Boycotting a game due to a voice actor/celebrity?

[Gotdatmoney]

It depends on the role of the person and their speech during the production of said product. There is just a reality trash human beings will work on things you consume. Where we draw our own boundaries is fine. I personally feel like if the main foundation of a production has problematic views I am less inclined to want to support it.

But for me, it's more useful to just speak out against this stuff than boycott stuff I want to consume because in the end ot is unlikely that these people will actually suffer because of my internal boycott more than their product just sucked ass and found no market regardless.

 

[Gloomz]

I cannot because art doesn't exist in a vacuum. My interpretation and consumption of art rely on context, which the creator is a part of. Trying to divorce the art from the artist isn't some great accomplishment or something we should be trying to do.

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I'm not sure anyone was framing it as some great accomplishment? I certainly wasn't, so I'm not sure why you quoted me.

I'm very much into Heavy Metal, one band in particular is Burzum, whose sole member is a nazi piece of shit - before I ever knew who HE was, I listened to early Burzum albums over and over and had never heard anything like it.

Finding out he was a piece of shit didn't affect my feelings towards those albums because 1) the albums in question had 0 nazi or far right or national socialist idealogy associated with them, be it in the music or the lyrics and 2) I heard them before knowing who he was, I was not prejudiced going in, if that makes sense.

If I knew he was a nazi BEFORE coming across his band, yeah, I wouldn't have ever listened to them.

I have to admit, though, you telling me what I should or shouldn't be doing is curious.

 

[Gelf]

Boycott may be too strong a term but if I know a game has heavy involvement from someone shitty then off the wishlist it goes. Since I have 300 games on my Steam wishlist alone losing just one of them is no big deal, it just means there's one less game in the tough decision process. Appeals about thinking about the other devs on a project are irrelevant because I already don't have the time or money to support everything I'd like. If I don't buy game X then the same money just goes and "supports" game Y instead.

I'm sure I'm still buying stuff that involves shitty people but ignorance is bliss there. Once I know that for sure then I'd find that a distraction to my enjoyment.

 

[Psychonaut]

It's situational. It's easier for me to do with films and music because the breadth of available and appealing content is so much wider than it is in the game space.

• If there's a game that I have a vague interest in, but which associates itself with garbage people, I'll just skip it. (A Hat in Time)
• If there's a game that I am deeply interested in which features garbage people whose involvement is limited, or otherwise complicated by legal obligations, I'll still buy it. (Kingdom Hearts 3)
• If there's a game that I am interested in which stars or is made by garbage people, I'll buy it used. (Quantic Dream)

Tbh, the second-hand market is a gift for those interested in voting with their wallets. Different issue, but I still got to enjoy the Life is Strange prequel without supporting scab labor.

 

[dock]

If I'm trying to use your example for content I actually enjoy (because I'm not a hip hop nor a family sitcom fan) I liked kevin spacey in se7en.

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Kevin Spacey is a good example. I was grateful to have watched Baby Driver before Spacey turned out to be a milkshake duck. I would feel uncomfortable engaging with something with Kevin Spacey which has been made since then, despite the fact that he might be excellent in them.

My personal approach of media engagement tends to be scaled based on their involvement, and whether their involvement was done in light of their actions. Hades is complicated because the contribution is slight, and a lot of things have happened since Woods was first cast and locked down in contracts.

Generally, I feel that if Woods was a notorious as Cosby I'm sure they would annex his character.

 

[KillLaCam]

I'd boycott Death Standing if Scarlett Johansson was a main character in it. She really annoys me for some reason and I wouldn't want to see her often. Im annoyed enough when I'm dragged to super hero movies with her in them.


I'd boycott any game with Kanye in it because of everything about him.

 

[Nose Master]

If it were a major player like the solo developer of a game was shitty? Sure. One bit voice actor out of dozens in a AAA title? Nah.

 

[modoversus]

Lot's of "James Woods is contractually obligated to be first choice for Hades by Disney" responses but no "Disney should re-consider their association with Woods" responses. Loudly complaining about his involvment actually could help that happen.

