Awesome Games Done Quick Raises Over $2.2 Million For Charity For The Second Year In A Row 

Awesome Games Done Quick (AGDQ) is a week long slumber party where some people beat all kinds of video games super fast while thousands more watch. Now in its ninth year, the marathon wrapped up early today after raising a record breaking $2,263,093 for the Prevent Cancer Foundation. Beginning last Sunday with Crash Bandicoot 3…

People Are Still Finding New Ways To Break Classic RPGs

What’s it like to speedrun huge role-playing games like Final Fantasy VI and Chrono Trigger? What kind of tricks are people still discovering? Today on Kotaku Splitscreen, we talk to a speedrunner to find out. First, Kirk and I talk about news of the week (14:35) on Cyberpunk 2077, Overwatch League, and the elusive Nintendo…

David Cage’s Quantic Dream Accused Of Being A Toxic Workplace [UPDATE]

Reports in three separate French outlets depict a pattern of inappropriate behavior, sexist and homophobic jokes, and an overall toxic environment at Quantic Dream, something the video game studio’s executives strongly deny. UPDATE (3:05pm): In response to a request for comment, co-CEO Guillaume de Fondaumière gave Kotaku the following statement: “QD categorically denies the allegations.…

Sunday Comics: The Power Of Friendship 

Welcome to Kotaku’s Sunday Comics, your weekly roundup of the best webcomics that usually occurs on Sunday except when it doesn’t. The images enlarge if you click on the magnifying glass icon. Nerf NOW!! by Josué Pereira. Published January 13. Read more of Nerf NOW!!  Awkward Zombie by Katie Tiedrich. Published January 8. Read more…

Smash 4‘s Top Player Is Taking A Break From Competition

The same day as he was revealed as the top ranked player in the Panda Global rankings, Gonzalo “ZeRo” Barrios announced he would no longer be competing in Super Smash Bros. For Wii U… for now. In a letter posted on Barrios’ Twitter, the number-one player in Smash 4 said he has lost his passion…

Splatoon 2‘s Next Update Could Finally Fix Some Issues With Its Warehouse Map 

Nintendo has been keeping up with Splatoon 2‘s development and as such the game’s new version, 2.2.0, is scheduled to go live on January 16 and address a number of existing problems, including imbalances on its Walleye Warehouse map. Following the game’s initial release in July of last year, Splatoon 2 has been getting substantial…

Guy Plays Retro Indie Game The Messenger Using Only His Feet 

You never know who’s going to want to come and demo your game at a convention like PAX South. The Messenger is a modern homage to Ninja Gaiden. As such, it’s a pretty challenging action platformer. But that didn’t stop a streamer who goes by the name Jrocthegod from trying to demo the game at…

Super Meat Boy Is The Latest Port To Sell Better Than Expected On The Nintendo Switch 

Super Meat Boy’s first day of sales on the Nintendo Switch were apparently “shockingly close” to how the game performed when it was originally released on Xbox 360 back in 2010 according to the game’s developer. The platformer debuted on the Switch last Thursday alongside lots of other games including Furi and Escapists 2. While…

Cosplayers at PAX South put a Nintendo spin on several different classic video game (and Star Wars) characters. Really, Wario with his own Cappy is shocking enough.

In the first Fave This podcast of 2018, Gita Jackson and I discuss the controversy around fans shipping Rey and Kylo Ren as a couple in Star Wars (31:08) what the No Man’s Sky community is up to, and where open world games go next. Listen below. Download the MP3 here.

The Weekend In Esports: Wrapping Up The Overwatch League’s First Week 

OWL got off to a cracking start last Wednesday and hasn’t slowed down since. In addition to introducing esports to a larger audience and sparking important conversations about diversity and team management, there were also a bunch of really great games. Hopefully the quality continues today as the league’s last three matches of the inaugeral…

This Week In The Business: Welcome To Flavor Country

QUOTE | “When you’re spending a lot of money, you have to justify your project by saying it’s going to appeal to a lot of people, which essentially means it cannot be a strong flavor. I think by definition you just have to be more mainstream.” – Alex Hutchinson (lead designer on the Sims 2…

This Weasel Is The Key To Hearthstone‘s Hottest New Deck

Every once in a while, a formerly crappy Hearthstone card finds its place in a deck and works so well that it starts to look like it might actually be good. A while back, that card was a Hungry Crab. Today, it’s a fedora-wearing rodent called Weasel Tunneler. If there’s one thing you should know…

Overwatch Player Uses Doomfist To Obliterate Pharah And Mercy From Orbit

Doomfist may not be able to fly, but he sure can fall with style. Even in the techno-magical cartoon world of Overwatch, what goes up must come down. Player wahw_ow, however, decided that the laws of gravity needed assistance in grounding a pesky Pharah/Mercy combo, and, in the heat of a gridlocked team fight on…

Lone Echo Lets Me Experience A Beautiful Zero-Gravity Friendship 

With an interesting deep space setting, a clever zero-gravity movement system and plenty of hands-on interaction, Ready At Dawn’s Oculus exclusive Lone Echo ticks all the technical boxes required to be an excellent virtual reality game. But its greatest feat is making me believe a woman could ever love an unfeeling robot like me. It’s…

What Are You Playing This Weekend?

The weekend is for trying to find a bar in NYC showing Overwatch League. I think I found one but I have to call to confirm. I feel weird phoning a sports bar to ask about video games, but my colleagues’ writing about seeing it live is getting to me. Also, video games. I’m going…