Tech company CEO steps down after comments on Texas abortion law

The CEO of TripWire, an American video game company, stepped down Monday following comments he made about Texas’s controversial abortion law that passed last week. 

Company leader John Gibson tweeted Saturday that he was “proud” of the Supreme Court for upholding the “fetal heartbeat” bill.

“Proud of #USSupremeCourt affirming the Texas law banning abortion for babies with a heartbeat,” Gibson wrote on Twitter. “As an entertainer I don’t get political often. Yet with so many vocal peers on the other side of this issue, I felt it was important to go on the record as a pro-life game developer.”

Proud of #USSupremeCourt affirming the Texas law banning abortion for babies with a heartbeat. As an entertainer I don’t get political often. Yet with so many vocal peers on the other side of this issue, I felt it was important to go on the record as a pro-life game developer.

— John Gibson (@RammJaeger) September 4, 2021

Tripwire announced in a statement Monday that Gibson had stepped down and that co-founder and Vice President Alan Wilson will take over as interim CEO.

“The comments given by John Gibson are of his own opinion, and do not reflect those of Tripwire Interactive as a company,” the statement read. “His comments disregarded the values of our whole team, our partners and much of our broader community. Our leadership team at Tripwire are deeply sorry and are unified in our commitment to take swift action and to foster a more positive environment.”

Gibson’s comments sparked backlash from the gaming community, with some gaming developers announcing they would no longer work with Tripwire due to Gibson’s stance on the abortion law. 

Gaming developer Shipwright Studios, which had previously collaborated with Tripwire, responded to Gibson’s tweet saying that “while your politics are your own, the moment you make them a matter of public discourse you entangle all of those working for and with you.”

pic.twitter.com/v1m8hzT77q

— Shipwright Studios (@shipwrightstdio) September 5, 2021

The Texas law, which is the most restrictive abortion legislation in the U.S. to date, prohibits abortions after a fetal heartbeat is detected and allows private citizens to sue abortion providers if they believe they are infringing on the new law.