Why Competitive Games Patch So Much

The Dueling Fates update hit Dota 2 last week after a long waiting period, bringing two new heroes, several new items, map changes, and new abilities and talents; in a week’s time, it’s already been updated, from 7.07 to 7.07b. Patches are nothing new in today’s landscape, but Dota 2 patches are particularly unique. While…

Destiny 2 Players: Maybe Don’t Pledge Dead Orbit Today

If you play Destiny 2, you have a choice in this week’s Faction Rally. You can pledge New Monarchy or Future War Cult. Or, if you really, really want to, you can pledge Dead Orbit. This week is Destiny 2‘s second Faction Rally, and the first one since the game came out on PC. That…

What Is The Plural Of Xbox One X? [Update]

Look, I’m not suggesting that many people are going to buy more than one Xbox One X console. But if you did… how would you say that? The question of how to pluralize “Xbox One X” came up today in Kotaku’s work Slack. I asked Microsoft PR for their official stance, though I haven’t yet…

Bury Me, My Love Tells A Moving Story With Text Messages

I don’t usually fall for interactive fiction or smartphone games, but Bury Me, My Love hooked me. This mobile game charts the journey of a young woman named Nour as she tries to escape the civil war in Syria by fleeing to Europe, told through text messages. Developed by French studio The Pixel Hunt, Bury…

Korean Esports Association Staffers Arrested In Embezzlement Investigation

Three employees of the Korean Esports Association (KeSPA), including a former assistant to chief executive Jun Byung-hun, have been arrested on suspicion of bribe-taking and money-laundering, according to Seoul-Yonhap News. KeSPA, an organization formed by the South Korean government in 2000, oversees the country’s esports industry, which includes some of the world’s best pro gaming…

Sims Will No Longer Weed Chess Tables, And Other Great Sims 4 Patch Notes

In anticipation of Friday’s Cats & Dogs expansion, The Sims 4 got a new patch today. Some of these fixed bugs are hilarious. This patch is a doozy. Not only does it add new Build and Buy options—including new roofs and being able to make objects smaller—it fixes a considerable amount of bugs. Some of…

Don’t Steal Kotaku’s Sonic Forces Original Character

Sonic Forces’s character creator helps bring your DeviantArt creations to life to create wolf dudes, bird gals, and bear pals. Staff writer Gita Jackson and I took this opportunity to create Kotaku’s official fursona. Please don’t steal. Set in a world where Doctor Robotnik (who I refuse to call Eggman) has conquered most of the…

The “complete edition” of Team Ninja’s excellent samurai action game Nioh is out today on PS4 and PC. I haven’t played enough on PC to determine the quality of the port. Seems okay, but not great. Read our PS4 review here, and find tips for playing the game here

Overwatch’s New Character Leads To A Surprising Ship

Overwatch has a new character, Moira O’Deorain, a support who’s a member of the antagonistic Talon organization. While some players wonder how this new character will shake up gameplay, other fans want to know who to ship her with. Moira is basically a mad scientist. A geneticist who discovered how to alter DNA at a…

I Love That Super Mario Odyssey Doesn’t Have A Timer

For the past week, I’ve been falling ever more deeply in love with Super Mario Odyssey. I like a lot of things about this game, but most of all, I like that there’s no timer. Super Mario Odyssey is widely considered the first “proper” 3D Mario game since Super Mario Galaxy 2 hit the Wii…

Fans Unhappy As Some Amazon Xbox One X Pre-Orders Miss Launch Day

Some frustrated Amazon customers are complaining that their Xbox One X pre-orders aren’t scheduled to arrive today, which is the launch day for the spanking new console. Fans rushed to pre-order the “world’s most powerful console” months ago so they’d be able to scale 4K pyramids in Assassin’s Creed Origins moments after getting home from…

In Post-Hurricane Puerto Rico, This Used Game Store Is A Welcome Escape

Returning to his classic video game shop Neo Japan Games in the weeks after Hurricane Maria, Jerry Robles thought business would be quiet. But he opened his doors just south of San Juan to find more customers than usual crowding around to look at old game cartridges and classic consoles. “The day we reopened at…

The follow-up to Defiant Development’s outstanding 2015 hybrid card RPG, Hand of Fate 2 is available today on the PlayStation 4, PC and Steam. The sequel adds enhanced real-time combat, dice rolling, companion characters, character creation and a ton of new and inventive encounters.

Ingress Players Use Unofficial Tools To Stalk One Another

In May, Nicci Kay and her wife moved 25 miles south to the port city of Tacoma, Washington where, in time, they planned to overtake the Resistance’s hold on the area. Kay is an Ingress player, an agent in a great and invisible cyberwar over territory that spans the globe, involving two factions: the Resistance…

Six Of The Best Looks From Super Mario Odyssey

There are dozens of outfits for Mario to wear in Super Mario Odyssey, and the game will even comment on your fashion sense. Mario isn’t what I would call a stylish guy, but I have to admit he almost looks cool in some of these outfits. Here are my favorites. Sailor Outfit Seems like a…

Here’s A Ton Of New Info On Xenoblade Chronicles 2

We’re just over three weeks away from Xenoblade Chronicles 2, and to celebrate, Nintendo today offered a bunch of new details for the upcoming Switch role-playing game, including a spotlight of the combat system and the reveal of a season pass. In a Nintendo Direct this morning, the publisher showed off a new trailer and…

Call of Duty: WWII: The Kotaku Review

Call of Duty has recently gotten lost in a future of jetpack boosting, robots, and wacky laser guns, leaving the franchise feeling almost unrecognizable. Sledgehammer Games’ latest entry in the long-running war shooter series, Call of Duty: WWII, sends the game back to basic training in more ways than just a simple rewinding of time.…

Ronda Rousey’s Xbox One X Spot On Conan Is Painful To Watch

FormerMMA champion and all-around gamer Ronda Rousey appeared on Conan O’Brien last night to “demonstrate exactly what it feels like to experience true 4K gaming on the Xbox One X.” The two-minute segment, with promotional consideration paid by Microsoft (i.e. it’s a paid ad), is awkward and embarrassing. Conan brings Ronda and friend up on…

First Look At Rebooted Version Of Long-Delayed Lineage Game

Originallyannounced in 2011 as Lineage Eternal, this years-in-development massively multiplayer online role-playing game gets a new trailer and a new name. Called Project TL (“TL” means The Lineage), the game is now being developed on Unreal Engine 4. I’m assuming the title is a temporary one. The game is supposed to be a sequel to…