SAN MATEO, Calif., December 21, 2021 – Evolution Championship Series (known as Evo), announced today the appointment of Rick “TheHadou” Thiher as its new General Manager for the world’s largest fighting game event. Thiher will be responsible for overseeing the overall strategic vision and direction for the event as well as the day-to-day operations. He will also continue as Event Director for Combo Breaker, a series of community-based conventions and an apparel brand dedicated to competitive fighting games.
“The fighting game community has had an idyllic vision of what Evo could be. As part of Evo’s team, I’m looking forward to realizing that aspiration while delivering memorable experiences for our players and fans in the process,” said Thiher. “The fighting game genre has attracted new fans across generations. We want to continue celebrating that legacy through Evo by introducing our community to undiscovered audiences for generations to come. “
Evo’s storied history includes celebrating some of the best fighting game titles on the planet. Evo recognizes the legacy of the fighting game genre, so it will continue to be supportive of the publishers as we collaboratively build the genre’s future. Evo plans to return next year as a live event with details to be announced in 2022.
“We have full trust and faith in Rick to propel Evo even further as the premier fighting game tournament while remaining true to its roots,” said Steven Roberts, VP of Global Competitive Gaming for Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE). “Together with RTS and our valued publishing partners, we are excited to add Rick to the team that is working to bring Evo 2022 to the FGC!”
In March 2021, SIE and RTS formed a joint venture esports partnership and acquired Evo from Triple Perfect, Inc. Evo co-founders Tony and Tom Cannon will continue to serve as advisors and work in partnership with Thiher.
“Rick brings an exciting vision to Evo and understands the importance that this is a community driven event, so we must strike the balance between listening to our fans and players and pushing the envelope to innovate the experience for everyone,” said Stuart Saw, CEO for RTS.
Thiher is a strong advocate and voice for the fighting game community and brings a wealth of experience producing events, including most recently as a product manager for Twitch, where he worked on third party esports and the Twitch Rivals brand for the past 4+ years. For more than 13 years, he has also led The Hadou, a creative consultancy, focused on events from ideation and creation to branding and marketing to broadcast development. He is a graduate of the Minneapolis College of Art and Design.
Cologne/New York/Stockholm –ESL Gaming, the world’s leading esports company, together with Intel® and DHL, today announced the women’s CS:GO circuit. As part of ESL Gaming’s long-term ambition to create a world where everybody can be somebody, this all-new competitive ecosystem around Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO), one of the most popular esports titles worldwide, aims to increase awareness, provide new opportunities, and improve the representation for all women CS:GO players.
The initiative is the first step of many in ESL Gaming’s new #GGFORALL program, following the belief that “it’s not GG (Good Game), until it’s GG for all,” and focusing on pushing the boundaries to ultimately make gaming and esports an inclusive, respectful and all-empowering space. This program will include several Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives to decrease the company’s environmental impact, to aid in establishing an inclusive gaming community free of discrimination, verbal abuse, and bullying, and much more.
Supported by Intel® and DHL, the CS:GO ecosystem for women offers $500,000 across regional leagues, standalone events at DreamHack festivals, and ESL Cash Cups:
The new leagues feature eight teams in both Europe and North America and a total of $150,000 prize pool. The three best teams from both regions, together with a South American and an Asian-Pacific team coming from open qualifiers, participate in the Global League Finals at DreamHack Dallas (June 3-5, 2022) and DreamHack Winter (November 25-27, 2022).
Furthermore, during DreamHack festivals, there will be standalone events which will, per event, see eight teams from all four regions battle over a $100,000 prize pool, equal to ESL Challenger events that are part of ESL Pro Tour. The first event will take place at DreamHack Valencia on July 1-3, 2022.
Finally, starting in January 2022, ESL Cash Cups for women’s teams will be added to ESEA, giving teams featuring a full women’s roster the opportunity to compete twice a month for their share of a total of $4,000 prize pool (split evenly between the Asian-Pacific, European, North American and South American regions).
ESL’s 2022 Women’s Cup for CS:GO, which is part of their #GGFORALL program (Image: ESL)
On top of that, ESL Gaming has committed to instituting a women players council that will aid in defining further details around the CS:GO ecosystem for women and that provides women a platform for consolidated feedback towards ESL Gaming and other Tournament Organizers. Moreover, ESL Gaming continues to work towards increasing the representation of women as broadcasting talents as well as within the company. To amplify that, it will introduce a talent development program that provides select aspiring broadcast talents the necessary tactics and tools to become successful and offers opportunities to cast competitions within ESL Gaming’s CS:GO ecosystem. Likewise, the company is opening up additional job opportunities within the company to enhance the new product further.
