend, some are still not over the ultimate loss — the United States not participating. However, Jeffery Marcus, publisher at the Banter, tells Cheddar he thinks that for the U.S. to have a solid chance at a 2022 World Cup, it's a matter of "finding better players and nurturing them."
The league launched an initiative aimed at empowering women and girls by partnering with organizations like Planned Parenthood and It's On Us. "This is basically encoded in our DNA and has been for the 22 years that we've been in existence," WNBA President Lisa Borders tells Cheddar.
Germany's hopes of a second straight World Cup came to an end Wednesday with a shocking loss to South Korea. While Germany is considered a perennial powerhouse, defending champions often get knocked out of the first rounds of the event, says Jeffrey Marcus, publisher of The Banter.
The component derived from cannabis plants offers an effective alternative for pain relief without causing a "high," said former New York Jets player Marvin Washington, who urges the NFL to change its policy on the substance. "If we don't get our hands around this opioid addiction, we are going to lose a generation."
