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No Half-Life: Alyx News At The Game Awards Tonight

There won’t be any news about Half-Life: Alyx during The Game Awards. Valve announced on Twitter that the development team is staying heads down for now, but the company will share more details on the virtual reality title in 2020.

“We’re sorry to say Half-Life: Alyx won’t be shown at The Game Awards tonight,” Valve said. “The team is hard at work on the game, and we’re excited to show you more in the new year as we approach the March release!”

Half-Life: Alyx, the first new Half-Life title in years, is exclusive to virtual reality. It takes place before the events of Half-Life 2, and has players controlling Alyx Vance. The game is set to launch in March 2020, and it supports all PC-compatible VR headsets.

We’re sorry to say Half-Life: Alyx won’t be shown at The Game Awards tonight. The team is hard at work on the game, and we’re excited to show you more in the new year as we approach the March release!

— Valve (@valvesoftware) December 12, 2019

While there won’t be any news about Half-Life: Alyx, The Game Awards are expected to bring at least 10 game announcements or reveals. In terms of what we know will be announced, League of Legends developer Riot’s publishing division, Riot Forge, will reveal a new game. Additionally, former Arkane bosses Raphael Colantonio and Julien Roby are announcing their first game at their new studio, Wolfeye.

Microsoft, Sony, Nintendo, Google, Warner Bros., Ubisoft, Valve, Rockstar, and Activision are all partners for the event, though this doesn’t necessarily guarantee new projects from these companies will be announced at the show.

The Game Awards begin at 5:30 PM PT / 7:30 PM CST / 8:30 PM ET on December 12 (and 1:30 AM BST / 12:30 PM AEST and on December 13) and can be streamed here on GameSpot and on Mixer, Twitch, YouTube, and elsewhere.

In addition to the reveals, the show will hand out awards across numerous categories leading up to the overall Game of the Year at the end of the night. For more, check out this roundup of all the categories and nominees for the 2019 Game Awards.

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Castle Rock: Season 2 Review

Warning: The following review contains full spoilers for Castle Rock: Season 2.

While Castle Rock’s first season was ambitious in its own right, bringing us into a mixtape world of Stephen King — filled with a few notable book characters, locations, and an avalanche of Easter eggs — Season 2 is downright admirable insanity.

And where Season 1 gave us an original tale involving a mysterious young man (Bill Skarsgård) who had to be caged/protected lest calamity continue to fall on the community, Season 2 notably blended two famous King books (one of which became an award-winning movie): Salem’s Lot and Misery.

Watch Deals: Save Up To $400 on Citizen Watches

Clocks help the world run. Knowing the time is essential in today’s society, and having the time on your wrist can be extremely helpful, whether you are trying to be early for that job interview, or planning a highly-anticipated date with that special someone.

Right now Amazon is having a powerful sale on classy Citizen watches, so you can keep track of the time, look good, and save some serious cash while you’re doing it, and you can find lots more styles on sale here.

Best Deal: Citizen Men’s Eco-Drive Navihawk Atomic Timekeeping Watch for $209

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Lord Of The Rings TV Show Loses Will Poulter

Amazon’s big-budget and highly anticipated Lord of the Rings TV show has lost one of its top-billed actors. Variety reports that Will Poulter is leaving the project due to scheduling conflicts. Amazon never confirmed reports that Poulter–who starred in The Maze Runner series, Bandersnatch, and Midsommar–had joined the show in the first place.

However, it was widely reported that Poulter was among the first cast members to sign on for the project. Variety reports that Amazon is now looking for his replacement. It is unknown what role he was playing on the Amazon TV show.

Markella Kavenagh, Joseph Mawle, Maxim Baldry, and Ema Horvath are also reportedly signed on for roles on the show, though, again, Amazon has said nothing official as of yet.

The new Lord of the Rings show is being written by JD Payne and Patrick McKay, with former Game of Thrones series producer Bryan Cogman also contributing to the program. Jurassic World: Forbidden Kingdom director JA Bayona is set to direct the first two episodes of Season 1, which is filming in New Zealand. In November, Amazon announced that the untitled show was renewed for a second season.

