Obsidian Entertainment CEO Hopes Gamers Will Forget 'Avowed' Features Pronouns And Art Director Endorses Discriminatory Hiring Policies

An alleged leak email from Obsidian Entertainment CEO Feargus Urquhart indicates that he and the company are hoping that gamers will forget the game features pronouns and that Art Director Matt Hansen endorsed discriminatory hiring policies.

If you haven’t been following what has happened with Avowed, it was discovered that the game, an upcoming first-person fantasy RPG from Obsidian Entertainment, would feature pronouns.

A screenshot of pronouns in the game was discovered after YouTuber Force Gaming shared a preview of the game and pulled up one of the game’s various menus.

READ: Xbox And Obsidian's 'Avowed' Promoted With Disordered LGBTQ+ Tag On Steam

This caught the attention of Mark Kern aka Grummz as well as Elon Musk.

Grummz reacted to their inclusion writing, “I’m drawing a line. I’m rejecting any game that has pronouns in it (and you grammar nazis know what I mean, stop being stupid).”

He added, “I don't care if the game is good. A message must be sent. Pronouns promote the woke mind virus and gamers must send a clear message.”

As for Musk, he wrote, “Having pronouns in a fantasy video game is utterly unacceptable.”

READ: Obsidian Whistleblower Describes 'Avowed' Art Director Matt Hansen As "Pure Evil"

Following this, the game’s Art Director Matt Hansen wrote on BlueSky, “Sickos.jpg. I wanted to badly to make him mad with my game, and I cannot believe it actually happened.”

He then threatened, “just wait until you see the default, you said little s**t.”

He then made it clear he wants to push this ideology into every single video game ever made.

READ: 'God Of War' Director David Jaffe Defends 'Avowed' Art Director Matt Hansen

It was also uncovered that he advocated for discrimination against white people in at least a couple of posts over the last half decade.

Back in 2020, he wrote, “Reminder to Black artists out there who are looking for portfolio reviews or job advice: my DMs are open, and you will always have my priority. We got too many crusty white dudes in this field, please let me help you replace me one day - I want to go back to living in the woods.”

More recently in March 2024, he responded to Elon Musk who said, “It should not be acceptable for any company in the gaming industry to be racist & sexist against ‘white guys.’”

Hansen retorted, “Oh, Elon, you sweet summer child, this will only embolden me, you sad sack of s**t.”

Hansen also said the over 77 million Americans who voted for Donald Trump have “putrid lives.”

He wrote, “They need to feel the sting of shame for the rest of their putrid lives, tbh. And that *is* me being nice.”

READ: Leaked Internal Slack Messages Show 'Avowed' Development Team Is Captured By Woke Mind Virus

Now, an alleged email from Obsidian Entertainment CEO Feargus Urquhart was leaked to YouTuber Smash JT and indicates he and the company are hoping all of this will be forgotten.

In the email, Urquhart wrote, “Many of you have probably seen the controversy online about Avowed over the last four or five days. I am not going to speak directly to what is happening, because the way we are going to deal with this (unless things change) is to let it blow over. I have always deal with things like this by not giving them more airtime.”

Next, he instructed employees on how they should engage with the public online, “Now to talk about how you all do engage online. You have probably all noticed that our language at Obsidian is to walk a tightrope when it comes to how we ask you to think about your online presence.”

“You have all heard me say that you are your own people, and, of course, have every right to say what you want to say wherever you want to say it - something I staunchly believe in personally whether I like what you say or not. That freedom does come with challenges and responsibilities. Particularly, when you talk about things that are associated with our games, or games in general. What you say can, …”

Smash JT reported in his YouTube coverage of the email, that his source cut off the email there and seemingly did not share the rest with him.

What do you make of Urquhart’s message to Obsidian Entertainment’s staff in response to pronouns in Avowed and Matt Hansen’s comments and actions?

NEXT: Former Co-Owner Of Obsidian Entertainment Says Company Should Be Sued For "Hiring Discrimination”