Skullgirls fans are now review bombing the game after the game implements a lot of censorship, as fans are mad with the changes.

It all started when the official Skullgirls Twitter account tweeted that “As part of a global Skullgirls content update, we have adjusted several art assets in Skullgirls Mobile, Skullgirls 2nd Encore, and the Digital Art Compendium on all platforms.” A full list of the changes can be found on the SkullHeart forum. It's no small change, either, as there are adjustments to or removals of over 31 items. This ranges from changes to color palettes, adjusted or removed art from the gallery, and various changes to the illustrations shown in the game's story mode.

Game Director MightyZug posted their reasoning behind the changes. They mentioned three things in particular that they changed: Allusions To Real-World Hate Groups, Character Sexualization and Agency, and Racial Sensitivity.

First off, they talked about the Renoir family and the Black Egrets, which they admitted “were always intended to evoke imagery from an oppressive militant regime.” However, they “felt that the way that manifested (most notably via red armbands, flags, and symbolism) was too close for comfort.” As such, they removed the armbands from the Egret soldiers, while also adjusting the heraldry of the Black Egrets.

Next, they mentioned that Skullgirls “is no stranger to characters that confidently express their sexuality.” In fact, a lot of the players who were mad with the changes mentioned that it was this freely expressed sexuality that drew them to buy the game, or even support it in Kickstarter back in the day. However, the developers mentioned that “there are instances in the game where characters are fetishized and/or have sexualization imposed upon them.” They particularly called out that this “includes a few depictions of unwanted predatory behavior, particularly towards younger characters.”

The last thing they talked about was Racial Sensitivity. They said that “there are numerous playful references to pulpy themes that we feel respectfully allude to certain stereotypes (e.g. the Saxploitation VO pack).” Despite of this, they said there was still some content that they “believed to be in poor taste (e.g. references to racial violence in Big Band’s Story Mode).” As such, they adjusted it.

These changes caused a wide range of reactions from fans of the game, as well as others who were observing what was going on. The common consensus among fans was that people are mad that the game that they supported all those years ago suddenly changed in a large way. A lot of the replies to the tweet talked about the game losing its integrity, calling out the fact that they censored a very old game. Others are saying the developers “Wokified” the game, as if trying to appease online critics. And even more are asking for refunds for the game, saying that it's no longer the game they bought before.

The official Twitter post is not the only place where fans are showing their displeasure. The Skullgirls 2nd Encore official Steam page is now getting review bombed for its censorship. As of this article, only 20% of the 2360 reviews the past 30 days were positive. The game's Recent Reviews are currently “Mostly Negative”. One negative review said that “The gameplay was alright but the devs forgot what the main appeal of this game was.”. Another said that the “Developers are bending the knee to criticism from tw*tter and self-censoring. Don't support them.”

Another said that “They decided to please ESG and the modern audience. I decided to write a negative review for taking the game I originally paid for. At least they should have given us the option for that update or an option to turn on or off the “offensive content”.”

However, it's not just the negative reviews that are calling out the changes the developers made. One positive review said that the “Game's good and all but people are angry because what they paid for was taken away from them. Valid reason to complain.” Another brought up that this change actually messed with their game sense. “I used Parasol's armband as a marker for spacing in neutral and combos. I can't do any microdash combos correctly anymore. Its 10 years of practice I gotta redo now. Can you change the Potemkin Cerebella skin too look different as well? I don't want anything of my old team remaining,” the review reads.

It does appear, though, that the review bombing of Skullgirls has slowed down recently. We don't know if it's because the mad fans have already said everything they wanted to say about Skullgirls in the review bombs, or if they've realized just why the developers implemented the censorship in the first place.

Personally, I feel like if something drives the point of how evil something is, it doesn't need to be censored. Some of the elements they censored served to drive the point home about just how evil some of the game's characters are. However, the censorship they placed on the fanservice is a good step for me. There are quite a few minors in this game, so it only makes sense that they would censor them. It doesn't matter that this is a game centered around fanservice. Minors shouldn't be a part of that selling point.

That's all the information we have about the mad Skullgirls fans who review bombed the game due to its censorship. Check out our gaming news articles for the latest in gaming news.