2017 has proven to be a chaotic year for video game journalism. First, VideogameDunky came out with a video attacking the current climate of video game criticism/reviews. Then, just weeks ago, 2K tried to have a negative review of NBA2K18 taken down by a review site. Now, the largest video game news and review website in the world, IGN, has just bought Humble Bundle, a video game publisher/distributor.

For a consumer, this is a mark on an already heavily marked brand. IGN has often been criticized for favoritism and corruption, but this seems like a step further than any of that. Before, it was mostly accusations, but IGN’s favoritism or neutrality towards developers should become rather clear after this. Despite a recent statement by CCO Peer Schneider, trouble is on the horizon for IGN.

But even if Schneider is being honest, he is not addressing the biggest problems, as many on Reddit have pointed out. Humble Bundle doesn’t just sell charity bundles or publish games; they also have a traditional store front where they sell major titles. The reason this causes such a conflict is because now IGN directly profits when games sell better (distributors usually take a 30% cut off game profits). What is the incentive to give negative reviews when doing so will eat into profit margins? Giving a negative review might also convince developers or publishers not to allow Humble Bundle to distribute their game, pushing IGN even more in favor of giving better reviews.

This also only exacerbates an issue developers already struggle with in favoritism and corruption. If IGN controls both the reviews and the distribution, the leverage they have over game companies is enormous. It also means that companies have a much higher incentive to deal with IGN over their competitors. If Polygon offers only reviews and coverage, but IGN offers a digital marketplace and reviews and coverage, it incentivizes companies to ignore the competition. It could also be bad news for indie developers, who often struggle with visibility and sales already. A system such as this favors AAA powerhouses generating massive interest on IGN and then massive sales on Humble Bundle. Meanwhile, games with smaller audiences and profits could be even more marginalized.

Humble Bundle’s Storefront

IGN is either setting themselves up for failure by being honest with reviews and cutting into their profits on the store, or setting themselves up for success by falsifying reviews for financial gain.

There doesn’t seem to be a middle ground where IGN does everything right and still succeeds. They have intentionally put themselves into a spot where acknowledging criticism (like that from Dunkey) will directly affect their profits, but to ignore criticism will only make their flaws more transparent.

We have reached out to both Humble Bundle and IGN for their thoughts on how they plan to move forward and the motivation behind the purchase, but have yet to hear back.