Overwatch

The Weekend In Esports: Hearthstone Summer Championships

It feels like only yesterday I was sitting down to embark on Hearthstone’s latest adventure, One Night in Karazhan. Just over a month later and the scene is completely lit. Blizzard announced it would remove 45 cards from the game’s arena mode to try and restore some semblance of balance to the otherwise rigged casino,…

The Mildly Overwatch-ish Paladins Enters Open Beta

Hi-Rez Studios’ free-to-play hero shooter Paladins enters open beta today, and while its collectible card-based character customization system sets it apart from other games in the genre, Androxus here is pretty much Reaper with horns. I was putting together a little rotator GIF for the top of the post, planning to talk about what is…

Overwatch‘s Weekly Brawls Need Some Work

Another weekly brawl where only a handful of characters are allowed? Come on, Blizzard. Is that the best you can do? I’ve seen that sentiment a lot surrounding this week’s Overwatch brawl, “Tanks A Lot,” which limits players’ hero choices to the game’s tank characters. As a general rule, brawls impose some sort of special…

No Man’s Sky Time-Lapse Rudely Interrupted

Today on Highlight Reel we have sweet Fallout heelys, unique FIFA celebrations, Overwatch plays, confused horses, and much more! Watch the video then talk about your favorite highlight in the comments below. Be sure to check out, like, and share the original videos via the links below. Subscribe to Kotaku on YouTube for more! No…

Let’s break it down! Is what I’m angling for the new name of our weekly Overwatch chat series to be. We’ll see, though. We’ll see. This week, Cecilia, Heather, and I talk about our favorite heroes, why we ended up gravitating toward them, and how becoming competent with certain heroes has changed the way we…

Overwatch just got a new patch that reduces Mercy PotGs (boooo), speeds up the payload on Eichenwalde, and corrects egregious ranking glitches. The new map can be tough on attackers, so hopefully the payload change helps. The patch also fixes some bugs and adds a new match complete screen. You can read the patch notes…

Blizzard’s Chris Metzen Retires

Blizzard’s lord of lore (and sunglasses), Chris Metzen, is retiring from video games. Metzen is primarily known for two things: 1) giving speeches at BlizzCon that would put most video game characters to shame, and 2) helping mold the worlds of obscure games called Warcraft, StarCraft, Diablo, and Overwatch. One could also argue that he’s…

Overwatch ‘Healsluts’ Turn Playing Support Into An Erotic Experience

The process of engaging in some BDSM in the seemingly squeaky-clean video game Overwatch is simple. Equip the angelic healer Mercy with her Imp skin, spray-paint an arrow on the wall, and crouch beneath it. If you’re lucky, a tank will walk up to you and emote “understood.” You’ll serve them dutifully and wait for…

Overwatch Player Gets Highest Possible Rank Despite Losing Every Match

If you check Overwatch data-mining sites right now, you’ll see something curious: the top-ranked Korean competitive player has hundreds of losses and only a few wins. Ah, the magic of glitches. What seems to have happened is, Korean player IzA aimed for rock bottom, much like Dale “Bacontotem” Brown—who I recently profiled—last season. IzA managed…

How You Can Watch Today’s Counter-Strike Finals And More

The StarSeries Season 2 finals are happening later today! What does that mean? Well for one it’s the first major in-person Counter-Strike: Global Offensive tournament since the mid-summer break, with teams ready to prove their roster changes were the right ones and hopefully gain some steam heading back into the second half of ESL Pro…

Overwatch Player Never Touches The Ground In The Game’s New Level

I’ve featured one dedicated Overwatch wall-rider before, but this person has turned it into an art form. If you’re in need of some chilled-out Friday afternoon viewing, I can’t recommend Seba’s wall-ride of Overwatch’s new level, Eichenwalde, enough. This combination of slick movement and soothing beats will heal you from the grotesque wound between weekends…

This weekend, Overwatch will be available for free on PS4 and (disappointingly) for only Xbox One owners with an Xbox Live Gold membership.

Mercy may be off the market, according to a Blizzard customer support rep. A Redditor reached out to Overwatch’s publisher asking whether he could marry the winged, Swiss healer. Their response? “I’m afraid it’s her decision, and she already offered her digital heart to the most noble, handsome, fit, intelligent and morally upright character in…

The Overwatch Characters Who Get Play Of The Game Most (And Least) Often

Overwatch’s Play of the Game (PotG) is a mechanic shrouded in mystery. Everybody’s had a moment where they figured their quadruple kill with a perfectly timed emote would nab it, only to be ousted by a couple boring turret bursts. In a recent forum post, Overwatch game director Jeff Kaplan provided stats to help dispel…

A Tale Of Love On The Overwatch Battlefield

It was an Overwatch romance that was never meant to be, that nobody asked for. Her, a pro gamer turned mech pilot with attitude. Him, a cheap Party City Halloween costume possessed by someone’s dad. Both of them controlled by cruel gamer gods with a thirst that no amount of Mountain Dew could quench. They…

Let’s Talk Overwatch! We’re back for another episode of our weekly chat series where we get together to talk about the ups and downs of the week in Overwatch. This week Cecilia, Nathan and I cover the new competitive season, how we feel about competitive play in general, and which character is going to be…

Look At The Size Of This Overwatch Cosplay

Egg Sisters have been absolutely dominating Dragon Con with this Reinhardt, which despite looking like an enormous statue is actually a cosplay outfit that can turn, wave its arms and even walk. To get an idea of the scale of the costume, look at this! Incredible. You can see more of Egg Sisters’ work at…

Your Shooter Deserves Better Enemies

So, you’re in charge of a brand new giant AAA video game, and the execs up top are expecting you to drop one of the most slammin’ game designs of 2018 on their desks. What do you do? I’ve played a lot of video games, and if there’s one thing I love, it’s a good…

A Discussion On Female Body Diversity In Games

Yesterday, critic Anita Sarkeesian published a video about female body diversity in games. “All the Slender Ladies” examines why games often showcase thin, young, humanoid women but rarely feature lady rock creatures or skeletal female priestesses. Male video game characters, she says, more often deviate from standards of male attractiveness, she explains. “It’s as if…

Overwatch‘s Mei Buff Is Useful, But Only If You’re Smart

Yesterday’s surprise Overwatch patch brought with it some balance changes—most importantly (to me), Mei’s buff, a thing of both immeasurable good and evil. Blizzard expanded Mei’s ultimate move, also called “Blizzard,” from 8 meters to 10 meters. Enemies within its circumference are quickly frozen, sitting ducks for a hero like Pharah to blast them with…