Industry Watch | Fresh white guys; anti-racist understandings of fantasy; video games on a dead planet

Virtue Signallers:

Don’t Nod Entertainment on Banishers: “Indeed, some of the first villagers the banishers meet believe [black woman] Antea is [white man] Red’s servant, a misconception the pair are quick to dispel. ‘It’s all her,’ Red says, smiling, ‘I’m just the help.’ (via Polygon).

Reliable Sources:

3-Fold Games’ Chella Ramanan on gaming industry investment: “[A developer friend] found out that three white guys fresh out of uni is basically the perfect model for them, because they look like them.” (via Polygon)

The Nazis are Coming!:

Alan Moore on superhero comics: “About a decade ago, I ventured my opinion that the adult multitudes queueing for superhero movies were potentially an indicator of emotional arrest, which could have worrying political and social implications. Since at that time Brexit, Donald Trump and fascist populism hadn’t happened yet, my evidently crazy diatribe was largely met with outrage from the fan community, some of whom angrily demanded I be extradited to the US and made to stand trial for my crimes against superhumanity – which I felt didn’t necessarily disprove my allegations.” (via the Guardian)

Popcannibal developer Ziba Scott on Kind Words: “After Trump won the election in America, it was sort of horrifying, and I was in a stupor. I was just reflecting on how everybody could be so cruel, dismissive and insensitive; of how everybody could just be not good to each other.” (via Eurogamer)

Paul Feig on Ghostbusters (2016): “When I was getting piled on, on Twitter, I’d go back and see who they were. So many were Trump supporters.” (via the Guardian)

Red Thread Games on Dustborn: “The idea behind Dustborn’s setting and characters was also influenced by a series of political events that deeply affected us all, beginning in the summer of 2016, and continuing until…well, today.” (via PlayStation Universe)

Oppression Olympics:

Popcannibal developer Ziba Scott on Kind Words: "We do have certain players who have clear limits to their generosity, where they will be very kind and good to everybody, until say, an issue of sexual identity comes up, and then they may have some very conservative and unkind philosophies on that.” (via Eurogamer)

Rachel Zegler on women: “I’ve watched women get torn down my whole life, my whole career. We’ll watch it in the election that’s upcoming.” (via Variety)

YouTube “games master” Connie Chang on Dungeons and Dragons: “When it comes to building a world that is non-colonial, anti-orientalist, and rooted in an anti-racist understanding of fantasy, you really have to interrogate what fantasy is from the ground up.” (via Polygon)

Actor Steve Toussaint on House of the Dragon: “They are happy with a dragon flying. They're happy with white hair and violet-colored eyes, but a rich Black guy? That's beyond the pale.”

“Games master” Gabriel Caetano on tabletop gaming: “If you are indigenous anywhere in the world, if you are queer or trans, if you are from the global south, we exist in a post-apocalyptic stage already. Imagining what could be is a beacon of hope. We are interacting with other people who can help. As much as there are corporations and capitalism and billionaires who just want to see most of us dead or in a survival state, we also have tight-knit communities that come together and solve their problems locally.” (via Polygon)

The Acolyte actor Manny Jacinto on what the world owes him: “Maybe it's my lack of faith in this industry, but the people of color who find success, I feel like they still have to work at it and continue to fight for roles.” (via GQ)

Flagellants:

Adele on her success: “More than anything, it’s just being yourself. That’s one of the reasons I’ve been so lucky with my career — on top of the obvious of me being a white woman in music.” (via Hollywood Reporter)

Singer Róisín Murphy: “I should’ve known that I was stepping out of line.”

Hot Takes:

Rachel Zegler on love: “It’s what’s kept me from doing anything stupid.” (via Vanity Fair)

Twitch streamer Psyche on Twitch’s Pride Month efforts: “You're having to deal with people who aren't interested in being part of your community so your growth is slower."

ZeniMax Media QA Tester Autumn Mitchell on unionization: “We have something more certain than luck, something more powerful than hope: We have a union.” (via Polygon)

Director Billy Eichner on Bros: “Last night I snuck in and sat in the back of a sold-out theater playing Bros in LA. The audience howled with laughter start to finish, burst into applause at the end, and some were wiping away tears as they walked out. Really. I am VERY proud of this movie.”

Disney’s Pete Doctor on Lightyear: ““We’ve done a lot of soul-searching about that because we all love the movie. We love the characters and the premise. I think probably what we’ve ended on in terms of what went wrong is that we asked too much of the audience. Even if they’ve read the material in the press, it was just a little too distant, both in concept, and I think in the way that characters were drawn, that they were portrayed.”

The Multiverse of Madness:

Paradox’s Rod Humble on Life By You: “I think there's a whole generation of people who are sick of gender roles being shoved down their face. And so we're like, hey, you get to define it any way you want. We hope people like that.” (via Polygon).

