Kotaku • 3rd December 2021

Report: PlayStation Planning Xbox Game Pass-Style Subscription Service

Sony is finalizing a new PlayStation subscription meant to give the platform its own Xbox Game Pass-style service that’s tentatively scheduled to launch next spring, Bloomberg reports. The current plan is apparently to combine PlayStation’s cloud-based gaming service PlayStation Now with the monthly free game offerings of PlayStation Plus, phasing out the former in favor of the latter’s more prominent branding. According to internal Sony documents seen by Bloomberg, the monthly fee for this n

Kotaku • 3rd December 2021

Halo Infinite's Multiplayer Is About To Get Much Better With New Playlists

Although Halo players are currently enjoying an early look at Infinite multiplayer ahead of the campaign launch on December 8, one of the biggest complaints from the community concerns the first-person shooter’s lack of playlists. But that should change very soon. Like, “before next year” soon. “We’ve been reading your feedback, and we’re working on plans to add Fiesta, Tactical Slayer (SWAT), and Free-For-All playlists as we speak,” 343 Industries community manager John Junyszek announced this

Kotaku • 2nd December 2021

Bloodborne Vibes Weren’t Intentional, Say Pinocchio Souls-Like Devs

Earlier this month, South Korean developer Round8 Studio shared early gameplay footage for Lies of P, its upcoming Souls-like based on the classic Pinocchio fairy tale. And while the dark fantasy setting elicited obvious comparisons to From Software masterpiece Bloodborne, the devs recently told Kotaku that any similarities between the two games were inadvertent. “Though we’re greatly honored that many players felt the ‘Bloodborne vibe’ through our trailer release, it definitely wasn’t intentio

Kotaku • 2nd December 2021

EA Plans Battlefield ‘Universe’ Following Awful Battlefield 2042 Launch

A tectonic shift is coming to the Battlefield franchise, GameSpot reports, with Electronic Arts restructuring various studios and committing to a “connected universe” of projects in the long-running first-person shooter series. Most notably, Respawn Entertainment co-founder and CEO Vince Zampella will now oversee all Battlefield development following the departure of DICE general manager Oskar Gabrielson. Zampella was previously charged with overhauling DICE Los Angeles in early 2021, a move th

Kotaku • 2nd December 2021

Someone Please Explain This Hideo Kojima Tweet To Me

Hideo Kojima’s Twitter feed is one of the best in the gaming industry. He talks movies, shares his eclectic interests with fans, and generally provides a dose of positivity in a world sorely bereft of good vibes. But I really need someone to walk me through what the heck he meant when he sent a gif of Solid Snake being electrocuted in Metal Gear Solid to actor Rahul Kohli. It all started when the breakout star of Netflix series The Haunting of Bly Manor and Midnight Mass responded to concept ar

Kotaku • 1st December 2021

Final Fantasy XIV Maid Outfit Going Gender-Neutral Just In Time For Sexy Bunny Boy Onslaught

This morning, Square Enix released a huge list of the changes coming to Final Fantasy XIV with the MMORPG’s impending expansion, Endwalker (no relation). The breakdown is a dizzying doozy of details, but the one thing you should take away from it is that the new Viera bunny boys will thankfully be able to wear maid outfits. Endwalker launches in early access on December 3 for players who pre-ordered the expansion, and regular ol’ Joe Schmoe access on December 7 for everyone else. It’s Final F

Kotaku • 30th November 2021

Someone Is Trying To Make Mother 4 Again And It Looks Great

Not satisfied with simply taking inspiration from Mother (known as EarthBound outside Japan), a new group of developers is trying their hands at creating an unofficial numbered entry in Nintendo’s cult classic role-playing franchise. Mother 4 is “a fan-made sequel to the acclaimed Mother series, following a group of teenagers and their road trip across a rose-tinted America.” It features ubiquitous franchise mechanics like rolling HP counters and the rhythm-based combos introduced in 2006’s Mot

Kotaku • 24th November 2021

Bobby Kotick Has Always Been A Slimy Asshole

Bobby Kotick is a weasel of the highest order. And while he may finally be facing a reckoning for some of his actions as CEO of Activision Blizzard, it’s been a long time coming. Kotick has spent three decades at the top of Activision, now Activision Blizzard, in a tenure that has consistently proven evil and exploitative. New reports say that Kotick has been more than happy to ignore systemic issues, especially the abuse suffered by its female employees, as long as it didn’t affect the compa

Kotaku • 24th November 2021

Cloud Strife Voice Actor Fired From Soap Opera For Refusing Covid-19 Vaccination

Steve Burton, who previously voiced brooding Final Fantasy hero Cloud Strife, was recently fired from his long-standing role on General Hospital after refusing to comply with the soap opera’s vaccine mandate, the actor announced via Instagram (h/t Variety). “I know there’s been a lot of rumors and speculations about me and General Hospital, and I wanted you to hear it from me personally,” Burton told his 336,000 followers. “Unfortunately, General Hospital has let me go because of the vaccine

Kotaku • 23rd November 2021

Epic Buys Rock Band Creators To Make ‘Musical Journeys’ For Fortnite

Epic Games recently acquired Rock Band developer Harmonix, the two companies revealed in separate announcements today. Here we go again. “Harmonix has always aspired to create the world’s most beloved interactive music experiences, and by joining Epic we will be able to do this at scale,” said Alex Rigopulos, Harmonix co-founder and chairman. “Together we will push the creative boundaries of what’s possible and invent new ways for our players to make, perform and share music.” The plan for Har

