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Articles by Ryan Mitchell
NetEnt’s Nunchucks Slot Is Live: 12,000x Max Win, 96.21% RTP and Kung-Fu Nuns
News Ryan Mitchell·30/10/2026·4 min read Status: live as of 30 October 2026. NetEnt has released Nunchucks, a 6×4 online slot built around combat-trained nuns defending their parish from Sinpin and his gang. The game received exclusive early access on October 22 ahead of its October 29, 2026 release. Here are the numbers first. The story comes after. Nunchucks: The Key Numbers Grid: 6 reels by 4 rows. Ways to win: 4,096. Max win: 12,000x your bet. Default RTP: 96.21%.
Legal Experts On Kalshi’s Most Serious Threat Yet As Utah Files Criminal Charges
Kalshi and its founders, Tarek Mansour and Luana Lopes Lara, are facing criminal charges in Utah. While that has made headlines, one thing that stands out in the criminal complaint is the state sending a special agent undercover to place wagers on sports.
New Hampshire Supreme Court Upholds Revocation Of Andy Sanborn’s Concord Casino Licenses
The New Hampshire Supreme Court has sided with state regulators in the long fight over Concord Casino, upholding the revocation of former state Senator Andy Sanborn‘s charitable gaming licenses and the rejection of the buyer he lined up for the business. The ruling was issued on Wednesday, October 28.
Malik Beasley Latest Link Between Obsessive Athletes & Compulsive Gamblers
Image: All-Pro Reels via Wikimedia Commons/Malik Beasley (25) Malik Beasley is set to plead guilty in a spot-fixing scandal after months of denial. The former Detroit Pistons guard racked up millions of dollars in gambling debts, becoming an easy target for a fixing scheme. He is the latest example of the link between professional athletes and problem gamblers. Prosecutors allege that Beasley’s former teammate, Ed Davis, started loaning him money to help with his gambling debts.
MGM Las Vegas Profit Falls 12% as Room Rates Drop 8%
MGM Resorts International’s Las Vegas casino business grew in the third quarter, but cheaper rooms sent Strip profit down 12% and pulled results below Wall Street expectations. Revenue fell 0.9% to $4.212 billion in the three months ended Sept. 30, according to MGM’s third-quarter earnings release. Consolidated adjusted EBITDA, a non-GAAP measure, fell 20% to $403 million from $506 million. Analysts track MGM on EBITDAR, which adds back rent paid to landlords of its leased resorts.
Churchill Downs Authorizes $750 Million Buyback as Q3 Racing Profit Slips
Churchill Downs (CHDN) Incorporated approved a $750 million share buyback after record third-quarter revenue and adjusted EBITDA, even as racing division profit fell. Revenue rose 2% to $696 million in the three months ended Sept. 30, while adjusted EBITDA, a non-GAAP measure, edged up 1% to $264 million, according to the company’s third-quarter earnings announcement. That was about 1% ahead of the $260 million consensus cited by Citizens JMP analysts Jordan Bender and Isabelle Slavin.
Nevada Gaming Win Holds Flat At $1.28 Billion In September As Strip Edges Up
Nevada casinos finished September essentially level with a year ago, as a small gain on the Las Vegas Strip was offset by softer results in downtown Las Vegas, Laughlin and Reno. The Nevada Gaming Control Board released the monthly figures on Wednesday, October 28. Statewide gaming win for September came to $1.28 billion, according to News 3 Las Vegas, which described the total as largely unchanged from September 2025.
New Rutgers University Study Reveals Major Concerns About Adolescent Gambling in US
A new study from Rutgers University’s Center for Gambling Studies found that almost 43% of US teenagers aged 13 to 17 gambled in the last year. The study surveyed 1,677 US residents between the ages of 13 and 27 and found that 52.5% of Americans in that age range gambled in the past year. Nearly 40% met the criteria for problem gambling. The study’s results were weighted to national population benchmarks. The maximum margin of error was ±3.2% overall and ±6.1% for teens.
