Playtonic Games, the developers behind the upcoming game Yooka Laylee, decided to completely remove the youtuber JonTron (A.K.A. Jon Jafari) from the game for speaking out about certain topics that were found "offensive".
JonTron had a role for the voice of a game's character, but because of some recent tweets and points of views, was removed after the game development was finished, here's what Playtonic Games said:
"We recently became aware of comments made by voice artist JonTron after development on Yooka-Laylee had been completed. JonTron is a talented video presenter who we were initially, two years ago, happy to include as a voice contributor in our game. However, in light of his recent personal viewpoints we have made the decision to remove JonTron’s inclusion in the game via a forthcoming content update. We would like to make absolutely clear that we do not endorse or support JonTron’s personal viewpoints and that, as an external fan contributor, he does not represent Playtonic in any capacity. Playtonic is a studio that celebrates diversity in all forms and strives to make games that everyone can enjoy. As such, we deeply regret any implied association that could make players feel anything but 100% comfortable in our game worlds, or distract from the incredible goodwill and love shown by our fans and Kickstarter backers." SOURCE
Plenty of the game backers are upset with the situation because for some, JonTron's inclusion in the game was their main reason for backing the Kickstarter project (even though this was not included in there), and when they asked how to get a refund after the situation on the game forums and the Steam forums, their threads got locked moments after.
What did he say exactly, you ask? Some of that can be found here, and here. (The second link is less recent).
I personally am really upset with this, having someone removed from a game for speaking out certain topics that aren't really "racist" but alas, everything is racist nowadays... Disappointing.
What do you think? Do you think this censorship is deserved? And if so, why?
Those people looking for a refund don't understand what free speech actually means. This a private company making a business decision not a government censoring dissent. There is a massive difference between the two.
Yes, they can do whatever they want, I completely understand, not necessarily agree with it; getting a refund seems pretty reasonable, though.
Yeah it would probably be another wise business decision to refund the complainers. It reminds me of when Sony removed Linux capability on Playstations. I just cringe when I see people complaining about freedom of speech infringement in cases like this.
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same thing that happened to pewdiepie, when will these witch hunts end?
I'd like to know that too... it's getting out of hand.