A new "DEI Watchdog" website is getting roasted after it went viral for rating the wokeness of various video games—including the "ultra woke" Grand Theft Auto VI, which hasn't even been released.
Screenshots from the “content analysis” page reveal a set of sliders that users can adjust based on a game’s content. One slider, under the category of “female characters,” ranges from “hot and sexy” to “covered and strong,” with the latter being labeled as the most “woke.”
Excerpts from the site indicate that most user evaluations are based primarily on whether protagonists or supporting characters are female, non-white, or both. Games labeled as “woke,” with "woke garbage main characters," according to an archived version of the site, include Alan Wake II, Celeste, Detroit: Become Human, Borderlands 3, and Halo: The Master Chief Collection.
DEI Watchdog
The site is currently unavailable, displaying a text box that reads, “website under development.” Its Meta description, typically displayed under a Google search result, describes it as a “community-driven” review platform analyzing “social messaging, representation and cultural content in games"—namely an excuse to attack diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs.
DEI programs are organizational strategies aimed at ensuring fair treatment and full participation for everyone, with a special focus on historically marginalized or discriminated groups. These frameworks strive to create an environment where all individuals, regardless of their identity or abilities, are valued and included.
Critics argue that DEI programs are discriminatory and try to address racial discrimination by disadvantaging other groups, particularly white Americans. However, supporters and industry experts maintain that DEI practices, which have been in place for decades, have been politicized and are often misunderstood.
Grand Theft Auto VI isn't even out yet but has nonetheless received a 10.0/10 rating, equivalent to "Ultra Woke"—for reasons that have not been divulged, though we guess it might have something to do with the very multicultural cast of characters featured within.
DEI Watchdog
Other games, particularly Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver and Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, received ratings of -0.3/10 and 1.8/10 respectively, characterized as "Slightly Based." Another game, last year's Metaphor ReFantazio, is rated similarly.
The game Life is Strange, now considered "Ultra Woke" under the site's ranking system, was previously rated as only "Slightly Woke" even though, one social media user observed, "it's literally a game about a time travelling lesbian and her blue haired punk girlfriend, that alone should give it the wokest rating possible.”
DEI Watchdog
The site was mocked as a result.
Of course, these criticisms of video games are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to conservatives' disdain for DEI.
Republicans, spurred by billionaires Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, who have been tasked to co-lead the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), are expected to recommend an agency-wide purge of funding of DEI programs.
DOGE doesn't actually exist outside of an X account and even once Trump is sworn it will lack any statutory authority, serving primarily as a presidential advisory commission, capable of making recommendations to Congress and the White House. However, there are signs that dismantling DEI-related initiatives will become a priority for empowered Republicans aiming to reduce government spending in Washington.
This effort may involve the elimination of entire DEI divisions within various government agencies, such as the Office of Equal Employment Opportunity, the Diversity & Inclusion division at the Department of Health and Human Services, and the Office of Civil Rights and Equal Opportunity Policy at the Department of Defense.
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