Adventure/Rhythm/Action Game by Red Thread Games dustbourne Been online for a week and a half now, spending most of it downtown culture war bullshit. The game does have some of the issues we raised our reviewbut if you search for the game on Google right now and look at user reviews, you’ll see Lots of user reviews The complaint isn’t about any legitimate gameplay or design complaints, but about the “lucid mind virus” and a bunch of other buzzwords used to complain about the media’s representation of people of color, queer people, and overtly left-wing politics. Ten days after the situation affected gaming communities and online discussions, Red Thread Games released a statement condemning hate speech and harassment.
The statement was posted to the company’s social media accountsaid the game’s story is “profound” to the team, and while they’re prepared for the game to be divisive, they’re resisting targeted harassment against creators dustbourneof launch.
“We hope Dustborn will spark conversation and debate and look forward to engaging with our players in a positive and constructive way. Unfortunately, this conversation has been drowned out by a wave of hate and abuse.
We welcome thoughtful feedback and respectful criticism. We embrace discussion and debate. But we have zero tolerance for hate speech, harassment and threats of any kind. Those who engage in such behavior will be removed from our community.
dustbourne PublisherQuantic Dream Make your own statement Support Red Thread Games and stand with the developers against “all forms of hatred.” While the studio closed comments on the post, some of the quoted tweets were filled with the vitriol you’d expect, like saying the team should be harassed for the game they put out, or pointing out the game’s concurrency on Steam The rate is very low. But others expressed support, saying such statements should never exist.
when i’m done playing dustbourneI felt a deep sense of dread knowing that this game would inevitably receive such wrath. Its cast is predominantly people of color, including queer people, and it’s unambiguous about its politics. No reasonable deniability This is the kind of thing some other video game companies are trying to imagine when asked about the political themes of their games, as its story is set in a dystopian, alternative history America and explicitly explores the concept of a country falling into fascism and how it affects Marginalized people. It was always “stop making my game wake up and make your own!” until someone actually did it. These people then find new reasons to harass developers who make games that are not their target audience. The goalposts are moving again.