section_path: Reception/Hardware Unboxed
section_name: Hardware Unboxed
paragraph_text: Hardware Unboxed
  
  On December 10, 2020, Nvidia told YouTube tech reviewer Steven Walton of Hardware Unboxed that it would no longer supply him with GeForce Founders Edition graphics card review units. In a Twitter message, Hardware Unboxed said, "Nvidia have officially decided to ban us from receiving GeForce Founders Edition GPU review samples. Their reasoning is that we are focusing on rasterization instead of ray tracing. They have said they will revisit this 'should your editorial direction change. ' "
  
  In emails that were disclosed by Walton from Nvidia Senior PR Manager Bryan Del Rizzo, Nvidia had said:
  
  ...your GPU reviews and recommendations have continued to focus singularly on rasterization performance, and you have largely discounted all of the other technologies we offer gamers. It is very clear from your community commentary that you do not see things the same way that we, gamers, and the rest of the industry do.
  
  TechSpot, partner site of Hardware Unboxed, said, "this and other related incidents raise serious questions around journalistic independence and what they are expecting of reviewers when they are sent products for an unbiased opinion."
  
  A number of technology reviewers came out strongly against Nvidia's move. Linus Sebastian, of Linus Tech Tips, titled the episode of his weekly WAN Show, "NVIDIA might ACTUALLY be EVIL..." and was highly critical of the company's move to dictate specific outcomes of technology reviews. The review site Gamers Nexus said it was, "Nvidia's latest decision to shoot both its feet: They've now made it so that any reviewers covering RT will become subject to scrutiny from untrusting viewers who will suspect subversion by the company. Shortsighted self-own from NVIDIA."
  
  Two days later, Nvidia reversed their stance. Hardware Unboxed sent out a Twitter message, "I just received an email from Nvidia apologizing for the previous email & they've now walked everything back." On December 14, Hardware Unboxed released a video explaining the controversy from their viewpoint. Via Twitter, they also shared a second apology sent by Nvidia's Del Rizzo that said "to withhold samples because I didn't agree with your commentary is simply inexcusable and crossed the line."