Kotaku Senior Editor Alyssa Mercante gloated after being accused by Crytivo CEO Alex Kushelkov of “intentionally misrepresenting” his comments about gamers.
A screenshot from Farm Folks (TBD), Crytivo
The whole controversy started when Kushelkov’s Farm Folks game asked its community about female breast jiggle physics. The game posted, “Alright, folks, it’s time for some serious game development talk! We’re tinkering with character physics in Farm Folks. Burning question: which version has the perfect breast jiggle physics?” It then provided three options 50%, 90% or 30%.
In a subsequent post, the account asked, “Does anyone want to see what 150% looks like?”
Farm Folks on X
READ: ‘Farm Folks’ Apologizes For Asking For Player Feedback On Its Female Character Physics
After receiving some backlash from DEI consultancy Black Girl Gamers, Farm Folks deleted their original post and issued an apology. It wrote, “We like to address a recent post where we came to our community asking for feedback. Our intent is always to connect and grow with our players, but it’s clear that we really missed the mark on our recent community feedback post. For that, we all sincerely apologize.”
Farm Folks continued, “We had received concerns about the female player model’s breast physics in the past, and we thought we should ask the community what felt more appropriate. Unfortunately, this crossed a line. We try to foster a welcoming community and the post and subsequent replies made many of our community members uncomfortable and alienated. The reply made about ‘150% physics’ was also inappropriate, and we apologize for that. We are taking the necessary steps to learn from this and we’re committed to doing better moving forward.”
A screenshot from Farm Folks (TBD), Crytivo
Next, the game’s developer stated, “We value the feedback of our community, and work hard to include everyone in the discussion. We want to create a game that feels alive, which is why we pay close attention to every aspect of our world, from how weather and time affect the world to the characters’ interactive presence within it.”
“We want everyone to feel included in the games development and will be reevaluating how to best interact with the community and as well as how to best ask for feedback from the community in the future,” Farm Folks added.
The apology concluded, “Your input is instrumental as we continue to develop Farm Folks. We’ll keep sharing updates and progress on X and Discord. Your enjoyment and how you choose to experience our world is our utmost priority. Thank you for being a part of our journey, and for your support and understanding as we grow.”
Farm Folks on X
Then Koshelkov did an interview with Kotaku’s Alyssa Mercante, which she alleges was an hour long. In that interview Koshelkov appeared to decry gamers saying, “You have to be a very poor person to kind of sexualize this…like the internet is full of sex right now.”
“There’s some crazy things that you can find, if you’re having problems with our characters, like, look for help,” he continued. “Maybe go and date a woman or something like that. Because this is not our goal, we don’t want to attract people that are attracted to only these body parts.”
A screenshot from Farm Folks (TBD), Crytivo
He also indicated that he did not want certain “nasty” people to play the game, “But to answer your question—No, we don’t want to attract nasty people, we don’t want those. We will have some limits—like as much as we want to give it, but it’s so controversial—I want the player to choose how they want their character to look. Like, if you want, for example, the breast to have a little more movement or not.
“But like again, it’s not going to be like you scroll [the physics slider] up and then this is just like all over the place, and it’s like, goofy…We are definitely not tailoring our game for little kids…We want to spice it up for people to have action, to have fun,” he said.
A screenshot from Farm Folks (TBD), Crytivo
Not only did he decry gamers, but it appeared that he was specifically disparaging former World of Warcraft Team Lead Mark Kern. Mercante quoted Koshelkov, “F*** that. I don’t care what he thinks. I’m apologizing for structuring it badly…if we were to rewind the times, we would skip that.”
“We don’t want to be a part of [the culture war]. We don’t want [Kern] to give us any recommendations, we prefer to evaluate it from what we consider human character…we want to be sincere with our fans and do good…we don’t want to get into that kind of dirt.”
“I see this as the biggest problem in the United States all the people are very divided,” he stated. “There’s two camps and everybody’s throwing stones at each other. I’m more on the side of like, we need to—it sounds a little bit silly—but I think it’s about uniting and finding a language between each other.”
A screenshot from Farm Folks (TBD), Crytivo
X user HatMcGlasses would share excerpts from Mercante’s article to the social media platform writing, “Farm Folks’ low-info CEO implies that gamers who won’t cave to the censorship mob, Cancel Pigs, and corrupt journos are incels. Mercante played him and now is dragging him for the sucker he is on her handle.”
