Kotaku
The Art Of Deathloop
Good evening! For the first time in what feels like forever, we’re running a Fine Art that’s dedicated to the concept and produdction art behind a major release, in this case Arkane’s Deathloop.
KotakuKotakuObscure 2012 Yakuza Game Is Getting A Fan Translation
While we are now spoiled for choice when it comes to major Yakuza games, from the mainline series to its more recent Judgment spinoffs, there are still a number of older Yakuza games that remain unplayable to fans in the West, since they never received a localisation.
KotakuOur First Look At The Shenmue Anime Series
First announced over a year ago, today we got our first look at the _Shenmue_anime series. I hope you like punching. And kicking.
KotakuLEGO's 'Largest' Ever Set Is The 9090-Piece Titanic
It’s been over 100 years since the RMS Titanic sunk in the North Atlantic, killing 1500 people in one of the greatest civilian maritime disasters in human history. Which is enough time to have passed, LEGO figures, to release a great big toy based on the ship.
KotakuBehind The Scenes Of The Fall's Gayest RPG
Creating Get In the Car,Loser!, an RPG road-trip adventure game in which high schoolers take on “machine devil cultists” to save the world, was a labor of love for its developers, Love Conquers All Games. I spoke to Christine Love, the game’s lead developer, about the team’s development process and how she approached…
KotakuBefore You Start: Six Settings To Change In Far Cry 6
Far Cry 6, Ubisoft’s latest open-world shooter about making sure you never have another second of free time, is out now for PlayStation, Xbox, and PC. For the most part, it’s more of the stuff that’s defined previous Far Cry games: a bunch of structures to climb, a bunch of people to shoot, a map with so many icons on…
KotakuCalifornia Steps In To Prevent Activision Blizzard Destroying Sexual Harassment Evidence
Yesterday, the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH) filed a motion to intervene in a potential settlement between the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and Activision Blizzard. The motion argues that the DFEH’s own trial against Activision Blizzard will be irreparably damaged…
KotakuNintendo Won't Put Waluigi In Smash, But This AI Was Happy To
Earlier this week, Nintendo revealed that Kingdom Hearts protagonist Sora, not Waluigi, will be the final character to join the expansive Super Smash Bros. Ultimate roster. As someone who unironically loves the lanky, purple doofus, I was devastated by Sakurai’s indifference. So devastated, in fact, that I asked one…
KotakuDestiny 2 Is Deleting Its Best Expansion
Destiny 2’s_Forsaken_expansion, a high-water mark for Bungie’s loot shooter, is going away next year with the launch of The Witch Queen, the studio announced today. The move has been positioned as a way to keep the game optimized and make room for new content, but it will also be a heavy pill to swallow for players…
KotakuThe Ubisoft Formula Seems To Be Wearing Thin
_Assassin’s Creed Valhalla_was one of last year’s best games and, arguably, a homerun moment in a multi-year project to transform the action stealth series into a full-fledged open-world RPG that could measure up to its genre-defining rivals. Everywhere else, however, Ubisoft seems to be hitting singles or striking out.
KotakuXbox 20th Anniversary Controller Is Bad At Being Nostalgic
Announced today via Xbox Wire along with a fancy headset, controller charger, and some celebratory clothing, the 20th Anniversary Special Edition controller is “a fresh spin on the translucent green of the original Xbox Debug kit.” Not sure if a completely different color counts as “a fresh spin,” but it’s not a…
KotakuStreamers React To Leaked Twitch Income Rankings With Jokes, Criticism
An anonymous hacker leaked payroll information for every streamer on Twitch yesterday, and predictably, the revealed incomes have become an inescapable topic of conversation for streamers in their Twitch chats and on social media. The range of reactions to the leak has been vast, with some streamers making light of…
KotakuEidos Montreal Announces Workers Switching To Four-Day Weeks
In an industry plagued for years by workplace crunch and the mistreatment of developers, good news can be hard to come by. But in an apparent effort to address some of these issues, Eidos Montreal—the studio behind the upcoming Guardians of the Galaxy game—has announced it will be switching to a four-day work week. It…
KotakuSony's Latest PS5 Firmware Update Sure Improves System Performance
Last month’s PlayStation 5 firmware update was the biggest overhaul of the tech since its release in November of last year. How does Sony follow that? It leans hard the other way with an exceedingly underwhelming update.
KotakuPokémon Legends: Arceus Is Clearly Not Going To Be Open-World
Since the first trailer for Pokémon Legends: Arceus arrived back in February, the game’s vast open areas and rolling green hills have drawn comparison to Breath of the Wild. While the idea of a massive open-world version of the ancient Sinnoh region, filled with Pokémon to play with, sounds like it would be amazing,…
KotakuXbox’s Cloud Streaming Upgrade Means You Might Not Need A Series X
Xbox’s cloud-gaming service just got the hardware upgrade you’ve been trying to nail down for months. Speaking to The Verge, representatives for Microsoft confirmed that Xbox cloud gaming now runs entirely on Xbox Series X hardware, wrapping up a backend upgrade that quietly kicked off over the summer.
