But these are the same people who claim they don't want those kinds of people following them or watching their content. Like just shut up about everything not video game related if you're going to be that much of a hypocrite.
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CDPR is a transphobic company. It's time we stop making excuses for them.
- Thread starter Kyuuji
- Start date
This is where I'm at with CP and CDPR. I was interested in the game, but now... I couldn't give a shit about it. There are other games to play from developers I value more
I mean, I get what you're saying to a degree, but this shit has been going on for years, very much in the public eye, and yet the information you're getting that explains this to you isn't from a journalist or influencer, but another member of the trans community having to do this in their absence. Again.
I could accept this more if the initial transgression was a week or two ago, but there's a long history here. The only way this could be coming as a surprise to anyone in this industry who claims to be a journalist is by either living in a cave or wilful ignorance.
Serious question: Will OTs for such problematic games be allowed upon release? Or do OT threads get a pass?
Isn't it stated elsewhere that an OP will be allowed but be locked for a day to make a point?
I do have concerns about the impact thread bannings will have on the visibility of this thread that the trans community has so worked to get seen, but I will leave it at that.
Yeah, that very short graphic on transphobia in 2077 in today's Jimquisition was honestly the most coverage I've seen. And it really kind of sucks that no one else is willing to go into detail and educate on the issue
Yeah, that very short graphic on transphobia in 2077 in today's Jimquisition was honestly the most coverage I've seen. And it really kind of sucks that no one else is willing to go into detail and educate on the issue
No, those are normies. Who don't care about any of this and just want to watch their favourite streamer stream the current most streamble game on livestream. And who will go elsewhere to get their fix.
I had thought that rule was just so whoever makes the OT could have time to get their posts up in case of image hosting issues or other tech difficulties.
It's wilful ignorance. Like I said before, people had no issue immediately cringing at seeing the HP reveal. JK is a hugely known long time figure head and her TERF-ness is widely known, and her reign of the franchise. With this game and CDPR, there isn't some known figure head that is an open TERF, and this stuff has been relatively set to marketing in the majority and spread out over time. So even people that see it can just sort of brush it away when it's not a JK tier thing, unfortunately.
I think the difference is for most people JK was synonymous with Harry Potter, where Cyberpunk is not Synonymous with CDPR, hell, most people don't know that GOG is owned by CDPR.
If it wasn't for me having a friend that is thoroughly obsessed with The Witcher, I probably would never have known who CDPR is.
This topic doesn't directly affect me. But it has affected my view of this game.
Before reading this thread, I had only known of one or maybe two of the transgressions outlined in the excellent OP. It wasn't enough for me to make a decision, either way, to not support CDPR. I just wasn't paying enough attention to them. They're not my favorite studio, though I did play through all the Witcher games on PC around when they first came out.
As far as Cyberpunk 2077, I was most likely going to buy it, but I wasn't sure if it would be day 1. Now, with all of this info, I will most likely wait and see how things shake out. Meaning to wait for reviews and see how those affected by the things highlighted in this thread feel about the game (and perhaps if CDPR have addressed the controversy themselves). I would be buying on PC, so buying used is not an option. I normally try to wait for deals and sales as well, so I might be waiting for a while, which I'm more than fine with. Maybe even to wait for modders to make adjustments to the game to make these issues less apparent in-game (which shouldn't be necessary in the first place, but I do hope happens).
With all that said, I can, instead, send a donation to a charity that helps those within the group affected, like the ones listed here. I feel that as a general rule if you do choose to engage with media from troublesome creators that the least you can do is try to equal out the bad with some good. We shouldn't make it easy for the bad players to continue to do their bad deeds; we should put up resistance wherever and whenever we can. I haven't had to test out this feeling in practice yet, thankfully, but this instance will test it out, I think.
I just want to thank the OP for making this easily digestible to those who aren't directly affected or in the culture to know these things. Being more aware is never a bad thing. It's what you do with that info once it's been introduced to you; that's what matters.
Before reading this thread, I had only known of one or maybe two of the transgressions outlined in the excellent OP. It wasn't enough for me to make a decision, either way, to not support CDPR. I just wasn't paying enough attention to them. They're not my favorite studio, though I did play through all the Witcher games on PC around when they first came out.
