Latest News On TGA 2023

2 followers

5 articles/week

Get all the latest news and updates about The Game Awards 2023. We cover all the nominees, winners, and major announcements.

Highguard’s catastrophic decline was an easily-preventable disaster Highguard is here. I would say it's here to stay, but it's cataclysmic decline following its initial release is sort of heralding its doom. I remain optimistic that the game found its core audience and will ride out the storm, but also believe all of this could have been avoided. And very easily at that. It's common knowledge by now that Highguard was shot in the foot with that The Game Awards trailer. Saved for the final slot, the one everyone watching would have been waiting for, Highguard was presented in the worst possible way: yet another generic hero shooter that you should force yourself to be excited for. Though Keighley introduced the game with remarks about its devs' past experience making Titanfall , that wasn't enough to keep a very bad taste from staying in everyone's mouth. But let's say that was a mistake ( as the developers appear to believe , not only because it wasn't a very good trailer but also due to their not actually wanting to be on the final slot). What did the developers do afterward? Total radio silence. Not a peep. In fact, many had genuinely forgotten that the game was even coming out at the end of January. From TGA to release, Highguard vanished, as if it had fallen off a cliff. Highguard has many qualities, just not enough to stand on its own hind legs without some marketing to prop it up. Image via Wildlight Entertainment The developers spent no time trying to market the game, saw no point in engaging the bad rep and trying to turn it around. They literally went offline and one day said, hey, our game is here. The philosophy behind that seems to be that the game was supposed to "speak for itself," but I fail to understand how anyone in 2026, of all years, could ever think that a product can attest its own qualities without being marketed properly. Nothing in our day and age can survive in the market without proper marketing. Hell, many of the technologies and software we all use and purchase today are genuinely bad products, but the marketing keeps us around and hooked. Highguard , however good, was never going to beat the sentiments it had garnered at TGA. The worst mistake of all was letting all of that foster, allowing it to grow and mature into something of epic proportions, which was always going to overshadow the game, no matter what. The developers had a myriad of different ways to avoid this disaster: engage in picking a proper TGA slot, show better trailers post-TGA to dispel illusions and poor sentiments, engage the community on all of its points, and so on and so forth. Instead, nothing. Not even a "thank you for caring enough for our game to hate on it." Its characters, while better than Concord , fail to reach the quality of Marvel Rivals , Overwatch , or Deadlock . Image via Wildlight Entertainment By doing so, Highguard created an environment where the game itself became a meme, a joke that was trendy for people to bash and clown on. Most of the reviews on Steam (now Mostly Negative) come from people with less than an hour in the game . And what's more, Highguard gave them extra reasons for those negative reviews. A horribly long login queue on launch day smashed any reputation it could have had right then and there. Its performance isn't great, and its characters aren't interesting enough to keep people around. The choice of 3v3 as the default left a lot of space and downtime in the game, and many of its stages of gameplay seem to not have any real impact on the match itself. It's an unpolished experience, one that, even though it has many great qualities, was doomed from the start. This is further exacerbated by its competing with established, massive IPs like Overwatch and Marvel Rivals (and, to some extent, Deadlock ), all of which have something to offer, tremendous character designs, and simple and fun gameplay loops. Highguard was in for a bloodbath, and I cannot believe that the devs didn't know that. With so much experience at AAA powerhouses like EA, I genuinely think they fully understood the implications of that TGA shenanigan, and cannot fathom why they never reacted. This game is a tragic victim of market whims and how the gaming world operates today, despite its objective flaws, which could have been amended post-launch anyhow. The worst part is that its developers certainly knew that was a possibility, and did not put in the effort to mitigate it, even when the writing was on the wall in bold letters. Shutting yourself out and riding it out worked for No Man's Sky , but lightning rarely strikes twice and being proactive always pays off more. The post Highguard’s catastrophic decline was an easily-preventable disaster appeared first on Destructoid .

