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PewDiePie, real name Felix Kjellberg, is one of the most subscribed YouTuber in the world. Hannah McKay/PA Wire

Game developer gets in trouble for paying PewDiePie and others for positive reviews

The sponsored videos generated over 5.5 million views on YouTube, but did little to tell viewers they were paid for.

IF A GAME gets a great review on YouTube, you should check to see whether it’s a real review or one paid for by the developers.

The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) said it settled a charge with Warner Bros after it paid popular YouTubers such as PewDiePie to make positive reviews on YouTube and other channels.

Over the course of the campaign, the sponsored videos promoting the 2014 game Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor, an open-world action adventure set in the same universe as The Lord of the Rings, were viewed more than 5.5 million times. PewDiePie’s video made up more than 3.7 million of those views.

It said that Warner Bros had “paid each influencer hundreds to tens of thousands of dollars” to promote the game, and not to highlight any bugs or glitches they discovered.

YouTubers were instructed to place disclosures in the discription box below the video, but because it requested other information to be placed in that box, it meant the actual disclosure only appeared if the viewed clicked on the ‘Show More’ box.

As part of the settlement, Warner Bros is barred from not disclosing such deals in the future, and can’t claim that paid videos are the independent opinions of YouTubers.

It is also required to educate each YouTuber or influencers regarding sponsorship disclosures for future campaigns.

Lack of disclosure is one of the problems facing YouTubers, and some have been criticised for not properly disclosing payment or self-interest.

Recently, two prominent YouTubers came under fire for plugging a gaming gambling site on their channel without telling viewers that they owned it.

Read: Pokémon Go makers say they’re updating iOS app to address security concerns >

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37 Comments
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    Mute Patrick J. O'Rourke
    Favourite Patrick J. O'Rourke
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    Jul 12th 2016, 12:35 PM

    Obviously they are just following the traditional model of the music and publishing industries.

    100
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    Mute Dave Smith
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    Jul 12th 2016, 12:44 PM

    given all the Gamergate stuff a few year back, you would think that any serious Youtuber would want to keep a clean slate. destroying your channel over a couple of grand will be a lesson hard learnt

    69
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    Mute Rochelle
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    Jul 12th 2016, 12:48 PM

    The journalistic transparency aspect of gamergate was sadly brushed under the carpet after the movement became a laughing stock when the likes of Milo Yiannopoulos sought to hijack it for a political vehicle.

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    Mute Chris Cantwell
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    Jul 12th 2016, 12:58 PM

    Dont you dare, insult my beloved Milo !!!!

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    Mute the asian nightmare
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    Jul 12th 2016, 1:21 PM

    @Rochelle: it was brushed aside by the very media that Gamergate was criticising. They started shouting ‘misogyny!’ and dismissed all criticism of their cosy cartel as such.

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    Mute Shane Corry
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    Jul 12th 2016, 1:24 PM

    I’m not supporting the non-disclosure but it’s unlikely to be over “a couple of grand” I’d say it was $225K-$300K to that one YouTuber based on average rates, that’s enough money for one video to make most people lose or “forget” much of their morals.

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    Mute Malachi
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    Jul 12th 2016, 1:58 PM

    Rochelle, you can hardly be surprised that the likes of Milo got involved when legitimate criticisms of ethics in games journalism were met with cries of ‘sexism’.

    Then you bring in Anita Sarkeesian whining about the positioning of female arses on the screen and you have a recipe for disaster.

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    Mute Dave Smith
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    Jul 12th 2016, 2:02 PM

    Anita had to be taken down, progressives are just locusts that want to destroy everything they come into contact with. “everything is racist, everything is sexist and you have to point it all out” fk off you internet scammer

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    Mute Rochelle
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    Jul 12th 2016, 2:18 PM

    @the asian nightmare: True. It was in their interest to shut down the debate and that is a shame but it was made particularly easy to brush aside when the primary voices were coming from breitbart, mouthy youtubers like totalbiscuit and the political board on 4chan.
    At the end of it all the real losers were the people who actually wanted accountability for games media and to stop this kind of paid reviews or coverage.

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    Mute Wynnner
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    Jul 12th 2016, 12:42 PM

    They are all at it, there’s really not many honest youtubers

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    Mute Wynnner
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    Jul 12th 2016, 12:49 PM

    It’s gone to the dogs lately

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    Mute Gavin
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    Jul 12th 2016, 1:37 PM

    Clearly it’s just the one’s your watching.

