Not content to rest on its honkin' laurels after the success of 2019's indie smash hit Untitled Goose Game, House House unveiled the first teaser footage for its new adventure title at the 2023 Game Awards Thursday night. 

Big Walk looks to be a significant departure from its predecessor in both tone and scope. The team describes it as "a cooperative online walker-talker" that encourages players to "hang out and get lost with close friends in a big world." 

The online coop game is set on an expansive bruch-covered island that's overflowing with mysteries to uncover and challenges to overcome. In the trailer we can see a group of oddly-limbed avatars strolling around a hillside, solving puzzles, exploring strange caves and setting off signal flares. Cooperation will be a big part of the game. Players will need to work together to navigate through the terrain and keep in contact with one another while out and about. 

“Our favourite part of playing online coop games is when they give you enough direction for the group to keep up a good momentum, but it’s relaxed enough that you’re mostly just able to enjoy spending time with your friends. We hope Big Walk gives players that direction, and space, to focus on and enjoy those group dynamics, whether you’re playing with one friend or as a big group,” Jake Strasser, developer at House House, said in a Thursday release. Big Walk is slated to arrive on Steam and the Epic Game Store in 2025.     

There's still time to get acquainted with Formula E before the new season begins in January. To help with that, the all-electric racing series has opened up its vault and made every race from its first nine seasons available to stream for free. Starting with the first event in Beijing in 2014 through this past season's finale in London, there's a lot to relive or watch for the first time. If you're trying to stream them all, that's 90 hours of action over 116 races you have to look forward to.

Formula E's new Race Replay archive is available for free via it's website and mobile app. All you need to do in order to gain access to the back catalog is to register for an account. What's more, the series says every race from 2024's Season 10 will be available seven days after airing live. Even if you don't have access to the required channels or platforms needed to watch live next year, you'll still be able to follow along a few days after each event.

When the lights go out in Mexico City, Formula E will offer fans expanded viewing options in 2024. Roku will stream 11 races live through its Roku Channel for free. That platform will also offer previews, replays and other commentary in addition to the live events. Paramount+ will stream five races live as simulcasts with CBS, the broadcaster that has been home to Formula E in the US for a while now. 

Season 10 begins January 13 in Mexico City before a double-header in Diriyah, Saudi Arabia later in the month. 17 total races are scheduled for 2024, including a US stop in Portland that has been expanded to its own double-header weekend after debuting last season. Formula E completed its preseason testing in Valencia in late October and you can read our key takeaways from that event here. 

Whether or not you understand your loved one’s desire to wake up before sunrise and get in a 5K is irrelevant when it comes to gifting. Athletes, especially runners, are pretty easy to shop for since they can never have too many of the essentials like socks, gloves, foam rollers, trackers and more. There are plenty of things you can get them that will make their runs more enjoyable, or help them recover more efficiently so they can best yesterday’s time today. Here are the best gift ideas for runners for this year’s holiday shopping season.

Theragun Mini

Rise and Run: Recipes, Rituals and Runs to Fuel Your Day

Roll Recovery R8

Spibelt

Bombas Running Socks

Trigger Point Grid Travel Foam Roller

Yoga Toes

TrailHeads Power Stretch Fingerless Gloves

Apace Vision LED Safety Lights

Garmin Forerunner 55

Beats Fit Pro

Goodr OG Sunglasses

Other than a bike, helmet and a few emergency maintenance essentials, there aren’t many things a person needs to enjoy a bike ride outside. But having the right accessories can go a long way towards making the experience more fun, more safe and, ultimately, more rewarding. The list of recommendations below cover the gamut of things you can give to the cyclist in your life, from must-have safety accessories like bike lights, to more techie gadgets like bike computers. However, each represents an item the staff here at Engadget have personally tested or swear by, and would make for a great holiday gift.

Crankbrothers M19 Multi-Tool

Knog Rear Blinder or Rear Plus Lights

Garmin Varia Radar

Knog Oi Luxe Bike Bell

Kryptonite New York U-Lock

PS Bagworks Rider Strap

Patagonia Houdini Jacket

Planet Bike Waterproof Bike Seat Cover

Park Tool Cyclone Chain Scrubber

Wahoo Elemnt Bolt V2

Ortlieb Back-Roller Plus Panniers

Outdoor Research ActiveIce Sun Sleeves

Steadyrack Vertical Bike Rack

Burley Kazoo Trailercycle

The Call of Duty devs are always trying to stay one step ahead of cheaters to protect the experience for all of us regular non-jerky players. Their latest move to prevent cheating may just be the funniest one yet. The devs have announced an appropriately-named feature called Splat. When a cheater deploys, the system occasionally disables their parachute, sending them careening to the ground until they, well, go splat.

