A analysis attempt of the “Kotaku has been blacklisted by Bethesda and Ubisoft” situation

Even though I (Robin Ek, The Gaming Ground) have never been a frequent reader of Kotaku, I have still not been able to avoid all the scandals which they have caused over the years. However, the most recent “Kotaku has been blacklisted by Bethesda and Ubisoft” situation takes the price for sure. So this would be my thoughts and opinions on the matter.

[UserNameIsNotTaken]

This picture in the article is awesome.
Anyways, Kotaku should blacklist themselves if they love blacklist themselves I'd they love blacklisting so much.

[TGG_overlord]

Thanks ;) Well, I´m surprised that EA and Activision haven´t blacklisted them yet. As Kotaku has leaked info, pictures and such for their games in the past.

[indyman7777]

A site getting blacklisted by UBI soft? I'm i'm I didn't know Kotaku was tooo honest. Every site leaks, everyone! The real reason is they are not playing ball and giving great reviews!

[rainslacker]

@Indy

By the editor and chiefs own admission the blackouts started when Totillo allowed leaked information to be printed "as a service to their readers" for the purpose of "honesty and truthyness"(Paraphrased.. .didn't want to give Kotaku another click to get the actual quote".

The reviews have nothing to do with it, because Kotaku has never given a bad review to big ubi or bethesda games.

Anyhow, just because everyone leaks doesn't make it right. It's the nature of the leak, and how it was reported that was the problem.

[donthate]

Well, a lot of these websites are now going to experience more and more of that moving forward as publishers/developer now communicate directly with customers/fans so I expect ATVI and ERTS to do this too soon.

I would sympathize with Kotaku more if they weren't a sensationalizing clickbaiting site looking for hits and not really providing gaming news as a service to gamers!

[UserNameIsNotTaken]

Just read my comment lol
I meant that (they should blacklist themselves if they love blacklisting so much.)
I need a nap lol

[FlameBaitGod]

They should be blacklisted from this site.

[Palitera]

This site isn't here to make anyone feel good. It is here to make money.

And our clicks (yup, yours too) is what make us and the staff sure that they won't blacklist Kotaku.

Why would N4G avoid the hits? In the end, the users collectively choose to put Kotaku in the top on every flamebait article they do, by clicking and cursing and yelling and fanboying etc.

It would be good, yeah, but it won't happen because WE give N4G MONEY for the bs articles posted here from Kotaku. ;)

[Simon_the_sorcerer]

I hardly doubt that N4G would do that though, so it´s wishful thinking ;)

[FlameBaitGod]

That have done it with other sites so ? So discrimination then ? because they can blacklist some sites but not others ? That wouldn't hold in a court of law lol and yes you can sue sites.

[rainslacker]

@Palitera

I would agree 100%, but about 6 months ago all articles related to GG were banned from the site, and those were always hit magnets.

N4G also does ban sites that get to too much clickbait.

For Kotaku though, they do have some good news first, and some good interviews, which is probably why they get to stick around. While the bulk of their content is inflammatory or useless, it can't be denied that they do have the influence to get some good stories.

Would be nice if that influence dwindled. I find them mostly irrelevant now except for the fact that there still a lot of people that go there, and unfortunately, they can cause waves within the community and industry making them an extreme nuisance.

[DOMination-]

The hiphopgamer was banned from n4g

[Simon_the_sorcerer]

Well, to be fair. Kotaku is Kotaku...

[TGG_overlord]

True. However, this time they might not be able to recover from this blunder. As it´s a "trust" issue kind of thing.

[Simon_the_sorcerer]

I don´t know if it´s true or not, but there is a rumor going around that Kotaku is down for the count now.

[rainslacker]

I've had a thought that Kotaku may be trying to stir up GG again, just so they can capitalize on it by attacking the gamers with their crap once again. lets face it, nothing drives hit like a nice GG/SJW/anti-GG article.

It does strike me as odd that right now, with the massive amounts of games and things to report on for the holidays that one of the biggest topics going is about Kotaku being blacklisted.

Kotaku has proved they are really bad at journalism, but awesome at social engineering, and Totillos' article reeked of "support us in this travesty" matra.

[Hoffmann]

Remember when kirk hamilton from Kotaku tried to piss on your shoe and tell you it's raining?

https://pbs.twimg.com/media...

#gamergate does.

[TGG_overlord]

Sadly enough, I still remember that one. To be fair though, my experience with D3 was a rather disappointing one. As it took me over two weeks before I could even play the game (due to server errors) -_- I think that D3 became much better over time though. Anyhow, what do you think will happen to Kotaku now?

