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CultureVinny Caravella, Alex Navarro, and Brad Shoemaker Leave Giant Bomb [UPDATE]
Vinny Caravella, Alex Navarro, and Brad Shoemaker, foundational members of the Giant Bomb team, announced today they are leaving the site. During a live podcast recording on Twitch, the three announced that their last day is Friday. Giant Bomb founder Jeff Gerstmann is staying at the site for now. Giant Bomb was established in 2008…
By Ash Parrish Published May 4, 2021 -
CultureWitcher 3 Director Leaves CD Projekt Following Bullying Allegations
Konrad Tomaszkiewicz, director of The Witcher 3, has resigned from his position at CD Projekt after being accused of workplace bullying, Bloomberg reports. Tomaszkiewicz reportedly told CD Projekt staff that an internal investigation found him not guilty of this alleged behavior, but he is nevertheless stepping away due to what he referred to as “fear,…
By Ian Walker Published May 4, 2021 -
CultureBlizzard Doesn’t Want Diablo Confused With A Cartoon Dog
Seeking to protect its long-held trademark, Blizzard has filed a Notice of Opposition with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to block Fox from trademarking Diablo, one of the canine characters from the upcoming animated series Housebroken. Blizzard’s Diablo is a series of action role-playing video games in which players battle against the forces of…
By Mike Fahey Published May 4, 2021 -
CultureEpic Tried To Convince Xbox To Make Multiplayer Free Alongside Apple Fight
An email between Epic CEO Tim Sweeney and Xbox head Phil Spencer, made public today as part of the ongoing Epic versus Apple trial, shows Sweeney trying to entice Spencer to take “free-to-play” multiplayer out from behind the Xbox Live paywall to coincide with Epic’s war against the App Store. In an emailon August 5,…
By Riley MacLeod Published May 4, 2021 -
CultureEpic Spent $1 Billion On PC Exclusives By 2019
As the trawl through Epic’s court documents continues, another figure jumps out: $1 billion—the amount Epic had spent on securing exclusives by 2019. Spread across 110 titles, the detail is hidden within a document exploring “revenue assumptions”. In this, while guessing at potential income, they state that for 2019 titles they’d spent $542m, for 2020 $444m,…
By John Walker Published May 4, 2021 -
CultureCelebrate Star Wars Day With Retro Rainbow Boba Fett
Boba Fett is one of the best-dressed bounty hunters in the Star Wars universe, but what if he wasn’t? Coming this summer to a Target store near you, Hasbro’s Retro Collection Boba Fett Prototype Edition looks sorta like he’s made out of six molded crayons. I love him. Before action figures reach their final form,…
By Mike Fahey Published May 4, 2021 -
CultureDestiny 2‘s Season Of The Splicer Dawns On May 11
Goodness, is it season 14 already? Destiny 2‘s Season of the Splicer kicks off May 11, tasking players with hacking the Vex Network from the inside, revisiting the fabled Vault of Glass raid, and changing up their looks with an overly complex transmog system. Season 14 looks to be all about those pesky Vex. The…
By Mike Fahey Published May 4, 2021 -
CultureEpic Paid $115 Million For The Borderlands 3 Exclusive
As the bizarro-world bunfight between Epic and Apple enters its second day in court, more extraordinary information is coming out in court documents. Like, how Epic paid Take-Two/Gearbox one hundred and fifteen million dollars for the exclusive rights to sell Borderlands 3 In a document entitled “Epic Games Store: Review of Performance and Strategy, October…
By John Walker Published May 4, 2021 -
Kotaku EastJapanAlmost Twenty Years Later, Muv-Luv Characters Sure Look Different
Muv-Luv debuted as a visual novel way back in 2003. Now, in 2021, it’s getting a new anime series this fall. The official site has launched, and as one would expect, the character designs have changed. The basic designs haven’t radically changed, but as Hachima Kikou reports, understandably, styles and sensibilities are certainly different! See…
By Brian Ashcraft Published May 4, 2021 -
Kotaku EastJapanTokyo Is Getting An Esports Gym
