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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.
Atlanta Braves Announce Notable Austin Riley Change Before Padres Series
The Atlanta Braves are set to begin a new series in MLB. They defeated the Texas Rangers in a three-game weekend set to ensure their NL East lead stays put at three games. Now, the Braves will take on the San Diego Padres for a four-game series (at home). Before the Padres series, Atlanta released […] The post Atlanta Braves Announce Notable Austin Riley Change Before Padres Series appeared first on HEAVY.
14 Amazing Xbox 360 Games Are On Sale For Dirt Cheap
The Witcher 2 and more are discounted to just a few bucks digitally
Sales Data Paints a Very Grim Picture for Physical PS5 Games in the USA, UK
Just 7 PS5 games sell over 100k boxed copies
Sales Data Paints a Very Grim Picture for Physical PS5 Games in the USA
Just 7 PS5 games sell over 100K boxed copies
CAITLIN CLARK, PAIGE BUECKERS, AND OLIVIA MILES HEADLINE USA SPORTS’ THREE WNBA GAMES ON USA NETWORK THIS WEEK, BEGINNING TONIGHT WITH LYNX-STORM AT 10 P.M. ET
A global media and technology company.
'Entertainment center' with bowling, arcade, restaurant, bar planned for southeast Mahomet
A 17,000-square-foot entertainment center, planned for Tabeling Development's Prairieview Commons subdivision, will include bowling, arcade games, a sports bar and a full-service restaurant.
'Entertainment center' with bowling, arcade, restaurant and bar planned for southeast Mahomet
A 17,000-square-foot entertainment center, planned for lots B and C of Tabeling Development's Prairieview subdivision, will include bowling, arcade games, a sports bar and a full-service restaurant.
Our PlayStation price analysis shows why physical games still matter
Used discs are often cheaper than even deep digital discounts.
Cowboys countdown to kickoff: Top 100 iconic games
We countdown 100 days until kickoff with a series of the most iconic games in Cowboys history. Today is Day 55
Pokémon Winds And Waves: Pokédex Numbers And More Leaks
The Switch 2 RPGs are still a year away, but fans have been gossiping about what the new Pokémon games may entail
Columbus Bars to Visit for Live Music, Duckpin Bowling and More
These nine bars offer great drinks and better entertainment, from music to arcade games and more.
XBOX Game Pass Losing 8 More Games in July
The latest update has confirmed that 8 more games will be removed from the XBOX Game Pass library in July 2026.
‘I was a functioning alcoholic’: Cliff Bleszinski opens up about addiction, recovery, and his hope to return to games
The Gears of War designer says his drinking led to a seizure and he’s now focused on his health…
Final Fantasy X gets a 25th anniversary trailer ahead of X/X-2 HD Remaster coming to Switch 2 this week
Owners of the Switch version won’t be able to update to the Switch 2 port…
"The Gears of War trilogy was largely developed hungover by me" - Cliff Bleszinski reckons with a difficult past while plotting a return to games and a brighter future
Cliff Bleszkinski, the designer instrumental in the creation of Gears of War - the face of the series for three games -…
Braves vs. Rangers series recap: Bats embiggened after Break
June was a bad offensive month for the Braves. The first 12 games of July were a mixed bag: some good outputs, but questionable inputs. Still, it got the Braves to a 6-6 record. Then the All-Star Break came and went, and the Braves started the “second half” with a home series against the Rangers. […]
Xbox Says More Exclusives Are Coming But Tells Players Not to 'Overly Fixate on Single-Player' Games
Executives at Xbox have once again attempted to clarify the company's approach to exclusives, promising that "Gears of War: E-Day and Clockwork Revolution are not the only titles" it's planning.
Xbox Studio Leaders Reportedly Detest Game Pass, Arguing it Destroyed the Value of Their $40+ Games Now Available for Pennies
Xbox studio heads reportedly detest Game Pass, arguing it devalued their games by making them available for pennies through the subscription.
'It Isn't Something Carved in Stone': Xbox Still Unclear on Future PS5 Ports
Single player games could still come to Sony's console
2026 World Cup: How to watch all of today's games, Sunday, July 19 match schedule, free streaming info, and more
Poll: Favorite World Cup Fans
After Sunday’s World Cup final between Argentina and Spain, it’s likely that soccer will go back to being a secondary sport here in the United States. Sure, there will be excitement in 2027 for the Women’s World Cup, but that’s happening in Brazil. There will be coverage of the U.S. women’s team, but not nearly as much interest in games not involving the USWNT.
