Short answers, pulled from the story.
Kotaku launched in October 2004 as part of the Gawker Media network, with Matthew Gallant as its lead writer. Brian Crecente joined about a month later to save the struggling site and became its defining editor.
The name Kotaku combines the Japanese word otaku, meaning obsessive fan, with the prefix ko-, which means small in size.
Multiple writers cited conflicts with G/O Media's management as their reason for leaving. Departures included Cecilia D'Anastasio, Joshua Rivera, Gita Jackson, Jason Schreier, Harper Jay MacIntyre, and Stephen Totilo, with Schreier specifically linking the problems to disruptions at sister site Deadspin around October 2019.
In 2014, Kotaku writer Nathan Grayson was falsely accused of writing a favorable review of Depression Quest in exchange for a relationship with developer Zoe Quinn. An internal review found no such review existed. The episode helped spark the broader Gamergate harassment campaign, and a Reddit community called KotakuInAction became one of its central hubs.
Sony temporarily blacklisted Kotaku in 2007 after it published rumors about the PlayStation 3. By 2015, Kotaku reported it had been blacklisted by both Bethesda Softworks and Ubisoft. Nintendo blacklisted the site in 2023, reportedly over coverage of leaks involving unreleased Nintendo games.
Kotaku is owned by Keleops, a Swiss media company that also owns Gizmodo. G/O Media sold Kotaku to Keleops in July 2025. Keleops CEO Jean-Guillaume Kleis stated the company planned to retain Kotaku's existing staff and invest in its editorial growth.