With the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing underway, there are more ways than ever to watch Team USA and athletes from around the world compete, including in 8K VR. This month, NBCUniversal and parent company Comcast will stream more than 150 hours of interactive content from the games. To watch that coverage, you’ll need a TV Everywhere login and a Quest 2 headset from Meta.
Once you download the NBC Olympics VR by Xfinity app, you can look forward to watching live and on-demand coverage of six sports, including figure skating, hockey and snowboarding from a 180-degree perspective. With some events, NBC will also offer multiple viewpoints of the action. Additionally, the broadcaster plans to stream features and highlights from 10 other sports throughout the Olympics, including alpine skiing, bobsled and speed skating.
If you missed the Opening Ceremony, or want to see it from a new perspective, you can also rewatch the event from the point of view of athletes who took part in the parade of nations. When the 2022 Olympics finish later this month, NBC will offer interactive coverage of the Closing Ceremony too.
If you don’t have access to a Quest 2 headset, you can still enjoy the games in 4K HDR and immersive Dolby Atmos audio. NBCUniversal will stream the higher-resolution broadcasts during primetime and Prime Plus, with figure skating, skiing, snowboarding, hockey, bobsled and other sports set to get the special treatment.
Due to the delay of the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics, we’re getting two installments of the international games in quick succession. The 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics begin this week, bringing all of the excitement of cold-weather sports to the warmth of your living room. Every event will be available to watch or stream, and we’re here to help you find them.
When do the Olympics start?
NBC’s full primetime coverage of the Winter Olympics begins today at 8PM ET (February 3rd). However, competition actually began yesterday with Curling, Alpine Skiing and Hockey events. NBCUniversal’s 24/7 highlights channel will also start streaming today at 12AM ET.
While the action kicked off on Wednesday, the opening ceremony doesn’t happen until Friday, February 4th at 6:30AM ET. NBC will show it live for the diehards and early risers, but you can also catch the re-air at 8PM ET. The games continue through February 20th when NBC will show the closing ceremony live at 7AM ET with a primetime replay at 8PM ET. These festivities will be broadcast on NBC proper, Peacock and NBCOlympics.com.
How to watch
Justin Setterfield via Getty Images
Like the summer games, NBCUniversal has the broadcast rights in the US. The company has an exclusive deal in place for both summer and winter installments through 2032, thanks to a $7.75 billion extension signed in 2014. As is the case with any Olympics, there are too many events for one network. You can find most of the broadcast coverage on CNBC and USA, which are also NBCU networks.
While USA will host many “high-profile events,” NBC says CNBC will primarily show curling and ice hockey. The company also says that since NBC proper has Super Bowl LVI on February 13th, USA will carry the bulk of the coverage that day (Super Bowl coverage begins at noon ET on NBC). If you’re looking for primetime viewing, NBC is where you’ll want to go. There’s also the option to bypass traditional channels entirely and just stream everything on Peacock, NBCU’s streaming service.
NBCUniversal says every event will be available live on Peacock at the same time as they air on NBC networks. You’ll also be able to watch full-event replays on-demand if the live schedule doesn’t work for you, and they’ll be available “immediately upon conclusion.” Some “must-see moments” will be available on Peacock for free, but for access to everything, you’ll need Peacock Premium for either $5 per month (with ads) or $10 a month (ad free). Peacock is available on a host of streaming devices including Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV, Android TV, Chromecast and Roku. You can stream it on smart TVs from LG, Samsung and Vizio as well as Comcast’s Xfinity gear and Cox’s Contour devices. In terms of game consoles, Xbox One S, Xbox One X, PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 4 Pro will all give you access to the service.
DANIEL MIHAILESCU via Getty Images
You can also stream on the web via NBCOlympics.com or on mobile devices and connected TVs through the NBC Sports app (authentication required). In addition to live coverage from the three networks showing events, NBC says it will offer “enhanced viewing experiences” for select events on these mediums. What’s more, livestreams of practice and warm-up sessions will be available alongside highlights, interviews, recaps, “viral moments” and more. NBCOlympics.com will display results, schedules, medal counts, athlete profiles and other info throughout the games.
