Progressive game company makes game after CA Supreme Court upholds Proposition 8

May 27, 2009 – Less than 48 hours after the California Supreme
Court’s decision on Proposition 8, Metaversal Studios is releasing a new free web
game poking fun at its absurdity. The game, “WTF, CA!”

(www.metaversalstudios.com/wtfca), is a “Whack-a-Mole” style game in which the
gavel of justice earns points for beating down unmarried gay couples, but loses
points for beating down both straight and gay couples who are legally married.
“The point of the game is that this decision brings discrimination to a new level of
absurdity,” says Metaversal Studios’s gay founder and Lead Game Designer Jay
Laird. “It’s separate-but-equal, but other than by looking at a piece of paper, you
can’t tell who’s ‘equal’, since there are now legally married gay and lesbian couples
and ones whose unions will go unrecognized by the state. As if the state-versus-
federal marriage issue weren’t confusing enough as more states adopt gay marriage and domestic partnerships, California has just stirred up the pot again.”

The game offers Metaversal Studios’ usual mix of smart, fun, and slightly edgy
humor. Unmarried straight couples aren’t worth any points, since they can get
married at any time, but hitting a married gay or straight couple is equally bad.
Additional commentary on California issues include a bonus (hitting a certain
medicinal plant that pops up gives the player extra time) and a penalty (hitting a
caricature of the Governator ends the game prematurely). Additionally there’s a
“hand of God” bonus, but the creators aren’t divulging what it does, except to say it’s
satirically “smitelicious”.

“WTF, CA!” comes only a week after Metaversal Studios made nationwide news with Apple’s censorship of an update to its iPhone game, the innocent-looking, tongue-in- cheek “Hot Dog Down a Hallway”. “We were upset about Apple preventing our customers from getting the latest version of ‘Hot Dog’, but California preventing loving couples from upgrading their relationships to marriage is far worse.”