Today on Pinstripe Alley
It’s all hands on deck for two games worth of Yankees/Dodgers today.
Josh Allen Wants To Be An Olympian In 2028
The Buffalo Bills quarterback eyes a 2028 gold medal as flag football joins the Los Angeles Games, fulfilling a lifelong dream of representing his country on stage.
Texas Southern releases 2026 football schedule amid home venue changes
Texas Southern University has released its 2026 football schedule, confirming five home games at W.W. Thorne Stadium
Purce: Gotham FC Comeback vs. Seattle 'Why You Love Sports'
Gotham FC winger Midge Purce puts postgame thoughts to one of the club's most thrilling games in its history, a 3-2 comeback win over Seattle on a stormy Saturday in Manhattan.
5 Classic PS1 Games That Are Unplayable Today
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Cowboys countdown to kickoff: Top 100 iconic games
We countdown 100 days until kickoff with a series of the most iconic games in Cowboys history. Today is Day 57
Saturday Bantering: Little And Estrada Called Up
We made it to another weekend. There are only ten of these weekends left this season Yesterday’s game was the latest in a series of terrible games this year. I’m wondering if they can continue to go with Spencer Miles one of five starts. But then, I don’t know who the next choice is. And […]
Orioles win 3-2 over Astros
The Rangers had won eight of their last 10 games against left-handed starters, but they were over-matched against Sale.
Chris Sale dominates with 7 shutout innings as the Braves rout the Rangers 15-1
The Rangers had won eight of their last 10 games against left-handed starters, but they were over-matched against Sale.
The Influencer Whose Friendship With Trump Made Her a Sports Star
Emily Austin has leveraged her political connections for special access to cover World Cup games and UFC fights.
LSU Football Schedule: Tigers lock in future nonconference games
LSU football added four nonconference games to its future schedules, including the renewal of an old rivalry.
Will Smith expected to miss at least another month
Either Saturday or Sunday, whenever Dalton Rushing starts behind the plate again, he will pass Will Smith for the Dodgers lead in innings caught this season. Rushing has started 45 games and caught 389 1/3 innings this season. Smith, who started 44 games, is at 393 innings. Smith was a starter on three championship teams […]
Atlanta Falcons 2026 Opponent Preview: Week 6 vs. Chicago Bears
The Atlanta Falcons have a tough stretch of games early in the year.
ESPN announces NHL opening night tripleheader
The 2026-27 NHL season begins on Tuesday, September 29, and ESPN will celebrate the festivities with an opening night tripleheader. ESPN recently announced that the network will televise three NHL games on opening night, beginning with the banner-raising ceremony for the defending champion Carolina Hurricanes. The Hurricanes will host the Florida Panthers at 5 p.m.…
Jennifer English Steps Away From Tides of Annihilation Role Due to Health Concerns
English actress Jennifer English is stepping away from her role as the protagonist in Eclipse Glow Games’ Tides of Annihilation due to health issues.
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…
Final Fantasy Resonance Trailer Imagines A World Without Final Fantasy 7 Changing Everything
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Broncos Could Be Better While Winning Fewer Games
The Denver Broncos have a brutal early schedule and QB health issues, and this over/under number reflects that.
Knuckle hop and two-foot high kick: the Olympics for Alaska Natives breathe new life into ancient games
The annual World Eskimo Indian Olympics draw hundreds of Indigenous athletes to partake in traditional games and celebrate their heritage
Jayden Daniels Makes His Feelings on Chiefs’ Patrick Mahomes Clear
After a memorable rookie season that helped lead the Washington Commanders to the NFC Championship Game, Jayden Daniels’ sophomore campaign didn’t go as planned.Washington finished 5-12, and injuries limited Daniels to just seven games.Despite missing most of the season, Daniels became one of the four quarterbacks featured on Season 3 of Netflix’s Quarterback, which followed […] The post Jayden Daniels Makes His Feelings on Chiefs’ Patrick Mahomes Clear appeared first on HEAVY.
