Culture

Street Fighter‘s Queer Stereotypes Kept Me In The Closet

Last year during Pride month, I wrote about my own queer reading of the Street Fighter V tutorial, which features Ken and Ryu fighting and, in my opinion, flirting. In the year since then, I’ve been thinking about the character Juri in Street Fighter, who is the closest the games get to having a canonical…

Track: You Can’t Always Get What You Want (Rock and Roll Circus) | Artist: The Rolling Stones | Album: The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus Kotaku Soundtrack is a selection of the stuff we’re listening to at the moment. 

TETSUOOOOOOOO

Danar Worya is a concept artist currently working on The Last Of Us 2 We’ve actually featured some of his work before, but that was a long time ago, so it’s time for a refresh! You can see more of Danar’s stuff at his ArtStation page and Instagram

Valve Changes Steam Sale After Widespread Complaints From Developers And Players

After a period of stagnation, Valve has gone back to its well of Steam sale meta games—something users have enjoyed in the past, even though they’re ultimately just a means of incentivizing people to spend more money. This time, though, Valve may have taken things too far with a game that’s caused widespread confusion. After…

How To Get Into Outer Wilds

Outer Wilds may be the best game we’ve played this year, but it can be tough to get into—allow us to offer some tips on this week’s Kotaku Splitscreen We start off the episode with some ranting and raving about Outer Wilds before talking Harry Potter: Wizards Unite, the Xbox Elite controller, and Bloodstained. Then…

Ask Dr. NerdLove: Should I Tell My Girlfriend She Didn’t Actually Take My Virginity?

Hello you radioactive orgasm otters, and welcome to Ask Dr. NerdLove, the only dating advice column that survived Second Impact. This week, we’re here to address the relationship problems you never expected to encounter. How do you tell your partner that she didn’t actually take your virginity? What about telling her that you actually lost…

Games Are Better With Double Jumps

Last night, after hours exploring Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night, I unlocked the ability to double jump. It was such a simple thing—one jump, another jump—but I suddenly felt a rush of possibility hit me. That’s because of all the video game-y tricks, double jumps might just be the best. Whenever I think of game…

Track: Vilia (Take 3) | Artist: John Coltrane | Album: Both Directions At Once: The Lost Album Kotaku Soundtrack is a selection of the stuff we’re listening to at the moment. 

Star Wars: The Last Youngling

Jordan Lamarre-Wan is an artist at Respawn, where he’s currently working on Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order He’s also worked on games like Metal Gear Online and Epic Mickey. You can see more of Jordan’s stuff at his ArtStation page

Longtime Twitch Streamer Is Thrilled To Be Teamfight Tactics‘ Best Player

Rumay “Hafu” Wang’s record is nothing to sneeze at. She’s won multiple major World of Warcraft tournaments, and she’s dominated Hearthstone’s rankings month after month. Still, she feels as though people don’t hold her accomplishments in the same regard as those of some of her male peers. That’s why she was thrilled to close out…

Twitch Launches Subscriber-Only Streaming Feature

On Twitch, fans can subscribe to their favorite streamers, typically for $4.99 per month. Usually, that comes with minor perks like subscriber-only emotes, subscriber badges, and access to subscriber-only chat, if streamers decide to enable it. But now, streamers are getting a big addition to their arsenals: subscriber-only streams. Previously, no matter how many subscribers…

Some Of The Best Summer Games Done Quick Speedruns So Far

Summer Games Done Quick is in full swing with speedrunners racing to complete games as fast as possible. The charity event always boasts exciting runs, and while there’s still plenty of time left, there are already plenty of highlights to help you get through a lazy Wednesday. One of the joys of Games Done Quick…

Juggling World Of Warcraft And Final Fantasy XIV Isn’t Easy

One minute I’m a gnome warlock, delving deep into the naga-infested ocean of World of Warcraft’s Azeroth. The next I’m a red mage with cat ears and a tail, trying to remember my spell rotation in Final Fantasy XIV before the Shadowbringers expansion comes out. There’s brand-new content in both of my favorite massively multiplayer…

Detroit: Become Human And Horizon Chase Turbo Are July’s PlayStation Plus Games [Updated]

July’s PlayStation Plus games are here, and if you like robots or cars you’ll be pleased. As always, these games are only “free” if you have an active PlayStation Plus membership. (Update July 2, 9:20am—Today, PlayStation replaced original July PS Plus game Pro Evolution Soccer 2019 with Detroit: Become Human Digital Deluxe Edition. We’ve updated…

Track: Manic Monday | Artist: Prince | Album: Originals Kotaku Soundtrack is a selection of the stuff we’re listening to at the moment. 

Akihabara. Tokyo, Japan. By ShuYung Wu JPGs is a photo peek into wherever gamers might find interesting. If you’re a photographer and have images you want to share, drop us a line!

Welcome To Naboo

Sean Marino is a 3D artist who works at Riot. You can see more of Sean’s stuff at his ArtStation page

Track: Raise The Sword | Artist: Beastwars | Album: IV Kotaku Soundtrack is a selection of the stuff we’re listening to at the moment. 

Half-Life Fan Remake’s Final Chapter Is Now Partly Playable

The long-awaited Half-Life fan remake Black Mesa first came out back in 2012. Gee, sure has Xen a while since then, huh? And yet, only now is the saga finally nearing its conclusion. The Black Mesa team decided to take Half-Life’s divisive “Xen” chapters back to the drawing board and flesh out the alien fish…

Sometimes You Just Need A Good Game For When You’re Zombified

After a bunch of travel my brain is pretty much leaking out of my ears. Last night, I needed to play a game that would make me remember how to do critical thinking, but also wasn’t so involved that I would bounce off of it. Enter SteamWorld Quest I’d played a ton of SteamWorld Dig…