Razer has announced the opening of a new store in Las Vegas. This is big news for esports and gaming as a whole since it'll be the largest Razer store worldwide and the second one the company has opened in the U.S. Not only will this provide a means for Razer to sell its gear to the masses in Las Vegas, the new store will offer a 2,400 square-foot gaming experience with different floors offering unique zones.
You'll be able to watch live esports tournaments, participate in LAN events, try out Razer's gaming hardware range, and even check out any budding streamer who chooses to record a session at the brick and mortar. This new Las Vegas Razer store will be located at The LINQ Promenade, 3545 S. Las Vegas Blvd. #L27, Nevada, 89109. Doors will open to the public on September 7 at 12 p.m. PDT. A 2,400-square-foot gaming hangout
The opening day will see a live DJ performance, competitions, and a showing from major teams and influencers including MissesMae, OpTic, DI3SEL, AvaGG, and Jericho. It's a big move for Razer, which has come a long way from starting off small within the PC accessories segment to now running a small chain of seemingly successful retail outlets.
To retire or not to retire?
Esports is structured much like traditional sports in terms of retirement for players. It's viewed that when you approach the magical age of 30 your reflexes and overall performance starts to take a hit — in fact, in more competitive and action-packed games this age of retirement is usually much lower. In Dota 2, as reported by Yahoo!, Michael "Ninjaboogie" Ross is still playing at 27 but is adamant to defy the age barrier and continue representing past 30.
Once players retire, they have the option to become an analyst, caster or even coach for the next generation within an organization. But not everyone wants to continue playing, especially when you take into account burnout, eye and wrist fatigue from practicing and performing on stage.
Still, the retirement age is increasing, as noted by Kurtis "Aui_2000" Ling, the former professional player turned coach of Newbee. "Five or 10 years ago you retired because you wanted to settle down and you couldn't support yourself in eSports. Now we've clearly reached the point where you can begin to do that (support yourself). Sports players can play into their 40s so I don't see why you can't in eSports."
Player trouble in Turkey
Former players of Beşiktaş football club's esports division allege the organization — mirroring the club itself — has been in financial difficulties for some time, which left some players without pay for months. Natalie "Stratospanda" Kristiansen used to be part of the organization's all-female League of Legends team but recently spoke out about how she and others found they weren't being paid regularly, if at all.
As covered by Dexerto, Beşiktaş Esports even failed to put through the first salary payment on time — players allegedly went up to five months without pay. Stratospanda even goes as far as to say the staff was also missing payments at points.
"It's now August and I still haven't received my salary for March."
It gets worse, still. After Stratospanda left the organization in June, she published details about how the organization even instructed players not to go public about the salary issues, noting that if they do future payments may be held altogether. Former teammate Olimpia "Komedyja" Cichosz chimed in by adding false promises made by Beşiktaş surrounding facilities and opportunities.
Lastly, the Discord server used by players was allegedly shut down to prevent them from communicating with one another in the shared space, fearing other teams would discover the pay problem. The organization has problems not just with its esports division, but also with the main football club too owing around $465 million in 2018.
Ford launches new esports team
Fordzilla is the brand that will represent Ford in esports. The company will use the new organization to recruit top players in France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK, allowing top players from each national team to form a European squad. Games that will be covered will include titles similar to Fordzilla include Forza Motorsport 7 and recruitment kicked off at Gamescom.
Forza 7 is an evolution of Forza 6, but that's not a negative since Forza 6 was virtually faultless. Forza 7 is bigger, the single-player mode is more engaging to play, and the dynamic weather alone adds an entirely new dimension to the gameplay. It also has hundreds of more cars.
Upcoming live events
