The Game Awards 2020 Will Have Over A Dozen "First Time" Reveals

The Game Awards

The Game Awards has become the biggest single event in the gaming industry, at least in regards to how many viewers it pulls in, even eclipsing the likes of E3 or Gamescom despite those being more "important" shows from an investor standpoint. Even with the pandemic, the show must go on, the nominees have been named, and there's going to be lots of reveals.

It was already said earlier that the pre-show would feature 5 world premieres. In a Reddit AMA, Host and Founder Geoff Keighley answered questions about the show. When asked about how many reveals there would be in the main show, he answered by saying there "are a good dozen-plus games that will be announced / revealed at the show for the first time." He later narrowed it down saying something like 12-15 and that would include big AAA titles as well as the smaller, indie and midrange stuff.

We know some of the games that will be there already in some capacity, and there's also plenty of rumors of others. It seems there's always at least one big reveal that gets everyone abuzz. Last year, for instance, the Xbox Series X was officially revealed out of nowhere. What happens this year? We'll all just have to tune in, I guess.

Call Of Duty: Black Ops Cold War Season 1 Gets Cinematic Trailer

call of duty black ops cold war

There's three things you can always count on: death, taxes and an annual entry in the Call of Duty series. This year it was Black Ops Cold War and with it and Warzone side by side, it's been raking up the big bucks something fierce. Like Modern Warfare before it, Cold War will see seasons for its multiplayer, and today we got a grand and cinematic introduction to it.

The trailer, provided via IGN, sees a cinematic that introduces the newer Operative, a former KGB Agent named Stitch. He's out for revenge against Adler who injured him during a nasty interrogation in the 1960s. The season was originally set to start this week, but was ultimately pushed back a little.

Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War is available now on PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One and PC. Season One will officially kick off across all of those platforms on December 16th, and you can read all about that through here.

Forza Horizon 4's Super7 Update Adds Track Building

Forza Horizon 4

Much like a high-quality and well-kept car, Microsoft and Playground Games have gotten a lot of mileage out of Forizon Horizon 4, the latest entry in the simulation racing series. As of last year, it'd seen at least 12 million players and continues to get updates, including its next one, Super7, which looks to make things a bit wacky.

The update will bring track building to the title, which will allow you to take premade parts such as ramps, tunnels, bends, etc. and construct them in all manners of weird ways and release them out to the community. They released a trailer for it, which you can see below, to kind of give you an idea of what you can do. As with many of Horizon 4's updates, it will be free.

Forza Horizon 4 is available now for Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One and PC. The Super7 update is will available tomorrow, December 8th, for all platforms. You can read up on the enhancements for the next generation versions of the game through here.

Take-Two CEO Thinks We're About A Decade From Games Being Photorealistic

take-two interactive

As time progresses, so too does technology. That's the way of life, even if it does feel as if that progression has kicked up so much it's hard to really keep up with. Gaming is no different and while we're still young and fresh into a new generation, we are starting to see the next steps. One of the most impressive and hyped up aspects of the PS5 and the Xbox Series X/S is the SSDs they have, which make loading almost non-existent and will no doubt impact game design in a major way over the next few years. Graphics, of course, will improve, and if Take-Take Interactive CEO Strauss Zelnick is correct, within a decade it's going to look maybe too real.

As reported by GamesIndustry, Zelnick spoke at the UBS Global TMT Virtual Conference and there he talked in length about how he saw the future of the industry. While a lot of it is focused on where he sees business headed, he does drop that he thinks in about a decade, games are going to be looking photorealistic.

"Some of what we do now looks a lot like live-action, but it's still animation. In 10 years, you'll have the option if you want to make things that look completely realistic, all done inside a computer, never mind all the other advances technology will enable."

Zelnick is thinking a tad ahead of course, to the PS6 and the Xbox Series Whatever, but 10 years can pass fast. We've only seen a handful of games taking full advantage of the new hardware that's released, but I imagine we're going to see some gorgeous graphics pretty soon, so Zelnick is probably not too far off if I were to wager a guess myself.

Crash Bandicoot 4 Art Book May Have Tease For Potential Spyro 4

Crash Bandicoot 4 - It's About Time_Flashback

Earlier this year, just before the launch of the new consoles, we got a hit of nostalgia with Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time. While not actually done by the original developers, it's framed as something of a long lost sequel to the original PlayStation trilogy, and we were big fans. It seems like it's also teasing a new game in the franchise as well, but it may even be doing so for a comrade of the same era.

As noticed by Twitter user Spyro Universe, in the artbook dedicated to Crash 4, there is an artwork there and if you look at the bottom you'll very clearly see a logo for a Spyro 4, something that the book directly points you toward in case you miss it.

Like Crash Bandicoot, Spyro began with a trilogy of titles in the PlayStation era, developed by Insomniac Games. That developer moved on and while there were sequels afterward  by others, the franchise never quite reached that peak again until those original three titles were remade a few years ago. Take into account we've had rumors a new Spyro game was in the works, and there you go. It could just be a coy and playful reference, but I wouldn't be too surprised if Spyro follows the same path as his PlayStation bud relatively soon.

