The Game Awards 2023 Breaks Viewership Record, Notching 118 Million Livestreams

Escape From Tarkov wipe has proved a hit with fans, thanks to a massive patch that brought everything from a new map to major recoil changes.Released last month (December 27), Escape From Tarkov patch 0.14 was introduced with a wipe – meaning every player had their quests, progress and inventories reset.The update introduced Ground Zero, a claustrophobic urban map designed for new players, along with a new boss enemy called Kollontay on the Streets Of Tarkov map. It also added several new guns, a rework to the Shoreline map, achievements, an in-depth armour plating system, and the ability to climb and vault over obstacles.However, one of the most popular changes has been a long-awaited recoil rework, which makes it easier for players to fire their weapons without battling high recoil.“The recoil mechanic has been improved to make it more realistic and comfortable for players,” wrote developer Battlestate Games in the latest patch notes.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Aylo, parent company of Pornhub and other sex sites, entered into a deferred prosecution agreement with U.S. prosecutors to settle a charge it profited from deals with porn producers who were involved in sex trafficking. Under the settlement announced Thursday, Canada-based Aylo agreed to pay a criminal fine and forfeiture totaling $1.845 million to the U.S.

Metacritic has shared a list of the worst games released this year, based on reviews.Metacritic aggregates reviews of TV, film, books and music and then gives them an average score. As part of its end of year summary, the website has shared the 10 worst reviewed games released in 2023.“Any titles with fewer than seven reviews from professional critics are excluded,” it explained, with the list only including titles that are “major enough” to get reviewed by multiple publications.Topping the list of worst games is Daedalic’s The Lord Of The Rings: Gollum with a score of just 34 out of 100, making it “generally unfavourable”. The stealth platformer is set between the events of The Hobbit and Lord Of The Rings: The Fellowship Of The Ring, and offers an original story for Gollum.According to the list, it’s the “worst Lord Of The Rings game adaptation in history” with reviews calling it “dull” and “tedious” as well as pointing out game-breaking bugs, terrible visuals and criticising the extensive knowledge of Tolkien’s work that’s needed to properly grasp the plot.

The country's top sports stars lined the red carpet in Salford tonight (December 19) as they arrived for the BBC Sports Personality of the Year awards. The 70th edition of the annual awards show is taking place at MediaCityUK with the winner to be crowned by 9pm.

Not every video game experience has to be stress-inducing.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Google agreed to pay $700 million and will make certain changes to the Google Play app store for Android devices under the terms of a settlement with all 50 U.S. states, which had alleged in a lawsuit the app store operated as an illegal monopoly. As part of the settlement, Google will allow app and game developers to implement an alternative billing option alongside Google Play’s billing system for U.S.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Comcast, the largest cable operator in the U.S., said personal data for approximately 35.9 million customers of its Xfinity services may have been illegally accessed by hackers in a security breach that occurred in October. On Monday, Comcast began notifying customers of the hack.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Activision Blizzard will pay $54.9 million to settle a lawsuit by California’s Civil Rights Department alleging a pattern of pay and promotion practices that discriminated against women. The settlement, announced Friday, comes after Microsoft closed its $69 billion takeover of Activision Blizzard in October following concessions Microsoft made to clear regulatory objections in the U.K. Activision Blizzard’s franchises include Call of Duty, World of Warcraft, Guitar Hero and Diablo.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Netflix‘s board has approved 2024 pay packages of its top execs, with co-CEOs Ted Sarandos and Greg Peters each to receive compensation worth $40 million. For Sarandos, it’s the same level of pay he is set to receive in 2023.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Game designer Hideo Kojima, creator of the hugely popular “Death Stranding,” had two pieces of news coming out of the Game Awards 2023. On Thursday evening at the Game Awards show in L.A., Kojima appeared on stage with filmmaker Jordan Peele to announce his next game project: “OD,” which Kojima describes as an “immersive and totally new style of game” that will explore “what it means to OD on fear.” It’s being produced in partnership with Microsoft’s Xbox Game Studios.

Skull & Bones has received yet another release date at The Game Awards 2023. It’s the game’s sixth planned launch following a series of delays.Skull & Bones is set to release on February 16 on PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S.

Larian Studios’ Baldur’s Gate 3 took the marquee Game of the Year prize at the 10th annual Game Awards, which were handed out tonight at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles.

Katcy Stephan Baldur’s Gate 3 was the big winner at The Game Awards, snagging six trophies, including Game of the Year, in the annual ceremony recognizing the best and brightest titles in gaming. It also earned prizes for Best Community Support, Best RPG, Best Multiplayer, Players’ Voice and Best Performance (for Astarion actor Neil Newbon). Going into Thursday’s awards, Alan Wake 2 and Baldur’s Gate 3 had the most nominations, each earning eight nods.

The Game Awards – see the updated list of winners below.This year’s nominations are led by Alan Wake 2 and Baldur’s Gate 3, both of which have nabbed eight nods, including Game of The Year. Also nominated for Game of The Year are Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, Resident Evil 4, Super Mario Bros. Wonder and The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom.Those aforementioned titles are also nominated for Best Game Direction.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor YouTube announced that the first trailer for Grand Theft Auto VI reached the “extraordinary milestone” of generating more than 93 million views in the initial 24-hour period on the Rockstar Games YouTube channel — shattering the previous record for a non-music video debut on the platform. Rockstar Games released GTA VI’s first trailer on Monday, Dec. 4, after it first leaked online.

The Game Awards 2023, the annual celebration of all things gaming, is scheduled for the early hours of tomorrow (December 8) in the UK. Besides celebrating this year’s biggest games, it promises to also contain numerous new announcements – to follow them live, here’s how to watch The Game Awards 2023.The Game Awards 2023 is set to begin at 12:30 AM BST (4:30 PM PST / 5:30 PM MST / 6:30 PM CST / 7:30 PM EST).It is estimated to run between two and a half and three hours, per a Q&A with host Geoff Keighley, and fans can watch the show through either YouTube, Twitch, or X (formerly Twitter).As for what will be shown, The Game Awards 2023 will feature a musical performance from rock band Poets Of The Fall, who played fictional rockers Old Gods Of Asgard in Alan Wake 2 this year.Several trailers and games that will be appearing at the show have also been announced, with Fortnite spin-off Rocket Racing receiving a debut trailer at the show.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Today’s the day: The Game Awards, honoring the best of the game industry of 2023, will take place Thursday, and the show is free to watch online across more than two dozen platforms. The 10th annual Game Awards show will stream live from L.A.’s Peacock Theater on Thursday, Dec. 7, starting at 4:30 p.m.

Suki Waterhouse is showing off her growing baby bump!

Over 100 celebs walked the red carpet at the 2023 The Fashion Awards and we’re recapping all of the best looks of the night.

Grand Theft Auto VI arrived a little early after a copy was leaked online.Rockstar Games released its first look for the sixth game of the cult-classic video game series Monday evening — roughly 15 hours before the planned Tuesday morning unveiling — while citing the leak.“Our trailer has leaked so please watch the real thing on YouTube,” Rockstar Games wrote on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, just after 6 p.m. ET Monday.Rockstar Games and its New York parent company, Take-Two Interactive Software Inc., did not provide further details on the leak.