Naughty Dog Responds To Harassment Towards TLOU2 Cast, Developers
In what's become an all-too-familiar story over the last few years, Naughty Dog publicly condemned the abuse and harassment waged against the voice actors and developers of the video game The Last of Us Part II. The game, released in a flurry of controversy over several story leaks from months prior, divided fans of the series, inspiring some to send death threats and bigotted messages to various members of the production.
Over the past month, Neil Druckmann, the co-lead writer on the game, and voice actor Laura Bailey, who plays the main character Abby, reported a series of death threats and anti-semitic, homophobic and transphobic remarks from players on Twitter. Druckmann, who is Jewish, posted a series of such messages, which contained anti-Semitic epithets as well as images of the Happy Merchant, a well-known anti-Semitic meme. Bailey, too, received death threats against her and her children.
Druckmann responded to Bailey's tweet by stating that the abuse was "the cost of making popular entertainment that challenges conventions."
The controversy surrounding The Last of Us Part II began following a massive leak in late April. Many fans criticized story elements outlined in the spoilers, in particular the death of a main character, leading to fan-led review bombings ahead of the game's release. These types of fan-led campaigns have become commonplace since the early 2010s. Over the last few years, review bombings, harassment and death threats have found their way into all areas of fandom, with the response to Star Wars: The Last Jedi being among the most prominent. However, pleas from creators to fans to stop reacting this way, the response to TLOU2 shows that we still have a long way to go.
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Warp
Welp that shit ain`t cool at all.
But can they for a second not pretend this is unexpected or not the norm?
Anything that ever exists even when mostly positive will have people that hate it and voice their opinion, and of THOSE people there will always be a very select few that will go a bit further and send death threats (which usually the positive and negative side condemn).
Now imagine that same equation only with a significantly bigger pool of people, and a subpar piece of shit product intentionally made to be divisive, don`t overplay your surprised pikachu face.
Square Memester
Neil Druckmann can by a hypocrite when it comes to harassment, like praising journalists to antagonize gamers as "manbabies" and "toxic males" and the "GamerGate" boogeyman. At least one of the trolls is right about Druckmann. He is a Cuckmann for Anita Sarkeesian since he proudly calls himself a "male feminist" and "ally". And no matter how much good boy points he earns, he'll never have enough to get laid, and never will get laid.
As for Laura Bailey, she never deserve all this hateful harassment. Just because she was hired to voice Abby doesn't mean she's rewarded with trolls harassing her. On the plus side she's not being dramatic and playing the victim card when all she's doing is pointing out a screenshot of her trolls sending her hateful messages. And I really do enjoy Laura's voice acting in cartoons, anime, and gaming. Especially Shin-Chan. She does the best damn Shin-Chan English voice she ever voiced.
Hootanic
Let's not pretend that Druck & Co. won't wear their victim status as a badge of honor. More-so than money or accolades, this is the highest virtue they could earn in today's environment. It's a real shame that so many gamers willingly gave them what they wanted instead of giving them the apathy they deserved.
TheStupidRaptor
It's disgusting how awfully this game and the people associated with it are being treated. You're all gamefaqs tier toxic assholes now. I hope you're proud of yourselves.
Why My PeePee Hard
People on this website take their vidya too seriously, note is when sword and shield were coming out.
RemChi
How awfully this game is being treated? No thats deserved.
How awfully the people assosiated with it are? Depends., Fuck Druckman.
Literally everyone else tis undeserved.
Dracorex
Well at least we're not ResetEra tier toxic.