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Hogwarts Legacy Lead Designer Quits Following YouTube Controversy

Vae_Victis

Banned
When will they realize that those who complain about it on twitter was never gonna buy the game in the first place?

All this does is validate their whining. They’ll just be looking for the next game to prey on to satiate their power-hunger.
It's larger than some idiots on Twitter who "don't buy games anyway". It's journalists writing hit pieces about your game and giving it bad scores for political reasons, people in awards and events blacklisting you, influencers telling millions of followers not to buy your games, if not just telling them to dox and harass you personally...

In some countries in particular, including the US, a lot of people are so politically radicalized that their political opinions seep through everything they do in their lives, and have a much larger effect on society and the population at large.

Twitter is one of the main HQs of radical SJWs, but the issue doesn't begin and definitely doesn't end there.
 

yurinka

Member
What are his specific 'controversial' messages? To defend Nolan Bushnell? His criticism about certain 'cultural appropiation' and other supposed feminist or antiracist stuff? His views regarding gamergate, Anita and other sjw stuff?

I only saw a few videos of his youtube channel and a few tweets in the Kotaku comments, and for the little stuff I saw he makes some good points on a respectful way. Stuff you may agree or disagree, but nothing racist or sexist at all, and I didn't find anything that should generate any controversy or that should affect his job.

Did he really leave the company beause of that 'controversy'? Is there any real 'controversy' out there or just a couple of tweets and comments on Kotaku or Resetera?

Don't use your real identity on social media.
People should be free to say whatever they want without being cancelled/getting fired/getting bullied by a (in this case sjw) mob.

Exactly what I said in the other thread. People saying "oh I don't give them clicks. Just ignore them" are completely missing the point. This is about developers losing their job everyday like this guy.
People should be able to make the games they want, or to write whatever they want (always respectfully and peacefully) without getting bullied. Proper debate and criticism providing decent facts and so on backing opinions should be allowed. And the support of the people giving out their money, attention or clicks should say who's right.

To bully and cancel people to the point of making people loss their jobs, blacklisting people and to cancel anyone who doesn't agree with you isn't the way.
 
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jakinov

Member
Not a fan of gamergate or people harassing sexual assault victims but come the fuck on. The guy didnt rape anyone. Didnt do any crime that he can get jailed or even convicted of. The fact that he can be forced out of his job is insane. Private corporation or not.

He should sue. You cannot terminate employees without cause. or if you can then fuck the laws and write laws to make sure this cant happen.
He says he left.

Not a lawyer or American. But pretty sure US still has the concept of at-will employment. Meaning they can fire you as long as it's not for some protected reason. Whether or not that should be a thing still is up for debate. One side believes that if you own a business you should be able to do whatever you want; like say you own a restaurant , they think the boss should have the freedom to decide who works and doesn't work with them because they own the business. The other side is more about about protecting workers and giving them stability.
 

jaysius

Banned
This smells like an excuse for investors looking for progress on this game.

This game's footage in the short sizzle reel we saw looked REALLY ROUGH.

Here's to hoping the actual game is good.

People keep forgetting how the freedom of speech works, it's for anyone saying literally anything. Is that a good thing? YES. Is that a bad thing? YES. But it's the freedom of speech, so either you want it or you don't.

The issue is, is this guy a douche bag? YES, at least that was his "brand".

Someone hunted down all this info and tied it together, I guess this is what you get when there's a slow news cycle and you need to have news.
 

MiguelItUp

Member
I'm looking forward to it. Hearing a person's voice is always more informative than trying to interpret their tone via online text.
Agreed. I think it's less of a "HEY LOOK AT ME, PLEASE LIKE AND SUBSCRIBE" and more so of him wanting to say his peace, which considering the circumstances, I'm sure he wants to provide. Especially since it's not like his YouTube is vastly successful or anything. Also with him knowing the people that jeopardized his job are well aware of its existence, he could address them directly if he chose to. Or just speak his peace.

