Niche Gamer’s staff are made to ensure their writing complies with commonly accepted journalistic standards and ethics so that our readers can trust our opinions and views on matters within the gaming industry. Niche Gamer staff must adhere to disclosing any potential relationships with the material they are covering.
Any professional or personal interests and or investments that pose a conflict with this standard risk our credibility and our trust in our readers. The staff, the management, and the public must remain ever-watchful to bring any potential conflicts of interest that we may have missed to our attention. Under no circumstances, save any paid endorsements that we always disclose, should the staff alter or skew a report for personal or business gain.
Ultimately, the decisions made regarding what we cover, when we publish, and how we report on material is decided by our staff and not by our advertisers. All Niche Gamer staff are reminded of this policy and must comply with all of the points made below. If you have any questions regarding this policy, you may contact your supervisor or message us via our contact form.
Accurate & Factual Reporting
- All information must be sourced and verified of validity. No misrepresentation of information will be tolerated.
- All information must be free of personal bias and political bias unless otherwise stated.
- Article headlines must summarize the source information without oversimplifying or “click baiting”.
- When writing on allegations regarding a developer, company, or person, multiple sources are required if not strived for. Sources may vary between screen captures of a message, a picture taken of a magazine page, or other means of reasonable sourcing.
- When reporting on potential allegations, neutral language and writing must be used so that readers are not swayed to think said event has actually taken place.
Maintaining Transparency
- Any and all relationships between the subject matter of the article and the writer must be disclosed. This includes personal and monetary relationships. Failure to disclose this could lead to corruption charges.
- Staff must not write about subjects that they are close to (i.e. writing about a developer who you are in a relationship with (this includes monetary, personal etc.).
- When writing an opinion or editorial piece, the writer must disclose this in the material itself to reflect the author’s insertion of their own opinion and or bias, as such it should not be taken as fact.
- Niche Gamer sometimes publishes sponsored content in writing or video content. This will always be explicitly clear on the content itself, as well as under the byline the content is published under.
- If Niche Gamer receives a full-page, direct advertisement for a video game or other product that could be reported on, Niche Gamer must recuse future coverage post full page advertisement.
Review Ethics
- We will always let you know if we were provided a review copy by the developer/publisher for the review in question. We have zero contact with developers or publishers regarding the final review score before it’s published.
- Niche Gamer writers do not cover developers or publishers in whom they’ve previously invested or are currently investing (financially or personally), who have previously employed them, or to whom they’re related or have close relationships.
- We may write previews or reviews on games that we have financially backed either on Kickstarter, Indiegogo, or other means of crowd-funding. If the writer in question has financially backed a game pre-release, we always disclose this in the preview or review.
Acceptance of Promotional Materials from Advertisers, Publishers, and or Vendors
- Niche Gamer may receive promotional materials from advertisers, publishers, and or vendors regarding a game or a game’s release. All physical copies of games remain the property of Niche Gamer and are kept within our library for reviewing and or reporting purposes. We also happily oblige to any advertiser, publisher, and or vendor requesting the disposal or return of their product(s).
- Niche Gamer may donate and or raffle off branded merchandise and or the aforementioned materials from advertisers, publishers, or vendors. All of the decisions regarding the handling of materials given to Niche Gamer are handled by the management staff.
- We do not accept gifts, travel or accommodation from companies we cover. If we cover or review a game at a company-sponsored or monitored event, we’ll let you know. If we are provided lodging or transportation from a sponsored company, the involved staff shall recuse themselves from said game/company.
Affiliate Links and Advertising Disclosure
- Niche Gamer occasionally provides links to stores or product pages that include affiliate links that directly contribute to the Niche Gamer budget monetarily.
- Niche Gamer occassionally runs advertorials (paid editorial content) and sponsored content on the site. This content will always be clearly marked as sponsored or promoted.
