Seven years after the release of the original,
The Last of Us Part II is finally out now on PlayStation 4. Even before release, writer-director Neil Druckmann acknowledged that
some fans of the first game would dislike the sequel, and now that the game is out, he's responded to more of the internet hate.
Speaking on
former Nintendo boss Reggie Fils-Aime's podcast, Druckmann said it's worthless to fight against people when they share their opinions about a game--whether it be good or bad. However, Druckmann said he can't understand how people get so worked up and upset about fictional characters.
"I think you have to create some separation to say, we made this game, we believe in this game, we're proud of this game, now it's out there and it's like whatever reaction people have--whether they like it or not--that's fair," Druckmann said. "That's their reaction and you don't fight that. The other thing with the more hateful stuff, the more vile stuff, that's a little harder. It's especially harder when I see it happening to team members or cast
We have an actor, she's been getting really awful, vile stuff because of a fictional character she's playing in the game," Druckmann added. "I just have a hard time wrapping my mind around that. The thing I try to do is just ignore it as much as I can. When things escalate to being serious, there are certain security protocols that we take and I report it to the proper authorities. Then you just try to focus on the positives and focus on distracting yourself with other stuff. But it's kind of just the reality."
Even the Polygon article mentions this
A few hours later, [the leak is] everywhere and you're starting to get hate on every social media you're on, and soon that turns into death threats, anti-Semitic remarks, and just craziness I never could have anticipated," he continued, stating that he never thought the game would get this sort of hate."
More at the link
Gamespot article
Really unfortunate situation all around. Then entire team needs to take a break from social media asap. Especially the cast members.
