Microsoft and Machinima were caught with the hand in the cookie jar of dubious endorsement, paying people to say good word about their product all while being silent about the whole deal.

I'm not surprised any big company will go greath lenghts to get whatever edge they can for sales. I'm not saying it's right or wrong, it's just I expect some companies to do it sooner or later so this doesn't surprise me, even if disappoints me.

However, isn't that kinda of deal kinda of... illegal?

Anyway, looks like the deal is cancelled and the some poor youtubers may need to stop selling their integrity for that extra quarters. Let's hope they'll all survive.