Bungie won’t be ‘muzzled’ by Sony over abortion rights comments

metro.co.uk:

While Insomniac is forced to keep quiet about the abortion rights debate in the US, Bungie pledges not to be silenced by its new owner.

While the majority of the games industry has kept quiet over the leaked Supreme Court draft, that says it will overturn the Roe v. Wade abortion ruling in the US, Bungie was the first studio to publicly decry it.

Shortly after the leak broke, Bungie called the potential decision ‘a blow to freedom in America and … a direct attack on human rights,’ promising to support any employees that would be affected.

That’s not Sony’s take on the issue though, as PlayStation boss Jim Ryan recently sent out a letter to employees asking them to ‘respect differences of opinion among everyone’ regarding the issue.

With Bungie set to become a first party Sony studio, there are concerns that its new owner will attempt to silence Bungie and prevent it from taking public stances like this in the future.

However, Bungie itself has promised that will not happen, with senior community manager Dylan Gafner saying, ‘There will never be a ‘muzzle’ big enough to stop us from standing up for what’s right.’

CEO Pete Parsons backed up Gafner’s comment, insinuating that if Sony ever attempts to silence Bungie on this or any similar political manners, Bungie will adamantly defy it.

At the time, Bloomberg reported that many employees were unhappy with Jim Ryan’s letter, not just for refusing to take a firm stance but also for trivialising the issue, as Ryan also took the opportunity to talk about his cat’s birthday and whether he should buy a dog or not.

Subsequently, Ratchet & Clank developer Insomniac Games pledged to donate $50,000 (£40,200) to the Women’s Reproductive Rights Assistance Project, a charity that assists women