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State of Gaming
By 5P3K73R
What gaming used to be, how did it get so bad & political, and where do we go from here
   
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🚩 Long march through the institutions
A list of active companies which release generic and buggy games primarily focusing on:
  • Profits over player experience
    (Overpriced, In-game ads, Microtransactions, Gambling)
  • Using games as a vehicle for left-wing / communist propaganda and activism
    (Forced discriminatory DEI game design, community interaction & in-game propaganda)
Building a good game is NOT their main focus, or a focus at all judging by the fact that most of these studios cant even balance their sheets. Instead, their goal with gaming or media in general is to use it as an instrument to produce activists, push propaganda, & control the narrative of their new "reality".

(Note: Search for more evidence online if you're in doubt or denial. For a primer into DEI, ESG, BRIDGE and the like, check <link>)

🟡 EA
EA is the most mainstream posterchild corporate slop studio out there. If there's some bad or predatory practice in the industry, EA likely propagated that. Almost all of their games focus on microtransactions, in-game ads, cut content which are later resold as DLCs, and just the right amount of DEI / ESG hiring and game design influences. Not to mention overpriced, buggy games that are abandoned soon after.

🟡 Activision Blizzard
EA at the very least makes new games. Activision Blizzard remakes the same game over and over, with added DEI and Queer messaging, character design, whole load of microtransactions, and terrible pricing.
Internal email that promotes pushing pride ideology through gaming[thatparkplace.com]
Rebranding DEI activism after backlash (push agenda at all costs) [thatparkplace.com]
DEI commissar on every development team (push agenda at all costs)[thatparkplace.com]
Internal tool to calculate DEI scores of in-game characters[thatparkplace.com]
SEC investigates sexual harassment allegations at Activision[web.archive.org]

🟡 2K Games
2K is trying to be the next EA, and has adopted all of their practices to some degree. As a publisher, they fund studios that push leftist propaganda as one of their key goals.

🟡 Konami
As a Japanese studio, they are not that far gone (yet). Still, KONAMI has recently started pushing & defending their DEI influenced character & story changes for even remakes, attacks their audience with hateful rhetoric & has implemented some microtransactions.
Silent Hill 2 - Konami "Made for Modern Audience" (read, leftist) post[thatparkplace.com]
Konami game dev says world would be better without gamers[thatparkplace.com]
Metal Gear Solid 5 has pay to win virtual currency for online progression[web.archive.org]

🟡 Valve
Partners with SBI (a DEI activist consultancy), & DEI influenced character & story design have been introduced in their latest release - Deadlock. Also has had internal discussions (allegedly) on pushing certain types of messaging (i.e., activism) and has since allowed creators as well as themselves to push game and event sales on Steam around DEI & leftist themes.
SBI Website (Scroll down to "Our Clients")[web.archive.org]
Deadlock - Check Pocket's backstory & other character designs in the roster
Leftist employees, activists force Valve to be political & push propaganda[web.archive.org]

🟡 Bethesda
More so than being a mouthpiece for Marx, they are really just incompetent. Bland, unimaginative, extremely buggy games, incompetent leads that attack customers, false advertising, and microtransactions galore.
Starfield - Even the DLC (released after 1 year) is broken on launch[thatparkplace.com]
Fallout 4 - "Upgrade" to an older game breaks the game[thatparkplace.com]
Loud, toxic fanbase - Here's them rubbing another one out for Marx[thatparkplace.com]

🟡 Naughty Dog
As usual, you can expect the DEI hiring, "queer" activism, and attacking customers on X. "Inclusion" is only allowed if people with their ideology are included. Need evidence? For a studio pushing for "women in gaming", they forced out Amy Hennig at the peak of Uncharted. One of the first few studios to partner with leftist activists & in their latest game - Last of Us 2
Nolan North on Amy Hennig's dismissal & Uncharted 4 rewrite[web.archive.org]
Sony pulls controversial interview (read, removes evidence) of Druckmann[web.archive.org]
Studio head Druckmann says Last of Us 2 isn't for fun, but . . . for propaganda?[web.archive.org]
Druckmann's justification on why fiction MUST reflect (his) reality
🟡 Bioware
Being a part of EA, focuses on DEI hiring practices, promotes DEI and Leftist intracompany groups, and has pushed this ideology in their latest game - Dragon Age Veilguard. Also attacks fans or anyone critical of Bioware, bans people repeatedly on forums.
BioWare pushes queer theory at every chance they get (if there was any doubt)[thatparkplace.com]
Dragon Age uses every chance to push DEI / leftist ideology (if you still had doubt)
Medieval fantasy game "Dragon Age" is now somehow "inherently queer"[thatparkplace.com]
Dragon Age Veilguard taking the crown as the most propagandized game ever[thatparkplace.com]
"Inclusivity" means including and pushing only "our" ideology[thatparkplace.com]
Lead writer's profane attacks on customers and critics [thatparkplace.com]
Mass Effect game designer attacks fans pushing back against DEI agenda[thatparkplace.com]
Bioware (allegedly) discriminates on hiring based on their DEI goals[thatparkplace.com]

