Cognition Dissemination: Take the Bungie Approach, Jim Ryan
PlayStation president and CEO Jim Ryan has long been a man who constantly trips over his own shoelaces, as those familiar with his tenure as PlayStation Europe’s head before ascending to his current position can attest. Ryan has been known for avoidable gaffes that included comments about indie games and backwards compatibility with games released on older PlayStation platforms. He has now stumbled into his biggest blunder yet, one several times larger than the previous ones combined.
Ryan, according to Bloomberg, sent an email to Sony employees last week asking them “respect differences of opinion” on abortion rights. This comes after a draft from Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito was leaked nearly two weeks ago in the United States, which signaled that the court made a majority decision to overturn Roe v. Wade and set reproductive rights, and the country by extension, back decades when it comes to rights for women. The draft led to an eruption of protests all around the country that have continued since then, deservedly so, for the sake of reproductive rights and the states that will either leave in place or pass laws to restrict them, and how the Supreme Court’s conservative majority and their fascist sympathizers are unlikely to stop here.
It’s not possible to respect “differences of opinion” when one side involves taking away rights that people have held granted for decades, which explains why several Sony employees were justifiably livid. But this somehow gets worse. Ryan also included five paragraphs about his two cats’ birthdays and their habits, not what these employees were in the mood for after the previous statement. But his expressed desire to get a dog really went places. “Dogs really are man’s best friend, they know their place, and perform useful functions like biting burglars and chasing balls that you throw for them,” he said. Consider how “dogs” can also be called “bitches,” and this could easily say that “bitches know their place.” It’s nefarious if this is an intentional dog whistle, but if not, it’s extremely sloppy writing.
Jim Ryan could have taken Destiny developer Bungie’s approach, which posted a statement supporting reproductive rights a couple of days after the leaked draft. They minced no words in saying the likely-impending overturn of Roe v. Wade is “a blow to freedom in America and is a direct attack on human rights.” They ended the post by providing links to organizations that support reproductive rights that readers are free to donate to. This alone is remarkable considering Sony’s previously-announced intent to purchase Bungie at the end of January.
This isn’t what I meant in the title with Ryan and Sony taking the “Bungie” approach. I meant he should take the “bungie” approach by being put on a figurative (or literal) one and ejected from Sony leadership. Ryan has, as I mentioned in the lede, made several screw-ups in his time as PlayStation president, with this being by far the largest. He will only make more. It’s been several days since this happened as of this particular writing, but Ryan has yet to apologize or make any follow-up comments. The only interpretation here is how this means he thought they were great and needed no further elaboration.
Sony is a public company, which means the company’s board of directors could vote to eject him if they wanted to. There are no signs of this even coming close to happening, which could — could — be due to the board thinking his comments aren’t that bad.
Chances are Ryan and the board know there are plenty of gamers defending the comments or thinking he’s brave for not taking a political stance, even though making a “both sides” statement on abortion is a political stance in itself. But they’re also betting that it will be lost in the gaming news within the next week, if not sooner, with Sony contributing by providing info about the new PlayStation Plus program earlier today. These comments are likely to go forgotten, but there’s a chance of them being spotlighted again when the final decision from the Supreme Court drops in late June or early July.
This also explain why, as the Washington Post reported today, Sony is refusing to approve of any statements from their development partners in support of abortion. Insomniac’s Ted Price tried to convince Sony to do otherwise, to no avail. They’re sticking to their guns here.
At this point, I would be shocked if Jim Ryan even bothered to damage control this by releasing some kind of statement. If he does, it will likely be to the tune of his comments being misinterpreted with a subtle (though not literal) “I’m sorry you’re offended” quip thrown in for good measure. Considering how some of the most vocal elements of the gaming community have responded thus far, Sony is unlikely to suffer any repercussions for this — and they know it.
About The Author
Geoff
News Editor | Geoff is some nerd who writes for a blog and thinks he's knowledgeable. He write a lot about video games, but is capable of writing about other subjects, too. Twitter
