Alan Wake 2 Flops as Senior Manager Calls to Kick Bigots Out of Gaming

After Alan Wake 2 failed to turn a profit, Senior Community Manager Vida Starčević sparked controversy by calling for the removal of "bigots" from gaming communities. Starčević, who worked on Alan Wake 2, also faced backlash for aligning with Sweet Baby Inc., a consulting company rumored to push woke ideologies in video games.

The game, which hired Sweet Baby Inc. for its Alan Wake 2 narrative development, underperformed significantly, failing to generate any royalties, as stated by Remedy Entertainment in its financial report. This failure comes in the wake of Concord's cancellation, another PlayStation-backed title boycotted for being overly "woke." Many now speculate that Fairgame$, another Sony project with a similarly woke agenda, might be next on the chopping block.

The controversy stems from a growing sentiment among gamers who are fed up with games being overtaken by political messaging. Starčević’s comments added fuel to the fire when she echoed calls for banning “bigots” from communities, further dividing the gaming audience.

Meanwhile, Sweet Baby Inc., the narrative firm hired for Alan Wake 2, has been associated with pushing a political agenda in gaming projects, and gamers are now linking the game’s poor sales to its woke marketing. In a twist of irony, the company couldn't salvage the game, which, after a year, still hasn't recovered its development costs.

On top of the financial disaster, Starčević’s posts revealed her discriminatory hiring preferences, emphasizing race and gender for influencer partnerships. In May 2024, she lamented that agencies weren’t pitching her “diverse creators” for paid promotions, expressing frustration over a lack of non-white, male influencers.

Fairgame$ from Haven Studios, another game pushed by PlayStation, is already being labeled "Concord 2.0" by the gaming community. Featuring anti-capitalist messaging similar to Alan Wake 2, Fairgame$ looks set to follow Concord’s failure. Gamers have voiced their concerns, targeting Fairgame$ for boycotts due to its anti-capitalist tone, where players rob the ultra-rich to "rebalance the scales."

Fairgame$, which debuted with a CGI trailer, is described as a heist game with politically charged undertones, much like Alan Wake 2. Given the backlash against woke games and Sweet Baby Inc.’s involvement, it's clear the gaming community isn’t interested in politically motivated narratives. As gamers rally to shut down woke projects, many predict Fairgame$ could face a similar fate.