“By providing an infrastructure equal to their male counterparts, we are thrilled to create more visibility and opportunities for women in the esports space, as well as to support them in their professional development and to help make their dreams come true,” said Roberta Hernandez, SVP People and Culture at ESL Gaming. “This is only the first part of a number of #GGFORALL initiatives we are currently working on and we can’t wait to tell you more about what is yet to come.”
“At ESL Gaming we truly believe in a world where everybody can be somebody, so going back to the grassroots level and creating an all-new ecosystem to ensure ambitious women CS:GO players are given equal chances is a great step forward,” added Brian Krämer, General Manager, CS:GO at ESL Gaming, and Charlie Sirc, Product Manager at ESL Gaming, in a joint statement. “With a great lineup of events for next year already, we are super excited to develop this new product further in 2022 and beyond.”
Other CSR initiatives launched in conjunction with the women’s CS:GO circuit include ESL Gaming’s recently announced efforts to offset its carbon footprint.
For more information about the CS:GO ecosystem for women please visit the official website via ggforall.gg.
To help you discover upcoming game industry events calendar that includes conferences, conventions, festivals and many other types of events, we post a consolidated list here on Events for Gamers each month.
January brings a hopeful sign that the game industry events are starting to return to normal. While 2022 is certainly going to be mixed for online-only vs on-site, part of that mix now includes online-only events not due necessarily to the pandemic but also due to simply good business. We shall see how the year progresses, but our estimate is by end of 2022 we will see the ‘new normal’ solidify for events moving forward long-term.
View this month’s event list below. You can also click here for the main calendar view that includes events into 2022 and beyond.
Arlington, VA, Dec. 17, 2021 – The Consumer Technology Association (CTA)® today announced that CES® 2022 , the world’s most influential technology event, is adding an additional layer of health protocols and will offer complimentary COVID-19 rapid testing kits. This additional measure builds upon the previously announced requirement that all in-person attendees must provide proof of COVID-19 vaccination.
Upon arriving at designated badge pick up locations, CES attendees will be provided with Abbott BinaxNOW COVID-19 Self Test kits. Each BinaxNOW Self Test kit contains two tests, which can be used twice while attending the show. The test is easy to use, requires only a shallow nasal swab, takes 15 minutes and can be done from the convenience of your hotel room. CES strongly encourages all participants to test for COVID-19 before they leave home and within 24 hours before entering a show venue.
“CES is a global event, and we continue to see strong momentum with new exhibitors signing up every day,” said Gary Shapiro, president and CEO, CTA. “In August, we announced that every CES attendee must be fully vaccinated. CES will also provide complimentary COVID-19 rapid tests, onsite at badge pickup locations, as an additional step to protect the health and safety of all our attendees, exhibitors and staff.”
CES 2022 returns to Las Vegas Jan. 5-8, 2022, convening over 2100 exhibitors, global media, top retailers and industry leaders. Confirmed exhibitors include brands like Abbott, Amazon, AMD, Autograph, Damon, Goodyear, Hisense, Hyundai, IBM, Intel, LG Electronics, Meta, Microsoft, Oracle, Panasonic, Procter & Gamble, Qualcomm, Revival Health, Samsung Electronics, Sierra Space, Sony, Waymo and more. A full exhibitor directory and floorplans can be accessed at CES.tech.
Testing – All CES attendees MUST be fully vaccinated against COVID-19. We also request that attendees test for COVID-19 within the 24 hours period prior to entering a CES venue.
CES will provide complimentary PCR testing for non-US based attendees who require testing prior to their return flight home.
Vaccination Requirement –CES attendees MUST show proof of COVID-19 vaccination to attend CES. Detailed information on the proof of COVID-19 vaccination process can be found here.
Attendees must be fully vaccinated with a vaccine approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) or World Health Organization (WHO). A list of approved vaccines can be found here.
U.S. based attendees are encouraged to use the CLEAR complimentary mobile app and Health Pass feature to expedite vaccine validation.
