RuneScape developer Jagex has been reportedly accused of “catering to American conservatism” after pivoting from Pride Month events starting this year.
In a report by PinkNews, developers at the studio expressed discontent over a decision to roll back on Jagex’s official Pride Month events, which the studio has been running and promoting in and out RuneScape for years.
According to the news outlet, CEO Jon Bellamy shared the news on Friday, April 25, via the company’s internal message board. In it, Bellamy stated that RuneScape and Old School RuneScape would not be running any 2025 Pride Month content, so that developers could instead focus more on “what players wanted.”
Developers reportedly volunteered to finish said content in their own time, saying that the work around the event was either already complete or straightforward to implement. Others also proposed an in-game Pride parade which, supposedly, would not have entailed development time.
On Tuesday, April 29, Bellamy, alongside the company’s chief people and culture officer Keeley Vaughan-Davies, hosted a Q&A session to address staff concerns. During the session, Bellamy reportedly said that the reality that we find ourselves in is “changing,” and that is getting “more troubling, less moral” in his opinion.
Related:Kim Swift, former Portal lead developer, joins NEARstudios as COO
“Games and studios are being canceled because of content that is perceived to be ‘woke’ or representative,” he continued. ”The pendulum is swinging back in a way we didn’t expect.”
Bellamy confirmed that the Pride mini-quest in Old School RuneScape is being discontinued for 2025, while the Tales of Pride event will be present in RuneScape but without newly developed content. Community-organized Pride marches will be allowed to continue.
The reasoning behind the decision is to “ensure the business is protected against those that would wish us harm,” and that the content is “now controversial in a way it didn’t used to be and that controversy now brings more risk than it did previously.”
Jagex employees sent an open letter to management on May 15, asking the executive team to commit to annual, seasonal Pride events for both games, and to restart development on new Pride content for 2025.
On May 22, Jagex reportedly responded to the letter, saying that “our job is not to use the game as an outlet for our own views, but to craft worlds that serve our players, offering immersion, escape and meaning.”
Jagex is the latest publisher to step back from visibly supporting DEI and LGBTQIA+ groups
As pointed out by PinkNews, even though Jagex is a UK-based company, it is currently owned by US-based private equity and investment advisory firm CVC Capital Partners.
Related:Megabonk dev withdraws from The Game Awards over ‘unqualified’ nomination
According to CVC’s portfolio page, the firm currently has partnerships with 26 U.S. companies. An anonymous Jagex employee reportedly told PinkNews that by discontinuing Pride events, Jagex is “catering to American conservatism.”
In recent times, companies such as Take-Two have removed mentions of LGBTQIA+ support efforts from investor reports, even altering messaging in comparison to previous years (thanks Game File).
Meanwhile, someone at Activision reportedly leaked internal Slack messages to right wing users after staff pressed the company about maintaining support for DEI and LGBTQIA+ groups.
In a statement addressed to PinkNews, a Jagex spokesperson said that the studio is “a strong supporter and ally of the LGBTQ+ community, with a firm belief that our games should be a safe space for all our players and celebrates people of all identities.” They claimed it was a “difficult decision” to pause work on new in-game Pride content for 2025.
In addition, they stated the studio is “working with our internal DEI committee to explore broader, more meaningful ways to celebrate Pride across Jagex, including possible partnerships and charitable support” while continuing to “listen, learn, and find better ways to support all players and employees.”
Related:GDC survey indicates over half of U.S. game workers want to join a union
The news comes a week after Jagex laid off an undisclosed number of staff.