Kotaku

Not to be confused with Kodaku.
Kotaku
Type of site
 Gaming blog
Owner Univision Communications
Created by Brian Crecente
Editor Stephen Totilo
Slogan(s) The Gamer's Guide
Website kotaku.com
Alexa rank Negative increase 902 (May 2016)[1]
Commercial Yes
Launched October 2004 (2004-10)

Kotaku is a video game website and blog that was originally launched in 2004 as part of the Gawker Media network. It is currently owned by Univision Communications.

History

Kotaku was first launched in October 2004 with Matthew Gallant as its lead writer, with an intended target audience of young men.[2][3] About a month later, Brian Crecente was brought in to try to save the failing site.[4] 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.[5] 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 April 2014, Gawker Media partnered with Future plc to launch Kotaku UK, and with Allure Media to launch Kotaku Australia.[10]

Kotaku is currently run by Stephen Totilo, who replaced Brian Crecente in 2012.[11]

Kotaku was one of six websites that was purchased by Univision Communications in their acquisition of Gawker Media in August 2016.[12]

Controversy

In 2007, attorney Jack Thompson sued Gawker Media and site editor Brian Crecente over concerns that Kotaku declined to remove threatening user comments,[13] but the lawsuit was dismissed the next day.[14] In 2009, Business Insider reported that Hearst Corporation sought to buy Kotaku from Gawker Media.[15] 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.[16] In 2013, Forbes criticized Kotaku over what they called an inflammatory headline in a story about Hideki Kamiya; Kotaku rewrote the headline.[17]

Blacklistings

In 2007, Kotaku ran a story about rumored upcoming features on the PlayStation 3, and Sony responded by temporarily blacklisting the website.[18] The site claimed in 2015 that they had been blacklisted by major game companies Bethesda Softworks and Ubisoft.[19]

References

  1. ↑ "Alexa Ranking". Alexa Internet. Retrieved May 22, 2016.
  2. ↑ Carr, David (October 4, 2004). "At These Web Sites, It's a Man's World". The New York Times. Retrieved January 24, 2014.
  3. ↑ Parker, Pamela (October 4, 2004). "Gawker Media: We're Where the Boys Are". ClickZ. Retrieved September 16, 2015.
  4. ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20041109094627/http://www.kotaku.com/
  5. ↑ "GAMING'S TOP 50 JOURNALISTS". Edge. October 17, 2006. Retrieved January 24, 2014.
  6. ↑ 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.
  7. ↑ "CNET News.com'S Blog 100". CNET. Retrieved January 24, 2014.
  8. ↑ "The Top 100 Classic Web Sites". PC Magazine. Retrieved January 25, 2014.
  9. ↑ "Kotaku FAQ". Kotaku. Gawker Media. July 2, 2004. Archived from the original on July 15, 2007. Retrieved July 6, 2015.
  10. ↑ Reynolds, John (March 13, 2014). "Gawker links up with Future to launch Lifehacker and Kotaku in UK". The Guardian. Retrieved July 22, 2015.
  11. ↑ Caoili, Eric (January 3, 2012). "Consumer gaming blog Kotaku loses key staff". Gamasutra. Retrieved January 24, 2014.
  12. ↑ Calderone, Michael (18 August 2016). "Gawker.com Ending Operations Next Week". The Huffington Post.
  13. ↑ McCarthy, Caroline (April 26, 2007). "Gaming foe Jack Thompson sues Gawker Media". CNET. Retrieved January 24, 2014.
  14. ↑ McCarthy, Caroline (April 27, 2007). "Judge tosses out Jack Thompson's lawsuit against Gawker Media". CNET. Retrieved January 24, 2014.
  15. ↑ Carlson, Nicholas (November 13, 2009). "Hearst Eyed Videogame Blog Kotaku For Acquisition". Business Insider. Retrieved January 24, 2014.
  16. ↑ Quillen, Dustin (April 26, 2010). "Konami Shuns Blog Over Metal Gear Review Controversy". 1up. Retrieved January 24, 2014.
  17. ↑ Kain, Erik (January 9, 2013). "Kotaku And The Problem With Inflammatory Headlines In Video Game Blogging". Forbes. Retrieved January 24, 2014.
  18. ↑ Kohler, Chris (March 1, 2007). "Sony and Kotaku In Blacklist Flap". Wired.com. Retrieved January 24, 2014.
  19. ↑ Totilo, Stephen. "A Price Of Games Journalism". Kotaku.


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