Ion Fury Devs Caught Making Sexist and Transphobic Remarks

So!

Over the weekend, Voidpoint released a new game, Ion Fury, which is basically a '90s 3D shooter. Initial response to this game was extremely positive, especially for the nostalgia crowd, but the release hit a bit of a snag when some fans realized that while the game looks like it came straight from the '90s, some of the developer’s attitudes did too.

Long story short: like many developers, they have their own Discord server, where the fans and the developers could mingle. And while on this Discord, many fans noticed that some developers would make not very appropriate jokes and comments, specifically regarding feminism, transsexuals, and the mentally ill. Several of these comments were screen-capped and shared on ResetEra to call the developer out. Makes sense, right?

Well here’s where things get messy. Rather than immediately apologizing, Voidpoint made a case that the full context of these quotes were missing – quotes that included things like:

“Something I don’t really understand about the social justice stuff is that they have stuff like the ‘slut walk,’ which I thought was about the right to not be harassed for how they dress but, then if you portray women dressed the same way you get crap for it,”

And, in regards to trans people:

“Mutilating a perfectly healthy body while you have depression and other big issues... could lead to suicide”

Among other things. So I’m not sure what context would make that kind of stuff okay, but sure. Context is missing. Except it was soon discovered that the game itself contained a number of blatantly offensive material, such as a fake shampoo bottle labeled “Ogay” and an out-of-bounds message that read “Heere's SECRET Fagbag LAAWRAAH Unholy Fanfare”.

So. Yeah. Guess cat’s out of the bag. With no plausible deniability to fall back on, Voidpoint did issue an apology and say that all those homophobic jokes would be removed from the game. They’re also donating $10,000 to the Trevor Project.

"Members of Voidpoint’s Ion Fury team have made sexist and transphobic comments, and included homophobic language in Ion Fury, We recognize these statements are insensitive, unacceptable, and counterproductive to causes of equality. We unequivocally apologize both for these comments and language as well as for any pain they have caused the gaming community, particularly women and members of the LGBTQ community. We take full responsibility for any damage that has been done to the relationships we've worked so hard to build.”

 
I’m not saying they were in the right, of course, I’m as liberal as they come. But if a few tasteless jokes lead to $10,000 bucks being donated to the Trevor Project, I think this was ultimately a net good.