Nathan Grayson

Titanfall 2, As Told By Steam Reviews

Titanfall 2 is a masterpiece, a sublime blend of speed, fury, and mech buddy feel-good vibes. Unfortunately, many people are not aware of this, because when the stompy shooter first came out, it flew uncharacteristically under the radar for something involving giant robots. Now it’s getting a second chance on Steam. While a dedicated community…

Four Hours With Watch Dogs: Legion, A Game That Might Be Too Timely For Its Own Good

Bands of protesters begging apathetic passersby to rise up. Officers detaining and brutalizing people, seemingly without cause. Fresh graffiti alluding to a dizzying array of injustices: xenophobia, the surveillance state, war. The first thing that struck me about Watch Dogs: Legion is that, despite a multi-year development cycle and a futuristic setting, its open-world city…

Valorant‘s First ‘Ultra’ Skin Set Is A $100 Investment

If you looked me square in the eyes and said that you didn’t love the idea of a dragon-shaped gun with funny little arms—a tiny, handheld battle buddy that spits bullets and belches flame—I’d call you a damn liar. That’s the kind of admirably goofy universal appeal resting in the ammo chambers of Valorant’s first…

OfflineTV Fandom Divided After Popular Streamer Thrown Out Over Abuse Allegations

Right now, if you digitally eavesdrop on any given conversation in the fandom surrounding OfflineTV, a beloved streamer house racked by allegations of inappropriate behavior, you’ll likely find people debating the idea of forgiveness. Should fans forgive faves who’ve fessed up? Can they, given that they’re just bystanders? Over the weekend, OfflineTV, a streamer house…

Twitch Streamer Byron ‘Reckful’ Bernstein Dies At 31

Today, former top World of Warcraft player and longtime Twitch streamer Byron “Reckful” Bernstein died. Bernstein’s ex, Blue, and his close friend, Andy Milonakis, and posted about him on Twitter. “Byron, I wish I could have helped you,” wrote Blue, saying that Bernstein died by suicide. “We all do. I’m so sorry I couldn’t. Thank…

Amazon’s Crucible Flopped So Hard It’s Being Un-Released

In this era of constant updates, games leave closed beta on a regular basis. They don’t often re-enter it. However, like a groundhog emerging to un-see its own shadow, Amazon’s team-based shooter Crucible is no longer a fully released video game. Crucible’s post-release beta comes on the heels of a rocky launch, which consisted of…

Twitch Suspends Donald Trump For Hateful Conduct

Today, Twitch temporarily suspended the official channel of Donald Trump, the President of the United States, for hateful conduct. Trump’s account is generally used for online broadcasts of rallies and other events, not Trump’s nascent career as a racist Valorant player. After Twitter accounts that monitor Twitch reported that his channel had been suspended, Twitch…

Mixer’s Sudden Shutdown Has Streamers Scrambling To Reboot Their Careers On Twitch

Earlier this week, Microsoft abruptly announced that its game-centric livestreaming platform, Mixer, is not long for this world. After paying top dollar to scoop up household names like Tyler “Ninja” Blevins and Michael “Shroud” Grzesiek last year, Mixer will be no more as of next month. Suddenly, streamers who’ve staked their careers on the ocean-blue…

Twitch Bans Dr Disrespect

Today, out of the blue, Twitch suspended massively popular streamer Guy “Dr Disrespect” Beahm, a ban that multiple sources tell Kotaku is permanent. Initially, people suspected that he’d tripped a wire in Twitch’s increasingly aggressive DMCA detection system, but that does not appear to be the case. Industry insider and journalist Rod “Slasher” Breslau said…

Twitch Finally Starts Banning Streamers Accused Of Sexual Abuse

Over the weekend, over 50 people, mostly women, in and around the world of Twitch came forward to accuse streamers and other industry figures, mostly men, of sexual abuse. As the week has progressed, that number has swelled to nearly 100. After the initial wave of accusations, Twitch promised to investigate and potentially take action.…

A Wave Of Sexual Abuse Stories Is Causing A Reckoning In The Twitch Streaming World

Over the weekend, a trickle of sexual harassment stories surrounding influential figures in the streaming world grew into a tidal wave. More than 50 streamers, most of them women, shared dozens of stories that have already produced vast reverberations, including the resignation of the head of one of the biggest management firms in all of…

It’s Time For Brooklyn Nine-Nine’s Cops To Quit Their Jobs

As a general rule, I don’t like cop shows. Until recently, I made one exception. That show was Brooklyn Nine-Nine, an NBC series that just wrapped up its seventh season. It’s more of an office comedy than a cop show, which is what I liked about it. Many of its situations, which involve an admirably…

Racist Team Fortress 2 Bots Are Devising New Tactics To Evade Valve’s Crackdown

For months now, Team Fortress 2 has been wilting under a concerted assault from spam bots, many of which overwhelm chat with racist and homophobic messages. Now Valve, which has otherwise largely abandoned the game, has stepped in. But that doesn’t mean the problem has been entirely solved. In a new set of patch notes…

This year’s TwitchCon has been canceled. The event was set to take place in San Diego, California in September, but “due to restrictions on large gatherings and ongoing concerns for the health and safety of our community, the Twitch team, and the local San Diego community,” Twitch has decided to call it off. Earlier this…

Avengers Game Twitter Assembles, Then Deletes Extremely Bad Tweet About Defaced Statue

Today, the official Avengers video game Twitter account posted a short video featuring a monument of Captain America and said that the area around it had been “defaced.” It’s the kind of atrociously poor timing that, itself, deserves some kind of historical monument. Right now, all across the nation, cities and states are making plans…

Steam Game Festival Lets You Try Out Upcoming Games

It is mid-June. We are now deep into what would have been E3 season, if E3 existed on another planet that wasn’t plunging deeper and deeper into turmoil with every passing second. But hey, digital events are fun. On that note, the Steam Game Festival: Summer Edition, which Valve rescheduled from last week while remaining…

Fortnite Breaks Twitch’s All-Time Concurrent Viewer Record After Locking Tons Of Players Out Of Event [UPDATE]

Today, Fortnite’s oft-delayed season-ending “Device” event finally took place, dotting the map with explosions before submerging it beneath the ocean. Over two million viewers tuned in on Twitch to watch the sea consume all, a grim preview of the future that also awaits the popular game map we call “Earth.” This means that Fortnite now…

White Twitch Talk Show Host Finally Drops ‘Rajj Patel’ Moniker

Rajj Patel is one of the better-known names on Twitch. He hosts the wildest, most popular ongoing reality TV-like shows on the platform, including the Rajjchelor, a low-budget streamer take on The Bachelor, and Rajj Royale, a dramatic debate show. From now on, however, he’s simply going by his real first name: Austin. In a…

Sims Players Hold Virtual Black Lives Matter Rally

The past couple weeks have been a whirlwind of justified fury at police, who have taken the lives of George Floyd and so many others. Crowds of protesters have hit the streets every day and night all across the country. But that’s not an option for everybody. With this in mind, Sims modder and streamer…

Here’s What The PS5 Looks Like

Today, Sony showed off the PlayStation 5, which spits in the face of the idea of non-rounded corners. There will be two versions: a regular one and a “digital edition” that does not have a disc tray. The new “DualSense” controller will be wireless. There are also accessories: an HD camera, a wireless headset, and…