Every now and then a behind-the-scenes revelation shakes the trust that people have in publishers and reviewers. Are publishers paying reviewers to exert control over their opinions? Are reviewers secretly holding back hours of negative content?
A few days ago, Josh Wielgus (Chip Theory Games) and Jen Graham-Macht (Keymaster Games) joined Jason Perez (Shelf Stories and the One-Stop Co-op Shop), and me (Jamey of Stonemaier Games) for a discussion about publishers, reviewers, content creators, and the gamers we all serve. You can listen to the conversation on the One-Stop Co-op Shop podcast or watch it on my channel below.
Here are the questions we addressed:
- What are our policies for sending review copies?
- What are our expectations and procedures when we send review copies?
- Do we exert any control over what reviewers say?
- What types of content do we pay for?
- What have we tried in the past that didn’t work, so we learned from those experiences and adjusted our approach?
I thought it was a great, transparent conversation, and I hope it illuminates that recent controversies are the exception, not the norm.
Please let me know in the comments (here or on YouTube) if you have any thoughts or questions. Jason and I also have a second conversation focusing on most of the same questions scheduled for this Friday with Isaac Vega (Rose Gauntlet), Anne-Marie De Witt (Fireside Games), and Helaina Cappel (Burnt Island Games), so we can pull some of your questions into that conversation.
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3 Comments on “Tabletop Publishers, Content Creators, and Audiences: The Inside Scoop”
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[…] Also, while we’re on the topic of media, I coordinated another chat about publishers, reviewers, media, and audiences, this time with Danni Loe (Hachette Games), Anne-Marie De Witt (Fireside Games), Helaina Cappel (Burnt Island Games/KTBG), Isaac Vega (Rose Gauntlet Games), and Jason Perez (Shelf Stories and the One-Stop Co-op Shop); I’ve embedded the video below (also see link here). It was a great follow up to last-week’s conversation about similar topics. […]
Chip Theory some of us enjoy that you are a little weird. Don’t change that about your company. I believe it is important for any company to stick with who they are and what they are about; it is not just about the game but who is bringing it to the public. Being genuine is as big as the game continent when it comes to impressing fans. I will take the sword off your hands Ghillie (Josh).
I agree! Honestly, I think every game company is a little weird in their own beautiful way, and I hope we all embrace our weirdness, especially if it serves the games who bring our games to their tables. :)