🟡 CDPR
Post the launch of Cyberpunk 2077, CDPR have completely oriented themselves to openly push ESG / DEI hiring & development, with their CEO and developers attacking users on Twitter for reporting on this. Other lead CDPR developers and creatives also openly call for pushing leftist agenda on Twitter/X & promote LGBTQ "queer theory" on LinkedIn.
CDPR Website (DEI focused hiring & career advancement opportunities)[web.archive.org]
Girls at Play website - CDPR (DEI focused hiring)[web.archive.org]
CDPR Developer - "Every lever" must be pulled to push LGBTQ agenda[thatparkplace.com]
Youtube - CDPR Deep dive into ESG
Modifying Witcher 1 remake by "removing the bad parts"[thatparkplace.com]

🟡 Capcom
Capcom actually puts out bangers once in a while. However being a Japanese corpo slop, they aren't resistant or against DEI & leftist activism / propaganda, they are just late to the party.
Localization teams modifies dialogue & gameplay to fit DEI / leftist agenda[thatparkplace.com]
Alleged race swap example here[thatparkplace.com] and another example here[thatparkplace.com]
DEI hiring quota filtering hires not based on talent / merit, but on DEI scores[thatparkplace.com]
Proof these DEI activists are really just communists (if you had doubt)[boundingintocomics.com]
Anti-consumer rhetoric - User mods must align with their wordview[boundingintocomics.com]
Censorship in Dead Rising[boundingintocomics.com]& in Fighting Collection 2[boundingintocomics.com]

🟡 Crystal Dynamics
While their rebooted Tomb Raider trilogy were overall pretty good games, their recent projects and communication does not hold much promise for the future. You'd be forgiven for thinking they are a gaming company. In reality, they are actually a leftist propaganda institution that leverages their old & successful IPs to push the message.
Tomb Raider I-III has "offensive" & "racial, ethnic prejudice" trigger warning[boundingintocomics.com]
Tomb Raider TTRPG to "decolonize" the fiction (leftist gobbledygook)[boundingintocomics.com]
Tomb Raider Netflix series rife with race & gender swaps[boundingintocomics.com]
Tomb Raider Amazon Prime series to be written by a known activist[thatparkplace.com]

🟡 Remedy Entertainment
A small niche studio with well loved entries in the past like Max Payne 1, 2 & Alan Wake. However what wasn't expected of a studio that doesn't make profits was hiring DEI consultants, "subverting" expectations of what their game would be about, race-swaps, in-game DEI / leftist dialogue and the usual hatred of fans.
Community Manager calls for ban on "bigot" customers critical of their game[thatparkplace.com]
Race-swapped Saga in Alan Wake 2 (btw Alan Wake 2 is mostly about Saga)[boundingintocomics.com]
Video showing many of these forced DEI moments or Same thing but in text[web.archive.org]
🟡 Ubisoft
🟡 Square Enix
🟡 Gearbox
🟡 Obsidian

🟡 Arkane
Arkane is actually not that far gone, and has released bangers as recent as 2017. Still, they are a studio with relatively weak IPs and are always 2 DEI flops away from bankruptcy (which is what happened here, kind of).
Studio director - Company should fund creatives regardless of (DEI) game's sales[archive.today]
Emily was added in Dishonored 2 to appease DEI focused SJWs / activists[archive.today]
Wolfenstein Youngblood[archive.today]
🟡 Insomniac
🟡 NetherRealm
🟡 Guerilla
🟡 Eidos
🟡 Playground Games
🟡 Bungie
🟡 343⠀⠀

If they want to use gaming institutions and media as tools for activism & propaganda, go ahead. As someone said, "I can stay disinterested longer than these companies can remain solvent".