Alberta Gambler Continues to Pursue 888 Over $1M in Unpaid Jackpot Winnings
Steve Sawusch on Unsplash A gambler in Alberta hit the jackpot while playing slots at 888‘s online casino in March this year, winning over CA$1.3 million (around $1M). James Kotylak had already started planning how to spend the winnings. He told his 91-year-old grandmother that he was going to buy her farm to keep it in the family for generations. “She was very happy and pleased about this,” Kotylak told Gaming America. “Then I told my daughter.
Sky Bet Celebrates Harry Kane’s Ballon d’Or Win With ‘Kane You Believe It?’ Campaign
Bryan Berlin via Wikimedia Commons Harry Kane became the first English player to win the Ballon d’Or since Michael Owen in 2001, and SkyBet has marked the occasion with a ‘Kane You Believe It?’ campaign. The award is given annually to the world’s best football player. Kane scored 73 goals for Bayern Munich and England in international competition last season. Only Lionel Messi scored more, with 82 goals during the 2011-12 season.
Monarch Casino & Resort Reports Record Third Quarter Revenue Of $146.3 Million
Monarch Casino & Resort, which owns Atlantis Casino Resort Spa in Reno and Monarch Casino Resort Spa in Black Hawk, Colorado, posted the highest quarterly net revenue and Adjusted EBITDA in its history for the third quarter of 2026. In its third quarter results announcement, issued after the market close on Tuesday, October 27, the Nasdaq-listed operator reported net revenue of $146.3 million for the three months to September 30. That is a 2.4% increase on $142.8 million a year earlier.
Light & Wonder Debuts RAPIDPLAY Pay-By-Bank Slots At Crystal Bay Casino In Nevada
Light & Wonder has put its RAPIDPLAY cashless system on a live casino floor for the first time, picking Crystal Bay Casino on the Nevada shore of Lake Tahoe for the debut. The supplier announced the installation this week and intends to bring the technology to more Nevada properties over the coming months. RAPIDPLAY is a pay-by-bank product. As Casino.org reported, a player scans a QR code shown at the machine with a phone camera, which opens a secure bank transfer processed by Koin Payments.
Robinhood Eyes Financial Prediction Markets as CEO Sees Sports Becoming Commoditized
Robinhood is looking to establish a leading position in financial prediction markets, with CEO Vlad Tenev arguing that the company’s existing brokerage business gives it an advantage as sports event contracts become increasingly commoditized. “I think we can own the financial category,” Tenev said, pointing to Robinhood’s existing strengths in financial trading.
Caesars Posts $123 Million Third Quarter Loss As Las Vegas Slides And Regional Casinos Grow
Caesars Entertainment reported a wider loss for the third quarter of 2026 as weaker business on the Las Vegas Strip outweighed gains at its regional properties and in its online division. The company published the numbers after the US market close on Tuesday, October 27, and did not host an earnings call. According to the earnings release Caesars filed with the SEC, net revenue for the three months to September 30 reached $2.94 billion, up 2.5% from $2.869 billion a year earlier.
$25M Circa Survivor Contest Entries Slashed To 660 Entering NFL Week 8
Circa Survivor lost 50% of its entries for the second consecutive week, largely due to losses by the Texans and Jets. Those two teams crushed the hopes of 43% of the remaining entries in Week 7. Houston was a 10.5-point home favorite against the New York Giants, but fell 27-21 in overtime. The Vikings were the top choice with 378 selections; Minnesota struggled but still beat Indianapolis 16-10.
Breaking: New Polymarket Account Bets $546,000 France Will Avoid State of Emergency
A Polymarket account created on Monday (Oct. 26) has staked $545,764 that France will not declare a state of emergency before the end of the year. The single trade is worth more than half of all the money traders had put into the market since it opened. The account, which appears on Polymarket under the name “Forthright-Fowl,” bought 616,968 No shares at an average price of 88.5 cents at 17:59 UTC, according to the onchain transaction record.
