A video game developer has found himself at the center of a race row after footage leaked online of him bragging about having no white people on his team at work because they're “difficult to work with.”
Dani Laronders, an associate narrative designer at Cliffhanger Games, the EA-owned studio behind the upcoming Black Panther game, is set to lead a “romantic visual novel” game called ValiDate in 2021. He made this comment when he was serving as a producer.
In a video redistributed by Libs on TikTok, Lalonders said: “I currently have a team of 21 people working on ValiDate, which is a pretty big team, which is crazy big for an indie game.
“But who is your team? ValiDate's team is almost entirely made up of people of color. There are no white people on our team.
Social media users said Marvel would “lose a lot of customers” if it continued to employ Lalonders.
LinkedIn/Beritable Joy Studios/EA/Marvel
“I did it because I wanted to create a safe environment, and I know the best way to create a safe environment is to be around people who are like me.
“I'm not saying that white people in the industry are creating a dangerous environment — that's not what I'm saying, and that's not what I'm saying.
“What I’m saying is that sometimes it’s difficult to work with white people because they think something might be okay, but in reality it’s a microaggression.
“No one wants to do that when they're trying to make a game they love.”
More awakened madness:
Laronders said that while working on ValiDate, “there wasn't a single white person on the team.”
Veritable Joy Studio
TikTok's Lib, who frequently addresses “woke” controversies online, attacked Lalonders' current employer cliffhanger, saying it was the studio's official policy to “not hire white people because they're 'hard to work with.'” He demanded to know if it was part of the plan.
When a social media user claimed that he was “openly racist and should be investigated and prosecuted,” TikTok's Libs simply replied, “Yes.”
The video also attracted attention from X owner Elon Musk and tens of thousands of commenters. One person said that Marvel (whose character, Black Panther, the game is based on) “will lose a lot of customers if they continue to employ this openly racist game developer.”
Others accused the Lalonders of “double standards” and said they were “sick of woke racists” and responded to the backlash by beer brand Bud Light's support of transgender influencers. Some compared it to the backlash he faced after partnering with Dylan Mulvaney.
But others came to Lalonders' defense. One social media user said she “doesn't hate white people” and that people seeing her comments as “anti-white” is “nothing less than an act of the Klan in an anti-black society.” . ”.
Laronders still works at Validate, whose website boasts of “stories written by an all-people-of-color team #OwnVoices,” and the hashtag “protagonists and authors share marginalized identities.” It refers to a campaign to promote books.
Cliffhanger Games itself says it wants to hire “diverse and fearless artists,” adding that it wants to hire “collaborative and diverse perspectives that enrich our culture and challenge us.” “We're looking for inclusive talent.”
GB News has reached out to Lalonders, EA and ValiDate developer Veritable Joy Studios for comment.
