Tiny Firm Sparks ‘Gamergate 2.0’: Inside the Controversial Gaming Scandal

Sweet Baby Inc. Faces Online Harassment Campaign

Accusations of “Wokeification” in Video Games

Sweet Baby Inc., a Montreal-based narrative development and consulting company, has been the target of a relentless online harassment campaign since the release of popular video games like Spider-Man 2 and Alan Wake II last year. The company’s CEO, Kim Belair, recounts the hateful comments and accusations they’ve received, with many claiming that Sweet Baby is responsible for the “wokeification” of video games by adding diverse characters and storylines.

Gamergate 2.0: The Playbook for Online Harassment

Those behind the harassment campaign are calling it Gamergate 2.0, referencing the online harassment campaign that turned into a culture war a decade ago. The creator of the Sweet Baby Inc Detected account, who claims to be based in Brazil, says he noticed a pattern in games like God of War Ragnarök and Alan Wake II, which feature prominent Black women characters, despite admitting to never having played these games.

Developers Refute Claims and Support Sweet Baby

Belair speculates that the harassers can’t fathom that the people behind their favorite games would actually want Sweet Baby’s input, assuming that without their intervention, characters like Saga in Alan Wake II would have been white. However, game developers have come to Sweet Baby’s defense, with Alan Wake II game director Kyle Rowley directly refuting these claims:

It’s absolutely not true.

An Insomniac Games writer also supported Sweet Baby on X, stating that the company helps smooth out plots and deepen characters, but the core dev team has the final say on what goes into the game.

The Impact of Industry Layoffs and Player Harassment

The harassment campaign against Sweet Baby comes amidst a period of immense contraction in the game industry, with thousands of employees losing their jobs in 2024. Despite this, users on the Sweet Baby Inc Detected Discord show little concern for the impact on the industry and the people who make the games they claim to love. Sweet Baby cofounder David Bédard finds this dissonance jarring, noting that without people making games, there will be no more games to play.

A recent poll by the Game Developers Conference organizers found that over 75 percent of game devs surveyed believe player harassment is a serious problem. Sweet Baby has become a scapegoat for anything players hate in games, especially related to diversity and inclusion.

Moving Forward: Authentic Characters and Rising Above Hate

Despite the harassment, Sweet Baby’s founders say their work remains uninterrupted, with supportive clients who are familiar with online abuse. Belair emphasizes that the company aims to create authentic and dynamic characters within their worlds, not tokenization or forced diversity.

While it may be difficult to change the minds of conspiracy theorists and hateful individuals, Belair believes in giving others a place to speak about their values and rise above the harassment:

You shouldn’t be sending this kind of hate to anybody. If you didn’t like something, that’s just fine. Deal with it. Don’t buy another [game] if you don’t want to, but you don’t need to launch a whole campaign about it.