Sports without politics is a fantasy and the World Cup proves it
From ancient Greece to Nazi Germany, sport and politics have long been intertwined. Nevertheless, we still imagine that international sport can be kept above the fray and serve as a neutral arena where nations compete on merit alone. In this article, diplomacy scholar Geoffrey Allen Pigman argues the 2026 FIFA World Cup shows this is a dangerous illusion. When international sport is left entirely to revenue-maximizing private bodies like FIFA, it doesn't escape politics, but rather surrenders to its worst expressions. With the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics fast approaching, the IOC must decide whether to learn that lesson or repeat the same mistakes. The largest and most lucrative FIFA World Cup ever draws toward its climactic conclusion amidst a swirl of controversy. Team members, staff, fans, and spectators have been denied their right to enter the United States to participate, and US President Donald Trump intervened with FIFA boss Gianni Infantino to overturn a referee’s call that Trump believed disadvantaged the US national team. It is a moment to step back and reflect on what the purposes of international sport mega-events like the World Cup, and international sport more broadly, are, and what they should be. Does international sport serve public purposes? Is there a public interest? Or is it primarily a private endeavor organized by commercial enterprises to entertain the global public (and generate profit in the process), which is occasionally used by governments and leaders for raisons d’etat? Central to the idea of sport is the principle of fair play, which in the international context demands that games be free from political interference. However, it is impossible to separate sport from politics, all claims to the contrary notwithstanding. The most positive political use of international sport through the millennia has been to facilitate diplomacy. The use of international sport for diplomatic objectives has existed since at least the time of the ancient Olympic Games, around which was instituted the custom of the Ekecheiria, or Olympic Truce, between participating states to facilitate fair competition and diplomatic achievements by ensuring that participants could travel safely to the Olympiad. In his seminal work On Diplomacy (1987), diplomacy scholar James Der Derian characterized the objectives of diplomacy as overcoming alienation and mediating estrangement between governments and between peoples. One increasingly important diplomatic tool in the technology-infused media environment over the past century has been public diplomacy, under which governments and non-state diplomatic actors (e.g. transnational corporations) communicate to global publics about their international policy objectives and to shape their global brand image. Political scientist Michał Kobierecki, in his important book Sports Diplomacy (2020), views sports diplomacy as falling broadly within the ambit of public diplomacy, as international sport intimately involves the participation of global publics as spectators and consumers of global media. Diplomacy scholar Stuart Murray and this author, in a 2013 article, distinguish between international sport used for diplomatic purposes and international sport-as-diplomacy, which encompasses the range of diplomacy that occurs as teams and competitors, spectators and fans, and government officials all converge for international sporting events like the Olympic Games and FIFA World Cup. Diplomacy scholar H.E. Chehabi, in a 2001 article on US-Iran sports diplomacy, describes the interaction between spectators and fans at international sporting events as “people-to-people diplomacy,” in which relationships develop independently of governments and their objectives. Diplomacy by the aforementioned definitions is often unsuccessful. Moreover, all too often the tools of diplomacy may be employed by governments and other actors to thwart or oppose the objectives of diplomacy as characterized by Der Derian. Governments routinely use the tools of public diplomacy to disseminate propaganda, spreading misinformation in the attempt to deceive global publics about their objectives and to create misleading impressions about their brand identity. Within sports diplomacy, the term “sportswashing” has been coined recently to describe how governments invest in and promote international sport to create positive global public impressions of their nations and, in doing so, to distract the global public from their deficient records in areas such as human rights and democratic governance. Murray, in his 2018 book Sports Diplomacy: Origins, Theory and Practice, introduces the concept of sports anti-diplomacy, wherein governments intentionally use international sport to advance aggressive and nationalistic objectives. Obvious historical examples include Hitler’s use of the 1936 Berlin Olympics to glorify his Third Reich and the 1969 El Salvador-Honduras football “war.” SUGGESTED READING The beautiful game made ugly By Emily Ryall FIFA argues that it is and seeks to be apolitical in its stewardship of international Association Football (soccer). FIFA policies governing bids to host the World Cup require uninhibited and non-discriminatory access for players, team staff, and spectators of all participating countries to host