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By rejecting Browns narrative, Jimmy Haslam reveals real plan. Opinion
The expansion-era Browns have never hosted a playoff game on Cleveland's lakefront. With a new stadium in the works, time is running out.
Tencent’s “GTA Rival” Last Sentinel Collapses After Six Years of Development as 80 Layoffs Hit the Studio Behind It
Tencent's "GTA rival" Last Sentinel has collapsed after six years in development, with 80 layoffs hitting LightSpeed LA, the studio behind it
Registered nurses to protest layoffs at 17 CommonSpirit Health hospitals in California
Registered nurses will hold a press conference and rally at California Hospital Medical Center, in Los Angeles, Calif., on Monday, Aug. 3, to protest owner and operator CommonSpirit Health’s planned layoffs at 17 hospitals in California. Nurses say layoffs will jeopardize patient care and harm communities.
College Football Playoff Expansion Remains Stalled As Season Approaches
Week 1 games begin Sept. 3 ahead of Labor Day weekend.
ESPN’s 2026-27 college football anthem is here
It’s the most dependable tradition in sports media, more reliable than any preseason poll: ESPN picks a song, plays it about 4,000 times between kickoff and the College Football Playoff, and by Halloween you’ll be able to hum it in your sleep, whether you wanted to learn it or not. ESPN announced Friday that “High…
Packers' Nixon says hamstring tightness caused him to miss first practice
The 29-year-old Nixon started all 18 games (including playoffs) last season and was named to the NFC’s Pro Bowl team as an alternate.
Tower Health plans to lay off more than 100 workers at Pottstown Hospital
Tower Health is planning to layoff more than one hundred workers, at Pottstown Hospital in Montgomery County.
Despite Layoff, Karl Ravech Returns to ESPN Booth
Ravech was laid off after 33 years with ESPN.
Dak Prescott setting high expectations for Cowboys and their offense
When Dak Prescott arrived at training camp Tuesday, he wore a vintage t-shirt celebrating the Dallas Cowboys’ last Super Bowl win as a statement of intent. After 10 years in the NFL without a meaningful playoff run for an organization that has not claimed a championship since after the 1995 season, their star quarterback is ready to end those droughts through his deeds, words, and even wardrobe choices. “To go into training camp and to go into the season to say that those are our goals, I mean, it’d be stupid or we’d be remiss not to own that, and take accountability in that, and take pride in saying this is what we want to be and what we want to do,” Prescott said Thursday.
5 bold predictions for the 2026 BYU football season
Expectations for the Cougars haven’t been this high in years — but that’s what a 23-4 record since the start of 2024 will do for your program. Perhaps Kalani Sitake’s crew finally gets over the hump this fall to earn a College Football Playoff bid, or maybe BYU will suffer a similar regression to that of Big 12 foes Baylor or Colorado last season. A year ago, I took a stab at guessing what the Cougars would accomplish in 2025, offering five bold predictions which you can read here.
Nearly 800 employees cut from one of GA's largest healthcare system
Wellstar Health System announced a nearly 800-employee layoff, targeting corporate offices. The company is based in Marietta, Georgia.
The Ambitious Open-World Cyberpunk Action Game Troy Baker Was Working On Gets Hit With Mass Layoff
After internal review, Lightspeed LA said Last Sentinel wasn't living up to expectations forcing a creative shift in development
MLB’s Upside-Down Playoff Picture Undercuts Owners’ CBA Messaging
The Tampa Bay Rays are providing an inconvenient counterweight to MLB owners’ framing of modern baseball. Owners have long held up the financial disparities in the sport, and their subsequent impact on competitive balance, as a reason to overhaul its cost structure and implement a salary cap. Yet the low-spending Rays have the best record …
Georgia Wellstar Health System cuts hundreds of jobs
Georgia's Wellstar Health System is cutting 761 jobs, amounting to about 2% of its workforce. Officials say the layoffs don't affect its frontline healthcare employees.
Wellstar to layoff nearly 800 shared services, corporate roles, healthcare company says
The healthcare company says it will layoff nearly 761 employees in its corporate, administrative and shared service roles, but it will retain its frontline care team.
Psychonauts 2 Studio Double Fine Hit With Layoffs Amid Divestiture From Xbox
Double Fine is being spun off from Xbox amid a massive restructuring
Tower Health is laying off 160 workers at Pottstown Hospital while expanding emergency department, behavioral health
The job cuts amount to 22% of the Pottstown workforce and come seven months after Tower eliminated 131 jobs at the Montgomery County facility in an earlier round of layoffs.
New data suggests layoffs will affect 14,259 people by the end of 2026, up 78% from first forecast of the year
"The pace of layoffs is accelerating faster than our models initially predicted"
Cyberpunk: Edgerunners was reportedly being turned into a 2.5D brawler by CD Projekt Red and Shantae studio WayForward, but its fate is uncertain
The spin-off was in development between 2025 and 2026, before layoffs hit the retro-inspired developer famous for its beat 'em ups and platformers.
Double Fine Announces Layoffs Following Split From Xbox
"Only the survival of our studio would ever make us consider such a painful action," says Double Fine head Tim Schafer.
Three Position Groups To Monitor Early In Packers' Training Camp
The Green Bay Packers kick off training camp on Wednesday, July 29, as the start of the 2026 NFL season rapidly approaches. The Packers are looking to bounce back from yet another premature playoff exit in 2025, with stars throughout the roster facing elevated expectations coming into the year. Green Bay's coaching staff will have several position battles to monitor, answering questions that will present themselves early in training camp.
