Board game publisher Devir “offers our sincerest apology to everyone” after its latest title, Ace of Spades, was accused of racism. In a statement shared to social media on August 8, Devir addresses two cards that caused offense online. These depict “a black person in a state of enslavement”, as well as a white person that Devir describes as “an enslaver”.
Ace of Spades is a new board game that was planned for release in August. The game had been shown off at Gen Con, and several reviews of the game have already been shared. However, criticism only began to spread on August 7, when BoardGameGeek user Jeremy Howard posted photos of the cards on the forum website.
That post was then shared across social media, including by designers of some of the best board games, such as Wingspan’s Elizabeth Hargrave and High Tide’s Marceline Leiman. “Get out of here with this racist crap”, Leiman says in a Bluesky post from Thursday. “Wtf Devir?”, Hargrave writes. “You should know better. Do better.”
“There’s a principle we hold on to in moments like this”, Devir says in its statement, “never attribute to malice what can be explained by stupidity”. “It does not excuse the error, but it reminds us that harm can be done — and was done — without ill intent. That harm still matters, and it is our responsibility to face it fully.”
The publisher explains that the offensive images were originally meant to pay homage to the film Django Unchained. “However, we now fully understand that this approach was misguided”, the publisher says. “Depicting imagery tied to the violence and trauma of slavery — even as a cultural reference — is not appropriate in a board game context. These illustrations trivialize a painful and deeply rooted historical reality. They should never have been included.”
“We take full responsibility for the harm caused, and we offer our sincerest apology to everyone, without conditions or excuses”, Devir says. The publisher pledges to “immediately stop the sales of this game and retrieve all the copies sent to retailers”. After that, replacement cards will be designed and provided free of charge to anyone who requests them.
Devir promises that the original cards will not appear in future editions or printings of Ace of Spaces, and it will review and replace any other potentially harmful cards. All social media content relating to the game will be taken down and reviewed, and “we are launching a thorough review of our editorial and design processes to prevent anything like this from happening again”. Lastly, Devir promises that “we will consult with experts in diversity, history, and cultural representation on our future projects”.
So far, responses to Devir’s statement have been positive. Several commenters on its Reddit post praise the publisher for “as quality a response as anyone could ask for”. Writing on Bluesky, Elizabeth Hargrave says of the response: “Better that it didn’t need to be done at all, but this acknowledges real harm, takes responsibility, and fixes it at substantial cost to the company”.
For more recent board game news, here’s how Czech Games Edition handled criticism of its upcoming Harry Potter Codenames spin-off. Or, for somewhere to discuss the hobby in more depth, join our Wargamer Discord.