Marcus Howard

All of Mattie Shay's photos are great, but this one is my favorite.

@OutboundTheGame @FutureGamesShow Hey @OutboundTheGame team, would you be interested in a partnership to feature your game for free at PAX East's Cozy Gaming Longue in 2 weeks?

Outbound is coming to @FutureGamesShow ! Pack up your van and join us at: 🔗 youtube.com/watch?v=iJQzdm…

#Esports Journalism is on life support. And greedy AI loving boards and CEOs are pulling the plug.

Not the news I was expecting, but as of today, my role at Esports Insider is at risk of redundancy. While this is extremely disappointing, it does mean that I am actively looking for a new place to call home, whether it's writing or a move to PR. RTs/leads appreciated!

All your favorite esports outlets are probably compromised at this point. AI written content, gray market gambling, Saudi money, choose-your-own-adventure. Maybe stop supporting the ones that no longer employ humans. Just a thought.

I read somewhere that people have accepted the Esports World Cup and put away the negative ideas associated with it being a Saudi Arabian government-backed veent. Maybe the public has, maybe it hasn't, but nothing has changed in the country as far as I know... Just one example: There were 356 executions in 2025 by the Kingdom, breaking 2024 records, according to Human Rights Watch (@hrw). Further, Saudi authorities executed Turki al-Jasser, a journalist "known for exposing corruption within the Saudi royal family," on June 14, 2025. That and other problems in the Kingdom are not something we can ignore. And before we do the whataboutism concerning America, I agree - it is now a challenge coming to America to take part in events, given the civil unrest and changing immigration/visa and enforcement policies that are now part of the daily news cycle. But the U.S. government does not own or operate any esports programs or competitions currently. hrw.org/news/2026/01/1…

People should be very worried that I am going to lose my ability to talk. This means no more calls, interviews, or meetings, and more time to do hours and hours of research and digging into stuff. My biggest limiter has always been time and i'm going to have a lot more of it on my hands. I'm also going to have a lot of unresolved feelings, which I'm going to need to channel into something constructive. My work will be my pressure valve. You might laugh at all this, but I promise you, some of you nefarious types won't be laughing when I turn over your rock.

BTW anyone thinking that PIF wouldn't own the majority of EA is just not operating with any common sense. Of course they would own a majority of it! Come on.

Some heads may roll both metaphorically and literally at some of these mega projects that are losing billions of dollars for the Saudi government.

I’m pricing Hytale as aggressively low as possible. I’m taking on a considerable personal risk after repurchasing the game and getting it ready for early access for a growing team of now 50 talented individuals. I said I was all in, and I am delivering on that promise. The game is unfinished and runs on a build from over four years ago. Charging more didn’t feel right. I don’t think the game is good yet. My team and I will push hard to make it good, then great. The vision is clear and progress is fast. I want as many players as possible to jump in. Times are tough in the current economy for a lot of you, and I want everyone to have a fair chance to be part of what comes next. Thank you for the support.

theres schools still trying to get kids to get an esports degree btw

@LeaderGrev The award is in a suitcase in an embassy somewhere...

@MonteCristo This was obvious 7-8 years ago tbh. Idk where all this money in esports came from around that time. It was clearly BS.

The best thing that can happen to esports is the consolidation of teams to finally eject all the grifters who scammed investors but have no real weight or acumen in the space. 75% of Western teams have no purpose except to serve as ATMs for overpaid pros.

“Should active Tier-1 pros be able to play at the collegiate level?” I think we’ll be debating that (rightfully so) for years and years as the support for collegiate grows. However FFing because “there’s no point in playing” will forever be the most cowardly opinion ever. “If he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.”

i fucking hate canadian companies. all of them. enthusiast and vertical. ur letting ppl go and writing a cheery fake ass laid off email. fuck u canada. fuck every startup and esports org in canada.

I talk a lot of smack, but this is genuinely concerning for all of esports. What happens when they fail and these states get burned. It is going to hurt the whole ecosystem and send these states back years. These rates are unacceptable. #playvsnever

My Latest: Inside ESL’s Latest Town Hall Meeting The Zoom meeting featured no Q&A session but assured employees "the worst is over." Link in reply:

Every time an org like Luminosity flops like this, doesn’t just screw the content creators, it scares off investors and makes everyone question if esports is even a sustainable industry. The trust we lose here sets the whole industry back, and yes, even the ones doing it right.

A “blind purchase” does not exempt you from the creditor’s claims. You purchased it. It’s now your job to pay who you owe. Next time pay attention.

Having run an esports org in the past, I’ve seen how this kind of thing happens behind the scenes more times than I’d like to admit. So let me explain… When Vertiqal says they bought Luminosity’s media business “in a blind process from creditors,” that means Enthusiast’s debt got called in and Vertiqal scooped up the assets, not the stable operation. It’s like buying a house mid-foreclosure: you get the keys, but the lights are off and the bills are stacked. Right now, Vertiqal’s probably trying to untangle messy contracts, unpaid obligations, and a business model that was already bleeding. So no, the creators haven’t been paid, not because they’re being ignored, but because the company they signed with doesn’t technically exist anymore in its original form. The new owners clearly didn’t realize the size of the hole they jumped into. That’s just inexperience. Esports is a money pit when it’s run like a media startup instead of a competitive ecosystem. I get the frustration. Creators deserve to be paid period. But Vertiqal didn’t build the problem, they inherited a financial mess from a company that had already overextended itself trying to be “the esports version of Disney.” The next few weeks are going to show if they can stabilize or if this is just another name slapped on a brand that’s been gutted one too many times.