Mohammed Aleman, Ubisoft’s localization and cultural consultant for Assassin’s Creed: Mirage: “A lot of people might not know but history buffs will tell you that most, if not the majority, and all of what we know today in modern medicine, modern science, philosophy is built on top of what the Abbasids did during that era.” (via Game Developer)

Fun Police:

The Red Cross on gaming: “Every day, people play games set in conflict zones right from their couch. But right now, armed conflicts are more prevalent than ever. And to the people suffering from their effects, this conflict is not a game. It destroys lives and leaves communities devastated. Therefore, we’re challenging you to play FPS [first-person shooters] by the real Rules of War, to show everyone that even wars have rules—rules which protect humanity on battlefields IRL [in real life].”

Learn, Grow, Reflect:

Actor Rainn Wilson: “Yesterday I tweeted a mean crack about breastfeeding vs chestfeeding. After speaking with some Trans friends and educating myself a bit more I want to apologize for the tweet. It was adding to misinformation and meanness. I’m sorry.”

Crystal Dynamics designer: “Over the weekend, old tweets I wrote from before my time at Crystal resurfaced and I apologize and take full accountability for the hurt they caused to my followers, the community, and those I work with. Since that time, I have learned and grown and the content I posted doesn't reflect who I am today. I understand if you cannot accept my apology because of the pain I have caused. I will continue to listen, learn, and work to improve myself.

Singer Róisín Murphy: “I should’ve known that I was stepping out of line.”

It’s the Climate Apocalypse, Stupid:

AfterClimate’s Dr. Ben Abraham on sustainability: “It’s no secret that there are aspects of the game industry that are deeply unsustainable from the perspective of work-life balance: from crunch, to unpredictable layoffs, the uncertainty of funding for the next project. But there’s an even wider sense in which games are unsustainable ecologically.” (via Polygon).

Die Gute Fabrik CEO Hannah Nicklin on climate change: “There are no video games on a dead planet.” (via Polygon).

Blame Game:

Director Billy Eichner on Bros: “Even with glowing reviews, great Rotten Tomatoes scores, an A CinemaScore, etc, straight people, especially in certain parts of the country, just didn’t show up for Bros. And that’s disappointing but it is what it is.”

What’s Love Got To Do With It?:

The Game Awards' “Future Class” on The Game Awards: “Like many of our peers, we are appalled by the war crimes the Palestinian people are victims of, and we grieve the loss of so many civilian lives. Adding to that pain, is the knowledge that our industry is playing a role in this.” (via Eurogamer)

ABK Worker Alliance on Roe vs. Wade: “All ABK [Activision Blizzard King] Employees currently residing in locations passing discriminatory legislation must be offered relocation assistance to a safe state or country. Stipends for out of state medical care currently leaves employees open to legal prosecution and does not remove workers from imminent danger.”

Independent Game Developers Association (IGDA) on Iran protests: “We believe freedom of expression, bodily autonomy, and dignity are fundamental human rights. For game developers–and all people–to thrive in their work and life, they must be able to express themselves free from systemic oppression and discriminatory practices sustaining inequality.”

D.I.E.:

Wizards of the Coast’s Chris Perkins on Dungeons and Dragons: “While the D&D team is racially, ethnically, gender, and cognitively diverse, we don’t want our marginalized employees to be burdened with the task of reviewing content for cultural competency. That’s why we leverage the expertise of outside cultural consultants.”

Pearl Clutchers:

Elton John on Twitter: “I’ve decided to no longer use Twitter, given their recent change in policy which will allow misinformation to flourish unchecked.”

Chloe Grace Moretz on a meme: “To this day, when I see that meme, it’s something very hard for me to overcome.”

Soy Boys:

Paul Feig on Ghostbusters (2016): “I relate more to stories of funny women because they tend to be less aggressive and toxic. I was bullied so much as a kid that I would run to the girls for solace.” (via The Guardian).

It’s You, Hi, You’re the Problem It’s You:

Wedbush Securities analyst Michael Pachter on Ubisoft: “We believe Star Wars Outlaws was impacted by a coordinated effort that sought to troll Ubisoft games specifically and Star Wars content in general. This is a case of a rare incel victory that led to Ubisoft having to take down its numbers.

Kamikazes:

Big Talk Chief Executive Kenton Allen on upcoming Cheers remake: “The attitudes of Cheers in the 80s are very different to the attitudes of today, so there’s a massive amount of work to be done around taking inspiration from the original characters but creating something fresh.” (via Deadline)

Marvel Comics writer Deniz Camp on The Ultimates: “Issue 5 of Ultimates is out today! First appearance of our Hawkeye; we worked hard to make them cool, different, and yet undeniably ‘Hawkeye’...So, yes, Charli's pronouns are they/them. I didn't want to make a big deal of it, because it's not in the book itself, and because I don't think Charli would make a big deal out of it in that context. But we'll make this explicit when it's natural to the narrative.” 

You Will Eat It, And You Will Like It:

Titan Books’ Star Wars: The Secrets of the Clone Troopers: “When one of our kind expressed her gender identity differently than her fellow troopers, she feared she’d have to hide who she truly was inside. Fortunately, her brothers in the 7th Sky Corps gave her the name Sister as a constant reminder that she belonged.”

Sideshow Unleashed:

Submissions very welcome, here.