Author - Jerry Paxton

The Game Awards Unveils Historic Viewership Numbers for 2021

2021/12/20

The Game Awards, the video game industry’s year-end celebration, today announced that its eighth annual show set a new record with an estimated 85 million global livestreams. With appearances from Keanu Reeves and Carrie Anne-Moss, Jim Carrey and Ben Schwartz, Guillermo del Toro and Hideo Kojima, Simu Liu, Ming-Na Wen, Giancarlo Esposito and more, plus spectacular performances by Sting, Imagine Dragons (featuring Darren Korb, Ashley Barrett and J.I.D.) and The Game Awards Orchestra, conducted by Lorne Balfe, The Game Awards reaffirmed video game’s position as the preeminent force in global entertainment.

With an all-digital, no friction approach to global distribution, The Game Awards streamed live across more than 30 digital networks around the world, including YouTube, Twitch, Twitter, Facebook, TikTok Live, and Steam, as well as more than a dozen digital platforms in China and Disney+Hotstar, MTV, and other networks in India.

2021 viewership and engagement highlights include:

– On Twitter, The Game Awards delivered a record-setting 1.6 million tweets about the event in 2021, it’s best-ever performance. The show trended #1 worldwide for the 8th year in a row, commanding 11 out of the top 30 worldwide trends at the peak of conversation.
– On YouTube, the official livestream set a new record for watch time with over 1.75 million hours watched on the main feed (not including any co-streams), up 14% over 2020’s record-setting livestream.
– On Twitch, The Game Awards delivered 3.35M unique viewers across all participating channels, including co-streams.
-In China, The Game Awards reached new viewership peaks with double-digit growth on platforms including Bilibili, DouYu, Huya and Tencent Video.- On the web, authenticated fan voting for the awards increased 27% YoY to more than 23.2 million on TheGameAwards.com and Bilibili in China.

“We are grateful we could return to an in-person ceremony in 2021 and continue to build on our success with significant international growth in 2021,” said Geoff Keighley, producer, The Game Awards.

The Game Awards gave fans a glimpse at what’s next in gaming and entertainment with more than 30 world premieres of upcoming projects, including Star Wars Eclipse, The Matrix Awakens: An Unreal Engine 5 Experience, Alan Wake II, Sonic 2 and Sonic Frontiers, Wonder Woman, Horizon Forbidden West, and many more. Hazelight Studios’ It Takes Two won a total of three awards, including Game of the Year. Forza Horizon 5 from Xbox Game Studios and Playground Games, took home the honors for Best Sports/Racing Game, Innovation in Accessibility and Best Audio Design, and Bethesda and Arkane Studios’ Deathloop picked up Best Game Direction and Best Art Direction.

Here are the historical live stream numbers for The Game Awards:

2021: 85 Million
2020: 83 Million
2019: 45.2 Million
2018: 26.2 Million
2017: 11.5 Million
2016: 3.8 Million
2015: 2.3 MIllion
2014: 1.9 Million

The Game Awards aired globally across more than 30 digital video networks including Twitch, YouTube, Twitter, Facebook Live, GameSpot, IGN, TikTok Live, and Steam. Internationally, the program aired on more than a dozen networks in China including Huya, DouYu, Bilibili, Tencent Video, YouKu, PPTV, and NetEase CC, in India on Disney+/Hotstar, MTV, Jio TV, MX Player, Voot, and Loco, as well as live distribution in Japan (NicoNico), Russia (VK), South Korea (Afreeca TV, Naver) and in immersive formats including Horizon Venues in VR, in Cinemark Theatres, and in the CORE metaverse.

The Game Awards Sale offered discounts on games across major platforms including PlayStation Store, Xbox, Steam, Nintendo eShop, and Epic Games Store.

The Game Awards also announced its second annual Future Class list, composed of 50 talented individuals around the world who represent the bright, bold and inclusive future of video games. The Game Awards Future Class featured a diverse group of builders, thinkers and dreamers whose voices elevate and diversify the artform of gaming and whose passion makes the industry stronger.

