On the same day that GOG changed its mind and decided it wouldn’t be listing Devotion on its storefront, an indie developer announced it wouldn’t sell its game on the service. Just hours after GOG made its reversal, Glass Bottom Games founder Megan Fox wrote on Twitter that she would no longer bring SkateBIRD to that online marketplace.
In the tweet announcing her decision, Fox took aim at the way GOG delivered the earlier news regarding Devotion. The onlline PC game store tweeted earlier in the day that it received messages from “many gamers” stating their displeasure at the idea of Devotion being offered for sale. In the thread attached to the tweet, several people expressed their belief the change of heart was born out of pressure from the Chinese government.
Devotion developer Red Candle Games is a Taiwanese company that has been repeatedly critical of China. Last year, the title was briefly listed and then pulled from Steam after an Easter egg making fun of Chinese President Xi Jinping was found inside Devotion. The devs compared Jinping to Winnie The Pooh, then went added insult to injury and called him “a moron.” The backlash from that Easter egg led to the game’s publisher, Indievent, losing its business license.
Apparently sensing that Red Candle Games was once again being punished for its political message, Fox taunted GOG by saying she would only list SkateBIRD on Steam. “Earlier today, it was assumed that the game SkateBIRD was coming to @GOGcom,” she wrote. “After receiving one message from them that undercut a fellow indie dev, we have decided not to list our game in their store.” Fox citing “one message” in making her decision was a very obvious shot across the bow of the online game store’s claim they had several people complaining about Devotion.
While Fox and Glass Bottom Games drew words of encouragement for their supporting Red Candle, others pointed out the choice of Steam for SkateBIRD as problematic. After all, GOG appeared to just be following in the footsteps of the larger online store. It was China’s pressure on Steam that caused problems for Devotion’s developers in the first place.
It’s understandable that Fox wanted to show solidarity with a small independent developer on Tuesday. She may not have even been aware of the history of Devotion or that Steam took similar steps to GOG against Devotion less than a year prior. The decision of Glass Bottom games still didn’t sit right with many, as it seemed to give Steam credit it didn’t deserve.