Kotaku Posts Porn Game Screencaps, Immediately Cries, Apologizes

They told readers that the article, Animated Video Game Porn Could Be A Lot Sexier And Less Gross, was not safe for work. The piece was supposed to be an essay-style deep dive into what they call a new intersection of sex and games.

But it turned out to be more a crossroads of anger and revolt.

“The other day, I called my friend and asked her if she would be down to watch a bunch of video game porn with me so I could write about it.”

That’s how Kotaku writer, Kate Gray, began her article. It’s a hook, no doubt, that kept a lot of people reading and scrolling. But the scrolling experience also revealed big, bold warning letters.

NSFW Warning: Explicit scenes of computer-rendered sex.

But it seems a lot of folks bypassed the warning, or didn’t take it seriously. They were eventually met with graphic porn game screencaps from parody games. Porn game parodies targeting Pokemon, Zelda, and even Harry Potter, caused many readers to brew up an anger storm.

So much so, Kotaku put out a pretty lengthy apology to its readers.

“What we published was upsetting to many readers and to me. It was also an uncharacteristically bad call by the people involved, who have expressed to me their regret over the story and the pain it’s caused readers.”

Hopefully, Kotaku readers can now heal these open wounds. Because, you know, I’m sure none of them have ever seen any pornographic images before. These saintly Kotaku readers can now move on with their lives, as can the publication and editors.

“I’ve continued to think a lot about the piece this week, as I’ve reviewed how we got here and why our editorial processes failed this time.” Kotaku editor Stephen Totilo told his suffering readers.

Imagine the mental catastrophe that one must become after seeing Pokemon slinging a dong. What if Kotaku readers knew of Grand Fuck Auto because surely, they don’t.

Here’s the deal.

Kotaku was right on with the original article. Maybe screencaps went too far, I’m not sure, I never got the joy of experiencing the original article’s content. But porn and gaming are merging. And it’s a high-dollar event that’s causing journalists to take notice. It’s not just about free porn game sites like ours (though I wish it were, we love our loyal gamers), it’s about porn games nabbing $2 million on Kickstarter. It’s about porn games turning mainstream gaming best sellers.

The porn game industry is moving and shaking and that’s nothing to shed editorial tears about. Someone’s playing these games, make no mistake about it. But it seems, Kotaku readers stand alone in their unison revolt over such vile things.

Kotaku’s apology made me cry. It was overly dramatic, contrived, and reactionary. When did journalism lose its balls? When did readers demand and need apologies?

One thing you can depend on is that we don’t apologize for crap. We roll hard with our porn game love. We don’t care about your feelings. Our porn game is too strong for weak tears.