 | |
Type of site | Gaming blog |
|---|---|
| Owner | G/O Media |
| Created by | Brian Crecente |
| URL | kotaku |
| Commercial | Yes |
| Launched | October 2004 |
Kotaku is a video game website and blog that was originally launched in 2004 as part of the Gawker Media network.[1] Notable former contributors to the site include Luke Smith,[2] Cecilia D'Anastasio, Tim Rogers, and Jason Schreier.
History[]
Kotaku was first launched in October 2004 with Matthew Gallant as its lead writer, with an intended target audience of young men.[3][4] About a month later, Brian Crecente was brought in to try to save the failing site.[5] Since then, the site has launched several country-specific sites for Australia, Japan, Brazil and the UK. Crecente was named one of the 20 most influential people in the video game industry over the past 20 years by GamePro in 2009[6] and one of gaming's Top 50 journalists by Edge in 2006. The site has made CNET's "Blog 100" list[7] and was ranked 50th on PC Magazine's "Top 100 Classic Web Sites" list.[8] Its name comes from the Japanese otaku (obsessive fan) and the prefix "ko-" (small in size).[9]
In 2009, Business Insider reported that Hearst Corporation sought to buy Kotaku from Gawker Media.[10]
Stephen Totilo replaced Brian Crecente as the editor in chief in 2012.[11] Totilo had previously joined Kotaku in 2009 as deputy editor.[12]
In April 2014, Gawker Media partnered with Future plc to launch Kotaku UK, and with Allure Media to launch Kotaku Australia.[13]
Kotaku was one of several websites that was purchased by Univision Communications in their acquisition of Gawker Media in August 2016; Gizmodo Media Group was subsequently founded to house the Gawker acquisitions, operating under the Fusion Media Group, a division of Univision.[14] The Gizmodo Media Group was later acquired by the private equity firm Great Hill Partners in April 2019, and renamed G/O Media.[15]
In December 2018 Pedestrian Group, owned by the Australian media company Nine Entertainment, acquired Kotaku Australia.[16][17][18].
The transition to G/O Media led to several departures from the site, as well as from other sister sites under the former Gawker Media label due to conflicts with G/O Media's management. Cecilia D'Anastasio left Kotaku in December 2019 to become a journalist for Wired.[19] Joshua Rivera and Gita Jackson left in January 2020 stating it was impossible to work with the new management.[20] Jason Schreier, one of Kotaku's writers since 2012 known for his investigative in-depth coverage of working conditions at various studios and development histories for various video games, announced his departure from the site on April 16, 2020, citing the issues surrounding G/O Media which filtered into disruptions at their sister website Deadspin around October 2019. Schreier subsequently took a position at Bloomberg News.[21] In May 2020, senior writer Harper Jay MacIntyre[n 1] departed from Kotaku, similarly citing conflicts with management, and joined Double Fine Productions as their content and community manager.[24]
Kotaku UK closed on September 9, 2020.[25]
Totilo announced he was departing as editor in chief on February 5, 2021, though will remain in games journalism elsewhere.[12] Riley MacLeod served as interim editor in chief following Totilo's departure, before Patricia Hernandez commenced her tenure as editor in chief from June 2, 2021.[26]
Jen Glennon was appointed editor of the site in October 2023, after previous editor Patricia Hernandez was reportedly fired following a "personal disagreement" in August 2023.[27][28] In November 2023, G/O Media announced it was laying off 23 people across Kotaku and the company's other websites.[29][30]
Jen Glennon resigned her position as editor in March 2024, citing an opposition to G/O Media's desire for the site to deprioritize news and instead focus on producing game guides.[31]
In July 2024, it was reported that Kotaku Australia would shut down as part of a cost-cutting effort from third-party publisher Pedestrian Group.[32]
Controversies[]
In 2007, attorney Jack Thompson sued Gawker Media and site editor Brian Crecente over concerns that Kotaku declined to remove threatening user comments,[33] but the lawsuit was dismissed the next day.[34]
In 2010, Kotaku criticized Japanese magazine Famitsu's glowing endorsement of Konami's PlayStation Portable game Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker as a conflict of interest. In response, Konami revoked Kotaku's invitation to the game's launch party.[35]
