The president of game-studio Tripwire Interactive has stepped down after tweeting support for a controversial new abortion law in Texas.
The Texas law bans abortions from as early as six weeks into pregnancy.
John Gibson tweeted that he was “proud” of the legal outcome and was a “pro-life game developer”.
Some of the studio’s partners rapidly distanced themselves from Gibson, with one announcing it would cancel its contract over the issue.
Two days following the tweet, amid an avalanche of criticism, Tripwire said: “Effective immediately, John Gibson has stepped down.”
Gibson’s comments had been his own – and not the company’s, it said.
“His comments disregarded the values of our whole team, our partners and much of our broader community,” Tripwire said.
“Our leadership team at Tripwire are deeply sorry and are unified in our commitment to take swift action and to foster a more positive environment.”
Gibson had tweeted: “As an entertainer, I don’t get political often.”
But he was “proud of US Supreme Court affirming the Texas law banning abortion for babies with a heartbeat” – a description medical authorities say is misleading.
“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,” he had added.
The tweet quickly generated intense controversy.
Many individual gamers called for a boycott of Tripwire’s games, sharing tips on how to hide listings for its products in Steam’s online game store or making donations to women’s charities in Gibson’s name.
Supporters of the Texas law also responded, with the original tweet generating nearly 13,000 replies.
Shipwright Studios, a “work-for-hire” studio that contributed to some of Tripwire’s games, wrote it was ending a three-year relationship because of Gibson’s comments.