Also, yeah, no thanks to A Hat in Time. What a dissapointment.

The "everybody is awful, so you better financially reward awful people" defense is always so revealing.

 

[Etrian Darkness]

Good thing it is Hades talking to me and not James Woods spewing hate speech.

He was probably already paid for his lines, me buying the game now is probably not going to line his pockets (unless there is some royalty deal in place but even then it wouldn't be a lot).

 

[Richietto]

Totally understandable. But I love KH, and as others pointed out the dude already got payed. At the end of the day Im not gonna boycott or not buy something like a video game because of 1 bad egg that's a part of a much larger product. I buy cloths, electronics, and everything else and that stuff was made by people who are working for almost free, and I gotta live with it. If it was a game or product produced by a single person or a small group and they were bigots, I probably wouldn't buy the game, but in KH3's case specifically? Im buying that game.

As Sonic once said...

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[Herbz]

I don't give a shit bout who's involved as long as the content is excellent.

 

[T002 Tyrant]

I mean I'd have lost out on clearly the greatest Home Alone film: Home Alone 2: Lost in New York if I had boycotted it because of Donald Trump.

However I can understand where you're coming from, but I don't think I could ignore a game with so many other wonderful talented people because of one person.

I do however understand the discomfort. Watching Seven and the Usual Suspects make me feel incredibly uncomfortable, or watching anything with an R Kelly Soundtrack. But I probably won't stop watching them altogether. Although I wouldn't buy R Kelly's music (past or present)

 

[Imran]

It varies. I dislike James Woods quite a bit, but I want to play Kingdom Hearts more than I care about him.

On the other hand, if the rumors of Rousey playing Sonya Blade in MK11 pan out, I might skip the game. I dislike her and her Sandy Hook truther bullshit more than I want to play that game.

 

[Doctor Avatar]

A lot of good responses in here. I guess every time I hear James Woods' voice I can think back to that hilarious ResetEra story I read about someone punching the shit out of him in a bar and then another person stealing his Ferragamo shoes while he was unconscious!

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Am I the only one who finds it pretty gross to be happy that someone else was physically assaulted, to the point of unconsciousness, and mugged?

Two wrongs do not make a right. If you want to change the world and people like James Woods for the better you do not do it by assaulting them or revelling in the fact they were assaulted. You do it by trying to change their opinions.

 

[gordofredito]

Oooh once upon a time I got into a big shitfest here for suggesting people shouldn't skip DQ XI. It was fun, despite most of it happening while I was asleep.
I personally don't believe in boycotting any form of media for one individual alone.
I think this poster got it right:

While I definitely understand avoiding a game featuring a prominent voice actor who happens to be a scumbag; it would be extremely difficult to find a big game that has 0% association with any bad human beings in some way.

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[DJGolfClap]

Am I the only one who finds it pretty gross to be happy that someone else was physically assaulted, to the point of unconsciousness, and mugged?

Two wrongs do not make a right. If you want to change the world and people like James Woods for the better you do not do it by assaulting them or revelling in the fact they were assaulted. You do it by trying to change their opinions.

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We're going to have to agree to disagree, but thanks for the sermon from your high horse!

 

[ArtVandelay]

Probably depends on the degree of their involvement. I will not support anything by Daniel Vavra or Tim Soret.
One single voice actor who doesn't have a say in the actual game may not be enough to put me off. Unless they are exceptionally shitty.

 

[AyaisMUsikWhore]

It's weird....

I really dislike James wood...but it's because his political leanings and his racism...in which both really are easier to ignore with him on mute.


But then you have shit like Nobuhiro Watsuki that i ABSOLUTELY just cannot support. I know people who's gone through that....and to see that he got a small slap on the wrist, no jail time.....that shit ruined his whole legacy for me. So I can no longer watch or support anything with ruroni kenshin in it, with it...nothing. So I will boycott that all together. It's makes going to cons much harder too

 

[Hippopuncher12]

As bad as it sounds no, I am not boycotting a game or movie I want to play/see because of an actor or really anything even if it's something I really disagree with. They are all going to get paid anyway.

