‘RuneScape’ Dev’s New CEO Allegedly Cut Down on Pride Month Content Because He Believes It’s “What Players Wanted.”

It’s Pride Month, as you know, and many brands, companies, and franchises are celebrating LGBTQ+ culture in different ways, increasing the amount of LGBTQ+ content and/or releasing material that is more focused on such themes.

And while a lot of big players are endorsing Pride Month in the best way possible, it seems that one popular franchise has decided to do the opposite, and not everyone is happy with that.

According to insiders who wanted to remain anonymous, Jagex’s new CEO, John “Mod North” Bellamy, decided to reduce the amount of Pride Month contet in RuneScape and Old School RuneScape out of “fear” that the game would be accused of being “woke.”

The news comes from an anonymous employee of Jagex, who openly accused Bellamy of reducing the quantity of Pride Month content because of his political views, and it seems that Bellamy’s statements do confirm that and that they could be the result of Bellamy wanting to adhere to Trump’s crackdown on DEI policies.

Hope you're having a wonderful Pride Month so far, 'Scapers! 🌈 pic.twitter.com/OYO1FsVa2D

— RuneScape (@RuneScape) June 11, 2023

And while RuneScape nominally has Pride Month content in the game – the now famous Pride Walks in the game – the employee claims that Bellamy personally stopped and cancelled additional content and events which would further celebrate LGBTQ+ culture by awarding players with some rewards.

This means that there will be no update to the Tales of Pride in RuneScape this year, although old content will still be available, and that the planned OSRS quest has been cancelled.

And while some devs within the company tired to rebel, Bellamy was apparently adamant in stopping them, telling them that they should focus on giving the players what they wanted and to avoid accusations of being “woke.”

Apparently, according to the report, there was an internal Q&A session as well, in which Bellamy tried to defend his position. “I want to be clear, the decision for this is with me. I own it, I’m fully responsible for it,” he said.

“I understand that RuneScape… is precious because it is a safe space, it is an escape from reality, and the reality that we find ourselves in is changing. It is getting stranger, more troubling, less moral, I would argue. Games and studios are being cancelled because of content that is perceived to be ‘woke’ or representative. The pendulum is swinging back in a way we didn’t expect,” he added, according to the anonymous source.

And while it is true that Trump made woke and DEI policies controversial all of a sudden, it is debatable whether the fans really want less such content or not. And this is the point of the in-company accusations, since a lot of developers did not agree with such an approach.

Of course, we also have to consider the fact that a lot of people in the comment sections on various social medial platforms really have been complaining about LGBTQ+ content in the game, believing that video games should not be used for political purposes and that such content is neither in-line with the spirit of the game nor necessary at all.

And it seems that, regardless of the fact that this (generally) seems like a vocal minority, Bellamy has decided to respect these people’s wishes, rather than the wishes of those who support such content and such statements by the game.

A group of dissatisfied developers have even written a letter to the heads of the company, expressing their opposition to the decision:

“As a studio, we must stay grounded in the mission we all share, and that’s making great games for players. Our job is not to use the game as an outlet for our own views, but to craft worlds that serve our players, offering immersion, escape and meaning. That responsibility asks each of us to apply good judgement and to make creative decisions that resonate across a wide and diverse community – and that’s what we’ve tried to do here.”

As far as Jagex is concerned, the company issues a short statement confirming the majority of the anonymous report and explaining that they are “working with our internal DEI committee to explore broader, more meaningful ways to celebrate Pride across Jagex, including possible partnerships and charitable support. Our goal is to listen, learn, and find better ways to support all players and employees.”

And while this might sound reassuring, the abrupt cancellation of this year’s events, as well as some of the statements from Bellamy, don’t give us much hope. It would be sad if RuneScape, indeed, became a platform for political quarrels that also supports any form of restrictive policies.

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