It was recently discovered that one location in Stellar Blade is home to a piece of graffiti that’s unintentionally racist. In a location that houses a vendor, the word ‘HARD’ is spray-painted on a nearby wall, and immediately alongside that piece of graffiti sits a neon sign advertising the ‘R Shop’, resulting in what looks like a tongue-in-cheek reference to a slur – ‘HARD R’.
Purely Unintentional
It has been claimed by a spokesperson for PlayStation that the placement of the graffiti was unintentional and that it will be removed in the day one patch, which is scheduled to drop on Friday:
The placement of two graphics near each other in Stellar Blade resulted in an unintentional objectionable phrase. Shift Up had no intention of creating offensive artwork and will be replacing the graffiti for the Day 1 patch.
If it was an accidental inclusion, it’s a fairly sharp coincidence. Some gamers have taken the stance that PlayStation is being ‘too soft’ and suggested that ‘nobody outside of the United States’ even knows what the term references – but that’s not the point. Users are sharing images of this blunder online now, but it’s taken from review and early access copies and will be struck from the game when it launches in full on April 26.
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