IGN has fired the writer responsible for the outlet’s now-deleted Dead Cells review, calling it “simply not acceptable” and apologizing to the YouTuber whose work was plagiarized. This announcement has brought a swift conclusion to the controversy surrounding Filip Miucin’s review of the game, which closely mimicked a video posted by Boomstick Gaming, with the company now “taking steps” to adequately compensate the YouTuber.
The controversy stemmed from a video posted by Boomstick Gaming calling out IGN for “copying” his Dead Cells review. In the video, the YouTuber pointed to a number of similarities between Miucin’s comments and his own, with Miucin seemingly copying Boomstick’s thoughts point-by-point in both his written and video reviews of the game. In one particularly egregious example, both the Boomstick and IGN video review share almost identical conclusions at exactly the same timestamp.
After the issue was brought to light, IGN promptly removed the review from its site and YouTube channel, replacing the text with an Editor’s Note explaining that the company was looking into Boomstick Gaming’s allegations. Now the outlet has posted the result of its investigation, explaining how it has parted ways with Miucin and apologizing to its readers.
“Though we as a community often share feelings and even certain word choices to describe the games we love by using similar frames of understanding, this particular situation stepped over the line and is not a reflection of our editorial standards,” the statement reads. “We apologize to our readers, developer Motion Twin, and most especially the YouTuber known under Boomstick Gaming for failing to uphold those standards.”
Additionally, IGN co-founder Peer Schneider remarked that the company had “talked about other steps behind the scenes” to compensate Boomstick Gaming, adding that the outlet has made a “proposal” to the YouTuber on top of its official apology. IGN will be re-reviewing Dead Cells later this week.
Filip Miucin was employed by IGN as its Nintendo Editor, along with hosting the popular Nintendo Voice Chat podcast. He has yet to comment on the incident.