The Game Awards is executive produced by Geoff Keighley and Kimmie Kim. LeRoy Bennett is creative director, and Rich Preuss is director.

Dice Legacy Getting Free New Update

2021/12/17

Jerry Paxton

Geek News, News, Windows PC News

The holidays are drawing closer and in the spirit of gift-giving, players of the dice-based roguelike survival city-builder Dice Legacy will find a present under their virtual tree: the new free update A Storm is Coming will be available for PC players on Dec. 21 (and will be available on Nintendo Switch very soon).

The update for the winner of gamescom’s Most Original Game Award includes an entirely new weather system. 16 different weather conditions will pose new challenges to seasoned players. These weather phenomena, ranging from droughts to heavy rainfall, are forecast at the beginning of a season and bring various effects that might improve or complicate the situation.

Additionally, the new game mode Forging a Realm that was introduced last month will get two new scenarios:

Bizarre Demands: A randomizer-style experience where every cost and requirement is in the hands of fate.
Building a Following: Where the only way to obtain new dice is to meet the demands of the people.

A Storm is Coming is the third free major update for Dice Legacy since its release in September 2021 and adds even more content and variety to the game.

View Dice Legacy on Steam here – https://store.steampowered.com/app/1229460/Dice_Legacy/

Visit Dice Legacy on the Nintendo eShop here – https://www.nintendo.com/games/detail/dice-legacy-switch/

Baldur’s Gate: Dark Alliance Out for First Time on PC

2021/12/17

Jerry Paxton

Geek News, News, Windows PC News

Experience a classic Dungeons & Dragons action role-playing game, as Interplay Entertainment (IPLY) and Wizards of the Coast release the iconic action RPG Baldur’s Gate: Dark Alliance for the first time on Steam, GoG and Epic Store.

This revival of the original Baldur’s Gate: Dark Alliance puts the ‘action’ back into the action-RPG genre, plunging players into the heart of Faerûn. As well as looting and leveling, players must actively defend against and dodge attacks, evade deadly traps, and fight hordes of monsters ranging from swarming kobolds to the iconic and all-consuming Gelatinous Cube.

Featuring three customizable heroes, this epic adventure spans dozens of locations across three massive acts, through the dungeons beneath the city of Baldur’s Gate, to the peak of Burning Eye mountain, deep into the Underdark and beyond.

Players will be also glad to hear that the Steam version will support Remote Play for a long-distance co-op experience when you can’t make it to a friends couch. Now’s your time to grab an ally or brave a dungeon alone and play a game that defined a generation.

Baldur’s Gate: Dark Alliance is available now on Steam, GoG and Epic Store for $29.99.

Key Features:

A re-release of the beloved console classic, now with 4K scaling on the Xbox or PS4 Pro.
Three race and class combinations. Play as a dwarven fighter (Kromlech), a human archer (Vahn) or an elven sorceress (Adrianna).
11 vividly rendered spells, including Magic Missile, Otuluk’s Icy Sphere, and Mordenkainen’s Sword.
More than 40 different types of monsters and boss villains.
Over 25 active and passive skills to buff your adventurer’s ability to deal and take damage.
Varied environments, from the sewers beneath the city of Baldur’s Gate, to the Sunset Mountains, to the Marshes of Chelimber.
Four difficulty levels to challenge even the hardiest adventurer; “Easy”, “Normal”, “Hard” and “Extreme”.
Fully voice-acted by an all-star cast.
Local co-op support!

WRC 10 Unveils Best Community Livery Designs

2021/12/17

Jerry Paxton

Geek News, News, PlayStation 4 News, PlayStation 5 News, Trailers / Videos, Windows PC News, Xbox One News, Xbox Series X News

NACON and KT Racing Studio are pleased to showcase some of the community’s finest livery designs for WRC 10, the official video game of the FIA World Rally Championship, available on PlayStation®4, PlayStation®5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, Steam PC and Epic Games Store.

