DEI consulting firm tried to Extort Black Myth: Wukong Devs for 7 million.

IGN recently wrote a slam piece against Wukong developers to be sexist.

Wukong Developer is claiming DEI consulting firms ( sweet baby inc) have been trying to Extort them for millions. Saying thier game is not politically correct enough and they refused thier offer. Basically threatning that they will slander the developer if they refuse thier consulting services. (Pretty pricey consulting services I might add)

The chineese aren't playing ball tho, told them to shove it.

But now IGN is slamming em.

What you guys think?

Is Wukong doomed now for being sexist game?

Or Hogwarts Legacy effect, game journos say it's bad and problematic.

But ends up being extremely successful?

I was interested in this game, I hope it's good. IGN wrote a really stupid article imo, reads like a slander piece, no hard evidence of anything that's actually problematic.

Is this the hustle of these consulting firms, pay us for "services" or you will be slandered as racist sexist pos. Or are they genuinely just trying to bring in valuable services to developers. If it is a hustle, I gotta admit, they found a good one, game developing has pretty big budgets. Hate the practice but respect the hustle.

Translated to English cus they chineese

CCP PROPAGANDA??

This thread won't end well.

CCP propaganda??

Don't really trust chineese media but the developer is chineese too.

So I dunno lol

Buying this game day one if they refuse to bow down to all the woke BS.

Yeah, saw that not to long about this. Also everyone, please be mindful and not get carried away in this thread. We're gonna play this nicely you guys.

Anyway, Game Science stood up to this corruption and I don't like seeing someone trying to blackmail a game developer who just wants to make a good game. They stood up to SBI despite this is an unknown developer and a Chinese developer at that. They earned my respect, I was gonna buy this on PC but after hearing this, I couldn't be more hyped. It's not easy to take a stand when your new to the gaming world but still, they earned the respect.

Blackmailing & Extortion is illegal, I'm surprised SBI has been getting away with it for so long.

Sweet Baby Inc can go to hell.

Oh yeah, a unknown Chinese developers trying to fabricate a controversy to gain attention.

I lived in that country for a decade. I have zero trust in them

Zero. Or -1000

If a Chinese business man tells you something, assume it's a lie until proven otherwise.

This is not racist, I am married to a Chinese and have a half and half kid.

It's the culture there. It's lies, lies and lies.

Of course they want the controversy. They want the attention of the useful idiots.

@davillain: game based on old chineese folklore, where hero is a monkey man fighting demon creatures and stuff. Don't know where this room in this setting for any DEI. If that # is true, they wanted them to pay 7 million that's wild.

Kinda agree

But put IGN right there with em neck and neck 🤣

I don't think I believe any part of this story. It just seems to be the same culture wars nonsense that has been killing the industry over the past few years.

I just looked up Sweet Baby Inc, and it seems like they're a generic consulting firm. The "anti-woke" portions of the internet has embraced a bunch of conspiracy theories about them, and has spent a while spreading misinformation about them for political points.

For example, the cancerous side of the industry have said Sweet Baby Inc forced Alan Wake 2 to have a black female protagonist (Remedy confirmed that was a lie), that they got involved with Spiderman 2 just to add pride flags (also a lie), and now they're apparently extorting companies that won't "go woke" (almost certainly a lie).

I wish gamers had any critical thinking skills, but unfortunately we seem to be a crowd of mostly dumb young men who get unreasonably angry at rainbows and the word diversity. That leaves us vulnerable to grifters, who see tons of ways to make money off fake outrage (like...any recent discussions around women, race, or sexuality in gaming).

The YouTube echo chamber is radicalising you lot, and you don't even realise it.

@sargentd: I don't know who's telling the truth or who's lying, but I will say this and that's I would never trust the Chinese, as for the other mob, I don't know or care to know anything about them.

All I'm saying is this thread will go South in a hurry when certain folks show up 🤣

Do we need to bring politics into System Wars? We know how mixing politics and gaming on this forum ends.

I don't want anything to do with SBI or CCP. Acronyms are bad.

I think they need to publish the mail, or whatever forms of communication they have, in which the extortion happened. As it is now there is not enough hard evidence to know.

That IGN article is pure trash and is just all speculations. IGN just wrote a hit piece on the devs.

But that SBI claim is also trash.

Both sides have no concrete evidence on the things they're claiming.

Not a lie the founder of SBI admitted it herself at GDC. It's how they fail upwards. Also Kim Belair the founder has said upfront she sees Asians as White adjacent and not as people of color which is why its not surprising that they're trying to extort a Chinese developer with a game that is generating lots of attention.

This is not taken out of context. It was easier to find this whole video before everyone started catching on to SBI and Kim Belair's past.

Until I see actual documentation, I'm calling bullshit.

Yes, SBI and their ilk are controversial. No, I don't think they'd "extort" a Chinese developer. I mean, first of all...how would they? This culture war bullshit only works in the West, Chinese don't give a damn.

With that said, I don't really enjoy either of these parties involved here so I am going to reserve judgement until I see some actual evidence. Right now this is just *ugh* drama. Save it for your mama.

