There’s A Comet In Fortnite, And Players Have Wild Theories About What It Means

There’s something strange going on in Fortnite right now. Controllers are rumbling randomly, when nothing is happening. There’s something in the sky that wasn’t there before. Nobody knows what any of it means. Right now, if you look up into Fortnite’s skybox, you might notice a shiny orb with a celestial tail. It looks like…

Counter-Strike Commentator Drops Racial Slur During Birthday Stream

During a celebratory birthday stream last night, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive commentator Matthew “Sadokist” Trivett called members of his stream chat the n-word on stream, as well as telling one member of the CS:GO community to kill themself. Trivett was live and playing PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds when he drops the slur. “I am literally going 50 percent…

Kotaku ‘Shop Contest: Everyone Loves Boats, Winners!

Well, you did it. You created some of the best ‘shops about putting characters on boats that I have ever seen. This is the kind of boating scenario where everyone wins. Last week I asked you to imagine a seafaring scenario with your favorite game characters. Just like you do every week, you delivered, and…

The Weekend In Esports: Headin’ On Up To NorCal

The fighting game community takes a big pit stop this week in the land of Lady Bird. This weekend’s NorCal Regionals features all the basic fighting game staples you would want, from Street Fighter and Tekken to ARMS. After Infiltration’s win at Final Round with Menat, I really want to see if he can keep…

This Week in the Business: No cursing like sailors on the Sea of Thieves 

STAT | 2 million – Number of Sea of Thieves players in the game’s first week of release. It is Microsoft’s fastest-selling first-party original IP since the Xbox One launched in 2013 QUOTE | “We’ve clarified that use of offensive language and fraudulent activity is prohibited. We’ve also clarified that violation… may result in suspensions…

Vandals is a turn-based graffiti game. You sneak around cities like Tokyo and Paris while avoiding cops, dogs, and other authorities who hate it when walls look cool. The game will include works from over 40 real-life street artists and teach players how they’ve influenced culture. It’ll be out next month.

The Real-Life Atari Secret That Inspired Ready Player One

Steven Spielberg’s adaptation of Ready Player One, like the source material, is chock full of references to 80s music, movies, and video games. It also throws in a few Master Chiefs, Overwatch characters, and the Iron Giant for good measure. Usually these references are surface level and fleeting, but a few carry more weight—like the…

The Original Arcade Punch-Out Plays Great On Switch

Punch-Out came out on Switch today! No, not Mike Tyson’s Punch-Out. Not the Wii Punch-Out, either. The one that started them all, the granddaddy of Nintendo’s boxing series: the 1984 arcade version of Punch-Out. It’s worth playing if you love the series, but just be aware that it’s pretty rough around the edges by today’s…

CSGO Skin Traders Dumping Their Inventories After Valve Announces New Rules

Despite Valve’s crackdown on CSGO gambling sites that use Steam in 2016, there’s still an active cosmetic skin trading (and yes, sometimes gambling) scene around the game. A recent set of trade limits from Valve, though, has skin lovers selling off their collections for fear that the scene is on its deathbed. “CSGO is over!”…

Nintendo Reached A DLC Tipping Point This Week

It’s been a quietly unprecedented week for Nintendo, and one that should change players’ expectations for the company’s games going forward. In just eight days, five of Nintendo’s major Switch games received downloadable content updates. Some of that DLC was free, some paid. The days of any of Nintendo games being static after launch appear…

What Are You Playing This Weekend?

The weekend is for having ordered an immersion blender at long last and spending the whole weekend, I don’t know, blending stuff. Also, video games. Here’s an unpopular opinion: winter is the best season and I’m sad it’s over (barring another massive snowstorm). Every so often I’ve been popping into Steep just to take in…

Hacked Fortnite Players Say Epic’s Response Is Too Slow

A torrent of hackershave been breaking into Fortnite player accounts and stealing hundreds of dollars at a time. After weeks trying to contact Epic Games about the security threat, many of them say they’re being left high and dry. Over the last few months, hackers discovered vulnerabilities in Epic Games’ client. In interviews, these Fortnite…

The Good and the Bad of Far Cry 5‘s Co-Op

I’ve played many hours of Far Cry 5 co-op, both with my partner and with colleagues. A lot of the time it’s been a blast, except when you’re trying to actually get things done. There’s a pretty major caveat to the co-operative experience, as there was with Far Cry 4: only the host player’s progress…

Fortnite Mobile Now Warns People Not To Play In Class

Fortnite mobile’s portability has proven destructive in classrooms around the world, with some teachers struggling to keep their students’ attention from the battle royale game. It seems that developer Epic has caught on, because now the game says something about this hilarious situation. As shared by Fortnite community manager K.L. Smith, Fortnite mobile can now…

If You’re A Pokémon Fan, You Should Play Detective Pikachu

Nintendo may be keeping the 3DS on life support at this point, but there are still reasons to boot up the handheld console. Detective Pikachu, released in North America last week, makes an especially compelling case for any fans of Pokémon who want to learn a bit more about the world of pocket monsters. Detective…

PUBG‘s New Event Is Fun If You Can Find The Damn Flare Gun

PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds is spicing things up with special events—limited time game modes with special weapons and squad rules. The latest event, which kicked off yesterday, adds a special flare gun for calling supply drops. It’s a good idea, but the execution is too timid. Following Fortnite Battle Royale’s model of limited time events, PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds…

Two New Super Saiyans Are Shaking Up Dragon Ball FighterZ

Two new fighters, Broly and Bardock, hit Dragon Ball FighterZ this week. Bardock comes from an appropriately named TV special, Dragon Ball Z: Bardock — The Father of Goku. Broly also hails from his own special movie named after himself, Dragon Ball Z: Broly — The Legendary Super Saiyan, as well as a few other…

A Place Further Than The Universe Is A Wholesome Look At Female Friendship

In anime A Place Further than the Universe, a girl with long black hair drops an envelope containing 1,000,000 yen on a train platform. Unremarkable high schooler Mari Tamaki picks it up and, recognizing the girl’s uniform, tracks her down in the bathroom of her local high school. Shirase Kobuchizawa, the envelope’s owner, has a…

Far Cry 5’s User Interface Does A Lot Right

Far Cry 5 is a complicated game that needs to convey a ton of information at once. Good thing it’s got a great user interface. Lord knows I complain enoughabout games with half-baked user interface (UI) design. In light of that, I also try to highlight good UI when I see it, and Far Cry…