Thirty-nine PGA Tour champions get the New Year underway at the spectacular Plantation Course at Maui's Kapalua Resort at the Tournament of Champions 2022. The going tends to be extremely good on the links style course, so we should get to see the game's best players at their very best. Read on as we explain how to watch a Tournament of Champions live stream online from anywhere in the world, with or without cable.
We need little excuse to revisit watery-eyed memories of Phil Mickelson's march to glory at the PGA Championship last May, and Lefty will be one of the star attractions in one of the strongest ever Tournament of Champions fields.
The key storyline, however, is undoubtedly the battle for No.1 spot between the incumbent Jon Rahm and Collin Morikawa. The Spaniard returns to action after a self-imposed break of more than two months.
Morikawa continued his meteoric rise in 2021, tasting victory at the Open Championship, the WGC-Workday Championship, the DP World Tour Championship and the Ryder Cup, and the 24-year-old has now got Rahm in his sights. Who will start the year as they mean to go on?
Follow our guide as we explain how to watch a 2022 Tournament of Champions live stream from anywhere this week.
Watch every Tournament of Champions session on ESPN+
How to watch a Tournament of Champions live stream from outside your country
There are loads of easy ways to watch a Tournament of Champions golf live stream in the US, UK, Canada, Australia and almost anywhere else in the world. Scroll down for a full breakdown of options.
That said, if you happen to be abroad do note that you’ll need to use a VPN to access your regular Tournament of Champions streaming service so that you don't get geo-blocked.
A VPN is perfect for this, as it allows you to change your IP address so you appear to be in your country of residence, where you usual streaming services and subscriptions are based. You may be surprised by how easy it is to get started using one, too.
Use a VPN to watch Tournament of Champions golf online from anywhere
Tournament of Champions live stream: watch PGA Tour golf with cable in the US
Tournament of Champions live stream: watch PGA Tour golf without cable in the US
How to get a Tournament of Champions live stream in the UK
2022 Tournament of Champions live stream: how to watch golf online in Australia
Can you watch Tournament of Champions 2022 golf in Canada?
Sadly there's no confirmed broadcaster for the 2022 Tournament of Champions in Canada at the time of writing. The only alternative is to use one of the best VPN service providers to tap into coverage from another nation, as described above.
The software is generally ideal for this as it allows you to change your IP address and appear to be in a completely different location - and all through a safe, encrypted connection. But do bear in mind that most paid streaming services do require a credit card based in the country the service is from.
Hellblade 2: everything we know about the Xbox Series X game
Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2 is developer Ninja Theory’s highly-anticipated sequel to its 2017 title Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice.
Exclusive to Xbox Series X , Xbox Series S and PC, the sequel was revealed at the Game Awards 2019 with a dark and mysterious trailer that didn’t really give much away. It wasn't until The Game Awards 2021 that we finally saw a gameplay trailer, but we're still waiting for a release date for the game.
It’s now been more than three years since we fought through the depths of Hel with Senua on her journey to rescue the soul of her dead lover from the goddess Hela, so we’re more than ready to jump into a sequel. From what we've seen so far, the wait will definitely be worth it.
While solid details on Hellblade 2 may be scarce, the footage we've seen is frankly breathtaking. Senua's character model is unbelievably detailed (even more so than in Senua's Sacrifice) as is the beautifully bleak world itself, meaning we can likely expect Hellblade 2 to be a real showcase of what the Xbox Series X is capable of.
Want to know more about Sena's next adventure? Read on for everything we know so far about Senua's Saga: Hellblade 2.
Senua's Saga: Hellblade 2: cut to the chase
Senua's Saga: Hellblade 2 release date and platforms
Senua's Saga: Hellblade 2 currently doesn't have a release date, but we do know it will release for Xbox Series X , Xbox Series S and PC - and will be available on Xbox Game Pass on day one.
While we'd love to see developer Ninja Theory announce a 2022 release date for Hellblade 2, it seems highly unlikely based on comments the sequel's chief design director made last year.
