I got done reading The Untold History of Japanese Game Developers Volume 2 the other day, and it was awesome, full of stories like yakuza links to 80s studios, a video game kidnapping and a ton of fascinating interviews with Japanese developers. You can take a look here (or get it in a rad bundle…

Track: The Mothers’ Suite III: Ritual Of Take | Album: From The Vine | Artist: Fresh Cut Orchestra Kotaku Soundtrack is a selection of the stuff we’re listening to – and gaming to – at the moment.

Agreed.

Assassin’s Creed is skipping 2016, but Ubisoft says they’ve got a full slate for the coming fiscal year. By April 1, 2017, they’ll release: Watch Dogs 2 (which we’ve reported is set in San Francisco), For Honor, South Park: The Fractured But Whole, Ghost Recon Wildlands, and a new game “with strong digital live services.”

It’s Official: Assassin’s Creed Is Skipping 2016

For the first time since 2009, Ubisoft will not release a big Assassin’s Creed game this fall, the publisher said today. It’s a huge shift for their tentpole series. Kotaku first broke news of this change last month, when we reported that the next big Assassin’s Creed game, which is code-named Empire and set in…

Podcast: Why XCOM 2 Is Better Than Its Predecessor

Just what makes XCOM 2 so good? How does the branching work in Fire Emblem Fates? And is Valve even working on Half-Life 3? Those questions and much more, today on Kotaku Splitscreen On this week’s episode of Kotaku’s premiere podcast, Nathan Grayson joins me and Kirk to talk Dying Light, XCOM 2, and Fire…

Four Xbox 360 games become backwards-compatible on the Xbox One today: Sam and Max: Beyond Time and Space, Alan Wake’s American Nightmare, Lego Batman and Trials HD. Contact the author at [email protected]