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Skullgirls makes improvements to hate group references, racial sensitivity and sexualization, predictably gets review-bombed on Steam“We are confident that this will provide a more sound foundation for Skullgirls that we can all be proud of as we continue to grow and expand the universe in the years to come.”
“We are confident that this will provide a more sound foundation for Skullgirls that we can all be proud of as we continue to grow and expand the universe in the years to come.”
Image credit:Autumn Games
Image credit:Autumn Games
The developers behindSkullgirlshave made a number of changes to the decade-old 2D fighter in order to correct elements they now believe to be in “poor taste”. The outcome? Hundreds of negative reviews on Steam, of course.
“As we look ahead towards the future of Skullgirls, we have reflected upon past decisions regarding certain content that has undermined the many things that make Skullgirls truly unique and special,” wrote director Charley Price.
“We have decided to make some changes to certain legacy content in the spirit of better reflecting our values and our broad vision for Skullgirls moving forward.”
Skullgirls 2nd Encore - Launch TrailerWatch on YouTube
Skullgirls 2nd Encore - Launch Trailer
“While the Renoir family and the Black Egrets were always intended to evoke imagery from an oppressive militant regime, we felt that the way that manifested (most notably via red armbands, flags, and symbolism) was too close for comfort - especially given the unfortunate reality that some of these hate groups are still active in various respects to this day,” Price explained.
“While Skullgirls is no stranger to characters that confidently express their sexuality, there are instances in the game where characters are fetishized and/or have sexualization imposed upon them.”
Image credit: Autumn Games |Image credit:Autumn Games
In similar “poor taste” was the game’s allusion to racial violence in some scenes, resulting in tweaks to improve racial sensitivity.
“While there are numerous playful references to pulpy themes that we feel respectfully allude to certain stereotypes (e.g. the Saxploitation VO pack), we have made adjustments to some content that we believed to be in poor taste (e.g. references to racial violence in Big Band’s Story Mode),” Price said.
With depressing predictability, the changes sparked a backlash from some players on Steam, who lefthundreds of negative reviewsin the wake of the changes, pushing its recent reviews into the “Mostly Negative” category.
“Anything that starts to become woke deserves to die,” one such comment states. Another similarly measured response to a cartoon video game removing Nazi references and the sexualization of young characters remarks: “Literally 1984”
Skullgirls censorship update (PART 1/2) - June 26th 2023Watch on YouTube
Skullgirls censorship update (PART 1/2) - June 26th 2023
The game’s devs themselves seemed to predict the all-too-predictable response, saying definitively that they won’t discuss the changes beyond the announcement.
“We of course realize that some members of the Skullgirls community may disagree with these changes, either in terms of how we chose to address them or whether they were in fact issues that warranted addressing in the first place,” Price wrote. “Please know that all of these choices have been made following careful consideration and lengthy discussion amongst all members of the current development team.
“We are confident that this will provide a more sound foundation for Skullgirls that we can all be proud of as we continue to grow and expand the universe in the years to come.”
