IGN Editor Plagiarizes Game Review - "I wish I was cited, collaborated with, and or compensated in some way for the healthy views your site saw"
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Dead Cells
On July 24th, Boomstick Gaming put out his review on the video game, Dead Cells. He begins the video, "Dead Cells takes the progression of a metroidvania, and integrates it into this procedurally generated rogue-lite that has you slowly chipping at its steep difficulty." He then comments on the gameplay, "this combat system is fast, fluid, responsive, and one of the most rewarding representations of 2D combat of the entire genre." In his closing statement, he says, "Dead Cells figures out an intriguing way to have your rogue-lite and metroidvania experience all in one by focusing on your failures, and urging you to try something new the next time."
Dead cells/Gamespot
On August 6th, IGN editor Filip Miucin posted his review on Dead Cells. In Miucin's review, he begins, "it takes the progression system of a metroidvania, and transforms it into a procedurally generated action rogue-lite." His comments on the gameplay, "fights are fast, fluid, responsive, and hands down one the most gratifying representations of video game combat I've ever experienced." Miucin's verdict, "Dead Cells strikes a perfect balance between metroidvania and rogue-lite experiences by focusing on your failures, and urging you experiment each time you do fail."
If this sounds familiar, that's because it is. Boomstick Gaming quickly noticed the similarities between his review, and Miucin's. On the same day of the IGN review, Boomstick Gaming uploaded a video, IGN Copied my Dead Cells Review: What do I do? He noticed a few phrases that raised some flags and then he noticed it sounded like his own review. He was flattered that IGN was watching his channel but did not know what to do.
IGN replaced Miucin’s review with a message, “In light of concerns that have been raised about our Dead Cells review, we’ve removed it for the time being and are investigating.” Miucin was then fired and IGN issued a statement. They apologized to their readers, Dead Cells’ developer, and rightfully to Boomstick Gaming. Similarities were also found between NintendoLife’s FIFA 18 review posted on September 29, 2017, and Miucin’s posted on October 1, 2017. Chris Scullion did the review for NintendoLife, and addressed the issue in a tweet to Miucin, “you have completely failed to understand what you’ve done.”
Miucin’s response
Miucin was publicly quiet until he responded in a now deleted video uploaded to his own channel but can be found here. Miucin stated that the similarities were, “not at all intentional.” He never acknowledged his wrongdoing despite the evidence stacking up against him. He apologized to IGN but not Boomstick Gaming. Miucin’s response was negatively received, his video had 1,700 upvotes, and 8,300 downvotes. Miucin also addressed Kotaku’s claims over his FIFA 18 review, “you can keep looking, Kotaku, and please let me know if you find anything.”
The following week, all of Miucin’s work at IGN was in the process of being removed. A few more examples of Miucin’s plagiarism were found, including him reading excerpts from Wikipedia, and even copying an article from another IGN editor. A total of 13 cases of plagiarism were found against Miucin. He copied other work from Polygon, NintendoWire, Sydney Morning Herald, and NeoGAF. IGN’s executive editor of reviews, Dan Stapleton tweeted, “FYI, we’ve seen enough now, both from the thread and our own searches, that we’re taking down pretty much everything he did. It’s a process, but you’ll start seeing stuff come down tonight.”
IGN will be fine, but it is concerning how nobody was aware of Miucin’s actions. It took the very person that he copied from to call attention to this issue. Boomstick Gaming’s work did not go unnoticed, and he gained quite a few new subscribers. Ironically, Miucin started as a small time Youtuber like Boomstick Gaming before being hired by IGN. This may make it harder for people looking to get hired in a similar manner but not everyone will be like Miucin.
Best of luck to Boomstick Gaming.