Friday 1 May 2020

PUBG Reveals Details For The PCS North American Showdown

Earlier today, PUBG released details of how the PCS Charity Showdown events will take place between May 14th-31st. Sixteen teams will face off in this tournament, which will be comprised of the eight North American teams that qualified for the now-canceled PGS Berlin: Americas Qualifier (Soniqs, Exodus, Oath, Houston Hardshifts, LiViD Gaming, 303 Esports, Team Clueless, Radiance), and eight invited teams to balance out the brackets. The remaining eight teams will qualify from the PCS NA Charity Showdown Qualifier, which will happen between May 2nd-17th. The players will be competing for $200k, with $100k as the prize and a $100k to support COVID-19 relief. The winning team will have their $100k donated to the charity of the winning team's choice. We have more details of when and where you can watch the tournament take place below.

The PCS North American Showdown will take place in the second half of May, courtesy of PUBG.

 The PCS North America Charity Showdown will also qualify teams into the first phase of the brand new PCS NA Qualifiers leading to even more prize pools outlined in the Qualification for Pro League section below. The PCS NA Charity Showdown will take place over four days with five matches each day, broadcast live on Twitch.

  • Thursday, May 21st @ 4:00 PM PDT
  • Friday, May 22nd @ 4:00 PM PDT
  • Saturday, May 23rd @ 4:00 PM PDT
  • Sunday, May 24th @ 4:00 PM PDT

The qualifiers will be broadcast by community casters on their personal Twitch streams. Make sure you follow @PUBGEsports on Twitter as we'll announce the stream URLs as casters go live!

  • Round of 64 (Bo12): Saturday & Sunday May 2nd & 3rd @ 2:00 PM PDT
  • Round of 32 (Bo12): Saturday & Sunday May 9th & 10th @ 2:00 PM PDT
  • Round of 16 (Bo12): Saturday & Sunday May 16th & 17th @ 2:00 PM PDT

After the PCS NA Charity Showdown, the PCS1 NA Qualifiers will begin. This three-week, pro league style competition consists of the top 24 teams from the PCS NA Charity Showdown (16 teams from the finals + the 9th-16th place teams from the qualifier). The league itself will award a $50,000 prize pool and qualify the top sixteen teams to compete for $200,000 in PCS1 North America. More information on the PCS1 NA Qualifiers and other semi-pro leagues to come!

The post PUBG Reveals Details For The PCS North American Showdown appeared first on Bleeding Cool News And Rumors.



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Infinity: Against the Tide #1 (2013) art by Agustine Alessio 



Infinity: Against the Tide #1 (2013)
art by Agustine Alessio


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Buzzfeed Editor Scott Lucas Agrees with Anakin Skywalker on Sand

An editor for Buzzfeed ironically named Scott Lucas has taken the bold stance of agreeing with Anakin Skywalker on the subject of sand. In a post on Twitter Thursday, Lucas lashed out at beaches, saying, "Beaches are bad, actually. They mean nothing, produce nothing, have no history, no language, no thought, no purpose. If you like the beach, you are the exhausted subject of late capitalism, literally the Last Man (or Woman)." We double-checked and confirmed that Lucas was indeed talking about beaches and not the website he works for.

While Lucas's reasoning differs slightly, it's hard not to notice that his name is Lucas and that he echoes the opinions of Anakin Skywalker in the Star Wars prequels. In Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones, Skywalker, in a misguided and brooding attempt to woo the older Padme Amidala, tells her, "I don't like sand. It's coarse, rough, and irritating. And it gets everywhere."

Failing to sense the irony, or perhaps reveling in it as only a true next-level hipster can, Lucas doubled down on his statement on beaches in response to well-warranted mockery, saying, "I'm seeing some disagreements with my brave stance against beaches, but in their contemporary form, the endlessness of their pointlessness, beaches are the bad infinity. Literally the help of the Same."

Unlike Skywalker, Lucas doesn't even have the excuse of trying to impress Natalie Portman. He just really hates beaches, apparently. To be fair, Lucas's diatribe appears to be made in response to reports that people continue to party on beaches in California's Orange County despite shut-down orders by California Governor Gavin Newsom, but it's pretty clear that was just an opportunity to pursue a staunch anti-beach agenda. At press time, Bleeding Cool could not confirm that Lucas's mother was killed by Tusken Raiders.

The post Buzzfeed Editor Scott Lucas Agrees with Anakin Skywalker on Sand appeared first on Bleeding Cool News And Rumors.



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Wrestler Who Still Has Job Says WWE is Supportive of Laid Off Talent

Though Lacey Evans was not one of dozens of wrestlers and backstage talent laid off or furloughed by WWE in April, she does feel that WWE is "very supportive" of the wrestlers it left jobless in the middle of a pandemic. WWE announced the layoffs the same day company boasted of having $500 million in reserves, the day before they announced dividends for shareholders totaling $9.3 million, enough to keep everyone employed into 2021, and the week before a first-quarter financial report revealed WWE is on track for massive profits even if live events don't return for the rest of the year. Nevertheless, Evans says WWE has made sure that all of her former co-workers "has what they need and is taken care of." Well, except for a job and a steady source of income during one of the biggest economic downturns in a hundred years.

"It's terrible," said Evans on the Walkaway Fight Club podcast, as transcribed by 411 Wrestling. "I take it hard because I know what it's like to come from no money and come from a rough childhood upbringing. I know what rock bottom feels like. I know what that sick feeling in your stomach feels like when you don't know what you're going to do. That's all that I could think about is 'Man, what are they going to do?'"

"This hits them last minute," Evans continued. "But I also do know that WWE is very supportive. They do what they have to do, but they make sure that everybody has what they need and is taken care of, and to the point of going forward. But it's just a crappy feeling. I just can't imagine being in that position."