This was designed to call as much attention to the cheater as possible, with devs saying it’ll be “immediately obvious” who’s trying to game the system, as someone quickly descending from the sky is hard to miss. In the past, they’ve handled these cheaters privately, keeping them in the game to collect data or simply making them disappear, among other methods detailed below. The devs say this new tool is simply more “fun.”

The system doesn’t even have to flag the player as a cheater before they deploy. If caught once they reach the ground, the software will speed up the next jump to create the same effect. For instance, a simple bunny hop will turn into a 10,000-foot drop to “take them out instantly.” Like all anti-cheating measures, Splat won’t randomly turn on for normal players and it won’t activate by a report from another player. The machine learning algorithms have to spot verified shady behavior for it to kick in.

The programmers say this is just the beginning, as they’ve developed “many new tricks” that will be discussed at some point in the future. To that end, Splat is just the latest anti-cheating measure. In the past, cheaters were kept from seeing opponents or the system would clone real players to confuse them. When all else failed, the game would just take their guns away. It remains to be seen if the just-released Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III will get access to this new Splat system. 

Arcane finally has a streaming date for its second season, two years after Netflix renewed the League of Legends-based series. The bad news? It'll arrive on the streaming platform in November... 2024. Fans will have to wait one more year before they can see the next installment of the story that centers around sisters and rivals, Vi and Jinx. Riot's former CEO Nicolo Laurent did say in an interview earlier this year that season two won't be ready until 2024. He explained that the company didn't expect the show to be so successful, so the developer, along with French animation studio Fortiche, started on the second season later than they should have. 

Last year, the show became the first streaming series to win an animated Emmy award, beating out more established rivals, such as Rick and Morty and What If...? Arcane was universally praised by critics for its storyline and animation, and it was also well-received among viewers, even those who don't play LoL. Arcane creators Christian Linke and Alex Yee said that the series was always going to be about Vi and Jinx even though the game has more than 150 champions. Their background as sisters who grew into bitter rivals with opposing stance, fighting for opposite sides, after all, make for an intriguing plot. "The fact that Jinx and Vi’s relationship is a bit of a mystery from the outset allows us to sort of satisfy both [fans of the game and new audiences]," Linke told Engadget. 

Netflix has released a very short teaser for the show's second season, but it'll likely publish longer trailers over the next few months as we get closer to its release date. Actors Hailee Steinfeld and Ella Purnell are expected to reprise their roles as Vi and Jinx, respectively, along with Katie Leung as Caitlyn Kiramman. 

What the Golf just got a free update inspired by the beloved multiplayer whodunnit Among Us. The update features 35 new levels that may or may not be chock full with saboteurs and imposters. It’s available today on PC via Steam and was already available on Nintendo Switch and Apple Arcade.

What the Golf regularly offers free updates like this, with some Thanksgiving-themed levels dropping next week. Most devs would go for a Halloween-themed update, but Triband chose Thanksgiving, which is indicative of the kind of chaos that populates the game itself.

We’ve long sung the praises of this game, as it offers a fresh take on golf that, well, isn’t really golf at all. Many of the levels offer completely different rules to keep you on your toes and, often, you aren’t even hitting a ball toward a hole. Instead, the game has you trying to hit a big house or even a horse. Other levels have you playing soccer or battling enemy combatants. In short, you never know what the game is going to throw at you next, including cute little multicolored imposters.

The Among Us-flavored update is available now, but it doesn’t seem to be hitting PS4 or PS5 just yet, which is a bummer. Developer Triband recently released a baseball-themed spinoff, of a sort, for VR called What the Bat.

The Overwatch League (OWL) appears to be no more after six seasons. A Blizzard spokesperson told Engadget that "We are transitioning from the Overwatch League and evolving competitive Overwatch in a new direction." That's not to say the publisher is pulling out of Overwatch esports altogether. "We are grateful to everyone who made OWL possible and remain focused on building our vision of a revitalized esports program," the statement read. "We are excited to share details with you all in the near future."