Non-U.S. based attendees, as well as U.S. based attendees who may be unable to use CLEAR, will need to provide their proof of vaccination at designated locations on-site.
Mask Requirement –Masks are required for large indoor events in the State of Nevada. CES attendees will be required to wear masks as follows:
In exhibit booths and indoor exhibit facilities.
In conference and keynote rooms.CES shuttle buses and any CES transportation services.
Safety ambassadors will be walking the exhibit floor to offer masks to those who may need one.
Additional health protocols include:
Venues – Enhanced ventilation systems and cleaning protocols in CES venues.
Conference programming and meeting rooms – Set to enable social distancing.
Show floor design and flow – Wider aisles and one-way traffic flows in certain areas.
Food and beverage – Sanitizing stations and guidance on attendee best practices.
Detailed information for all CES 2022 health protocols can be found here. Those unable to travel to Las Vegas will be able to access CES digitally.
Owned and produced by CTA, CES 2022 will convene the tech industry in person and digitally, Jan. 5-8, 2022, with Media Days taking place Jan. 3-4, 2022. Global audiences will have access to major brands and startups, as well as the world’s most-influential leaders and industry advocates. For 55 years, CES has been the global stage for innovation, and CES 2022 will provide an opportunity for companies from around the world, both large and small, to launch products, build brands and form partnerships. Visit CES.tech for all CES 2022 updates, including health protocols, registration details and the media page for all press resources.
Arguably, the biggest event in the game industry in and around the holiday season, hosted in Los Angeles and online on Dec. 9, The Game Awards 2021 represented a couple of milestone opportunities for the game industry. It was both a celebration of some of the biggest games from the last year, and even more than that, an open door to reveal new games and more for next year to a large audience
The original event and livestream for The Game Awards 2021 clocked in at almost four hours, but there are a number of crisply edited videos online, which are videos trimmed to a selection of key reveals, winners, and other highlights. For this month’s video, let’s check out Washington Post Gaming’s YouTube edit of the event.
In not-quite 13 minutes, this video is neatly carved into 31 segments that start with the the host, Geoff Keighley, walking through the audience and closing out with the “Game of the Year” announcement. In-between the bookends, there’s plenty of the more memorable celebrities-doing-gaming-things moments, new games and content, and winners in headlining categories like “Best Indie Game” and “Best Ongoing Game” packed into the video. Let’s just say it’s enough of a CliffsNotes version of the event that you can keep up with most conversations with your gamer friends and colleagues.
But if you’d like to check out all the winners, reveals, and other announcements that was packed into The Game Awards 2021 full-length ceremony, swing by the original YouTube link, pop open a beverage and snack and settle in for a longer watch.
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Whether you are an event coordinator, press, or general attendee, if you have an event video to share with us, please let us know and we’ll be happy to feature it!
Arlington, VA Nov. Dec. 9, 2021 – The Consumer Technology Association (CTA)® announced that in the last 10 days, 200 additional companies have signed up to exhibit and an additional 10,000 attendees have registered to attend CES® 2022 in person in Las Vegas on January 5-8, 2022. Cenntro Automotive, HTC, Micron, NVIDIA, TikTok and others are the latest companies to announce their participation showcasing cutting-edge technologies and product launches.
“The excitement continues to build as we get closer to the moment where the world’s most influential technology innovators meet in person with customers, media, investors and policymakers,” said Gary Shapiro, president and CEO, CTA. “We are thrilled to now welcome over 1900 exhibitors from all over the world to show how tech is improving our lives and transforming industries.”
Over 2400 members of the media, have now registered to attend CES in person and plan to interact with brands like Amazon, AMD, Boston Consulting, Hyundai, IBM, Intel, LG Electronics, Magna, Meta, Microsoft, Oracle, Panasonic, Procter & Gamble, Qualcomm, Razer, Samsung Electronics, Scosche, Sierra Space, Sony and more. A full exhibitor directory and floorplans can be accessed at CES.tech.