The comments were made in a development update released on Ninja Theory’s YouTube channel in June 2021. In it, Tameem Antoniades, Ninja Theory founder and Chief Design Director, said the team is currently building "a good chunky slice of the game before we then move into full production to build out the rest".
While the video did go on to show snippets of what Ninja Theory has been working on (and it's a lot), the idea that - at that point - even a slice of the game hadn’t yet been completed indicates that a full release for the Xbox and PC exclusive is still some time away. It's possible too, that the slice they were working on was the gameplay trailer shown at The Game Awards 2021.
What this means in terms of a release date for Hellblade 2 is yet to be seen, but we wouldn’t expect to get our hands on Senua's next adventure until at least 2023.
Senua's Saga: Hellblade 2 trailers
Gameplay trailer The first gameplay trailer for Senua's Saga: Hellblade 2 was revealed during The Game Awards 2021 and, to be honest, we're still reeling from it. The six-minute cinematic gameplay trailer sees Senua leading an army as they take on a huge, grotesque creature lurking in a cave.
The trailer contains the same binaural audio effects that represent Senua's psychosis as the first game, with impressive facial animations and cinematic effects on display, that suggest Hellblade 2 will truly take advantage of the Xbox Series X's immense power. Check it out below:
Announcement trailer Senua's Saga: Hellblade 2 was officially announced for Xbox Series X at the Game Awards 2019, with a peculiar and gritty reveal trailer. While the trailer didn't give much away in terms of story and gameplay, it did confirm that this sequel looks much darker than its predecessor - which was already pretty dark. Check it out below:
Senua's Saga: Hellblade 2 news
‘Raising the bar’ with combat
The Hellblade 2 development team is looking to improve on the combat of the original. In an interview with Spanish site, Vandal (via VG247 ), combat designer Juan Fernández said of the original Hellblade: “We did many things well, but I think there are many things that could be improved that I would change today.”
The original game, Fernández explains, had an “incredibly small” team but this time, with a larger team and more resources, he hopes to improve the variety of combat and enemies.
"What I was least satisfied with in Hellblade 1,” he explains, “was the lack of variety of enemies, long-term combat was suppressed [...], the way the difficulty systems were tuned, the enemies had too much life, they had a lot of durability, we had a lot of variety of attacks and combos but really the enemies do not encourage you to use one or the other, people found two or three movements that they liked and repeated them constantly, there were very generous timings of parries and stories that can still be balanced more intelligently."
For the sequel, Fernández says, "We are raising the bar of doing more with less. We are more people than with the first Hellblade but the quality that we are giving versus the team behind compared to similar ones, I think that It's through the roof."
It’ll make Hellblade look like an ‘indie game’
Ninja Theory co-founder Tameem Antoniades is keen that Hellblade 2 should outshine the original game. In an interview with NME , Antoniades said that “The goal with Hellblade 2 isn’t to perfect it, but to create an experience that feels more believable and more refined. Its ambition in terms of scale is bigger. I think Hellblade 2 will make Hellblade look like an indie game”.
Between scouting real locations and getting Senua actor, Melina Juergens real combat training, the goal, Antoniades says, is “making things look real or believable”.
An Xbox event in summer?
The official E3 show has been cancelled for 2022 but there are rumors that Xbox could be planning its own show.
GamesBeat’s Jeff Grubb (via VGC ) said in March that Microsoft is talking to publishers about hosting its own June show, something VGC says it has heard from its own sources.
“I’ll probably have more to say on this soon, but it’s in June, not May,” Grubb said. “Well, they might do something in May or September, I don’t know, but I know that they’re planning for an E3-style show in June.
“They’re talking to partners to get big games in there. That is ongoing right now and it’s March, so it’s not like they can change that train or turn that big ship around. They are heading in that direction and they’re going to do something in that timeframe.”
After a long period of silence around Hellblade 2, a summer showcase feels like it could be the next most likely opportunity to see more from the game. We’ll have to wait for some official confirmations before we get too excited.
Senua's character model is incredibly detailed Developer Ninja Theory has shared two images showing a close-up of Senua's character model and they're unbelievably detailed. From the snot running out of Senua's nose to the creases of her lips, Ninja Theory is definitely not messing around when it comes to the little details that make Senua look truly realistic.