Guess we'll see.
 

Keihart

Member
Pro ESL strats, now he can launch his Youtube career and get that sweet ad money without being a code monkey or whatever.
 

Kamina

Golden Boy
And the Twitter/Mainstream gaming media lynch mob wins again.

tenor.gif
It’s not complete until he apologizes.
I hope he doesn’t. He doesnt need to apologize for his free opinions.
 

Fishels

Member
I’m liberal and I don’t like this. Stupid as fuck. Atleast the 100 boycott people can enjoy their game now 😒😒😒
 

TransTrender

Gold Member
I wonder how this one will play out.
I hope this guy doesn't go all Alex Jones if you know what I mean. If you don't know what I mean, then what I'm saying is I hope this person didn't leave a good job to become a YouTube e-celeb, which will likely turn out unsuccessful, with less income, and more headaches because you have to engage with the filthy masses of the internet/Twitter.
 
Agreed. I think it's less of a "HEY LOOK AT ME, PLEASE LIKE AND SUBSCRIBE" and more so of him wanting to say his peace, which considering the circumstances, I'm sure he wants to provide. Especially since it's not like his YouTube is vastly successful or anything. Also with him knowing the people that jeopardized his job are well aware of its existence, he could address them directly if he chose to. Or just speak his peace.

Guess we'll see.
For my part, I'm just taking him at his word (emphasis mine):
To clarify: I felt absolutely secure in my position. However, I still wanted to resign for reasons that I will explain in that forthcoming video . I’m in excellent spirits and very pleased with my relationship with WB and Avalanche. 😄👍
Oh and he just tweeted a moment ago:
Oh my! So many assumptions!

Right now I'm focused upon wrapping things up with the team before my last day of March 12. But until then, please rest assured: I haven't been "cancelled" despite the optics (of which I am well aware).

There is more to the story.
I don't want to write too much, suffice to say that Troy is a levelheaded and rational person and this tweet aligns with what I assumed.
 

MiguelItUp

Member
For my part, I'm just taking him at his word (emphasis mine):

Oh and he just tweeted a moment ago:

I don't want to write too much, suffice to say that Troy is a levelheaded and rational person and this tweet aligns with what I assumed.
Mmm hmm, as was I.

Ah, nice. Appreciate that! Good on him for providing more details. But, doesn't stop my curiosity nonetheless, haha. I'm actually hoping it revolves around him saying he did nothing wrong and he doesn't apologize.

I'm sure some of his opinions aren't on par with mine, and that's fine. I would never think someone deserves the treatment he's received the past few weeks.
 
It’s not complete until he apologizes.
I hope he doesn’t. He doesnt need to apologize for his free opinions.

It's never over, an apology is not enough for these lunatics this is about power and control over others lives and forcing their dogma on others by whatever means necessary.

Its like a religious cult with its fanatics going after public non-believers they can find.

Anything Harry Potter related these fanatics will zero in to take ownership away from JK.R for her "sins" against them.
 
You will probably get a lot of shit from people here for this comment, but I agree. No, not everyone people want to say should be said. It's exactly the same reason why 'being corporate' is a requirement if you want to succeed at work.
True - it's pretty much like like Equlibrium world.
 
I guess I'll await his explanation of resignation but I generally think it's inadvisable to quit a profitable career in the midst of drama. Either wait it out or apologize for what you believe you ought to (e.g. I not longer ascribe to those beliefs from years ago, etc.)

I don't think Colin Moriarty was better off resigning from Kinda Funny to capitalize on his controversy. I mean, is he? It results in a temporary spike of attention and outrage-donations, but then people move on to the next thing.
 

Hinedorf

Banned
As you get older most folks tend to learn to consider the choices they make rather than fire from the hip. This whole 'cancel culture' exists due to young people who have no business having a voice or opinion having the ability to railroad peoples lives with the click of a button without making any real thoughtful considerations in the choice when hitting that button on their phones.

