A few days ago, the Roe v. Wade has been called into question in the United States, which could then leave each state the possibility of legislating on the question of abortion, by making it illegal or not. A throwback that is currently shaking the country, with a debate that has also been invited in the world of video games following an email from Jim Ryan, who declared that it was necessary here to respect everyone’s opinions, before s spread over the lives of his pets. An email that apparently went very badly internally, especially at Insomniac Games.
An internal conflict within PlayStation Studios
Following the sending of this email, Insomniac Games expressed its dissatisfaction and decided to donate $50,000 to an association defending the right to abortion (Women’s Reproductive Rights Assistance Project). This was made public by the Washington Post, which also reports that Sony will do the same, while making individual donations to people in the studio who may be impacted by this.thanks to its PlayStation Cares program.
Studio CEO Ted Price reveals that Insomniac sent a 60-plus-page dossier to Hermen Hulst asking that Sony do better on the subject and take better care of the employees who would be affected by this story. Sony and Insomniac are now expected to work on a program offering financial assistance to employees who may need to travel out of state to qualify for abortions, if the shutdown is challenged.
However, Ted Price also reveals that Sony refuses to allow PlayStation Studios to take an official position on the subject in public. He then claims that if Insomniac refused to comply with these orders, the studio would face repercussions that could impact it:
” Sony will not endorse ANY studio statement on the subject of reproductive rights. We fought hard for it and we didn’t win. When it comes to our freedom of expression, even though we have a LOT of autonomy that is often taken for granted, there are times when we need to recognize that we are part of a larger organization. For the most part, our ability to tweet is unhindered. However, there are rare times when we are in opposition (like this week) and SIE will have the final say. »
what about Bungie In all of this ? The studio has spoken publicly about this case before in advocating for women’s rights, but that was before Sony wanted any of PlayStation Studios to speak out on the matter.
Yes.
— pete parsons (@pparsons) May 17, 2022
In response to a tweet that now asked how Bungie was going to position itself in all of this, the studio’s community manager said, ” there will never be a “muzzle” big enough to keep us from standing up for what is right “. What the CEO of Bungie, Pete Parsonssimply replied “ Yes », in affirmation of this position.
We do not yet know what repercussions this whole affair could have on the studio, but we imagine that Jim Ryan is already preparing to send new emails.