“We’re doing an 8chan AMA and we have no idea why,” introduced THQ Nordic on their Twitter account earlier this night. If you’re not conscious, 8chan is an imageboard web site which has been de-listed from Google search outcomes for internet hosting “suspected child abuse content,” and which is related to Swatting and Gamergate.
THQ Nordic’s advertising director has since apologised and claimed ignorance, however each are onerous to imagine.
Thirty minutes after the unique tweet, a brief followup tried to supply extra context for the choice: “the opportunity was here and we took it, we got apporached [sic] in a very friendly and polite manner and were assured, said person (shoutout to Mark) will take care of the nasty stuff. so, here we are.”
Two hours later and following a flood of damaging reactions on Twitter, THQ Nordic posted a multi-tweet follow-up: “I personally agreed to this AMA without doing my proper due diligence to understand the history and the controversy of the site. I do not condone child pornography, white supremacy, or racism in any shape or form. I am terribly sorry for the short-sightedness of my (!) decision, and promise to be far more vigorous in my assessment of these activities in the future. This was not about being edgy, this blew up and I very much regret to have done it in the first place. Philipp Brock, PR & Marketing Director THQ Nordic GmbH (Vienna, Austria)”.
8chan isn’t new or obscure. In 2015, the Washington Post referred to it as “the more-lawless, more-libertarian, more ‘free’ follow-up to 4chan.” QAnon, the notorious conspiracy group, grew partly from 8chan. Even a single Google search would have returned information tales giving a way of what 8chan is – and, as talked about above, would not have returned any links to 8chan. Also, it’s not as if each different firm and model is whoops-a-daisy by accident doing interviews with hate websites, is it?
Even if the folks concerned at THQ Nordic had not heard of 8chan beforehand, the QA itself was not nice. As identified by Waypoint’s Patrick Klepek, one nameless person posted, “Please don’t censor any games nor appeal to the SocJus crowd, you guys are doing fine as is”. Brock responded, “thanks! we’ll try to stay that way.” When a person posted “Where the big tiddie lolis at?” alongside manga artwork depicting a person groping two young-looking ladies, Brock responded, “you got them already we’d say.” If Brock or enterprise and product improvement director Reinhard Pollice, who additionally took half, was shocked by these sorts of questions, or if there was a second when the penny dropped, it’s not obvious from their posts.
THQ Nordic have been within the information loads over the previous six months, every time for getting studios or mental property. In the final six months they’ve purchased TimeSplitters from Crytek, the Kingdoms Of Amalur IP, Alone In The Dark and Act Of War, Carmageddon, Outcast, plus “>Bugbear Entertainment and Coffee Stain Studios, the makers of Wreckfest and Goat Simulator (and the upcoming Satisfactory) respectively. Prior to all of this, they purchased the THQ title when that writer went bankrupt. This is numerous builders to now be related to 8chan and little one pornography.
Ignorance isn’t a defence, even when it’s true, and a hasty apology within the face of widespread condemnation doesn’t make this OK. What are we even doing right here.
I’ve reached out to THQ Nordic for remark.