North Fork Mono Casino Opens Tuesday Night In Madera, California As Rivals Await Legal Ruling
North Fork Mono Casino is counting down the hours to its grand opening in Madera County, California, with legal challenges failing to block the project. The casino, located on Highway 99, just north of Madera, is slated to open on October 28. Spanning 264,000 square feet, it will feature over 2,400 slots, 40 table games, four bars, and eight dining options.
Lumbee Tribe Gaming Ordinance Certified, Members To Vote In December Referendum
The Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina has moved its gaming plans to a vote of its members. On Friday, October 23, Tribal Chairman John Lowery signed off on the Lumbee Tribal Gaming Ordinance, classing it as a measure that affects fundamental rights. That step, under the tribe’s constitution sends it to a referendum of tribal members, The Robesonian reported on Monday. Lowery was joined for the certification by Vice Chairman Bobby Emanuel and Alex Baker, the Tribal Council Speaker.
CFTC Sues Utah After State Targeted Kalshi
Image: Arturo Rivera/Unsplash The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has filed a lawsuit against Utah Attorney General Derek Brown in response to the state’s actions against Kalshi. The lawsuit, filed in federal court on Monday, claims Brown overstepped his authority when suing Kalshi and its affiliates last week.
NBA Signs CFTC Integrity Pact And Names Kalshi And Polymarket Preferred Prediction Market Exchanges
The NBA has signed a formal cooperation agreement with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission covering basketball contracts on prediction markets, and on the same day named Kalshi and Polymarket as its two Preferred Prediction Market Exchanges. The league announced both deals on Monday, October 26, alongside a wider agreement with DraftKings.
Alberta’s iGaming Launch Outpaces Ontario’s 2022 Debut on a Per-Capita Basis
Clker-Free-Vector-Images / Pixabay Alberta may have a much smaller population than Ontario, but its regulated iGaming market is off to a considerably stronger start when measured on a per-capita basis. According to the Alberta iGaming Corporation (AiGC), operators generated CA$122.1 million ($87 million) in non-adjusted gross gaming revenue (NAGGR) between the July 13 launch and September 30. Players wagered CA$2.89 billion.
Phantom Blade Zero Reviews Are In: 9/10 Scores for Combat, Story Gets Marked Down
News Ryan Mitchell·26/10/2026·4 min read A parry lands, a chain hook gets caught mid-air, and a boss eats its own weapon. That’s the bit critics can’t stop talking about. Phantom Blade Zero’s review embargo has lifted, and S-Game’s wuxia action RPG is mostly scoring in the 9s for combat ahead of its launch on PS5 and PC this Thursday, October 29. The spread runs from 8 to 9.5 across the outlets we checked. The story is the most common reason a score drops.
Dragon Age Vet James Ohlen Defends Veilguard Devs as EA Shuts Down BioWare
BioWare’s gone. Within hours, the replies under one of its founding-era designers turned into a blame thread aimed at the people who’d just lost their jobs. James Ohlen, lead designer on Baldur’s Gate and a 22-year BioWare veteran, has now answered back.
Ex-Blizzard Boss Mike Ybarra Says a $1,800 Next-Gen Xbox Would Sell “Zero”
Picture walking into a store and finding the next Xbox priced like a mid-range gaming PC. Mike Ybarra, Blizzard’s former president and a one-time senior Xbox executive, says that console shouldn’t exist. Replying on X to reports that Microsoft’s next-gen hardware could land at US$1,200 to US$1,800, he wrote that “a console at the prices rumored below will never sell meaningful units to be of any value vs. alternatives.” He went further than a shrug.
Jynxzi’s Net Worth: Twitch’s Fastest Riser
Jynxzi, the Rainbow Six Siege streamer born Nicholas Stewart, is the clearest modern example of how fast a Twitch career can scale from zero audience to multi-millionaire status. His net worth is not officially disclosed, but a rare accidental revenue leak, verified subscriber records and documented brand activity let us build an evidence-based picture that most “net worth” pages cannot. Free to use with a link back to ShaneTheGamer as the source.
