Culture

‘Shop Contest: Make Hope County Weirder

Despite an influx of zombies and a trip to Mars, Far Cry 5‘s Hope County hasn’t changed all that much since the game released earlier this year. As we reported earlier this week, not a long is changing, even if it feels like it is. So it’s up to the ‘Shop Crew to fix this…

Why Destiny 2 Embraced Its Most Hardcore Players

Are games like Destiny better when they’re more complicated? Is appealing to the most hardcore players the best way to go? Today on Kotaku Splitscreen, we discuss. First, Kirk and I talk about the brilliant new Spider-Man for PS4, one of my favorite games of the year. We talk about the combat, the web-slinging, the…

Sunday Comics: Amazing Fighting Strategy

Hello! It’s time for Kotaku’s Sunday Comics, your weekly roundup of the best webcomics. The images enlarge if you click on the magnifying glass icon. Awkward Zombie by Katie Tiedrich. Published September 3. Read more of Awkward Zombie Corpse Run by Alex Di Stasi. Published September 6. Read more of Corpse Run Double XP by…

Track: Shadows Of My Name | Artist: Emma Ruth Rundle | Album: Some Heavy Ocean Kotaku Soundtrack is a selection of the stuff we’re listening to at the moment.

‘Shop Contest: Bring Me Pictures Of Spider-Man, Winners!

I asked you to bring me pictures of that dastardly devil Spider-Man, and now I know where he hides when he’s not swinging around New York. He’ll never be safe again! You might think he’s friendly and neighborhood-oriented, but what I have learned over the course of viewing a number of pictures of Spider-Man is…

This Week In The Business: A Streamer’s Life For Me

STAT | $30,000 – What it costs to have a top-tier streamer play your game for an hour on their channel, according to IndieCatapult’s Steve Filby, who was marketing manager on Motion Twin’s Dead Cells. (Motion Twin didn’t pay up, but devised a strategy that resulted in big streamers playing the game for free.) QUOTE…

What Are You Playing This Weekend?

The weekend is for trying to decide if I should get someone to water my plant while I’m away or just water it a lot before I leave and hope for the best. It’s also for playing video games. I’ll be on a train for a while, so I’m pretty excited that so many great…

Ask Dr. NerdLove: My Ailing Mother-In-Law Is A Toxic Nightmare

Hello all you deathwatch love nodules, and welcome to Ask Dr. NerdLove, a dating advice column to surpass Metal Gear. This week, we’re about emotional (and occasionally physical) self-defense. We know it’s ok to leave toxic relationships, but what about when that toxic person is family? How do you handle someone who sees “boundaries” as…

One Part Of Hyper Light Drifter’s World Still Haunts Me

I’ve played Hyper Light Drifter a few times now, and I always start by going North. I’m drawn by the chilly, snow-covered peaks. But once there, this particular dead and lonely world rocks me to my emotional and spiritual core. Hyper Light Drifter came out on Switch Thursday, two years after its original PC release,…

Track: Tired of Being Alone | Artist: Al Green | Album: Al Green Gets Next to You Kotaku Soundtrack is a selection of the stuff we’re listening to at the moment.

Why Does Everyone Want To Go Back To Jakku?

Mathieu Latour-Duhaime is an artist at EA Motive, and has worked on series like Star Wars: Battlefront, Thief, Tomb Raider and Deus Ex You can see more of Mathieu’s art at his personal site and ArtStation page Fine Art is a celebration of the work of video game artists, showcasing the best of both their…

Track: Trespasser | Artist: Red Handed Denial | Album: Wanderer EP Kotaku Soundtrack is a selection of the stuff we’re listening to at the moment

Gunship Looking For All The 80s Cosplay

Synth lords Gunship are holding a contest where fans can dress up as 80s movie characters, act out some 80s movies scenes and have it featured in an upcoming video. Basically Sweding, if people still use that word. The fine print is here, but you’re basically acting out scenes that’ll be played over the top…

Track: Dream Lover (Live) | Artist: Faye Wong | Album: Random Thoughts Kotaku Soundtrack is a selection of the stuff we’re listening to at the moment.

That Was A LOT Of Overwatch Cosplayers

We’ll have a massive gallery of DragonCon cosplay in the coming days, but until that’s ready I wanted to share something in particular that went down during the show: an immense gathering of Overwatch cosplayers. I’m not saying it’s every Overwatch cosplayer in America, but….I mean, it’s a lot of Overwatch cosplayers. These pics were…

Photographer Justin Henton shot this clip featuring some of the best cosplay at PAX West this year.

Nope, Those Annoying Steam Age Gates Aren’t Going Away

Steam has some issues. Valve says it’s working on fixing them, and as part of a progress update today, it finally took aim at the biggest one of all: Naz—I mean, constant age gates that never stop popping up no matter how many times you assure Steam you’re not two years old. The good news…

PUBG Is Getting A New Reward System

PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds has had a reward system for quite a while now, but fans don’t exactly love it. You can purchase randomized cosmetic crates with “Battle Points” that you earn in-game, but the system funnels you into spending real money too quickly for some people’s tastes. Enter the new “Supply” system. As part of the…

Track: Whoodeeni | Artist: De La Soul | Album: and the Anonymous Nobody… Kotaku Soundtrack is a selection of the stuff we’re listening to at the moment.

Artifact Seems Like A Very Valve Card Game

There are two things in this world that Valve evidently loves more than anything: hands-off approaches and the invisible hand of the market. And wouldn’t you know it: DOTA 2 card game Artifact is gonna have plenty of both. Artifact, a collaboration between Valve and Magic: The Gathering creator Richard Garfield, is coming out in…