Catherine Shuttleworth
Sep 04, 2023
Bang Showbiz - Gaming / VideoElephant
A handful of gamers have erupted across social media due to the option to select pronouns for characters in the game Starfield.
The role-playing game (RPG) allows players to customise their characters, including deciding which pronouns they have. The feature was discovered after the game went live on Friday 1 September for those who had pre-ordered.
Bethesda, who have previously made games such as The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim and Fallout 4, allowed Starfield players to select they/them pronouns for non-binary characters if they so pleased. But a small number of notable gaming streamers seemed extremely upset over the decision.
They accused video game publishes of going “woke”. Streamer Herschel ‘Guy’ Beahm IV, known by his online alias Dr Disrespect, was outraged both at the pronoun option and the head of publishing at Bethesda, Pete Hines, having his pronouns in his Twitter/X bio, saying “it all makes sense now.
Beahm also shared with his viewers that he had tried to work with Bethesda prior to the release of Starfield, but was told no due to “past controversies.”
Another streamer known online as 'Heel vs Babyface', revealed his sheer lack of imagination when he screamed at his camera for two-and-a-half minutes claiming the choice of pronouns meant he was being “dragged out” of the immersive experience of the game.
“Do you want to get immersed in our world? Yeah well guess what, f**king pronouns,” he screamed. “F**king gender ambiguity. F**king current-day California s**t, because that’s all we f**king know.”
As expected, many mocked those who were upset over a two-second feature in a video game.
One user called Heel vs Babyface “pathetic”:
@danvasc2 @heelvsbabyface So, they decided to have a whinge that an "option" was in a video game? \nDidn't see anyone mad back in 2013 when Saints Row 4 had all the gender-changing customizations anyone would want available, but I guess it's only recently that "pronouns" are such a huge issue.\nThe rage is\u2026— Huggable Orcness (@Huggable Orcness) 1693755850
Others told him to “grow up”:
@danvasc2 @heelvsbabyface Grow up— Ralphyy | FNATIC (@Ralphyy | FNATIC) 1693756413
Outside of streamers who are unable to comprehend an experience outside of their own, Starfield has received less than favourable reviews from critics for valid reasons such as poor performance and calling the title “disjointed”.
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