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CBS Gamers' Choice Awards was Allegedly Pay-for-Play for Selection of Award Winners

Syriel

Syriel

Banned
Dec 13, 2017
11,088
It's awards season and this little gem popped up in my timeline about GCA.



I went to the shitty pay-to-play CBS awards last year where they literally sent emails saying if the check was big enough you could win goty. The VGAs probably sell advertising but the awards are not for sale to my knowledge. One does not affect the other.

For those wondering, the person quoted is an experienced PR professional in the industry. She would be in a place to know about such requests, either sent to her or one of her clients. This isn't a rando anon posting something to Reddit.

I wouldn't be surprised if JEFFREY GRUBB, samred, or jschreier dug into this and published something more detailed in the following days. The GCA wasn't a very impressive presentation, but if it is true that they were willing to sell awards, that's a pretty big deal, especially since it was advertised as being fan selected. It would also make every category winner suspect.
 
GranddadFreeman

GranddadFreeman

Member
May 18, 2018
588
Imma need some proof on this one. I've been saying game awards were pay to play for years but I keep a supply of tin foil hats so I can do that.
 

rawhide

Member
Oct 28, 2017
3,003
Whoever's actually paying money to these bozos is getting bilked, I don't think I've ever heard a single person talk about this event.
 
OP
OP
Syriel

Syriel

Banned
Dec 13, 2017
11,088
Video Games Are Dumb said:
I don't believe it.

If it's true, gimme some more proof.
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GranddadFreeman said:
Imma need some proof on this one. I've been saying game awards were pay to play for years but I keep a supply of tin foil hats so I can do that.
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Timewarp said:
That's quite the accusation. Gonna need to see the receipts.
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I'm on the same page regarding wanting proof to confirm, but given the source I'd also give the allegation some weight. It's not the kind of thing you throw around lightly when you work in the industry.
 
Rosebud

Rosebud

Two Pieces
Member
Apr 16, 2018
43,494
Hm... that would mean Epic, Rockstar, Nintendo, Sony, Bandai, Activision, Blizzard and many others paid CBS?

Kinda hard to believe.
 
GillianSeed79

GillianSeed79

Member
Oct 27, 2017
2,371
They should just broadcast the Giant Bomb GOTY deliberations Big Brother-style. Also who would be stupid enough to bribe/pay CBS in 2019? Like who watches broadcast tv award shows on CBS?
 
Zips

Zips

Member
Oct 25, 2017
3,913
A lot of rewards, gaming or otherwise, already have a fee just to be included on the nomination list. The BAFTAs start at £ 90 and go up to £ 480 depending on when you submit and how many games.

That's not quite the same as saying that the company that pays the most is the winner, but it's maybe only one step removed in a lot of cases.
 
Neiteio

Neiteio

Member
Oct 25, 2017
24,120
What would stop a publisher who didn't want to pay (and thus wasn't going to "win" anyways) from divulging the contents of the email to expose this? Do they somehow get these publishers to sign NDAs saying "you will receive an email with the terms of the contest, and you may never reveal the terms of the contest?" And every publisher just goes along? It's not like publishers necessarily care about things being fair and just — they're businesses trying to make money after all — but it just seems risky floating these kind of terms by this many people and not expecting it to go public at some point.
 
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