Iran’s Growing Nintendo Scene Pins Hopes On Smash Ultimate
In the early hours of March 9th, 2018, Amir Badvipour, a university student and admin of the fan-run group Nintendo…
What It’s Like To Be An Iranian Game Developer In Trump’s America
Navid Khonsari has been a legal resident of the United States for 17 years. He’s worked on games like Grand Theft Auto:…
Iran Becomes First Country To Ban Pokémon Go
Iran’s Supreme Council of Virtual Spaces, which is a real thing and not the dystopian government from a sci-fi TV show,…
Former US marine and game developer Amir Hekmati is suing the state of Iran, alleging that he was tortured during his…
Amir Hekmati, U.S. born one-time game developer jailed in Iran since 2011 for allegedly engaging in espionage for the…
When You Have to Hide Your Identity to Make a Video Game
Usually, it's the characters in the video games themselves that have the code names. Agent 47. Solid Snake. The…
Some of the World's Scariest Military Troops
Last month, Kotaku published images of Taiwanese special forces. They were totally frightening. But Taiwan doesn't have…
Female League of Legends Characters Banned at an Iranian Tournament
League of Legends' female characters wear revealing outfits—too revealing for Iranian hardliners. And thus, too…
The United States Government Kindly Asks Iran To Free Imprisoned American Game Developer Already
The United States government commemorated the one-year anniversary of Iran's imprisonment of…
They Couldn't Kill Salman Rushdie in Real Life, So They're Making a Video Game
On February 14, 1989, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini issued a fatwā against Salman Rushdie, calling for the assassination…
This Man’s Making a Game About His Native Iran. So, Of Course, They Branded Him a Spy.
What does it take to be accused of espionage? For Navid Khonsari, all he had to do was start making a game about his…
America Scared of Iran's Video Games, Says Iran
Iran's mastery of the Unity engine may not have gotten the attention of the United Nations Security Council, but games…
When Grand Theft Auto Let Iranian Teenagers Do Things They Could Only Dream Of
It's a proud part of American mythology that people from all over the world get to come here and pursue their dreams.…
Iran Overturns Game Developer's Death Sentence
There is new hope for the survival of an American sentenced to death in Iran for spying today, as Iran has overturned…
War is Not a Video Game to President Barack Obama
Defending his preference for peace in an in-depth interview with The Atlantic's Jeffrey Goldberg, President Obama…
Game Developer Sentenced to Death in Iran Asks Obama for Intervention
Amir Hekmati, the U.S.-born game developer sentenced to death in Iran for allegedly engaging in espionage for the CIA,…
Alleged Iranian Spy 'Confesses' that U.S. Video Game Company is CIA Propaganda Tool
When Iranian state TV aired the alleged confession of a homegrown spy on Sunday night, Amir Mirza Hekmati's recitation…
Iran Wants to Make a Game About Attacking Israel
There are sections of EA's blockbuster Battlefield 3 in which the player controls an American soldier fighting on the…
Iran, of all Places, Double-Bans Battlefield 3
To be clear, the legal sale of Battlefield 3 in Iran has never exactly been widespread. But as is the way of the world,…