-
CultureApple’s Not Happy With Epic’s Xbox Witness
On Wednesday, vice president of Xbox business development Lori Wright testified in the ongoing trial between Epic and Apple. Now, Apple wants the court to make an “adverse credibility finding,” due to Microsoft withholding pertinent documents in her testimony. Apple’s lawyers took issue with Wright’s testimony in a motion filed yesterday, pointing out that Wright…
By Riley MacLeod Published May 7, 2021 -
CultureOdds and EndsWhat Did Fortnite Do To My Boy?
You all know I’m a fan of Meowscles, Fortnite’s needlessly sexy cat avatar introduced in Season 2. But Epic, not content to ruin my week just by making me listen to court testimony six hours a day, has given him a Steamboat Willie makeover. I’m not having it. Toon Meowscles is now in the item…
By Riley MacLeod Published May 7, 2021 -
CultureHumble Bundle Rethinks Unpopular Charity Split
Two weeks ago, Humble Bundle announced a controversial plan to remove sliders that allow users to customize what percent of their game purchase goes to charity. Today, Humble announced that it’s rethinking that plan. “We’ve heard everyone loud and clear and apologize for the way these changes were rolled out,” the company wrote in a…
By Riley MacLeod Published May 5, 2021 -
CultureEpic Tried To Convince Xbox To Make Multiplayer Free Alongside Apple Fight
An email between Epic CEO Tim Sweeney and Xbox head Phil Spencer, made public today as part of the ongoing Epic versus Apple trial, shows Sweeney trying to entice Spencer to take “free-to-play” multiplayer out from behind the Xbox Live paywall to coincide with Epic’s war against the App Store. In an emailon August 5,…
By Riley MacLeod Published May 4, 2021 -
CultureCyberpunk 2077 Bosses Will Reportedly Get Millions In Bonuses
Cyberpunk 2077 has been a profitable disaster for developer CD Projekt, recouping its development cost in pre-orders and earning record-breaking profits for the company. This is despite the game’s infamously poor launch state, a lot of which can be chalked up to mismanagement—management who will nevertheless receive hefty bonuses. A new report by Bloomberg, looking…
By Riley MacLeod Published April 30, 2021 -
CultureActivision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick Halves Pay, Still Rich
Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick is voluntarily halving his salary, as well as his target annual bonus. But in case you were worried, he’s still making a ton of money. Recent SEC filings show the salary cut as a reduction to $875,000, down from $1,750,000. The annual bonus cut, meanwhile, is “a potential reduction of…
By Riley MacLeod Published April 29, 2021 -
CultureMicrosoft Will Give More Of The Revenue To PC Developers
Game developers on the Microsoft store will soon get a greater cut of the profits, Microsoft announced today. The change comes at a time when many developers and storefronts are rethinking the way profits are split. “As part of our commitment to empower every PC game creator to achieve more, starting on August 1 the…
By Riley MacLeod Published April 29, 2021 -
CultureHere’s May 2021’s PlayStation Plus Lineup
May’s PlayStation Plus lineup isn’t a knockout, but it’s also not a bad-looking group. As always, these games are only “free” if you have an active PlayStation Plus membership. May’s PS Plus games are: PS5 Wreckfest: Drive Hard, Die Last PS4 Battlefield V Stranded Deep All games are available starting May 4.
