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CultureXbox Game Pass For PC Finally Gets EA Play Tomorrow
Planned for release late last year but delayed until now, EA Play comes to Xbox Game Pass for PC tomorrow at no additional cost to subscribers, complete with the newly-added Star Wars: Squadrons. The cycle that started with an announcement last September is finally complete. Starting tomorrow, EA Play for PC becomes part of Xbox…
By Mike Fahey Published March 17, 2021 -
OpinionImpressionsThe New Mortal Kombat Movie Starts Off Strong
The new Mortal Kombat film, the first theatrical release based on the fighting games since 1997’s Mortal Kombat Annihilation, opens with a scene that should be quite familiar to fans. Hanzo Hasashi, the man fated to become the vengeful Scorpion, enjoys a quiet moment with his family in their ancestral home. It’s a quiet moment…
By Mike Fahey Published March 17, 2021 -
CultureDoom Eternal‘s Next DLC Comes Out Tomorrow
Hell yeah! Doom Eternal’s next and final expansion, The Ancient Gods – Part 2, will come out tomorrow, developer iD Software announced today. The expansion, which picks up after last fall’s first chapter—The Ancient Gods – Part 1—appears inspired far more by typical fantasy than by the science-fiction that characterizes the main game. Many of…
By Ari Notis Published March 17, 2021 -
CulturePlayers Aren’t Happy About Assassin’s Creed Valhalla‘s Transmog Tax
A couple months after release, Assassin’s Creed Valhalla finally has transmog, but not as some players had originally envisioned it. The feature falls short of how it’s been implemented in past games, and comes with a 50 silver tax on each transaction to boot, leaving a lot of us, myself included, scratching out heads. Transmog,…
By Ethan Gach Published March 17, 2021 -
CultureEA Trying New Technology To Fight FIFA 21‘s Racism Problem
While EA has issued over 25,000 warnings and suspensions, and banned over 9,000 accounts for “inappropriate or offensive content” since the launch of FIFA 21 last year, it may shock you to learn that the game still has a problem with racist white folks using certain systems and game modes to act like assholes. As…
By Luke Plunkett Published March 16, 2021 -
CultureRockstar Pays Modder $10,000 For Fixing GTA Load Times
Remember how yesterday we told you about the modder who found a way to greatly improve GTA Online load times on the PC? That fix, identified and approved by Rockstar, has already gone live, and the modder responsible has been paid for their work. GTAV Title Update 1.53 is out now, and on PC it…
By Luke Plunkett Published March 16, 2021 -
CultureActivision Blizzard Esports Announces Layoffs [Update]
Activision Blizzard Esports will lay off around 50 employees, according to a report released today by Sports Business Journal. UPDATE: Reports suggest the total figure of laid-off employees is actually closer to 190. The layoffs come as a cost-saving and restructuring measure, according to the company. While the company emphasized the pandemic as a cause…
By Ash Parrish Published March 16, 2021 -
Culture2K Signs Tiger Woods, Buys The Studio Behind PGA Tour 2K21
From 1998 through 2013 golf superstar Tiger Woods was the face of EA’s PGA Tour series of video games. Now Woods is back in the video game business, only this time he’s signed an exclusive long-term contract with 2K as the face, executive director, and consultant on the PGA Tour 2K series. Along with the…
By Mike Fahey Published March 16, 2021 -
CultureFortnite‘s Season 6 Is Wilderness Themed
Fortnite’s Season 6 is here, following a solo event rather than a multiplayer one. Called “Primal,” it features a forest area, weapons crafting, and wildlife. While most Fortnite seasons start with multiplayer events, Season 6’s event was a solo one, playable the first time players boot up the game. Without spoiling too much for those…
By Riley MacLeod Published March 16, 2021 -
CultureOdds and EndsSo Help Me, I Like The Fortnite Joy-Cons
Let’s get this out of the way: I don’t like Fortnite. But I am seriously considering these new Fortnite Joy-Cons, because good Lord, those colours are wonderful. Thats a lovely, rich shade of blue there on the left, but on the right, have mercy. Not even that stupid banana face can ruin it. Yellow—and I…
By Luke Plunkett Published March 15, 2021 -
