The Small Company at the Center of ‘Gamergate 2.0’

The accusations began around the release of Spider-Man 2 last October. They were all over the replies to the social media accounts of Sweet Baby Inc.: hateful comments, many of which hinged on the idea that the Montreal-based narrative development and consulting company was responsible for the “wokeification” of video games, recalls Kim Belair, the company’s CEO. Or, more succinctly: “Die.” Online, those clamoring for Sweet Baby’s demise are calling it Gamergate 2.0, invoking the online harassment campaign that erupted into a culture war a decade ago. “Large-scale harassment campaigns like this fuel—and are fueled by—political events,” reads a statement from the mental health nonprofit Take This, whose research director, Rachel Kowert, is an expert on extremism and radicalization in video games. “As political rhetoric heats up ahead of the US presidential election later this year, this kind of online activity is going to ramp up and it’s important to understand that these phenomena are interrelated.” Media Matters reports that platforms like YouTube and 4chan have already become rallying points for what users hope to turn into this second Gamergate, asking if their fellows are “ready for the Second Great War.” Elon Musk, owner of X and one of the richest men in the world, has retweeted a post claiming “Gamergate 2 is underway,” while Libs of TikTok—a far right account that regularly targets LGBTQ+ people, inspiring vicious harassment of individuals and bomb threats against schools and hospitals—is currently targeting a former Sweet Baby developer, who has since gone on to another studio, for speaking about creating a safe environment for a team of color.