IGN Lets go of Chris Roper

Executive Editor of PlayStation team gets laid off

[Sonyslave3]

See this prove Ign is bias

[NLshotta]

he was on microsofts payroll and they finally caught him

[ChrisW]

I hope it's not because he gave it a 93 and said, "It's not perfect, with some uneven storytelling and progression here and there, but it's still a fantastic overall package."

Then again, publishers are known to give nice presents to editors who give excellent reviews... and threats of boycott for less than stellar reviews.

BUT HE GAVE IT A 93!

[callahan09]

What does this mean for the editorial direction ps3.ign.com?

[Chris399]

They've been adrift for years. If Greg Miller takes the reigns, the whole place is going to the dogs.

[presto717]

.

[divideby0]

agreed if Miller takes over...I will stop going to IGN the little I go there now...their FF review totally blew it for me. The site used to be great, now its just a media advertisement ho bag

[Lifendz]

although I can only dream of Shane B. (formerly of 1up) leaving Ignition and taking the job.

[evilmonkey501]

You cant spell ignorant without IGN.

[OmegaSlayer]

Who gives a rat's a**!!!
People should start to open their eyes.
Reviewers EARN money to play FOR FREE, IN ADVANCE, games that we have to WAIT and to PAY a LOT of bucks.

They're lucky, very lucky, and they should only be honest, clear and not biased in their reviews.
Instead they accept moneyhats, and the success of 360 in the US is defnitively to be addressed to the bunch of Editors and Reviewers that started to bash PS3 every single time while glorifying 360.

So this guy has been fired, GOOD!
I'm happy, I would be happier if he had been sent to a farm to shovel feces.

[offwhiteazn]

but i agree with almost everything in the ign review for this game except for the story.. the game crashed on 2 separate occasions, and there where some set pieces that should have happened that didn't. overall, it didnt feel as polished as the other games, and that makes me sad. however, the core game is amazing and whoever plays it will jizz in their pants.

[deafwing]

... lol that dude tore him a new one and IGN was like .. "Oh noeeessss" HHG doesn't like him we have to let him go.

[LordMarius]

Thats what you get for implying this
Bayonetta > GoW3

/kidding(?)

[evilmonkey501]

I accidentally posted a reply to your comment on the above comment...
No edit....darn.

[deafwing]

... man it's not funny; the economy is rough out their, hopefully he has something else lined up for himself - you guys have to look at it from all angles before you mangle the guy. :)

[TheColbertinator]

Sucks for him.Working at IGN must have been a great gig

[Mr Tretton]

Well this is a shocker. I half kind of liked him, but he also seemed depressed and bored a lot of times, like an old guy that just doesn't feel it anymore.

He was a bit extreme about the negatives in games, but he tended to be at least a bit rational. The Podcast Beyond team is the only thing I like about ign and little by little the team is getting weeded out.

I was wondering why there wasn't a podcast last week.

Strange to 'lay' him off

[despair]

there wasn't a podcast beyond last week because the team was at GDC they said so. Plus are they sure he was let go i mean the tweet did not say that he was laid off just lay-offs are bad but who knows until official word.

[nogolis]

Knew this was coming... Sadly Greg Miller isn't going anywhere. He's planted deeper than a planters peanut in IGN's ass.

[zeddy]

podcast beyond wont be the same without the roper report. buts he's got a decent CV so it wont be hard for him to get another job.

[TOO PAWNED]

I hope he gets job with Sony or something. He was probably only guy on Beyond team to be genuine fan of Playstation and PS IPs.

[Petro89]

That's what you get.

[Chaos Striker]

Remember that time he gave God of War I and II a 9.8 and 9.7 respectively?

Your argument fails. Get off the internet.

[Jerkstore81]

I'm stunned by the idiocy in this thread! Chris wasn't fired for his reviews. IGN laid off several people at there office to cut costs (Bozon and Ahearn were hit too). Maybe you should read the letter IGN wrote before making dumb accusations.

http://www.joystiq.com/2010...

