THQ Nordic Hosts an AMA on 8Chan, Goes Like You'd Expect

Being a game developer can be hard, but you know what else is hard? Marketing and PR. Oftentimes, getting a game or a studio well-known is more than just putting together a snappy trailer, sometimes you also have to reach out, engage with your audience, and let the consumers know that you care. And in that endeavor, sometimes there can be… oversights.

Specifically, THQ Nordic – the publishers behind a lot of games, but most recently Darksiders 3 – made the decision to host an AMA. That in itself is not really a problem: heck, it could even be a good idea! The problem was that they decided to host this AMA at 8chan, which is literally the asshole of the internet.

In case you haven’t heard of 8chan: I really hate to be the one to teach you about it. But everything you need to know about the site can be summed up thusly: it has forum boards dedicated to pedophilia and fascism, and it’s a fairly well-known hub for racism, misogyny, and the toxic harassment campaigns that plague both the gaming community and other communities around the globe. So as you can imagine, associating with such a place is not exactly the best look for THQ Nordic.

The AMA itself went about as terribly as anyone could predict, with people saying racist, misogynistic, pedophilic crap, and THQ Nordic only responding to the questions that were the least awful. However, that didn’t exactly make things better, and THQ Nordic PR and Marketing Director Philipp Brok has since apologized on Twitter:

"I personally agreed to this AMA without doing my proper due diligence to understand the history and the controversy of the site. I do not condone child pornography, white supremacy, or racism in any shape or form. I am terribly sorry for the short-sightedness of my (!) decision, and promise to be far more vigorous in my assessment of these activities in the future. This was not about being edgy, this blew up and I very much regret to have done it in the first place."

So it was a mistake. A stupid, stupid, easily avoidable mistake. But I guess that’s better than THQ trying to appeal to those buttcracks, so I guess that works out.