We Talk PS4’s Lack Of Cross-Play

In 2013, Sony handily won the war of words against Microsoft’s customer-unfriendly policies, but in 2018, we’re seeing a role reversal. On this week’s Kotaku Splitscreen, let’s discuss. First, Kirk and I talk weddings, Westworld, and Switch gaming before digging into the news of the week on lawsuits and PS4’s lack of cross-play. Then we…

Sunday Comics: Monster Pup

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. Awkward Zombie by Katie Tiedrich. Published June 25. Read more of Awkward Zombie Corpse Run by Alex Di Stasi. Published June 28. Read more of Corpse Run Double XP by…

I Love This Quaint British Retail Park Built In Cities: Skylines

Making spectacular or larger-than-life places in Cities: Skylines is fun, but there’s something special about creating everyday locations with the game’s worldbuilding toolkit. YouTuber Greenbeak has created the ultimate quotidian location with Skylines: a small British village with a shopping district. While I’m not from Britain, I do spend most of my time wandering through…

PUBG‘s New Map Has A Game-Ruining Exploit

The newest map in the PC version of PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds is awesome in a lot of ways. However, there is a location in the southwest portion of the islands where you can hide under the map and ambush unsuspecting players. There is a single spot right outside a building in the village of Na Kham…

Fortnite Rocket Launches, Cracks The Sky

The rocket that has been counting down in Fortnite finally launched at 1:30 EDT today, and what happened afterward was a little weirder than anyone was expecting. When I logged into the game, I could hear a klaxon blaring every few seconds, and before long the ground started to shake with only what I can…

‘Shop Contest: Summer Sports, Winners!

It’s time to go outdoors and get sweaty in pursuit of fun, but we don’t want to leave our favorite video game characters out of the action. I asked you to make summer sports happen, and you delivered. Look, I’ll be honest with you. I don’t know anything about organized outdoor sports. The last time…

We’re finishing Nier: Automata right now on Twitch. That’s routes B, C, D, and E all for the price of one stream. Come join the chat and enjoy one of 2017’s best games.

This Week In The Business: Moving At The Speed Of Sony

QUOTE | “We’re hearing it. We’re looking at a lot of the possibilities. You can imagine that the circumstances around that affect a lot more than just one game. I’m confident we’ll get to a solution which will be understood and accepted by our gaming community, while at the same time supporting our business.” –…

Overwatch Is Getting Wackier, And That’s Great

Yesterday, Overwatch added a hamster. The hamster’s name is Hammond, or Hammy for short. In a game about cyborg ninjas, strained mother-daughter relationships, and terrorist groups with edgy-ass names like Talon, here’s Hammy the Hamster. It’s just one more example of how Overwatch is embracing its wacky side. I’m not sure if Overwatch ever fell…

Warring EVE Factions Take A Break To Remember A Fallen Friend

EVE Online factions have been at each others’ throats for ages, but they do occasionally do nice things for each other. Recently, one of these rare awwwww moments happened: the donation of a memorial to player Sean “Vile Rat” Smith, who lost his life in the attack on the U.S. Embassy in Benghazi. The player-controlled…

Fan Calculations About Fortnite‘s Big Missile Event Were Off By A Day

Fortnite is no stranger to countdowns and theatrics, but this weekend’s mysterious (though probably missile-related) event is a little different. It’s happening just once. Fans thought they’d pinned down exactly when, but today Epic announced the actual date: one day before fans had calculated. This much is certain: Something is about to happen. In-game TVs…

What Are You Playing This Weekend?

The weekend is for it being too hot to avoid turning the air conditioner on but feeling a little guilty about it. Also, video games. It hasn’t been an easy week for a whole host of reasons, which means I’m really looking forward to kicking back with my old stand-by, The Witcher 3. Other than…

Ultimate Custom Night Will Keep Five Nights At Freddy’s Fans On Their Toes

After an hour of playing Ultimate Custom Night, I was nursing a throbbing headache. I had spent that time clicking through rooms, winding up music boxes, and taking on and off a Freddy Fazbear head, all while I braced myself for the imminent jump scares. Even after the ordeal I put myself through, I wanted…

I Hated Until Dawn‘s Emily, Until We Were Fighting For Our Lives

Until Dawn is one of gaming’s greatest love letters to horror movies. It conforms to and subverts the slasher paradigm so well that it often feels like playing through a long-lost classic film from the sub-genre’s early-80s heyday. It’s creepy, atmospheric, gory, and occasionally goofy. The game is at its most shocking, however, when it…

Tim Rogers and Bennett Foddy are playing Dungeons & Dragons: Tower of Doom over at our YouTube channel. Check it out!

Amazing Mario 3 Speedrun Is Full Of Setbacks And Sportsmanship

Last night, the top two Super Mario Bros 3 speedrunners faced off for a race that ran into problems—including game crashes. Despite the hurdles, speedrunners Mitchflowerpower and GrandPOObear bounced back and showed sportsmanship and skill under stress. In their “All Forts” run at Summer Games Done Quick 2018, the pair sped through the game and…

We Talk About Queerness In Games, From Overwatch Ships To E3 Smooches

We celebrated Pride this week at Kotaku with stories from queer staffers about Street Fighter ships, queer fandoms in Overwatch and in K-Pop, and our desire to see queer characters survive and thrive in the games we play. Before we take down the beautiful rainbow logos that festooned the site this week in celebration, we…

Ask Dr. NerdLove: How Can I Trust The Men I Work With?

Hello all you death monkies of the noosphere, and welcome to Ask Dr. NerdLove, the only dating advice column with a battle royale mode. This week, we’re talking about trust and judgement. How can you trust that someone actually likes and respects you instead of just trying to get into your pants? And for that…

Custom D&D Character Sheets Are A Critical Hit

Cartoonist and self-described Dungeons & Dragons nerd Luke Howard hand-crafted a convincing argument in favor of pen-and-paper role-playing: custom character sheets for D&D It’s not unusual for players to print their character sheets off D&D’s website or type their stats into a digital document. But that can feel a little impersonal. Howard’s character books are…