It’s one thing for free-to-play shooter Halo Infinite to have microtransactions. Now Halo: The Master Chief Collection, a first-person shooter with a price tag, might see something similar. Maybe. Developer 343 is still “exploring” a “potential” framework “for the future.”
Source: Kotaku – Halo Devs ‘Exploring’ Microtransactions For Master Chief Collection, An 8-Year-Old Game
Since it was announced that Chris Pratt was going to voice Mario in the upcoming animated movie, many have been wondering: What will he sound like in the film? And…we still don’t have an answer to that question, but the Guardians of the Galaxy star recently teased that his Mario voice sounds “unlike anything you’ve…
Source: Kotaku – Chris Pratt Ominously Declares His Mario Voice Is ‘Unlike Anything’ From The Games
On Friday the U.S. Supreme Court made good on a longstanding right-wing threat to overturn Roe v. Wade, and with it eradicate the constitutional right to abortion that had existed for nearly 50 years. Now some of gaming’s most well known studios, which had previously been silent, are speaking up about the issue, with…
Source: Kotaku – PlayStation Studios Break Silence On Abortion Rights After Roe Overturned
We were so close. As the NFT market suffered one meteoric crash after another, and as some crypto-based games lost money by the hundreds of millions, it seemed for a second there that the gaming industry might come to its senses. But no. This week alone saw two major parties unveiling a commitment to smushing NFTs and…
Source: Kotaku – Despite Historic Crashes, Video Games Aren’t Over NFTs Just Yet
Software developer Simon “Stealth” Thomley of Headcannon—the studio behind Sonic Mania—popped off on the state of the remastered Sonic Origins bundle, on which the team also worked. In a series of tweets, he said Headcannon had to put in “major time crunch” and was barred from implementing “major fixes” before its…
Source: Kotaku – Sonic Origins Dev Goes Off On State Of The Game
It’s clear that throughout its 26 year-long run, the Pokémon games have maintained a level of consistency that plenty others wish they could replicate. Truth is, this steady pace comes at a cost: the low-key quality of life buffs found in every entry often fall by the wayside come next time. As the months draw closer,…
Source: Kotaku – Pokémon Legends: Arceus Should Be The Template For The Series’ Future
Elden Ring finally released just a few months ago, topping the charts ever since, but FromSoftware doesn’t appear to be slowing down. The Dark Souls studio is already hiring for “multiple” new games, and director Hidetaka Miyazaki reports in a new interview that one of them is already close to completion.
Source: Kotaku – FromSoftware’s Next Game Almost Done, Staffing Up For ‘Several’ New Projects
Pride month has a political history—it originated from the the pivotal 1969 Stonewall riots, and queer people, especially those of color, fight daily for safety and equality. But June is a time for pure revelry too, something that includes video games.
Source: Kotaku – 5 Very Queer Games On Steam To Close Out Your Pride Month
Of all the many excellent changes Niantic made to Pokémon GO in the face of the global Covid-19 pandemic, remote raiding seemed to be the one that was most likely to survive long-term. So of course, every new move the developer makes seems to be threatening its future.
Source: Kotaku – Pokémon GO Seems Set On Ruining Every Improvement From The Pandemic
One of my favorite activities growing up as a video game nerd was randomly typing the names of fictional game, movie, or book sequels into Google just to see what came up. I didn’t care if it was real or fake. I enjoyed the daydreaming that came from imagining “what if?”
Source: Kotaku – Let’s Use Dall-E Mini To Conjure Up Half-Life 3 And Other Sequels We’ll Never Get
Into the Breach is one of the greatest turn-based tactics games of all time, so it was an absolute joy earlier today to hear that it is about to be updated with all kinds of new stuff.
Source: Kotaku – Oh Yeah, Into The Breach Is Back, Baby
On July 5, Zachtronics will be releasing Last Call BBS, a collection of stylish little puzzle games wrapped up in a retro PC gaming vibe. After 11 years in business (and even longer outside of commercial releases), a time which has seen the studio develop a cult following almost unrivalled in indie gaming, it will be…
Source: Kotaku – Goodbye Zachtronics, Developers Of Very Cool Video Games
The last time we checked in on streamer Quin and his attempts to buy his way to glory in Diablo Immortal, he had spent $6600 and not attained a single 5-star Legendary Gem. I am happy (?) to report that, after more than doubling his investment, he finally has his loot.
Source: Kotaku – ,000 Later, Diablo Immortal Player Finally Has His Legendary Gem
The latest Ubisoft earnings reports shared that longtime chief executive Yves Guillemot will voluntarily take a sizable pay cut totaling €310,607 (around $327,000 USD).
Source: Kotaku – Ubisoft CEO Takes 0,000 Pay Cut After Company’s Poor Performance
The dog days of summer are officially here. Whether you’re trying to take your mind off the heat or the bad headlines, you’re in luck: Nintendo is currently running a major sale on digital Switch games. Cool off with Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze or mind-meld with a sentient hat in Super Mario Odyssey for 30%…
Source: Kotaku – The Nintendo Switch Has A Big Summer Sale Right Now
Did you know all the horses in Assassin’s Creed 1 are built using really fucked up human skeletons? Or that Titan Quest used invisible squirrels as in-game timers? All of this is true and is more proof that games are mostly wild collections of code and hope that have more in common with miracles than they do with…
Source: Kotaku – Devs Share The Wild, Secret Hacks Your Favorite Games Rely On
If you had a sneaking suspicion that Blizzard’s currently in-beta hero shooter Overwatch 2 would affect the 2016 original game in some way, you were absolutely correct. It turns out that when the upcoming sequel drops on October 4, it will straight-up replace Overwatch, rendering that now seven-year-old game…
Source: Kotaku – Overwatch 2 Will Replace The Original, Making It Unplayable In October
So, Obi-Wan. If nothing else, you can’t deny that it was a TV show, and that after six episodes, it has now ended its run on Disney+, at least for now. Obviously, Kotaku’s biggest Star Wars nerds—Ethan Gach, Ari Notis, and, no surprise here for longtime readers, Zack Zwiezen—had to talk about the finale, the show’s…
Source: Kotaku – Let’s Discuss The Mind-Blowing Ending To Obi-Wan
It’s not the sort of thing you often see in games these days.
Source: Kotaku – American Arcadia Is Reviving The Long-Lost Art Of Multiple-Perspective Games
