1. Co-opting a hashtag that was used for trans solidarity:

"Classic PC Games #WontBeErased on our watch. Yeah, how’s that for some use of hashtags."

2. Suggestive in-game ad:

The female figure in one of those advertisements very clearly has a penis. The ad is for a soft drink called ChroManticore that tastes of “16 flavours you’d love to mix.” The copy encourages you to “mix it up,” an apparent reference to the trans model in the poster.

3. Assume gender 'joke':

“Did you just assume their gender,” the tweet said. The account was responding to a fan saying that they wanted more from the “guys” at Gamescom.

To me these seem much tamer than sending nazi symbols via email tbh

How is this a history of transphobia?

Link 1: They made a pun using a trending hashtag without checking what the hashtag meant. They apologized when it was explained to them. This is an example of cluelessness or laziness on the part of whoever was running the Twitter account, not of transphobia.

Link 2: In their video game, containing themes like murder, rape, torture, and the abuse of society by megacorporations, they included a megacorporation misusing an image of a trans person for advertising. When asked about it, they confirmed it's part of the evil fictional world that they have created, and obviously they don't condone it, just like they don't condone murder even though the game features a lot of murder. Is it transphobic to include themes of transphobia in a game, even though it's shown as a bad thing?

Link 3: They didn't like a fan's assumption that only men work for the company, and used the "Did you just assume their gender" meme. They apologized when they were told it can be offensive.

I don't see a single example here of them being transphobic on purpose. And speaking of Cyberpunk, it features a major trans character whose struggle you are supposed to emphatise with, so they clearly care about the community.

I agree they should be more careful about what their post, but I think there is a big difference between being transphobic, and accidentally posting something transphobic without meaning it 8 years ago and then apologizing for the mistake.

It's not the intent of your post and I know I'm on a bit of a tangent, but the middle article about the oversexualization in the ad doesn't feel transphobic to me as a trans person. Or like, it does, but it does in a way that it makes perfect sense for the world that the game takes place in.

There are lots of examples of commodification of people's bodies in game, so leaning into that with a trans person feels like a very real version of what a company might do in that universe.

Not trying to nitpick or anything, I just heard about this controversy waaaaaay after the fact and never got a chance to chime in anywhere with anyone.

Technically it isn’t anymore it’s owned by one of the founders, though he’s a chair at cdpr

I guess I'll have to buy my games from itch now sigh