Stellar Blade Update Will Remove ‘Unintentional’ Reference to Racist Language
Sony announces Stellar Blade will receive a day-one patch to remove a problematic graphic that unintentionally references a racial slur.
Sony announced the day one patch for Stellar Blade will remove an unintentional reference to a racist slur. While initial reviews for Stellar Blade lauded Shift Up’s action-adventure game, one particular image taken from a review copy highlighted a likely accidental but problematic graphic in the game.
Active members of the gaming community will likely already recognize Stellar Blade, Shift Up’s bombastic third-person action game, which has already garnered attention for its over-the-top action and eye-catching character design. The excitement surrounding the game has reached an all-time high, with Stellar Blade even becoming the most pre-ordered game on the PlayStation Network store following the release of its action-packed gameplay demo. However, as players came closer and closer to the game’s release and early reviews for Stellar Blade came pouring in, some online users spread screenshots of what appeared to be an unintended allusion to a problematic term.
Sony took notice of players’ concerns and announced it would be removing the graphic with an update. As reported by IGN, the Japanese tech giant claimed the company had no intention of denigrating or discriminating against any racial or cultural group, and that the screenshot’s problematic reference was unintentional. The infamous screenshot itself was centered on two graphical elements. The first was the texture for a piece of graffiti that simply read, “Hard.” When added to the neon sign for the in-game “R Shop,” some players were worried the accidental combination might spell trouble for developers.
Sony Announces Fixes in Stellar Blade’s Day-One Patch
Sony also clarified that the developers at Shift Up had similarly not intended to reference a racial slur in their artwork. Fortunately for Sony, the mistake itself is easily fixable, and the company revealed it was taking swift action by removing the problematic graphic from Stellar Blade at launch through a day-one patch.
Despite the slight hiccup, Stellar Blade is still on track for a successful debut. Early reviews for Stellar Blade have been overwhelmingly positive, with critics praising the game’s intense combat and memorable boss fights. Players can also look forward to the planned addition of several post-launch features for Stellar Blade, which includes a New Game+ mode and free costumes for its main character, Eve.
It’s safe to say that the run-up to Stellar Blade‘s debut has not been free of controversy. Between critiques of Eve’s character design and false rumors claiming Stellar Blade might be censored in several countries, the game has had a bit of a rocky pre-release. Thankfully, it seems most of Shift Up’s troubles are at an end, with Stellar Blade ready to take the PlayStation 5 by storm when it finally launches on April 26.