DestructoidJan 28

Bizarre TGA Closer Highguard Reaches Nearly 100K Concurrent Players Day-One On SteamWildlight Entertainment's free-to-play shooter Highguard is finally out on PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S after weeks of silence, and already, the game has almost eclipsed 100,000 concurrents on Steam. If you check out the Most Played chart on Steam, you'll see that Highguard is clutching the number 10 spot (97,249 current) , fending off the 2023 RPG Baldur's Gate 3 (84,313 current) at the time of this writing. It's nowhere to be found in the PC gaming distributor's Top Sellers chart , but that's probably because this list tracks the best-selling games by revenue, and while Highguard's monetization strategy is pretty standard stuff for a free-to-play game , it doesn't appear to have set the charts on fire. There is also a year-one roadmap with an update dropping every two months starting in February. This is surprising for the sheer fact that, until this very moment , no one really knew anything about the game. Up until it launched on January 26 for consoles and PC, there had been no combat overviews, no hero showcases, no lore explanations--nothing. And yet, despite the very little marketing-- aside from popping up in the closing slot at The Game Awards on December 11 --Highguard is seemingly attracting an audience. Whether that's mild curiosity or outright fascination remains to be seen, but over 300K people are watching the game being livestreamed on Twitch right now. Continue Reading at GameSpot

