Two recent investigative articles have exploded with exciting accusations, witnesses have responded to the complaints in anonymity, and in one case, an employee basically accused Wilson of verbally saying “f you” to all women and LGBTQ employees at EA through a controversial business deal.
The report making the rounds on the Internet goes like this: an anonymous EA employee described the effect of the mysterious deal only too candidly: “Andrew Wilson basically said ‘f you’ to all women and LGBTQ employees at EA with this deal,” with no concrete details coming out of that initial tweet about what the deal actually entailed. What can be said is that chaos is about to break within one of the biggest publishers in the world of gaming.
The reaction from players and the gaming community has… been quite intense, to say the least. One social media user aptly encapsulated all the irony: It’s so ironic that a life simulation game got sold to people that don’t want you to live the way YOU want. Thereby hinting that the deal may involve parties with starkly contrasting views on personal freedom and representation.
From there, other familiar concerns arose. Another commentator brought up yet more doubts about the representation of minorities, while saying that EA “has made it very clear they have no issue insulting the intelligence of black women, silencing minorities, and more.” This paints a bleak picture of the company-having possibly indeed struggled with equity and diversity behind the scenes.
Then the conversation completely diverged from the original dispute to cover the broad issues of corporate responsibility and human rights, with users embroiled in heated debates about whether supporting one group automatically meant endorsing all their beliefs versus others who asserted that basic human rights could never be on the negotiating table. “Nobody should be forced to support an inhumane individual’s beliefs,” said one. “Politics and religion shouldn’t be in games or education.”
Beyond that, it interestingly takes a different turn with regard to how every player reacts to this controversy. A few veteran gamers have started taking the opposite side on this issue; one given for one of them by a peer recommended that you just completely take the EA app offline. No sick EP or DLC purchases. No updates anymore. Not another freaking dime from you.” If enough players adhere to this, EA could take a real hit on the revenue side.
It suddenly propelled so many questions about corporate ethics within the gaming industry. It begins to send confusion when a company usually known for making all-encompassing, diverse gaming experiences–like The Sims, where players can explore different identities and relationships–would allegedly make business decisions that are antithetical to those labels. The company involved is “anti lgbt and anti ‘woke DEI’ which just means not too many minorities,” as one user summed it up quite well.
This goes far beyond a simple matter of a business deal, however-it ventures into the soul of gaming companies-they are ready to stick by their values when money is at stake. The gaming industry has shown countless times how much they care about representation and inclusion: from demanding better LGBTQ representation in games to calling out companies that don’t represent their own diverse player base.
It couldn’t have come at a worse time for EA, which has been trying to cast itself as a forward-thinking company for the last couple of years. When an increased spotlight is on how tech and gaming companies behave toward their marginalized employees, this kind of internal critique will really damage their reputation.
The business insanity is what remains unclear: exactly what this deal is about and why such an immensely strong reaction has erupted within the workforce of EA. The fact that there are alleged employees actually speaking out, anonymously at that, gives much to think about unless you consider the possibility of reprisals.
A keen watch will be kept by players on how the EA leadership begins to tackle this controversy as it proceeds. Will the concerns raised by their own employees be addressed? Will there be any clarification of what the deal actually entails? Or has the best option for them been the silence? Given just how fired up both the employees and the fans have become, I can’t see silence as an option.
The era has finally come to the state that corporate decisions are being jeered at socially and ethically alongside their financial impact. Those corporate brands such as EA that create worlds where players can be whomever they want to be have a greater responsibility to hold their real-world deeds in tandem with their actual virtual promises. The hint is there that they may be flunking the test on the present matter, and the players are damn well paying attention.
At the end of the day, all this drama is a clear demonstration that there’s a growing demand in which the industry rests on companies acting in accordance to their words. Building games about freedom and self-expression means that your business should reflect the same values. The dissonance between EA’s creative products and their alleged business decisions have just created a crisis of confidence that can’t be quickly closed. Now World Cup Champion Andrew Wilson either has to prove his employees wrong or make some substantial changes. The chaos surrounding this situation is reminiscent of other gaming controversies, while the epic scale of the backlash shows how deeply players care about these issues. The debate over corporate ethics has divided the community, much like technical debates in gaming hardware, and this milestone controversy may well make history in how gaming companies are held accountable.
