Sony Says They’re Cultivating a Corporate Gaming Culture Emphasizing DE&I
It’s no secret that comics. movies and other forms of entertainment are focusing on DE&I (diversity, equity & inclusion), and that includes gaming. For Sony, it’s not just for the games themselves, but even in the development process, the company is pushing for it too.
In Sony’s Corporate Report for 2024, under the Game & Network Services section, Sony listed the “Areas of Focus for Sustainability” which had the following key points listed:
Areas of Focus for Sustainability
DE&I/Accessibility/Environment/Responsible Supply Chain
- Cultivating a corporate culture that emphasizes DE&I
- Ensuring broad accessibility functions of hardware, controllers, and game titles, with development of dedicated peripherals
- Improving energy efficiency across hardware and network services; continuing to reduce plastic use in packaging
- Addressing environmental and human rights risks in the context of global supply chains
Bear in mind, this is not new, as more and more companies across the world are pushing for a wider inclusivity net when it comes to employees. Hopefully, this leads to a deeper talent pool, which would mean we get better games in the long run.
In terms of games, Sony has also been at the forefront of this as well, as not only do we have Aloy as the protagonist of the multi-million selling Horizon franchise, but even Ghost of Tsushima’s sequel — Ghost of Yotei — is now starring a strong female lead. While some might have a problem with this, I don’t mind it as long as the developers can execute on their vision, and the game’s fun.
More MP1st Reading:
- Ghost of Yotei Allows Protagonist Greater Control Over Her Story Than in Tsushima, and Narrative Is About “Underdog Vengeance”
- Team Asobi Wanted FF7 Character in Astro Bot, But Square Enix Didn’t Approve It; Collab Picks Based on “Positive Impression and Genuine Nostalgia”
- Report: PlayStation 6 Chip Contract Landed by AMD, Sony Prioritizing PS5 Backwards Compatibility
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It definitely isn’t going to result in better games. We’re already seeing results in current games and it’s not good.
I love how diversity equity and inclusion literally just means discrimination but hidden by fake platitudes.
Hire the best people for the job and that’s it. Don’t even make ANY thing else a factor into it.
I can’t believe how many people have fallen for this nonsense.
Exactly. I don’t see this as a good thing. It’s more like hiring people based on their skin color and gender instead of hiring people based on skill. It’s a shame that this becoming a norm now. If Concord taught us anything, you should really not go with that kind of drivel.
DE&I is a companies way of saying they have enough money and don’t mind losing 60% of possible profits.
They have no reason to complain when games flop.
In before people start going “Oh they hate women” no, until now, everything that has been “DE&I” focused, it’s shit. To the point that most gamers just evade those games as if it was it’s own genre. Now because of this, whenever something comes up that shows any DEI approach, it already gives a sour taste, enough to just push players away and not buy the product. GoT Yotei, looks phenomenal, but can’t help but to think it might be full of DE&I crap and that’s enough reason to not purchase the game on release, and wait till sale or something else.
DreamWorks has fallen and closed its door falling to the woke trend and wokisims. Long time Disney fans that have been in denial are now admitting that Disney is seeing a similar fate due to the same things. Gaming is going to be no different and meet the same fates. People don’t play games to be preached too, that’s what our religious activities are for. The point of gaming is to leave the real world for a time and live in a world without all the problems we have to deal with in real life. GAMERS DONT WANT TO BE PREACHED TO! And companies that follow the trend, rather than being the Sega and the anti-establishment l will crumble as well while those that don’t follow an obvious annoyance and misstep in doing so won’t survive.
Ghost of Tsushima, for example, prided itself on historical accuracy. Jin didn’t matter as a character because someone could have been like him and the producers of the game were very happy and satisfied. Now, take Assassins Creed Shadows that went the path you’re now talking about and look at its reception and how upset the Japanese are which now has shaken Ubisoft and they’re facing major issues over A.C. Shadows and taking the same route with Star Wars Outlaws. The day we always wanted when EA finally had to relinquish their grip on the Star Wars franchise, sports fans have been hoping for for decades now and are still on hold, we got for Star Wars and now it’s jacked up, in part for taking the woke liberties they did. Ubisoft is one of the big three that is so corporate (Ubisoft, Activision, EA) that they would follow trends just to make a quick buck off a niche market revolving a whole game around something so stupid, and even after preaching carefully not offending a group. If this is the route gaming with continue to go, well, even Nintendo hasn’t walked this route. Have you seen Samus staring she’s LGBTQP? Nintendo isn’t letting it happen. They could and Metroid could imply or, but Nintendo won’t walk that path, it’s corporate suicide.
this leaves a bad enough taste in my mouth to make me entirely abandon a product or business if they bend the knee to neo-fascists of organizations BlackRock, forcing companies into compliance.
They plan on making the future of media entirely curated with the system choosing which business gets to survive or become a viceroy in their field so in gaming, we see the likes of EA, Sony, Ubisoft, etc. all selling out and feltching their way to be part of that system
Alex Co wrote “Hopefully, this leads to a deeper talent pool, which would mean we get better games in the long run.”
…is this guy ever on the correct side of history on anything? I still remember his constant and repulsive support for that history rewritting battlefield game a few years ago. smfh
i don’t mind if the game has dei, ugly female characters, girl boss characters, lasbo/trans characters, race swapped characters, social messaging.
If the story is excellent and they have compelling characters i’m gonna still purchase and buy Sony
We already have AMAZING games with diverse women (some even gay). Last of Us and Horizon are awesome. Sony didn’t need to ‘focus’ on DEI crap to make those games. Now that DEI is their focus, everything will suck and be forced. The moment a company creates a DEI checklist that all games or media has to meet, its when all their games and media become the same boring thing. It’s why Marvel movies and pretty much every Disney movie flopped in 2022 and 2023. They are still having problems with D+ series. They go off a single checklist and its a checklist that is void of all creativity.
So say goodbye to the good games featuring diverse characters, say hello to shit like Star Wars Outlaws and Concord.