Jason Schreier

EA Announces Need for Speed Payback

Today Electronic Arts revealed its next vroom-vroom game, Need for Speed Payback, which will be out November 10 for Xbox One, PS4, and PC. Developed by the Swedish studio Ghost Games, Need for Speed Payback appears to be heavily inspired by the Fast and the Furious movies, which ain’t a bad thing. You can see the…

Nintendo Switch’s Online Service Will Be $20/Year, Includes Classic Games [UPDATE]

Nintendo Switch’s online service will cost $20/year and will launch at some point in 2018, the publisher said today. Playing Switch games online will be free until the service launches. You can also get a one-month subscription for $4 and a three-month subscription for $8. As Nintendo previously said, voice chat and online lobby features…

Images Of Apparent Life Is Strange Prequel Pop Up 

We’re just over a week away from E3, and video game companies everywhere are leaking like ships in a hurricane. Today’s rumor is an apparent prequel to Life is Strange, made by a new developer and scheduled to be revealed within the next couple of weeks. Our story starts with this press release, which revealed…

Podcast: The Best Animes

From Kids on the Slope to Your Name, we’re talking about the best animez on today’s Kotaku Splitscreen. Also: Overwatch, ARMS, and why the Final Fantasy VII remake will never come out. Kirk and I start the show with some gambling and wedding talk before we jump into ARMS (11:54) and Star Trek Bridge Crew…

Warner Bros. has delayed Middle-earth: Shadow of War two months. It’ll now be out on October 10. Yes, yes, it’s all my fault. Read about why video games are delayed so often

Even with their future in question, Hitman developer Io Interactive is still adding new content to the game. This months, Hitman will get several new contracts and elusive targets as well as a “game update” that the studio’s being vague about. You can read all the details on their website

Take-Two Interactive, the parent company of Rockstar and 2K, said today that it has purchased the space flight simulator Kerbal Space Program. “The current team at [developer] Squad will continue to provide support and ongoing development for the title through game updates and expansions,” the company said.

Top Video Game Companies Won’t Stop Talking About ‘Games As A Service’

There was once a time when video game developers would make a game, release it, and then move onto the next big thing. That time has long since passed. These days, you’re more likely to see a new Metroid than you are to buy an AAA game that’s never updated, patched, or enhanced in some…

Podcast: Why A Couple Would Get Married At Taco Bell

Dan Ryckert, Giant Bomb editor and lover of terrible Mexican food, joins today’s Kotaku Splitscreen to tell us why he’s getting married at a Taco Bell. First, Kirk and I talk about YouTube copyright strikes (10:21), Red Dead Redemption 2‘s delay (21:10), and Overwatch’s one-year anniversary (27:19). Then we bring on Ryckert (31:58) to chat…

Prey‘s Final Act Is A Mess

If you are playing Prey, the new immersive sim from Arkane Studios, here is a recommendation: quit once you’ve reached Alex’s office for the first time. Just stop playing. It gets way, way worse. For its first three quarters, Prey is a fantastic game. Creepy, foreboding and darkly funny, the game rewardsslow playthroughsand lets you…

Watch People Break Classic RPGs

Last week in Utah, a group called RPG Limit Break got together to break a bunch of role-playing games, raising $111,000 in the process. RPG Limit Break, an annual RPG speedrunning marathon that raises money for mental health, is full of entertaining runs of classic games. You can find them all here, or watch a…

Xbox Game Pass, Microsoft’s $10 monthly gaming subscription program, will go live on June 1, the company said today. Unlike Sony’s streaming service, PlayStation Now, Xbox Game Pass will let you download its games. It’ll be fascinating to see whether Microsoft can amass a library big enough to create gaming’s version of Netflix.

Hugh Jackman Discovers Real-Life Mario Kart, Gets Really Excited

This is probably the closest we’ll get to a Wolverine appearance in Mario Kart 8 Hugh Jackman didn’t stumble upon some ambitious street performers; he found what appears to be MariKart, a company in Tokyo that allows attendees to recreate their own Wario vs. Wario racing battles. MariKart provides go-karts, costumes, and even accessories to…

Why Video Games Are Delayed So Often

In the wake of yesterday’s news that Rockstar has bumped Red Dead Redemption 2 to 2018, you may be wondering: why do so many video games get delayed? I heard a few explanations for game delays while reporting for my new book on game development, Blood, Sweat, and Pixels. During this process, I spoke to…

The Wii U Gets A Video Game Today

It is May 23, 2017, and somebody just released a video game for the Wii U. Congratulations to the publisher THQ Nordic for this impressive accomplishment, and congratulations to Darksiders Warmastered Edition for coming to the Wii U today. This is, of course, a port of the first Darksiders, which came out in 2010. The…

Take-Two Interactive, the publisher behind 2K and Rockstar, won’t have much at E3 this year. In 2016, 2K had a huge booth on the show floor recreating a Louisiana street to promote Mafia III; this year, Take-Two says it won’t be showing any new games. With Red Dead 2 delayed, all Take-Two has coming in…

Red Dead Redemption 2 Delayed To 2018 (Obviously)

If you had “spring 2018″ in the Red Dead Redemption 2 delay pool, congratulations. Rockstar announced today that the highly anticipated western game will not make it this year after all Rockstar has delayed pretty much every game they’ve announced in the past decade, so this shouldn’t come as much of a surprise to anyone.…

First-Time Tips For Attending E3

Last week, I got an e-mail from a reader named Ben. “I was just wondering if you and your team had any advice for first timers that are heading to E3 this year since it’s opened to the public now,” Ben wrote. “Any Do’s and Don’ts? Do they give out tons of swag? Any tips…

Podcast: How Prey‘s Best Characters Came To Life

One of Prey’s biggest strengths is how it realizes the inhabitants of the space station Talos-1, and on today’s Kotaku Splitscreen, we talk to the man responsible for many of them: Chris Avellone. First, Kirk and I talk a bit about Nier: Automata (6:55) and the Nintendo Switch (11:15) before jumping into this week’s news:…

Our Immediate Reactions To Destiny 2

Did you really think we would let this week go by without a special bonus episode of Destiny fancast Kotaku Splitscreen? Kirk went to theDestiny 2 reveal event in Los Angeles, and I, uh, watched it on the internet, so come listen to us talk about our initial thoughts: An excerpt: Jason: Do you think…