Youtuber JonTron recently made some very controversial and racially charged statements. While we wont go into what was said, this has led to a blowback against JonTron ( real name Jon Jafari). This has created a problem for Playtonic Games, as JonTron was set to lend his voice to their upcoming game Yooka-Laylee.
Playtonic put out the following statement today.
We recently became aware of comments made by voice artist JonTron after development on Yooka-Laylee had been completed,” the firm told GamesIndustry.biz in a statement.
“JonTron is a talented video presenter who we were initially, two years ago, happy to include as a voice contributor in our game. However, in light of his recent personal viewpoints we have made the decision to remove JonTron’s inclusion in the game via a forthcoming content update. We would like to make absolutely clear that we do not endorse or support JonTron’s personal viewpoints and that, as an external fan contributor, he does not represent Playtonic in any capacity. Playtonic is a studio that celebrates diversity in all forms and strives to make games that everyone can enjoy. As such, we deeply regret any implied association that could make players feel anything but 100% comfortable in our game worlds, or distract from the incredible goodwill and love shown by our fans and Kickstarter backers.”
Given the extremely contentious issues going on right now, and the blowback against JonTron, it is extremely understandable that Playtonic would not want him in the game. This is Playtonic’s first game and any controversy surrounding it, could hurt the game and thus their studio. As such, what they did was perfectly understandable. Free speech guarantees you can say something, but there are still consequences.