Duke Nukem's PR firm sacked over review threats
A PR company responsible for handling 2K Games's Duke Nukem Forever publicity in the US has been sacked following claims that it would withhold future titles from reviewers who were less than complimentary about the Duke's return.
Rumours of shady deals between reviewers and publishers or PRs - always hotly denied by both sides - form a constant backdrop to the world of reviews: a game gets a bad review, and suddenly a few thousand pounds worth of advertising is pulled; a game gets a good review, and a PR agency buys the magazine's back cover - or the website equivalent - for a fortune.
Rarely is the dynamic made quite so obvious as in a comment by PR agency The Redner Group, posted to microblogging service Twitter in a fit of pique yesterday following a somewhat scathing reception for the Duke's return.