German business sentiment rises more than expected in July, Ifo survey finds
By Maria Martinez BERLIN, July 27 (Reuters) - German business morale grew more than expected in July thanks to significantly improved expectations, a survey showed on Monday. The Ifo institute said its business climate index rose to 86.6 from a s...
TENNESSEE VOLS FOOTBALL: Really? A playoff berth? C'mon...
This is a wrapup of a game-by-game look at the upcoming season.
AI layoffs mount amid software sector bloodbath
The development of AI in recent years has led to situations where human work is replaced by AI, or AI can do the same job faster or at a lower cost
Panthers Star Named Public Enemy No. 1 For Maple Leafs
The Toronto Maple Leafs and Florida Panthers not only play in the heavily competitive Atlantic Division, but they’ve also had two run-ins during the Stanley Cup Playoffs in recent years, both of which went the way of the Panthers.And during each of those series, multiple Panthers players became the bane of Toronto’s existence, including Matthew […] The post Panthers Star Named Public Enemy No. 1 For Maple Leafs appeared first on HEAVY.
Warren Spector’s Thick As Thieves Ends Support After Two Months
After significant layoffs at the studio, the leaner Thief successor is hoping to continue with peer-to-peer servers
Ryan Clark bashes ESPN over controversial layoff during emotional interview
The former NFL star is hurling serious accusations at ESPN after his recent departure.
Yankees Mailbag: Biggest threats and playoff rosters
Is the AL East the gauntlet for this year’s postseason?
Nothing confirms layoffs, but calls market exit rumors ‘fake news’
Cofounder Akis Evangelidis says Nothing is “reorganizing.”
Who stands to benefit from ESPN’s recent wave of departures?
This originally appeared in Thursday morning’s edition of The A Block, Awful Announcing’s daily newsletter with the latest sports media news, commentary, and analysis. Sign up here and be the first to know everything going on in the sports media world. ESPN’s summer layoffs opened up real estate across nearly every NFL show the network runs,…
With LeBron James, 76ers’ Playoff Hopes Are No Longer Tied To Joel Embiid’s Health
By signing LeBron James, the 76ers are no longer as reliant on center Joel Embiid, who has sustained numerous injuries in his career.
After OnePlus, Nothing could be the next brand to leave multiple global markets
After OnePlus's exit, report claims Nothing could be next to leave 12 global markets and layoff 40% of its staff amid rising costs.
Poll: Are the Red Sox for Real?
The Boston Red Sox begin a three-game series at home against the Toronto Blue Jays Friday night, looking to start a new winning streak. The Red Sox lost the nightcap of a Wednesday doubleheader against the Baltimore Orioles — ending the team’s remarkable 15-game winning streak, which had tied a team record last accomplished in 1946. When the streak began, Boston was considered an also-ran in the AL playoff race.
49ers’ Nick Bosa Appears to Celebrate Ryan Clark’s ESPN Firing
San Francisco 49ers star pass rusher Nick Bosa hadn’t posted on X in four years — until Thursday evening.Bosa returned to the platform with a subtle reaction to ESPN’s decision to part ways with former NFL defensive back and longtime analyst Ryan Clark earlier this week during a round of layoffs.Nick Bosa’s ReactionBosa reposted The […] The post 49ers’ Nick Bosa Appears to Celebrate Ryan Clark’s ESPN Firing appeared first on HEAVY.
Believe It or Not, Lane Kiffin Has a Regret
LSU head coach Lane Kiffin says he has one major regret about leaving Ole Miss: the way it all unfolded. Speaking at SEC Media Days, Kiffin acknowledged that his departure during Ole Miss’ College Football Playoff run became far more chaotic than he anticipated. Looking back, he said he wishes he had handled the situation…
Creator economy platform Patreon cuts 20% of staff in new layoffs
Patreon, which helps creators like YouTubers and podcasters make money, is laying off staff. The creator economy company said it needs to trim costs.
Overlooked provision in the Protect College Sports Act would create logistical nightmare for College Football Playoff
A buried provision in the Protect College Sports Act would create a logistical nightmare for the College Football Playoff schedule.
Harvard Pilgrim, Tufts Health Plan CEO talks GLP-1 weigh-loss drug coverage
A year in, Point32Health CEO sits down to discuss insurance premiums, drug prices, and layoffs.
Once the ‘Worldwide Leader in Sports,’ ESPN’s latest layoffs cement its new identity
ESPN is still a destination spot in sports media, but it has not been a utopia for a long time.
Colts, Raiders Get Strong Deebo Samuel Take Amid 49ers Speculation
The future of former San Francisco 49ers wideout Deebo Samuel is a major talking point with the 2026 NFL season nearing. Samuel is probably waiting for the right situation to play on a team looking to contend for a playoff spot. Last season with the Washington Commanders, played 713 total snaps, leading to a 69.4 overall PFF […] The post Colts, Raiders Get Strong Deebo Samuel Take Amid 49ers Speculation appeared first on HEAVY.
Mayfield Makes Feelings Known on Missing Playoffs on Netflix
Go behind the scenes as the Buccaneers star laments a squandered 6-2 start, reflecting on a missed postseason opportunity despite leading the most talented roster of his career.
Tim Tebow ESPN contract extension announced amid sweeping layoffs
Tim Tebow's multi-year contract extension with ESPN comes as the company experiences another round of layoffs, affecting several high-profile names.