As far as Cyberpunk 2077, I was most likely going to buy it, but I wasn't sure if it would be day 1. Now, with all of this info, I will most likely wait and see how things shake out. Meaning to wait for reviews and see how those affected by the things highlighted in this thread feel about the game (and perhaps if CDPR have addressed the controversy themselves). I would be buying on PC, so buying used is not an option. I normally try to wait for deals and sales as well, so I might be waiting for a while, which I'm more than fine with. Maybe even to wait for modders to make adjustments to the game to make these issues less apparent in-game (which shouldn't be necessary in the first place, but I do hope happens).
With all that said, I can, instead, send a donation to a charity that helps those within the group affected, like the ones listed here. I feel that as a general rule if you do choose to engage with media from troublesome creators that the least you can do is try to equal out the bad with some good. We shouldn't make it easy for the bad players to continue to do their bad deeds; we should put up resistance wherever and whenever we can. I haven't had to test out this feeling in practice yet, thankfully, but this instance will test it out, I think.
I just want to thank the OP for making this easily digestible to those who aren't directly affected or in the culture to know these things. Being more aware is never a bad thing. It's what you do with that info once it's been introduced to you; that's what matters.
This thread has opened my eyes, I was already aware of the issues with CDPR and the trans community and each time I've struggled to defend CDPR... The first time or so I was willing to give them the benefit of the doubt... But it's just too hard to do that now...
I had the collectors edition on preorder, which I've cancelled today...
Will I still purchase the game... Possibly.. but ive moved from a over 1 year pre order to a possible purchase on or just after release and this the issue that made that move..
I wish CDPR would do better, and maybe it will be handled better in the game, rather than the marketing... We'll see but track record says no currently..
I had the collectors edition on preorder, which I've cancelled today...
Will I still purchase the game... Possibly.. but ive moved from a over 1 year pre order to a possible purchase on or just after release and this the issue that made that move..
I wish CDPR would do better, and maybe it will be handled better in the game, rather than the marketing... We'll see but track record says no currently..
Locking the OT for one day is great and all, but has there been any communication to limiting threads like they did for Harry Potter?
Like I feel limiting threads to ONLY official news should be allowed.
Not sure if that has already happened? But it seems like that would be the best move
Like I feel limiting threads to ONLY official news should be allowed.
Not sure if that has already happened? But it seems like that would be the best move
Well damn. Thank you for this thread Kyuuji.
I must admit some fault here, I was aware of some past instances of this behavior like the tweets you mentioned but I would just brush it off with "oh it's just an isolated incident by some communications person, it doesn't reflect the whole game or company" but the more I've seen of the game and as you've wonderfully compiled in your OP, it all figures into a larger trend that cannot be ignored.
I was already feeling cold on the game with how CDPR's conception of Cyberpunk 2077 (as others have noted as well) seems more "wow cool future" than anything. I could be wrong here, but with how pre-release material already suggests that this game engages with the Cyberpunk genre in the shallowest ways, and given how juvenile the game has appeared in its marketing, it does not bode well for how one can expect the actual game to handle trans representation. Not to mention the CDPR vocal online fanbase is one of the most hostile to anything left of Nigel Farage, I used to frequent the Witcher subreddit until they started having heated gaming moments over diverse casting in the TV show. I can't expect CDPR to seriously challenge and potentially anger the vocal reactionaries in their fanbase given their history.
I must admit some fault here, I was aware of some past instances of this behavior like the tweets you mentioned but I would just brush it off with "oh it's just an isolated incident by some communications person, it doesn't reflect the whole game or company" but the more I've seen of the game and as you've wonderfully compiled in your OP, it all figures into a larger trend that cannot be ignored.
