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Bribes have never been an alternative for me

Last night, I watched a really interesting video about corruption in the video game industry and #GamerGate. I´m talking about Scott Hall´s “My Time At Destructoid And How It Relates To Gamergate” video (Hall used to work at Destructoid for a couple of years). Because I could really relate to what Hall said, and I felt like I need to come clean about a couple of things as well. So a proper introduction of myself would be a good start I suppose. Well, for start I (Robin Ek) have worked with game retails since 2004. So I have met and talked to quite a few Gaming journalists, publishers and developers over the years (as I´ve been to a handful of Gaming cons and events since then).

Before I continue though, I just want to point out that I have never EVER accepted any bribes. And I won´t name drop anyone in this article, as most of my “bad” experiences went down about 7-8 years ago (I don´t want to get myself or anyone else into trouble. As I´m still in the game so to speak). Anyhow, I can confirm that I have experienced “some” of the stuff that Scott Hall talked about. For example, one time I was invited to this “exclusive” event party in Stockholm. Where publishers, Gaming journalists and devs flirted openly with each other over free drinks and food. And the situation felt really strange for me, in fact, it reminded me about what Tony Polanco told BasedGamer not so long ago.

Ethics policies are meant to be followed at ALL times

So all of this had me thinking about disclosure and ethics policies last night. Because where does the line go really? When should (and should you not) disclose stuff and happenings at events? And when should you be alarmed? Me, I’m a good person by heart. So I felt somewhat uncomfortable about the Stockholm event that I mentioned earlier (even though I was not a Gaming journalist at the time). Nevertheless, I have ears and eyes, so I just put two and two together. And keep in mind, this event took place around 2007-2008. So not to sound negative or anything, but things hasn’t exactly become better since then. Or maybe I should say that there are more people who dig around and put out the truth about corruption in the video game industry nowadays? At least, that´s how I see it. Because when #GamerGate took off with a big blast in August last year, GG have been like an industry watchdog of sorts ever since then (thus the DeepFreeze homepage). And there have been plenty of people who have spoken up about the corruption problems in the video game industry since last summer as well. Like former Games reviewer Darren Porter for example (he worked for Megazone and Mason Stewart Publishing).

Where does the line go between bribes and gifts?

Personally, I just try to use common sense at all times. And follow our ethics policies when it comes to gifts, etc. (we only accept gifts, which will be given away to our readers, viewers and fans. And the same thing goes for non digital review stuff as well, like hardware, for example). We also don´t accept donations (no matter if it´s via Paypal, Patreon or whatever) by developers (as it´s a clear conflict of interest case). That´s why we turned down a donation from an indie developer just recently. As it´s not morally right, and it would also make us just as bad as some of the”other” Gaming news sites out there (Destructoid, Polygon, Kotaku ect.).

And that´s something which I will never accept. That´s also why we always disclose our reviews, articles and posts (when we have been given something, or if we have some kind of relationship with the developer, company or person in question). I just hope that´s good enough, because like I said earlier. Where does the line go really? I mean, should I for example, disclose that I´ve been given free promo stuff at a con or event? Well, as far as I can tell, if it´s stuff that´s been handed out to everyone on site (and not stuff that´s been given to us in return for “favours,”, then it´s okay. Especially if we don´t keep any of the promos (or gifts), and give them to our fans. I also thought of another thing, what if you indeed get offered a bribe? (if you´re a part of the Gaming industry on one level or another) What should you do? We would turn the bribe down of course, but should we go public about it? That´s worthy of a thought at least. And that was everything that I had to say on this matter for now.

So feel free to share your opinions and thoughts on this subject in the comment section down below!

***Disclaimer***

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



Robin “V-Act” Ek

The Gaming Ground

Twitter: @TheGamingGround

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Tags: #GamerGate, Destructoid, Disclosure, Kotaku, Polygon, Scott Hall