Numlock News: May 7, 2025 • Mercury, Mattel, Counterstrike

May 07, 2025

By Walt Hickey

Counter-Strike

On Friday, the market value for all digital accessories in the video game Counter-Strike 2 passed $4.3 billion, the highest level ever recorded. Last June, a single Counter-Strike 2 gun skin u sold for $1 million, indicating that the digital assets boom has shifted away from ape and ape-adjacent enterprises, firmly remaining in the sphere of gaming. Stefán Þórarinsson, a former economist for the Central Bank of Iceland and current head of economy at Eve Online, observed that Counter-Strike 2, which came out in 2023, is currently hitting all-time highs in popularity.

Cecilia D’Anastasio, Bloomberg

Good Night, And Good Luck

The Broadway play by George Clooney, Good Night and Good Luck, posted a box office of $4,003,481.50 last week, becoming not just the highest-grossing week in the history of the industry but also the first play to ever break $4 million. Average ticket prices were below Denzel Washington and Jake Gyllenhaal’s Othello, which came in at $367.42 per seat. Overall, industry grosses are up 19.8 percent compared to the same period of last year. Oh, Mary!, which (on a personal note) I saw last week, got nominated for both a Tony as well as a Pulitzer within the past five days and made $1.04 million.

Caitlin Huston, The Hollywood Reporter

Telemarket

A new scam takes people looking to obtain cheap health insurance and makes up fake employment for them at companies exempt from the stricter requirements of other firms. The marks are enrolled in a health plan offered by a company with a fake job that pays nothing, a hack that many opponents to the Affordable Care Act think is legal. Under the Act, insurance plans sold on the market must offer 10 essential health benefits, but those offered by large corporate employers don’t need to. So, by signing up the marks to “work” for a company that meets the bill — an MLM here, a data entry corporation there — you’re talking real money. In the last quarter of 2023, 88,100 jobs were in a scheme of this nature.

Zachary R Mider and Zeke Faux, Bloomberg

One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Mercurial Fish

Mercury accumulates in the world’s lakes and oceans by way of methylmercury, which bioaccumulates in muscle tissue and becomes more and more concentrated as we move up the food chain. I must take pains to remind you that the food chain culminates with us. New research genetically modified fish and fly embryos with genes that convert methylmercury to elemental mercury, which dissipates as gas. The study, in Nature Communications, found that the genetically modified zebrafish had 64 percent less mercury, and the fruit flies had 83 percent less.

Cody Cottier, Scientific American

Exquisite

New Zealand, best known for the devastating and controversial decision to deny the Gwaihir the valor they earned from the War of the Ring, also happens to have an outstanding wine business. While the rest of the world has dealt with the vagaries of cultured grapes, New Zealand has endured. Its solid climate and repeatable condition mean that while the rest of us have to deal with climate change and complicated management, the Kiwis don’t. Needless to say, their white wines are exquisite. The problem is, 85 percent of exports are Sauvignon Blanc, which is a lot of eggs in one basket. The fear is, without diversification, a single issue with Sauvignon Blanc could create the kind of problem that gets Bloomberg writing about your harvest.

John Sumners, Vinepair

You Pay For The Seat

Last year Mattel made $122 million in revenue from toys related to wrestling, particularly the WWE, about a tenth of what the company pulls from Barbie. Simple reality is, the wrestling dolls — I’m sorry, action figures — are a colossal business for Mattel, and one that is under pressure. All told, about 20 percent of Mattel’s US toys are made in China.

Brendan Coffey, Sportico

V-E Day

A new survey asking Europeans about their capacity to endure an attack found that as we approach V-E day, ultimately, few European countries feel they can defend their country: 16 percent of Germans, 20 percent of Italians, 32 percent of Spaniards, 37 percent of Brits and 44 percent of the French. In contrast, 71 percent of Americans believe we can defend our country. At the end of the day, NATO is overwhelmingly beloved by Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the US, which is insane given Spain and France’s unique relationship with this institution.

Matthew Smith, YouGov

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