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Source: NYVGCC / 2025 NY Game Awards
The nominees for the 2025 NY Game Awards have been revealed!
The next big night in gaming goes down in NYC on January 21 at the Paley Center when the 14th annual NY Game Awards return. On Tuesday, January 7, the nominees were revealed during a livestream featuring Hannah Telle (voice actor Max from Life is Strange: Double Exposure) and Logan Cunningham (voice actor Hades from Hades II) at the Paley Center for Media.
Speaking on this year’s strong list of nominees, Harold Goldberg, president and founder of NYVGCC, said, “2024 was another standout year for video games, and we’re thrilled to recognize these stunning projects at the 14th New York Game Awards on January 21. Our team of journalists, interns, and volunteers at NYVGCC look forward to hosting and honoring the many talented individuals who work in the video game industry. Get your tickets to join us for a truly special awards show!”
With that said, let’s get into the nominees. Team ASOBI, who ended the year strong by taking home numerous Game of The Year honors for their exceptional platformer, Astro Bot, could have a big night at the NY Game Awards, grabbing three nominations.
Big Apple Award for Best Game of the Year
Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth
Astro Bot
1000xResist
Indiana Jones and the Great Circle
Metaphor: ReFantazio
EA Sports College Football 25
Off Broadway Award for Best Indie Game
Tales of Kenzera: ZAU
Lorelei and the Laser Eyes
Balatro
I Am Your Beast
1000xResist
Thank Goodness You’re Here!
Herman Melville Award for Best Writing in a Game
Harold Halibut
Metaphor: ReFantazio
1000xResist
Life is Strange: Double Exposure
Phoenix Springs
Indiana Jones and the Great Circle
Statue of Liberty Award for Best World
Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree
Tales of Kenzera: ZAU
Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth
Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess
Astro Bot
Indiana Jones and the Great Circle
S.T.A.L.K.E.R 2 Heart of Chornobyl
Tin Pan Alley Award for Best Music in a Game
Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess
Life is Strange: Double Exposure
Black Myth Wukong
1000xResist
Great White Way Award for Best Acting in a Game
Abubakar Salim as Zao, Zuberi and Griot Echo in Tales of Kenzara: ZAO
John Eric Bentley as Barret in Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth
Hannah Telle as Max Caulfield in Life is Strange: Double Exposure
Melina Juergens as Senua in Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2
Troy Baker as Indiana Jones in Indiana Jones and the Great Circle
Humberly González as Kay in Star Wars Outlaws
Coney Island Dreamland Award for Best AR/VR Game
Batman: Arkham Shadow
Umurangi Generation VR
Skydance’s Behemoth
Silent Slayer: Vault of the Vampire
Central Park Children’s Zoo Award for Best Kids Game
Astro Bot
Super Mario Party Jamboree
Little Kitty, Big City
Sonic X Shadow Generations
The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom
A-Train Award for Best Mobile Game
Rabbids: Legends of the Multiverse
Wuthering Waves
Zenless Zone Zero
Pokémon Trading Card Game Pocket
Freedom Tower Award for Best Remake
Soul Reaver 1 and 2 Remastered
Silent Hill 2
Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door
Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth
Age of Mythology: Retold
Persona 3: Reload
Chumley’s Speakeasy Award for Best Hidden Gem
Vampire Therapist
Mouthwashing
Llamasoft: The Jeff Minter Story
Mars After Midnight
Starstruck: Hands of Time
NYC GWB Award for Best DLC
Alan Wake II: Night Springs and The Lake House
Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown – Mask of Darkness
Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree
Remnant 2: The Dark Horizon
Splatoon 3: Side Order
Diablo IV: Vessel of Hatred
Knickerbocker Award for Best Games Journalism
Duncan Fyfe
Alexis Ong
Grant Stoner
Mason Andrew Hamberlin
Edwin Evans-Thirlwell
Simone De Rochefort & Clayton Ashley
The nominees for this year were revealed after it was announced that Remedy’s Sam Lake is taking home the Andrew Yoon Legend Award, one of the night’s biggest awards.
