Podcasts about Major League Gaming

TIME STAMP INFO: 00:00:00 Intros 00:06:00 IF Microsoft Acquires Activision, They WIll Gain Control of Major League Gaming, Could This and Call Of Duty Turn Players Towards The Xbox Platform? 00:28:00 Halo Is A Brand That Is Slowing Turning Around With An AMAZING Season 3 Of Halo Infinite, but Fans Are Still Turning Away From The Game, Could The "Rumored" Battle Royale By Certain Affinity Bring Players BACK? 01:10:00 Panel Outros and Special Message to the community! --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/craig-ravitch/support

Welcome to Open Bar Podcast! In this episode, our special guest Chrissy (@CokeBottleChrissyyy) joins us for Happy Hour to talk about her innovative technology company, Rollin Racks Styling Agency. Chrissy shares how Rollin Racks is disrupting the traditional styling industry by providing a unique and convenient styling service that comes to the client's location. From personal shopping to wardrobe organization and style consultations, Rollin Racks offers a personalized experience that has earned them clients from NFL , Major League Gaming , Grammys and Oscars! Don't miss this engaging conversation as we delve into the world of fashion and technology with Chrissy. Follow Rollin Racks @RollinRacks and Chrissy @CokeBottleChrissyyy for more updates. And don't forget to follow Nikki on Instagram @therealnikkienecole and C4 @ShotByC4_Trapkitchen. Stay connected with us on Instagram @Openbarpodcast_ and on Facebook. For any questions or if you want to be a featured guest on our next episode, email us at Bartalk@OpenBarPodcast.com. Don't forget to like, share, and subscribe to our channel to stay up-to-date with our latest episodes. Thanks for tuning in! --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/open-bar-podcast9/messageSupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/bar-talk-at-open-bar-podcast/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

