After being pressured by a group of irate gamers, Intel has pulled an ad campaign from popular video game news site Gamasutra over an opinion piece published on the site.
It's all part of a larger controversy called "#gamergate," which has led several sites, such as Gamasutra, to publish articles critical of alleged sexism in gamer culture.
Some gamers have reacted with hostility to that criticism and launched what they are calling Operation Disrespectful Nod.
That campaign urges people to e-mail major advertisers on sites like Kotaku, Polygon and Ars Technica and say that they will no longer support their products if they continue advertising on the site.
And now Intel is the first to buckle under that pressure telling The New York Times, "We take feedback from customers very seriously, especially as it relates to relevant content and ad placements."
The article from Gamasutra that has #gamergaters so irritated is an opinion piece that alleges the concept of the "gamer" is a thing of the past, which some saw as an attack on their personal identity.
The Verge didn't think too highly of Intel's decision saying, "By giving in to its demands and pulling its advertising from Gamasutra, Intel has legitimized a movement that has shown itself to be anti-feminist, violently protectionist, and totally unwilling to share what it sees as its divine right to video games."
That anti-feminism refers to personal, misogynistic attack on several outspoken feminists in video games. Those include web series presenter Anita Sarkeesian, who was forced to leave her home after receiving rape and death threats, and "Depression Quest" developer Zoe Quinn, who was accused of sleeping with game journalists in exchange for favorable reviews.
And those incidents are what spurred the very articles with which Operation Disrespectful Nod takes issue.
CNN writes the movement was born out of a fear the activists behind the articles will lead game makers to change their products to appeal to a wider audience.
No other advertiser has commented on any requests to pull advertising as of yet.
This article includes an image from Getty Images.
