Battlegrounds Now Has The Second All-Time Highest Concurrent Player Count On Steam

Last year around this time no one would have understood what you were talking about if you muttered the word PUBG. This weekend it was the most played game on Steam. With a twenty four hour peak of just north of 870,000 concurrent players, PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds sat at the top of Steam’s “Current Player Count”…

Sunday Comics: It’s A Solar Eclipse

Welcome to Kotaku’s Sunday Comics, your weekly roundup of the best webcomics that usually occurs on Sunday except when it doesn’t. The images enlarge if you click on the magnifying glass icon. Nerf NOW!! by Josué Pereira. Published August 24. Read more of Nerf NOW!! Awkward Zombie by Katie Tiedrich. Published August 21. Read more…

Square Enix’s Library Is Full Of Games Worth Remastering 

After the success of Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age and Square’s announcement that Secret of Mana will be getting remade for the PS4 and Vita, it’s clear the company wants to see its deep back catalog live on, but there are a few games in particular Square Enix should think about reviving sooner rather…

Quake Champions Finals Pit Young Blood Against Seasoned Pro

Two eras of competitive Quake clashed in Dallas today, as the first world championships were held for the early access Quake Champions, awarding $1 million in prize across the tournament. 19-year-old Nikita “Clawz” Marchinsky came into this year’s Quake World Championships Duel as the young Quake Live talent, taking down players like “cooller” to earn a…

Nobody Has Time For Walking Simulators In Halt And Catch Fire‘s Season Premier 

Halt and Catch Fire has always been less about the big tech ideas themselves than the people struggling to discover them. While the burgeoning internet sets the backdrop for season four, the first couple episodes show Cameron’s struggle to get Atari to publish her high concept walking sim. When I wrote last week’s post about…

Horror Fighting Game People Thought Didn’t Exist Finally Surfaces [Update]

Do you remember Death Cargo? The obscure Mortal Kombat-inspired brawler from an Italian studio Necrostorm known for indie slasher flicks? Well after disappearing a few years ago it’s back. Sort of. The YouTubers behind Super Best Friends Play channel got their hands on a version of the game and uploaded it for today’s episode of…

Longzhu Gives The World More Reasons To Ban Jayce

In the lead-up to last night’s finals in the League Champions Korea summer playoffs, Longzhu Gaming made it clear, in no uncertain terms, that any opponent should probably ban Jayce against them. Kim “Khan” Dong-ha, top lane player for Longzhu, boasted an 8-1 record on the transforming League of Legends champion during the summer season.…

We’re starting some matches in PlayerUnknown’s Battleground right now on Twitch. Heather’s put together a squad and looking for some chicken dinner.

Players Fall Like Dominoes In Rainbow Six: Siege Finals

Just like in your favorite horror movie, checking the downstairs basement one-by-one in Rainbow Six: Siege isn’t a very good idea. In today’s Rainbow Six: Siege Year 2, Season 2 finals, Penta Sports was set to defend their title as Pro League champs. On the way there, in a semifinals match against Team Fontt, Penta…

The Weekend In Esports: The Summer Grinds On

Outside of some fighting tournaments, this weekend’s goings-on are mostly confined to play within each game’s respective summer league. You’ll find teams from across the likes of Overwatch, Heroes of the Storm, and Counter-Strike focused on grinding out victories in their respective tables, while in the world of fighting games pros face-off in New England,…

The Yakuza Developers Are Working On A Fist Of The North Star Game

Beginning as a manga back in the early 80s, Fist of the North Star is basically Japanese Mad Max. As such it’s a perfect subject for the stylish sensibilities of the developers behind Sega’s Yakuza games. The game was announced earlier today during a live-stream event which showed off a trailer and story details for…

This Week In The Business: Microsoft Tries To Crackdown On A Bad Habit

QUOTE | “I think in the past we have made the mistake of announcing some exclusives a little bit too early. We’re trying to learn from that mistake and do better, so we have a bit that’s in development now that we’re not talking about.” – Microsoft Studios Publishing GM Shannon Loftis points to the…

Beast Battle Simulator Makes Your Flame-Thrower Polar Bear Dreams Come True

T-rexes with lasers and shotguns. Polar bears with flamethrowers. Some might laugh at these outrageous possibilities, decrying them as “unrealistic.” But in Beast Battle Simulator, these wild dreams are a reality. In this physics-based battle game, players choose from a variety of arenas such as deserts and tundras. You can pick an array of animals…

Overwatch‘s Mercy Is More Deadly Now, But She’s Still A Healer

Mercy is a Valkyrie now, and she’s not taking anybody’s crap. Yesterday, Blizzard revealed a surprising overhaul of Overwatch’s most straightforward healer, replacing her uber-powerful resurrection ult—which could potentially bring her whole team back from the brink—with “Valkyrie,” an ult that lets her soar around with a giant clip of super-powered bullets as well as…

Taylor Swift’s New Song Is Basically An Alternate Reality Game, And I Hate It

Taylor Swift’s new single, “Look What You Made Me Do,” feels like a shitty alternate reality game that you unravel to find out more lore. This tale begins in 2009, where rapper Kanye West was publicly very mean to Swift at MTV’s Video Music Awards. They publicly made up in 2015. West then included a…

A Very Realistic Video Game Simulation Of Mayweather vs McGregor

Boxing legend Floyd Mayweather and UFC megastar Conor McGregor are gonna “fight” tomorrow. Since it’s a boxing match, Mayweather will almost certainly beat McGregor bloody and then use McGregor’s hair to mop up his own bodily fluids. To alleviate that inevitable disappointment and test the two fighters’ true skills, I put on a series of…

Three Years Of Writing About Destiny

I’ve written more about Destiny than any other video game I’ve ever played. I’ve reviewed every expansion. I’ve written at length about raids and guns and competitive arenas. I’ve written about the community’s often tortured emotional relationship with the game, as well as my own. With Destiny 2 looming on the horizon, I decided to…