Warner Brothers settles FTC charges over promotional payments to livestreamers like PewDiePie

In a push to market its The Lord of the Rings-based Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor,” Warner Brothers failed to adequately disclose that it had paid some influential video game players up to tens of thousands of dollars to create gushing, promotional videos for the new title.

That finding was disclosed today as part of a settlement reached with the U.S. Federal Trade Commission. While Warner Brothers escaped any fines, it has to deal with the embarrassing revelations while promising to enact more disclosures in similar campaigns.