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Polygon: CDPR responds to sexualized trans advertisement in CyberPunk 2077 (Read Staff Post Before Posting)
- Thread starter BAD
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I mean there's non-binary people. They're not really between so much as outside of.
Wasn't the very first look we got of Cyberpunk 2077 a half-naked rain-soaked woman in the street?
Even got so popular that they gave out model figures of her at E3 2018.
We are talking about a picture taken from Nvidia's ray tracing demonstration, wherein someone zoomed in all the way to the back so that they could even see the particular piece of art we're talking about. They weren't exactly trying to show it off.
Fair statement. Looking forward to see how it holds up in the full game.
True. Some games need the equivalent of "Scenes depicted in this game don't necessarily represent opinions of the developers", even though it's mostly implied.
True. Some games need the equivalent of "Scenes depicted in this game don't necessarily represent opinions of the developers", even though it's mostly implied.
Finally actual responses from them on their subject matter. Just speak up beforehand. If you are going to have a quest with a racist trope and only demo part of that question, let people know.
They can fall (very) short of their goals.
Whether or not this response is enough isn't up for me to decide; those voices of those who are affected by such portrayals should be heard and listened to.
They can fall (very) short of their goals.
Whether or not this response is enough isn't up for me to decide; those voices of those who are affected by such portrayals should be heard and listened to.
There's a world of difference between advertising status quo sexuality as that's acceptable in the modern lens as normalized vs. using sexual imagery such as LGBT sexuality that isn't status quo framed as the "obscene and absurd."
Pretty much.
Now, I'm gonna need a explanation from them on the way they apparently treat a group of Haitian descendants as caricatures.
I agree with you but i need to see more about the game. V seems like a douche after all.
The response itself errs on the side of decent but I'm not convinced of the game as a whole. Hopefully they are at least listening and taking the criticism seriously and make an effort to properly contextualize this in-game. I still think it's a pretty dumb move to use this in marketing material without an explanation of this sort accompanying it, but meh. More interested in what other people think of this than my own opinion tbh.
Yeah, it's kind of hard to glean too much from the ad in isolation.
It's gonna live or die by how strong of a satirical undercurrent there is throughout the whole game. Well, that and through the actual LGBT representation that exists outside of the in-world marketing.
It's gonna live or die by how strong of a satirical undercurrent there is throughout the whole game. Well, that and through the actual LGBT representation that exists outside of the in-world marketing.
User banned (3 days): drive-by trolling, previous infractions for similar
and then here will come the wave telling that they know better than the "art director" the meaning of the art she directed
let's go
let's go
Wow, imagine CDPR actually having a good PR response for once. I hope what they're saying here is true.
This seems like a solid response, legitimately sounds like they had a reasoning for it and not "OH THIS ONE PERSON FUCKED UP" kind of thing.
Do you want a Kojima Cyberpunk game?
Do you want a Kojima Cyberpunk game?
I guess the question is how much of this is down to the game and how much of it is down to the game's marketing. Like, are LGBTQ characters and issues treated like an afterthought in the game itself or is the marketing department just coming in and saying "Alright, we think including this in trailers is going to piss off our gamergate fans so let's just pretend it's not there." Both options are shitty, of course, but I'd personally rather have the second one be true than the first one.
It is definitely something that 100% fits in a cyberpunk dystopia, the only question was whether CDPR could handle it appropriately given their recent history with trans issues. I'm hopeful they get it but I'm still wary at the same time.
As I said in the other thread:
"Their defense lives or dies on them offering non-gender locked character customization.
Not holding my breath tho. I'm in the "simply lip-service" camp."
"Their defense lives or dies on them offering non-gender locked character customization.
Not holding my breath tho. I'm in the "simply lip-service" camp."
So the depiction of this, among other themes, is to explore the exploitation of people and it was intended be offensive for the sake of that exploration?
That seems fine to me.
That seems fine to me.
User banned (1 week): concern trolling and misrepresenting users concerns
I don't understand why it's been considered not only okay but almost obligatory for this community to basically backhand-shame anyone that would find a pretty woman with those features to be attractive. I'm not even being remotely sarcastic or joking. I've been partial to that sort of thing myself, admitted at risk of becoming a target or paraiah on what's acceptable, and what's gaudy/wrong/insulting/whatever that billboard is supposed to be.
I feel like this would've worked better as a response had they previously shown literally any evidence of trans/non-binary people existing within this world before this poster, rather than just us having to go on this as a claim that they do.