Kotaku • 23rd November 2021

Rare Zelda Demo From 1997 Recreated By Fans

Want to party like it’s 1997? Well, you’re in luck, as a dedicated group of Zelda fans recently wrapped on a project that’s all about recreating what it felt like to play Ocarina of Time at a Nintendo event in the late 90s before it was officially released. Before the rise of its Direct presentations, the best place to learn about Nintendo games was Space World, a convention held by the Japanese developer almost every year from 1989 to 2001. Super Mario World for the Super Nintendo, for insta

Kotaku • 19th November 2021

F-Zero Fans Offer $5,000 Bounty For Long-Lost SNES Race Tracks

Do you have old Satellaview cartridges lying around that were last used 24 years ago to play an obscure, Japan-exclusive F-Zero game? Well, that aging data is now worth a good chunk of cash thanks to a pair of fans intent on preserving the franchise’s history. BS F-Zero Grand Prix 2 was originally released via Nintendo’s unique Satellaview broadcasts. Accessed by way of a modem add-on for the Super Famicom, the service provided special programming as well as games that were only available for

Kotaku • 19th November 2021

Elden Ring May Just Reinvent The Open-World Genre

From Software, as you may already know, has a new game coming out early next year. It’s called Elden Ring, and after spending a few hours with it during last week’s preview, I’m here to say that it’s shaping up to be something really special. To set some expectations, Kotaku did have access to the closed network test, but our time was limited to two three-hour sessions. While it wasn’t an unfettered look at the open-world game, it was definitely enough to get a sense of the overall experience

Kotaku • 18th November 2021

My Favorite Part Of Elden Ring's Preview Was Accidentally Reaching A Small Island

Elden Ring’s recent closed network test served as a fantastic sneak peek at From Software’s upcoming Dark Souls successor. There were menacing bosses to fight, unique dungeons to explore, and vague bits of lore to deduce, but the absolute best part of the whole experience was how I found my way to a small, uninhabited island that at first glance appeared inaccessible. The first thing I did upon exiting Elden Ring’s tutorial cave was beeline for the nearest cliff. I wanted to get a look at the s

Kotaku • 18th November 2021

Someone Right-Clicked Every NFT In The Heist Of The Century

Hours ago, a website appeared online with the express purpose of hosting a nearly 20TB torrent (that’s terabytes, folks, the big boys of digital data measurement) containing every NFT available through the Ethereum and Solana blockchains. The NFT Bay, whose name and overall design riff on iconic torrent database The Pirate Bay, is the work of one Geoffrey Huntley, an Australian software and dev ops engineer. In a frequently asked questions document written up for annoying reporters like me, Hun

Kotaku • 17th November 2021

Elden Ring Players Discover Terrifying Bear Monster Beyond Demo’s Bounds

Not satisfied with the copious Elden Ring content provided by last weekend’s brief, intermittent network tests, players figured out a way to escape the bounds of the demo’s map and explore the lands beyond its limited scope, discovering new aspects of the highly anticipated game along the way. Over the course of a few days, From Software gave some lucky players the chance to experiment with an early build of Elden Ring. It wasn’t the whole game, mind, but a relatively small slice of the massive

Kotaku • 17th November 2021

Modders Fight GTA Lawsuit As ‘Definitive’ Bundle Crashes And Burns

Attorneys representing the four defendants in Take-Two Interactive Software’s copyright infringement lawsuit against a group of Grand Theft Auto modders recently responded to the video game conglomerate’s complaint, flatly denying several allegations of wrongdoing. They also argue that their clients’ work constitutes fair use under the United States’ Copyright Act. This whole mess all started earlier in 2021 and quickly escalated. On February 13, the developers currently being sued by Take-Tw

Kotaku • 16th November 2021

Calls For Bobby Kotick’s Resignation Intensify As Employees Stage Walkout

Social media is aflame with demands that video game industry exec Bobby Kotick resign from his position as CEO of Activision Blizzard in the wake of reporting from The Wall Street Journal about his own terrible treatment of women. Leading the charge are Activision Blizzard employees themselves, who are planning another walkout today in response to the report’s revelations. “We will not be silenced until Bobby Kotick has been replaced as CEO, and continue to hold our original demand for third-pa

Kotaku • 15th November 2021

A Simple Hole Killed Tons Of Elden Ring Players

Among the scores of monsters and traps designed to kill Elden Ring players, an inconspicuous hole in the tutorial area proved to be the deadliest aspect of the game’s preview build. Over the weekend, everyone lucky enough to receive an invite to the Elden Ring closed network test got their first taste of From Software’s upcoming Dark Souls successor. It was pretty good, even if reaching the end awakened an unsettling, primal hunger for more in me that won’t be satiated until the game launches

Kotaku • 15th November 2021

Star Fox Hack Boosts Its Notoriously Choppy Framerate

Earlier today, Star Fox received a patch that allows the 1993 Super Nintendo classic to perform as if it was taking advantage of an advanced accelerator chip, boosting its framerate from the single digits to something nearing a more modern game. When Star Fox launched almost 30 years ago, it was a technical marvel. Thanks to the Super FX processing chip (developed alongside the game by Argonaut Software), the sci-fi dogfighting simulator did the impossible by rendering polygonal 3D graphics at