Steam game receives widespread criticism after stripping Nazi imagery and sexual content, according to reviews on Steam.
Skullgirls has recently come under scrutiny after its developer decided to alter old artwork it deemed offensive or “in poor taste.” Reviews for this indie fighting game were negative after this action occurred.
Skullgirls was released for PCs and console platforms back in 2012. Since its debut, critics have given it high praise due to its combination of skill-based play with beautiful visuals. Now available through Steam as well as all console platforms.
Recently however, game developer Reverge Labs came under scrutiny for altering in-game artwork to reduce Nazi imagery as well as sexual content. A patch notes announcement highlighted this change stating the update has removed “allusions to real world hate groups” associated with Skullgirls Black Egret army which features Nazi red armband uniform. Furthermore it removed instances where characters (especially younger ones) have been “fetishised or sexualized”.
Patch notes also identified content regarding race that was considered in poor taste; these have now been changed accordingly.
While most would praise the developers’ commitment to correct their past errors, others have taken less than favorable positions and even went so far as review-bombing the game on Steam.
Critiques have pointed to the new update as evidence of censorship that undermines its charm, criticising it as having become too “woke” with time.
“Devs care more about virtue signalling than their game,” one user noted, with another adding that censorship had taken away any desire to install again: an acceptable game but inferior updates. According to yet another, one update contained terminal stage woke mind virus – thus nulling out any interest for further playback of that update.
Skullgirls was initially crowdfunded through Kickstarter and early adopters feel betrayed by its latest update; many feel as if this development represents an insult for having supported it since inception.
Revenge Labs responded to the backlash but don’t intend on changing any changes made, saying this: “While some members of the Skullgirls community may disagree with our choices for these changes or how we addressed them or whether issues warranted being addressed at all, know that these decisions have been carefully thought through and thoroughly discussed within all members of our current development team prior to being made… In any event, beyond this post alone we do not intend to address further the specifics of these modifications.”
Happily, many fans still support the decision made by developers to alter distasteful content; many don’t believe this alteration negatively affecting either style and gameplay of the title.
Skullgirls can now be found across multiple modern platforms.
