On Thursday , a major tech company stepped into the middle of a vicious two-month-long battle among video game fans , scholars , developers and journalists over the representation of women in games . Intel has pulled an ad campaign from popular video game news site Gamasutra . The move is in response to a online protest by a group of gamers upset with a column by the site 's editor-at-large , Leigh Alexander . A veteran games journalist , Alexander is one of many writers who have recently been critical of parts of the gamer culture and the male-centric `` gamer '' identity . Gamasutra confirmed the action on Twitter , saying `` Yes , our partners at @ intel were flooded with complaints over a recent opinion piece , and they did pull an ad campaign . '' The tension began in August when critic and academic Anita Sarkeesian released the latest episode in her YouTube show on female tropes in video games . Around the same time , a game designer named Zoe Quinn was attacked online by an ex-boyfriend who claimed she cheated on him with a games journalist . Both women found themselves at the receiving end of graphic threats of violence from defensive gamers and Internet trolls . Sarkeesian contacted the police and had to temporarily leave her home . The backlash against the two soon spread to journalists and others who were critical of the gaming status quo and the way women are treated in the medium . On the other end are gamers who feel their subculture is being threatened . Some game players worry that activists will cause game makers to change their product to please a wider audience . They started rallying under the # Gamergate hashtag . Supporters of the Gamergate movement , who are well organized and driven , say they are actually combating corrupt games journalism . In the case of Alexander , they say her columns were `` offensive '' and `` racist . '' The emails to Intel were part of a larger campaign against sites that have published content they find offensive , including Kotaku and Polygon . After confirming that Intel had indeed pulled the ads , a company spokesperson told Re/Code on Wednesday , `` We take feedback from our customers very seriously especially as it relates to contextually relevant content and placements . '' Intel declined to comment further to CNN .
Nintendo has pulled support from gaming news site IGN . The media company was responding to a campaign by gamers upset with a recent scandal . The site and others are being targeted for challenging the representation of women in video games .