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TikTok is just another tool in Larry Ellison’s quest to run the world.
Gaming Gear

TikTok is just another tool in Larry Ellison’s quest to run the world.

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For most of his career Larry Ellison has been content to quietly let Oracle be the company, behind the company, behind the technology that makes headlines. Its biggest products being cloud computing and database products that it sells to enterprise customers like DHL, Northwell Health, and Fanatics. But, now in his 80s, Ellison has begun a second act shifting from Silicon Valley pioneer, to media mogul.

Compared to many of the other people at the top of the Forbes Billionaires list, Larry Ellison tends to keep a low profile. That’s not to say he hasn’t seen his fair share of headlines, especially in recent years. But he, and his company Oracle, aren’t being routinely dragged in front of congress for high profile shouting matches, or being accused of ruining an entire generation of children in op-ed pages.

But over the course of his career, Ellison has developed a reputation for ruthless and sometimes ethically dubious behavior as head of Oracle. Biographer Karen Southwick even called him a “modern-day Genghis Khan.” Her book Everyone Else Must Fail: The Unvarnished Truth About Oracle and Larry Ellison, released in 2003, already identified Ellison as a man who would stop at nothing to have absolute power over his company, or his industry, purging executives “who dare to stand up to him” and engaging in hostile takeovers of competitors. He even bought most of a Hawaiian island, where the population is suspiciously exuberant in their praise of him.

His ventures into the media space began modestly enough by backing Annapurna Pictures and Skydance Productions, companies founded by his children Megan and David Ellison, respectively. Eventually both of those companies expanded to become major players in the television and video game spaces. But things have accelerated dramatically since then.

He briefly expanded his power at Annapurna in 2018 as his daughter’s studio found itself buried in debt. His role in day-to-day operations isn’t clear, but he spearheaded a reorganization of the company, brokered a deal to pay off the $200 million in debt, and changed how Annapurna would finance films going forward. Rather than rely on bank loans, the studio would seek investors for projects on a case-by-case basis or simply be financed by Megan Ellison entirely.

In 2022 Larry Ellison gave Elon Musk $1 billion to help fund his purchase of Twitter (now X). And last year Skydance Media merged with Paramount creating a conglomerate with almost unmatched reach. While Larry’s son David runs Paramount on paper, it’s the father who actually owns the company. This means that Larry Ellison owns a controlling stake in a broadcast network (CBS), a major streaming platform (Paramount+), multiple movie studios, CBS News, and pay-TV channels like Nickelodeon, MTV, Comedy Central, and Showtime.

And now Oracle is likely going to own a major portion of TikTok in the US. Many details of the deal are still murky, and there’s been some contradictory reporting about what will and won’t remain in ByteDance’s control. But as Clare Malone says in a recent New Yorker article, it’s unlikely the deal will do much to address any of the supposed national security concerns around TikTok and, “instead, the deal’s more immediate impact would be to bolster an emerging media conglomerate, under the auspices of the Ellison family, who are assiduously friendly to Trump.”

I think Malone is underselling things quite a bit in describing the family’s empire as “emerging” however. Paramount Skydance is already one of the largest media conglomerates in the world. And one that has shown a willingness to make decisions destined to please the president, like pushing a prominent critic of the administration in Stephen Colbert, off the air. David Ellison is also rumored to be in talks to acquire Bari Weiss’ The Free Press, and “the new owner of CBS News is weighing giving Ms. Weiss the job of editor in chief or co-president of the network,” according to the New York Times. Weiss portrays herself as a sort of centrist provocateur, though the most frequent target of her antagonism is the “mainstream media,” a foil that lines up nicely with the White House’s interests.

Some of this embracing of right wing interests and offering tokens of appeasement might seem par for the course to keep the White House off your back as a media company in 2025. But Larry Ellison’s behavior over the last 40-plus years has shown he won’t let things like rules, or even good sportsmanship, stand in the way of him getting what he wants. Oracle’s yachting team was caught cheating at the 2013 America’s Cup and Ellison famously hired private detectives to dig up dirt on Microsoft and Bill Gates during the company’s monopoly woes in 1999.

Now Paramount is reportedly looking to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery, which would give the family ownership of another major movie studio, another major streaming service (HBO Max), CNN, and more. To call the scope such a merger unprecedented would be dramatically underselling things.

What makes this family empire so unique is, as the New York Times points out, if he wants to continue to build out his budding media monolith, money isn’t a constraint. Larry Ellison’s wealth fluctuates by as much as $100 billion a day — more than the GDP of roughly two-thirds of the world’s countries according to the International Monetary Fund. While Ellison hasn’t shown much of a penchant for running a media company so far, his staggering wealth gives him plenty of leeway for making mistakes and learning on the job.

Larry Ellison already had his hands on a significant amount of American medical and financial data through Oracle. He’s helped build some of the world’s largest AI datacenters. Last year he added a major news outlet and traditional media conglomerate to his portfolio and, unless something unexpected happens, he’ll wield significant influence over one of the world’s biggest social media networks. In what feels like record time Larry Ellison has gone from a relatively lowkey, if excessively wealthy and flamboyant, tech CEO to one of the most powerful people in the world. And all the while his politics seem to be taking a more conspiratorial bent.

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Capcom warn that Monster Hunter Rise, World and Wilds might not run on Windows 10 PCs after October 14th
Game Updates

Capcom warn that Monster Hunter Rise, World and Wilds might not run on Windows 10 PCs after October 14th

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Your cuddly dinosaur aunties at Capcom have warned that they can’t “guarantee” various Monster Hunter games will run on Windows 10 PCs after uncle Microsoft end support for the operating system on October 14th this year.

When that fateful day comes to pass, Capcom “will no longer guarantee that Monster Hunter: World, Monster Hunter Rise and Monster Hunter Wilds will run on Windows 10 systems.” Which isn’t to say that these games will immediately become unplayable, but “future system updates or game title updates may make the game incompatible on Windows 10 systems”.

The developers add that if you have trouble with those Monster Hunter games on Windows 10 PCs after October 14th, “support can only be provided based on information from before support for Windows 10 was discontinued”, as they’ll be discontinuing services for investigating problems when playing on Windows 10.

If this is the first you’ve heard of Windows 10 being sunsetted/given the old heave-ho/left crying by the roadside, Microsoft have said that Windows 10 apps and drivers will continue to boot and run normally after the cessation of official support, but you won’t get any more free security updates, bug fixes and big feature updates.

It’s not quite as cut-and-dried as that in practice. Microsoft 365 apps running on personal and commercial Windows 10 PCs will get security updates until October 10th 2028, and feature updates until August 2026.

Microsoft are also offering a paid extended security update subscription for people who want to maintain Windows 10 beyond the cut-off date, with availability dependent on region and which version of the OS you’re running. In good news for people resident in the European Economic Area, Microsoft have bowed to pressure from consumer protection organisation Euroconsumers (via Particle Collider Gamer) by making ESU updates free in the EEA until October 2026.

Windows10mageddon threatens to leave a lot of PC users in the lurch, though there’s a certain amount of Y2K-style hysteria about the fallout. According to one study, around half of Windows PCs still don’t run Windows 11. If your machine doesn’t have the specs for Windows 11, it seems like you’ll need to buy a fresh one. I expect there will be plenty more bulletins from game publishers encouraging players to update their systems.

This article has been updated to mention Microsoft’s recent decision to make ESU updates free to people in the EEA until October 2026.



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How a Travel YouTuber Captured Nepal’s Revolution for the World
Product Reviews

How a Travel YouTuber Captured Nepal’s Revolution for the World

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When Harry Jackson pulled his small motorcycle into Kathmandu on September 8, he had no idea the city was exploding in protests. He didn’t even know there was a curfew. People in Nepal, largely driven by Gen Z youth, had taken to the streets, and that day riots broke out when nearly two dozen people were shot and killed by authorities. In the middle of it all was Jackson, a travel vlogger riding from Thailand to the United Kingdom on his bike.

Within a day, the mass demonstrations that filled the capital would do the seemingly impossible: defy trigger-happy law enforcement, storm the grounds of parliament and set fire to the building, and oust a prime minister. Jackson, who had been documenting his journey for months on YouTube, Instagram, and other social media under the @wehatethecold channel, became one of the main ways people around the world saw what was happening in Nepal as youth-led protests toppled the government.

Anger had been simmering in Nepal for months, much of it driven by widespread corruption among politicians. Many of those politicians’ children also flaunted their wealth, often on social media. They in turn were called out online by Nepali people, and on September 4, the government banned 26 social media platforms. Protests started, and large demonstrations broke out on September 8, with police using tear gas, rubber bullets, and live ammunition on crowds of largely young demonstrators. That’s when Jackson arrived, filming his way through marches and capturing the sounds of gunshots.

Video still courtesy of @wehatethecold

Jackson had been in Nepal earlier in June but returned due to other geopolitical issues. He had planned to be in Kathmandu for a short, easy stop to get his Honda CT125 shipped for the next leg of his journey. He had been in India, trying to cross into Pakistan. But the border was closed, so he headed north to Nepal. After getting a hotel and catching up on events, he decided to tag along with some people and see the protests the next day. He’d been told it wasn’t safe for tourists but said he was willing to roll the dice, especially after having ridden his bike through some unsafe roads for weeks. On September 9 he was out among the protests for several hours, and by midafternoon decided to get back to his hotel to quickly edit the footage and get it published.

