Following the negative reception Duke Nukem"s latest games has received, publicity company The Redner Group has openly threatened to blacklist games reviewers from receiving future games, based on what they term as "venom filled reviews". The tweet, which has since been deleted, reads:
Too many went too far with their reviews...we are reviewing who gets games next time and who doesn"t based on today"s venom
Although blacklisting in the games industry is not unheard of, public threats are. ArsTechnica got in contact with Jim Redner to find out his take on the events, and here is the response:
I have had a wonderful relationship working with you in the past. I plan to continue working with you in the future on all projects, if you will allow me.
I believe reviews are completely subjective. Everyone is welcome to their own opinion and opinions are never wrong.
It is not my intention to bully anyone. I over reacted. I just voiced an opinion. I have poured my heart into this project and I just want it to succeed.
It is my hope that you understand.
Duke Nukem Forever has had a shaky history. Following a laughably long string of delays, prerelease previews indicated the long development time did nothing to improve the quality of the game. DNF currently holds a score of 49 on Metacritic for the Xbox 360 version, which is described as "generally unfavourable".
The offending tweets have now been removed from the company page, followed by a series of tweets explaining the harsh reaction to the reviews. "Again, I want everyone to know that I was acting on my own. 2K had nothing to do with this. I am so very sorry for what I said," the last tweet reads.