CG writes: Naughty Dog are well-versed in creating diverse looking character, cue Abi from their last offering, The Last of Us 2. Abby, a muscle-bound ticker-busting hard-nut, divided opinion, with many (ourselves included) of the thought she was perhaps too muscular to be believable. Especially, given the hard times people were living in through the plot of the game. We believe this was deliberate rage baiting, and for the most part it worked. People fell for it, hook-line-and-sinker. The idea being, you were supposed to hate the character for what she did, but then by the end of the game have a little more respect for her (or not as the case may be). Cue, Jordan A. Mun.
Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet is certainly channeling some Uncharted vibes, and Naughty Dog ought to push ahead with an alternate tone as well.
Go outside and touch some grass. Theres people from multiple different backgrounds everywhere you go.
Is it that far from the realm of possibility that one random one would feature as a protagonist for a video game?
Some people really belive that gaming is a white male activity and that the costumers only want to see white males in games and especially in leading roles. It's screwed up because not only is gaming not an exclusively white male activity, but not all white males feel that way. So its really casting disparagement on all. Also its weird and mentally unhealthy.
Eonjay
It's great to see the gaming industry making an effort to be more inclusive and diverse—representation matters, and when it's done thoughtfully, it can genuinely enrich storytelling and character development. That said, it's also important to acknowledge the growing concern among many gamers that representation is increasingly being handled in a way that feels forced or performative rather than organic.
The issue isn’t with diversity itself—many of us, including myself as a person of color, support more inclusive worlds and characters. The problem arises when developers seem to prioritize a DEI checklist over compelling narratives, or when characters are shoehorned in with little depth or relevance to the story. When those decisions are met with valid criticism, the response from some developers and parts of the media is to label dissenters as bigots or toxic, often making sweeping generalizations that assume the criticism is rooted in prejudice rather than preference or quality concerns.
A recurring theme is the portrayal of straight white male characters as outdated or undesirable, which feels counterproductive, especially when a large portion of the core gaming audience still identifies with that demographic. While statistics are often cited to suggest a 50/50 gender split in gaming, a closer look reveals that a significant percentage of female gamers are on mobile platforms. In the realm of console and PC—the so-called "core" gaming space—the split is still much closer to 80/20 male to female. So it’s understandable that some longtime players feel alienated when the games they’ve supported for years suddenly pivot in ways that seem dismissive of their interests.
Take The Last of Us as a case study. The first game was beloved by many and sold incredibly well. But The Last of Us Part II, despite strong initial sales, saw a significant drop-off and stirred division among fans—not necessarily because of its themes, but because of how those themes were presented, and how dissenting voices were treated. When a creative lead like Neil Druckmann publicly mocks segments of the fanbase and says, “Not every game is for you,” we listened—and some of us opted out. That wasn’t hate. That was a choice.
Diversity in games should be about addition, not subtraction—about broadening experiences, not alienating the core audience. When representation feels authentic and respectful to the story and the player, it can be powerful. But when it feels like a lecture or a marketing ploy, it’s understandable why many push back. We can strive for inclusion without vilifying the people who built this industry from the ground up
You say 'A recurring theme is the portrayal of straight white male characters as outdated or undesirable'. I totally disagree. We are being told to feel that way but that is not what is happening. Diversity does not equal discrimination against straight white males. That is the grift. Please tell me how this game is attacking white men? It is not. It is simply her existing that is supposed to be the attack on white men. This is the BS. This is a form of race baiting. This is a force of fear mongering.
I don't feel attacked when I see a women, a black person, LGBT, white men... Because I don't let grifters tell me what to think. It would be like me going outside, seeing black women (which have been here this whole time) and deciding that diversity intrinsic to the world is suddenly an attack on me.
They got me once a few years ago, but as soon as I remmebered how to think for myself and question why people are repeating the same things over and over, I was able to break myself out of it. I'm sitting here watching a bunch of grown men, attack a game because the main character is a black women. And then claiming they are the once being attacked because they aren't being catered to.
