Metacritic Expels Major Gaming Outlet After Investigative Report Uncovers AI-Generated Resident Evil Requiem Review from Fictitious Author

Metacritic pulls Resident Evil Requiem reviews after discovery that an outlet used a fictitious AI-generated writer to publish synthetic critiques.

By: AXL Media

Published: Mar 3, 2026, 4:10 AM EST

Source: The information in this article was sourced from GamesIndustry.biz

A Breach of Journalistic Integrity in the AI Era

The gaming media landscape has been rocked by a sophisticated instance of editorial fraud involving the recently released Resident Evil Requiem. Metacritic, the industry's primary score aggregator, took the unprecedented step of removing a review from Videogamer after digital sleuths discovered that the credited author, "Brian Merrygold," was a fabrication. Described as an experienced iGaming and sports betting analyst, Merrygold had no online presence prior to late 2025. The deception was unraveled when it was discovered that the filename for the author's biography photograph contained the string "ChatGPT-Image-Oct-20-2025," confirming the portrait was an AI-generated headshot.

The Systematic Replacement of Human Staff with AI

The controversy at Videogamer appears to be part of a larger, more systemic issue within the publication’s parent company. Former staff members have come forward alleging that a majority of the site’s human writers were laid off in late 2025 and replaced by automated systems. Multiple other "critics" currently publishing on the site exhibit the same red flags as the fictitious Merrygold, including sudden appearances in October 2025 and lack of verifiable industry history despite claims of decades of experience. This incident has raised urgent questions about the vulnerability of legacy media brands to "AI farming," where established reputations are used to give credibility to machine-generated content for SEO purposes.

Metacritic’s Policy on Artificial Intelligence and Fraud

Metacritic co-founder Marc Doyle reiterated the platform's zero-tolerance policy regarding AI-generated content. Doyle explained that while Metacritic has a rigorous vetting process for new publications, the turnover of staff or the sale of an outlet can lead to instances of "theft, plagiarism, or other forms of fraud." As a direct result of the Resident Evil Requiem incident, Metacritic has severed ties with Videogamer indefinitely. The platform is currently conducting a broader investigation to ensure that other aggregated scores have not been compromised by similar synthetic reviews, emphasizing that their mission is to represent the opinions of human critics.