Thick Thighs Save Lives
NeoGAF's Physical Games Advocate Extraordinaire
Decade-old fighting game Skullgirls has been hit with more than 600 negative Steam reviews in just 24 hours because of a patch that mostly tweaks and removes artwork that the developers say doesn't reflect their current "values" or "broad vision" for the future of the game. The overall Steam rating for Skullgirls remains "Very Positive," but its recent review average has tumbled down to "Mostly Negative."
Left: The original artwork. Right: The patched artwork.
The Skullgirls "Content Updates and Revisions" patch was deployed on June 26, and affects the PC, console, and mobile versions of the game. The changes are summarized in a forum post by game director Charley Price, and target three aspects of Skullgirls:
"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," wrote Price in his forum post. "Please know that all of these choices have been made following careful consideration and lengthy discussion amongst all members of the current development team. Beyond this post, we do not intend to discuss the particulars of these changes further."
It isn't all backlash, with a number of Skullgirls players now using the Steam reviews section to roll their eyes at the flood of grievances, writing positive reviews that accuse the review bombers of being low-playtime astroturfers, too horny for their own good, or both.
"Leaving this positive review to counter people with 5 hours saying the entire game is now bad because it's 1% less horny," wrote one reviewer who has more than 2,000 hours in Skullgirls.
At the time of writing, 169 positive and 659 negative Steam reviews for Skullgirls have been posted since June 26.
More details in this PC Gamer article: https://www.pcgamer.com/skullgirls-...lter-old-artwork-they-felt-was-in-poor-taste/
Left: The original artwork. Right: The patched artwork.
The Skullgirls "Content Updates and Revisions" patch was deployed on June 26, and affects the PC, console, and mobile versions of the game. The changes are summarized in a forum post by game director Charley Price, and target three aspects of Skullgirls:
- "Allusions to real-world hate groups" seen in the dress and iconography of Skullgirls' Black Egret army, particularly its Nazi-like red armbands
- Instances in which characters "are fetishized and/or have sexualization imposed upon them," with particular attention toward younger characters
- Some content "believed to be in poor taste" with regard to race
"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," wrote Price in his forum post. "Please know that all of these choices have been made following careful consideration and lengthy discussion amongst all members of the current development team. Beyond this post, we do not intend to discuss the particulars of these changes further."
It isn't all backlash, with a number of Skullgirls players now using the Steam reviews section to roll their eyes at the flood of grievances, writing positive reviews that accuse the review bombers of being low-playtime astroturfers, too horny for their own good, or both.
"Leaving this positive review to counter people with 5 hours saying the entire game is now bad because it's 1% less horny," wrote one reviewer who has more than 2,000 hours in Skullgirls.
At the time of writing, 169 positive and 659 negative Steam reviews for Skullgirls have been posted since June 26.
More details in this PC Gamer article: https://www.pcgamer.com/skullgirls-...lter-old-artwork-they-felt-was-in-poor-taste/
