Director Neil Druckmann and voice actor Laura Bailey have reported death threats and insults they’ve received after the release of The Last of Us Part II. Over the weekend, the two have shared people’s insane reactions to things happening in the game, a sequel to the beloved PS3 era The Last of Us.
That hasn’t stopped the second chapter in the franchise from being the fastest-selling PS4 game from Sony studios and dominating the UK charts last month.
Bailey has shared insults and death threats she has received after playing the character of Abby.
Without giving away any spoiler, Abby is a much controversial character who has an impact over the entire narrative arc of The Last of Us, and that has been seen by toxic elements of the community as a betrayal from Naughty Dog and particularly from Druckmann.
Druckmann himself has received “vile, hateful & violent” messages, including “transphobic, homophobic, anti-semitic” insults to the director and vice president at the first-party PlayStation developer.
Naughty Dog itself has issued a note on Twitter to remark that “we condemn any form of harassment or threats directed towards our team and cast.”
“Their safety is our top priority,” the tweet adds, “but we must all work together to root out this type of behavior and maintain a constructive and compassionate discourse.”
Druckmann has recently revealed he had received threats in the recent past, most likely because of the pre-release leaks, and that Naughty Dog has policies to keep its employees safe in such cases.
These are reactions that go well beyond the fact “you can love or hate the game and share your thoughts about it,” as mentioned by the creator of the franchise.
That said, critics have praised the quality of The Last of Us Part II, which is now considered a must-play of the entire generation.
Published: Jul 6, 2020 03:57 am