⠀ ⠀⠀ ⠀⠀ ⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀In a war where only one side is fighting, guess who will win?⠀ ⠀⠀ ⠀⠀ ⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀
🪦 Unburdened by what has been
Here's a list of iconic companies that are either defunct or have been repurposed. Yes, the best days really are behind us (at least for the time being).

🟣 Westwood Studios ➜⠀Dune, Command & Conquer. Closed down by EA in 2003.
🟣 Midway ➜⠀Mainly Mortal Kombat, but also NFL Blitz. Filed for bankruptcy in 2010.
🟣 Ion Storm ➜⠀Deus Ex - one of the best games ever made. Dissolved by Eidos in 2005.
🟣 Interplay ➜⠀Makers of original Fallout. Is a husk of a game company today.
🟣 Maxis ➜⠀The Sims & SimCity. Closed down by EA in 2015, only the brand survives.
🟣 Ensemble Studios ➜⠀Age of Empires, Age of Mythology. Closed down in 2009.
🟣 Lionhead ➜⠀Fable series. Closed down by Microsoft in 2016.
🟣 Codemasters ➜⠀GRID, Dirt, F1 games. Acquired & restructured by EA in 2020.
🟣 Criterion ➜⠀Burnout, Need for Speed (some). Exists only as a brand name now.
🟣 Novalogic ➜⠀Delta Force, F22, Commanche. Closed down in 2016.
🟣 Blue Fang Games ➜⠀Zoo Tycoon 1 & 2. Closed down in 2011.
🟣 Looking Glass Studios ➜⠀System Shock, Thief. Closed down in 2000.
🟣 Red Storm ➜⠀Tom Clancy franchise. Acquired & restructured by Ubisoft in 2000.
🟣 Blackbox ➜⠀Skate, Need for Speed (some). Exists only as a brand name now.
🟣 Coalition ➜⠀Gears of War. Exists only as a brand name now for Microsoft.
🟣 Piranha Bytes ➜⠀Gothic, Elex. Closed down in 2024.
🟣 Irrational Games ➜⠀Bioshock, SWAT 4. Closed down by 2K Games in 2017.

And another list of once iconic companies with some amazing games in the past who in their final days turned into propaganda machines for leftists:

🟣 Volition ➜⠀
Saints Row, Red Faction. Their final game - Saints Row (reboot) not only has DEI "diverse" characters, the dialogue is at times literal Gen-Z communist propaganda. The game flopped hard and fortunately, the studio was closed down in 2023.
Volition shut down after disastrous release of Saints Row (reboot) [boundingintocomics.com]
One of many missions in-game showing cringe dialogue & leftist / communist rhetoric

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀Get woke, go broke⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
☀️ Don't go gentle into that good night
Here's a list of companies who still fund or make good games. Unfortunately, some of them either already have few DEI practices in place or are being infiltrated by activists who are pushing the companies to adopt DEI, Queer games design, and leftist activism and messaging.

Still, their games are like 95% free of such politics. If the situation changes, I'll have to add these to the red list at the top.

