Jason Schreier

Podcast: An In-Depth Discussion Of Final Fantasy XV 

On today’s episode of Kotaku Splitscreen, we’re taking a spoilery deep dive into Final Fantasy XV Kirk and I have drastically different opinions on the fifteenth Final Fantasy—I liked it a lot; he didn’t—which makes for a fun conversation as we pick at the game’s warts. Final Fantasy XV is a messy, clearly unfinished game,…

Final Fantasy VI Retrospective: Simply The Best

In the first few minutes of Final Fantasy VI, just when you think you’ve got a sense of the game’s rhythm, everything changes. Your amnesiac hero Terra, who you’ve been controlling for half an hour and are probably assuming will be your protagonist for the long haul, falls down a hole and passes out. And…

Now Even Zelda: Breath of the Wild Is Getting DLC And A Season Pass

You know times are strange when even Zelda games are getting season passes, and here we are. Nintendo announced today that Breath of the Wild will get two pieces of downloadable content throughout 2017, and to buy them both, you’ll need to get the Zelda expansion pass. This expansion pass will be $20 and come…

Remember How Bad The Wii U’s Marketing Was?

We’re nearly two weeks away from the Nintendo Switch, and no matter how it ultimately fares, it’s already surpassed the Wii U in one key area: marketing. And unlike the Wii U, people actually know it exists. Seriously, do you remember how Nintendo announced the Wii U? At E3 2011, Nintendo of America boss Reggie…

Activision Has Big Layoffs Despite Surpassing Financial Targets

Activision Publishing laid off a number of employees across several companies this week, Kotaku has learned. The publisher let go of staff at Infinity Ward, Beenox, and other internal studios as well as their corporate office, according to sources, despite saying yesterday that they had surpassed their revenue targets for 2016. From what we’ve heard,…

Activision Says Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare ‘Didn’t Resonate’ With Fans

Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare didn’t live up to Activision’s expectations, the publisher said today, offering a surprisingly candid assessment of the most recent entry in their yearly shooter franchise. On an earnings call, Activision CEO Eric Hirshberg said that Infinite Warfare’s sales underperformed and that the sci-fi setting “didn’t resonate” with Call of Duty…

Destiny 2 Is Still Coming This Year, Activision Says [UPDATE]

There’s no game I get more questions about than Destiny 2, so here’s a little tidbit for those of you who are desperate for news on Bungie’s next big game: It’s still on track for 2017. Said Activision in a slideshow attached to their earnings call today: “Full Destiny sequel in 2017 to broaden the…

Ubisoft is continuing their shift toward “live” games rather than one-time releases. For the next fiscal year (April 1, 2017-March 31, 2018), the company said on an earnings call today that they’ll release only four “AAA” games. One of those is South Park: The Fractured But Whole, delayed from Q1 2017. Another is presumably Assassin’s…

Podcast: GameStop’s Circle of Life

Today on Kotaku Splitscreen, we’re talking about Nioh, E3 going public, and GameStop’s controversial, aggressive Circle of Life program First up, Kirk and Jason talk about the past week’s big news. Then, Kotaku’s Heather Alexandra joins the show for some Nioh and Resident Evil 7 talk. We wrap things up by answering a couple of…

The NBA Is Launching Its Own Esports League 

Today, the National Basketball Association announced plans to partner with publisher Take-Two Interactive for an official NBA 2K esports league, which led NBA commissioner Adam Silver to deliver this fantastic quote to the Wall Street Journal: “Think of eBulls against the eKnicks.” The league, Silver explained, will operate just like the NBA: It’ll have a…

Craig “NepentheZ” Douglas pled guilty this week in a UK court after being charged with promoting gambling with FIFA coins. The court ordered him to pay £91,000. He talks about the case in this new video

Does Anyone Actually Use The Internet Browser On Their Consoles?

In an interview published this week, Nintendo president Tatsumi Kimishima told Time that the Switch won’t have an internet browser at launch, which made me wonder: Do people really use console internet browsers? Let’s see: I usually play games with a laptop next to me, so I’ve never once felt the need to browse the…

E3 will be open to the public this year, and there’ll be 15,000 tickets available to anyone who wants them. You can buy one for $250 (or $150 if you snag early) starting February 13. More details over at GameSpot. See you there?

Yep, This Is An 83-Minute Analysis Of A Three-Minute Super Mario Odyssey Trailer

In January, Nintendo released a three-minute trailer for the upcoming platformer Super Mario Odyssey. This past weekend, GameXplain released an 83-minute video that analyzes that trailer. And it’s way better than it has any right to be. You wouldn’t think a film-length analysis of a video game trailer would be gripping and fun to watch,…

Nintendo Literally Switched The Super Bowl

Nine minutes and 40 seconds before the end of Super Bowl 51, the Atlanta Falcons were about to cap off what had until then been a snoozer. Leading 28-12, the Falcons had a 99.9% win probability and had just gotten the ball back, giving them the chance to truly heal America by defeating the New…

‘We Are All Scared For Our Jobs’: GameStop Employees Share Their Circle Of Life Stories

GameStop employees have always been pushy, but an aggressive new policy at the video game retail chain is taking their forcefulness to a new level. And some GameStop staff say it’s making them feel like they have to lie to customers or lose their jobs. For a decade now, GameStop has subscribed to a company…

PS4 Is Finally Getting External Hard Drive Support

If you, like me, are sick of your PS4 telling you that it’s out of space, here is some game-changing news: Sony is adding external hard drive support in the next update. There’s no date for this update, 4.50, although it enters beta today so it’s likely coming within the next couple of months. In…

Ask Kotaku’s Staff Anything

It’s time again for another edition of Ask Kotaku’s Staff Anything. We’ll be answering your questions for the next hour or so. Ask whatever you’d like.

Internal GameStop Memo Says ‘Vast Majority’ Of Employees Aren’t Misleading Customers

This afternoon, following yesterday’s Kotaku report on GameStop’s controversial Circle of Life program, the retail chain sent out a memo to all stores condemning some of the actions we spotlighted and claiming that most of their employees don’t behave that way. “While the behaviors described in the news article are disappointing, I know they don’t…

Square Enix Is Treating Final Fantasy XV Like A Live Game 

Final Fantasy XV just won’t stop changing. We already knew that Square Enix was adding new cutscenes and overhauling Chapter 13, and now, director Hajime Tabata says they’re adding a free-drive mode for the car, among other things. In an Active Time Report video presentation last night, as translated by Gematsu (which you can watch…