The developer cites its development of skin and eye materials using studio references for its ability to make Senua look life-like. It's certainly got us excited to see more of Hellblade 2, and Senua, in action.
No tricks here Following the gameplay reveal of Hellblade 2, Ninja Theory Audio Director David García took to Twitter to provide some details about the trailer's audio. According to García, the gameplay trailer was entirely captured in-engine in real-time and "almost all" of the footage's 3D sounds use Project Acoustics and spatial audio.
Project Acoustics is Microsoft's wave acoustics engine for 3D interactive experiences. Essentially, it allows for realistic acoustics to be introduced into 3D environments. Spatial audio, meanwhile, is immersive sound that comes from (or seems to) all angles.
Still a while off Ninja Theory said in June 2021 that Senua's Saga: Hellblade 2 is still very early in its development in a teaser reel .
In the reel (which doesn’t show any new gameplay footage) studio founder Tameem Antoniades explains, “What we're doing right now is building a good chunky slice of the game before we then move into full production to build out the rest.” He adds, “Hellblade was very special to us and we didn't want to do a straight sequel. We wanted to do something extra special and so we're making our lives as difficult as possible in that pursuit.”
Behind-the-scenes videos on Ninja Theory’s social channels in addition to this video have provided an insight into how much work the team is putting in in the name of detail, particularly with regards to characters and setting. Overall, it seems safe to say that the game is still a good way off yet and could maybe even be a 2023 or beyond title.
Another behind the scenes look Ninja Theory has been giving some more behind-the-scenes looks at the development of Hellblade 2, this time taking a look at some of the practical effects that are being used.
In a short video shared through the developer’s Twitter account, we can see members of the team setting clothing on fire with the caption “Sometimes to create, you must first destroy. Experimenting with textural effects on clothing.” In a follow-up tweet, the team revealed that they’ll be using high-quality scans of the clothes to “reach an amazing level of detail” in the game.
Cloud forming technology The Ninja Theory Twitter account tweeted out a look at how the team is using “flow maps” to both make clouds form and dissolve naturally in Hellblade 2. It’s a very small look at how development on the game is progressing but it shows the attention to detail Ninja Theory is applying to the next Hellblade game.
Behind the scenes look Updates on Hellblade 2 have been pretty thin on the ground, so a behind-the-scenes update from the game’s star Melina Juergens was no doubt welcome for fans.
The video diary places a real focus on how Juergens prepared for the role of Senua this time around, with a glimpse at some pretty intense combat training. This does hint at a focus on realistic, authentic combat within the game itself.
Juergens embarked on a regime of fitness training as well as taking weapons training with C.C. Smiff, the swordmaster and stunt choreographer for the recent Star Wars trilogy and Game of Thrones. The game’s animators also took combat courses so that they could provide realistic movements for the game’s enemies during motion capture sessions.
Juergens also revealed that she suffers from the chronic pain condition fibromyalgia, explaining it “basically means my joints and bones and things like that are always in pain and I have a lot of fatigue. And also when I’m training I need quite a lot of time to recover after every session.”
You can watch the video diary for yourself below and Juergens has said that more will be coming in another episode in the future.
No more content for Bleeding Edge Ninja Theory has said that it'll be adding no more content to Bleeding Edge as it's putting its focus on developing Hellblade 2, Project Mara, and The Insight Project.
Melina Juergens tweets Melina Juergens, the lead actress who plays Senua in the Hellblade series, has posted a tweet making reference to Hellblade 2.
The tweet includes a picture of Juergens painted with Senua’s rune-like patterns and scars and is captioned with the phrase “For every battle won, a greater battle takes its place”, alongside Senua’s Saga-related tags. It’s unclear whether the tweet is an indication that Juergens is on set working on the game or whether she’s just showing fans some in-character makeup.
Running on Unreal Engine 5 Microsoft has confirmed that Hellblade 2 will use Unreal Engine 5 in an official Xbox Wire post.
