We have more gaming news for you today, as we have received some character posters for the upcoming The Last of Us HBO series, while some lucky gamers are going to be able to get their hands on some Steam Decks during The Game Awards.
We also have an update for December’s PlayStation Plus line-up, and the newest Sonic game, Sonic Frontiers will be getting multiple updates.
Read about all of this and more in today’s gaming news roundup.
The Game Awards are giving away at least 100 Steam Decks
In what might be one of the best giveaways in recent times, The Game Awards have partnered with Valve to give away one Steam Deck for every minute of The Game Awards when they stream live on Dec. 8, 2022. The Game Awards is usually at least a two-hour event, meaning that Valve will give away at least 120 Steam Decks during that time.
In fact, the website states that it will go for two and a half hours, so it will probably be around 150.
However, there are stipulations to this giveaway, as is usually the case with these things. First of all, sorry to anybody not in the US, Canada, UK, or EU, as the promotion is not available outside of those regions as neither is a direct sale of the console. On top of that the website states that “you must have made a purchase on Steam between 12:00am GMT on Nov. 14, 2021, and 11:59 pm GMT on Nov. 14, 2022.”
So if you have not made a purchase between those two dates, you won’t be winning a Steam Deck. If you have an active account that has not been banned or locked you can go here to enter, where you will also have to be watching The Game Awards while they air at 5pm PT on Dec. 8, 2022.
HBO shares new character posters for ‘The Last of Us’
As we get closer to the release of HBO’s upcoming adaptation of The Last of Us, the acclaimed PlayStation series, we have been getting more promotional material. Today HBO released a variety of character posters, with every major character getting their own poster. You can take a look at all the posters in the gallery below, but these are all the characters who have received a solo character poster:
- Joel, played by Pedro Pascal.
- Ellie, played by Bella Ramsey.
- Marlene, played by Merle Dandridge.
- Tommy, played by Gabriel Luna.
- Tess, played by Anna Torv.
- Bill, played by Nick Offerman.
- Sam, played by Keivonn Woodward.
- Frank, played by Murray Bartlett.
- Henry, played by Lamar Johnson.
- Riley, played by Storm Reid.
- Sarah, played by Nico Parker.
Anyone who has played The Last of Us is surely excited to see some of these characters grace the small screen, especially as the series is being helmed by the director of the games, Neil Druckmann, and the creator of Chernobyl, Craig Mazin. The series is set to stream on HBO Max starting Jan. 15, 2023.
Nintendo has shut down the Smash World Tour
The Smash World Tour was a community-run event that hosted tournaments of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, and Super Smash Bros. Brawl all over the world. They announced that they have been forced to cancel the upcoming Smash World Tour Championships after receiving word from Nintendo that they would no longer be able to hold the event.
This comes after Nintendo announced that they would be hosting their own tournament last year. The Smash World Tour was going to have a reported $250,000 prize, and fans are a mix of devastated and outraged at the cancellation. They have also announced that any plans for a 2023 continuation of the Smash World Tour have also been canceled. Nintendo has been notorious for canceling fan-led events for years, and you can read more about that and the Smash World Tour’s cancellation here.
December’s PlayStation Plus games have been revealed
We reported yesterday that, as usual, the PlayStation Plus games for the month had leaked. Today we can confirm that those games were accurate as PlayStation has announced that the games for December’s PlayStation Plus Essential tier lineup are Divine Knockout: Founder’s Edition, Mass Effect Legendary Edition, and Biomutant.
Divine Knockout: Founder’s Edition and Biomutant are available on both PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5, while Mass Effect Legendary Edition is on PlayStation 4, although you can still play it on PlayStation 5 through backward compatibility. As we mentioned yesterday, Divine Knockout: Founder’s Edition joins the exclusive list of one of the new games to launch on the service. All three games are set to be available on the service from Dec. 6, 2022.
Sonic Frontiers is getting some new updates
The rave reviews may have paid off, as Sonic Frontiers is getting some brand-new updates. Sega has announced multiple updates in a 2023 roadmap, and the best part of the roadmap is that all of these updates will be at no extra cost to the player. While all three updates will be arriving in 2023, they seem to vary in their size.
The first update will feature a Juke Box, Photo Mode, and some new Challenge Modes, and the second update will contain something for Sonic’s birthday, an Open Zone Challenge, and some new Koco, the critters you find scattered throughout Sonic Frontiers. It seems like the third update will be the biggest update of all, with a new story update and new playable characters. If we go by the infographic we will be able to play as Tails, Knuckles, and Amy, which is very exciting for Sonic fans.
The entirety of The Callisto Protocol has leaked ahead of its release
We will not be sharing any details from the leak here, but The Callisto Protocol has leaked on Twitch in its entirety just days before the game is set to release. It is a shame that the game has had so much of it leaked, but we are including it here to make sure if you are looking forward to the game that you mute all associated words on your social media channels. While you’re here, maybe avoid browsing Twitch or YouTube’s gaming pages too, in case you get a stray spoiler sent your way today. The horror game by Striking Distance Studios is set to release on Dec. 2, 2022.
Come back tomorrow to read our next gaming news roundup.
