Culture

Valve Outlines Its Plans For Steam In 2019

As part of a lengthy 2018-in-review post published today, Valve outlined improvements it made to Steam in 2018, then broke out its internal corporate crystal ball for a glimpse into the future. If all goes according to plan, it’s gonna be a big year for Steam. But this is Valve, a company whose main contribution…

Dota 2 Custom Mode Is Either One Of Steam’s Top Games Or A Glitch

Before it became the megalith players know, love, and dedicate entire lifetimes to mastering, Dota was just a popular mod of other games like Warcraft 3. Perhaps, in a handful of years, we’ll be speaking similarly of Dota 2 mod Auto Chess—that is, if it really is as popular as it seems to be. Over…

Super Nintendo Game Names Are Buried In The Switch Online NES App

Switch Online’s NES classics app now has titles and descriptions for 22 Super Nintendo games buried in its code, according to dataminers who have looked at the program. That’s a welcome glimmer of hope for anyone hoping to play Super Mario World on their Switch, but it doesn’t necessarily mean those games will show up…

I Hit Assassin’s Creed Odyssey’s Original Level Cap Before Seeing Half The Map

Every time I play Ubisoft’s gargantuan Assassin’s Creed Odyssey I’m astounded at how much of it I have left. I’m also left startled by how different an experience I seem to have had from many other players I’ve heard some people complain that Odyssey is a grind, that they level too slowly, and that they’re…

Once More Unto The Breach, Dear Friends

Chris Glenn is a freelance concept artist based in Los Angeles. You can see more of Chris’ work at his ArtStation page

Suspected Cosplay Stalker Destroys Seven Cars During Anime Con [Update]

A suspected arson attack, allegedly carried out by an “obsessed stalker”, has torched seven cars in the parking lot of a hotel where Anime Los Angeles attendees have been staying over the weekend. The incident took place early on Sunday morning, just before 2am. The night manager of the Azure Hotel & Suites in Ontario,…

Sunday Comics: Fox Meat

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. Awkward Zombie by Katie Tiedrich. Published January 7. Read more of Awkward Zombie Corpse Run by Alex Di Stasi. Published January 10. Read more of Corpse Run Double XP by…

Fortnite Streamer’s Friend Gives Him $75,000 Donation [Update]

“Wait a minute,” said Fortnite streamer Exotic Chaotic upon noticing the number of digits in a donation he received on Twitch earlier this week. “That can’t be right.” He was so stunned that he stopped playing to check his PayPal. There it was: $75,000. Exotic Chaotic stood up and lost his shit. “DUDE,” he bellowed…

One Of My Favorite Tales Role-Playing Games Just Got Better 

Tales of Vesperia is one of the best entries in the long-running Tales series. Originally released worldwide in 2008 for the Xbox 360, it came out on PS3 only in Japan in 2009 with extra playable characters, a more fleshed-out story, full voice acting, new mini-games and more. Nearly a decade later, Bandai Namco finally gives…

Track: Let’s Dance (Demo) | Artist: David Bowie | Album: N/A Kotaku Soundtrack is a selection of the stuff we’re listening to at the moment.

Otaru Canal. Hokkaido, Japan. By Reginald Pentinio | Flickr JPGs is a photo peek into wherever gamers might find interesting. If you’re a photographer and have images you want to share, drop us a line! 

Just Witcher Stuff

Piotr Foksowicz is a freelance concept artist and illustrator from Poland. You can see more of Piotr’s stuff at his ArtStation page

Atom Feels Like Old-School Fallout Set In Post-Apocalyptic Russia

Nearly every Steam review and description of Atom RPG I read said the same thing: It’s old-school Fallout, but Soviet. “That can’t be,” I said to myself as I waited for the game to download. “That’s too reductionist.” A few hours of playtime later, I’ve revised my opinion: Atom is old-school Fallout, but Soviet. This…

Our Video Game Predictions For 2019

What’s coming for video games in 2019? What sort of wild predictions do we have for the year? Today onKotaku Splitscreen, we discuss. Every January, Splitscreen makes a bet to see who can rack up the most correct guesses about what’s going to happen in the coming year. Last year, Kirk won, which is why…

All I Do In Final Fantasy XIV Now Is Play Mahjong

This week’s 4.5 update for Final Fantasy XIV brought players an exciting new raid encounter featuringa Final Fantasy XII cameo, a new dungeon to explore and the first half of the conclusion to the exciting Stormblood storyline. It also added multiplayer Mahjong. Guess what I’ve been doing for the past two days. Competitive Mahjong is…

Track: Unshaken | Artist: D’Angelo | Album: Red Dead Redemption 2 (OST) Kotaku Soundtrack is a selection of the stuff we’re listening to at the moment.

Don’t Think Twice. Tokyo, Japan. By Davide Sasso | Instagram JPGs is a photo peek into wherever gamers might find interesting. If you’re a photographer and have images you want to share, drop us a line! 

The Slightly Sketchy 1990s ‘Computer Fairs,’ A Major Part Of My Gaming History

If you asked me to list some of the games I bought or played in 1994, I’d probably start off with Donkey Kong Country and Final Fantasy III, and it would likely take me a long time before I ever mentioned Barneystein 3D. But it was part of my gaming world in 1994, and there’s…

Just A Couple Of WWE Stars Cosplaying As Team Rocket

Wrestling star Zelina Vega cosplays all the time, but here she’s joined up with Andrade Cien Almas for some fresh trouble. Make it double. The pair, who are usually a wrestler-manager couple but who also team up sometimes in the ring, are dressed up here out of it as Pokemon’s Team Rocket. If Nintendo and…

I Really Like The Darkwing Duck Game That Capcom Rejected

Here’s a failed game concept that I really wish had managed to survive the gauntlet of development: Headcannon’s Darkwing Duck pitch. Earlier this week, the developers of Sonic Mania revealed that they’d previously approached Capcom about making a spiritual successor to the company’s 1992 NES game. Obviously, they were unsuccessful. The studio has since released…