Mortal Kombat and the Degradation of Standards
“I just want those dirty SJWs to stop trying to politicize [my] games” is a phrase that, to the annoyance of many, is one heard with the release of every still, every trailer, every piece of leaked concept art for any new game, AAA or indie. The grating cry of “No politics in games” comes over and over again, and yet, it’s a demand that, purposefully or not, ignores the fact that life is political. The release of games with characters of color, de/non-sexualized women, or LGBTQ+ characters (God forbid they be all three) has time and time again culminated in the manufactured outrage of cishet white gamer men flooding every possible public feed, crying forced diversity and “SJW-ization” of “their” games. Twitter, Facebook, and Reddit become a cesspool of self-victimized men wailing about how the SJWs (Social Justice Warrior) and “cucks” of the gaming industry are ruining the purity of games by reflecting the reality of the world on the screen.
This was best illustrated with the recent April 2019 release of Mortal Kombat 11, in which it was revealed all of the roster’s women characters had been redesigned and, in developers’ own words, desexualized. Notable fan favorites like Sonya Blade, Jade, Skarlet, and Kitana no longer sport glorified lingerie, bikinis, or bandages-pretending-to-be-clothing, instead wearing some new and incredibly interesting looking designs. And also had had breast reductions done between Mortal Kombat X (2015) and now.
My own Twitter feed was suddenly flooded with anger about how the SJWs had gone too far this time, making all the women ugly, and why couldn’t we allow these women to be sexy AND talented fighters. “SJWs are fine with violence, but not good-looking women,” claimed TheQuarterly (a YouTuber) in a video also critiquing, in the loosest sense of the word, Jax Brigg’s end of game story. Notably, Jax is a Black man who, utilizing the cosmic power to rewrite time, erases slavery from the world and creates a future in which Black culture seems to be thriving. While the dialogue of the scene is definitely cringey (“And I’m not waiting for people to get woke, when I’ve got the power to speed things up.”), the concept itself was interesting. TQ, however, was incensed about this ending, as were many others according to the multiple YouTube videos, Steam reviews, and 4/8chan and Reddit threads I saw. There was much wailing and gnashing of teeth about the perceived “forced politicization” of the new game, all of which lead to mass review bombing of the game.
“Review bombing” is exactly what it sounds like on the tin: Large groups of people leaving negative ratings and reviews on products that they disapprove of to damage sales and reputation. This isn’t a new or rare occurrence (Rotten Tomatoes just recently revised their review policy to prevent people from doing this to yet-unreleased films after it happened to Captain Marvel), but it is something that has become much easier with platforms like Steam monopolizing the sellers’ market. Even with Steam claiming to be implementing filters to prevent review bombing unrelated to the games themselves, it hasn’t helped much. The reviews aren’t the only places where this intense negativity can be seen on Steam either. The in-site forums are rank with toxicity directed to the same games they would otherwise review bomb for reasons varying from games being sold exclusively on Epic Games’ Store to who’s on the game’s staff.
Take, for instance, Heart Machine’s Solar Ash Kingdom (announced March 2019). Despite having no information about it besides what can be gleaned from its incredibly interesting and colorful teaser trailer, already I’ve seen forums bemoaning the fact that not only will the game be solid on Epic, but also that Zoë Quinn, yes that Zoë Quinn, is working as a narrative designer on the game. Despite how well-received the game’s predecessor was, already its failure is anticipated because “...SJWs have proven countless times that they ruin everything they touch…”
Despite all of this, I’m sure SAK will do just fine, so why do I care, and why should you, dear Reader?
The industry as a whole is stagnating. Between review bombs, social media storms, and websites like One Angry Gamer, the field of what seems profitable to developers is narrowing. It doesn’t help the fact that, although the “gaming community” isn’t just cishet white men, it certainly does seem that way when minorities are booed down, subjected to gatekeeping, or harassed until they either quiet themselves or simply stop playing altogether because of the malice they’ve faced. Much in the same way, loud and vitriolic railing against “forced diversity” (aka the reflection of reality within media) and “propaganda” in games makes big studios loathe to create diverse games, and indie studios who do make these games suffer in sales. It’s not just the games themselves that suffer, but also the people who make them.
I mentioned Zoë Quinn earlier, but she’s just one name in a cast of people who find themselves the focus of angry mobs. Last July, former Guild Wars 2 developer Jessica Price came under heavy fire for comments she made on Twitter in response to someone mansplaining her job to her, and soon after, her coworker Peter Fries was fired for defending her actions as well. The ArenaNet firings inspired similar behavior directed at many other women of various studios, and while women and other minorities feeling threatened while working in this industry certainly isn’t new, it signaled a change in the wind, leaving many on edge. It hasn’t been long enough to see the long-term effects this will have, but I doubt this will bode well for an industry that’s already underwhelmingly diverse.
We’re living in a post-GamerGate world, one where games like “Rape Day” (don’t look it up, trust me) get released on Steam without flagging sensors, where minorities are threatened by a population whose unchecked entitlement has (among other things) fostered a culture where this is not only unsurprising, but also acceptable. The games that tell rich, colorful stories are penalized, and I fear that within the next few years, they’ll nearly altogether fade into background projects, deemed “too risky to be profitable.” All of this is to say nothing of how minority groups are reticent to offer criticisms of our own about the megar representation we’re offered within games, for fear of adding to this environment. Issues like digital blackface, the casual transphobia in otherwise amazing games like The Red Strings Club, or the failure of games like We Are Chicago that tackle subjects we’d love to see explored better in other games garner much quieter criticism due to fear of a complete halt.
I don’t have an easy solution to this problem, or a light-hearted “But!” to end this with. Going into Pride Month, all I can really say is vote with your dollar, lift up the voices that need to be heard, and don’t forget to punch a Nazi (did you know these clowns really thought that Wolfenstein was apolitical?!)
