@donos said:
This article feels a bit strange / white-knightey.
1) If Konami's corporate culture is actually terrible, then it will produce poor results. Konami is already getting out of games, although we don't know how much of that might've stemmed from poor culture.
2) If Konami's employees are unhappy, they are free to leave, see 1).
3) If there aren't enough other game development jobs at other companies to suit those unhappy employees, then they're in the same boat as every other prospective game developer in the world.
It seems to me there shouldn't be any special consumer action here. If you want to buy MGS5, buy it. If Konami has awful corporate practices, then they'll suffer for it either way. Their employees are adults capable of making their own decisions. They don't seem to be to be at an unfair disadvantage, so they don't need your help.
Eww. The existence of abuse and employee mistreatment at a company is bad in itself--like Austin said, it's dehumanizing, the worst thing anything can be. A system built to make a person into less of a person is an evil system. So, no, there is no hand waving this away. White-knight is a term used to attack those willing to say, "hey, this is screwed up." It, like Konami's practices, exists to silence dissent and thoughtfulness. It's a bullshit term.
Just as bullshit as saying, "hey, if you hate this, hate Foxconn." Pointing out hypocrisy is easy, and it often muddies the waters to where pointing out that something harmful is happening doesn't matter because, dude, what about the Congo? It's a bullshit approach that focuses on logical consistency over human suffering.
If humans are suffering and being treated as less than human, that's bad and a consumer should think about if not do something about it. That's it. There is no alternative. You've read about this. Now you choose how to act. Stop trying to find a way this is okay or misunderstood. You're avoiding the personal pain of knowing you've given money or support to a company with unethical, inhumane practices. Deal with that feeling and do something about it.
That's the only choice here.
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