I’d say “reset the clock” but quite obviously we’ve been stuck in 2014 for an entire decade.
It’s fascinating how history consistently echoes itself, particularly in the case of Sweet Baby Inc, a DEI/ESG consultancy firm that has garnered attention and criticism for its unethical business tactics. Their approach of imposing stereotypical “diverse” character designs and storylines on game developers, stifling creativity, has drawn public scrutiny. Yet, it’s ironic how the very developers who once held creative control have now been supplanted by progressive employees.
In other terms, there’s no stopping an entrenched industry, all you can really do is kill it.
Thankfully Sweet Baby Inc are way ahead of me on that front, with the no-name consultation corporation setting their own public image alight by openly trying to silence critics, such as how one of their employees, Chris Kindred took to Twitter to incite a harassment campaign against a singular Latin American who created a Steam curation group titled “Sweet Baby Inc Detector” to list the games available for purchase on Steam that were made in conjunction or with some form of assistance with the company in question by linking sources to the official Sweet Baby Inc website.
Chris Kindred proclaimed that the group was targeted harassment, so they tried to incite their own lynch mob on their 18,000+ follower Twitter account to mass report the Steam group in question alongside the Twitter account of the groups creator and their Steam profile, specifically mentioning that their followers should “report the fuck out of this group” and his profile because he “loves his games so much”.
This was a clear attempt at targeted harassment, against a Latin American in the hopes that Valve, a Sweet Baby Inc partner would intervene and hopefully take their games away.
But of course, the company in question doesn’t do anything nefarious when it comes to game design, which is why other Sweet Baby Inc employees such as Maya Kramer under the handle of “Legobutts” attempted to gaslight people by proclaiming in a long and arduous Twitter thread that their DEI consultation services weren’t the main cause for “woke” elements being inserted into modern gaming.
Despite the fact that Maya Kramer as well as the founder and CEO of Sweet Baby Inc, Kim Belair at one point let their masks slip and openly voice their racial prejudices against White people.
The intense media uproar that ensued from this situation propelled the popularity of the Steam group to new heights. It now boasts over 200,000 followers, showing no signs of decline. Mainstream media outlets have further amplified the controversy by exposing their corrupt practices once more, contributing to the group’s continued momentum.
So many people, including myself are more or less pointing fingers at Sweet Baby Inc bringing attention to itself and the following repercussions of those in the gaming industry and especially journalists all banding together to defend this no-name corporation to that of Gamergate.
Kotaku and numerous other mainstream publications are once again employing their typical PR tactics to defend Sweet Baby Inc. One example is Mary Kenney, the associate narrative director for Insomniac Games’ Marvel’s Wolverine, who tried to downplay concerns in a lengthy Twitter thread about Sweet Baby’s operations.
Meanwhile, the anti-White racist journalists at Kotaku conveniently ignored the entire chain of events that led to this controversy, that being Chris Kindred’s targeted harassment of a lone Brazilian.
This entire situation is quickly becoming reminiscent of Gamergate which spurred a decade ago, as these racist journalists blatantly lie about Sweet Baby Inc’s true nature, ignoring obvious truths while downplaying critics (those with braincells) as being bigots, racists, phobes or conspiracy theories.
Even though Kim Belair, the CEO and founder of Sweet Baby Inc, openly admitted during a GDC presentation to using fear tactics with her former employers to push her inclusive ideas into projects, she paradoxically stated in the same presentation that having a character portrayed as French wasn’t seen as diverse enough. She argued that true representation in video games could only be achieved by featuring characters of color.
Gamergate was primarily focused on ethics in journalism, or at least that was its central concern. It highlighted a perceived corrupt alliance between reviewers, journalists, and corporations across various industries, ranging from the gaming industry to even automotive.
I am aware that numerous car reviewers are often flown out by specific car companies, with all expenses covered, including first-class accommodation, to review particular vehicles. It’s hard to believe that individuals who engage in such practices for a living are completely free from any bias or favoritism.
Being in my early twenties, I wasn’t mature enough or aware to participate in Gamergate during its initial occurrence. From what I’ve learned, it seemed to be a gradual buildup over many years.
For most gamers, the situation had been gradually deteriorating, with game studios churning out increasingly lackluster products that still garnered widespread acclaim by prominent critics and journalists.
It had become almost common knowledge among dedicated gamers that there was a significant amount of nepotism, favoritism, and what could be metaphorically described as ‘incest’ within the industry. This trend was particularly evident around the years 2012-2014 which is when Gamergate really took its stride.
During this period, there was a growing apprehension regarding issues such as maintaining a “free internet.” Discussions revolved around initiatives like SOPA and PIPA, among other related topics that surfaced.
