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CultureWalmart Asks Employees To Remove Violent Video Game Signage
For the past couple of days, Walmart employees have been receiving memos instructing them to remove “any signing or displays that contain violent images or aggressive behavior.” Principal among the suggested items are demos and signs promoting violent video games. Vice first reported on the memo’s circulation earlier today. It tells employees to “remove,” “turn…
By Nathan Grayson Published August 8, 2019 -
CultureCosplayGalleryCosplay’s “World Championships” Were Just Incredible
Most of the time cosplay is about having fun and hanging out with friends. Sometimes, though, it gets competitive, and there’s no bigger prize for serious devotees than the World Cosplay Summit, held every year in Japan. It’s basically a World Championships of cosplay, and as you can imagine, the entrants are out of this…
By Luke Plunkett Published August 8, 2019 -
CultureTwitchThe Top Streamers On Twitch Now That Ninja’s Gone
Last week, Tyler “Ninja” Blevins, much like his namesake, crept out of the figurative building—flanked on all sides by fanfare, cascading grey-blue mountains of Red Bull, and ill-considered jokes. Soon, he made his presence known under a different roof: Mixer, Microsoft’s competitor to Twitch. Blevins has left behind a void. The question is, who will…
By Nathan Grayson Published August 8, 2019 -
CultureClever Player Creates First-Person Dungeon-Crawler In Mario Maker 2
The Mario Maker series offers creators an expansive suite of tools with which to build punishing, unique, or thought-provoking levels. A recent level uses these tools to meticulously recreate the first-person adventure style of old-school dungeon-crawlers like Ultima and Might and Magic in Super Mario Maker 2 Uploaded last week by Japanese creator Negitendo, “3D Maze…
By Ian Walker Published August 8, 2019 -
CultureSplitscreenFortnite Is All About The Kids (And The Aesthetics)
The Fortnite World Cup was packed with young faces, both attendees and competitors. Unlike many other esport events, this one had a kid-friendly, earnest vibe that dovetailed well with the chaotic playground atmosphere of Fortnite. Kotaku editor-at-large Riley MacLeod came on Kotaku Splitscreen this week to talk about his coverage of the Fortnite World Cup…
By Maddy Myers Published August 8, 2019 -
CultureModern Warfare‘s Lack Of A Mini-Map Will Change How People Play Call Of Duty
Last week, Activision revealed the multiplayer mode for the softly-rebooted Call of Duty: Modern Warfare. 2019’s Duty is dropping the iconic mini-map to add more “realism” to multiplayer, and it’s the design decision that’s caused the most consternation in the Call of Duty community so far. Call of Duty’s mini-map has been a feature of the…
By S.E. Doster Published August 8, 2019 -
CultureSpeedrunners Baffled By Mysterious Stranger Sending Silent Hill 2 Puzzle Solutions
One of the challenges of speedrunning Silent Hill 2 is getting past the game’s puzzles. Puzzles are semi-randomly generated and will change on each playthrough. In the past week, a mysterious stranger has been slipping into speedrunners’ Twitch chats and revealing future puzzle solutions to them. It wasn’t clear how this stranger was getting that…
By Heather Alexandra Published August 8, 2019 -
CultureKotaku Game DiaryIt Is Surprisingly Hard To Create An Incompetent Ass-Clown In Dungeons & Dragons
The great escapist fantasy of Dungeons & Dragons is that you are not a salaryperson shoveling handfuls of gummy bears into your mouth and rolling 20-sided dice. Rather, you are a singularly important hero with a singular capacity to disarm some impending plot bomb. It’s a time-tried formula, one that basically spawned an entire industry…
By Cecilia D'Anastasio Published August 8, 2019 -
CultureTake-Two Sends Investigators To YouTuber’s House To Crack Down On Borderlands 3 Leaks
After two weeks of no uploads, a notable Borderlands personality on YouTube returned to the platform yesterday with a video explaining his absence. He said that the game’s publisher Take-Two Interactive hit his channel with several copyright strikes and sent investigators to his home in response to months of Borderlands coverage on his channel, which…
By Ian Walker Published August 7, 2019 -
CultureBlizzard Creates Tool To Help Old World Of Warcraft Buddies Find Each Other
If you’ve been a lapsed World of Warcraft player for the past 10-plus years, you’ve probably let some relationships fall by the wayside—for example, the entire guild that formed the core of your social life when you were in a suffocatingly small Christian high school in Texas. Maybe you’ve found yourself sipping a beverage in…
By Nathan Grayson Published August 7, 2019 -
CultureDestiny 2 Players Can’t Decide What This Weird Cat Statue Means
Last week, Destiny 2’s Solstice of Heroes event began, bringing with it a new activity set in a new area: the European Aerial Zone. Ever since, players have been scouring it for potential hidden lore or secret areas that could be tucked away somewhere in its many floating rocks and abandoned buildings. So far, all…
By Joshua Rivera Published August 7, 2019 -
CultureRiot Employees Say Company Has Made Real Progress Fixing Its Sexism Issues
In the year since Kotaku’s investigation into sexism at Riot Games, the 2,500-person company behind League of Legends, the company has crafted and self-injected its proposed antidote to its so-called “bro culture.” Over the last week, 14 current or recent Riot employees spoke with Kotaku about the game company’s forward momentum toward equitable workplace conditions.…
By Cecilia D'Anastasio Published August 7, 2019 -
CultureTwitchAs Police Investigate Threats To Twitch Offices, Employees Told To Work From Home
After multiple threats were sent to Twitch’s offices in San Francisco, California, the company has asked employees to work from home for the day. Police are investigating. Business Insider first reported on the situation earlier today. Twitch confirmed the publication’s report in an email to Kotaku “We were made aware of a threat against our…
By Nathan Grayson Published August 7, 2019
