Kotaku

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The 18-year old hacker responsible for stealing and releasing dozens of clips of Grand Theft Auto 6 last year has been sentenced to life in hospital prison. He can only be released in the future if doctors decide he’s no longer a danger to others, the BBC reports.

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Every new thing I hear about Final Fantasy VII Rebirth makes the wait for its February 29, 2024 release that much harder. And Square Enix just opened the floodgates on another series of new details, hints, and teases about the upcoming “open-area” RPG remake that have me even more intrigued.

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Just two days after flying back from Los Angeles (where I attended The Game Awards 2023 to judge its fashion in person), I felt the familiar creep of sickness at the back of my throat. But this was no mere sniffle—within a few hours my elbows ached, my head pounded, my core temperature rose, air refused to pass…

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This October, Konami finally gave us a long-overdue way to access some of the greatest games of all time, the original Metal Gear Solid trilogy. The only problem? They were lacking a number of modern features such as higher frame rates and resolutions. Many players have also reported issues with input registration and…

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Starfield launched in September of 2023. But as creative director Todd Howard has stressed in previous interviews, the game was made to be played for a long time. That means updates and changes to the game are likely expand the experience the days and years to come. The most recent update from Bethesda indicates that…

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2023 is almost over, folks. I’d say, “We made it,” but who am I kidding? 2024 will begin, and all the same shit that made 2023 a non-stop hellscape will continue in perpetuity. But 2023 did have a lot of cool games, and every December, we gather to talk about our favorites. We’re doing it here at Kotaku, as well. You…

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2023 was a rough year for a lot of people. But even a shitty year like this one can offer up tiny moments of happiness or wonderful trinkets that we can all enjoy for a bit before we go back to doomscrolling on whatever social media service we’re using as the best Twitter replacement.

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You’ve heard it time and time again—2023 was a huge year for game releases, which made the battle for game of the year (GOTY) at sites and award shows across the globe hard-fought and difficult. Baldur’s Gate 3 won at this year’s Game Awards, other publications have handed the crown to Tears of the Kingdom, and Kotaku’…

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We knew that Activision Blizzard’s longtime CEO, Bobby Kotick, would be stepping down at the end of this year following Microsoft’s historic acquisition of his company—but we didn’t know that he’d officially leave on the last workday of 2023, technically two days before the end of the year. This tidbit was one of…

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Good job folks, that’s another year down. This year, like so many recent years, was a mess as we continued to deal with the ongoing effects of the pandemic while governments and businesses around the world pretended everything is better now. And now, I can’t even complain about it on Twitter because the site sucks, is…

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Insomniac Games quickly established itself as one of the most prolific studios within PlayStation after Sony acquired it for what seems like a bargain at $229 million four years ago. 2020's Spider-Man: Miles Morales, 2021's Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart, and this year’s Spider-Man 2 showed that the studio could keep…

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A slick new VR headset, a “slim” console refresh, tons of flashy new accessories, and multiple exclusives, including the fastest selling PlayStation game ever, Spider-Man 2. The PlayStation 5 made big moves in 2023. So why does it feel like the console spent most of it resting on its laurels while flailing for a new…

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Eager to show off just just how much time you spend playing video games? If you use Steam, then you might already know that Valve compiles everyone’s many hours spent in digital realms into a “Steam Year in Review,” which breaks down how many games you’ve played, the percentage of your top games, and other cool stats…

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You thought we were done with The Day Before shenanigans? Think again. Currently, Steam keys for the troubled zombie game are being listed on unauthorized third-party key reseller sites for more than $300. Suffice it to say, you should not spend this much money on this game (or maybe any game?).

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Damn, what a year 2023 was, huh?

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2023 is nearly a wrap. As we close the books on what was an outstanding year of video games, we also note that 2023 was a year rife with something else: leaked information about video games. Oftentimes very big leaks. This year was lousy with them.

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Zack Snyder, Film director and guy-who-spells-Zack-correctly, is out promoting his new Netflix film, Rebel Moon. But because he’s talked about Epic’s popular battle royale shooter Fortnite in the past, people keep asking him about the game and recently, someone wondered if he would be willing to direct a movie based…

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We recently asked you, dear Kotaku readers, what your most anticipated games of 2024 might be. The list y’all presented mirrors some of the titles I’m stoked about, but you also shared a bunch of games that weren’t yet on my radar. Thank you for that. Most of all, there appears to be one game we all—myself…

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What if I suggested that you download the Best Buy app? Okay, please don’t close this tab, because you should do so if you want to save almost $60 on the recently discounted Xbox Series X for either you or someone you love—and you have to act fast.