nations and venues. It became clear soon after Trump returned to power in the United States in January 2025 that Trump’s political intentions and objectives to limit non-US citizens from living and working in the United States and, in numerous cases, even visiting the country, would collide with FIFA’s host nation policies. Beginning soon after the start of the second Trump administration, US federal authorities imposed restrictions on entry to the United States of citizens of between 20 and 40 countries for any purpose, with only limited exceptions. Federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) began arresting non-US citizens in the United States, including persons with and without legal status, holding them in jails, concentration camps, and other detention facilities until they were deported to their home or third countries, where they faced substantive risks to their personal safety. FIFA boss Gianni Infantino, in an effort to ensure the most successful and lucrative World Cup in history, engaged diplomatically with President Trump in an attempt to facilitate entry to the US for World Cup participants. Infantino did all in his power to ingratiate himself with Trump, to the extent of creating a FIFA “Peace Prize,” which he awarded to Trump in December 2025 at a ceremony in the then Trump-controlled John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC, on the occasion of the World Cup draw. The prize was an ersatz consolation for someone who aspired in vain to win the rather more prestigious and well-known Nobel Peace Prize. And in the run-up to the World Cup, conditions became worse. In February 2026, Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu launched a war of aggression against Iran, illegal under international law, under the false pretence that Iran’s government was preparing to attack the United States and Israel. During the US aerial bombardment of Iran, US planes bombed Azadi Stadium, the facility where Iran’s national football team trained. As the 2026 FIFA World Cup began, it was clear that Infantino’s efforts had been for naught: the Trump administration would not adhere to FIFA policies governing access to World Cup host nations. World Cup referee Omar Artan, a citizen of Somalia, was denied a US visa to enter the United States to participate in the World Cup. Trump’s government only granted US visas to Iran’s football team ten days before they were scheduled to arrive for the tournament. Numerous members of the support staff for Iran’s team were denied US visas. Iran’s team, which had been scheduled to train in Arizona, was directed to shift its training site to Tijuana, Mexico, notwithstanding that all three of their group stage matches took place at US venues. The US Department of Homeland Security only permitted the Iranian team to enter the US on the day before each scheduled match and then to return to Mexico immediately after playing. Members of Iraq’s and Switzerland’s football teams were delayed for hours by US officials at the US border, and an Iraqi team photographer was refused entry. Spectators and fans from Haïti and Iran were denied entry to the United States altogether. A large number of fans from a range of countries had their applications for US visas rejected. There were multiple off-ramps through which participants could have avoided the negative consequences of Trump’s decisions for the 2026 World Cup. Once it was clear that the Trump government intended to violate the established expectations for World Cup hosts, FIFA could have shifted the matches scheduled to take place in the United States to Mexico and Canada. The three nations were already designated as co-hosts, and host cities and venues had been selected. Once it was clear that FIFA, governed by FIFA boss Gianni Infantino’s dependent and dysfunctional relationship with Trump, would never consider this option on its own, it fell to the national football federations to act. The national federations, particularly some combination of federations of the leading contenders (France, Spain, Brazil, Argentina, Morocco, England, Germany, etc.), could have refused to participate under the US-imposed conditions or, at the least, demanded an ironclad agreement with the Trump government that FIFA policies on access would be respected. ___ International sport is inextricably entangled with diplomacy of different sorts, for good or ill, it cannot be considered to be in the purely private realm and left to revenue-maximizing private actors. ___ Why did neither FIFA nor the national football federations act to protect the interests of players, team staff, referees, fans, and spectators? In essence, the relentless engines of capitalism prevailed over norm observance, ethics, and fair play. The revenue interests of FIFA, sponsors, global media, and host cities won out. FIFA’s managers viewed hosting another World Cup principally in the United States as a veritable pot of gold for FIFA and its collaborators. FIFA has estimated its own revenue over the 2023-26 budget cycle, which includes the 2026 World Cup, at $13 billion, revised up from an initial projection of $11 billion, and 72% higher than the previous revenue cycle. Of that total, FIFA is estimated to have generated $8.9 billion from the Cup itself in revenue from TV rights ($3.92 billion), sponsorships ($2.69 billion), ticket sales ($3.1 billion), licensing