Culture

Assassin’s Creed Origins’ Afterlife Is A Series Highlight

Curse of the Pharoahs, the second big expansion for Assassin’s Creed Origins, has been one of 2018’s most pleasant surprises, in big part because it includes some very weird shit. Here’s a look where some of that came from. This is a collection of art that went into the expansion, with particular focus on its…

‘Shop Contest: Assassins Vs Templars Forever

With the leak-then-confirmation of Assassin’s Creed Odyssey’s ancient Greek setting, I’ve started thinking about where the scheming and murdering factions of the Assassin’s Creed franchise should go next. I’m a big fan of these games. I’ve thought long and hard about them. They’re important to me. And it’s out of that deep respect and thinking…

Why E3 Still Matters

Does E3 still matter? Yes, yes it does. This week on Kotaku Splitscreen, let’s discuss why. First, Kirk and I break down the news of the week on Fallout going online, new Pokémon, and Valve removing a school shooting game from Steam. Then we open up the mailbag for a whole bunch of pre-E3 questions…

Sunday Comics: Sewer Bread

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 May 28. Read more of Awkward Zombie Corpse Run by Alex Di Stasi. Published May 31. Read more of Corpse Run Double XP by…

Track: Cul De Sac | Artist: Public Memory | Album: Wuthering Drum Kotaku Soundtrack is a selection of the stuff we’re listening to at the moment.

A Race Against Time, a speedrunning marathon dedicated to racing games, is happening this weekend. The schedule is packed full of racing favorites like Wave Race 64 and Stuntman: Ignition. The marathon will continue until Sunday evening.

‘Shop Contest: The Big Battlefield, Winners!

Battlefield V is coming, and there’s a lot going on. Planes and tanks, shootable grenades, and a whole lot of havoc and mayhem are coming on down the line. I asked you last week to make it even more chaotic, and you delivered. The ceiling for weird things in video games is very high. We…

This Week In The Business: Truth In Advertising

QUOTE | “We have had over two million unique visitors to this stream to watch, I don’t know what, nothing.” – Bethesda Game Studios’ Todd Howard describes the company’s 24-hour live stream of a Vault Boy statue and a TV with a “Please Stand By” graphic on it leading up to the teaser reveal of…

What Are You Playing This Weekend?

The weekend is for having just started running! The coolest thing I’ve realized about running so far is that since you’re constantly moving, no one can see what a bad job you’re doing for very long. The people on the next block probably think I’ve been running for miles! When I’m not worrying about how…

Ask Dr. NerdLove: I Have A Crush On A Celebrity

Hello all you undulating sin weasels, and welcome to Ask Dr. NerdLove, the only 16-bit dating advice column on the Internet. This week, we’re facing down some fears and confronting some hard choices. Is it an abusive relationship when your abuser has a mental illness? What about when your partner refuses to ever let go…

What Dark Souls Is Really All About

The first and sometimes the only thing people say about Dark Souls is that it’s hard. Really hard, migraine hard, ready-to-shoot-yourself challenging. The players say it (“I can’t take this!”). The people who are scared to play it, say it: “Wait, that’s the one that’s really hard, right?” Editor’s note: This article originally ran on…

Stick Fight Is A Perfect Game To Play With Non-Gamers

Most of the time, I want to be gaming. If you’re here, probably, you can relate. In the grand scheme of personality traits, that one isn’t so bad; just not 100% satisfiable in every circumstance. Sometimes I find myself in an unfortunate situation involving me, chilling, and several other people who don’t play games, also…

Track: Plainclothes Man | Artist: Elliot Smith | Album: Heaven Adores You OST Kotaku Soundtrack is a selection of the stuff we’re listening to at the moment.

The Saddest Witcher 3 Cosplay

The tale of Olgierd and Iris is one of the most tragic to be found in The Witcher 3, which when you consider the rest of the quests in such a bleak, brutal game is really saying something. This is Lyumos paying homage to the character with some incredible cosplay, with photos by Kira We’ve…

X-Men’s Rogue, by Anastasia Komori. Photo by Akunohako

The Internet Reacts To Those Unused Pokémon Designs

Nintendo recently announced two new Pokémon games coming to Switch later this year and one that’s out now called Pokémon Quest. There’s also a bigger Pokémon RPG coming in 2019. The real news this week though is that there actually used to be a ton of weird and adorable Pokémon that were planned for Pokémon…

Night Colours

Mindy Lee is a concept artist and illustrator who has worked at places like Pandemic, Dark Horse (she’s been nominated for an Eisner!) and Amazon. You can see more of Mindy’s stuff at her Instagramand ArtStation pages. To see the images in their native resolution, click on the “expand” button in the top-left corner. Fine…

Track: The Dark Sentencer | Artist: Coheed and Cambria | Album: The Dark Sentencer Single Kotaku Soundtrack is a selection of the stuff we’re listening to at the moment.

Streamer Solves Puzzle By Drawing Wang

Today on Highlight Reel we have esoteric puzzle solutions, H1Z1 plays, NHL slams, and much more! Watch the video then talk about your favorite highlight in the comments below. Be sure to check out, like, and share the original videos via the links below. Subscribe to Kotaku on YouTube for more! Catch up on all…

Vegeta’s Voice Actor Is Loving The New Dragon Ball Z Golden Age

If you ever find yourself in the cast of a Dragon Ball fight scene, Christopher Sabat has some advice. “You can either scream once, and make it really epic, and it really hurts, but you only have to do it one time,” explains the man who voices several cosmic soldiers in the Dragon Ball universe.…