Over the past week, several studios have come out in support of women's rights to choose after it was revealed that the Supreme Court plans to overturn Roe v. Wade, allowing individual states to make decisions on abortion rights. Bungie, Double Fine, and Microsoft have all pledged their support for women, but PlayStation CEO Jim Ryan allegedly believes that his employees should "respect differences of opinion."Ryan reportedly said this in an email that was sent out to Sony Group Corp. staff earlier today, which was later shared by Bloomberg. While not taking a stance on abortion rights himself, Ryan allegedly claimed that Sony is "multi-faceted and diverse, holding many different points of view" and explained that "we owe it to each other and to PlayStation’s millions of users to respect differences of opinion."In a likely attempt to head off potential outrage or sadness, Ryan also reportedly wanted to "share something lighthearted," proceeding to talk about his two cats' birthday in great length and expressed his desire to get a dog in the future. Many female employees allegedly felt like Ryan's comments diminished the seriousness of the situation, with one employee saying that they'd "never been so mad about a cat birthday before."
Game companies have been reluctant to show support for women in light of recent events although, as previously mentioned, Bungie is one of very few to show public support. The studio issued a statement last week that said its decision to support reproductive choice "wasn't difficult" and said that the Supreme Court's plans to overturn Roe v. Wade was "a blow to freedom in America and is a direct attack on human rights."
Microsoft also recently showed support by offering to pay travel expenses for women trying to access critical health care, which abortion and gender-affirming care are both covered by.