Ubisoft / YouTubeSouth Park creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker are known for courting controversy just to make a point, and their upcoming game, South Park: The Fractured But Whole, is following the trend.
The upcoming game, on sale in October, has a character creation feature which determines the difficulty level of your play through.
The idea is: if your character has dark skin the difficulty level increases.
[ooyala code=”t4MmNsYzE6VPkUqnl8we07_8L-r-7VSY” player_id=”5df2ff5a35d24237905833bd032cd5d8″ auto=”true” width=”1000″ height=”1000″ pcode=”twa2oyOnjiGwU8-cvdRQbrVTiR2l”]
Some may see it as an innocent feature, but for others it will be something that hits a little too close to home. Given the current climate in America and tensions within BAME community this is certainly a sensitive subject.
However, for anyone who is familiar with South Park creators Stone and Parker, a lot of their success is based on pushing hot topic buttons and subverting it into satire for their audience of all (appropriate) ages and backgrounds to appreciate and understand.
[ooyala code=”poNGNsYzE6k4gjWnEs8g85HEPppnqcZk” player_id=”5df2ff5a35d24237905833bd032cd5d8″ pcode=”twa2oyOnjiGwU8-cvdRQbrVTiR2l”]
Naturally the feature has triggered some strong opinions amongst fans of the show and the gaming community.
Opinions on Twitter have been divided:
LMAOOOOOOOO new South Park Game's difficulty gets harder as your skin gets darker!!!! Low key truth! ??? pic.twitter.com/FS0F1UUvSW
— The Boi (@ChuBoi) September 7, 2017
I'm feeling…some kinda way about this. New South Park Game Gets Harder If You Play A Black Character https://t.co/BMdJCeGdlz
— Resist everything. (@stopthatgirl7) September 8, 2017
As a black man I think the South Park difficulty slider is hilarious
— Paul Gaston (@Akibared126) September 8, 2017
south park making their new game's difficulty level be decided by how black you are is about the most south park thing i've ever heard of
— Travis Coelacanth (@Bananahwang) September 7, 2017
"Get it? Being black in America is hard. Get it? We're clever pointing out that life is hard for black people. GET IT? – the South Park guys
— *Acc0unt Susp3nd3d* (@jfx316) September 8, 2017
I follow this white person on tumbr and they called south park woke for using black peoples plight for an edgy punchline hnng
— sisley ? (@gunmaxism) September 8, 2017
black ppl: "life is hard for us."
white ppl: "omg stop over exaggerating"South Park game: "game's harder if ur black"
white ppl: "WOKE!!!"— Lovely Bee Zuzu ?? (@Mizuru007) September 7, 2017
"this game gets harder if you play a black character"
me: wow that's actually interesting commentary in a way
"it's south park"
me: pic.twitter.com/DBeiRdYiOI
— ✨Vivian✨ (@SquishVix) September 7, 2017
I'm not trigger by it… I'm black it's funny too me it's South Park nothing shock me with them only they could get away with it
— Chi-City (@Jstreet76) September 8, 2017
That "black character is Hard Mode" joke in South Park MIGHT be good if it wasn't coming from the people who make fucking South Park.
— Zachary (@ZacharyXIV) September 7, 2017
imo black ppl getting mad at South Park’s decision to make black people the “hard mode” kinda just proves its point
— hawlu (@Hawluchamp) September 7, 2017
Am I wrong or does the South Park skin colour thing feel like it's making a statement at the expense of the people actually affected?
— Janine Hawkins (@bleatingheart) September 7, 2017
The game is a follow up to the turn-based-RPG South Park: The Stick Of Truth. It’s sequel will still carry that RPG style element however it’ll follow the tactics-based combat of RPG classics such as Final Fantasy: Tactics and the Fire Emblem series on Nintendo.
South Park: The Fractured But Whole will be out on PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC on October 17.
