PC Gamer’s executive editor recently went for the jugular. To be more precise, he inadvertently went for his own jugular when he decided to insult a 300,000+ community of redditors, many of whom are PC aficionados and avid PC gamers.
So, the question begs to be asked, why would the executive editor for the largest PC gaming magazine in both the U.S. and U.K. launch an assault on the very people his publication is likely to appeal to? Apparently, it’s over a name.
You see, Wilde is not satisfied with the subreddit’s “PC Master Race” nomenclature. After a superfluous discussion about pizzas and puerile slobs, and how these inexplicably relate to internet humor, online mockery and the subreddit itself, Wilde delivers a calculated, scathing and downright undeserved attack on the community.
The Origins of the PC Master Race Label
Firstly, it’s worth briefly exploring how the subreddit came to pass. Back in 2008, Escapist videogame critic Ben “Yahtzee” Croshaw - a self-proclaimed “professional troll” - uploaded a video critique that gave The Witcher a verbal thrashing. In doing so, Croshaw dubbed PC gamers the “PC Master Race,” believing the community to be bloated with members who propagated elitist attitudes and sneered at so-called “console peasants.”
After viewing the (admittedly funny) spectacle, PC gamers appeared to run with the label and embraced the PC Master Race memes that followed suit. In essence, Yahtzee was poking fun at PC gamers and, in turn, PC gamers took it on the chin.
Of course, this longstanding meme was based upon a Nazi analogy, which Wilde pointed out in his opinion piece. Although Wilde admits he found it “… a little funny to embrace the criticism ironically” to begin with, he’s now grown tired of it.
“A little funny” and the leap to “xenophobic slang”
So, now that Wilde no longer finds the meme funny, what is his response? Does he simply say: “It’s getting kind of old, guys. Perhaps time to move on?” No, instead, he labels the community as “cultish” and infers that the very people supporting/sharing the meme are tasteless jackasses who use “xenophobic slang.”
On the surface, this all feels like an concerted effort to label an innocent community by bandying around malicious and damaging terms for the sake of creating a provocative article. The subreddit in question is entirely benign, simply setting out to talk about its passion, while playing off the PC Master Race label in ironic fashion. It certainly did not deserve the Tyler Wilde treatment.
Alas, everything is taken so seriously. Everything must be analyzed and dissected and re-scrutinized, ad nauseam, in a desperate search for some hidden meaning or agenda. Why does everything need to be taken so literally? Just because you don’t happen to appreciate something, why does it automatically mean something more sinister and offensive is afoot?
But what I find almost as objectionable is Wilde’s ability to overlook the source of the “xenophobic” name. Wilde is quite content to name Croshaw as the phrase’s mastermind, but neglects to apportion any blame to him, or to The Escapist for consistently publishing his remarks. While I, personally, would not assign any blame to Croshaw or The Escapist for issuing such playful jibes, there is something to be said about Wilde’s double standards.
And what of Wilde’s mea culpa? Does Wilde also not take some responsibility for initially finding the joke “a little funny”? If we are to assume that Wilde is correct in his assertion that the “PC Master Race” label represents “xenophobic slang,” then, presumably, he should share some guilt and responsibility. Or is Wilde trying to say the term has all of a sudden become xenophobic?
The ‘Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number’ Debacle
Embarrassingly, no sooner did PC Gamer publish an article denouncing the PC Master Race subreddit than the magazine “used” a piece of information collected by a member of said subreddit.
In a post, entitled Australians should pirate Hotline Miami 2 following ban, says dev, Shaun Prescott produced an article that took information and quotes that were derived from a r/PCMasterRace subreddit post. Unfortunately, PC Gamer’s original article failed to state that the subreddit was the initial source of the news; it also failed to provide a link back to the subreddit, instead, giving Polygon the credit.
Reddit user FEED_ME_SMEGMA made contact with one of the Hotline Miami 2 devs, Jonatan Söderström. Via email, the pair discussed the implications of the video game’s Australia ban. In response, Söderström said Australian gamers should “just pirate it after release,” in the event the game is inaccessible to Australian gamers through normal channels.
One of PC Gamer’s staffers then elected to jump in.
PC Gamer and the Hive-Mind
Recognizing a journalistic faux pas had been made, PC Gamer’s Phil Savage plunged into the fray (ish), delivering some excuses and a half-hearted apology. In a not so chivalrous act, however, Savage left a “Featured Comment” that appeared to distance the rest of the PC Gamer team from Wilde’s article.
“Point is, op-eds aren’t a proclamation from the hive-mind PC Gamer. That we ran Tyler’s editorial, and can also publish news that came from PCMR isn’t in conflict.”
