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Deadly Premonition 2 director Swery65 addresses and apologizes for trans misrepresentation on the game

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Princess Bubblegum

Princess Bubblegum

I'll be the one who puts you in the ground.
On Break
Oct 25, 2017
10,293
A Cavern Shaped Like Home
It's good he's making a rather swift apology, now to see how he follows through. It's easy to see why he made the mistake in the first place, since a lot of cis people flub this up, but after THE MISSING he really should have consulted a trans person.
 
Mary Celeste

Mary Celeste

Member
Oct 25, 2017
12,192
Very good on Swery. I doubt the dude who made The Missing ever intended to hurt or insult trans people, but whether it was because of a lack of knowledge on the subject or just bad writing he wound up doing just that. I'm glad he acknowledged his mistakes and is taking full responsibility for them.
 
Damn Silly

Damn Silly

Member
Oct 25, 2017
7,193
It would be better if it never happened in the first place, but given his recent previous work and this genuine apology (which sadly seems like a rarity nowadays) and work to make it better, I'm definitely willing to believe it was a (bad!) mistake as opposed to malice, and hopefully serves as a learning experience for the future.
 
Apollo

Apollo

Avenger
Oct 25, 2017
8,093
MinusTydus said:

This is not the only problematic scene, this is only one of them...
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...


Yeah these are absolutely horrid. Needless to say, I'm glad he will go back and change them. Shouldn't have happened in the first place though, especially when he's already made one game with prominent trans rep- he worked with trans people then to make sure he got the representation right, so I'm really disappointed this slipped through
 
Fat4all

Fat4all

Woke up, got a money tag, swears a lot
Member
Oct 25, 2017
92,777
here
i feel like if a game is going to include trans characters the writers should probably consult with trans people, that can make a lot of the more obvious issues be fixed before a game even releases

im sure if Sweary was pointed out these issues before release they wouldn't have been in the finished product

maybe it would be harder to 'justify' consultation for a game like this with a small budget, but fixing, patching, and altering scenes/dialogue is expensive too
 
Drwu

Drwu

Member
Aug 23, 2018
226
Swery is pretty clearly a good dude trying to do right by folks. Good on him for coming back to fix this
 

FormatCompatible

One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 25, 2017
12,071
Even though I had been eagerly antecipating the release of DP2, when the reports of transphobic content started coming out this I decided not to buy it.

It's good to hear that SWERY is willing to change that and I truly hope he listen to trans people's opinions about what should be done to properly address this in a way that doesn't hurt people. It was wrong of him to not listen to trans voices right away, especially after The Missing did that.
 
Clov

Clov

Member
Oct 25, 2017
5,929
I'm really happy to see Swery apologize and acknowledge his mistake, and even happier to see that he intends to fix it. I had cancelled my pre-order over this before, but once the game is patched, I'll give it a buy!
 
Alfredo

Alfredo

One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 27, 2017
1,024
Having finished the game, it's very obvious that Swery did not intend to be disrespectful in his writing. It's a learning experience for both Swery and me, because I originally didn't understand how problematic it was in the first place.

Swery's a good guy!
 
Necromanti

Necromanti

Member
Oct 25, 2017
11,550
Really happy that he acknowledged the transphobia and is going to address it. I was bracing for the worst.
 
Kouriozan

Kouriozan

Member
Oct 25, 2017
21,110
It's really nice for a change that someone is assuming his responsibility and sincerely apologize.
Good on you, Swery.
 
Starphanluke

Starphanluke

â–˛ Legend â–˛
Member
Nov 15, 2017
7,333
Like most people, I wish it hadn't happened in the first place. This is an obvious example of why we need diverse voices as part of the development process from the very beginning.

However, it is a good apology that is blunt, actually admits fault, and most importantly promises action. I wish we would normalize people making true, blunt apologies when they fuck up. Most of the time we are left with cheap platitudes and some measure of "sorry if you were offended." This is a much better apology, and I'd like to see more like it going forward.
 
Ashes of Dreams

Ashes of Dreams

Unshakable Resolve
Member
May 22, 2020
14,422
Based on The Missing and his apology, it definitely seems like a mistake born of ignorance rather than malice. Still bad, but much easier to forgive imo. I maintain he seems like a cool person and I can't imagine anyone who made The Missing wants to hurt trans people.
 
Vonocourt

Vonocourt

Member
Oct 25, 2017
10,624
That's really great to see he apologized and is getting outside voices to review the scenes before he rewrites them.
 
