Avowed screenshot

An art director for Obsidian working on the first-person fantasy game Avowed was exposed on X by Elon Musk for alleged illegal racist hiring practices at the Microsoft studio. Musk then personally brought this discovery to the attention of Satya Nadella, the CEO of Microsoft.
Elon Musk

Elon Musk via CNET Highlights YouTube

It seems as though Avowed art director Matt Hansen’s attempts at provoking X owner Elon Musk may have snowballed into a series of events that could expose developer Obsidian to legal ramifications.

The controversy started when Musk reposted former World of Warcraft team lead Mark Kern, AKA Grummz’s comment on Avowed’s pronoun selection feature.

 

“I’m drawing a line,” Kern said. “I’m rejecting any game that has pronouns in it (and you grammar nazis know what I mean, stop being stupid). I don’t care if the game is good. A message must be sent. Pronouns promote the woke mind virus and gamers must send a clear message.”

Musk reposted this, adding, “Having pronouns in a fantasy video game is utterly unacceptable.”

Hansen pounced on this, attacking Musk and trying to make it seem as though the whole thing had been a trap for the Tesla boss all along.

 

“I wanted so badly to make him mad with my game, and I can’t believe it actually worked,” Hansen said on his Bluesky (of course…) account, which you can only see if you’re logged into the service. “Just wait until you see the default, you said [sic] little s***.”
Elon Musk

Elon Musk on Everyday Astronaut on X

He then went on to antagonize Musk further.

“It’s honestly deeply surreal to have the world’s richest, s******** boy whine about something I am making,” he said, basking in his moment. “I am quite frankly giddy. I cannot think of a single person in the world I would rather irritate.”

It didn’t take long for the internet to start digging into the art director’s past statements and soon YouTuber AsmonGold found something incriminating.

 

“Reminder to black artists out there who are looking for portfolio reviews or job advice: my DMs are open and you will always have my priority,” the uncovered Hansen quote said. “We got too many crusty white dudes in this field, please let me help you replace me one day — I want to go back to living in the woods.”
Elon Musk

Elon Musk via New York Times Events YouTube

Ian Miles Cheong from the Other View podcast pointed to this as proof of racist hiring practices by the Microsoft studio.

“Microsoft’s gaming division is excluding whites from being hired to work on their video games,” he said on X. “All of their new hires are unqualified q**** and black people because the company’s executives have an explicit mandate against ‘crusty old white dudes.’”

Musk then seized on this, reposting it on X and tagging the CEO of Microsoft, which owns Obsidian.

Former Obsidian developer and design lead on Star Wars: Knights of The Old Republic 2, Chris Avellone sounded off as well.

 

“Based on recent news, if you were rejected from an art position at Obsidian in the past few years, call a lawyer,” he said in a post on X. “Discrimination in hiring, esp [sic] for a Microsoft studio, can ensure you don’t need to apply for a job ever again.”

Musk sounded off on the controversy of racially motivated hiring practices back in March, saying “It should not be acceptable for any company in the gaming industry to be racist and sexist against ‘white dudes.’”

 

Hansen responded back then to Musks statement promising to double down on that very behavior.

“Oh Elon, you sweet summer child,” he wrote back in March. “This will only embolden me, you sad sack of s***.”

Musk commented this week on a repost of that comment, noting, “He is confessing to illegal behavior. Won’t end well for him.”

Has this Avowed art director gone too far in trying to provoke Elon Musk? Did Microsoft studio Obsidian act illegally? Sound off and let us know your thoughts!