Vince Zampella, General Manager of Respawn Entertainment and head of some of Electronic Arts largest franchisesspoke on Twitter in defense of transgender rights ahead of the start of Pride Month on June 1st. Kotaku has learned that this rare display comes after an internal roundtable discussion earlier today in which executives at the FIFA producer were once again faced with questions from staff about its relative silence on these issues.
“Trans rights are human rights,” Zampella tweeted on Tuesday. “It’s that simple. Respawn has grown on the principles of diversity, equality and inclusion and strives to uphold those values. Let’s become better people.”
Zampella was a former co-founder of Call of Duty studied Infinity Ward and is currently Head of The EA studies in connection with Apex Legends, Star Wars Jedi: Survivorand Battlefield. The publisher has invested heavily in his vision and his leadership, which now includes speaking up on printing psocial issues where his employer has kept quiet. Many developers, including some at EA, thanked Zampella in tweets comments for expressing his support. Zampella and EA did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The statement from the gaming industry veteran came after a meeting earlier in the day on LGTBQ + issues led by EA’s chief DEI officer, Asha George, and chief operating officer of EA studios, Kate Kellogg, according to two sources familiar with the event. There, they again faced questions from staff about why EA would not take a public stand on issues such as transgender rights and the right to abortion.
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Sources said some employees were once again appalled at the lack of clear response from management, whose response again seemed to rely on the idea of abortion and trans rights lacking support from across the company. Kellogg and George effectively repeated Chief People’s Officer Mala Singh’s remarks from an internal company town hall a week ago.
“These are incredibly complex personal issues, and being part of an inclusive company means being inclusive in all of those views,” she said at the time, without specifying what the other “views” on issues such as transgender rights might be. Sources said Kellogg and George followed her lead in trying to focus the conversation instead on what EA can do to support the individual health needs of its employees in the midst of ongoing right-wing cultural wars and human rights attacks.
That Battlefield the publisher had previously sponsored one Dallas Morning News ad along with dozens of other companies condemning a grossly transphobic government order in Texas. “We are proud to participate in the Human Rights Campaign with others in the business community to oppose discriminatory laws and policies being introduced in Texas, Florida and other states across the country,” it said in a statement. the time.
However, neither that feeling nor Zampellas has ever been shared on EA’s website or social media channels. This is in stark contrast to studies such as Bungie and Certain affinity, which has not backed down from taking a stand on polarizing issues that other gaming companies have apparently considered too controversial to take a stand on. It is not yet clear how EA in particular will reconcile its current silence with its activities in 2022 Pride Month.
“Pride is not about ignoring this harsh reality to celebrate, Pride is and has always been a celebration in the face of hatred,” the publisher wrote in a blog post at the start of Pride month last year. “We know we can do more for our LGBTQIA + staff and players.”