Kotaku Just Published The Worst Article You'll Ever See...

Kotaku’s Crusade Against Criticism: A Critique of John Walker’s Article on Avowed

As if Kotaku couldn't outdo themselves, we have what may be the worst article I've ever had the displeasure to read through (and just had to do a livestream covering it - because yeah - it is THAT bad).

Titled: "The Campaign Against Avowed Reveals The Bigotry That Fuels The Anti-Woke" - It represents the recurring pattern of dismissing legitimate criticism of modern game design as mere "bigotry" ...and of course, it comes out of the slop factory known to many long-time gamers as... Kotaku.

The cockroach of the game industry that refuses to shrivel up and die.

While the writer John Walker the newest member to KotakuDetected attempts to position himself as the moral arbiter of gaming discourse, his arguments fail to substantiate any of his claims, relying instead on ad hominem attacks, misrepresentation, and plentiful overgeneralizations.

Walker is currently looking for work on LinkedIn, and based on how he approaches the world of "journalism" ...it really isn't hard to see why.

Mischaracterizing Critics as "Grifters"

He begins by painting any critics of Avowed as “grifters” who are engaged in simply a performative campaign to enrage audiences for money. Ah yes. This argument again. His assertions unfortunately for the point he's trying to make in all this, rest strawman arguments.

It's a tad surprising, coming from a co-founder of Rock Paper Shotgun, but the more I learn about those in games journalism, the less shocking all this really is...

Criticism of Avowed—or any game—comes from diverse voices all over the world, not all of whom are monetized content creators. Some are just genuine gamers concerned with perceived trends in storytelling and character representation that they feel prioritize virtue-signaling over narrative or gameplay quality. He fails to mention this obvious fact, as with many others, because they would quickly knock down the narrative he's for some reason so desperate to build here.

Dismissing criticism as grifting is such a tired and lazy tactic. By focusing on the motives of the critics rather than addressing the substance of their arguments, Walker sidesteps engaging with the core issues COMPLETELY.

Overreliance on Mockery and Hyperbole

But of course, that's just the beginning of this slop. Walker goes on to employ a sarcastic tone throughout his piece, ridiculing the idea that Avowed could be criticized for its character choices. His exaggerated examples—like a hypothetical mission helping “a gay polycule adopt a cat-identifying trans child at an abortion clinic”—serve no purpose beyond trivializing actual dissent.

While satire can often be an effective rhetorical device, here - no... it's wielded to obscure rather than clarify. Walker’s hyperbolic examples distract from the legitimate discussions about the industry’s direction, alienating any readers who would otherwise try to engage with his perspective. At best, he comes across as extremely disingenuous. This is why Kotaku is not long for this planet. There is no one in charge over there directing on what the pulse of gamers actually is, so in turn, you get what amounts to be attacks on the very community meant to support them in the first place.

Lack of Evidence for Claims

A recurring issue with Walker’s article is his reliance to give broad generalizations without providing ANY concrete evidence or sources (except where he constantly refers you to click on his other articles - but don't worry, according to this guy, YouTubers are the "grifters" in all this somehow. He accuses critics of being driven by racism, homophobia, and misogyny multiple times - so much that it feels like an essay assigned for homework in high school where your teacher has a minimum word amount. In doing so, he offers nothing of proof beyond his own anecdotal references to social media reactions.

By conflating all criticism with bigotry, Walker completely dismisses any readers who might hold nuanced views. Thankfully that's a very small number of people because again, this is Kotaku we're talking about here. His binary framing—where critics are either virtuous defenders of diversity or hateful bigots—erases any real criticism being given towards the game.

Ignoring the Industry’s Role in Perpetuating Controversy

Walker briefly mentions Avowed’s use of “they/them” pronouns in its character creator as a point of contention for critics... But just as quickly dismisses it as not a big deal.

But oh boy, are the grifters on fire about Avowed. They saw the previews about how you could hit spiders with swords, and they saw the few that mentioned the pronouns (it didn’t seem particularly exciting to me, so I didn’t think to mention it), and that was it.

While he continues to drone on about us 'grifters', he fails to acknowledge how developers and publishers amplify pronouns. Often how they are THE red flag for wokism. If a game has pronouns, often the pattern recognition has been developed by people in deep with this world to notice that the game itself will be very woke as well. But here's the thing, even if it's not, it's still hard to bring myself to the point of supporting a game that backs an Art Directer who is openly racist and hateful to gamers on his social media (we'll revisit this in just a second).

By hiding the pronoun features and character creation portion of the game from potential customers, they invite scrutiny from both supporters and detractors. Walker’s refusal to even bother examining this issue proves to me that he has a severe lack of critical understanding with how the video game industry is just so out of touch with the very customers there to support it.

More Misrepresentation

Towards the end of the article, John Walker Attacks Elon Musk (for being too rich?) and attempts to dismiss criticism of Matt Hanson and his racist tweet with a vague "trust me, bro" approach.

In it, offering no screenshots, sources, or tangible evidence to substantiate his claims:

Because, yes, horrendously, the world’s richest bigot has been posting about Avowed too, condemning its use of pronouns, and deliberately re-interpreting the art director’s mocking sarcasm to be a statement of intent to be “racist” against “white guys.”

Instead of addressing the serious nature of the accusations, Walker pivots to portraying Hanson as "misunderstood," a bizarre and unconvincing defense of someone whose public behavior has drawn widespread condemnation. Again, read what Walker wrote (above), and compare it to the tweet that he is referencing but omitted from including in his article that I will provide here for you (below).

This not only undermines any credibility of Walker’s weak ass argument, but also, it raises serious questions about why he would go to such lengths to excuse such reprehensible actions. Defending an individual with a documented pattern of harmful rhetoric without evidence to counter those criticisms is not just reckless—it’s a beyond wild take that enables the very same behavior it should be condemning. Oh the irony...

A Missed Opportunity for Nuanced Discourse

John Walker’s piece on Avowed could have been an opportunity to foster real meaningful dialogue about the evolving nature of gaming and its audience. Building a bridge to gamers and understanding our frustrations... But no. Instead, it leans HARD on inflammatory rhetoric and dismissive generalizations, failing to engage with the complexities of ANY part of the debate consuming the game landscape these days.

Critics of games like Avowed are not alone, and our concerns can't simply be reduced to “bigotry.” By refusing to engage with the substance of our arguments, Kotaku—and by extension Walker—proves to everyone just how our of touch they are with the actual gaming community. If anything, this article reveals the dangers of painting all dissent with the same broad brush, an approach that stifles conversation rather than advancing it... But then again, like I started this off with... It's Kotaku is anyone really surprised here?

Hey, they're not good for nothing.

We can still use Kotaku as a beacon of hope... That real comedy isn't dead.

That comedy's name is Kotaku, it is alive.... but not well.

~ Smash