I was already feeling cold on the game with how CDPR's conception of Cyberpunk 2077 (as others have noted as well) seems more "wow cool future" than anything. I could be wrong here, but with how pre-release material already suggests that this game engages with the Cyberpunk genre in the shallowest ways, and given how juvenile the game has appeared in its marketing, it does not bode well for how one can expect the actual game to handle trans representation. Not to mention the CDPR vocal online fanbase is one of the most hostile to anything left of Nigel Farage, I used to frequent the Witcher subreddit until they started having heated gaming moments over diverse casting in the TV show. I can't expect CDPR to seriously challenge and potentially anger the vocal reactionaries in their fanbase given their history.
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The most egregious part of games media's refusal to talk about transphobia (and crunch) at CDPR/on Cyberpunk 2077 is knowing they're never going to shut the fuck up about the game once it's out. I intend to drag all of them that I come across. Lessons need to be learned.
Theres been no talk of it at all which is pretty insane (not surprising tho). I feel like Jason Schrier would report on it if he didn't already receive so much backlash for reporting on CDPR's crunch.
It sucks cause you know it would get a pretty big bump in exposure if Jason covered it. I know he must be sick of the CDPR fanboys attacking him and don't blame him on a personal level for holding back, but this is the sort of thing journalism exists to bring to light.
I honestly am a little shocked that this hasn't come up on Triple Click. Hope they address it soon. jschreier do you have any comments?
Jason is the only shot of this getting any talk outside this thread and a few scattered twitter threads at this point, barring a head of CDPR going full on JK level TERF or completely egregious things in the game. Otherwise, this just won't gain ground unfortunately. Like I'm sure there will be more things in the game, but nothing that will get people to be "forced" to seriously talk about it.
Piggybacking off of Zaxil's comment, I sadly had the same thought. If Jason didn't receive a stupid amount of backlash for simply reporting on proven and admitted crunch over at CDPR, he'd probably be less cagey to engage in this story. He might not want to even bother, because he knows subsequent stories would be colored by the fan (and some trash outlets, looking at you GameInformer) assumption that he's got a bone to pick with CDPR.
Also, I'm not the biggest Jim Sterling fan, but you can tell the CDPR fanbase pissed him the fuck off, because in his latest Jimquisition on a completely unrelated game, he spent the last 3rd of the video ranting about fan backlash for the sake of corporations and not the actual people making the games (specifically mentioned CDPR several times). He also mentioned the pattern of transphobia in a quick graphic, but I also wouldn't be surprised if he was also so fed up with them, he wouldn't want to engage anymore, unless another controversy popped up.
Also, I'm not the biggest Jim Sterling fan, but you can tell the CDPR fanbase pissed him the fuck off, because in his latest Jimquisition on a completely unrelated game, he spent the last 3rd of the video ranting about fan backlash for the sake of corporations and not the actual people making the games (specifically mentioned CDPR several times). He also mentioned the pattern of transphobia in a quick graphic, but I also wouldn't be surprised if he was also so fed up with them, he wouldn't want to engage anymore, unless another controversy popped up.
It's like, we don't even need Jason's investigative journalism for this one, unless he would, for instance, compile opinions from CDPR devs on this. That's the kind of work he does, something we don't normally have access to.
Reporting on this can be done by absolutely anyone. Everything there is to know is in the OP of this thread, even. It's also on the internet for anyone to see. It wouldn't even take a lot of work.
Reporting on this can be done by absolutely anyone. Everything there is to know is in the OP of this thread, even. It's also on the internet for anyone to see. It wouldn't even take a lot of work.
No one will report on this unless the game is legitimately bad and the fanboys stop being so defensive about it. No one wants to be bullied. The hype culture CDPR created around this game pretty much protects them from anything. Unless the game is a total disaster, it's still going to get glowing reviews with little to no criticism, because the press would be too scared of making CDPR fans angry. That's just how it is.
Imagine any other industry where what gets reported is dependant on how big the outrage of fanboys is likely to be.
I don't buy into narrative that Jason is keeping quiet because he is tired or afraid of backslash from some fanbois who have dug deep into trenches. He clearly doesn't mind backslash from pieces he does as otherwise he wouldn't be exposing darling studios like CDPR, ND or R* for their crunch culture etc.
Either he hasn't seen this thread here or tweets trying to ping him on this thread or he just doesn't want to engage or he is engaging, but doing groundwork before coming out and putting major AAA studio on the blast as transphobic.
