Amid President Donald Trump's latest attack on transgender rights, digital distribution platform GOG.com is under fire for an insensitive remark from the company's social media team. In its latest misstep, GOG used a trans rights hashtag to make an "edgy" joke about PC gaming, and the team's apology leaves much to be desired from transgender users.
Controversy sparked on Monday after GOG used the hashtag #WontBeErased in a pun, claiming "Classic PC Games #WontBeErased on our watch." The hashtag references the transgender community's response to a new memo circulating in the Trump administration that would define trans peoples' gender identities in relation to their sex assigned at birth, not their gender. It would also erase federal anti-discrimination protections for transgender men, women, and nonbinary people nationwide.
GOG wasn't just aware of all of this, it seemed to pride itself on using an incredibly sensitive hashtag for a quick joke.
"Yeah, how's that for some use of hashtags," GOG quipped in a since-deleted tweet.
It didn't take long for the gaming community to criticize GOG's "joke" and deride it as hurtful and woefully out of touch with the store's customers.
https://twitter.com/nlntendho/status/1054494515149594624
https://twitter.com/Angry_Gr0bi/status/1054495164809596934
https://twitter.com/Angry_Gr0bi/status/1054495924163149824
Oh what a surprise it is to see that the GOG/CD Projekt Red social media teams once again do something shitty at the expense of trans people
— Alicia Haddick/アリシア (@socialanigirl) October 22, 2018
And what do you know, they even hijacked a trans hashtag to do so.
Fuck this pic.twitter.com/iarAVubX26
Whoever has the keys to GOG's social media channels needs to get bounced. That's twice they've been transphobic. Once with a shitty meme and now co-opting a hashtag for trans rights to sell games. FFS
— Cypher to be found elsewhere (@cypheroftyr) October 22, 2018
>GOG tried to piggyback on a trans rights hashtag for free advertising
— Lone (@lonelytiefling) October 22, 2018
more and more I'm feeling like social media should be exclusively for individual, because companies are proving repeatedly that they shouldn't be here. pic.twitter.com/G4cxRIiQ5K
https://twitter.com/transgamerthink/status/1054499961449132032
Yeah...yeah...it's well past bad now.
— Imran Khan (@imranzomg) October 22, 2018
Some Twitter users are outright closing their accounts and refusing to buy from GOG ever again.
https://twitter.com/reeny_chan/status/1054504770755612672
https://twitter.com/MOOMANiBE/status/1054511694255280130
https://twitter.com/olivebrinker/status/1054540359714422784
https://twitter.com/jbu3/status/1054513331694911488
GOG's Twitter account has a lengthy history with insensitive tweets, including one making fun of people with STDs and another referencing a pro-GamerGate joke about games journalism in Postal 2. Popular gaming news site VG247 even pulled support from the distributor over the latter tweet, calling it a "dog whistle that panders to [the] hate group GamerGate."
This week's tweet is also part of an ongoing problem with GOG's parent company, CD Projekt. The gaming publisher also came under fire earlier this year over a transphobic joke about misgendering from Cyberpunk 2077's Twitter account. While CD Projekt later deleted the tweet, the company's response was met with disdain for merely stating "sorry to all those offended" instead of taking responsibility for the harm done.
So it comes as no surprise that, once again, GOG is fueling its own controversy over a non-apology that has been called "infuriating" and "tone deaf." In a tweet from this morning, GOG stated that yesterday's tweet was "neither intended as a malicious attack, nor as a comment to the ongoing social debate." The Daily Dot reached out to both GOG and CD Projekt for comment but did not receive a response.
Yesterday, we posted a tweet containing a trending hashtag as a pun. The tweet was neither intended as a malicious attack, nor as a comment to the ongoing social debate.
— GOG.COM (@GOGcom) October 23, 2018
GOG should focus only on games. We acknowledge that and we commit to it.
https://twitter.com/MitchyD/status/1054719833823158272
It’s the 2077 “apology” all over again. “Sorry you were offended” is not an apology, it’s placing blame on the marginalized
— Jaclyn, of liking Barriss fame (@Jbandos) October 23, 2018
That’s a very long winded way to say “I’m sorry that you were offended.” ? https://t.co/CrfykHhTAP
— Steve Lubitz (@WickedGood) October 23, 2018
https://twitter.com/derekthebard/status/1054708064765399042
— SteeScribbles (@SteeScribbles) October 23, 2018
They used a hashtag about how the US government might stop legally recognising trans people to make a "joke" about DRM. That sounds like a pretty big problem for a lot of people.
— Anton Skjold (@AntonSkjold) October 23, 2018
https://twitter.com/KnightErrant_JR/status/1054722210542305280
https://twitter.com/Just_fionna/status/1054721907583602689
Bravo. Once again you put the blame on those who took offense instead of showing some backbone. Disappointed, but sadly not even surprised anymore at this point.
— RagnarRox?☠️ (@RagnarRoxShow) October 23, 2018
https://twitter.com/iyagovos/status/1054717380365041666
MRW reading this non-apology that puts the blame on those who's livelihood you essentially made fun of for likes. pic.twitter.com/RwIRdZvIBd
— Worgen & Wolf's Bakery Shop (@WolfnamedKoga) October 23, 2018
Some wonder if GOG is purposefully causing controversy and issuing non-apologies to gain interest from GamerGate and other far-right movements.
https://twitter.com/lilRAVVY/status/1054713487140810752
https://twitter.com/superginrai/status/1054668887265030144
https://twitter.com/MattCaulder/status/1054525582271229952
https://twitter.com/VengefulCheezit/status/1054722154217041920
https://twitter.com/ItalianForTrick/status/1054727741151469568
https://twitter.com/caffeinedOtter/status/1054684408853291008
https://twitter.com/DavidJCobb/status/1054721726804844550
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While GOG's controversial tweets are a problem in their own right, the company's behavior raises questions about GamerGate's future in the industry. In a thread on the popular GamerGate subreddit r/KotakuInAction, GamerGaters have vehemently defended GOG's tweet, with one upvoted comment calling trans people "mentally deficient" and another stating that trans people are "going apeshit." It remains unclear whether GOG and CD Projekt are actively looking to court these far-right customers, but then again, the damage may already be done.