According to Xbox, "The team will be building the game on Unreal 5 and leveraging the power of Xbox Series X to bring the Hellblade franchise to levels never before seen." They added that the footage of the game shown during The Game Awards in 2019 "was captured in-engine and reflects the power of Xbox Series X available to developers to deliver new universes, experiences and games in ways you have never imagined."
Icelandic inspiration Hellblade 2 made an unexpected appearance during the Xbox Games Showcase on July 23, 2021, where it was revealed that the game would be taking place in Iceland. In developer Ninja Theory's 'Dreadnought' developer diary series , the team spoke of how it has been location scouting across the country much as you would for a Hollywood film, including taking audio recordings for a special immersive, accurate representation of the landscape. Check out the video below for more.
What about the story? We don't actually know anything about Hellblade 2's story yet but, from the trailer, it seems to be much darker than its predecessor. The trailer shows pagan rituals, breathtaking landscapes, limbs hanging from archways and a few battle sequences. There's also some hints towards Vikings - which would make sense given the time period. But this is speculation and we remain largely in the dark.
HBO Max had an excellent 2021 – but 2022 may not be so rosy
WarnerMedia owner AT&T has published up-to-date subscriber figures for its premium cable channel, HBO, and streaming service, HBO Max – and both platforms appear in rude health.
As part of the company’s recent regulatory filing , AT&T revealed that its HBO portfolio surpassed a year-end goal of 73.8 million combined subscribers in December 2021.
Given that WarnerMedia opted to remove HBO (the channel, not the streamer) from Amazon’s Prime Video Channels selection at the beginning of last year – in an effort to drive more subscribers to HBO Max – those figures represent promising growth.
But HBO bosses shouldn't blow the party poppers just yet. For starters, AT&T’s figures don’t distinguish between HBO and HBO Max, making it difficult to determine which service drew in the lion’s share of their combined audience.
A spokesperson for WarnerMedia recently told The Verge that these distinctions would be “broken out [...] in a couple of weeks,” but at present it’s hard to make too many bold claims regarding the success of HBO Max, specifically.
Still, working on the assumption that HBO Max did have a great 2021 – as we anticipate future data will reveal – it’s worth remembering that the pandemic undoubtedly played a role in driving new subscribers to the streamer.
Warner’s day-and-date release schedule meant recent blockbusters like The Suicide Squad , The Matrix Resurrections and Denis Villeneuve’s Dune were made available to watch on HBO Max the same day (or the day after) as their respective theatrical releases, making the service a hotter property than it otherwise might have been in 2021.
Given that cinemas are likely to remain open en masse in 2022 (though the Omicron variant continues to cast doubt on any permanent return to normality), Warner won’t be continuing with any sort of day-and-date schedule moving forward.
Upcoming tentpole movies like The Batman will still become available to stream on HBO Max, but only after a 45-day exclusive theatrical run.
That means the service is unlikely to benefit from a similar injection of subscribers this year, because HBO Max won’t be offering the same immediate access to the biggest releases.
TV shows are, of course, a different story – but many of HBO’s biggest hits in recent months (like Friends: The Reunion and Harry Potter: Return to Hogwarts ) also represent one-off specials. It will be up to future seasons of Succession and brand new series like House of the Dragon and The Last of Us , then, to do most of the heavy lifting for HBO Max in the coming year.
Still second (or third) fiddle
What’s more, HBO’s growth appears less impressive when stacked up alongside equivalent figures posted by Disney Plus and Netflix in 2021.
The former, which launched around six months before HBO Max, boasted 118.1 million paid subscribers as of October last year, up from 73.7 million in 2020.
Netflix, on the other hand, reported an almighty 214 million paid subscribers as of Q3 2021 – with that figure expected to further inflate in Q4 thanks to the meteoric success of Squid Game .
Evidently, HBO Max has a job on its hands in 2022. The platform's rollout across Europe should help to build its subscriber based further but, with even more competition arriving in the form of Paramount Plus (a Halo TV show , anyone?) and Pluto TV , HBO's streamer will need to work hard to convince potential customers to part with yet more of their hard-earned cash.