Internet sensation, PewDiePie, is under fire from indie developers and others. During a live stream event, he used a racial slur while playing PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds. He quickly responded with “I didn’t mean it in a bad way”.
PewDiePie & ongoing controversy
As a result of the slur, indie developer Sean Vanaman (Campo Santo) is calling for others to take action. Vanaman wants developers to go after Felix Kjellberg using the DMCA (Digital Millennium Copyright Act). Doing so would not allow Kjellberg to use footage from any of Campo Santo’s games now or in the future.
According to Vanaman, use of the slur is a “breaking point”.
I am sick of this child getting more and more chances to make money off of what we make. He’s worse than a closeted racist: he’s a propagator of despicable garbage that does real damage to the culture around this industry.
This is not the first time Kjellberg has been in hot water. Part of his divisive “schtick” is to make regular use of Nazi jokes and so forth. In fact, it was enough that Disney severed ties with him after a series of jokes after a series of anti-Semitic content. He did say recently, however, he would stop these types of “jokes”.
It will remain to be seen what happens as a result of Campo Santo’s call for developer action. The story is being widely reported across the internet.
What are your thoughts about what Kjellberg said and the call by Camp Santos?
William Murphy
One of the best replies I’ve seen to people defending this idiot has been when asked “Why are we upset about him using the n-word in a heated moment?” – the reply: “Because you just typed N-word instead of writing it out. You know why.”
This is why I think real journalism and writing need to still take precedence over internet personalities. This is not the kind of person that should be influencing children or grown people, and yet here’s a guy raking in over 7 mln a year from being an ass on and off camera.
Arkady Random
Man, you nailed it.
Aori
Just ban him like any other person if he broke the rules. I think the whole DMCA thing and rallying groups against him is ridiculous. I think simple is best, taking things to far like they are wanting does the opposite of just punishment, it just sounds malicious.
That said, I honestly don’t get his fandom or appeal, I’ve never liked his content.