“This footage just has to go online. I was watching it back and reliving the time and thinking, wow, this is insane,” he tells WIRED. “They’re burning parliament, this is huge!”

Jackson was with crowds as they moved through narrow streets, eventually descending on the large area around the parliament building. The footage Jackson captured that day shows a mix of chaos—including hundreds fleeing gunshots—and mutual aid, with people stopping to hand out water, check in on each other, and help those hurt by tear gas. In the video, Jackson, 28, moves through the protesters, asking what the latest is, following the crowds as they get closer to the seat of power. His video took off, racking up millions of views in just hours, and it has more than 30 million views on YouTube alone.



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shoemaker in mushroom kayak
Esports

Russian freediver plunges 413 feet on a single breath to break world record

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Russian freediver Alexey Molchanov has set a new world record after diving 413 feet on a single breath at the AIDA Freediving World Championships in Cyprus.

Molchanov, 37, is widely considered the greatest freediver in history. He has broken more than 30 world records and is the son of legendary diver Natalia Molchanova, who set 42 records of her own before her death in 2015.

This latest dive was particularly grueling. Molchanov held his breath for 4 minutes and 32 seconds as he descended into near-total darkness, battling extreme cold, crushing water pressure, and the ever-present risk of blackout during ascent. He broke his own record of 410 feet, set just last year.

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Breaking records in the deep

Molchanov competed in the constant weight bi-fins category at the 2025 AIDA Freediving World Championships, which requires divers to descend and ascend using only fins without pulling on the rope. His headlamp and safety line were the only guides in the Mediterranean waters off Limassol, Cyprus.

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He later described the toughest parts of the dive on Instagram, noting the “thermocline drop” when water temperature plunged from 77°F to 54°F within seconds, as well as the delicate pressure management needed to avoid lung injury at depth. Molchanov also highlighted the riskiest stretch: the final 100 feet of ascent, where most blackouts occur due to expanding air in the lungs and dwindling oxygen.

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To officially secure the record, Molchanov had just 15 seconds after resurfacing to complete a strict protocol: remove his gear, give a hand signal, and say “I’m OK.” With the record validated, his 413-foot descent now stands as the deepest constant weight bi-fins dive ever achieved.

For perspective, the dive is longer than a football field and a half, roughly equal to the height of a 41-story building, all completed on a single breath of air.

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Robotic arm sorting items into four boxes
Gaming Gear

China Outpaces Rest of World in Working Robots

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There are an estimated 4,664,000 working industrial robots in the world, according to the International Federation of Robotics. More than two million of them are in China. And don’t count on anyone catching up soon. According to the report, the country installed nearly 300,000 new robots last year, and was responsible for 54% of all robotic deployments across the globe in 2024. For comparison’s sake, the United States managed about one-tenth that figure, adding 34,000 industrial bots during the same time frame.

China’s robot boom coincides with the country taking on the role of a global manufacturing leader. According to the New York Times, China now holds just under one-third of all global manufacturing output, up from just 6% of the pie at the turn of the 21st century. That makes China’s current output bigger than the combined manufacturing power of the United States, Germany, Japan, South Korea and Britain.

That gap seems likely to continue to widen. While China’s robotic installations increased year-over-year by about 7%, according to the International Federation of Robotics, the next-biggest robo-reliant nations all saw their total installations dip. Japan declined by 4%, the US dropped by 9%, South Korea slumped by 3%, and Germany slipped by 5%.

The IFR doesn’t see China’s automation adoption stopping any time soon, either. It projects the country will see an average of 10% growth annually through 2028, driven primarily by the introduction of industrial robotics into new markets. China’s biggest areas of growth in the last year included food and beverage, rubber and plastic, and textile production, whereas the United States continues to see robotics primarily applied to more traditional manufacturing fields like automotives.

Interestingly, while China’s robotics domination does appear driven in part by new technological developments like artificial intelligence, the country isn’t that into humanoid robots compared to other industrial forces. The New York Times attributed that to the fact that it’s difficult to build a humanoid bot entirely within the Chinese supply chain, where domestically made sensors and semiconductors can be harder to come by. Meanwhile, companies like Tesla and Boston Dynamics keep promising humanoid industrial workers that’ll likely carry a steep price tag.

