UPDATE: 2025-08-01 10:15 EST BY JACK COLEMAN
Following the backlash to his remarks, Roseissued an apologysaying he “completely missed the mark” and that he “absolutely values the work that YouTubers and content creators do.”
Spirittea is a cosy life simulator and management game that was released on November 13 to positive reception. The game was developed by Cheesemaster Games, a one-man development team, and published by No More Robots.
Spirittea has had a very successful launch, earning over $1 million in revenue across each of its platforms. However, a comment made by No More Robots founder Mike Rose regarding the game’s coverage on YouTube has been attracting criticism online.
The Controversy
“A hugely noticeable thing that happened during this launch, was that we got absolutely zero YouTube coverage at all. Go search Spirittea on YouTube, and you’ll see there’s just a couple of big videos. Nearly every YouTuber who got back to us wanted money to make a video,” Rose tweeted in athread about the game’s launch.
It is standard practice in influencer marketing to compensate content creators who showcase your product on their platforms. This process is something that Rose described as “icky and disingenuous” in hisnext tweet.
“Now look, I get it, that’s just how this works now. YouTubers want you to pay them to cover your games. Alright, sure. But I just don’t want to do that. It feels weird and icky and disingenuous and I just can’t do it. So I guess our games won’t get covered on YouTube anymore!” Rose continued.
RELATED:This Bathhouse Life-Sim Is My Dream Combo Of Stardew Valley And Spirited Away
He then concedes that he may look into influencer support in the future in order to better market his company’s games, despite it making him feel “eugh.”
2 Left Thumbs, a YouTuber and indie game publisherdescribed the postas “a very strange take” and pointed out that the game has been receiving coverage on the platform since the release of its demo.
“But I just don’t want to do that. It feels weird and icky and disingenuous, and I just can’t do it. So I guess our games won’t get covered on YouTube anymore!”
Others chimed in on the controversial statement, calling it a “terrible take”, and “a big ick.” A few people also said they would no longer be supporting or engaging with Spirttea. This has prompted others to stress that solo developerThe Cheese Masteris not responsible for Rose’s comments andshouldn’t be punished for them.
DualShockers has reached out to No More Robots for comment.
NEXT:The Koskela Brothers Are The Unsung Heroes Of Alan Wake 2