Dragon Age 4 Will Receive an "Early Look" at The Game Awards, New Logo Revealed

dragon age 4

It was confirmed recently that we'd be getting a "special look" at Dragon Age 4 at The Game Awards this Thursday, December 10, and now BioWare have chimed in over on Twitter to provide some more brief details on the tease.

The developer confirms that we'll be getting "an early look" at the next Dragon Age game at the awards show later this week. Meanwhile, in that same tweet, they also showed off a little bit of concept art (which seems to be a cropped version of previously seen art), which is accompanied by a new logo for the Dragon Age series, which is a bit bolder (literally) than previous games. Check it out below.

We've had a couple of early looks at the upcoming RPG so far. The game was announced at The Game Awards 2018 with a very brief teaser trailer, which was followed by some early development footage earlier this year. It remains to be seen what sort of a showing we're in for in a few days' time.

BioWare recently saw some major turnover in staff, with general manager Casey Hudson and Dragon Age executive producer leaving the studio. Read more on that – and how that will impact development on upcoming games – through here.

There's no word yet on when exactly Dragon Age 4 will launch, but EA have said that it won't launch until at least after April 1, 2022– so don't hold your breath.

Gran Turismo 7 Won't be Cross-Gen, Releasing Exclusively for PS5

Gran Turismo 7

Sony have surprised several people with their cross-generation approach when it comes to major first party releases. Sackboy: A Big Adventure and Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales both released for PS4, and Horizon Forbidden West will as well, while there are questions about God of War: Ragnarok as well. Sony have said on multiple occasions that they're going to keep releasing games for the PS4 for at least a couple more years- but one game that definitely won't be cross-gen is the upcoming racing sim Gran Turismo 7.

Sony recently published a new video highlighting some major games that are going to be releasing for the PS5 in the near future, and confirmed while showing off Gran Turismo 7 (starting at the 0:21 mark) that the game will be coming exclusively to PS5, with no PS4 release planned. The video states that the game will launch in 2021.

Meanwhile, Sony mentioned in a previous video that Gran Turismo 7 was one among several upcoming first party titles that was due out in the first half of 2021. It seems, however, that they have now updated that video to remove that launch window for the game- so it might not necessarily come out in the first half of the year.

Gran Turismo 7 will support ray-tracing and run in 4K at 60 FPS. It will also leverage the DualSense's unique features.

It Takes Two Confirmed for The Game Awards 2020

It Takes Two

It's been a while since we last heard about It Takes Two, the new co-op adventure from Hazelight Studios and directed by Josef Fares. With The Game Awards coming up this Thursday, it seems we won't have to wait much longer. Producer and host Geoff Keighley has confirmed that It Takes Two will have its gameplay premiere at the awards ceremony.

The story centers on the parents of a little girl who are having martial issues. Thus does she create two dolls based on her parents and controlled by the player. If A Way Out and Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons are any indication, then expect some co-op hijinks. Fares has already confirmed that this will be an action adventure platformer which should be interesting.

It Takes Two is currently slated to release next year with its platforms yet to be revealed. Perhaps we'll get details for both in the coming days. The Game Awards 2020 will take place on December 10th at 3:30 PM PST with five World Premiers confirmed thus far. Stay tuned for other potential announcements in the meantime.

Cyberpunk 2077 Pre-Load is Live on Steam and GOG

Cyberpunk 2077_01

Pre-loads for CD Projekt RED's Cyberpunk 2077 are currently live on Steam, GOG and the Epic Games Store ahead of its release this Thursday. While details of the day one patch have yet to be revealed, reviews have gone live for the FPS/RPG. In the meantime, those who pre-loaded on GOG discovered a rather funny Easter egg.

As noted by JMendo02 on Reddit, there's an executable file that comes with the pre-load. While one might think that the game accidentally launched ahead of schedule, it's actually just an image. Opening it showcases a familiar landfill with Johnny Silverhand's dialogue stating, "Go back to sleep, Samurai! It's not December 10th yet!"

As noted in the image, Cyberpunk 2077 is out on December 10th for Xbox One, PS4, PC and Google Stadia. It will be playable on Xbox Series X/S and PS5 at launch, though full-fledged upgrades for those platforms are slated for next year. Stay tuned for more details and reveals ahead of the game's release.

Project Athia is Exclusive to PS5 for 24 Months

Project Athia_02

Square Enix's Project Athia fell somewhat by the wayside following the announcement of Final Fantasy 16 but there's no doubt of its potential. The open world action adventure title was touted as a PS5 console exclusive but for how long? Strangely enough, the answer has been revealed in a new trailer from the official PlayStation YouTube channel.

Highlighting all of the new and upcoming games for PlayStation 5, the trailer mentions Project Athia is "Not available on other consoles until at least 24 months after release date." It will still be coming to PC but Xbox Series X/S players will need to wait a good two years.

Keep in mind that we don't know how early in development the game – Project Athia is a working title, after all. There's also the question of what Sony has seen in the project that it felt the need for such an extensive exclusivity period. Regardless, it's big news and only increases the hype for Luminous Productions' next. Stay tuned for more details in the meantime.