Gaming

The reveal of GTA VI was always going to be a moment. The events preceding the game’s initial reveal were, itself, a moment when the trailer got leaked, forcing Rockstar to release it earlier than intended.

In the 48-ish hours since then, the debut trailer for GTA VI has already eclipsed the first trailer of its predecessor, amassing more views in that short time than the GTA V trailer could get in 10 years.

Damn.

I expected nothing less, even though the actual trailer is only 90 seconds long. The trailer looks great, and good news: Digital Foundry is “inclined to believe” that the footage “is representative of the actual game,” Digital Foundry’s Richard Leadbetter writes in a written analysis.

IGN published a big piece today about the “soul-crushing” mood at Bungie following recent layoffs and the delay of the game’s next big expansion.

While the studio, which is owned by Sony, remains independent, IGN reports that if Bungie misses some financial goals “by too great an amount,” Sony can dissolve Bungie’s board and take over.

Shortly after Geoff Keighley announced Valve will give away 100 Steam Deck OLEDs during the event, Lenovo piped in with a giveaway for its competing handheld: the Legion Go. The company will hand out 100 free devices during The Game Awards, which you can enter to win starting tomorrow at 7:30PM ET.

“You’ll get 9 characters, 15 weapons, 1 Stage, 20 in-game unlocks, the ability to see the future, and an Adventure,” developer Poncle wrote in an FAQ about the new Emergency Meeting DLC. “One of those answers is an Impostor.”

The DLC will cost $2.49, according to a press email, which is just a tad more expensive than the $1.99 price for the previous two expansions.

Emergency Meeting launches on PC and Xbox on December 18th and on mobile and Nintendo Switch “soon.” While you wait, you can check out the new story mode “Adventures” launching today.

Digital Eclipse is continuing its interactive documentary series with an upcoming collection about game designer and noted llama enthusiast Jeff Minter. The studio previously made Atari 50 and The Making of Karateka, and the new release will feature 42 different — and very trippy — classic games when it launches in 2024.

There’s a new “cinematic trailer” for Epic Games’ forthcoming Lego Fortnite experience, and while the trailer doesn’t have actual footage from the game, seeing all the Lego-ified Fortnite characters running around is pretty delightful.

The experience launches on Thursday, so we won’t have to wait too long until we can play it ourselves.

The giveaway will include the most expensive 1TB model of Valve’s updated handheld, which costs $649. You can enter for a chance to win during The Game Awards on December 7th from 7:30PM ET to 11:00PM ET.

The Access controller, which is designed to offer a more accommodating way for people with disabilities to play PS5 games, is now widely available to buy for $89.99 / €89.99. To mark the occasion, Sony has put out a video featuring some of the people it consulted with on the project, showing the different configurations the controller can be used in.

The system, Bethesda Game Studios Creations, “combines Skyrim’s existing Mods, Creation Club items and all-new Creations under a single Creations menu available for players to browse today in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Special Edition,” according to Bethesda’s blog post. If you become a “verified creator,” you can earn a cut for Creations sold in the game.

I’m guessing this system (or something like it) will come to Starfield when the studio officially ads mods to the game “early next year.”

The upcoming game puts a modern spin on the classic run ‘n’ gun, with its latest trailer highlighting the roster of playable characters and some revamped maps. Contra: Operation Galuga comes from Konami and WayForward, and will be available for the Nintendo Switch, Xbox, PS5, PS4, and PC in “early” 2024.

My everlasting search for a new Sonic game that isn’t soul-crushing or a technical mess may have come to an end but there’s a catch: it’s only available on Apple Arcade.

Sonic Dream Team, which Polygon makes sound like a better version of Sonic Superstars, launches today on Apple Arcade.

Also coming today to Apple Arcade is another dream game, Disney meets Animal Crossing sim Disney Dreamlight Valley: Arcade Edition, along with Puzzle & Dragons Story and Turmoil+.

Despite Rockstar releasing the GTA VI trailer early following a leak, it still managed to rake in 72 million views and counting. PC Gamer points out this makes it the most-viewed non-music video on YouTube in the 24 hours following its release — a record previously held by MrBeast.

It’s also getting close to dethroning BTS’s “Dynamite” music video, which currently holds the record for getting the most views on all of YouTube in 24 hours.

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is appealing a district court’s decision not to block Microsoft’s Activision Blizzard acquisition. Microsoft finalized its $68.7 billion deal in October, but the FTC’s Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals hearing starts tomorrow. Now 37 venture capital firms and investors are opposing the FTC’s appeal, claiming it “threatens the cycle of investment and entrepreneurship that drives America’s innovation economy.” The FTC is also planning to continue its administrative process against the acquisition.

The grand opening for the Donkey Kong-themed zone at Universal Studios Japan will finally take place in Spring 2024. The expansion of the park's existing Super Nintendo World area has been in development since 2021, and includes a new Donkey Kong rollercoaster — that presumably doesn’t fly off the tracks like the treacherous minecarts depicted in the trailer below.

The Weeknd just shared a teaser of his upcoming appearance in Fortnite Festival, the new in-Fortnite music-themed experience developed by Harmonix, and it features a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it look at what it’s like to actually play Festival. You can jump into the new experience starting December 9th.

According to Rockstar’s press release for the just-released Grand Theft Auto VI trailer, the game will launch on PS5 and Xbox Series X / S in 2025 — PC isn’t a listed platform.

Unfortunately, the absence of PC isn’t too surprising, given that the PC version of GTA V was released more than a year and a half after the game first came out on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. Seems like we might be waiting awhile for GTA VI on PC, too.

In a trailer for the new “No Return” mode (which might get buried by... you know), you can see how you’ll be able to play as different TLOU characters and take on zombies while dealing with “unique gameplay modifiers” (like one that appears to make a zombie invisible).

The mode will be included with The Last of Us Part II Remastered, which is set to release on January 19th.

Adventures, which remix some of the game’s content, will launch first on PC and Xbox and “later” on Nintendo Switch and mobile, according to Poncle’s trailer for the update. The developer is teasing that one of the Adventures will feature Poe, a garlic-wielding old man.

I thought I had shaken my obsession with this game, but the Adventures might pull me back in.

It’s not technically off for everyone: the judge ordered Epic and Google to discuss a settlement this week while court is out of session. But the judge, jury, and journalists won’t be back until Monday, December 11th — that’s when we’re coming back for closing arguments (unless, of course, they settle).

Meanwhile, I’m working on an epic recap of everything we’ve learned. Stay tuned for that!

Oh, in case you missed it on Friday:

That’s my best “V-from-Cyberpunk-2077’s-update-2.1-sitting-at-the-bar-(who-is-also-a-fan-of-The-Office)” impression; in the new update, which is out on Tuesday, “it is now possible to sit at various bars in Night City and interact with the vendors,” according to CD Projekt Red’s patch notes.

Based on the patch notes, it looks like the update adds a ton of new features and bug fixes. The update, which CDPR says will launch at about 6AM ET, will also let you ride public transit.

Update 2.1 is planned to be the “last big update” for Cyberpunk 2077, a CDPR spokesperson confirmed to IGN.

Update December 4th, 12:41PM ET: Added that Update 2.1 is the game’s last major update.