Games distributor Limited Run Games has fired their community manager, seemingly over public outcry for who they follow on Twitter.
“LRG respects all personal opinions, however we remain committed to supporting an inclusive culture,” the company said. “Upon investigating a situation, an employee was terminated. Our goal as a company is to continue to foster a positive and safe environment for everyone.”
One of the users the ex-employee Kara Lynne followed, Ian Miles Cheong, claims it was due to her following both him and the other notable account LibsofTikTok. Both accounts are kind of notorious online for stirring the pot yes, but a fire-able offense to follow them?
Absolutely not. From the looks of it, it all started after a witch-hunt of sorts started a pressure campaign that caused the company to cave and remove the employee from their roster.
There are other claims that Lynne was fired for publicly expressing her excitement to play the upcoming Hogwarts Legacy, which some users now consider “transphobic” due to Harry Potter creator J.K. Rowling taking a hard stance in favor of biological women.
Limited Run Games removing their community manager is a mistake and will only embolden these types of people. They see the blood in the water and will never stop, and will never be satisfied enough to leave you alone.
The same kind of outrage campaign on social media from the same people that led to Kara Lynne being fired also led to Night in the Woods developer Alec Holowka seemingly killing himself. Limited Run Games is ironically selling his game right now, years after his death.
Another recent outrage campaign was directed at this year’s MAGFest where organizers posted “Kotaku’s Journalistic Integrity” on a floor sign, noting it’s in “404”, a joke that their journalistic integrity is missing. Limited Run Games contributor Frank Cifaldi and others kept screaming about GamerGate, for some reason. The sign has since been removed.
Here’s hoping that cooler heads will prevail and that maybe taking crazy people who are constantly online, at their word, might have been a bad idea to entertain in the first place.