In July, Activision Blizzard laid off around 50 esports staff and revealed that, after the 2023 season, OWL team owners would hold a vote to determine whether they'd continue with the league. Activision Blizzard said that if teams opted out, it would pay each of them a termination fee of $6 million. Blizzard has not said whether the vote has taken place and, if so, what the results were.

However, earlier on Wednesday, the owner of OWL team Toronto Defiant confirmed it was leaving the league. OverActive Media said it had ended its team participation agreement, and that it would receive a $6 million termination payment from Activision Blizzard. The company plans to stay involved in Overwatch esports.

"As we transition into the next phase of Overwatch esports, we look forward to the opportunities that lie ahead," Adam Adamou, cofounder and CEO of OverActive Media, said in a statement. "We are eager to share more about our vision for Toronto Defiant and our plans to return to Overwatch esports. We expect more information to come on this front soon.”

The Defiant are the second team to leave OWL. The Chengdu Hunters did not participate in the 2023 season after Overwatch 2 and other Blizzard games were shut down in China. The team confirmed partway through the year that it was departing from OWL.

Several other teams have been releasing players and others have suspended operations entirely amid OWL's uncertain future. All of the Florida Mayhem's players and staff went into free agency just 19 days after winning the 2023 OWL championship. On October 2, the day after the Grand Finals, Blizzard said it was "focusing on building our vision of a revitalized esports program."

The writing has been on the wall for OWL for some time as the original vision of a global home-and-away league format never panned out. The first two seasons of OWL matches were held almost exclusively in a studio in California. Weeks after Blizzard started on its grand plan to run matches in each team's city every week, it was forced to shift to an online-only format due to COVID-19 lockdowns. That prevented teams from pulling in much-sought-after live event revenue.

Viewership struggles, sponsors dropping out and the sexual harassment and discrimination scandal at Activision Blizzard may have played a factor in OWL's demise as well. Although OWL broadcasts and matches were polished and entertaining, there were just too many factors playing against it.

The future of the professional Overwatch scene is unclear, but reports suggest that a return to a more open format could be next. According to esports reporter Jacob Wolf, Activision Blizzard has been in talks with Saudi Arabian state-owned ESL FACEIT Group for the latter to run the 2024 pro Overwatch season. In the meantime, a Blizzard-backed Overwatch 2 tournament that features regional prize pools of $50,000 and veteran OWL players is getting underway this weekend.

Fortnite players are definitely here for the new throwback season. Since the release of “Fortnite OG” at the end of last week, public player counts have reached new all-time highs, according to trackers like Fortnite.gg — peaking on Saturday with over 6.1 million concurrent players. With Chapter 4 Season 5, or “Fortnite OG,” Fortnite is dipping back into its Chapter 1 glory days to bring players back to the original 2018 island map and reintroduce gear and other elements from its past.

The season started with an update designed around Chapter 1 Season 5, and subsequent updates will pull from other phases of the game’s history. But, it’s only expected to run for about a month, and players aren’t wasting any time getting in on the battle royale action. The number of concurrent players has been rising all weekend, continually breaking the previous record highs. Within hours of the update’s release, the player count had spiked to over 3.9 million. Already today, there were 5.5 million players on Fortnite as of 11AM.

The number of concurrent plays for a single day nearly doubled on Friday, after the update was announced, from those seen earlier in the week, to hit nearly 1.5 million. Saturday logged over 1.8 million concurrent plays. It’s been years since Fortnite has seen numbers like this, but there’s no telling whether it’ll be able to keep it up.

It's BlizzCon time, which means Blizzard is revealing some of the many things it has lined up for its stable of games. At the opening ceremony, there was a look at the future of Diablo IV, including the game's first expansion.

Vessel of Hatred, which is slated to arrive in 2024, will build on the story of the main game. You'll find out the fate of the villain Mephisto and learn about his evil plans for Sanctuary. The DLC will feature the return of the Nahantu jungle area from Diablo II. The expansion will also introduce a brand-new character class. Blizzard is promising "new ways to play" and "new evils to vanquish" too. You can find out more details about Vessel of Hatred next summer.

Before then, Diablo IV's third season will feature a new kind of challenge dungeon called The Gauntlet. Here, you'll fight against other players from around the world for your class ranking.

The first Diablo IV seasonal event is called Midwinter Blight. It starts on December 12 and lasts for three weeks. There's more to come over the next month or two, including a six-week Season of Blood endgame event called Abattoir of Zir that starts on December 5.