Everything about the leadup to the release of Forspoken, Square Enix’s big new open-world action RPG, has been a lowkey mess. But you wouldn’t know that from the launch trailer which stays upbeat on the modern-day magical adventure by taking a bunch of words out of context and spinning them into deceitful accolades.
Source: Kotaku – Forspoken Release Trailer Exploits Bogus Accolades
The following contains spoilers for the first two episodes of HBO’s The Last of Us series.
Source: Kotaku – HBO’s The Last Of Us Does Tess Dirty
“You get her there. You keep her alive. And you set everything right. All the shit we did. Please say yes, Joel. Please.”
Source: Kotaku – The Last Of Us’ Second Episode Ends In Tragedy
The Transportation Security Administration’s No-Fly List is one of the most important ledgers in the United States, containing as it does the names of people who are perceived to be of such a threat to national security that they’re not allowed on airplanes. You’d have been forgiven then for thinking that list was a…
Source: Kotaku – The No-Fly List Has Been Leaked, TSA Investigating ‘Cybersecurity Incident’
This may come as a surprise to the players who abandoned the game long ago and assumed this time had come already, but Crystal Dynamics and publishers Square Enix have announced the impending end of online support for Marvel’s Avengers.
Source: Kotaku – Marvel’s Avengers Is Ending Development, Giving Away Cosmetics
When Microsoft—a company that made “$198 billion in revenue and $83 billion in operating income” in 2022—made the decision to axe 10,000 workers last week, a number of those came from their video game operations, particularly 343 Industries, the overseers of the Halo series.
Source: Kotaku – 343, Hit By Layoffs And Key Departures, Says It Will Keep Making Halo Games
This week, all at once, a perfect storm of deals, discounts, and sales has hit the Nintendo Switch eShop. Batten down the hatches, open up your wallets, and check out some of these limited-time deals, including massive savings on numerous Lego titles, Mortal Kombat games, and hits from Capcom, Ubisoft, and Bandai…
Source: Kotaku – Big Switch Eshop Sale: Discounts On Lego, Resident Evil, And More
A few hours ago, Xbox CEO Phil Spencer sent out a company-wide email to all full-time employees under Microsoft’s gaming divisions. A copy of the email was shared with Kotaku by a current Xbox employee, we have confirmed its authenticity, and the full text has been transcribed below:
Source: Kotaku – Xbox’s Phil Spencer Says Microsoft’s 10K Layoffs ‘Hurts’ In Email To Staff
We’re only one episode deep into HBO’s live-action adaptation of The Last of Us and fans think they’ve discovered the actor who’ll play Abby.
Source: Kotaku – The Last Of Us Fans Think The HBO Series Has Cast Its Abby
Pedro Pascal is playing the emotionally unavailable smuggler-turned-surrogate-dad Joel Miller in HBO’s The Last of Us series, and after years of playing father figures, it seems like the actor is ready to really lean into being a daddy as part of his brand.
Source: Kotaku – With The Last Of Us, Pedro Pascal Becomes The Internet’s Daddy
Critically-acclaimed base-building hit Factorio is an odd duck. Since its 2016 Steam release, the game has never gone on sale. And now, the developer behind Factorio is changing the price of its popular game, but it ain’t getting a discount. Instead, the price is jumping up $5 next week. The devs blamed inflation for…
Source: Kotaku – Popular Steam Game Raises Price After Seven Years Without A Sale
First came the much-requested changes to loadout drops, now Warzone 2.0 is messing with the gulag. With season two’s arrival on February 15, the gulag will no longer make players team up in pairs of two after suffering defeat on the battle royale map. Instead, as in the original Warzone, it will now focus on 1v1…
Source: Kotaku – Warzone 2.0 Is Ditching 2v2 Gulags For Boring 1v1 Showdowns
A YouTuber created an alternative Nintendo Switch controller for their pet fish, which allows them to play video games on livestream. That fish managed to spend real money on some digital purchases while trying to beat a gym leader in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet (h/t: GamesRadar). And all of this happened because …
Source: Kotaku – Fish Play Pokémon Scarlet And Violet, Accidentally Commit Credit Card Fraud
When you gotta go, you really gotta go. I just wish that esports tournaments felt the same about letting their competitors use the toilet. Pro player Oliver “Skiter” Lepko peed in a bottle during an ongoing DOTA 2 tournament, citing the organizers’ rules against going to the toilet during a match. Here’s a photograph…
Source: Kotaku – Pro Gaming Champ Says He Peed In A Bottle During 5,000 Tourney
PSA for my fellow Destiny players and Brendan Fraser appreciators: A fellow comrade in arms has gifted us with a Destiny 2 transmog kit that recreates Fraser’s iconic, dare I say heartstopping fit from The Mummy. Warning: I’m gonna unabashedly gush about Brendan Fraser.
Source: Kotaku – Spectacular Destiny 2 Fit Is Right Out Of The Mummy
While Battlefield 2042 is getting better with each update (or at least closer to the game it could and should have been at launch), there’s one thing that has annoyed a lot of long-time players ever since its release and continues to do so: Specialists, a bunch of “hero” characters designed to replace the old “class”…
Source: Kotaku – Battlefield’s Classes Are Finally Coming Back To 2042
You may remember that one of the funniest stories of 2022 was the way that players of War Thunder—an arcadey online shooter featuring real military vehicles—just kept on posting military documents in the game’s forums. Not as acts of espionage, but to win arguments about specs.
Source: Kotaku – War Thunder Players Are, Once Again, Posting Military Documents On Forums
Today, after some leaks and rumors, Rockstar Games released Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy – Definitive Edition on Steam. The good news: It’s on sale, meaning you can grab all three classic games for cheap. The bad news: It’s the same infamously messy remaster that hasn’t received a substantial update since nearly a…
Source: Kotaku – GTA Trilogy Arrives On Steam, Still Broken (But On Sale)
Soulslikes, a genre of punishing action RPGs popularized by Japanese developer FromSoftware, are all too common these days. Ever since Dark Souls came onto the scene in 2011,a bunch of studios have been trying their hands at FromSoft’s iconic formula. Some attempt to mix things up by introducing new mechanics, like …
Source: Kotaku – New Soulslike Game Is A Solid Marriage Between Nioh And Sekiro