KotakuNavy Warship’s Facebook Account Hacked To Stream Age Of Empires
Naval warship, The USS KIDD, apparently woke up one day earlier this month and said fuck global hegomony, let’s play some video games. Or at least, the internet troll who hacked the ship’s Facebook page and proceeded to play Age of Empires like a chump, did.
KotakuSega Knows Lacking Content For PSO2 New Genesis Is A Big Problem
When Phantasy Star Online 2 New Genesis was first launched this past July, fans were happy with the overhauled graphics and combat, but [there were complaints](http://When Phantasy Star Online 2 New Genesis was first launched this past July, fans were happy with the overhauled graphics and combat, but there were complaints about the lack of content. At the time, those quibbles were explained at launch issues. Now in October, Sega is addressing why New Genesis still doesn't have much gameplay content. In this week's PS02 New Genesis Headline Operation Report, Sega community manager Hiro Arai fielded a series of questions that have arisen over the past few months. He pointed out that New Genesis is scheduled to get major updates every six month, which add new regions and stories. The upcoming December update will add a new region as well as a new chapter. This approach differs from the more frequent updates PS02 saw. ) about the lack of content. At the time, those quibbles were explained as launch issues. It’s now October, and Sega is addressing why New Genesis still doesn’t…
KotakuEA Might Rename Its FIFA Games
Since 1993, EA and FIFA have been synonymous. With its FIFA games, EA has created a beloved franchise with the official Fédération Internationale de Football Association branding. That could change.
In a recent press release, EA trumpeted its “recording-breaking FIFA 22 launch,” with over nine million players joining…
KotakuDragon Quest Composer Koichi Sugiyama Has Died
Koichi Sugiyama, the composer of the iconic theme to Dragon Quest (and so much more), has died. He was 90 years old.
KotakuTwitch Says 'Malicious Third Party' Was Behind Hack
Twitch has just issued an update after yesterday’s major attack on the service, which resulted in the theft and then public posting of, among other things, the platform’s source code. According to their ongoing investigation, a “a malicious third party” is responsible.
KotakuKonami's New Soccer Game Is A Complete Disaster
You might have heard that Konami’s new football games, eFootball 2022, is bad. I am here today to tell you exactly _why_it is bad, and just how bad it is.
KotakuWorld Of Warcraft Update Removes Suggestive Flirts & Jokes
Blizzard’s work on cleaning up World of Warcraft in the wake of historical allegations of harassment at the company continue, with the latest round targeting a series of suggestive jokes and flirts that are being removed as part of update 9.1.5.
KotakuBattlefield 2042 Beta Feels Wild, Yet Somehow Plays It Safe
One minute into my first match of Battlefield 2042, I accidentally fell out of a helicopter. I somehow survived, then blew up a wall with my rocket launcher and took out the enemy hiding behind it. I died seconds later...not totally sure how, but it must’ve been badass. My lively outing ended as I called out for a…
KotakuExhausted Man, A Game For All Of Us Right Now
I’m tired. You, reading this right now, are probably tired. Tired is a constant state of being for most of us these days thanks to, you know, everything. Now, you can play a game that’s all about being tired.
KotakuThe Game That Gets Easier The More Tired You Are
This week’s Steam Next Fest, during which hundreds of in-development PC games released demos, features a game that really seems to care about how you’re doing just now. Please, Touch the Artwork is a puzzle adventure in which you’re allowed to prod at the paintings in an exhibition, and it picks the difficulty based…
KotakuOnly Three Percent Of Twitch’s Top-Earning Streamers Are Women, Apparently
The Twitch leak from 4chan confirmed what a lot of people already know: The majority of the platform’s most successful content creators are men. But what’s shocking is the disparity. Out of the top 100 creators, only three of them are women. Only one of them is a woman of color.
KotakuTales Of Arise Reminds Me Why I Fell In Love With JRPGs
A man wearing an iron mask who doesn’t remember his past. A woman who electrocutes people and has a magic rock hidden in her chest. A rag-tag band of rebels trying to overthrow an empire. The start of Tales of Arise is ridiculous, and also the most fun I’ve had with a JRPG in years.
KotakuValve's Steam Deck Teardown Video Warns Against Tearing Down Your Steam Deck
In a new teardown video demonstrating how (or rather, how not) to replace Steam Deck parts, Valve said that tampering with the handheld PC’s chassis to get a look inside “might mess things up, like, profoundly.” How profoundly you ask? The gaming giant said the batteries could explode, which might kill you.
KotakuNew Database Helps Players Find Games With Accessibility Features
As the conversation around video game accessibility becomes more prominent, it’s clear that some games just don’t take the necessary steps to open up the experiences they offer to players with disabilities. Recently Steven Spohn, the senior director of AbleGamers, criticized _Deathloop_on Twitter for its lack of…