Two of the biggest hits coming from the new surge of online tabletop gaming programming unquestionably are Wil Wheaton's Tabletop and the D&D live stream Critical Role, both from Geek & Sundry. Today, Legendary Pictures announced yesterday their new video-on-demand service Alpha which includes big changes to these shows. The service will cost $4.99 a month and give early access to many Nerdist and Geek & Sundry shows including Co-Optitude, The Dan Cave, and Because Science two days before they're released on other outlets such as YouTube. But the two biggest names have bigger changes coming.
First, Tabletop Season 4 will premiere exclusively on Alpha with new episodes airing weekly. The ENnie Award and Diana Jones Award winning show won't be available for non-subscribers until "sometime in 2017". When asked on Tumblr about this, Wil Wheaton said “I’m not thrilled, and it’s entirely out of my hands. I probably shouldn’t say much more about it right now.”
Meanwhile, Critical Role will also be going exclusive on Alpha. The shows will still be recorded live on Geek & Sundry's Twitch channel every Thursday whether you subscribe to Alpha or not. Recorded episodes will be exclusive to Alpha. Currently, as a perk to subscribers on the Geek & Sundry Twitch, archives of streams from the previous three months are available on-demand, but it is unclear if this will still be the case for Critical Role. Currently, there are over 23,000 subscribers to the Geek & Sundry Twitch channel at $4.99/mo.
Joining those two shows on the network will be several new programs:
Alpha will officially launch on November 3, with an early access month starting October 3 if you sign up now.
Meanwhile, Critical Role will also be going exclusive on Alpha. The shows will still be recorded live on Geek & Sundry's Twitch channel every Thursday whether you subscribe to Alpha or not. Recorded episodes will be exclusive to Alpha. Currently, as a perk to subscribers on the Geek & Sundry Twitch, archives of streams from the previous three months are available on-demand, but it is unclear if this will still be the case for Critical Role. Currently, there are over 23,000 subscribers to the Geek & Sundry Twitch channel at $4.99/mo.
Joining those two shows on the network will be several new programs:
- Escape: A show about escape room style puzzles hosted by Janet Varney with guests Josh McDermitt (Walking Dead), Alison Haislip (Attack of the Show), Ingrid Oliver (Doctor Who), Burnie Burns (Red vs Blue), and Yvette Nicole Brown (Community).
- Sidekick with Matt Mira: A late night style talkshow with a different host every episode and Matt Mira as the sidekick.
- Vast: Jackson Lanzing (comic writer and writer on Titansgrave) GMs a science fiction game with a rotating crew of players.
- Welcome to the Shadow Zone: Mark Trillbury (also known as Onyx the Fortuitous and Weird Satanist Guy) hosts a public access talk show on horror films with a narrative element as he talks about his neighborhood antagonists.
- Talks Machina: Brian W. Foster hosts a talk show in the style of “Talking Dead/Bad/Who/etc.” about Critical Role.
- Watch Your Language: Zach Sherwin infuses hip-hop and wordplay in this part-scripted part-live comedy half-hour.
Alpha will officially launch on November 3, with an early access month starting October 3 if you sign up now.
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