An Electronic Arts employee is facing backlash this week after controversial and discriminatory comments made back in 2021 resurfaced this week.
Dani Lalonders, an associate narrative designer for Cliffhanger Games, an EA subsidiary and current developer of the Marvel’s Black Panther video game, previously admitted to building a team with “no white people” while working on a game called ValiDate.
“We have no white people on our team,” Lalonders admitted during a stream for the Game Devs of Color Expo in 2021. “I did that because I wanted to create a safe environment, and I know the best way for an environment to be safe is to be around people who are just like me.”
“I’m not saying white people are creating unsafe environments, I’m saying sometimes it’s hard to work with white people because sometimes they think something is okay, but it’s really a microaggression,” Lalonders defended.
The clip went viral this week thanks, in large part, to the reach of Libs of TikTok.
ValiDate is a romantic visual novel about 13 adults in Jercy City navigating new relationships and the harsh realities that come alongside them.” The game released in 2022 to mostly positive reviews, although it’s possible these comments could result in review bombs.
Now it’s important to note that although Lalonders now works for Cliffhanger Games, they made this comment while working at Veritable Joy Studios, a Chicago-based studio “working to bring you authentic, heartfelt games about people of color.”
The company overview reads:
“Here at Veritable Joy, we pride ourselves on creating an authentic and supportive work environment where people of color can tell the stories that we want heard. Our studio is dedicated to crafting games that place people of color and LGBT+ characters at the forefront of the narrative, in the hopes that we can be the change that marginalized communities want to see in the gaming industry.”
Although Lalonders is now working as at Cliffhanger Games, it’s unclear if this policy has carried over to the Black Panther project. Since Cliffhanger Games falls under the EA umbrella, which is a much larger company, one would assume they would steer clear of any discriminatory hiring practices to avoid lawsuits.