Naughty Dog has addressed the rampant The Last Of Us Part 2 death threats that have been leveraged at both the company and those who have worked with the studio on the game’s development. While The Last Of Us Part 2 has already established itself as one of the most important game releases of this console generation, it has also courted controversy throughout both its development and its release, with some of the latest revolving around the behavior of the game’s fans and detractors.
It’s certainly no secret that The Last Of Us Part 2 reactions have varied wildly among fans and critics, and the result has been a divisive, emotional discussion surrounding Naughty Dog’s most recent release. Most recently, a sub-section of the game’s “fans” began behaving in a vile manner, threatening voice actress Laura Bailey and harassing her online for being the person who portrayed The Last Of Us 2‘s Abby, a character who features in some of the most shocking moments in the game. The title’s actual fans began rallying around Bailey, but the fact it was a discussion at all highlighted the lackluster ways in which some consumers have been handling a game that isn’t afraid to make big, upsetting decisions in order to tell a certain story.
Click the button below to start this article in quick view.
While some members of the Naughty Dog team had already commented on the matter via their personal social media channels, the studio itself waited until yesterday to provide an official statement on Twitter condemning fans who have been directing threats at staff and cast members. Naughty Dog’s response calls for everyone involved in the gaming industry to adjust their approach towards differences in opinion and critical discussion, stating plainly that it’s possible to have constructive discourse without harassment or The Last Of Us Part 2 death threats.
Although we welcome critical discussion, we condemn any form of harassment or threats directed towards our team and cast. Their safety is our top priority, but we must all work together to root out this type of behavior and maintain a constructive and compassionate discourse. pic.twitter.com/eoq4t1ITnh
— Naughty Dog (@Naughty_Dog) July 5, 2020
While that’s about as obvious an observation as possible, it’s also one that bears repeating whenever behavior like online harassment and death threats becomes the center of attention in social media discourse. That Naughty Dog is stating this so soon after Laura Bailey revealed her part in The Last Of Us Part 2 as Abby had made her the target of harassment is a positive gesture from a studio that is making sure to come to the aid of those it works with.
Unfortunately, harassment and death threats are still all too common online, whether that’s in the gaming industry specifically or in other areas of internet discourse. It’s not that fans shouldn’t feel strongly about characters – in fact, Naughty Dog’s Neil Druckmann specifically wanted people to absolutely loathe Abby as a The Last Of Us Part 2 character – but it’s that fans should be held to a certain standard when discussing it. Passionate discussion should never extend as far as attacking someone who portrayed a character or who worked on that character’s development, and hopefully Naughty Dog’s reminder will at least reach a few of the fans who have been contributing to an awful problem that simply doesn’t belong in online communities.
The Last Of Us Part 2 is available now on PlayStation 4.
Source: Naughty Dog/Twitter
