Jason Schreier

Valve Pulls Developer From Steam For Reviewing Its Own Games

Valve has cut ties with the video game company Insel Games, pulling the developer’s entire library from Steam after its CEO asked staff to submit user reviews for the company’s latest game. Insel Games, a Malta-based company responsible for little-known games like Guardians of Ember and the recently released Wild Buster, made waves last night when…

Publisher THQ Nordic announced today that it has purchased publisher Koch Media (Saints Row, Metro, Dead Island), which is a strange twist of fate. Most of Koch Media’s video game franchises used to belong to the old iteration of THQ, which went bankrupt in 2013.

Game Developer Adam Rippon Is Having A Good Time Right Now

Yesterday morning, Adam Rippon got a rude message from an anonymous Twitter account. “You have shown to all just what a complete I.D.I.O.T you are!” wrote Grumpygrampa22. “You’re an embarrassment!” Here’s the bad news for Grumpygrampa22: Unless he meant to insult a 37-year-old game designer in Oakland, California, he got the wrong Adam Rippon. For…

The Radiant Historia Remake Lets You Skip All The Battles

The underappreciated Nintendo DS role-playing game Radiant Historia gets new life today on 3DS, and with it comes a feature that should probably be in every role-playing game: You can skip every non-story encounter. I’ve been playing Radiant Historia: Perfect Chronology on and off for the past few weeks, as tough as it is to…

Why Ubisoft Is Obsessed With ‘Games As A Service’

Wondering why big video game publishers are so enamored of games as a service? The answer may not shock you: It makes them way more money. Wayyyyyyyyyy more money. This morning as part of a quarterly earnings report, Ubisoft put out a slideshow full of interesting nuggets for anyone who’s curious about the future of…

Divinity: Original Sin 2‘s Director Wants The Game To Kick Players’ Asses

Today on Kotaku Splitscreen we’re talking to the director of Divinity: Original Sin 2, one of the best role-playing games we’ve ever played First, Kirk and I talk about Nintendo Labo and The Leftovers before getting into the news of the week (18:37) on Counter-Strike’s co-creator getting charged with commercial sexual abuse of a minor,…

Dragon Quest Builders: The Kotaku Review

Here is how I play Minecraft: Step one: find a tree. Step two: build a house. Step three: walk in one direction for five minutes. Step four: get bored, turn off the game. If only there was something like Minecraft, but with tangible goals. And if only it was also… a JRPG? Dragon Quest Builders,…

Destiny 2‘s Nightfall Is Getting An Overhaul

Bungie last night announced plans to overhaul Nightfall activities in Destiny 2, a video game in which players travel through space, shooting aliens and receiving apologies from developers. The weekly Nightfall strike, a high-level activity that has gone through various iterations over the course of Destiny 1 and now Destiny 2, will no longer kick…

The Next Game From The Makers Of FTL Is Brilliant

Into The Breach, the next game from the creators of FTL, is sort of like a cross between XCOM, Advance Wars, and FTL itself. But maybe it’s best described as beautiful kaiju chess. Here’s the premise: You, controlling a gang of three time-traveling mech pilots, must defend a cluster of islands from alien invaders. To…

Massive Book About History Of PC RPGs Is Out Now For Free

For the past four years, writer Felipe Pepe has been compiling a book about computer role-playing games, enlisting developers and journalists from across the globe to write about everything from Ultima to Fallout 4. The book is out now—and you can get it for free. “Across its 528 pages you’ll find information about over 400…

Backup Quarterback Gets Highest Rating In Madden

Philadelphia Eagles backup quarterback Nick Foles is now the highest-rated player in Madden 18‘s Ultimate Team mode, beating the likes of Tom Brady, Aaron Rodgers, and Drew Brees to get the game’s first 99 rating. That’s the highest rating possible in EA’s annual football franchise, which means that he’s currently the best player in Madden…

Counter-Strike Co-Creator Charged With Paying 16-Year-Old For Sex

Police in King County, Washington yesterday charged Counter-Strike co-creator Jess Cliffe, 36, with commercial sexual abuse of a minor, accusing him of paying a 16-year-old girl for sex and recording one sexual encounter against her will. Police said they have been investigating this case since May of last year, when they first began talking to…

Source: Capcom Lays Off Staff, Cuts Scope On Next Dead Rising

Capcom has laid off a significant number of staff in its Vancouver office as part of a shift that saw the company cancel an unannounced project and cut scope on the next Dead Rising, according to a person familiar with the company as well as various posts on social media. The source, who spoke anonymously…

The Most Important Part Of Writing A Video Game Is The Tools

Today on Kotaku Splitscreen we’re talking Monster Hunter, Nolan Bushnell, and what it’s like to write video games. First we tackle news (16:44) on the Nolan Bushnell controversy, a revoked Dragster world record, and Paragon shutting down because Fortnite was just too popular. After that, writer Leigh Alexander joins the show (34:27) to talk about…

Final Fantasy XII Runs Pretty Well On PC

Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age, a remastered version of the 2006 PS2 classic, came out on PC yesterday. Good news: the port is pretty solid. As a brand new PC Expert, I spent an hour this afternoon playing through the opening of FFXII on PC. After switching the framerate cap to 60—it starts at…

Ubisoft today announced details on the Far Cry 5 season pass, and notably, it includes a free copy of Far Cry 3 for PS4 or Xbox One. The third Far Cry will come to current-gen platforms this summer; season pass owners get it four weeks early. The season pass also includes chunks of DLC featuring…

Counter-Strike Co-Creator Arrested For Sexual Exploitation Of A Child [UPDATE: Valve Suspends]

Seattle police arrested Counter-Strike co-creator Jess Cliffe, 36, early this morning for sexual exploitation of a child. Police have not yet commented further on the case. The arrest record shows that Cliffe, who has been an employee of Valve since 2003, was booked at 1:17am Pacific Time this morning. He was denied bail, according to…

Tips For Playing Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age

Whether you’re visiting Ivalice for the first time or you’re already an expert at being Captain Basch fon Ronsenburg of Dalmasca, Final Fantasy XII can be an intimidating game. Fear not—we’ve got lots of tips. Here are some helpful suggestions for playing Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age, which is now out for PS4. [UPDATE…

Nintendo Labo Will Let You Program Your Own Custom Robots

When Nintendo Labo launches this April, it will come with a feature called Toy Con Garage that lets you use rudimentary programming to build and customize your own cardboard robots, Nintendo announced today. Some of the custom toys Nintendo showed off included an electric guitar and a basic game of electronic tennis. At an event…

Red Dead Redemption 2 Delayed Again, Coming In October

Red Dead Redemption 2 will be out October 26, Rockstar said today, the second major delay for what might be the most anticipated game of 2018. The upcoming prequel to Rockstar’s critically acclaimed Western was previously scheduled for fall 2017, then spring 2018. “We apologize to everyone disappointed by this delay,” Rockstar said on its…