Kotaku
It’s Time For Game Devs To Kill The Killmonger Swoop
KotakuKotakuThe Ones Who Live Proves It's Time To Let The Walking Dead Die
A decade ago, The Walking Dead wasn’t a mere TV show, it was an impossible-to-escape cultural phenomenon. Crafted with precision, powerful performances, and prosthetics, early TWD rose above regular zombie fare upon its 2010 premiere—that pilotremains flawless even today. In its first few seasons, the AMC series…
KotakuHelldivers 2 Is Committed To The Bit And So Are We
I haven’t had the chance to play much of Helldivers 2. At first, server issues due to the game’s swell in popularity kept me from playing, but as the situation’s improved, I’ve also found myself too busy or tired to play. Last night, I opted to watch my friends play it and commentate over their largely successful runs…
KotakuPlayStation Plus Just Added 2022’s Most Stylish Arcade Racer
Driving games can loosely be divided into two sub-genres: simulation and arcade. The former category includes the likes of Gran Turismo or Forza (not the Horizon series) and focus on more realistic racing. But the latter is all about fun over realism. 2022’s Need for Speed Unbound, the latest release in the…
KotakuUltra-Rare Zelda Game Could Snag More Than $700,000 At Auction
As physical video games become harder to find due to never-ending digitization, folks love collecting tangible items, especially if they’re of the rare and sealed variety. A 22-year-old Californian named Kiro recently came up on one such rarity: a sealed copy of 1987's The Legend of Zelda, and damn-near let it go for…
KotakuAfter Palworld, Pokémon Needs To Come Out Swinging
The annual Pokémon Day Presents showcase takes place this Tuesday, February 27 in celebration of the series’ anniversary. This is where The Pokémon Company typically announces its next big game, and offers updates on its various live service projects. It’s usually an exciting day, and it probably still will be, but…
KotakuNew Kojima Disney Doc Is Shorter Than MGS4’s Longest Cutscene
Announced and premiered last year, Connecting Worlds—the documentary about famed game director Hideo Kojima—is now available on Disney+ for everyone to watch. And while it might only appeal to Kojima super fans, it’s at least not very long, clocking in at a cool 60 minutes, or about 11 minutes less than the famous…
KotakuBaldur’s Gate 3 Devs Working On ‘Robust’ Cross-Platform Mod Support
Baldur’s Gate 3 developer Larian Studios is keenly aware of the mods that exist for the Dungeons & Dragons-based role-playing game. They’re all unofficial, of course, living in the mod bank that is Nexus Mods—but not for long. The studio said that official mod support is coming to the critically acclaimed game, though…
KotakuFF7: Advent Children Paved The Way For Rebirth, For Better And Worse
If you want to understand how the Final Fantasy VII universe got to where it is today, then you need not look any further than Advent Children. The 2005 animated movie that acts as a sequel to the original 1997 title is something of a flashpoint for the beloved characters. Advent Children paved the way for the…
KotakuSuicide Squad Game 'Fell Short Of Expectations,' Says WB
It hasn’t even been a month since its release, but publisher Warner Bros. Games is disappointed in its live-service shooter Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League. With barely 1,000 people playing the gameon Steam, the company has flat-out stated that Suicide Squad completely missed its purported expectations.
Kotaku‘I Love Fortnite’: Lady Gaga Appears To Be Playing The Battle Royale
Lady Gaga dropped into Fortnite Festival season 2 just a few days ago, and she’s already shaking up the battle royale—not only with her themed cosmetics, but also with her actual presence. Yes, it appears that Lady Gaga—the woman who once asked “what is fortnight?”—is playing Fortnite. And she’s not the only pop girly…
KotakuHelldivers 2 Raises Player Cap To 700,000 Ahead Of Busy Weekend
Let me be upfront: no, you’re not the only person trying and failing to spread democracy in Helldivers 2 this week.
KotakuCo-op Survival Game Nightingale Is Getting An Offline Mode After All
Nightingale, a new co-operative survival game developed by Inflexion Games and led by former BioWare boss Aaryn Flynn, released in Early Access on February 20 and required an always-online connection from players even when taking on the game solo. Now, only two days later, the game is walking back its online-only…
KotakuTales Of Kenzera: Zau Creator On The Pressures Of Black Storytelling
In the summer of 2020, as America tried to reckon with its institutionalized racism, the Black Lives Matter movement prompted video game studios to issue pro-BLM statements, donate to Black-centered charities, and promise to elevate Black voices. Several years later, it’s not all that clear if some (or any) studios fol…
KotakuGenshin Impact’s Lantern Rite Festival Is A Heartfelt Homage To The Game’s Roots
This year, I returned to Liyue Harbor to find paper kites flying alongside strings of vermillion lanterns. I couldn’t help but reminisce on the first time I wandered these docks, grinding through mini-games and coaxing a certain antisocial mask-wearing warrior into the city. Like Genshin Impact’s protagonist, the…
KotakuAccessibility Is More Than Just ‘Easy Mode’
When you hear about accessibility, what do you think of? When you play a Souls-like game, what do you think of? If both of those answers are about difficulty, you’re partially correct. But not in the way you think.
