Lords of the Fallen Publisher CI Games says it will not integrate “any social or political agenda” into its games, which it says carries a “high risk” of commercial failure.
The announcement was made during a recent investor chat (via Investor zone), during which CI Games was asked about the “DEI position [diversity, equity, and inclusion] In response, global marketing director Ryan Hill stated that the company was prioritizing “a great user experience with compelling themes and characters designed specifically for core and adjacent audiences” and then moved on to what I would call a rather ill-informed approach to gaming . current state of the gaming industry.
“While some video games have recently taken the opportunity to embed a social or political agenda into their experience, it is clear that many players do not appreciate this, and as a result, over the past year we have seen a number of high-profile releases fall short of commercial success. alone,” Hill said. “Our games will always be designed to maximize player enjoyment and commercial success, and as such we will not integrate any social or political agency into these experiences in the future, recognizing the high risk this may pose.”
Hill did not explain how exactly he or CI Games define DEI, which has become slang for “things I don’t like” in some parts of the video game fandom, nor did he provide examples of games that have failed due to their “social nature” . or political programs.” Concord and Dustborn are usually cited as examples, but in reality these are just two of literally thousands of games.19,000 new games on Steam only in 2024, which has not found an audience over the past year. And in the case of Concord in particular, it may not have been the best game – we gave it a 45% our reviewand not because we thought the cast wasn’t white enough
Unfortunately, it confirmed the ugly and patently false claim that DEI is ruining games – well, that’s not entirely clear either. But that almost doesn’t matter: being a buzzword among angry and reactionary gamers, DEI boogeyman doesn’t need a definition, it just needs to stir up the emotions in the lizard brain on its way to generating views.
Hill’s comments stand in stark contrast to those of another Polish gaming company, the developer of The Witcher and Cyberpunk 2077. CD project: On your own diversity and inclusion pagewhich actually details the studio’s approach to DEI, says CEO Adam Kiciński, “diverse perspectives unlock creativity and increase innovation.”
CI Games declined to comment on Hill’s statement. However, shortly after this story was published, CEO Marek Tyminski posted a message on X confirming that the studio would not be integrating “DEI elements”, which he also left undefined, into its games.