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The Week In Games: What’s Releasing Beyond Pikmin 4
KotakuKotakuLooks Like More People Played A 13-Year-Old Call of Duty Game This Weekend Than Halo Infinite
In a surprise move, Activision has revived the multiplayer servers for a number of Xbox 360-era Call of Duty games, and it’s proved to be a popular decision. In fact, this past weekend, Xbox 360 Call of Duty games reportedly had more players than both Halo Infinite and Battlefield 2042 combined.
KotakuFBI Used Nintendo Switch To Locate Abducted Child
The FBI used a Nintendo Switch console to locate an abducted 15-year-old girl, who had been missing for 11 days back in August 2022, ABC15 reports.
KotakuXbox Live Gold Ending After 18 Years As Microsoft Launches Game Pass Core
After nearly two decades, Xbox Live Gold will die on September 14. In its place is Xbox Game Pass Core, a cheaper version of the Game Pass service that’ll allow gamers to play online together, as well as offer a curated selection of games to play. And, yes, that also means Games with Gold is going away too. You’ll…
KotakuMicrosoft And Sony Finally Reach Deal For The Future Of Call Of Duty On PlayStation
Microsoft and Sony have finally reached a deal for keeping Call of Duty on PlayStation once the Activision Blizzard merger goes through. The surprise agreement comes after months of fighting between the two companies and is a sign the acquisition is all but inevitable.
KotakuActivision Set To Become Part Of Microsoft After FTC's Last-Ditch Effort Fails
The U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has denied the Federal Trade Commission’s final request to pause Microsoft’s takeover of Activision Blizzard, likely paving the way for the biggest-ever merger in gaming to finally move forward after a more than year-long regulatory saga.
KotakuDiablo IV: Essential Sorcerer Builds For Mastering The Dark Arts
With the gift of magic, Sorcerers can set things on fire, freeze their enemies, and create wondrous demonstrations of lightning’s lethality. Reminds me of when I was a teen, really. As a result, the Sorcerer is a hell of a lot of fun to play and very versatile thanks to their many options for direct damage, area of…
KotakuThe Flash Movie Trainwreck Reaches A New Low With NFTs
The Flash has been a disaster for DC and Warner Bros. The Ezra Miller-led superhero film is securing a record as one of the biggest box office flops in the business. There are a lot of factors that led us to that point, but Warner Bros. attempts to get any money out of the film before the DC cinematic universe reboots…
KotakuOfficial Xbox Sale Discounts Some Of 2023's Biggest Games
Procrastinators are once again reaping. Xbox Series X/S owners who haven’t yet picked up some of the biggest games of this year and last can get them for up to 45 percent off, in case you didn’t already have enough to play after the recent jam-packed release window.
KotakuYu-Gi-Oh! Is Faltering, But Fans Feel Konami's Ignoring Them
During a recent Konami shareholder meeting, the game company’s president addressed concerns that its latest free-to-play Yu-Gi-Oh! game, Yu-Gi-Oh! Master Duel, has negatively affected the franchise’s growth. A shareholder noted that Master Duel’s play style poorly translates to the popular trading card game’s tabletop…
KotakuMajor Nelson Is Leaving Xbox After Two Decades
Xbox’s Director of Programming and long-time public figure in the company’s history, Larry ‘Major Nelson’ Hryb has announced he’s leaving Microsoft after 22 years at the company.
KotakuThere's A New Worst Game Of 2023, And It's A Switch Exclusive
Remember that awful looking The Last of Us clone, The Last Hope, that got released earlier this month? Well, it turns out the game is much worse than the trailer first suggested. Apparently, the whole game is only about 20 minutes long, takes place in one street, and is a broken mess.
KotakuAssassin’s Creed Haptic Shirt Lets You Feel What It’s Like Getting Stabbed
Technology has not quite caught up to the Animus virtual reality tech of the Assassin’s Creed series that lets people experience the violent history of the franchise, but Ubisoft is trying to emulate the idea with a haptic feedback…shirt? It will make you feel “sensations” similar to the ones Assassin’s Creed: Mirage…
KotakuKotaku’s Weekend Guide: 6 Cool Games To Chill With
Another weekend awaits, but what to play? In case you’re feeling indecisive, we thought we’d share a few video games (and a tabletop card game!) that have us enthralled as we head into the weekend.
KotakuThe Witcher Netflix Views Are Down, Prepare For Discourse
Prepare for The Witcher Netflix series discourse to get even more insufferable—Witcher fan site Redanian Intelligence crunched some numbers and reports that viewership has dropped 30 percent between Season Two and Season Three.