CES 2022 will feature new categories including Food Tech, Space Tech and NFTs. The automotive sector is tracking for record growth and has over 200 exhibitors, a 30 percent increase over CES 2020. Several new companies will be there including TuSimple, who will showcase its self-driving semi-truck, and VinFast, a first-time Vietnamese car manufacturer. A snapshot of who is coming to CES:
1900+ exhibitors
2400+ members of the media
195 Fortune Global 500 Companies
77 Interbrand 100 Companies
66 top 100 retailers (Based on Twice 2020 Top Retailers)
55% of registered attendees are senior-level
160 countries represented
200+ automotive brands
Safety, security and health are a priority at CES. CTA will continue to monitor and evaluate the health situation and may announce additional protocols closer to the show. CES was early in announcing attendees must be fully vaccinated with a vaccine approved by the FDA or World Health Organization (WHO). Those who may be unable to travel to Las Vegas, will be able to access CES digitally. Registration for digital only access opens Dec. 9. The latest CES health protocols information can be found on CES.tech.
Owned and produced by CTA, CES 2022 will convene the tech industry in person and digitally, Jan. 5-8, 2022, with Media Days taking place Jan. 3-4, 2022. Global audiences will have access to major brands and startups, as well as the world’s most-influential leaders and industry advocates. For 55 years, CES has been the global stage for innovation, and CES 2022 will provide an opportunity for companies from around the world, both large and small, to launch products, build brands and form partnerships. Visit CES.tech for all CES 2022 updates, including health protocols, registration details and the media page for all press resources.
Developers can now submit their games for the chance to receive up to $500,000 in funding.
November 29, 2021 – LOS ANGELES – Rogue Games, a leading publisher obsessed with innovation and style, is now accepting submissions for Rogue Jam, an unprecedented celebration of independent developers and an opportunity to showcase their amazing creations for the world to see. Developers have one month to submit their game until the portal closes Friday, Dec. 31, 2021. Winners will be announced in March 2022 in a week-long Shark Tank style reveal produced by IGN and will have a chance to win exclusive publishing deals and a share of $800,000 in funding towards game development, as well as a variety of prizes.
The goal of Rogue Jam, as outlined by Rogue CEO Matt Casamassina, can be boiled down to three points:
Fund several awesome, deserving indie games
Publish those awesome indie game
Build awareness for the games and studios as well as for Rogue
Information for developers who want to submit their game to Rogue Jam: Make sure to review Rogue Jam’s rules and commonly asked questions here then submit creations via the portal link at https://roguejam.com/game-time/.
Judging Criteria
Submissions will be judged on a variety of criteria, including:
Fun
Originality
Presentation
Polish
The “Rogue” Factor
Rogue Jam Rules
Even though Rogue is Rogue, there’s gotta be some order to the chaos. Full rules, terms and conditions can be found at https://roguejam.com/rules/, but key rules include:
Anyone over 18 can submit an original, unpublished creation that judges can play (or fully comprehend with video)
There are no limits to the number of people within a team–but only one team member signs up for Rogue Jam and submits the game.
The game must be playable
Any platform is fine
Categories and Prizes
Currently, five categories are planned, with judges reserving the right to award more. These are:
OVERALL WINNER
The absolute favorite of the judges
PRIZE: $500,000 in support, plus a Rogue Publishing Deal
WTF?
The weirdest, wildest game of Rogue Jam
PRIZE: $100,000 in support, plus a Rogue Publishing Deal
EYE-POPPINGLY BEAUTIFUL
Is it art? It doesn’t matter as long as the judges think it’s drop-dead gorgeous
PRIZE: $100,000 in support, plus a Rogue Publishing Deal
HUGE POTENTIAL
An amazing concept that judges think needs a little more TLC
PRIZE: $50,000 in support, plus Rogue Right of First Refusal
AUDIENCE CHOICE
During the judging process, fans will have a chance to pick their favorite via online and social voting
PRIZE: $50,000 in support, plus Rogue Right of First Refusal
The Judges
REGGIE FILS-AIMÉ – FORMER PRESIDENT & COO OF NINTENDO OF AMERICA; ROGUE GAMES BOARD ADVISOR
Reggie is a seasoned executive who, as Nintendo of America’s president and chief operating officer, relaunched the company’s brand to bring our world the DS, 3DS, Wii, and Switch.
He also successfully launched countless games across Nintendo’s wide portfolio of hit franchises, from Mario to Zelda.
Reggie famously kicks ass and takes names and is fondly known as the Reggie-nator.
Reggie remains an active businessman, investor, and philanthropist. Currently the Leader in Residence at Cornell University’s Charles H. Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management.