There will also be a performance by Mega Ran, who will debut a brand-new original song for the NY Game Awards.
It’s a night you don’t want to miss if you’re a fan of video games, and if you want to be in the building, you can purchase tickets by heading to Eventbrite. Reserved seats cost $80. If you want to attend the afterparty to rub shoulders with the winners and enjoy some free drinks, it will cost $100. Proceeds from the New York Game Awards help fund NYVGCC’s educational efforts and programs for 2025.
If you can’t attend, don’t worry; IGN is an official media sponsor and will stream the show on its channels.
For more information on the NY Video Game Critics Circle and the critical work they do to ensure inner-city youth can find their way in the game journalism space, you can head here.
Chappell Roan is taking the stage to perform at the 33rd Annual Elton John AIDS Foundation Academy Awards Viewing Party, the organization announced on Tuesday (Jan. 7). Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news The event, which takes place on March 2 is co-hosted by Elton John, David Furnish, Jean Smart, Sheryl […]
Song Exploder, Questlove Supreme, Popcast, The Wonder of Stevie and The Joe Budden Podcast are vying for best music at the 2025 iHeartPodcast Awards, in partnership with South by Southwest (SXSW). The annual event will take place live on March 10 at 7 p.m. CT at ACL Live at The Moody Theater in Austin, Texas. In addition to the in-person show, the ceremony will also be live-broadcasted on select iHeartMedia Radio Stations, on the iHeartRadio app and on iHeartRadio’s YouTube Channel.
New Heights With Jason & Travis Kelce is among the nominees for best sports. Travis Kelce has become a household name since he began dating pop superstar Taylor Swift. The other nominees in that category are The Herd with Colin Cowherd, The Dan Le Batard Show With Stugotz, The Bill Simmons Podcast and All the Smoke
Winners in each category will be determined by a panel of podcast industry leaders and creatives. Each year, podcast fans help decide the winner of the podcast of the year award by voting online at the awards’ website. Fan voting will begin Tuesday, Jan. 7, and runs through Feb. 16.
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The 2025 iHeartPodcast Awards will also present three icon awards. Sarah Spain, host of Good Game, will be honored with the 2025 social impact award for her role in championing equity in sports coverage, equal pay for female athletes and better investment in women’s sports infrastructure. Dan Taberski will be honored with the 2025 audible audio pioneer award for his influence in the podcasting landscape, including his latest podcast Hysterical (nominated for podcast of the year and more). The 2025 innovator award will honor Daniel Alarcón, a Peruvian-American journalist and novelist, for his work on The Good Whale (nominated for podcast of the year), which revisits the life of Keiko, the orca who gained fame as the star of the 1993 film Free Willy.
“Following our in-person return to SXSW last year, we’re thrilled to be bringing the iHeartPodcast Awards to an even bigger stage in 2025,” Conal Byrne, CEO of iHeartMedia’s Digital Audio Group, said in a statement. “Podcasting is growing in both scale and influence every year, and SXSW brings a level of innovative spirit and excitement that makes it the perfect setting to celebrate the very best of our industry.”
“We’re thrilled to once again partner with iHeartMedia for the return of the Podcast Awards, amplifying its impact within an even larger footprint at SXSW,” said Peter Lewis, SXSW chief partnerships officer. The iHeartPodcast Awards will be open to select SXSW badge holders for the first time.
Executive producers for the 2025 iHeartPodcast Awards are John Sykes, Tom Poleman, Conal Byrne and Bart Peters for iHeartMedia. Audible is a sponsor of the 2025 iHeartPodcast Awards.
Here’s a full list of 2025 iHeartPodcast Award nominees across 29 categories.
Podcast of the Year
Normal Gossip
Three
Giggly Squad
Call Her Daddy
Las Culturistas With Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang
Hysterical
The Telepathy Tapes
Who Killed JFK?