What do Nike, Starbucks, reddit, and AAA gaming studio 12am have in common?They all use Polygon to build in web3.Polygon Studios CEO Ryan Wyatt joined Brian Friel to discuss crypto's mainstream adoption and the future of web3 gaming on Episode 15 of The Zeitgeist.Show Notes:01:36 -  Background / How he started working at Polygon?05:09  - Why Polygon and web 3.0 gaming?11:29 - Partnerships16:58 - The state of web 3.0 gaming today20:28 The future of web 3.0 gaming22:29 How will wallets evolve in the space24:35 -  A builder he admires Full Transcript:Brian (00:06):Hey everyone, and welcome to the Zeitgeist, the show where we highlight the founders, developers, and designers who are pushing the Web 3.0 space forward. I'm Brian Friel, developer relationship fan, and I'm thrilled to announce my guest, Ryan Wyatt, the CEO of Polygon Studios. Polygon is a platform for scaling and building decentralized blockchain apps on Ethereum. Polygon Studios specifically is the business team working to help advance the Polygon ecosystem across its various products. Ryan, welcome to the show.Ryan (00:35):Dude, you've got a perfect podcast voice. Let me tell you, man.Brian (00:39):Thank you. It's a good thing no one can see my face. It's a voice for podcasting, but we'll keep it at that.Ryan (00:44):Yeah, that's fair. That's all that matters. That's all that matters. Thanks for having me.Brian (00:48):Yeah. Hey, we're really excited. By the time that this episode's live, the announcement will be out that Phantom and Polygon are joining forces and bringing the Phantom experience to the EVM ecosystem. We couldn't be more thrilled to be working with you guys.Ryan (01:01):Yeah, we're super excited. Long time coming. Glad the day has finally arrived. We can share it with everybody. You can't see it, but I'm wearing my Phantom shirt, so I'm fully celebrating the moment.Brian (01:12):I love it. And we definitely got some more of those Phantom shirts in stock. We can be giving it out to all the Polygon community.Ryan (01:19):That's right, man.Brian (01:19):Getting the merch going.Ryan (01:20):Send them my way.Brian (01:20):Hey, well, you know, you have a really interesting background. I really want to dig into that before we get started on everything that's in what we can be teaming up together across Polygon and Phantom. But for the uninitiated, can you tell us a little bit about yourself and how you became to be working at Polygon?Ryan (01:36):Yeah, so my whole background was really in the creator economy all the way back to my days in college. So I played games competitively. I commentated tournaments for Major League Gaming. I ran the online tournament infrastructure for Major League Gaming, 2008, 2009. Ultimately went to Machinima, which was a really early gaming company on YouTube, and then went to YouTube to start the gaming vertical where I was the head of gaming for almost eight years at YouTube. And gaming is the second largest vertical for YouTube. It's got 350 million logged in users. It generates billions of dollars for the platform. So a really fun time that I had of 12, 13, 14 years in the creator economy. Last year in 2021, I really started getting into angel investing of Web 3.0 projects. And the way that I actually got connected into Web 3.0 projects was just really game developers that I really believed in that had a high degree of talent that were going over and they were making at the time, calling blockchain based games.(02:33):And I just became very enamored and fascinated with the concept of what can you do when you really own your digital items and how big of a business that's becoming. And so as I spent more time in that space while still at YouTube, I got really excited about what can I do to jump in full time. And I came to Polygon and I thought I really like Polygon for a couple key reasons. First and foremost, I was already sold on Ethereum where that was going to be a base layer for developers and users, and not to say that other alt ones don't have a place in the world. Ethereum had kind of already checked that box that they'd been able to gravitate a lot of users and developers. And clearly there was this conundrum that existed at Ethereum of the inability to let it scale.(03:12):And so I started focusing on protocols and companies that were really looking at this idea of how do you scale Ethereum? And landed on Polygon because I had liked their ZK tech acquisitions that they had done. They spent about a billion dollars acquiring three different ZK companies. I looked at that as like, okay, that's a real scaling L2 future for this platform.(03:35):And I thought I could come in given that I worked at a platform like YouTube, saw a lot of verticals, saw what it's like to scale a company, and knew Web 3.0 and Web 2.0 really. Well, I thought I was in a unique position to come into the company and help out. And so I joined Polygon Studios in January of this year. I lead our whole business team. So if you can think of Polygon as there's a product and engineering team that's focusing on ID and our different ZK solutions, our POS chain, avail, our super nets, a lot of work going into our product efforts across the board over there. Everything else kind of sits under my camp of everything from BD to partnerships to marketing, finance, legal, compliance, a lot of these different other business areas. And so it's been an awesome opportunity. I've really enjoyed being here and Polygon had such a tremendous year. It's been fun to be on the ride, that's for sure.Brian (04:24):Yeah, I couldn't agree more. I think Polygon is a bit of a meme that you guys have the most legendary BD team in the Web 3.0 space.Ryan (04:31):I love that meme too. I won't lie to you.Brian (04:33):Yeah, I want to get into all that and what you guys have cooking over at Polygon, but just to quickly go back a little bit on your background, you mentioned you were the head of gaming at YouTube, and that's at a time when it really wasn't popular opinion that it would be a popular thing to watch people play video games on the internet. I think you were very early to that movement and now you see that movement potentially heading to the blockchain space, you know, mentioned that your interest in Polygon really peaked from seeing game developers move over. For you, what was the aha moment for you that made you leave a job like YouTube to come into the Web 3.0 space?Ryan (05:08):Yeah, no, I love the question. I think the funny thing too is, so, taking a step back at the first part of hey, you know, you got involved before the creator economy was even a thing. And the reason I got involved was I really was such a gamer and it was fun to watch gaming highlights and clips from other cool moments in games. And what got me into it was simply, I think there's other people like me that might enjoy this, other gamers that are watching these videos and stuff. And so it started just with something as innocent and simple as that and kind of kept building off of it. Okay, how do you introduce this to more people? What barriers do you break down in order to get it into more people's hands and so forth? And so some of it you control, some of it you don't.(05:54):So a good example was really where you started to see scaling of more gaming videos being uploaded was when the Dazzle capture card came out, it was like a 50 or $60 capture card you plugged into your Xbox or PlayStation very simply captured to a hard drive. You had this raw footage output that you could just clip up and then upload, right? Then also software got better with Final Cut and Premier and all these different things. And so you started to see a lot of these things happen that other companies were contributing to and really what you don't ever sit there. And at the time I was never like, oh, some of the biggest celebrities in the world one day are going to be people that upload videos on YouTube. You don't start with such an insane point of view that I wouldn't have believed it at the time.(06:38):You didn't need to sell this huge idea and you just believe, hey, there's people that are interested in it and this is going to keep getting bigger as more people progress. I say all of that because clearly the outcome was, again, 350 million logged-in people watch gaming video on YouTube every day. Some of the biggest celebrities in the world now come from YouTube. Mr. Beast was uploading gaming videos, Dream, all these different people, right? And so I saw a bunch of similarities in Web 3.0. I love this idea of decentralization. I really did believe that, hey, there is a power dynamic that negatively impacts users. You see it in gaming, a lot of this is anchored around gaming and that as people are spending more money on digital goods, there's going to be this desire and push for more genuine ownership over it. So I started to see something where I was like, hey, this is interesting to me and I think it will be interesting to other people.(07:27):And now I also saw a lot of capital in the space, and by that I mean there is so many different people focusing on so many different problems like Phantom with the wallet, us with a protocol, Magic Eden who we just partnered with on the marketplace. You saw all these great talented people contributing their part in advancing the overall ecosystem. And so I had this perspective of, well, the creator economy took about 15, 16 years to really hit its stride in a meaningful way. I think that Web 3.0, if you think about where we're at, can really cut that timeline in half because of the type of people, the capital and resources that are in this space. And I felt that there was already a really good product market fit as far as people wanting this. And so for me, it actually was a really easy jump.(08:11):I had no issue leaving. I did awesome. I loved my job at YouTube, running gaming YouTube was so fun. Great people love Susan, our CEO. Really enjoyed who I worked with. But even saying all that, it was actually really easy to come make the jump here because I was like, oh, this is going to be so fun over the next decade, there's going to be so many different learning opportunities, things to build. There's this blank canvas of creativity and yeah, it's littered with a bunch of issues. That was no different than YouTube in these early days with people uploading porn or videos that had copyright or music. You're dealing with a bunch of abuse factors in crypto right now. We're seeing it play out, but that's okay. It's a lot of what you expect in first movers and early adopters of a new product. And so I'm really optimistic about how this stuff shakes out and what the future looks like and how even on a personal level I can contribute to shaping that in some way.Brian (09:01):Yeah, no, I agree. There's nothing quite working on the frontier attack. It's really exciting.Ryan (09:07):Frontier indeed it is. Yes. We're reminded of that every two months at this rate.Brian (09:13):Absolutely. So let's turn a little bit to Polygon specifically. And you mentioned that you just jumped in with two feet into this space. What is it about Polygon that piqued your interest and why do you think it's particularly well suited for this movement into Web 3.0 gaming?Ryan (09:29):So going back to Ethereum, I was betting on Ethereum, so I was like, I want to be associated with a protocol that's focused on scaling Ethereum. And so there's some great companies, Immutables out there and so forth. I just really liked Polygon because I love the founders, so I got to spend some time with Sandeep. I mean these guys have the heart and spirit, JD, Milo, Onarog. It's really inspirational. I kind of like an underdog story too. And if you think about even where YouTube was relative to Twitch and some of these other things in the gaming category, we had to overcome some of these battles to stay being the largest video platform. Facebook, Mixer with Microsoft, it was just fun to kind of compete. And so I just really like the heart that they had of one, they were really well intended about how much they believed in the future of decentralization and polygons' role in it.(10:20):And two, that passion, you can't recreate that stuff. And so I just very easily gravitated towards them. I also, again, well capitalized the product and engineering team, brilliant people on the ZK side. We have some of the best engineers, mathematicians, PhDs when it relates to cryptography and ZK work in the world on Polygon. So it was, it shot up. I don't think we're an underdog anymore, obviously I think we've arrived, right? We have all this great talent across the organization. We've got a really clear vision of what we think it's going to look like. And so it's just fun. It's just fun to be on a team when you work with people that are really talented, it makes you want to work harder, it makes you get excited to get up every day to work. And so we've just got one of those teams and organizations and I love it.Brian (11:13):That's awesome. So you have a great team that you guys have here at Polygon. We mentioned a little bit earlier that you guys are at the legendary BD team in the Web 3.0 space. Let's talk a little bit about some of those partnerships that you guys have landed recently. What partnerships are you particularly excited about?Ryan (11:29):Well, I mean honestly, selfishly, the Magic Eden and Phantom partnerships are pretty fun. Seeing these, a great marketplace, a great wallet go multichain is so good for the space. I think multi chain is a good thing for the space. Oftentimes too, I say it's just like we're so small and so early to be super competitive. And so I think multi chain is just a great way for all companies to look. Even games and things that are building on Polygon. So that's been really fun. We've also had a lot on the gaming side this past year. We partnered with Tilting Point, we partnered with Midnight Society, which is Dr. Disrespect's game. I mean obviously we had just a heyday on the enterprise side. We had Nike and Starbucks and Reddit and Meta. I mean, honestly, that list gets crazy. Super proud of all the team's work there.