There was a thing I learned in school, 'CONSIDER THE SOURCE'..... now I don't agree with anything the now ex lead designer had to post Online, but I could also look at it for a moment make my own thoughtful decision that this idiot and his opinions are irrelevant to anything in my life and simply MOVE ON without having to react in a manner that would threaten his livelihood.

people are just shit
 
Mmm hmm, as was I.

Ah, nice. Appreciate that! Good on him for providing more details. But, doesn't stop my curiosity nonetheless, haha. I'm actually hoping it revolves around him saying he did nothing wrong and he doesn't apologize.

I'm sure some of his opinions aren't on par with mine, and that's fine. I would never think someone deserves the treatment he's received the past few weeks.
Haha, I'm sure anyone who's caught wind of the drama is at least a little curious.

Frankly, I didn't keep up with the news for this one, all I know is some people dug up his YT videos and made a lot of noise about it because he's working on the HP game.

Didn't watch all his videos back then, but the ones I did watch were reasonable to me and I never had a bad impression of him.

Would be cool if his reason for resigning is to join some other big gig in the industry :D
 

VN1X

Banned
Troy Leavitt has left developer Avalanche Software and quit the project, following controversy around his YouTube channel.

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Leavitt became the centre of controversy two weeks ago, when journalist Liam Robertson pointed out that the designer senior producer (thx @GreenAlien for the correction) had previously uploaded a number of videos in the past that, among other subjects, expressed support for the Gamergate movement and downplayed high-profile cases of sexual harassment.

Leavitt has now explained on Twitter that he has left Avalanche Software, adding that he has "nothing but good things to say about the game, the dev team, and WB Games."
In a follow-up, Leavitt says that he felt "absolutely secure" in his position at Avalanche, but made the choice to resign.

unknown.png
unknown.png


Neither Avalanche Software, nor WB Games, have commented on Leavitt's departure at time of writing. IGN has contacted both for comment.


Man if only we, as citizens, could get shit done like this for the stuff that actually mattered.
 

harmny

Banned
I guess I'll await his explanation of resignation but I generally think it's inadvisable to quit a profitable career in the midst of drama. Either wait it out or apologize for what you believe you ought to (e.g. I not longer ascribe to those beliefs from years ago, etc.)

I don't think Colin Moriarty was better off resigning from Kinda Funny to capitalize on his controversy. I mean, is he? It results in a temporary spike of attention and outrage-donations, but then people move on to the next thing.
Colin left and now he has 10k patrons while kinda funny has 5k. So he alone has doubled the numbers of those morons that fired him
 
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x@3f*oo_e!

Member
This is the real problem. We keep giving these psychos an inch here a foot there and we never ever draw a line and stand by it. As long as we keep giving them what they want they will keep riding that dopamine train of misery.
Whilst I totally agree, I'm also slightly confused why this guy was running a "crank defense channel" on youtube in his spare time..
 
Colin left and now he has 10k patrons while kinda funny has 5k. So he alone has doubled the numbers of those morons that fired him

Well I'm glad he didn't fail. But sheer number of patrons isn't the best indicator - it doesn't indicate the level of pledge per month, youtube view count revenue, sponsorships, or twitch partner revenue etc. By the way, where do you see KF's patron count? I don't see it on their page.

edit: also he wasn't fired. He left I thought.
 
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Colin left and now he has 10k patrons while kinda funny has 5k. So he alone has doubled the numbers of those morons that fired him
His company also had an expansion in the beginning of this year where they added an Xbox podcast (with ACG) and other stuff.

He's better off this way as Chris Ray Gun is an infinitely better co-host than that corporate cocksucker Greg Miller. Kinda Funny can get fucked.
 

x@3f*oo_e!

Member
People should be free to say whatever they want without being cancelled/getting fired/getting bullied by a (in this case sjw) mob.
Right. But posting on twitter excepting the rest of the world to care is just narcissim, like it or not. Even without internet-brigade just not doing it is probably the more mentally healthy option.

