The Zoe Quinn Saga

When it comes to gamers, we tend to be purists. We all have opinions, and we all bring our evidences to forums and blogs like this one. We champion any game or platform that propels the gaming experience to better heights, opening up discussions and passionate exchanges. But what happens when these exchanges are dampened by the gatekeepers? Information ignored and others shoved down our throats. Funny I should say that, as this particular story of corruption may have just started like that… sex for exposure.

Gaming journalism has been exposed to be quite corrupt. By now you may have heard of Zoe Quinn (real name Chelsea Van Valkenberg) and the debacle of her giving up the ‘goods’ to top game industry journalists like Nathan Grayson, who writes for Kotaku, in exchange for peddling Depression Quest (yes, that is the name of Zoe’s awesome game). There were a few more notches on her bedpost, 5 by the looks of it. Her boss married guy etc… Oh did we say this was during the time she had a boyfriend? No? Well that’s irrelevant I guess. But it turns out jilted loverboy found out about the infidelity and like a boss wrote an extensive blog about the situation (http://thezoepost.wordpress.com/2014/08/16/tldr/). Reminds me of a Chris Brown song.
But it gets worse interesting.

When the news hit the proverbial fan in August, Quinn took to social media with her feminist banter and copyright claims to try and suppress the story that related negatively to her character. Despite the “Depression Quest” game being green lit on the heels of Robin Williams suicide, caused by depression. Classy move who ever was behind that.
So here we have suppression of pertinent news under the guise of copyright claims, and gaming journalists promoting a substandard game in exchange for nookie. Fantastic. Furthermore, a recent leaked email shows that top game journalist in the industry have been in cohort with each other to sync and control the way in which gaming stories are reported, agreeing to play down the Quinn debacle by not reporting on their respective journalistic platforms, but making by-the-way mention of it via Twitter and social media. Whilst still promoting her Depressing Depression Quest game. No impropriety then…

Not to mention Quinn’s wolf cries of ‘misogyny’ kind of fall flat considering she sacrificed her body and dignity for, albeit, electronic money and exposure. Mixing a bit of the oldest profession with the newest one. Not to judge, but actions have consequences.

It’s sad as not only has journalism in gaming industry been greatly tarnished by not just her, but the journalist in equal measure, it seems the possibilities for aspiring female game developers and financial backers investing in these minority indie developers has also been diminished by her actions as well. This, along with supposedly being hacked, purportedly having ‘nude’ photos of her (which look like Photoshop crop jobs anyway), private phone numbers that actually lead to nowhere… all seems like a desperate vying for attention. But hey, you judge for yourself. Have a listen and looksy at this here CUPodcast: