2012 2D anime fighter Skullgirls is below siege by some followers after a latest replace made micro-adjustments to scantily clad ladies and removed Nazi symbols amongst a number of different tweaks to the last decade previous recreation. The tweaks led to evaluate bombing on Steam and claims by followers that the small modifications have by some means essentially altered the sport’s DNA.
Modeled after Marvel vs. Capcom 2 and set in a post-WWII period with loads of allusions to European fascists, Skullgirls and its communityhave been no stranger to controversy and scandal. Most notably, the sport switched studios in 2020 after the pinnacle developer of the workforce that initially created it was accused of misconduct for making inappropriate sexual remarks.
After all, Skullgirls itself has additionally had loads of questionable content material, starting from commonplace anime sexy to creepy or probably offensive artwork, which the brand new workforce has now determined to replace in some infinitesimally small methods because it continues engaged on steadiness patches and ports of the Skullgirls 2nd Encore model of the sport.
Printed on June 26, Skullgirls’ latest patch notes checklist steadiness change in addition to “alterations” to a bunch of in-game artwork and scenes, together with eliminating Nazi-like armband symbols, making some feminine fighters barely much less overtly objectified, and jettisoning sure racial references. The devs then made a protracted put up explaining their reasoning behind the artistic shift.
With the Nazi allusions, for instance, Skullgirls present devs write, “We felt that the best way that manifested (most notably through pink armbands, flags, and symbolism) was too shut for consolation – particularly given the unlucky actuality that a few of these hate teams are nonetheless lively in numerous respects to at the present time.”
Concerning sure sexualized depictions, the devs write, “Whereas Skullgirls isn’t any stranger to characters that confidently specific their sexuality, there are cases within the recreation the place characters are fetishized and/or have sexualization imposed upon them.” Additionally they particularly name out sure examples of “undesirable predatory conduct, significantly in direction of youthful characters.”
A YouTube video by LalitoTV (through PC Gamer) runs by means of a lot of the modifications in about two minutes, and attempting to identify most of them is like trying by means of a The place’s Waldo puzzle ebook. In a single story mode scene the BDSM vibes are simply barely toned down by not blindfolding a personality, the place one other character’s Cronenburgian transformation now not features a spot that appears like a girl’s butt lined by white underwear. In a tentacle scene, a personality’s butt is roofed with extra tentacles to cover her underwear.
These are the variations which have now led to not less than 600 new adverse opinions of the sport on Steam, some from individuals who have barely performed the sport, and a flurry of feedback on the Dialogue web page like “can a 10-year previous recreation be refunded” and “are you assured in the way forward for gaming?” In the meantime, a put up asserting the replace on Twitter has grow to be a battleground between players complaining that the sport is being censored and people dunking on the absurd outrage. Some gamers even assume Skullgirls devs haven’t gone far sufficient in making modifications to the sport, like for instance lastly making each sexualized character in it clearly over the age of 18. However for now, the studios have apparently mentioned all they’re going to say on the topic.
“We after all notice that some members of the Skullgirls neighborhood might disagree with these modifications, both when it comes to how we selected to deal with them or whether or not they had been the truth is points that warranted addressing within the first place,” they wrote of their replace. “Please know that each one of those decisions have been made following cautious consideration and prolonged dialogue amongst all members of the present growth workforce. Past this put up, we don’t intend to debate the particulars of those modifications additional.”
