Microsoft to sever all ties with KSI
London launch event "does not represent Microsoft's endorsement of KSI's personal views." [UPDATE: KSI rep responds, "Sexism is not something he condones or wants to be associated with"]
In an exclusive statement to GamesIndustry International, Microsoft has clarified its position on the involvement of YouTube personality KSI in the promotion for last night's launch of the Xbox One in London. The corporation has vowed not engage him again at any point.
"At the Xbox One launch in London last night, KSI performed a song with three other artists, which was one part of a ten-hour event featuring a main stage show, Xbox One gameplay, and a midnight launch for hundreds of our fans," said a Microsoft spokesperson. "This does not represent Microsoft's endorsement of KSI's personal views, and we are not planning on working with KSI in the future."
The statement comes in response to widespread anger and concern at the announcement of KSI's involvement and subsequent appearance last night, which upset many Xbox fans. Phil Harrison himself was only made aware of his reputation by a question during a GamesIndustry International interview immediately prior to the event, as shown below.
Q:I noticed you added KSI to the bill tonight, he's part of the marketing push. There's been a fair amount of pushback against his personal brand after some of his behaviour in public, some of his misogynistic attitudes. For example, he's been banned from all Eurogamer events. I can understand why he might be engaged as he's so popular among gamers, but I think there is an inherent message that that sends to gamers, particularly female gamers. Is that not going to push them away from the brand? Is this simply a matter of not being aware of his reputation?
Phil Harrison:I'm not familiar with the concerns you've raised so I'd love to understand that better, I'm happy to take that offline.
The question and response was omitted from the original interview to allow time for Microsoft to respond, as the people in the room, Harrison and two members of Microsoft's PR team, clearly had no idea of KSI's previous behaviour. Later, and off-tape, Harrison expressed concern over what clearly came as a personal revelation.
Whilst he was on best behaviour during last night's event, KSI has a history of very public and overtly derogatory behaviour towards women. Nonetheless, he is a tremendously successful YouTube personality and a brand associate of companies as wide-ranging as BT, EA and IGN. Two years ago KSI published a video of himself harassing women at the Eurogamer Expo, which swiftly led to him being blanket banned from all of the company's events in perpetuity. He later apologised and withdrew the footage, but other videos he's posted have shown it to be far from an isolated incident.
Further responses to KSI's involvement have reflected bewilderment, disappointment and anger at Microsoft's decision to include the YouTube presenter in last night's Leicester Square gig, where he appeared onstage with rappers Sway and Tigger the Author. Perhaps the best and most popular summary came from Videogamer's Matt Lees. His video has since been pulled due to a copyright infringement claim from KSI but has been reposted without any of the footage from his channel. As the clock has ticked by, various outlets and industry figures in the US have also weighed in, expressing their disdain for KSI's prior behaviour.
Update: In an email to GamesIndustry International, KSI's manager has now come to his defense, blaming his youth for his transgressions, apologizing and noting that sexism isn't something KSI condones. Here's the manager's statement in full:
Shortly after the 2012 Eurogamer video, KSI pro actively removed it from YouTube and made an apology directly to Eurogamer. He wasn't asked to remove the video in question, but on reviewing the content, he felt it contained potential to offend and thus removed it from his YouTube channel.
The situation was addressed and moved on from with Eurogamer. Between us, we decided KSI shouldn't attend this years show so as to not reopen unwanted attention for the organisers or himself. It was a thing of the past and we remain on good terms with the owners Eurogamer. We will continue to liaise on the best way to involve KSI or not at future expos.
As an 18 year old at the beginning of his YouTube career at the time, with no real guidance, he realised soon after the Eurogamer reaction, of the influence and popularity he was developing through the platform. Also the responsibility that was beginning to come with that.
KSI is a character of JJ or Olajide, a young man with great humility and politeness and far from the character portrayed in the Eurogamer video.
Sexism is not something he condones or wants to be associated with. He wishes to apologise for any offence the video of 15 months ago may have caused in the short time it was on his YouTube channel, references to it since and subsequently used by other people. In recent months, he has also been actively avoiding certain content seen in the distant past and wants to be judged on the great content and value he gives to brands and partners, without controversy.
In the past 12 months, JJ has worked with many brands, channels, partners and charities using his huge popularity to positive effect. Campaigns and content with said partners is carefully considered by JJ and always suitable to the brands image and requirements.
