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Polygon article on JonTron and A Hat in Time (Humble Bundle responds to controversy)

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PaulloDEC

Member
So why didnt they make a statement when this was first brought up months ago when their game wasnt right about to release?

Now that's a good question.

They’ve had since like March to consider taking him out.

If they feel that they’d lose more by not appealing to racists then they probably deserve a few lost sales

It seems like maybe they wanted to sit on the fence and hope that everyone forgot about the whole thing, but who really knows. Either way, it's clear that they fucked up.
 

MKIL65

Member
If they're not gonna respond, then I have every right to assume they're in cahoots with a racist asshat.
 
It's pretty ironic. Jontron's favorite genre is 3D platformers, I'm pretty sure he made a lot of videos and fans from his Banjo-Kazooie videos. He's such a fan that he tried to squeeze his way into the two big 3D platformer Kickstarters.

By making himself a part of these two games, he's actually caused serious damage to the launch of both games aiming to revive his beloved 3D platformer.

It's crazy that he didn't have the foresight, or care enough to realize that going public with his extremely heinous "political views" would really hut these two dev teams.
 
It's weird how Humble Bundle, which basically had nothing to do with developing the game, is able to at least put out a statement while Gears for Breakfast is still silent on the matter.

This is... troubling. Saying nothing is much worse than providing even a meager excuse.
 

L Thammy

Member
It's pretty ironic. Jontron's favorite genre is 3D platformers, I'm pretty sure he made a lot of videos and fans from his Banjo-Kazooie videos. He's such a fan that he tried to squeeze his way into the two big 3D platformer Kickstarters.

By making himself a part of these two games, he's actually caused serious damage to the launch of both games aiming to revive his beloved 3D platformer.

It's crazy that he didn't have the foresight, or care enough to realize that going public with his extremely heinous "political views" would really hut these two dev teams.

I think being a half Iranian white supremacist should already have said something about how much foresight JonTron has.
 

Rmagnus

Banned
Yeah. It’s infinitely more damning than just saying hey we can’t afford to patch this and replace the voice lines

At this point I’d prefer them to even come out and say that they don’t care about what Jon did. At least it would be a stance.

Lol their silence speaks volumes on this topic imo
 

Kirlia

Banned
Saying nothing at all is weak as hell and earns no respect from anyone. If you're gonna keep him in the game, at least be forward about it.
 

Vamphuntr

Member
They are running a Stardock bundle at the moment so I think it's quite easy to say they don't care. $$$$ first and foremost it is it seems.
 

pa22word

Member
Saying nothing is saying everything.

If they're not gonna respond, then I have every right to assume they're in cahoots with a racist asshat.
Marketing is likely part of the contract they have with the devs though. If they come out and slam the devs said devs might have cause for breach of contract.

Again, this just seems like they got into bed with the wrong guys and didn't realize it. Hb's publishing arm doesn't work like an AAA studio like EA or something, they pull these Indies in by having zero creative control and marketing budget to entice them to sign.

If HB continues to work with these guys once the contract is up then yeah I say fuck HB but as of now I doubt they can legally do anything about it than what they are now.
 

whipihguh

Banned
Marketing is likely part of the contract they have with the devs though. If they come out and slam the devs said devs might have cause for breach of contract.

Again, this just seems like they got into bed with the wrong guys and didn't realize it. Hb's publishing arm doesn't work like an AAA studio like EA or something, they pull these Indies in by having zero creative control and marketing budget to entice them to sign.

If HB continues to work with these guys once the contract is up then yeah I say fuck HB but as of now I doubt they can legally do anything about it than what they are now.

I don't think they're blaming HB here, Gears is the one's who made the game and hired JonTron, and are consequently refusing to defend or condemn the choices they've made. HB's hands are tied if Gears won't budge.

It's really kinda fucked that their own publisher asks them "Hey, what's the deal with this JonTron thing" and Gears is still tight-lipped.
 

Blam

Member
I don't think they're blaming HB here, Gears is the one's who made the game and hired JonTron, and are consequently refusing to defend or condemn their actions. HB's hands are tied if Gears won't budge.

It's really kinda fucked that their own publisher asks them "Hey, what's the deal with this JonTron thing" and Gears is still tight-lipped.

