In connection with a humorous test of knowledge of the basics of game design, the Moscow studio ZeptoLab was accused of sexism.
At the end of April, the developers of Cut the Rope launched a test based on the Game Designer Challenge competition. This is a joke test with which you can find out what kind of game designer you are.
Despite the frivolous tone, the questions were relevant and fair. In the test, for example, it was proposed to explain why the low retention of the first and seventh days is associated.
If in Russia the test, as far as we can judge, was perceived positively by the audience, then in the West it caused a negative reaction. Moreover, its authors were accused of sexism.
In particular, Rami Ismail, the icon of the indie movement responsible for Ridiculous Fishing and LUFTRAUSERS, reacted negatively to him.
Rami did not like the joke in the test results that the game designer-producer, at least, knows that a female character should have at least a third breast size.
What the actual fuck was this necessary for @ZeptoLab?https://t.co/gQrzJ6DSWM pic.twitter.com/A77Wum9lgl— Rami Ismail (@tha_rami) May 5, 2016
Его твит вызвал поток негативных комментариев в сторону российской компании.
Впрочем, не только его. Та же шутка не понравилась, к примеру, художнице Люси Моррис (Lucy Morris), один из читателей которых заявил, что после этого теста больше не собирается скачивать игры ZeptoLab.
— Aussie Ben (@AussieBen) May 5, 2016From the point of view of its author Alex Walker, some questions were also incorrect.
Отдельные претензии нашлись к тесту и у редакции австралийского Kotaku. For example, the question of why it was impossible to make a clone of Clash of Clans aimed at a female audience.
According to Alex, the fact that 23% of the audience of the Supercell hit is female makes the question provocative.
ZeptoLab reacted very quickly to what happened. The company removed the test and posted a post in its official Facebook group, in which it explained that one of the tasks of the test was the opposite – to joke about sexism.
In the Facebook group PR in GameDev, Mikhail Ger, who is responsible for marketing at ZeptoLab, wrote that “we did not take into account how much the topic of sexism, objectification and generalization of the female audience is overheated in the US intra-industrial field. There are very large “sects” of “gamergate witnesses” and “gamergate defenders”. At the same time, there is a high level of self-censorship and the percentage of SJW in the industry. Well, after getting under the rink, there are no more correct behavioral strategies. We assessed the possible losses on business relations and decided to roll the test and apologize. Naturally, at the same time, the second sect was sacked. Just keep in mind when preparing such intra-industrial occasions.”
What do you think about the situation?