Microsoft paying youtubers to say nice things about Xbone

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2014-01-21-microsoft-paid-youtubers-to-say-nice-things-about-xbox-one-report

Microsoft has offered money to Machinima youtubers to only say good things about the Xbox One. It's called "stealth marketing" and it's illegal in many countries. Boy they done fucked up bad this time.

Isn't that console already selling like hot cakes? Why would they need to do this?

The gaming media in all forms can't be trusted to be truthful in any way these days. If companies like Microsoft are paying random internet fanboys to lie they're no doubt paying reviewers as well. I'm sure other companies are doing the same thing.

I'm going to venture a guess that this happens more often then we hear about in the gaming industry. It is just easier to identify a large campaign like what Microsoft is trying to do (apparently they do not mind getting caught?!?).

In such a competitive industry, I am not surprised this type of marketing is used, whether or not it is ethically sound. Still, It leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

Hey Microsoft, I could use some money. Just saying.

Give me money and I will say nice things about your product any day M$:-)

I don't know how many times Ive seen reviewers of Microsoft games start off a review by saying Microsoft flew them to their corporate headquarters for lunch, a tour, they got to meet bill gates and other stuff like that before their review. Or sometimes they would talk about being invited to a private beach house. All of that is bribing in its own sense and skews a reviewers perception because even if the game sucks the reviewer would be a lot less likely to notice or say something bad because they would feel guilty at how nice they were treated.

Then how many times have you seen a Microsoft privately held announcement party where you would hear a lot of cheering and clapping and crowd fanfare but when you look at the actual crowd hardly anyone is doing it? Because they pay people to do it. Like at the xbox one reveal event it was know it was all faked applause from Microsoft employees as press people were tweeting the sound wasn't coming from the audience.

They buy off limited time exclusive DLC for their system for games like call of duty.

That's what Microsoft does, they fix problems by throwing money at it. Their game systems are awful, their first party games were once decent but now a pathetic slide show of the same old shit, their customer service is awful, and their ability to treat their customers like customers is lacking. But they don't care because when something goes badly they throw money at it.

Yeah I'm done with them after two gens. I just can't see myself giving any more money to Microsoft after all the negative things they've done to the game industry over the past decade or so. Plus, there's really no reason to own both PS4 and XB1 this gen, and Sony's exclusives are much more plentiful.

Microsoft Really have fucked up this time. In their pursuit to make up for their catastrophic launch they done many things to try and stop Sonys Impending rise to the top of the console pyramid and until now they were doing well, the Xbone hasn't sold as many units as the PS4 but they have done well and have been at least keeping close to Sony when it comes to sales. What they have done now is a new low and a show of desperation paying someone to say nice things about your console is really low and sad.I know of some producers that do this with Films but I have rarely heard of it within the Game industry. Also the Youtubers who accepted the money are just as bad. Yes you can argue they are just making an easy buck but they are selling out, they are putting a price on their opinion , an opinion that matters within the gaming world.

It's illegal as far as i know and i agree with this dude

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ayk-z0nY40

It happens more often than most people know, it's just that the vast bulk of it is never discovered.

the microsft xbox one, brought to you by supreme overlord bill gates, is the greatest entertainment device i've ever laid eyes, fingers, thumbs, or tongue on. i only wish i had more of each. please do not take any sexual undertones as a sign of disrespect towards the microsoft xbox one. in fact, i have nothing but respect for classy consoles such as the microsoft xbox one.

Looks like they only paid $3,750 to Machinima. I am sure it happens all the time in the industry.

Really doesn't change anything though. Does it?

No, it doesn't. I am going to make the assumption that most gamers do not have high enough ethical standards to care, or they possess such standards but do not wish to invest their time into tracking the actions of companies. I do not mean to belittle gamers, but let's be honest. The average gamer is not that invested into gaming to care about these things, even more so with casuals. Even if this news crosses their face, it will easily be forgotten if Microsoft continues to meet or exceed their expectations (remember gamers are mostly consumers not shareholders). It does not make Microsoft's action right or wrong, though.

Youtubers are just shlubs making videos to their meager fanbases. Now if it came out that MSbwere throwing money at legitimate outlets like Gamespot or IGN, or paying Metacritic to not add particularly damaging reviews, that'd be a horse of a different color.

(I mean, that probably does happen, but not so brazenly.)

I must say, kudos to AOS for thinking to expose this instead of trying to dip the cookie like others must have done.

$3,750 to each adhering machinima associate, plus $3 each 1000 views.

http://www.clickonline.com/games/youtubers-earned-share-of-$3750-for-xbox-one-promo/22213/

I wish companies would do business honorably.

I lost it after the first curse word, why is it that people seem to think the more you can say F you and MotherF´ers the cooler you become.

