Pass the Controller | Latest news, reviews and reviews in video games
  • Home
  • News
  • Reviews
  • Features
  • Videos
  • Forum
  • About
    • Contact
    • Meet the Team
  • Home
  • News
  • Reviews
  • Features
  • Videos
  • Forum
  • About
    • Contact
    • Meet the Team
>

Has controversy ever turned you off a company? | Team Talk

20/10/2019

 
Picture

Following the recent Hearthstone Grandmasters tournament, Blizzard found themselves under fire for their treatment of the winner, Blitzchung, after he voiced support for the people of Hong Kong. His prize winnings have since been reinstated and the ban cut in half to six months but not before their reputation took a hit. Spurred on by this, we recount some of the times developers and publishers have shot themselves in the foot and how it's affected our perception of them.

by Chris Brand
Picture

@SuperCrisco

by Team PTC
Picture

@pass_controller

Chris | EA

When Star Wars Battlefront II launched players were dismayed to find that Darth Vader, one of the franchise's most popular characters, was gated behind a massive grind, some claiming it could take up to 40 hours to unlock the iconic villain. Of course, this being EA, you could opt to fork over additional funds to get your hands on him a little early, but this left a bad taste in the mouths of many who had already paid full whack.

When one user took to Reddit to vent, EA responded with what became the most downvoted post in the site's history, attracting over half a million blue arrows in total.

They claimed the intent was to "provide players with a sense of pride and accomplishment for unlocking different heroes," though the community saw it for what it really was; a shameless attempt to wrestle even more hard-earned cash from the hands of paying customers.

I wouldn't expect EA (or any other company, for that matter) to apologise for trying to turn a profit, it's the whole reason businesses exist after all, but pretending this was anything other than greed is insulting. It did, however, provide me with a sense of satisfaction to see them dragged over the coals for spouting such nonsense.
Star-Wars-Battlefront-2
​Fans found Battlefront ​II's lack of Vader disturbing

Sam | Ubisoft

I wouldn’t say any particular controversy has ever made me do an about face and turn my back on a game company entirely. My decision in this instance hasn’t been made based on any one monumental blunder, but rather Ubisoft’s controversial decision to gradually homogenise most of their, once diverse, franchises into a big boring blob.

Series like Far Cry, Assassin’s Creed, Watch Dogs, Ghost Recon, and more once comprised a diverse range of properties in the French publisher’s catalogue. Now, however, all of these games have converged to follow the same dull formula.

It’s so widespread that the thought alone of booting up a Ubisoft game to be faced with a gigantic map, all but overflowing with markers denoting busywork is enough to make me light headed. When Far Cry and Ghost Recon titles weren’t essentially the same, I enjoyed playing both, but the merging of their mechanics has since served to make them suffocatingly boring for the same reasons.

The latter is most egregious to me; Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter and it’s sequel were absolutely exemplary, so to see the regressed state of the series more than a decade later is appalling. The latest entry, Breakpoint, is a genuine embarrassment, to the point I’ve audibly proclaimed that “I fucking hate this” several times while playing.
Assassins-Creed-Odyssey
Hours of adventure, or packed with tedious busywork?

Liam | Rockstar

The only controversy that’s come close to putting me off a publisher, or a particular game, was the revelation of crunch culture at Rockstar following the release of Red Dead Redemption 2. As someone who spent a number of years in the hospitality industry, I know what it’s like to work long unsociable hours and the toll it takes on your personal life, and even your health.

One could argue it’s simply the nature of the beast; games have become these huge, sprawling creations that are built by teams of hundreds for an ever more demanding audience, and crunch is simply part and parcel of that process.

It’s something I never really gave much thought, especially when I was younger, but stories of employees sleeping under desks, afraid to be singled out or let go for not doing their part certainly made me reconsider whether I want to support such a process.

I’m not going to pretend my reasons for avoiding RDR2 were entirely noble (a lack of time and funds also played a significant role) or that it made much difference, but the controversy did at least shine a spotlight on an industry-wide issue, which will hopefully bring about lasting change.
Red-Dead-Redemption-2
Has our demand for bigger and better games helped fuel crunch culture?

Let us know if a controversy ever put you off a company or game below or in the forums.
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.



    Read More

    News
    Reviews
    Videos

    Comment Here

    Categories

    All
    A Gamer's Guide To Life
    Community
    E3 2018
    Event Coverage
    Feature
    First Impressions/Quick Look
    Head To Head
    Indie
    Interview
    List
    Opinion
    Preview
    Real Life Story
    Team Talk
    Video


    Archives

    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015


    RSS Feed

Pass the Controller

News
Reviews
Features
​
Videos
Forum
About

The Forums

Gaming Discussion
Xbox
PlayStation
PC Gaming
Nintendo
Off Topic
​Achievements and Trophies

What is PTC

About Us
​Meet the Team
​
Contact Us
OpenCritic
Find our reviews on OpenCritic
vrgamecritic
Find our reviews on vrgamecritic
© COPYRIGHT 2014-2019 PTC / JMP.
​ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.