Maybe the biggest enabler of China’s robot boom, though, appears to be human labor. According to the Times, the country has produced a large workforce of skilled electricians and programmers who can install and maintain robots. America is slowly catching up on that front, with the employment of electricians booming—though there remains a massive programmer shortage unlikely to be eased by the fact that the Trump administration’s new, boosted fee for H1-B visa applicants will keep skilled labor overseas.



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NFT Gaming

Kickflips for Crypto? This Project Will Pay $28K for a Guinness World Record

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In brief

  • A crypto project called POIDH uses tokens to incentivize real-word behavior.
  • It is currently offering 10 million DEGEN tokens to beat a specific Guinness World Record.
  • The current titleholder has expressed an interest, but so have others.

As countless crypto projects work tirelessly to reshape Wall Street, a relatively novel one is focused on Guinness World Records.

The premise: Skateboarding history will either be made, or a group of backers will accept their ambitions are quixotic and promptly liquidate.

For three weeks, a little-known project called POIDH—“pics or it didn’t happen”—has been incentivizing people to do more than 36 kickflips on a skateboard in a minute, hoping that a crowdsourced bounty of meme coins will be enough to motivate someone.

A kickflip is a skateboarding trick that combines an ollie with a flick of the front foot to rotate the skateboard 360 degrees along its longitudinal axis in the air. That requires skill. Doing so 37 times in a minute would break the current world record.



Although the bounty was worth $28,000 on Friday, only one person has filmed themselves hitting pavement. The official title—per Guinness’ website—has remained in Australia with Ricky Glaser, a professional skater and streamer, since 2012.

That was a long time before the social media protocol Farcaster existed; as well as Degen, an unofficial token that’s used primarily for tips among its users; and The Haberdashery, an independent group of Degen holders that received the token for free and occasionally likes to bankroll things.

POIDH’s pseudonymous founder goes by Kenny, who is also a member of The Haberdashery. He told Decrypt his interest in crypto’s potential “to organize humans to get things done in the real world” dates to his discovery of the space over a decade ago. But only in the past couple of years has Kenny been trying to bootstrap his vision.

Given Kenny’s stake in POIDH, The Haberdashery’s contribution of 3.3 million Degen, representing a third of the total bounty, is an obscure marketing tactic, he said. Still, the initiative echoes the spirit of groups like ConstitutionDAO, famous for its ill-fated attempt to purchase an original copy of the U.S. Constitution at auction in 2021.

Kenny described POIDH as rooted in some of the same principles as decentralized autonomous organizations, or DAOs. In their most common form, DAOs are used for funding and governing projects. POIDH essentially hosts miniature versions of DAOs, which can focus on anything, such as kickflips, or even finding a “rat hotspot” in New York City.

Kenny said the platform is self-custodial. Anyone contributing funds to a bounty can recover them at any point, unless someone is actively trying to prove that they completed a bounty, he added. In order for a payout to be authorized, contributors need to vote, and that’s weighted against the amount of money that they’ve put up, he continued.

POIDH is designed in such a way that if a bounty’s backers no longer want to support it, everyone recovers the money like nothing happened, Kenny explained. POIDH charges a 2.5% fee on completed bounties, he said.

“There just aren’t that many use cases that I feel like I can show to my friends and family and be proud of in the industry,” Kenny recalled, saying that FTX’s high-profile collapse in 2022 left him frustrated. Kenny said he primarily works as an SEO consultant.

To be sure, POIDH doesn’t pay out bounties in cash. It doles out Ethereum and Degen, and Kenny noted that the platform’s biggest bounty yet has fallen from $30,000 over the past week as a result.

“The price goes up and down based on funds added or withdrawn, and the fluctuation of the underlying crypto,” he said, referring to a POIDH bounty. 

Since its debut, roughly 2,500 POIDH bounties have been created. But only 1,400 have been successfully completed, according to a Dune dashboard.

“I’d be speechless”

A skateboarder who goes by JD on X said he is pushing 32, but told Decrypt that six hours of effort, so far, has yielded some results.

JD said they’ve done at least a few sessions, but rainy conditions are making it difficult to take additional stabs. Less than a week ago, JD shared a video of himself completing 26 kickflips on a skateboard in 39 seconds.

“After you get to 25, it’s really tough and tiresome, but you just fight to make the last stretch happen,” he said. “If I really won that amount of money, I’d be speechless.”

JD said that he would likely use a portion of the bounty to catch up on debt and pay some overdue bills, while keeping some Degen to “see what happens.” But he’s not the only one that’s taken aim at the Guinness title held by Glaser.