While it does seem suspicious that PC Gamer failed to link to the original source of the news, after having lambasted said source in a recent op-ed, it’s difficult to refute the veracity of these claims. Savage maintains that Shaun Prescott received his news from Polygon and had rightly linked back to Polygon’s article. However, Savage admitted there had been an oversight and offered an apology (but also blamed Polygon):
“Polygon didn’t credit PCMR, hence why this news story also hasn’t. Having researched it this morning, it seems that yes, PCMR is the source of the news. I’ve updated the post to reflect that, and apologise for the oversight.”
Remarkably, Savage then went on to explain that Tyler Wilde’s op-ed was “… not an attack on the r/PCMasterRace sub by the entirety of PC Gamer. To be honest, I didn’t read it as an attack of the r/PCMasterRace sub by Tyler himself.”
As an interesting side note, however, it’s worth checking out the PC Gamer team’s stance on the delay of GTA V, which I believe may be of some value in assessing Savage’s “hive-mind” comment. In an article, entitled GTA 5 delay: PC Gamer Reacts, the staff offer their opinions on the endless pushback for the PC version of Rockstar’s much-touted blockbuster title (N.B. PC Gamer has written around 75 articles on GTA V - a game that is yet to release on the PC).
Let’s take a look at a few of these opinions from the eclectic minds at PC Gamer.
Samuel Roberts:
At this point, an extra delay for polish isn’t too bad to me.
Best news out of all this to me is the generous system requirements…
Tom Senior:
I’d rather Rockstar took their time and GTA 5 comes out properly optimised for PC.
Phil Savage:
I have over 120 games sat in a category of my Steam library called ‘To Play’.
As for the system requirements, it’s hard to complain.
Andy Kelly:
Some people are getting pretty mad about the delay. But I’m sure if you looked at their Steam libraries they’d have a hundred unplayed games.
If Rockstar think the game needs more work, that’s probably a good thing. I’d rather they release a complete experience rather than something half-baked that will need a dozen follow-up patches to work properly.
Tim Clark:
So yeah, I’m happy to wait a little longer. If a job’s worth doing, it’s worth threatening someone with a blowtorch to do it for you.
Evan Lahti:
More time means more difference between the PC and console versions, I reckon. Isn’t that ultimately what we care about, getting a GTA game that’s designed for our platform? That, and GTA having a smooth launch, which Rockstar says that the extra time is meant for.
Tyler Wilde:
But like most everyone else here, I have a library full of unplayed stuff from last year, so I’m alright with a slow start to this year.
GTA V was originally released in September of 2013 on Xbox 360 and PS3, while the remastered/enhanced version was released on November, 2014, for the Xbox One and PS4. After years of delays, the PC version is yet to be released.
The only person on the PC Gamer team that had anything remotely different (or critical) to say was Tom Marks.
Yeah, PC Gamer, you’re not a “hive-mind.”
The other side… or the absence of one
So, when the PC Gamer team shares a joint op-ed, in which each of their own opinions are almost exact replicas of one another, how are we to know whose opinions belong to who? Out of the afore-mentioned list of writers, who agrees with Tyler’s viewpoint and who disagrees? There certainly doesn’t appear to be an op-ed with an opposing perspective, and Tyler’s op-ed appears almost entirely one-sided.
OK, so the GTA V example may have seemed like a little bit of rambling digression. But the point is this: where are the op-eds in PC Gamer - indeed, in video games journalism as a whole - that wildly conflict with one another?
In the mainstream media for the entertainment industry (as much as some may loathe it), there’s a diverse range of opinions. Major news outlets in this arena typically have an arsenal of writers with differing opinions and writing styles; equally, the type of writing talent within this pool differs between each publication. Why is this not the case with video games journalism?
For example, in the case of the Anita Sarkeesian debate (and I really hate to resurrect this now-pulpy issue again), where were the for and against pieces? Simply put, why is it always the gamer having the debate with the “hive-mind” of video games journalists? With many of these issues, it almost seems as though these journalists are from entirely different planets, inhabited by a bunch of pantywaist xenomorphs who dare not crack a smile or deliver a punch line for fear of being hounded by the PC Police.
Perhaps it’s time we reject this endless sea of bland, unoriginal and poorly conceived click-bait op-eds and opt for something a little more refreshing. While I firmly believe in listening to the other side of the argument, as healthy debate can inspire great progress, there’s only so often gamers can withstand being slapped with derogatory labels from misinformed, starry-eyed Internet characters.
Frankly, there are more important things to discuss in the video games industry. Rather than repeatedly launch cruel attacks on the very community that pays your wages, why not look at the plight of the overworked, poorly paid games developer? Why not tackle big-name publishers for carving up segments of gameplay into highly lucrative DLC packages? Why not objectively address why certain studios neglect the PC gaming community in favor of console releases? And, most important of all, why not offer a little respect to your readership?