These are the online gaming companies supporting reproductive choice and healthcare for workers

By
Bree Royce
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33

When news of the impending overturn of Roe v. Wade in the United first leaked in early May, so few games companies spoke up that national media called out the industry for its silence (or lack thereof if you’re Sony). That isn’t the case now that the judgment has been issued, as following the formal SCOTUS ruling yesterday, we’ve seen an avalanche of support coming from gaming studios for the reproductive healthcare of their workers. Here’s a quick scan of some of the MMORPG and MMO-adjacent studios that have spoken up for bodily autonomy and put their money where their mouths are.

Guild Wars 2 studio ArenaNet (and NCsoft West separately) and Destiny 2 studio Bungie were among the first developers to make statements (and among the very few to have made statements last month as well):

Daybreak and its substudios Darkpaw Games (EverQuest franchise), Rogue Planet (PlanetSide franchise), Dimensional Ink (DC Universe Online), and Standing Stone Games (LOTRO and DDO):

Hi-Rez (SMITE):

Xbox and Bethesda issued separate statements:

Electronic Arts (there’s also a whole blog post):

BioWare (SWTOR):

Ubisoft:

Niantic (Pokemon Go):

System Era Softworks (Astroneer):

Innersloth (Among Us):

Studio Wildcard (Ark Survival Evolved):

Singularity 6 (Palia):

Cold Iron Studios (Aliens Fireteam Elite):

Riot Games apparently issued an internal memo stating that Riot is “committed to providing reproductive healthcare coverage and resources to any Rioter who needs it.” According to the worker who tweeted it, it reads, “We want all Rioters to have access to the medical care they need, and if a Rioter lives in a state impacted by this ruling and feels unsafe, we want to help. […] We’ll provide additional support, which could include out-of-state travel costs and potential relocation services. […] “In addition, we’ll be opening up 2x donation matching (two matched dollars for every one dollar donated) for Rioters who wish to donate to [relevant organizations].”

The International Game Developers Association (IGDA) also issued a statement of solidarity. “We believe bodily autonomy and choice over one’s own reproductive and healthcare matters are pertinent to achieving this mission,” the group writes. “We are deeply concerned by increased government interventions undermining and limiting reproductive choice and access to care. We applaud and show solidarity with games industry and community leaders who are taking action to support all who are negatively impacted by these attempts.”

Gaming personalities – from John Smedley to Richard Garriott to Derek Smart to Lum the Mad to Andy Belford to freakin Asmongold – have also chimed in.

The Activision-Blizzard workers alliance and Gamespot have threads of organizations worth helping, though Activision-Blizzard itself has made no public statements, only an internal one [Update: Here’s an ABK VP making one on Linkedin.]

Blizzard’s Valentine Powell has a long list of additional companies and groups with statements as well. The studios Powell names that we haven’t already are Naughty Dog, PlayStation London, Guerilla, Sucker Punch, Santa Monica Studio, Media Molecule, Insomniac, Heart Machine, Unbroken, NYXL, Airship Syndicate, Team Meat, That’s No Moon, Future Club, Dreamhaven, Recombobulator, The Sims, Devolver Digital, Akupara, Frost Giant Studios, Safe in Our World, Humble, Gravity Well, Scopely, Double Fine, and probably more by the time I’m done typing this sentence. There are also a few, like Respawn, with vague statements that don’t seem to be promising anything, and Amazon, which has a blanket statement for all of its subsidiaries, which includes Amazon Game Studios.

Please let us know in the comments if there are any online gaming studios we’ve missed.

Source: Twitter, IGDA
Update
Funcom added its voice this afternoon.

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