They didn't hire Jontron he paid to be in the game. He paid them not them paying him. Humble Bundle has literally not pushing power in this situation. Just as much as you'd be trying to goto Valve to get them to force Gears for Breakfasts hand.

It's really only the developer here who would be able to do something.

Fair enough!

The reason it caught my eye is because I thought exerting pressure on peripheral partners like HB was a waste of time, but perhaps not. (Oh, who am I kidding, their response shows they aren't going to do shit, either.)

Also HB didn't finance the game I don't know where this information is coming from. They allowed it's sale through their system, and key sharing through it. Sure they "published" it but this game was kickstarted. Not financed.
 

Rmagnus

Banned
Having seen the review thread it makes sense to not speak up. It seems gamers are fine with buying the game even if they don't speak up but if they do speak up they will lose the sales of the alt right. Lmfao in some twisted ways the alt rights are more principled than gamers.
 
Came here cause I saw a thread in the Steam Discussions about the "Crazy SJWs" on GAF, and that Polygon is "triggered over a game featuring a cute little girl."

Evidently wanting developers to not employ high profile racists as voice actors constitutes an "infantile tantrum."
 

Zubz

Banned
Having seen the review thread it makes sense to not speak up. It seems gamers are fine with buying the game even if they don't speak up but if they do speak up they will lose the sales of the alt right. Lmfao in some twisted ways the alt rights are more principled than gamers.

How so? It's lost many sales here. I mean, I have a key from the Kickstarter, & forgot to upgrade my purchase to the PS4 so I was considering giving the key away & buying it there. Now the key's going unused & I'm going to get Thimbleweed Park instead.
 

pa22word

Member
They didn't hire Jontron he paid to be in the game. He paid them not them paying him. Humble Bundle has literally not pushing power in this situation. Just as much as you'd be trying to goto Valve to get them to force Gears for Breakfasts hand.

It's really only the developer here who would be able to do something.



Also HB didn't finance the game I don't know where this information is coming from. They allowed it's sale through their system, and key sharing through it. Sure they "published" it but this game was kickstarted. Not financed.
Na HB did finance it.

https://www.humblebundle.com/publishing
 

whipihguh

Banned
They didn't hire Jontron he paid to be in the game. He paid them not them paying him. Humble Bundle has literally not pushing power in this situation. Just as much as you'd be trying to goto Valve to get them to force Gears for Breakfasts hand.

It's really only the developer here who would be able to do something.

...that's what I said. Humble Bundle can't do anything if Gears won't speak to them or respond of their own accord. I don't think those posters were blaming Humble Bundle for this.

I didn't realize JonTron paid to be in the game. That's possibly a significant reason he's still in and why they've been silent so far. Then again, won't know until someone speaks up.
 
Where is the information that Jontron paid Gears to be in the game coming from?

One GAFer was speculating that in the last thread, now it's confirmed?
 
I think I'd be a little more forgiving on Gears not making a statement if not for the post from the supposed ex-employee from earlier. Did they get vetted?

This one.

You can find many search results about the game that mention my name. Just search for:
"a hat in time" "peter valencia"

This is my art portfolio, showing off just a few of the many assets I made for the game.
http://dropr.com/pvalencia/90246/a_hat_in_time/+?p=1175265

I was the only one on the team who had the skills to create Snatcher in 3D. Snatcher was originally just a 2D sprite that was overlayed on the environment, but because of certain cutscenes he later had to be evolved into a full 3D animated mesh. However, this required shape key (also known as morph target) animation, something no one else on the team at the time knew how to do. I also created the pillow pile (the one you can "swim" in) in Hat Kid's spaceship, using a physics simulation. None of my colleagues knew how to do that either.

Yet despite all that, the company remained quiet after JonTron called people like me lazy welfare thieves that should be kept out of the gene pool. Not even a measly tweet saying they disagree with him.

Regardless of how much money they end up making, they're going to have to live with the consequences of this for years to come. They've now established an audience firmly within neo-Nazi and alt-right circles, and they'll have to constantly avoid offending that crowd in the future to stay in business. Best of luck with that, Gears for Breakfast.
 

pa22word

Member
Damn not even a token "we support diversity and condemn hate speech"

No fucks given
Yep.