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    Mute Daniel Helmick
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    Jul 13th 2016, 12:07 AM

    This is why videogamedunkey is my fave. He doesn’t seem to have any trouble calling out crap games for being crap. Check out his “Microsoft Sucks” video.

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    Mute Rochelle
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    Jul 12th 2016, 12:37 PM

    Not surprising really, they’re all at it. Microsoft and EA both had deliberate promotions for this kind of thing in the past, encouraging youtubers to play their games in exchange for payment and prohibiting any sort of negative coverage.

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    Mute Darren Tully
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    Jul 12th 2016, 1:37 PM

    Just like all the reviewers, who were coincidentally invited to a prerelease screening of Ghostbusters by Sony, saying it’s a five star movie

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    Mute Daisy Chainsaw
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    Jul 12th 2016, 1:59 PM

    BINGO!!!

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    Mute Scarr
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    Jul 12th 2016, 2:27 PM
    1
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    Mute Daisy Chainsaw
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    Jul 12th 2016, 8:16 PM

    I think I’ve just found my new favourite website! Thanks Scarr.

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    Mute Keelan O'neill
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    Jul 12th 2016, 1:04 PM

    Sure Joe.ie is fawning over the new FIFA game.

    27
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    Mute Jason Culligan
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    Jul 12th 2016, 1:00 PM

    What’s new? It’s already known that sites like PC Gamer take money for reviews. That’s the only way you can explain this review about Copy and Paste: Black Ops 3

    “This is a gorgeous game. It features wild set-pieces, good actors, and guns that feel great.”

    Compare that to this pretty honest review from Metacritic:

    “I was absolutely astonished & amazed at just how bad this game was.”

    Pretty much every major game review site is giving slanted reviews for money it seems.

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    Mute seanie
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    Jul 12th 2016, 3:12 PM

    Crazy to think the amount of money these guys on YouTube make. I just couldn’t be arsed .

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    Mute Guybrush Threepwood
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    Jul 12th 2016, 1:57 PM

    For the same LOTR game on its release, it came out that Warner Bros didn’t allow reviews to be made for it before it came out. It was a strange call as the game was given high praise with a lot of reviewers and was generally considered one of the best games of the year by most genuine gaming sites. I can’t help but think that due to WB’s extreme and over the top approach to the marketing of the game, they actually hurt the sales of it due to people like me who boycotted it.

    There is another point to be taken from this scandal. It shows piracy in a good light and a justified reaction(imo) to the abuse of power that corporations practise.

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    Mute Mx Ciarán
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    Jul 12th 2016, 6:33 PM

    I wonder who’s been paying men’s rights activists to hate Ghostbusters before they’ve seen that.

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    Mute Daisy Chainsaw
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    Jul 12th 2016, 8:18 PM

    They don’t need to be paid (because they live in their parents’s basements, using their wifi). They do it for free (and have no other reason for existing other than to complain about women in their franchise!)

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    Mute Miriam O'Keeffe
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    Jul 12th 2016, 4:16 PM

    Not just gamer youtubers involved with paid for videos.

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    Mute Qwerty
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    Jul 12th 2016, 6:07 PM

    He produces mindless crap for 12-year-olds. But I’m no begrudger. If I could make millions doing it, I would too. Fair play to him.

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    Mute Amy Wallis
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    Jul 12th 2016, 8:57 PM

    Except that it was perfectly obvious that they were promoting the game. Did you actually watch the videos?

    Also, you spelt “description” wrong at the start of the article. Probably good to check that.

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    Mute Shawn O'Ceallaghan
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    Jul 12th 2016, 11:42 PM

    Shadow of mordor was actually a great game and rightly so won many game of the year awards. Id be suprised if anyone that was genuinely interested in games bothered to watch pewdipie. Entertainment syre but hardly an influencer.

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    Mute Ken Pepper
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    Jul 12th 2016, 1:39 PM

    These people need to get out into the daylight

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    Mute Ken Pepper
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    Jul 12th 2016, 1:40 PM

    Put your shirt on erich . Hee hee

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    Mute Peter Peterski
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    Jul 12th 2016, 4:38 PM

    The funny thing is that Shadow of Mordor was actually a really good game – and they didn’t need to reach for such stupid means that could backfire so badly.

    The game was one of the most unexpected hits of the year and not thanks to good reviews but thanks to good word of mouth, good setting and a few innovative ideas that made it interesting

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