Bungie Is absolutely Not Having It With Anti-Abortion Gamers

I f*cking love video games. But, historically, it’s well known that there are pockets of the video game world that aren’t exactly welcoming towards women. And then there’s, you know, situations like the one at Activision. So, when a major video game company stands up for their female employees, that’s already a refreshing change of pace, but when a company also responds to the inevitable trolls with snarky one-liners, that is both excellent and fun.

Enter Bungie, the developers of the Destiny franchise. Yesterday, Bungie posted a link on Twitter to a strongly-worded official statement against the leaked Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe v. Wade. “At Bungie we believe that everyone has a right to choose their own path and that freedom is expressed across all facets of life,” the statement begins. “The leaked draft decision by the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn Roe v. Wade represents a blow to freedom in America and is a direct attack on human rights.” Which… yup. Glad you agree.

But the “fun” really started when, as to be expected, the anti-lady bastions of lazy and unoriginal hot-takes took to the comment section. Fortunately, surprisingly, and brilliantly, whoever runs the Bungie account wasn’t taking their shit. We’re all angry and upset. This lovely social media guru was no different, and they took out their anger in very, very constructive ways that are a wonder to behold.

Whenever a company takes a stand that those on the right wing love to bemoan as “woke,” one refrain can always be expected: “Just stick to doing X!” Of course, that happened in the replies. And Bungie came out defiant as hell. You love to see it.

To any sane person with an iota of empathy and compassion in their heart, this last tweet in particular seems obvious. Of course something as monumental as the dissolution of Roe v. Wade affects every woman in the country! And women are—this is true!—employees! By this simple, straightforward logic, literally every company in the goddamn country should be making statements in support of these aforementioned employees, at bare fucking minimum.

But that’s not really happening, is it? Bungie’s statement actually made me reflect on how little I saw major companies come out against the Supreme Court’s leaked decision. Maybe the recent Disney kerfuffle scared CEOs off, which would be quite dark, indeed. So thanks, Bungie—for saying something, yes, but mostly for being sassy as hell.

Correction: An earlier version of this article stated that the Destiny series is published by Activision. A Bungie representative reached out to clarify that the Destiny franchise has been self-published since 2019, and the article has been updated to reflect that.

(featured image: Bungie)