Dustborn: Woke Disaster at Tokyo Game Show – An Empty Embarrassment!

It seems Red Thread Games is dead-set on ignoring reality, and their so-called "game," Dustborn, is a prime example of what happens when you push woke narratives over gameplay. Promoted as a “narrative-driven action-adventure” experience, Dustborn continues to be aggressively marketed, this time making a cringe-worthy appearance at the Tokyo Game Show. In what can only be described as a desperate push to make Dustborn relevant, the game’s exhibit has become a laughable spectacle that highlights just how little gamers care.

An image of Dustborn’s pop-up exhibit recently surfaced online, showing three seats set up for attendees to try the game. The catch? All three seats were embarrassingly empty. It’s a fitting metaphor for Dustborn itself: a hollow, uninspired, and utterly ignored attempt to push an agenda rather than deliver actual Dustborn gameplay. It seems the devs are more interested in forcing their DEI messaging down gamers’ throats than actually developing a fun experience, making it one of the biggest Dustborn woke disasters in recent gaming memory.

Despite the grand marketing gestures, Dustborn’s performance on Steam tells a brutally different story. As of writing, the concurrent player count is a dismal 8. Let that sink in: only 8 people out of millions of Steam users are bothering with Dustborn. Its all-time peak of concurrent players? A laughable 83. But the worst part? There are multiple moments where Dustborn’s concurrent players hit zero. Yes, literally no one in the world was playing the game, yet Red Thread Games still feels justified in wasting money on lavish exhibits. And the propaganda machine keeps churning—hiring streamers to fake enthusiasm for a game that nobody wants to play.

What makes this entire situation worse is the staggering amount of taxpayer money being thrown away on Dustborn. Red Thread Games received public funding and grants for development, yet they’re squandering those resources on flashy, hollow marketing stunts like the Tokyo Game Show display. Taxpayer dollars are funding a game that gamers clearly aren’t interested in, but Dustborn devs seem too stubborn to accept reality. Instead of investing in creating a game that would resonate with fans, they’re doubling down on promoting what is essentially Dustborn woke propaganda.

Dustborn had everything going for it in terms of marketing. It was promoted by Quantic Dream, featured in high-profile events like The Game Awards, GamesCom, and even received backing from Xbox, pushing it as a notable release. Despite these massive marketing pushes and hiring firms like Mi5 Communications to promote the game, Dustborn continues to flop. The numbers don’t lie: gamers just don’t care about Dustborn. All the high-profile marketing in the world can’t save a game when it’s this flawed at its core.

Gamers have spoken loud and clear: Dustborn is dead on arrival. The empty seats at Tokyo Game Show are just a visual representation of what’s been clear for a while now. Dustborn can’t muster genuine interest, and the devs' refusal to acknowledge their missteps only makes it worse. Instead of making a game that resonates, they’ve created a product that’s alienating the very audience they need to succeed. The constant push to force-feed gamers this woke Dustborn narrative, while ignoring feedback and actual gameplay, is the real tragedy here.

The image of Dustborn’s exhibit at the Tokyo Game Show is a perfect summary of the game’s trajectory: no one’s interested, no one’s playing, and yet somehow, Red Thread Games continues to throw more money at the problem. The relentless promotion funded by taxpayer money shows that no matter how hard you push a product, you can’t force people to care about something they don’t want. The numbers on Steam don’t lie, and neither does the empty booth.