🟢 Bandai Namco ➜⠀Ace Combat, Soulcaliber, Dragon Ball Z, Tekken & many more
🟢 CarX Technologies ➜⠀CarX Drift & CarX Street are some of the best car games on sale
🟢 Colossal Order ➜⠀Creators of Cities Skylines which is the best successor to SimCity 4
🟢 Croteam ➜⠀Serious Sam back then, Talos Principle now. Great games.
🟢 Crytek ➜⠀Crysis. Can your PC run it? (In 2024, it probably can)
🟢 Firaxis Games ➜⠀Solid strategy franchises in CIvilization and XCOM
🟢 Firefly Studios ➜⠀A relic from a bygone era, known for the Stronghold games
🟢 Focus Entertainment ➜⠀Underdog publisher with many loved releases in their portfolio
🟢 FromSoftware ➜⠀They have one trick - boss fights - but they sure are excellent at it
🟢 Frontier Developments ➜⠀Planet Zoo, Planet Coaster, Jurassic World - my childhood in 4K
🟢 Game Science ➜⠀Devs behind Black Myth Wukong- maybe the best selling game in 2024
🟢 GSC Game World ➜⠀STALKER, a cult classic that might just go mainstream
🟢 id Software ➜⠀Needs no introduction. Doom, Quake, Wolfenstein - enough said.
🟢 IO Interactive ➜⠀Creators of Hitman franchise which are some of the best stealth games
🟢 Larian ➜⠀Very DEI friendly, but hardly ever force it into games like Baldur's Gate 3
🟢 Monolith Productions ➜⠀Another relic from the past, and the creators behind FEAR
🟢 Nadeo ➜⠀Trackmania is the best time trial racing franchise in existence
🟢 Nintendo ➜⠀Mario, Kirby, Metroid, Pokemon, The Legend of Zelda and more
🟢 Paradox Interactive ➜⠀A solid portfolio of publishing top-sellers in strategy & simulation
🟢 Platinum Games ➜⠀Great combat focused games like Nier, Bayonetta, Metal Gear Rising
🟢 Rockstar ➜⠀They do have the DEI virus, but their games are 95% free of such politics
🟢 Ryu Ga Gotoku ➜⠀Makers of Yakuza - one of the best action-adventure game series
🟢 Saber Interactive ➜⠀Recently Space Marine 2, but also Spintires & KOTOR Remake
🟢 SCS Software ➜⠀The best trucking sims - Euro Truck Sim 2 & American Truck Sim
🟢 SEGA ➜⠀60 years of success in development and publishing, crowned by Sonic
🟢 Spiders ➜⠀An amazing little AA studio mainly known for Greedfall
🟢 Team Ninja ➜⠀A classic Japanese studio known for Ninja Gaiden, Dead or Alive, Nioh
🟢 Turn 10 Studios ➜⠀Creators of Forza Motorsport games
🟢 Two Point ➜⠀Amazing studio reimagining classic Tycoon sims with current tech
🟢 Warhorse Studios ➜⠀Built one of the best medieval RPGs in Kingdom Come Deliverance
🟢 THQ Nordic ➜⠀Develops & publishes multiple award winning games like Darksiders
🟢 Koei Tecmo ➜⠀Popular developer & publisher with studios like Team Ninja under its belt

If there's no pushback against bad practices, if we keep buying the games & then circlejerk on Youtube or Discord, then this will keep on happening, studio after studio will be infected until finally, none are left.
In the meantime, there's pushback.

⠀ ⠀⠀ ⠀⠀ ⠀⠀ ⠀⠀ ⠀⠀ ⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀And in a sunless realm, the sun rose at last⠀ ⠀⠀ ⠀⠀ ⠀⠀ ⠀⠀ ⠀⠀ ⠀⠀ ⠀⠀
⛏️ Resources
Forums & groups:

The one that re-ignited this discussion & the largest group of gamers against this mess
🔸 DEI Detected Steam Group - https://gtm.you1.cn/groups/deidetected
🔸 DEI Detected Discord - https://discord.gg/detected
🔸 DEI Detected Website - https://deidetected.com/

Stay informed about studios that hire external ESG/DEI consultants
🔸 https://gtm.you1.cn/groups/esgdetected

Need something more black & white on this DEI / communist mess in gaming?
🔸 https://gtm.you1.cn/groups/Woke_Content_Detector

Stay informed about bad games in general - be it due to spyware, politics, or other issues
🔸 https://gtm.you1.cn/groups/Slistingservice

Modding Sites:

Most mainstream modding sites (like Nexus Mods) ban mods that do not align with their sociopolitical beliefs. Yes, it's that far gone. Nevertheless, here are a few sites that do allow these mods to be distributed.

(Note: Since users on these sites have more freedom to post their mods, you may at times encounter some "problematic" ones. Ignore those and move on.)

🔹 https://moddinghaven.com/⠀(Largest library of mods)
🔹 https://modhq.org/⠀(Account needed)
🔹 https://degmods.com/
🔹 https://basedmods.eth.limo/⠀(Decentralized mod storage)
🗨️ Information & Clarifications
When was this last updated?
2024

Why do I link thatparkplace.com?
Because of convenience. They are fairly active & report on issues concerning this post unlike other gaming sites that have become the hands, legs, and mouths for corporate marketing teams and communists, not to mention openly mocking, attacking, & doxing their target audience.
However in cases where thatparkplace.com aren't the first ones to report it, I'll update the links.