Watch The Game Awards 2017 live on Steam! The stream begins Dec 7th at 5:30pm PST.

In addition to the show, there are a number of nominated titles on sale right now until Dec 9th at 10am PST. Also, to celebrate The Game Awards 2017, we will randomly drop 150 free copies of nominated titles every 15 minutes during the show. Click here for details on how to participate.

Bayonetta 3, The Legend of Zelda DLC news revealed during The Game Awards

Nintendo received a number of honors at The Game Awards in Los Angeles, winning the awards for Game of the Year for The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Best Family Game for Super Mario Odyssey and Best Handheld Game for Metroid: Samus Returns. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild also won the awards for Best Game Direction and Best Action/Adventure Game.

But that’s not the only Nintendo news from the annual awards show. During the event, Nintendo revealed a trailer announcing that the Bayonetta 3 game is currently in development exclusively for the Nintendo Switch system. In addition, the critically acclaimed Bayonetta 2 game, originally a Wii U exclusive, will be launching for Nintendo Switch on Feb. 16. Players who purchase the game in stores at a suggested retail price of $59.99 will receive a free download code for the original Bayonetta game. Consumers looking to purchase the digital versions of the games for Nintendo Switch can do so via Nintendo eShop or Nintendo.com.* Bayonetta, Bayonetta 2 and Bayonetta 3 are developed by PlatinumGames.

Fans of The Legend of the Zelda: Breath of the Wild game got a new look at the game’s second DLC pack, The Champions’ Ballad, as well as the surprise news that it launched shortly after The Game Awards livestream. In this second of two DLC packs that are part of the game’s Expansion Pass, players are granted access to a large new adventure featuring a never-before-seen dungeon, new insights into the background of the game’s four Champions, as well as a new high-mobility means of transportation. Once players complete the adventure, they will have the opportunity to traverse the enormous world of Hyrule on top of a motorcycle called Master Cycle Zero. The DLC will also grant access to nine new armor items for players to find, as well as the Ancient Saddle and Bridle items. Players who purchase the Expansion Pass for $19.99 receive The Champions’ Ballad DLC Pack 2, as well as The Trial of the Sword DLC Pack 1, which launched earlier this year. For more information about what is included in the Expansion Pass, visit http://www.zelda.com/breath-of-the-wild/expansion-pass.

Players who have yet to experience the game can purchase The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild – Explorer’s Edition, a limited bundle that includes the critically acclaimed Nintendo Switch game, a 100-page explorer’s guide and a two-sided map at a suggested retail price of $59.99.

In addition, some of the games that were nominated for awards this year are from franchises featured in the Cyber Deals sale currently featured in Nintendo eShop and at Nintendo.com. Fans can save on select games featuring Mario, Link and more fun characters at https://nintendo.com/tga.

The event also featured a live performance of the “Jump Up, Super Star!” song from the Super Mario Odyssey game, with vocals by the game’s original singer.

“We are absolutely humbled that voters chose Nintendo for these awards,” said Reggie Fils-Aime, Nintendo of America’s President and COO. “We plan to continue this strong momentum as we head into 2018.”

The Game Awards can be viewed in their entirety by visiting http://thegameawards.com/.

Games Rated:

We’re continuing to put out new 1711 builds this week focused on general stability and performance. Our latest system update (1711.171128-1839) will be made available to Alpha and Beta Insiders starting today at 2 p.m. PST and becoming mandatory tomorrow at 1 a.m. PST. This update includes a fix to various streaming apps, such as Twitch, YouTube and HBO Go. We’ve also expanded our Known Issues list, which can be found below with current workarounds included for several items.

FIXES:

Apps

• Fixed an issue which would sometimes cause streaming video content to unexpectedly crash. This issue affected multiple apps including Twitch, YouTube and HBO Go.

KNOWN ISSUES: 

Wi-Fi

• We are investigating reports of degraded Wi-Fi- performance. Current workaround, which has been successful for some users, is to hard reboot the console by holding the power button for 10 seconds.

Games/apps not installing/updating

• We are investigating reports that some users cannot install games or apps. Current workarounds that have proven effective for some users include changing Wi-Fi networks quickly, plugging in an Ethernet cable and disabling IPV6 on your home network.

Sound

• AVRs with HDMI-passthrough will break Dolby Atmos for Home Theater if the TV and console is turned on before the AVR . Current workaround is to power on your receiver before turning on your Xbox One console.

Display

• We are investigating reports of inaccurate RGB colors when displaying in 4K HDR mode while playing a UHD disc.

Tournaments

• The left and right navigation for selecting date and time during Tournament creation is currently reversed when the console language is set to Arabic or Hebrew.
• Left and right navigation in Tournament twists is reversed when the console language is set to Arabic or Hebrew.
• Left and right navigation in the bracket view of Tournaments is reversed when the console language is set to Arabic or Hebrew.

Avatars on Home

• Users wishing to represent themselves as an avatar can do so by changing their settings under My profile > Customize profile > Show my avatar.

Narrator

• Narrator may stop performing when reading large amounts of text.

Who knew The Game Awards would drop so much Nintendo love, eh? Not only are we getting Bayonetta 3 – a Switch exclusive, we might add – but the first two entries in the PlatinumGames series are getting the handheld treatment, too.

