It’s easy to get down sometimes, when you listen to the mainstream media. Let’s face it, negativity sells. Even here on my site, we have plenty of shit like that. So, every once in awhile, it’s important to focus on our victories, or just on positivity in general. That’s what I wanted to do last night with the Gamasutra column. This column, and one more I have planned, is a continuation of that theme. The focus today is no minor thing, either. When the biggest video game website (both currently, and historically) adopts your suggested reforms, lock, stock, and barrel, that something to be proud of.

As others have noted, IGN came out with their newly revised ethics policy right before the beginning of the year. If you’re like me, you were in too much of a boozy haze to catch any of it. The long and short of it is, they adopted the GamerGate line in almost every way possible. The embargoes issue is still a problem for me, especially since it’s so frowned upon in the music and movie industries. I can understand why video game publishers like the setup they have now, but it doesn’t server the customer. Still, this document is a huge win for our cause.

“If someone at IGN develops a relationship with an industry contact that extends beyond a professional friendship, he or she must disclose that to the editorial managers, who will determine whether or not that employee should be permitted to cover their friend’s projects. If we determine that employee can still cover the project fairly, that personal relationship will be disclosed to our users.”

That’s exactly what we’ve been asking for, IGN! Thank you. Even announcing a revised ethics policy in the first place has earned publications like The Escapist scorn from the SJW lynch mob. It seems to have hit IGN pretty hard too, as several key staff members have resigned to go on to Patreon’s greener pa$tures. Who could blame them, after seeing how Jimmy Boy Sterling cleaned up?

As Nicolas notes below, the timing is pretty suspect:

It's pretty incredible. The Escapist revises ethics, gives fair coverage, Sterling leaves. IGN revises ethics, a bunch leave. #GamerGate — Nicolas (@Ncrdrg) January 9, 2015

So, we have journos who would rather resign and go make money on Patreon, rather than uphold meager ethics policies. There’s nothing too controversial in these rules…unless you’re a corrupt journo doing dirt, that is. So, good riddance to bad rubbish. IGN is going to be stronger with this ethics policy in place, regardless of why these three left. I’m happy to have put a little faith in the company recently. It seems to have been rewarded.