It only just came out, but the high-selling , high-scoring indie smash The Stanley Parable has found itself in a controversy which has led creator Davey Wreden to remove a scene from the game. The content in question depicts a white business man burning a young black child's face with a cigarette. Easy to see where somebody would get offended there. While the context attempts to drape the joke in satire, some players simply found themselves appalled, and Wreden is complying with requests for removal.
"A white man giving black children cigarettes or setting them on fire in Stanley Parable = not cool or funny," author Oliver Campbell (The Dusk Harbinger) tweeted to Wreden on Wednesday. Wreden later tweeted that he would remove the content.
"I've gotten hundreds of complaints and requests for changes, this one happens to be very small and doesn't affect my artistic vision for the game in any way," Wreden said in response to criticism over the change. "This choice is mine to make, no one else's."
Wreden went into further details with Kotaku , saying that he had received multiple complaints about the same scene, and felt inclined to remove the content.
"I'm not exactly married to the visual gag there," he continued, "it doesn't make or break anything about that particular section, and we always wanted the game to be something that could be played by anyone of any age." However, Wreden said nothing about anyone of any age being able to withstand the complete craziness that is The Stanley Parable. That will presumably not be addressed.
