Bad Dog!
It seems that these days the only time GameStop isn’t shooting themselves in the foot is when they are reloading. During this ongoing COVID-19 crisis, they have taken mediocre measures to protect their employees and their customers, they struggled to stay open by insisting that they are an essential service, and now they are picking a petty fight with Naughty Dog during the release of one of the biggest games of the year. Of all the things that The Last of Us Part 2 is going to offer, they focus on the wrong thing.
You may have heard about a “feature” of The Last of Us Part 2 where the player may have to kill a dog. And it’s not a special mode where you try to kill as many dogs as you can, it is part of the gameplay that dogs will be used by enemies to snuff out Ellie and she may be faced with having to put it down to save herself. GameStop apparently listed this mechanic as a feature or selling point for the game, which many will argue is in poor taste. Naughty Dog’s Director of Communications, Arne Meyer didn’t call out GameStop by name, but he did say that it was written by the retailer that posted it, without any assistance from Naughty Dog.
So @naughty_dog didn’t write or assist writing this.
Don’t appreciate out of context screenshot crops without mentioning the source. Folks, please google these things!
This text came from an independent editorial post from a retailer. It’s on their website. https://t.co/nh3nw1StOa
— arne (@arnemeyer) May 7, 2020
Yes, The Last of Us Part 2 will no doubt be a violent game. There will be a lot of emotional weight behind every kill Ellie makes, and yes, she may have to kill dogs from time to time, but who hasn’t in a post-apocalyptic world? Also, games like Call of Duty, Far Cry, and Fallout have also pit dogs against players. This is not exactly a line that hasn’t been already crossed, not that players should have to enjoy taking them down. The Last of Us Part 2 is coming out for PS4 on June 19th.
Do you think GameStop crossed the line with their editorial? Let us know in the comments below.
Source: Twitter