Culture

Counter-Strike Players Charged By Police Over Match-Fixing Allegations

Victoria Police has charged five Australians over deliberately losing and simultaneously betting in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive matches, the first charges of their kind in Australia. The charges stemmed from an investigation by Victoria Police’s Sporting Integrity Intelligence Unit last year, which resulted in six arrests. Five men in Victoria have been charged as a result…

Chinese Exoskeleton Is Basically Death Stranding Cosplay

A Chinese food delivery company has been testing an exoskeleton its couriers could wear which would allow them to carry a lot more stuff. And while they’re at it look like the world’s most expensive Death Stranding cosplayers. The suits are made by ULS Robotics, a firm that specialises in the research of exoskeletons to…

2004’s Star Wars Battlefront Gets Its Official Online Multiplayer Back

As EA begin to wind down support for the latest Battlefront game, a surprise update has brought back online multiplayer for the original Star Wars: Battlefront, released back in 2004. On Friday, both the Steam and GOG versions of the classic multiplayer shooter—which loads of people still prefer to the more modern takes on the…

Track: Cash Machine | Artist: DRAM | Album: Big Baby DRAM 

‘Shop Contest: National Paranormal Day

Boo! Did I scare you!? Sorry. Well, there won’t be any more scares in this post. Today is, according to countless websites that track this stuff, National Paranormal Day. Let’s have some fun, with ghosts, aliens, and ghouls! Your challenge this week: Create images featuring paranormal monsters, aliens, and creatures from video games. You can…

How’s It Going?: Good News Edition

Hello, hi, welcome. Take a seat and we will start the open thread momentarily. I just need to finddd…the… buttonnnn…AHH! Here we go. The open thread is…LIVE! For those of you who care anddon’t follow me on Twitter, I became a full-time writer for Kotaku last week. This is some good news in a time…

Even After A Large Increase Due To Half-Life: Alyx, Less Than 2% Of Steam Users Own VR Headsets

Half-Life: Alyx helped lead a large surge of new VR headsets being connected to Steam, according to data from Valve. However, the percentage of Steam users who own VR headsets is still hovering at around 1.9%. According to a recent hardware survey from Valve, the first since Alyx was released on Steam back in late…

Sunday Comics: Take Our Money!

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 30. Read more of Corpse Run Awkward Zombie by Katie Tiedrich. Published April 27. Read more of Awkward Zombie Clueless Hero by…

‘Shop Contest: Astroneer Costume, Winners!

Last week, we all learned not to wear a Halloween costume as a form of virus protection. But also, I tasked you with taking ashockingly silly and dumb ideaand having some fun with it. Our winning image this week was created by Rembrantt who shows us what shopping during a pandemic looks like in 2020.…

One Image Taken Before Disaster

This week on Snapshots a skateboarding president, a big dog, a sad hug, gruff cowboy closeups, Spider-Man kicking in the air and a photo taken right before tragedy. “Hey, clones! What’s this about an order…66? Or maybe 65?” Kotaku Snapshots is a weekly look at some of the best, funniest and coolest screenshots players have…

Houndoom Will Make You Feel Pain For The Rest Of Your Life

Every Pokemon is interesting and worth talking about. I don’t play a ton of Pokemon, but I do enjoy the universe and I love learning more about the creatures in it. So, Here’s Another Pokemon! It’s Houndoom! Houndoom Details Type: Dark/Fire Average Height: 4′ 07″ Average Weight: 77.2 lbs First Added In Generation II I…

How’s It Going?: Old Games Edition

Another weekend, another open thread. Come chat with other folks about how things are going. Clearing your backlog of games is always a nice idea, but the allure of older games I’ve played is hard to ignore. So instead of playing something I’ve never played before, I decided to start playing the original Gears Of…

Memorial Statues Honoring Soldier Voice Actor Rick May Appear In Team Fortress 2

Valve has updated Team Fortress 2 and added memorial statues featuring the Soldier as a tribute to Rick May, who died last month. May, who voiced the Soldier in Team Fortress 2, passed away on Apri 13 due to complications involving COVID-19 after recovering from a stroke. He was 79 years old. He had voiced…

Count Dooku Has Evolved

Hello! This week we dunk on Elon Musk, check out a cool LEGO Mario game, watch an android do some flips, ask rich companies to help more, check out the new Apex Legends character and meet the new Dooku. Great Kotaku Content From The Past Week I will never understand why so many people think…

Dr Disrespect’s Shtick Takes A Dangerous Turn Into Spreading Coronavirus Conspiracy Theories

During a stream today, Guy “Dr Disrespect” Beahm, whose 4 million followers make him one of the most popular streamers on Twitch, shared two pieces of widely debunked coronavirus-related media with his viewers. Many viewers reacted with shock and disappointment. Others cheered him on. He never dropped his facade—never removed his trademark wig or sunglasses—but…

Classic Streets Of Rage Soundtracks Getting Reissued On Cassette

Sure, one can get Wayô Records’ reissues of Yuzo Koshiro’s legendary Mega Drive soundtracks to Streets of Rage and Streets of Rage II digitally or on compact disc, but why not pick a format capable of melting on the dashboard of your car or being eaten by hamsters? While the merits of the music from…

Upcoming Guild Wars 2 Episode Won’t Release With Voice Acting Due To Covid-19

The upcoming third episode of Guild Wars 2’s fifth season will release without voice acting, developer ArenaNet said in a recent announcement. The studio plans to record voiceover and add it to the game at a later date. Since the Guild Wars 2 team is working remotely due to covid-19, The Icebrood Saga’s next chapter,…

Last Of Us II Leakers Are ‘Not Affiliated’ With Naughty Dog, Sony Says

Earlier this week what appeared to be major spoilers from The Last of Us Part II leaked on YouTube and Reddit. Sony now says it knows who the leakers were, and contrary to widespread online speculation, can confirm they were not a disgruntled Naughty Dog employee. “SIE has identified the primary individuals responsible for the…

Bungie Hopes To Make Destiny 2’s Seasons And Bounties Feel Less Punishing In The Future

In its latest weekly blog post Bungie laid out plans to address some of players’ biggest complaints about the current state of Destiny 2, including how content disappears once a season ends and the game’s recent emphasis on grinding bounties. Destiny 2 operates on a seasonal basis with new activities, quests, and guns rotating in…

Thanks For The Lovely Birthday Party, Animal Crossing Friends

I’m not normally one for elaborate birthday celebrations, but the party held for me this morning by a trio of Animal Crossing: New Horizons villagers was exactly the pick-me-up I needed today. My ideal birthday is good food with family and friends and maybe a new Transformer or Lego set to fiddle with. I commemorate…