TGO Daily | Tuesday September 7, 2021 | Tripwire in Trouble
In the news: Tripwire's President receives backlash from his partners after tweeting support for Texas abortion law & the rabbit hole of market manipulation in retro video game collecting is opened.
TGO Daily | Tuesday September 7, 2021
✏️ From the Author
I write this newsletter having just finished another game night! This time we played Happy Little Dinosaurs, and I must say the game couldn’t have been cuter. I really loved the humor and the art on the cards.
I also write this as someone is snoring loudly in the hotel room adjacent to me. Does that mean the walls are thin or that this person is just snoring incredibly loud? The answer is a resounding yes.
Until next time,
Brandon
📰In The News
President of Tripwire Tweets Support for Anti-Women Law in Texas
Key partners of Tripwire Interactive are ending their business relationships after the President, John Gibson, tweeted in support of a recent abortion law passed in Texas, US. The law prohibits abortions as early as six weeks into pregnancy -- before some women even know they are pregnant -- and will allow citizens to sue people they believe have had an abortion beyond that timeframe. Tripwire is the developer of popular games Killing Floor and Maneater, as well as the publisher for games like Chivalry 2.
Gibson tweeted his support for the law, stating:
Proud of #USSupremeCourt affirming the Texas law banning abortion for babies with a heartbeat. As an entertainer I don’t get political often. Yet with so many vocal peers on the other side of this issue, I felt it was important to go on the record as a pro-life game developer.
Gibson quickly received backlash on Twitter from the public. Developer Shipwright Studios, who contributed to Chivalry 2 and developed Maneater, tweeted in response that they plan to cut ties with Tripwire immediately:
Torn Banner Studios, the main developer behind the Chivalry series, also responded to the tweet, stating: “We do not share the opinion expressed in a recent tweet by the president of Tripwire, publisher of Chivalry 2. This perspective is not shared by our team, nor is it reflected in the games we create. The statement stands in opposition to what we believe about women’s rights.”
It’s important to remember that Torn Banner & Shipwright have contracts that you can’t just ‘tear up’ without repercussions. Shipwright seems to suggest they may face early contract termination costs, while Torn Banner doesn’t make much indication - which could mean they may not simply have such an option readily available. Time will tell what exactly will come of all this and how the studios that want to break away from Tripwire will do it.
Brandon’s Thoughts: I find myself very curious on how greatly, if at all, this will impact Tripwire. I also understand people have their own reasons and beliefs for why abortion is wrong - I understand them, but don’t agree with them. People are entitled to voice their opinion, and people are entitled to never buy something from a company again because of that opinion. Gibson is free to voice his opinion on the matter, and I’m happier to know it so I can better understand what kind of company I’m supporting, or choosing to not support, with my wallet. Personally, as someone who was raised in Texas, I’m utterly ashamed of the state from all this mess.
Wata Games & Heritage Auctions Running Scandal to Manipulate Market?
You may remember the tremendous spike we’ve seen since 2020 in older, sealed & graded, games being sold. One of the biggest ones being a copy of Super Mario Bros selling for $2 million USD. However, information continues to be released that suggest these big spikes in retro game sales are market manipulation done by Heritage Auctions founder, Jim Halperin, and Wata Games Co-Founder, Mark Haspel.
This all came to head from Karl Jobst’s video investigation into the large spike, and only continues to look worse for those involved. The accusations in this are that Wata and Heritage executives are working hand-in-hand on the side to manipulate the market to inflate prices and continue to keep their businesses in the news with eye-catching titles, like an old game selling for $2 million USD - when in actuality it’s simply them selling games between each other to get people to invest into the market.
“So what you have here is the chairman of the auction house buying a game for a record price, then creating a press release about his own purchase, in which himself and the president of the grading company state the value of games are going up. He then advertises that his own game will be going up for auction in the future through his own auction house.” - Karl Jobst
This is further evidenced by the investigation launched by another Journalist, Seth Abramson, where Abramson actually bought highly-rated Wata rated games directly from Mark Haspel. On Haspel’s Ebay account, he’s selling 74 Wata rated games, all rated at “investment grade” levels (9.0 and above), save for only one copy being below that threshold. This flies directly in the face for what Wata Games claims has always been their policy, that “WATA employees [are] not allowed to have games graded by the company or sell those that were [graded by the company].”
There’s a lot of moving parts to all this, and the story still continues to develop. I highly recommend you look more into it if you find it as interesting as I did. It really just comes down to very rich people continuing to make themselves richer, while inflating the market and hurting video game collecting hobbyists along the way.
🔦 Spotlight Article
Technical localization challenges and how to solve them | GamesIndustry.biz
A fascinating look at the challenges that come from localization, particularly using Stranger of Sword City Revisited and Saviors of Sapphire Wings as an example.
💡 Read More
👋 Say Hello!
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Thanks for the read <3