But he is keeping quiet because some shit tier fanbois get mad? Yeah, not buying that. Would be so out of character for him, imo.
Either he hasn't seen this thread here or tweets trying to ping him on this thread or he just doesn't want to engage or he is engaging, but doing groundwork before coming out and putting major AAA studio on the blast as transphobic.
But he is keeping quiet because some shit tier fanbois get mad? Yeah, not buying that. Would be so out of character for him, imo.
It takes a lot of work to do the kind of journalism Jason does. It's not "weekend of engagement, read one thread and write 5,000-word article" stuff. Plus, who knows what else he has going on. I would not expect him to drop everything and run over here.
Yea, the more likely reason is because...he's busy with other shit. If he had the time to do it right, I'm sure he'd cover this.
If only we had more than one single competent journalist to cover the issues in the industry eh?
I think the difference between people's reactions to CDPR's transphobia and JKR's is that JKR is out and proud in her assertion that trans women are not women. That's cut and dry. But CDPR's issues might come across to many as a company being insufficiently woke rather than hateful.
The tweet is stupid and hacky, but it's a meme amongst plenty of internet people who aren't transphobes; they just like poking fun at those they believe are oversensitive. That's not to say CDPR doesn't have a massively toxic fanbase (it clearly does), just that those of us with internet friends outside Era have probably heard that crusty joke from unfunny people who nonetheless consider trans women women.
The Chromanticore thing might come across less as transphobic, and more as clumsy titillation from a place that's ignorant of the way trans people relate to fetishization of their bodies. To cis folk, the trans model could be switched out for a cis woman, and critics might call the image and character misogynistic. Whether or not they're right, most people don't consider sexualization to be the same thing as hatred. A cyberpunk movie might feature an android brothel, and one of the characters might be a sentient female android sexbot. And while the story condemns the treatment of this character, and fans would condemn slavery of sentient artificial life in the fiction, they might still enjoy the sleazy aesthetic of the character; and the ability to relate to them as part of their sexuality because the universe is fictional.
The fact that the Chromanticore model is transgender changes the context of the fetishization, in the sense that it's more egregious, but it's still very easy to lump complaints about them in with "prudes hate sex".
Finally, the issue with the character creator might come off as one of ignorance rather than transphobia. If you're an un-woke cisgender male, you might very well think that you're being inclusive by allowing male-presenting characters to have vaginas, and female-presenting characters to have penises; not give a thought to the voices, and pat yourself on the back.
Of course, anyone remotely familiar with trans issues will see a series of very trans-unfriendly incidents coming out of CDPR, and for CDPR to then try to claim they're being inclusive and that they're advocates for the trans community is going to make actual trans folk and trans allies blood boil, because ffs, CDPR. They desperately need some trans consultants on their payroll.
But the degree of transphobia on display here might appear less than that of JKR, because it's not cut and dry bigotry. I think that goes a long way to explaining why there's been less focus on CDPR's transphobia, why many people on Era are less disgusted with CDPR than JKR and don't feel they have to boycott the game, and why there's been very little discussion of these issues, because anyone who might have expressed any of the opinions above would be risking a ban.
I could be totally off base, but that's what I think is going on, and I hope it's somewhat useful in facilitating discussion of this topic.
The tweet is stupid and hacky, but it's a meme amongst plenty of internet people who aren't transphobes; they just like poking fun at those they believe are oversensitive. That's not to say CDPR doesn't have a massively toxic fanbase (it clearly does), just that those of us with internet friends outside Era have probably heard that crusty joke from unfunny people who nonetheless consider trans women women.
The Chromanticore thing might come across less as transphobic, and more as clumsy titillation from a place that's ignorant of the way trans people relate to fetishization of their bodies. To cis folk, the trans model could be switched out for a cis woman, and critics might call the image and character misogynistic. Whether or not they're right, most people don't consider sexualization to be the same thing as hatred. A cyberpunk movie might feature an android brothel, and one of the characters might be a sentient female android sexbot. And while the story condemns the treatment of this character, and fans would condemn slavery of sentient artificial life in the fiction, they might still enjoy the sleazy aesthetic of the character; and the ability to relate to them as part of their sexuality because the universe is fictional.
