Shad Benefield

Platforms: PC It’s thanks to Quake Champions that fans of this iconic franchise can rejoice in the hit shooter’s return to the gaming scene. After all, before Quake Champions ’ 2017 release, the last installment in the franchise was Quake 4 in 2005. With this in mind, Quake Champions marks not just a return to form to the arena shooter, but the introduction of additional elements that make it just as exciting an experience for modern f With his Twitch career falling to the wayside as a result, it is estimated that ItsSliker stole close to $200,000 from people within the Twitch community, sparking a huge flurry of debates surrounding the state of Twitch gambling and how it is ruining the platform. In the wake of these revelations, extremely influential streamers such as Pokimane took to Twitter to demand that Twitch ban gambling on the platform, with her tweet receiving over 300,000 li With many other massively popular streamers such as xQc and Trainwreckstv receiving similar deals, many claim that this kind of unchecked promotion of gambling services from people who are receiving huge sponsorship deals can be harmful to audiences, while also questioning the credibility of the showcased win rates of the gambling sites on stream. This kind of gambling was present on Twitch for several years, being a lingering controversy that was only recently addressed thanks to what is likely Twitch's most high-profile gambling controversy to d Gambling services such as Stake.com have risen dramatically in popularity and spending power in recent years, allowing players to gamble with the cryptocurrency of their choice. This popularity allowed crypto gambling services to offer extremely lucrative sponsorship deals for big-time streamers to gamble on their websites. For example, popular streamer Adin Ross was reportedly being paid upwards of $900,000 a week to play on Stake.com, meaning a glaring and massive vested interest was pres Websites quickly began exploiting the craze surrounding Counter Strike 's in-game items, with sites like CSGO Lotto allowing players to trade their items for eligibility into raffles for extremely valuable prizes. Many streamers began promoting these kinds of websites, often without disclosing their financial stakes in the services they were promoting. For example, popular streamer Phantoml0rd was famously permanently banned from Twitch for just this reason, despite later winning a civil suit against the platform. Twitch would quickly go on to ban these kinds of raffle or gambling websites related to CSGO , marking one of the first major gambling controversies for the serv Gameplay-wise, Black Squad certainly boasts decent graphics and sounds for a free title. Despite its graphical strength, the small maps do mean players get into action much faster than in other games, much to the chagrin of some FPS fans. Regardless, the game remains reminiscent of Counter-Strike gameplay, where fast-paced combat is replaced by tactical approaches. This game is a good option for fans who want to get more strategic with their FPS experie Center to the experience is the "Spike," the equivalent of a high-yield bomb that a team either has to deploy and protect or defuse. Players can become various powered Agents like Jett (Duelist) who navigates the battlefield faster with her high-altitude jumps, or jiggle peeking strategy Sage (Sentinel) who can heal allies and block enemies with her ice abilities. With the game's physics-defying mechanics, players will have to get creative maximizing their team synerg With the long-term chapter of gambling controversies on the Twitch platform seemingly coming to an end, it is clear that the streaming service is shifting dramatically in appeal and ethos. While many will agree that the move might be in Twitch's best interests, the tension and infighting that it is causing among its most popular streamers may be a very detrimental byproduct of its many gambling controversies finally being laid to r Hunt: Showdown is one of the most unique first-person shooters on the market. It tasks players to go into a monster-filled 1870s bayou with nothing but break-action shotguns, lever-action rifles, and many other historical weapons . It plays unlike nearly any other competitive shooter, as it lacks fully automatic weapons and prioritizes patience and accuracy when fir One of these is its CT-sided nature, which is likely what Nuke is most known for. While it was always a popular map despite this reputation, the casual and professional scene responded very positively to the changes. While many would argue it remains largely CT-sided, strong teams, structured or not, have options to be effective on the T-side creating a nice balance. Nuke remains in the Top 3 to 4 most-played maps in both casual and competitive pl The so-called "complex" story of Stranglehold: some bad guys have your daughter and your ex girlfriend, and you have to keep pulling the trigger at said bad guys until you find them. To give an even shorter description, it's like Max Payne with 40% less story and 50% more act