Kotaku
Kotaku is a video game website and blog that was originally launched in 2004 as part of the Gawker Media network.[2] Univision Communications bought Gawker Media in August 2016 and rebranded it as Gizmodo Media Group, later renamed as G/O Media.
Type of site | Gaming blog |
---|---|
Owner | G/O Media |
Created by | Brian Crecente |
Editor | Stephen Totilo |
URL | kotaku |
Alexa rank | |
Commercial | Yes |
Launched | October 2004 |
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. Previous contributors to the site include Luke Smith.[6] Crecente was named one of the 20 most influential people in the video game industry over the past 20 years by GamePro in 2009[7] and one of gaming's Top 50 journalists by Edge in 2006. The site has made CNET's "Blog 100" list[8] and was ranked 50th on PC Magazine's "Top 100 Classic Web Sites" list.[9] Its name comes from the Japanese otaku (obsessive fan) and the prefix "ko-" (small in size).[10]
In April 2014, Gawker Media partnered with Future plc to launch Kotaku UK, and with Allure Media to launch Kotaku Australia.[11]
Kotaku is currently run by Stephen Totilo, who replaced Brian Crecente in 2012.[12]
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.[13] The Gizmodo Media Group was later acquired by the private equity firm Great Hill Partners in April 2019, and renamed G/O Media.[14]
The transition to G/O Media had let to several departures from the site, as well as from other sister sites under the form 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.[15] Joshua Rivera and Gita Jackson left in January 2020 stating it was impossible to work with the new management.[16] Jason Schreier, one of Kotaku's writers since 2012 known for in-depth coverage of working conditions at various studios and development histories for various 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.[17]
Controversy
In 2007, attorney Jack Thompson sued Gawker Media and site editor Brian Crecente over concerns that Kotaku declined to remove threatening user comments,[18] but the lawsuit was dismissed the next day.[19] In 2009, Business Insider reported that Hearst Corporation sought to buy Kotaku from Gawker Media.[20] In 2010, Kotaku criticized Japanese magazine Famitsu's glowing endorsement of a Konami game as a conflict of interest; Konami subsequently revoked Kotaku's invitation to the game's launch party.[21] In 2013, Forbes criticized Kotaku over what they called an inflammatory headline in a story about Hideki Kamiya; Kotaku rewrote the headline.[22]
Blacklistings
In 2007, Kotaku ran a story about rumored upcoming features on the PlayStation 3, and Sony responded by temporarily blacklisting the website.[23] The site claimed in 2015 that they had been blacklisted by major game companies Bethesda Softworks and Ubisoft.[24]
Gamergate controversy
In 2014, Kotaku was part of the accusations that instigated the Gamergate controversy when a writer from the site, Nathan Grayson, was accused of giving a favorable review to the game Depression Quest due to his relationship with its developer, Zoë Quinn, which the site denied.[25] The subreddit /r/KotakuInAction became a hub for the Gamergate community.[26][27] Its creator attempted to shut it down in 2018, claiming that it had become a "viral cancer", but it was reinstated by a Reddit administrator due to the site's guidelines.[28]
References
- "Alexa Ranking". Alexa Internet. Archived from the original on March 1, 2017. Retrieved March 1, 2017.
- "Archived copy". Archived from the original on December 22, 2016. Retrieved December 21, 2016.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
- Carr, David (October 4, 2004). "At These Web Sites, It's a Man's World". The New York Times. Archived from the original on March 4, 2014. Retrieved January 24, 2014.
- Parker, Pamela (October 4, 2004). "Gawker Media: We're Where the Boys Are". ClickZ. Retrieved September 16, 2015.
- "Kotaku". archive.org. November 9, 2004.
- "GAMING'S TOP 50 JOURNALISTS". Edge. October 17, 2006. Archived from the original on February 3, 2014. Retrieved January 24, 2014.
- 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.
- "CNET News.com'S Blog 100". CNET. Archived from the original on July 13, 2012. Retrieved January 24, 2014.
- "The Top 100 Classic Web Sites". PC Magazine. Archived from the original on February 1, 2014. Retrieved January 25, 2014.
- "Kotaku FAQ". Kotaku. Gawker Media. July 2, 2004. Archived from the original on July 15, 2007. Retrieved July 6, 2015.
- 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.
- 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.
- Calderone, Michael (August 18, 2016). "Gawker.com Ending Operations Next Week". The Huffington Post. Archived from the original on October 16, 2016.
- Ha, Anthony (April 8, 2019). "Gizmodo Media Group acquired by private equity firm Great Hill Partners". TechCrunch. Retrieved October 31, 2019.
- D'Anastasio, Cecilia (December 5, 2019). "Goodbye". Kotaku. Retrieved April 16, 2020.
- Jackson, Gita (January 10, 2020). "Goodbye From Josh and Gita". Kotaku. Retrieved April 16, 2020.
- Park, Gene (April 16, 2020). "Jason Schreier is leaving Kotaku, citing G/O Media as reason". Washington Post. Retrieved April 16, 2020.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- Quillen, Dustin (April 26, 2010). "Konami Shuns Blog Over Metal Gear Review Controversy". 1up. Retrieved January 24, 2014.
- Kain, Erik (January 9, 2013). "Kotaku And The Problem With Inflammatory Headlines In Video Game Blogging". Forbes. Archived from the original on February 2, 2014. Retrieved January 24, 2014.
- 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.
- Totilo, Stephen. "A Price Of Games Journalism". Kotaku. Archived from the original on November 20, 2015.
- Rott, Nathan (September 24, 2014). "#Gamergate Controversy Fuels Debate On Women And Video Games". NPR.org. Retrieved July 27, 2019.
- Bernstein, Joseph (October 30, 2014). "The Disturbing Misogynist History Of GamerGate's Goodwill Ambassadors". Buzzfeed News. Retrieved August 2, 2019.
- Singal, Jesse (October 20, 2014). "Gamergate Should Stop Lying to Itself". New York. Retrieved August 2, 2014.
- Alexander, Julia (July 13, 2018). "Reddit employee saves GamerGate subreddit, KotakuInAction, after founder closes it". Polygon. Retrieved July 27, 2019.