On October 9, 2021, Kotaku published an article about Metroid Dread, which had been released a day prior, running on Nintendo Switch emulators. The article praised the game's performance on emulators (said to be better than on the Nintendo Switch itself), thanked "pirates, emulators, modders, and hackers", and suggested readers emulate older or expensive games themselves.[36] The article was criticized for promoting piracy, especially of newly released games, but was also noted to have sparked wider discussions about the role of emulation in video game preservation.[37][38][39][40] On October 10, Kotaku revised the article to clarify they were referring to game preservation[41] and, after a complaint from Nintendo on a later date, removed all mentions of piracy from the article.[42] Kotaku also issued an apology and stated that, though they believed emulation was "a vital part of the world of gaming", they did not condone using it to acquire games illegally.[42]
Blacklistings[]
In 2007, Kotaku ran a story about rumored upcoming features on the PlayStation 3, and Sony responded by temporarily blacklisting the website.[43] In 2015, Kotaku claimed that they had been blacklisted by major video game companies Bethesda Softworks and Ubisoft.[44][45] Because of this blacklist, Kotaku opted not to be a jury member in The Game Awards when invited by Geoff Keighley in 2019.[46]
In 2023, Kotaku was blacklisted by Nintendo, reportedly over articles that covered leaks of unreleased Nintendo games. Further controversy followed when then senior writer Luke Plunkett posted a picture of a fighter plane with victory markings featuring the Imperial Japanese flag.[47]
Gamergate harassment campaign[]
In 2014, Kotaku was part of the accusations that instigated the harassment campaign known as Gamergate when a writer from the site, Nathan Grayson, was falsely accused of writing a favorable review of the game Depression Quest as a result of his relationship with its developer, Zoë Quinn. After conducting an internal review, it was discovered that no review of Depression Quest existed and he had only written one article that mentioned Quinn in passing before their relationship began.[48][49] The subreddit KotakuInAction became a hub for the Gamergate community.[50][51] Its creator attempted to shut it down in 2018, claiming that it had become "infested with racism and sexism", but it was reinstated by a Reddit administrator due to the site's guidelines.[52][53]
In March 2024, the narrative development studio Sweet Baby Inc. became the target of claims from online users who said that it promoted a "woke agenda". Kotaku editor Alyssa Mercante became the target of harassment from users after publishing an article on the backlash. Media outlets such as The Week, Wired, and The Verge compared the backlash to Gamergate or dubbed it "Gamergate 2.0".[54][55][56]
Notes[]
References[]
- ↑ Totilo, Stephen (June 10, 2016). "A Note to Readers". Kotaku. Archived from the original on December 22, 2016. Retrieved 2016-12-21.
{{cite web}}: - ↑ "Gaming's Top 50 Journalists". Edge. October 17, 2006. http://www.edge-online.com/features/gamings-top-50-journalists/5/. Retrieved January 24, 2014.
- ↑ Carr, David (October 4, 2004). "At These Web Sites, It's a Man's World". The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/04/technology/04blog.html?_r=0.
- ↑ Parker, Pamela (October 4, 2004). "Gawker Media: We're Where the Boys Are". ClickZ. https://www.clickz.com/gawker-media-were-where-the-boys-are/62588/.
- ↑ "Kotaku". Kotaku. November 9, 2004. Archived from the original on November 9, 2004.
{{cite web}}: - ↑ Shuman, Sid (May 2009). "20 Most Influential People in Gaming: #20 – Brian Crecente". IDG. Archived from the original on June 7, 2011. Retrieved July 12, 2009.
{{cite web}}: - ↑ "CNET News.com'S Blog 100". CNET. Archived from the original on July 13, 2012. Retrieved January 24, 2014.
{{cite web}}: - ↑ "The Top 100 Classic Web Sites". PC Magazine. Archived from the original on February 1, 2014. Retrieved January 25, 2014.
{{cite web}}: - ↑ "Kotaku FAQ". Kotaku. Gawker Media. July 2, 2004. Archived from the original on July 15, 2007. Retrieved July 6, 2015.
{{cite web}}: - ↑ Carlson, Nicholas (November 13, 2009). "Hearst Eyed Videogame Blog Kotaku For Acquisition". Business Insider. Archived from the original on February 3, 2014. Retrieved January 24, 2014.
{{cite web}}: - ↑ Caoili, Eric (January 3, 2012). "Consumer gaming blog Kotaku loses key staff". Gamasutra. Archived from the original on February 19, 2014. Retrieved January 24, 2014.
{{cite web}}: - ↑ 12.0 12.1 Sinclair, Brendan (February 5, 2021). "Stephen Totilo leaves Kotaku". GamesIndustry.biz. Archived from the original on February 5, 2021. Retrieved February 5, 2021.
{{cite web}}: - ↑ Reynolds, John (March 13, 2014). "Gawker links up with Future to launch Lifehacker and Kotaku in UK". The Guardian. Archived from the original on July 22, 2015. Retrieved July 22, 2015.
{{cite web}}: - ↑ Calderone, Michael (18 August 2016). "Gawker.com Ending Operations Next Week". The Huffington Post. Archived from the original on October 16, 2016.
