It seems that Facebook has asked developers to make a number of changes to the VR version of Resident Evil 4 for Oculus Quest 2. The authors have removed some phrases and jokes from the dialogues that they considered sexist and obscene. Also, the final scene completely disappeared from the game. Fans called this approach censorship.
Resident Evil 4
Peter Pischke, the author of The Happy Warrior podcast, drew attention to the changes.
At his disposal were videos from developers from Armature Studio. In one of the videos there is a disclaimer informing about the removal from the game of “content directly or indirectly related to sexual harassment, sarcastic statements, sexist dialogues and expressions.”
According to the description, these scenes were removed at the request of Oculus VR and approved by Capcom. The developers do not report the exact reasons for such changes. However, according to Pishke, the initiator of censorship was Facebook, which has owned a VR company since 2014.
What exactly has been changed in Resident Evil 4?
- In one of the opening scenes, the dialogue between Leon Kennedy and Ingrid Hannigan’s assistant was changed. The corrected version lacks the main character’s comment: “I thought you’d be a little older.”
- Leon’s phrase in which he tried to flirt with Ingrid was also removed from their next dialogue. He no longer jokes about the fact that she was lonely without him.
- Some of Leon’s humorous comments related to the environment were also changed. When he first sees the corpse of a woman in the village, he only says, “It seems that no one is safe here.” In the original, the comment was quite different: “It seems there is no sexual discrimination here.”
- The sexist comment of Luis Sera to the president’s daughter Ashley Graham has completely disappeared from the VR version. In the original, he spoke of her “ballistics”, referring to her large breasts.
- Because of this, the developers renamed the achievement “Save the Ballistics” (Secure the Ballistics). Now it is simply called: “Save Ashley” (Secure Ashley).
- Also, the ending of Resident Evil 4 has undergone changes. About 30% of the original dialogues have disappeared from the final video. And the video that followed it was deleted altogether. In it, Leon invited Ingrid on a date, but was refused.
Gamers’ reaction
Fans reacted negatively to the news about the changes. Some of them called for a boycott of the VR version of Resident Evil 4. Instead, they ask those who want to play the original game, which is also available on modern consoles without the above fixes.
Others directly called such actions of developers censorship and a desire to “get approval in the West.” According to one user, in this way Facebook does not correct obscene material, but only “inculcates its ideology.” “They just shot themselves in the foot,” said one of the players.
The release of Resident Evil 4 VR will take place on October 21 exclusively on Oculus Quest 2.