Plot details for the show are being kept under wraps, but Amazon has confirmed it is set in the Second Age, which is the multiple thousand year period that covered major events like the forging of the Rings of Power, including the One Ring. It also covers the War of Sauron, the beginning of the Ringwraiths, and when the island Numenor sank into the ocean. The Second Age was also when the Elven city of Rivendell was developed, and when the first battle where men, elves, and dwarves fought together for the first time against Sauron.

In other news, a new Lord of the Rings video game focused on Gollum is in development at Daedalic Entertainment, while a new Lord of the Rings MMO Is coming from Amazon.

Everything You Need To Know Before Watching The Game Awards Tonight

The Game Awards 2019 is airing tonight and to get you ready for the biggest games award show of the year, here is everything you need to know before you stream it so you don’t miss out on any massive game reveals or announcements.

How to Prepare for The Game Awards 2019

The Game Awards officially starts at 6:00pm PT/9:00pm ET, however, there is a pre-show that takes place 30 minutes earlier. We will be doing our own version of a pre-show at the same time that you can find here (and other places as well, which we’ll get into later).

We suggest getting ready to watch The Game Awards an hour ahead of time, especially if you plan on having snacks, drinks, and the livestream set up by the time the pre-show starts rolling.

The Game Awards Winners Revealed Here Tonight

The Game Awards take place live in Los Angeles this evening, and in addition to 10 game reveals, the show will hand out awards to some of 2019’s best games.

The nominees for Game of the Year this year include Control, Death Stranding, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, Resident Evil 2, Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, and The Outer Worlds. Nintendo’s mascot fighting game was released in December 2018, but it falls within the award show’s timeframe for consideration.

You can see the full list of categories and nominees below. We’ll update this post as the show goes on by bolding the winners as they’re announced. The Game of the Year award is expected to be announced last.

The Game Awards 2019 Full Nominees List

Game of The Year

Control (Remedy/505 Games)
Death Stranding (Kojima Productions/SIE)
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (Bandai-Namco/Sora/Nintendo)
Resident Evil 2 (Capcom/Capcom)
Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice (From Software/Activision)
The Outer Worlds (Obsidian/Private Division)

Best Game Direction

Control (Remedy/505 Games)
Death Stranding (Kojima Productions/SIE)
Resident Evil 2 (Capcom/Capcom)
Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice (From Software/Activision)
Outer Wilds (Mobius Digital/Annapurna)

Best Narrative

A Plague Tale: Innocence (Asobo/Focus Home)
Control (Remedy/505)
Death Stranding (Kojima Productions/SIE)
Disco Elysium (ZA/UM)
The Outer Worlds (Obsidian/Private Division)

Best Art Direction

Control (Remedy/505)
Death Stranding (Kojima Productions/SIE)
Gris (Nomada Studio/Devolver)
Sayonara Wild Hearts (Simogo/Annapurna)
Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice (From Software/Activision)
The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening (Grezzo/Nintendo)

Best Score/Music

Cadence of Hyrule (Brace Yourself Games/Nintendo)
Death Stranding (Kojima Productions/SIE)
Devil May Cry 5 (Capcom)
Kingdom Hearts III (Square Enix)
Sayonara Wild Hearts (Simogo/Annapurna)

Best Audio Design

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (Infinity Ward/Activision)
Control (Remedy/505)
Death Stranding (Kojima Productions/SIE)
Gears 5 (The Coalition/Xbox Game Studios)
Resident Evil 2 (Capcom)
Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice (From Software/Activision)

Best Performance

Ashly Burch as Parvati Holcomb, The Outer Worlds
Courtney Hope as Jesse Faden, Control
Laura Bailey as Kait Diaz, Gears 5
Mads Mikkelsen as Cliff, Death Stranding
Matthew Porretta as Dr. Casper Darling, Control
Norman Reedus as Sam Porter Bridges, Death Stranding

Games for Impact

Concrete Genie (Pixelopus/SIE)
Gris (Nomada Studio/Devolver)
Kind Words (Popcannibal)
Life is Strange 2 (Dontnod/Square Enix)
Sea of Solitude (Jo-Mei Games/EA)

Best Ongoing Game

Apex Legends (Respawn)
Destiny 2 (Bungie)
Final Fantasy XIV (Square Enix)
Fortnite (Epic Games)
Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege (Ubisoft Montreal/Ubisoft)

