Culture

Roblox Goes Public, Wall Street Decides It’s Worth Six Bethesdas

The Roblox Corporation, maker of the online game creation platform Roblox, went public yesterday, selling shares in the company on the New York Stock Exchange for the first time since it was founded back in 2004. It ended the day trading at just under $70, giving it a valuation of $45 billion, or approximately six…

Gordon Hall, Rockstar Leeds Founder, Dies At 51

Gordon Hall, one of the founders of Rockstar Leeds, has died, Games Industry reports. He was 51. While at Rockstar Leeds, the studio developed Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories, Vice City Stories, and Chinatown Wars. The studio was originally Möbius Entertainment and was acquired by Take-Two Interactive, Rockstar’s parent company, in 2004. The studio…

Fan Reimagines The Pokémon Diamond and Pearl Remakes

Earlier this year, Game Freak announced Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl. These remakes use a chibi-3D art style, but still kept the top-down point of view while exploring the Sinnoh region. Some liked the art style, while others were less thrilled. You can see how the remakes compare with the original Diamond and Pearl.…

Track: Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night | Artist: Iggy Pop | Album: Free

Denuvo Anti-Cheat Is Part Of PS5 Middleware

Digital rights management company Denuvo has long been controversial in the PC market, where it also offers anti-cheat services to interested developers. Denuvo just announced that its Anti-Cheat technologies have been added to the PlayStation 5’s “Tools and Middleware program.” This means that anyone releasing a game on the PS5 can make use of Denuvo…

Don’t Click On Those Resident Evil Village Early Access Emails

Lotta people want to play the game with the big lady! And scammers know this, so fake emails have been circulating inviting players to an early access beta which doesn’t actually exist. Enough emails that Capcom has sent out a warning email of its own. I got this email earlier today from Capcom PR, saying…

A Truly Fucked Up Way To Get Infinite Supplies In Valheim

You know how Valheim has spooky little mounds that spawn infinite enemies? And you know how you can use your hoe to move earth around and create, say, a pillar? And you know how it’s possible to surround that pillar with, say, fires? And build, say, a fence around all of that? You can probably…

EA Investigating Claims An Employee Has Been Selling Rare Items [Updated]

EA makes most of its FIFA money from the game’s Ultimate Team mode, where fans spend real money in attempts to unlock elite players. Today, it’s being alleged that these lucrative items are being sold privately to users by employees within EA Sports. Using the hashtag #EAGATE, complaints have been made that someone within EA…

STALKER 2 Might Get Mod Support On Xbox

STALKER developer GSC Game World is currently investigating the possibility of including mod support for the upcoming sequel on Xbox Series X/S. These details first came to light on Russian podcast “Не занесли,” the most recent episode of which included an interview with GSC Game World public relations manager Zakhar Bocharov. According to translations by…

World Of Warcraft‘s First Player-Voted Mount Is A Big Ol’ Tree You Can Get For Free

Last year Blizzard held a poll to determine what sort of ride World of Warcraft players wanted as a special community mount. We chose the Wandering Ancient, and now that choice has borne fruit, or in this case, a whole damn tree, free now for everyone who owns the Shadowlands expansion. The Wandering Ancient is…

Former Overwatch League MVP Jay ‘Sinatraa’ Won Suspended Over Sexual Assault Allegations

Former Overwatch League MVP and current Valorant pro Jay “Sinatraa” Won was suspended from his team Sentinels today after being accused of sexual assault by a former girlfriend. In a Google Doc posted late last night to Twitter, Cleo Hernandez detailed emotional and sexual abuse allegations, including instances of coerced sex. In a nine page…

Marvel’s Avengers Will (Finally) Allow You To Replay The Campaign

Fans of Marvel’s Avengers want just one thing, and it’s about to become a reality. No, it’s not a meaningful loot grind, nor a newfound surplus of engaging activities. Look, fine, maybe Avengers fans want more than one thing, but a big one is landing next week: You’ll finally be able to replay the campaign.…

Astro’s Playroom Composer Shares How That GPU Love Song Became Such A Bop

PlayStation 5 pack-in Astro’s Playroom is full of amazing tracks, but the standout is most definitely its ode to the console’s powerful graphics processing unit (“GPU” to friends). In celebration of the game’s official soundtrack coming out on March 12, composer Kenneth C. M. Young recently shared behind-the-scenes details about the process of bringing his…

Dozens Of Rust Servers Wiped Out In Data Center Fire

A fire that broke out overnight in Strasbourg, France destroyed one of OVHcloud’s data centers and damaged a second, Reuters reports. The French government and Centre Pompidou, which houses a public information library and modern art museum, had their data affected by the fires, as did Facepunch Studios, maker of the online survival game Rust…

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge Is A Brand-New Old-School Beat-Em-Up

Quick, name a memorable modern Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles game. It’s okay if you can’t, those turtle teens peaked during the age of the four-player side-scrolling beat-em-up, which is why it’s so exciting that Dotemu and Tribute Games have teamed up to make a completely new old game for PCs and consoles, Teenage Mutant Ninja…

Overwatch Casually Rolls Out Xbox Series X/S Enhancements

Yesterday’s Overwatch update was all about the PachiMarchi Challenge and that hideous and/or awesome new Roadhog skin, but next-gen Xbox owners got a little something extra with the update: new graphics options for Series X/S consoles, from 4K60 to blazing-fast 120Hz. We were so busy worrying about how our Roadhogs looked we never stopped to…

Grindstone’s Irresistible Hip-Hop-Inflected Tunes Made Me Abandon My Principles

Welcome to Morning Music, Kotaku’s ongoing hangout for folks who love video games and the cool-ass sounds they make. Today we’re hacking our way through the music of Grindstone, which was good enough to make a mockery out of my best intentions. Let me start with a question: Have you ever enjoyed a game’s music…

After Anti-Semitic Slur, NBA Player Meyers Leonard Suspended By Team, Dropped By Sponsors

In the wake of dropping a clear anti-Semitic taunt during a game of Call of Duty, NBA player Meyers Leonard has been suspended by his team, the Miami Heat, and dropped by a number of his sponsors. Leonard—who last year was also the only player to remain on his feet before a game while his…

1988 MS-DOS Game Gets 2021 Steam Release

1992’s Sensible Soccer is one of the greatest video games of all time, but developers Sensible Software didn’t create their classic in a vacuum. They had to work to get there, by developing 1988’s MicroProse Soccer first. In almost every way the direct forerunner to Sensible, MicroProse—released in the US as Keith Van Eron’s Pro…

Counter-Strike Was Accidentally Removed From Steam Today

Earlier today, anyone trying to find or play Counter-Strike: Global Offensive on Steam ran into a weird surprise: the game was missing. Just…gone. It soon came back, but for a little while there one of the biggest video games on the planet had just up and disappeared. Its store page presented an “OOPS, SORRY!” message,…