On July 3, 2025, YouTuber and streamer Pirate Software, also known as Thor, officially announced that he would be stepping away from Offbrand Games following th
I’m pretty sure this is the same guy who was ranting about Godot “being woke” last year lol
Jason on the other hand is relying on his credentials to back up his arguments and why people should listen to him.
Perhaps. But he also has some relevant credentials, since he has worked with a big AAA studio, worked w/ an indie publisher, and has been working on games w/ a team.
It’s a bit odd IMO for him to go out of his way to defend live-service games since that rarely describes indies, but I wish he’d clarify his point there in the context of a revised understanding of the petition. It wouldn’t sway my opinion, but perhaps it could sway others who are on the fence about the petition.
It might have caused less of a stir if he didn’t flex on others about how good he is.
Sure, but isn’t that kind of what streamers do? If you’re not wanting to watch someone flex on others, then perhaps watching a popular streamer isn’t the best move.
I think the main issue is that he didn’t step to self-correct. When you have a controversial take (and I’m sure he was aware his take was controversial), you need to be extra careful you have accurate facts. When he got a bunch of pushback, he should’ve reached out to Ross to have him on to talk about the petition, which would both provide a chance to elucidate the facts, as well as give viewers more context on the issues he has with it. That didn’t happen, and I think that’s the main issue here.
That said, I think the response to Jason/Thor was way too aggressive. Yeah, he has a bad take, but I saw some review-bombing on his own games, which doesn’t really help things (I didn’t even know he made games until I was trying to find out why so many people cared).
Anyway, I’m happy to continue largely ignoring him, because he doesn’t produce content that’s interesting to me.
But that’s the point people are making, that his credentials actually aren’t relevant, at least not to the extent he’s an expert. He worked at Blizzard, but not as a developer, it’s been likened to someone who worked in the billing department at a hospital weighing in on medical care.
He does have experience as a dev on Heartbound, but that’s not AAA, and he seems to have got bored of that, preferring the ego boost of being a streamer.
He’s still entitled to an opinion of course, but it shouldn’t carry the weight it had been given.
His support for life services makes sense when you find out the game publisher he (allegedly) founded and the one he recently resigned from, was publishing live service games.
He claims he was review bombed, others have checked the steam stats and it didn’t support his claim.
It seems like you want to give him the benefit of the doubt, and TBH that’s fair enough, especially if you’re just going to ignore him. Like I said, I think a lot of people who are mad at him were following him, and feel like they were taken for chumps.
If you did decide to dig into it though (and I’m not recommending it), there are some content creators bringing receipts, and there is a definite pattern of behaviour.
He worked at Blizzard, but not as a developer, it’s been likened to someone who worked in the billing department at a hospital weighing in on medical care.
A QA would probably be more involved, since they would be testing the game or something related to the game. How relevant his experience was depends on what he worked on and who he had access to talk to. I learned a lot about electrical engineering while working as a software engineer at a company that built custom antennas because I talked to the EEs a lot. I wouldn’t be surprised if he had a similar experience at Blizzard.
preferring the ego boost of being a streamer
And probably the money. With a big enough audience, it pays reasonably well. I doubt his games are selling well enough to live off of.
He claims he was review bombed
He claims the other publisher was review bombed, I’m talking about his studio’s games, which do seem to be review bombed (overwhelmingly negative for recent reviews, positive all time).
I think a lot of people who are mad at him were following him
Perhaps. But a lot of people knee-jerk join the bandwagon as well. Look at everyone jumping on the Godot hate train. I refuse to form a negative opinion without being fully informed, because the cult of public opinion can be absolutely reactionary.
So I err on the side of giving people the benefit of the doubt.
And yeah, content creators jumping on the bandwagon isn’t my cup of tea, since they have a motivation to exaggerate to get views. I want a pretty unbiased, fair take, not a rage bait take, and that’s more likely to be found on a forum like this instead of on YouTube. Hence why I’m asking.
Perhaps. But he also has some relevant credentials, since he has worked with a big AAA studio, worked w/ an indie publisher, and has been working on games w/ a team.
It’s a bit odd IMO for him to go out of his way to defend live-service games since that rarely describes indies, but I wish he’d clarify his point there in the context of a revised understanding of the petition. It wouldn’t sway my opinion, but perhaps it could sway others who are on the fence about the petition.
Sure, but isn’t that kind of what streamers do? If you’re not wanting to watch someone flex on others, then perhaps watching a popular streamer isn’t the best move.
I think the main issue is that he didn’t step to self-correct. When you have a controversial take (and I’m sure he was aware his take was controversial), you need to be extra careful you have accurate facts. When he got a bunch of pushback, he should’ve reached out to Ross to have him on to talk about the petition, which would both provide a chance to elucidate the facts, as well as give viewers more context on the issues he has with it. That didn’t happen, and I think that’s the main issue here.
That said, I think the response to Jason/Thor was way too aggressive. Yeah, he has a bad take, but I saw some review-bombing on his own games, which doesn’t really help things (I didn’t even know he made games until I was trying to find out why so many people cared).
Anyway, I’m happy to continue largely ignoring him, because he doesn’t produce content that’s interesting to me.
But that’s the point people are making, that his credentials actually aren’t relevant, at least not to the extent he’s an expert. He worked at Blizzard, but not as a developer, it’s been likened to someone who worked in the billing department at a hospital weighing in on medical care.
He does have experience as a dev on Heartbound, but that’s not AAA, and he seems to have got bored of that, preferring the ego boost of being a streamer.
He’s still entitled to an opinion of course, but it shouldn’t carry the weight it had been given.
His support for life services makes sense when you find out the game publisher he (allegedly) founded and the one he recently resigned from, was publishing live service games.
He claims he was review bombed, others have checked the steam stats and it didn’t support his claim.
It seems like you want to give him the benefit of the doubt, and TBH that’s fair enough, especially if you’re just going to ignore him. Like I said, I think a lot of people who are mad at him were following him, and feel like they were taken for chumps.
If you did decide to dig into it though (and I’m not recommending it), there are some content creators bringing receipts, and there is a definite pattern of behaviour.
A QA would probably be more involved, since they would be testing the game or something related to the game. How relevant his experience was depends on what he worked on and who he had access to talk to. I learned a lot about electrical engineering while working as a software engineer at a company that built custom antennas because I talked to the EEs a lot. I wouldn’t be surprised if he had a similar experience at Blizzard.
And probably the money. With a big enough audience, it pays reasonably well. I doubt his games are selling well enough to live off of.
He claims the other publisher was review bombed, I’m talking about his studio’s games, which do seem to be review bombed (overwhelmingly negative for recent reviews, positive all time).
Perhaps. But a lot of people knee-jerk join the bandwagon as well. Look at everyone jumping on the Godot hate train. I refuse to form a negative opinion without being fully informed, because the cult of public opinion can be absolutely reactionary.
So I err on the side of giving people the benefit of the doubt.
And yeah, content creators jumping on the bandwagon isn’t my cup of tea, since they have a motivation to exaggerate to get views. I want a pretty unbiased, fair take, not a rage bait take, and that’s more likely to be found on a forum like this instead of on YouTube. Hence why I’m asking.