Activision: We don't Blacklist Journalists

Activision has countered claims made by Gameblog.fr that it blacklists websites that don't do what it wants, with the publisher's PR firm claiming it was just a "misunderstanding."

Late last week it was reported on Gameblog that it had been blacklisted by Activision after it published a story about an Amazon posting. Apparently the retail giant had let slip a product page for Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 prematurely. Gameblog of course covered this as any gaming site would, but was asked to remove it - by Activision. When it refused, it was purportedly removed from mailing lists and future review sample schedules.

In an interview with Kotaku, the owner of the site claimed that in several phone and text based communications with Activision, he was repeatedly asked to remove the article - in some instances "as a favour," and others with the threat of complete severance of the relationship. This included removal of all advertising placements on the site, as well as uninviting from press events and zero continued cooperation.

While this sounds pretty severe, VentureBeat has a slightly different take on it. One of Activision's external PR firms is quoted as saying: "Activision doesn't blacklist journalists. We believe this was a misunderstanding and are working towards a resolution."

At this stage it's still unknown whether blacklisting took place - unless GameBlog.fr has a recording of the phone conversation where the threats were made, it seems unlikely it ever will be - the simple fact that other websites including Jeuxvideo and JVN took down their news coverage of the Black Ops 2 posting after Activision pressure, suggests there is more to the story than the publisher is claiming.