Atelier Karia Confirms Body Shape Mechanic After 78.9% of 38,000 Survey Voters Said Yes
Karia eats a bomb. Then a pastry. Then another pastry. In Gust’s next Atelier game, the protagonist’s waistline will now keep count. Koei Tecmo and Gust have confirmed that the much-discussed body shape change feature is going into Atelier Karia: The Night Kingdom & the Guide of Memories, after more than 38,000 people answered the studio’s survey and 78.9% voted for it.
Golden Joysticks 2026: PC Game of the Year Shortlist Is Out, Voting Closes October 23
There are ten games on the ballot and one PC trophy to hand out, and you’ve got 11 days left to vote. The 44th Golden Joystick Awards have revealed this year’s nominees, and the official announcement says the public vote is live on goldenjoysticks.com and will remain open until 4pm PT / 7pm ET / midnight BST on Friday, October 23, 2026. This first round covers 21 categories.
IShowSpeed’s Net Worth: How the Viral Star Cashes In
IShowSpeed, the stage name of Darren Jason Watkins Jr., is one of the most-watched entertainers on the planet, with an audience that now runs well past 170 million followers across YouTube, TikTok and Instagram combined. Published estimates of his personal fortune range widely, from the roughly $10 million figure repeated by Celebrity Net Worth to the $20 million in annual earnings verified by Forbes, with several trade outlets placing his total wealth higher still.
Phantom Blade Zero’s Childhood Wooden Sword Can Theoretically Clear the Whole Game
Phantom Blade Zero gives you 30 weapons to pick from. One of them is basically a stick. S-Game director Soulframe Liang says the game includes a childhood wooden sword as a challenge weapon, and “Theoretically, you can finish the entire game using only that!” He said it in a group interview DualShockers published on October 8. That’s the same day previews of the opening hours went live, three weeks before the game launches on PS5 and PC. The stick isn’t a joke item.
Synth Riders Adds Full Hand Tracking on Meta Quest 3 and 3S
Put the controllers down. Synth Riders now has full hand tracking on Meta Quest, and Kluge Interactive isn’t treating it as a side mode. The entire library of 200+ tracks, free songs and DLC alike, is playable controller-free on Meta Quest 3 and Meta Quest 3S starting today. If you’ve ever wanted to dance through a rhythm game with nothing in your hands, this is about as complete a version of that as VR has had. This is the headline.
Cats in the Shell Hits Steam Early Access on 20 January, Demo Out Now
News Ryan Mitchell·09/10/2026·3 min readPress release Cats. In mechs. Fighting other mechs. Cats in the Shell is a mech-building roguelike auto battler from Raven Studio and publisher Infini Fun, and it now has a date. It launches on PC via Steam Early Access on Wednesday, 20 January 2027, and a demo is available right now ahead of Steam Next Fest. Raven Studio is made up of veterans from Tencent, NetEase, SNK and more, and this is its debut game.
abxylute Launches M6 and M5 Sliding Mobile Controllers on Kickstarter
abxylute just put two sliding phone controllers on Kickstarter. The M6 and M5 went live today, and both are built around the same idea: your phone sits on a magnetic mount, the controls slide out from underneath, and the whole thing folds back into something you can drop in a pocket. The campaign runs for 40 days. Early Bird backers can grab the M6 for $65 and the M5 for $59, against retail prices of $89.99 and $84.99. Regular Kickstarter pricing sits at $69 and $65 once the early slots are gone.
8BitDo Reveals Tomb Raider 30th Anniversary Ultimate 3 and Pro 3 Controllers
Lara Croft turns 30 this year, and 8BitDo is marking it with two controllers dressed for a trip back to the Lost Valley. The Tomb Raider 30th Anniversary Edition covers the Ultimate 3 Controller for Xbox and the Pro 3 Bluetooth Gamepad, and Game Outlet Europe is bringing both to the UK and EU from November 13, 2026. The news came today from Game Outlet Europe, the Karlstad based distributor handling the range across European retailers and online stores.
