Game Over

The Trump Administration wasted no time fulfilling their promise to slash diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) infrastructures. Within a month of the inaugural, the President signed an executive order demolishing these regimes within numerous federal agencies, the military, and higher education.                                                                                                                                          

One industry that has been left scrambling is tech, where companies are scurrying to rethink strategies and realign corporate cultures. Corporations such as Meta are distancing themselves from DEI ideology and practice. The virtual reality gaming and tech giant, announced they were ending their affirmative action hiring and replacing their fact checking program with a community notes styled approach that prioritizes “free expression.”

Though inspired by new regulations and federal pressures, these shifts may actually breed an incredible and much needed renaissance in the gaming world. The Western video game industry’s significant drop in quality over the last four years has been well documented. As Donald Trump moves to eliminate DEI and ESG policies, the shift could present an opportunity for the Western triple A gaming industry–which includes high profile games produced by major publishers–to reclaim global dominance.

This decline among American and Western developers relative to those in Asian countries, is stark. Over the last eight years western representation at the Game Awards has fallen from 5/5 western developed games nominated in 2016 (one with a Japanese publisher) to only one nominated game in 2024.

This downturn is so large, it spurred mass-layoffs of over 20,000 employees at western game development studios between 2023 and 2024.

An outsized focus on DEI has played a massive role in this decline. The game Call of Duty: Black Ops 6, for example, had such massive hardware issues that, despite being the best-selling new game of 2024, it was not even nominated for a Game of the Year award. Fatally, rather than focusing on game functionality, the developers directed resources to creating characters like Volta, the first non-binary character in the Call of Duty franchise.

Precipitating this self-destructive foray into woke priorities has been Sweet Baby Inc., a Canadian “narrative development consulting company” for gaming studios, founded in 2018. Many games the company has helped develop have ideological messaging and pronounced woke symbolism. In God of War Ragnarök, for instance, an ancient Norse Goddess–the wife of Loki and the mother of monsters–is depicted as a black woman. 

Another Sweet Baby Inc. game containing progressive symbolism is Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, where developers recently added an inexplicably Asian lesbian version of Mr. Freeze. A pro-LGTBQ outlet praised the game for this “forward-looking representation of queer storylines and archetypes” adding that the character skins are “arguably more flamboyant than innovative, the array of choice is thorough, ranging from aromantic King Shark to pansexual Boomerang to trans-inclusive gay men’s Joker.” 

Even before the Trump-inspired DEI reversals, these woke antics led to rebellion. On the popular video game platform Steam, gamers have created a group called “Sweet Baby Inc. Detected” purely to identify games impacted by the company. The group then lists these tainted games with a rating and links to an external website with evidence of the consultant’s involvement. These crusaders against woke game adulteration are not insignificant –-garnering close to 500,000 followers, they even impelled a Sweet Baby employee to run a cancel campaign against the DEI detection group.

However, the wrangling over wokeness within the gaming world leading up to 2025 is even more complex.

Reddit moderators for the subreddit of a game called Lords of the Fallen, recently banned the game’s creator, Marik Tyminski, for “actively supporting and promoting fascist ideology under the guise of catering to the player base.” Why? Tyminski posted a poll on X asking if people prefer “Male”/”Female” character options or the more DEI option of  “Body Type A”/"Body Type B.”  The community overwhelmingly voted for Male/Female options.

Since the ban, Tyminski has unleashed a string of X posts criticizing the push for DEI standards in the western gaming industry and praising countries like China and South Korea for refusing to change their standards to appease DEI promoters. Popular YouTube streamer, Asmongold, made a video condemning the ban and expressing support for Tyminski, insisting that most of the gaming community was on his side–given the results of the X poll. 

President Trump’s focus on DEI dismantlement will bolster these earlier efforts from within the gaming community, allowing the industry to again prioritize game quality over political messaging.

Elon Musk, who heads Trump’s dismantling team, DOGE, has criticized the current state of the video game industry, posting to underscore the need for DEI-overthrow: “make games great again.” Musk recently stated that he is also serious about starting a gaming studio under the label xAI. Musk’s messages have garnered enormous support from gamers who had been waiting for a big player to represent their cause.  

Also lending momentum to the anti-DEI pushback is GameStop CEO, Ryan Cohen, who announced that he intends to sell GameStop holdings in both Canada and France. Last month Cohen posted on X, “Email M&A@gamestop.com if you’re interested in buying GameStop Canada or Micromania France. High taxes, Liberalism, Socialism, Progressivism, Wokeness and DEI included at no additional cost if you buy today!” Although snarky, Cohen was serious: GameStop posted an official press release confirming his intention to sell. 

The turning tide in the ideological-takeover of the gaming industry offers both opportunities and lessons. Tens of thousands of game developers lost their jobs as a direct consequence of DEI-based decision-making, detrimentally handing over the industry to China and Japan.

Failing to dominate the industry harms not just American jobs, innovation, and cultural influence, but also our freedom of speech. Chinese developers have already begun censoring anti-CCP expression in games like Marvel Rivals, with terms such as Tiananmen Square, Free Taiwan, and Free Tibet being banned from in-game chats. 

Along with regulatory changes, voices like Musk and GameStop’s Cohen opposing DEI in the gaming world should inspire American triple A game development to once again become competitive with their Chinese and Japanese counterparts.

Perhaps more important than the messaging from these executives, video game development and publishing executives should learn a lesson from the popular pushback they received. Namely, their job is to create a product that appeals and sells to their consumer base, not to create non-functional games that channel an abstract conception of the current progressive zeitgeist.

Matias Ahrensdorf is a Data Analyst for Policy and Research at the Manhattan Institute.

Derek Lux is a Project Manager for Policy and Research at the Manhattan Institute.