(12:19):DeFi, we had a really fun year too. I really feel good about what we've done with DeFi, Robinhood, who was a really exciting announcement. So there's just been great momentum. The teams really, it's a mix of Web 2.0 background folks from big tech with Web 3.0 native gurus, and they just really work well as far as learning from each other. It doesn't come without its hiccups, but it really has been a great collaborative effort. So we've just had a lot of fun partnerships this year. It's great to be able to announce Phantom as we come to the end too as well. I think that's going to be exciting as we go into the new year, especially with all the projects we announced and so many of them we haven't even launched yet. If you think about Starbucks and some of these other ones, we haven't even debuted them yet. So 23 is going to be a fun year. I'm really excited. I know people right now are pessimistic bears because that's the season when the highs are high, they're really high and the lows, they're really low. I'm kind of pretty excited going into 2023 with all this momentum we have. Then our ZK tech coming out, we're going to be able to do a bunch more and the DeFi space with our ZK tech as well. Vibes are high on IM my man.Brian (13:27):I love it. That's great. You mentioned a ton there that hits across a bunch of different sectors. When you talk to these teams, especially, I'm curious, the ones who maybe aren't as Web 3.0 native, are there any commonalities between all them about what they're particularly excited about or maybe some specific areas that they think are most fruitful for growth in the Web 3.0 space?Ryan (13:46):It varies so much from each one. Think about a Magic Eden or a Phantom opportunity versus a Starbucks versus Meta. I do think a lot of folks are really interested in these ideas of these decentralized, let's say peer-to-peer networks, if you will, in layman's kind of Web 2.0 terms and kind of what you can do with it. So yeah, I think from that perspective, there's a lot of intrigue and appetite in the space. I would say it's not necessarily a growth vector for them. I think it's a lot of it is, hey, this is really interesting, new tech, what can we do? How do we participate in it? How do we learn in it? How do we trial? How do we try projects in it? And then there's varying degrees. I mean if you look at Instagram, they went really in, you mint on Polygon. You can sell directly from Instagram as they build on that. That's a really just valuable tool from a creator product feature set.(14:37):And people don't really need to worry about the Polygon aspect. I mean, it's fun if you're in the space, Polygon, but at the end of the day, it's like it's a great product feature they unlocked via Polygon, Reddit and what they're doing with Starbucks Odyssey. And basically they're going to allow this rewards program to be on chain, and the NFT part will be really passive as it should be with users that are going to use it. Same with Reddit, digital collectibles. So I just think you're really hitting a stride in how people are figuring it out. And there's going to be learning and iterative work here for all of them. But yeah, I think everybody's looking for something different when they come to the table. And I feel like what we have that's pretty unique is a bunch of people that can look at all these different perspectives from institutions, to finance, to big tech, to DeFi, to being a NFT, degen trader, all these different users that matter in our communities that matter. We've got good representation of it internally.Brian (15:32):Yeah, no, that's great. And it's great to see so much enthusiasm from these orgs actually putting their money where their mouth is and learning by doing and shipping and iterating, doing all that. It's a really cool time to see. Just a couple years ago that would've been basically unheard of in the crypto space. So it's really awesome to see that changing.Ryan (15:48):It's fun that crypto's ... look, dude, I would never call myself a crypto native. I didn't read a Bitcoin white paper and it changed my life back in the day. So you are seeing this new wave of people. This is good for the space. People that come in-Brian (16:02):Totally.Ryan (16:03):That got really interested in some of the ethos of Web 3.0 that is entering the space. And so this is why I feel good about these cycles that we'll have of people coming in. And it will be an ebb and flow. We'll have these big breakthroughs. We'll have moments we've been going through the past couple months on pulling back, and that's a natural part of the course that we're on. And I think what you continue to see with each stride will be more talent, more innovation, more use cases, more people each time.Brian (16:29):Yeah, no, I agree. And each new wave of users has their own perspective. As you said, it's no longer the hardcore cyberpunks and crypto maxes coming in, and that's how the space grows. It's really exciting to see. Totally. I want to bring it back just a little bit to gaming in particular too. Given your background, everything. We talked about how excited you were moving into the Web 3.0 space from head of gaming at YouTube. Talk a little bit about how you see the state of gaming, Web 3.0 gaming today and how that might change in the coming years.Ryan (16:58):So if you think about Web 3.0, the first version of it was, they were rudimentary Ponzi-esque type games. Some games I don't think operated with malice. I think some did, right? No doubt. I think that it was a great learning experience of what can you do with all these different things? You have a token, you've got decentralization, you've got ownership. You're trying to balance game mechanics. You're just doing a lot. Making a game is really difficult. You start adding all these different elements, it becomes very complex. So I'm pretty empathetic to, let's call it generation one of Web 3.0 games, none of them, which would be anything that I'd be interested in playing. I think Axie even playing that was like, okay, at least it's like there's something here. But these are all kind of base level games. A lot of great talent though coming from that space as far as generation one Web 3.0 games as far as learning and iterating.(17:50):And that's not super uncommon if you look at some of the early gatcha games and what mobile first offered up and some of the pay games that mobile ad were pretty atrocious as well. And so mobile went through a very kind of similar era of how do you iterate on these things? How do you improve? And so Web 3.0 games now, it's like you're starting to see some really good. One, it's like if you think about really great games take years to make. So you could have been last year been like, I'm going to make a Web 3.0 game and I have this really good studio and I've got a great background. And you're not seeing that game next year. You're seeing it in like 2024. So it's going to take a while and it's not going to happen fast in gaming. You're going to keep seeing new things come out in Web 3.0 gaming that will continue to pique people's interest and be like, okay, that's cool.(18:41):Or oh, what they just did with memberships and NFT, that's cool. Or what they just did with governance, that's cool. And games are just going to keep getting better and better and better. It'll be beyond just digital marketplaces and things that you own items in and all of that. So anyway, I say all that is, I think really the reality of where games are, where you start to see mass adoption of Web 3.0 games is years away. I think I feel very confident Web 3.0 gaming will be a pretty sizable subsection of games revenue in 2026, 27, and then you'll just keep seeing it go up to the right over time as far as users revenue, how many wallets, all of this. So yeah, I'm excited. I say it in a little more tempered way because it's more of a long term bet. We've been placing a lot of them now though.(19:25):You got to place those bets now. Those trees take a long time to grow. They're really impactful when they do, but you have to plant these seeds now. So we spent a lot of time this past year investing in different gaming projects out of our ecosystem fund, partnering with really large game developers, some of which we haven't even announced yet. So yeah, we've got some cool stuff that's coming up. And I definitely think things that's going to show what gen two of Gaming and Web 3.0 looks like. Again, I think where you see a meaningful breakthrough is more likely in this gen three era in four years or so.Brian (19:59):Yeah, for sure. No, it takes a lot of cycles to make something that's kind of a generational game like that. You know, mentioned some of these early investments, planting the seeds on this. If you had a crystal ball and you looked out, do you see that most of the games people are playing three, five years out from now? Are these being made from the existing AAA game studios that are coming into Web 3.0? Is it these web one game developers who are more crypto native iterating and finding something special? Is it some sort of blended between the two of them? What do you think there?Ryan (20:29):It's probably a blend. I actually think of more of it a regional thing. I think APAC game developers, largely in APAC will be the ones Web 3.0 native or Web 2.0 will be the ones that really do really interesting things in Web 3.0 gaming that will then spew towards the West. And so I think of it more as a geo-specific thing than anything else.(20:50):I do think you will have a massive Web 3.0 game hit the equivalent of Minecraft. The thing about Web 2.0 gaming is it wouldn't be incredibly difficult to pivot when they need to. And then when they do pivot, they would be very successful. So if you could imagine a world, just take any AAA game that is a platform, a Valorant, a Call of Duty, any of these different ones that are allowing people to buy cosmetics and skins, and people are spending boatloads of money doing that, they could very easily start to think about how do you flip on something where there's governance, how do you, true ownership, scarcity of items, and even just put membership passes, stuff like that where they could play in a very low level way of playing in Web 3.0 versus there's going to be other games where people are going to go off and create all kind of different mods and versions of it and communities around it and could start from it being a PFP NFT project that evolves like a Board Apes-esque kind of path.(21:51):And so I think it's going to show itself in a lot of different ways. But generally speaking, if I had to make a bet, I would say game developers largely in Asia will set the tone for how Web 3.0 gaming will look in a couple years.Brian (22:04):That's pretty exciting. I'm very interested to see what comes out of that region. And just to bring it back, one thing that I, selfishly here at Phantom were curious about is how do you see the role of wallets evolving in this space? Wallets right now touch a lot of different aspects of Web 3.0. I think the gaming space is relatively unexplored right now. Is there anything in your mind that you're particularly excited to see about from wallets and from Phantom in particular as it relates to this?Ryan (22:30):The user journeys are tough on wallets. Wallets bear the brunt of it. When you think about bridging and making entities really accessible and displayable all in a wallet, you know, have all these on ramps, it's just very digestible. It's clean. Maybe you start to have specific vertical specific features across DeFi gaming or music as you own these things. Like wallets can then go vertically deep, I think, which would be really interesting. But right now, so many of them are just dealing with this onboarding issue. It's complicated. It really is. It's not easy to set these things up for a lot of folks. So as wallets can go deep and then be really seamlessly integrated into all these different consumer experiences, which it's like, well, on its way, that is an already accelerated timeline. You guys have done great work there. This is what I would like to see for wallets.(23:18):I want it to be, my mom can set up a wallet and use it really easily and be like, oh yeah, I mean, here's how I add money to it. Here's how I buy an item. Here's where I can look at it in my inventory. Here's how I easily send it to Brian. That's like when we get there. And I think that's everyone's North Star. And so who's going to do it the best and who's going to do it fastest, I think is what we're going to find out. But look at, you guys have hit a really great narrative in the Solana ecosystem of having this very clean, simple, easy to use wallet. And so you've got a huge leg up already on that because that's what people are looking for and what is needed first.Brian (23:56):Yeah, no, I agree. We always saw that this was one of the bottlenecks in the space of getting things easier, getting it so easy a kindergartner could use it. So we're really excited to bring that to Polygon as well.Ryan (24:06):I love working with you guys because that's good for us. We want to make it easy to come on a polygon and use all these things and have no problem immediately setting up. And as we continue to onboard big games and different enterprise companies and so forth, this is going to be really important to do. So I think it'll be awesome.Brian (24:23):Yeah, I love it. Well, Ryan, this has been an awesome discussion. One closing question we always ask all our guests, and I want to hear your take on this, is who is a builder that you admire in the Web 3.0 ecosystem?Ryan (24:35):Man, I've plugged so many of them here. This is a tough one. Gosh. I'd say right now I think I'm going to go back to Midnight Society. It's a little bit of a curve ball, but the reason why is, that team has a bunch of ex Gears of War, Call of Duty developers that are really from prestigious game development. And they've been a builder that's focusing on how they introduce Web 3.0 to the masses, which I think is obviously, I'm personally fascinated by that. And the way that they've done kind of the membership pass and so forth with NFTs, all these anti NFT like, oh, I hate NFTs, blah, blah, blah. Gaming communities really served it up in a way for them to think about it differently. So I read it too, but sticking to this, and I think as we just touched on how we see gaming start to evolve, I look at them as going to be someone that's going to crack what Reddit started to do with the idea of owning out of a PFP NFT, right?(25:37):They're going to start doing this with gaming, with general gamers that don't really care about this crypto NFT, blockchain, or decentralization bit. They're not interested in that, but they'll be interested in this concept of having genuine ownership of items and memberships and so forth. And they're going to get introduced to it in a way that is different from an NFT perspective than they ever have. And so I like them as a builder because they're Web 3.0 builders, but they're targeting the crypto naive in a way that's really interesting. But honestly, dude, it's an impossible question. There's so many bad asses working in this space right now. This is why it's fun to be in it. So yeah, you guys and some others fall into that category for sure.Brian (26:16):Yeah, no, it's a bit of a selfish question too, so that we can get our next guest lined up for the podcast. I think Midnight Society would be a great guest there.Ryan (26:24):We got to get them out, man. I think. There it is. Yeah, I think they're really, really fascinating group to talk to and dive in about gaming.Brian (26:31):Awesome. And I know there's no shortage of people we could all list on this, but that's great to hear. Well, Ryan, this has been an awesome conversation. Really appreciate your time. Super excited to see what we can do together to push Web 3.0 forward. Where can people go to learn more about Polygon?Ryan (26:45):Yeah, I mean just polygon.technology, right? Honestly, that's probably the best. It's where our blog posts are and all of our updates you can follow then all of our socials that you're interested in. If you want to go deeper on our tech stack, whether you're a developer or just interested, we have all the engineering and technical documents that you would want to look into as well as social and what we've been up to, partner announcements. So I'd head there for all things Polygon.Brian (27:10):I love it. Thank you so much, Ryan Wyatt.Ryan (27:13):Take care, man. Thanks for having me, Brian.  

