No Republicans Allowed
Leftists are gatekeeping a doomed video game industry
Despite my best hopes for the situation only a few days ago, I was disappointed to learn today that Scott Cawthon, creator of the cult classic series of indie video games Five Nights at Freddy’s, has called it quits.
Honestly, his decision is for the best, at least for him. But that fact does little to quell my anger at the growing onslaught of political extremists running rampant in the video game industry.
For those not up to speed, over the weekend, a website called MEAWW repeatedly published stories about the (public) fact that Cawthon has donated to various Republican candidates over the years, including Mitch McConnell, Ben Carson, and He Who Shall Not Be Named. Self-proclaimed Antifa nobodies also freaked out on Twitter, drawing attention to the issue.
As the reports show, Cawthon has also donated to Tulsi Gabbard, a Democrat, but that matters little when you’re the target of the irate leftists rotting this industry from the inside out.
After enough MEAWW articles were published and tweets sent to gain mainstream attention, gaming sites began running pieces parroting the same non-news, some going so far as attempting to assassinate Cawthon’s character. Kotaku, for instance, criticized Cawthon for saying he loves his Q+ (I refuse to type out the alphabet soup that is “LGBTQIA+”) fans while donating to candidates who “disenfranchise” that community. Kotaku even implied Cawthon himself is homophobic and transphobic due to guilt by association, which is no small claim.
“[Nothing] excuses the irreparable harm he’s done to the people he purports to love,” wrote the brilliant Ash Parrish, whose worldview is not at all completely wrapped up in nothing but skin-deep identity politics.
In addition to the articles being written with a clear agenda that proclaimed there is no room in the gaming industry for someone with such completely unremarkable, run-of-the-mill political views, Cawthon received targeted harassment and even death threats to the point where Cawthon’s pregnant wife became frightened. All of that, of course, is morally acceptable compared to voting red, right?
I’m happy to say Cawthon’s response to all this nonsense was about as based as they come.
“I'd like to think that the last seven years would have given me the benefit of the doubt in regards to how I try to treat people, but there I was, trending on Twitter for being a homophobe, getting doxed, with people threatening to come to my house. My wife is six weeks pregnant, and she spent last night in fear because of what was being said online. She has already been struggling with her pregnancy so seeing her so afraid really scared me. All this because I exercised my right, and my duty, as an American citizen to vote for and support the candidates who I felt could best run the country for everyone, and that's something that I won't apologize for.”
And later:
“For those who took the time to look, you saw that the candidates I supported included men, women, white people, black people, Republicans, and Democrats. ... Even if there were candidates who had better things to say to the LGBT community directly, and bigger promises to make, I believed that their stances on other issues would have ended up doing much greater harm to those communities than good.”
This is a hard stance to argue against.
Even if you don’t agree with Cawthon’s political choices, it’s plain to see he was merely choosing who he would thought would be best overall to run the country, as is his right as an American. You see, millions of Americans go to the voting booth each year despising the candidates they’re forced to choose from, but they choose anyway because they believe one is better suited than the other. Is it that hard to believe that Cawthon can agree with Trump’s economic policies but oppose his social views but still vote for him, personally believing one issue is of greater importance to the country? Is that really so far fetched? It it that hard of a concept to grasp that voters are not endorsing everything a candidate has said or done when voting for or even donating to them?
Of course it’s not—not for anyone with integrity. But in the gaming industry, integrity is hard to come by. That’s why we saw so many articles from games journalists with bad-faith arguments or insinuations that because Cawthon supports candidates who don’t support Q+ rights, that must mean he’s a bigot.
But even if Cawthon didn’t support Q+ rights, that is still not justification for canceling him. Literally half the country belongs to the Republican party. Half the country is, like Cawthon, a Christian who believes homosexuality to be immoral. Right or wrong, these are not extreme political views. They are, by no means, cancel worthy.
Or maybe they are. Today, Cawthon announced he will be retiring from the industry. While he made no mention of the controversy, it’s obvious it played a role in his decision.
Years ago, social justice crusaders came out of the woodwork to claim—falsely, by the way—that the gaming industry is a boys’ club. Some felt the industry had a “no girls allowed” rule. This was obviously false, but efforts were made to change that nonexistent narrative all the same.
Today, however, it should be very apparent to all the gaming industry has a “no Republicans allowed” rule. It’s clear this industry is not for everyone. Sure, let’s kick out the Nazis. Let’s kick out the pedophiles. But kicking out anyone who belongs to a political party 100 million Americans support? Is no one alarmed by the message this whole controversy is sending?
Cawthon is not the only Republican in the gaming industry. But there is a reason I don’t know of any. Similarly, there is a reason Cawthon didn’t make his political views public. In the gaming industry, leftist views—even fringe, borderline extremist ones—are the norm. They are socially acceptable, even celebrated. Anything right of them is criticized, and God save you if, like Cawthon, you dare lean right of center.
This industry is on a terrifyingly dystopian, recklessly authoritarian trajectory. I want to cover and write about a hobby that accepts any and all regardless of race, gender, age, or political party. I want an industry for all. This industry moves further from that possibility each day, which is ironic for one that is constantly purporting diversity and inclusion.
In just a few years, the world of video games, at least in the West, will be a shambling husk of its former self. Static, whitewashed, dumbed-down “art” will become the norm as every game becomes a political tool, every journalist a paid shill activist.
It’s time to fight back.
To Cawthon, I said your decision is for the best. Why? Because an industry this devoid of acceptance, tolerance, and wisdom is frankly not worthy of any talent you can provide it. The industry will suffer for your departure, but I wish you well as you turn your focus to your family.