By Riley MacLeod Published April 28, 2021 -
CultureApex Legends Is Getting An Arena Mode
Apex Legends Season 9 starts next week. Ahead of its launch, developer Respawn detailed the game’s upcoming Arena mode, which sees two teams of three face off in a series of rounds. As detailed in a blog post, Arena will be a permanent mode. Players can be revived if knocked down but not respawned. Rounds…
By Riley MacLeod Published April 26, 2021 -
CultureOdds and EndsNew Fortnite Skin Is Full Of References To Game’s Past Maps
Eco is a new Fortnite skin in the item shop today. It looks like the Earth, maybe for Earth Day. But it’s also full of easter eggs to the old battle royale island. Epic tweeted that the skin was inspired by Fortnite creator NolloBandz. It sells for 1500 Vbucks, and the set also contains a…
By Riley MacLeod Published April 22, 2021 -
CultureThe Olympics Gets A Virtual Sports Tie-In Event
It’s not quite esports in the Olympics, but the International Olympics Committee (IOC) will host a virtual sports event May 13 to June 23, tied to the upcoming Olympic Games in Tokyo. Produced by DreamHack Sports Games, the Olympic Virtual Series will be “the first-ever, Olympic-licensed event for physical and non-physical virtual sports,” according to…
By Riley MacLeod Published April 22, 2021 -
CultureApex Legends Coming To Phones
Battle royale Apex Legends is coming to phones, developer Respawn announced today. The mobile version will begin testing in certain regions this spring, with a wider rollout to come. “Apex Legends Mobile is specially designed for touchscreens, with streamlined controls and thoughtful optimizations that result in the most advanced battle royale combat available on a…
By Riley MacLeod Published April 19, 2021 -
CulturePrescription Video Game Could Help People Who’ve Had Covid
Researchers are testing whether a video game can help treat the cognitive effects of covid-19. A study uses the game EndeavorRx, which, last June, became the first video game requiring a prescription to play. EndeavorRx is currently used to treat children with ADHD. As reported by The Verge, Weill Cornell Medicine neuropsychologist Faith Gunning is…
By Riley MacLeod Published April 19, 2021 -
CultureThe Week In Games: Nier-ly There
It’s another week, which means another batch of new games. We’ve got some exciting things on the horizon, like NieR Replicant Don’t Make Me Type The Numbers and the next gen version of Judgment. Here are the video games coming this week: Tuesday April 20 MLB The Show 21 | PS5, PS4, Xbox One, Xbox…
By Riley MacLeod Published April 19, 2021 -
CultureOdds and EndsSorry, But The Chug Jug Song
I’m in charge of the website this weekend, which means I get to spread my suffering to you under the guise of Content. I’m sorry. Surely you are aware of “Chug Jug with You,” a Fortnite-themed parody of Estelle and Kanye West’s “American Boy.” If somehow you are not, or you just wanna hear the…
By Riley MacLeod Published April 18, 2021 -
ReviewsBacklogA Lunch Break With This Cyberpunk 2077 NPC
This is Ana Muñiz. They’re a random person in Cyberpunk 2077, with a pretty cool haircut and a nifty fashion sense. How do they spend their time? Since I finished Cyberpunk’s story back in December, I’ve been poking around Night City off and on, admiring the landscape and looking for interesting things to get up…
By Riley MacLeod Published April 18, 2021 -
CultureSunday Comics: Remaster
Hello! It’s time for Kotaku’s Sunday Comics, your weekly roundup of the best webcomics. The images enlarge if you click on the magnifying glass icon. Corpse Run by Alex Di Stasi. Published April 12. Read more of Corpse Run Awkward Zombie by Katie Tiedrich. Published April 12. Read more of Awkward Zombie Clueless Hero by…
By Riley MacLeod Published April 18, 2021 -
ReviewsBacklogHelp Me Finish Hollow Knight
In that dark, dark time before I fell in love with The Witcher 3, I asked you all to help me finish it. You gave me great advice that changed my gaming life. Today, I am here to ask for your assistance once again, with Hollow Knight Everyone loves Hollow Knight. I want to love…
By Riley MacLeod Published April 17, 2021 -
CultureReport: Amazon Cancels Lord Of The Rings MMO
Amazon has cancelled an in-development Lord of the Rings MMO it first announced in 2019, Bloomberg reported today. The MMO was being developed by Amazon and Chinese company Leyou Technologies Holdings Limited, which was purchased by Tencent in December 2020. Sources told Bloomberg contract disputes between Amazon and Tencent have caused the game to be cancelled.…
By Riley MacLeod Published April 17, 2021 -
CultureTroll Makes Up Path Of Exile Ban Over Accessibility, Is Asshole
This week, a supposed player claimed to have been banned from action RPG Path of Exile for using a macro to make the game accessible. Other players and accessibility activists took up their cause. Now, it appears the whole thing was a troll. In my professional journalistic opinion: what the hell? PC Gamer has an…
By Riley MacLeod Published April 17, 2021
Riley MacLeod
Riley MacLeod's posts