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The last few years have been pretty tough both within the game industry and beyond it. Between the pandemic, ongoing wars, greedy corporations squeezing money out of us all, politicians becoming even more vile, and a general sense that things aren’t getting better, it’s hard to stay positive. All of this has led to a…

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If you haven’t heard, over 1.3 million internal documents from Spider-Man and Ratchet & Clank developer Insomniac Games were leaked after Sony didn’t meet ransomware group Rhysida’s demands for $2 million worth of Bitcoin. The documents include early footage of the team’s Wolverine game, the studio’s roadmap for the…

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The 1.3 million files leaked as part of the recent ransomware attack on Insomniac Games contain tons of confidential information, including Sony’s projected plans for all of the studio’s upcoming games on PlayStation 5 and beyond. Those alleged roadmaps include a standalone Venom game, a Ratchet and Clank sequel,…

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Well, they’ve done it. The hacker group that breached Sony subsidiary Insomniac Games on December 12, demanding $2 million for the terabytes of data it stole, has published almost all of it online now that Sony has refused to open its wallet. This unprecedented hack contains all kinds of internal documents about the Sp…

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Entire generations of Pokémon history often feel defined by a single game. As wide-ranging as this franchise is—games, anime, trading cards, lifestyle merchandise—Game Freak’s video games provide the single creative wellspring from which everything else springs forth. As such, games like Scarlet and Violet often…

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It shouldn’t be surprising in 2023 that a lot of people watch porn involving video game characters, but exactly who tops the list and why might indeed be unexpected.

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2024 is shaping up to be a stacked year for games. Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth, Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown, Tekken 8, The Last of Us Part II Remastered, and Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League are all coming out in the first two months of next year. So, Kotaku’s got a question for you, dear reader: what…

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Game streaming service Google Stadia (why are you laughing?) shut down in 2022, leaving behind one mark on the physical realm: its not-too-shabby-looking gamepads. Originally intended for Wi-Fi-only connection, after shutting down the Stadia service, Google made sure you could convert the controllers to be used via…

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Valhalla, the setting of God of War Ragnarök’s new, free roguelike expansion, is full of tough challenges and fights. And unfortunately, the going’s only going to get tougher as developer Santa Monica Studio just dropped a new patch that tweaks the difficulty of certain encounters—though there is one change that may…

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On paper, Microsoft did what it needed to do in 2023 to improve on a quiet, somewhat empty 2022. But it also enacted layoffs and took some public beatings in court as it tried to become even bigger.

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Activision Blizzard has been the subject of scrutiny for several years now, due to its alleged “Boys’ Club” corporate culture. And now, The Wall Street Journal reports the embattled gaming company will pay roughly $54 million to settle a 2021 gender discrimination and harassment lawsuit—the same lawsuit that seemingly…

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What were you loyal Kotaku readers most interested in this year? Despite 2023 offering us scammers in Congress, a megolomaniac destroying one of the most popular social media websites of all time, and a pop star dating an NFL football hero, gamers remained laser-focused on the things that matter most to them as a…

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Today we mourn the loss of another iconic and irreplaceable talent. James McCaffrey, actor and the voice of the titular character Max Payne in the beloved neo-noir shooter games, has passed away. He was 65.

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God of War: Ragnarök’s Valhalla DLC packs a lot of story into Kratos and Mimir’s roguelike journey through the titular hall of heroes. With Santa Monica Studio framing the sequel as the end of the series’ Norse mythology arc, there’s been a lingering question of what’s next for Kratos, his son Atreus, and the God of…

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There are so many good reasons to play video games with your family. From just having a great time with invading relatives, to bonding with your children, it’s a boundary-breaking, age-gap traversing activity. Also, it’s an excellent way to fill up the aching stretch of endless Sundays in the back half of December. So…

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Mark Zuckerberg is worth over $100 billion. What does the world’s sixth-richest person do with all that money, besides lighting lots of it on fire to try to bring a Ready Player One-style metaverse to life? Apparently, he builds a sprawling mansion complex with a massive underground bunker that sounds like a cross…

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Though it didn’t snag the GOTY at this year’s Game Awards, there’s no doubting that The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is one of 2023’s many gaming highlights. Featuring an intuitive and versatile crafting system, players are free to accomplish tasks in the open-world RPG in wild, unexpected ways. But in a…

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The Xbox One stumbled out of the gate when it launched back in 2013. But in the decade since, it’s become a bit easier to appreciate Microsoft’s ambitions and foresight with its third console. It combined a console, streaming device, and Blu-Ray player into the original all-in-one media player. But like Marty McFly…

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