The fact that the Chromanticore model is transgender changes the context of the fetishization, in the sense that it's more egregious, but it's still very easy to lump complaints about them in with "prudes hate sex".
Finally, the issue with the character creator might come off as one of ignorance rather than transphobia. If you're an un-woke cisgender male, you might very well think that you're being inclusive by allowing male-presenting characters to have vaginas, and female-presenting characters to have penises; not give a thought to the voices, and pat yourself on the back.
Of course, anyone remotely familiar with trans issues will see a series of very trans-unfriendly incidents coming out of CDPR, and for CDPR to then try to claim they're being inclusive and that they're advocates for the trans community is going to make actual trans folk and trans allies blood boil, because ffs, CDPR. They desperately need some trans consultants on their payroll.
But the degree of transphobia on display here might appear less than that of JKR, because it's not cut and dry bigotry. I think that goes a long way to explaining why there's been less focus on CDPR's transphobia, why many people on Era are less disgusted with CDPR than JKR and don't feel they have to boycott the game, and why there's been very little discussion of these issues, because anyone who might have expressed any of the opinions above would be risking a ban.
I could be totally off base, but that's what I think is going on, and I hope it's somewhat useful in facilitating discussion of this topic.
I think you're right.
JKR's transphobia is extremely blatant and instantly recognizable even to cis folk who aren't super tuned in to its signs.
CDPR makes its transphobia known in subtler ways (aside from the "did you just assume" tweet) that a lot of cis folks will just plain not recognise or, when it's pointed out to them, will say "oh well that is a little unfortunate, but real transphobia looks different".
Maybe the lack of reporting, aside from other reasons already mentioned, is because the influencers are worried it would be a little arcane for most of their audience?
See the problem here is that they keep stirring up controversy. They have a car that's based on the general lee among other things. They keep fucking up in alot of ways. The transphobia and Imagery we see and the vocals being tied to gender never have been fixed it's too hard to not handwave it all because it keeps happening. Over, and over and over and over again like a broken record.
There is also the fact that JKR's work was influential to a lot of people during their formative years, and when she started to get closer and closer to the aging fandom, that includes a lot of minorities, then she started her crusade. It affects her biggest fans directly.
CDPR is the rising hero of gamers who like Geralt and/or not buying MTX, nothing more.
Agreed, but again, in what other industry does that happen when there's a clear pattern of behaviour established?
I can't think of any. You're right, gaming industry is fucked up in several ways, this is one of them.
Honestly, I'm surprised the thing with the #WontBeErased "joke" didn't get more attention. That's pretty close to cut and dry transphobia; like, the kind of thing someone should probably lose their job over. You shouldn't expect to make light of shit like that without being severely dragged.
Edit: Just reread it - glad the action taken was swift and appropriate. But I totally agree with the OP, and this ties into what you're saying too: there's clearly a tolerance for alt right types at the company.
I think there's probably a reckoning coming. Not in a "gamers rise up" kind of way, but at some point soon aspiring journalists in tech are going to realise that there is a massive void in serious journalism in this industry that they can take advantage of.
You can see how some of the influencers have reacted to it just being Jason, imagine what it could be like in a couple of years when there might be 20 or 30 people doing what Jason is doing?
There's a huge power imbalance right now where the big studios and publishers know that a lot of these outlets will stay quiet on stuff like this because they know influencers require access and are terrified of losing it. The best thing about people like Jason is they don't fear losing that access, and it's obviously got the likes of CDPR and their cult shit scared.
The point I'm making is that I desperately hope we see more like Jason popping up doing serious work in this industry, because if we don't, we're just going to get trapped in the hype cycle, and serious issues like transphobia are never going to be properly addressed.