CHRIS LEE – HEAD OF GAME SOURCING AND INTERACTIVE GAMES AT NETFLIX
As the global head of game sourcing at Netflix, Chris Lee is responsible for building and overseeing the content portfolio of games from external studios.
In the years prior to his current role, he led video game licensing and several different groups within the US marketing organization.
Before joining Netflix, Chris held a variety of roles in the video game industry. Most recently he was CEO and co-founder of En Masse Entertainment, a publisher focused on online games. Prior to that he managed major blockbuster video game franchises and delivered successful marketing launches on titles including Need for Speed (EA), Halo, and Age of Empires (Microsoft).
KIMBERLY POINTER-CORBETT – SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT DIGITAL PUBLISHING AT WARNER BROS
Kimberly is currently the Senior Vice President of Digital Publishing at Warner Bros. Games, where her team supports titles like Game of Thrones: Conquest and Mortal Kombat 11.
Prior to Warner Bros. Games, Kimberly published top-grossing titles including Marvel: Contest of Champions and Words with Friends.
Kimberly’s expertise is in User Acquisition and building proprietary publishing automation tools that leverage data and auction science.
PEER SCHNEIDER – EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT AND CCO AT IGN
Peer is the Executive Vice President and Chief Content Officer of IGN Entertainment, responsible for the company’s overall content strategy, editorial, video, commerce, social media, and product verticals.
As one of the founders of the Ziff Davis-owned media company (formerly known as Snowball), he laid the groundwork for a multi-screen network that now reaches more than 283 million fans across the web, apps, YouTube, social platforms, and OTT.
Born and raised in Germany, Peer lived in Japan for many years, where he studied at Tokyo’s Sophia University and worked on projects for a variety of media companies.
And yes, he’s also a Reaction Guy.
MATT CASAMASSINA – CEO AT ROGUE
Matt is a co-founder of IGN Entertainment, where he held many roles including editor-in-chief and editor-at-large.
Later, he built Apple’s App Store games editorial team, which he managed for almost a decade. Matt has an eye for games and was also an Apple Design Award judge for most of his time at Apple.
As the founder and CEO of Rogue, he sets the vision for the company and is intimately involved in the selection of all the games that it publishes.
Beyond gaming, Matt is an accomplished science-fiction author who has written two critically acclaimed books, Dead Weight and Sophistication, with a third underway.
CHRIS ARCHER – CSO AT ROGUE
Chris is a former designer, producer, programmer, director of games and startup founder.
Since the early 90s, he and his teams have built more than 100 games across nearly every platform with millions of units sold and billions in revenue generated.
As CSO, Archer oversees Rogue’s worldwide studios and global portfolio. He guides the overall strategy for the publisher through business development, strategic collaborations, platform relations, and data-driven quantitative and and qualitative analysis.
To help you discover upcoming game industry events calendar that includes conferences, conventions, festivals and many other types of events, we post a consolidated list here on Events for Gamers each month.
December has historically been the low month for events due to the end-year holidays grabbing everyone’s attention, but this year is a bit different. This year we have a nice mix of online, hybrid (both online and in person), and in-person events focused to the first half of the month.
View this month’s event list below. You can also click here for the main calendar view that includes events into 2022 and beyond.
The Augmented World Expo (AWE) 2021 event, which took place on Nov. 9-11, was held as a hybrid event. The live event drew almost 3,000 attendees, according to the organizers, over those three days in Santa Clara, California — with many more attendees joining online. The awe.live app and community, and YouTube streaming, enabled a portion of the experience to be shown live with remote attendees. This month, we’ll share a 21-minute official walkthrough of the AWE 2021 expo floor from the official AWE YouTube channel.
The video, which is unnarrated, begins at the main entrance to the AWE 2021 expo floor, first encountering the front-and-center Niantic Lightship booth and its distinctive statue that drew a lot of photo-snapping. The videographer stopped by several other booths such as Varjo, Vuzix, Qualcomm, and HaptX, before leaving through the main entry/exit.
The video has some streaming artifacts, but it’s easy to get a sense of what it was like to be there in person even through the lens doesn’t quite get to the whole floor. You’ll see wide-spaced expo walkways, many of the bigger names in augmented reality and virtual reality hardware and software, with a (perhaps surprisingly) robust turn-out of mask-wearing attendees. Of the handful of dedicated gaming-related booths, the distinctively bright and colorful Fungisaurs table gets a bit of attention in the middle of the stream.
