The release of CD Projekt Red's highly anticipated Cyberpunk 2077 isn't the only attention-grabber happening on December 10. The Game Awards goes live on the same day and is all-virtual this time around as the world continues to grapple with the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. There are 30 categories to get through, including the coveted Game of the Year award that games like Hades and The Last of Us Part II are competing for. Here's everything you need to know about this year's The Game Awards, including start time, where to watch, and what to expect.The Game Awards Start TimeThis year's The Game Awards goes live earlier than usual. Instead of typically occurring in the evening, the livestream kicks off on Thursday, December 10 with a pre-show that starts at 3:30 PM PT / 6:30 PM ET. The main event takes place just 30 minutes later.US West Coast: 4 PM PTUS East Coast: 7 PM ETUK: 12 AM GMT (December 11)Sydney, Australia: 11 AM AET (December 11)Where To Watch The Game AwardsThe Game Awards will be livestreamed on all the usual places, including the company's official Twitch and YouTube channels. The award ceremony can also be viewed on Facebook Live, Oculus Venues, and Twitter. We here at GameSpot will stream The Game Awards through the livestream above and on YouTube.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

In the wake of the big success and acclaim of the Star Wars TV show The Mandalorian, which is about a bounty hunter in space, God of War director Cory Barlog tweeted that he hopes there is a developer out there trying to make a new Star Wars bounty hunter video game.Celia Hodent, a former Lucasfilm developer, responded to Barlog by pointing out that she and her team tried to do just that with Star Wars 1313. Announced in 2012, the game was a third-person action adventure title set beneath Coruscant where you play as a bounty hunter. However, when Disney acquired Lucasfilm, the mega corporation closed developer LucasArts and cancelled all their games, including Star Wars 1313.😭 We tried... https://t.co/CMkAsheSf7 pic.twitter.com/jwbee8LueV — Celia Hodent (@CeliaHodent) December 8, 2020Developer Patrick Wren worked on this game, and he responded to Hodent's tweet, "If only people could have seen what was coming."Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

Glen Schofield, the co-creator of the Dead Space series who later worked on the Call of Duty franchise, is preparing to announce his first post-Activision game very soon.Schofield's new team, Striking Distance Studios, will announce their first game during The Game Awards this Thursday, December 10. According to organizer Geoff Keighley, this is a game for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S.It was previously announced that Striking Distance was developing an "original narrative experience" within the PUBG universe. However, it's not immediately clear if the reveal on Thursday will be this game or something else.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

This year saw two new console launches in the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S, but the Nintendo Switch is still going strong in its own separate lane. The hybrid console-handheld had another great year, rocketing to massive sales on the strength of its games lineup and quarantine conditions fueling consumers to look for new ways to occupy themselves and their families.Nintendo obliged, of course, with particularly strong first-party offerings like Animal Crossing: New Horizons, which became a bona fide cultural touchstone. (Just ask US Representative AOC.) But the wide slate also included an anniversary celebration for Mario with Paper Mario: The Origami King, the battle royale Super Mario Bros. 35, and the Super Mario 3D All-Stars collection. The fall brought a remaster for Pikmin 3 and the musou game Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity. And some of last year's games continued to get more love, including the two large expansions for Pokemon Sword and Shield.Meanwhile, third-parties continue to release some of their biggest games on Nintendo Switch. This year brought such varied games as Hades, Fuser, Minecraft Dungeons, and Ghostrunner, as well as tons of beloved indie hits. And Switch is starting to get some games usually reserved for more powerful platforms through cloud-based streaming tech, like the recent release of Control.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