Blazers make sweeping cuts to broadcast team under Tom Dundon
The Portland Trail Blazers’ long-awaited sale finally went through via a $4.25 billion deal to private equity investor and Carolina Hurricanes owner Tom Dundon. However, since becoming the steward of the franchise, Dundon’s willingness to spend big appears to have dissipated. After taking control of the franchise just before the start of the NBA playoffs,…
Following layoffs and muddy strategy shifts, Xbox announces Backward Compatibility on PC program, with Blinx and Conker leading the first wave
Xbox is bringing classic games to personal computers and handhelds through a newly announced Backward Compatibility on PC program.
Three Atlanta Falcons Rookies Who Could Make an Immediate Impact
The Atlanta Falcons are coming off of an underwhelming 2025 season, finishing with an 8-9 record and falling just short of the playoffs. The Falcons and their new coaching staff looked to address holes and lack of depth at many positions including receiver, cornerback, and linebacker. Atlanta had six selections in this year's draft and although did not have a first round pick due to a trade with the Rams during the 2025 draft, selected three players that I believe could have an immediate impact.
5 Takeaways From ESPN’s Latest Layoffs
Ryan Clark, Cam Newton, and Karl Ravech were among those laid off.
NC State’s schedule could open unexpected darkhorse path
The college football season is less than a month away, and the race for a College Football Playoff berth is about to begin. The expanded playoff field will almost certainly feature some new faces. One of those teams could come…
Bengals Get Alarming Joe Burrow Message Before Training Camp
The Cincinnati Bengals put all their chips on the table to end their playoff drought this upcoming 2026 season. After signing free agents Jonathan Allen, Boye Mafe, and Bryan Cook, Cincinnati then made the blockbuster trade for Dexter Lawrence II. After three straight seasons of missing the playoffs, the Bengals made aggressive moves to show […] The post Bengals Get Alarming Joe Burrow Message Before Training Camp appeared first on HEAVY.
Michigan, LSU To CFP? Ranking The 10 Teams Most Likely To Make Debut In 12-Team Format
Here are the 10 teams FOX Sports' Joel Klatt believes could make their first appearance in the 12-team College Football Playoff in 2026.
2026 College Football Playoff Odds: Irish Heavily Favored To Make Field
College Football Playoff odds have hit the market. See which squads are favored to make the 12-team postseason tournament.
Pixar reportedly loses 150 jobs in new round of Disney layoffs
Pixar absorbed a large share of Disney’s latest studio layoffs, according to industry reports, even as “Toy Story 5” approaches another major box-office milestone.
Pittsburgh Steelers Insider Says Team Could Still Add Another Defender
It’s been an offseason of change for the Pittsburgh Steelers. While they haven’t been able to win a playoff game […]
Christal Jordan joins with entertainment headlines
Ed Harris has been disappointed with his role on Dutton Ranch, and ESPN may have major layoffs coming
Cam Newton among ESPN layoffs after ‘First Take’ rise
Given his recent addition to the talent roster at ESPN and quick rise through the ranks at First Take, Cam Newton is one of the most surprising names to be let go in the latest round of layoffs at the company. Newton joins a list that includes NFL analyst Ryan Clark, MLB host and play-by-play man…
Cam Schlittler Praises Aaron Boone's Leadership Amid Yankees' Playoff Push
The New York Yankees are looking to get hot out of the All-Star break. Since returning, they've gone 2-2, but have picked up back-to-back wins over the Los Angeles Dodgers and Pittsburgh Pirates. The Yankees are aiming to make a third straight postseason appearance.
Intel plans layoffs within data center group
An Intel spokesperson said the cuts are part of a broader effort to become "more focused and efficient."
5 college football coaches on the hot seat in 2026
Every college football season comes with pressure. But for some head coaches, the 2026 season could be make-or-break. Expectations have never been higher. With the expanded College Football Playoff, bigger NIL budgets, stronger recruiting classes and heavy use of the…
UFC Freedom 250 Fails to Knock Out The Ratings
(Welcome to my weekly streaming ratings report, the single best guide to what’s popular in streaming TV and what isn’t. I’m the Entertainment Strategy Guy, a former streaming executive who now analyzes business strategy in the entertainment industry. If you were forwarded this email, please subscribe to get these insights each week.) If UFC fans wanted one image to say, “Hey, Paramount+ is crushing it with their UFC rights deal,” I could provide that image. Here it is: (Reminder: this is my creation of the Nielsen Top 30, since Nielsen doesn’t combine the lists or include sports. I take all three lists and combine them. Some streaming TV shows probably have higher ratings than many of the films on this list.) Look at that! UFC Freedom 250 is number one! It topped the Nielsen “Top 30” list for shows and films that made the top ten the week of 15-June. So if you’re a UFC fan or supporter of Paramount+, that’s the good news for you this week. This program topped the ratings charts for one week. Everything else is bad news, or at least a huge caveat to that story, which I’ll explain today in the first part of this week’s Streaming Ratings Report—for the weeks of 8-June and 15-June—which is a double issue since I’ve been writing on a bunch of topics recently. UFC Freedom 250 is one of the biggest streaming events of the year, and super relevant to Paramount+’s strategy, so it merited its own article. Let’s dive in! (Reminder: The streaming ratings report focuses on the U.S. market and compiles data from Nielsen’s weekly top ten viewership ranks, Luminate’s Top Ten Data, JustWatch and Reelgood interest data, Samba TV household viewership, company datecdotes, Netflix hours viewed data, Google Trends, and IMDb to determine the most popular content. While most data points are current, Nielsen’s data covers the weeks of June 8th to June 21st 2026. You can find a link to my terminology here.) Subscribe Check Out My Interview on UFC 250 at MMA Draw After you read this article, if you want even more thoughts on UFC and Paramount-Skydance/Paramount+, I did a written interview with MMA Draw. They asked me to answer some questions about UFC Freedom 250, and I was happy to chat with them. Find it here: [ The MMA Draw Newsletter Did Paramount really overpay for the UFC? What the data tells us so far If you know the history of American television, you also know that combat sports is often a leading indicator of the future… Read more a day ago · 10 likes · 1 comment · Nate Wilcox and Zach Arnold ](https://www.themmadraw.com/p/did-paramount-really-overpay-for?utm_source=substack&utm_campaign=post_embed&utm_medium=web) I never thought I’d need a combat sports newsletter in my life, but the good folks at MMA Draw publish an excellent one on UFC, MMA, pro wrestling, boxing and more, analyzing both the sports themselves and the politics, economics and antitrust