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Following widespread criticism of PlayStation CEO Jim Ryan’s email last week urging employees to “respect differences of opinion” around abortion rights before writing at length about his cat’s birthdays, Insomniac Games has reportedly decided to donate $50,000 to the Women’s Reproductive Rights Assistance Project, a pro-choice organization.
According to The Washington Post, Insomniac shared the news in an internal email sent May 13. In it, Insomniac CEO Ted Price also confirmed that parent company Sony has agreed to match the studio’s donation, a marked departure from Ryan’s “middle-of-the-road” stance last week. Furthermore, Sony has also pledged to match all donations made from individual Insomniac employees as long as they make them via the company’s PlayStation Cares program.
The Ratchet and Clank and Marvel’s Spider-Man developer then revealed it is currently working with Sony to “formulate an initiative to provide financial assistance to employees who might have to travel to different states to receive reproductive care.” However, both companies have stated their intentions to remain quiet about the donations, and have forbidden employees from explicitly mentioning Insomniac or Sony “should they decide to retweet any announcements the WRRAP might make.”
However, Insomniac has reportedly expressed interest in sharing a message of support for Roe v. Wade, the landmark decision establishing access to abortions as a constitutional right for all US citizens that is currently at risk of being overturned. The call to remain quiet, it seems, has been entirely made by Sony, as Price wrote there would be “material repercussions for us as a wholly owned subsidiary” if he or the studio were to release a message.
“Among other things, any progress that we might make in helping change [Sony Interactive Entertainment’s] approach would be stopped dead in its track,” Price wrote in the letter. “We’d also probably be severely restricted from doing important public-facing work in the future.”
One company that is taking a stand against the Supreme Courts apparent attempt at overturning Roe v. Wade, however, is Destiny developer Bungie. In a blog post shared on the studio’s official website last week, the company called the decision “a direct attack on human rights.” The company then listed a number of pro-choice organizations supporters can donate to including URGE (Unite for Reproductive & Gender Equity) and NARAL Pro-Choice America. It is interesting to note, however, that Bungie is on its way to becoming a PlayStation studio as well, having been recently acquired by the company.
GameSpot has written an article explaining the impact overturning Roe v. Wade might have on American citizens, as well as outlining a number of pro-choice organizations you can support.
