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***Update 1 – 2017-04-19 – 19:49 CEST***



I couldn’t help to notice that N4G.com has once again pulled the plug on one of our posts. Yes, you guessed it. The N4G mods (I don’t know who at this time) killed of the post that you got in front of your eyes right now. Why? Well, apparently this story isn’t “gaming news” worthy:

“And this is gaming news how ?” – moegooner88

However, I don’t know if moegooner88 is a N4G mod. Because to my knowledge, the mods don’t publicly label themselves as mods. So it’s hard to tell who pulled your post from N4G’s homepage (unless it’s done by Christopher, who’s a Mod and community manager at N4G). Nevertheless, the fact still remains that my post about Kotaku and Bethesda got pulled off the N4G site by some mod who apparently thinks that the N4G community shouldn’t be allowed to read about the story. In other words, it’s almost the same exact thing that happens to my OP about Pewdiepie, Polygon and Twitch. Yes, N4G pulled that one off the site as well (it didn’t even matter that the community approve the post either).

So I take it that it’s not allowed to publish negative stories about Kotaku either? You know, from my point of view, it seems like N4G is protecting Polygon and Kotaku at all times (no matter if’s corruption, SJW madness or bs/non true stories on their behalf). You seriously have to create a list over things that’s not okay to post on N4G in-order to avoid having mods killing your hard work off…

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As some of you might remember, Kotaku ended up on Bethesda’s and Ubisoft’s industry blacklist back in 2015. Well, guess what? It seems like Bethesda still doesn’t want to have anything to do with Kotaku. So much so that that a rather embarrasing situation took place just recently. You see, it appears as if a Bethesda PR-person accidentally invited Kotaku to a Prey event, then immediately uninvited them. However, Stephen Totilo (Kotaku’s editor-in-chief) claims that it was a “third-party” PR-person that invited Kotaku to that event:

“Huh. Third-party PR invites us to Bethesda game event for Prey last Thursday. I RSVP on Friday. Turns out, no slots available. Go figure.”

“We may preview a game once. Fine to skip most. This was an unusual opportunity (b/c of venue, game, studio) so was unusually interesting”

“This wasn’t for a review event. Just a preview thing, which we wouldn’t normally do this close to launch, but were curious about the game.” – Stephen Totilo, Kotaku’s editor-in-chief

Even if that’s the truth, then it still wouldn’t explain why Bethesda pulled their invitation from Kotaku unless they really don’t want them at their event. Because I hardly doubt that there is any truth to the “no slots available” claim by Bethesda. Simply put, it’s most likely just an excuse to deny Kotaku access to their event. Nevertheless, this is what Kotaku’s Jason Schreier (news editor for Kotaku) had to say about the “event incident”:

“Bethesda PR accidentally invites Kotaku to event, immediately uninvites us lmao”

“I can’t imagine it affects their bottom line that much (and we’re not gonna stop covering their games) – it’s just embarrassing for them”

“Because we reported on things they didn’t want out yet” – Jason Schreier, news editor for Kotaku

You know, I couldn’t help to notice the “it’s just embarrassing for them” part, because to me it’s quite obvious that Bethesda doesn’t trust Kotaku with anything. So I guess that Kotaku has forgotten all about their own “A Price Of Games Journalism” post from 2015?:

“For the past two years, Kotaku has been blacklisted by Bethesda, the publisher of the Fallout and Elder Scrolls series. For the past year, we have also been, to a lesser degree, ostracized by Ubisoft, publisher of Assassin’s Creed, Far Cry and more.” – Stephen Totilo, “A Price Of Games Journalism” Kotaku (11/19/15 12:30pm)

Sure, some might argue that Bethesda wants to control the information flow for their games (what gets shown, what gets said, by the games press). I don’t think so though, because there are other sites, magazines, streamers and Youtube Gaming personalities whom have been invited to Bethesda’s game events in the past. So in my opinion, it’s more about Bethesda wanting to avoid having Kotaku leaking information that shouldn’t even be leaked in the first place (release dates, plots and so on). I mean, it’s like when game developers and publishers tell us not to publish a review or story before the press embargo day has been lifted, and speaking of which.

We don’t break any press embargoes, because not only is it unethical and rude, it’s also a matter of trust. Simply put, if you keep on breaking press embargoes, then no one will trust you with anything…And that is the hard truth of the day, because less and less publishers and game developers put their trust to Kotaku (or any other site/magazine of that kind).

In the matte of fact, I bet that’s the main reason behind why E3 will be open to the public this year. Yes, that’s correct. The “established” games media won’t have as much control over what’s said and shown during E3 2017. In other words, there will be a much wider spectrum of opinions and thoughts during this year’s E3 event. Well, I don’t know about you, but I find that to be a good thing. Especially since sites like Kotaku, Destructoid and Polygon are very anti-Gamer-like in their posts and whatnot (the whole “blame everything on games and gamers“, “violent games are bad” and “attractive and sexy video game characters are gross” agenda).

“The Entertainment Software Association has announced via GameSpot that E3 2017 will be open to the public, where in recent years it has been limited to industry and media professionals. Starting this Monday, February 13, the ESA will begin selling 15,000 general access tickets for the trade show.” – PC Gamer

What I’m trying to say is that they aren’t even representing Gaming and gamers. Why?, Because they take a swing at us and our beloved hobby when ever they get a chance to do so (do you still remember all the “Gamers are dead” articles?). Furthermore, sites like that are becoming more and more irrelevant for each day that goes by (alternative Gaming sites are playing a big role in this with no doubt). So I wouldn’t be surprised if Kotaku (and similar sites) ends up being blacklisted and denied access to even more events and whatnot in the future. Well, time will tell.

As for here and now though, I think that “Prey” looks pretty cool so far (you can watch the “Bethesda Plays Psychotronics in Prey” video down below), and I hope that I (or someone from our team) will get a chance to play the demo on the 27th of April (that’s the day when the “Prey” demo drops for Xbox One and PS4).

And with that said, what’s your take on this matter? Let us know your thoughts in the comment section down below!

Source:

Stephen Totilo

Jason Schreier

Mark Kern

Kotaku has been blacklisted by Bethesda and Ubisoft

Bethesda’s Prey event

A Price Of Games Journalism (Kotaku)

E3 2017 will be open to the public

Gamers are dead

***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.



Robin “V-Act” Ek

Editor in chief

The Gaming Ground

Twitter: @TheGamingGround

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Tags: #GamerGate, Bethesda, Gamer, Gamers, Gaming, Kotaku, Stephen Totilo