GameSpot - All ContentJan 26

Highguard hands-on: New ‘PvP raid shooter’ FPS is many things, but ‘dead on arrival’ is not one of them The awkward month-long silence for Highguard is finally over. After debuting at The Game Awards to tepid reactions, I played it at a special event in Los Angeles last week. Personally, I think many players and social media users will be eating crow about how they judged the title before it launched. But at the same time, I fully understand it, because the debut trailer was not a great one and not at all indicative of how fun and unique Highguard really is. Image via Wildlight Entertainment Even before playing Highguard , I thought the talk about the game being "dead on arrival" due to a lack of communication was overblown. The trailer was bad, yes, and placing it as the "one more thing" at TGA was a mistake (the game studio's co-founders told me they had nothing to do with that placement), but judging the game before seeing any gameplay or real details felt like overkill. That's social media in a nutshell these days, I suppose. Highguard is the first title from self-publishing independent studio Wildlight Entertainment, which is comprised mainly of ex- Apex Legends developers. The staff list is a veritable all-star team of devs who worked on not just Apex , but games like Titanfall 2 , Call of Duty 4 , Overwatch , and more. These people have made some of the most influential FPS games of all time, and it appears they have another representative title to add on to their resumes. Wildlight describes Highguard as a "raid shooter" because nothing else really seemed to fit the description. And after playing it for several hours, I have to concur. There are a number of facets to Highguard that make it feel like something new and ambitious, but most importantly, quite enjoyable to squad up with friends in. To me, the pacing is what makes it fun, including several different phases throughout the match: fortification, looting, grabbing the Shieldbreaker, and the raid phase. I'll say this: since playing Highguard last Wednesday, it's the only game I have craved playing since. And after playing it for a day, it's the most excited I've been for a strictly PvP game in quite some time. I think is has a genuine chance for true FPS greatness. Pace yourself Image via Wildlight Entertainment From the outset, the game looks and feels incredible. Wildlight is an independent studio that's self-publishing the new title, but the game exudes AAA vibes throughout, from the menu screens and UI to the visual style to the store setup and character customization. Apex players will feel right at home with Highguard's gunplay, and many elements of EA's battle royale have also carried over into the new game from the indie studio, including how satisfying it feels to "crack" an enemy's shields and have them just a few shots away from being downed. But don't worry about hunting down attachments, because every gun can instantly and easily equip or unequip a scope with the press of a couple of buttons on-the-fly. Highguard is three-vs-three, but it feels way larger than that. The theme of the game is "escalation," and it's felt throughout the general pacing of every match. Each team has a home base that they must protect, and games start out with choosing one of several layouts for that base and then fortifying the walls within it à la Rainbow Six Siege (the game will help select which pre-made base you should pick based on your team composition, but the choice comes down to a team vote). Each base has three targets to defend, and destroying them will whittle down the 100 HP that each team must protect. But I'll touch back on that later, because each match of Highguard has several phases, and the second one, after placing wall fortifications, is the looting phase. Once you reinforce some walls (or not, you can save up the fortifications for any time in the match, as they can also be found as loot on the map), you head out into the gorgeously crafted world to begin the looting phase. This feels most similar to the early stages of a battle royale game, as you hop on your mount (three kinds available at launch) to equip yourself with better gear. During the beginning phase, you choose three weapons to start with: two guns (close range, mid-range, or long-range options to choose from) and a raid tool (rocket launcher, hammer, zipline gun) to destroy structures or help with your assault on the enemy base. But as you head out into the map and open red loot chests along the way, you can equip yourself with anything else you find, and improvements are denoted with colored rarity: white, blue, purple, gold, and the supply drop-specific red. The better quality gun, the better it will perform, with bigger magazines, less recoil, and other similar buffs. Blue loot chests contain shields, which you can pick up to stow in your inventory. If you take damage, the shields will regenerate over time and pull from your reserves if you stay out of combat, so it's always quite important to find more. But an added wrinkle in Highguard is a merchant (voiced by JB Blanc, who many will recognize as Apex's Caustic and Titanfall's Blisk) who appears all over the map. Using your combat axe to mine a shiny teal material called Vesper that you can trade at the merchant for all sorts of important upgrades is also part of this process, in addition to finding loot in the field. While you're looting and exploring in this phase, which lasts around five minutes, you can also run into the enemy team at any time, so you must keep your guard high (heh) and be ready to brawl. Break the walls down Image via Wildlight Entertainment The third phase of a Highguard match is when the Shieldbreaker spawns. The map will showcase where this crucial item will appear, along with a countdown, so it's time to head there and be ready to fight the enemy for it. The Shieldbreaker is a massive, magical sword, and is used like a key to begin the fourth and final phase of a match's cadence. Winning the fight around the Shieldbreaker is key to progression (if you die, you can be revived by allies or finished off by the enemy, but after a short timer, you will be forced to respawn back at your base), and arguably the most important part of any match in the game. This is where mounts heavily come into play. As you approach the Shieldbreaker, anyone on a mount will be easily heard from a distance. The horse, bear, or panther you ride on is important to get back into the fight quickly, but it will also give away your position quite easily, as they are very loud. You can shoot your weapons while on the back of a mount, too, but it will take some gunskill to manage. Mounts are also quite fun to use in combat as a way to re-position or disengage entirely. If you find yourself at a disadvantage and need to peel back to your team, you can hop on your mount, but be careful, because the mounts can take damage and be destroyed to go on a cooldown. It adds a unique way to maneuver around the map. Character abilities are useful in combat, but it all comes down to who has the better loot, and more importantly, the better aim. Whoever wins that first fight and captures the Shieldbreaker controls the tide for the next phase. Raid night Image via Wildlight Entertainment Winning the battle for the Shieldbreaker means it's time to head directly to the enemy base to begin the raid phase, which is where Highguard truly