Vince Zampella, general manager of Respawn Entertainment and head of several Electronic Arts companies largest franchisetweeted in defense of transgender rights ahead of the start of Pride Month on June 1. my box has learned that this rare advert comes earlier today following an internal roundtable discussion in which executives at the FIFA maker were again confronted with questions from employees about its relative silence on these issues.
“Trans rights are human rights,” Zampella tweeted on Tuesday. “It’s that simple. Respawn has grown on the principles of diversity, equality and inclusion and strives to uphold these values. Let’s be better people.”
Zampella previously co-founded call of Duty Studio Infinity Ward and is currently Head the EA studios in the Nexus of Apex Legends, Star Wars Jedi: Survivorand battlefield. The publisher has relied heavily on his vision and leadership skills, which now includes speaking out on pressing social issues where his employer has remained silent. Many developers, including some at EA, thanked Zampella in the comments of the tweet for showing his support. Zampella did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Lyndsey Pearson, Franchise Creative VP for The Sims at Maxis, also interfered. “Women’s rights are human rights,” said the 20-year EA veteran wrote on Twitter. “Transgender rights are human rights. Max and The Sims value diversity, equality and inclusion at our core and we strive to bring this to life through our teams and our work. We see you and we stand by you.” The Sims 4The latest update of has added custom pronouns, and in recent years the Series has made a concerted effort to be more inclusive.
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The testimonies of the games industry veterans came after a meeting earlier in the day on LGTBQ+ issues chaired by EA’s chief DEI officer, Asha George, and EA Studios’ chief operating officer, Kate Kellogg, according to two sources familiar with the event . Once again, they were met with questions from employees about why EA would not publicly take a stand on issues such as transgender rights and abortion rights.
Sources said some employees were dismayed again at the lack of clear answers from management, whose response once again appeared to be based on the idea of abortion and trans rights not having company-wide support. Kellogg and George effectively echoed Chief People Officer Mala Singh’s remarks an in-house town hall a week ago.
“These are incredibly complex personal issues, and being an inclusive company means embracing all of these viewpoints,” she said at the time, without specifying what the other “viewpoints” might be on issues like transgender rights. According to sources, Kellogg and George followed suit by attempting to instead focus the conversation on what EA can do to support its employees’ individual health needs amid the ongoing right-wing culture wars and human rights attacks.
That battlefield publisher had previously sponsored a Dallas morning news advertisement along with dozens of other companies condemning a grossly transphobic Texas government order. “We are proud to join with others in the business community in the human rights campaign to oppose discriminatory laws and policies being introduced in Texas, Florida and other states across the country,” said a statement issued to the press can be addressed the time.
However, neither this opinion nor that of Zampella was ever shared on EA’s website or social media channels. This is in stark contrast to studios like Bungie and Certain affinity, who haven’t shrunk from speaking out on divisive issues that other game companies seem to have deemed too controversial to dwell on. It’s not yet clear how EA in particular will reconcile its current silence with its activities during Pride Month 2022.
“Pride is not about ignoring this harsh reality in order to celebrate, Pride is and always has been a celebration in the face of hate,” said the editor wrote in a blog post at the start of Pride Month last year. “We know we can do more for our LGBTQIA+ staff and players.”
Updated 05/31/2022 7:41pm ET: An EA spokesperson commented, “EA’s support for the LGBTQIA+ and trans communities is longstanding and enduring and has been widely and publicly shared,” providing a link to the aforementioned Pride 2021 EA blog entry.
Update 05/31/2022 21:55 ET: Added new tweet from Head of Franchise Creative Development to the The Sims.
