Culture

Team Fortress 2‘s long-awaited competitive mode is officially a thing. Valve’s created a Steam group for competitive matchmaking’s beta, and you can join for a chance to be part of it. Prepare for bitter, drama-packed rivalries! And probably also more hats.

Podcast: Big Predictions For 2016

Will Nintendo’s NX be out this year? Is The Division going to be an adequate Destiny replacement? Will Oculus Rift lead to class action lawsuits? It’s prediction time on this week’s episode of Kotaku Splitscreen, in which Kirk and I put on our soothsayer hats and each lay out 12 wild guesses about what will…

You Look Rough, Darth

Riyahd Cassiem is a freelance artist from South Africa who has worked in both film and video games. Below you’ll see a collection of his killer digital sculpts. You can see more of Riyadh’s work at his personal site and ArtStation page To see the larger pics in all their glory (or, if they’re big…

Track: Solar Chamber| Artist: Lycus | Album: Chasms Kotaku Soundtrack is a selection of the stuff we’re listening to – and gaming to – at the moment.

Darkest Dungeon: The Kotaku Review

Progress isn’t permanent. Darkest Dungeon is a tremendously popular Steam game that just emerged from Early Access. It’s a Lovecraft-inspired dungeon-crawling RPG with a few twists: 1) you have an entire persistent town to upgrade, 2) if any of your characters die, they’re gone for good, and 3) as a result of adventuring-related trauma, your…

Recreating Horror Manga In The Flesh

Mamakiteruhas one solid, dependable shtick: she takes characters from Japanese horror manga, and she cosplays the hell out of them. Not the entire character, though; she takes a single panel and re-enacts the frame itself, from the line work to the pose, sometimes even taking on multiple characters. (via 前方高能 非戰鬥人員迅速撤離)

Go Get Your Own Loyal Stormtrooper Spinny Stun Baton

Of all the people out there currently working on cosplay outfits for a First Order Stormtrooper, 98% of them are going for this guy in particular. Thing is, without his spinny stick thing, it’s just not the same. So it’s cool seeing efforts like this, from 3D printing store Blu-Bin, which not only get the…

The New Pikachu Is Freaking People Out, Man

Today, The Pokémon Company gave us our first look at an upcoming Pokémon spin-off, Great Detective Pikachu: The Birth of a New Duo. It stars Pikachu….but not the Pikachu you’re used to. The trailer, in case you haven’t seen it: What stands out about this footage is that Pikachu is speaking actual words. Not only…

Samurai Vader And Ronin Boba Fett Realize Star Wars’ Japanese Influence Beautifully

Would the original Star Wars trilogy have been better if George Lucas had steered closer to its samurai movie inspiration? It certainly would have looked cooler, as demonstrated by Bandai’s Tamashii Nations Meisho Movie Realization Boba Fett and Darth Vader figures. We’ve been drooling over the sculpture work of Japan’s Takayuki Takeya for ages. He’s…

Rainbow 6 Grenade Toss Does Not Go As Planned

Today on Highlight Reel we have parachutes, 1 player comebacks, rocket vespas, game physics gone wrong, and much more! Watch the video above or on our Youtube page, 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. Battlefield 4…

Players Uncover New Secrets Buried In Undertale‘s First Big Patch [Updated]

Undertale just got its first big update, and at first glance it doesn’t seem like much. Players, however, have begun picking it apart like hungry vultures, and they’ve already found some interesting stuff. This post originally ran on 1/20/16. It’s been updated with more secrets. For a while now, Undertale creator Toby Fox has been…

For Years, A Few Steam Games Seem To Have Been Hiding A Larger Secret

Throw your detective hat into a pile of rotting fish after that whole Steam winter sale sorta-kinda-not-really alternate reality game? Well, snatch it out. Intrepid sleuths have uncovered evidence of something much larger: a series of symbols and puzzle pieces that span multiple seemingly unrelated games. People are only just now beginning to piece together…

The Art Of Homeworld: Deserts Of Kharak

I liked a lot of things about Homeworld: Deserts Of Kharak, but the thing I liked most was just how awesome the game’s unit design (and overall aesthetic) was. It shouldn’t be that big a surprise that everything looked so amazing—original Homeworld artists Rob Cunningham and Aaron Kambeitz both work at Deserts of Kharak developers…

Not Your Everyday Metal Gear Cosplay

Omi Gibson, the Queen of Metal Gear cosplay, has over the years taken on some of the most iconic characters in Kojima’s series. This, though, is a little more niche. 2010’s Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker featured a “model viewer”, where players could take an isolated look at the characters featured in the game. Skilled…

Diablo III’s Barbarian Has One Hell Of An Axe

Cosplay by Akishuna. Photos by Narcissus

The Week In Games: Avengers Assembled

Looks like my week is going to be spent with LEGO Avengers in one hand, Final Fantasy Explorers in the other. Luckily I’ve gotten good enough at Blade & Soul to play with my feet. After weeks of whining about there not being any good games coming out, suddenly I’m backpedaling—slow it down, you guys.…

Sunday Comics: Shudder And Howl

Welcome to Kotaku’s Sunday Comics, your weekly roundup of the best webcomics. The images enlarge if you click on the magnifying glass icon. Nerf NOW!! by Josué Pereira. Published January23. Read more of Nerf NOW!! Awkward Zombie by Katie Tiedrich. Published January 18. Read more of Awkward Zombie Penny Arcade by Jerry Holkins and Mike…

This Week in the Business: Cooks, Magicians And Other Video Game Things

QUOTE | “I’m thrilled to welcome undoubtedly the most recognizable and accomplished figure in the culinary world to Glu’s family of celebrity partners.” Niccolo de Masi, CEO of Kim Kardashian: Hollywood publisher Glu Mobile, announcing his latest obnoxious celebrity signing, Gordon Ramsay Elsewhere in the business of gaming this week… QUOTE | “This year a…

Crashlands Is Diablo Plus Survival Plus Humor

Crashlands is a new Steam action role-playing game that has me hooked. That’s a problem, because I can play it pretty much anywhere. Crashlands is an action-RPG (think Diablo, except cartoonier) with elements of crafting/base-building (think Don’t Starve, except less ruthless) and humor (think jokes). I think it’s best summed up by its main character’s…

It Has Come To This

This image comes from a game called Balls Kicking Simulator 2016. I would say we’ve hit peak Steam Greenlight, but I’m not sure that’s possible anymore. Here’s a trailer to prove that, yes, this is a real game that exists: The game’s developers claim it’s a joke—likely at the expense of Steam’s hurl-$100-into-a-garbage-bin game submission…