Up a Gum Tree
The Gamer’s Challenge, also casually shortened to ‘TGC’, was a gaming website based in the UK. The site ran from just 2012 to 2013 and was expanded into a multi-platform project which included a Facebook and Twitter (now ‘X’) news feed as well as video guides, reviews and playthroughs on their YouTube channel, though the site itself remained the priority, featuring news, reviews, previews, opinion pieces and discussions relating to games and the surrounding gaming industry. Top-rated posts would also feature under the umbrella of the N4G network.
The site would face troubles shortly after launch and become the battleground for internal unrest and external criticism. Due to the controversy surrounding the delisted website, any key staff members mentioned will be referred to using first names only, out of respect of desires to distance themselves from the discredited project. Some names have been altered for the same reason.
The Gamer’s Challenge would begin with a group of six collaborative creators who would manage and invest in the site, recruiting potential writers via legitimate job listings on Gumtree. Successful applicants would be required to submit ten articles to the site before being added to the ‘staff writer’ roster and would be eligible for advertising revenue dependent on advertising banner views and clicks on their featured posts, though the posts themselves were unpaid.
The team would face hardships right from the start, as even before the primary website went live, five of the six main collaborators had backed out of the project for undisclosed reasons, leaving final owner Dean alone to handle all site management, administration and post editing.
Equal Opportunities
The Gamer’s Challenge would pride itself on recruiting writers at varying stages of their writing careers, and thus, varying skill levels, providing each contributor could meet with the site’s reasonable quality and quantity requirements, from new writers with a passion for gaming, to industry veterans with years of experience in the field, including those with qualifications in media studies and journalism.
Such variety in journalism would result in passionate and occasionally controversial posts. One such article which was positively received was an early deep-dive into the over-censorship of sexual content rising in games. The 2,000+ word article, ‘Sexual Content in Games – Too Taboo For You?’ by Greg would tackle various issues, including the misreporting of ‘fan-service’ games published in 360 Gamer magazine, Ron Rosenberg of Crystal Dynamics falsely announcing an attempted rape scene in the 2013 Tomb Raider reboot, and a general lack of adult relationship authenticity throughout gaming as a whole.
Comparatively, the FIFA 13 review by Harrison would come under heavy criticism for being overly positive, scoring the game a perfect 10 out of 10 while neglecting to mention any issues which could be considered in any way negative. Harrison would withdraw the review following criticism from fellow journalists, but rewrite the post almost entirely to meet with editorial feedback, before reposting the review in 2013, now with a revised 8 out of 10 score.
Internal Struggles
The occasional minor criticism of a handful of posts would be the least of The Gamer’s Challenge’s problems as internal disputes and strikes soon escalated. Complaints would soon arise from writers who were unable to receive any form of advertising revenue. Staff writers were required to research and apply their own unique advertising network plug-in without using the standard Google AdSense due to user limits. Dean would be criticised for not supporting new writers with the application of these plug-ins.
Upon applying advertising network plug-ins for each staff writer which took weeks to finalise, it quickly became clear that writers still weren’t being paid. Dean responded by claiming that there were compatibility problems due to the current server and that the site would have to restart from scratch under a new server. Following several writers’ strikes, this was completed in 2013. Dean would highlight this moment as a golden opportunity to start afresh with a darker, edgier theme and a smarter layout inspired by rival Rock Paper Shotgun.
The new site would also bring a change in the staffing structure, with Dean stepping back to a purely administrative role, and promoting media studies degree-holder Laura to the position of editor-in-chief. Following advice from original staff writer Greg, Laura would roll out a feedback system which would allow constructive quality control before posts went live, however, Laura would also add editorial comments to live posts (signed by herself) either supporting or even discrediting key points in reviews, potentially invalidating them. Greg would go on to comment that “such unwanted additions were childish, unnecessary and unprofessional”, and would remove many using backdoor access to WordPress within 24 hours.
The End of an Era
Within weeks of the new site going live, major service errors were noticed by all staff. These errors would stem from the refresh and reload rate of the site, where the site would return to a previously saved state on a daily basis. This would result in any saved work, edits and new live posts being lost. Dean would once again be summoned to fix the issue and writers’ strikes would resume.