KotakuThese YouTubers Turned Planet Earth Into A Board Game
There are some who use their YouTube success to fund excessive lifestyles of debauchery, coveted cardboard, and opulent mansions. However, there are others who try to do something interesting. That’s undeniably the case for educational YouTube channel Wendover, which last year launched Jet Lag: The Game—a…
KotakuLast Of Us Part II Composer Says PS5 Upgrade Is Coming
More Last of Us may be on the way, at least in the form of a “next-gen” PlayStation 5 upgrade for The Last of Us Part II. Composer Gustavo Santaolalla suggested during a recent interview that “new editions” of the game are in the works that would expand on his character’s cameo appearance.
KotakuGaming CEO Shares Nightmare Scenario Of Using AI To Spy On Devs
At least one video game company has considered using large-language model AI to spy on its developers. The CEO of TinyBuild, which publishes Hello Neighbor 2 and Tinykin, discussed it during a recent talk at this month’s Develop:Brighton conference, explaining how ChatGPT could be used to try and monitor employees who…
KotakuRPG Delays Launch To Avoid Competing With Baldur's Gate 3
Summerfall Studios, developers of the upcoming, self-described “roleplaying musical” Stray Gods, has recently taken to Twitter to deliver some unfortunate news for those eager to sing their way out of a fantasy predicament. Stray Gods, which puts you in the role of a woman who must prove her innocence before Greek…
KotakuDiablo IV: Three Rogue Builds For Kicking Ass With A Tricky Class
Speedy, combo-heavy, and versatile, Rogues slink through the background in Diablo IV while unleashing a storm of poisons and shadow magic. Rogues are universal in their gameplay, able to get up close and personal or maintain a fair distance using bows or crossbows instead. But what’s the best path to take when…
KotakuGenshin Impact Voice Actors Say They Aren’t Getting Paid, Want Game Unionized
Genshin Impact is one of the biggest, most successful video games in the world, bringing in tens of millions of dollars a month for developer/publisher miHoYo. However, according to some voice actors involved with the popular game, they don’t get paid for months, and it’s causing some to possibly fall behind on rent.
KotakuYou're Solid Gold, I'll See You In Hell
It feels weird to be writing one of these. Lord knows I’ve read enough of them over the last 17 years. But it’s finally my turn: today is my last day at Kotaku.
KotakuFTC Blasted By Congress And Gamers For Doing Its Job
Under chair Lina Khan, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has taken a lot of heat for trying to be aggressive in its approach to regulating tech companies and preventing monopolies. Now the FTC is facing criticism from both Republicans in Congress and very online Xbox fans for appealing a recent court decision that…
KotakuPhantom Liberty Is Undoing One Key Thing That Cyberpunk Got Right
KotakuMicrosoft: Pulling Call of Duty From Steam Was A 'Failure'
In a new filing from Microsoft detailing the company’s post-trial “findings” and “conclusions” after its recent victory in court against the Federal Trade Commission the Xbox maker revealed that Call of Dutyleaving Steam was part of an Activision plan to grow Battle.net. But according to the docs this controversial…
KotakuThe Best And Worst Witcher Season 3 Looks
When the first season of Netflix’s adaptation of The Witcher aired back in 2019, there was some highly suspect hair and makeup. The contacts were unnerving, Henry Cavill’s Geralt wig was often a travesty (Jacqui Rathore, who was in charge of styling the wig, reportedly had nightmares about it), and some of the outfits…
KotakuDiablo IV Necromancer One-Shots Hardest Boss (Twice)
A Diablo IV player managed to one-shot Uber Lilith, the game’s ultimate, optional hardest boss, twice in a row.
KotakuThe Great Mission: Impossible Movies Deserve A Great New Game
The fuse has been lit and the mission has been accepted. That’s right folks, it’s time for a new Mission: Impossible film. The latest entry in the popular action franchise is out now in theaters. But if this new film has you all excited about the franchise again and you want to play a Mission: Impossible video game,…
KotakuFinal Fantasy XVI DLC Might Be Back On The Table And Fans Know What They Want
It’s kind of unthinkable that a massive RPG wouldn’t get some sort of post-launch DLC in the year 2023, but that’s apparently what the plan was for Final Fantasy XVI earlier this year. That may be changing, however, with producer Naoki Yoshida now saying that the game’s development team is looking at “options” for how…
KotakuNew Warzone Season Adds The Boys Characters, Breaks Game
Warzone 2 Season 4 Reloaded features a wild crossover with Amazon Prime series The Boys that adds OP new abilities, leaving players arguing over whether or not the collab is a good one. The Boys series is based on a comic book of the same name that follows a group of vigilantes fighting against superhumans who abuse…