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…

For Honor Player Wins Official Tournament Using Exploit [UPDATE]

This weekend at fighting game For Honor’s big Season Three tournament for PC, a big, long-standing exploit forged one player’s path to victory. After the match, the victor stated: “I didn’t think it’d be this easy. . . Before the tournament, I hadn’t played the game for two weeks.” For months, For Honor players have…

Mewtwo Just Released In Japan For Pokémon Go

This is no prank. Mewtwo has finally been released as a Pokémon Go raid boss at an event in Yokohama, Japan, as you can see in the above photo by Twitter user and YouTuber MYSTIC7 The character hasn’t yet been announced for other regions. Right now, Mewtwo appears to be limited to the Pokémon Go Stadium…

Hi, Persona 5’s Panther

I have seen some very good Ann Takamaki cosplay in the past six months, but few have come as close to the source material as Megan Coffey’s effort here. You might remember Megan from a feature we ran earlier this year. If you missed it, consider your heart now changed.

Dude Is Beating Bloodborne With A Dance Mat

Here is ATwerkingYoshi beating Bloodborne’s Cleric Beast using not a controller, but a dance mat. From a technical standpoint, this is impressive! What’s more impressive though is that ATwerkingYoshi is playing the entire game like this. Oh, and says he hasn’t ever beaten Bloodborne, even using regular controls, so that this playthrough that he’s broadcasting…

The Lord Of The Boats

Sara Kipin is an illustrator based in California. And I want to cover my walls in her Tolkien book cover concepts. You can see more of Sara’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 Week In Games: Rolling To The Club 

It’s time to settle the age old debate about whether Sonic was actually fun or just something we all pretended to like to piss off our friends. I honestly can’t ever remember every enjoying the games. What I do enjoy are my memories of playing the games which have little to do with actually trying…

Riot Based League Of Legends Skin On Actual Football Player, Loses Lawsuit

A court in The Netherlands ruled late last week that Riot must compensate retired Dutch footballer Edgar Davids after determining that a League of Legends champion skin infringed on his personal rights. The skin in question is Striker Lucian, whose combination of dreads, eyewear and the fact he’s based on a footballer sure look a…

The 2017 Call Of Duty Championship Ends In A Blowout 

After a stellar performance throughout this year’s $1.5 million prize pool tournament, OpTic Gaming can finally call themselves Call of Duty World League champions. Now in its fourth year and featuring Infinite Warfare, the esports event featured 32 teams, each of which garnered spots through competing in various other tournaments over the last year. But…