issues that impact them. Check the article and their newsletter out! Paramount+ Has Its Best Sporting Event of All Time…But Was It Worth It? Before we look at the UFC Freedom 250 data in particular, let’s talk about what we can’t say. Namely, let’s start with the lack of comparisons. First off, I’d love to put a chart out comparing this fight to past UFC fights on Paramount+…but we don’t have the data. This is the first time we’ve gotten Nielsen data about a Paramount+ UFC fight. As far as I can tell, Paramount provided data for the first fight, but it was a proprietary datecdote (saying it had “an average minute audience” of 5 million “views”) and then, for two fights, we got the linear viewership numbers when they aired on CBS, but no streaming data. Everything else was crickets. We also can’t compare this fight to other fights/combat sports on streaming, in particular the MMA and boxing, because Netflix also didn’t use Nielsen to track those events, opting for TVision and VideoAmp, respectively. (This isn’t Paramount’s fault, but does still suck.) We also can’t compare to UFC’s fights that used to be on ESPN+, since we don’t have any data for that, plus Disney+ didn’t have marquee fights. The comparisons would not be apples-to-apples. Can we compare to past Pay-Per-View fights? Absolutely not. The comparisons would absolutely NOT be apples-to-apples. That didn’t stop Paramount+, though, who bragged that their UFC events have reached drastically more people than past PPV fights. Duh. Sorry, but I gotta make this point again. A basic tenet of economics is that the cheaper something becomes, the more people consume or buy it. That’s Econ 101. (Sometimes pundits call things “Econ 101” that are actually like Econ 210 or even PhD-level economics, but no, this is really like first or second class basic economics.) Yet I still see one analytics firm consistently say that more people watch films on streaming than PVOD proves streaming which means that the streaming window is more valuable than the PVOD window. No, it’s not! Same thing here. Pay-Per-View events back in the day could be really, really, really expensive! So whole groups of people pitched in to buy them. That increased the perceived value of, say, the Mike Tyson fight. Or a UFC numbered event. So yes, the fact that Paramount+ makes numbered UFC fights essentially “free” if you’re already a Paramount+ member means consumption will go up. Obviously. Same for Netflix and their boxing matches. They’re talking about fights that used to cost consumers, in some cases, $50 in 1996…which is over $100 in today’s dollars. Over 1.6 million people paid that to watch the Tyson-Holyfield fight! Again, streaming is essentially “free”. Or $10 to $20, depending on what streamer we’re talking about and what tier you’re on. No wonder more people are “watching”. (Plus, Nielsen’s out-of-home viewing also helps these numbers.) UFC Freedom 250 Did Well…But I Have A Lot of Worries So what can we compare the fights to? Well, the good news is Nielsen put out that the fight averaged 7.0 million viewers for UFC Freedom 250, which is a solid number for a fight. We also know the length, at roughly 4 and a half hours. (I saw different run times, but this seems to be the consensus considering it started at 8 pm, had a delay and then finished after midnight on the East Coast. If you assume a shorter run time, then yes, the total hours viewed would go down.) That means I have the two numbers needed to add this to my Nielsen database. And then…I can compare this viewership to the NFL: And, uh, not great. But also within striking distance, mainly because the runtime for this event was so long. I’d also add that this event had viewership equal to a regular season NFL game on streaming, but if anything, it was more comparable to an NFL playoff or Super Bowl-esque event. And you can compare viewership to the top football games on broadcast, cable and streaming, and it’s not impressive at all: We can also compare it to other sports that week, including the NBA Finals and start of the World Cup: Again, not great. The NBA generated roughly four times as many average viewers each game for its NBA Finals. The World Cup has similarly big numbers. Also, that’s just a tiny fraction of the 25 most watched sporting events each week. The NBA, NHL and FIFA World Cup had many, many more games racking up hours. We could also compare this to other streaming programs to get an idea of “is this a good investment?” and here is how it ranks compared to other top Paramount+ programs: The worry here? Well, unlike scripted programming, which has rewatchability, older fights/sporting events have very little library value. Very, very few people are rewatching these fights, especially years from now. Paramount has also released datecdotes bragging about their subscriber numbers. Earlier this year, they claimed that the first UFC fight on Paramount+ brought in 1 million subscribers. Then, in their quarterly earnings report, they only ended up with 700K subs. Not great! They claimed they dropped lower-value international subscribers, but that’s why I tend to discount subscriber additions when they’re leaked to the press.1 I expect we may see a bump again for UFC Freedom 250, but I’d caution using subscriber growth so soon after these events to judge the success, since new subs with high churn (see Peacock) aren’t great either. Also, analysts often want to attribute all subscriber growth to their favorite/pet show, and that just doesn’t make sense. The biggest caveat for UFC Freedom 250 and Paramount’s very first UFC marquee event is that these could be high watermarks for the sport. UFC Freedom 250 had an incredible amount of earned media coverage compared to most UFC fights. I mean, it had wall-to-wall national news coverage in the lead up to the event. (The first fight also had a lot of promotion from Paramount since it was first.) Other fights could reach this bar—say the Conor McGregor return to the Octagon—but they’ll be fewer and far between. Was This Deal Worth It? All to ask: is this Paramount deal worth it? In this case, I think the UFC Freedom 250 numbers are more distracting than helpful. This fight did well and compares well to other top sporting events. But we know that the first marquee event was at least a third smaller, if Paramount’s own data is to be believed. And it’s likely the other fights are much, much, much smaller. And then you get to the paycheck that Paramount-Skydance paid. FIFA’s World Cup cost about the same for Fox, but clearly generated multiples more total viewership. (Though it’s only every four years.) The NBA is much more expensive, but until the playoffs, they likely didn’t pay for itself. Even still, Disney, NBCUniversal and Amazon Prime Video likely overpaid. So, in that context, the NBA may be an overpay that makes the UFC look not so bad. But two overpays don’t make an underpay, to paraphrase the old cliché about wrongs and rights. And looking at UFC Freedom 250 as the likely ceiling of MMA on Paramount+, Paramount-Skydance likely paid too much. Share 1 I would love regular reports on subscriber additions by programs, but as is, it’s mostly leaked or rumored in haphazard ways.