shines. The first step in winning any match in the game is breaking the shield, which will drain 30 HP from the enemy's base and bring a battering ram siege tower that will break the shield and allow you to enter it. If either team fails to bring the Shieldbreaker to the enemy base, whoever controls it at the time of the end of an overtime period will have it done for them (killing the Shieldbreaker-carrier will drop the item and allow anyone else to pick it up). Respawning at your base and hopping on your mount will allow the defending team to try and fight it out again in the open field if they choose to do so, and they should, because you do not want the Shieldbreaker to get to your base either way, since losing 30 HP is never advised. Once the attackers are inside the enemy base, the mayhem begins, as does Highguard's most exciting and high-potential gameplay. Within each base is a main generator and two other separate generators (marked A and B), where you must plant a bomb to take down further base HP. Destroying A or B will deal 35 damage, and destroying the main generator will end the game, although that bomb's timer is way longer. Attacking teams will have limited lives during the raid period, so defenders can survive by slaying, rebuilding walls with an item found as loot throughout the map, and picking the right ones to reinforce. Defenders will also be able to enter and exit doors freely, but attackers will need to use their raid tools and abilities to break walls. The devs themselves told me that they were playing a lot of Rust when Highguard was in early stages, and it really shines through in this raid segment of the match, which also feels inspired by Fortnite when it comes to breaking fortifications strategically to put yourself in a spot to win a gunfight. Planting and defusing bombs, weaving in and out of broken or fortified walls while fighting, and isolating enemies with your team is genuinely fun. If the defenders can withstand the assault and deplete the enemy's respawn count, then they will deal damage to the attacker's base, so a failed raid is almost the same as being raided. Defending is just as fun as attacking, because winning a clutch one-vs-one in the overtime period of a raid phase and getting a last-second defusal is an excellent adrenaline rush. Once the raid phase ends, if the defending base isn't completely destroyed, both teams will respawn at their own bases and begin the cycle again: loot, grab the Shieldbreaker, and attack. Matches can last up to 30 minutes or more if there's a back-and-forth, but you can also win it in just a few minutes if you are successful with your Shieldbreaker assault and can take down both A and B or the main generator. Find your style Image via Wildlight Entertainment There are eight playable characters (called Wardens) at launch, and I naturally found myself gravitating to Redmane, who is the game's only Destruction class character so far. There are Recon characters to get intel or loot (like Condor, seen above), Support characters to provide shields, and basic Assault characters if you're looking to just run and gun, but Redmane's ability to wreck the enemy base felt the most fun to me. Redmane's main ability is a leap that will break walls and deal damage at the end of its arc (if you hold down the button you can see its trajectory), but it's also incredibly useful for relocating or flanking the enemy team. Multiple times throughout the day, I used Redmane's leap to land on top of or behind an enemy who was engaged with a teammate, and it was incredibly satisfying. What truly makes Redmane fun, to me, is his ultimate, which is a charged-up attack that will utterly decimate any walls of the base (enemy or friendly) in his vicinity, taking down full rooms and towers in the process while also completely disorienting anyone nearby. When it comes to raids, this ability feels incredible, turning you into a force of nature that can turn the tide at any time. Condor has a Bloodhound-like ping ability to see enemies through walls for a short duration, and another's ultimate will create a spawnpoint you can use nearby. There's a character who can deploy a line of fire on the ground to deal damage over time, and a character who can throw a lightning bolt that will stick on a wall to also deal DOT and supply area denial. There's also a character who can build an ice wall that you can approach, punch a hole in, and shoot through. He also transforms into a big ice monster with his ultimate. There's a lot of room for fun and expression in this world of Highguard , which will have its lore built on over time. But while each character's abilities are fun and set them apart from one another, in the end, Highguard is about using your high-tier weapons and gunskill to take down the enemy. whether it's in the open field or in either base during the raid. And that's where I had the most of my enjoyment, and I wager many others will, too. I think that there is ample potential in Highguard , whether it's from a game standpoint (different strategies throughout the multiple phases of each match will be fun to figure out with friends) or Wildlight's perspective (a full year of post-launch content is already at the ready, including new characters, maps, weapons, and more), so I find it very easy to get excited for. Image via Wildlight Entertainment Each of the distinct phases of Highguard's matches are seamless, telegraphed, and fun in their own way, with a fair amount of strategy involved. Should you leave spawn and push the enemy base to engage right away, or should you keep your distance and loot up for better shields and guns before fighting? Will you bring a sniper rifle and deal damage from a distance, or run up with your rocket launcher and a shotgun to destroy the base to allow for a more open attack? Do you let the opponent pick up the Shieldbreaker first, then ambush them to launch a counter-attack? Maybe you save up your wall fortifications just in case the enemy attacks yours, and you can put them up as they advance. Or maybe you take down your own walls to force them into chokepoints where you control the fight. The pacing of every match is Highguard's biggest strength. It feels familiar at times, but the different aspects of every game combine to make something that feels innovative and genuinely fresh. There's a lot of fun to be had with each individual match that may never feel the same from game-to-game. I don't know if this will be the next big multiplayer title, but I know that its first month since its reveal was a massive misstep that I hope (and think) the game will recover from. Because once players get to play it as I did, many will see the appeal. Highguard is free-to-play and out now on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X|S, so get out there and try it for yourself. I think a lot of you will be pleasantly surprised. For more on Highguard , check out Destructoid's coverage here: What is Highguard ? 'PvP raid shooter' from ex- Apex Legends devs, explained All playable characters in Highguard - All Wardens and their abilities All weapons in Highguard - Full list of guns How to use mounts in Highguard - List of mount types Wildlight Entertainment provided travel and lodging for the hands-on gameplay event in Los Angeles. The post Highguard hands-on: New ‘PvP raid shooter’ FPS is many things, but ‘dead on arrival’ is not one of them appeared first on Destructoid .

