Steam gets a clump of caller games each the time, but 1 has been making headlines this week for its absurdly exorbitant $2,000 terms tag. That game, The Hidden and Unknown, isn’t precisely worthy your time, though, particularly considering that it has this highly agelong opening substance crawl each astir men’s rights and “the quality cycle” of reproduction. Ew.

Developed by ProX.team, The Hidden and Unknown is the latest indie Steam crippled to seizure immoderate of the internet’s attraction for a fistful of reasons. Yeah, it really is $2,000. Yeah, it really takes little than 2 hours to finish. And yeah, it really does person a Star Wars-like opening scroll that’s 8 minutes agelong and wholly unskippable. These facets unsocial marque the crippled somewhat funny for gamers similar myself, those funny successful what’s happening connected Valve’s PC organisation platform. However, it’s the thesis of the opening series that has maine raising my eyebrows arsenic it posits that “most occidental men contiguous are feminine” and “incapable of taking the lead.” In different words, soy boys are a no-no.

“There is an thought called The Human Cycle which cannot beryllium stopped arsenic agelong arsenic humanity continues to exist,” begins The Hidden and Unknown’s opening substance scroll. “This has been the lawsuit since the inception of civilization, however, with unprecedented advancements successful science, things mightiness not beryllium the aforesaid arsenic they utilized to be. Whereas antecedently lone a tiny information of radical could spend being weak, the concern is antithetic today. Most occidental men contiguous are feminine, portion astir of the occidental women contiguous are masculine. Men mistake being anemic arsenic being bully truthful they bash not offend females, portion women instrumentality connected the much masculine relation arsenic their men are pathetic, weak, and incapable of taking the lead.” This goes connected and connected for 8 minutes straight, y’all.

But what is The Hidden and Unknown? Well, it’s a non-interactive ocular caller astir immoderate kid named Brian, whom you ne'er really see. Brian is similar astir kids successful that helium plays soccer, goes to school, sleeps successful his bedroom, hangs retired with his friends (who you besides don’t see), and plays browser-based video games. The lone quality is that, aft Brian grows disenfranchised from his friends due to the fact that the (similarly unseen) girls are making amusive of him, helium someway becomes connected to the Super Artificial Intelligence 2123, which is really conscionable Brian from the aboriginal trying to prevention this integer satellite from the brink of extinction owed to a deficiency of babe making. You see, Brian, present disillusioned and detached from everyone and everything, isn’t funny successful relationships oregon reproducing present that his boys person turned connected him and the girls are mocking him. 2123, this AI that supposedly strikes a equilibrium betwixt masculine and feminine energies, wants to assistance Brian marque friends again and, ultimately, find emotion to forestall “this extinction-level danger” that is non-population growth.

There is truthful overmuch to unpack here, I don’t adjacent cognize wherever to begin. However, if you’re acquainted with men’s rights activism, a governmental question centered astir the conception of structural favoritism against men, past these talking points should travel into focus. It’s unsafe rhetoric peddled by the likes of self-proclaimed misogynist Andrew Tate and propped up by streamers specified arsenic Adin Ross, each of which fundamentally advocates for men’s presumption connected apical successful a horribly patriarchal nine that inactive exploits women.

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In Discord DMs with Kotaku, a The Hidden and Unknown developer known lone arsenic ThePro said the crippled is “loosely pursuing my ain experiences,” though it’s not “an nonstop copy.” ThePro explained that, though the crippled calls “most occidental men” feminine and weak, they don’t needfully judge that “men mostly are weak.” However, “anyone who has had an casual life” volition beryllium weak, ThePro said, breaking down however the crippled has been received truthful acold and what they’ve learned.

“I’ve heard the satellite has go overmuch worse than it utilized to be, but I admit that I similar doing my ain probe earlier jumping to conclusions and the reception decidedly proved to maine that radical are excessively consumed by the incorrect things,” ThePro said. “They marque a large woody retired of a terms tag that doesn’t impact their beingness successful immoderate way, alternatively of focusing connected improving not lone themselves, but the lives of radical astir them.”

ThePro said they fearfulness we mightiness “[lose] the 1 happening that makes america each human,” but refused to expound immoderate further connected what this could mean. Instead, they simply explained that “both men and women person testosterone and estrogen” and that these energies should beryllium balanced.

“I person been accused of being ‘transphobic’ and ‘misogynistic’ and more, however, I would similar to fto everyone cognize that I person nary occupation with men, women, trans people, oregon immoderate different group, arsenic agelong arsenic they are capable to respect maine arsenic well,” ThePro said. “People that person been accusing maine showed maine nary respect and went consecutive to conclusions, which doesn’t marque a bully representation for them. It’s bittersweet to spot we person to unrecorded successful a satellite wherever everyone grows assertive consecutive away, however, I would similar to person a affirmative content that if we commencement moving unneurotic alternatively of against each other, we volition find a mode to flight the dangers of extinction which are precise imaginable during the existent climate.”

ThePro past went disconnected connected a agelong tangent astir the “many possibilities” that could lend to oregon origin quality extinction: atomic warfare, planetary economical woes, the overuse of lithium, estrogen successful integrative products, etcetera. At the extremity of the day, it seems ThePro is utilizing The Hidden and Unknown to propel immoderate signifier of ideological rhetoric astir the request for men to “take the lead” because, if not, we’re each doomed. What a revelation.

So, yeah, you don’t request to cheque retired The Hidden and Unknown. If you had the wealth and bushed it successful little than 2 hours (which is wholly doable), you could get a refund arsenic per Steam’s refund policy. But wherefore you would taxable yourself to specified a boring and, frankly, philosophically barren crippled is beyond me.