Spider-Man, Alan Wake, Ridiculous Fishing devs speak up in support of consultancy studio Sweet Baby Inc

eurogamer.net:

Mary Kenney, associate narrative director at Insomniac Games, has discussed the current online discussion surrounding narrative development and consultancy firm Sweet Baby Inc.

To recap, Sweet Baby Inc. recently became the target of a group which claimed the company was forcing studios it worked with to increase diversity within its games, and accused it of pushing a «woke agenda» into the industry. Following a report into the claims by Kotaku, a number of game developers have spoken up to clear up misconceptions about what companies like Sweet Baby Inc. actually do.

Kenney, who has written for games including Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales, Telltale's The Walking Dead and the upcoming Marvel's Wolverine, posted a thread on X yesterday. «Some of you don't seem to understand how narrative consulting on games works,» she began, «but don't worry: I do!»

During a game's development, narrative consultants will be hired by studios to help with fleshing out or tweaking narrative elements, Kenney said. «Narrative consultants do not get final say,» Kenney reiterated. «It doesn't get into the game if we [as the developer] don't approve it.

»They consult. They do research, pitch ideas, give feedback, and maybe even write scripts. But none of that gets into the game unless the core dev team agrees with it. I'm going to keep saying that, because it's key. Sweet Baby is not, nor is any consulting group, coming in to wreck games. They're helping smooth out plots and deepen characters. They ease the burden on the core narrative team. They're additive in every way."

Some of you don’t seem to understand how narrative consulting on games works, but don’t worry: I do!

Yes this is about Sweet Baby, because I’ve worked with that team, and they’re one of the finest in the biz.