{{cite web}}: - ↑ Ha, Anthony (April 8, 2019). "Gizmodo Media Group acquired by private equity firm Great Hill Partners". TechCrunch. Archived from the original on October 31, 2019. Retrieved October 31, 2019.
{{cite web}}: - ↑ Bennett, Lindsay (11 December 2018). "Pedestrian TV to absorb Allure Media in post-Fairfax consolidation". AdNews. Archived from the original on March 21, 2022. Retrieved 2021-04-14.
{{cite web}}: - ↑ "Nine merging digital publishers Pedestrian.TV & Allure Media". Mediaweek. 11 December 2018. Archived from the original on March 17, 2022. Retrieved 17 March 2022.
{{cite web}}: - ↑ "Home page". Pedestrian Group. Archived from the original on 15 March 2022. Retrieved 17 March 2022.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) - ↑ D'Anastasio, Cecilia (December 5, 2019). "Goodbye". Kotaku. Archived from the original on April 16, 2020. Retrieved April 16, 2020.
{{cite web}}: - ↑ Jackson, Gita (January 10, 2020). "Goodbye From Josh and Gita". Kotaku. Archived from the original on April 16, 2020. Retrieved April 16, 2020.
{{cite web}}: - ↑ Park, Gene (April 16, 2020). "Jason Schreier is leaving Kotaku, citing G/O Media as reason". Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/video-games/2020/04/16/jason-schreier-is-leaving-kotaku-citing-go-media-reason/.
- ↑ MacIntyre, Harper Jay (2021-09-22). "On September 20th, my name was legally changed to Harper Jay MacIntyre. (I have no issue sharing that last name; I've done so professionally.) Heather was a spur of the moment choice as a writer. This? Is me. A deliberate choice to become who I am". Twitter. Archived from the original on July 11, 2022. Retrieved 2022-07-11.
{{cite web}}: - ↑ MacIntyre, Harper Jay (2021-11-02). "Psychonauts 2 Update #21: Quality Of Life". Fig. Archived from the original on September 2, 2022. Retrieved 2022-07-11.
{{cite web}}: - ↑ MacIntyre, Harper Jay (May 8, 2020). "To The Horizon". Kotaku. Archived from the original on May 21, 2020. Retrieved May 22, 2020.
{{cite web}}: - ↑ Stanton, Rich (2020-09-07). "Farewell from Kotaku UK". Kotaku UK. Archived from the original on 2020-09-07. Retrieved 2021-09-01.
{{cite web}}: - ↑ Liao, Shannon (May 27, 2021). "Kotaku's next editor in chief will be Patricia Hernandez". Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/video-games/2021/05/27/new-kotaku-editor-chief-patricia-hernandez/.
- ↑ Rousseau, Jeffrey (2023-10-05). "Jen Glennon is appointed as Kotaku's new editor-in-chief". GamesIndustry.biz. Archived from the original on Nov 9, 2023. Retrieved 2023-12-06.
{{cite web}}: - ↑ Batchelor, James (2023-08-15). "G/O Media reportedly fires Kotaku editor-in-chief Patricia Hernandez". GamesIndustry.biz. Retrieved 2023-12-06.
{{cite web}}: - ↑ Stenberg, Mark (2023-11-09). "G/O Media Shutters Jezebel". www.adweek.com. Retrieved 2024-03-06.
{{cite web}}: - ↑ Rousseau, Jeffrey (2023-11-09). "Kotaku staff hit by redundancies". GamesIndustry.biz. Retrieved 2024-03-06.
{{cite web}}: - ↑ Writer, Jeffrey Rousseau Staff (2024-03-21). "Kotaku editor-in-chief exits due to parent company's new guide directive". GamesIndustry.biz. Retrieved 2024-03-21.
{{cite web}}: - ↑ Jaspan, Calum (2024-07-08). "Pedestrian boss to depart as group slashes staff and titles". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 2024-07-08.
{{cite web}}: - ↑ McCarthy, Caroline (April 26, 2007). "Gaming foe Jack Thompson sues Gawker Media". CNET. Archived from the original on February 1, 2014. Retrieved January 24, 2014.
{{cite web}}: - ↑ McCarthy, Caroline (April 27, 2007). "Judge tosses out Jack Thompson's lawsuit against Gawker Media". CNET. Archived from the original on February 1, 2014. Retrieved January 24, 2014.
{{cite web}}: - ↑ Quillen, Dustin (April 26, 2010). "Konami Shuns Blog Over Metal Gear Review Controversy". 1up. Archived from the original on February 2, 2014. Retrieved January 24, 2014.
{{cite web}}: - ↑ Zwiezen, Zack (2021-10-09). "Metroid Dread Is Already Running On Switch Emulators". Kotaku. Archived from the original on 2021-10-09. Retrieved 2023-05-05.
