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First It Was An Assassin’s Creed Expansion, Now It’s Ubisoft’s 8 Year Nightmare

July 20, 2021Kotaku

A few people said it was cursed. Others simply had no idea what they were supposed to be making. “Nobody knew what the fuck they were doing,” said one former developer.Skull & Bones development began back in 2013, as a multiplayer expansion to Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag that would release as a post-launch update, three sources with knowledge of the project’s origins said. The expansion soon took on a life of its own, however, morphing into a full blown MMO-like spin-off with the working title Black Flag Infinite, and later a brand new pirate game called Skull & Bones.The…

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Next-Gen Sports Games On PC Always Suck, This Is Nothing New

July 13, 2021Kotaku

This year, fans of EA Sports titles like FIFA and Madden who play on PC—and there are more of us than you think!—are upset that those games will be ports of the last-gen versions, and not of the fancier editions appearing on the PS5 and Xbox Series X. Eurogamer published a story earlier today collecting some of this disappointment and frustration, from game forums to Reddit, following the reminder this week that the PC versions of Madden 22 and FIFA 22 will once again be based on the PS4 and Xbox One versions.FIFA fans were particularly upset, because EA Sports…

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This Week’s PlayStation Event Won’t Include God Of War Or Horizon

July 6, 2021Kotaku

During last month’s E3/Summer Game Fest announcement bonanza, Sony was one of the many conspicuously absent companies. However, if you were expecting big, E3-style announcements out of the PlayStation maker’s July showcase, prepare to be disappointed. In a blog post today, Sony Interactive Entertainment senior director of content communications Sid Shuman said that the much-anticipated July 8 “State of Play” event will mostly focus on Deathloop and other third-party games.“In this extended gameplay sequence, we’ll see Cole use his abilities to stealthily skulk across rooftops…or go in guns blazing to create a whole lot of mayhem,” Shuman wrote of Deathloop….

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Why Wasn’t The ‘Switch Pro’ Announced At E3? Nintendo Still Won’t Say

July 1, 2021Kotaku

During Nintendo’s annual shareholder meeting this week, the firm was asked the obvious question: Why wasn’t the ‘Switch Pro’ shown at E3? It’s a question we asked here at Kotaku, and something both fans and investors want to know. The new version, which Kotaku predicted could be revealed at E3, was supposed to have a larger OLED handheld screen and enough power to output 4K graphics while docked. The console was supposed to go into production this summer for a holiday release. “It was widely reported that a new version of the Nintendo Switch would be announced this June at…

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All-Digital E3 Was A Mess

June 18, 2021Kotaku

Another E3 has come and gone. This year’s multi-day commercial for upcoming video games sure…happened. Was it terribly exciting? No, not that we were expecting it to be. Was it downright terrible? Also no. But in failing to find its footing on an all-digital stage, E3 2021 ended up being a showcase for the many different ways that cramming a bunch of announcements into one week doesn’t really make sense anymore. On this week’s Splitscreen, we discuss what went wrong.Ash Parrish, John Walker (Fahey was sick, so we called in his British replacement), and I begin the episode on a…

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Nintendo Scores Highest Peak Viewership Of E3

June 17, 2021Kotaku

Switch Pro or not, Nintendo still had the most people watching its E3 2021 presentation. Nintendo amassed 3.1 million peak viewers for its nearly 40 minute presentation, according to yesterday’s tweet from Stream Hatchet, a data analytics firm specializing in video game streaming.Despite being one of the shorter showcases, Nintendo smashed the competition, gaining 800,000 peak viewers over the joint Xbox/Bethesda conference, which was the next highest watched presentation, clocking a modest 2.3 million viewers. Showing off highly anticipated titles like Breath of the Wild 2 and the first 2D Metroid in two decades likely contributed to Nintendo’s success.And though…

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E3 2021: 20 Games Missing From The Show

June 16, 2021Kotaku

Silence screams volumes. Over the past five days, video game publishers have shouted announcements for the biggest games from the rooftops. But that chorus has been drowned out by the far more deafening din of what wasn’t announced at E3 2021. Of course, we had some inkling beforehand about which blockbusters wouldn’t show up. Ubisoft said from the jump that we’d see nothing from The Division or the Prince of Persia: Sands of Time remake. Deep Silver, the publisher behind series like Timesplitters and Dead Island, also said that it wouldn’t exhibit any games at E3. Activision, Sony, and EA…

