It’s time to kick back against gaming bigots
Cross Assault, Capcom’s online reality show about a Street Fighter X Tekken tournament, should have been a straightforward promotional device – a dog whistle inaudible to all but fighting game fanatics. But Capcom’s PR wheeze backfired spectacularly this week. Cross Assault won’t be remembered for whoever wins the $25,000 prize money tonight or the game it was trying to sell. Instead it will forever be associated with sexual harassment and gaming culture at its worst. In case you missed it Giant Bomb’s coverage has all the detail but here’s a summary. Aris Bakhtanians, the coach of Team Tekken, made numerous and persistent sexist remarks to Miranda Pakozdi, the sole female member of his team. Lewd, sleazy comments about her breast size and thighs plus requests for her to take her t-shirt off and chat about how he wants to smell her. Pakozdi’s contract obliged her to stay in the competition so she had little choice but to endure it. Eventually, to escape this unpleasant situation, she stopped trying to win matches and got herself knocked out of the competition. Read more…