{{cite web}}: - ↑ Warner, Noelle (2021-10-19). "Pirating Metroid aside, emulators play an important role in games preservation". Destructoid. Archived from the original on February 7, 2023. Retrieved 2023-05-05.
{{cite web}}: - ↑ King, Jade (2021-10-11). "Even If Piracy Is Wrong, Nintendo Will Be Just Fine". TheGamer. Archived from the original on May 5, 2023. Retrieved 2023-05-05.
{{cite web}}: - ↑ Andrews, Heath (2021-10-10). "Kotaku Possibly Sabotaging "Metroid Dread" Sales with Emulator Links". NERDBOT. Archived from the original on May 5, 2023. Retrieved 2023-05-05.
{{cite web}}: - ↑ Liebl, Matthew (2021-10-10). "Support game developers, please don't emulate Metroid Dread". App Trigger. Archived from the original on May 5, 2023. Retrieved 2023-05-05.
{{cite web}}: - ↑ Zwiezen, Zack (2021-10-09). "Metroid Dread Is Already Running On Switch Emulators". Kotaku. Archived from the original on 2021-10-11. Retrieved 2023-05-05.
{{cite web}}: - ↑ 42.0 42.1 Zwiezen, Zack (2021-10-09). "Metroid Dread Is Already Running On Switch Emulators". Kotaku. Archived from the original on 2021-10-24. Retrieved 2023-05-05.
{{cite web}}: - ↑ Kohler, Chris (March 1, 2007). "Sony and Kotaku In Blacklist Flap". Wired.com. Archived from the original on July 27, 2010. Retrieved January 24, 2014.
{{cite web}}: - ↑ Totilo, Stephen (November 19, 2015). "A Price Of Games Journalism". Kotaku. Archived from the original on November 20, 2015.
{{cite web}}: - ↑ Orland, Kyle (2015-11-20). "Analysis: Kotaku, blacklisting, and the independence of the gaming press". Ars Technica. Archived from the original on February 14, 2017. Retrieved 2023-02-06.
{{cite web}}: - ↑ Glennon, Jen (December 11, 2019). "Geoff Keighley Is The Nicest Power Player In Video Games". Inverse. Archived from the original on September 30, 2020. Retrieved December 11, 2022.
{{cite web}}: - ↑ "Video game journalist sparks backlash with tweet of WWII photo amid Nintendo blacklisting". Yahoo News. 2023-05-08. Retrieved 2024-01-05.
{{cite web}}: - ↑ Rott, Nathan (September 24, 2014). "#Gamergate Controversy Fuels Debate On Women And Video Games". NPR.org. Archived from the original on August 6, 2019. Retrieved 2019-07-27.
{{cite web}}: - ↑ "In recent days I've been asked several times about a possible breach of ethics involving one of". Kotaku. August 20, 2014. Archived from the original on May 31, 2020. Retrieved 2020-06-14.
{{cite web}}: - ↑ Bernstein, Joseph (30 October 2014). "The Disturbing Misogynist History Of GamerGate's Goodwill Ambassadors". Buzzfeed News. Archived from the original on September 20, 2018. Retrieved 2 August 2019.
{{cite web}}: - ↑ Singal, Jesse (20 October 2014). "Gamergate Should Stop Lying to Itself". New York. https://nymag.com/scienceofus/2014/10/gamergate-should-stop-lying-to-itself.html. Retrieved 2 August 2014.
- ↑ "The Creator of the Largest Gamergate Subreddit Rage Quits, Says it's 'Infested With Racism and Sexism'". Vice. July 13, 2018. Archived from the original on July 13, 2018. Retrieved 2022-03-25.
{{cite web}}: - ↑ Alexander, Julia (2018-07-13). "Reddit employee saves GamerGate subreddit, KotakuInAction, after founder closes it". Polygon. Archived from the original on July 16, 2018. Retrieved 2019-07-27.
{{cite web}}: - ↑ Coleman, Theara (March 22, 2024). "Gamergate 2.0: Extremism in video games sees another reckoning". The Week. https://theweek.com/culture-life/personal-technology/games/gamergate-2-extremism-video-games.
- ↑ Farokhmanesh, Megan (March 14, 2024). "The Small Company at the Center of 'Gamergate 2.0'". Wired. https://www.wired.com/story/sweet-baby-video-games-harassment-gamergate/.
- ↑ Parrish, Ash (March 18, 2024). "The return of Gamergate is smaller and sadder". The Verge. https://www.theverge.com/2024/3/18/24104799/gamergate-2024-sweet-baby-inc-diversity.
External links[]
Template:GawkerMedia Template:Univision Communications Template:Video Game Critics
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