Two of GreenManGaming staff recently joined a VG 24/7 journalist in a series of tweets to mock and ridicule gamers, even going so far as to suggest that the only way to deal with them is by “mocking” them and “punching” them.
[Correction: The original headline mentioned that a female gamer wanted to box the individuals involved with the mocking. However, that was a different individual opting to box a journalist mocking gamers. The headline has been modified to reflect the correction]
It all started when VG 24/7 did a parody top list about apolitical video games in response to The Escapist’s new editor-in-chief, Russ Pitts, claiming that The Escapist will “leave politics at the door” for its relaunch.
VG 24/7 is one of the outlets that believe that politics need to be in gaming and that it needs to be front and center, as evident with VG 24/7 threatening to blacklist GOG.com because GOG.com tweeted out a gif that VG 24/7 felt represented the kind of politics they didn’t agree with, or telling gamers to “piss off and go elsewhere” if they don’t agree with the politics in Battlefield V.
The sub-reddit Kotaku In Action picked up on VG 24/7’s top 5 list about apolitical games and began criticizing the outlet for their politics.
The author of the piece, Kirk McKeand, became indignant for receiving criticism, inviting his Social Justice Warrior friends to mock the Kotaku In Action Reddit thread by creating a Twitter thread of his own that he started up on July 27th, 2018.
https://twitter.com/MckKirk/status/1022950337869762560
Within the thread, some of McKeand’s friends joined in on the mockery, including the social media manager for the digital distribution outlet GreenManGaming, Alex McHugh, who stated the following on July 27th, 2018.
If you’re unable to read the tweet, McHugh states…
“That top comment just shows how fucking ridiculous trying to ‘engage’ with that lot is, they just shift position every time. Mocking and punching, the only way forward.”
Another member of the GreenManGaming team joined in… this time it was Oliver Paul, another social media manager at the company. In response to people saying that they would be closing their accounts with the company, Paul tweeted out the following on July 29th, 2018.
Pretty sure GMG’s response will be along the lines of “k bye”, or at least mine will be
— Oliver Paul (@OllyPaul12) July 29, 2018
Eurogamer community manager, Mr. Tom, chimed in to support Paul for standing against gamers and lamented that the digital distribution outlet couldn’t be more “unprofessional” when addressing their potential (and now former) customers.
Shame you can’t go with the far more unprofessional, but much more apt “get fucked ant boy”.
— MrTom (@MrTom) July 29, 2018
VG 24/7’s Kirk McKeand also praised Paul for standing up for McHugh’s comments and for dismissing the concerns of gamers.
However, plenty of gamers actually began criticizing McHugh for wanting to engage in violence against some of GreenManGaming’s own customers, which seems like a counterproductive thing to do, especially since the company is infamous for having been accused of selling stolen game keys a couple of years ago, as reported by Eurogamer.
This prompted one gamer over on Kotaku in Action to challenge McHugh to a boxing match.
Sour_Badger also posted tweets online, reiterating the desire to fight them in a boxing match.
I’m Sour Badger. Don’t use Twitter much, but figured I’d double the guys options of contacting me.
— lick Me (@Coni_leen_gus) July 28, 2018
Head gear/ no headgear 16 oz or smaller gloves. Tough guys choice.
— lick Me (@Coni_leen_gus) July 28, 2018
Alex McHugh opted out of responding to the challenge and instead protected the tweets on his account as of the writing of this article.
As for Kirk McKeand…some have been trying to get in contact with the VG 24/7 journalist to ask questions about why he’s so hostile toward certain segments of the gaming community and why there’s such a heavy political bias being exercised at VG 24/7.
I attempted to reach out for comment, however he has me blocked on Twitter.
(Thanks for the news tips The Positivist and Kyle)
