Ragnar Tørnquist, a famous game developer from Norway, has been dedicated to game development for almost thirty years. However, when Red Thread Games’ latest game “Dustborn” was released, it made him seriously think about whether such a life is worth pursuing, especially with the impact on his family and personal life.
“Dustborn” has attracted a lot of negative comments on social media.Many players criticized him for delivering the so-called “woke agenda” and even spawned several conspiracy theories.“We didn’t expect this extreme reaction at all,” said Tørnquist in an interview with Gamer.no negative feelings of the public Measures include hiding your address.
Tørnquist shared malicious emails and text messages he received after the release of Dustborn, including death threats and even someone spreading false information on YouTube that he wanted to harm on children. “These are obviously fabricated lies, but there is nothing I can do to remove them. I can only hope that people can recognize the truth.”
As a small team, Red Thread Games only has 16 employees. Tørnquist said that compared to large companies, their resources are limited, but they have overcome large-scale attacks, which put them under pressure. despite this,The team has always wanted to produce innovative story-based games, although these games are not popular products and are suitable for a relatively limited audience.
Tørnquist pointed out that many games have been controversial because of their involvement in diversity themes. Although “Dustborn” has a dystopian tone and shows an America that is completely different from reality, the team did not expect it to cause such a big movement. He said that this overreaction will undoubtedly make the entire industry more cautious about creative expression.
Under pressure, Tørnquist said he would not give up on showing diversity and inclusion in games. He believes that games can be different, some of them mainly entertainment, and some allow players to think deeply through narrative. He stressed,The games industry should have enough space to accommodate different types of work, including those that target specific audiences and provide more social messages.
Although “Dustborn” has caused a lot of controversy, Red Thread Games continues and continues to provide players with deep and thoughtful game works. They look forward to maintaining their original ambitions in game creation in the future while supporting the diverse development of the game industry.