Happy that this forum takes trans issues so seriously and there is a lot of users engaged. It's sad to see trans issues not taken as seriously but I think it mainly is due to a lack of exposure and education on trans issues. I love how threads like this educate people (including myself) and help spread a message. I'll be honest, when I saw that ad stuff first, I took it as they were displaying the corporate exploitation of trans people. Given context for the rest of CDPR's "mishaps", though, it does begin to convey they are using trans people as a prop for their stories, rather than a dystopian portrayal. In fact, I'm even starting to get the feeling they like to use trans imagery as a way to evoke a feeling of disgust and anxiety from players that stems from their own form of bigotry. It just has become pretty hard for me to believe they had that level of nuance to create all this trans imagery, and happily tie it to exploitation of trans people. They can't even get the people in charge of their social media to not make fun of them. It just seems like it's all shock value, than it has something to say.
Would love to be proven wrong. Already bought the game, and gonna play it. If this level of transphobia is coated on the game, I don't think I'd be able to play it though. I'm excited for it as it seems like it has a ton to offer in other areas. I definitely am coming into this with a side-eye.
Would love to be proven wrong. Already bought the game, and gonna play it. If this level of transphobia is coated on the game, I don't think I'd be able to play it though. I'm excited for it as it seems like it has a ton to offer in other areas. I definitely am coming into this with a side-eye.
Adding to this, JKR's is more direct. She is Harry Potter. No one else. Where Cyberpunk is one of hundreds or thousands of people. This is where you get the "Think of the devs," or "The lonely coder gets joy from seeing you play their game." It's always easier to vilify a single person since there is less wiggle room.
As for them not being woke. It's not so much being woke as it is just being a compassionate human being, of which they've shown time and time again, as an entity, they are not. They have a sordid history of being shitty and are clearly courting a similar type of shitty consumer. At the very best they are insanely tone deaf since they continue to use transgender people as a prop, and at worst they are transphobic to the core.
Proper journalism is time-consuming work. While this thread provides tons of receipts in terms of transphobic content in the game & CDPR's PR, I feel like if Schreier is to do an article about it, he wouldn't just copy-paste the information from here & call it a day. I imagine he'd try to get inside information about how trans people & topics are handled internally (are there any trans devs at CDPR? how to contact them & are they even willing to talk? how hard will that be if the trans devs can't be too open about being trans or their treatment & need to protect their anonymity? etc.), ask for more comments from different parties, perhaps he'd want to consult trans professionals on how to approach the whole thing overall etc.
Not that he's necessarily interested in covering the topic. He still hasn't published anything about the whole Uyghur genocide/slavery thing even though people tried to push him to do something & it should've gotten way more attention from everyone, especially seemingly professional journalists like him.
Not that he's necessarily interested in covering the topic. He still hasn't published anything about the whole Uyghur genocide/slavery thing even though people tried to push him to do something & it should've gotten way more attention from everyone, especially seemingly professional journalists like him.
It would be really sad and disgusting if the bolded were true. Part of me still wishes they were "simply tone deaf" and just thought it was all a massive joke (which still wouldn't be okay). But by now it's coming across as alarmingly malicious.
Btw that second paragraph is unnecessary and is included in the "Do nots" at the bottom of the page.
If you do buy the game, be vocal about your experiences with it in the (inevitable) OT or threads detailing issues with the game itself.
Not that I disagree with anything you're saying, but;
1. It says a lot that when people talk about this stuff being covered, it's only ever Jason that gets mentioned. It cannot be the case that one man is expected to do all of the legwork in this industry for proper journalism. No wonder people think he's arrogant, if I was single handedly doing the work of 100 people I would be too.
2. This is not a days old problem, this is a years old problem, and yet again, it's only coming to light because a trans member of the community has had to put all of this together. None of this was hidden, this is all been in the public eye for a long long time, and "journalists" have chosen not to go there.
On expectations
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Honestly confused as to why the conversation keeps recentering around JKR. It's never really been confusing as to the distinction between the two, at least to trans people I know.
The driver for the thread was to finally have a linkable thread that compiled everything. To better prevent the perpetual faux-ignorance of users acting like each individual instance was unique.
That this was picked up and supported by people that used to work for Playstation, work at Panic, are working on Assassin's Creed among many other game developers, writers, trans activists and advocates and - one that resonates the most for me - the lead creator of Celeste, is more than I'd ever have thought or hoped for.
