CEO of Lords of the Fallen says that creating games for the "modern audience" is the path to extinction

After the arrival of version 2.0 of Lords of the Fallen in April 2024, which according to the studio itself had a direct impact on sales, CI Games' CEO, Marek Tyminski, once again positioned himself critically about directions taken by part of the industry. In a recent post on the X (formerly Twitter) network, he reiterated his opposition to developing games focused on the so-called "modern audiences", a term generally associated with inclusion, diversity, and equity (DEI) issues.

“The ‘modern audience’ is a false myth. Data prove it now. Making games for them is a path to extinction.”

Tyminski's statement is part of a history of criticisms from CI Games and Hexworks (the subdivision responsible for the development of Lords of the Fallen) towards the adoption of strategies focused on DEI in the design and narrative of games. Although he has not presented specific data or examples to support his claim, the executive has reinforced that his company will follow its own path, focused on traditional gameplay experience and "focused on real fans."

The release of the game's 2.0 update brought significant technical improvements, including combat balancing, AI refinement, critical bug reduction, and progression system revision, being considered by the community one of the most stable versions since the game's release on October 13, 2023.

Despite the mixed initial reception, Lords of the Fallen had peaks of over 100,000 simultaneous players on Steam during the launch month and sold around 1 million copies in the first weeks. The studio has also confirmed that new content is in development.

Tyminski's statement follows a trend of executives adopting a discourse against the focus on representation and inclusion as central guidelines for development, which has already sparked controversy with other figures in the industry in previous years — such as the statements of the CEO of Tripwire Interactive, who in 2022 also stated that “games need to entertain, not educate.”

The CEO's position reinforces the strategic direction of CI Games and raises the debate once again about which audiences the industry should prioritize — and what are the costs of ignoring or embracing cultural changes within the gaming market.