The livery editor: a fan-favorite customization tool

A major new feature of WRC 10 is a comprehensive car customization tool that invites the gaming community to push the limits of their imagination. With WRC 10, it is now possible to create completely unique liveries, based on about thirty vehicles present in the WRC, WRC 2, WRC 3, Junior WRC categories, but also the historical vehicles of the game. Colors, shapes, stickers, logos, lettering… infinite possibilities are offered to players to impose their style and wear their own colors, including in Career Mode!

More than 30,000 liveries have been created since the release of the game, for more than 19 million stages played since the release, for an average of about 200,000 stages played per day!

Franjo wins the contest of the most beautiful livery on WRC 10!

Franjo’s concept of using all of the editing tools found in WRC 10 won out over many of the other top contenders with an extremely detailed livery: it’s both a tribute to rallying with the integration of notes and also a simplified special stage layout, while nodding to the 50th anniversary of the World Rally Championship in 2022.

“Congratulations to all the participants and in particular Franjo for their work & creativity!” said KT Racing Game Director Alain Jarnou. “Franjo designed not only a complex livery but a balanced one too. The new Livery Editor for WRC 10 is a bet we made for the official game of the World Rally Championship and our players show us every day that it is a winning bet.”

Finishing second was reigning eSports WRC champion Nexl, while Noel, DioxZy and Kai Schröder filled out the top-five spots.

***

WRC 10 is now on PlayStation®4, PlayStation®5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, Steam PC and Epic Games Store, and will be launched on Nintendo Switch™ at a later date.

Zen Studios Announces Remastered Indiana Jones: The Pinball Adventure Table

2021/12/16

Jerry Paxton

Geek News, News, Trailers / Videos, Windows PC News

During the latest episode of The Pinball Show, Zen Studios, in collaboration with Lucasfilm Games, revealed a new remastered edition of the classic “Indiana Jones: The Pinball Adventure” pinball table. This first-ever digital release of the 1993 Williams™ “SuperPin” legend captures the authentic look, design and feel of the original machine with additional features and enhancements. It will launch in 2022 as premium DLC for multiple Zen titles, including the next-generation Pinball FX, Pinball FX3, and Williams™ Pinball.

Made for Indiana Jones and pinball fans worldwide, Zen’s digital release of “Indiana Jones: The Pinball Adventure” faithfully recreates one of the best Williams machines for the modern age in precise detail.

Features:

“Indiana Jones: The Pinball Adventure” combines a fan-favorite Williams machine with everyone’s favorite adventurer – enjoy the original music, sounds, rules and look of the machine brought to the digital space for the first time.
Experience the table just as you remember it, with true-to-life Pro Physics simulation, carefully developed by the pinball experts at Zen, using super slow-motion footage to capture flipper, rubber and ball movements to better understand and recreate pinball mechanics.
Discover the table in a new way with 3D effects in the ‘Enhanced’ version, including side wall art, ball trailer effects, particle effects and a whip-wielding Indiana Jones.
Play at home, with friends, or compete online with single-player, local multiplayer, challenge, and tournament modes.

“Indiana Jones: The Pinball Adventure” is coming to multiple Zen titles, allowing for many players to experience this all-time pinball legend. It will arrive in March 2022 for Pinball FX3 on PC, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One and PlayStation®4, as well as Williams™ Pinball on iOS and Google Play.

It will also be available alongside the early access launch of Pinball FX on PC via the Epic Games Store in March 2022, and later alongside the official launch of Pinball FX on PC, Nintendo Switch, Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation®5, Xbox One and PlayStation®4 in summer 2022.

Warhammer Age of Sigmar: Tempestfall Gets Critical Performance Update

2021/12/16

Jerry Paxton

Geek News, News, Trailers / Videos, Windows PC News

Carbon Studio unlocks hardcore mode today for its recently released VR Adventure in a new update for Warhammer Age of Sigmar: Tempestfall. Thanks to feedback by Tempestfall fans, the Carbon Studio team has addressed critical performance bugs with an update released today, improving motion-based tracking, combat polishing, audio refinement, and other elements.