The rather chaotic 2020 is coming to a close, which means the GameSpot staff is sporadically taking breaks from the regular day-to-day coverage to look back on the year that was and discuss the games we liked the most. In the following article, we detail our five favorite Xbox games for 2020--so any game that released for Xbox One or Xbox Series X|S this year.All said and done, 2020 was a pretty good year for Xbox. No standout first-party exclusives like PlayStation, but plenty of third-party games look great on Xbox One X, and they look even better (and load a lot faster) on Xbox Series X|S. So yeah, you can find all of the games on this list on other platforms, but that doesn't detract that they all look and play very well on Xbox platforms. Three of the five are on Xbox Game Pass, too. So if you're curious about trying Ori and the Will of the Wisps, Spiritfarer, or Doom Eternal, you should consider investing in the best deal in gaming. Doing so will also net you the somewhat niche but impressive line-up of Xbox console exclusives that were released this year, like Call of the Sea and Tetris Effect: Connected. Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

Halo Infinite is now expected to release in Fall 2021, developer 343 Industries confirmed in a blog post. As part of the developer's year-end update, 343 confirmed the new release date and also provided some new insight on the game's graphics, art, and customization features.Halo Infinite was originally expected to release as a launch title for the Xbox Series X|S in November, but due to complications related to COVID-19, and other factors, Microsoft delayed the game to an unspecified point in 2021. The new Fall 2021 date might be later than some expected, as it's a full year beyond what was originally announced.The new rocket launcher in Halo Infinite343 also published images of the first Halo Infinite multiplayer map. As announced previously, the multiplayer element of Halo Infinite will be free-to-play, which is a big change for the series.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

Halo Infinite's first multiplayer map has been revealed. In a new Halo Waypoint update, two interior images of a multiplayer map have been shown off for the first time.The map, which is not officially named in the update, is the very first thing we have seen from the game's multiplayer. The first screenshot, below, shows a very familiar Halo scene: two Spartans squaring off on a map with an emphasis on verticality.The first screenshot of Halo Infinite multiplayerThe final game will contain a mix of interior and exterior levels, by the sound of it. As you can see in these shots, the level contains plenty of detail--and looks to be using the power of the Xbox Series X for some nice lighting effects.Design director Ryan Paradis explains in the update that while there will be "limited-time events" in the game's multiplayer, they don't want players to feel like they need to jump in at specific times or miss out. "Think of all the games we’ve all played that have random rewards, ask people to play a way they hate just for a new shiny, or weaponize FOMO against the player," he says. "There will be limited-time events, but we don’t want to turn free time into a chore. We’re not all about that."Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

Temtem, a Pokemon-like RPG that released in early access on Steam earlier this year, has made its way to PS5. The game, which will eventually come to other consoles too, has not hit version 1.0 yet, but it arrives on Sony's new console in fairly robust form.This version of Temtem comes with a story campaign, complete with MMO elements. You'll be able to travel between six islands, training and taming Temtem creatures and fighting against enemies in turn-based battles. You'll encounter other players as you go, which should make the world feel alive.A new launch trailer for the game has been released, too, which you can view below.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

Halo Infinite developer 343 Industries has provided an update on the project, revealing a new release window, talking about microtransactions, and showcasing the first multiplayer map in a post on the Halo Waypoint. Alongside all of this, the company supplied a number of new images, which fans of Microsoft's iconic first-person shooter franchise are sure to poreover in the coming days.The images include environments from the game, weapon models, and a close look at some of the Spartan armors that will be available when the game launches. Much of the discussion around Halo Infinite when the first gameplay was shown was about its somewhat questionable visual fidelity and this is something acknowledged by 343 Industries."The primary goal for the Campaign demo in July was showing Halo Infinite gameplay for the first time. While that aspect generally landed as we wanted, the reality is that the art and visuals weren’t at the bar we hold for Halo – even in a work-in-progress state.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

343 Industries has revealed that Halo Infinite will be delayed to Fall 2021. The news comes from a blog post, which also goes into how Halo Infinite and its free-to-play multiplayer will handle microtransactions."Yes, being free-to-play does mean that there will be some premium cosmetics, but players will still obtain tons of customization content through things like playing campaign, challenges, skill, special events, legacy rewards--such as the Halo 5 SR 152 reward--the progress system, and more," Halo Infinite lead progression designer Christopher Blohm said.Blohm added that the team wants players to feel like they're being properly rewarded for time spent in the game. So players who don't spend any additional cash won't be penalized, they'll still be able to unlock "items across multitude of different customization types." Microtransactions will only be tied to premium cosmetics, and it's a one-and-done purchase. "No loot boxes," Blohm clarifies. "No randomness or items that influence the sandbox and gameplay."Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