CultureFan Fixes GTA Online Load Times, Rockstar Makes It Official
Earlier this month, GTA Online player t0st found a way to cut down the game’s load times by 70%. It must have been a clean, effective fix, because Rockstar themselves have taken a look, agreed with it, and will soon make it part of an official update. As PC Gamer report, Rockstar investigated t0st’s work,…
By Luke Plunkett Published March 15, 2021 -
CultureFortnite Team Banned From Major Tournament After Player Tells Epic Exec To Kill Himself
I don’t know much about Fortnite, but I’m going to guess harassing an Epic executive probably isn’t a winning strategy. A Fortnite competitor named Wrigley tested this controversial technique on Saturday night, tagging Epic chief creative officer Donald Mustard in a tweet that read “literally fucking k!ll your$elf” for some undisclosed reason. Several letters were…
By Ian Walker Published March 15, 2021 -
CultureUndertale Makes Its Xbox Debut Via Game Pass Tomorrow
Undertale, the quirky 2015 role-playing game from indie dev Toby Fox, finally heads to Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S tomorrow, and it will be free for everyone with an active Game Pass subscription on console. After debuting on PC several years ago, Undertale was ported to several additional platforms, including PlayStation 4, PlayStation Vita,…
By Ian Walker Published March 15, 2021 -
CultureOdds and EndsWarren Spector Thinks Deus Ex Is Too Real For 2021
The Game Developers Conference kicked off today as a week of virtual talks. In a live chat alongside a rebroadcast of his 2017 GDC talk, Deus Ex designer Warren Spector talked about why he wouldn’t make the game today. “I’m constantly amazed at how accurate our view of the world ended up being. Frankly it…
By Riley MacLeod Published March 15, 2021 -
CultureAssassin’s Creed Valhalla Gets Transmog And More Cats In Next Big Update
Assassin’s Creed Valhalla’s 1.2 update arrives tomorrow and adds transmog so that players can finally wear whatever they want without hurting their stats while murdering the English countryside. Transmog, or what Ubisoft is calling “Change Appearance,” will let you customize the look of each piece of your gear at the Blacksmith Gunnar for a nominal…
By Ethan Gach Published March 15, 2021 -
CultureDestiny 2‘s Trials Of Osiris Still Offline Following Match Fixing Scandal
It’s been a rough year for Destiny 2‘s high stakes competitive mode. Trials of Osiris has been plagued by cheating, glitch exploits, and lopsided matchmaking. Now it’s a hotbed of match fixing, as players try to game the system to get its coveted rewards without actually putting in the work, and Bungie’s decided to take…
By Ethan Gach Published March 15, 2021 -
CultureOutriders Is Officially Coming To Xbox Game Pass
It’s official: Outriders, the hotly anticipated looter-shooter from People Can Fly, is coming to Xbox Game Pass, Microsoft confirmed in a blog post today. It’ll be available starting April 1. Last week, the ever-so-cheeky Xbox Game Pass Twitter account posted another “leaked” email from “Melissa McGamepass,” hinting at the news. On Friday, a bunch of…
By Ari Notis Published March 15, 2021 -
OpinionImpressionsStubbs The Zombie Remaster Retains That Classic Jank
Zombies have been a big part of video games for a long time now. Mostly we kill them in droves. But back in 2005, Stubbs The Zombie shook things up and let you take on the role of a zombie devouring people in a futuristic city. That game is back on modern consoles via a…
By Zack Zwiezen Published March 15, 2021 -
CultureThe Week In Games: Eat Some Brains All Over Again
The loveable (and a bit decayed) Stubbs the zombie returns in… Stubs The Zombie, a remastered port of the cult classic game releasing later this week on Xbox One, PS4, Switch, and PC. I was a big fan of the original game back in the day. This new remaster seems cool, but what I really…
By Zack Zwiezen Published March 15, 2021 -
CultureMorning MusicNine Inch Nails’ Ambient, Droning Quake Soundtrack Massages My Brain
Welcome to Morning Music, Kotaku’s ongoing hangout for folks who love video games and the cool-ass sounds they make. Today, lull yourself into productivity with the sound of nightmares. (Hmm, Ima keep workshopping that.) Angsty Nine Inch Nails fan though I was back in 1996, and curious to hear how Trent Reznor and co had…
By Alexandra Hall Published March 15, 2021