Reflector Entertainment, developers of the poorly received Unknown 9: Awakening, are currently experiencing mass layoffs after their debut title landed with a thud. As originally discovered by SmashJT, several people who were once gainfully employed by Reflector have now posted on their LinkedIn pages that they are no longer working at the studio and are open for new job opportunities. This is obviously not the result that Reflector was hoping for, as Unknown 9 was supposed to be a massive franchise spanning sequels, books and merchandise for many years to come.
While it was previously revealed that Anya Chalotra, who played the witch Yennefer on Netflix’s The Witcher series, was offered the role in Unknown 9: Awakening without actually having to audition, seemingly no one has been asking the more important question; who actually offered her the role? Most probably assumed that Kim Belair had something to do with Ms. Chalotra being cast to star in Reflector’s debut game, as both her and Anya are “women of color,” the latter previously praising Unknown 9 for it’s diverse cast of characters.
However, the more likely answer is that this was a decision made expressly by Jessica Jefferies, the casting director for Unknown 9. If you’re not familiar with Ms. Jefferies’ work, that’s understandable. While she has been attached to some rather notable and controversial projects, casting credits tend to get lost in the shuffle. Ms. Jefferies, according to her own website, is credited for work on Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, a game that was crushed under the weight of Sweet Baby Inc’s bad reputation (it’s also worth noting that this now makes at least two AAA titles that Kim Belair and Jessica Jefferies have worked on together).
Ms. Jefferies also worked on Diablo 2: Resurrected and the Until Dawn Remaster, as well as several Warhammer titles; Space Marine 2 and Battle Sister. She is currently the casting director for The Dark Pictures: Directive 8020, a game featuring Lashana Lynch, a British actress of Jamaican descent. Ms. Lynch, who played Monica Rambeau in the 2019 film Captain Marvel, has been a vocal advocate for “improving the hair and makeup experience for black actors” and ensuring an “equitable work environment.”
Prior to starting her own casting company, Ms. Jefferies was credited on The Witcher, the same Netflix series Anya Chalotra was cast in to play the race-swapped Yenefer. While Jessica Jefferies was not the casting director for the first three seasons, she was in fact working for Sophie Holland, a woman who had a profound affect on the ill-fated Netflix series. Sophie Holland publicly expressed the need to cast non-white people in fantasy settings in order to combat “unconscious bias,” and even claimed that “having a woman of color in this role (Yenefer) does incredibly powerful things to the people watching.”
The apple has certainly not fallen far from the tree, as Ms. Jefferies has gone on to espouse her own belief in needing DEI to be a major factor in how characters are cast. From an interview with Absolute Scenes on Instagram, she said:
"I also think such a huge change in casting in general is diversity and inclusion. I think we still obviously have such a huge way to go, but I think there's been a leap in the last 5 years, I'd say. There's been some really positive changes and that comes from also there being a positive change from the audiences about the stories that are being told. You know?"
“They wouldn't be made if audiences didn't want to watch them. So now there's way more diversity and variation in the stories that are being told which allows us to be able to be more creative in the way that we're casting, and more inclusive in the way that we're casting.”
Ms. Jefferies is also a member of the UK based Casting Director’s Guild, who claim to be “a professional organisation of Casting Directors in the film, television, theatre and commercials communities in the UK and Ireland who have joined together to further their common interests in establishing a recognised standard of professionalism in the industry.” The CDG is heavily invested in promoting the tenants of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, as stated in their 2021 “Statement on Diversity.” Their diversity and inclusion goals are, as stated on their website:
“It is the aim of the Guild and its members to achieve a true representation of our society on stage/screen. It is not possible for individuals to be ‘diverse’. It is our casting process that must be diverse.We aim to cast consciously, and to keep performers from historically underrepresented backgrounds visible and valued in the casting process. Our goal is to ensure the representation of the following:
Women | African / South Asian / East Asian / South East Asian Diaspora people / Mixed race people / other global majority people of colour | Neurodiverse people | People from a lower socio-economic background | LGBTQ+ people | Deaf and Hard of Hearing people | Disabled people.”
While Jessica Jefferies has been very vocal about her political opinions in the past via Twitter/X, she has recently deleted her account after publicly stating that she would be moving over to Bluesky, the new left-wing version of X that has seen an uptick in users since Donald Trump was reelected. While she may believe that this will shield her from future scrutiny or criticism, the reality is that most gamers have become exhausted by the constant lecturing and virtue signaling of liberal elites.
DEI initiatives are quickly going the way of the dinosaur, as too are woke games filled with propaganda and modern day politics. Will Directive 8020 be another Unknown 9: Awakening? Only time will tell.