 

[Zephy]

I support boycotts. I also think you can get a used copy and it'd still be just as effective a message.

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Not sure how this would send any kind of message. Tons of games are bought used every day, how would a publisher know to find a hidden meaning behind any of those purchases ? And even then, fat chance they'd figure it's because of one of the numerous secondary actors they employed. I mean, this is an extremely far fetched reasoning from any angle you look at it.

Personally I won't boycott the game due to this, but I understand why one would want to do it if they feel personally targeted by the behavior of certain people involved in the project.

 

[Canucked]

Am I the only one who finds it pretty gross to be happy that someone else was physically assaulted, to the point of unconsciousness, and mugged?

Two wrongs do not make a right. If you want to change the world and people like James Woods for the better you do not do it by assaulting them or revelling in the fact they were assaulted. You do it by trying to change their opinions.

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Nope.

We're going to have to agree to disagree, but thanks for the sermon from your high horse!

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His horse is pretty normal as it's okay to not cheer real world violence. His horse could be pretty short actually.

 

[oneils]

Before considering it, I'd want to know what the devs knew when they hired the celebrity. Did supergiant games know what his views were?

edit: looks like we are talking about a character in a kingdom hearts game, not Hades - the video game by supergiant games. Sorry.

 

[Hailinel]

It varies. I dislike James Woods quite a bit, but I want to play Kingdom Hearts more than I care about him.

On the other hand, if the rumors of Rousey playing Sonya Blade in MK11 pan out, I might skip the game. I dislike her and her Sandy Hook truther bullshit more than I want to play that game.

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Wait, what?

*Googles*

OH NO

 

[Doctor Avatar]

We're going to have to agree to disagree

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I guess we are, I would never find someone being assaulted and beaten until they were unconscious "hilarious" no matter how much I disliked them.

There's a level or moral maturity where you realise that there is a difference between standing up for the right thing and simply being vindictive. I dislike Woods' views and how he expresses them, however it is wrong to either assault the man over them or take joy in him being assaulted over them. Righteousness and vindictiveness are very different things.

but thanks for the sermon from your high horse!

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Isn't this a thread about boycotting a video game because of a presumably minor voice role...? My horse is barely a shetland pony in comparison - it isn't a high moral bar to say that violent crimes are bad.

 

[CRIMSON-XIII]

Sorry, I am not skipping Kingdom Hearts 3 for anything.

Based on the tweet by James Woods, He has an opinion about how someone will grow up. Perhaps I think it is gross. It is. But that opinion will not be reflected in Kingdom hearts 3. I cannot skip kingdom hearts 3. The topic of this thread is in no way mentioned in KH3.

 

[KingdomKey]

I have never boycotted a game for a voice, probably never will.

I could definitely see the point in boycotting KH3, for an example, if James woods did the voice for the main character or had a central role in the game.

But since he's just involved in a small portion of the game as Hades I see no point in "boycotting" it. It's fine not to buy it, no doubt about that, but it's not going to send a message to Disney or Square Enix if there's no big controversy and the game sells bad because of that specific voice.

Still, screw James Woods.

 

[DJGolfClap]

Nope.



His horse is pretty normal as it's okay to not cheer real world violence. His horse could be pretty short actually.

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Your opinion is noted.

 

[Edward]

James Woods sucks but you know who doesn't? Most if not all of the rest of the team involved with the game so no. Day 1. Never have and never will boycott a game over a voice actor especially when a lot of great people are involved.

 

[crimsonECHIDNA]

Always been a case-by-case thing for me.

 

[shaneo632]

I imagine he's a very small part of a game that was created by hundreds if not thousands of artists. And to be honest I probably wouldn't even know it was James Woods without seeing this thread.

I'm not boycotting a game I've been waiting 15 years for because some guy who has 100 lines of dialogue in it is a major POS.

 

[Kthulhu]

Well, I'm noping out of MK11. Unless they patch out Ronda or something then I won't be buying the game.