Well, if you publish supposedly secret footage or information which possibly was obtain by hacking or illegal leaks(as in: breaking existing NDAs) they are very right to do so. Hate to say it.

Look, here’s the basic premise. You get a leak and publish it? Go for it. Is that your job? If the leak is valid then yes, sure, it is your job. But, it is also the job of the marketing department to do what is best for them and their game. And, if they judge that the best for them is to cut Kotaku off from early…

Why don’t publishers have the right to ignore gaming sites they don’t respect, or that don’t respect their rules - you are allowing Kotaku the right to act independently, but I don’t see how the publishers owe them anything or aren’t free to do the same.

I’d sympathize with you guys, but then I remember you waged a war on your own readers because you didn’t want to hold your employees to basic ethical standards - something as simple as a little line of disclosure.

They would hamper independent reporting in pursuit of a status quo in which video game journalists are little more than malleable, servile arms of a corporate sales apparatus. It is a state of affairs that we reject

Treat others how you want to be treated. Fuck with a company and they’ll do the same to you. Criticism is fine, but leaking private information is crossing the line.

Apparently they do care by this way too long cry session.

holy shit, yes

You’re not exactly reporting on Syria here, people. I have no need to know of the existence of a video game early, but you’re damn right most will click on it if it’s offered...but don’t mistake that as your readers sharing in your passion of journalistic integrity.

I’m curious. Why hasn’t Denton ordered Kotaku to run anti-Carson blog posts in the same way Deadspin (a sports-oriented blog) has?

Maybe they didn't want to have to sleep with you to get a story done.

And not getting free stuff? The horror!

If this had been a blurb, or a tweet or something it would be interesting and important info for readers to know. “To those wondering why our Fallout coverage is so fluff-oriented or why a now-canned freelancer reviewed Assassins Creed, we were blackballed.” As it is here, it just looks like Kotaku’s typical over…

Wanting to control when and how information about upcoming products makes it out to the public is an understandable desire. Ill timed leaks can play havoc with public expectations, which are, as we’ve seen with titles like Arkham Knight important to properly manage. Wanting to find ways to get around that to get…

Kotaku and other outlets (cough, Polygon) spent the better part of a year on the wrong side of a battle with gamers. How fitting, then, that the AAAs are starting to tell you folks to go fuck yourselves.

It seems like the problem is your basically reporting information you had no right to report. You took stolen(?) or unauthorized files and made them public.

And it’s going to only get worse considering the bullshit direction this company is going.

+100

“They’ve cut off our access to their games...” Not entirely true. Nobody is blocking Kotaku editors from buying these games at a store as a business expense.

Your part of the Gawker network it shouldn’t be a shock to you that some companies don’t want anything to do with you. Even if that extends to review copies. They’d rather not deal with you in anyway. Good for them.