After nearly a decade off the air, gaming network G4 revealed last year a complete reboot of the network was in the works. Now, just over a year later, G4 has finally announced a date as to when we can expect to see our some of our favorite gaming shows and personalities make their return to the channel, and it’s just around the corner. According to the network, we can expect to see the return of the “fairly preposterous sandbox” on November 16.
“Since the initial announcement of G4’s revival at Comic-Con @ Home last year, we’ve been in constant dialogue with our audience through the content we’ve produced,” said Russell Arons, President, G4. “We made a promise to fans that we would build this network with their input and are proud to say that our promise has been kept. At G4, we never stopped playing and can’t wait to have our fans join us in our hilarious and fairly preposterous sandbox on November 16.”
Starting November 16, the channel will be available on linear television via Verizon Fios, Cox, and Xfinity TV, as well as be available to stream on Philo. In addition, G4 is also collaborating with Twitch on a “multi-year promotional and commercial partnership,” though what exactly that entails other than the channel being available on Twitch has yet to be disclosed. Last but not least, G4 has also confirmed the network will continue to create “channel-specific content” across its social media platforms, meaning now is the time to start following G4’s Insta and get subbed over to them on YouTube if you don’t want to miss anything.
The new G4 will launch with some familiar faces for the channel’s former fans in the shape of former hosts Kevin Pereira and Adam Sessler. In addition to Pereira and Sessler, several other big-name creators will be joining the channel for the very first time, including esports personalities Alex “Goldenboy” Mendez, Ovilee May, and Froskurinn, WWE’s Xavier Woods (Austin Creed), YouTube stars Kassem G, Jirard “The Completionist” Khalil and Gina Darling, Twitch streamers Fiona Nova and Will Neff, and vStreamer CodeMiko.
G4 has also revealed its programming slate at launch, which — much like its cast — includes a nice mix of legacy shows as well as fresh, new content. Returning to the channel are iconic gaming programs Attack of the Show and Xplay, with each one of them promising to deliver the same content fans know and love from oh-so-many years ago though perhaps with a few much-needed updates. According to G4’s descriptions of the programs, Attack of the Show is billed to be “a welcoming place for any fan who wants to spend a couple of hours laughing, watching epic stunts and hilarious sketches, and deep-diving into the latest trends of the internet,” whereas Xplay “returns as a digital-first content brand that balances an authoritative loudmouth confidence with the absurdity of a public-access comedy sketch show, all while (somehow) maintaining enough credibility to book interviews with top industry luminaries.”
In addition to Attack of the Show and Xplay, the channel has entered an exclusive contract with Tokyo Broadcasting System Television giving them the rights to air all 167 episodes of the Ninja Warrior as well as three never-before-seen tournaments. The channel will also broadcast a comedy-esports show named Boosted, a Dungeons and Dragons limited-run series featuring Jack Black, Tiffany Haddish, Kevin Smith, and DrLupo, and live esports programs via ESL Gaming. All these shows (and more) and set to debut on G4 on November 16, when the channel makes its big return to television.