Professional skateboarder Alex Decunha recorded a video of himself beating Glaser’s record in 2021, but Glaser still appears to be the official record holder. In a conversation between the two, Glaser acknowledged that “submitting so much paperwork to Guinness” takes forever.

The bounty on POIDH is pretty specific in the regard: In addition to submitting a video that’s not doctored or sped up, while including a visible timer, whoever wants to successfully claim the bounty must also be “verified by Guinness as the new world record holder,” per its description.

“You must say, ‘This is for DEGEN,’” it adds.

Some pseudonymous skaters may hesitate to reveal their names, but professional skateboarder Dave Bachinsky has signaled on POIDH that he’s in the running with JD. On X, Glaser has called the bounty “sick,” raising the possibility of entering the contest himself.

Decrypt has reached out to Glaser and Bachinsky for comment.

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Thor the mountain strongman competition
Esports

Climber sets new world record with oxygen-free Everest descent

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Andrzej Bargiel has made history by becoming the first person to both climb Everest and ski all the way down without using supplemental oxygen.

The 37‑year‑old completed the feat on September 22, 2025, ascending Mount Everest to its summit and then beginning his ski descent. Bargiel spent almost 16 hours in the mountain’s notorious “death zone” 8,000 meters above sea level, where oxygen is scarce, before beginning his downhill run.

While skiers have traversed the mountain before, Bargiel’s feat marks the first instance of an individual descending the world’s highest point without using any form of additional oxygen.

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Third time’s the charm

Bargiel had attempted this same self-set challenge twice previously, in 2019 and 2022, ultimately having to cut each short. In a September 27 X/Twitter post, news outlet NEXTA said Bargiel was caught in a snowstorm during his attempt.

🏆 Skied down Everest without oxygen: Polish extreme alpinist sets new world record

37-year-old climber Andrzej Bargiel descended from the summit of Everest without oxygen, setting a world record.

At over eight thousand meters, he was caught in a snowstorm: Bargiel spent 16… pic.twitter.com/lAACzHFO8M

— NEXTA (@nexta_tv) September 27, 2025

Celebrating his fellow countryman’s successful attempt, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said on X: “Sky is the limit? Not for Poles! Andrzej Bargiel just skied down Mount Everest.”

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This isn’t the first time Everest or, more precisely, a person attempting to climb it, has made headlines in 2025. Back in June, an Australian YouTuber had to be rescued from the area after they experienced extreme altitude sickness from a lack of oxygen.

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Forza Horizon 6 Has The Franchise's Biggest Open World Yet
Game Reviews

Forza Horizon 6 Has The Franchise’s Biggest Open World Yet

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On Thursday, after a lot of rumors and leaks, Xbox officially announced Forza Horizon 6. And yes, as many expected, the next Forza Horizon game is set in Japan and will launch in 2026. We haven’t seen much of the upcoming open-world racing sequel, but we do know that it will have the franchise’s biggest open world, and you can expect a lot to see and do in this big ol’ map.

In a new interview with Gamesradar, Forza Horizon 6 art director Don Arceta claimed that the open-world racer will have the “biggest map yet” in the history of the series. Considering the fact that Forza Horizon 5 was twice the size of the game before that, it seems players will have a lot of digital Japan to explore. But don’t expect Horizon 6‘s Japan to be empty or boring, as Arceta told the outlet that the new map is Playground’s “most full.”

“Like, obviously, we can’t go bigger without filling it with things to do and see,” explained Arceta. “And I think this map that we’ve created for Japan, or Horizon’s version of Japan, is big, but also dense. There’s always something around the corner for you to discover and see. But yeah, it’s bigger. I won’t put a number on it. It is bigger.”

And inside this large open world is Forza Horizon 6‘s version of Tokyo, which the game’s art director calls the “biggest city” the studio has ever created.

“[What] I’m really excited about that is also bigger, is our urban area, which is Tokyo city. That’s the biggest city that we’ve done in a Horizon game yet,” said Areta. “I think people will be most surprised about the city, Tokyo city, because I think it is probably our most ambitious. It’s really layered and complex. And I think players will just enjoy that space. It’ll be something new and fresh.”

Interestingly, as revealed in Gamesradar’s interview, the elevated roadways players will find in Forza Horizon 6′s version of Tokyo were built using the tech the studio created for the Hot Wheels tracks in Forza Horizon 5. Don’t expect any orange plastic tracks around Japan at launch, though. Forza Horizon 6 will arrive sometime in 2026 on Xbox Series X/S and PC, with a PS5 port coming at a later date.



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Will Tessmann leapfrog McKennie, Musah to start World Cup for U.S.?
Esports

Will Tessmann leapfrog McKennie, Musah to start World Cup for U.S.?