There is no denying his rapidly growing influence and how important it is to use that in a positive way. This is what he will continue to strive towards and continue to move away from any unfortunate content from the very early days in his career, when just a young lad out to entertain mates and early viewers. That is not the more aware and responsible JJ/KSI which is now developing into a true star.
JJ is a huge talent and as one of the most influential and popular UK entities in the UK and globally. Content of the past will not be repeated and he does not want to be misjudged on that. He is well aware of expectations from brands and partners and does not fail to embrace what is best for them in terms of his content for them.
He is actively working to address any negative impression he has given people with previous content in the past and hopes the industry will see this.
It's a shame this past indiscretion his been brought up as we had addressed it and KSI wants to move on from it. I don't feel it's right to judge someone based on an indiscretion which was pro actively removed and apologised for shortly after. Especially at such a young age.
That's not saying it was right, as JJ acknowledged it was wrong at the time and does again now.
Edited 1 times. Last edit by Pete Thompson on 22nd November 2013 7:10pm
2. Don't care enough about who he is to even look him up.
Companies need to get through their heads that YouTube-"celebs" aren't celebrities at all. Having four million subscribers just means four million accounts are linked to somebody's YT-page, without there necessarily being real human beings behind each and every account. We've all heard of bought Twitter followers or Facebook likes. To me it shows companies just don't do proper research on the people they hire for events and just look at some meaningless numbers.
Edited 1 times. Last edit by Matthias Vandegaer on 22nd November 2013 7:30pm
Like everyone else already stated, I had (and still have) no idea who this KSI guy is/was until I read this article.
631,986,434 views. And KSI is far from the biggest name.
Between them, Smosh and PewDiePie have nearly SIX BILLION video views and THIRTY MILLION subscribers. Together, three young guys probably have more eyeballs than every specialist press magazine and website that has ever existed. Even if most of those subscribers aren't active, or don't even watch all their videos, they still represent an absolutely vast audience that traditional media isn't even touching. If a traditional magazine or website was posting figures like that, we'd all be pissing ourselves in excitement and/or envy. But because it's YouTube, it doesn't count?
This is where today's kids and teenagers are turning for their gaming news - for everything, really. Take a step back and really look at the picture. We're the niche. Not them. And in less than ten years, those kids are going to be the consumers driving the industry.
Trust me, being ignorant of this shift is not a good thing. Right now, too many of us are looking like the old radio guys saying television will never catch on. Or worse, like dinosaurs looking at the approaching meteor and thinking it's a pebble.
Edited 1 times. Last edit by Dan Whitehead on 22nd November 2013 8:15pm
The point is that things happen beyond the control of the event managers. People have to see and understand them before they can be stopped. I hope M$ learned something from this misadventure.
That pesky Charles Manson has a few too many thousand admirers (and a new girlfriend!), but I wouldn't want to call him anything but pretty damn evil and hope he's not around any longer sooner than later.
And a lot of today's kids who get their info from YouTube are less "informed" by entertainment than some of you believe, great consumers of mass quantities and all. Buying shit doesn't make you smart either - it just makes you a good little sheep. If this KSI is such a terror to the ladies, wouldn't he have LESS followers because people would be tuning out and internet outraging him right off YouTube? Or does YouTube not give a rat's ass because of FOUR MILLION subscribers first and women's rights second (or third, or fourth or whatever)?
Meh, I don't care either way, but it's a wee bit like the Jay-Z/Barney's controversy where Mr. bigshot rapper zillionaire forged ahead with his lucrative Barney's deal despite reports of some black shoppers being detained by police because they bought expensive items there with their own credit cards and where thought to be identity thieves because they made those purchases.
"Sexism is not something he condones or wants to be associated with. He wishes to apologise for any offence the video of 15 months ago may have caused in the short time it was on his YouTube channel, references to it since and subsequently used by other people."
Here's what KSI said in July of 2013:
"Awkward moment when you say hi to a girl and she ignores you, so you have to threaten with rape to get her attention while holding a knife.."
[Source: https://twitter.com/KSIOlajidebt/status/357496816205430784]
Nope, he was banned. He or his management then presumably took the offending video down out of fear that it would affect his ability to get corporate gigs. Well guess what?
@Dan Whitehead: Before we get too carried away, let's remember that it doesn't cost anything to subscribe to a YouTube channel, and subscribing doesn't necessarily mean those people are ever watching again. It seems to me to be a metric easy to overvalue, like Facebook MAUs.
