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It´s somewhat hard to believe that Gawker Media’s Gaming site Kotaku has been around since October, 2004 (that is over 11 years ago). However, it´s true. And I can´t say that I have all that many good things to say about Kotaku (I´m far from the only person who feels that way). You see. I didn´t find out about Kotaku until 2013 sometime. And at that time, Kotaku was pretty much in the same bad state that it is in now. And over time, Kotaku simply kept on getting worse and worse when it comes to corruption and biased posts and reviews (not to mention Kotaku´s “Anti-Gamer” and “Anti-games” attitude). So the scandals just kept on dropping in. And that´s also why it feels somewhat unreal when we jump forward to the current date. As Kotaku is now for sale in an auction (due to Gawker Medias lawsuit loss against to Hulk Hogan) which starts on the 16th of August. Well, I don´t know about you, but it took some time for that to sink in for me.

“Kotaku – The Gamer’s Guide”…

It still remains to be seen who will buy Kotaku though, and how much the site will sell for.

I mean, I´ve known for a long time that Gawker lost to Hulk Hogan in court. Even so, it took a while for me to realize that this is not a joke but reality. And that fact also makes me wonder who will pay the highest price for Kotaku in the end? And what will be the outcome of it all? Because, let´s say that IGN ends up buying Kotaku (IGN’s parent company Ziff Davis, to be exact). Well, in that case, does that mean that Kotaku will under-go an full IGN transformation? Or will Kotaku stay the same way as it has been for years? (for good or bad, but mostly bad). That´s the one million-dollar question right there. And will the current Kotaku staff be replaced with new people from the outside? Or will they still be around when someone buys Kotaku? And if not, then who will hire the former Kotaku employees?

I wonder who will end up buying Kotaku? IGN perhaps?

And more so, can the damage be undone? Since Kotaku has a very bad reputation among the Gaming community. That´s also why I´m curious to know why someone would be interested in buying Kotaku in the first place. Unless it´s for the pure joy to torment the brand even further, like turning Kotaku´s homepage into a site full of past Kotaku scandals (or something like that). Well, I think you get my point.

Twitter is full of mocking tweets such as this.

So it´s going to be really interesting to see whom will end up owning Kotaku (and Gawker Media), and what kind of “change” that purchase might bring to Kotaku. Well, time will tell I guess. One thing is for sure though, we will get more information once the auction of Gawker Media kicks-off on Tuesday. (yes, both Gawker and it´s owner Nick Denton is filing for bankruptcy, thus the auction of Gawker Media).

And with that said. What´s your take on this matter? Let us know your thoughts in the comment section down below!

Source:
nypost
wsj
oneangrygamer
Gawker
Politico

***Disclaimer***
This is a personal opinion of the writer, and it doesn’t necessarily represent the other writers (nor The Gaming Ground´s) opinions.

***Disclosure***
I´m not a fan of Kotaku nor Gawker.

Robin “V-Act” Ek
The Gaming Ground
Twitter: @TheGamingGround