Venerable games media site Kotaku has announced the appointment of Rebekah Valentine as Senior Reporter, the brand’s first significant hire since it was purchased from G/O Media by French firm Keleops Media in July 2025. Valentine’s arrival is the first of several planned by the site, which Keleops says has grown rapidly post-acquisition. Valentine previously worked at IGN and before that GamesIndustry.biz.
“We acquired Kotaku less than a year ago and are genuinely happy with where things stand,” Managing Director for Kotaku and Engadget Mylène Poncet tells GamesIndustry.biz. “The brand is moving in the right direction, the audience is there, the traffic is going up – it’s doubled since we acquired the team – and we’re now at a stage where we can bring in the kind of senior talents that takes things to the next level. That’s what this hire is about.”
Interim EIC Ethan Gach highlights Valentine’s “strong background in business reporting and highlighting the obsessive communities around indie hits like Blue Prince and Baby Steps,” but said that “what’s exciting about Rebekah joining the team is the chance to develop fresh beats.”
“Instead of scoops and original reporting being merely aspirational and nice to have, it should be the backbone of Kotaku and what our readers come to the site for,” he says. “I think the games industry has never been more secretive and Rebekah will be an incredible asset for helping us demystify its inner workings for our readers.”
“I’m stoked to grow my writing skills with the support of some of the best,” Valentine told GamesIndustry.biz, adding that while her work would be “focused on writing very straightforward news” with a “steadier flow of longer investigative reports… Kotaku is well-known for allowing writers a bit more freedom to play with voice and tone and style in their day-to-day coverage. And I suspect there may be more opportunities to dabble in criticism or other types of writing I haven’t done as much of before.”
Gach told GamesIndustry.biz he feels “incredibly lucky” to be in a position to expand, which he attributes to “having ownership like Keleops that understands what makes Kotaku valuable and unique and is willing to make strategic investments to fulfill its potential.”
“Private equity nearly killed Kotaku,” he says. “To be not only alive but growing in 2026 feels like a miracle, even though it’s actually the result of a dedicated, talented, and incredibly hardworking team that never lost faith in the site, its mission, and what it could achieve post-G/O Media.”
“Investment also comes with a responsibility to use those resources wisely and continue holding ourselves to higher standards. Readers want to be informed and entertained, but strong original reporting and analysis are also important to the broader gaming industry. If you’re in a position to be telling the stories no one else is telling and just not doing it, I think you’re failing in your editorial mission no matter how good things are otherwise going.”
“With Rebekah joining our newsroom, as well as our other upcoming hires, it provides more reporting muscle to capitalize on the industry tips we get in our mailbox or drag a story over the finish line that might have otherwise languished under the chaotic daily churn of writing online. We often think of reporters as lone wolves chasing down ledes in dark parking garages, but in my experience, it’s a deeply collaborative process that pays dividends far beyond the sum of the parts.”