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What To Expect From Nintendo At E3 2021

June 15, 2021Kotaku

Got your crystal ball handy? Hope so, because Nintendo won’t be holding its traditional press event, Nintendo Direct, until Tuesday, June 15. Though that’s the final day of E3, this is probably going to be a last-but-not-least sort of scenario, because Nintendo’s widely expected to bring out some big guns for its post-covid return to the biggest video game expo in the world. If you’d like to watch live on Tuesday, you can find the details on Nintendo’s E3 2021 landing page. The Nintendo Direct livestream starts at noon ET and will last around 40 minutes, after which the company’s…

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Twitch’s Official Channel Won’t Stream Nintendo’s E3 Direct Due To Co-Streaming Restrictions

June 15, 2021Kotaku

Later today, Nintendo will broadcast its Direct for this year’s E3. Leading up to the event, the Kyoto-based game company has issued a request on its Japanese Twitter account: Do not co-stream our presentation. “Please refrain from mirroring Nintendo Direct footage and sound during the Nintendo Direct livestream,” the tweet reads. Nintendo will allow simultaneous viewing (reactions, basically) without mirroring—and thus, without streaming sound or footage.Once the presentation is finished, Nintendo has okayed the uploading of clips, but with the caveat that the use of footage and sound follows the company’s previously released guidelines.In Japan, Nintendo clearly does not want…

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E3 2021’s Prettiest Game Might Be This ’80s-Inspired Platformer

June 15, 2021Kotaku

It’s called E3 2021 not because 2021 is the year most calendars are set to but because video game publishers have released approximately 2,021 trailers over the past 72 hours. Given the sheer number of short clips, some show-stealers naturally fall through the cracks. One of the coolest in recent days—provided you haven’t caught it yet—was a brief spot for Replaced, which popped up yesterday during Microsoft’s Xbox digital showcase. First, the music. I’ve tried Shazam. I’ve tried the little microphone in “OK Google.” I’ve tried asking reps from Coatsink, the game’s publisher. (They have not yet responded.) Please, if…

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Elden Ring Director Finally Opens Up About His Latest Epic

June 14, 2021Kotaku

Geoff Keighley’s Summer Game Fest kicked off E3 2021 with an incredible look at Elden Ring, the next major action-RPG adventure from Dark Souls developer From Software. And while it was fantastic to see more of the upcoming game two years after its initial announcement, the dense trailer provoked more questions than answers. IGN recently sat down with Elden Ring director Hidetaki Miyazaki, who provided some more tantalizing details about what players can expect from the highly anticipated release.If you’ve been living under a rock for the last two years, this whole thing might seem confusing, so here’s a quick…

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Square Enix E3 2021: How To Watch

June 13, 2021Kotaku

Hello, it’s still E3. Funny seeing you here, getting ready to watch Square Enix’s E3 2021 Summer Showcase. Here’s when and where to watch. Square Enix is showing off its stuff on Sunday, June 13, at 12:15pm Pacific/ 3:15pm Eastern.You can watch on YouTube, embedded below, or on Twitch.Square Enix has already revealed some of the things we’ll see at the show. We’ve been promised more Babylon’s Fall, an action RPG first teased during Square Enix’s sparse E3 2018 presentation and which we saw a little more of in a PlayStation State of Play in 2019.We also know there’ll be…

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Starfield Leak Reveals Bethesda’s Ambitious Sci-Fi RPG Out Nov 2022

June 13, 2021Kotaku

Starfield, Bethesda’s upcoming sci-fi RPG, has been somewhat of a mystery to the gaming world since its initial tease back in 2018. While many expected to see the game in action during Sunday afternoon’s Xbox and Bethesda showcase, newspaper The Washington Post accidentally uploaded a trailer for the game to their website ahead of time. Update: In the official reveal, Todd Howard says that the trailer, while cinematic, is all in-game. Better yet, the trailer ends with a release date: November 11, 2022. In it, we can see an explorer aboard a ship that is about to take off into…

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Ubisoft at E3: Everything You Need To Know, In 3 Minutes

