Jason Schreier

Why Fortnite Is So Popular

How did Fortnite become a global phenomenon? Today on a very special Kotaku Splitscreen crossover episode, we try to figure that out. First Kirk and I talk about Paris, Valve buying Campo Santo, Quantic Dream suing journalists, and Destiny 2 before we’re joined by Kotaku’s Gita Jackson and Patricia Hernandez of Fave This (43:57) to…

Some Numbers That Illustrate Nintendo Switch’s Massive Success

Nintendo today reported its earnings for the 2017 fiscal year, which means a whole bunch of interesting new sales numbers to look at. They’re all impressive, and they all show the massive appeal of Nintendo Switch. Here are a few numbers that, taken together, make for some good perspective on just how successful Nintendo’s latest…

One Paris Street Has A Dozen Video Game Stores

If you ever go to Paris, there are a few things you absolutely must see. There’s the Louvre, where the Mona Lisa hangs. There’s the Eiffel Tower, hulking and iconic. And then there’s the street full of video game stores. Last week while visiting the World’s Most Romantic City™, I went down to Boulevard Voltaire,…

A Way Out Is The Perfect Game For Couples

If you have been looking for the video game equivalent of marriage counseling, boy do I have a suggestion for you: Grab your significant other and go play A Way Out A Way Out, which came out last month for PC, PS4, and Xbox One, is a cooperative narrative game that tells the story of…

Destiny 2‘s New DLC Brings A Horde Mode And Lots More

It’s been a rocky road for Destiny 2, but Bungie hopes to win back its players with Warmind, a new expansion that’ll be out on May 8. It’s set on Mars and will have you fighting off frozen waves of ancient Hive aliens. Bungie and co-developer Vicarious Visions showed off Warmind on an hourlong stream…

Detroit Developer Quantic Dream Sues French Media Over Articles On Toxic Work Conditions

Last week, Quantic Dream founder and CEO David Cage flew to New York City to show demos of his dramatic new PS4 game, Detroit: Become Human, to press. In his home city of Paris, meanwhile, a different type of drama was unfolding: French journalists were defending themselves against Cage’s legal charges. Quantic Dream has sued…

God of War Patch Increases The Text Size, But It’s Still Tiny

God of War is fantastic, except for the fact that trying to read any of the text has forced me to get up and stand next to the screen. A new patch for the game aims to fix that problem, but it’s not nearly enough. Patch 1.12, which went live last night, adds a slider…

Valve Buys Firewatch Developer Campo Santo

Independent studio Campo Santo (Firewatch) has been acquired by a most unlikely suitor—Valve, a digital store operator that once made video games. Three people familiar with the news confirmed the purchase to Kotaku today. Valve plans to leave Campo Santo intact as a team, a source said, rather than absorbing the studio and re-assigning its…

How To Get The Final Ending In God of War

It’s not 100% clear how to get to the final credits in the excellent new PS4 game God of War, and you may think that you’ll have to finish all of the side missions first, but that is in fact not the case. Here’s a spoiler-free explanation. Once you’ve completed the game’s story, you’ll be…

A Way Out Sold More In Two Weeks Than EA Apparently Thought It’d Sell Total

A Way Out seems like a tough sell. The cooperative narrative game, which requires you to play the whole thing alongside a second person, probably isn’t for everyone. But it sure was for a lot of people—more than EA seems to have expected. This morning, developer Hazelight Studios announced that it had sold a million…

How The Makers Of Mafia III Lost Their Way

In mid-2016, a few months before the release of their first game, Mafia III, the developers at Hangar 13 in Novato, California gathered for an all-hands meeting. There, according to two people in attendance, Christoph Hartmann, president of the game’s publisher, 2K, told employees that their bonuses would be tied to the game’s aggregate review…

Destiny 2‘s next piece of downloadable content is called Warmind, and will be out on May 8. More details to come via stream, as is Bungie’s way. Bungie also plans to change weapon slots and a whole lot of other stuff. Will this be enough to bring you back?

Chrono Trigger PC Looks Way Better Now

Are you ready for the feel-good story of the year? Square Enix did a thing, fans didn’t like the thing, and then Square Enix actually addressed and fixed the thing in a way that will make everybody happy. Here’s what happened. In February, Square released a surprise version of Chrono Trigger on Steam, which briefly…

Sources: The PlayStation 5 Is Still A Ways Off

A recent online rumor got people buzzing about a possible 2018 release of PlayStation 5, but that’s probably not going to happen. In fact, from what we’ve heard, the next PlayStation is a ways away—it may not arrive until 2020. It’s been nearly five years since the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One launched, which has…

Does Spending More Money On A Game Make You Feel Obligated To Play It?

Do you feel more obligated to play the games you buy for $60 than the ones you snag during Steam sales? On this week’s Kotaku Splitscreen, let’s discuss. First, Kirk and I talk about the news of the week on Lindsay Lohan, Shadow of War, and Todd Howard. Then we talk about Far Cry 5‘s…

Final Fantasy XV Is Never, Ever Going To End

Today at PAX East, Square Enix released this image (via ResetEra), proving definitively and thoroughly that Final Fantasy XV will never end thanks to downloadable content that’s currently planned through mid-2019. First up is Episode Ardyn, then Episode Aranea, then Episode Luna, then Episode Noctis, then Episode Bahamut, then Episode That Guy Who Looks Like…

Amazon Leaks Spyro Remastered Trilogy [UPDATE: Official]

A remastered Spyro trilogy is coming this September, we now know thanks to an early Amazon leak. It’s called Spyro: Reignited Trilogy, and publisher Activision will surely give it a proper announcement soon. UPDATE (11am): And now it’s official: September 21 for PS4 and Xbox One. Original article follows: First reported by our friends at…

World of Warcraft’s next expansion, Battle for Azeroth, will be out on August 14. If you’re interested in WoW but don’t even know where to start, check out our guide for playing the addictive MMORPG in 2018

Divinity: Original Sin 2 is coming to consoles via publisher Bandai Namco. You’ll be able to play one of the best role-playing games ever madeon PS4 and Xbox One this August. No word on a Switch version, sadly.

Spider-Man PS4 Comes Out September 7

Spider-Man will be out September 7, developer Insomniac Games said today. Prepare to swing webs and so on. The upcoming superhero action game, announced at E3 2016, is a PlayStation 4 exclusive set in an open-world version of New York City. You’ll play as a 23-year-old version of Peter Parker, fighting the likes of Kingpin…