Best Independent Game

Baba Is You (Hempuli)
Disco Elysium (ZA/UM)
Katana ZERO (Askiisoft/Devoler Digital)
Outer Wilds (Mobius Digital/Annapurna)
Untitled Goose Game (House House/Panic)

Best Mobile Game

Call of Duty: Mobile (TiMi Studios/Activision)
GRINDSTONE (Capybara Games)
Sayonara Wild Hearts (Simogo/Annapurna)
Sky: Children of Light (Thatgamecompany)
What the Golf? (Tribland)

Best Community Support

Apex Legends (Respawn/EA)
Destiny 2 (Bungie)
Final Fantasy XIV (Square Enix)
Fortnite (Epic Games)
Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege (Ubisoft Montreal/Ubisoft)

Best VR/AR Game

Asgard’s Wrath (Sanzaru Games/Oculus Studios)
Blood & Truth (SIE London Studio/SIE)
Beat Saber (Beat Games)
No Man’s Sky (Hello Games)
Trover Saves the Universe (Squanch Games)

Best Action Game

Apex Legends (Respawn/EA)
Astral Chain (Platinum Games/Nintendo)
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (Infinity Ward/Activision)
Devil May Cry 5 (Capcom/Capcom)
Gears 5 (The Coalition/Xbox Game Studios)
Metro Exodus (4A Games/Deep Silver)

Best Action/Adventure Game

Borderlands 3 (Gearbox/2K)
Control (Remedy/505 Games)
Death Stranding (Kojima Productions/SIE)
Resident Evil 2 (Capcom)
The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening (Grezzo/Nintendo)
Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice (From Software/Activision)

Best RPG

Disco Elysium (ZA/UM)
Final Fantasy XIV (Square Enix)
Kingdom Hearts III (Square Enix)
Monster Hunter World: Iceborne (Capcom)
The Outer Worlds (Obsidian/Private Division)

Best Fighting Game

Dead or Alive 6 (Team Ninja/Koei Tecmo)
Jump Force (Spike Chunsoft/Bandai Namco)
Mortal Kombat 11 (NetherRealm/WBIE)
Samurai Showdown (SNK/Athlon)
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (Bandai Namco/Sora/Nintendo)

Best Family Game

Luigi’s Mansion 3 (Next Level Games/Nintendo)
Ring Fit Adventure (Nintendo EPD/Nintendo)
Super Mario Maker 2 (Nintendo EPD/Nintendo)
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (Bandai Namco/Sora/Nintendo)
Yoshi’s Crafted World (Good-Feel/Nintendo)

Best Strategy Game

Age of Wonders: Planetfall (Triumph Studios/Paradox)
Anno 1800 (Blue Byte/Ubisoft)
Fire Emblem: Three Houses (Intelligent Systems/Koei Tecmo/Nintendo)
Total War: Three Kingdoms (Creative Assembly/Sega)
Tropico 6 (Limbic Entertainment/Kalypso Media)
Wargroove (Chucklefish)

Best Sports/Racing Game

Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled (Beenox/Activision)
DiRT Rally 2.0 (Codemasters)
eFootball Pro Evolution Soccer 2020 (PES Productions/Konami)
F1 2019 (Codemasters)
FIFA 20 (EA Sports)

Best Multiplayer Game

Apex Legends (Respawn/EA)
Borderlands 3 (Gearbox/2K)
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (Infinity Ward/Activision)
Tetris 99 (Arika/Nintendo)
Tom Clancy’s The Division 2 (Massive Entertainment/Ubisoft)

Fresh Indie Game

ZA/UM for Disco Elysium
Nomada Studio for Gris
DeadToast Entertainment for My Friend Pedro
Mobius Digital for Outer Wilds
Mega Crit for Slay the Spire
House House for Untitled Goose Game

Content Creator of the Year

Jack “Courage” Dunlop
Benjamin “Dr. Lupo” Lupo
Soleil “Ewok” Wheeler
David “Grefg” Martínez
Michael “Shroud” Grzesiek

Best Esports Game

Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (Valve)
DOTA2 (Valve)
Fortnite (Epic Games)
League of Legends (Riot Games)
Overwatch (Blizzard)