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  • Jeff CarlisleSep 25, 2025, 10:05 AM ET

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      Jeff Carlisle covers MLS and the U.S. national team for ESPN FC.

The European club season has been in full swing for over a month now, giving those U.S. men’s national team players plying their trade overseas the chance to establish themselves. Some have gotten off to uneven starts, with the opening round of UEFA Champions League fixtures proving to be especially difficult. Others have hit the ground running. Those in MLS have been in rhythm for a while now.

Then there’s Christian Pulisic, who has been leading the U.S. charge in Europe for nine years now and already has five goals in all competitions this season. Fortunately for the USMNT, Pulisic is one of several players who have been hitting their stride in recent weeks.

Throughout the season, ESPN will be monitoring the progress of the U.S. player pool, delivering insights into those whose form or fitness has made them particularly intriguing. We call it the USMNT’s countdown to the World Cup.

ESPN will count down to June 11 every week so that way, when the U.S. team is announced for this highly anticipated World Cup on home soil, no names on that 26-man roster will come as a surprise.

Only 260 days to go.

– Rae: Will Gladbach instability be a blessing or a curse for Reyna?
– USMNT 2026 World Cup Big Board 2.0: Balogun, Zendejas rise
– Carlisle: Zendejas’ starring role has come at the right time for USMNT

2025-26 minutes: 450
2025-26 FotMob rating: 7.5

Tessmann proving he deserves to start in midfield

Tessmann had already enjoyed a solid start to the season, but last weekend he kicked his campaign into overdrive, scoring the lone goal in Lyon’s 1-0 victory over Angers, a result that put the club in a tie atop the Ligue 1 table, behind AS Monaco and Paris Saint-Germain on goal differential. Not bad for a team that was threatened with relegation due to financial irregularities before the start of the season.

As for Tessmann, the question remains: Will these performances be enough to get him back in the U.S. squad? He hasn’t been called up since the Concacaf Nations League in March. To be clear, they should be, but the mind of U.S. manager Mauricio Pochettino works in mysterious ways. At minimum, Tessmann should be in contention to provide cover for Tyler Adams, or even crack the starting lineup.

2025-26 minutes: 264
2025-26 FotMob rating: 7.1

USMNT could do with a dose of Tillman’s perseverance

Credit Tillman for showing a strong mentality, bouncing back from a dreadful match in midweek against F.C. København in the Champions League to deliver a man of the match performance against Borussia Mönchengladbach in which he scored his second league goal of the season. A tactical tweak from manager Kasper Hjulmand might have helped.

Against Copenhagen, Tillman was operating as one of the dual No. 10s and struggled mightily to get on the ball. Against Gladbach, he was deployed deeper in midfield and had a much stronger impact on the game, even beyond his 70th-minute goal. Hjulmand afterward continued to preach patience, as Tillman is one of many new arrivals to the squad, but the player’s ability to shake off a poor performance will serve him well for both club and country.

Christian Pulisic | Attacker | AC Milan

2025-26 minutes: 286
2025-26 FotMob rating: 7.9

Italy can’t stop Pulisic

This was an impressive week for Pulisic, even by his lofty standards. After scoring two goals and helping set the table for a third in last weekend’s 3-0 win over Udinese, Pulisic maintained his fine form by scoring the final goal — on the half-volley, no less — in a 3-0 Coppa Italia win over Lecce.

There’s not much more to be said about Pulisic that hasn’t been already. He remains the USMNT’s most important attacking player, and he now holds the mark for most goals by an American in Europe’s top five leagues with 59. As long as he can stay healthy, he’s a lock to be in the U.S. lineup.

Tanner Tessmann’s form for Lyon this season should have him in the conversation to start in the USMNT midfield at next summer’s World Cup. Neal Simpson/Sportsphoto/Allstar via Getty Images

He’ll try to keep the momentum going in this weekend’s momentous clash with top-of-the table Napoli.

The in-form XI

When Pochettino switched to a three-man back line during the September international window, it was a move that didn’t appear to benefit Gladbach’s Joe Scally. The wing back position favors the mobility and attacking instincts demonstrated by the likes of Sergiño Dest and Alex Freeman over the defending of Scally, but then Gladbach interim manager Eugen Polanski trotted out a 3-4-3 with Scally as the right wing back, and the American delivered an impressive performance.

Scally showed an ability to get forward that was unexpected given that he recorded no goals and no assists this past season — his xG of 0.26 is already on its way to eclipsing last year’s 0.38. Granted, who knows what formation the permanent Gladbach coach will prefer once he’s hired, but the performance should help keep Scally in the lineup.