Halina Malik, Director of Content at eFuse, a gaming & esports startup providing the platform for talents to interact and get discovered. Halina began her career in esports as a competitive female Call of Duty player on Major League Gaming, she was also serving on the marketing team for the Cleveland Cavaliers esports team and from me, on a personal note - is an incredible, passionate woman. Join us, as we discussed the early days of the CoD female scene in the US, the collegiate esports industry, eFuse role in it, the opportunities for female rising esports talents, and the future of esports content. Follow me on Linkedin or Twitter and don't miss out on any episode & industry news! --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/itshergame/message

Time Stamps: 01:00 Panel Intros 05:00 Does Xbox Game Pass have any additional AAA Games coming to the service in 2022 that weren't already announced? NO according to Spheal Nick of The Xbox Era Podcast! 00:42 Xbox Series X/S getting a BIG graphics boost! What does it all mean? 1:02:00 During the recent Microsoft Quarterly Earnings, they announced a continued investment into other studios and content creators after the #ActivisionBlizzard deal closes, what do they actually mean and how will it change the playing field concerning "Market Share Leadership"? 1:35:00 On TOP of Activision, Blizzard & King, Microsoft will become the owners of "MLG" Major League Gaming one of the Top E-Sports platforms! How BIG of a deal is this? 1:55:00 Panel Outros and Special Message to the Community! --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/craig-ravitch/support

Is gaming entertainment, a sport or a culture? How about all three? Is it a job? On the latest episode of EIBWC we sit down to speak with Mike Sepso, CEO and founder of Vindex. Mike has been at the forefront of gaming ever since he founded Major League Gaming back in 2002.So what should brands understand about gaming and why is it so important? Well, this number says it all: 33% of the world's population plays video games. That's a lot of audience. And a lot of potential for creators.Everything is Better with Creators is produced by Whalar. Whalar. We power the Creator economy.Learn more at http://whalar.com#creators #creatoreconomy

Welcome back to the regularly scheduled 2nd Opinion Podcast! Things have been rough these past few weeks, with the holidays upon us things have been getting crazier every day! We plan on setting up a lot of content for the future, including interviews, bringing back our Head2Head segment, as well as having our co-host rejoin the show! We hope you enjoy this episode of the podcast and please make sure to subscribe! SHOWNOTES (1. SOLEB WILL TALK ABOUT COMPUTER DYING, NEW JOB, AND NEW CONTENT COMING TO THE CHANNEL (2.WHAT HAVE WE BEEN GAMING? (3. GAMING NEWS TOPICS The PlayStation Wrap-Up Report Is Available To View Your 2021 Gaming Stats https://www.gameinformer.com/2022/01/20/the-playstation-wrap-up-report-is-available-to-view-your-2021-gaming-stats Xbox Game Pass Titles Include Death's Door, WindJammers 2, And More! Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc Anniversary Edition (Console, PC, Cloud) - January 18 Death's Door (Console, PC, Cloud) - January 20 | Our Review Hitman Trilogy (Console, PC, Cloud) - January 20 Nobody Saves The World (Console, PC, Cloud) - January 18 Pupperazzi (Console, PC, Cloud) - TBA Rainbow Six Extraction (Console, PC, Cloud) - January 20 Windjammers 2 (Console, PC, Cloud) - TBA Taiko no Tatsujin: The Drum Master! (Console, PC) - TBA Rainbow Six Siege Deluxe Edition (PC) - January 20 (4. Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga April Release Date Revealed With New Gameplay Overview Trailer https://www.gameinformer.com/2022/01/20/lego-star-wars-the-skywalker-saga-april-release-date-revealed-with-new-gameplay-overview (5. Microsoft Set to Acquire Activision Blizzard for Over $68 Billion The move further bolsters Microsoft's Xbox Game Studios lineup, which added Zenimax|Bethesda just last year. Once this deal goes through, every studio under the Activision Blizzard umbrella will become part of the green brand. That includes, Activision Publishing, Blizzard Entertainment, Beenox, Demonware, Digital Legends, High Moon Studios, Infinity Ward, King, Major League Gaming, Radical Entertainment, Raven Software, Sledgehammer Games, Toys for Bob, Treyarch, etc. END SHOW TOPIC - SONY, ITS TIME TO STEP IT UP! MUSIC INFORMATION This Song certificate is granted by Artlist Ltd (hereinafter: "Artlist"), to: Caleb Soleb Gayle (hereinafter: the "Client") as of 20 Jan 2022, regarding the use of the song Future Groove (feat. Floating Anarchy) created by Peter Spacey (hereinafter: the "Song") by the Client. Artlist hereby grants the Client a non-exclusive, worldwide license to integrate and synchronize the Song into an audio-visual work and use the Song as part of the Project in accordance with Artlist's Terms of Use and Personal License. #2ndOpinionPodcast #XboxBuysActivision #GamingPodcast --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/2nd-opinion-podcast/message

Microsoft will acquire Activision Blizzard for $95.00 per share, in an all-cash transaction valued at $68.7 billion, inclusive of Activision Blizzard's net cash. When the transaction closes, Microsoft will become the world's third-largest gaming company by revenue, behind Tencent and Sony. The planned acquisition includes iconic franchises from the Activision, Blizzard and King studios like “Warcraft,” “Diablo,” “Overwatch,” “Call of Duty” and “Candy Crush,” in addition to global eSports activities through Major League Gaming. The company has studios around the world with nearly 10,000 employees.     (when we drop) Monday 5am hip hop Wednesday 5am gaming Friday 5am afterthoughts Saturday 5am anime discord: https://discord.gg/feChqrv

Shortly after our original episode this week posted, Microsoft dropped a bombshell on the video game world by announcing that they are purchasing Activision Blizzard for a whopping $67.8 billion, more than ten times the amount they paid for Bethesda. In a post on Xbox Wire written by CEO of Xbox Gaming himself, Phil Spencer, he stated that they are “incredibly excited to have the chance to work with the amazing, talented, dedicated people across Activision Publishing, Blizzard Entertainment, Beenox, Demonware, Digital Legends, High Moon Studios, Infinity Ward, King, Major League Gaming, Radical Entertainment, Raven Software, Sledgehammer Games, Toys for Bob, Treyarch and every team across Activision Blizzard.” This means Microsoft would now own franchises like Diablo, Crash Bandicoot, Spyro the Dragon, Overwatch, Star Craft, Warcraft, Candy Crush, Pitfall, and of course Call of Duty, all of which will be added to Xbox Game Pass upon acquisition. Support Us on Patreon! Email the Show: arsenalxpodcast@gmail.com Visit our Website: bossrush.net Corey Dirrig: Twitter | Instagram Stoy Jovic: Twitter Josh Finney: Twitter Follow us on Social Media: Twitter | Discord | Instagram | Twitch | YouTube | Facebook Group | Facebook You can find Arsenal X Live on Twitch every Sunday night or on YouTube and your podcast service of choice every Tuesday morning. Remember if you're watching on YouTube to follow the channel. If you're listening on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, leave us a review and a five-star rating. Thanks for listening!

In this episode, we sit down with Ryan “Fwiz” Wyatt, Head of Gaming at YouTube, who brings years of experience having worked in Major League Gaming, Machinima, and as a competitive gamer himself. Hear from Ryan on the role of Big Tech in the Web3 movement, how the world will transition to blockchain games, Web3's impact on the creator economy and much more! Show Notes:  (00:00:00) – Introduction. (00:00:20) – Ryan's background. (00:01:47) – Ryan's work at YouTube.  (00:06:07) – Big Tech's role in the Web3 movement.  (00:08:47) – Ryan's journey into the gaming industry.  (00:12:45) – The role of games in modern society.  (00:14:42) – Ryan's involvement in crypto.  (00:21:12) – The most potent and interesting aspects of blockchain gaming.  (00:27:09) – Elements of Web3 games that will resonate with traditional gamers. (00:30:49) – The effects of spending populations migrating to Web3.   (00:33:58) – Traditional gaming corporations and Web3. (00:38:01) – What is missing from blockchain gaming? (00:41:21) – Crypto native games vs. games that abstract crypto elements away. (00:44:01) – DAO governance decision-making in games. (00:46:31) – Web3's impact on the creator economy. (00:51:55) – Biggest learnings from working at YouTube.  (00:55:12) – The biggest threats to blockchain gaming.  (00:59:06) – Advice to builders in the space.  (01:02:11) – Rapid fire questions. (01:08:12) – Closing. Social links:  Ryan's Twitter Ryan's Linkedin Resources:  Delphi Podcast Summaries More

Joe and special guest co-host Aliyah Funschelle are joined by La Vida Baseball's accomplished TV Host/Sports and Entertainment Broadcaster Julie Alexandria to discuss women in sports media as well as the passion of Latino baseball's past, present, and future during National Hispanic Heritage Month. Before her career as a sports journalist and sideline reporter, Julie performed in numerous stage productions on Broadway. She then honed her skills as a Voice Over Artist, with over 100 National Network TV/Radio commercials, books on tape, video games, and animation under her belt. She has since gone back to sports to be a sideline reporter and host for networks such as Fox, MLB Productions, MASN, Fox Sports San Diego, and CBS. She has worked exclusively for MLB teams including the Washington Nationals, San Diego Padres, and the New York Mets. In addition, she has covered and hosted numerous College Football Seasons, the US Open, and Esports events for Major League Gaming. A native of NYC, she now resides in San Diego as the west coast correspondent for La Vida Baseball and host of the soon-to-be-launched "All Star Charts"; a financial news and content OTT network. || @JulieAlexandria @AliyahFun ||  The CUSP Show is a production by the faculty of Sports Management at Columbia University. You can get in touch with the program on Twitter @CU_SPS_Sports. Our presenters are Joe Favorito (@Joefav) and Tom Richardson (@ConvergenceTR). The show is produced by Tom Cerny (@Tom_Cerny19), Taylor DeBernardo '21 (@TDeBernardo33), and Ben Walsh '21, with Cameron Morris '21 (@CameronM0rr1s) managing social media efforts.