Empire City: The Untold Origin Story of the NYPD
The Good Whale
Best Overall Host
Alex Cooper (Call Her Daddy)
Jamie Loftus (Sixteenth Minute (of Fame))
Sabrina Tavernise (The Daily)
Mel Robbins (The Mel Robbins Podcast)
Dan Taberski (Hysterical)
Best Overall Ensemble
We Can Do Hard Things
My Favorite Murder With Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark
Handsome
Armchair Expert With Dax Shepard
The Breakfast Club
Best Music
Song Exploder
Questlove Supreme
Popcast
The Wonder of Stevie
The Joe Budden Podcast
Best TV & Film
Films to Be Buried With With Brett Goldstein
Two Ts in a Pod with Teddi Mellencamp and Tamra Judge
How Did This Get Made?
The Rewatchables
Blank Check with Griffin & David
Best Pop Culture
Las Culturistas With Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang
The World’s First Podcast With Erin & Sara Foster
Still Processing
Keep It!
Pop Culture Happy Hour
Best Sports
New Heights With Jason & Travis Kelce
The Herd With Colin Cowherd
The Dan Le Batard Show With Stugotz
The Bill Simmons Podcast
All the Smoke
Best Kids & Family
Good Inside With Dr. Becky
Koala Moon – Kids Bedtime Stories & Meditations
Smash Boom Best: A Funny, Smart Debate Show for Kids and Family
Story Pirates
Wow in the World
Best Comedy
The Nikki Glaser Podcast
Fly on the Wall With Dana Carvey and David Spade
Normal Gossip
The Joe Rogan Experience
Call Her Daddy
Best Spanish Language
Radio Ambulante
Duolingo Spanish Podcast
Leyenda Legendarias
Mija Podcast
Escuela Secreta
Best Business & Finance
Planet Money
How to Money
Networth and Chill With Your Rich BFF
Money Rehab With Nicole Lapin
The Ramsey Show
Best Crime
Three
Betrayal
Up and Vanished
CounterClock
Something Was Wrong
Best Food
Gastropod
Christopher Kimball’s Milk Street Radio
Be My Guest With Ina Garten
The Recipe With Kenji and Deb
The Sporkful
Best Wellness & Fitness
Huberman Lab
The Mel Robbins Podcast
10% Happier With Dan Harris
A Slight Change of Plans
We Can Do Hard Things
Best History
The Rest Is History
Empire City: The Untold Origin Story of the NYPD
Throughline
American History Tellers
You’re Wrong About
Best News
The Journal.
The Daily
Up First from NPR
Pivot
Today, Explained
Best Fiction
Hello From the Magic Tavern
Welcome to Night Vale
Impact Winter
The Magnus Archives
Midnight Burger
Best Science
Hidden Brain
StarTalk Radio
Stuff To Blow Your Mind
Ologies With Alie Ward
Science Vs
Best Technology
All-In with Chamath, Jason, Sacks & Friedberg
Hard Fork
Better Offline
Darknet Diaries
Ted Radio Hour
Best Ad Read
Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend
Where Everybody Knows Your Name with Ted Danson and Woody Harrelson (Sometimes)
My Brother, My Brother and Me
SmartLess
Office Ladies
Best Political
Native Land Pod
The NPR Politics Podcast
Pod Save America
The Megyn Kelly Show
Breaking Points With Krystal and Saagar
Best Advice/Inspirational
Wiser Than Me With Julia Louis-Dreyfus
On Purpose With Jay Shetty
The Mel Robbins Podcast
Life Kit
Savage Lovecast
Best Beauty & Fashion
Naked Beauty
The goop Podcast
Glowing Up
Breaking Beauty Podcast
Lipstick on the Rim
Best Travel
Travel With Rick Steves
The Atlas Obscura Podcast
Zero to Travel Podcast
Women Who Travel
JUMP With Traveling Jackie
Best Green
Unf–king the Future
Environmental Insights: Conversations on Policy and Practice From the Harvard Environmental Economics Program
Green Dreamer: Seeding Change Towards Collective Healing, Sustainability, Regeneration
Threshold
TED Climate
Best Spirituality & Religion
Elevation With Steven Furtick
Oprah’s Super Soul
WHOA That’s Good Podcast
Bible in a Year With Jack Graham
Transformation Church
Best Branded Podcast
Nerdwallet’s Smart Money Podcast
Into the Mix (Ben and Jerry’s)
Symptomatic: A Medical Mystery Podcast (Nova Nordisk)
You Can’t Make This Up (Netflix)
Mind the Business: Small Business Success Stories (Intuit Quickbooks)
Best Emerging
Not Gonna Lie With Kylie Kelce
So True With Caleb Hearon
Hysterical
Wild Card With Rachel Martin
Shell Game
Best International
The Business of Doing Business With Dwayne Kerrigan – Canada
Mamamia Out Loud – Australia
Between Two Beers Podcast – New Zealand
The Diary of a CEO with Steven Bartlett – United Kingdom
Las Alucines – Mexico
As Discogs marches towards its 25th anniversary later this year, the music discovery platform has announced new milestones in collection trends among its physical music-loving users.