Given his performance last weekend, why isn’t he in this week’s in-form XI? It’s a fair question, especially when you consider Dest conceded a penalty that was converted in PSV Eindhoven’s 2-2 draw with Ajax. Combined with some defensively shaky moments during the September international window, it’s worth weighing whether Dest is enough of a defensive liability that he loses his spot in the starting lineup. That said, Dest’s value in attack is still high enough given his ability to deliver the unexpected, though Scally has given Pochettino something to think about in terms of who his starting wing backs should be.

Meanwhile, the relative stock of the U.S. corps of forwards continues to go through some wild swings in form. Folarin Balogun looked to have gained some separation from the chasing pack after a great performance against Japan, but that was before his tepid effort in a 4-1 Champions League defeat to Club Brugge landed him on the bench for last week’s league encounter against Metz. Even worse for Balogun, his replacement, Mika Biereth, scored the opener in a 5-2 win, while Ansu Fati scored two off the bench and George Ilenikhena also got on the score sheet.

The silver lining for Balogun is that no other U.S. center forwards scored last weekend, although Ricardo Pepi’s selfless run to the near post allowed Ismael Saibari to score PSV’s first, so he’ll remain the starter in this week’s lineup. Also, Balogun’s skill set is unique within the USMNT player pool, given his ability to make runs in behind the opposition defense, and this should mean his spot in the U.S. squad is still secure. He’ll need to work his way back into the Monaco lineup, though, and this week’s match at Lorient will reveal the extent to which his spot in the club hierarchy has fallen.

Big Board 2.0 update

ESPN’s USMNT Big Board 2.0 went live earlier this month, and each Big Board will provide the foundation for weekly player updates. Below are the minutes and player ratings for each of those 37 players.

Matt Turner, goalkeeper, New England Revolution: 630 minutes in 2025; 7.1 FotMob rating in 2025.

Matt Freese goalkeeper, New York City FC: 2,790 minutes in 2025; 7.1 FotMob rating in 2025.

Zack Steffen, goalkeeper, Colorado Rapids: 2,160 minutes in 2025; 6.9 FotMob rating in 2025.

Patrick Schulte, goalkeeper, Columbus Crew: 2,430 minutes in 2025; 6.8 FotMob rating in 2025.

Chris Richards, center back, Crystal Palace: 659 minutes in 2025-26; 7.4 FotMob rating in 2025-26.

Richards continues to deliver for Palace, completing 86.7% of his passes and winning 87.5% of his duels in a 2-1 win over West Ham United.

Tim Ream, center back, Charlotte FC: 2,147 minutes in 2025; 6.7 FotMob rating in 2025.

Mark McKenzie, center back, Toulouse: 450 minutes in 2025-26; 6.6 FotMob rating in 2025-26.

Cameron Carter-Vickers, center back, Celtic: 750 minutes in 2025-26; 7.5 FotMob rating in 2025-26.

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Miles Robinson, center back, FC Cincinnati: 2,438 minutes in 2025; 6.9 FotMob rating in 2025.

Auston Trusty, center back, Celtic: 152 minutes in 2025-26; 6.4 FotMob rating in 2025-26.

Tristan Blackmon, center back, Vancouver Whitecaps: 2,962 minutes in 2025; 7.2 FotMob rating in 2025.

Sergiño Dest, fullback, PSV Eindhoven: 691 minutes in 2025-26; 7.5 FotMob rating in 2025-26.

Antonee Robinson, fullback, Fulham: 141 minutes in 2025-26; 6.8 FotMob rating in 2025-26.

Robinson’s recovery from offseason knee surgery took way longer than expected, but he finally played a full 90 minutes for the Cottagers in Tuesday’s Carabao Cup victory over fourth-tier side Cambridge United. Now let’s see if he can reclaim his spot in league play.

Joe Scally, fullback, Borussia Mönchengladbach: 355 minutes in 2025-26; 7.2 FotMob rating in 2025-26.

Caleb Wiley, fullback, Watford: 18 minutes in 2025-26; 6.2 FotMob rating in 2025-26.

Max Arfsten, fullback, Columbus Crew: 2,682 minutes in 2025; 7.5 FotMob rating in 2025.

Alex Freeman, fullback, Orlando City SC: 2,802 minutes in 2025; 7.5 FotMob rating in 2025.

Tyler Adams, midfielder, AFC Bournemouth: 464 minutes in 2025-26; 7.1 FotMob rating in 2025-26.

Tyler Adams has been ever present in Bournemouth’s midfield this season, remaining healthy and playing at a high level for the fourth-place Cherries. Nigel French/Sportsphoto/Allstar via Getty Images

Weston McKennie, midfielder, Juventus: 141 minutes in 2025-26; 6.7 FotMob rating in 2025-26.

