Ghost of Yotei Studio Explains Its Dev Firing Over Charlie Kirk Comments

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Brian Fleming, co-founder of Sucker Punch, has stated that their studio, Ghost of Yotei, terminated an employee due to comments they made about the Charlie Kirk incident. He shared these details during an interview discussing the development of the Ghost of Yotei game.

Charlie Kirk, a controversial political commentator, was fatally shot on September 10th while speaking at Utah Valley University. Following the shooting, some people who disagreed with Kirk’s conservative views responded to the news with insensitive comments online. Drew Harrison, a former artist for Sucker Punch, posted a comment on Bluesky referencing Luigi Nicholas Mangione – the man accused of fatally shooting UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in December 2024 – and jokingly wished the shooter’s name was Mario, implying a connection to Mangione’s nickname.

Sucker Punch Confirms Dev Firing Over Charlie Kirk Joke

Sucker Punch Productions CEO Brian Fleming recently confirmed reports that a developer, known as Ghost of Yotei, was fired after making a joke about assassinating Charlie Kirk. Speaking with Stephen Totilo of Game File, Fleming stated, “The facts are accurate,” and confirmed the developer is no longer with the company. He explained that the studio universally agrees that celebrating or joking about someone’s murder is unacceptable and they strongly condemn such behavior.

I was really curious to know how much Drew’s ten years of work at Sucker Punch mattered when they decided to let her go, especially compared to what she said online. I mean, a decade is a long time! But the Sony rep just shut down the question, saying they weren’t going to say anything else about it. It was frustrating, honestly – I wanted to understand how they made that decision.

Drew isn’t the only game developer to recently lose their job after speaking out about the events of September 10th. The community manager for the game *Ready or Not* was also fired for their reaction to the Charlie Kirk incident, after posting a message on Discord saying “nothing of value was lost.”

We all agree that joking about or celebrating someone’s murder is completely unacceptable and we strongly condemn it.

Tyler Robinson, 22, has been charged with the murder of Charlie Kirk. Utah County Attorney Jeff Gray stated he will seek the death penalty, citing the dangerous nature of the crime and the fact that it happened in front of a child. Following the incident, the U.S. House Oversight Committee has asked the CEOs of several gaming platforms – including Valve’s Gabe Newell, Twitch’s Dan Clancy, and Discord’s Humam Sakhnini – to appear before them and discuss how their platforms might contribute to radicalizing users. Currently, this request is not a legal order, meaning the CEOs can choose whether or not to comply without immediate repercussions.

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2025-09-20 18:50