DestructoidJan 26

‘That was the wrong trailer to do’: Highguard studio co-founders explain Game Awards debut and radio silence since then The new free-to-play PvP FPS Highguard has been the talk of social media for several weeks now, ahead of its launch today, but for all the wrong reasons. After appearing at The Game Awards as the show's "one last thing" before the final award, the cinematic trailer displayed by Wildlight Entertainment for its debut title was not quite a hit with players, to put it lightly. And so at an early access hands-on event last week in Los Angeles, I asked the studio's top brass about how it all went down. Image via Wildlight Entertainment Wildlight's CEO and co-founder Dusty Welch explained to me that Highguard was originally meant to be a shadow-dropped title, similar to Apex Legends , which the bulk of the studio worked on previously. But in 2025, something changed. Without the backing of a publisher such as EA like Apex had, Welch says the money behind the game was going directly into the development, and not marketing. And at some point in the mid-last year, The Game Awards' Geoff Keighley dropped by Wildlight to play Highguard as one of the first people from outside the studio to do so, and he ended up loving it. He loved it so much that Keighley told them he wanted to "do something really special" and "different" to highlight the free-to-play shooter at TGA 2025. Welch said that the TGA debut "wasn't our strategy, but being independent, it felt honestly like an honor to be a part of the Game Awards show and be up there with all the big boys" like EA and Activision where many of Wildlight's devs' careers previously took them. "We should probably take [the TGA opportunity], and who wouldn't jump at that chance?" Welch said. "So, we deviated, and we quickly made a trailer. And ultimately, that trailer was not well-received. That's on us. We made a trailer that entertained for the hundred million viewers around the world watching at home. We have a really unique game, the gameplay loop, which is probably really hard to do in a trailer, and we didn't do that in the trailer, and we shouldn't have done that. So, in hindsight, that was the wrong trailer to do." Highguard is described as a three-vs-three "raid shooter" where teams attack and defend bases with destructible walls like in Rust or Fortnite , loot gear around the map like a battle royale, and win by destroying the enemy base like in a MOBA. It's unique and it's fun, and the TGA trailer did not really convey any of this in any meaningful way. Other than the trailer not at all being representative of the title's unique gameplay loop and feel (after playing for several hours at the event, I concur wholeheartedly), Welch said that Highguard's placement as the "one last thing" reveal during the awards show was not their choice. Given that a lot of the vitriol the game has received since then has been because players were expecting something like Half-Life 3 and saw a free-to-play hero shooter feels relatively unfair, but "it is what it is," Welch said, adding that "we chose and we agreed to [the TGA debut trailer], so we'll own that." Image via Wildlight Entertainment "The narrative is not what we wanted, certainly we're disappointed in the reaction, but we didn't put our heads in the sand," Welch said. "We listened. We shut up, and we listened. We knew that the next thing that we did had to be right, and the only thing that is right is hands on sticks. 'Let's just keep quiet, we know it's gonna be painful, but there's lessons to be learned here. We can listen to an audience talk and when we launch, they can form their own opinions.' And so that's all we ask." So, why the total silence on social media since then? Welch told me the plan "for years" was to shadow drop in January 2026 with a media event beforehand, and that plan did not change despite the negative discussion that's been ongoing since TGA. "The thing that became very clear is that people wanted to know more about the game, and our trailer didn't educate people like it should have." Wildlight studio head and co-founder, and Highguard game director Chad Grenier said. "So we've actually been spending the last five weeks now making sure that when we come out [on Jan. 26] that there's something for players to, you know, it's all about learning the game. So, our focus has changed from making a trailer that's just action shots to educating players and letting them get their hands on the game because we feel like once people can play, they'll understand our game actually is unique and innovative in a lot of ways, and very fun. So I just hope people give us a chance and make their decisions based on playing the game, not what they saw [at The Game Awards]." And so, since the debut, the team has been working on around three dozen explanatory videos showcasing and detailing the game's gameplay loop, characters, weapons, map, and more. Those videos, along with a gameplay deep dive and more, are all out now alongside the game's launch. In the end, like Apex before it, Highguard's launch period is all about letting the gameplay speak for itself when everyone plays it. The hope for Highguard is that, now that it's out in the wild, players will get on the game and try it out, play it for what it is, and then it will grow from there based on the merits of how fun the game is. And judging from what I and others experienced in LA, I think it's got a great chance to be a success. Wildlight thinks so, too, with a year of post-launch content already scheduled, and more in development. New Episodes (seasons) and battle passes priced at around $9 will drop every two months, with updates scheduled at least every month. Those passes will also never expire and can be bought retroactively if you missed out. In-game cosmetics, with nothing priced more than $20 at launch, will supplement the game in the long-run. And if players enjoy the game like Wildlight thinks they will, it should be a long run, indeed. Image via Wildlight Entertainment "It's free-to-play, you can form your own opinion," Welch said. "If you don't like it, it's not for you, that's okay. But we think it's a really good game. The team's resilient. We're really proud of what we've done." I hope that Highguard can come back from the negativity surrounding the game's debut, and I think that it will. Welch and Grenier are hopeful, too, that the same passion that gave birth to the sometimes-angry discussion around the TGA trailer and silence afterwards will help shape the game's future for the better. "We heard you," Grenier said of the salty feedback thus far. "You wanna know more about the game, here it is, give it a shot. We've got a proven track record of making great games. It's not by luck. It's because we put a lot of effort and passion, and we've got years and years of experience doing this. We've got a great game. It's innovative, it's fresh, and we're here now to listen and be a part of our community. We've been silent and focusing on the game launch, but we're here now, and we welcome you in." "We love games, too," Welch said to prospective players. "We feel you, we hear you, we are with you. Hopefully we've made something that you're gonna love. But today starts the feedback where we engage with you, so give us your feedback. Even if you don't love it, let us hear it. We want to engage with you. We appreciate that you had enough passion that you wanted to comment about something that we put a lot of passion and love in. We didn't put our best foot forward, but it's here for you now." Highguard is available today, free-to-play, on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X|S. For more on Highguard , check out Destructoid's coverage here: What is Highguard ? 'PvP raid shooter' from ex- Apex Legends devs, explained All playable characters in Highguard - All Wardens and their abilities All weapons in Highguard - Full list of guns How to use mounts in Highguard - List of mount types Wildlight Entertainment provided travel and lodging for the hands-on gameplay event in Los Angeles. The post ‘That was the wrong trailer to do’: Highguard studio co-founders explain Game Awards debut and radio silence since then appeared first on Destructoid .

