A certain shade has become the marker gamers use when they believe a game has gone too far down the woke road. Since August 2024, the idea of “DEI Purple” has been floating around online, and it picked up serious steam in 2026 after a streamer named Asmongold brought it into the open.
A straightforward idea underlies this: video games that make heavy use of the color purple are viewed as aligned with progressive social movements, created with DEI goals at their core. The consequence drawn from this observation is that the game’s quality will be harmed as a result. This is a cautionary note, not a mark of praise.
Where It Started
A Steam user named Gloaf was the first person to suggest that purple is a sign of a “DEI project”, posting it on the Dragon Age: The Veilguard forum on August 15th, 2024. His title captures the whole argument: “Overuse of Purple Indicates DEI Garbage.”.
Gloaf has pointed to a line of titles that he argues carry the signs of a DEI initiative. Among them are Forespoken, Saints Row, Flintlock, Tales of Kenzera, Gotham Knights, Shadow Gambit, and Neo Cab. His closing remark carries a cautionary note: “Remember we have the power do not buy.”
How It Spread
The theory moved fast after Gloaf’s post. On September 30th, 2024, YouTuber Let’s Gundam It posted a video about DEI Purple. On January 2nd, 2025, X user @Mangalawyer posted images of several games with purple color schemes, writing, “The color palette that instantly transformed you into a non-buynary gamer.” That thread garnered over 3,700 likes in a year.
A screenshot of the tweet was posted to the /r/Gamingcirclejerk subreddit on January 4th under the title “Apparently Games with Purple are considered flops.”. Within a year it had gathered more than 1,700 upvotes.
Asmongold’s Clip
A streamer known for his cultural commentary brought the DEI Purple theory to a broader audience on 2026, discussing it in connection with God of War: Laufey. On June 3rd, 2026, TikToker @asmongood shared a clip of Asmongold’s remarks, which zeroes in on the purple/magenta color in the footage and reads it as a warning signal.
The color Asmongold sees reminds him of Dragon Age: The Veilguard, and he calls it the same kind of purple. He admits that games using that hue now set off suspicion in him. His reaction comes in real time as the gameplay footage plays, and he jokes that the color alone reveals what kind of game it is. When the scene keeps showing the same magenta tone, he dubs it DEI purple and offers a sarcastic suggestion to take his money.
A particular visual pattern drives the moment, making the response clear even to viewers unfamiliar with the full stream. The reaction draws on both humor and a broader reading about how modern game art direction reflects wider cultural divisions.
The Numbers Behind It
The video’s success is remarkable. The Asmongold Shorts YouTube channel uploaded another clip on September 29th where Asmongold takes aim at God of War: Laufey and highlights the DEI Purple mentioned in a recent post from the game’s company. Within a single day, the clip pulled in more than 635,000 views.
Here is the rough timeline of the theory’s spread:
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| Aug 15, 2024 | Gloaf posts “Overuse of Purple Indicates DEI Garbage” on Steam |
| Sep 30, 2024 | Let’s Gundam It posts video about DEI Purple |
| Jan 2, 2025 | Mangalawyer posts images of purple games on X |
| Jan 4, 2025 | Screenshot of Mangalawyer’s tweet posted to /r/Gamingcirclejerk |
| Jun 3, 2026 | Asmongold’s clip posted by TikToker @asmongood |
| Sep 29, 2026 | Asmongold Shorts posts follow-up clip |
The List of Suspected Games
The full set of titles that Gloaf points to as examples of games he believes carry the marks of a DEI initiative stands as follows:
- Forespoken
- Saints Row
- Flintlock
- Tales of Kenzera
- Gotham Knights
- Shadow Gambit
- Neo Cab
What It Means Now
A single shade has come to stand in for a wider conflict over who gets to play video games, turning into a quick way of pointing to a larger disagreement. That one color now carries a whole set of beliefs with it.
The irony is that the theory functions as a kind of cultural signal. Players read a political meaning into a color choice, and then they pass that reading along to one another. This is a closed loop of interpretation, and it shows no sign of fading out soon.
This framework will keep serving as the standard for judging games, as a warning against buying certain titles, and as a marker of position in the ongoing conflict over what constitutes a quality game.
See the video the story is built around at Know Your Meme.
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