Culture

Dev Offers Free Games For Steam User Reviews, Gets Nuked By Valve

Valuable life lesson: probably don’t do this. RosePortal Games, the developer of an RPG called Epic Quest of the 4 Crystals recently got caught offering compensation—in the form of free Steam keys—in exchange for Steam reviews. When Valve found out, they weren’t pleased. They wrote in a post on the game’s forums: “It’s come to…

New Horror Game Tries To Stop You From Playing It

If you ask me, the scariest things are the ones that feel a little too real Calendula is an upcoming horror game (currently on Steam Greenlight) that wants to be scary before you start “the game” proper. It might sound silly on paper, but even the main menu is eeeeeeeeeevil: So basically, the battle to…

Hey, Battletech Is Back!

BattleTech, home of classic tabletop action and some excellent video games, is making a digital comeback. This time for the PC. Note before we go any further that we’re talking about BattleTech itself, not its spinoff series MechWarrior Sticking close to its roots, the new game—currently up on Kickstarter—has been designed as “a single-player, turn-based,…

Track: Man And Machine | Artist: Moondragon |Album: Man And Machine Kotaku Soundtrack is a selection of the stuff we’re listening to – and gaming to – at the moment.

Fantastic Dishonored Cosplay Does The Game Justice

One of the most enduring things about Dishonored is Viktor Antonov’s art direction, leaving us with a game that’s somewhere between a grim Victorian painting and a 21st-century cartoon. It’s tough getting that across in cosplay, but hoo boy, these guys have nailed it. Cosplayers Ryazik, Vikand Mikamiare in the suits here, while the photos…

Captain America Cosplayer Proposes…In Front Of Captain America

Cosplayer Kelsey Jenkins and her boyfriend were at Salt Lake Comic Con on the weekend—dressed as Black Widow and Captain America respectively—when they got the chance to meet Marvel stars Chris Evans and Hayley Atwell (Peggy Carter). Which is about as good a time/place as any to pop the question. Just in case that photo…

The New Ark: Survival Evolved Update Messed Up Some Players’ Bases

Ark: Survival Evolved just got a big new update that added snow and swamp biomes. It’s awesome. Except for, well… one pretty big thing. Players who had already settled down to live out the white picket fence/dodo army in the yard Arkmerican Dream are discovering that their bases are now, um, different. The new biomes…

Counter-Strike Player Wins Match By Throwing Grenade At Rifle

That’s some serious teamwork. In the video below, Galore S00K and a friend manage a trick shot so absurd that I (and a handful of others, evidently) can’t help but wonder if it was a fix. Observe: Yep. He tosses a grenade, drops his AWP just so, and lets gravity (or the defiance thereof) do…

Glitch Gives Birth To An Impossible Dunk

Today on Highlight Reel we have impossible dunks, sliding deaths, floating naps, Charlie Brown, and much more. Watch the video above or over at YouTube, then link any of your favorite highlights in the comments, and be sure to check out, like and subscribe the original videos via the links below. NBA 2k15 – WTF…

Art From The Avengers, Transformers, Spider-Man (And More)

Josh Nizzi is an artist who has worked on some of the biggest movie franchises of the past decade, from The Avengers to Transformers In between all those superheroes he also found time to work on Quentin Tarantino’s Django Unchained (and also this random little game). You can see more of Josh’s work at his…

That’s not Skyrim. It’s Ark: Survival Evolved. The megalodon of Steam survival games is getting two new biomes today: snow and swamp. There are new creatures populating each, including dire wolves and giant devil frogs. More details here. You’re reading Steamed, Kotaku’s page dedicated to all things in and around Valve’s stupidly popular PC gaming…

Players Still Haven’t Figured Out All Of Undertale‘s Secrets

Undertale is an RPG where you can talk your way out of every battle. It’s amazing. And yet, that might be the least remarkable thing about it. (Warning: BIG spoilers for Undertale follow. I’m not gonna spoil everything, though. Rather than discussing each specific secret, which would be terrible of me, I’m gonna talk more…

Track: Lie, Cheat, Meow | Artist: Run The Jewels (feat. Prince Paul) | Album: Meow The Jewels Kotaku Soundtrack is a selection of the stuff we’re listening to – and gaming to – at the moment.

Why So Sad, Call Of Duty?

Yan Ostretsov is a visual designer at Call of Duty developers Infinity Ward. Prior to that, he was at id working on games like RAGE. You can see more of Yan’s work at his personal site To see the larger pics in all their glory (or, if they’re big enough, so you can save them…

When Cosplay Hits The Catwalk

We’re used to seeing cosplayers at stuff like conventions and gaming shows, but strutting the catwalk alongside models and designers? That’s exactly what happened last week, though, when Vicky Lau, aka Vivid Vision (and some friends) were invited to show their stuff as part of Western Canada Fashion Week Lau designed and made all the…

The Week In Games: Ballin’

It’s time for the basketball games with the number 16 in the title! Also, Mega Man Legends. Maybe I should have led with that. As part of my current quest to appreciate competitive virtual sports games more I’ve been playing close attention to the rivalry between EA’s NBA Live 16 and 2K’s NBA 2K16. Right…

Track: Taekwondo Princess| Album: Analoga Steroider | Artist: Dunderpatrullen Kotaku Soundtrack is a selection of the stuff we’re listening to – and gaming to – at the moment.

Sunday Comics: Best Gaming System Ever

Welcome to Kotaku’s Sunday Comics, your pretty much weekly roundup of the best webcomics. The images enlarge if you click on the magnifying glass icon. Nerf NOW!! by Josué Pereira. Published September 25. Read more of Nerf NOW!! Awkward Zombie by Katie Tiedrich. Published September 21. Read more of Awkward Zombie Penny Arcade by Jerry…

This Week In The Business: What Exactly Is A Console, Anyway?

QUOTE | “Just as the line between gamer and non-gamer has been destroyed, I think the distinction between console and mobile will become less distinct over time.” – Scopely’s Walter Driver thinks Apple TV is just one more step toward an ultimate convergence in gaming Elsewhere in the business of games this week… QUOTE |…

Mad Max Contains Grim Half-Life 3 Easter Egg

Hey Gordon, long time no see! When’s Half-Life 3 coming ou— oh. Yikes. Player Swagmastavondagmasta recently discovered a very interesting easter egg in Mad Max: The Game That A Lot Of People Hate But I Love So There. As you might have suspected, it involves a tremendously dead Gordon Freeman. First, go here: Lodged in…