According to fresh figures released Tuesday (Jan. 7), Discogs members cataloged over 105.7 million pieces of music in 2024 — an average of 2 million vinyl albums, CDs, tapes, 8-tracks and any other catalogable format you can think of per week.
Since its inception, more than 830 million items have been cataloged, with average collections — which are predominantly vinyl — hovering around 195 items per user, the company said. Collectors made sure to log a lot of copies of Taylor Swift’s The Tortured Poets Department, the year’s most collected album at more than 130,000, followed by releases from Charli XCX and Billie Eilish. The most collected artist of all time continues to be four lads from Liverpool and the most collected master is Pink Floyd’s The Dark Side of the Moon. The most collected individual release is the original 180-gram version of Daft Punk’s Random Access Memories, from 2013. (Incidentally, the label that released RAM — Columbia — is the most collected imprint out there.)
Jeffrey Smith, Discogs’ vice president of marketing, emphasized the significance of reaching 105.7 million records cataloged in a single year, noting that each record represents a “deliberate choice” by a real person to “hold, own, and listen to music with intention.”
Trending on Billboard
“Discogs continues to exist because people care deeply about music as something tangible and meaningful,” Smith added. “This collection milestone reflects a global community driven deeply by passion, connection, and an unwavering commitment to the music that shapes their lives.”
Discogs’ other function, as a viable place to buy and sell those physical music collections, is also hoping to hit a milestone this year. In early 2024, the company told Billboard that it wants to boost its online database to 25 million marketplace listings by its 25th anniversary in November 2025.
Here are some stats on Discogs’ collections:
Average collection size: 195 items
Average collection value: $317
Most collected album ever: The Dark Side of the Moon, Pink Floyd
Most collected albums of 2024:The Tortured Poets Department, Taylor Swift (130,000-plus)Brat, Charli XCX (40,000-plus)Hit Me Hard And Soft, Billie Eilish (40,000-plus)Short N’ Sweet, Sabrina Carpenter (30,000)Songs Of A Lost World, The Cure (27,000)
Most collected record ever: Original 180-gram vinyl of Daft Punk’s Random Access Memories
Record label with the most items in collection: Columbia
Most collected formats:1. Vinyl2. CDs4. Cassettes
Eminem and MGK (formerly Machine Gun Kelly) have one of modern music’s longest standing feuds, but if one person can bring them together, it’s probably Jelly Roll. And on a recent episode of the Flagrant podcast, the “Son of a Sinner” singer said that he’s up to the task.
While discussing how he’s worked with both the Detroit rapper and the “My Ex’s Best Friend” musician in the past, Jelly revealed that he hopes to someday “bring them together,” as he sees “so much more of them in each other than they know.” “They’re gonna get together one day, eventually,” he added confidently.
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“I haven’t really brought it up to Marshall yet, ’cause I’m just still kind of glad that I’m still in that circumference to be able to have those conversations,” the country star continued. “I also gave [MGK] some perspective too: We all grew up watching Eminem take over the game early. If you got mentioned in an Eminem song, it was like being mentioned in a comedy special. You’re on f–king fire. You couldn’t be hotter.”
