The YouTuber Gggmanlives is currently causing a stir with Anthem . He claims he was paid for a video review of the game Anthem. However, at EA’s request, he had to take the video down because it was deemed too negative.
This is what “GGGmanlives” says: The Australian YouTuber has today uploaded his “Anthem Review” video for the second time. It is titled “My reuploaded Anthem Review (It’s still bad)” (via YouTube).
In the video, he states that he had to take down his first video because it was seen as too “negative”. Furthermore, he is now certainly on EA’s long blacklist, which also includes other YouTubers.
In an interview with vg247 , the YouTuber explains that the first video was a “Sponsored Video” in which he expressed his negative opinion about Anthem.
However, Electronic Arts asked him to take the video down and to remove the labeling of the video with “Watermarks” from Electronic Arts.
These markings indicate that Electronic Arts paid for the video and that it is promoted through their “Game Changers” network.
According to Gggsmanslives, he is not quite sure what happened. However, he fears that he has now been placed on a blacklist by Electronic Arts. In direct inquiries, he responded that he was paid by EA for an Anthem review.
This is how it was perceived: The incident quickly gained widespread attention. The YouTuber SkillUp, who had also harshly criticized Anthem, spoke out. In his opinion, he was unfairly attacked as someone trying to gain attention and clicks with a criticism of Anthem.
In his portrayal and reporting from sources like vg247 – it gives the impression that EA pulled a paid video because they did not like the content of the review.
EA says: It was not about the criticism, but about the labeling
This is what EA says: Quickly, Lee Williams from EA spoke out, who is responsible for the “Game Changer” program.
According to him, no one was placed on a blacklist. The team in Australia merely asked to take the video down because some conditions regarding the labeling of “paid content” were not met.
This had nothing to do with the content of the video.
According to EA, they are very open with the “Game Changer” program and encourage content creators to express their honest opinion.
Confusion over two tags
Update 23.2.: Meanwhile, details are known about what happened (via gamedaily.biz). EA has two watermarks to label content from content creators they collaborate with:
- one is “Presented by Game Changers” – those participating do not receive direct money, but only costs are covered, such as travel expenses for events
- the other tag is “Sponsored by EA”, meaning that money has also flowed
The YouTuber Gggmanlives had used the “Game Changers” tag for the first video, which he had also used before when reporting on EA events.
But since money flowed, from EA’s perspective, that was the wrong labeling. The YouTuber should have included the watermark “Sponsored by EA”. At least that is EA’s position.
Gggmanslive states that he received money for the video, but under the “Game Changers” program. According to GameDaily.biz, the YouTuber is not willing to disclose his contract with EA or his conversations with the company.
