I’ve been thinking about this one for a while now and I know that this blog may not sit well with some people out there but I wanted to discuss the effects of YouTubers who’s sole purpose is to just “hype up” games with criticism can have on the overall quality of the the product.
In my previous blog titled, Are Gaming Journalist Expected To Be Moderately Good At Video Games?, I discussed the importance of why people who review games for a living, need to be at the very least competent enough at playing games. What I didn’t mention or discuss is the effects this has had on the gaming scene. We’ve seen recent games become more and more easier because developers are fearing a low score from people who are basically shit at games. So in relation to that, what if Youtubers who cover games also have that similar effect on the games we play today?
Let me clarify on this, many of the popular gaming youtube channel today are channels who hype up games and always say what the fanbase want to hear from them about the the game they’re looking forward to playing. It make sense right? You naturally tend to subscribe and follow anyone that talks positively about the games you like.
You rarely however, if ever, hear any actual criticism from these individuals. Therefore, they tend to never give their honest opinions on a game until after everyone has bought it, played it and watched their videos. Most of them also tend to have some level of relationship with certain game companies so their tongue are more or less tied to a certain degree in order to maintain a certain relationship with these companies. It could also be that they fear a backlash from the fanbase of these games if they said anything relatively negative about the game. There’s a lot of other variables for this but you get the idea. I feel like this is a problem many people don’t want to acknowledge.
People will trust influencers way more easily than most gaming media outlet these days and will make their purchasing decision based on how their favourite influencer reacts to a game. I feel like these influencers have a responsibility (whether they want to acknowledge it or not) to be truthful and honest, and criticize a game fairly. Tell the people what the NEED to hear, not what they WANT to hear.
Many times have I watched a YouTuber hold their tongue and not say what is needed to be said about a game. With games sometimes coming about in poor quality, malice intents and sometimes both, it’s important that they speak up about it. Covering a game in a hyped up manner without fair criticism, that you know will entice other to buy it, will not help us improve the industry at all, but instead bring it to a path that’s only going to punish the players.
That’s just something I wanted to bring to the table and see what you guys think about it. Let me know your thoughts in the comments below.