Em and MGK first started butting heads in 2012, when the latter — who was 22 at the time — referred to the former’s then-16-year-old daughter Hallie as “hot as f–k” on Twitter, which is now called X. In the years since, the two rappers have dissed each other in their music, and Slim Shady most recently name-dropped his opponent on 2020’s “Unaccommodating.”
“But when they ask me is the war finished with MGK? Of course it is,” Em riffed on the track. “I cleansed him of his mortal sins/ I’m God and the Lord forgives/ Even the devil worshippers.”
Even so, Jelly said that a truce between his two friends is “inevitable.” “I think that they’re gonna find each other’s heart more than they don’t,” he said on the podcast. “If they never do connect that way, [the feud] did more for both of them than it did to hurt either one of them.”
When asked how he balances his relationships with Em and MGK, Jelly noted that he simply stays transparent with both stars and their teams. The “Need a Favor” musician has worked with the “Emo Girl” artist on the tracks “Lonely Road” and “Time of Day,” as well as appeared on “Somebody Save Me” from Eminem’s Billboard 200-topping album The Death of Slim Shady. According to Jelly, neither of his friends has ever had an issue with him working with both of them, despite the two hip-hop stars’ famous beef.
Listen to Jelly share his thoughts on Eminem and MGK’s feud on Flagrant above.
Kendrick Lamar has a couple more names to add to his opp list for 2025. WWE‘s Raw made its Netflix debut in Los Angeles on Monday night (Jan. 6), and wrestling tag team New Day called out the West Coast rapper in his home state. “Think about it,” began the duo’s Xavier Woods. “The past […]
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Source: Treyarch / Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War
It’s no secret that making AAA video games has become expensive for game studios, but we have no idea how much coins are needed to bring some of the biggest titles to players. A new report has revealed how much Activision spent to develop several Call of Duty games, and the amount is eye-watering.
Stephen Totitlo of Game File exclusively reports that Activision dropped a BIG BAG on three top-selling Call of Duty games in the franchise, a court filing reviewed by Game File revealed.
In the court filing, which is part of a declaration filed to a California court on December 23 in response to a lawsuit filed against Activision in May 2022 in connection with the 2022 school shooting at Robb Elementary in Uvalde, Texas, Patrick Kelly, Activision’s current head of creative on the Call of Duty franchise, revealed that three titles in the first-person shooter franchise between 2015 and 2022 cost between $450 and $700 million to make.
Of the three titles, 2020’s Black Ops Cold War cost the most. Activision spent over $700 million to develop it, selling 30 million copies.
Those numbers are the highest development costs ever reported for a video game, easily topping the roughly $220 million spent on Naughty Dog’s The Last of Us: Part II. We only learned about this in 2023 when a poorly redacted court filing went viral online.
Per Game File:
Black Ops III (2015): “Treyarch developed the game over three years with a creative team of hundreds of people, and invested over $450 million in development costs over the game’s lifecycle.” (Kelly also discloses that it has sold 43 million copies.)
Modern Warfare (2019): “Infinity Ward developed the game over several years and has spent over $640 million in development costs throughout the game’s lifecycle.” (41 million copies sold)
Black Ops Cold War (2020): “Treyarch and Raven Software took years to create the game with a team of hundreds of creatives. They ultimately spent over $700 million in development costs over the game’s lifecycle.” (30 million copies sold)
According to Game File, Kelly explicitly named those three titles and their budgets in the lawsuit because the shooter was an avid player of them.
That’s a lot of money, but are we shocked? Not in the least bit.
Also, it’s time people stop blaming video games for real-life behavior; just saying.
Jamie Foxx revealed that he was close to death during his 2023 medical emergency. On the red carpet at Sunday’s 2025 Golden Globe Awards, Foxx told Variety‘s Mark Malkin that the nurse who treated him in Atlanta dubbed him a “five-percenter,” in reference to the less than 5% of people who survive the kind of severe brain bleed and stroke that the actor suffered that year.
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For over a year Foxx, 57, did not reveal much about the medical incident that left him hospitalized, though he did finally open up about it in his Golden Globe nominated stand-up special, What Had Happened Was…, which was released in December. In it, Foxx got emotional at points, verging on tears describing the scary incident, noting that during the first two weeks of his treatment his doctors weren’t sure he would make it.
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In a testament to his joy in surviving the scare, Foxx told Malkin “this doesn’t matter,” in reference to the hoopla surrounding the glitzy, star-studded awards show. He illustrated that point by shouting out the nurse who told him he was a five-percenter, saying that when she saw who her patient was she “rolled her sleeves up” and got to work.
“I said, ‘thank you so much,’” he recalled.
“She said, ‘why are you thanking me? You’re not special,’” he said. “I roll my sleeves up for everybody that comes in here. And so when it hits like that and all of the red carpet and the tuxes and this, come on man. And she said, ‘All of [this treatment] will get you to that, but right now you’re a patient and I got to get you right.”
Foxx attended the Globes with his daughters, Anelise Foxx and Corinne Marie Foxx, who he praised for stepping up during a difficult time. “I say this all the time, when you dream about what you want to be, you don’t dream about tragedy,” he said, taking off his shades. “You dream the good things, you dream the greatest life in the world. But when tragedy happens, you need somebody there that really loves you.”
Corinne, in particular, took charge by initially informing the world about her dad’s “medical complication,” then giving an update several weeks later. She said at the time that the family had been “preparing for the worst,” only to tell fans that her dad was out of the hospital and recuperating (and playing Pickleball), while thanking them for their support.
Last July, Foxx opened up a bit about the medical emergency that landed him in the Atlanta hospital for a month while he was filming the Netflix movie Back in Action with Cameron Diaz, telling fans that he had no memory of the particulars. “Look, April 11 last year — bad headache. I asked my boy for an Advil,” Foxx said. “I was gone for 20 days. I don’t remember anything.”
Foxx told Malkin that he likes to say that Corinne “turned into Michael Corleone,” laughing that his daughter was not familiar with Al Pacino’s iconic turn as the head of a mob family in Francis Ford Coppola’s Godfather trilogy. “I said, ‘you don’t understand. When Michael seen that his dad was in trouble, he stepped up.’ And she did, man. It was a lot of pressure on her, but she delivered.”
Watch Foxx talk about his medical scare below.
Three-time ACM entertainer of the year winner Jason Aldean and reigning 15-time CMA vocal duo of the year winners Brooks & Dunn are teaming up to co-headline a concert at Boston’s iconic ballpark Fenway Park on May 30. “Whiskey on You” hitmaker Nate Smith and “God Made Girls” singer RaeLynn will open the show, which will […]
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According to News 4 Jacksonville, another arrest has been made connected to the murder of rapper Julio Foolio. The Florida rapper was shot and killed in Tampa. The latest person arrested is Davion Murphy, a 21-year-old man, who joins the list of people already caught in connection to the crime. The other four arrested are Rashad Murphy, Sean Gathright, Isiah Chance, and Alicia Andrews. What really got people talking was a mugshot of Davion Murphy that surfaced online after he was arrested. In the photo, he’s smiling, which many found creepy and strange considering he’s facing serious charges. The arrest has sparked even more questions about what really went down the night Julio Foolio was killed.
The rapper’s death has caused a lot of shock and sadness, especially in the Jacksonville area, where Julio Foolio was well known. Police are still trying to figure out the full story behind the murder, and they want anyone with information to come forward. Even though they’ve made multiple arrests, the investigation is still ongoing, and they’re working hard to bring justice to Julio Foolio’s family and fans. Julio was known for his viral diss song ‘When I See You’ where he disrespected all of his enemies and mocked their deceased friends. Following that was a bunch of back-and-forth diss tracks between Foolio and his opps.