However, Evans does compare the firings to her own life experience of being in the military and being a mom. "I also know of going back to the military, of being able to adapt and overcome. You just got to keep pushing. You can't let life no matter what it is, no matter what cards you're dealt with, you keep playing, you got to play your hand, and you got to play to the best of your ability. I mean, it's hard. Like I said, me being a mother, I've got to get up the next day. I've got to pour my cup of coffee and I got to keep on pushing. It reminds me to be prepared and not only to be prepared myself but to prepare my child because you never know."

The official logo of the WWE.
The official logo of the WWE.

Evans had even more advice for struggling former WWE employees. "You can't count your chickens before they hatch," she said. "You got to save for a rainy day. A lot of emotions and thoughts come through. I just keep them all in my prayers and wish them the best and then do the best that I can to continue to keep pushing and be good at my job and continue to learn and do the best that I can in there."

It's certainly not Evans' fault that WWE made the coldhearted decision to let go of so many workers at the absolute worst time when they definitely didn't have to. We're sure her sympathy for her former co-workers is 100% genuine, so this isn't a dig at her, but we have a hard time believing WWE has "taken care of them" when the very easy way to have done that would have been to not fire them right now in the first place.

The post Wrestler Who Still Has Job Says WWE is Supportive of Laid Off Talent appeared first on Bleeding Cool News And Rumors.



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Thor v6 #1 - “The Black Winter” (2020) interior inks by Nic... 



Thor v6 #1 - “The Black Winter” (2020) interior inks by Nic Klein


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Daniel Bryan Had Other Options But Brie Bella Made Him Sign With WWE

On last night's episode of Total Bellas, Daniel Bryan provided insight into what caused him to re-sign with WWE. Bryan and his wife, Brie Bella, have been arguing about their relationship this season, as Bryan's road schedule and Bella's business schedule have been causing friction between the couple as they try to care for their young daughter, Birdie. Additionally, Brie has told Bryan she doesn't want to have a second child, further distressing the WWE superstar.

Daniel and Brie in the ring, courtesy of WWE.
Daniel and Brie in the ring, courtesy of WWE.

Things came to a head in the latest episode when Bella asked Bryan to fly home with Birdie so Brie could concentrate on her business in L.A. even though Bryan was staying in town because the couple rarely has time to spend together. An argument ensued, as captured by the show's documentary video.

"When we first started seeing each other, we agreed on we want a simple life," Bryan said.

"We evolve as humans," Bella replied. "Okay? WHo I was back then, which, I do like a simple life–"

"No, there's nothing about our life that is simple right now," said Bryan. "When are we just supposed to have a normal relationship?

"Our relationship was never normal," said Bella. "Not from the beginning. You and I were always on the road from the beginning."

"Okay, maybe normal is the wrong word," Bryan admitted. "When are we supposed to have time together, without cameras?"

"What am I supposed to plan that?" asked Bella. "Like, plan some things."

"I've tried to plan stuff," Bryan said. "I've tried. But you don't even give me the schedule a day in advance. You're the one who's frustrated like "you don't show enough PDA" all this kinds of stuff. How am I supposed to show PDA when we don't even see each other?"

"I don't complain that you're on the road as much as you are," Bella said.

"You're the one who wanted me to sign the contract!" Bryan shouted. "I wanted to be not as busy. And then when you wanted me to sign the contract, I fought to have less dates so I could be home more with you and Birdie."

Interestingly, the next part of the argument was cut from the YouTube video above, though it's still available on the Hulu version of the show.

"The contract was the only promising thing going for you at the time," Bella said.

"I had other options," Bryan replied.

It's interesting that Bryan would mention other options and that WWE could cut it from their YouTube video. Was Bryan talking about signing with a different wrestling organization, like NJPW, Ring of Honor, or even AEW? Hopefully, we'll learn more about this as the Total Bellas documentary continues, though I'm not sure if WWE will allow much more revealing footage like that to make the cut.

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Both The ESL & DreamHack Enter New Streaming Deals With Twitch

This week, both the ESL and DreamHack announced they have entered into a new streaming agreement with Twitch. Both companies have entered into a three-year deal to bring esports events to the social-streaming platform, which will see some of the biggest esports tournaments organized by both organizations through at least 2022. That's a pretty major deal right now considering how Youtube has become more aggressive toward getting more esports-related events to stream exclusively on their platform. The one thing missing from the info is just how much they're getting to be exclusive to the platform. But if history has taught us anything, we'll probably find out the details within the next month or so. We have more details on the deal below, along with a quote from the announcement from MTG, owner of both organizations.

Twitch will have exclusive ESL and DreamHack events until Spring 2023.

"This both strategically and financially important deal between Twitch, ESL and DreamHack further establishes esports as a highly relevant global media product. We're convinced that it is the first of many major leaps that esports as a media product is bound to take in the coming years," says Jørgen Madsen Lindemann, President and CEO of MTG.

As part of the partnership, Twitch will become a centralized hub for streaming ESL and DreamHack competitions. The company will work directly with ESL and DreamHack to coordinate broadcast integrations and maximize sponsorships of some of the biggest esports tournaments going forward.

The deal announcement confirms Twitch as the global digital media partner of major ESL and DreamHack competitions on a non-exclusive basis in 2020, before acquiring exclusivity of English language digital live streaming of major events in 2021 and 2022. As part of the deal, all tournaments streamed in English within ESL Pro Tour for CS:GO and StarCraft II & Warcraft III, including the ESL Pro League, ESL One, Intel Extreme Masters, DreamHack Masters, DreamHack Open, ESL National Championships, will be exclusively on Twitch in 2021 and 2022.

The post Both The ESL & DreamHack Enter New Streaming Deals With Twitch appeared first on Bleeding Cool News And Rumors.



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