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Friday, May 6, 2022

Why isn't Bungie suffering the blowback that Tripwire Interactive did over abortion commentary?

By LUDWIG VON KOOPA - I think there should be equal treatment, you know.

You don't have to imagine how you'd be treated if you are a pro-life individual working in the videogame industry. Just think about what happened in 2021 to former Tripwire Interactive boss John Gibson. The keyword there is “former”—he was ousted because he supported pro-life positions that about half (give or take) of the United States population generally supports. To get him removed, there were Twitter mobs and videogame journalist mobs going after him. Awful publication Kotaku described him as supporting “evil” and being against “basic human rights.” They had a whole paragraph basically saying he should shut up about his moral beliefs. Even Tripwire's business associates and other companies that work with them were threatening to pull out of contracts because they thought it was so awful that Tripwire's boss would have a mainstream moral viewpoint.

Skip ahead to this week. Game developer Bungie, which is currently in the process of being acquired by Sony but is reportedly facing unexpected regulatory scrutiny, decided to put out a statement expressing that they are in favour of human rights and freedom and are a pro-choice company. (Nevermind that, like so many other people, they are very one-sided in who they believe deserves freedom and human rights.)

Did Kotaku publish an article admonishing Bungie for speaking out about its moral beliefs? Well, they published an article basically congratulating Bungie, and admonishing the ordinary “angry” and “disturbed” gamers on Twitter that were upset and “ugly” about Bungie articulating its political stance. Why doesn't Kotaku describe itself as angry, ugly, and disturbed when it wrote an article attacking John Gibson for expressing his moral beliefs on the same issue, similar to how the gamers in the comments section did with Bungie?


Well, I know the likely and most obvious answer, and you probably do too. But it's not just Kotaku. You don't really see Twitter's trending section mobbing people to Bungie (the people who arrived there were organically present). You aren't seeing other game developers bash Bungie and say they won't work with them. Other media outlets are pretty happy and see Bungie as heroic, while they characterise John Gibson with words like “controversial” to disparage pro-life beliefs. Notice how this IGN article about Bungie's statement uses the word “controversial” in a “some might consider controversial political matters” sense, which they said makes Bungie stand out (implying Bungie is brave while John Gibson is a terrible jerk).

Remember what John Gibson originally actually said:

“Yet with so many vocal peers on the other side of this issue, I felt it was important to go on the record as a pro-life game developer.”

The initial reaction to his tweet proved his point... and the total institutional support for Bungie (and more game developers afterwards) further cements the importance of John Gibson's point. The industry wants people to believe that if you have pro-life beliefs, you are not welcome in the videogame industry—despite pro-life beliefs, again, being a mainstream moral viewpoint in the United States (and on Earth as a whole).

I guess I gotta give some credit to Bungie, because they took my advice in that John Gibson article: “It's always a classic question on what to do if you're a business and a Twitter mob is after you. The best advice is always to never bow down to the mob.” And Bungie didn't bow down to people who came across their message and expressed their displeasure. Bungie actually went and mocked those people. That's the approach companies should take, so credit to Bungie, even if it's ideologically the opposite to what I personally believe.

Of course, it's easier for Bungie to do that when they have the full anti-diverse institutional power backing them.



Feel free to talk about your feelings about abortion in the comments section, but keep in mind that isn't the actual purpose of the article, which is more about moral viewpoint diversity within the gaming industry and the media's successful attempts to stamp it out. KoopaTV excluded from “the media”, of course.


Sony and Bungie successfully closed out the deal, and now the Federal Trade Commission is going into their biggest competitor.

13 comments :

  1. I've heard--not reliably, I grant you, it was basically a throwaway comment about some poll or study or other in a Yahoo article--that it's more like 1/3rd rather than half and half. At least when it comes to going so far as overturning Roe v Wade.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It's been fluctuating and depends a lot on when you ask and the specifics of the question.

      The second question here would say it's been half-and-half; specific "should abortion be allowed in THIS instance" is a bit different.
      https://news.gallup.com/poll/1576/abortion.aspx

      Delete
  2. Wow! I love when game companies and gaming news outlets talk about abortion! Individual people can say whatever they please but company’s should never take a side. Even if it’s obvious every single employee is biased, they should never bring the company into it.

    Feel like a broken record these days, the same old nonsense happens but no one ever learns.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'll take that as "KoopaTV shouldn't talk about abortion either!" Which, alright, I won't. :x

      I'm sure it's incredibly awkward for that one pro-life guy working at Bungie right now. >_>

      Delete
    2. It’s worse than akward.

      Koopatv is different, I know Kamek and heavy lobster float around but it’s mainly the Ludmeister who gives us the quality posts. Although I guess you also aren’t propped up and supported by politely tech giants trying to reprogram the masses….or are you?

      Delete
    3. We're propped up by Koopa Kingdom, a political entity, trying to reprogram the masses.

      Delete
    4. Sure, but is the koopa kingdom a master of the tech arena?

      Delete
    5. Ah...definitely not. Not even close. Have you seen King Dad's castle lately? It's all ANCIENT JAPAN-Y.

      Delete
  3. Oh my goodness. I really think it's unfair to go after someone just because of pro-life beliefs! I really think Bungie should have bowed down to people who express their displeasure.

    Also, I know it's super irrelevant, but I notice that the thing where you write your comments on has got a new look to it. Not sure if you did that or if Blogger did that.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. "I really think Bungie should have bowed down to people who express their displeasure."
      lol

      Blogger did that. I hate it myself.
      It was the top story in KoopaTV's April 2022 newsletter!

      Delete
  4. Antirocketcloudy

    ReplyDelete

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