Best 2018 Video Game Writing Nominees Announced, See Them All Here

2018 might be over and done with, but we’re not done just yet celebrating the year’s games. The Writers Guild of America has announced the nominees for “Outstanding Achievement In Video Game Writing,” and titles like Assassin’s Creed Odyssey, God of War, and Spider-Man made the cut.

The five nominees this year are:

To be eligible, a game must have been released between December 1, 2017 and December 31, 2018, and also feature on-screen writing credits. Additionally, the credited writers must have already been or applied for membership in the WGA Video Game Writers Caucus. This incurs a $100 fee. However, WGA said it also considered games that were not developed “under WGA jurisdiction.”

The winner will be decided by panels made up of Caucus members and others Writers Guild members who are “active in video game writing.” The announcement of the winning title will come during the 2019 Writers Guild Awards on February 17.

Horizon: Zero Dawn took home the award last year, beating out Madden 18, Futurama: Worlds of Tomorrow, and Dishonored: Death of the Outsider.

What do you make of the nominees for 2018? Let us know in the comments below!

Outstanding Achievement In Video Game Writing

Assassin’s Creed Odyssey:

  • Associate Narrative Directors: Matthew Zagurak, Joel Janisse, James Richard Mittag
  • Narrative Director: Melissa MacCoubrey
  • Story by: Jonathan Dumont, Melissa MacCoubrey, Hugo Giard
  • Scriptwriters: Madeleine Hart, Betty Robertson, Jesse Scoble, Diana Sherman, Kelly Bender, Jojo Chia, Ian Fun, Zachary M. Parris, Ken Williamson, Daniel Bingham, Jordan Lemos, Simon Mackenzie, Katelyn MacMullin, Susan Patrick, Alissa Ralph, Stephen Rhodes
  • Team Lead Writer: Sam Gill
  • AI Writers: Jonathan Flieger, Kimberly Ann Sparks

Batman: Enemy Within, Episode 5 – Same Stitch

  • Lead Writer: James Windeler
  • Written by: Meghan Thornton, Ross Beeley, Lauren Mee
  • Story by: Meghan Thornton, Michael Kirkbride

God of War

  • Written by: Matt Sophos, Richard Zangrande Gaubert, Cory Barlog
  • Story and Narrative Design Lead: Matt Sophos
  • Story and Narrative Design: Richard Zangrande Gaubert
  • Narrative Design: Orion Walker, Adam Dolin

Spider-Man

  • Story Lead: Jon Paquette
  • Writers: Benjamin Arfmann, Kelsey Beachum
  • Co-Written by: Christos Gage
  • Additional Story Contributions by: Dan Slott

Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire

  • Narrative Designers: Alex Scokel, Eric Fenstermaker, Kate Dollarhyde, Megan Starks, Olivia Veras, Paul Kirsch
  • Additional Writing: Tony Evans, John Schmautz, Casey Hollingshead, Nitai Poddar
  • Narrative Design Leads: Carrie Patel, Josh Sawyer

HBO CEO Has Seen All Game Of Thrones Season 8 Episodes Twice, Says He’s In Awe

The first footage of Game of Thrones Season 8 was released during the Golden Globes ceremony this week, and now we’re getting even more insight into the final season. HBO chief executive officer Richard Plepler told Variety that the final six episodes are like six movies. He said he’s seen the final episodes two times already, and though the CG work wasn’t finished, he was still blown away.

“It’s a spectacle. The guys have done six movies,” he said. “The reaction I had while watching them was, ‘I’m watching a movie,'” he said.

Plepler said showrunners D.B. Weiss and David Benioff knew the bar was already high, and they took things even further. “They’ve exceeded the bar. I’ve watched them twice without any CGI and I’m in awe. Everybody’s in for an extraordinary treat of storytelling and of magical, magical production.”

Game of Thrones Season 8 premieres in April, and it is expected to be a thrilling, dramatic conclusion to the acclaimed HBO fantasy show. As mentioned, there are only six episodes, but each one could be as long as a movie. Not only that, but HBO shot what sounds like an incredibly epic battle sequence that took 55 nights to shoot.

While the mainline Game of Thrones series is ending, HBO has a prequel series in the works, starring Naomi Watts and Josh Whitehouse. It’s titled The Long Night.

