Runescape CEO discontinued Pride Month events to avoid "backlash"

In recent years, we've seen the gaming community start to heavily critique things which it sees as involving diversity, inclusion, and representation. There are audible groans whenever a female character doesn't have a bust size that would give a woman back pain by the age of 22, and campaigns launched to shoot down anything that falls under the ever-growing banner of woke.

It seems some developers are wanting to avoid this new age of backlash, especially following Trump's anti-DEI initiatives. According to Pink News, this might be why we've seen very little in terms of Pride Month celebrations on Runescape this year.

According to sources that spoke with Pink News, Runescape developer Jagex CEO Jon Bellamy chose to discontinue Pride Month content and events due to fear of "backlash."

"I want to be clear, the decision for this is with me. I own it, I'm fully responsible for it. I published Friday's announcement with speed in mind... and this weekend's messages and questions made that clear," Bellamy reportedly said in a Q&A to address staff concerns. "I understand that RuneScape... is precious because it is a safe space, it is an escape from reality, and the reality that we find ourselves in is changing. It is getting stranger, more troubling, less moral, I would argue," he continued.

"Games and studios are being cancelled because of content that is perceived to be 'woke' or representative. The pendulum is swinging back in a way we didn't expect."

Community-organised Pride events will continue, but as Bellamy allegedly wrote, indeed it does seem as if the pendulum is swinging back. We'll have to wait and see how this defines the era of gaming that is to come.