We talked with Scott Cooley, the official spokesperson for Bookmaker.eu one of the largest sportsbooks in the world that are now offering betting from some of the biggest eSport tournaments ranging from European Gaming League to Evolution Championship Series and Major League Gaming. We talked to Scott about the changing face of sports betting and how eSports came to be included in the world of online betting as well as how it may influence how we look at the sport.

We are joined by Joshua Gray (actor, performer, producer, and super chiseled, hansdome guy) as he shares his healing journey post-Mormonism. Josh's energy is magnetic and in less than two hours we cover so much, including:Processing angerSingle adult dating in the churchSex workersPossible spirit guide incarnated as a dad on a skateboardWhat he learned on ayahuasca (living your highest path)Two Joseph Smith quotes any of us exmos stand behindAnd so much moreEnjoy!About Joshua:Joshua Gray began his career in entertainment and love for video games at a young age. After serving in the United States Air Force, where he earned the call sign 'Clutch', Joshua continued in his studies in the art of performing, earning a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Acting at Old Dominion University.While in college, he continued to branch out in the world of new media and the video game industry. Having written, directed, produced, hosted and commentated for Warner Bros., Blizzard Entertainment, Riot Games, Samsung, Hero Level Productions, CBSi, Twitch.TV, Major League Gaming, WarGaming.Net, and Turtle Entertainment (ESL). Joshua is known for his strong stage presence and the ability to whip any crowd into a frenzy of excitement.In 2016, Joshua made his network television debut on Machinima's Chasing the Cup, based the the Mortal Kombat X Pro League, and made another appearance for the Injustice 2 series in 2017.SAG-AFTRA eligible, with over 20 years of experience and major performance credits in theater, film, and television, Joshua continues to perform and produce while residing in the great city of Seattle. Joshua is represented by The Actors Group. Website: https://www.mrjoshuagray.com/Mormons on Mushrooms Intro mixed by Desert Locust

Two trends accelerating at the same time – LIVE + GAMING – intersect at OS Studios. As the world went remote, esports and gaming had to migrate their large-scale tournaments to virtual, talk shows and events had to be shot from distributed locations and the fanciest of studios gave way to live streams from couches. OS Studios Co-Founder, Ian Packard, shares how emerging technology is enabling next-gen event production, what the future holds as in-person re-emerges and how your business can take advantage of these opportunities.

There are a few people who deserve special recognition from the esports community for their role in turning esports into what it is today. Mike is one of them. As the co-founder and CEO of Major League Gaming, he broke down barriers to esports for over a decade. He was instrumental in creating Activision Blizzard's franchised leagues and now offers a suite of solutions for esports events through Vindex. We talk the early days of esports, the behind-the-scenes conversations before the announcement of the OWL and much more. Watch The Gamer Hour - Esportz Network's new show hosted by Chris Puckett from Times Square. This week's guest was NFL player Grayson Allen. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ed55-aXQYrI) If you enjoyed the podcast, please rate and subscribe, it helps us out a ton! Three new episodes each week. Monday - An interview with a leading exec in esports / gaming Wednesday - The Gamer Hour w/ Chris Puckett Friday - An interview with a leading exec in esports / gaming For daily esports news, check out the Esports Minute (https://esportsminute.fireside.fm/). If you're interested in learning about college esports check out the College Esports QuickTake (https://esportzcollegequicktakecom.fireside.fm/). Follow Mitch on Twitter @Mitch_Reames (https://twitter.com/Mitch_Reames) Follow Esportz Network on Twitter (https://twitter.com/EsportzNetwork), Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/esportznetwork/), and Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/EsportzNetwork) @EsportzNetwork Or visit our website esportznetwork.com (https://www.esportznetwork.com/) for updates on what's to come! Special Guest: Mike Sepso.

On today’s episode, I dive into the game industry with Bonnie Burton to talk about girls, gaming, and what the future holds in the sport for her and other women. At just 12 years old, Bonnie became Major League Gaming's first professional female gamer and has been featured on Forbes’ 2020 “30 Under 30” list. She is currently pursuing a career in game development and is a producer at Bungie working on the Destiny franchise. Today she shares with listeners her own experiences with gaming, how it’s become an increasingly positive outlet, and career advice on how to get started in the gaming development field.    We begin today’s episode talking about Bonnie’s start in the gaming world and how her path to becoming a professional gamer began with entering local tournaments with her brothers. While gaming is often stereotyped as a predominately male sport, Bonnie explains that from the beginning, the gaming world was always welcoming and became a place where she could connect with others who shared her same passions.   While Bonnie acknowledges the concerns people sometimes have regarding gaming’s connection to dangerous behaviors, she explains that the sport is about understanding the contexts of a situation and finding balance. Ultimately, gaming is about play, which allows it to serve as a tool for learning, growth, creativity, and development by challenging players and teaching them problem solving.    In addition to the life skills gaming can help to cultivate, Bonnie also describes it as a great social outlet where even those who are introverted or have social anxiety can develop social skills. We even discuss how gaming’s aptitude for providing community has allowed it to serve as a major way for people to continue connecting with each other even during the Covid-19 pandemic.    Bonnie then switches from her role as a gamer to her role as a game developer, sharing the exciting ways the game industry is continuing to evolve. Specifically, she talks about how she predicts more women will continue entering the field and how that will impact both the games that get produced and the field as a whole.    For those contemplating a career in the gaming industry, Bonnie recommends having a STEM background, as game development largely requires logical thinking skills. She shares though that almost everyone in the gaming industry has a different background and that there are many paths into the field. She does advise, however, that it is most important to find a way to make yourself stand out, get experience, and network.    To learn more about Bonnie’s career advice, her experience as a gamer, and her work at Bungie, be sure to listen in!    What You’ll Learn in This Podcast Episode:  In today’s episode, Bonnie Burton shares her experiences both as a gamer and game developer, offering insight into how gaming has become an increasingly positive outlet for both men and women, what skills are most needed to succeed in gaming, and career advice on how to get started in the gaming development field.    Links: You can find Bonnie on Twitter and Instagram @bonniexburton LinkedIn:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/burtonbonnie/

Today Tom is speaking with gaming and esports expert, Mike Sepso. Mike is widely considered the godfather of esports and has been at the heart of esports for nearly 20 years. In 2002, Mike launched Major League Gaming, a professional esports organization. He later sold MLG to game-maker, Activision, in 2015. Last year, Mike launched Vindex to provide infrastructure to the esports industry. And just recently, Vindex acquired Belong Gaming Arenas and plans to open more than 500 Belong locations in hometowns across America. Right now, about half of America is gaming during the pandemic. It might surprise you to know that gaming is bigger than both music and movies combined. This year, video game revenue will likely top $170 billion. Though the percentage of gamers that play professionally is small, it is growing. Esports is approximately a $1 billion business itself. Join in today’s conversation with Tom to hear about Mike’s mission to open local arenas across America to grow esports, as well as what he thinks about esports as a career path (and how high schools, colleges, and educators should play the game).   Key Takeaways: [:10] About today’s episode. [1:06] Tom welcomes Mike to the podcast. [1:11] Having been at the heart of esports for nearly 20 years, would Mike say that he’s always been a gamer? [1:35] The history of when and how esports emerged out of the video game market. [3:35] The origin story behind Mike’s founding of Major League Gaming. [7:11] How Mike thinks about the global gaming market today and why he believes gaming has become so big, so fast. [11:48] The mission behind Mike’s new company, Vindex, and some of the history behind esports. [18:50] The three-pronged strategic approach they’re taking with Vindex. [22:52] Mike shares about their exciting acquisition of Belong Gaming Arenas as well as why they wanted to acquire them. [31:50] Where these gaming arenas will be placed and how big they will be. [33:40] Is esports a viable career path? And what role can or should high schools and colleges play with regards to esports? [37:52] How will esports impact communities? Should economic directors be thinking about esports or working it into their plans? [39:38] How big is the market of esports? Where does Mike see it a couple of years from now? [41:07] How has esports been positively and negatively impacted by COVID-19? Does it only have growth to look forward to in the coming years? [46:26] Tom thanks Mike for joining the podcast!   Mentioned in This Episode: Mike Sepso’s LinkedIn Mike Sepso’s Twitter @MSpeso Major League Gaming Activision Vindex Belong Gaming Arenas Overwatch League Getting Smart Podcast Ep. 238: “Chad Dorsey on Modeling and Data Science in STEM Education”   Get Involved: Check out the blog at GettingSmart.com. Find the Getting Smart Podcast on iTunes, leave a review, and subscribe.   Is There Somebody You’ve Been Wanting to Learn From or a Topic You’d Like Covered? To get in contact: Email Editor@GettingSmart.com and include ‘Podcast’ in the subject line. The Getting Smart team will be sure to add them to their list!

