Nada Holdings fires blanks as real shots are taken at censoring games

I am so tempted to buy the rights to Lollipop Chainsaw. I mean, it’s one video game intellectual property that’s only had one game in 15 years. What could it cost? Ten dollars?

Or maybe it’s free, depending on how big of a pain in the neck you are. I’ve heard rumor from at least one drunken, but otherwise reliable source that the rights to the series were given to former Dragami Games Chief Development Office Yoshimi Yasuda by Kadokawa Games just to get him to leave the company. For those keeping track, he’s the guy who was listed as an executive producer of the original game, then stuck around making relatively low-profile titles for the publisher for another decade, before announcing he was forming Dragami Games in 2022 for the express purpose of making Lollipop Chainsaw RePop, a port of the game for modern consoles. Why couldn’t he just do that at Kadokawa if they liked him working there? And why didn’t he reach out to Creative Director Suda51 and Writer James Gunn about the remaster before announcing it? Oh, and what about the time that he was president of Tecmo, but was then sued by Ninja Gaiden director Tomonobu Itagaki and then stepped down from his position.

Drunken shit talk aside, there are plenty of reasons to guess here that Yasuda may not be great to work with. It may explain why he stepped down from Dragami Games about six months after RePop was released to middling reviews and less than stellar sales. But he’s not taking Lollipop Chainsaw with him this time. It’s staying with Dragami, who is partnering with Nada Holdings, a Taiwanese company who’s new to the IP, to make a new game and anime. What do they do? According to their website, they “cooperate with international IP content industry chain in developing, managing, and marketing ACG [Animation, Comics, and Games] IP” as well as “Integrate AI Technology X IP creative industry to build a new ACG content eco-industrial chain”. So, “nada” when it comes to actual game development and creativity.

THE STAND

They are, however, taking a stance against Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, which isn’t all that surprising, given that actually imaginative people tend to see those three things as ways to add to the creative process, not detract from it. Their recent press release says “The development process will prioritize staying true to the distinctive tone and spirit of the original work, without imposing excessive creative restrictions in the name of DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion).” It’s a little like hearing that a new Star Wars movie is coming that pledges to stay true to the original trilogy, but without any laser swords, space magic, or British actors. Lollipop Chainsaw is bawdy, dare I saw raunchy, but it’s also diverse and inclusive. It’s creators, Suda51 and James Gunn, are both known proponents on anti-racism and anti-discrimination in general.

So, what are they actually referring to here? Was Lollipop Chainsaw ever at risk of censorship in any way, from DEI initiatives or otherwise? Did DEI initiatives in games even exist when the game was first released? My only guess is that they’re maybe thinking of the time when Jessica Nigri, cosplayer and face of the game’s initial marketing push, was asked to leave the floor at PAX East in to change into a less skimpy outfit? I was actually on hand at the event as that happened, and recorded an episode of Talking to Women about Videogames with her as well, so I know for a fact that Jessica is all for sex positive feminism and all the diversity and inclusion that comes with it.

Ironically enough, this press release hit just as an Australian, anti-abortion, sex negative group called Collective Shout succeeded in pressuring credit card companies into in turn pressuring Steam and Itch to take down games en masse for depicting sexuality in ways they are uncomfortable with. So if anyone intends to censor Lollipop Chainsaw down the line, it’s not DEI advocates. It’s these jerks.

Thankfully, this probably isn’t the first you’ve heard about this. News has been making the rounds about the latest games to be affected by Collective Shout’s attempt to destroy art they don’t think should exist. Developers like Nina Freeman, who created an autobiographical game about domestic abuse and recovery called Last Call, and Jenny Jiao Hsia, who coauthored a game about navigating diet culture, and Robert Yang, the master of male erotic absurdity genre, have all come forward about having their games delisted.

BOARD OF SHADOWY FIGURES

Collective Shout’s history of frivolous, nonsensical, destructive behavior, like their work to have both Snoop Dogg, and David Cage’s hit game Detroit: Become Human, banned in Australia, has also gotten renewed attention. Credit Card companies are being deluged with calls telling them to cut the shit. Even some right-wing game pundits, who might lose some of their conservative Christian fans for siding with women and LGBTQ+ developers on this one, can’t help but voice their concern over the situation. Maybe it’s just because they don’t want to look like hypocrites, because you apparently can’t complain about vagina bones being erased from Fire Emblem one day, then condone the erasure of games about erotic stick shift fondling the next.

As disquieting as it all is, it’s actually a relief to see some semblance of unity around the understanding that Credit Card companies, not DEI consultants, are the people who actually have the power to limit what games are bought, sold, and available to purchase. Likewise, if anyone causes the next Lollipop Chainsaw projects to be censored, it’s a lot more likely to be Collective Shout than people who just think it would be nice for games to be more diverse and inclusive. My fingers are crossed that, despite Suda and Gunn’s lack of involvement, that the people actually thinking up Juliet Starlings next story are lovers of the source material, and will give us something worthwhile.

That said, if you want to make sure that this hypothetical game, or any of the currently existing ones that are currently being censored due to threats from various credit card companies, Iantos on Bluesky has a handy guide on how to tell them to cut the shit. It just takes a few minutes of your time, and unlike ordering a pizza, there’s really no way to do it wrong. So why not give it a shot?