NBCUniversal also announced it would offer the Winter Olympics in 4K HDR for the first time this year, with immersive Dolby Atmos audio to go along with it. The higher-resolution broadcasts will only be available during primetime and Prime Plus, but will include figure skating, skiing, snowboarding, hockey, bobsled and other sports. In most NBC markets, Prime Plus follows the late local news and shows live events. The company says it will provide the 4K HDR coverage for US distribution partners and allow them to decide how to offer it to customers, so you’ll need to check with your television provider to see if it’s available. But as you might expect, Comcast, which owns NBCU, will offer 4K HDR and Atmos through its Xfinity X1 service.
Speaking of Comcast, the cable provider is doing its usual Olympics viewing tools for this year’s games. Customers can select their favorite sports so that they can find events quickly when the time comes. There’s also an interactive schedule with filtering features to assist with any searches and over 50 playlists with highlights, news and more. Comcast says “the viewing experience” will be available on Xfinity X1, Xfinity Flex and XClass TV. What’s more, all customers will be able to stream every event through Peacock at no additional cost.
YouTube TV also had a robust streaming hub for the Tokyo Olympics last summer, including the ability to pick your favorite sports and more. So far, the service has only announced that it will offer NBC’s 4K broadcasts.
Studio shows and docuseries
Fabrizio Bensch / reuters
In addition to mirroring much of the NBCU’s network coverage, Peacock will also stream four exclusive daily shows for more in-depth viewing. The Olympics Show will highlight all of the “must-see moments” each morning, with athlete interviews and event previews mixed in. Olympic Ice is what NBCU is calling “essential viewing for figure skating fans.” From 10AM-11AM ET each day, you’ll get detailed analysis that includes score breakdowns, practice reports and more. Winter Gold follows immediately after, with an hour-long “comprehensive look at the most compelling performances of the day.” Lastly, Top Highlights streams from 8PM to 8AM ET to catch you up on anything you might have otherwise missed.
NBCU has also produced several Olympics-theme docuseries that are available on Peacock. Meddling goes inside the figure skating scandal during the 2002 games in Salt Lake City while Picabo tells the story of gold-medal skier Picabo Street. The US Men’s Curling team, fan favorites during the 2018 Olympics, are profiled in American Rock Stars.
For a look at the full schedule of events for watching in the US, visit NBCOlympics.com.
2022 Paralympic Winter Games
Thomas Peter / reuters
NBCUniversal also has the US broadcast rights to the 2022 Paralympic Winter Games and the company says it’s planning “its most ambitious effort ever” for the cold-weather event. That includes over 230 hours of coverage, and 120 of those will be broadcast on television. Once again, Peacock will stream every event while USA and Olympic Channel will show “daily coverage.” USA will also broadcast the opening and closing ceremonies live. NBCOlympics.com and the NBC Sports app are alternative spots to view every event on desktop, mobile devices, tablets and connected TVs (authentication required). The Paralympic Winter Games begin March 4th.
BBC in the UK
As is the case with the summer games, BBC owns the rights to the Olympics in the UK. The broadcaster has over 300 hours of live coverage planned on BBC One and BBC Two with a secondary livestream on BBC iPlayer, Red Button and on the web. You can expect daily highlights on BBC Two and BBC Three while the BBC Sport app and website will offer on-demand clips, news and Radio 5 Live updates for all of the “big moments.” Coverage begins at 12:00 GMT on February 2nd via BBC iPlayer, BBC Red Button and the BBC Sport website and mobile app. BBC One coverage begins February 4th at 11:30 GMT with the opening ceremony.
Elsewhere around the world
For broadcasters carrying the Olympics outside of the US and UK, see the full list here for where you can watch in your country.
It took a few months, but Netflix is now offering its first high-profile mobile game. The streaming service has broadly released Riot Games' League of Legends spinoff Hextech Mayhem for Android and iOS. This isn't a MOBA like League, as you might have gathered — instead, it's a "rhythm runner" that has you playing LoL champion Ziggs as you light bomb fuses, disarm enemies and dodge obstacles in sync with the beat.
