Jason Schreier

Blizzard Says They Had To Shut Down World of Warcraft Fan Server Nostalrius

This morning, Blizzard’s executives finally spoke out about their decision to shut down the World of Warcraft fan server Nostalrius, writing that there was “no clear legal path” to both protect their intellectual property and allow an unofficial server to keep running. “Why not just let Nostalrius continue the way it was?” wrote World of…

Assassin’s Creed designer Patrice Desilets has settled his legal dispute with Ubisoft, he announced today. Ubisoft has given Desilets back the rights to the game that they cancelled, Project 1666. Full statement in the comments.

Even Fox News Is Mad About The Division

Everyone’s bummed out about The Division these days, from internet message boards to cable news channels. Ubisoft’s online shooter is going through some growing pains, and although the folks at developer Massive have been updating the game on a regular basis, they can’t seem to stop all the exploits. People have been complaining rather loudly…

Someone Pranked The Hell Out Of Persona Fans

Over the weekend, Persona fans got some tremendous news: the next game in Atlus’s quirky series would be out in July, not just for PS4 but for PC as well. Then they found out it was all a big lie. It all started Friday, when Atlus launched a Persona teaser page that’s been counting down…

The Game of Thrones Dilemma

In the first book of George RR Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire, Eddard Stark faces a near-impossible choice: Should he sacrifice his noble values to save his own life? This week, people across the world will have to make a similarly difficult decision: Should we watch the new season of Game of Thrones?…

Podcast: When Is ‘Crunch’ OK?

Is mandatory overtime an integral part of game development or a systemic issue that should be completely eliminated? Where would you even start? Originally posted 4/21/16 On today’s episode of our podcast, Kotaku Splitscreen, industry veteran Matthew Burns (Destiny, Halo) joins us to talk about the nuances of “crunch”—game parlance for forced unpaid overtime—and how…

What A Video Game Producer Actually Does

Say you want to have a party. You want it to be the most incredible party on the planet, one that all of your friends will remember forever. You’re putting a lot of money into it, so you can’t afford to fail. It’s gotta be perfect. To pull off an event like this, you’ll need…

Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children Will Be Shown In A Theater This Weekend

On Sunday, for the first time since 2006 (as far as I can tell), Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children will be screened in a theater—an actual theater. The polarizing film, which continued the story of Cloud and his angsty buddies after they defeated Sephiroth way back in the 90s, will be shown at the Newport…

Developer Amilia St. John, daughter of Alex St. John, wrote an excellent piece today that blasts her father’s views on crunch, labor, and women in the tech industry. “I beg my father, for the love of his daughters, to stop hindering our progress as women in the industry and start using his influence to promote…

Ark: Survival of the Fittest will come to PS4 on July 19, developer Studio Wildcard said today. This is an arena survival spinoff of the popular dinosaur game Ark: Survival Evolved. It’s in Early Access on PC right now, and the PS4 version will also launch in beta.

Remember When Curt Schilling Ran A Game Company Into The Ground?

Yesterday, ESPN fired former Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling for posting an anti-trans meme on Facebook. It was an inglorious end for Schilling’s broadcasting job, which by now must be a feeling he’s used to. Although today he’s best known for sharing conservative and often bigoted memes on social media, Schilling was once chairman of…

Blizzard Is Nerfing A Bunch Of Hearthstone Cards

Druid combos will be a little less powerful in Hearthstone pretty soon, as Blizzard prepares to nerf a number of classic cards alongside the newest expansion. Newly nerfed classic cards include some core favorites like Ironbeak Owl, Leper Gnome, and Knife Juggler. Powerful Druid cards like Keeper of the Grove and Force of Nature will…

Microsoft Ends Xbox 360 Production

After a successful ten-and-a-half-year run, the Xbox 360 is officially saying goodbye. One might even say it’s turning around 360 degrees and walking away. Announcing the news on the Xbox Wire today, Microsoft’s Phil Spencer wrote a few paragraphs about the console’s success. And it has indeed been successful, selling upwards of 78 million units…

A NSFW Look At Every Game Twitch Has Banned

As of this morning, the website Twitch has banned 32 games from appearing on its streaming services. But just what kind of games are they? Let’s take a look. Out of sheer curiosity and maybe a dash of masochism, I’ve spent the past few hours scanning through all 32 games Twitch has deemed ban-worthy. Most…

In One Update, Destiny Got Some Mojo Back

Last week, Bungie launched a significant update for Destiny, a video game in which players create virtual dolls and dress them up in a variety of colored costumes. The update, which has been informally dubbed The Taken Spring, adds a few new bits of content to Bungie’s shooter-MMO hybrid. There’s a short quest, a boring…

The new World of Warcraft expansion, Legion, will be out on August 30, Blizzard just announced. More info over on their website

Game Industry Veteran Writes Horrifying Article In Defense Of Poor Working Conditions [UPDATE]

This weekend on Venturebeat, game industry veteran Alex St. John published a hot new contender for worst article of the decade, arguing that today’s game developers should stop whining about nonsensical ideas like, oh, “fair wages.” St. John, who co-created DirectX for Microsoft and founded the game company WildTangent, writes that “making games is not…

Ark: Survival Evolved Developers Settle Ugly Lawsuit 

Ark: Survival Evolved developer Studio Wildcard came to a settlement agreement this week with Trendy Entertainment, putting an end to an ugly legal battle that had been raging for months. Terms of the settlement were not disclosed, but Wildcard co-founder Susan Stieglitz wrote on Twitter earlier this week that Trendy was looking for $600 million.…

Ten Hours With The Excellent New JRPG Bravely Second

Bravely Second, the appropriately titled sequel to Bravely Default, is out in North America for 3DS today. Like its predecessor, Bravely Second is a smart, lighthearted role-playing game with killer combat and enough customization to keep curious players occupied for quite some time. I’ve spent around ten hours with Bravely Second, and I like it…

Well Here’s A Fun New Destiny Conspiracy Theory

Just how did someone find a secret in the newest Destiny update 17 minutes after it went live? And did that same magical sleuth tease some actual news about the future of Bungie’s space treadmill? Here’s a fun conspiracy theory that popped up this week on r/DestinyTheGame, my favorite subreddit and a wonderful place for…