Commissioner Greg Sankey insists SEC breakaway threat is real as rules frustrations linger
Greg Sankey opened SEC football media days by talking about the Protect College Sports Act, NCAA frustrations, Playoff expansion and more.
Reviewing the Magic's Season and Free Agency
The Orlando Magic are doing what they can to make a deeper run in the playoffs.
Atlanta Falcons Could Solve WR Depth by Signing Deebo Samuel
Could Deebo Samuel be the missing piece for the Atlanta Falcons? With questions behind Drake London at wide receiver, the veteran playmaker could give Kevin Stefanski's offense proven production, versatility, and another weapon as Atlanta pushes to end its playoff drought.
Miami Hurricanes have a built in advantage that other title contenders don't, and it could be their ticket back to the playoff
England's huge World Cup payday revealed after France victory
The Three Lions secured a major payday after defeating France in a thrilling third-place playoff
When Friends Complained About The High Cost Of Wedding Videos, This Entrepreneur Saw Opportunity. She Created A Business That’s On Track For $3.8 Million In Revenue This Year.
Anne Marie Carroll, founder of Wedding Weekender, turned a layoff into a chance to start a business that turns wedding guests into photographers—and creates candid videos to capture the events.
Six major questions for Georgia football
Georgia football heads to SEC media days facing questions about injuries, playoff failures, and new receivers.
The biggest winners of the American economy fear they’re sinking fast
Waves of layoffs and growing pressure to automate jobs are creating existential panic in the tech industry. Economists say other white-collar workers are next.
🤯 Never before! France have already made unwanted history
France are currently making a fool of themselves in the World Cup third-place playoff — it is already a humiliation of historic proportions. Today’s match for third place was not exactly approach...
This Is The Alabama’s Biggest Question Entering 2026
Alabama enters the 2026 season with expectations as high as ever, but unlike many recent Crimson Tide teams, there is one glaring question that could determine whether Kalen DeBoer’s third season ends with a College Football Playoff run or another disappointing finish. Can Alabama finally establish a consistent running game? The numbers from last season…
Disco Elysium Dev ZA/UM Announces Layoffs Affecting Up to 32 Staff
Disco Elysium developer ZA/UM has announced layoffs affecting up to 32 staff just two months after launching Zero Parades: For Dead Spies.
Trump’s deep public health cuts hinder response to record US cyclosporiasis outbreak
Experts say layoffs, reduced disease surveillance and Medicaid cuts have made the foodborne parasite more difficult to track and contain
Texas A&M’s 2026 Title Dream Isn’t Crazy ... Just Complicated
Texas A&M enters 2026 with Marcel Reed, a rebuilt line and a loaded defense. The Aggies aren’t title favorites, but their playoff ceiling is very real.
Can Wisconsin spoil Notre Dame's college football playoff hopes?
The Wisconsin Badgers have a chance to do some serious damage to Notre Dame's college football playoff aspirations.
I'm an enterprise consultant, and here's the truth about AI layoffs
Max Votek, an enterprise consultant on AI adoption, said that AI layoffs are not what they seem to be and explains the economics behind the scenes.
Red Sox Stay Red Hot, Extend Winning Streak
Red Sox Surge Back Into Playoff Picture With 11-Game Winning Streak The Boston Red Sox entered play just a few weeks ago at 37-48 and appeared to be headed toward selling at the upcoming MLB trade deadline. Instead, Boston has caught fire. The Red Sox have won 11 consecutive games to improve to 48-48. The…
Disco Elysium Studio Says Game About People Forced Into Impossible Situations Didn't Sell Well Enough To Prevent Layoffs
In a post on social media, ZA/UM wrote that it would lay off 32 developers two months after releasing Zero Parades: For Dead Spies
Oregon Health Authority cancels layoffs
Oregon Health Authority leaders won’t divulge the size or cause of the agency's budget hole, but internal records indicate it needs to find $90 million in savings over the coming year. For now, though, layoffs won’t happen.
Disco Elysium developer ZA/UM announces layoffs after Zero Parades flounders
ZA/UM says that Zero Parades: For Dead Spies failed to perform commercially
Irvine video game maker Obsidian Entertainment lays off 52
Irvine-based video game development studio Obsidian Entertainment is laying off 52 workers as part of a larger restructuring to reset Microsoft’s Xbox video game business.