Today’s update releases alongside a mesmerizing new mixed-reality trailer showing the exciting adventure waiting for VR players in Warhammer Age of Sigmar: Tempestfall.

With the new patch, Tempestfall players will find spells are much easier to cast, chests are easier to open, and the inventory system has been improved. The team has also added a selection of lighting and visual detail fixes as well as improvements to multiple environments throughout the game. In addition, a wide variety of bug fixes and combat improvements have been added. Find the full list of changes on the Warhammer Age of Sigmar: Tempestfall Steam Community Hub.

Deliver justice in the name of Sigmar!

VR-exclusive action-adventure game set in the Warhammer Age of Sigmar universe
Explore the incredibly detailed environments in the over 8-hour long story campaign and side quests
Wield & upgrade your iconic weapons to combat forces of Nighthaunt
Immersive motion-based melee and magic combat system
Search for pieces of Sigmarite and ancient scrolls to enhance your weapons’ abilities
Full story campaign set in the realm of Shyish following the Necroquake

Warhammer Age of Sigmar: Tempestfall is available now on Steam VR, Oculus Store, and Viveport in English, French, Italian, German, Spanish, Japanese, Korean, Russian, and Simplified Chinese. To learn more about Tempestfall visit the website, join the studio Discord, and follow development on Twitter and Facebook. Warhammer Age of Sigmar: Tempestfall was developed alongside the loremasters of Games Workshop.

Techland Unveils PC Requirements for Dying Light 2 Stay Human

2021/12/16

Jerry Paxton

Geek News, News, Windows PC News

Techland today unveils the minimum system requirements and recommended specifications for Dying Light 2 Stay Human, the upcoming action-RPG.

With generous minimum requirements and room at the top end for PC enthusiasts to return time and again with bleeding-edge hardware, Dying Light 2 Stay Human is accessible to a wide PC market, made possible thanks to Techland’s proprietary, highly scalable C-Engine.

Click to embiggen

Minimum System Requirements (Ray Tracing Off)*

CPU: Intel® Core™ i3-9100 or AMD Ryzen™ 3 2300X
RAM: 8GB
GPU: NVIDIA GeForce® GTX 1050 Ti or AMD Radeon™ RX 560 (4GB VRAM)
OS: Windows 7
Available storage space: 60GB HDD*for 1080p resolution at 30 frames per second

Recommended System Specifications (Ray Tracing Off)**

CPU: Intel® Core™ i5-8600K or AMD Ryzen™ 5 3600X
RAM: 16GB
GPU: NVIDIA GeForce® RTX 2060 6GB or AMD Radeon™ RX Vega 56 8GB
OS: Windows 10
Available storage space: 60GB SSD**for 1080p resolution at 60 frames per second

Ray Tracing On Minimum System Requirements***

CPU: Intel® Core™ i5-8600K or AMD Ryzen™ 5 3600X
RAM: 16GB
GPU: NVIDIA GeForce® RTX 2070 8GB
OS: Windows 10
Available storage space: 60GB SSD***for 1080p resolution at 30 frames per second

Ray Tracing On Recommended System Requirements****

CPU: Intel® Core™ i5-8600K or AMD Ryzen™ 7 3700X
RAM: 16GB
GPU: NVIDIA GeForce® RTX 3080 10GB
OS: Windows 10
Available storage space: 60GB SDD****for 1080p resolution at 60 frames per second

Free Guy Coming to Disney+ in February

2021/12/16

Jerry Paxton

Geek News, Movie News, News

It’s not a good day, it’s a great day because Disney+ announced that 20th Century Studios’ “Free Guy” will be coming to the streaming service in 2022. The epic adventure-comedy starring Ryan Reynolds, Jodie Comer, Lil Rel Howery, Joe Keery, Utkarsh Ambudkar and Taika Waititi will be available for all Disney+ subscribers to enjoy on February 23, 2022. “Free Guy” was released in theaters August 13 and has grossed over $330 million worldwide to date. The 20th Century Studios film recently won a People’s Choice Award for The Comedy Movie of 2021 and received a Critics Choice Award nomination for Best Comedy.