DestructoidJan 26

Highguard Devs Will Break Silence With Launch-Day StreamGeoff Keighley's The Game Awards wrapped up on December 11, 2025, with a strange "one more thing" announcement: Highguard , the free-to-play PvP raid shooter that launches in just a few days. It has been six weeks since then, though, and developer Wildlight Entertainment went radio silent ... until now. The studio finally posted on social media on January 23, revealing that a livestream will fully detail the game on January 26, the same day Highguard arrives on consoles and PC. As the studio announced on X , the launch showcase will go live on Monday, January 26, at 10 AM PT / 1 PM ET. During the livestream, Wildlight Entertainment will share "an in-depth look at Highguard" with a full gameplay deep dive, a look at year-one plans, and more. You can catch the broadcast on Highguard's YouTube channel. Highguard Goes Missing And ... that's it, for now. Wildlight Entertainment hasn't said anything else and hasn't responded to any replies to its X post as of this writing, so we'll all have to wait until January 26 to hear more about this bizarre TGA closer. Again, in case you weren't paying attention, that's the same day that Highguard comes out. Strange marketing. Continue Reading at GameSpot

GameSpot - All ContentJan 23

2025 might be over, but Clair Obscur: Expedition 33’s GOTY run certainly isn’t Last year was a wild one for video games. We saw tremendous titles left and right, especially coming from smaller or independent studios that proved AAA gaming wasn't king anymore. One stood out among them: Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 , which won just about everything it was nominated for. And it seems the streak won't be stopping in 2026, either. As first spotted by Game Developer , Expedition 33 has won yet another Game of the Year award at the 15th New York Game Awards. It wasn't its only win, however, as Jennifer English secured an award for Best Acting in a Video Game, replicating her success from The Game Awards. She has thus far played in three GOTY TGA winners, including Elden Ring , Baldur's Gate 3 , and, finally, Expedition 33 . The weird world of Expedition 33 seems to have captivated everyone who gazed upon it. Image via Sandfall Interactive This year is yet to see more award ceremonies take place. Though they'll be considering 2025 titles, many of these events do usually take place after the calendar year has closed off, allowing them to avoid situations like the one Dispatch had at TGA, where it'll be considered for the 2026 event despite releasing in October 2025. Some of the most prominent events we're excited for are the DICE Awards on Feb. 12 and the British Academy Game Awards on April 17. However, I think we can all guess at what the GOTY winner will be. Not that it hadn't won every single time it was nominated for the category. But some of the others might prove more surprising yet. Or I should hope so, at least. The post 2025 might be over, but Clair Obscur: Expedition 33’s GOTY run certainly isn’t appeared first on Destructoid .

