"Our Game Changers program is not designed to pay for the content of reviews. We do not believe in this "- EA

Update 2: EA returned to VG247 with the following statement.

"Our Game Changers program is not designed to pay for the content of reviews. We do not believe in this, "said an EA spokesman. "In this case, the disclosure requirements for this specific video were not met – we adhere to it very strictly – so we asked that they be removed and corrected. We did not ask that the content of the video be modified or blacklisted the creator. Our full disclosure rules can be found here. "

Although this explains the fact that the disclosure rules were not followed, this does not explain why the new video – which has removed the watermarks – is now compliant with the disclosure rules. After all, if the creator is not on the blacklist, it always changes the game. However, EA declined to say why. EA stated, however, that the creator had never been asked to create a different video or change his position.

Update: Since the publication of this article, we have contacted a few game changers EA to try to clarify some points.

When addressing a content creator, they told me the following: "In terms of understanding (when EA m asked to work with them on paid content), they want just a cover of the game. They never had any problems with me to give my complete and honest opinion.

"In this case, I think the channel in question was sponsored to cover the game, review the overall game and show the gameplay. Think about the Apex Legends Twitch event, where Twitch paid big banners to play Apex as soon as it aired. They paid them to play the game and I think this agreement was that the channel had been paid to make a video covering the game. "

According to the same source, these sponsorship deals often give the content creator more money than the one generated through Google AdSense, the traditional monetization method used on YouTube.

We also contacted EA to try to get more details about these sponsorship deals, as well as the specific circumstances surrounding the removal of the video. At the time of writing, we have been directed to Lee Williams' tweet below.

Original story: YouTuber Gggmanlives says that he was sponsored by EA to review Anthem as part of the Game Changers initiative.

He published a review and gave his honest and negative impressions despite the change of money. EA claims that this strategy is encouraging in the context of Game Changers and hopes that its audience can trust these paid critics.

We encourage Game Changers to be honest in their content, this is one of the most important parts of the program and the community trusts them because of this honesty. Do not hesitate to ask me or one of the game managers to explain how it works. More info here https://t.co/U6S8ZAyJ7q

– Lee Williams (@justbiglee) February 22, 2019

However, shortly after the publication of the review, YouTuber was asked to remove EA watermarks, he said. It is these watermarks that show the audience that someone is a member of Game Changers.

In a conversation on Twitter with Gggmanlives, he told me, "I basically did not have the right to say anything about the game if I also had the watermark, because the Watermark means that EA supports it and shares it across the network. I really do not know what all this means. I was told that the contract had to be demolished and that it was a breach of contract or something like that. "

The journal has since been updated without watermarks:

Game changers create a variety of content for EA, working with them to create guide videos, previews, and more. I asked Gggmanslives if he had been sponsored to specifically create a critique for Anthem, to which he replied "Yes".

In traditional gaming media, there is a layer between advertising and site content. For example, there is an advertising team at Gamer Network that sorts advertising offers. We have no say in what they do and they can not influence the editorial side. In addition, the editors of traditional media sites do not directly benefit from the advertising agreements concluded, eliminating another potential conflict of interest.

Although I think it's good that Gggmanlives was honest with its cover, it's disturbing to see how different the standards are for YouTube content creators. This reminds me of the recent Apex Legends event where video presenters had agreed to help announce the game with the hashtag #ApexPartner before even playing the thing.