Episode: "YWTDJ 027: Finding Connection, Digitally During Isolating Times"Welcome to Episode 027 of the You're With the DJ. In this episode, Stu Grubbs and chats with us on his influences, as well as on finding connection during quarantine.About Stu's Company, Lightstream:Our vision is to empower more storytellers and grow the communities in which they tell them.We BelieveLive streaming shouldn’t require weeks of research, YouTube videos, setup, and frustration. We want to fix that.We believe that everyone has a story to tell. Our mission is to empower anyone with no experience or expensive hardware to share themselves, their adventure, their brand, or their story with a live audience. To build a live video production suite that is simple enough for anyone to get started, yet powerful enough to truly wow your audience. We are building a complete evolution of what live video production should be: simple, powerful, and collaborative. But most of all, it should be fun.There is simply nothing else like us and we are excited to share it with you.Who We Are:Lightstream is a small, but growing team of gaming, esports, and video industry veterans. Members of our team have contributed to the success of brands like SteelSeries, Machinima, Open Broadcasting Software, Major League Gaming, ESL, Beyond Gaming, and even old school brands like GotFrag & World Cyber Games. Yes, some of us are that old.Without a doubt, these are some of the smartest people we have had the pleasure of working with. However, what really binds us together is not just our desire to build something truly amazing, but to build a company and culture we can be proud of.More InformationLearn more at lightstream.ggThanks for Tuning In!Thanks so much for being with us this week. Have some feedback you'd like to share? Please leave a note in the comments section below!If you enjoyed this episode, please share it with your friends by using the social media buttons you see at the bottom of the post.Don't forget to subscribe to the show on iTunes to get automatic episode updates for our "You're With the DJ!"And, finally, please take a minute to leave us an honest review and rating on iTunes. They really help us out when it comes to the ranking of the show and we make it a point to read every single one of the reviews we get. Please leave a review right now go.fadeinnetwork.com/ywtdjThanks for listening!Credits:Big thanks to our team - who all put a ton of effort into each episode!Introduction Music by: Two TailsHosts: Kay Brown, Nikki Berry and Brad LeshCreative Director & Producer: Kay BrownCreative Producer: Nikki BerryAssociate Talent Producer: Brad LeshAssociate Creative Producer: Jeffrey MarksVinyl Transition Sounds: Bop City Beats, House on Paulina© Fade In Network

Episode: "YWTDJ 014: Does it Feel Like Magic?"Welcome to Episode 014 of the You're With the DJ. In this episode, Stu Grubbs and chats with us on his company, Lightstream.So if you want to gain access to professional production and streaming tools, -, and develop creative rituals so you can -, tune in now!About Lightstream:Our vision is to empower more storytellers and grow the communities in which they tell them.We BelieveLive streaming shouldn’t require weeks of research, YouTube videos, setup, and frustration. We want to fix that.We believe that everyone has a story to tell. Our mission is to empower anyone with no experience or expensive hardware to share themselves, their adventure, their brand, or their story with a live audience. To build a live video production suite that is simple enough for anyone to get started, yet powerful enough to truly wow your audience. We are building a complete evolution of what live video production should be: simple, powerful, and collaborative. But most of all, it should be fun.There is simply nothing else like us and we are excited to share it with you.Who We Are:Lightstream is a small, but growing team of gaming, esports, and video industry veterans. Members of our team have contributed to the success of brands like SteelSeries, Machinima, Open Broadcasting Software, Major League Gaming, ESL, Beyond Gaming, and even old school brands like GotFrag & World Cyber Games. Yes, some of us are that old.Without a doubt, these are some of the smartest people we have had the pleasure of working with. However, what really binds us together is not just our desire to build something truly amazing, but to build a company and culture we can be proud of.More InformationLearn more at lightstream.ggThanks for Tuning In!Thanks so much for being with us this week. Have some feedback you'd like to share? Please leave a note in the comments section below!If you enjoyed this episode, please share it with your friends by using the social media buttons you see at the bottom of the post.Don't forget to subscribe to the show on iTunes to get automatic episode updates for our "You're With the DJ!"And, finally, please take a minute to leave us an honest review and rating on iTunes. They really help us out when it comes to the ranking of the show and we make it a point to read every single one of the reviews we get. Please leave a review right now go.fadeinnetwork.com/ywtdjThanks for listening!Credits:Big thanks to our team - who all put a ton of effort into each episode!Introduction Music by: Two TailsHosts: Kay Brown, Nikki Berry and Brad LeshCreative Director & Producer: Kay BrownCreative Producer: Nikki BerryAssociate Talent Producer: Brad LeshAssociate Creative Producer: Jeffrey Marks© Fade In Network

Today, we're sitting down with itmeJP, a full-time streamer on Twitch with over 350K followers that he has now expanded into growing his own company. JP is one of the most legendary interview hosts in gaming, he started as a college student doing odd esports gigs for no money, turning down a job at Major League Gaming to now running one of the most popular tabletop gaming shows, RollPlay. In addition to his well-known Twitch weekly talk show, Dropped Frames.

Pete Vlastelica, president and CEO of Major League Gaming, discusses how the landscape of sports—both traditional and electronic—is evolving.

Todd Unger is the Chief Experience Officer and Senior Vice President of Physician Engagement at the American Medical Association. He’s known as a transformational leader for the digital age, with the classic profile of a “productive disruptor” — and man, he has the résumé to back it up. Before his time at AMA, Todd was the CMO and Chief Digital Officer at Daily Racing Form, a 125-year-old news outlet centered around horse racing. He’s also served as the VP of Marketing at YooStar Entertainment Group; the GM of Digital and Executive Vice President at Major League Gaming; the Senior Vice President of Digital for the Time4 Media Division at Time, Inc.; the GM of Online and Senior Vice President of Brand Extensions at Lifetime Television; the VP and GM of Local and the Director of Product Management at AOL — yes, AOL as in “you’ve got mail”; the VP Account Supervisor at the Leo Burnett Company; and finally, an Assistant Brand Manager and Brand Assistant at Procter and Gamble. Oh, and have you ever heard of Yelp? Well Todd created the “AOL Local Expert” reviewing platform during his time at AOL, which was a precursor to Yelp before Yelp ever existed. He has an MBA from Harvard Business School, he’s led new business initiatives for Scope Mouthwash and Metamucil, he’s overseen commercial productions for some of the nation’s biggest brands like Sony, and he’s worked with blue-chip advertisers like Old Spice, HBO and Dr. Pepper. But don’t think all of his accomplishments throughout his illustrious career have gone to his head — Todd firmly believes that it’s always, always about the customer. Join us as our host Brian Burkhart learns about the Unger family’s “performance gene,” P&G/HBR’s incredible impact on Todd’s life and why powerful storytelling is so important in the Digital Age.

