The Girl Among The Cherry Blossoms

Maike Plenzke is a freelance artist from Berlin. You can see more of Maike’s work at her personal site To see the images in their native resolution, click on the “expand” button in the top-left corner. Fine Art is a celebration of the work of video game artists, showcasing the best of both their professional…

Overwatch’s New Deathmatch Modes Still Need Some Work

Down in the cavernous cellars of Château Guillard, it’s just me—playing as Mei—and an enemy Soldier 76. I freeze him, but at the last second he throws down an HP-restoring biotic field, negating much of my hard work. I freeze myself to heal, as well. Then, with our safety nets gone, we dart, dodge, and…

Civilization Has A New Board Game

There’s a long history of Civilization board games, from a 1980 title that kinda inspired the video game series to a number of versions (in 2002 and 2010) that have in turn been based on the video games. We can now add one more to the list, this time based loosely on Civilization VI Sid…

Nice Bow, Horizon: Zero Dawn

Harrison Krix from Volpin Props went out and made a replica bow from Horizon: Zero Dawn that looks (and more importantly moves) as close to the game’s actual model as you’re ever going to get. It doesn’t fire, but then, that thing was designed to look good in a video game, not shoot arrows in…

The Cosplay Of Otakon 2017

Otakon was held in DC over the weekend, with around 30,000 fans making the trip to the Walter E. Washington Convention Center, the first time Otakon has taken place outside Baltimore for over a decade. There were many cosplayers there. These shots are courtesy of Tyler Fortier, and you can see more of them at…

Look At This $120 Sonic The Hedgehog Art Book

I would not have thought a Sonic the Hedgehog art book could ever be amongst the best in a field usually catering towards modern blockbuster games full of lush environments and detailed costume design, but hey, turns out I was dead wrong. Sonic The Hedgehog 25th Anniversary Art Book, published by Cook & Becker, is…

Lúcioball Players Ham It Up For The Camera

Today on Highlight Reel we have Lúcioball celebrations, Sniper Elite physics, GTA V pirouettes, 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! Skyrim – You’re…

YouTube’s Mario 64 Genius Sounds Overwhelmed With His Popularity

Since 2015, pannenkoek2012‘s extremely detailed videos about Super Mario 64 have become notorious. His phrases about parallel universes and half-button presses have become well-known memes on the internet. Despite millions of views, however, pannenkoek2012 seems to be going through something of late, and his audience has noticed. The last video pannenkoek2012 uploaded to his channel,…

Never Mind, Everybody, It’s Called ‘Battle.net’ Again

Hey, remember when Blizzard callously killed the “Battle.net” name, a beloved moniker for its online service in games like StarCraft, Diablo, and Overwatch that dates all the way back to 1996? Well, the blue giant has now decided to un-kill it. In a blog post, Blizzard explained that it’s forcing us to ride this rollercoaster…

After Charlottesville, I Asked My Dad About Selma

Over the weekend in Charlottesville, Virginia, white supremacists held a rally that escalated into violence. An activist, a paralegal named Heather Heyer, was killed after a man drove his car into a crowd of protesters. I usually write about video games on this site, but today I need to talk about my dad, who marched…

Discord Shuts Down White Supremacist Servers In Wake Of Charlottesville Rally [UPDATE]

Gaming chat client Discord has banned servers and several users linked to white supremacist and Nazi ideologies, according to a tweet sent out from the official Discord account. “Discord’s mission is to bring people together around gaming,” their statementon Twitter read. “We will continue to take action against white supremacy, nazi ideology, and all forms…

Shark Dating Simulator Is Crude But Funny

Have you ever watched Jaws, saw the shark, and thought it was kinda hot? Well you’re in luck, because now you can live out your aquatic apex predator lovin’ dreams in Shark Dating Simulator XL. Be warned— it is definitely NSFW. In this comedic visual novel, you play as a scuba school graduate who has…

Game Of Thrones Recap Podcast: Sam, Shut Up And Listen To Gilly

It was a jam-packed episode of Game of Thrones this week, and there’s a lot to talk about. Let’s get into it, with another bonus episode of Kotaku Splitscreen Jason’s on vacation this week, so I’m joined in his stead by Kotaku features editor Chris Kohler to talk about the fifth episode of season seven,…

A nice set of matching keycaps can be expensive, but who needs matching? TheACR60 I assembled this weekend looks lovely in mismatched “unicorn vomit,” courtesy of grab bags purchased from users on Reddit’s MechMarket. Plus it’s got a super X%&#! “Beer Break” key.

Fortnite‘s Complicated Progression System Obscures A Great Game

Epic Games’ Fortnite, out in Early Access, is not one game, but many, all tangled together under one name. It’s a resource management game. It’s a multiplayer third-person shooter. It’s a tower defense game. It’s a collectable card game. It’s a strategy game, a survival game and it’s even a little bit of a role-playing…

The Best Start To An Assassin’s Creed Game

If I have one guilty pleasure series, it’s Assassin’s Creed. Normally, I’m not one to get excited about yearly releases, let alone broken games. But I’ve played and mostly enjoyed every game in the series. Recently, I returned to Assassin’s Creed II, and, much to my surprise, I realized just how much I’ve lowered my…

No Man’s Sky Players Are Finding Cool New Biomes In Latest Update

Atlas Rising, the latest No Man’s Sky patch, promised players “increased biome variety and rare exotic biomes.” Over the weekend, intrepid space adventurers have started to get a taste of what these strange new lands look like in action. The GIF above comes from TheMya47, who discovered what appears to be a synthetic planet. It…

Snapchat Now Has A Pikachu Filter

There’s a Pikachu-themed Snapchat filter, and it’s very cute. Snapchat filters have now become part of the internet lexicon. Wondering why you kept seeing videos of that weird dancing hotdog all over Twitter? That was a Snapchat filter. Today Snapchat has debuted another filter primed for maximum pop cultural saturation, featuring Pikachu. You know, the…