Day One: Garry's Incident
Day One: Garry's Incident is a PC survival game developed and published by Wild Games Studio in Mascouche, Québec, Canada and released on 25 September 2013. The game received primarily negative reviews from critics. After a negative critique of the game was published on YouTube, Wild Games Studio had the video taken down using the site's automated copyright complaints system. A well known game critic TotalBiscuit claimed that the copyright complaint was part of a deliberate attempt to censor online criticisms. After receiving negative attention for their copyright complaint, the game's developers apologized and withdrew the complaint. The developers were also accused of astroturfing online reviews on Metacritic.
| Day One: Garry's Incident | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Developer(s) | Wild Games Studio |
| Publisher(s) | Wild Games Studio |
| Designer(s) | Stephane Woods |
| Programmer(s) | Thomas Rabouim Luc Lessard Frederic Bohn Rejean Leclerc Marc Renaud Maxime Charbonheru Stephane Woods |
| Artist(s) | Armel Gaulme James Christopher Fauvelle Maxime T. Bourque Frederic O'Aoust Melissa Lachance |
| Composer(s) | Francois-Xavier Dupas |
| Engine | Unreal Engine 3 |
| Platform(s) | Microsoft Windows[1] |
| Release |
|
| Genre(s) | First-person shooter, survival horror, survival |
| Mode(s) | Single-player |
Plot
The protagonist in Day One: Garry's Incident is Garry Friedman, a middle-aged British pilot. In the game, Garry's wife and daughter were recently killed in an accident. Depressed by the death of his family members, Garry begins drinking heavily and accepting dangerous assignments. While he is transporting cargo for a research facility in Yellowstone National Park, Yellowstone Caldera erupts, causing him to lose control of the plane. An artifact in the cargo causes him to be transported to the Amazon Rainforest, where he discovers an ancient civilization and struggles to survive.[1]
Reception
Dispute with TotalBiscuit
On 1 October 2013[2] John Bain, a video game critic known online as TotalBiscuit, The Cynical Brit, published a critical review of Day One: Garry's Incident on YouTube, saying that the game was "horrendous". The game's developer, Wild Games Studio, alleged that Bain had violated its copyrights.[3] The company argued that Bain should not have been able to earn advertising revenue from a video based largely on gameplay footage from their copyrighted work.[3] They filed a copyright infringement complaint through YouTube and the video was removed through its automated takedown system.[4]
This led to allegations that the company was abusing YouTube's copyright system in a deliberate attempt to censor online criticisms.[4] Steam users and professional reviewers pointed out that nearly all online video game reviews are funded by advertising and feature game content.[5][6] Critics also noted that no other online reviews of the game were given similar notices.[3] It was also pointed out that many Steam users had similar criticisms towards the game's quality.[7] Bain later published a response video, which reached two million viewers within three days, where he alleged Wild Games Studio was abusing copyright laws to censor his criticisms. He also alleged the company manipulated their Kickstarter campaign to make it seem that it had more support than it did by having the CEO of the company pledge $10,000 upfront, and having others pledge high amounts and withdraw them later.[4][8]
According to TechDirt, the incident was an example of the Streisand effect, whereby attempts to censor criticism only draws more attention to it.[8] In response to objections to its tactics in online communities, Wild Games Studio apologized and withdrew their copyright complaint.[3][9]
Alleged Metacritic astroturfing
Wild Games Studio was also accused of astroturfing; posting fake reviews on Metacritic to increase the game's average review rating.[10] Critics noted that a large number of recently created accounts gave the game positive reviews without posting anything else on the site.[10] The studio denied being involved and suggested it may have been one of a number of players that contacted them offering to "help" with negative online reviews.[10]
References
- "Day One: Garry's Incident". Steam. Wild Games Studio. 25 September 2013. Archived from the original on 13 December 2013. Retrieved 11 December 2013.
- TotalBiscuit, WTF Is... - Day One: Garry's Incident?, archived from the original on 24 March 2015, retrieved 17 March 2015
- "Studio Accused of Blocking YouTube Vid Over Criticism". Kotaku.com. 20 October 2013. Archived from the original on 27 February 2015. Retrieved 8 March 2015.
- "Day One: Garry's Incident developers censoring criticism". Destructoid.com. 21 October 2013. Archived from the original on 14 November 2013. Retrieved 19 November 2013.
- "Game Devs Abuse Copyright to Censor Negative YouTube Review". torrentfreak.com. 21 October 2013. Archived from the original on 3 December 2013. Retrieved 19 November 2013.
- Shaw-Williams, Hannah (23 October 2013). "The Day One: Garry's Incident Censorship Scandal: When Bad Publicity Gets Worse". GameRant.com. Archived from the original on 28 November 2013. Retrieved 19 November 2013.
- "Developers Try Legally Blocking Negative Criticism of Day One: Garry's Incident". CinemaBlend.com. 20 October 2013. Archived from the original on 23 October 2013. Retrieved 19 November 2013.
- Masnick, Mike. "Copyright As Censorship Again: Game Developer Takes Down Scathing YouTube Review". Techdirt.com. Archived from the original on 4 December 2013. Retrieved 20 November 2013.
- "Developer Apologises To TotalBiscuit, Everyone After YouTube Stunt". Kotaku.com. 21 October 2013. Archived from the original on 23 February 2015. Retrieved 8 March 2015.
- Fidler, Will (20 October 2013). "Day One: Garry's Incident Studio Accused of Creating Fake Metacritic Reviews". VideoGamesUncovered.com. Archived from the original on 3 December 2013. Retrieved 20 November 2013.