Shots were fired in GamerGate 2.0. On the 15th of March, That Park Place published a news article titled “‘Forspoken’ Consultant Black Girl Gamers Appears To Discriminate In Their Hiring Practices While Claiming They Are Being Harassed” and wrote that “A video game consultant organization, Black Girl Gamers, that consulted on Square Enix’s disastrous Forspoken game appears to be discriminating in their hiring practices while simultaneously claiming they are being harassed.” In support of the statement that BGG “appears” to be discriminating in their hiring practices a screenshot of a BGG X post dated 19 February 2024 was included in the article, which read: “Looking for Black Women Content Creators that make Dungeons & Dragons (DND) content for some potential brand work! Hit us up!”
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Now BGG are threatening to sue That Park Place and journalist John F. Trent. The official Black Girl Gamers X account posted a thread threatening legal action on 27 March: “We’re addressing the recent allegations published on http://thatparkplace.com about discriminatory hiring practices within Black Girl Gamers. These claims are false and were made without prior fact-checking or verification from us or our representatives. (1/8)”
“Black Girl Gamers operates as a contracting organization that collaborates with both freelancers and content creators from all backgrounds to work on various projects and initiatives to amplify underrepresented voices in gaming and make the community more inclusive. (2/8)”
“Contrary to the allegations in the article, Black Girl Gamers has contracted freelancers of all races, genders, sexual orientations, religions, and ethnic backgrounds. (3/8)”
“We have also included representation of all genders and backgrounds in our content, at our events, and in our marketing, consultation, and research projects, some of which are not publicly disclosed due to NDAs. (4/8)”
“Evidence demonstrating our commitment to diversity and inclusion, including our non-discriminatory hiring practices, is readily available and easily searchable. (5/8)”
“Upon discovering these false and defamatory allegations, we have taken steps to obtain legal counsel to take action against the publication and journalist, as well as subsequent content creators who have reshared the false allegations about our organization. (6/8)”
“We will continue to pursue further action against anyone who persists in spreading false and defamatory information about Black Girl Gamers, its founder, and its contractors and partners. (7/8)”
“We value the talent and contributions of all our collaborators and we are committed to continuing to do so. Thank you to our community for the ongoing support. (8/8)”
It is noted that BGG is described as 100% minority operated on their official website. A perusal of their official website as at 10am CAT on 27 March 2024 shows no indication that they employ any white males, neither are there any indication on the public facing part of their website that they have hired white males as contractors. The same goes for the Black Girl Gamers Wikipedia page.
As GamerGate 2.0 heats up, do you think BGG have a case against That Park Place? Let us know in the comments.
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