Bethesda teases Fallout 5 soon after Xbox’s mass layoffs
Microsoft’s gaming division attempts to share some good news amid the fallout of its large-scale ‘reset.’
2026 NFL Season Predictions
NFL training camps are beginning to open this weekend, and a lot can happen between now and the start of the 2026 regular season. Still, the editors of Athlon Sports' 2026 NFL Preview magazine have already made their predictions for who will be in the playoffs and who takes home individual player awards. The following picks are from the magazine, which is on sale now.
Patriots secondary faces big questions before camp
The Patriots' secondary was a key part of their playoff run but faces new challenges as training camp approaches.
Doom Director Addresses The State Of id After Xbox Bloodbath
id Software was hit hard in the latest round of Xbox mass layoffs
Google workers rally for job security at Mountain View HQ
Google workers, led by Alphabet Workers Union, held a protest calling for layoff protections and urging CEO Sundar Pichai to address job security.
Early date with Ducks, Black Friday home game and more on Flyers' 2026-27 schedule
Here’s a complete breakdown of the Flyers’ 2026-27 schedule.
NFL Coach Drops Honest Admission on Chargers' Justin Herbert
Despite prolific playmaking and elite physical tools, rival coordinators question the star quarterback’s maturity and operational mastery as he fights to secure his first playoff victory.
ZeniMax Online Studios leadership to exit as part of Xbox cuts
There are major changes happening atop Maryland-based ZeniMax Online Studios, developer of the Elder Scrolls Online, Game File has learned. Joe Burba, a 14-year veteran of the studio who was appointed to run it last July, is departing, along with ESO executive producer Susan Kath, studio game director Rich Lambert and production director Ala Diaz. Their roles were listed among hundreds of others cut last week from the Maryland offices of ZeniMax, in a WARN letter sent to the state by ZeniMax and obtained today by Game File. Tonight, BUrbam Kath, Lambert and Diaz notified Zenimax Online Studios workers of plans to “transition” to a new leadership team consisting of promoted ZOS veterans. That transition will occur “over the next few months,” they told workers, according to a copy of the notice reviewed by Game File. “We will remain in place during the transition period to help ensure a smooth handoff.” Last week, Microsoft laid off of 1,600 workers across its vast gaming teams in locations around the U.S. and abroad. Just who has been impacted and how hard various studios have been hit has been emerging day by day. Game File reported last week that Microsoft/ZeniMax notified officials in Maryland that 379 gaming jobs were being cut across the state. They tallied cuts in two locations: one for ZeniMax Media Inc. (covering Elder Scrolls/Starfield/Fallout-maker Bethesda Game Studios and central Bethesda game publishing) and one for ZeniMax Online Studios (Elder Scrolls Online). More than 200 jobs were cut at the latter. Last week’s totals did not reveal job titles, nor did Microsoft announce any leadership changes in the ZeniMax group. That has now happened. Earlier today, Game File obtained from Maryland officials a breakdown of the 379 impacted roles, which, extraordinarily, included “studio head.” Microsoft later confirmed to Game File which studio head that referred to: ZeniMax Online Studios’. Microsoft has since has notified studio employees and internally announced new leadership. ZOS will now be run by Josh Henderson, previously head of business operations at the studio, and Nick Giacomini, who was promoted to game director for ESO last August. Game File is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my journalism, please consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Subscribe Last week’s news of 200+ cuts at ZeniMax Online Studios generated public sympathy for those workers and questions about the long-term viability of the Elder Scrolls Online. ESO is a massively multiplayer online game that inherently persists on the strength of new content being developed for it. Earlier today, fans and workers in Maryland protested the cuts at the ZeniMax teams in a rally organized by the Communication Workers of America, the union that represents many of the impacted employees. Regarding concerns around the game, a community manager stated on Saturday: “The plan is still to deliver great content, and we will hopefully have an update soon.” In their note to the studio today, the outgoing leaders of ZeniMax Online Studios predicted “growth” for the game: We have tremendous confidence in Josh and Nick, the future of this studio, and the continued growth of ESO. With exciting experiences still ahead for our players as we wrap up work for Update 51 and beyond, we believe that your passion, creativity, and commitment to each other and the community will continue serving as the heartbeat of ESO. The list of jobs cut in the ZeniMax WARN notice in Maryland includes several very senior roles, including: Studio Head Studio Operations Director Studio Game Director Studio Audio Director Studio Art Manager Vice President and Controller VP, Global Sales & Business Development While some of those job descriptions match the exiting ZOS leadership team, Game File couldn’t verify if all were from that studio. The full list of cut roles shared by Maryland officials also covers workers at Bethesda Game Studios and its central publishing office. The following is an excerpt: The list of 379 eliminated ZeniMax jobs in Maryland also includes: four animators three bilingual CS (community service) leads for Chinese, Italian, and Japanese a creative director for the Elder Scrolls Online Player Life Cycle two food service workers seven producers more than 60 senior QA testers. and many others The WARN notice states that almost all of the 379 workers were notified of their layoff on July 6. In fine print, it states: “Approximately 9 employees were notified of the elimination of their position prior to July 6, 2026.” A 2021 mega-merger scaled back Microsoft announced in 2020 that it intended to buy ZeniMax and its network of game studios in 2020, and closed the $7.5 billion deal in March 2021. The purchase, which preceded Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard, added several award-winning studios to Microsoft’s portfolio, including Bethesda (Elder Scrolls, Fallout), Arkane (Dishonored), and id Software (Doom). The studios’ output since then included a 2024 Game of the Year contented from MachineGames in the form of Indiana Jones and the Great Circle along with Starfield from Bethesda and the poorly-received Redfall from Arkane Austin. In recent years, a Microsoft repeatedly in cutback mode closed ZeniMax’s Tango Gameworks (which was reconstituted by Krafton) and closed Arkane Austin. The Xbox cuts last week have hit the ZeniMax group hard, with 158 jobs eliminated in Texas, many of them at id, and 379 from the ZeniMax teams in Maryland. Xbox also said last week that it would be entering a consultation process around Arkane Lyon, a process expected to end in a sale, shutdown or other form of divestment. The Lyon team has been working on a game tied to Marvel’s Blade vampire-hunting super-hero.