After several weeks of no success, Laura would make a statement advising writers to stop contributing work due to the high likelihood of it being lost, describing the state of the site as “####ed up beyond all recognition.” Dean would maintain a period of radio silence during this time, forcing the team to contact him directly for comment.
Eventually, Dean would make an announcement to all contributors, declaring the site broken beyond repair and suggesting the damage was the result of a potential hacking attempt. In an attempt to compensate writers who had lost work and earnings, Dean would offer to delete their posts from the server and return the rights to the original writers, allowing them to post their work elsewhere without issue.
Many were dissatisfied with this outcome and expressed an interest in collaborating on a new site, though Dean and Laura would likely see their roles reduced to writers only. Dean expressed no interest in starting again and cut off contact with the team. The site was abandoned and posts periodically deleted, however links to deleted posts were repeatedly shared on social media, frequently alerting the former writers and forcing Laura to issue Dean with a Cease and Desist order. Dean would promptly delete what remained of The Gamer’s Challenge website and close the social media accounts permanently from 11th April, 2013.
Lost Souls: Where Are They Now?
While multiple dead links to The Gamer’s Challenge’s articles remain on N4G, no usable trace of the original site remains and any social media accounts have been removed by inactivity. Traffic to The Gamer’s Challenge website was redirected to partner website Martial Arts Video Games, however this would also close within 2 years of opening. Though many of The Gamer’s Challenge’s writers expressed an interest in collaborating on a new project, most were already in the process of joining other sites during the lengthy periods of down-time leading up to the closure of The Gamer’s Challenge.
Laura would found a new website, The Graduated Gamer, a gaming site created by a university graduate for other fellow graduates. Greg, who remained in contact with Laura for a time, accused the site of ‘limiting its audience’, branding the idea as “elitist”. Laura would abandon The Graduated Gamer within 6 months, citing changes in circumstance and blaming her abandonment of the site on a period of ill health, a change of career direction and her dwindling interest in gaming due to her growing interest in the Pokémon Trading Card Game.
Greg would also attempt to continue a project which was in its planning stages during the final weeks of The Gamer’s Challenge known as ‘Operation Skylark’, an exposé into the reasons behind the rapidly declining stocking of Japanese-developed games in UK supermarkets, however no retailers which were contacted expressed any desire to co-operate with the report, while fellow writers and retail workers invited to comment were hesitant to get involved. Greg would abandon the project due to lack of interest from supporters, and would instead join several UK and US-based sites as a freelance contributor. Dave, Harrison and Sean, all regular writers at The Gamer’s Challenge, would also move on to other sites for a time.
During the final days of The Gamer’s Challenge, Greg would attempt to track down the absent Dean in an attempt to recover the team’s lost advertising revenue, stating “I never received a penny for my time at The Gamer’s Challenge”, however Dean cut all ties with the team. His last known whereabouts according to his now abandoned Facebook account, suggested Dean is pursuing a theatrical career in London’s West End.
September 2023 would see The Gamer’s Challenge undergo an unexpected revival, with the domain re-registered and a handful of gaming news posts going live, however, this appears to have been abandoned same-day, possibly being an experimental project. No additional posts have been added after 5th September 2023, no staff have been identified and no working contact details are available.
Allegations and Speculations
A now-deleted Facebook page dedicated to The Gamer’s Challenge writers invited past team members to get in touch, share their stories and even collaborate on future projects, however the page no longer exists following months of inactivity. Greg would make the final statements on the page, which made allegations against Dean.
“We don’t know [what really happened to The Gamer’s Challenge] though there is evidence to suggest it’s been hacked. Our chief administrator was unable to resolve the ongoing issues and ended up abandoning the team and dismissing our new editor.”
“I’m appalled at how the ‘so-called’ professionals who manage the site are actually little more than amateurs. Such a waste of good talent. Not to brag, but we were damn good writers. This is the second site to screw up. The team has scattered now so we won’t be trying again anytime soon.”
“Dean’s worrying absence for weeks at a time should have given us an idea as to what was really going on. We should’ve seen the signs. I firmly believe that Dean had no intention of restoring the site and had lost all interest in the project.”
“There is also evidence to suggest that Dean himself sabotaged the site in order to quickly escape his responsibilities without paying the staff properly. I can neither confirm nor deny that the hacking issues plaguing The Gamer’s Challenge were an inside job, though the motive is there. Dean’s behaviour over the last few months has been highly suspicious.”
