Soulja Boy Is Building His Esports Franchise Right Now
*By Zane Bhansali*
Rapper and entrepreneur DeAndre "Soulja Boy" Cortez Way has a new venture: gaming.
Soulja Boy announced in December that he was planning to start an esports franchise, citing the wildly popular streamer Tyler "Ninja" Blevins as a possible collaborator.
In December, Soulja Boy even said he might sign Ninja to his organization ー but he's since revised his stance.
Although Soulja Boy commented that Ninja is a "great friend," he said that he is envisioning a different type of player for his team.
"We're looking for the up-and-coming, 16 or 17-year old ー hungry, with a goal, with a passion, with a dream," Soulja Boy said. "That's who I want to join my esports franchise."
Way listed Overwatch, Gears of War, and Super Smash Bros. as potential games he wants to explore for his team and added that he plans to compete at the highest level in due time.
"We're going to get our feet wet, we'll get to that point," he said. "We definitely want to build it from the ground up ... and be able to compete with those bigger teams. We just have to work our way up the ranks."
Soulja Boy said he's currently developing a video game that he described as "Grand Theft Auto mixed with Fortnite mixed with Halo," adding, "you gotta take the best of each world and put it all in one game."
Soulja Boy recently released a series of game consoles amid serious controversy. The first two, the "SouljaGame Console" and "Soulja Game Handheld," were marketed as being capable of playing "Switch/3DS/Vita/NEOGEO/GBC/Gameboy/GBA" games and having hundreds of games already loaded ー raising questions of their legality.
Soulja Boy's systems were retailed through his online store for the relatively cheap prices of $149 and $99, respectively. However, commenters were quick to point out that the items in question were in fact rebranded systems from developer Anbernic that were available through Chinese online retailer AliExpress for significantly lower prices. What's more, both consoles were simply emulators capable of playing games from first-party publishers.
As of publication, Way has stopped selling both consoles, and his former website, souljagame.com, now redirects to the page for Nintendo's handheld 3DS console.
Way has since revealed another version of the SouljaGame Handheld. However, it seems to be yet another rebranded emulator, this with an eerily similarity to Sony's Playstation Vita. Nevertheless, Way is optimistic about his future in the console market.
"I have a passion for this," he told Cheddar Sports. "This is not about the money for me. I really want to create a video game console. I really want to create a character in the image that could be compared to Sonic \[the Hedgehog\] as Sonic is for Sega and Mario is for Nintendo. We could have a little Soulja for the SouljaGame."
With Selection Sunday just days away, Olivia Harlan Dekker and Tyler Fulghum break down Thursday night's action and the outlook for several key conference tournaments. Meanwhile, Alex Glaze dishes out his top plays for a star-studded Thursday night NBA doubleheader.
Sports Betting in the U.S. is booming. According to industry experts, we could see another boom this year as more states move towards statewide legalization of sports wagering. While this comes as huge news for fans, there are some very real concerns as to whether or not sports betting potentially poses a threat to public health. Senior Clinician at the Caron Treatment Centers, Eric Webber, joined Cheddar to discuss more.
Olivia Harlan Dekker breaks down Thursday night's top NBA games, Joe Ceraulo hones in on player props, and Trysta Krick delivers her lock of the night on the hardwood.
Partha Unnava, Founder and CEO and Lasso, joins Cheddar Innovates to discuss how the design behind these compression socks can prevent injuries and improve performance.
The United States Women’s National Team has settled its lawsuit over gender-based pay disparity with U.S. Soccer for $24 million. Filed in 2019, the settlement will end with all claims by the USWNT being resolved following a judge's dismissal of its case in 2020.
Coming off of the latest NFL season, Draftkings has plans for growth and new bettors to join its platform following what it saw as a record year of state legalization of sports betting and Super Bowl action. CEO Jason Robins joined Cheddar News to talk about what in store for the company in 2022, including labor issues leading to the postponement of the MLB's spring training games and the NCAA's March Madness. "There's a lot of really exciting stuff that happens in the first couple of rounds all the way through to the championship game. So typically we've seen incredible activity during March Madness on the betting side," Robins said.
PlayersTV is bringing sports viewers Athletes On Demand, a subscription platform to provide fans with thousands of hours of sports content from their favorite athletes. CEO Angela Bundrant joined Cheddar News to discuss the new rollout. "People can expect to receive content or buy into content on demand that comes from their favorite athletes," said Bundrant, listing star partners like the Phoenix Suns' Chris Paul and New Orleans Pelicans' C.J. McCollum.
Walker Ross, Assistant Professor of Sports Business Management at Florida Southern College, joins Business of Sports: The Beijing Winter Olympics 2022, where he says that actions Beijing and other Olympic host sites have been implementing to combat climate change has simply not been enough to offset their carbon footprint.
Olivia Harlan Dekker breaks down Thursday's primetime matchup between the 76ers and Bucks, NBA champion Richard Jefferson sets the scene for this weekend's All-Star Game, and Alex Monaco discusses who he's bullish and bearish on for Thursday's action.
The 15-year-old Russian Olympic figure skater Kamila Valieva found herself at the center of a scandal after a positive test for a banned substance became public. Valieva fell out of gold contention in the women's free skate after falling, avoiding a potentially embarrassing situation, where a medal ceremony would have been nixed had she won. Scott Hamilton, the retired American figure skater and Olympic gold medalist in the 1984 Games, joined Cheddar to break down the scandal. “It’s a team competition and every member of the team participated in that score and hers should be disallowed”.
