Little Devil Inside Allegedly Racist Character Design Is Being Changed

After receiving backlash from their potential playerbase, Neostream Interactive has vowed to change a character design in their upcoming game Little Devil Insidethat many have claimed to be racist. This came mere hours after the game came under fire after its announcement at thePS5 online reveal event on June 11th, prompting a quick and hopefully proportional developer response.

The PS5 reveal stream last week was packed with no less than 26 games that would be coming to the PS5 between its release and 2022. Among the giants of Spider-Man: Miles Morales and yet another Grand Theft Auto V port, viewers were treated to a trailer of the ambitious crowdfunded game Little Devil Inside, whose PS5 exclusivity was news to even backers. With a sleek art style and charming sense of humor, Little Devil Inside held its ground amongst its more well-funded competition during the showcase, but an insensitive enemy design choice marred the game's exhibition.

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Would-be fans of the game took to Twitter to voice their concerns and outrage over a masked enemy design, tiny tribespeople with dark skin, dreadlocks, and masks with prominent red lips shown in the game's reveal trailer. The following day, Neostream Interactive made a statement via the Facebook, apologizing to anyone they might have offended and stating that they would be making a number of adjustments to the design and that "if it ends up not being suitable to the game as a whole, [they] may change the design entirely." Read disappointed viewer reactions below:

The issues surrounding this character design doesn't just stop with the design itself, however, but becomes more problematic in the context of the game. The trailer shows a number of monstrous enemy types that the player is seen discovering, running from, or fighting, but these afro-tribal caricatures are the only humans the player character is seen interacting with in the same manner. Oversight or not, it's an innate comparison of real-world stereotypes to the inhuman monsters that gamers are used to battling. Combine this with a setting that seems to draw inspiration from the Age of Discovery (famous for its plunder of indigenous peoples' wealth and cultures) and the thoroughly bad taste left in viewers' mouths makes even greater sense.

Neostream Interactive made the right choice by listening to their fanbase, having responded quickly and accordingly. They didn't try to assign blame, instead choosing to own the mistake and promising to right it. This kind of transparency and communication from developers is commendable and welcome in an age of predatory business practices by publishers of larger games, especially during the current sociopolitical moment. Aside from the problematic design of this one enemy type, Little Devil Inside looks like it will give players a balanced experience of survival and adventure, and is set to release on PlayStation consoles and PC.

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Source: Neostream Interactive, Morbi, LordBalvin

source https://screenrant.com/ps5-reveal-trailer-little-devil-inside-racist-design/