[tunaks1]

Bozon, now this guy?

[gumgum99]

Bozon too? 0_0

[tunaks1]

"Bozon too? 0_0"
yep hes gone too

[Odion]

Why do they mention Garnet Lee in this? Also when did Garnet Lee lose his job? I am pretty sure he left to become the head honcho at GameFly media

[Pika-pie]

I was thinking the same thing. And he left 1up last year, really old news.

[HungPHAT]

Fucem! The wouldn't GOW3 a 10 because it's a Playstation exclusive !!! If it was a XB exclusive hands down a 10/10

[Mahr]

This is a step in the right direction. Now if only IGN would just fire the rest of their staff...

[Quadrostacker]

It sucks to get laid off cause I know how it is but this guy had it coming to him, giving GOW3 a 8.5 in presentation is a no no. I'm sure he'll find a job soon just hope its not in the gaming industry cause it seems like he's not into as much as before.

[nogolis]

As good as I feel GOW3 was... You shouldn't get fired for your opinion. Not saying this was what he was fired for cos' I don't know what he was laid off for. But still. We should be able to freely express our selves. It's the best way to convey to the reader and gamer and in turn the consumer what exactly they are in for when they buy a product.

[JD_Shadow]

Remember what Chris Buffa over at GameDaily said to defend his MGS4 review?

If you do, then you should know why your logic is flawed.

[stridershoge]

However much I disagreed with some of his views it's always sad to see someone loosing their job. Good luck to him in his future endeavours.

[ohnoTheRancor]

tomorrow will be neither:
1) a happy birthday for him, nor
2) a happy St. Patty's Day for him

all the more reason to booze, fella.

[Metfanant]

St. Paddy's day...with D's not T's....

just saying lol

[GR8 1]

Good riddance lesser the scum in the gaming idustry the better.

[karan8624]

We need fewer people like you

[PSN-JeRzYzFyNeSt]

or was it gregg one of them suckeed

[Angry Moth]

Are you guys being sarcastic saying he deserved it for his gow3 or do you just have no compassion?

Roper was a great editor and will be missed by me and many others
BEYOND!

[GiantEnemyCrab]

No, these extremist nutjobs are %100 serious.

"giving GOW3 a 8.5 in presentation is a no no"

They actually think this guy lost his job because he gave GoW3 a decent review but did not agree with many of their own personal opinions.

I know it's crazy scary but these are the people who walk are streets..

[kvg88]

Chris Roper didn't lose his job because of his review of God of War III, but the score he gave it?

I'm not insinuating anything, just curious as to what people here think.

[Odion]

The Problem with this news post is that its incorrect, a lot of people lost their jobs at IGN, they had layoffs across the board

[Chnswdchldrn]

I wonder if in fact his job loss is because of the GOW3 review.

that would be wild

[kvg88]

Could be like that thing that happened at Game Spot regarding Kane & Lynch review / ad campaign.

[Chaos Striker]

Here's the difference between the Gamespot and IGN firing:

Gamespot fired Gerstmann because he utterly trashed Kane and Lynch and gave it a 6.9~.

Roper praised the game a lot and gave it a 9.3. It is a few decimal points lower than the previous GOW's, but he was also the one who reviewed the first 2. As a result, his opinion is much better because he understands the series and what can/can't work.

That being said, I wish him well in his endeavors. Beyond Forever!!!

[swansong]

It should of been Erik Brudvig for giving Deadly Premonition such a low score- 2.0. They should of fired him for that review. We all know DP is right up there with HR. Now put FK in the coffee.

[ifhd]

Beyond

[lightningsax]

A Beyond screams across the sky... My iPod is inconsolable right now, it can't stand the loss.

[Gish]

Welcome to the club my friend... Now hands off my job possibilities!!

[ViciousBoston]

So let me say this...

