So he says:
It takes two people to tango. You have these developers who constantly demonize players, and those people don’t get fired. They post extremist political opinions, they look down on players, they patronize them, and then you’re surprised when we say, Hey, we don’t like that. Is this some kind of joke?
In other words: “You started it.”
What’s the mood in the comments? While Asmongold at least makes some effort to agree with Darrah on some points, the comments are full of rejection. Fans feel justified in betting against developers personally:
- “You decided to destroy a gaming series that I love because of your socio-political ideas – that gives me the right to be cruel.”
- “He doesn’t make good games and then cries.”
- “They have insulted us for years. We screamed, they didn’t listen. Now they are crying!”
At the end of 2024, Asmongold had a self-reflective phase after he was banned from Twitch and forced to stay off the PC for 2 weeks. He realized that after some personal setbacks and the loss of his mother and girlfriend , he had turned into the “worst possible version” of himself. He promised improvement and admitted to some mistakes. Then he turned the PC back on.
The original video from Darrah has 27,000 views. Asmongold’s reaction has 600,000 views.
In other words: “You started it.”
What’s the mood in the comments? While Asmongold at least makes some effort to agree with Darrah on some points, the comments are full of rejection. Fans feel justified in betting against developers personally:
- “You decided to destroy a gaming series that I love because of your socio-political ideas – that gives me the right to be cruel.”
- “He doesn’t make good games and then cries.”
- “They have insulted us for years. We screamed, they didn’t listen. Now they are crying!”
At the end of 2024, Asmongold had a self-reflective phase after he was banned from Twitch and forced to stay off the PC for 2 weeks. He realized that after some personal setbacks and the loss of his mother and girlfriend , he had turned into the “worst possible version” of himself. He promised improvement and admitted to some mistakes. Then he turned the PC back on.
The original video from Darrah has 27,000 views. Asmongold’s reaction has 600,000 views.
So he says:
It takes two people to tango. You have these developers who constantly demonize players, and those people don’t get fired. They post extremist political opinions, they look down on players, they patronize them, and then you’re surprised when we say, Hey, we don’t like that. Is this some kind of joke?
In other words: “You started it.”
What’s the mood in the comments? While Asmongold at least makes some effort to agree with Darrah on some points, the comments are full of rejection. Fans feel justified in betting against developers personally:
- “You decided to destroy a gaming series that I love because of your socio-political ideas – that gives me the right to be cruel.”
- “He doesn’t make good games and then cries.”
- “They have insulted us for years. We screamed, they didn’t listen. Now they are crying!”
At the end of 2024, Asmongold had a self-reflective phase after he was banned from Twitch and forced to stay off the PC for 2 weeks. He realized that after some personal setbacks and the loss of his mother and girlfriend , he had turned into the “worst possible version” of himself. He promised improvement and admitted to some mistakes. Then he turned the PC back on.
The original video from Darrah has 27,000 views. Asmongold’s reaction has 600,000 views.
Mark Darrah is a video game developer, most recently working in a consulting role on Dragon Age: The Veilguard. In a video, he says: Disappointed buyers can certainly voice criticism of games, but personally attacking developers is wrong. Just because someone pays $70 does not give them the right to be cruel to developers. Twitch streamer Asmongold seems to feel addressed by the criticism.
This is what Mark Darrah says: Darrah was at BioWare for 24 years, worked on Anthem, and brought it over the finish line. Most recently, he was involved in a consulting role on Dragon Age: The Veilguard. He is an experienced producer who “finishes” games.
He says in a YouTube video:
Just because someone spent $70 on a video game doesn’t give them the right to be cruel to developers and personally attack individual developers.
Often, the anger of disappointed gamers hits the wrong person who has nothing to do with the game not meeting fans’ expectations. Outsiders do not know what circumstances led to the finished product they are dissatisfied with.
If people want to criticize, then they should do so against the studio or the publisher as a whole. If someone is upset about a game from Ubisoft, they should complain about Ubisoft and criticize them. Personal criticism of developers, which turns into harassment, can also lead to lawsuits.
People should not underestimate their impact. The teams are very aware of what players are talking about and what they are complaining about.
If you celebrate that people are laid off in a studio because the game that you don’t like didn’t go well, then you’ve crossed the line into cruelty and you should generally show more compassion for other people.