In “Free Guy,” a bank teller who discovers he is actually a background player in an open-world video game decides to become the hero of his own story…one he rewrites himself. Now in a world where there are no limits, he is determined to be the guy who saves his world his way…before it is too late. Starring Ryan Reynolds, Jodie Comer, Lil Rel Howery, Joe Keery, Utkarsh Ambudkar and Taika Waititi, “Free Guy” is directed by Shawn Levy from a screenplay by Matt Lieberman and Zak Penn and a story by Lieberman. The film is produced by Ryan Reynolds, p.g.a., Shawn Levy, p.g.a., Sarah Schechter, Greg Berlanti and Adam Kolbrenner with Mary McLaglen, Josh McLaglen, George Dewey, Dan Levine and Michael Riley McGrath serving as executive producers.

Disney+ has also released a new video highlighting all of the exciting originals and library content that will be available in 2022. The special look gives fans a preview of some of the most highly-anticipated titles coming next year, including “Free Guy,” “Eternals,” “The Book of Boba Fett,” “The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder,” “Hocus Pocus 2,” “Limitless with Chris Hemsworth,” “Obi-Wan Kenobi,” “Ms. Marvel,” “She-Hulk,” “Moon Knight” and more. Watch the Coming in 2022 video here.

Twitter: @DisneyPlus / @FreeGuyMovie

Instagram: @DisneyPlus / @FreeGuyMovie

Facebook: @DisneyPlus / @FreeGuyMovie

TikTok: @DisneyPlus

Hashtag: #FreeGuy

Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy Gets Licensed Footwear from Adidas

2021/12/16

Jerry Paxton

Geek News, News

Today, Eidos-Montréal, Adidas, and Marvel unveiled a first-look at the upcoming Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy footwear collaboration. Set to launch in 2022, the collection will feature six unique shoes inspired by the Guardians’ distinct looks and personalities, as explained by James Liu, Senior Designer, Footwear, Exclusives – adidas:

Star-Lord – Forum Hi 84 and Forum Mid
- “Star-Lord has an old-school charm and is an expert in galactic combat and battle techniques; similarly, the Forum mid has an undeniable retro appeal and is a proven contender in its own area of expertise.”
Gamora – ZX 2K Boost 2.0
- “Gamora is known across the universe as being a warrior with unmatched strength, speed and skill – and also for her lineage to the MCU game-changer Thanos. The ZX 2K Boost, the most recent silhouette to bear the iconic ZX moniker, is sleek and sharp like Gamora’s blades and takes color and material references from her armor and appearance.”
Drax – Ozelia
- “Drax is fierce and headstrong, with superhuman strength and a formidable human-mutate physique. The Ozelia, is built like a classic sneaker but features amplified characteristics like a maximal midsole and molded panels and lines that draw similar visuals to Drax’s brutish form.”
Groot – NMD R1
- “To capture the essence of the plant-life superbeing that is Groot, we started with the rugged trail version of the modern classic NMD R1. Unique to the style is a lugged outsole which helps to naturally grip the floor, and the mud-guard that runs along the bottom of the shoe helps protect the foot. Adding to this, we used a 2-tone knit in shades of brown as a nod to Groot’s roots for the upper, and an embroidered detail featuring ‘I AM GROOT’ in an alien language featured in the game.”
Rocket – ZX 1K Boost
- “Rocket Racoon is a weapons specialist, elite marksman, and master tactician, who takes on amplified abilities from its racoon counterparts. We started with the ZX 1K Boost silhouette as a base – it’s a modern interpretation of a familiar style, using the latest technology for optimal performance. We added technical features like speed lacing, and high-vis reflective elements inspired by Rocket Racoon’s weaponry.”