Atomic Heart, however, probably could have benefited from some DEI love because that overblown machismo and shit-talking protagonist and hyper-sexualized vending machine really kind of ruined the game. I'm not saying I'm pro-DEI or anything like that, but there is a time and place for, you know, maybe consulting outside your little bubble of 99% straight white men to get some different frames of reference.

I'll be honest. If it's posted by you, I ignore it.

Are gender roles pretty traditional in China still?

I had a family member that lived in Japan for a few years and I was really, really surprised just how traditional the gender roles in that country were at the time (this was maybe 10-20 years ago). Great country, really awesome to visit, but it was really weird because you hear stories of 1950's America and housewives and stuff and then you go to a country where women are generally second to men and it's kind of shocking.

DEI has no place in gaming. All DEI games are garbage. FACTS

@mrbojangles25: not really. China is a post communist country.

It's not totally equal, roles are much more defined than in the west, but it's a far cry from Japan.

You often find women in commercial positions of power, though not in top government positions.

Also, unlike the west, feminism is mostly about practical economical issues and Negative generalizations about men are very rare.

I would say it's closer to the west before the 2010s in that specific area(except for government and some other cultural particularities).

This is such horseshit. They're accusing Sweet Baby of being a blackmailing operation now? People have gone way beyond getting carried away with this

The sources are twitter. The absolute vile rancid piss, the STD of humanity, that is twitter. Why anyone would give any credibility to anything posted on that crap heap....I have no idea.

It's possible that it's true. If it is true then hopefully the developer can expose them and take them to the cleaners. Maybe if they start, other devs will also back them and expose them (assuming it's true for a sec). But a better source than the crap filled nappy of the internet is going to be required.

I mean if you want to get into conspiracy theories, Maybe what IGN wrote is true and the developer is pushing back with SBI and accusations of blackmail to try and muddy the waters. Who knows?

Definitely not twitter...that's for sure.

Personally its a weird hill to choose for a controversy. Game gained a lot of attention due to the various high profile showcase so they might get intimidated by SBI (its one of their tactics to get clients) but until we see documentations we should not blindly believe the internet.

@nirgal: very well said. But I disagree that it's only the Chinese that do this kind of thing. Many businesses even here in the west do it to generate outrage from morons. Heck, it's very common practice for political parties here to play up being the victim to try and generate sympathy for donations. They're nothing but high end bums / pan handlers. It feels like these developers are just trying to cash in on fools with some political ideology.

My suggestion is, ignore all the bs and noise. Never buy anything for political reasons or other snake oil bs. If you're interested in buying a game, then buy it if you like the game and no other reason. If you want to support a cause then do so. Never mix the two.

Gina!

Yeah I'm wondering if they're trying to just do this as a marketing ploy.

@mrbojangles25: wouldn't be surprised if it was. Honestly I'm pretty susceptible to this nonsense too. There are some people (aside from kids ) who are immune to this nonsense..either they don't care or are just simple minded / naive. I often envy them.

@mrbojangles25: I am sure it's marketing.

Stellar blade was deemed sexist too, best free advertisement you can imagine.

@R4gn4r0k: I think they are trying to replicate the Hogwarts legacy, stellar blade situation.

$7 million?! Just for some consultancy? If true, this is straight-up extortion and borderline criminal.

However, I wouldn't straight-up believe an accusation without convincing evidence. What evidence is there beyond the developer's claim?

Just because it's denied doesn't mean it's the truth. People lie. I'm not saying it's true one way or the other, but to suggest that just becasue Remedy denied it means that it didn't happen seems rather silly. :) I for one enjoyed Alan Wake 2.

Have to agree, it in no way benefits the developer to say "yeah we made a main character a minority because the DEI consulting firm suggested it." Remedy saying that would only hurt them. At the end of the day the developer is OK'ing it whether it was thier original idea or not. Just wouldn't be a good look to admit that.

Personally see having to hire a DEI consulting firm to make your game more "politically correct" embarrassing in general any way.

It has started kinda going full circle with some of this stuff, where the goal is more diversity.. but to get there developers are making literal race charts to get there.. blizzard and OW it's getting super goofy. I'm a big OW fan, one of my favorite games to play with my buddies.. but its getting super goofy with these characters and thier back stories.. and it's funny too because it's a MP live service game, there is no story in this game.. but they push it aggressively.

Yeah it's preety much just 1 of the developers talking to a chineese media company. But when you really think about it.. is it in anyone's interest to come out and prove what really happened even if it did.

If there is some sort of cordination with IGN and consulting firms like SBI... we know they aren't going to say anything. Not sure if a smaller developer from China like game science would want to make a big hoopla about it either publicly before thier first big release if it did happen. Like what would they even do? Post emails and stuff of them turning down thier consulting offers? If it is true.. don't see anyone benefiting by comming out and admitting any of this stuff if it's true. Developer might just be assuming the IGN article was retaliation but doesn't have proof of a connection between them and the consulting firm.

But that IGN article is really pathetic and i don't really see why else they would try to go at game science them like this.

