After getting quite a bit of positive attention on Thursday, Little Devil Inside is facing some backlash a day later. One of the titles shown off at the PS5 reveal event, the upcoming game is being accused of including some enemies that are racist caricatures.
Twitch streamer Lord Balvin was among the first to draw attention to the character models, but others on social media soon agreed the designs were troubling.
The streamer posted a picture of the characters in question on his Twitter account. The characters look to be a play on the stereotypical appearance of African tribal people. They are clothed only in loincloth and white face masks. Behind the masks trail long dreadlocks.
I was so excited for Little Devil Inside.
Then I noticed these enemy types.
bruh. ??♂️ pic.twitter.com/q5RK50orQy
— Balvin | Big Boss (@LordBalvin) June 12, 2020
One user took special offense at the Little Devil Inside characters because the masks featured “big red lips.”
Big red lips…
— ? (@ClarityG1_) June 12, 2020
Another user tried to claim all the developers, Neostream had to do was change the lips on the mask and they thought it would be ok. They also pointed out the development team is based in South Korea and may not understand why the depiction of the enemies could be seen as offensive.
Another user replied it’s the whole package that makes it feel racist.
Well the problem is the dreads, the lips, & basically just this being a rendition of a black/African tribal character.
— Angry Black Woman (@PikaChulita) June 12, 2020
Little Devil Inside Didn’t Have To Do It This Way
The user, who goes by Angry Black Woman on Twitter, further pointed out there is a way to depict these kind of tribal people without using a caricature.
It should be pointed out that Little Devil Inside is being made by what Neostream says is a team of 12 people. While the title was shown off during the PS5 reveal event, Sony does not have a direct say in its creation. The developers were able to make the game through a very successful Kickstarter campaign that saw it raise quite a bit more money than the original goal.
If there is a bright spot in this latest turn, it’s that there is no known release date for Little Devil Inside. That could mean the team has time to change or take out the characters entirely.