June 13, 2021Kotaku

Ubisoft Forward, the E3 2021 showcase for the French video game company, unfolded on Saturday afternoon with plenty of reveals, gameplay footage, and teasers. But rather than sitting through an hour of news, why not enjoy a reel of the biggest and best announcements? In our video above, we’ve got a condensed version of the presser for your viewing pleasure. In it, you can see games like Rainbow Six Extraction, Rocksmith+, Riders Republic, Just Dance 2022, the next Assassin’s Creed expansion, Far Cry 6, Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle, and Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora. Looking at that list, it gives…

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Rainbow Six Extraction Coming In September, Looks Gross

June 12, 2021Kotaku

Today at Ubisoft’s E3 showcase, we got a better look at the upcoming Rainbow Six Extraction. This co-op-focused spin-off takes the Rainbow Six Siege characters and has them fight off against mutated alien monsters. It’s out September 16. In Rainbow Six Extraction, tactical operatives from R6 Siege face off against a deadly alien threat, the Archaen. These aliens come in various forms, from smaller grunts to bigger tank-like enemies. One, called a spiker, can even shoot at players using long-range, organic spikes. The Archaen came from space via a crashed meteor and spread into big cities throughout the U.S., like…

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How To Watch E3 2021’s Ubisoft Forward

June 12, 2021Kotaku

E3 2021 is trucking along with its “Ubisoft Forward” press conference. Here’s how to watch. Ubisoft Forward happens on Saturday, June 12, at 12 p.m. PT / 3 p.m. ET. You can watch Ubisoft Forward on YouTube, embedded below. You can also watch on Twitch or on Ubisoft’s Forward page. The event will have an American Sign Language interpreter.Ubisoft released a hype reel showing some of the games we can expect from the show as well as its (sigh) pre- and post-shows. Unsurprisingly, there are glimpses of Riders Republic, Far Cry 6, and Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla. We’ll also see more…

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What To Expect From Ubisoft’s E3 2021 Press Conference

June 12, 2021Kotaku

Today, at 3:00 p.m. ET, Ubisoft will host its E3 press conference, “Ubisoft Forward.” Don’t get your hopes up for updates about the upcoming Prince of Persia: Sands of Time remake or The Division. (That goes for both the base game and the recently announced The Division Heartlands.) Earlier this week, Ubisoft confirmed neither would be on the setlist. Still, there’s a whole lot we know will be there, chiefly because Ubisoft detailed the lineup in a blog post. From an initial peek, the show looks…fine? Ubisoft says it’ll contain “surprises.” That could refer to anything—from that Star Wars game…

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The Biggest Summer Game Fest Announcements In Six Minutes

June 11, 2021Kotaku

Geoff Keighley’s Summer Game Fest Kickoff! Marked the unofficial start of E3 2021 season Thursday with trailers, teasers, announcements, and celebrity appearances.Elden Ring, a collaboration between Game of Thrones writer George R. R. Martin and developer FromSoftware easily stole the show. FromSoftware is the team behind the Dark Souls series, Bloodborne, and Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice so the gameplay expectation has an extremely high bar to meet. And as for Martin, well, people really loved Game of Thrones for a while there.Not to be shown up were Metal Slug Tactics, Death Stranding Director’s Cut, Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands and a ton…

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For Some Reason, Kingdom Come: Deliverance Is Coming To The Nintendo Switch

June 11, 2021Kotaku

Kingdom Come: Deliverance is an ambitious, sprawling and deeply-flawed RPG that came out back in 2018. Now, despite its scale and technical issues on far more powerful platforms, the game is coming in 2021 to the Nintendo Switch. Who asked for this? Who has never played the game, doesn’t own any other system it exists for and will run better on (it also came out on PS4 and Xbox One) and will now, three years later, buy it on the Nintendo Switch?For the three people on the planet who are currently saying “uh, me, maybe?”, there are things about the…

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Summer Game Fest: How To Watch E3 2021’s Kickoff

June 10, 2021Kotaku

E3 begins today with ubiquitous video games cheerleader Geoff Keighley’s Summer Game Fest Kickoff event. Here’s when and where to watch. Summer Game Fest kicks off Thursday, June 10, at 11 a.m. PT/ 2 p.m. ET. You can watch the event on Youtube, embedded below, or on Twitch. You can also watch on Twitter, if you want to spend the whole thing squinting at a tiny box.There’s also an audio descriptive co-stream on Twitch streamer superblindman’s channel. We don’t know the entirety of what we’ll be seeing at the kickoff, though Keighley’s past events, like the Game Awards, usually have…

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