This is a developing story.
Publisher Falling Whale Games has claimed that popular board gaming website Board Game Geek refused to run an advertising campaign for their game “Possess Me, Satan.” They say that their campaign was rejected due to its theme, with the unnamed employee rejecting the campaign stating that their personal experience with demonic possession and oppression.
The game in question bills itself as a social deduction game in the vein of Mafia or Werewolf.
This first surfaced on this reddit post. I reached out to Falling Whale Games, who confirmed that one of their team members had been the one to post the emails, and provided the full email text, which can be viewed at the bottom of this post.
Notable quotes include:
As a follower of Jesus, I routinely help people suffering from demonic oppression, and more occasionally, possession, and it’s absolutely devastating the damage he does to peoples’ lives.
and also
we’ve walked with one lady who was diagnosed with 32 distinct personalities as a result of horrific occultic abuse, and she eventually was one whole, complete individual, healed by Jesus, with no fragments or need of all her psychological meds
The employee also suggests that Falling Whale Games pull the entire project.
IMO, the responsible thing to do would be to pull the entire project, as there are *way* more people that suffer this than you could possibly imagine, putting on a good face (usually enabled by dissociation), but suffering terribly behind the scenes.
When Falling Whale Games requested clarification, they were rebuffed, and the employee also stated that if it were up to them, they would not be running ads for Pillbox Games’ “All True Believers” either, and that it’s “it’s not over religion, but reality.”
Update – 11:39 PM
Board Game Geek has confirmed the messages were genuine, and that BGG’s Advertising Manager has been let go. Scott Alden made the following statement.
“Due to a situation in which BGG’s Advertising Manager responded inappropriately in a business email to a designer, I have decided to let him go. His response does not reflect or represent our company or the way we conduct business.”
Reaction
Community reaction has been mixed, but often critical. Responses on reddit range from demanding an explanation from BGG, to stating that they will be ending their support for BGG. The community seems to have found consensus that this is an unusual and disappointing reason to reject an ad campaign.
Full Email Text
Unnamed Board Game Geek Employee
“Thanks for submitting your ad campaign. We’ll review it and contact you if we have any scheduling conflicts or errors.
Once your ad campaign is approved, you’ll receive a confirmation email.
Contact me if you have any questions.
Best regards
[Name Removed by Falling Whale Games]”
Falling Whale Games Team Member
“I just wanted to follow up to see if this ad campaign was approved for not? Last time we did ads with Board Game Geek we got a confirmation email the very next day.
I just need to make sure the ads are actually going to run on time since our crowdfunding starts on May 19th.”
Unnamed Board Game Geek Employee
“Thanks for the follow-up!
To be completely transparent, I’ve been sitting on this one and praying about what to do in this instance. As a follower of Jesus, I routinely help people suffering from demonic oppression, and more occasionally, possession, and it’s absolutely devastating the damage he does to peoples’ lives. It’s sometimes beyond what would even dare be depicted in a horror film. The amazing thing is that I get to see Jesus completely heal folks of even the most severe effects (we’ve walked with one lady who was diagnosed with 32 distinct personalities as a result of horrific occultic abuse, and she eventually was one whole, complete individual, healed by Jesus, with no fragments or need of all her psychological meds), but it doesn’t change the terrible reality behind the theme that this game is depicting.
So, I just can’t in good conscience approve this one; given what I’ve seen firsthand, the thought of displaying this subject matter makes me sick to my stomach. I don’t begrudge you personally, as many people just plain don’t understand the reality of it, but I’d strongly urge you to consider these things. IMO, the responsible thing to do would be to pull the entire project, as there are *way* more people that suffer this than you could possibly imagine, putting on a good face (usually enabled by dissociation), but suffering terribly behind the scenes.
I know this response was more than you bargained for, but I wanted to be 100% honest about where I’m coming from, rather than just ignoring the request. Even though you may not be on the same page, I appreciate your understanding.”
Falling Whale Games Team Member
“Thank you for getting back to us.
It’s very disappointing to hear you are denying us service based on religion. Is this the decision of Board Game Geek as a company or of just you personally?
Is there an advertising policy rule we are breaking?
There is currently ads on Board Game Geek for a game called “All True Believers” which is themed to the occult so it seems strange that our game is being singled out.
We are definitely not going to pull the project due to individual people not liking the theme. It is simply not for those people.”
Unnamed Board Game Geek Employee
“Keep in mind it’s not over religion, but reality. It’s the same reason I would say a game would be in very poor taste if it featured being a sexual predator, or something that would directly trigger someone that’s been harmed by the subject matter. It’s about keeping BGG welcoming to everyone, and since I’m privy to this subject matter, I know firsthand that this is not friendly content, and incredibly triggering, put in front of some of the population that visits BGG.
Similar to site moderation, there are of course judgement calls to be made when it comes to displaying ads on the site. If it were just my personal preference, “All True Believers” wouldn’t be approved either, but I have to factor in if something being displayed is going to be overtly triggering. In that game, it’s a bit less obvious from the title, whereas you went for the shock value. Of course, that’s a business decision on your part, but it also means it’s not responsible of me to put it in front of a diverse community of gamers.”
Sources and Confirmations
After reviewing the initial reddit post, Gametrodon reached out directly to Board Game Geek and Falling Whale Games.
Falling Whale Games stated to Gametrodon that they had indeed posted the messages on reddit. Board Game Geek has yet to respond.
Further down in the reddit thread, the user u/OctavianX, who we believe to be the community manager for Board Game Geek, stated that “Our advertising manager should not have presented his personal beliefs as representing the company. We are making sure he understands this was an inappropriate and unprofessional response”.
Falling Whale Games has provided us with the banner ads that they would have run during the campaign. It’s not clear to us why these or their other content would not have been approved.
Initial community reaction was skeptical: why would Board Game Geek make this decision? Was this a publicity stunt on the part of Falling Whale? But our investigation suggests that the email thread that Falling Whale posted is accurate and genuine.
Some Quick Final Thoughts
Everyone is entitled to their beliefs. Also, if your beliefs include the idea that someone can be healed by religion so that they no longer require anti-psychotics, I will fight you in a Denny’s parking lot.
I’ve tried to keep a neutral tone as I’ve reported on this situation, but I can’t remain neutral about these extremely harmful attitudes towards peoples’ health.
I believe that it’s the responsibility of Board Game Geek to address this appropriately, starting with an apology to Falling Whale Games for having someone on their advertising team tell them to cancel their game. If they don’t, I’m going to avoid using the site in the future. I encourage users who feel equally frustrated by this decision to do the same.
What the community should NOT do is actively harass or dox the person who made this decision at BGG. It’s not an appropriate or acceptable response, and frankly is likely to just make that person feel like a martyr than actually having them confront their fairly rude and spiteful decision.