Best Esports Player

Kyle “Bugha” Giersdorf (Immortals, Fortnite)
Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok (SK Telecom, League of Legends)
Luka “Perkz” Perkovic (G2 Esports, League of Legends)
Oleksandr “S1mple” Kostyliev (Natus Vincere, CSGO)
Jay “Sinatraa” Won (SF Shock, Overwatch)

Best Esports Team

Astralis (CS:GO)
G2 Esports (LOL)
OG (DOTA2)
San Francisco Shock (OWL)
Team Liquid (CS:GO)

Best Esports Event

2019 Overwatch League Grand Finals
EVO 2019
Fortnite World Cup
IEM Katowice 2019
League of Legends World Championship 2019
The International 2019

Best Esports Coach

Eric ‘adreN’ Hoag (Team Liquid, CS:GO)
Nu-ri ‘Cain’ Jang (Team Liquid, LOL)
Fabian ‘GrabbZ’ Lohmann (G2 Esports, LOL)
Kim ‘Kkoma’ Jeong-gyun (SK Telecom T1, LOL)
Titouan ‘Sockshka’ Merloz (OG, DOTA2)
Danny ‘Zonic’ Sørensen (Astralis, CSGO)

Best Esports Host

Eefje “Sjokz” Depoortere
Alex “Machine” Richardson
Paul “Redeye” Chaloner
Alex “Goldenboy” Mendez
Duan “Candice” Yu-Shuang

Fortnite: How to Play Split-Screen on Xbox One and PS4

The Fortnite v11.30 update released early this morning, Dec. 12, adding in a local split-screen feature for those on consoles. Going forward, players will be able to play on the same TV as a friend if they’re using an Xbox One or PlayStation 4.

The new Fortnite split-screen feature came as a surprise to fans and is currently still being worked on by Epic. No timetable has been given for a PC or Nintendo Switch release, but developers promise that this is only an early release, and they will continue to improve on the feature.

It looks like Epic is going to have to begin work on the new split-screen feature right away, as they have temporarily disabled the feature at the time of writing. Further, Epic is encouraging players to provide feedback on the split-screen feature by using the in-game feedback tool.

Game Awards 2019 Steam Sale Live Now: Red Dead 2, Disco Elysium, And More PC Deals

The Game Awards 2019 will kick off tonight at 5:30 PM PT / 8:30 PM ET in Los Angeles, and to celebrate some of 2019’s best PC games, Steam has launched its annual Game Awards sale with discounts on games like Disco Elysium, A Plague Tale: Innocence, and Mortal Kombat 11. The two-day sale is live December 12 and December 13, so if you’re interested in picking up some of the award-winning games of 2019 on PC, now’s a great time to do so.

Some of the most notable games on sale right now include Red Dead Redemption 2, which released on PC just a few months ago, and Disco Elysium, the groundbreaking new RPG that made our list of the best PC games of 2019. You can also save on gems like A Plague Tale: Innocence and Resident Evil 2, both of which are among our top 10 games of 2019, and popular expansions from this year like Destiny 2: Shadowkeep and Final Fantasy XIV: Shadowbringers. Older games that won awards in previous years have gotten nice discounts as well, like The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, Civilization VI, Return of the Obra Dinn, and Monster Hunter World.

Check out some of the best PC games in the Game Awards sale below. You can also see all the 2019 nominated games curated in one place on Steam’s Game Awards 2019 page.

Game Awards 2019 game deals on Steam

Previous Game Awards winners on sale

The Griswolds: Vacation Series with Johnny Galecki in Talks for HBO Max

The Big Bang Theory’s Johnny Galecki is reportedly in talks with HBO Max to executive produce a Griswolds: Vacation spin-off series. A deal has not been finalized yet, and it is unclear if Galecki would reprise the role of Rusty Griswold or stay behind the scenes.

The Hollywood Reporter reports the new Griswolds series would be set in the suburbs of Chicago and focus on the daily lives of one of America’s favorite families. If HBO decides to move forward, the series would likely be an HBO Max exclusive, according to THR.

It’s currently unclear if any of the original actors from National Lampoon’s Vacation would appear in the series, such as Chevy Chase or Beverly D’Angelo. Further, in the 2015 sequel, Vacation, The Office’s Ed Helms played the adult version of Rusty Griswold — making Galecki’s return a bit tricky.