These are actually all understandable points that one has to agree with. Actually …
Asmongold feels addressed and sees it completely differently
This is what Asmongold says: One of the big critics of Dragon Age: The Veilguard, who also found it amusing that BioWare had to lay off so many people, is Twitch streamer Asmongold.
His video on Darrah’s statements is titled “The guy really dares to say that we are wrong” and that already shows the basic mood. Someone dares to contradict us, the angry gamers. Asmongold claims to speak for all gamers worldwide – and they are angry.
In the video, Asmongold largely rejects Darrah’s criticism. He says (via YouTube):
The criticism of individual people is justified if they express themselves “racist.” Anyway, game developers started the dispute because they look down on gamers.
Executives in gaming studios make a lot of money, and with that comes responsibility, and they must live with being attacked.
In some cases, Darrah is right that it is unfair to criticize voice actors when they’ve received the wrong instructions, but in general, Asmongold sees it as just that “woke developers” who ruin beloved game franchises deserve all the hate.
Anyone working in a restaurant selling bad food must also live with being criticized. Only in gaming do the responsible parties regularly whine.
He is particularly annoyed that “activists with their agenda wanted to take over the media.”
Criticism of games is no longer about the game
What is his point? For Asmongold, it’s not really about games or gaming; he doesn’t mention any gameplay mechanics, but rather sees it as part of a cultural battle “Us against them – left against right.”
From Asmongold’s perspective, “leftist developers” started the dispute with gamers and are now complaining that they are fighting back.
In other words: “You started it.”
What’s the mood in the comments? While Asmongold at least makes some effort to agree with Darrah on some points, the comments are full of rejection. Fans feel justified in betting against developers personally:
- “You decided to destroy a gaming series that I love because of your socio-political ideas – that gives me the right to be cruel.”
- “He doesn’t make good games and then cries.”
- “They have insulted us for years. We screamed, they didn’t listen. Now they are crying!”
At the end of 2024, Asmongold had a self-reflective phase after he was banned from Twitch and forced to stay off the PC for 2 weeks. He realized that after some personal setbacks and the loss of his mother and girlfriend , he had turned into the “worst possible version” of himself. He promised improvement and admitted to some mistakes. Then he turned the PC back on.
The original video from Darrah has 27,000 views. Asmongold’s reaction has 600,000 views.
In other words: “You started it.”
What’s the mood in the comments? While Asmongold at least makes some effort to agree with Darrah on some points, the comments are full of rejection. Fans feel justified in betting against developers personally:
- “You decided to destroy a gaming series that I love because of your socio-political ideas – that gives me the right to be cruel.”
- “He doesn’t make good games and then cries.”
- “They have insulted us for years. We screamed, they didn’t listen. Now they are crying!”
At the end of 2024, Asmongold had a self-reflective phase after he was banned from Twitch and forced to stay off the PC for 2 weeks. He realized that after some personal setbacks and the loss of his mother and girlfriend , he had turned into the “worst possible version” of himself. He promised improvement and admitted to some mistakes. Then he turned the PC back on.
The original video from Darrah has 27,000 views. Asmongold’s reaction has 600,000 views.
So he says:
It takes two people to tango. You have these developers who constantly demonize players, and those people don’t get fired. They post extremist political opinions, they look down on players, they patronize them, and then you’re surprised when we say, Hey, we don’t like that. Is this some kind of joke?
In other words: “You started it.”
What’s the mood in the comments? While Asmongold at least makes some effort to agree with Darrah on some points, the comments are full of rejection. Fans feel justified in betting against developers personally:
- “You decided to destroy a gaming series that I love because of your socio-political ideas – that gives me the right to be cruel.”
- “He doesn’t make good games and then cries.”
- “They have insulted us for years. We screamed, they didn’t listen. Now they are crying!”
At the end of 2024, Asmongold had a self-reflective phase after he was banned from Twitch and forced to stay off the PC for 2 weeks. He realized that after some personal setbacks and the loss of his mother and girlfriend , he had turned into the “worst possible version” of himself. He promised improvement and admitted to some mistakes. Then he turned the PC back on.
The original video from Darrah has 27,000 views. Asmongold’s reaction has 600,000 views.
