Archeologist Digs Into Remains of No Man’s Sky Abandoned Player Civilization

When No Man’s Sky launched last year, an archaeology PhD student led a team of 30 players on a survey intending to understand the algorithms that built the game’s worlds. This initial foray didn’t pan out, as the game was missing features he needed to properly excavate. But after the 1.3 update, which radically altered…

Forza 7 Turns The Series’ VIP Upgrade Into Something Not Worth Paying For [Update]

Forza Motorsport 6‘s $20 VIP upgrade gave players exclusive cars, special online events and, best of all, double credit earnings for races. Forza 7‘s $20 VIP upgrade swaps the always-on double credit bonus for five limited-use “mod cards.” Boo. Update: Big changes coming in response to player feedback. The double racing credit bonus has been…

Chinese Players Review-Bomb Battlegrounds For Server Lag [UPDATE]

Battlegrounds’ Steam reviews tanked over the weekend after over 20,000 negative reviews, many from China, flooded the blockbuster survival-shooter’s page. Chinese players appear to be suffering from the worst connectivity to Battlegrounds in the world and these players are furious that, now, Battlegrounds is advertising a paid, third-party “internet accelerator” right on its menu. After…

Developer Used Fake Secrets To Sneak Games Through Sega’s Certification Process

Getting a game through a publisher’s certification process can be difficult. Games are tested in extreme conditions and fail for the slightest error. In the 90s, one developer snuck their games through Sega’s certification with a few clever tricks that disguised glitches as part of the game. Traveler’s Tale founder Jon Burton describes his secretsin…

New Album Turns Video Game Battle Music Into Jazzy Lullabies

Due out on October 10, Prescription for Sleep: Fight For Your Dreams turns pulse-pounding battle themes from Final Fantasy XV, Undertale, Mega Man, Transformers: The Movie and more into the musical equivalent of sleepytime tea. Battle music in games (and animated features) is generally crafted excite players, preparing them for a life-or-death struggle against the…

What Video Game Levels Look Like Before They’re Finished

Ever wanted a glimpse at what games like Uncharted 4 and Titanfall look like before they’re finished? During production on a video game, level designers work with what they call “greyboxes,” or rough layouts that use ugly geometric models to determine the outlines of each level before they make everything pretty. To celebrate these greyboxes…

PlayStation Management Shake Up 

Starting today, Andrew House is no longer the President and Chief Executive Officer of Sony Interactive Entertainment. He is being replaced by Deputy President John Kodera. House joined Sony Computer Corporation twenty-seven years ago, before SIE (then Sony Computer Entertainment) was founded. House worked on the PlayStation 1’s launch and by 2002, he was Executive…

Former Square Enix Employee Arrested For Allegedly Stocking Up Game Consoles For Resale

Koji Takada made his name at Square Enix as a sales manager, with his name in the credits for games like Dragon Quest IX. Earlier last month, he was arrested for allegedly improperly ordering game consoles for resale, a violation of Japanese trust law. According to Jiji Press, the 56-year-old Takada allegedly would deceptively buy…

Anime Fan Shaves Head After Director’s Abrupt Removal From Show 

The biggest anime controversy of 2017 is director Tatsuki’s sudden removal from surprise hit anime Kemono Friends. People were not happy! One fan even shaved his head in hopes of changing the decision. Originally a mobile game, Kemono Friends follows of the adventures of animals anthropomorphized into anime girls. Since it’s January 2017 debut, the…

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Popular Battlegrounds Streamer Cries After Fan Says He Loves Him

PUBG streamer Dr Disrespect found himself playing alongside a fan who didn’t realize he was the real thing, and decided to have some fun. “What do you think of the guy?” he asked the fan. “I just love him,” the fan replied. Doc baited him a little more: “He can get on my nerves.” But…

Elite: Dangerous Players Split On Whether They Should Kill Aliens

Last week, Elite: Dangerous’ mysterious aliensfinally went on the offensive after months of poking and probing. Now, players have figured out how to fight back, but not everybody’s feeling super rah-rah-rah gung-ho about it. Over the weekend, notorious Elite player Joshua “Harry Potter” Chamberlain and his Smiling Dog Crew managed to down a Thargoid by…

Glitched Forza Car Is Very Stripped-Down

Today on Highlight Reel we have good timing, peepholes, Yakuza slash fic and much more! Watch the video then talk about your favorite highlight in the comments below. Be sure to check out, like, and share the original videos via the links below. Subscribe to Kotaku on YouTube for more! Catch up on all the…

The Best Baseball Game Had Explosions And Robots

Being Australian, I don’t have much time for baseball. That doesn’t mean I can’t enjoy baseball video games, though. Especially when they’re from the future Super Baseball 2020 is a game developed by SNK and was first released in 1991 for its Neo Geo platform. It is, as the name suggests, an idea of what…

Fans Are Trying To Map Out Red Dead Redemption 2 Before It’s Released

It’s been nearly a year since GTAForums member RedDagger started a thread dedicated to “landmark analysis” of Red Dead Redemption 2—a game that, at the time, was still nowhere close to coming out. “The aim is to get an idea of real-world locations within the game, and hopefully recreate the in-game map, using official trailers…

The Good And Bad Of GTA Online, Four Years Later

Four years after release, Grand Theft Auto V is still a massive hit that continues to appear on best-selling charts month after month. During that time, GTA Online, the multiplayer component, has gone on to overshadow the main game—to the dismay of some fans. More overtly, GTA Online’s updates have transformed the down-to-earth open-world game…