Important thoughts
Game design, narrative and production consultant with proven track record of 16 years in game dev and over 40 mil in sales of projects I participated on.
This small YouTuber makes more sense than major gaming companies and media. I wholeheartedly agree with his points and am certain that the dangers DEI brings to our industry, affecting creative output and financial potential, are real and already evident, especially in 2024. How can I be so sure? As an Eastern European born before the fall of the Berlin Wall, before revolutions swept communism away and brought democracy and capitalism to my region, I've seen the endgame of similar endeavors. These were deeply ingrained in society through Soviet-style communism enforced in my country for 40 years. To be specific, I lived through the '80s where everyone wore the same limited set of clothes, had the same mass produced furniture at home and went to government-assigned jobs based on origin and ideological alignment. People did the bare minimum to be considered working-class citizens, often just clocking in and out. We had only two TV channels that repeated how great our lives were and how the West was evil and suffering, while the Soviet Union was portrayed as a paradise of progress. Creative industries were skewed, as communist values had to be propagated in every film, TV show, or play. Creatives with backbone shifted to comedies, historical content or children's media, where they could create without promoting unwanted ideologies, or subtly embed rebellious ideas that censors appointed by the government without merit couldn't detect. Everyone had to participate in this oppressive system under threat of worsening their already miserable lives. This created a society where nobody was authentic and everyone practiced doublethink. Both the system and people's experiences deteriorated rapidly with each passing day, each product, and every fake attempt at uplifting spirits or pretended improvements. 35 years after the Velvet Revolution that ended communism in my country and brought democracy and capitalism, I see the Western world introducing practices similar to those in communist Czechoslovakia. I'm experiencing their real impacts on production quality and the professional climate within the gaming industry. I believe we need to change direction and focus on real talent, skills, and merit, rather than representation quotas based on inherent traits like race, gender, sexual preferences or disabilities. Such quotas might comfort some temporarily but will ultimately hurt real diversity and get rejected by the market, as gamers care about quality gameplay, visuals, immersive and authentic worlds and narratives. If reason isn't enough, let money speak: look at the dismal sales of games that embraced inclusivity quotas over quality just during this year. #GamingIndustry #GameDev #CreativeIndustries #Meritocracy #QualityOverQuotas #ProductionQuality #ProfessionalExperience #HistoryLesson #Authenticity #WorkCulture #MarketTrends #GameDesign #NarrativeDesign #QualityMatters #IndustryInsights #TalentFirst #HistoricalPerspective #Censorship #DEI #Diversity
