Sucker Punch and its upcoming exclusive Ghost of Yōtei have found themselves at the center of a political scandal, with calls for a boycott pouring in after senior artist Drew Harrison joked about the murder of conservative activist Charlie Kirk. Sony has confirmed that it has terminated its employment with the artist.
Sucker Punch and its upcoming exclusive Ghost of Yōtei have found themselves at the center of a political scandal, with calls for a boycott pouring in after senior artist Drew Harrison joked about the murder of conservative activist Charlie Kirk. Sony has confirmed that it has terminated its employment with the artist.
The wave of hate and dismissal is reported by DOU with reference to Kotaku. According to the publications, Drew Harrison (Senior Artist for Visual Development and Character Textures) published a series of sarcastic posts about Kirk’s death in X; the posts were later deleted, but the publicity launched a massive pressure campaign. Under the new Ghost of Yōtei trailer on YouTube, thousands of comments appeared with calls for a boycott and messages like «RIP Charlie Kirk». The most vocal critics were Diablo II producer Mark Kern (Grummz), who publicly demanded a reaction from his employer.
The artist herself stated that after the posts she received anonymous calls and harassing messages, but she does not give up her position: «If the fight against fascism cost me my dream job, which I held for 10 years, I would do it again, but 100 times stronger.» A Sony representative confirmed to the media that «Drew Harrison is no longer an employee of Sucker Punch Productions.»
The outrage campaign quickly spread beyond the confines of one studio. X began compiling lists of employees from other companies who had made jokes about Kirk (Square Enix, Games Workshop, Bethesda, Activision Blizzard were mentioned) and demanding their dismissal. Elon Musk intervened in the discussion, tagging Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella with the question «what’s going on here»; the corporation was forced to publicly comment on the situation surrounding moderation and corporate policies.
This is an internal PlayStation studio, known for the inFAMOUS and Ghost of Tsushima series. Ghost of Yōtei is positioned as the next big exclusive with an emphasis on Japanese aesthetics and detailed visual production. The scandal surrounding the posts of one employee has turned into a broader political wave, hitting the studio’s image and forcing the publisher to quickly demonstrate «zero tolerance» for content that could be interpreted as promoting violence.
For Sucker Punch, the consequences of the scandal are not only a personnel decision, but also reputational and commercial risks: part of the audience is calling for a boycott of Ghost of Yōtei despite the fact that the employee was fired. The incident once again exposed the painful line for the industry between the right of developers to personal expressions on social media and corporate standards of conduct that directly affect the marketing and sales of major releases.
Recall that previously dev.ua wrote about how Sony Interactive Entertainment announced a separate mobile application with which parents can manage their children’s gaming experience on PS5 and PS4 consoles.