Chris, i'm sorry you were let go. Hope you land on your feet.

With that being said, I also hope the biased journalism they teach you at IGN gets put away wherever you land. We all know the PS3 team at IGN was a joke. Atleast within the last 6-8 months. I was once a frequent of your Podcast Beyond. Then slowly week after week of not only slow uploads (thursday podcast coming up on sunday...yeah no.) and a slowly creeping Green and White plague... Information was skewed. I loved the podcast for your collective humor and silliness but even that couldn't come back with such a downward look at PS3. Not for the fact the games were lacking in a particular area that you gentlemen reviewd but because the rating system on IGN is flawed. A game with graphics clearly better than a 7 gets such a number and a game on rival platform gets a 9 while it looks less amazing than said game is rediculous.

In this Chris, i'm not blaming you nor is this directly to you...but IGN whatever happened there in the staff needs to go. Its a media cancer to a site that was once loved by ALL gamers, not just the ones sporting White and Green. Best of luck Chris.

[Chaos Striker]

What incidents are u talking about in particular?

As for the podcast beyond delays, if you are using itunes, the folks have stated that they have no control over that, because Apple is the one delaying their podcast uploads.

[lightningsax]

N4G- where people click "disagree" because you ask a question and clear up a problem with iTunes!

Yeah, they released Beyond on Thursdays on the site because Apple wasn't getting them on iTunes quickly enough. I've resigned to using iTunes, but I have to accept that I'll be getting last week's podcasts the next week at times.

[ForROME]

Playstation changes its Logo and IGN Changes its editor sounds like they want a fresh approach to PS

[HungPHAT]

Mark my words IGN is saving their perfect 10 for Halo Repeat opps I mean Reach cause they know MS will send a big fat check come review time ! Bank on it ....

[lightningsax]

Hm. Replace IGN with Edge and I totally agree with your comment.

[Ve3tro]

Pity to see him go, at least he ain't dead.

Nate Ahearn RIP.

[despair]

his tweet

"Layoffs are the worst pre-birthday gift ever. If anyone knows of anything open, let me know, be it PR, production, community or otherwise."

seems like he was talking about the layoffs at ign in general not himself. Makes no sense to sack a senior editor with years experience instead of someone lower on the scale so i say this has been taken out of context.

[Chaos Striker]

No...its true. If he says its the worst pre-birthday gift ever then it must be true, considering his birthday is tomorrow. Also, he wouldn't be asking about PR/production/community/etc openings if he wasn't given the pink slip.

As reason for firing, there can be many. Contrary to what many of the idiots here say the reason was, the most likely reason could be downsizing/further consolidation or even a salary issue. Because he is a senior executive he most likely gets paid more. Hence, if they dropped him, they can alleviate some of the financing issues.

**BEYOND!

[despair]

@chaos striker

what you say make sense. If its true gonna miss him on IGN(GOW3 review aside) and of course on BEYOND!!!

Edit: Seems like he's really gone hmm f'ing corporate,this guy says he got conformation from greg miller and sam bishop

http://blogs.ign.com/therea...

[Chaos Striker]

Newscorp....How I loathe that company....

[lightningsax]

Despair, thanks for posting that link! I'm still not sure who the writer is, but it makes a ton more sense than "You have incurred the wrath of Kratos" or whatever.

[ALFAxD_CENTAURO]

Too bad.

[mrmikew2018]

I don't like IGN, but it's a horrible thing getting laid off in this day and age. Sorry to hear that Chris

[john master lee]

Yeah, sucks to hear this. I hope he bounces back.

[NYC_Gamer]

its ashame when your opinion can get you fired...

[ScottJ10]

His birthday is tomorrow as well. :\

[mikemadden]

why did you sh!t on his review?

[gumgum99]

that's random.

[Bigninja]

Im assuming he did or at least thats the assumption made in my opinion

[JonnyBigBoss]

Oh man, he should go to Destructoid and befriend Jim Sterling.

