The developer of the upcoming indie game Hear Tell of Hauntings recently responded to criticism, pointing out that both sides of the increasingly tiresome “culture war” are quick to personally attack game developers.
Over the past few months, the social media drama over “woke” games has metastasized to a point where individuals on both sides advocate for censorship based on their own political sensibilities. Developer Sean Gause put it succinctly, saying:
“I get called woke by the right for putting a woman in my game. I get called sexist by the left for giving her boob jiggle. There’s truly no winning with these people.“
Recently, Gause posted a little teaser image showing slight jiggle physics. The post appeared to largely reference the fact that the coat now moves, but viewers quickly caught on to subtle chest movement which Gause was likely also playfully alluding to. Later, when responding to another X user, Gause jokingly posted a clip with slightly increased physics yet again.
Essential for gameplay, I assure you. https://t.co/b61vvHnZ3y pic.twitter.com/eKXxASE8Zb
— Sean // Hear Tell of Hauntings🥀 (@sean_gause) July 12, 2025
Shortly after, critics began claiming that Gause and Hear Tell of Hauntings is sexist. Partly due to the jiggly physics, but also due to allegedly platforming an “abusive sexist” in a now deleted post (we can’t confirm or deny as we don’t know who the individual in question is since the post was deleted).
Previously, Gause came under attack from “anti-woke” critics for his game featuring a female protagonist and has defended artistic expression for developers to include characters from underrepresented groups; and that “woke” as a criticism is applied inconsistently whenever the game is considered “good”.
It’s funny that nobody can agree whether or not any of the games I listed are “woke”, or even what the definition of “woke” is.
That was the whole point of this tweet. “Woke” is a meaningless unserious term that holds no weight anymore, and it’s applied arbitrarily by grifters.
— Sean // Hear Tell of Hauntings🥀 (@sean_gause) June 3, 2025
Similarly, critics on the other side tend to have puritanical views despite being “sex-positive” when the content appeals to the “male gaze”, creating hypocrites of both.
You can wishlist Hear Tell of Hauntings on Steam here.
