Game developer and publisher Tripwire has announced that their current CEO John Gibson will be stepping down effective immediately. He will be replaced by the co-founding member and current vice president Alan Wilson. This change in management comes after a firestorm of controversy based on a recent tweet from Gibson about an unpopular law that was recently passed in Texas.
On September 4, a few days after the supreme court voted not to block the law, Gibson tweeted "Proud of #USSupremeCourt affirming the Texas law banning abortion for babies with a heartbeat. As an entertainer I don’t get political often. Yet with so many vocal peers on the other side of this issue, I felt it was important to go on the record as a pro-life game developer." As of this writing, the tweet has over 20,000 comments and quote-tweets which are almost all negative. Many have threatened to boycott games like Maneater, Chivalry 2, and Killing Floor: Calamity from the company and demand refunds for past purchases. Other professionals in the gaming industry have publicly stated that they'll refuse to work with Tripwire in the future.
The law in question, TX SB8, bans all abortions after six weeks. Since it's almost impossible for a woman to know her status that early in pregnancy, it effectively bans the procedure within the state of Texas. The law also stipulates that anyone who believes a woman has obtained an illegal abortion can sue her, her medical provider, and anyone else involved. If the plaintiff wins this lawsuit, they become eligible to earn a "bounty" of up to $10,000 for their trouble.
Since the law effectively strips human rights and bodily autonomy away from women - as well as financially incentivises citizens to turn against each other for profit - it's easy to see why the law is controversial and unpopular. It's unclear why Gibson thought that sharing such an opinion wouldn't have negative consequences for both his company and his job security. But now that it has, Tripwire is doing its best to remedy the situation in order to avoid losing business. You can read their official statement here.