Alex Birlo on April 18, 2020
Yes – THE Jason Schreier, the man whose work – unraveling the problems around BioWare and the development process behind Anthem – has helped me write the very first article on this website. And whose work even helped improve working conditions in various studios, thanks to raising public awareness around crunch culture, etc.
Now he leaves Kotaku because he no longer stands the corporate policy of the parent company of Kotaku “G/O Media”.
Jason Schreier is a famous journalist for a video game news site called Kotaku and an author of a best-selling book called “Blood, Sweat and Pixels”.
Now, we all might have varying opinions of Kotaku itself, but we all know this one particular journalist that always comes in with a huge story. Debunking corporate bullshit, bringing to light the awful conditions that the developers in the video game industry have to work under or just leaking some juicy stuff about an upcoming game and then getting blacklisted.
“Here’s something remarkable: Over eight-plus years at Kotaku, I’ve never once been told not to write something because an advertiser might pull out, or because it’d piss off a video game company, or because it might upset the wrong people. The story always came first. Serving readers always came first.” – sais Jason in his last article for Kotaku.
Even if not all of us agree that in this day and age this statement is completely true, we can all agree that his articles made ripples that caused major development studios to hastily put up statements in response to his words.
His work contributed to both gamer and developer movements in the industry and was a part of the change and progress we see today. And that is a solid fact.
One after another, for some time now, Kotaku and other websites under “G/O Media” were losing high-ranking members and experienced authors due to the company tightening its grip on the editorial freedom and imposing stricter regulations that prevented people from doing what they are good at.
One by one Jason saw his colleagues leave teams and projects under the company’s umbrella “When I think about what happened to Deadspin, bile builds in my throat. After October 29, 2019, it became clear to me that I could not work at this company for much longer.” – another extract from his last article for Kotaku.
So it comes as no surprise that a journalist that is not afraid to write what he thinks even if it might be controversial, is leaving this strict and uninspired work environment.
Jason Schreier reminds me of these old-school no-bullshit journalists like my mother, who writes what needs to be written and makes a difference. Even if I am not always agreeing with what he says or what he writes, I have nothing but respect for the man.
I know he will be just fine now that he is free to move on and keep writing things that matter and I wish him all the best!
Sources:
Washington Post article:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/video-games/2020/04/16/jason-schreier-is-leaving-kotaku-citing-go-media-reason/
Jason Schreier’s last article for Kotaku:
https://kotaku.com/press-sneak-out-1842900864
Jason Schreier’s Twitt:
https://twitter.com/jasonschreier/status/1250801006461489155