Not a lawyer or American. But pretty sure US still has the concept of at-will employment. Meaning they can fire you as long as it's not for some protected reason. Whether or not that should be a thing still is up for debate.
Right. But I guess he just fell on his sword, offered his resignation, took the nice friendly thank you 'work related bonus', and the +1 goodwill for future reference.

Guy probably barely out of pocket or affected his career in any real sense.
 

Tangerine

Member
remember 3 years ago when a bunch of twitter idiots going after someone was dogpiling and harassment and apparently the worst thing ever? and Now it's just the norm and those same people love it?

Those people are lunatics. Walking, squarking contradictions. It's okay when they do it. One rule for me another for thee. Preaching tolerance when they are anything but tolerant. A carnivorous infantile snake slowly consuming itself. A vile cesspool of depravity infecting weak minds and spreading like the plauge. God help us all.
 
I'm so fucking sick to death of this shit. It's so easy now for people to dig up dirt on anyone. The only time I'd warrant this kind of insane mob mentality is if someone had hard proof that someone was a rapist, pedo, or murderer.

Some guy made a video expressing views you didn't like. Boo. Fucking. Hoo. Ignore and move on.

I'm seriously starting to think the Internet should go back to how it used to be. Everyone uses an alias or username. No personal information. The fact that people fell for the Facebook, LinkedIn, whatever else bullshit is insanity. This is the Internet. You put one foot out of line, and some lunatic is going to hunt your ass until you're exposed and your life is ruined.

Fuck I'm angry.
 

NullZ3r0

Banned
What are his specific 'controversial' messages? To defend Nolan Bushnell? His criticism about certain 'cultural appropiation' and other supposed feminist or antiracist stuff? His views regarding gamergate, Anita and other sjw stuff?

I only saw a few videos of his youtube channel and a few tweets in the Kotaku comments, and for the little stuff I saw he makes some good points on a respectful way. Stuff you may agree or disagree, but nothing racist or sexist at all, and I didn't find anything that should generate any controversy or that should affect his job.

Did he really leave the company beause of that 'controversy'? Is there any real 'controversy' out there or just a couple of tweets and comments on Kotaku or Resetera?


People should be free to say whatever they want without being cancelled/getting fired/getting bullied by a (in this case sjw) mob.


People should be able to make the games they want, or to write whatever they want (always respectfully and peacefully) without getting bullied. Proper debate and criticism providing decent facts and so on backing opinions should be allowed. And the support of the people giving out their money, attention or clicks should say who's right.

To bully and cancel people to the point of making people loss their jobs, blacklisting people and to cancel anyone who doesn't agree with you isn't the way.
As long as Commies exist you have to troll from the shadows. These people would commit mass murder if they could.
 

Saber

Member
You know the best part? It changes nothing. Once the social mob targets someone or something, they won't gonna stop.

Harry Potter in general is their target and they won't stop until they ruin it for good. This is just a tip of the iceberg.
 

CGiRanger

Banned
You know the best part? It changes nothing. Once the social mob targets someone or something, they won't gonna stop.

Harry Potter in general is their target and they won't stop until they ruin it for good. This is just a tip of the iceberg.
Of course. They are impotent in terms of going after Rowling herself. So they look for any poor sap like this guy they can target and cancel.

He didn't even do anything. How on earth is it right that someone should be hounded out of their livelihood for having an inoffensive opinion? And by that I mean he's not talking anything illegal or even slightly immoral.
 

sackings

Member
Sad. Hopefully he can join or start an indie crew. Smaller studios/ips seem a bit more resistant to these hate mobs. IMO if you are going to do social media you'd best use an alias or be prepared for the worst to happen
 

v_iHuGi

Banned
You know the best part? It changes nothing. Once the social mob targets someone or something, they won't gonna stop.

Harry Potter in general is their target and they won't stop until they ruin it for good. This is just a tip of the iceberg.

Good luck trying that.

