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CultureCall of Duty’s Zombie Easter Eggs Were Too Hard, So Cold War Season 2 Is Simplifying Things
Secrets have long been a part of the Call of Duty Zombies formula. But while players have loved hunting for Easter eggs to reveal new bits of lore, according to Black Ops Cold War developer Treyarch, very few players find these secrets in-game. So for its latest take on zombies, Treyarch has decided to make…
By Zack Zwiezen Published March 8, 2021 -
CultureRegulators Approve Microsoft’s $7.5 Billion Acquisition Of Bethesda Parent Company Zenimax Media
Microsoft’s $7.5 billion purchase of Zenimax Media, parent company of Fallout, The Elder Scrolls, and Doom maker Bethesda, has cleared another set of hurdles, winning approval to proceed from both the European Commission and US Securities and Exchange Commissions “The Commission concluded that the proposed acquisition would raise no competition concerns, given the combined entity’s limited…
By Ethan Gach Published March 8, 2021 -
CultureMorning MusicI Found Some Rad Tracks At This Virtual Japanese Music Festival
Welcome to Morning Music, Kotaku’s ongoing hangout for folks who love video games and the cool-ass sounds they make. Instead of highlighting a single soundtrack today, I wanna tell you about my visit to a virtual music festival this weekend, where I found lots of intriguing new tunes So that was cool. It started when…
By Alexandra Hall Published March 8, 2021 -
CultureOdds and EndsAssassin’s Creed Syndicate Has The Best Ending Of The Series
When I think of Assassin’s Creed games, I often remember big cities, cool assassinations, climbing tall towers, and maybe some sea shanties. Rarely do I remember how these games end because they often have forgettable or boring endings, sometimes with bad boss fights. So Assassin’s Creed Syndicate stands out as an exception with its fantastic…
By Zack Zwiezen Published March 7, 2021 -
CultureOver 5,000 Final Fantasy XIV Players Were Banned For Using Or Advertising Real Money Trading
Square Enix announced earlier this week that over 5,000 Final Fantasy XIV players were banned after they were caught using or advertising real money in-game. As spotted by PCGamesN, on March 4 FFXIV publisher Square Enix revealed via a news post on the FFXIV website that 5851 players had been banned for their involvement with…
By Zack Zwiezen Published March 7, 2021 -
CultureWatch Dogs: Legion’s Multiplayer On PC Has Been Delayed Indefinitely Because Of Bugs
Yesterday, Ubisoft announced that Watch Dogs Legion’s online mode on PC has been delayed indefinitely due to serious bugs that need to be fixed. And some parts of multiplayer on the console will also be delayed due to, you guessed it, more bugs. Announced on Twitter yesterday, the PC version of Legion’s online mode has…
By Zack Zwiezen Published March 6, 2021 -
CultureThe Division 2 Will Get A New Mode Later This Year, But Not Much Else
Good news for Division 2 players: Ubisoft and Massive have laid out plans for the future of the game, including a brand new mode later this year. Bad news: Don’t expect anything new for a while. In a blog post titled “The Road Ahead,” the developers behind the online looter-shooter, Massive Entertainment, explained that The…
By Zack Zwiezen Published March 6, 2021 -
CultureMinecraft Dungeons Is Getting Turned Into An Arcade Game
Mojang announced yesterday that Minecraft Dungeons Arcade cabinets are on their way to arcades in North America for limited testing, with more cabinets coming later this year. Released last year on Xbox One and PC, Minecraft Dungeons is a Diablo-like dungeon crawler set in the blocky world of Minecraft. Up to four players can jump…
By Zack Zwiezen Published March 6, 2021 -
CultureOdds and EndsMorrowind Mod Lets You Buy Argonian McNuggets
McDonald’s is a massive fast-food empire with 38,695 locations spanning 122 countries. It’s become so ubiquitous in the real world that I’m sure the corporation would investigate franchising opportunities in fictional worlds if it could, even the famously chaotic realm of Tamriel. A recent The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind mod imagines such a scenario, placing…
By Ian Walker Published March 5, 2021 -
CultureOf Course Ikumi Nakamura’s Rainbow Six Siege Skins Are Dope
I don’t play Rainbow Six Siege, but Ubisoft’s recent collaboration with Ikumi Nakamura might change my mind. Nakamura, the creative director who won the gaming world’s heart with her energetic GhostWire: Tokyo presentation at E3 2019, has been bouncing around the industry as a freelancer since leaving ZeniMax Media subsidiary Tango Gameworks later that year.…