DestructoidJan 20

This month’s must-plays: Jan. 2026 video games you should keep an eye on As things stand, 2026 will be a big year for gaming. A considerable precedent has been set by indies in the previous year, and TGA announcements indicate that we're in for quite a ride in the coming months. January, being the inaugural month, is quite slow compared to some other parts of the year, but it certainly has its fair share of solid games that are worthy of your attention. We've picked out just a few that we found most interesting, and are ourselves going to dive into them as soon as we have the chance. Here's the full list. Games you should definitely play in January 2026 Pathologic 3 - Jan. 9 Image via Ice-Pick Lodge Pathologic is a long-running series of video games that has established itself as one of those classic, cult-followed franchises popular among older gamers and those searching for a rather hardcore experience. It's an esoteric experience through and through, with Pathologic 3 promising a continuation of its established formula. Much like in Pathologic 1 and 2 (the latter being more of a remake of the first), this game tasks you with solving a strange mystery where a town is gripped by a plague. You must find a way to save the town within a 12-day timeframe, lest the entire population succumb to death and disease. Described as horror, I'd say Pathologic is more of a thriller series, as the overwhelming pressure of time itself solicits strong emotions from the player. It comes out on Jan. 9. Hytale - Jan. 13 Image via Hypixel Long thought dead and gone, Hytale was miraculously revived in the closing months of 2025, saved by the same people who had initially created it and sold it off to Riot Games. After some time of reconciliation and rapid development, the game will finally come out, albeit in a rather unfinished and early access state. This is being justified by devs with the claim that players have waited for far too long already and that it is better to co-develop it with the community rather than keep it in the dark any longer. And so we'll finally have a chance to try it out, even if it is rough around the edges. It's supposed to drop on Jan. 13. Nova Roma - Exact release date TBA Image via Lion Shield If you've ever had the chance to read anything I wrote on Destructoid, you will have probably figured how much I love city builders. Nova Roma is one I have spoken about before, praising its balance between Banished - and Anno -like mechanics, and that was just what I derived from the smaller-scale demo version. The full release stands to be even better than the demo, though the exact release date has not yet been confirmed. We do know the game's coming out this month, but we'll have to wait a bit more for the actual launch times to be disclosed. Even so, I remain excited for the full experience, given how impressed I was by the demo. Code Vein 2 - Jan. 30 Image via Bandai Namco Anime characters and Soulslikes go oddly well together, which probably shouldn't be surprising since both came out of Japan. Code Vein 2 thus follows the path paved by its predecessor, combining fast and cinematic action-RPG elements with a Soulslike formula, producing a challenging and tense combat-focused experience. It comes several years after the first game and aims to build on its foundations to create a more compelling, deeper experience. For those who pre-purchase the game, the release date is on Jan. 27, while others will have to wait until Jan. 30 to play it. Cult of the Lamb: Woolhaven - Jan. 22 Image via Devolver Digital Cult of the Lamb has garnered quite a cult (pun intended) over the past several years and is now getting a substantial new DLC. Continuing the main game (which you must beat if you are to play the DLC), Woolhaven adds a new area, a ton of new content mechanics, and acts as a general expansion to the base game's experience. It's a wonderful game at heart and only stands to become better with this DLC, slated for launch on Jan. 22. The post This month’s must-plays: Jan. 2026 video games you should keep an eye on appeared first on Destructoid .