Razer Wolverine V4 Pro and Tournament Edition Launch for Xbox With Capacitive Thumbsticks
Razer’s Xbox pad just got a full rebuild. The company announced the Wolverine V4 line today, made up of the wireless Wolverine V4 Pro at $199.99 and the wired Wolverine V4 Tournament Edition at $99.99. Both are officially designed for Xbox and PC, and both are out now. The headline features are new capacitive thumbstick sensors, up to 8,000 Hz polling on PC and a magnetic back button system you can rearrange in seconds.
Life Below Custom Mode Update Lets You Set the Rules of Your Reef
News Ryan Mitchell·04/10/2026·3 min read Your reef, your rules. Megapop Games has released The Custom Mode Update for Life Below, and it hands players control over the biomes, hazards, starting unlocks and wildlife limits that shape every run. Life Below is the Oslo studio’s reef-building city builder, published by Kasedo Games. It launched on PC via Steam on May 26, 2026, and this update builds on the Peaceful Mode campaign that arrived in August. Peaceful Mode was about slowing things down.
Razer Huntsman V3 Pro Mini 8KHz Brings 8000 Hz Polling to a 60% Keyboard
Razer just squeezed its best keyboard tech into a 60% board. The Huntsman V3 Pro Mini 8KHz launched on 1 October with true 8000 Hz HyperPolling, analog optical switches and the full Advanced Input Control suite, and it’s available now for $179.99, £179.99 or €189.99. It joins the Huntsman V3 Pro lineup as the compact option, and Razer is pitching it squarely at competitive players who want maximum mouse room and a board they can throw in a bag for LAN events.
How Rich Is Ninja? Net Worth and Earnings
Tyler “Ninja” Blevins is the streamer who dragged live gaming into the mainstream, and the question of how much he is worth has followed him ever since a 2018 Fortnite co-stream with Drake broke viewership records. Most published estimates place his net worth in the tens of millions, built across Twitch and YouTube revenue, a headline-grabbing platform-exclusivity deal, brand partnerships and an executive role at a publicly listed gaming company.
Ghost of Yotei Most Wanted Is Live, and Jin Sakai Sits Behind Roughly 30,000 Mon
You load into the bounty board as Atsu, and most of the upgrades you earned in the campaign are gone. Sucker Punch confirmed that Ghost of Yōtei: Echoes of Sekigahara and Most Wanted would become available on October 1 at 9:00 AM PDT / 12:00 PM EDT, playable once patch v2.0 goes live, and players have already found out what it takes to get Ghost of Tsushima’s hero back. Jin Sakai isn’t something you buy directly. He unlocks once you’ve spent enough Mon on everything else.
SEGA Producer: ‘We Want to Find a Way’ to Port Sakura Wars to Modern Consoles
Five Sakura Wars games have never officially left Japan. SEGA says that’s the part it’s trying to fix. In a new interview tied to the series’ 30th anniversary, longtime producer Akira Nishino told Weekly Famitsu that the publisher wants to bring the original Sakura Wars games to modern platforms, though he stopped short of naming a date or a system.
AOC Announces AGON PRO AGP257FT 1000 Hz Esports Monitor
A thousand hertz. AOC just announced the AGON PRO AGP257FT, a 24.5-inch esports monitor that runs at a native 1000 Hz and can be overclocked to 1050 Hz. It’s the fastest monitor AGON by AOC has ever put in its line-up, and it’s aimed squarely at pros and anyone who lives in competitive shooters. Don’t get your wallet out yet, though. AOC says the AGP257FT is expected to be available from Q1 2027, and local pricing for European regions will only be announced closer to launch.
Modern Warfare 4 PC Trailer Reveals Final Specs, 90 FPS Target and New Collateral Mode
Modern Warfare 4 is just over three weeks out, and PC players finally have the full picture. Activision has dropped the official PC trailer alongside a big breakdown of tech features, final system requirements and a brand new round-based mode called Collateral. The game launches 23 October on Xbox on PC, Battle.net and Steam. Beenox is leading the PC version in close partnership with Infinity Ward, and the headline target is 90 FPS at Recommended specs without you having to fiddle with settings.