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47 revelatory hours with Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced
To review this month’s supposed remake of 2013’s Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag, I must first correct the record. Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced isn’t a game about pirates (and assassins) in the 18th century Caribbean. Sure, sure, that’s what the trailers would have you believe. They’ve go their clips of Edward Kenway swinging his swords and steering his pirate ship into cannon-blasting combat against British frigates. Is Resynced truly a pirate game? Of the 47 hours I spent playing Resynced over the past few weeks, I will admit I spent maybe 44 (?) of them collecting plunder with Blackbeard, drinking rum with Anne Bonny and debating the pros and cons of the lawless pirate-run settlement Nassau with Benjamin Hornigold. I may in fact have spent dozens of hours sailing to remote islands, reading treasure maps, opening messages left in bottles, sinking the odd Man o’ War with a well-timed broadside, collecting sea shanties for my crew, befriending a pet monkey, and hunting whales. I am nevertheless neither so Gullible nor so Narrow-Minded as to call the magnificent Resynced a “pirate remake.” Oh no. Forget any reviews of Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced you may have read. Forget what you yourself may have played, if you’ve spent any time with the game since its launch. What Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced is really about I’m here to give you the scoop (spoilers for Resynced’s Animus menu lore, which many players are probably not going to see): Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced, the new game whose development was led by Ubisoft Singapore, is set in the year 2096. It’s about a societal split, about revolution, about an old Assassin’s Creed adventure repurposed in the series’ distant future as propaganda or samizdat. It’s about the overheated future of 2096, essentially conquered by the series’ well-established nefarious Templar-run company Abstergo. (In this future, Abstergo is, among other things, remaking a 2013 pirate movie called Devils of the Caribbean, but this time in VR. The VR version will be backed by a marketing plan that involves AI influencers, a 10,000-avatar “metaverse premiere event” and that manufacturing of memes aimed at “50 million VR nodes.” See what I mean about Abstergo being evil?) Resynced is about a late 21st-century population mollified by the widespread use of Abstergo’s Animus devices which let people experience the lives of historical figures culled from “genetic memories.” It’s about an insurgent faction of Assassins. And it’s about a plan to wake the population into revolutionary fervor by showing them the memories of 18th century pirate Edward Kenway, who—as depicted in the original Black Flag and again in Resynced—gradually comes to an understanding about the Assassins of his day and their centuries old fight for freedom. Resynced is also about an AI developed within the late 21st-century Animus, called Ego. It has found a way to alter genetic memories, to create and show Animus users false ones. The game is about Ego’s efforts to tell the people experiencing Edward Kenway’s memories that Kenway was wrong, that fighting against order is folly, that we should crave a world where “compliance is rewarded with power.” Who are we in this game? We’re an unnamed Animus user in 2096 who experiences Kenway’s journey virtually. At four moments during Kenway’s exploits in the Caribbean our virtual jaunt can be interrupted for 10-15 minutes, as we explore Animus “rifts” where Ego explicitly tries to tell us how wrong Kenway was. None of this is what 2013’s Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag was about, of course. That was a different game, even if you also spent dozens of hours pirating as Kenway in that game, across missions and a map that’s been faithfully reintroduced and rebuilt for Resynced. The 2013 Black Flag was about you playing as an unnamed researcher newly hired in 2013 by Abstergo Entertainment, the video game development wing of the Templars’ evil-corp. In that game, you were assigned to use the Animus to dive into the genetic memories of Desmond Miles, a man who died in Assassin’s Creed III and who was descended from a long line of Assassins (and at least one Templar) whose adventures were featured across the prior AC games. In 2013’s Black Flag, your mission was to plumb the Edward Kenway experience for material that Abstergo could use in productions such as the motion picture Devils of the Caribbean, though the Templars had some ulterior motives for the assignment. Resynced is therefore not a remake of 2013’s Black Flag. It’s a sequel. It is a new game about a new exploration of Edward Kenway’s pirate/assassin journey, set 83 years after the framing sequences of the original game. Resynced provides a new narrative framework that, thanks to the concept of an AI that wants to alter historical memories, arrives with creative justification to tweak a now-classic 13-year old game. That makes Resynced, already a hot seller, a tantalizing hint of where Ubisoft could go with a line of Assassin’s Creed remakes. They could remake the first game, the Ezio games, even the recent ones set in ancient Egypt and Greece. And for each, they could not just modernize the graphics and controls but expand and alter their sequences of events to use them as reference points for a conflict set in the late 21st century, as rival factions try to weaponize historical memories. Game File is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, even when that work consists of ravings about Assassin’s Creed’s modern day plot, please consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Subscribe A story most players will probably miss If you didn’t know any of this, I’m not surprised. If you played the game and still didn’t catch it, I’m not a bit shocked. If Ubisoft has no plans to do more of this, I won’t fall down. Almost all of what I’ve described is optional and missable in Black Flag Resynced. I nearly missed it myself, as I planned for a breezy playthrough of an old Assassin’s Creed favorite. Instead, I found myself in a 40+ hour hunt for the “real” story, buried deeper in Resynced than any gold-filled chest. The story of 2096 is Resynced’s meta-story, told in two remote