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THQ Nordic holding an AMA on... 8chan (UP: website linked to multiple mass shootings) READ THREADMARKS
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I am trying to think, in my four years of business school, whether I have heard of a worse PR gaffe than this (in any industry, not just games).
Certainly, there are many well-known companies who have "unintentionally" allowed some very racist or sexist advertisements to "slip through" in the past. There are examples of corporate social media accounts who have made irreverent promotional attempts to mark occasions like 9/11 or Anzac Day. In the video game world, there is even the case of the "rogue" GOG PR manager who used the official company Twitter to show support for Gamergate and transphobia multiple times before he was finally let go.
But this, I think, is far and away the worst one I know of. Based on what that website is associated with alone...Jesus H Christ. And while I'm certainly glad they've posted an apology, I am still sitting here with my mouth wide open that, hours later, this employee is still with the company. Like, are you literally out of your mind, management of THQ Nordic? You want to keep a continued business association with this?????? Eject him from your offices so hard he launches into the fucking moon!!!!! Tf are you waiting for?!
Certainly, there are many well-known companies who have "unintentionally" allowed some very racist or sexist advertisements to "slip through" in the past. There are examples of corporate social media accounts who have made irreverent promotional attempts to mark occasions like 9/11 or Anzac Day. In the video game world, there is even the case of the "rogue" GOG PR manager who used the official company Twitter to show support for Gamergate and transphobia multiple times before he was finally let go.
But this, I think, is far and away the worst one I know of. Based on what that website is associated with alone...Jesus H Christ. And while I'm certainly glad they've posted an apology, I am still sitting here with my mouth wide open that, hours later, this employee is still with the company. Like, are you literally out of your mind, management of THQ Nordic? You want to keep a continued business association with this?????? Eject him from your offices so hard he launches into the fucking moon!!!!! Tf are you waiting for?!
Mmmm they distributed the physical version? Just buy Ori from the MS store?
Lol the other members didn't seem to think so but oh well haha. I'll take the L and look like a drama queen.
I only read the last four pages because I've been away from ERA for four hours, but wtf! How does a company's PR fuck up on such a colossal scale that is also one of the easiest AMAs to do, just avoid doing an AMA on a site that hosts CP. Jesus...
I post on PS4's subreddit relatively often and I used to have a tagger that would show people who posted on questionable subs and Falconbox had posted on KotakuInAction in the past. Our admins don't like forum nonsense so I didn't report it but always felt he probably was just gaslighting us.
What an absolute mess, and a completely unforced error. THQ had every opportunity to walk this shit back and try to salvage even a bit of respect and they refused it at every turn. What a mess.
I'm no business major, but it's definitely in the books for one of the worst gaffes. Definitely one of the worst in gaming history.
I'm no business major, but it's definitely in the books for one of the worst gaffes. Definitely one of the worst in gaming history.
probably because they wanted to call out to a certain base. 8-chan can't even be found through google, so the fact someone picked it as a ama spot was probably 100% deliberate.
And we're not even a sixth of the way through the year yet.
IT'S NOT JUST PR. This was multiple important people in the company, including their head of PR and marketing (Phillipp), and one of their senior executives and major shareholders (Reinhard Pollice) who is one of the top dogs at the company. http://www.thqnordic-investors.com/en/board-and-management/
They then continued to take part even after knowing what the site was about. They were okay with it.
Like, it's such an absurd scenario it feels to me like someone did it on purpose as career suicide. And yet...the company isn't even bothering to punish them, much less issue a real apology or even take the link down?
Christ.
So that twitter post effectively advertised the site. I hope there are some legal ramifications.
No. Ori is made by Moon Studios and Microsoft, they've just published the physical versions of it, if you buy it digitally you are not giving them shit.
It's likely they were trying to do the Nike/Gillette thing but in reverse, but went full ahead with something so abhorrent that even Boogie is clowning on them.
He'd been banned a few times for similar stuff but he always knew just when to stop.
Not denying that, but how they rated the pros and cons for such a idea and thought "this is a good idea and won't backfire in anyway possible." is beyond me.