For many, Sundance DiGiovanni is the leader of a generation who fell in love with esports through growing up with Major League Gaming and competitive Halo. His departure from MLG represents the end of an era, but don't expect to see him leaving professional gaming any time soon, as the latest episode of the Dexerto Talk Show sees host Richard Lewis discuss his past, present and future in the scene

Welcome to On The Sticks, a show dedicated to a girl and her experiences in esports and gaming. Listen to the show every Tuesday!! This week's guest is Guy "Blaze" Spencer. A former professional Gears of War player, Guy transitioned into full-time casting with Major League Gaming in 2016 near the official beginnings of the Gears Pro Circuit. However, he has been competing and playing this game for over 10 years and brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to the scene. When he’s not on a plane or at an event, he enjoys cooking, breaking records in the gym and sharing a selfie or two. We discuss all things Gears of War, his journey to casting and what he sees for his future. Follow him on Social Media: Twitch.tv/Blaze | Twitter: @GuyBlazeLive | Everywhere else is @GuyBlaze. SUPPORT THE SHOW ON PATREON! www.patreon.com/onthesticks FOLLOW THE SHOW ON SOCIAL MEDIA! www.twitter.com/onthestickspod www.instagram.com/onthestickspod

From Asia to the Americas, there are 320+ million esports fans around the world -- and the audience is expected to double by 2020. But the professional sport of competitive gaming is not just another sport. It’s a new type of global entertainment. Mike Sepso is one of the pioneers of the modern esports movement. He and his partner, Sundance DiGiovanni, founded Major League Gaming, and, as SVP at Activision Blizzard, Sepso helped create and launch the Overwatch League, a new type of city-based, global esports league. Sepso joins the podcast to explain the origins of the esports phenomenon, why it’s poised for more incredible growth in the future, and why gamers are more welcoming for brands to play along than you’d expect. Listen to this podcast to learn: • A brief history of modern esports -- from South Korea’s Starleague to the Overwatch League • Who are esports fans, and what is their culture? • Why a “fear of authenticity” should not stop brands from marketing to esports fans -- as long as marketers don’t break one simple rule

Join Clicksuasion as Manny Anekal explains why gamers are likely to engage with their favorite brands in a virtual environment. Clicksuasion guest Manny Anekal has over a decade of experience working at the intersection of gaming, marketing, and brands. His first role was with the startup Massive Inc, which was acquired by Microsoft Xbox in 2006, followed by executive roles at Electronic Arts, Zynga, Kiip, and most recently with Major League Gaming. During this episode, Manny and Clicksuasion host, Michael Barbera discuss gamification, virtual brand partnerships, and the consumption of intangible virtual products.

Almost everybody is a gamer under a certain age in some respect. Elements of gaming are now part of our everyday life and it is now a pervasive as part of our culture. Mike Sepso, Co-Founder of Major League Gaming and Senior Vice President at Activision Blizzard, says our concept of what gaming is has […]

Almost everybody is a gamer under a certain age in some respect. Elements of gaming are now part of our everyday life and it is now a pervasive as part of our culture. Mike Sepso, Co-Founder of Major League Gaming and Senior Vice President at Activision Blizzard, says our concept of what gaming is has to widen a great deal because the whole gaming space is going to get much bigger and people will have different areas of play where they like to game. The technology that’s now being developed like VR and AR, like more powerful mobile platforms, create more pallets for great developers to think of new ideas and execute them. Mike adds that a lot of technology that’s developed in the gaming space becomes very applicable to other more mundane things or more interesting things in different industries. It’s a hotbed for innovation in the technology space, military industry and defense industry.

In this episode of Podcast: The Wreckening the Crew discusses running games for pay…or paying to play games. Podcast: The Wreckening is a production of The Wrecking Crew and a proud member of the Prismatic[...]

Kevin Knock becomes a guest on the show to talk about eSports and the culture surrounding it. Can eSports ever be accepted in the Olympics, or does it really need to?

Esports have moved from the fringe to the mainstream, now attracting major sponsors and getting airtime on channels like ESPN. Joost van Dreunen, founder of gaming analytics firm SuperData, gives us the big picture of where esports are now and where they're headed. Later, Mike Sepso, now at Activision Blizzard Media Networks, talks to us about co-founding of Major League Gaming and the evolution of esports over the years. 

In this week's episode, Ryan and Tommy discuss the finer points of Esports, Major League Gaming, and the evolution of competitive gaming in our world today! DOTA, League of Legends, Street Fighter, Smash Bros.—it's all here in this episode!

Hello Enthusiacs! This week Kynetyk welcomes competitive Street Fighter player DJ to the show to discuss the recent purchase of Major League Gaming by Activision.

TPC is back after it's extended holiday break, Susan played so many games she can't remember them all, EA Access is free for gold members for a limited time, PS4 has been hacked, Playstation VR is super pricey, if you have Amazon Prime, get ready for cheaper games, there are new MK characters coming, Origin Access is coming to PC, Blizzard buys Major League Gaming… all this and more in Episode 124, "Guess What Susan Played?"

TPC is back after it's extended holiday break, Susan played so many games she can't remember them all, EA Access is free for gold members for a limited time, PS4 has been hacked, Playstation VR is super pricey, if you have Amazon Prime, get ready for cheaper games, there are new MK characters coming, Origin Access is coming to PC, Blizzard buys Major League Gaming… all this and more in Episode 124, "Guess What Susan Played?"

Activision buys Major League Gaming , Sony tries to trademark the term “Let’s Play,” the Oculus Rift priced at $600, Rise of the Timb Raider headed for PC, and more on this #CUPodcast! The #CUPodcast has a Patreon campaign! If you’d like to help support us and also be able to watch full videos of the podcast, please click here! Listen to the Completely Unnecessary Podcast on iTunes! Listen on Stitcher! Want to see video clips? Check out the youtube page and the CUPodcast playlist! Video clips from the latest podcast are released throughout the week!

2015 is over and done with, and now it's time to get back to what we do best! We just have to remember what that is... Oh yeah, news! We have a confirmed launch date and price for the Oculus Rift (and it's not cheap); Psychonauts 2 is definitely a thing that's definitely happening; and Activision has bought the Major League Gaming esports organization. This news plus news on Watch_Dogs 2, the next Assassin's Creed, Scalebound, Just Cause 3, and more! Plus your industry-breaking dose of Hot Goss Ip, as always. Don may not be with us in voice, but he's with us in spirit... and pre-recorded voice, to tell us what he's been playing, and it's not Destiny! This is not a drill, repeat, this is not a drill! And as Christmas has come and gone we've got our Christmas hauls to talk about, including: Fallout 4, Dark Souls, Pro Evolution Soccer 2016, WWE 2k16 and lots more to cover on top of that. It's bloody freezing, so put your earmuffs on, slide your earphones on underneath them, and let us make your chilly winter trips that little bit more enjoyable! Unless we have Guy back on ofcourse, in which case tear the ear phones out and throw your phone as far as you can, whilst running in the opposite direction. Happy new year! (Right-click the file and select "Save as" to download it, or left-click to listen in your browser)

RHP starts the new year off right by losing an entire discussion about The Force Awakens to a technical issue! Hooray! So what was actually recorded? We’ve got discussion on Activision-Blizzard’s buyout of Major League Gaming, Steam Winter Sale shenanigans, and an impressive rant by Shane on George Lucas. Additionally, we’ve got a main topic...

In a major eSports shakeup, Activision Blizzard has purchased Major League Gaming, in a move that has left some shareholders of MLG stunned. Activision has been making moves into the eSports space already and this brings a major league under their wing. What this will mean for the future of eSports is yet to be seen. We spoke to Christopher Parkin, he's a developer and CEO of Offpeak Games, makers of the virtual reality medieval combat game Valiant. We talked about their Kickstarter campaign, and launching a new game at the infancy of VR. Oculus have just announced their pricing and preorders for their Rift headset, so gamers will soon be able to experience VR in their own homes. Finally today we wrap up the year that was 2015. We look at some of the major stories and releases of last year and talk about some of our favourite games. You can find us on all the social media sites, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Twitch, YouTube and Steam. Just search for "pixelsift" and you'll find us!

This week, Gizmo (from the Lords of the Storm podcast) and Sharku join the crew! Everyone at Blizzard is coming back to work after the holiday break, but there have been some bold decisions for the new year! It's now easier than ever to upgrade your legendary ring. Upgrades can be bought with Valor on top of Archimonde kills! But what does this mean for your average player? Activision Blizzard scooped most of the assets from Major League Gaming before the end of 2015. What will this mean for Activision Blizzard's new eSports Division (and the possible fans at home)? Also, what steps do they need to take to become the "ESPN of eSports?" Plus, Moose Mount Runs, games of the year, a bunch of your questions and a ton of good times. Enjoy! For more videos and our audio podcasts, head to converttoraid.comFollow us on Twitter @ConverttoRaid or individually:Pat - @PatKraneDairies - @BoredMindGizmo - @GizmozordSharku - @Sharku_CTR

This week, the guys detail their new years eve adventures as well as Adam's thoughts on his fancy New Nintendo 3DS. Next, it's another dose of rapid fire news including the delay of Uncharted 4, a new female protagonist mod for the Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, PlayStation Plus titles for January 2016, Steam's troubled yet successful Christmas, the buyout of Major League Gaming, the delay of the Xbox One exclusive Scalebound and rumors of the next Assassin's Creed title (or lack thereof). Finally, Adam wraps up the show with a long overdue review of Pokémon Omega Ruby for the Nintendo 3DS... Gotta catch 'em all!

