What Is Going On With The 'Skullgirls' Update Controversy And Why Are Some Calling The Changes Censorship?

Though it initially came out years ago, the indie fighting game Skullgirls has been at the forefront of video game discourse online this week after its developers announced some artistic tweaks that toned down some of the game's more suggestive elements. Depending on who you ask, these changes are no big deal or a very big deal.

What Is The Controversial Skullgirls Update?

On June 24th, Skullgirls director Charley Price announced in the Skullgirls forums that some artwork, scenes and voice lines in the game would be tweaked to tone down their suggestive nature.

Since it came out in 2012, Skullgirls has been widely celebrated as a solid fighting game, and seemed to revel in being slightly politically incorrect. The game had some "fan service-y" elements, like upskirt shots of female characters, and drew a clear parallel between its villainous Black Egrets group and Nazis, as the former wore uniforms very similar to the Nazis of World War II.

The changes alter some of the game's artwork, removing the upskirt shots and the red armbands that suggest the Black Egrets are parallel to Nazis. Additionally, some dialogue and scenes have been tweaked in the story of a black character, which Price said felt racially insensitive. Some guest artwork accessible through the game's paid gallery was also removed.

The full list of changes was covered in two videos showing "before and after" comparisons by LalitoTV (shown below).

Why Are Some People Upset About The Skullgirls Update?

After the update, the game faced heavy review bombing on Steam, as many recent negative reviewers decried the changes as woke or catering to political correctness. Some felt the edginess was part of the soul of the game, and altering the game to be less heavy on fanservice and suggestive themes was robbing it of what made it special.

Many argued that the changes did not align with the original creator's vision of the game. Skullgirls was the brainchild of Mike Zamont of LabZero games, but a series of controversies surrounding him joking about the killing of George Floyd and accusations of workplace harassment led to him laying off the entire staff of LabZero.

Skullgirls was then taken over by Hidden Variable, which handled the mobile port of the game, and Future Club, which is made up of former LabZero staffers. While some have argued that the current team behind Skullgirls is entirely different from their original creators (a problem that is currently plaguing Disco Elysium), that argument isn't quite accurate.

Others also argued that removing fan art from the game's paid gallery was unethical, as it essentially made it so players who purchased the artwork could no longer see it.

Some conceded that even if the changes were minor, it may set a disturbing precedent of developers going into games to censor or alter things that fans enjoy.

How Are People Defending Skullgirls?

The backlash is coming largely from longtime fans of the game who are less interested in the fan service-y aspects of the game and more in its core experience as a fighting game. Amidst the game's recent review-bombed Steam page, players with hundreds of hours logged into Skullgirls are chiming in to defend it, saying that the game itself is solid and those who are giving it negative scores are not actually invested in Skullgirls and are instead invested in making it a site of a culture war battle.

Defenders of Skullgirls tend to be dismissive of the people upset about the changes, noting that the changes are mostly minor and not worth getting upset over. Kotaku, for example, categorized the outrage as "absurd," arguing that the changes are hardly noticeable and often only serve to cover a female character's butt.

Infamous internet artist ZONE-sama, who contributed some artwork to the game, drew backlash of his own for defense of the changes, arguing that it's their game and they can do what they like with it, and was not upset as the changes had little effect on the gameplay.

It seems no resolution will be resolved between both sides of the controversy, but it also seems like Skullgirls developers are firmly not going to undo the changes. Price's initial post said it will be the only time developers comment on the changes, and they have so far stuck to that despite days of discourse. A slightly less upskirt-heavy Skullgirls is the new reality, and time will tell if players will live with it.

For more information, check out the Skullgirls Update Controversy entry in the Know Your Meme encyclopedia.