[zeddy]

i dont really care what score ign give gt5 now, his opinion is the only one i valued for that game.

[Chaos Striker]

I really wonder who is going to review GT5 now...considering Roper was an extreme fan of that game I can image him giving it a 10/10. But now...I don't know...

@The idiot #30 below me. What is so bloody biased about what he reviewed huh? What bloody lies did he tell? Maybe you need to take off those fanboy goggles of yours. He gave GOWI a 9.8. He gave GOWII a 9.7. He is the MOST LIKELY person to give Gran Turismo 5 a 10.0 since he is a fanatic for the game. But now guess what? No more. And then your gonna say IGN is biased again and the circle continues. Stop acting deluded and ask yourself, does anything u say SOUND logical at ALL? My answer is no.

[justGAMES]

I laught at the people who feel sorry for him lol. I don't care if he got laid off for the review or for other reasons BIAS journalism from any site or individual should be dispossed of. If you feel sorry for the guy then also feel bad for the developers who worked so hard on the game a d won't sell as much as they should due to the 1; lies from POOR Chris roper or 2; bias IGNism.

[Mr Remz]

Good now he can go work for bill gates full time cleaning his pool and wiping his @ss after he takes a dump!!

[stuntman_mike]

To say this guy lost his job for one review is ridiculous...He lost it for many bad reviews lol. He will probably open up his own gaming site.

anyway theres more deserving people out there for our sympathies.

[Flyingelephant]

There may be many microsoft fanboys working at ign but Chris Roper was NOT one of them. Chris was my favorite ign editor because of the fact that he could be trusted and his oppinions were actually of value, he wasn't biased and he was actually smart and gave you reasons as to why he marked down a game in his reviews!... As far as people saying he was fired for giving GoW3 a 9.3, you are fools. A 9.3 is a GREAT score and keep in mind that Roper wasn't one to give just any game such a high score, it had to deserve that score. He gave Uncharted 2 a 9.5 for example... He was the only real person working at ign in my honest oppinion and that's hard to find in journalism these days, especially at ign. I'm going to follow Chris to whatever site he lands at and I'm going to stop reading ign now because he was one of the last honest and respectable guys working there, so f off to the haters. You guys don't even really know who Chris Roper is and are just spewing forth crap as usual...

[stuntman_mike]

Go eat a Donut and chillout.

[lightningsax]

I'm sorry, I didn't see anything in here about Roper being fired or the quality of his reviews. Maybe I didn't read it close enough?

Seriously, wait for some official word on it if you're really that hungry to disparage someone over a game review. The guy just lost his job. Laid off. Usually that means let go because of money, whether in negotiations or just plain putting senior staff on the chopping block.

[Blaster_Master]

Chris was a cool dude, but his taste and criticism for video games was done out of professionalism, not because thats what he loved to do. The guy clearly didn't add anything to IGN besides a decent podcast, the roper report will never be the same, but again, it was his job, not his hobby.

Honestly, there were many other dudes that deserved to go before him. Hillary Goldstein comes to mind, the freakin biggest fanboy in the world should have got the boot before him, but I guess thats what you have to do to make it in American marketing? You have to kiss corporate butt just to make a living. Greg Miller is the only true gamer on IGN, anyone who says he needed to go needs to stop with that comment and follow Roper's footsteps.

[seifer085]

articles like trophies vs achievements and ME2 vs UC2 yeah, he was a sh&tty editor put an awesome podcaster.

[Chaos Striker]

um...he didn't write those...

[Flyingelephant]

get your facts straight before hating on Chris, damn!!!

[lightningsax]

Plus, those articles are pretty tongue-in-cheek. They're pretty much a Greg Miller stream of consciousness, which is entertaining, but not to be taken super-seriously.

[seifer085]

but he was the editor. Greg M writes but he gave the OK to publish. I really enjoyed BeyonD Oh well.........

