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Ratchet & Clank - Xavier Coelho-Kostolny's Twitter meltdown over Rivet

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Xavier @xavierck3d - 19h Something for my fellow men in gamedev, especially those just now entering the industry: There are a lot of things you may run into that aren't directly harmful to people in the same way as sexual harassment, but they still contribute to hostile environments and harm. O 4 t7 1.3K O 4.4K Xavier @xavierck3d - 19h There's a strong chance I'm going to get flak for saying this publicly, but it's worth bringing up because it's an example of how small things contribute to building environments that are hostile to women and all kinds of other marginalized people in gamedev. 17 22 O 725 Хavier Follow @xavierck3d https://archive.is/eAn1S When I was on the latest Ratchet and Clank game, there was heated discussion that happened between the game director, art director, the lead writer, the lead character TD, and myself. incredibly It was about Rivet, the female lead. 8:54 PM - 21 Jul 2021 139 Retweets 853 Likes O 1 27 139 O 853 Xavier @xavierck3d - 19h Note that three of the people above, including myself, are no longer at Insomniac. I'm not going to tag them because they're adults I trust to comment if they feel it's appropriate. 17 16 O 629 Xavier @xavierck3d - 19h The discussion – or argument, really – was basically about whether we should make Rivet look more stereotypically feminine looking. That is, should she have wider hips, visible breasts (or bumps in her suit), and other physical traits we normally associate with cartoony women. O 1 t7 35 O 644 Xavier @xavierck3d - 19h The argument basically broke down like this The game director and art director wanted her to have a visibly, fairly stereotypically feminine look. The lead writer, the lead character TD, and I wanted to keep her as-i. O 1 17 18 O 652 Xavier @xavierck3d - 19h This is where things get into territory that men like myself in gamedev need to pay REALLY F------ CLOSE ATTENTION. The lead writer was a woman. The lead character TD was a trans person who, at the time, had not transitioned. O 1 11 19 O 743 Xavier @xavierck3d - 19h Everyone else in the discussion was a white cis male. t7 12 O 618 Xavier @xavierck3d - 19h At the time the argument occurred, there were two women and one female- presenting trans person on the team. That trans person had lived their life up to that point as a woman, and had the lived experience thereof. Everyone else on the 20+ person team was a man. O 1 t7 13 O 618 Xavier @xavierck3d - 19h So. Two thirds of the women on the team, as well as one cis white man (me), were telling the art director and game lead that Rivet should not, as an alien space fox, have wide hips and t------. O 1 t7 24 O 729 Xavier @xavierck3d - 19h We believed that: 1. It went against the message of the game, which is that anyone can be a hero regardless of how they look 2. You don't need to be stereotypically feminine to be a woman 3. RIVET IS A F------ ALIEN SPACE FOX, JUST LIKE RATCHET t7 26 O 908 Xavier @xavierck3d - 19h The argument had been going for about half an hour before I finally pulled one of the framed Ratchet and Clank posters down from the wall, put it in front of both leads, and told them to look at the damn thing and tell me how much Ratchet looked like a human man. O 1 t7 22 O 748 Xavier @xavierck3d - 19h The argument largely petered out after that point, with all parties leaving incredibly frustrated, and myself leaving the company a few weeks later. 17 12 O 675 Xavier @xavierck3d - 19h S. Fellow men in gamedev. This is an example of one of the VERY SMALL THINGS that build up over time to make life miserable for women and marginalized people in our industry. Something as simple as putting t------ on a space rat can harm people. 27 60 O 1.1K Xavier @xavierck3d - 19h It breaks people's trust when you allow things like this to happen unchallenged. If you don't push back against tiny little things, like giving Rivet t---, you're essentially saying those things don't matter. If the small things don't matter, where's the line for bigger things? O 2 t7 34 O 800 Xavier @xavierck3d - 19h I am not perfect and I have let things like this happen unchecked before. It happened at my first job, and I regret some of the choices I made when making characters there. It's not f------ worth it. Speaking up about small things heads off Blizzard-scale b-------. O 1 t7 18 O 742 Xavier @xavierck3d - 19h For the game journalists reading this: No, I will not be commenting for the article you're inevitably writing. Do not contact me unless it's to talk directly about the work that I do, and how technical processes can be demystified for people interested in making games. 17 15 O 819

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Top Comments

PrinnyFreak

Jul 24, 2021 at 03:38PM EDT

There's one thing that I think completely elevates this guy to complete PoS status. Thig guy, is talking about how he's such a good person for "protecting" the women from being harmed by keeping Rivet's design fairly modest… Right after Blizzard got slammed for and later admitted guilt for incredibly terrible mistreatment of its female employees to the point that ONE OF THEM COMMITTED SUICIDE. Way to fucking take a horrible event and try to use it to grandstand about how what a great guy you are, you selfish, narcissistic fuck.

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