The recent leak of a Supreme Court opinion seemingly teasing the looming repeal of Roe v. Wade has sent ripples that are being felt all over the U.S., including the video game industry. Several studios, such as Bungie and Double Fine, have already come forward in support of women's reproductive rights, donating to several organizations and calling on the larger game industry to join these efforts. Other companies, such as Sony, were initially coy, but in the wake of internal backlash over an email by PlayStation President Jim Ryan containing quotes some feel downplay the situation, the company is now donating to women's reproductive rights alongside Insomniac.
Sony's donation comes on the heels of reported backlash within PlayStation following a company-wide email by Ryan earlier in May addressing the Supreme Court leak and Roe v. Wade. In it, Ryan avoided taking a definitive stance on the subject and instead asked employees to "respect differences of opinion" about abortion before Ryan concluded the email by discussing his two cats' recent birthdays. The email was reportedly met with disdain within PlayStation Studios, especially among female employees who felt Ryan worked to avoid the issue at hand and trivialized it further by discussing his pets.
The Washington Post reported it acquired internal emails from Insomniac CEO Ted Price to employees on May 13 that the studio would be donating $50,000 to the Women’s Reproductive Rights Assistance Project. Price's email also states their parent company Sony will be matching the donation to the WRRAP, along with donations made to the group by individual employees through Sony's PlayStation Cares charity program. The email concludes with confirmation Sony will work with Insomniac to create a financial assistance program to support employees who may need to travel outside their respective home states for reproductive treatments.
The tone of Ryan's email was made to look worse within Sony following the hard stance of Bungie, which has prided itself on being one of the more socially conscious studios in the industry today, as seen with its staunch support of the Black Lives Matter movement. Bungie was fairly blunt in a May 4 blog post, calling the potential repeal of Roe v. Wade "a blow to freedom in America and is a direct attack on human rights." The studio also provided links to several women's reproductive rights groups, encouraging anyone willing to donate and show their support to these groups.
Regardless of what led to the donations and new company initiatives, it would not be surprising to see many players out there just happy to see one of gaming's biggest powers take a stance on this. It could also mark the start of several other major companies, like Electronic Arts and Microsoft, getting more involved with rights groups in a similar way to Bungie and Sony, but only time will tell.
Source: Washington Post