rights, and other sources. A joint study by FIFA and the World Trade Organization estimates that the World Cup will contribute over $40 billion to global GDP, including nearly $14 billion in direct visitor spending in the three host countries (but principally in the United States, which hosted the lion’s share of the matches). The FIFA World Cup is now reportedly “the single most lucrative recurring commercial property in global sport.” And yet, notwithstanding the Trump government’s uses of the World Cup for sports anti-diplomacy, and the climate of anxiety that this created for participants and spectators, diplomacy that did not depend upon governments was able to thrive at the World Cup. Examples of successful people-to-people diplomacy were legion, as citizens of towns and cities across the States, as well as in Mexico and Canada, welcomed team members, their families and supporters, to training sites across North America. Fans of different teams joined together in person in stadiums for matches, at watch parties and bars, and at welcome events sponsored by host cities. The joy and camaraderie shared between the citizenry of Boston and Scotland’s “Tartan Army” of fans is but one example of how the “Beautiful Game” brings people together. Friendships forged across continents are likely to endure well beyond the Cup final. Even those achievements cannot be seen as unalloyed, however. As South African football fan Byron Pillay commented to Al Jazeera, “Football is called the Beautiful Game for a reason, for its ability to unite people. But it’s hard to believe in that magic with the politics and war rhetoric off the field of play, especially when one of the tournament hosts is central to that.” Ultimately, the experience of the 2026 FIFA World Cup illustrates that, as international sport is inextricably entangled with diplomacy of different sorts, for good or ill, it cannot be considered to be in the purely private realm and left to revenue-maximizing private actors. As long as there is the possibility of diplomatic progress in mediating estrangement between governments or between peoples, there is a broad and overarching public interest in international sport. Likewise, as it would be difficult to put on an international sport mega-event without international sporting organizations like FIFA and the International Olympic Committee (IOC), global media firms, and companies purchasing sponsorships, public and private interests in international sport must coexist, most likely somewhere on a shifting spectrum between partnership and rivalry or cross purposes. As the World Cup wraps up, the IOC needs to consider its lessons before the scheduled 2028 Los Angeles Olympics if they want to avoid a media-hyped Trump version of the 1936 Berlin Olympiad. The IOC and the National Olympic Committees need to set conditions on and make demands of Trump’s government with clearly articulated consequences for non-compliance, up to and including cancellation of the Games. Time is running out for the IOC, as unlike with the FIFA World Cup, there is no at-the-ready alternate venue for Los Angeles.
I Think ESPN's FPI Is Too Low on Oklahoma State
ESPN's Football Power Index isn't as high on Oklahoma State as I am. The Cowboys are underdogs in several key Big 12 games, but I think the model is underrating a team with 87 newcomers, Drew Mestemaker and Caleb Hawkins. This isn't the same team that went 1-11 a year ago.
GameStop CEO Ryan Cohen Insists Sony Killing Physical Discs 'Doesn't Matter at All' Because Video Game Sales Make Up So Little of His Business
GameStop CEO Ryan Cohen has sparked a fiery debate in the gaming community after remarking that sales of physical games are “totally irrelevant" to his business.
GameStop CEO Says Games Are "Irrelevant" To Company
In a new interview, GameStop CEO Ryan Cohen says that games and software are "irrelevant" to the company's business.
GameStop CEO Says Physical Games Don't Matter
Ryan Cohen also claims that if GameStop and eBay merged it could create a $1 trillion business
Battlefield 6 Is Getting A Feature Not Seen In 21 Years And A Top Gun Crossover
Highway to the Battlefield zone.
GameStop CEO Says Physical Video-Game Sales Are ‘Irrelevant’ to Business
GameStop Corp. Chief Executive Officer Ryan Cohen dismissed concerns about the demise of physical discs for video games, insisting that those sales make up a small part of the company’s overall business and reiterating that his long-term strategy is to focus on gaming collectables and purchasing e-commerce giant eBay Inc.
EA Is Salivating At The Prospect Of Loading Games Up With Ads
The last un-monetized frontier of gaming: virtual billboards
Irate PlayStation Fans Want You to Buy Games Anywhere But PS5
Disc debacle is really beginning to bite
GTA 6 has ‘the strongest pre-order campaign on record’, is on track to sell 37-51 million in week one, analytics firm says
Newzoo estimates around $260 million was spent during the first week of pre-orders…
One of Us gives San Diego women's sports fans a home
Fans won't have to fight to get women's games on TVs.
Winter Sports Club responds to Nordic combined’s removal from Olympics
In a gut-punch to the Steamboat Springs Nordic combined community, the sport has been removed from the Alpes 2030 Winter Olympic games in France. Nordic combined has long been a bread-and-butter sport for the Steamboat...
