Why studios are wrong to listen to toxic fanbases

Just two weeks after its release, Sony has pulled its video game ‘Concorde’. The PlayStation 5 and PC shooter game had been in development for eight years, but was taken offline following low-sales and critical reviews.

Ryan Ellis, game director of Firewalk Studios, which produced the title for Sony, said the company has “been listening closely” to the feedback over ‘Concorde’. While a surprising decision from Sony, after no doubt millions were spent in production and publicity, it’s not the first time that public feedback has influenced releases in recent memory.

After director Ryan Johnson’s Star Wars: The Last Jedi received a critical response from some segments of the die-hard fan community – mostly focused on Johnson’s upheaval of typical series tropes and inclusion of non-white actors – Disney similarly backtracked for the finale of the sequel trilogy.

The Force Awakens director J. J. Abrams was brought back to helm The Rise of Skywalker in a move that many believe was intended to backtrack on Johnson’s more outlandish plot pivots during the middle part of the highly-anticipated films.

Backlash from a certain sector of very online, very conservative, and very male fandoms has plagued multiple big franchises in recent years. Online review bombing hit both ‘House of the Dragon’ and ‘The Last of Us’ after it featured LGBTQ+-centric plotlines. Disney+ series ‘The Acolyte’ faced a similar barrage for daring to let queer artists create and act in Star Wars IP.

This trend of toxic fandom has been well-documented. What’s concerning is a new article in Variety with studio executives suggesting that they are bowing to the pressure of these fans.

Instead of simply ignoring these loud but small segments of a series’ fandom, some executives seemed to suggest that the growing attitude was to actively try not to rile them up in the first place.

“In addition to standard focus group testing, studios will assemble a specialised cluster of superfans to assess possible marketing materials for a major franchise project,” the article explains.

Fearful of professional backlash, the studio executives consulted all opted to comment anonymously. “They will just tell us, ‘If you do that, fans are going to retaliate.’” one told the reporter.

For the most part, the article discusses the way that studios combat the virulent hatred that is often rooted in sexism, racism or homophobia against these franchises, typically in sci-fi and fantasy genres.

This can be from giving actors social media training and helping with their profiles when they are individually targeted to responding directly to negative online campaigns, such as the way the original Lord of the Rings trilogy cast posted in support of the cast of the new ‘The Rings of Power’ series after they were attacked over casting people of colour.

As much as one executive said that “when it’s a negative, toxic conversation, we don’t even engage,” the news that studios are directly consulting these fanbases to avert offence before release is deeply concerning.

Simply put, it’s capitulating to the lowest denominator when creating art. Whether or not you felt that some of the above mentioned examples were particularly glowing additions to their franchises, the thought that studios will avoid upsetting fans over letting their creators work without creative constraints is downright depressing.

At best, it’s typical studio meddling that neuters these shows of their individual character. At worst, it’s the studios candidly complying with the wishes of bigots to remove diversity from all the media they want to consume.

It also accords with a recent concerning revelation from LGBTQ+ employees at Pixar alleging Disney executives demanded cuts to “nearly every moment of overtly gay affection… regardless of when there is protest from both the creative teams and executive leadership at Pixar.”

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It’s no surprise the majority of the shows and films this relates to are sci-fi and fantasy. These genres have always been enjoyed by a vast cross-section of society but have also been plagued by toxic straight white male fans gatekeeping their “geek” products from others.

Crucially, these fans rarely know what they’re talking about either. They’ll argue that their positions aren’t rooted in bigotry but that some vague progressive elite cabal is also draining their beloved toys of quality at the same time.

Let’s go back to The Last Jedi example. While the first entry into that trilogy was derivative and the final one a complete mess, Johnson’s movie has been the one of the three to stand the test of time. Critically lauded upon release, it’s still the most visually inventive and enjoyable to watch, largely due to his subversive approach to the franchise’s tired tropes.

Criticism is an important part of the cultural world. Reviewers are important guides for the public to find art they’d appreciate while public engagement is a key part in how works gain new levels of meaning. But when the creative decisions of artists are dictated by a rabid group of fans bent against anything progressive, that’s not criticism, it’s bigotry.

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