Upon booting up Beyond Good & Evil 20th Anniversary Edition, rather than its main menu, players will instead be greeted by a disclaimer from developer Ubisoft apologizing for the fact that some of the game’s “characters and cultural references contain stereotypes”.
More than a simple re-release, the Beyond Good & Evil – 20th Anniversary Edition presents players with an updated version of the fan-favorite action-adventure game, its technical features optimized for more current hardware, graphics touched up , and story expanded by a number of new, fully-canon cutscenes.
But that’s not where the changes to the original outing end.
As discovered and subsequently brought to Bounding Into Comics’ attention by YouTuber Vara Dark, this updated version of Beyond Good & Evil also features a new disclaimer from Ubisoft apologizing for what they believed were the game’s ‘racially stereotypical’ character designs.
“Beyond Good & Evil – 20th Anniversary Edition brings the original experience to today’s platforms,” reads the warning. “The story and gameplay remain as they were when the game launched in 2003. As such, some characters and cultural references contain stereotypes. Ubisoft acknowledges the negative impact of their representation. Much like in the game itself, we keep on learning about our world, our games, and the stories and representations within them.”
Ubisoft did not clarify as to which characters, references, or overall design elements they considered to be offensively stereotypical.
However, speculation suggests that the characters of Ming-Tzu – a walrus merchant who wears a toothy smile, a Chinese tang suit top, and owns a pet koi fish – and Secundo – an AI who speaks in a Spanish accent so heavy that he pronounces the name of game’s main character, Jade, as ‘Yade’ – are likely among them.
Notably, Beyond Good & Evil – 20th Anniversary Edition is not the first Western remaster released this year to receive such a performative apology screen.
Upon booting it up for the first time, Crystal Dynamics’ Tomb Raider I-III Remastered presents players with a one-time disclaimer informing them that “The games in this collection contain offensive depictions of people and cultures rooted in racial and ethnic prejudices.”
“These stereotypes are deeply harmful, inexcusable, and do not align with our values at Crystal Dynamics,” it continues. “Rather than removing this content, we have chosen to present it here in its original form, unaltered, in the hopes that we may acknowledge its harmful impact and learn from it.”
Ultimately, while such a disclaimer is an infinitely better alternative the outright censorship of the related content, at the end of the day, its inclusion still stands as yet another example of a modern day video game developer believing that their audience is either too dumb or too immature to not only separate fiction from reality, but also understand the concept of something being the product of a different era.
The Beyond Good & Evil – 20th Anniversary Edition is now available for the PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PC platforms.