Netflix has also released Dungeon Dwarves, its first "idle" game. Hyper Hippo's title (available on Android as we write this) lets you explore monster-laden dens even when you're not playing, and upgrade abilities when you are.
Riot's decision to launch Hextech through Netflix isn't surprising. The two unveiled the game just as Arcane began streaming — even if it's not really connected to the animated series, it serves as a plug for both companies. Riot also hasn't been shy about gaming crossovers, having dropped League of Legends characters into games like Fortnite. It's just a question of whether or not a game like Hextech will be popular enough to grow Netflix's fledgling game business and encourage other big-name projects.
Rocket League Sideswipe, a mobile spin-off from the hit car soccer game, is getting some new features and modes as part of its second season. Along with the latest free Rocket Pass and season challenges, a volleyball mode will go live in the iOS and Android game at 11AM ET on Wednesday.
The two-on-two mode has no goals. Instead, there's a net in the middle of the arena and a new ball. You'll score when the ball hits the ground on your opponents' side of the net. It's as simple a concept as "get the ball in the other team's goal," but offers a different dynamic to gameplay.
As volleyball arrives, players will need to bid adieu to Hoops, a basketball-style mode that has also been available in Rocket League. Psynoix says that these Extra Modes will cycle in and out of Sideswipe each season, likely to keep things fresh.
There'll be a bunch of new items to unlock in season two, including some Rocket League favorites like the Breakout car and supernova and dueling dragons goal explosions. You'll also have a way to practice against human opponents without worrying about your competitive rank. Casual playlists will arrive today at 7PM ET, ahead of the full season two update.
When the new season starts, Sideswipe will reset all competitive ranks. Players will be rewarded with titles and quick chat stickers that vary depending on their peak rank during the inaugural season.
Psyonix did a great job of translating the full Rocket League experience to a 2D mobile format with Sideswipe. It's a good way for fans to get their car soccer (or volleyball) fix while away from their console or PC, though I've found it easier to play with a controller than touch controls.
Battlefield 2042 is flawed, to put it mildly, and the developers are rethinking their schedule to address to address those shortcomings. DICE and EA have officially delayed the game's first season to early summer, and will use the extra time to fix the core experience. The next BF2042 update will bring a revamped, easier-to-digest scoreboard, while better player profiles and long-awaited voice chat functionality are coming "as soon as possible." There will be improvements to squad mechanisms, the ping system, objective rewards and Portal mode, DICE added.
The studio similarly promised a better feedback loop. The BF2042 team will publicly discuss major areas for planned improvement, including its existing strategy. Staff will listen to the community's response to those subjects and roll the feedback into the relevant updates. There will be conversations for smaller refinements, too. This open-book approach certainly isn't new for game creators, but it is an acknowledgment this latest Battlefield didn't match player expectations.
As for season one? DICE is shy on details, but it did promise BF2042 Gold and Ultimate Edition buyers will get a "Steadfast" bundle in return for the wait. The pack will include a melee weapon, player imagery and skins for weapons, a Specialist and a vehicle. While that's a far cry from what's expected from the four intended seasons (including new Specialists), it might be a small comfort for those who spent extra.
Respawn is continuing to expand Apex Legendsbeyond its battle royale roots. The studio is launching its first big team mode, Control, as a limited-time feature available starting February 8th. The mode will sound familiar if you've played Destiny's Control or other hold-the-points gameplay formats. Two teams of nine players each vie to capture and keep up to three zones, with infinite respawns for every player. Those zones will confer benefits like they do in other games, but the nature of those benefits is different — there's a strong incentive to focus on territory rather than wiping out the enemy team.
Every zone your team owns will add points each second, up to a score limit of 1,250. You'll randomly encounter "Capture Bonuses" that deliver a wealth of points if your team holds a given zone when the bonus timer runs out. Own both the center point and your team's home point and you can spawn in that middle ground. And if you manage to capture all three points, you'll start a "Lockout" that guarantees a win if those points are yours when a timer expires. A lopsided match shouldn't drag on longer than necessary, to put it another way.
Control also introduces a ratings system where players can progress through tiers the more they accomplish for the team in a given life. You'll earn use of your ultimate ability every time you move up a tier, so there's plenty of motivation to stay in one piece. Respawn is promising Control-specific badges and challenges for those interested in longer-term goals.