DestructoidJan 5

The 2025 Steam Awards are here, and believe it or not Expedition 33 didn’t sweep through it As is tradition by now, Valve hosted the annual Steam Awards, which ran for a couple months near the end of last year. Entirely player-based, the Awards are granted by Steam users alone, who, believe it or not, did not pick the undisputed king of gaming, Expedition 33 . Instead, the ultimate Game of the Year among Steam users was none other than Hollow Knight: Silksong , a game so wildly popular it crashed the platform upon its launch. Enjoyed by millions and highly-anticipated, it's no surprise Silksong won, given just how long players had waited for its release since the first game in the series blew everyone away back in early 2017. That isn't to say that Expedition 33 won nothing. It, indeed, did carry home one award, the one for Best Soundtrack, and I wholeheartedly believe it deserved it. We can argue about how much E33 deserved the many awards it got, especially in some categories at the TGA (cough, Best Direction over Death Stranding 2 , cough), but the soundtrack is so phenomenal and outstanding that no number of awards would do it justice. E33 might have crushed the award shows, but Steam users have their own king. Screenshot by Destructoid Silksong also won the Best Game You Suck At Award, again no surprise due to its overall difficulty, as is only natural for a Soulslike title. Dispatch , too, was awarded here even if it was snubbed at last year's award shows, primarily because its episodes started coming out after most shows had cemented their nominees. We should see Dispatch considered in the 2026 window, though, but it's nice to see the Steam community recognize the game on such short notice, and in a category as prestigious as they come: Outstanding Story-Rich Game. Other categories and winners include: ARC Raiders - Most Innovative Gameplay The Midnight Walk - VR GOTY Baldur's Gate 3 - Labor of Love Hades 2 - Best Game on Steam Deck Peak - Better With Friends Silent Hill f - Outstanding Visual Style RV There Yet? - Sit Back and Relax The post The 2025 Steam Awards are here, and believe it or not Expedition 33 didn’t sweep through it appeared first on Destructoid .

DestructoidJan 3

The Game Awards Reaches New Viewership Milestone In 2025, Higher Than Super Bowl NumbersThe Game Awards had another strong year in 2025, with host and organizer Geoff Keighley announcing today that the show reached 171 million global livestreams. That's up 11% from 154 million in 2024 and makes the 2025 show the "most watched TGA in history." Keighley also states that conversations about TGA on X were up 12% and that the show had 23,000 co-streams across Twitch and YouTube, which was up 50% year-over-year. The new streaming viewership numbers do not count views on Prime Video, Variety reported. This year's Super Bowl, meanwhile, reached 127.7 million viewers . The comparison is not 1:1, however, for many reasons. Continue Reading at GameSpot

GameSpot - All ContentDec 17

Expedition 33’s GOTY wins have resulted in a massive influx of new players and sales, and it’s about damn time After Clair Obscur: Expedition 33's nine wins at The Game Awards last week, gamers everywhere are flocking to see what all the fuss is about. A new report from Alinea Analytics highlights just how much of a boon the awards season has been for E33 (including Destructoid's own GOTY honors), as it has now pushed the game past six million copies sold while also boosting overall engagement on Game Pass. Image via Alinea Analytics My only question is: what the heck took you all so long? Was it stubbornness? Discussion around the game has been glowing since it launched in April ( my review of the game was quite glowing from day one), but now that it's one of the most awarded games ever, you're ready to take the plunge?! I jest. I'm glad people are playing it now, and in droves. Alinea says over 200,000 copies of the game have been sold since TGA aired, with 76 percent of that coming from Steam and 21 percent on PS5. Game Pass, meanwhile, is "cannibalizing premium sales," with 52,000 players trying it on the subscription service. "The commercial impact of Expedition 33’s historic nine-award sweep at The Game Awards was immediate and dramatic, providing a pretty definitive case study in the power of critical acclaim," Alinea's report concluded. "However, many of the other nominees and winners saw very little boosts (if any) following the event, so TGA is not a guaranteed post-event sales engine for every winner and nominee." On Steam, E33 still sits at "Overwhelmingly Positive" reviews, with over 27,000 recent ones. That number will likely continue to rise, further cementing Sandfall Interactive's debut as one of the biggest and best new IP in recent memory. Image via Sandfall Interactive A new, free update to coincide with all of the awards has only helped the buzz. I haven't had the time to try it just yet, but I have reinstalled the game on Steam, so I'm looking to hopefully give it a shot whenever I have time over the holidays. The post Expedition 33’s GOTY wins have resulted in a massive influx of new players and sales, and it’s about damn time appeared first on Destructoid .

DestructoidDec 16