Jason Schreier

Game Developer Sues 100 Anonymous Steam Users For $18 Million [UPDATE]

When we last saw the game studio Digital Homicide, they were suing game critic Jim Sterling for $10 million, charging him with libel and slander for harshly criticizing their games. Now they’re pursuing legal action against 100 anonymous Steam users, calling them a “hate and harassment group” in recent court filings. UPDATE – 9/17, 2:01pm:…

Sony Boss On No Man’s Sky: ‘It Wasn’t A Great PR Strategy’

Sony Worldwide Studios president Shuhei Yoshida knows how you feel, No Man’s Sky players. He says he enjoyed the game, but understands why people are so upset about director Sean Murray’s tendency to over-promise and under-deliver. No Man’s Sky, which came out in early August, immediately drew controversy when players discovered that features Murray had…

South Park: The Fractured But Whole is delayed to Q1 2017. “The development team wants to make sure the game experience meets the high expectations of fans and the additional time will help them achieve this goal,” Ubisoft says. 🙁

Podcast: The NFL Theme Sounds Like A JRPG Boss Fight

We’re reaching into the mailbag to answer YOUR questions on today’s episode of Kotaku Splitscreen, including: Do sports themes sound like JRPG soundtracks? Yes. Yes they do. Seriously, listen to the NBA or NFL themes and tell me they wouldn’t fit in a great JRPG. Other topics on today’s Splitscreen include Final Fantasy, the NX,…

Isaac Hayes’ Son Says Someone Else Made His Dad Quit South Park

Back in 2006, singer and actor Isaac Hayes abruptly quit South Park, where he had voiced the character Chef for a decade. Hayes, an active Scientologist, was apparently upset about the episode “Trapped In The Closet,” which makes fun of the cultish religion he followed. But it sounds like his departure wasn’t entirely up to…

The Designer Of RimWorld Is Here To Answer Your Questions [UPDATE: Over]

Tynan Sylvester is the designer of RimWorld, one of Steam’s biggest hits. He also wrote a book on game design and previously worked at Irrational Games, where he helped make BioShock Infinite. Now he’s here to answer all of your questions. Curious to hear some of the stories behind the development of RimWorld? Want to…

The Zero Time Dilemma Pre-Order Debacle

Months after the launch of Zero Time Dilemma, Amazon has finally shipped out the game’s much-delayed pre-order bonuses. Well, to some people. Others are being asked to pay a bunch of money. One got like 60 of them. The whole thing’s kind of a mess. The debacle started in June, when Zero Time Dilemma launched.…

Microsoft Accidentally Sent An Xbox One To A Random Customer Two Months Before It Was Announced

In March of 2013, two months before Microsoft officially unveiled the Xbox One, they accidentally mailed one of their prototype units to a random customer. For years that story has remained quiet—until today. Over at Business Insider, my good friend Ben Gilbert tells the story of the time Microsoft lost track of top-secret hardware. Back…

Well of course there’s an Assassin’s Creed coming this fall—a compilation, called The Ezio Collection, that will include ACII, AC Brotherhood, and AC Revelations, minus the multiplayer. It’ll be out for Xbox One and PS4 on November 15.

Maybe This Is Why Dragon Quest Never Took Off In The West

I’ve always had a soft spot for Dragon Quest, a turn-based RPG series full of silly names and adorable slime monsters. In Japan, the series is a cultural phenomenon. But for some reason it’s never found the same popularity in other countries. Here’s a theory: It’s too obsessed with tradition. For three decades, Dragon Quest…

The Last Guardian Delayed Again, Because Of Course

The Last Guardian, a video game best known for never actually coming out, got yet another delay today. It’ll now hit in December. Sony announced today that they’ve moved the release date of this infamous piece of vaporware from October 25 to December 6. It was previously slated for, oh, I dunno, 2011? Originally announced…

Phoenix Wright: Spirit of Justice: The Kotaku Review

In a world plagued by legal manipulation, political corruption, and a general lack of fairness for the underprivileged, there’s something comforting about a video game where justice is always served. Sure, everyone lies under oath and one out of every four witnesses is a murderer, but at least the innocents always go free. Phoenix Wright:…

Rise of Iron Gear Is Already Dropping In Destiny

It’s an exciting time in the world of Destiny, a video game in which players travel through space, killing aliens and gradually realizing that nothing really matters because we all die alone. A new patch that launched yesterday in preparation for the upcoming Rise of Iron expansion (which goes live on September 20) is full…

Bethesda Says Sony Won’t Allow Skyrim Or Fallout 4 Mods On PS4

Earlier this year, Bethesda announced plans to allow mods for Fallout 4 and the upcoming Skyrim remaster on PS4 and Xbox One, an unprecedented move that made console RPG fans very happy. But now, embarrassingly, it looks like mods will be an Xbox exclusive. In an update on their website today, Bethesda said that Sony…

Podcast: Our Gut Reactions To The PS4 Pro

Did Kirk and I think the PS4 Pro was impressive or underwhelming? Find out on today’s Kotaku Splitscreen. Or right here. Underwhelming. The answer is underwhelming. On this week’s show we talk about our gut reactions to Sony’s low-energy reveal event. We also talk about yesterday’s biggest news drop: Nintendo making a Mario game for…

I Am Very Excited To Play Torment: Tides of Numenera

Torment: Tides of Numenera, the spiritual successor to Planescape: Torment that’s being developed by a crazy-talented roster of designers (Colin McComb, Chris Avellone, George Ziets, etc.), is looking wonderful so far. New trailer above. The sci-fi-ish RPG, which will be out early next year for PC and consoles, is ramping up the weirdness in an…

Sony Announces The PlayStation 4 Pro

Meet the Neo, officially called PlayStation 4 Pro. It’s a more powerful PS4 that will support 4K and HDR. It’ll cost $400 and be out on November 10. “Our goal is to deliver high-fidelity graphical experiences,” lead architect Mark Cerny said on stage during a hardware event today. It’s got a faster CPU, a 1TB…

Watch The PlayStation Neo Reveal Live, Right Here

The next PlayStation 4 model, code-named Neo, will be revealed this afternoon in New York City. Let’s watch! We’re not sure what to expect from this so-called PlayStation Meeting. We know the PS4 Slim and Neo will be there, and from what we hear, a bunch of third-party devs like Ubisoft and BioWare are attending…

Nintendo Announces Super Mario Run For iOS [UPDATE: Android Later]

Mario is officially coming to the iPhone. Nintendo’s Shigeru Miyamoto made a surprise appearance at today’s Apple conference to announce Super Mario Run, an iOS runner with graphics from New Super Mario Bros. It’ll be free to download with a set purchase price, and Nintendo says it’s “coming soon” to the App Store. It’ll be…

One highlight of PAX 2016 was Secret Legend, a Zelda-styled action-adventure made by a very small team of indie developers. It’s got a terrible title, but the animation is fantastic and it looks like a pleasant, serene adventure. The developers told us it’s very early, so don’t expect this one for a long time