When I accidentally launched City Planner Plays back in August 2020, I could have never imagined what the channel would become. The community around the channel is absolutely amazing and I value my relationship with this community. Knowing that members of the community will sometimes make purchasing decisions based upon my opinions around games or products, I feel that I have a responsibility to clarify my ethics regarding working with sponsors.
As a YouTuber, I am approached nearly daily by companies and game developers about advertising on the channel and more recently reviews of their games/products. My stance on this has evolved as the channel has grown over the years, but here is generally where I have landed:
- I will not advertise games/products that I haven't personally tried.
- I will not advertise games/products that I do not believe in.
- I will not advertise games that monetize primarily on microtransactions. See #2 - I just don't believe in the business model.
- If you are a brand/developer that would like to send me a free product or key, you are welcome to do so. But please know that sending me something does not mean that I will review it or showcase it on the channel. Further, I reserve the right to do nothing with it or even donate it to the community.
- If I do review your product or game, my views are my own. I will not be influenced by outside influences. The only exception to this rule is fully-sponsored content, in which case I will make clear, up front, that the video is sponsored. In those instances, the sponsor has vetted the content before it was released.
- For potential sponsors - I have full control over my content and my content calendar. Sponsors will not have the right to view or veto content prior to integrations, but will be able to review and request edits to integrations. To that end, I will avoid spicy topics and ensure family-friendly videos that I'd feel comfortable watching with my kids.
Without the community, the channel does not exist. I hope this clarification of my views on ethics help you feel comfortable in watching the channel and/or working with me.
Philip