Just like Gamergate, the new Gamergate 2.0 is going to extreme lengths to conjure up nonsense and the idiots that sub will eat up anything that serves their stupid agenda. A consultant company extorting a Chinese game developer....😂 Extortion requires leverage, no consulting firms have leverage over their client it also doesn't benefit the consulting firms. The basics but I can't say I am surprised.

If you are taking the inaction approach to these topics in SW forum it will continue to grow. We have had more topics on this because of inaction but 🤷🏽‍♂️

Here comes Pedro defending SBI and asking a mod to silence any discussion about it 🤣.

PLEASE DONT TALK ABOUT IT , NOTHING TO SEE HERE!

This is the SW, not the Political or Off topic forums. And thanks for confirming the following

"Just like Gamergate, the new Gamergate 2.0 is going to extreme lengths to conjure up nonsense and the idiots that sub will eat up anything that serves their stupid agenda."

😂🤭

37 comments and mine is the one that triggered you.🤭

There's definitely cordination between gaming outlets and consulting firms. Look how desperately they defend them?

Now could this be BS? Possibly. But SBI does nothing but extort western game devs and any bad press that gets these companies out of the industry I'm all for.

This is about gaming!

Again with the projection!🤣

You just asked the mods to silence people like a snowflake! Lol how soft do you have to be?

Heres an idea! If the topic triggered you avoid it! You can't though because you feel an obligation to defend this gabarage every chance you get.

Why not talk about it? It's part of the gaming industry like it or not.

Pedro, your reaction to this is what I expected and that's all good, no harm no foul.

But wouldn't the leverage be the bad press from game journalists? Would it be problematic if this journalist is connected to the consulting firm in anyway. Not saying they are, but if so that's leverage. The wukong developer in this article states that Rebecca Valentine who is a lead writer for IGN.. is also a member of the advisory team for SweetBabyInc.. that seems problematic to me.

Why do you think IGN wrote that article claiming Game Science is sexist? Did you read it yet? https://www.ign.com/articles/how-black-myth-wukong-developers-history-of-sexism-is-complicating-its-journey-to-the-west

Hear me out

I'm running a DEI consulting firm and trying to pick up clients (game developers).. I approach a game developer with a pitch to gain thier buisness. What's the pitch?

Probably something like "we want to help you make sure your game is not problematic, we don't want you to catch a bad reputation in the industry for not being inclusive, your studio is over 90% chineese men, the characters are not seen as diverse to western audiences"

I imagine that would be what a DEI consulting firm pitch to developers would look like.

They offer to help consult for a couple million, you refuse.

Then you see game journalists writing articles claiming your a sexist game developer...

Even if the developer doesn't have proof of a direct connection between the journalists writing that they are sexist and the consulting firm.. I totally get why he would assume there was one.

SBI and the like are the worst, but the CCP is as bad but in a different way. All i can say is that wukong looks good, and if its as good as it looks, its a 100% purchase.

So much manufactured outrage these days. 😅

Do you have evidence that the IGN writer is a member of Sweet Baby?

Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons is a good movie.

It's a real shame Chinese movies aren't more widely shown here still. Hopefully when the CCP destroys America their superior culture will be the new norm.

No to all of your questions. This all feels like Gamergate dejavu. Targeting journalists (typically female) and generating a conspiracy theories behind everything they do or don't do.

A company being sexist isn't new to the gaming industry. Several major western companies have been called out for sexism and sexism has been normalized in both the west and the east for ages. Game Science being sexist would not be startling and neither would it cause a stir if it turns out to be true. Name single game studio that was shuttered because of sexism accusation and/or documented sexism?

There is no leverage. Not amount of hypothetical would give ANY consultant company leverage or the capacity to force/blackmail (absurdity in this claim is astounding) any game company. Game studio refusing service and being blasted for the absence of that service would in no shape or form give the entity offering the service leverage. In fact, I would argue it would directly work against them and they will simply rely on another company.

The next issue is, why is it a problem for this individual to call out a studio/game for being sexist? Do you have this same analysis when a game/studio is being blasted by other journalist as being woke?

Your last sentence is more problematic than everything you are complaining about. No evidence but it is true because it fits an agenda. Consistency and facts are important but if that is not important to you then 🤷🏽‍♂️

My comment triggered you == fact.😂

Are you saying you agree with the IGN article that Game Science is Sexist?

Did you even read the article in question?

Reads like slander to me, don't think anyone would take it seriously after actually reading it.

It's bizarre to go after an indie studio in this fashion. What's thier motive in doing this?

I can't help it a developer went to the media about it. But if what he said is true this is effed up.

Developer name dropped the person that wrote the article as being an advisor on the DEI consultation firm. Maybe developer is lying or maybe Rebekka is lying.

Is one of them grifting, or are both of them grifting.

the developer name dropped rebecca valentine being an advisor on the DEI consultation while also being one of the writers of the article slandering them as sexist on IGN.

Tried to look up Rebekah valentines socials to see if she denied or confirmed any of this, her Twitter is currently set to private.