Jason Schreier

Destiny 2‘s Branching Narrative Is Basic But Has A Lot Of Potential

Back in 2014, when playing Destiny meant listening to a bored Peter Dinklage rattle off incoherent dialogue and meaningless proper nouns, it was hard to imagine that this game might one day do interesting things with narrative. Four and a half years later, here we are. The new Allegiance quest line, which was added to Destiny…

Electronic Arts won’t hold an E3 conference this year. The publisher said in a press release today that it will again hold EA Play in Los Angeles during the weekend before E3, but that the focus of the event will be livestreams and hands-on for players. No more soccer memes and disappointing mobile reveals, sadly

Blizzard is putting out some classic games on GOG, starting with the original Diablo today (for $10). GOG says Warcraft and Warcraft II will follow soon. Warcraft III is getting a remaster later this year, so obviously that won’t be on there, but you know what’s an interesting omission? Diablo II. 👀 

Days Gone Is Basically AAA Video Games: The Video Game

I got my hands on the upcoming PS4 game Days Gone a few weeks ago, and if you want to hear more about it, you can listen to this week’s Kotaku Splitscreen. Or you can read this post. First up, we talk about Bloodborne (which I’ve finally finished), Danganronpa (which Maddy’s almost finished), and the…

Destiny 2 Now Lets You Level Up Super Fast

If you, like me, haven’t had the time or patience to keep up with the Destiny 2 grind, here’s some good news on this day full of new Gambit modes: You can now get all the way to 640 power in just an hour or two, as long as you have the game’s year two…

We’re Excited To See What Google’s Project Stream Can Do

Is video game streaming going to change the industry as we know it? On Kotaku Splitscreen we discuss that question and much more. Kirk was on jury duty last week, so Maddy and I recorded and edited the show all by ourselves like grown adults. First we talk about Bloodborne, Danganronpa, beloved Nintendo of America…

Destiny 2 Gets Another Injection Of Cool New Stuff

As fans of loot shooters find themselves wondering which one to play, here’s a reminder that Destiny 2 is as good as it’s ever been, and it’s only getting better. On Tuesday, Bungie will put out Destiny 2‘s first big update since the Activision divorce two months ago, as the game enters the Season of…

Nintendo Announces Pokémon Sword And Shield For Switch

Generation eight of Pokémon is officially here, as this morning Nintendo announced Pokémon Sword and Shield, to release this fall on the Switch. The pair of games are three-dimensional and cel-shaded, looking better than any Pokémon we’ve seen before. You can watch the first trailer here: Pokémon Sword and Shield will be the first mainline…

Bloodborne Is Ruining Other Games For Me

Last weekend, I tried to jump into some video games. I spent a couple of minutes with the very flawed Anthem, briefly glanced at the Tales of Vesperia remaster on my Switch, and even started a new file in Final Fantasy IX, one of my favorite classic role-playing games. All of these games had one…

Facing Financial Pressures, GOG Quietly Lays Off At Least A Dozen Staff

Amid a month full of mass layoffs across the video game industry, the digital store GOG quietly let go of what it says was a dozen staff last week. GOG, which is owned by The Witcher 3 publisher CD Projekt, did not say why the layoffs happened, but one laid-off staffer tells Kotaku that the…

Guild Wars 2 Developer ArenaNet Plans For Mass Layoffs

ArenaNet, the studio behind the popular online games Guild Wars and Guild Wars 2, informed employees today that it is planning big layoffs, according to a person who is there. Although ArenaNet did not give out exact numbers, and they may not yet be finalized, rumors floating around the studio signal that a significant number…

Nintendo Of America President Reggie Fils-Aime Is Retiring

Reggie Fils-Aime’s body is no longer ready. The longtime president of Nintendo of America is stepping down on April 15, to be replaced by marketing man Doug Bowser, Nintendo said in a press release today. Fils-Aime, who was with Nintendo for 15 years, became an instant gamer celebrity when he took the company’s stage at…

Anthem‘s Loading Times Are A Real Problem

On Saturday night, I logged into BioWare’s new game Anthem and loaded up what I thought was a mission called Finding Old Friends. Instead, I got to play an entirely different mission: Finding Old Friends On Facebook While Wondering If Anthem Will Ever Actually Load. Anthem, which came out February 15 in early access and…

This year’s Game Developers Conference will have a keynote from a new contender in the world of video games: Google. It’ll take place in the Moscone Center in San Francisco on March 19 at 10am PT. “All will be revealed at the Google keynote,” the company says. Get ready for the full unveil of Yeti…

Final Fantasy IX Switch Is The Same Version As PC And Mobile, Bugs And All

You might think that a publisher with as much prestige as Square Enix would want to preserve its history in as smart a way as possible, allowing new generations of video game fans to discover and fall in love with Final Fantasy. But… nope. Final Fantasy IX launched on Switch and Xbox this week, and…

God of War took home Game of the Year at the DICE Awards in Las Vegas last night, along with a whole bunch of other awards. Celeste got best indie, while Florence was voted the best portable game. Interestingly, only one award—Outstanding Technical Achievement—for Red Dead Redemption 2

Four Hundred Blizzard France Employees Still Don’t Know If They’re Laid Off

By now, many of the people caught up in this week’s massive Activision Blizzard layoff have been informed that they’ve lost their jobs. But at Blizzard’s office in Versailles, France, more than 400 people are still waiting for news. And, due to complex French labor laws, it might be months before they find out what…

Hollow Knight Is Getting A Full Sequel

What was once downloadable content has morphed into a completely new sequel. Early this morning Australian indie developer Team Cherry announced Hollow Knight: Silksong, and it sure looks fantastic. Previously promised as DLC for the spectacular action-platforming game Hollow Knight (thanks to a Kickstarter stretch goal), Silksong stars Hornet, the spear-wielding heroine (and occasional antagonist)…

Zelda: Link’s Awakening Is Getting Remade For Switch

The Game Boy classic Zelda: Link’s Awakening is getting a full remake in the style of Link Between Worlds. It’ll be out for Switch this year. This is VERY GOOD NEWS, as Link’s Awakening is one of the best Zelda games that’s ever been made. Link’s Awakening, which came out in 1993, tells the story…

Today’s Nintendo Direct starts at 5pm ET. You can watch right here or via the YouTube embed below. Should be 35 minutes full of Switch news on Fire Emblem and much more.