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The Game Awards more than doubled its viewership in 2018
Say what you will about the The Game Awards doubling as a marketing platform for developers -- it's pulling in an audience. The organizers have revealed that online viewership jumped 128 percent for the 2018 awards with 26.2 million total streams. They weren't all watching the entire thing (there were 4 million concurrent viewers at its peak), but there was also significant growth for individual services. The show nearly doubled its simultaneous Twitch streams to 1.13 million, while the YouTube crowd more than doubled to an unspecified amount.
‘Sayonara Wild Hearts’ is a neon-filled ‘pop album video game’
Cult Swedish developer Simogo is making its first game for the Nintendo Switch in Sayonara Wild Hearts, a glam arcade title that dances to its own musical beat. The trailer dropped during The Game Awards on Thursday evening, serving as an introduction to the game's eclectic cast of characters based on tarot cards.
'Fortnite' launched 'The Block' live in-game during The Game Awards
We've seen Fortnite host live in-game happenings before, but this one was timed to occur with an event in the real world, specifically tonight's The Game Awards 2018. Epic premiered a new area in the games map called "The Block" which is basically a 25x25 tile empty space. Now that season seven of the battle royale game has added a Creative mode, it hopes to encourage players by taking the best of what they make and feeding it back into the standard map that everyone shares. Once players have built... something on a flat area of their island that matches the space, Epic has said to share them on social media using its #FortniteBlockParty hashtag for them to find it. Part of the game's allure has always been its Minecraft-y building, and the potential of having a creation included for everyone to play should give people even more reason to tinker with their private islands in the new mode.
'Rage 2' serves up open world mayhem on May 14th, 2019
Bethesda, Avalanche and id Software have nailed down a release date for Rage 2. The Mad Max-like open world shooter will be available on PC, PS4 and Xbox One on May 14th, 2019 -- almost exactly a year after it was introduced, in fact. The accompanying new trailer doesn't tell you much that you don't already know, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. Essentially, you can expect punks with guns, a thorough mix of vehicular and on-foot combat, and many creative ways to kill your foes.
'Persona 5' heads to 'Super Smash Bros. Ultimate' in first DLC
With the release of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate just minutes away, Nintendo revealed the first character that will hit the game as post-launch DLC: Joker from Persona 5. This was a surprise announcement during The Game Awards, and it's doubly shocking because Persona 5 isn't even on the Switch.
'Stranger Things 3: The Game' has pixelated action for all platforms
At The Game Awards, Stranger Things creators The Duffer Bros. hit the stage and announced a new game on the way tying in with their Netflix series. Made by Bonus XP -- developers of the first retro Stranger Things Game for mobile devices -- it looks to feature some arcade-style isometric action that blends in well with the show's 80s aesthetic. We don't have a lot of details yet, but this one will tie in with season three, which is set to debut next year. We'll have to wonder what might have been for the planned Telltale Games version, but at least it looks like fans will have something to play on "all platforms."
'Mortal Kombat 11' arrives in April 2019 and it looks mighty gory
Mortal Kombat 11 exists and it's due to launch on April 23rd, complete with classic characters and buckets of blood. NetherRealm announced the new game in a surprise segment during The Game Awards, showing off a cinematic battle between Raiden and Scorpion. It's a real nail-biter. Or, nail-breaker. Or, bone-breaker. OK, it's all of those things.
BioWare's long-awaited 'Dragon Age' teaser still disappoints
The rumors were true: despite departures from the original team, BioWare has confirmed that it's working on a new Dragon Age game. Only... there's not much to say about it. Apart from promoting a curious #TheDreadWolfRises hashtag, the developer is saying virtually nothing about what the new title entails, when it will ship or even its name. You're going to be disappointed if you were planning your gaming calendar around another fantasy RPG from the studio.
Obsidian's 'The Outer Worlds' is basically 'Fallout' in space
Microsoft may have bought Obsidian, but that isn't stopping the developer from releasing at least one multi-platform title. Obsidian has taken the wraps off The Outer Worlds, a single-player sci-fi RPG headed to PC, PS4 and Xbox One in 2019. In spirit, it's Fallout in space -- you play a newly-thawed settler on the galaxy's frontier who has to grapple with megacorporations, less-than-friendly beasts and other threats. And true to Obsidian's pedigree with games like Fallout: New Vegas, you can expect a pervasive sense of humor.