KotakuPalworld Continues To Grow As It Shoots Past 25 Million Players
Hey, remember that little game Palworld? Well as of today, it’s surpassed a staggering 25 million players, all within about a month of its early access launch. That’s a lot of people shooting at or alongside their legally distinct “pals,” not Pokémon. Love it or hate it—or don’t get it all, like myself—people have…
KotakuTriple Triad Finally Has A Successor In FF7 Rebirth’s Queen’s Blood
Though the Final Fantasy series is infamous for its minigames, it’s never delivered something better than the Final Fantasy VIII card game Triple Triad—until now. Final Fantasy VII Rebirth is bursting with more mini-games than you can handle, and while many of them are forgettable, Queen’s Blood stands above the rest.…
KotakuMOBA Brought Back To Life, Only To Be Killed Again
Can an online video game die twice? Yes, apparently. Paragon: The Overprime, a competitive online multiplayer game built using assets and designs featured in Epic’s previously killed original Paragon, is being shut down in April.
KotakuOur Best FF7 Rebirth Combat Tips Before The Full Release Next Week
A fusion of real-time reaction speed and tactical decision-making, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth’s combat system is both speedy and strategic. If it’s been a while since you’ve played 2020’s Final Fantasy VII Remake, or if you’re jumping into Rebirth as your first modern FF7 experience, this guide will help you gain…
KotakuAvatar: The Last Airbender Falls Short Of The Animated Series
Hollywood loves nothing more than gnawing on the bones of preexisting IPs. Whether a reboot is good or not, it will almost certainly be lucrative. When it comes to Avatar: The Last Airbender, the industry powers that be should’ve learned their lesson the first time. In 2010, Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan…
KotakuThere’s A Pinball Machine Based On The January 6 Insurrection
People have made pinball machines themed after plenty of properties over the years, from Terminator 2 to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Pinball is a cultural staple, and odds are if you’ve never played it before, you’ve at least been in the room with a machine at your favorite local bar or restaurant. But because of…
KotakuDead Island 2 Appears On Game Pass Without Warning
If you’ve never played Dead Island 2, the 2023 open-world zombie game that spent nearly a decade shuffling between development studios, then now’s a pretty good time to do so. With no fanfare, Microsoft surprise-dropped the game on February 22 on its subscription service Xbox Game Pass. Now, there’s really no excuse…
KotakuEA Offering Players $600 And A Free Game To Appear In College Football 25
Starting today, over 10,000 college football players will be able to decide if they want to get paid to appear in EA Sports’ College Football 25. In exchange for their image, likeness, and name, EA is offering players $600 and a free copy of the game.
KotakuLeague Of Legends Fighting Game Finally Gets Official (Weird) Name
Riot Games’ upcoming fighting game set in the world of League of Legends finally has a proper name and it’s um…2XKO. Yeah, that clears things right up.
KotakuEverything You Should Do In Final Fantasy VII Rebirth’s Demo
Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, the upcoming mega-RPG that continues the remake of one of the greatest games of all time, is out on February 29, 2024. Thanks to an update to the game’s demo on February 21, fans can travel around a portion of one of its open-world environments: Junon. While progress in this part of the demo…
KotakuNew Helldivers 2 Patch Will Kick All Those AFK Players Taking Up Server Space
A new Helldivers 2 patch, out now on PC and PS5, fixes some bugs and improves performance in the critically acclaimed and super popular third-person sci-fi shooter. But more importantly, it will kick AFK (away from keyboard) players after a set amount of time. The hope is that this will help de-clog the busy servers,…
KotakuFinal Fantasy VII Rebirth Book Just Dropped A Revealing Clue About Cloud's Dad
Cloud Strife, the broody protagonist of Final Fantasy VII and its remakes, has a pretty elaborate backstory. He grew up in Nibelheim, went on to become a SOLDIER, and got mixed up with Sephiroth along the way. But after almost 30 years, we still don’t know who his father is. However, as Square Enix has expanded the…
KotakuIf You Want Mother 3 In English, Hit Up Nintendo, Creator Says
Mother 3 is one of those games everyone talks about but hardly anyone has played—and for a bummer reason. The 2006 Game Boy Advance RPG was never officially released outside of Japan (it’s called Earthbound everywhere else) so unless you imported it and understood Japanese, you couldn’t experience the famously elusive…
KotakuYou No Longer Have An Excuse To Not Play Pentiment
Obsidian Entertainment, the developer responsible for sprawling RPGs likeFallout: New Vegas, released its medieval murder mystery title Pentiment in November 2022. A smaller and more reserved title compared to the rest of Obsidian’s catalog, and an expertly written story that offers the player choices in how they…