Being an adult is not always an easy thing. Sure it comes with some great perks and freedom, but alongside them comes responsibilities and burdens. Most importantly or rather most relevant to the topic at hand, most people learn to accept things are not always going to go their ways. That there will be times where we make decisions, be they personal, professional, or even creatively, that people just don’t agree with.
Such is life.
When it inevitably happens, a person has many options. They can just ignore and focus on creating or doing what they want to do. They can engage with the person to establish an understanding. Or even take into consideration some of the feedback provided by the criticism. What Sony opted to do with The Last of Us 2 has been nothing short of acting like a petulant child not getting their own way.
Going beyond the typical rhetoric of if you don’t like this product, you are an ist, ism, or phobe, those associated with the project have demonstrated a consistent maturity level that is absolutely unprofessional. To the degree that in an editorial, even a site like Polygon has taken to drawing attention towards it.
Leading up to the launch of the game and even beyond, Neil Druckmann has routinely engaged in antagonistic conduct towards consumers who were less than thrilled with the game. During an interview with Kinda Funny Games, Neil Druckmann discussed how he had received everything from anti-Semitic comments to outright death threats. No evidence of course, was provided for either; you’re just expected to take his word on it.
Yet it is what he considers persistent harassment that is most shocking. What could an “industry professional” such as Druckmann consider so vile, so vindictive, and an assault on his person that it would be worth complaining about publicly?
The answer is statements like, “The game is straight garbage.” He really wouldn’t last long writing for One Angry Gamer with skin that soft.
Later, Polygon references how a tweet from Jason Schreier’s discussing how some games are artificially lengthened to please investors set off Joel’s voice actor Troy Baker. Who promptly responded with a lengthy quote from Theodore Roosevelt that he clearly doesn’t understand.
I’ll just leave this here… https://t.co/7yj0XpeOE7 pic.twitter.com/nWYWYSmmhC
— Troy Baker is a Relater (@TroyBakerVA) June 28, 2020
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To which Schreier shot back his own quip.
Of course they are but any take that declares something definitive about “video games” should not be taken seriously enough to warrant a 400-word Theodore Roosevelt quote
— Jason Schreier (@jasonschreier) June 29, 2020
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When coverage of current events in gaming sounds like tabloids covering high school drama between two girls that inevitably devolved into one of them being an outright skank, the level of maturity is palpable.
Throughout the entire article, the most shocking revelation is that Sony was actively contacting outlets who gave their games a mixed or bad review. Zacny, who wrote Vice’s review for the Last of Us 2, informed the outlet that a Sony representative had reached out to him about the content of his review and why he worded it the way he did.
Overall he described the discourse as cordial, but it goes to show why outlets didn’t feel like rocking the boat with the Last of Us 2.
“They felt some of the conclusions I reached in my review were unfair and dismissed some meaningful changes or improvements.”
“I was happy to unpack a bit of my reasoning, however, and received a perfectly cordial message in response.”
Sony should be careful about how they treat “journalists.” When Bethesda was all the rage, they went so far as to blacklist entire outlets. Then the moment they were no longer relevant, could no longer provide content that drew in views, the media’s impressions of the company soured considerably.
Polygon’s article successfully covers a good swath of the drama that has surrounded The Last of Us 2. Still, because there exist so many ludicrous circumstances, it is hard for anyone to be definitive in their coverage without penning a short novel. Leading up to and after release, Sony abused the DMCA process to have everything from discussions of the leaks to memes taken down across the internet.
Eventually, they had Jeremy from Geeks and Gamer’s Twitter account suspended before later going after The Quartering. Currently, several youtube channels have strikes against their account as a result of Sony filing false copyright claims against videos that merely discussed without showing any of the leaks.
What we have witnessed is nothing more than a glorified temper tantrum by a group of people claiming to represent the underdog as they systematically harassed and deplatformed people across the internet. Demonstrating once again the Great Clown Age is nothing more than a long extended Greek comedy.
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