This week the Blue Guy returns and we talk about Creed (Spoilers), The Hateful Eight (Spoilers), Major League Gaming, Uncharted 4 pushed back, New Metal Gear Online DLC coming soon, a man who Kept his Super Famicon on for 20 years to not lose his save data, Michael Fassbender played Assassin's Creed, George Lucas calls Disney "White Slavers", and we watch a shit ton of trailers!!!! --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/trps/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/trps/support

Tovo from Line of Sight Gaming and Sharku join this week’s crew as we make that final push toward Anaheim! With less than two weeks until Blizzcon 2015, Blizzard HQ isn’t dropping a ton of news. But the news we do have is incredible, especially if you like esports.  Activision Blizzard (the parent company) is creating a new eSports Division in the company, separate from both Activision and Blizzard Entertainment games. On top of that, they’ve hired top talent in key positions to help grow esports in the company. Steve Bornstein (former CEO of ESPN and NFL Network) joins as chairman while Mike Sepso (co-founder of Major League Gaming) joins as a senior VP. We assume that this means only good things for all of Blizzard’s newest games, but will this help or hurt raiding in World of Warcraft? Patch 6.2.3 is on the PTR, and there may have been some things we didn’t cover as well as we should have, like cross realm Mythic raiding! But will all of the changes in the next patch be able to extend the life of Warlords of Draenor until the next expansion? In the Battlenet News, OVERWATCH closed beta is out! The guys will give you their first impressions about the heroes, the gameplay, and the hype train that is Blizzard’s latest IP.    Follow us on Twitter: @ConverttoRaid @PatKrane @LoS_Gaming @Sharku_CTR Also, find all the videos and audios and much more at converttoraid.com

Happy Holidays y'all! This week is brought to you by the movie Interstellar, Major League Gaming, and the Illuminati. [airhorn.wav] Questions for 12/8/2014: Q1: Where DON'T you want to find grandma? Q2: What celebrity would you NOT want to read your bedtime story? Questions for 12/15/2014: Q1: When will we know we've reached the future? Q2: Improve a Christmas Carol by changing one word. Please answer any OR all of these questions in a comment below OR send an email to htdquestions@gmail.com OR use whatever communication method you prefer to get your answers to us and we will discuss them on our next episode! If you want updates when we release new episodes, consider signing up for our email list or joining/following our facebook group! Just send a friendly email asking to be on the email list to htdquestions@gmail.com, or visit www.facebook.com/htdpodcast and check us out there! Music Source: Louis Armstrong - Ain't Misbehavin'

Ozzdog12 is back with new meat! Local Knoxvillian Sam Phillips join in not only for the first time in the Digital Den, but for his first podcast ever(Busting that podcast cherry). Ozzdog12 and Sam discuss all manner of things ranging from Destiny, The Walking Dead, to Major League Gaming, Ebola, and dog breeding. *side note, Ozzdog12 got some food during the show and eats LIVE during the recording.. its gross... enjoy!

Ozzdog12 is back with new meat! Local Knoxvillian Sam Phillips join in not only for the first time in the Digital Den, but for his first podcast ever(Busting that podcast cherry). Ozzdog12 and Sam discuss all manner of things ranging from Destiny, The Walking Dead, to Major League Gaming, Ebola, and dog breeding. *side note, Ozzdog12 got some food during the show and eats LIVE during the recording.. its gross... enjoy!

News Stories CCP cancels World of Darkness MMO Georgia gov’t extends tax credit to developers on day of cancellation Project Cars - photo-realism graphics and a November release date. Minecraft 360 saves will transfer to XBONE Mojang opens up Minecraft Realms server hosting service Mad Max delayed until 2015 Twitch beats out ESPN, WWE and MLB as largest US streaming site. PS4 might get MP3 support in upcoming app. E.T. cartridges found!! Major League Gaming is building a stadium in China. Call of Duty competitions at X-Games? What I’m Playing Now ESO What I WANT to play Now! Archeage

Pushing Buttons, ShatteredSprites.com, Episode 35 "Microsoft all over this week", Mike and Gerald, Recorded 4/29/14, Shattered Sprites on Youtube - Welcome back to Pushing Buttons by ShatteredSprites.com. It's a a full show this week. The finding of the E.T. cartridges in the New Mexican landfill cause Mike and Gerald to remember the good old days, particularly some of the earlier RPGs. A new Dragon Quest game has been announced to be in development, much to our excitement. Dark Souls has been bought by a Japanese publisher. Major League Gaming will be making an appearance at the X-Games this year for a Call of Duty Tournament this year. E.T. cartridge landfill found in New Mexico - Tower of Druaga Wikipedia - New Dragon Quest unveiled - Dark Souls developer Dark Souls bought - MLG at X-Games - Xbox One getting original programming

On today’s show, a first, the public address announcers from the Los Angeles Kings, Dave Joseph, and Anaheim Ducks, Phil Hulett, dueled on the air. You listen and decide who has the better goal call. Plus, who knew there are gaming kids out there who are millionaires? Ryan Wyatt, aka FWIZ, of Major League Gaming talks about the phenomenon that gives your kid no excuse to be broke this summer.  And author Cathleen Ziegler describes the awful stuff that can happen to you because of all the gluten in your diet, and how to cut it out in no time.

VGS is on location for the 2nd of 3 midnight releases at Gamestop!  This week we welcome our official Halo Correspondant Brett who talks with us about both Halo and Major League Gaming as well as reps VGS in a Halo 3 tournament.  Join us for news and more on this fun-filled week of The Video Games Show!

Halo Anthology Retrospective episode 4: Halo 2 Release date November 9, 2004 Scarfinger host of Scarcasm Live and the Dream Team, Diayall aka Mom-gamer-Writer of mom-gamer-writer.com, Phoenix of The Phoenix Project, and Henry Knoxx head of the KNOXbroadcast break down everything Halo 2 including; The advent of Xbox Live, Major League Gaming, Clans, and community which all

Like a phoenix rising from the ashes (of American flags, OH clever Wilco reference), the Media Moguls have returned with episode 8. Long episode with lots of words this time around, but a three month absence will do that to you. In this episode, the Moguls discuss what they did during their hiatus, current (sort of) events, and the virus known as Major League Gaming. Other topics brought up at one point or another: Hulk Hogan's sex tape, butt-chugging, and how Pokemon promotes animal cruelty. Song of the day: "Skull Cakin'" by PomegranatesListen here

On this episode, the ATFP crew discusses Major League Gaming's sketchy disqualification of League of Legends players, steel barbed cock spears, and the fan-requested Taxan platformer Low G Man!

On this episode, the ATFP crew discusses Major League Gaming's sketchy disqualification of League of Legends players, steel barbed cock spears, and the fan-requested Taxan platformer Low G Man!

Major League Gaming super-star Sean Powell (aka Sun-E-Boy) joins the Nerdtastic crew this week and schools them on exactly how to ruin someone’s day in Hockey.  If a crazy Finnish sport involving full contact and no rules sounds fun, or the world’s most impractical wall climbing device tickles your imagination, then you might want to […]

In what will almost definitely not become a trend, this week's digital bonanza features another guest star from the very ranks of you, the listeners. Simsar, aka Drew, has joined us in the Green Hill Zone to discuss Major League Gaming. Plus all that you've come to expect from your intrepid hosts. This episode includes: Introduction Gaming News Listener Reaction Cool Points Update Gaming Gem -Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic Undercard - Game Tutorials Main Event - MLG Revisited Simsar's Gaming Gem - Super Mario Kart Reviews - Rainbow Six Vegas (Simsar), Fight Night Round 3 Currently Playing Signoff High-res version of this week's strip can be found at: http://crimsondespot.deviantart.com/art/For-Driving-I-Guess-91053815

Greg and Rob discuss: Professional video gamers and Major League Gaming (www.mlgpro.com), Burger King video games for Microsoft Xbox, Sony PlayStation 3 launch day scams, Nintendo Wii bundles, bleem!, the hypocrisy of Apple lovers installing Microsoft Windows on their new Macintosh computers, elevator common sense, the Power Glove by Mattel and other useless gimmick toys, Tyco slot cars, and Tom Cruise's auto racing career. 24 minutes - www.paunchstevenson.com

Hey there everyone! Lots of new pics and info on the Nintendo Revolution in this episode, as well as discussion about professional gaming and games as therapy.Show Notes:A Gamer's ManifestoMajor League Gaming"girlz 0f destruction" blow away the competition - literally!Mass WoW protest?The Final Revolution Secret!?Making of Revolution Pix (These are huge. Do not attempt with dialup.)Japanese Revolution manuel scansVideo games as therapy for ADHDOption42: ClashofdaCreaturesCourtesy of ocremix.comWeird Game of the Week: ColormentalHave a great week!