Having a diverse cast is not not catering to anyone. Thats false equivalence. Whats literally happening is that people are telling gamers that diversity means they are trying to banish white men. Thats a lie. Diversity means diversity. How can you have diversity and ignore white men specifically? That wouldn't make sense. Don't buy the grift. They misinform you by telling you how to perceive the actions of others instead of letting you think for yourself.
On the other hand, here in the US. white men make up less than 16% of the population (even less if we are just looking at straight men). Thinking that they are singlehandedly responsible for holding up the entire entertainment industry is absurdly fantastical. Everyone needs get a grip. When its simply over representation. And anything that deviates from that huge over represenatiation can't be an attack.
@1992
Let me help you a bit.
"often making sweeping generalizations that assume the criticism is rooted in prejudice rather than preference or quality concerns."
If you don't want this to happen, don't wall out the forum with quasi political nonsense. The easiest way to do this is to critique the elements of the art in question. When I watch a Shakespeare play, I don't care about the color of Hamlet and I wouldn't even care if they changed the sex of Hamlet, I am more concerned if the actor can do their job at a high level. If they can't, the play sucks. Same with games. If they can't do their job at a high level, the game sucks or it's average at best.
As for the "the white male thing", it's called alienation and you have a point. Feeling alienated can make people do crazy things. But, in the context of making games, none of this matters if the devs suck at their job.
Too bad you opted out of Last of Us 2, it's a great game.
Remains to be seen. Last of Us 2 was supposedly "woke" cause Abby was "trans" but she turnt out not to be. I have my issues with the game but honestly it wasn't an absolute "woke" mess as so many people claim it was/is. A bald headed female character isn't at all woke, least not by my standards. The term is overused, and people overblow the issue and see it where often it isn't at or isn't at as much as they push it to be.
Facts.
I knew some people who actually thought she was trans and when I told them she wasn’t they bought the game and loved it.
Crazy times man
TLOU 2 is unashamedly in my top 3 best games of all time. But come on lmao, don’t act like that game isn’t rife with feminist propaganda - it just is.
Inverno
as somone who loves the orignal and never played the 2nd(and won't play) it wasn't the woke stuff at all. It was how they made Joel look stupid/idiot for the way he behaved before being murdered. He wasn't the type to let his guard down and yet he was telling people who they were moments after meeting them in am ambush
@wrapsody, calling people “ low intelligent “ then “ leftist” shows you’re not that “ intelligent “ yourself just because an intelligent person would understand some can disagree with your bias views and still remains in the middle.
You’re all so called intelligent explanation of what “ woke “ is a bunch of nonsense and anti gamer. Gamers aren’t conservatives only or dems, men or women. If you don’t like it, don’t buy it because it clearly wasn’t intended for you and that’s what an “ intelligent “ person would do. Those other gamers that like it will enjoy and support whatever dev/company.
You can’t force your beliefs down other people’s Throats and wishing companies and games to fail just because it’s “ too woke” for you. Thats not intelligent, it’s cancerous.
Oh and the good things about last of us 2 are gameplay and graphics? So your high intellect says a game with good gameplay and graphics shouldn’t be successful?? Why, because of story??.
Those devs won’t stop making their visions because everything you call woke do actually exist in this world. Accept that part like some of us did and just play what your comfortable with because enjoying the demise of a company or a game will come back n bite us.
Why is the game (which you haven’t played) woke and why is the character woke? Oh I know because it’s not a blonde hair blue eyed white guy right?
@S2Killinit
Even if that were true, I'm not the face of a new 2-300 million dollar (potential) franchise.
She shouldn't be antagonizing the paying customer. Dividing the audience can only be a negative. You gain nothing by doing so, you only lose.
If she's gonna say anything, it should be trying to assuage concerns, not feed into and antagonize them.