[Justin_bristoe]

...effing with kratos and hiphopgamer

[Flyingelephant]

The God of War series is one of Roper's favorite franchises and you'd know that if you weren't just speaking out of your flaming fanboy ass! goddamn, listening to hiphopflamer kills brain cells, I'm surprised you still even know how to post a comment...

[lightningsax]

-------------------------->

That-a-way, please. Actually, they're making more sense over there, so never mind.

[Fatal Blow]

I really don't care about other peoples review of games because i play the games and make my own review if its great or not but god of war 3 is an 11/10 game if u played god of war 1,2 u know what i mean am not a fan boy i just love all games that are great am a true gamer have all the old console from amiga to ps3 yes i have an xbox 360 elite just bought that for halo 3

[Mahr]

Oh my, that's right, Chris Roper's the one that gave God Hand -- the Sistine Chapel of the 21st century -- a 3 out of 10. This news calls for celebration.

[Meryl]

now go fire the idiot who said me2 is better than uncharted 2 and deal with it fanboys, then i might be bothered to actually read your reviews again, infact empl,oy me, i will make sure no ps exclusive ever get's marked down again when it clearly deserves a perfect score

[awesomeperson]

I personally think that NO GAMES deserve a perfect score, unless it is absolutely amazing and has not one fault. Not one screen tear or glitched textures, fully amazing graphics and unparalleled gameplay with maxiumum replayability.

My point is, if something scores a perfect, then nothing needs to be improved on it for next time.

I believe that until a truly Godlike game comes along, which people must bow down to, the maximum score should be a 9.99

[Justin_bristoe]

...that review he did for gow3 put the nail in his coffin,so u chumps can burn over this gow series lover turned ms pon all u want.i speak the truth.hhg brought it to the light.they needed to get rid of someone and why not this idiot screwed up big time

[Figboy]

i feel for the guy, but it's not any worse that he lost his job than it is for the millions of other people that have been unemployed for infinitely longer.

i don't even have the luxury of unemployment benefits, and i have NO idea if i'll ever be called back to my old job, and new job prospects aren't looking so hot.

it's a pretty effed up situation for everyone right now. i'm just trying to take care of my wife, not rule the world. most of us here in America don't actually need/want much to get by, but the thing is, we are barely getting by.

i don't follow IGN, so i can't say much about Chris Roper, but come on, an 8.5 for God of War 3's presentation? after spending about 3 hours with the game, i can't think of anything that tops it in ANY category, on ANY console. even Uncharted 2, and that game is BRILLIANT!

IGN is getting cutthroat, and believe me, this isn't going to be the LAST layoff, unfortunately.

chances are, these guys are going to be able to find themselves new work, based off of their experience with the media. can't say the same for millions of other unemployed people.

[lightningsax]

Dude, he didn't "become unemployed." The key here is "laid off," which means that he was working under contract, had his plans set, and a company let him go because he was too pricey to keep around. It's a bit different than either being fired or quitting a job.

It's different in a good way because he's probably getting a severance package that will allow him to make a transition into a new job without going completely broke. He's probably not doing unemployment insurance just yet, but filled out paperwork with the proper authorities on it.

But no, it's not because someone high up at IGN disagreed with his review scores; if anything, the editors have been directed to follow a slightly different grading standard or address a different audience now than they used to (hence Clements loving FFXIII in his review and rating it 8.9 due to JRPG tropes that won't appeal to everyone, but will be awesome to fans, like himself).

What they do in reviews is mostly their personal business, Kane and Lynch Gamespot-pocalypse aside. They were hired because they were trusted as reviewers, not because they were going to be mistrusted, criticized, and watched over like hawks. This cut is about cold hard cash and bringing good profit-and-loss reports to shareholders of Newscorp for the next fiscal year, which for many companies starts around now.

I'm sorry about your situation, man, but if you want to vent about a review, go find the review posting, not this guy's layoff announcement.

