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Witcher Author Threatens CD Projekt Red With Legal Action If It Doesn’t Pay Him More
The creator of The Witcher books, Polish author Andrzej Sapkowski, has called on CD Projekt Red to pay him up to $16.1 million more in royalties following the success of the studio’s video game adaptation of the series. In a post on the company’s website, CD Projekt Red called the demands “groundless.” Lawyers for Sapkowksi…
By Ethan Gach -
Gearbox CEO Says His Former Assistant Stole $3 Million
In 2014, Randy and Kristy Pitchford found that they needed a personal assistant to help manage their busy lives. He was the CEO of Borderlands maker Gearbox Software, she the owner of the Dallas-area gaming-themed cafe Nerdvana. They hired John Wright Martin, who worked for the couple for two years. In 2016, they parted ways.…
By Ethan Gach -
Some Of The Fall’s Biggest Switch Games Are Shortchanging Handheld ModeÂ
Super Mario Party comes out on Friday. It’s the series’ debut on Switch and the first main entry since 2015’s ill-fated Mario Party 10 on Wii U. It has 80 new mini games, one of which even utilizes multiple Switches to create a shared, continuous screen. What it doesn’t have is handheld mode support, the…
By Ethan Gach -
Valve Renames Artifact Card To Make It Not Sound Racist
Valve’s card game Artifact is coming out in November. Recently, the Artifact Twitter account has been tweeting out designs for some of the cards alongside explanations of how they work. On September 26, that included a card called “Crack The Whip,” the text of which begins “Modify a black hero…” Today the name of the…
By Ethan Gach -
PlayStation Experience Is Skipping 2018, Sony Says
For a while now PlayStation fans have been wondering what’s up with 2018’s PlayStation Experience, PlayStation’s annual fan event, since Sony still hadn’t announced dates for it. Today, Shawn Layden, the head of Sony Interactive Entertainment Worldwide Studios, explained that it’s not happening this year. “For 2018, I know this is going to be a…
By Ethan Gach -
CBS Shuts Down Ambitious Fan Effort To Make A Virtual Starship Enterprise
Before there was Star Trek: Bridge Crew, Ubisoft’s game about piloting the original Enterprise, there was Star Trek Stage-9, a fan project recreating the Enterprise-D from The Next Generation in Unreal Engine. This week the project is no more, following a cease and desist demand by CBS. One of the leads on the project, who…
By Ethan Gach -
Epic Games Says Fortnite‘s New Breast Physics Were ‘Unintended, Embarrassing, Careless’
Fortnite players noticed something unusual about the new Calamity skin in the season six update: her breasts have an undeniable jiggle when she performs the “Jubilation” emote. According to Epic, that was unintentional and a fix is on the way. The Calamity cowgirl skin is one of the two main new character skins in the…
By Ethan Gach -
The sci-fi MMO WildStar will shutdown on November 28. This announcement follows the news earlier this month that the game’s makers, Carbine Studios, would be shutting down. Refunds for recent purchases will go out on October 3 but there are still a few events planned over the next several weeks.Â
By Ethan Gach -
CultureKotaku Game DiaryTowerFall May Be A Party Game, But It’s Also Fun Solo
TowerFall is out on the Switch today, just over five years after it originally released on the ill-fated Ouya. It was one of the best party games then and has continued to be one of the all-time best since. It’s still great on Switch, but more than anything I can’t get over is how much…
By Ethan Gach -
Yo-Kai Watch 3 will hit 3DS in North America on February 8, 2019. The Pokemon-like will come as two separate versions per usual:Â Sushi and Tempura. The game is broken up into two halves, the first focusing on life in an Americanized town called St. Peanutsburg and the second on a detective agency.
By Ethan Gach -
A Game About Going To Art School In A World Made Out Of 90s Screen Savers
Once upon a time I painted a lot. I won some minor awards in high school, and I almost studied art in college. But the closest I ever got was watching Terry Zwigoff’s 2006 satire Art School Confidential. It’s a about a wide-eyed college freshman whose idealism is beaten out of him by the pettiness,…
By Ethan Gach -
Players Will Soon Be Able To Merge Fortnite Accounts Across Consoles
In a post on the Fortnite subreddit and Twitter today, Epic announced that it’s working to let players unlink their accounts from a particular console and, in the near future, ultimately be able to merge them so their progress carries over no matter where they play the game. Earlier today, Sony announced a beta for…
By Ethan Gach -
Telltale’s The Walking Dead: The Final Season Has Been Removed From Several Digital Gaming Storefronts [UPDATE]
The Walking Dead: The Final Season has disappeared from the PlayStation and Xbox One digital stores, as well as Steam and GOG. At the time this article was posted, the game’s season pass was still available to buy on the Switch eShop. This latest news comes after the studio laid off approximately 90% of its…
By Ethan Gach -
Cloud Saves Will Last Six Months After A Switch Online Subscription Ends
When Nintendo Switch Online launched last week, subscribers gained the ability to finally back up their save files. One question remained, though: what would happen if the subscription lapsed? Nintendo’s original support page FAQ was vague on the matter, but today the company confirmed they’ll last for six months. For $4 a month or $20…
By Ethan Gach -
Fans And Developers Are Torn About Whether The Walking Dead Games Should Continue
Today, what’s left of Telltale Games following mass layoffs on Friday released episode two of The Walking Dead: The Last Season. It’s good, and while it would take the series out on a high note, many fans are ambivalent about whatever comes next. When the closure of Telltale was first announced on Friday, people weren’t…
By Ethan Gach -
Following the sudden and sweeping layoffs at Telltale Games last Friday, at least one ex-employee has filed a class action complaint against the studio for violating the California and federal WARN Acts and failing to give 60 days notice. The civil lawsuit seeks damages equal to 60 days worth of compensation for all affected.
By Ethan Gach -
That Mysterious New Pokémon Finally Has A Name: Meltan
Over the weekend, this weird-looking Pokemon began popping up in PokĂ©mon Go. Players wanted to know more about it, but they couldn’t even catch it; when they tried, the creature would often turn into a Ditto. No shortage of memes and conspiracy theories ensued, but this morning Nintendo introduced the creature in a new Pokemon:…
By Ethan Gach -
Mark of the Ninja: Remastered will hit Switch, PS4, Xbox One, and PC on October 9. The new version of the 2012 hit side-scrolling stealth game will have updated visuals as well as include the new level, character, and items from the Special Edition DLC. Owners of the base game can upgrade for $5.
By Ethan Gach -
Telltale Employees Left Stunned By Company Closure, No Severance [Update]
Telltale Games employees were surprised when CEO Pete Hawley announced the closure of the company at a staff-wide meeting. One employee, a source told Kotaku, had been working until 3 AM the night before with no inkling that the studio was about to let them and over 200 other employees go, leaving behind a skeleton…
By Ethan Gach -
Telltale Games Begins ‘Majority Studio Closure’
Telltale Games, makers of The Walking Dead adventure games and several other episodic series, laid off many of its developers today and may be shutting down according to messages on social media, a report by The Verge, and a Kotaku source with knowledge of the matter. [Update – 5:36pm]: Telltale sent Kotaku a statement confirming…
By Ethan Gach