Culture

What Are You Playing This Weekend?

The weekend is for going to visit my sister and her kids in Texas, where I will get to ride a horse and pet a dog. Her kids are kind of excited to see me, but they’re mostly excited I’m bringing my Switch. I don’t think kids under 11 will be very excited to play…

I Play Destiny As A Warlock But Now Think I Should Be A Titan

As far back as I can remember, I, like Ray Liotta, have always wanted to be a Warlock. My daddy was a Warlock. His daddy was a Warlock. Warlockin’ is in my blood, I thought as I started up Destiny for the first time in 2014. When Destiny 2 was released three years later, I…

‘The Discord Is The Church:’ A Place For Gamers To Worship

A few months ago, I was watching streamer Matt Souza play Fortnite on a custom server while I played along with his community, GodSquad Church. With a laptop earbud in one ear and my PC headset over another, I landed randomly on a hilltop near Polar Peak, only to immediately be killed by a player…

The Fraught History Of The Sims Introducing Same-Sex Romance Options

In design documents for the very first Sims game, renowned programmer Don Hopkins wrote that anyone offended by the game having same-sex romance needs to “needs to grow up and get a life.” According to a New Yorker article, programmer Patrick J. Barrett III added same-sex romance to the game without much input from anyone…

Track: Is There Still Anything That Love Can Do? | Artist: Radwimps | Album: Weathering With You OST  Kotaku Soundtrack is a selection of the stuff we’re listening to at the moment. 

Pick Up That Can

Alex Nice is an artist who has worked on stuff like Pacific Rim and John Wick 3 You can see more of Alex’s work at his personal site and ArtStation page

Nike Is Making Official Spongebob Squarepants Sneakers [Update]

While some of Nike’s recent pop-culture tie-ins have merely been inspired by something, this upcoming line of Kyries is a full and officially licensed collaboration between the athletics company and…Spongebob Squarepants. [Update: now with official product images] If that seems like an odd partnership, it’s actually a fairly predictable fit for Walking Galaxy Brain Meme…

Streamer Tries To Test PUBG Bug, Accidentally Lands Shot Of A Lifetime

Sometimes, there’s just no point in trying—for instance, when you’ve got to nail a shot on a target that’s several football fields’ worth of space away. Luckily for Twitch streamer Jake “ChocoTaco” Throop, he wasn’t trying at all. Or at least, he wasn’t trying to do that particular thing. Throop just wanted to demonstrate a…

Ignored By Nintendo, Brazilian Fans Film Their Own Nintendo Direct

If you want something done, you gotta do it yourself. As USGamer reports, a group of Brazilian Nintendo fans, fed up with the way the company has withdrawn from the market (which has left them paying big import prices for games and hardware), decided to team up and record their own Nintendo Direct. Led by…

In Dustnet, You Explore The Ruins Of One Of Video Games’ Most Beloved Maps

Even within the internet’s vast digital memory, nothing is guaranteed to last—especially not games. Maybe a company runs out of money and has to cut the cord. Or maybe disinterest turns servers into ghost towns, with not even a pixelated tumbleweed in sight. Dustnet takes the latter idea to its utmost extreme, positing a world…

Permadeath Doesn’t Matter If You Have Enough Save Files

From XCOM to Fire Emblem, it feels bad to watch your team die in a tactical game. It’s way better to save a million times so that you can re-do part of a battle to keep everyone alive. On this week’s Kotaku Splitscreen, Kirk and I brought on Gita Jackson to talk about Fire Emblem:…

Overwatch director Jeff Kaplan has explained how the new role queue feature will work in-game. Both quick play and competitive modes will, by default, incorporate role queue. You’ll queue up for matches based on whether you want to play tank, damage, or support, and in the case of competitive, you’ll have a separate skill rating…

Please Let Me Buy Individual Joy-Cons To Mix And Match

Earlier this week Nintendo announced two new sets of Joy-Cons that will release in October. Once they’re out, the Switch will have over 100 different color combinations, an impressive number of options even by the standards of the most devoted Nintendo fan. But the Joy-Cons are still only sold in pairs, making true customization an…

The Strange Guilt Of Changing Jobs In An MMO

As I continue to lose myself in the world of Final Fantasy XIV’s latest expansion, writing guides on how new folks can get started and fighting terrifying raid bosses, I’ve also taken the time to experiment with new jobs. I followed my co-worker Mike Fahey’s lead and started the new Dancer job. And oh my…

GTA Online‘s Casino Will Have Horse Racing, Private Arcades, And Penthouses

GTA Online’s casino update launches July 23. The update is about the opening of the Diamond Casino & Resort in Los Santos. Rockstar has revealed more information about the long-teased update via a separate website, a first for GTA Online expansions. The update sounds ambitious and potentially very expensive, with slot machines, horse track betting,…

Role-Locking Is Coming To Overwatch, According To Leaked Video [UPDATE]

Today, a pre-recorded Overwatch League video leaked sharing news that Blizzard is apparently implementing role-locking in Overwatch and the Overwatch League. [Update—4:45 pm ET]: Overwatch’s game director Jeff Kaplan confirmed that players will now queue for specific roles in Overwatch games, too. Starting soon, all team compositions in the Overwatch League will consist of two…

Sea Of Thieves Gets Monthly Updates And The First One Is Pretty…Explosive

Sea of Thieves, Rare’s chill pirate hangout game, has been on the upswing lately. After an expansive (and excellent) Anniversary Update that brought story quests and cooking to its cartoony high seas in May, Sea of Thieves is upping the ante yet again with monthly updates. Log into the game now on Xbox One or…

Track: If You Tolerate This Your Children Will Be Next | Artist: Manic Street Preachers | Album: This Is My Truth Tell Me Yours Kotaku Soundtrack is a selection of the stuff we’re listening to at the moment. 

Our Favorite Photos From YetiCon, Canada’s Mountain Cosplay Party

This major Canadian cosplay show knows how to party

The Tracks Lead Off In This Direction

Katya Gudkina is an artist at Bethesda, the developers of the Fallout and Elder Scrolls series. You can see more of Gudkina’s stuff at her personal site and ArtStation page