Yes, Your Grace, a small game about making decisions on how to run a kingdom, recently released on Xbox Game Pass after hitting PCs and consoles earlier this year. In its first five days on the service, the game--which features Xbox Series X/S enhancements--has done extremely well, the publisher has now revealed.Mike Rose, head of indie publisher No More Robots, has shared news of the game's success. In its first day, the game added 10,000 new players, and over the four days that followed it continued to add that many new players every day."Around 250,000 people have now played Yes, Your Grace," Rose revealed--a high number for a game like this.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

The first gameplay demo of Halo Infinite spawned one of 2020's top memes: Craig, the deadpan Brute. The meme, which took on a life of its own and earned the approval of Xbox's Phil Spencer, was tied in with the criticism that this gameplay demo attracted--Craig's cold, uncaring eyes were emblematic of the less-than-stellar visuals on display in the video.Now, 343 Industries has delved into the game in a new Halo Waypoint update, and there's news on Craig. Neill Harrison, the director of art management at 343 Industries, has revealed that the Brute will look very different in the final game, and that the version we saw was far from a finished model."Firstly, I can confirm that the facial animation on NPCs was not fully implemented in that build, which resulted in Craig’s incredibly deadpan/lifeless look," Harrison says. "All characters are modelled in a neutral pose, prior to blendshapes & animation being applied. So, poor old Craig was never intended to be seen in that condition which is not something that was evident during the gameplay."Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

By now, filmgoers are familiar with many of Marvel's biggest characters, and a few of the weirdest. When it comes to Spider-Man and his family of characters, though, that sphere of knowledge makes it only as far as Miles Morales and Doctor Octopus for most. It's a good thing, then, that Jared Leto is here to introduce the latest trailer for the upcoming Spider-Man-adjacent film, Morbius.Before you dive in, there's no new footage from the Morbius film in this trailer. What's new here is Leto's introduction. The trailer that follows is an abridged version of the trailer we've already seen.“Hello to all you wonderful Marvel fans," Leto says. "I can't wait for you to check out my new movie, Morbius, coming your way very soon. In the film, I play a new Marvel character who attempts to cure his lifelong blood disease with an experimental science, in the process turned into a living vampire."Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

Apex Legends fans who want to dig deeper into the game's lore are in luck, thanks to a new artbook releasing next year that will delve into a character's past. Apex Legends: Pathfinder's Quest is a 208-page hardcover book from Dark Horse Books, but it's not yet clear whether it's a traditional artbook or a comic.Announcing Apex Legends: Pathfinder's Quest. 🤖From the writers of Apex, explore the world through the eyes of Pathfinder as he chronicles his journey to interview his fellow Legends in hopes of locating his creator. EXCITING!Pre-order now: https://t.co/eiRFaQflvl pic.twitter.com/YQxgob5acp — Apex Legends (@PlayApex) December 8, 2020The book is due to release on February 2, 2021, both physically and on Kindle. The book's Amazon page currently lists the book as sold out, but it's possible that more stock will be secured ahead of release.Manny Hagopian, the lead writer of Apex Legends, is credited as the book's author. There's no preview of the pages inside the book yet.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

Pokemon Go developer Niantic's Harry Potter mobile game, Wizards Unite, is introducing a series of villains and evil creatures in the new Adversaries update.This update, which is the "biggest feature release of the year," adds new evil characters to fight against. These include the bad boy Draco Malfoy and the nefarious Bellatrix Lestrange. The werewolf Fenrir Greyback is also included with the update, along with the Basilisk.These villains will come to Wizards Unite as part of the game's new monthly patches. Players can earn rewards like Wizarding and Challenge XP, among other bonuses, for defeating the villains.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com