People became highly proactive in those campaigns, and it appeared to be a bipartisan concern among most of the youth. Consequently, there was a strong opposition to such bills, with SOPA and PIPA being among the initial targets. Following perceived successes in these events, the general belief among the average person was that they could influence the outcome of larger-scale situations, whether involving the government or not.
During this period, the general confidence that gamers had in most game news outlets was remarkably low across the board. Individuals from both the left and right spectrums expressed disdain for nearly all publications, with the assumption being that developers were either directly or indirectly influencing positive coverage and reviews through financial means. It was during this time that figureheads such as Anita Sarkeesian emerged at the forefront of gaming discussions.
Antia’s earliest works focused on particular tropes around women in gaming. She was obviously misrepresenting various games and presenting flawed arguments about alleged misogyny / sexism in gaming. Interestingly, during this time, there was already a noticeable trend of fewer attractive female characters in videogames with inclusion of “diverse” characters starting to accelerate.
One particular segment she criticized the Hitman franchise, she had claimed that players received “bonus points” for killing women on a particular level in Hitman Absolution. However, upon closer examination, the video clip clearly demonstrated a penalty for harming female civilians.
Anita Sarkeesian swiftly gained favor with mainstream media outlets and certain gaming journalist platforms, becoming a prominent figure in their coverage. While gaming outlets increasingly featured her, many attributed this trend primarily to compromised platforms like Polygon and Kotaku, rather than viewing it as a widespread issue across all other publications.
In 2013-2014, Zoe Quinn (also known as Zoë Tiberius Quinn or Chelsea van Valkenburg) suddenly emerged in the spotlight. She was another figurehead feminist and received widespread acclaim for her supposed “game” called Depression Quest.
However, the so-called “videogame” could barely be considered an actual game at all, as it was basically a multiple-choice questionnaire.
In the “game,” players were presented with scenarios, such as “You’re feeling down about yourself and don’t feel confident in leaving the home. What do you do?” If you chose an answer that the developer, Zoe / Chelsea, disagreed with, you would be told, “That didn’t work. You’re depressed,” prompting you to select another option.
It was essentially an extremely simplistic effort, bordering on what could barely qualify as a web-based multiple-choice questionnaire, yet it was presented to reviewers as a legitimate game. You’d genuinely find more interaction out of a Netflix series than you would on Depression Quest, maybe that’s how it got its name. Simply because the “developer” was so depressed they couldn’t muster more than a single fucking line of code, who knows.
The primary catalyst for Gamergate stemmed from the discrepancy between Zoe Quinn’s game not receiving traditional “scores” and the widespread praise it garnered from many outlets.
Initial articles emphasized the purported challenges faced by female developers in the gaming industry, alleging discrimination without providing concrete examples to support these claims.
Following this, the same outlets appeared to have pre-prepared follow-up articles discussing how both Zoe Quinn and Anita Sarkeesian had allegedly faced constant harassment and attacks from online trolls and sexist misogynists. They intensified their criticism of gamers as a whole, linking anyone who didn’t support Zoe and Anita’s works to these trolls and individuals who purportedly harbored hatred towards women.
Exactly like how Kotaku and every other mainstream media outlet are currently operating right now, downplaying and gaslighting the nature of Sweet Baby Inc and proclaiming those who are aware of their subversive antics as being far-right racist conspiracy theorists.
Then, a significant revelation emerged. Zoe’s (Chelsea’s) ex-boyfriend published a lengthy blog post detailing his experiences dating her. In this tell-all, he revealed a substantial amount of personal information, with the most notable revelation being that she had been simultaneously fucking five other individuals.
Notably, three of these individuals were confirmed to be game journalists, such as Nathan Grayson, who worked at Rock Paper Shotgun, Kotaku and now writes for Aftermath.
The other individuals in particular were Robin Arnott, a then judge for Indiecade, Kyle Pulver, another indie developer, Brandon McCartin and Joshua Boggs. The situation was humorously coined “5 Guys, Burgers and Fries” by Mister Metokur.
Numerous revelations surfaced alongside this expose, but perhaps none were as significant as the newfound awareness of the incestuous nature of the game industry. Concrete evidence emerged indicating that at least this particular “game developer” had engaged in relationships with reviewers, resulting in undeserved positive coverage.
This revelation acted as a catalyst, triggering a flood of additional examples highlighting the industry’s questionable practices in the years that followed. But before the industry’s misgivings came to light, there was another significant event known as the “Gamers Are Dead” situation.
Following the revelations about Zoe, the industry responded swiftly with a coordinated denouncement. Almost every major and many minor publications simultaneously published articles declaring that “Gamers” should no longer be the target audience for game developers.
More than 20 outlets released similar articles, employing identical or nearly identical language to criticize gamers, labeling them as racist, sexist, and misogynistic, further exposing themselves to the obvious, that there’s a collusion between media and developer for positive coverage or the pushing of certain agendas in the industry.