[Figboy]

but i also meant i was laid off. i was working, the project got delayed and started making cuts, i was let go (i worked in the gaming industry). it happened at the worst possible time; the end of the month, when all of the bills were due.

me and my wife have been scraping by ever since, and now unemployment is caput,and no word on if ANY of us are ever getting brought back to work.

in the mean time, i've been searching for work to no avail, but nothing. here in Los Angeles, the job market is incredibly slim. hell, i can't even get a job in fast food these days, and that's ridiculous.

[TheMailman]

What goes around comes around..

[solidt12]

Well I hope he finds a new job, but I was mad at him for the GODIII review but not to the extend I want anyone to lose their job. Hip Hop Gamer was right for smashing him on that but I hope that had nothing to do with him losing his job.

[Djinn]

YESSSSSS! Now when a game like Uncharted 2 or GOW III or Heavy Rain comes out, it will get the score it deserves. Because he won't be there to give it a low score.

[Djinn]

Also, check out that picture. That alone should get him fired.

[Fishy80]

i really hate this guy.
look at his rating on: god hand (ps2) he gave it 3.0
seriously thats really a bad score for an awesome game like godhand.
here's a link: http://ps2.ign.com/objects/...

[Cueil]

This is a man... a human... have some damn dignity for him losing his job... you poeple are pethetic... scum

[ReBurn]

Always sad to hear about when someone loses their job. Especially when it's to firm up the bottom line of a balance sheet.

[Darkfiber]

Say whaaaaaaaaaaat

[Darkfiber]

How is a 9.3 bad? I'm pretty sure that's like "amazing". If he did get fired because of that review it's because of people like YOU, whining that an "amazing" review score is too low.

[schlanz]

It's the 8.5 for presentation and 8 for lasting appeal.

If you look at Ropers reviews for GoW II and III he basically praises both for the same exact things yet somehow gives III a point lower in 3 categories. Its fishy and inconsistent.

[cy-anide]

HHG definitly foreshadowed this lay off lmao. i couldnt be happier to know this guy is getting laid off. presto717 hit the screw right on the head. every time ps3 has a slip up it gets exposed and when it does outstandingly well people dont make a big buzz but if a new halo is annouced everyone starts sucking 360 off. the gamer industry needs to return to its roots the hardcore gamers not this causual gamer scene. 8.5 presentation is pure BS. and why did FF13 get the same score on ps3 and 360 when eveyrtime a game even slightly looks better on 360 it gets a higher score. people need to realize that the bias journalism is really affecting gaming. only noobs trust reviews. i use reviews loosly not as a gamers handbook

[cy-anide]

this @ss wad chris roper lost a job that doesnt take much effort to do int he 1st place what are you feeling bad about he sits on his @ss in a office to get paid bucks for making or breaking game titles. unlike him i actually have a job that requires LABOR. people shouldnt be paid for stupid sh!t like that gamers love games out of instinct not because it rakes in money.

[SSCOOLCHEA]

He should be able to find a job with that other bot hin hsu choo from the other magazine that folded awhile back __cough cough EGM....All these magazines and websites are a joke . back in the day I don't know if it was these guys or a bunch of other writers but it never gotten this bad. Even the crappy scores back in the day was handle responsibly . They don't even review games no more . All they do is compared . What a fkn joke ..... Dumb azz mfkers review games because it doesnt shoot the same as there favorite game or doesnt have weapons or level like there favorite game. All these mfkers should judge a game based on its own merits ......

[JTX]

Hopefully he can find a career that doesn't involve reviewing video games. 8.5 presentation my a$$

[N4BmpS]

Kinda depressing but to be honest I've never agreed with his reviews(that includes the GoW3 review)however it is always unfortunate when someone loses a job but I'm pretty sure he'll get a new job somewhere else.

[Manberg900]

Awesome awesome news! Roper owned. Good luck finding another job bastard LOL. Don't think I forgot what you said to me jackass

[Justin_bristoe]

lol