Sweet Baby Inc. Has No Place In Gaming Industry

See full bio

Shaheer Zahid

At HI Digital I test and write about different hardware configurations to show other PC users what they can expect from their build. My end goal is to educate the masses to make the right decision when they are looking for new PC parts to buy

See full bio

Sweet Baby Inc. has suddenly garnered the attention of all gamers worldwide for the wrong reasons. The company involved in the narrative development of many AAA games has been facing a lot of negative reactions from the gaming community. I also believe that Sweet Baby Inc. is ruining our favorite video games.

It is incomprehensible how a company of just 16 people made in 2018 has become a part of AAA games like the record-breaking Spider-Man 2, the highly successful God of War Ragnarok, and the anticipated GTA 6, which is nearing the end of development.

Going by its history, I am concerned about its involvement in upcoming projects.

Why it matters: While their mission is to diversify video games and make them more inclusive for everyone, Sweet Baby Inc., in a way, is ruining their writing and forcing narratives instead of letting them naturally seam into it.

Reality Behind Sweet Baby Inc. Employees

Sure, video games have a lot of cultural influence and make a lot of money, considering the industry is worth trillions and arguably one of the biggest things in entertainment right now.

In the most basic sense, Sweet Baby Inc. determines if a game lacks diversification and adjusts the writing accordingly by adding people of various backgrounds, races, genders, etc.

It is worth noting that Sweet Baby Inc. didn’t invent wokeness. The inclusion of characters and even developers belonging to various religions, ethnicities, and sexual orientations has been around since gaming was made.

The problem with Sweet Baby Inc. is that they force these narratives rather than seamlessly interpret them into the game. First of all, the company would have an entirely different vision than the actual scriptwriters working on the game, which would ruin the artistic integrity and vision of the game, potentially leading to its downfall.

Moreover, Sweet Baby Inc. employees have a long-standing history of controversy, implying that they don’t care much about the video games they are working on, instead caring only about their agenda.

The company’s employees have also disrespected legends in the industry. Less than 2 hours after the death of Akira Toriyama, the legendary creator of the Dragon Ball franchise, a Sweet Baby Inc. employee, Chris Kindred, went to Twitter to disrespect his legacy by implying Toriyama was racist.

Chris’ account was temporarily suspended for thirty minutes before being active again. For someone responsible for narration and writing, it is incredibly disappointing to see him disrespect one of the best manga writers ever seen.

If this wasn’t enough, Dani LaLonders, a former Sweet Baby Inc. employee now working on EA’s Black Panther game, admitted to only hiring people of her color, claiming that working with white people was hard for her.

For a company that is all about inclusion and represents diversity, this is quite hypocritical behavior from Sweet Baby Inc. and goes against everything the company stands for.

However, hypocrisy seems to be a common theme for this company.

Forced Inclusion Ruins The Concept Of Diversity

Hiring an entirely separate company whose vision is probably quite different from the original team’s will result in a completely different story direction.

I support the idea of diversifying video games, but unrealistically portraying and ruining a character’s entire personality can harm a story in the long run. Sweet Baby Inc.’s writing, moreover, is subpar.

Much like the game itself, the narrative of Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League was a mess. Meanwhile, Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 had its fair share of cringe-worthy dialogue, all thanks to Sweet Baby Inc.

For a firm dedicated to diversity, they couldn’t even spot the obvious Cuban flag in Miles’ apartment despite his identity as Puerto Rican. Had Insomniac Games focused on the game rather than relying on this company, such missteps could have been avoided at release.

So miles is Cuban now ?
byu/princealithegreatest inSpiderman

God of War Ragnarok has an entire portion of the story dedicated to Angrboda, a child with African heritage who barely has anything to do with the game’s overarching narrative.

Historically speaking, there’s no trace of Black roots in Scandinavia, where God of War Ragnarok takes place, which is regressive in terms of repression of Black people by simply inserting them where they didn’t exist and thus discarding their long history, which has been happening for centuries.

What people don’t understand is that a game’s failure can cause entire studios to shut down, layoffs to happen, and ruin an entire team’s reputation.

Overall, I am left scratching my head after learning more about Sweet Baby Inc. Gaming is all about freedom, and the last thing we need is a firm’s adherence to the most basic and often stereotypical definitions of culture and race.

Sweet Baby Inc. seems more focused on inclusivity for the sake of it, and I can only imagine how the company’s influence will impact Grand Theft Auto, a franchise known for being over the top and satirical in every single way possible.

Shaheer Zahid

[How-To Guides Expert]

Laiba, our tech guru at HI Digital, simplifies and crafts How-To Guides with a Google IT Support Certificate. Beyond tech, she captures the city’s aesthetics through her lens. Join her journey where tech meets creativity!

Get In Touch: Laiba@hidgt.com