Toxic fanaticism in the world of gaming is a common sight, but there are times when it crosses a line. While it is okay for fans to feel strongly about a game and voice their opinions about it, sending threats to the developers and creators is never okay. A similar occurrence has come to light, as creative director for Insomniac Games Bryan Intihar shared some awful news regarding one of their decisions on Spider-Man Remastered.
Bryan took to Twitter to voice his concerns regarding the toxicity that he was recently subjected to.
“To our Spidey fans: I totally appreciate your passion, but sending me threatening notes that you will “HUNT YOU DOWN AND WE WILL FIND YOU! YOU FIX THIS NOW!” isn’t cool. With what’s happening in today’s world, let’s be a force for good and be respectful of each other. Thank you.”
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via Imago
Source: Den of Geek
This is absolutely unacceptable. The gaming world can get toxic at times, but threatening someone because some don’t agree with their creative decisions is terrible. To give more context to this, the decision in question here is the recasting Peter Parker in Spider-Man Remastered.
The face model that was done based on John Bubniak’s face has now been recast with Ben Jordan’s face instead. A lot of the fans welcomed this decision as it was an attempt to match Yuri Lowenthal’s voice acting. On the other hand, it also received severe backlash as some fans demanded John Bubniak not be replaced.
To our Spidey fans: I totally appreciate your passion, but sending me threatening notes that you will “HUNT YOU DOWN AND WE WILL FIND YOU! YOU FIX THIS NOW!” isn’t cool. With what’s happening in today’s world, let’s be a force for good and be respectful of each other. Thank you.
— Bryan Intihar (@bryanintihar) October 3, 2020
Also Read: PlayStation 5 Ray Tracing Analysis For Marvel’s Spiderman Remastered
Before Spider-Man Remastered, The Last of Us 2 actress also received threats from fans
Something similar happened recently with yet another PlayStation Exclusive, The Last of Us Part 2. (Spoilers ahead)
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Fans were outraged with the manner of Joel’s death in the sequel and had expressed their anguish on Twitter. But that’s not all, for some of the more ‘toxic’ fans sent all kinds of threats to the voice actress Laura Bailey, who played Abby in the game. This eventually got to a point where Naughty Dog was forced to take legal action against the hate mongers.
TLOU2 director Neil Druckmann also expressed his disagreement on Twitter.
As the people that propagate this kind of hate would say, how stunning and brave! I hope these gamers get the mental help they so clearly need. Unfortunately this is now the cost of making popular entertainment that challenges conventions. Laura doesn’t deserve any of this. ❤️ https://t.co/kHzXddZzIB
— Dr. Uckmann (@Neil_Druckmann) July 3, 2020
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These incidents highlight a very important point. Everyone is entitled to their opinion and has the right to critique. But this doesn’t mean that they may send threats of any manner to anyone related to the project. That is where the community suffers, and this kind of toxicity takes a huge toll on the ones on the receiving end. The narrative surrounding this needs to change, and the community needs to be pioneering respect instead of this unwanted hate.