pockets of the game: 1) four optional playable “rifts” that players may find as they proceed through Resynced’s pirate fantasy , 2) in dozens of text files tucked three menus deep in the game’s barely-interactive Animus hub. Assassin’s Creed games have almost always had a meta-story about people in the 21st century (usually matching the game’s release year) and their connections to the main history portions you play. Those meta-stories have always been squeezed into the margins, though seldom as severely and as, uh, graphiaclly simple, as in recent games. Back in 2013, the modern-day exploits of you as an Abstergo Entertainment employee were prominent. They were portrayed via first-person portions that occasionally interrupted the third-person Kenway experience and could be explored for hours, complete with their own missions, side quests and puzzles. Resynced’s 2096 story—of Assassin “Watchers” vs. Abstergo/Tempar goons, of rogue AIs, of panicking scientists, of a woman wondering why her Animus-addicted husband is muttering about Mary Read (“What does he mean by Assassins?”), of a fight for the population’s hearts and minds via varying interpretations of Edward Kenway’s life choices—is mostly told through unlockable text files. The files are interesting. Offered via diary entries, intercepted chats and news reports, they present varied perspectives of a world in crisis. One set works as a narrative puzzle as it reveals the Rashomonic interpretations of a massacre, or was that a successful Assassin hit? Another favorite reveals the rising bitterness of a person who, through Edward Kenway’s journey, now shakes at the ignored evil around him. One surmises that Ubisoft is averse to putting the Assassin’s Creed’s meta-story in the way of more marketable pirate playgrounds and ninja/samurai epics. Instead, we get a better-than-nothing text-in-menus approach introduced in 2025’s Assassin’s Creed Shadows. In Shadows, players unlocked the meta-story text files largely via time-gated missions that called on the user to kill X number of enemy type Y, clear three enemy castles, re-win a three-phase fighting tournament, and other grinds. Time restrictions on accessing these missions and unlocking the files meant it could take players months to access the full story in-game. But even in the most hardcore Assassin’s Creed hangouts, the fanbase instead seemed to throw up their hands rather than grind to keep up. In Resynced, Ubisoft has shown some mercy, diminishing the amount of new text files that are tied to timed grinds. Now, most of the text-based 2096 lore are associated with “data file” collectibles that players can find in the world. That includes a batch of written entries that explain a historical link between the feudal Japan era in Shadows and the piracy adventures in Black Flag. Players who explore a lot will find dozens of data files, though the game does not appear to offer any in-game tracker for finding each one. You just need to keep looking for them. As of this writing, I have most of them, but not all. I can’t find any full guide for them online. And even Ubisoft’s optional $5 microtransaction that reveals lots of items in-game does not appear to reveal the locations of the text files (at least the official description omits them from its collectibles list). That’s not a huge bother, because tracking the data files down compelled me to re-explore the waves and islands of Black Flag. That was a thoroughly pleasant task to do for the first time in a dozen years. I expect many players, though, will be content to wait for the files to be reproduced in an online AC wiki somewhere, the easier to read on a web page. It may not seem enticing to play a video game in order to gradually unlock pages of text to read. Why not, you may ask, just read a book, where they put the pages in order? For one, they’ve not tucked this latest installment of Assassin’s Creed’s meta saga in a book. I also enjoy the unordered delivery, the dawning comprehension of a story about 2096’s desperate people and questionable tech, which I glimpsed first at its middle, then the end, then the front, then other moments in between1. I am also enamored with the idea of the Assassin’s Creed games I’ve previously played, including Black Flag, being repurposed for an information war. The ideas in Resynced’s meta-story, which builds off characters and ideas in Shadows’ chunks of text, are strong. The potential of where they could go with it is exciting. As for the pirate stuff? Looks great, controls pretty well, is fun to play and oh so speedy in terms of how much of a good time you can have with each sit-down. It never gets old to chase a new shanty page across a rooftop, bombard a fort with upgraded mortars or use a diving bell to explore sunken wrecks (hats off to the team at Ubisoft Barcelona that worked on the underwater portions in Resynced; that team is now facing layoffs, such is the misery of modern gaming and oft-troubled Ubisoft). New pirate missions in Resynced involving new ally characters are brief, dramatic and add more to Edward’s story, even if the gameplay perks they provide barely enhance the gameplay. A new denouement for high-class pirate Stede Bonnet is affecting; a new hunt for Blackbeard’s treasure is a welcome extra moment. A new epilogue to hunt down a pirate killer, on the other hand, over-complicates Kenway’s character. The ending credits remain my favorite of any game I’ve ever played. Black Flag provides great source material. The revisit is well-made and a great sign of what could be. It is offered in a different wrapper that hints at an opportunity for more interesting remakes to come, should Ubisoft choose to pursue such treasures—and as we brace to resist or comply with an Abstergo future. 1 The messages that Edward Kenway finds in bottles tell another out-of-order story, one about a man reckoning with the strange memories and voices he’s heard in his head since he was a boy. That tale was also in the 2013 game and develops into one of Black Flag’s most compelling character arcs. In Resynced, it has lost its climax, because the bottle story previously paid off in the halls of the first-person Abstergo Entertainment, which is exclusive to the older game. An altered resolution, written by the 2013 game’s lead writer is fine, doesn’t invalidate the 2013 version, but makes for an inferior final note.
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