A recent update to the 2D fighting game Skullgirls removed references to real-world hate groups, made its content less sexually "exploitative," and added some fixes to content the developer believed was "in poor taste."
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The result? An influx of negative reviews on Steam criticizing the team for its decision.
As spotted by PC Gamer, while Skullgirls' overall rating on Steam remains "Very Positive," its recent review average is now "Mostly Negative.".
This is all in response to Skullgirls' latest update, which makes several adjustments to the game's content. In an accompanying post about the changes, game director Charley Price noted three areas the team specifically wanted to focus on: References to real-world hate groups, sexualization of characters, and racial sensitivity.
"While the Renoir family and the Black Egrets were always intended to evoke images of an oppressive militarized regime, we felt that the way in which this was manifested (primarily through red armbands, flags, and symbolism) was too close to make us feel comfortable - especially given the unfortunate reality that some of these hate groups are still active in various guises to this day," Price explained, stating that the game's red armbands have now been removed (see image below).
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Meanwhile, discussing the game's sexualization, Price noted that while "Skullgirls is no stranger to characters who confidently express their sexuality, there are instances in the game where characters are fetishized and/or sexualized." Price stated that this included unwanted predatory behavior towards "younger characters.".
"While hinting at some of this may make narrative sense, we've made a number of small adjustments throughout the game to ensure this content is less exploitable (e.g. Filia's Story Mode opening)," Price shared in their update.
Third, regarding race, Price stated that the team "made adjustments to some content that we felt was in poor taste" highlighting the game's references to racial violence in "Big Band's Story Mode.".
Clearly anticipating some backlash to these changes, Price concluded with the following statement:
"Please be advised that all of these choices were made after careful consideration and lengthy discussion among all members of the current development team. Beyond this post, we do not intend to discuss the details of these changes further.".
"We are confident that this will provide a healthier foundation for Skullgirls that we can all be proud of as we continue to develop and expand the universe in the years to come.".
Despite Price's words, Skullgirls has seen reviews on Steam plummet in recent days – although others have been more positive.
"I'm leaving this positive review to address the people with five hours in who say the entire game is now bad because it's one percent less horny," wrote a reviewer who currently has over 2000 hours in the game's archive.
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source of information: eurogamer.net