So, in summary, there’s been a longstanding disconnect between mainstream media outlets and the general consumer base, which reached a boiling point when feminists like Zoe Quinn and Anita Sarkeesian were elevated to public figureheads by these media outlets.
Their agenda, purportedly focused on combating “sexism” in gaming, included assertions like “gaming was dead,” among other claims. The revelation of Zoe Quinn fucking and sucking her way to notoriety was the final straw for many gamers, signaling that mainstream media outlets were simply a cohort of corruption focused on promoting a particular narrative.
Now, “respected” mainstream media outlets worldwide are overwhelmingly rallying behind Sweet Baby Inc, an obscure DEI/ESG consultancy firm that has no direct relevance to their core function, which is supposed to be journalism.
Manipulating their audience and disregarding the events leading up to this moment, mainstream media outlets are engaging in gaslighting tactics. They downplay the harassment campaign initiated by Sweet Baby Inc employees and fabricate narratives, falsely portraying the no-name company as the victim of harassment by purportedly vile, racist, and sexist gamers. Those who voice objections to Kim Belair’s diversity threats are dismissed as conspiracy theorists.
They are doing the exact same shit as they were ten years ago with their constant “gaming is dead” propaganda, that you’re racist, sexist or any other sort of buzzword for not supporting this no-name consultancy corporation with ~20 employees that absolutely “do not” alter your video games.
Imagine my surprise when I came across an article strikingly similar to the ones above, authored by none other than Nathan Grayson himself, a central figure in the Gamergate controversy.
The article goes about as you’d expect from the man who had sexual relations with Zoe Quinn in exchange for positive reception for her supposed “game” alongside extensive media coverage. Nathan immediately tries to paint the picture that conspiracy theorists believe that there’s a shadowy cabal that surrounds many things, such as Pizzagate.
Which absolutely was a myth because public figures and advocates would never be dirty rotten pedophiles, that’s just preposterous.
Nathan boldly echoes the identical message conveyed by Mary Kenney, the associate narrative director at Insomniac Games, who is involved in Marvel’s Wolverine project. He dismisses the notion that “DEI is ruining games” as a myth propagated by opportunists. Nathan asserts that Sweet Baby Inc has never resorted to intimidation tactics to exert control over the industry.
Despite Sweet Baby Inc offering various services such as “sensitivity reading” where their employees of valiant progressive anti-White racists pitch new and innovative ideas, they are a narrative consultation service that does various forms of writing alongside voice work and design / direction ideas.
In his article, Nathan adamantly claims that none of the actions he describes are aimed at benefiting specific game corporations by securing additional ESG hedge fund capital. He dismisses the notion that financial giants like BlackRock and Vanguard are exerting pressure on these companies to adopt inclusive hiring practices and promote progressive products as nothing more than a conspiracy theory.
Denying any sort of connection and correlation between game corporations and BlackRock.
Consumers simply do not want to play the games that Sweet Baby Inc has worked on, as they are made by anti-White racists pushing diverse racial stereotypes in their products if not outright being offensive to Latinos worldwide. It is highly suspicious that game journalists, who are expected to advocate for consumers, are instead endorsing a narrative that prioritizes publications and corporations above all else.
It’s highly questionable that Sweet Baby Inc employees have openly engaged in public shaming of white individuals and used threats to manipulate their superiors, all while their company is structured around enhancing a developer’s ESG reputation. Figures like Grayson will manipulate the narrative to align with their personal agenda, citing unreliable and compromised game developers like Mary Kenney and Kyle Rowley who claimed that the character Saga Anderson in Alan Wake 2 was always intended to be portrayed as a Black woman, despite earlier portrayals featuring a white actress.
There is a clear denial of any collusion, with dissenters labeled as conspiracy theorists, xenophobic, racist, or even far-right extremists. People are discouraged from examining the facts and forming their own opinions, instead they must trust “reliable” sources like Kotaku’s Alyssa Mercante who asserted that it’s impossible to be racist towards White people.
These journalists have the “correct understanding” of the situation, which is why the industry is echoing the same narrative as they did a decade ago. Their bias and collaborative efforts were previously exposed, leading to a significant decline in trust in the media. With the global economic situation in turmoil, the likelihood of another Gamergate scenario is increasing. If it were to occur again, there would likely be no financial safety net for these corrupt and vindictive anti-gaming journalists to rely upon when they are inevitably fired.
https://store.steampowered.com/curator/44858017-Sweet-Baby-Inc-detected/
If you want to hasten their downfall, it’s quite straightforward. Mock them, critique their clickbait tactics, and refuse to click on their articles. Instead, share them via archived links. Continuously remind them that their industry is crumbling with each passing day.
You can contribute to bringing them to their knees by denying them ad revenue and avoiding purchasing media produced in collaboration with Sweet Baby Inc.