Trans issues and their recognition and respect will always be moving grains of sand to eventually shift a beach. Of course I'd like to see more official support from publications. There's a writer for VICE on twitter directly expressing their frustration that places don't care to cover issues like this, save for the rare single exception. That isn't where we're at though and there's no warp pipe to magically get there.
I live in the UK and there's no major news publication that isn't transphobic. I don't invest any emotional expectation from them, and I won't games media about a darling of the industry. It is what it is. For where we are at now though, this has seen more support than I'd have imagined and I'll take that win and those grains of sand. It's the same as expecting it to not sell well or for the majority here to not buy it; why would I invest anything in an obvious outcome.
That isn't how fights for trans recognition and respect work and you'll burn out if you persistently expect more than each individual grain to suddenly pick themselves up and walk to the other side. Demand more and fight for more, but investing any emotion in an actual expectation of it is only damaging to ourselves.
The driver for the thread was to finally have a linkable thread that compiled everything. To better prevent the perpetual faux-ignorance of users acting like each individual instance was unique.
That this was picked up and supported by people that used to work for Playstation, work at Panic, are working on Assassin's Creed among many other game developers, writers, trans activists and advocates and - one that resonates the most for me - the lead creator of Celeste, is more than I'd ever have thought or hoped for.
Trans issues and their recognition and respect will always be moving grains of sand to eventually shift a beach. Of course I'd like to see more official support from publications. There's a writer for VICE on twitter directly expressing their frustration that places don't care to cover issues like this, save for the rare single exception. That isn't where we're at though and there's no warp pipe to magically get there.
I live in the UK and there's no major news publication that isn't transphobic. I don't invest any emotional expectation from them, and I won't games media about a darling of the industry. It is what it is. For where we are at now though, this has seen more support than I'd have imagined and I'll take that win and those grains of sand. It's the same as expecting it to not sell well or for the majority here to not buy it; why would I invest anything in an obvious outcome.
That isn't how fights for trans recognition and respect work and you'll burn out if you persistently expect more than each individual grain to suddenly pick themselves up and walk to the other side. Demand more and fight for more, but investing any emotion in an actual expectation of it is only damaging to ourselves.
Actual (investigative) journalism in/about the video game industry is still almost non-existant. A vast majority of it is just being a PR mouthpiece for big corporations with a sprinkle of editorial content at a few more "woke" places that sometimes touch upon more worthwhile topics (not to totally crap on all the other content, there are some interesting pieces that ponder about/go deep into interesting not-too-politically charged topics). Schreier is really one of the only people who actually do the legwork so that's probably why he gets brought up.
And yeah, this is a years old problem at this point, but my post mostly meant that if someone like Schreier did decide to start pushing forward with an investigative piece on CDPR's transphobic tendencies NOW, it might not materialize in a week or two. Of course if the gaming journalism ("") industry was worth a shit, they'd have done so a long time ago.
Also, I didn't mean to push it all on Schreier, I just used him as an example because he has been brought up in this thread.
This is great to hear, are these in the form of tweets or personal DMs? If the former are you able to share links?
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You posted it earlier with Nick Suttner tweeting it out and it continued to pick up steam from that initial boost. Harder to spot now that it's among hundreds of others but if you run through the retweets and quotes you can see various people across the industry boosting it. Maddy Thorson retweeted it soon afterwards and considering the themes Celeste deals with, ones that meant a lot to me while playing it, it was a really heartwarming thing to witness alongside the other support. I'm thankful it's found use outside of these walls since its original intent was only to help influence and bolster the discussions within them.
OP
OP
Only if you're for some reason expecting something to change overnight. Which would be a naive hope when looking at the history of fights for trans recognition and respect within media and elsewhere. The nihilist view is only useful to those that oppose progress.
I'm also thinking long-term :(
While it will get support for sure, I don't think companies, or at least the bigger ones, will change anything regarding those issues.
But it's great to see the topic is already being recognized like you mentioned above.
Austin Walker in the tweets as well, good, good!