Simply not appropriate

Main Category
#1

At the start of Russia’s so-called “special military operation” in the Ukraine, Owlcat Games posted that they “decided to stop posting content on our social media, as it is simply not appropriate given the current situation”.

That lasted all of 2 days, then they picked back up posting on social media, though they did at least briefly reduce their posts from 5-7 per week to 2-3 per week for a little while. After one month to the day, Owlcat resumed their daily social media posts, which continues to today despite the Current Situation having not gone away, if anything it’s gotten worse.

Why is Owlcat Games behaving as though it’s all resolved and it’s suddenly appropriate again to post jokes and memes like “nobody expects the Mendevian inquisition” in the middle of these horrors? I love your games, but read the room, read the region, read the world right now.

#2

:man_shrugging:

Their initial decision seemed to be more about raising awareness to the issue. Every government around the world has weighed in at this point, so we can either carry on as best we can, or curl up in a ball on the floor forever. There is an endless list of issues with literally every country right now if you would like a reason for every citizen of earth to just shut down.

I have seen a lot of good statements from entertainment providers over the years in the face of various events, and they all amount to roughly the same thing. They can acknowledge these events, but their job is to provide us with some form of respite from the world as it is.

#3

Just yesterday the world of tanks developer announced they were shutting down operations in Russia no matter what it was sure to cost them. A couple days ago Steam banned sales of Pathfinder: kingmaker in certain countries.

They aren’t just some entertainment provider, in some random country; Owlcat is one of the most recognizable Russian game developers today. They’re lucky to have dodged international sanctions as well as they have up to this point, as many companies throughout their nation’s economy have experienced in order to pressure their leaders to stop. Expecting them to refrain from posting memes and jokes while their government is engaged in atrocities not seen since world war 2 is hardly “curling up in a ball”, it’s expecting them to show a little respect and deference to reality right now.