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EsportsHow Pro Gamers Live Now: Curfews, Personal Chefs, And All Of It On Camera
Every day is Christmas at the Philadelphia Fusion esports mansion. The team’s marketing and content director Hung Tran gestured to the towering decorated pine tree to the right of the front door by way of explaining the joke: the pro gamers who live here get whatever they want and do whatever they want. But Christmas…
By Maddy Myers Published June 21, 2018 -
Esports
Top Overwatch Players Fall For The Oldest Trick In The Book
It didn’t make any sense. “What are they doing, dude?” asked Houston Outlaws tank Austin “Muma” Wilmot as the other team, made up of top-ranked players including LA Gladiators tank Chan-hyung “Fissure” Baek, repeatedly crashed against the holo-shield walls of a relatively lackadaisical defense. Then it hit him: Where’d the payload go? Fellow Houston Outlaws…
By Nathan Grayson Published June 19, 2018 -
CultureCosplay
Doom Cosplay Is The Real Deal
Yes, that’s cosplay. This is Aussie cosplayerScrap Shop Props with a 1:1 Doom Space Marine, which just won best in show at the Supanova expo in Sydney. If that’s not enough, he’s also responsible for one of the biggest and best Reinhardts I’ve ever seen, that comes complete with a jet engine effect at the…
By Luke Plunkett Published June 18, 2018 -
Esports
Overwatch League Team Completes Glorious 0-40 Season, Is Possibly Shittiest Pro Sports Team In World History
The first 12 team slots in the Overwatch League cost, reportedly, $20 million each. This was mostly because at least a dozen rich people were willing to give that much money to Blizzard, but was also at least in part to avoid situations like the ongoing disgrace that is the Miami Marlins, where a cash-poor…
By Dennis Young Published June 17, 2018 -
CultureSymmetra Turret Launched From Space
Today on Highlight Reel we have Reworked Symmetra strategies, Vampyr glitches, bike flips, and much more Watch the video then talk about your favorite highlight in the comments below. Be sure to check out, like, and share the original videos via the links below. Subscribe to Kotaku on YouTube for more! Catch up on all…
By Chris Person Published June 7, 2018 -
EsportsIt’s Hard To Look Away From The Overwatch League’s 0-37 Team
After last night, the Shanghai Dragons are 0-37 in the Overwatch League. That’s longer than any losing streak in the history of the big four North American pro sports—worse than the 1976-77 Bucs and Process Sixers losing 26 and 28 games over two seasons. Worse than the Louisville Colonels losing 26 straight in 1889. They…
By Cecilia D'Anastasio Published June 7, 2018 -
Overwatch Fans Are Swooning Over Symmetra’s New Voice Lines
Symmetra’s rework has been blowing Overwatch players’ minds. For some fans, their favorite part are her new voice lines. Today, numerous changes to Symmetra went live on PTR, including her new ultimate. This attack will create an enormous shield that cuts across the map, lasts for 15 seconds, and has 5,000 HP. It’s totally wild.…
By Gita Jackson Published June 6, 2018 -
EsportsZoning In Overwatch Can Actually Work
Who among us has not insisted that we were “zoning” after spending an ultimate attack in Overwatch that didn’t hit anyone on the other team? Of course it was your intention all along to scatter the other team away from the area—actually killing them is for meatheads. We’re refined gamers, just like DPS/flex player Hae-seong…
By Maddy Myers Published June 6, 2018 -
Here’s What Symmetra’s Rework Looks Like Right Now In Overwatch
The much-anticipated rework for Overwatch’s Symmetra is on the game’s test server, and it’s already clear that Overwatch will look pretty different when it’s released in full. As one of the most exhaustive hero reworks yet, Symmetra’s new toolkit is significantly more tactical. And, finally, developer Blizzard reclassified Symmetra as a defense hero, not a…
By Cecilia D'Anastasio Published June 6, 2018 -
Overwatch Is Getting A Looking For Group Tool