Among the spacious open areas in and between the booths, you’ll also see a few networking areas and one of the ever-helpful coffee and tea stations sprinkled through the open areas. Check out the following YouTube video to see the walkthrough.
For a longer and more complete look (just over one hour) at the AWE 2021 expo, accompanied by Ori Inbar, CEO and Co-Founder of AWE, along with some on-the-spot interviews of several AR and VR exhibitors during the media tour of the floor, check out this YouTube video.
Whether you are an event coordinator, press, or general attendee, if you have an event video to share with us, please let us know and we’ll be happy to feature it!
Computex is one of our favorite events to cover because it focuses on upcoming computer technology. It’s the main event to watch for news on new motherboard, CPU, GPU, and other component announcements. All that hardware in your XBOX or PlayStation? Yep, it was probably announced, or at least heavily mentioned, at a Computex.
To say that 2022 is going to be an interesting year of pros and cons for computer hardware is an understatement. It’s almost certain at this point that we’ll be entering the year with the continued shortage of components (and an increase in prices for them). While we may see 2023 before the supply chain issues are resolved, 2022 is still set to be beneficial for new hardware releases (especially for any lucky soul who can actually get their hands on what they want to buy at retail).
The following are some of the products you’re going to want to keep watch for as we leave 2021 behind and welcome a new era of computing.
Processors
CPUs (processors) are the horsepower of a system — the brains of that horse if you will. The faster the CPU the faster everything will work from the user point of view. Even graphics and GPUs, as we’ll cover shortly, rely on the CPU to processing incoming data to eventually display the results on the screen.
Over the last several years we’ve had a bit of a dearth of growth in computing power. Sure, each year we see new releases of processors from both Intel and AMD and other manufacturers with a jump in core counts (how many CPUs are packaged together, essentially). But otherwise it’s been incremental improvements of a few percentage points of performance here and there.
AMD has made significant strides in the last few years, quickly catching up to what Intel is capable of delivering. However, 2022 is going to see the fight come to a head. There is going to be heavy competition between CPU powers greater than we have seen in nearly 10 years. Intel has been getting its act together already with a new CPU architecture just released named Alder Lake. This new architecture results in a performance jump much greater than Intel has put out in a long time.
Intel realizes it’s had difficulties developing improved performance CPUus over the last several — stressing the word “several” — years with its 10nm architecture and may bring a two-punch hit to AMD in 2022 with a follow-up to their Alder Lake architecture. Performance is going to be a focus for both Intel and AMD in 2022, but it may be AMD looking to catch up this time with its upcoming Zen 4 architecture.
Graphics (GPUs)
We’re all gamers here at Events For Gamers. As much as we love to upgrade to the latest CPU to ensure programs run smooth as butter, the visual fidelity (especially in games) is where our interest lies. Our mouths start to water when we learn about the next generation of graphics cards (GPUs) and what they are capable of delivering.
Assuming you can find a dedicated GPU at all amidst the shortages, 2022 is going to bring another interesting fight in this arena, but this time (perhaps for the first time ever) three graphics powers will come to head. The two expected contenders, Nvidia and AMD, will be revealing their next generation solutions. Nvidia will be releasing what may be the last generation of ‘monolithic’ graphics processors (single chips essentially) called Lovelace, while AMD develops the first multi-die GPUs called RDNA4. AMD is also working on some innovative cache technology called Infinity Cache to help boost gaming performance.
What makes the next gen cards so intriguing is their anticipated power profiles. Usually, a new graphics architecture will deliver perhaps 50%, maybe even 100% performance over the previous generation. Nvidia and AMD are anticipated to be building graphics solutions capable of 200% to perhaps as high as 350% more performance than current generation solutions.
What’s also even more incredible is how much electrical power they will suck out of your wall outlet. While these cards are going to run the latest generation of games at or near peak settings, they will also melt your wallet (and computer’s power supply if it’s a low-power one) with power-hungry components. We’re not sure how well the next generation of GPUs will conform in laptop and other mobile solutions, but you can be sure that you won’t be getting a 200-350% increase in performance in more compact solutions because of the tight power constraints.
For DIY system builders, be warned that purchasing a next gen 2022 GPU may require a new power connector and even a new power supply. Also anticipate needing a higher capacity power supply of at least 1000-1200 watts if you want a top-end GPU in late 2022.