World Cup reader Q&A: post your questions for Guardian sports reporter Nick Ames now
After 102 games we know that 2026 World Cup final will be between Spain and Argentina in New Jersey on Sunday. Our football correspondant Nick Ames has been in the US and Mexico all tournament – post your questions for him now
What to Stream: 'Heartstopper Forever,' 'Lucky' and Steve Lacy
A new album from Steve Lacy and the conclusion of the “Heartstopper” series are some of the new television, films, music and games headed to a device near you.
Mario Tennis Fever Free 'Super Mario Galaxy' Update Out Now, Here Are The Full Patch Notes
Including a new court, GameShare and much more
Google and Epic Abandon Settlement, Clearing the Way for Rival Android App Stores
Google and Epic Games this week withdrew their joint settlement agreement after it became clear the court was unlikely to allow it. With the settlement out, Google is bound by a permanent injunction issued in October 2024 requiring it to allow alternative app stores on Android devices. In a court filing [PDF], Google said that it plans to begin supporting alternative app stores on July 22. In a statement to The Verge, Google said it decided to withdraw the motion to avoid a prolonged legal fight.
PlayStation's Summer Sale Includes A Ton Of PS5 Games That Cost $15 Or Less
A lot of Resident Evil, Mortal Kombat, and Star Wars games are on sale for less than $20
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.
Google is opening the floodgates to third-party app stores on Android next week
The final sticking point in the long-running Google vs Epic Games lawsuit is coming to an end, as Google is...
Could any Giant factor into the awards races?
With 66 games left, could some of the improving Giants become awards contenders?
NFL QB courted for Cowboys coaching staff announces sudden retirement
Former Florida and West Virginia quarterback Will Grier, 31, retired from the NFL. He appeared in 2 games, both in 2019.
Wildfire smoke and bad air quality threatens sports: Yankees, Blue Jays, World Cup Final, Phillies-Mets and more games to watch closely
The haze is noticeable in a number of cities.
PS Plus Extra Games July 2026: Avatar, Rise Of The Ronin, And Dying Light
Also Citizen Sleeper 2 is coming to PlayStation's Extra
July’s PS Plus Game Catalog titles include Rise of the Ronin and Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora
Indigo Prophecy / Fahrenheit is also one of two Classics Catalog titles this month…
PlayStation Plus reveals 9 more free games for July 2026
Your PlayStation Plus Extra and Premium games have been announced, and here's when you can play them.
Rangers games to stream on new platform Bzzr
The Texas Rangers and Rangers Sports Network presented by Progressive (RSN) on Wednesday announced BZZR (pronounced ‘buzzer’), the first verified all-sports digital and content platform, as the new direct-to-consumer distributor for the club’s televised game broadcasts. The broadcasts will no longer be available on former provider Victory+, effective immediately. “When
Top 10 Mountain West Football Games of the Divisional Era
With the Mountain West changing, I thought it would be fun to go back and highlight the best players, games, and teams since the last phase of conference realignment 13 years ago. Previously, I’ve covered Top 10 football players, Top 10 basketball players, Top 10 Football Teams, and Top 10 Basketball Teams. Today’s list covers […]
League of Legends patch 26.14 is rolling out optional parental tools to enhance "child safety"
League of Legends patch 26.14 goes live on July 15, rolling out new ways for parents to have control over their kid's Riot Games accounts.
Skullgirls Dev Accused Of Misconduct Working On Avatar Fighter
Paramount confirmed that the former Skullgirls and Indivisible CEO 'holds a position as an individual contributor' on its upcoming game
Nvidia’s Jensen Huang reunites with Sega exec who saved the company with $5M investment
Sega and the world’s richest company celebrated a new partnership in Tokyo…
Dead Space series co-creator and industry veteran Glen Schofield announces his retirement in emotional video
Glen Schofield, whose name should be familiar to fans of the many major games he's helped create, is ending an almost four decade run in the games industry.
NVIDIA says SEGA games are coming to RTX Spark PCs, including Virtua Fighter Crossroads
NVIDIA says SEGA games are coming to RTX Spark PCs, with Virtua Fighter Crossroads named in the announcement. The other titles have not been detailed.
