Not a huge surprise, but a ton of people clearly don't understand how economy works. Deadspin and Kotaku are business. Their job isn't to uncover the truth, preach or stick it to the man. They have to make money in order to keep the lights on and the staff paid. If the staff doesn't make money because they'd rather write about some nonsense nobody cares about or whine about their employer in public on company time, leadership has to tell them to fix their shit or show them the door. It's not a vanity project for the owners.
This isn't about journalistic integrity or freedom of press or some shit either. Those writers are free to write whatever, they just have to find (or found) a publication that actually wants to publish whatever that might be, and maybe do it as a side gig while working at Starbucks if there isn't enough money to be made in their niche. Expecting your current employers to just go along with your whims, revenue be dammed, is lazy and stupid.