Zack Kotzer, Author at Kotaku

Phoebe Bridgers Launches Itch.io Page With An Infinite Runner

The indie superstar breaks her hiatus with a RuneScape inspired single and a Subway Surfers style micro game

By Zack Kotzer Published July 12, 2026

Expensive Games Are Fueling Steam’s Most Lucrative Year Despite Players Trending Towards Older Releases

While the industry crumbles around it, the leading PC gaming portal is seeing its highest gross revenues off surprise hits, new demographics and higher priced blockbusters

By Zack Kotzer Published July 12, 2026

Culture

Ubisoft Drops Claim That Monetization Makes Games ‘More Fun’ From Annual Report

Unclear if they can hear themselves talk, the new internal report also cautions against game development cycles taking too long

By Zack Kotzer Published July 12, 2026

Culture

Brazilian Court Forces Xbox To Restore Hacked Account And Pay Damages As Players Grapple With An All-Digital Future

Microsoft reportedly assigned 12 lawyers to argue over $400 and some video games

By Zack Kotzer Published July 12, 2026

Culture

Vanillaware Artist Moved Into The Mountains For Six Years To Create Lush Love Letter To Old School RPGs

Yoshio Nishimura’s Veritas Tales: Witch of the Dark Castle is a delightfully quirky love letter to the likes of Grailquest and Deathtrap Dungeon

By Zack Kotzer Published July 12, 2026

Culture

Official Avengers: Doomsday Art Gives Clearest Look At Returning X-Men, Mystique’s Awful New Haircut

Raven, Magneto is a fake friend he should not have let you leave the house looking like that

By Zack Kotzer Published July 11, 2026

Culture

Meta Removes Latest AI Integration On Instagram Following SAG-AFTRA Backlash

Designed to feed its new ‘Muse Image’ tool, Meta opted in users' their posts used for training material without permission

By Zack Kotzer Published July 11, 2026

Satya Nadella sits with Asha Sharma in a meeting.

Culture

Microsoft Responds To Racist Conspiracy Theories About Layoffs: ‘They Were Not Made To Replace Employees With Foreign Workers’

After a miserable week at the company, Microsoft's communications lead makes time to address the least legitimate criticism of its CEO

By Zack Kotzer Published July 11, 2026

CultureNews

EA Reverses Course On College Football 27 Microtransactions Following Player Revolt

The latest scandal between EA and student athletics stems from previously free progression features in the Road to Glory and Dynasty modes being paywalled

By Zack Kotzer Published July 11, 2026

CultureNews

Companies Hope To Save On AI By Having It Talk To Them Like Cavemen

After training the likes of Claude to mimic intelligent human speech patterns, it’s becoming more affordable to dumb these computers down

By Zack Kotzer Published July 5, 2026

Culture

Nintendo President Promises To Tackle Pokémon Card Scalpers After Billions Printed Fail To Satisfy Market

During a meeting with shareholders, Shuntaro Furukawa said that the intense world of Pokémon Card flipping is on their radar and mentions requiring government ID isn't off the table

By Zack Kotzer Published July 5, 2026

Culture

ExtraEmily Banned From Twitch After Nearly Causing On-Stream Auto Accident: ‘I Want To Learn From My Mistake And Do Better’

The streamer is no stranger to distracted driving, kicking up a conversation on why the platform is so permissive of streaming behind the wheel

By Zack Kotzer Published July 5, 2026

Culture

7 Must-Play Games To Download From PlayStation 3’s Storefront Before It Closes

Do not allow yourself to miss some of the most essential games from one of PlayStation's most uncanny eras

By Zack Kotzer Published July 4, 2026

CultureNews

Marvel Rivals Fans Are Debating If Captain America’s Bulge Actually Got Nerfed Or It’s Just A Visual Illusion

In a matter of days, players believe NetEase may have eased up on their hottest skin of the summer

By Zack Kotzer Published July 4, 2026

CultureNews

The Steam Machine Might Have Its Own ‘Red Ring Of Death’

History doesn’t always repeat itself, but it often rhymes, as one Steam Machine owner discovered a familiar fatal error alert

By Zack Kotzer Published July 4, 2026

Culture

New Indie Text Adventure Hides An Incredibly Eerie Vaporwave Labyrinth

The Dreams in the Peacock House is a midsummer mishmash of lucid gaming

By Zack Kotzer Published June 28, 2026

Culture

Behold The True Story Behind A Truly One-Of-A-Kind Cult-Classic Sci-Fi RPG For Its 25th Anniversary

Anachronox failed to garner attention in its day but has accrued a cult audience over its quarter century

By Zack Kotzer Published June 28, 2026

Culture

Cyberpunk: Edgerunners’ Season 2 Return To Netflix Finally Has A Release Date This Fall

The unlikely hit spin-off series set within Night City sports a new roster of outcast cyber folks

By Zack Kotzer Published June 28, 2026

Culture

Study Uses Age Of Empires Scenario Editor To Illustrate Why It’s Farcical To Treat AI As Cognizant

OpenAI and the like are using our fantasies about technology to bilk investors, if we want to protect the public we need to establish the difference consciousness and something mimicking it

By Zack Kotzer Published June 28, 2026

Culture

The Hot New Nintendo Collectibles Are 35mm Film Slides

Reemerging from the pre-digital media era, these promotional stills contain high fidelity stills of low polygon games

By Zack Kotzer Published June 27, 2026