Valve Closes Steam Cheating Loophole

Steam’s VAC (Valve Anti-Cheat) and game ban systems can block people from playing games they’ve cheated in, no questions asked. But where there’s a will to break the rules, there’s almost always a way. One tactic Steam cheaters use is to stockpile giftable versions of games on one account (often during Steam sales) and then…

Look At This $260 Doom Action Figure

Fresh off those Destiny figures that I’m still getting over, 3A said this week they’ll also be releasing a piece based on the new Doom game I’m not feeling this one anywhere near as much, mostly because I found the new marine’s design a bit too “Generic Xbox Shooter Man”—which doesn’t translate as impressively in…

Watch Us Play No Man’s Sky

The No Man’s Sky review copy situation is a mess, and reviewers from various outlets have just gone and bought copies from local retailers instead of waiting for Sony to send codes. On an unrelated note, come watch us play (the pre-day-one-patch version of) No Man’s Sky!

Making Messes In Room Service Simulator Breach and Clean

Breach and Clean is a wonderfully goofy room service simulator made by Rami Ismail and a small team of mischief makers. You can download it for Windows here if you want to test your room service skills. From strapping bombs to locked doors to mopping up floor and changing out the towels, Breach and Clean…

The No Man’s Sky Review Copy Debacle

Early this week, the review aggregator OpenCritic caused widespread panic when they tweeted about publications not receiving early review copies of No Man’s Sky. It was just the beginning of what would become a weeklong debacle involving one of the most hyped games of the year. On Monday, OpenCritic sent out a rather simple tweet:…

Days Later, Overwatch Fans Can’t Figure Out The ‘Sky Code’ Mystery

Overwatch fans’ investigation into the identity of unreleased stealth hero Sombra is moving slowly, even after game director Jeff Kaplan personally gave them a push along. Over 5,000 Overwatch fans have been working to solve the puzzle since Tuesday without much success. In July, Kaplan told Kotaku reporter Nathan Grayson that “Sombra will let people…

Overwatch Has Some Great Skins

Tonight's Fine Art looks at the work of Airborn Studios

Report: Blizzard Releasing StarCraft HD [Update]

According to respected Korean site iNews24, multiple sources say Blizzard will announce an HD version of the original StarCraft this September. It will reportedly play the same, but have a better resolution and UI. iNews24, the country’s first online newspaper, is reporting (via tipster Sang) the following: Today, multiple sources with knowledge of Blizzard internal…

A Whole Bunch of PC Case Mods From China

A slew of Chinese case mods were on display at the recent ChinaJoy gaming exhibition in Shanghai. Let’s have a look. Japanese site 4Gamer took most of these images. One case modder to note is Fuxk, which has been winning case mod competitions for years now. Kotaku East is your slice of Asian internet culture,…

The Pokémon Anime’s New Ending Theme Is Nuts  

Here’s the new closer for anime Pokémon: XY & Z. Get ready to overdose on Pikachu, ketchup, and cuteness. Above is a 33-second sample from the official site. Here’s the full song via Twitter user Maru_run33: The track is Pikachu’s Song, which Kotaku previously introduced. Its bonkers lyrics are only surpassed by this ending animation.…

Toro Nagashi Miyazu, Kyoto Prefecture, Japan. By Stuart Campbell 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!

Mr. Harley Quinn

This is not-wild with some sharp genderbending on Suicide Squad’s Harley Quinn design. Photo by jotape Vaz

Bad Girls

Surprise, Suicide Squad sucks. Here’s some quality DC villain cosplay to start to set things right. Harley Quinn is Ryoko-demon, Poison Ivy is Reiand Catwoman is Yaya Han. Photos by Kifir

Nothing like some Slam Dunk cosplay to end a rough day with. Cosplay by Drefan Cosplay, Kenneth “Lilaeroplane” Ting, Skyy, Gurei & Kuroki Renn. Photo by Vaxzone

Strike Vector was a cool PC shooter/flight game that really needed some singleplayer to round off the experience. Which is exactly what’s been added to the game’s console release. It’s out on PS4 on August 30.

Niantic Says It Had A Good Reason For Shutting Down Pokémon Go Trackers

Over the last week, Niantic has been chewed out by the public for not being open enough about what was going on with Pokémon Go. But now, it seems like they’re finally turning all of that around. Not only have they been posting more on social media, today Niantic also blogged about one of the…

Mario vs The Legions Of Hell

In the US, Nintendo Power magazine had a monthly comic called Howard & Nester. It was, with one exception, totally kid-friendly. Cotton candy and rainbows. In Germany, however, they had their own comics in the official magazine Club Nintendo One comic in particular – called Die Nacht des Grauens (The Night of Horror), from 1996…