The unveiling of Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet at The Game Awards immediately generated significant buzz, but this quickly morphed into widespread criticism.
The controversy focused on the game's protagonist and themes, with some accusing it of promoting a specific "agenda."
Statements from Neil Druckmann and Tati Gabriel, intended to quell the backlash, only fueled the fire.
Even after 17 days, the criticism persists. The announcement trailer proved highly divisive, garnering a massive number of dislikes on YouTube. On the official PlayStation channel, dislikes surpassed 260,000, dwarfing the 90,000 likes. The Naughty Dog channel fared no better, with over 170,000 dislikes against 70,000 likes. Comments were disabled to try and contain the situation, but the debate continues to rage across social media.
Despite this rocky start, Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet's future remains uncertain. Naughty Dog has a history of transforming initial negative reception into success, and the game still has the potential to defy expectations.
However, this incident underscores a major challenge for large game studios: managing the expectations of an increasingly critical and demanding audience.