Currently YouTube celebrity requires little more than ambition and persistence. As the audience becomes more discerning, and real money starts to go into making the content, easy populist ploys like pranks and back-biting commentaries alone won't cut it.
Meanwhile Sony's having no such problems with their crop of talent, including the very lovely MC Ohm-I.
Popularity only lasts as long as you're popular and if you're not nice to those you step on while on the way up, you'll be seeing most if not all of those people on the way back down. Yeah, he'll have his defenders screaming about "free speech" and all that, but free speech doesn't at all mean freedom from responsibility when you toss out remarks like that and think they're "cool" or whatever.
Personally, I'm no fan on any of these yell/scream/rage "gamer" types shoving at each other for their 15 minutes and whatever free swag they can nab and any corporation who isn't checking out these potential brand ambassadors to make sure they're not going to be trouble (or have caused trouble in the past) deserves a smack to the forehead with a digital shovel.
Of course, I bet the apology tour will recommence, as I can;t seen anyone else using this guy for anything important because he'll be carrying some baggage he'll need to keep doing that dogeza for until people actually believe he's a changed person.
Edited 1 times. Last edit by Greg Wilcox on 23rd November 2013 2:36am
I am forced to watch this stuff in order to keep track of what they are consuming, so am more than acutely aware of their influence both with my own kids and with all their peers and am able to moderate it to a great extent (not many of them are like this KSI chap, thank heavens). If your game is not part of their repertoire then my kids and their friends don't know about you.
Those who ignore them or dismiss them with "never heard of them" or other such flippancies, do so at their peril.
Edited 1 times. Last edit by Charles Line on 23rd November 2013 7:05am
How someone even thought this was a good idea is beyond me.
Definitely not the way to "get down wiv da kidz"
There are many established brands, well funded companies, with their own YouTube channels that don't even begin to match those figures - so the argument that this success is just "ambition and persistence" that will be washed away once "real money" comes in doesn't really stand up. IGN comes closest to their figures, but has had to upload almost four times as many videos to do so. The world's biggest gaming media brand is basically having to sprint to keep up with one young guy from Sweden.
The "real money" is already there - and millions of viewers are still choosing the "amateurs". Like Charles says above, there's a generation coming up for whom YouTube IS the media. My son and his friends also don't watch TV or read magazines or visit specialist press sites. They watch YouTube.
As Buffalo Springfield sang, there's something happening here, and while "what it is ain't exactly clear", my point is simply this: saying "don't care, never heard of them" is the worst possible response.
Everyone does at least know who RWJ is right?
Yeah, he only wants to be hypocritical and make money out of it. Nothing new under the sun... pathetic.
Interestingly I am sure he was at Eurogamer this year. A young lad I was working with was desperate to meet him. I, like many of you knew nothing about him. Perhaps a sign that we are getting old? Says the man with a Spectrum as his avatar!
YouTube is just as bad in that they actively promote his channel over a glass-ceiling. KSI's channel shows up on the right-hand side of my YouTube channel under "Popular Channels on YouTube". I do not want that idiot promoted in that space on my channel given my anti-misogynistic stance, but if I want any of my videos to show up in user's recommendations I am not allowed to disable this feature.
"JJ is a huge talent and as one of the most influential and popular UK entities in the UK and globally."
I have no idea who this guy is along with the rest of you, but that is because we're not teenagers - as much as we wish we were. :) But to say this guy is a huge talent? What's he talented at??
I inherently disagree with all that KSI stands for as a brand and a person, and I'm not much older than him (I'm 25, but to be presumptuous I believe that I was raised to a higher standard). But the key issue is that KSI and his like are what draw attention from the younger gaming audience and get the large numbers that others would kill to hit.
These figures are particularly from the younger male audience, the ones who more than likely make up the bulk of sales of FIFA, Madden, Call of Duty and other largely popular franchises. These are the ones you need to get talking about your game to get the largely younger audience interested in your product.
We are all aware that the average 'gamer' is closer to their thirties, but the older people are more inclined to read articulate articles and reviews from more established sites and magazines, possibly even from watching certain Youtube personalities like TotalBiscuit. However, I don't believe the older audience make up the bulk of sales simply because we have jobs to go to, families to look after and, even without families, social lives to live beyond what is delivered by a screen.
Hopefully we're still relevant :p Definitely agreeing with what Chris had to say above me.