Rock, Paper, Shotgun - To Boycott PAX Or Not To Boycott PAX?
To Boycott PAX Or Not To Boycott PAX? That really is the question these
days, isn’t it? The saga, up to this point, has been long, turbulent, and
ugly. Penny Arcade’s tangled two-headed hydra of a creative force has been
at the forefront of some pretty nasty movements over the years – the
Dickwolves incident, which saw Mike “Gabe” Krahulik and Jerry “Tycho”
Holkins stand resolutely unapologetic over a rape joke that made many fans
deeply uncomfortable (instead of saying sorry, they went and sold freaking
merchandise), easily stands as the most visible. In the wake of that,
similar incidents, and Krahulik acting vocally intolerant of transgendered
people, Gone Home developer Fullbright – who we spoke to in regards to this
article – went so far as to pull out of this year’s PAX altogether. But
others – many of whom absolutely abhor Penny Arcade’s oftentimes turgid
stances and values – attended despite all of that. Speaking with developers
behind games like Journey, Always Sometimes Monsters, and Child of Light,
and other fans and critics from many walks of life, I found out why.