Featured Image Credit: Berserk Games, Daniel Quasar
Topics: no article matching, Steam
Topics: no article matching, Steam
Berserk Games, the team behind Tabletop Simulator, are currently facing backlash following allegations of homophobia and transphobia. These concerns have been raised by a transgender player who was banned from the Tabletop Simulator global chat after talking about her identity.
The user, Xoe, wrote on Twitter: “It's official, @BerserkGames says it's fine to chat off topic, as long as it isn't ‘offensive’ or ‘disruptive’, but sharing you're gay or trans is inappropriate.” She has since compiled a series of screenshots into a Google Doc, detailing her discussions with the mods who banned her, and their reasoning as to why.
One of the mods, who goes by the username CHRY, explained to Xoe in a series of Discord messages that “discussing sexuality has no place in global chat”, before going on to say “Tabletop Simulator is about playing tabletop games, not a place to discuss sexuality, fetishes, politics. Keep that to your private lobbies or public chats where these things are the topic at hand.”
Logging into the global chat using different account names, Xoe went on to investigate what topics would result in a ban. According to her screenshots, she found that discussion of heterosexuality didn’t cause any problems at all, whereas saying anything along the lines “I’m gay” resulted in an instant ban, along with any talk of fetishes, suggesting that the moderators consider the discussion of LGBTQ+ identities to be comparable to fetishes in terms of their ‘family-friendliness’.
Understandably, this has left other users feeling upset, and many have been taking to the Steam page to leave negative reviews, calling out the offensive behaviour. “Used to be a massive supporter of this game and what it did for people. Ever since the LGBTQ+ blanket ban in global chat I do not think I will be reinstalling this, nor will I purchase it for other people. We do not support any form of transphobia or homophobia,” wrote one. “Transphobia is no joke, and it's absolutely revolting to see such a blatant display of the act from BG. Your money is best spent elsewhere,” said another.
The devs have since responded to the situation on Twitter. In a statement, they said: “We once again want to stress our commitment to inclusivity in everything we do and would like to apologise for the handling of a user being banned from global chat.
“Tabletop Simulator has not and does not condone equating sexual orientation/ gender identity with fetishes, politics, or anti-family friendly sentiment.”
It goes without saying that allegations like this shouldn’t be taken lightly, as games should provide a place for everyone to have fun, regardless of their sexuality or gender identity. Trans rights are human rights.