Video Games Are Overflowing with DEI Initiatives, and Some Fans Are Skeptical

BioWare, the studio behind the acclaimed Mass Effect and Dragon Age franchises, is currently embroiled in a new controversy.

After two expensive triple-A titles failed to make an impact, the studio was hoping for a strong comeback with its latest release, the fourth installment in the Dragon Age series; it has been a decade since the last game.

However, the initial teasers for Dragon Age: The Veilguard met with considerable backlash. Longtime fans expressed their disappointment over the game’s more whimsical and polished art style, likening it to a Disney-Pixar production.

Yet, following a private hands-on showcase for select streamers and critics held by BioWare, optimism began to emerge. Attendees who played Veilguard generally had positive impressions and urged series fans to hold off judgment until the full release.

In the days leading up to the game’s launch, leaked footage surfaced, showcasing significant emphasis on transgender themes and messages centered around diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI).

Another scene, steeped in fantasy lore with dragons and elves, highlighted a character’s revelation to her parents about identifying as nonbinary.

Notably, the character creation options in the game permit the addition of mastectomy scars but do not include curvy female character designs.

Corinne Busche, the game director for Veilguard and an openly transgender individual, expressed that the Dragon Age team aims to utilize the game as a platform for the LGBTQ community to feel safe and represented.

“It’s rare for marginalized communities to experience positive representation that makes us feel proud and strong in how we’re portrayed. It holds deep significance for many,” Busche stated in an interview featured on BioWare’s website.

While previous Dragon Age entries have included LGBTQ+ characters and allowed same-sex romances, Veilguard seems to exhibit a markedly different perspective.

The game garnered perfect scores of 100 from Eurogamer, Game Rant, and GamingBible, while Finger Guns, which rated it a 60, still described it as “a solid, albeit, unspectacular RPG experience.”

Even IGN, known for its more conservative scoring tendencies, gave Veilguard a robust 9 out of 10.

That review took a different turn when it came to light that the reviewer identifies as transgender; IGN subsequently released a different, less favorable assessment shortly after.

Other critics remained underwhelmed by the game.

Games journalist Skillup assessed the game with a “cannot recommend” rating without mentioning the progressive elements, citing its “silly and childish” tone and lack of narrative subtlety.

“This game cannot surface any ideas without just saying them aloud,” he remarked.

“Every dialogue exchange feels as if HR is present.”

He, along with others, critiqued the “hollow and repetitive” gameplay mechanics, stating, “Zero variety in mission design.” He mentioned that he even altered the difficulty settings just to complete it more swiftly.

The gulf between professional critic scores and consumer ratings is striking, with Metacritic showing an audience rating of 3.8 out of 10 from PlayStation users and a measly 2.5 from PC users.

Costly Business

Developing triple-A games is inherently risky and costly. Such projects may demand hundreds of millions of dollars, and a single misstep can jeopardize a studio’s future.

Official sales figures for Veilguard have not yet been disclosed—a standard approach unless a title excels at retail—but speculation runs rampant. Clarity on actual sales numbers is expected after EA’s earnings call in February.

A way to assess interest in sales is to monitor concurrent players on STEAM, the world’s preeminent digital PC game platform. Veilguard registered just over 89,000 peak players on November 3.

In comparison, Farming Simulator 25 surpassed 135,000 concurrent players.

Veilguard is estimated to have sold over one million copies, which is underwhelming for a triple-A title that presumably required between $80 million and $200 million to develop.

In contrast, Game Science’s recent launch, Black Myth: Wukong, achieved sales of 18 million copies within its initial fortnight.

Even as Veilguard received warm accolades from gaming news outlets, Black Myth faced accusations of sexism, fat-shaming, and homophobia just prior to its debut.

Screenrant rated the game a 6/10, highlighting technical flaws and a deficit in diversity and inclusion. The narrative revolves around the fabled Chinese Monkey King.

Similarly, Saber Interactive’s Warhammer 40k: Space Marine 2 sold two million copies shortly after its release.

Saber’s CEO, Mark Karch, shared his insights in a comments section on a YouTube video discussing the game, reflecting on his development ideology.

“During my tenure as Chief Operating Officer at Embracer, I witnessed titles that made me despair due to their overly ambitious efforts to convey messaging or impose morals on players,” Karch stated, referring to Embracer’s possession of the Tomb Raider franchise.

“We aim to focus on exhilarating gameplay that raises the heart rate a bit. To me, that encapsulates the essence of gaming,” Karch concluded.

Noticing the Agenda

The acclaimed franchise The Last of Us, which recently transitioned to an HBO series, tells the tale of a young girl and her rugged guardian navigating a post-apocalyptic world plagued by zombie-like creatures.

Its sequel, The Last of Us 2, performed well commercially, though some fans were perplexed by the choice to feature a primary character who is a lesbian and disapproves of “bigot sandwiches.”

Furthermore, players voiced their frustration over an extensive segment that involves controlling the muscular transgender character “Abby” in a violent spree.

These instances prompted gamers to ponder: Who is demanding this kind of content, and why does it keep occurring?

A Brazilian gamer known as Kabrutus Rambo recognized a pattern of “woke” and “virtue-signaling” content in games, identifying a shared factor: consulting firms hired to eliminate “problematic” elements.

Among these firms is Sweet Baby Inc. (SBI), which positions itself as a “narrative consultancy.”

SBI has provided consulting for some of the most successful game franchises of the recent past, including Spider-Man 2, Alan Wake 2, and God of War: Ragnarök.

The latter achieved remarkable success, claiming multiple awards for technical achievement, acting, and storytelling, alongside two “Game of the Year” accolades.

However, the portrayal of Angrboda, a character from Norse mythology, as a young black woman stirred some controversy.

Kabrutus Strikes Back

In light of his findings regarding consulting firms’ involvement, Kabrutus curated a STEAM page titled “Sweet Baby Inc. Detected,” compiling a list of games that he verified as having employed SBI as a consultant.

During an interview with Twitch streamer Asmongold, Kabrutus expressed his desire to illuminate the political use of video games.

“Diversity in games can be beneficial when executed appropriately… however, the politicization of content is concerning,” he stated.

In a correspondence with The Epoch Times, Kabrutus shared that he attempted to play Veilguard for review but ultimately could not finish due to tedious combat situations and “cringe” dialogue.

“An overemphasis on specific political agendas tends to detrimentally affect the overall game quality. The combat is likely to suffer, and the storyline might turn into a vehicle for propaganda,” he noted.

Kabrutus has initiated a website named “DEI-detected” aimed at informing gamers before they invest in titles laden with such messaging.

“If they genuinely wish to create a game addressing progressive ideas, they should do so in a new franchise and strive to cultivate their own audience instead of attempting to co-opt the following of an established franchise,” he asserted.

What lies ahead for the gaming community is uncertain, but the BioWare episode illustrates that, in many respects, consumer preferences significantly influence outcomes.

Several recent triple-A titles that collaborated with SBI, such as Concord, Forspoken, Suicide Squad, and Unknown 9: Awakening, suffered dismal launches.

Unknown 9: Awakening achieved a total of 285 concurrent players, while Concord, reportedly with a development cost of $400 million, experienced such a decline that its development studio was ultimately shuttered.