CRKD ULT PRO Controller Now Shipping With TMR Sticks and 1000Hz PC Mode
CRKD’s new flagship pad is out in the wild. The ULT PRO is now shipping worldwide, and it’s the most feature-packed controller the Nitro Deck maker has built so far. It works across Nintendo Switch 2, the original Switch, PC, mobile, tablets and smart TVs, and it costs $69.99, €79.99, £64.99 or A$129.99. That price is the headline for me.
Redneck Simulator Steam Page Goes Live From Ambercoil Games and GameHunters
You’ve got a trailer, a beat-up pickup, no job and way too much confidence. That’s the pitch for Redneck Simulator, and as of today its Steam page is live. Ambercoil Games and GameHunters opened wishlists on 29 September 2026, so you can follow the game’s development starting now. Redneck Simulator is a laid-back, open-world life and business sim for PC. The whole idea is climbing the social ladder while working as little as humanly possible.
Golf 5 MAX Tees Off on PC via Steam on 2 November 2026
News Ryan Mitchell·29/09/2026·3 min read Arcade golf is making a comeback on PC. Golf 5 MAX, the retro-inspired spinoff of the Golf 5 VR simulator series, launches on Steam on Monday, 2 November 2026. It’s developed by LENYA DIGITAL and published by AAA Game Studios, and it takes the VR series in a flat-screen, pick-up-and-play direction. The Steam page sums it up as retro arcade golf meeting real physics.
League of Legends Player Count: How Big the Rift Really Is
League of Legends remains one of the most-played PC games on the planet, yet its true size is harder to pin down than most people assume. Third-party analytics platforms place the League of Legends player count somewhere in the region of 120 to 135 million monthly active users, but Riot Games itself has not published an official figure since the middle of the last decade.
VZR Model One MKII Delta Is a $379 Audiophile Gaming Headset Built for Accuracy
VZR Audio has a new flagship, and it is chasing accuracy over flash. The Model One MKII “D” Delta launched today at $379, an audiophile gaming headset built around a refined acoustic model from Vic Tiscareno, the former lead acoustics engineer at Apple, and the VZR team. This is VZR’s third headset, and rather than reinventing the line it sharpens what the Model One MKII already did well. What is new in the Delta The headline change is the sound signature.
Razer Tartarus V2 Pro Brings Analog Optical Switches and 8000 Hz to the Keypad
Razer just gave its keypad line the flagship treatment. The Tartarus V2 Pro landed today, an analog optical gaming keypad with 31 programmable controls, adjustable switches and a wrist rest that actually moves with your hand. It costs $199.99 and it is out now. This is the first time Razer has put its top-end switch tech and full 8000 Hz polling into a dedicated keypad, so it is aimed squarely at MMO and FPS players who want more inputs under their left hand without giving up comfort.
Magic: The Gathering’s Reality Fracture Set Pits Every Hero Against Their Own Mirror
Magic: The Gathering’s next mainline set turns the game’s own cast against itself. Reality Fracture, releasing worldwide on October 2 with prerelease events running September 25 through October 1, closes out a three-year storyline by having planeswalker Jace Beleren build a rival multiverse and populate it with twisted mirror versions of the heroes players already know. Wizards of the Coast is calling that rival multiverse the Echoverse.
Razer Kraken V4 X Brings Sensa HD Haptics to a $99 Wired Headset
Razer just gave its most affordable Kraken a trick the pricier models have been showing off: haptics. The Kraken V4 X Sensa HD Haptics Edition landed today, a wired headset that turns what’s happening in your game into something you feel on your head, and it does it for $99.99. That’s a bold pitch for a headset at this price. Here’s what’s actually inside.
PlayStation’s 2028 Disc Shutdown Is “Dramatic,” Says Ex-Sony Boss Shawn Layden
Former PlayStation Worldwide Studios boss Shawn Layden says he had zero advance warning that Sony would end physical disc manufacturing for new games starting in January 2028, calling the company’s own decision “a fairly dramatic” one despite believing the underlying math is simple.
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