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Every year's edition of The Game Awards, which seems to be a lot more about trailers than awards, gives us at least one really striking-looking original game to look forward to. It's usually buried in between trailers for updates to mobile games, but it's always there.

This year, that game might be Split Fiction. Developed by Hazelight Studios and headed up by Josef Fares (known for using colorful language at previous Game Awards shows) Split Fiction is the spiritual follow-up to 2021 Game of the Year recipient It Takes Two. That means it's a really wacky and inventive adventure about rival fiction novelists meant specifically to be played by two people together cooperatively. I didn't get the impression that single-player is even an option, nor would it make sense for it to be one.

Anyway, I got to sit down and play about 45 minutes of Split Fiction with Fares himself before the big reveal at The Game Awards. While it remains to be seen if any of its big ideas will work when the game releases in early March, I can at least confirm that Split Fiction makes a hell of a first impression.

SEE ALSO: The 10 best video games you may have missed in 2024 Split Fiction hands-on preview: You got sci-fi in my fantasy Regardless of which aesthetic it's using at any given time, 'Split Fiction' looks very nice. Credit: Hazelight/EA

To understand what, exactly, Split Fiction is, you need to understand the premise. The problem is that I didn't fully grasp it in my brief time with the game, but I'll do my best to explain.

Two female novelists named Zoe and Mio (Fares was quick to mention these are his daughter's names) have, through seemingly nefarious means, been trapped inside a virtual simulation of their work together by an evil publishing company that wants to steal their stories. One of them is a sci-fi writer and the other is a fantasy novelist. The bulk of the gameplay seems like it will take place in either a fantasy or sci-fi world, depending on the level, with the idea being that these two women who don't like each other (or each other's work) very much need to work together creatively to get out of the simulation.

The name of the game in Split Fiction is variety. Every single level appears to have some kind of unique, bespoke co-op mechanic that probably only lasts for 10 to 15 minutes, and that you won't see anywhere else in the game. Here are just a few examples that Fares showed me in the very quick demo I got to play:

• A level where Zoe and Mio do competitive snowboarding down a mountain, complete with a reasonably deep trick and scoring system

• A level where Zoe and Mio hatch, raise, and ultimately ride on two dragons who grow as the level progresses

• A level where Zoe and Mio play as two pigs, one of whom can extend vertically like a Slinky toy, while the other farts rainbows in order to clear horizontal gaps

Oh yeah, there's a level where you shapeshift into weird monsters, too. Credit: Hazelight/EA

The most important part is that everything I got to play was fun. Split Fiction's base third-person platforming mechanics are solid and snappy on their own, but once the more goofy mechanics come into play, things get pretty neat. The snowboarding level was a decent enough approximation of SSX, while the pig level was a neat little optional distraction that Fares assured me lasts like 10 minutes. Speaking of optional distractions, Split Fiction seems like it will be full of hidden levels that are set in other stories these two characters have written. The pig level was one of these, but another one turned the game into a hand-drawn-in-pencil side-scroller for a while.

Hazelight's previous work in making unique co-op games shone through in the short demo I played, as well. It's not just that these mechanics are fun and two players get to do them together; in many cases, each player is given a different ability or role, so coordination is key. Sometimes one player will have to alter gravity to walk along the ceiling, cutting down platforms for the other. You know, stuff like that.

I can't say whether or not Split Fiction will live up to the excellent first impression it makes when the full game launches on March 5. But between a bunch of really fun co-op shenanigans I saw in just a brief demo, and the fact that there isn't a very annoying, omnipresent narrator like It Takes Two, Split Fiction is lining up to be one of the more interesting games of early 2025.

Hey folks, they're making a new The Witcher game. Yes, you play as Ciri. Remain calm.

CD Projekt Red announced its first new game since Cyberpunk 2077 at The Game Awards 2024. The lengthy trailer for The Witcher IV doesn't show any gameplay, but it does confirm something incredibly important: Ciri, not Geralt of Rivia, is the protagonist this time around. Geralt's voice is heard briefly at the end of the trailer, but he is not seen at any point. This is a Ciri adventure, which is what lots of folks (me) wanted after The Witcher 3.

Hopefully it launches in a better state than Cyberpunk.

One of the first reveals at the 2024 Game Awards will probably wind up sucking thousands of hours out of countless players.