This month, an establishment calling itself “Esports Gym” will open in Tokyo. It claims to be the first in the country. According to the official release (via Sankaku Complex (NSFW)), the Tokyo Metro is one of the founders of the establishment, a business that also claims to differ from other gaming establishments. Here, members pay…
By Brian Ashcraft Published May 4, 2021 -
AnimeDemon Slayer Is First Japanese Movie To Top The US Box Office Since Original Pokémon Movie
The Demon Slayer feature film was a box office juggernaut in Japan, surpassing Hayao Miyazaki’s Spirited Away as the biggest earning feature film in Japan. It’s also doing very, very well in the US. Originally, there was concern about how the movie would do considering its R rating. The movie, however, set a box office…
By Brian Ashcraft Published May 4, 2021 -
CultureXbox 360 Emulation Is Coming Along Nicely
It was only a few months ago that we were taking a look at the positive steps Xbox emulation has been making on the PC, but boy, Xbox 360 emulation is also looking very good in 2021. As this excellent walkthrough video by Modern Vintage Gamer explains, some recent breakthroughs for the Xenia emulator have…
By Luke Plunkett Published May 3, 2021 -
CultureCosplayRussian Footballer Wins League, Gets Medal Dressed As Deadpool
When FC Zenit won the Russian title yesterday, players went up on stage after the game and got their winner’s medals dressed in celebratory shirts. Everyone except for star striker Artem Dzyuba, that is, who decided to get up there in…a full Deadpool costume instead. Dzyuba, who is also captain of the Russian national side,…
By Luke Plunkett Published May 3, 2021 -
CultureTim Sweeney, Video Game Billionaire, Was Asked In Court If He Could Point Out A PlayStation 5
You know how in courtroom dramas an attorney will ask someone if they can point out a vital piece of evidence, and they slowly raise a finger before saying, “This one…it was exhibit B”? In a Very Funny Thing that happened earlier today, Epic boss Tim Sweeney was asked to do just that, only for…
By Luke Plunkett Published May 3, 2021 -
CultureHere’s What Epic Paid To Give Away All Those ‘Free’ Games
So long as capitalism remains the law of the land, nothing in this world is free—not even “free” video games. But, by giving them away, Epic managed to lure new users to its fledgling store for next to nothing, so there’s a lot to be said for the appearance of free stuff. As part of…
By Nathan Grayson Published May 3, 2021 -
CultureKotaku Game DiaryHow Did I End Up In An Elder Scrolls Online Parkour Contest
When I booted up The Elder Scrolls Online last week I didn’t expect to take part in a player-created large-scale parkour contest, but life can be weird that way. So that’s how I ended up running and jumping around like a mad-orc in the shopping market of Vivec City in The Elder Scrolls Online. You…
By Zack Zwiezen Published May 3, 2021 -
CultureFortnite Made Over $9 Billion Between 2018 And 2019
Today, the trial between Epic and Apple finally began after nearly nine months of legal filings and pre-trial hearings. During the court proceedings, new documents surfaced providing more data on how these companies operate. For example, we now know that Fortnite made $9,165,000,000 in two years. That huge number comes from a financial board presentation…
By Zack Zwiezen Published May 3, 2021 -
CultureIt’s Very Important To Nintendo That Publishers Don’t Work For The Yakuza
After being delayed by technical issues that resulted in a conference call full of screaming Fortnite children, the long-awaited Epic vs Apple court trial is finally underway this week. As part of the proceedings, Nintendo provided documents that include a publisher contract—though honestly, “include” might be a stretch. Nintendo submitted 25 pages of nearly-nothing, blacking…
By Nathan Grayson Published May 3, 2021 -
CultureOdds and EndsUnlucky Returnal Player Goes For Loot, Dies Immediately
No matter how badly you get screwed by Returnal’s luck-of-the-draw roguelike gameplay, you’re not nearly as down on your luck as a player who desperately tried to get some loot, only to meet a grisly fate. Player Nalotaib shared their misfortune on Reddit, which started when they opened a malignant chest in Returnal’s second area.…
By Ari Notis Published May 3, 2021