But honestly who cares if X1 pays people to say nice things.

Unless your a kid its not like some random persons opinion is more right just because its on youtube.

Yeah, and IGN is also reporting on this now

Like others said, if MS has bothered to pay youtube "shlubs" with "meager fanbases", imagine what they've done to persuade major websites like Gamespot, with hundreds of thousands, if not millions of viewers.

I bet Microsoft should hire some lawyers to tell them what they can and cannot do legally. How can such a huge company not have any lawyers to do this?

They obviously also pay some users on this site.

I like the guy, sure he says profanity. But at least he speaks what he thinks.

Meh. Yeah it's kind of lousy and want-not but I'm sure it's done by other companies. I use my own judgment anyway so it's not like these people hold any sway in my decision making process.

haha

Oh, they have them, it's just that they pay them to tell maketing what they can get away with outside the boundaries of the law.

Yep he says what has made him somewhat popular on youtube.

But what puzzles me is why cant people speak their mind without cursing like they just came in off the docks?

To me it just makes it sound like a gorilla jumping up and down throwing his own .... and i don't want to watch/listen to that

Yep, because you should care about MS paying some youtubers to say nice things about X1 because everyone knows that if a youtuber says something thats the opinion you need to have. or something......

It has nothing to do with youtube, but there are paid propagandists who have posted on behalf of gaming companies on this very board.

Your check is in the mail.

That's how I feel about EA and their push of everything they release into microtransaction models, how they shut down multiplayer servers for sports games a couple years after their release, Sim City 5, etc.

Honestly, I'm a little bit more indifferent about the MS thing. I've never bought a console in my life based on the opinions of others, only the cold, hard facts about what it can and can't do plus whether I think I'll like any of the games for it. It's a crappy practice, but it's likely more widespread than people realize.

-Byshop

i don't really care, i like what he says

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WjObpd5U33U

TotalBiscuit's view.

actually, following the more recent financial debacles in the US, a lot of corporations are skipping the legal counsel when it comes to the drafting of internal policies to cut costs. And internally they're shifting to paraprofessionals instead of lawyers. A lot of the large firms have been struggling to cope with this....it's kinda scary, actually.

You might have seen the latest X1 commercial where they're quoting various sources that are praising the X1. The last quote came from a random twitter address. Who quotes twitter? Apparently MS believes we do care about random internet opinions, or they're just that desperate for positive feedback.

here it is

And thats your right :) i dont :D

That sounds monstruously reckless. Either that or it's a monument to the corruption of the legal system.

@Ish_basic That is surprising. Source?

It was a matter of minutes, wasn't it: EA has been caught doing the same.

http://www.ign.com/articles/2014/01/21/ea-also-reportedly-paying-youtube-channels-for-coverage

You guys remember Alexwatchtower? He was caught promoting the Xbox One here and damage controlling around E3...

I'm not saying anything about Microsoft specifically, just in general. For all I know MS is bucking the trend. But you can find articles on the subject by doing a simple google search, mostly from legal journals - it's apparently not news that corporations are risking lawsuits to pad bottom lines. The current number as of the end of last year was 47% of CLOs (corporate legal departments) cutting their outside counsel budgets, which is an increase of almost 100% since 2011 when the trend started.

Actually, the first person I heard it from surprised me because she said her firm was having trouble getting new clients and older ones were leaving. And this firm is rated top 10 in the world and handles a lot of corporations that everyone in here knows and deals with on a regular basis, so I couldn't believe they'd be having trouble. Some companies, however, feel it's money well spent to keep outside counsel, and unsurprisingly most of them are companies that have been sued in the past.

"Too Big to Fail" has sent the message that the best policy is to merge and bloat rather than risk the dangers of running your company responsibly. This is just a part of that trend.

I was able to find some surveys from Altman Weil, Inc. According to the surveys it appears that CLO's are cutting their outside counseling budgets due to transparency in pricing. Corporations want more predictability and control, but law firms have been slow to adapt to these needs.

However, corporations have in turn focused on their in-house departments. This is where I think I misunderstood you. When you said paraprofessional, I wasn't thinking paralegal, but I guess they are interchangeable titles. In this case, it is not quite as worrying, as most public companies that I follow operate this way (a group of lawyers overseeing teams of paralegals). Still, you cannot underestimate the value of an outside opinion.

Back on topic, I wonder if this story will cause people to open up about similar deals that they received from gaming companies. I enjoyed Totalbiscuit's video.

@dvader654:

EAs cover has been blown too! This sort of thing happens a lot, in this industry and in others as well.

Perhaps Nintendo should start taking part in this practice too. J/K

@Netret0120: Yes and give us a million dollar pay check. It's good advertisement MS (: