The Downfall of Take This: A Cautionary Tale of Misguided Activism and Government Funding

The activist organization, Take This, which has received significant funding from the United States government, is now desperately seeking $80,000 from its followers to keep its doors open. This development comes as a stark contrast to the organization's previous stance, where it encouraged game developers to denounce gamers who were defending themselves against the harassment campaign led by Sweet Baby Inc., a Montreal-based narrative development studio.

Exposing the Flaws in Take This' Narrative

The Fallacy of Gamergate 2.0

The organization's initial blog post in March claimed that a new "Gamergate2" harassment campaign was targeting Sweet Baby Inc. However, the facts tell a different story. The initial harassment campaign was actually led by Sweet Baby Inc. employees Chris Kindred and Maya Kramer against a Brazilian gamer, KabrutusRambo, for creating a Steam curator list documenting the games that Sweet Baby Inc. had worked on. These employees could not tolerate the curator list and attempted to get KabrutusRambo cancelled and even tried to get Valve, Steam's parent company, to effectively steal his game library.

The Questionable Funding and Agenda

Despite pushing an easily refutable lie, Take This then demanded that developers denounce gamers opposed to Sweet Baby Inc. and their goals of injecting the objectively evil ideology of "wokeness" into video games. This stance raises questions about the organization's true motivations and the influence of its government funding.

The Resignation of a Founding Member

Less than six months after the organization's controversial blog post, its Research Director, Rachel Kowert, resigned from her position. Kowert had founded the organization after encountering a 2019 survey from the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) that claimed nearly one in four respondents were exposed to extremist white supremacist ideology in online games. However, Kowert later admitted that the original polling was complete bogus, and the actual number was closer to one in ten.

The Desperate Plea for Funding

Now, the organization is begging its followers to give them $80,000 in order to keep its doors open. This comes after the company received nearly $700,000 in grant money from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) through its Targeted Violence and Terrorism Prevention Grant Program. The DHS claimed that video games have become focal points for extremist activities, and this joint project with Take This and Logically seeks to develop a framework for understanding and addressing this issue.

The Questionable Motives and Tactics

The organization's desperate plea for funding raises serious questions about its true motives and the effectiveness of its tactics. While the issue of extremism in gaming communities is a valid concern, the organization's approach of encouraging developers to denounce gamers and its reliance on questionable data raises doubts about its credibility and the true impact of its work.

The Broader Implications

The downfall of Take This serves as a cautionary tale for organizations that receive significant government funding and use it to push a particular agenda, even if it means distorting the facts or ignoring the nuances of complex issues. This case highlights the importance of transparency, accountability, and a genuine commitment to addressing societal challenges, rather than pursuing a narrow ideological agenda.As the gaming industry and its communities continue to evolve, it is crucial that any efforts to address issues like extremism are grounded in facts, nuance, and a genuine desire to foster a more inclusive and welcoming environment for all. The fate of Take This serves as a stark reminder that organizations must be vigilant in maintaining their integrity and staying true to their core mission, lest they risk losing the trust and support of the very communities they claim to serve.