UPDATE 9/6: Following the outrage and backlash outlined in this post, John Gibson has stepped down as CEO, effective immediately, as his words do not fall in line with Tripwire's values, the company says in an official statement.
The original story follows.
Tripwire Interactive, perhaps most famous for developing the Killing Floor series and publishing Chivalry 2, found itself trending on Twitter thanks to controversial comments from its president, John Gibson. Gibson took to Twitter in the wake of the Senate 8 Abortion Bill in Texas to "go on record" as a "pro-life game developer." This statement obviously met with an intense backlash, as many gamers and developers took issue with Gibson's staunch support of the anti-abortion position during the heat that recent news has caused. Please note that this article contains mention of sexual assault and abortion as it pertains to the court case.
While the Tripwire-published Chivalry 2 might have met with a lot of praise, Gibson's take on Roe v. Wade did not. Not only are there over 25 thousand tweets discussing Gibson's statement at the time of writing but several development studios that have worked with Tripwire distanced themselves from the president's contentious tweet. Gibson's motivations for sharing the opinion seem to be due to the amount of "vocal peers on the other side of the issue."
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The Background Behind Gibson's Tweet
The statement from Killing Floor 2designer and company president Gibson was in response to the state of Texas passing Senate Bill 8, which aimed at banning abortions as soon as a fetal "heartbeat" can be detected, often before someone can tell they are pregnant. The ban's fine controversially has no cap and will cost any individual or service involved in the abortion a minimum of $10,000 (plus legal fees).
Texas' ruling here also has a huge impact on victims of sexual violence. Staggeringly, the bill contains no exceptions for rape or assault. This could mean that anyone helping a victim of sexual violence seek an abortion could face a hefty fine. Obviously, with sexual harassment cases in gaming being very prominent right now, it is no surprise that this topic is particularly contentious in the gaming community.
Of course, the gaming community has always been politically involved, as the Scott Cawthon political donation controversy proved back in June. Gibson's statement has accrued over 10 thousand likes since its posting, but several of the replies critiquing the stance have garnered even more.
Some, like Sony Santa Monica writer Alanah Pearce, pointed out the potential double standard at play with over-policing the bodies of pregnant people, when they are not the only ones involved in a pregnancy.
Others have gone a step further, initiating a full boycott of Tripwire Interactive and its games. Heading up this charge is popular Twitch streamer CohhCarnage. Cohh is one of the platform's more popular streamers, and he expressed sadness for Tripwire Interactive team members working underneath Gibson, as well as associated developers. This is someone who has actually appeared in games published by Tripwire Interactive, but the president's comments were still a step too far for the streamer.
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How have Tripwire's Developers Reacted?
However, it was not just other game developers and streamers who took issue with the statement, development studios associated with Tripwire as a publisher also did too. The Maneater developer canceled its contracts with Tripwire after his tweet, with Chivalry 2 developer Torn Banner Studios also firmly disavowing Gibson's anti-abortion stance.
Shipwright Studios, which recently released Maneater DLC, cited Gibson's attitudes as the reason for the split. The studio stated that they would be doing "the industry as a whole" a disservice by continuing to work with the publisher.
It remains to be seen if Torn Banner will follow suit and also cut ties with Tripwire Interactive. Contracts like these are often very legally complex, so it is entirely possible that the studio cannot end the relationship anyway. With the recent success of the recent Day Off Twitch boycott, the power that gamers have to pressure companies is obviously growing – which could be bad news for Torn Banner and Tripwire.
Clues In Earlier Tripwire Interactive Games
While Gibson's stance on abortion came as a surprise to many, some intrepid Twitter users found that Gibson's ideas around bodily autonomy and abortion have been available for some time. However, they are not where one would expect. Gibson's Christian-metal band Durge produced a lot of the Killing Floor 2 soundtrack, which reveals a little bit about the developer's personal politics.
Some of these lyrics quite obviously reference Gibson's anti-abortion ideology. It is certainly interesting to see with hindsight how these politics have been present in the company's games for a little while, despite Gibson's original tweet claiming that he tries to stay away from partisan politics in gaming.
The widespread reaction to the recent Twitch hate raids showed an interesting level of solidarity in the online gaming community. As such, it will be interesting to see if the critical attention focused on Gibson right now leads to a full boycott of Tripwire Interactive's games, or how other associated developers will be affected.