System memory
Every 5-7 years or so we’ll see the next evolution of system memory. System memory is the interface between the CPU and rest of the system for loaded programs. The first time something runs and is maintained as an active program on your operating system, it is using system memory. The latest type of memory is known as DDR Memory in most systems built in the last couple of decades. Anything sold at your local PC shop has this type of memory installed.
DDR3 came out in 2007, DDR4 in 2014, and now DDR5 is made its debut with Intel’s Alder Lake this past quarter. Of course DDR5 is faster and has several other bells and whistles that will be appreciated. As of this article’s publication, we’ve certainly seen faster performance, but it depends on the application and operating system.
For those early adopters out there, DDR5 is painfully expensive. This is how each new generation of DDR typically occurs. It’s expensive, “meh” on performance (vs. the best of the best of the previous generation anyway) and then after a year or two will become better in all these areas. Late 2022 with the new CPUs and GPUs mentioned above might be the best time in a long time to upgrade.
Motherboards
GPUs typically don’t need other components in order to upgrade unless your computer is a decade old or more. So you may be able to get away with not having to upgrade the CPU either for a generation or two, but this is not the case with a new generation of memory.
DDR5 is going to absolutely require new motherboards (and by extension CPUs) to function. Motherboards are the foundation, so to speak, upon which all things plug in with each other. The CPU, memory, GPU, and just about every other component plugs in somewhere to the motherboard.
We’ve already covered DDR5 though, so what else is going to be special about motherboards in 2022?
As mentioned earlier, we technically will have some of these upcoming advances in Q4 2021 with Intel’s Alder Lake in late 2022. We get the feeling Intel released it this year just to “show off” that it can still compete since it’s so far behind now. After Computex is when Intel’s offerings will likely begin to mature with faster and more stable versions being released — and hopefully cheaper versions too.
We may have to cover these in a separate article for our readers that find this techy stuff interesting, as we’ll just list here briefly a few interesting things to note.
Data storage
While space for storage devices in desktop systems was never really a problem, more users than ever are purchasing laptops for work and play. It’s preferred when they are as light as possible for one’s actual lap and the old spinning hard drives of yester-year certain added to the total weight. With SSDs maturing over the last decade, this is no longer a problem.
Even so, the industry is finding even more ways to compactify your terabytes of storage. New M.2 form factor slots with NVMe drives will allow SSDs to be the size of a mini ruler, or a fraction of the card sized offerings of classical SSDs using the older SATA technology.
And motherboard manufacturers are finding ways to jam more USB ports and other connectivity options (for the right price of course).
PCI Express
The technology that allows transfer of data between the motherboard and GPU as well as the motherboard and storage devices. There are other components that connect to PCI Express but GPUs and storage are the dominant use cases. Intel’s Alder Lake and future AMD motherboard architectures will support PCI Express 5, double bandwidth from the still new PCi Express 4 standard.
We mention it because of its importance in ensuring a base line maximum of bandwidth for the above mentioned components. Without a fast PCI Express interface, the “highway” of your devices might be hampered. Fortunately, graphics cards barely saturate PCI Express these days, and certainly don’t for 4 or 5, so it’ll be a combination of GPUs and SSDs, or possibly a beefy SSD alone, that’ll use the bandwidth.
USB-C and Thunderbolt 4
An explanation of what USB is probably not needed here, so we’ll briefly mention Thunderbolt 4 (and the rumored upcoming Thunderbolt 5). USB, USB-C, and Thunderbolt connections are also directly tied to a system’s motherboard. Computex doesn’t cover peripherals quite as much as main hardware components, but it is still something to watch for at the show and other events that dig into the USB standard.
Wireless 6E (WI-FI 6E)
Need faster Internet connectivity to the wall? Don’t have any walls? No problem. WI-FI 6E is the new speed standard to make web content load as fast as possible. There’s not much more to be said here other than it’ll be included in several motherboard versions and be faster than previous generations of the technology. We mention it here because by the time Computex 2022 rolls around, we’re sure to see the next version announced.
An exciting time to follow PC hardware
It’s a fascinating time to be following the computer hardware industry. While tight supply and crazy high prices might prevent us from snapping up these new offerings anytime soon, we can at least drool over their performance potential. Hopefully once Computex 2022 comes around most of the supply and pricing problems will be behind us and the latest generation of offerings will be MSRP-ready.