By Ian Walker Published March 5, 2021 -
Tips & GuidesYou Can Claim PlayStation Plus’ Monthly PS5 Games Before You Get A PS5
PS Plus continues to offer “free” games to subscribers, and, in recent months, has even started offering PlayStation 5 games. If you don’t have a still-impossible-to-find PS5, you’re not quite S.O.L.. You just have to claim those games through a web browser. For $10 a month (or $60 a year), PS Plus allows members to…
By Ari Notis Published March 5, 2021 -
CulturePlayers Are Farming The Heck Out Of The Outriders Demo, So The Devs Are Nerfing It
The new loot shooter Outriders hasn’t even launched yet and players are already hard at work grinding for some of its rarest gear in the game’s recent demo. According to the developers, it’s gotten so out of hand that they need to patch it to make legendary guns harder to farm, before players end up…
By Ethan Gach Published March 5, 2021 -
CultureDiablo II: Resurrected Will Work With Your Decades-Old Saves
Have a special Necromancer you’ve been farming Diablo II with for years? There’s good news: Diablo II Resurrected will let you import them to continue commanding armies of the dead over 20 years later. Out later this year on consoles and PC, the new remaster will still work with players’ original save files, Blizzard confirmed…
By Ethan Gach Published March 5, 2021 -
OpinionPerhaps I Treated You Too Harshly, Deus Ex: Mankind Divided
Deus Ex: Human Revolution was one of my favourite games of the past decade, a combination of stealth, adventuring and some incredible art design. Yet when its sequel Deus Ex: Mankind Divided hit five years later, I only spent a few hours with it before writing it off and getting on with my life. And…
By Luke Plunkett Published March 4, 2021 -
CultureIt’s Time For Crusader Kings In Space
If you’ve been wondering why there haven’t been more clones of Crusader Kings, it’s because the systems that define Paradox’s game are really hard to copy! Pawley Games are going to give it a shot, though, and they’re going to do it in space. This is Star Dynasties, an upcoming strategy game that initially looks…
By Luke Plunkett Published March 4, 2021 -
CultureValve’s Card Game Is Officially Dead
Artifact has now failed twice. After a messy launch and a failed attempt to reboot it last year, Valve announced today it’s calling it quits on the beleaguered Dota 2 card game. “It’s now been about a year and a half since the current Artifact team began work on a reboot in earnest,” the game’s…
By Ethan Gach Published March 4, 2021 -
CultureThe Avengers Grind Is About To Become More Of A Grind
On March 18, Marvel’s Avengers will receive some much-needed new content when Hawkeye joins the roster. But that’s not all. In that same update, the game’s XP system will receive a major overhaul, developer Crystal Dynamics announced today. As things currently stand, the leveling system in Avengers is structured so each character levels up in…
By Ari Notis Published March 4, 2021 -
CultureKotaku Game DiaryThese Final Fantasy XIV Characters Ain’t Sh*t
Last night, I finished the true ending of A Realm Reborn and made it, at long last, to Heavensward. This means yes, I saw the event that was basically FF14’s equivalent of the Red Wedding (refresh your memory here), Instead of discussing my feelings regarding what the absolute flying fuck I just witnessed, I—like Cersei—choose…
By Ash Parrish Published March 4, 2021 -
CultureInspiring: This Valheim Player Built A Greyling Torture Factory
If you’ve played even just several seconds of Valheim, you despise Greylings. They’re awful little tree stump goblins who smack you once, then run away with an infuriating spring in their step, like they’ve stolen candy from your pockets. In the game’s early goings, they’re everywhere. One brave player has dedicated a significant amount of…
By Nathan Grayson Published March 3, 2021 -
CulturePSA: The Witcher 3 Is Leaving Game Pass
The cycle of Game Pass continues unabated. The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt will depart Microsoft’s games-on-demand service on March 15. This is usually the point where I’d say something trite like, “If you haven’t played this tremendous open-world masterpiece, which many consider one of the best games of all time, be sure to check it…
By Ari Notis Published March 3, 2021