Fuck them. If we're going to boycott them then we should definitely boycott Atlus as well. Unless you're just a hypocrite.
There's always a couple of those fuckers who are just like the burners but smart enough to survive. If you keep your eye out you start to remember, man, this guy always seems to be right at the line, doesn't he?
I'm not buying Catherine but Atlus never did anything this blatantly bad
Ah thanks, wondering why the poster brought Atlus up.
I'm not sure what the link here is. If Atlus executives started publicly supporting a site that exchanges child pornography, I would certainly never buy anything from them again until those executives are removed.
What example could they have found where courting the gamer-gate crowd has benefited more than hurt a company? And yeah you're right, when even Boogie is seeing your idea as bad, (BOOGIE!) than they should know they fucked up massively.
I look forward to Nickelodeon and other companies dropping all support after they wake up tomorrow seeing the news stories and request for comments.
Atlus has a history of demeaning and demoralizing the LGBTQ+ community. They definitely deserve to be banned from being discussed around here and boycotted into bankruptcy, but nobody will because they're hypocrites and enjoy their games. I need to stop, I'm getting upset again and I don't think I can mentally or physically handle another breakdown.
US Airways posted model airplane pornography. But they were hacked.
There was that one PR executive who tweeted "Going to Africa, hope I don't get AIDS. Just kidding, I'm white" and got fired during her flight. That was bad.
He always came off as an asshole who was just subtle enough about his dogwhistles to not get banned... glad he finally got caught
I think they only did the physical PC version. I know my Xbox copy of Definitive Edition (?) doesn't have their name anywhere.
I know what Atlus has done, that's why I'm not buying Catherine.
Considering one of their board members (Reinhardt) partook in this I'm gonna guess they won't do anything unless/until this affects sales.
I've never bought one of their games, and never will. Their blatant and repeated homophobia is inexcusable and unacceptable.
But THQ Nordic has earned enough condemnation on its own that we don't need to dilute it by trying to piggyback other fights on top of it. They rightly have the spotlight here for their abhorrent actions this week.
For 10 hours now and still at this moment THQ Nordic's offical Twitter links directly to a site known for spreading child pornography
Edit: I'm going to post this every hour or so as long as it remains true. I can't believe it every time I type it but it's still fucking true
Edit: I'm going to post this every hour or so as long as it remains true. I can't believe it every time I type it but it's still fucking true
The only game I have from them is Battlechaser: Nightwar but I bought it wayyyyyyy back when, so at least my conscience is clear about that.
Pillars of Eternity 2 is from them though? Fuuuuuuuuuuuuck.
Pillars of Eternity 2 is from them though? Fuuuuuuuuuuuuck.
The CEO hasn't even decried this and instead washed his hands off of this. Fuck this company. I feel bad for the developers, but fuck.
They just published the physical version. Get digital, bypass them.
Part of Nordic's business is distribution deals (usually physical packaging for the EU market) with other publishers (Microsoft is the largest).
If you buy a copy that doesn't say "THQ Nordic" anywhere, then they don't get any money from it.
So if I buy PoE2 on consoles digitally, they get nothing right? Just to be clear.
I *think* so. Obsidian is working with Grip Digital for the console ports (and Versus Evil for PC Digital). I assume THQ is only partnered for the physical versions.
Just to clarify, if I buy the digital console version of PoE 2 later, THQ Nordic won't get any money from me?
I was waiting to see if anyone higher up would at least reasonably distance themselves, but there have been enough semi-statements for me to have made up my mind.
I won't engage with this company, or basically anything in the future with their name on it. I've certainly been a customer in the past. There's a whole industry of beautiful, exciting, and engaging games that aren't leveraged to promote platforms for child abuse and other vile facets of the internet. It's crystal clear that these are people too evil or too cowardly to have the sense to not mix their work with such well-defined filth.
I won't engage with this company, or basically anything in the future with their name on it. I've certainly been a customer in the past. There's a whole industry of beautiful, exciting, and engaging games that aren't leveraged to promote platforms for child abuse and other vile facets of the internet. It's crystal clear that these are people too evil or too cowardly to have the sense to not mix their work with such well-defined filth.