Here come the VG Crisis Tracker
This crisis tracker is based on two previous works: one from Rami Ismail (is2020over.com) and a research I have started on the history of controversies within the video game industry. As I observe that crisis are more and more frequent in the game industry, I need to keep on tracking them in order to analyse how they are embedded in longer and deeper controversies. If one crisis is missing, feel free to contact me on Twitter. ■
@EstebanGrine, 2021.
January
- 25th : The creative director of Scavengers studio is accused of harrassment and toxic behaviours, contrasting with the inclusive discourse of its new game: « Season ».
- 27th : GameStop Market shares explose because Reddit users are gaming the Wall Street system
February
- 2nd : Gamers became angry because BioWare decided to express their artistic vision over problematic butt shots in the Remasters of Mass Effect.
- 7th : Ubisoft has been criticized as half of the cosmetic armors in AC Valhalla are available through microtransactions.
- 9th : CDProjekt declared on twitter that the company has ironically been under cyber attack. The loss of data may trigger new controversies in the future.
- 11th : 6 days in Fallujah, a game about war crimes comitted by the United-States of America, is announce to be released in 2021.
March
- 11th : FIFA 21 rocked by « EAGate » scandal after company employee is alleged to have sold coveted Ultimate Team cards for thousands of pounds
- 12th : Game Artists Not Happy That Developer Is Selling Their Nearly Decade-Old Work As NFTs
- 16th : Riot Games investigation conducted by Riot Games says there’s ‘no evidence’ CEO harassed female employee
- 19th : A debate between game creators and non-creators and non-informed players rose as Ubisoft « reused » a skin as a reward in AC Valhalla.
- 25th : following the controversy concerning Pierre Menès for sexual harrassment, EA stopped working with the journalist.
- 30th : Activision Blizzard Hires Bush-Era Torture Apologist As Chief Compliance Officer
April
- 1st : Match-fixing and other scams related to esport explode so much in Australia (and now in the USA) That the Esport Integrity Commission (ESIC) now works with national forces like FBI and RIOT started investigating Valorant’s players.
- https://kotaku.com/counter-strike-match-fixing-is-so-bad-the-fbi-is-gettin-1846596639
- https://www.kotaku.com.au/2021/01/australians-just-love-being-banned-for-betting-on-their-csgo-matches/
- https://www.kotaku.com.au/2019/08/six-australians-arrested-over-counter-strike-match-fixing/
- https://www.dailyesports.gg/esic-cooperates-with-fbi-in-north-american-match-fixing-investigations/
- https://dotesports.com/news/riot-has-reportedly-started-investigating-valorant-players-for-csgo-match-fixing
- https://twitter.com/ESIC_Official/status/1352540581667323912
- 3rd : Twitch bans La Revision, world’s largest Demo Party which is part to Finland’s national UNESCO of digital patrimoine.
- 6th : French Newspaper Libération tackles deceptive teaching methods and crunch culture in french game design schools.
- 6th : Mihoyo is being criticized over colorism, racist depictions of indigenous cultures and objectification of minors.
- 8th : Following an ongoing petition against the game Six Days In Fallujah, The Council on American-Islamic Relations has called on platform holders to not distributing the game.
- https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2021-04-08-muslim-advocacy-group-calls-on-platform-holders-to-ban-six-days-in-fallujah
- https://english.alaraby.co.uk/english/news/2021/4/8/us-muslim-rights-group-says-drop-arab-murder-game
- https://www.change.org/p/united-nations-stop-atomic-games-and-victura-from-normalizing-the-mass-murder-of-iraqis
- 15th : When losing a job becomes a deportation risk, game studio layoffs mean a hellish race against the clock for immigrant developers
- 30th : With Toy For Bob’s Layoff, Every Single Activision Studio Works On Call Of Duty