Complete Disaster For Kotaku As Nintendo Shuts Them Down

It is no secret that the Internet is not too fond of Kotaku. Over the years, they have built quite a bad reputation. Despite this, they are still extremely popular worldwide, raking millions of readers monthly. At least, that is what they claim. Their exact reading numbers are a mystery. Kotaku brands itself as a video game journalist outlet. When they want to be, their journalism is the best I have ever seen. They have their moments when their stories are exceptionally informative and captivating.

However, over the years, Kotaku has made a direction shift. With each passing day, they are moving more and more away from gaming journalism and towards social commentary and their brand of politics. This by itself is not the worst thing in the world. We all have opinions, and you are free to share them. However, Kotaku does not only share their political beliefs. They work them into their video game reviews. If you click on a review to determine why you should buy The Witcher 3, you will get five paragraphs about Black Lives Matter.

Whether you believe in those causes or not, I hope we can all agree that these issues do not belong in video game journalism. However, today, we are here to discuss more than just Kotaku’s political activism. Currently, this outlet is finding itself in some hot water with Nintendo. I am no fan of Nintendo either, and although I enjoy their games, they could do better with suppressing online content.

Nintendo vs. Kotako

When it comes to Nintendo, there are certain lines you cannot cross. One of these lines is promoting any online roms. Nintendo can do better when it comes to game reservations. Thus, many in the community turn to roms to play their favorite games. However, Nintendo is vicious at shutting this type of practice down. They will hunt you down and destroy you if you promote this practice in any way. Now, some of this is understandable, and some of it is not. You cannot just pirate games. All of this brings us to Kotaku.

For some unexplained reason, they think promoting pirating a brand-new game is an excellent idea. Kotaku wrote an article in which they claimed that Zelda Tears of the Kingdom was streaming excellently on the Steam Deck. Most know this, but Nintendo games are exclusive to their platform, and piracy is the only way to play them on the Steam Deck. As you can imagine, giving away tips on pirating a brand-new game does not sit well with Nintendo. The punishment for Kotaku is no more early review copies of Nintendo games.

It is up for debate whether or not this is a fair decision. Although Kotaku has a poor reputation with the public, Nintendo is not far behind them in certain areas. Many saw this as a move by Nintendo to beat journalists into submission. However, most people agree that the punishment does fit the crime. It would help if you refrained from writing articles on how to pirate new games. You should expect pushback when doing something like this, though. Nintendo also does not owe you a review copy. It is their IP, and they decide who plays it early.

Kotaku Freaks Out On Nintendo

The news of Kotaku’s blacklist from Nintendo is a bitter pill for many within the company. To express their frustrations, one journalist stated on Twitter; It’s preview day for Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, a huge game I would love for Kotaku to be able to inform its millions of readers about firsthand. Unfortunately, Nintendo still has it blacklisted from advanced coverage, a move I would argue is both unprofessional and coercive. This tweet alone is causing a firestorm online. Unfortunately for Kotaku, most of the Internet is against them.

Those who disagree with Kotaku’s politics are having a field day mocking the publisher. For most, this is precisely what they deserve. Kotaku, for their part, decided to go down swinging. As most know, some leaks of Zelda are floating around online. Something like this happening sucks for everyone. For their part, Kotaku will not allow an excellent leak to slip by their wayside. They very quickly capitalized on the whole situation. On Kotaku’s website right now, you will find an article that provides full details of the leaks.

If you want to argue that this is fair game, you have a point. The leaks are out, and Kotaku can report on whatever they want. Though, no true gaming fan will spoil a story for someone else. Their choosing to do this shows low integrity in my books. People point to this as a reason why the blacklisting is valid. Most other respectable outlets are taking a stand against the leaks. Not because they care about Nintendo but because they care about the fans. People deserve to play this game without spoilers. We have seen in the past how leaks can destroy games. The perfect example of this is Last Of Us Part 2.

Kotaku Goes Too Far In Their War Against Nintendo

Kotaku, for their part, is not done with Nintendo. Things are getting even crazier as the battle between these two companies rages on. You might ask yourself how Kotaku can get even crazier, but never underestimate their ability to shoot themselves in the face. For some reason, a journalist who works for the publication thought it to be a good idea to wish death on Nintendo. On Twitter, Journalist Luke Plunkett posted a picture of a world war two plane pilot responsible for killing Japanese soldiers with the caption; For the record, this is how I feel about publisher blacklists.

If you think that this is an overreaction, you are correct. Luckily, most people are calling out this absurd tweet. Although a small group is defending this, most agree that this journalist is stepping over a clear line. In response to all of this, Plunkett did delete the tweet. His account is also now locked. After the locked account, he doubled down and reposted the tweet. Now, only those who follow him can see the post.

The Internet, for their part, is having a lot of fun with this. Kotaku is known for its cancel culture; they will not miss an opportunity to pile on someone they disagree with. Therefore, the Internet is not holding back on Kotaku and its journalists either. The staff at the outlet is bending over backward to defend this behavior. This, of course, is not shocking to anyone familiar with the outlet.

Conclusion

Overall, this whole situation is crazy. What started with an article about game piracy became a blacklisting from the video game review community. I will say wishing death on a company for not getting access to a video game early is an overreaction. I have disagreements with both of these companies. However, I also value both. I enjoy Nintendo’s IPs a lot. When it comes to their excessive suppression of content creators, I am not a fan. In that sense, I can understand why Kotaku is frustrated.

Nintendo is notorious for bullying creators. For Kotaku, I am not a fan of this vision of politics and video game reviews. But video game journalists are essential, and they deserve the right to express themselves however they feel. And they also have moments when some of their articles are detailed and good. Ultimately, you can decide who you support in this situation.