[Hoffmann]

In the end..nothing.

The site is blacklisted by two big software houses but their own article regarding it showed that they see themselfes in the right side of course and they want and will continue to write for us consumers..blabla. That's what they believe at least.

We, the gamers will continue to shake our heads regarding Kotaku and other sites like Polygon and sometimes Destructoid or Gamingbolt and there will be more articles like the one from this N4G submission.

Nothing changes except there a few more new websites that try to be better than the old guards are getting created but closed after some time again because nobody visits them and they have no chance on the market.

This is why I get my gaming news mainly from here n4g, a small german news site named gamespress and from a couple of tweets by developers

[00]

kotaku is nothing but sensationalist bloggers I'm surprised it took this long for them to be ignored after spending years shit flinging on everybody.

[TGG_overlord]

12 years mate. Honestly, I was quite surprised to find out that Kotaku has been around since 2004. Even more so that EA and Activision haven't blacklisted them as well (at least not as far as I know).

[retrogamer09]

To be fair I haven't paid much attention to Kotaku's content in years due to the site being terrible, but if all they did was expose the fact that Fallout 4 was in development and Ubisoft stuff then blacklisting them makes no sense to me. Actually more gaming sites, magazines, and other media should be doing just that. They should be asking game publishers the hard questions, digging up dirt to find out about games in development, and getting exclusive content on a regular basis. Problem is gaming journalism is so bad that the consumer doesn't care and the consumer frequents a lot of these sites for fanboy arguments. I frequent movie websites all the time and the top sites like the hollywood reporter and variety are always breaking movie updates, always posting credible rumors, always getting exclusive first looks and interviews, etc.

Now if Ubi and Bethesda blacklisted them for being a crap site then lord knows they should do it to guys like Dualshockers, furious fanboys, and a lot of these small gaming websites that get review copies.

[BlackPanther]

While the we all hate Kotaku circlejerk permidates though this site this is interesting.

Publishers have lots of power and can blacklist news if things aren't favorable for them which is shitty.

Saying that Fallout 4 and AC Syndicate are in development isn't blacklist offenses. They didn't break an NDA or some legal entity.

This calls into question if this can get you in trouble then real journalism is in trouble if you ever want to call them out. You basically have to play nice with them for fear of being at a disadvantage which is bad.

We will see how this plays out.

[rainslacker]

"While the we all hate Kotaku circlejerk permidates though this site"

It's a nice counter to the "we love Kotaku, you guys are awesome and those Gamergaters are mysoginitic bullies" circlejerk that permeates Kotaku.

At least at N4G, we see both sides, and don't have to wait for the moderator(writer of the article) to approve comments which they deem worthy of being viewed by others.

"Saying that Fallout 4 and AC Syndicate are in development isn't blacklist offenses"

No, absolutely not, and the rumors were circulating before that, along with some hoaxes for FO4.

But did you read the original articles in question?

http://kotaku.com/leaked-do...

The Fallout 4 one gives parts of the actual script within the article. Not only is that a huge spoiler, it's just unethical to do such a thing without the express consent of the publisher. I mean, not just a synopsis, but actual script. Why would they do this? For the service of their readers apparently.

http://kotaku.com/next-year...

For the AC:S article they announced that it would be set in Victorian london. Everyone knew the game existed, even if unannounced due to Ubi saying they were making an AC game every year. Now, if you follow the AC series, you know that Ubi usually reveals the setting at the same time as the game. The setting is typically a part of their mystery and hype leading up to the reveal as people speculate and such. In one day, Kotaku ruined what would have been months of marketing work, all for the service of their readers.

No, they likely didn't break any NDA themselves, but someone did, and the information was obtained illegally.

I appreciate the fact that you're trying to say that it's a slippery slope if you allow one entity to control the press, and that the idea of play nice is not a good one. I really do, and I agree 100%.

However, within gaming journalism, with budgets in the tens or hundreds of millions of dollars, there has to be some responsibility by the gaming press to consider what effects their reports will have upon those they report on. Responsible journalism is the key here, and those two articles were highly irresponsible by Kotaku to report on without first seeking comment from the publisher, and by Totillos' own admission publishing them for the hits...which he somehow makes out to be of some service to the reader....while all the time neglecting his responsibility to the industry.

[Trolltroll]

I like how they insult their commenters to spawn comment wars. Clicks Clicks Clicks.