Video game faces backlash from female gamers over focus on 'top surgery scars' and trans characters



Electronic Arts' Dragon Age: The Veilguard has received swift backlash from female game enthusiasts who are upset over the game's lack of femininity.

Typically, a video game wouldn't be prioritized for how much it appeals to women, but in the case of Dragon Age: The Veilguard, developers have seemingly gone out of their way to reject feminine qualities regarding female characters.

Ahead of its October 31 release, EA and subsidiary BioWare showcased the game's character creator for the world to see. In yet another rush to show off how inclusive a game can be, BioWare revealed that the customization features include diverse gender options.

'The new Dragon Age is a game focused on transsexuals.'

In a video uploaded to X, pronoun options are provided, including "they/them." Gender options are also added, including "nonbinary."

The same video revealed a more shocking option, the ability to show off mastectomy scars. Gamers can select on or off for "top surgery scars," which specifically refers to transgender surgeries. This is in addition to a second, more general option for scars on the player's body.

"You can call yourself a Lamborghini and choose they/them nonbinary pronouns. But that's not all! Players can now customize female characters' chests and add top surgery scars," the caption for the video read.

On the same day, game designer Mark Kern also showcased the option for the skin disease vitiligo and the ability to add cellulite.

"These are obvious fetish self-inserts being foisted on gamers," Kern wrote.

Female gamers quickly realized that the ability to feminize their characters was incredibly limited, forcing them to create masculine women even when maxing out the female characteristics.

A popular gamer who goes by MadamSavvy complained that despite being just 108 pounds, she wasn't able to achieve anything close to her female likeness in the game.

"I am a 108 lb woman who sits for 15+ hours a day ... and you're telling me this is your 100% on the bum slider?" she wrote, attaching screenshots of the options pushed to limit.

Another gamer named "Packer Girl" called the game misogynistic for not allowing feminine attributes while including the transgender surgery scars:

"[This] misogynistic development team is full on body shaming big breasted women for what? to be inclusive?" she wrote.

Natalya Sirinova was far less cordial in her critique of the game.

"The new Dragon Age is a game focused on transsexuals, she males, psychiatric disorders, crazy people, deviants, [and] hormone pill users," the angry gamer wrote.

"[You can make] your 'female' character stronger and more ripped than He-Man, without being able to give her breasts [while having] the option of making visible the scars of radical bilateral mastectomy."

The developers seemingly have no qualms about pushing radical gender theory through its game.

In June, director Corinne Busche revealed that all the companions in Dragon Age will be pansexual and able to interact romantically with each other. Busche also confirmed that the game would show nudity.

Busche, a transgender person himself, described himself on the BioWare website as a "queer trans woman."

"I transitioned during my time at BioWare," Busche wrote. "I reflect all the time on how supported and seen I felt through that process, and how lucky I am to be surrounded by people of this caliber. It really speaks to the values of this team, and their commitment to inclusion in their works and their lives."

That Park Place reported that after news circulated of the pansexual direction of the game, Busche made his X page private and removed his activist-themed bio. This included references to his preferred pronouns, being a "Trans Woman," calling himself a "Queerosexual Gendermancer," and hashtags in support of "TransRights" and "BlackLivesMatter."

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EA stands firm against staff pressure to publicly support abortion, trans rights — tells disgruntled employees to make a 'positive impact' by doing their jobs



Famous video game maker Electronic Arts (EA) has reportedly refused to join a flurry of other companies in issuing public statements in support of abortion and transgender rights, telling staff during a company-wide meeting this week that "being an inclusive company means being inclusive of all those points of view."

According to gaming outlet Kotaku, EA's chief people officer, Mala Singh, also told employees that the company has determined only to speak out if a public statement will "actually have a positive impact" and that such a stance has remained a "consistent perspective" for the company.

The May 24 town hall-style meeting reportedly featured wide-ranging discussions between executives and staff, including plans for upcoming games, corporate strategy, and pay raises. But many employees also used the time to call on the company to make public statements in support of abortion and transgender rights.

The political issues apparently were heavy on the minds of some, given recent political developments, including a leaked draft opinion indicating the Supreme Court is poised to overturn Roe v. Wade and Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott's orders to investigate youth sex-change procedures as child abuse.

But in response to the pressure, EA stood firm and essentially instructed staff to take action — by doing their jobs.

"The thing about the world today is there is a lot of division, we know this, right, we see it every single day, but the thing that unites us is that we’re all here to make amazing games and experiences for our players, and that is how we have the most positive impact on the world," Singh said, according to a transcript of the meeting obtained by Kotaku.

She added: "These things are hard and they’re personal, and we all have our own perspectives, and sometimes we won’t speak, and that will be upsetting, and I understand that, we really do."

In a subsequent statement, EA's corporate communications director, Lacey Haines, reportedly told the outlet she could not provide further comment about the town hall since it is a "confidential forum." But she insisted that EA works hard to "create an environment where our employees can talk about complex issues" through company meetings, Slack discussions, group dialogues, surveys, and more.

"From all of that," she added, "We recognize these topics are deeply personal, and we know that there are many strong opinions, and some will be disappointed when we say that we’re not making public statements because we’re focused on the ways we can support our people around the world as their employer."

Yet, while refusing to issue a public statement on the controversial topics, Haines noted that the company is working — though perhaps out of the public eye — to support employees affected by some of the developments. For example, she said the company is "making sure that people have access to the health care benefits we provide as a company, even if those aren’t available locally." That likely means providing stipends for women to travel out of state to have abortions.

Additionally, in March, the company did join dozens of others to sponsor a full-page ad in the Dallas Morning News denouncing Abbott's "anti-LGBTQ+ efforts" in Texas.

\u201cThis will run in the Dallas Morning News this morning. #ProtectTransKids #txlege\u201d
— Rebecca Marques (@Rebecca Marques) 1647004817

That said, EA's decision to refrain from taking a more public stance is commendable, and likely wise — especially as many other businesses, such as Disney, rush to the public sphere to declare their stances on controversial matters, perhaps to their detriment.