Taker34

Taker34

QA Tester
Verified
Oct 25, 2017
1,122
building stone people
3909c447-8576-4507-91laj2t.gif
 
Dynamite Ringo Matsuri

Dynamite Ringo Matsuri

Member
Oct 26, 2017
1,744
I've always been curious about DP since I love Silent Hill and Twin Peaks. While I won't have the time to play this any time soon, it's good to know that Swery is seemingly a real one and not like Hashino
 

Deleted member 420

User requested account closure
Banned
Oct 25, 2017
7,056
I have not played the game, but are these issues something that could be largely fixed by changing a few cutscenes?
 
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Shadowrun

Shadowrun

Member
Oct 26, 2017
1,748
If you follow him and his other work, it's clear Swery is an ally, but he made some serious missteps here. It's great that he has taken it to heart and wants to make amends. I fully take him at his word that he is being genuine.
 
Skittzo

Skittzo

Member
Oct 25, 2017
41,037
That's a great response. I'm loving the game so far, I haven't gotten up to the scene in question but I'm really enjoying everything else so far. I hope it's fixed soon.
 
Goddo Hando

Goddo Hando

Member
Oct 25, 2017
4,721
Chicago
even running through google translate, this apology seems so much more sincere than the stock "If I offended..."

waiting to see how he corrects this, but he may have earned a sale from me on DP2 now
 
Lemony1984

Lemony1984

Member
Jul 7, 2020
6,717
Seems like a good response. I've been waiting for an invert controls patch anyways before starting so I can wait a bit longer for this too.
 
Richietto

Richietto

One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 25, 2017
22,986
North Carolina
Simple clean apology. I guess when you have to translate to English you can't be slick like a lot of English speakers like to do.
 
sersteven

sersteven

Member
Oct 25, 2017
1,206
Philadelphia
Really awesome to see. Thank god swery is a real one.

This is important and it's great to see a creator taking direct critiques and just coming out and saying he's changing them
 
Fisty

Fisty

Member
Oct 25, 2017
20,221
Im not really sure how to process this apology if its not in a monetized video with a dog used as a prop

In seriousness, hopefully he can get it rectified. I can't imagine the language barrier is very easy for him, I would be interested to see how the JPN version handles those scenes
 
Sagroth

Sagroth

Member
Oct 28, 2017
6,838
Now this seems a lot more like the Swery I remember. Translation aside, his apology seems genuine and earnest. Glad he's taking major steps to address his error.
 
Dan L

Dan L

Tried to PM someone for a tag
Member
Oct 28, 2017
6,177
Regina, Saskatchewan
This is how you handle these situations - Don't try and talk around it or excuse it with some contrivance just own up to fucking up and make steps to fix it. Good on swery, It's a shame it happened at all but this is the best way to handle it now.
 
Gradon

Gradon

Saw the truth behind the copied door
Member
Oct 25, 2017
7,470
UK
Very sad this happened to such a amazing series, but glad that SWERY has acknowledged it and even going as far as fixing it. That's more than I expected.
 
MechaJackie

MechaJackie

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
2,032
Brazil
I was really heartbroken when I heard about the issues the game had surrounding trans representation, it really saddened me, I was playing through the original (decided to finally finish it this time, power through all the crashes lol) to get ready for the sequel, when news came out about this, I stopped playing it. :(
But this response is actually really heartwarming, I am looking forward for the fixes they can make to the problematic content in the game, I trust that SWERY means well and is also disappointed for having messed this up, particularly after how well it was handled in "The Missing".
 
dreamfall

dreamfall

Member
Oct 25, 2017
5,962
It should've never happened in the first place - a lot of those scenes need some major work and new writing. But I'm glad he owned it and is going to fix it, may his awareness and writing continue to get better about representation and respect always. The fact that he's trying to rework it and taking responsibility is a good step in the right direction.
 
bytesized

bytesized

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
5,882
Amsterdam
Good on him.

Although I'm a bit astonished by how he dipped his toes into transphobic sort of tropes after three first deadly premonition which already had some questionable aspects in that regard. I assumed he would've gotten some flack about it at some point and would've known better the second time around.

But again, good apology and a reminder that sometimes it's good to give people second chances because ignorance is not malice (even though both can be just as hurtful)
 

Deleted member 14377

User requested account closure
Banned
Oct 27, 2017
13,520
Makes me really happy to hear. Makes companies like CDPR look like even bigger transphobic clowns than they already are.

After the Missing, I really didnt think he would intentionally do this. Glad he took the fault all unto himself
 
Osu 16 Bit

Osu 16 Bit

QA Lead at NetherRealm Studios
Verified
Oct 27, 2017
2,923
Chicago, IL
After the MISSING this was so disappointing. I was holding out hope it wasn't as bad as it was made out to me, but those two clips are inexcusable. So this is nice. I believe he is genuine.
 
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