Franchise is a juggernaut that won't be stopped, and that women who invented it is richer each day.

I clearly don't agree with her vision though, kinda of aggressive & we all know many of these people already suffer alot elsewhere.

But oh well, hopefully the Game is great.
 

Saber

Member
Good luck trying that.

Social mob didn't born yesteday. They know they can't cancel JK or Harry Potter. They're way too big to be canceled.
What I said is trying to cancel anything related to Harry Potter. This case being used as an example. This guy probably is a normal person, not well know and probably not rich. Thats exactly their type of target, the one which the chances of canceling fairs better.
 
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MacReady13

Member
This is why ignoring these simpletons does absolutely nothing. They're ruining this hobby we all love. And for what? Cause he didn't agree with them?!? I've been a subscriber of Troy's youtube channel for years. He simply disagreed with that moron Sarkeesian but he wasn't rude about it. He explained it from a persons point of view inside the industry. Fuck these people and their twisted views on everything.
 

harmny

Banned
Well I'm glad he didn't fail. But sheer number of patrons isn't the best indicator - it doesn't indicate the level of pledge per month, youtube view count revenue, sponsorships, or twitch partner revenue etc. By the way, where do you see KF's patron count? I don't see it on their page.

edit: also he wasn't fired. He left I thought.

well he left the same way this guy left. do you think this guy left WB because he wanted to? he had to leave because of the controversy and because every media outlet was writing articles everyday about how bigoted he (and therefore the whole studio) was. there was no other choice.

it was the same way with colin. he made a harmless joke and the outrage mob started bashing him left and right then media did the same thing and the kinda funny guys (his friends) instead of backing him up bashed him too and apologized for him so of course he had to leave.

is he more succesful now? well he is making a lot of money and he is independent and free to do and say whatever he wants. so i'd say yes he is.

maybe you can make more money adding pronouns and blm to your bio and a lgbtqia flag to your name and being outraged at everything but if you do that you are just being a puppet of the mob and once the goalpost moves once again and you don't want to do something you'll get canceled. colin is already out of that ecosystem.
 

harmny

Banned
I hope this doesn't affect the quality of the game.

well not directly because of him. he was a nobody just a senior producer. it will indirectly affect however how woke the game is. WB has two choices. they either make the game they want. or they try to make a game that is so woke that they win back the crowd and press that don't want to buy or promote the game because "jk rowling is transphobic". they already announced that their character creator is trans inclusive but they still got murdered online when they announced that. so let's see what happens.

you have to remember something. the whole gaming media is anti jk rowling and hp is her franchise so this game's PR was doomed from the start. this is going to be a witch hunt cdpr style.
 
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clintar

Member
For now.
Until we reach a point in the future where having no social media makes you less hireable because "silence is compliance".
Not having the wrong opinions won't be enough, you'll need to be seen actively expressing the right ones.
"I'm sorry, we were unable to find enough of the required anti-racism social media posts for your requested laundromat operator position."
 

Boneless

Member


What an absolute ass lol. Especially trying to play the card of filantropy. Get real, you are demonizing someone for your own personal gain.
 
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Heylon

Member
Troy Leavitt has left developer Avalanche Software and quit the project, following controversy around his YouTube channel.

unknown.png


Leavitt became the centre of controversy two weeks ago, when journalist Liam Robertson pointed out that the designer senior producer (thx @GreenAlien for the correction) had previously uploaded a number of videos in the past that, among other subjects, expressed support for the Gamergate movement and downplayed high-profile cases of sexual harassment.

Leavitt has now explained on Twitter that he has left Avalanche Software, adding that he has "nothing but good things to say about the game, the dev team, and WB Games."
In a follow-up, Leavitt says that he felt "absolutely secure" in his position at Avalanche, but made the choice to resign.

unknown.png
unknown.png


Neither Avalanche Software, nor WB Games, have commented on Leavitt's departure at time of writing. IGN has contacted both for comment.

Hurray for cancel culture!
 
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