Deep Silver Apologizes for Mutilated Dead Island Torso

[Andy Chalk]

Deep Silver Apologizes for Mutilated Dead Island Torso

The publisher says it "sincerely regrets" the decision to include a dismembered female torso with the European collectors edition of Dead Island: Riptide.

The European collectors edition of Dead Island: Riptide revealed earlier today [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/121520-New-Dead-Island-Riptide-Bundle-Offers-Bloody-Boobs] doesn't just push the boundaries of bad taste, it hacks its arms, legs and head off, clads it in a skimpy Union Jack bikini and then stuffs what's left over into the box as a limited edition statue. Reaction to the butchered female figurine, despite the best hopes of Deep Silver Sales and Marketing Director Paul Nicholls, was about what you'd expect: outrage, fast and furious and from every direction.

In response, Deep Silver has issued an apology on Twitter.

We deeply apologize for any offense caused by the Dead Island Riptide "Zombie Bait Edition," the collector's edition announced for Europe and Australia. Like many gaming companies, Deep Silver has many offices in different countries, which is why sometimes different versions of Collector's Editions come into being for North America, Europe, Australia, and Asia.

For the limited run of the Zombie Bait Edition for Europe and Australia, a decision was made to include a gruesome statue of a zombie torso, which was cut up like many of our fans had done to the undead enemies in the original Dead Island.

We sincerely regret this choice. We are collecting feedback continuously from the Dead Island community, as well as the international gaming community at large, for ongoing internal meetings with Deep Silver's entire international team today. For now, we want to reiterate to the community, fans and industry how deeply sorry we are, and that we are committed to making sure this will never happen again.

It's worth noting that Deep Silver did not state whether or not the statue, or the whole collectors edition, would be scrapped. We'll update when we find out more.

Source: Twitter [https://twitter.com/deepsilver/status/291262780030476289]


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[Tohuvabohu]

lol well that was fast.

I doubt it will assuage any of the internet rage going on at the moment. Still, I'm surprised a response was given so fast.

 

[Roxas1359]

Well I commented on the story about their decision to have this in morning and now I get to see that it has been reversed. I do have to say that was quite fast indeed.
[sub][sub][sub][sub]Now the bodies can stay put... XD[/sub][/sub][/sub][/sub]

 

[Sixcess]

Oh... LOL. Rather than work up a new post I'll just quote one I just finished making in Discussion on the same subject before I read this.

"... it just reinforces my opinion that too many game developers are so lacking in basic social skills and sensibilities they should never be let out of their coding cubicles, because it's just embarassing for the rest of us when they are."

Really, some of these studios need to hire a fully functioning sane person to give an opinion on things like this before it ever gets this far.

 

[Ruley]

I still don't hear any decisions to scrap or change the collectors edition?

But if you ask me, the damage is already done, the original game was kinda mediocre so its sequel was never going to sell like hot cakes and with this offense and failure of gaming society, its done irreparable damage to the brand.

Seriously? Nobody at the table looked at this and thought it MIGHT be offensive if not to just female gamers but to all gamers as a whole that a disembodies woman's torso is just what they needed for their bookshelf?

 

[Susan Arendt]

"For the limited run of the Zombie Bait Edition for Europe and Australia, a decision was made to include a gruesome statue of a zombie torso, which was cut up like many of our fans had done to the undead enemies in the original Dead Island."

Except you can't actually do that in Dead Island, you sleazy hack. Don't try and spin this like it was some kind of playful homage to the gameplay.

 

[razer17]

Well, they're not sorry, are they? They sat in their little HQ and thought "Hey, people will love this" and then, no. No they didn't. "Well, if we apologise maybe we can take the sting out of the tail a bit?" "Good idea, people love apologies!". They only care because they could lose customers. So I guess, actually, they are sorry. But not for the right reasons.

 

[MASTACHIEFPWN]

Who in their right minds would have thought this a good idea?

 

[Mysten]

Sometimes I wonder if I don't offended enough. I saw this and thought, "oh yeah, a torso because, y'know, zombies." And then I moved on.

 

[Triaed]

And what seems to be the issue?
The dismembered zombie corpse, that it is female, or that it is British?

It is an M rated game, is it not? In a closed box. If you are 7 years old, or a 92 year old granny, you have no business buying this, or Hustler, or downloading porn off the internet.

 

[GenGenners]

That was freaking quick.

 

[kburns10]

"...a decision was made to include a gruesome statue of a zombie torso, which was cut up like many of our fans had done to the undead enemies in the original Dead Island."

Oh no Paul Nicholls. This doesn't fall back on us. Nice try though. Definitely wouldn't have bought this. It's just as creepy as it is wrong.

 

[Sgt. Dante]

a decision was made to include a gruesome statue of a zombie torso, which was cut up like many of our fans had done to the undead enemies in the original Dead Island.


I don't remember dismembering anyone and putting their torso on display in my living room in the first game. Maybe I just don't remember that part. Though I do like the spin that we shouldn't be outraged by this... Bust, for lack of a more appropriate label, because the people playing this game are such horrible people that we should like the grotesque art piece.

 

[Kenjitsuka]

No clue what the problem is.
It's pretty ugly and mediocre, for sure.
But why the outrage?

Sexist? Pretty sure most zombie games let you re-kill massive hordes of undead people regardless of sex.
Gore? You see this stuff in the Walking Dead and every zombie movie made ever...

 

[crazyrabbits]

Seems like they wanted something that referenced the Venus de Milo, but it didn`t work.

However, if they wanted to court controversy, that was one hell of a PR stunt. Fan complaints aside, this story spread like wildfire.

 

[Talaris]

I honestly can't see how they didn't think this would happen. Which leads me to believe this is yet another in a long line PR stunts that intentionally cause controversy as a means of spreading awareness.

Deep Silver aren't exactly newcomers when it comes to marketing, after all they invested heavily into the trailer for the first game.

 

[Atary77]

a decision was made to include a gruesome statue of a zombie torso, which was cut up like many of our fans had done to the undead enemies in the original Dead Island.


I don't remember dismembering anyone and putting their torso on display in my living room in the first game. Maybe I just don't remember that part. Though I do like the spin that we shouldn't be outraged by this... Bust, for lack of a more appropriate label, because the people playing this game are such horrible people that we should like the grotesque art piece.

The whole bit with this guy saying "This is what players did in the game" doesn't sit right with me. Really? The bottom line for me is, as a community of folks who appreciate gaming as a culture, we're trying hard to fight against all the misogyny going on in the culture and things like this don't help!

 

[danon]

I can't really see the problem here it's in the collectors edition, just don't buy it. You are allowed to find things offensive but it shouldn't change anything.

 

[Andy Shandy]

It's probably for the breast that this gets taken down.

Also I must ask who thought it was a good idea, both in the original idea, and then actually someone letting it happen.