Better yet, Nintendo even showcased a glitzy new Special Edition that’s bound to make any witch in training run to their nearest retailer. The Special Edition will include (drum roll, please): a download code for Bayonetta, a physical case and Switch game card for Bayonetta 2, a steelbook with artwork from both games, three sheets of stickers and 22 highly collectible Verse Cards.

Holy moly that’s a lot of bang for your Bayonetta buck. There’s also a regular edition that includes a physical copy of Bayonetta 2 and a download code for the first game. Oh, and if you purchase either game from the eShop, you can buy the second at a reduced price. Bargain!

Japan is getting the same bundle, only its one is called the ‘Non-Stop Climax Edition’. Nope, you really did just read that.

Bayonetta 1 and 2 will launch on Nintendo Switch on 16 February 2018. Bayonetta 3, unsurprisingly, doesn’t have a release date yet. No word on the official price point for the Special Edition just yet, but expect it to be north of £50/$65.

So what do you make of this Special Edition? Will this be your first time unleashing magical mayhem or will you be double dipping in 2018? Comments ahoy!

RIOT – Civil Unrest is Now Available on Steam Early Access and is 10% off!*

As civil crisis deepens and inequality tears the very fabric of society the discontentment of the masses manifests itself in violent public disturbances and civil disorder. Play as the police or the angry horde as RIOT – Civil Unrest places you in some of the world’s most fractious disputes.

*Offer ends December 13 at 10AM Pacific Time

Hey everyone,

With Destiny 2’s console and PC launches behind us, we want to take some time to talk with you about Destiny 2 – specifically where it’s at today, and where it’s going. Our team has been reading feedback and working on updates to improve the game. We’ve also been reading some tough criticism about our lack of communication, and we agree we need to be more open. 

Going forward, Destiny 2’s post-launch game systems, features, and updates are being designed specifically to focus on and support players who want Destiny to be their hobby – the game they return to, and a game where friendships are made. We want Destiny to be a game that fits into your life, providing you with reasons to log in and play with your friends, clans, and families. We want Destiny to be a world you want to be a part of.

A month ago, we published a list of improvements on the blog. Today, we’re going to revisit that list and update its status, and share some of the work the team is readying for December, January, and beyond.

We know it’s frustrating when there isn’t enough of a dialog with the development team. You have our commitment that we’re going to do a better job going forward.

– Luke Smith & Chris Barrett

Upcoming Updates Overview

We will continue to revisit and update this list in the weeks and months ahead to keep you up to speed on what we’re working on. Below, you’ll find more specific detail about each of the features and updates you can expect to land in December.

December Update Details

There are four key areas we’re targeting for improvements in December. Some of these updates will arrive with the December 5 update, and some additional updates will be included in a patch that will be deployed the following week on December 12.

Both updates combined include improvements set against the following goals:

The following changes are the first steps towards achieving these goals, with more planned for our next release in January. Here is a preview of impending changes to Destiny 2. Each category is marked with a forecast delivery date.

Masterworks

Armor Ornaments

General Investment

With the launch of Curse of Osiris, and the beginning of Season 2, you can expect to see a full suite of patch notes that will document all of the changes outlined above, as well as additional gameplay and sandbox tuning changes the team is making to improve Destiny 2. We’ll also soon be providing pre-load and launch day details, as well as a roadmap for our Season 2 content, which includes The Dawning in mid-December.

XP Mechanics

Last weekend, we disabled a scaling mechanism that adjusted XP gains up and down without reflecting those adjustments in the UI. Our intention was to keep slower-paced activities as rewarding as high intensity grinding without confusing variations in displayed XP values, but the silent nature of the mechanic betrayed the expectation of transparency that you have for Destiny 2.

We were able to disable the system with a server-side change, but a new solution is now needed to rebalance XP in Destiny 2. We have begun that work, and will continue to provide updates to you about timelines and specifics. The values coded into our website API are being updated today (and may already have been as you read this post) to reflect the removal of this scaling mechanism. In a future update, we intend to link these internal and display-only values together for greater consistency, and to ensure that when changes are made they are accurately reflected everywhere we report them.

We already see that the newly adjusted 160K XP per level value means that leveling is too slow for some activities, and we have begun the process of collecting data and recalibrating XP earn rates to improve them as quickly as possible.

XP boosts, including both consumable items and passive bonuses like the Well Rested 300% bonus, were always applied after this system and never resulted in early slowing of XP. They should be unchanged by the disabling of this system and will continue to provide their stated increase in XP gain.

Expect to see a lot of conversation from our team on this front, as XP rewards are updated and brought back in-line with player expectations.

The Future

Going forward, we plan to continue this dialog as openly and frequently as possible. This will be an ongoing process, but one that we are committed to.

This week we’ll be publishing a new episode of the Bungie Podcast where we will sound off on the current state of Destiny 2, how we think about our communication challenges, and what it takes to update the game in the wild. You’ll be able to listen on both Apple and Android devices. 

Thank you for playing, for being passionate about the Destiny 2 experience, and for working with us as we look to continuously improve our game and studio communication.