Mewgenics Dev Responds To Criticism Of Its Voice Cameos: ‘If I Only Included People Who Share The Same Exact Opinions As Me, I’d Be The Only One Meowing’

Mewgenics, the new tactical RPG roguelike about cat breeding, has come under a bit of fire during its launch week for its long list of voice cameos. Among the eclectic group of people who do the various “meow”s in the game are a fair number of content creators, including husband-and-wife podcast hosts Ethan and Hila Klein, both of whom have expressed pro-Israel views in regards to its ongoing conflict with Palestine. Hila was born in Israel and was required by law to serve in the Israel Defense Forces at 18, albeit not in a combat role. After some criticism of their presence in the game on social media, the developers have responded.

In an interview with Rock Paper Shotgun, developer Edmund McMillen explained that the giant list of meowers was accumulated over several years, with Ethan Klein’s contribution coming together four years before the game launched.

“I wanted the game to feature a huge array of iconic voices I’ve been hearing echoing across the internet for most of my time making games,” McMillen told RPS. “As some probably noticed I was [pretty] all over the place when it came to cameos and did my best to include and keep ones that clashed or kinda counterbalanced each other.”

This counterbalancing, as McMillen calls it, means recruiting people with different views, such as iDubbbz and Anisa Jombha, who have publicly supported Palestine, to balance out people like Klein. iDubbbz and Klein have been publicly feuding after the former released a video criticizing the latter’s stance on Israel. McMillen says he contacted both parties before Mewgenics’ launch to make sure they knew the other would be in the game. 

Now that Mewgenics has gotten pushback for including Klein, he says it’s “sad” that some might be “so put off by the idea of an inclusion of someone they don’t like so much that they will never play the game,” though he doesn’t engage with the fact that at the heart of this disagreement is a literal genocide.

“I understand we live in a time where a meow from someone who has different beliefs as you is scary and frustrating, confusing and controversial…” McMillen said, “but it felt interesting so I decided to explore it. Also, I should probably point out that I don’t share the same opinions as, well, probably any of the people we included. If I only included people who share the same exact opinions as me, I’d be the only one meowing in the game.

McMillen says that someone who was bothered by a “problematic meow” would probably not enjoy Mewgenics anyway, though he says that if you do still play the game, you can simply throw any offending cat in the trash and go about your way.