Eternal Sonata Literally Includes Some Of The Greatest Music Of All Time

Welcome to Morning Music, Kotaku’s ongoing hangout for folks who love video games and the cool-ass sounds they make. This morning I am totally cheating by presenting you with tracks from Eternal Sonata, the Xbox 360/PS3 Bandai Namco RPG that features music composed by 19th-century Polish classical superstar Frédéric Chopin. That’s right, come at me.…

Track: Under My Thumb | Artist: Anakelly | Album: Bossa n’ Stones 

Sony Chose PlayStation’s First Office Location With Late-Night Drinks In Mind

When Sony Computer Entertainment first established its flagship PlayStation brand in 1993, its executives’ chief concern was making sure the company’s first offices were located in an area with late-night bars. At least that’s the story Ken Kutaragi, who’s widely known as father of the PlayStation, told Bandai Namco’s Katsuhiro Harada on the latter’s new…

Google Play Halves Its Cut Of Devs’ First $1 Million

Google Play developers will see service fees on their first $1 million every year reduced from 30% to 15% starting on July 1, Google vice president of product management Sameer Samat announced today. “Helping developers build sustainable businesses is a core part of Google Play’s mission,” Samat wrote on the Android Developers blog. “We work…

Bandai Namco Speaks Out Against Anti-Asian Racism In America

In an official statement released on Twitter this morning, Bandai Namco took a public stance against the spike of anti-Asian racism in the United States in the wake of the covid-19 pandemic. “As a company based in Japan, the recent rise in anti-Asian hate has truly hit home for our employees,” the tweet reads. It…

Riot Games Says It Finds No Evidence Of Wrongdoing By CEO Accused Of Sexual Harassment

A three-person special committee tasked with reviewing a third-party investigation into allegations of sexual harassment by Riot Games CEO Nicolo Laurent announced to the company’s staff today that it found “no evidence” of misconduct and recommended no action be taken against the executive, the Washington Post reports. The news comes the same day that Riot…

Fortnite’s Awful Banana Man Is Finally Dead

Early (and I mean early) this morning, Epic Games unveiled the next season of its mega-popular battle royale shooter Fortnite. As is often the case, there’s a bunch of cool, new stuff for players to mess around with in-game, but in my mind the biggest development is the death of Fornite mascot Peely, the terrible…

I’m Having Some Trouble With Outriders’ Crossplay

Last month, a demo for Outriders dropped on most every platform but the Switch. Then, yesterday, Microsoft announced that this latest buzzy looter-shooter would join the Xbox Game Pass library on launch day, April 1. Presumably, whatever overlap exists between the 18 million people who subscribe to Game Pass and the however-many-millions-or-not-millions of people who…

Jade Raymond Forms New Studio, Working On Unannounced Game For PlayStation

Former Assassin’s Creed producer and EA manager Jade Raymond announced the formation of a new Montreal-based independent studio called Haven today. Its first project will be a brand new IP being developed for PlayStation, she wrote in a post over on the company’s blog. “And so today I’m announcing Haven, an independent studio where many…

Here’s Everything Coming To And Leaving Game Pass Soon

In case you got the wrong impression, Xbox Game Pass isn’t just a vehicle to play games that start with a Bethesda loading screen. Here’s everything coming to Xbox Game Pass in the next few weeks: March 16 Undertale (Cloud, Console, PC) March 18 Empire of Sin (Cloud, Console, PC) Nier: Automata (PC) Star Wars:…

Stadia Exclusive Super Bomberman R Online Is Coming To PC And Consoles So People Can Play It

Launched exclusively on Stadia on September 1, Super Bomberman R Online is all the explosive cartoon fun of Super Bomberman R plus a 64-player online battle royale mode that plays out across multiple game boards. Today Konami announced the game is coming soon to consoles and PC with crossplay, so those poor Stadia players can…

Dark Alliance Is A Spiritual Successor To Baldur’s Gate: Dark Alliance In Name Only

I went into my recent Dark Alliance demo with development studio Tuque Games expecting to briefly relive the grim, bloody hack and slash glory of the original Baldur’s Gate: Dark Alliance games. The new game, while pitched as a spiritual successor, feels very different, however. Not bad, just different Dark Alliance, priced at $40 and…

Animal Crossing‘s Next Free Update Is A Boon For Designers

Animal Crossing: New Horizons will celebrate its one-year anniversary with cake delivered to all players in its March 18 update, but the real present is 50 new slots for the normal and pro designer, and the ability to customize fans, umbrellas, flags, and photo stands. We’re heading back into the spring, where all of this…