Johnny Cardoso, midfielder, Atlético Madrid: 185 minutes in 2025-26; 6.8 FotMob rating in 2025-26.

Cardoso has been dealing with an ankle injury, hence his omission from the game-day roster in last weekend’s 1-1 draw with Mallorca.

Luca de la Torre, midfielder, San Diego FC: 2,299 minutes in 2025; 6.8 FotMob rating in 2025.

Tanner Tessmann, midfielder, Lyon: 450 minutes in 2025-26; 7.5 FotMob rating in 2025-26.

Yunus Musah, midfielder, Atalanta: 206 minutes in 2025-26; 6.5 FotMob rating in 2025-26.

Sebastian Berhalter, midfielder, Vancouver Whitecaps: 2,906 minutes in 2025; 7.6 FotMob rating in 2025.

Cristian Roldan, midfielder, Seattle Sounders FC: 3,425 minutes in 2025; 7.4 FotMob rating in 2025.

Christian Pulisic, attacker, AC Milan: 286 minutes in 2025-26; 7.9 FotMob rating in 2025-26.

Tim Weah, attacker, Marseille: 397 minutes in 2025-26; 7.0 FotMob rating in 2025-26.

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Weah has been Marseille’s Mr. Fixit, lining up as a right wing back in OM’s 1-0 win over previously unbeaten PSG. Will that help him or hurt him when the next USMNT camp opens? Either way, his versatility remains impressive.

Malik Tillman, attacker, Bayer Leverkusen: 264 minutes in 2025-26; 7.1 FotMob rating in 2025-26.

Diego Luna, attacker, Real Salt Lake: 2,255 minutes in 2025; 7.2 FotMob rating in 2025.

Alejandro Zendejas, attacker, América: 777 minutes in 2025-26; 7.4 FotMob rating in 2025-26.

Gio Reyna, attacker, Borussia Mönchengladbach: 84 minutes in 2025-26; 6.7 FotMob rating in 2025-26.

Folarin Balogun, forward, AS Monaco: 306 minutes in 2025-26; 6.9 FotMob rating in 2025-26.

Ricardo Pepi, forward, PSV Eindhoven: 306 minutes in 2025-26; 7.0 FotMob rating in 2025-26.

Josh Sargent, forward, Norwich City: 581 minutes in 2025-26; 7.5 FotMob rating in 2025-26.

Patrick Agyemang, forward, Derby County: 66 minutes in 2025-26; 6.9 FotMob rating in 2025-26.

Haji Wright, forward, Coventry City: 542 minutes in 2025-26; 7.5 FotMob rating in 2025-26.

Damion Downs, forward, Southampton: 271 minutes in 2025-26; 6.3 FotMob rating in 2025-26.



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Esports

Kai Cenat breaks his own Twitch sub world record during Mafiathon 3

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Kai Cenat has once again set a new Twitch subscriber record, surpassing 728,600 subscribers during his Mafiathon 3 broadcast.

The all-time Twitch sub record has changed hands a few times in recent years. Cenat’s first Mafiathon in March 2023 reached 306,621 subs, overtaking Ludwig’s long-standing mark. That was topped later in the year when VTuber Ironmouse amassed 326,252 subs during her charity subathon.

Cenat responded with Mafiathon 2 in late 2024, which pushed him to an unprecedented 728,532 subs, more than doubling Ironmouse’s tally.

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Now, he’s in the midst of Mafiathon 3 and has already delivered another record-breaking moment. On day 24 of the marathon broadcast, Cenat has eclipsed his own 728,532 milestone, setting a new benchmark for Twitch subscriptions.

Kai Cenat breaks Twitch sub record yet again

As with previous events, Mafiathon 3 has been filled with non-stop content and high-profile guest appearances, helping fuel the surge in subscribers. The month-long format encourages fans to keep the counter running, making each subathon a new spectacle in Twitch history.

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For comparison, without the subathon format, the highest subscriber peak was Ninja’s 269,000 back in April 2018. Cenat’s latest feat more than doubles that figure, cementing his dominance on the platform.

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It’s not slowing down here, however. Cenat has ambitions of clearing 1 million Twitch subs in total. That’s been the goal from the very beginning, with the stakes involving his hair. Should Cenat clear the target, he’s promised LeBron James will appear on stream to shave the streamer’s head.

15% of subscriber revenue is set to go towards the construction of a new school in Nigeria, an act Cenat committed to last year and quickly came under scrutiny for.

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For everything happening during the event, check out our full Mafiathon 3 hub.



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