Rumor: Compulsion Games Race Swapped Their Main Character After Hiring Sweet Baby Inc.

A new rumor claims that Compulsion Games, a subsidiary of Xbox Game Studios, reportedly race-swapped their main character for their upcoming game South of Midnight after Sweet Baby Inc. was brought on board to consult.

A screenshot from South of Midnight (TBA), Compulsion Games

This rumor comes from former World of Warcraft Team Lead Mark Kern as part of a thread based on information he alleges to have received from an ex-developer at Compulsion Games.

Kern shared on X, “EXCLUSIVE: Microsoft Xbox mandates changes at studios, hire Sweet Baby Inc, erases white characters. I spoke to ex-devs at two different studios who say DEI is ruining and altering games and studio culture. Changes happened after Xbox meddling.”

EXCLUSIVE:

Microsoft @Xbox mandates changes at studios, hire @SweetBabyInc, erases white characters.

I spoke to ex-devs at two different studios who say DEI is ruining and altering games and studio culture.

Changes happened after Xbox meddling.

🧵(con’t) pic.twitter.com/kYRKYQHxAb

— Grummz (@Grummz) March 28, 2024

READ: Microsoft-Owned Compulsion Games Supports Crystal Dynamics’ ‘Tomb Raider Remastered I-III’ Trigger Warning, Takes It A Step Further By Calling “To Rewrite New History”

Kern continued, “I have reasonably confirmed that the devs I spoke to used to work at the studios in question, Avalanche Studios Group and Compulsion Games. Both Studios are also listed on the Sweet Baby Detected website. (correction, website is SweetBabyInc.com).”

“Microsoft made a splash at GDC, announcing their Product Inclusion guidelines for all of their studios,” Kern added. “Such changes have been reported elsewhere as ‘woke’, including de-feminization of female characters and cite widely discredited studies as their basis. Microsoft claims they do not mandate these guidelines, but in fact, they make sweeping changes at the studios they publish/partner with.”

(correction, website is https://t.co/ClGJBZBMuA)

Microsoft made a splash at GDC, announcing their Product Inclusion guidelines for all of their studios.

Such changes have been reported elsewhere as “woke”, including de-feminization of female characters and cite widely… pic.twitter.com/8ntVHLNlTJ

— Grummz (@Grummz) March 28, 2024

He went on, “Alleged changes after Microsoft involvement include: Hiring of a DEI director. Hiring of a consulting firm to gender balance and review hiring/promotion policies. Hiring of Sweet Baby Inc. to work on the published games. Both studios underwent these changes *after* MS and SBI involvement.”

Kern then shared, “One of the biggest changes to the game were alteration of the character creation system in Contraband to remove gender differences and allow for random swapping of distinct male/female body parts, facial hair and more. But it didn’t stop there, after SBI was brought on board Compulsion Game’s “South of Midnight” the main character was race swapped from white to black.”

One of the biggest changes to the game were alteration of the character creation system in Contraband to remove gender differences and allow for random swapping of distinct male/female body parts, facial hair and more.

But it didn’t stop there, after SBI was brought on board…

— Grummz (@Grummz) March 28, 2024

READ: Gaming At Microsoft CEO Phil Spencer Claims Company’s Mass Layoffs Are Due To Lack Of Growth In The Video Game Industry

Kern then shared a side by side of the main character and how she was allegedly originally designed. He wrote, “The main character of Hazel was swapped shortly after Sweet Baby Inc. involvement from white to black:

The main character of Hazel was swapped shortly after Sweet Baby Inc. involvement from white to black: pic.twitter.com/wfrVe8xcUs

— Grummz (@Grummz) March 28, 2024

Kern concluded, “These changes to the games at both studios, and the culture changes at Contraband, both happened after MS and SBI involvement. The implication was that publishing money was pulling the strings, mandating studio changes in hiring, hiring of DEI staff and consultants, and altering the games.”

“These changes do not seem to be organic, but the result of forced policies that come from the very top, powered by publishing influence and funding,” he wrote. “Microsoft’s and Xbox’s ‘Product Inclusion’ Guidelines are more mandatory than claimed.”

These changes to the games at both studios, and the culture changes at Contraband, both happened after MS and SBI involvement.

The implication was that publishing money was pulling the strings, mandating studio changes in hiring, hiring of DEI staff and consultants, and altering…

— Grummz (@Grummz) March 28, 2024

READ: Sweet Baby Inc. CEO And Co-Founder Kim Belair Compares White Male Gamers To Picky Babies

It’s definitely possible that Sweet Baby Inc. influenced the alleged change of the main character’s race from white to black. Sweet Baby Inc. CEO Kim Belair said during a presentation at the Game Developers Conference in 2019, “I once worked on a project where they had an all-white cast where they expressed their desire, ‘Okay, we need to mix it up a bit. How about this character’s like stereotypically French.’ So they have a beret and they have like a striped shirt. And I was like, ‘Okay, if you need to do that, can we at least make them a person of color?’ And they said, ‘Oh no, that would be weird. They’re already French.’”

“So I want to do better than this,” she asserted.

READ: Microsoft Recommends Game Developers Question If Female Characters Wear Proper Clothing And If Games Are “Reinforcing Any Negative Gender Stereotypes”

As far as Microsoft’s Gaming For Everyone’s Product Inclusion Framework, which Kern references, Microsoft’s Head of Gaming for Everyone & Sustainability Katy Jo Wright informed Games Industry that the framework is not compulsory telling the outlet, “The framework is not a checklist. It’s not a mandate. Even internally, it’s not that at all. It’s just… a way for you to get your game into the hands of more players in a meaningful way.”

However, the Help Customers Feel Seen Product Inclusion Action page does provide a checklist to achieve the goals developers come up with. The third step specifically states:

3. Create & surface content that depicts diverse characters, stories and creators 

• Create playable characters that reflect the broader population. Review how identities represented on screen (gender identities, races, sexual orientations, ability status, ages, and body sizes) match up to the broader population. Make sure that characters are not tokenized or stereotyped based on their identities.
• Review how identities represented in your product such as gender, race, sexuality, nationality, cultural, ability, age, and size compare to the broader global player population. Be intentional about which identities are present and highlighted according to what’s right for your product and market.
• Make sure that characters are not tokenized or stereotyped based on their identities. No person or character can be a monolith to represent all people with that identity.
• Practice inclusive casting for any talent required to bring representation to life in your product.
• Validate your execution for your Inclusive Listening Systems (consultants/advisory councils, user research).

A screenshot of Microsoft’s Product Inclusion Action: Help Customers Feel Seen

While Wright claims it’s not mandatory it certainly comes across as, ‘You should be doing this.’”

What do you make of this rumor from Mark Kern?

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