John Gibson, Tripwire CEO, tweeted his support for a Texas anti-abortion law. The law prohibits abortions after six weeks. This started a social media storm. Gibson quickly resigned from Tripwire after disavowals by multiple studios.
Tripwire Interactive, a publisher and studio based in Georgia, announced Monday that John Gibson, CEO, has been replaced by Alan Wilson, Vice President. Wilson will be the company's new leader as it seeks a new chief executive.
The developer stated that John Gibson's comments were his opinion and did not reflect Tripwire Interactive's views. His comments were not in line with the values of our entire team, our partners and much of the wider community. Tripwire's leadership team is deeply sorry. We are united in our resolve to swiftly take action and foster a more positive atmosphere.
Gibson, who was the co-owner of Tripwire, is not certain if he will retain his shares in Tripwire after his ouster. Tripwire representatives did not respond immediately to Ars Technica's inquiries.
A pro-life developer
Gibson wrote on September 4, that he was proud of the US Supreme Court's decision to allow a law banning abortions at six weeks. It also allows private citizens to sue anyone who they believe aids women in such a procedure. Gibson, the former studio head, also said that he was a pro-life developer. Gibson's tweet received swift responses from game-development peers and fans alike. Cory Barlog (God of War director) responded to Gibson's tweet with the following: "How can anyone be proud of asserting dominion over women's personal freedoms?"
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Shipwright Studios, a contract development company that was involved with Tripwire's Maneater and Chivalry 2 projects, has severed ties to the company. Gibson was retorted by the studio in a tweet. "While your politics may be your own, the instant you make them a matter for public discourse, you entangle everyone working for and with your." "We can't in good conscience continue working with Tripwire under this leadership structure." Shipwright did not comment on whether Tripwire's relationship may change following the shakeup. However, Tripwire did tweet the announcement about Gibson.
Torn Banner Studios, which developed the Tripwire-published Chivalry 2 game, followed up with a tweet distancing themselves from Gibson's Friday statement. The studio stated that it did not share this perspective and that the games they create do not reflect this. The statement is contrary to our beliefs about women's rights. Gibson's Twitter account seems to have been inactive since September 5th, and his bio on Twitter has not yet been updated to reflect his current employment status.
This is the history...
Gibson has a history of showing his Christian faith through Tripwire's games. This goes back to the original 2005 mod of Killing Floor. Gibson said that Gibson wanted to cover up the female monster in the mod after she appeared naked.
Gibson stated, "I started to say, "Hey, I don’t want to call myself a ChristianI want it to be real," That really had an impact on my game design and development.
Gibson stated that Tripwire's games have often caused polarization by Gibson adding his Christian faith. This can prove to be a problem, not just because of the fans but also because of other developers within the industry. Christians are getting a bad rap. People say things like "We hate everyone," etc.
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Gibson included "Disunion Reconstructed", a song by Dirge, in Killing Floor 2, which is a gory, Left 4 Dead-style, first-person shooter. This song contains a lot of savage lyrics about subjects like "fetuses", and "mentioning Christ on he job". Killing Floor 2 has an option to toggle the ability to enable or disable the lyrics of the soundtrack. The default setting is "disabled".
Gibson stated in a 2016 interview that "[It] may shock a lot people with it being so violent, such a gory, game that there is any kind, you know? Christian behind the studio that made the game." But if you go back over the history of the Bible, you will see that there is quite a bit of violence.
Five Nights at Freddy’s creator Scott Cawthon quit game development in June after being criticized for donations he made conservative anti-LGBTQ campaigns including those of Donald Trump and Mitch McConnell.
"I'm a Republican. I am a Christian. I support life. I believe in God. Cawthon stated that he also believes in equality and science and common sense in a Reddit post. This was in an attempt to resolve the controversy. "Despite what others may think, all of these things can be combined. This is not an apology. It's just the way it has always been.
Cawthon addressed the public backlash indirectly in his retirement statement. He stated, "I have been shown tremendous support and love over the last week, a lot which has come through the LGBTQ community."
Tripwire will host a company-wide town hall meeting, led by interim CEO Alan Wilson, to discuss employee concerns and promote open dialogue.
