The narrative newsroom thriller, ‘Static Hour’, has just been announced for PC
Press release:
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, August 7th, 2026 - If anyone is still out there, if anyone [...]
Because I know how this game goes, as any formulaic game goes, I want to make a clear Disclaimer right now. I don’t care that Ladykiller in a Bind is on Steam. People can play and enjoy whatever they want, and while the game is of no interest to me, professional journalism is. For that matter, I’ve no personal issue with the game developer, Christine Love. So without further ado, let’s begin.
It was honestly a little weird. The first time I had even heard of the game Ladykiller in a Bind was when it was brought to my attention that so many news outlets were talking about this game that so few people had heard about prior. One of which was the one and only Nathan Grayson, one of the key components in the Quinnspiracy so long ago. So what is wrong about this? Well, just like how he didn’t disclose his relation to Zoey Quinn, he didn’t disclose his relation to Christine Love.
While I do not believe he is now, nor that he ever, was in a relationship with the creator, he seems to have some sort of friendship with her, as seen in their public discussions on social media.
However, maybe this is an isolated case? Maybe his relationship doesn’t go any further than jokes about how they should get dinner? This, however, doesn’t seem to be the case as Nathan Grayson has invited Christine Love on what appears to be a number of occasions to karaoke night, and is completely comfortable making awkward sex jokes about GDC with Ms. Love.
I´m starting to regret eating before writing this article. (Source: http://archive.is/Y3qR8 http://archive.is/Dg0Rz)
All in all, what this appears to be is a failure to follow the journalistic code of ethics by disclosing the hard facts of his relation to the subject at hand. If he has some sort of relation to the developer, it is very possible his opinion could lean favorably in the direction of the developer. Given the long history Nathan Grayson has, it’s not surprising that he’d forget about something as important to his job as the code of journalistic ethics again.
It’s most definitely worth pointing out that most of the reviewers of “Ladykiller in a bind” were key-activated only…Not to mention the fact that Miss Love charges 25 Euros for the game (just to give you some perspective on the matter, you can buy Valiant Hearts: The Great War, Outlast and Never Alone for less than that).
As a side note, I personally think that there may be some favoritism at play from not just Grayson, but many news outlets, given the crazy publicity for what, to me, appears to be a relatively “meh” game. In honesty, I feel like this is a case of nepotism, however I will not claim that as absolute truth as there is very little concrete evidence to guarantee that idea. Although it does appear odd that of all the indie games trying to break new ground, it’s a game which fits an agenda that gets favored by so many. Even so, keep note that I may be wrong. As I’ve never played the game before, it could very well be a masterpiece in its field. However, given how she appears to have pretty defined relationship with a number of different reporters, including Patricia Hernandez who admitted to dating Love in the past, and yet still covered her game without a disclosure, it appears very suspicious.
Given the history of accepting nepotism in the past, as Hernandez covered Love before without a disclosure, a second go around feels suspicious. (Source: http://imgur.com/kSFGdei).
Even if it wasn’t Grayson, it’d be important to point out this mistake. It is expected of all journalists to avoid conflicts of interest where possible and to give out disclaimers and disclosures where they are necessary. As I’ve written about before, professionalism is by far the most important goal when you want to work as part of a business or represent something bigger than yourself. In addition, given that there is a history of nepotism in favor of Ms. Love, I wouldn’t eliminate any malintent on her part either. However, I cannot confirm that to be the case. We can only hope that for the future, this type of issue we have in the Gaming Journalism sphere is eliminated as it is not only malicious, but also blatantly obvious when it occurs.
Sources and resources:
http://steamcharts.com/app/560000#3m
https://steamspy.com/search.php?s=ladykiller
http://www.spj.org/pdf/spj-code-of-ethics.pdf
Credit:
A big thanks to Ford Freestar (@I_AM_IRON_VAN) for helping me compile and analyze this information.
Robin Ek – Editor
Liquid Blackz –
***Disclaimer***
This is a personal opinion of the writer, and it doesn’t necessarily represent the other writers’ (nor The Gaming Ground’s) opinions.
***Disclosure***
I have nothing personal against Nathan Grayson, Christine Love or any other parties mentioned in this article. I have nothing against the game in discussion or any games of its type or genre. The conclusions drawn were of the current evidence collected based on how I interpreted the evidence and may be skewed due to my pessimistic tendency.
Justin Easler
Senior editor
The Gaming Ground
Twitter: @masterjayshay
More by Justin Easler:
Tags: #GamerGate, Christine Love, Indie games, Kotaku, Ladykiller in a Bind