I hate to be this way, but I can't see how purchasing this game is anything other than tacit support of white supremacy.

I mean I love 3d platformers like this to death, but there's other shit to play out right now guys. Have some self control and don't support these dipshits. Just my 2c
 

Rmagnus

Banned
How so? It's lost many sales here. I mean, I have a key from the Kickstarter, & forgot to upgrade my purchase to the PS4 so I was considering giving the key away & buying it there. Now the key's going unused & I'm going to get Thimbleweed Park instead.

Gaf is a very left leaning site and even here if you look at the review thread it's still fairly split. Could you imagine other sites or gamers in general?
 
Having seen the review thread it makes sense to not speak up. It seems gamers are fine with buying the game even if they don't speak up but if they do speak up they will lose the sales of the alt right. Lmfao in some twisted ways the alt rights are more principled than gamers.
It’s better to lose sales doing the right thing than to forever have your game linked to a white nationalist

This game has a youtuber as a voice actor. Boycotting.
You seem to have a firm grasp on the situation
 

Hilbert

Deep into his 30th decade
Damn not even a token "we support diversity and condemn hate speech"

No fucks given

Thing is, if they made that statement and left his voice in, Nazis would consider that a win. They are used to people giving lip service against them, but actions supporting them.

This is even worse. The developer won't even make a useless statement about how white supremacy sucks.
 

pa22word

Member
Gaf is a very left leaning site and even here if you look at the review thread it's still fairly split. Could you imagine other sites or gamers in general?
Personally if I was the mods I'd nuke the game's OT from orbit and tell people that if they want to talk about a game that supports white supremacy they can take their asses to stormfront to do it. But I'm not a mod and that's likely a very good thing, lol
 
This game has a youtuber as a voice actor. Boycotting!

Of all the possible descriptors, you choose the most innocuous

image.php
 

Zubz

Banned
You can find many search results about the game that mention my name. Just search for:
"a hat in time" "peter valencia"

This is my art portfolio, showing off just a few of the many assets I made for the game.
http://dropr.com/pvalencia/90246/a_hat_in_time/+?p=1175265

I was the only one on the team who had the skills to create Snatcher in 3D. Snatcher was originally just a 2D sprite that was overlayed on the environment, but because of certain cutscenes he later had to be evolved into a full 3D animated mesh. However, this required shape key animation, something no one else on the team at the time knew how to do. I also created the pillow pile (the one you can "swim" in) in Hat Kid's spaceship, using a physics simulation. None of my colleagues knew how to do that either.

Yet despite all that, the company remained quiet after JonTron called people like me lazy welfare thieves that should be kept out of the gene pool. Not even a measly tweet saying they disagree with him.

Regardless of how much money they end up making, they're going to have to live with the consequences of this for years to come. They've now established an audience firmly within neo-Nazi and alt-right circles, and they'll have to constantly avoid offending that crowd in the future to stay in business. Best of luck with that, Gears for Breakfast.

Harsh. That said, it sounds like you're phenomenal at your job, Valen; I can't wait to see you get work for a company that doesn't sound so spineless!

Gaf is a very left leaning site and even here if you look at the review thread it's still fairly split. Could you imagine other sites or gamers in general?

Alt-Reichers aren't as keen on boycotting as you'd believe. Yooka-Laylee's the closest thing to an example I can think about, & most of that game's sales were most likely lost due to poor reviews.
 

Yukinari

Member
Personally if I was the mods I'd nuke the game's OT from orbit and tell people that if they want to talk about a game that supports white supremacy they can take their asses to stormfront to do it. But I'm not a mod and that's likely a very good thing, lol

Out of the 2,000+ people playing the game right now on steam im pretty sure most of them, much like gaffers here, have no clue who Jon is or what he said.

If they solely bought the game to support Jon then maybe youd have a point.

Other people just want a good 3D platformer after Yooka Laylee's mediocrity.
 

Kintaro

Worships the porcelain goddess
.
I didn't realize JonTron paid to be in the game. That's possibly a significant reason he's still in and why they've been silent so far. Then again, won't know until someone speaks up.

Does it matter if he paid? Give him his money back, say no thanks and kick his voice out of the game.
 
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