Lately I keep seeing comments like:
“It’s just virtue signaling devs whining.”
“Saudi Arabia isn’t open-minded, so at least games will finally be more neutral, without ideologies shoved down our throats.”
"They also have big stakes in nintendo, activiosn, capcom and nothing changed"
Let me be clear: if BioWare actually goes “neutral tone,” Dragon Age and Mass Effect stop being Dragon Age and Mass Effect.
also, Nindendo's franchises (Mario, Zelda, Pokémon, Smash), Capcom's (Resident Evil, Monster Hunter, Street Fighter) and Activision Blizzard's games (Call of Duty) don’t touch LGBTQ+ themes or social commentary in the first place. There’s nothing “controversial” to censor..”
So of course nothing obvious changed, those publishers already weren’t leaning into progressive storytelling.
These games have always been political
Mass Effect: Entire arcs are about systemic prejudice (krogan genophage, geth/quarians, council xenophobia). Shepard is literally trying to unite clashing civilizations. Romances — including queer ones — aren’t optional fluff; they’re woven into the emotional heart of the trilogy.
Dragon Age: Mages vs. templars = authoritarian religion vs. oppressed class. The Dalish = displaced, colonized people. Party members like Dorian (gay), Krem (trans), Zevran, Leliana, Anders, etc. embody themes of identity and resistance.
This isn’t “virtue signaling.” It’s core BioWare storytelling. If you remove the politics, you’re left with generic swords and lasers.
🛑 “Neutral” ≠ neutral
“Neutral tone” under authoritarian or ultra-conservative ownership doesn’t mean “fun escapism.” It means stripping out diversity, sanitizing themes, and avoiding messy questions.
The result? Games that look AAA but feel hollow — worlds without queerness, without marginalized voices, without allegories that hit close to home. That’s not Dragon Age. That’s not Mass Effect.
Why this matters now:
People point to PIF’s investments in Nintendo, Capcom, Activision and say “nothing changed.” True, but those companies weren’t pushing queer or political themes in the first place. BioWare is different. Its brand identity is built on exactly the kind of representation that makes authoritarian investors squirm.
David Gaider (lead writer on Dragon Age) already said it bluntly: guns and football are safe, queer content is not. If EA’s new owners steer BioWare toward “neutral,” it won’t just be censorship., it’ll be the death of the very thing that made these games beloved.
TL;DR
If you’re saying “good, make games neutral again,” you’re really saying:
“Make Dragon Age not feel like Dragon Age.”
“Make Mass Effect not feel like Mass Effect.”
These games have always been about politics, identity, queerness, and resistance. If you want them stripped down to “apolitical escapism,” you might as well play something else.
Bureaucracy and rule of law is weak and effeminate, in order for the galaxy to be saved from itself, it needs a badass who doesn't play by the rules and punches journalists.
Also space racism is bad, but is it really though?
Also what if the blue alien space babes' society was based on the maiden, mother and crone trichotomy completely unironically lmao
i wouldn't call a space ny post "reporter" a journalist
I mean you're right but that also wasn't the reason a lot of the fanbase delighted in being able to do it
idk she was very obviously a tabloid shitter not Sy Hersch or somebody good. if the default male shep soldier players thought differently they should play cod instead of an rpg
ME fans on most alien races (including the goddamn krogan who literally launched a war of extermination on the rest of the galaxy) vs ME fans on Batarians
The fact that Batarians more or less act as caricatures for the DPRK meets post-Cold War Islamic World and thus "acceptable" punching bags really sells it.
The batarians are literally the only organic species to have a state controlled economy. In ME2 there is even a line that claims only „utopian“ technology can fix wealth inequality.