Earlier today, Fable developer Lionhead Studios published a tweet that read, “Happy #NationalCleavageDay from all of us at Lionhead Studios!”
Attached was the image you see at left, referencing Fable’s in-game “Foaming Jugs” tavern.
Lionhead followed up that tweet with another, which said, “Just to be clear, we don’t discriminate…,” including an image of a male Fable character’s butt, which was apparently supposed to look like cleavage.
As you might have guessed, the response to these tweets–which have since been deleted–was overwhelmingly negative. Now, just an hour after originally posting the tweet, Lionhead has issued a statement that apologizes for the messages.
“We apologize for the imagery we shared earlier,” the developer said. “Diversity & inclusion are values we uphold here. We’ll reinforce these values w/ our team.”
Lionhead’s tweets today come in the backdrop of increased conversation about the role of women characters in video games and women in the industry itself. Most recently, Massachusetts state representative Katherine Clark announced a new campaign that calls on the United States Department of Justice to prioritize the investigation and prosecution of cyber abuse crimes that specifically target women.
“We must not allow the Internet to be closed to female voices, and intensifying the enforcement of existing law is an important first step toward keeping the Internet open to everyone,” she said earlier this month.
Clark serves the Fifth District of Massachusetts, making her the congresswoman for video game developer Brianna Wu. Last month, Wu announced that she would not attend PAX East over concerns about her personal safety in the wake of threats against her life.
Before that, NBC aired a new episode of Law & Order dedicated exclusively to the topic of gaming harassment, with a female game developer playing the lead.
Regarding the representation of female video game characters, last summer, Assassin’s Creed publisher Ubisoft caught flak for its explanation as to why Assassin’s Creed Unity has no playable female characters. Meanwhile, Magicka publisher Paradox said the industry should not shy away from talking about the topic.
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