Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) has recently become the topic of controversy when it decided to pull its advertisement campaign on popular gaming industry site Gamasutra.

The decision was largely influenced by the GamerGate movement’s daily e-mail boycotts, wherein users reach out to key advertisers and express their concerns over the content.

The community boycotted Gamasutra in response to the controversial “Gamers Are Over” editorial, which was largely seen as offensive and inflamed the cultural shift with its sensationalized content.

@BuckSexington Yes, our partners at @intel were flooded with complaints over a recent opinion piece, and they did pull an ad campaign.

— Gamasutra (@gamasutra) October 1, 2014

A high volume of e-mails were sent to Intel–one of the major advertisers for Gamasutra–regarding the offensive article. Users cited that they will no longer be visiting the website as a result of the content, and made their position clear.

As a result, Intel pulled their advertising campaign on the site, earning the ire and wrath of the other side of the gate.

After nixing its ad campaign, Intel was seen as an ally to the GamerGate initiative. This prompted a slew of backlash from apparent pro-feminist gamers who saw the hardware-maker as a pawn for “internet trolls”.

Users called Intel “misogynistic” for their decision, which kicked off a dedicated #misogynyinside hashtag. Some said that Intel “supported the harassment of women and journalists”.

Others said that by pulling ads on Gamasutra, the company “doesn’t support and opposes women making, playing or writing about games”.

Interestingly enough Intel has many female executives; Renee J. James serves as president of the company. These allegations seem to be a kneejerk reaction to the assumption that Leigh Alexander–the author of the controversial article–is being attacked, when in actuality it’s Gamasutra that’s being penalized

The hurling of very serious words like misogyny only serves to alienate the company even farther from the “Social Justice” crowd. Ironically these people are actually taking part in the behavior they find so abominable.

Assuming this logic, if Intel listens to its concerned community, then it must be completely involved with the “harassment” and “discrimination” attributed to the GamerGate movement.

But why did Intel pull the ads in the first place?

Intel has a massive stake in the PC gaming industry, and its processors power almost every enthusiast gaming rig in existence. So when gamers–one of its key constituencies–step forward to claim that a website that Intel advertises on has offended them, its to be taken seriously.

“Intel has pulled its advertising from website Gamasutra,” Intel spokesperson Bill Calder said. “

We take feedback from our customers very seriously especially as it relates to contextually relevant content and placements.”

Intel is keen on the growth of the enthusiast PC market as well as serving its customer base, not getting involved with a cultural shift. If anything, it wants gamers to thrive, not to “die”.

In any case, it will be interesting to see if the company will be further pressured by anti-GamerGate’rs and feminist gamers in the coming weeks. Many users are sending batches of e-mails and taking to Pastebin to voice their concerns on Intel’s decision.

In the meantime Gamasutra has lost a major advertiser, and the collective movement continues to gain momentum.

The post GamerGate: Intel Faces Backlash for Pulling Gamasutra Ads appeared first on VR World.

Activision-Blizzard surprised investors and analysts with a better than expected earnings report for its second quarter.

In Activision-Blizzard’s newly released second-quarter earnings report, the gaming giant reveals that its revenue for the second quarter has surpassed original projections by $60 million. The company managed to top $970 million in revenue for the second quarter ending on June 30, 2014, pulling in a profit of $204 million citing continued growth in digital market as a major source of profits.

However, while these better-than-expected figures pleasantly surprised analysts and investors when put in a broader context it shows that Activision-Blizzard’s revenue and profits are on an overall decline. Compared to the same quarter last year, earnings are down 37% while revenue is down by 8%.

Shares, however, were up about 3% in after-hours trading on better than expected news.

The industry leader’s catalog of AAA hits continues to bolster their earnings, with a number of new IP’s such as the popular free-to-play iPad/PC release Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft gaining momentum across the gaming sector.

Activision CEO Bobby Kotick reveals that digital sales have been particularly strong in the digital front:

“Our better-than expected performance was driven by continued strong digital sales from Blizzard Entertainment’s World of Warcraft, Diablo III: Repear of Souls and Blizzard’s newest franchise, Hearthstrone: Heroes of Warcraft, which recently launched on the iPad and continues to be well received by audiences around the world, as well as digital sales from Activision Publishing’s Call of Duty [franchise].

“Based on our results, we are raising our full-year outlook and we expect to grow our non-GAAP revenues year-over-year and deliver record non_GAAAP earnings per share for the full year.”

In light of these earnings and the upward trends of digital sales, Activision now expects to make $4.24 billion in revenue  for 2014’s fiscal year — an increase of $20 million above May’s initial projections. With the help of an array of planned launch games based on strong franchises no-doubt the company can hit this mark.

Destiny marks one of Activision’s largest endeavors in a new gaming IP, and launches Sept. 9 across PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Xbox 360 and PS3.

Blizzard has also reported tremendous success with Diablo III, with the definitive APRG earning the prestige of the “#1 PC game in dollars in both North America and Europe”. Combined with its hot-selling Reaper of Souls expansion, the PC game has sold more than 20 million digital and retail copies to date.

Sales will undoubtedly rise with this month’s release of the Diablo III: Ultimate Evil Edition, the cross-platform console port that brings the original game and its celebrated expansion to the console market.

Activision is poised to expand upon their AAA dominance with a number of upcoming cross-platform titles, all of which will further their leading sales revenue and industry presence.

The publisher’s 2014 catalog includes Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare, Skylanders: Swap Force accompanied by a fresh batch of action-figure tie-ins, and Bungie’s hotly anticipated MMOFPS Destiny, which Activision predicts will be the “largest new IP in gaming history”. Company CEO Bobby Kotick has also highlighted Destiny as the publisher’s next billion-dollar franchise.

Armed with a diversified retinue of hit games and a wave of incoming AAA releases, Activision’s future remains solid. With key development studios like Blizzard and Bungie and a swarm of big-name IP’s under their banner, the company can safely cover new ground in developing sectors of the market.

Maybe we’ll see Activision further its free-to-play model backed on the success of Hearthstone, or a swath of new digital content (DLC, digital exclusives, etc) thanks to the earnings of key titles.

It’ll be interesting to see how the earnings for the next quarter pan out after the release of Destiny; the publisher has already reported that pre-orders are “tracking toward an industry record for a new intellectual property”.

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