Because while I feel like the explanation is fair devoid of context, I think there's fair reason to be wary of their word when it comes to this stuff, given previous events.
Regardless, I'm cis, so I don't feel like I should be the arbiter of whether or not this is OK, nor should other cis people in this thread declare themselves as such.
Because while I feel like the explanation is fair devoid of context, I think there's fair reason to be wary of their word when it comes to this stuff, given previous events.
Regardless, I'm cis, so I don't feel like I should be the arbiter of whether or not this is OK, nor should other cis people in this thread declare themselves as such.
Oh sure, I wouldn't blame anyone for being reticent still.
I would also say that the backlash over this is actually something we as a community need to think about - It reminds me a lot of the way people reacted to The Red Strings Club. If we want games to continue to deal with these issues, we need to find a better way to have conversations about this than immediate backlash (though that said - I think CDPR specifically have earned suspicion with their past comments.)
It's a player avatar you choose their responses. So I imagine you can make them differently
good repsonse, and I get what they're going for, but with their history on the subject it's a tough sell. They have a lot of making up to do.
User Banned (1 Day): Drive-By Trolling
same
It was funny how people got into the bangwaggon of hate so fast, like they needed to reason to hate something before even knowing the facts
Completely disagree. Games with something to say are held in extremely high regard in spite of other shortcomings. See: Spec Ops The Line.
Speak for yourself and get your bullshit boogeyman gaslighting somewhere else.
It still doesn't excuse that ad in particular. Like, even if that's the only transphobic thing in the game, its still really bad.
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I mean, it was easily taken as a way to hate on trans people with the previous tweets they've had, even if they did a half-assed apology.
But this seems like a fair response. It's only fair that a cyberpunk world would show how much signal boosting companies can do just to make you purchase their new stuff.
But this seems like a fair response. It's only fair that a cyberpunk world would show how much signal boosting companies can do just to make you purchase their new stuff.
Those posters played themselves.
This makes me feel a lot better about the game art direction. Though I would like to know more about the dialogue of the protagonist and how race is portrayed.
This is what I assumed were the intentions from the get go so its good to see confirmation. Its a pretty shitty future so I get it. However, they really should address the stereotype stuff while they're at it too just to cover their bases
Is there really any way for a developer to "win" when making a game depicting a dystopian future though? It really seems like a "damned if you do, damned if you don't" scenario. They want to depict a future that's unfavourable, but in a video game that exists in real life. If you misrepresent something in the world, it's going to look bad if they do it on purpose, and it's going to look bad if they don't do it but the game still takes place in a dystopian future but releases in our current climate.
I'm not trying to make excuses, it really just seems as though no matter what they might do when making a game like this, there'll always be someone who doesn't consider it to be sensitive or empathetic towards a certain group of people. I have to imagine that even if they had a focus group helping them with material like this, there would still be someone either with different views, or who sees a well-represented individual existing in a dystopian future as a negative aspect.
Even with the taxi driver thing - if the world is supposed to be dystopian..would this not be the right way to approach it? That people of a certain ethnicity are relegated to certain career choices etc.? What if they had a middle-eastern CEO in a certain cinematic, would someone in a crowd not say "oh so in a dystopian future middle-eastern people are CEOs? Cool..."
I'll admit I can certainly learn a lot more in this department, but even after I read what seems to be a quite rational and well thought out response, there are people in this thread condemning it.
I'm not trying to make excuses, it really just seems as though no matter what they might do when making a game like this, there'll always be someone who doesn't consider it to be sensitive or empathetic towards a certain group of people. I have to imagine that even if they had a focus group helping them with material like this, there would still be someone either with different views, or who sees a well-represented individual existing in a dystopian future as a negative aspect.
Even with the taxi driver thing - if the world is supposed to be dystopian..would this not be the right way to approach it? That people of a certain ethnicity are relegated to certain career choices etc.? What if they had a middle-eastern CEO in a certain cinematic, would someone in a crowd not say "oh so in a dystopian future middle-eastern people are CEOs? Cool..."
I'll admit I can certainly learn a lot more in this department, but even after I read what seems to be a quite rational and well thought out response, there are people in this thread condemning it.
What a farcical statement.
I know why you did it but you posted 90% of the article.
of this issue in particular? i think she explained it pretty well, and she even goes on to say that this image is not only a representation of society in the game, but also supposed to be jarring in its' oversexualization - just like advertisements are today. in the past tho, yeah, Red has def had issues with this stuff. but i am satisfied with the reply this time. it seems she really thought out the image and this isnt just a ham-fisted quick PR response.