Keep watch for more news about Computex 2022 right here at Events For Gamers. Next year is going to be a techy’ s dream come true.
Jensen Huang, the CEO of NVIDIA, will return to the virtual keynote stage for the GTC Fall 2021 showcase of the technology giant’s latest offerings and roadmap for the near future, focusing on AI for this online event. GTC Fall 2021 takes place November 8-11, with the keynote premiering at 12AM Pacific Standard Time (PST) and rebroadcasting at 8AM PST on Nov. 9.
If you don’t necessarily plan to attend GTC Fall 2021 online, the keynote is easily accessible through the following link to YouTube, where NVIDIA will be streaming the keynote address.
Expect artificial intelligence (AI) to take front-and-center stage for this keynote. At GTC, you’ll find discussions about AI (and NVIDIA’s role in each) in the enterprise, data center, robotics, healthcare, and autonomous vehicles. Gaming, AI, and the newly-empowered discussion about the metaverse will also have a place on the GTC Fall 2021 stage. Beyond the keynote, here’s a few of the gaming-centered sessions and panels NVIDIA has curated for the event:
A Vision for the Metaverse | Dean Takahashi, Lead Writer, GamesBeat/VentureBeat; Tim Sweeney, Founder and CEO, Epic Games; Morgan McGuire, Chief Scientist, Roblox; Rev Lebaredian, VP of Simulation Technology and Omniverse Engineering, NVIDIA; Patrick Cozzi, CEO, Cesium; William Cui, Vice President of Tencent Games, Tencent; Christina Heller, CEO, Metastage; Jinsoo Jeon, VP, Head of Metaverse Company, SK Telecom
Beyond Game Streaming – Cloud-Native Games | Julien Bouvrais, Head of Studio, Eidos-Sherbrooke
Towards Advanced Automated Game Testing with AI | Konrad Tolmar, Director of AI Research, Electronic Arts
Ray Tracing in One Weekend | Peter Shirley, Distinguished Scientist, NVIDIA |
More Realistic 3D Reconstruction of Human Performances | Charles Dupont, Head of Product, Dimension Studios
For the entire list, stop by this link summarizing GTC’s gaming talks and panels over the next couple days. On the horizon, GTC 2022 is expected to bring back the in-person format for their March 22-24 event. Until then, this upcoming keynote and GTC event will have to satisfy your itches to learn more about NVIDIA’s plans for AI, GPUs, and more.
PHILADELPHIA — Nov. 5, 2021 — The full schedule of programming for PAX Unplugged, the most attended tabletop gaming convention in the eastern U.S., is now available on the PAX website. The die has been cast, and a full weekend of panels featuring industry celebs and fan-favorite personalities hits the floor when PAX Unplugged returns to the Philadelphia Convention Center from Friday, December 10 through Sunday, December 12, 2021.
Celebrate tabletop gaming with an array of panels hosted in-person and on the official PAX Twitch channel by renowned industry figures, content creators, designers, and celebrities. Witness the Season 11 finale of Rivals of Waterdeep as the cast concludes their latest arc on the Main Stage Friday night. Join Dungeons & Dragons YouTubers Dingo Doodles, JoCat, Puffin Forest, JessJackdaw, and Felix Irnich for a live Q&A Saturday on the Main Stage. Hear Eberron creator Keith Baker’s inside info on the legendary campaign setting and new, unannounced projects.
For the first time in two years, PAX Unplugged returns with a weekend full of sensational fun and behind-the-scenes access. Walk the show floor, seeing and playing the latest from Cephalofair, R. Talsorian Games, CGE, KOSMOS, Bézier Games, and more. The full exhibitor list is available now. Choose from hundreds of tiles in the freeplay area and bring the whole family. With greater COVID-19 vaccine availability for children ages 5 to 11, Sunday Kids Day badges have been added for those who have completed a full vaccination series 14 days prior to the show.
“We always say ‘Welcome Home” at PAX, but this year feels welcomey and homier than usual,” said Jerry Holkins, co-founder of Penny Arcade and PAX. “It’s time to unleash our treasured dice and embark on new adventures in the very best of company.” Three-day badges for PAX Unplugged 2021 are on sale now for $75, while individual Friday, Saturday, and Sunday badges are available for $35 each. Sunday Kids Day badges sell for just $10.