At least, that's what Slay the Spire has done over the last few years, so it's reasonable to expect Slay the Spire 2 to do the same. It looks to add to the already-versatile card-based gameplay of the original with new cards, items, and other wild variables to consider as you try to, well, slay the spire.

The best part is you don't have to wait long. Slay the Spire 2 will launch in early access in 2025.

Still aiming to become a global leader in AI, the United States announced it will be moving forward on initiatives to incorporate generative AI into the inner workings of the Department of Defense (DoD)— just as AI's creators pitch their offerings to major defense contractors.

Announced today, the office will be moving ahead with a new $100 million AI Rapid Capabilities Cell "focused on accelerating DoD adoption of next-generation artificial intelligence," including generative AI. It will be led by the department's Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Office (CDAO) and Defense Innovation Unit (DIU). The announcement comes as a result of Task Force Lima, a Department of Defense generative AI task force established in 2023 to "assess, synchronize, and employ generative AI capabilities" in the DoD.

SEE ALSO: Rising use of generative AI by police is a threat to Americans' civil liberties, ACLU warns

"DIU's role is bringing the very best commercial tech to bear to meet critical warfighter problems with the focus, speed, and scale required to meet the strategic imperative," said DIU Director Doug Beck. "The result will help us scale the tech faster and more reliably, and will also help change the way the Department thinks about software development and delivery tempo for the future." The department's AI applications will include "decision support, operational planning, logistics, weapons development and testing, uncrewed and autonomous systems, intelligence activities, information operations, and cyber operations," as well as administrative purposes.  

Under the Biden Administration, the U.S. endorsed the international Political Declaration on Responsible Military Use of Artificial Intelligence and Autonomy, a best practices initiative to explore the development of AI's military capabilities — despite already using the technology in warfare applications. In a Nov. 2023 statement, the Department of Defense announced its intention to explore "the responsible military use of artificial intelligence and autonomous systems." AI watchdogs have warned of the accelerated use of AI in warfare and its global repercussions.

One month prior, the White House announced an extensive regulatory executive order outlining risk and safety standards for AI, cybersecurity provisions, and various guidelines that spanned the Department of Commerce, Homeland Security, and Energy. The administration announced even more AI initiatives soon after, including the creation of a United States AI Safety Institute (US AISI). This was later followed by a warning to Big Tech to curb the spread of synthetic, AI-generated content.

While it's uncertain whether President-elect Donald Trump will uphold the Biden administration's national and international AI commitments, the soon-to-be sworn in leader has already announced his pick for a position he's calling the "White House AI Czar." As for his picks for the country's defense leaders, Trump is rumored to be eyeing Palantir chief technology officer Shyam Shankir for a top spot in the Pentagon — Shankir is a proponent of the Department of Defense's rapid adoption of commercial tech, including AI.

"The DoD has an imperative to responsibly pursue the adoption of generative AI models while identifying proper protective measures and mitigating national security risks that may result from issues such as poorly managed training data," said DoD Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Officer Dr. Radha Plumb. "We must also consider the extent to which our adversaries will employ this technology and seek to disrupt our own use of AI-based solutions."

The increase is the latest for the streaming service, which debuted in 2017 at $35 a month. The company blamed “rising content costs.”

Since Nick Fury first broke into Tony Stark's cliffside mansion, comic books fans have been primed to expect bonus goods once the credits roll on the superhero movies. The MCU has unleashed jaw-dropping cameos, bizarre callbacks, and teases for future adventures, and Sony Pictures followed super suit.

At the end of Morbius, a cameo of Michael Keaton as Adrian "The Vulture" Toomes seemingly tied this movie to the MCU's Spider-Man: Homecoming, in which he was the Big Bad. More recently, the post-credits scene in Venom: The Last Dance revealed the fate of a character caught in the military-versus-symbiote crossfire — and set up a path to a could-be sequel.

However, what path forward might Kraven the Hunter tease when The Wrap is reporting Sony's closing up shop on Spider-Man spinoffs for now?

Does Kraven the Hunter have a post-credit scene?

Nope. At the film's New York premiere, critics, cast, and crew who stayed through the credits saw the long list of names of all the people who worked on J.C. Chandor's curious action movie. But there was not a post-credit scene with bonus goodies.

However, seeing the incredible amount of people power that went into Kraven the Hunter is its own reward, right?

Kraven the Hunter opens only in theaters Dec. 13.