School Cafeteria Thanksgiving: The Kotaku Review

Every year around this time, the schools near Atlanta where I live invite parents to join their children and germ-covered classmates in the cafeteria to enjoy a wondrous Thanksgiving repast. It might not look like much, but boy does it not look like much. I am one of those weird people that really enjoys institutional…

The South Park Mobile Game Warns You About Its Own Microtransactions

In the spirit of the disclaimer that runs before every episode of the long-running TV show, South Park: Phone Destroyer opens with a special message about microtransactions. Phone Destroyer, now out on iOS and Android, is a card-based combat game in which players summon South Park characters. Ubisoft’s free-to-play, microtransaction-based game launches with a warning…

Star Wars Battlefront II Lets You Pay Real Money For Multiplayer Advantages

Star Wars Battlefront II has everything you love from the movies: lightsabers, starfighters, and loot crates. These crates are crucial to the game’s multiplayer structure but even after being tweaked in response to widespread criticisms during the beta, they’re a mess that affects balance in negative ways. Battlefront II’s progression system is tied to equippable…

One Of The Most Famous Faces On Twitch Refuses To Let The Haters Win

According to Mychal “Trihex” Jefferson, there really isn’t much of a difference between speedrunning video games and lifting weights. “You have to be goal-oriented,” he recently said as he beamed live and uncut from a private Discord call. “It’s very easy to get into a speed game and feel intimidated, insecure and inadequate about how…

Low Attendance Forces Smash Bros Organizer To Sell His House For Tournament Funds

After skipping 2016, long-running Super Smash Bros. tournament series Tipped Off is set to return to the state of Georgia this weekend for its twelfth installment. But while the weeks leading up an event of this caliber are typically a time to promote the upcoming competition, the festivities have taken on a dour tone after…

We’re Gonna Need A Bigger Keyboard

A standard mechanical keyboard switch is about .75 inches tall and .6 inches wide and deep. NovelKeys’ “Big Series” switches are four times that size. Why? If I had to guess, I’d say it was for the clicks. Currently available for preorder at $25 apiece and expected to ship out in time for Christmas, the…

The Game With The Best Character Creation Tool Is Going Mobile

Black Desert Online is famous for its character creation tool. There is an upcoming mobile version of the Korean massively multiplayer game, and it also has an impressive-looking character creation tool. Wait, there’s a mobile version of Black Desert? Yes, there is! Black Desert Mobile was announced last year, and you can see game play…

Your Name Anime Director On The Live-Action Hollywood Adaptation 

The mega hit anime Your Name is going to be a Hollywood movie. What does Your Name creator Makoto Shinkai think about that? It’s kind of like your children leaving home. When speaking at a recent press event, Shinkai talked about the Your Name adaptation. “I often compare my works to my children,” he said,…

If Dragon Ball Super Was Made in the 1990s

It’s not. It’s made now, but if Dragon Ball Super was made in the 1990s, the show would probably look something like this. On Deviant Art, the incredibly talented Salvador Vera Llanos has uploaded some images of Dragon Ball Super done up in a Dragon Ball Z art style. The results look fantastic. But first,…

A Cat In Angkor Wat. Krong Siem Reap, Cambodia. By Kent Kee. JPGs is a photo peek into wherever gamers might find interesting. If you’re a photographer and have images you want to share, drop us a line!   

The Stare

Christophe Young is based in Canada and works as a freelance illustrator and concept artist. You can see more of Young’s work at his ArtStation page 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,…

Why Overwatch‘s Moira Runs Like Naruto

There’s a lot to like about Overwatch’s newest hero, Moira. She looks like David Bowie. She fires energy beams out of her hands like Goku. Tragically, however, she also runs like Naruto. Naruto, a demon-possessed orange crayon best known for being Boruto’s dad, runs like he hasn’t a care (or spinal cord) in the world.…

Superflight Is A Fast Game About Dying A Lot

Superflight is a PC game I’ve been having a lot of fun with this week. To get an idea of what it’s like, imagine if Tony Hawk could fly. Inspired by wingsuits (think Far Cry, or maniacs sponsored by Red Bull), the game is about controlling a blocky little figure as it descends—real fast—down a…

Look At These Nier Action Figures

It’s taken a little longer than I was expecting, but Nier: Automata’s first proper action figures are finally on the way, and they look great. There are two double packs coming for Square Enix’s Play Arts line in April 2018: one has 2B and a robot (which costs around $80), and the other has two…

Fortnite Dance Causes Trust Issues

Today on Highlight Reel we have sinister dance routines, 2D assassins, Mario scares 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…

Blizzard’s Plan To Take WoW‘s World PVP Back To Its Glory Days

For years, Blizzard has been trying to put the “war” back in Warcraft. During an interview at Blizzcon last weekend, game director Ion Hazzikostas told Kotaku he thinks he’s finally figured out how to make it happen. But first the designers have 13 years’ worth of problems to work out. Soon, the WoW team will…

EA Is Buying Titanfall Developer Respawn For Over $400 Million

Mega-publisher EA has purchased a new studio—Respawn, the developer of Titanfall. The news comes just weeks after the publisher shuttered Visceral Games. EA said in a press release that the deal is worth $455 million, a number that includes cash, equity, and performance milestone payments. Respawn staff have spent the past few weeks exchanging whispers…