Founder Richie de Wit bare knuckleis described as a “comprehensive business development consulting firm for experienced and up-and-coming game developers,” and promises to destroy the careers of those who advocate for DEI policies in the video game industry. did.
Saints Row (2023), Volition
As captured by former World of Warcraft team leader Mark Kern, de Wit posted on X before locking down his account: I want to make my position clear. I have zero tolerance for harassment, violence, or intimidation against developers, minorities, or women in our industry in areas that I own or control. ”
He went on to say, “I don't care about your opinion and I won't engage in debates with you. I have no desire to explain how ignorant you are about how our industry works. will block your account.”
He concluded with the following threat: A company I work for or am affiliated with. ”
I love when they reveal, “Yes, it's true. We're forcing DEI shit into the game, or you'll never work here again!”
This is exactly what we're talking about, Richie. Thank you for taking off your mask and checking everything out. pic.twitter.com/4brSuI3NYx
— Grummz (@Grummz) March 14, 2024
Read: Former Bungie and Pokémon Company lawyer defends Sweet Baby Inc., says his job was to 'weed out' anti-Awakening gamers
De Witt admitted he was willing to engage in this behavior, but Bungie's former lawyer Don McGowan acknowledged that he had been using this tactic within the video game industry for years.
He elaborates on X as follows: “And it never occurs to them that the reason no one made games 'for themselves' was because no one wanted to make those kinds of games. No one wants your money because no one wants you in their environment. Take the word of someone whose main task was to think of ways to get rid of you. ”
“The Reliability and Safety department exists to remove holes from the gaming environment,” he continued. “In the end, grown humans don't want to spend their leisure time with assholes, so they end up creating them to get rid of assholes. Are you a gamer gator? Fuck you, you son of a bitch.”
“No one wants your money. Spend it on anime porn,” he wrote.
Don McGowan of X
Read: Sweet Baby Inc. Employee Urges Followers to Report Steam Curators Tracking Sweet Baby Inc.'s Involvement in Video Games
de Wit's comments also come after Sweet Baby Inc. employees Chris Kindred and Maya Kramer attempted to cancel Brazilian gamer Kabrutus Rambo and his Steam curator listing. Kabrutus created his Steam Curator list of all games developed by Sweet Baby Inc. and clearly labeled them as “not recommended.”
In response, Kindred issued a mass report on both the Steam Curator List and KabrutusRambo's personal Steam account.
Kindred says, “The Steam Curator Harassment Group detected by Sweet Baby Inc is led by a person named kabrutusrambo. , the group itself still does not meet the Code of Conduct.”
Chris Kindred of X
Kindred then said, “Just report the assholes from this group.”
Chris Kindred of X
A Sweet Baby Inc. employee then asked that KabrutusRambo's account be reported as well, saying, “And please report the creator too, because he loves his account so much.”
Chris Kindred of X
Read: 'Marvel's Black Panther' developer admits discrimination against white people
Kramer, using the handle Legobat X, called on those in power to intervene and censor Cabrutus Rimbaud and his list.
she wrote: “Unfortunately, nothing has changed. The number of people who understand that spreading misinformation and being racist in public has no consequences has increased dramatically. That has changed. Perhaps it will be necessary to fight against people in authority. Probably. :(“
X lego bat
she added, “for example, vapor There are no guidelines for curators (as far as I know). This allows, for example, Sweet Baby Inc. And… warn people not to buy the games you are associated with? Can you list any games??”
X lego bat
Read: Sweet Baby Inc. CEO and Co-Founder Kim Belair Compares White Male Gamers to Picky Babies
After this cancellation attempt, it was revealed that Sweet Baby Inc. CEO Kim Belair had been advocating for game developers to use fear tactics to advance the DEI agenda.
She said this in a presentation at the 2019 Game Developers Conference. “If you're working creatively at AAA, and I've been doing it for years, report that to upper management. If they don't understand what you're asking, go have coffee with your marketing team and scare them off by talking about the possibilities of what might happen if you do something to them. Please let me. Don’t give me what you want.”
It was also revealed in a 2021 interview with Inclusion FX that Belair admitted he wanted to take over the video game industry.
She said: “In 2018, one of my best friends and I teamed up and founded a company. The original desire was to just write together. But we realized that as a unit we can do things for others that aren't being done for us. It is about empowering us, elevating us, valuing our talents and helping us improve our skills.”
“And what we do today is first and foremost writing, designing stories, building stories, developing stories,” she continued. “But at a secondary level, we bring marginalized talent into the industry, we protect them the way we want to be protected, we lift them up, we have too many of them. We work very hard to get them into the industry, shut them out.”
Bellaire then admitted: “And I think basically a bunch of really badass people took over this industry, which was in a similar situation, in the hopes that they could lead it into some kind of new era,” Length said. “
Read: U.S. government-funded group 'Take This' encourages game developers to denounce gamers harassed by Sweet Baby Inc.
Belair deploys his own scare tactics and leverages Game Developer's game journalist Bryant Francis to launch his own cancellation campaign against KabrutusRambo and his Steam Curator List.
Francis detailed his conversation with Bellaire. She and her colleagues at Sweet Baby Inc are online moderation experts, not writers. Their job is to create imaginary problems in video games, not to solve real problems. ”
He called on Valve and Discord to recognize that harassment campaigns are continually evolving and that communication platforms need to keep pace with how they are being used to spread hate. ” he said.
Venom from Marvel's Spider-Man 2 (2023), Insomniac Games
“It's clear that there needs to be some kind of evolution, because this is only going to get bigger, not that we think that,” Bellaire told Francis.
She added: “If this strategy works as well today as it did 10 years ago.” [with Gamergate], it will continue to work in a certain way, and they will find something bigger and worse than this. ”
Kim Belair (from InclusionFX YouTube)
Francis then revealed that Bellaire and the company wanted to shut down Steam Curator Lists, saying, “While the steps both companies have taken to manage these groups appear to have had some effect, there are “We are contributing to the recruitment of talent, whose retention is the organizer's main objective.” “Ordinary people” with little knowledge of game development use their anger to direct hate speech against Sweet Baby Inc. and others who demand inclusivity in video games and other fields. ”
“Unless these loopholes are closed, bad actors will learn they can target other developers, starting another massive hate campaign that will further deplete our industry and its people. “It will be,” he concluded.
Screenshot from Alan Wake II (2023), Remedy Entertainment
What do you think about De Wit threatening to ruin the careers of people who oppose DEI policies?
Next: Former World Of Warcraft team leader Mark Kahn explains how ESG will impact video game developers and how it could destroy them