SEGA’s “Legendary” Games Are Coming To NVIDIA RTX Spark 30 Years After NV1 Powered The First Virtua Fighter on PC
NVIDIA & SEGA are celebrating 30 years of collaboration, as SEGA's "Legendary" gaming titles are announced for RTX Spark PCs.
Hide and Sneak with Zorua in Pokémon Pokopia
See if you can out-sleuth the competition and earn special prizes.
2026 FIFA World Cup Schedule: Bracket, matches, dates, locations, group tables, results, how to watch
The full schedule with dates, times and stadiums for all 104 games at the 2026 World Cup.
PlayStation Store’s Summer Sale starts July 15 with up to 75% off hundreds of games
Sony’s PlayStation Store Summer Sale begins July 15 with discounts of up to 75% across hundreds of PS5, PS4, and PS VR2 games.
All-Star Game 2026, Preview and Discussion
The American and National League’s best, er, most available square off in Philadelphia on Tuesday. Yes, it’s All-Star week, which means tonight is the All-Star game, which means this is the final MLB-endorsed event until games restart on Friday. For some, especially Mariners fans, that might sound like a blessing. Those fans will be heartened […]
Glen Schofield Announces Retirement in Emotional Video: 'This is an Amazing Industry'
Glen Schofield has retired from making games after a whopping 35 years in the industry. He announced this with an emotional video.
Football Extra: Readers' World Cup memorabilia
Meet 60 year old World Cup Willy. In 1966 I lived near Wembley Stadium and went to many games there including the final. He's definitely showing his age (as am I!
Cowboys countdown to kickoff: Top 100 iconic games
We countdown 100 days until kickoff with a series of the most iconic games in Cowboys history. Today is Day 61
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.
Bend-based entertainment business in 2026 Jefferson County Fair & Rodeo, replacing carnival
The Jefferson County Fair & Rodeo will have a carnival after all. The 541 Bounce Experience will offer waterslides, bounce houses, carnival games, obstacle courses and “more daring, interactive games” […]
World Cup predictions: Expert picks for Argentina-England, Spain-France
The 2026 World Cup semifinals are set to kick off with Spain vs. France and Argentina vs. England. Here are expert picks and predictions for the games
Iconic Boston pub opens massive entertainment venue, outdoor bar on Cape Cod
Cape Cod has a new spot for frozen cocktails, live music and lawn games — and one of Boston’s best Irish pubs is behind it.
PS5 Emulator Can Now Boot Up GTA V's Menus & Some 3D Games
A few different PS5 emulator teams seem more motivated than ever
AI Made Cloning Games Easier Than Ever
Vibecoding has made it possible to create a cheap rip off of a video game in just a few hours.
Former Xbox Dev Compulsion Games Shares Open Letter To 'Studios Across The Industry'
South of Midnight dev is back in business
Former Epic Games VP Steve Allison appointed chief business officer at Saber Interactive
"It's an honour to join Matt and the team as Saber enters this transformative period," says Allison
Days after leaving Xbox, South of Midnight developer Compulsion Games broadcasts that it's looking for work
Life after Xbox begins. A blessing or a curse?
MLB games today: Schedule, times, how to watch for July 14
Here's the full MLB schedule, for July 14, including game times, TV channels, scores and how to stream.
Seahawks Face $51 Million Rashid Shaheed Question Before Camp
Rashid Shaheed already changed games for Seattle on special teams. His next Seahawks challenge could be becoming a consistent offensive weapon. The post Seahawks Face $51 Million Rashid Shaheed Question Before Camp appeared first on HEAVY.
Inspired Entertainment Goes Live Across Alberta's Newly Regulated iGaming Market
NEW YORK, July 13, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Inspired Entertainment, Inc. ("Inspired" or the "Company") (NASDAQ: INSE), a leading B2B provider of gaming content, systems and solutions, today announced that its online gaming content is now live across multiple operators following the official launch of Alberta's newly regulated competitive iGaming market. Inspired's portfolio of online slot games is available to players through a broad range of operators, including bet365, BetRivers, DraftKings, G
Athletics fire pitching coach Scott Emerson after entering All-Star break with 3-17 record in past 20 games
Cowboys countdown to kickoff: Top 100 iconic games
We countdown 100 days until kickoff with a series of the most iconic games in Cowboys history. Today is Day 62