Culture

Here’s March 2021’s PlayStation Plus Lineup

PlayStation Plus seems to be on a roll right now with another great slate of games. There are, count’em, four games, headlined by the excellent Final Fantasy VII Remake, which released less than a year ago. As always, these games are only “free” if you have an active PlayStation Plus membership. February’s PS Plus games…

Tron: Evolution’s Hard Electronica Holds Its Own With Daft Punk

Welcome to Morning Music, Kotaku’s ongoing hangout for folks who love video games and the cool-ass sounds they make. Today, we are entering the grid. It’s time to fight for the users. More Tron references! Enough of that, let’s listen to Tron: Evolution’s soundtrack. I’m a big fan of Tron. Ask anyone around here. And…

Track: Europe Endless | Artist: Kraftwerk | Albums: Trans Europe Express

Report: PlayStation 5 Storage Upgrades Coming This Summer

Sony is getting ready to allow for internal PS5 storage upgrades, sources tell Bloomberg. This would obviously enable PlayStation 5 owners to store even more games at a time. The PlayStation 5’s solid-state drive has only 667.2GB available for media storage—something that has vexed Kotaku and, well, pretty much everyone! The issue has been that…

Xbox Live Has Been Down For Over 5 Hours (Update: It’s Back)

Update (9:47 p.m. ET, 02/25/2021): Shortly after Kotaku first reported on Xbox Live’s outage, the service appears to be back up and running. You’re welcome! Our original story follows below. Trying to get some gaming in this lovely Thursday night? Well, if you’re on Xbox, that’s too bad, because various functions of Xbox Live have…

Sony’s Illustrious Japan Studio Is Basically Done For

Japan Studio, a branch of PlayStation’s development efforts once responsible for everything from Shadow of the Colossus to Gravity Rush to Ape Escape, has been downsized to oblivion by Sony, with only the team responsible for Astro’s Playroom remaining, alongside a few other staff. Responding to an initial report by VGC, a statement issued by…

Early Bugsnax Idea Had You Skinning And Butchering Them

Look, we knew Bugsnax was a cute game with a dark heart, but this is particularly bleak. The game’s developers have been sharing some early, ditched ideas for the game on Twitter today, like the fact it was originally an on-rails experience: And, uh, that you would “have to peel and dismantle their bodies before…

Square Enix Announces Two More Final Fantasy VII Games

Just after wrapping up Sony’s media show this evening with some Final Fantasy VII x PS5 news, Square Enix announced that there are two more Final Fantasy games coming, both based on the Final Fantasy VII universe. First up is Final Fantasy VII The First Soldier, which is a “battle royale game set in Midgar…

Everything Sony Announced During Today’s PlayStation State Of Play

Here’s everything Sony announced, revealed, or otherwise discussed during today’s PlayStation State of Play broadcast. Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time is getting some PlayStation 5-exclusive upgrades when it launches on March 12. These include faster loading times, DualSense features like improved haptics and adaptive trigger usage, and enhanced 3D audio. Players will also be…

Final Fantasy VII Remake Gets PS5 Version With New Story Starring Yuffie

This summer, Final Fantasy VII Remake is getting a PlayStation 5 upgrade with all sorts of graphical bells and whistles—and also a new “episode” starring a Final Fantasy VII character who didn’t appear in the game previously: Yuffie Kisaragi. Square made the announcement as part of today’s State of Play Sony event. The new PS5…

Baldur’s Gate 3‘s ‘Biggest Patch Yet’ Is Now Live

I rue every day that the complete Baldur’s Gate 3 experience isn’t out yet, but we’re getting there. Today, developer Larian dropped the fourth patch for the Divinity: Original Sin 2 sequel/Baldur’s Gate sorta-sequel, which it calls its “biggest patch yet.” Standout features include the druid class, loaded dice to keep you from critical failing…

Twitch Removes Amazon’s Anti-Union Ads After Furious Streamer Response

Earlier this week, it came to light that Twitch was running ads in blatant opposition to the Amazon warehouse worker unionization effort in Bessemer, Alabama. Streamers, who had no say in whether or not these ads appeared during their broadcasts, were outraged. Today, Twitch has removed the ads, saying that they never should have run…

After Anthem‘s Failure, Dragon Age 4 Will Reportedly Be Single-Player Only

We praise dancing in the Chantry y’all! According to a report from Bloomberg, EA is allowing BioWare to ditch “all multiplayer components” originally planned for the latest game in the Dragon Age series. EA is a company known for its dogged insistence on adding multiplayer and microtransactions to every one of its games, pushing its…

Marvel’s Avengers Adds ‘What Am I Doing With My Life’ Armor

Square Enix’s weekly Marvel’s Avengers blog post went live this morning. That said, there isn’t much to talk about besides the game’s silly new Iron Man outfit, so let’s do that. Seriously, just look at this thing. I wouldn’t bat an eye if someone told me Tony skinned a Furby for the helmet. It looks…

Destiny 2 Is Sunsetting Sunsetting

Bungie announced today it’s getting rid of Destiny 2‘s most beleaguered mechanic: sunsetting. Starting in Season 14, new weapons will no longer have an expiration date. “This is a big change for Destiny and one that we did not make lightly,” assistant game director Joe Blackburn wrote in a sweeping new State of Destiny post…

Report: Chat Logs Reveal Pervasive Racism In Top World of Warcraft Raiding Guilds

Two raiding guilds in the upper tiers of World of Warcraft’s North American ladder, Clout Gang and Instant Dollars, have come under fire for using racial and homophobic slurs. First reported by PC Gamer, an Imgur album containing screenshots of Clout Gang’s Discord and in-game chats was posted in the r/WoW subreddit showing members using…

Destiny 2‘s Next Big Expansion The Witch Queen Delayed To 2022

Destiny 2 has gotten a big expansion every year since it released, but 2021 will be different. Bungie announced today that The Witch Queen, originally planned to launch in the second half of this year, will be delayed until 2022 due to its size and ongoing issues around working from home during the covid-19 pandemic.…

Defiance Is Shutting Down (Yes, That MMO Based On The Show)

Defiance and Defiance 2050 will shut down on April 29, Trion Worlds announced on Steam yesterday. Both games will be downloadable and playable until that date. The decision to shutter both games came down to financial sustainability, with Trion World concluding that “both games could no longer sustain themselves.” Starting today, players will no longer…

Court Orders Valve To Hand Over Data On 436 Steam Games To Apple

Apple has been asking a bunch of companies to give it confidential information in its ongoing legal battle with Epic Games over how much money each company gets to collect off of Fortnite skin sales on the iPhone. Yesterday, a California magistrate judge ordered Valve to comply with one of these requests and hand over…

Destruction AllStars, Originally Planned As A $70 Game, Will Sell For $20

Destruction AllStars, the PlayStation 5-exclusive derby game, will soon sell for $20, developer Lucid Games announced today—a $50 price drop from the game’s original sticker price of $70. Last September, during a digital showcase, Sony announced that some PS5 games would cost $70, a notable increase over the long-standard price point of $60. One of…