Like it or not, they need as many people as possible to buy their game.
If this game fails, it will be a disaster for Naughty Dog. They need to start behaving that way and start rebuilding audience good will.
They need us, we don't need them.
I bet ND likes all the Dei money they get from making black bald non-binary characters :D
'Again, not much is known about the upcoming action-adventure title, but its reveal trailer certainly gestures toward a swashbuckling, cheeky, and lighthearted tone that should feel familiar to fans of Nathan Drake's misadventures.'
Did we watch the same trailer?
Honestly I don't feel that we got enough form the teaser to establish the tone. Definitly got the action-adventure vibe for sure.
Little is known about Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet, but it should learn from another Sony property for its tone, world, and story.
A tenuous link between a 6 year old game and a game not gonna be released for at least another 18 months of which we’ve had 1 video of 4 months ago.
A bit weird is good, but aiming to be weird for buzz and marketing appeal can get meme appeal but might not actually translate to appealing to the people you actually want to buy your game, it might do the opposite and drive them away. After 6 years and a lot of games bought, I have never given Death Stranding a second look to buy it as I genuinely have no idea about the actual playable bit of the game and my only reference is babies in tubes, black goo and Mads Mikkelsen.
Not that it matters, it’s a Naughty Dog game so I’ll be buying it (I expect many many disagrees because it’s a bit positive about Naughty Dog at any stage after 2020)
Please no. The weirdness in death Stranding is the only this that is putting me off. Normal ness please just in the future.
Normal is boring in videogames and movies. Why not let the developers go nuts with their wildest ideas? Thats what this medium is for
The last of us 1-2 is all about normal human struggle's. In a post apocalyptic world. Keep it normal around the theme of the game.
The silly fantasy in death Stranding is to ridiculous.
You probably never played Death Stranding, so you will never understand
And as you said it, keep it normal around the theme of the game. So in Inregalactic, where you battle monstrous things, and you cant leave a planet because reasons, the developers cant come up with something not normal as explanation?
I played death Stranding of cause. Loved the world and the walking around delivering packages. But the weird ass Story and monsters was not fun. Felt like it was some weird stuff from a weird dream. Classic Kojima who cannot just do without absurdly stuff. Only person it's fun to is himself. I love his creativity but please dial it down for ones.
Don’t worry guy, Sony does adult and weird games. It’s M$ and Nintendo that does the watered down stuff for the masses
In a rare Rich-less Direct, John, Alex and Oliver compare notes on the latest, news-packed Nintendo Direct - which raises plenty of discussion points and controversy despite no showing of Switch 2. Meanwhile, there are hints that The Witcher 4 and Intergalactic may well be cross-gen/next-gen titles, Alex vents on the quality of recent Nvidia drivers, while John shares impressions of his first ever GDC.
I don’t think everyone criticising is talking about her looks except the usual trolls. For some it’s just the choice of hair style which dosent really fit with the retro futuristic setting they are going for, the trailer gives us a look at a more vibrant universe with the aesthetic, style, colour palette and choice of 80s song Guardians of the Galaxy style. Compare that to something like Navarro in Alien Romulus, Ripley in Alien 3, Evey in V for Vendetta or Furisoa in Mad Max which are characters from more gritty, dark dystopian bleak universes.
Tati Gabrielle has had a range of cool hairstyles over the years, it’s just kind of boring in comparison especially being inspired by things like Cowboy Bebop. Surprised they didn’t give her something similar to Faye Valentine or Edd.
I really don't care how my protagonists look as long as it's a semi decent fit with the world, just give me a good game.
It's funny how people like to call shots on how they believe developers should have handled the look and feel of a character even though they've only seen a snip 2 minute trailer of a game developers are 4 years into it's creation.
Let them do their job, then decide with your wallet.
Seems like a trivial and almost who cares thing to be upset about shaved head merc look has been done countless times why the hate here