Former World of Warcraft Team Lead Mark Kern called for a moratorium on the purchase of AAA video game titles.
Mark Kern via Sodapoppin YouTube
Kern made his call on X writing, “Calling on all game[r]s to NOT buy any AAA titles for the next 2 years that do this. Play your Steam backlog. You will send a very clear message.”
He added, “Lara Croft did nothing wrong, and does not need fixing.”
Calling on all games to NOT buy any AAA titles for the next 2 years that do this.
Play your steam backlog.
You will send a very clear message.
Lara Croft did nothing wrong, and does not need fixing. https://t.co/Plg9wbOFK4
— Grummz (@Grummz) April 9, 2024
As shown above, his call for gamers to suspend their purchases of AAA video game titles comes in the wake of Crystal Dynamics and Evil Hat Productions attempting to redefine Lara Croft in their upcoming Tomb Raider Shadows of Truth RPG rulebook.
As reported by Tomb Raider Chronicles an excerpt from the rulebook, which was shared to X by a now-deleted account OreoFoxo, stated, “Raiding, as depicted in the original Tomb Raider games and stories, involves going to ancient tombs and historical sites of different civilisations and acquiring artefacts. It operates on the assumption of ‘finders keepers’ that grants raiders with the means and the drive to claim ownership of artefacts, regardless of whether they have any historical or cultural claim to the treasure.”
It continued, “Later games released in the franchise have started the work of addressing this by having Lara Croft acknowledge her past mistakes and try to understand and show respect for the cultures and communities she comes into contact with. She has also worked to reform raider culture and raise the awareness of her peers.”
Tomb Raider: Shadows of Truth (2024), Evil Hat Productions
The excerpt also detailed that Lara Croft no longer collects artifacts that she discovers, “Lara no longer decorates her mantle with mythic artefacts – as a raider she prioritises seeking out the truth. Much of this game is inspired by her humanity, struggle with heroism, and her tenacity. We believe that all three aspects are an important component in creating a game that celebrates history and culture while acknowledging the respect and work required to live in a world wounded by colonialism.”
“In this game, we seek to continue in that work alongside Crystal Dynamics by creating a sandbox for you to tell stories that address colonialist themes in play and create your own stories of respect and support for the people and cultures your Seekers encounter,” it concluded.
Tomb Raider: Shadows of Truth (2024), Evil Hat Productions
This excerpt comes in the wake of Crystal Dynamics issuing a trigger warning in the front of Tomb Raider I-III Remastered that stated, “The games in this collection contain offensive depictions of people and cultures rooted in racial and ethnic prejudices. These stereotypes are deeply harmful, inexcusable, and do not align with our values at Crystal Dynamics.”
It adds, “Rather than removing this content, we have chosen to present it here in its original form, unaltered, in the hopes that we may acknowledge its harmful impact and learn from it.”
Tomb Raider I-III Remastered trigger warning
As for Evil Hat Productions, the company has a track record of pushing woke ideology whether it is in the form of disordered sexual behaviors and identity or attempting to profit off of individuals they claim to be abhorrent.
In 2020, the company condemned H.P Lovecraft as a racist and an anti-Semite in its published Fate of Cthulu after raising over $93,000 from 2623 backers on KickStarter in 2019.
It shared an excerpt from the rulebook that stated, “Howard Phillips Lovecraft was a racist and an anti-Semite. There. We said it. We could give a litany of examples, but they are easy to find with a simple internet search. Look up the name of his cat, for instance 9HPL was over-the-top, even for his time). Go ahead, we’ll wait.”
Evil Hat Productions on X
In a follow-up the company added, “Since the predictable edgelords and apologists have now shown up, a quick reminder: If you don’t like the politics included in our games, don’t buy them. We literally do not want your money. We are committed to diverse and inclusive gaming. We’re not perfect, but we’re trying.”
Evil Hat Productions on X
In 2021, the company shared a page from its Thirsty Sword Lesbians rulebook that they claim details the company’s public stance on the types of customers they want.
It states customers must “support racial liberation, intersectional feminism, and queer liberation, respect transgender people, nonbinary people, intersex people, and women, respect racialized people; respect Black, Indigenous, mixed-race people, and other people of color, respect sex workers, respect disabled people, respect immigrants, respect lesbians and other people with queer sexualities, respect people experiencing poverty or homelessness, respect neurodivergent people, such as those on the autism spectrum, respect fat people and people of all body types, [and] not demand that anyone educate you about their marginalizations.”
The page concluded, “If you don’t agree, fix your heart before sharing a table with other people. If you do agree but you’re struggling with self-loathing over any aspect of your identity, that’s understandable. We’re taught to hate ourselves in so many ways. Come on in and let’s celebrate the existence and joy of people like us.”
A page from Thirsty Sword Lesbians (2021), Evil Hat Productions
On top of sharing this page, the company added on social media, “There’s no such thing as an ‘apolitical game’ This page from Thirsty Sword Lesbians sums up our stance quite nicely. Reminder: if you don’t like our politics, don’t buy our games. We literally don’t want (nor need) your money. The ‘get woke, go broke’ mantra is pure bullshit.”
Evil Hat Productions on X
What do you make of Kern’s call for gamers to suspend purchases of all AAA video game titles?
Mark is right as usual. All the AAA studios are infested by DIE garbage, so if you don’t want any of that don’t buy them. Even before this was a thing, most of the bigger games would put some form of microtransactions in them, which I find unacceptable and I would avoid them on principle.