Update 01/12/20: After retracting an earlier apology, a StudioFOW member apologized again on behalf of Subverse's creators on Tuesday evening.

In a post on Subverse's Kickstarter page, a developer named Tibor, without addressing the controversy in specific terms, offered a summary: "We had completed some great gameplay and wanted to show it off on Youtube. After the video was released, things got out of hand. I am not a PR expert (as evidenced by Saturday's events), but a regular old software guy stepping into uncharted territory. As a result, I made a number of mistakes in my communications. Instead of competently leading my team, I allowed conflicting messages, posts, and statements to appear in our communication channels." The statement does not address why the studio decided to work with such a controversial figure. The statement does not specifically deny Arch, but neither does it name him. He said, "I have let down my supporters, I have let down our wonderful team of Discord moderators by putting them in impossible situations, and I have let down our fans. This is a game for everyone and the last thing I wanted to do was create division in our fan base.

Tibor concluded by stating that the studio would never work with Arch or with anyone outside the team on promotions again.

Update 04/12/20: After the publication of this article, Arch contacted me objecting to being described as racist: "As a YouTube channel, I cannot discriminate, desire to discriminate, or discriminate. Furthermore, I have repeatedly and vocally argued against racism in multiple videos and have also confronted alt-right personalities in debates against their views." I have a documented and provable history, as evidenced by my comments on this article. Mr. Arch also stated that Wargaming.net never disputed the terms of the contract and that they were under contract with Wargaming.net throughout the term of the contract. This seems to contradict a tweet earlier this year that Wargaming.net ended the partnership early.

Original article follows:

Subverse promises to be a tactical combat sci-fi RPG where you become the captain of a spaceship, recruit sexy alien companions, and fuck them, and has raised over $1 million in crowdfunding on Kickstarter It is a success story. Players have yet to see Subverse in gameplay, as developer Studio FOW has cancelled plans for an Early Access release.

As such, there was much anticipation for an exclusive first look at "Tactical Grid Combat, Waifus, and SHMUP gameplay." However, that exclusive first look was granted to a YouTuber named Arch, whose comments on the platform were so controversial that he was blacklisted by Games Workshop. In addition to complaints about feminism and how Warhammer and Star Wars have been ruined by SJWs, Arch has a second channel dedicated to topics such as Islam, immigration, and the right to use the N-word.

Arch used to post videos under the name Arch Warhammer, but when Games Workshop decided that they did not want to have anything to do with him, they had the word "Warhammer" removed from the channel, and World of Warships creator Wargaming.net and convinced them to end their promotional relationship with him earlier this year during a program to bring Warhammer 40K-style warships to the game. wargaming said in a statement, "We were specifically warned by Games Workshop not to work with this influencer and We were specifically warned by Games Workshop not to work with this influencer and we agreed to do so," Wargaming said in a statement. "

He was a banned topic on r/40KLore and a guy the former Total War community manager called an "idiot."

That's why people were outraged when the Subverse gameplay reveal was offered to Arch as an exclusive. When the video was posted to r/Games over the weekend, there was a huge backlash and the mods eventually stated that "any future content posted by this YouTuber to our subreddit will be automatically removed."

Studio FOW, the creator of the subverse, was quick to respond with an apology. Community manager FOWChan posted on Discord that "we did not know at the time that he had made racist and other controversial statements in the past," and "we did not look into his background as much as we could."

The post went on to say.

However, the post was quickly deleted, followed by a post from the same poster, FOWChan, reversing the position. They wrote:" With regard to our previous statement on Arch, we were suddenly bombarded with posts from different political groups, and as a result we acted hastily." There was also an apology for the earlier apology (archived here), which was subsequently deleted: "To be clear, we have no problem with Arch personally. We just wanted Arch to be introduced to our gameplay. We appreciate his time and are sorry that we jumped right into a political situation; Subverse has no political affiliation and is a game for everyone."

The claim that "we have no problem with Arch personally" and that "Subverse has no political affiliation" is disconcerting. it is worth clarifying what Arch has said in the past. the Warhammer community hates him and has previously reported that his words and views, and has previously collected Discord leaks showing his words and views. Arch has blamed blacks for slavery, called Asians "chinchos," and said that "God hates the yellow race." He also hates travelers, laments that "we used to be able to shoot them," and refers to the Gnobler, a Warhammer creature, as a "gypsy" and "subspecies" of that universe. In the same video, he says that Gnoblers have a slave-like nature, calling them "house na ****" (a term he boasts is what "this channel is rightly famous for" and has since de-posted the video).

PC Gamer reached out to StudioFOW for comment and received the following response: "Thank you for your inquiry. We have no further comment at this time.

Arch himself insists that his comments are part of his humor. Racism is absurd and everyone recognizes it as absurd, which makes it a good joke. If you do not see racism as absurd and do not recognize the obvious joke, that is your problem, not mine."

While partnering with YouTubers to promote your game inevitably means giving up some control over how people react to your product, StudioFOW's claim that there is "no political affiliation" regularly leads to reactionary and explicit While frequently discussing Warhammer lore, Arch's channel has, over the past six months, criticized Games Workshop's "Warhammer is for Everyone" statement and is for Everyone" statement, celebrated the U.S. government's ban on federal agencies from conducting racial sensitivity training, celebrated President Trump's threat to "destroy Twitter and other online platforms," and discussed the "White Lives Matter" has become controversial, ridicules Riot Games' attempts to create a more inclusive workplace in the wake of class discrimination lawsuits, and presents a 10-minute monologue on other sharp topics.