Ready or Not is a tactical shooter that’s been out on Windows PC for a couple of years now, and developer VOID Interactive is currently gearing up for a July 15 release on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X. Accordingly, the creators of the game announced on Steam that an update would tweak certain animations in the game to help it pass certification on consoles — and the move has pissed off fans.
As VOID Interactive tell it, the adjustments are at least partially motivated to modernize the tech powering the game. Initially, Ready or Not used Unreal Engine 4, which required custom approaches for its animation. Unreal 5, they say in a blog post, has better built-in features that can accomplish similar outcomes while also simplifying the load on the game. The performance should be better with the adjustments, in other words, which is critical for the game’s planned cross-play features.
“We recorded 5 different special forces actors in our last big mocap shoot, the goal was to introduce a more organic and natural look while trying to get away from the standard everyone looks and moves the same in video games,” explained lead technical artist on Ready or Not, who the blog post identifies only as Alex. ”We completed the graph rework and we are now dedicated to polish and further improvements using latest cutting edge technology available.”
Some of these subtle adjustments would likely go unnoticed were they not pointed out by the developers. In other cases, the changes arguably affect the tone of the game. There are depictions of dismemberment, and while that will still be true on consoles, there’s a limit to how far the game will now depict gore. Rather than continuing to show ongoing carnage, once a body is dead it will stop showing animations of further deterioration. The amount of gore hasn’t been toned down, per se, as the bodies will still reflect whatever violence rendered them dead. The game just won’t reflect anything beyond that initial gore. Similarly, art showcasing torture has been toned down a bit and a couple of instances of nudity will also be covered up.
“Ultimately, we consider this an okay compromise considering our gameplay design already dissuades use of lethal force anyway,” Alex wrote. The blog post also specifies that all of the changes the game will undergo for consoles have only been adopted if deemed “absolutely necessary” to pass certification. And certification — where a game is submitted to a console manufacturer to determine if the entity will allow the game to exist on its platform — is a stringent process compared to what a game might be able to get away with on more friendly platforms like Steam and other PC storefront. Though it can be a tough process, the motivation for manufacturers is to avoid sub-par experiences that could taint the reputation of their product. Think, for example, the low-quality titles that led to that infamous video game crash in 1983.
It’s not a perfect process by any means; platforms like the Nintendo eShop are increasingly full of game slop. But on PC, the number of releases vastly outnumbers the number of games major console manufacturers publish on their platforms. Arguably, quality levels can vary greatly on PC compared to console.
None of these distinctions and subtleties seem to matter to Ready or Not players on Windows PC, however, who see the changes that the shooter is adopting as a betrayal of its original artistic intent. “The game wasn’t perfect initially, but now they are choosing to censor it,” the top-voted review on Steam proclaims.
“They made their money from you—the PC players on Steam—and now, out of sheer greed, they’re appeasing console market regulators by censoring the game to meet their demands,” it continues.
This review exists among a flurry of much angrier posts, which include ASCII depictions of the middle finger and plenty of curse words.
Representatives for Ready or Not did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but it’s been a few days since the developers announced the animation changes. And despite getting attacked enough that the game now states it has “Mixed” recent reviews on Steam, as of this writing it still appears to be selling well. It’s in 15th place in the global top sellers list, above other recent hits like R.E.P.O and Rematch. Granted, Ready or Not is also a part of Steam’s summer sale and can currently be bought for 50 percent off. It’s still $24.99, though, which isn’t exactly a bargain bin price compared to a number of titles that can be purchased for under $10.
The attention, it seems, has functioned as highly effective marketing for Ready or Not. The initial announcement was made on June 27, and two days later, the game doubled its active player count. Continued headlines about the censorship controversy could mean that the tactical shooter might still hit higher peaks despite its new approach to gore.