The studio behind 'No Man's Sky' has a new, bite-sized game
Hello Games is known for No Man's Sky, an expansive space-exploration game that received heavy marketing from Sony ahead of its launch in 2016, and rocketed studio founder Sean Murray to infamy and stardom. No Man's Sky endured a turbulent release period, but developers continued to roll out updates and deliver on their most ambitious promises, and this year it was nominated for Best Ongoing Game at The Game Awards. But before No Man's Sky, Hello Games was the home of Joe Danger, a cartoony racing title that found great, yet comparatively mild, success in the early 2010s. Hello Games' new project, The Last Campfire, is a lot more like Joe Danger than No Man's Sky.
'Dauntless' wants to be the next PS4 cross-platform game
Dauntless is an online monster-hunting game from former Riot Games, Blizzard, Capcom and BioWare developers at indie outfit Phoenix Labs, and it launched in beta this May. In its current form, Dauntless is only available on PC, but that's set to change in April when it lands on PlayStation 4, Xbox One and the new Epic Games Store. There's no mention of the game hitting Steam, but it's also set to come to Nintendo Switch and mobile platforms in 2019.
'The Stanley Parable' is coming to consoles in 2019
The Stanley Parable was a memorable experience (even if you didn't play it for years), but what if you wanted to play it on a console, or just an additional fix? You're in for a treat. Galactic Cafe and Crows Crows Crows have unveiled an expanded edition, The Stanley Parable: Ultra Deluxe, that brings the strange, branching story to consoles for the first time. There's more to do even if you're playing it on PCs, to boot -- you can expect new choices and new endings that might warrant revisiting the experience.
'Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled' revives a classic on June 21st, 2019
What, did you think that Activision would stop at remastering the first three Crash Bandicoot games? True to the teasers, Activision and Beenox have revealed Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled. The overhaul of Naughty Dog's marsupial karting classic includes all the familiar characters, tracks and game modes of the PlayStation original (including Battle Mode), but throws in massively improved graphics and, naturally, online play.
The Epic Games Store is live
The Epic Games Store is live and it's not messing around. Epic threw it live during The Game Awards, where a handful of titles debuted as Epic Games Store exclusives. This comes just two days after announcing a digital marketplace with a significantly more profitable pricing model for developers than Steam.
'Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3: The Black Order' is a Switch exclusive
The next entry in Marvel's Ultimate Alliance series will arrive in 2019, but this one's only for players on Nintendo Switch. Announced tonight during The Game Awards 2018 event, Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3: The Black Order is the first new entry in ten years (excusing HD remasters), pitting heroes and villains in a race to find the Infinity Stones before Thanos and his Black Order crew can get them. The dozens of characters available will include "Avengers, the Guardians of the Galaxy, the X-Men and more." As you'd expect from an Ultimate Alliance game there are plenty of ways to play with friends, including drop-in/drop-out co-op with four players on one system or playing on their own console. A feature that's new to the series is an over-the-shoulder "Heroic Camera" perspective. Don't expect it to go cross-platform later either, as it's published by Nintendo and is being developed by Team Ninja.
'Far Cry New Dawn' turns Hope County into a nuclear wasteland next year
Take the chaotic backwoods setting of Far Cry 5, add a dash of Fallout 76 and a sprinkle of Rust, and you've got Far Cry New Dawn, the latest game in Ubisoft's open-world action-adventure series. New Dawn is the radiation-soaked sequel to Far Cry 5, and it's set to hit PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC on February 15th, 2019.
The Game Awards nominees include 'God of War,' 'Red Dead Redemption 2'
The Game Awards nominees for 2018 are here, and this year it's very, very obvious who's out front. The short list (disclaimer: we're a judge in the competition) is dominated by God of War and Red Dead Redemption 2, both of which have a whopping eight nominations apiece -- it will surprising if they don't take home at least one award when all is said and done. They will have fierce competition, mind you. Marvel's Spider-Man has seven nominations, while Assassin's Creed Odyssey, the indie platformer Celeste and Fortnite (thanks to its ongoing updates and growing esports status) are in the running with four noms each.
The 2018 Game Awards will stream live on December 6th
E3 hasn't even started yet, but that isn't stopping The Game Awards from planning its annual ceremony. Geoff Keighley's game industry gala will take place on December 6th at 8:30PM Eastern, complete with free livestreams on both the awards' website and social networks. If you're determined to see it in person at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles, ticket sales start June 8th at 1PM Eastern on Axs.com.
