Activision has courted some controversy with its marketing campaign for Call of Duty: WWII, not because of the CGI videos it put out, the mild alterations to certain historical elements of the game, or the multiplayer balance of the title, but because it leveraged Youtuber TmarTn to help promote it. Although the young streamer has helped with charity drives and did so as part of his promotion of the new game, he's also one of the people who was wrapped up in the CSGO Lotto controversy of 2016.
Together with fellow Youtuber ProSyndicate, TmarTn ran CSGOLotto.com, but promoted it to his viewers as something he'd stumbled upon. He then encouraged them to use the site to potentially win big skins and ultimately, big money, despite the fact that many in his audience were underage. He later ran afoul of the FTC, which forced him to disclose all involvement with such sites in the future, but didn't fine or punish him or his partner otherwise. Perhaps that slap on the wrist is why he doesn't appear to have impacted his career prospects elsewhere.
For the past 48 hours, TmarTn has been involved in multiple streams promoting the new Call of Duty game and has even teamed up officially with Activision in several streams to show off the game.
What Kotaku points out though, is while Activision doesn't have any qualms about doing business with TmarTn, a lot of gamers do. Some have announced boycotts of the new Call of Duty while TmarTn is involved with it, while others have taken to attacking the publishing and developmental giant online.
How do you feel about his involvement?