And yes, there's a new Apex character. The game is introducing Mad Maggie, a seemingly Mad Max-inspired, Australian-sounding warlord who has been sentenced to fight in the Apex games. Much like Caustic, her abilities reflect her willingness to leave morality at the door — Riot Drill forces enemies out of cover by burning them, and Wrecking Ball produces boost pads while also exploding near foes. She can also highlight enemies she shoots, and moves more quickly while using shotguns.
It's too soon to know if Control will become permanent like Arenas. Respawn's strategy is clear, however. Modes like this potentially keep Apex fresh for veteran players, and might expand the audience to newcomers who aren't fans of the original game's last-one-standing experience.
NBA fans have Adrian Wojnarowski. Soccer fans have Fabrizio Romano. When transfer season kicks into high gear, Romano dominates the internet with his deluge of insider information. In fact, he's probably tweeting right now. But at times, he has gone from being a reporter on the hot player swaps to being a participant in the proceedings.
Members of the Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings visual effects team discuss how every Marvel movie is unique (but also similar), how VFX companies are cast like actors and how color in movies has changed.
Susan Thunder worked in the dial-a-whatever scene of the late 1970s, developing an intimate knowledge of the Bell network for phone scams. "Her specialty was social engineering," Evans writes as she went searching for "the great lost female hacker of the 1980s" who didn't want to be found.
A week before the Winter Olympics get underway, EA has added women's teams to its NHL games for the first time. You can now select one of 10 women's International Ice Hockey Federation national squads in NHL 22: Canada, Czech Republic (Czechia), Denmark, Finland, Germany, Hungary, Japan, Russia, Switzerland and, of course, Team USA.
EA has also introduced IIHF Men's and World Juniors teams to NHL 22. Along with competing in IIHF World Championship tournaments, the Men's and Women's teams are playable in the Play Now, Online Versus, Threes Now and Offline/Online Shootouts modes. EA announced the additions last month.
NHL 12 (which was released in 2011) was the first game in the series in which players could take to the virtual ice as a woman, as long as they created one themselves. The following year, Canadian hockey pioneer Hayley Wickenheiser and American defense player Angela Ruggiero (who could join any team in NHL 13) became the first real playable women hockey players in the franchise, but it's taken almost another decade for EA to add full women's squads.
The NHL series is following other major sports games franchises in adding women's teams. EA brought them to its FIFA games for the first time in 2015, while 2K Games introduced the WNBA to NBA 2K in 2019.
Substack is expanding into video with a native player. The feature is currently in private beta, so only a limited number of creators can upload videos directly to a post for now. The newsletter service plans to open up the option to everyone in the coming weeks.
Creators can share videos publicly or only with paid subscribers. Videos will be playable on web versions of posts and they'll appear as clickable images in emails. Substack notes that creators have full ownership of their videos, as with their mailing list and everything else they share on the platform.
Among those who are testing the feature are legendary musician Patti Smith and chef Andrew Zimmern. They highlight the fact that creators will be able to share things like musical performances and step-by-step guided recipes with subscribers without having to rely on third-party services like YouTube or Vimeo. Others might share makeup tutorials, workouts or career advice.
This is the latest in a line of additions to Substack creators' tool chests. The platform introduced a podcast hosting option in 2019 and it expanded to comics last year.
Substack isn't the only membership platform of its ilk with its own video player. Patreon said in November it was building one too. On the flip side, Facebook and Twitter have made a push into newsletters over the last year amid Substack's rise to prominence and the battle to attract and keep creators on their platforms.
The view from your couch will look a little more like sitting courtside in the days to come, as Streamable reports on Thursday that YouTube TV will begin offering select NBA matchups in 4K.
The only, ahem, hoop viewers will need to get through in order to watch is having a YouTube TV subscription with the 4K Plus add-on. YTTV on its own is $65 a month, the 4K add-on will set you back an additional $12/mo for the first year before nearly doubling, up to $20/month thereafter. Not every game will be made available in the high definition format though Saturday's game between the Cavs and Thunder will.
