Culture

Former Mixer Employee Calls Out Racism In Management

Over the weekend, former Mixer employee Milan Lee shared a blog describing his experiences with racism while working at Microsoft’s streaming platform, which was shut down today as part of a deal between Microsoft and Facebook. Lee’s post included allegations that he was singled out for being one of the few Black employees at the…

The $1,000,000 Lord Of The Rings Game Pitch That Went Nowhere

Jon Burton, founder of LEGO series stalwarts Traveller’s Tales, has today shared not just news but loads of footage from an ambitious—but ultimately doomed—attempt he and the studio made to try and get a big, serious (ie, not LEGO) Lord of the Rings/Hobbit game made. Burton, who now runs the popular Gamehut channel on YouTube,…

The Last Of Us 2 Easter Egg Might Be Making A Crunch Joke

Scavenging for vital crafting items is a huge part of The Last of Us Part 2, but Ellie also spends her time in the post-apocalyptic ruins searching for character trading cards from an in-universe comic-book series. One such card is an obvious nod to game director Neil Druckmann, and it also includes what may be…

Facebook Buys Creators Of The Order: 1886

Ready At Dawn, the makers of The Order: 1886 and more recently Lone Echo, is now part of Facebook, where the studio will work on virtual reality games for the Oculus VR platform, the social media company announced today. “As part of the Oculus Studios team, Ready At Dawn will continue creating memorable, immersive, and…

Microsoft Is Shutting Down Mixer, Moving Streaming To Facebook

Microsoft announced today that the company will be shutting down its streaming site Mixer on July 22 and will partner with Facebook Gaming moving forward. The shutdown starts today, with a transition plan laid out by Microsoft for Mixer streamers. Mixer Partners will be granted partner status with Facebook Gaming, and the platform will honor…

Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time Comes Out October 2

We’re less than four months away from the first numbered Crash Bandicoot game since 1998. Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time, coming to PlayStation 4 and Xbox One on October 2,, picks up right where Crash Bandicoot: Warped left off, give or take a couple of decades. At the end of Warped (spoilers?), the villainous…

How’s It Going?: Priorities Edition

Welcome to another week, and welcome back to our daily open thread. This morning I made a list of all the things I need to do, from work stuff to various life things, and then tried to rank them in order of priority so I could figure out how to handle them. Because I’m me,…

Smash Bros. Ultimate Is Getting A Small Crossover With Fallout

Vault Boy is coming to Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, but not as a fighter. On June 29, the Fallout mascot will become available as a Mii Fighter costume for $0.75. Vault Boy is classified as a Gunner, meaning he’s slower than his Brawler and Swordfighter counterparts but a bit more versatile. Most of his attacks…

Min Min From Arms Will Be The Next Smash Bros. Fighter

We knew the next Super Smash Bros. Ultimate fighter would be a character from ARMS. We just didn’t know who. Today, while broadcasting from his home, Masahiro Sakurai announced the new fighter for Nintendo’s crowd-pleasing crossover fighting game: Min Min. True to her source material, Min Min isn’t a great close-combat fighter. Her standard attacks…

Free-to-play RPG Kingdom Hearts Dark Road launches today for iOS and Android devices. Explore Disney-themed worlds while exploring an original Kingdom Hearts tale. Players create their own character and team up with a teenage Xenahort in order to Xenahort all over the damn place.

Track: In Between Days | Artist: The Cure | Album: In Between Days / Stop Dead

Welcome To Australia

Andrew Hamilton is an artist who has worked on games like Battlefront II and Battlefield V He’s also, while currently living in Sweden, Australian, and has made this tribute to his homeland about his “crystal clear memory of a sound, smell, or particularly calm experience as a kid growing up in the land down under”.…

Hard Lads, A Game About Shirtless Dudes Hitting (And Kissing) Each Other

Hard Lads is an adaptation of the now-famous internet video British lads hit each other with chair, in which…well, the title says it all really. Made by Robert Yang, creator of stuff like The Tearoom and Cobra Club, it’s a short, free (though you can pay what you want) game that “casts the player as…

Desert Golfing’s Sequel Is Out Now!

Here is the most pleasant of surprises: a full-blooded sequel to mobile time-annihilator Desert Golfing, one of the finest mobile games ever made, has been quietly released on both iOS and Android over the weekend. It’s not Desert Golfing 2 though, because really, for a game that felt like it literally never ended, we don’t…

Counter-Strike Is Now Old Enough To Drink

On June 19, 1999, Minh Le and Jess Cliffe released a humble little mod for the original Half-Life called “Counter-Strike”. In 2020, 21 years later, it is still one of the most popular video games on the planet. I remember playing the mod at the time—not right at launch, but sometime early in 2000—and finding…

The Week In Games: That’s So Wizard!

After a few delays, Star Wars Episode I: Racer releases for PS4 and Switch. Between this, Star Wars: Demolition and Super Bombad Racing, there was a period of time there where we were getting a lot of games based on the vehicles and ships from Star Wars. I miss that era. Star Wars games used…

GTA Online Offers Players Triple Rewards On Parachute Races, Confusing The Community

Parachute races aren’t a thing most players care about in Grand Theft Auto Online, but Rockstar decided to run an event this week featuring these races and the community has reacted with a giant “Huh?” There are many things to do in Grand Theft Auto Online. One thing that most players never do anymore in…

‘Shop Contest: Summer 2020

This weekend marks the official start of summer. Most folks will be stuck inside and most pools are closed, but still, it’s summertime! Your challenge this week: Let’s have some summer fun with video games! In the picture above Leon is not wearing a mask, but he is practicing social distancing. So, better than nothing.…

How’s It Going?: Masks Edition

I waited for you. Get in here, quick! The open thread is already live and everyone is talking without you. Please wear a mask when you go outside. Please. My GF and I had to head out to the furniture store to look at getting a new couch for our new place. We had been…

Sunday Comics: Worth It!

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. Corpse Run by Alex Di Stasi. Published June 18. Read more of Corpse Run Awkward Zombie by Katie Tiedrich. Published June 15. Read more of Awkward Zombie Clueless Hero by…