“A key starting point for the design of each sneaker was the unique visual cues from each of the characters – whether it’s the stitching details on Star-Lord’s leather jacket, Groot’s earthy color palette, or Drax’s unmistakable tattoos,” added Liu. “From there, we wanted to inlay various design discovery elements that helped further bring the story of each character to life. Bringing it all together across the collection are unique signifiers for this original take on Guardians of the Galaxy as a Super Hero team – with matching sockliners, hang tags, labels, and packaging.”

Check out the full interview with adidas’ James Liu, Tony Holmes (Senior Product Manager) and Kenan Marlin (Color Designer) here

Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy is available now on PlayStation®5 console, PlayStation®4 console, Xbox Series X|S and Xbox One consoles, PC, and streaming via GeForce NOW. Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy: Cloud Version for Nintendo Switch™ is also available now in select regions.

Warframe The New War Expansion is Out Now

2021/12/15

Jerry Paxton

Geek News, News, Trailers / Videos, Windows PC News

Warframe developer Digital Extremes will release its anticipated cinematic story-driven expansion The New War for all platforms simultaneously today. The expansion is the first major cinematic release for Warframe to take full advantage of next-gen platform tools since the award-winning action game released for next-gen consoles. Full of non-stop space action, combat, and a spoiler-heavy personal story of self-discovery, Warframe’s The New War is the culmination of its free Cinematic Quest line – a AAA developed single-player story-driven experience within Warframe that takes players on a journey across its 16 planets and 3 Open Worlds as they work to restore balance to a fractured interstellar ecosystem, the Origin System. Dramatic twists and unexpected surprises litter The New War with unforgettable moments that will leave players on the edge of their seats waiting to discover what unfolds.

The New War launch trailer demonstrates how the cinematic expansion takes advantage of some of Warframe’s most thrilling features and systems, including ship-to-ship space combat with Railjack, Necramechs, and of course, more Warframe action:

“We are incredibly lucky to have had the opportunity to develop The New War for a community of players that continues to be overwhelmingly supportive and patient,” said Steve Sinclair, Creative Director for Warframe at Digital Extremes. “We’ve always considered our storytelling our greatest strength – and to finally continue this story alongside our community is just one of the wildest and most rewarding experiences. We truly put everything into this – we hope we have given our Tenno their best chapter yet in “The New War’.”

The biggest chapter in Warframe’s free Cinematic Quest line, The New War takes players on a journey across 3 massive acts as they experience war from different perspectives and complete Missions in new environments, including Open Worlds besieged by Sentients, and sets the stage for the next chapter and the future of the game. As the war rages on, players will discover more about the truth behind the conflict, understanding the Lotus’ past and the nature of their mother-and-child relationship to unlock a new future.

“It’s an incredibly emotional experience for all of us on the team to finally deliver The New War to players. Our community of Tenno that have waited so long for this moment – we share every emotion on this journey with them!,” said Rebecca Ford, Director of Community and Live Operations for Warframe at Digital Extremes. “This next chapter is full of surprising twists and turns and will take players to new areas in Warframe in unexpected ways. We can’t wait for players to discover this experience today.”

The launch of The New War brings additional features to Warframe which lets players wield limitless power to look and play the way they want, including the addition of a new Warframe, and an Arsenal reinforced with new Customizations, Weapons, and Accessories for the ultimate fight on the frontlines against the invading Sentients. A variety of Supporter Packs for The New War are available for a limited-time and offer bundled access to some of Warframe’s most anticipated new features and offerings, including its newest Warframe, Caliban, and a slew of Sentient-inspired upgrades that will inspire beauty, grace, and brutality in the fashion framing community. The Ravurex Gunblade Skin, Sentient Color Palette, Archon Nira Glyph, and Archon Nira Sigil are time-limited exclusives to The New War Supporter Packs. All other Items and Customizations are available for purchase with Platinum starting today from the Warframe Market.