Why Is There So Much Silence Around Sweet Baby Inc. In This Industry?

By now, a sizable chunk of the gaming industry has heard the name of Sweet Baby Inc. As the world around us continues to “evolve,” certain elements are forcefully injected into entertainment mediums that compromise their quality and integrity. The firm has been around for some time now but lately, it has been in the spotlight for a lot of things.

As gaming outlets avoid talking about some of the more despicable acts by the people from this organization, one thing has become clear to me.

Sweet Baby Inc. People Have Zero Class & Etiquette

I’ll start this out by separating two elements. Everything that Sweet Baby Inc. does when it comes to video games fails to compare to disrespecting the dead. Following the official announcement of Akira Toriyama’s passing, people on Twitter displayed their strength that surfaces when behind a screen.

This is the guy who kicked off this whole Sweet Baby Inc mess, trying to call the legend Akira Toriyama racist
byu/Axel_Raden inGeeksGamersCommunity

Several netizens talked smack about the iconic mangaka who not only inspired a lot of the works we have today but also allowed manga & anime to break into the mainstream. Well, one person at Sweet Baby Inc. thought it was a great idea to insult someone mere hours after their departure. To clarify, Toriyama-sensei passed away on March 1st; the news was made public a week later.

A Sweet Baby Inc. employee by the name of Chris Kindred on Twitter went on to label Akira Toriyama a racist for the portrayal of black characters in Dragon Ball. They stated, ” Toriyama gave us the best and worst black characters in anime in the same series. It took range to do that.” 

Now, I’d like to believe that even the worst of us would have an idea of “respect.” Clearly, that’s not the case here.

The influence of Akira Toriyama’s work on modern entertainment cannot be understated. I’m not well-versed in international politics to make any comment; ethics and human decency are something else. What substance do you need to be on to throw misplaced allegations and hate on someone right after their passing? 

You might be wondering if I’m targeting the company as a whole. It’s simple, at the time of this writing, there’s been no official apology. That’s reason enough for me to call out the whole herd instead of one person.

Normally, you’d expect someone to learn from their mistakes. This Chris person, however, seems to have failed to do that. After making a tweet about mass-reporting the Sweet Baby Inc. Detected group on Steam, they suffered an account suspension on the platform. Why would you then do the same thing again, fully aware that you’re in the wrong and the entire net will be on you?

Utterly abhorrent & disgraceful behavior.

Sweet Baby Inc. Has A Polarizing Presence

Researching the works of Sweet Baby Inc. and the communities around them, I’ve noticed several perspectives. While the majority of players despise anything and everything Sweet Baby Inc. does, a good chunk of people support it instead. Then you have the neutral camp, people who don’t care what this consultation firm does to a game as long as it’s good & doesn’t adversely impact it.

Sweet Baby Inc detected
byu/MikiSayaka33 inKotakuInAction

That’s the consumer mind. The people who I believe can largely influence the decisions of these companies. Said people are the ones who will shell out stacks on MTX, and make it thrive despite the clear backlash and negative impact on the industry. It may seem harsh but that’s my observation. There’s a reason why at times, companies still make money despite the gargantuan recoil.

In all honesty, I believe there’s good and bad in everything. Classic Yin- and- Yang-influenced beliefs. After all, Sweet Baby Inc. worked on “Character Arc, Voice, and Sensitivity Reading” for Alan Wake 2. As we all know, the game was a profound success; both critics and players loved it. Though, rumors emerging after the fact regarding the portrayal of Saga can leave a person scratching their head and facepalming in pure disbelief.

This goes to show that you can find a presence regardless of what you do. Sweet Baby Inc. surely did. But that doesn’t give you a pass to be supremely unethical, injecting propaganda at the story’s expense, and killing character personalities.

Yes, I’m referring to Suicide Squad with the last two points.

External Influence Will Ruin Games

It’s often said that when a third party enters the fray, things normally go downhill instead of up. The primary cause of that is what I call the three Is—Intention, Interest, and Integrity. Take gaming as a whole and look back to how it was in the 90s, 2000s, and early 2010s. Emphasis on the 90s and 2000s.

When companies discovered that they could generate more revenue by putting in less effort via microtransactions and gachapon systems, things began to go up in smoke. The mess seeped into Western markets once Skyrim’s infamous horse became a thing & that was a checkmate. Over time, suits began to slip into the industry, started making bad decisions, and cared more about profits instead of the medium & consumers.

The result? Take a look at the current state of this industry.

Now we have the second coming of the “third party influence.” Anything that’s forcefully injected into an existing medium will hamper it. Said medium will fair to progress and you’ll see a regression instead. The recent conduct of Sweet Baby Inc. is just sad & when it comes to games, I have a problem with Suicide Squad and Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 only. That said, those titles had issues going on in-house so it’s hard to point fingers in that department.

Whether it’s pumping a title full of MTX, selling expansion passes at exorbitant prices (yes, I mean Persona 3 Reload), or inclusive writing, following the Three Is is what’ll make it work. Besides, for all the inclusivity, diversification, and matters of crafting the best story possible, Sweet Baby Inc. sure did a pretty bad job in recent times. A perfect way to contradict yourself.

Takeaway

I don’t have anything personal with Sweet Baby Inc. The company’s been here since 2018 and never did I even hear of its existence. That said, I played three games and saw a disgustingly pathetic show of etiquette; this is enough for me to call them out. 

The Steam Group it targeted managed to avoid termination. Perhaps voicing legitimate concerns, without getting out of hand, might actually make a difference.