Days after PlayStation President Jim Ryan asked PlayStation employees to "respect differences of opinion" amid the ongoing abortion controversy, Sony and the PlayStation-owned Insomniac have reportedly pledged to donate $50,000 each to the Women’s Reproductive Rights Assistance Project (WRRAP).
According to The Washington Post, Insomniac CEO Ted Price sent an internal email to Insomniac employees about the donation. Sony is matching the $50,000 amount, along with any individual donations Insomniac employees make through the PlayStation Cares program. According to the report, Sony also plans to develop a program to provide financial assistance to employees that may have to travel out of state to receive reproductive health care.
Sony and Insomniac apparently don't plan to publicly acknowledge the donations, and Insomniac employees are not allowed to explicitly mention Insomniac or Sony in their social media posts involving WRRAP. Price also told Insomniac employees that the studio is pushing Ryan to “do better by employees who are directly affected,” but that Insomniac is not currently allowed to make a public statement about reproductive rights.
"There would be material repercussions for us as a wholly owned subsidiary [if Insomniac tweeted about the donation],” Price reportedly wrote. "Among other things, any progress that we might make in helping change [Sony Interactive Entertainment’s] approach would be stopped dead in its tracks. We'd also probably be severely restricted from doing important public-facing work in the future."
Nevertheless, Insomniac reportedly sent a "near 60-page document" to PlayStation Studios head Hermen Hulst with messages from employees.
Last week, Ryan emailed PlayStation employeees, saying the company is "multi-faceted and diverse, holding many different points of view" in light of the leaked Supreme Court draft to overturn Roe vs. Wade, the landmark 1973 Supreme Court case that protects abortion rights in the United States.
Ryan reportedly continued his email by going into fine detail about his two cats' first birthday to help PlayStation employees "ease the stress of uncertain world events." Many Sony employees reportedly felt disrespected by Ryan's email, with one employee apparently saying she'd "never been so mad about a cat birthday before."
In addition to Sony and Insomniac's newly reported donations, multiple game studios have already spoken out in support of Roe vs. Wade, including Bungie, Double Fine, and others.
Logan Plant is a freelance writer for IGN. You can find him on Twitter @LoganJPlant.
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According to The Washington Post, Insomniac CEO Ted Price sent an internal email to Insomniac employees about the donation. Sony is matching the $50,000 amount, along with any individual donations Insomniac employees make through the PlayStation Cares program. According to the report, Sony also plans to develop a program to provide financial assistance to employees that may have to travel out of state to receive reproductive health care.
Sony and Insomniac apparently don't plan to publicly acknowledge the donations, and Insomniac employees are not allowed to explicitly mention Insomniac or Sony in their social media posts involving WRRAP. Price also told Insomniac employees that the studio is pushing Ryan to “do better by employees who are directly affected,” but that Insomniac is not currently allowed to make a public statement about reproductive rights.
"There would be material repercussions for us as a wholly owned subsidiary [if Insomniac tweeted about the donation],” Price reportedly wrote. "Among other things, any progress that we might make in helping change [Sony Interactive Entertainment’s] approach would be stopped dead in its tracks. We'd also probably be severely restricted from doing important public-facing work in the future."
Nevertheless, Insomniac reportedly sent a "near 60-page document" to PlayStation Studios head Hermen Hulst with messages from employees.
Last week, Ryan emailed PlayStation employeees, saying the company is "multi-faceted and diverse, holding many different points of view" in light of the leaked Supreme Court draft to overturn Roe vs. Wade, the landmark 1973 Supreme Court case that protects abortion rights in the United States.
Ryan reportedly continued his email by going into fine detail about his two cats' first birthday to help PlayStation employees "ease the stress of uncertain world events." Many Sony employees reportedly felt disrespected by Ryan's email, with one employee apparently saying she'd "never been so mad about a cat birthday before."
In addition to Sony and Insomniac's newly reported donations, multiple game studios have already spoken out in support of Roe vs. Wade, including Bungie, Double Fine, and others.
Logan Plant is a freelance writer for IGN. You can find him on Twitter @LoganJPlant.
Continue reading...