A discussion between me, and a sponsor
Hi All
Some interesting news to update you all on.
I've been approached to make a sponsored video about the game 'NARAKA: Bladepoint', now this makes a welcome change from the flood of crap mobile games I usually see, by all accounts Bladepoint is actually quite good, with a 'Very Positive' rating on steam atm.
However, I want to update you on the conditions I have set out for the sponsorship, I have informed the sponsor they are paying for my TIME, not my OPINION. I will point out the good and the bad in the game, and if they review the final video and are not happy with my fair assessment, I will simply not upload it. No amount of money is going to convince me to upload a video I am not happy with.
I'll keep you updated as this goes, it's very important to me this channel does not simply become one giant advert, your support gives me the luxury of telling brands 'no'.
Hope you've all had a lovely October and are wrapping up warm as it creeps closer to Christmas :)
Josh
Comments (12)
Thanks for the update Josh! I love how you handle these topics with integrity and transparency. Wish you the best! Let us know your impressions!
This right here... Is why I follow you! Game journalists can learn from you. Great stuff
That is the proper way to handle sponsorships. Good to see that you care about integrity. Have a great day!
I cannot find a problem with this approach. Make it clear to the viewer what they are seeing but acting with integrity is also very important.
Thanks for keeping it honest Josh. I hope they like the video and we get to see your thoughts. Love that you are keeping your integrity.
Cold? I'm in Australia Mate... It's only getting warmer from here on out...
you might add something like "This is a paid review and if you are seeing this, the sponsor as accepted my review. I was paid for my time, not a positive review". Definitely state it is a sponsored review and the qualifications the sponsor accepted for you to make the review and perhaps put "sponsored" in the title as some folks might want to know that up front. I love that you are getting these chances. I appreciate your videos and honesty
Sounds good, but ask for a "kill fee." Sometimes people ask me to review books and I'm like "sure, but you might not like what I say." We negotiate a kill fee so if I read it and write it and they don't want to publish it, it still get some compensation.
Start the video with "this is a paid review, but I'll give my honest opinion" and that'll be fine with me. I'm actualy curious now, that's not a game I've heard of.
For me, personally, I don't mind you doing paid reviews as long as they are an honest review. You make money, we get an honest opinion, it seems like a win win. The big if here is the sponsor themselves allowing you that freedom. Hopefully they do.
I don't think anyone is against you having sponsor deals, especially if you do them like this. I'd say other channels could learn from this :)
I actually enjoyed playing this game in the "beta" and initial release. I stopped because free time has been scarce.