Future Man Season 2: 9 Things You Need To Know, Straight From The Cast and Producers

Venom 2 Brings Back Original Writer And Cast, But No Word On Director Yet

More details about Venom 2 have come to light. According to Variety’s Jeff Sneider, Sony is bringing back Venom 1 writer Kelly Marcel (Fifty Shades of Grey, Saving Mr. Banks) to write the screenplay for the sequel. She will also executively produce the film.

Tom Hardy is set to return as Venom/Eddie Brock, with Woody Harrelson starring as the bad guy Carnage. Michelle Williams is also set to return as Anne Weying.

According to Variety, Marcel is getting a “significant” payday for Venom 2, though a specific figure was not disclosed. Venom 1 was directed by Rubin Fleischer, but it’s not confirmed yet if he’s coming back for the sequel. He will be busy with Zombieland 2, and that could limit his availability for Venom 2.

Venom made more than $855 million worldwide, making it one of the biggest movies of 2018. It was tremendously commercially successful despite getting a very poor reception from critics. The film fared much better with audiences, however.

No release date has been confirmed for Venom 2, but it’s rumoured to premiere in October 2020.

Disneyland Raising Ticket Prices Ahead Of Star Wars Land Opening

It just got more expensive to visit Disneyland in California. As it regularly does, Disney recently raised ticket prices, and this time the hike comes not long before the opening of the new Star Wars area, Galaxy’s Edge, this summer.

According to The Los Angeles Times, the cheapest ticket to get into Disneyland now costs more than $100, while daily parking prices are increasing from $20 to $25. In 2016, Disneyland launched a demand-based pricing scheme that offers lower prices on days that are less in demand and higher prices for popular days like weekends and holidays.

A one-day, one-park ticket for Disneyland or California Adventure for a “low-demand” day is now $104, which is up from $97. The same ticket for a regular-demand day is jumping from $117 to $129. And the daily ticket price of a high-demand day is now $149, and that’s up from $135.

Prices are also increasing for annual passes, while access to the MaxPass app that lets you digitally reserve seats on rides is now $15 instead of $10.

According to The Los Angeles Times, Disneyland raises ticket prices every year in part to help keep crowds at manageable levels. However, demand has remained strong, and even more visitors are expected at Disneyland when Galaxy’s Edge opens in June.

Disney CEO Bob Iger told Barron’s that Disney is trying to be “much smarter” as it relates to the pricing strategy for its parks. “To try to spread attendance and reduce attendance in the peak periods so we can improve guest satisfaction. Crowding is an issue,” he said.

A similar park is opening at Disney World in Florida in Fall 2019; it’s not immediately clear if daily ticket prices are increasing at Disney World as well.

Disneyland’s Galaxy’s Edge is a massive 14-acre park featuring a number of new rides, including one that lets you pilot the Millennium Falcon. Another ride lets you join the Resistance and fight the First Order, including Kylo Ren.

Venom 2 Confirmed, New Director May Be Hired

After the success of the recent Sony/Marvel antihero film Venom, it looks like Sony is already making progress towards a sequel.

Variety reports Sony has made negotiations with Venom screenwriter Kelly Marcel to return for Venom 2. Sources are saying Marcel will also take on a role of executive producer for the sequel and that Tom Hardy will return as Eddie Brock.

Michelle Williams and Woody Harrelson are also expected to return for Venom 2, but a director has not yet been named. It’s unlikely we’ll see the original Venom director Ruben Fleischer return, as he’ll likely be hard at work getting Zombieland 2 ready for an October 2019 release.

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HBO Boss Has Seen Game of Thrones’ Final Six Episodes: ‘I’m in Awe’

HBO CEO Richard Plepler has seen a rough cut of the final six episodes of Game of Thrones and he is “in awe” of them, even without any CGI.

Plepler spoke to Variety during HBO’s post-Golden Globes party last night and said, in regards to Game of Thrones, that “everybody’s in for an extraordinary treat of storytelling and of magical, magical production.”

“It’s a spectacle. The guys have done six movies. The reaction I had while watching them was, ‘I’m watching a movie,’“ Plepler said.

Plepler continued by praising showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, saying that “they knew the bar was high. They’ve exceeded the bar. I’ve watched them twice without any CGI and I’m in awe. Everybody’s in for an extraordinary treat of storytelling and of magical, magical production.”

Continue reading…