‘Gamer Girl’ Trailer Pulled From YouTube Following Criticism
The trailer for an upcoming Full Motion Video (FMV) game called Gamer Girl was first released and then quickly pulled from YouTube after the title reportedly drew considerable backlash. Created by Wales Interactive and helped in promotion by Sony, it was revealed on Thursday and pulled off the web on Friday, according to ComicBook.com’s Tyler Fischer.
Despite being a smaller project with a bare bones development team, Gamer Girl was trending on social media shortly after viewers saw what it had to offer.
In the FMV game, players take on the role of an Internet chat room moderator for a popular streamer. As the story moves along, the player develops a relationship with the star of the story as she deals with various issues both online and off.
“Adopt the role of moderator for up and coming streamer ‘Abicake99’, who’s back online after the mysterious disappearance of her friend Becky,” reads the official synopsis.
The trailer for Gamer Girl showed several scenes that viewers felt were just a bit too close to what actually happens to women in gaming, especially those who spend a great deal of time in front of a camera. One popular Twitch personality, who goes by djarii, posted on Twitter that the synopsis was “basically every girl streamer’s worst nightmare given life in the form of a video game.” You can see that tweet here.
the official PlayStation account released a trailer for a new FMV game before quickly deleting it
i present to you: GAMER GIRL pic.twitter.com/GF477143nF
— Rod Breslau (@Slasher) July 17, 2020
Fischer pointed out that Gamer Girl is scheduled for release on the PS4, the Xbox One and PC this September. The writer posited that pulling down the trailer for the title likely means the developers are rethinking their strategy. However, Wales Interactive issued a statement on Friday that was aimed at explaining how the development team came up with the idea for the story.
In that release, the company said most of the script was co-written by the lead actress, Alexandra Burton. The firm added Burton improvised almost all of her part, driving the plot in the very direction people were outraged about after the trailer’s release.
The development team also said the creation of Gamer Girl took more than four years and involved quite a bit of research. Wales Interactive said it talked to dozens of women who spoke about the experiences they’ve had to deal with from viewers online.
The developers added the intent of its creation is to draw attention to what these women go through. The plot opens with Abicake99 hiring a friend who she trusts and who must guide her through situations with varying degrees of danger.
