The activist organization Take This, which a few months ago caught the attention of the gaming community after publishing an article encouraging developers to sue players for opposing the “woke company Sweet Baby Inc.,” is now asking its followers for donations of $80,000 to be able to continue operating. This request comes after having received, according to reports, significant funding from the United States government.
In a statement from March 2024, the organization stated: “If you’re reading this, you’ve probably heard of what is now known as ‘Gamergate 2’. It is the latest harassment campaign within the video game industry, and it is directed against Sweet Baby Inc., a narrative development studio based in Montreal.” However, parts of the gaming community and some media outlets are calling this a lie, arguing that the initial harassment campaign was directed by Sweet Baby Inc. and its employees, Chris Kindred and Maya Kramer, against Brazilian gamer KabrutusRambo, who had created a Steam curator list documenting games Sweet Baby Inc. worked on.
You can read: Game fails on STEAM and players against the “woke company Sweet Baby Inc.” are happy because they believe it is responsible
The evidence includes screenshots of Kindred’s posts on X (formerly Twitter), where he stated: “The Steam Curator harassment group Sweet Baby Inc. was discovered by this person, KabrutusRambo. Here we see him trying to be sneaky to avoid being reported. Even though he removed the discriminatory language, the group is still violating the code of conduct.” Kindred then added: “By all means, report this group,” and concluded: “And report the creator since he is so fond of his account.”
Take This then urged developers to report players who opposed Sweet Baby Inc., stating: “At the time, many studios were hesitant to take a meaningful stance against Gamergate hate and abuse. The reasons varied, but were usually born out of fear of losing profits or attracting the attention of the Gamergate mob.”
“Hate, harassment, and toxic behavior have no place in gaming. By taking direct and targeted action in a timely manner, we can mitigate further harm to talented and dedicated individuals in the industry, and prevent a recurrence of these harmful events,” the statement concluded.
Take This is now asking for donations to keep it running.
Less than six months after that post, the organization’s Director of Research, Rachel Kowert, resigned from her position. Ars Technica reported that Kowert founded the organization after finding a “nationally representative 2019 survey from the ADL, which revealed that nearly 1 in 4 respondents were exposed to white supremacist extremist ideologies in online games.”
In addition to Kowert’s resignation, the entire organization is now asking for $80,000 to stay afloat. In a post on the organization’s website in late August, Dr. Raffael Boccamazzo, Take This’s Clinical Director, wrote, “This might be the most bittersweet post I’ve written during my time at Take This. You may have noticed our plea for financial support earlier this year. Despite all the work we’ve done to close that gap, we still need significant help. Without your support, Take This and all of our impactful programs will cease to exist.”
“If we don’t raise $80,000 by the end of September, this will all be gone,” he said after listing the organization’s achievements.
Finally, this fundraising campaign comes after the organization received a share of nearly $700,000 in grant funding from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) through its Targeted Violence and Terrorism Prevention Grant Program.
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