Activision

Black Panther Coming To Avengers, Gotham Knights Delayed, Outriders Launching On Game Pass And More

This week on Morning Checkpoint we celebrate the death of Fortnite’s Peely, learn more about upcoming Square Enix games, see who’s the next big hero coming to Avengers, eat a baby(?) and get a look at the next generation of PSVR controllers. Great Kotaku Content From The Past Week I hope this grows into a…

NFTs? No Fucking Thank You

Video games are expensive. They have been expensive for a very long time, and they keep getting more expensive. To an extent, it makes sense: Game developers need to eat! But after a certain point, it gets excessive. Loot boxes, gacha, and now NFTs are signs of that excess. On this week’s Splitscreen, we talk…

Report: More Layoffs Loom As Activision Blizzard Moves To Close European Publishing Offices

Activision Blizzard is planning to close its publishing offices in Europe and lay off even more employees in the process, according to a new report byGamesIndustry.biz In a statement provided to GamesIndustry.biz, an Activision Blizzard rep explained that the move comes as a result of players “increasingly choosing to connect with our games digitally.” “We…

Activision Yanks Crossbow It Accidently Released Early Even After Players Spent Time Grinding For It [Update]

What Call of Duty giveth, Call of Duty taketh away. Yesterday, a fancy new crossbow went live in Call of Duty: Warzone and Black Ops Cold War by accident, and now players who spent hours trying to unlock it are frustrated that Activision has taken it back out of the game. As Eurogamer reports, players…

Activision Blizzard CEO To Get Even Bigger Bonuses While Others Get Laid Off

Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick routinely gets millions in stock bonuses every year based on how the company is doing. Now he’s set to get even more, for a total payout of nearly $200 million according to CtW Investment Group, a union pension fund advocacy organization. And it’s all thanks to a clause in his…

Pokemon Go‘s Eggs Aren’t Lootboxes, They’re Fun Presents

Pokémon Go developer Niantic is testing a feature that lets players see what might be inside the game’s eggs before they walk the many miles to hatch them. It appears this is a response to the argument that the game’s eggs are akin to lootboxes. There is an awful lot that could be better about…

Call Of Duty: Black Ops Cold War’s Menus Suck

Booting up the newest Call of Duty, I was greeted by terrible-looking menus, an overwhelming amount of options, too much information, and some ugly-looking ads. It’s not a great first impression and feels like a cobbled-together mess. In other words: It bad. There was a time when I played every new Call of Duty game.…

New Pokemon Games, New Final Fantasy VII Spin-Offs, Anthem Is Done, Call Of Duty Is Way Too Big, And More

This week on Morning Checkpoint we learn about the next terrible thing involving Cyberpunk 2077, learn the future of Anthem, check out a new trailer for more Hot Wheels in Forza, talk about some good dads and watch Destiny 2 players jump off a cliff over and over. Great Kotaku Content From The Past Week…

Destiny 2‘s Next Big Expansion The Witch Queen Delayed To 2022

Destiny 2 has gotten a big expansion every year since it released, but 2021 will be different. Bungie announced today that The Witch Queen, originally planned to launch in the second half of this year, will be delayed until 2022 due to its size and ongoing issues around working from home during the covid-19 pandemic.…

Call Of Duty Is Getting Too Big For Your Base PS4, Activision Warns

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare/Warzone and Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War are now so big, Activision is telling base PS4 owners they may no longer be able to fit both full games on their console’s hard drive. Call of Duty: Warzone’s season two update is live, and it’s another hulking 17GB on PS4…

Activision Accused Of Stealing Call Of Duty Character

The creator of a character called “Cade Janus”, developed as part of a film pitch, is taking Activision, Infinity Ward and Major League Gaming to court, accusing them of going behind his back and stealing the character for use in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare As Torrentfreak reports, Clayton Haugen claims that he created the…

Call Of Duty: Warzone Bans Over 60,000 Accounts For Cheating

Activision banned over 60,000 accounts in Call of Duty: Warzone yesterday. In a statement, the publisher cited use of cheat software in the battle royale. The bans follow several months of community frustration about aimbot and wallhack cheats that players blatantly use in both casual matches and major Warzone tournaments. “Today we banned 60,000 accounts…

Report: Activision Blizzard Calls Policy To Make Hiring More Diverse ‘Unworkable’

Earlier this month, Activision Blizzard was asked to institute some version of the Rooney Rule, a policy requiring employers to interview diverse candidates when hiring, according to a new report by Motherboard. Lawyers for the massive publisher behind Call of Duty and World of Warcraft responded that such a policy would be “an unworkable encroachment…

Report: Vicarious Visions Is Working On A Diablo II Remake

Earlier today, Activision announced Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1+2 developer Vicarious Visions had been absorbed by Blizzard to provide support on future projects. A few hours later, we now know that one of those projects is a Diablo II remake. According to Bloomberg, Vicarious Visions has been supporting Blizzard’s Team 3—which is also responsible for the upcoming…

Activision Merges Tony Hawk 1 + 2 Developer Into Blizzard

It seems like only yesterday that Vicarious Visions released one of the year’s best games in Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 + 2—a remake that went the extra mile and then some. As of today, however, the studio is done taking the lead on projects. Activision just announced that it’s been folded into Blizzard. According…

A New Invisibility Glitch Is Wreaking Havoc In Call Of Duty: Warzone [Update]

Call of Duty: Warzone players are getting merc’d by invisible foes thanks to the game’s latest helicopter glitch, and they aren’t happy about. Warzone’s latest season went live earlier this week adding a new map, Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War weapons, and attack helicopters that players can exploit to turn invisible. The new…

Call Of Duty: Warzone Players Are Hunting Glitchers Who Spawn Unlimited Juggernauts

The massive armored suit upgrades known as juggernauts are proliferating in Call of Duty: Warzone thanks to a new glitch, leading some skilled players to go out of their way to hunt down opponents who are using them. The glitch to spawn duplicate juggernauts is straightforward to attempt but can be difficult to pull off.…

Activision Blizzard Suing Netflix Over Poached Exec

For those of you who love corporate beef, here’s a whopper: Activision Blizzard is suing Netflix. As reported by Deadline, Netflix poached a top Activision exec, chief financial officer Spencer Neumann, before his contract expired. In response, Activision filed suit in the Superior Court of California earlier today. According to Activision’s lawyers, Neumann started working…

Black Ops Cold War’s Season One content and Warzone integration has been delayed until December 16, Activision announced in a blog post. The upcoming free content will provide new maps and modes, including the fan favorite “Raid” map from Black Ops 2, but fans will have to wait a week longer than expected.

World Of Warcraft Shadowlands’ Alt-Leveling System Is A Refreshing Change

Unlike World of Warcraft’s Legion and Battle For Azeroth expansions, which gave players a choice on which zones to level up their characters, Shadowlands’ story campaign is very linear. Fortunately you only have to play through it once. With the new Threads of Fate mode, players who’ve reached max level can skip the story with…