Culture

Everything We Know About The Xbox Series X And Series S

Over the summer, information about Microsoft’s next-gen console came out slower than self-serve frozen yogurt. We knew the name (Xbox Series X), broad release date (“Holiday 2020”), and some specs. Then Labor Day weekend happened, and the floodgates opened. Now, we have a release date, a price tag, some detailed information about the long-unconfirmed disc-less…

Case Closed: Mankrik’s Wife Found In Shadowlands

The folks at Blizzard: SVU have finally put to rest a 16-year-old cold case—Mankrik’s wife has been found. As reported by Wowhead, Olgra, wife of Mankrik, can be found in World of Warcraft Shadowlands’s Maldraxxus zone, where vengeful and warlike spirits are sent to rest. According to Wowhead, reporting on the Shadowlands beta, Olgra is…

World Of Warcraft: Shadowlands Is Launching On November 23

It had already been a long wait for World of Warcraft’s latest expansion, the afterlife-themed Shadowlands, when its expected release month of October rolled around, and then it got longer. Blizzard ended up delaying the expansion, citing a need for “additional polish.” Now it’s apparently polished enough to warrant a new release date: November 23. Blizzard…

Far Cry 6 And Rainbow Six Quarantine Delayed

Far Cry 6 and Rainbow Six Quarantine have both been delayed until some time after April 1, 2021, Ubisoft announced today in its latest earnings report The publisher cited “production challenges related to work from home” during the covid-19 pandemic as part of the reason for the delay. “Benefitting from this strong momentum and despite…

Here’s November 2020’s Xbox Live Games With Gold

November’s Xbox Live Games with Gold aren’t super exciting, but I’ll take any promise of small pleasures this upcoming month can give me. As always, these games are only “free” if you have an active Xbox Live Gold membership. November’s Games with Gold are: Xbox One Aragami: Shadow Edition (November 1-30) Swimsanity! (November 16-December 15) Xbox…

Judge Sides With Dutch Government On Fining EA Up To $5.85 Million Unless It Ditches FIFA Loot Boxes

After a Netherlands District Court ruled in favor of the country’s Gambling Authority on banning loot boxes earlier this month, FIFA publisher EA has one week to remove loot boxes from the game or face up to $5.85 million in fines. The ruling, issued October 15 and published today, allows the Netherlands Gambling Authority (known…

Get Equipped With Pretty Good Mega Man 9 Arrange Album

Welcome to Morning Music, Kotaku’s daily hangout for folks who love video games and the cool-ass sounds they make. Today’s object of aural inquiry is not Mega Man 9, which I didn’t really care for. Its arrange album, however… Yeah, I bounced off Mega Man 9 (playlist / longplay / VGMdb). In my defense(?) I…

First Details About Final Fantasy XVI‘s Characters And World

When Final Fantasy XVI was first revealed last month, aside from a debut trailer, details were scant. Now, Square Enix has updated the game’s official site, providing info on characters and the in-game world. FFXVI producer Naoki Yoshida said Square Enix would be releasing said info before diving back into development. Final Fantasy XVI takes place…

Resident Evil 3 Cloud Version Graphic Found Through Switch Game Streaming Service

Earlier today, a streaming version of Control was released for Switch. And while waiting in line to play video games is a bummer—the service has a queue if too many people try and play at once—this down time gave folks the opportunity to poke around in the streaming service’s launcher and uncover a very different…

Path Of Exile Expansion Delayed To Get The Hell Out Of Cyberpunk’s Way

Path of Exile’s 3.13 expansion had been planned for release on December 11. But now, with Cyberpunk’s release date moved back to December 10, the team have decided to just clear out and give the year’s biggest game its space. Now, this happens all the time in video games. So often that I wrote about…

Titanfall 2 Has A Half-Life Easter Egg Just Sitting Around

Titanfall 2 turns four today! Happy birthday, Titanfall 2, you are a very good video game. To mark the occasion one of the game’s animators, Ranon Sarono, has shared a lil’ Half-Life surprise that none of us had ever seen before. In one of the game’s pieces of time-travel shenanigans, you’re briskly transported to a…

The House On Blue Lick Road’s 3D Tour Has Been Preserved In VR

For most of this week, one of the strangest delights on the internet has been a 3D tour of a house that’s for sale in Kentucky. The home, on Louisville’s Blue Lick Road, was for want of a better term, weird. From the boxes of energy drinks stacked in the kitchen to the Halo action figure…

Cyberpunk 2077 Delay Was Kept From Most Of The Team, Studio Says (Update)

A tumultuous 24 hours after CD Projekt Red announced Cyberpunk 2077 would be delayed for a third time, the studio has confirmed reports that most of the game’s developers were unaware of the decision before the news broke, stating the reason for the secrecy had to do with Polish stock market regulations. “In a nutshell,…

Astro’s Playroom On PS5 Makes Some Neat References To PlayStation History

PlayStation 5 pack-in game Astro’s Playroom is pretty darn good. (Well, the level we’re allowed to tell you about is pretty darn good, anyway.) A big reason why this free game works so well is that it’s a love letter to the history of PlayStation, with levels full of references to past games, consoles, and…

Halo Infinite Loses Another Director

Master Chief has always had a penchant for bumpy landings, but over the years he’s mostly kept that confined to events inside games. Halo Infinite, however, has weathered a last-minute delay and, now, the loss of two directors en route to putting down wheels. According to a report from Bloomberg, Chris Lee, the 343 Industries…

The PlayStation App Is Getting An Overhaul

Sony announced a bunch of changes to the PlayStation App that make it less terrible today, including folding in Messages and letting you remotely install and delete games on your PS5. The redesigned app is set to go live later today on both iOS and Android. Here’s what Sony says to expect, according to a new…

Sony Is Giving Away Free Adaptors For Playing VR Games On PS5

If you want to keep playing VR games after making the transition to PlayStation 5 next month, you’re going to need an adaptor for your PlayStation Camera. Fortunately, Sony has opened a website where you can grab one for free. Availing yourself of this free adaptor is as simple as visiting the official website and…

PC’s Pokémon-like MMO Temtem will make its console debut on PS5 first on December 8. It’s still in Early Access, and there’s no word yet on when it will come to other consoles, but the PS5 version will support cross-play with PC.

PlayStation Plus Collection Will Offer Select PS4 Games On PS5 [Update]

PlayStation 5 users will have access to a new PlayStation Plus benefit known as the PlayStation Plus Collection, today’s showcase revealed, which will provide a wide variety of PlayStation 4 games on the new console. Some of the available games include God of War, Bloodborne, Final Fantasy XV, Mortal Kombat X, Until Dawn, The Last…

Gorgeous-looking romantic RPG Haven is headed to Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PS5, and PC on December 3. But weirdly the game won’t be on PS4, at least not until next year, the devs announced in a PlayStation Blog post today.