Koshelkov responded to the post writing, “Hi, this is not what I implied, and it’s misrepresented here. I meant that if you’re against natural breast movement, this statement applies to you. We don’t want exaggerations, and at the same time, we would love to have natural – elegant motion in our characters bodies.”
Alex Koshelkov on X
Koshelkov would elaborate in another response to user officialatraes. He stated, “My comment was actually directed towards the people who have issues with natural body motion in our game. Not towards the people who appreciate it. I think it was intentionally misrepresented.”
Alex Koshelkov on X
When pressed by user nonetosee regarding the specificity of his comments, Koshelkov stated, “It might be because of the limited English vocabulary, and I thought I expressed myself clearly. I feel like it’s misrepresented intentionally.”
Alex Koshelkov on X
Mercante seemingly got wind of Koshelkov’s comments and posted to X, “I said this to him during our interview, but the Farm Folks CEO’s attempts to ‘not be political’ are very naive in the current climate. His replies are very telling.”
She added, “You got pulled into a culture war because you don’t have a CM who knew that titty physics wasn’t the move, chief, then you apologized, then the titty physics gooners got mad that you apologized, and then I interviewed you. Them’s the brakes!”
Alyssa Mercante on X
Koshelkov took issue with Mercante and published a conversation the two had in DMs. He wrote on X, “Hi, Alyssa. You’ve been using me as a tool against your nemesis, and I’m not sure if it was intentional or accidental. You misrepresented a few of my points. In our dialogue, you agreed that it’s all cool to have women’s breast movement in games. You reached me for clarification yourself and then refused to share it with your readers on X.”
The DMs show Mercante reaching out to Koshelkov inquiring about him describing her reporting as being “intentionally misrepresented.” In response to this inquiry, Koshelkov stated, “I strongly believe that this sentence was taken out of a context to support a specific narrative and goal. I believe it’s part of a larger context where you and I agreed that having a breast physics in the game is acceptable. The quote that you shared was my response to people that are offended by the breast movement in the game. I’m clarifying what I meant since it seems it was taken out of bigger context and I probably didn’t choose the best words to express it. I didn’t intend to hurt anyone or call names, but it’s being interpreted this way now.”
Alex Koshelkov on X
The next DM shows Mercante asking if Koshelkov will retract his comments as she continues to claim that she’s being harassed. It also shows Koshelkov noting that Mercante cut out a portion of their conversation to frame it a certain way.
Koshelkov wrote, “I strongly believe that this sentence was taken out of a context to support a specific narrative and goal. I believe it’s part of a larger context where you and I agreed that having a breast physics in the game is acceptable. The quote that you shared was my response to people that are offended by the breast movement in the game. I’m clarifying what I meant since it seems it was taken out of a bigger context and I probably didn’t choose the best words to express it. I didn’t intend to hurt anyone or call names, but it’s being interpreted this way now.”
Alex Koshelkov on X
Another set of DMs shows Koshelkov asking for Mercante to provide an update with his clarification on X. She refuses to do it and says, “I am not a service. You do not get to dictate to me how I represent you. Goodbye.”
Alex Koshelkov on X
Mercante responded to this post and these DMs writing, “Hi Alex, I’m not a PR person. You spoke to me for over an hour, the entire copy of our conversation was never going to be published in a piece. I maintain that your attempts to remain neutral are naive, as I told you, and I wish you luck!”
Alyssa Mercante on X
She also shared a portion of the transcription juxtaposed to a screenshot of Koshelkov noting his experience with the internet recently involved poor reading comprehension and a lack of common sense.
She wrote, “also, LMAO.”
also, LMAO pic.twitter.com/9odw4shLAx
— Alyssa Mercante (@alyssa_merc) May 3, 2024
What do you make of Mercante gloating about Koshelkov wanting his comments and thoughts to be accurately represented?
Alyssa Mercante is severely evil.
its like watching a man have his balls chopped off and put into a extremist womans purse in real time. spine of a jelly fish.
What an insufferable person!
“You do not get to dictate to me how I represent you.” The NERVE.
I’d say at least this proves not to trust Kotaku but most people already don’t and if you’re still reading their articles then you probably don’t care.
Her face reminds me an unflushed toilet with the lid left open.