Voidpoint, the developers behind the new first-person-shooter Ion Fury have caved to intense media pressure following leaked Discord screenshots that showed members of the production team being critical of gaming media and child hormone replacement therapy.
The gaming media has piled heavily onto Voidpoint after screenshots were that showed top developers saying things such as, “Yeah if you’re trying to decide your child is trans at birth you have mental problems and probably shouldn’t be a parent [in my opinion].”
In other screenshots, developers discussed the problem of social justice warriors policing language in the gaming community, saying “the whole sjw concept is getting upset on behalf other other people,” and “someone says retarded and they jump in and claim it hurts someone.”
Voidpoint members also discussed the combative relationship between so-called gaming journalism and the gaming community, with user 22_deathgrip saying “the game journalist media is heavily sjw so you [don’t] want to piss them off, because you kind of need them … at the same time, going sjw with your game, like [Battlefield 5] did, results in sh*tty sales,” adding, “you need to straddle a middling point.”
Ever since the screenshots were made public on Sunday, there has been heavy pressure on Voidpoint to publicly apologize.
Game Revolution, the outlet that takes credit for the leaked Discord screenshots, reports that the developers “think somebody just doesn’t like us and has been looking for a way to try and sh** on us for a while tbh,”
The same developer said, “Before this it was weekly 4chan sh**posts from the opposite angle calling us “sjw cucks” because [Ion Fury’s protagonist] shelly isn’t naked.”
That pressure paid off in spades on Monday, as the developers released a public statement, promising to institute a zero-tolerance policy for “hate speech” and mandatory sensitivity training for all employees:
“We recognize these statements are insensitive, unacceptable, and counterproductive to causes of equality. We unequivocally apologize both for these comments and language as well as for any pain they have caused the gaming community, particularly women and members of the LGBTQ community. We take full responsibility for any damage that has been done to the relationships we’ve worked so hard to build.
Moving forward, Voidpoint will institute a zero-tolerance policy for this type of language and all employees and contractors will undergo mandatory sensitivity training. As part of our efforts to contribute to the work that must be done to further support these communities, we are donating $10,000 from Ion Fury’s release day proceeds to The Trevor Project. We are also patching Ion Fury ASAP to remove all unacceptable language.”
It remains to be seen how the controversy and subsequent damage control will affect the sales of Ion Fury.
If the game developers have “sh*tty sales” due to their acquiescence to the “heavily sjw” gaming journalists, it may impact their ability to raise the $10,000 they promised to donate to a transgender charity as penance for the mortal sin of wrongthink.