For pretty much the entirety of Overwatch’s two-year existence, players have been clamoring for a role queue or some other way to simplify character selection. Now Blizzard’s taking a stab at doing something about it. Game director Jeff Kaplan, Our Hallowed Gamefather, announced a series of new social features that’ll be released as part of…
By Nathan Grayson Published June 5, 2018 -
EsportsDeaf Overwatch League Fan Comes Up With Custom Signs For Heroes
In Overwatch, sound is key. Aural cues tell you when enemies and allies are using their ultimates, and (good) teams regularly coordinate over voice chat. For deaf fans, those are some pretty big hurdles to get over whether they’re playing or watching. 14-year-old Danik Soudakoff is a deaf Overwatch League fan who was recently spotlighted…
By Nathan Grayson Published June 5, 2018 -
Esports
How The New York Excelsior Took Over The Overwatch League
The New York Excelsior is the best Overwatch team in the world. Despite an always-shifting metagame and one of its best players sitting out nearly a third of the season so far, they’ve won two Overwatch League stages and made the playoffs for the third. They rarely drop games and have swept every team in…
By Eric Van Allen Published June 5, 2018 -
Culture
A Cool Set Of New Overwatch Character Designs
Korean artist Kirim Son has done what loads of fans have already done, and designed some new Overwatch characters. What’s different about Son’s though is that all three have been specifically designed to represent Overwatch heroes whose powers are drawn from various mobility issues. Jalkikuva Laine (below), for example, became deaf as a child, but…
By Luke Plunkett Published June 4, 2018 -
What I Learned From A Year’s Worth Of Overwatch Coaching
One year ago, I dropped from Platinum rank to Gold in Overwatch’s competitive mode. Even though it was just a number, it felt like a huge defeat. Since then, over the last year, I’ve been working with a coach to improve my game. I thought I was just chasing after my old rank, but I…
By Heather Alexandra Published June 4, 2018 -
What Overwatch’s Maps Look Like From The Outside
You normally only get to enjoy Overwatch maps from the ground level, so this clip that jumps outside their boundaries is a really cool new way to see what they’re made of. The video is by Noobinabox, and was made simply to “show just how beautiful this game is”. Only the first half of the…
By Luke Plunkett Published June 3, 2018 -
Fallout 76 Gives Overwatch Fans Crossover Fever
When Fallout 76 was announced yesterday, half the world immediately thought “Heck yeah, new Fallout.” But the other half—a more insidious and frankly intolerable one that includes noted individuals such as me—started cracking jokes about Soldier 76 from Overwatch. Then came the fan art. Evidently, a whole lot of people want to see Soldier 76…
By Nathan Grayson Published May 31, 2018 -
A Little Sombra Figure For Overwatch Fans
This Nendoroid Sombra is out early next year. She includes two different faces, a skull mark (to stick on other figures), translocator, effects, a gun and some interchangeable hands, including one with a “boop” finger. Sombra will cost around $40, which is in line with the other Overwatch Nendoroids.
By Luke Plunkett Published May 30, 2018 -
Esports
Dallas Fuel Is Playing Its Best Overwatch Yet, Despite No Hope For Playoffs
The Dallas Fuel cannot, mathematically, make the playoffs of the Overwatch League’s inaugural season. After three stages of disappointing placements, it just isn’t in the cards. Despite that, a new coach and a newfound team confidence are putting them over top competitors. The Fuel can’t make the playoffs, but they’re kicking ass anyways. We’re two…
By Eric Van Allen Published May 27, 2018 -
A Year And A Half Later, Overwatch Devs Still Don’t Know When They’ll Fix Play Of The Game
Overwatch loves to give players cookies for explosive plays. After every game, all players are treated to a recap of the “Play of the Game,” a video replay that usually only focuses on whatever killed the most people. It’s a feature that has been desperately in need of a revamp since Overwatch’s release two years…
By Cecilia D'Anastasio Published May 24, 2018